#But I thought it'd be a fun tidbit

[sleeplesssmol]

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.

[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 ❤️

[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.

[lawlieisinsane]

being insane about stars, number 3, thought it'd be fun to talk about tidbits of my experience and have it recorded somewhere.

I streamed the game! If you'd like to give me some support or watch those moments I'm about to talking about for yourself, here ya go:

Half of these are also things I thought but forgor to mention on stream

Anyway!! In no particular order...

- I loved Mirabelle from the start!!! She just looks so CUTE

- I thought the change god statue was change (money) and thought the statue was gonna give me money until someone started saying about it

- I did NOT know it was a timeloop game. My friend and beloved gifted me isat so I just thought oh how cute-- what the fuck why. No I didn't read the steam page. No I got no spoilers LOL

- so I got scared shitless when I looped the first time!!! Then got scared shitless AGAIN with the Head Housemaiden, the song changed and I went WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT!!!!

- when I saw Loop I instantly fell in love. Baby! Also immediately thought haha you're weird, are you hiding something? Looks like a funny person who's mean/funny to avoid feelings, hmm

- when loop asked who or what do you think I am!!!, I grabbed the both funniest and most logical explanation I thought, "me", but then thought hm .. you're a star, you're probably my wish or a deity who thought oh damn that guys pathetic lemme go help him. I didn't expect to be RIGHT

- I kept making lists to send to my friend about where I should go cuz my memory's SHIT, and in all those I included a bullet point of "strangle loop" lmfao

- first time I saw the island things, I looked at Siffrin and thought oh are you from there? And then the dialogue about his bg, I thought oh you had trauma and can't remember, didn't you?

- Thankfully friend also told me to interact with coin to trigger The Incident. I triggered that, I THINK after a perfect loop, inside the boulangerie, staring at the croissants on the table, and it was also the first thing I did on the stream that day. When the dialogue said "You run off from the boulangerie", and later went back from fading to black and I was still there I thought HEY we're still here tho-- oh.

- I don't remember if my friend said to talk to Loop after this (think yes but I forgor), but since I love them, I was anyway I just had a break down, Loop look at my cool coin-- then things happened and I went I JUST GOT HERE WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME

- Change god interaction traumatized me! I'm never speaking with them again

- I kept saying Loop could be my therapist instead

- why's the king waist so grababble. Fr. Weird guy

- at the start I NEEDED to give flower to king, thinking if he gets some love and a snack everything will be fine! I didn't know you actually could, friend told me later

- i follow the dev on bluesky so I saw a post of them holding a Bonnie figurine and though oh haha cute!! grabbing them like a hamster!! i didn`t kNOW

- the king hides snacks in the pillars and also hes probably crying because the party stepped on his hair in the door for the third floor. Or because he's hungry. or because he's pathetic. Or all of the above.

- kept calling the starry door the "loop door", it's theirs I don't make the rules

- Messing around with my friend, apparently I kept saying sus things like "you can be both Loop and Siffrin!", or "if it's the wish that caused this why don't I just wish to stop it. Like get me out of here thanks", or "is king my dad or something. who made me."

- siffrin and the other siffrins Mal du pays should start a band and start dancing

- I love odile. She's my third fav, first being loop then Siffrin

- "this is the house of leaves" i said, then said "nah actually this is the house of can't leaves get me out of here". I'd make siffrin read house of leaves, honestly

- kept insisting to do most playthrugs without skipping so I saw a lot of cool internal thoughts and stuff!

- my funniest joke was probably "hey odile check out how hard I can dissociate" on her quest and skipped the entire dialogue

- there are 19 birds in Dormont. :)

- did not get a bunch of special dialogues because i cannot be mean to my pixel family

- I did not actually defeat loop. I let them get me instead, they were always my fav I couldn't do it lmao

- when loop was teaching the secret hand shape and said "put your finger next to your mouth" or something i actually bit my finger and then the realization hit and i OH YOU LITTLE BITCH!!!!!!!!!! i love and hate you.

- later on I convinced myself that Loop was “a star”, and “my wish”, and I still didn’t KNOW

- once Siffrin stopped saying peeou, peeou! I started doing it for them because I gotchu buddy I’ll get your whimsy back

- on the tutorial I gave the wrong answers purposefully to see the answers and then the game gave me a helpful little chart and I thought “holy fuck I’m being berated, how dare you”, but little did I know that ended up being very very helpful to me because I forger easily

- I actually did destroy the king with one good crit from Siffrin one time. It was funny.

