#will try not to make the info dumps for the others quite as long- not sure how this one ended up being this long x)

[showtoonzfan]

Ganna rant about Episode 4 of Hazbin again. For starters it has the same issue that Seeing Stars did for Helluva boss, that being Loona giving Octavia advice in comparison to Husk giving Angel advice. While the characters situations are different, both Loona and Husk were the wrong characters to pick to give advice, or simply just comfort the other character. I’ve already seen some people say that Charlie or Vaggie should have been the one to cheer Angel up, and that would have made more sense. They’ve known him longer and it’s in character for them to do that. For it to be Husk, not only does it feel forced as an excuse to just hook Angel up with a boyfriend and get the shipping fuel going, but it doesn’t make sense narratively.

In Loona’s case, her situation was flawed because she just MET Octavia, didn’t know a thing about her struggles and spouts to her about how she should be thankful just because her dad is “trying”, and the show tries comparing both girl’s situations when they’re not the same. This is practically the same situation with Angel and Husk. While Husk is aware of Angel, he barley knows him. He hasn’t been at the hotel that long considering the pilot took place only a week ago. On screen, all that Husk knew about Angel was that he was a porn star who constantly flirts with everyone, him especially, and we as the audience only see that and only that when the two interact. However episode 4 claims that Husk can see right through him and know that this is all part of his persona that he displays. If we had more time with these two characters outside of flirty banter scenes, this would make more sense, but instead it’s all tell and no show, being rushed with the little time we’re given. Husk even says that the hotel residents go to him to rant their sorrows while they’re drunk and even THAT happens off screen and that’s the problem, the audience has no reason to believe that Husk knows Angel deep down or even cares enough to want to help him, in our eyes, all Angel’s been doing is sexually harassing him.

There’s no reason why these two need to have an emotional scene together, it’s unearned and unwarranted because we haven’t had enough time with these characters, just like Loona and Octavia, there’s just no purpose or buildup. I also resort back to what I’ve said before: Husk selling his soul to Alastor is not the same as Angel selling his soul to Valentino. The show tries to compare Angel and Husk’s situations and it’s just not comparable because Alastor isn’t a rapist who’s trapping Husk to sell his body and be used like a rag doll constantly. Had it been something like “you’re a drug abuser and I’m an alcoholic”- THEN that would have worked, but that’s not what we get, and this leads me to talking about why “Loser Baby” isn’t good.

Some people have already misinterpreted my opinion, so here’s a few things. Is the song in character for Husk? Yes. Is the song about Husk telling Angel not to act and just embrace himself? Yes. On its own, the song is fine outside of some distasteful lines. The CONTEXT, execution, and placement of the song is the issue. Episode 4’s whole purpose is to see just how much Angel suffers. He’s forced to work like a dog at the studio day in and day out, and he gets abused and SA’d by his boss and other demons constantly. He doesn’t have a say in anything and can never say no because he’s under contract. He can’t Fizz his way out of this one and just go “I quit”, he’s literally forced to work in the porn industry wether he likes it or not, and we see all of that on screen. We also explore just how much this affects him. They reveal some pretty dark stuff here, how Angel doesn’t even want his position as a famous porn star and is so desperate to be numb from the pain and suffering he endorses that he’ll get high constantly and let people drug him for nefarious reasons, it’s his escape. They dump ALL of that info onto us, only for this bullshit to come up:

So the writers slut shame him, call him a freak and an addict to laugh at because “haha he’s addicted to drugs and a slut”, even though we JUST got done with a scene that confirms HE DOES ALL OF THIS AS A TRUAMA RESPONSE. He said himself he does the drugs and is addicted to numb the pain, and his own flirting (while problematic) is shown to be an act of him hyper sexualizing himself due to what he goes through. It’s not excusable but it’s still a fact, and we’re supposed to LAUGH at him??? That’s what’s wrong with his character and what continues to be wrong, because Viv sees him as the butt of the joke. Every line of dialogue he has is always about sex and how we should laugh because he’s a slut, an it comes off as so distasteful and insensitive to not only people who have been abused/SA’d, but porn actors in general. We’re supposed to laugh when he talks about cock and sex, but the reason he’s doing it is so dark that we shouldn’t be laughing about it at all cause he’s a VICTIM, yet Viv thinks it’s funny. It’s so disgusting and makes my stomach twist. Angel is trapped being in a position he doesn’t even want to be in, yet his entire character revolves around comedic sex jokes, and once you figure out the reason behind said sex jokes, it feels so wrong.

And this is why Loser Baby doesn’t work. Aside from everything else I’ve already said, It doesn’t line up with what Angel is going through, it doesn’t line up with the rest of the episode. If you wanted Angel to have this arc about realizing he doesn’t need to stick to his persona, fine, but you should have done it in a different episode. This is why Husk comes off as telling him to just suck it up and stop whining rather than what he’s actually trying to say. It looks bad with how they executed it, it just looks like he’s telling an SA victim to get over it and stop whining and what’s worse is they compare their situations when it’s not the same. You literally have a scene of Angel telling Husk he lets people drug him, and not even a minute later Husk is calling him a loser. That’s the issue. The show doesn’t know how to read the room, build character relationships slower, is just so incredibly tone deaf and is hypocritical. We’re supposed to feel bad for Angel cause he’s sexualized to the maxes and is having trauma responses of that, but then we’re also supposed to laugh at him and his sex jokes while also finding him hot. Pick a fucking side Vivienne, the show wants to have its cake and eat it too and look where that’s gotten us. The writing is a fucking atrocious mess and yet it had so much potential if Viv actually cared enough to take Angel seriously, instead of just desperately wanting to give him a boyfriend, and a rushed arc where he magically feels better in the end.

[ghost-bxrd]

Been mulling over Titans Tower and it's really interesting to me how it's treated in Fanon as compared to how the events transpired in canon. it's a really fun topic! Honestly, the original writing in canon is DOGSHITE but not for the usual reasons people cite.

Here's what does make sense in canon but is largely ignored (this is using canon characterisations at the time): First, it's all about the whole Titans team, not just Tim. They really downplay his death a lot, did not put up his statue or honour him whatsoever. Plus the hero community tends to victim-blame him a fuckton. Jason is showing that his death could've happened to anyone. Second, Tim and Jason are just two yearish apart—Jay died at 15, Tim becomes Robin at 13—so those Titans are more like his colleagues than anything else; he's not some older guy beating the shit outta them. Third, Tim’s indifference to Jason's comments and his cockiness about being a better Robin are pretty on-brand for his early portrayal as Robin. (I think fanon Tim derives a lot of his characteristics from his Red Robin run, which is valid as well! But here in particular we have Robin Tim... who... was... uh... a bit of an asshole when he was written back then and the HUBRIS on that man? Immaculate.)

What still makes this absolutely dog shit is the dialogue and how Jason is pouring his heart out to someone who he doesn't really care about. Jason... just doesn't operate this way... Why's he trauma dumping on... tim... ???? It makes no sense whatsoever because Jason really is someone who'd keep those vulnerabilities to himself. Why would he open up to... CANON TIM??? He makes scathing remarks when faced with Bruce and Dick because he knows the knife twists then and at he cares about their reaction. But not tim ????? Canon UTRH doesn't even mention Tim ????? ???? So in the end it's still shit imo.

I also find the use of Pit Madness in fanon super interesting, despite it not being canon. It's used to propel the Titan's Tower incident, which fascinates me because it shows how people are willing to work around its flaws to maintain consistent characterization in their works (which is !!! cool !!)

It's so interesting how many other incidents that do occur in canon aren't as well known as this one aren't given much thought. But this one is and it's interesting how people try to work with it regardless of it's flaws originally!

I'd really love to hear your opinions about it and how flexible you are with the Titans tower incident! :) How do you work with your Jason and your Tim? because it's cool to hear your analysis etc etc

Hooo boi okay i was planning on replying to this earlier but this deserves a proper, thought out response (which I’m shite at but I’m trying here. Words are hard.)

For one, I wholeheartedly agree with the whole trauma dumping thing.

Obviously we all have different tastes in media and I know there are quite a few people who enjoyed the confrontation with Tim, which is totally fine, but personally… yeah, not my thing.

I got into the Batman/batfam fandom via fanfic, so my first introduction was some version of Titans Tower I believe. I was super intrigued by the characters and the tidbits of lore sprinkled throughout that I immediately began reading up on them and digging through the internet for more info and background story on them. Which then quickly evolved into the part where my adoration for Jason’s character began and a short phase where I absolutely despised early canon Tim.

Like— all the victim blaming. He seriously couldn’t mention Jason without adding something derogatory about getting himself killed, which sat so, so wrong with me. Not to mention the Titans just accepting a new Robin right off the bat and joining in blaming Jason for his own death. I’m pretty sure that was the point where I swore off comics for a long while and decided to live off fanon 🤣

And then Jason’s part in the Titans Tower incident. I think part of how weird the canon event was is due in part to how the writers fumbled to depict trauma? Or maybe they just outright hated him because I know a lot of people back then despised Jason and his run as Robin.

Whatever the reason, I think I genuinely cringed when he revealed the Walmart Robin costume he was wearing. And then the trauma dumping.

