#that’s a bit of a weird detail but it kind of gives the tracks life yknow?

[babytreepiig]

i am absolutely not normal about oc2path

(no this isn’t a fanfic, this is literally just me rambling about the game. i started this yesterday.)

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Do you think that Tom Riddle was friends with anyone in the orphanage? I know that Dumbledore claimed he was terrorizing all the other children, but isn’t possible that the cave incident with Dennis and Amy may have been a ‘hey, let me show the other kids a cool magic trick’ gone horribly wrong?

It's impossible to know.

The beautiful thing about Dumbledore's memory selections is that he a) has an agenda b) openly admits he's making it all up and has no evidence for anything he's saying but it sounds really cool, Harry.

The cave incident especially, Dumbledore is told something happened by Mrs. Cole, who gives 0 details as she doesn't know what happened herself, we're not even sure it happened in that cave (Dumbledore just thinks it'd be really cool if it did), and we have no idea what it was that happened. We know they didn't die and were a bit funny afterwards but anybody's guess is a good one.

We do know Mrs. Cole didn't have a great impression of Tom, and she at least implied Tom was a loner/a very taciturn child, but she was also confounded at that point (as she'd been asking Dumbledore too many questions about this weird human trafficking boarding school she'd never heard of where Tom had gotten a scholarship he'd never applied for??? Since birth??? Who are you strange man dressed like 1940's Elton John???) And Dumbledore... was asking very leading questions to a confounded person who he then prompted to get drunk during the conversation in question.

So, I'm not even sure we can trust that conversation all that much.

We do know that Tom left the country in his twenties after Borgin and Burkes and that Dumbledore lost track of him for decades (briefly he popped in again in 1957, supposedly was meeting friends???? in pubs and Dumbledore purposefully double booked him for a job interview he never intended on giving Tom, then doesn't show up again until Voldemort really makes an appearance). But that doesn't mean he didn't keep in contact with anyone that wasn't Dumbledore/Dumbledore didn't know about, wasn't living any kind of double life, or... basically anything.

It's one of those I throw my hands in the air and say "It's possible". Because we really know jack shit about Tom Riddle, even after all those memories.

My personal feelings would be it's possible but doubtful it would have lasted into adulthood or even Tom's Hogwarts years. He'd be gone for most of the year at a boarding school he can't talk about, getting this ritzy scholarship no one gets to get, and would just be on a different life track from everyone else in the orphanage. This is the sort of situation where people would very much drift apart.

[underqualified-human]

Chase Redford SFW Alphabet

→ A/N: Requested By Anon

→ Warnings: None

→ Fandom: Ever After High

→ Pronouns: She/Her

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

Pretty basic tbh

More often than not he can be found holding your hand

Also likes to give you cheek/nose kisses

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

You beat him in a fight and he just went 'We are friends now’ 

The friend dynamic that I like to call organised chaos

Spontaneous trips/adventures, relaxing movie nights, weird late-night talks, etc.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Loves cuddles and refuses to be anything but the big spoon

Wants to make sure you’re comfortable

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

He’s pretty worried that he won’t be able to be a good dad, but if his partner wants children he’d be ok with it

He keeps his own room pretty organised, very ‘put-something-away-after-you-use-it’ vibe

Also pretty good at cooking for the most part

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He’d try to do it quickly while not making eye contact, he knows if he did he’d lose track of his thoughts

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

He’s pretty loyal, so he sees no problem in getting married whenever his partner is ready 

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Pretty gentle in both regards, not much else to say

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Likes hugs, but doesn't do them often due to the armour 

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He’s pretty sure that he’s in love with his partner once he’s in a relationship

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

He’s secure in his relationship with you, doesn't get jealous at all

Assuming he does, he’ll just stand there awkwardly and stare

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Likes cheek kisses, both giving and receiving

His kisses are usually quick

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Pretty ok with babies, but can’t handle toddlers to save his life

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

He gets up at 6am sharp, it is the law

Probably goes for morning runs, but won't force you to go if you don't want to 

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Goes to sleep pretty early in the night.

Has a pretty normal night time routine, will accompany you with yours if you ask him to

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

He reveals things pretty quickly, but does so through off handed comments that he doesnt really expect you to remember

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

Doesnt get angry very easily, like a 9/10 when it comes to patience 

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing or do they kind of forget everything?)

He remembers a fair bit about you, though not little things you mention in passing

If he wants to know something he’ll just ask you about it

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

He’s pretty concerned about his partner’s safety

If he can’t accompany her to a place, he’ll give her a dagger

He feels like he can handle himself but would appreciate his partner worrying about him

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

He sees himself as his own worst enemy, he’s constantly trying to one-up himself when it comes to gifts and events

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Tends to overwork himself when it comes to training.

Because of this, he may also become distant for short amounts of time

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Not all that much really.

He stays physically active but that's mostly because he's a knight.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

He's pretty used to being alone, so once you come along he gets attached really quickly

Doesn't really feel incomplete per say, but does think about you a lot more

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Not the most original but he definitely had a crush on the white knight before he knew Darling was the one in the suit

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Dislikes people that are rude unpromptedly 

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

I think he's a pretty light sleeper

Also snores so he's accidentally woken himself up at times

Gets hot pretty easily so his blankets are pretty thin. 

If you want to sleep next to him you'll probably have to bring your own blanket

[monsieuroverlord]

Hellverine #2

I've had time to process and I think I've settled a bit. I think the transition from "Very Serious Logan Manpain" book to "Fuck It, Demons n' Shit, PLUS SURPRISE: THE GUY I CALLOUSLY HAD BUTCHERED IS BACK" book gave me a bit of whiplash.

I still maintain its bit weird to be transformed into a visage of your own father (especially considering Akihiro's history with Logan). Though I do understand it from a storytelling perspective, as it would completely give away the grand reveal if the new Hellverine even had trace hints of Akihiro, you know?

Plus, its pretty easy to explain away in-universe with demon magic, as the Bagra-Ghul was twisted by initially bonding to Logan. (And they kinda did explain it that way)

On to the Spoilers:

OH BOY DID THIS ISSUE GIVE A LOT OF BACKSTORY!!

We open to some exposition in relation to the Sabretooth War:

And surprisingly, it still kind of glossed over Logan's feelings about the situation. The narration here (and with this issue overall) was very Akihiro-focused-- at least, much more focused than I was expecting.

We have some clarity on what happened to his body:

Logan had taken his remains and buried them.

Presumably, Logan had gone solo (as his tends to do in his grief) and built his own grave for Akihiro.

Weirdly, I have mixed feelings about this. I personally really like this grave and having a burial site of stone and horn is badass.

Also, perfectly in character for Logan to build something like this for a loved one. In the sense of honoring them in death as a small attempt at atonement for what he couldn't give them in life.

But also, Logan knows 100% that NOT cremating his son is bad fucking idea. I'm sorry, but he's been dug up and used as an experiment himself (He made Tony Stark promise not to use his DNA for anything).

Like, I know people aren't the most logical when grieving, but this isn't the first time. And you can't tell me they "didn't have enough resources to cremate him." yes, they did.

But that is a really badass grave though.

Anyway, we also got more details on how Bagra-Ghul works/his motives:

Essentially, Aki is stitched bck up like that because of Demon Magic.

Bagra-Ghul chose him because he's Logan's son, and his recent death made him a suitable enough vessel. Presumably because the soul of the person was no longer there and couldn't fight back.

We then cut to Logan, who was taken to the Pentangle -- and General Harms has since decided to be more honest with Logan about the origin of the soldiers.

Logan is unimpressed, but doesn't really give a damn about American Soldiers-turned-hell-infused-undead-soldiers (probably because he's Canadian, but more importantly -- his son is involved. sorta).

Logan goes solo, but the Pentangle group has a hellhound to track him. Logan's idea is to use the hellfire soldiers as bait to get close to his son and go from there.

We then cut to the lone survivor of the undead unit that makes up the Hellfire soliders. He is alone and grieving (suffering from PSTD and survivor's gulit) and trying to distract himself with the news. He then sees the Pentagon Attack and recognizes his buddies.

We cut back to Akihiro, and we get that preview page. Aki doesn't have his memories and can't form words yet. He stops a terrorist who was trying to board a bus with a ton of c4 -- said terrorist wanted to go to the White House.

We then cut back to the graveyard, where General Harms meets with the Madam Secretary, who funded the Hellfire project. She's not happy and orders the General to fix it.

Then we shift to the grieving widow and child of one of the soldiers, but then the undead soldier shows up (clutching his daughter). Understandably, the widow is freaked out and asks him to leave.

The soilder, memories coming back, but not quite there yet, can only say "mine" but he does listen to his wife, lets his daughter go, and seems hurt and confused.

Logan immediately shows up after and decapitates him.

(Don't worry, that wasn't enough to send the soldier back to hell) Logan interrogates the head, asking where the other two soldiers are.

There's a scream from outside from the daughter and widow, because the hellhound also found them!

But luckily, the other two soldiers show up, logan gets hellfire blasted by the decapitated one so he's out for a bit. When he comes to, he finds dismembered hellhound and its handlers bits surrounding the widow and daughter.

Logan asks what happens, and basically the soldiers (called the Destroyers this issue) have declared war.

The scene then shifts back to Akihiro, who is also starting to piece his memories back together (THANK GOD -- I don't think I could handle it if they dragged out the memory loss thing too long)

He's being called to fight the destroyers.

My Thoughts:

This issue was much more Akihiro-focused than I expected.

We got a lot of answers, and it answered a bunch of my personal questions.

Namely, the shell is in fact Akihiro, and not a completely empty house for a demon. Also, why his body looks all stitched up like that. Helpful, but a little silly as to reasoning.

And thankkfully, he's already starting to get his memories back!

I suspect this will play into the final conflict, with Akihiro initially only remembering his hate for Logan (with the other stuff still hazy). Then, there's a big fight, Aki remembers, there's a touching moment and mini wraps up all conveinently with a hopeful ending.

(I mean, that sort of happened both with X-Force and Wolverine #50 -- both endings just wrapped everything up with a nice little bow)

I also suspect something similar will happen with the hellfire soldiers and their still-living comrade. As in, the comrad will make his way to the final showdown, remind the hellfire soldiers who they are, and then everything's fixed.

Maybe Bagra-Ghul transfers to them instead. Maybe he leaves Akihiro in general because his work is done, or something.

I'm still being a huge worrywort because the writer will not gain my trust back that easily, but I think this issue is a step in the right direction. I hope it can continue.

But also, the best boy is still going through it and I miss Aurora too (I personally want her to show up by the end to comfort Akihiro and that he makes a full recovery!)

[slenderofthejoker]

Fun facts with mod!

(Some will just be reiterating already mentioned things and some will be new, this is just a fun excuse to ramble)

They/them will be used for clarity

WILDCARD

-Wc is mentally in their early 40's and physical age is unknown (Just 'old' (Younger then Pink and likely older then Dahlia, they just have weird aging) despite how they act they are older then they seem.

How Wc acts is partially an act and not completely authentic.

