#still waiting for an episode 5 link to pop out somewhere

[calliecat93]

Valentines' Day List: Ranking The Disney Princess Couples

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Whether you are with the love of your life, still waiting for Cupid's arrow, or are 100% happy single, I hope that you are having a wonderful day. So for the past couple of years, I've been doing lists for the holiday. A Top 10 Ships list (that is now outdated hence why no link), Top 10 Disney Couples, Top 5 Disney Love Songs, and a Top 5 Spones Episode List for Star Trek TOS. What's in the cards this year?

Well after forgetting, the only thing I could come up with was a Ranking List. In this case, we're going through all the main Disney Princess pairings and I will rank them from least favorite to favorite. I'm also going to count Frozen cause why not? However, this will NOT include Merida, Moana, and Elsa as they do not have any canonical love interests at the time of this writing. Also a note for Pocahontas, I am focusing this based simply on the context within the film. We know about the inaccuracies and such that I don't feel like going into here, so just be aware that I am talking about the pairing simply based on the in-film interpretation. And of course, these are just my opinions, so please take it all with a grain of salt.

Everything clear? Good. Then let's begin!

#11. Snow White/The Prince

Right at the bottom is the first ever Disney Princess romance. No, it has nothing to do with the whole 'he kissed her while she was asleep' argument. People have tried to demonize the film by saying the prince denied Snow White's consent and I could write a whole essay on why that's stupid... and I kinda sorta did a few years back. But The Prince is ultimately a plot device with little to no screentime and not even extended material to y knowledge has seemed to do much to further the relationship. The guy doesn't even have a name (Florian is the one I see pop up the most but IDK how official it is). It may be one of my very few fleeting hopes for the remake to explore like they did Cinderella.

That's pretty much my only complaint. It's fine. It's cute. I'm happy that Snow White is able to finally be happy after all the Hell the Queen put her through. But that's really all that I can say about it. It's just... a thing that exists cause we need the kiss to awaken Snow White. But hey, everything's gotta start somewhere and without this we wouldn't have had anything else. So it deserves our respect.

#10. Anna/Kristoff

Back when Frozen came out, it was praised for addressing and calling out Disney's cliched 'fall in love at first sight/marry a guy he girl just met' trope. It's meant to be against rushing romance, especially when you know absolutely nothing about the guy... and then proceeded to do precisely that with Anna and Kristoff. Oops. I think the two are cute and fit together, don't get me wrong. But Dear God their development is REALLy bad. It's very rushed and comes out of nowhere which I wouldn't have an issue with... but because the movie outright rubbed in our faces how you shouldn't do this and that is a bad thing, it makes it really hard to ignore. And trust me, I tried. And no, Anna waiting like... a day or so longer than with Hans doesn't excuse the execution. Really the whole message when taken as a critique of the there Princess films is incredibly problematic and outright inaccurate, but that's for another day.

I go back and forth on how much I like these two as a couple. You can even see how different my opinion was back when the film first came out. Anna is my favorite character while Kristoff is okay and gets more 'meh' as time passes. I watch them during the movie and like their interactions, but they come off more like bickering buddies than anything prior to them finding Elsa. Then Kristoff worries and cares for Anna... and then Fixer Upper happens and it feels even MORE forced. Then in Frozen II, Anna misunderstands Kristoff various times and ultimately ditches him without really any thought or care about it in order to support Elsa. Which is great, sisterly love and all and to be fair she did apologize, but it really shows how much the film really didn't care about their relationship. That's not going into how the movie in general treated Kristoff as useless with even Olaf being more relevant and like he was just there cause there would be questions about where he was otherwise. But then we get to him proposing and Anna's reaction and... God these two give me so many mixed signals.

If I have to accept that Frozen III is happening, I REALLY hope that they give Anna and Kristoff the treatment that they deserve. Because ironically in the first film's attempt to call out rushed romances, it created one itself with all the problems that it tried to criticize its predecessors over. It's far from the worst romance ever, it has a lot of cute moments and I do think that the two are a good match. I just need the films to realize that.

#9. Pocahontas/John Smith

As I said, we are going to just focus on how this is presented in the film and leave it at that. These two are... okay. Pocahontas is a film that legit gets me emotional and has since I was a kid. But looking back, even now knowing the actual history, I wonder '...why did this have to be a romance at all?'. I know they were going for a Romeo and Juliet vibe, but I feel like it may have been stronger had Pocahontas not been aged up and just became friends with John, ultimately willing to risk her own life to save him and stop the bloodshed. It would certainly cause fewer ugh... unfortunate implications, let's just say that.

I feel like I like the atmosphere and presentation more than the actual relationship. The film has so much beauty and Alan Mencken's score is just so beautiful. Whenever I watch everything from Pocahontas visiting John before his execution to the very last scene of her waving goodbye as the ship sails away... dang it, the emotions! You all have no idea how many times I've listened to the end credits version of If I Never Knew You. There is a reason I listed that as my Favorite Disney Love Song a few years back.

But once I finish the movie and get back down from the emotional high, I think it over and again go '...why is this a romance? did it really need to be?'. And I kind of just forget about it until I decide to put the movie on again. I can never bring myself to hate this film due to how it impacted me, though I acknowledge its problems and how upsetting it can be for people. But ultimately the romance is just forgettable at best to the point that I sometimes wonder if the second movie pairing Pocahontas with her RL husband John Rolfe really was that bad of a move. But best to not think too much more on that

#8. Aurora/Phillip

This is Snow White/The Prince done better. Not a surprise since the film reused some of the early ideas for Snow White, but still. Of the three original princesses, this is the best-done relationship. This may make you wonder why Cinderella ranks above it, but I'll go into that in that entry. So these two are cute. Phillip certainly proved his love by fighting Maleficent and her forces and by his kiss awakening Aurora. As I said above, the 'the kiss was non-consensual' argument is a non-issue for me and we're just gonna leave it at that.

There's not a lot more to say honestly. They had a bit more development in their meeting than Snow and her prince did, we have Phillip saving her, and... yeah that's it. I don't dislike them by any means. I can't think of any negative points aside from maybe it's rushed, but that was just the nature of things back then. It's a Hell of a lot better than how it goes in the original stories. I like it better than the other three I already listed, just not as much as the seven below. That's really it. Sometimes you just like something cause you do, nothing wrong with that.

#7. Mulan/Shang

You would think that this would be near the top considering that Mulan is my favorite movie of all time. But I never loved it due to its romance, which while not irrelevant is a side-element compared to it being so major in the other seven previous films. Mulan isn't driven by love like Aladdin and Aurora, nor is it love at first sight like Snow White and Cinderella. She meets Shang while posing as a boy and he's her commanding officer. Before we go further, for this film at least Shang being Mulan's superior is a non-issue, especially since nothing happens until Mulan's out of the military anyways.

These two are cute. They start off simply as commander and trainee and Shang is frustrated with 'Ping', even kicking 'him' out. But Mulan refuses to give up and earns Shang's respect, and even friendship. She outright risks her life to save him during the avalanche despite being injured, that's nothing to sneeze at. She's clearly crushing on Shang and Shang may be crushing on 'Ping', I'm not very qualified to go into that since I honestly never saw it. His feelings get more complicated after discovering the truth and he's upset... but it doesn't last too long with him ultimately trusting and accepting Mulan and her abilities. Then we get awkward Shang at the end and it just cracks me up XD

We end the film with the early signs of them forming a relationship and being able to get to know each other. Shang gets to know Mulan as she truly is. Mulan gets to know Shang away from the battlefield and from him being her captain. Mulan II focused on them getting engaged... and that's all I wanna say about it. Yeah, as much as I love Mulan and like the two fine, the romance meant very little to me over the focus on finding one's true self. But I know that especially for the bisexual crowd, Shang was so important to people and this relationship in turn means something to people. And that is a beautiful thing. But for me they're good and they rank above the others cause it's Mulan.

#6. Belle/Beast

There was a time when I was indifferent to the film, let alone the romance that is at the heart of it. But now that I'm older and especially seeing all the arguments about them from all sides, those times have changed. I love them. Are they perfect? No. Beast is a temperamental brat who only wants Belle's love to break the spell. Belle is there only because she took her father's place and wants nothing to do with the Beast and his behavior. It seems like they're a match made in Hell... but then something happens. They change. Belle, after the Beast saves her from the wolf, is grateful and ultimately tends to his wounds because she's just too kind, but still stands up for herself. Beast, touched by this kindness, finds he wants to return it and starts to experience happiness for what may be the first time in his life.

When it becomes clear that the Beast is a damaged person who despite his issues is able to make himself a better person is when things change. The Beast doesn't become kinder for Belle... well okay maybe a little but that's not the main thing. The Beast became kinder because of Belle, as shown when he gives up his chance to become human again so that Belle can rescue her father. Why? Because he loved her so much that he let her go. And Belle tried to defend the Beast from the village and returned to try and save him, proving how much she'd grown to care for him.

The Beast gave Belle the one thing that she wanted: to be loved for who she was. Not because of her beauty. Not as some kind of trophy. But because the Beast genuinely loved her. A love that she returned and thus freed the Beast from the curse. It's such a beautiful love story. Is it for everyone? No. As much as I've disagreed with some of the arguments, I can see why the Beast's behavior may make people uncomfortable and how it may enforce an 'I can change them!' mindset even if indirectly. But I think that this is that kind of story done well with Belle never letting the Beast treat her poorly and the Beast taking it upon himself to change. They bring out the best in each other and earned their happy ending. And when it comes to tales as old as time, that's all I could ever want.

#5. Cinderella/Prince Charming

Some of these rankings were due to movie preferences. Chances are I would have ranked Aurora/Phillip above Mulan/Shang, but since I had similar feelings about both it boiled down to me liking Mulan more than Sleeping Beauty. Which is why Cinderella/Charming ended up here in Number Five. Let's face it, they have a similar issue as Snow/The Prince with Charming IDT ever having an on-screen name until the live-action remake. If I was counting the remakes I would use Ella/Kit's relationship as a justification for the placement and it may have even been higher, but I'm not so ah well.

Some of it boils down to nostalgia. Cinderella was one of the first movies I ever saw and is very special to me. Another big reason is what the relationship means for Cinderella herself. Cinderella endured significant emotional abuse, but always found a way to remain kind. Especially after her step-family destroyed her mother's dress, seeing her at the ball and just so happy as she dances with the prince is beautiful. And Charming looking up, seeing her, and forgetting about everything else as he personally approaches her, especially with how bored he'd been with all the girls going up to him? Perfection. 100% perfection.

Sadly, Charming has the same issue as Snow White's prince in being more of a plot device than an actual character, hence why I can't rank this higher. To Disney's credit they have given Charming a few moments of characterization in other works such as the DTV films, the third one especially doing him a LOT of good. But even without it, sometimes you just like a ship because you like seeing the one-half happy. Seeing Cinderella happy and loved at long last? How could I ask for anymore reason to love these two?

#4. Ariel/Eric

These two are adorable and I love them. Is it another fast-paced one? Yeah, although at least we kind of have a justification for it. Speaking of said justification. Yes, Ariel made a rash decision in becoming human. Does that make her and Eric's relationship bad? No. Eric is what Ariel always imagined about humans. He's friendly, brave, and outright risks his life to save his dog. Who wouldn't fall for that? He's also the first human that Ariel got to see up close and thus she becomes infatuated. Chances are it would have stayed like that if her father didn't take the actions that he did and Ursula used Eric as the catalyst for Ariel taking the deal.

When we finally get the two to interact, it's just adorable. Ariel is living out her dream with her crush. Eric, although infatuated with the mermaid that saved him, is nothing but kind to Ariel. He, a royal who could leave Ariel with anyone else and leave it at that, takes what he thinks is a shipwrecked mute girl back to his home and gives her the royal treatment just because he's a good man. The two's interactions are just so cute with Ariel being so excited and expressive even without her voice and Eric being won over. It's just... dang it they're so cute!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Is the pairing perfect? No. I get it, it's rushed and overly idealistic. Do I care? No. It's a Disney Fairy Tale. I'm here for the warm fuzzies, not cynical reality. And these two ALWAYS give me the warm fuzzies. It's at Number 4 only because I think the Top 3 have more development between the pairings, but it's still in one of the top spots. People will likely always criticize the movie for Ariel and her decisions and I guess we'll see if the remake addresses those things. But for me, I'll always love these two and getting to be a part of their world.

#3. Tiana/Naveen

This could have easily been a miss. Tiana's an independent working woman aiming for her dreams, sacrificing any free time and personal life to do so. Naveen is a spoiled playboy who loves to party and has no sense of responsibility which has caused him to be cut off and left to his own devices. They are such opposite personalities. It would be so easy to make us hate their interactions and make the pairing seem forced. But despite how fast-paced it is, it doesn't feel forced at all.

Not only is it fun to watch these two bicker and clash over their differing lifestyles, but they really did need each other. Naveen needed Tiana to realize his flaws and find the initiative to both take responsibility and have the drive to care for someone outside himself. Tiana needed Naveen to realize that there's more to life than just working and to see that even if she can't reach her dream she has what she needs: love. It's so cute when the two start to bond and start to realize what the other person needs, willing to sacrifice their own needs for that person. They even accept being frogs when it seems they've lost their chance, happy that they can be together.

As I said it's very fast-paced. It's kind of a common trend in the Disney Princess films directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Yet they somehow do it SO freakin' well. Like I said it was so easy to screw this pair up, but Tiana and Naveen are well-written characters who don't cross the line into annoying and their development comes off as more funny and sweet than annoying. They're great and I love them~!

#2. Aladdin/Jasmine

I adore them so much. I can say that about most of these, but these two? IDK what it is. Maybe it's A Whole New World. Maybe it's the beautiful magic carpet ride along the night sky. I don't know, but I know I love it. Aladdin's a street rat who wants to be seen as more. Jasmine is a princess who just wants her freedom. When the two meet it's love at first sight. Their interactions are so cute and natural and their chemistry just sparks instantly. Despite being from completely different worlds, they connect to feeling trapped in their lives and it's just so beautiful and God I love it~!

The only issue is Aladdin feels unworthy because he's a street rat and Jasmine is obligated by law to marry a prince. Thus once he gets the lamp, he decides to lie and act like he thinks a prince would. What goes horribly wrong as Jasmine is no prize to be won. She liked Aladdin because he treated her as a person and related to her. As far as she's concerned, Prince Ali is just another stuck-up asshole who wanted her for her looks and money and she ain't having it. It's only when Aladdin drops the act and acts like himself that he starts to win Jasmine over, even if he still lies once she figures out he was the same boy she met before.

Once the truth is revealed and Aladdin proves himself by saving the kingdom, the two are free to be together. Aladdin chooses to be true to himself. Jasmine is given the freedom to choose who she wants to love. Jasmine loves Aladdin because he loves her for her. Aladdin loves Jasmine because of her independence and beauty inside and out. It's again a very fast romance, arguably the biggest offender of the 'love at first sight and makes bad decisions due to it' argument (which ironically Aladdin is probably THE most guilty protagonist of this yet he never gets heat unlike the girls, but that's all I'll say). But I don't care. They are adorable and the extended material, DTVs, and the series only made me love them more. I recommend the episode The Secret of Dagger Rock where you get to see what happens when you both kidnap Jasmine's man AND make her mad. You'll NEVER question why Aladdin fell for her when you see that XD

As much as I love these two, there was only one real choice for number one. And it wasn't even close. You all know what it is.

#1. Rapunzel/Eugene

I normally hate going for the obvious, but sometimes there's a reason that it's... well, the obvious. I love these two together so much. Admittedly that can be blamed on the series to some degree, which also really helped Aladdin and Jasmine be in the number two spot. But even discounting that I just love their relationship so much. It starts off as hilarious then becomes sweeter and sweeter until by the end you're bawling your eyes out from sadness then from pure happiness.

Rapunzel is a sheltered girl wanting to see beyond her tower. Eugene, going by Flynn Ryder, is a thief pretending to be something he's not. When the two meet at first Rapunzel has him agree to take her to see the lanterns and Flynn is trying to trick her into giving back the crown he stole. But ultimately they start to bond with Flynn revealing his true name and Rapunzel letting him know about her magic hair, Rapunzel is finally able to connect with someone away from Mother Gothel and Eugene is able to be himself and trust someone after only being with himself for so long.

There are just so many beautiful moments after that. The two having fun in the kingdom with Eugene going out of his way to ensure that Rapunzel has the best time imaginable. The two talking about dreams and finding a new one. The entire I See the Light sequence, which is one of the most beautiful Disney moments ever. Then the ending where Rapunzel is willing to be locked away by Gothel forever just to save Eugene. Eugene, despite dying slowly and painfully, cuts Rapunzel's hair to free her. "He chooses that over his own life"You were my new dream." Just... just everything oh my God. Now, of course, Eugene survives and the two get their happily ever after, and out of all of the happily ever afters, theirs feel the most powerful and it only got better in the series.

Just talking about it now makes me emotional. It's just so beautiful and pure and everything I dream of when it comes to love. These are two people that found what they needed in each other and they're both willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the other's sake. It's done in such a fun yet beautiful way and I just love them. I know I've said that about almost all of these, but this one? Aside from Mickey and Minnie, this is the best romance that Disney has ever done bar none. It is my favorite of the Disney Princess romances and while I know to never say never, it's gonna be tough to ever top this one.

And that's all for this year! Hopefully next year I won't forget. Maybe I'll finally do a new version of that Top 10 OPT list, we'll see. But thank you all for reading and have a Happy Valentine's Day~!

[jibrillenyan]

Eldarya Come-Back

[Disponibile in Italiano qui]

Eldarya EU servers are back up. For people out of the loop, a fire destroyed both the servers and the backups of Eldarya. It's not beemoov's fault.

BR and US servers, stored somewhere else, are perfectly ok.

The FR server accounts were lost, but the story retrieved.

All the others (IT HU PL DE ES RU) have both the accounts and the story wiped out. ANE has been re-translated/Recovered, but origins is currently only playable in english.

Only the first 2 episodes of ANE have been translated so far. Errata corrige: PL, RU, ES haven't released any ANE episodes yet. DE IT and HU have the first 2 available in english. DE and HU appear to be broken.

Level 7 and episode 6 of origins (completed) are needed to access the market.

BUG REPORT: Currently there is a bug where if you change the name of your companion for the first time after evolving it you lose 100gc. please take care.

BUG REPORT: If you already have a companion and you play episode 3 of Origins you won't be able to hatch the companion Kero gives you and you might get stuck right after "Objective: Go to Kero’s room to complete the Companion Questionnaire" 

Accounts must be recreated. You have to create a new account and, if you ever bought maana or gold coins, follow the instructions below.

I REPEAT, ACCOUNTS ARE LOST ON THE EU SERVERS. YOU MUST MAKE A NEW ACCOUNT. (sorry, I get this one a lot)

FAQ of sort under the cut, original here. Italian translation will be here starting tomorrow. warning: it’s long XD

♦ WHAT DO I GET?

Everyone gets 1000 maanas, 100 gold coins and 350.000 ancient coins upon creating an account. You will also get 5 big exp potions, 10 small, 5 big energy potions, 10 small, 1 evolution potion and 3 incubators. You will also get the companion Sogiluv... it's not very good. You can retrieve some (most?) of the currency you bought by contacting the support (see below), you will be credited maana/ancient coins depending on your purchases; once you get the money back the 3 spin-offs will automatically unlock, along with the bank outfits.

The first companion to hatch will require no incubation time.

BR and US Server got 10.000 AC for their troubles too, but no maana or GC or items.

♦ I ENDED UP IN THE WRONG GUARD.

Please check this page. Re-doing the 3rd episode of Origins WON'T help.

♦ DECORATING GUARDIENNE'S ROOM, EP 5-6.

If you want to know how to get the guy you like AND have the room decorated by him, or other questions along these lines check this link

♦ WHAT'S THE BEST COMPANION TO USE?

