#(if you don't have a huge archive already XD)

[desultory-novice]

for some odd reason, i can't help but find mirror marx/narx kinda hot, and i am very embarrassed about that.

You know, someone tagged him as "Sans Marx" (which made me laugh soooo hard) so maybe that's a part of it? XD

There is something about a character who is both extremely powerful but also very laid back. Also he's got that eyes-always-closed charm! Plus, who doesn't look good in black?!

For a slightly more serious answer:

You really don't have to feel embarrassed about it. According to Scott McCloud, one of the reasons cartoon characters are simplied is so that we have an easier time seeing ourselves or others in them! A few of us are told we look like X real life actor but not too often.

Now, someone who's just little guy with a ball-shaped body and eyes and (sometimes) a mouth? "Hey, I've got those things too!" It's not like you're admitting to finding an inanimate basketball hot! XD

When you combine the inherit sympathy involved in the design of a simplified character and then start throwing on traits like the "powerful/relaxed" or "fox eyes" or having them sing, that will inevitably make them...kind of attractive, yeah!

And they can be "attractive" without that automatically equalling "I want to date them in real life!" (Plus there are certain traits that might only really be attractive in fiction/made more attractive, like a sense of danger about a person or a mind caught in a tempest.)

Everyone has tropes in character designs they find "attractive!" White hair. Violet eyes. Long vampire cloaks. Long boots. These are just some of the traits I see pop up again and again because they WORK for people. I wasn't joking when I said everyone looks good in black. The mirror worlders so far all have a palette of desaturated grays and the occasional bright red. It's a GOOD palette and is gonna make some fancy-looking characters!

Heck, I'm certain that when I'm working on designing a character, I'm including some of my favorite design tropes to make them "attractive" to me. Scarves and gloves? Yes, plz, more, thx!

I can even say with Mirror Marx that I set out to draw him so he'd look pretty neat! I picked some of my favorite things to work into his design and when the sketches were done, I nodded satisfied.

So, tldr, not weirded out and thank you for the compliment!

[ika-himee]

Artist Loft vs Himi Jelly Gouache

Out of curiosity, I decided to try the Artist Loft jelly gouache set. (My boyfriend took me to michaels to buy some art supplies to entertain myself during game night because i had a slightly stressful day and didn't feel like playing games lmao, so i just kind of stumbled across it and said, wth why not XD)

Here are my opinions on the set. I purchased the 24 set that comes with the brushes. It retails for about $24-$25. I had a couple coupons ($5 off $15+ and a 20% off) I purchased other things, but had I only purchased that, the set would have cost somewhere around $18 after tax i believe.

On amazon, the Himi gouache 24 set costs about $25-$26 and I think it also comes with brushes. So the sets are pretty comparable.

I have the 18 set of Himi gouache, that does not include brushes (tbh I cannot remember what I paid for it I bought it a couple years ago).

Having used both, I would say that the paints perform similarly and act as gouache should. (I could not find any information on the artist loft set about archival quality, but I scan most of my finished pieces, so it isn't a huge concern for me tbh.

The packaging is identical, the only real difference I noticed packaging wise is that the foil sealing the cups was incredibly difficult to remove from the artist loft set. I literally spent a collective 6 hours over 3 days peeling the foils off because they were stuck (and it would have taken longer had my dad not offered to help).

Content wise, the biggest issue with the set compared to himi was the quantity. Himi gouache cups contain 30ml of paint and the artist loft cups only contain 27ml i believe it is (which is not disclosed on the external packaging like it is with himi). They also seem to stain a bit more than the himi gouache, but probably not much more really. The artist loft set is also a bit more temperamental when it comes to adding water. Just a touch too much water, and the paint became extremely thin and streaky. I mostly got by with just the water left on my brush from rinsing and used that the thin the paint enough to use properly. The himi gouache was a bit more forgiving with the water, though it also gets streaky if you add too much.

Pigmentation was fine and each color acted as I expected it to. I did notice that the gouache skinned over rather quickly (within about an hour of use, the top layer already skinned, which the himi gouache did not skin so quickly when I first got it.) Overall, I think for a house brand, it did quite well and the price was well enough in line with the competitors to make it a solid choice if that is what is available to you (especially if you have coupons and vouchers).

HOWEVER, the fact that I had to spend hours (my fingers are still a little sore btw lol) peeling foils off of the cups before I could even dive into the paints was enough to make me low-key regret buying it. Now that its open and I've used it, I very much enjoy the set, and having 24 colors is great for people that want some variety and dont want to mix their colors. (I default to color mixing all the time though, so I could literally get by with the main 4 paints if i needed to haha, I just like options).

Do I recommend Artist Loft Jelly gouache?

Yes I do. However, I only recommend it if you can get a discount on it. Otherwise, I think you would do just as well getting the himi gouache unless you don't want to wait for it to ship and Artist Loft is in stock at the store. (remember, opening the artist loft cups is a literal nightmare and himi peeled off much easier).

[a-mag-a-day]

MAG 53 - baking something with all those apples I cut in the kitchen

Love that a lot of the episode titles have two meaning or are outright puns. Crusader here referring to the tank and the knight corpse.

Another I had a bit of a hard time following. I think the voice acting is really fitting here, but the frantic tone messes with my ability to process what's told.

