#I got a few other cool things that probably aren't interesting to others to post

[raeloganthesonic06fangirl]

I also got this really cool Sonic the Hedgehog sherpa blanket, like, it's a hefty sherpa blanket, but with Sonic on it. That's really cool

[readbyred]

may i request how the dps boys would react to realising they have a severe crush on a, preferably shy, reader! tysm <\3

Oh, I've been waiting for dps requests! Sorry for my late replies everybody, I got demotivated again because tumblr deleted a few of my x reader posts (and a few others). But I'll try to not let that happen again if I can even help it

I think Knox would have such a silly time trying to approach you. Because we all know he’s awkward, but determined at best and, well… pushy at worst. I'm trying to go with the version I saw in a play, because thankfully they cut out the party scene which means he’s still delightfully insufferable but not awful. Anyways, he would jump on every occasion to talk to you. And then just. Stand there. He’d try to give you flowers and poems, everything really. But he loses brain cells every time he’s around you. At least you’re both equally stressed about social interactions. He gets a little braver when you give him a smile or any other sign you like him. Not less awkward, but a bit more motivated to go for it. His main problem is that he can't read you well and despite being big on feelings and all, he still has a hard time actually talking to you. Clumsily, he showers you with over the top things, that most would find cringey but you think of as endearing. And if he thinks there's a chance he’ll lose you, he’ll confess right away. I think he is brave and pretty open about feelings. Just stressed out

With Neil, it's not an issue at all that you're shy. He’s more so taken aback by his own strong feelings. Because he wasn't expecting to fall this hard. But give him like five work days to process and he’ll be all in. I feel like he would take his time to confess but he’d make it known that he cares about you. He’d be checking up on you every time he can, bringing you coffee, asking to practice lines together, go to the movies in town. Even before you two start dating you just wake up and half of his sweatshirts are in your drawer (he likes to borrow you his clothes if you’re cold) and your desk is littered with poems he shared with you. He’s a gentle lover, but he knows what he wants and when the time is right Neil has no problem confessing

It's much funnier with Cameron because this boy is in panic mode 24/7. At first he legit thought he was sick because he always felt dizzy and distracted around you. And he’s a traditionalist. Everything has to be perfect when you’re around. Like he beats himself up about every little mistake he made around you. But also makes a point to treat you RIGHT. If you’re shy he might not know how to approach you at first, because he’s not sure if you’re even interested. And how to make you like him. After much teasing (mainly from Charlie, of course) he gets fed up with his friends and decides to make a move. It might not be the most romantic when he does, but it's sweet and genuine

Another one that would take time to confess is Meeks. He’s pretty quick to accept that he’s crushing on you. He’s like, yeah obviously they are amazing, now what do I do with that? He tries to give you things. Small things. Like maybe he could borrow you a book that you’ve wanted to read for a long time of buy you a coffee/tea if you’re out in the town. He doesn't explicitly say that he liked you but it's easy to tell and he’s not one to be shy about it either. So when you guys do get together, you already know his more… romantic side

On the contrary, Charlie takes time to process his feelings. He had crushes before, but real feelings (strong ones at that) aren't the norm for him. Sometimes he catches himself losing his cool around you and it messes with him so bad. He would probably ask Knox for advice. Which is a bad move. But he figures that at least his friend is more familiar with having those sorts of feelings. Nothing much comes of it because I can't imagine Knox giving him any good advice on the subject, but after he was able to talk about liking you, he decides to just go for it. Well, in small steps. Primarily because he’s just not an intense guy, but also because he’s surprisingly mature when it comes to respecting your levels of comfort. Doesn't mean it gets boring though, it's Charlie we’re talking about. Once you get together there's not a one dull moment with him by your side

With Todd, it might be difficult at first. He’s overwhelmed by fis feelings and has a tendency to talk himself out of making any sorts of moves. Why would you like somebody like him? He tells himself he doesn't have a chance, surely. It only confirms his suspicions when you don't take initiative. It's only after he’s been moping around for a few days that Neil approaches him about it and proceeds to give him shit for not doing anything to let you know his feelings. He’s like, bro, so you care about them so much that you’d rather not have them in your life because you want them in your life so much??? Make it make sense. So with Neil's encouragement, he tries to at least talk to you and see where it goes from there. Still shocked when you end up returning his feelings. You’re in his poems now, even if it's not very obvious (he's not as straightforward as Knox, so it's not ‘i love (yn) and I want them to be mine’ kind of deal). This is the only one where I'm sure you might have to make some sort of a move. Todd’s like a spider - he’s more scared than you are and if he could, he would just silently hang out in the corner of the room you’re in. But he gets a little braver after he starts feeling more secure

Lastly, Pitts is not as bad as Todd, but still takes his time. He’s comfortable with liking you and he knows what he likes, but he’s not in any rush to make things official. So any time he has any chance to talk to you, he does and just wants to see how things go from there. He jokes around with you, asks to come study together, tries to be close. He does care, just in a more chill way than some of the other poets would. If you two have been talking for some time, he would have no problem asking you to go out with him, doesn't make you feel pressured or anything. If the others are cool with it he will do his best to have you come to their meetings at night as well. So you do not only get an awesome boyfriend out of it, but also a great friend group

[pain-is-too-tired]

I still feel robbed we never saw a reaction to Michael's death/fall from Clarisse.

Like, one scene. One small scene. Heck, we could've even just gotten a reaction from Chris. He was already talking to Percy in that one scene, that would've been perfect scene for at least him to find out.

I think it would've been interesting if they continue that arc somewhat into HOO. Like have Michael come up as well in some form. Have mentions of why Will is pushing pass what happen to be diplomatic with Clarisse, the rest of his cabin still can't get along with the Ares cabin. Show them and others being bitter over stuff!! Show post war tension at camp!!! We are being thrown into camp from a fresh set of eyes. Tlh trio don't know all that happened, and honestly the idea of there being more conflict than just Drew's feelings towards Silena being shown would've been so interesting.

Like the fact they just destroy the chariot, tell us that the Apollo cabin officially had it then, and then did nothing else to tell us how that went? Just insane to me. It makes that whole arc feel unfinished.

Will is one the first few campers outside of who picked Leo up that he really gets to meet. And with learning about Charles,I think would've been interesting if he some how learned about Michael in a way. Maybe he brings up the chariot being crashed and those in his cabin who were vets from titan war kinda grimace or something. Maybe show tension during the campfire with an argument breaking out and Will having to jump in to stop in it. Show the Apollo cabin still grieving. Heck, maybe the mention of another war likely about to start have the fact that the Apollo cabin took such a big hit last time be a worry because there's less available and well trained medics now. Someone, either Will or someone else at one point being like "If we have to fight a serious battle again, we're gonna be at a disadvantage. We're too far down on archers and healers"

Cause that's a realistic thing to mention when you're talking about having to go to war back to back after such a devastating blow. Sure, they got new campers in waves for the other cabins. But we know from ToA that Apollo cabin *didn't*. Unless another cabin is able to provide some form of support as healers as well(which could be likely, we also don't know what all minor gods have kids at camp-) they are down to three healers. Two of which likely don't have that much experience. Kayla and Austin were like 11-12 in tlo based off timing. And their specialized abilities are more focused on archery and music,and with them taking up Music and Archery lessons they probably are gonna be learning medical stuff slower. Obviously they probably learned a bit right after the war, but it still not gonna make them as skilled as Will who's a lot more specialized in healing. And their archery might be needed in a fight which can leave to lot more issues.

Just- there's a lot of post war stuff they could've explored. Even in tlo they don't really address it. We aren't even told what Michael's shroud looks like, we don't get to see Apollo cabin having to burn all those shrouds- heck- actually wait

Percy and Will burning Michael's shroud together like how Clarisse helped Aphrodite cabin. 😭 I've talked about this before, but Percy was literally screaming/yelling when he couldn't find Michael. He was gonna call blackjack again to try and find him. If Annabeth wasn't on worse condition he likely would've searched every inch. I also feel he at least paid more attention in small ways to the Apollo cabin. Iirc the only time he mentions a burial shroud that's set up, he focuses on an Apollo one. Idk. Just think idea of him doing his best to pay respects to Michael, having the room post war to actually stop and grieve, just be interesting.

