#which i've never done before (maybe in later panels)

[ask-the-druggieverse]

Nooo Crossmare :(((

My friend said I should make an AMV at the end of Druggieverse's story with Crossmare, and use this song as the background music

(it's not exactly what they said but it's funny nonetheless SJSJSJSSJ)

(I'm most likely not gonna do this but we'll see as I do think it'd be funny (I have an ending already in mind, and if I ever do make this I was just bored/wanted to do something))

[comicaurora]

A bit of a strange question, but if there were any of your videos you were to "remake" today for any reason (ex: you feel like you misrepresented the original text or spread misinformation), which would it be and why? None of them is a perfectly valid answer

Again: bit of a strange question, but I've been thinking about my own creations and how I could have done so much better with some of them, but I also know that is a sign of my growth and constantly chasing "what if I did this instead" isn't always healthy for nurturing a creative mindset, and I was wondering what your opinion might be as a Creator of Things with a bit more experience than I

There's been a few trope talks where I've thought later of other angles I could've explored that might warrant sequels or part 2s, but I don't dislike any of the summaries enough to justify a rework.

I always find "I could've done this better if I made it now" to be a bit of a fallacy. I'm only better at making things now because I made all those earlier things. If I knew everything I'd learn from making a project before I started the project, it wouldn't come out the same.

I think when it comes to the "rework remake perfect" instinct, it helps to zero in on what the impulse is really grounded in. In my experience, more often than not, it's not actually about making the art better, except incidentally. It's usually about showing that you are better. It's demonstrating your competence and your higher standards and your skills, and more importantly it's overwriting the proof that you were once less than perfect. If people look at your old work and think that's all you're capable of, they'll be judging you poorly!

If that's the motivator, it's a very unhelpful one. You can't control for being harshly or incorrectly judged. It's a fruitless effort to stave off potentially upsetting outdated criticism, and it's not even going to work. Fear of critique is an unreliable and untrustworthy motivator.

If it really is about making the art itself better, perfecting your magnum opus with your newly leveled-up skills, that's a little more solid. But from where I'm standing, it's always better to use those skills to make something new instead of polishing something old. The older, unpolished work has already acquired its audience that finds it appealing for reasons that might never occur to you. Trying to bury or overwrite it just deprives that audience of the thing they like, and maybe makes them feel bad for having liked it in the first place. Also, usually when you look back on the older work, you'll conclude that the problem is everything and it'll need to be torn down and started from scratch. I know when I revisited the first three chapters of the comic, when I let my critic brain spin up, it wasn't shading or lineart I wanted to fix - it was panel composition, overall pacing, the entire structure of the chapters as a whole. I would've had to make them all over again to be happy with them, and they wouldn't be the same story by the end.

I've been thinking a lot about the Discworld through this lens lately. It ended up over 40 books long, but everyone agrees that the first two are not what you should start with, because they're the worst ones. They're entirely parodic, purely referential of at-the-time major fantasy series, and borderline mean-spirited in places. If you haven't read Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and Dragonriders of Pern, you're not gonna understand like a full 50% of The Colour Of Magic.

It's clear that when he started in on them, Pratchett was entirely focused on taking the piss out of a genre he found mostly shallow and unimpressive. But the Discworld wouldn't leave his head, and everything he made fun of he clearly eventually found himself overthinking. He'd make little one-off jokes in the early books about Dwarves having no women and a hundred words for gold, and then twenty books later he'd have a Dwarf gender revolution make waves across the Disc, and then he'd write Thud!, a book that delves deeper into the nuances of Dwarf societal structure than Tolkien ever did.

If you look for them, there are continuity errors everywhere in Discworld. In his introductory book, Carrot defused a dwarf bar full of rowdy brawlers by guilting them all into writing to their poor lonely mothers back home. Shortly thereafter, Carrot will be outraged at the mere concept of an openly female dwarf. Pratchett even eventually wrote Thief of Time, a book that loosely explains that the Disc makes no sense because history has been broken and put back together incorrectly twice, and therefore any continuity errors are because of that.

He's the writer. He could've gone back and fixed it, edited the reprints to be less disruptively discontinuous with the later books. Instead he continuously moved forward and allowed the world he made to grow without cutting it off from its roots. And because he didn't bury his older, far worse work, we have the privilege of following the Disc's evolution from the very start, and seeing how this shallow, stock fantasy world parody became something incredibly rich and complex without ever pretending like its early installments never happened.

Anyway, that's why I think it's better to move forward. You make more good stuff that way.

[valeriefauxnom]

Unintentional Comedy - Dragalia and Feh Artwork Edition

So, remember Alfonse, from FEH?

Y'know, this dude?

For an okay crutch for those without Gala Euden or Albert or other handy light swords they didn't want to invest in, he was rather popular, only partly owed to any pre-established fondness FEH players had since they already knew him. People liked the more expanded personality we got than FEH's bare-bones story, additionally before they started trying to spice Alfonse up in more recent books.

In his story, however, one of the events that happening is Euden falling off a cliff, shortly followed by Alfonse.

Miraculously, cliff-falling isn't quite as dangerous in Dragalia Lost as in real life (also demonstrated by Leonidas in Stranded Scions, etc...), and the two survive. Alfonse has some sort of injury to his foot, however, conveniently hampering his ability to move but not much else.

Euden, being Euden and unwilling to throw anyone to the wolves, comes up with this idea:

Nothing atypical here, right?

...Well, as it was revealed in a book published two years later than his debut in Dragalia, Fire Emblem Heroes Character Illustrations, Volume 1...

Alfonse is 180cm tall, AKA 5'11.

...Is it any surprise coming from 195cm/6'5 and 180cm/5'11 parents? Someone check the Askran royal food for steroids that Sharena has apparently not been consuming, presumably because she's instead dining with heroes in the barracks.

I digress.

Now, as I've gone over before here, here's where it gets hilarious in retrospect.

In short, Ranzal, the resident big buff burly dude of Dragalia...is stated to be 6'1/185 in the joke comics.

...And while literally nobody else got an even vaguely-official number to their height, Dragalia instead opting for a 'comparison heights' to keep track of who's shorter and who's taller in a pair... Euden often seems to wind up in the 150-155cm/5'0-5'1 range or even shorter when in illustrations with Ranzal:

At most, I've seen him crack about 5'9/175cm in the comics, which aren't exactly a stable source of art, as demonstrated by these two panels, in which both seem to be on flat ground and standing pretty straight:

I need to stop before I mindlessly repeat the other post, but my point remains:

Euden, by most depictions, is tiny. A literal short prince/king.

And yet, no matter what way you slice it, he's trying to carry a dude that seems to be quite a bit taller, let's say. How much, we'll never know, but the fact remains he'd likely need to pull out a dragon phone to search 'how to carry people much taller than you?' just in case and hurriedly read a wikihow 10-step article explaining some strats, were it not for the fact that dragons would have destroyed smartphones in Dragalia a long time ago (good move, dragons....?).

I will admit that there are a few arts that frame them as the 'same height' but I would more point to the fact Euden, when drawn with crossover characters for promotional art, is usually portrayed on an 'equal footing', so as not to have one take up more space/attention. Also, the Feh team might not have even decided on a height for Alfy boy before!

Even then, he's still portrayed as shorter than 5'9/175cm Joker in some art:

So yeah. Crossover art is not exactly consistent, and all I can do is look to the general trend in the 'canon game' of him being absolutely dwarfed by Ranzal.

Now, it's one thing for Euden to be lugging about Alfonse for a while.

The idea he might have done so with such a potential height disparity is pure comedy.

No wonder he's so tired after a while, lugging about another human who is both taller, heavier, and also wearing armor!

Not only that, he later tries and partly succeeds in fighting heavily armored soldiers (who are admittedly aiming to capture him and kill Alfonse) with Alfonse 'draped across his back like a sack of potatoes'. Talk about determination, adrenaline, and/or the simple principle of 'small but mighty'!

Maybe that's why Alfonse was saying "I don't think that's wise" at the start there before he quickly found other rationale besides 'you sure you can give a piggyback without my feet dragging along the ground the whole way?'

My case rests, Your Honor: they unintentionally made part four of Alfonse's personal story a lot funnier to envision by publishing an art book 2 years after he first existed in Dragalia Lost!

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 134

Things are feeling pretty high stakes right now. The fact that Kishward was badly wounded but didn't die here makes me even more worried that someone else won't be so lucky (we didn't see them but I'm still fretting about Kubard and Isfan).

Horrific scenes as the winged apes descend on Ecbatana, people panic, try to hide inside and get the doors shut even at the cost of the lives of those still outside trying to get in... and then the creatures come through an open window to devour them. It's just... total and unprecedented chaos in the streets.

Pleased to see some of the Parsian soldiers holding it together enough to have a go at shooting them down and defending themselves against a threat they've never seen the likes of before, though. Arrows work. The creatures can be killed. There's just... so many of them, and they're not used to fighting enemies that come from the sky. Doesn't look like they're going to win.

Oh hello.

Forgive me, I've apparently turned into a Holy Master enjoyer

Three centuries would have been... a lot of generations for people back then. It is surprising that details like the winged apes have been lost from memory despite their visual presence in ancient freezes, but it's not totally unbelievable I guess. And there's room for the headcanon that knowledge of them and their creation may have been suppressed so as to avoid anything similar happening again. I wonder whether Farangis, as a priestess, knows anything more? We'll see.

Anyway I really did enjoy that little glimpse of the bastard himself atop Ecbatana's very highest point. He's having the best day. Hopefully someone will ruin his fun soon.

The way my heart froze for a second when we skipped locations to Peshawar because I was in fear that winged apes might have been sent there, too, but it's only a well-timed scene featuring Ayyar before shit gets real with Kishward's fight against Manuchurh.

Ayyar's definitely being set up as a future hero of the next generation, both with this scene and Kishward's words later. Maybe we'll see a flash-forward of him stepping into that role when he's a bit older, maybe we won't.

Anyway the fight had me on the edge of my seat but Kishward delivered, sacrificing his left arm in the end. Guess I'll never get the scene of Gurgin standing on Kubard's sword but Manuchurh balancing barefoot on both of Kishward's blades was a good panel.

The defeated Manuchurh's lament shows the great sorrow these warriors must feel over their fates... perhaps it's this torment that allowed for Team Zahhak to bring them back? Maybe that's what that 'unfinished business' comment was about? Kishward being able to bring some relief by speaking of Arslan's feats and the hope he brings to Pars, and of how in time Ayyar will serve Arslan appeared to bring comfort to his spirit and allow it to depart at last, leaving only his severed head behind after the sorcery-created body disintegrated.

It gives me some hope that we will see the same thing happen with the remaining undead warriors; that they will be defeated in battle and their torment eased by the words of comrades/friends/family.

Kishward feeling that Andragoras's death was his fault (accepting undead Manuchurh's criticism) doesn't surprise me, but it seems he views his injury as 'payment' of sorts for that failure and as such, I don't think he intends to dwell on it as he might have done otherwise. In fact, despite the state of his arm (which I guess may have to be amputated?) he's in very high spirits! He hasn't seen the winged apes yet, though.

Hmmm, Kishward offering the loss of his arm as a token of penitence to Manuchurh does make me wary that we'll see similar sacrifices needing to be made against the other undead warriors. That's... an alarming thought.

Tears of blood confirmed.

Or maybe it's black sorcery ooze, but whatever.

The way the light just goes out of his eyes and his soul(?) is just... gone. Oof. When I think about seeing that happen with Shapur, or what Kharlan's last conversation might be like...

But we will need to wait another month at least before we see that.

It looks like Tus versus Khayr is next.

But did you guys spot it?

So this fight must be happening in the vicinity of what's going on between Sam and Garshasp? Unless it's a mistake or translation error, but that seems unlikely. I'm making a mental note to check the raw when I see it.

[donkeys-waffles]

Okay, listen I'm not all that convinced AFO is completely gone. And let's put DFO aside for a moment. His and Yoichi's story feels uncomplete, there are certain elements that were given the time to be graced on but never really elaborated on. Like for example, that possibility that certain elements of AFO's backstory were fabricated to accomplish a certain message.

