#But I thought it'd be a fun tidbit

[sleeplesssmoll]

Vertin's personality and traits based on in-game context.

Contains Spoilers.

Will update when I find more tidbits about our beloved Timekeeper.

Updated: March 15 2024

Vertin sucks at math.

Not much to say here. Although, this is another difference between her and Sonetto, who loves math. I hope they do something with this later because it'd be fun.

Vertin is 16 confirmed

While this isn't a personality trait, I did see some debate about her age since it wasn't officials stated until now and it was assumed through context. Prisoner in the Cave explicitly confirms her age. Vertin became Timekeeper when she was 12 and has been the the TK for the past 4 years.

Vertin is a pianist and a painter.

You can see a piano in the back of her office in the Suitcase by the window. It makes sense in regards to Vertin's musically inclined Arcanum. There's an easel and stool in her office too. She doesn't merely collect art, she creates it. Vertin also owns a camera (official artwork released) too and mentions her photography in the begining, so this isn't new but I thought I should add it.

Vertin's still playful under all her composure.

We know baby Vertin was a little menace, but we can still see a spark of that mischief in her later years. For example, Vertin slapping a fake mustache on Regulus to avoid Sonetto really captures this. We can tell from other characters' voice lines that Vertin will most likely play along with their shenanigans. She'll chirp like a bird in response to Rabies talking about his bird friends (Wilderness interaction). She'll help Sonetto during hide and seek (Wilderness). She watches movies with Eternity and An An Lee. X asks her for help with his projects. Going through her crew's voice lines really paints a better picture of how she interacts with others. The voice lines point to someone playful and curious when she's not in work mode.

Vertin was a gremlin.

Vertin's love language is giving.

We know baby Vertin loved to give gifts to a reluctant Sonetto, but that part of her still exists. She tried to grant everyone's last wishes during the 1929 Storm. We also know she gives Lilya alcohol as a gift upon her return from 1929. She is also very direct. We see her ask people what they want or what can she do for them throughout the story. To expand further, you could say she likes fulfilling people's desires instead of limiting it to material gifts. We can see more of instances of this during the Green Lake event, especially in the way she protects Jessica from the Foundation. She also tried to get Regulus funding for a ship. I love the Suitcase Dad meme, but it's rooted in nuggets of truth.

She was a crappy student, yet she was also a resourceful gremiln. Vertin never liked the institution! Honor student? Top of the class? Never. Teachers are filled with that "Godamnit Vertin" energy toward her too. I hope we see more gremlin energy in the future.

One-sided childhood friends.

Vertin is a collector.

Sonetto and Vertin were desk mates but Sonetto couldn't stand Vertin when they were kids. She even tried to avoid Vertin at times but Vertin persisted with her gifts. We can see this in the hallway scene. Sonetto's about to change routes to avoid Vertin but Vertin called out to her to give her a frog she caught. Kinda funny how Sonetto can't stand Vertin but also can't resist her when they were kids. Vertin and Matilda were actually closer back then. Well, at least until the tear gas incident. Sonetto changed after Vertin was hurt and the rascal wasn't around to bother her. I feel like this tidbit says a lot about Vertin and her influence on people.

Baby Vertin collected rocks, bugs, and frogs. Adult Vertin collects painting and mementos of people she's lost. Things were simpler as a kid.

Vertin is stronger than she looks.

She was a wild child and she's still got it years later. Vertin can run for long periods of time, endure injuries, and climb obstacles. That, and she's still essentially a child solider. We see her hold her own when she needs to fight solo doing stuff like dodging bullets. Sonetto and Matilda also exhibit these freakishly athletic traits, especially Sonetto.

Vertin befriends people in every Era, despite knowing she'll lose them.

Compared to the other children raised by the Foundation, Vertin's traveled the world and witnessed loss in every Era. This opens doors to a whole new set of questions. How did she change over time? How do the Arcanists she recruited before the story treat her? Did she have crushes in previous Eras? Were the oranges just as bitter? Vertin seems to get close to people very easily and doesn't build walls around herself despite the trauma. You'd think someone who's lost so much would stop trying to get close to people, but she doesn't.

Vertin is optimistic.

Even as a child, she was full of hope. It's why she fights for the future and is a core part of her personality. She needs to fight for all those she lost and stop the Storm from taking more lives.

Vertin gets quiet when embarrassed/shy.

She'll blush and fall silent, but she doesn't stammer or go all tsundere. We can see this in voice lines. Sonetto's high praises make her cover her face with her hands. Eternity gets a reaction out of her when she holds her hand. She also blushed when she received surprise smooch and fell silent.

Vertin has a unique scar on her back.

Vertin is a tactile person.

Arcana mentions the scar after Vertin was shot multiple times in the back by Schneider. It's a big scar and new theories about the scar are ongoing and interesting!

In several voice line interactions, Vertin is patting people's heads or holding their hands. Not all her crew mates are on board with it, some seem confused, and others play along. We can also see examples in story like her handing Sonetto a frog while gently grasping her hand or her taking Regulus's hand to lead her into the Suitcase. Here is a post with the evidence to back this claim.

Vertin sucks at arcanum but her deep understanding of arcanum is uncanny.

The story mentions her weak arcanum skills throughout the story. They really want you to remember this. Also, her arcanum didn't manifest until sometime after the break away event but before the events in the prologue. During her stay in the guardhouse, she doubts if she's even an arcanist and mentions her arcanum has yet to manifest, which is wild. Smoltin is fighting with her tiny hands and wit in this chapter. However, in the prologue it's mentioned Vertin's understanding of arcanum and her perception makes her unique amongst arcanists. She's also considered more "rationale" than other arcanists. You can read more about this here.

Vertin is stealthy.

Smoltin sneaks around to play outside. She steals food for herself and the Ring from the Staff Canteen, which has better quality food than what the kids get. This tells me she's done this before. Adult Vertin also sneaks around the Walden to find Schneider. She makes maps, tracks guard routes, and avoids detection since whe was a kid.

Tooth Fairy was one of the few Foundation members who cared about Vertin.

Tooth Fairy is the one who gave Smoltin the toffees (chit chat voicelines). She also covered for Vertin on a few occasions to protect her from punishment. She remembers Vertin faking her illness to skip class, but her bruises and wounds were real. The Foundation does have a few kind hearts that genuinely care about the children. The causes of Vertin's injuries is up to speculation.

[sunnyd666]

Would absolutely kill for more of the human murder drones, Their so silly! Would you consider it to be a full au or just a silly tidbit?

Honestly I just drew 'Human N' without much thought for any real lore, just thought it'd be fun! I'm terrible at formulating stories but If y'all continue to show interest I'd definitely put more thought into it.

I really wanted to give human Uzi wavy/curly hair, maybe occasional arm warmers and definitely piercings she deserves it.

[mysteryshoptls]

SR Leona Kingscholar - Playful Dress Vignette

"Once we got it started"

[Playful Land – Expedition Whale]

Trey: Really now… All the first years are just filled with energy.

Leona: Seriously. They ran around like crazy during the show, and they're still trying to drag me to all the attractions.

Leona: This is just as exhausting as when my nephew tries to tag after me. I've had more than enough.

Trey: Haha… Yeah, this also reminds me of how it is whenever I got to amusement parks with my siblings.

Leona: Thought I'd take a nap on a bench somewhere, but… There's nowhere with a decent amount of shade.

Leona: There's gotta be some place indoors I can relax… Hm?

Leona: This attraction they got here on the map… It doesn't look too terrible. Hey, Trey. Come with me for a bit.

Trey: Eh, me!? I mean, I don't really have any plans, so it's fine, but…

Leona: Good, it's settled. Follow me.

Trey: What in the world… Leona's actually inviting me somewhere!?

[Playful Land – Cue Sports Lounge]

Trey: Oh, this is the billiards hall.

Leona: Yep, this is good. The air conditioner works, and it's quiet and cozy. Just as I thought, it's the perfect spot to chill.

Trey: Ah, I see… You just needed a partner so you could hang here in the sports lounge.

Leona: So, how well do you know the rules of billiards?

Trey: Let me think… I've only played a couple times, but I have a general understanding of the rules.

Leona: Good. That makes my life easier.

Leona: Then… Let's go with the "rotation" variant.

Trey: Rotation…? What's the rules to that? Is that different from "eightball"?

Leona: In rotation pool, you score points based on the number on the ball pocketed.

Leona: The 1 ball scores you 1 point, the 15 ball scores you 15 points… And so on.

Leona: To win, we both try striking the balls and try to reach the points value determined beforehand. That's all.

Trey: Okay… That sounds a tad more difficult than the eightball game I know, where you just have to get the 8 ball in, but it sounds interesting.

Leona: Ordinarily, I'd set the target value to somewhere around 180 points… But it's a pain to try to calculate everything.

Leona: Let's keep this game simple and see who can get the most points in the first rack of 15 balls.

Leona: If you're good, we'll start.

Leona: So, I'm first up. Similar to eightball, we begin with the break shot, but…

Leona: Before I do that, I'll tell you an interesting tidbit about rotation pool.

Trey: Tidbit…?

Leona: Just like eightball, with rotation rules, the balls must be struck in order from the lowest number.

Leona: In other words, in the first half of the game, when there's more balls on the table and it's more difficult, you score less points, and in the later half, when there's less balls and it's easier, you can score higher.

Leona: Even if you have a bad first half, you can still turn things around later, and even if you're winning in the first half, you can lose it all in the end.

Leona: Basically means that even beginners have a shot at winning. Not a bad rule, huh?

Trey: Yeah. Except… Why did you decide to tell me that just now?

Leona: It'd be a pain if you thought I was being unfair just because I got a huge lead in the beginning without explaining everything.

Leona: I'm puttin' in the effort to make it fun for you amateur, too. Be grateful.

Leona: Number 15, left rear pocket.

[clack!!]

[thwump]

Leona: Hm, some of the balls were awkwardly placed, but I made it through somehow.

Trey: Urgh… Y-You won again…!

Leona: Ah, my bad. I completely forgot you were here too. Sorry I was neglecting you.

Trey: Based on how you were talking about it all, I assumed you were pretty good from the get go, but…

Trey: I couldn't keep up with you at all. It ended before I could get in a single point…

Leona: You had me a bit worried that I could lose midway through the game, but once we got it started, it was a complete blowout. Ah, yeah, that was a good game.

Trey: You were worried? Yeah right! You were yawning every time it was my turn.

Leona: So, what do you say, wanna play another round? I can give you a handicap.

Trey: Well, I can't stand for being shown up like this...

Trey: Play one more game with me, Leona. Only… You don't have to give me a handicap.

Leona: Perfect. Alright, we'll set up the break shot.

[Playful Land – Cue Sports Lounge]

Trey: Play one more game with me, Leona. Only… You don't have to give me a handicap.