Idk. I'm rambling gdgd just many thoughts. So many cool stuff and characters that got dropped.

[somehow-a-human]

Whose POV is it Anyway?

Bodysnatchers & Cosplaying a bookseller

DO NOT ASK NEIL ABOUT FAN THEORY

I'm back! I took a few days off of doing internet thingsss so I took a break from writing this series of posts but I'm back and continuing with episode 3 in its entirety!

For reference & context, I recommend reading these posts:

Whose POV is it Anyway? - Introduction

Lens Filters

POV "Your 'Something's Wrong' Voice"

POV a Trip to Hell and a 25 Lazarii Miracle

POV a Companion to Owls

POV The Dirty Donkey & I think I Found a *Clue*!

Shall we get cracking?

Episode 3 gifts us the arrival of Muriel! Sweet adorable Muriel! We see them arrive to the bookshop, with the Bronze Glimmer Glass filter in full effect. Aziraphale is the only one there so it makes sense we'll have Aziraphale's POV to start. Cupperteas ensue, and Crowley arrives to be grumpy but fully accepting that Aziraphale is taking their car, I mean, he's already brought the plants inside. His sideburns are long here as well.

When the duo head into the backroom to discuss what's going on, the filter changes, the lighting is much cooler toned, and we're now looking through the Black Diffusion FX filter in Crowley's POV. Crowley's sideburns are also short now, and if my theory that POV is also correlating with his hair length, it's standing here.

As Aziraphale drives off, we see Crowley watch him from the window and sigh, sideburns still short, still his POV.

I'm going to stick to the present day storyline and switch to the bodysnatchers minisode at the end!

The time Aziraphale and Crowley spend apart in this episode is interesting to say the least. If we're trying to look at the lighting and possible lens filters used to determine the narrator or POV for these scenes... I think they're switched!

When we see Aziraphale driving the Bentley, the scene isn't awash with glowy warm lighting which we know isn't reserved just to the bookshop since we've seen it used in the record shop, coffee shop, and in the Job flashback.

It's rather cool toned lighting for a yellow bentley. Aziraphale's whole trip to Edinburgh is cool toned. The time he spends in The Resurrectionist, the graveyard, everything. I would have expected Aziraphale's magical little newspaperman cosplaying extravaganza to be dripping in his golden glow through the gorgeous Edinburgh when I started thinking about the scenes and these lense filters and these metas.

But then you look at the opposite, Crowley alone in the bookshop with Jim. Something he would hate right? Sounds like worst case scenario for him. He loves the bookshop but he's there alone with Gabriel who tried to kill the person he loves more than anything and didn't have an ounce of compassion, while Aziraphale has taken himself and his car very far away.

But what is Crowley's experience like? He and Gabriel are chummy as ever, they talk about rainstorms, vavooming, gravity. Crowley dresses down and is wearing sleeve garters? A bit old fashioned for Crowley but not for Aziraphale no? He's playing bookseller, carrying books around, albeit not quite correctly, chucking them at the end. Every scene is drenched in warm golden haze and Crowley's sideburns are long the entire time.

They aren't together, but they've always probably got one thing on their mind...

I think we're seeing these scenes through each other's eyes, or the POV is swapped if you will. Maybe that's why Crowley is wearing sleeve garters and cosplaying bookseller and being very kind to Jim? And Aziraphale is being the worlds cutest little investigator to ever exist. I think maybe they're imagining each other, or it just points to the idea that they're apart but still the only thing they're always thinking about.

Okay, cute lovebomb, now let's talk digging up dead bodies!

There isn't a lot to go off of for lighting in this minisode, but there is one detail I wanted to point out that has to do with Crowley's hair length. In all locations BUT the crypt his mutton chops are longer. When they enter the crypt both times, they are shorter.

You can see they are a distinct "J" shape in most scenes but in the crypt scenes (for example when he drinks laudanum and busts through the roof) they have been trimmed back). So if I'm going just on hair length, all scenes except the crypt are Aziraphale's POV.

If you can look past my terrible image quality, you can see on the right image his chops are notched where on the left they're doing the opposite.

NEXT

POV 1941

[inhuman-obey-me]

yay torture! I love it lol- can I ask what are their method differences? (not a request I'm just interested!!)

in my own HCs Lucifer prefers methods that aren't so messy. he also likes short sessions more than longer ones. deep inside he's still a softie pff- while Barbatos on the other hand loves messier methods, long-term types of torture, and even TBMC*.

also! another unrelated HC: Lucifer learned most of his ways from Barbatos - his original methods can't break any demon - more suitable for punishing a child than a criminal.

due to his pride Barbatos didn't make it so obvious, since it would make Lucifer defensive lol....dropping tiny hints here and there, perhaps even gifting him (or Satan) a few books. although Lucifer almost picked up on it-

*: all methods of torture are TBMC as far as I heard, but in this case I mean severe conditioning/programming- to get a perfect program you have to do it for more than a decade...... yeah I have this cool hc about secret workers in the castle,,, do u want to hear about them too,,,,

sorry for the hc dump and derailing I got excited :[

Lucifer probably does prefer shorter sessions than Barbatos, but maybe not quite for that reason - he's really only a softie to his loved ones, after all. But he is an extremely busy demon with a very long to-do list and wants to get through his tasks as efficiently as possible so he can relax, maybe listen to a cursed record or two. He's a sadist, he loves to torture and he's damn good at it, yeah, but he also has hobbies, and is making someone suffer longer really more worth his time than, say...a nap? He's so sleep deprived, someone please let this man nap. In fact, make him.

For Barb, by contrast, this is his hobby to relax after a long day of work - so yeah, he's taking his sweet time and relishing in every last second of screams he can draw out of a demon's mouth. Plus, when you can control space-time at will, a long torment with Barb takes, what, 10 seconds if he deems it so? And he has a bit more patience with these things than Lucifer, so stretching out long-term "projects" is quite fun for him.

As cute as it is to imagine Barbatos secretly guiding and teaching Lucifer, though, we don't think Lucifer learned his torturing ways from him. In the Celestial Realm, he was already known as a sadist, and while the punishments he does to his brothers are basically just to get children to behave, he's not dangling true enemies of the state from the ceiling. Considering how shady and secretive the Celestial Realm acts towards the Devildom even now in supposed peace, torturing demon prisoners of war back when the two realms were actively in constant conflict was probably not out of the question, and Lucifer, as formerly the top angel, would undoubtedly have been one of the most intimidating to encounter there too. But Celestial Realm torture isn't about delighting in the target's pain; it's about getting usable results. By contrast, Barb's very much demonic attitude towards torture is all about the pleasure he himself gets from doing it, which is something Lucifer has never been as interested in.

So, Lucifer mostly gets the ones they need to break quick - cases that are urgent, things that are more time-sensitive. And for the ones who take a more delicate touch, or who they can take their time on...those are for Barbatos. And those ones will never recover.