It's very easy to read over his backstory and gather the idea that he was born evil. But after a deeper look, it's very clear that was the purpose. We are meant to believe AFO is evil because that's what he wants us to believe, that's what he sees in himself. I feel bittersweet towards his supposed 'end'. Because I hate how Bakugou delivered that end, for one. But on one hand I enjoy how he mentioned needing Yoichi, it starts with denial and ends with recognition. And even if this a hot take, I think it's a beautiful, emotional end to such a messed-up individual.

However, I have a weird feeling about two things. First, I'd like to say, one thing I've noticed in writing is if something is brought up randomly, it'll generally come back to bite you later. Nothing is left unsaid, otherwise you have plot holes.

I found it interesting how it's mentioned AFO wasn't able to use his last trick up his sleeve, without any elaboration as to what that would have been. And I would say this was done on purpose, maybe just used as another example of every dream he wasn't able to accomplish before he died. But bringing light to this does nothing to strengthen the impact of his death on the narrative. Another interesting detail was Yoichi's wish. His dream of AFO being the kindest quirk in the world, which I can see being used to cause a reaction in the reader, as if trying to make them feel some heartache for such a bastard. But even with that reasoning, that sentence in the end feels so empty. unfulfilling, and almost lack-luster. It seems odd to be brought up and this could be bias, but I feel like that sentence had more importance than just literary cannon fodder.

We know AFO's main goal, make everyone love him like Yoichi, and his midterm goal was to steal his brother back through OFA. Makes sense.

But I still have questions. I understand why he took Tomura, to get a strong enough host to steal OFA, makes sense. But how does leaving Gigantomachia in the mountains have anything to do with such a goal? For what? Retirement? What did that achieve, wouldn't it better if he kept him around? If he was planning on moving his consciousness to Tomua later, then keeping him around would be better, right? Afterall, he'd be able to meet the child and possibly have a better understanding of the situation. Gigantomachia is an incredibly strong asset (look how he took down SO many heroes in the first war); he could have possibly even used him as backup during his fight with All Might.

And why keep OFA at a distance when his entire goal is to steal said quirk? I'm referring to that one panel in Vigilantes. Thats the entire opposite of his entire 200-year-old goal.

And that whole thing with his copy of rewind... This man is 200 years old, with an extremely strong villain empire, who has earned the respect of a genius scientist... You don't achieve any of those things by being stupid. And now I'm not normally one for completely trusting the MHA Wiki, but I can't blame them for giving him a 6/5 intelligence. He's a genius, and is spectacular with quirk analysis, it's his thing ya feel me. But it does show his lack of self-preservation, which is against what he's supposed to be angry at All Might for.

All Might took his health and his empire; we know he didn't really care about his empire as much from Spinner. (I mean lack of self-preservation because he's using a quirk that will eventually rewind him out of existence, whether he transfers his quirk to Tomura entirely or not. There's a possibility that it won't work, he failed to take complete control the first time remember. Is that what this supposed 'trick up his sleeve' was supposed to remedy? This is the same man that gave himself immortality, the same man that ran away from All Might for years, the same man that has shown to rely on the strength of others instead of dealing wounds himself. And might I add the same man that is supposed to be angry about his health being diminished. Afterall if not his health or his empire what could he possibly be angry at All Might for that's so special, so unique compared to his predecessors?)

This brings me to my last point. Since when the hell did this bitch care about THE CHILDREN! This man literally stole quirks from children, killed thousands, and turned a crap tone into braindead nomu. And he's angry on behalf of the children. Are we ever going to get an explanation for that?

Like I would understand if he killed the children that he apparently gave heroic ideals to. Like Ha! You will pay for passing on your ideals to children by watching me steal their quirks and kill them. But that's not what he means, or he would've stolen Tokoyami's quirk, killed Jiro instead of leaving her with a broken eardrum, and blasted Izuku away with deadly force instead of holding back in the first war. We have no answers for such behavior from a man known for exhibiting zero humanity (and making that behavior his ENTIRE personality.) Need I remind you this man stole Tomura (possibly gave him the quirk that killed his entire family,) and groomed him just to possess him later alright. He also turned Tsubasa into a nomu for shits and giggles, which we have never talked about once! Tsubasa, need I remind, was a small child and was the Doctor's grandson (which you'd think give him immunity to this kind of sick shit but apparently not.)

There are so many questions left unanswered, many of which Yoichi himself can't even answer. Like with all their human experimentation they do on a daily basis, the clone theory wouldn't really surprise me. It would make a lot of sense for his character as well. And even if that theory doesn't pan out, the vestige behind the locked door (which is entirely separate rant honestly,) or even Tomura's AFO vestige maybe. Though I feel if Izuku really saves Tomura in this war, then we might never hear much of anything from that vestige. Especially since their first priority would be to cancel it out as soon as possible. A lot of people bring up how the story is almost over, and they are probably right. But the end date was supposed to be 2022 originally, right? Then it was moved to 2023, now it's 2024-2025. Like yeah it is almost over, but there's still story that needs wrapping up clearly because that deadline has been pushed back multiple times. Too many times to make it a valid counterclaim anymore. Either way, I don't think we are in the clear of the Demon King's superiority complex anytime soon.

[senkusphone]

Dr. Stone chapter 3D trivia post

Hello, um. I hope yall had a pleasant solstice celebration of your choice- I've been pondering whether what we just saw merits a triva post, but let's try to squeeze some for the sake of completion, shall we?

Check out also my trivia posts for chapters 1D and 2D.

They're the same picture.

It took me way too long to notice what was off in this cover, it seems to be nothing but an aesthetic choice. Other than these off colors, this specific suika melon design first appeared during the Treasure island arc, right after Ryusui punted her off the Perseus.

To directly quote what I wrote at one time on the wiki:

Too bad, the ship Chelsea shows up in is not the Perseus D. Monkey from chapter 214 (which itself is a One Piece reference, as Boichi is a big fan).

Interesting that we get a nearly identical shot, instead of Kohaku standing behind her, it's Ruri and Matsukaze.

This posture done my Matsukaze is called Namaste (with other names such as Namaskar), which is used both as a greeting and as an indication of reverence all over the southern parts of Asia, along with other similar gestures. I know this is familiar to many myself included but I had never looked into the deeper details until now.

Figurines showing this pose have been excavated from the Indus valley civilization dating to between 2700 and 2100 BCE, making this piece of cultural heritage at least 7800 years old by the time of this panel.

Xeno has clearly had his hand in the architecture of the Japan side of the KoS, with some new constructions resembling his own Evil Disneyland back home.

Hold back yer tears

Kaseki has lived well. It's hard to tell how old he is now, he lived longer than the timeline's consistency thats for sure, I blame time travel.

At the time Taiju got wed, he was around 70 years old.

Kaseki and Chrome go back way further than the KoS, the fanbook tells us that Kaseki helped Chrome build his shed when he was just a boy.

Feel your heart a bit shakey? hang on there, we now get to talk about whyman's sorrow, and a small observation that I've made

Whyman can have emotions, the circuits that process that can be switched on and off, but the fact that a message can, or needs to be "left" for themselves, as well as his farewell for all eternity, has an interesting implication: once switched off, whyman loses the recollection of any experience they had in the meantime. These circuits allow whyman to feel, and also to then forget. This is useful, as emotions help them survive, but forgetting prevents the emotional baggage from growing infinitely over a virtually immortal life.

"If we remembered every single parting person, it would only be a few generations before the sorrow would pile up to the point it became unbearable. Maybe it is a blessing to forget. Forgetting allows us to get even. Forget sorrows as new ones replace them. Life can go on, if tragically. No accumulating loss that would one day make everyone struggle to survive and eventually pass on; though that last thing does also sound very much like today."

(10B points to the ~2 people who know where this quote is from, I digress)

So that's cool, and heartbreaking, but so what, does it connect to anything we've seen before?

Well...

In ch. 232 we see that Whyman does not know what created them.

How could that be, if they can remember things over deep time?

Maybe it is that Whyman chose to forget their creators, and everything they felt about them. Beings that they may even have loved in the deep deep past, and could not cope with yearning for.

The blonde, bangs & ponytail lineage.

The village graveyard. Last time we saw it, Byakuya's gravestone was opened to reveal the glass record.

A lot of recognizable headstones are still up now, some appear to have moved.

Other headstones might be gone or be different... The one with four dots that was there originally can't be seen in this new shot but it can be seen later in the chapter.

Also, I hate to break this to you, but there's more headstones now than there were before.

I counted 45 in the original shot, 50 in the new one, not including any that Chelsea and Senku may be covering. Granted this is likely just an oversight.

(I should mention that in order for them to match bottom to bottom, the top image is flipped horizontally).

(omg look at the babiesss)

What Xeno is telling Chrome is that if whyman went and altered their own past, then what they are seeing currently is the result of that, since whatever changes they made, are in the past after all.

They already happened and they are part of the timeline that leads them to where they are now.

Assuming they actually found Byakuya (or a petrified time traveler) means that either whyman created some sort of causal loop that is self sustaining (ie, the ramifications of the changes in the past include whyman going back to do them in the first place), or more in line with the many worlds hypothesis, that going back to the past and changing it creates a new parallel timeline where the repercussions of that happen, with no effect in the first one.

In the latter case it means the timeline we see now was altered by the whyman from a parallel universe.

The stone axe is a bit dissonant with where they are, technologically speaking, yes? Thing is, that's the one Senku took to the moon with him.

He's had it since chapter 1.

A few people I've seen mystified about this structure they unearthed at the cementery:

This is a collapsed building just like the structures that the Tsukasa empire occupied.

(shoutout to that guy about to die in the back)

Interestingly, this means that Ishigami Village is established on top of a once urban area.

I am always pumped for any extra bits of village lore I can get.

Did Suika's handwriting trigger your AI generated image senses? it did for me.

We were bamboozled again. If it ends up happening it's gonna be like the tale of the wolf. The moment we stop taking it seriously, Inagaki is gonna smack us across the head with it.

We were actually preparing for the poop on a stick to hit the f.a.a.n on discord. What do I make about the ending? I don't know, I got no big analysis this time around but I believe it's very likely we'll see more at some point.

[asmallmoon333]

Near for the ask game 👁️👁️ And also Lawlight ✨

Hi Grim!! :3

Near! :D

How I feel about this character: Like him, but tbh no real deep or passionate feelings. I haven't poked his brain enough to get interested. I will say I started liking him more in the A-Kira one-shot, and not only cause his long hair was awesome, but cause I wanted to know more about WHY he was like that, what he felt all those years later about the Kira Case, how his life had gone as the new 'L'.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Mello in a childhood rival-turned-enemy-turned-lover way; Light a very messed-up 'mutual substitutes' way; and Minoru Tanaka cause I think they should have at least met and picked each others' brains!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Also Mello actually, sometimes I just want them to understand each other and come to like...not a moment of peace, so much as a moment of actually talking about what their childhood at Wammys did to them and their relationship as a consequence of it.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Anime Near really was boring and I had no interest in watching him. Manga Near is more interesting, but they still needed to make him more goofy. (I saw two alternate panel translations of 'Serious Near' vs 'Goofy Near' and I loved the second one.)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Near meeting Minoru Tanaka!!! What a freaking loss of opportunity. Also, I'm a fan of the "Near wrote Mikami's Name" theory and I'd like that confirmed or denied in canon.

My OTP: I don't have one, I don't know him well enough tbh, even the ones I do ship, it's kinda with ambivalent feelings.

My cross over ship: Dont have one, sorry :3

A headcanon fact: He didn't grow his hair out cause he's too lazy to cut it or too depressed to bother, he just genuinely likes the way it looks and feels.

Lawlight! :D

When I started shipping it if I did: In December 2022 when I started writing for them! Altho tbh I'm not sure if I so much as shipped them, or if I just really liked the challenge of writing about them getting and being together.

My thoughts: Love them when they're just eternally messed with and messing with each other. I like them both individually as characters so having them together is really fun.

What makes me happy about them: Their symmetry. They just GET each other. And I love picking at their brains and poking them with a stick, and putting them in Situations together. I think their reactions are really fun.

What makes me sad about them: That in canon they were (or maybe mostly just Light, cause we never got to pick L's brain about it) too dumb to see what they'd be bored as hell without the other. That they never got the chance to actually be honest with each other before it was too late. (Altho in the anime L did try.)