Leona: Perfect. Alright, we'll set up the break shot.

Leona: Number 8, left rear pocket.

[clack!!]

[thwump]

Leona: Hm, the location of the 8 ball was in a difficult spot, but I got it somehow.

Trey: The score stands at 36 to 0… Even if I still have a chance to turn things around it's still a huge gap. Maybe he'll just carry it all to the end again…

Leona: Safety.

Trey: What's "safety"...?

Leona: It's a call that lets you drive the targeted ball to somewhere other than a pocket, instead of having to change up players.

Trey: I see, so you can move the ball safely without having to make a crazy shot… That's a good strategy.

[clack!!]

Leona: Okay, it's your turn. Make this fun for me, Trey.

Trey: Next… Number 10, right rear pocket.

[clack!!]

[thwump]

Trey: Nice, I sunk the 10 ball as well as the 9 ball. That makes it 36 to 19. You starting to sweat a bit?

Leona: Oh, man, yeah. You've caught up so fast, that I'm sweating like crazy. I might lose, whatever should I do?

Trey: Haha, you're not fooling me, saying it like that while you just lounge in your chair like a king… Number 11, left rear pocket.

[clack!!]

Leona: …That one ain't goin' in.

[thup, thup…]

Trey: Urgh, just like you said. But how did you know it wouldn't go in before you even saw where it was going?

Leona: Hey, come on, now, I may be me, but I still lead the magical shift club, y'know. Seems like you're underestimating what I can do.

Leona: It's easy to tell just by seeing the angle you hit the cue ball with.

Leona: I can figure out which way the ball will go, what it'll hit, and where it'd stop…

Leona: In a game, you always have to stay two moves ahead, lil' Clover. …Now it's my turn.

[clack!! thwump]

Leona: Game and match. Final score is 87 to 33, that's my win.

Trey: I knew it would be like this, but you definitely had me by the tail the whole time. How long have you been playing billiards, Leona?

Leona: Basically since I was a kid. The family chamberlain taught it to me so I wouldn't embarrass myself in social settings. Well...

Leona: Thanks to that, I got pretty good, but back before I enrolled here, I really couldn't enjoy any heated competition.

Leona: Even now, the only one that'll play with me is a bird-brained old man. Nowhere near satisfying.

Trey: A commoner like me can only possibly imagine…

Trey: But with how good you are, I can see how you'd have to hold back in certain gatherings so as to not sour the atmosphere.

Leona: There ain't nothing more boring and annoying than a game where I gotta hold back for my opponent's sake.

Leona: It ends up feeling like my hands and feet have strings tying them down, it's frustrating. Kind of like a puppet.

Trey: …Yeah, I bet. …Then, I'll make sure that I'll become a much better player before the next time we play.

Leona: Hah! The next time we play? Even though you got a beat down by someone who was just trying to pass the time? You're a sucker for punishment.

Trey: Next time, let's invite the other third years. Don't you think Vil or Lilia might be good competition for you?

Leona: Who knows. …But hey, if you think that'll be the case, I'll be eagerly awaiting.

Leona: Eagerly awaiting for the joyful moment where I can watch how you all'd dance for me in your frustrations when you get beaten to a pulp, that is.

Requested by Anonymous.

[erinwantstowrite]

okay first of all im literally in love w ur fic. i usually don't read in-progress fics cus i get impatient and lose interest really quick if there isnt an end but thats not happening w lof!! im still super impatient about it but its so worth it, im re-reading it currently to stave off the worms in my brain that demand more

anyway! question time! why did you choose to name peters mom alessandra instead of mary?

<333 thank you so much!

I chose to name her Alessandra mostly because there are.... so many repeating names.

In both Marvel and DC, they would have repeating names over and over (I.E. Both Clark and Bruce have a mom named Martha, the name Cassandra comes up a lot, etc). Dick's mother was called Mary Grayson- I thought it would be a little weird to marry someone with the same name as your dead mother, in this case. Idk. The name Mary comes up a lot, probably because of the time period the comes were created in.

That, and since Peter is technically a spider-verse variant (because he's based on multiple Peter Parker/Spider-Man versions, not just one singular version) I thought it'd be fun to give Peter a mom with a more shaped background and life, just like how Dick and Richard are fleshed out. She may not be as involved in the story(or, really, present), but I like the idea of her being a person despite being long gone.

Even Peter's full name is centered around that idea: "Peter Benjamin John Andrea Parker" His three middle names comes from Uncle Ben, Richard's middle name (Dick's canonical middle name), and the "Andrea" comes from Alessandra's late brother. He's never been mentioned at all because Peter never got to know his mother, and Ben and May didn't really know the reason behind the middle name. It just felt right to include tidbits of Peter's mother in his story without him even really knowing much about her.

[clare-with-no-i]

theogony part 1 behind the scenes

**SPOILERS ahead for theogony and mild spoilers for Outlander!**

this is just going to be a long infodump of all of the things I pondered while writing theog (specifically part 1, part 2 will come later) but never talked about! I'll try to go chapter by chapter, and maybe I'll end up adding more later on, but for now I just think it'd be fun to chitchat and reminisce on some of my favorite tidbits. this story is really my baby idk :")

Prologue - Alalá

one thing that I wanted to establish in the prologue, other than the obvious James-Sirius dynamic, is the presence of otherworldly or spiritual premonitions in this universe. it was always important to me that the first person who actually made any sort of prophetic declaration was James.

so much of the story relies on Lily's status as an oracle, but this little tidbit here helped build the world for me so much; we can't be sure if James's various dreams and premonitions are wishful thinking, or really the Gods speaking to him, or something else entirely. of course, this story deals with time travel, so there's an inherent supernatural element. but Lily and James's conflicting – and sometimes competing – conceptions of God felt like such a necessary tension for me to explore. it was such an incredible shorthand for the tension between modern and ancient sensibilities. and we never get a definitive answer to those looming questions, which I knew I wanted to do from the outset. did the Gods bring Lily back to the past? did James? did she do it herself? does God/the Gods even exist?

also: there are probably moments where I failed to do this, but I tried to capitalize Gods in all of the James chapters but not in Lily's, unless she was referring to the Abrahamic Capital G God. that is, until the last chapter, which I'll elaborate upon later :)

also: i wrote the prologue first, then the epilogue, and then i posted the prologue pretty immediately after. I had the entire story roughly outlined but I absolutely jumped the gun when it came to posting the prologue LMAO I didn't even really announce the story, I just joked about writing it and then posted the prologue, which you can see from the beginning note. i remember Suze was about to go to sleep and she started messaging me like wtf Clare what do you MEAN?

and the rest was history (pun completely intended)!

Chapter One: Ouroboros

the narrative brushes past the other statues in this section pretty quickly, but I always imagined that the first bust is Philoctetes, James's father. I think the consensus on this one tends to oscillate between Philoctetes and Aristides, which is another great interpretation.

The reason I wrote it this way and imagined it to be Philoctetes is because I thought it would have been nice to let Lily 'meet' James's father (in a sense), even before she 'meets' him. when I read this chapter back after I first finished the story, I had a very soft moment where I close-read my own fic (lol) and thought that maybe it was Philoctetes who sent Lily back to the past. maybe he sensed something about her and knew she'd be right for James and for antiquity.

sooo many people forgot about this! which i was hoping for!!!!! I was hoping everyone would forget about James's statue holding something until the Big Reveal. fun fact is I wrote the reveal right after this. I liked the idea that, no, he was never going to actually be holding anything. he'd be reaching for Lily. the choice to accept his hand was always going to be hers.

a fun fact about this chapter is that I had to pull from a bit more Outlander lore than I originally thought. and no I don't mean the 'Jesus H Roosevelt Christ' part lol. It was always hilarious to me how Outlander set up Claire to be the objectively perfect person to go back in time. she was a combat nurse who happened to develop an interest in medicinal botany and Scottish-English history. she also happened to spend her formative years with her adventurous archaeologist uncle after her only living relatives died. like girl. lol.

so I had to really toss up which traits I thought it would be appropriate for Lily to have as she traveled back in time. the biggest one, obviously, is her field of study, which was necessary given the language barrier and the completely foreign nature of social norms in Classical Athens. I toyed around with the idea of making her mum a nurse so as to give her some base medical knowledge, but that felt a) unnecessary given the circumstances of the story, and b) far-fetched that she would have gleaned enough transferable skills to apply in 479 BCE.

it was also fun to give her more reason to go back to the future; she has a sister who, while they aren't in contact, is a significant emotional attachment; she has academic goals; she has a best friend (however toxic we know him to be). it added a layer of conflict that I enjoyed playing up, even if I definitely could have explored her modern life more fully.

Chapter Two: Kinesis

soooo much exposition and worldbuilding in this chapter. oml. it was so much fun to play around with the reasons why James would be in Tatoi in the first place; I can't remember quite how I landed on the Persian auxiliary soldier thing, it might have been from my initial (admittedly extensive) research on the months leading up to Plataea; it may have just been the fact that I KID YOU NOT this story used to take up all of my fucking brainspace. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I'd be doing work for my research fellowship and just daydream about theogony. the initial idea came to me AS A JOKE!!!!! when i was idly pondering before going to sleep (as one does), and then it just wouldn't leave me alone. i kept imagining what it might look like. I thought about how the time travel might work. I thought about James's Greek equivalent. I ranted to my sister and her dog (he did not care) about what the statue might look like and mean (sorry bestie love u).

one narrative decision that has given me a bit of strife was the Dimitrios-James name change. I've had a number of people ask me if I'd ever try to pubilsh theog – and this is one of the (many) reasons why that would be pretty categorically impossible. using James's English name in his internal narration, instead of the name I give him as a Greek man, is something that only translates to fic. it makes pretty much no sense at all if you consider these original characters lol.

honestly putting the word 'practicum' in here caused me SO much pain. in James's chapters I tried really hard to use words which had Greek roots and not Latin roots, even if they're in modern English today. in most of his chapters, I'd try and find synonyms for big/complex words so I could use ones that came from Greek. it just helped me stick to his narrative voice a bit more.

