#which isn’t strictly related to this post but still

[call-me-rucy]

Do you think Professor Layton and Sycamore are color coordinated? I suppose Descole and Layton have a cool vs warm color thing going but I wasn't sure if Sycamore's design related to Layton's design in any obvious way. I think I may be over looking something.

Hey, thanks a lot for this ask, this kind of questions are right up my alley! :D

Before diving in, a disclaimer. I'm not a character designer (although I draw as a hobby) so my info/insight on this matter is merely from the unhinged Layton fan perspective ^^

Second disclaimer: I have already a post that touches about this topic, which can be read here: link. But I believe I will be able to better articulate my thoughts on the topic this time, thanks to the question.

Basically, I believe Layton and Sycamore are indeed color coordinated! And I rise the bet: Sycamore had no right to have the same colours as Layton, but he does.

Here is an image where their palettes are compared. They’re identical!

I think it’s pretty clear they have the same colours, now let’s think, why??

Think of Luke, and Emmy, and Aurora. They all have their distinctive, separate colour patterns. Luke is designed in blue so it can even in tiny pixel distorted form be distingished from Layton at a glance. Emmy follows the same pattern. So why on earth would a character designer so worried about character differentiation give two characters the exact same colours? And more so when one of them is the very main character?! In other words: why isn’t Sycamore color coded green?? (Or white?? Or any other colour??)

And it’s not like it didn’t occur to the character designer. Look at the Decapolice cast, also by Nagano:

The answer I propose is this:

AZRAN LEGACY SPOILERS FOLLOW:

I think this is because the main character of the Professor Layton series is Hershel Layton. And that’s the character that owns the orangey-red and black pallette, the one who screams to us “main character”.

Let me explain: According to the story, the main character of the Layton series was going to be Hershel Bronev. And it is because of this original role of main character that he has the orangey-red and black pallette. And that's so fucking smart.

It would have been so easy to just give design pre-Hershel Layton as the one with the red-black pallete and give the other character another colour. But instead!! The colour goes with the role!! So when Theo takes the role of "Hershel" and "main character", he takes the colours associated with those things, too!!

And this is a bit more watsonian but Hershel gives up the name and the role but not the red-black combo cause they are no other colours for him. So Des keeps his colours (which from a doylistic perspective, he doesn't strictly have to) and Hershel uses Hershel's colours so they both use the same, and also they have the same hair colour and skin colour which totally makes sense. And the Bostonius is the same colour as the Laytonmobile. Because of course it is, they're the same thing!

So here's Desmond Sycamore, a design that copies the professor's main character energy on the basis that he was supposed to be it but is also inspired by Descole's design (see the purple buttons and the shoes) so you see him and he looks like the ultimate rival. (But also Nagano managed to despite using the same colours, make it enough visibly different?? Which is so hard??)

Meanwhile, in a darker timeline where they didn't think the designs as much:

Would still have screamed rival, yes, but it doesn't say "we're made of the same thing" as the true design does.

I think it's impressive, honestly. It's peak storytelling STRICTLY IN COLOUR CHOICES. I wish to be half as good writer/designer as whoever it was that made this call (Nagano or Hino).

And this concludes this session of infodumping. I hope you enjoyed if you stuck enough to read this far.

Thanks again for the question, sweet anon! <3

Please, everyone feel free to send more Layton inquires and/or add your own thoughts to this post. Cheers!

[luckykiwiii101]

Hello,

I’ve been in this community for a while already, maybe since 2021 but I haven’t really been keeping count. My journey has mostly been a mixture of being desperate and uncommitted. There would be times where I would put in a lot of effort for 1-2 days but honestly would just burn myself out because I would let doubts rule me. So many times I’ve said I’m going to enter and log off tumblr to do it, but I kept logging back in and looking for more information or letting drama that’s always going on in this community affect me. For a whole month I actually managed to stay off void and loa tumblr by creating another account and strictly using that for fics I read. I didn’t really persist because I kept putting it off and I don’t even know why. I logged back on and realized I don’t find myself wanting to continue the same loop that I see a lot of people still chasing. Stepping back, I really see how useless and self sabotaging it is and I know most people are aware of this too but don’t want to break the habit by letting this desperation go.

There’s always going to be the feeling that you’re missing something or that there’s something better for you to try as a method if you keep holding on to the desperation. This loop is dangerous because it’s so easy to fall into and it gets comfortable. People get distracted by new things to try or by drama that’s always circulating. These things can seem exciting and curious but they really don’t matter. We’re not here to feed into tumblr drama, to learn all about it, find out who’s lying/telling the truth, to accuse others, etc. Most of us are going to be gone as soon as we enter void. Who cares about keeping up with the latest void methods and tumblr drama when you’re not even going to think back on it after you succeed. You already know everything you need to know. Don’t make this your “comfortable zone”. People get used to this familiarity of trying, wishing and hoping together, and following the latest news and trends that they get comfortable like this.

I don’t know how to word this but I’ve also seen people romanticize their struggles together. Community is so great and a place to relate to others, but lots of people make it a group effort to struggle. Reaching void state isn’t a group effort. You don’t need to ask others to manifest for you and you don’t need to wait for others to try something out to see if it works. You also don’t need validation from others and expect them to dissect what you did wrong. Someone else’s journey or attempts doesn’t correlate to yours so don’t let it decide yours (unless you know it helps you). You shouldn’t feel discouraged by someone else’s attempts because it’s not yours.

Community is so helpful, but individuality is the key. You need to do this for yourself and by yourself at the end of the day. I know it can be hard but really it’s all up to you and it’s so worth it. People can help you through advice and you can relate to people, but you need to be the one making the choices and putting in the effort to persist.

I saw someone on your page say they are going to log off and persist and (I think) come back with their success. They’re so right and I’m honestly going to do the same. I tried staying off void tumblr for a whole month and it wasn’t too hard. It allowed me to really reflect on myself, which I encourage people who can relate to this post, do. I read your tough love post about how some people will never get their dream life because of a lack of persistence/backbone and their mindset. This post really hit me because it represented my views on void tumblr and my previous struggle with the void state. I really don’t want to be this person anymore so I won’t be. I will succeed this time because there really is no other option. I’ve honestly had enough and I’ve already wasted enough time. These are just my thoughts and I encourage people to get off void/loa tumblr and just persist. You don’t need an epiphany to hit you to finally enter void state. But if you do, take the Not so Sugar and Spice post (I believe that’s what it’s called) as one.

Sorry for over sharing and the long post, but I really wanted to get this off my chest and I wanted to let people know that no matter how much you’ve struggled with the void and mindset in the past, kind of like me, you can still make the choice to persist and break habits that don’t benefit you.

I want to say thank you for your post for the inspiration and goodbye for now 💞

I’m SO SO proud of you 💗💗💗

And yes I too recommend that post to people who are mindlessly roaming void and loa tumblr looking for methods to enter the void state because that isn’t going to get them anywhere.

[snarky-art]

I love theory videos about Zelda stuff but man I really hate a lot of them when they talk about the Zonai. So often they use weighted language such as “primitive” and “less” and terms that we’re really trying to move away from in anthropology and art history since it just isn’t accurate to the way a lot of civilizations were and 9/10 times places the area of comparison on European and Anglo-sphere structures as the main point of reference. There’s also the idea that “progress” and “advancement” is strictly linear, which just isn’t the case.

The fields that are used in academia for these areas of study were founded by white men in Europe using eugenics or the ideology that would go on to be the basis of eugenics as a reference point. It’s based in highly problematic (to say the least) structures and we’re working on deconstructing that.

I just wish more people who aren’t as familiar with these fields knew that so I could better enjoy the videos and so the videos themself could actually have things of substance instead of a misplaced idea of “less tech like what the Hylian’s and Shiekah used means they were dumber and less advanced” when if we’re going to use our understanding of the current field of study, it just means they most likely just had different priorities and also just because the structures we’re looking at are made of stone instead of metals doesn’t mean they’re less “advanced”

Media and its relation to our reality and society is cyclical and the reinforcement of those ideas to a larger audience who doesn’t know better is harmful for real world reasons and also isn’t a viable way of analyzing things even if it’s “just a video game,” even if that is the way Nintendo intended it since they have a huge imperialist past that’s still ingrained in their culture to this day and is reenforced by the same things I’m critiquing in this post.

