#((but like…I really do forget the activity page exists))

[noirandchocolate]

Everybody can feel free to “spam boop” me btw.

I almost never look at my activity feed because I have adhd and forget it exists so I don’t mind if it’s covered in boops or if I don’t know you. Also I wouldn’t care anyway because the boops just get grouped into little boxes and it’s nbd??

So anyway bop me with kitty paws all you like if you wanna get those badges!!

[4dkellysworld]

After deciding 'it is done'

This is more of a manifestation themed post (it's a draft from March when I spontaneously felt like writing it but didn't post it) because I felt like it but I'd appreciate if I didn't get any asks about manifestation* (unless I change my mind later) cos I'll share what I can and there's a lot of material available already! You can see my past post on this topic here. For more posts on it, see @4dbarbie-archive and realisophie's posts here and here and there's also some over at @ndjournal in the experience sharing tag.

*Also because I don't want to send mixed messages to the readers of this blog. I see conscious manifestation as a way to challenge & break limitations and concepts from the mind, not to get things in the world (kinda like Neo learning to bend the spoon in the Matrix if you get me lol). The latter will only pull you deeper into ego and the world, which isn't conducive to self-realization (if that's your goal) if you're focused on satisfying ego and the worldly life. If that makes sense and you resonate and agree with that, then we are on the same page but not everyone is and that's okay too, just do what feels right to you. Just sharing my reasoning :)

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

I've been reading this book called Parallel Universes of Self because I read the author Frederick Dodson had an interesting reality shifting experience. I didn't expect to read info on manifestation but they are pretty much the same. I have a few books of his that I'm skimming through out of curiosity and there's some interesting stuff (I might share some other things later, he doesn't just talk about manifestation, but also consciousness, reality and even non-duality).

I thought I'd share the below excerpt because it's explained really well and might help some others. It's also a nice succinct summary of what Ada and Soph talked about for materialization/manifestation as well. I can remember pretty much 95% of the things I've ever "manifested" were from when I acted the way he described after I had decided "it is done". It's easier to do this for things you don't care about because you just end up forgetting about it entirely and then it shows up and you're like 'oh yeah!! nice'.

In the hours, days and weeks after simply rest in the new viewpoint, rest in the fulfilled reality. This means that you don’t try to “make it happen” because you have already claimed it as real. You don’t affirm, visualize, repeat or wait for it. You don’t hope for it to come in some future. Because you have claimed it as already real you don’t even think about it much either. You don’t ask when, how, where it will show up. Instead you simply do what offers itself to you throughout the day, and this will involve commonplace activities. Daily life continues in a natural manner without neediness or lack. Once in awhile you may want to re-feel the body sense of the chosen reality, and enjoy what you have claimed as true, but often not even that is necessary. Furthermore you needn’t be “acting as if” the desired reality is manifest, for that still implies separation. Simply cease to behave in a way that presupposes that it is not already so. You may refuse to ascribe relevance or importance to any events that seem to contradict your newly chosen reality. From the new viewpoint such events may still exist and come up but they are no longer relevant enough to be reacted to and interacted with. They may be the way things are at the moment, but they are no longer the way you are. The corresponding physical manifestation will appear when you stop needing it, chasing after it, looking for it but are instead willingly and lovingly identified with it…not for the sake of “making it manifest” *, but for the sake of experiencing its joy in the here, now and today. *Because trying to make it happen/manifest reinforces the idea/belief that it isn't

This is the same as what 4dbarbie said about getting ego out of the way or as Lester Levenson said, let go and let God. Just let it happen and stop trying to control the process because the more you try, the more you reinforce the fact that it isn't already so. Basically stop putting in effort once you know it is true, just continue knowing with calm and ease that it is the way you want it. Ada also said here:

If you have thoughts like "I need to say my affirmations", "I need to check my state", you're not living in the end but still desiring. When you're able to look at the thing you desire as being something that was once a dream, but now only a memory - you've entered the state of the wish fulfilled. When desire turns into identity, you know you've succeeded in fulfilling yourself.

Yes we're conditioned to think we need to work hard and put effort to earn things in the world but when it comes to manifesting, this sort of mentality will only sabotage and hinder your success. You can literally just decide you have it and then never look back. This sort of mindset can take a bit of time and practice to get used to because it is not something we're used to but the more you practice, the easier it gets.

Here is an excerpt from an astral projection book (I think it's from The Illusion of Method?) I thought was really apt at describing this too. He's talking about AP but you can apply it to manifesting or pretty much anything as well.

Unless you are masochistic, I ask you to reconsider the painful idea of obsessing about time. Bear in mind that results will come whenever they have to, and counting the minutes won't make the outcome arrive faster. It's best if you just forget about it, and accept that it is something that you can't control. You must be patient—most of the time the desired results arrive immediately after giving up control of time. If you are frustrated and/or are afraid of failure, then it means you believe you are in control—and this translates into the feeling that you are responsible for both positive and negative results. Well then, stop thinking that way! Exempting yourself from responsibility is the best course of action there is. As seen in the previous chapter, those who project on command are the ones who couldn’t care less about AP. But the more you obfuscate yourself, the lesser your chances of success —and trust me, you won’t want to get trapped in that vicious cycle. Astral projection works when you stop worrying about failure because you trust that it will happen, whether you “do” something or not.

It’s the same thing: just in the same way that being hasty for sleep to occur keeps us wakeful and alert, being expectant over the OBE will keep us caged in the physical body. If the mind is constantly thinking about the goal, it can easily enter a state of expectancy* and impatience. In such state, the mind is no longer relaxed because expectancy is a state of unrest. This form of tension is what hinders the outcome—thus, the key to being relaxed (i.e., essentially lacking mental tension) is to forget about the goal entirely. If you don’t have the goal in mind you don’t enter a state of expectancy, and therefore you are free from mental tension. *expectancy is the same energy as trying to make something happen.. reinforcing the idea/belief that it isn't so

So, exempt yourself from responsibility means there's nothing more to do because ego is not in control and can do nothing.

[alphajocklover]

Hey bro, I have a bit of a strange situation going on. You see, I’m a big nerd, like playing dnd, good at math, into card games nerds. And I never really questioned it. But recently, I’ve found myself wanting to be more active, I’ve been wanting to become something I am not, a big strong guy. And it all stared when I rediscovered the Xmen through the show and upcoming movie. Could you, I mean, would you mind helping me become like my ideal man, Wolverine?

I want to be the small hunky and hairy beats he is, oozing with libido and sex appeal.

It's a little strange, but I’ve been getting a lot of superhero requests recently! Not that I’m complaining, I love writing about superheros. They’re interesting characters who have long histories and decades of lore to use. Plus they’re usually hot as fuck. And Wolverine is one of the hottest. Muscular, with a thick layer of hair, and gruff as can be. He’s traditionally a loner, but he has a certain rough charm to him. There’s a reason he’s been a part of almost every superhero team at one time or another. People can’t get enough of the guy. It could be his inventive power set, his ability to change with the times and still remain interesting and relevant. Or it could be that he’s an incredibly manly hunk whose animalistic nature makes people weak in the knees. He’s everything you ever wanted to be, or at least everything you’ve wanted to be since you saw those new X-Men cartoons. When you watched them, something awakened in you. And now… you’re becoming just like him.

You’re not becoming him, if that’s what you’re thinking. Whatever is happening to you can’t give you claws like Wolverine or coat your skeleton in adamantium. I mean, in our world adamantium doesn’t really exist, and even though some transformation methods could turn you into a perfect replica of wolverine or add onto the periodic table, this one won’t do that. It’s more fun to be a stud without the responsibility of being a superhero anyways, especially since one of his main powers is to survive incredibly painful situations. Now you get all the pleasure, none of the pain, and an absolutely studly body.

One common fun fact that people like to bring up about Wolverine is the fact that he’s… while he’s short. Really short. Since Hugh Jackman is over 6 feet tall, people tend to forget that in the comics Wolverine is a complete shortstack, standing at 5’3”. So, I’m afraid to say that you’re going to shrink quite a bit. Luckily, being shorter just makes your new muscles look even bigger and better. Your biceps are enormous, your pecs are amazing, and your abs are almost inhuman. That, plus a heavy layer of manly, thick hair, and you look like you walked right off the pages of a comic book. Or out of a very suggestive movie. Of course you don’t want to just look like Wolverine. You want to be like Wolverine. Which means a few… adjustments to your personality.