I forgot how much STUFF went on in this chapter. oh my god SO much happens?? we get the lack of the Parthenon as the time marker (felt very clever doing that), Lily processing the fact that she's time traveled (lazy writing on my part to not have this happen in a Lily POV chapter but I'll take that on the chin), the Plataea reveal. OML. tired just thinking about it. lily sweetie i am so sorry

guys, the amount of time I spent wondering if I should Greek-ify Sirius's name is insane. For so long I thought about making him Seirios, which is the original Greek version of Sirius. But I felt like I had already messed with their names too much, and so I left it. but honestly I'm still torn. looking back, maybe it would have been the right move to make him Seirios and have Lily give him the name Sirius, but I guess we'll never know!

one of my favorite Sirius moments, and something that, essentially, sets up the rest of the story. but I wanted there to be a little ambiguity throughout the story about how much of this Sirius actually believes.

we know that James has just confessed to Sirius and Pétros that he was hoping they'd desert the Athenian army. we know that he thinks he's going to die, and he's adopted this sort of fatalist view of his future. and then here you have Sirius, who could never abide such a thing, pretty much leaning into the idea that Lily can tell the future – which would allow him to challenge James's prediction. I always wanted to leave it up to interpretation, and I know it comes up in later chapters (at the komos especially), Sirius's skepticism about Lily's origins. but it's such a fun question to ask: does he really believe that she's the Oracle that James prayed for, or does he just need that to be true so he can try and influence the future himself?

Chapter Three: Peribolos

omg. lol. the chapter three opening academic argument scene. this is a favorite of mine, and something I had so much fun writing. it's actually based on an argument/"spirited discussion" I had with my dad a few years ago about moral absolutism versus moral relativism which forced me to interrogate and expand my knowledge on the subject. I thought it was such a fun way to get into Lily's politics and her character without doing crazy exposition in the ancient world.

it also touches upon one of the touchstone themes of the story: that to study something is, in a way, to detach yourself from it. academia is routintely completely disconnected from its subject matter, and it creates this weird disdain for lived experience versus book knowledge. Lily has spent upwards of ten years studying (in some capacity) the ancient world, but she is so utterly out of her depth when she experiences it herself. as such, she espouses these very revolutionary politics when examining historical conflicts, but she has a blindness to what the real-world realities may have been for the people living in those conditions at the time.

alsooooo, The Return of Martin Guerre is one of my favorite books I read in college, and the easter egg here is that it's about a person of dubious origin entering a community and the politics of how the community might accept or reject them. ha ha!

^^based on something I said in an argument with a Poli Sci major in college and I have to say one of my better moments. was an absolute haymaker. this was very 'author gives main character a zinger' of me and I will not be ashamed of it

this! ladies and gentlemen! this was basically a declaration of love!!!! to be loved is to be remembered!!!

in a very romantic way, the study of history can be such an act of love to those who lived before us. i just adore the idea that, even before Lily developed real romantic feelings for James, she had this itching sort of feeling; AKA, when someone has made such an impression on you, and you know (or in her case, you think) that you'll be leaving them at some point, and you just want to be interesting enough, be impressive enough, that they remember you, that they think of you randomly as time goes on. that is such a giddy hallmark feeling of having a crush, in my book. I liken it to making eye contact with someone or having a brief conversation on a night out, maybe at 3am on your way back from a bar when things are sleepy and dizzy, and you just have this sense that you're being seen in that moment as anyone you want to be. i love this moment so much I feel like I could give it its own meta LMAO

Chapter Four: Hamartia

this chapter really put the pedal to to the metal lol. at the time of writing the story, I generally didn't (and still don't) love fake dating that much as a trope; I don't typically love plotlines predicated on (even harmless) deceptions, it's just a sensitivity of mine that I don't expect anyone to relate to or share. but when I was considering how to structure theog, it just made so much sense for James and Lily's arcs to have them get 'married.' there was no way that Lily was going to be able to navigate Classical Athens as an unsupervised woman alone, and even with the Oracle title offering her some protection, there was nothing really tying her to James. much like Outlander, it really did feel like the last possible resort, which softened me to the idea of using the trope.

fun fact, i got a snarky comment a few months ago complaining that i was trying to pass the story off as historically accurate (lol to the fifteen disclaimers I embedded throughout which addressed that) and one thing they took issue with was that lily wouldn't have been able to own property and the only thing that would have kept her from being a slave would have been marriage.

which! yknow! none of which contradict the story! but anyway I digress.

I was initially nervous about how early on the fake marriage happens; we don't really know the characters that well yet, we're not sure who James is as a potential partner to Lily, or how Lily's feelings for him are starting to bump up against her very rightful and justified desire to get the hell out of dodge. but – we only really see James in canon as a husband and as the father to the main character, so it felt pretty true to the source material to throw him into being a husband pretty early.

I loved writing this scene with Aristides. I've always been partial to his appearances throughout the story, and this one is just so special to me. I think of him as a driving force in humanizing the ancient world in theog, sometimes even more so than the main cast of characters. to elaborate a bit on that: with the Marauders and Lily and the other transplanted HP characters, I think there's this inherent sense that they are already fleshed out people (to some degree) even before they hit the page of the story, because they appear in canon and across Marauder fic verses. no matter how much I make James into Dimitrios and Peter into Pétros and Fleamont into Philoctetes, people know them and love them outside of theogony verse. but not Aristides. he doesn't have a one-to-one HP character. there is some version of him that really existed in 479 BCE (my complex and largely negative feelings on RPF are setting off alarms at this but we proceed) and that's it.

it would have been easy to just give him this very gruff and surly character, to make him a military general who didn't care about anything other than the war. I think that's how we conceptualize historical people sometimes, often without meaning to. but he was a person, and he had likes and dislikes, he probably had a family and maybe he'd fallen in love, and it was such an honor to give him such dimension. not to say that I'm putting that personality upon the actual historical person; but just to really take my time with a character outside of the Marauder canon. in this scene he has this human moment where he reminds James that, yes, love is a worthy pursuit, even to those in positions of incredible power. even when the discussion isn't about romantic love but about James's love for his closest friends. it's this permission that James didn't even know he was seeking but ultimately that changes the course of his and Lily's lives. Aristides is who James might become, in many ways. in the actual Plataea chapter this becomes more and more prevalent. (more on this later!)

overall, I am forever hoping that people come out of reading this story with an appreciation for the humanity of those that came before us. I did a poor job with other characters in this story, and I own that, but I'm proud of how I wrote Aristides.

oh my godddddd I fucking love this part. i am so fucking proud of it. LMAO. achieving wordplay in an ancient language that i have never studied should be on my fucking CV I swear. like this was just perfect I'm sorry I am BUZZING that I pulled this off.

also, a cute way to introduce a phrase to the narrative which will become very important: se filo!

I remember that I wrote this passage, which many people commented on and which I loved writing, in a coffee shop on a sunny day when my cousin was visiting me to introduce me to his girlfriend. there wasn't any wifi in the coffee shop so I was blessedly devoid of distractions and could only focus on the doc, and i was LOCKED IN let me tell you.

when my cousin and his girlfriend arrived I told them I was sending an important email and edited the last sentence of that paragraph about four different times while they sat in silence and waited for me to finish LMAOOO

Chapter Five: Ascesis

a profoundly insane moment in my personal history was reading excerpts from Eudemian Ethics, Nichomachean Ethics, and Memorabilia just to passively mention them in a flashback in a fic. relied heavily on Foucault for this, I will be so honest. why did i do that tho. like girl take a breath...

but in all seriousness this was just a joy to write. i miss being a history student and having these discussions – law school is great, but history classes will forever hold my heart ngl! also, this passage is in some ways an homage to my grandfather, who is one of my favorite people ever. he taught himself Classical Greek and Latin when he was in his 20s, before he went to medical school (and get his pilot's license for fun, he's seriously the most interesting guy alive). he gifted me his leatherbound Great Books printings of Aristotle's works and of the Iliad and the Odyssey shortly after I started theogony, and I cherish them so much. he spurred my interest in ancient greece when i was young. so this is for him :)

one of the hardest things for me to articulate (and maybe something I could have done better) was the war and the balance between James's inherent goodness and his growing feelings for Lily. i wanted her to have plausible reason to think that he doesn't at all feel romantically towards her, even as she's growing to admire him more and more. I hoped, as I wrote the story, that these little interactions where the reader clues into his feelings (this protective 'peninsula' moment being one of them) still walked that line. as in, i wanted lily to reasonably believe that he's just that good of a guy that he would take issue with anyone being taken advantage of, not just her. she's so destabilized in this moment as well, I think that worked to my advantage. or I hoped it did LOL.

from what I remember of writing this chapter, it just came really quickly and naturally. much more than the later ones. this early period of writing was just an outpouring of the ABSOLUTE BRAINROT I was going through after conjuring up the idea for the story. it just flew. the ending scene where they have their little almost-moment was probably about an hour's worth of writing. it's like I couldn't type fast enough to keep up with my thoughts. not sure i've experienced that since!

also, the now, here, alive line reappears in the last chapter, which is one of my favorite callbacks:

:) :) :)

Chapter Six: Kleos

one thing I used to worry about CONSTANTLY is that I was losing the classic (and necessary!) Marauder goofiness to the more somber setting. so it was a jaunt and a boon to write scenes like the opening one here, where it honestly could be copy-pasted into the Gryffindor Common Room and it'd look a lot like my canon stories.

he's just a dude being hungover and embarrassed about the previous night with his bros!

the first time we get a hint of Pétros disappearing to dubious locations!

this chapter was one of the most research-heavy. it was a new setting, filled with new characters, and predicated entirely upon planning the Greek front at Plataea. so if I couldn't nail that down (at least to some degree), I was going to have trouble. of course I took liberties, but I spent a lot longer combing through sources for this chapter than some other ones, I'll tell you that for free. it took ages to find any treatises on ancient athenian sword combat, sigh.

yeah I mean i remember thinking that the subtitle for this chapter could have been 'I am going to create an environment that is so toxically masculine' because that's pretty much the whole vibe. James is not immune to that, either, and that was intentional. he feeds off of the violence and the anger of the men surrounding him, and he exhibits some behaviors in this chapter (rushing off to kill Anaxagoras after he grabs Lily's arm, for instance) which are not ideal! but I do think that there's meaningful conversation to be had about Lily's cultural assimilation into an ancient, misogynistic society, and how there was absolutely no way I was going to get out of this story without giving James some sort of period-typical attitude. now again, I took the liberties I deem necessary, because I have no desire to make my main romantic lead into an asshole. that's not my James Potter. not that that's news [gets taken out by a sniper]

i got CLOWNEDDD for referring to this dude as Dion son of Dion but idk what to tell you!! that's how the old documents referred to him!!! i didn't make that shit up I swear to god!!!!

also - that's the actual text of the Oath of Plataea, except (as Lily points out) it should read Athena Areia. is it likey that she'd remember this off the dome? no. is it possible that she just recognized the missing descriptor from context clues? yes. did i care enough to explain this either way? no, no i did not.

the Big Ticket Item of this chapter, though, is the oh.

and it wasn't just an oh, it was an oh followed by this innocuous conclusion that isn't even about Lily. i made myself laugh so hard with that. he's just like 'oh god my friend is going to wave this over my head FOREVER' and you know what? he's right!