Since you can now get any companion you like if you want to get the "best" one in terms of energy/luck ratio you should consider these:

PLESE NOTE: Hatching an adult companion (Chiromagnus, Blobbiathan) has the advantage of giving you an adult companion AND saving the evolution potion. This could be nice to have, for example, during a map event, you can use all the energy of your companion after midnight, then hatch another egg, use all the energy of the baby, evolve with the potion, use all the energy of the adult. If well played , with a baby companion, it means potentially 400-500 energy to use on the map

"Best" Companion, bought food (36 maana): Blobbiathan Energy 170 (already an adult when hatched) Luck 360 - 400

"Best" Companion, bought food (30 maana or less):

1. Chiromagnus Energy 160 (already an adult when hatched) Luck 340-390

2. Zarali Energy 90-160 Luck 350-380

3. Ocemas Energy 100-150 Luck 310-360

4. Ciralak Energy 110-160 Luck 300-350

4. Rawist Energy 110-160 Luck 300-350

"Best" Companion, farmed food (in exploration):

1. Alfeli: Energy 80-150 Fortuna 320 -370

2. Gallytrot: Energy 110-150 Fortuna 320-370

I consider the Alfeli "better" because its food, elven grapes, comes from a 20energy/30 min area, Mont sizhe, compared to the food for the gallytrot, gallyflore, from the Cave (35 energy/60 min).

♦ WHAT CAN I USE ANCIENT COINS FOR?

There is a special ancient coins shop (Until May 9th) with ALL the items ever released in the game. I do not advise using them for Origins illustrations but I suggest you grab some of the rarest items at least. It's among the boutiques.

BANK ITEMS WILL ONLY APPEAR AFTER RETRIEVING THE PURCHASED CURRENCY (? Im not sure about this, some are there from the beginning and I'm still waiting on the email I sent for the currency)

♦ HOW LONG DOES THE SHOP LAST?

May 9th

♦ HOW DO I GET MY BOUGHT MAANA/GOLD COINS BACK?

Go to "your account" by clicking on your name (top right). There is a button to retrieve the credit, for many payment options there is a simple form to fill.

However, if you paid by credit card or paypal you have to send an email to the support (you can get the adress by clicking on "other"). In the mail you should include:

Credit card:

- Old/New Username (if they aren't the same) - The email address associated to the accounts - The date and the amount in €/$ of a recent transaction (max 12 months old, the most recent, the better). - Last 4 digits of the credit card you used. - I'm not sure what happens if you you used more than a credit card, I'd suggest sending one transaction per credit card and telling them about this issue.

Paypal:

- Old/New Username (if they aren't the same) - The email address associated to the accounts - If it's not the same email address, the email address/username of the paypal account. - The date and the transaction ID* of a recent transaction (max 12 months old, the most recent, the better).

* Transaction ID's can be found in the confirmation email you get when you make a payment or on the paypal website, in the payment history section.

One ID should suffice, they can retrieve them all from there.

♦ WHAT DO YOU ADVISE WE BUY?

On a general note, do not buy things that can be found at all times, like explorations items, other than that, anything you like, but I'd at least consider to buy/play the following:

*** PLEASE NOTE: I've heard rumors that during each event, you will be able to find things in explorations from the previous events of that kind, so easter should have the other easter events' outfits on the map. I'd wait a bit to spend the coins to see if we get any confirmation, the store will be open until May 9th.

HOW CAN I KNOW WHERE (SOMETHING) IS FROM?

Wiki. Or This wonderful site. Or the wikinyan (c'est moi!), I don't mind answering specific messages, I'll update this post with any question I get. If you don't know the french name you can find it out in the French shop.

1. COMPANIONS:

Other than the event companions that you like you should probably consider...

GET:

Minaloo and Draflayel. These only comes from the purro'swap. Once the store closes, if you're unlucky, you'll never see them again.

Calunko and Bunraku. They're 2 of the japan expo rewards and with the merchandise boutique closed, they're incredibly hard to obtain, you need a physical code.

Chiromagnus, while you can get this from explorations, the scroll for it is extremely rare, and 2000 AC is stealing it.

ON THE FENCE:

The Seryphon , Poulpatata (both of them) and the chestok. These can be found on AH but require Gold coins to get in exploration. Personally I won't get them, but it's personal preference.

SKIP:

All the normal explorations companions, no matter how rare. They'll start popping up at the market soon enough

2. CLOTHES:

This is clearly completely at your own discretion, Events and ranking rewards should be considered. However there are some times never released before, like the fireflies so...

GET:

Fireflies. A beta-tester reward item, they were never made available to purchase before.

Steam girl set (Total: 1594 AC). It's the japan expo 2017 reward, 9 pieces

Maana demon and its other 3 colorations is a skin never seen in the game, previously reserved for admins. It could however be added to explorations, like other items of this kind.

Frency French was once an inside joke for ChiNoMiko, has not been made available to the public before, you can buy the skin, the hairstyle (it's a special jackson), Frency French Top, etc it's just a joke, but it's still something you won't see again, if you like it.

ON THE FENCE:

Depending how much you hate alchemy, you can consider some alchemy stuff.

Some rare Skins like Nan'vi, that could be hard to find in explorations

Rainbow and Pearly hair colours, if you like them, they can be rare/offered only in rare circumstances.

Crylasm set (526 AC), top, socks, hat. It was a special Christmas outfit released one piece at a time during Christmas events of 2016, 2017, 2018

Healer support Set (400 AC), made of 7 pieces, it was a special gift given at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic)

Rainbow Spirit (1594 AC), released for the 2020 Pride month (sorta)

Guard ranking rewards, the total il 11.980 AC (thanks Desdhi ♥)

SKIP:

Anything normally on the shop, or from (normal) map explorations.

3.ILLUSTRATIONS:

GET:

Possibly the event ones you like the best, there should be 42 event illustrations for a total of 105.000 ac

SKIP:

If you have the time to farm, the episodes' ones. They're way cheaper with replay, with a few exceptions (see below).

ON THE FENCE:

There are a few episodes where it's cheaper to buy the other illustrations than replay, I'll make a list below.

♦HOW MUCH IS... 

EGGS

As "one time" I mean it's either now or never, so exclusive items or event items, unless they come back with their event.

No Explorations is events + rare +the stuff  that you would pay gc to get the bait for

All the eggs: 222.400,

One-time + rare ones: Chiromagnus, Minaloo Draflayel: 164.500

one-time: 158.000

No explorations (+GC/rare ones): 180.700

BACKGROUNDS:

All: why do you hate yourself? don't. it should be around 5660

Events only: 2460

EPISODES:

Event Illustrations are 2500 each, Episodes' 2000

It's generally cheaper to play the episode to unlock illustrations. Coins won't disappear, so if you can slowly make your way up you will end up saving A LOT of Ancient Coins. During episodes, each dialogue is 2 AC

(cost is rounded up) (!) = Replaying is not worth it, money wise (*) = more expensive than 1 illustration, but still worth it in the grand scheme of things

(how much it costs playing Origins VS how much it costs at the shop)

Episode 1 - Free - 1 Illustration, play once (FREE vs 2000) Episode 2 - Free - 3 Illustrations, play twice (FREE vs 6000) Episode 3 - Free - 1 Illustrations, play once (FREE vs 2000) Episode 4 - Free - 2 Illustrations, play once (FREE vs 4000) Episode 5 - Around 1200 maana - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (3600 vs 6000) Episode 6 - Around 1500 maana - 2 illustrations, play once (1500 vs 4000) Episode 7 - 1200maana ca - 4 Illustrations, play 4 times (4800 vs 8000) Episode 8 - 1700maaana ca - 4 Illustrations, play 3 times (5100 vs 8000) Episode 9 - 2000 maana ca - 1 Illustration, play once (2000 vs 2000) Episode 10 - 1500 maana ca - 3 Illustrations, play 3 times (4500 vs 6000) Episode 11 - 1900 maana ca - 2 illustrations, play once (1900 vs 4000) Episode 12 - 1500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (4500 vs 6000) Episode 13 - 1500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (4500 vs 6000) Episode 14 - 1500 maana ca - 2 illustrations, play once (1500 vs 4000) (!) Episode 15 - 2500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play 3 times (7500 vs 6000, it's better to buy the other 2!) (!) Episode 16 - 2150 maana ca - 1 illustration, play once (2150 vs 2000 it's still worth to play the episode) (*) Episode 17 - 2450 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play ONCE (2450 vs 6000) Episode 18 - 1900 maana ca - 6 illustrations, play 3 times (5700 vs 12000) Episode 19 - 1700 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times (6800 vs 8000) Episode 20 - 1800 maana ca - 5 illustrations, play 4 times (7200 vs 10000) Episode 21 - 1800 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play once (1800 vs 6000) Episode 22 - 1700 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 3 times (6800 vs 8000) (!) Episode 23 - 2100 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times (8400 vs 8000, it's better to buy the other 3!) Episode 24 - 2000 maana ca - 2 Illustrations, play once (2000 vs 4000) (!) Episode 25 - 2500 maana ca - 3 illustrations, play once (2500 vs 6000) (!) Episode 26 - 2200 maana ca - 4 Illustrations, play three times (6600 vs 8000, it's better to play once for 2 illustrations then buy the other 2!) Episode 27 - 1800 maana ca - 4 Illustrations, play 3 times (5400 vs 8000) Episode 28 - 1700 maana ca - 5 illustrations, play 3 times (5100 vs 10000) (!) Episode 29 - 3250 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times (13000 vs 8000 it's a huge ac loss to replay) (!) Episode 30 - 2400 maana ca - 4 illustrations, play 4 times. (9600 vs 8000 it's better to play once and buy the other 3)

Grand total so far: 93 Illustrations, 71 playthroughs, 58 suggested.  Extimated maana/Ancient coins: 129.000 replay eveything vs  186.000 buying everything. Optimal:  122.750

IF you play everything once then buy the rest you should spend around 146000

* Optimal means buying the illustrations where needed before May 9th, then play all the episodes at your leisure.  The episodes where you'd have to buy illustrations are: 15, 23, 26, 29, 30.

Please remember that if you buy the illustrations then you decide to play the game you will ended up paying not only 186.000 ac for the illustrations, but also roughly 60.000 to play all the episodes. The only case where my racommendation is to buy the illustrations is if you really don't care about origins or you only want a few illustrations

[ihavenoconsistentname]

wels is one of the few hermits i know nothing about. if you’re up to it/if you want, infodump about him to me :D

*cracks knuckles*

Alright here comes a bunch of random Wels things;

The man was in the military for I believe 11 years and got out in 2016 if I remember correctly

He was a jag corp and a court reporter and while he was never in actual combat he has complained several times about when he was drafted to Iraq to sit in an air conditioned office mess with a computer and twiddle his thumbs so some guy could check off a box on a form

He's been married to his absolutely wonderful wife Mrs Wels for over 6 years I believe

He grew up in Wisconsin and is a massive green bay packers fan as you can tell by his Twitter when it's game day

He got the name Welsknight by combining his church name and his school mascot, church name being shortened to Wels and mascot being the knights and there you go: Welsknight

Despite his minesona most frequently being drawn with long blond hair (in the past mainly) he actually has short brown hair hence why people have changed designs to give him brown hair (I give him brown roots that fade into the blonde, thank LT for that idea btw)

One of his most played games is Monster Hunter World and it was very entertaining to watch him stream it during his burnout even when I had no idea what anything was in the game

He's 5'10 and his birthday is actually coming up soon (October 27th) so he'll be 31 in a few weeks or so

He knows how to play guitar and drums but sold his drum set

His family is very musical and they did a Twitch Sings stream together a while back but I don't think the VOD is still up

As a child where he lived parent-teacher conferences n stuff would often be at the teacher's house and one time he went to a teacher's house with his mom, said teacher had a cat and said the cat was really sweet. Turns out no it wasn't because that cat scratched his face the fuck up basically traumatizing him and that is why Wels hates cats

He has a second channel for games that aren't really family friendly and the one I enjoy the most is Binding of Isaac Afterbirth+

He literally has one of the worst sleep schedules I've ever seen but that's a huge mood

He's self-employed, rarely leaves his house, and built his own computer as well as Mrs Wels' computer

He has the best doggo ever aka Remi, she's absolutely adorable and I fucking love her, best dog 10/10

He's one of the few hermits who hasn't straight up cursed, he's committed to the family friendly thing (not as committed as his wife because Mrs Wels is like completely and utterly G rated whereas Wels is just PG) and the most he's said is the word damn and has almost accidentally said both "oh shit" and "ah fuck" in his first Twitch Sings stream and it's embedded in my memory

During his burnout he created merch that was way overdue but if you go to one of his old April Fools videos in the description there's a link and somewhere above it (I think) it says buy my merch but if you click the link you just get Rick rolled

In one of his couple craft episodes Mrs Wels showed him a baby bunny and immediately after she mentioned there was one he pulled out his sword and said "where" then proceeded to hit the bunny when he came over to it

This man has it as part of his daily routine to drink at least 3 cups of coffee

He drinks his coffee black like a psychopath and I will never forget when he said "I like my coffee how I like my soul—black as can be and bitter" and when I said that was so emo he said "you'd be surprised" and he wasn't wrong there

He doesn't do favorites and often he's been asked what his favorite [insert thing] is on stream and he's just always said he doesn't do favorites

However, his favorite build/base he's done in hermitcraft is probably his season 5 castle

In the hour-long episode from season 6 where he played golf with Biffa he was just messing around on his phone at like 3 in the morning when Biffa asked if he wanted to play golf and he was like sure

In said golf episode they actually missed a hole and didn't realize it like at all

He was the only hermit other than Ren who wrote their Hermitgang verse completely on their own

He's a huge law nerd and his court reporter job was probably his favorite

On Twitter you can find a lot of stuff where he talks about the injustice present with the Breonna Taylor case and it's incredibly interesting seeing all of the things he has to say

He wanted a coffee maker in his office but Wifey said no

One time during an Animal Crossing New Horizons stream we waited until 5 AM for Xisuma to start streaming so we could raid him

Speaking of ACNH streams he got stung by wasps pretty much every time he shook a tree and they fell out

He has a soundcloud where you can find several recordings of sea shanties (his soundcloud is just Welsknight if you search it up it'll pop up easy)

He likes pineapple on pizza

That's all the random Wels stuff I can think of right now but if I think of anything else at some point I'll reblog and add to this

[theshinobiway]

The whole Lee being bald thing was just a mean hoax. It was never verified by any legit sources, just a bogus reddit post. There’s been plenty of those.

PSA: Rock Lee isn’t balding! I repeat, Rock Lee IS NOT BALDING! Here’s the Proof!

I knew that not watching Boruto would catch up with me eventually, so here’s me amending my previous statement: There’s no official confirmation that Rock Lee is actually balding in Boruto. 

And BOY did I do a deep dive of the internet for this. Saddle up kids, I’m about to throw on my amateur detective hat and take you for a wild ride through the internet to end this rumor once and for all.

Warning: Long, picture-heavy post where I cross-examine multiple sources.

Part I: The situation!

Here’s a compilation of the screencaps from Boruto episode 58 that sparked a thousand rumors.

Looking at the top-left screencap, we can see a strange rendition of Lee’s hairline. Following this introduction, Boruto and Yurui begin their match. When Yurui unleashes his unnamed Bubblegum-Pop jutsu, Boruto is thrown back. Rock Lee then grabs his hair due to the heavy winds that emanate from the burst. Putting the two together, it looks vaguely like Rock Lee has a strange hairline that accompanies him frantically grabbing his own hair.

Part II: The “Sources”

Okay, I spent probably close to 4-5 hours scouring through different links and articles. Here’s a breakdown of the internet’s say on the matter:

The first major source is from a website called “Comicbook.com” It’s the website that was linked in multiple other copycat articles, blog posts, and forums, and was the first result for any Google search of “Rock Lee balding” (or variations thereof)

Okay, this isn’t so bad. I see that there are sources linked, so I should be able to logically follow the trail back to either an interview or the name of the “book” in question. First, let’s look at where these so-called linked ‘sources’ lead. 

In any part of journalism, linking your sources is the most important step to ensure your audience that you cross-referenced with legitimate sourc-

aaaand YOU HAVE FAILED Journalism 101. 

Hm. despite the fact that this is a Reddit post and not an actual link to ANY book whatsoever, the link’s dead. Deleted. Frankly, this whole search was an endless loop of dead ends, but I was deadset on getting to the bottom of this.

So thus far, I’ve got one lead that wasn’t solved: there’s a rumored “Book” out there somewhere, and it was referenced at “some point.” My first guess would have been a databook, but I’ve read those. Perhaps the one I read had a translation error?

Scrolling through the comments of this Reddit post, I came across this:

Important context clues here: It’s not stated in a Databook. That means Naruto’s Jin no Sho, the Fourth official databook, is NOT the source of the rumor. Also, I was able to find a scanlation of Rock Lee’s page for the very same book here:

Rock Lee’s balding also certainly wouldn’t mentioned in any of the previous databooks where Rock Lee was, y’know, a teenager. All four official databooks are off the table.

Secondly, the link posted by user “Hydrobolt” leads to a twitter post with the following:

No sources, no reference to a book, nothing. Except for a few screenshots of Boruto Episode 58. I’ll discuss these shots later, but this appeared to be yet ANOTHER dead end. (Also, this twitter thread has ZERO links or sources!)

I can see why the post was deleted by the mods, but this was troubling: Did this whole rumor start from ONE twitter post from a shipper (that had single-digit likes/reblogs?) 

I didn’t think so. Even if this random tweet was picked up by a semi-popular media outlet, I still needed to answer the following questions:

What was the “book” that supposedly had Kishimoto’s confirmation? Did it exist, or was it a bluff?

Where could I find a scanlated (and hopefully English, though my husband speaks Japanese) version of the Rock Lee page?

Part III: The Search for the Non-Databook “Book”

Even if it wasn’t in a databook, there are multiple interviews and exo-textual sources that can be used to glean information about the characters. I knew I wasn’t looking for an interview–in part because the key was “book,” and also because Kishi has only given a set amount of serious interviews in the past, and most of those are available in translation. Thus, there might have been a storyboard, book, or some other source that was exclusively released that might hold this information.

The most promising lead was from a site called narutoforums.org

The original post:

Okay, first, there’s no actual link on “here”. That’s a major red flag, especially given that the post is currently only a year old (posted 7.27.18) 

And it’s yet another dead end.

…Sigh.

But wait!

User “Platypus” mentions that the source was a ‘movie booklet that’s been out for three years.’ That’s a lead!

A movie booklet, huh? Here we go: Sometimes, highly-anticipated animated movies are released in Japan with exclusive manga chapters or other easter eggs, as well as other goodies.

So, let’s talk about this unnamed “Movie booklet” – Three years prior to 2018 would have marked the release of the Baruto movie in 2015. That means the booklet would have been this one: Zai no Sho

This was the most difficult piece to dig up information on. The booklet in question was only released in Japan and during the original premiere of the movie in 2015. I couldn’t initially find scalations, so I did the next best thing: Looking for a table of contents. Good ‘ol Naruto wiki was here to save the day.

Boom. It even has page numbers!

Now, I had a supposed book source and even the page numbers. All that was left to find a translation. After some deep digging, I found one—right here on Tumblr via user Emotionalrockfish.

This was the moment of truth! I opened the link for Rock Lee’s page and carefully read over the description…

Rock Lee

Tireless effort and ambition! With his hot-blooded passion, he guides a genin!!The leaf village’s pride, an expert of taijutsu. He possesses absolutely no skill for ninjutsu, but refines his taijutsu by exceeding the limits of effort with the gutsiness he inherited from his master, and does nothing but aim high. He and his son, Metal*, absolutely can’t miss their daily training!

*Metal Lee is shortened to just Metal here, so no, he’s not called Lee like his father.

(*Pterodactyl screeching*)

AND THERE IT IS: After a whole trail of vague suggestions and dead links, I‘d finally come to the final source material. And there’s nothing! Nothing there that even remotely mentions Lee’s baldness!

N-O-T-H-I-N-G.

Conclusion: RUMOR UNSUBSTANTIATED

Part IV: So where did this rumor all start? And what’s with “that” scene?

