#...kinda?This is highly OUT of the context

[greenbirdtrash]

RHRN OUT OF CONTEXT SPOILERS AHEAD

It was too funny.

Me texting that one friend who makes a hella bad job at hiding their amusement with feet. It's a running joke at this point

[violinist-rachel]

why'd you stop playing the violin?

"It isn't as though I've stopped playing altogether..."

Rachel brushes her hair aside.

"I'm just tired of performing onstage. I've been playing the violin since I was a child, but it has almost always been for others."

"I think I just need a break from it so that I can focus on myself. There's more to life than playing at concerts, after all."

[todayisafridaynight]

Morning! I'm here to harass you. 🤭

Hangover status?

And how vivid is the memory of stream? 🤣

GOOD MORNING STARS you could never harass me 😤

and LIKE I SAID DURING STREAM i never get hangovers !!!!!!! ive also been awake since like. 4AM so even if i did get one i'd prob be fine by now LOL

and trust. i remember. Everything from stream.

[lazaruspiss]

so the good news is that yes a lot of people can wrap their brain around the concept of there being different rules for childrens content and 18+ fanfiction. the bad news is that there is a weird amount of people who need to read more ie: the definition of media and the articles that they assume agree with them based off of title.

People know that the whole "don't portray [harmful action] because viewers might recreate it" thing is a rule for children's shows right? It's supposed to be shit like "don't show peppa pig playing with fire so we don't get sued if a kid watches it and burns their house down." Not like, fanfiction for adults.

Edit: this was me venting about fandom cops. not me making some nuanced hot take. don't be weird in my comments.

[spirngakawening]

Sometimes when reblogging I think "it's been a while since I've posted anything Spring Awakening-related, people might be surprised to see it on my blog" then I remember what my blog name is

[sexybritishllama]

in further neopets discord news, oh boy is there drama in my awful virtual pet game website today. strap in if you want way too much information on neopets’ broken economy

for some context, an event has just launched called the faerie festival. this is the first event to be run by the ‘new’ TNT (aka. the neopets team aka. the staff) since the leadership change, and they've said in recent editorials that this year’s faerie festival is going to be a combo of two previous popular events:

the faerie quest event, wherein people can get a free quest from a faerie every day in exchange for a reward (something that’s normally limited to random special events and therefore quite rare)

the charity corner, a highly requested event that hasn’t run since 2020, where you can donate random items to get points that can then be exchanged in a prize shop

there’s a LOT of ultimately worthless items on neopets that people gather from doing dailies and things, but charity corner actually gave a use to hoarding all of these, so people have wanted it back for ages. people have been going out of their way to hoard extra junk items for like 2 months now, after TNT teased the event in an editorial

this event was originally meant to start on 20th august, but got delayed 2 weeks, presumably because of issues behind the scenes. people were generally a bit disappointed but relieved if this meant they were going to get a proper, well prepared event without bugs

flash forward to 2nd october, the actual start of the event. nothing actually opens up for several hours on the day- that’s somewhat waved off by the fact that staff presumably need to be in the office to launch everything, a midnight launch isn’t expected

but, eventually, it opens!

well… kinda. there’s one page with one dialogue scene available and a link to an event page for spending neocash (the premium currency that costs irl money). the faerie quest page is giving out free daily quests, which is nice, but literally just the same as they did back in 2020. where’s the item recycling part? did this really need 2 weeks of delay?

the next day, the FAQ page for the event is published neopets support site (but not announced via news). still no sign of the actual event starting- seems like that might not be until moday?

as well as multiple grammatical errors, the FAQ had a few… concerning elements. most notably:

only 10 items could be donated per day

points would be awarded based on the rarity of the item, with the maximum rarity being r200-500, worth 15 points each

this meant people's hoarding of junk items for months was... essentially useless

r200-500 items basically means either hidden tower items (rare, expensive items that can only be bought in an account age locked shop with a purchase limit of 1 per day) orrrr….. neocash items. In other words, players could either spend an exorbinate amount of their in-game currency to buy up items to donate, or they could just hand over their credit card and pay to win

people were Not Happy about this

not long after info spread and the outcry started (and a sizeable number of people cancelled their premium membership in protest), the FAQ was quietly updated to remove mention of donating neocash items. that took away to pay to win element at least

however, now there was a new problem. a tombola man problem.

i mentioned already that the highest rarity items are pretty rare and expensive. one of the least expensive of these is an item called the Squeezy Tombola Guy Toy. you can probably see where this is going already

because you can only buy a maximum of one tombola guy per day from the hidden tower, your only option if you want to buy more than that in a day is to go to user shops. however, in light of the event, people had already started buying and hoarding tombola guy toys. equally, others were buying them purely to sell at a profit. this made the perfect storm and caused the price of the tombola guy toy, which was normally 110k NP, to explode up to 500k, 600k, even 700k within just one day

BUT THEN THE FAQ GOT UPDATED AGAIN. surprise, you can now donate 30 items per day! also they just got rid of the highest rarity tier altogether. the maximum you can get for an item is now 8 points, for rarity r102-r179.

