#(definitely based off of some stuff in discord lol)

[plutonium-sky]

If that path diverges from the one that your friends have, always remember that if you are good friends, that path will always rejoin with them. Take it slow if you need to and take in the sights, alright?

(I got sappy on @catofaurora 's magma)

Full color version under cut

[piningpercussionist]

I’m shocked that the fandom is alive enough for you to post multiple times a day. My dash is nearly dry of anything sp related (besides this blog)

To be entirely fair, it is, like. Bursts of activity. That I try to prolong with the queue. And lately I've been having to fold back in older posts, try (painfully) to sort through my drafts, or make the content myself lol. I've also been trying to like.. loosen up on what I will and won't post, I suppose, 'cause in the past I've DEFINITELY passed some stuff up based on vibes or too loose an association, in my mind at least. If I see it these days, odds are fairly high it ends up here though! (Even if I am Grinding My Teeth as I do so /j)

But, yeah, people are still very much into Scott Pilgrim! People get in and out of things in waves; I've even seen some people post about just now getting around to Takes Off (without further context to know if that's their introduction or not, not that it really matters much I suppose.)

I think a lot of fandom discussion has possibly moved away from tumblr and more into discord communities, which is why you'll find a bit of a post shortage. (I base this on an. Apparently five hour argument that happened in a discord my friend's in about Scott Pilgrim characters. You don't want to know what about, probably 💀 but that's still 5 hours of Passionate Stances from more than two people! And that wasn’t even a SP specific discord, so far as I'm aware!)

That or people aren't taggin' their stuff ¯\_(･･)_/¯ which is always a possibility. I actually didn't follow a lot of people back in the initial Burst of fandom activity, so untagged/oddly tagged posts that might have been made that I otherwise would love to have here, are unlikely to end up here, most unfortunately. (This is part of why I encourage sending me stuff!)

But like, even just in the discords I am in, there's still activity. I know one person who is currently working on a new AU, for something more specific! And they're also still putting out headcanons now and again. And I'm personally still working on fics and more ask answers in the background, even if you might not see some of that for a while ^^'

(Don't mind me; I'm using the bottom of my answer here to remind people that requests are still very open! I put in tags recently asking if anyone's seen bi or trans pride Scott icons yet, so if those don't exist, I am Politely Begging someone to request them and give me the excuse-)

((Also I still haven't gone back into Scott's tag yet. Can anyone tell me if I'm going to pop a blood vessel, or is it safe?))

(((... ALSO. I don't know that I've ever stated it anywhere, but like... to anyone who's ever been afraid to post something: I'm pretty sure submissions for this blog are open? So I've always been willing and able to post, like, memes, theories, just general thoughts or confessions for people- whatever you want, dude! If you want to do it entirely anonymously, just be sure to sign out before you submit stuff. It should let you 👍)))

[leggo-my-aego]

MY REACTIONS TO THE **HEARTSTEEL BOYS** PLAYLISTS FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS BARELY CONSUMED LoL CONTENT (PART 2/2)

note: again, sorry if im wrong w anything, but i rlly tried my best 💜

note2: ALSO THEY SHOWED UP IN THE WORLD FINALS AND I FUCKING MISSED IT IM SOBBING 😭😭😭😭

note3: im doubting riots gonna show more of the Heartsteel content for a LONG time so this is my way of coping with that </3

this post ft. Kayn, Sett and Yone so if yll wanna see my first post w/ Aphelios, Ezreal & K'Sante, heres a link!! :

ANYWAYS BACK TO OUR IRREGULAR SCHEDULED PROGRAM

KAYN 💜

>he reminds me of an overactive dog that barks at anything that moves and the description just emphasizes that

>SOO dudebro. like mans spawned from a frat and is now making music

>born to rave and def has aux in house parties where cops come to arrest ppl cuz noise complaint

>seems like the type of people who walk around in public with a speaker and blasts music while ppl stare at him

>opposite of k'sante, would NOT trust him w my drink <//3

>would trust him to start barking randomly tho and be a getaway driver (would we survive ? prolly not, but we're fast 😈)

>also used soundcloud a lot for opposite vibes of Aphelios. this mans was definitely a soundcloud rapper since high school and was voted as that superlative

>i think the fact my song reccs are from my road rage playlist is also another thing about his character

> Personal Song Reccs based off this playlist💜:

• GASLIGHT! - Maggie Lindemann, Siiickbrain

• Oh Shit!!! - Injury Reserve

• FEEL. - Kendrick Lamar

SETT 🧡

>i can only think of that discord bit of him and k'sante talking ab their protein powder and k'sante just raw dogging the powder like a psycho

>similar vibes to Kayn but this man would actually be apologetic if someone told him to turn down the music

>obsessed with Rocky and Bruce Lee films since he was a kid for sure and makes references that none of the boys get

>definitely has a guilty pleasure for catchy and annoying pop music. definitely knows the words to call me maybe by carly rae jepsen and was caught singing it by aphelios

>i wanna think he growls before a fight even in this universe

>i think ab that recent art of him tearing his shirt after the World Final performance

> Personal Song Reccs based off this playlist🧡:

• Cobra (Rock Remix) [ft. Spiritbox] - Megan Thee Stallion

• DEATHCAMP (ft. Cole Alexander) - Tyler the Creator

• God's Menu - Stray Kids

YONE 💖

>im SO serious when i say i thought all this man listened to was white noise music before i listened to this playlist

>honestly, i wasnt too far off. my song reccs are straight from my Brain Static playlist

>gives club music. but like those really lowkey ones if u know what im talking ab

>if this wasnt a playlist from a game company i would think this mans would have classical music in this playlist too

>he DEFINITELY is a Pandora user rather than spotify user for obvious reasons old ass

>hes so old im crying 😭

>i wanna think him n aphelios both listen to game soundtracks n bond over it. those two have my heart n i think is an underrated duo given they do the bts stuff

> Personal Song Reccs based off this playlist💖:

• coalescence 1212 - アトラスサウンドチーム (from Shin Megami Tensei IV : Apocalypse OST)

• EARTHBOUND - black balloons

• dream about some mistakes i made - nilöwh.

[destinedarts]

🙈 Need Mandarin translations/confirmations for the messages the lmk creators left ASAP 🙈

Long story short, we tried to spread the animation studio switch letter Sarah posted. I speedran to Xiaohongshu (LittleRedBook/RedBook/RED); Instagram equal for China cause thought no one else would do it. This was before we found out the rest of the crew would send their regards as well.

Idk Mandarin at all so would appreciate any help. Literally just dumped everything into Google Translate.

Priority is everything in the 1st image. 2nd pic is just explanations I wrote for them in case they don't know, which idk how much they know about Flying Bark besides the fact that they thought their animation was awesome. Sometimes they share the storyboards on Bilibili/Weibo but that's about it.

Put them as images cause I was gonna post on Twitter, but coming here first, which also might be better instead.

The RedBook Post

Might need to go through some verification check, basically sliding things across the screen. No sign in should be required to view, though it could vary between countries.

Short Link: http://xhslink.com/kkPC3I

Link: www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/663ee802000000001e01c1bb

Reasons

If I don't get any sort of translation confirmations, I'm gonna have to update the post anyways. Right now, it's also full of ugly edits cause first time ever posting and I actually ran off to make this like the minute we were asked to do so in mk central discord. Gonna make it look nicer now that I realize it's gained traction. >_>

There's a lot of upset/angry/sad/mad fans on RedBook, Douyin, and Bilibili. Much like how we had the wildfire and death threats on Twitter except I think not as extreme to the point of sending death threats... thankfully. They didn't know about the studio change. Honestly, just trying to give them facts and reminding them they have part of the power to get the show cancelled or not; but also not telling them what to like or not like/stop grieving/etc.

Literally one of the RedBook comments on the S5 trailer LEGO China uploaded contains the picture from my post (cause I added disclaimer that it's not lego official translated). So I definitely would like to have the other translations down if they're just sharing around pictures like that. 😬 And note that they're all sharing the Mandarin ones; not the English even though I did provide them. I don't have Douyin and I dunno if I can upload on Bilibili. Weibo has been covered. Idk if there's other Chinese soc med I'm missing.

Notes for translation

Exact Mandarin/English text used in the ALTs of the pictures and "Keep Reading" section cause I realize ALT can’t copy and paste if needed

Uh please write down exactly what phrase to change, cause I do not understand any of the characters except the show title heh

1000 character limit for post, including tags and characters

Tags used: #lego乐高 #lego #悟空小侠 #乐高中国 #乐高悟空小侠 #乐高悟空小侠5年庆 #第五季 #齐小天 #孫悟空 @LEGO乐高 #乐高 If there's more that's helpful, please let me know lol been riding on these tags. If I can, I'll put English hashtags, but depends on character limit; Chinese is a priority

20 character limit for title, which I've chosen: 悟空小侠电视剧的未来🐒导演和编剧的笔记 (basically "future of LMK, directors & writers' statements/notes")

Crew member names and titles were written in the Mandarin dub credits, shown in 2nd pic. Not changing those in translations.