Jason is smart enough to know Tim wouldn’t care about his grievances. I mean- dude just broke into his hideout to attack him, I think Tim’s about as done with Jason as with any other criminals, regardless of his past. And all that is proven by Tim fighting back tooth and nail without pause. He doesn’t even react to the accusation of the missing statue in Jason’s honor. Like, he genuinely doesn’t seem to care. And why would he? They don’t know each other.

And yeah maybe he was trying to beat some sense into Tim (which is still wrong but— vigilantes I guess? Idk) and make him quit Robin, but Jason’s also smart enough to know that Robins don’t quit easily. And then, as soon as Tim is down for the count and can’t keep fighting, Jason leaves. Just like that. No actual murder attempt, no kicking-while-he’s-down (at least as far as I remember).

It makes no sense. What would Jason be gaining from that encounter? Why would he blame the kid that replaced him and not the guy that did the replacing? Hell, it would make more sense for him to go after the Titans than Tim. Not the mention him casually doubting Tim’s talents when he must have done some background checks on him.

It’s why I like the idea of Pit Madness I guess, and that Jason actually went to the tower with the intent to kill. Because that way the entire thing wouldn’t seem so… pointless.

As for how flexible I am with the Titans Tower storyline, it really depends on the route people choose to explore. But I’m a huge sucker for the “Jason was Tim’s Robin” trope where there’s at least a mild amount of hero worship going on. 👁️ Oh, and happy endings. I can’t deal with tragedies.

But yeah these are my thoughts on it. Obviously no hate to whoever enjoyed the comic mentioned above 💚 we’ve all got different things we resonate with after all~

[sailorkamino]

random (soft) bad batch headcannons

a/n: a lot of these are based on the batch being neurodivergent!

• from oldest to youngest is 99, hunter, wrecker, crosshair, tech

• tech was bullied the most as a cadet since he was the smallest (and mouthiest)

• plus w/o his goggles he can't see well enough to fight back

• his brothers wouldn't let him go anywhere alone

• tech and crosshair have the same dry, sarcastic sense of humor and find each other the funniest batcher

• hunter and wrecker disagree

• if they're in a situation where they have separate rooms hunter always shares w/ crosshair (aka the quietest)

• wrecker and tech share since they don't mind each other's mess

• crosshair or wrecker is always the 1st to notice when hunter is overstimulated

• wrecker is the most emotionally intelligent

• the batch have a rule to never call wrecker dumb or stupid because he's actually really insecure about his intelligence (which is ridiculous, do u know how smart a demolitions expert is?? he's a himbo but he's not an idiot)

• tech prefers info dumping to crosshair cuz he's the best listener

• crosshair loves all his brothers the same but he has a soft spot for tech

• crosshair gets really mad at wrecker for interrupting/ignoring tech cuz it makes tech feel annoying

• then wrecker explains he doesn't cut him off cuz he finds tech annoying, he just has a short attention span

• wrecker likes to see the best in people and can be quite trusting, something that stresses out his protective brothers

• wrecker will physically carry tech away from his work bench if he's not sleeping

• crosshair is the only one who can lie to hunter and get away w/ it bc his heart rate doesn't change

• most of the boys can ignore shit talk but wrecker is somewhat sensitive, making his brothers very protective

• maker help you if you hurt wrecker's feelings

• crosshair and tech would always get hunter to comfort him so they could plot revenge

• losing eyesight is crosshairs worst fear, watching it happen to wrecker broke his heart (he definitely cried on his big brother's chest when they were alone)

• even if they try to hide it hunter can always hear when someone's crying

• hunter tries to stay strong for his batch 24/7 but if he needs comfort, he goes to wrecker

• big guy gives the BEST hugs

• since they were raised very isolated from regs they missed out on a lot of clone culture, they don't speak mando'a

• wrecker loves cuddles!

• hunter and tech have sensory issues so they don't always want to be touched but they usually don't mind it

• as long as it doesn't get in the way of tech's work he'll chill in pretty much any position so wrecker will just use him as a teddy bear

• tech: *reading in bed*

wrecker: *climbs into tech's bunk wordlessly, puts his head against his stomach and wraps around him*

tech: *doesn't stop reading as he pats wrecker's shoulder*

• crosshair is always cold so he doesn't actually mind cuddling but he pretends to hate it

• wrecker hates sparring with crosshair cuz he bites

• crosshair has an oral fixation and used to chew on his shirts w/o realizing it

• would get very embarassed/defensive if anyone brought it up

• tech made lula from scrap fabrics courtesy of 99 when wrecker kept having nightmares

• anytime hunter hears crosshair audibly laughing his stomach drops cuz that usually means someone got hurt (he's a physical comedy guy, what can i say?)

• the hardest crosshair has ever laughed is when wrecker, wearing rocket boots made by tech, flew into a wall

• cross and wrecker are the most playful but in different ways

[ravenstargames]

✦ Lost in Limbo Demo — Feedback gathering!

Hello everyone!

Here we are today with a quite long post about the feedback we have received since our demo became available this past Wednesday. First of all, we want to thank you all for more than 700 downloads on itch, and more than 1000 on Steam. That's crazy! 💜

82 of you have completed our demo survey, helping this feedback gathering be way easier! We'll start with the non-spoiler stuff, and move to spoiler territory so those of you who have not been able to try out the demo yet can rest easy!

Before we start, however—

THE DEMO *HAS* 7 CGS!

If you are missing one, then it means you can obtain it by playing once more! We'll make sure to highlight this note everywhere, as some people have been confused about Amon/Envy not having a CG, or not having a scene to shine, which they do! We apologize for not making this super clear, as it's noted on our itch.io page, but under "Features", when it should have been everywhere and in big bold letters!

✦ THE GATHERED FEEDBACK WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN OUR EXTENDED FREE DEMO

As of now, no major changes will be done to our first demo, sadly because there's no time. We are focusing on getting our Kickstarter out there and on creating high-quality content that may help us fund the full game. The first thing we'll work on if our Kickstarter is successful is the Extended Free Demo, which will see all the feedback you've given us implemented!

✦ OVERALL ENJOYMENT OF THE DEMO

More than 96% of players who did our survey enjoyed (or greatly enjoyed!) our demo, which is fantastic! We have to take this with a grain of salt, because those who didn't have a good time probably didn't finish playing it. Those who didn't enjoy the demo that much left their personal feedback, so we are super grateful for the effort of sharing their thoughts even if they didn't have fun.

✦ PACING OF THE DEMO

Most players thought the pacing was good! Some noted that the demo starts off slow (which we kind of knew—more on that below!), while others thought the demo rushes a bit to show all the love interests.

Me, the writer, and our editor Allie, knew this, so it doesn't come up as a surprise. Just to give you all some insight, as surely not all of you have been following us since we started posting about LiL; our original demo was way longer than what it ended up being. We ended up rewriting and scrapping a lot of that because it was too much work for the four of us. There were a lot more sprites and backgrounds to work on, and we decided we wanted to focus on the love interests (as they are the thing that will decide whether players want to support us or not) even if that meant the pacing wasn't perfect.

We didn't want the demo development to last another year, so we had to give a bit of story context in our actual demo without info-dumping absolutely everything, and we had to get to the love interests "fast" enough for people not to get bored while not going "fast" enough for it to feel too rushed.

Whether we did a good job or not is up to the players, and of course this feedback will help us to improve the pacing in our Extended Demo. I can only hope we have the chance to work on it to show our real vision of the demo and prologue and implement the feedback given to us when it comes to the writing / pacing, without the pressure of getting ourselves out there as soon as possible to find out if we'll be able to support ourselves and our work or not!

✦ THE TONE

The vast majority of players enjoyed the way the demo stablishes the tone of the game! Those who didn't thought the serious tone being mixed with the funny / quirky moments wasn't well done, which is completely valid!

✦ THE PLOT

93% of surveyed players thought the plot was well stablished! Luckily, there's no "I understood nothing", so that's a good sign so far! Some players noted that they felt lost but that feeling lost was the point (which it was!).

One player suggested to have the definition of important words somewhere, which will be the purpose of the Compendium in the full game! If you have played Alaris' , Crescence has a similar feature where you can place your mouse on top of a highlighted word and get an explanation of it! That's something we want to implement for the full game.

✦ ASPECTS PEOPLE LIKED ABOUT THE DEMO, AND WHAT CAN BE IMPROVED

Players generally liked the art, the story, and the characters, which is great!

People seemed to agree on wanting MORE CHOICES, and we were given advice on some parts of the current demo that would benefit of an extra choice or a choice to begin with.

We'll keep this in mind for the Extended Demo, which should give you all more time to enjoy the flavor choices and other aspects of our choice systems. Also, some of you wished for a button to turn off timed choices, which...

...Is something we decided we wanted way before starting to code the demo. Our UI artist, Alice, implemented this in our configuration screen mock-up, but I ended up being unable to program this feature. I didn't know how to do it, and with my newbie abilities it seemed impossible to achieve, so we decided to wait for the Extended demo so I had time to ask around, read, and grasp the best way to do this. I'm sorry T_T.

