#these intros are getting shorter and that's my character development

[diyaphanous]

{kristine froseth, 28, cis woman, she/her} We are so glad to see you safe, VALET TO THE PRINCE NOEMI VON OLDENBURG of GERMANY ! It’s dangerous out in the world these days, but I hear that you are DAUNTLESS and ARDENT enough to handle it. Just don’t let your PRIDE bring you down ! Stay on your guard, because with your secret being at risk for exposure, you wouldn’t want everyone to find out ABOUT YOUR FAMILY BEING INVOLVED IN SOME ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES .

name : noemi elisabeth theresia magdalena von oldenburg nicknames : noe , emi birthday : july 23 orientation : bisexual family : duke rudolf von oldenburg, duchess theresia ( formerly princess of lichtenstein ) . older sibling ( WC !!! ), younger sibling ( WC !!! ) character inspo : nina zenik ( six of crows ), nobara kugisaki ( jjk ), jo march ( little women ), daphne sullivan ( the white lotus ) traits : perceptive, social, assertive, erratic, boisterous, abrasive languages : german, french, spanish, danish mbti : esfp temperament : tba moral allignment : chaotic neutral

background

tw mention of emotional abuse, kidnapping , violence

your smile is so bright , you can barely see anything going around you until you see a crack through the light, the only shadow where you can rest in and as you sit down you finally realize you've been blind all the time . noemi's childhood is carefree or at least that is what she tried to make it out to be. now looking back at it , the glittery veil had been lifted and even the treasures and riches her father loved to brag about have lost their shine . she'd abided to many things, tried to pretend they were normal, that things she'd loved were considered to be only temporary that feelings were fleeting and wouldn't last anyway . love was a festering wound , spilling , a reminder ; sometimes forgotten or sometimes felt through pain and she wouldn't touch it. as she became older her father's greed also appeared to grow with her or perhaps it was only then that she was old enough to see it and the ways things didn't seem to add up . it was only when she'd stumbled into a hidden room within her home and met the tortured gaze of a stranger that she'd find out what her father did and had been hiding all those years . he was involved in illicit traits and other dubious activities. sometimes he'd even order kidnappings of important people or travellers such as royal legates or sometimes even nobility itself and use them as a threat. as soon as noe found out about it , she'd decided to turn her back on her family . she'd felt that she couldn't trust anyone anymore and she was afraid of finding out more things she didn't want to know about . however, despite her broken trust she knew that in some twisted ways she still wanted to love them because loving her family was the only form of love she'd ever known. that's why she couldn't completely turn their back on them and instead had made the choice of being a valet .

headcanons

// her mother's side of the family are royalty from the house of liechtenstein . she'd often spend time travelling there and truth to be told she'd always felt she belonged there more than to germany. similarly, the house of oldenburg belongs to one of the most influential noble families and in contrast to her father's hidden suspicious antics is quite beloved by the public. // right now, noe is just feeling lost and is trying to figure out her own feelings but also her future . she's glad she'd found a way to keep a distance from her family, yet she knows that she somehow has to make a decision soon. that's why she's just trying to stay out of any drama . yet, as someone who is naturally curious she also can't help herself but trying to find out the latest gossip and snooping around. // noe is quite flirty by nature which is probably a result of her quite flippant treatment towards love ( platonically and romantically ). she tends to lead people on sometimes unknowingly and if she isn't she thinks people have the same view as her . the thought of being vulnerable towards anyone terrifies her and there are only a handful of people she's truly close to. // she loves writing and has probably dreamed of publishing . yet, she also feels like that someone who comes from a family like hers does not deserve to share the stories of humans, hence she keeps that hobby to herself most of the times . // she also adores animals , however she feels like she's quite bad at handling them. she has a horse called rosine ( translation : raisin ) who is quite mean towards her but she can't help but love . more tba

wanted connections

her siblings : at least one is definitely aware of what their family does. perhaps they're even involved in it and do not understand why noemi distanced herself from her family and tried to find a way immediately out. maybe they are even resentful since she just left with no proper explanation. everything is definitely utp. cousins : the oldenburg family has a lot of branches in other countries so noemi being cousin to someone could somehow work. former friends that might've been driven away by her family / threatened by them once real friends as noe is someone who is very social people she flirts with because does it a lot but with no meaning, additionally someone who thinks noemi has an interest in them and is now confused ( could also be an unrequited love ) love interest ( slow burn / maybe an enemies to lovers or childhood friends to lovers ? ) which would contain a lot of angst as noe would push them away as she's afraid that they might find out about her secret or they might get hurt by her fam ) people who might work or did some (shady ) business with her family people who might know about her family's secret and try to threaten/blackmail her with it

[adorable-pink-cinnamon-roll]

Helllooo!! Can we have some informations about your rewrite comic of LO ?? 🥺🥺

Hullo!!! Thank you for asking!! (o^▽^o)

I actually had an intro post typed out to explain all that when I made this blog, but I was confused & stupid and accidentally deleted it. TWICE lmfho. 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。 But I'll go ahead and give a rundown here!

For starters, it's going to be more focused on retelling the originally established story in LO itself rather than attempt to accurately portray the myths, and I have a few reasons for taking this path with it:

Several other LO rewriters (Who I have no intention whatsoever of trying to "outdo" or "compete" with, we're all just having fun with this crapshow of a comic lol) are already going this direction with their own AUs.

I have no problem with LO being myth-inaccurate fundamentally, what I have problems with is the fact that RS falsely proclaimed herself a "folklorist" and acts like she reshaped the Greek myth community through LO, which is obv just wrong. I'm not a folklorist, and I'm not trying to "subvert" Greek mythos with my rewrite.

I feel, more often than not, only the best of writers have the skill to reimagine the myths in a way that is both entertaining & original AND respectful to the og myths/authors/cultures. I'm obv nowhere near this level as a writer yet (I'm a noob on Tumblr, for Pete's sake lol), and my intention isn't sm to reimagine the myths as it is to reimagine LO itself.

To expand on that last point, I'll be using (but refining) a lot of the plotlines & characterizations originally established in the pilot eps & S1. For example, Persephone will be soft-natured & demure but assertive & independent, and her arc will be about her discovering herself within & beyond her role both as the goddess of spring AND as the queen of the underworld. As for Hades, there are A LOT of changes I'll be making to his character, and a MAJOR arc that wasn't even hinted at in LO that I'm very much looking forward to writing huehue. (・`ω´・)

I'll also still be taking the romance route, since I actually really like the initial idea and still think it had a lot of potential. HOWEVER, it will most def NOT be a thinly veiled DDLG/Humbert-Lolita/age-gap fetishizing "dark romance" where the characters involved are empty shells both in & outside of their relationship, and will never be used to villainize Demeter. (×﹏×) They'll be their own people, and their affection for each other will be a slow-burning, genuine love that develops through time & trial. But not in such a way that every moment they spend together is filled with contrived romantic/sexual tension lol, they'll just get to know, care for, & love each other at their own pace, in respective stages.

The comic itself won't be almost 300 eps long lol, just long enough to tell the overlapping story of Hades & esp Persephone, both as individuals and as a couple. That being said, I actually have a short spin-off comic planned focusing on Zeus & Hera's story bc I was just as, if not more so, dissatisfied with the way their arc panned out as the main plotline. Oddly enough, I actually have more of a firm idea/concept for the spin-off than the main comic so far (Maybe bc it's shorter? Lol) and it's... emotional af. ( ; ω ; )

As for the art, I'm still in the process of developing my own style, but it leans rather into the anime/manga side lol. Additionally, RS's early LO art mesmerizes me to this day, and I'll be attempting to fuse my budding artstyle with her pre/early/pilot LO art. Using the same brushes, textures, effects, & techniques as RS will be a challenge (Esp since I don't use Photoshop lol), but I'm highly anticipating growing as an artist through expanding my style and studying & mimicking her gorgeous art of the past out of respect & admiration. ( ´ ꒳ ` )

All in all, I'm still in the VERY early stages of conceptualizing this project (Literally, all I've got atm are concepts lmho), and it'll actually be the first time I'm putting anything like this together. (⊙_⊙') This comic & everything that comes from it will essentially be my launching pad into the art scene, an experimental endeavor to ready myself for a possibly professional career in the arts. It may be a bit odd to do, but I've discussed it with others and they agree it'll be a suitable stepping stone that I can fully enjoy creating & committing to. I'm very passionate about bringing this project into fruition, and I sincerely hope anyone who's interested in it will be pleased with what I humbly have to offer and find the closure with LO that I myself am striving for. ( ´ ▿ ` )

I apologize for the long yet vague response (I'm uselessly good at vague tangents lmho), and there are plenty of other things to say concerning my plans for this AU in store. Therefore, I'll be posting a full list of changes & parallels from LO that will be present in my comic in the near future, so stay tuned if there's any additional information you're looking for and thank you for your time & curiosity!! ＼(＾▽＾)／

[humanthatishuman]

You have OCS?? 👀

You talk to me about them and I will share info about my OCS with you :3

LILLIA THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! <333333/p

i have quite a few bsd ocs but haven't gotten around to making blogs for them so ig ill just talk abt Yashima (whose blog is @the-crows-said-hi if you wanna check it out)

ummmm where do i start?? ig i can yap abt how Yashima as a character connects to the namesake of their ability, Crow Boy. Crow Boy is a children's picture book written by Atsushi Iwamatsu, more known by his pen name, Taro Yashima.

On the first page, we are told that on the first day of school, a missing boy was found under the schoolhouse floor. Nobody knew or recognized the kid, so they gave him a nickname. Chibi, because 'he was very small', as the book says.

As I described in Yashima's intro post, Mori found them hiding after their small group was massacred, I imagine he found them in a similar fashion. Also, Yashima suffered from malnourishment in his most developing years, which made him shorter than most of the cast (not chuuya lmao). It's not set in stone but they're anywhere from 5'4 to 5'6.

The next few pages describe that the boy was afraid of everyone, so he did not interact with others and was left alone at all times and found other, more mundane things to entertain himself. Yashima was in a similar situation when first joining the PM.

For these reasons, many kids picked on Chibi, both younger and older. Calling him names like 'stupid' and 'slowpoke'. In the PM and possibly in their hometown they were teased for their size or that they don't have a decent education.

