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moonyasnow · 7 months ago

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TWST OC Showcase: Irina Barret

Vice Housewarden of Ramshackle; the Dorm based on the Lonely Ghosts' Spirit of Adaptability

(Housewarden: Tomoe Sakurada)

Voice Claim: SynthV TETO

Human Right-handed Wales - Ramshackle Dorm 152cm / 4'11 - #ae6bcf / 174, 107, 207 June 1st - Gemini - 16 y.o. 1st year - Freshman - Class D, no. 3 Gargoyle Appreciation Club Best Subject: Potionology Hobbies: Sculpting Pet peeves: The sounds of glass and porcelain Favorite food: Warm bread Least favorite food: Cold leftovers Talent: Empathetic Perception Floyd-given name: Shrimpy Rook-given name: Demoiselle Lapine Cater-given name: Rini

Link to all my OC Showcases here!

Some quotes:

"U-um…please give me work! I-I can cook, clean, do laundry, a-and I can be very quiet about it, too! You'll barely even realize I'm here." — "I don't want to be a burden on you. Right now, I imagine I am probably using up resources, and I'm not even offering anything in return…"

"Um...I-I'm sorry!"

She's crouching down on her knees in her bed, crying, muffling her sobs by biting her hands. She wants to scream. [internal narration] *He hates me, he hates me, he hates me, he hates me, he hates me, he hates me! It's all my fault!* "H-he won't even look at me…!" She sobs. *Of course not. Who would want to spend time with someone they think doesn't trust them? A-and I can't even clear up the misunderstanding…! I'm horrible, worthless, a burden, useless…so many people's lives would be better if I was never born!*

! W A R N I N G ! Her backstory is H E A V Y. I mean it when I say this is the darkest backstory out of any of my OCs.

Includes themes of: child endangerment, physical & emotional child neglect, verbal & emotional child abuse, suicide(someone else), mental illness, C-PTSD and SH(biting, self-neglect, chasing things/people that are bad for her)

Only read further if you feel that's something you can handle today. Take care of yourself <3

Irina's mother was from a quite well-off family in Bulgaria, and her father was from a bad part of London. On a vacation to London, the two of them had a fling that resulted in an unplanned pregnancy. And Irina's mother's family, having quite traditional values, said she had to marry the father. So she did, and moved to live with him in his apartment in London. But they both quickly realized they were a horrible match.

Her parents hated each other and always fought. Her mother always said that if she'd just never been born, her life would be perfect because she wouldn't be stuck living in what she with her good upbringing considered squalor with Irina's father, who spent all their money on alcohol and drugs, and said it was all Irina's fault. And her father didn't like seeing her at all because he was reminded of her mother who— in his mind— always nagged at him for stupid, useless reasons and seemed to make it her life mission to torment him at home when he'd never done anything to deserve that. Two incredibly proud, selfish people who would drag a child into their conflict. Her father would get mad and yell whenever she— or mostly her mother, since Irina quickly learned to be quiet and never talk back— bothered him in any way. When her mother confronted him about spending so much of that month's money out drinking, their screaming matches often got violent. Her father would hit her mother, or flip over furniture— most often he'd throw plates and glasses and bottles, either at the wall or her mother. Then her mother would yell at him until he left the apartment, after which she start to cry, yelling at Irina if she saw her. As a result Irina can't handle it when she hears the sounds of breaking glass or porcelain; it makes her panic so much she just dissociates. And even the sounds of them, not broken, clinking against things makes her incredibly on edge. Though most often, Irina would hide in her room, sitting on her 'bed' that was just a mattress on the floor, hiding herself under her blanket. She always felt the safest under her blanket. But when not actively upset, her mother would exert whatever control she felt she could over Irina, even in entirely pointless ways, just to not feel as powerless as she did living with her husband; refusing to ever be told 'no' and guilt-tripping and forcing Irina to do/not do whatever her mother wanted or didn't want her to. Her parents often forgot to feed her, too. Since she'd already been conditioned to never ask for anything, she started smuggling small scraps of food into her room, which she hid in a little box in her closet. But she still stopped growing at 152cm and remained very petite for the rest of her life, due in part to the childhood malnutrition. But they weren't always cruel to her. Sometimes, very rarely, one of them would be in a good mood; usually because the other was away. On these rare occasions her father would sometimes let her sit next to him on the couch, and would show her what he thought were the best parts of the game shows he loved to watch were. And if she seemed interested enough in whatever story he was telling, he'd even smile at her, and compliment her, and ruffle her hair. And when her mother was in a good mood, she'd smile at Irina and tell her she did a good job helping with the chores. She would sometimes even ask Irina what she wanted to have for dinner that day. Irina always made sure to pick something she knew her mother liked, to make her even more happy, so she'd smile at Irina even more. Those small moments made her absolutely overjoyed, and made her want to make them smile like that again. It was the only taste of 'affection' she had for the first five years of her life. And it planted the idea in her head that, if only it was just her and one of her parents, they could actually be a happy family.

When she'd see children with their parents, she became jealous, since her parents never held her hand, hugged her, sang her to sleep or gave her any sort of comfort. When she'd tried to hug them, they brushed her off and walked away. She tried to be away from home as much as she could, since she hated always hearing her parents scream at each other. When she played pretend with other kids in the neighborhood, she could ignore the reality of her situation and just be happy for a while. When they all wanted to go home because it had gotten too late, she felt lonely and scared again, because she wouldn't have anything to distract her from thinking about home. She had no other adult she could confide in, and she felt scared of her parents. They had never physically harmed her, but she was scared that they might someday. But even worse than being home when both of them were there was when only she and one of her parents were home. Then, they'd scream at her, and she was always scared they would hit her. Now that she's grown up, sometimes when it's quiet, she thinks she can still hear the distant, muffled sounds of her parents fighting with each other. And whenever anything bad happens in her life, she hears her mother's voice whispering to her saying 'your fault'.

She had one close friend from when she was 5 to 8— he was two years older than her, had brown hair and green eyes, and he was the best thing in her life. He found her crying under a tree one day after her parents had an argument. He told her his name and asked why she was crying, and when she didn't answer, just looking up at him, through her tears, hugging her knees, he just sat down next to her to begin reading something. She eventually asked what it was, and he read aloud to her. They became best friends. He would bring sweets for them to eat together, he would read to her, and whenever she was scared or sad or crying he'd wipe away her tears and ruffle her hair, placing a small kiss on the top of her head and tell the tears to go away. He taught her how to read, too! He was the only good thing in her life, her only experience with what love and comfort should feel like. When she was with him, she could forget about her parents and how miserable she otherwise felt. She could wake up each day looking forward to seeing him. She was in love with him, and dreamed of the two of them being together forever. She was so happy she could cry every time she saw him. And some of her absolute best memories were of when it had been snowing and all the kids in the neighborhood would come out to play together, where he and Irina would often join in. Or sometimes they'd just make snowmen, or snow-angels. Snowy weather has always been her favorite. Not only did her happiest memories always happen when it was snowing or had recently snowed, she thought everything being covered in snow was comforting. To her, it looked like a big, fluffy, heavy blanket, muffling the world and making it quiet, hiding her from every bad thing. She liked making snowmen the most. And she eventually started making them in more interesting shapes, most often rabbits. She'd always loved rabbits. They were the only animal she didn't feel afraid of. She often used to fantasize about owning a lot of rabbits when she grew up. Her friend once gave her a little pink plush bunny for her birthday; he said he saw it in a shop window, and it reminded him of her. She named it 'Clover' after the flower crowns he'd make for her, as well as the color of his eyes. When she cried about how much she hated the sounds of when her parents would throw glasses and plates and bowls into the ground and break them and that she'd only have wooden cups and bowls when she grew up, he said he'd also have wooden cups and bowls, so she could visit him. She felt so happy, and so treasured, and loved… But then one day he just stopped showing up. She waited, but he never came back to play with her again. She cried and cried, scared that she would never see him again, wishing so badly that he would come back, wondering why he left her behind. Only then, after losing him, did she realize he was all that had been filling up her heart until that point. She developed abandonment issues, and began to feel what loneliness was for the first time. Before she met him, she was always, always alone. He took away her loneliness…but she didn't realize the absence of it until it returned. …Eventually, knowing he was gone and probably not coming back, the memory of him in her heart hurt her so much that she just…forgot. Her mind repressed all memory of him, to keep her from hurting. So she thought she'd always been alone. Anytime she remembered him, she thought he was just an imaginary friend she dreamt about as a child, to save her from her loneliness. And eventually she forgot about him altogether. But the impression he'd had on her never faded. The color green would forever feel 'safe' to her.

Then on June 3d, two days after her 9th birthday, after a particularly bad argument, her father— like he usually did— left the house. Her mother asked her to go pick flowers to put in a vase on the table for when her father eventually came back. When Irina came back in she found her mother's corpse hanging from the ceiling. Her skin was blue. Irina could almost hear her say 'your fault', which her mother oh-so-loved to say to her. She believed it. She hid in her room for 4 days until her father finally came back. When she heard him come back she ran to him and hugged him. When he saw her mother, for the first time, he hugged her back. She was convinced this meant the two of them would start over fresh somewhere, since the only reason he was so unhappy was because he was stuck with her mother. He packed a bag and started walking, and let her follow after him, holding onto the edge of his big sleeve. But then, at the edge of the town where they lived, he told her to wait there. She did. She never saw him again. A week later, on June 13th, she was found dehydrated and half-starved, holding onto her bunny plush Clover, and taken to live at an orphanage. Funnily enough, she didn't remember where she got Clover. She thought her parents probably got it for her at some point. Knowing that not even her parents— the only people who were ever supposed to love her unconditionally— didn't want her, even when there was only her father left and her mother, whom he hated, was no longer in the picture… It broke her. After this point she truly started to believe she was inherently worthless, and that no one could ever love her. While she lived at that orphanage, she started trying to play with kids who lived nearby more than she had before, and she did make friends, always with one kid at a time. And she was so happy to have a friend— someone who could make her feel loved and make her forget things at home— that she always became obsessed and overly attached and incredibly clingy, getting jealous every time they even talked to a kid that wasn't her and scared they would stop being her friend because they found someone better. She never really managed to make any long-term friends because of this. That clinginess lead to them always leaving her behind, perpetuating the cycle. She only got better at hiding her emotions. As well as people pleasing— to a chronic extent. Every time someone left her, she became even more convinced of the fact that she was unlovable and thus became even more scared she'd be abandoned. Every time, she lost a little more trust for people until she just couldn't open up to anyone at ALL. She was convinced keeping it all hidden is what she needed to do to keep people with her— not bother them with her issues. But she has barely any memories from this time of her life. Only a handful of them The only thing she remembered fully clearly about this part of her life is that Clover, her bunny plush, was always there. Funnily enough, she didn't remember where she got Clover. She thought her parents probably got it for her at some point. She brought it with her everywhere, and it had suffered through all the same things as her. She still has it to this day, and since it's quite small, she brings it with her everywhere. It was the closest thing she can remember having to an anchor as a child, so despite being at an age where she thinks she should have 'outgrown' stuffed animals, she can't bring herself to let go of it.