I dunno I’m just tired lol

[komohine]

How are sheith shippers fetishizing gay men. Are you delusional? Misinformed? Lacking IQ?

Keith is not Asian btw, While we're at it, please prove to me all the damage sheith has done to the gay Asian male community.

Ok considering i have sheith shippers/defenders dni in my intro post and I really dont feel like wasting my time today ill try to keep it short and wont be responding to shit like this down the line. Next time save your breath though. Because idk if you knew this but dni stands for Do Not Interact. You are interacting. Stop that.

1) they’re brothers. Sure it’s revealed much later in the seasons, but the point is they have an incredibly strong familial relationship. If you started off shipping sheith when they weren’t explicitly defined as brothers, fine. But after their familial relationship is revealed the choice to continue shipping those two specifically comes off as strange as hell. Even stranger when you consider the multiple other available male characters that are not only more age appropriate but also dont have a familial relationship with them lmao. Also Shiro canonically gets married to a man. So the choice to continue shipping sheith has to go beyond just wanting to guys to kiss. The next common denominator? They’re both asian, so I must conclude that the need to ship them comes from that. The next next common denominator is that they’re related and some of you just have a thing for incest. But i still have faith in humanity so i wont accuse you of that even though i occasionally feel the urge to. I refuse to take “but but they have the most in show relationship development” as a reason because that just means you’re too fucking lazy to think of your own scenarios. Which is not true, because the amount of devious ass sheith shit I unfortunately stumble across means your collective neurons are actively firing away. Just for the wrong thing. You guys really saw the only real developed relationship (i use this word generally and not strictly romantically) between two guys in the show and decided that it must have romantic undertones. Beyond how its harmful to irl men and deters them from emotional maturity out of fear that any non toxic relationship between two men is automatically seen as romantic by some people, it’s just fundamentally mid yaoi because you guys cant fathom that 1) romance isn’t a core part of the show beyond allurance 2) that two guys can talk to eachother while smiling without wanting to fuck. Yall are in the same league as those guys who are addicted to step sister p0rn.

1.5) bcs i know someones gonna ask “why do you think sheith is incest”, its because shiro fulfills the kinship role of “sibling” for keith, or even “parent”. From here-on out simplified as “guardian”. Within anthropology there are numerous kinship systems which determine which family member is called what. Ex. In the hawaiian system, every male family member is called “father” and every female “mother”. No matter if they birthed you or not. In the linear (also known as esk/mo but that’s a word with heavy history) system, your parents are “mom/dad”, siblings are defined as “brother/sister”, and everyone else is “aunt/uncle” or “cousin”. This is the system commonly used in the west. Kinship systems define a lot of things, from inheritance to respect hierarchies. Another key thing they determine is incest taboo. The range of which this taboo applies differs depending on culture, which is why you’ll hear of two people, for example, cousins getting married. In the west that’s considered taboo, but it may not be in another culture. Kinship and its taboos also apply to non blood related relationships. Hence adoptive siblings, etc. And keith quite explicitly refers to shiro as his brother. Given the context of those scenes, it can be deduced that it’s not said in a way that is 1) casual, as the lingo would more likely be “sup bro” or the tone of voice would be significantly more casual, 2) indicative of anything other than a familial relationship, for if keith considered him a brother in arms he would’ve said something more along the lines up “on your feet, brother”. Keith saying “you’re like my brother” AND THEN DOUBLING DOWN TO “You’re my brother,” said in such a sincere tone of voice leaves little to be debated.

Tldr: Shiro fulfills a guardian kinship role for Keith and thus the incest taboo applies to him.

1.6) also like? It’d be weird either way. Going by their canon age diff (season 1, 25-18 = SEVEN YEARS), and considering shiro met keith in middle school, and going by the oldest middle school age (15) bcs im feeling generous, shiro wouldve still been 22. If they just met once and never again till seasom 1, fine. Ship sheith however you want. But the fact is they met and then they formed a bond when shiro was significantly older and in a position of power over keith. Shiro was a mentor and guardian to keith whether you like it or not, and he stayed that way from when keith was young and impressionable until he was an adult. Yk what thats called? Raising a child. Imagine shipping that. Crazy. Imagine a 9 year old being raised by a 17 year old babysitter bcs of his absent parents. Suddenly when the 9 year old turns 18 he starts dating his babysitter. Thats freaky as hell, and i only increased the age gap by 2 years. Literally nothing else changed.

2) now why would they include a non aapi character in the mash up? Also, his source character from the og voltron is named “Keith Akira Kogane”. What non asian person is named that?

3) also the fact you need me to show you damage.. same vibe as “wdym he’s stalking you he’s just being friendly!! Show me how his so called stalking has put your life in danger”. Like imagine needing actual damage before even considering something bad.

[ghost-the-writer]

Well well well a lot of you seemed spiked about my last post so here we go an explanation of why Huskerdust works.

I wanna start by saying I was reading some comments and I saw a take on how the show made Alastor husk’s abuser only to have him be able to relate to Angel.

While I get that interpretation I wouldn’t flat out say that Alastor is abusive towards either husk nor nifty. He has controls over their souls/lives yes but he only exercises that control when he needs too, he doesn’t do so out of pleasure of control (which is what Valentino does to Angel).

As for Husk being a victim of Al, I do agree that it seemingly came out of nowhere (though it would make sense as to while he’s at the hotel, we learn that he’s being forced by Al to stay rather than staying on his own accord.) It was revealed early on that Husk was an overlord but that wasn’t from the pilot, and since I am strictly sticking to content that the show/pilot provided I won’t go into it.

When it comes to the core of what makes Huskerdust work, I would have to argue for power dynamics.

The thing about Radiodust that turns most people off is the unbalanced power dynamic. Alastor is a powerful overlord, Angel, while being more than capable of handling himself, wouldn’t be able to defend himself against Al. Essentially it would remind people of his dynamic with Valentino, thought Alastor clearly wouldn’t take advantage of Angel in the same way.

This is where Huskerdust works better, they’re on more even playing field. Especially because of the fact that both are controlled by overlords, which brings me to episode 4.

Husk is able to relate to Angel because he also made a deal (well lost a deal) for his soul, and is controlled by someone way more powerful than himself that he knows he can’t escape from. Husk isn’t relating to the way that Angel is abused, more so the way that he’s being controlled.

Which brings me to my next point the fact that Huskerdust feels forced. In the argument against Radiodust it doesn’t make sense cause Raidodust just feels as forced.

But in the argument of Huskerdust alone let’s look at episode 4.

The episode is so packed because not only does it really expand Angel’s story and abuse, but Husk actually gets a personality.

We learn why Angel acts the way he does, the reason he’s so sexual is because he gets abused in that way (it’s common for SA victims to hyper-sexualize themselves). And he’s drug addicted in effort to destroy himself so that Val might leave him.

We learn that Husk is the person everyone “bitches” to in his words. He knows everyone’s issues, and based on how he interacts with Angel we can guess that instead of offering solutions Husk is more the type to comfort someone by understanding their situation.

But it’s really all service level still, we have greater understanding of who both of them are as people.

I’m interested to see how Husker and Angel get developed further as the show goes on.