That might seem daunting or scary at first, the idea that your personality is going to change. But you won’t feel that way very long. Nothing is going to faze you anymore. Just like Wolverine You’re tough as nails and you act like it. Literally nothing throws you. You’re a certified badass. Yes, you have a sensitive side like the real Wolverine, but most people aren’t gonna see that. Most people, from your manly new friends to the girls you hook up with, are going to see the manly man, the strong warrior, the beast.

There are some small differences between you and Wolverine of course. The main one being that the guy in the comics doesn’t hook up with people very often. Too busy saving the world. And when he does get a love interest, the feelings between them are pretty serious. You don’t have the same patterns. You’re the type of guy who has a new girl every night and is constantly looking for more pussy. You can’t help it, with a massive cock and an even bigger libido. You’re the best at what you do, and what you do is fuck.

**Hey guys! Hope I did Wolverine justice. He’s a super hot character and I had a lot of fun writing a tf inspired by him. Hope you enjoyed!**

[robotlesbianjavert]

WE'RE WINNING SO FAR........ I'M SCARED FOR THE NEXT SUMMARY PARAGRAPH THOUGH......

okay okay. leaks done. my rough thoughts ahead of sleeping on it/receiving full translations. i should update these when we do get something more proper though.

the bad

deku didn't kill himself out of respect for spinner's grief

deku getting to be cool and composed. he doesn't deserve it, he should be killing himself.

spinner blaming himself for not saving shigaraki sooner while he was possessed with afo like babe that is NOT your fault. i already saw one take being like wow it's so great that a character is finally taking accountability which is insane to me because WHY of all possible characters is it spinner and not a single person in power. what could spinner possibly do at the juncture he was in. go to the heroes? who killed twice and actively wanted shigaraki dead? take shigaraki and flee with his non-existent resources and inability to get shigaraki un-possessed? like fuck off. point that demand from accountability from characters it actually matters from.

the shoji mention. why is spinner calling him octopus. is it to continue to paint him in a villainous manner. why is he wishing him luck. why is spinner throwing a microaggression at shoji, is this to remind us readers that ooooohhhh spinner is suuuuch a hypocritical baddie or is it him being like, bitterly ironic. recognizing that shoji is trying Something but not really believing that Something will work. it's tone-deaf but so is everything about shoji. i just don't want spinner dragged through the mud on that.

like the balance of plotlines with "heteromorph discrimination" and "devotion to shigaraki" was always going to be dubious since MVA, i remember wondering where horikoshi would lean ahead of the hospital raid mini-arc, and obviously that Sucked Like Hell when it came to capitalizing on any meaningful commentary about discrimination but was awesome for the devotion bits. so seeing that shoji reference here reminds me of that imbalance. putting the emphasis on the devotion, which is ultimately the catalyst of spinner's development, but neglecting and worsening the discrimination bits, which formed the background of why spinner ends up so devoted to shigaraki in the first place. fuck it, it sucks.

deku doesn't deserve to remember shigaraki forever, because he should be killing himself, on page in front of a live studio audience. when he says he'll never forget shigaraki for the rest of his life it's because the end of his life will be five minutes from now.

why are support items enough to wake pops from a coma NOW. why are we skirting around the fact that deku was holding an old man's fate hostage in order to force a victim into being interacted with by her abuser because he's being emotionally blackmailed into it.

why are we ending on a gag. spinner is in widow mode but bakugou and todoroki are now forced to contend with fangirls. whatever.

deku should kill himself. because he hasn't deserved a single damn thing in this chapter so far besides admitting he's a murderer.

seriously there is no reality where spinner should be holding himself accountable for failing shigaraki. what the fuck was he supposed to do. refuse afo and get MURDERED? get packed with MORE quirks so that brain death was inevitable? approach a hero and get MURDERED? fuck off either the story needs to provide a tangible path for spinner to have taken that he denied or admit that he was powerless.

THE GOOD which i know. is shocking from me at this point.

so far i feel like spinner's outbursts and emotions are more or less validated and humanized by the narrative - throughout the leaks, i felt like he was held up as the positive counterpart that the readers are supposed to emphasize with over the citizens - who i'm sure we're supposed to see as Valid, but ultimately unknowing of the full story, inconsiderate and unchanged.

i can legally call deku a murderer! he admitted it! no one can stop me now!

while i can imagine a better manga where spinner as a creative is properly sprinkled in beyond the meaning behind his name, me and @codenamesazanka have tossed around the idea of spinner as a storyteller enough that i feel validated that spinner wants to tell shigaraki's story, and is the figure that ultimately humanizes shigaraki the most. i have some concern about attempts to go in on an agle where spinner is someone who only recognizes the "destructive" parts of shigaraki, but in the wider context like yeah. it should be spinner who tells shigaraki's story, and if nothing else is best positioned to portray him as a full person.

it's nice that pops isn't ditching chisaki after everything. i would very much like to know more about like, if pops is just not allowed to retake custody of eri or if he's choosing not to pursue it, if he has any deeper thoughts there. but it's nice that he's not giving up on the kid he raised into a life of crime.

spinner is gay. sure the chapter didn't say this outright but like he's gay and we know this. we can intuit.

sooooo funny after people complaining that shigaraki didn't leave last words for any other league members that this chapter goes out of it's way to specify that Yeah His Final Words Were For Spinner And For Spinner Alone. i've been bitter about shigaraki not getting to properly interact with the entire league since 2019 but this is funny why did the manga wait so long to confirm that shigaraki also cared about spinner instead of it being entirely one-sided.

[demigodsanswer]

Hello! I'm genderfluid I went searching for stuff on Rick Riordan after finding out he won a stonewall award on The Second Book from the Magnus Chase trilogy. I've read all of Riordan's books as a minor and, upon finding this stuff it's been disheartening to say the least. I'll come back, after doing some research on my own but I'm personally curious about how you feel about LGBTQIA+ representation in Riordan's books.

I want to lead with: if you feel as though the queer and trans representation in the series is not reflective of your experience, or worse, offensive in its depiction, then I am very sorry. I myself am a bisexual woman who was in a relationship with a woman for five years, so I know what it's like to feel like a depiction of your gender or sexuality is simply insufficient or downright offensive.

Your experiences of the representation in the series are valid, whether they be positive or negative. These are fundamentally very personal experiences, and it's rare that any media will ever be 100% representative of our lived experiences. It is completely okay to feel represented where others do not, or to feel let down by a depiction, even if others think on it favorably.

To that end though, I honestly can't comment in any meaningful way on the representation in the series, simply because I am out of touch with it. I never finished Magnus Chase or Trials of Apollo. Chalice of the Gods was basically fun fanfic in my brain, and I haven't read any Hero's of Olympus book cover to cover since they debuted, not 10+ years ago. The only series I regularly return to are the first five, which do not have any explicit queer rep.

There are posts on my blog from 2020 and earlier that are from a time when I was more in touch with the fandom, Rick, and the books, but alas that time has passed. In between when I was last active in this fandom and now, I have completed almost all of a PhD. So a lot of this just isn't in my brain anymore.

What is in my brain is how important Nico coming out in House of Hades was. I will never forget how it felt to see that leak, get the book, and flip right to the page to make sure it was real. It was groundbreaking and so important. It wasn't the first queer rep in a book for middle or high schoolers, but it didn't exist in a saturated market either.

When continually stands out to me about Rick is his willingness to learn, grow, and correct. Sure, I wish he did things right the first time. He probably should have had sensitivity readers for HoO, but it's nice that he did have them for ToA. I think he has proven to be willing to listen to fans and course correct when he needs to. He doesn't just rest of his representation laurels; he keeps trying to make the world more diverse. I think the TV show is a great show of that work as well.

But really at the heart of my inability to be overly critical of him is the reality that I fucking loved Harry Potter. I loved it so much. And I have other queer and trans friends for whom that series was their life. It was the favorite thing, it was their #1 fandom, it was everything to them in the way Percy Jackson is still everything to me. And all of us feel as though Harry Potter was taken from us by the rampant bigotry of JKR. The choice to disengage is obviously also political, but it feels so emotional first and foremost. I cannot separate art from the artist there, and that to me doesn't feel like a political statement; it feels entirely like an emotional one.

So when I think about Rick's efforts, flawed as they may be, all I can think is "There but for the grace of god go I," because if it was him succumbing to the black mold and becoming one of the four horseman of the rise of global fascism, I do not know how I would cope with the emotional loss of this series.