When she was 13, she ended up being adopted by her uncle— her mother's brother— whom she had never heard of before. He'd recently moved to Wales for his work, and that's how the system found him. He was the first adult who was ever kind to her. He asked how she was doing, set aside time to play with and read her to bed, brought her with him to see fireworks, to run errands, or just go on walks. And she was surprised when— shortly after adopting her— he took her out to buy new clothes, and also said she could pick out one more thing from whatever store she wanted. She wasn't at all used to receiving things, and didn't feel like she deserved it. But he often had to leave for a few days at a time due to his job requiring him to be away from home often. Every time this happened, paranoia set in that he was going to abandon her just like her father did. Each night he was gone she would cry herself to sleep, begging for him to come back. She spent moment of his absence doing almost nothing except waiting for him to come back. And her luck socializing with her peers didn't really improve much... Ever since she was around 8 years old, she had started developing in a way that was very strange compared to her peers. As a child she had very strong reactions to things, she wore her emotions on her sleeve at all times, and these emotions seemed to be much stronger than those of other people around her. But those explosive feelings never matured with her as she got older, and she kept having almost child-like outbursts of emotion even well into her teens. The tiniest thing— like forgetting to bring something that she was asked to bring, not knowing the location of her stuffed rabbit for even a few minutes, or being lightly insulted in a friendly way could make her start sobbing uncontrollably and have a massive breakdown. Though often, just 10 minutes later, she'd have stopped crying and felt entirely fine again. So when she was herself, her wild mood swings seemed to just be too much for everyone. And her experience with her original parents had made her extremely unassertive and scared of angering people, to the point of her developing social anxiety and rejection sensitivity. She absolutely hates people being upset at her, and if she thinks she's done something wrong, she thinks people will dislike her. Since she herself was never enough for anyone as a child, she doesn't think she ever will be. And the new 'friends' she did manage to make were...not the best for her. Somehow the people she seemed to attract were always ones who didn't care about her, who'd use her, take advantage of her desperation for love, affection and validation and drip-feed it to her after she did things for them, before dropping her once they didn't think she was amusing or helpful anymore. When they did still like her, think she was fun and wanted to spend time with her, she felt absolutely high on the joy. But the moment they avoided or ignored her, even for just a moment, it felt like the world was caving in on itself. But they told her she was just being clingy, which once again got her to hide her feelings so as not to displease them. Gradually chipping away at more and more of her, until there was nothing left. Until she was just a shapeless lump of clay for them to mold however they liked. But she'd endure it. That was what love was, right? It was supposed to hurt, and she was supposed to cover that hurt up so they'd stay with her. To endure was to love. Because enduring showed a commitment, that she would still stay with them. That was all she wanted, after all. She knew most of her friends wanted more from her than just her loyalty, though, so she'd do anything they asked her to. Even when it hurt. But they all left her in the end no matter how hard she tried.

And every single time another one of her friends left her, her abandonment issues just became even worse. She thought it was all her fault, and that if she'd just tried harder, had fewer boundaries, been better, they wouldn't have left. She thought she was the problem. Eventually, she'd become convinced that everyone is going to leave her in the end, and stopped being able to trust anyone, alternating between 'I don't want them to get close enough to hurt me' and 'they're going to leave anyway so I'm going to try to be close to them while I can', sometimes even experiencing both at the same time. As a result, when someone actually nice, who had good intentions and respected her, did actually approach her with the intention of genuinely becoming her friend, she ended up just panicking. That wasn't how friendships went for her, after all. She was always the one giving 90%! So she was so confused when anyone was nice to her for no apparent reason. And so she ended up usually just avoiding and ignoring them until they stopped trying to get close to her. But it made her so sad every time because it felt like being abandoned and given up on all over again. But she just didn't know how to deal with the paralyzing fear and paranoia them being genuinely good to her caused her. Afterwards she would always cry and bite her hands and lip and arms so much that she'd fall asleep from exhaustion with her arms and mouth covered in her own blood. Then in the morning, all she'd need to do was wash the blood off and no one would be able to tell that she'd hurt herself. Eventually, she learned to bottle up the biggest of those feelings until she was alone, upon which she'd have another breakdown. As a result, the people who know her now don't know the true extent of her mood-swings, since she's become such a people-pleaser in a desperate attempt for people to stop leaving her that she no longer lets herself become upset in front of others. But it feels empty, since no one ever knows the real her. Always bottling her feelings up makes her feel like she's just one tick away from exploding at all times. But since bottling her emotions up like that has begun to feel like yet another matter of survival, she never lets them boil over.

Some miscellaneous info about her:

Irina is very physically independent while also being quite emotionally dependent. Meaning: She can take care of her physical needs (cooking, cleaning, buying food, washing her clothes, etc) by herself, but she relies heavily on others emotionally. She realizes she has no idea who she is as a person, what her personality is, what she likes, etc. She can never remember her past emotions nor truly comprehend thoughts of the future. The current moment, to her, becomes 'eternal'. Her mood-swings and splitting episodes don't make this any better or easier. She also takes VERY bad care of herself both mentally and physically. She was just never really taught how. When her uncle was away she mostly just ate bread, cereal or instant noodles, just because she only puts in effort for other people.

She's gotten really good both at noticing every subtle, tiny little change in someone— in addition to already having a great sense of natural intuition, or 'gut feeling', about people— and at figuring out exactly what people wanted to hear, and saying it to them to avoid conflict. Though as a result, she doesn't really know how to open up to others. She's still so stuck in 'anyone can become angry at you therefore trust no one and never let your guard down' mode. And partly due to that paranoia, she never told her uncle what her life had been like before he adopted her, him only knowing that both her parents were out of the picture for some reason or another. Actually, no one but Irina knows that. She never told anyone. Not about any of it, always being very careful in how she worded herself when asked about her past, or life, or herself in general.

Because of the way her mother died, she has a crippling fear of being unable to breathe/suffocating.

She really hates Summer. The sounds of cicadas, the bright, merciless sun, the strong smells and the loud noises of people and nature, the heat— all of it reminds her of the summer she turned 9. Seeing her mother's corpse, being forced to wait hungry and thirsty in her room for four days of 'going to the bathroom' in the corner of her room because she was too scared to open her bedroom door, since it'd mean seeing her mother again. Then being abandoned by her father when he finally came back, sitting in the scorching sun for a week waiting for him, almost dying of dehydration. Near the end of May, she always starts to feel intense anxiety, the kind where you feel like you can't breathe. And she hates her birthday, hates having it acknowledged in any way.

And around this time start the nightmares. Nightmares where she sees her mother, hanging from the ceiling, telling her in a hoarse, breathless voice that it was her fault. That she is so worthless that she didn't make her mother's life worth it, that she was so much of a horrible burden her mother would want to die just to get away from her. Her father strangles Irina with a rope that smells like vomit, and it burns her neck and it hurts so much and she cries and cries and cries and apologizes. Sometimes the person strangling her is a friend, or someone she loves. Or they're standing off to the side, watching her be strangled, doing nothing, looking at her with apathy and annoyance in their expression and walking away even as she reaches for them, begging them to turn around. She always wakes up the second before she dies, hyperventilating and shaking and crying and almost wailing. She claws at her throat and still feels like she can't breathe at first. Often until she bites herself. The pain reminds her she can breathe. Then she takes in giant gulps of breath, like someone who's been underwater for decades. She holds herself as tight as she can, leans over until her forehead is against her mattress and cries until she falls asleep again, exhausted.

It continues like that almost every night until around the start of August. On some nights, if she's lucky, it'll be raining. The nightmares don't come when it rains. This is why she hates summer vacation. Not only will she have to deal with that almost every night, the lack of a routine makes it even worse, and she doesn't even have the luxury of looking forward to be able to talk to someone the next day. Sleeping aids like medication don't work— it just gives her sleep paralysis.

Often, this just translates into her staying up late at night with insomnia, or because she's too afraid of the nightmares to want to even try to fall asleep. She does this quite often even when it's not Summer, as well.

At NRC:

For her and Tomoe, I'll be doing breakdowns of what they did during and in-between the books. Includes spoilers for: Books 1-5 (tiny bit Book 6 and Book 7 too but barely)

Prologue

Unlike Tomoe, who was woken up early by Grim, Irina was woken up at the same time as the other freshman, and went through the ceremony like normal, until it came to her turn, and a wave of confusion swept through the hall when it was found out she was magicless. But it was forgotten as Tomoe soon arrived, following the Headmage. They both ended up in Ramshackle. As Tomoe was older she became Housewarden, and Irina the Vice Housewarden, as Tomoe did not feel safe giving the position to Grim.

As she was cleaning somewhere else at the time, she also wasn't there when Tomoe, Grim and Ace burnt the Queen of Hearts statue, nor for the ensuing detention where the chandelier broke. But Irina used her bunny eyes(basically puppy dog eyes) to convince Crowley to let them try to get the magestone instead of being expelled right away. She wasn't even fully intending to— she really just wanted to ask Crowley about it, and then, feeling bad for Tomoe for being in the same situation as her— homeless, basically, with no way home— she kinda just…accidentally convinced him by saying she was worried for Tomoe, Crowley realizing 'oh shit what if people found out I kicked her out—imagine the lawsuits'. And Irina being genuinely worried enough that it showed on her face was, in part due to being worried for Tomoe herself yes, but mostly she just didn't want to be alone in that big house with just the ghosts. And, somewhere in the back of her mind, she kept thinking that, if Tomoe did actually manage to stay, she would be happy with Irina and like her more. And Irina's people-pleasing is chronic.

Whether or not Irina actually intends her bunny eyes even 50% of the time is up for debate. She's also unconsciously gotten used to always looking like a kicked puppy due to the fact that people underestimating and pitying her has really helped her in life. Not to mention the fact that she's not very good at hiding it when she's feeling something, so her anxiety often shows on her face.

Irina ended up being in the same class as Sebek, and given her experience with people yelling, she did not like the experience one bit, always hoping she'd get a seat as far away from him as possible.

Book 1

During the events of Book 1 she mostly just followed Tomoe around, not speaking much unless she herself was directly adressed. She almost started crying when Riddle yelled at her to wear her tie correctly, which soured her entire perception of him for the rest of the school year, making her scared of him. Though she also ended up somewhat latching onto Trey as one of the few people she felt a little bit less on edge around than others, the only other at that point being Tomoe.

Though in general, she was mostly left to her own devices, since Tomoe, as the Housewarden, is the one Crowley most often calls on to do tasks for him. She hates having so much time to herself, alone, since that's when her bad thoughts strike again. Realizing that Tomoe being so busy meant she wouldn't have time but that Irina did, she ended up applying for a job at Mostro Lounge shortly after Riddle's Overblot, and was hired as a waitress.

In so doing, she became acquainted with Ruggie, the unofficial Savannaclaw Vice-Housewarden, as they happened to have quite a lot of their shifts together, and he was also the one responsible for training her. He was relieved she picked it up rather quickly. It was kinda like they could just...feel, that they were from somewhat similar backgrounds, or at least had similar experiences, so they quickly began to feel a silent kinship with each other.

And during her work, Floyd seemed to take somewhat of an interest in her, giving her the nickname 'Shrimpy' for her short stature, pink hair and general skittishness. He often played pranks on her and tried to get her attention, saying it was because "Your reactions are so funny Shrimpy~ and you're real nice too." However, she seemed to be really good at handling his typical mood-swings, at least compared to most other people, actually taking his emotions seriously and suggesting work-arounds and compromises rather than scolding him whenever he 'just didn't feel like it'. And so Azul decide to put her on 'Floyd duty'. And if she were to admit it, it was...kinda nice. Having someone seem so excited to see her, who'd pick her up and hug her in that bone-crushing way she'd always craved but never had the courage to ask anyone for. She developed a small crush on him as a result. Though, as she did with most things in her life, she tried to ignore it.

Book 2

When Tomoe and Grim were assigned the task of investigating, Irina was mostly occupied with her Mostro Lounge work, feeling it was her way of helping by supplying some kind of income to Ramshackle not entirely dependent on Headmage Crowley. So she went to work, completing her shift, then back to Ramshackle. It didn't leave her with a lot of free time. But she still felt...lonely.

She didn't feel like she was really close to anyone. She was envious of Tomoe for having friends. But at the same time, Irina didn't really want to make any, if that makes sense. It felt like way too much effort for what she expected would be a shallow friendship that ended quickly, like all her other friendships— if it even got to be a friendship at all.

One night she'd just been laying in bed unable to sleep, hearing the distant whispers of her parents fighting at the edges of her mind like usual, and deciding to go outside just to escape the confined room and get some kind of distraction from hearing them. She was incredibly startled hearing someone suddenly call out to her, having been too stuck in her own thoughts to notice him approaching like she usually could. She was honestly scared at first, though mostly as a result of being caught with her guard down, which she usually never was.

But as soon as she properly looked into his eyes, all that fear suddenly seemed to fade away in an instant. She didn't know why, but she suddenly started to feel relaxed in his presence, more so than she usually ever did. And she felt almost sad when he disappeared. But she told herself off for it; that was the first time she'd ever met him after all, and she didn't even know his name. But since he'd said she could call him whatever she wanted...

She'd call him Peridot, after the color of his eyes. 'Peri' for short.