For a couple of examples of how we've written their respective approaches to torture in the past (please heed all content warnings): Lucifer:

Melody of Revenge

Lucifer's section in this post

Barbatos:

A Peaceful Day in the Devildom

Barbatos' section in this post

[lotus-tower]

okay so. i've always thought it was obvious that yoshiwara in flames arc's main relevance to gintama's overall narrative is as the prelude to rakuyou. like it's not thematically very interesting on its own, right? but it exists mainly for kagura and kamui's sake, establishing the sort of parallelism that gintama lives off of. it isn't really that connected to the red spider arc even though at first it might seem to be.

but i had no idea about the meaning of the name "rakuyou" until i saw @suchira 's post about it earlier today. and before that i also hadn't thought about utsuro's connection to the sun, which they've also talked about.

given everything that happens in rakuyou, this has expanded my thoughts quite a bit! i'm going be thinking through this as i go, so this is going to be me rambling.

housen is one of the few big arc villains who don't feel related to gintoki. jirocho, jiraia, oboro, takasugi--these kinds are obviously meant to be foils to gintoki. isaburo functions differently as a character, but even he gets directly compared to gintoki by nobume. but housen isn't really there for gintoki--he's there for kamui. he isn't a particularly interesting character, nor is his death very satisfying because of the wishywashy writing about hinowa showing kindness to him at the end. previously i'd thought that his thing with the sun was just a weaker example of craving something that would destroy you, and/or running away from one's weaknesses and vulnerabilities to the point that you become a sort of husk.

that's probably still a thing, but the introduction of the sun motif on the much more meaning-dense end of gintama adds so much more. because now the pre-existing thematic framework of gintama can do the heavy lifting for housen (who is, again, a pretty uninteresting character), hinowa (who is cool, but suffers from both Woman and Mom in shounen), and tsukuyo (who is very cool, but suffers egregiously from Woman in shounen).

so what is housen, really? he's the guy kamui chose to go with when making his very bad life decisions, the end result of the path he decided to pursue. for simplicity let's call him kamui bad end, though they aren't very comparable in canon itself because housen doesn't come across as nearly self-destructive enough. but the basic logic is that housen is one of those characters who gave up everything in single-minded pursuit of power--he's a flat character because he already "emptied himself out", as kamui says, before the series started. (but then he got scared and lonely, and all that.)

what's funny is that if housen is a bad end, then the guy who he considers his rival automatically comes to mind as an opposed route. i think it would be a serious stretch to call umibouzu the "good end" for kamui, and that's definitely part of the point in how the yato are written. but in any case, kamui clearly looked both ways (insert roads leading to two castles meme) and saw housen stereotypical villain bad end on one side, and his dad on the other. so obviously he chose housen.

rakuyou is a planet where it's always overcast. you could say that kamui chose to leave that "safety" in order to pursue something that shone much brighter to him, even if it would disintegrate him in the end. or, since rakuyou's name invokes the sun, you could say that he chose to flee the place of his weakness and pain, where his family was, like housen deciding to flee the sun and build an underground paradise.

when i go over my gintama cast tarot assignments, i always hesitate over hinowa. is she the Sun? or the Empress? how can i choose? and i think this is essentially the same conundrum. and i think the fact that she's both (thankfully, actual gintama storytelling isn't restricted to 1 character = 1 arcana) also provides us with the best answer here. hinowa is the object of yearning of both housen (as the sun) and of seita (as a mother). obviously, as i said before, the whole seita-hinowa thing is meant to lay the groundwork for kamui's motivations, and is also why he's introduced in this arc in the particular way that he is. but kamui is both seita and housen. he's the child yearning for his mother, but also the warlord who fears the sun so much he'll lock not only himself but countless others into the dark forever. but housen also desperately longed for the sun. kamui looks down on seita for being weak, and he looks down on housen for choosing to drown himself in vices at the end of his life. in the end, he doesn't kill either one of them.

if the sun is what kamui yearns for, he wants to leave rainy "rakuyou" behind--and/or he misses his home, his childhood, his family, even if these things feel like they will destroy him. or, if the sun is what kamui seeks to avoid, he wants to turn away from "rakuyou", all the things that hold him down so that he can throw himself into single-minded pursuit of self-destruction--and/or he's afraid of the weakness and pain that the sun inflicts on him, and desires to be strong enough that he won't feel them. see, a whole lot of words to say the same thing over and over.

i've always assigned housen the Emperor arcana. and i've often wondered, should it be umibouzu instead? should it be utsuro? and that, i think, is another illumination. thank you tarot for being an icon. it's so effective here because gintama is predictably built on parallels, and overlapping arcana assignments are bound to make you think: why?

in the end, housen builds a city underground in order to avoid the sun, but he also severs hinowa's ankles so that he can hold her, the sun proxy, captive in his grasp. he can't bear to feel sunlight, but he can't bear to let it go either. kamui is much the same, but he's young--he thinks he can let it go, his fears and regrets haven't caught up to him yet, because he still has so much to reach for. housen attained the peak of his strength and notoriety, and then there was little left for him.

what else happens in rakuyou? well, oboro and takasugi fight. oboro is sort of a seita figure in his own right, if seita had burned down yoshiwara in hopes that it would drive hinowa running to him. of course, seita didn't know that hinowa couldn't run; and oboro didn't know that shouyou couldn't, either.

but aside from seita and housen, there's another character in yoshiwara who yearns for the sun--not to possess it, but to protect it, to serve it. tsukuyo is an interesting character heavily let down by the realities of living in shounen jump. from my own understanding of sorachi's character, i don't think the following was intentional on his part. but i do think there are real reasons why these parallels are textually present (mainly through gintoki).

tsukuyo is the closest oboro has in this series to someone similar to him. not in the sense of a reflection in the mirror or hole-sided adjacency, but as in someone who sort of has a similar job and background to him. or had, anyway. as i implied earlier, the few, specific, clearly intentional similarities she has with gintoki (hello red spider) bleed over into her similarities with oboro, of course, because gintoki and oboro are... you know. just look at them.

tsukuyo swore herself to hinowa, but technically she was working under housen. she led housen's paramilitary force--fortunately, the hyakka loved her a lot more than the naraku were probably ever able to have an opinion about oboro. i don't think tsukuyo and oboro would ever get along--but they did have the same job. oboro did it in the heavens, tsukuyo did it underground. anyway, hinowa "saved" tsukuyo by teaching her about fighting from inside one's cage, and so tsukuyo gladly walked into the cage, just like oboro returning to the naraku without shouyou. because they thought it would be worth it. and also because tsukuyo had been groomed from a young age for the Hole (apologies to those who haven't read my ouroboros essay), to give up on her selfhood, and also to kill her sensei (hello gintoki). but hinowa remained around, unlike shouyou. tsukuyo never thought she could really free her--but protecting her, being able to see her, was enough.

oboro's life problem is a bit like if hinowa and housen were the same person. but kamui would see in that pairing only a reflection of his parents. and also, kouka is a bit like if hinowa and utsuro were the same person. but utsuro is already like if shouyou and utsuro were the same person--because oboro's actual life problem is that shouyou and utsuro are the same person.

i've spoken a lot about tarot, but the moon in gintama has little to do with the Moon arcana. in gintama it's the backdrop, the symbol of promises--promises made, promises fulfilled, promises held on to dearly whether they can be fulfilled or not. i don't truly think that the sun as represented by hinowa interacts directly with this. but tsukuyo and oboro share moon-related names, and their promises (or rather, their vows of devotion) towards hinowa/shouyou are one-sided. one-sided promises aren't a problem in gintama--our silver-haired protagonist wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them.

if the naraku, if utsuro, if oboro under utsuro is associated with the sun through the yatagarasu, perhaps it's because of the evaporation of the promise through the eclipsing of the moon. shouka sonjuku, after all, burned down, and utsuro emerged from a pyre. and though i think that the sun is overall a motif much more strongly associated with the yato--that which they avoid, are weak to, and secretly long for--i don't think that's incompatible with the crow-meaning.

rabbits can die of loneliness, you know--or they can die from overheating in the sun. i think the question here is, is this a trick question? are those two the same thing?

[mirith]

Bet.

Apologies for the messy background, but here's my lovely knitting machine! It's a Silver Reed SK10.

While writing another post, I noticed I was writing a lot about my knitting machine. So I put the words here. And added a lot more.

This is going to be a long post. I talk a lot about things I like, and I will not apologize for it. I will add a cut here so you can scroll by this more easily if you want. But! It'll be more fun if you read on! And I put photos of stuff I made at the end!

I learned to knit by hand from a book in elementary school, and I learned wrong. I have been happily hand-knitting things ever since, and consider myself a fairly knowledgeable and experience hand-knitter. I haven't steeked anything, to be fair, but my interests tend to be geared toward lace.