That's not to say that fans should not continue to hold him accountable or engage in dialogue with him. It's just me saying that I'm not the fan who's going to do that. I'm too old, too tired, too out of touch, and I need to finish this degree before it finishes me.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Uhh i request you

<-forgot everything about creepypasta after stopping reading fanfics

Uhhhhhhh

Um

...slenderman uhhhhm meeting reader who is the same.. species? Found family????? Reader being chipper and welcoming?? Artistic and calming?? Basically um. I dunno. They also live in the woods and collect poor souls, helping them cope and detach from this world??????

I am.. stoopid.

Slenderman x slender-person!artistic!reader ! (found family)

dusts out my slenderman hcs as well as my au ideas on him aheehee ahoo speed running this since i just put my first round of macarons into the oven and im too impatient to wait until theyre done baking for me to write this NEVER BACK DOWN NEVER WHAT

okay but im getting this idea out of the way before i forget. imagine the reader, instead of doing paintings and stuff for the "artist" thing they make little structures and statues and stuff and have them around in your area. of course theyre all made with forest material; mud, sticks, pinecones, ect ect i dont know, i just love the nature aesthetic with this idea and rrrraaaaaAAAAH

for some reason or another, you make your home in the same woods THE slenderman lives in; or perhaps it was the otherway around? regardless, it doesnt take long for you to become aware of one another....

okay but how funny would it be if you guys bonded over your annoyances over people collecting your stuff. people taking his pages, and people taking your art projects (at least the ones that are portable). like!

though i cannot think of any lore reasons for slendermans pages in my au.... i will one day i promise, i feel like thats too much of an iconic thing to just cut out

it DOES take a long while for slenderman to get used to you, much less foster a friendship with you... but a family bond? i mean yeah sure, hes very reclusive... but thats not just with humans. he doesnt like interacting with other creatures, either

pats your shoulder

my moot

my dear moot, allow me to go on a tangent about my take on slenderman

basic summary is that he and all other demon/most nonhuman creepypasta characters were made by zalgo in my funky au; basically to bring disorder and that kind of shit. but like in a "this is just a part of this universe's nature" way. thus making slenderman himself in my take the be a simple fact of life... thinks.. and he resents his own existence, i think. i mean how cruel is it that he was made to cause issues, in fact he cant live without it (eats people) but he was granted the ability to be able to grasp the complexity of morals and emotion. like thats fucked

i love it

anyways, theres that and him just naturally being reclusive! hell even his supposed "brothers" (splendor and trender, i refuse to touch the third one) hes still.. distant

basically what i mean to say is that you guys probably arent going to be.. outwardly close... if that makes sense. like hes not going to be very affectionate; so dont expect many familial... things... and its not often that he would seek conversation out... though

as i write that, if i recall correctly i did give him the vague craving of connection, and while i usually save that for traditional x reader stuff, i think this would still apply to found family stuff! so actually, i think he WOULD eventually start seeking your company out, just for the fact of having someone else to talk to who doesnt resent his existence the same way he resents his own

sits

given my silly hc i do think he would have some understanding with your relationship with humans/lost souls. would he do it himself? i think it really depends on the situation... like if hes not actively hunting he usually just drives people out of the woods, no sense in wasting.... things... you know?

sits

im all jumbled all over the place my apolocheese im just excited to write for slenderman again

will get annoyed if you snatch away his "meal" since AGAIN, he was cursed to feed on people . like he understands why you did it, and he has mixed feelings around eating human (like not in a "im distressed and i hate it" way more so "its not totally desirable but i cant survive without doing this" way)

sits

i think

im gonna toy around with my slenderman hcs... this ended up being more of a hc dump than a x reader, my apologies

its also that as im typing this i realize how similar my takes on eyeless jack and slenderman are... which is funny because they live in the same woods in my au but they fucking HATE each other

territorial stuff you know

[taranida]

Schrödinger's Cabin or Who wrote the eruption

Continuing on answering the points I left out in the theory about what really happened in the 70s. Yet another long read.

the Bird Leg Cabin and the Diver’s Isle, that might or might not been retroactively removed by the eruption under the Cauldron Lake.

The question that bothered me with all this eruption: what did the cabin and isle do to deserve such treatment? Thomas was knowledgeable enough to understand, that it’s the lake that brought the nightmare, not the isle or the cabin, why take them down as well? The isle, even after he “wrote himself out of reality” still bears the name it got from his hobby, not like if it would stay where it was, anything would change. And not like there are no other places on the Cauldron Lake’s shores; the Cauldron Lake Lodge is one of them, but there are also the rental cabins. Removing the isle and cabin had only grim consequences: 32 miners died as a result of flooding and seismic activity. I doubt that Thomas didn’t know how close the mines and the lake are; and I’d love to believe he’s not the type of a person who will be a-okay with mass murdering people. What we hear of him throughout the game is that he was considerate and caring enough to leave shoeboxes and charge Cynthia with helping whomever will be the next victim of the Dark Presence. The situation, when he made a decision, was dire, of course, he could not think about all the links between eruptions, earthquakes and mines, but Thomas knew one thing for sure: the Dark Presence will twist everything to its evil needs. Better write nothing, then hope your work will not be used to cause harm. Also, in every source that gives us information on 18th July 1970 we have nothing about the eruption:

This House of Dreams: “And he took his girlfriend for one last dive. Together they sank down into the depths, far deeper than he had ever dived before.”

The Poet and The Muse: “And vowed them both to silence deep beneath the lake”

Manuscript page: “He put on the suit, untied the monster from the chair. The thing in his arms thrashed weakly, but he held fast. He stepped outside, off the pier, and into the dark water, a sinking pinprick of light, descending toward a bottom that never came.”

Cynthia Weaver: “He tried to undo it, wrote himself, her, everything he’d ever written out of the world.”

I don’t believe Thomas was the one to write the eruption. But we have one person, who could do it, was in a proper state of mind to not care about chain reactions and would love to solve the problem the easiest way.

As we hear in the Alice’s call with Heartman, Alan’s way to solve the problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist:

How to solve Alice’s death? Write the very place she drowned at out of existence. If there was no cabin, if there was no pier, there would be no way for her to drown, right?

Well, sort of.

This theory has a couple of evidence to support it: the radio and the coffee thermos that we can find in the cabin.

In the guide we even know the people who placed the radio there, and how the signal is not so good because of the caldera rim.

And here’s one of the beloved thermoses with a little note of someone in-universe.

They, of course, could be taken with a grain of salt. We do not know when Sam and David lived (or I might’ve missed them somewhere in games or other materials; there are hints that they are active KBF-FM engineers in 2010), yet it’s doubtful that the radios they left in various places were exactly there for 40 years, tuned to KBF-FM and look just as every other radio in 2010. The thermos… well, sadly the person, collecting them, meets a grim fate, probably being stuck in the Dark Place. Yet, the items are there, and the first time the eruption is mentioned is after Alan escapes from the Dark Presence. Let’s not forget also how he escapes: he just walks the bridge and gets into the car as if he was not in the Dark Place this whole time, there is no transition between worlds. And the moment he starts the car, the cabin just dissipates in a black smoke: is it the writing starting to shape reality?

There is a peculiar manuscript, that might hint on the cabin still existing at the time Alan and Alice arrived:

It’s talking about Cauldron Lake, surely; this is the place of power for the Dark Presence, we know this for a fact. So why would the weak and at the time hurt by this trip to the dinner Dark Presence even consider an effort of conjuring the Bird Leg Cabin? How would it even muster this trick with no art involved, with no artist to feed on? Unless the cabin was there at the time.

After all, the entire isle and the cabin are in tip-top shape. In the first game we see the Dark Presence launch multiple objects out from the lake, but all of them keep the damage, look old and rusty.

On the isle, however, even the vegetation is green and alive. And as far as I know the Dark Presence is not a good gardener: in Control the very presence of The Third Thing (formerly known as that arsehole Emil Hartman) was killing the plants, that we had to save with light. In the second game the manuscripts that were washed ashore even leave a dark goo on their place.

The cabin and the isle show no signs of Dark Presence’s touch.

Were there other options? For sure!

Here! Cabins for rent near Cauldron Lake. This is so much easier to pull off: take the key of one of them, make instructions how to get there and give them to the writer. No need to do the impossible and raise an entire isle in the middle of the lake.