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: For L, my pet peeve is the idea that his whole personality was an 'act.' I've never heard a good argument for why he'd bother. From a character standpoint, this would mean we never knew anything about him, which makes me sad. As for Light, when someone gives him too many "good" or too many "bad" traits, for whatever reason. It no longer feels like Light at some point.

Things I look for in fanfic: Mind Games :3

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I don't think they're capable of it lol, sometimes I don't even think they're capable of ending up with each other. But for the sake of it, I wanted to see more of Light and Kiyomi. and as for L, Matsuda could take care of him.

My happily ever after for them: Mind Games, but forever! :D

Who is the big spoon/little spoon: Light is usually the little spoon cause L clings like an octopus, and Light needs to breathe so he faces the other way. L becomes the little spoon if Light wakes up in the middle of the night and L's asleep but not clinging to him.

What is their favorite non-sexual activity: Dang, I can't say Mind Games again. Or arguing. Or discussing a book cause it would be to one-up each other. So I think--sharing a meal. Just the two of them quietly enjoying their food together, and even giving little bits off their plates that they think (hope) the other might enjoy. A small sign that they want the other to live, and be happy.

[sayakxmi]

[Magi reread] Night 81: Mahrajan's Night

I've never really realized how at least in early Sindria chapters Alibaba is by Sinbad's side almost at all times. They get panels of being next to each other left and right.

I'm so happy for him. Go have fun, boy.

:D

Ok, it's nice, but also now that I think about it, how tf Alibaba didnt realize it was her, given her very distinctive hair color? I guess kudos to him for not assuming every fanalis-redhaired girl is Morgiana? XD

She is... so short in comparison...

On the one hand, she's literally sparking in his eyes, lmao. On the other, Alibaba, pls... My take here is that he kinda panicked there.

"She is sulking" understandably, but also. The anime made her look happy about the (backhanded) compliment.

Like, a gif for comparison. Her eyebrows, but also her mouth in general - in the manga it's a straight line, in the anime it curves up slightly. So, I daresay pretty different reactions.

For one, I love them just vibing. Being friends. Wish we had more of that later in the manga.

I love that he's considerate of her. (Again, where did that go later on).

Also, it seems a little funny knowing that two arcs later he'll be angsting about Morgiana and Aladdin leaving.

Jokes aside, I think it's just like he's said - he's been thinking about it for a long while, in a way mentally preparing himself for the day she finally leaves as she intended to, so when she later asks to stay and fight with them, he kind of ends up taking it for granted.

Savage lands? Really?

:sighs in And what happened to that later in the manga?:

I like this, ngl. Morgiana is used to status differences (understatement), so when she asks to join them, she does so very formally. Then there's Alibaba, who at first is taken aback, because he's a much more casual person, so literally getting on her knees to ask for something like that feels like, well, too much. I fully believe if she just asked casually he wouldn't have hesitated with the answer, but she threw him off guard. And finally there's Aladdin who calms everybody down before Morgiana mistakes Alibaba's reaction for refusal. Aladdin focuses on what Morgiana's asking instead of how she's asking about it.

!

My memory might be screwing with me, but I recall something about the anime saying it more like "you can do what you want" instead of "if you want to go with us, we want you to go with us, too!". Which, very different things. But I might be misremembering something,

Lovely

For one, it deserves to be here in it's entirety.

For two, girl be crushing hard.

For three, nice save after that earlier blunder, Alibaba...

Nevermind, I spoke too soon.

I suppose Ohtaka's going for a will-they-or-won't-they (assuming she's actually going for AliM*r, and I'm still not sure, maybe at the beginning), but did it have to be like that... There's actual moments where it does seem like he might be developing some feelings for Morgiana, and then it's like, nevermind, he calls every women here beautiful... Like, idk, I'm trying to come up with some explanation that would save it a little, but my mind is blank.

You know how I keep mentioning that Morgiana being sidelined was foreshadowed early on?

This is one of the examples. Literally, why isn't she here. Alibaba and Aladdin have this super important What I want to do now talk, and she's just... not there. Even though it was a perfect opportunity for all three of them to confide in each other what they want to do, that they want to fight Al-Thamen. But nah, why bother.

It's especially annoying, because she's just confided in them that she wants to fight Al-Thamen alongside them. Honestly, they really should've moved the whole talk about it here, to give their relationship actual importance, but instead it's just Aladdin and Alibaba. Eh.

Not much I have to say about it. Of course Alibaba still blames himself for it, and of course he cannot forgive Al-Thamen for what they'd done.

I love Alibaba.

Alibaba gets panels like this a lot. But in general, I love it.

I'd say it's the moment that Alibaba officially becomes a Candidate for a King not simply by virtue of having a Metal Vessel, but because of the determination to change the world. And Aladdin recognizes that. And speaking about Aladdin, he's glad to see it, of course it is. Later we learn just how lonely he feels with all that knowledge, but here he has the confirmation that he won't be fighting alone.

Honestly, I love everything about it.

It's official.

I still think Morgiana should've been here if they were supposed to be a trio.

[pulpfricktionsart]

To start this new blog off, I'll be reposting all the pictures of my previous work from Instagram! Unfortunately, Instagram can never make relocating stuff easy (for me and my devices, at least), so I decided to just retake pictures of certain pieces in my personal collection.

(Plus, I've given some sculptures a few repairs/updates recently, so I figured it would be good to show them in their current state rather than just use the older photos.)

We'll begin with the first "series" I continue to carry out, which I like to call Spookie Jars!

I was getting back into my Egyptian mythology fixation a couple years ago, and I became so inspired by the canopic jars used for mummification that I decided to make one myself.

And from there, it just sort of became a regular thing for me. I keep four in my personal collection, but I typically make the rest as either gifts for friends and family, or to leave out in public spaces for strangers to find and take home if they like. (I hope that will eventually help me get more recognition as a local artist.)

___

Spookie Jar #1: Spotted Hyena

Started: February 9, 2022

Finished: February 14, 2022

Even with the inspiration, I didn't want to just copy the animals modeled in real canopic jars (jackals, eagles, baboons, and humans).

So, it was only right that I went with my all-time favorite animal! (Seriously, if you don't know all the fascinating truths about hyenas by now, please look it up. They're amazing animals who deserve so much more respect, love, and protection than they've been given.)

A relative of mine accidentally knocked it over a little while ago. After I repaired the broken pieces (just a few teeth and the nose, no serious damage) I gave it a few new coats of paint, as well as add a new front-panel with my updated larva design.

___

Spookie Jar #9: Tiger

Started: March 20, 2024

Finished: March 27, 2024

Like many of the others, this is technically a gift. I made it specifically for my lovely friend @sammys-magical-au (who also posts their own art on Insta, so go follow/support them there or you forfeit your kneecaps).

I always ask recipients for their favorite animals and favorite colors before I get started. Since Sammy answered "rainbow" for the latter, I ended up having to print out an abstract rainbow pattern and tracing my larva pattern over it. My wrist ached like hell by the time I was done, but that's the case whenever I draw/color stuff in general, lol.

The real struggle was getting the facial stripes just right. And don't even get me started on how surprisingly frustrating the backs of the ears were to paint. Still, it was all worth it in the end. I hope I'll be able to meet Sammy in person and give this over to them sometime in the future. But for now, I'll be keeping it safe with the others.

___

Spookie Jar #13: Honey Badger

Started: July 28, 2024

Finished: August 1, 2024

This one was inspired by the hilarious Mamadou Ndiaye/Casual Geographic.

Even if I wasn't a huge fan of his content, I still would've seen a questionable muse in these hood weasels (which is a borrowed phrase, since I wish I possessed even half of the verbal creativity and clever humor that Ndiaye does. Maybe someday...) sooner or later.

How couldn't I? Honey badgers are the cryptids of all badgerkind. They have 'roid rage and they OWN IT in a way pretty much nothing else really can. They've got more than enough stubbornness and legit street smarts to get their way.

(If you know about the infamous Stoffel, then you know I plan on using this to honor him, even if I don't know whether or not he's still kicking around. There's a good chance he is, with the whole being-a-honey-badger thing.)

Or, to quote the man himself on this subject:

"If orcas are homicidal sea-oreos, then honey badgers are double-stuffed with audacity" ... "This animal is basically a Black Air Force One come to life" ... "A malicious equality symbol with nothing to lose."

___

Spookie Jar #14: Vampire Bat

Started: August 17, 2024

Finished: August 23, 2024

This jar was definitely one of the toughest for me to make.

I love all bats in general, but I've got a particular soft-spot for vampires since, much like hyenas, they're incredible creatures who are criminally misunderstood. I'm the type to defend animals most other people would deem scary/creepy/ugly, so of course I like all the weirdness of a vampire bat's face.

Unfortunately for me, finding a way to sculpt all those weird-yet-cute details was almost an exercise in madness. I think I had to redo the head-lid four times before I was finally happy with the look.

And that's not even mentioning THE WINGS.

HOLY SHIT, THE DAMN WINGS.

I use a strong, effective two-part epoxy for a lot of my projects (my grandfather was nice enough to help me find it, since brands like tacky glue just wouldn't cut it). This one was no different...and yet it still took SIX-AND-A-HALF TRIES to keep the wings securely attached to the jar.

Still, all the more reason for me to be happy with this guy! Despite all the headaches, I didn't give up, and I eventually managed to make it work.

That's what matters in all forms of art: giving your work love and care and being determined to see it through.

(God help me keep these things safe when I'm finally able to move out and start renting my own place.)

___

(Note: I apologize if the picture quality here isn't so good, but I really want these to be the first things I post, since I already have art-plans coming up soon. I want to share all my old stuff before the new stuff comes along. Plus, the weather in my hometown has been very cold and gray lately; the sun was at least trying to shine when I took these, but the natural light was still a bit fickle.)

[sheliesshattered]

Despite my lack of posting in the last few weeks, I did actually manage to finish my velvet Yule dress in time to wear it on the 21st, to a live performance of the Nutcracker. I was working on it up until an hour or two before I needed to get ready -- which is to say, a day or two later than I had hoped to finish it -- and then with the holidays and liminal space week, I'm just now getting around to writing up a post about it.

In my last update, I was in the midst of replacing the center front panel of the dress, less than a week before I planned to wear it, to fix a problem with the fit. I mentioned in the notes of the post on the 16th, when I had decided I needed to do this in order to really be happy with the dress, that I re-drafted the center front panel earlier this year to work better with stretch knits -- and then forgot I'd done that when I cut out the velvet, and cut the stretch center front rather than the original. Here's the two center panels on top of each other, to illustrate the difference:

I gained some width through the bust, where it was pulling a bit before I put the sleeves on, and a lot of width through the shoulders, which is where the fit problem had really made itself known. This whole maneuver was risky, especially with so little time left to go, but it turned out that the process of picking out the seams went really quickly, maybe 10 minutes total. The cotton thread just slid out of the silk velvet. I spent significantly more time pinning the new seams in place than I did taking out the old seams.

I did end up hand-sewing the shoulder seams, where the center front, center back, side front, and side back panels all come together in a sort of four-way intersection. If it's off by so much as a millimeter, it's obvious, and so getting it to meet up correctly was much easier to do by hand -- and even then I had to wiggle it around to get the matching exactly how I wanted it. It ended up better than it had been before I replaced the center front panel.

As soon as I was able to try the dress on with the new panel, I knew I'd made the right choice. The fit was much better, no more weird pulling. It took me about a day and a half of work total, but it was worth it in the end.

Once that was done, I was able to do the hem on the neckline, using a thin strip of flannel like I did on the sleeve ends. I had thought I would be able to do a machine blind hem on the neck (and the skirt hem) because there's plenty of room to get it into the machine (unlike the sleeve hems, which are so narrow I knew I had to do them by hand). But I couldn't figure out how to get the blind hem secured with pins or clips in a way that wouldn't injure the velvet, so I ended up doing it by hand with a prick-stitch that's fairly invisible in the velvet pile -- on Friday morning, when I intended to wear it Saturday evening. That just left the skirt hem to finish.

Leveling the hem is always a bit of an adventure, since I don't have a mannequin, but with the nearly-floor-length dresses I've been favoring lately, it's relatively easy: while barefoot I place pins where the skirt hits the floor, use those pins as a guide to pin out a nice curve across half of the dress, cut just below that line, and cut the other side to match. Then when I turn up a hem, it ends up being just a little bit off the floor when I'm not wearing shoes, and slightly higher than that when I wear shoes, such that it still feels floor-length but I never actually step on it. It's weirdly easier than trying to hem something to knee-length.