But, this is only if I decide to add it bc at this moment it's just an idea, namely Dazai since Yashima was his subordinate. And all know how Dazai treated Akutagawa during training, so it would go beyond a few mean words. However, I am hesitant about adding this to Yashima's backstory because I don't know if other rp-ers would go with it. Like, if other Dazais would treat Yashima like that trauma happened.

Then, in the story, we get a time skip five years later to sixth grade, the last grade of their school, with the sentence '...slowpokes or not, day after day Chibi came trudging to school.' The sixth-grade class was taught by a man named Mr. Isobe.

Mr. Isobe is described as 'a friendly man with a kind smile.' The next pages discuss how impressed Mr. Isobe was with Chibi and generally how this teacher had taken a liking to the lonely boy.

This Mr. Isobe figure in Yashima's life was maybe a person in their old group or a kind PM member, but more likely the old group itself represented this one kind man. Since Yashima was so young (eleven to fourteen) it proved the 'it takes a village to raise a baby' saying true.

Everyone is shocked to see that Chibi is on the stage for that year's school talent show, supposedly about to mimic the voices of crows. And then he does, the entire life cycle of crows and how different emotions affect the bird's cries.

This ties into Yashima's ability. In which he can communicate with crows by mimicking their caws, this is also how they summon crows within a 100-mile radius to their side.

In the book, everyone attending is impressed and goes as far as to start crying. Not because of the crow impression, but because of the story it told and the reminder that in all of those six long years, even while being bullied, Chibi hadn't missed a single day of class.

This is where Yashima differs from Chibi.

Yashima never received this level of praise, the closest being in that group of theirs back on the streets. Which is what their chasing. The praise, the feeling of belonging that Chibi (kind of) achieved in the end.

The story ends with the boy's life after sixth grade. He would occasionally come to the village to sell things, but no longer was he nicknamed Chibi. Instead, he was titled 'Crow Boy', a name he seemed to wear with the faintest sense of pride.

THANKS FOR LETTING ME YAP FOR SO LONG :D PLEASE GO ON ABT UR OCS FOR HOWEVER LONG YOU DESIRE, ILL READ IT ALL DW

[mirror-ralsei]

The Sound Test is hands down my favourite piece of horror in Undertale.

Yeah, sure. Photoshop Flowey is a great spiritual successor to Giygas, and Gaster to Uboa. The Chara jumpscare is disturbing, as is the entire No Mercy run. But the Sound Test is a masterfully crafted anecdote that deserves more appreciation.

So to recap, Fun event 65 begins when you walk north in the crossroads before Snowdin. The music cuts out to transition to text on a black background.

It starts off positively: “Welcome to the Sound Test! Listen to all your favorites. Press Left or Right to select. Press Z to play a song.” The friendly terms fade in calmly, offsetting any disturbance caused by this sudden interruption by easing into it. We also need to note Undertale was designed as a niche RPG for RPG fans, which intentionally played with their expectations.

With that audience in mind, the player also likely has an expectation here: contemporary sound test rooms are typically a cool bonus for players, unlocked either through the progression of a game or its completion, or sometimes only through codes or developer consoles. They provide a list to play of all the sound files in a game, or at least the OST. This is a generally beloved feature when provided, allowing players to jam out to their favourite tracks. “Listen to all your favorites” seems to confirm this, reinforcing the brain to glaze over any specifics and autofill an expected experience here.

So we dive excitedly into this bonus feature (if maybe a little bit confused). Sound tests typically are accessible from main menus, and we were just interrupted while playing the game, but whatever, this game is a bit weird anyway. What songs do we have? You can cycle through them, but more likely people will play one by one in successsion.

We start with “Happy Town.” There hasn't been a “Happy Town” location yet that we've seen, but this is probably an area from later in the game or something. We click on it, and it's... short. It's just a simple loop on two channels, too. The melody itself is rather boring. Okay. Maybe this is just an intro track, so on to the next one.

“Meat Factory.” Uhh. This is definitely from later in the game... probably? When you think on it for even a moment, you realize this grim title sounds very tonally out of place in a game that's so far been pretty fantastical and friendly, and that makes it immediately unsettling. Clicking on it immediately confirms this. Where Happy Town was pretty noncommittal, Meat Factory's 8-bit loop is even shorter and almost oppressive in its relentless, growling two notes, repeating at an alarming pace, as if approaching with deadly intent. Why is something so disturbing and almost industrial in a funny little game?

You quickly switch to the next song. “Trouble Dingle.” A “dingle” might imply something a little bit lighter, and “trouble” sounds maybe a little more whimsical than “doom,” but there is no relief here. This loop is longer, but distorted and chaotic. It sounds corrupted. There's no trackable melody, it loses the 8-bit instrument, and like Photoshop Flowey's fight or the unpredictable melody of “Amalgamate,” is generally throwing away all sense of safety in favour of absolute disorientation.

At this point, you have likely forgotten about the context and are trying to find one song that's not incredibly disturbing. Maybe you've even realized by now that there is no way to even exit this unsettling “room.”

It's an auditory chase scene. The pressure increases with every song. Something is approaching, and fast.

Enter “Gaster's Theme.”

The hunt is over. The music has caught you. Suddenly, no matter what you do, you are trapped, forced to listen to this piece, this theme of a character you do not know, which starts off curious before dipping threateningly into the minor key. You rightfully may get the impression that this character “Gaster,” whoever they are, exerts some terrifying control over you, to be able to freeze you like this, able to writhe around between song tracks but change absoutely nothing, escape utterly futile.

You are only free when this music chooses to let you go. It cuts off abruptly. “Thanks for your feedback!” it says cheerfully. Then:

“Be seeing you soon.”

It's an incredibly compelling little horror piece and potential villain introduction that I find even more unsettling than the 66 mysteryman door itself. It's short but sweet, toying perfectly with expectations and making us deliberately uncomfortable at every turn.

[writing-for-life]

Sandman Master Post and Intro

Hi, I’m so glad you’re here! This started out as a small writing blog but has developed a horrifying (^jk) life of its own over the past two years, so it was about time I just faced the facts:

A Sandman Blog it is!

I organised the links and tags to all my Sandman stuff for you to make it easier to find your way around.

I love getting asks, about analysis, about my fics, prompts or generally just to chat, so see this as an encouragement to slide into my inbox…

For quick reference:

[The Ultimate Sandman Character Tag Library]

[The Women of the Sandman Tag Library]

[Sandman Comics: Original Artists Library]

[The Sandman Timeline]

[Sandman Reread (Comics)]

[Sandman Rewatch (Netflix)]

[Sandman S2 News, Casting and Speculation]

[Sandman Reference: How to Collect the Comics, Companion Books, Annotations/Reference Literature etc]

[Sandman Movie Concept Art by Jill Thompson & John Watkiss]

[In Light of Recent Allegations]

Ordered by topics (recommended):

Sandman Meta-Analysis: My literary/conceptual/psychological analyses. I have also written some musical and art metas. You will find further links via all three.

The Sandman Book Club Community: Just follow the link if you’d like to join.

Sandman Fics & Poems: My own work, mostly m/f and f/f canon pairings and OCs, both long fics and shorter works.

I’m also Dream’s Therapist. I think we all agree he needs one.

Sandman Art (general tag that contains all art posts, from fan-art to gif-sets. Separate tag for official Sandman artists. Plus the very few pieces of my own art I’ve ever posted on here).

Sandman March Mania was an event we specifically ran for the comics art lovers, so check it out.

Sparkle Content Curation (a not-quite-serious collection of Dream/Morpheus thirst-trap fan-art and unhinged posts). Please also peruse the tags #contraceptive sparkles, #glitter herpes and #murphy and his cool hat (yes, I am sort of responsible for the #muhulhu tag on here) if this hell-site has left you in a state of being desperate for laughs

A Little Intro…

…and why this blog will keep on existing

Once there was a girl with so many words, so many images, so many songs in her head that had no place to go. So she decided some of them will just go here…

Well, that sounds a bit contrived, but it’s not entirely untrue. Apart from the “girl”-part, because I’m at the younger end of Gen X. Or the “no place to go”-part, because some of my work actually *did* go places. Just not the stuff I decided to put on here…

Which is mostly Sandman stuff right now, let’s be honest (I fell in love with it when I was 16, and it still has a tight grip on me three decades later). And the fact that my blog a wild mix between my metas, my fanfic and a bit of my doodling already shows the pull in different directions I have experienced for most of my life:

I guess I’m just a multi-hyphenate who can’t make up her mind what she wants to do with her life, so she tries to do it all and ends up burned out half of the time.

Somewhere along the way, I managed to publish a few novels under a pen name, and only a select few people know about it. And I intend to keep it that way.

I used to draw much more (mostly pencil and ink), but between working and having a family, something had to give, and if I have to choose, writing always comes first. But I doodle and experiment a lot in Procreate, and it usually helps me when I procrastinate on my writing. I drop the odd drawing in here (like my profile pic), but I don’t see myself as a fine artist, and I’m in perpetual awe of the talent I see on here.

This is just an account for unapologetically being me, with all my hyperfixations—and undoubtedly some pointless shitposts just for fun…

In light of recent happenings, I explained my personal stance and, by extension, why this blog will keep on existing.

[jessjustplay]

I started playing Final Fantasy XVI! 7 hours update

May 25, 2025

Clive, a council meeting, and a long flashback. I don't know what the game devs were thinking, but the intro to this game could have been so much better with a shorter flashback or with those events broken down and sprinkled throughout the game.

But other than that, I love the game so far! The battles are beautiful and a lot of fun. The summons look amazing and it's cool seeing so many of them.

I normally play Story Mode but for some reason I decided to play Action Mode this time! I think choosing Standard/Normal mode in Star Ocean: The Last Hope gave me a boost of confidence lol

Shiva looking extraordinarily beautiful.

The game utilizes the strategy mentioned above by showing us scenes of Benedikta's past and it works perfectly. By bringing up the past when it's relevant to a current event, you're able to see exactly how the past affected the present. It feels important, which makes me care and pay attention.

Are we going to see her again???

Once you get back to the current timeline, the pace of the game picks up thanks to exploration and really cool battles. There are still a lot of cutscenes but I don't mind them. My complaint is only with the beginning flashback scene.

The summons in the game look amazing.

They're really cute together.

A beautiful crescent moon.

