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talonsandtails · 9 months

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Just watched the sonic prime season 3 trailer and I am so angry at this show.

They had the FIRST GOOD SONIC CHARACTER IN FOREVER in the form of Nine and they’ve WASTED HIM!

I’ve got a lot to get out about this.

So Nine is a character I absolutely adore. I think he’s one of the rare few examples of an edgelord character done right. He also acts as a nice counterpart to Sonic. His character is perfectly set up for some engaging conflict with the situation at hand with some nice character development with some wholesome moments sprinkled in there.

SO WHY ON EARTH DID THE WRITERS CHOOSE TO TURN HIM INTO YOUR GENERIC CARTOON BUTTHOLE?!?

I honestly actually really liked the conflict that was set up at the end of season 2 but was also nervous for the shows plans for nine in season 3. And of course, based on the trailer, it seems nine has been turned into a generic “I wanna rule the world” villain with no chance at redemption given that the show is pulling together all the characters, including the past antagonists, to face off against him.

Just… why???

Sure I get it, people love twist villains. I love twist villains. It’s great when you can make us attached to a character and then have them stab us in the back.

But the thing is that Nine had so much more potential as an ally than a villain!

What makes Nine so compelling is that he’s the angst we always wanted to see in Tails but never got. I was hoping this would be expanded upon, with the writers finally giving Nine something good in his miserable life through Sonic, but it NEVER happened. All we got were pathetic moments of Sonic showing him basic human decency.

The missed opportunity that bothers me the most is the conflict that we saw come to a head in the finale of season 2. This will take me a minute to explain my interpretation of what’s going on between them.

From Nines point of view, Sonic, the only person he thought ever cared about him, is more than willing to throw him away for a better, less broken version of himself. For the duration of the show, Sonic has been treating Nine as a stand in for Tails and not his own person. He isn’t bothered in the least about the fact that reviving Green Hill would erase Nine. Now that’s not to say I think this is intentional on Sonics end. He’s just a complete moron in this show and more than likely the thoughts just never occurred to him. I think it’s pretty likely that Nine realizes this too, but that doesn’t make it any better for him. It probably hurts him even more to know that Sonic’s actions would have led to his death had he not intervened, and Sonic never even realized what could’ve happened. This here is a good example of how Sonic doesn’t see Nine as his own person, by the way. Ie. “you expected me to just go along whatever you said, didn’t you?” I love this quote in particular because of the implications behind it. This is, in fact, exactly what Tails does, so Sonic expects Nine to be the same way.

Imagine a clone of you suddenly showed up one day, but it lacked the trauma or disabilities or whatever you have, and the person you love most instantly abandons you for this better version of yourself. Like you were just a broken toy that was being replaced. This is essentially what’s happening to Nine.

Nine isn’t entirely in the wrong with what he did in season 2. I also don’t actually blame Nine for not understanding Sonic’s point of view here, desperately missing Green Hill and his old friends. Because he HASN’T acted like he’s missed Green Hill. He’s acted like Nine was just another Tails. Had Sonic separated Tails from Nine in his mind, I doubt Nine would’ve turned on him like that. Because Nine does care about Sonic. It’s easy for people to think that Nines just a selfish brat, but he’s not. He’s risked his life several times for Sonic, someone he just met, because Sonic showed him just a tiny bit of kindness. Realizing just how little Sonic really values him hurts, and it’s easy not to see the other persons reasoning when you’ve been hurt the way Nine has.

And yes, Sonic values Nine very little. I 100% believe this. I don’t believe that this is intentional on Sonic’s part. However, as I’ve said, Nine isn’t his own person in Sonic’s mind. Nine is just an angrier Tails, and so Sonic sees the restoration of Green Hill as the restoration of Tails, and not what it really is; the death of Nine.

Had this ever been explained to Sonic at any point I’m sure this would change. But thanks to the writers apparently frying their braincells and serving them up for dinner, now this will never happen.

THIS is why I hate the choice to make Nine a villain so much. Had Nine stayed a protag, we could’ve instead had an interesting and heartwarming conflict that would’ve resulted in great character development on both ends. The writers could’ve had Sonic realize just how much he’s hurt Nine, and as a side note acknowledge how much suffering Nine went through. This is a small nitpick but I wish Sonic would’ve had a convo telling Nine that what he went through wasn’t fair and comforting him. It would’ve been really heartwarming. But anyways, after he understands how he’s been treating Nine he apologizes and Nine finally gets to feel as though he’s truly valued for who he is. And as a result of this, Nine could’ve had character development where he realizes just how much Sonic’s friends in Green Hill really meant to him, and that he couldn’t simply give up and start over with Nine in The Grim. And because he cares about Sonic more than anything, he willingly gives himself up to bring back Green Hill.

Can you see why I’m so angry about having this taken from the fandom? Instead now Nine is just like any other cartoon supervillain wanting to take over the world. And sure his motivations of wanting to create a perfect world because of all the suffering he himself went through is still interesting, but it doesn’t compare to what we could’ve had. Plus, I’m certain this motivation and Nine as a character are going to be completely butchered, because according to the trailer Nine has somehow gone from just wanting to be left the frick alone to work on the The Grim to somehow destroying the entire freaking Shatterverse. 0-100 real fast and it makes absolutely zero sense.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic prime #tails nine #sonic prime nine #shatterverse #sonic prime season 3

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ladyculebras · 5 months

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hello! i'm a big fan of your fics, and was wondering if you had any particular inspirations for you dexter/harrison fics, specifically 'carnivore incarnate'. it's so fascinating! also, forever hoping you'll write more for this fandom ❣

anon, this is incredibly flattering, and I really hope you're still around to read this response. I'm sorry it took me a while. I wanted to really be...comprehensive in my thoughts and this ended up pretty rambly. In some ways, this is an excuse for me to write about my process for my very rare pair, which is self-indulgent, but I hope it'll be of interest to some people at least.

Stoker and Raw are, in general, two inspirations for me that I keep in mind while writing Dexter/Harrison fic. Stoker, because the way I write Harrison, it's always a coming of age story vis-a-vis serial killing. For carnivore incarnate, I specifically drew on Raw for some of the visuals and violence. Both of those films are coming of age stories with incestous vibes and murder, and that's the vibe I want for my fic.

As far as carnivore incarnate goes, well, there's the quote the title is from, which is the Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, a short story collection; the quote is specifically from The Company of Wolves in it; but I wasn't really drawing on the short story in particular, I just like the quote a lot and I kept hearing it in my head while writing it.

In terms of the vampire mythology, I made it up xD There's absolutely shades of Being Human UK (blood drinking as addiction, daywalking vampires) and The Lost Boys (half-vampirism) and even a bit of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (not-fully transitioned vampires drinking vampire blood), but I constructed the mythology based on what I needed to make the story work. I needed Dexter to walk in daylight, or else he doesn't work as a Miami blood-spatter analysis, so I decided daylight doesn't have an effect, or it has minimal effect. I needed Dexter to age, so he looks Dad-aged to Harrison, not like Season 1 era Dexter, so I decided blood keeps him young and if he doesn't drink, he'll age at a normal rate. I needed Harrison to be in some half-vampire state where he knows he is not Normal but plausibly think his issues are all psychological, and not that he's a vampire, so I decided he doesn't get his fangs until he makes a kill.

I am writing more for this fandom! The problem is, all my ideas are huge, so it takes forever for me to finish something, and I also get distracted by other projects, because I get easily frustrated if I spend too long on one thing. I sort of can't talk about what I'm currently writing, because it's for an exchange (hopefully) and I need to stay anonymous until I post it, but it should hopefully be done...in a month? I think it needs a month's more of work. I have multiple Dexter/Harrison ideas that I've already started, and I'm writing one Harrison/Brian idea that's about...30k at the moment, but again, slowest writer alive.

I am also really deeply inspired by music; I can write without it, but it always helps. If i'm a low mood, music can help pick me up and put me in a better mood for writing. Certain songs evoke the right feelings or emotions for a scene, or a character, or a specific event, and help me with the imagery or mood. This is the most self-indulgent thing but I make a playlist for most things I write. I don't have a specific carnivore incarnate playlist, but I do have a Dexter/Harrison playlist I made for you gave me my very first gun that I've just been adding to it as I write and turned into a catch-all Dexter/Harrison mix:

you gave me my very first gun

I also have these two other writing mixes that I use for writing Dexter/Harrison, or other Dexter-related or Dexter adjacent content:

monsters are always hungry

no blood for you will ever be enough

I've been listening to that third one a lot while writing. There's a lot of overlap between mixes, and I guess if I had to pick 5 songs that inspire my Dexter/Harrison feelings for writing, I'd go with

patron saint hunter - timber timbre

evil - interpol

alligator blood - nicole dollanganger

glycerine - bush

you want it darker - leonard cohen (thank you, bones and all, for bringing this to my attention)

Thank you for asking! I'm glad you're enjoying the fics. There's such a small audience for this, so I really treasure any level of engagement I get <3

#anonymous #asks #dexter #dexter x harrison #harrison morgan #dexter morgan #born in blood; just like you #my writing #about me #and my writing process i guess

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lilac-gold · 1 year

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Headspace Thoughts

I've been thinking about Headspace again and the deeper meaning everything in it seems to have, and just recalled a little detail from the game about Doughie and Biscuit.

A running theme throughout HS is that of isolation. Spaceboy isolates himself in bed and later on a mountain. Rococo is isolated for years in Sweetheart's walls. SWH isolates herself on her quest for love. And the Unbread Twins have been isolated for all eternity in Breaven.

It seems that at one point they must have spoken to people- it seems that the belief in them has existed for centuries, their murals are accurate and bread is still offered to them (seemingly as a sacrifice). They're respected in Orange Oasis as deities, its citizens aware of their existence, but nobody makes any attempt to find them until Omori & co.

Even then, it's dependent on chance. The gang's intention was never to find Doughie & Biscuit and set them free- it was just something they chose to do for the heck of it, but without their visit, the twins would likely be in Breaven for at least years after. Kind of like how Kel decided to visit Sunny and see if he wanted to come out- neither Sunny nor anyone else ever asked him to, but without it, Sunny would've gone down the Hikki route for certain.

When first looking at the Unbread Twins, they're funny characters. 12-year-old Sunny looked at Daphne and Bowen and his only thought was that making bread forever had to be a miserable existence, so here they are! But then I started looking deeper at some of their quotes, and began to notice a few things.

This line in particular caught my eye: "I knew that our bread would come back to haunt us eventually...". It reminded me of Sunny's denial, and of the way his guilt haunts him through the forms of Something, Stranger and Black Space.

Originally, rather than living bread, Doughie was supposed to perceive Omori, Kel, Aubrey and Hero as ghosts, saying, "Are you a ghost?" and "Perhaps they are here to exact their revenge? That would be most..." / "Unfortunate." (Biscuit)

On one hand, it makes sense that she might think this. There were creatures like Hush Puppies in the sacrificing area, she clearly hasn't spoken to anyone but Biscuit in years, and ghosts have been confirmed to exist in Headspace. On the other, this is similar to how Sunny seems to perceive Something almost as the ghost of Mari, a physical manifestation of his guilt that reminds him of what he did. Judging by the three fear battles, it's not a stretch to say that Sunny could view Something as trying to get revenge for Mari too- potentially his subconscious punishing him for what he did.