Tomoe's first reaction to the name 'Peri' was to laugh, explaining that it made her think of Perry the Platypus. And once she'd also had the thought, Irina couldn't help but laugh too, 'Peri' being exchanged for 'Perry' in her mind after that point.

Book 3

The influx of new workers after the exams and Irina being close to Tomoe, whom was actively working against him, lead to Azul deciding to fire Irina from her job at the Mostro Lounge. That, and he didn't exactly like her anyway, her timid and in his eyes 'cowardly' behavior reminding him far too much of his younger self for his liking.

She was probably the least distressed out of her, Grim and Tomoe to lose their 'home' at Ramshackle, being so used to nothing in her life ever being the same for very long.

To try to somehow make up for the fact that she was fired from her job, Irina started using the School Cafeteria's kitchen more often, so she'd be able to at least cook for Grim and Tomoe. She felt like if she didn't, she was just a burden on the dorm in general, since food expenses had to cover her, too. And there, she encountered Jamil, the Scarabia Vice Housewarden. She instantly began to see right through his facade. From there she'd end up observing him every time they were both in a room. And he, in turn, did the same. He easily noticed that she seemed tailored her words, moods, reactions and even style of humor to whoever she was talking to at any given moment. And he found he could relate to that— always wearing a mask in front of others— and even admired how well she could adapt the mask to suit the person and context. Once, he asked her about it; how she could so seemingly effortlessly mirror people like that. The question shocked her to her very core. No one had ever noticed that about her before. She didn't really know how to react. So she just said the truth: she had no idea how she did it. she just did. She'd been doing it so long that she'd forgotten when she started, that it was just second nature to her. But she was still surprised he noticed that about her at all, since no one else ever had. And through her revealing more and more just how good at observing others she was, revealed to him everything she'd gathered about him: He was overworked and looking after Kalim against his will, probably due to some larger circumstances that wouldn't just be solved with a long conversation. He was tired of always doing everything everyone else wanted and never being given any support himself. Jamil was shocked that she managed to hit the nail right on the head so well. And also impressed. They started talking more about their observations of other people, and this, for once, seemed to be an area in which she had him beat. She had not only her direct observations, but also a very good sense of intuition and gut feeling, that was rarely ever wrong. But on the whole, their opinions and observations were often quite similar. So they ended up becoming good friends.

She ended up being asked by some Student or other if she'd thought about joining a club yet. She hadn't, not even really knowing which clubs actually existed. And so she decided to take a look to see if anything seemed interesting; she had a lot more free time after being fired from her job anyway. When she saw that there was a 'Gargoyle Appreciation Club' and that it had only one member, she knew instantly who that must be, and decided to join it.

Book 4

She was in a different room from Tomoe and Grim and so didn't try to to escape. And when the others were flung out of the dorm, she was the only one of them who Jamil let stay, even offering to make her his vassal, the Vizier to his Sultan, as a form of 'reward' for being able to recognize his greatness even as he hid it.

(Azul also ends up disliking Irina even more due to now being jealous that she's friends with Jamil while he won't even give Azul the time of day)

When Lilia showed up to give her the postcard, she knew who it must have been from. And so she asked Lilia to wait for a second, rushing into her room to get a box, with a letter attached, which she asked him to give to the sender of the postcard. It was a birthday gift for her friend Peridot; a clay tea pot, its spout designed to look like a little dragon, the handle on the opposite end sculpted into the shape of a scaly tail. The letter contained not only wishes for him to have a happy birthday, but also an explanation of the spout. She wanted to give him a Gargoyle as a gift, but she also wanted to make sure it was an actual Gargoyle, with a clear purpose, rather than just a decorative Grotesque. So she settled on a tea pot! Since it serves as the spout, the 'needs water spout' element of a Gargoyle was cleared, as well.

She wasn't there to see it, but when he got her gift and read the letter, he was so beside himself with joy that for the first time in at least a century, there was sunshine in Briar Valley. Not only was it a birthday gift from his best friend, hand-crafted no less, it was also incredibly thoughtful, proof to him that she'd been listening and paying attention to every single word of all his rambles about his beloved Gargoyles. The next time they met again, before any words could be spoken he quite literally picked her up off the ground and spun her around as a way to say 'thank you'. That was the moment she admitted to herself that she'd fallen in love with him.

He ended up insisting on them drinking at least one cup of tea for all their club meetings after this point, so he got a chance to use it. And he also insisted on the same for every single Housewarden meeting he went to, which he'd started to actually know the times and places of thanks to Irina knowing through Tomoe and telling him. If he'd had any less decorum he would have literally shoved the pot in the face of random people in the halls; he was that happy about it.

Book 5

She took a while to get used to there being people other than her, Tomoe, Grim and the ghosts living in Ramshackle. At first Vil reminded her a bit of how her mother used to be in her calmer moments, and it made her feel uneasy. She was also scared of Rook at first since he kept popping up out of nowhere and she, due to her trauma, gets scared really easily. She's also the one who gives Malleus the tickets to the SDC. For their booth at the cultural festival Irina made a bunch of small clay figurines of Grotesques and then wrote above them the differences between them and Gargoyles, to educate people.

When Tomoe meets Malleus for the first time, she lightly teases Irina, asking "So this is the famous 'Perry the Platypus."' Irina got very embarrassed, and Malleus, eyes wide with surprise, asked if that was meant to refer to him. Irina, face burning with embarrassment, then explains the name and its connection to a certain animated Platypus spy, but also says her nickname for him was actually supposed to be short for Peridot. It ended with Malleus bursting out laughing right then and there, Irina, still embarrassed, saying: "W-was it really that funny?" It then becomes a recurring inside joke of him calling himself 'her platypus friend'.

When Malleus began to fix the stage, not being used to magic and thus a bit scared at first, Irina moved close to his side out of reflex, feeling safer there. It made him really happy to think that for once, not only was there someone who wasn't afraid of him, but she even felt safe around him. Though she became very flustered when she realized she'd been gripping onto his jacket arm.

Book 6

She stays behind at NRC, staying in an unoccupied room at Diasomnia and waiting for Tomoe, Grim and everyone else to come back.

Book 7

I have not yet read Book 7, but! This time it's Irina's time to shine instead of Tomoe! Irina understands why Malleus does what he does, she also hates losing people; that's why she's not going to lose him to his Overblot.

Also, I didn't know where else to include this, but Crewel is her favorite teacher. She wants to do well in his classes and get his approval. She always does her absolute best and asks for clarification from him often to make sure she's doing it right, so an accident doesn't happen, hence why Potionology is her best subject. He praises her careful nature, and it makes her absolutely soar with joy. There's nothing that makes her happier than when she does well and gets a good grade and he pats her head and calls her 'good girl'- which she is one of very few students to hear often. She wishes he was her father. She's come very close to accidentally calling him 'dad' multiple times.

And on the topic of me technically having 2 'Yuu's, here is which events Irina would go to. If there is a Story Event not on this list, assume Tomoe went:

The Phantom Bride: Love at First Fright Twisted Halloween: Terror is Trending A Firelit Sky: Over the Sands The Harveston Sledathon Camp Vargas 2: The Art of Survival Sam's New Year Sale: 2024 (EN server) Glorious Masquerade: Let the Bell of Solace Ring Fairy Gala: Operation Illusive Evolution Twisted Tsumderland 2 Tapis Rouge

More sprites:

Bonus: 'Family' & Friends

Anthony Barret & Diana Barret/Popova

Clover the Plush & 'Clover' the 'imaginary friend'

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #moony's ocs #yuusona #Spotify #🐰irina

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fantasies-fairytales-n-fics · 2 months ago

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Thranduil and Josie Pt. 174- Shattered Dreams

Summary: The Manhattan trio head back to the world of dark fairytales. Clover accepts responsibility for her actions. A rescue ensues. Revelations and blood rage come forth. A dream is crushed by a ton of bricks. A journey continues. Something lost is still lost. Thranduil connects. A sweet moment turns to heartbreak for Lola. Legolas leaves the Elvenking reeling....and plotting.

*Chapter Warnings* language, angst

Notes: I have now changed to third person writing. The "you" thing just doesn't fit for the readers with Josie being an original character.

Stories Stories Stories Masterlist

Clover, Jace and Matthew were tossed into a large clearing on the Northern side of middle earth's hidden perimeters. It was too risky to just appear inside of them, for Jace's magic stele that he used to transport them had the habitual pattern of just spitting it's passengers out in a nearby vicinity of the desired location and that would be far too dangerous for them if they were spotted, especially the marked and hunted dhampir with her bewitching fiery strands. Even where the former Raven now stood, out in the open breeze, imperiled her as her cinnamon scent could easily be picked up by Viktor's nefarious death dealers or even by the vicious vampire ruler of infamous superhuman strength himself as Viktor was one of Jareth's resurrected pawns.

"Why does the sky look as if it were dusk? It's only noon. Could it be....Jar...h..him?" Clover asked, guarding herself not to mention the Goblin King's name as her eyes squinted at the familiar eerie hue of glowing amber.

As Matthew's vampire eyes reddened with caution, his sensitive nose subtly inhaled the air. "It is not he himself, but one who is now of him. The same immortal responsible for the great quake of middle earth."

Jace stepped next to his beloved dhampir and clutched her hand as they both whispered the believed identity. "The Elvenking."

Clover's mind briefly drifted. She would never forget what Thranduil had become while she had been a prisoner of his halls and what he had taken from her, but could she truly hold him accountable? Jareth had set it all into motion by torturing the King of Mirkwood and poisoning him with his warlock blood, not to mention, Thranduil now wore Jareth's citrine ring, the glue that sealed his fate. She still struggled with her loss and who was truly to blame, but after all she had taken from Thranduil, she knew damn well that she, along with her sinister mother, were the ones solely responsible for unleashing the wrath of the Elvenking. If she had merely walked away after Caroline's death instead of being the misguided monster she had always been, Thranduil would still be Thranduil, even if that in itself wasn't always a good thing and he would be with his family, living happily within his halls....but now, his heart was at war with his mind against the world and even his own Queen and another war was on the horizon. A war that Clover knew was also her fault. Everything that had happened since Chateau de Lioncourt was her fault.

Jace's squeeze to her hand released her of her torturous thoughts. "Hey...Clover, you're safe with me. I'll never let him or anyone hurt you. I promise."

She smiled sweetly at the golden haired warlock. "I know your heart is in the right place and I love you for it, but you know as well as I do that you cannot promise such a thing with all the enemies I have rightfully earned. I'm wanted Jace...and certainly not alive."

He pulled her against his brawny body and kissed her softly. "Well, they will have one hell of a fight upon their hands. I won't hesitate to kill to keep you safe."

Her loving gaze at him strayed in sadness. "What about my sister? She will never understand."

"I'll do everything in my power to make her see you the way I do."

"Respectfully Jace, your words will mean nothing to her. She will try to kill me and you know it. You shouldn't have to be in such a conflicting position because of me. I know how much you love her and she you."

"And it is that love that will defeat her hatred."

Clover playfully smirked but with a sigh. "You're too good for me and quite frankly, your optimism still makes me nauseous."

The blonde warlock shook his head and smiled. "Just shut up and kiss me."

As the new lovebirds tenderly locked lips, the tall, dark and blue eyed Brit Matthew momentarily watched them with an envious grief, for it would be years before he would unite with his destined soulmate Leeanduil and for a vampire, years felt like an eternity when one walked alone. The recluse vampire Lestat knew that all too well. The loneliness Matthew currently agonized over would only intensify, but for the Princess of Mirkwood...he would endure the internal burning flame that ignited one night with a single shooting star and remain devoutly faithful, for his futuristic visions of their love gave him the strength.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as he whipped his head in the opposite direction with widened eyes of wariness. In his 1500 years as a blood rage vampire, Matthew had become a very highly skilled tracker, for his nose was extremely sensitive to others of his kind, especially those who carried the gene of temporary insanity and that was when the brisk breeze alerted him to a familiar presence. He could also smell turmoil, for a distressed vampire released a particular chemical. An abhorrent aroma of burning flesh.

Clover took notice of the repulsive stink as well, but unlike Matthew, she wasn't used to it beings she was still in her newborn phase and it turned her stomach. "WHAT is that??" she cringed, swiftly bringing her hand to cover her crinkled up nose. "It smells like...like...."