✦ AS FOR THE CHARACTERS (MC included)...

And this is spoiler territory!

Some people disliked Amon's southern accent (which he's very sad about), some people felt really betrayed by Gael (poor thing), and some wanted to push Envy down a set of stairs (completely valid).

Some didn't like Pride because he's "an old fart" (he's the God of Old Farts, in fact), some wanted for the MC to be able to be more aggressive towards characters like Raeya, and some thought Ara was too nice, Xal too goofy, and that took away the seriousness of the situation.

These are not the majority (everyone had their favorite and their least liked, but you all seemed happy with our cast!) but these opinions are completely valid and we wanted to highlight them.

River was liked enough for a 3~ hour demo, which we are happy about.

The majority of players thought they were relatable and liked the fact that they had a personality outside of choices; others thought there should've been more choices to really differentiate the possible personalities you can choose for the MC, and others noted it was hard to self-insert.

River is not written to be a completely blank slate, which is something we note in our Tumblr Masterpost but that should've been added to the itch page. We apologize for the confusion this may have generated. We wanted (and want) to create a balance between River being a proper character and for it to still allow some kind of self-insert and personalization. We know this will be difficult, but it's something we want to work on and we are confident we can achive a correct balance.

In the Extended Demo and full game, you'll have a chance to personalize some of River's tastes to match your own MC or your self-insert. For example, River plays the guitar, but you'll be able to select whether they're good at it, if they took classes, if they.....suck at it, or if they play another instrument.

This will, of course, only happen in the "flavor" and "personality" choices. Sadly, you won't be able to choose to a T what the MC does at any given time.

And that's all for now! I hope this post has been informative, and please don't hesitate to direct more feedback our way to help us improve. We are still reading your asks, gathering info and feedback from players and other devs, and thinking about the best way to bring those suggestions to life.

Thank you all so so much for the incredible support; for gifting us your time with reviews, feedback, or encouraging words. We hope we can keep working hard and bringing Lost in Limbo's demo to its full potential!

[extrajigs]

The Atlantic's immune system yay!! BIG info dump below!

Basically when the blood ocean was created it was of course a conversion of all water within the Atlantic to living human blood. The blood of the caster to be exact. This came with the full mix of blood, not just the blood cells themselves. Plasma, immune cells, and even a small percentage of stem cells. For a short time after its revision, a vial of blood from the Atlantic would be indistinguishable from blood drawn from an average person. However while most of it DID decay and rot away it was eventually replaced! For the sanguine sea has a will to live all on its own and it will do what it has to to keep itself alive. Let's just say that magic radiation gave it a boost to adapt before it all would have just turned to sludge!

Also think of this as like a part one as it is not ALL of the bits and bobs.

The Main Gist

The immune system of the Atlantic has undergone slight changes from what goes on within the human body. While in the early days of the ocean, the cells within gorged and swarmed the masses of dead sea life, nowadays all that old death has long since sunk to the anoxic depths. Only the few top meters of blood hold onto the oxygen that can be grabbed directly from the air. This topmost layer is the bastion that these fellas defend and replenish, large colonies working in sync to make sure fresh blood is always around. Thus they are responsible for the bounty of the blood sea, as much as they try to eliminate it. Anything that has different DNA than the blood sea gets a not so warm welcome from it.

1. Shards

These are the scouts of the system, using two fins they meander through the blood at pretty reasonable speeds. The only senses the colonies have reacquired are those of scent and touch, the former for searching out anything strange in the blood column and the latter for when they bump into it. These guys are ill prepared to fight aside from a few acidic tendrils, but once detecting a foreign body they’ll turn tail and rush back to their main colonial swarm. If the poor animal they found out is lucky, it will have time to turn and flee before the cavalry arrives.

2. Marrow Worms

These are not the cavalry, in fact if you were to even poke these guys they are more likely to disintegrate into a plume of sadness. But do not think them worthless for their pitiful offense, for these are SUPPORTIVE WORMS! Being that the colony's individuals are derived from former immune cells, they never regained the ability to self replicate. If they were injured or simply degraded due to age, they could never repair or regenerate the cells they lost within their bodies. Luckily the marrow worm is here to save the day!

Let's say a shard is wounded, its fin torn from its body, whilst it is in no danger of bleeding out, it is in danger of becoming useless to the sea. The solution is that when the immune bodies of the sea take damage, they release a powerful chemical signal to call for aid. This draws in the marrow worms who will swarm the individual and spread their bodies over them like a hot slice of butter. The marrow worms function as mobile stem cells, sacrificing their own bodies to grow into the parts needed for the other members of the colony. Most will have every part of their body replaced throughout their lifetime. And there is a philosophical idea in there somewhere but it's time to get onto the stabby members of this band!

3. Tacks

These guys tend to stay by the main hubs of the colony, defending them from any threats that manage to get by. However they are quite eager to zip off through the blood once called upon by a scouting Shard. Their main weapon is a stabbing keratinized spike through which they inject a powerful mix of digestive enzymes. These same enzymes are used within the trailing tendrils they use to ensnare smaller intruders. With sheer force of numbers they attempt to use this acid to kill any animals they find, though luckily they are lacking in stamina so can be outrun if spotted early enough.

4. Hubs

These function as the housing for the most precious members of the colony, the marrowcores. They provide coverage for these most delicate structures as well as pumping fresh oxygen filled blood from the surface over the tendrils of marrow. Slowly swimming through the ocean they are eternally accompanied by huge swarms of supplementary organisms that feed and defend them at all costs. And with good reason! The hubs allow for the birth of new marrow worms and they are shepherded around as needed through the sea.

5. The Marrowcores

These are the true center of the ocean. Long spindled frames of bone from which long strands of marrow grow and waft. These feathered segments can break off and become new marrow worms, but the main job of these cores is to mass produce blood on a nigh unimaginable scale. So proficient are they, that that topmost layer of the ocean can be completely replaced every two months. Pretty important piece, but these individuals are the strangest of the whole lot, continuously losing and replacing parts yet holding onto some vague memory amongst themselves. Weird.

And that’s the first go of it! I hope ya like these fun lil guys!

[malcontentonline]

your time travel au is so cool

Using this ask as another opportunity to info dump about it thanks anon!

I've been drawing some of Gai's main students in the au recently! My boi ends up with a proto-genin team :>

All of them are considered hopeless by the Uchiha in one way or another but here are their vibes individually:

Ichigo - (9) the youngest, he’s a talentless nobody who’s only survived this long through luck alone, he is extremely bad at controlling his chakra to the point that he’s not even competent at most jutsu. He’s ok at fighting with kunai but that’s about it. His lack of skill isn’t the only reason he’s been put on Gai’s squad however, he also finds it impossible to connect with others and since the sharingan awakens through loss an orphan with no connections in the world has a low chance of ever even getting a single Tomoe. Personally wise he’s a reckless troublemaker, always up for a challenge and always happy to learn new techniques, he’s just never had a proper teacher as he’s far too much trouble for most to handle.

Yuki - (13) the oldest, he’s a quite skilled ninja, mastering multiple jutsu from different chakra natures, he would have had a bright future in the clan if it wasn’t for the fact he was born with very poor eyesight that has only gotten worse over the years, it’s unlikely he would be able to properly use a regular sharingan even if he ever manifested it so he believes his only hope is to gain a mangekyou sharingan - since its powers are based on the individual he may be able to use them with his limited vision. (Also since he’s already going blind he would not mind the cost of it) Personally wise he’s quite shy and reserved - even at times a little naive. He finds communicating with others confusing and difficult, leading him to usually try copying the vibe of the people he is around.

Awaki - (11) pretty much the brain cell of the group. She was an incredibly talented ninja, she prided herself on her nin and genjutsu abilities (she’d even invented several jutsus). That all changed when, at the age of Nine, she was in a fight and lost one of her hands. She was completely devastated - and to make a bad situation worse - she hadn’t managed to activate her sharingan like she assumed she would have. This situation led the uchiha elders to believe she may have an emotional threshold for activation that is far higher than normal people. Since she wasn’t able to weave the complex hand signs she used to be known for she was encouraged to retire, but she refused to let it stop her, she taught herself how to weave simple jutsu with one hand and now using scrolls is the main way she fights (as it allows her to prepare attacks before hand and simply unseal them when she needs them). Personally wise she’s very serious and strict with herself and others, she also absolutely hates people treating her like she can’t take care of herself. Over all though she is very good at keeping calm and level headed in stressful situations.

Here are some doodles of the squad:

[quitealotofsodapop]

I wonder what would have happened with Wukong never gave MK up, but he was still a cub at the beginning of the series. Like, maybe MK wasn't quite a infant but still young enough to be considered a kid, like 9-12 years range, and Wukong being a good parent decided to enroll him into school under a disguise... except a school field trip results in MK getting hit in the crossfire of the newly freed DBK and a wild Dragon Girl/delivery driver (she convinced her parents it'd be a good idea for her to get to experience life like a normal, nonroyal peasant) who is picking a fight with him for messing with her home

There's one really cute fic I'm reading called "A Little Hero With A Big Destiny" where MK is just a little kid during the series while the others stay the same age. Tang and Pigsy are amazing parents, and most of the villains/threats basically go "thats a baby, I ain't fighting that".