Which is good, because that's my default handspinning weight. Here's an example of the stuff I like to spin and knit (4 months from start to end, oof oof):

After I graduated college, I found out about flatbed knitting machines! I found one that looked cool, and drove myself a few hours to buy it. The end. Just kidding. You're not even halfway through this post. Not sorry.

I did not know how to operate a knitting machine. I just liked how this one looked (still do) and it also had a ribber! And it was $50? Something like that? Probably paid more for gas.

Anyway. Flatbed knitting machines range from "I can only do stockinette hehe" to "I am fully electronic, I'll knit lace or colorwork for you all by myself, EZ".

Mine is firmly in the former camp. No punchcard capability at all, and the ribber carriage is not even sophisticated enough to link up with the main bed carriage. Each row of ribbing requires the main bed carriage to be moved first (laying yarn across the ribber needles), then the ribber carriage (hooking the previously laid yarn down to complete the row). So knitting in the round is, yes, one pass of the main, then the ribber, then the main again, then the ribber carriage... (I actually made a lil' youtube video about this).

I cannot tell you why I wanted it, other than "new yarn thing!". At this point in my life, I was a very comfortable hand-knitter. There was no reason to acquire a large metal object that would do what I did, but "less good" (considering this machine would only ever do stockinette and hand-manipulated stitches -- but I didn't know tuck stitches existed!).

Tuck stitches look like the honeycomb pattern in the middle here, and are kind of knitting machine exclusive:

I think I actually may have wanted a circular sock machine, but those are very, very expensive, and not really in my price range. Still aren't. Very much considering adding one to my wedding registry to see if someone bites. (Would have to plan a wedding, but it would be worth it).

I figured that a flatbed machine with a ribber could knit in circles, ie, what CSMs do; but would also knit large flat things (CSMs can do small flat things, I think). And since the price meant a CSM was unrealistic without some serious saving, it was clear I would have to find a flatbed with ribber.

But working knitting machines with working ribbers are difficult to find. And expensive! I think prices were $350-500 for the full package plus shipping (expensive shipping because these are bulky and heavy and delicate instruments), and I'm sure they've only gotten worse.

I kind of live in a domestic craft desert, so there was very little hope for finding something local anyway. So when I saw a working machine with a ribber "near" me for less than $100, I was stoked. I was aware of its non-ability to pattern, but I just wanted to knit in circles.

When I got this machine, it was functional, but dirty. Oh, so dirty.

First thing I did was remove all the needles (took forever) and soak them in isopropyl alcohol (smelled terrible), and take everything apart as much as possible to scrub every reachable surface.

It was then that I re-affirmed my love for all-metal, vintage hardware. My sewing machine is a 1950s Singer and oh boy is that thing an absolute unit. This knitting machine is also an absolute unit in the best way. It was dirty, but in excellent knitting condition.

It was then that I also found this machine does not have a sponge bar. Which is really weird for a knitting machine. But also why I'll never get rid of it, I think.

It's got a metal U-shaped thing instead, to tension the needles. Sponge bars serve the same purpose, but the foam decays terribly over time. I don't think this metal thing ever needs to be replaced. I've knit quite a lot (will get to that!) on this machine and it knits beautifully still.

I think this machine predates sponge bars (??? pure speculation), because everything I've seen online about buying used machines says that you must consider the sponge bar and how to measure the sponge to buy the correct size and must immediately buy a new one and maybe even have a spare for when yours starts to get old etc etc. Never seen anything that says there's a metal tension rod like mine.

Ravelry did not believe this was the sponge bar equivalent, and asked me to please look elsewhere on the machine for the real sponge bar. They also told me this machine was not worth $50, which I kind of disagree with. Yes, it's super limited, but I love it. It will also, like my sewing machine, probably outlive me.

It's a standard gauge machine, and not a very common one (?). I think it's an earlier machine (4th oldest on this list), in terms of domestic machines, and likely was passed up in later years for models that had punchcards. There is another internet presence who has an SK10! KinoKnits did a video on hers.

There is a manual for the machine and a manual for the ribber online, and the scans aren't great, but they are very readable. Not much else though.

Okay. Infodump mostly completed.

Once I got the machine home I immediately set it up and realized I didn't quite know what I was doing.

After much trial and tribulation, I created some... things...

I optimistically cast on with my newly-learned e-wrap cast on and the included cast on wire (I have still not figured out the cast on wires, I don't think they actually work, and are simply a cruel prank)

I switched yarn (to something thinner and less elastic), in case that was the issue, and also switched to trying just i-cord to see if I could get that to work. It worked!

Switched back to the original yarn. I-cord also worked!

And back to trying fabric. Progress! But a lot of dropped stitches. I think this was very similar to attempt 1, but I just persisted and more aggressively picked up droppped stitches. This took me a very long time.

No dropped stitches! I used a weird cast on, or maybe just a really loose e-wrap?

Fabrice! I was confident enough to mark that I was using tension 7 with those (intentional!) yarn-over holes near the top.

I believe that those six attempts took me a few hours, and a lot of it was me trying to gauge whether or not yanking the carriage across was the right thing to do. I wasn't sure how much force to apply, and was deathly afraid of breaking needles, because I don't think these are standard ones and I can't get replacements.

There wasn't much to learn after this.

Oh.

Except for, you know, using the ribber.

It looks pretty similar to the main needle bed. Long metal guy with lotta needles. It's flatter, and hangs off the main bed with some sturdy arms on either side (which you can't see, sorry).

Close up:

You kind of have to wiggle it so that the needles don't smash into each other.

It does function identically to the main bed otherwise. But it's so much trickier to fix dropped stitches (or even see them!) because, as you can see, the ribber kind of covers everything. And it doesn't come off till the ribbing is done.

I've found that I need lots of weight to get the ribbing to knit off properly, which sucks if I run either carriage across without yarn accidentally. The knitting will simply yeet itself onto the floor and I will have to start over.

The cast on is kind of weird, but not terrible if you understand what it's trying to do, which I do, but will not endeavour to explain on this already horrendously long post. The Singer SR10 manual explains the cast-on process if you're interested. Or just tell me and I'll make another infodump post! Love talking about my knitting machine.

Here are some first attempts at ribbing and tubular knitting:

Allllllrighty it's project time!

I made a hat! (I made it a free Ravelry pattern btw, because the decreases are optionally worked by hand).

I made some sock tubes and hand-knit the heels and toes!

I made a bunch of ribbed cowls with my handspun!

I made scarves with more handspun!

And most recently I made a bralette:

Which turned out smaller than I planned because I do not gauge swatch properly at all, but I can wear it semi-modestly anyway.

[starkstruck27]

My sixth fill for @harringrovesummerbingo!! I kinda cheated a little with this one, as they aren't technically 'walking', but I wanted to do something from a different perspective, so this is it. Prompt + Space: Walking hand in hand in public, A2 Title: Hold me Close and Hold me Fast Major Tags: None Rating: General Word Count: 1638 words Additional Tags: Photography, Closeted characters, Assumptions, Assumed relationship, Accidental voyeurism, But not in a dirty way, Secret relationship Summary: Jonathan and Nancy are working for the Hawkins Post during the summer of '84, and their latest assignment is to get pictures for the article about the new mall that opened up. While looking through their shots, though, Jonathan notices something interesting… Also on: Ao3

“Hey, Nance, c’mere a sec,” Jonathan said from across the darkroom, squinting at the freshly developed picture in his hand. It was one of many that he’d taken earlier that day at the new mall that’d just opened up, and they’d be running in the next issue of the Hawkins Post next to the article about said opening. Now they were just developing them, and then they’d pick the best few to print along with the article. But as he was looking through his shots, Jonathan noticed something he hadn’t at the time of taking the picture, and he had no idea what to do with it now, except get Nancy to take a look at it and confirm he wasn’t seeing things.

“What’s up?” She asked as she walked over, peering over his shoulder at the picture.