She paused, finally taking in a whiff of the underlying scent that was also familiar to her. "P...pancakes. Oh my god....G!!!"

Before Matthew or Jace could even blink, Clover was gone. Disappearing into the forest, leaving a whirlwind trail of dead leaves swirling about like a cyclone. Although she knew that Garrett, who had cared for and bonded with her in her childhood, had now come to despise her, especially after their last encounter where she had wickedly tricked him into believing she was his beloved Josephine all to successfully bed him, she still cared for him.

Once the pair caught up, they found Clover at a desolate cabin, gazing in the slightly frosted window with eyes matching the blazing sky.

"Step back girl." Matthew commanded with a snarl as he glowered down at her. "Have you learned nothing of entrapment??"

Jace angrily pulled her aside. "Matthew is right. What were you thinking?? Even if Garrett is in there, others may be also or may be close."

Scoffing, she pursed her rosy lips and reluctantly submitted. "Fine...but do not man handle me warlock. I can give as good as I get."

Jace grinned and winked. "You don't have to remind me of that my firecracker."

The three then circled the small wooden structure until Matthew deemed it and the surrounding area clear of any threats and then they cautiously entered through the back door. All was quiet except for the creaking of the floorboards beneath their feet and the repetitive sound of dripping water also coming from below, ringing like bells in the two vampires' keen ears.

Clover deeply inhaled the potent aroma of molasses as her golden eyes darted about, suddenly fixating on the empty whiskey bottles upon the counter. "He's been here recently or is still here."

"So have others. Merely days ago." Matthew added as he continued into the living room. "Vampires. Two of them. One male, one female. Twice dead for their scent becomes twice as strong."

Clover gasped at an object propped against the couch with no concern over Matthew's validation. "G's guitar!! Garrett???!!" she shouted with excitement and bolted down the hall to the bedrooms only to find them both empty.

"I...I don't understand! He's here. I feel him." she reeled, bursting apart the women's modern day clothing hanging in the closet which offered her another surprising scent. "Oh...my...god. These clothes..." She ripped a dusty shirt from the hanger and shoved it under her nose. "Cherries...it's...it's...these are my sister's! This must be the cabin Josie had been held captive in last year. No wonder G was...or IS here....but where????"

As they all looked at each other with confusion and silence, the dripping from below solved the mystery. "The basement!" Clover shrieked and zipped off once again and this time, Jace was beginning to turn a little green.

There the King of Devil's Island laid, motionless, flat on his back and chained in iron shackles upon a musty old mattress, appearing deader than vampire dead.

With eyes molten as the lava, Clover unleashed her power, freeing his searing wrists from the toxic metal and then climbed onto him, slapping him on the cheek and then shaking him.

"G! Open your eyes."

Moaning, he rubbed his cheek and mumbled. "Why did you do that?"

"I'm going to do it again, much harder, if you don't wake up."

His eyes, black with thirst, complied and moved about the ceiling. "Where am I?"

Clover pulled his weak body up into a sitting position and when he saw her, he groaned as if he were in pain. "Uuuuugh. Well I just answered my own question. I've died and went straight to hell."

Scoffing, she sent him hurling back onto the bed, grunting as he hit the mattress. "Same old G with your bullshit humor. Obviously, you're going to be just fine. You're welcome!"

"Your voice. Make it stop." Garrett grumbled, palms pressed to his forehead. "Punch iron stakes in my ears or kill me. Either will do."

Matthew intervened as he stepped forward, awkwardly gazing at Garrett's chest. "You've been marked with protection."

Garrett snickered and pushed himself back up. "A lot of good that did. Well, except when I tried to end it all. Fucking faeries. Wicked little beasts underneath all that beauty. Especially Amara. Crazy bitch with a thousand razors for teeth. Makes me feel sorry for apples. She did this to me, the mark that is. All because she likes my music talent. and has nominated me for her leisurely concerts."

Jace's brows furrowed. "The seelie Queen? There must be something more she wants."

Garrett lifted his heavy eyes up at the warlock he now recognized. "Speaking of. I remember you. The day Josephine and I left Amara's court and were on our way back to the Dorwinion castle. You came out of nowhere and helped us after her mind warped father attacked us. You're her brother....Jace? That's why you had tracked her down."

His eyes glanced at Clover, then back at Garrett, reluctant to reveal it had all been a lie. "Yeah..so...who did this to you? Amara?"

"No, but she had been here prior to my being ambushed, basically to rub it in my face that I could not kill myself because of this mark she let her Chippendale satanic servant brutally burn into my chest. She had better things to go follow up on such as having Legolas for herself and keeping him away from Josephine. That was her whole end game. Games are her fetish. Wicked sadistic ones at that with her creepy crawling cray cray vines of truth. I probably shouldn't say any more. Her little minion spies are everywhere."

"G! Focus. WHO did this to you??" barked an anxiously frustrated Clover.

"Oh...that would be Craven, your bat shit crazy father, pun intended, and my newly re-headed reeking ex, Kate. Well actually, she put me down here for revenge. Craven later taunted me and left me so I couldn't try to stop him from reclaiming Devil's Island and his title as King. Fucking traitor created me and then left me to die."

Clover turned whiter than a ghost. "M...my...father is... oh my god....Jace...I...I never knew him. Haldir killed him shortly after I was born. What do I do?? I..I mean, I know he was evil but..."

Jace pulled her close and stroked her cheek. "He was still your father. I get it. But just remember who he was Clover and since Jareth brought him back, that means he will be even more deadly."

"Clover??" a confused Garrett asked. "What happened to Raven? Too dark and fitting for you?"

"If you must know..." she sarcastically replied. "I'm not that person anymore. People can change. You did because if I recall, you were no better than me once upon a time Mr. fucking hypocrite."

Garrett weakly wobbled to his feet, standing the tallest of the four and glared down at her. "Yeah well if you also recall, I wasn't born evil. You were. Just what the hell are you doing here anyways??? Especially with your sister's brother whom you seem to be all cozy with. How'd you pull that one off? Did you use your magic to get him into bed like you did to me??"

Clover felt her stomach do a flip as she fearfully glanced up at Jace, for even though he knew most of her sordid past, he didn't know about that.

In his instinct to protect her, the lovesick warlock quickly came to her defense. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

The vexed vampire raised a befuddled brow. "Whatever. It's your funeral, especially when your sister finds out."

Matthew, in his rapidly growing frustration, chimed in. "Enough of this. Maybe you should be a little more grateful that we came to your aid."

Garrett's eyes bolted to Matthew. "Well I'll thank YOU... and even YOU," he exclaimed as he happily gave a single nod to Jace, but his attention swiftly redirected back to Matthew in the midst of a memory flashback. "I've seen you before....at...Lestat's masquerade ball. Drinking alone in the shadows."

Clover's eyes widened. "You were there????"

Matthew had known it could surface about his attendance at some point and he had a prepared answer to avoid revealing his real purpose for being there.

"As were many vampires on the invitation list, who like I, enjoy drinks and entertainment every so often and observing all of the creative costumes. Lestat's balls never disappoint."

"Yeah except THAT particular one did because of the death dealer attack. You knew...didn't you??? You and your visions!! And you did nothing to warn or help???"

"Hold your tongue half breed!" he growled and began to creep towards her, his eyes reddening. "You know nothing of what you spew little girl. After what you and your mother had done that night, you have the audacity to make such accusations against me?? It was you and she that everyone needed warned about but I knew nothing of your plans until long after the fact of that fateful night and to be crystal fucking clear, I had departed before Richard's ambush. Even if I had known about it, one would be a fool to interfere in Viktor's affairs as you and Caroline learned."

Clover's eyes slitted with skepticism as her intuition began to read him. "How...convenient. The timing of your departure. Surely you would have stayed for the concert which was the entertainment you speak of and of course, that's when they attacked. No, I think you were there for something...or someone else. I feel it. Someone very important to you. Someone I know. Someone we all know."

Matthew abruptly halted, perplexed by her accuracy. Simultaneously, she paused, her troubled eyes drifting away, trying to unscramble the pixeled image that taunted her mind...and then, it pieced itself together like a puzzle. "Oh my god...now I know why you told me at the old church that you had business with the elves, but you wouldn't reveal what it was! It's....it's my sister. I see Josie! You were there for her! What on earth do you want with her??? Are you...in love with her too like this fool over here is???"

As her eyes darted to Garrett concerning her last statement, the corner of his lip curled into a smug grin. "Seems you're the only fool right now."

A low emitted growl rolled up Matthew's throat as his threatening steps resumed. "Fool indeed. I do not take kindly to your intrusive perceptions of me."

Jace's eyes cautioned of yellow as he fearlessly stepped into the path of imminent destruction. "Matthew, back off. Now. I do not want to fight you, but I will to protect what I love, just as you would do to protect what you love."

As Garrett mumbled "I think I am going to ralph," Matthew submitted to the warning as he considered Jace's words, knowing that even he too was susceptible to making mistakes during a bout of blood rage and he could not risk his life over something so trivial when all he lived for was Leeanduil and someday...she would desperately need him much more than she did now.

With lightning speed, the humbled vampire zipped up the stairs, leaving an aromatic trail of lavender and vanilla in his wake. Jace spun around to Clover with an exasperated frown. "You and I will talk later."

The waspish warlock picked up a dusty bottle of cheap wine from a cobweb infested shelf and then jogged up the stairs, leaving Clover's eyes stinging of tears, for she knew the talk would be about her defiling of Garrett and not about her idiotic instigation of Matthew's rage.

"You never learn do you...Raven." Garrett reeled.

"And YOU never keep your mouth shut." she snapped and sucker punched his chest so hard, he catapulted through the air and landed in the corner, grimacing and groaning as he helplessly sat at the mercy of her fire happy hands.

The disgruntled dhampir preyed forward with angry amber hues. "I should set your ass on fire and put you out of your misery, you fucking ingrate."

Still wincing from the blow to his iron enfeebled body, Garrett managed to grunt out succumbing words that Clover related to and empathized with. "Go ahead. I've already tried, believe me. I have nothing to live for."

Her fiery orbs dissipated back to their ultramarine state as her mind witnessed another image of Josie forming from Garrett's emotions.

"God you're so pathetic." she softly murmured. "Yes you do. Get up. You need to hunt or you'll never regain your strength and power and you'll need that if you ever want to see her again."

His weepy yellowed eyes lifted up to hers as the thought of Josephine incited his will to go on and he reluctantly reached his hand out to Clover for assistance. Scoffing, she slapped his hand down and then made her way up the stairs, leaving Garrett to crawl his way up.

Matthew and Jace, who shared years of friendship, had already made their peace by the time she entered the living room where they were both sipping on the mundane vin with abhorrent frowns, for it was an abomination compared to the wickedly wonderful wine of Dorwinion.

"Atrocious." Matthew verbally verified, coughing to clear his tainted throat after swallowing much more than he had cared to of the execrable liquid. He then locked eyes of humility with Clover upon her entrance and sat his full glass down, also swallowing his pride as he shamefully turned to gaze out the window. "I offer my sincere apologies. The blood rage, as you personally know, can be quite difficult to control but even so, being a vampire with 1500 years of learning to manage such a curse, I carelessly let it get the better of me."

Clover empathized once more and felt extreme remorse for antagonizing him. "I do understand. It's a living hell all on it's own. I...I'm the one who is sorry. I provoked you and I wrongfully accused you and I...I was intrusive just as you said. Your actions were justified. Although you owe me no apology, you are forgiven."

Her reply was not what he had expected and he turned back to face her.

"You have come a long way in such a short time Clover. It is time that I am completely honest with both of you, for you were correct on why I had attended the All Hallows' Eve celebration. To observe a very pregnant Josephine, but not for the reason you mentioned. It is not her that I love, not in the way that King Thranduil does anyways and he and the other elves are the reason I departed so quickly. I had a vision of her there but they were not in it. I certainly would have never expected elves to attend a vampire gathering, especially ones of such stature and with the uncanny power of knowledge the Elvenking carries, I did not want to risk being detected, for he would not understand. Josephine did not at first either, nor did her side kick Haldir to say the least."