[sreegs]

Would you be willing to share your sources relating to the submarine/submersible technology? I believe you, but I’d love to a. read more on the subject and b. Share something that isn’t a tumblr post with a family member

i linked wikipedia articles in my reblog which, themselves, have sources in their references, but i'm not sure what specifically you're asking for a source on.

i presume you're asking why i asserted a sphere is safer than a cylinder which is more or less just physics and not strictly related to subs. a cylinder has more surface area than a sphere of the same diameter therefore it has more surface for pressure to act on. moreover the nature of material manufacture means that a cylinder has more seams (2) than a sphere (1).

spherical pressure hulls are usually made of two halves of forged titanium or steel then fused together along one seam. the titan was two halves of a titanium sphere attached to the ends of a carbon-fiber tube. where the tube was joined to the spheres it made two seams. this is really oversimplifying it but the point is to highlight that seams can provide a point of failure because they're not part of the same continuous material. the more seams the more potential points of failure

if you're asking about the DSVs themselves, when it comes to functional deep-sea capable vessels i guess it's important to point out the difference between a "submarine" (the long tube shape you see used in the military) and a deep-sea vessel like a bathysphere (which is not a submarine because of its lack of mobility).

submarines, especially modern ones, can handle some pretty impressive depths but they don't go anywhere near as deep as vessels designed to travel to the deep sea. military sub max operational depths are probably classified but their reported depths are in the hundreds of meters

modern dsv's dive past ten thousand meters. which is way, way more pressure.

so to understand modern DSVs, here's the description of the batysphere concept and some of the original designs, which which were the first deep-sea capable vessels just much more primitive. they were lowered on cables and didn't travel on their own power. so they weren't really vehicles

here's the next logical step, the bathyscaphe, which allowed it to move up and down under its own power, however the crew cabin is still a sphere. you can see them protruding from the bottom of the vessel in some photos

"deep-submergence vehicles" (which i linked in that reblog) are a bit more closer to submarines in terms of design and mobility, but their crew cabin designs are still spherical, with few exceptions. the deepest-traveling ones are spherical

crew cabins are pressure vessels. meaning they're built to withstand the force of the pressure of the water outside the vehicle. DSV's may have multiple components in compartments that don't look spherical at all from the outside but it makes sense when you realize some of these compartments aren't pressure vessels. some are solid foam. some even flood with sea water by design

take a look at this diagram of the Alvin with crew inside:

the largest pressure vessel is the crew cabin. there's a few other smaller pressure vessels to provide variable ballast (flooded with sea water or pumped with air) and some mercury vessels to provide leveling trims (to tell which way is up)

the rest of the vehicle is either pressure-resistant foam or empty space in which water can get in because the components inside are small enough and engineered to withstand the pressure. remember, because water pressure acts in all directions, the less surface area you have, the less pressure you need to worry about to maintain whatever function you need to perform. since the crew compartment is so big and so important, it's the thickest titanium and probably engineered to more exacting safety standards than some of the other parts

a couple people have already commented more on what i posted with good insight into things i can't explain as well. here's someone going into detail about the sphere vs cylinder issue:

and here someone linked a very informative youtube about the manufacture of the DSV Limiting Factor including footage of the crew compartment being forged from titanium

[aristocratic-otter]

Howdy y'all!

It seems like I can only find the wherewithal to post on Sunday these days. Please don't stop tagging me for Wednesdays, though! I have hope that I'll build up the free time for it again!

Thanks to @prettygoododds, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @larkral, @wellbelesbian, @artsyunderstudy, @nightimedreamersghost, @rimeswithpurple, @shemakesmeforget, @whatevertheweather, @ileadacharmedlife, @facewithoutheart, @cutestkilla and @alexalexinii for tagging me over the last couple of weeks!

First things first, To Heal A Broken Mind is in the homestretch, y'all! It ought to be done in the next two weeks, and then goes to my beta, and then I finally get to share it with @yellobb-old and the rest of the world! Here's a bit of softness from the final chapter:

“I love you!” I blurt, and then squeak and hide my face in his shoulder. But he doesn’t let me hide, just chuckles and lifts my head up so I’m facing him again. . 

“I love you too,” he says solemnly, and I feel tears burn at the corner of my eyes. “But hold that thought. After tomorrow, say it to me again. And I’ll do the same. And we’ll start our new life…or, at least, my new life, with you in it. For good this time”

Westward Son is also on the downhill slide, both in the story and in the completion of it! I estimate that the final chapter will go up before November. Here's our crew getting to know a new friend:

Acorn knows where all sorts of forest gleanings may be had. He shows us berry bushes that still have ripe fruit, though chilled by the frost. He digs up squirrel hordes of acorns (his namesake, he chuckles), along with other nuts and seeds. And, while he is strictly a plant eater, he isn’t offended when we hunt the beasts of the forest. He even shows us the best places to set traps or string fishing lines. 

When I ask him if he’s bothered by us eating meat in his presence, he’s philosophical. “Should I grow angry at the puma or the wolf because they consume the beautiful deer and rabbits? Their needs are not mine, and so I am content with eating differently from humans, because I am not human.”

The next chapter of Saving Simon Snow is coming soon, lol (and so is Simon) (warning for smutty snippet below):

It’s harder than you’d think to roll your eyes and sneer in disgust when the love of your life is rocking in and out of you, and you feel so full that you’re certain you’ll burst. But I put in the work. 

“Consummated? You’re a moron, Snow,” I grumble, even as he steadily takes me apart. 

He laughs. “I feel like you should call me Simon when I’m fucking you,” he says, panting. 

“You’re a moron, Simon,” I repeat obediently. 

Here's a little bit of tension from Snow Fox (next chapter also up in a day or two!)

Gareth comes into view, his pistol now pressed to the back of Malcolm Grimm’s head. “I tied up the Lieutenant, Sir. Shall I give the rest of these blackguards the same treatment?”

Forgive me, Baz.

“As you please,” I tell Gareth, keeping my tone light. “And no need to be gentle.”

From my CORB, The Heart in The Well, Baz is in a spot of trouble.

A sharp pain in my skull, and I found myself facing a hobgoblin. He was holding me up by my hair. Hobgoblins are related to goblins, but their skin is more greenish-grey than green, and they’re far uglier. But they eat people, just like their prettier cousins. I wondered if I was about to be their next meal. 

I hoped they’d choke on me.

From what I am currently calling "Simon the TikTok Dancer" (which will absolutely not be its final name), try to guess who Simon's teacher is 😉

At least Snow’s obvious progress makes what I have to tell him tonight easier. I’ve been dreading it all day. San Diego State University starts up again on Monday, and so our dance season is over. I have to say good-bye to Snow, at least for the school year. 

I indulge myself in watching him dance, not eager to bring down the mood already. 

I can see spots where his control is rough, and areas where he needs more precision, but truly, he’s already beautiful to watch.

And finally, a little Simon and Baz bonding from Stars, Flowers, and Children:

Simon is bubbling over with excitement, and I can’t help being infected with his enthusiasm. The moment we reach the pond, he spins to face me with a wild grin and says, “We’ve found Blackbeard’s lagoon, Baz! His buried treasure must be nearby!” 

I stare at him. What on Earth is he on about?

Simon’s smile fades a little. When he speaks again, it’s in a softer, more coaxing tone. “Come on Baz. Haven’t you ever played a game of make believe?”

Is that what this is?  “I didn’t grow up around many other children,” I admit, stiffly. 

Simon’s expression softens into something that looks very much like pity. It’s intolerable. 

I'm actually posting well before midnight for once, so I'm going to tag generously. Welcome and join me if you'd like, friends!

@angelsfalling16, @aroace-genderfluid-sheep, @annabellelux, @bazzybelle, @bloodiedpixie, @bookish-bogwitch, @carryonsimoncarryonbaz, @captain-aralias, @cosmicalart, @confused-bi-queer, @dragoneggos, @erzbethluna, @frjsti, @fatalfangirl, @gekkoinapeartree, @giishu, @hushed-chorus, @ionlydrinkhotwater, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @ileadacharmedlife, @j-nipper-95, @jbrrring, @jasonfunderberkerthefrogexists, @krisrix, @larkral, @letraspal, @martsonmars, @messofthejess, @melodysmash, @moments-au-crayon22, @moodandmist, @mostlymaudlin, @onepintobean, @prettylightsbigcity, @palimpsessed, @sillyunicorn

[yukidragon]

Can you do a theory of how S.D.J got stuck in a tape? (Ik there isn’t much clues but I just wanted to ask) :)) Btw LOVE YOUR THEORYS!!! :D

Awww, thanks! I’m really happy to hear that you like my theories. 💖

Unfortunately, there is very little evidence at this time to create a solid theory about why Jack was trapped in the tape to begin with. I can, however, talk about what we do know about the tape so far and what my headcanons are.