Yet, instead, we have the Bird Leg Cabin on the Diver’s Isle, apparently collected from the bits and pieces they should’ve turned into in the eruption, with rejuvenated vegetation and no sign of any damage; all created by the Dark Presence so weak, it’s “not real enough to properly exist”:

That is… if this wasn’t the first loop Alan went through. As Tom the Filmmaker said in the second game:

Remember, the Dark Place works in loops and rituals. If the waves keep pushing you away, you just need to find another way in.

Or out — in this case.

But I will leave the loops of the first game for another time.

For now I also suggest to think about this little thing:

Time is a story, after all.

[neptunesenceladus]

Wanted to do a list of some of my favourite fics across fandoms so here it is! En Enceladus’s favs (as of April 2024). This was actually going to just be my most recent ones but i ended up going through all the recs in my bookmarks, so, these are sorted into fandom to make it easier for you.

DC Fics:

Tractors by @lieu42

DC firstly lieu42 is cool af, so note that down. If you in a mood for time travel and Tim Drake having a crisis then this is definitely for you. I love it so much I bound a physical copy. actually just read everything by him, you will not regret it.

New Wave by @yellowocaballero

DC What if Steph was the first Robin? You should know I love Steph and this is probably the fic that cemented that, I really love how she is portrayed and the 90s skater aesthetic. this fic and tractors are probably my top two recs so go read them now please and thank you

Frequency by @cryptocism

DC, Teen I truly don't know how to sum this up. Basically Thaddeus Thawn "disappears" so CRAYDL activates clones of him. It's so so good and only got one more chapter until it is complete! Also the song November by Sparkbird fits one of the characters (Six) so so well.

Zugzwang by Hinn_Raven

DC, Teen Steph is dead so why is the new talon that Cass is seeing around strangely familiar?

The Juniper Suite by @shhhenanigans

DC, Teen, M, and E (currently 4 parts, first is T and last is E) Genuanly can't describe this one. It's jayroy, with this twisted fairytale body horror theme. so big warnings for body horror, I really love how the author writes all of it and plays with tense and imagery.

Time (to protect you) by Blueseabird2

DC, Teen Dick Grayson and Constantine go back in time to try and save everyone. It's mostly cute batfamily fanon with angst, it was my first DC fic I read (with the exception of Dark Matter) so has a special place in my heart (also the reason I have read so much Hellblazer)

Marvel/MCU Fics:

Pigeon and Crow by @deniigi

Marvel, Teen Peter Parker and Johnny Storm become friends. Deniigi always has beautiful writing and this is no exception. Personally love the wordplay.

Peter Parker's Tapeworm by Ginevra_Benci

MCU, Teen Firstly, the tapeworm is a metaphor. This one is what if the spell at the end of nwh failed and even Peter forgot he was Spider-man. Its really good, especially how the memory loss and displacement is written.

The Lost and Forgotten by @litcraz

MCU, Teen believe it or not, this one was written before nwh, litcraz just fully predicted it. Peter has to make a very bad deal and everyone forgets he exists, but he keeps ending up back in the Avengers path.

Star Wars Fics:

hope has bloody knuckles by @independent-variables

SW, Teen Legally required to star the SW section of this with two independent-variables fic, their writing is so much to me (I literally binged all 4 pages of their star wars fics on ao3). This one is about after the Clone Wars, Davijaan moves to Pantora with Cody to heal after the war. He reunites with a civilian he met once and slowly falls in love. Examines person hood, healing, love, and siblings. (oh and the authors settings in Pantora are inspired by Alaska and are so freaking beautiful)

sing back to the red bird, soldier by @independent-variables

SW, Teen I was hard-pressed to make a choice of just one more from this author, but since I can't list all of them here is another favourite. It's about Rex discovering what it means to be free, and have a choice beyond brainwashing, and then offering freedom to all his brothers. It uses elements of Tatooine slave culture by @fialleril, which is all just so beautiful, so definitely check out them as well!

Dielectric Breakdown by @jessepinwheel

SW, Teen Quite likely the first clone wars fic I read? I love a good mystery and this fic has that with a very fulfilling ending. Obi-Wan kills the Chancellor and goes into hiding toward the end of the war. Five years later he's presumed dead but Cody doesn't believe that and wants to know why he betrayed everyone.

Message Traffic by @skitzofreak

SW, G and Teen This is a must read for anyone. It's all written as correspondence, transcripts, and droid logs, as a post rogue one fix-it. It's actually amazing how much the story makes you invested while you are very clearly behind a fourth wall. I adore it so much.

floating, sinking by shuofthewind

SW, not-rated another everyone survives rogue one fix-it. I just really love rogue one and seeing all the characters get more. Also the perspective switches are really really good.

False Dichotomy by nsmorig (@far-sector)

SW, M One that was recommended to me (by independent-variables). Its dark and has body horror so I loved it. The way Cody is written from both his own perspective and others is in such a way that you can really understand who he is. Truly one of the Cody fics. There is also a sequel that's a wip and is also amazing (I'm still thinking about it).

Bucket of Bolts by @independent-variables

SW, G haha, I lied. have another inderpendent-variables fic. This one looks at Ahsoka and Rex in-between the end of tcw and start of rebels. I love them and whatever it is they have going on.

All Their Tomorrows by @breakfastteatime

SW: Jedi Fallen Order, Teen Horror!!! The Mantis crew find an abandoned ship floating in space and its super creepy and leads them to investigating a dark faction of force sensitives.

Six extras from assorted fandoms:

Talk Me Home by @comebacknow

The Maze Runner, Mature I love tmr so much, never not thinking about it. This beautiful work covers the six months in-between the end of the scorch trials (movie) and the death cure (movie). I've read it multiple times, it expands on both the characters and world building so much.

the scar i can't reverse (the more it heals, the worse it hurts) by EverythingButTheKitchenSink (ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding)

The Maze Runner, Mature I've been following this fic since it was only a couple chapters, its really brilliant. Lots of time travel shit and trauma and seeing Thomas through everyone else's eyes. I would also recommend going through a few of this authors other works as well if you enjoy!

Once & Future by spqr

The Witcher, Mature If you haven't read anything by spqr, congrats, you're missing out. This one is a kind of sleeping beauty au, where Geralt is a statue and Jaskier accidentally wakes him up. They then have to go on a quest to save everyone Geralt holds dear.

Silver and Copper by Heronfem

The Witcher, Mature I love this cause, horror. It gets pretty dark, please mind the tags if horror is not your forte. Jaskier is cursed so a witcher is hired to save him.

Vanishing Act by nockout

Harry Potter, Mature This is probably the only time I'll recommend a harry potter fic, but it's truly worth it. This is a noir detectivy thing that starts by being spread over two different points in time that slowly meet. I have no clue how the author keeps all the plotlines together cause, wow. It also follows an original character which I really love. I'm a few chapters behind that latest update so am feeling like a reread is in order.

can we be seventeen? by acennabeth

PJO, Teen ending with some fluff. This is just percabeth getting a break from everything and being teenagers for an evening. it's so special to me

[imagionationstation]

HI i’m shy but i found your page yesterday and i think your fanfiction and analysis’ are so cool and intriguing!! I mean i read your fanfiction before but i didn’t know you were active here too 🥹 I have 2 questions!!

What are your thoughts on the Creeping Doom episode? Personally I love the episode for the concept and fun moments they gave us but I wish there was more to it somehow? Or that it was more consistent.. I’m not good with words but I’m curious to hear what you think!

I also noticed on one of your posts you said Raph only calls Donnie/Mikey little brother. I never heard him call Donnie that though :( I was wondering if you remember the clip or episode that happened in? That’d make my heart so happy to see hehehe

Thank you for your time bro 🫶🫶🫶

Thank you!! My fanfics and my analysis are my pride and joy so that really means a lot to hear!

I try to drop reminders that I exist in other places whenever I can but (just like with answering asks) I’m really bad at it. Love when people can make connections between my accounts. I do my best to boost 2012tmnt content with every click of a key and get a rush of dopamine when someone can access everything I have to offer!

What are my thoughts on the Creeping Doom ep? Do you have time for an essay or two? Cauuussseee-

Alright. Alright. I’ll keep this… relatively short.

I’m an episode skipper for shows I have little interest in. I don’t normally care about watching them from first season to final season. I just like tasting the random content and putting puzzle pieces of plot together. It makes it more interesting.

So, I know I watched a couple of episodes of 2012TMNT before I watched The Creeping Doom, but it was the first episode that really stood out to me. It essentially made me go, “Omgee, he’s such a sweet, bright little guy- I must learn everything about him.”