Gloucestershire… British pls… why? Just… why??? T_T (Knowing that this is a trick pronunciation I would just say "Gloshshshshsh")

"I was the gunner. I’ve always had good eyes, you see, and you really need that for the gun." - Good eyes you say…?

3:29 " The Italians had unsurprisingly taken a page out of Rommel’s handbook", right at "page", someone turns a page! The VA actually turning the page of the script or intentional soundscaping (since there is more paper rustling to come)?

"Then I saw it: a flash of light, a twinkling glint of sun from the enemy tank. In the back of my mind, I knew what it meant: the sun reflecting off their own binoculars" - music is playing at this part and I don't understand why? xD Usually music accompanies something spooky happening. While this is a scary situation especially hearing someone burning to death without any way to help them, I don't know if it's mean to be supernatural spooky stuff? I mean it's an Eye statement, binoculars would fit that bill, but otherwise?

Very soft at 5:33, very briefly at 6:58, 7:49 - scraping sounds (at 7:00 with a knock, like making a period with a pencil) and paper shuffling like someone's taking notes? Gertrude perhaps? I think this is indeed intentional soundscaping.

10:10 also shuffling can be heard. All throughout the statement there's a bit of shuffling here and there, I think it fits very well.

"but instead there came the scent of something else. All that, at that point I had no idea what it was but I would have described it as not unlike wood." - Paper and Papyrus is made of plant fibers ¯_(ツ)_/¯

"It should have been pitch dark. Though there was no light at all filtering through into those underground caverns, but it still – I could see everything. " Good eyes indeed.

"At the same time I suddenly got the most intense feeling of being watched, like a thousand eyes turned to me at once." <.<

"From within its huge, flowing hood I could see nothing except a single lidless eye." - I think that one is the inspiration for the Eye of the Entity Tarot designs which are in the Rusty Quill merch shops.

GERTRUDE "The bronze grate over the entrance to the archive." <.<

WALTER "I have just now. That funny turn I took on the way down the stairs, I felt it again. All those eyes watching me." - <.< (I absolutely love this Archive lore in this episode.)

"There’s even one unnamed contemporary historian that describes the mob attacking the Serapeum not as Christians, but using a phrase which roughly translates as “those who sing the night”." - Worshippers of the Dark attacking the Archive? It would make sense, they are complementary. Things unseen and things seen.

"What was it? A guardian of some sort? Or perhaps… perhaps… it too was once an archivist." - Ok, so on my first listen I already had a suspicion that Archivists are not just people in an archiving job. Jane called Jon "Archivist". Also before I reached this episode my sister once called me "Archivist" and I was already like "Why would she do that if there wasn't a deeper meaning?". Hearing Gertrude contemplating, if this creature was once an Archivist, confirmed my suspicions.

Martin being a blessing once again! <3

"I just worry. You needed five stitches after you “accidentally” stabbed yourself with the bread knife." - My sister visited me just two days ago and she managed to stab herself with the bread knife XD Nothing severely, but it made me laugh. Also, Martin totally doesn't believe Jon here…

Ok ok, Martin asks Jon, if he wants a sandwich! I understood this like "Should I get a sandwich for you while you stay here and I go alone". And then Jon says he's coming with Martin! He totally didn't have to do that? Does he think Martin would poison the sandwich? I mean, Martin could poison every cup of tea he makes, so don't think Jon's thinking of that. Keeping an extra eye on Martin? Personally, that's my headcanon: This is where Jon starts going on lunch breaks with Martin. At first under the pretense of more surveillance and trying to find out more about him. But eventually he starts to just enjoy it and keeps doing it, especially after he finds out what that letter to his mum was about (in like 3 episodes). I mean, it would make sense, right? Why would someone think of the two of them "being close" otherwise?

"It reports an explosion in Alexandria which destroyed several buildings in the vicinity of Pompey’s Pillar and killed 17 people. Official investigation determined it to be a gas mains explosion" - THAT FUCKING FORESHADOWING!!!!! Biggest weakness of an Archive - gas mains.

Those damn gas mains are always full of spiders

[leias-left-hair-bun-again]

Heyo! I’m thinking of getting an A03 account, but I was wondering what your thoughts on it are? Like, how much do you enjoy it, are there things you would change, does it work nicely, and so on. Thank you for taking the time to answer this remarkably random ask XD—Grace

oh goodness of course!! no i love this ask these are such good questions :DDD so - my thoughts and suggestions:

(and just to answer that first question real quick - i do enjoy it, yeah! it's the easiest site to post on and the easiest by far to find fics on just cause the tagging system is so comprehensive and personalize-able)

always add a rating. always select the 'no archive warnings apply' if no warnings apply. always select a category; if there's no romantic relationships in your fic select 'gen'. don't just skip these things thinking they're not applicable