I will be using some screencaps of the demo as well as images that were posted publicly on Sauce/Jambeebot’s public twitter before it was closed down, as well as links to the official Sunny Day Jack twitter. Gentle reminder to everyone - please don’t repost any of the private images posted on the Snaccpop Studios Patreon. The crew relies on those kind donations in order to make the game at all. Consider joining it instead, donating to the Something’s Wrong with Sunny Day Jack kickstarter, or just spreading word about this engaging game.

With that said, let’s start off with the tape itself.

An ordinary but old and cracked VHS tape with a sticker on it bearing the words “84′ Incident” written in smudged red marker. It’s pretty well universally theorized that the video tape captured Jack’s death, which appeared to take place during filming of the SunnyTime Crew Show. We get a shot of the incident itself here on the twitter page. (Pun not intended.) There was also apparently children on set as well who witnessed the incident, according to the actor who played Cloudy-Belle Sue.

We get a glimpse of this incident as well in the style of a children’s drawing on the title screen of the demo, along with a closeup of the tape.

After that, Jack was trapped in the tape for (presumably) almost 40 years. To him it was a place where he couldn’t dream, where he felt cold, and where he buried his old self as Joseph to fully embrace the role of Jack.

Then MC gets a hold of the tape, pops it in a VCR, and is introduced to a rather confused but relieved Jack... only they don’t remember that. They just woke up the next day and Jack was just... there. Now the tape won’t play again, so there’s no telling exactly what is on it.

Seems pretty standard with ghosts possessing something involved with their murder and haunting whoever interacts with it right, right? What I find interesting is Jack is always called a ghost(?) The fact that this is in question at all suggests to me that there’s something more going on with him than the typical ghost can’t move on from their horrific murder story.

I think the fact that this is in question plays a part in how Jack was trapped in and is still connected to the tape. There’s too few clues to be sure of how that happened, so it’s just left to pure speculation on our parts. All we can be relatively sure of is that it’s related to Jack’s death and the incident itself.

You know, let’s take a moment to examine Jack and what he can do now. Maybe it’ll give more ideas about how he got into his situation.

Jack is quite an interesting sort of ghost(?). While it’s tempting to look at another game involving ghosts made by SnaccPop Studios, the Groom of Gallagher Mansion, as a point of reference for how other ghosts are depicted, I’m going to stick with strictly SDJ-related sources.

Jack is solid to MC (unless they don’t want him there), and can be perceived by all their senses, but no one else. He doesn’t show up in mirrors or recordings. According to a line from the Patreon-exclusive virtual body pillow, Sleepy Time Jack, he has a heartbeat. He has bodily fluids such as spit, sweat, and semen, as shown in the demo. He feels warm to the touch, not dead at all.

Well, maybe not all the time.

Jack has the power to influence other peoples’ thoughts and feelings. It’s most obvious with MC, where we have seen instances where he seems able to outright read their thoughts/narration, but he was able to influence Nick’s mind to the point of nightmares, insanity, and self-harm. For the most part he can’t interact with others, but it seems there’s a way he can force it?

Or maybe Jack could be perceived by others... but he has a reason to choose not to exert that much influence on reality.

Maybe it’s because he’s not strong enough yet at the start of the game?

MC’s love seems to make Jack stronger. There’s a “piece” of him in a place others could never reach, and that piece of him grows bigger and stronger. The stronger it gets, the closer he gets to being “one” with MC forever.

I think that “piece” of him is inside of MC and is vital to keep him solid and real. I suspect that Jack might have a “piece” of MC inside him as well... one he can make even bigger by taking more from them and giving more of himself in return, as suggested by a quote from the “no” route.

I want him to re-write me in this moment. I want him to do what he wants to help me forget anything that isn’t him.

He’s taking some part of me...

Infecting me with some kind of fever... Some need...

And I don’t want to admit it...

But I want to surrender and let him fill it.

Although MC is under supernatural influence that makes them addicted to the feelings Jack gives them, it seems as though their wants and desires towards Jack play a key part in everything.

In the game, if MC keeps their distance from Jack emotionally, he gets “colder” to them, and it could get to the point that they can’t touch him anymore. I imagine, if they turned their back on him completely, they could make him disappear altogether.

The influence Jack has on MC is subtle most of the time, just really good feelings mostly. I theorize this is a supernaturally-enhanced sort of empathy due to MC having a piece of him inside of them (and likely vice-versa). I believe that’s how Jack can detect MC’s emotions in return and catch some of their thoughts. It seems this works both ways, as suggested by the “yes” route, where MC can sense things about Jack but is too caught up in the pleasure they’re sharing to really think about it much.

He was close.

He didn’t even need to tell me.

I suspect if MC knew how to use this power, they might be able to have more of an influence on Jack.

After all, it seems as though if MC is going through something like, say, the pain of a period or being drunk, Jack experiences these things too. At least according to a couple posts from the Jambeebot twitter.

(Again, keep in mind posts and art from Sauce’s twitter need to be taken with a pinch of salt when it comes to canon, as things can (and have) changed before the final product of the game.)

Jack himself says that MC makes him feel love, and he’s so happy to be with them. What if that’s why whenever MC spends time with him alone, they feel so happy? What if MC is literally feeling Jack’s love and happiness, which is why being around him feels so addicting? After all, isn’t it addicting to feel loved by someone so unconditionally?

It can be resisted as well, though even when they do in the “no” route, it’s a very weak resistance. MC is addicted to the warm and fuzzy feelings Jack gives to them, which Jack can intensify and doesn’t want to give that up.

I was suffocating in his embrace.

Something about the air was thick and sticky.

Like I was breathing cotton candy…

Like I was under a spell.

Jack even keeps asking in the “no” route if they can feel how much he cares about them, how good he can make them feel.

MC themselves admits earlier that they feel for Jack. He likely can sense that, which could be why he said they make him feel love.

There’s a strong emphasis here on consent and feelings, as well as pieces of both MC and Jack.

Also, before we move on, I want to quickly add that Jack might have the ability to manifest items as well. We know how confused MC was about blueberries appearing out of nowhere, but Jack could’ve snatched them from a grocery store or even snuck them into MC’s cart/basket when they weren’t paying attention so they eat healthier. However, what is harder to explain away is a full change in wardrobe that is distinctly themed around Sunny Day Jack and fits him perfectly. Somehow I don’t think MC bought that for him at the store.

As I’ve mentioned before in past theories when it comes to my own personal telling of the story, Sunshine in Hell, I think Jack has a piece of MC’s soul and MC has a piece of his soul in exchange. I think that whatever happened when MC watched the tape, it created a sort of contract between them and Jack, one that requires consent on both their parts. It requires that continual consent and for their bond to be strengthened in order to give Jack more strength.

It sounds almost like a ritual was performed, wasn’t it? Maybe Jack’s costume as a demonic incubus isn’t too far off the mark from what he is now.

Who knows... it might even be why MC is so tired lately.

(Though they could just be exhausted from being overworked by an uncaring boss.)

Which leads me back to the 84′ Incident. What if Jack didn’t simply randomly possess the recording of what happened because he couldn’t move on? What if his soul was trapped in that tape all this time? After all, he seemed so confused at the start of the game about what’s going on and what happened to him, which suggests he didn’t willingly go to, as he put it, hell.

The entertainment industry is a truly frightening place. Money, power, connections... they can bury so many secrets, even people and memories. There are rumors of unsavory things like crime rings and cults. The studio behind the SunnyTime Crew Show seems to have a dark side as well considering it buried the memory of the show and the murder of Jack under the threat of NDAs.