"Harbinger of Chaos" doesn't exist in the Mandarin version... I think? based on the s4 e7 subtitles we had way long ago. Changed Breen's tweet so it said to "find out more about MK." I guess I could've put "demon monkeys" but left that out in case they actually don't address it in the season. And idk the mandarin phrase they used for that

WildBrain Studios doesn't have a proper mandarin translation according to all the Mandarin dubbed Ninjago episodes so just kept it English

Idk if I forgot something, been having hard time keeping track of stuff oop I'll add more if there is more

Needed

From Christian: 谢谢悟空小侠粉丝们！

经过三季的动画导演后，我很荣幸能够执导旋风狗制片的悟空小侠的第四季，也是最后一季。

这是一个非常贴近我们旋风狗制片所有人的心的系列。 我为我们的团队感到无比自豪，他们在这些美好的岁月里一起工作，成为了一家人。

对于所有悟空小侠粉丝的热爱和奉献，我们感到非常幸运。 你们是我们长期努力的原因，我们将永远感激不已。

这场演出由 Wild Brain 出色的团队负责，我希望他们和我们一样享受这次旅程。

这张照片是我在悟空小侠中的最后一场演出。 我已经非常想念这些猴子了，但我对未来感到兴奋，迫不及待地想分享我们接下来要做的事情。<3

From David:

悟空小侠第五季要来了！ Wildbrain 将接替旋风狗制片留下的巨大足迹。 团队中充满了才华横溢、充满激情的艺术家，我们迫不及待地想让大家了解更多关于齐小天的信息！

From Deirdre:

乐高悟空小侠第五季即将到来，猜猜谁写了三集？ 我🤭

Sorta Needed

Please note that I did use a translator (and friends) to write this article. I'm a western fan but I have access to the app. And please spread the word too. I don’t have much contact with Chinese social media.

请注意，我确实使用了翻译来写这篇文章。 [Could swap to saying friends instead of translator.] 我是西方粉丝，但我可以访问应用程序。也请广而告之。 我与中国社交媒体没有太多联系。

Former series directors and writers from Flying Bark Productions, as well as current writers, have all issued statements regarding the handling of the series.

旋风狗制片（Flying Bark Productions）的前系列导演和编剧以及现任编剧都就该系列的处理发表了声明。

Sarah Harper served as series director from S1 -3 before fully becoming a writer for several episodes in S4. Some of her series credits include "The Jade Emperor" and "Rip and Tear."

莎拉·哈珀（Sarah Harper）在第一季到第三季中担任系列导演，之后在第四季的几集中完全成为编剧。她的一些剧集包括《天庭大对决》和《青毛狮之怒》。

Christian Barkel served as animation director for the first three seasons and was promoted to series director in the fourth season.

克里斯蒂安·巴克尔（Christian Barkel）在前三季担任动画导演，第四季晋升为系列导演。

David Breen is currently a writer on the show's fifth season. He served as script supervisor for S1-3 before being promoted as one of the show's writers. Some of the episodes he has written are "The Brotherhood" and “A Lifetime of Mistakes."

大卫·布林 (David Breen) 现任该剧第五季的编剧。 在晋升为该剧的编剧之一之前，他担任第一季到第三季的剧本总监。 他编写的一些剧集有《青毛狮之谜》和《寻找美猴王》。

Deirdre Devlin is also a writer on season five. She was brought on as a writer in the fourth season. Her three episodes are "The Great Tang Man", "Court of the Yellow Robed Demon", and "Pitiful Creatures".

迪尔德丽·戴夫林（Deirdre Devlin）也是第五季的编剧之一。她在第四季中担任编剧。她的三集是《小天遇三藏》 、《神秘的“朋友”》、《受困保护咒》。

Not Needed but would be nice

Flying Bark Productions has withdrawn from the animation production of "Monkie Kid". Since 2020, they have been continuously invited to participate in new projects, such as "Disney's" "Moon Girl and the Demon Dinosaur" and "Avatar Studio"'s upcoming "Avatar" film in 2026.

旋风狗制片已退出《悟空小侠》的动画制作。 自2020年以来，他们不断受邀参与新项目，例如“Disney”的《月亮女孩與惡魔恐龍》以及2026年“Avatar Studio”即将上映的《降世神通》影片。

From now on, WildBrain Studios will animate the series. They were also responsible for the Ninjago TV series, although that was in 3D rather than a 2D TV series like Monkie Kid. The writers and voice actors remain the same, but new people could join the team.

从现在开始，WildBrain Studios 将制作该系列动画。 他们还负责《幻影忍者》电视剧，尽管该剧是 3D 的，而不是像《悟空小侠》那样的 2D 电视连续剧。 编剧和配音演员保持不变，但可能会有新人加入团队。

Some artists work as freelancers for the team. I don't know how WildBrain Studios' 2D department hires their artists. If they were invited back to the show, some of their work might be similar to their work from previous seasons. But that consistency may not hold true under new directors. We'll have to wait until the end of the season to see the TV show's credits.

一些艺术家作为团队的自由职业者。 我不知道WildBrain Studios的2D部门是如何聘请他们的艺术家的。 如果他们再次受邀参与节目，他们的一些作品可能会与前几季的作品相似。 但在新董事的领导下，这种一致性可能不会成立。 我们必须等到本季结束才能看到电视节目的制作人员名单。

Previous seasons used "frame-by-frame" animation, all drawn by hand. Based on the trailer, the new season appears to include the use of "rig animation," which is the use of technology to move characters and objects.

前几季使用“逐帧”动画，全部由手工绘制。根据预告片，新一季似乎包括使用“装备动画”，即使用技术来移动角色和物体。

All of these changes will impact Season 5 and beyond. I don't know how fan support affects entertainment distribution in China, but over here, if a show doesn't get enough views upon release, it may be abandoned by the distributor and have a hard time continuing. We will give as much support as possible in the West, although the success of the Monkie Kid LEGO sets and TV show has always and will always depend on its performance in China.

所有这些变化都将影响第五季及以后的内容。 我不知道粉丝的支持如何影响中国的娱乐发行，但在这里，如果一个节目在发行时没有获得足够的观看次数，它可能会被发行商放弃，很难继续下去。 我们将在西方给予尽可能多的支持，尽管悟空小侠乐高套装和电视节目的成功将始终取决于其在中国的表现。

Change can be difficult, and it's okay if you feel disappointed or upset. While waiting over the past year, we’ve been teased by the writers and voice actors that this story will be emotional and heartbreaking, and we trust the writers who have carried the story of Monkie Kid, so I hope you will consider watching season 5.

整个变化可能会令人震惊，如果您感到失望或不安也没关系。 在过去一年的等待中，我们被编剧和配音演员取笑，说这个故事将是感人且令人心碎的，我们相信那些承载了悟空小侠故事的编剧，所以我希望你能考虑观看这一季 5.

[jellofangy]

SESAME STREET HUMAN DESIGNS AND OUTFIT BOARDS: PART 1

(Oh god someone stop me from making all these anthros-)

MUPPETS INCLUDED:

BIG BIRD

TELLY MONSTER

OSCAR THE GROUCH

GROVER

NOTES ON DESIGNS AND BIOS HERE:

Big Bird’s shirt design takes liberties from the 1974 Eurovision logo.

I gave Big Bird a 70s look mainly cause... Sesame Street is 70s core lol-

Telly’s vest/sweater thing design is based off a backgammon board. I also wanted it to have a bit of a TV vibe with the triangles and dots, y’know stuff you’d find on a TV.

Yes Telly’s got lil beads in his hair. His hair is so frizzy from his anxiety he keeps it back with them.

Oscar’s punkcore. What do you expect his theme is literal trash and Steven Tyler gave a heavy metal cover of his song?

Oscar definitely listens to Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias.

Because Grover is a huge job surfer and works a lot, I gave his outfit a work uniform inspired look to reflect his background.

This was a joke on the Muppet Central Discord but some of us laughed around that Grover wears that outfit all the time when he comes to work so that he doesn’t have to worry about rushing to change (Just to set the record straight, he DOES wash his clothes-) and the only way anyone can decipher what he works for is just by grabbing a name tag, writing his occupation and sticking it on his shirt. 

[athetos]

I like your game idea! It would be cool to doodle some concept art of areas and enemies and stuff to begin to flesh it out if you do ever try to turn it into a real game (hehe flesh)

Thank you! I have no ambition to make it an actual game solely because I have very little experience and am a beginning artist, and my coding expertise is basically restricted to simple discord bots and ren’py lol. But I definitely want to doodle some ideas or make tilesets just for fun. I have a big Google doc with a list of areas and game mechanics and I’m trying to be really creative instead of just “lava area. Ice area. Water level.” I want it to seem like a very alien world like axiom verge or Metroid.

The hardest part is that the brain is such a complex organ that simplifying regions of the brain to one specific focus is impossible. It’s not like you can point at a specific quadrant of the brain and say “this is what controls your mood. This is where memory is. This is the language center.” Sure, those areas might be involved in those ideas, but it’s all of them working together to create who we are. So, the problem is that I don’t want to oversimplify or spread misinformation with the game ideas. Plus, a lot of theories are just guesswork based off evidence that hasn’t been proven fully true. I don’t wanna say “this enemy causes alzheimers!” Because there’s a million theories about what causes Alzheimer’s. Most ppl probably wouldn’t care this much, but I’m planning to get my PhD in neuroscience, so it’s important to me. I’m still thinking up solutions….