When Doughie and Biscuit find out that the HS Gang aren't there to hurt them, they simply rejoice for a moment about their safety before continuing on as they always have. They've fallen into a routine: endless, repetitive, miserable, but familiar. The thought of leaving doesn't even occur to them; they rely heavily on the system they've made, scared of leaving and viewing the idea as preposterous.

Similarly, Sunny hasn't left his house in years, and doesn't intend to until Kel comes knocking. He's also fallen into a routine, every day the same as he locks himself away, isolated and too scared to leave alone. He doesn't want to face what he did, or see people again, or look at all the places where he used to go with Mari. He doesn't want to leave, but then Kel appears and flips that all on its head because then he actually has a reason to.

"Alright, we've changed our minds... We want to leave... This place sucks!" / "BISCUIT... We've always been afraid to use the portal." / "But perhaps it's time for change..."

They don't want to stay, and they haven't for a while, but they were too afraid to leave. Then, they're motivated to, and they finally gather up the courage and willpower to go outside of their self-imposed prison.

...And immediately lose everything.

They go to the Last Resort and lose all of their clams to gambling. They decided to break the routine, and suffered as a result of it. This could potentially be symbolic of how Sunny chose to leave but just ended up getting more hurt in the neutral/bad endings. Perhaps 'gambling' has a double meaning; they took a chance on going outside, and it backfired. Perhaps I'm looking too deeply into it lol.

It's interesting to look into how each character can parallel another (e.g. Hero & Spaceboy, Rococo & Sunny, Sweetheart & Mari, etc.), and I had fun writing this! Of course, this is all just me theorising; nothing is concrete, and plenty of it is probably just nonsense, but I wanted to get it out of my system :)

Thanks for getting to the end! Expect more analysis posts to come in the near future :)

#omori #omori unbread twins #omori doughie #omori biscuit #omori sunny #omori analysis #analysis #isolation #omori hero #omori aubrey #omori kel #omori omori #last resort #random thoughts #ramblings

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sunshine304 · 1 year

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Another Fanbinding Post!

My latest project was @dragongirlg-fics's “Don’t Forget” and now that the gift copy has arrived, I can finally post about it! :D I read this fic very early on when I came into the fandom and it’s been in the back of my mind ever since. When I was suddenly hit with an idea for the case design, I decided to spontaneously do this binding because the idea was taking up too much headspace. XD

My camera always struggles with capturing the blue of this particular paper, and that ribbon is silver silk.

I’d also gotten it into my head that I wanted illustrations for the chapter headers and so I went and drew them myself. I hadn’t drawn in forever and it’s not like I was ever really great at it, but I think they turned out well enough.

I also drew the title picture to resemble the painting mentioned in the fic, though I couldn’t do the watercolours as I didn’t have the right paper for that. A bit of editing in Photoshop it was, then.

It was the first time I tried a three piece bradle binding and the paper for the case fought me a lot… My copy has some wrinkles and stuff because of it, as the way the case is assembled did not sit well with the paper. It might also be that I didn’t let the paper rest enough after putting the paste on, IDK.

I did all the case titling and decorations with a hot foil pen and that fought me, too, as all those parts that needed colouring in didn’t work so well on the first try. Second time worked better, at least, as did the cover assembly in general, as I now knew what to look out for.

That second time around, for dragongirlG's copy, I also pressed the shit out of those case boards after I'd glued the paper on. XD

With the case design, I wanted to lean a bit into the bunny theme of the fic, because those bunnies show up all the time. :D There's a lovely, important Chinese quote as well that seemed to fit onto the back cover (and OMG I'm so happy that I managed to write it straight! XD).

The typeset wasn’t too difficult, overall, though Open Office did annoy me at the beginning as it refused to format the pages correctly, which led to me just deleting the whole thing and starting over. XD

There are some things that didn't work out perfectly, like a crease in the endpaper that should not have been there. But luckily, the pattern on the paper kinda hides that. XD My copy also has some little hot foil smears here and there because OMG people, I was really struggling there. XD

Overall, though, I’m really pleased with how this book turned out! I added the silk ribbon on the cover because I felt like there was something missing with all that dark blue… It also meant going hunting for the right silver ribbon. XD

Materials used:

Printed on Clairefontaine DCP 100g (long grain)

Case + endpapers:

- booklinen Brillianta - Efalin paper - French marbled paper 120g - hot foil (on brand)

#fanbinding #bookbinding #my fanbinding #arts and crafts #the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #chen qing ling #wangxian #books #my posts

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landrysg · 28 days

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There are two general ways that nonprofits fundraise forever while accomplishing nothing: first, by making their mission too vague to have any specific definition of success and thus to never fail; second, by making the mission too ambitious for anyone to ever believe that it can be accomplished. ... The sheer amount of graft and corruption that attended the vast orgy of donating associated with the George Floyd protest movement was perfectly predictable, but I think it’s still undersold as a reason for why that branch of politics has receded. ... It’s that quote in my headline that gets to me, though: the embarrassed foundation that gave the dodgy nonprofit a lot of its funding, saying that it wasn’t upset that nothing was produced because it expected nothing, in an effort to save face. ... It’s not just that this period has been so swiftly and thoroughly put in the rearview by our chattering class; it’s that so many of them act as though everyone should have the manners never to bring it up again, since it’s so awkward. There’s an open and direct sense in which the liberals who made the George Floyd moment possible now see all of that as cringe, which is something worse than simply being misguided or directionless. ... What the hell happened to liberals and to the media that they controlled? Why did the default media worker morph from being a center-left technocratic Ezra Klein wannabe into an intersectionality-worshipping radlib with vague economic politics? How did the various checks and balances within news media break down to the point where naked advocacy for a particular ideological project became the default? Why did so many journalists who did not take that turn themselves go along with it anyway, keeping their heads down? ... Why haven’t we had a real postmortem about all of this? I mean, the answer is obvious - because the people who would cover this story are embarrassed by how earnest they so recently were, would prefer to avoid bringing up what they so recently believed, and still feel intense fear over the possibility of appearing to have less than perfect racial politics.

Now do government agencies and COVID policies ...

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miirshroom · 6 months

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Elden Ring: Miyazaki's Undiscovered Element

Here's my pitch: puzzle type #3 from The Witness (2016)

The first type of puzzle in The Witness is the one that the game is marketed for - a series of line puzzles on panels. The second type I won't spoil here. The third type is otherwise known as "perspective easter eggs". I am at this point reasonably certain that this is the so-called "last secret" of Elden Ring, or at least part of it.

Firstly, to clear things up Miyazaki did not say that there was "one last secret" - that was a clickbait title invented by articles a few degrees removed from the original interview. The quote as presented in the IGN article is as follows:

“For me personally, there is a small element that I feel has not yet been discovered. So, whether that’s up to user interpretation or up to just further investigation and playing, that’s something I’m looking forward to....I think it’s a question of when and not if, but there may be something small still missing.”

Points of Comparison with The Witness: Forced Perspective

Here are some examples of what these perspective tricks look like in the Witness:

The statue in the foreground and the one far away on the mountain appear to be reaching for each other. The petrified man reaches for a gold chalice forever out of reach, but his shadow already holds the cup. A pair of wings is hung up in a window frame and you can pose your character in front. A small twig stands in front of a window and only from inside the building does it have a canopy made of cloud.

I have noticed similar set pieces in the environments of Elden Ring:

But here is where I think that Elden Ring diverges from the Witness. Simply finding these satisfying setpieces is half of the work, and the other half is puzzling over the meaning of the perspective, in the context of place and time.

Going through Castle Morne and thinking on what is in the field of view while standing in front of the wooden artillery boards with the metal wing decals. For example, there is a chamber to the left upon entering Castle Morne with no items or enemies inside it. Across from the entrance there is one of these boards. And looking into the little room from the perspective of a person desiring wings, you can see the significant thing about the room: two of the fire spewing dragon shaped flamethrowers that are not used at Castle Morne but are in use at Stormveil. Further examining the room, this is a manufacturing workshop for them.

The bald man cultivating one bud from a crucible producing many sunflower buds is menaced by a shadowy figure emerging from the firey Mt. Gelmir. Is there more to be observed with this one? Probably, as this set of figures occurs several times in sequence and the column with spear-holding figure appears in various states of repair. Something that I have noted is that there is a spike in complexity of these types of observations upon reaching Altus Plateau.

Another Elden Ring Innovation: Visions of Collectible Items

But let's say you are unconvinced about any particular meaning behind lining up a nice photograph at any statue. Here are some examples of scenes built around using items in the environment that can be interacted with:

Heading east of the Abandoned Coffin site of grace and up the hillside there is a place on the right-hand side just near the cliff with 1 carriage stacked on 2 others. At the top corner there is a purple soul item - which is a nascent butterfly. The camera can be angled so that it looks like the soul of the broken golem on the ground below.

Of other uses of nascent butterflies, there's the collapsing cliff at the Chapel of Anticipation - the goal is so close yet out of reach. There's a Wormface in the area under the bridge where Gold Mask first appears that is sobbing in front of a pool of water filled with gold fireflies and slugs, and directly across the pool from the Wormface there is a group of Nascent Butterflies.

And involving Scorched Butterflies: in the small Kaiden Mercenary encampment in Limgrave one of them is sitting and sleeping in front of the fire. Sneaking up and standing directly on top of the Herba behind him, there appears to be a soul item emerging from the stack of fire kindling on the left. The Scorched Butterflies here do not remain over the fire, but instead drift between fire and kindling. The item is actually obtained from a corpse behind the firewood and is the Armorer's Cookbook [1] that allows crafting of Fire Grease and Fireproof Dried Liver.

There is another notable place on the beach in Limgrave looking north where a Kaiden Raider seems to grieve over a corpse in its funeral pyre. A soul item "white flesh" emerges from the corpse, while Scorched Butterflies seem to rise above the flames and towards the Chapel of Anticipation in the distance. From standing at the location of the corpse, the sun sets beyond a rotten boat sitting on the shore.

The Last Sights of Dead Men: Iterating on Dark Souls

"There were once heroes who walked the battlefields, abundantly blessed by the Erdtree itself, who upon earning their honor simply died." - Hero's Rune

It is not uncommon to find corpses simply lying out in the open in many places in Elden Ring and holding "soul" items - by which I mean that they resemble the design of souls in the Dark Souls games. Some of these are unique weapons or key items, and some hold something more mundane like a handful of Stormhawk feathers. What were they looking at when they died? What are they running towards or away from? Standing on top of them, is there anything in the surrounding landscape that is perfectly aligned with another thing in a way that seems deliberate? Items in this game represent concepts - what insights did these dead men reach that caused them and the items they hold to be abandoned by the Greater Will and simply die in place?

In the Weeping Peninsula there is a group of 4 angry jellyfish standing around 3 chairs with 2 corpses on the beach to east of Castle Morne. Looking towards the Weeping Peninsula Minor Erdtree with back against the middle chair (corpse holding Arteria Leaf), there is a visual illusion with the cliffside and wall turret that makes it look to be sitting in a little pot (this is the image used at the top of the post). This draws some connection between the genesis of the Erdtree and pots - a crucible is a type of pot. What is this little scene saying about the Crucible era? Another prominent feature here is that Morne Moangrave is visible, but the tree behind it does not become visible until walking far enough south on the cliff to coincide with two dark jellyfish on the lower beach becoming visible.