The Situation Unfolds: The whole situation is from Boruto, Episode 58: The Tournament Begins! The wind in this scene is shown to originate from Yurui’s jutsu.

The bubblegum pop emits a wind blast, throwing Boruto back. The very same blast tussles Lee’s hair.

It’s an obvious gag, but not about Lee: it’s meant to convey the sheer strength that emits from Yurui’s bubbles popping. This is a common trope in anime: Character emits a powerful attack, the audience sees/feels the “force” from the fallout wind. 

The audience now knows that there are some stakes to Yurui unleashing his gum-based jutsu, because the force of the blast not only throws Boruto back, but can also reach a good distance away to where the proctor, Rock Lee, was standing. 

Further Explanation: It’s also fairly obvious that Boruto (and Ikemoto’s style) deviate from Kishimoto’s, so we should expect some variation in character appearances outside of the expected “age-up” factor.

Here are some original renditions of Lee with his hair (flying) up and his younger self’s hairline:

In Part I, we see that Lee’s hair falls into a widow’s peak. Then, in concept art for the Naruto: The Last, we see a far less defined peak—in fact, the hairline is decidedly square-shaped.

Then, finally, in the Boruto animation, Lee’s hair is almost circular (but also shown from an extremely tilted perspective.)

So we see a distinct transition in the actual SHAPE of Lee’s hairline in conjunction with the evolution of SP/Kishi/Ikemoto’s style. A story written over at least 17 years and spanning over three different series has a change in style? More likely than you think.

Conclusion: It’s a change in the animation style and a throwaway gag aimed at emphasizing the fallout wind from Yurui’s jutsu. Nothing more.

I rest my case, Pumpkin OUT!

[journal-of-an-outlaw]

Price to be Paid

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

AO3 Link

Chapter 6

Waking up was a chore. Your head was pounding from the almost all night party, and you groaned while you pulled your blanket over your head. Who thought it was a good idea to sleep outside? Damn the sun and its infernal brightness. 

Little Jack was splashing around in the water barrel near your tent which woke you up. He was holding a little wooden boat and pretending it was crashing through the make believe waves. 

After you debated with yourself, you decided to move back to your tent. You dragged the bedroll past Jack who just stared, and slowly threw the soft padding into your tent. Someone outside laughed but you couldn’t care less who it was. All you could think about was sleeping off this damn hangover. 

A few hours later you felt vaulgey better and decided to grab some coffee. The sun was halfway through the sky, but it wasn’t like anyone else had noticed the day was creeping by; only half of the camp was conscious. Hosea was eating lunch at the main table. 

You grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the old campfire. No one had bothered to light it yet and you stared at the ashes. 

“Jesus, YN. You look like hell.” 

Charles stood above you. Looking up was painful and you couldn’t bend your neck for too long. You grunted and motioned to the spot next to you, causing Charles to laugh softly at you. The splitting pain in your head was now just a constant throb that you could try and ignore while the two of you talked.

“I was hoping I could hunt today, but everyone here looks like shit. No offense, but you included.”

“I feel like hell, so none taken.” The thought of being on a moving horse made your stomach turn, so you drank your coffee in peace. “I’m happy hunting with my bow, but I can’t go today. Could you wait until tomorrow?” Charles contemplated, and finally agreed to wait until the next day to ride out. You wanted to get some supplies from Valentines anyways. 

A little while later, John emerged from his shared tent with Abigail and sauntered over. 

“YN! How are you today?” You groaned again as the loud voice rattled around you brain making it hard to think. “I’m heading into town to look at some livestock, y'all need anything?”

“Actually, I’ll join you John. I need some supplies for hunting." You stood and stretched, then dumped the remaining coffee into the old fire. 

The two of you walked over to the horses, and he jumped onto his brown bay and you hesitated. “John, mind if I ride with ya? I’m looking to buy my own horse in town today.” He held his arm out without hesitation and pulled you up. 

The ride in was short and bumpy, and you tried not to vomit all over John. The hangover pain was almost gone by the time you were dropped you off on the main road which was a blessing, and you waved as John rode back to the outskirts to look at the livestock scam he had started cooking. 

When you walked into the general store, a familiar ding met your ears. The shopkeeper smiled and waved you over. “Come, see this new coffee brand we have!” You browsed the wares and picked out what you needed. A few cans of food, some oil to clean your bow, little objects. Nothing that you couldn’t carry back incase the horse was gone. 

While in the shop you treated yourself to a bag of candy as well, thinking you deserved some sweets for that wicked hangover.

After you popped a piece in your mouth you walked into the stables. “Hey, mister! Is that gray mare still available?” The man waved you in and motioned to the stall she was in. You rushed over and she was just as stunning as you had remembered.

Standing tall, the mare bent her nose and nibbled your fingers for a treat. Her coat was soft and shiny under your fingers as you stroked her neck. At full height she was 16.2 hands with her head high above your own. Her grey body gave way to a white tail and mane, and small socks around her hooves.

“For a pretty young thing like you? I can do a price of $9.50.”

Despite the inappropriate look, it was a good price so you paid him and left. She rode beautifully and you were so excited to finally have a horse of your own. “Heyaw!” You kicked her sides and she started galloping out of town and you headed north. 

The landscape changed more mountainous under her light feet. You debated what to call her. Names from your novels ran through your head, some better than others. Greek Gods? Other gunslingers? You finally settled on Eclipse. Something about the mysterious phenomenon called you. She galloped on and on, never faltering as you tried to test her limits. Finally you stopped to rest near a beautiful stream bed and let Eclipse get a drink. You brushed her and hoisted your skirt up to your knees to wade into the cool water for a few moments and ease your mind. 

Over the past few months your life had changed so much. Leaving Blackwater, living with a gang, killing someone, it was all a lot to process. You were smart, resourceful, and brave. Three things your always admired about yourself. Seeing the change and growth you've already made, there was no way you could ever look back at the life you left far behind.

It was late that night when you got back into camp. Your new horse Eclipse made you so happy, and she whinnied appreciatively you finally took her saddle off for the night. She joined the other horses to graze easily.

Heading back towards your tent you ran into Jack again. He eyed the candy you had bought so you shared a few pieces with him happily. He giggled and shyly looked at you. “What are you hiding, Jack?”

“Momma and Pop said you were dancing with Uncle Arthur.”

“We did dance, but don’t worry it didn’t mean anything.” 

He smiled. “My Pa and Ma met when they danced. Are you going to marry Uncle Arthur?” 

You gagged on the candy you had just popped into your mouth, and were completely mortified when Arthur himself walked over to the two of you sitting near the overlook. 

“Jack! Are you bothering that nice lady?”

“No, Uncle Arthur. Just eating candy.” He smiled at you coyly, and ran off when Arthur started chasing him. Arthur came back to plop down next to you in front of the log. 

“Candy?” you offered. He reached in and pulled out a piece. “I’m a sucker for candy, can’t ever say no.”

“Really?” he looked at you, “I never took you for having a sweet tooth.”

You laughed and pulled the bag back to yourself. “I went into town today with John. Got that mare I’ve had my eye on.”

Arthur looked back at the group of animals and you pointed out Eclipse. He nodded approvingly. "I know you said you'd go, but no one was up for much of anything this morning. Nearly showed John my whole breakfast again after that bumpy ride into town."

"'S no bother. Glad you got it worked out. I, uh, didn't get up for a long while this morning. Damn whiskey nearly killed me. Although ridin’ anywhere with Marston will usually end with the same result." 

You wrinkled your nose at the mention of the drink. "Whiskey always makes me sick. Can't stand it at all." 

He chuckled softly, "Can't be a real outlaw until you have at least one awful whiskey night, YN." 

"Maybe sometime. Takes awhile to get over a smell like that though…" 

Unknowingly your hand fluttered to your ribs, a phantom ache from where your father liked to land his drunk fists. It had been months since his last episode and all the bruises had long since faded. But the memory still lingered and you thought it always would. 

Arthur turned to face you, then suggested you move somewhere away from the main camp. You settled on your favorite stop to look out to the valley as the moon climbed up the sky, and sat down on a log.

“YN...why you still here?” he said it cautiously, like you would bolt at any moment. It struck you wrong and you stood to leave feeling this was going badly, but he put his hands up and continued. “Not like, here here, but...you coulda gone back to Blackwater after your side healed from the bullet. What’s kept you from that?”

Finally understanding, you sat back down and put your head in the palm of your hand to think. 

“I...I’m not sure. I guess I could have gone off on my own, not that I woulda lasted long,” you laughed shortly, “but I love this...family you have here. Sometimes I feel like a voyeur, wishing to be more than just halfway accepted.” The next part felt hard to admit, but you rushed forward anyways.  

“My home was nothing like this. In fact it was the opposite. All I ever wanted was to be on the other side of that little window at home, looking in and dreaming what could be instead of lying awake in the dark in fear of it. I would give anything to unknow what that version of family felt like. To keep walking and let that moment of life just pass me by.” Arthur watched you with an inscrutable expression. 

“I like to see the good in folks, Mr. Morgan. I try real hard to believe that people are born good, and hold that in their heart. Not that I’m naive about life, sure. I know I'm living with a group of outlaws. Michah laughed when I said something similar, but ain’t it important to believe in something? To truly believe?” 

“Miss Moore, you almost sound like Dutch. 'Course we ain't all good, but I think you are gonna get along here just fine if you keep believin’ like that,” his face was hard to read, but Arthur had a flush in his cheeks that you knew wasn’t from a drink. 

The two of you moved closer, your confession hanging heavy in the air about the goodness in men’s hearts. 

Arthur dipped his head and you angled your chin up to his, all the while feeling your heart beat like it was about to come right out of your chest. His hand moved to cover yours, and in that heated moment Pearson chose to beat a metal dish with his wooden spoon. 

“Food’s ready! Come grab it while it’s hot!” 

“Jesus!” The word burst from your lips. Pearson had popped the bubble of you and Arthur, and the moment was gone. Your eyes held the gaze you had been sharing, and a small half smile formed on your lips. Arthur squeezed your hand in his then rose without a word and walked off. 

It took a few minutes to compose yourself but not long after you followed, hungry for the stew cooking away. Abigail was near and she called you to join her at a table.  

“How did John’s livestock scam go today? He was kind enough to bring me into town but I never heard how it ended.”

She stirred the soup around before answering. “I’m not too sure. He won’t talk to me about such goings. I’m not honestly sure if I want to know.” 

“I’m sure it’s for some silly reason like keeping you safe, Abigail. He’s a good man.”

Abigail sighed heavily, watching Jack run in the background of the camp. “For all our sakes, YN, I hope you’re right.” 

Much later in your tent you finished one of the books you had found in town. A silly little novel, but in the glow of the lamplight the romantic ending made you feel safe and warm. As you lay down you ran your fingers over the cover that was illustrated with a rose. 

“YN? You still up?” The voice was no more than a raised whisper coming from outside the flap. You sat up and warily moved towards the entrance. 

“Arthur? That you?” Pulling back the tent flap slowly revealed the tall man crouching to meet you. “What can I do for you?”

“I just...uh...didn’t want you to think I was tryin’ to take advantage of anything earlier.” Sheepishly he pulled on his coat, glancing around to make sure no one saw you two meeting this late. He may not have to fight for his moral standing in this camp but you sure did. 

Slowly, you responded, watching his face the whole time. “Nothing truly happened, Arthur. Just talkin’. Caught up in the, uh, moment was all.” 

“‘Spose that’s so. You going hunting with Charles tomorrow then?” You nodded back at him. “I want to see how Eclipse runs out on the big fields. And I wanna shoot that bow again.” 

“Well, you be careful then, you hear? Don’t want to be going on any big rescue missions.” 

Smiling back, you felt your chest swell a bit at the kind words. “I’ll try then, not to be kidnapped or taken off. I’m sure Charles will be a fine hunting partner. Plus I can fight real good if I need too, mean left hook no one sees coming.” 

Arthur chuckled. “Alright. Night then, YN. See you in a few days.” He tipped his hat and jaunted back towards the center of camp, leaving you to drop the flap and head to your bedroll. 

“Mr. Arthur Morgan...huh…” You traced the rose on the novel again, this time picturing that it was a handsome face. Giggling, you sat up and blew out the sole flame of the lantern, plunging the tent into darkness to get some rest. 

The next morning Charles was waiting for you by the horses. You had dressed in pants for one of the first times in your life and loved it. The flexibility alone was enticing enough to make you want to throw your dresses and skirts off the overlook. You chose dark jeans, a blue shirt, and brown boots and satchel. The red bandana you picked up yesterday was tied around your neck to protect from dirt or lawmen's eyes, depending on the situation. 

While walking over you finished tucking in your shirt and attaching everything in its correct place, watching Chalres pat Eclipse and feed her a treat. He didn't say much in the early hour except a wave while you loaded up your horse. 

“Ready?” You nodded, and the two of you kicked off. 

The plan was to hunt for three days. It meant a lot of riding and shooting and you couldn’t wait to build up the muscles in your shoulders, giving you better control over your shot. Focusing on the rocky path took a lot of focus, so the first few hours of your ride were quiet. Every hour the horses would get a chance to rest and eat and you walked to stretch your legs. 

Heading up north was all new territory for you. Charles seemed comfortable enough, and was happy to discuss the local fauna. 

“This one here? Red Cedar tree, can grow to be massive and every part of it is usable. The needles can make tea to help many sicknesses, and Native Americans use the trunks to make canoes as the wood never rots.” 

You rubbed the needles in between your fingers, wondering how the tea tasted. Charles went on to talk about other traditions of his people and how they made use of everything around them.

Finally you arrived where Charles wanted to camp. The ground was dry and free of rocks were you set up your tent, far from the view of anyone passing through. 

Night passed quickly and you rose early to begin hunting. Stalking a group of deer, you brought down two after a long chase. Eclipse ran swiftly over the hills and Charles commented on how well she was doing, listening well to your commands. His own horse Tamia was a bit smaller, but just as quick. 

A lone stag caught your attention and you veered left to focus and take aim. The bow was getting heavy in your outstretched arm and your anchor point of the corner of your mouth was a bit wobbly, but he soon joined the other deer you were bringing back to camp. Finally satisfied you both worked your way through the woods back to your site. 

Sitting around the fire that night, Charles taught you how to smoke meat and make it last. It was much better to store it versus try to eat it all right away in this life of constantly running and moving around. 

The next day was much of the same. Hunt, rest, smoke meat, hunt some more. Nothing truly exciting happened until the third morning as you packed up camp. 

“There’s lots of strange gangs around this country. I’m not sure gang is the right word, but I’m not sure what to call them. Down south is the Lemoyne Raiders, east is the Murphys, then of course the O’Driscolls and…well us I guess. Van der Linde gang.” Charles was pouring over a map of the area, and drew large circles where he warned of other groups. “I think there’s more but not as large as us.” 

“Lotta folks to look out for, then. I’ve never heard of most of them to be honest, but you missed the Skinner Brothers out near Blackwater,” you took his pencil and drew a circle around the area they used to terrorize. “Took a lot of good folks. Burned farms. Finally some group came in and cleared them out but it was bad a few years back.” 

“Heard of them, but never knew where they started. Huh,” he observed the circles you had drawn, then continued on. “This is where we’ll stop for supplies on the way back and to sell pelts. Long ride from Amarino country down to Valentine.”  

Agreeing on where to stop was easy, but getting there was another problem. A bridge was out along the way which added a good hour to your journey. Both of you were cranky and tired by the time you rolled into Valentine, quickly selling the pelts and leftover meat that was of no use to the gang. 

“Alright Charles, I’m ready to head home,” you paused and looked over. “How fast you think Tamia can run? Faster than Eclipse?” 

His eyebrows raised. “You challenging me to a race, YN?” “Damn straight,” you replied confidently, and dug your heels into Eclipse causing her to sprint off. 

Pealing laughter followed the two of you as the town gave way to the green muddy fields, and eventually the wooded aread of Horseshoe Overlook. Nothing felt better than the rushing wind in your hair and the sun warming your face. You debated throwing your arms out wide but didn’t want to look silly. 

Both horses were magnificent, and you admitted defeat when Tamia pulled ahead at the last moment. 

Eclipse huffed as you swung yourself down and nudged your arm playfully. She was ready to relax and eat with the other horses, so you took your hunting spoils and patted her affectionately. 

Walking over with the deer you met Pearson who was ecstatic. “Look at this folks, a real feast ready soon!” He eagerly took the meat from you and Charles and shooed you away so he could begin to prepare it. 

“Well done, YN. I would hunt with you again anytime,” Charles clapped your shoulder and walked off towards his tent. 

All you wanted to do was bathe and sleep so you started towards the river. 

“YN! Need some company?” Mary-Beth came running up besides you, not so secretly hiding from Ms. Grimshaw. “Sure, let’s get you out of here before she notices,” and the pair of you took off running down to the river. 

Tily and Karen were doing the wash when you arrive, and they all greeted you cheerily upon returning from the hunt. 

“How did you two get on then? Hunt anything more excitin’ than deer?” Karen play snarled and lunged at you, making the group laugh. “Charles is as stiff as a board around women Karen and you know it,” Tilly countered. 

“Oh, I’m not -” Mary-Beth cut you off before you could finish. “Charles! No, I saw YN getting cozy with Arthur the other night when they thought no one was lookin’.” You playfully hit Mary-Beth’s arm in response and the whole group was set off. 

“First ya’ll dancing, then hiding on the lookout, whatchu really come to our gang for anyways!” Karen laughed while she said it, but you did fear they all thought of you as just a hopeless romantic. 

“There is more than just goin’ after men in this life, and I intend to explore those avenues first. Just so happy to be free. And sides ain’t he got a girl?” you replied while washing your arms. 

The other moaned. “Ugh. Mary Linton. She beckons, and he calls. Been years since he last saw her but still thinks of her I’m sure. It’s hard finding someone in this life that agrees with it, that’s why she’s been gone all this time. Her daddy threw a fit at who Arthur was,” Tilly informed you. 

“I heard he went and rescued Michah from some town east called Strawberry,” you tried to change the subject. 

Karen roller her eyes. “Damn fools shot up the whole town and can probably never go back.”

“I know Strawberry. Small and backwards place. Used to think I couldn't go when I was young on account of me being allergic to the fruit.” the girls laughed at your answer, and as you slowly felt cleaner. 

Eventually the chores were done so you left the river with the group. They carried the baskets up on their hips and you watched the colors dance in the wind. It was a sight to see the clothes hung in trees to dry out for camp. 

Arthur came into camp that night in a blaze, not able to focus on anything. Something about a letter and going into Valentine, but no one could tell. Hosea had a knowing smile but refused to spill information to any gossips in camp, and Arthur left in a hurry once again. 

Laying on your side in your bedroll, you tried to finish the next chapter in your book but you eyes kept sliding shut and your head bobbed around. Finally you admitted defeat and stood up to stretch and blow the lantern out, but someone was muttering around your tent. 

“H-hello?” you whispered cautiously, not sure who was out there. A loud bang and a stream of curses alerted you that it was Arthur back from his night ride. Muttering around, you caught wind of a word that made your silly jealous heart run cold. 

“Mary.”

[spnfanficpond]

December 2019 Pond LiveChat Recap - Structuring Longer Plots

We had a great time chatting with @jhoomwrites​, today! Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your wisdom and experience!

Our chat was all about structuring longer plots, filler vs plot, and the different types of structures that are out there. (Mostly, we talked about how we don’t always have a structure in mind when we’re writing, and how we deal with it when a story breaks apart the structure we’d so carefully constructed.) A rundown of the chat, as well as general Pond news, is below the cut!

For those who don’t know her, Ashley is an avid writer, not just of fan fiction. She’s popular on Tumblr and AO3 for Destiel stories of all lengths, from little emoji ficlets she bangs out from requests (where followers send her a short string of emojis and she writes a story using them all) up to epic stories. She’s currently working on a hockey fan fiction that was her NaNoWriMo project, but with 120 SPN works on AO3, we’ve got plenty to read while she’s distracted with her hockey boys! (I’ve convinced her to be a member of the Pond, so hopefully we’ll see her around a lot in the future!)