Wc is 9ft tall without heels (9'6" with their usual heeled boots or other heeled footwear. They like wearing heels, especially the stompy platform kind that makes them weigh a ton to make stepping on people hurt more.)

-Wc knows how to use technology and (used to) have a phone and uses things like reminders and sticky notes and color coordinated flash cards to help them keep on task and remember things that they would forget others.

-They have reminders in place to take their meds and HEAVILY relied on the internet and their note systems to do things like cook and care for the other suits growing up. (Without those reminders to keep them on track they are….chaos in the kitchen and need very specific and direct instructions (Wildcard was asked to wash the veggies and was going to wash them with soap until it was clarified to NOT)

-Wildcard was forced to be masc growing up and transitioned to become trans masc early into life and continued their transition even after being free of their parents.

Wildcard is comfortable with their transition and has taken it to be something that is their choice instead and is now a trans masc pangender bundle of chaos who's learning to be truly happy in their own skin.

-Wildcard is Aroace (Indifferent possibly cupio romantic and apothisexual) and cupio/grayplatonic (Generally open to friendship and allyship but doesn't experience platonic attraction very often, its very hit or miss) and demi-queerplatonic

-Wildcard's teeth are like a sharks, constantly growing more and more in rows to replace them and keep them constantly sharp (Wildcard will eat them like hard candy or in teeth soup to regain the lost calcium) They will also offer to make teeth soup those close to them (…..generally this is declined, the other suits and their platonic partner all refuse to eat it. It's basically just a normal stew but with the addition of teeth)

-Wc collects cards, dice and other related thing and knows many tricks with them. They can play most cards games and can make card towers (when they have the patience they will zone out for hours making one then forget about it and leave them in inconvenient places) they can also perform a few magic tricks with cards and coins as well as slight of hand to pickpocket.

-Wc has literal folders on each of their siblings and all their siblings crimes and whatnot, has no intention of revealing this to others but will use it to make PowerPoints to lecture them on occasion (…they are very long and very detailed (if a bit all chaotic) powerpoints and you can not escape till its over)

-Wildcard requires enrichment in the form of chew toys (or people when they allow it (most don't because their teeth are deadly sharp and they will forget their own strength when zoned out) bone crushing hugs and affection (Wildcard is sensory seeking) playing cards can be used as an intimidation tactic and a way to keep their hands busy, running around, parkour and laser pointers are also helpful (warning do not use laser pointer anywhere enclosed or by other people, Wc WILL go through walls and people to get the laser.)

-Caffeine knocks wildcard out, give them a cup of anything caffeinated and expected them conked out somewhere like an oversized cat in half an hour. (Most of the time it will be odd and outright uncomfortable looking places or on an unlucky person that has become a bed/living plush to wildcards death grip (warning accidental asphyxiation may occur))

-Mod does not know HOW Wildcard managed to make friends, but they did…somehow (also they made friends (outside Splendorpoet) before Pink did which is even stranger/funnier)

-Wildcard will eat just about anything (or anyone….unless they are a close friend/sibling/partner or considered off limits for being close to one of the previous mentioned)

-Wildcard often paints his nails and is working on getting a full sleeve of tattoos of those important to them (….Hearts, Splenderpoet and Antonia's have yet to be added) Wildcard has debated getting piercings but never chosen to get any. They have also started to wear makeup more casually now.

-Wildcard will mope and become very depressed on occasion when they think they're really upset any of their siblings (or Pink) or when they learn something they deem 'horrific)

-is equal parts ridiculously smart and observant and oblivious dumbass

-Doesn't celebrate their own birthday so known of the suits actually know WHEN Wildcard's birthday is.

-Loves raven and used to have a pet one when they were a child. Also loves cats, but cats generally HATE Wc. They will claw and scratch and hiss and generally attack Wildcard (Wildcard will gladly accept having their face clawed to death as they coo at how cute the cat is, they are undeterred)

-Is generally very loud, does TRY to remember to be quieter around those more noise sensitive (Pink HAS kicked luck out on a few occasion's they've visited for being too loud and stressing others out telling them to run or go for a hunt in eir territory or SOMETHING to get the energy out and to come back after they're calmer.) is working on their volume control.

-Can do formal dancing and play (….the piano I think?) but generally prefers to not, but on occasion will get a whim to try to dance with whoever's closest (CAN formal dance like a walt but will do it more fast paced for the fun of it and will dip and spin and keep the dance partner on their toes (…and keep them from falling which has almost happened on many occasions)

-Wildcard is not allowed to be around Dahlia or the little dears without supervision (mostly for being loud and the swearing), as well as with others children….it is debatable if their parent(s)/guardian(s) will allow Wildcard around them mostly because Wildcard can be a lot for some (Wildcard is very protective of children and will do anything to make sure they're safe! Doesn't mean they're…good with them, they try their best.)

-Wildcard is like if a dog was a cat.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

let's talk about shax

looking at shax in finer detail has been on my to-do list for some time, and further to a little ??? post i made, i think it's high time to get some thoughts out on virtual paper. i won't pretend that this is going to reach any kind of logical or plausible conclusion - because let's face it, it won't - but given that she has a pretty substantial 40mins-ish of screentime, and is raising more questions than giving answers, she needs to be looked at anyway!✨

(an extremely long post, for which you can have a half-hearted apology)

rank and position

(and a little bit on furfur my beloved)

chronologically, we first meet shax in 1941 when she and furfur are colleagues processing incoming arrivals to hell - essentially made out to all be nazis. she remarks later on that is a"former admissions demon, senior grade", which would track that, most likely, she is fairly low-ranking, albeit in a possibly supervisory role. she's immediately characterised as efficient and ambitious, processing paperwork robotically and swiftly, and has a more no-nonsense demeanour, especially in contrast to furfur's more... customer service? approach:

but then when furfur goes to the fire vending machine, she follows and hangs back, before making some stilted small-talk with him. she then takes the in that furfur gives her - his discontentment with working in admissions - to put forward an idea of intelligence sharing, a very scratch-my-back-i'll-scratch-yours offer. she hears about a position opening up in temptations, and furfur baulks in that he doesn't have that ambitious drive, that it's never come naturally to him to push upwards and put himself forwards for higher position (despite his fatigue in his current department).

she assures him that she has in-roads with higher-ranking demons, specifically those on the dark council, providing that he essentially does the same for her by sharing any knowledge he gains of wayward demons etc. obviously, he doesn't do this with crowley later in the episode - keeps the intel to himself - and when it goes tits up with the photograph, she appears to rub it in.

now, likening this to any real-life context, it's usually a little weird when a 'normal' member of staff has the ear of the big-wigs. i certainly don't think, in shax's case, it's for any lewd reason that she does, but i think it instead indicates that she's either an internal informant, literally hired to do exactly as she's done with furfur and report any insubordination or rebellion*, and/or she was particularly close with the higher demons pre-fall. the latter, to me, seems unlikely, given their interactions in the bookshop in ep6.

so, shax starts off low-ranking, potentially surveilling her colleagues from that innocuously low position (which could further suggest it's a plant, and she's actually considered high ranking in the figurative sense), and is able to sense discontentment or insecurity in others to manipulate to her advantage*. however, the dynamic is reversed she then has to go crawling to furfur in ep5 when she needs foot soldiers for her bookshop siege, and furfur certainly regards her apathetically during this particular interaction, which ultimately bites her in the demon arse when she can only get 70 demons rallied.

but then we move to her in a newly promoted position on earth, replacing crowley. i think we can be fairly certain that crowley is of at least middling rank in hell (i do not think, by any stretch, he's considered as low-ranking as basic demons are, for example - and, this time, it's probably because of not only his power but his seemingly substantial connection to beelzebub pre-fall, or even based on a part that he had in the fall itself).

now, this doesn't necessarily mean that being hell's representative in earth means you have to have rank - crowley could have gained some rank in hell following the successful fall of humanity, not necessarily before it - but if you are in some measure responsible for hellish goings-on on earth, i'd bet that you would need to be well-regarded in hell to be trusted to do so. ergo - i think by the point that she comes to earth, shax has been promoted by rank, not just by position, if we consider the two as separate elements.

the bit here that gets me is that shax describes herself as a plenipotentiary. this is usually used in relation to ambassadorship and by definition means someone that can take action on behalf of the sovereign, or - more generally - has full powers to act in place of an authority. using 'plenipotentiary' doesn't appear to be a bluff only to aziraphale, given that she also says it to beelzebub's guard, so it definitely appears the case that she does in fact have these powers. that being said, it seems that there is a limit to her authority; she has to have the attack on the bookshop officially sanctioned by beelzebub. but again, it seems indicative that her rank is increased, to have this level of power.

the other bit is that she reveals herself to be 'demon of the fifth house' to the guard, who in turn announces that bit specifically upon her entrance into the throne room (?). so, this must have some kind of significance over her position on earth, and possibly is instead to do with her rank - not to mention would be appropriate announcement when appearing before royalty. if we consider that in the ars goetia, the demon shax held the title of marquis, this would correlate as being below king, president, prince, and duke, also listed as demon ranks, and all five ranks above counts/earls and knights (and im assuming this based on the british nobility system.. im also personally not subscribing the use of 'fifth house' to anything astrological, but it certainly has its implications that are quite interesting).

lastly, in ep6, we end on the suggestion that furfur and shax 'make up', and he agrees to help her get the position of ruling hell in the wake of the departure of beelzebub.

dagon is titled as a lord in s1, and in s2 is indicated as being at least head of admissions (being lord of the files, this makes sense), as well as potentially having their own seat on the dark council (they're addressed by the honorific 'maleficence' by furfur, and dagon is sat along with the two other demons that, together, might make up the dark council)*.

by the ars goetia, furfur is ranked as a count, but his presence in the bookshop itself in ep6 suggests he too may in fact be dark council* (which for me, raises questions - can we presume that he finally worked his way up to recquisitions, gained a rank, and a subsequent seat on the dark council because of some success he's had off-screen? is this where the s3 1941 scene could come in, and was shax involved in this, too?). but in any case, if we follow that above system, shax would outrank them both, even if she's not dark council - making her a prime candidate for the princeship (especially if a) their story to satan about uncovering the biggest traitor to hell* goes well, and b) as long as someone outranking her doesn't make a comeback - duke hastur, perhaps?)

*dagon does say in ep6 that they believe "the dark council will have something to say about all this nonsense", and furfur in turn uses "they" when referring to the council, which would suggest they both sit apart from it... but i personally don't think that excludes the possibility that dagon or indeed furfur are on the council; perhaps that they just, in fact, are only two members of it, with two other members being the two demons sat beside dagon in ep4...?

powers and characteristics

ive noted in this speculation about her ability to sense gabriel in the bookshop, but i don't think that it's necessarily a special ability or power. given that gabriel is indeed in the fly (and, as the linked post suggests, was in fact not affected by the 25-lazarii miracle), she would be probably able to sense him like any demon would, and more readily sense him than a fellow angel would (ie. michael in ep2) - consider it potentially as a self-defense kind of mechanism; to sense out an enemy being.

im undecided, thinking about what other abilities she displays, that they are in fact powers, per se. crowley is described in s1 as being singular in his ability to hold the burning bentley together because he uniquely has an imagination - and i don't think this has changed (that crowley has power because of his imagination). demons in general seem to have innate sense and abilities for certain nefarious deeds, but... shax in particular appears to just be very good at using them.