I suppose In the case of Wukong deciding to keep MK though; you'd end up with a situation like the Post Jttw Stone Egged au where Wukong is a happy parent with his hyperactive cub.

In the absence of his mate or any other kids though, Wukong would be more protective of his Little Heaven and rarely lets Xiaotian out of his sight. MK grows up with the Stalwarts and Cousin Nezha acting as a support system. Eventually one day he starts acting up like Wukong once did and demands to go to school! Wukong can only sigh and try to figure out an easy way to ease his Prince into the modern world.

Mr Tang, teaching assistant and Monkey King-fanatic, ends up becoming the teacher/tutor for a little monkey demon nicknamed "MK" who's preparing to enter the school system. MK's parent is the worrying type and makes sure to check in every hour or so. Lessons do get a little side-tracked though, as MK is as obsessed with the Monkey King as Tang is!

So Tang starts bringing MK and his parent (a Mr Qi) to Pigsy's for lunchtime. Pigsy quickly gains new regulars, even if the older monkey demon only enjoys cooled foods. MK and Tang jointly info-dump for hours over the Journey to the West, as long as they remember to do actual school work.

Pigsy has a teenage delivery driver named Mei who MK quickly becomes attached to as an older sister-figure, she's so cool! Though, he wonders why she looks human but smells like a dragon? Wukong taught MK that it isn't polite to ask such things cus it could be a personal thing, so MK doesn't bring it up. MK is still trying to figure out how to beat Mei's high score in Super Monkey Mech.

Then one day when Mr Qi agrees to let MK join Mei on a delivery drive, the two suddenly come speeding home with MK holding a golden staff above his head.

Mr Qi starts screaming when he recognises the staff in MK's hands.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Would I be the asshole for asking my suicidal girlfriend not to vent with me? First ask here, be warned for heavy topics about the above situation. Putting an emoji for easy finding. 🦐

I am a polyamorous person (22nb) with my long distance girlfriend (22f) of about 1 year. I love her deeply, and we have known each other for a long time when I used to go to school in person with her. I also have an in person queer platonic partner (22nb) who lives with me currently and has been with me for about 3 years. Both of my partners are suicidal and self harm, though the partner who is living with me has luckily seemed to improve a lot through being able to spend time with someone who cares for them constantly. My girlfriend...sadly has not gotten the same chance, since she moved long before we got together and has only her family to keep her stable (who have proven before this point that they are pretty terrible support systems, when they actively encouraged her self harming to become worse).

Luckily, I have had this rodeo before due to a majority of my friends struggling with this sort of problem, and when she began saying things in my dms that pointed towards depression and suicidality, I was quick to try to help her get into therapy. Whether or not this therapist is really the best is sort of iffy, as the therapist hasn't worked with her on a lot despite over a month of them working together, so...she hasn't gotten much work towards helping to change things and has felt somewhat stuck. I know she needs to probably get a new therapist, but due to not having insurance at the moment it's not an easy situation to just change. Since things have not gotten to improve, she...has still felt horrible most days will come to me in DMs to tell me how bad it is. Which, you know, should be fine, but it's the *way* she talks about it-- it's in a very vent heavy, far too much triggering information, Everything Is Horrible and there is no way to fix it and I should Die, way.

I have learned boundaries in regards to my own mental health due to just how often I have encountered things, and luckily, my other partner is great about it! They don't talk about their issues with suicidality all that much which can make me worried at times, but when they *do*, it's very much a situation of them bringing up how they feel and then us moving forwards to do something distracting or something that will help them. Instead of an info dump of Horrible Information That Makes Me Fear For Their Life, it's just. Moving to make sure they're doing better and changing things, identifying why certain feelings are feeling bad. But with my girlfriend, these topics come on suddenly without warning, are spoken in such a way that I feel like 1. I can't move on or change anything to help 2. I don't have a way to respond that will end up doing anything but make her feel worse. I feel at a complete loss of how to handle these things that she's just throwing on me. I haven't mentioned yet to her how bad these ventings make me feel because I'm worried it would make her internalize it and worsen her issues, though I know I do probably need to communicate it with her. I feel that she may just not be quite as mature as my other partner in how to handle feelings like this yet(most likely due to lack of support systems), and I WANT her to be able to talk about her feelings. I'm her girlfriend, after all, a little bit of emotional labor is always going to be a part of supporting people that close to you. Just...not in a way that will end up ultimately making both me and her feel like shit, and get her in a worse direction than before.

She eventually will be moving in with us next year, and I am wondering if I should try to wait to talk about it until then when she has more of a support to lean against, or should I try to figure it out right now. Right now could leave her...hurt and much more vulnerable, which would be a real risk considering the scenario. Would I be the asshole for telling her that she needs to work on how she talks about these topics, and that I can't have her continuing to put her emotions on me like this?

What are these acronyms?

[fuck-customers]

Hi there, I wrote in this ask:

https://www.tumblr.com/fuck-customers/754579244210946048/why-the-hell-are-customers-so-adamant-about?source=share

Just wanted to follow up on that. Unfortunately no, we can't change names in the system ourselves, only managers can do that. I think a big part of the reason I disliked giving out my name so much is because I'm trans and when I started this job wasn't out at work. So when customers asked for my name I had a 'aw fuck not this shit, I don't wanna say THAT name but I can't out myself' moment every time. Realised later I don't give a fuck abt potential douchebags anymore and am now out at work. My name has since been changed to my preferred one in the system thanks to one of the lovely managers taking it upon himself to change it 🥰

As for reporting incidents, there's no point. Sadly, I work for a big corporate club that could give less of a fuck about its staff so long as they make money at our expense. We've had incidents with stalkers, someone publically mastrubating in front of a staff member (when I found out my work did nothing about that one I was fucking livid), hell one of the bosses harasses employees outside of work (nothing explicit, he pushes the boundaries of what he can get away with, and get away with it he does). All of this happens, is reported, and my work does nothing. The Facebook stalker is actually a regular that's been creeping on people for YEARS now. I've worked here for 4 years, and he's been doing it longer then that. Staff have quit because of him, reported his shit behaviour. My work just shrugs and puts up with it because 'oh well he's giving us money'. I think I've personally dealt with these people more then my work has (I've threatened one guy that was trying to solicit my very much underage coworker with taking him out into the carpark and kicking his ass myself if he didn't fuck off after ringing managers multiple times and reporting his continued advances only to be told they couldn't kick him out because he 'hadn't actually done anything' 🙄, I warn the female staff and keep them away from Facebook stalker creep because I refuse to make them put up with him; shit like that). It sucks and it's an awful system, but it's unfortunately how my work functions. I only stay because I can get away with doing the bare minimum and no other jobs available right now would be any better.

So yeah, shit sucks. Overall takeaway: customers, just leave staff the fuck alone. We aren't here to be your friends, we just get paid to put up with you. Don't ask for personal info, stop trauma dumping on us. You're one of hundreds of faces we see every day and I can guarantee with almost certainty you're nothing but the occasional 'that one customer who did X' stories to us. If you wanna make friends, go to a bar, or a meet up. Don't go to your local grocery store and insist yourself upon the employees. (Again, like I said in my first post, this isn't directed at everyone, and there definitely are customers at my work I love seeing and talking to, but that's a total different thing to these types of customers). Sorry this ended up being so long, have a good one :)

Sorry about the name thing.

It would be a shame if facebook guys name got mentioned on the r/creepypm subreddit. BUT ABSOLUTELY DON'T DO THIS! Just saying it would be a shame if it did happen.

-Rodney

[yurtb0y]

GNAWING ON THAT OC GIVE ME INFORMATION

YESYES OKAY!!! *inhale* SO.

(this all might change later since he's still pretty new)

General info I guess (haven't fleshed out his backstory much yet.)

was a Catholic priest before the AM takeover (obvis)

he's roughly in his mid/late 30's- early 40's

he doesn't have a name yet because I'm stupid.

He lived in the United States when AM attacked. He was born in Poland and moved to the US in his mid 20's. (probably someplace like Texas or Utah... )

probably gay or in some way queer but DEEPLY in denial. (also in my mind IHNMAIMS takes place in the 60s/70s somewhere around that time so like... y'know... also makes room for the religious guilt plotline.)

Kinda stopped believing in god after long enough in AM's complex because like really who wouldn't. throwback to Ted's entire spiel about AM being god y'know the one.( Ik that wasn't meant litterally but the sentiment still works.)

As for his relationship with the other survivors and his torture.

Ellen- He'd most likely be less harsh on her and not really like.... *ahem*. use her. He'd always been a pretty compassionate man he was never like the freaky creep kind of priest/pastor. He can most likely sympathize with her past a bit as well- or atleast as much of it as she's willing to share which I imagine isn't much.