Everything about this episode is a wonderful mix of painfully cringe, strangely adorable, and very thought provoking. YEAH. You heard me. It makes me feel things AND have wise thoughts.

It’s the little things that get me. This episode spoke volumes and still does after my many, many rewatches.

FOR EXAMPLE: The brothers always immediately supporting him/assisting him/leading him around like a lost puppy?

(Mikey throwing him is the highlight of his part in this episode, ngl.)

Even BEFORE they know that something is definitely wrong with his brain, they’re supporting him through his off behavior/headache.

Also him pausing to catch Leo and then keeping his unsteady brother upright later on is some prime brotherly content <3<3

AND HE’S JUST SUCH A HAPPY BOY

You can FEEL how tense he is at the beginning of this ep. He’s been carrying this tension- this weight- all season. So much is on his shoulders and he knows he’s running out of time. When he snaps at Mikey, he offers unheeded in vocal hints of I’m busy plz stop being distracting by adding in comment like, “Don’t mess with that! I’m trying to figure out how to reverse engineer this brain worm.”

He’s not even telling him to get out! He’s slightly open to conversation. He’s just trying to communicate that he’s really distracting, but the message isn’t getting across. (And it’s so relatable. He’s not TRYING to be a jerk. He’s trying to stay cool. And I don’t know how many of the show’s audience have little siblings, but when you’re struggling and they’re loud, that only makes things worse. You love them but can’t they let you think?!)

He STRESSED. And rightfully so.

The second that the memory loss kicks in and he forgets everything scary/daunting/concerning happening around him- he’s such a happy and carefree teen. Zero problems. Zero concerns.

NOTHING that he’s doing comes off as weird or abnormal to him. He finds joy in fire and french fries and tinkling vials and ‘squirrels’ and naming things and rediscovering his brothers. He loves doing random things to get his older brother’s attention, anything from shoving metal objects in his mouth to stealing their masks. This is probably the most joy we see for a LONG time and it’s all so PURE.

And he GENUINELY does NOT understand why his brothers are calling him out for being odd. He’s just vibing all ep.

He can’t remember why they left him behind, so, OBVIOUSLY, he needs to go find them- and that random spotlight in the alleyway was NEAT and he found REAL above-ground fires and squirrels. Didn’t they want the ShellRaiser to stop anyway?

He was helping! What’s the big deal? Silly brothers.

And on the same card, there’s a subtle sort of angst. Watching Donnie slowly descends into a dependent child without truly understanding what’s happening to him. Every time that he remembers that he forgot something, a confused fear entered his tone. He knows it’s wrong but he can’t understand why.

His head hurts and his hand itches and he thinks he might be spacey but how is any of that connected and since when did Creep get free and what are they all doing on the surface anyway, and, wait, are they fighting- is that the Creep how did he get free?!

And that fact that he keeps asking the same questions gets me every time. He’s so oblivious and that’s terrifying. He’s used to knowing everything but every thought is slipping through his fingers.

Then we reach the point where he can’t even muster the curiosity to wonder if his brother repeatedly saying something’s wrong with him is weird. He’s just going with it. Any chance they may have had to figure this out is now long gone.

And the multiple references to the fact that they can’t do much without Donnie make me wish this realization would have gone somewhere. The potential of Donnie giggling and playing while his brothers watch their world crash down would have been PERFECT.

It would be SUCH A CONTRAST to Good Genes! Instead of losing him to an angry, vengeful beast that is nothing like him, they’re essentially losing Donnie to himself. This is their brother, no question about it, and they have to watch him deteriorate before their eyes.

Holy Chalupa, I can TASTE that angst. It’s drilling at my soul.

But, sadly, I’ll just have to take what I can get. This type of scenario will simply live rent free in my brain. Along with other ones like this definitely canon scene that’s definitely scripted definitely.

Uh. There was another thing.

OH YEAH-

I don’t know what episode it’s from. I went looking for the quote in my favorites but didn’t find it. Don’t really have enough hours to scan every season. Of course, I would have sworn that Mikey has never said “Don” in the 2012 series a few months ago, and he totally surprised me by saying it in Newtralized. So.

I could be wrong. I can hear his voice saying it clearly in my head like many quotes, but I’m a writer, so that could just be my brain playing tricks on me.

I believe that I am right, but if proven otherwise, I will concede to my incorrect assumptions. Silly trickster brain O’mine.

[multi-fandomedfreak]

Fic idea: How might the Sides help with writer's block?

Authors note: I wrote Janus and Remus for this one!! Which is why this took a tad longer than usual lol

⚠️ Warnings ⚠️: Remus making dirty comments

👑 Roman 👑

-Oooh writers block with Roman is ALMOST non existent

-He’s creativity after all so he would come up with the most extravagant things

-Would definitely use this as an opportunity to spend time alone with you in the Mindscape place and create whatever came to mind to help inspire you

-DAYDREAM MODE ACTIVATED

-He’ll do EVERYTHING to help you beat writers block, which also gives him an excuse to be as dramatic as possible

-Aww I also feel like the moment he has an idea he doesn’t even say anything he just rushes to the nearest writing utensil and writes it down before he forgets

-Just know asking for Romans help with writers block will have you both exhausted but happy

-exhausted mainly because of all the running around and happy that you both got to do all that together

-You definitely got an idea about what to write

💙 Logan 💙

-ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT WHEN YOU ASK HIM FOR HELP WITH WRITERS BLOCK

-Obviously calm and collected on the outside but on the inside he is so darn happy

-It just makes him feel very important and will take it very seriously

-He’ll research various topics with you, look at art/pictures, take notes of things, etc.

-Expect so. much. info dumping.

-But hey it really does help with drumming up some good ideas

-By the end of it, you’ll have like more than 5 pages worth of notes to help you with your writers block

-He’ll somehow even throw out MORE ideas as he helps you write whatever it is that you’re writing

-Literally a human grammarly so he’s always pointing out where you can improve your grammar

-Likes to compliment certain parts of your work in order to keep you motivated tho

-If you drink coffee, your both probably buzzing off of the amount of caffeine you guys drank during the reasearch

🍪 Patton 🍪

-At first he’ll ask, “what’s writers block?”

-Once you explain it tho, he’ll try drumming up any ideas on how to help

-I feel like his idea of getting you inspired will be stuff like, talking a walk to maybe help clear your head or baking/ cooking something for you

-Probably takes you to his room hoping that all the nostalgic stuff he has in it will help

-He’s trying his best lol

-He’ll probably get distracted with the things in his room and has to be constantly reminded of the task at hand

-Somehow that helps?? Like seeing him organically do stuff and not trying to help you get inspired, helps with the writers block

-With Patton it just really depends if he does or says something that somehow triggers inspiration

-Gives you cookies and milk as you work once you get past writers block

💜 Virgil 💜

-Once you ask him, you both probably sit on his bed trying to think of something

-Till Virgil suggests you listen to some music that will help you

-He puts on ALL his favorite albums

-Puts on Paramore, MCR, Evanescence, and probably the soundtrack of his favorite musicals/movies

-Probably suggests watching some movies to hopefully get inspired

-Tries not to panic when it doesn’t seem to work

-But it does work since you both end up talking in depth about the movies and songs

-It ends up being a veryyyyy long conversation since he’s very passionate about his interests

-And you love listening to him

-Once you sit down and get to work on the thing you wanna write, he’s there sitting with you to help bounce ideas off one another

-Kinda like Logan, will be vibrating from the amount of coffee he’s drank

-Once you asked him to help with writers block, he helped you through the whole day

-And I mean, the whole day

-You’re just both very relieved you finally got through writers block

🐍 Janus 🐍

-“You must be truly desperate to come to me for help.”