We started off talking about how long our fics can get ( @katehuntington​ won with her Sullivan Series, which is currently at 570k), and whether we’re planners or pansters or a mix. Kate and Ashley are both kind of mixed, while @mrswhozeewhatsis​ has never successfully outlined a story, yet. 

Q: Was My Liege Lord (her longest at around 80k) planned or pansted?

Ashley: It was both. I had planned out some things, but then I got new ideas as I went that I wanted to explore and it padded out the length. I had a whole fic worth of plans, but just the amount of time in their lives I ended up covering necessitated adding things. Kate: I do that too. I stick to the plan, but I add soooooo much stuff along the way.

Q: When you write, and plan out a story, do you use a particular structure?

Ashley: I haven't written out a plan for a fic in some time, but I was really consistent with the style I used for a while. I would do a chart with the main plot points to the left, and then details (excerpt of dialogues, notes about specific scenes, etc) to the right. Here’s an example:

Ashley: It helps me when I get ideas later, I can find parts in the story by looking to the left and then add notes. It's my favorite way to plan out a story, especially if I know it will be multiple chapters and if I might not be starting it any time soon. This is much nicer than the outline for the story I'm working on now, which is just a list of events in chronological order (and another list of "things i could add but i don't know where this goes"). I wrote the outline about a day before I started so I didn't need as much structure.

Q: Having a plan helps, then?

Ashley: I didn't used to plan, but then I started a multi-chapter fic and realized...... I don't have an ending. So, I like to plan that out to make sure I have an actual beginning, middle, and end. Michelle: When I start, I have an idea and an ending. That’s it. All my stories have the same ending, though: And then they kissed and lived happily ever after!

Kate: It does give freedom, not having a detailed outline.

Ashley: That is true, it does make me sad when I get somewhere in the outline and there's something I'd liked, that I'd wanted to include, but it doesn't work anymore and I have to scrap it. Gotta balance sticking to the outline vs adapting to how the tone/characters have developed.

Q: Is your planning method something you learned, or something you developed? And do you use the same structure for all of your stories?

Ashley: Something I developed. I haven't had any real training or instruction in writing. I was struggling with longer fics being unorganized and not coming together at the end, so I needed something for myself. I like making charts, so I figured that was a good way to start! lol It's not something I do as much, anymore. It was a great tool when I started doing it, and I did it for years... but possibly because I've gained more writing experience with longer stories, I don't need to do it anymore. I start a fic with a general idea, I figure out where that idea is going, and start writing. I do more of a mental checklist now. Of course, for original stories, things I hope to one day publish, I will still outline.

Q: Do parts of your structure have names? A quick Google search on how to structure novels brought back about a lot of different methods for structuring a novel, all with different numbers of steps. Each step had a general idea, like rising action, climax, falling action, etc. I guess I mean, what parts of a story do you feel need to be there for it to work? What are the parts of your structure?

Ashley: Having never paid particular attention in my English classes, I would be hard pressed to put names on different parts of my story structure. I view it as beginning (set up, putting things in place), middle (the actual story more or less, all of the action), and ending (wrapping things up, resolution).

Q: When you half wing it and the story is coming along, and then you hit a plot hole, how do you handle that? 

Ashley: Well uh... **points vaguely towards abandoned WIPs** it can be rough. I do have some people I work with in terms of brainstorming. And if I get stuck with a fic I'm committed to, that I'm enjoying writing, then I talk it through with them. Sometimes, those issues are coming up--not because the story wasn't outlined--but more because I've just lost that spark of interest that I had before, and it's time to move on, anyway.

Q: There was a question submitted to the Pond by @kittenofdoomage​ about filler vs. plot.

Ashley: I think that's a real issue I face, filler vs plot. For some stories, I feel like I write a chapter and then can't really see what it adds to the story except maybe giving more characterization. My Liege Lord, I can think of some examples... and sometimes those things are cool, they're fun little ideas to explore and that's the only universe you could do it in, so you do it maybe for your own sake more than the story's. I think there's also a difference between reader and writer perceptions of what's filler. For my current project, there are scenes I wanted to include because I felt they were necessary to the plot, but I got the impression from people I'd polled that they would not be interested in those scenes (basically it's a romance and I was going to include things that were not directly related to the romance aspect and they said if it was more than a few paragraphs or so they didn't care). Michelle: I struggled with that with The Babysitter. Almost half of that fic is flashbacks to when the brothers were growing up and how their relationship with the reader developed. I considered cutting them all, but the fic felt thin. Sometimes, I'd pop a flashback chapter in there just to slow down the action in the present a bit, if you know what I mean. Like, chapter X is the night before the big battle, and chapter Y is the big battle, but it felt rushed to just go from X to Y, so I stuck D in between them. Ashley: Yeah, pacing is important, so the "filler" can help regulate that. It might also depend on if you view stories as about the plot or about the characters. If you view it as plot, then yes, you don't want that non-plot filler. If you view it as characters, then the filler doesn't necessarily move the story, but it adds depth and dimension to the characters and makes you appreciate them more. (I mean... I love the characters so much, I'd watch an episode of them just doing chores around the bunker...no plot, just them.) Kate: I just write what I feel like is right. Plus, I’m a sucker for a slow burn myself, so I’m not scared to let the readers wait.  I like to use fillers as a stairway to the big reveal or moment. What I love even more is to put a lot of foreshadowing in there, so when they read it the second time, they go: oh! Rhi: The thing is that I've found is that filler serves a lot of purposes. As mentioned above it's great for dropping a bit of foreshadowing. It's also great for expanding your background and making your characters more than two dimensional. It also gives your readers a breather. Especially if it's a heavy plot. I often find myself rambling in filler, which is where rereading is key. With longer stories, I have a brief outline of what I want. Sometimes I'll write the major points first, the ending etc then follow up with the filler. On occasion, your filler will end up imploding your plans but that's cool. That's when you either roll with it or take a break and neither of those are bad choices. It depends on the individual.

Q: (In one of the articles linked below) Peter Behrens mentioned a novel idea. He basically said he doesn’t worry about structure until the revision stage. He writes what he wants to, and then when he’s revising, he tweaks the story to fit whatever structure it fits to best.

Ashley: I do like that, and that's something that @unforth-ninawaters​ has mentioned. We're working on shorter stories that would need to be under 7.5k and I said I don't know if I could hit that. She said to write the whole story, even if it's longer, and then have someone edit it with an eye to shorten it, if necessary, and you'll probably end up with a tighter story that way. So, basically, that's how I view writing things, now. I write what I want to write for the story, and if it needs to go, it'll disappear later in the editing process. But what if it does belong? Well, then it's there, already. And yes on slow burns... for fic, it's a staple, and for WIPs, it's part of the lure, the draw in, as a reader--knowing that maybe they will maybe they won't hook up this week.

To close out the chat, we talked about the story structures listed in the following two links:

How to find your novel’s structure - This article discusses the traditional 5-stage plot structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution) and the 3-act structure (setup, confrontation, resolution), as well as some other points, like how characterization can affect structure.

Writing Cooperative -  Use a story structure to make writing your novel a lot easier - This article lists several structures, and includes links to read more about each one and their strengths and weaknesses. Different stories might do better under different structures, too. A romance novel wouldn’t necessarily need the 12 steps in The Hero’s Journey.

These links are definitely worth checking out if you have any fears or concerns about your story’s structure!

Next month we’re going to talk about Real People Fiction! We’re still looking for a guest speaker, so if anyone is interested, send a message to @mrswhozeewhatsis​!! Date and time to be announced!

General Pond Updates and Reminders

What we’ve got cooking up next: Not much, at the moment, since everyone is busy, so we’re just trying to keep up with the day-to-day at the moment! Our to do list is still long, though, and will not be neglected forever! Next up is organizing the tagging system on the blog to make it easier for readers to find the stories they’re interesting in and for writers to find the help they’re looking for!

Reminders:

Angel Fish Award nominations are accepted all month long! No need to wait to tell us how much you liked a fellow Fish’s work!  IF YOU HAVE SENT IN A NOMINATION, BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED A PRIVATE MESSAGE CONFIRMING WE RECEIVED IT, WE DIDN’T GET IT. Be sure to use Submit instead of Ask!

Don’t forget to submit your stories to be posted to the blog! When your stories are on the blog, then they are easier to nominate for Angel Fish Awards!

Say hi to November’s New Members! (If we missed someone, let us know!)

Check the Pond CALENDAR to see when Big Fish will be in the Skype chat room/discord general channel and other Pond and SPN events are happening! Know of something that’s not on the calendar, send us an ask or submission with the deets info details!  The calendar offers a lot of features, such as showing you when things are in your own timezone! Since we’re an international group, that’s a definite plus!!

We’re looking for a guest speaker for January to talk about RPF! If you know of an RPF writer that you’d like to hear from, let us know!!

[tricksters-captain]

FP Jones/Andrew’s Family/Riverdale imagines - Oh Dear Part 27

A/N: Make sure you check out the last part before reading this because I’m not sure the tag list worked in the last chapter. 

MASTERLIST LINK (HERE)

Overall Summary: You’re Archie’s older sister and you have a thing for a certain Serpent.

This chapter: Based on season 2 episode 15 - Hiram Lodge already has Archie and he now has plans for your father... and for you...

Pairing: Reader x FP Jones, Sister!Reader x Archie Andrews, Daughter!Reader x Fred Andrews

Word count: 2,582

Warnings: Some strong language 

“Dinner at Ronnie’s tonight, are you coming?” Archie asked as he found you eating cereal in the kitchen. 

“I can’t I’ve got work.” You lied, you knew you didn’t have a shift that night but you’d get one just to not attend a dinner at the Lodge’s and have to see Hermione and Hiram’s faces. 

“What? No, you can’t. I told Hiram and Hermione that we’d all be attending as a family.” Fred walked into the kitchen just to hear you say you couldn’t make it. 

“I missed a shift at Pop’s last week, I can’t miss another. I’m sorry.” You said as you left your chair to place your bowl in the sink. “Hiram and Hermione will understand, give them my deepest regrets.” 

Fred ignored the attitude as you left but you couldn’t help but feel a little bad for at the very least not acting like you cared about it. 

But in reality, you were beyond glad you didn’t have to go. 

You went and did a shift for Pop just in case your dad checked but once you came back, Fred had news. 

Hiram and Hermione had convinced him to consider running for Mayor. 

“Mayor?” You asked, 

“Yeah.” Fred nodded, “I didn’t say yes but I didn’t say no either. I told them I’d think about it.” 

“What is there to think about Dad? Do you really think you could run a town and  Andrew’s construction at the same time?” You asked, almost disbelieved that he would even consider running a town; this town. 

“Being Mayor is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid, I already told your brother this, so yeah, I really am considering it.” Fred explained, 

“Yes, but every kid dreams of being President one day but that doesn’t mean it should actually happen.” You argued, 

“This isn’t president of the United States, (Y/n). It’s Town Mayor for Riverdale.” 

“Exactly! For Riverdale!” You couldn’t understand why he didn’t think this a bad idea. 

“You know, I thought I could get support from my only daughter but guess not.” Fred walked away, leaving with the final word and you just let out a loud grunt of frustration. 

The next day, after school, another unexpected arrival landed in your lap. 

You were making your way to your car when it wasn’t parked there anymore but instead what you recognised to be Hiram Lodge’s car was in your space. 

You looked around the parking lot to see if you could spot your car but the driver got out of the car in your place and opened the car door for you. 

“Miss Andrews?” The driver beckoned you to step inside and you did so reluctantly. 

It took you to The Pembrooke which is what you expected and then you were escorted all the way to Hiram’s home office. 

“Thank you, Andre.” Hiram thanked the driver as you walked through the door into his office. “(Y/n), lovely to see you again.” Hiram said, looking up from his paperwork then standing to greet you. 

You noticed when you looked at him, something familiar lying on a cabinet behind him. It was your Serpent jacket. 

“Hiram Lodge. So, not only do you steal my car, you break into it as well?” You asked as you folded your arms across your chest. 

“I was so disappointed to hear you couldn’t make it to dinner last night. I’m sure your father filled you in on what you missed.” Hiram ignored your remark as he buttoned his jacket together. “Please take a seat.” 

Hiram waited for you to take a seat in front of his desk before he sat down himself. 

“What do you want?” You asked him bluntly. 

“I just wanted a word with you on your current social... situation.” Hiram struggled to find the right word as your eyes flickered back to your jacket. 

“Social situation?” You scoffed. 

“It occurs to me, (Y/n), that you are apart of the Southside Serpents.” Hiram leant forward on his desk, placing his hands in front of him. You kept your mouth shut, waiting for him to get to a point. “With your father possibly running for Mayor, his only daughter as a Southside Serpent could be a problem. Especially when his only daughter is typically a well respected member of the Northside society and has so much potential.” 

“You want me to leave the Serpents so my dad doesn’t look bad?” You couldn’t believe that Hiram Lodge had such nerve. Well, you could but you really didn’t expect him to use it on you. 

“I know it’s almost impossible to leave a gang like the Serpents so all I’m asking is that you stay away from the Southside just until the election is over and keep this little jacket stashed under your car seat until then also.” Hiram picked up your leather jacket and held it up beside him. 

“And what if I don’t?” You asked, cocking your head at the man. 

“Well, let’s just say I’ll shed some light on a few things for your father to see.” Hiram saying that confirmed that your dad still didn’t know and you’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible. 

You stood up and shook your head in bewilderment. 

Hiram moved his hand forward, giving you access to reach your jacket and you took it. 

“Your car is waiting across the street.” Hiram told you as you went to leave.

You heard him chuckle quietly as you walked away and you so desperately wanted to go back and slap the smirk off his face. 

Things only put you in a worse mood when you got home to see your dad looking at campaign badges and poster designs. 

“Good day at school?” He asked as you stared down at the collection. You scoffed at the book and just walked away. 

“Please tell me you’re not supporting Dad’s decision to possibly run for Mayor?” You asked Archie as you stopped in his doorway. 

“No, I’m not. I don’t want the Lodge’s to just use Dad if he does this.” Archie told you. 

“What? Like how they use you?” You rolled your eyes at the boy. 

“It’s different with me.” Archie tried to defend himself but you weren’t having it. 

“I need a drink.” You muttered to yourself, grabbing some change so you could take the bus to the Southside just in case Hiram spotted your car. 

You got a drink inside the Wyrm but your fun was ruined when Fp came in. 

“Little early for that, isn’t it?” Fp asked as he sat down beside you. 

“It’s 5′o clock somewhere.” You said before you downed your drink the rest of your drink and got up. 

“You wanna tell me what’s bothering ya?” Fp asked as he turned on the bar stool to watch you leave. 

“It’s not your problem.” You told him. 

“Hey... Hey!” Fp chased after you, grabbing hold of your arm.  “You don’t get to help me with my problems then not let me help you back.” 

“My Dad is thinking about running for mayor and Hiram Lodge confronted me about being a Serpent and how that may affect my Dad’s candidacy.” You pulled your arm away from Fp as you explained, “He wants me to stop spending so much time on the Southside just whilst the election is ongoing.” 

“So you came to the Southside to drink just after you were told to stop coming to the Southside?” Fp couldn’t help but tease a little. 

You rolled your eyes and continued to walk away. 

“Hey, look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.” Fp grabbed you again. 

“I got to go. Hiram may have spies for all I know.” You sighed, pushing your hair back with your hand. 

Fp let you go but he couldn’t help his worry with you and now Hiram Lodge being involved. 

Even with the discouragement from both you and Archie, your dad announced to the family that he would be running mayor and you couldn’t believe that.

This meant that you really did have to stay away from the Southside and that wasn’t going to go down well with the Serpent’s especially the younger crowd. 

“You gotta do something about this, Arch.” You told your brother as you both watched your dad on the phone to your mom. 

“I’m gonna have a word with Hiram. There’s something he’s not telling us.” Archie agreed with you that this wasn’t a good idea. 

Later, you would find out that Archie was right. Hiram was hiding something and he called your whole family over to hear it. 

“Jughead Jones may be about to break a story. A story about my plans for Riverdale. And rather than hear it from him, I think it's only right that you hear it from me.” Hiram confronted your father, Archie and you as he sat you all down.

Then, he explained. 

“You're serious? Southside High is gonna be turned into––

“––A private, for-profit prison.” Hiram interrupted your dad. 

“Yeah, built on the bones of a high school. What the hell have we been building in SoDale?” Fred faced Hermione. 

“What we've said all along. Housing.” Hermione assured your father. 

“For all the people who will work at the prison.” Hiram added. 

“And you expect me to support this as mayor?” Fred looked between the two. 

“We're hoping you'd be open to it, yes.” Hiram admitted. 

“Can't do it. I'm outta here.” It didn’t take long for your dad to make up his mind. 

“Look, Fred––”

“––We've been in business for how long? And you didn't tell me. And the only reason you're telling me now is because it's getting ready to become public.” Fred cut off Hermione before she could come up with some excuse to make him stay. 

“I'll admit, it's not ideal.” Hiram sighed. 

“ ‘Not ideal,’ Hiram? You wanna turn the town that I love, my home, my son's home, into a prison.” Fred glared down at the man and you were readying yourself to leave. 

“Fred, please let me tell you why and how this is the right move, for us, for Riverdale.” Hiram tried to convince your father to stay but Fred was as stubborn as you were. 

“You just save that for whoever it is that you find to run for mayor because we are leaving and we are leaving now. Come on, Archie. (Y/n).” Fred made his way from out under the table and expected you both to follow. You stood but Archie didn’t move. 

“Dad, I'm gonna stay.” Archie told him.

“Excuse me?”Fred furrowed his brows at his son.  

“I wanna stay. I wanna hear what Mr. Lodge has to say.” Archie confessed. 

“Then I will see you at home, then.” Fred didn’t know what else to say before he walked out. 

“I’m sorry but you’re all dreaming if you expect me to support that.” You said after Hiram faced you and with that you swiftly followed in your fathers footsteps. They all knew you were a Serpent so why the hell would they expect you to be on the side of someone who wants to turn the Southside into a prison. 

Hiram followed you to the door but you wiped around, knowing the others couldn’t hear and sent him a wicked smile with what you said. 

“Guess you no longer need me to stay away from the Southside. Toodles.” You wiggled your fingers and left with a hair flick. 

You didn’t expect Hiram to call on you again after that meeting went so poorly.

He didn’t need you anymore considering your dad was pretty certain he was against the idea of a prison and therefore wouldn’t run for mayor for the Lodge’s benefit. 

But there Andre was waiting for you after your shift at Pop’s the very same night. 

It was late as you had taken the late shift and you were surprised to see Andre standing there and a little nervous. 

He drove you to the Pembrooke and told you to be silent as the ladies of the house were asleep. 

You didn’t knock on the door to Hiram’s office considering it was open with the fire crackling inside. 

“Hello?” You called out. 

Hiram was sat in one of the chairs by the fire with a whiskey in hand. 

“(Y/n). Please, take a seat.” You didn’t. You just stood and waited for him to say his piece. 

“What do you want? I’m no use to you anymore.” You said snidely. 

“Actually, niña, you are.” Hiram argued. “Now, take a seat.” You could tell he wasn’t going to ask again so you did. 

“Now, I’m sure you’ve figured out that you may return to the Southside when you wish however I didn’t bring you here just to tell you what you already know. I brought you here because you strictly went against what I told you and you visited the Southside immediately after I told you to not go there again. And even worse, you went to the Serpent’s headquarters.” Hiram faced you, looking beyond peeved as he confronted you on this.

“How do you even know that?” You asked, 

“I have my eyes. In fact, that’s why you’re here.” Hiram pulled out a brown envelope and squeezed it slightly as he looked down at it. “Now, I am willing to be lenient this time but disobey me again, cross me again... There will be much more damaging consequences than just your father finding out your a Serpent.” Hiram handed you the envelope and you just sent him a look of pure confusion. 

What could he possibly have on you?

You opened the envelope as Hiram continued speaking. 

“I told Andre to wait until after your shift was over to bring you here because Hermione and my daughter have no idea about this nor am I going to tell them if you do what I ask.” 