Nimdok- This mf is Polish. He does not like Nimdok. (If we're talking game Nimdok which is what I'm basing this... AU, I guess? off of.) I don't think they'd actively beef but they'd prolly just try to avoid eachother within the group. In terms of book Nimdok I think there's a slight possibility they could've gotten along. Honestly for Nimdok like... (Idr if where I saw this I think it was from a fic somewhere) but I like the idea that he wasn't actually a n*zi but since it's mentioned his memory is fucked AM just convinced him and the others he was so pin them against him and fuck with him some more. idk man allied mastercomputer behaviour. It also makes me dread thinking about him a little less.

Gorrister- Surprisingly, I think they'd get along. Even if they don't share a religion I think they'd find solace in confiding their guilts in eachother, esp with Gorrister's guilt over what happened with Glynis-- also since it's mentioned in the book Gorrister used to be an activist (which I think is more interesting than his trucker backstory from the game so I'm sticking with the activist storyline.) I feel like he's the least likely to be quite as homophobic as the others (cause let's be real here.) so maybe. MAYBE. He'd eventually try talking about some of those buried up feelings with Gorrister. Unlikely though. Overall I think they could be the closest thing to friends I can imagine with their situation.

Benny- I think they could've gotten along pre-monkey'd, (For Benny I like to combine his book and game backstory in my mind so tldr he was a professor and was later fired when it was discovered he was gay and then the enlisted in the military and killed 3 people. boom.) I think Priest oc would've respected them but after the monkey moment I feel like he'd kinda treat him like the family dog just as the other survivors do.

Ted- Ohhh boy. I have some words I'm not sure I'm allowed to use on Tumblr. They'd either get along or beef or some secret third evil and more sinister thing. Toxic without the yaoi. They make eachother worse. I need to map my thoughts out better before I write anything about them out. giggles but not in a good way.

wow I really used this as an excuse to dump about my ideas for the other survivors too huh.

Whilst I haven't sat down to ponder how AM would fuck with him I do know I wanna play off the theme of guilt somehow. I can imagine him being ripped apart by wolves for some reason that's just been like stuck in my head the whole time I've been typing all this out. Also maybe almost something with sacrificial themes? I'm kinda thinking about how Benny's part in the game ends for inspo on that it's hitting the right vibe. Please don't cancel me I'm Polish and all my family is Catholic.

Annon I hoped you liked reading this cause I had fun writing it. Also here he is again for anyone who's seeing this but didn't see the og post.

also I'm SO open to name suggestions for this freak cause I've got NOTHING.

[demonslayedher]

Things that ran through my head while watching this episode:

--Keh! I, the Bird Fic writer, automatically enjoy Ginko's presence. What an unabashed device she is for info-dumping. Tanjiro totally forgets about Kotetsu long to soak in the oddity of the bird being so full of contempt for him (yet she perches on Tanjiro's shoulder anyway--what a perfectly condescending crow). Keh! When this came out my friend and I had so much imitating her. Keh!

--When it comes to noticing foils, Tanjiro essentially tried to repeat what he did when he saw Genya abusing a child, but was shocked by how he was no where close to breaking Muichiro's bone, let alone injuring him at all. Tanjiro did a lot of talking with his hands here--first trying to intervene, then defending Nezuko (which he actually did get a reaction out of Muichiro), and finally that "no, no key for you!" bratty slap on the hand. And that bratty slap is so cute. XD I love that Tanjiro is so conflicted with "Yes, but you deserve scolding!! I cannot quite figure out why, you need to be scolded!" So different from his usual to-the-point brotherly scolding. Muichiro is an enigma to him.

--This is going slightly off topic, but I appreciate how Kimetsu Academy dives into subtle aspects of the characters, like Muichiro being so callous. It's not just a matter of amnesia, he really is just like that and he's unaware of it, even though his desire to help people--and prioritization of that--makes him good at heart. Although he takes pleasure in being a jerk to Gyokko, to anyone else, he's just cuttingly straightforward, memories or not. Yuichiro might have influence how deep he cuts, but the straightforwardness was always his own.

--I like how Tanjiro's progression is compared somewhat realistically against the Pillars. Yes, he gets much stronger fighting Yoriichi Type Zero, but it takes him much longer to evade the strikes that Muichiro did so with ease; and Muichiro already decreased the difficulty level by damaging the doll. Likewise with Pillars vs. Upper Moons, I like how Rengoku Alone vs. Upper Three shows how outmatched even Pillars usually are, Uzui + a lot of help + Tanjiro's mark unlocked vs. Upper Six shows how hard they had to scrape by to get that accomplishment (and Uzui considered himself less talented than a Pillar like Muichiro in the first place), Muichiro The Genius + a mark thanks to Tanjiro vs. Upper Five, Mitsuri + lots of help (including from Tanjiro who has a mark and already has gained experience fighting Upper Six) + a mark thanks to Tanjiro vs. Upper Four is all set up as believable progression that the ongoing success of the Corp vs. the Upper Moons truly is thanks to the full Corp's efforts thus far.

--Which brings me to what Tanjiro says to Kotetsu about how he may not see an end to Kibutsuji Muzan in his lifetime, but he has to entrust that will to everyone else in the Corp. T H I S. This is what I love about Kimetsu no Yaiba and about Tanjiro as the hero.

--Backing up a second and appreciating other Corp (and Corp adjacent) contributions, Yoriichi. We know he made an immeasurable contribution by teaching Breath technique, and eventually, that his techniques passed down by the Kamado family eventually contribute heavily to Muzan's defeat. It makes me curious how and when Yoriichi Type Zero was made--was it while Yoriichi was a Corp member, and he was embarrassed about it but accepted it as a means of teaching, and he had Kotetsu's ancestor follow him around like an observing puppy? Was it after Yoriichi was ousted and the Corp was near extinguished with Kokushibo going after the Oyakata-sama of that day and such, and an old Yoriichi fanboy made it out of a perceived need to replace what was lost? Anyway, what I especially thought during the episode was "Ufotable sure played around with the background music sounds for Yoriichi Type Zero---ohhhhh, I wonder if this is just the first iteration of a Yoriichi leitmotif???"

--Wait, wait, backing up more. I remember what I really wanted to say: The true testament to Muichiro's skill is that somehow his hair never gets chopped off.

--Ok, so Kotetsu-kun.

--As a character, he leaves the deepest impression for his ruthless training and spitting fire. At his core, though, Kotetsu is just a scared kid who has lost a family member he looked up to, and with his lack of skill, he kind of knows that his family legacy is going to end with him because he can't uphold it.

--I WANT SO MUCH FOR HE AND SENJURO TO BECOME PENPALS

--Tanjiro, please, introduce them

--While it's easy to look most as extreme cases like Kanao and Muichiro getting Tanjiro'd and having it fundamentally shake them to their core and change their whole outlook on life, Kotetsu is also somebody who got Tanjiro'd in one very monumental interaction. Ok, almost everybody gets that moment with Tanjiro, I know, but for Kotetsu, that was a conversation he will probably carry with him for the rest of his life. It gave him the strength to overcome his feelings of inadequacy and bravely face that he has a daunting mission, he might not even accomplish. I'm just so proud of him for declaring that he's going to emotionally prepare himself to see the damage, and even though it's a shock, he's able to overcome it.

--But also, he is just a kid who tends to think in extreme kid ways, and now Muichiro is the scum of the earth. It's also a very funny spin on the mean little boxing coach trope, because usually when a shonen hero encounters a new master at this point in their shonen style hero's journey, that master far exceeds them in ability, experience, and especially understanding of how to tap into whatever power it is that the hero is trying to acquire or master.

--Nope. In this case, Tanjiro acquires the new and improved smelling technique exactly because his new master understands nothing (except for analyzing battle movements) and just brutalized him because that is the simplistic way a child (who does not practice martial arts) would think to push a martial artist to new heights.

--Tanjiro could have died, whether beaten to death, slashed with a sword, or simply dehydrated, and it would have been because he was following the instructions of a child who had no qualifications whatsoever to train him.

--Tanjiro... why

--And all this time!! All this time, what about the hospitable people in the village? Were they not at all concerned what Tanjiro was missing for days? If anybody did see them, were they not alarmed about Tanjiro being on the brink of death from lack of sustenance? Did Kotetsu make jaunts back into the village to grab food for himself and be like, "oh, yeah, Tanjiro? I'm letting him train with Yoriichi Type Zero, because he's going to kick that Pillar's ass."

--Nezuko, were you asleep this whole time???? While your brother??? ALMOST DIED??????

--It's endearing to know that Haganezuka has spent this whole time training as well. We know how full of passion he is, though it usually comes out in anger or fascination for swords, but he's just as open with his happy feelings. The way he looked at that mitarashi dango? That he probably how he looks when he replays Tanjiro's words in his head. You got Tanjiro'd, man.

--But you know what I really love to picture??? Genya and Muichiro. They have been here that would time. Like, it might even have been right after Muichiro finished training with Yoriichi Type Zero that Kanamori even started on a sword for him (knowing how fast they go, after all, though that's a pretty extreme turnaround time). Did Genya and Muichiro hang out? I want so much to think that they hung out silently in the bath. It's like 50 First Dates because Muichiro keeps forgetting who Genya is. Except sometimes he remembers, which takes Genya by total surprise because he yelled at Muichiro and didn't think he'd remember or something. Because the reason Genya stays at the village so long is because Muichiro breaks his other arm or something. --Anyway, a final thing to note--it's not very often we get to see Tanjiro in a tense daytime battle! It's so refreshing to see his battle expressions under bright sunlight! Especially has he is, in some way, learning from Sun Breath techniques.