'rich text editor' is what you want! don't be dumb like me and try copying your fics into the HTML window, it's impossible. just paste as rich text and then - this is important - go through line by line and make sure there are paragraph spaces where, and only where, you want them

in my experience it's hard getting clicks if you don't write smut, so - don't be discouraged XD

and on that note, ao3 is a free-for-all - learn to use the filtering system before you start looking for fics. the 'exclude' feature is going to be your best friend

i have learned the hard way that waiting to respond to comments is not a good idea; it's difficult to respond from your inbox cause it makes you do so from the top of the page where the comment isn't showing. it's much easier to respond from the fic page itself and as comments come in so you don't get overwhelmed

don't be alarmed if your statistics page says a fic has x number of bookmarks but when you click on the fic, it has less. private bookmarks don't show up

summaries are huge. if you don't know what to write, put a snippet of your fic

a 'series' is not a feature for you to post one chapter of a fic at a time. don't do that. a series is just a collection of your own fics based around whatever you want - the same character, the same AU, etc.

on that note, a 'collection' is a collection of other people's fics. someone might ask to add your fic to their collection. don't listen to the fear-mongering about this; ao3 has fixed the bug that used to be a problem and nowadays having your fic in a collection is only a good thing

make sure to tag your characters and the genre, but don't tag too many side characters or people will get annoyed, especially if said side characters don't even have dialogue

the 'gift this work to _' feature is fun! you can 'gift' fics to other users that way and still have them show up as one of your own works

you can limit comments so that anonymous users can't comment, etc., but unless you start having a problem with comments (rare), i wouldn't recommend it. a lot of people prefer to comment anonymously or will comment without having accounts

if you ever have a fic you want to get rid of or don't want to continue and it's stressing you out, you can orphan it - but be forewarned, you can't get it back. orphaning means that the fic is removed from your works and will show as being authored by 'orphan_account' rather than yourself. basically, people can still read it, but it won't be linked to your name

that's all i can think of for now? if anyone has any other things to add, please do!! i got some help from a friend already, haha, there is so much on ao3 and i still don't feel like i know my way around all that well XD

[klm-zoflorr]

Why It Is Bad That We Never See Mai or Ty Lee in the Comics Deal With Their Imperialist Past

How come we never see Mai or Ty Lee deal with their imperialist past in the comics? For yeah comics!Azula is a horrible person and it is implied that Azula was never friends with Mai & Ty Lee, who where coerced subjects trying to keep their mad sovereigns (Azulon, Ozai, & Azula) happy. But I find it odd that neither no one in-universe or the narrative challenges them for their past. Like Zuko, Iroh, Piandao, Jeong Jeong, and Chey all had to confront their imperialist past before redeeming themselves despite having as good an argument, if not better, that they were being coerced or faced life threatening consequences if they didn’t comply. So what makes Mai or Ty Lee different any different? And before people say they went to prison, it was for committing treason against the Fire Nation/attacking their Princess; not for realizing the error of their ways and wanting to change.

Though in Ty Lee’s case she did say she did join the Kyoshi Warriors in order to fix a broken world in the Sisters comic so maybe Ty Lee did confront her past. But I wish we saw her time in prison so we saw her change considering she enthusiastically fought against the Kyoshi Warriors & The Gaang and mocked the Kyoshi Warriors’ style, not knowing or caring for the reason behind their makeup or dress.

However comics!Mai really hasn’t really done anything…in fact she kept from Zuko and The Gaang the fact that her father was leading the New Ozai Society until Zuko almost got killed (and was only saved by PIS and a last minute unexpected heel-face turn) and The Fire Warriors were able to kidnap around a dozen kids, including Mai’s own brother and Azula/Zuko’s half sister. And even more galling, when confronted for her treason, she has the gall tell an understandably angry Zuko that he of all people should understand how hard it is to betray your father. As if there wasn’t a difference between betraying the all powerful ruler of your country who has a cult of personality, has burned you before, can quickly fire off lethal amounts of lighting on command, and has said before he wanted to kill you versus betraying your mentally and physically weak father who rejected being integrated into the new government and seeks to put someone back in power who would likely kill you for committing treason against him.

On a sidenote, isn’t crazy that Zuko then quickly apologized and the story never brought up the topic of Mai’s treason ever again?

But getting back on track, are we being unreasonable in asking that Mai and Ty Lee confront their past or if they already did, that we actually see it on page/screen? Especially since the message sent by them not doing so is that if you turn at almost the last point possible, the people you have wronged repeatedly and the world community will instantly forgive you despite constantly engaging in imperialism (ex. fighting against the rebels in Omashu, jailing and impersonating The Kyoshi Warriors), let alone helping commit one of the biggest acts of imperialism in history (helping Azula take over Ba Sing Se)?

Also on a sidenote, I do have an on-going series where I post my thoughts on the Avatar series (this is where this post came from) so feel free to read the rest of them and comment on them.

-----------

I absolutely agree, Anon. I also think Avatar does have a huge problem with putting people into "boxes", like the Good Guys: Zuko, Aang, Katara, Iroh, Ty Lee, Mai, Ursa, even Azulon somehow who can NEVER do or ever did anything wrong (even tho anyone with even a piece of a critical mind knows they did and are flawed human beings) and the Bad Guys: Azula, Zhao, Ozai who are entirely bad and never did anything right and are basically souless emotionless demons.