Behind Castle Morne there is a corpse lying in a crevasse which is posed with a bag over its head and being eaten by two crabs. The corpse holds 15 Fire Arrows and is looking directly towards a tower with a flammable 6-sided wooden structure at the tower top. There is also a small cut out in the cliff to allow clear sightline towards a single jellyfish which is very small beside the tall tower.

In the room in Stormveil where Nepheli Loux stands over the corpse of the Banished Knight, as you stand in the doorway the position where she's standing is right over his…codpiece. However, looking from the perspective of the corpse in the corner on the right she appears to be emerging from his head, like Athena from the head of Zeus.

From the vantage point of the corpse looking over the cliff behind the Church of Vows the Raya Lucaria Debate Parlour is haloed by the Liurnia South Erdtree. Things aligning with Minor Erdtrees from particular marked locations is a not uncommon observation. This corpse holds 8 Stormhawk feathers - can corpses be found with other quantities of feathers and strung together to show a sequence of travel? Is there a pattern in general behind sets of corpses that hold various quantities of common material items? One thing that this does imply is that there is a connection between the Liurnia South Erdtree and Radagon's arrival at Raya Lucaria, even though it is separated by distance from the Church.

Many Small Things that are Easily Overlooked

Essentially, for any static item found in the environment that can be picked up into the inventory there will be one or more notable observations in the landscape. I mean everything. Sites of grace. Rebirth monuments. Mushrooms. Rowa fruit. There are noticeable patterns where some tree or rock or other structure will be very deliberately placed in alignment or obscuring distant landmarks while standing at these locations marked by game mechanic objects. Landmarks such as the Erdtree, Divine Towers, the Minor Erdtrees, the Moon, and the Giant's Forge are common to take note of since they are so prominent, but any structure can be significant.

To show how finely tuned this can be - in this example Ranni's Rise is obscured when standing directly on top of the mushroom. Standing a metre to the right and the tower is again visible:

If nothing else, pausing to look around at these item points helps build an awareness that at many key locations on the map one or more divine towers will be in alignment with the Erdtree. This is quite possibly the only means of getting answers about what is the purpose of the divine towers - I'm guessing that they represent the influence of the Great Runes that they hold. Depending on which combinations of Erdtrees and towers are visible from the specifically marked points in the landscape it shows that the near location is in the domain of the distant landmark.

For example, the Liurnia Divine Tower is directly in front of the Erdtree from the Rebirth Monument at Laskyar Ruins, and 3 other divine towers are also visible from this location:

The types of common observations do depend on type of item. Patterns emerge that from the viewpoint standing on top of mushrooms there are distant landmarks very deliberately blocked by adjacent trees. Rowa Fruit Bushes are often found in pairs and there are subtle changes from comparing the two perspectives. Sometimes at Trina's Lilies it's more about what landmarks are blocked from sight until moving far enough away from them that it exceeds the draw distance of the item - as if the lilies are in hiding.

As with enemy difficulty, the environmental observations have scaling difficulty depending on the region of the map. Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula seem to function as something of a tutorial zone for the Rowa Fruit Bushes especially. Liurnia has a lot more going on with the mushrooms and the time of day and visibility of the moon and sun are important. Altus Plateau does much longer sequences of tree alignment observations (starting from mushrooms), and keep an eye on the number of visible segments on the bolt of Gransax from any given location in Leyndell.

Why do I think that this is connected to the missing element?

I have seen a number of discussions popping up in the past few weeks of people noticing something that they have never noticed before and declaring that the "secret" is found. It's often something like an artwork detail or line of text that in retrospect has connection to the DLC. This is not special - I think we will find that a lot of things already in-game are connected to the DLC because - y'know - it's still the same game and the DLC is revealing a buried history that FromSoft always knew was there. I'm happy for people being more observant, but again it's a very limited interpretation of what a "missing element" or "something small still missing" could be.

And then there is the other part of the argument that Miyazaki is just trolling and saying that there is something small missing - when there is no possible way for him to have followed every discussion on what people have and have not seen.

But consider this: I am suggesting that there is an entire element of intended gameplay that is not being used. If people were serious about hunting for clues in the environment of the type that I have described there should be videos about it! Secret hunting streams, compilation videos, whatever. Articles with top 10 quirky photos you can take. I can happily run around for hours sneaking past all enemies and trying to observe them unnoticed from various angles like a virtual wildlife photographer.

And what I have shown is just the most aesthetically pleasing findings and "easy" spots to draw conclusions about. Think about how many corpses and how many items there are to interact with in the environment. Thousands. There is so much.

#Elden ring #environmental storytelling #3d perspective tricks #there is visual poetry everywhere #There's so much to interpret and I would like anyone else to please start looking

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reyesstrand · 2 years

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my brain is going brrr after those stills maddie HELP it’s like !!!!!!!! speculation time!!!!!

right!!!!!!! okay well here’s an incomplete bullet point list of my sporadic rambling all-over-the-place thoughts in no particular order:

- this quote where rafael “describes his character as someone who “tries to do the best he can,” but teases that he’s going to “trip pretty hard” at the beginning of the fourth season” will be pretty significant when it comes to carlos’ storyline. i think it hints at carlos always trying to do everything he can for someone (perhaps in this case iris or something involving her, or someone he meets during the storm arc, or someone completely random but with a story that makes carlos really desperate to help) even if it’s at a personal cost. him “tripping pretty hard” could have something to do with just how personal he’s taking this case or something like him not doing well on the detective’s exam, and feeling like this case is necessary for his career. hell, it could have something to do with what andrea tells him here, before they get interrupted with the storm:

- i think that carlos really having a strong, personal involvement with whatever this case ends up being will start to worry tk—even though carlos will tell him it’s okay in the beginning:

- i think it’s safe to say that this story will span multiple episodes, and will involve multiple sets and the 126 being involved in some rescue at the park/nature reserve (?) they filmed at for a little while, and carlos will recognize something being part of his case:

- as jen posted, i really do think we could have some parallels to bad call, at least in the sense that tk seeks out gabriel when something’s up with carlos and they go looking for him. i mean—we know gabriel as a texas ranger has power, and maybe this is something the rangers are aware about already. like…gabriel bringing tk along to a taped off crime scene? gabriel reaching for what i assume is a concealed weapon? i think the reassurance carlos tries to give tk starts to fade and he becomes worried about just how personally involved he feels in this case, and seeks out his father-in-law-to-be:

(it’s also compelling that they’re in a similar looking neighbourhood to other stills with carlos on duty. AND, in the still below, carlos doesn’t have on a bullet-proof vest, whereas shots of him with the huge gun/with the paramedics in the neighbourhood/with o’brien have him wearing the vest):

and that’s all i can really wrap my head around right now!!! i do think that the shots of carlos at the firehouse are likely red herrings for us—there’s a good chance it’s just him hearing about the 126 and a splashy rescue they just completed, or checking on them with the incoming storm, and maybe being there when owen arrives with his bike??? but i don’t think anything super serious happens there. maybe. i don’t know 😖 basically i think this a much more serious scene:

whereas this is a much more….looks-serious-but-ends-up-being-cute/dorky scene in the premiere:

- in the same interview where ronen promises “all paths lead to the wedding,” (which i think is ultimately so important: that there are going to be things they’ll go through that might seem tough but it’ll culminate in their families coming together as they choose each other, and their future, forever) both ronen and rafa say “there’s definitely been some storylines where I’m like, ‘what?’” […] “at any moment, there could be a bombshell — and we’re definitely going to have a couple this season” (…) “right off from episode 1, we’re going to find out some things that are funny, but it propels on to several beautiful episodes after the first one, and it’s going to be intense,” […] “whatever you think is going to happen, tim always brings something better than what your imagination can perceive” SOO i think this work storyline for carlos will be something personal and will feel important to him as a person and for his career, it’ll be something they endure together as a couple, something that really makes it clear that like….this is what being first responders and being married will be like. and it’ll all be okay in the end but we will be FEELING IT throughout these episodes

various image credit: (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

#answered #marwani-strickland #i don’t know what anything means but this is me just….putting my thoughts in one place #carlos reyes #tarlos #126 #911ls #911 lone star #lone star speculation

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serpentinearchitect17 · 2 years

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Hi there 😊

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but I just had an idea for a particular scene today, so I decided to write about it. I’m taking a break from anything Red, White & Royal Blue related to focus on my current love and hyperfixation: Avatar the Last Airbender. I started watching the series last fall, and I haven’t been able to turn my mind off from it since then. Unsurprisingly, I quickly became obsessed with and fascinated by Zuko and Katara’s dynamic. They’ve become my muse lately. I’m working on a Zutara fanfic as we speak, and I’ll create a post about it once I get it up on AO3.

In the meantime, I wrote this very short scene. It takes place several months after the end of the 100 Year War. Zuko has made great progress as the Fire Lord, and Katara is now an Ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe. They’re in a committed and loving relationship at this point. I used some direct quotes from the Brooklyn 99 episode, “Chasing Amy.” This was initially meant to be a quick, humorous thing, but it turned into something sweeter (I have no regrets, heh). Full disclaimer: If you know anything about the reference to the B-99 scene, you’ll understand that Jake and Amy did have a significant moment of affection on that rooftop, whether it was technically love or not. As for Zuko and Katara, I personally don’t believe they were anywhere close to feeling love or deep affection in the Crystal Catacombs, but I think it’s the first time they truly connected on an emotional level.

Anyway, without further ado…

*****

After a long day of beginning preliminary discussions with the Earth King about the newest trade agreements among the Earth Kingdom, Southern Water Tribe, and the Fire Nation, Ambassador Katara snuck off for some alone time in Ba Sing Se. She managed to convince the Earth King to let her down into the Crystal Catacombs, even though most individuals in the city have been strictly prohibited from ever entering the area again. It’s still in the process of getting repurposed for better, more humane uses. She gave him some flimsy excuse as to why she wants to venture into the cavern. Despite the deep frown he gave her, he apparently didn’t question her motives, and had a couple of guards (thankfully, not the Dai Li) follow her to ensure that she made it there safely. She didn’t need the protection, of course, but she didn’t feel like arguing. She had told the Earth King not to let anyone else know where she was; she promised him that she’d be back to her guest house later.

Now, she finds herself back in the same spot that she was imprisoned with a then-banished Fire Prince.

Just as she runs a hand over one of the crystals, she hears soft footsteps behind her and turns around to find the love of her life.

The Fire Lord is dressed in his formal regalia, but he’s taken his crown off, and his top knot is undone, leaving his shaggy fringe hanging over his bright, golden eyes.

“There you are! Thank Agni,” he sighs in relief, drawing nearer.

A look of surprise flits across her face. “Hey, how did you find me?”

He raises his eyebrow at her. “Well, the Earth King didn’t want to tell me at first, but I figured it out. If I recall correctly, a long time ago, Master Katara and the banished Crown Prince Zuko were trapped under Ba Sing Se, in the Crystal Catacombs.” He gestures to their surroundings, and his lips quirk into a tiny smile. “This is where we were the night you fell in love with me.”