[idsfantasy]

I'm sorry if you've gotten this kind of info already, but one of the points you used in that video about Burntrap/Glitchtrap being Afton was him saying "I always come back," which you claim is something the Mimic wouldn't know, but it did know that. Fnaf 6 is shown to be a game in universe just like the rest of them.

Glitchtrap is likely a different branch of the Mimic1 code specifically designated for copying William long term.

There's also a line in Special Delivery. Luis says that Vanessa searched up "How to induce compliance in human subjects" which not only implies that what's possessing her isn't human in any way, but it's something that William would never need to do given that he's a master manipulator.

As for the memory plushies, those likely either come from the Mimic giving you the data it got about them from the VR game, or it's Glitchtrap giving you your own memories that you lost to place you in a vulnerable position given that those memories are likely traumatic ones.

We saw how Afton died anyway, his Agony and Remnant was cleansed by the Puppet in Fazbear's Fright's. There would be nothing left to bring him back. The Princess is going after the monster copying the murderer, not the murderer himself.

Also I'm like 90% sure that the devs of Security Breach thought that Burntrap was supposed to be Afton. I recall Baz saying once when he met Scott at the fnaf movie set that there was a miscommunication involving one of the games endings.

Sorry if this is a mess. Just thought all this was worth pointing out. Have a good one.

The video for those interested:

I don't think that Mimic was plugged into Pizzeria Simulator like it theoretically would have been into Help Wanted. It's possible I guess, but I still think it doesn't make sense for it to latch onto that line, or know what William heard in UCN.

When would that designation have been made and by whom? It wouldn't have been for Help Wanted based on Tape Girl's descriptions nor Mr. Burrows's.

Technically there are other things you can try to induce compliance in. A dog or other pet for example. "Human subjects" just specifies the search. Not to mention, it wouldn't necessarily be literally Glitchtrap doing the searching. Vanessa was talking to computers in AR, and we hear her talking to Glitchtrap in the og HW. He manipulated her mind to make her listen to him, but I think that was more Vanessa looking something up in order to do what Glitchtrap asked her to.

The unused lines specifically refer to the memories as belonging to "it", not the player, so I doubt that would be the case, and where in the VR game would it have specifically gotten the data for all 5 MCI kids and Charlie? Why would they be called its memories if they weren't actually Glitchtrap's memories. Who's code remains if the "his code" isn't William's?

If you're referring to William getting dumped in the lake at the end of the Frights epilogues, there are quite a few reasons I think Frights and Stitchline are a separate continuity from the game timeline. Why would the Princess be around to find out about a copycat and care? He's not the one who she's mad at in that case.

I personally recall a misquote/misattribution of some sort that spread around on that topic. I'll need the timestamped video to confirm that preferably, but in any case, I highly doubt Scott didn't even glance at Burntrap's design before release to notice that something was wrong, and as I mentioned in my video, if Steel Wool was trying to correct things and connect the Mimic to Burntrap, they would have at least made the two have more visual connection than a hand that isn't even actually identical and was already reused from a nightmare animatronic.

While I see where you're coming from, I don't think any of those points negate the evidence I have in the video that you didn't address, though the video was long so I understand why you wouldn't bring it all up. Either way though, I personally think it makes a lot more sense from both an evidence, narrative, and storytelling perspective for Burntrap to be William. Totally cool if you believe differently though! I hope you have a good day as well :D

[light-wynd]

Random Melusine info/headcanon dump

Because why not.

Everything under the cut because it's a bit long ^^' Most of the canon facts hopefully aren't super common knowledge, and are ones that I don't think I've brought up before either!

Canon random facts about Melusines

They are "the finest example of a new sort of Hydro Vishap species" according to Neuvillette.

They all seem to be drawn to shiny mechanical components, not just the ones living in Merusea Village who pretty much use them as currency. Sigewinne has apparently collected so many that she's running out of storage space in the Fortress, and Xana (the one you can exchange them for items with in the village) plans to build a giant machine out of her own collection.

Aeval's token that she was born with is a shard of a sword, which she thinks represents courage. This also means that their tokens don't necessarily have to be mechanical parts, just seemingly anything that could've pierced inside Elynas during the blast.

The rain feels warm for Melusines, and so most of them enjoy being in it. But Sigewinne for one is concerned about how Neuvillette is feeling whenever it rains.

They tend to find humans adorable, and even know how to take care of human babies (as was the case with Emilie when she was little, apparently).

They're very sensitive to sour-tasting things such as Bulle fruit.

There is a Melusine philharmonic orchestra that performs at the Opera Epiclese.

A lot of Melusines are into astrology, and so Neuvillette basically made up a constellation for himself (from my understanding?) because he didn't have the heart to tell them that he doesn't actually have one.

An Amurta scholar was once expelled from Fontaine for treating Melusines like they were animals (touching and recording them without their permission and trying to feed them, among other things) while trying to study them.

Sigewinne's eyesight is closer to that of humans than Melusines - and when they meet up in her infirmary, sometimes she describes scenery as she sees it for others like Ottnit and Menthe to draw.

Headcanons about Melusines (that gradually get more baseless and/or silly)

They didn't just start studying human expressions and behaviors in order to be able to understand them better - they also wanted to try and learn how to act more like humans in order to make them more likely to accept Melusines. Originally, they used to express themselves quite differently, but that gradually changed as they integrated more and more closely into human society.

Sigewinne has written a guide for hospitals/doctor's offices to have on hand about how to properly care for any sick or injured Melusines, since their constitution is different from that of humans and she can't always be there to personally see them since she's pretty busy at the Fortress.

Their feelers and/or tails (depending on which is wider on the Melusine in question) store excess water. If a Melusine is getting dehydrated, you'll notice these thinning and/or drooping.

Every time Blathine is assigned to patrol her usual area in front of the Opera Epiclese, she has to actively resist the urge to bathe in the Fountain of Lucine like it's some Melusine-sized water park pool (cause you know. Her whole fascination with fountains and all).

[dustmint]

Info dump about Atlas? Please? Please? Please? (Also, additionally, does Atlas just wear Jekyll's clothes or does he have a specific outfit you imagine for them :0 (for no reason, of course *insert innocent angel meme*))

HIIIII, OF COURSE 🙏 I'm always happy to ramble about my sillies :3

So, Atlas at the beginning wasn't really a person. He was mostly just the name Jekyll and Hyde used as a disguise when they realised that they looked different, and that because of that no one recognised them. It was just a name for a disguise at the beginning, but then Atlas started gaining a personality and consciousness! And it started just developing more and more. And so with some time, it wasn't really Jekyll and/or Hyde controlling a body, it was someone else entirely. Both Jekyll and Hyde didn't realise this until too late.

Now I'm just going to throw a bunch of silly facts about him :3

Atlas uses He/They pronouns!! (Just because. Yes.)

They have a feeling of 'wrongness' around him. It makes people feel weird around hi, and usually causes everyone to not find him someone thrustworthy

Their eyes can change!!! The one that's not uncovered mostly stays the same (mixture of red and green, with a golden/yellow pupil) but the other one can change pretty drastically– It freaked people out so that's why it's covered up by their hair (and because it's too damn long)

Jekyll and Hyde choose his name (Jekyll choose the last name and Hyde the first name) and they didn't honestly give it too much thought ((There is thought put behind it from my part. Because Atlas is quite literally carrying on his shoulders both Jekyll and Hyde's worlds, because if they don't manage to reverse this, then both Jekyll and Hyde's worlds will be destroyed. Also he is seeking something)

While on this fusion, Jekyll is constantly overwhelmed, and Hyde is constantly underwhelmed. This sort of makes Atlas a very, very fragile balance between the two, and that can quickly change

Atlas can't sleep. They have too much energy to do so and just have to go and continue being awake until they literally crash

His nights are mostly spent pacing around and thinking, or just laying on the floor (or a bed) and just zoning out until it's morning again

Feelings on Lanyon are very complicated, mixed, and easy to change (Can go from either being totally in love with him, hating his guts, or just finding him annoying. Sometimes it's all three and more)

They tend to pick at his skin. Back when they didn't have a consciousness Hyde use to do that to feel a bit more 'alive' and less underwhelmed, Atlas just eventually kept doing the same

He usually tries to be nice, and more Jekyll-like to please people. But when that is not necessary, they will easily switch to being more Hyde-like, and then back to being more Jekyll-like. It takes a bit of time but they can also try to be a mix of both and reach a balance

Anyways, yes, there are some more but I'll leave it at that!! Thanks for asking me about them and letting me rant :3!!! Also here is Atlas (the one in the left with the darker eyes) Mind Lanyon and Harry (the one in the right) but as paper dolls

(EDIT: HI. I FORGOT ABOUT THE OTHER QUESTION. He mainly uses Jekyll's clothes ((which are too big on him), but they probably do have some outfits that actually fit him right)

[laurenfoxmakesthings]

I've been holding this news to my chest for quite a while…I've been interviewed about my book and the spin-off series based on The Man From C.A.M.P. I've been developing, Agents of C.A.M.P.