"it is implied that Azula was never friends with Mai & Ty Lee"

Tbh I feel like this point was a retcon. In the show we see Azula genuinely likes them (hugging Ty Lee, apologising to her, setting Mai up with Zuko, playing with them as kids, being genuinely hurt when they betray her) and I'd be strongly tempted to say they did too. That might just be my interpretation but I feel like Mai really was awfully bored in Omashu and she was happy Azula came to give her something to do. Same for Ty Lee, she looked happy when Azula came at the circus (before she started threatening her), and when they were playing as kids. And I don't think her constant compliments were 100% genuine, of course, she's smarter than this, but I don't believe she was completely lying to her either.

Imo, they were friends, it was just so much complicated by Azula being their commander, war, and living in an imperialistic nation.

The comics (and the last episode of the show too) don't care about that, of course. The narrative they propose is just "Mai and Ty Lee always hated and feared Azula, they had to do everything she told them and so they never have to face any consequences" even tho we know Zuko, who was actually in that situation, had to face consequences for his.

Also, Mai is a perfect New Ozai Society supporter if I've ever seen one. I'm gonna start headcanoning her as a legit villain who consciously manipulated her way to avoid consequences for her actions thanks to being the Firelord's gf and her "treason", it's fun.

«The message sent is that if you turn at almost the last point possible, the people you have wronged repeatedly will instantly forgive you.»

Preach it! Ironically enough, last-minute traitors are often forgiven injustly in real-life wars even tho they might be objectively terrible people, but I don't think the comics writers were aiming to explore this particular subject xD

[inklingofadream]

(You don't have to do this, since you're probably so busy, I just wanted to share this idea) AU where Daisy goes back before the Mike C. thing, but after the Calvin statement, thereby avoiding the thing where she hurt Jon, but going overboard in making sure he doesn't know she was ever a rabid Hunt avatar. Jon may or may not know something's up, but Martin for sure does, since she's already kinda threatened him, so she monitors their interactions and possibly isolates Jon. (love your fics, btw)

oooo feel like there’s some fun unexplored potential in the daisy-martin dynamic generally... feels like this version has the potential for like. the opposite of the kidnapping thing, where she finds jon at georgie’s and is like ‘hey i know you didn’t kill that guy u don’t have to go on the run’ and like. sticks around the archives, and inadvertently swoops martin on becoming the one person who likes/supports jon. just being Really Friendly trying to overcompensate for stuff she hasn’t actually done in this timeline.

like maybe she’s managed to avoid the usual pitfalls of me sending her back in time, so she’s just trying to enjoy having basira with her and less traumatized, and trying to befriend jon, and feeling pretty good about her chances of stopping the apocalypse and everything. not doing anything that seems v threatening from her or jon’s perspective! but martin’s there with the context of MAG 82 and Hugely Suspicious. she keeps steering jon away from martin when he tries to bring up the hunt stuff, and so jon becomes more dependent on her as the one person regularly giving him non-manipulative positive reinforcement, which makes martin more worried, and it’s a vicious cycle. probably with a much fluffier ending tho XD

[pplumberry]

edit oct 2020: here comes the loser again with a goodbye essay 🙄🙄

the only thing i really use tumblr for is uploading my art but i don't even do that anymore. drawing is fun sometimes but i like doing other things too and when i stop drawing for a while (like rn lmao) i start to feel guilty towards my followers since im not providing content. on top of art not being that interesting, i'm losing interest in musicals which has been my #1 motivation for drawing. musicals are nice but i think i've listened to the same like two musicals too many times and it's becoming bland. also, i get tired of drawing the same characters over and over again but i have no motivation to draw anything else. since i'm not uploading anything to tumblr, it feels kinda wrong still having the app even though i don't use it.

(edit: lmao what a dramatic loser) i never really thought i would ever say this, but i think my musical phase is over. i already archived my hamilton and dear evan hansen board on pinterest lol. i loved listening to them and those two musicals really got me through some times when i wasn't the happiest person, but i think i'm starting to be okay. i don't want to stay in this hole where i listen to the same things and do the same things, doing the same things over and over again is ok but after a while it gets boring, ya know?

i want to have new interests and not feel like i have to stick to the same things i always have because i've shown people that's what i like. i don't know why i'm writing this huge essay lol no one said i had to, but i guess a part of me wants to &lt;lmao see that bmc reference?

idk if this is going to be my last post, so if it is, thank you everyone for your amazing support i appreciate all 472 of you for choosing to follow me and letting my mediocre attempts of art to appear on your dashboard. i've met some great people on tumblr and i appreciate you all for allowing my virtual self into your life. i may not be on tumblr anymore but i'll always remember the happy memories you gave me :)

EDIT: ok i think i'll leave my blog here and maybe come to it once every blue moon when i have art. since i won't be here anymore, i'd like to say some words to some peeps. (some of you might not even remember saying stuff lol) but nevertheless, thank you to @everything0bagel @amirue @peggysexual @moonchild4419 @whispering-artist @theloulouve @fox-on-the-roof @iamdarknessiamdeath @cookie-muncher-yum @highlysensitiveintrovert thank you all for your amazing and uplifting support, for saying happy birthday, and all your positive comments that you posted i am very grateful for them, it may not seem like much but they always made me really really happy to read.