“Am I crazy or do you see that, too?” Jon asked, handing her the picture.

“See what, exactly?”

“That,” Jon said, pointing to the background of the picture. It was one of the ones he’d taken of the front entrance of the mall, slightly off to the left side to make the perspective seem more impressive. It was a great picture, probably one of the top contenders to go with the article, until he noticed the two people leaned up against the side of the building in the background of the shot.

“Okay, what about them?” Nancy asked as she studied the shot, trying to see what it was her boyfriend saw.

“They’re holding hands,” he said, as if there was something more to it.

“Okay? Lots of people hold hands, what’s your point?”

“Lots of people aren’t Steve and Billy Hargrove,” Jonathan said, pointing at the picture again and making Nancy look a little closer. “That is them, right?”

“I think so, but that doesn’t make sense. I know they’ve cooled down from wanting to kill each other on sight, but I don’t think they’re that friendly. Are you sure they’re holding hands?”

“Pretty sure. I mean, it’s a little blurry, but the angle certainly makes it look that way. And if they were just sharing a smoke, there’s no reason they’d need to be that close together. What else could it be?”

“I don’t know. Wow, I didn’t even know Steve swung that way, let alone that he’d go for someone like Billy,” Nancy said, lowering her voice a bit. 

“Neither did I, I never would’ve guessed,” Jon said, taking the picture back again. “So, what should we do with this, then?”

“Well, we obviously can’t run it with the story. I guess we should give it back to them.”

“Why don’t we just throw it away?”

“Because one, somebody could find it, and while I don’t think anyone would really notice and put two and two together, I don’t think we should risk it. You know word travels fast around here, and if Steve’s parents ever got wind of this, they’d probably ship him off to military school within a day. And who knows what Billy would do if anyone even dared to wonder about him. Besides, I don’t want to make assumptions, and I’d feel weird knowing something like this without them telling me themselves. It’d make things more awkward than they already are.”

“Yeah, but you remember how Steve reacted the last time I caught something I shouldn’t have on film, and I really like this camera. And I also happen to like my face, I would prefer not to have it rearranged if Billy flies off the handle.”

“Oh come on, Jon, Steve apologized for the last time, and at least this time it was an accident. He won’t go near your camera. And if you’re worried about Billy, you can hide behind me if you want. I’m sure he’d never hit a girl, it’ll be fine,” Nancy said, taking the picture and stuffing it in her purse. “Once we finish up here for the day, we’ll stop by Steve’s house and talk to him.”

The rest of the work day went by way too fast for Jonathan’s liking, he was not looking forward to confronting Steve with what he’d captured. Before he knew it, it was five o’clock, and he was gathering his things up to take home and punching out with Nancy hot on his heels. Unfortunately, it’d been her turn to drive today, so he couldn’t even pretend that he’d forgotten and taken her home, and he just had to wait as she steered her car towards Steve’s house.

The house was just as big and intimidating as he remembered it, just like the guy who lived inside. Jon had only been inside it once, at a party back in freshman year, before he realized how much he hated parties and being around large groups of people in general. But even with only one or two people inside, he was more afraid of it now then he had been then. Still, Nancy was determined to get this off her mind, so Jon didn’t argue as he followed her up to the big French doors and knocked.

“Oh, uh,” Steve said as he answered them, keeping the door open just enough that only he was visible, “Nance, Jonathan, what are you guys doing here? Is there something wrong with… y’know…?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Nancy said, smiling brightly, “May we come in?”

“Um, now’s not really a great time…” Steve said, avoiding eye contact as he scratched the back of his neck.

“It’ll only take a second, Steve. It’s important,” Nancy continued, nudging Jon, who nodded along while also avoiding Steve’s eyes. Nancy didn’t, though. She looked at Steve head on and gave him a face that he must’ve known meant that she meant business, because finally, with a quick glance behind him into his living room, he let them in. He closed the door behind them and then turned to lean against it, obviously not wanting them to go any further. 

“What is it?” He asked, getting a bit antsy as he started tapping his foot.

“We have something to show you,” Nancy said, opening her purse and making Jonathan break out into a cold sweat. Steve eyed both of them curiously as Nancy took out the picture, handing it to him and standing up straight as she said, “We took this picture earlier today at the mall, the Post is running an article about the grand opening and they wanted a visual element. But when we developed the film, we found something we didn’t know we’d captured and we wanted to do the right thing.”

“What are you talking about?” Steve asked, glancing over the picture quickly. He didn’t see anything wrong with it.

“That’s you and Hargrove, isn’t it? You’re holding his hand,” Nancy said, pointing to the two in the background and Steve’s eyes went wide. He tried to say something but he was too panicked, and he kept looking back and forth between Nancy, Jon and the picture.

“L-look, Steve, I didn’t even know you were there when I took it! I only noticed later and Nancy said we should tell you but I was just gonna get rid of it, I swear!” Jon babbled, taking a tiny step behind Nancy as Steve finally closed his mouth and looked at them.

“He’s telling the truth, Steve,” Nancy said, “He just wanted to get rid of it, but I said we should tell you about it. I wouldn’t have felt right jumping to conclusions and especially not if I jumped to the right ones and then knew something you didn’t want me to know. So I made him come here with me to give you both the picture and the film, that way you know we aren’t trying to keep anything from you.”

“I-I, um,” Steve cleared his throat, “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, we just thought you should know,” Nancy said, smiling nicely as she stepped forward to hug him. “And just so you know, we won’t tell a soul. Make sure Hargrove gets the message too, alright?”

“I will,” Steve said, hugging her back and finally starting to calm down a little. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jon said, finally regaining some confidence as he shrugged. “Thanks for, y’know, not getting pissed.”

Steve gave a small shrug and an only half-strained smile at that remark as he showed them out, waving as he made sure they got in their car okay. Nancy smiled and waved back as they drove off, poking Jon lightly in the side as she stopped at a stop sign.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” She teased, steering her car down the road.

“I guess not. I’m just glad Hargrove wasn’t there, he’d have probably beaten the shit outta me,” Jon said, shrugging again.

“Oh, he was definitely there,” Nancy said.

“What?”

“Yeah, you didn’t notice? Steve almost didn’t let us in, and he wouldn’t let us go past the foyer, there was obviously someone else there. And I saw his shoes by the door.”

“Shit, do you think he’ll come after us for this?”

“I doubt it. He has no reason to now that Steve has the pictures. Besides, you were worried about Steve, but he’s changed from the person he was two years ago. Maybe he’s helping Billy to change from the person he was when he first moved here,” Nancy shrugged.

“Maybe. I hope you’re right,” Jonathan said, shrugging as well.

“I am. I know Steve, and he wouldn’t date anyone who would hurt the people he cares about. And if Billy does end up coming after us, I’ll protect you,” Nancy grinned, taking Jonathan’s hand and squeezing it.

“I’m holding you to that,” he said, but he smiled and squeezed back.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hey :^) I was wondering if you had any thoughts on how prophecies work, if they work at all. There's so many of them stored... Specifically in the context of 'What would have happened if Snape never overheard the Prophecy, never delivered it to Voldemort' (like he was on a holiday in the Bahamas and skipped the whole thing) But also in any context. You are cool and have cool thoughts

Hi!

Thank you so much!

I know we don't agree on everything (*cough* Dumbledore *cough*), but you have some great thoughts too and I like reading your posts!

It took me a while to get to this ask because I'm slowly getting through my inbox, and this was a really interesting subject.

So, to the question of prophecies, honestly, I'm not sure. I mean there are so many prophecies in that hall and I have to wonder how they are recorded? And they seem to know when they are fulfilled:

Tiny, yellowing labels had been stuck beneath each glass orb on the shelf. Some of them had a weird, liquid glow; others were as dull and dark within as blown lightbulbs.

(OotP, 778)

The glowing ones are still unfulfilled, while the dull ones are prophecies that already come to pass. At least, that's what's implied.