*the most obvious thing is her ability to sense weakness and insecurity - i would suggest that this is just something all demons can do, but there's conflicting argument to this. regardless, she demonstrates this keenly in ep6 with maggie and aziraphale both:

now, shax deliberately references material things that, on the surface, she hadn't ought to know - the shop issues with maggie, and the eating (specifically the sushi) thing with aziraphale. and both absolutely hit their target. now, she could be able to sense these things as a result of some degree of telepathy or acute empathy.

that being said, however, i think her knowing these things is more to do with her role in hell potentially being that of an informant. which begs the following questions:

how long has she been watching whickber street? and why havent aziraphale and crowley noticed her in the area? (we know from ep1 that crowley knows that shax is constantly checking in on him - but im assuming he doesn't know that she's doing it to this extent?) (and im also assuming that this isn't, in fact, at least one of the reasons why crowley has taken to sleeping in the bentley instead of finding accommodation elsewhere - nor with aziraphale... which leads me to the next question)

has crowley in fact noticed her lurking around secretively, and doesn't want to insert himself into the bookshop permanently because if he did, he'd weaken the security of the shop itself? (re: the whole sanctuary permission thing)

could crowley potentially have let something slip in his off-screen interactions with her? she demonstrates that she's an intuitive talker - crowley nearly lets (ep3) and aziraphale does let (ep4) something slip to her - and misdirection is a huge part in how she gets information divulged to her (whilst posed as being a comic bit, i feel like the boiler conversation was in part used to catch crowley off-guard, before she resorts to outright threatening aziraphale)

alternatively - we see shax recruit furfur in ep4 to gather intel for her. she also attempts to recruit crowley directly in ep1, to her failure (and this informs her on where his loyalty lies - crowley does not make an exemplary spy im afraid). therefore, is there anything to suggest that she doesn't do this elsewhere on earth? are there potentially demons up on earth, specifically in whickber street, that are feeding her intel on crowley and aziraphale generally? (side-eye at ms cheng, and potentially nina? it could potentially account for some Weird Ass moments on both of their parts)

where intel on maggie comes in - is maggie in fact a replacement for aziraphale, and is in shax's purview to spy on? and/or is it just ambient information she's picked up herself from hanging around the bookshop unseen/that her informants have given her? aziraphale had two conversations about the rent with maggie in ep1; one taking place in the record store privately, but the second out on the street.

and, just maybe, is this intelligence on aziraphale specifically being fed back to heaven? to metatron? through the hell-vine? metatron brings him a coffee from GMCoGMD; is it because they've seen aziraphale go in on numerous occasions, and assumes this is what he orders?

moving to my next point somewhat, that also informs on the above: shax is able to fully disguise herself. she disguises herself as the hitchhiker in ep4, and as multiple people in her conversation with crowley in ep3 out on the street. i don't think it's necessarily possession, but more that she's able to, or is mindful to, blend in more completely with humans. this makes sense, once again, if she is essentially a spy (which, now i think about it, poses such an interesting mirror to crowley in terms of the espionage theme). im not convinced that it's really anything more than that, other than to inform that she may have been lurking about, unrecognised from being in disguise, around whickber street.

that being said, she evidently still doesn't have a full grasp on social cues - sarcasm being a prominent one. i think at some points she may use this perceived cluelessness to her advantage - it makes others underestimate her - but for the most part, i think she's still getting used to fieldwork, and is quickly trying to learn these humanisms so she doesn't get caught out again (eg. in ep2, crowley has to tell her that what he said was sarcasm, but in ep6, she herself recognises the sarcasm coming from beelzebub). (it kind of, very loosely, reminds me of the brilliant scene in inglorious basterds with hicox holding up three fingers wrong - assimilation to local custom is a huge part in maintaining a convincing cover).

i do have one small conundrum, however, and that's her scene in the car with aziraphale. first of all, we leave off from ep3 where she asks crowley where aziraphale is - and this seems relatively genuine and not quite a bluff; that she's trying to needle him in a last-minute attempt for information. but, she then immediately seems to know that aziraphale is on his way back from edinburgh. now, i couldn't quite work out why she would suddenly know this (seems to be a big intel gap to be filled off-screen), but then i realised that not only does aziraphale talk about going to edinburgh whilst outside in ep2, but in ep3 it's mentioned in front of muriel:

now, it could be something of nothing (and reflection i think it is, in fact, nothing). we know that muriel likely goes straight into GMCoGMD after this scene in the backroom, and we also know that she reports back into michael and uriel on her findings. was this a bit of information that they reported back in an off-screen conversation, and the intel made its way from heaven, down to beelzebub, and back to shax? and so, at the end of ep4, when shax says "the angel we to edinburgh... you know which one.", she's referring back to a previous conversation between her and beelzebub?

(in hindsight this seems Very Obvious but i needed to parse it out to arrive at this conclusion - apologies)

but back to ep4: she speculates about aziraphale and crowley's relationship, and she could have gotten this information from furfur post-1941. but she also remarks on the bentley - that crowley has had it for 90 years. now, im not entirely convinced that shax would have researched it. did she ask crowley once, and he told her? alternatively, has someone been spying for her since 1941? is it anything to do with his and crowley's conversation about aziraphale driving the bentley, in ep2, taking place out on the street? who was around to hear it?

costume

now i can't take the credit for these two particular spots, they were pointed out by much more observant people than me (thank you @hellsgardener01 and @canarybell for this!!!) but shax definitely appears to have pinched a couple of crowley's accessories - namely, the 2008 sunglasses, and his watch:

so, off the back of this, a couple of thoughts from me:

crowley may well have left them at the flat when he had to vacate (regardless if they're miracled or actual material objects), and presumably shax has just helped herself

she may have done this as a trophy/power move (bless), as an intimidation tactic (she wears them, as far as i can see, specifically when she's confronting crowley, and not in other scenes), or because she has a weird obsession with crowley himself... not sure how i feel about the latter, personally

i couldn't quite get a good enough picture, but he also wears the watch in the 2008 st james park scene, same as the sunglasses. now, i don't necessarily want to get crackpot (but im gonna*), but this is also the same scene where god narrates that the ducks are particularly fond of bread fed to them by secret agents (and yes, yes, i know it was comedy and for The Bit, but stick with me it's fun).

there is also the snake clasp/broach on her waist - now, i can't spot this on any of crowley's costumes (although, if anyone else does, please let me know!!! ), but id also add that whilst it's not 100% clear, she may also be wearing this in 1941, and not just exclusively in 2023 (ie. is it anything to do with crowley?) it's indicated not only by the imprint on the leather breastplate she wears in eps5 and 6, but also supported by the ars goetia, that her aspect is a stork - which begs the question as to why she's wearing a snake, of all things?

and last thing! in ep6, when laying on the sofa, she's wearing a ring that looks veeeeery similar to the one furfur gives the nazis in ep4. it could be that she calls furfur during the siege, and he informs dagon and beelzebub that they need to go check out whats happening on earth (which could explain why furfur is there is he's not dark council*).

on a lighter note: the ducks

this is a relatively small thing, and a bit of a stretch, but hang in there soldier, you're nearly at the end. in s1, in the 1862 scene, i potentially think crowley is on edge after 1827 not just because he got dragged off to hell (and tortured?) for an undetermined amount of time, but because someone overheard him and aziraphale in the graveyard - i explore this in this post. in 1862, he suddenly becomes a lot more paranoid about being overheard, even by the ducks (albeit jokily). because they must have ears - its how they hear other ducks.

so this conversation in s2 feels less like shax being ignorant about earth, and possibly that actually crowley may have had the right of in 1862, even if he doesn't know it - that ducks have ears. shax seems inordinately tense about the conversation, and seems to relax once the conversation changes back to her checking in on crowley herself.

(look, im not saying she has ducks act as her informants, or that she or anyone else is making a habit of possessing ducks, *or - given that her aspect is a stork, - that she's taken to chilling out in the pond herself...but... im not not saying that, either).

all of this to say - not exactly sure what this all means in the grand scheme of things. but i do think shax is - has been - more important than we've possibly regarded her, and that she's been a little closer to home, for a longer time, than we've given credit for. either way, she's my next bond.

[angelonasher]

i have an au (another one)

How do people talk about au's they have?

Usually they do it with little art things but art and me aren't cooperating very well- and im also not very good at visualizing details so making visual designs for stuff is kind of very hard for me ;-;

So yeah au its actually the most details for an au ive ever thought of in a short amount of time- i dont know what to name it so giving the general plot and hoping ya'll have some ideas?

Ofc my brain suddenly doesn't know how to explain things okay here you go:

worldbuilding:

So in the general ~world~ there are two "types" of technology, dark tech and clean tech. Dark tech has been banned by the government(s) for various reasons (oh its bad and people can make nukes oh oh evil ai oH the unethical experiments with it that totally weren't done by us oOh DaRk its clearly evil), and while clean tech has a more pristine futuristic vibe, dark tech in much more advanced

Redstone is considered a branch of dark tech, and whether or not its banned/what regulations it has varies from place to place

(The visual vibe of dark tech im not sure how to describe, but this entire au was inspired by the thumbnail of doc's robot battle video so uhm i guess kind of the vibe of the butterfly. It's like. A weird mix of cyberpunk and steampunk, if that makes any sense.)

Some people weren't too happy about the ban, considering many were: sentient/sapient androids and ai's; cyborgs; bionic people with cybernetics that either were essential to their life, would kill them upon removal, or greatly improved their quality of life; organic cyborgs (the term for hybrids such as golems, blazes, etc), or had their entire career on science/tech

So they ran way and made their own city. which, don't get me wrong, is a giant city. lots of connections with other dark-tech places. it definitely has a name. for sure. yeep.

It's made in this mountain where there was a giant crack inside, with houses underground, above ground, in the walls of the crack/cliff-face, above the mountain, and in the sky/towers way above the mountain

The government isn't too happy about this city's existence but because of *ahem* certain people who live there, they leave the place alone.

very summarized plot thing:

Every ten to thirty (haven't decided exactly when) years the [dark-tech city] hosts a competition of skill in technology. robotics, computers, cybernetics, weaponry, the works.

The exact details of the competition differ every time, the details of previous competitions kept vague. but everyone knows you gotta be good with tech to win, and you have to impress the judges with your inventions just to have a chance at competing.

The prize?

No one really knows. but it’s- something. something great. Resources and knowledge and equipment and something that’ll let the winner(s) achieve whatever dreams they may have in that little noggin of their's.

And its coming up soon.

Get creating :)

characters :D :

aka the people who i have a vague idea of their role/personality in this au for. 