-Ok Loki nobody asked for ur opinion

-Will reluctantly help (he would love to help he’s just being janus. he’s actually jumping with joy on the inside that you asked him for help)

-He’ll probably try telling you stories that are completely made up to hopefully get ur creative juices flowing

-Yes he goes through the effort to make up stories to tell you

-Probably will take you to the library to help research various topics

-Why not just look it up? Bc he likes the quiet atmosphere

-Not at all bc he wants to put actual effort into helping you

-He’s gonna be a diva about it tho

-Surprisingly is very keen on helping you get motivated and when you think about giving up, he simply won’t allow it

-He gets you up and running

-Probably promises to get you something as a reward for getting through writers block

-One of the few times he’s not actually lying

-Once you do come up with an idea, he’ll probably make little sassy remarks about your work

-Know he doesn’t actually mean it, he just says it on instinct

-Oh and your reward? He can’t bring himself to give it to you in person so he just leaves it somewhere he knows you’ll find it

💚 Remus 💚

-Oh gosh, you almost regret asking him for help with writers block

-Bc he will go into gremlin mode and just do the most out of pocket things ever

-“To help your creative - and other- juices flow!!” he says

-Immediately gets hit upside the head for that little comment

-But, anyways, if you need help writing some messed up stuff or something; he’s the best guy for the job

-Just imagine him being as extra as Roman but much more…disturbing

-He won’t stop making dirty jokes/comments through the whole thing

-But he surprisingly does a good job at helping you out with writers block

-Of course you both will most likely get sidetracked bc Remus is being Remus

-Just know you you’ll be both disturbed but entertained when it comes to asking Remus for help

[shinyphoenix]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @eternallaughter! I also wouldn't consider myself a fic writer. I am a fic reader and a fic imaginer who very occasionally actually wrangles one out of her brain onto the page (screen).

There are some spoilers in the tags and descriptions of some of my fics for some media so proceed with caution.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

14! I'm shocked the number is that high every time.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

20,547

El you have over double my wordcount with fewer than half my fics haha. Sigh, the only ideas I ever finish/post are the short ones.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Kind of none right now. I always have things floating around in my head and notes apps but I wouldn't say I'm actively writing any of them right now. Though I do want to finish my ... 3? Yuumori wips because they actually have promise and I want to read them finished *sob*.

The ones I've published for are Yuumori, Pokemon SWSH, K (Project), and Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Eight Note (Rated G, KBNZ, 607 words, stream-of-consciousness cat-POV retelling of a really fantastic longer fic written by a friend, Pokemon SWSH)

4. Blushies and Plushies (Rated T, KBNZ, 1,796 words, shopping pre-relationship drabble thingy (they're all drabbles), Pokemon SWSH)

3. The Lion And The House Cat (Rated T, Mikorei, 1,605 words, exchange fic for the prompt "AU where Reisi has a pet cat who doesn't like Mikoto very much", K)

2. Study Tree (Rated T, Mikorei, 2,473 words, .... inspired by a scene from Gilmore Girls, but definitely not one you'd expect..., K) I am too embarrassed to reread this one and I'm so glad I wrote Stag Night because this was #1 for a WHILE

Stag Night (Rated T, Sherliam, 686 words, inspired by the stag night scene from BBC Sherlock, Moriarty the Patriot)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes if I check and they don't get buried under responses to my comments on other fics that I forget to mark as read. No if they get buried or I forget the inbox exists (it happens alllll the time).

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Phone Calls is the one (1) MCD fic I've written so... probably that? It's either that or Mirror, Tell Me Something which is an angsty character-study thing. (or we can say Tale as Old as Time which is angsty because the last part published was angsty and also because I will never finish it)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Eighth Note because Stagger is happy with two dads.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think so. Thankfully. No one should get hate on their fics.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have posted a vague-masturbation fic, but other than that smut hasn't crossed over from the WIP world (yet. That Fibonacci sequence, man...)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I write things inspired by other things and imagine a TON of AUs, but I don't write crossovers, no.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and I hope not.

12. Have you had a fic translated?

Someone translated Stag Night into Russian!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. My sister and I have MANY stupid crack fic ideas that we are "definitely going to write one day" though...

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Gut reaction is Mikorei because they were my first crazy-hyperfixation OTP and I'll always have a special place for them... But I can't really decide, otherwise.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but you doubt you ever will?

Most of them? T_T

16. What are your writing strengths ?

Grammar probably. And the fact that I read a lot so I know (theoretically) what sounds good

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing anything that isn't That One Scene that I thought of .

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm not fluent in any language other than English so I won't write in any other languages. I will use honorifics though. I have nothing against it in other people's writing (I greatly appreciate if they translate it in the end notes)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE! (baby's first fandom has a new movie coming out soon woo!)

20. Favorite fic you have ever written?

I want to say Stag Night and Phone Calls, but those could just be the ones I've reread the most post-publishing so it's exposure bias. But I think I like all of my fics except for Study Tree XD.

I get stressed out tagging people for tag things, but consider yourself tagged if you see this and want to do it!

[lazy-dog24601]

It doesn't fucking work, the VN plug-in for Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon doesn't work at all. All the little icons are still greyed out despite them being things that have been released. For the record. This is on chrome. The date is 9/15/2024. I've done what it's said at the bottom and it still doesn't work.

Here's hoping page 667 is a wet t-shirt contest. If this "Beyond Canon" team really is the shaft and sack they describe themselves to be then they'll start adding a bunch of on-screen graphic sexual content. It's literally the only way they could make up for this VN blunder.

Look, we're all adults here. This ain't a story about teenagers anymore, these are grown-ass adults that fuck, piss on each other, hold wet t-shirt contests, and get divorced.

Forget about Davekat or Teriska or June Egbert- where the FUCK is the Jade Harley golden shower? Freaking cowards. THIS is what it means to exist for the sake of existing. The horror of being a sequel? Of begin in a story that doesn't need to exist? Of being the sad continuation of a happily ever after? Of being non-canon? Of being a story that exists because your fans kept bugging you to write more of the story you ended?

It's all piss, baby. Calliope, the ugly green flesh skeleton lesboy, said that. Yeah, they call people baby. They know what the fuck is up. They've given Roxy a golden shower. You wanna know why? Well, first off, it's because they're two consenting legal adults. But the second and more important answer is that. Because that's how reality works, bitch. Yeah, I just called you a bitch. The person reading this.

That's what this all is. Homestuck 2. Beyond Canon. The Epilogues. This is the heavy shit of reality breaking through the constipated asshole that is Homestuck, the first. Hussie was one-upping God itself by taking the laxatives know as truth and shitting out the reality bomb known as "everything after homestuck." It was so fucking real and truthful that Hussie completely abandoned Homestuck^2, along with the first team of writers and artists and script writers and story boarders and producers and story consultants and assistant writers. What a bunch of pogchamps, my next shit is dedicated to you legends for creating such a massive piece of shit.

But, you might be wondering, what about Hussie's clown VN- Psycholonials? That came after Homestuck. And my answer is. I don't know, bitch. Oh yeah, that's still a thing. You being a bitch. It wasn't a thing that stopped being a thing. You're still a bitch.

Psycholonials is something I haven't read. And will probably never read. Because clowns are lame. Clowns are for people too scared and too horny to use blackface, although everyone knows Hussie doesn't have a sexual bone in her body, because why else did Hussie not draw John Egbert's soaking wet vagina during any point of her active involvement in the Homestuck franchise.

Hussie saw Joker, that conservative movie that made fun of disabled people, the one that was made by a billion-dollar company, and was like, oh shit I wanna do that. I don't even care if that doesn't line up properly on the timeline. Clowns are lame and I refuse to read her VN. It's not about truth or reality or piss, I just don't want to read Hussie's clown VN because I genuinely never want to give them the light of day. They've had their dream- I'll let them wake up and enjoy what they have left.

I don't care for Hussie. If that comes off as disrespectful, or immoral, or something along the lines of "that's not how you treat people, that's not how you treat people that write stories you don't like, you're being really mean" then fuck you I don't like Andrew Hussie. I also don't like Kinoko Nasu, so keep that in mind. I refuse to read F/GO or the Tsukihime remake because the art is really fucking bad in both and I hate the whole "secret organization" crap that's in F/GO that leaks in Tsukihime remake.

I hate secret government organizations. Stupid fucking blood libel anti-semitic New World Order Illuminati bullshit, the entire concept. Like, fuck you Kinoko Nasu for writing a story about a giant underground organization that fights aliens and magic monsters and keeps it hidden from the rest of the world, you're literally writing nazi fanfic. Fuck you Nasu, you anti-semitic piece of shit.

I also don't like that fucker who made the Nier games. Yoko Taro. I hate all the Nier games. I refuse to play his shitty, "insightful" and "deconstructive" games. They're all edgy garbage. Not my flavor at all.

I'm also not a big fan of that Uro-butcher guy. Gen Urobuchi. Fate/zero is alright but Madoka Magica is pure fucking garbage, based solely on what all the Madoka Magica fans say about the show. The only reason I don't despise him like the rest is that he worked on Thunderbolt Fantasy, which is peak from what I've heard. Genuine peak, unlike Madoka Magica or Nier.