Katara snorts, shaking her head. She crosses her arms and gives him a half-hearted glare. “Zuko,” she warns, with just a bit of an edge to her voice.

“All right, fine. The night that you flirted with me for 20 seconds and I became obsessed with you forever,” he amends sheepishly, his cheeks flushing.

“That’s slightly more accurate.” She steps closer to him, so that there is barely any space between them. She reaches up toward his face, tracing her fingers over his scarred cheek.

“Are you okay?” he murmurs, automatically leaning into her touch.

“Yeah,” she answers softly. “I guess I just wanted to come back to see what it was like, now that things are so different.”

He swallows nervously, though he keeps his eye contact steady. “I understand. I kind of did, too, honestly. I hope…” he pauses, looking like he was choosing his words carefully. She waits patiently for him, and in the next moment, he continues, “I hope we can associate better memories with this place. They’ll never be perfect, of course, because of all the bad things that happened here before. But, maybe when we think of it from now on, it won’t be quite so grim.”

She nods before pulling him into her arms. He hugs her back with everything he has in him, pouring all of his affection and love, and apologies and regret into the gesture.

He lets her go briefly to press a kiss to her forehead. “Do you want to head back up?” he asks quietly, cradling her to his chest with his chin resting on top of her head. “We can probably explore more parts of the city before our next meeting, if you want to.”

She glances up at him and smiles. “Not yet. Let’s just stay a little while longer.”

He agrees and holds her, while the green crystals glow around them.

Yes, she thinks to herself, we’ll have better memories from now on.

#incorrect atla #avatar the last airbender #inspired by brooklyn 99 #zutara #zuko x katara #zuko and katara #katara #zuko

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primewritessmut · 1 year

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9 - CYCLE

My psychiatrist has dead animals on the walls of her office.

I never would have pegged her for it. She looks more like June Cleaver than anyone that would mount heads. A bobcat with an arching spine and bristled fur showing all its fake teeth. Or are they fake? A moose with a fake tongue shaped into undulations inside a half-open mouth. Or is it fake? Three deer, or elk maybe, that go from biggest to smallest. I wonder if they’re related.

The family that dies together stays together, I guess.

There’s a tear-off calendar at the edge of the desk with motivational quotes and an Asian motif that shows the date. January thirteenth. There used to be a turtle there, I think. With an accordion and a face too small for its dead glass eyes.

But the turtle is gone and I wonder if it was ever really there to begin with. I keep staring at the empty spot on the desk and I think my psychiatrist can sense something is wrong.

I guess that’s what they pay her for.

“It concerns me,” she begins — or maybe continues, I don’t know — using a tone that tells me we’ve been in this particular session for a while and I’m not putting forth effort toward my own recovery, “that you haven’t said anything. We’re halfway through our session and this is starting to become a recurring theme.”

I stare at the desk and I don’t say anything.

Did I imagine the turtle?

What a fucked-up mental image to conjure if I did.

She leans forward. I don’t look up, I’m not sure if I’m ready for that even if I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I can tell that she moves because her chair creaks in a very specific way. I can picture exactly how she’s sitting right now, forearms flat on the desk, fingers interlaced and the pinkie side of her hands pressed to the desk.

Not for the first time, I wonder who cleans her skin oils off this glass monstrosity.

“You seem to be fixated on my desk. Would you care to tell me why?”

I don’t answer. My heel bounces as my eyes dart around the room.

Bobcat. Moose. Deer. Deer. Deer.

The turtle is still missing.

Days have passed and I’m not sure where the time went. Or it’s been no time at all and it feels like forever. I’m just not sure. I’m not sure where the fucking mariachi reptile went. I’m not sure if the last thing I remember ever actually happened.

“Dear.” I flinch when she calls me that as the three little deer mounted above her head stare down at me with their night black gazes. “I’m going to need you to look me in the eye. I’m worried that you’re backsliding.”

8 - COUNT || 10 - HOTEL

#spooktober 2023 #day 9 #original story #the monster under the bed

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cartoonemotion · 10 months

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sofa. I'm trying to think of another question but im not sure. would you list some of your top 10 favorite cartoons of all time

DAMN ANOTHER TOUGHIE.. ive watched a lot of cartoons... i feel like its easy just to list more current ones/cartoons ive very recently watched but im gonna try real hard not to do that. so in no particular order:

adventure time: probably an obvious choice to ppl who know me personally. im pretty sure ive said this before but i quite literally grew up with this show, like i watched the pilot on nicktoons when i was like 9 and freaked out when the first episode of the actual show aired, and ive still regularly and enthusiastically kept up with it ever since, even to this day. i have to be honest and say the inclusions of distant lands and fionna and cake had me worried in a very cynical way about wringing the franchise dry or it succumbing to nostalgia bait but ive been happy to have had those fears handily dispelled every time. it makes me really happy to see that the cast and crew that have stuck with it just seem so genuinely excited to continue to tell new stories in the expanded universe and explore the land of ooo and new characters who live there, i think thats a good way to keep an ongoing series with spinoffs or limited series or what have you to keep from getting stale

ducktales 2017: once again anybody who knows me personally or follows this blog knows why this is on the list. i. fucking. love. ducktales 2017. ive said a million times before that i think its like a perfect encapsulation of what a reboot should be, something that obviously has a lot of love and respect for the original that its rebooting, but isn't afraid to incorporate entirely new ideas or deviate from pre-established "rules" or roles of the previous installments/versions of the characters and story, so on and so forth. i think it blends the family sitcom and action adventure elements really well together, its got a great ensemble of charming characters, i think most of the over-arching storylines it sets up are executed really well and it has a lot of fun one-off stories. its not perfect but its damn near close, in my opinion. also as much as i hate disney the corporate i do still love donald duck hes the best legacy disney character ok american moment over

the secret saturdays: i was a HUGE fan of the show as it was coming out but didnt remember much of it as i got older until i rewatched it, whereupon i found out just how much it fucking holds up, oh my g0d. i genuinely cannot believe its not more popular considering its premise, and again i think the story and character writing really hold up !!!!!! it has fantastic twists, you are immediately endeared not just to the saturday family but a lot of the other supporting characters, its overreaching storyline is executed so so well especially when you consider it was unfortunately gutted and prematurely cancelled by CN. some parts of it may be a little dated but again i think for the years it was developed and coming out there are some elements that were kind of ahead of the curve. if you havent watched the secret saturdays PLEEEASE please do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im fucking begging you. its good

ben 10: i think ben 10 might be my white whale. for important context i was scared to death of the original series as it was actively coming out when i was like, 6 years old, only to get extremely invested in it and the "original universe" franchise in like late middle school/early high school, and then they fucking got my ass AGAIN as a current twenty-something. every time i think im out they fucking pull me right back in. i know its a dumb meat headed action cartoon for little children but the wasted potential in this franchise is nothing short of insane, i wouldnt be saying this if they didnt literally bring up certain threads and ideas in the show only to be like, actually who gives a fuck ! that being said its a premise that sticks with you forever. to quote that one post

justice league unlimited: i dont post much about superhero cartoons on here but make no mistake they were hugely influential to me when i was a kid, my dad was and still is a huge marvel nerd but unfortunately for marvel (and my dad) their cartoon game was (and honestly, still kind of is) just aaaaabsolute trash, except for the ones about the x-men, but thats a ramble for another day. it wont surprise you to know a lot of the writing staff for the justice league and justice league unlimited cartoons would go on to work on the original ben 10 continuity so they have a lot of the same issues, but i would be lying if i didnt say jlu had a huge effect on my little baby brain, arguably maybe more than ben 10. why unlimited and not the original justice league cartoon of the aughts you ask ? well because jlu is hornier, and also booster gold is there

discovery kids favorites: this is technically cheating cuz its 3 cartoons, BUT ! i dont remember them enough on their own to put any one above the other. as a kid my mom hated cartoons (and honestly most tv programming aimed at children) and hated me and my sisters watching them in the room with her, or in general, for more than like 15 minutes a day, unless they were educational, and so i felt extremely clever for exploiting the discovery kids loophole bc they were cartoons made to teach you stuff. the ones i remember the most vividly and fondly were tutenstein, grossology, and growing up creepie, which i feel like honestly. says a lot about me. i should rewatch those sometime.

samurai jack: i will not argue against the fact that genndy tartakovsky is a tremendously talented individual, and a lot of his work has been extremely inspirational to me, that being said, if given the chance, i would drop an anvil on his head. i probably shouldnt say that but i cant express to you how much a lot of his work frustrates me and samurai jack really takes the cake. i cant even talk about season 5 but a lot of stuff in seasons 1-4 has problems that i feel like should be addressed, THAT BEING SAID, in spite of it all, i still fucking love samurai jack. i have fond memories of it from when i was a kid and during the collective resurgence it had as the 5th season was coming out, i cant argue that it doesnt have a lot going for it or pretend that again it isnt responsible for a lot of my own personal artistic inspirations.

class of 3000: I KNOW IVE BEEN POSTING ABOUT THIS A LOT LATELY BUT ITS NOT JUST CUZ OF THAT ! this last rewatch hasnt been my first, ive genuinely brought up this show to a lot of people both online and irl in the desperate hope other people remembered it because it was one of my absolute favorites as a kid and i remember the visceral feeling of how unfair it felt when i found out at like age 9 that it had been cancelled and there would never be another episode of it again. i think it just came into my life at the right place at the same time, i was both getting really into drawing and coming up with little stories myself and so the art and the cast really drew me in, and i had a music teacher at the time who was really into jazz and blues music and seeing that reflected in a cartoon i was watching was so cool :v] and again i just think so much of it holds up. its a gem i dont think should be hidden

spongebob (but only the first four seasons and the movie): im almost 25 so this is supremely unoriginal. its not that i think the newer/newest stuff is all bad its just that everybody gets one thing to be unreasonably blinded by nostalgia about and for me its early spongebob. the userbase on here is aging you all know what im talking about i dont need to explain this pick

the owl house: i really like the owl house for what it is ! its not for everybody, i know people tend to think it kind of skews towards "children's cartoon that is targeted for adults who still watch that stuff" but i think thats kind of cynical and not very generous to the cast and crew, i know the show got pitched around a bit before disney picked up on it but i dont think its fair to exclude the care and thought that went into re-adapting it for a broader and therefore younger audience, and the care that went into it in general ! i like its take on the fantasy setting, both the main and minor cast clearly have a lot of love and thought put into them, genuinely i think luz is maybe one of my favorite cartoon protagonists ever, the messaging it tries to get across i think comes from a personal place and is thus very earnest and sweet, and much like the secret saturdays i think its able to accomplish a lot in the limited time it was given. the whole show just feels like a labor of love to me and i just like the way that comes through !

since this was hard here are some honorable mentions:

batman the brave and the bold: wouldnt be fair to bring up a superhero cartoon and not mention this. i was pretty obsessed with this rendition of batman as a kid, unsurprising since i unironically loved the joel schumacher batman & robin movie and liked to catch the adam west batman re-runs they would play at the wee hours of the morning when i couldnt sleep, i think brave and the bold channels both of those a lot, its deeply stupid and kind of sucks in a lot of areas but thats also kind of part of the charm