this has now made the squeezy tombola guy toys useless. unless you’re a collector they don’t serve any function beyond that of a normal neopets toy (of which there’s thousands of much cheaper options). the price has now plummeted down to BELOW what it originally was and many users now have piles and piles of the dolls sitting in their inventory, mocking them

so what now? well, because no one ever learns, everyone is now flocking to what is now the cheapest high-rarity item eligible for donation. most are going for omelettes, which have a few different options at r102+. these have also inflated by like 400% from before the event, but unlike the squeeze tombola guys, these are only worth a few thousand neopoints, so not as bad a potential loss in comparison

it’s worth noting that while all this is going on in preparation for the recycling event, neopets is also experiencing insane inflation in a lot of other items right now, including those required for people to complete faerie quests. for example, a Griefer, which cost 5000 np just last week, is now worth selling for 1 MILLION

So yeah. 3 days into the event and that’s where we are so far. who knows what tomorrow might bring

[sunny-knight]

oh….. the THINGS i would give for a @forgettable-au movie……..

gang- okay…

The vision of Papyrus and Gaster at Wingdings’ funeral…. was so vivid in my head. And now its going to be there forever. and i have 0 complaints.

Dunno if any of you have played Omori, but SPOILERS!

the context to this is kinda like the Blackspace segment. Papyrus is in his head sorting out the shit he needs to sort out through metaphors n such. But Gaster is also there because he can do that because theyre the same person (IT MAKES SENSE)

I imagine that whole thing happens right after Papyrus regains all his wingdings memories like he gets knocked out or something- IM MAKING A LOT OF ASSUMPTIONS HERE LIKE HE MIGHT NOT EVEN REMEMBER, EVER!!! I REALLY HOPE HE DOES!!! BUT!!!

Just let me have my silly fanfics…

After a lot of fighting and agony over the question of WHO IS PAPYRUS? ESPECIALLY AFTER HE’S LEARNED TOO MUCH?

it ends with a somber scene of putting Wingdings to rest, letting his 2 halves live their own lives.

Papyrus asks “Why did you do this?” as in… Why did you bring me here? and why did you do what you did? throwing yourself into the void?

Gaster has the same answer for both of those questions

Thats my theory, I think a lot of Gaster/Wingdings’ ambition, in game and in comic, is just curiosity

TIME FOR SOME FUN LITTLE EASTER EGGS!!!

In the first frame, theres a raindrop in front of Papyrus’ eye socket, meant to allude to Wingdings’ eye lights.

Also the field is filled with Echo and Golden flowers. Echo represents Wingdings, and Golden represents Papyrus. Gaster is just Gaster, don’t worry about him

I also had fun making the save point star look sorta like a cross from the distance…cause yknow…heaven….TEEHEE

I got emotional putting “dearest brother” on the grave cause I couldnt put any more stuff like “closest friend” or “dear son”….Sans was kinda all he had…

and lastly heres some bonus behind the scenes stuff because I have enough room for it

some sketches, and a speedpaint with the best instrumental song ever made from the best liveaction movie ever made that has absolutely nothing to do with the forgettable au (Little Miss Sunshine - “THE WINNER IS”)

Highly recommend, 100/10, makes me UGLY SOB, think the undertale gang would like it (especially Papyrus and Undyne)

[starcrossedandstupid]

@mystical-cinnamoon !!!

anti rpf people are so funny they're always like "how would you feel if people shipped you with your friend" i don't know how to break it to you but if i was famous and no one was writing fanfiction about me i would be devastated. i wouldn't feel like i made it until i could search my name on ao3 and find 10k+ explicit results. peace and love though

[pearwaldorf]

I know I've reblogged it before but I cannot recommend F.D. Signifier's video on the Kendrick/Drake beef highly enough. This is extremely good analysis of a subculture from an expert and enthusiast that's accessible to a layperson, with the necessary historical context.

Also he dunks on Drake fans in a hilarious but mean way and I respect that. But he also has enough critical distance to step back and acknowledge some of the kinda shitty ways Drake's been treated, while keeping in mind that Drake just fucking sucks.

It's well worth your time and I'll be checking out his other stuff.

[hazbinwhoree]

Adam and Lute with a very powerful overlord reader who is doing multiple jobs at once and is obviously tired and overworked, and is just like, "I'm done, I'm too tired to deal with your bullshit." She kinda has the same personality as Aizawa from mha (Reader may or may not have an addiction to coffee, tea, and energy drinks. I can see them meeting when Charlie drags her to her meeting with adam and Lute. Charlie:(y/n)? When was the last time you slept? (Y/N): What the fuck is sleep? *drinks 10 gallons of coffee in one sitting*)

An Angel & An Overlord

A/N: I had fun writing this and hope it’s what you wanted! I don’t know who Aizawa is so I did my best based on context clues. Disclaimer, there will not be a part 2, I’m drowning in requests.

Adam was already bored of this meeting with Lucifer and Lilith’s daughter. She and her associates were pleading their case to let sinners go to Heaven (ha!) while he chowed down on some ribs. Then the door swung open.

A demon came stumbling in, an energy drink in each hand, looking disheveled and tired. But fuck, she was hot.

“(Name)!” Charlie exclaimed. “Thank you for coming! I know you’re busy.” Adam and (Name) had made prolonged eye contact. “What? Oh, yeah, no problem, Char.” She tore her eyes away, looking at the ribs he was eating. “Fuck those look good. Now I’m hungry.”