But by the end of the day Friday the 20th, I had only gotten as far as cutting the hem to length and sewing the flannel facing to it, and then realizing I was going to have to hand-sew it rather than do the machine blind hem. After a small breakdown at not being nearly as close to finished as I hoped, I slept in fits and starts and spent the rest of the night making a plan for finishing the dress during the day on Saturday while still leaving enough time to actually get ready to go out in the dress.

For all my angst and worry the night before, the dress hem came together pretty easily, and I even had time to sew on a hook-and-eye above the zipper and then take a little nap before I needed to start getting ready for the evening.

Jack was kind enough to take a picture of me when I first put the dress on, with my hair still up in twists:

Earlier in the year, I made a double-strand necklace with the tiny garnet beads left over from my Rhaenyra cosplay (I ended up doing less than half of the beading I had planned to on that dress) and it was the perfect match for the burgundy velvet of this dress. Once I was fully ready to head out for the evening, Jack took another few photos of the finished dress:

For the evening at the Nutcracker performance, I layered my 25 yard burgundy cotton skirt underneath, both for warmth and for the extra volume in the skirt (as seen in both the full-length shots above) and warm nice-looking boots with warm socks, since I'm always cold, and then my beloved leather jacket over top. We hadn't been to this particular theater before, so we left with plenty of time to get lost or have to search for parking -- and then the drive went off without a hitch and parking was easy, so we had some time to grab a couple of photos in front of the theater, which was nicely decorated for the holidays.

I've had a pin on my Pinterest board since August with someone wearing a black leather jacket over a floor-length burgundy dress, and I was quite pleased with the final look. Jack wore his Very Fancy Santa hat, made of the same velvet, so we both looked nicely festive. The Nutcracker was amazing, and I think the Long Beach Ballet may have my favorite staging and choreography of all the Nutcrackers I've seen over the years.

Overall I'm really pleased with how my velvet Yule dress turned out, and so relieved that I managed to finish it in time to wear it to the Nutcracker performance that was basically the only opportunity I had to dress up this holiday season. But now that the dress is done -- and no changes that need to be made -- I can add it to my collection of reliable stand-bys to wear when I have the chance.

I have a little bit of the velvet left over, and a few ideas for what I might do with it, but all of that will have to be left for my 2025 plans. Happy new year everyone!

[whispersafterdusk]

Heart of Stone - ch 14

The next day Unsuur woke to his alarm as usual and as he rolled onto his side to sit up the blanket fell away, leaving the heart knot on his wrist in full view; he felt his own heart swell up at the sight of it - he and Dawn were together now. He'd never been happier in his life. It filled him with an energy that propelled him out of bed and through his morning routine in record time, and even the stiff collar on his new jacket didn't dim his mood as he stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air; it was clean and still rain-scented, with a healthy underlying hint of drying dirt and the promise of all the flowers that would start showing up later this afternoon. Dawn was going to love it. ((Continued below cut))

--------------------------

He stopped by briefly on his first patrol; she had been at her fence reading through some mail and had waved and greeted him cheerfully. She had a busy day ahead of her forging whatever robot contraption Qi had designed -- he saw the blueprints and it honestly looked like a toy so he still wasn't sure how it would help build the bridge quicker but trusted that Dawn, Qi, and Heidi knew what they were talking about.

After that it felt like he was gliding through the rest of his morning; today all his usual daydreams kept circling back to Dawn and what the future might hold. Maybe it was too soon to think about THE future but he couldn't help himself -- everything he could picture now had Dawn as part of it too. He'd be deputy, and she'd be the best builder in Sandrock, and everything was only going to get better. Getting lost and winding up here was officially the second-best thing that had ever happened to him.

As he wanted her to have time to eat lunch before they went for their walk he waited until late in the afternoon to go back. She was at a machine that had a large hammer and anvil as its main features, and between her hands was some kind of metal panel that she was ever-so-precisely moving underneath the pounding hammer to curve it bit by bit around the anvil's horn. When he got closer he noticed the thick gloves and could smell heated metal; whatever she was working on must be very hot so he was careful to keep his distance while moving to where she could see him without needing to take her eyes off the machine. She saw him and smiled and finished off the piece in her hands, stepping over to lay it on the corner of the assembly platform before peeling her gloves and safety glasses off.

"Well hello there. Time got away from me," she laughed, fanning her hands at her sides - to cool them down or maybe dry them off, he assumed.

"Hi. Ready for a walk?"

"Definitely. I've been smelling everything all morning and can't wait to see which flowers are making which scents."

He held out his hand and after giving her hands a quick wipe on her pants she took it, falling into step beside him and briefly leaning her head against his arm -- if only he had a third arm on that side so he could hold her hand and also put an arm around her.

Wait... He'd look very weird and people would probably run away from him if he did, so maybe it was better that he had a normal number of arms. Just holding her hand now was fine.

"How's the robot turning out?"

Tipping her head back she partly groaned, partly sighed. "It's proving to be a massive pain in the butt to assemble. It looks stupid and there's a few parts of it - mostly the outer shell - that seems less like a lifter robot and more something meant to be driven into battle. I'll be glad when I'm done with the thing."

Unsuur frowned -- battle? "But, you're not building it for battle. Right?"

"I'M not, no. There's no weapons or anything on it, it's just got a thicker body than I think it needs considering it's just a glorified robot shell that's meant to lift heavy things - like he's sneaking armor into the design. There's obviously some thickness needed to help with structural integrity -- you don't want it crumpling under too much weight or not properly counter-balancing what it's lifting or whatever. But this..."

"Justice and I can keep an eye on how it's being used once you're finished building it," he said.

"Seeing how, um, weird Qi was being about it that's probably a good idea."

"Any idea how much longer it'll take to build it?"

"I've got everything I need for it so...assuming nothing else major comes up I could have it done in a few days." After a moment she grinned up at him. "Then I'll be free to go see that rock stack you mentioned."

"It's really great, I can't wait to show you."

"Speaking of being unable to wait to show something," Dawn said lightly. "I have something new I'd like to show you when we get back."

"Do I get a hint?"

"I turned the rose quartz you gave me into something -- something I'll eventually wear, just not when I'm working so I don't damage or lose it. I'd be pretty upset if I lost it," she added, pouting a little. "But, what I made out of it was inspired by you, so..."

Unsuur blinked at her. "By me? What'd I do?"

"You'll see."

It was a very pleasant walk - not all that different from one of his patrols, to be honest, but it was a hundred times better than a patrol - and while he would have loved to stay out there longer they both had jobs to get back to. When they got back to the workshop he followed her inside and sat down on the couch while she retrieved a wooden box polished to a sheen and with tiny blue flowers and a vine pattern painted across the lid from beneath her bed. Inside was a small collection of jewelry (it was mostly necklaces, hairpins, and combs, including the one she'd made with the opal he'd given her) and he spotted a glint of silver with a hint of pink.

She sat the box on the table and gently lifted out a necklace; hanging at regular intervals on the silvery chain were small rose quartz pieces shaped like little drops. She slipped it around her neck and made certain it was hanging straight then pulled a silver hair comb adorned with more of the rose quartz and tucked it into her hair above her ear, turning her head so he could see it clearly. It was an irregular shape, thicker on one side and tapered and thinned on the other, with a wavy, irregular lower edge sort of like...

It looked sort of like a dripping swipe of paint. -- oh.

She laughed quietly when he realized. "Can you guess what inspired me?"

"I can. That's pretty clever, and now you'll have that little memory you can carry around with you. Maybe I should paint my walls more often now."

Smiling Dawn took the hair comb out and returned it and the necklace to the jewelry box. "I don't know, I kind of like the green in there."

"It is nice," he agreed. When she went to tuck the jewelry box back under the bed he stood up. "I should get back on patrol. I'll be back around with dinner later like always."

"Could you tell Owen he can definitely make this one the last free meal? I'll go personally thank him tomorrow but I won't be nearly as busy with this lifter as I was getting the trusses done."

"I can do that. See you in a little while."

She walked with him to the door and out into the yard, and when they paused to split off to the gate and back to the machines she stood on her tiptoes to give him a little peck on the cheek.

He quickly bent down to return the gesture. "-I'm going to start doing that more often so I don't fall behind."

"I didn't realize it was a competition," Dawn giggled.

"It's not, but if it is, I want to win," Unsuur replied, bending to kiss her again.

"Shoo," she jokingly scolded, blushing bright red as she gently pushed him toward the gate. "I'll see you at dinnertime."

"Later," he said, allowing himself to be moved a few steps before relenting and heading off under his own power. As he crossed the tracks he rubbed his fingers over the knot, smiling to himself, and continued on to quickly duck inside the saloon to talk to Owen; afterward he hurried down the street and took his usual route up toward the temple. Pen was coming down the stairs toward him so he scooted over to give them enough space to pass each other, and was surprised when Pen stepped into his path.

"So...you and the builder, huh? Whole town is talking about it."

Were they? Dang, that was quick. ...though, most of Sandrock had seen them together last night so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise. "Yeah. I'm really happy about it."

Pen wrinkled his nose briefly before forcing a smile. "I'm sure you are, and I'm sure everyone with their little gossip circles were rooting for you both or whatever, but, let me give you some advice buddy: enjoy it while it lasts."

Unsuur stared at him; he'd delivered that advice in much the same way as he always spoke - with that full-of-confidence bravado - but Pen's smile had shifted just enough to look...weird. "What do you mean?"

Pen sighed and looked around, like he was expecting eavesdroppers, then bent toward Unsuur and lowered his voice. "I've personally seen it happen with a dozen girls -- a way better man is going to carry her off and she won't even look back."

"You're wrong," Unsuur blurted out before he was fully aware of his mouth moving. "...you're wrong, she's not like that - we like each other a lot, and she wants to stay here in Sandrock. She told me that way before we became a couple."

"Girls say a lot of things," Pen said, straightening and carelessly waving a hand. "Just trying to keep you from being blindsided when it happens."

"It's not going to happen, but...thanks?" Unsuur said slowly.

Pen pushed passed him and continued down the stairs with a final "don't say I didn't warn you!" called over his shoulder.

Unsuur watched him go; the entire conversation had given him a strange feeling that he couldn't quite name. He didn't believe for an instant that Dawn would run off with someone else (and if Pen wanted to keep thinking that Unsuur couldn't really stop him - thinking incorrect facts wasn't a crime) but the whole thing had felt off. Was Pen jealous? ...that had to be it. Dawn had never liked Pen and he'd never seen her attempt to talk to him, only run away; she was pretty so Pen probably had a crush on her too, AND he knew the man wasn't fond of losing competitions.

Well, now that weird feeling had shifted to feeling a sort of pride in having Pen of all people jealous of him.

Shaking his head and tracing a finger along the wires in the knot he continued up the steps toward the temple.

---------------------------

Compared to the trusses Dawn got the robot lifter done quickly; it took about a day and a half to craft and assemble it, then she had delivered it to the bridge construction area and Unsuur hung around briefly to watch one of the men piloting it - he didn't think it seemed dangerous and Justice agreed, so they left the men to it and went about their business. A few days after that, when the bridge was "finished," Matilda let them know that an inspector would be arriving from Atara to make certain everything was good with the construction then finally the bridge would be re-opened and things would go back to normal.

This morning Justice was tagging along on Unsuur's usual route; yesterday Unsuur had spotted what he thought was a pack of rockyenarolls trying to establish a den way too close to the Wandering Y so after a quick morning meeting they'd started off from the Corps building and marched along the tracks. The construction crew was already at work and the rest of Sandrock was quiet - hardly anyone else was up this early aside from them and, once they were close enough to spot her, Dawn. Unsuur had planned to wave and keep going, since they had a job to do, but Justice didn't mind standing off at a distance and waiting for a few minutes to give him time to chat with her.

He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and leaned against the fence to glance around the yard; every furnace was running but nothing was on the assembly platform now that the lifter had been moved. "Big plans for today?"