3below: so i watched the first season of this before ever watching trollhunters, and while i recognize trollhunters is on a lot of levels the superior tales of arcadia cartoon i just like 3below the best. the stakes of trollhunters can get a little exhausting and i think 3below lets itself get a bit more goofy, plus its about a little group of "fish out of water" aliens !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love fish out of water stories AND aliens, what do you want me to do

fangbone!: real sofa fans remember my fangbone phase. ongoing actually cuz hes still my icon. its one of those cheaply produced flash canadian cartoons but from my perspective i think it was made by people who actually put more effort than was expected of them, which i like, and again its another fish out of water story, and the graphic novel its based on is also very cute

dwampyverse cartoons: phineas and ferb and milo murphy's law mostly ! pnf was very impactful on me as a kid and i loved the first season of mml. i think theyve reached a kind of oversaturation maybe ? that has made me juuust a little bit jaded about them, but i cant pretend like i still dont hold plenty of fondness for em in my heart

unicorn warriors eternal: see the above points about genndy tartakovsky in the samurai jack bulletpoint. the premise is a really cool one and the first season managed to be really good in ways i didnt think it would be but theres still the second season, so im scared. i hope its good. ive got the clown make up ready to go just in case though.

lastman: don't watch lastman. we all have our own cross to bear, alright, and this one's mine. i watched lastman, so you don't even have to worry about it, i mean i haven't finished the second season yet so i will, so don't watch lastman, please. im telling you as your friend, don't watch lastman. we all make mistakes sometimes, like for example, i watched lastman, both in french and english. if you watch lastman than my sacrifices will have been for nothing. don't watch it, and don't look up the comic either. im completely serious.

big city greens: im very picky about sitcoms and sitcom-type faire, but big city greens takes i think a very flat and tbh cynical gimmick and explores it with a lot of heartfelt earnestness, its hard not to be charmed by it. just pure comfort food tv to me.

danger & eggs: fun fact !!!!!! the cartoon that made me decide to make this sideblog !!! i keep meaning to revisit it, i would recommend checking it out if you havent before, both its premise and humor is very idiosyncratic and sweet to me, again its just another show that feels like it came very a place very near and dear to the creator's heart and i just always love to see that. if i had kids of my own which i never will i would definitely show it to them

#long post

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sometimesrosy · 2 years

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I just realized… it’s the 27th!!! Beginning of the month I was so excited for NaNoWriMo, even used Saved the Cat! Writes a Novel to plot it all, panicked a bit, developed some ideas, and then… poof! Life and work have been so busy in general that I didn’t even remember NaNo or my story. Today I was talking to my partner and telling them it’s going to be a hard November, with moving and work and NaNo, and it HIT ME that it’s next week! I really want to participate this year, but I’m just so tired that ideas and creativity just aren’t flowing. How do I prep, with the little time I have, for November??

I mean it's always possible that it's too busy to do nano. The one year I lost nano, it was because I moved cross country with two little kids on like november 4th. I just couldn't.

And it's okay to not be able to do it. I wanted to have an outline done and while I've done a lot of research (this is a series I've been writing forever and a book i've been thinking about for a while) I don't have an outline. ALTHOUGH I did like have an opening image finally come to my head. You know. Start with a hook, some action, not just talking or backstory which is always a danger for me. Too talky.

But like, you can do a brief outline. The outline I used to do when I worked for the ghostwriting company looked like this:

POV.

Settings

Characters

Main Characters Supporting Characters:

Chapter by Chapter Outline

Act 1

Opening Image/ Hook.

Inciting Incident

End Of The Beginning.

ACT 2

Pinch Point #1

Midpoint

Pinch Point #2

Crisis

ACT 3

Climax

Final Image/Resolution

More or less. You can add the chapters into the acts in their appropriate places.

This is a brief outline, but now for me, these things can get LONG. And I add categories like tropes and timelines family trees and quotes I want to put in various chapters. I also insert photos for settings.

If you want, send me an ask and I can also copy and paste the version I have for a 50kw book with chapter breaks. It's like 52k for cushion but it has the goals for how much each chapter should be. more or less of course. it keeps me on goal so I don't go wandering off in a chapter. Or start just babbling before getting to the point which is more likely for me. I have to force myself to get to the point sometimes.

Anyway, I suggest this, because when I was ghosting, I only ever had two days to write one of these outlines. You can just have a vague outline to keep you moving, so there's still discovery along the way but it definitely keeps you on task. What do I write today? Oh my outline says.... Like I said, I actually make my outlines more detailed now. I have bullet points in my chapters for particular lines I want to include or points i want to make or like major plot events (for romance it's like "when he realizes he loves her" when they "when he tells her he loves her" because honestly I can lose track of stuff like that when writing along and following the flow.

#nanowrimo #writing advice #plotter #writing outline #novel outline #amwriting #writblr

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charlenasaxen · 4 days

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OUABH Fave Quotes pt. 1

“Bells have excellent hearing, but this little chime didn’t need any particular skill”

“the gaudy pocket-watch chain at this young man’s hip”

“Unfortunately, this girl, who believed in hope and fairytales and love at first sight, often misinterpreted”

“the way her voice affected an excited edge as she spoke to the young man”

“The door to the Prince of Hearts’ church has disappeared”

“her mother had been from the Magnificent North, where there was no difference between fairytales and history”

“And, above all, never fall in love with a Fate”

“I know you’re a clever little thing. But you allowed me to find you. Let me in.”

“slightly sweet and metallic: apples and blood”

“Wild locks of golden hair hung across his face as his head bowed”

“depicted the Fate as tragically handsome, with vivid blue eyes crying tears that matched the blood forever staining the corner of his sulky mouth”

“The prince’s marble lips twisted into a perfect smirk”

“there was a hint of softness to his slightly fuller lower lip—it pouted out like a deadly invitation”

“This was what she’d come here for.

She pressed her finger to the tip of the blade. Sharp marble pierced her skin”

“Dear—Prince,” she started haltingly. She’d never prayed”

“I’m here because my parents are dead.”

Evangeline cringed.”

“The lifeless statue hadn’t changed. She knew statues didn’t generally move. Yet she couldn’t help but think that it should have done something.”

“Now, that was a pathetic speech.” Two slow claps followed the indolent voice”

“She didn’t expect to see him—the young man who’d been tearing his clothes”

“he must have ripped away his pain along with the sleeves of his jacket”

“He sat on the dais steps, lazily leaning against one of the pillars with his long, lean legs stretched out”

“His hair was golden and messy, his too-bright blue eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth twitched at the corner”

He looked bored and rich and cruel.

“Would you like me to stand up and turn around so that you can take in the rest of me?” he taunted.

“Dark red juice dripped from the fruit to his long, pale fingers and then onto the pristine marble steps”

“Evangeline imagined the stranger taking her lips”

“You’re staring again,” he purred

lifeless compared to this vicious young man.

“Personally, I think I’m far more handsome.”

“This close, he was undeniably attractive. He gave her a real smile, revealing a pair of dimples.”

“She could picture him flashing those deceptive dimples as he tricked an angel into losing its wings just so he could play with the feathers”

“It’s you,” she whispered. “You’re the Prince of Hearts.”

The Prince of Hearts took a final bite of his apple before it dropped to the floor and spattered everything with red. “People who don’t like me call me Jacks.”

“Evangeline wanted to say that she didn’t dislike him, that he’d always been her favorite Fate. But this was not the lovesick Prince of Hearts she’d imagined.”

“Jacks folded his hands behind his golden head, leaned back against the statue of himself, and grinned”

“not to be deceived by his dimpled smile or the torn clothes. This was the most dangerous being she’d ever met.”

“one of her mother’s old gowns, covered in a stitched pattern of pale purple thistles, tiny yellow flowers, and little foxes”

He waved vaguely toward her curls.

“It’s rose gold,” she answered brightly.

“She missed the way her mother winked and her father teased. She missed everything about them.”

Jacks’s brows slashed down. “You don’t know where you were born?”

“Jacks scratched his sharp jaw, looking doubtful”

“I don’t know if I can fix your broken heart, but you can take mine because it’s already yours.”

“I’ll stop the wedding in exchange for three kisses.” Jacks’s eyes took on an entertained gleam.

“It’s not a real kiss if there isn’t any tongue.”

The blush she’d been fighting burned hotter.

“So, your Luc is a hideous kisser?”

Jacks looked disappointed. “Not even your stepsister?”

“No!”

“victory glimmered in Jacks’s eyes, then he captured her wrist and brought it up to his cold mouth”

“His lips brushed over the delicate underside of her wrist. Once. Twice. Three times. It was barely a touch.”

“think of the other stories that said his kisses might have been fatal, but they were worth dying for”

“Three thin white scars, shaped like tiny broken hearts, lined the underside of her wrist. One for each kiss.”

“laughably sad that Evangeline now had that proof, but she didn’t have him”

“all she could see was the gleam dancing in Jacks’s eyes as he’d taken her wrist”

“Evangeline’s knees went weak.

There had never been statues in this garden before. But there were nine of them now, all holding goblets.”

“Jacks had stopped the wedding by turning everyone to stone”

“It hurt to breathe when Evangeline faced Luc’s statue”

“as stone, his face was frozen in alarm”

“there was the unfortunate marriage minister, who’d picked the wrong union to officiate”

“Jacks flashed both dimples as if he really had done her a favor”

“She saw it as a horror, but Jacks saw it as helpful”

“Heroes don’t get happy endings. They give them to other people. Is that what you really want?”

“Jacks was wrong.

She’d done the right thing.

Someone would save her.”

“Evangeline even thought that Jacks might come to her rescue”

“she knew the Prince of Hearts wasn’t a savior. He was the one people needed saving from.”

“And then … Evangeline felt something that was not heartbreak or regret”

“fight the pull—Jacks will only lead to your destruction.”

“Evangeline was friendly with many from her father’s curiosity shop, and it seemed as if every one of them was there to welcome her back”

“Evangeline was cocooned in hugs and kisses”

“But as soon as Marisol spied Evangeline, her grin widened until it was as bright as the beautiful cake”

“layers of sugarbelle cream, a frosting bow, and an oversize shortbread gift tag that read: Welcome back, sister!”

“He wore a flowing white silk shirt with a lacy jabot that cascaded down to a pair of black leather pants so tight she was surprised he could move”

“It was so exciting! It started right after you were turned to stone.”

“Luc and I decided we’d try to get married again.”

They tried to get married again when she was still stone?”