[justagrin]

smth i shoved into a discord group specifically for people to talk about SA (tw for implied csa/rape/incest)

oooof one of my friends disclosed to me that (tw sa & incest) their dad SA'd them (at least once? idk if its a reoccuring thing i didnt ask any questions n they understandably clammed up n changed the subject n i said "hey if you ever need to talk about anything i have similar experiences" but oh boy is it lowkey triggering that stuff for me rn. idefk if my stuff counts as sa tho. like i know my dad sexualised me a lot like verbally as a kid and i remember being disgusted all the time and i remember being fucking terrified of him all the time even when he didn't seem to be doing anything. and i remember him often saying or doing stuff and i'd just think to meself "ok we're repressing that!" (unsurprisingly i don't remember what actually prompted that). i dont have any memories of him touching me but i have some of someone touching me and the way i react to certain sexual situations is sus as fuck, but honestly those could be two entirely different things but idk! idk. i just remember telling my mum that all the stuff he said made me uncomfy and predictably got told i was "overreacting" and that it was "normal" which turned into "he just doesn't know when something's inappropriate" and honestly thats the closest to closure i'm ever gonna get but whatever. anyway the dots aren't connected enough to me to outright say i relate and im sure as fuck not ready to actually talk about it to anyone irl but yeah. idk where i was going with this tbh. i have a notebook of stuff from my childhood related to that^ (from when i've remembered them, but most of the stuff in the book i can't remember unless i read it over again) and my friends who've seen it have reacted with pretty strong disgust but idk. my entire childhood was that & gaslighting myself into thinking i was overreacting (which btw!! lead to me getting SA'd and harassed so many fucking times as an adult!!!) so it was normal to me pfft and counsellors i've shown it to all refuse to give me a solid answer bc they don't wanna "risk giving me false memories") but agghhh. one thing i definitely remember is whenever i had discharge or my period in my teens i'd just. want to cry and shake and curl up and errrrrrrmmmmmmm thats not normal lol. something was definitely wrong there but idk if i'll ever fucking be able to figure out what that is.

ok yeah i dug the notebook out again and (same tw's as above, just kind of graphic and intense) yeah theres a bit in there about him crawling into my bes and i was freaked the fuck out so i just ran out of the room and when i told my mum i was told it was "normal". and theres a bit where i was 14 and drew art based on the song pantsu nugeru mon (lit: i can take off my panties) bc i was 14!! i wasn't THINKING anything secxual!! it was a song about growing up to me! so my dumb ass showed my dad bc i was proud of the art itself and he got really weird and intense and close and was like "what are you going to do when you take off your panties?" which. ew. gross. fuck off. oh and that one time i fell asleep on the sofa and i guess i had a sex dream or smth which i didnt think anything of until my dad randomly got intense and weird again and asked if i "had any interesting dreams" that night (which he never usually does ffs). oh and he fully called ma tease relatively recently actually, and said i should call my (now ex) boyfriend "daddy", has referred to himself as my "daddy" in THAT godawful tone and makes frequent BDSM jokes towards his sister which is just an example of the verbal shit i had to put up with and idk how anyone in the room when it happens can excuse it but to them i guess its one weird thing he said they can brush off bc they don't realise i had to hear it CONSTANTLY and deal with what he DID to and they didn't see the scary moments. i also remember reading a magazine article about incest/csa when i was like 11ish?? and idk WHAT it triggered but my absolute fear of my dad/older men in general kind of started after that and my mum always said it was reading the magazine that did it but bro i dont think one thing like that can elicit a decade or so of consistent fight or flight mode I think my body remembered stuff that I can't.

Jesus fucking christ thats the most concise way i've ever actually described that. idk if anyone can relate or anything. also honestly now that he's been relatively "good" for a few years now in terms of how he speaks to me i don't really get the fear response anymore. and i'm dependent on him for finances and medical stuff so its. whatever. i guess. i'm fucking terrified that if i ever have a daughter he'll pull the same shit (hence basically nuking my body with birth control lmao) and luckily my brother's kids are both boys so i don't believe he's a threat to them if he didnt treat my brothers the same way he did me ygm? but idk what i can actually do about it

[zillyart32]

Found in my drafts: a NYE QnA from 2018 going into 2019! A lot has changed about me since then, but a lot of this is important to me!

Q: First things first, did you have a good year? A:It was alright. Better than the last two, aside from those couple months I was in a DEEP depression hole.

Q: How old did you turn this year? A: Hhhhhhhhhh 19.

Q: Do you feel your age? A: Absolutely not, lemme be 15 again please, just don't send me back to highschool.

Q: Did your appearance change in anyway? A: Gained some weight, lost a good amount of it again, cut my hair.

Q: Post your favorite selfie. A: No.

Q: If you traveled, where did you go? A: Hahaha. HAHAHA! HAA HAA HAAAAAA!

Q: Which fashion trends did you love? A: Idgaf about trends

Q: Which fashion trends did you hate? A: Idgaf about trends

Q: What was your favorite article of clothing this year? Post a pic if possible? A: My fancy black coat!

Q: What song sums up this year for you? A: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Clay Pedrini (If you look it up, there's a spesific version. It starts out with an evil laugh, an organ, and a scream, and Hyde's misspelled in the video but not the title)

Q: What album came out and has been on heavy rotation since then? A: Lol no.

Q: What was your favorite movie of the year? A: Not a movie person.

Q: Did an actor/actress catch your attention for the first time this year? A: Can't remember.

Q: Favorite new TV show? A: Craig of The Creek, I guess. It's not a hyperfixation, but it came out this year and I enjoyed it.

Q: Which new ship/fandom has taken over a lot of your time, attention, and tears? A:Eh.

Q: What food did you try for the first time? A: A salmon poke bowl. (Bought packaged from Aldi but it was delicious.)

Q: Did you make any big permanent changes this year? A: Everything in this universe is temporary.

Q: What was one nice thing you did for someone else? A: Drew a picture of a friend when he was having a bad day to bring a smile to his face.

Q: What was one nice thing you did for yourself? A: Haircut.

Q: Did you develop a new obsession? A: JEKYLL AND HYDE.

Did you vote? Unfortunately, I didn't register in time, BUT I'M ALL SET UP FOR 2020, BRING IT ON. (2023 note: I did end up voting! Yay!)

Q: Did you move? A: Still in this wet cardboard box of a house with literal mold n shit and sunlight coming in through holes in the roof, send help. (2023 note: I got the help O needed!)

Q: Did you get a job? A: No.

Q: Did you get a pet? A: Kitties had kittens! (2023 note: I miss my cats, Tails. I miss them so much.)

Q: Do you regret not doing anything? A: Too many things.

Q: Do you regret doing something? A: Leaving my tech where it could get broken.

Q: Have you done anything that scared you? A: Possible trigger warning for bugs/worms! So one time me and my irl bestie (not to be confused with my discord/tumblr bestie) were exloring a creek. Catching and releasing crayfish, finding neat things in the water, taking cool photos, all sorts of stuff. I manage to fish this black orb-like thing out of the water. It looked like it came off a tree or something, it was definitely plant based in origin. I open it up out of curiosity, and what do I find? It's FULL of little white wiggling things!! I couldn't tell if they were maggots or what, but I was TERRIFIED! I fucking DROPPED that thing IMMEDIATELY, and we both got out of there ASAP!

Q: Did anyone/thing make you so mad it stayed with you for days? A: If you had asked me that two years ago, boy would I have had a story for ya, but this year nah. I usually pretty much let a lot of things go quickly.

Q: Did you lose anyone close to you? A: TRIGGER WARNING FOR ANIMAL DEATH. There was a kitten. A poor little newborn kitten. They were only in this world for a few days, but I had grown to love them so much. They were having trouble for day 1, but I was rooting for 'em. Caring for 'em. Trying my best to help 'em grow up strong and healthy. They refused to drink their mama's milk, so me and my mum took turns feeding 'em with a bottle. Then, one day, they started choking on the milk. I was freaking out and blaming myself for possibly squeezing the bottle too hard. We tried our best to help the poor little one, but to no avail. The life left their body as I cradled 'em in my arms. Rest in peace, little Me-Mow. Please know that you were so very loved, and are still missed.

Q: Did you fall in love? A: Ha.

Q: Did you fall out of love? AHa!!

Q: Did you start a new relationship? A: Lotsa new friendships! Shoutout to the madsquad! (2023 note: I still love ya guys!!!)

Q: Did you go through a break up? A: I was still kinda dealing with breakup emotions in January and some of February but s'all good now.

Q: Did you have to cut ties to someone? A: Yep... kinda feel bad about it though... I'm worried about her... she was just a kid, but I just couldn't play therapist anymore. My advice was terrible and almost got her in big trouble. I'm so sorry.......

Q: Who was important to you this year but wasn’t important last year? A: New friendo Hatch. Sorry I don't really talk in the server as often but you are cool important friendo who deserves good things in life and may 2019 bring good things for you. (2023 note: We’re dating and our third anniversary is this month ((June))!!! I love it so much!)

Q: Who wasn’t as important to you this year as they were last year? A: Can't say...

Q: If you could have a do over on one thing you did, would you take it? A: Yeah. (2023 note: I forgor what I meant by this.)

Q: What was the best moment of the year for you? A: The BEST? I can't really say! But going to that haunted house this year was awesome! Also the early days of the Shivering Isles discord server had a lot of good moments!

Q: What was the worst? A: A lot of these types of moments involve my dad and I don't wanna go into detail. (2023 note: HIS ASS GOT KICKED OUTTA THE HOUSE LAST YEAR, VICTORYYYYY!!!!)

Q: Did anything happen that you were sure would change you as a person but it really didn’t? A: Not that I can think of.

Q: Did anything happen to you that you were sure wouldn’t change you as a person but it did? A: Going swimming with my irl bestie brought me out of my depressive episode and started me towards finding myself again.

Q: What are you most proud of accomplishing? A: Learning a lot about how to just enjoy myself without fear of negative opinions.

Q: What have you learned about yourself this year that you didn’t know in the years prior? A: I finally get why I haven't exactly been comfortable calling myself a female. Identifying that way has felt like a piece of clothing that doesn't exactly fit ya right but ya can/gotta deal with it. It's time to wear something that fits me better. I'm nonbinary.

Q: Did your opinion of anyone change for the better? A: Yes.

Q: Did your opinion of anyone change for worse? A: Oh, absolutely.