They were photos.

Photos of you and Fp in the garage a few days ago, you against the wall with your legs around the man. Photos of you opening the door at Fp’s trailer in nothing but his shirt, followed by photos of Fp grabbing you and pulling you into the living room and you two kissing again. 

“I have to admit I didn’t expect Fp to––”

“––How did you get these?!” You hissed, holding up the envelope. 

“Like I said, I have my eyes.” Hiram told you. “The one’s of you in the garage I actually got when I sent Adams over to speak with Archie. I have to admit I was quite shocked to see them but you’re an attractive girl and if older men is what you––”

“––Fuck you.” You snarled at the man, looking up from the photos with a fire in your eyes. 

“You see, I’ll always win. Go against my orders again and these will be sent to your father immediately. And wouldn’t it just break his heart to see that his childhood best friend has been corrupting his beautiful innocent daught––” You couldn’t help but send your hand across Hiram’s face. 

Hiram caught your wrist just after you slapped him and chuckled bitterly. 

“See to it that we have an understanding.” 

“I understand.” You said through a clenched jaw. 

“Goodnight then, Miss Andrews.” Hiram stood up and opened the door to his office, letting you leave. 

You handed him the envelope on your way out as he stopped you for it. 

You were in deep shit. 

(next part)

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[cedarmoons]

in the woods somewhere

because the world needs more stardew valley gothic. none of yall follow me for sdv, but you’re getting it anyway. don’t know if this’ll be continued or just limited to headcanons - depends on the response lol. | ao3 link

The bus ride to Stardew Valley, Nevada, from Denver takes fifteen hours and costs $249.99. The bus isn’t a Greyhound; it’s run by a company whose name you can’t remember, and you had picked it because it allowed animals on board, and it had been cheaper than the Greyhound’s $299.99 fare. Chester is sleeping in his crate, snoring softly, and you are one of five passengers on the bus.

The other passengers are all wearing sunglasses and strange, brand-new earbuds. The other passengers are all utterly unremarkable, and you forget their faces the moment you look away. It makes you wonder if they forget you, too.

The desert seems endless outside, pitch black except for the neon lights of the motels and gas stations you pass. Other than Chester, you’ve brought a guitar you don’t know how to play, your grandmother’s old carpet bag—stuffed with your favorite clothes, ratty T-shirts and shorts, and that one pair of overalls you’d bought to be ironic—and the deed to Rosebrook Farm, mailed to you from Stardew Valley after Grandpa’s death and accompanied by a letter written in his own hand. Neither of these things had had a return address, other than Stardew Valley.

You’ve read all of Grandpa’s other letters, which had first been addressed to Dad, then to both Dad and you; their delivery had slowed as the years passed, until they stopped entirely a few years before his death. But a handful of them had gone in-depth in their descriptions about how green the Valley was.

You wonder, briefly, how someplace in Nevada could ever possibly be green. By day, it’s all beige, all yellow, all orange, all dirt and scrub and mountains. By night it’s all neon, unnatural colors and abandoned gas stations.

Every one of Grandpa’s letters had included an invitation to visit the valley. Every one of Grandpa’s invitations had been crossed out with thick heavy black strokes, until the words had been almost incomprehensible, until you’d had to hold them up under the lights to actually read them.

Your phone buzzes, pausing your podcast, briefly. You glance down, brushing red hair out of your eyes, and read a text from Dad ✨. How’s the 🚌 trip so far? it reads.

almost there, you text back. just a few more hours i think. eta 830

Dad replies: 😊👍💖.

Dad loves using emojis. He’d discovered them on his own last year and now they’re everywhere in his text messages. It’s adorable.

You lower your phone and look out at the endless desert. It’s 5:10 right now. At the next rest-slash-refuel stop you’ll have to let Chester out to stretch his legs and pee. But right now, you’re halfway across the desert, a thousand miles between you and your old life in Denver, and there’s nothing you can do but resume your podcast, rest your head against the window, and watch the blue-purple horizon.

At 7:40, the bus enters a tunnel under the Calico Mountains. Orange lights shine across the empty seats; you are now the only passenger on the bus. You don’t remember when you became the only passenger on the bus, rather than one of five. You don’t remember the bus stopping at any time other than for a refuel an hour ago, when Chester had been allowed to stretch his legs and pee.

You don’t remember if the other passengers had come back after the refuel stop. You sit up, glancing over the top of your bus seat, but you only see cracked brown leather bathed in stripes of orange. So you stand, looking around; all you find in the empty seats are abandoned sunglasses and strange, brand-new earbuds.

Instinct tells you to turn away, return to your seat, not mention this to the bus driver. You are bathed in alternating colors—orange, black, orange, black. You look at the folded pair of sunglasses, wedged between the bus seat’s back and cushion.

“That’s all for you tonight,” Cecil says. Your podcast is still playing. You don’t know how many episodes you’ve listened to. “Good night, Saige. Good night.”

You glance down at your podcast, eyes widening. Cecil has always said listeners, never your name. He’s fictional; there’s no way he knows your name. Is there?

A shiver runs through your whole body. “What the hell?” you whisper. You exit out of your podcast and go to your music app, where you put on a bouncy pop song whose lyrics you can’t recall. Still shaken, you look back up, only to see that the abandoned sunglasses and strange, brand-new earbuds are all gone. You’re the only person on this bus.

You think that maybe you always been the only person on this bus.

You swallow and turn, sitting back down on your seat. You check inside the crate, heart racing, and Chester smiles up at you, tongue lolling. You smile back and straighten, turning to watch the orange lights go by. You turn up the music volume to drown out the rushing sound of the bus’s tires on the road.

Forty minutes later, the bus emerges from the tunnel to blindingly bright light. You squint, and as your eyes adjust, you are shocked to see so much green. It’s like you’re in Ohio again, where you’d lived as a teenager, surrounded by cornfields that were only broken up by farmhouses. You think that maybe the world shouldn’t be so bright, after nearly an hour spent in that tunnel. You feel that the world shouldn’t be so green, here in Nevada. Hadn’t you been surrounded by desert just an hour ago?

Ten minutes later, the bus rolls to a screeching stop. You look out the window. The land is green, misty, like someplace out of Washington or Oregon. The bus stop is the only structure you can see. Straight ahead, the road comes to a dead end. There is only forest around you, and the tunnel behind you.

You look back out your window, and see two people—a man and a woman—waiting by the treeline. You check your phone for the time. It is 8:30 exactly. You try to remember the last time you’d seen a time that hadn’t ended in 0, but can’t. A moment later, you shake your head.

Doesn’t matter. You’ll check again in a minute, and it’ll be 8:31.

You turn away from the bus window, focus on getting your stuff together. The bus driver, wearing sunglasses and strange, brand-new earbuds, helps you carry your stuff out to the bus stop. You let Chester out; he steps out of his crate, tongue lolling. He promptly trots over to a fern and pees on it.

“Good boy,” you say. Behind you, the bus rumbles. You turn and watch as the driver, his features concealed in shadow—you can’t remember his face—carefully turns the bus around and disappears into the darkness of the tunnel. Orange-and-black light seems to swallow it whole. The air smells like forest and diesel gas and exhaust.

When you turn around, the two people who had been standing at the treeline are right in front of you. You startle, catching yourself before exhaling and smiling, extending your hand. “Hi,” you say, shaking the man’s hand. “Mayor Lewis and Robin, right? I got your email.”

You remember, suddenly, the day you’d decided to quit your job as a Joja cubicle monkey and move to Stardew Valley; an hour after you’d made up your mind, you’d gotten an e-mail from Mayor Lewis, asking if you intended to take up ownership of Rosebrook Farm. Otherwise, he would like to purchase the farm from you, as Joja Inc. had been looking for new land to build a Joja Warehouse.

It had been… good timing. When you’d responded to him that yes, you did intend to move to Stardew Valley and live on Rosebrook Farm, he had told you that he and Robin, the local carpenter, would be there to welcome you.

Strange that you’re just remembering that now.

You shake that thought off. They’re perfectly normal people. You’ve just been listening to your podcasts too much.

“Saige Holland,” Mayor Lewis greets. His palm is slightly too-cold in yours. He’s smiling, you think: the edges of his iron-gray mustache are higher than the rest of it, and his eyes are crinkled in the corners. “It’s good to finally meet you! Your grandfather was one of my closest friends, you know. Why, you’re his spitting image.”

Grandpa had never mentioned Mayor Lewis. Not in his letters to you, not in his letters to Dad. His final letter is in your jacket’s pocket, but you don’t get it out. Instead, you decide to take Lewis’s word for it. You nod and finally manage to pull your hand free from his. Robin takes it immediately, shaking it firmly. Unlike Mayor Lewis, she lets your hand go after an appropriately long handshake.

“It’s been ages since we got anyone new,” Robin says, smiling. “And so young, too! You know, my son Sebastian’s about your age. Eighteen. He’ll be nineteen this winter.”

You are twenty-four. You smile and decide not to tell her this.

“Right. Um, quick question,” you say, as you shrug on your guitar case and take Chester’s crate in one hand, and your carpetbag in another. “Are we—are we still in Nevada?”

Robin and Mayor Lewis exchange a glance and burst into laughter. “Why wouldn’t we be in Nevada?” Robin asks, grinning. You think of fifteen hours’ worth of endless desert and purple-blue skies and stare at her. Robin puts her hands on her hips and inhales, deeply. “We’re just a few hours from Zuzu City!”

You’ve never heard of Zuzu City. But, to be fair, you don’t know any cities in Nevada, other than Las Vegas. You don’t even know its capital. Maybe Zuzu City is Nevada’s capital. You look around the verdant, misty forest that seems straight out of Washington or Oregon, wondering if you had somehow died, or crossed worlds under that tunnel, a world where Nevada was a pine forest state and Washington was all arid desert instead.

You can’t shake the sense of wrongness that has stuck with you since realizing you were the last passenger on the bus.

Lewis’s mustache corners lift, concealing his presumably smiling mouth. “I’ll show you the way to Rosebrook Farm. It’s not a long walk—about twenty minutes or so.”

You whistle for Chester to hurry after you, and follow Mayor Lewis into the thicket of trees that frame a dirt path. Robin cheerfully explains her role in town as the local carpenter, responsible for any upgrades or farm buildings you might need, and then takes her leave before the shadows of the trees fall upon you all.

Mayor Lewis wishes her a cheerful goodbye, and you see Robin’s smile change, almost freezing, fixing in place. It is a very strange expression. She turns on her heel and walks away, almost too quickly. Past a certain point on the path, she vanishes. You blink, squinting, wondering if Robin’s disappearance had been a trick of the light, when Mayor Lewis places a hand on your shoulder. “Come on, then,” he says. He’s smiling, though you can’t see his mouth under his mustache.

He steers you back around, guiding you into the thicket of trees whose canopies curve over the path like a natural arch. A cold breeze brushes over you both, but you are the only one who shivers. Mayor Lewis doesn’t even seem to notice. “Now, Rosebrook Farm really was something back in your grandpa’s day,” he tells you. “But nowadays it’s pretty much a wilderness. If you ever need help clearing it out, let Alex know—he’s strong, and he helped out your grandpa when he was getting on in years.”

Alex, you think, trying to remember that name. Mayor Lewis steps over a fallen log and helps you cross it as well, taking the carpet bag from you so you can scoop Chester up, tucking him under your arm as you step over the half-rotted log.

It’s a twenty minute walk to the farm, as Mayor Lewis had promised. The ground is choked with weeds and overgrown grass, fallen trees and stumps wider than you are tall, boulders taller than you and stones that reach your knees.

You can’t imagine how this was ever a farm. You stare out at the wilderness, try to superimpose a cornfield over it, and you fail, utterly. Mayor Lewis keeps walking, chuckling as he tells you to watch your step, and you think you see the shadows shift at his approach. You think you feel eyes upon your back when you pass those same shadows.

Yeah. You’ve definitely been listening to that podcast too much.

The “cabin” is actually a rundown Victorian-looking house. Patches of the roof are missing, and the white paint has turned grey and chipped. Dead trees and bushes flank the wraparound porch, and the roof windows that face you are cracked, fogged, or boarded up. Dead ivy has grown up the side of the house, nearly swallowing it in a veil of brown and death.

You stare.

Grandpa had only died ten years ago. How had the farmhouse fallen into such disrepair since then? How had the farm vanished?

Mayor Lewis crosses his arms, letting out a soft whistle. He looks at you, sees the dismay that must be naked on your face, and laughs. “Yeah,” he says, “it’s seen better days.” He looks back at the house, then the wilderness that surrounds you both. “But this farm was your grandpa’s dream, once. He loved it with all his heart. Just show it some love and it’ll start loving you back, I wager.”

Chester squirms out of your arm; you let him go. Mayor Lewis gazes up at the decrepit farmhouse and thumbs the end of his cap, then looks at you once more. His eyes are warm, kind, though the brim of his cap casts an oddly-shaped shadow over his face.

“Yep,” he says, smiling. “It’s nice to finally have a fresh face around these parts. Nobody ever leaves this valley, you know. Nobody.”

What a weird thing to say.

You stare at him, and his eyes widen. “Oh! Almost forgot.” He laughs to himself, then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a large paper. He hands it over and you look down at a packet of parsnip seeds, no bigger than the palm of your hand. “Some parsnips, to help you get started. Consider it a welcome gift from everyone in Stardew Valley.”

He shows you the shipping box—a gift from Robin—explains that he’ll sell whatever’s inside, and dips the brim of his cap toward you once again. Then he takes his leave, whistling cheerfully, leaving you alone in the wilderness that has taken over Rosebrook Farm.

You sigh, whistle for Chester, and head inside. There’s a hole in the porch that you almost fall into, but catch yourself at the last moment. You glance over the edge of the hole into the darkness within. A groundhog blinks up at you, then scurries into the shadows under the porch, disappearing from you view.

There shouldn’t be groundhogs in Nevada, you think. There shouldn’t be so much green and mist and life, even if the heat matches the rest of the state. There shouldn’t be pine trees in Nevada.

You straighten and turn back to the front door of your grandfather’s—now your own—house. A piece of paper is stuck on the front of the door, which is just as gray and terrible-looking at the rest of the house. The paper itself is brighter than the paint, and the ink alternates between black and red.

WARNING! you read. This property has been winterized. The water has been shut off and antifreeze added to all toilets, sinks, and taps. Electrical appliances DO NOT WORK. Do not attempt to turn on the water or electrical facilities, as that may cause damage to this property. YOU will be responsible for paying for any damages inflicted upon this property post-winterization. Any visit to this property before it is put on the market to be sold is TRESPASSING. Violators WILL be prosecuted.

It is signed Morris, Joja Customer Service Representative.

You turn around. “Mayor Lewis?” you call. The forest seems to swallow your voice. You walk back to the stairs, mindful of the hole in the porch, and hurry to the place you’d last seen him, Chester at your heels. “Mayor Lewis!”

Nothing. There’s nothing, and no one.

You are alone. Perhaps you always have been.

“Shit,” you say, glancing down at Chester. He sits, paw raising briefly before falling back to the ground. From this angle he looks like a loaf of sand-colored bread, and you love him even more. “What now, huh?”

You have a wilderness for a farm, an abandoned house for a new home, and no one except your corgi for company.

Had there been contact info for this Morris on that piece of paper? Maybe you can talk to him, get Joja people to de-winterize this place. You hadn’t known that Joja was into real estate, but you’re not surprised. Before you’d quit your job at HR, Joja had been a grocery chain, a bank, an insurance agency, and an investment firm, just off the top of your head. Diversification and all that, but you hadn’t liked how many pies Joja Inc. had gotten its fingers in. You hadn’t liked how the Joja smile was slowly but surely appearing everywhere—on billboards, on storefronts, on websites.

And you have the deed to this property. No matter how bad it is, Morris shouldn’t have been able to winterize the house without your permission.

Determined now, you go back to the front door, only to see the winterization notice is gone, vanished, as if it had never been there. The door is still gray and chipped and flaking paint, but the brass knob turns, and the door opens. Light falls in a narrow beam across leaf-strewn wooden floors. The whole house seems to groan when you step inside, setting down your guitar case and your carpet bag by the front door.

The air feels… wrong, here. Like it is somehow full of grief and anger. It lies heavy on your skin. You take a step back, stepping onto the porch once more, and the sensation fades. Chester whines, turning in a circle, butt wiggling, looking up at you nervously. You bend down and pet his head before going back inside, ignoring the instant change in atmosphere.

There’s nothing in the foyer except a piano covered in dust and leaves and debris. Its seat is missing, and the wood finish is not great, but all of its keys are intact. You play a few notes of the Für Elise, and each note rings sour through the space.

Incredibly out of tune, then. No Beethoven tonight.

Behind you, Chester whimpers. You turn and see him sitting outside on the porch, long ears pressed flat against his ears, looking pleadingly at you. When you come back onto the porch, he stands, front paws treading nervously until you kneel down and rub his ears.

“Is it just me, or is this entire place super freaking weird?” you ask him.

Chester’s tongue lolls out, and he turns his head, licking your palm. You kiss the top of his head and stand up, going back inside and fighting a shudder at the change it atmosphere. With some coaxing, you manage to get Chester to pad over the threshold, though he doesn’t look very happy about it and returns to the porch within five minutes.

“Fine,” you tell him. “Stay there. I’ll let you know when it’s dinner time. Well. Breakfast.”

Technically his dinner had been a few hours ago, back at the rest stop on the bus route. But that doesn’t stop him; his ears perk up at the word “dinner.” A moment later, he starts dancing, paws scrabbling against the wood as he jumps, barking as he looks at you with hopeful excitement. Typical.

“I fed you an hour ago,” you tell him. “No dinner yet, buddy.”

He whines and lays down, transitioning seamlessly into his breadloaf form. He rests his head on his paws, watching you with heartbreaking sadness in his bright eyes. You sigh and shake your head at him, turning back to the mess that is your new house.

It’s time to inspect how much work you have to do.

The fireplace in the living room is choked full of ashes and dust. You find the kitchen, which is easily the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen, even discounting the obvious abandonment. It looks like the 1960s had vomited all over it—peeling pink-and-blue floral wallpaper, walnut counters with gray granite countertops, squat and rounded fridge. The sink runs, at least, and the stove turns on, and the fridge and freezer both work when you open their doors.

There is a lot of water damage in the walls and ceiling, but it’s old, not caused by the winterization of the property—if it had ever been winterized. You don’t know, and no one’s around to ask. There’s a sunroom behind the kitchen, but the windows are mostly missing, and those that aren’t are cracked or fogged.

You have no idea how to fix any of this. You have no idea who to contact to fix water damage, or replace ruined drywall, or even get a cuter kitchen.

There’s a half-bathroom, and another closet-sized space that holds an ancient-looking washing machine. No dryer. “Great,” you mutter, and go back to the foyer, climbing up the rickety steps. With every step, you hold your breath, expecting the wood to collapse under your feet, but the staircase holds, to your surprise.

The second floor is five rooms—a full-sized bathroom, complete with a shower-tub, three empty rooms, and a fourth room, the master bedroom that only has a twin-sized bed in a wire frame and a fireplace. The fireplace is just as bad as the one downstairs. The bed is a mattress and a quilt, no sheets, no decor, nothing. It’s empty.

You cannot think of any reason why there would only be a bed in this room and no other furniture. Why not take the bed, too?

You sit on the bed, bouncing on it, testing its weight. The bed and the floor both hold, which is only minimally reassuring. Chester is downstairs, but you still feel watched. When you turn your head toward the corner, you see a wooden trapdoor on the ceiling, with an attached pull-string, undoubtedly leading to the attic.

You don’t want to go to the attic.

Every survival instinct you have screams at you: do not go into the attic.

The air feels heavier, angrier, making your lungs feel too-tight in your chest. You decide you won’t go into the attic, and the sudden pressure on your chest lessens, slightly. You glance down, breathing deeply, fighting the shudder of fear that keeps trying to skitter down your spine. Squeezing your eyes shut, you stand and then kneel on the ground, bare knees scraping against old wooden floors as you look underneath and find several long shapes, their details concealed by shadow.