So now, let’s talk about LambsWork Productions. As I previously touched upon before when analyzing the teaser picture of an undead Jack looking in a mirror, the name of the studio is very interesting. A lamb’s “work” is to be sheered for its fleece, or butchered for its meat... sometimes both.

I think that LambsWork Productions was connected to a cult, maybe even built by a cult outright. I believe what happened to Jack to trap him in the tape may have been part of a ritual.

Jack was a teenage runaway who changed his name from Joseph, hiding his real identity. We don’t know how he was discovered by the studio, but he would be someone with no connections, and no family, maybe even no friends.

Who would look for him if he went missing?

This seems counter-intuitive doesn’t it? Jack was a famous actor with many eyes on him. So many people, kids and adults, loved him.

What the people loved was a character he played. Even when being interviewed, Jack had to stay in character. He couldn’t be “Mr. Haberdae” even when talking with a reporter who wanted to learn more about him.

The studio made a creation that was loved... and what if that was part of the ritual? What if Jack’s murder was planned all along? It would explain how they could so quickly and thoroughly bury all evidence that the show ever even happened if they were prepared to do it ahead of time.

Being loved and being willing plays a part in Jack’s powers. What if that ties into the murder? What if Jack, this fictional entity the studio made up, needed to have the love of countless people, and the distress and pain they felt from seeing him die, along with his death?

For what purpose? It’s hard to say, but Jack’s powers are nothing to sneeze at. For all we know, whatever MC underwent to be bonded to Jack by watching the video wasn’t actually meant for them... it was just the first time it actually worked.

After all... consent plays a part. If Jack didn’t consent to, say, his murderer getting a piece of his soul and control over him...?

Now we’re really going deep into headcanon territory here, and it ties into the tragedy of [Redacted] and the lover who used him. I will stress that my headcanons will likely change as more evidence comes out or as I work on it more before writing it into Sunshine in Hell, but I figure it might be entertaining to tell it anyway.

It goes like this: someone with a lot of pull and connection to LambsWork Productions, maybe even the owner in charge of it all, wanted supernatural powers. They were connected to the occult and learned of a ritual that would require the absolute obedience and enslavement of a soul, as well as love and innocence of children to create a servant that would do whatever they wanted.

What it required was a person who is utterly devoted and willing to submit to the caster. The easiest way to do that? Why, love and desperation of course. Find a person who has nothing and offer them a life they always dreamed of... they just need to be obedient, sacrifice more and more.

This person is pushed slowly to do more, give more of himself. He is pushed to act a certain way all the time, painted up as this new persona to further signify that he is no longer [Redacted] but the always helpful Jack. He needed to want to be this character they created... who they were going to make real with the ritual using his willing soul.

When the target is primed to be obedient and utterly addicted to needing the caster and everything they have to offer in every way imaginable, and is loved by many innocent children... that innocence is destroyed as part of the ritual by having them witness his death.

The ritual results in this creation that will do anything for their master... provided it is consenting on both ends. The victim doesn’t even need to know it was all a setup. In fact, it’s better he doesn’t know in order to ensure he’ll remain desperate in his new inhuman state.

The recording is the medium to create the connection to the new supernatural entity. There was just one teeny, tiny hiccup.

Consent.

The person who performed the ritual and wanted those powers wanted to make that connection, but Jack? Ho... they might have twisted [Redacted]’s heart to be desperate for their love and everything they provided, but Jack is far from stupid. Whether he started to suspect before his death and hid it, or he realized what was going on when murdered, who’s to say? Either way, he did not consent to his former lover taking a piece of his soul when the tape was played, and thus the ritual failed, no matter how many times they replayed his tragic death.

The tape was kept as a reminder, a snuff film for entertainment purposes until it gets lost or discarded in some other way. The culprit would have to figure out what went wrong, how to perform the ritual correctly next time... Or another member of the cult who learned of the ritual decides to try again, believing they know what went wrong.

Maybe the problem was relying on romantic love. What if the “lamb” to be sacrificed was someone who would have a stronger bond to the caster, maybe even more desperate for love and approval than a lover. Say, perhaps... a blood relative?

Actors sometimes join cults. If, say, Jean joined and found out about the ritual and wanted it to work out for himself, well... he does have a child from one of his sugar babies who wants to be an actor, doesn’t he?

What stronger love is there than a parent and child, especially a child who might have spent a lifetime wishing for his absent father’s love?

Well, Jack might argue his love for his sunshine is stronger. After all, unlike those monsters who damned him to the hell of the VHS tape for selfish purposes, they didn’t need him like Alice(/MC) does. They didn’t long for love as desperately as he did... and he was certainly so very desperate for even a speck of warmth after 40 long sleepless years trapped in a cold empty hell...

Soooooo... yeah. That’s the headcanon I currently have for what Jack is and why he was trapped in the tape. With how few clues there are, I’m not banking on this headcanon on being anywhere close to accurate to what’s going to happen in the game. Chances are very good that this headcanon will change and evolve as I get more ideas and more hints are dropped. Still, I find the idea to be fairly entertaining, and I hope you did too.

What does this mean for Jack, Alice, and their connection of souls via the ritual? I’m going to have to think about that a bit more, but whatever it was, it was something worth a hell of a lot of trouble for the studio to go through...

After all, Jack has a pretty impressive array of powers already, and they’re only going to get more powerful, maybe even manifest other unexpected ways we haven’t seen yet, as his love for Alice and hers for him grows ever stronger...

Of course, with an MC resistant to that love? Well... that might explain the glitches we see here.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic

[curious-zigzagoon]

I want to know you. Pt. 1

Simon Riley x gender neutral reader

I’m doing it guys I hope you enjoy.

Summary: you and Simon get to spend a lot of alone time together thanks to work. It doesn’t go quite how you were expecting.

Warnings: none

Your code name is Fennec (like the fox)

Uhh yeah here it is :) (also first part is short still testing the waters with this whole posting my writing thing) not perfect but please enjoy.<3

“You and ghost have been tasked with scoping out an area that has a high profile target residing in it. In your free time you and ghost will be staying at a small and old safe house. You will be there for approximately three weeks.” Price announced with a small grin on his face. He knows me and ghost aren’t necessarily the best of friends. “When are we leaving?” I asked. “Tomorrow 8am.”Price said, Ghost nodded. I looked at the time at the clock behind Price, it was 6:47 pm. “Okay well I better start packing.” I stood from my chair and excused myself from the room. Well isn’t this amazing. I was thinking on my way back to my room. Just fucking amazing.

And just like that we were on our way to somewhere in Mexico. I spent a lot of time in awkward silence both on the plane and during our first few hours at the safe house. It was great. The grump had barely said anything to me at all this whole time, which is what I expected. I don’t think he’s ever really liked me that much. At least it feels nothing like how he is with soap. But soap is well soap it’s pretty easy to get along with him.

I was making some dinner for me and Ghost, beef and rice with steamed broccoli. Very bland. I was just about to plate the food when I felt a looming presence behind me. The ghost is very quiet but I know he’s there. “Do you need something Ghost?” He’s been quite cold to me, I tried to be nice for a while but I can play this game if that’s what he wants. “You can call me Simon now.” I turned around. He’s corrected me every time I’ve called him Simon and he’s never called me anything other than fennec even in non-strictly work settings. So this is strange. “Where is this coming from?” He was very close to me, I was almost backed against the counter. “Can I be honest with you Y/n?” Y/n? “Yes?” He came closer and I placed my hands on the counter behind me. He was so large, his figure was intimidating and this unusual behavior made me nervous. “I want you, I have for a while now.” Want me? Seriously. “You’ve been so cold to me Ghost, what are you talking about?” He sighed. “I’m sorry for my behavior, I’ve been trying to keep my distance from you, I don’t think I’m the kind of person you’d want to have relations with. But for some reason I felt the need to tell you” “I think that’s something I can decide for myself, and how am I supposed to decide that if you won’t let me get to know you?” He stood silently for a moment, he looked to the floor then back to me. “I will let you get to know me, but only if you let me have you. I don’t trust people so easily but I want to be around you.” “Okay well, Ghost I will not give myself to someone I hardly know.” He looked disappointed, and I’m sure me calling him ghost after he gave me permission to call him Simon stung. “I understand.” I thought for a moment “But it will just be you and me here for the next three weeks, and if you let me get to know you in that time I will consider it.” His eyes lit up a bit. “Okay.” Maybe he’s worth knowing is all that came to mind. I'm unsure of how this will end, but I wanna know.