I'm having a really fun time playing this game. So far I've spent the most time getting to know Clive, Cid, and Benedikta. Jill was there for a moment, but I know she'll join later. I'm really curious what happens next!

Benedikta is an interesting character and definitely belongs on my Angry Women in JRPGs list. I am curious if her story is wrapped up or if something will happen later on with her.

I wasn't sure if I liked Cid or not. He gives off this "I think I'm so cool" vibe that doesn't always work for me. But sometimes it does. For example, it was hilarious what he yells "CLIVE!" at Lostwing and I admire his desire to help other Bearers and Dominants.

As for Clive, well he sure is mopey but with reason. He seems kind, loyal, duty-driven. He would definitely go fetch you some water if you asked. His mood feels sullen but I mean, understandably so. I want to see how (or if) his character develops.

She's so scary lol

There was something about seeing Hellfire in such HD glory that made me emotional lol

Ramuh! It's cool to see him again. (I feel like I only connect him with FF9 since we have to do his little scavenger hunt inside Pinnacle Rocks.)

I'm super bummed about this. I have to finish the game before I can talk about a possible pattern I've noticed.

Odin looking badass.

And Bahamut, who is a blondie dragoon named Dion. Which is interesting since Kaine from FF4 is also a blondie dragoon lol

Anyway, that's where I left off. After this scene, Clive is having a meltdown and needs clothes.

[justworthlessreblogs]

scattered thoughts on kirapika 2

part 2 of my great kirapika rant. this one is shorter but i'm still putting it under a read more

the series tries to argue that rio's sole motivation for going evil was jealously but i disagree (to an extent) because that is a 12 or 13 year old alone in an unfamiliar city without any support system (i mean. it's just straight up canon that he and ciel started to drift apart during this time, he doesn't really seem to have had as much of a bond with jean-pierre as ciel does, he probably didn't interact with anyone else, and i think it's pretty telling that at some point he started exclusively working on his stuff in their attic instead of jean-pierre's workshop). jealously was absolutely a factor, yes, but he was also incredibly isolated and emotionally vulnerable (something we know noir specifically preys on). mentioned this to my beta once and he said that noir sounds like a textbook cult leader

in the end, rio and ciel just feel very... incomplete, as characters. like they get setup for arcs that never happen, but the show insists that they did.

ciel: i've said this before, but to me ciel is the sort of character who needs a broken pedestal. because when we meet her, she's already got everything. she's perfect in every way. and then you start seeing the cracks, tiny little flaws that sneak through. because ciel *is* flawed. she's selfish, she's shortsighted, she's got a tendency to only think about herself. she can't comprehend why ichika's "simple" sweets have so much kirakiraru even though they're not as fancy as her sweets. and i love it. i was so hyped for seeing how her intro was going to turn out while watching her introductory arc, because they had so much to work with.

the problem with ciel as a character is that she needs a moment of reckoning, but she never gets it. she comes very, very close in 23, but it's immediately undercut by the fact that she isn't the one who gets herself out of her slump (it's rio and ichika who do) and she gets rewarded despite doing nothing to really earn the reward. ciel just wallows around, then rio makes the waffles and makes her feel better, but it's ciel who gets to become a cure? it's just... disappointing. things just fall into her lap, and others do the work for her, but she gets to reap the reward. when watching 23 for the first time i thought that it really felt like set up for *rio's* debut as a cure, and i still stand by that. it's the apex of his redemption arc, the episode where he gets his big emotional realization and resolves to become a better person. and while as previously mentioned they try to give ciel something like that, it falls flat because she never does any of the emotional work.

and then after 23 ciel is just... there. it feels like the writers don't really know what to do with her character arc since its primary focus is her relationship with her brother, but they just put him in a coma for 16 episodes. and so ciel just kinda Exists. none of her episodes during this stretch are all that interesting except for 26 and that's because she's got really good chemistry with bibury - but they don't even really take advantage of that, either, because bibury disappears from the plot again until 32 and remains in the background after that! the implication in 26 that ciel has developed a bit of a savior complex based on her interactions with bibury is really interesting too, but once again they don't really do anything with it after that. ciel offers bibury a home and that's about it.

"but justie, you said that ciel gets to define herself as a character! why are you complaining about how aimless she is?" and yeah that's fair, i did. but when i say that ciel gets define herself i mean that more in accomplishments. because ciel has a *lot* of accomplishments, to the point where it gets a little ridiculous. she's perfect at literally everything except sometimes she mixes up her idioms in japanese, and that's a character trait that shows up so little that i usually forget it even exists. and they don't do anything with this perfection, either, unlike yukari. ciel's perfect because she just is.

anyways. ciel kinda floats along for a while, and then 41 happens, and they try to tell me that ciel's grown and changed and become a really great person, except i don't buy it because she's still saying thoughtless stuff at the literal emotional climax. and it frustrates me, because i can see her potential character arc - but the writers refuse to commit to it. at the end of the show, ciel is the same exact person she was at the start, except now she's got fancy precure powers too.

rio: rio gets an incomplete arc more in the sense that he literally isn't around to complete it. i'll die on the hill that the coma was the worst thing the show could've done. because all of rio's development that he'd been getting vanishes after 23, and while 41 tries to develop him more it falls flat for me because in my opinion it's too little, too late. they waste his last chance for development on a generic "redeemed villain feels bad about what they did" plot, and they don't even have fun with it! as i've already mentioned in the other post after the coma rio just becomes kind of a shell of himself. a lot of interesting things set up during the first half of the series vanish because we only get to have one episode with him and they waste it on "oh i feel bad about my crimes" and they don't even do it well because just like ciel in 23 rio doesn't get to sort out his own shit. he's the one being framed, he's the one being targeted, he's the one who wanted to run away - but it's ciel who confronts elisio, because ciel is the precure and the precure has to be the one to confront the villain, and rio just stands there uselessly in the background even though his arc is supposed to be about how he's not useless and can measure up to his sister. the underlying message of the arc we do get is just. depressing. rio struggles, and struggles, and tries so fucking hard, but no matter what he does he's still second best to ciel. and for a show like precure, "you'll never be good enough so you should just give up and accept your place in the background" is really, really bleak. he needs a confidence arc the way ciel needs a broken pedestal arc, and he never gets it, and his really interesting dynamics with characters - ichika and yukari specifically - vanish into the wind, because the writers decided the coma was a better option instead of exploring them. in my opinion, 41 should have been episode 24, or 25, or somewhere in that range. because it feels like the behavior of both ciel and rio would fit a lot better there. patching up their relationship is the beginning, not the ending. there's still a lot of development to be done. you can't just tell me that everything's fine now.

i think cure parfait could've worked, but the way it happens in canon just is Not It

this one is tangentially related but i'm putting it in here anyways: i also think cure pekorin could've worked if we'd actually gotten some setup for it. like yeah 38 was an episode that happened and she gets focus in 7 as well but i feel like pekorin as a character just mostly exists in the background. and then suddenly bam she's a precure despite never really showing any drive to be one or do that sort of thing. even removing all my biases i still think that for the sake of the narrative alone rio would've been a much better fit because he already had that motivation and it would've been a nice cap on his redemption arc imo, but if pekorin was given actual setup and foreshadowing aside from getting a human form in 38 i think it would've gone a lot better

[lexr86]

Masterlist

This is an 18+ blog! Come on back when you're old enough, kiddos.

Mostly, I write fluff and smut (and fluffy smut). Mainly fluff and smut about everyone's favourite metalhead Dungeon Master from Stranger Things. 🤤

Lately, I've started to branch into darker tales, still featuring Eddie Munson. All I can say about this is that I'm sorry. It was never meant to get this bad...

All my stories can be found my AO3 via the links below. The shorter ones are also available here via the Tumblr links. I also post some of them on FanFiction.net.

Series:

A Freak and a Weirdo (Eddie x Sam (original female character)) Sam character intro Tumblr AO3

When you’re different, other people think you’re weird. When you’re wired differently, they think you’re the town weirdo. And if that wasn’t bad enough, then the town freak starts paying attention to you.

The one where I write a very probably autistic protagonist, who's definitely maybe me (I wish!).

You Shook Me - Eddie x Lex (original female character) Lex character intro AO3

Eddie Munson wasn't expecting much from his life, Hawkins, or his trip to the mall one random day in 1985. But after an unexpected encounter with a fellow Hawkins High student in the mall elevator, an encounter that quickly threatens to develop into something more serious, he starts to see a future for himself. By her side, hopefully.

The long one... I'm finished the second story in this series & I've got an idea for the third story that I'm just dying to tell!

You Shook Me (Alternate Universe) - Eddie x Lex (original female character) Tumblr AO3

These are alternative universe stories where things take a dark turn for those universes' versions of Eddie and Lex. You don't have to read You Shook Me to read the AU stories in this series but they'll probably make a little more sense if you do.

The one where I'm really fucking mean to Eddie and Lex for no other reason than I can be.

Multi-chapter stories:

All I Want for Christmas - Eddie x Ash/Aisling (original female character) Tumblr AO3

In which our homesick heroine visits her cousins in Hawkins after being cruelly denied the one present she really wants this year, only to discover that there may be a little bit of Christmas magic left in this small Indiana town.

The Christmas one.

Eddie the Banished (and Monstrously Sexy): Stories of Eddie in deliciously monstrous forms! Collection: AO3

Horny - Eddie x Chrissy Cunningham Tumblr AO3

Definitions of horny (adjective):

having horns or hornlike projections

sexually aroused, sexually eager or lustful (slang)

The one I totally wrote because I wanted to be able to use the tags Horny Eddie Munson, Virgin Eddie Munson and Demon Eddie Munson all in the one story. 😂

My Heart's Aflame - Eddie x You There are two versions of this story, both from Eddie's perspective because I originally wrote it from a first-person point of view and then rewrote it from a third-person point of view. But in the end, I like both of them so you get to choose which one to read as I can't! First-person POV: Tumblr / AO3 Third-person POV: Tumblr / AO3

Eddie just wants what’s best for you. Although, in hindsight, what’s best for you is probably not inviting him in wolf form into your home during a snowstorm. But now he’s here, and you’re so good and kind. And oblivious to the monster that’s lurking at the end of your bed.

The one where no good deed goes unpunished... but what a punishment!