as for the previous paragraph in that passage, I pulled a bit of a bait and switch, but not as badly as you might think! it was a risk to even bring up the idea that James could leave Athens, because I know it spurred some people into thinking that he'd go to the future with Lily (sorry babies that was not on the table). but what I intended for this passage (however successful it may or may not have been) was to just…allow him a moment of real, visceral empathy for the sensation of displacement that Lily's experiencing, and as well, introduce the idea that he might leave the life he's cultivated in Athens. his entire upbringing has been himself, the consummate Athenian man, surrounding himself with people from outside of Athens and drawing from their experiences, but never venturing outside of his little realm. in so many ways, the story questions what Lily's relationship with 'home' is (especially later on), but it always felt necessary to me to reckon with how 'home' may change for James as well.

finally:

yeah honestly i just remember the exact moment i thought of this passage. i had been reading the secret history (shoutout Donna Tartt i idolize and fear you) and i was lying down in my local park in the summer. I just thought about the Greek myths I knew, and the kind of cosmic horror that it is to really admit you're falling in love with someone, that they have this power over you that you didn't anticipate. and that closing line of the scene really struck me out of nowhere – I wrote it down in my notebook and just stared at it for a good few minutes. it's still one of my favs of the story :)

ok! if you made it this far, you are just amazing. this has to be a few thousand words at least. TYSM!!!!

see you all later for the part 2 BTS ❤️

[catusbeanius]

One thing I love about TWST is how interconnected all the stories are! Even events and vignettes. My best example is the Halloween event and Diasomnia's vignettes. They're very good foreshadowing. Silver literally says (in his Halloween vignette pt. 2) "[I]f Lilia and Malleus chose to fight us of their own volition, could I oppose them? Would I be able to turn my blade against them?” (His whole dialogue there was amazing). He also says he was afraid of Malleus disappearing, not time stopping.

Imo, that's exactly how you use events and vignettes. They're supplementary to the characters/story/world and provide questions the main story can answer. Nowhere in the main story did Silver say "I'd hate it if Malleus disappeared rn. But time stopping? Whatever!" That's a facet of his character you get when your hard work getting gems pays off. The gacha system is still ass, though. Looking at you, Pop Music Club Lilia. Smh. I'm still salty about that.

Anyway, my preamble is over. This is a tidbit post LSKJD

Instead of just random fact, though, I want to share my favorite things about each character!

Tidbit (6.25) about Malleus:

You can tell how much he admires the Thorn Fairy.

In his Birthday Boy vignette pt 2. he offers to fill the party with briars—like the Thorn Fairy did. When the MC tells him that's dangerous, he says he thought it'd be an "amusing diversion." (He's so silly) I'm sure there's a few other examples, but I yapped enough already.

Tidbit (6.50) about Silver:

He's so naïve and candid, it's adorable.

He's not cautious of the Octavinelle guys. In his Fairy Gala vignette, Jade had a plot to get his dishes looking new, and Silver needed a translation bell; so they worked together. Silver also genuinely complimented the craft fairy's work and Jade thought he was being deceptive. In the White Rabbit Fest, a delinquent asked if he was scared and he was like "No, I'm okay. Thanks for asking, though."

He should know Octavinelle is bad news, though, because Sebek was hostile to Azul in his Labwear vignette. Tbf, Sebek quickly accepted his miracle detergent, so idk.

Tidbit (6.75) about Sebek:

He's so dramatic!!

He was sobbing every time Malleus sung during rehearsals for the Masquerade event (Sebek's Masquerade vignette pt 1) Like I mentioned before, he makes a big deal out of helping anyone. (A little off topic, but there's a cute moment in his Ceremonial Robes vignette where the MC hides under his arm!!)

Tidbit (7) about Lilia:

Everything <33 he's my wife!!

But if I had to pick one thing, it'd probably be his speech and dynamics with everyone.

My favorite line from him is "Growing boys need their calories. If the beast hungers, I say feed it." (from Sebek's Labwear vignette pt. 1 about Malleus)

You can just tell how much he loves them and how much they love him back. He'll tease Malleus and Sebek and they'll be dramatic about it, but it's all in good fun!

He protects Malleus from creeps (Rook) and Malleus protects him in turn!! (Lilia's P.E uniform vignette). Silver says thinking about cooking for Lilia keeps him awake (Apprentice Chef vignette pt. 2) , and Sebek trusts everything Lilia says (P.E Uniform vignette)

That's why his decision to leave them all is so damn heartbreaking. Like, girl, LOOK AT WHAT'S IN FRONT OF YOU!!!! I'm gonna shake that mf.

Their relationships are weird, but it's obvious what they are!! If you raise a kid, they'll think you're their father. SMH

Alright, I'm done yapping.

[rassicas]

idk if this is the question box )scratching my head) but thank you for translating that interesting tidbit about the ink tank! It had me thinking.. How is the ink refilled in their tank? I kind of assumed a tube was connected somehow to their sacs like an iv lol.. I think im actually lost on how the mechanisms of the inktank work for the inkfish. Ik this game's logic and biology isnt meant to be taken apart like this though it's fun to ponder bout it. Id love to hear your thoughts! Thank you kindly

I'd definitely give this post a read as to why the "ink tank drains ink from the inkling" idea doesn't make a whole lot of sense. all we really have in terms of words from the devs is that the weapons are not hooked up to the ink tank and that ink comes from the wrist. it seems like itd be pointless strain on the inkling to drain more of their ink into the tank... which they would swallow back into their ink sac?

I think the way the ink tank is filled is just as simple as it being filled from the pressure of outside ink going into the tank, like putting an open bottle underwater. this would explain why your tank refills very fast when going under the ink. in the case of hi-tech turf war tanks, the flow of ink into the tank could be more controlled, and have filters to keep it clean. The speed that outside ink flows into the tank depends on your ink recovery ability. (I think abilities are like digital tags that interact with the ink tank) Limited ink challenges would just be disabling the function of the ink tank that allows it to take in ink from the outside.

As for agent 3, their ink tank is literally just a soda bottle held with rubber bands. refilling it could just be like. opening up the cap a bit or poking a hole. maybe cleanliness is less of an issue since this homemade tank is just for their scrap hunting adventures where they would just be swimming through and taking in their own ink, rather than playing a team sport that involves using ink that others have used. Also with how an ink tank THIS low-tech can exist, as well as how turf wars started out as a back-alley street sport played by kids, and how many thick items of clothing you can wear, that also pushes me away from the idea of ink tanks requiring medical equipment like needles and tubes directly into the ink sac through the back (though this was what i initially imagined too) Unfortunately, No matter if you view it as inkling->tank->weapon, or tank->inkling->weapon, or how the ink goes in or whatever, there's gonna be contradictions somewhere. i feel like these things have not been thought about in depth on the developer side, or at least are not wholly reflected in game, like how some of the visuals seem to point towards that it's inkling->tank->weapon somehow, like the way the ink tank passively refills when you stand. but I'm going to chalk that up to being a gameplay thing. Because after all, gameplay takes priority and Splatoon Is A Game, and this leads to things like subs and specials coming from seemingly nowhere. (I don't recommend thinking too hard about how a realistic in-universe turf war would work, unless you like headaches)

...Final note, the ink tank needing to drain from the ink sac to function also is a problem for say, if a non-inkfish wanted to play ink based sports, which is mentioned to be a Thing that happens in-universe. Since non inkfish dont die in water and can't respawn, i belive they'd have to play under a different ruleset.... for those who cant produce ink on their own, I think it'd make sense for them to play with the ink tank hooked up directly to the weapon.

[reds-writings]

Hey!!! I wanted to start this out by saying that your writings for Rust has been nothing short of amazing ! There aren't enough fics out there for Rust, and yours have honestly been getting me through it.

Now, idk if this is the type of ask you were looking for, but with Old Man Rust, especially when he was in Alaska all that time- I've always wondered the details about his time out there (besides the obvious/what we already know). I mean- it's Rust we're talking about, and that poor tortured man...it couldn't have been great.

I know he spent most of his childhood up there alone with his father and such, but this time around? After everything happened? I've always assumed his self-isolation was probably at the highest it'd ever been, especially with how he talked about it.

Idk- I've always wanted to know his thoughts/feelings about so many different scenes/things within the show, but this is definitely one of the biggest ones. Even if you relate it to the jj universe- I think adding a partner adds layers to my curiosity on his experience/thoughts/feelings. I know when you answered that fluff prompt ask, them being away from each other for all that time was talked about; he still loves her very much, and is incredibly troubled about all of it.

Anyways! I feel like I've gotten a bit carried away, so I'll stop before I keep going 💀. You definitely don't need to feel obligated to respond or spend time on this, but know that your contribution to the true detective community on here is greatly appreciated 🥺.

Howdy! I love this ask!! The more detailed the more fun! And thank you so much for the love ahhh!!

(this will include some spoilers ahead for the JJ universe pls don't kill me lol)

I love the dissection of Rust's reasoning for returning to Alaska, of all places, after the big fight of 02. My fave idea being that he did it as a form of self-punishment for taking part in hurting his only companions in Louisiana. Applying these events to the JJ universe: the incident with Maggie will still be taking place sadly. But hear me out!!!!

In 02 with the resurgence of the Yellow King/Carcosa Rust easily found himself obsessively spiraling back into the Dora Lange case. With all the frustration and lack of support from the department (and Marty), he resorts back to nastier habits and ways of regarding those around him with JJ!Reader unfortunately being in the crossfire more often than not. It places a heavy strain on the relationship to the point where she reaches a breaking point bc tbh he is not being a very good partner at all (stress and frustration can only be an excuse for so long). They break up with her telling him to practically get it together if he wants them to ever continue but of course, shit just spirals more out of control with his hurt and anger so of course it reaches its crescendo with him having to quit then Maggie using their incredible emotional vulnerability to an advantage which he ends up regretting immediately of course because even if he's not currently with JJ!Reader it's no less of a pathetic form of betrayal.

When the fight goes down and he loses Marty it's one thing. Seeing the reader and the tie between them being severed completely with no one else but himself to blame is just about as close to dying as he'll get in that moment. He shit on her trust once and for all and took a friend from her in the process. He knows that there can be no forgiveness even if he were to beg with whatever last bit of reverence he had or sell his sorry soul.

Alaska is a bitterly lonely time for him and from tidbits he mentions in the show he didn't do much to change that loneliness while he was away. Circling back to before I think it was his way of extreme penance and if it weren't for another resurgence in the case he would've probably let himself die there alone with all the drinking/carelessness and wouldn't have had it in him to feel sorry about it if it happened.