[mariacallous]

Moments before the kickoff of the 118th United States Congress in January, incoming GOP leaders ripped down Nancy Pelosi’s post-insurrection magnetometers, which had stopped at least one Republican, Representative Andy Harris of Maryland, from entering the House floor with a handgun. The first meeting of the House Natural Resources Committee, held on February 1, devolved into partisan vitriol as Republicans reversed an explicit ban on members bringing firearms into their hearings. Soon, AR-15 pins started popping up on rank-and-file lapels. Then, two weeks later, a bill was introduced to make the mass-shooter-approved AR-15 the “national gun of the United States.”

This may be Joe Biden’s Washington, but the US Capitol appears to be, once again, under the firm grip of the gun lobby. With repeated threats of federal government defaults and shutdowns consuming Washington throughout 2023, little attention has been paid to specific agency-by-agency spending proposals, including a House Republican proposal to zero out funding for gun violence research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That effort, part of a House appropriations bill, was postponed after Congress passed a short-term extension to fund the federal government into early next year. But that doesn't mean it won't return then, with powerful Republican lawmakers painting the CDC's research as overtly partisan.

“I think it may have a political component, and that's my concern,” Representative Robert Aderholt, an Alabama Republican, tells WIRED. He’s known as a cardinal on Capitol Hill because he chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, which is tasked with producing the nation’s largest domestic funding measure, including control of the CDC’s budget, each year.

The powerful appropriator isn’t thoroughly versed in the gun violence research his subcommittee is trying to defund, but Aderholt is skeptical anyway. “If it were just honest, innocent research, then I wouldn’t have a problem,” Aderholt says. “But I have some concerns with the way that it’s being handled under this administration.”

Thing is, no one really knows what story the CDC research will tell. It’s only been around for three years after nearly a quarter-century of congressional prohibition under the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which essentially barred the CDC from examining the roots of the uniquely American scourge of gun violence.

“This is about public health,” Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the labor committee, tells WIRED. “We haven’t had it for 20 years. Think about all the research that was done about seatbelts and prevention. So I think about what’s happening with the uptick in gun violence, which is unbelievable … we need to do the research to help us be able to prevent that.”

In 2018, lawmakers upended the Dickey Amendment, explicitly clarifying that the will of Congress is for the CDC to research the contemporary weaponization of America. But federal dollars—which, contrary to GOP concerns, are still strictly forbidden from being used to promote gun control—didn’t start flowing to researchers until 2021. Democrats have pushed for $50 million annually to research America’s second-leading cause of death for people 18 years old or younger. (The first is motor vehicle accidents, which Congress devoted $109.7 million to research in the 2022 fiscal year.) But for the past three years, they’ve only been able to squeeze $25 million a year—split between the CDC and National Institutes of Health—out of Republican senators.

With more than 39,000 gun-related deaths so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, America’s on pace to endure another record-setting amount of carnage by year’s end, which you wouldn’t know from the giddily gun-friendly mood on the House side of the Capitol. “I think the Republicans are just nuts on this, you know, the extremes,” Mike Thompson, a Democratic representative from California, tells WIRED. Nuts or not, Republicans control the House.

Even through the tears stemming from America’s recent uptick in gun violence—including homicides, suicides, and mass shootings—the past three years have been an exciting time for researchers in this space, because when the federal government leads, university research follows. The two-plus decades drought has rippled through academia.

“People weren't going into this field because you couldn't make a career in it,” Andrew Morral, who runs RAND Corporation’s Gun Policy in America Initiative, tells WIRED. “It’s the kind of thing where it takes a fair amount of research before you start getting believable findings. I mean, you can have a study or two that show something, but in social science, it's very hard for one or two studies to persuade anyone.”

Morral is also director of the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research, which is philanthropically endowed with $21 million earmarked for firearm violence prevention research. A few years back, he led a conference with “30 to 100 people.” At the start of the month, when they held their annual meeting in Chicago, there were 750 attendees, including some 300 presenters whose studies ranged from how “guns provide access to sources of life meaning” for some Floridians to whether there’s any correlation between heat waves and shootings.

“A lot of new questions are being asked and new ways of looking at things—this just wasn't possible five years ago,” Morral says. “There [are] people coming into the field now, and that's what the money is doing. It's making it possible to get this field launched. There's a lot of low-hanging fruit here, but it's going to take a lot of research to start getting persuasive findings and it's starting to happen.”

In the wake of horrific mass shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, last year, before the GOP recaptured the House, Congress passed the sweeping Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), aimed at improving the nation’s background check system, stymieing gun traffickers, protecting domestic violence survivors, and enhancing mental health services in local communities and schools from coast to coast.

The measure includes billions for mental health, $250 million for community violence intervention programs, and $300 million for violence prevention in the nation’s schools. It also recognizes the federal deficiency in school safety research by creating a Federal School Safety Clearinghouse, envisioned as a repository for the best “evidence-based” research for keeping violence off American school grounds.

That best-practices clearinghouse for schools was a GOP-sponsored provision that made it into the BSCA, but, as WIRED reported last summer, studying gun violence wasn’t a part of negotiations on the measure aimed at curbing gun violence. This latest effort by House Republicans to effectively bar the CDC from researching gun violence has social scientists worried about the real-life consequences of turning off the federal funding tap again. The two Senate Republicans who negotiated the BSCA aren’t worried.

“People misuse research every day,” Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, tells WIRED. The other Republican who had a seat at the head table for last summer’s gun negotiations is one of minority leader Mitch McConnell’s top lieutenants, John Cornyn of Texas—a leading contender for replacing the ailing GOP leader in the Senate—who shrugs off CDC gun violence research. “I don't think there's any shortage of research in that area,” Cornyn tells WIRED. But he bifurcates gun violence research from gun violence prevention. “We haven't been able to figure out how to solve all the crimes. Basically, we've tried to deter them, we've tried to investigate and prosecute them, but we haven't been able to figure out how to prevent them. So that's the basic problem, I think.”

Democrats agree. They also say the reason for that “basic problem” is clear: The CDC—through the chilling effect the federal prohibition had on academia over 24 years—has failed to foster a robust research environment to accompany America’s robust gun culture. But Democrats aren’t looking to pass reforms this Congress. Sure, they want to. But the House is barely performing at its normal rate of functional-dysfunctionality these days (just ask newly-former House speaker Kevin McCarthy). Senate Democrats are willing to have a gun violence prevention debate, but as of now, many say there’s no reason to try and debate House Republicans.

“They're not writing bills that are designed to pass the Senate in order to get signed by the president. They're literally throwing red meat to the fringe on every conceivable issue. That's just not serious,” Senator Chris Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat who was at the center of last summer’s gun reform negotiations, tells WIRED. “At some point, they're going to have to figure out how to pass a bill with us, but they haven't reached that space yet.”

[midnightexpressproductions]

An announcement and a thank you.

Oof, it’s been quite some time since I last posted something, huh? I can't believe it's been almost half a year since I last updated anything. My sincerest apologies for disappearing so suddenly. I promise that this account isn’t dead. However, you might have noticed that all of my posts are gone.

Let me explain.