TL:DR- Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon Vriska VN isn't working.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Ok, I'm in the last chunk of Valdemar, the third in the Founding of Valdemar trilogy, and a companion quite literally just went "We want and need our Chosen to be healthy, in mind, heart, and body," and y'all...not only does this ping my ableism bell, but it also seems to be rewriting Valdemaran history a little bit???

Like, let's be absolutely real here. On the page, heralds in other Valdemar books have experienced depression (Vanyel), PTSD (literally most of them, but Vanyel, Thalia, and probably Mags), hypervigilance (Vanyel again), anger management challenges (Tylendel), anxiety (Lan), and a host of varying physical disabilities (Jadus, Thalia, Amily, Pol, and the heralds whose name I forget who ends up severely burned in the Arrows of the Queen trilogy). I haven't always liked how the physical injuries and disabilities are handled, but they've always been present and they've never actually disqualified anyone from being a Herald, even if Amily had to be partly cured before being chosen and Jadus retired after losing his leg.

This new statement about how companions prefer explicitly abled heralds feels like a really icky attempt to rewrite history, and this book has handled disability in general really poorly, even for a Vakdemar novel. And no, this book doesn't even get the excuse of "it's a survival situation" because they've been in Haven for ten years, they're fine. They aren't actively traveling, they've succeeded in building a sustainable and defensible keep, everything else is details and time.

This whole passage is really problematic in the context of the Valdemar universe:

So there are a couple of key issues. First, we really, REALLY need to address why casual sanist language is not ok. The companion isn't talking about quirky behaviors or idiosyncrasies when they say "madness," and we shouldn't be quick to elide what I am choosing to interpret as clinical madness (mad studies scholars, help me out here, I know definitions can be slippery, but I don't have a good one for fantasy contexts) with personality quirks--which is what Restil is doing here. Be CLEAR about your term use and watch where you're using sanist language and maybe stop.

Second, I really dislike the whole idea that madness can spread. Yes, I know, companions are magical and have a weird hive mind thing happening, but I dislike the perpetuation of the myth that madness is contagious or that associating with mad people can make you mad out of nowhere. That's a deeply harmful, isolating idea that is kind of antithetical to heralds as I understood them in other books--particularly Vanyel's trilogy. Community strengthens and supports, it does not ostracize and isolate. This was actually WILD to hear in a heraldic context in a Valdemar novel, because I think every other Herald would rightfully lose their absolute shit over this. Whatever happened to "there will never be another Tylendel?"

Third, the swimmer and drowning man analogy is bad here, for the same reasons that perpetuating the idea that you can "catch" madness is bad. We do not leave people to drown, and the analogy oversimplifies the ever-loving hell out of mental health crises and what can be done to support the person in crisis. We do not just leave them to drown, and again, the Heraldic Circle literally would never.

Fourth...that last sentence is just straight ableist. It is very much expecting what Rosemarie Garland-Thompson defined as a normate: a 20-something cishet white man who is athletic. Literally the normate is so narrow and focused as to barely exist in the real world, and it completely negates the value of anyone who doesn't fit that mold. It's also contradictory to the "we take the weird ones" ethos the companion expressed earlier, so the writing itself is wishy washy on the whole thing.

I am just...floored and kind of disgusted by the blatant rewrite of what companions look for in their chosen here, and I cannot square it with other Valdemar books that handled this better (although not perfectly). Like, as someone who lost communities to chronic illness, I'm very much soured on companions after this book. I will take Yfandes or Kalira or Rolan over any companion in this book, and I'm pretty sure the circle in earlier books wouldn't have stood for this.

[chemicalbrew]

tagged

by @radellama thanks bestie!!!

1. why did you choose your url?

multiple reasons:

I chose chemicalbrew as my go-to handle everywhere important, because the handle I picked for this purpose as a teen is cringe

I like having canon URLs; especially if they are kind of hard-to-get and\or subtle references, which this one is perfect for, IMO. The last time I felt good about a handle in this sense was when I went by theplanetbuster

I like katzero :) a normal amount :) and I always will I think :)

Chemical Brew is just a good track and I love being reminded of its existence every time I log on anywhere.

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

I'm too lazy to upkeep them, so I compensate with my tagging system... Well, there is actually one where I wanted to put my writing if I ever did any, but in the end all writing I do is roleplay stuff on discord that's not meant to be shared widely HELP. And what I do end up getting out once in a blue moon, I just put on AO3...

I used to hoard a whole lot of URLs, but I got scared of getting terminated for a second time, so aside from the almost empty writing blog I mentioned earlier, I just hoard five that I'd hate to see anyone else have (some of these I used to go by, too)

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

Almost ten years; I haven't remade once, so you can see this just by going to the archive (don't do that, actually)

4. do you have a queue tag?

I do, and it's a Transistor reference :) I can count on my hands the amount of times I've queued stuff, though.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

Found this place while looking for Zelda fanart; thought it would be easier to use the dashboard instead of checking individual pages. At least I think that was the biggest reason. IDR

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Zero I like him :) At this point it feels wrong if I don't have him as my pfp on here and\or discord so... here he is!!! (since I'm still Four on discord) Not to mention that I kinda need him here to match the rest of my stuff.

I put the NB flag border for Pride month this year for fun and I'm too lazy to put the old version back (also, once again, I like weird subtle shit like that.).

7. why did you choose your header?

I always choose my headers with purpose, though it's not quite the case here: this is a holdover from when I was cherrymegablaster, and it's meant to directly complement that URL in a way that's obvious if you played the game. LOL

I kept it because it's funny to call a drink a chemical brew (and because there's not enough DLC footage for me to make a nice gif with. There's a few stills I really like, but I prefer my headers animated!) ...and because I'm just really happy with the gif.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

I can't be assed to use the site that scans for this stuff and I'm not proud of my ancient random shit that blew up a bit anyway. So... I'll just tell you this gifset I made on a whim is the one with the most notes.

I REALLY hope the rainbow katzero set outpaces it one day because it's also continuously showing up in my activity and it's easily the one I put the most work into. I need to get off my ass and make more gifs!!!

9. how many mutuals do you have?

...does anyone keep count of that? just the right amount to keep me happy :3

10-11. how many followers do you have? how many people do you follow?

343 \ 1414. why are these such nice numbers

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

Yes, but I don't post them, I just send them to my friends on discord. I'd say hatewar but it's on fire alone counts as a collaborative shitpost of the highest tier, but barely anyone knows what I mean and I love it.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

Ehhh, it depends... I know I check my activity mostly every morning just in case, and I check the dod3 and katzero tags once or twice a week, but it's not a strict schedule thing, I forget sometimes :] The tags are slow anyway, and I have sooo many active katzero posters blocked that it's even slower for me :p

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

I don't think so..? Definitely not in public, I've had arguments with friends I made here, but it's a different thing. I think everyone on my dash is largely chill and has moved on past the disk horse or whatever the fuck

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts

DO PEOPLE STILL MAKE THESE...

16. do you like tag games?

That and 'reblog and put your opinion on X \ what you did today' is always really fun, I <3 being annoying about minor details in my boring life (also I'm literally doing one rn, aren't I)

17. do you like ask games?

Yes, but I never get any asks, so I don't reblog them too often. :]

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

@/ositia, they're a very good artist and I miss seeing them around

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

I have only had two crushes in my life, and one of them was on a former mutual I've drifted apart from. I know he won't be reading this cause he blocked me, but I still think about him and I hope he's moved to a nice enough place, at least :")

20. tags

uuugh just do this if you want to

[focsle]

dearest creator of a comic that includes a lot of ships. how draw sailing vessel???? (do you have any advice beyond Look At Reference Picture And Cry. because that is my current strategy)

thanks sorry

I'm afraid the best way to learn how to draw something is Look At Reference (and hopefully not cry too much!)

I'm not sure what kind of vessel you're interested in--an ocean liner is different from a man o war is different from a caravel is different from all the whaleships I draw, but whatever sort you're interested in, get a lot of references.

Tracing is a really good learning tool! Take your refs and just trace the basic shapes. Ultimately ships are...basically cylinders/rectangles with various edges shaved off or flared in certain ways. But tracing the basic shape can help you internalize an understanding of the Bones of the thing. And can also help with drawing them in different perspectives if you're thinking 'it's just a rectangle with some edges shaved off and some pointy bits'.