“And who’s this hottie?” Adam smirked, slumping back in his seat. The demon rolled her eyes, slamming one of her drinks on the table. “She said my name already, asshole. And put some respect on it, I’m highly ranked down here.”

“Whatever you say, tits.”

She hissed at him. Adam felt a small thrill at the action.

“Eat shit.”

“Um, (Name), maybe don’t fight with Adam, we need him to approve the plan-” “I’m not going to approve the plan,” Adam laughed. “Sinners? In Heaven? As if.”

(Name) sighed, patting Charlie’s back. “Looks like my services are pointless.” She made to leave, but Adam stopped her. “Well wait, what was your role in this little presentation?” He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want her leaving yet. “I have statistics from asking sinners if they would take the Hazbin Hotel seriously if Heaven approved it.”

Adam pretended to think on that. “Interesting, but Heaven will never approve.”

She flipped him off.

“Right back at you, bitch.”

Despite the annoyed face he put on, Adam liked this demon much more than the sunshine and rainbows princess. She spoke his language.

(Name) pounded back the energy drink she was still holding while the room watched on, Charlie and Vaggie looking vaguely concerned. “(Name), did you sleep last night?” “Who needs sleep?” The overlord crushed the drink can. “Aight, I’m out.” She saluted the room and left.

(Name) woke up the next morning to an invitation outside her door. To her shock, it was from Adam. He requested they meet, listing coordinates and a time for when he would open a portal to Heaven. Curious, (Name) decided to go.

At the time allotted, she stood at the spot, nursing a coffee. A portal opened in front of her, and apprehensively, (Name) stepped through it. “You actually came.” Adam looked surprised to see her. “Curiosity killed the cat,” (Name) replied. Adam smirked. “Well welcome to Heaven, hottie.”

They were stood outside what looked like an apartment building. Adam turned to enter it. “Coming, sugar tits?” “Don’t call me that.” Still, she followed him. They rode an elevator up to the very top of the building, and the doors opened to reveal a penthouse.

“Is this where you live?” (Name) asked, stepping out and beginning to look around. “Yeah.”

Adam was unusually quiet, watching (Name) anxiously. “I made more ribs,” he spoke up. “If you want some.” He sounded unsure of himself. (Name) almost found it endearing. “Sure.” She followed Adam into the kitchen and sat down at the table, and Adam placed a plate of ribs in front of her.

(Name) wanted to ask what this was about, but she had forgotten to eat yesterday, and hadn’t had time to eat today, so she was absolutely ravenous. She dug into the ribs with vigor, ignoring Adam’s eyes on her. He took a seat across from her at the table, picking at his own plate of ribs.

“Damn, girlie, you can really put it away. One would think you’re starving. When’s the last time you ate?” “Mm, don’t remember,” (Name) answered through a full mouth. “You really don’t give a shit about yourself.” (Name) frowned. “I do, I’m just… I’m so busy. Overlord duties and shit, y’know?”

“I don’t, actually,” Adam replied as (Name) polished off the last of the ribs. He took two off his plate and put them on hers. “Tell me about it.”

(Name) realized, suddenly, that this felt a lot like a date. But these ribs were really good and Adam was being strangely sweet (he wasn’t bad looking either), so (Name) didn’t say anything about it.

“Well the other overlords have been holding a lot more meetings recently because Carmilla and Velvette are fighting, not that those names mean anything to you.” “What are they fighting about?” “I can’t disclose that.” To her surprise, Adam didn’t push. She continued.

“On top of that, I’ve got all these new contracts, I definitely took on too many deals recently, but the more souls I own, the more powerful I am.”

“I can respect that. I guess Lute isn’t the only Danger Tits I know.”

(Name) rolled her eyes. “Stop talking about tits.” “Aw, but yours are so nice, babe.” (Name) found herself actually flustered by the comment, but didn’t let it show on her face.

Her tail swished, giving away the fact she was flustered, but luckily Adam didn’t know her well enough yet to realize her tell. (Name) noticed vaguely that she’d thought yet.

Like she was going to let Adam get to know her better. Although, she supposed she already was.

They talked for a while longer, discussing (Name)’s life in Hell as an overlord, and occasionally things about Adam. But she noted he let her do most of the talking. When the conversation came to a natural conclusion, (Name) realized she’d been there for almost two hours.

“Fuck, I have to go,” she said, and Adam stood. Wordlessly, he made a portal in the middle of his living room. Before (Name) stepped through it, he spoke. “Maybe we can do this again?”

(Name) smiled to herself.

“Yeah. Maybe we can.”

[chaotic-archaeologist]

https://nypost.com/2024/08/28/world-news/boy-4-accidentally-smashes-bronze-age-jar-that-was-at-least-3500-years-old/

Your thoughts?

Personally, I'm kinda sick of museums being required to cater to kids so much. If you're going to do this open air exhibit, kids who don't know how to keep their hands to themselves just shouldn't be allowed in. The glass is there for this very reason.

Actually, I'm with the museum on this one. Is it unfortunate that the vase was broken? Yes. Was the vase a valuable piece of the past? Also yes. But I think the museum did something very cool by not having the artifacts behind glass and are handling this with good grace and the sense to make this a learning opportunity.