So not to go into too much detail but some stuff -personal and work related- came up in my life, which has made it super hard to continue writing and coding for Lazarus Syndrome. I’m finally in a better place (both mentally and emotionally) where I feel like I can get back into writing. However, it’s still hard for me to separate the emotions I’ve been dealing with from Lazarus Syndrome. After taking some time and putting it into serious consideration, I’ve finally come to the hard decision to put an indefinite hiatus on Lazarus Syndrome. I know some of you might be upset to hear that but right now, for my own mental health, I can’t continue working on it.  

That doesn’t mean that I’m quitting writing or deleting this account. I’ve missed writing and I’ve missed all of you lovelies! Even though Lazarus Syndrome is going to be put on the backburner for a while, I’ve got some other stuff planned that I’m excited to share with you all. 

Which brings us to the next part of this announcement. 

I’ve started a new project! Well, two actually. And they’re very near and dear to my heart. I’ve actually been working on them both ever since I was in junior high. And getting back into working on them the past two months has honestly been so refreshing. I feel like I'm finally writing for myself. I'm so excited to start writing again!

 The first project is a fantasy novel. I'll be working on that on the side and I might make a few updates on it here and there or answer any questions if they pop up but I’ll try to keep this account strictly for my IF projects.

The second project is a story that I’ve actually decided to rework into an IF. I just fell in love with all of the characters and the world is so expansive that I figured why not change things up? I'll be making more posts about that later on so keep an eye out for it.

Being mushy and sharing stuff like this is not something I’m used to but I just wanted to let all of you lovelies know what's been going on and what will happen in the future.

I also want to let all of you know that from the bottom of my heart, I’m truly grateful for all of your continued support. I treasure each and everyone of you guys.

[weekend-whip]

So everyone knows that Cole has a thing for Zane expect the nindroid himself right? But they also tease him when Jesse so are there shippers in they're groups or is it just teasing?

I thiiiiink I talked about this before, but I can’t find the post so here we go again!!!

Jay: Was oblivious about Glacier at first but after winding up as a “third wheel” pretty often in the early days, gradually started to pick up on what was going on lol. The teasing for Jesse is just that until Jesse directly mentions to him that he does have an interest in Cole, which slightly shifts Jay into shipper territory for Aftershock. He relates to the feeling of “aiming out of your league” snksnk

Kai: Had Glacier and Aftershock nailed down at like, first hunch, but is torn between wanting Cole to go for the thing he wants or to try for a thing that already makes him pretty happy (which are sentiments Jay shares as well). Tends to be more on Team Glacier however, which is in part what leads to him and Jay (eventually) making The Bet. Still teases Jesse because he knows it’ll get a reaction ;P

Zane: Entirely oblivious to Cole’s affections, just happens to think Cole is a very affectionate and physical kinda guy, rip. Is slow to catch onto Aftershock, but he does gradually begin to pick up on it (and is for it, as he thinks they’re good for each other, but isn’t necessarily on the level of ‘shipper’, and doesn’t want to interfere unless directly confronted anyway. He minds his business.)

Nya: Teases Cole about Jesse, but it’s very lighthearted with no weight behind it. Otherwise has ZERO idea of what is actually going down here. It’s all literally going over her head (not her fault, girl’s got a lot going on rn) and, uh…that’s not a future plot point or anything.

Lloyd: As we know, clocked Jesse first meeting lmao, thus starts off rooting for Aftershock. However, is entirely blindsided by Cole’s crush on Zane (because, similar to Lou, doesn’t personally witness any of it until way after the fact) and then becomes conflicted. Doesn’t “tease” so much as state facts lmao

Antonia: Obviously Team Aftershock, but is probably the only one that fully realizes that Zane doesn’t even know he’s part of a triangle here lmao, hence why she’s always encouraging Jesse that there’s still hope. Teases to encourage Jesse to go for it already

Harumi: Is aware of both parties but isn’t actively nor overly invested in either. She does, however, ship the Black Ninja with the Fuchsia Ninja at one point or another. Teases both parties strictly because she finds it amusing.

TL;DR: Everyone is aware of Glacier except Nya, Zane, and currently Lloyd; Everyone is aware of Aftershock except Nya and currently Zane…and Cole lmao.

[t4tozier]

(Sorry if this to dark there’s some non con/dubious consent/ coercion stuff between Jace and porter ahead);

Ok but I think we’re all ignoring the creepy and entitled potential of Porter like man literally planned to make himself a god! And was perfectly fine killing and using literal children’s (teenagers but still) along with his coworkers.

Like it’s never shown how much control Porter and the rage crystals have over those that have them, but Brennan did call it a high mind and the Porter could make those affected feel physical sensations like pain.

So same as in canon Porter kills Jace and resurrects him with a rage crystal. At that time they were just coworkers and the only reason Porter went after him was because Jace as a sorcerer must understand magic and Jace being a relatively recent hire was still trying to befriend and get along with everyone (it made it so easy to ask Jace if he’d like to do some sparring in the woods where they’d be sure not to cause damage to the school, one quick strick to the back of the head while jace walked ahead chatting about something random) plus no one new him well enough to question any sudden anger related personality changes.

So Jace is brought back and it’s almost like he he has a permanent state of suggestion cast on him, whatever Porter thinks and feel trickle down to Jace so if Porter truly believes bringing back a god just to kill them and take their place is the right thing to do then Jace thinks helping him is also the right thing to do.

Porter then begins to develop some thoughts and feelings towards Jace which Jace of course can’t help but reciprocate and act the way Porter wants him to and ends up a toxic sexual driven relationship.

Porter justifys all this thinking if he’s a god (well almost a god) he should be able to take whatever he wants and in fact Jace should be grateful porters showing so much interest in him.

Jace is just along for the ride and it isn’t until the plan fails and he’s resurrected along with the rat grinders (no rage crystals this time), that he’s finally able to think clearly and sort through his thoughts and realise that those emotions and feelings weren’t his own and everything was controlled by Porter.

It definitely fucks him up what Porter did (he won’t call it rape because he wasn’t strictly forced into it and it’s wasn’t porters original goal, it definitely is rape since Jace couldn’t actually consent to anything with Porter).

Buts he’s a sorcerer so of course has high charisma and puts that to full use acting like everything’s fine in front of others, tries to catch up on the teaching he missed helps the rat grinders anyway he can (they may still be little morons, but they’re his little morons now).

The rat grinders also start being more open about the control Porter and the rage crystals had over them; jawbone absolutely makes sure they all attend therapy and his counselling sessions.

Then them being kids without must real world experience occasionally mention or bring up stuff they saw Porter do and say to jace without really realising how bad it was (Porter: I killed you once I’ll do it again stardiamond) and jawbone ends ups coming to a very dark but accurate conclusion on what happened between Porter and Jace. Xx

i have a feeling someone else will take this and run with it because angst is not my brand here at t4tozier <3

however i do agree that TRG and jace would be severely fucked up post failed ascension especially if we take it this route where jace doesn’t really have any autonomy during his shatterstar period. i want to see jawbone being a good counselor to the rat grinders and not letting his personal biases get in the way!! or referring them to outside help because lbr they all need more than the school guidance counselor he isn’t a licensed therapist.

i think it takes jace a long time to accept what happened because he’s so used to putting on the mask for everyone around him, plus his memory for those years is so fuzzy, and porter was so manipulative that it’s hard to determine what’s real and what he imagined. he gets there, though. next step is just. moving on. easy, right?

[rachelsfav-queer]

I just need to put this out there, even though I don’t believe I myself have been incorrectly tagging my posts, I still want to make my stance clear.

I won’t name any names, and I won’t mention anyone specifically cause I am NOT in the business of drama.

But, there has been some issues in the wenclair tag and quite a few people have made their… upset opinions known. And they have every right, I’m not debating that. Again, not here for drama. But, I was involved with a few people who were considered to be causing issues. And I have seen these opinions of these people and the content we were discussing and they were… accusatory, to say the least.