The Moon That Breaks The Night - Eddie x Rosaleen Tumblr AO3

Rosaleen is a tribute to a tribe of werewolves in payment for their vanquishing of the scourge of Vecna. Herein lies the tale of her wedding to (& bedding by!) the Alpha wolf’s nephew, one Eddie Munson.

My first crossover!

One-shots:

I'll Let You... - Eddie x You Tumblr AO3

Eddie Munson was such a cocky little prick sometimes. Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to shock him a bit?

The one that wipes that smug look off his stupid handsome face.

Escape - Eddie x Steve x You Tumblr AO3

Steve gives Eddie a gift. You.

The one that I'm genuinely not sure about. I tend to write long descriptive pieces so this was an attempt to keep things relatively short but I worry it lost a little something because of that. Also, the "sold into marriage" trope has been done to death but I hope I managed to not make it boring.

White Hot Shame - Eddie x female Narrator Tumblr AO3

Don’t worry about it, it happens to a lot of guys…

The one where Eddie thinks he has a problem but I'm not complaining!

No Y/N for any of the xReader/You stories because I can't stand it!

For good or bad, all my works are written by me because, honestly, who would want to read something that no-one could be bothered to write?

(these adorable little badges are made by Andy Carolan)

[angry-geese]

Goose, my beloved my bestie, if I want to get into the Fallout universe, where do I start and what do I need to know?? (pls infodump 🥰 I figured an ask post would be easiest so I don’t lose it)

i had to hop onto my laptop to type this out because i already know its going to be long xD

adding a cut so this doesnt take up the entire dash skdjhfskhj

tbh it's pretty hard to play through the series chronologically because it's not really one consistent story: it's a bunch of different stories being told in the same setting. i think the best place to start kind of comes down to which you enjoy most: rpg elements, story, or gameplay.

the older games (like 1 & 2) grant you the most freedom as far as roleplaying goes, but their top-down aspect can be a little off-putting to some people, as well as (at least from personal experience) they're a lot less forgiving than the newer games. your build has to be pretty particular in the beginning if you want to survive combat. even if I'm playing a speech heavy character, i find that i have to tag unarmed/melee skills just to get through the tutorial sequence in the beginning of 2 if i want to survive the intro. a lot of people like them due to their rpg value. it feels like your choices really matter in the wasteland. compared to the later games, they're pretty lax with what they let you do. there's not really a lot of icons on the map telling you where to go or what to do. personally, i need a little more direction when playing a game, but i understand the appeal. out of all of the fallout games, 1 & 2 are probably the ones i have the least hours into out of all of them

fallout 3 and New Vegas are a little clunky with their combat systems but that can be blamed on their age (and probably nv's shorter development time). new vegas and 3 are quite different but im lumping them together because they came out around the same time. new vegas is a cult classic. probably the most (at least openly) loved of all the fallout games, and for good reason. the story felt like old fallout while using the same game engine as the newer one. a lot of the same people who worked on the first two fallouts went to work for obsidian (who developed new vegas) after black isle studios went under so they took a lot of their ideas for the original fallout 3 (which was meant to be another top down one set in California if I'm remembering correctly!) but made it into the 3d rpg style we know today. the combat can feel a little clunky in fnv, but if you want to play a game that has the feeling of "old fallout" with the gameplay of the newer ones, new vegas would be a good place to start

fallout 3 was the first game i got into back when it came out in like 2008 bc my brother had it for his old xbox xD. compared to 4 and new vegas, the capital wasteland is a lot less populated and more barren feeling than other games. supplies and ammo are rarer (assuming you don't know where to look for them) making the game feel like more of a struggle. it makes sense seeing as you start out as a squishy vault dweller who has never seen the wasteland before. story-wise it's pretty good. you can bypass like the first half of the main storyline by just making a beeline to where your dad is in vault 114(?? I'm blanking on the number rn so this might not be the right vault) and avoiding megaton altogether. i don't recommend doing this though because you will miss A LOT of worldbuilding and experience/levels. as far as rpg elements go, you can either be a savior of the wasteland or a real evil bastard depending on what you choose. it feels like you really make a difference for all the settlements/people you decide to help. part of my gripe with this game comes down to the ending. ill avoid spoilers as much as i can just in case you want to play through the game but im not a fan of games you cant continue playing after the ending especially when there's a workaround with one of the companions. overall fallout 3 is pretty enjoyable if you can look past the limitations of the game engine

If you want something that's a lot more forgiving during gameplay, but still feels like the wasteland, I'd start with fallout 4! the combat handles a lot better than 3 & new vegas, but as far as rpg elements go, you're kind of railroaded into the typical good-guy path which i personally don't mind because that tends to be my playstyle in games anyway lmaoooo. fo4 was one of the first "mainstream" fallout games so the story is made to appeal to a more general audience. it's not nearly as dark as the storyline of the earlier games although you can find these more ominous elements tucked away in terminals and environmental storytelling. this game has some of my favorite companions out of the entire series, and fo4 has one of my favorite dlc's out of the entire series which is Far Harbor. if you're into modding your games, the community for fo4 was still pretty active for it even before the show came out. i know a lot of fans of the series have a gripe with the storyline of this game in particular due to it railroading you down a certain path. not to mention, a lot of the actions you make in the commonwealth feel like they don't really change the outcome. however the gameplay is pretty forgiving to someone who hasn't played this series before. your starting stats aren't really the difference between life or death as they give you a lot of room for error. i personally really enjoy the settlement building system and i'd love to see it implemented in later games with tweaks to make it even better. I'm also pretty biased in what i say about fo4 because i have the most hours into it out of any of the other fallout games and it's very near and dear to my heart xD

also slightly related to fallout 4-- if you're looking for a youtuber with some amazing settlement ideas, i really like the creator IfThenCreate who has a whole ongoing series about different settlement builds around the commonwealth. she's very charming and her videos are very cozy and tbh i could listen to her for hours (which i probably actually have because her videos about sanctuary hills are like four hours combined xD). not all of her content is fallout related but at the moment she has probably one of my favorite fallout related series :3

tbh i can't really speak a whole lot about fallout 76. out of all of the games (ignoring tactics and the brotherhood of steel ones) it's probably the game i have the least hours into. as far as gameplay goes, it seems pretty solid. i enjoyed the way they did Appalachia, but I don't think this is the best game to start with if you're just getting into the series. 4 or new vegas is going to be a better place to start imo

if you have amazon prime I'd say start with the show ksdjfkj I've only seen the first two episodes (as of right now at least) but it looks amazing so far. it's the best way to dip your toes into the series without having to commit yourself to tens or hundreds of hours of gameplay xD

also if you get into the games prepare for them to crash. like a lot xD my poor old xbox one could barely handle downtown Boston in fo4 and while it's definitely better on my computer, it still struggles. i also tend to mod my games to hell so that might be part of my problem lmaoaoao. the games can be buggy at times (especially the Bethesda ones) but if you can look past that they're all pretty enjoyable

[bluegrasssax]

I thought I'd give an intro to me and the fics I've written (Merlin x Arthur, E, AO3). I started late 2021 after I found writing helped me through _stuff_

This is in the order I wrote my stories, my thoughts, what I liked about it and what I wish I'd done better.

For most of the fics I started with a canon character trait for each of Merlin and Arthur that I carried through the story (that they either both come to embrace or overcome), I find this works well in keeping to the og character vibe

(No major spoilers)

1. A Fall We Can't Forget

Character archetypes: lost Merlin, naive Arthur

My likes: I love opportunities to be open about feelings without the pressure of consequences, hence dreams. I loved writing Merlin's Druid dream, and that Arthur could appreciate him without fear that way.

Even better if: This was my first fic and I definitely made some classic blunders! I feel I rushed things, and there were many other dream sequences I wish I'd managed to sneak in!

2. Wingless

Character archetypes: guilty Merlin, protective Arthur

My likes: Wings. I mean, come on! That's just cool! I'm honoured someone took the time to make art following reading the fic, it warmed my heart <3

Even better if: Again, I think I rushed into the reveal. I'd have liked better pacing especially in the last few chapters.

3. Parchments

Character archetypes: denial Merlin, self sacrificing Arthur

My likes: similar to the dreams, an opportunity to talk without repercussion. I liked this version of Gwen a lot, and I'm a huge fan of Samhain midnight shenanigans. Also poor Gaius. Sorry man.

Even better if: this is one of my shorter ones. I think it would have been neat to have an Arthur POV through to explain some of his actions too. Alas. Maybe a sequel.

4. Take Your Pain Away

Character archetypes: self sacrificing Merlin, dutiful Arthur

My likes: oh boy this one was a labour of love. I love soulmates, and I thought the dynamic of one person knowing way before the other way good in this case. The added layer of pain transference was for flavour and it snowballed on me lol, but in a good way I think.

Even better if: honestly, I have the fewest Gripes about this one, though I wish I'd taken a bit of a different route with Edith. There could have been more bullshit with that, but maybe it was angsty enough already.

5. Dead To Me

Character archetypes: powerful/unfortunate Merlin, growing Arthur

My likes: actually my favourite story of the lot I think, just because it's a different flavour of "destiny" than I'd considered before. It was a fun challenge to develop intimacy with no physical contact!

Even better if: I liked what I did with Gaius, but I know it wasn't necessarily a popular characterisation of the poor bloke - so if done again I'd like to have made his motivations clearer.

6. Passing Through

Character archetypes: innocent Merlin, whimsical Arthur

My likes: it was nice to have the "love at first sight" sort of vibe with this one, even though I tend to be more of an enemy to lovers fan myself! Merlin's magic felt so natural in this one and I'm really chuffed with how it came out. He is a part of magic as much as it is a part of him, and so it's no wonder it's overwhelming sometimes.

Even better if: I initially planned a bigger blow up with the Arthur reveal, but it didn't quite fit. Maybe in another life. This one could have handled a bit more smut imo.

7. The Satyr and The Prince

Character archetypes: outsider Merlin, conflicted Arthur

My likes: I'm a big fan of body horror - and while this is no xenomorph situation it was interesting to play with a tiny bit of gore. I'm proud of the inner conflict Arthur had, and I hope it came across well.

Even better if: as with most of my fics it seems, I feel I rushed it a bit. My initial plan was more drawn out, more angst (somehow), but I got impatient! Also, didn't get the chance to include any sex! It just didn't fit in naturally without seeking forced :/

Now?