Sometimes we overlook the fact that museums often attempt to arrest or freeze artifacts in time. They are kept in controlled conditions to prevent them from deteriorating and even treated to reverse damage. Many things on display on museums are elevated beyond their original value, alienated from their original purpose, and closed off from interaction.

It's incredible that this jar survived as long as it did—and its age is what makes it special—but at the end of the day, it is still a jar. It has now experienced the thing that happens to pretty much every jar that has been or will be. After all, decay is an extant form of life. (If you want to read a very well written and interesting take on decay and archaeology, check out this article by Caitlin DeSilvey.)

The article I linked above provides some important context and the update that the museum is planning on using this as an opportunity to teach about the conservation process. The jar's story is not over; it is being pieced back together and in this next chapter in its life it will be able to tell two stories: one of its life and the other of its rebirth. The museum's approach embraces that, exactly like the Japanese art of Kintsugi.

I also agree with the museum's decision not to punish the child or his family. Things go wrong in museums all the time despite their highly controlled environments, and this is why they have artifacts insured. Sometimes the thing that happens is a child, and by and large museums do not seek damages.

I would encourage you to rethink your stance on museums and children. Museums are for everyone. Children have a right to experience museums and what they have to offer just like anyone else. There are also many studies that discuss how going to museums benefits children.

In this case, perhaps the exhibit design was slightly flawed, but the four year old boy accidentally knocked the jar over because he was curious about what was inside and wanted to investigate. Curiosity is exactly what museums should be encouraging. In an ideal world that curiosity would have been channeled into some other kind of engagement, but the folks who work in museums have a lot on their plates and cannot plan everything perfectly all the time. Even if they could, they often do not have the resources to do so.

Finally, the AP article mentions that the boy and his family were visiting the museum to get away from Hezbollah rocket fire. Regardless of your opinions on the current conflict, everyone deserves to have a safe place to exist. That museums can serve as those spaces is an honor.

I commend the Hecht Museum and the people working there. They 1) successfully provided a place of learning and refuge, 2) opted not for a punitive approach—which is often the default Western model for justice—but a compassionate one, and 3) are using this twist of fate to create programming that will further engage the public.

@museeeuuuum and @museum-spaces would you care to comment?

-Reid

[egophiliac]

#i feel you op i also started initially to read the stories but got busy grinding for events instead 😭 #i also haven't read any of the events not even madguy bc i feel like im gonna miss a lot of context i feel sorry for my boys #although I've recently caught up to ch7 and it made me a stornger more brainrotted madguy fan than before #ppl said it's gonna get more insane later on and im nervous #but so far. the stories are GOOD i highly recommend reading it if you're able to #it's just kamen rider but with extra steps #also to assuage your fear (i hope?) i heard from the grapevines that the change to leon is minimal you can easily miss it (via @chipsncookies)

YES I feel a lot better knowing other people are in the same boat as me! :') as someone who only plays games very casually, the events are fun (and have been a good excuse to get those support stories on characters I was kinda ignoring) but SO distracting -- and they have a connected overarching narrative of their own (make sure you read them in order when you get to them!) so I don't want to skip any. which I guess is to say that my problem is that I'm enjoying the writing too much! how dare they.

overall it definitely has that Kamen Rider tone and feeling I was hoping for and I am VERY pleased with it! I do kinda miss the kitbashy monsters, though otherwise it's basically just Rider But With More Random Scenes of Characters Being Ridiculous At Each Other and that is exactly what I was after. (also exquisite taste, Mad Guys are best guys 🤝)

and as long as I still haven't gotten to episode 13 and can therefore continue to be hilariously naive, let me just say that I know what I'm dreaming of for Leon. he deserves it.

...although I do think it would be VERY funny if they made that whole big "WE WILL BE UPDATING LEON'S SPRITES TO REFLECT STORY CHANGES!!!!" announcement and then it turns out that they just like. hue-shifted his eye color slightly to the right or something. it's not even a big story beat, Leon just decided to try out some color contacts, maybe comb his hair back a little, and we don't have the heart to tell him to stop. :(

[sylveon-and-velveon]

Oh God can we please see what the slashers would do if you played 'Hopelessly Devoted To You' from Grease? Just in time for Valentines Day 🥺🥺🥺

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! For couples and singles {like me lol}

OMG yes! I loved watching Grease as a kid!! AFTER MAKING THIS: Should say somehow half of these became "love language" responses- I follow you, hol' up

This will include: Michael Myers {OG & RZ}, Brahms Heelshire, Jason Voorhees, Billy Lenz, Freddy Krueger, Stu Macher, Billy Loomis, Thomas Hewitt, Bubba Sawyer, Harry Warden, Tiffany Valentine

Feel free to request any shitpost writing prompt ideas you can think of in my asks, I love silly non-serious ideas XD We besties if you give me Cupcakke remixes-

OG Michael Myers

It's giving lovesick, it's giving obsessed, it's giving "I'm not leaving you"

Well for Michael anyway-

He'd probably take the song a little too seriously, and think you're never gonna ever leave him.