Q: If you make resolutions, did you complete them this year? A: Hahaha, not exactly.

Q: If you make resolutions, what will your resolutions be for the coming year? A: Make more art and be a better friend.

Q: If you could go on an adventure during the remaining days of the year, where would you go and what would you do? Who and what would you like to see? A: I would visit Australia, meet my online bestie finally, and kick off the new year with him right now if I could.

Q: What do you wish for others for the coming year? A: HAPPINESS AND COMFORT!!!!!!!

Q: What do you wish for yourself? A: Growth. (2023 note: You got your wish <3)

[invui]

what kind of kisses do they give?

this is probably going to be another series headcannon type of thing again so i decided to do the characters that i can actually write for (also out of spite for one of them)

this is based on the kissing headcannons that i did with the others in the aknk discord server! (way back actually lol)

characters: fennesz, haures, and lucas

tagging: @moonvityy @imnotmarianne @l1qiaruru

FENNESZ OSWALD

fennesz is the type of person who would do gentle kisses

mainly soft butterfly kisses, forehead kisses, and even light pecks on the lips

being kissed by fennesz is something that the two of you would do when the others aren’t looking or just by being alone together

however, he could get a bit cheeky when it comes to kissing you

he would just give a very quick peck on the cheek or lips just to save time for the others to not see when their backs are turned away

also the type to say sweet nothings before, between, and probably after the kisses

will not hesitate to say “i love you” after the both of you kiss, maybe even a more serious and sincere one if you ever share a nice bonding moment

HAURES CLIFFORD

haures is shy when it comes to kissing so he just ends up doing kisses that are a bit beginner level

they’re mainly pecks on the cheeks and forehead kisses

every time he tries to kiss you it would end up to haures hesitating to even do the action himself

so in order for him to actually gain confidence into doing affectionate things such as kissing, please be patient! time will do the work for you!

there will be instances where haures would kiss your hand but that’s usually for when special occasions are being held (parties, weddings, or even small celebrations spent with the other butlers)

and of course, he will spring right back up out of embarrassment after doing something so romantic

he prefers initiating kisses when the both of you are in private and private alone

there were times where the butlers would witness haures kissing you

some butlers will keep it a secret while the other use it as blackmail material (and it’s pretty obvious it would boschi)

whenever you are stumped by work or studying, one of haures’s ways to get you up and working is to kiss you on the forehead or cheek and get flustered himself because that’s just how it is

when it comes to sincere and genuine kisses on the lips however, i would like to think that haures tends to do those types of things subconsciously

ever got yourself into danger without haures’s knowledge? he might kiss you as if to say he was really worried and that he’s relieved that you’re alive and well

LUCAS THOMPSCIE

lucas is the type to give sweet and mostly sincere kisses

he would mainly do literally what fennesz and haures does but add a bit more confidence into his actions

he would also include kisses on your forehead and probably hands if possible when he tends to your injuries or wounds if you’re around the mansion

definitely would do kisses out of nowhere just to surprise you even in public which would make you worry about him

but whenever you come to him complaining about these type of stuff he would just brush it off while just saying something along the lines of “i know”

i think he would be the type of guy to do the kiss to make sure you stfu but in a cheeky way

he’s also the type of person who won’t hesitate to say i love you

i can see lucas as one of those people who would use kisses and affection as a prize/bait in order for you to finish your work

he’s basically the person who would just be a little ass and just use kisses as a way for him to do the stuff you want him to do

“i might be able to do it only if you kiss me”

these headcannons might be shorter than usual but that’s usually because i was stumped (dw there’s a high chance that i’m going to be writing a full blown fic for one of these hcs)

[therealvinelle]

The last week or so I've actually been writing stuff down in the hopes a good main plot comes to me while I work out some of the characters and interactions, and that's more than I normally do, so I'm feeling hopeful about me actually continuing with it. And tonight I was sitting here writing out how a couple characters meet, even though probably none of it will make it in the story itself it might be referenced later, and I need the practice so something offscreen anyway seemed good for that. (Sorry, I'm rambling aren't I? I do that, especially when I'm excited, and I'm really excited to be writing something and since I have no one to talk to about it isn't all coming out here lol, I'll try and hurry to my point.) Anyway, I'm definitely trying to loosely base how the characters treat everyday life as how I see people do in life, like if I know anyone that would actually say or do something or react a way, and if not question of it's because it's badly written/thought out or just the character not being anyone I know irl, and one thing I've definitely realized is everyone has their preferred way of messaging, and then most people I know will still have another 1 or 2 they use a lot too and maybe more depending on the person. I myself have some people I can message 3 diffrent ways, and will occasionally have up to 4 diffrent conversations all going on with 1 person at once because they're all in diffrent places. And so, finally the point of my question: first, I guess would you even bother trying to write characters using messaging like that, not to that crazy extent or anything but even just using regular text messages to have a conversation about one thing, then some other app to talk to them about something totally diffrent, and have them clearly being had concurrently, and then if you would how do you think you would go about keeping the conversations clear to the reader? Second (I actually thought of it last though) is if you have anything you do that keeps you motivated to keep going once the initial woo of starting a project wears off, or anything like that from when you were starting, I would love to soak up any wisdom you have to share. And uh third is I guess how does it make you feel that when I was trying to think of a nice and safe seeming place to ask my writing questions I thought to come here first? Sorry this got way longer than I meant lol 😅

Okay, I'll answer this to the best of my ability (to answer the third question first: I'm delighted! I feel very honored.)

So, before I get to answering your first question, I feel I should say that the most important part of writing is to have fun. Sure, sometimes you'll hit a slow part of the story and it'll take a bit of discipline to get through it, but overall writing should spark joy.

I'll also say that while I have my writing tricks, those are tricks that work for me and they won't necessarily work for others. My advice is just that, advice that works for me and suits my tastes, and in no way the "correct" way of going about writing because there is no such way.

So! To answer your first question in several parts, as it's a multifaceted question:

Writing characters who text

I'm a plot oriented kind of gal, that is to say, I want everything in my story to serve the story in some way. So, my advice here is that if the characters texting serves the story, then go for it.

In this vein, realism is good but it should go hand in hand with what's actually necessary (and this is where the above advice, do whatever you want, comes in). We can learn a lot about the characters, their relationships, and their lives from how they text and what they text about.

Character A never replies to the group chat unless someone @ them, but if it's character B texting them they open it instantly. Character C is never on Messenger because they loathe Facebook, but they're always on Discord.

Little things like that will tell the readers a lot about your characters, and you can use the texting to sprinkle in plot events, and heighten intrigue. Character A never hears about a hugely important thing that happened in character B's life, they've been texting all weekend and character B chose to never bring it up.

So, yes, texting can absolutely aid the story, but how it aids it will depend on the kind of story you're telling. Some stories don't have room for it, others will lean on it. (I can recommend the Norwegian TV show SKAM for how texting is incorporated into storytelling. I know there was an American remake, as well as an Italian and a French one, but I don't know if the American one is any good.)

It sounds like you have a lot of texting for texting's own sake, and if so then in your place I'd cut it down a bit. But, you can use it to establish a lot in your story so by all means, if you want it in your story then use it for all it's worth.

How to go about keeping texting conversations clear to the reader

I'd say you should treat it like a dialogue. Keep the text in italics, maybe, but have the characters interact with the texts the way they would spoken line. Character A picks up his phone, stares at the speech bubbles wondering what his friend is thinking and if he should reply right away or pretend he's a little busy so he waits a minute before texting back, and he thinks about what to text back before texting it and then immediately regretting his use of "ROFL".

If you just write a wall of text that goes:

username: this is a text!

username2: this is another text!

username3: @ username2 this is a third text!

Then that is a style choice that could work out, I personally don't like it but there are people who appreciate it. But, again, depends on the kind of story.

I hope this answers your first question?

How to stay motivated

To me, the answer is discipline and locating the source of the problem.

I'm currently regretting the choice to have Aro narrate my new fic Arrested Eternity so much, you have no idea, and the second chapter has been through several drafts. I'm not giving up on it, though, and the problem isn't that I don't want to write the fic, but that I'm not sure how to go about writing a story with an in-universe narrator. If I want to get anywhere, I'll have to figure that out, simply staring at a blank document until I write won't help me.

If I do know what I want to be writing, and I'm just being a miserable twat about it, (the later chapters of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream were drags) then... be a miserable twat about it, but get it done. Only way out is sometimes through.

Hope this is all helpful! Good luck with your story.

[scandalsavagefanfic]

Hello! I am a huge fan of ur writing. I've loved everything I've read of yours. I've read alot of what you've posted, except for a couple of the tags that are squicky for me (so I'm very thankful you tag very thoroughly). No judgement for the squick, it's just not for me. & when I'm having a bad day, I usually just go thru ur ao3 and find something to reread. I think about Therapy's Bruce & Jason every damn day. While I obvs appreciate ur darker more "problematic" content (I really vibe with some of the themes you write about bc of my own trauma, & so it's very cathartic to read about in a fictional setting), I am truly a sucker for ur more happy content. The Happily Ever After verse also lives in my head rent free. Idk more wholesome stuff just seems more special when you write it. Anyways. I would die for you. But the point of this ask is cause I'm curious as to why you don't like Urban Legends? I'm sorry if you already talked about it here or on twitter and I missed it. I was just wondering because I really enjoy your take on things and would love to hear why you dislike it. I've been enjoying it so far personally, but I am always open to DC comics criticism.

Aw thank you so much! I'm so flattered by everything you just said. You're so sweet ❤❤❤❤❤

I haven't talked about Urban Legends here or twitter (I haven't been very active in either place lately. Just a lot going on and no energy 😔) but I'm happy to do it here.