She shook her head. "More of a catch up day -- I've used a ton of metal and materials lately. It bothers me to not have a stock of stuff on hand so I'm taking the day off from commissions and getting some basic stuff restocked. How about you?"

"Justice and I need to chase off a pack of rockyenarolls. They're moving in too close to the ranch and we don't want them hunting Cooper's yakmel."

"It's...not a BIG pack, is it? Not too dangerous?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Not too big - maybe six of them. Nothing we can't handle."

She frowned, crossing her arms. "Yeah...but, be careful. I don't want to see you hurt."

"We'll be careful, promise. Maybe we could go for a ride later? Boulder needs to stretch his legs some."

"If I'm not buried in wire and screws, sure," she answered, smiling at him. "Be safe."

He was able to lean over the fence and give her a one-armed hug then stepped away with a wave and returned to Justice. They continued along the tracks and a sudden movement on the train platform drew Unsuur's eye -- there was a man there, laying on a bench. He was...sleeping, or something, and had rolled over and was balanced precariously on the bench's edge.

"Whoa, do you see that?" Justice asked, tensing beside him.

"He's really close to the tracks..." Unsuur said quietly, staring at the man. If he moved so much as an inch further he'd-

The man's balance tipped too far and he rolled clear off the bench AND the platform, and a split second later the warning blare of the train's whistle sounded. Somehow neither the whistle nor the impact of landing on the track woke the man.

"Train's comin'-" he gasped, breaking into a sprint.

Could he outrun a train? (Was it considered outrunning the train if they were moving toward each other?) His breath burned in his throat and his pulse was roaring in his ears as he raced for the man; when he reached him he didn't bother trying to stop and just let his hands grab whatever they latched on to and used his momentum to hurl them both to the side where they hit the ground and rolled several feet before coming to a stop as the train rolled up to the platform where they'd been only seconds before. It was only then that Unsuur felt a startled huff of air against his neck from the man sprawled under him, and as he crawled off he was greeted by the man's look of sleepy confusion. The hiss of the train's engine drowned out whatever the man tried to say as he slowly sat up and looked around; as the hissing began to taper off he could make out the sound of approaching footsteps and was almost bowled over as Dawn threw herself down beside him, grabbing his arm.

"Are you ok?!"

"Yeah, I'm ok. Maybe a few bruises," he answered, finally looking himself over. His heart was still racing, his jacket sleeve was stained and smeared with dirt, his hip kind of hurt where he'd landed on his ammo pouch (he checked to make sure he hadn't just spilled bullets everywhere but thankfully the pouch had remained closed). His gun was still in its holster and the safety still on as well.

Justice skidded to a halt a few feet away, looking him and the stranger over before letting out a relieved-sounding sigh. "Nice one, buddy. I was, uh, just about to do that..."

"Huh? What's going on?" the man mumbled, rubbing his head and blinking blearily.

Their tumble away from the tracks had left the stranger with a minor scrape on his chin; if he hadn't just saved his life Unsuur would feel a little bad about it.

Dawn turned toward the man with a glare, hands on her hips. "Who exactly are you and why were you on the tracks?!"

The man looked surprised at her glare and sharp tone. "All I remember is... I was feeling sleepy when I got off the train last night, and... Oh, I'm Mint. I was sent here by the Ataran government to inspect a railway bridge." He scooted away on his backside and then stood up, brushing himself off. "Where can I find City Hall? I'm supposed to talk with Mayor Trudy."

Before Unsuur could answer Justice stepped into the space between him, Dawn, and Mint, fixing the inspector with a stern look. "Hold your horses, pal, you're not getting off that easy. I don't care if you're the Deacon of Meidi, here in Sandrock everybody subscribes to a little tenet called 'responsibility.' What if we hadn't shown up? You'd be in the hospital right now, at best."

Mint at least looked a little sheepish at that and rubbed a hand against the back of his neck.

Justice huffed, shaking his head. "Next time you feel like taking a nap check your surroundings! Ask yourself questions like: am I near any heavy machinery? Am I in a den of monsters? Do I smell gas? This line of thinking may save your life one day, 'cause we're not always gonna be there. You got it?"

"Er... I'm sorry, sir. I'll try to be more careful from now on," Mint answered quietly.

"Yeah, you do that," Justice said after another moment or two of stern staring, then he relaxed a bit and shifted to offer Unsuur and Dawn both a hand each to help them up. "All's well that ends well, I guess. Dawn, me and Unsuur need to get after those rockyenarolls, can you do me a solid and take the inspector here to City Hall? I'd feel a lot better if you went along, considering the circumstances," he added with a final warning glare at the man.

Dawn let him help her back to her feet and nodded. "I can do that. Be careful, you two."

Unsuur got up and Justice clapped a hand on his back in approval, then they moved around Mint and started down the tracks again. Behind him he could hear Mint apologizing again and Dawn replying, though Dawn was too quiet for him to hear clearly.

That had been uncomfortably close -- for both of them, to be honest. He hoped he never had to do that again.

--------------------------

Dawn was busily assembling something new when Unsuur walked by on his way home for lunch; the rockyenarolls had luckily only just started digging out a den and hadn't put up much of a fight when he and Justice went to run them off -- none of them looked pregnant so Unsuur didn't feel too bad scaring them away and denying them a safe home. There were loads of places further out in the Eufala they could settle in, without needing to worry about animal-on-human violence (or vice versa - they were seen as deadly pests more often than not and a lot of the surrounding villages shot them on sight).

"There's the hero of the day," she greeted him, smiling widely but not moving away from the platform.

Being called a hero made him feel a little self-conscious, but also it was a nice feeling too. "Just doing my duty. What are you building now?"

She was smoothly sliding two lengths of bronze pipe together; one was thinner so it would fit inside the other and could be tightened with a bolt threaded through a metal cuff set into the larger one's end. The thinner one was capped with a rubber foot and he could see two more identical pieces sitting nearby, next to an odd-looking gadget about the size of his backpack. From just looking at it Unsuur didn't recognize what it was.

Dawn's smile soured a bit at the question then she shook her head and moved the partially finished whatever-it-was in front of her. "Well, along with almost getting himself killed our bridge inspector also forgot to bring the equipment he needed to inspect the bridge."

Unsuur stared at her. "...I can't tell if you're joking."

"I'm not."

"Oh." Are we sure this guy is the real inspector? Maybe he or Justice should verify that...somehow.

He looked back at the thing on the assembly platform; there was some kind of viewing or measuring machine connected to a wide swivel, that then connected to a tripod made up of the bronze pipes for legs. With the third leg complete Dawn gently laid the device on its side and began attaching the legs to the bottom of the swivel.

"So...then, is this thing what he forgot to bring?"

"Yep," Dawn grunted, grabbing a brass-headed hammer and first tapping the bottom of the rubber foot of the leg in hand then tapping all around the opening the leg fit into. "Qi, somehow, had the needed blueprints sitting around."

"Wow. You built that really quick."

She blushed and smiled up at him again. "Through sheer dumb luck, anyway. I was able to scrounge the rest of what I needed out of the salvage yard in record time with Venti's help. Won't take me long to finish up the last few pieces that go inside, then test all the power connections are working...then try not to beat Mint over the head with it when I go to give it to him," she added dryly.

"You're determined to have me arrest you."

"Maybe I am," she said slyly after a moment, winking at him and reaching for another leg.

Though she'd said it with some confidence her face turned a bright shade of red, and Unsuur's ears felt hot. "Uh... Oh, will you need to do anything else once you finish this? Will the bridge be officially done?"

"It should be, yeah. Can finally put all that behind us," she sighed, sounding relieved. "I don't want to have to do anything like this again." With some more hammer taps she got the remaining legs attached then flipped the device upright and tested the range of the swivel; it moved smoothly and silently, and she nodded in satisfaction. "Shouldn't take me too much longer. Maybe we could make it an evening ride? ...makes me wonder if I should get a horse," she mused after a moment. "When we went out gathering materials back in Atara we had pack horses we borrowed to help haul everything back -- never got to ride them, only lead, but it was really helpful having them carrying the bulk of the weight, and they were so sweet and calm too."

"Boulder is a nice horse. Just don't have any snacks in your pockets or he might try to fit his nose somewhere it doesn't belong. Or pick you up... He did that to Burgess once and I had to pay to replace the pair of pants he tore when Boulder picked him up by the back pocket trying to get at the bag of dried sandberries he was carrying around."

Dawn started laughing; it was such a nice sound, he loved it. "I'm at least much lighter than Burgess so maybe my clothes won't tear but I'll keep that in mind - no snacks."

"I should get home to eat lunch but I'll be back tonight with Boulder," he said, waving as he hurried on toward his house.

Boulder would be happy for a chance to stretch his legs doing something other than patrolling around; he took him out on walks and rides as often as he could (and sometimes Cooper would let him set him loose in the yakmel paddock so he could free-roam for awhile) but he still felt guilty leaving him in the stable so much. Would his saddle comfortably seat two? There'd never really been a reason to think about it before...but he was reasonably certain that two-seater saddles weren't a thing, or at least weren't something he could go out and buy on such short notice.

Dawn was small, at least; she should easily fit behind him, if there wasn't enough space in front of him. He'd need to remember an extra blanket...

-------------------------------------

It was much later than he'd intended when he headed back to Dawn's; though it was rare to get thieves in Sandrock he and Justice had spent the rest of the day chasing down a man who had snatched an armload of Arvio's goods and taken off across the as-of-yet-not-open bridge, blowing right passed a startled Mint and his bridge-testing device. Justice had been close enough to actually see the theft and Unsuur had been coming down the stairs from the temple when he heard the shouting. Justice had taken off on his horse with Unsuur hurrying to saddle up Boulder and follow, and then once he'd reached the bridge he could see Justice pursuing not just the one thief but a group of three fleeing on horses on the far end of the bridge.

Logan might be THE famous bandit in this area but there were still plenty of petty bandits that could be found lurking along the trade routes between the outlying villages; they apparently weren't one of the more successful groups, a fact that became all the more apparent as he and Justice quickly caught up and with some creative lassoing took them all off the backs of their horses - the horses looked dangerously skinny and the bandits didn't look that much better off.

They'd tied the bandits up and got them back on the backs of their horses then led the entire group back to town; Justice marched them into the jail cell then started to sort the stolen goods and fill out the intake paperwork while Unsuur led the poor horses over to Cooper's.

Then, finally, he was free to head over to Dawn's.

She was sitting on a stool to the left of her front door, a book open in her lap; though the air still smelled of hot metal she'd changed out of her work clothes and was wearing regular jeans and a simple teal t-shirt, and as he trotted Boulder up to the gate she closed the book with a smile.

"Sorry, Justice and I got caught up in something."

"It's all right. You won't get in trouble if you're here with me and not helping him, will you?"

Unsuur shook his head. "I left at the paperwork step - he doesn't really need my help with that."

Quickly she ducked inside and seemed to trade the book for a small cloth pouch, hurrying over to the gate; Boulder's ears immediately pricked up at her approach, and the horse craned his neck forward to start sniffing at her.

Dawn laughed softly and reached out with her free hand to pat his nose. "I know I said no snacks but in my defense they're not in my pocket." She dumped a small handful of dried sandberries into her palm and held her palm out, flat, for Boulder; the horse quickly slurped up the berries and nosed her fingers looking for more. She emptied the sack into her palm and held her hand out again and Boulder ate the rest just as quickly.

After that run across the bridge and almost passed the old outpost Boulder deserved a treat; Unsuur waited for the horse to confirm for himself that Dawn did not have any more snacks before he maneuvered him around so Dawn could mount up.

"Do you want to sit in front of me or behind me?"

"Um... I think it'll have to be behind," she answered after a moment. "Elsie gave me some really basic riding lessons so I know how I'd get on by myself but my brain is going blank on how to swing my leg over with you there too."

"...would you rather sit in front?"

"I... yeah, kind of."

With that Unsuur slipped off the horse and held the reins, gesturing for Dawn to mount; once she was settled he got on behind her.

Yeah, this wasn't so bad; they both fit rather comfortably on the saddle together and he slid an arm around her waist to help hold her steady as he guided Boulder away from the gate. They set off at an easy trot, passing the oasis and heading for the new bridge. Mint wasn't there this time so he supposed the bridge inspection was done with and they'd hear the official news soon; it was a much calmer ride across this time and once they were over he felt Dawn shift against him, turning her head to look up at Gecko Station.