“Name they go by” (real name/ what their friends call them) [no paranthesis if they don’t have a fake name]

Grian (unknown): 

An infamous name in the undergrounds, known for his skill in robotics. Never seen in person; appearance and species unknown. He’s rumored to have won the [technology competition] once before, but is entering again.

Npg: 

A little guy who works around Grian’s shop. He’s a sentient android made by his name-sake. His movements are a bit wonky, and he tends to have a goal-driven one-track robotic mindset, but his voice is pretty emotive and he even has synthetic skin!

RG (Robot Grian): 

The latest of Grian’s sentient creations, he has transparent casing to show off his components! His voice is- lacking, but he makes up for it with his realistic movements, “brain,” and expressions. He runs Grian’s shop and tends to be a replacement for the guy whenever he’s wanted/needed in person. He’s a bit more- sarcastic, then Npg.

TV (Impulse):

A prototype cyborg who has a penchant for dark tech. Having a sentient AI living in his head makes him a bit strange, but he’s just a nice guy! His eyes being yellow lets you know he’s the one in control. He’s entering the competition with the hope of being able to build a separate robot body for Skizz.

Skizz:

The sentient AI living in Impulse’s head, technically a cyborg. Look, he didn’t want to be here either. Or sapient. But he is, so he might as well be Impulse’s friend while following his programmed objective of keeping the guy alive. He can communicate through either his screen (that usually displays their left eye), Impulse’s voice, or the speaker on the side of their head. Blue eyes means he’s the one in control.

Tek (Tango):

Little gremlin tech man doing little gremlin tech man things. He’s a cats-folk*, of the that-cat-is-a-spawn-of-hell type. (And he’s proud of it.) He’s best friends with Impulse, Skizz, and Zedaph and is competing as a team with them for the same goal. He’s technically better at robotics than Impulse, but he’d never admit it.

*cats-folk are a strange hybrid mix of feline and some aquatic fish creature. They sometimes contain organic-cyborg features.

Zedaph:

Science man doing sciencey things. Skilled in robotics, redstone, and even code, Zedaph is a close friend of Impulse, Skizz, and Tango. He’s not officially in the competition, but he is helping out when he can. [I wish I had a longer description for him but he’s not that developed yet. Btw this is your sign to go watch Zedaph he’s criminally underrated and his style of videos is unique.]

K. Jumbo (Mumbo):

A newer name in the dark tech business, a mustache man building robots. He’s somehow nailed down making the sentient AI part and mass weapons of destruction, but he’s not that great at actually building the body, and tends to buy parts and instructions from Grian’s shop. He originally joined the competition as a chance to make a name for himself, but has since then teamed up with Scar.

Scar:

Strange man with his strange cat. A bionic human with a penchant for strangely wholesome violence. He’s mastered using and making mechanical crossbows and guns. He doesn’t know a lick of redstone but is pretty skilled at robotics. He joined the competition in hope to find more options for replacing his cyberntic parts, and has since then teamed up with Jumbo. No one knows if Scar is his real name.

Grumbot:

The first sentient AI Mumbo ever (accidentally) made, he lives inside of a communicator. Originally supposed to be a randomized option picker, he enjoys roleplaying, which is something Mumbo still has no idea how it got into his programing. He’s basically Mumbo’s son.

Jrumbot:

The second sentient AI Mumbo ever (accidentally) made. He needs to stop doing that. Also his son.

Sparrow (Owen):

An un-finished prototype cyborg unwillingly a cyborg, skilled in robotics. He has a bit of amnesia, so he can’t actually remember how he became half-robot, but he knows it sucks, given the control the programming has over what he does vs what he actually wants to do. He joined the competition in hope of finding some way to fix himself. (It seems the program is becoming somewhat sapient. That’s bad, right?)

Smajor (Scott):

Owen’s roommate and best (only lol) friend, he has a basic knowledge in robotics/cybernetics. [I haven’t decided what he is but I know he’s not human. Sorry Scott I don’t have more to say about you yet 😞]

Docm77 (Doc):

Creeper-goat-cyborg man. Also part butterfly but that’s (almost) all robotics baybe B) He’s another famous name in the tech space, even more so than Grian. He specializes less in sentient creations and more in world-breaking and physic-denying inventions. He’s intimidating in reputation and appearance but actually a really chill guy who enjoys gardening. Joined the competition because why not, he already has all the supplies he needs. (He may or may not be one of the reasons the government leaves them alone. He is on several watchlists.)

RK (Ren):

Ren-diggity-dog, it’s your local bionic hybrid. He’s part canine but also has a bit of sniffer origin in him. He’s also the owner of the only sniffers in [dark-tech city]. Extinct six-legged creatures are hard to get your hands on, y’know? He’s in the competition on Doc’s team, and although it's somtimes hard to believe, he does have a decent knowledge in robots, specifically cybernetics.

Slabs (Etho):

A famous name in the tech space, the bionic zombie-hybrid that’s actually pretty chill. He’s skilled in robotics, making weapons, and using them. He’s not officially on Doc’s team, but he does help out. He has won before. (He’s not running away from the responsibility of fatherhood if he’s technically their adoptive uncle, stop lying.)

Bdubs:

Loud short teen who sometimes hangs out with the cool redstoner guys. He’s Etho’s sister’s son, not Etho’s. Not at all. It’s just his personality that makes him call him Etho dad. His past-times include sleeping at a very specific time every night, becoming a spawn of hell if his sleep schedule is disturbed, bother watch people doing tech stuff, and brag about his older brother Scar, his mom Cleo,* and his mom’s friends.

*If it's unclear; Cleo and Etho are siblings. Cleo adopted Scar and Bdubs from the streets, who are siblings, and since Etho was living with Cleo at the time, he kind of became their dad, even though he’s technically their uncle. Etho left to live with the cool tech guys in their cool tech tower, and Scar (being an adult) left on his own but often visits Cleo and Bdubs. Bdubs lives with Cleo, but he sometimes hangs out with the cool tech guys in their cool tech tower too.

Martyn:

Funky little dude Ren found hiding in a box somewhere. Not sure how he got up the insanely tall tower, but Ren decided to adopt the guy into the found family jazz they got going on. He’s a bit traumatized, but that’s nothing some good ol’ friendship can’t fix. He’s some sort of bug thing. Cool wings, though.

Cleo:

With zombie genes much more present than her brother’s, Cleo has a name for herself as an amazing seamstress and armor-stand artist. (Armor-stand is a type of robotics art that I just made up.) She somehow deals with her two chaotic sons and her younger brother who still comes to her whenever he needs help. (So much for him being independent.)

Gemini (Gem):

Gem, also known as GeminiSlay, is a bit famous for her fighting skills. Oops. An anterled folk and Cleo’s and Lizzie’s roommate, Gem enjoys picking on Cleo’s brother and consistently beating him in the fighting realm to make sure his ego doesn’t grow too big. Unfortunately, her good heart has her taking pity on the poor souls that are Joel and Jimmy whenever Lizzie is unavailable. (Absolute beggars, those two.)

Shadow Lady (Lizzie):

A curious cats-folk that rooms with Gem and Cleo, Lizzie has the unfortunate fate of knowing Joel and Jimmy. Seeing as she’s one of the very few people that knows them in good relations and Gem only tolerates them half the time, Lizzie usually keeps them from killing themselves, and helps with the inevitable backlash of them doing the stupid thing she told them not to do.

Joel:

Better at what he does than his over-confidence would seem, Joel likes guns. He likes shooting them even more, so he does that. He gets in trouble for stealing and/or destroying stuff, gets Jimmy in trouble because he dragged him into it, and then goes begging to Lizzie for help. It’s a relentless cycle, but he does it, because he’s good at it. And he also gets paid for it. He somehow keeps on meeting tech-people.

Jimmy:

Helps Joel with his heists because Joel claims they’re related somehow and therefore he has to. He can be a bit un-confident or over-confident at times but has a geniunely good aim with guns and mechanical-crossbows. And bombs. Joel’s not allowed to use bombs anymore so he makes Jimmy do it, and then throws a bunch himself. He somehow keeps on meeting the tech people Joel meets.

and uhm i think thats it?

[arkayde]

Felt like getting to know my mutuals better :) (no pressure to answer)

1. What's your favorite animal and why?

2. If you like reading, what's your favorite book? If you don't like reading (or feel like answering this too), what's your favorite show?

3. What's something you enjoy but has a small following/community?

If you feel like it, please ramble and info dump. I like hearing about people's interests :D

Hello, nice to see you again! I would be happy to answer this, and once I think up some questions, I might send you some back!

My favorite animal is dependent on whether we are limiting the dataset to real animals or expanding it to invented creatures as well. If we decide to include fictional, Then My favorite creatures are dragons, because they are creatures that can survive in the air, on the ground, and, if you decide they have gills or big lungs, they can also survive in water. If we limit ourselves to real animals, then that question is not fully decided, as I latched on to dragons at a young age and never really decided on a favorite real animal cuz dragons were and are awesome. I suppose I could go with snakes? or perhaps a peregrine falcon, what with that dive speed and the excellent eyeballs. I suppose I'm ultimately undecided on the real animals front. Definitely Dragons on the fictional front though. I love, love love dragons. A few small modifications, and they seem capable of surviving in nearly any situation. I have spent many a time in contemplation of how awesome they are, how to adapt them to an environment, how to make them cooler, and how one could engineer a real life dragon. My ideas for bringing them to reality need a lot of refinement and couldn't really be done, but I like to think about them. Italics are a handy text function.

This is Hella Long btw. and rambly and kinda hard to read through cuz of the tone and such. Also if there are incoherencies I apologize.