Coming back to Louisiana things have changed plenty with Marty, Maggie, and the reader. I think the way he prioritizes his crumbled relationship with Marty (for both the case's sake and his) versus how he passively regards Maggie in the bar will forever be interesting to me. I feel like he'd be scared as hell to even come near the reader knowing she still harbors hatred and pain but Marty the Meddler drags her back in because he knows the two will never be able to truly stay away from each other. It takes a lot and the relationship may never be exactly what it once was but he'd selfishly rather have her near in some capacity than never at all once he's gotten a taste of her presence after so many years. I can't wait to write all that angst and yearning bc we love tension 🤭

Now that was a ramble omg! Hopefully, I didn't stray too off course!

[beltransadie]

Small tidbits about my Still Into You 2ha animatic

Coz it's April, exactly one year from now was when I started completing it and I'm in the mood now. + I don't think I made a proper one + it won the twitter poll

Check it out if you're interested... or not! I just want to dump my thoughts and fun facts that I thought of while making this.

To preface this, check them out if you haven't seen it yet: (Still Into You & Please Don't Leave Me)

If you've been hanging around my blog for a while, it's kinda evident that I did post a promo post for Still Into You back in January 2023. And that first part does have an in-depth explanation about what it covers (which is from the start to the first chorus).

If you're wondering why: TL;DR I can't work on An Act of Kindness coz I was back home from school for vacation and I thought of the idea during a trip.

Anyway, I ramble. Time to get to the actual discussion.

(spoilers!!) The Actual Discussion

Making the rest of Still Into You, unlike Mo Ran's feelings for CWN, was actually just straightforward. I already knew that it'd cover the rest of the book, given that I intentionally focused heavily on book 1 while making part 1.

Like part 1, part 2 was that type of animatic that just naturally flowed during the storyboarding and rough sketch process. The whole animatic is divided into three phases which covers the following: Book 1, Book 2 and 3, and lastly the Epilogue.

Book 1 I've already discussed in an earlier post here but I did find this interesting tidbit I wrote to my cousin:

Anyways the discussion:

Yeah I really wish I have a funny image to put here. I'm really enjoying looking back at my stuff and seeing my initial plans though.

Order at which I made each part.

One thing of note (and actually a common oversight I experience while doing storyboards coz I don't do timings) was that I storyboarded the frames when the vocals started and forgot the timings in between.

So I kinda had to fill the parts between part 1 and 2 last-ish? (don't really remember the proper timings).

Oh, oh! And another fun fact:

Still Into You Part 2 (Rough Draft)

Part 2 was initially done on my tablet in CSP so there's a whole different and rougher version of it. (pls lower the volume if you're wearing earphones)

Funnily enough, this took me like one sitting to finish and a whole lot of sessions to clean up. I do like this process though given that, around the time I drew this, I started leaning heavily into animation and prioritizing getting my thoughts across without care for cleanliness. (Something I felt held me back too much while making Please Don't Leave Me).

In fact, there are some obvious frames that I didn't really bother polishing up (mostly because they're too hard for me or they just flash by quickly). A glaring example is this frame from the third part:

Another fun fact about the scene where TXJ shows CWN the plant he's been raising is it's actually inspired off of a doodle I made for someone in the Two Lifetimes CSE back in April 16 2023.

I just really think that it's super adorable for them. Mo Ran in the the epilogue section alternates between TXJ and 2.0.

Aside from the plant, TXJ also appears in this frame which is inspired from one of the extras. Another silly intentional decision I did is to have him pour alcohol onto a cup and drink from the bottle.

Meanwhile 2.0 appears here:

The one on the left is also from (you guessed it) an extra! It's based from an offhand mention that CWN makes in one of them. (Let me know what your guesses are haha)

I kinda just jumped into the 3rd half of the song, huh? I hope my ramblings aren't too much! I just wanna let it flow naturally.

Returning to the topic of the storyboard, I really only had a rough idea of what I wanted for the 3rd half. The references to the extras and even Goutou's appearance just came when I was already putting it into frame. Like, this was what I initially had in mind for the 2nd chorus to the end.

I think one of the notable differences is that I initially planned on doing the half MR half CWN screen transition the same way i did with chorus 1 and 2 but decided against it. In retrospect, I think it fits a lot because both aren't divided anymore.

Something about the second verse + chorus of the song

Like in chorus 1 and chorus 3, this section of the song takes on a darker tone since it covers book 2 going into book 3. It's a lot to talk about so I'm gonna select a couple that I personally like that's worth mentioning and leave the rest to the viewers to guess.

Also sorry not sorry for those who got spoiled by the animatic lmao.

The confession scene

Another fun fact: The confession scene in Still Into You and Please Don't Leave Me are intentionally connected through the color palette.

It's just that Still Into You takes a dump at how it treats it. Yes, the stick figures are intentional. It adds to the funny and tbh Still Into You really is just a feel good animatic. The comedy also serves as a whiplash to the angst hell that is the chorus 🥰.

(Insert obligatory CWN running at a tree meme here)

My Favorite 2ha Moment

Gotta insert my favorite chapter here (ch 184) which I think is one of 2ha's peaks because it resolves CWN's doubts about MR's feelings all this times.

And I'm just soo glad I could incorporate it in an animatic because it's so important to me. AND Like, 'yknow, I think it echoes the song very well because guess what MR tells CWN then?

“It has always been you."

That one frame before the chorus

There's like this moment before the second chorus starts where MR tells CWN something. I wanted it to echo ch 207 where MR felt the pressure of having to reveal that he actually is reborn and has memories of his past life.

If this were animated I'd have had MR match the song and tell CWN "I'm still into you".

Anyways, here's the frame before it zooms in. Physically it's still at ch 207, but I wanted the shadows to imply what happens next which is the chorus.

Other Bonus stuff

Ran out of stuff I wanna gush about so Imma talk about cut content.

XM and the MHX twins are supposed to have more frames (I didn't include it because it felt like it had too much energy)

2. Ling'er and the village ranwan visits during farm arc is also supposed to make an appearance

3. I forgot to animate the butterflies

4. I was supposed to polish the sequence at 2:41 - 2:51 at one point.

5. Fuck ow

6. CWN was supposed to glomp MR at the reunion scene

7. You and I

anyways go watch it

[ro994art]

Minireviews of the Bluey Minisodes

Hello everyone! Here's another one of those rare text posts from me.

As most of you may know, I'm a Bluey fan. And as all Bluey fans know, today a new batch of Bluey shorts premiered on Disney+, also known as Minisodes (or previously "Bonus Bits").

And while most fans had likely already watched these minisodes, given how they came out nearly a month before in Australia, I myself chose to wait until they were available on Disney+ to watch them, in order to save myself the hassle of looking for them online. Call me lazy if you want, but I often find it trickier than it sounds like. 😅 Especially considering how quickly those tend to get taken down.

But I digress. I was going to do this on Twitter originally, but I thought it'd be more fun and easier to express myself without a character limit here. So, since no one asked for my opinion, I'm going to give it anyways! xD

⚠️ Spoilers ahead, of course.

Here are my brief(-ish) thoughts on each of the new 7 shorts that were released.

🍔 Burger Dog

I have a soft spot for any Bluey short or episode that shows the characters dancing, particularly if they showcase new dancesteps that hadn't been shown before and that isn't flossing. I just find it really adorable and well-animated, so I enjoyed this one.

Maybe this is coming from the perspective of a non-parent, and if I ever have kids I'll have a totally different opinion, but I personally didn't find the song THAT annoying xD At least not for a first time listening to it. If it were the 15th time they'd had it on, I'd understand Bandit's position, but if it really was the first time he heard it, I would've at least let Bluey and Bingo finish the song if I were him. But again, that's just me, and it's not like what Bandit did was anything too terrible, nor am I mad at him for it. Just giving my opinion here. 😅

Oh, and the ending made me chuckle. Clever girl, Bingo. 😉😂

🤖 Bingo 3000

Not really much to say about this one, other than it was cute xD It reminded me a lot of "Daddy Robot", but with the roles reversed. Honestly, the final scene of Chili calling Bingo 3000 with her arriving super slowly because her legs are still stuck and Bandit's all "Don't get me started" was my favorite part. 😝 Overall, it was fine.

🚚 Muffin Unboxing

DEFINITELY my favorite out of this batch xD Muffin may not be my favorite character, but she is definitely the most entertaining one, and I always love seeing her show up because you just KNOW some hilarious chaos is about to ensue. 🤣

What can I say? This minisode was classic Muffin from beginning to end. Her having a toy review channel just makes too much sense and I never knew I needed it until now xD Something else I loved about this one was seeing Stripe's poor video editing skills once again, with him leaving in parts of the recording that were definitely meant to remain on the cutting floor. 😂 Very "Bumpy and the Wise Old Wolfhound," which is amongst my favorite episodes, so you know I loved seeing it.

And of course, I can't stop mentioning and appreciating Socks, my favorite, getting a cute little cameo at the end, and getting at least one line! AAAH! She's always so cute, I love Rock-Socks, you do you babygirl :'3 (And the ending was hilarious of course xD Again, classic Muffin)

I want to petition Ludo Studio to make a "Muffin's Toys" shorts series where we see Muffin parodying various types of YouTube Kids videos. Like, imagine Muffin doing challenges or a DIY? I feel like we need that. At least I do. 😜

📄 Letter

I liked this one quite a lot as well. Always love seeing tidbits of the parents' childhoods. And even though this wasn't on the same levels as "Fairytale" or "Dragon" when it comes to flashbacks or revelations, it was still pretty sweet to watch.

Little Bandit's spellings made me chuckle xD I also weirdly like how it was revealed that he used to have a bird, mostly because it reminded me of a few pet birds my grandma had when I was little. I got a bit worried that Chris was going to get sad or offended about Bandit's comment on her cooking, but glad she took it with humor. 😜

I know Bandit never really liked his artstyle, but honestly, I find it kind of charming and cute. And pretty good for a five-year-old. 😉

🍴 Hungry

Another one that was just okay for me, personally. I mean, Bandit playing like this with the girls and making them laugh is always adorable to watch. And the dad jokes were strong with this one. A lot of people are probably not going to like the gross humor, but eh, it honestly doesn't bother me.

So yeah, this was classic Bandit. I think that's all I have to say. 😅

🐷 Three Pigs

Since "Cinderella" was one of my favorites of the original batch of Bonus Bits, I had high hopes for this one. And well, I won't say that I was disappointed, because I wasn't really. I just didn't enjoy it as much as "Cinderella", mostly because this one felt a LOT more fast-paced, and I was having a hard time keeping up with Bandit's story at one point. Mmmh, is the duration of this shorter than "Cinderella"? I'll have to check it out, but I don't think it is, which makes the fact that it felt so much more fast-paced kind of interesting. 😅 Maybe he just spoke more, I guess.

It was still pretty fun. Bandit naming two pigs after the girls was cute, and sending the other one away to make things easier for himself was really funny. 😝 I wish I had his improv skills, not gonna lie. 😅 As a little side-note, I'm a bit surprised Disney didn't change or omit the "It's against my religion" line.