And my current fic is on going, so I won't comment just yet on it. Only know that archetypes revolve around Wonderlust Merlin and Awed Arthur

If you've read any of these I'd love your honest feed back on it - this is a hobby I really enjoy, and I'd like to keep on it for a bit longer!

Also, let me know how this Tumblr thing works, I'm floundering lads XD

[wistfulenchantress]

it looks like you're going to sleep-no pressure to answer this anytime soon!

soo.. i've seen marauders stuff floating around for a long time and i've got quite a few friends who love it (both irl and online). i'd love to start getting into the fandom, i absolutely love all the fanwork i've seen! the characters (that i know, at least) are amazing and i'm obsessed with some of the ships i've seen. the issue is that i don't really know where to start. i've heard of all the young dudes (that's the name, right?), but ik that there's a TON of material out there and that it's not based off any one or two specific works.

ik you know a lot about this fandom and i was wondering if you had any recommendations about where to start? no pressure if not, thanks!

hi!

omg i’m honored.

ok, so there is all the young dudes, which is the giant >500k work that i haven’t even finished.

there are a couple REALLY long tragedy jegulus fics out there hat i’m not planning on reading. (Crimson Rivers and Art Heist, Baby!)

i know that @ my-castles-crumbling has a page on their intro post with some other links as well.

@ gardenofrunar has a lot of short fics that are really good, and you can also check out the @wolfstarmicrofic and @jegulus-microfic pages if you want shorter ones.

you can also, and this is what i did, just start dipping your toes in online interactions. that’s what i did, i joined the online fandom without reading any fanfiction (not even atyd for a couple months), and if you just slowly immerse yourself in people’s head canons and jokes, you can easily get a sense of how the fandom has developed the characters.

welcome to the fandom! i know this is long and idk if it was helpful, but feel free to ask me any more questions, and i now there are plenty more people who would also be happy to help!

(anyone else who sees this and has advice, please, share)

[bijouxcarys]

hey! I was interested in writing an story but I'm sooo nervous on doing it. Can you give me some tips? Such as pacing, sequencing, descriptions, plot, grammar, punctuations, etc

i'll been reading your roman fanfic and you're a great writer

Hey! So sorry this took a minute to answer, but I've been away and I wanted to make sure I gave you a meaningful response!

First of all, thank you so much for the kind words about my Roman fic; I'm really enjoying writing that, so it means the world when people are enjoying it too :)

Okay, in regards to your question:

The first thing, and the most important thing, is to remember that when you're writing... write for you, and no one else. 10 years of writing fanfiction, and only learned that last year. Write what you want to read. If that makes sense. Don't worry too much about the response from others, because somebody somewhere out there is going to love it! If you're having a good time writing, you've already succeeded.

Secondly, it's very helpful to have some kind of idea how many chapters your story is going to be, if it's even going to have multiple chapters etc... That way, when you're thinking about your story arcs and key events, it'll help with your pacing. You don't want to have too quick of a pace if you're planning to have, say, 25-30 chapters. Development is essential, and that can be achieved through sub-plots, interactions between minor (small, not children lol) characters, etc...

However, if you're wanting to write a one shot for instance, pacing is all dependent on how long you're wanting the one shot to be. I tend to write 7-10k word one shots, and my pacing is relatively slow for a one shot. If you are wanting to write a shorter one shot, my advice is to focus on the action, not so much the characters. It's easier when it's a fanfiction, because you don't need to focus too much on telling an audience who that person is, seeing as they're reading it because they already, assumedly, know them. With the OC, sometimes it can be easier to start by writing a x reader fic, but if that's not your thing, it can be helpful to establish a brief backstory in the intro of your one shot, just so that the audience gets an idea of who this OC is. Obviously, if you're writing a longer one shot or a fic that has multiple chapters, it's usually best to "drip-feed" backstory throughout.

A lot of grammar, punctuation, descriptions tend to improve with practice. Looking at my fics now, you wouldn't think it was the same author of my fics 7 years ago.

PLOT... my god, what a topic. First of all, remember every author that you enjoy runs into issues regarding the plot of their stories. Don't be afraid to change the direction your story is going in, it's your story and plot is flexible. As long as you have an idea of where your story is going to end, or how it's going to end, the bits in between are easier to set up. I know exactly how I want Ties That Bind to end, so figuring out the journey is a little easier. That being said, it's very useful to keep a notebook, or a word document, of all your thought process. Things that you want to happen throughout. Sometimes even drafting out a specific scene you've thought of, and then going back to it when or if you decide to use it down the line.

You didn't specifically ask about this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway: WRITER'S BLOCK.

It happens a lot. To every writer that's ever existed. And it's frustrating. You will get annoyed at yourself when it happens. But, throughout the past 10 years, I've learned that for me, the best way to overcome it, is to step back from it, close the folders on your laptop/whatever you use, and revisit it the next day after a sleep and with fresh eyes. Something else that helps me is creating playlists for the fics! It really does get you thinking about your story and the characters (you can even make playlists dedicated to characters), and at times it's even inspired me to add something else to the story. It also gives you something to listen to that's relevant whilst you're actually writing your story, if that's something you like to do.

Just remember, there's no formula to being a writer. And there's no shame in writing fanfiction, if that's what you're wanting to do. Write for you. This is your time, your moment, your hobby, your thing. Like most things, comfort comes with time and practice.

I hope that was helpful! Please feel free to ask any more questions, if there's something I missed or didn't clarify!

<3

[lamaison]

Day 5 of Dragon Age: The Veilguard (spoilers ahead!!) I'm back at work so it's shorter sessions on the weekdays now.

- I thought I should give a look at my Rook, so have a fuzzy photo of my tv. Her name is Arianna, she's an elf Veil Jumper who loves discovering ancient elven history and artifacts. This girl loves her some ruin puzzles.

- And now I can say officially that her partner is Emmrich! We had TWO more dates, we kissed in both, and I got the option to commit to his romance. The devs were saying his romance was a more intimate, sensual flavor and they were not kidding. There's a slight hiccup on the horizon that I'm not going to spoil but I'm hoping by the end of the questline I can bring him around.

- I also came across a cute conversation between Emmrich and Neve where she calls our relationship sweet. And we have our first side relationship developing! The companions you don't romance might get together with other people, and Taash asked me about getting Harding a gift. So cute!

- I moved the main quest along a bit, and we fought dragons again. BioWare had shared some clips of the sequence before so as soon as I recognized it I was like "oh fuck this is the fight with two dragons". Even on Baby Mode this was a bit difficult. (There's a moment after where Ghilan'nain says she wants to kidnap and torture Emmrich as revenge. We'll see on a second run if she says the person you're romancing or if it was just a coincidence.)

- Because I'm on Baby Mode, I haven't been investing a lot on the weapons upgrade system. Most of my money has been going to decor, new armor fashions, and gifts. I like that you can buy little knick knacks to display in your room.

- There have been two instances now where I've picked up on weird vibes with characters that turned out to be correct. Which makes me very nervous about a thing I've noticed with Varric, which is that Rook is the only person who has directly acknowledged him since the intro fight with Solas. And I just had a conversation with Bellara where she mentions him like she's never met him before. ARE YOU A FADE GHOST IN MY HEAD VARRIC?!

[vulturetime]

Hi hi hi! How's the weather been? Have you made any more developments to your WIPs/characters, even if you've just thought about them? ☺️

hello!!!! this is very late lol (also happy late birthday). it rained/sprinkled today which was a little surprising. in general, it's been getting colder because it's fall now. I really like fall as a season, though I keep wearing my shorter pants and getting surprised when i get a little chilly.

i've thought about my wips a lot! i've also thought about a lot of different ways to organize them, mainly because i realized I can't really go off pure adrenaline anymore. I need some kind of structure to work on all my projects, but creating that structure... oof...

i did come up with a few newish wip ideas (which will continue to marinate for now but i'll ramble in the tags) but of my "main" wips:

TWAP is getting a lot of thought, mainly in terms of character connections. I feel like I've mentioned this before, but well, it's still happening. Also I feel like it's finally solidifying as a story which is really nice :) There are some things I need to start doing before/while I write it though. Namely, a lot of TWAP is traveling and being around people you don't really know, so I've been trying to be a lot more attentive of my environment and strangers, just so I can try and get the vibes when I'm writing it.

In the Name of a Capitalized Lord: this one has had sooooo much thought about it! when i created the wip intro post, the plot was actually a recent change. I'm not sure if you remember or if I revealed enough about the wip for others to know, but at first it was really just going to be an alternate historical fiction work. However it was a case like TWAP where something just wasn't clicking. I was listening to this podcast that deals with fantasy religious horror though, and then it clicked that that's the kind of place I wanted to take the religion in capitalized lord. still ironing out the conclusion of the story but it's another case where i'm a lot more satisfied with how the story is now.

the house creation, the house indifferent: ngl i did not work on this one almost at all. I'm in the redrafting phase and something about redrafting and editing it just makes it so hard to get through, even though writing it for the first time was pretty quick for me. Maybe the more I get back to writing, the more fluid the process will be.

How has the weather been for you? Ik you've been pretty busy, but any new (or old) thoughts about your characters?

[writing-with-olive]

How to write essays fast

I've been writing a lot of papers, so that's what's on my mind.

So this mostly applies to your standard 5-paragraph paper, though it's fairly straightforward to adapt it to longer (or sometimes shorter) assignments.

One of the main things to note is that essays are VERY formulaic, so knowing the formula and being able to write down your ideas in a way that fit into the formula is probably the number one way to get stuff done fast. Because of that, most of what I’m covering is breaking down the formulas so they’re more accessable.

Also this got very long. If there’s anything you want me to expand on just let me know in the comments or send me an ask/DM and I’ll make another post that goes more in-depth about it.

Structure (I hate this step, so I’ve figured out how to do it very fast becuase it’s still important)

The first thing to consider is prewriting and structure. To start, there are two major paper structures I usually consider. The first goes

Introduction

Main point #1

Main point #2

Main point #3

Conclusion

This is good if you have a lot to say on the topic, or if it's something closer to a summary essay where there's not really an opposing side. In something where there are distinct sides, (or if you have less to say to support your own side), you may want something that looks like

Introduction

Main point #1

Main point #2

Why the other side is wrong

Conclusion

The "why the other side is wrong" side is involves thinking through the MOST credible arguments the other side might make, and methodically breaking them down to show how they don't work. The stronger the argument you choose, the more effective this is.