You reach in, and the shadows look like they move around your hand. Gritting your teeth, you grab the first item and pull out an axe. A hoe, a pickaxe, a sickle, and a dented watering can follow it, and after that, a massive worn backpack of leather. None of the tools look like they’re in any shape to be used as actual tools, but it’s the best you’ve got. When you try to put the pickaxe in the backpack, it somehow fits. You put in the rest of the tools, one at a time, and the backpack takes all of them, and when you shut the backpack flap, you get a faint impression of hunger.

“Huh,” you whisper, and pull the parsnip seeds from your pocket. You go outside with the backpack slung over your shoulder, and open the flap. The first thing you pull out is the sickle. You look at the overgrown grass and shrug. It can’t be too hard, right?

It takes you a long time to clear enough grass to plant the parsnip seeds according to the instructions printed on the back of the seed packet—one square foot for each plant. Probably two hours, if you had to guess. You frown and fish your phone from your back pocket, checking the time.

It’s 1:40.

It shouldn’t be 1:40, you think. You just got here. Time shouldn’t be moving so quickly.

You turn your phone off and go back inside to fill your watering can from the tap, then return outside to water your fifteen parsnip plants. When you check your phone again, it’s 2:00. You shake your head, filled with strange unease, and unlock your phone, opening your texting app to Dad.

You type: dad this place is weird lmao

Dad replies a few moments later: 🤔 ?

You take photos of the house, its interior, and the wilderness. Dad replies with 😱, then: It shouldn’t be that bad. Can you talk to someone to help fix it up?

You type: ik its weird. ill see if i can talk to someone. also weird q but what time is it over there?

The Read receipt of your first text says 2:00, but your phone says the time is currently 2:10. Dad replies with 2:10, and a chill sweeps down your back. Time should not be moving this quickly. Stardew Valley should not be so green, in northwestern Nevada. Winterization notifications should not disappear when you are the only one on the property.

You type: dad i think i’m in a horror movie lol, hesitate for a heartbeat, and then hit send. 

The text turns dull blue, and Dad ✨ is replaced with Sending… that blinks over and over. A few moments later, the text jerks to the side, accompanied by a red exclamation mark and the words underneath: Message failed to deliver. Send as text?

You send as text. You wait. A few moments later, the green text bubble jerks to the side, accompanied by a red exclamation mark and the words Failed to send underneath the text. It is now 2:20.

You text Dad: ok just curious

This message delivers. You try the horror movie text, but it fails to send again, and again, and again. Dad replies with his usual emojis, and the clock on your phone ticks by in increments of ten. You try the horror text one last time, and one last time it fails to send; you stop trying.

You can’t help but feel the “failed to send” was deliberate, somehow. You can’t help but feel you’ve made a terrible mistake, coming here to Stardew Valley.

You think back to Mayor Lewis, his smiling mustache and missing mouth. Nobody ever leaves this valley, he’d said.

Nobody.

[neth-dugan]

Nine Worlds - Sunday

Saturday found [HERE]

I woke up on Sunday not feeling really tired, but also really sad that it would be the last day. And on Sunday stuff ends earlier too which is also a bummer. I get why, some have to leave in the evening but it’s still sad. This was also the day when I had the most panels to sit on. 

AIs AND SUPERINTELLIGENCES - ARE THEY REALLY COMING FOR US?

...bonus points if you recognise this movie that wasn’t mentioned in the talk.

A good portion of this was on the history of computing, which was interesting, From pre-electronics to Ada Lovelace to Alan Turing to Siri.

I wish I remembered more. it went through a few modern computers that had passed various landmarks such as chess and go and the like. And then the ‘scary’ bit that sci-fi doesn’t tend to cover so much. If an AI comes about there is a good chance it’ll focus on one task and obsess over it, and do so in a way that human brains don’t get  and can’t really combat. Like, they could focus so much on one menial thing that they take over the planet to make the perfect paperclips.

To me, a question at this point is does this count as an AI? If it can’t reason its way that destroying the world to make a paperclip is a tad much is it a true AI or just a very very smart and resourceful paperclip making software. 

It’s not like I’d expect AIs to think in the same way humans do, but some ability to reason and set their own goals or change their minds would seem to be a part of it. And endlessly striving towards perfecting one goal originally programmed into them by a human that they can’t break free of? Not sure that counts. I know even humans can be very goal orientated, and some of us can focus very intently on things and that is our thing. But the way the speaker was talking about it sounded different. I don’t know. Would be interesting to stick people from different fields in a room and have a chat about it.

A thing I found interesting in all this talk of AIs going way too OTT to fulfil an imperative, and AIs taking over for whatever reason... there was no mention of texts where humans wilfully submit. Which, granted, there aren’t a lot. I had to run off after this for my own panel but I made sure I told the speaker about Travellers. It isn’t the main plot of the story or anything but worth checking out for how they do the AI thing.

OUR LAST, BEST HOPE FOR SCIENCE FICTION:25 YEARS OF BABYLON 5

It’s been twenty five years since the B5 pilot, and it’s still one of the best science fictions hows out there, and one with far too little recognition. Last year, @knittedace and I kept saying we need to do a B5 panel this year. Needed to do one. Turns out we weren’t the only ones an a bunch of us submitted a proposal for one, and the Nine Worlds content folk shoved us into an e-mail group together and let us figure it out. Which is amazing, but also daunting because there is so much to talk about for this show. @knittedace decided she’d rather be in the audience but still, so much fun.

One of our panelists cosplayed as Londo last year and offered to do so again for this panel. Someone, at some point, suggested he remain in character for the panel, and so it began. Ambassador Mollari moderating it which a bottle of his favourite tipple on hand, and Centauri woman on hand to keep him in line, a Bajoran Starfleet officer trying to bridge rifts and a human along for the ride.

...the Bajoran Starfleet officer (me) praying to Susan Ivanova

Funnily enough, the night before this I was approached by a guy who was going to be on my Star Trek panel. It turns out he has a Psi Cop uniform and wondered if I wanted him to turn up in it. I said yes please, that would be fantastic. And when he turned up? It was a very good uniform, and as an impromptu thing I asked if he wouldn’t mind staying in character for the session. He said yes and it was so good.

...the Corps is mother, the Corps is father.

People noticed coming in that he was there, and what he was doing, and I think a few were rather tickled by it. Before the panel proper started I did warn them all that we had him there, and as such we all needed to send him nasty thoughts in 5, 4, 3, 2...1. And he played along. There was a fair bit of this going on through the panel at different bits and I don’t know how it looked to others, but sitting on stage it felt great.

We did a quick stop tour about a lot of things. The fantastic women of B5, and how they’re all different from each other. How characters grow and change and have depth, and in fact there is a lot of change in B5. We talked a fair bit about how it shows the rise of racism and how insidious it can be. How it can sneak up on you. And how we need to learn from that. How it did well regarding diversity, especially given its time and how it made Ivanova bi and treated same gender marriage as a simple fact of life in the time period of the show.

One line I remember fondly coming from Londo was “Behold Minbari Jesus - his name is Jeff”. Which made me laugh inside a fair bit.

We talked a lot about our favourite moments. I couldn’t choose. I was stuck between this moment, this moment, and the War Without End two parter. Londo stepped out of character and the real person talked about this amazing scene between Londo and G’Kar that you can see here and I’ll never do justice describing. 

We also talked about Michael O’Hare. It turns out not everybody knew his story, so here is a link to JMS himself talking about it. But in short, he wasn’t well and had some mental health issues going on in the first season to the point where he had to leave at the end. Nobody on the cast knew, they thought he was just odd or short tempered but had no idea. JMS got him as much support as he could on set, ready to pull the plug when he needed to. Which he did at the end of the season. O’Hare told JMS that when he died, he could tell the world what had happened. And so JMS did. 

It amazes me what that man went through, that he was determined to keep the show going, keep all the people working on it employed and tell that story even though it was hard and there had been offers to stop production. It makes me sad that he felt the stigma around mental health to the point where he couldn’t be open about it, or that he wasn’t able to receive better treatment whilst working. We do know that he did get treatment and he eventually got better as he appeared in season three for two episodes and you can visibly tell he looks better.

Babylon 5 has had a lot of deaths in its cast over the years. A lot, especially considering it wasn’t even made that long ago. In the group we’d decided we were definitely going to do a moment of silence in the memory of those now beyond the rim. And though I think we were going to do it at the end, it felt right to do it after talking about O’Hare, as he is one of those deaths. He died of reasons unrelated to his mental illness, for those wondering. 

...two of those now lost to us. 

Despite that sombre note, we had a fantastic panel and had a great time. Our resident Psi Cop took the microphone around the audience for us instead of one of the tech volunteers (who usually do it). We had a few people in Star Trek costumes, myself included, and we did mention Star Trek and DS9. All without being mean, hostile or falling into that trap of ‘we must be rivals and look down on DS9′ thing you see in some B5 groups. 

I’d declared there would be none of this on the group chat before, all agreed, and at least one person mentioned to me after that they were glad this didn’t happen. So yay.

Also, at the end I declared one side of the room purple, and one side green. The room was decently full and even if one side didn’t go back as far, I don’t think there was a massive difference in numbers. So after checking it was okay with everyone, we had a shouting contest and whichever side won, won for their team.

Purple won. Even if I weren’t on the panel, I still think this would be a up on events this year.

FAT REPRESENTATION IN GEEK CULTURE, PART TWO (SECOND BREAKFAST)

A sequel to a pane a couple years back that I wasn’t at, this was amazing. It was, in large, a big group therapy session on living life when you’re big. How you’re treated and dismissed and harassed and ridiculed. How people will justify it as being ‘concerned for your health’ which is a a bunch of bull. The ignorance and also how the way we grow up and society leads to self loathing and the like. The need for body positivity and how some parts of the fashion world are starting to cater to us.

It was pretty freeing. Nine worlds in general is pretty great about size. I’ve never felt shamed for being large. Never felt out of place for it or looked at the wrong way. But this space especially was really great. 

There are things you don’t get if you aren’t fat. The way people can look at you when you eat, the way you’re sometimes scared to eat your fill, the way being your body is seen as itself an imposition on the space of others just by existing or sitting down. The way you’re always so conscious of that. Of that person who jumps out of their seat next to you the minute they can to go sit somewhere else. Anywhere else. 

So this? I loved this.

...now, if people designing clothes for us fat folk would realise that me being fat does not mean I have big boobs. Or that some of us carry in the stomach a ton. And design for that. And get models for that. 

If they do this again next year? I am going back. That is for sure. 

SUBVERTING BRO CULTURE AND FANWORKS

Whilst waiting for this to start, being the only panelist in the room for a while and not wanting to stare ate folks, I struck up a conversation around B5 and Star Trek, I think. I know B5 was in there at least. But, y’know, nerd convention. To be expected.

I was asked to be on this pretty late, had the least prep out of the four I sat on or ran, and mostly agreed for the Check, Please! content that would likely pop up. There was a lot of sports fandom stuff which I don’t know so well, but also a lot of things that work fandom wide. And culture wide. And another panelist knew a lot about a game I know nothing of, but themselves knew nothing of Check, Please! It was kinda amusing, but still worked some how I think.

It occurred to me, that maybe one of the reasons you get so many coffee shop AUs (and similar) is to take these characters doing dangerous things in very bro culture places and put them into a different place. A less bro place, a safer place. I’m still fed up of the things but I do wonder if that’s the case, and that makes me think of them better.

If you look at fandom, at some of the popular tropes or tendencies you see a lot of this. Characters in a very masculine environment, and fandom deconstructing that somehow. Either by complete AUs or by building families or what have you.

There was a lot of real life sports situations, sports fandoms and real life bro culture at college. How some places are trying to dismantle this but especially in universities with the constant turnover of students etc it takes real effort and framework. 

Oh, also, lots of good things said about Brooklyn Nine Nine. Which. Yes. That show is so good and subverts so many stereotypes and it doesn’t have the ‘chase you endlessly’ guy ‘win’ the girl, but eventually realise they need to back off. And Terry. And Jake who starts off not the best, though still better than most, and just gets better and better. And. And. Good show on subverting bro culture, that one. Also lots of talk of Black Sails, but I know nothing of this sadly. One of its actors turned up and was on a panel I think? Don’t know which actor or which panel though, but that is awesome. I’d so do that in their position too.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY - SQUEE AND MOAN

Some time last year before the show aired, a bunch of nerds decided we would likely want to talk about this show at Nine Worlds and all submitted the idea of ‘Star Trek: Discovery. Something. We’ll figure it out later’. And then much like my B5 group, we were all thrown in together to figure it out. It seems like my title was kept but honestly? It wasn’t a ton of moan. The panelists were all fans, something I warned the room of ahead of time.

Much like my Queer Dax panel last year, there were a fair few people in the room before start time. So we ended up having a pre-panel panel on Star Trek in general and the new Picard series specifically. I also recommended ‘A Stitch in Time’ by Andrew Robinson (Garak) and how you can get it as an eBook now. I know for a fact at least one person has since bought it. Muahahahaha.

Our friend the Psi Cop from earlier had now changed uniform to TOS movies uniform, now a proud Starfleet officer. A far better costume than my TNG uniform hoodie and pin. After asking permission to audio record it, he did so and so you can listen to the entire panel here. It’s about an hour long but I think interesting.

Honestly, I could’ve kept talking about it for ages. I had notes of what we’d agreed to talk about on e-mail, and which order of priority they sat at. Of course new stuff pops up and the flow of it means you may miss a thing or flip the order a bit but I find having that sort of thing really useful. I tweeted about it later and Doug Jones, Saru himself, liked it so yay. Someone on the cast knows a convention full of nerds in England love his work.

We talked about diversity, how like other Treks this one was made to fit the world we live in as it is made. How the tone of sci-fi has shifted and if that’s impacted things. Diversity and representation. Some things we didn’t think were so great. But generally it was a big ‘WE LOVE YOU’ fest.

It was also the last formal panel of Nine worlds. I think there were a two things in the slot after, but this was in the last major slot. It was an honour really.

FOOD AND DINNER AND REST OH MY

So I’d been separated rom @knittedace and @laalratty most of the day. I was also a bit tired and kinda wondering around the bar area when I came across @unwoundbobbin and proposed the four of us go to dinner if everyone was okay with it. But I did need to go to my room and rest a bit.

So I did, everyone was good with the idea, though it took the three of us a while to get back downstairs to meet up with @unwoundbobbin again. There was some Slash played but we went off to Wagamama’s for dinner where we had great food and good conversation. Me and @knittedace were out of costume at this point. 

It was sad. End of the con. But there was one formal thing left...

THE NOT THE END OF THE CON QUIZ

The quiz at the end of the convention. It is tradition, though it was also a new group of people doing it this year.

The four of us got a table, and found ourselves sharing with another two, and then another two people found their way to us later. Amusingly, at dinner there had been talk of which topics would be preferable to turn up. They turned up.

@knittedace and @laalratty got us most of our points, the everyone contributed and in a tough race every single point is essential. At one point @laalratty thought the giant spider in Harry Potter was called Aragorn and that was amusing but I’m not kidding. Those two were fantastic. And when we won? We won in large part thanks to them.

...me with my price of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers coaster. TRICERATOPS! I’m also slightly worried about the Riddler, looks like something may be afoot.

We got to go up and pick out our prizes, a few bits of ‘stuff’ per person. I saw Power Rangers and went ‘MINE!’ and so now I have MMPR coasters. It was all kindly donated by a con goer and quiz partaker who was apparently trying to clear out a lot of nerdy goods they have. Which seemed to have not been touched, packets not opened and the like. 

IT’S THE FINAL CON NIGHT.... *CRIES*

And that was it. The last official event of Nine Worlds. Our team drifted towards the bar, claimed a table for victory celebrations. Which mean @knittedace wearing an inflatable crown she’d chosen as a prize, and playing Slash.

A good portion hadn’t heard of slash before so we had to teach them. Some just wanted to watch rather than play - though some of them joined in. I think everyone was enjoying themselves in their own way and I was glad to have a big long hard game of Slash. I felt like I hadn’t been playing it nearly enough, as Nine Worlds is the only place I can.

I did manage to convert several people to it though. It should be noted, that it’s a home made deck and we don’t really play with any rules. It’s mostly card assisted crack fic creation. As the night went on some drifted away to bed, some others drifted towards us and joined in. It was fun.

Whilst this was going on, and as the bar slowly emptied, there was another group of people in the bar doing tarot reading. Me, @laalratty and @knittedace stopped there on the way to our room. Got our readings. Mine was done on this really awesome deck that was queer friendly and fat friendly and stuff. I loved the artwork. I don’t believe there’s any actual magic or power in it other that what we choose to place on it ourselves. But it was fun. And the person doing it was pretty awesome themselves, asks you questions and makes you think. Which is tarot at its best I think. Not the claiming to know what will come next.

As all this was going on, a group of nerds had gathered around a grand piano near the main lobby entrance. The lift that brought in people from the outside world, and a few people did arrive to find themselves being serenade with nerdy songs they didn’t understand. But it was great. They sang well, the piano player played well. The woman who did the BSL sessions was there and I think was signing at one point. 

We neared them to get to the lifts to our room, and as they did so I heard them sing this song. Which will always and forever make me think of Due South. Of new beginnings in endings. I think I said something long the lines of ‘OMG!’ when I realised what they were singing and surprised them. Oooops. But that song gives me many feels. I don’t know if anybody there knew of the Due South connection, but I hope so.

And with that, me, @knittedace and @laalratty went to the room. Went to bed. And Nine Worlds was over. Which makes that song being the last thing I heard at the convention fit pretty well, to be honest.

MISC STUFF

So, our room? Our room had the best number ever.

Yup, three asexuals got to the room, saw the 69 and giggled a lot. And found it amusing all through the convention. Didn’t tell anybody at the time as giving your room number to strangers is a bad idea. But we aren’t there now, so I can share.

They put three asexuals in a 69 room. Brilliant.

On a not so fun side, every night there was a disco I could hear it as I tried to get to sleep. On the fourth floor. I am not best pleased by that and really wish they’d turn the volume down. It’s annoying enough for me, but at least I know what is going on and understand it. Not everyone at the hotel is a convention goer. People have been telling Nine Worlds for years to please turn it down but it’d seem not.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT POLICE THING? THE FUTURE OF NINE WORLDS?

I’m going to do a separate post for that. I will link to that both HERE and on Thursday’s post once posted. 

[room-on-broom]

You know, Worst witch has a really wild timeline. It’s like star wars or something, let me explain?

like for example right now  its 3am and I’m copying a pen drive full of 98′s episode for someone in their late teens who vaguely remembers seeing a few on repeat but never like the full thing. but saw it on a 00′s buzzfeed thing rather then doing their uni work and felt nostalgic for a thing that came out and technically finished the year they were born but knew I probably had a youtube link handy. and also awake at 3am lol. A lady in my art group didn’t realise the books were still going till Jill Murphy was in the Saturday magazine a couple of years back. she read them to her kids when they were little and they’ve like what 5 maybe 10 years on me even so thier like 36 max? . She brought a then complete set for her granddaughter that same week and has the upcoming one on preorder after I told her it was coming out because we got chatting about a mildred hubble sketch i’d doodled.

I also have a workmate in her 30′s didn’t know that that the 98s series was a thing. she knew of the 80s film and had seen the NEW worst witch and knew there was a new Cbbc series because her markus love the four oclock club so just assumed they were all like the same universe. like sequels. 

I’d read the books i had religiously and I’d seen the shows a kid but only got back around about gcse/6th form into it after an storybook illustration of mildred hubble showed up on deviant art. so then i found the seris and then fanfiction and the work of jill murphy and that then altered my life re those friends the art i did and writing friends which in turn had dirsct impact on recievieng mental health help, and working out what collage then uni i went to as well as realising I were queer/nb? who I wound’t have met if not for a bit of fan art, a fan fiction site which had like less then 200 stories at the time and this werid adaption of kids books?