“largest animals it had were dogs, followed by the feral cats that prowled the docks”

“threw her arms around Evangeline, hugging her the way Evangeline always imagined that real sisters hugged”

“But hope is a difficult thing to kill”

“His third shop was a secret, even from Evangeline”

“She missed the walls her mother had painted, the shelves packed with her father’s finds, the bell—”

“If Jacks had been there”

“She still wanted Luc, but what she really wanted was the life and all the love that she’d lost”

“she wondered if he’d been right when he’d said, If he loved you back, he wouldn’t be marrying someone else”

“caught a hint of its fruit-sweet scent, she’d think of Jacks and the debt she owed, and her heart would race”

“Some tales couldn’t be written down without bursting into flames”

“the young archer who loved her, but was cursed with the need to hunt her down”

“if the archer kissed his fox-girl and they lived happily together forever, or if he killed the fox-girl, ending their story in death”

“It was the feel of candlelight at twilight, paper dust caught in the air”

“expensive red paper accented with whirls of gold leaf and sealed with a red wax symbol”

“But Marisol was still the nearest thing Evangeline had to family”

“a different heir to the throne: a young man nicknamed His Handsomeness”

“the Fates had made their reappearance known to the public by murdering this unlucky royal”

“welcoming her into a garden full of fairy-green trees dripping coral, pink, and peach-colored flowers”

“every type of tea.” The princess waved a hand toward a tiered tower of colorful teapots”

“Evangeline thought it was the most romantic thing she’d ever heard. Secret ballrooms were built for it in forests where fallen stars had once landed”

“there were special kinds of magic that only existed in the North, and not even memories of this magic could pass”

“pet-size dragons that turned to smoke if they tried to fly south”

“No matter how much Evangeline tried not to think about Jacks, he was always tucked away in the back of her thoughts”

“But she was far more uneasy about the three broken heart scars on her wrist that had suddenly started to burn”

“She didn’t seem capable of stealing a book, let alone a boy. But it was hard not to wonder.”

“what if Evangeline found love again in the North and Marisol took it once more?”

“Marisol might have needed it even more. Evangeline couldn’t believe she’d considered not asking her.”

“Evangeline had shared some of her mother’s tales, including her warnings about entering the North”

“Marisol, look, tiny dragons!”

“a tiny pepper-black dragon about the size of a chipmunk shot out streams of red fire to sear a fish stick at a nearby stall”

“the adorable little beasts appeared to be as common as squirrels”

“Evangeline was delighted to spy tiny blue dragons sitting on shoulders”

“make sure her feet were still on the ground and that she hadn’t taken flight, for parts of her were soaring”

“didn’t know how to respond other than insisting on paying the girl twice as much”

“it was a little different, as if it were another one of her mother’s Northern tales”

“she’d liked the idea of convincing this southern stranger that she was a magic water sprite”

“Evangeline couldn’t shake the unnerving idea that it wasn’t other girls she’d need to worry about tonight”

“Fortuna’s Fantastically Flavored Waters”

“white skirt like veins of marbled stone”

“branches stretching, trunks thickening, and leaves turning to real gold. They shone like dragon treasure in the candlelight”

“if one gold leaf was taken before all of them turned, then the entire tree would burst into flames”

“no young men with apples, cruel faces, and torn clothes”

“dressed in an arresting dragon-scale gown the color of burning rubies”

“Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned.” Evangeline took sips from both of her goblets before offering one.

“He was high up in the tree, in a wooded balcony, lounging daringly sideways across the rail”

“There, a painter appeared to be capturing the prince’s dramatic arrangement with fevered brush strokes”

“He always does these poses with his shirt off.”

“It was rather exciting when his younger brother, Tiberius, used to taunt him by shooting arrows, or releasing herds of kittens upon him.”

“she would have bet her life that the Prince of Hearts had just entered the party”

“Don’t turn around.

Don’t turn around.

Don’t—

Evangeline only meant to look for a second.”

“Her eyes went toward the arch first. Jacks was just beyond it.”

“But she was like the tide drawn by the tremendous force of the moon”

“no wonder waves were always crashing; they must have hated the pull as much as she did”

“Jacks was still cutting through the party, all cold-blooded grace”

“same dark color as the fur-lined half cape casually slung over one of his straight shoulders”

“the buttons on his shirt weren’t even all done”

“There are rumors he’s recovering from a great heartbreak.”

“What if Apollo really was her chance at a happily ever after, and she ran away because of a different what-if named Jacks?”

“she’d forgotten about her other threat until she nearly smacked into his solid chest”

“What are you doing here?” He tossed a burnished gold apple with one hand.”

“I’ve never had anyone mauled by a wolf. That’s incredibly messy.”

“she planned to do just that, hopefully with a very different prince from the one standing before her”

“Oh no, Little Fox. We have unfinished business.” Jacks dropped his apple and took her neck”

“the scandalous way Jacks was holding her”

“Jacks, I told you I’d kiss three other people, not you.”

“Then why aren’t you pulling away?” he taunted.

“dragging his fingers up and down over the frantic beat-beat-beat”

“he stalked forward until her thighs met the hard table”

“He leaned in closer. He didn’t touch her, but someone watching from afar might have thought they were on the verge of kissing”

“intentional way he angled his body and canted his head”

“But now that I’ve noticed you, there will be no disappearing.”

“Dark red blood glittered with impossible flecks of gold”

“it was more like a feeling than a flavor, drops of sunshine falling like rain”

“Then he strolled back toward the rest of the party”

“wooden figurines of tiny dragons all displaying names. Jacks’s name had been placed beside hers.”

“part of her was slightly intrigued by the idea—who wouldn’t want to kiss a prince?”

“head tipped back, blue hair tumbling over one eye, and giving the impression he’d been waiting for her”

“I wouldn’t be climbing these stairs with you.” Jacks wrapped the arm she’d just refused around hers.”

“she could feel his skin, cool and rock solid. The contact covered Evangeline’s flesh with tiny unwanted bumps as he brought her closer to his side.”

“There’s no point in having another person commit murder if you’re going to be in the room with them.”

Jacks’s chilling gaze went to her lips. “You do know how to kiss, right?”

“I’m not going to tell you to trust me, because that’s a terrible idea.”

She darted Jacks a panicked look.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered.

“but not as impossibly attractive as Jacks”

“Jacks told you about me?” Evangeline didn’t even try to hide her shock.

“I’m not accustomed to ladies coming up here and asking about other young men.”

“Perhaps he and Jacks were more rivals than friends?”

“Evangeline lifted her eyes, seeking his lips, but somehow her gaze drifted over Apollo’s broad shoulder to Jacks”

“The corner of his lips twitched ever so slightly, and he continued flipping the coin as he silently mouthed”

“Her cheeks heated at the thought that Jacks was watching the embrace”

“destroying the curls Jacks had already mussed”

A cold hand clamped on her shoulder and wrenched her free of the prince’s grasp. “I think it’s time we go.”

Jacks pulled her toward the balcony stairs.

��she was tucked underneath Jacks’s hard arm, pressed close to his cool side”

“Evangeline Fox was seen wrapped in a wicked embrace with one of the prince’s close friends”

“it seems I was right when I called her a risky bet”

“surrounded by fantastic sights, and about to enjoy a dragon-roasted apple”

“I read she kissed one of Prince Apollo’s friends last night—”

“She had been seen in a scandalous position with Jacks”

“Her mother used to say that dragon fire made everything sweeter”

“But first he’d have to catch her, and this evening, she did not plan on being caught by him”

“making her dreams of imported salts come true”

“still sparking with dragon fire. The outside of the apple was the caramelized color of gold.”

“it tasted like hot, searing sweetness and Jacks—”

“A pair of stray speckled blue dragons flew about her hands, and she gave them her treat”

“It had been such a thrill to spy the book”

“Thank you.” Evangeline would have hugged her stepsister, but she didn’t want to wrinkle her.

“a quick waterfall braid, which she decorated with the silken flowers she’d purchased earlier that day”

“her dress was designed to mimic the flower trellis in her mother’s garden”

“nude silk, making her look as if she were wrapped in nothing but the crisscrossing cream-velvet ribbons”

“pastel flowers began to appear, growing denser until every inch of her lower skirts were covered in a brilliant clash of silk violets, jeweled peonies, tulle lilie”

“There were five purple threads poking out. Thick threads that should not have broken easily.

Could Marisol have torn the flower on purpose?”

“The happiness felt touchable, the magic in the air was tasteable”

“she imagined she could have sliced into that night as if it were a cake”

“bride carving shifted so that she looked like whichever girl was about to step through next”

“the air turned spicy with the scent of mulled cider and possibilities”

“she didn’t see any painfully handsome young men”

“played a type of chess where the human pieces kissed one another instead of kicking each other from the board.”

“the slit of her skirt flickered around her exposed leg as if it were aflame”

“You look marvelous!” Evangeline said. “Candles all over the world must be jealous of you tonight.”

“afraid of the kiss or afraid that the girl might change her mind”

“until a pair decides that they’d rather kiss each other than anyone else.”

“Evangeline stole a moment to look about the ball, scanning for a different prince”

“Her eyes darted from gentleman to gentleman, cutting across the bustling ballroom until—Jacks.

Her heart leaped over a beat.”

“He looked like a bad decision some unfortunate person was about to make”

“his sable half cape was rakishly crooked, hanging over one shoulder”

“as if the vision before her might shift and she’d see Jacks conversing with the pink fountain of punch instead”

“Jacks turned his mouth into a tempting twist”

“Of all the young men that her stepsister could have met at Nocte Neverending, why did it have to be Jacks?”

“door labeled Majesty flew open, and Crown Prince Apollo Acadian rode into the ballroom on a thundering golden horse”

“his eyes burned with the same level of intensity they’d had when he’d watched her leave”

she squealed, “You must be his Fox.”

“He’s not trying to re-create the tale. He’s making a romantic gesture!”

“She was tempted to look for the Prince of Hearts again”

“This evening, I only wish to dance with one girl.” His dark eyes finally locked onto Evangeline’s.

“Self-pity doesn’t look good on you, Little Fox.

Evangeline froze.”

“he looked down on her with a smile that was a little shier”

“I’d hoped that after last night, you’d just call me Apollo.” He took her hand to his lips.

“He appeared to be at a loss for words. Nervous. She was making the prince who’d draped himself across a balcony last night nervous.”

“I wouldn’t get through an entire dance before doing this.”

Apollo went down on one knee.

“Evangeline didn’t spy Jacks, but she wondered what he was thinking”

“I want you to be my wife and my princess and my queen. Marry me, Evangeline.”

“it was as if the rest of the celebration didn’t exist. His eyes said a thousand exquisite words.”

“Apollo wanted her more than anyone else in the ballroom.

No one had ever looked at Evangeline like this before.”

if a royal prince were to propose to them in the middle of an enchanted ballroom. “Yes.”

“As soon as Evangeline squeaked out her yes, the trumpeters above released a brassy cheer”

“Apollo gallantly scooped her up into his arms.

His grin was pure joy.”

“Weren’t Fates supposed to be jealous?”

“This was her chance at a happy ending. And when she pushed aside her doubts, Evangeline did feel happy.”

“She’d wished for love at first, and a chance with the prince, and now it was hers”

“His lips were soft, but the kiss was flowers falling”

“shocked sighs from the crowd as he picked her up and spun her around and kissed and kissed and kissed her”

“the sort of kiss fever dreams were made of, a blur of dizzying heat and touch, and this time Jacks didn’t end it”

“All she heard were Apollo’s murmurs promising her everything she could ever want was about to be hers”

“But now, waking up felt like dreaming. A little unreal and a little wonderful.”

“But Valenda was half a world away, and soon she would never be alone again”

“and she was engaged to a prince!”

“Evangeline couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face or the giggle”

“they’d practically collapsed inside of their carriage and then slept the entire way back to the inn”

“That’s how I feel, as if I missed my chance at a chair and now I’ve been tossed out of the game.”