"Haven't been any signs of the Geeglers returning, has there?"

"Nope. Pen was checking daily for awhile and kept reporting no signs of any kind of life left in the station. He seemed really disappointed he didn't get to fight any of them."

She huffed. "Of course he would be..."

Now that he'd mentioned Pen their conversation from before came to mind, about a 'better man' coming in to carry Dawn off to somewhere better than Sandrock. It hadn't bothered him too much then but now that he was thinking about it again, staring at Gecko Station and thinking of Dawn's brush with death...

"Since it's empty of Geeglers does that mean Justice will open up the ruins soon? Maybe it'll attract people back to town... I saw a lot of interesting things down there, in between fighting for our lives. Lots of iron too - more than enough to build a bridge and then some. If only we'd had easier access to get at it...it would have taken ages to get all the needed scrap across the canyon using the cable cars. But! At least now if anything else big needs to be built or needs repair, it'd be just a short jaunt across Shonash bridge."

She kept talking as he replayed that scene in his mind - of her and Justice falling and the cable snapping. That had been awful, and there were loads more ways to seriously injure oneself in the desert...maybe a better guy wouldn't be the reason Dawn decided to leave: what if she decided it was too dangerous to stay?

"You ok?"

Dawn's voice cut through his train of thought. "Oh, uh. Yeah. Sorry. What did you say?"

She shifted in the saddle to look back at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She frowned at him. "...it's nothing. Just something Pen had said that came to mind."

"That...Pen said? What exactly did he say?" she asked, nose wrinkling.

"You... You still want to stay in Sandrock, right? Despite all the bad stuff that's happened?"

For several moments she stared at him silently, seeming confused by the question. "I- yes, of course I do! Why? Don't tell me Pen is spreading rumors that I'm going to leave?"

Unsuur shook his head. "No. Well, not exactly. Just-" He really, really didn't want to repeat him verbatim right now. "-that you might move on to somewhere way better than here. I know you've already said you wanted to stay in Sandrock so I shouldn't be worrying but--"

Letting out a groan she tipped her face toward the sky. "That stupid meathead... I have no intentions of going anywhere, Unsuur, I promise. I don't even plan on going on vacation! Whatever Pen's said, he's wrong." She turned back around and leaned into his chest, sliding her hand over his where it rested on her hip. "I have a home here, a boyfriend, and a job...pretty much everything I was looking for in life. I'm not giving this up so easily." After a pause she tilted her head back against him, smiling. "Sorry, you're stuck with me."

He smiled and lowered his chin to rest it atop her head, prompting a giggle fit. "Sounds good to me. And, yeah, I really didn't hear what you said."

"I was asking if Justice would open up Gecko Station, and musing on how nice that'd be."

"Oh, yeah. Justice did actually mention something about a final check of the place last week but he said it would have to wait until the bridge was finished. So...now that it's finished, it shouldn't be too long before we go in to make sure it's really safe."

They fell into a comfortable silence; everything was nice and peaceful out this way -- not even the tripions were paying them any attention and were happily sifting through the sand in their own little worlds. Unsuur directed Boulder up the hill and out passed the front of Gecko Station and the old outpost, heading for the open dunes. Far off to their right was the canyon with its impressive view of the rocky walls studded with Old World ruins; sometimes it boggled the mind to consider how big cities must have been back then -- Unsuur had seen single rooms inside ruins that could have comfortably held the entire population of Sandrock.

Of course, big cities meant a lot of people, and the Calamity had wiped out...a lot of people. That wasn't so nice to think about.

"-what are those?" Dawn asked then, bringing him back to the present.

She leaned forward a bit, pointing ahead; Unsuur looked that way and could see a small pack of penskies playing on top of one of the dunes. "Those are penskies. They're friendly -- too friendly, sometimes. Justice calls it 'aggressive affection' I think. Don't ever feed them or you'll get mobbed - they won't hurt you on purpose but being jumped on and licked by a big group of critters with hard heads and sharp claws on their feet isn't fun."

"Noted," she said with a quiet little laugh. "They're cute though!"

"Yeah, they are. I think Grandma Vivi used to sell stuffed animal penskies but the yakmels were more popular. Probably because you could walk out to the ranch to see and pet them but a pensky meant you had to come all the way out here."

He steered Boulder to the left to avoid the dune and penskies and a stretch of sand crowned with a gigantic rib cage bleached white by the sun and pitted and worn down by years of wind came into view - along with an unexpected resident sitting on top of it staring intently in their direction.

"Uh oh..."

Dawn stiffened against him. "Uh oh...what? What's 'uh oh'?"

Whoops. He hadn't meant to say that out loud but at least now she'll see and know about one of the desert's bigger dangers. "Do you see that big rib cage over there?"

"Yes, I- what is that on top of it?"

"That...is a dive buzzard," Unsuur answered. "And they're the most dangerous single creature in this area."

He felt Dawn's hand tighten over his. "It looks big even at this distance -- that thing must be huge."

"That's actually one of the smaller ones."

"What?!" she squeaked, shrinking back against him. "You're kidding!"

Though it was on the "smaller" side for a dive buzzard it was still big enough to make out its details easily: enormous body and wingspan with billowy, hair-like feathers covering its head and gathered into clumps that looked like pigtails on either side of its face. This one had found a pair of goggles somewhere and had them around its neck and was wearing what looked like air or gas tanks on its back; he'd seen them wearing shiny bits of robots and other debris before too.

"I wish I was. They're mean, whether they're big or not. They roam the desert looking for food and consider any place they happen to be at that moment to be their territory. Always be wary of any shadows that pass by overhead -- you might have guessed by their name but they attack by diving down on their targets. The REALLY big ones can snap yakmel spines if they land their dive, and if they miss they'll kick up a big cloud of sand to cover their next try. Usually they don't come this close to town... I need to go get Justice and Pen and we'll drive it off. Or, kill it." Odds were high they'd have to kill it. "Sorry, but we'll have to cut our ride short."

"It's ok, there's always another day."

The ride back into Sandrock was at a quicker pace and luckily Unsuur spotted Pen standing in town square; he trotted Boulder up toward him and stopped a few feet away, slipping down to help Dawn out of the saddle.

"Spotted a dive buzzard-" he started, only for Pen to perk up and slam one fist into his palm.

"FINALLY something almost worthy of my attention! Where?"

"-out passed the old outpost," Unsuur continued. "Have you seen Justice?"

Pen scoffed at that and walked around the other side of Boulder, breaking into a jog and heading for the bridge. "Please, I don't need him! Leave it to me!"

Normally Unsuur would trust to the man's skill - he WAS really good at fighting - but not when it came to dive buzzards. "I should catch up to him. Can you find Justice and tell him where we are?"

Dawn nodded. "I will. Be careful -- and, um, when you're done, how about we have dinner together instead? I'll cook."

"Sure. I'll be back as soon as I can, and I'll be careful, I promise."

Unsuur bent to kiss her cheek as she rose up to kiss his and they almost-but-not-quite met awkwardly in the middle; Dawn's breath was warm against his skin as she laughed softly, then gingerly pressed her lips to his instead.

It was the best feeling in the world. He wanted to do that again but there was a loud 'AHEM' from nearby and Unsuur pulled back to find Miguel standing there, an eyebrow raised.

"Uh... I should go. And find Pen. Like I said I would."

"Y-yeah, don't let me keep you. And sorry, pastor," Dawn added, pressing the back of her hand to her lips, face a bright red. She turned on her heel and rushed off down the street; Justice was usually coming in from the ranch area around this time of day so hopefully she'd run into him quickly.

Unsuur knew his face was also sporting a blush and hurried to hop onto Boulder and head for Shonash bridge again. Boulder let out a grumpy-sounding whinny as his hooves touched the stonework running along the track and Unsuur patted him reassuringly.

"Sorry, I know you don't like walking the same path over and over. It's really not so bad once you're used to it. Lots of time to daydream," he said, leaning in close to the horse's neck and urging him into a faster gallop.

Once more out in front of Gecko Station Unsuur could spot Pen running ahead of him, cutting a direct path for the rib cage where the buzzard was still quite visible sitting and surveying the area. The remaining sunlight glinted off the goggles around its neck as it spotted Pen coming and spread its wings, flapping a few times before taking flight.

That wasn't good -- Pen was technically a smaller target than Unsuur and the horse so the buzzard would probably ignore him in favor of the bigger potential meal. Turning Boulder around he directed him to the side of Gecko Station, hopping off and leading him to a spot where the stairs that lead up to the cable car landing would shield him from any sudden buzzard attacks. "I don't want you getting hurt so wait here until I come back, all right?" He tied the reins loosely to a pipe sticking out of the ground - it hadn't budged at all when he grabbed and pulled on it so it would suffice as an impromptu hitching post for now and the knot wasn't so tight that the horse couldn't yank himself free if he needed to flee.

The sound of an approaching horse reached him as he dashed back out toward the open dunes; Justice was galloping toward him and Unsuur waved at him.

"It's in the air, sheriff!"

"Got it, let me-" Justice called back in a rush, not finishing the sentence and accidentally showering Unsuur with kicked up sand as he abruptly changed Truth's trajectory to run him over toward where Boulder was sheltering.

With Justice warned Unsuur hurried after Pen, keeping one eye on where he was running and one on the skies above.

-------------------------------

The door had barely opened when Dawn threw herself into his arms for a tight hug then just as quickly pulled away, eying him up and down.

"You're ok? No injuries?"

"I'm fine." And that was true - aside from maybe bruising his knees when he'd stumbled he had come out of that buzzard fight unscathed, and so had Pen and Justice too. "It didn't put up much of a fight. Pen punched it a few times when it dove down at us, and Justice and I each shot it once. I don't think we hurt it badly enough that it'll die but after it got shot it did fly away and didn't come back."

"Will it come back later though?"

"I'm not sure. Pen said he'll keep an eye out for it and finish it off. I didn't want to kill it if we didn't have to but Justice said that B3, the sheriff before him, had told stories about how they sometimes even attacked the trains as they came into town so we can't let it stay this close to Sandrock. If that means we have to kill it then...we have to kill it. I was expecting we'd have to but it doesn't mean I like it."

She frowned at that. "I agree about not wanting to kill anything needlessly but nothing about these things sounds pleasant to to coexist with..." Shaking her head Dawn stepped backwards through the doorway and pulled the door open wider; Unsuur could smell potatoes and rice and what he thought was fish, and his stomach growled loudly enough that Dawn heard it. "Come on, it's just about ready," she giggled, gesturing for him to step inside.

The table was already set with plates and silverware and a folded trio of tea towels in the middle, and those delightful smells grew stronger now that he was mere feet away from the stove where he could see two covered pots on the burners and that the oven was on, and sitting on the counter nearby was that little tin timer ticking away steadily. She put a pitcher of chilled water on the table and Unsuur filled both their glasses before downing half of his; his scalp itched with sweat and sand and he was looking forward to cleaning up once he got back home.

Dawn lifted a lid off a pot and stirred its contents briefly - a sweet scent wafted out. "After I found Justice Matilda caught me heading home and said the bridge passed inspection -- not that I expected it would fail, but it was nice to get the official word. She wants to have an opening ceremony for it first thing in the morning."

"Really? That seems kind of short notice."

She laughed and turned off the burner, then moved that pot over to a cold burner. "I guess it is, sort of, but on the other hand I don't see anyone having anything better to do since they've all been watching and waiting for the bridge to be done-" the timer went off then and she jumped slightly, reaching over to turn it off. "-so I bet the whole town shows up."

Out of the oven came two covered pans, one narrow and oblong and the other a rounded square shape; she sat them on folded tea towels on the table and removed the lids to reveal fragrant, poached sandfish in a cloudy broth and a spicy-smelling dish made of cubes of potato and diced leek and peppers. It all smelled really good but he was curious about why there was one tea towel left on the table but two pots on the stove top.

Of those two pots Dawn moved one to the table and the other (the one that had smelled sweet) was left on the cold burner on the back of the stove; inside the one on the table was rice flavored with green flecks of herbs.

"I hope I didn't accidentally make something you don't like."

"You didn't, don't worry. There really aren't any foods I don't like, maybe because my parents made me try everything when I was a baby. No refusing food in their household."