Before I start though, I just want to add a standard disclaimer and make it clear that if you like it, there's nothing wrong with that and you don't have to let me ruin it for you lol. Like what you like.

That said, since you asked...

I said this when I was talking about it on discord, that there is a difference between hope and expectation. I always hope that a new story centered on Jason (or anyone really, but things have been especially egregious for Jay for 15 years) will be good or at least treat the character with a minimal level of respect (to be honest, the bar is super fucking low). But my expectations always temper my hope, to keep it from getting unrealistic. Because my expectations are based on experience.

The long history of Jason Todd, since even before his resurrection, has been one of retroactively trying to make him "a bad seed" in order to absolve Bruce of any responsibility in his death.

I don't even expect DC or their writers to start honoring the fact that Jason was not an angry, reckless Robin (and less of the later than Dick or Tim and definitely Damian). There plenty of ways that retcon can be folded into his history and be compelling and sympathetic. And if they're going to stick with that retcon, I'm only asking that they do it in one of those compelling and sympathetic ways because Jason was 15 when he died, heroically, in one of the most selfless acts in comics, to save a woman who literally handed him over to be brutally murdered. He was 12 when Bruce plucked him off the streets, he'd been homeless and fending for himself for at least two years. I personally think that Jason's story hits harder for him and Bruce if their original, canon relationship, of Jason as starry-eyed and eager to learn and absolutely devoted to Bruce and Bruce to Jason, is preserved. But Jason's origins does leave room for a meaningful interpretation of him as angry and frustrated at the lack of meaningful results of Bruce's methods.

And that's really where my irritation at stories like Batman: Urban Legends, Cheer and Batman The Adventure Continues has it's roots.

Every time one of these stories comes out, I think (or hope, rather) that this will be the one that remembers and respects the origins of the Jason and the Red Hood, that takes into account the changed sensibilities of comics readers in the 30 years since Jason's death and the subtle, 20 year, retroactive campaign to make him the "bad Robin". The "born bad" trope is played out and literally no one likes the message it implies. That some kids are just bad eggs and there's nothing parents or the adults around them can do. Especially when it's played as the kid's fault. If Jason's time as Robin is going to be characterized by anger, then it should be rooted in anger at the social injustices he witnessed as he grew up in an impoverished, crime-ridden, area and the horrors he faced raising himself when every day was a battle for survival. There are topical, meaningful, stories to tell with that backdrop.

But those are never the stories we get.

⚠⚠ Spoilers for Batman: Urban Legends, Cheer ⚠⚠

I'm particularly disappointed in Urban Legends because for the first issue, it looked like that was the kind of story we were going to get. I was put off by the first flashback of Jason being mesmerized by Bruce's guns, and I got that feeling in my gut that it was a bad sign. Jason depicted as impatient and overconfident and the scene with the guns is heavy-handed foreshadowing that got my spidey-sense tingling. I had a inkling then (in the first three pages) of how this story was going to play out, but it was early and I could still see many narrative paths that could lead to a satisfying story. My concerns were soothed somewhat and the little flame of my hope fanned, with the flashback of Alfred scolding Bruce, with Barbara's concern for Jason. A bit of worry returned with the way Jason ruthlessly pursued an addict who didn't appear to be a dealer and with the ending of the issue. The stuff with the addict sat wrong with me but the ending was tempered some by how despicable Tyler's dad was written. The scene was clearly set so that the reader could sympathize with Jason's decision and the scene with the addict could be brushed aside as a side-effect of comics over-the-top need for constant action, so I still held hope.

Issue 2 made me uncomfortable and it's where my hope starts to take a backseat to my expectations. I can dismiss Jason's self-deprecating internal monologue as unreliable narration, except that the flashback reinforces his thought process to explicitly show that it's not unreliable narration, and should be taken at face value. Jason faces physical abuse at the hands of his mother's drug dealer and when the flashback continues later, Jason kills the drug dealer. To be clear, this is a pre-Bruce Jason. His mom is still alive. He's like... 10. He kills this guy for shoving his head into a wall and implying Jason's mother paid for her drugs with sex. This is a scene that serves a single purpose. To show that Jason has always been prone to violence.

In the spirit of full disclosure, there is the small chance the drug dealer might not be dead. But the story obviously wants the reader to think he is, and it hasn't done anything to change that yet.

Starlin already did this story with The Diplomat’s Son in 1988 and he did it infinitely better. AND that’s still technically canon. So now I’m supposed to believe that Jason lost his cool bad enough to kill two douche bags before his sweet 16? Like it’s totally normal for abused kids raised in poverty, who’ve led hard and heartbreaking lives to just... haul off and kill people? That’s bullshit, and when taken with the Jason in the third issue, who is little more than an idiot thug, this story is really doubling down on some fucked up stereotypes.

Which brings us to the most recent issue. I went into this installment with very low expectations. I thought this story was going to be about Jason, through this experience with Tyler, a young boy with a similar background to Jason's, coming to the realization that Bruce's way is the best way and that Bruce did his best by Jason.

That would be annoying (in no small part because it takes increasingly absurd levels of plot armor to keep Bruce's no kill rule relevant, let alone irrefutably right). But I can probably live with that, if only because maybe if Jason officially falls back into line with the Bats crusade, maybe I'll get stories that treat him with respect, stories that don't relegate him to comic relief, dumb brute, or a background body with no lines in a story about the Joker burning Gotham (like Jason would just fucking stand there quietly for that).

And that may still be where the story is going, Jason realizing Bruce is right.

But holy shit do I not have the right words to describe how fucking insulting and gross issue three is.

From start to finish--including the flashback--Jason is written as cruel and fucking stupid. Like straight up dumb.

The entire issue is Bruce explaining the fucking basics to Jason like it's his first day. And Jason flies off the fucking handle and terrorizes a doctor he knows isn't a part of making the Cheerdrops, beats the shit out of some random addicts, and finally, when he can't accomplish anything on his own because he's a dumb brute he calls Barbara for help and rushes in with no information where he's promptly incapacitated and must now wait to be rescued by Batman.

This panel is the least of the issues sins but I can’t screenshot the entire story but it’s representative of the tone for the whole issue (and retroactively tainted the prior two issues).

This is beyond insulting. The only conclusions Jason comes to in this issue are the ones Bruce leads him to by talking to him like he can’t make the simplest connections. And like... in this story Jason can’t make the simplest connections.

This (and the Jason throughout the entirety of this issue) is a far cry from the Jason we fell in love with in Under the Red Hood, who was competent and strategic and intelligent enough to seize control of Gotham’s underworld from Black Mask (who’s no fucking slouch, he’s the first and only person to unify organized crime in Gotham) AND elude and manipulate Bruce until the time and place of his choosing.

This is a far cry from even the Red Hood and the Outlaws Jason who is competent enough to fight the League of Shadows and Ra’s al Ghul (among very dangerous and skilled others) and smart enough to create antidotes for mind control nanotech viruses.

As he should be, by the way. Jason Todd is one of the best, most comprehensively trained fighters in DC’s stable of non powered vigilantes. He’s not irrational or hot headed. He’s pragmatic, tactically minded, and patient. He’s a detective. Right now. Has been since he was 12. Bruce doesn’t have to make him one because he already is. 

Jason is not a stupid thug who uses his fists because his brain doesn’t work. And I can’t tell you how so very exhausted I am by this narrative. 

This is actually the most egregious example of Jason’s skills and intelligence being not just undermined but dismissed entirely. Even Morrison’s Jason had some degree of competency. 

The one, single redeeming factor of this story is the art. It’s beautiful. And Marcus To is a godsend he seems to be one of only a couple of artists who remember that Jason was a child when he was Robin and I’m literally only buying this book because of him. 

Anyway, I’m sorry. I didn’t want that to come out so... um... passionately lol. I’m just very very tired. My intention with this isn’t to ruin it for you, if you like it, that’s fine. 

But this issue shot this story to the top of my "Vehemently Despise” list. 1) Batman: Urban Legends (Cheer), 2) Battle for the Cowl/Morrison’s Batman and Robin, 3) Batman The Adventure Continues.

I hope the next issues somehow salvage this dumpster fire. But I’m not expecting it.

(Damnit. That sounded harsh again. To reiterate, I’m not trying to judge anyone who enjoys it, I just personally hate it and you asked me why lol 😅)

[lord-of-christmas-lights]

I swear I have normal Narnia headcanons. However, none of them are featured in this post.

So! If you've been following my series of posts about my Inhuman Narnia AU and the couple of oneshots I posted on ao3 under ASkyOfKai, you've probably noticed that in this little universe I've created, Narnia is sort of...sentient. And I've just realized that I've only actually gone into depth about this on Discord with my friends who are probably very tired of hearing about it. So I'm making y'all suffer through it instead. Welcome to Inhuman Narnia 101, please take your seats because this is going to take a while.

Warning for religious themes, theological discussion, and some dark fantasy/inhuman/body horror concepts that involve blood and physical changes.

BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING: Please keep in mind that an AU is meant to be an alternate universe that may not follow canon information. If anything in this post contradicts canon on the creation of Narnia (it undoubtedly will), pay it no mind, this is an AU. It doesn't have to follow canon.

First off, a little explanation of the Inhuman Narnia AU in general. Basically I came up with this AU after seeing some other people on tumblr post about the Pevensies being not quite human after their time in Narnia. Just eerie, cryptid, a bit of dark fantasy kinda stuff. And I was like, "I'm in love, sign me up, I have ideas." I did not sit down and develop this all at once. The worldbuilding I've done for it has come slowly over the past few weeks through posts, fanfics, and discord rambles. The idea of Narnia being a sentient earth deity of sorts is a recent one and there is already so much to it. (Also I call her Narnia because it's convenient, she has other names but I haven't bothered to like, actually make any up so Narnia is what she's called.)