Sailing, as an activity, also has a lot of diagrams that can be referred to. The information on them can be overwhelming, but it's good to be able to identify basic parts of the ship (such as the different masts, different sailing rigs, the names and locations of the sails themselves)

Not every ship is going to carry that much sail nor all at once, and it'll change depending on weather conditions, sailing objectives, etc. I'd also say that if you were planning on including all of those lines in the first diagram in your own art that would probably be...excessive. But it's helpful again to have something broken down to better understand your own references / how you want to draw the ship in various conditions. Books like the Young Officer's Sheet Anchor by Darcy Lever are good too--it has really nice diagrams of a lot of different components of a vessel, if you wanna get granular.

This isn't the most accessible piece of advice, but if you have the opportunity to dabble in actually sailing, try it! I don't sail professionally; I am the most seasonal of hobbyists and I'm feeling particularly rusty right about now, but I found that when I started sailing I gained an understanding of how things worked when otherwise just reading about it or looking at images was pretty inscrutable to me. Being able to actually see how something works and feel it and handle it was enlightening. In lieu of that, while it's harder to find video tutorials for tall ships compared to sailboats, those exist too! Here's one.

Granted my sailing experience is exclusively on schooners and I still have no idea how square riggers really work. If I ever get the chance to learn on one and look back at my comic I'm sure SO many things will be wrong. There are absolutely issues with my ships in that comic. Sometimes I forget what sails I set from one page to the next. Yadda yadda yadda. That's why I'm always whispering 'don't look too closely at my ships' @ any sailor-inclined person who's reading said comic.

Which ultimately brings me tooooo--I don't know what your aims are in drawing sailing vessels, but my aims are not to draw a perfectly accurate depiction of a ship. I'm not making diagrams. I'm trying to get the spirit of the thing, and hopefully in a way that looks......not completely incorrect. Sometimes photo references or sailing diagrams can be really challenging to parse. What's helpful to me is identifying what's Most Essential to getting my point across. And one way to find out what's most essential is through a sailor's simplification of a ship.

I love model ships for instance! I love being able to see and handle something in a three dimensional space, and look at how things connect even if it's not an exact replica. Here's mine that I pull out sometimes when I'm trying to figure out how to lead rigging:

I also like collaborating with my deceased whalers of whom I am so fond. They have a lot to teach me, including--with those who were more artistically inclined--how to condense the visual information of a ship. If you can find the historical art done by sailors (such as in logbooks or diaries), especially amateur art, it gets to the heart of the thing without being too much. These men were intimately familiar with the ship and how it functioned, so I look to them to better get a sense of what they felt was most important to include. Here's a couple from 19th century whaler journals that have absolutely been helpful to me.

I hope some part of this was helpful! Good luck drawin boats!

[aihoshiino]

whats your favourite thing about each of the onk characters?

As a person with ADHD I am ontologically incapable of picking Just One Thing but I'll do my best!!

Ai: oh my god she melts my brain too much to pick just one thing!!! If you really put a gun to my head though I would have to say her warm, persistent kindness in the face of a life that has often been abnormally cruel to her. She always goes out of her way to be kind to people even when it has absolutely no benefit to her, just because Ai is a deeply kind person that even abuse and neglect couldn't tarnish. She understands loneliness and abandonment to such a deep degree that even when she can't exactly understand the ins and outs of why or how other people feel the way they feel, when she sees people suffering or in pain, her instinctive response is to reach out to them and try and make sure they feel heard even if she can't actually do anything to ease their pain. For all the BS she says about calling herself cynical, people hating and all the rest of it, Ai is such a deeply and actively kind person to such an incredible degree.

Also her fangies. Can't forget the fangies.

Aqua: Aqua Hoshino Is The Funniest Guy In Oshi No Ko And He Doesn't Even Know It. This sort of falls under the more serious header that is the cavernous gap between Aqua's stated goals and intentions and the reality of his actual feelings that often slips out via his actions but more specifically I'm obsessed with the hysterical comedic gap that is Aqua larping as Light Yagami during season 1 of Love Live. Like ugh yeah I have to kill my dad but what am I gonna do, NOT wear matching TWINS tshirts with my sister? Or shit like him being the one to go and get his copy of Sweet Today and start paging through it while Ruby and Miyako watch it and then immediately tattling to Kana that Ruby talked shit even though he toooootally doesn't care you guys :/// Mfer dressed up like a buff chicken and did a squeaky voice for a week because he can't handle having a crush on Kana!!! HE'S THE FUNNIEST GUY IN THIS WHOLE SHOW AND NOBODY UNDERSTANDS Ruby: The way Ruby's history as Sarina - or I guess more specifically, as a person who grew up both disabled and under a toxic mother - informs her zest and energy is soooooo sweet and tender to me, but especially in the ways in informs her deep, deep love for Ai as her mother. The inheritance of Sarina's despair and its transition into Ruby's joy and empowerment is such an incredible and powerful beat - I watched episode 1 with a friend last night (hi Silvie!) and the scene of Ruby realizing that she no longer lives in a body at risk of betraying her at any moment and that she has a mother who loves her and values her happiness and positive growth over all else is still one of the most powerful scenes in the whole story for me. The way that realization of euphoria and power continues to form the foundations of her arc going forward is a big part of why the first stretch of the manga is still the strongest material to me.

Kana: my little failgirl <3 Kana is another one of those characters where I could say a lot of deep and introspective things about her incredible resilience, her intelligence and determination and the way she continues to try and make herself big in a world that has only ever operated by making her feel small but the truth in my heart is just that I think she is the funniest bitch on the planet. If Aqua did not exist she would take the crown as Funniest Character In Oshi No Ko. The consistency with which she takes Ls and gets fed her own hair emotionally speaking (UH AND LITERALLY I GUESS BECAUSE I WROTE THAT JOKE AND THEN REMEMBERED THAT SCENE WITH THE DIRECTOR) just really gets under my guard and makes me fucking lose it every time it happens. I'm a simple guy, ok? Memcho: Mem being a woman in her early 20s and the perspective and emotional intelligence that comes with that experience, especially when contrasted with the teens, is soooooo fascinating to me. In general it's just really refreshing to see a girlie in her mid 20s in an anime still being portrayed as just as fun and cute and silly and energetic as the teens; anime in general has a really bad habit of having two ages which are Teen and Middle Aged Adult but Mem just feels like an actual person in her mid 20s which is SUCH a nice change. I also just think that, like I said, the way her emotional intelligence contrasts the kids who are still going the fuck through it as teens experiencing huge, fucked up emotions for the first time in their almost-adult lives; Mem's a lot smarter and sharper than folks give her credit for and it's always so interesting to see her snap into 'adult in the room' mode. The fact that this doesn't at all interfere with her friendship with Kana and Ruby is also really sweet - I actually do not remember ever seeing one of these age gap friendships in an anime that didn't come with some weird maternal overtones but the way B-Komachi's friendship kind of supersedes and makes their age gap a non-factor really reminds me of my own friendships like that - both when I was Ruby's age and had older folks looking out for me and now that I'm Mem's age and some of my besties from my real life DND group are babies LMFAO

Akane: The way OnK portrays Akane's acting technique is really fascinating to me! This is maybe a bit of a silly comparison to draw but I find that I weirdly relate to Akane and the way she portrays characters because I've been doing some form of online text roleplay or another since I was licherally 11 years old and the way she talks about like... sewing up internal inconsistencies and reverse engineering a character's thoughts, feelings and general worldview from their portrayed actions, making connections between aspects of their character that may be unstated by the text but make your portrayal cohere and feel richer and more vibrant. This is literally exactly the way I handle writing canon characters right down to the unhinged canon review, to the point that it is a running gag between me and my friends that Akane's serial killer ass Ai research session is Literally Just Me when I'm doing my Oshi no Ko canon review. It's about the weirdest and most unexpected way I have ever felt represented by a piece of media LOL Miyako: The absolute character development W this woman had!!! Admittedly I feel like the glowup is only so strong because Aka clearly had a very different Miyako in his brain when he started writing Oshi no Ko vs the one she actually became but I still absolutely love the ways Miyako grows over the series and how smart, competent and fiercely driven she is when given a reason to motivate herself. I don't have a huge to to say about Miyako just because she so effortlessly speaks for herself but God I Love Her. Ichigo: i just love it when a guy is a faildad to a fucked up teenage girl There we go! Admittedly this wasn't Everyone and I mostly just stuck to the main cast I had strong enough opinions about to voice but! If you're ever curious about what I think about someone in the extended cast, please do feel free to drop me some asks and prod me for my thoughts!