He's never been the best at romance

Blame where he was "raised" for over a decade-

RZ Michael Myers

Just as much in the "never been good with romance" department

But hey, the music isn't loud and obnoxious so he doesn't mind as much to the music you're playing

Especially since it's not as vulgar like.... last time you played music around him

You music player lives to see another day!!

Brahms Heelshire

He sees it as a love language, that you're using music to properly show your love for him without feeling uncomfortable throughout it all

Yep, that's my new headcannon now. His love language is through music. Especially with pianos

He hears you playing that? Oh his heart is MELTING right then there!! He's gonna be giving you cuddles for DAYS after hearing that

Someone make this love language canon please-

Jason Voorhees

Imagine if his mom used to listen to this song?

Bringing him memories. Bittersweet ones probably

Unless you headcannon his mom's still alive, then just sweet

Unless you have a sad headcannon about his mom then you fucked either way mate TvT

But anyway, it brings him memories and he's enjoying the music with you

I kinda went on a Pamela rant there- XD

Billy Lenz

A little confused but he got the spirit

He ain't understanding a lot of it until he hears iconic line from the song

Then he running over to you and is NEVER letting you go

But he still confused

But he trying TvT

Freddy Kreuger

Okay.... here me out:

Yeah the dude will be ridiculous with goofy ass music

But with romantic related songs?

...

So you know how he has one hand that isn't covered with the glove?

And no, you're not getting anymore context to my thought process-

Stu Macher & Billy Loomis

Short and sweet, they'd both love it

Billy's calm about it, while Stu is just like a big doggy. Oh- he is SO happy!!

Billy ain't gonna stop him, it's a good song. And it makes the both of you happy

What's to complain?

Thomas Hewitt

Takes him a few seconds to understand the implications of this song but when he does he's gonna give you a big ass hug

Bone crushing? Probably-

It's Thomas, he'd probably accidently do it-

But he still loves you

Even if he accidently puts you in a wheelchair

Bubba Sawyer

Yeah you gotta explain the song, poor guy highly wouldn't understand the meaning

Or he would... but BARELY-

You gotta explain what the song's about, when he finally does understand he's gonna be so in love with you.

And the song

Like a little confession song... weird choice for a confession song. But you do you-

Harry Warden

A little old fashioned but he understands the song is romantic-esc

He'd vibe to song, bounce his head along to the beat a little

Tap his feet to beat as well, maybe change back and forth between the two

He's never watched the movie before but now the song makes him want to watch the movie

Specifically with you ^^

Tiffany Valentine

She's watched the movie, but she doesn't wanna admit it

But the second, THE SECOND, she hears you playing that song

Ohhhhhhhhhhh you two are singing that song together with no shame

It's her guilty pleasure song, but knowing that you listen to this song now makes her more confident!

Hell yeah!!!

[justxtalking]

Do u think maybe when killua was stalking gon it was because he was jealous of gon and not palm for going on a date with palm or just going on a date?like what proof do we have that he was jealous of palm other than him not liking palm?and when he asked gon if he had went on a date before gon said yes and killua had a rock drop on his face😭and he kinda envied him like hes so experianced,maybe he was jealous of gon not palm

Eh, the third magical option?

The thing is, Killua doesn't show any interest in dating. Not then, not before and not after. And, as you pointed out, he doesn't even like Palm. What we do know about Killua is that he wants to be with Gon forever.

Let me explain my thoughts a bit more, with all the proof.

Disclaimer: This is how I see it. Just my perspective on this topic. Literally, just my opinion.

Before talking about the date, I think it's necessary to talk about the scenes that came before. Everything it's clearer with context, and I think it's better if we don't see the date in isolation.

Killua's conflict in these scenes (and more) revolves around his love and care for Gon. Being more specific, his desire to stay with Gon. These scenes are written mostly focusing on Killua's perspective, too.

“Gon, you are light.”

The scene is really powerful and important for Killua as a character and in his relationship with Gon. Here, Togashi focuses mainly on Killua’s feelings towards Gon, as it is shown through the art and the inner-monologue. Before, Killua was feeling down thanks to what Knov, Netero and Morel said to him. Here are some examples of what they said:

It directly links to Killua’s weakness, which is presented later in this part of the arc.

However, Gon thanks him and makes him feel better. What I want to take from this scene is 1. Killua sees Gon as light.

Togashi literally portrays Gon as light by using the white space, lines that seem to come from Gon, and adding subtle white lines to Killua’s shocked expression. To Killua, he shines so bright he can’t keep on looking at him.

If you ask me, I don't think this is the first time Killua sees Gon like this. I think Gon was bright to him since almost the moment they first met, though I do think Killua's feelings grew more and more as the story continued. However, it is the first time we, the readers, are told by Killua about it. This is the first time Togashi shows Killua thinking in those terms about Gon.

And 2. He asks himself, “But… can I still stay by your side?” This is important because Killua, here, is already questioning himself if he, being the person he is, can stay with Gon.

2. Palm

When this scene ends, we meet Palm. What I want to take from these scenes is the following.

First, Palm is introduced as a highly disturbing character, and clearly not mentally well. Her design resembles a horror character (she looks like the girl of The Ring), her speech bubbles are wobbly as if she's trembling, and her behavior is truly unhinged in more ways than one.

It's also important to take into account that Togashi loves dark humor, and he makes a lot of jokes with Palm.