The most important thing to note starting off is that Narnia is not supposed to be a replacement for Aslan, nor is she necessarily "the hero to his villain". Aslan and I have an interesting relationship, as he is literally God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit/etc and I no longer really identify as Christian. While there are times that Aslan definitely takes a more antagonistic route in my writings, I don't actually see him as a bad guy, nor as a good guy. As God, he literally removed from our concepts of good and evil (in my opinion). The same goes for Narnia being an earth deity. I am a Christian-raised pagan, and I definitely subscribe to the idea that gods and deities are not subject to humanity and our rules. Narnia is not a good goddess, she is not a bad goddess, she simply is a goddess. Plain and simple. The dichotomy that exists between Narnia and Aslan in my writing is generally that of opposing deities, but this isn't a hard and fast rule. There were and still are times when they're friends, working towards the same goals. There are times when Narnia's power is stronger than Aslan's and times when Aslan's power is stronger than hers. There is no simple 1:1 comparison between them.

So, getting into motivations and why Narnia as a deity even exists. Essentially, I asked the question, "How do the Pevensies become inhuman?" and voila earth deity Narnia was born. Now, the basic in-universe mythology I've worked out is that Narnia and Aslan are two deities from separate dimensions that came together to create a new world, the world of Narnia. Aslan is the one who oversees things, he's the one who comes up with the ideas, and he's a little less attached to the world as a whole because he's a Creator, not an earth deity. Narnia is, however, and she literally makes up the world, she sort of runs the entire thing on a physical level, and she is much more attached to it. So she's always kinda taken on this role of making the things in her world the way she wants them. For the most part, she and Aslan designed everything together and they're both happy with it blah blah blah. Well, Aslan then decides to bring a few humans from this other world he's created to Narnia. And she affects them a bit (I've got headcanons about Digory and Polly that I haven't posted anywhere yet but I might soon), but it isn't until Aslan brings the Pevensies over that she really gets to experiment. See, there are other deities in the world that kinda rule over the various lands on a surface level (patron gods for Telmar, the Archenlands, etc, they just have less power than Narnia and Aslan) so she has a little less power over the people in those places, but the country of Narnia is both her land and her so when the Pevensies become the Kings and Queens and live there for 15 years, she's very connected to them. And it's through this connection that she starts to affect them. Honestly, I'm not sure if Narnia even knows what she's doing when she starts stripping away their humanity. I think it's that she can feel they're not from her world and she doesn't like that. She wants them to be a part of her, she wants them to belong in her world just the same as everyone else. (Side note—I know Telmar and some other lands in canon are based on people finding portals and coming through and I'd like to say that she does affect them a bit, takes away a bit of their humanity, but it's not to the same extent as the Kings and Queens of her lands).

"So Kai," you might say, "You keep empathizing that she is literally the land and the land is her. What the hell do you mean by that?" Well, essentially, she is...the...land. Basically if you've read Percy Jackson Heroes of Olympus, there's this idea that Gaia and Tartarus are both physically their domains and able to take on a smaller, human shaped physical form because they're gods and not restricted by human ideas of only having one body. Narnia is the same. Her physical form is both the entire world and whatever smaller shape she might appear in to people. However, we have to acknowledge that their world is differently structurally from ours. There's magic, there's talking animals, and in my Inhuman AU, there is a literal Heart of Narnia at the center. Like a physical, beating, human-shaped heart. Except it's a lot bigger than a regular human heart. Also it's golden. And many many many miles underground. So anyways this is where she's centered. It's basically where her soul is. Probably under Cair Paravel because I just came up with that idea and I love it. And radiating out from it are veins of magic and blood, and these stretch all across the world. Now here is where we get into blood magic and some of those fun terrifying concepts I've come up with.

Narnia has her own blood, of course, but also whenever one of her Kings or Queens bleeds in battle, she kinda pulls it down through the earth into her own heart and veins. It doesn't really do anything to her or them in particular, it's just a fun side effect of them having a patron pagan god. Yes this includes Caspian after he becomes King. Also Peter's blood turns golden because he's the High King, and then later Caspian's does too because I just really like imagery of Ben Barnes bleeding gold. (Side note—when Peter returns to England, his blood goes back to red, but it does remain a brighter red than blood generally is).

Diverting for half a second here. Now, in both my regular Narnia writings and my Inhuman AU, Lucy is very very connected to magic. In my regular Narnia fanfic, she studies with the druids, who are sort of like BBC Merlin's druids. They're just like, chill dudes who run around in camps doing magic and making prophecies and shit. However, in the Inhuman AU, they are a lot darker. One of my favorite ideas with the Inhuman druids and Lucy is that they are so connected to Narnia's magic and her Heart that their hands become stained with blood. Is it their blood, is it Narnia's blood, is it someone else's blood? Idk, don't ask questions. But yea, their hands are permanently stained reddish-brown to almost black. In my regular Narnia stuff, I still like the idea of Lucy's hands being stained and go with just earth magic, dirt stuff for the reason why. But yea no, in the Inhuman AU her hands are stained with blood because of blood magic.

So getting a bit more into how Narnia affects the Pevensies now because I love talking about this lol. She doesn't consciously chose how to change them, though she does call them her creations. Generally the way her magic affects them is by connecting them to to the land in some way and bringing out certain traits they have. So for Peter it's his eyes flickering between regular blue and the amber of a lion's, feathers appearing on his back that grow into wings, having a strength greater than that of a giant's. His blood is golden and on clear nights, the Aurora Borealis in the sky is reflected across his skin. For Susan, her skin glints like glass in the sun and she can briefly glimpse the future. Her wounds are sewn shut with golden rays of light, her eyes are cracked but clear, and she seems to glow faintly in the night, a bit of the sun's radiance shining through her. Edmund has a bit of a star's power lodged in his throat, and can manipulate words, uses them to influence people and their actions. His skin is frostbitten in places, a side effect of ruling the Woods where the White Witch once held so much power, and in some spots his bones shine under the ice that spreads across his skin. Lucy has the stained skin from her stronger connection to magic, and when she speaks words from the Old Language (the one Aslan and Narnia used to shape the world itself), her voice echoes and rasps. Her teeth are too sharp, her smile too wide, and when she disappears underwater, she can stay for hours without surfacing. I want to get into Eustace and Caspian now too but this post is already extremely long and I've still got a bit to cover, so we're just sticking with the Pevensies for now. So yea, Narnia doesn't pick what she does to the Pevensies, she just connects herself to them and through that connection, they change. The magic that she is made of, that Narnia the world operates on, that's what changes them. However, as I stated already, she does call them her creations and feels extremely responsible for them.

Wrapping back around up to the beginning, this is the biggest source of conflict between her and Aslan as of the canon timeline. I like to believe that the lamppost incident was an accident, that Aslan didn't actually mean to send them back at the end of LWW and it was pure coincidence, wrong place wrong time stuff. That being said, it did happen and Narnia really didn't like it happening. The Pevensies did return to their (mostly) human selves in this AU in England, so when they came back in Prince Caspian, she felt disconnected from them again. She reacted to this by digging into them even harder on a spiritual level and essentially speedran them back to being inhuman throughout the timeline of PC, which generally takes place over a few months in my mind. I don't remember how long it was in the book, it's been quite a while since I read them, but it's only like a week in the movie and like eff that, overthrowing a kingdom takes a bit longer in my opinion. Now there are a few divergences here. 1. They all stay at the end of PC and yea that's it, they go back to being Kings and Queens and it's like a second Golden Age but with Caspian there as well. 2. Susan and Peter stay, Lucy and Edmund go back and it's a repeat of the human/inhumanity cycle for them + Eustace in VOTDT and then they stay. 3. Everything happens exactly as it does in canon and it's a constant cycle of humanity/inhumanity with the character's various trips and finally ends at The Last Battle. I like all versions and I tend to leave things a little open to the reader on what exactly happens, or I would if I could actually finish some of my drafts and post them. As you can imagine, Narnia likes 1 the best and 3 the least. She really wants her Kings and Queens to stay and rule her lands and like be awesome and stuff. However, Aslan prefers 3 the best and 1 the least. So again, neither of them is really good nor evil, they just have differing opinions on how the world should be run and what the Pevensie's fates should be. I do tend to side with Narnia, I really like exploring these concepts of inhumanity, but I also really like the concept of a cycle. That's very common in mythology.

So anyways, that's a bit of an overview on earth deity Narnia and her role in my Inhuman AU. If you made it this far, congratulations, and I give you explicit permission to use any of my ideas in your own writing/fanart/whatever, as long as you tag either my tumblr or my ao3 (lord-of-christmas-lights and ASkyOfKai) because I need more Narnia+Inhumanity content in my life. Thanks for reading all this and I'll probably be back very soon with elaboration on Eustace and Caspian's inhumanity!

- Kai

[sarasa-cat]

@zencribnotes - Yay! I wasn’t hallucinating and I still have the memory of an elephant for obscure facts! ;D

You said:  

“Because it’s one thing to go “I want to know about Philosophy where do I start?” Because someone’s going to show you Hegel thinking “this’ll do it” and the reader will go “wait who was Hegel referring to? What is this italicized word referencing?” Because a lot of their texts are in response to previous works, which means more reading.”