Since I personally hate prewriting with a passion, I usually do this step very fast and end up with an outline that looks like

Intro [insert thesis statement]

P1: [three word summary]

P2: [three word summary]

P3: [three word summary]

Conclusion

(thesis statement, introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion tips are all below the cut)

Usually, this is enough so when I look at my outline, I can see what I'm trying to focus on for each paragraph - and do so without straying from my main point.

For the prewriting, the main things to do are identify with basic structure of the two will serve your purposes better, and write a thesis statement that solidly supports your argument.

Thesis Statement

There are so many guides about creating thesis statements that are powerful, but I'm just going to quickly go over how to be fast about it.

The first thing to know is that a thesis statement is usually a complex sentence: it's your entire essay distilled down to a single line. The general formula I follow goes something like this:

"In their [media type] [name of specific piece], [creator's full name] explored/demonstrated/other verb [theme you're going to be arguing about] demonstrated/using/as evidenced/as shown by [example 1], [example 2], and [optional example 3]."

For example, a thesis statement that follows this format might go

“In his short film Job at Place, David Davidson explored the manifestations of human stupidity through the absurdity of the main character’s home, school, and office.”

Or, if you're writing a historical piece, it might look something like this:

"In [place/time period], [thing you're arguing was happening]: they had to/the conditions were such that/other thing to set up a list [example 1], [example 2], and [example 3]."

For example, a thesis statement that follows this format might go

“During the Tusken Invasion of 32nd century Tatooine, it was the lives of the children that were most affected, from their social development and connections with others to more personal struggles they didn’t yet have the tools to overcome.”

The examples you give are going to correlate to your paragraphs - example 1 is for body paragraph 1, and so on. 

Introduction

I like to think of the introduction as a funnel that gets more and more specific.

First, write a broad statement that touches on whatever theme you’re referencing. 

Job at Place is about human stupidity, so something like “while great minds have flourished throughout the ages, so have the not-so-great.”

Tatooine is about war, and about child development, so something like “children’s development has always been impacted by the state of the world around them.” or “war has many effects, many of which impact those not directly involved with the conflict.”

The idea is that it’s a broad statement that can almost be looked at like a universal truth.

Next, you’re going to go deeper - two sentences that narrow down the time and place you’re talking about specifically, and how that time and place fit into your universal statement. 

The fourth sentence gets even more specific - introducing how the thesis sentence fits into your first three sentences.

Then the last line is your thesis statements. 

Body Paragraphs

Your three main body paragraphs all follow the same formula. (I’ll get to the “why the other side is wrong” paragraph in a minute)

The first sentence you’re going to want is a topic sentence. For this, you’re going to want to look at the example you gave in your thesis statement that corresponds to this paragraph, and see how it relates to your central claim. 

If we’re going with the Job at Place example from above, for the second paragraph, you might open with a line like:

“A striking characteristic of Davidson’s short film was the abnormality of the main character’s school, used to showcase exactly what happens when poor decisions get taken too far.”

Everything within the paragraph will then back up the claim you’re making in the topic sentence (which in turn is backing up your thesis). 

For each paragraph, you’re probably going to want about three pieces of evidence, either in the form of direct quotes (plucking words directly from the source) or paraphrased quotes (summarizing what happened in your own words). The quote should be used to directly support your argument.

After each piece of evidence, you’re going to want about... twoish lines of analysis (this number can change as you need it to, but two lines is something solid to fall back to). 

While analysis can take all kinds of forms, one pattern you can use if you’re stuck is

evidence sentence 

what it means

how that meaning ties back into your main point

Following this pattern, a piece of analysis of Job at Place might look like:

“One of the first images of the private school is that it’s a tall spire with creaking stairs and loose floorboards. Despite this, the principal has eight personal cars parked outside on full display. While the first glimpse of the school might indicate that there is little money to care for the structural integrity, the notion is directly negated by the principal’s actions. By using these two images, Davidson demonstrates what can happen to the youth when those in power let greed carry them away.”

After you write your analysis, include some kind of transition phrase, and go onto the next piece of evidence.

The last line of your paragraph is going to transition into the next paragraph while also summing up the main point of what you talked about in the current one. (This line can also get moved down and tacked onto the beginning of the next paragraph, before the topic sentence, but I have found it tends to look less cohesive that way).

You might choose something like:

“While the school was a disaster in its own right, it wasn’t the only example of human folly.”

If you’re writing a “this is why the other side is wrong” you’re going to want to think about the MOST compelling arguments the other side could make. Take the top one (or two), and figure out ways to crack them apart using evidence from your source material.

In this case, your topic sentence might start off with something like

“While opponents might say [insert compelling counterargument], their reasoning breaks down when one takes into account the evidence.”

At this point, you’re going to follow the same formula as above. The main thing to keep in mind is that for the duration of this paragraph, your point is that the other side’s claim of X is wrong.

Conclusion!

If you know what you’re doing, this is actually the easiest part.

(wait, what??????)

The thing is, you NEVER want to introduce new ideas into your conclusion. Instead, you’re summarizing your main points.

The formula I follow per sentence is:

Thesis statement but reworded (you can change the sentence structure too)

Topic sentence for paragraph 2 or 3, but reworded (I’ll explain why you shouldn’t do the sentence for P1 in just a sec)

Topic sentence for paragraph 1 or 3 but reworded

Topic sentence for paragraph 1 or 2 but reworded

Wow sentence or question (i’ll get to this too)

The idea for the middle three sentences is you don’t want them to read as repetitive, so you’re going to mix up the order so it doesn’t match the order of the rest of the essay. This will help to keep it fresh.

The wow sentence is basically the last impression you get to make. I find it’s usually a good idea to go just a tad dramatic (it sounds dumb, but it has never failed me). If I can’t think of anything, a declarative statement on whatever major theme was being discussed throughout the essay usually does the trick.

Examples:

All of this shows that in the absence of friendships and platonic love, humanity will falter.

Fiction may seem far fetched now, but if the world falls into those same mistakes, it’s only a matter of time until it becomes a reality.

Art has existed for as long as humans have populated the earth; it’s not going away any time soon.

A lesson everyone must understand is the most powerful weapon isn’t anything physical or tangeable: it’s the ideas that exist in the minds of those who care.

(I told you they were going to be dramatic) A way I look at it is if you can’t imagine dropping the mic on the last line, it needs to be stronger (yes I found that plagiarized with not even a whisper of credit on Pinterest, but it works).

If you wrote a SOLID essay, consider ending with a question aimed at the reader (this will push your essay in the direction of either the positive or negative extreme: a strong essay will become stronger, a weak essay will become weaker). Questions can be a call to action or rhetorical as a means to drive home your final point. Becuase they’re more nuanced to the content of the essay, I don’t really have great examples to give you though (sorry).

Hopefully this is useful to at least some of you - good luck!

++++

Tagging:@candlemouse

If you want to be added to or removed from any of my taglists (found pinned to the top of my blog) just let me know :)

[crystalninjaphoenix]

A Change of Perspective

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 11

After the chaos of last chapter with the dummies, this one doesn’t have that much action. It’s a little shorter than my usual stuff, but that still means its about 5000 words long XD Today, we get to see things from a new point of view: Spitfire Cat’s point of view, in fact. This is more of a world building/character development chapter than anything busy, but it’s still pretty fun ^-^ Enjoy!

===============

It was absurd that he still had to go to work, even though he had superpowers. Usually, he was fine with it. The job was okay, after all, and it’s what helped keep him afloat. But on days like these, waking up after a long, stressful night, he really wanted to destroy his alarm clock. He half-considered calling into work and lying about being sick. But in the end, he got out of bed and got ready for the day.

As always, he stopped by the coffee shop on the corner of the street where his apartment was. The barista recognized him, though he didn’t recognize her, and was friendly while she made his order. He just felt awkward. He was no good with people, and it really showed in moments like this. Still, he managed to thank her, and walked the rest of the way to the train station, where he was just in time for the 9:30 train.

Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at work. He went in through the side entrance and found himself in an empty hallway. Good. The tea he ordered had grown cold on the train ride and he needed to heat it up. He gave a quick glance down the hallway, then pressed himself against the wall and held the cup in both hands. A small red ring of energy encircled the cup, warming the liquid inside for a few moments before he dispelled it. Couldn’t go for too long or else the paper cup would catch fire.

The energy ring disappeared just in time. A man with a dark, bushy beard walked down the hall and saw him standing by the wall. “Hey, Ned!” the man called.

“Hi, Steve,” he said, looking up and waving. That wasn’t his real name, of course. But he’d gone by that alias for years now, and he was well used to responding to it.

“We’re almost live for ten o’clock,” Steve said. “You’re cutting it kind of close, aren’t you?”

He blinked. “I’m early. And I always get here at this time.”

Steve chuckled. “Ah, you’re the same as ever, aren’t you? That was a joke, Ned. Anyway, I’ll be on for today. Good luck.” He reached out and patted his shoulder—causing him to instinctively tense—then headed the other way.

Even though he was pretty early, it took a while to set up all the equipment, so he hurried to clock in and head down the hall to the broadcast room. He passed a few other coworkers on the way, most of whom were too busy to say anything, then reached the door. Quickly, he pulled out the keys in his jacket pocket and unlocked it. Then headed inside into the cool, empty room, closing the door and locking it behind him.

You would think they’d be able to hire more than one person per shift for this job. But he liked that they didn’t. It gave him a lot of free time once he finished with the work for the day. He could just hang out in the broadcast room.

Not right now, though. Right now, they were going live. He sat down, pulled on his headphones, and queued the Channel 5 intro to play as he took a sip of his tea.

The ten o’clock news was the most stressful part of the job. He remembered panicking on his first day, switching wildly between camera feeds and pulling up the prepared graphics thirty seconds too late. But that was a long time ago. He still felt the pressure, of course. But with his practice and focus, he could get through the whole thirty minutes without any major mistakes.

As usual, Dave and Debbie, the channel’s anchors, presented story after story, facts accompanied by little comedic comments put in to keep people’s attention. He didn’t care about most of the stories, but there would always be one or two that really caught his eye—

“And speaking of politicians, the mayor of Daindover has spoken about our local super’s upcoming promotion to official League Hero,” Debbie said.

He almost splashed tea over his face in an effort to put down the cup as fast as possible.