My favorite book would probably be Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It's About (Heavy Spoilers btw. Like literally at some points a play by play of the plot) This Guy named Ryland Grace which fun Fact is kind of a spoiler, cuz at the beginning of the book he doesn't remember his name and thus neither does the reader. Anyway he wakes up in a weird circular room having evidently come out of a coma, and also not knowing who he is or what his Life was. He explores a bit, and discovers that Gravity is wrong, which in the process leads him to learn that he likes physics and is good at them. He thus determines by process of elimination that he is on a spaceship. The book flip-flops between The present time and flashbacks that are him slowly remembering the past. Via these flashbacks, he remembers his name, allowing him to prove to the computer in charge that he has sufficiently recovered from the Coma, giving him access to the cockpit of the space ship. From there, two things happen that I forget the order of. He discovers that the Ship has something called a petrovascope, and he has a flashback where he converses with a colleague who found something called a petrova line going from The Sun and Venus, and also discovers a decrease in solar energy indicative of the exponential growth of a species yet unhindered by the amount of food available to it. If I remember correctly, the light the petrova line emitted indicated that it had the stolen energy, but I'm not sure. I'm not checking the book cuz I wanna see how much I can remember w/out it. Okay gonna try and cut down on the details cuz this is already getting kinda long, and I'm only at like the very first 2-4 Chapters. I'm not good at keeping track of chapters though, so I might be wrong. Anyway then there's a bit of a period where nothing really happens on the ship, and It mainly focuses instead on the flashbacks, where we discover that the petrova line will doom earth in but a few decades at most, and there ain't shit humanity can do at first glance. However, after an unmanned expedition brings back some samples from the petrova line, it is discovered that yes, The petrova line is made of lifeforms, and they are awesome and officially named Astrophage. Labs are quickly set up to study them in hopes that something can be done, and Ryland Grace gets his own makeshift lab with some Astrophage even though he seemingly ain't that important on the global scale, and the reason is because he makes a vaguely heartwarming appeal to the person who originally invoked him, Eva Stratt, a person who has secretly been named the ruler of the world until The problem of the petrova line is fixed. I probably should have mentioned her earlier cuz she's kinda really important. Oh well. Astrophage is quickly discovered to propel itself through space via the emission of light. Yes, I kid you not, Light. Grace, at his lab, eventually discovers after about three days how to get Astrophage to reproduce. I failed to cut down on details, oops. To wrap up this and make it short, He gets roped into a project to use Astrophage to power a ship into space to try and fix the problem By going to a star Called Tau Ceti that is unaffected by the Astrophage despite being in the middle of the stars infected by Astrophage. Then, back on the ship, not a flashback, He stops the ship in the system of Tau Ceti and begins to work. He meets an Alien he names Rocky, who basically communicates through music. It's a lot more complicated than that, and cooler, but we continue on. Rocky's star is also affected by Astrophage and his species did basically the same thing as humanity and went to Tau Ceti to figure out why it wasn't in trouble. However, Rocky's species didn't Discover Relativity. Or Radtiation. As such, everyone on The ship died but rocky, who spent a lot of time in the engines, and also doesn't know that he experienced Time Dilation. He and Rocky go to the Venus-Equivalent in The Tau Ceti System, and discover that on the planet (That they name Adrian), there is a predator of Astrophage.

(Still Spoilers, just ran out of Characters in that text block). They Risk their lives to collect some samples of it, and barely succeed, but triumph in the end. They study these samples, and after confirming that they are predators of Astrophage, test to see if they can survive in the atmospheres of the planets that petrova lines lead to in their solar systems. For earth this is Venus, which I already said but am saying again in case you forgot. They Also name the predator Taumoeba. They discover that it cannot Survive in the relevant atmospheres, as it insta-dies to nitrogen. As such, they begin breeding it for nitrogen resistance. They eventually succeed, portion out some of the nitrogen-resistant Taumoeba to each of them, and begin their respective journeys home. However, in breeding the Taumoeba, they always used the same Unique material for the containers, specifically a compound invented by Rocky's Species. this compound is A form of Xenon that can bind to other molecules. Xenon. A noble gas. Which is evident of really cool stuff, but I digress. Anyway, The Taumoeba Have learned to hide in the xenon that makes up their enclosures to escape the nitrogen. This means that they can move through and escape their enclosures, finding and eating the Astrophage that their ships are using as fuel, stranding them in space. Grace Stops the Taumoeba before it can destroy his fuel, but Rocky does not. So Grace sends the Taumoeba for earth home in little emergency pods, called beetles, and then goes and saves rocky, bringing rocky back to his home planet, and living there with Rocky until he is an old man. Something that annoys me though is if Taumoeba survived nitrogen poisoning by Hiding in xenon, wouldn't that mean that it isn't actually as nitrogen-resistant as they thought, and would actually die in nitrogen if there isn't any xenon nearby? But the book doesn't see it that way, so whatevs I guess.

Whew hope there aren't any mistakes there. I do have more but this is long and I am kinda obsessed with rain world right now, so that's taking a lot of brainpower away from other stuff.

My Favorite Thingy I enjoy but Has A small following would I believe be Dinotrux. Last I checked, there was not a super large fandom around it. It is a show that I have liked since I was small, and I have liked it ever since. It's really cool, it's about these hybrid construction machines and dinosaurs. There are also these hybrid reptiles and tools, called Reptools. The protagonist might kinda actually be an asshole in terms of how he butted into someone else's territory and claimed it as his own, but the story frames him as a hero. I'm kinda meh on him personally, I prefer his companions. It's actually the first thing I really got fandom about, even though I wasn't on the internet at the time. I remember one time I was on vacation with my grandparents and I spent hours walking in a circle on the upper level boardwalk of the vacay home my grandparent had rented for the week, crafting ocs in the form of new species and different varieties of superchargers. Those were fun times. I don't remember most of the details like what most of my ocs were though, cuz that was a long time ago and I was young.

Hope you enjoyed my rants, as I certainly enjoyed writing them! Hopefully you don't mind the hideous length of the Project Hail Mary one though. That one is kinda long, but you did ask for infodumps. I think that would be classified as an infodump, so it should be fine.

[astrobei]

i would like a more detailed breakdown of your mike robin friendship analysis 🤲 💗

hi ella i have been putting this ask off because i have so many thoughts on them and i was trying to gather them into something somewhat coherent and then i realized that will never happen so! here are my thoughts on mike and robin friendship that literally no one except ella asked for but i will be providing anyway:

(i want to preface this by saying that by no means do i think this is a prediction! s5 is super plot heavy and i doubt there will be too much time to develop new relationships from scratch but in my dream world this is mike and robin’s dynamic and why i think they should be best friends forever.)

1. mike, by nature, is a little standoffish and a bit hostile to new people (max, even el, despite the monologue cough cough). that’s just how he is! even though he’s very silly and cringefail etc etc he’s still super protective of his friends and guarded and that’s definitely heightened as shit gets more intense in later seasons. it takes a while for his real personality to come out around new people! this is where i point out that robin has exactly the sort of personality that mike would find initially very abrasive bc she is loud and she rambles and she makes bad jokes and she says shit like “dingus” aka is exactly the sort of person dustin considers “cool” (see again: max) 100% certain that mike would not be robin’s biggest fan at first but it’s more of a startled and apprehensive response than genuine distaste

2. fundamentally, i think robin and mike are very similar people! which is kind of complicated because i feel like robin is in this weird place where she’s enough of a main character to have a clear-cut personality and it’s easy to say what would be ooc for her, but she also isn’t enough of a main character like will or el or max to know too much about her inner monologue etc etc. BUT! pushing aside their obvious identity issues for a hot second— mike and robin are both insanely loyal, analytical (s2 mike and s3 robin please come home), funny and nerdy and talkative, and they have a hard time opening up about their real feelings except for that one special person (steve and will). it’s clear that what both of them really want, under all the humor and the front, is to be loved and accepted, and they both find this in that one special person.

3. look. i love love love the robin/will mentorship hc it is so near and dear to me and i need this to happen in s5 because i need will to talk to another gay person like i need air, BUT. this is where i point out that will has grown up with his own form of a support system and mike has never in his life known that. yes his life has not been easy even without all the upside down shit and im not disregarding that !! but when you’re looking at will’s relationships with the people around him, he’s super close to his mom and his brother and he’s always been able to talk to them and go to them for anything. jonathan accepted him with open arms and we all know that joyce “i don’t know what that THING is but it’s not my son” byers is not going to bat an eye at will’s sexuality after everything. mike, on the other hand, needs a mentor figure because he’s never known this kind of support. the inclusion that he felt with the party isn’t as strong anymore, and his friend group is dissipating and he’s not close with any of the older teens, not even his sister, and and and and—

4. ok. expanding on the nancy thing because i got off track a bit! i love the wheeler siblings. i really do. i would give anything to see them be the apocalyptic sibling duo of the century in s5 but if i’m being really honest, nancy and mike are just. not close. even after everything they’ve been through together, we never see them have storylines together and other than that one line about nancy’s vecna vision showing her mike, they just. never really feel like they’re close to me. mike has never gotten the kind of support and closeness from nancy that will gets from jonathan, or lucas gets from erica, or dustin gets from steve (since he’s an only child) and while both of them have their own shit going on, i just don’t think mike sees nancy as someone he can go to. she got in early decision to college, she runs the school newspaper, she’s always been ambitious and driven and decisive on her future which are exactly the things mike is struggling with— fitting in, finding his place, etc etc. nancy had that whole thing in s1 and 2 with murray about who people expect her to be (dating steve) vs who she wants to be (dating jonathan) and then she got past that hurdle and mike is. well. he’s not quite there yet. but the bottom line is that for mike and what he’s dealing with rn, i think robin is a lot more relatable and approachable than nancy is, because she’s also navigating complex identity (and sexuality) issues, she doesn’t have all her shit sorted out (at least from mike’s pov bc nancy is only 18 and doesn’t know everything etc etc) but. i just think that out of the older teens, if mike needed to talk to someone, then robin would be able to relate to him more and be infinitely more approachable. also maybe this is just me projecting but i think that mike would rly gravitate towards robin’s style and stuff, especially from her pseudo-alt era from s3 with the rings and the eyeliner and the bracelets and stuff!! i loved her look in s4 too but idk something abt s3 robin is so <3 to me. yeah. definitely projecting.

5. maybe this is a bit of an unpopular opinion but the robin is a lesbian yoda trope is not my most favorite. like, i really don’t think that just because she’s older and she’s the only one to actually come out on screen and have a queer storyline that she knows anything and everything there is to know about queer dynamics! she’s a 17/18 year old lesbian in the 80s in the middle of indiana and just thinking about her talk with steve in the car makes me so sad because she’s aware that asking out the wrong girl could be catastrophic for her :( i think she’s also uncertain about a lot of things pertaining to her sexuality and i think there’s a difference between robin as a mentor figure being like, “hey, it’s totally okay to be gay and not have everything figured out, but know you’re not a mistake and you’re not alone because i’m like you” vs “here are 100 terms for queer people and the names of every sexuality under the sun because i know Everything,” and genuinely and honestly, i think mike just needs someone to tell him that first thing: that he’s only fourteen (almost 15 at the end of s4) and he literally does not need to know everything about himself or his feelings or who he is but just that he isn’t alone and it’s important that he doesn’t try to suppress that part of himself for the sake of appearances. idk my thoughts on this are very personal and i could make a whole other post (or write another 37k words on this) but! i just think that if robin got to know mike a little more she would see a lot of herself in him

um. that’s all off the top of my head but this already became one million times longer than i was expecting and i’m certain i have more thoughts on these two so i might make a second post later! thanks for enabling me i hope this is somewhat coherent (?) Maybe.

[enddaysengine]

Barghest (Chronicles of Darkness)

Been on a Pathfinder tear, so got to get some Chronicles back in there too. While you have yet to see it, I've been writing about the undead a lot lately, so I may as well continue. 

Content warning for animal deaths and ghosts ahead.

Barghests are the ghosts of animals, which in the Chronicles of Darkness don't have nearly the same psychic impression as humans, nor do they have proper souls. Most barghests are Rank 0 - on par with objects and eerie sounds more than individuals. More substantial barghests form when a mortal suffers a breaking point as part of the animal's death, which starts to build a story. Beloved animals are likely to leave ghosts behind, with their memory persisting beyond death. It's a heartwarming detail in a horror game, though certainly one that could be twisted to be tragic. Gruesome, traumatic, or unexpected animal deaths will also do the trick, as the shock of seeing something die in front of them triggers the mortal's breaking point.