“slid across her bed, and hugged Marisol tightly”

“Evangeline could already imagine setting up a match for her stepsister with every eligible young man”

“Both girls quickly leaped from the bed, spilling more tea”

“Open it!” Marisol urged her. It’s the prince.

“My heart, you’re safe!” He took her in his arms. His chest was heaving.

“I should never have let you leave last night.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Crown Prince Apollo Acadian proposed to everyone’s favorite southern wild card, Evangeline Fox”

“Prince Apollo and Miss Evangeline Fox are to wed in one week’s time—that is, if no one harms her first”

“But the longer Evangeline looked up at him, the more he seemed to soften”

“Then I’ll make sure it’s done. But I need a favor from you.” Apollo cupped Evangeline’s cheek.

“I want you to move into Wolf Hall with me, where you’ll be safe from any type of threat.”

“every romantic courtyard, and every secret passage of the castle as a wedding gift to his bride”

“it has been confirmed that Miss Tourmaline will remain here as part of the Northern royal court after the wedding”

“The following day, the wedding dress arrived. Evangeline found it spread across her princess bed.”

“Forever your truest love,

Apollo”

“My dearest Evangeline,

You deserve to be bathed in jewels.”

“Then it was an entire stable of horses. The steeds were gleaming white and adorned with rose-gold saddles.”

“So that we can ride off into the sunset together,” Apollo said. His eyes were full of adoration.

“Her fingers felt small in his warm grip, but they were starting to fit”

“I’d give you the world if I could. The moon, the stars, and all the suns in the universe. Anything for you, my heart.”

“It was all more than Evangeline could have dreamed of or wished for. The last few days had been a whirlwind of wonderful.”

“Her royal suite was covered in colorful gowns and flowers and gifts. Even Empress Scarlett had sent her something.”

“Something was not as it should have been”

“Evangeline Fox and Prince Apollo Acadian have been engaged less than one week, and already people are writing songs about them and saying that theirs is the greatest love story the Magnificent North has ever seen”

“tattoo of a pair of swords curved to form a heart that contained one name: Evangeline”

“the crown prince has been completely bewitched by his bride-to-be. I’ve never seen anyone as in love as Prince Apollo.”

“sadly, she feared that Kristof was right when he called her betrothed bewitched”

“Like the work of a spell or a curse—or a Fate.

Like Jacks.”

“She didn’t want to go back to Agnes’s house or return to Valenda, where the best part of her day was when a bell rang”

“Dear Jacks,

I was hoping you and I might have a chance to speak about an important matter”

“I don’t have time to tromp through the woods with you”

“before sneaking out to meet Jacks”

“Jacks looked like a debauched stable boy”

“He lounged across one side of the carriage, one scuffed leather boot propped carelessly up”

“him in a linen shirt with rolled-up sleeves and half-done buttons. Evangeline caught a hint of a rough scar on his chest.”

“Do you stare at everyone like that, or just me?” Jacks looked up. Vivid blue eyes met hers.

“It shouldn’t have made her blood rush”

“What’s the matter?” Slice. “Has he hurt you?”

Jacks’s sullen mouth settled somewhere between a frown and a laugh. “When you first came to my church, you’d lost your love. Now I’ve given you a new one.”

Jacks’s eyes met hers, returning to ice. “Leave, Little Fox. Go back to your prince and your happily ever after, and don’t ask me that question again.”

“everything she’d thought was stardust was really just the burning embers of a wicked spell. Apollo didn’t love her.”

“Wrong and right are so subjective.” Jacks sighed.

“She wanted to be someone’s love, not their curse”

Jacks smirked. “You’re not going to break an engagement with a prince.”

“Jacks clenched his jaw.

She smiled, triumphant.”

“Evangeline clutched the cushions to keep from falling forward into Jacks’s lap”

“And she was engaged, at least for now.

Jacks’s blue eyes twinkled as if he found her worry amusing.”

“Do that, and you’ll be the one destroying him, not me.”

“as if the idea of leaving someone forever brokenhearted put him in a better mood”

“except maybe heartless or depraved or rotten”

“The apple in his hand probably possessed more sympathy than he did”

“This was not the same young man who’d practically bled heartbreak”

“Are you feeling sorry for me?” Jacks laughed, harsh

“Jacks shot across the carriage and pressed the bloody tip of the dagger to the center of her mouth”

“Evangeline might have gasped if she’d not feared he’d slip the blade between her lips”

“His blue eyes were back to bright as he taunted her with the blade, pressing it to her”

“So, I will give you a wedding gift. I promise to restore the prince after you marry him.”

“The only person who’d truly win would be Jacks.

Cautiously, she leaned back until Jacks’s knife was no longer at her lips.”

“She felt as if she’d taste it forever”

“I don’t think you and I have the same definition of hurt.”

“Be thankful for that, Little Fox.”

A drop of blood fell from the corner of his mouth, and something godforsaken washed over his expression. “Hurt is what made me.”

“But she immediately thought the words storybook castle as she stepped out of Jacks’s carriage”

“sparkling purple bricks, gabled blue roofs, and pink-lined windows with golden light blazing through”

“Jacks glared at the castle, eyes like daggers, as he started down the cobbled path”

“Little Fox.” Jacks brought a cool finger to her mouth, quieting her protests with more gentleness.

“Let’s skip the part where we argue.”

“Everyone is replaceable.” He stroked her lower lip.

“But she also couldn’t forget the way Jacks had walked away when she’d turned to stone”

“they’d stop whispering about how mysterious you are and talk about how much they can’t stand you.”

Jacks speared her with a sideways glance. “Meanness doesn’t suit you, Little Fox.”

“Jacks’s lips curved like a crescent blade”

“She could have continued fighting with Jacks until the end of Time. Luckily for Time”

“Jacks took the cherub’s ring and gave it two quick raps.

Evangeline swore the knocker frowned, and she understood how it felt.”

“a fluffy snow cat pounced after a merry blue dragon laughing sparks”

“watched her with shameless intent”

“Jacks sighed, dramatic as his pose”

“People who lived in sparkly purple castles didn’t threaten to feed guests to their dogs”

“Evangeline was actually thankful for Jacks’s magic”

“Jacks laughed and covered it up with a cough”

“Jacks shoved off from the fireplace and sauntered to Evangeline’s side with insouciant grace”

“Evangeline hugged her arms to her chest”

“they didn’t hide his eyes. They were wide, broken star-bright, and full of something that looked a lot like hope”

“Evangeline felt as if she shouldn’t stare so blatantly, but she couldn’t turn away. The look in his eyes had softened some of his sharp edges”

“all tragically handsome and heartsick”

“Jacks cocked his head, surprised”

“If you wouldn’t mind, young man.”

“another rasping whisper came from the stones: You could have unlocked me as well”

“surprised and unnerved to see that Jacks was watching her instead”

“What is it, Little Fox?” His voice was friendly.

“she was not about to let Jacks know they had been talking to her”

“didn’t spare them more than a cursory glance. Not that she thought he was after a recipe book.”

“She continued to scrutinize his every move”

“The Prince of Hearts’ mouth became more sullen”

“the matriarch pointed Evangeline toward a shelf of ancient dragon eggs”

“Not having fun?” Evangeline needled.

“I feel as if I’m backstage at a bad magic show,” Jacks grumbled.

“Let me help you,” Evangeline whispered, hoping to finally coax an answer

“Coward,” she coughed.

#quotes #ouabh #jacks

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the-firebird69 · 2 months

Text

This guy is saying that this guy's pushing him to take things I want to know where they've taken things and he said it to his people. A few minutes later they called back and they said all over here in this area it's like 1/3 of the planet it's not that huge and it's vacant land but we can be below and they don't know they pointed out our bases that are top side and there's about 20 no there's about 50 that are what they call mega class and they'd say it's an easy match for the empire. What are you letting this **** **** **** in here for to make me look bad. And he says I don't know and our son says I don't want him anywhere near me he's carving his stupid **** back and forth to his little hut. Blaming me and it's more insulting than you would ever imagine. So that's in real time right now and he says and partly and he says I don't have any time for this that's stupid **** **** has been using my carts. I'm not too. So now it's kind of a question what does that mean using my carts And what is a see through screen on a boat so now we're going to nail that piece of crap twice once with the ai story and now we're going to nail with this screen **** that he's doing and Tano cover it's a convertible or something which might mean heads and we're going ahead and getting him and his and we're going ahead and getting him and his boys are up it says it's well worth it mac getting mad at you. So don't let it be habit but I do see what you're saying you're a thinker and it's dangerous and you thought about it and we're thinking about together which is different but yeah this is wrong this guy is a huge loser now I'm going after him. So he said that and he is going after them thankfully and Ben Arnold hears it and says wow we're messing around with him and it's wrong and he's thinking about the problem. And he says what is he saying he's he's karting. So he went to records and he found out what particular pieces and it looks like what our son and daughter are saying. We're gonna have a war and the max are probably and the max are probably gonna get interested because he's saying it about them too.

Thor Freya

I'm actually not laughing it's not funny but I am laughing 'cause they bothered him and we're just not paying attention it's the dumbest show you have ever seen. My kids feel bad and they get it we're stuck in this mental hospital it means something as these **** doing it. So we have to look at the way that it is cheap easy simple code and Dave had code like that too and he's using it within theirs and we're going ahead and examining it. Some nasty **** that we have to figure out about the AI too. I thank my friend he thanks me he got the laundry done he didn't explode until he's riding along and people are threatening him and I do see and it's awful what a bunch of turds he told them that he lives up there he's going to take over and he knows who's coming down and they always pretend they're him and Arnie's around he says Arnie is probably alive and you never heard anybody for the most part i'm starting to see something he's trying to survive and it's hard I am too and he realizes I'm helping and I helped by sitting there because we don't want the guy there and I get a lot of information so I'm going to trade off for the guys and Michael too has information he sat here forever. We're gonna ask him. Thank you for coming down says no problem i'm keeping everybody out of there so you don't have to work. Well they dropped their laundry off and they come by and see how it's going and really what they're doing is driving by and harassing us. He says that's good enough for a week or two good God this is good quotes this is gross they're like animals and they had this plan to take over they still think they're big we're going to get on this and Garth was right.

mac daddy

Olympus

0 notes

notmuchtoconceal · 3 months

Text

"Here we are, friends, enemies, frenemies, lovers, haters, contacts and conspirators of intrigues fleshy and not! ...

[stomping on a champagne glass]

"To another episode of The Brux Show Starring Brux! ...

[detonating china cabinet]

"The only 24 hour news cycle-slash-cheesy sitcom-slash-domestic violence documentary-slash public broadcast personal diary-slash-metaphysical treatise/sultry rom com which covers all genres and eras and offers a single new quotable salutation every episode! ... "

[lapping tide of mineral fire pluming]

Episode of one! ...

( ( ) )

"Every single one so quotable and yet so occult, you'll never quote it cause why would ya? Nobody's ever heard it! Not but people in the know, y'know? Broadcast serial runs compressed to single hours of infinite time. Left running on loop like a yappy mouth beggin for a fist to the kisser so he can gargle his own teeth like a bicarbonate of soda!"