But yeah. Didn't like it as much as I would've liked, but still a good time.

🍃 Animals

I think this might be my second favorite out of these new shorts. Keep in mind that I was raised by a single mother, so as much as I love Bandit, I'm always going to have a soft spot for episodes that focus on Chilli hanging out with the girls in some way. 🥹

I don't know, I just found the game really cute for some reason. 🧡 It's so simple, and pretty much just an excuse to tickle Bingo in different ways, but I like how creative they got for each animal's walk. And from a character design standpoint, it made a lot of sense to make Bingo's back a "field". Like, for some reason, that made me chuckle, I don't know xD These dogs are so cubical, it felt logical, LOL.

Chilli's games have always been lot more, well, chill than Bandit's xD But I've always been a calm kid, and once again, they remind me of things my own mom and I used to play, so they resonate with me. Despite the surprising ending, this minisode was just very sweet. 😊

Final thoughts:

Even though there wasn't really anything that extraordinary about these minisodes, one must keep in mind that they're not really meant to be compared to the regular Bluey episodes, which themselves have set a pretty high standard. These are just bite-sized, mostly slice-of-life little adventures to keep us interested in these characters in-between seasons. I've always been a lover of simple slice-of-life stories when characters I love are involved, and I love these characters a great deal, so I'll always like seeing them in any capacity, especially in official productions.

I do wish we could get a few shorts of other secondary characters such as Bluey's school friends, Bingo's school friends, the neighbors, or even Rad and Frisky. But I do think more of these are coming, especially considering that some of the stills that have been released as promos (such as Chilli measuring the girls or them arriving at Nana's house and Grandpa Bob being there) didn't appear in any of these. So I have no doubt we'll be getting more minisode batches soon, and hopefully, other characters will make appearances similarly to how they did in the first Bonus Bits.

Any Bluey content is always a win for me, so I'm happy we got these. 💙

[meistwentyinchheels]

HIII!!! okok I wanna know what's May's dynamics like with the main cast?

And perhaps, a smidgen of lore, whatever you can share? :0

oh god i'm being enabled i'mgoi ing to eat ro cks

SO!

ok if i'm honest i really haven't thought that hard about the dynamics so i'm coming up with most of this on the spot ehmmm, but if i try to shortly sum them up it'd be something along the lines of,,,

may playing the straight man to cam's jokes and occasionally (albeit rarely!) going along with their jokes to create chaos. she also has a bit of a tendency to jokingly flirt with cam bc she thinks it's funny

while with deja i'd say their dynamic is more along the lines of may doing shit for the plot (and also suffering the consequences) as deja pretends like she doesn't know her,,,while still subtly helping her out

as for reynah,,,okay may doesn't know her very well, but they have a perfectly amicable relationship with each other (i'm sorry i literally have nothing to add i'm gonna cry)

but as we move onto THE BOYS!!! a.k.a pje

with elioooo uhhh may quickly realized that he gets flustered if she flirts with him so she does tend to pull that stunt occasionally (as a joke), but otherwise they're chill ANDDD as they're both dancers they bond over that (they sometimes also practice together for shits n giggles)

jamie and may have like this unspoken understanding of knowing what it feels like to have people disrespect their space, but will they ever address that? probably not, but they're chill with each other albeit not as close with each other as may is with the rest (oops)

then we have percy,,,OHHH BOY where do i even begin. i'm refraining from saying too much, but initially may was slightly annoyed by his flirting (which quickly turned into amusement). i love their dynamic so much bc they bounce off each other so well,,,and she miiiiiiight have caught a teensy bit of a crush on him after the spring semester (og plan was for the crush to begin after summer, but i thought it'd be funnier this way)

i'm so sorry this is already long asf, but as for the lore,,,wait i have a list somewhere of may fun facts. YUP FOUND IT. so y'all can have some lore tidbits

first off, may has a younger sister by 4 years.

has 9 piercings (4 on her left ear, 5 on her right) and one tattoo of a group of flowers on her left arm

lowkey rich (she got that generational wealth 😔)

a bit of a procrastinator now in college, but in high school she was a whole ass academic weapon

has had 2 relationships and 1 situationship (none of which ended well actually I MEANNNN WHO SAID THAT.)

speaks two languages, korean and english. she's also semi-fluent in japanese, but she's reluctant on actually trying to speak it

might have been borderline insane back in high school as she somehow always ended up in some kind of drama and/or trouble???

also tends to cheat at card games lmfao

okay i think i'll leave it at that bc this is really long and my fingers hurt from typing for so long

now i pass away /j

[froot-batty]

I'd love to learn more about your Jon! Any fun facts or tidbits about his lore/backstory you're willing to dish out for free?

i sure do! i'll just drop his whole backstory, since i've been meaning to anyway :]

Jonathan Crane was born and raised on a rural farm in the heart of Georgia. Contrary to what most might've guessed, his parents were actually really respected doctors/researchers, who had moved out there after having Jon in an attempt to have a family life. They quickly realized that they'd only had a kid out of a feeling of obligation, and they held no real love for Jon nor a desire to raise him. The pair of them were often out for what could be months at a time on "business trips".

This left Jon often in the care of his extremely religious and abusive grandmother. Jon was homeschooled, so there was no escape from her tyrannical rule over their house except if he stuck his nose in a book or ventured out into the fields.

Jon had always loved the crows out on his family's property. They were the pets that he was never allowed to get, and basically became a family to him. His grandmother was absolutely freaked out by the crows, and Jon eventually noticed. To get back at her, he'd sprinkle seed or other bits of food in places where she would undoubtedly see them and get scared by them. She was always going on and on about demonic forces and ghosts and the like, so eventually Jon took it up a notch and started dressing up as a scarecrow, creeping around the farm in the distance or even standing over her bed at night.

Seeing her turn from an monstrous, terrifying figure to him to the scared, frail old woman she was was quite a power trip for him. He became fascinated by the power of fear and how it revealed a person's true nature. And how it made him feel powerful in return.

The death of his grandmother was a complete accident. The power of being the scarecrow had gotten to his head so much that he confronted her head on, meaning to just wave his scythe around and scare the daylights out of her. But one thing lead to another lead to her gutted on their living room floor.

By now Jon's parents hadn't come back in over two years, so he neatly cleaned up her body, packed a bag, stole some money, and ventured out to Gotham City.

fun facts (and a doodle) under the cut, since this already got HELLA long

-Jon works at Arkham, very closely with it's director: Hugo Strange. Strange is aware of Jon's double life as the Scarecrow and they commit various wildly unethical experiments on the patients within Arkham

-Jon's leg brace comes from one of his first encounters with the Bat. It'd been bad since he had fucked up his knee as a kid, but after accidentally falling off of a roof while fighting Batman it just got absolutely destroyed. It'd have been too suspicious to go to a hospital, so it ended up healing wrong. Lucky for him he's got a high pain tolerance

-He and Ed met during Ed's first stint in Arkham. He thought Ed was fascinating psychologically and thus was his psychiatrist for a little while. Until he broke him out

-Oswald absolutely hates him. Jon doesn't like the little man but he finds the rivalry more funny than anything. The reason for it is that during the mayoral campaign, Oswald came to Jon for help creating something that would indispose his fellow candidate. After Jon refused, Oz got petty and tattled the location of his current hideout to the GCPD. A faceful of fear gas later and Oz's healthy wariness of Jon is restored

this is baby crane's first scarecrow costume <3

[revelisms]

Silco, Sevika and Jinx Headcanons (music ver 🎵)

Since my playlists are running rampant (and they're largely how I get a sense for writing character voices/actions/etc.), I thought it'd be fun to share a few HC tidbits via some tunes :-)

Silco — aka the Bloodshark, the Eye, Mr. Crime Boss himself; the man, the myth, the slippery bastard. Also clocking in with nearly 8+ hours worth of songs for this sack of bones...I am...side-eyeing myself. Anyway.

Foundation — Sunlit Grave, Saint Mesa

This basically kickstarted the playlist earworm, for him. At a high-level, this is the song I think of anytime I write him: it's dark, eerie, regal, persevering. I always get an image of someone sinking beneath the depths at the beginning, and clawing out of a deathly cage/prowling to a bloody pinnacle by the end. The lyrics themselves also capture a flavor of his character, as a dead man speaking to someone (potentially his killer and/or lover) who knew him before; who must choose to let go of their knowledge of who that dead man used to be. He is gone, irreparably changed, and he's not coming back—and he'll drag a kingdom to its knees, by the end. (Maybe it's what landed him in that grave, in the first place.)

Inner Voice — The Wondersmith and His Sons, Astronautalis

This gives a sense of past and present: a glimpse into the hard-cracked persona he'd built in the mines (which I associate with folksongs, especially of an English or Gaelic nature), twisted up into the sly, scheming charisma he harnessed as co-founder of the Lanes. For me, the song paints a potential tale of childhood (the lyrics tell of a family of swindlers, from which the narrator is the cleverest son) and a foreboding hint into the future (too much grease can break down a machine; for all their success, a brutal end is eminent). It also just feels like him—it's growly, arrogant, and jovial; drawling in some moments, and spit-fired in others.

On The Record — Time & Place, Queens of the Stone Age

In terms of what he'd actually listen to (of which I think he'd have a extensive range, to the point of his tastes skewing past eclectic into downright bizarre), this would fit easily between a swath of blaring industrial rock, crooning big band classics, jazz, folk-tunes, experimental funk, r&b, etc. It's got that flavor of 80s post-punk vocals that would be a staple in his sets, with a snappy flare in the instrumentals (something he'd nod his head or tap his pen to)—and, funnily enough, has a slight echo to Snakes (Vi's and Jayce's fightsong), which...oddly fits, given I see him and Vi as actually very similar, at their cores.

Sevika — aka the Lioness, the Teeth, "step on me and I'll thank you for it" Miss King. She's badassery in a gilded package, baby—but there's a tender spot under it all, if you squint.

Foundation — Little Girl Gone, CHINCHILLA

Another song that kickstarted the playlist earworm. This is a baseball bat to the gut with prowess, swagger and Try That Again energy—and the transition of the whisper to the drop just hhh. Gets me every time. This song is the battle anthem from a woman who's earned her armor (fittingly, working under a gangster)—test her patience, and she'll be wearing red on her sleeve; dare to cross her in a fight, and she'll drink you down like liquor. I can visualize a snappy two-punch brawl every time I hear this.

Inner Voice — Milk, BONES UK

Dipping into that tenderness here, with a stark note of ceaseless ambition, we've got this song—a reflection, a demand, a love letter, a hunger. There's so many layers folded into this: the desires of a self-made life to be everything and more their host yearns for it to be, even if, underneath it all, what they truly yearn for is belonging. This feels like a young, angry, cropped-hair and bloody-fisted Sevika fighting down the world—and an older self looking fondly, if a touch melancholically, back on it all.