- I also counted the rocks. I forgor how many there are, but almost twice as many as there are birbs

- jingle jangle bell pendant is my favorite souvenir ever. Ding ding!!!

some more fun things i remembered

-finished with around 50 hours, 79 loops. Siffrin actually forgor SO many of them, i swear the god i was around 40-50 and then suddenly oh woopsie loop 66, loop 69, loop 77. Id probably taken more time if it weren't for friends guiding me (i love u friends) or my worry to see through everything again and make it boring for the audience

-pretty sure i said or thought "the nostalgia sadnesses are loop shaped!! which are also Siffrin shaped!! all triangles!"

-cannot remember shit from the house even tho i did it in its entirerity many times. i still dont know places. rip.

-"oh you trapped yourself in the loops, didn't you?"

-i forgor what wish siffrin made at the start but went "I bet you wished yourself into the timeloops", then friends were asking "whats your wish siffrin", SORRY I FORGOR

-every memory i got with "you'll always remember this" message I kept saying "will I? Suspicious...~

thats all I can think for now. bye

[258energeticfrogsinmyhead]

unfinished thing i was trying to make!! its supposed to be depicting sun and moon's first awakening in the pizzaplex

love when sun starts incoherently rambling and taking interest in everything around him!! its the same exact thing i used to do :D

funnily enough, "little" bit of a ramble ahead under the cut

i love both of their designs, and that goes for people's own renditions of them as well!! it's super fun getting to know neat tidbits about the designs people create, and that goes for this show and just creation in general

my take on sun and moon's designs are similar to canon with a few adjustments. they're also based on some fan interpretations of em:

since sun has to face and touch a lot of children, i thought it'd be cute if his rays looked like petals and were soft. sensory joys !! i think them being able to retract was a very unique design choice and is fun to play around with (for children AND creators, etc), buut (what i think to be, at least) sharp pieces of metal jutting out of the sides of the head of an animatronic intended to work with children sounds like a workplace hazard.

just a hazard in general. so he gets something made of, and covered in much softer material!!!

now moon.. they have similar designs because they're supposed to be one animatronic in canon. in MASM, since they're seperate animatronics, I DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE LIMITATIONS AND ANGSTINESS OF THAT >:D doesnt mean angst DOESN'T exist, however, if i continue im going to veer too far off track

lacking sun's rays, he would probably have some other form of sensory comfort in his design. never finished designing him, but the edges of his ruffles being fluffy would be so cute and comfy for children!! maybe i should've given him a cape with a really fluffy collar, and maybe he could have some more fluff around his wrists?

not sure yet

oh yeah!!

when i was drawing this i wanted to draw the scene where moon is about to kill sunblock/sun V1, but then i realized i didn't know how to draw them, so i tried to start drawing them to figure it out with this one ^^

this is the first time in a while that i've tried drawing anything outside of my ocs or among us characters + i was a bit low on energy so they may not look the best

.those are all the words i have to vomit. gonna go crawl back into my hidey hole or somethin'. g'bye!!

[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.

[kathbunny]

So on the discord there's a fake dating superhero au and I wrote some stuff for it

Basic lore first:

Maxim is a retired superhero who's a friend of VR-LA's, who investigates and unretires to try to save VR-LA under the belief he's been mind controlled

Vhas is a supervillain who's mostly just having fun, not really intentionally killing anybody. Just disregards the law and then steals or destroys something. He's got powers based on his voice, siren-like. People don't really know the full extent due to him mostly having fun, so their imaginations run wild.

VR-LA is a superhero who has realized the organization he worked for is evil after his entire team (the old crew) excluding him is declared dead after what was actually a kidnapping by some other supervillain caused by a betrayal from a team member (similar to canon, only MR-SN is actually dead). Him escaping and knowing the truth threatens both his organization and whatever plan is going on with his team.

Due to the above, VR-LA has to plan a way to avoid being killed or disappearing, so he asks Vhas to help him. His whole idea is that if he's a villain, with a paper trail, it'd be very obvious if he suddenly went missing after a fight with a hero (as they want him alive), and a trail would be demanded by the public and the government (especially due to his sudden changing of sides). And, if they fake his death, he'd have somebody who knows the truth in Vhas. Vhas is essentially the safest option for various reasons.

It will end in poly, that's the plan.

Below is what I wrote on the discord as a tidbit and a bit more! I edited some changes in too for those in the discord rereading!

VR-LA stepped into the dark building, an old warehouse that had been abandoned months ago. He tried to ignore the skittering of rats or movements in the shadows as he walked through, electricity sparking off his hands to give him light. It was barely enough, only letting him see silhouettes anywhere past a few feet away. He stopped at the center, spotting a shadowy figure sitting on a chair. "...Vhas." He greeted.

"Hey, mate." The figure, Vhas, returned, lounging in his chair like he wasn't talking to a hero that could slam him into the concrete, but instead to a friend in his own house. "Surprised you actually showed up alone, sparky. Thought this might be a trick."