Exactly. So, I actually have a lot of previous experience with being in that position in addition to working with people who have their Ph.D. in philosophy. Other academic disciplines tend to plunder philosophy when needed and due to our extensive depth-based knowledge in our own discipline (well, that usually assumes graduate level training) plus general knowledge in other disciplines, we get by knowing no more than the cliff notes version of what Hegel is referring to. Although, tbh, in my/our generation(s), it’s usually knowing what contemporary philosophers are talking about and having a good sense for it due to being contemporaries, and then referring to the cliff notes version of Hegel when they respond to whatever Hegal was saying. ;)

But, often, if one really needs to KNOW a philosopher’s work in order to ground aspects of their theory (in a discipline outside of philosophy), then it is important and expected that one will dig a big deeper than the cliff notes version. For instance, Habermas was a big of a big deal amongst some of my former academic co-authors. I only had the cliff notes version of him but some of them were pretty fluent in his arguments and those whom he built upon.

“I can also send you some pdfs and give more in-depth stuff from Discord. I also recommend Pierre Bourdieu when studying about social class, art, and aesthetics within a Marxist lens.”

I have slightly more than passing familiarity with Bourdieu but those memories are very dusty and from long ago!  Definitely, definitely interested! Holy cow I had no idea I would be that interested but the moment you said “social class, art, and aesthetics” I now realize WHY we were assigned a few Bourdieu readings in a sequence of Media Studies classes (taught with both grads and upper level undergrad in the class) long ago!!!!  Damn. don’t know if I kept any of the reading packs from that as it was long before the big move.

Discord?! Are you on discords of interest that are open and you recommend? 

“Bourdieu’s “Distinction” is one that is very seminal to his body of work, and hard to get a cheap copy for some reason. For literary criticism and art studies, Walter Benjamin’s body of work is very good, like “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”

Oh yes! Benjamin and The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction!  I passingly remember him too from way back when! Definitely off to get my hands on these.

My reading list GROWS! :D

As for old syllabi and reading guides, if you have anything that you can easily make available to me, sure, it could help. 

Right now I am trying to do two things at once:

1. Continue on the way I used to in which I read philosophy that was meaningful and relevant to me while just heading off to get the gist of those referred to

2.  Actually fill the big hole in understanding what the heck philosophy is all about as a subject with an exceedingly long history.

Given my academic background (in general, the kind of training it gives but more specific in the kinds of people I worked with) hand-in-hand with my (overly long?) prior aca-research career, and the fact that philosophy mostly relies on reading, logic, and argumentation, it seems like a good place for me to keep my brain engaged (because my brain needs to be fed) that is well within what I can get my hands/ears on and what will help me think more deeply about the art and writing I am trying to move forward.

I’m really not a pretty pictures and comforting words sort of person. Lol. 😂 If I am not engage with a subject of deeper human concern, I sort of wander away and find something else to do.

...

But all that said, huge thank you for your thoughts and responses! <3

[halcyon-hyacinth]

3 what's a wip you've procrastinated the longest? Why?

oh man.

definitely Zero chapter 15.

It's about halfway written at this point. I initially put it off due to personal reasons back in January but since then I've gotten caught in writing several other fics, including a couple of collabs.

The main reason I've kept putting it off is because the rest of the story isn't completely plotted out yet. Since Zero covers the entire cast, I need to be careful with how I develop everyone chapter to chapter. It'll probs end up at 20-25 chapters, and while I have an idea of where it'll end up, I need to plot out people's development chap by chap since it is the Infinity Train.

I don't want to return to it until I'm able to focus on writing it alone, that way there's no more huge breaks in between chapters.

I feel really bad about the hiatus since it's the first toh fic I started way back in Sept 2020 (damn, almost a year now), but it will be completed at some point.

I just have a lot of other wips drawing my attention atm. Like:

- eclipse lake rewrite (2/3 chaps written, chap 1 will be up tomorrow)

---- This one I'm doing for the Owl Fight 2021 so I'm speed running it before I move back to college on Saturday. I'll be a senior so I have no damn idea how tf my writing schedule will be impacted.

- amity and ghost short stories (2 more parts planned, 10k probs)

- detention mystery fic for a discord server I'm in (based on Dana's day 5 promo art for season 2, will probs be 5k-10k)

- something short (2.5k) for the lumity zine if I get it

I'm also co-creating Golden with Greenisher, but that isn't nearly as time consuming as writing stuff alone lol.

Whew, that was a lot, lol. And I didn't even bring up all the skarscha fics I have on the back burner for my Face the Music series. I wrote a fic for it as part of @skarschazine which will drop in September, so be sure to check that out!

Thanks for the ask!!!! <3 Ask me questions from here.

[dr-nero-is-god]

i felt the urge to riff on the hive streams for a little bit since discussion came up on the hive discord, namely, holding issue with the idea that the alpha stream is inconsistent in that it is about leadership when otto is the only leader, and that it’s also possible that the alphas are just kids with specialized skills, and not actually bonded by any particular unifying element.

and, in response, @vulpix-sinistre brought up a quote from the abridged hive fanfic, that goes something like: “there are four streams: main characters, stereotypical bullies, ?, and nerds.”

and i disagree with the first two ideas, but almost completely agree with the abridged fic quote. that is pretty much how the streams work, and it is IMPORTANT that that is how the streams work. 

in the end, you may conclude that the streams system still doesn’t make sense. you won’t be like “well clearly dr. nero was just logically dividing the labor of his students to reflect a specialized training program” because it’s more complicated on that. i  hate to do this to y’all, but a lot of everything streams-related requires an out-of-book explanation to get where you’re going, but i can promise that i will at least try to go

first, let’s think about why h.i.v.e. would have streams at all

on the one hand, it’s inescapable to consider that one primary reason that hive has streams is because harry potter had houses, and for the same reason that percy jackson had cabins, the 39 clues had branches, hunger games had sections (or counties, idk), divergent had factions, and so on and so on. the rise of fandom spaces on the internet was concurrent with a big ya/mg boom in the post-2005 world (after twilight was published), and within those fandom spaces it became important to identify with an aspect of the fantasy world as part of your personality. that became a very marketable thing for a while, and so separating children into streams would, to a publisher, seem like a pretty solid storytelling choice.

however! the alpha stream is not the same as gryffindor house. on the one hand, it seems easy to make an alpha/gryffindor and henchman/slytherin parallel, because one group is good (relatively) and one is bad (or at least antagonistic). but it doesn’t work because while slytherin has a reputation for constituents of poor moral character (which has been largely revised in fanon), being a henchman is where you go, according to the books, if you are unintelligent and burly. it’s not a really sexy stream, is what i’m trying to say. and though there are undoubtedly some readers who would look at the henchman stream and see themselves, i think the majority of readers would likely find the henchman stream a completely undesirable stream to be in. 

and, given how little importance the role of streams have after the first book, i will go out on a limb and say that mark walden knows that the henchman stream is unsexy. we aren’t interested in the hopes and dreams and motivations of the henchman stream; as we learn in book two, the ideal henchman is weak-minded and easily led—so what dreams would they even have? this leads me to conclude that while mark walden might have sold h.i.v.e. on the “there are personality-based groups in the school!” idea, he had something completely else in mind when he started writing and that, I think, is actually far more interesting.

but really, why would h.i.v.e. have streams at all

a few things about mark walden: 1) he studied english lit in school, 2) he has a background as a video game producers, and 3) he likes james bond. i know the first two things because i have read his bio and i know the third thing because i have read his books in conjunction with seeing all the james bond films. so we will call 1-3 facts. 

if you are wondering what a lit degree, video game production, and the james bond franchise all have in common, then let me connect those dots: all three of those things depend heavily on the study and understanding of repetitive structure in storytelling as an interpreter and creator of meaning. each one of these fields requires an understanding of how stories and words work to create meaning in order to be successful. 

and, to quote mr. walden here directly (sourced from this here link):

“So, I was playing with this cat one day and it got me thinking that those old-school Bond villains always just seemed to appear out of thin air with very little back story and that got me thinking about how they became world- conquering megalomaniacs in the first place.  It was only a short mental walk from there to HIVE.”

so, imagine you’re a writer trying to tell a story about a school for villains like those in james bond—you’ve studied storycraft and you have a lot of experience in a job finding believable and compelling obstacles for people to interact with in video games. you have noticed patterns. and you need to make those patterns work for you.

enter: streams

i have watched all the james bond movies (all of ‘em) (i mean it) (just not the unreleased one yet lol) and you know what? 

there’s probably just about four kinds of villains in those movies.

henchmen include the likes of jaws, oddjob, and tee hee. often physically disabled in a cinematically interesting way, these guys are the muscles and the machines in every bond film. they are the ones who tail bond as he takes long train rides and who try to personally throw him into shark tanks. they are the hands and feet of their evil masters and they don’t have a lot of emotional depth or backstory. 

politicians/financiers abound in the james bond franchise because he is a government employee who often hangs out with other government employees (he has no friends). these people are like colonel rosa klebb, georgi koskov, prince kamal khan. there are a lot more, as a matter of fact, because the whole point of james bond is that they are in the cold war and even people without titles have political and financial motivations for screwing around with stuff. these types of villains depend on being well and truly embedded in an existing infrastructure or hierarchy, somebody who worked their way up from being a foot soldier or clerk into a powerful leadership position that gives them a lot of state-sanctioned trust and authority.