“That’s right, Debbie,” Dave said. “In a recent press conference, Mayor Danvers has expressed pride in Windstorm’s acceptance to the League, which started three months ago.”

He spared some time to roll his eyes before queueing up the appropriate video clip of said press conference. So that’s what this was all about. Carol—the news director—only ever left notes about what to do, not why to do it. Honestly, it was something he really hated about her, but it wasn’t fair to hate her entirely because she was genuinely nice outside of it.

In the video clip, the mayor was standing at a podium and talking about the League. “We’re happy that our city has been chosen to receive an official partnership with the League of Heroes. I’ve also been told by a League representative that Windstorm has been doing great work for the League already, and that his promotion to full Hero will be coming soon. To which I say, what an honor. If Windstorm is out there, I would like to invite him down to city hall for the highest recognition we can provide.”

“Jesus fucking christ,” he muttered, making sure to move the headset’s attached microphone away from his mouth before leaning to the side and making exaggerated gagging noises. Everyone loved the LoH. Everyone worshiped the LoH. The way some people talked about them, you’d think that literal gods themselves had descended on Earth to save humanity from destruction. Though, he supposed, that wasn’t far off from how the League presented themselves.

And as for Windstorm...well. His feelings on him had shifted considerably in the past couple weeks. For two years, he only thought of Windstorm as a careless wannabe who sucked up to the League like everyone else. Then Windstorm actually joined them, and his opinion of the hero had soured considerably. He thought that he was only doing it for fame and fortune—not caring about saving people, only about looking good and showing off his powers. Either that, or he was just that much of a fucking tool.

But...Windstorm had saved him a couple times now. And asked for nothing in return. Sure, they were working together to find the Puppeteer—damn it, now that hero had him using the name, too—but that was something they both wanted. And honestly? He seemed so nervous about it. Like the League would kick him out for associating with a criminal. Like he didn’t know what the League would really think.

Windstorm was still annoying. He was still too much of a goody-two-shoes. And he could be really stupid at times. But he actually cared about helping people. Abou being heroic, not just being a Hero. It was a shame he was so dumb. Hopefully that was just ignorance, and not a character trait. Maybe Windstorm would snap out of this before he got in too deep with the League.

The rest of the broadcast passed without anything notable. He rolled the credits and then ended the live feed at ten thirty. In the anchor room, Dave had already left, while Debbie had taken some tissues out of her purse and was wiping off her makeup. Two of the camera men were messing around and filming each other. Probably college interns, by the looks of them. He stretched back in his chair and closed his eyes.

God damn, he was tired. He must have passed out immediately when he got home. That thing with the crash test dummies had really worn him out. Even so, he didn’t go straight back to his apartment...

===============

This was one of the few neighborhoods where he could walk through the streets in his supersuit without worrying about the reactions. Among certain people, the collection of small, old brick houses on the north side of town had a reputation. Even a nickname: the Villain’s Haven. Most people who lived here knew not to bother anyone suspicious. From what he understood, the police had tried to weed out criminal activity in the area for at least a decade, but that was tough when nobody said anything, and everybody backed up someone’s alibi. A strange unspoken agreement ruled the area: “Don’t bother us, and we won’t bother you.”

The house was 66 Quinzel Street, but the second six had spun down into a nine, and nobody wanted to fix it. He knocked on the door hard enough to rattle its hinges. There was no immediate answer, so he banged on the wood again. “Kanchana?! Are you there?!” Still no answer. He considered breaking the lock, but knocked again, even harder. “Kanchana?! It’s...me! Are you there?!”

A muffled voice shouted something from inside. He couldn’t quite make out the words. But if she was shouting, did she need help?! He held out his hand to the side and conjured a bar of orange energy, which he sharpened into a blade and prepared to cut around the locked handle—

The door opened. A woman with long black hair, wearing an orange T-shirt and striped pajama pants, looked up at him with an annoyed expression. “Don’t break down my door, cat man,” she said. “I was getting ready for an early night. Is this important?”

He stared at her. His eyes flicked over to her wrists. One, two—nothing. There were no strings there. He let out a sigh of relief. “So you’re okay.”

“Yes, of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” Kanchana’s eyes scanned him. “Is something wrong?” she asked in a softer voice.

“I thought...there was...” He shook his head. “I-I thought this villain got to you.”

Kanchana laughed. “Always possible, but they better know the consequences.” Her voice returned to that softer tone. “Did something happen? Are you hurt?”

“I...” He patted himself down, doing a quick self-assessment. “Some bruising, but I think that’s it.”

“Hm.” Kanchana nodded slowly. “Well, come inside and tell me what happened. Are you hungry?”

“I-I guess. I had dinner, but I just spent a lot of calories.”

“Alright. I’ll make you something. Come on.”

He stepped inside Kanchana’s house, letting her close the door behind him. “It’s kind of hard to know where to start,” he said, following her to the dining room and kitchen. “But, to be simple. I got an email from you. It...told me about a rumor. That was related to something I was looking into. I went to the place mentioned in the email and...got ambushed. Th-there was a villain there, he said that I didn’t check if you sent the email yourself. And that was worrying, because this motherfucker—” He growled as anger swelled in his chest “—has mind control. So I had to check on you.”

“I see.” Kanchana was busy getting things out of her fridge and cupboards. “Sit down, cat man. This’ll take a while.”

He sat down at the dining table. Now that everything was over, and he knew that everyone was safe, he felt the exhaustion starting to come. He stared across the dining room, out the window into the small backyard, and let his thoughts drift away...

Then, suddenly, Kanchana was setting a plate and glass down in front of him. “Here,” she said, sitting down in the chair next to him—though that turned out to be more diagonal with this square table.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, picking up the provided fork. The plate was full of rice, meat, and veggies. A lot of them, too, practically a whole meal. But, suddenly, he was starving. He ate quickly at first, but made a conscious effort to slow down after the first couple bites.

“You’re fine with apple juice, right?” Kanchana asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good.” She nodded, and leaned forward onto the table. “How are you, Marvin?”

He didn’t answer immediately. “Fine, I guess. No one’s around, right?”

“No one’s going to hear me use your name.” Most people would have rolled their eyes or yelled at him for his feelings about his name. Not Kanchana. She didn’t know his situation, but she was smart enough to guess he had good reasons for keeping it secret. After all, she was the one who set up the fake paperwork for his alias. “They won’t do much with just a first name, either. Can’t even ask me for your full one, considering I don’t know it.”

“Yeah.” He took a few more bites of food. There was some citrusy taste in there—lime, maybe.

“Well, anyway. I should tell you something.” Kanchana sighed. “My old email got hacked.”

Marvin froze. He looked over at her. “Hacked?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t tell me?”

“I did. I sent you an email from my new address.” Kanchana glanced upwards. “I left my phone upstairs, I can show you the sent history if you want.”

“No, that’s fine, I believe you.” Marvin shook his head. “I didn’t...I don’t know if I didn’t get the email, or if I did, and I deleted it because I didn’t recognize the name. I’d do that.”

“You would.” Kanchana grinned.

“Why would someone hack your email?”

“To send fake messages to my people,” Kanchana sighed. “I don’t really check the sent history, so I didn’t even know this was happening until I got a call from Otto Blackwood. From prison. He wanted to know why I sent him an email about a possible job that turned out to be a trap.”

“Wait...” Marvin sat up straight. “A trap?”

“Yep. Otto said he got ambushed by a man in black. This guy must’ve been a super, because he put these weird strings on his wrists—”

“And made him commit some crime for no reason?” Marvin finished.

Kanchana blinked. “Yes. Exactly.”

“That’s the villain I saw tonight,” Marvin said. “He got to me, too. Did you hear about that arson case at the old Smithwick building?”

“That was you?!” Kanchana almost got out of her chair in surprise.

“It was. I got the strings off, but this villain is still out there. I’m trying to take care of him.” No need for her to know Marvin was working with Windstorm to do so. “What sort of things did he send with your email?”

“Mostly job offerings,” Kanchana said. “He mimicked my usual format almost perfectly. And you know that henchwork has been at a low since Pathos was arrested, so everyone accepted the jobs immediately. They were told to go to different places for a meeting with the client, where they all got ambushed by this man in black.”

Marvin rubbed his eyes. “So that’s what happened with that last crime wave.”

“Yeah.” Kanchana nodded. “I wish I could go to court for all the people who bought into the fake emails and ended up arrested. This should count as a Clause 17, and they should be released regardless of past activities. But. You know. I can’t risk them finding out about HAUC. If I start standing up for all these former henches, that might seem suspicious.”

“I’m sure they all understand,” Marvin reassured her.

Kanchana sighed. He knew it was killing her to see so many people hurting for something they really couldn’t control. Especially people she knew—which was everyone who received those emails. That was because of Kanchana’s power: the ability to remember anyone she’d ever interacted with. It wasn’t very showy, especially compared to other super-enhanced memories that could recall everything. But it was useful for running a large organization like HAUC. People opened up to Kanchana, because they knew she would remember them and their troubles. And she was nothing if not willing to help.

“How are things going with the order, anyway?” Marvin asked, trying for some small talk.

“Other than the hacked email, you mean? Fine. Like I said, henchwork has been low in the past year. But I think we’re starting to recover. There’s not much to find in Daindover, so a lot of people have been forced to branch out into other cities. But there’s been a rising need for tech-based work—a lot of villains have websites nowadays—so people can hench from home with a computer provided by the client. And shipping goods like that has also opened up a new market for people who can keep quiet and smuggle things.”

Marvin snorted. “Villains have websites?”

“Well, they’re not often villains like you,” Kanchana admitted. “They ride the line between villainy and regular crime, and I don’t think many are supers. But like I said, there’s not a lot of work in the area. People are getting desperate.” She paused. “Marvin. Let’s go back to the fake emails. There’s something bothering me.”

Marvin straightened up. “What?”

“Twenty-two people accepted the fake jobs. Sixteen have been arrested, but the last six haven’t. There hasn’t been sign of them committing crimes on the news, either. And when I couldn’t contact them, I went to their places for a visit, but they weren’t there. Most of their stuff was still in place, and the landlords all said these people broke lease willingly, but they wouldn’t do that. You said this villain has mind powers, right? They must be under his control. But I don’t know what happened to them, they just...disappeared.” Kanchana took a deep breath. “Can you keep an eye out for them? Listen for any news?”