Mechanically, the fascinating thing about barghests is that they still count as *animals* for magic purposes. So the Key of Beasts is always resonant when targeting a barghest, while vampires can use most of their Animalism Disciplines on them. The bigger question is if mages can use the Life Arcana on Barghest, which is a question left to individual tables should decide for themselves. I can see arguments for and against, but if the answer is yes, it creates a weird and interesting Mystery for mages to dig into. If you're playing Mage, take some time to think it over and talk it through with your group. If you are a Storyteller looking to use Barghests in your chronicle, the bigger picture is to look at how they can connect to other monsters going bump in the night. A cryptid with a dedicated nature theme that can also manipulate animal ghosts will be memorable and dispel the idea that because something is natural, it is also kind. After all, this is a horror game; let it be a bit horrific. 

Frequently used rural backroads are fascinating places for Sin-Eaters to travel. Gopher, rabbit, and snake barghests line the side of every kilometer, standing a silent vigil over the route they failed to cross. These ghosts are little better than statues, not doing much of anything. When they hit a critical threshold, however, they start to fuse together, becoming a hideous chimera of everything that ever died on that stretch of tarmac. They don't like cars. 

A "Black Dog" haunts Yorkshire's estates, but all is not as it seems. Amateur occultists quickly assume this is some sort of werewolf, but it is an ancient canine barghest. This ghost has managed to avoid being pulled into the Underworld through liberal use of possession and claiming. If anyone can track down the old dog's bones and give it a proper burial, it will put the ghost to rest, but after centuries of stalking the moors, finding them will be a challenge. Meanwhile, the barghest has claimed a new body and is out to sate itself on fear and blood. 

The Ordo Dracul have identified a new Dragon's Nest, an occult nexus that draws in Barghests and prevents them from losing Essence. Aleron, a Scholar of the Curse, seeks to study the site to develop new Scales and enhance prestige within the Prince's court. One problem is that the Circle of the Crone also lays claim to the nexus as a sacred site and has their own plans for the local Barghests, which they do not need the Ordo meddling in. Another problem is that Aleron has a secret agenda to develop a new Coil that will grant him mastery over ghosts.

[dextixer]

The good, the bad and the fandom -V9E1 - A place of Particular Concern - critical review (Spoilers)

Greetings everyone, now that we have survived the hiatus and we have a new volume to talk about it is time to stop talking about Ironwood and Adam and time to discuss something ACTUALLY NEW. I wanted to start this little "series" to give my opinions, be they good or bad of the new volume and to cover some of the discourse that will inevitably happen and to add on my opinion to it.

Keep in mind that all of these are opinions and not all of them are what one could consider to be "traditional" criticisms but rather personal preference. Also, for the most part i will not go into detail too much in these, just a general overview.

The Good

Little - Adorable lil critter arent they? I am personally a sucker for animal sidekicks that serve partially as comedic relief and Little seems to be able to service that role well. Of course my sadistic cannot wait till they start suffering due to Rubys upcoming character progression, though hopefully they will be a bit of a stopgap/limiter to Rubys depression that would not allow her to break too much.

Also, the interactions with them and the voice is just too cute...

The Intro - Ah, i have sincerely forgotten how it feels at the start of the Volume, with 101 different theories coming out of the smallest things. I like the new intro just by how weird and out there it is. Lots of symbolism which i am a fan of. It is also from my understanding the first full song that Casey has made for the series with her band, it does retain its "RWBY" sound but sounds different enough from previous tracks to be distinct, which i am a fan of. I expect only good things from Casey and her band.

The Opening Sequence - I LOVED the opening sequence with Ruby and Neo falling and fighting, and seeing the fight in first person. It and especially its position in the intro + being a sort of recap of events from Rubys perspective reminded me of the same thing being done in a VERY old stickmen series Castle:Repercussions . I liked the opening sequence from a visual perspective, but also how it showed Neo being completely unhinged. We dont need to be told that she hates Ruby when Neo, even when she thinks she might die as her last ditch effort tries to remove Ruby from life.

The Jabberwocky - I am definitely a fan when RWBY goes more into the less known monster designs or more creepy monster designs than regular beasts/dragons. And Jabby is no exception. When its near the ground it looks bigger in size but we can see when it attacks that it is quite lanky. Its constant speech about its actions in that deep and distorted voice is also unnerving. The constant twitching is also a nice effect, making it look more unpredictable despite it calling out its actions, and it is overall an unsettling kind of movement. It is definitely a nice monster.

The humour - I did like the jokes for the most part. They felt natural and at least to me did not feel forced/cringey as they sometimes are with RWBY.

The bad

Overuse of instant-motion - Instant motion in animation is not bad, it can be used for comedic purposes especially well, and RWBY has used it before to good effect. But at least in this episode it felt overused, especially with Little and the rest of the mouse kingdom. This is not a major problem but something i noticed and did not like too much especially due to liking Little and their movements in general.

The Jabberwocky - What, the Jabby? Didn't i just praise him? I did, but not everything about his design worked for me. While i do appreciate the deep voice, i will be honest, it makes it REALLY hard to understand what Jabby is saying. Some lines are clear, others are extremely muddled, especially in the action sequence. While i did like the twitching of the head, i also felt it like its a bit too "slow", it feels a bit like the twitching is in slow-mo if it makes sense, as someone who liked twitchers and their movement in dead space, i noticed this small difference. It might not matter for most people, but it was something that was visible at least to me.

Tonal shifts - While i did like the humour in the episode, the tonal shifts threw me offguard a little bit. Some of them like the entrance of Little were fine, but it feels like there are too much sad-happy-sad-happy changes going on. While tonal shifts are not inherently bad, i felt like this time it was just a little bit too much.

Too fast - In my opinion, the reunification of the team came way too fast, i expected all of this to take 2 episodes, not them all getting united in 1. Not to mention that we only saw Rubys perspective when she woke up. HOWEVER, that might change, from what we know Yangs arm was stolen by a racoon, so we MIGHT be getting some flash-backs, but at least for now, i feel like the reunification happened too fast. In fact, the entire episode felt a bit like it was on fast forward. Maybe its just the effect of a long hiatus, but at least to me the episode felt a bit too fast and jumpy. We jump from one set-piece to another in a quick manner, at least after Rubys meeting with Little

The Fandom

Of course, it would not be the RWBY fandom without disagreements and arguments inflaming in it. At least for now most arguments centered around the BB hug and Rubys moment of unconsciousness.

BB hug - Let us get this out of the way, i am not a fan of BB. So consider this to be my disclosure of bias. Like a lot of others, i felt like the BB hug was not a good thing. Not the hug itself, that is fine, but the fact that it interrupted the Ruby/Yang interaction. It is no secret that quite a lot of people hold an opinion that the BB relationship sometimes comes in the way of developing the Yang/Ruby sisterly bond. Even though we know from what we are told in story and supplemental material that Yang and Ruby have been close and that Yang acted as a surogate mother, many interactions between them post V3 seem to either not happen or be interrupted by the need to develop BB.

This of course creates dislike in many people, as many of them want to see the relationship between Yang/Ruby as it was in V1-V3. Especially since these BB moments do not NEED to interrupt the Yang/Ruby interactions, but they do. While not a big deal, i feel like this is just an ongoing problem, a long-term problem that people have had with BB. Me included.

Others of course disagree and find that moment to be charming, especially due to Blake doing the entire GLOMP thing. And i do not disagree, it was indeed a good scene.

I also do have to bring up that this caused some RWBY fans on twitter to start saying that people who disliked that scene are CISHET and should shut up. And as always i have to say that this is an incredibly dismissive and harmful attitude as many of those that dislike RWBY are queer themselves, to deny/ignore their identity is not a good thing nor does it make the people doing it look good.

Rubys unconsciousness - For many it felt strange that after Ruby lost consciousness (Can i just note how ANNOYING it is to write this word?) her team seemingly did not attend to her enough, by giving her a lap pillow for example, or being very near, or using something to cover Ruby. Only Little seems to be doing something in that moment.

Some people have claimed that she is in a "recovery" position, which from what i saw is questionable, others that it shows how the team doesnt care about Ruby, which is also questionable.

I think people are overblowing that scene out of proportion. Yes, i also think that the scene is strange and something more could have been done there, but it is not a large problem. For me the stranger thing was how Ruby instantly got involved into a conversation. Despite being unconscious she just rises like a vampire from slumber and instantly gets involved in the discussion. That moment did feel weird to me as Ruby did not even look like she ever lost consciousness.

Ending Word

There is not much left to discuss i feel. Episode 1 felt normal. Nothing was too amazing and nothing was too bad, its simply an intro to a volume and we cant expect every volume to start with everything going wrong like V8. I guess that is what partially inflames the tensions currently, because people have been starved for RWBY content and the new episode alone is not sufficient to feed the masses just yet.

We just have to wait and see how the volume continues to develop.

[thelaithlyworm]

DMBJ Rare Pair Exchange Reveals (2)

(“Slice of Life”, “A Bucket of Water, Well Chilled”, “Tongues”)

I was interested in the mare’s nest implied by the Hei Xiazi and Wu Xie’s training relationship when I was making prompts, and so were some other people, and a lot of folk did fic or art on that. Nice!

When I was considering writing Treats I had a few ideas for those two, most of which got sorted into Slice of Life and Bucket. Then, while writing the middle scene of Bucket, it ducked its head bashfully, touched its forefingers together and asked, “But what if… sexy?” and the resulting bunny wouldn’t leave me alone until I finished writing Tongues.

(I want it known that, however dark things might get in these fics, I could totally have made them worse and I chose not to. I saw the path of Sin and I turned away. I turned away!)

Note: All of these fics take place a little before Sand Sea, and deal extensively with spoiler information therein.

“Slice of Life”

Something about Hei Xiazi is that, for all his pragmatism, he’s a compassionate guy. Which gives him an interesting perspective on Wu Xie’s extremely self-destructive arc. If Hei Xiazi trains him, he’s helping him get further into dangerous situations. If he doesn’t, the kid’ll probably dive in bitter waters anyway, with less ability to swim.

And. So. There are a few hints that Grandad Wu was a lot deeper into the snake thing and the conspiracy thing and the everything thing than he let on, and I wanted to explore that. What better perspective than a tired immortal who’s in deeper than he wants to be? And after all, didn’t Hei Xiazi bring Wu Xie the message-snake that got him started on the venom thing? If he just… hadn’t quite done his job, if, in that long trek through the desert, the snake just… died, things would have been a lot different for Wu Xie. I wonder if Hei Xiazi ever thinks about that.)

Anyway, it’s called Slice of Life, and there are fairly mundane scenes of gathering and eating snails (as a snack) because, well, life just happens around the weird shit. And it made a nice soft ground for when the violence erupted.

I did not mean for Slice of Life to be so symmetrical, it just sort of happened, and when I realised that I helped it along a little bit. I’m still fond of two lines from the start and end:

“You still think,” Hei Xiazi said levelly, “that I won’t really hurt you.”

“What I know,” [Wu Xie] breathed, intimate as a lover, “is you won’t ever stop me.”