On The Record — Know Better, Janelle Monáe

Put her on the aux, and she'll have the dancefloor congealing into a neon haze of sweat and glitter. The mix of the sax and the bassline here just thrums with her energy, to me: self-assured, watchful, slow-smirking. It's often the kind of tracks she reaches for, especially for a crowd; she's got a bold streak in her, and it doesn't take much to stir it to full display (come here now, stranger; gimme that sense of danger).

Jinx — aka the Loose Cannon, the Bombshell, everyone's favorite lil' gremlin. I tend to interpret her character in distinct "phases"—i.e., Powder, Jinx, and Jinx post-shimmer. These also factor into what I musically associate with her; each piece of her character feels very distinct.

Foundation — BLOODMONEY, Poppy

This is like...the Jinx song, to me. It's about distrust, sacrifice, self-identity, denial, rage, all wrapped up in a spiteful bow of religious allegories—a flash-cycle of whose opinion she worships, at any given moment (when nobody is watching, what do you believe?). It's also just a sensory meal with the sound design, and could even match up with soundbites of her voice so easily.

Inner Voice — Crimson, Skott

Take a stroll into Powder building Jinx's persona from the ashes. This is a haunting, beautiful song, with an undercurrent of something fight-eager, spiteful, and hopeful brewing beneath the surface. In the wake of tragedy, there's still a thread of strength; someone picking up the pieces while trying to find a path back to their own mind. I almost hear this as an apology and declaration of war, in turns, from Jinx to Vi.

On The Record — BOOM, Cassyette.

You know this little metalhead is listening to any splitzy mechanical tracks she can get her hands on (fuels the inventor muse, y'know?)—and I think she'd love this. I mean, c'mon. It's a song about explosions, told through a narrator saying how slipping into different mental spaces feels like a bomb waiting to blow. I could see her jamming to this on loop in her workshop while tinkering with a new flare gun. (Also, as a close runner up, I associate anything Djerv with her, given they were the artist for Get Jinxed—she'd probably have things like (We Don't) Hang No More always on the gramophone, singing to it word for word.)

[ophelliate]

small bootleg!tmnt details/fun facts

from what i've seen nobody ever pointed them out so i thought it'd be nice to share ^^ spoilers ahead ofc

in 'who needs a vet', the stockman's remedy is actually a large contributor to the boys' recovery as the recipe was developed by superfly to aid his family/mutants

the intervention gag in 'sports! any%' and 'leon ardo alone' is inspired by the same gag in How I Met Your Mother

in 'pizza-nal economics', the only reason why leroy hired mikey (and by extension, keno) is because he knew he could fight/defend himself from the customers of their business

according to the boys' pizza tier list, Run of the Mill is an A tier

Raph-Bucks were inspired by the unicon bits from the las pegasus unicon incident

the episode's ending with mikey walking in to the raph-buck revolution is also inspired by the community pizza fire meme

as mentioned by casey in 'i thought YOU were sneaking out', raph had technically met them during his sports speedrun, as they were the goalie raph hit in the shin

bishop is actually teased as early as the episode 'fiend trip' by the principal

melissa is very heavily inspired by old friends of mine which is why she's Like That lmao

i mutated the general into scale tail for the sake of using the concept design before the mutant mayhem script released and revealed that his name is actually spider... oops–

lotus's background wasn't actually planned and was made during her introduction in 'leon ardo alone', the reason being is because i didn't want to actually make her last name blossom

the reason why klunk duplicates is due to the sea sponge dna she mutated with, as some sea sponges can create extensions of themselves if they feel like they are in danger

by extension, when klunk is scared, she hardens for defense, but when she's happy/relaxed, her entire body softens, including her organs

the person bishop is calling throughout 'green party candidates' and briefly in 'the devolution of turtle' is irma's mother, mrs. lynette knight, though they are close enough for first name basis

as explained in 'no paint no gain', keno is well liked by/has easy entry to the crime scene of nyc due to his cousin being in the foot clan

although not explored in season 1, angel has a heavy interest in film and has implemented tv systems in each room of hun's house

leo told bishop about the market incident, as he mentioned to casey in 'no paint no gain', which is why tcri (and eventually hun) knows about casey's involvement and relationship with the turtles

i did not know about the 03 nano episodes in depth before writing marion into donnie's tech circle and for that i am so sorry

in 'the psat', irma is supposed to act as the proper example of how to treat the psats: completely unseriously

i didn't know normani announced her album around the time of 'the psat' episode's release until a month after

'the devolution of turtle' was genuinely gonna be a lot more of a sillier episode but it really took a turn after bishop started being developed

the mutants in the cages is basically a gateway implementation for mutants introduced in canon tottmnt when it comes out

the reason the turtles turtle-piled in 'is mutant a heritage' is because it became a coping mechanism for them after the previous episode

and last but not least for the finale (and spoiler tidbit for s2):

miwa

[mandareeboo]

Velma Review, Episode 1: "Pilot"

Frustrated by a lack of proper, unbiased review, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I want to start this off with my mission statement with this show: Velma isn't a good show. I'd say it's rather mid. But I want to treat this as its own beast- I'm tired of people who would rather compare this show to other Scooby Doo shows and movies. Each is unique, and each should be judged individually.

As such, I wanna give this the proper review status, with things like a Synopsis, Character Introduction, Fun Tidbits, and a final review out of ten points. Basically, this bitch is gonna be long, so get ready.

SYNOPSIS

We open on a monologue by Velma (voiced by Mindy Kaling) explaining that this series is telling the story of how she recruited the mystery solving gang while getting ready for school. It's implied that she wants to tell said tale because she's tired of people assuming it was Fred who began the group.

"Yeah, it was me! Not Fred and his weird sex van. This is my story, told my way. And it starts with a murder, bitch."

Cutting to the school locker room, we see Daphne (voiced by Constance Wu) and some other girls getting ready to shower. The team casually discuss how pilot episodes tend to have more nudity and sex than the rest of the series and how they don't like it. One of the girls, Krista, disagrees and causes an argument with Daphne, claiming that Daphne's favorite part of the Riverdale pilot was Betty and Veronica kissing. Daphne claims that it was "because it was immediately called out as tired in the scene!"

Velma enters with a hoodie and a cane, knocking Daphne out of the showers. She demands to know her opinions on race-point casting in a creepy, distorted voice (callout to Mystery Incorporated?). Daphne gives a very complicated but overall positive response that seems to impress Velma, who pulls off her mask.

"Velma! What the hell, you almost killed me!" "Guess I didn't try hard enough." "See? Now, if this was a show, it'd be super hot if you two kissed." "Krista, if this was a show, you'd be killed off for being horny."

Velma opens her locker to reveal Brenda, the first victim of the serial killer. Though at first assumed to be a prank, Brenda falls out of the locker. Her head opens up to reveal her brain has been removed.

It being her locker, and Velma being pretty damn suspect as it is, she's quickly carted off to questioning. Velma begins to hallucinate as a withered hand digs into her shoulder, demanding to know who killed Brenda. She's shocked out of it by Donna and Linda (voiced by Jane Lynch and Wanda Sykes, respectively) who are the town's local police officers as well as Daphne's mothers.

We soon find out two things. 1.) Donna and Linda, while nice people, are shit detectives, and 2.) Velma's mother, Diya, has been missing for two years.

Donna and Linda lament that they miss seeing Velma around their home, despite Velma's bitter attitude and rudeness. Velma blames Daphne for their friendship falling apart, stating that, "Daphne got hot and ditched me."

The detectives ask Velma for help, stating that they're fully aware that they aren't the best at this. Velma refuses. Donna and Linda tell her that she's likely to go to prison if she doesn't, then leave after telling her they miss having her around and to say hi to her father and mother- who, again, is missing.

"I could kill them all!... Okay, I see how this looks bad."

Velma runs into Fred (voiced by Glenn Howerton) and Daphne outside of the police station. Daphne is breaking the news of Brenda's death to him, and very clearly states she believes Velma committed the murder.

Velma tries to argue her innocence, but falls into another hallucination.

Returning home, Velma complains about her predicament to her father, Aman (voiced by Russell Peters), who is quick to point out that her suspicious behavior at school is likely why she's to blame.

Aman is a lawyer, and has recently started up a relationship with Sophie, the owner of a local malt shop. He's done this despite still technically being married to Diya, which has caused a lot of contention in the family. It doesn't help matters that Sophie is pregnant.

"Well, I have to go prepare myself for prison. Not that you care."

Sophie's gotten Velma a job at her malt shop, seemingly out of the kindness of her heart, as she shows no upset when Velma is visibly repulsed and storms out.

Brenda's friends hold a sort of eulogy at the malt shop. While it's unclear what Brenda was like outside of school, we're given the vibe that she was a kind person who was well-liked among her peers. "My Pony" by Ginuwine is sung in her honor.

Daphne once again blames Velma for the murder, waving around the evidence folder Donna and Linda had brought to the interrogation. Velma leaves in a huff.

Starting to hallucinate once again, Velma bangs on the door, only to be interrupted by Fred. Fred explains that he's trying to "man up" to gain the respect of his abusive father, and he'd fled his home to cry alone. Velma, emboldened by his honesty, begins to tell the tale of her own mother.

Diya Dinkley, according to Velma, was a mystery writer. She would give Velma little mysteries to solve in order to keep her out of her hair. We soon begin to realize that Diya was likely not as wholesome as Velma seems to recall, as her "mysteries" were things like Velma finding her smoking or bringing her more whiskey.

After finding her Christmas presents early, Diya supposedly went to the store to grab her something fresh to unwrap. She never returned. Her car was later found with her glasses and a gift inside. Velma blames herself for her mother's disappearance, and has begun having hallucinations out of what she has diagnosed as guilt rather than unchecked mental illness. (Yes, I know, we'll get to that later)

Shaggy (voiced by Sam Richardson) appears, causing Fred to flee out of social pressure. He claims to know who the killer is. Then, once they're together, he admits he doesn't, but he knows how they can figure it out.

Norville runs the school paper. He explains that he'd been running a little investigation into the malt shop Sophie owns, as he felt it might be a drug front. He assigned Brenda to the job. Brenda stated she caught something strange on camera, but never extrapolated as to what. Now she's dead, and the camera- an expensive piece of equipment, as Norville keeps insisting- has gone missing. Velma suddenly recalls that Sophie just got a new camera.

"If I find your camera on Sophie, I'd solve Brenda's murder and send Sophie to jail. It's a win-win!"

"Or, maybe we could find the camera... together?"

The camera, of course, is a dud. Aman admits that Sophie takes pictures of other peoples' babies for extra cash, hence the new camera. It's a work item.