thanks to @celestialplanisphere for saying i am an inspiration i was really really rEALLY happy when you said that and i am truly honored that you see me as such :)

thank you to @lamsandmullettetext for always reblogging many of my posts i don't think i would have half of my likes if it wasn't for you xD i appreciate it

a very special thank you to @holdmybreadsticks

also thank you to everyone who has liked and reblogged my posts you have made a little 15 year old kid very happy :) ♡

goodbye for now everyone 💕

06-10-2019 9:00pm

[spiralingtrap]

AH, that's where my understanding fell off—i didn't realize you were also including genders and orientations! in that case, i definitely agree that i see a lot of people who will coin just for the sake of coining, heheh ...

i think there's something to be said about the bleeding over of the MOGAI and alterhuman communities in that sense. while a lot of the alterhuman terms i've seen have been created based off of personal experience, there's also dozens of, for example, kintype-specific flags i've seen out in the ether. it speaks to a lot of community overlap, and i think the root of the microlabel coining phenomenon is based very much in just how...casual the MOGAI community is about coining.

with the MOGAI community, it feels like creating flags and labels is a hobby; people find joy in exploration of identity, of pushing boundaries...or of just putting some pretty colors together. i don't think a lot of the people participating in daily challenges even expect very many people to identify with the labels they create in the first place! it's more comparable to something like a daily art challenge.

is this a good thing? i'm... not sure!

i do agree that there's a countless number of labels that just get left to rot in the archives of the blog that coined them, but i also feel that it's such a specific community phenomenon that anyone peeking into a MOGAI tag or blog is seeing the community at its most concentrated, whereas i've seen a lot of people who say they just simplify their identity down to nonbinary, gay, etc when it comes to talking to people outside of the MOGAI community for the sake of not having to run through those huge explanations.

i don't think i'm trying to convince you of anything, nor do i think i'm saying 100% unique things that you didn't already know, so much as i'm just...musing in your reblogs XD these are just my observations from someone who's dipped her toes in both communities! it's a lot of kids who like slapping some colors together and calling it a day.

Actually, I do want to make a post about this - and, anon, if you’re reading this, I don’t want you to feel like I’m being salty at you specifically, this is just a pattern I’m seeing recently and I’d like to talk about it. Two big points:

First, not everything needs to have a hyperspecific label.

If it’s useful to you, that’s fine, but ask yourself when you’re thinking about coining or finding a word for such a thing - what does this term get across that existing, broader terminology doesn’t? Is it really that important to me to communicate those things on first meeting someone? Or am I just nitpicking and boxing for the sake of nitpicking and boxing, because that’s what the current culture likes?

And I cannot stress enough - I am not anti-microlabel. If it is important to you to communicate those things in your identity labels, if it’s helpful to you, then godspeed! I understand why it is sometimes. But I keep seeing people coining terms seemingly just for the sake of coining terms, oftentimes for things they don’t even experience or identify with, and that’s annoying to me, because it really does feel like cluttering community spaces with things that will never actually be used, and focusing more on making The Next Fun Word for no real reason than on actually talking about experiences or living your life as an alterhuman or nonhuman or whatever creature.

Second, not every alterhuman label needs to fit the otherkin grammatical format, and sometimes it is probably better to not.

Not everything needs an [identity], [identity]ity/opy, [iden]type format. What would “vitratype” or whatever it was that I was thinking of get across that “past life” doesn’t already? And while I have been wishing there was a better one-word term for “person who has a hearthome,” I wouldn’t want to make it try to fit the otherkin grammatical format, because it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, and why try to force it to mimic? It’s a pretty different experience, so why intentionally try to make the terms mirror each other?

Similarly, not every alterhuman label needs to have an other- in there somewhere to fit in, and unless you’re trying to draw a parallel to otherkinity, it might well be better not to. It is an unfortunate reality that basically everything in the alterhuman community gets compared to otherkinity and therianthropy as the “standards”, by dint of those being some of the oldest and most well-established identities and thus some of the larger groups, but we don’t have to keep reinforcing that through the language we create for other experiences and identities.

But, of course, that’s just my two cents’ worth. And I’d love to discuss, if people want to!

[princesscipherite]

Hope you don't mind me asking a few of the numbers! :) . 4, 10, 17(Undertale), 27, 37(any fandom), 44, and 47. I understand if you don't do all of them, but I was just curious. Thank you for all of the writing you do and for being an amazing person! :)

I don’t mind at all! Feel free to ask me more, if you’re curious about them!

And thanks so much! I’ve never really considered myself an amazing person, but it warms me a bit to hear! ^.^

Alright, so I’ll start from the beginning!

4 (Undertale): Name three authors that were influential to your work and why.

I’m not sure how much influence these were over my work, but I can tell how they kept and/or started my writing in the fandom. The author of “A Tale of Dog and Monster” on Archive of Our Own, Voice_of_Mischief, was the one that inspired my to try my own at Undertale. I’m not sure that they have a Tumblr..., otherwise I would tag them.... Regardless, they made the reader so believable, not to mention the amazing character development on Sans. I’d never written for the Undertale Fandom, worried that no one would like it, but decided to try after reading that! If you haven’t read it yet, you should definitely check it out!

Though my first posted Undertale work included AU’s, I wasn’t quite sure how to work them in correctly before reading words_to_escape_by’s “Piece by Piece” (another one you should check out!). It was their first fanfiction, but they weaved in the AU’s perfectly! I strive to be able to not only include them as streamlessly, but to also nab each character’s personality so closely. I had already finished everything up to the multiple endings of “Blind but Not Unseeing”, so you can’t really see any influence there..., but it should be more apparent in the sequel I’ve started working on!