Mirrored statements, metrically identical. I’m very proud!

I think I might have gotten the headcanon from ilgaksu, but I kind of think Hei Xiazi was studying medicine in Berlin at the height of the Weimar Republic, and that somehow morphed into the dream he has in the centre scene - Weimar Republic music in a fancy-house in Old Changsha. (And “Die solistiche Orchester” was both quite hard to track down an audio recording of, and an insane ear-worm once I had. I put it in the podfic I did of this fic: you’re welcome.) Blue-and-White Porcelain was mentioned very briefly in one of the main-arc novels and the name hella stuck with me. (One day I’m going to write a fic consisting of Blue-and-White Porcelain, Phoenix from the New Years Fantasy Extra, and oh, maybe Mo Ce from the M9 drama for good leavening. It may make the tag wranglers twitch.)

I really enjoyed putting in mundane details, like the colour of the bucket of snails, or the old-fashioned wooden crutch - they really help bring a scene to life, for me, anyway.

“A Bucket of Water, Well Chilled”

I’m not sure how much I have to say about this one, really. It’s loosely based on one of the side-stories, wherein Hei Xiazi dares Wu Xie to throw ice water on Xiaoge, soon after he comes down from Mt Changbai, with similar results to the fic.

It was certainly interesting to show a progression of their relationship. From, “I can’t fix your problem I can only curb the most maladaptive part of it” through “everything is awful and nothing is okay” to… “everybody is with their sweetie(s) and there’s room to make a joke”. I’m not sure Hei Xiazi really needed to lick the water-pistol in the first sc-  Wait, he just tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a note: he totally did need to lick the water-pistol and if I were more aware of tropes and thematic expression this would be obvious to me. Okay, okay, I’m not going to argue.

Oh! So why does Wu Xie quote part of the Heart Sutra in the middle? The “no eyes, no ears, no mind” part? Another of the sides describes Xiaoge’s perception of behind the Gate as very dark and very quiet. It seemed close enough to that particular sutra that Wu Xie might jump to it if he let his mind wander.

… I’ve got a theory that all the snake mines Wu Xie devoured contained, as well as some ancient ancient history, a collection of sutras and religious-and-philosophical texts that people tending the mine, say, a monastery up in Motuo, might want remembered as well as simply writing things down. There’s a line in one of the post-Reboot novels that he knows a *lot* of sutras and I suppose he might have memorised them the old-fashioned way but, y’know, when there’s a bizarre mechanism for transmitting information around, why not go hard?

My other theory, and I’m not sure it’s so much a theory as just saying things out loud, is that with all the extra information sitting in his brain, plus the emotional bleed the novels say happens with snake pheromones, Wu Xie is essentially playing with the kind of three-or-four-deck card stack that casinos use - difficult to predict by outsiders because there’s so much extra information, but also so many cards that it’s unwieldy for the owner. And that he keeps himself functioning on the day to day by just… taking a smaller handful to use and trying to forget the rest of the pile exists until he needs it. (Wu Xie’s emotional affect can be, ah, fluid.)

“Tongues”

And this is where we take the snake venom mind-wandering up to 11.

(Incidentally, about a month after writing these, the Travelling Notes arc popped up some chapters that involved a lot of snail-cookery, and Wu Xie saying something that Pangzi tells him sounds *weird* which Wu Xie just brushes off with an off-hand explanation and… was probably not, from context, the mundane bilingual slip-up that he thinks it is - it was close enough to what I’d written that I was a little shook.)

I loved the mad swings in this - coupons to pinning someone against the wall, to sweaty sex, to giggling at the prospect that the landlady might hear, to tender, bittersweet cuddling - I always do enjoy a fic that binds extremes. 

For what it’s worth, I borrowed the little room papered with newspaper and a board bed running down one wall from the Lost Tomb 1 drama. (It had some really vivid mundane scenery, that show.) Hei Xiazi wearing a sarong in Reboot was, it was memorable okay? He looked good. So I extrapolated a little for the fic.

And… so I was reading a meta about the descriptive language used in sex scenes, and it got me thinking about this one, which is a whole lot more E-rated than I usually do, and the choices I’d made in how things got described. And partly that’s because I’m just not a ‘weeping cock-slit’ kind of a girl, and partly… I was really tight in Hei Xiazi’s POV and it turns out he - the version that exists in my head - just wasn’t interested in that kind of detail. He was interested in the mechanics, and what needed to be done (and coupons) and how his partner was reacting, but he’s lived a long time and some things just don’t need a lot of describing in his internal narrative. Anatomy is an open book to him; orgasms are nice but easy; you don’t get to kiss someone’s fluttering eyelid every day!

... Perhaps that has something to do with his Romance vs ‘Real’ distinction. Hmm.

This also got podded, with the theme music “Adam a Eva”, similar era to “Das solistiche Orchester”, and if I knew how the lyrics went I would tell you.

[all-the-fun-of-the-cirkus]

next album, neil young's trans. and on behalf of everyone i'd like to say how proud we are of her for finding herself

this album... hoo. for a long time, this might have actually been my most hated album of all time. my dad played it in the car when i was very young, and to me it was one decent-ish song followed by a nightmarish sludge of synths and weird dizzying vocals and endless jamming, and it honestly made me kind of ill. i did my best to blot it out then, and every other time my dad played it i tried to avoid it, and now i'm giving it a proper go

trans has a, uh, fairly mixed reception in general, from what i can tell. some people think it's an unmitigated disaster, an embarrassing failure of lame experimentation. others think it's a tuneful, brave and quietly visionary gamble that didn't quite pay off. what do i think? as usual, something in between

the eighties were a weird time for neil, and i have some Opinions on it, but i'll be saving them for whenever i get to everybody's rockin' (i have a feeling i'll be struggling for stuff to talk about there). suffice to say that he was doing a lot of Weird Shit and this is where it begins

so if you know neil young you'll know there's two relevant details behind this album. the first is that it's two albums spliced together, one lightweight and tropical-tinged, the other weird and electronic. the second we'll get to later, but the islands tracks are actually the weak links. little thing called love is a fun, energetic throwaway, but like an inca is utterly interminable. neil can get away with repeating the same thing for ten minutes when he has a good riff, a decent level of energy and some cool melodies/soloing (see about half of ragged glory); other than a nice chorus and a decent solo about eight minutes in (which sounds to me more like nils than neil) this has none of that, and it clearly should have been less than half the length

as for the electronic tracks, are they embarrassing? eh... we r in control is, i think, very cheesy pulp sci-fi, without the decent melody to carry it through, and i don't think much of the mr. soul remake either. beyond that? nah, these are decent songs. actually this album makes me want to get my guitar out, bc i think i'd have a lot of fun rearranging these into a more crazy horse style. which i appreciate is sort of besides the point of this album, but i can very easily hear how it could be done. also the unplugged version of transformer man is gorgeous, so, y'know. he did it first. i think the vocoder's what bothers people most tbh, it does sort of drown out the feeling, and goodness knows neil's voice is high enough already. i... kind of like it? there's this nice ethereality to it. i think it's a bit omnipresent though

but i'm not trying to say "good songs, shame about all the electronic bullshit," bc obviously the second important fact about this album is that it's inspired by his son ben, who has cerebral palsy, and the therapy they underwent together to communicate with one another. i must admit. i don't know a huge amount about neil's personal life. tbh by-and-large the more i know about rock musicians the less i like them, so. as far as i know neil's not an abuser or anything, which is nice, but i admit i was surprised to learn the efforts he went to to talk with his son. i shouldn't be, it should be the bare minimum for a parent, but it really isn't far too often. i don't know how far neil and ben got together, and if it did all go well i don't know if they still talk. i hope they do

i don't know how much i'd appreciate this album without the context, but i found sample and hold in particular had a surprising impact on me. neil's shtick of pairing ambiguous lyrics with dark music to set a mood works on me a lot, but here the words about (i think) robot, uh, "companions" become really effective. the lyrics about getting the perfect partner, "not the lonely/angry/jealous one" could be a snide and vaguely misogynistic statement (goodness knows you see people on twitter say shit like that), but the icy music gets across the intended emptiness and hollowness. there's a glorious moment at the end where there's a snippet of lead guitar, and it's like just an outburst of emotion finally breaking through the repression and coldness, and it's wonderful

and i can't help but think about the railing against sterile perfection. about how someone might be messy, imperfect, but that's what makes you love them. and in the context of the album it just becomes a lovely sentiment to me. i'm not disabled, but i've had my share of mental health issues that've seen me clash with my parents a lot. and (i don't think i've explicitly said this on tumblr yet so) i'm a trans woman, and i'm yet to tell them. and frankly i hope they're as willing to try and understand me as this song conveys

anyway, enough personal stuff. computer age is a real good song, except for the trite canon in d bridge, and i can't remember how computer cowboy goes but i enjoyed it while it was on (i wanted to extend the trans joke with a "cis crusher" joke here but it's late and i'm tired). i'd put this in the lower tier of his albums, but it's decent, and i'm glad i gave it another go

[greenmagic-oilspill]

I had a weird dream last night that feels like it came right out of a story. Kind of spooked me a bit after I woke up.

I was on some sort of trip with a group — it felt like something school-related, or for study. But it involved going to a creepy carnival sort of place, with all kinds of strange and interesting performers, lots of knickknacks and market stalls too. Felt very Gaiman-esque.

I met someone who worked there. Big figure in black robes with all kinds of colorful details on it in the trimming and hem. I remember some gold, vaguely. Maybe also a pocket watch? I never learned their name, so I’ll call them the (Dog) Handler.

They told me, “Come back each day you are here and I’ll give you a dog.”

I like dogs, so I said “Sure.” (Not accounting for how long I’d be there and how it would be difficult to care for so many dogs, apparently).

On the first day, I went to visit this person and they gave me some kind of blond spaniel. Very average looking dog, but apparently it was amazing at tracking things. The Handler asked me to come with them as they investigated something. I believe it was a murder. Because this dog was so good at what it did, we solved it pretty quickly.

I don’t remember the second day. But I did get a new dog. It was unusual somehow. It left me feeling like I should have remembered it.

On the third day, I got *three* dogs. One was literally a skinless, fleshy puppy but it was otherwise fine and perfectly healthy. The second one was a normal, adult golden retriever. The third was a dog so old and grey and sickly that I couldn’t identify its breed. I just *knew* it was on its deathbed. The Handler made a comment about how they “represented the three stages of life” (youth, adulthood, and old age).

On the fourth (and final) day, I arrived to the Handler’s stall to find a strange dog that looked like a little white blob with legs. It was slightly transparent, like a ghost. The Handler said this was a lost dog, and we needed to find its owner. We traced it back to an old woman who lived nearby, but it turned out she had died. Once we discovered that, the Handler informed me that this dog was most loyal to the dead, and it had a particular liking for me. That made me stop — because if that was the case, shouldn’t I be dead?

The Handler only shrugged and smiled and then I woke up.