“I can do that.” Marvin nodded. “No problem.”

Kanchana smiled, relieved. “Thank you. I’ve tried to look around myself, but I have so much more to do...”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry. I’m already trying to track down this new villain, anyway, this is related.” Marvin paused, then hurried to add, “Not that I wouldn’t do it if that wasn’t the case, I didn’t mean—”

Kanchana laughed. “I know, Marvin.”

“Oh. I have a question, actually.” Marvin tapped his fingers on the table in a quick pattern. “Did you get Gwen to look at the hacked email? Maybe she’d be able to figure out who did it?”

“You know her powers don’t work like that. She needs hardware, email is just software.” Kanchana let out a breath. “Besides, I don’t want to bother her with this. You know?”

“I know. I just thought it was worth asking.” Marvin held back a yawn. “Can’t believe I forgot about the hardware-software thing.”

“You look terrible,” Kanchana said.

“Gee. Thanks.”

“I mean you’re clearly tired.” She pushed his plate a little closer to him. “Finish your food, then go home and go to sleep. You need it.”

===============

And he still needed sleep. Unfortunately, he had obligations.

As usual, his shift following the ten o’clock live broadcast consisted of him editing prerecorded shows, interrupted three times. Twice to make sure the 12:00 and 3:00 programs went smoothly, once at 1:00 for his lunch break. It sounded like a lot of work. But in reality, the equipment had several programs to speed things up and/or automated a lot of it. So Marvin spent the last hour of his shift napping under the broadcast desk, until his phone alarm woke him up at 4:45, telling him to get things ready for the next technician who’d be coming in at five. He cleaned things up and made sure the equipment was working, then clocked out fifteen minutes later.

While waiting at the train station, Marvin mentally reviewed the work day. Nothing exciting had happened. Well, some new hire had made fun of him wearing gloves, but she’d shut up when he gave her his most threatening glare. So that wasn’t important. What was important were the news stories he overheard, both from his coworkers and from the programs he was editing. Today, none of them really stood out. The crime wave was officially declared over, and there were no super-related activities besides stuff about Windstorm being in the League. And, most importantly, there were no mysterious break-ins that might have been a sign of the Specter.

The only thing remotely interesting was the news about SepTech’s new toys: the Semi-Automatic Machines. The first wave had been approved for use by the League of Heroes last month, and apparently that was going so well that SepTech was going to release them to the public on October 10th. Though Marvin highly doubted that most of the public would ever actually see one of the Machines. The price tag on the things were enormous. Understandably so, given the technology. The current director of SepTech loved robotics, and had spent years working on the Machines. Some critics were complaining they were just glorified drones, but SepTech was boasting about how they could do so many things on their own, without much user input.

Marvin didn’t trust those Semi-Automatic Machines. He didn’t like the sound of some of their features, and he didn’t like how the Leaguewas talking about eventually giving one to all of their Heroes.

He was so distracted by stewing in his sour feelings about the League and SepTech’s Machines that he didn’t notice he’d got on the wrong train until its next stop, when he looked out the window to an unexpected station. “Shit!” he hissed, pushing through other standing riders in order to get off the train. He made it out just before the doors closed.

Where was he now? Marvin hurried over to the nearest train map, helpfully posted on a sign nearby. Puppen Street? He vaguely recognized the name. Wasn’t this the sort of...artsy part of the city? He’d been here a couple times, though not many. Whatever. He scanned the map some more, forming a plan. He had to wait thirty minutes for a train to take him back to his first station, where he could get on his original line, the one he’d meant to get on before. “Damn it,” he muttered. Of course, of all the wrong trains to get on, it had to be the line that took a whole half hour between arrivals.

Now, he could either wait around at the station, or he could go on a short walk to kill time. He was originally inclined towards the first option, but then again, he’d rarely been in this part of the city. It seemed less busy than other places, with fewer noisy cars and crowds. Something about the atmosphere was just...more inviting. Marvin stood in place for a good minute arguing with himself before he realized that he was wasting time if he wanted to go on that walk. That final thought spurred him on, and he stepped off the station platform and onto the sidewalk. He would just look around a little.

His plan was to walk in a straight line, but as it turned out, Puppen Street ended up curving and turning weirdly. Ten minutes of half-walking, half-slightly-panicked-running later, he found himself on an entirely different street, regretting his decision to leave the train station at all.

At least it was a nice street. It looked...what was the word? Vintage. The road was lined with shops and small restaurants, their design all a few decades old. The buildings themselves were only two or three stories tall. It was cute. Marvin made a note of this new street’s name—Zeit Way—to come back to on one of his days off. But for right now, he just wanted to get home. He had no idea how he got here, and wasn’t sure that just turning around would be enough for his terrible sense of direction. Maybe he could ask around?

Marvin walked along the street, peering into store windows, looking for a place that had only a few people inside who he could talk to. But everytime he looked in, any people inside looked busy. He didn’t want to interrupt anyone...

Completely unprompted, he heard Windstorm’s voice in his head. Wow, you’re scared of people? Really? I didn’t take you for the type, Spitfire. You don’t have any problem shouting at me all the time.

He half-laughed to himself. That was true. But it was easier to be a villain than to make small talk with strangers. It was easy to wear a mask and let his anger take control. It was easy to snap at Windstorm for being an annoying League bootlicker. This was a different situation entirely.

Whatever. He’d get it over with. Marvin pushed open the door to the nearest shop. A bell chimed overhead as he went inside. This was some sort of...woodworking place? It was full of knickknacks and handmade furniture. There were even wooden clocks on the walls, all ticking in unison. Luckily, the building was empty, except for two men standing by a counter at the back of the shop. Marvin hesitated, then walked over to them.

The two men looked a lot like each other, almost eerily so. They had the same brown hair and the same bright blue eyes. The only differences were their clothes—that, and one was wearing glasses, while the other had a mustache. Actually...it was weird, but these two almost looked like Marvin himself.

He stopped walking some ways away from them. But still within earshot. The one with the glasses was talking, his words traced by some European accent: “—just want to know if everything is alright. You keep talking about how you haven’t been sleeping well.”

The one with the mustache raised his hands, and—oh! He was using BSL. I’m fine, really. It’s just some difficulties. They happen every so often.

“Jamie, you cannot stop me from worrying.” The glasses one hesitated. “This is not about—nothing has changed with...with—”

The mustached one (Jamie?) shook his head and signed quickly. No, it’s not about that, I promise. Everything is going fine on that front. As fine as it can, at least. It’s just an odd spell of some kind. I’m really fine, H-glasses, don’t worry. What was that...oh, it must have been a name sign. Interesting.

“Well, just let me know if you ever need any help,” Glasses said. “Really. Money is no object.”

Thank you. Really. But it’s all fine, Mustache insisted.

Glasses sighed. He turned to look at Marvin. “Sorry, Jackie, I—” He stopped. “Oh. I-I am sorry, I thought you were a friend of mine.”

“No, uh, it’s fine,” Marvin said. That name...it was probably a coincidence. There had to be multiple Jackies in the city. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

Mustache one signed something, looking at his companion. Is this another patient of yours coming to thank you, H-glasses?

“A...patient? No, I don’t know him,” Marvin said.

Surprise crossed Mustache’s face, quickly followed by delight. You speak BSL?

“Yeah.” Marvin nodded, not elaborating.

Great! Well, are you new in town?

“Uh...no, I’ve actually lived here for a few years.” Marvin laughed. “I know it’s embarrassing. But my sense of direction is horrible and I’ve never been in this area before. I’m just looking for the train platform on Puppen Street.”

“That is fairly close by, yes?” Glasses asked, directing the question to Mustache. “Sorry, I do not know the streets so well.”

Pretty close. It’s about ten to fifteen minutes away by walking, Mustache said. Hang on, I’ll write down directions, signing would just take longer. He walked around the counter, pulling open a drawer on the other side and taking out a pen and sheet of paper.

“Thanks,” Marvin said.

No problem, Mustache said, and started to write.

“Excuse me if this is a strange question,” Glasses said. “But do you happen to know Jackie Skye?”

“Maybe,” Marvin said. “What do they look like?”

Glasses laughed. “A bit like you, actually. That is why I mistook you for him earlier, and why I’m asking now. You clearly aren’t related, judging by your reaction.”

“No, I don’t have...any family that lives over here,” Marvin said. “What about you? Are we related?”

“I highly doubt it. Oh! By the way, I am Henrik, this is my cousin Jameson, he owns the shop.” Henrik gestured to Jameson, who paused in his writing to wave, then held out his hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you.” Marvin didn’t take his hand. In fact, he folded his arms.

Henrik put his hand down. “And you?”

“Huh? Oh, my name. I’m Ned. Uh...nice shop you have here.”

Thank you, Jameson said, finishing with his writing. Some of the items for sale were made by my family, some are by local artists. Here are your directions. I included a little map as well. He held out the sheet of paper.

Marvin took it, scanning the pen. “Thanks. Your handwriting is nice.”

Well I try. Jameson grinned. You’re probably in a hurry right now, looking for the platform and all, but feel free to stop by some other time.

“I might,” Marvin said vaguely. He reached into his jacket pocket and checked the time. The train would be coming in fifteen minutes! “Oh shit, I have to go.” He turned around, briefly waving back at the two men. “Thanks again!”

“Goodbye!” Henrik called, and Jameson waved.

Luckily, Jameson’s directions turned out to be very easy to understand. He arrived at the station with a few minutes to spare, then boarded the train when it arrived, getting off at the next stop and transferring to the line he was originally supposed to take.

It would be a bit of a wait before his station came up. And during that wait, Marvin kept thinking about those two. It had to be a coincidence. There was no way that he’d run into friends of Windstorm through getting lost on the train. But something about it kept bothering him. That last name, Skye... Though he knew Windstorm’s first name was Jackie, because of that slipup with his roommate, he didn’t know his family name. Maybe it could be Skye. Something about that name was nagging at him.

He couldn’t look into it right now. He had a lot of things to do when he got home. Keeping an eye out for rumors about the Specter or the Puppeteer took a lot of energy. It was practically research, and he’d always hated research papers in school. And he’d promised to help Kanchana look for those missing people. Not to mention he hadn’t eaten anything in about five hours. And he was still tired from last night. He needed a snack and a nap before doing anything else.

But he filed the information away for a later date. Who knows? It might end up being useful.