"Wait...I'm so lost. You...have already spoken with her? And I ask again, respectfully, why would you have visions of her?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that myself." Garrett demanded as he scuffled in, using the wall as a crutch.

"At first, I did not know the reason for the relentless visions, some of solely her and some including her King and even his son, that is why I chose to accept Lestat's invitation to try and understand what was happening, but my answers did not come that night. They came two weeks later, the night of November 2nd. I stood on a bridge in Oxford after learning of the destruction at Chateau de Lioncourt and Thranduil's sudden demise, wondering if I should attempt another visit to his Queen and in that moment, a shooting star offered me the answer with a life altering vision. Josephine and her child, who was born that same night, would need my added protection with the King gone and the war coming and in the ever so distant future as well, for Leeanduil will....become my bride. She is my star. My destiny. My one true love that I have impatiently waited agonizing, lonely centuries for."

All three mouths gaped between Clover, Jace and Garrett and then Garrett spoke, mostly to himself in confusion. "Why would Josephine not have told me about this?"

"Possibly because you were...here?" Matthew guessed. "It was only recently that I tracked Josephine down in Dorwinion city and informed her of all this. Garrett...there is something else you should know. In that particular vision, I saw myself with a fully grown Leanduil and...I saw Thranduil too. That was when I realized he had not perished like all had assumed and it was then confirmed to be true when Jace told me of all the events that partook in the dark realm of the Goblin King right after the elf lord's so called death, for Jace had been held prisoner there just as Thranduil had. The rest of the story is not my responsibility to tell."

Clover lightly gulped as Matthew glanced at her, for she had not been prepared for this. As she let her worried eyes slowly glide over to a flabbergasted Garrett, she was all too glad he was in a debilitated condition because when he learned she was the reason for Josie's unwarranted suffering, she was certain all hell would break loose, but for the time being, he was consumed with trying to wrap his head around the fact that his dreams of a future with his "little one" would now and forever be just that....a dream. In that moment, Clover witnessed the little light he had left in his eyes burn out as he staggered his way out the back door.

"Garrett!" she called out as she ran after him. "You need to know more!"

He abruptly turned around and the way he looked at her terrified her. It was complete emptiness, as if his entire soul that had kept the human side of him still alive, had been ripped out. This time, he truly DID want to die. At least before, he had a glimmer of hope that kept him alive, even through his suicidal tendencies and now... he had none.

His commanding words were flat and lifeless. "I know enough. Let me hunt in peace."

The sun was at it's highest as Thranduil and his company had stopped to briefly rest and refuel their bodies for the first time since their departure from his halls. They were now at the Eastern end of the Old Forest Road where it joined the Celduin. Soon the Elven army would continue their lengthy and tedious journey along the River Running's winding banks where it would eventually mate with the Carnen. There, they would then follow the meandering miles of the Redwater that flowed into the Sea of Rhun, but it would be many days yet before they would cross the Dorwinion borders.

Thranduil dismounted his great elk, who still remained ever so loyal to the clone of his master, and slitted his moonstone eyes at the irradiant sun trespassing through the gaps of the large and densely packed beeches. With Jareth's blood now burning through his veins, he loathed the light now just as the Goblin King did. Even the air of his own realm turned his stomach, but with his newly acquired darkness, he had poisonous plans to spread the sickness of Mirkwood throughout it's entirety. The moonlight he desperately craved. It would aid him in his malevolent quest, for like the werewolves, it transformed his physical and mental state to that of peccable wickedness.

As he now stood alone in the clad of tall trees, the Elvenking sternly snapped, startling the birds out of their nests. "Legolas!"

Deep within the depths of the Dorwinion castle, Legolas, Lola and Josselyn had just exited the password protected room where, according to Josselyn, Ashmole had last been secretly stored by Julian....but the necromantic book was no longer there and they knew this because Lola, being of warlock blood, failed to visually locate it like only witches can do.

The blue eyed beauty with long licorice locks, sighed in frustration. "I am so sorry. Maybe...maybe I cannot see it because I am not a full blooded witch like my fath...Lord Narcisse??"

Her reluctance to admit her parentage did not go unnoticed by Legolas He took her petite hand of delicate youth into his and smiled as he harbored his new feelings of desire that magically strengthened simply by her touch. "I do not know my lady, but know this. It is not your fault. Please do not apologize. Also know that you are nothing like your father."

Her dazed kitten-like eyes flitted at his words as she too was overcome with a magical sensation that she had harbored much longer for the flawless Prince.

The silent moment of connection between the two was then rudely interrupted by Thranduil's thunderous voice inside of Legolas' head. "Legolas!"

Abruptly releasing her hand, Legolas mildly gulped as he realized he had allowed his distractions to permit his father entry into his mind.

Legolas refused to speak and tightly closed his eyes, forcing his father out and resealing the doorway to his thoughts.

"Legolas?" Lola asked, lightly touching his cheek. "Are you alright?"

This time he was displeased by her touch and angry with himself, for she weakened him, something only Josie had been able to do and he couldn't allow his heart and mind to be mangled again. He still was not over the fiery Queen of hearts and was unsure if he ever would be. "Do not touch me. We need to go. I must find Josie."

Lola's eyes welled with pain as she watched her dream lover trail off without a single glance back at her and in that moment, she threw herself into her mother's awaiting arms and sobbed like she had as a child.

It was instant, Thranduil's burning rage at his son's betrayal, but one thing pleased him, for he was now aware of Legolas' newfound feelings for the one named Lola and it was even more pleasing to learn that she was the daughter of his nemesis Narcisse.

His thick brows planted firm over his glaring, hungry eyes, for both revelations had now handed him the golden opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

@redeemer46

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twice-inamillion · 2 years ago

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First Day in Osaka

Fluff, Smut (Handjob, penetration, creampie)

Chapter 174

It’s the first day of the Japan Dome Tour in the city of Osaka, Japan. The members are excited to be back on stage together as a group for the first time in a while.

It’s two hours before the concert starts, the members are really excited for the concert to begin. Some of them are rest or eating before going on to do sound check. You on the other hand are working tirelessly to make sure that the first day of the tour goes well.

Jihyo is FaceTiming her parents on her phone, sitting in the corner of the break room. “We’re so proud of you, Jihyo. You’re finally able to go back on stage like” says her mom. “Yes, I’m really happy but at the same time I’m a bit nervous.” Jihyo’s mom tries to reassure her that she will do very well and to not focus on anything else but trying her best for her fans. As Jihyo’s mom is talking Jihyo notices a small shadow waddling across the room. “Jisoo, my princes. Is that you?” Hearing her mother’s voice Jisoo rushes to her grandmother and gets picked up. “Let’s wish your mommy the best of luck, okay?” Jisoo lifts her arm and says “eomma!” “Are you wishing me good luck, Jisoo?” Jisoo with a large smile on her face begins to giggle and kisses the phone screen. “Make sure that you listen to your grandma and grandpa okay? Be a good girl, Jisoo. With a large smile she goes straight for a hug to her grandma and waves goodbye.

“Are you going to call your girls, Mina?” asks Jihyo. “I already did. My mom said that they were taking them to the park and get some fresh air.” “It’s nice to see that your parents are having some quality time with their grandchildren” says Jihyo. “Yes, when I told them about the Japan tour they automatically asked me if I could bring the twins over so they could see them.”

Dahyun walks towards Jihyo and Mina who are talking and says, “I want to thank your parents at they are able to watch over Dauen.” “It’s no problem, they were more than happy to take care of her. They actually missed having children around, since my brother and I aren’t at home anymore they tend to feel lonely in an empty house.”

—————

It is time for sound check and the members are making sure that their mics are working correctly and that the sound in the arena is optimal for tonight’s show. You go back and forth from the front of the stage to the back, relying on crucial information and make sure that tonight goes well.

Jihyo sees how stressed you look during soundcheck and when its is done, pulls you to the side. “Are you okay?” “Yeah, just a bit tired that’s all. I want to make sure that tonight’s show is perfect for Twice and Once.” “You really care how this show goes huh. Maybe I can help you out a little” as she pulls you into the Twice break room. She pushes you into one of the fitting rooms and begins to zip down your fly, puts her hand inside and digs around through your underwear. She pulls out your limp cock and begins to move her hand slowly, awakening your cock from its slumber.

Both of you don’t say a word as Jihyo jerks you off. She looks directly into your eyes, staring at your soul as she pleasures you. Watching you enjoy her hand is a gift to her, knowing that she can take care of your needs. The intensity of the strokes increase as time passes. When she finally sees your eyes tremble she knows that your ready to cum so she increases the pace. Your eyes begin to roll back as you’re ready to cum so she makes the choice to collect her cum with her mouth.

Jihyo lowers herself and opens her mouth in O shape, connects the tip of your cock to her lips. She begins to suck the tip of your cock like a lollipop, causing you to release your cum. A large wave of cum flow pass her lips and into the mouth, making sure that none of it spills. As she drinks your seed you see that Jihyo is still looking directly at you and nothing eye. You can tell that she has total control of the situation and that she owns you. You see as her throat flexes, swallowing your seed as it goes down her esophagus and into her stomach.

Knowing that you have emptied out your tank she stands up, opens her mouth and shows you the remaining of your cum. She tilts her head and see it go down and opens her mouth again, showing you that she swallowed it all. Placing her hand on your cheek she says, “we’re here to support one another. We’re family. Don’t hesitate to lean on us, okay?” You nod your head, letting her know that you understand. “Also, I’m going to need your help with the rest of the members, okay? So make sure that they do their best during this tour.”

————

The first concert of the Japan Dome Tour begins and the members give it their all. With enthusiasm they begin their act. The first act consists of the songs “One More Time, Luv Me, Like Ohh-ahh.”

youtube

They move on to their second act and the third until they finally get a small break. The members are catching their breath and regaining their energy back. Momo on the other hand is unfazed and looks at you as you stand in the room.

Momo walks towards you, grabs your hand pulls you, “Come with me.” She walks you into one of the restrooms that the break rooms has and pushes you into one of the stalls. “I need a bit of a pick me up to continue with the show.” You remember what Jihyo said earlier about “needing your help with the members” so you don’t complain.

You and Momo begin to undress yourself really quick and not waste anytime. She hangs your pants and her shorts on the hook before getting on top of you. Sitting in one of the stalls you see as Momo aligns your cock to her entrance. She impales herself as she holds on to the walls of the stall. You grab her hips and she begins to ride you cowgirl style.

Momo’s tight walls grip onto your cock and she rides you violently, not wanting to waste any time. You see the the faster she rides you the more you can see the bulge on her stomach as you cock hits her womb. She tries to cover her mouth as she moans out your name. You know that this is a way for the members to destress but you can’t lie top yourself and say that you don’t enjoy it as well.

After some more intense riding Momo let’s you know what she’s about to cum. You make her get off of your and you pick her up from behind. You now have her in a reverse stand and carry position. “You can cum now” you command her. She fingers herself a bit more and she squirts a large stream into the toilet. “Don’t let it get on the floor” you say. She shakes violently during her orgasm but you’re ready to cum. After her twitching lessens you warn her “I’m going to cum.” With a shaky voice she whispers, “cum inside, its safe.” No other words are need.

Your tries to find her entrance as you cant see it since you’re in a reverse stand and carry position. After poking around your cock finds Momo’s entrances and you impale yourself inside. Momo grunts as she feels your hard and thick cock stab her insides. Her womb and walls hold your cock tightly, signaling your that its ready for your cum. A large wave of cum floods her womb and you see Momo blush and twitch from pleasure.

Not wanting to waste any more time you tell Momo what she’s going to need to hurry up from the next act. She hesitantly gets off and stands tall on the toilet stall, cum dripping into the water. She then steps down and you hand her her underwear and safety shorts, doesn’t even wipe the cum that is dripping down her thighs.

Momo rushes out of the bathroom and goes to the clothes rack to change her outfit. She gets ready for Act 3 and the song Candy Pop. The members rush back to the stage and see as Momo’s safety shorts damp from your cum and some small bits down her thigh.

———-

You watch as Momo dances to the music with lots of passion, encouraging her members to do the same.

The first concert in Osaka ends perfectly and all the members have a large smile on their face.

“We really did good out there girls. Let’s keep it up like that for the next shows” says jihyo.