There aren't really any official answers to the hall itself though, so all I have is my personal headcanons, speculations, and what makes sense to me with what we do know about the Wizarding World and the Department of Mysteries.

I think, similarly to the trace, the magic of the Hall of Prophecies is ancient and not something modern wizards would know how to replicate. We know the ministry and the DOM were founded where the veil was already located, and I think the Hall of Prophecies (or at least the magic that powers it) was one of the first things built there. Well, built into the building, it wasn't the Ministry yet.

Basically I have like a whole timeliness in my head for the history of magical government. I mentioned some of it here when discussing the Wizengamont, but basically I think the Department of Mysteries was built before the ministry. Like, initially it was a place for rituals and studying magic before wizard society really got together. Around the time Hogwarts and the Wizengamot were founded though, I believe that's when the Department of Mysteries was built (with a different name then). It was built around the veil and was dedicated to the study of magic.

Later when the Ministry was founded, it was built over the existing magical study institution. So the hall of prophecies was there for a good few centuries before the ministry. That's my headcanon, at least.

I think the hall is powered by very ancient magic and when a prophecy is made, it appears there and it goes dark when what it foretells comes to pass. The prophecies appear without labeling, the labels are added by the Unspeakables who don't really know how the magic that makes the prophecies appear works, and they hate it. At least, that's my headcanon. I believe it probably works on the same system of magic that traces magic in Britain I mentioned in the post about the trace. Basically, when a prophecy is recognized by the Trace, the magic of the hall acts up to record it.

Now, it brings me finally to the actual question, what if Snape didn't overhear the prophecy? Would it still be set into motion?

And the answer is that I'm not sure. I have my headcanon about prophecies, but like what I said about the Hall of Prophecies, it's based on loose speculation and what makes sense to me.

Like, for a story that places so much emphasis on personal choices, on what you chose and not fate, it's weird how much hinges on a prophecy that is vaguely worded and it's unclear if it really means what we mostly think it does. I mentioned in the past how vague the wording on it is, the seventh month could be so many other months except July (my favorite being September, as it literally translates to "seventh month" in Latin). Because of this, I see prophecies in HP as a combination of fate and choice.

If we assume this prophecy is real, for the sake of this discussion, because we do see real prophecies, like in PoA when Trawlany predicted Pettigrew would bring Voldemort back. We know prophecies are real in this world, just not this specific prophecy (I mean, we know a prophecy about Voldemort and Harry was made and is in the hall, I just have my doubts regarding its contents). But let's say it's real and it says what Dumbledore said it does because I want to explain my concept of fate in HP as a whole.

Like, Voldemort's choice to go and kill Harry marked Harry as his equal and vanquisher, if Voldemort hadn't actively chosen Harry, the prophecy wouldn't have referred to them. Now, because how choices are a matter of free will, I think it doesn't have to be Harry, that Voldemort doesn't have to chose. But he would choose and he would always choose Harry over Neville because that's how he would always interrupt the prophecy.

Kinda like I mentioned in the Harry is the MOD post, fate in the wizarding world is weird. Harry would always be the Master of Death because he would always be the kind of person to eventually choose to die. In the same way, Voldemort would always choose to mark Harry as the prophesized child because it's who he is. In the same way, Severus would never choose to take a vacation in the Bahamas during the first war because it's the type of person he is. Basically how things went down had to go down this way because these people would always make the same choices because that's who they are.

I think that's how fate works in the HP world. Like, that's my headcanon/speculation of it.

I actually have a piece of evidence for it, sort of. When Harry and Hermione go back in time, we see explanations for what has already happened (like the stag Patronus). Basically they didn't change the past because they always went back in time. The stag Patronus came to save Harry because Harry was always going to cast it. Basically, time is linear in the HP world, but it's not because your choices don't matter, it's because you are the kind of person you are at the moment you make a choice — and the choice will always be the same one at a given moment because that's who you are.

So, the answer is that Snape will always overhear the prophecy, he'll always tell Voldemort and Voldemort will always choose Harry. If we want to change things, we need to go earlier and change the situation so the choice would be different. But if we do that, it always happened that way and the prophecy would then not be made at all.

I hope my rambling about time and fate makes sense, but this was lots of fun to think about, so thank you!

[mechcanicalmadness]

Introduction!! Yippee!! Hello I am a very scared robot on the internet who draws!! I am also the one who manages the @bungostraycreatures blog! Go check it out :] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Names: Nox/Moth/Mad but you can also call me variants of my username! Whatever you feel the most comfortable with essentially :] Pronouns: Any pronouns but I prefer gender neutral or masculine terms and also tech themed neos I post art! I will be tagging it as #Madnessdraws from now on! [General yapping will be tagged with #Madnessyapping] Omnisexual/romantic, no gender labels because I don't really know, but I am a robotkin! Funny bug robot lizard thingy Special interests: Art/character design, robots, and mad sciency type stuff (like organs and taxidermy and all that) !!I swear a LOT, if that makes you uncomfortable maybe stay away from me!! I type fast a lot so if I spell something wrong just make fun of me I'll laugh at it too [Also I speak in a weird mix of British-English and American-English because my spellings got messed up don't question it] Also mutuals who aren't Ozzie I'm so sorry if I'm awkward around you I am so bad at socialising I'm a minor but idrc if you're weird unless you're being /srs then I'll sick @rab1darachn1d on you (he's my super cool son and he will hunt you down I'm being so fr he will send you death threats) but like I find sex jokes incredibly funny Also like NSFW only blogs y'all are chill so you can hang around but I won't interact with you [Just cause I'm a minor] WE STAND WITH PALESTINE🇵🇸 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are a system!! I am the host and owner of this account, the others don't really post when they are out but if they do they will tag it [For example: #PjussyJumpscare is PJ and #AvenJumpscare is Aven] [Please don't be weird to them, they will block you and also probably say very interesting things as in they will bully you] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DNI List!!-Proshippers and zoophiles [Stay the fuck away from me y'all are so gross -"radfems" and "terfs" [BOOO] -Pro Israel people -Endos [I don't know much about y'all but you make my son uncomfy so I got something against you] -Homophobes, transphobes, etc-"*** personality disorders are abusive" [If you say this shit get away from me] -people who are against others with "scary" disorders [Piss off] -pro ed mfs... [wtf man...] -people who are shitty towards therians, otherkins, xenogenders, etc ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fandoms!! Just to name a few: -BSD -Guilty Gear -BorderLands -Fullmetal Alchemist -HSR -SIIIGHHHH Genshitters impact. -Mouthwashing -OFF -HLVRAI -ROR -Madness Combat -Violet Evergarden ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[First image is drawn by @rab1darachn1d, Userboxes made by @sundazeing, and the bottom three are drawn by me!]

[coffeebanana]

20 questions for Fic Writers

Omg it took me ages to get to this but better late than never! Thanks for the tags @rosie-b, @monpetitchattriste, @lesbitorte, @kasienda and @celestialtitania!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Um. 107*... It's possible that I have a problem 😂

(*one is on anon. more on that later adfdsd)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

801,972!!! (fun fact i was just below 800k the first time i got tagged in this game so i was like "oh well i'm posting a new chapter tomorrow...i'll do this game after that so i can pass that milestone!" and then i posted the chapter but it took me close to a week to do this ahaha)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

mostly just ml. i have a few spop fics too but i don't really write for that fandom anymore. or at least not right now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Gah. okay. I'm going to answer this honestly but to do that I first need to explain that my most kudoed fic is on anon because I'm annoyed it's my most kudoed fic aksjfbksdb. Like. It's only so popular because there's a bit of lila salt? and really the fic isn't about that but i don't really write that kind of thing anymore and i don't want ppl coming to my profile and sorting by kudos and seeing that first. There are other things i'd do a lot differently in that fic now too ahaha.