Second, neither Killua nor Biscuit know how to talk to her. They are deeply disturbed by her (and rightly so) and uncomfortable. The only one who can speak to her normally is Gon. Not because he is not disturbed or because he is totally oblivious, he was weirded out at first, but he has a clear goal (train and rescue Kite) and knows how to behave around her better than the other two.

Examples of Biscuit and Killua:

Gon is acting determined and positive, which leads to Palm liking him. Killua, in these cases, is disturbed by Palm and he notices Gon is able to deal with Palm, something Biscuit and him can't do.

Third, Palm is highly worried about Gon and Killua not being able to beat Knuckle and Shoot. She's presented like a threat to the trio, and she warns them more than once about it.

If Palm gets angry, they could be killed. That's why Biscuit ends up running away.

3) Killua's weakness

Here we, the readers, are informed for the first time of Killua's weakness in battle. If we pay attention to Killua's behavior in previous scenes, we would realize that this is something that he has been doing since the beginning.

What I want to take from this is the following:

This spell takes “an enormous effort to break.”

2. Killua gets scared and worried that, if he can't get over his weakness and beat Shoot, he will have to “stay out of Gon's life” because one day he could “let Gon down and leave him to die.” Killua does not want to leave Gon and does not want Gon to suffer because of him. This is linked with the first point I explained, and Killua questioning himself about being able to stay with Gon.

What Biscuit said to him served as a wake-up call for him to try and change.

However, despite his best efforts, he still lost against Shoot. Killua feels awful about that because it means he will have to leave Gon. He made up his mind that it was for the best, but since Gon is nenless, Killua feels like he can't leave him alone just yet. He needs to protect him.

4) The date!

First, when Gon and Killua arrive, Palm is destroying dolls of Gon with a knife, and wanting revenge because Gon and Killua failed despite Gon's promise. Both react shocked, but Gon is the one who tries to make it up to her, since he was the one who made the promise and failed.

Here, Killua is clearly unhappy about the situation. He gets angry and disturbed. He understands the concept of dating and he doesn't like that Gon will have a date with Palm. He tries to object and complains to Gon and to Palm, going back and forth. He doesn't want Gon to go out with Palm, not because he wants to go on a date instead of Gon but because Gon will go out with Palm. I don't think Killua would have cared this much if another person instead of Gon would have gone out with Palm.

It's one of the cases where we could say Killua was jealous, as he is taking an active role to avoid this date from happening.

Second, the gym scene. As I mentioned before, Killua was already thinking about Gon being able to deal with Palm, so here he asks him about dating (since he made the connection between the two.)

When Gon answers that he did, as you mentioned, Togashi draws a rock drop, a device to show that Killua was extremely shocked by Gon's answer (and also for comedic effect.) Killua relaxes a bit when Gon says it was mostly with Mito, but he again reacts shocked when he hears there were others.

The fact that Killua thinks Gon “is so experienced” together with Gon saying that “They call those types cougars” while looking so innocent is a joke of dark humor. We don't know the true nature of these dates, to be honest, but it's what gave Gon the experience to know how to behave around Palm so she doesn’t hurt them.

Killua here does not act like he envies Gon, he's more shocked than anything (and a bit disturbed.) What's interesting in this scene is when Gon asks Killua back about dating, Killua answers a bit nervously and completes his sentence in his mind: “And I thought we would stay together.”

If you ask me if he's okay with Gon dating other people, I would say he isn't because of these reactions.

Killua is not interested in dating someone else, he just wants to stay with Gon. What comes to his mind at that moment is what Biscuit said to him (what I explained in point 3, Killua's weakness.) He truly doesn't want to leave Gon, but he thinks it's for the best.

And I may have no proof, but it looks as if he shed a tear or two and he wiped his face fast. Togashi did hide Killua's face when Killua was about to cry.

Third, the date. Before delving into how Togashi wrote it, we need to take into account that this date is a romance trope often found in shoujo. There is a lot to say about the shoujo elements Togashi includes in his stories, but I'll focus only on this one.

This trope is still pretty popular, but it was easily found in romance during the 2000s, especially in school romance. I believe the Hunter X Hunter chapters of this scene came out around the early 2000s (at least that's what my own volume says), so it makes sense that Togashi wanted to include something of the sort in his work.

The trope has different forms, however, Togashi follows the most traditional one. It is usually used to add drama and tension to the love story. Literally, to stir up some drama. The third person is shown as a possible threat to the main couple (typical love triangle) and helps the couple and the characters to grow in some way.

In relation to the scene, it consists of the main character going on a date or simply going out with a third person outside of the relationship (sometimes it can be the second male/female lead or someone else) while the main love interest follows them making excuses as to why but worried about them being together.

Togashi follows the same format in this scene, with his own goals. It's one of the reasons why I think the reader would think Killua is jealous, since he's acting like the love interest in hiding.

Generally, the character wears a hat, glasses, or both to go undercover. Killua wears a hat.

The love interest in hiding makes excuses as to why he's following them. During the date, Killua follows Gon and Palm (and lies about his whereabouts to Gon), and he keeps on saying he’s following them because “he needs to protect Gon,” which could sound like an excuse to justify himself. He even feels self-conscious about what he's doing, but says to himself that he's doing this to protect Gon.