“Yes!!” shout the rest of the members as they walk to the break room to rest.

Momo walks by you and whispers, “ I can still feel your cum in my womb.” With a smile on her face she begins to walk faster, catching up to the rest of her members.

Previous Chapter 173.5

#twice smut #Youtube #kpop smut #male reader #twice #twice fluff #kpop fluff #twice jihyo #twice mina #twice momo #twice dahyun #TM smut

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the-mediaeval-monk · 7 months ago

Note

Hey! Thanks so much for sharing that list of monastic-themed fiction. Would you mind also sharing some good non-fiction titles on monastic masculinity? (I saw in one of your posts that it was a topic in your dissertation.) It doesn’t have to be exhaustive, just something for an introduction or maybe some titles you personally like. Thanks a lot!

Hi! Yes, here is a (non-exhaustive) list of sources :)

Primary Sources:

Clairvaux, Bernard of. The Letters of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Translated by Bruno Scott James. London: Burns Oates, 1953.

Daniel, Walter. The Life of Aelred of Rievaulx. Translated by F. M. Powicke. Edited by Marsha Dutton. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian, 1994.

Gender and Sexuality in the Middle Ages : A Medieval Source Documents Reader, edited by Martha A. Brozyna, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2005.

McNeill, John T., and Helena M. Gamer. Medieval Handbooks of Penance : A Translation of the Principal "Libri Poenitentiales" and Selections from Related Documents. New York ; Chichester: Columbia University Press, 1990.

Suso, Henry. The Life of the Servant. Translated by James M. Clark. London: James Clarke & Co Ltd., 1952.

Secondary Sources

Arnold, John H. "The Labor of Continence: Masculinity and Clerical Virginity." In Medieval Virginities, edited by Anke Bernau, Sarah Salih and Ruth Evans, 102-18. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003.

Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality : Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago ; London: University of Chicago Press, 1980.

Bullough, Vern L. "On Being a Male in the Middle Ages." In Medieval Masculinities, edited by Clare A. Lees, Thelma Fenster and Jo Ann McNamara. Regarding Men in the Middle Ages, 31-46: University of Minnesota Press, 1994.

Bynum, Caroline Walker. "Jesus as Mother and Abbot as Mother: Some Themes in Twelfth-Century Cistercian Writing." The Harvard Theological Review 70, no. 3/4 (1977): 257-84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1509631.

Bynum, Caroline Walker. Jesus as Mother : Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages. Publications of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Ucla. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.

Bynum, Caroline Walker. "The Female Body and Religious Practice in the Later Middle Ages." Chap. 6 In Fragmentation and Redemption : Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion, 181-238. New York: Zone Books, 1992.

Connell, R.W. "The History of Masculinity." Chap. 14 In The Masculinity Studies Reader, edited by Rachel Adams and David Savran, 245-61. Malden, Mass. ; Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.

Coon, Lynda L. Dark Age Bodies : Gender and Monastic Practice in the Early Medieval West. The Middle Ages Series. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.

Damrosch, David. "9. Non Alia Sed Aliter: The Hermeneutics of Gender in Bernard of Clairvaux." In Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, edited by Szell Timea, 181-96. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Doss, Jacob W. "Making Masculine Monks: Gender, Space, and the Imagined “Child” in Twelfth-Century Cistercian Identity Formation." Church History 91, no. 3 (2022): 467-91. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009640722002098.

Elliott, Dyan. Fallen Bodies : Pollution, Sexuality, and Demonology in the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages Series. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.

Elliott, Dyan. The Corrupter of Boys: Sodomy, Scandal, and the Medieval Clergy. The Middle Ages Series Edited by Ruth Mazo Karras. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020.

Gutt, Blake. "Medieval Trans Lives in Anamorphosis: Looking Back and Seeing Differently (Pregnant Men and Backward Birth)." Medieval feminist forum 55, 1 (2019): 174–206.

Hadley, D. M. "Introduction: Medieval Masculinities." In Masculinity in Medieval Europe, 1-18. London: Longman, 1999.

Hotchkiss, Valerie R. Clothes Make the Man : Female Cross Dressing in Medieval Europe. New York ; London: Garland, 1996.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. From Boys to Men : Formations of Masculinity in Late Medieval Europe. Philadelphia ; [Great Britain]: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. "The Regulation of “Sodomy” in the Latin East and West." Speculum 95, no. 4 (2020): 969-86. https://doi.org/10.1086/710639. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/710639.

Karras, Ruth Mazo. "Attitudes to Same- Sex Sexual Relations in the Latin World." In A Companion to Crime and Deviance in the Middle Ages, edited by Skoda Hannah, 84-101. Amsterdam: ARC Humanities Press, 2023.

Karras, Ruth Mazo, and Katherine E. Pierpont. Sexuality in Medieval Europe : Doing Unto Others. Fourth ed. London: Routledge, 2023.

Kerr, Julie. Life in the Medieval Cloister. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009.

Kieckhefer, Richard. "14. Holiness and the Culture of Devotion: Remarks on Some Late Medieval Male Saints." In Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, edited by Szell Timea, 288-305. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991.

Kieckhefer, Richard. Forbidden Rites : A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century. University Park, PA, UNITED STATES: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/exeter/detail.action?docID=6224672.

Kieckhefer, Richard. "Necromancy in the Clerical Underworld." Chap. 7 In Magic in the Middle Ages, 151-75. Cambridge, UK ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Klaassen, Frank. "Learning and Masculinity in Manuscripts of Ritual Magic of the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance." The Sixteenth Century Journal 38, no. 1 (2007): 49-76. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20478245.

Klaassen, Frank. "Necromancy." In The Routledge History of Medieval Magic, edited by Sophie Page and Catherine Rider. London: Routledge, 2019.

Kolve, V. A. "Ganymede/Son of Getron: Medieval Monasticism and the Drama of Same-Sex Desire." Speculum 73, no. 4 (1998): 1014-67. https://doi.org/10.2307/2887367. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2887367.

Linkinen, Tom. Same-Sex Sexuality in Later Medieval English Culture. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2015.

McNamara, Jo Ann. "The Herrenfrage the Restructuring of the Gender System, 1050–1150." In Medieval Masculinities, edited by Jo Ann McNamara, Clare A. Lees and Thelma Fenster. Regarding Men in the Middle Ages, 3-30: University of Minnesota Press, 1994.

Mills, Robert. "The Signification of the Tonsure." In Holiness and Masculinity in the Middle Ages, edited by P. H. Cullum and Katherine J. Lewis, 109-26. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2004.

Mills, Robert. "Transgender Time." In Seeing Sodomy in the Middle Ages University of Chicago Press, 2015.

Muir, Carolyn Diskant. "Bride or Bridegroom? Masculine Identity in Mystic Marriages." In Holiness and Masculinity in the Middle Ages, edited by P. H. Cullum and Katherine J. Lewis, 58-78. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2004.

Murray, Jacqueline. "Masculinizing Religious Life: Sexual Prowess, the Battle for Chastity, and Monastic Identity." In Holiness and Masculinity in the Middle Ages, edited by P. H. Cullum and Katherine J. Lewis, 24-42. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2004.

Murray, Jacqueline. "One Flesh, Two Sexes, Three Genders?". In Gender and Christianity in Medieval Europe, edited by Lisa M. Bitel and Felice Lifshitz. New Perspectives, 34-51: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.

Nelson, J.L. "Monks, Secular Men and Masculinity, C. 900." In Masculinity in Medieval Europe, edited by Dawn M. Hadley. Women and Men in History 121-42. London: Longman, 1999.

Newman, Martha G. "Real Men and Imaginary Women: Engelhard of Langheim Considers a Woman in Disguise." Speculum 78, no. 4 (2003): 1184-213. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20060926.

Rollo, David. Medieval Writings on Sex between Men: Peter Damian’s the Book of Gomorrah and Alain De Lille’s the Plaint of Nature. Brill, 22 Feb. 2022, 2022. doi:https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004507326. https://brill.com/view/title/57406.

Sauer, Michelle M. "Uncovering Difference: Encoded Homoerotic Anxiety within the Christian Eremitic Tradition in Medieval England." Journal of the History of Sexuality 19, no. 1 (2010): 133-52. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40663371.

Shopkow, Leah. "Mooning the Abbot: A Tale of Disorder, Vulgarity, Ethnicity, and Underwear in the Monastery." Chap. 9 In Prowess, Piety, and Public Order in Medieval Society: Studies in Honor of Richard W. Kaeuper, edited by Craig M. Nakashian and Daniel P. Franke, 179-98: Brill, 2017.

Thibodeaux, Jennifer D. The Manly Priest : Clerical Celibacy, Masculinity, and Reform in England and Normandy, 1066-1300. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015.

Trokhimenko, Olga V. ""Believing That Which Cannot Be": (De)Constructing Medieval Clerical Masculinity in "Des Münches Not"." The German Quarterly 85, no. 2 (2012): 121-36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41494744.

Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography. Edited by Alicia Spencer-Hall, and Blake Gutt. Netherlands: Amsterdam University Press, 2021.

#asks and answers #reading lists #monkposting #medieval monk #queer #history

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deadpresidents · 1 year ago

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2 and a half weeks until JC passes Cactus Jack!

It took me a little bit to figure out what you were referencing, but yes, Jimmy Carter will pass John Nance Garner as the longest-living President or Vice President in American history on September 18th. And if he is still with us on October 1st, Carter will be the first President or Vice President in American history to celebrate their 99th birthday.

And since I'm a huge dork who finds this stuff interesting, here's the big, complete list of longest-living to shortest-living Presidents and Vice Presidents in American history: (Presidents are in bold text, Vice Presidents are in italics, and those who served as both POTUS and VP are in bold italics.) John Nance Garner: 98 years, 351 days Jimmy Carter: 98 years, 337 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Levi P. Morton: 96 years, 0 days George H.W. Bush: 94 years, 171 days Gerald R. Ford: 93 years, 165 days Ronald Reagan: 93 years, 120 days Walter Mondale: 93 years, 81 days John Adams: 90 years, 247 days Herbert Hoover: 90 years, 71 days Harry S. Truman: 88 years, 232 days Charles G. Dawes: 85 years, 239 days James Madison: 85 years, 104 days Thomas Jefferson: 83 years, 82 days Dick Cheney: 82 years, 216 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Hannibal Hamlin: 81 years, 311 days Richard Nixon: 81 years, 104 days Joe Biden: 80 years, 287 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) John Quincy Adams: 80 years, 227 days Aaron Burr: 80 years, 220 days Martin Van Buren: 79 years, 231 days Adlai E. Stevenson: 78 years, 234 days Dwight D. Eisenhower: 78 years, 165 days Alben W. Barkley: 78 years, 157 days Andrew Jackson: 78 years, 85 days Spiro Agnew: 77 years, 261 days Donald Trump: 77 years, 81 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) George W. Bush: 77 years, 59 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Henry A. Wallace: 77 years, 42 days James Buchanan: 77 years, 39 days Bill Clinton: 77 years, 15 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Dan Quayle: 76 years, 211 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Charles Curtis: 76 years, 14 days Al Gore: 75 years, 156 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Millard Fillmore: 74 years, 60 days James Monroe: 73 years, 67 days George Clinton: 72 years, 268 days George M. Dallas: 72 years, 174 days William Howard Taft: 72 years, 174 days John Tyler: 71 years, 295 days Grover Cleveland: 71 years, 98 days Thomas R. Marshall: 71 years, 79 days Nelson Rockefeller: 70 years, 202 days Elbridge Gerry: 70 years, 129 days Rutherford B. Hayes: 70 years, 105 days Richard M. Johnson: 70 years, 33 days William Henry Harrison: 68 years, 54 days John C. Calhoun: 68 years, 13 days William A. Wheeler: 67 years, 339 days George Washington: 67 years, 295 days Benjamin Harrison: 67 years, 205 days Woodrow Wilson: 67 years, 36 days William R. King: 67 years, 11 days Hubert H. Humphrey: 66 years, 231 days Andrew Johnson: 66 years, 214 days Thomas A. Hendricks: 66 years, 79 days Charles W. Fairbanks: 66 years, 24 days Zachary Taylor: 65 years, 227 days Franklin Pierce: 64 years, 319 days Lyndon B. Johnson: 64 years, 148 days Mike Pence: 64 years, 88 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Henry Wilson: 63 years, 279 days Ulysses S. Grant: 63 years, 87 days Franklin D. Roosevelt: 63 years, 72 days Barack Obama: 62 years, 30 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) Schuyler Colfax: 61 years, 296 days Calvin Coolidge: 60 years, 185 days Theodore Roosevelt: 60 years, 71 days Kamala Harris: 58 years, 318 days (As of Sept. 3, 2023) William McKinley: 58 years, 228 days Warren G. Harding: 57 years, 273 days Chester A. Arthur: 57 years, 44 days James S. Sherman: 57 years, 6 days Abraham Lincoln: 56 years, 62 days Garret A. Hobart: 55 years, 171 days John C. Breckinridge: 54 years, 116 days James K. Polk: 53 years, 225 days Daniel D. Tompkins: 50 years, 355 days James Garfield: 49 years, 304 days John F. Kennedy: 46 years, 177 days

#History #Presidents #Vice Presidents #Longest-living Presidents and Vice Presidents #Presidential Data #Presidential Statistics #Presidential Facts #POTUS #VP #Jimmy Carter #President Carter #John Nance Garner #Vice President Garner

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wrestler-smash-or-pass · 10 months ago

Text

Weekly Wrapup 3/3/24 (late!)