"That sounds familiar," she said, laughing a bit as she gestured for him to serve himself. "Though no amount of feeding them to me has ever made me like raw onions or the green kind of olives."

"I have no idea what an olive even is," he replied, carefully lifting a delicate sandfish filet out of the pan and managing to get it onto his plate without dripping the broth everywhere or breaking the piece apart. "What do they taste like?"

"Disgusting by themselves," Dawn said dryly. "They're salty and briny and bitter, and burn the tip of my tongue. I tried some that had been cured with herbs and garlic once and those were tolerable but the oiliness was kind of a turn off."

They both filled their plates and got to eating; he had no idea what she'd put in the rice but it was amazing - ALL of it was good but he especially liked how simple yet how delicious that rice was. He could definitely see himself eating that alongside a bowl of yellow soup if he could get the recipe and was about to ask her for it when he noticed a calendar hanging on the wall beside the door, with the dates marked through with a single line until today -- the 24th, and it reminded him of something.

"Did you ever get to speak to the Mysterious Man?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, not yet. With everything that's been going on I've missed his visits - I'll hopefully get to see him next month. At the very least I'll have a lot more time to make jewelry, and Amirah has more time as well."

That was right...she had mentioned Amirah the last time too. "What does she need time for?"

Dawn stabbed at a bite of potato. "Well... You know those glaze drips she brought me?" Unsuur nodded. "The kiln she has will harden glaze if it's by itself but not when it's on ceramic pieces. She's tried all sorts of glazes that would supposedly work with lower temperatures but so far she's not had any work properly. She needs an electric kiln - the big, fancy ones you'd find in Walnut Groove or Atara, and those things are expensive even if you're just buying the blueprints. Then, there's me: I need a specific type of furnace that can both reach the super high temperature needed to melt glass while also maintaining a set temperature while I'm working with it. The furnaces I have right now can get hot enough but I don't have precise control over the temperatures... I know Qi could likely design me a furnace but it just so happens that the kiln Amirah needs shares a lot of the components the furnace would need. It'd be easier on everyone if we just buy the blueprint, I build Amirah her kiln, and let Qi alter the blueprint for what I need."

Aha. "So Amirah needs time to sell more, so she can afford to at least buy the blueprint."

She nodded. "Exactly. The plan at the moment is to split the cost, assuming we can convince the Mysterious Man get us a copy. I don't see it being a problem though," she added, tone light and with the barest hint of superiority underlying it. "He and I have worked together before so he knows I'm good for whatever price he sets."

"What about Amirah?"

Dawn slowly inhaled and finally stuck that bite of potato into her mouth, chewing thoroughly and swallowing. "...that might be trickier. He doesn't think very highly of her work even though he's bought a few of her complex, complicated pieces. Those took her days of work each to make so it's not feasible for her to concentrate on making the complex goods, and he thinks her regular work is boring and has told her as much. If it was just Amirah asking him to bring her the kiln blueprints, even if she had the full cost on hand, I don't actually think he'd do so. I don't doubt that he'd do it for me though."

"That seems a bit rude."

"He can be, yeah," she sighed. "But, he's successful, and knows what he's talking about along with having a good eye for what will sell, how well, and when it'll be in demand. It doesn't excuse being outright rude but...sometimes knowing ahead of time that what you're doing isn't going to pay off at that moment can save everyone some headache."

Once the main course was done Dawn moved the empty dishes over to the counter and brought out two clean bowls, then moved that last covered pot from the stove over to the table; she tested its temperature by pressing her bare hands to the sides of the pot and with a satisfied nod lifted the lid to reveal a creamy rice porridge.

"Owen gave me a few ideas on how to make yakmel milk work with this recipe so here's my first attempt."

"It smells nice," Unsuur said as she got a serving spoon and dipped it into the pot.

She gave the spoon a little swirl and quickly lifted it out with a heaping helping of the rice and placed it immediately into the bowl in front of him; for a few seconds it held a lovely rounded shape before slowly spreading out, and there was still some steam rising from it. It reminded him of something he'd had before; maybe his parents had made something like this when he was really little since he didn't remember it clearly but it sure seemed familiar, and homey, and overall had a comforting feeling just from the smell. Dawn handed him a clean spoon and, after testing the temperature with a quick probe of his tongue, he stuck a bite into his mouth.

It was soft, creamy, and delicately sweet, and there wasn't too much of a yakmel funk to it until you swallowed; Dawn was watching for his reaction as he spooned up another bite. "It's good. I like it."

"Phew," she sighed, smiling and taking a bite herself. "--hmm. Aside from the aftertaste it's almost there. It's not right, technically, but it's close."

"What did you do differently than normal?"

"I had to scald it to infuse some sweeter flavors into it. Owen wasn't certain if it'd completely cover up how strong the milk is so he gave me a few different 'recipes' to try, and also suggested using sand date or the sandberry chestnut milks and adjusting the sugar to account for it. I think those would be TOO sweet though, but I'll still give them a try."

"Me too," Unsuur said, smiling and getting a little smile in return.

They finished up and Unsuur helped with dishes, and it wasn't until he'd headed out through her gate that he remembered he'd meant to ask for the savory rice recipe. Oh well -- he'd see her tomorrow in the morning at the bridge ceremony.

It was a nice night out so he decided to take the longer walk home and as he crossed the tracks he spotted Pen standing at the commerce building, leaning against one of the posts of the front overhang; while Pen's pose seemed intended to appear casual there was a stiffness to it, like he was ready to move at a moment's notice. "The dive buzzard didn't come back already, did it?"

It was several seconds before Pen responded. "No, unfortunately... Cowardly featherbag is still nowhere to be seen. More's the pity - I barely felt my heart rate pick up during the battle."

"Oh." So at least he wasn't waiting for Unsuur because they had to head back out into the Eufala. "Then...was there something else over here?"

Pen let out a soft grunt. "If only. I thought I saw a shadow on the horizon but couldn't track down what I might have seen."

Unsuur glanced back the way he'd come; Dawn's workshop was still and dark aside from the soft yellow light coming through the window. "When did you see something?"

"Doesn't matter. Wasn't even a hint or a trace of anything worthwhile. Don't worry your little head over it," Pen grumbled.

...if there was something lurking around Dawn's place, or the salvage yard, that sounded like something to worry about, but if there WAS something dangerous out there Pen would have already gone out to beat it up without bothering to tell anyone first. "...all right then. See ya."

"Hmmph."

Unsuur continued up the road and passed by Miguel sitting on the saloon's upper porch, offering him a wave as he walked by; he was sitting with one leg propped over the other and his arms crossed, relaxed and looking comfortable, and lifted the fingers of a hand from where they curled around his arm in a sort of wave in return. If he was still disappointed in that public display of affection earlier he didn't show it or seem inclined to lecture him about it as he continued on.

Once he reached his doorstep Unsuur paused and vigorously rubbed his hands through his hair to dislodge all the sand, then had to take his jacket off and shake it since he'd done those two things in the wrong order. After he was sufficiently dusted off he took one last look out toward Dawn's -- he really hoped Pen had just been seeing things but it was nice to know that he was keeping an eye out for Dawn's safety too.

Heading inside he tossed his jacket over a chair and began undressing on his way to the bathroom; if there was going to be a ceremony celebrating the bridge tomorrow he should probably fully clean up tonight so he looked his best for Dawn tomorrow. She and Mi-an deserved to be recognized for that crazy amount of work they did in such a short amount of time.

[callgespenst]

It wasn't a hugely eventful convention or anything but I should probably still write up my Matsuricon 2024 report.

Thursday: Had a friend stay over at my place for the weekend. Pregamed the con by watching a few more episodes of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Friday: Cosplayed Soujyurou from Mahoyo, made the jacket and safety pinned my Robin plush to my shoulder. Showed up, grabbed my badge, ran our Lupin III panel for the first time in...four and a half years? Went out into the hallway to chat with people who attended the panel. Then suddenly it was four hours later and we went home.

Saturday: Went home early on Friday to be awake and in a panel room at 8 AM on Saturday to talk about robots for two hours. Midway through the 90s we realized that, despite getting the longest possible timeslot, we were still almost out of time, and had to blast through the last three decades. Haven't done that panel in a while either (haven't done too many panels in general since the pandemic).

Got lunch and looked around the dealer's hall for a bit. I got a rubber charm of Bocchi (of Rock) from a gachapon machine. Not a whole lot else I was interested in, but that's objectively a good thing. Then it was off to the YGO tournament!

I'd revamped my deck (again) because I had made a few key realizations. First, I don't know my opponents' decks well enough to effectively use hand traps to shut down a combo. Second, many modern decks are relatively unprepared to handle a board-clearing spell. Monster effects are simple to negate and counter with a full board. But spells, maybe not. And third, and this one is the most critical part: having a balanced deck of 50/50 monsters/spells and traps no longer matters. I was taking out a bunch of monsters that would never, ever actually be played to the field, their only point in my deck was to be discarded as a counter; to switch in three copies of Raigeki, three Dark Holes, and two Lightning Storms.

It wasn't a huge tourney, there were eleven other players, for what would end up being three rounds of single elimination. My first game, I played a guy who had some kinda deck full of Dinosaurs and counter trap cards. It was an interesting playstyle I hadn't seen before, but I won that 2-0. Second game, Kashtira. Won the first duel, lost the second, won the third. Third and final game, which I sure didn't expect to get to the finals, was vs Ancient Gears, another deck that prefers to go second. Lost the first game, won the second, and I might have been able to win the third if I hadn't let myself get psyched out. But I'm still pretty pleased with my performance, considering I've lost just about every other match I've played with my new deck 0-2.

The second place prize was a bunch of tournament packs, and first place was as well, plus a free badge for next year. The first place winner let me have his pack pulls, which was nice, I'm still building back up a selection of trades to have available. I didn't really need a free badge for next year anyway since I'm planning on paneling again, and my opponent getting a free badge means we can rematch next year! So honestly, I'm kinda glad I got second.

Also while everyone waited for the tourney to start, everyone was ribbing on one guy for his very expensive deck he was keeping in the world's most basic $3 deckbox, so that was entertaining. Reminded me of the fellas I used to play YGO with at the local library, where there was always some friendly banter back and forth.

After that I hung out with a few more friends, played some Melty Blood, and went home.

Sunday: The traditional day at a con where I play mahjong with the homies until we pack up and go home. I got in one whole game before we took all the tables back to our organizer's car (that took half an hour to find). That wrapped up the event and then I got home and conked out early Sunday evening and most of Monday too. I didn't even do a whole lot of running around or anything, I was just tired.

Also my last few conventions have been so overwhelmingly positive on the whole that I forgot that these events are also frequented by people who are weird in not-fun ways. That last mahjong game, had a fella start spouting off about he hates being referred to as cis, despite being a cis hetero male. I hit him with the "I hate the cis because they are led by the treacherous Count Dooku" and that worked surprisingly well at changing the subject, but it was still, terribly awkward there for a second, especially when another of our club's regulars at the same table is one of the most Gender individuals I know.

Anyway that's probably my last anime con for the year, but there's a new event coming to the area in April I think I'll hit up, excited to see what that's like.

[rebelliouswhirlpool]

@yellowmagicalgirl

Rather than add onto our post again, I decided to write out what's been simmering in my thoughts in a Harrow the Ninth-inspired study, with Penny in Gideon's position in Ruby's head.

Ruby, like Harrow, locked her Cavalier away in her head with help (I sort of imply the brain surgery, but don't actually describe it here).

ngl I'm not entirely sure how the end of HtN would go in this au. I do like Penny ending up in a position similar to Kiriona at some point, though that's also largely due to me really liking the idea of inserting Copper in as a Nona (which I can concede is partial bias toward my own oc for Reasons) and them perhaps interacting.

Except that begs the question of, if Ruby's not in her body, then where'd she go? (talk to Maria in the Tomb maybe...)

(I also really like your idea about Ruby being speedy, especially bc it also kind of reflects her semblance. Though I'm not as well-versed in tlt theories - I have never been more frustrated that I left my copies of the books back with my family some states away.)

Anyways, here's a short(ish) study in the 2nd Person from Penny's POV (also the first time I think I've tried 2nd person pov, so that was fun)

Ruby.

I love you. I have always loved you. I always will.