The next author is whoawicked, who I won’t link to because all of their works are explicit and I don’t want them to get in trouble... You should be able to search their name, though. I did, and a few of their works were the first that popped up. Anyway, if anything, this particular author is the one that keeps me writing. The further I get into a work, the more my brain starts to think that no one likes it anymore or that, since I start taking longer, everyone gave up on reading it. Which parts of me understand..., but anxiety sucks. Regardless, whoawicked has an upload schedule similar to mine, sort of sporadic (meaning no offense). However, whenever I pop in (always with 24 hours of the update), I see plenty of comments from others who were eagerly awaiting just like me. And, though the chapters occasionally take awhile, they simply apologize and keep going. It’s actually really inspiring.

Phew. That took awhile XD Time for the other questions.

10 (Undertale): How do you do your research?

Generally from the Undertale Wiki. I’ll read all about the AU there and, if I need more information, check out some of the work by the original creator. If I need more info on the personality of a character, I might check out how a few different people write them. I always check several different authors, though, because I don’t want to copy anyone :P

17 (Undertale): Favorite AU to write

Erm... Depends on my reason XD Underswap is the easiest to me for some reason. That’s the same reason I wrote my Valentine’s work “Visual Valentine’s Day” for that universe. I really enjoy writing Underfell ‘cause there’s something really liberating about writing Fell swearing all of the time.

I guess those two would be tied, then. I haven’t really written in the other AU’s enough to get a good idea for how fun they are to write. *shrugs*

27 (Any): Best review you’ve ever gotten

On Archive, reviews and comments seem to take on the same meaning, so I’ll answer for each!

On the comment front, it has to be this one:

“I love you dude, no homoLike I just reread this earlier and you update so perfectly“

No particular reason other than I laughed so hard when I read it... I was really depressed when this comment popped up on chapter 12, so it really brightened my day to have a good laugh. My response to the comment was actually my first time coming out as Agender on the internet, too, so their welcoming reply was even better!

On a review front, I guess I’ll go with this:

“I'm genuinely loving this series. When I wasn't crying or laughing, there was always a huge grin on my face. My cheeks are legitimately hurting now but it was worth it. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this story for any further updates (guessing by the '/?' you will be writing more). When and/or if you do, it will be amazing and I will be greatly pleased. In the meantime, I will have a gander at your other fics. Looking forward to it! A newly loyal fan!

This makes me smile every time I reread it, and it helped me to keep writing when I was losing the drive!

37 (Any): Canon or AU?

Not really sure what this is asking..., but, uh..., I’d have to say both? Canon is amazing because it is what drove people to make the AUs in the first place. And a good canon births a lot of AUs. And the AUs are things created by others who loved the canon and thought of a cool way to add to it or change it. I couldn’t choose one or the other.

44: Do you write linear or do you write future scenes if you feel like it?

I never write a scene for the future. I might write a phrase or quote that I’d like to include for a later scene, but certain events might change how a character talks before I actually get to that scene. What’s the point of writing it if I’m going to rewrite it, ya know?

47: How many unfinished ideas/stories are you working on at the same time?

Ha ha. Ha. Ha... ha....

So, working on? Right now, 3-ish. My two current Undertale works (Blind by not Unseeing and its sequel) and my next novel. But idea-wise? I’ve got a few book or fanfiction ideas that I’ve started or scrapped.

My scrapped/idea ones come in at around... 8 for fanfictions? And... 7 for novels? I have a hard time saying I’ve scrapped any since I might go back and start them again at any point XD Those are only the ones on my computer, too. I’ve got two or three hiding around in journals somewhere, plus the numerous ideas always bouncing around my head

I hope I answered these to your liking, @elegantclutz!

Everyone, feel free to ask more if you’d like, or hop in with your own questions! I don’t mind them at all!

[disemboweled-fish-pastry]

Ah, I'm happy then. :) ♥♥ I pay a lot of attention because they're pretty much the next tier down from Yoosung as favorites. :3 Uggh, it's like people say about me, my memory is great when it comes to my interests, but not about the things people want me to do or I'm supposed to be doing, to which I instead get distracted from said things. lol Oh man, that's so sweet you think I type eloquently. ; v; ♥ I am absolutely not great with speech, however. orz I mean, I still talk in this sort of way, but a lot more stuttering and word salad. To be completely honest with you it's been a work in progress typing like this for a very long time. Even to this day it's one of my obsessive compulsions to re-read and edit my written posts like,, 5+ times. I often felt (and still feel tbh) like people misunderstood what I was trying to say and my intentions, so mentally I just began working towards more concise, descriptive language. I still have issues where people assume that I'm being sarcastic in many situations, but I'm pretty sure I'm never sarcastic. The neat thing about words in different languages is how many words appear to mean the same thing, but have very subtle differences that are appropriate for different situations. Supposedly, I was pretty well spoken at the end of my toddler years. My adoptive parents said I sounded like a little adult when they first met me at 4. Supposedly. lol Spelling is hard and I realized I still, to this day will get my b's and d's mixed up. ; __;

I'm sorry if maybe it was harder to read my post if English isn't your first language. If it helps at all, it seriously didn't feel like English wasn't your native language. You type so well in English! So don't feel nervous, did you see all of those typos in my post?? Anyway, huge digression. I will try to write more to the point to hopefully reduce any possible confusion.