This Week's Rankings:

Hangman Adam Page (Mustache) - 70.7% smash

Drilla Moloney - 70.7%

Kagetsu - 66.7%

Randy Orton - 62.3%

Alex Coughlin - 61.3%

Amir Jordan - 60.2%

Shane Haste - 59.0%

Rocky Romero - 58.4%

Tetsuya Naito - 54.1%

Tony Nese - 51.4%

Al Snow - 47.3%

Eve Torres - 47.1%

Julius Creed - 27.9%

Kevin Sullivan - 13.1%

Average smash rating this week: 53.6%

More stats under the cut, along with my observations, commentary, and some of my favorite tags...

Most total votes this week (most enthusiasm)

Hangman Adam Page - 529 votes

Alex Coughlin - 279

Drilla Moloney - 246

Rocky Romero - 245

Randy Orton - 236

And least total votes this week (least enthusiasm)

Kevin Sullivan - 153 votes

Amir Jordan - 166

Eve Torres - 174

Julius Creed - 201

Tony Nese - 218

The closest poll was Tony Nese, who won 112-106

Top Ten Overall

Kris Statlander - 91% smash

Athena - 90.2% smash

Hikaru Shida - 89.7% smash

Minoru Suzuki (Young Variant) - 88.7% smash

Swerve Strickland - 88.3% smash

Toni Storm - 88.1% smash

Hiroshi Tanahashi - 87.7% smash

Hangman Adam Page - 86.4% smash

Bianca Belair - 86.4% smash

Hikuleo - 86.0% smash

Bottom Ten Overall

Vince McMahon - 3.9% smash

Ric Flair - 4.6% smash

Kane (Corporate variant) - 10.1% smash

Miracle Violence Connection - 11.8% smash

Gene Munny - 12.4% smash

Spike Trivet - 12.% smash

Kevin Sullivan - 13.1% smash

Triple H (Terra Ryzing variant) - 18.6% smash

Eric Bischoff (NWO) - 20.0% smash

Charlie Dempsey - 22.1% smash

Top Women Overall

Kris Statlander - 91% smash

Athena - 90.2% smash

Hikaru Shida - 89.7% smash

Toni Storm - 88.1% smash

Bianca Belair - 86.4% smash

Bottom Women Overall

Eve Torres - 47.1% smash

Carmella - 47.8% smash

Nikkita Lyons - 48.2% smash

Julia Hart (Cheerleader Variant) - 49.8% smash

Kelly Kelly - 50.3% smash

Top Men Overall

Minoru Suzuki (Young Variant) - 88.7% smash

Swerve Strickland - 88.3% smash

Hiroshi Tanahashi - 87.7% smash

Hangman Adam Page - 86.4% smash

Hikuleo - 86.0% smash

Top Tag Teams

The Golden Lovers - 80.4% smash

Best Friends - 66.7% smash

Motor City Machine Guns - 65.5% smash

Roppongi Vice - 62.7% smash

Young Bucks - 43.8% smash

Mustachioed Hangman took the No. 2 spot for most total votes, with 529 votes cast. However, there was a 13.6 point drop in his smashability when the mustache is taken into account. He scored 86.4% smash for his previous poll, with 386 smash votes. With the mustache, he scored 70.7% smash, with 374 smash votes. I thought he'd do better, given how popular mustaches seem to be overall, but maybe the mustache fans are just a small, vocal minority.

Eve Torres had the misfortune of being the least smashable woman overall. She was the fourth woman to score less than 50%.

We can now add Rocky Romero to the rankings for Best Friends and Friends:

Kris Statlander - 91.0% smash

Orange Cassidy - 77.1% smash

Danhausen - 68.8% smash

Chuck Taylor - 66.2% smash

Trent Beretta - 61.3% smash

Rocky Romero - 58.4% smash

And for their tag teams, we have

Best Friends (Chuck and Trent): 66.7% smash

Roppongi Vice (Trent and Rocky): 62.7% smash

In other news, I'm starting to add Cagematch rankings to the results spreadsheet (reminder, that exists here: Google Docs). I plan to eventually make some silly charts involving those ratings, like smashability vs. Cagematch rating.

And now for some of my favorite tags and comment

@tetsuya-taito on Julius Creed: #he looks like he rubs the inner thigh and asks if you like that

@mancewarner on Julius Creed: #he does unfortunately look like hed call me a slur though so id hit it and ghost

@mancewarner on Shane Haste: #just watched an insiderz stream where he was chugging coke and burping extremely loudly into the microphone. that being said yes id smash

@sanguinaryrot on Kagetsu: #uhhhhh yeah I stand for the troops (transgender professional wrestlers)

@dykecassidy on Hangman with a Mustache: #everyone stop clicking smash i wanna be the only one please let me be alone with this hangman

@theunprettier on Drilla Moloney: #i wanna get tangled up in his body hair and die like a fish caught in ocean debris

Honorable mention to the MANY people who tagged the Hangman poll with some variation on "save a horse ride a cowboy"

#weekly wrap up

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colormush · 8 months ago

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a-shade-of-blue · 4 months ago

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New Gaza fundraiser asks I've received (16-17 August)

17 August

Ghada Ashraf ( @ghadaashrafsousi, @ghada-ashraf-sousi): Ghada is a French teacher. Her daughter Maria has not been able to get vaccinated and complete her treatment because of the genocide. They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/094016c9) (Vetted by association. @amalashuor (#175 on the verified fundraiser list by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi) has stated that Ghada is her friend, see post here for proof) (17 Aug: LOW FUNDS! Only €155 raised of €30,000 goal (9 donations!).)

Maria (@maria-gaza1): Maria is a pharmacy student from a family of 6. Their home has been destroyed and they are displaced. (https://gofund.me/b297b689)(vetted by association. She's a friend of @/wafaaresh (shared by 90-ghost) and @/mohiy-gaza (shared by 90-ghost). See post here for proof.)

Basel Ayyad (@basel1995s, basel-1995): Basel is 28 years old and from a family of 8. His daughter has suffered from a disease that impacts her growth and sight, and with the lack of medical resources in Gaza, her health is getting worse and she is gradually lodging her eyesight. They are tyring to evacuate out of Gaza and get her the treatment she needs. (https://gofund.me/0e9c79b3) (This campaign is vetted twice(!) by el-shab-hussein and is listed as #214 on the vetted fundraiser list by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi.)

Mohammed Aldeeb (@mohammedaldeeb): Mohammed is a medical professional specializing in emergency care who worked at the Al-Shifa Hospital for years. Both his home and the hospital have been destroyed. He is from a family of four. They have managed to evacuate and are now trying to cover their living expenses in Egypt. (https://gofund.me/8906146e) (vetted by el-shab-hussein and is #212 on the vetted fundraiser spreadsheet by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi.)

Tahani El-Shorbage & Wissam (@weesamshorbaji, @tahanibaby): Tahani studied chemistry and digital marketing and was an assistant professor at a uni that has now been destroyed. Tahani’s children have contracted hepatitis from water pollution. They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/de78bf6f) ( #112 on the verified fundraiser list vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi. Also promoted by nabulsi here.) (Tahani’s IG: tahani_marketing)

16 August

Karam Al-Madhoun (@karamalmadhoun0): Karam is a 20 year old graphic design student. He is from a family of five. Their house has been destroyed and they are now displaced. They are trying to evacuate to Egypt. (https://gofund.me/903d0086) (#109 on the verified fundraiser list vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi) (his IG: karam_almadhoun7)

Ahmed Abu Al-Rish (@ahmadresh): Ahmed is 19 years old and wishes to study photographic design but was unable to due to the genocide. He and his family’s house has been bombed and they are now displaced. They wish to escape from this genocide. (https://gofund.me/cecba331) (shared by 90-ghost. Ahmad has also been confirmed as @/mohiy-gaza's brother (see post here))

Ahmed Abu Omar (@ahmedabuomar, ): Ahmed and his wife has 3 children: Omar (11), Ibrahim (10) and Ahmed (4). They have been displaced and are trying to evacuate out of Gaza to Egypt. (https://gofund.me/a4e4c8d7) (Shared by apollos-olives, who states that @/ahmedabuomar is a friend of @/ahmedabuyamin (ahmedabuyamin's gfm is listed as #264 on the verified fundraiser list vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi))

Ahed Al-Ankara (@aahed255): Ahed and his wife Maysoon have 3 children: Fatima (9), Iman (6), and Nour (1). Their have been displaced for more than 10 times. They are trying to evacuate out of Gaza. (https://gofund.me/1e35b377) (This campaign has been shared by @/mohammedalanqer, whose gfm is #174 on the verified fundraiser list vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi) (17 Aug: LOW FUNDS! Only €225 raised of €40,000 goal (8 donations))

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 13 July - 25 July.

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 26 July -29 July.

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 30 July - 1 August.

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 2 August - 5 August.

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 6 August - 10 August.

Click here for my Masterlist for fundraisers from 11 August - 14 August.

How does vetting and verification work? See post here.

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sunderedstar · 4 months ago

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absolutely could not find the table of contents for Keith A. Smith's Non-Adhesive Binding Volume II: 1- 2- & 3-Section Sewings online anywhere, so here it is. for all your ILL/resource sharing/page scan request needs.