Break a Leg

Cards Against Ladybug's Identity

Ladybug And The Tramp Stamp

Imaginary Friends

The Sun Will Rise Again

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do!! I reply to pretty much every comment--unless it's particularly rude/rubs me the wrong way. I know commenting takes time and I appreciate the effort ppl put into it so I like to give my thanks back!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Every Teardrop is a Waterfall. Although I think Girl Is A Gun is a strong contender too?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uh...well, most of my fics have happy or at least hopeful endings. I don't think I can narrow this down to just a few haha.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think I've ever gotten hate? Definitely some comments that aren't super nice but nothing too bad. (now i've probably gone and jinxed it 😂)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

um. a little tiny bit but not enough to have a particular kind LOL. i've only posted it once so far. but i also have Entangled, which will have smut in the next chapter--and that's angsty smut. which i suppose would be my brand of smut if i ever write any more

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i haven't! i entertained the idea of an ml/spop crossover a couple years ago but i don't have any interest in it anymore. oh and i ALSO had an idea for a marigami spyxfamily crossover. but i don't know if i'll ever get around to that

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of! (*knocks on forehead since no wood is nearby*)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but that would be super cool!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have not! a few times i've planned to write things with other ppl but nothing that ever really made it to the writing stage ahaha. although the littlebug vday zine is a collab in the form of a series--not exactly co-written but similar vibes

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

to write for, definitely the love square. and then catradora is so special to me because it got me back into writing and also i started IDing as a lesbian in part because i binged spop.

aside from that i can't really decide because like. there are so many shows i've seen and books i've read and ships i've loved for so many different reasons asdfbk. and then i have OC ships that only live in my head but that i love to play with sometimes before i fall asleep at night. so please don't make me choose!!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

uh. i would say none of them? because it's only when i completely lose interest in a fic that i lose the belief i'll finish it. and that's only happened with maybe two of my wips i can think of?

16. What are your writing strengths?

Depicting emotions! And using the setting to do that by establishing the mood/tone/etc...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i guess like...self-doubt? not that i'm awful with it. in general i think i'm pretty good that way. but it's my biggest barrier to writing when i have periods where i get in my head about my writing, and it can make me overthink and not know if i LIKE my writing. and i think my writing is at its best when i'm having fun with it (which is probably true of most ppl), so...

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i think it makes sense when the characters are actually speaking that language for a short time but aren't speaking it for most of the fic? like i have one ml AU set in new york so they're speaking english for most of it and i used french for the first couple lines that were french (and weaved the translations into the narrative). so that's the only time i do that personally--aside for maybe one word lines like bonjour--but as a reader it doesn't usually bother me when i see it used other ways

19. First fandom you wrote for?

ahaha the Vampire Academy book series. and NO you won't find those fics anywhere, even though they are still out there somewhere

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

currently Say Something. and i very much wish i could finish writing it, but it'll happen when it happens!

I think most people I would have tagged have probably been tagged by this point...likely more than once 😂. So whoever else wants to play should do so!!

[lipshits-continuous]

Prime numbers of the ask game let's go!

This is gonna be a long old post haha /pos

2. What math classes did you do best in?:

It's joint between Analysis in Many Variables (literally just Multivariable calculus, I don't know why they gave it a fancy name) and Complex Analysis. Both of which I got 90% in :))

3. What math classes did you like the most?

Out of the ones I've completely finished: complex analysis

Including the ones I'm taking at the moment:

Topology

5. Are there areas of math that you enjoy? What are they?

Yes! They are Topology and Analysis. Analysis was my favourite for a while but topology is even better! (I still like analysis just as much though, topology is just more). I also really like group theory and linear algebra

7. What do you like about math?

The abstractness is really nice. Like I adore how abstract things can be (which is why I really like topology, especially now we're moving onto the algebraic topology stuff). What's better is when the abstract stuff behaves in a satisfying way. Like the definition of homotopy just behaves so nicely with everything (so far) for example.

11. Tell me a funny math story.

A short one but I am not the best at arithmetic at times. During secondary school we had to do these tests every so often that tested out arithmetic and other common maths skills and during one I confidently wrote 8·3=18. I guess it's not all that funny but ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

13. Do you have any stories of Mathematical failure you’d like to share?

I guess the competition I recently took part in counts as a failure? It's supposed to be a similar difficulty to the Putnam and I'm not great at competition maths anyway. I got 1/60 so pretty bad. But it was still interesting to do and I think I'll try it again next year so not wholly a failure I think

17. Are there any great female Mathematicians (living or dead) you would give a shout-out to?

Emmy Noether is an obvious one but I don't you could understate how cool she is. I won't name my lecturers cause I don't want to be doxxed but I have a few who are really cool! One of them gave a cool talk about spectral geometry the other week!

19. How did you solve it?

A bit vague? Usually I try messing around with things that might work until one of them does work

23. Will P=NP? Why or why not?

Honestly I'm not really that well versed in this problem but from what I understand I sure hope not.

29. You’re at the club and Grigori Perlman brushes his gorgeous locks of hair to the side and then proves your girl’s conjecture. WYD?

✨polyamory✨

31. Can you share a math pickup line?

Are you a subset of a vector space of the form x+V? Because you're affine plane

37. Have you ever used math in a novel or entertaining way?

Hmm not that I can think of /lh

41. Which is better named? The Chicken McNugget theorem? Or the Hairy Ball theorem?

Hairy Ball Theorem

43. Did you ever fail a math class?

Not so far

47. Just how big is a big number?

At least 3 I'd say

53. Do you collect anything that is math-related?

Textbooks! I probably have between 20 and 30 at the moment! 5 of which are about topology :3

59. Can you reccomend any online resources for math?

The bright side of mathematics is a great YouTube channel! There is a lot of variety in material and the videos aren't too long so are a great way to get exposed to new topics

61. Does 6 really *deserve* to be called a perfect number? What the h*ck did it ever do?

I think it needs to apologise to 7 for mistakingly accusing it of eating 9

67. Do you have any math tatoos?

I don't have any tattoos at all /lh

71. 👀

A monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors

73. Can you program? What languages do you know?

I used to be decent at using Java but I've not done for years so I'm very rusty. I also know very basic python

Thanks for the ask!!

[skullduggeryandfilibuster]

Introductions to Writeblr From a Writer

So I never wrote one of these. Probably a good a place as any to get my foot in the door.

Who Am I?

I'm John (he/him), and I'm a 21 year old writer. I'm looking for friends, because my greatest fear is being alone in a room of a thousand people because friends are nice to have. I had the unfortunate realization that the only way I can share the stuff I make, is to actually make it? Eugh. Anywho, I'm a big fan of fantasy, mystery, comedy, mythology, folktales and urban legends, and lil guys in funny hats. I'm not here to write or read fanfiction. I respect the field, but it's not for me, apologies.

Well What Are You Here For?

Blogging about writing! Like actually! Not just thinking about it, or murmuring under my breath in the shower how cool it would be to run a blog, but like, actually doing it! I want this to be a place I can give my thoughts about storytelling and art, such as proper reviews or random ravings. I want this to be a place where I can work with other writers to hone our craft, and help each other out! Feedback, support, advice, criticism, you name it. I want this to be a place where I can share what I've written, lest the flashing cursor continue to mock me. From short stories, to tidbits of longer things, to flash fiction to everything in-between. I've been in a writing "rut," you could call it, for some time, and I'm hoping this blog will encourage me to get my fingers typing and track/show off my progress.

Huh, What Are You Writing Then?

I mostly write fantasy. My favorite type of media are stories that can make me laugh one scene and cry the next without missing a beat, so that's what I strive to write. I'm working on several things, but really I'm interested in making new things; stuff from scratch. But I'll share some tidbits of the WIPs I got:

Codename: TOaO

This is the project I've been working on the longest. It is also the one I am least comfortable sharing. Oh, not because it's my baby or my most precious project. It's cause I'm in the process of gutting it and stitching it back together to make my own Frankenstein's Monster! (did you know Frankenstein was the scientist not the--) I've been reassessing how I write and outline and reassessing this story for the last few months, and I'm kinda taking a break to work on something else right now. It's a comedy fantasy story in the vein of Discworld. The main protagonist is the world's biggest normie (that is the truth), who is an aspiring hero! ...And he can hear the narrator of the book but don't worry about that it won't lead to any problems like anxiety or depression or insanity or–– That's all I'm willing to share, because that's the only thing I know is 100% staying. Other characters, conflicts, settings, plot lines... who's to say what'll stay or what'll go? (Me. I'm to say.)