technicians and inventors include folks like henry gupta and boris grishenko, who use technology as their primary weapon. they are often inventors or innovators and are really good at making high-tech stuff. however, i think this stream is also a direct result of the character Q, someone who is actually on James Bond’s team and who runs an entire department of people who test sometimes outlandish gadgets for Bond to use in the field. (but we love the gadgets. they are fun.) in other words, Bond arguably has a technical stream at his disposal in MI6, which means the idea isn’t necessarily evil, but, likewise, our James Bond School also needs Qs. it’s the rules. if you are familiar with Q from James Bond at all then you understand

and that leaves us with alphas... the “supervillains.” these are the famous ones. dr. no. mr. big. scaramanga. le chiffre. blofeld. max zorin. emilio largo. goldfinger. these are the ones with the master plan, the dreams to recreate the world as they see it, the passion to see their desires to fulfillment and the resources to make them happen. they are rich. they are fancy. they are larger than life. is it weird that karl stromberg tries to incite a nuclear war between Britain and the USSR so that a lot of people can die so that he can colonize the ocean? yes. but by god, it’s fancy and dramatic, and that’s what counts. 

are there other kinds of villains? oh, definitely. lots more. but you have to understand, that those kinds of villains generally don’t appear in Bond. sometimes! but it’s not a staple. for example, not many people in the bond films are motivated by revenge because each movie is kind of designed to function as a one-shot. villains don’t come back and so there is no revenge. the villain who gets the most notable reprise, jaws, actually ends up finding his true love in space. 

compare: every movie is going to have henchmen. every movie has government stooges making morally questionable decisions. (almost) every movie has Q, or some gadget stuff going on. and every movie has a big bad that has to be better than the last. 

so that explains why the streams are what they are. 

it was a jumping-off point for mark walden to figure out what this universe might look like and how different character types need to function. consider that while the core four are all alphas and are kind of insulated as a group, the teachers all kind of roughly align with one of these groups. colonel francisco, raven, and chief lewis are henchmen types, doing on-the-ground work to get stuff done. ms. tennenbaum and the contessa are political af, they are all about the corruption and infiltrating institutional power. ms. gonzales, ms. leon, and professor pike all have technical skills that help keep an organization moving forward. and over them all is the singular alpha, dr. nero, who is coordinating and monitoring it all for his own evil plan: to run a high school.

honestly, dr. nero’s hive idea operates just like a james bond villain plot! it works, or it does when pitching the idea. the problem is that the books continued after the pitch did, and with worldbuilding came some complications. namely, the fact that the megastructure of james bond villainy does not replicate well into a small friend group on which the narration focuses. so let’s return to the question presented at the beginning:

how can alphas really be alphas when not everyone on the field trip can be a mastermind?

i’m gonna give this to you in two ways. one, the way i personally interpret it as an in-universe explanation, given the background premises we have already established. and the other, why the stream system kind of ruins the structure it sets out to create.

so, for me, the alphas can be alphas because there is more to villainy than being a mastermind and there is more to being a mastermind than being in charge. as i think about it, this novelization is actually the backstory for every one of the students, who will go on to do great and scary things. they will manage big projects and come up with interesting ways to terrorize the British government, because that is what James Bond villains do (and James Bond does canonically exist in their universe). much like your actual teenage years, this is not the main event.

as students, the core four need to learn to do a little bit of everything. you gotta learn some lock-picking, that’s essential. everyone has to be able to climb a rock wall. it’s the rules. and everyone needs to be able to do some programming. that’s just the way school is. though everyone has a different personality and a different way of looking at the world, their education has to cover the basics because the fact of the matter is, none of them are villains yet. will they become one? that remains to be seen. but they are being given the tools to become the greatest villains if that is something they choose. 

the main problem that remains when holding this attitude is that the specialized skills of otto and his friends might be better suited to other streams, in which case, what is an alpha anyways?

here’s the facts: if everyone were assigned to a stream by talent, then there wouldn’t be an alpha stream.

franz? political/financial stream. 

nigel? laura? otto? technical stream.

shelby? wing? henchman stream. 

you can debate me on the specifics of those assignments, but the point is this: all the other streams are based on hard skills. franz can manage a ledger and that is a financial skill. laura can build a computer from scratch and that is a technical skill. wing can do martial arts, and each martial art is a physical skill that can be taught and performed in a measurable level of proficiency. 

the idea of being a “mastermind” is a much softer skill—which is to say, there’s no one recipe that will make it work. my manager at work has coached me by saying that leadership is often about having a “style,” and working at it that way. leadership requires interpersonal flexibility, being able to stay organized and to make important decisions rapidly, it is about being able to prioritize and delegate. and it’s very much open to interpretation, every day, all the time. 

let me tell you something else about james bond: there is a lot of classism, racism, and sexism embedded into every aspect of those films, but that goes for double when it comes to the villains in the show. to vastly oversimplify that very concept, it shows up in the bond films like this: henchmen are working class folks, the villainous equivalent of “the help,” and the supervillains are (usually) rich and glamorous and powerful. henchmen are uneducated (read as: stupid) and ugly and poor. no one cares if they die. (there’s more complexities, as always, but this essay isn’t actually about james bond so we’ll fast forward through My Opinions to the end)

the problem with replicating james bond in your villain school universe is that some of the biases of the james bond universe get replicated in there, too. poor and uneducated folks get turned into disposable henchmen whose lives are irrelevant. people who are educated and talented get fast-tracked to a more glamorous and interesting stream that will catapult them to the top of the ladder as soon as they graduate. if you look at the dialect with which block and tackle are written, they are clearly meant to be seen as a different social class than otto, despite the fact that otto is coming from basically nothing. and we understand that when otto graduates, he will be able to do basically anything that he wants to at all.

so, if you’re asking why wing has a role in the alpha stream when he doesn’t seem as leader-y as otto, there’s a simple answer: because dr. nero believes that wing can be more.

the climax of book one is dr. nero explicitly telling otto, wing, laura, and shelby that they are in his school because he believes in them and he wants to see them grow. they are given an elite status other students do not have despite the fact that they have just literally tried to escape. as we see in the case of duncan cavendish, the main way to get on that highway to a guaranteed career is to convince him that you’ve “got it.” for those who are not believed in, there is no way to make up for the special grooming. you’re stuck with the stream you’re placed in, doomed (perhaps) to be a second-in-command at best.

is all this intentional? probably not. but it is implicit in the structure of the story and, alas, that’s the way it is.

all i can think to say in conclusion is that while the stream system tends to replicate some of the unfair and classist realities present in other media and the world we live in, i think part of the reason we read h.i.v.e. is because the alpha stream is so appealing. imagine! you are competent and you have a desirable, specialized skill as well as a proficiency in many general skills and you are certain you are going to do good things—and all because someone believes in you. to receive someone else’s support and confidence can be life-changing. the magic of h.i.v.e. is that yes—lives are changed and ordinary, boring people were elevated to the level of supervillains. we are only left to wonder, are they the only people who deserved that honor?

[thewakingcloak]

Spacefarer Newsletter: August 2020

I spent the first week of August cleaning up cliff and z-object stuff. Not very glamorous! I was definitely ready to move on, but it had to be done. Everything I mentioned at the end of the July newsletter? I tackled it.

Falling off ledges now works properly. This was surprisingly difficult.

Tile animations on z objects is now handled... 

Building cliffs is much less painstaking now. The objects automatically resize themselves for proper collision, and the sprites are all color- and number-coded.

And more: lots and lots of weird cases and stuff fixed. Cliffs at a “negative z” (below sea-level, essentially) were a whole ‘nother animal. They’re still a little janky, and I’ll have to do more manual intervention for these.

Also, area transitions were only based on x and y, so throwing z into the mix messed those up hardcore.

Once I got past all that, I decided to tackle swimming!

Talk about a switch. Cliffs took me a few months. Swimming took me, like, a couple days. Even the stuff I thought would be hard (falling off waterfalls, slippery momentum, etc.) ended up being more or less built in to the systems I have, lol, so I basically just wrote a line or two of new code for those. Diving took an extra few days on top of that, mostly just because I went back and forth on how to modify the z.

Next came rolling. (You might say we’re on a roll.) This was the first bit I’d copied over from The Waking Cloak project in ages. The Waking Cloak will eventually be built afresh on the ProtoDungeon foundation, but I guess the old code does still have some useful stuff in there!

I did spend an evening converting my mess of move speed/direction/vectors to create a Vector2 struct in 2.3. Structs are a nice breath of Object-Oriented Programming in GameMaker. :) Then I leveraged this so I could easily modify the direction of rolling, jumping, etc. I could have done all this without, but it makes it easier.

“Rolling” in the water will be a dash. Unfortunately, in doing all this, I broke the “slippery” friction on water, which for some reason took me a few days to fix.

Roll cleanup from there involved allowing jumping into a roll and rolling into a jump. For gameplay purposes, these don’t let you jump further or anything, but it adds some usability. Without this, if you press the “roll key” right before landing, nothing happens, and it feels clunky. With this, if you press the roll key while jumping, the character will roll immediately when they hit the ground. It feels really good!

I updated the controls to match the new rolling. Space and shift now both trigger rolls for keyboard, and the left face button does so on the gamepad. This also meant I had to update the control remapping settings (which needs a UX overhaul, I’m breaking a couple guidelines here, but no time for that now lol).

Next came the dash. This only took a few days, since it’s basically the same as a roll, just faster (not shown in the video, I sped it up after recording) and with a cool afterimage effect! I had to take a video instead of a gif to capture the full effect (gif framerate is too low, so it’s much more “blinky”). Anyway yeah, click this giant link to watch, lol.

And then I rounded out the month by updating various tiles and sprites. It was pretty tough to get back into the swing of things, art-wise. Thanks to the Studio Spacefarer Discord server, though, I’m pretty happy with the direction things went.

Check out the “before” in last month’s newsletter.

Oh, also, on the penultimate day of the month, I felt like taking a quick break from all of everything to install rt-shell, a plugin that lets you do debug commands. My previous debug method was a list of hotkeys. It was pretty limited! The new one is extensible (I can write my own scripts), so it’s gonna be really helpful.