I will do anything for you. I did everything for you.

I would do it all again.

So, why did you lock me away?

I know I’m not…I was never as good as you, as good as the others. I tried my best, but I…

I thought…

Do you not love me back?

I don’t understand. It was enough. My soul. We did it. You became a Lyctor, and it was enough. You lived.

Cinder didn’t.

It was worth it.

Then you sought her out. The one who helped Cinder, who lied to our faces, pretended to be our friend, and—

I don’t understand, Ruby. I’ve been trying to. It’s all I can do, inside this tomb you’ve made for me. Emerald tried to—

She and Cinder almost succeeded in—

And yet you—

She could have killed you. I watched. I fought her. I fought you.

You looked in the mirror when it was done. After they found you where you lay unconscious in that cold, dark prison. After they interrogated Emerald on what she had done and she replied, only what she asked me to do. After they healed you. After they tried, and failed, to free me.

You looked in the mirror. My eyes looked back at you.

You didn’t remember me. You still don’t.

We were together almost our whole lives and you threw it all away.

I loved you.

I still do.

But I…

Everyday since they brought you here, you struggle. You may have been faster, but you never had my strength, and now you’ve rejected it. You lift the blade they gave you, but it’s not enough. Not to deflect the General’s attacks. Not to parry his sword away. Your speed has kept his blade from your heart so far, but it can’t forever.

I know you fear he will kill you. I can feel it. I could have protected you. I swore I’d always protect you. Even before the vow left my lips.

You were the first thing I ever saw on the Ninth. I was alone. My father put in me in that pod and sent it away. He didn’t even put in coordinates. He didn’t know of anywhere I’d be safe. He hoped.

And I arrived on the Ninth. Months and months later. I mapped the stars that passed outside the only window I had on the journey. I wondered if they’d be the last thing I ever saw before my body finally deteriorated enough that I would be lost.

Except I arrived on the Ninth. I remember seeing its form grow bigger and bigger in that little window. I remember being relieved I would crash, because the journey would finally be over then, and I wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

And I wasn’t, just not how I thought.

It was terrifying, seeing the entry panel of the pod be jostled, my father’s last work, his sealing of it, being broken. Then, you got it open, and our eyes met.

You commented on mine being so bright so quickly I didn’t have the chance to say the same about yours.

No one had ever said anything like that to me before then. No one besides my father had ever talked to me before then either. No one on the Ninth would talk to me, not like you did. Not even your Uncle Qrow, though he was a little better than most.

You meant the world to me, Ruby. You still do. You always will.

I was meant to protect you.

Why won’t you let me?

My strength could be yours. My resilience. Every sword I wielded, I did for you.

Your arms tremble as you try to hold one now. You look at the General across the training arena. We both see the cold calculation in his eyes. They’re green, like mine. They aren’t his. We’ve both wondered who they once belonged to.

I wonder if that soul is like me. I hope they aren’t.

You told me, once, my world would never be a the littlest of windows ever again.

You lied.

[kitkatt0430]

2, 8, 9, and 15 for the New Year's ask game!

2. Will you participate in any fandom exchanges or fic challenges, etc? 

I like participating in fandom events - prompt weeks, bingos, etc. I'll probably do a belated Flufftober for last years prompts soon, since I only filled... two of them? And hopefully next Flufftober I won't immediately feel my energy for writing snuff out on me.

Sadly it seems that some of the events I used to participate in have gone away. Hartmonfest being the most recent and the one I'm most sad about. I considered volunteering to take over running that one, but I didn't feel like I had the energy to really focus on it the way an event needs. Maybe if I'm feeling less worn out later this year I might reach out to see if I could revive it on a trial basis. I kinda feel a bit like I'd need to brush up on my photo manip skills though (gotta make a fun header for an event, right?) and... I haven't really done much in that area since high school with, like, the 2006 version of Photoshop in my graphic design class. So this might wind up being something I push off until next year.

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

Usually it's not so much about being brave enough but having enough inspiration. That said, I've had a longer look at the body swap trope with Cisco and Hartley in mind for a while and who knows, maybe this'll be the year I finally start making progress on that idea. It'll be a more serious take than the fic I've already done with it - Cisco struggling to deal with Hartley's hearing while Hartley learns Cisco visions hurt a lot more than Cisco's been letting on - and it'll be something of a mutual annoyances to friends to lovers type deal.

9. Short term goals… what do you hope to complete this week or in January?

The Flufftober prompts. And maybe the Rose/Jack/Doctor week prompts I didn't finish last year. Try and get back into my writing headspace before I start tackling some of my older series again.

15. Do you foresee any personal or professional obstacles this year, that would keep you from creating fanworks? 

So the wasp problem isn't 100% over yet, but it's hopefully going to continue to be in decline. That was a big stressor for me last year - I think more than I realized at the time. If they do come back in bigger numbers, that'll probably stress me out again and slow my creative side down again.

The home reno I had going on last year was another source of stress and while I will be doing part two of that this year, it'll be much smaller in scale - mainly painting and replacing some heavily painted-over wood paneling with drywall, as the paneling as seen better days. No flooring replacements or turning reach-in closets into walk-in closets. So it shouldn't take nearly so long or be nearly so stressful.

I'm especially looking forward to painting the fireplace. It's brick, but kind of a dirty looking off white with a few splotches here and there where it got stained a kinda... puke green tbh. A dark gray paint with a new wood mantle will make it really nice, I think. It'll go well with the light gray I've used everywhere and I'm thinking a navy color for an accent wall. Or possibly two walls. Still in the early stages of decision making.

I'm aiming for spring for the reno, which should give me plenty of time yet to prepare. But I'd expect that to interfere with my writing time since I'll have to pack those rooms up beforehand and unpack them later. Also going to get some of the furniture (definitely the couch and a rug I've had ten-ish years) professionally cleaned. They've both been through a lot and could use a deep cleaning.

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 51

I've admittedly not been looking forward to this chapter.

The part where Roy's eaten flames come in handy for Ed and Lin shows how Arakawa thought out events in the story. Ed and Lin were going to get eaten by Gluttony and were going to need light to explore. So how do we get light? Let's have Gluttony eat Roy's flame attack prior to that.

It's strange to me how Ed, Lin, and Envy weren't all next to each other in Gluttony's stomach though. Ed ended up around the wreckage of the house, and he and Lin found the piece of ground Gluttony consumed when he swallowed them all. Al's hand is still on that plot of land. But they don't encounter Envy until some time later.

I like how we can see the three tree root ends of that one tree that was barely outside the blast.

When Ed realized Lin's torch was made from a human bone, Ed started to hold it in the way people hold icky things.

It's crazy what stuff we see in Gluttony's stomach. There's part of a building, which I'm going to guess is from East City. Maybe Gluttony had to eat his way out after Scar blew up the sewers?

I wouldn't be surprised if there are bacterial colonies and maybe some small insects or worms living in this dimension. Ed and Lin never indicate any breathing issues.

I kinda want to know what would happen if you fell down that hole.

We have some May Chang and Xiao Mei backstory and Scar being a nice guy. Since they're getting attention, that definitely means something is going to happen with them. So we'll soon have the legendary moment where May's fantasies come crashing down.

I'm going to guess there's a concrete floor right under that fire hydrant and wall piece.

Ed and Lin really did eat the boot. Ed's left boot is gone after that scene.

Envy actually tried to be amicable. They even stopped making fun of Ed's height. But they just can't help but brag about all the horrible stuff they've done.

Meanwhile, Lin doesn't know anything about the Ishbal Civil War, but he's disgusted at Envy bragging about causing it.

Now onto why I've not been looking forward to talking about this chapter. I've tried to come up with a good way to put it and have had no success so I'll just say it.

I've been staring at every panel where you can see Envy's feet.

No, it's not like that!

When Envy is transforming, Lin brings up how Envy's steps in the woods sank the ground, and how they destroyed an iron fence by jumping on it. All this means that Envy is far heavier than their preferred appearance would imply. So I was wondering how many additional hints I could find. The only thing I could find was that one time Envy managed to smash the brick road with a single punch in chapter 39. There might be a slight hint in chapter 6 as well when Envy first appears. Notice the impact effect from their walk.

On a side note, I kind of want to be a little annoying about how Envy's power would work given their mass is near constant. There's this thing called the square-cube law. Let's say you have an object that is a certain initial shape and volume. If you modify the object's size such that it keeps the exact same shape, the object's surface area increases by the square of the size increase while it's volume increases by the cube of the size increase.

As an example. If I have a 1x1x1 cube, it will have a surface area of 6 (6 1x1 square faces) and a volume of 1 (1x1x1). If I double all it's proportions, I'll have a 2x2x2 cube which now has a surface area of 24 which is 4 times greater than before. Meanwhile it's volume is now 8, which is 8 times greater than before.

In simpler terms, your weight increases way faster than your size. And the point I'm trying to get at is Envy having a constant weight means smaller body frames shouldn't be able to support their weight. A small dog's bones would be crushed under Envy's weight. And a horse not instantly collapsing and breaking all its legs under Envy's weight is absurd.

But anyway, that's just me over-analyzing things.

The scene with Al and Gluttony is all sorts of adorable. Gluttony pacing around is really cute. And that bird perched on Al only to get spooked when he spoke. And then Al jiggles Gluttony's belly causing Gluttony to step back embarrassed.

And now Al wants to meet Gluttony's father!?! Oh my!

back

[otakween]

11eyes (Manga) - Volume 1

Reading the 11eyes manga even though I haven't finished the visual novel yet lol 🙈 I'm only reading the parts I've gotten to though so I don't spoil myself! This was honestly a pretty good adaptation. Would it be good on its own? Maybe not, but it's good as fanservice for existing fans. It felt like they could have added an extra chapter or two to this volume though. It felt so short!

(Spoilers for stuff that happens after this volume ahead)

Ch. 1

Okay, so far so good. The art isn't amazing, but it's passable and faithful to the VN's character designs. It's actually really nice seeing the characters in different poses and seeing their full bodies since you only see so much variation in the VN.

I was disappointed to see the lazy way the larvae are drawn. In the VN they're pretty tangible/solid eldritch beings but here they're just smoke blobs with faces.

As usual with manga adaptations, we're moving at a breakneck pace. One benefit of this is that the awkward drawn out scenes with Saiko-sensei are cut short. (Edit: in fact they seemed to have removed a lot of ecchi for this volume. Especially the lewd dialogue).

I had completely forgotten that Kakeru can't see out of his special eye. That makes the eye patch make more sense. I thought he was literally only hiding it because of the heterochromia lol.

Glad they put best girl Misuzu on the cover. Bold choice to not give the MC the volume 1 art.

Ch. 2

One big lore dump chapter explaining onmyouji (although the scanlators used the phrase "divine judge" which I think is a pretty cool translation).

They mention that the enemies in the Red Night are from another time period that disappeared. I thought that was revealed much later in the VN, but it's possible it just went over my head when it was first mentioned.

Ch. 3

This chapter was a struggle because the fan translation got really sloppy all of the sudden. Really wonky grammar mostly. I got what they were going for for the most part though.

Damn, apparently that was supposed to be the Gula fight in the previous chapter? I didn't even notice because they've dumbed down fights to like 2-3 panels.

Takahisa and Yukiko's introductions got very simplified, which I can respect had to be done for time. I think introducing everyone at the club room (minus Kukuri) makes sense.

They didn't really take time to explain Yukiko's ability so I feel like I'd be confused reading this without context. Maybe they'll get into it later.

Ch. 4

In retrospect, it's really funny that Shiori is on a "secret undercover mission" for Index...but she carries a book that says "INDEX" on it at all times lol 💧

I liked that they revealed what Kakeru's sister looked like before Kukuri's introduction. I feel like they never showed us his sister in the VN (other than her hand) so Kukuri's resemblance was less impactful.

No Cyberiada so far, so I wonder if it's been cut for time. Kukuri's intro was also during the Red Night instead of the school rooftop. I think that's actually smart because you can just get a bunch of exposition out of the way at once by showing that she's in the Red Night and has her Abraxas power.

Going back to the beginning like this is making me realize all the foreshadowing work they did for Misao/Index. When I originally read about Misuzu's onmyouji idol I thought it was just random lore for her character (to be fair there's a lot of random lore dumps in 11eyes).