I read all of your post before writing here, and I absolutely realize I need to replay Saeyoung's route again. ^^''

XD I'm still determined to try to put together a somehow cohesive timeline. I might make a chart.

Ok, to your first point; I think it was... After Saeyoung agreed to leave and become an informant, V promised him that Saeran would be taken care of and Saeyoung had no choice but to trust him. At this time, V and Rika had already become mentor-like figures to Saeyoung via the church, so it was implied that both V and Rika would take care of Saeran from then. At first, Saeran did have to continue to stay with his mother alone, but V and Rika would attempt to urge her to release custody of him, but she refused because she feared their father would find out and come after them and stop the bribe / child support money. Ugh, I really am fuzzy, but if I remember correctly it wasn't long after that, I think Rika told Saeran that his mother finally released custody, but then burned his childhood house down with the mother still inside, never telling Saeran what she did until his After Story arc. That being said, I believe Saeran was already under Rika's care when she fled to create Mint Eye.

I'm.. pretty sure (?) at the beginning of Another Story, Yoosung says it had been 6 months since Rika's passing (and it was at that moment I realized Yoosung was even more baby than before o __o ), which is why Yoosung is so much more emotionally vulnerable in Another Story timeline. And in the original time line, it was said it had been 2 years since her passing. (lol I just remembered I can easily go back to the archive files to double check.) Also even at the beginning of the Yoosung route, it's said that Rika disappeared like literally just before his high school graduation, he is a College/Uni Sophomore in the original timeline. That being said, Ray convinces MC to join his app testing 6 months after Mint Eye began, Ray goes through his initial cleansing ceremony, becoming mostly presenting Suit Saeran (I think it was actually indirectly related to MC's influence that maybe it happened sooner.), him becoming Suit Saeran actually made him a worse hacker, because he became too eager, impulsive, and started making careless mistakes afterwards. It's said/implied when Saeran is more like Ray or his After Story self, he might have possibly been an even better hacker than Saeyoung, even if marginally.

I really, really thought about this while playing the Saeran route last time I did, because I was also confused. Cleansing ceremonies are different than just taking elixir each day. (Ugh, memory fuzzy again) Cleansing ceremonies are for "breaking" people that don't already align with the beliefs of Mint Eye. This event seems to potentially involve not only mental and psychological abuse, but physical torture as well. Saeran/Ray in "Another Story", already was in line with the beliefs of Mint Eye. Rika only had to mould his mind from the time she became his care taker, to when we meet him in "Another" Story prologue. She had been using subtle manipulation tactics for around 6 months to detach "Ray" from the Saeran she wanted, and eventually be completely rid of that side of him, which was viewed as weak. When she felt he was staring to fall out of the teachings of Mint Eye (because MC was giving him hope about a life outside), that is when Rika became desperate, thinking she was losing Saeran, and decided to put him through the cleansing ceremony. He was surprised at that time, as if it had never happened before.

On the other hand, it seems he had already been taking Elixir each day, I think sometimes multiple times a days like daily vitamins or mental health medication. As I went along I wanted to find out, is elixir based on a real life drug in some way? As it turns out, despite elixir being liquid and this being a pill or powder, Ecstacy seemed to be the closest real life equivalent. I think it was during the After Story, you have an option to ask Rika how Elixir works and she says it makes you feel invincible and euphoric, but as we see with Saeran, he often gets horrible headaches. This is like the crash effect after the manic high of ecstacy. Mania, in general ,not only makes you feel super high highs in mood, but it can also cause elevated anxiety and even hallucinations. Ecstacy is a stimulant like methamphetamine and amphetamine/ADHD treatment, which like many addictive substances, can give a killer headache when coming off of it. This is why Rika tells him he just "needs more faith and elixir", getting back on the high will stop the withdrawal headache and symptoms. It is also said that over dose of ecstacy, as in one of the bad endings in the V route, will cause signs of.. well, overdose. It's super toxic in large immediate doses. Becoming gravely ill, disconnected, zombie like, and it can be fatal, which is why that ending was particularly dark. Like a tortuous death, really. Also, just like most addictive drugs, legal and other wise, frequent use may eventually result in drug resistance, as with Saeran by his After Ending. He was no longer affected by the elixir.

It is polarizing that Saeran went from that soft, sweet, ice cream loving child, to the Unknown we see in the bad endings, but child Saeran was even a thing in Saeyoung's route, so I feel like Ray is possible for that reason.

As for Secret After Ending, I really have to go back and reread it, it's been like... forever since I last read it. But if that's the case, then yeah, it's true that the narrative often contradicts other established information. I guess I could reach and call it butterfly effect somewhere behind the scenes. lol I dunno. It also depends on what wording is used, it might be "cleansing" salvation. Again, gotta look.