It adds to the fact that from the beginning, as I've explained before, Killua feels like he needs to protect Gon. Killua, despite losing against Shoot, stayed with Gon because he would be vulnerable against the enemies and Palm. He thinks more than once that he needs to protect Gon.

3. Killua gets annoyed by Palm's new appearance, which is another reaction that the love interest in hiding usually has. In my opinion, Killua was shocked by it and he was also mad because now she looked more like a possible love interest to Gon.

Also, another thing about the trope, Gon takes Palm out for a date so he can make it up for failing her. He takes her to several places that are used for dates in shoujo (the aquarium, for example). I think it's interesting to know that, too.

During the date, I'll admit that Killua's reactions smell a bit like jealousy of Palm (at least to me). He also continues being disturbed. But I repeat, he doesn't show interest in dating. The thing is, the focus is in his worry for Gon's safety and his deepest desire, which is to stay with Gon.

To end this section, it is also interesting to mention that when the date ends, Gon rejects Palm at the same time Killua leaves to find the chimera ant. The main character (in this case Gon) rejects the second love interest (in this case Palm) since he's not interested in them.

5) The conclusion!

I know you only mentioned the date, but I think it's important to talk about how all of this ends, since it has to do with Killua's turmoil I mentioned at the beginning and Killua's stand on Palm and Gon.

Killua fights the chimera ant and finally takes Illumi's needle out of his head. This scene must be one of the most powerful scenes of Killua. After failing in his fight against Shoot, he is now fighting against a dangerous enemy, who does want to kill him and Gon. (I hate that ant.)

Killua makes a tremendous effort and is able to take the needle out because of his own strength and desire to not lose Gon. What gave him so much strength is his love for Gon. He literally frees himself.

When he returns, he's a lot firmer with Palm. He does look a lot freer than before, too. Killua doesn't have to leave Gon anymore.

I would like to highlight some dialogues in this scene. It continues to resemble a love triangle between the three of them (Gon, the main character, Killua, the main love interest, and Palm, the third character who comes to make drama), among other things.

Before, Palm already said to Killua, “Stop interfering, it's between him and me.” Killua complained but it didn't get him anywhere.

Now, Palm repeats to Killua, “Stay out of it. It's none of your business,” which in turn Killua answers, “You stay out of it. In fact, just go away.” At this moment, this Killua is able to stand up for himself a lot better than before. He's clearly showing his discontentment for Palm and her dating Gon.

Something interesting about this is that Palm notices Killua's cuts from the fight at that moment, too. Killua is also able to dodge Palm's attack with no effort and to run away with Gon.

Palm gets extremely angry because Killua is interfering in her relationship with Gon. She literally wants to find him and kill him.

She doesn't because Knov appears, lol.

Togashi finishes this whole Palm's adventure with Gon and Killua thinking how Gon can get free from Palm. Just like Killua was not interested in dating Palm, Gon wasn't either. He was just forced.

So yeah! This is how I see it. I'm sorry I can't give you a more confident answer. You're free to make your own conclusions.

I think Killua's annoyance can be easily interpreted as jealousy of Palm (the romance trope doesn't help his case lol). And I think it's safe to assume that part of the reason why Killua doesn't like Palm is because she likes Gon.

However, at that moment, I don't think Killua has still reached the point of wanting to date Gon (maybe he surprises me in the future), or anyone for that matter. Though I do think if Gon asks him to date for real, he wouldn't say no.

Killua does show genuine concern for Gon and a deep desire to stay with him. And it's obvious that he loves him a whole lot. If you ask me if that love is romantic or not, I would say that yes, but it's a lot deeper than that.

I think it's highly interesting that Togashi wrote such important scenes for Killua with Palm in mind. I can't get over the fact that he literally used a romance trope to make Killua grow. Food for thought, to be honest.

I hope I answered your question and that I'm not too late, omg. I had a good time writing this, so thank you. I got really excited when I saw your question because I love speaking about this. However, I hope I was coherent enough. For you and anyone who is reading this.

[imbecominggayer]

Writing Exposition And Info Into The Story

This specific post is for @loverboyxbutch who has asked for multiple things with multiple caveats so we have to absolutely get this perfectly answered!

Question One: Exposition And Letters

The quote: I was wondering if you had any advice about telling part of a narrative through things like letters or diary entries?

There are two different ways to incorperate diary entries and letters. It all depends on your formatting

You could have the person's letter be an actual quoted segment of the letter so the reader could physically read it or you could have the basic information be relayed to the reader by the characters.

Neither way isn't better than the other but they do have different pros and cons.

The benefits of quotes is the fact that it allows the reader to see the original writer's personality to come through in their writing. The con is the fact that this quoting can quickly get out of hand and the information is kinda under the emotion.

The benefits of characters relaying the information is the fact that this cuts down on flowing emotion. All the information is laid out there! The negative is the fact that this information lacks emotion and personality.

Objectively speaking, expositio is best gathered through story since it's more natural without having to do an infodump!

Question Two: Balancing Emotion With Info

Quote: "I’m not too sure how to balance the realism and emotion with the information that needs to be displayed."

Remember, realism in stories is less "factually accurate" and more "consistent within itself".