The first book will have ace and aro non-binary protagonists!

I'll admit, not everything from the interview could make it in, and understandably so. The article goes into more of the history than I originally thought, it goes into the foundation and Maggie Weadick, which I always knew (at first just Maggie was going to be interviewed).

The Agents of C.A.M.P. series in this article was essentially a damn good third act and an announcement. There was no way all of my autistic-motivated info-dumping and gushing was going to fit, I knew that.

Like, the fact that it took years of re-reading some of the books on-and-off as a fan before it became a hyperfixation out of necessity for the spin-off. Or how all that research thanks to those libraries was to piece together the unofficial final out-of-print novel of the original series. Or how 'The Golden Doppelbangers' title is also inspired by the Dr Goldfoot films (for good reason *wink*)

However, here, and here only, I was add a few things that I'm eager to share now that this project is more public. Supplementary material. Extra goodies for the people interested, let's say.

Firstly, the other protagonist. I'm happy Quant is introduced to a lot of people in this article, especially considering how fulfilling it has been to write the flamboyant, confident asexual character I always wanted to see (I've noticed allos can't really imagine ace characters being anything except demure, reserved, and deadpanned, and I'm tired of that). But Quant is one protagonist out of two, and not even the novel's main POV protagonist.

The other protagonist is Sypretes Arsénios. An aromantic, genderfluid lesbian, archer, and art thief. Their whole deal is they've been on a years-long quest to recover queer art looted by Nazis. But now that quest is finished. They can't return to their old life and they can't bring themself to giving up their current one, at best now stealing queer art to make a statement. And that's where Quant comes in, recruiting Sypretes as their new partner in C.A.M.P.

They're your eyes, being introduced to C.A.M.P. in the modern day, and asking the questions that need to be asked.

The first thought I had about this novel was that the protagonists had to be an ace and an aro. As an ace myself, I know how tiresome it is to be the afterthought in the queer community. This will not be the case here, aces and aros are in the first book and more will come.

And I wanted ensure aroallos, queer folks we hardly ever see in stories, gets represented with Sypretes. Due to this amatonormative world seeing aroallos as cold 'at best' and predatory at worst, plenty of creators seem uncomfortable to even try to represent them. As though sex isn't 'exploitative' if there's a potential for romance. That rhetoric is much more conservative than people think, so I say screw that. In this novel, platonic relationships are worth more than gold, whether sex is involved or not.

I probably already hinted at this on tumblr, but this novel is about sexbots. One reason I did this is because aces and aros are often compared to robots, and I wanted to show how untrue that is. Especially with Sypretes and how much of a caring lover they are.

Secondly, I want to talk about C.A.M.P. itself. I definitely get why even other queer folks might give the side-eye to novels starring queer secret agents. The reason why a lot of us don't trust the series Q-Force (and I agree). A lot of us know real government agencies in charge of espionage have screwed over marginalised groups, including the LGBTIQA+ community. COINTELPRO. Operation Condor. The Lavender Scare. And many, many more atrocities. It doesn't make any of it better if the government agent is queer.

Here's the thing. I wouldn't have been interested in the original series at all if the series' protagonist Jackie Holmes was 'a CIA agent but gay'. C.A.M.P. isn't a government organisation. Since the original series in the 1960s, C.A.M.P. has been a secret underground independent organisation dedicated to advancing and protecting the LGBTIQA+ community, through many different branches.

Each branch focused on a different subject matter through a queer lens. One of which is the 'special services' branch, essentially the secret agents/detectives. I won't give everything they do away, but in short, when there's a hate group threatening the community, it's the agents' job to punch them and stop them.

Agents of C.A.M.P. will have more in common with Leverage than James Bond. Even the original Man From C.A.M.P. series was more inspired by James Bond's aesthetic than the franchise's authoritarian ethos.

Now, the original series wasn't perfect, for instance some of Jackie Holmes' missions/novels didn't involve the point of C.A.M.P. because of elements that haven't aged well. I've been intent on dealing with the original series' problems thanks to researching the lore (I know a lot of people hate that word now, but it's what I got). While also making sure both the series and the in-universe organisation are much more intersectional and much more focused on fighting fascists.

Thirdly, I'll admit, I'm a slow writer. It doesn't help that my book has ballooned bigger than I intended (as apparently any creative project I do does) and the plot is now too tight to break and cut. I'm nowhere near the end of the first draft yet, though I've been finding more ways to write more often as possible.

My point is if my novel's release date (there isn't one yet) gets delayed, maybe delayed more than once: please don't blame the Victor J Banis Family Foundation or speculate the worst case scenario. It would be me being slow and too thorough for my own good.

I don't want to end on that note though. Now that this project is way more public, I would be more than happy to answer any questions about Agents of C.A.M.P., my novel 'The Golden Doppelgangers', maybe even the original Man From C.A.M.P. series, or anything else relevant.

[altraviolet]

Gothikana: editing advice

ok alright, first things first: this post isn't for fans of Gothikana, the author, or any of the author's associates. it might make you feel bad to read and that's not the point. the point is to give examples on how to improve writing

Gothikana is a dark romance book with a beautiful hardcover print edition published by an imprint of Macmillan. it became popular through tiktok. my friend DNF'd this book and gave it to me to try. having read the first 17 pages, I was struck by how amateurish the writing is. the only way I can get over the fact that this is published and makes money and presumably had editors look at it this is to show you what I mean and how I would've advised the author to edit the story

this is not an admonishment of dark romance or the genre overall. I've heard "it's problematic" but that's not what we're getting into. I don't care about that. I've only read 17 pages. I'm literally talking about the writing, here.

this isn't fanfic: this is a published novel that people have to pay for. this isn't fanfic: this is a published novel that should meet certain expectations for an adult audience regarding craft and logic. this isn't fanfic: it's a product to be sold and it's eligible for serious discussion and evaluation.

Broad strokes, here are the things I noticed on the first read through up to page 17:

too many adverbs

awkward info dumping

awkward sentence phrasing

poor descriptions

character stating her wants directly to the reader

Can some of the above be stylistic? Yes. Can some of the above be purposeful? Uh, sure, but why would you break the rules without understanding them?

1: TOO MANY ADVERBS

Larry continued his barrage of information, winding the small private black car up the slightly inclined road.

That "slightly" took me right out of reading. It felt incredibly out of place. Oddly and unnecessarily specific. Later in the prose, it is mentioned that the incline steepens. So I suppose that's why it's mentioned as being slight at this point. But it's so awkward. A better way to do it might be to drop the adverb and acknowledge that we're going up a mountain, because we are.

While we're here, let's tidy up that long sentence:

Larry continued his barrage of information, winding the private black car up the base of the mountain.

Spoilers for the next section, that barrage of information is an info dump!

Before Corvina could go down memory lane, they went around another bend, and suddenly, a looming silhouette of a huge iron gate broke through the fog.

There are many words that editors advise you remove from your prose. "Suddenly" is chief among them. The sentence survives just fine without its "suddenly." There are other issues, too. The sentence is quite long. The "could go down memory lane" sounds really childish. If that element were essential, I would recommend breaking this sentence into two. Since the character was reminiscing in the previous paragraph, the "memory lane" part is extraneous. "Looming" implies the iron gate is tall, so we can get rid of "huge." Here's the bare minimum effort one can do and still improve that sentence:

As they went around another bend, the looming silhouette of an iron gate broke through the fog.

2: AWKWARD INFO DUMPING

The main character, Corvina, is being driven up the mountain by the aforementioned Larry. They have a conversation. It goes like this:

"Not a lot of folks 'round here who go up to that castle 'nymore." [4 long sentences of info dumping comprised of one paragraph about the character's journey up to that point] "And why is that?" [9 long sentences of info dumping comprised of one paragraph about the main character observing her current surroundings and a second paragraph of her talking about her upbringing- we're on the next page now] "Dunno."

By the time we got to "Dunno." I had no idea what question it was referring back to. You can see the technique that was attempted here: the author (presumably) knows info dumping is bad, so they broke it up across a conversation. But the conversation was far too sparse and spaced out. The contents of the info dumping (journey, surroundings, upbringing) absolutely should've been doled out another way.

My suggestion to improve this portion would be to change it entirely. Present the info to the reader in another way. Tighten the conversation.

Boy, oh boy, though. This next example is much worse.

Corvina is our POV character. Corvina is looking at another character, Jade, looking at her. Got that? Corvina is looking at Jade looking at Corvina, and this happens:

She knew what the other girl was seeing. A short, slight girl of heritage unknown, with violet eyes that tilted upward at the corners, sun-kissed skin even though she rarely spent much time in the sun anymore, a nose ring, long black hair in a braid that reached her waist, dressed in loose black pants and a thin purple sweater.

This is obviously the "Main Character looked in the mirror so that they could describe themself to the reader" scene. And oh my godddddd it's so awkward and badly done. Maybe it looks fine in isolation, but embedded in the text as it is, it's just no good.