"I don't lie when I say I need help." VR-LA said, clenching his fists. "You were the safest option. You avoid civilian harm, but you're powerful." Saying that felt like pulling on teeth.

"Am I now?" Vhas said, leaning forward slightly, eyes seeming to glint in the dark. "What do you need my help with though, sparky? Best not to keep me in the dark here, mate."

VR-LA gritted his teeth. "The organization I work for falsely claimed my team to be dead. They were kidnapped, they're alive." VR-LA said. "I know this, so I'm a target. I need protection and a place to hide while I investigate. And I need to be seen as a villain so that it's harder to just get rid of me."

Vhas chuckled, the sound eerie and slow. "Well, if you're going to get my help, you'll have to do it my way." He reached for something in his pocket and suddenly the warehouse was lit up with shitty colorful LED light strips. "Let's make this fun, 'ight, sparky?"

VR-LA had to stop himself from gritting his teeth at that. "Define your way here." He crossed his arms, trying to gather up at least a little bit of intimidating energy.

Vhas stood, flouncing his way over to VR-LA and circling as he spoke. "Well, you need a believable reason for why you're a villain now, mate, and you'll need to do real things to be seen as one."

"...I'm aware."

"So, I have a thought for the first one!" Vhas declared, stopping in front of VR-LA. "How about pretending to date, sparky? People love those sorts of stories, it'll spread like wildfire."

VR-LA wasn't fond of that, his frown intensifying.

"Ah, ah, before you say anything, I don't care about ya like that, I just think it'd be funny." Vhas said, waving his hand idly. "Plus, I wanna get something outta this too. My price is entertainment, and that's cheap. You don't even gotta do that much, just rob a few banks, vandalism. The works!"

"...fine then." VR-LA agreed.

Vhas put a hand out to shake, smirking.

"I'm still actively letting off electricity."

"...eh, I'm fine getting shocked." Vhas shrugged lazily.

VR-LA took his hand, perhaps more roughly than he should have, the shock going through Vhas's arm making him yelp.

[wings-of-ink]

Idk if this is like, tinfoil hat territory, but I'm just now getting into chapter 5 and Duri talked a LITTLE bit about his uncle, and now I'm curious??

Is his runaway uncle our ran-away dad LOL

Cause dad mentioned HAVING a brother, at one point, I'll have to go back and play through that section again to see if I can glean anything else from the conversation he has with Ravi about it. I know he doesn't say MUCH, but now that I've thought about it I can't let it go LOL

I wish I could remember what he looks like actually, I'll have to remember to compare them now too, if I go back and find out that they look NOTHING alike I'll be a litttle embarrassed LOL don't laugh at me too hard

It's just interesting, there's definitely some emphasis being placed on Duri not even knowing if his uncle is alive or not, and it makes me curious because i thoughttt dad was leaning more into a secret royalty thing, though his dislike of the gods could also just be self-loathing, or loathing directed towards his very special godly parent(s? plural???)

Duri described him as kind and fun, but never really okay. That sounds like it could be pre-escape dad, when he talked about how he was expected to sire children without consideration for his preferences. I don't remember him mentioning nephews/nieces, but that would probably open up a whole conversation he'd rather not have, and it'd also probably be too obvious to the reader.

I could also be totally crazy and off the mark LOL but it felt like a damn good epiphany in the moment, and I'm having fun thinking it over.

what a WILD family reunion that would be though, "hi dad i might be dating your estranged nephew/niece now."

I'd keel over on the spot

[OKAY I WAS ABOUT TO HIT SEND BUT I THOUGHT ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE, DIDN'T GRANDMA JUST GO MISSING TOO? or was she our other dad's mom?? I'm gonna have to replay the beginning AGAIN with this theory in mind just so I can sort it all out LOL WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR FAMILY]

I'm not sure if this would qualify as spoiler territory or not, so don't worry about responding if so LOL I just had to put the idea somewhere or I was gonna go stir crazy. I've missed this IF so much, I love being able to theorycraft a bit now that I'm back. Feels like home.

Reading this brought me much joy, dear, lol.

That would be one wild and hilarious family reunion!

So Kip (Da's) older brother he mentioned will be brought up again in chapter 6, so you may have some of your answers before too long. Perhaps a few other tidbits about the rest of Da's family as well will surface. It's not so far-fetched to think an RO or two may have connections to MC's extended family...just sayin.

And Papa (Dov's) mother (Ravinder) is the grandma that went missing. Kip's mother (currently not named in the story) is referenced as being alive but "spiritually" dead by Da.

MC's whole family is a Daytime TV series waiting to happen. ^_^

I adore your theories, dear! If you cook up anymore ideas, you can let me know. There's so many juicy things in Chapter 6, I can't wait!

[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