Part 1 1-Section Sewings

16 3-Hole PAMPHLET STITCH SEWING

20 DASH SEWING

21 THE LACED DASH

22 FIGURE 8

24 DOT-DASH SEWING (machine stitch)

26 THE TWIST Exit Backward

28 THE TWIST Exit Forward

29 DOUBLE DASH Alternating Exits

30 THE TWIST Exit Backward and Link

34 PEARL DASH

35 BOW TIE Running Stitch Sewing

36 THE HITCH Exit Backward, Lap and loop

38 ALTERNATING HITCH

42 SEWN CHAINS (linking to form a chain)

Part 2 - 2-SECTION SEWINGS

52 PARALLEL BARS

54 THE DASH

56 DOT-DASH

57 DASH BARS

59 DIAGONALS BARS

60 ALTERNATING DIAGONALS BARS

62 BARS ARROWS

65 STANDING Z'S OR LYING N's

68 BROKEN Z's

70 ZIGZAG

71 LIGHTNING BOLT

73 PINKING SHEARS

74 PINKING SHEARS WITH BARS

76 CARETS

78 SETS OF DIAGONAL BARS

80 LATTICE

82 Xs

83 ALTERNATING X's

84 2-SECTION TWISTED X

86 TWISTED X WITH BARS

88 LINKED X

90 SOFT K

92 TIED BOW

94 BARBER POLE

97 DESCENDING Xs

102 ALPHA Alternating Loops

104 THE WATERFALL Twin Link Stitch Sewing

107 CROSSED SNOWSHOES Intersecting Chain Stitch Sewing

110 THREAD EYE A Link Stitch Sewing

113 THREAD EYE WITH X's A Link Stitch Sewing

116 2-SECTION RUNNING STITCH

SEWING

Part 3 - 3-SECTION SEWINGS

132 MULTIPLE SECTION PAMPHLET SEWING

134 MULTIPLE SECTION FIGURE 8 SEWING 1-Needle Sewing

135 MULTIPLE SECTION FIGURE 8 SEWING 2-Needle Sewing

138 MULTIPLE SECTION, MULTIPLE FIGURE & SEWINGS 1-Needle Sewing

140 TRIPLE DASH

142 TRIPLE DASH VARIATION

145 MULTI-SECTION ON TAPES LACED INTO PAPER COVER

150 TANGENT BARS

154 UNEVEN BARS

156 ALTERNATING BARS

158 ALTERNATING LOOPED BARS

159 THE ROPE

162 TRIPLE PARQUET

164 PARQUETRY

165 G's

168 H's

170 BROKEN H's

172 DOVE TAIL

174 VERTICAL T's

177 FALLING DIAGONALS

178 DASHES & DIAGONALS

180 PAIRED DIAGONALS

182 STAGGERED DIAGONALS

184 STAGGERED DIAGONALS VARIATION

186 TRIDENT

188 ALTERNATING TRIDENTS I

189 ALTERNATING TRIDENTS I

190 S's

191 DOUBLE DIAMONDS

192 HEXAGONALS

193 ROCKET

194 LEAVES

196 HOUND'S-TOOTH CHECK

198 Ks

200 BRACKETS

202 SEVEN 7's

204 BROKEN HERRINGBONE

206 FOLDING V's

208 V's

208 V's I

210 TOUCHING ARROWS

212 AEROS Arrows

214 ISOLATED DIAMONDS

216 TOUCHING DIAMONDS

218 PISCES

220 TIRE TRACKS

222 ASSEMBLY LINE Z's

224 STAIR-STEPS

226 SAW BLADES

228 OPEN BOOK

230 ARROWHEAD

232 DIAGONAL T's

234 +s

236 +'s and X's

238 CONTIGUOUS X's (even number)

240 ISOLATED X's

242 CONTIGUOUS X's (odd number)

244 DOS ESQUIS

245 HURRICANE FENCE

246 DIAMOND X

248 3-SECTION TWISTED X

250 TIED CROSS

254 BOW TIED

258 HORSESHOES

260 LOOP THE LOOP

262 PINCHED P's

264. BOBBIN

268 SIDE BOW

270 COILED LINE

274 TRIPLE CHAIN

279 WOVEN CHAIN

283 LINKED STAR

286 BUTTERFLY STROKE

290 SHOOTING STAR

294 SPINE BRAID

296 THE COIL SPRING

#long post #bookbinding #resources

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luigiblood · 2 years ago

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The oddities of Nintendo Switch Online retro service

I've talked about a lot of things about this service, on Twitter, on Tumblr, but also a lot on Discord, but I have been thinking about a post where I could put all the accumulated information that I've gotten over the years through datamining and leaks.

Here's a post about all the little things that you may not know about the retro service of Nintendo Switch Online.

Identifiers and Stats

One of the most obvious parts of datamining these apps is that each game have a unique identifier rather than just being a game name.

On NES Switch Online, they use identifiers identical to the NES Mini ROMs, which are usually like CLV-P-H***J or CLV-P-N***E for Japanese and English, usually. On SNES, they use now an identifier like this S-****_j or S-****_e and other consoles follow suit.

The thing about these identifiers is that they have an order, they all usually follow each other. But in all the apps, there are always gaps, and those gaps can tell a huge story.

Currently as of February 2nd 2023, there are 66 Famicom games, 63 NES games, 53 Super Famicom games, and 55 Super Nintendo games on the service on all regions. If you start counting the gaps, it seems that internally, they have 185 NES titles and 174 SNES titles MINIMUM. This is a pretty huge difference.

Thanks to a leaked build of NES Switch Online from last year, we can figure out some of those missing titles, involving mostly Capcom and Konami, which are unlikely to release on the service as most of them were rereleased through collections before, though it hasn't necessarily stopped them.

That said, if you remember, we had done a similar research with Nintendo 64 and Genesis titles at launch, which the press have definitely talked about, where we found out there were potentially 38 N64 titles and 52 Genesis titles running internally at minimum, but Nintendo has actually done us dataminers a bit of a response: All IDs on N64 and Genesis are now randomized since the first updates, which means we cannot do this kind of research anymore.

That said the updates to NES and SNES apps have not done this change, they probably decided it wasn't worth it. But all that to say that Nintendo is definitely taking notice of our datamining (and won't be the last time) and won't necessarily hesitate to throw us for a loop.

The secrets of NES Switch Online 2.0.0 update

Now I'm definitely going way back in December 2018, 4 months after the debut of the full Nintendo Switch Online service after a year delay (do you actually remember that?).

In January 2019, people started to take notice of SNES game descriptions within the language files, hinting SNES Switch Online coming in the near future, and the potential games coming.

To this day, all the games except two released on the service: We're missing The Legend of the Mystical Ninja and Contra III: The Alien Wars.

The other thing that was noticed is what's called an enumeration of emulator types:

EMULATOR_TYPE_CANOE = 0 EMULATOR_TYPE_KACHIKACHI = 1 EMULATOR_TYPE_HIYOKO = 2 EMULATOR_TYPE_COUNT = 3

Canoe is the name of the SNES emulator since SNES Mini, Kachikachi is the name of the NES emulator since NES Mini, Hiyoko was, at the time, unknown, but turned out to be the Game Boy (Color) emulator, and Count is most likely a counter, to say there are 3 different emulator types, it's a programming standard.

What most people ignored at the time is that the app also included a function called getEmulatorTypeFromCode, which would return the Emulator Type based on the identifiers I talked about earlier.

Once I took notice of this and checking other code making use of it, I figured out something huge, and after talking to an actual reliable insider who also confirmed it (don't get used to this), my conclusion: They had originally developed a multi-emulator app, which would have included all games from NES, SNES and GB in one single app.

Now you may wonder why this didn't pan out, I don't have the exact reason but I can have some educated guesses: Aside from the accidental reveal of SNES emulator on Switch which I think is not that huge, I think the seperation of systems is probably because of the developers wanting to compatimentalize the development instead of having to test a huge app every time they wanted to update it to avoid potential huge regressions.

I think it's not necessarily a bad reason, as a developer I also take importance of the ease of development VS user experience, and I do think this decision is not really a bad thing overall, making a multi emulator can be extremely hard and you could deal with problems because of decisions taken extremely early on.

The secrets of SNES Switch Online

The SNES emulator derived from the Wii U Virtual Console by NERD has a bunch of secrets that you may not know about... such as the currently unused SNES Mouse emulation.

Once you start checking around the code about how to enable the SNES Mouse emulation, you find out two things:

It can be enabled using metadata within the custom ROM format.

It was able to be force enabled using specific internal emulator Game IDs.

The most interesting part of the Game IDs is that only 3 Game IDs specifically forced the SNES Mouse to be emulated: 0x11A0, 0x11A2 and 0x11A3. If we just keep ourselves to SNES titles that could only work with the SNES Mouse... we could think of only two, actually. Most of the SNES games that supports the mouse can also just work with the controller.

We can only think of Mario Paint and Mario & Wario as SNES titles that only works with SNES Mouse, but also both are first titles, so in terms of rights, there's no issues here.

The problem is like, what's the third title? And that's where we can have a lot of ideas here.

The thing about those emulator Game IDs is that they don't correspond to the Switch Online IDs, they correspond to IDs that have been populated since the Wii, but especially Wii U Virtual Console, but we don't exactly know when NERD took over the emulator from Intelligent Systems. It is currently impossible to tell for sure.

So we can only think of the following:

The third title is actually the PAL version of Mario Paint, when they used to seperate game versions in different IDs.

The third title is Sound Fantasy, the unreleased but confirmed to be completed third SNES Mouse first party game.

Or it is a game that Nintendo decided it was better to play with a mouse rather than the controller, but I don't think it's likely.

Unfortunately I don't know for certain.

One other thing about the SNES Switch Online service, you may have noticed that some of the games currently on the service can actually be played up to 4 players at the same time... at least outside of it since the emulator locks you up to 2 players maximum.

If you thought that they did not emulate the Multitap, you'd be wrong. In fact, the games in question all contain metadata saying up to 4 players, unlike what the menus might tell you, and they all technically emulate the SNES Multitap, but the user interface can only allow you 2 players, so it's sorta funny that the second player is technically plugged to the multitap from an emulation standpoint.

Funny.

The secrets of N64 Switch Online

This part has some plot twists to it, but in fact I should rather say the secrets of the N64 Wii U Virtual Console emulator, as most of these things were brought over from this.

Unlike what most people might tell you, NERD has not much to do with the N64 emulation, it was developed by iQue. If you wonder what's my evidence, the debug menu between the NES/GB VC emulator for 3DS (which is confirmed done by iQue because the source code of it leaked in 2020), and the N64 VC emulator for Wii U are pretty much the same.

I may as well mention the biggest secret of all which had a plot twist later: The N64 emulator used to have unfinished 64DD emulation code in it, since Wii U.

I do insist on unfinished because it was nowhere near enough to boot a single 64DD game, but they for some reason included a Sim City 64 configuration file on Wii U at one point, probably for initial testing.

When the emulator was ported to Switch with improvements such as Vulkan graphics rendering on Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Nintendo 64 Switch Online app, a bunch of the 64DD emulation code stayed as is, in the same unfinished state.

However something funny happened in between, the emulator had code to recognize the fanmade 64DD cartridge ports, and those are definitely fanmade, and they must have looked at other emulation code for it, and most likely, code that I even wrote myself as I did add support for these in emulators before. Note that at that point, the code to boot those games were not seemingly present, or maybe I missed it.

So I would like to assume iQue had still wanted to make 64DD games working, but wanted to test on easier to emulate versions of the games. That said, I did mention this on Twitter... and then they removed every single line of code involving 64DD in the 1.2.0 update build in January 2022. It was probably not literally removed, just not compiled as it is still a good skeleton code for it. I am definitely convinced that I'm being looked at.

When it comes to other stuff in the emulator... well did you know that the Controller Pak, the memory cartridge that you put inside the controller's slot to save in a bunch of games, is actually fully emulated since Wii U?

It is very annoying that they had something like this working, but couldn't figure out to swap between both that and the Rumble Pak for games that could make use of both.

If you wonder about the Transfer Pak, the Wii U has a bit of it, but it's just turning the hardware ON and OFF, and this code has stayed as is on Switch. I know Emily Rogers has mentioned there were experiments and I believe her, but unfortunately, the code must be in a seperate branch and not put in place in N64 Switch Online builds.

If you tell me "oh they didn't plan Pokémon transfers for Pokémon Stadium," please look at the japanese Direct about it and you'll find a widely different sentence that does not actually rule out support for this, stating that "Pokémons cannot be transferred from the Game Boy." I dunno about you, but that's a statement that makes it vague because they could just mean the actual real Game Boy.

Now I'm not really dumb, as Nintendo has showed that Switch Online is mostly low budget and does the bare minimum, but there are things that shows a bit more attention to things...

When it comes to new things that weren't in the emulator on Wii U, they actually emulated the Real Time Clock chip from Animal Crossing's N64 original version. This code actually isn't in Super Mario 3D All-Stars, this must be a fairly new addition, and since there's only one game using it, it is fair to assume Animal Crossing is actually in a working state in the emulator.

When Mario Golf was added to the service, the Lua script dedicated for it is... a bit odd. It includes code for asynchronous netplay, where each player would take control of the game in turns in an attempt to optimize the netplay and reduce lag. This code is fully unused, there's not even the functions that it uses in the emulator yet.

This could also be additional evidence towards my theory that the NSO apps would see a refresh including user experience to some extent, but this stuff was added since April 2022, so whatever they are doing, it's certainly in private and has been in the works for almost a year now.

This post... is a bit long already, and there are still a bunch of other little secrets to uncover, but I think I covered the most technical ones so far, I hope this post is mostly clear about these secrets. Feel free to give me feedback.

#nintendo switch online #snes #super nintendo #nintendo 64 #nes #secrets #tech #nintendo

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