This is where I come in. I don’t want to force anyone to have to see my content if it contains things that they don’t want to see. Which is why I’ve been doing my best to tag this content appropriately so that others can block it properly. But, of course, this isn’t a fix-all. There’ll still be people accidentally exposed to my content and of course there’s the issue of minors engaging with content they shouldn’t. And I’ve tried to solve this issue by making my blog strictly 18+ and blocking all ageless accounts and minors.

Then, there’s the other problem. But this one doesn’t really fall on me in the end. I have been trying to tag my content properly and I hope that I’ve been doing so well. But beyond that, I can’t do much else. It is up to others to block tags relating to content that makes them uncomfortable. I understand what it’s like to be triggered by content that I don’t want to see. Which is why I take the personal responsibility of blocking tags and keywords and phrases so I can reduce the possibility of seeing it as much as possible!

I am genuinely sorry if my content has made you uncomfortable, seriously. But please, just block me. Don’t go on and talk about me as if I’m some creep. Because I guarantee that what some people have been accusing my content of being, just isn’t true.

My age regression is not a kink, nor a fetish. It is a coping mechanism that I use to deal with the trauma I suffered as a child and it allows me to feel what it’s like to just be a kid, cause I very rarely got that when I actually was. So to see people calling it gross and weird and all other sorts of actually horrible things? It really affects me and I’ve had to take the time to block others myself, just to avoid that negativity.

Seriously, I am open when I tag and I try to keep my little section of the internet with as much warning as I can. Don’t like? Don’t read, and JUST. BLOCK. ME. That way, we’re both not exposing ourselves to things we don’t want to see.

So, again, to anyone I have potentially triggered, I apologize. But I will not apologize for sharing what I love with others who also like it. So please be respectful of that and just use the block function. Thank you.

Much love, Rachel ❤️

[pollylynn]

Title: Unforeseen WC: 800

“It was strictly professional curiosity.”  —Kate Beckett, Little Girl Lost (1 x 09)

Richard Castle is full of surprises, almost all of them unpleasant. Today’s surprise seems to be that he is either (a) not jealous or (b) running some kind of long, highly complex con. Both parsimony and what she knows of his attention span make explanation a infinitely more likely. He’s not jealous. It’s a rare surprise that she certainly ought to file under both unexpected and pleasant, but she’s having a hard time with that. An . . .  inexplicably hard time. 

At least she has company in her surprise, if not in her ambivalence about it. She’d very much like to kick the Captain’s shins for summon Castle to the Candela’s apartment as some kind of chaos player. She’d still be seething at the idea of him trying to stir whatever pot he’s trying to stir if the sight of him utterly flummoxed by Castle’s near-complete failure to act up, thrown down with Will, or exhibit any kind of jealousy at all were not so satisfying. Yes, the Captain is at least as surprised by this turn of events as she is. It’s some comfort. Not a lot, but some. 

The boys are low-key surprised, too. Their focus is on the case—everyone’s focus is on the case—but she sees Ryan blink hard when he invites the suddenly compliant Castle to watch Doug Ellers’ interrogation from the bleachers. She sees the slight, perplexed shake of Esposito’s head as they all watch him actually do as he’s told and go home. 

There’s only so much energy she can devote to everyone else’s surprise before she has to take a good, hard look at her own, though. Which isn’t to say that her eyes don’t linger on the phone as she considers the wisdom of calling Lanie to farm out a little more of her own. Lanie would definitely give good surprise at the news that a decidedly not-jealous Richard Castle had suddenly developed boundaries and consideration for others and—dare she say it?—a sense of professionalism. 

It’s a topsy turvy world when such a word finds itself anywhere in the neighborhood of his name, but what other explanation is there for that fact that he catches Will kissing her—and her kissing Will, she supposes—and he positively glides by the moment with a tension-diffusing remark that barely qualifies as a barb? What other explanation is there for the fact that she’s the one who brings the kiss up a second time and he’s the one who gives her an out? 

It’s a topsy turvy world in which Richard Castle is only interested in Kate Beckett professionally. 

She thinks about the way the day started, how she pretended not to notice that he not only knew her coffee order, but he’d gone blocks and blocks out of his way for the bear claws she likes. She spares a twinge of regret that she’d taken the bait and shoved said bear claw into his transparently provocative mouth. But mostly she ruminates on the second of her grand gestures—haughtily shoving that heavenly-smelling latte back into the cardboard holder as she told him just how very much she was looking forward to the end of their partnership.

And there’s the second Richard Castle–induced surprise of the day. She looks at the scatter of statements on her desk. They’re peppered with post-it notes, and the desperation of her handwriting forms a timeline. She lifts her head and her eyes track back and forth as she watches Will pacing, barking orders into the phone. She feels the weight of everything—the case, absolutely, but just her job, too. She feels the crushing weight of the day-to-day, of her past, with Will and without him, and the conversation she knows is coming. She braces her hands on the desk like the darkness of it all might pull her in and she understands that she is not looking forward to the end of anything Richard Castle–related. 

She doesn’t know where to file that surprise, either. Under sobering, maybe. Under embarrassing, probably. Under heartbreaking? That’s hyperbole, surely. 

But he is tenacious and maddeningly insightful. His asinine jokes and thoughtful gestures break up the day. They parcel out what’s hard and terrible about this work into chunks that feel . . . survivable. And it’s sad to say that “survivable” is an upgrade from where she was when Will left, when she met Will, before there was a Will at all.

She’s come to count on the fact that he has a crush—that he is infatuated with her.  She’s come to assume that at some point, she’d have to have him more or less surgically removed. But that’s not the case. He’s not jealous.

He does have crush. He is infatuated. But it’s strictly professional. 

It’s an unpleasant surprise.  

A/N: Huh. This is weird. Brain Poneh seems convinced, this time around, that the Season 1 wacky misunderstandings are genuine and cut deep. Weird. Because Castle is obviously PATHOLOGICALLY jealous, and his sudden good behavior is him at Defcon 1

image via homeofthenutty

[alittlefrenchtree]

Hello! 🥰 I really like your analyzes and opinions, I wanted to ask you if you want to do it obviously, what do you think of the path Taylor is taking, if you think his team (old or new) are making the right choices, in your opinion for him is it good (regardless of our feelings about it) to still be so focused on rwrb or do you think it's better for him to get more work as soon as possible? and do you think given that his agency is starting to post about him, is it possible an announcement is coming? Thank you ❤️

To be fair with this anon, they sent their message before the release of the actors on actors transcript. 

It doesn’t change my answer about it tho

Taylor’s personal life set aside, it’s difficult to have an opinion on his career choices, since they’ve been very little that we know of over the past year.

If we’re strictly speaking of RWRB, I don’t even know what the talk is about. There's an emmy campaign to carry so of course? Like every task in every job, every one is taking part of it according to respective availability and pertinence to the job so of course he’s a big part of interviews and panels? Like Uma, Nick, Matthew and Casey are doing the things they can as well. I’ve seen that Stephen Fry had given a written interview as well by the way?? I’ve saved it somewhere but from the few glimpses, it seems PER-FECT.

What’s better for him is what he thinks is better for him. Again, actors on actors wasn’t out when you sent this, so obviously that’s not against you but the only opinion that matters in terms of what better for him is his own. And he obviously knows how to listen to his own needs so I’m very happy for him.

And I wasn’t aware of the agency (not) posting about him was a talk before their first post about him but in my opinions, people seem to have make a big deal of not so much. A couple of important points on his topic for me are : a) the agency represents Taylor as an actor, not his movies (which are different entities with different people handling the PR for each project) and not rwrb and since most of the things he did since he’s working with him were ""small things"" related to the emmy campaign for rwrb so the content wasn’t "suited" for a instagram post when the Actors on Actors visuel was, since it’s very premium content b) still according to my opinion, the instagram account of the agency isn’t used to promote their clients, it’s used to show their clients off so more people would want to sign with them to be treated in the same way.

So I’m not sure the activity of this account is relevant of anything interesting regarding of what’s to come for Taylor. Their important work happens behind the scenes (as the majority of important work does).

Thank you for stopping by and for giving some credit to my ramblings 💜