As Velma tries to ask deeper into things, the hallucinations start up again, worse than ever before. She ends up convulsing on the ground and is implied to have almost died. Aman is more worried about the camera. Sophie, recognizing her distress, pounds on her chest and manages to bring her out of it.

Aman apologizes, implying that he'd never believed her about said hallucinations before- an ongoing problem for two years now, completely unchecked. He also tries to remind Velma that Diya didn't disappear. She left them.

We then see the same flashbacks, but from a wildly different perspective. She found Diya smoking and accidentally sent the cigarette into her eye. She brought the whiskey but, curious, had some, leading her to break the laptop and the bottle. Her drawings were across important pages of her newest book. Velma throws out her unwrapped present and goes inside.

This tells us exactly one thing: Velma's perceptions of the past cannot be trusted in any circumstance, even now.

Velma tries to push away lingering suspicion by coming into school the next day looking "free of any guilt". It goes well at first, but she's eventually called out and pelted with various foods and insults.

Fred, inspired by her backstory, steps forward and commands the popular kids to chill the fuck out. He makes a piss-poor speech about how, even though Velma is a bit odd, she's not someone capable of murder. Everyone eventually agrees, bolstered by Fred.

Daphne corners Velma in the bathroom, accusing her of trying to steal Fred's attention. Velma denies this, though admits she wouldn't pass on a nude of him.

"Fred? Naked? Hilarious. We've been dating for a year and he still won't take his pants off."

"A year?... Is he gay?"

"I've haven't heard that rumor."

After being told Fred kicks everyone out of the bathroom at the malt shop to pee, Velma drags Shaggy off to visit his house. Shaggy questions the validity of Fred murdering Brenda for something as small as an accidental dick pic, but Velma shrugs it off.

Velma breaks into Fred's house and starts to hallucinate, something she assumed would stop now that her guilt about Diya's vanishing has gone down. Shaggy is on the phone with her as she struggles not to have a heart attack.

Shaggy reveals he has romantic feelings towards Velma after she claims no one likes her. Velma assumes this is a joke.

"What? No you don't. You're like a brother to me. That's hilarious."

The humor keeps her mind off things long enough to have the hallucinations die down a little, and she gets to work. She quickly locates Brenda's camera but finds nothing but various teens hooking up.

Fred appears from the shower, explaining that Brenda also photographed his legs.

Fred explains that he has yet to go through puberty. It's a deep embarrassment to his family, and they've gone to great lengths to hide such a thing. Brenda having a photo showing said lack of growth could very well have made him the laughingstock.

"It's okay! I'm just gonna do to you what I did to Brenda."

Fred reaches into his robe, but before he can finish his thought he's shot in both legs by Donna and Linda. They'd popped by when they saw Norville's car parked outside and heard everything.

They arrest Fred, who seems to be baffled. He seems genuinely hurt that Velma assumed he was going to kill her. He'd been pulling out a pocket book- to pay her off.

Shaggy and Velma talk on the walk home. Norville asks why she's still hallucinating if she no longer feels any guilt, and Velma replies that she does, deep down. She doesn't believe Diya would just leave her, no matter how frustrating she was a child.

Spotting roaches crawling on a recycling bin, Norville opens the lid to find Krista's corpse. She's also lacking a brain. The episode ends.

CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS

We meet a whole slew of characters this episode. As such, it feels important to make a little blurb on each of them. This will be long, but it shouldn't ever be this long again. Swings and Roundabouts.

Velma Dinkley is around 14-18. It's not been made clear exactly how old she is. She's moody, judgmental, and suffering from unchecked mental illness.

Velma's mental illness is both an important context to the show, but also a strangely gaping problem. No one believed Velma about her hallucinations until recently (except for Norville and Sophie). Her own father dismissed them for two years and shows no signs of trying to get her help when he finally does believe her.

They almost kill her twice in one episode and yet no one around her seems to think it wise to call a doctor or see about avoidance strategies. Her lack of assistance has led to an inflated lone wolf complex, where she honestly thinks she has to do this herself and no one can help her.

Velma has psychosis. She's at the right age to start seeing mental issues crop up in her life, and this is around the time when people start noticing signs of this issue. Yet no one has even considered getting her mental help, or a therapist, or- I dunno, at least looking up ways to help her through the delusions? She's been left to rot with hands crawling under her skin.

Daphne Blake, same age as Velma. Intelligent, meticulous, and a bit petty. Her spite with Velma runs deep, and it causes her to lash out at the girl quite often. That said, it seems she misses Velma more than she lets on- her constant badgering of Velma never seems to cross the line, and their back and forth is honestly the best joke in the episode.

Shaggy Rodgers. Going by his birth name in this show, Norville is a reporter, an anti-drug activist, and potential long-time friend of Velma with a crush. Though a bit clingy, it comes across more as just general ditziness than anything malicious. Their friendship is mostly one-sided, with Velma using him for rides or math homework, and Norville seems to realize that, though he never sticks up for himself.

Fred Jones. Rich, entitled, and a literal man-child, Fred is both surprisingly kind and EXTREMELY rude mixed into one package. It's clear that his family's abuse has run deep in him, and they've allowed him to basically be a giant baby. No one's ever given him a slap on the face to wake him up. But once he gets to know Velma, he goes out of his way to defend her, and seems more surprised than angry when Velma assumes him guilty of the murder.

I do see some form of arc coming with Fred. It's clear he wants to be better, be "the man" his father wants, and I think eventually it will culminate into... something. I'm not saying the arc will be well-written, but I am expecting something from the hints they've dropped.

Aman and Sophie. Sophie feels younger than Aman to me? Not by, like, a lot, but her mishandled hashtags and wine shirts give me "out of touch 30s-40s" vibes, and Aman reads as like. Late 40s, early 50s?

Regardless, it's clear that Sophie (though a bit ditzy and sometimes even insulting to Velma) is the one doing the heavy lifting in the parenting department. She tries to get Velma a job but doesn't have a fit when she quits. She recognizes her hallucinations and is quick to act. She's not upset when Velma coughs on her while regaining her breath. It feels less like her trying to be a mom and more like a weird, somewhat supportive older sister dynamic.

Aman, meanwhile, is focused on his work. As a lawyer, he has long hours and a lot of shit on his plate. He's basically ignored Velma entirely, giving her no assistance when the cops threaten her with jail time. When Diya left that night to get gifts, he "reminds" her to get him something too.

Donna and Linda seem like cool wine aunts to Velma, and though they're terrible police officers it's clear they're good mothers. Not much to say on them, really, besides the fact they shoot Fred in his legs which was some level of brutality when Fred was weak enough for a tackle or taser.

Diya is both a character in this episode and not, but she's important to the plot. Velma's memories of her are clearly skewed- at the beginning it's glorification, then it's demonization, then it wraps around into some form of both.

I want to be clear that the show itself is clearly implying that Diya DID vanish. If she was leaving Aman than why the found car? Why leave her glasses behind? It wouldn't be difficult to crash on a friend's couch and start the divorce paperwork. For all of Aman's iffy traits, there's nothing implying abusive tendencies that would make her feel the need to flee. Something did happen to Diya.

But, while I agree with Velma's perspective on the case, I want to remind that Velma's perceptions are clearly VERY flawed. We really don't know Diya Dinkley. Psychosis has a habit of affecting memory and the process of new information, and it's very likely that those two combined has altered her ability to explain her mother's character to us, the audience.

Here's what we actually know about Diya: she was a mystery novelist. She drank and smoked. She left an unopened gift box and her glasses in the car. The car was stashed in some bushes.

Something did happen to Diya, but her character, her reasons, and her nature are completely null and void to us as an audience. We can't trust Diya as a person. We can't trust much of anything told to us about her from Velma or Aman, as he clearly is living in denial. It's hard to say where that will lead us from here.

FUN TIDBITS

We have no active proof that the popular girls have ever bullied Velma. The only photos we saw are of Velma spilling ice cream and people laughing about it. They said nothing during the bathroom scene, and none of them mock Velma when she gives her input.

One of the books on Velma's shelf is "SCUBA: Do's and Don't's"- maybe she dives on weekends?

Crystal Cove is the name of the town, originally from Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated.

Velma was labelled "Most Revengey" in the school yearbook.

Also, since the glasses were originally Diya's, has she been wearing a prescription she doesn't need for two years?

That damn gift still hasn't been opened and it feels like it should've been taken as evidence by now

FINAL REVIEW

Velma's pilot is... bumpy. Rough. Kind of a dumpster fire, honestly. But if you can ignore the self-referential humor, it's actually not as bad as other stuff I've watched. The animation is solid- especially the hallucinations- so shoutout to the team for doing good work with an iffy script. The voice acting is really good minus a few hiccups, but usually only on phrases that I can't imagine saying with a straight face either. The plot isn't exactly inspired, but I am curious to see where they're going to take it, and who will be unmasked as the serial killer. Also, to find out what the fuck they're doing with those brains. Trophies? Gross.

Score: 4/10, not the best but could be WAAAAAAYYY worse.

[lynsneakersart]

Since y'all are sleeping on my Tetovage masterpost, I'm going to post them all individually with extra tidbits of info and there's nothing you can do about it!!

Twelfth is Bug!

More info under the cut.

For the Pokemon, when I only had one choice, I picked Beedrill because... Drill. I wasn't very excited to do it though. When I decided to do two Tetos, I removed Beedrill and just tried picking what I thought would be fun, and then I thought of the past/future theme, so I went with Slither Wing and Volcarona.

They were the choices for the longest time, until I wanted to cull back some Gen 9 choices to make things... a little more fair. Some Gens still got less rep but whatever. I had Shedinja on my list for a long time so that ended up being the replacement for Slither Wing. The replacement for Volcarona I kept hesitating on. Eventually, I picked Vespiquen, because I otherwise had NO Gen 4 representation.

I really wanted to pick Masquerain, it's one of my favourite Bug Pokemon, but I like Vespiquen, too! You can see a lil Masquerain in the book SV's reading as a lil easter egg, I guess. :)

For the character designs... oh boy I struggled, man. I initially just threw down... whatever I thought of. I was doing something completely unrelated when I suddenly had a thought out of nowhere about a Teto with a hood on her head and giant orb eyes staring at you while she plays video games. Giving some more thought to it, I based her a little big more off of Penny from Scarlet/Violet and gave her a Pokemon bag. Venonat was the best choice cuz it's just a fluffy lil guy!

For SV, I struggled a lot with it. I wanted to give her a silhouette that made it look like she had a lot of arms, hence why I wanted 4 drills of hair. I toned it down a little bit and tried to just make it more of a... casual dress. In the end, the shawl/sweater/I don't know what it'd be called was to emulate a shell/wings. That was the best I could think of tbh.