I know someone who saw weird sister first? before anything else? One of my old tutors mates worked in print distribution or something and remembered seeing either the First or the second book come out. (who also hates the logo the books have now btw)

I’ve had so many time where I've seen “worst witch is like a harry potter” or WW is a rip off of HP.  which is werid because theres definate element were the WW advertisng or what ever tried to jump on the HP bandwagon? but at the same time WW its both newer and much older the the HP francise and a clear inspiration for some of HP elements???

You got these classical trained actors, and telly actors who’ve been in everything, and actor who are both. but who will always be __ from worst witch to a bubble of people. you got kids who will now be __ from worst witch. you’ve actors whose first or last jobs were/are on worst witch. you’ve a retired from acting mother of two somewhere who is still ‘Maud’ to many folks, in the same line Felicity Jones is now on the big screen and bella the newest Mildred is in GOT?

Ebay adverts keep popping up with VHS’s with Tim Curry’s face on  because I once tried hunting don the series. In fact every Halloween on tumblr if you go on the worst witch tag its full of Timmy currys face and folks asking about tamborines.  and another much smaller bunch yelling in caps its punky-night.

and like last fortnight I leant my spare copies of a bad spell and all at sea to a kid in my brownies/rainbows units. she loves reading, saw “based on the book” in the cbbc opening credits and couldn’t find half of them in library at school, but has to wait till her birthday to get the whole collection for herself. I asked if she was okay with missing a few or spoiling the ending of episodes potentially. but nah she just wanted more mildred hubble stories but she like how Mildred ‘is only a bit older then me rather then a nearly adult older’ because she’s going to big school soon or something.  

and then she laughed cos bad spell has the reading level printed on the back because that was a thing? that copy of bad spell was printed (not released) from same year as the movie release. and All at sea is battered as hell and has a “now TV seris” cover so its Georgina Sherrington on the back and frount.  And I’ve had that copy of lost at sea from when I was her age. and now I’m copying the old seris and chatting about the movie and the spin offs and she’s reading them because she saw the new show. and i woulnt be in this deep except someone else liked it enough to draw fan art too like a decade or so ago. and there a new book possibly the very last one coming this year as season two wraps up.

Its werid. worst witch time line is werid some come and speak to me about this because its 3am and I just broke my brain.

[syncogon]

Some Chinese Cartoons

[Disclaimer: this was addressed to one specific person. I’ll make a better post one day.]

One day I’ll add pics and make this actually formal and stuff. But for now...

我为歌狂/Music Up:

Summary: Two musically talented, insanely popular high school guys - but that’s about all they have in common. In fact, they hate each other’s guts. And yet, through complicated circumstances, they and two others join to form a four-man band, “OPEN.” Both individually and as a band, they face a variety of problems: financial, academic, familial, romantic, and everything in between, in order to pursue their dreams. (52 eps)

Commentary: This is set in modern(ish) day, real world. Made in 2001, so keep that mind when considering the animation quality. They do have a lot of good songs, since this IS a show about singers and pop bands. Overall the tone is pretty light. Some things are a lot more dramatic than they need to be but that’s fantastic. And a lot of the problems are highly relatable. Development of characters and relationships is def one of the selling points. HUGELY nostalgic for me and a lot of Chinese people it seems haha

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLkMLYnt73g the second opening.

战龙四驱/Go For Speed:

Summary: Two years ago, the genius high schooler Fei won the minicar (4WD) racing Nationals. But only shortly afterward, he disappeared, with only a short note hinting at why. Now, his younger brother Dragon follows in his footsteps, designing and creating his own minicars to compete in the tournaments and steadily working his way up through the rankings. Along the way, he meets many people, makes friends and enemies, and struggles to find Fei and his reason for leaving. (64 eps)

Commentary: Modern/slightly future-day, real world (Shanghai!!). Okay so this show is based around like the gimmick of “minicar racing” - not sure what to really call it. The races are surprisingly fun to watch actually imo, with the technological abilities of the minicars, interactions between players, and obstacles to pass... but you’d probably have to decide that for yourself. For me, the biggest draw was probably the surprising number of subplots, which explore the complex relationships between all the characters - literally every single side character is well established and developed. Family and familial relationships play a pretty big role. Revenge and forgiveness are there too. I got hooked into this show when it was airing on TV solely because of one character haha. Caveat that it starts slow, I don’t know how much you’d actually like this, there needs to be some suspension of disbelief, and the animation quality isn’t fantastic… rip

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0tHRbyaek&index=30&list=PLQukwpGC9a0wfDv0ymEgGX-LydTKbZY_s (a trailer, in english for some reason even though i’ve never found an english dubbed version of this and don’t want to. It mostly focuses on the racing aspect, but as before, don’t let that fool you, it’s surprisingly deep. Come for the races, stay for the chars)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQukwpGC9a0zqrmIGCXOW1QVlfh6svY7y since when was this on youtube?? :o WAIT HOLY SHIT SINCE WHEN DOES THIS HAVE ENGLISH SUBS THIS IS A GAME CHANGER AAAAA NOW LIKE I MIGHT GO REWATCH THIS - just kidding, only the first episode. Man what a letdown

弹珠传说/Danzhu Legend:

Summary: This is a world where people have Danzhu battles: competitions involving channeling your magic energy into Shooters to launch marble-like Danzhu at targets. These objects have great power, but, so far, no one has decided to take advantage of it… until now. One day, a young boy who has always dreamed of becoming a Danzhu battler is chosen by one of the five Legendary Shooters. He journeys into the mountains to seek training from the Danzhu Master, where he meets the other four Legendary wielders and learns that their job is to stop the evil threatening to take over their world. (52 eps)

Commentary: Fantasy world. So this is like your pretty standard “boy discovers power and works to save the world” story, but still enjoyable in its own right. The gimmick of this are the aforementioned Danzhu. The Guardians are also very important; all Shooters are linked to a spiritual animal/creature/something that’s the basis of power. The battles are all very cool! Quick disclaimer: for various reasons I am more familiar with this show than maybe any other of the ones here. This fact made me appreciate how much potential this story had, but also made me realize all of its flaws. There are a lot of things it could have done better - character development jumps to mind, because aside from the MC and one of the antagonists, most of them don’t change all that much. Also there’s lots of recycled animation. Just keep these caveats in mind. However, I still found the adventure/plot/magic very exciting to watch, a healthy dose of idealism and humor as well as tension/smarts/raw courage, so if you’re interested in that aspect more, I’d recommend this!

Links: ALL THE EPISODES ARE ON YOUTUBE ONCE MORE PRAISE this is very helpful for me because when i needed them to be on youtube, someone had like taken all of them down, which was very upsetting, but now they are back again, glorious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvQUvsPwKA0&list=PLZKi4aAqJS8dbVOUrKnDqNU4F4rnm8Ott playlist isn’t in order but you should watch the opening theme to get a feel for it - if you want even more of a feel, watch to 4:50, which is kinda like a prologue and a better summary of what I said above lol

开心宝贝/Happy Heroes:

Summary: Just read what’s on tvtropes tbh haha (link below) (Ongoing, 10 seasons, 52 eps each (except season 8 which was 40 eps) )

Commentary: Imo the best seasons were 3, 5, 6, and 8. After 8 the animation style changed a bit and the humor quality kinda went down…well, that might just be me, though. Either way, though, there are so many amazing earlier episodes, and I’ve gotten really attached to all the characters. It being a kids show, there’s no super deep plot or lasting impact of anything (aside from the last arc of season 7, heh. I remember watching when it came out in 2014 and flipping out bc I did NOT expect that, knowing HH) but it’s still thoroughly enjoyable. There are also two movies: the second movie is kinda confusing and meh but the first movie is pretty good and I think you can find it on youtube. In fact I believe all the episodes are on youtube, but I imagine you have those links already

Links: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKA3CuHXUxHflv9KAgEJyKQ is the channel with everything. Watch the trailer for season 8! It’s v epic and got me hyped when it released.

Tvtropes: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Animation/HappyHeroes

Movie 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUiA3nue22Y. (there are english subs too! haha)

Movie 2 isn’t worth watching trust me

星游记/Rainbow Sea:

Summary: Years ago, a man dressed in all red made a declaration to the universe: behind the largest black hole was a mysterious place called Rainbow Sea, a place where any dream could be fulfilled. Enchanted by the stories, people from across the universe joined the man in red in his journey. Unfortunately, no one ever returned. Rainbow Sea was scoffed at as a myth and a lie. The man in red was cursed, nicknamed by people as the Red Demon. The sinister organization known as the Galactic Eyes quietly gained control of the Solar System and numerous other star systems, sealing off the planet where the Red Demon had come from, Earth, and forbidding any ships from entering or leaving. Now, ten years later, the Red Demon's son Maidang has reached adolescence and is determined to fulfill the pinky promise made to his father before he left: to reunite with him at Rainbow Sea.

Commentary: Quality stuff right here. Best part is the backstories of all these characters, there’s some really moving stuff. The characters are p great - Maidang is so inspiring, Gudong is highly relatable, Diya is awesome... The art style (esp for their eyes) is really nice. ...Not much else to say off the top of my head, esp since the story is far from over, but even if it starts off slow, this is definitely worth your time!

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiB_oZBdi7k&list=PLF068DA90359EDE0D all the episodes. The opening theme/sequence was what got me hooked, you should def watch it (up to like 1:20 or whatever, then if you want like a prologue watch to like 3:07)

26 eps so far. Season 2 and after are apparently going to be “web movies” instead of episodes, something like 60 minutes each, and will cost money (rip) but I’m sure they’ll show up for free somewhere eventually. Fingers crossed this’ll be soon. Wanna join me in hiatus hell :DD

神魄/Zinba:

Summary: Kan is happily chatting with his closest friend on an ordinary school day when, all of a sudden, he finds himself pulled into an alternate fantasy world. This world is filled with Zinba, large and powerful creatures that may form bonds with select humans, called Linkers, for immense battle power. After becoming a Linker with one of the strongest Zinba ever to exist, Kan joins the peacekeeping Dux force of the kingdom of Toria and fights against the various evils threatening the land, all while trying to find his way back to his own world. (52 eps)

Commentary: Okay, so you know, I wouldn’t recommend this as much as some of the others on this list, esp since it’s the most recent Chinese show I actually watched, but it made enough of an impact on me to have it worth talking about. I started watching bc a) it showed up as recommended for me on youtube, b) the opening is SICK as HECK, and c) the protag of this is voiced by the same person as the protag of DZL, and generally looks/acts kinda similar haha. Anyway, overall thoughts: basically, it had a lot of unrealized potential. The world and the character designs are AMAZING. I liked the animation. The plot is interesting, with a surprising number of plot twists as to who’s the real ultimate villain. But there could have been So Much More development – we could’ve gotten more thorough backstories for the main crew, for example, or seen more of the world/magic/tech, but instead a lot of the people as well as Zinba just… exist, as static and boring entities. There were like two interesting characters total (Kan’s aforementioned “normal” friend being one of them heh). Kan himself was suuuuper annoying, esp at the beginning. (can you tell I really appreciate/prioritize the characters of a show?) However, some moments were quite well done and epic, and I wrote some fanfiction and commentary on basically every episode, so it holds a place in my heart. Also, there is a full English dub lmaooo (the voices suck but the translations for names/places/etc are interesting) (episode 1 has 318k views??? That’s a TON for a chinese cartoon)

Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G83STZ9xcc the opening which is good and worth watching, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQukwpGC9a0xatMI-KGO9SILZ5sSWfWXX full playlist, syncogon.tumblr.com/tagged/zinba lol

[thatmattattack]

GIF TUTORIAL WITH PHOTOSHOP 2017 CC & POTPLAYER Alright, I've been asked a few times how I make my gifs and what kinds of adjustments I use on them, so since I have plenty of free time right now I thought I'd give this tutorial thing a shot. Please note that the last Photoshop-related tutorial I wrote was probably in 2009 or 2010 --- in other words, if you have no idea what I'm talking about then feel free to message me about it. Moving on, this is what you need for this tutorial to work properly: - Photoshop (I'm using CC 2017, but 2014-2016 should work about the same as well as CS3-CS6) - PotPlayer (you can download it here or use your preferred software, but I really do recommend this player) - A movie, TV show, or Youtube videos that you would like to gif (I recommend torlock for movies/television shows and eztv for television shows. I don't usually download Youtube videos, but I've heard that keepvid is a good source for downloading them.) - HD quality or better (you want to at least get 720p when you can because the results are going to be best then; however, it is still possible to use this tutorial if you are using media from years gone by where 720 was but a dream.) - You will need to download this action in order to sharpen the gifs you make. - Finally, I use my own colorings, but there is a good variety to choose from on itsphotoshop Today, we will be creating this gif:

To start, open PotPlayer and load up the media you are wanting to gif. Then, find the scene that you want to gif and pause the video before right-clicking on the player and doing just as the below image shows:

Then configure this menu to your preferences. I recommend capturing the frames in PNG format at 100% quality; however, you can use JPEG if you would like. I also like to capture every single image, but I know this can be time consuming (more on ways around that later*), so doing every second frame will also work. Also, it's very important that you set the "Number of Frames" to 99,999 because the number of frames does add up quickly and it would suck to have to start all over again.

*This is a completely optional step, but if you want things to go slightly faster with capturing I cannot recommend setting the playback speed of the episode to slightly faster. You can do this by right-clicking "Playback" and then selecting "Speed" and clicking on the "Up" option. Even easier, you can simply use the keys C (speed up), Z (back to normal), and X (speed down). It should be noted that depending on the hardware that your computer has this might hog a lot of energy and actually slow things down, so only continue doing this if it actually works with your device.

Now, just sit the "Start" button and watch (or browse Tumblr, maybe go get a cup of coffee, whatever) as the scene is captured and open up Photoshop in the background if you haven't already. Once you're finished capturing, click on "File" and follow along with the image below:

You should get a dialogue box that looks something like this:

From there, click on "Browse" and locate and select the screencaps that you want to use before clicking on "OK." I suggest using "Select All" or CTRL while right-clicking each image if you don't want to go insane during this process.

Depending on how many images you've selected, what Photoshop version you're using, the device you're working with, and about a million other things, the process of actually stacking the images on top of each other could take anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes or longer. If it's the latter, this would be a great time to go get a snack or respond to emails, but you do you.

Once everything has settled down, click on "Window" and select "Timeline" from the menu. It should be towards the bottom and look a little something like this:

Now, do the following:

1. Click on the upper far-right icon that looks like a bunch of horizontal lines. 2. From that menu, click on "Make Frames From Layers" and wait. 3. Click on the same icon and select from the menu "Select All Frames" and then "Reverse Frames" 4. Where it says "Once" in the bottom left of the Timeline, click on it and change it to "Forever" or else your gif will only play once when you upload it to Tumblr. 5. Then, while all of the frames are still selected, click on the section that reads "0.00" and then "Other." 6. Finally, enter in your preferred time-rate. Personally, I usually go for 0.11 right off the bat, but anything from 0.10-0.17 can work or be necessary, so don't be afraid to play around with it.

It should now look like this:

At this point, you should crop the image with your preferred method and size it according to Tumblr's standards (old or new). You can read more about those dimensions here.

For this I will be using the 500px size, which looks like this:

Now comes the exciting part! I want you to download that sharpening action that I linked to earlier and make sure the Actions menu is visible (if it is, click on "Windows" and then "Actions"). Then, click on the horizontal lined icon and select "Load Actions" where you can then choose the sharpening gif action. It should load onto Photoshop immediately, but you may need to restart the software if it does not.

Make sure the first frame and last layer are the only two frames or layers highlighted and from the Timeline menu click on "Flatten Frames Into Layers." Now, click on the little play button in the Actions menu and let it do its magic. If your gif has less than 120 frames, which most do, then click on "Stop" when a dialogue box comes up unless you want the final product to look like something out of somebody's nightmare.

At this point, it's time to add coloring. You can use a PSD from the link I provided earlier or somewhere else, but I will be briefly describing my coloring process below (and with more pictures!)

THE BEGINNING

The first thing I like to do is create an adjustment layer known as "Curves" and expand the the line to the top like so. This does not always work with the image I'm working with, but generally speaking, it's a good place to begin because everything has already been brightened. Additionally, there is nothing wrong with seeing what the "Auto" option offers because sometimes it's spot on.

Moving forward, I like to use an exposure adjustment layer. I almost always use a variation of the image below, but feel free to tinker with it!

Finally, I use a vibrance adjustment layer. Overall, the values on this kind of adjustment depend heavily on how much color the initial image has; however, I will say that I usually choose increasing the saturation level more over increasing the vibrance level more because it aids more in enhancing what's already there. For this gif, I went with 3 for the saturation and 1 for the vibrance and this is the result so far:

THE COLOURING

In this phase, I make use of a variety of different adjustment layers. Perhaps the most important, however, is the selective colour adjustment layer. This adjustment layer is fantastic at changing the shades and tones of colours in the image. In general, I like to keep the reds/yellows up enough to make sure the face and skin don't lose their human colour and I'm a sucker for using A LOT of blues and cyans in my gifs.

Below, I have listed the values that I used for this gif with regard to selective coloring and photo filter, but really, it's mostly about making sure things look good and taking chances because, unlike in life, you can always undo it.

What happens next is dependent on how happy I am with the brightness and colours of the gif so far. Occasionally I will add another curves adjustment layer and a levels adjustment layer; however, I'm pretty satisfied with this gif so far, so I'm going to head straight to the last two colour processes instead. They are, respectfully, the black and white adjustment layer and the gradient fill layer.

It might seem contradictory for me to use a black and white adjustment layer on my gifs, but I just really like how it makes them look. I start by creating the adjustment layer and then click on "Auto" before selecting "Luminosity" from the Layer Type drop-down menu. I'm not a big fan of how it made the yellow look in the jacket hanging in the background, so I erase parts of it with a low-opacity eraser and it's good as new while still keeping the parts that I like. You can also lower the opacity of the entire layer if you so choose.

The last step for this colouring now involves selecting "New Fill Layer" and "Gradient" and having another dialogue box pop up. For gifs, I recommend using a Soft Light layer type set between 10-50 opacity. I also recommend using the included preset selection titled "Photogentic Toning" because it does what it says on the tin. For this gif, I created two gradient fill layers with the first being at 35% opacity and the second being at 20% opacity.

And this is what my gif looks like at this point:

THE FINALE

Finally! The gif is created and it's ready to be exported to gif form so it can actually work on Tumblr. Please note that Tumblr only allows gifs that are 2 M or under, so toying around with how many frames you can have in a specific gif and whether to use pattern or diffusion and so on can be a real pain sometimes. Because of this, it's a good idea to check how big the file will be as soon as you get it cropped and timelined.

For this gif, I decided to go with the following settings:

In conclusion, here are the two gifs (before and after) alongside each other:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it was helpful to you!

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Soooo guys I’m doing this

Hold my beer honeybush nevermind my mom drank my honeybush. Hold my tap water. 

Alright. First click on the link

Mmm alright, interesting episode, deep themes, excellent for meta things.

Second click on the link

FUCK EVERYTHING

THE FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK

Mark Campbell

I didn’t even remember his name or face before opening the page

What the fuck

No WAIT

WAIT

THE FUCK

*smacks forehead*

OF COURSE

Guys this is an excellent combination. Keep holding my tap water.

Ready?

Metamorphosis. Sam is questioning a demon about Lilith’s whereabouts. He’s a man on a mission. Hero, the demon mockingly calls him, to deny he is, as he’s slutting around with some demon. But Sam doesn’t care. He wants to get the job done, finding Lilith in this case. In fact, he wants to get the job done as efficiently and cost-free as possible: he uses his demon powers to exorcise the demon from the possessed person, allowing the possessed person to survive. Ruby will get him to the ER, and he’ll be okay, we suppose. Still Sam doesn’t know where Lilith is; he doesn’t realize that that’s exactly the point, that Ruby wants him to exercise his powers, not to find Lilith at all. Lilith will show up when it’s time for her to make her move on the chessboard of the apocalypse-making.

But let’s get back to Dean’s reaction to discovering about Sam and Ruby going around hunting demons.