My suggestion to improve this section would be to dole this information out as needed. Fiddling with the nose ring earlier, or braiding her hair, or scratching at a stain in her clothing. Any little detail like that could be put somewhere else, and over the course of a few pages, sneakily build up the picture of the character. Those particular things (fiddling, braiding, scratching at stains) have an added bonus of showing you a little of what the character is like.

3: AWKWARD SENTENCE PHRASING

A group of boys sitting on the steps outside a tower to their left came into view, their conversation stopping as all eyes fell on their group.

Things that contribute to the awkwardness of this sentence:

it's very long

"a group of boys sitting on the steps outside a tower to their left" is like, the whole subject of the main verb. THAT'S SO MUCH SUBJECT

the word "group" is in there twice

the verbs are sitting, came, stopping, fell. -ing, past tense, -ing, past tense. that's a lot of verbs for one sentence

Here are some things I would suggest:

break this sentence into at least two sentences, with emphasis on clarifying that "so much subject" in 2 point above

use a stronger verb than "came into view." this feels like a turning point in the story: emphasize the striking visual

use words other than "conversation stopping" to indicate that the conversation has stopped. this will add interest and show, not tell

show the boys' reaction to the approaching characters (for example: X sneered while the others snapped their mouths shut). nothing too involved, but something that shows rather than tells

if the fact that the tower is on their left isn't specifically important, leave that detail out

4: POOR DESCRIPTIONS

Corvina rolled her window down slightly, looking out at the natural, incredible beauty of the mountain. The sight was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Where she came from, the woods had been more yellow and the air more humid.

Did you catch that? The descriptions are "natural, incredible beauty" and "unlike anything she had ever seen before." SO WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE?? We aren't directly told. We get a sense that the woods are less yellow and the air less humid than another place we don't have a description of, given the last sentence. But we still don't actually know what she's looking at.

Advice I've seen over and over and over again: never describe something as "beautiful." Describe what makes it beautiful.

There are an infinite number of ways this paragraph could be improved. I would advise giving specific details that come together to paint the exact, beautiful picture you are going for. And also get rid of that adverb. It doesn't matter. If the contrast to home is essential, you can preserve that, but I think it's better without it.

Corvina rolled her window down. Pine-scented air filled the car and she coughed. The breeze was far less humid than those back home. The trees blanketed the mountain in rich greens girded in white, like massive emeralds hammered into the snow by a giant.

I have no idea if the above is the kind of vibe the author would like, but it gives you a scent, a visual, and also presents Corvina as an imaginative character.

Corvina stared up at the towering wrought-iron gates as they passed, and officially entered the university premises. The flutter in her belly became a quake as she put her head out the window to peer up, and finally saw the castle perched on top of the mountain. The closer they got, the larger it became. Calling it a castle was an understatement. It was a monstrosity, a beautiful, stunningly constructed monstrosity.

Ah, there's that "beautiful" again. I expected the next paragraph to go into detail about what the castle looks like. Why it's beautiful and why it's a monstrosity. But the next paragraph is the car stopping and Corvina getting her luggage.

So, I have no idea what this castle looks like. Ironically, we get the verbs stared up, peer up, and saw in quick succession, but we don't know what the castle looks like. I consider this a poor description.

To improve this paragraph, I would again advise an actual description of what the character is seeing, rather than just calling it pretty and big. One assumes it's a gothic style castle, so there are conventional structures the author can pull from. It's very, very easy to link architecture to emotion. Using the right descriptors will give the reader a sense of unease and vastness. You can show the monstrosity by using unusual descriptions on conventional items. Again, there are an infinite number of ways to do this. To try to build a sense of dread, I'm going to describe the gates below.

The gates to the university premises swung aside. Corvina expected their massive hinges to creak, to shake the whole car, but they were absolutely silent. She gripped the door handle and contorted, sticking her head out the window. She got only a quick impression as they passed through. The wrought-iron bars were as thick as her waist. They joined together in a panicked tangle overhead, all choked, leafy scrollwork and glinting finials.

I'd describe the castle, too, but hey. I'm not gettin' paid to do this. You can (hopefully) feel something while reading this. The gate is given dimensions to express its size ("as big as her waist"). The decorative nature of the gate is described with frantic-feeling words: panicked, tangle, choked, glinting. Instead of just passively staring up at the gate, I had Corvina grip the door handle and contort herself to look out the window. In essence, she's still staring at the gate. But there's more of an active feel to her actions, now. Use strong verbs, people!

5: CHARACTER STATING HER WANTS DIRECTLY TO THE READER

Okay, here we get to something that's harder to explain.

The character should rarely-to-never flat out explain their wants directly to the reader. We should see them wanting craving yearning for something, not so much be told that they are.

This being a romance and Corvina having no childhood friends makes this difficult: we obviously need to establish that Corvina wants a Man because this is a Romance and That Is What Needs to Happen. However, she has no one she can confide in, except the reader, through the narrative. So we get this:

Corvina felt her face get warm at all the masculine gazes on her, a natural shyness overcoming her. She'd never really interacted with men [ . . . ] Books had become her refuge, especially books with men - humans, shapeshifters, or aliens - who fell in love hard and claimed their women, body and soul. Those were her favorite. Corvina wanted that. She wanted to belong, to be loved, to be absolutely adored, no matter what happened, despite her past. She craved it so badly in her bones, some days she thought she would die from the sheer hunger of it. There was a gnawing ache in her soul, and she desired so, so deeply.

I don't read romance books, but I can see this being the default sort of way to tell the reader "yes, she really wants a man!" It's foreshadowing, in a way. Obviously everything she says she wants here will come through. It's a romance.

Buuuuuuuut... could it have been done better? I think so.

One way an author could do this more artistically is through symbolism. Give Corvina a symbol for her desire, a physical object, that she can clench or squeeze or talk to or otherwise interact with. Usually a friend can fill this kind of role- the character has a conversation with a friend and through this the reader gets the sense that Corvina is lonely and desires a man. But since Corvina has had an isolating childhood, that easy shortcut is absent to us.

So what would I do? I'd have to think about it for a while. I think I'd show her watching couples and feeling jealous. I'd show her reading her books and underlining the sentences that speak to her. I'd show her making a Man out of twigs or something and talking to it. Or picking out pebbles while in the woods - "This one reminds me of the man in the bakery because it's brown, like his hat" - and making a necklace of them all. If she wears the pebble necklace, you know exactly what that means. She wishes she had one of those men.

This process of brainstorming ways to give the reader information creatively is part of the craft of writing. To improve your craft, you need to read and write. Observe those with experience, and practice to gain experience. I really, really think it's worth it to improve your craft above the level we're seeing here.

A FEW MORE QUICK NOTES I WANTED TO SHARE

QUICK: HOW TO SHOW, NOT TELL

A quick example of tightening and strengthening a sentence:

Larry had been surprised when she'd given him her destination on the mountain, to the point that he'd prayed before starting the car.

Here the author is telling the reader that Larry is surprised, then showing his fear by stating that he prayed. The praying part is really good. That's how you say things without directly saying them. Dropping the "surprised" will both strengthen and shorten this sentence:

When she'd given him her destination on the mountain, he'd prayed before starting the car.

Easy fix!

QUICK: DIALOG FLOW

"Hi, I'm Jade." Corvina liked her immediately. "Corvina," she introduced herself, her voice sounding raspy in contrast to Jade's feminine lilt. "Cool name. First year?" Jade asked, plopping down on her suitcase, her short, pale legs exposed in jean shorts. Corvina wondered if she felt cold at all. "Yes. You?" she asked.

We're going to skip over ALL the other things that could be improved here and concentrate on one thing. I highly suggest that Jade's paragraph be restructured.

Right now we have:

Jade statement. Jade question. Description of Jade. Corvina wonders. Corvina answer.

I suggest changing it to:

Jade statement. Description of Jade. Corvina wonders. Jade question. Corvina answer.

The reason is so that when the reader reads Corvina's answer, they doesn't have to remember back to what Jade's question was in the beginning of the paragraph.

This sounds like a really nitpicky thing to advise, but I write this way. I always make sure that dialog flows like this, and I've gotten a lot of comments from people saying, "I usually have a hard time reading, but I can read this. It flows and it makes sense. I usually get lost or lose interest or forget what's happening, but I can read your stuff."

Here's what my suggestion looks like:

"Hi, I'm Jade."

Corvina liked her immediately.

"Corvina," she introduced herself, her voice sounding raspy in contrast to Jade's feminine lilt.

"Cool name." Jade plopped down on her suitcase, her short, pale legs exposed in jean shorts. Corvina wondered if she felt cold at all. "First year?"

"Yes. You?" she asked.

Easy fix!!!

Alright so! Was that helpful? It was definitely cathartic for me. I'm going to try to read the rest of this novel, but I might not make it xD

I know how hard it is to write, to complete a novel, and to expose this bit of your heart to the world. Please note that this post is not bashing on the author or the readers. I don't want anyone to go out and do that. I want you to take this as a free lesson and improve your own writing. Think about what advice here works for you, and what doesn't. Because some of it might not work for you, and in that case, you get to figure out what does.

Happy writing!