Oh yeah, absolutely, I understand that's why it's called the Final End, but there are other reasons why I thought so too. At the same time, V's didn't have any title like that and to me at least, the "final" end, felt the most like the best good ending, the ending to end all the other endings, the most conclusive, the most satisfying? in terms of the overall story narrative... The call backs, the Easter eggs, it felt the most like book ends. (It's actually exactly what MC says after choosing an option when MC and Saeran are in front of the elevator. Something like "I feel like I've been here before... like the beginning and the end are mirror images of one another", Saeran is the first ending you can get (chronologically) and Saeran is the last ending. I actually have a post about this and I'll link it.. here.) Even Yoosung has a better time in Saeran's final ending. He doesn't lose his eye (sight), and he pursues a dream born from himself instead of his promise to Rika. (Honestly, I love the Vet ending, but I also wish there was a version of the final end where you can pursue and end up with Yoosung lol.) Other than that, I absolutely agree that I wouldn't prefer to call any route the "true" route, but I've just heard many speculate that Seven is the main/true route or something.

Holy moly, it's so true. Secret End Saeran feels so obscure compared to all other instances of Saeran. Of course, where I felt Good End Saeran was born from MC's influence, I feel like Secret end Saeran was born from Saeyoung's influence. Plus not having the romantic route for himself, instead it being with his brother, whom he's still feeling unsure about by that time, I guess. This maybe will sound odd, but to me, in the group illustration for Saeyoung's Secret End, Saeran seems to appear.... defeated somehow and maybe dissatisfied. Like "Ok, guess I lost to Saeyoung. Guess I gotta just deal with the fact he's not gonna let me leave from now on." I mean, I don't blame Seven, though, after all the worrying he had to do over being separated from him all that time. Honestly, I probably would have reacted the same way. Gotta re-read it.

I'm probably wrong, but I thought a lot of people loved Secret End Saeran. I also liked seeing Saeran embrace his natural appearance. Even though I said elixir is most like ecstacy, I always wondered about how he came to having mint colored eyes... I guess since it's said that Saeran dyed his hair, it could be that he just chose to wear colored contacts to parade his fanaticism for the cause of Mint Eye and to further separate himself from his twin, same with the tattoos...

Hmmm. About the time between the start of Another Story and the original story time line without the presence of MC, it's hard to say, I think. I can only speculate that the longer her had to deal with that treacherous environment, the worse he became. After becoming suit Saeran, he seemed to start taking a larger role in leading the cleansing ceremonies of other recruits, which can change a man, too. It's kinda like they say about how you can't come back after committing your first murder. It becomes easier to give in to just accepting that you are now beyond the point of return, and the next murder becomes easier, they say.

I appreciate it with you as well. ♥

You are fine, seriously~ I feel like I understood you pretty clearly! :"3 Unless you feel like there is a miscommunication somewhere... In that case, just let me know. Feel free too write in the language you're most comfortable with, if you'd like.

(Going back to read the source material now~~ heheheh Maybe re-evaluate some things and make edits if there isn't a response before then. :p Probably not tonight/ this morning, though)

"CR/DR Universe" VS "Another Story universe" of SAERAN

First, I want to point out that I by no mean, having an intention to harass anyone. This is merely a fact that I need everyone to know.

It bothers me that some fans confuse Saeran from the original universe with Saeran from "another universe," even portraying Saeran as if he were Saeran GE on his own wiki, while the answer is "yes" and "no."

Although Saeran was a supporting character in the CR/DR canon, I can see why the GE/Ray/Suit Saeran fanbase would be more invested in him now that the Ray route has made him a prominent character. However, Unknown and Saeran SE are different than AS version of Saeran version. Ray and Unknown aren't just from separate worlds and eras, they have completely different personalities. As for Saeran, only a small fraction of it was visible in Ray.

It is strongly implied that Unknown has no interest in the MC or any sort of romantic relationship with oneself, so he is designed to remain a hidden character that the MC need not pursue. Unknown's main goal is RFA and Saeyoung. A love interest in MC is nothing more than a ploy to obtain what he wants out of the situation. He was at a deadlock from which there was no escape, and his only remaining connection was his brother, Saeyoung. And we had witnessed how difficult it is to get them reconcile.

[ ORIGINAL STORY ] [ ANOTHER STORY ]

Since Saeran is determined to have his own route, Cheritz will have to transform him into someone entirely (dare I say) different person, turning him into "Ray" in the end. In other words, I'm attempting to get across the idea that the universes of Ray and Unknown aren't comparable, and that any interactions between them should be treated as entirely distinct. Cheritz referred to it as "another story" for a reason. BECAUSE THIS IS A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE. The mint eyes package followed events in a different story universe, not the CR/DR universe, one should not say, "Saeran is like this because the Cheritz Mint Eyes package said so!" Certainly not. The mint eyes package was created solely to celebrate the upcoming Ray route, making it appear even more entertainin but it has nothing to do with the CR/DR universe, even more during Saeran stay at the Magenta.

Saeran SE isn't a sympathetic figure while Saeran GE is. Saeran GE isn't responsible for the murder of his mother but Rika is, in "Another story" universe, but Saeran SE was (mentioned it in Yoosung's route day 10). GE Saeran is an open-free person while Saeran SE isn't due to thus traumatic events. Let the facts exist in their own world and not mixing it up just because you hate the characteristics one has, that contradict to your own liking.

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