SAM: Dean, what are you doing? [Dean keeps packing his things] What, are you- are you leaving? DEAN: You don't need me. You and Ruby go fight demons. SAM: Hold on. Dean, come on, man. [Dean punches him] You satisfied? [Dean punches him again] I guess not. DEAN: Do you even know how far off the reservation you've gone? How far from normal? From human? SAM: I'm just exorcising demons. DEAN: With your mind! What else can you do? SAM: I can send them back to hell. It only works with demons, and that's it. DEAN: What else can you do?! SAM: I told you! DEAN: And I have every reason in the world to believe that. SAM: Look, I should have said something. I'm sorry, Dean. I am. But try to see the other side here. DEAN: The other side? SAM: I'm pulling demons out of innocent people. DEAN: Use the knife! SAM: The knife kills the victim! What I do, most of them survive! Look, I've saved more people in the last five months than we save in a year. DEAN: That what Ruby want you to think? Huh? Kind of like the way she tricked you into using your powers? Slippery slope, brother. Just wait and see. Because it's gonna get darker and darker, and God knows where it ends. SAM: I'm not gonna let it go too far. DEAN: It's already gone too far, Sam. If I didn't you know... I would wanna hunt you. And so would other hunters. SAM: You were gone. I was here. I had to keep on fighting without you. And what I'm doing... it works. DEAN: Well, tell me. If it's so terrific... then why'd you lie about it to me? Why did an angel tell me to stop you? SAM: What? DEAN: Cas said that if I don't stop you, he will. See what that means, Sam? That means that God doesn't want you doing this. So, are you just gonna stand there and tell me everything is all good?

Ooooh man. 

I’m not going to go further down the script of Metamorphosis; the MoTW is a clear mirror for the journey the Winchesters are going through and there surely are more analyses of the episode written by brilliant meta writers out there that we can count.

At the end of the episode, Sam decides to stop using his powers, scared that he might step over a critical point, like the monster of the week, and turn into a monster irreversibly; we know how the story goes, still there are very important lines (I can't keep explaining myself to you. I can't make you understand. [...] I can't. Because this thing, this blood, it's not in you the way it's in me. It's just something I got to deal with / I'm not doing it for you. Or for the angels or for anybody. This is my choice.) but this is not the place to discuss about that side of the story. Because in this post we’re talking about Metamorphosis and Mark Campbell - aka the situation we find at the beginning of season 6. Mark doesn’t say many words and dies pretty much right away, in the second episode of the season. His role in the narrative is to present us, the viewers, and the character we’re looking at the story through, Dean, what has been going on.

And guess what? In the months before the beginning of season 4, Sam was on his own (as in, completely separated from Dean, emotionally separated from Bobby) hunting demons with Ruby. In the months before the beginning of season 6, Sam was on his own (as in, completely separated from Dean, emotionally separated from Bobby) hunting things with the Campbells.

And in both Metamorphosis and the first episodes of season 6 we’re put in front of a similar situation regarding Sam and Dean: Sam defends his actions, adducing rational arguments - and yet deep down he feels a wrongness NOT in his actions but in himself - and Dean is disturbed at Sam’s actions and angry at Sam keeping things hidden from him.

Oh boy.

This is so classically Sam and Dean that it hurts. Sam feels something wrong in the depth of his self (his blood in season 4, “somewhere” in season 6 until Dean and Cas find out about the soul thing), but rationalizes his actions. Dean, on the other hand, has the idea of “normal” flashing in his mind like a pulsing neon sign (Do you even know how far off the reservation you've gone? How far from normal? From human?) WHAT’S WITH META THINGS THESE DAYS AND THE CONCEPT OF “NORMAL” FOR DEAN POPPING OUT EVERYWHERE??? Oh yes, it’s me bringing it out because I am like this. I have too many feels about it and I am a cry because it’s just too much for my little heart to handle. and is freaked out by what’s wrong with Sam but also doesn’t drink Sam’s rationalizations.

Sam’s explanation for what he does with Ruby make sense. He is saving people instead of killing the meatsuit together with the demon. The narrative plays with us, asking us the question: who’s right?. And in this moment we are supposed to tend towards Sam: Dean is stubborn and rigid in his judgement, he’s black and white. Demon=bad, human=good. Normal=human, using-demon-powers-and-working-with-Ruby=not-normal. We are supposed to be on Sam’s side here. Dean would just have let the poor possessed guy die, stabbed him with the knife... We are supposed to believe that Ruby is helping Sam, that Dean’s unbending and uncompromising attitude is overstrict and narrow-minded and wrong. But then the narrative pulls out the twist and we realize that Dean was right all along, that his unbending and uncompromising attitude is what brings them out of the apocalypse, it’s what rips the script of fate and saves humanity.

Sam has good intentions, but he’s a consequentialist, while Dean is a deontologist. I invite you to read what I wrote about it here and here because it would get too long to discuss about those themes here. In the first post linked I also discuss the apparent contradiction between Dean’s deontology and Sam’s consequentialism and what instead are their stances on good/evil.

Because despite Dean being black and white in his ‘what’s the right thing to do/what’s the wrong thing to do’ while Sam is more flexible, their attitudes towards discriminating between good and evil are different.

Dean sees matters in a scale of doing good and doing evil, which is a spectrum and is connected to actions and choices, not essential characteristics. Sam sees matters in terms of being right and being wrong - and pay attention, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ here does not refer to opinions/knowledge (I say 2+2=4 and I’m right, I say 2+2=5 and I’m wrong) but to an essential quality of the self. We should probably use the terms ‘alright’ and ‘wrong’ - for Sam, you are either alright or there is something wrong with you. And by the generic you, he usually means himself. I mean, there’s always something wrong with Sam lol. Even in round 1 I talked about his fear of being ‘wrong’ in Dog Dean Afternoon...

Sam doesn’t feel conflicted about using demon powers because of the goodness/evilness of the action of using demon powers itself. He feels freaked out by the fact that he has demon blood in himself, that he is contaminated. He is not ‘right’, he is ‘wrong’, there is something wrong with his self in an essential way. Sam tells Dean that Dean can’t understand, and, well, he’s correct; Dean judges things on an entirely different scale, it’s not about Sam having demon blood or not, Sam being impure or not, Sam being ‘wrong’ or not. It’s a matter of Sam doing things. DEAN is the actual advocate for free will, because DEAN is all about the actions you choose to make. Sam is all about what you are, whether you are pure or not. Sam is delighted when he thinks the trials are purifying him, because he only thinks he can be saved if he’s pure. Dean doesn’t care about pure or impure, he cares about what a person does or not. When Dean has the Mark, when he feels the darkness inside of him, he is not bothered by being contaminated by something - he’s bothered because the Mark makes him lose control over his actions.

Speaking of Mark - let’s go back to another kind of Mark, i.e. Mark Campbell. (Totally unintentional connection, I swear. It just happened.)

Sam rationalizes his hunting life with Mark, Gwen, Christian and Samuel, just like he rationalized his life with Ruby. Dean was in hell back then, and he relied on Ruby. Now, Dean is with Lisa and Ben, and Sam chooses not to let him know he’s alive not to disrupt his apple pie life. His hunting methods in Metamorphosis saved lives; hunting with the Campbells makes sense, they’re efficient together and everything, Sam is somehow an even better hunter than usual, Dean is enjoying his quiet life with Lisa and Ben, everything’s good.

But the Campbells are an alarm bell, just like the whole demon powers thing was an alarm bell - an alarm bell Dean hears.

Dean, stubborn and rigid in his judgement... knows immediately and instinctively if something is a no-no. He knew the Ruby thing was a no-no. He understands immediately that Sam’s behavior at the beginning of season 6 is a red flag. Dean knows immediately the Campbells are not to be trusted, just like he didn’t trust Ruby. He warmed up to Ruby when he found out she saved Sam from his suicidal urges after Dean went to hell, just like he tried to warm up to the Campbells and work with them. But inside he always knew neither Ruby or the Campbells belonged in their space. (See how Dean immediately trusts Cas’ judgement instead - Why did an angel tell me to stop you? - and in season 6 he kept putting trust in Cas until it blew into his face, and yet he was still right in his judgement of Cas).

Sam isn’t bothered by actions, he’s bothered by the feeling that something is not right with him. The demon blood, rather than the act of exercising his powers in itself. When he’s soulless and doesn’t know it yet, he feels there is something wrong with him; even without his soul, his there’s-something-wrong-with-Sam-radar is fully functioning anyway. Dean, on the other hand, doesn’t judge Sam for what he is or the state he’s in. He’s “far from normal, from human” NOT because he has demon blood in him, but because he uses the powers that come with it. He’d hunt Sam because of his use of the demon powers, not because he has them in the first place, as he’s shown all along (see the entire Gordon Walker arc...).

Many people have criticized Dean for blaming Sam for things Sam wasn’t fully responsible for. See Southern Comfort: Mistakes? Well, let's go through some of Sammy's greatest hits. Drinking demon blood? Check. Being in cahoots with Ruby? Not telling me that you lost your soul? Or how about running around with Samuel for a whole year, letting me think that you were dead while you were doing all kinds of crazy? Those aren't mistakes, Sam. Those are choices!

But that’s the point. Dean believes so much in human agency that he tends to see everything as a choice. He exaggerates sometimes? Yes. But that’s what makes Dean Dean, what allows him to save the world so many times. What brings Cas to him. Of course we were in season 8 at the time of Southern Comfort, and Dean has gone through the Mark of Cain storyline which has made him experience a situation where his agency is endangered. But he never fails to have faith in the human ability to keep hold of their agency, to the point he kills Death instead of letting Death dictate his actions for him. But I would digress if I talked about that Mark...

This is how Metamorphosis ends:

SAM: These powers... it's playing with fire. I'm done with them. I'm done with everything. DEAN: Really? Well, that's a relief. Thank you. SAM: Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you. Or for the angels or for anybody. This is my choice.

Oh, Sam. Here’s the word choice, the word Dean uses in Southern Comfort to describe Sam’s decisions to work with Ruby first and to hunt with the Campbells later. (And there we thought Metamorphosis and a random Campbell were such a random association. Southern Comfort makes that association explicit lmao.)

Dean blames him for Ruby and the Campbells because he calls them choices. And it’s Sam who uses the word choice first; a choice he doesn’t follow on. Sam ascribes the possibility of choice to himself regarding the Ruby situation.

Can we ascribe the possibility of choice to Sam while soulless? Maybe yes, maybe no. But Dean does because that’s what Dean believes in more than anything. That there is always a choice. In My Time Of Dying:

TESSA: Whatever's gonna happen's gonna happen. It's out of my control, it's fate. DEAN: Huh. Well, that's crap. You always have a choice. You can either roll over and die or you can keep fighting, no matter what...

If Dean didn’t believe that you always have a choice, what happens? Soul Survivor:

SAM: Look, if you come out of that room, I won’t have a choice!

DEAN: Sure you will! And I know which one you’ll make. Isn’t that right, Sammy? But see… Here’s the thing: I’m lucky. Oh, hell, I’m blessed! ‘Cause there’s just enough demon left in me that killing you? Ain’t no choice at all.

Well, this “ain’t no choice at all” is a figure of speech; it’s a choice Dean has just already made. But I find the wording Dean chooses interesting, because he’s saying that that choice has been made for him by the ‘demon left in him’ after all. Dean knows he would never choose to kill Sam otherwise, so now choosing to kill him isn’t exactly a choice. It’s a choice made by the instinct of self-preservation that the demon-ness has placed on top of everything else inside of him. I have been saying that Dean has always set his self-awareness aside for survival (his and his family’s); in fact, demon Dean decides to act on that self-awareness (that John was abusive, that Sam is sucking the life out of him) out of an instinct of self-preservation that the Mark of Cain heightens in him while he’s a demon. Dean always knew that John was abusive and that his role as Sam’s caretaker denied him a full life of his own; his demon-ness makes him prioritize his self-preservation over the choice to set that awareness aside for the sake of his family. Jeez, I digressed again.

In conclusion, a comparison of Metamorphosis and the role of Mark Campbell in the narrative tell us a lot about Sam’s and Dean’s attitudes towards morality and towards free will.

There are of course more things that can be said about these topics, for instance regarding to the concept of “normal” and “human”, mentioned by Dean in that speech at the beginning of Metamorphosis, and Sam’s demon blood situation and the situation of a human without a soul; but I think I have written enough in this post and I’ll just free you from this hellhole of meta.

[captainignatiuspigheart]

BIrthday, Booze and Bumbling

Sure, it’s Friday – or is it? Who the hell knows. I can’t tell the difference, and worst of all I’m writing this (at last) on day one of our four day bank holiday weekend. Thank goodness my workmates told me, otherwise I’d have been working all day. So, with five days separating me from last week, what can I actually recall… I’m in luck, because I’ve started to keep a list. Genius plan, which I undermine as I fail to write stuff down. That feels a lot like our present state of lockdown – it all constantly slips away… I’m still feeling the massive contrast between the hysteria of 24 hour news and this just feeling like normal life. I’m also utterly thrilled to be spending so much time with my beautiful cats.

Still, we had my other half’s birthday, and I feel we made the most of it. Our usual birthday activities are something along the line’s of 1) get up very late, 2) take ages to eat breakfast and get dressed, 3) open presents while watching cartoons (this year we enjoyed Disney+’s Chip ’n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, which feels like it’s suffered the passage of time better than Duck Tales), 4) go to the cinema, 5) eat out somewhere, and 6) crash out on the sofa. On that scale we at least managed all but 4 and 5. So that’s not bad. The whole pandemic and not being able to choose to go out only really hit home when we wanted to complete our usual rituals. Nemmind. I snagged a piece of rather nice original Peter Firmin Bagpuss art, so part 3 of the day was pretty good. We celebrated with a few more folks in a large and very chaotic Zoom party. Weird, for sure, but nice to see peeps.

Obviously all independent businesses are struggling right now, and worse, some people are finding it hard to acquire enough booze to get through the melding days. No fear of that here in Beeston! I was over the moon to see our local independent brewer Totally Brewed (who have homes at the lovely micropub Totally Tapped in Beeston and The Overdraught at the top of Canning Circus) arranged for Friday home deliveries!

Easter LEGO!

He’s so handsome

Ultimate tuddle

Delivered to my door!

Doing: podcasting (live-ish) with We Are What We Overcome

On Sunday we the We Are What We Overcome podcast gang got together to attempt a Zoom to Facebook Live thingamajig. It worked so well in practice, but totally failed to work as expected. Not to worry. We recorded it anyway, and popped the video up on Monday afternoon. We decided to have a little check-in, like we usually do at the start of our episodes, but for longer as this is a strange time, and we all have different feelings about it. I think it’s quite a nice chat – you can watch/listen to it below. Rather nicely, it’s all four us, including Neil who’s usually behind the sound recording desk (or whatever it is that he does to magically trap our speech). At some point we’ll pop the audio out on the podcast feed, but there are a few in the bank already to be rolled out on schedule first. Even better news, we’re gonna try the Facebook Live thang again this Sunday, and every fortnight for the near future, or at least as long as we’re in lockdown. Future ones will show up on our Facebook page here, and I’ll stick a link on the WAWWO page of this website too.

Watching: Altered Carbon season two

I really enjoyed Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon and its sequels – splendid fast-paced noirpunk with loads of action and murder/spy stuff. The central premise that your identity is contained in a stack at the top of your spine and can be swapped between bodies (the so charming “sleeves”) is fantastic, and the results of your body no longer being a part of who you are is ingenious and spun out well in the books. It translated pretty well into season one of the Netflix show, albeit with a lot of gratuitous nudity as we found ourselves in a pretty traditional cyberpunk setting of rain and holograms of hookers everywhere. I enjoyed it, but until I saw the ‘last time on Altered Carbon‘ I could not have told you what happened.

I fucking love Anthony Mackie, he’s immensely charming, fun, and credible in action, drama and comedy (having re-watched Captain America: the Winter Soldier just this afternoon, he is confirmed in my mind as a splendid human). But there’s something wrong with season two – it’s just drifted into the quest for Takeshi Kovacs to find his long-lost love, and while that’s in the books, it doesn’t feel like the driving force of the story. The noir detective element is here, but it feels lost and forced. Added to that are the continued tribulations of his AI hotelier pal, Poe (yep, Edgar Allan), who is very appealing as he finds another AI who he clearly kind of fancies as his grasp on the world deteriorates, but it doesn’t matter. The AI subplot is completely irrelevant and its lack of importance kept punching me in the face. Alas, this season has lost me and I kept drifting away while watching. Maybe I’ll have a rewatch after this nonsense time is over, and perhaps I’ll focus better.

Reading: Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I cannot help reading Adrian’s books – it’s a kind of addiction. This one had languished for a while on my Kindle TBR because I’d incorrectly associated the cover with fantasy, and I’ve been in a science fiction mood for a while. Reading definitely feels tougher than usual, and it takes something extra (or just really fast) to captivate my attention. Here we have far-future post-every-apocalypse with Shadrapur, the last human city on (presumably) Earth. Humanity stumbles on, pretending that the end is not very close, echoing the civilisations that have fallen along the way. I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic stuff (not so much the usual zombies). This has much more of JG Ballard’s The Crystal World and a bit of Brian Aldiss Hothouse vibe, with the natural world running riot, overwhelming our vain attempts at order and showing every chance of becoming something else. Cage of Souls takes us through the life of one of these last men, Stefan Advani, and how it is that he ended up in a ghastly prison cast out in the middle of nature. This is a big fat book, and for a while it was slow going, though that’s rarely an issue with Tchaikovsky’s glowing prose and this most alluring world of the end-times, but as the depth of the world and its strange inhabitants unfolded I was happily engaged. The Count of Monte Cristo feel is strong, with our unjustly imprisoned academic turned accidental rebel, dealing with an appallingly dangerous prison that the guys in Oz could only hope for, with monsters seizing inmates through the bars of the lowest levels and an absolute monster in charge of the prison. The novel really opens up when we explore the misadventures that preceded Stefani’s arrival, and (spoiler), what happens afterwards. It’s a delight of a book, full of surprises, possible callbacks to novels I adore, an unreliable narrator and a weird, weird world to engulf them.

Reading: The Girl Beneath the Sea by Andrew Mayne

After a big book I needed a short book, and this was waiting for me on my Kindle. A short, quick detective thriller with a slightly different setup (though with hefty shades of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt stories), of Sloan McPherson – 50% diver with a family dedicated to shady treasure hunting, and 50% auxiliary cop in the Florida quays. There’s nothing exceptional about the plotting – Sloan gets a body dumped into the canal while she’s diving, and quickly finds herself implicated in a conspiracy linked to her dodgy criminal uncle and the aforementioned shady family. It had everything I needed, from snappy dialogue and snarky characters to gunfights and underwater shenanigans. Very satisfying, and I may well dig up the next in the Underwater Investigations series.

Watching: Virtual Improv Comedy Workshops with MissImp

Time blurs, and I discover that the workshop I wrote about last week was actually from the week before! Who’d’a’ thunk it. But that’s cool, it means there are two workshops for you to catch up on. First up the splendid Ki Shah and Russ Payne on Physicality, Objects & Movement. This is a genuinely charming two-hander and I think you’ll be smiling all the way through. Second up is LA improviser Jay Sukow on Solo Improv. I confess I’ve not yet watched this one, which puts me at least two behind as well… Both vids are below – enjoy!

Next Week

Sabrina the Teenage Witch season 3, The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch, LEGO Ideas Dinosaurs and probably The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi (if I finish it this weekend). I should do an MCU quick review thing at some point too.

Last Week: Cage of Souls, Altered Carbon, The Girl Beneath the Sea, We Are What We Overcome podcast, MissImp Virtual Drop-Ins - TV, book reviews, things, improv, beer and birthdays. #TV #books @aptshadow @missimp_notts #podcast https://wp.me/pbprdx-8CB BIrthday, Booze and Bumbling Sure, it’s Friday – or is it? Who the hell knows. I can’t tell the difference, and worst of all I’m writing this (at last) on day one of our four day bank holiday weekend.