In this case, realism in information is "would this character say this" and "how would this character say this"?

Audiences hate "infodumps" because it feels like the character's personality has turned off and now a college professor is speaking.

So it's definitely important you maintain a character's unique voice and personality when reporting on information. However this can lead to some unreliable narrating.

Ultimately, a character's emotion trumps all else. If a character doesn't have a personality that would reveal all this information in an objective way then they will hide stuff or tell the information in a way that validates their own perspective.

However, in the case a character is willing to reveal information without trying to impress their ideology and beliefs onto your character you need to keep in mind what a character could reasonably know and care about.

Two characters could know the same information but prioritize others. For example, D might focus on the damn bread prices rising again while C is focused on the official's death.

Question 3: What Context The Reader Needs

Quote: "I struggle to imagine how much context the reader would want or need."

This is definitely the hardest thing to answer since this is a highly case by case basis but I will try.

The best universal measurement for what a reader needs to know is how much a character needs to know.

Your characters have information that the readers don't have and the readers have information that the characters don't have but readers don't want to know everything.

Readers need a little confusion and curiousity so they will keep reading and investigating.

The key is to get enough information out there that readers will be emotionally incentived to chase after the rest.

For Worldbuilding, unless this information directly impacts the characters then unfortunately readers just wont care about all the little details.

For future events, forshadowing and outlines are your best friend. You can also use an unconventional story formatting by having "flashbacks" be imbedded into the story as their own individual chapters.

For characters, you can use the "show, don't tell" method. Characters who aren't actively trying to deceive others will lay their personality on their clothing, their face, their room, their friends, and the way they speak.

I hope this was informative @loverboyxbutch . I genuinely appreciate your constant support and I wanted this to be an amazing post for such an amazing mutual :)

[head---ache]

hi im gonna drop brass' lore on you bc i didnt realize i never did

Just for context, Brass and Emmie are the same age, with Brass being born a couple of months after. So, while Emmie was cooking in the tube, Starline, who we're gonna say is alive, steals Tails' Tube Baby Project™ files, and tries to copy it, because he believes this is an attempt to make a bio-weapon at the same level of Project Shadow, and he wants to be ready for that, and besides, this seems like an improvement from Surge and Kit to him.

So he gets on with it, and he of course has Surge's DNA, but he doesn't want to combine it with Kit's because he can't imagine the result of that mix would be of any use. At some point he gets his hands on one of Amy's quills, probably by being a creepy stalker to all of the main cast, and decides to mix it with Surge's DNA in order to continue with his Anti-Tube Baby Project™, however, he then realizes Tails is actually attempting to take down the power levels and make his project more stable, which is not at all what Starline is looking for. And also, most of the power Tails' baby project would have comes from both from the Chaos Energy Sonic and Shadow have, and the Black Arms DNA passed down from Black Doom, which are things Starline simply can't get his hands to: Chaos Energy? Maybe, but not nearly enough, and it would probably be fake, highly unstable energy. And Black Arms DNA? Simply impossible.

So he just gives up. Tails isn't even making a weapon out of his project, so Starline doesn't even need his own anymore. So he abandons the hedgehog baby he made, inside the tube, and forgets about them for months.

One day Surge and Kit break into Starline's base, looking to steal some stuff from him, mostly Surge's idea just to annoy the guy. They eventually come across the big tube holding the small green hedgehog, still in the tube, however, pretty ready to go. And Surge just acts out of instinct, she doesn't even stop to think for a second before taking the baby with her and running as Kit follows her and keeps trying to ask her what she's doing. The thing is, she doesn't even know, but leaving this baby behind was not an option.

And when they got home it finally dawned on her, that now they had a baby at home and she didn't know what to do with it.

"So, uhm- Are you gonna raise it?" Kit asked, and Surge suddenly snapped as if nothing had happened. She stood up and walked away from the baby, crossing her arms behind her head and turning away.

Chaos, no. She was already a terrible mother to Mareep, she couldn't do that to another child.

"Nah! You can keep it if you want, tho." She shrugged.

Kit moaned, wavering.

And so Brass grew up with Surge and Kit, but they wouldn't call either of them their parents, although Kit would maybe be closer to that, as Surge seemed to be trying very hard to not be a parental figure to another kid.

On the other hand, Brass' relationship with Amy is fine, they can talk, Amy does try to be part of their life, but Brass is very indifferent to the idea. I'll share a little dialogue I have in mind because to be honest I don't really have much context for it, but it explains Brass and Amy's relationship kinda well.

"Listen, Amy, you're nice, and all, but you're not my mom."

"But I could be, Brass. I want to be, if you let me."

"I just- I don't think I want that, yeah? You can just pay attention to your actual children, I'm fine."

And also about Brass relationship with Mareep, it's also fine. They get along, they're just not super close. But they also have a mutual understanding, and Brass might be a little jealous since Mareep at least has Lanolin. And Mareep is a little jealous because Brass doesn't seem to be doing too bad even after being raised by Surge, while on her end Surge was kind of the root of all of her problems. But they get along fine.

Basically Brass wasn't super close to anyone (but acting as if it was fine), until she met a certain hedgehog-alien girl and her AI girlfriend TEHEHEHE (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)