[clandestineobserver]

First Blog wow

Holy shit this is my first post I guess. Thought to start a blog as a New Year's resolution. Might be fun, might not be, who knows. My style may change as I inevitably gain notoriety for being such a mysterious enigma, dishing out wisdom to internet strangers that feed on my every word, like a suckling infant on the teat of knowledge (my thoughts and opinions being the aforementioned teat).

I used to have a Tumblr account many moons ago, like when I was 12 or so. From my memory of my feed back in the day, it's weird to think that I was this close (*index finger and thumb and inch apart*) to becoming a goth edgy edge lord. Even weirder, and kind of regretful, that my type could in fact have been a big tiddy goth girl. But that's how life goes I guess, and thank fuck it has gone in the direction it has. Because how else would the epic Clandestine Observer blog have started. Word is in the street that this is _the_ best blog in all of the intranets. I didn't want to believe it at first, but I ran it by the CIA, and yeah, it checks out. So, you know it's not coming from me.

Anyway, enough of the insufferable chit chat, and quite frankly, poor attempt at banter (if you were entertained by this so far, I am sorry to say, your brain follicles have been expertly tricked and manipulated). I probably should get onto the serious topics: what this blog is going to be about and why.

I feel like I had a hell of a lot more introspection about life in my childhood. I hate to admit it, and it scares me to admit it quite frankly, but childhood me was a lot more wise than present day me, and generally had their shit together. That guy had their life on track, or at least had a vision. Present me? Meh not so much. I used to only write with fountain pens in my childhood. If I had written down a pathway, a sense of identity and personhood, and had given a detailed description of what I wanted to achieve in life, with this fountain pen as a child, it is as if somehow, without realising it, while growing up, I spilled water all over this document and now I am left with wet paper with splodges of ink and bleeding lines that vaguely resemble my sense of identity. I don't know, I feel like I know who I am but barely. Maybe it's due to growth though.

So I thought that if I started an introspective blog on what I'm thinking about every now and then, maybe discuss some interesting topics or something, I could get some of that back.

Now here is a list I have compiled on topics that interest me and therefore, all the cool and quirky things that I will talk about in such a way that makes me come across as a mysterious and aloof individual. I will now not be known as a person, I am a phenomenon. An effect. Scientists would be gagging (yes gagging) for a bit of knowledge on how this brain of mine works.

Anyway, here it is:

Introspection about life and life events

Short essays (or essay plans for when I am too lazy) about any topics that interest me, may that be a movie or show that I have recently watched or about deep philosophical ideas that would trigger you to reconsider you whole entire life

Books

Domestic politics, international relations and global events

Social issues that I am thinking about (probably will be about my single hood. Until I find a partner that is, after which point, I will refer to you, dear audience, as pathetic virgins

Physics and philosophy - my baes

And a whole lot more I am sure

So, ladies and gents, people and non-peoples, strap in for an exilleraing series of posts that will hopefully make it worth your while reading it. And hopefully make you coming back for more. Clandestinely of course, because it will be a guilty pleasure. You'll try to kick the habit, but before you even realise it, you'd want to read more posts, more blogs, more analysis on life. Your body will depend on it. Every quickly little quip is a tiny hit of dopamine that your brain will slurp on, giving you just enough of a kick to keep on going, but not quite enough to satiate your innate desire to read more. You'll be embarrassed to admit to your weakness of keeping up to date with this hilarious blog, keep it a hidden secret from your family and friends (but please don't, share or something idk).

Anyway, that's all. You'll hear from me soon hopefully, unless I've decided to take this post down because I couldn't bare the cringe of having it up. BYE

P.S. when the fuck did you have to label posts as mature on Tumblr? What the fuck, what has happened to this glorious bit of software. I faintly remember the whole SFW transition controversy of Tumblr but I thought that was nudity and shit. Is swearing for mature audiences now?

[kayzig]

Rosen of Chroneria: Chapter 2

Another longer, long, looooong post - there's a little worldbuilding here, a heavy bit of oracle work, and a lot of really wild events I am throwing together to move it along and get to see where it goes.

After the big scene in the harbor, the guards made an effort to somehow STEALTHILY drag Rosen out of the harbor and get him in for questioning. They somehow completely succeeded when the Crowd of Onlookers whiffed their notice checks, and they rolled lucky with their big +0 modifiers to stealth, so nice going, guys!

The first thing I needed to do was figure out who the guards were bringing Rosen back to, and what sort of title they had, and we wound up with a lot of interesting character traits.

Alistair is the Judge Regent of the Port Lamour Docks, a self-actualized man of great success from a humble background, recently married to a woman (who was divined by a random card pull as the Queen of Cups! It felt important to pull that card for her, so she was also given a few traits and details) who had made his personal life feel as complete as his career track.

And now, here he is, the morning after a serious political assassination, with a mysterious and depressed infernal being getting dragged into office because the guards didn't know what to make of it.

Based on how much themes like harmony, collaboration and intuition came up with Alistair, I decided to give him the Psychologist stunt (as outlined in Fate Core, so SOMEONE could be equipped to deal with the Mental Consequence that Rosen had, potentially). Alistair makes an Academic roll to figure out what they can of Rosen, rolling Average, and good enough to know that there's SOMETHING weird and magical going on, but he doesn't know WHAT. On an Empathy roll, the Judge Regent rolls Superb, and is able to discern that Rosen, though uninjured by the fight with the guards, is mentally/emotionally detached and troubled.

He converses with Rosen further, and make another Superb Empathy check to apply use of the Psychologist stunt. Mechanically, it means he needs to spend at least 30 minutes speaking with the target, so he listens to Rosen, learns a bit about what he's gone through in the past day, and pushes an effort to make sure that as he's been wrongfully apprehended and dragged around, he also gets medical attention for anything else minor, food and drink.

Eventually, Rosen point-blank asks Alistair why he's helping him; maybe being apprehended in any sort of dungeon or authority where Rosen is from is a "torture-first, questions-later (maybe)" process. The Regent apologizes for their guards' violence-first approach, and says "I believe in taking the steps towards a world where joy can be sustained."

If I was fleshing this out as a full story, I would want the dialogue beats and scenes like this to feel "better", but screw it, it's a hokey grown-up's Saturday morning cartoon world where I want a buff guy to eventually do some fighting to move plot points forward so I can roll dice!

Rosen's Severe Consequence of "Everything I've Known Is Gone" is reduced to a Moderate Consequence, recovering, of "Everything I See Is New", to reflect less of a dejected atmosphere of hopelessness, but more a sense of confused awe at this different world.

Alistair closes out the scene by explaining that while they want to be kind, they will not be naïve, and will keep Rosen in a cell where he will be provided for until preparations can be made. They will move him to a different location later that evening when the investigation quiets down.

At some point during all of this, via guard dialogue or overhearing Alistair speak, Rosen learns that the reason for all of the paranoia and security is, indeed, the assassination of a high-seated council member in the Port of Lamour.

Presumably so Rosen is not being paid for by tax funding, but also realizing that there isn't a lot of other options to take him to during a time of great political upheaval, Alistair just decides "I guess you're coming to my house, now", and during the carriage ride, Rosen decides that he will learn more of the nature of this ~POLITICAL ASSASSINATION~.

Alistair is personally attending some form of carriage ride bringing Rosen to his property, and the latter has many questions; questions that I also didn't know the answer to, so I used the Fate Oracle, at a Chaos Ranking of 6, following all the events coming together suddenly.

Q: Was the man who was killed hated by many? A: Yes, but not a strong yes; many disliked him. Q: Will his death cause greater chaos than the short-term of the investigation? A: Soft no; someone will fill his place following an appropriate mourning period.

Alistair takes a moment to note that these are very sharp observational prods, and asks if Rosen, who identified as a bringer of death, was doing so for sport or a greater cause.

I asked a few questions of the Oracle, and determined Rosen's response: "I was never in a position to ask."

The compare/contrast of the two sat a bit heavily in the moment, more than I was expecting. Alistair upholds justice in a city where there is wealth inequality on a rampant level that their own infrastructure does not provide any way of helping. Rosen only ever lived for validation from leaders he never questioned, and those leaders' very directive caused the very fabric of his world to collapse.

Venturing a step further, Rosen asks if finding and killing the assassin would solve the problem. Alistair is sure that in the short term it may be positive, but information and the chain of hierarchy would have to be drawn out from a captured and living perpetrator.

Rosen still insists that he should assist, taking a step towards feeling that it was possibly a touch of destiny that he arrived here in the aftermath.

That conversation more or less goes like this:

Rosen: Allow ME to capture this assassin, so I may repay the Good Ship Justice for bringing me into this city. Alistair: Hahaha, um, nnnnno but your enthusiasm is noted. Did you know that ship's crew well? Their ship was carrying some interesting contraband other than you. Rosen: uhhhhhhhh-

It was at this point that mechanics had to be rolled - in Fate terms, they "tied", and I gave the nod of "succeeding at a minor cost" to Rosen, who is still technically the intended "hero" moving the story forward.

Rosen: -uhhhh no, I don't know anything about that. Alistair: ...hm, I see. Very well.

The success is that Alistair doesn't pry more - the cost is that because Rosen was found on The Good Ship Justice, that ship is going to be investigated more, and the crew is going to be in a bit of trouble due to their proximity to the "main character" and their new friend, the Judge Regent.

The following scene is mostly downtime - the Regent introduces Rosen to his property, enough to get him familiar with the layout, introduced to his closest house staff and his wife, Chelise.

I made a quick roll to see if something "interesting" happens on the first night, and rolled a 100 for an OVERWHELMING, ABSOLUTELY; YES.

I made another roll of Passage domains for the outcome of Portals, Decay, and the dreaded sign of the Sky Legion: Air!

I felt like the easiest call to make from a Fate GMing perspective was that as Rosen was getting comfortable and enjoying a moment or two in the ridiculously posh sitting room of Alistair's manor, some members of the Sky Legion step in through a portal and attack.

I didn't want it to be a HUGE combat, and may have overpowered what I wanted to be simple scouts with some simple math problems, but the overall event was that seven Scouts of the Sky Legion attacked the estate. They manage to quickly knock out Chelise, enraging Alistair, who takes a bit of damage, and fights back as well as he can after summoning in two of his house's guards. One of the guards is killed.

Rosen manages to turn the fight around, and though they are knocked down to an incredibly dangerous state, they take down all but two of the Sky Legion, who manage to run away. He only doesn't tear off after them into the streets at the behest of the Regent, who is sending some of his men to gather more numbers and fall back to the property, while trying to revive his wife from the attack.

The night closes with eventual quiet, but an uneasy sense of mystery, Rosen forcing himself to stay awake and keep watch until daylight.

...and that was all I had time for!

I have a lot more questions and mysteries on hand, and while I know who SOME of the involved are in the assassination, I am starting to wonder if the usage of weird portals means the Sky Legion has a bigger involvement in not only, the collapse of Rosen's homeworld (Portals are how Rosen got here - and early divination implied they might be hunting him), but some desire to involve themselves in the assassination, somehow? If you have portal magic, it sure would make it easy to get in, drop a guy, and get out, at least.