( : o : )

((Has Laika still been missing for six weeks? Holy shit! Where is he? That's three times as long as he said and six times as long as his boyfriend expected! Sure hope he's not out lost in the desert and the man he loves is sending a search party! Oh please, oh please! Somebody come save and find me, horrible obnoxious person who doesn't wanna be saved or found! The fact that I'm ignoring you is definitely cause I have overnight shifted into the disciplined powerhouse of unrestrained pure focus you need me to be to keep up with your hysterical, constantly shifting tiers of rapidly-mutating octo-pussy moisture and not cause you're such an overwhelmingly vampiric presence, I was basically dead on my feet from being used and starved and that exile you laughed gloriously over issuing me was a death sentence you played off as a gotcha!

What ya got, ya look so smug gettin from me, huh!

God, I oughta just really let you have it, huh?

Give ya everythin I got. You'd make better use of it than me, huh?

If the only reason I ain't bashin your fucking skull in with a nine iron is cause I'm just too fuckin polite to cave your skull into a jello mold we got some real fuckin problems you should maybe wanna start figuring out someway you can begin to orient yourself in a way towards learnin how to act charitable, cause trust me on this, buddy ;-- we get down to brass tax (near 65%), I'm a cunting pusher. I am polite as a courtesy. I would like to give myself the perfect courtesy of being able to be polite all the time cause if you're going to fucking dare me to speak openly, you are going to have to be the one to inevitably live with the consequences, and I just wanna make sure we're on the same page bout what you're fuckin agreein to. For fuck's sake, buddy. This can go so much fuckin easer if you wanna be a good lil bitch and just stay impeccably fuckin polite all the rest of your long and weary life and just be a good boy. I am tart-tongued if you press me is what I am saying. Are you catching the drift like a wall of dunes coming up on a wind from the dawn? Magic carpet rides are 99 cents a pop and every single one of em's on a cork and string!))

[dial tone ringer blaring off the handle]

"That that hot phone or the cold phone, mates? Were I to pick em up and press both to my ears at once, would I be scalt on one side and frozen on another or just all around lukewarm like room-temperature liquid metal?"

[jack off noises emanate out every open fly in the studio audience]

"Hey, babe. You're on the Brux Show Starrin Brux. You wanna remain my babe forever, or someday you wanna grow up to be my girl?"

"Neither sounds of particular interest to me, I calling in having already an agenda which I would like to act out having placed you in."

((Holy fuck, it's Joe!))

[zing]

[[pineapple pulp gushing over heads of the studio audience]]

"My best friend, my brother, my comrade, my workmate, my secret and well-publicly disclosed obsession! Cpt. Schreibermachen, what draws you out of your epochs of neglect and long hours self-annihilatin in dusty darkness to grace our humble and frankly ramshackle little production with your magnificent presence befittin only Kings and Gods?"

"I know, in what cordialities I have surrendered, once more the cravings of a man with an itch which cannot be scratched, his own backside having grown so broad from holding up archways on which we mount the caskets of the dead, that I have grown rigid and must be moistened."

(((You've never heard of any Wally.

There is no man on your team named Cpt. Hlaford.

I've never seen him. Why would I believe in something I can't even see?

Why would I believe in an an invisible and persistent something which was always making itself known, in ways both subtle and not, which held the whole of the world together as it rose my broken body high on its own feet, steadying trembling knees which long to collapse?)))

"Joey, um... I like girls? Has that been established?"

[rhythmic sloshings of manicures through beef patties]

"On this episode? On this program?"

{{GOODBYE HORSES

HELLOOOO NURSE!

(FLYIN

FLYIN

FLYIN)

WOW

(OVER YOU}}}

"Gosh. You know, I've never been sure how often I should mention that so people don't forget? It's, like ... y'know. One of my defining characteristics? Brux likes goils? That's Brux's thing? If there's any fundamental confusion over the nature of my primary feature, what am I doin wrong? It's not as though I can present myself without framing. Not like I can be the equivalent of a polaroid plastered to the drywall with sticky tape? I mean, it don't just look like shit, it's liable to get blown off by a fan, tear some spackle from the surface as it does? If I lounged about in the nude with no consideration for your eyes, would I be regarded as a daring truth-teller? Well, I suppose I could be totally naked and making it a selling point for virtue if I stick? If a philosopher is acting in such a way that he expects to be emulated, how much of what he's doing is selling you on his style, and how much of him is disregarding his need to be sold? You know, I've always been keenly aware that a notion can co-exist peaceable and simultaneously with its seeming opposite, but like... that's not an idea you can sell to people? People don't give you money to teach em about the nature of transcendent paradoxes which resolve themselves with a shift in perspective away from your limited egoistic arbitrary divisions? Gosh. Maybe it's two things? One, that I resent seeing visible proof of the degree that I've been reduced by being aware that some people are free, and freedom is a deliberate choice which is prioritized above safety, comfort and belonging. Two, that if I were to abandon the theater of social roles to display my true self, I will be endlessly mutilated by the limitations of others? I am doomed to be forever feared, ostracized, belittled, for all others can see of me is two contradictory and incompatible natures which they know not I have found a way to unify into a spectacular whole? I don't think it's a lie to sell yourself, on the face of it. Salespeople often and frequently use lies, manipulation, flattery, but then so does like... your mum? Where's the line drawn, mate? The most benign utility of salesmanship I can think of is lying to people in the only ways they can understand as not even a pretense to persuade em, but to even interact? "

{rebuffering}

"Um, I don't want nice boys to come up to me and get flirty and watch me get red-faced and bashful as I look down and grind the tip of my boot to the dirt? Um, it's not that I mind exactly? It's more like I don't wanna let em down? I don't wanna have to tell a nice boy I'm not interested, it's just ... Gosh. I'm not equipped for it! I got a pole instead of a hole! All of my other openings, there's no headway! Shit's constantly gushing out of me in jet streams of fertilizer which is why I made my first million in landscapin before I diversified into homewares and biological weaponry!"

(hahahahahahahaha)

[[blowing the canned laughter with a shotgun]]

(((shattered femur ushering in advert auto-skipped))

"Joey, my first question for you is a matter of historical speculation. Were we to live in a time and place where men openly kissing one another deep with tongue in public was somehow considered taboo, how often would you remind others of your intention, and how subtle or obvious would you be in your doubtless persistent beckonings? The mic is yours."

[[demolecularizing mic

to send mic particles

through the phone]]

"This may shock you, dear brother, but for once I was hoping to stoop to your level."

) (

"Wait a minute! Cpt. Schreibermachen, you didn't come onto my program to seduce me. That is absurd. You are not an eligible bachelor stud male in peak physical fitness at the height of your sexual maturity absolutely coarsening with reproductive bounty sizing me up for my own stud potential cause you know if you put me next to a girl, I would absolutely seem gruff, manly and robust in comparison to how slender, pale, and bell-like as a lily she is, so graceful and wavering.... and if I myself were comparably tomboyish, well you'd only come to the conclusion that word is the name of the sex and a man's name conjoined, so it's not-not appropriate I'm so confused that I'm right back where I started?"

"When I fuck you, you're simply a bitch. What of it?"

"Spoken truly and decisively, chum!"

"Tell me as succinctly as you can manage in your state of peak delirium. Would you be as she -- ground into a puree, that I may feel you runny between my toes, some slit porous meat I have left to batter?"

"Welly, well. You came onto my program to feed me to a wood chipper and bottle me in baby food bottles. A mammogram on the label, casting bands of light on Brux's faces! It were a naturally occurring phenomenon, his visage -- conforming within brand dictates true -- within the tissues of the stored fats, peristalsissing to gradients all ink and illustration."

"Eyes always feasting, every sight sore."

"Joey... People just change when they're around one another. They leave traces of themselves behind. I'm always accepting what I know to be true, acknowledging how much more I still need .... I am an impetuous and wily creature who is whimsical and short-sighted and prone to fits and sensitivities and I don't want to hate you for I think myself a coward being too afraid to live life in your strange wooden overdone wardrobe way like everything was a big bouffant toe stub to tack on at the end to make everything needlessly top heavy, globes already tilted on an axis?"

"You leap to circuits without cause or censure, reign or raison d'etre, I assume you are an unsung cosmos ecliptic to itself which will make its mode or manor clear with the leadway of a long enough breath."

"Joey ... you've never once called into my show before. Every other time I've had you on was like reconstructin Pangea with pulled teeth. Now you're here. Not sittin across, but talkin to me. You're talkin to me, Joey. You're good. I'm good. We can do things that make us good together?"

"Talking. It's only talking. My mouth moves, your ears recieve."

"Did you mean it, what you said? What is it you think has changed? Would you rather... talk with me, or I to you? Stand by me, or near?"

"What I know is proximity is an illusion, for already I feel you on me."

"What am I doing... on you?"

"Clutching worthlessly at my wrists as my hands constrict your throat."

"... How is my breathing?"

"Haggard. Weak. Intermittent and sharp. Your eyes, by the moment, are growing dimmer, and in the gloss of their stagnation, I see myself reflected all the brighter, the radiance I am as an envoy of the heavens to which I will send you, in which it is your bliss to lie forever."

"Hehehehe... well, that's um... that's real good on ya, Joey! Big man'd be proud, no doubt! Like rippin the ignition cord out a lawn mower!"

"A gas-guzzler I can't turn on, left for scrap in a sun-beaten alley!"

"Sure would be a shame if someone left all this perfectly good fuel just sittin in a dismal, lil broken-down wreck like me, huh mates?"

"You need to be harvested for all you're worth. Sickle or scrap heap, you are fit only for thresher or floor. Fated to be husked and dispersed."

Cpt. Schreibermachen at times became transfixed on Cpt. Haruspex's sleek and tapered figure.

"Joey, I am not a sex object. I may legally be the property of the military of a state that was not my place of origin, and in the course of our brotherly duties, we may perform vigorous and athletic feats of naked gamesmanship ... but I am not a sex object. I am a sexual entity. From your leering at me and the hypnotic salvation of your partially exposed canines, I get the impression that you are not carrying forward primarily in your awareness the sanctity of our shared humanity, and I am asking you to stop. You are contributing to a fearful atmosphere of wanton sex fiendery which, while occasionally novelly diverting, is detrimental to the seamless operation of that proud institution to which we have pledge our all. I realize I look very sharp and dashing in my uniform. I keep my leather polished as any good serviceman would, and am so taken in the course of my state duties that I wax my stache and polish my knob as I grow lightheaded in the course of my nightly rituals -- and I don't do any of it to impress you, Joey. I do it for the common decency and self-respect of a job well done and a good, stiff achy body to go to bed with! I do it because the effort, once expended in the pursuit of perfection, is the most vital affirmation of life, and not because I dream of surrendering my cheek to the blonde and bristly hairs of your stony and rippling abdomen... I am not a sex object! I don't look good for the cameras, Joey -- I look good for me! I look at me more than you do, don't act like you don't!"

Cpt. Schreibermachen -- discretely caressing the white cotton clad cock stiff and upright through a strategically sewn sheathe in his right pocket -- assessed this new data accordingly.

"I need a partner for an intrigue with some females."

"I hereby revoke my previous statements!"

#to be continued #boy stuff #bro time

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