Video Essay About––

So yeah, I'm making a video essay discussing the writing of a television series. "Oh that's cool! What's the show?" Ehaha! Hahaha! Ha... sniff... ha... ugh... "Oh, this is a popular show that you think has bad writing, isn't it?" Nods Yeah... the internet. It's a scary place. And "hating" on things that people agree are bad is still gonna get you hate. But this is a passion project. I am 95% done with the script, and in the process of editing it down. It is sitting at 33k words right now. So yeah, safe to say, whatever show this is, know that I have thoughts. I'm excited to move onto the next phase of actually recording it, so that'll be fun. You'll get to see my beautiful face. (I can assure you I am very beautiful.)

Some Short Stories

These aren't actually WIPs, they're WHFs. (Work has Finished.) I have two short stories, one about a sorcerer's apprentice who murders a spell, another about a delusional overseer on a Southern plantation who is just baffled that one of the enslaved people would run away. Two very different stories, fairly different tones, and I may or may not post them here if people are interested. We'll see. Let me know.

Facts (Fun Optional) About Me

I'm neurodivergent.

I hate all conspiracy theories. Yes, even the fun ones.

I love Scooby-Doo.

I have strong opinions about a fair deal of things...

...But I'm more interested in what other people think about those things and why.

Currently Reading Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. It's pretty good so far. Excited for Wind and Truth.

Thanks for reading. I know that was a lot. I appreciate it. If you're a writer yourself, or hell even if you're not, say hi. I want to see what other writers are up to, I've already followed a few folks, but I'm excited to follow more. Have a great day.

[acceptingmyowncompany]

Because Who Can I Talk To...

This post has so much potential to be cringe a year from now. Shit even months from now. I need it out of my head though

A friend of mine joked about setting me up with her friend. We met but I didnt really make a move. Too shy. She's cute though. Nice, smart, witty. It became a bit that I thought was still funny despite nothing really coming of it.

We eventually followed each other on instagram, which is good but my friend isn't riffing the bit anymore. A mutual of ours is communicating with me more often than before. Energy is weird but I'm not trying to look into it. Come to find out she likes me and I can't help but feel like thats why my friend stopped riffing the bit and advocating for me/us.

Despite that, the girl and I are kind of... idk playing tennis. Maybe fishing?! Idk the proper analogy. We are posting things kind of trying to bait the other person into interacting with it. I shouldn't say we... EYE, 100% am and she did at least once. Eventually a real conversation starts between us and it's like... legit awesome. Like she's so cool, and we've been thru some similar shit and look at the world in a similar way. I make points and she responds basically finishing my thoughts. Im like wooow we have so much in common. It excites me in a way that I haven't been excited in a LONG time. I think I'm crushing on her now... I can't wait for her to come into town.

She comes into town and I get no sleep the night before. I'm running on fumes. I have no energy to talk to her, to be charming or funny. I'm just listening and yawning a lot. I got her cookies... didnt even present them forreal. She was here for a week and that was the only day I saw her. At this point I'm FUCKING SICK. It's another display of how my friend is no longer trying to help out because she didnt try to set me up with some hangouts. Doubts about her interest because if she was hoping to see me, again you'd think the friend would hit me about plans or invite me over. I dont take initiative. Don't want to be too thirsty. I hold my L and get kinda sad because I like the feeling. I like talking to her, but it's over...

Until... the day after she gets back home, she messages me randomly about One Piece. I'm hype af. She thanks me for cookies, I apologize for zombie. We're talking again. And talking a lot. We are in constant communication. We message everyday. It's not a constant flow but it's fairly steady. We go like this for like a month and some. She's my favorite notification. I look forward to her responses and suddenly they stop. Not all together. The frequency though. A few messages a day to one a day. Now the response coming a full day or two later. Which would be completely fine if like... I didnt see she's been active mad times or when I see her message elsewhere. I'm not mad, but it makes me think.

We aren't anything. She owes me nothing. I like talking to her. Do I like her? I don't have an answer. The level of bothered I am, would imply I do, but it could just be the engagement. The attention. The fact that she activates something in my brain that hasn't been safely activated in over a decade. I don't say this to minimize her impact. I genuinely think she's special. She told me some of her story and I just wanna protect her at all costs even though we're probably not that close. I think she's great but I also still don't know her. We have yet to find a comfortable real life flow. We have yet to establish any sort of chemistry. So it's like cool, yeah we can text and send paragraphs to each other, but can we hold a conversation. Can we go back and forth without prep time?! Until we can properly test those waters, on the phone or IRL then I can't fully say I like her. Just that I like messaging her.

The problem is... does she like me?! Does she like messaging me?! Did her life get busier?! Am I boring?! I don't know how she feels about it. I try to sneak in things in the convo to like indicate I think highly of her, but I get no read on that the other way around. My friend no longer asks about it, or riffs the bit. No convo about us. Its triggering. I was often left on unopened while my friend was texting the girl I liked right in front of me. Her excuse was "oh me and him aren't having deep convo so it's easy to message back. me and you are having more in-depth convo so it requires more thought out answers." The truth was, she was fucking him and they were both hiding it from me and thus TRAUMATIZED. She can do what she wants. She can have a guy in MD, or a guy in her DMs. Again, we aren't anything, but I'd hate to get my hopes up again, just to be being placed on the back burner while she's got other stuff going on. Shits embarrassing. It's easy to feel like a loser and shit.

And so I am at an impasse. I can't be emotional about this. I can't ask for more messages, but I do want more. I want to explore what we could be, even if it's just friends. Just so I can like know its just friends. I want to talk on the phone or play a game where we can use out voices to connect instead of seining one big message a day. How can I do that?! I want to let her know I think she's dope, and I have but she's just kinda been whatever about it. Maybe thats my answer I should probably take that as an answer. I'M JUST TIRED OF HAVING TO PLAY IT COOL. I want to talk about it with somebody that can help me. I wanna be excited about the potential. I wanna laugh with her and learn more about her. I want her to know I think she's cool and I wanna talk about the future together. I wanna do things to connect with her and show her I think she's cool. But then im overbearing. I'm thirsty. I'm doing too much. Scare her away. if she's got another dude she's talking to, im humiliating myself.

I basically wanna embrace that side of life. Intimacy and romance. Connection. I wanna show her my interest and feel her interest. The push and pull. It was cool when we were playing tennis. It was amazing to go back and forth. Idk what to do. I kinda wanna end the convo and she what'll happen. But what if I just hurt my own feelings. How do I pivot the convo we have right now?! I don't know. I've gone crazy and I hate it here lmao.

Anyways, this girls cool and pretty and I wanna get to known her better like talk more intimately and frequently but I don't know if I will or if she even cares to... but I just wish I could be blunt about this thought/feeling. Who know's what'll happen next.

[blossomingtininess]

evidence gathered! now, friendos, allow me to introduce my semi-embarrassed writing of the following topic:

"rock paper scissors, to me somehow has very agere coded protagonists and i'm asking you to hear me out - coming from a person who's only ever seen one person in the main tag agere posting"

don't mind paper. he's a bit awkward about it

(mentioned episodes i got info from came from a google drive! i'm happy to dm the link for anyone interested, anxious abt posting it out in public very sorry)

anywho, let me begin

Getting basics out of the way:

- The show's about the aforementioned protagonists (Rock, Paper + Scissors) who're all roommates also i think they're in a poly relationship but that's another story

- They get up to whatever chaos they can, and things always seem to take a chaotic twist. Be that through overconfidence or insecurities

- All in all it's a fun time, even if some stuff could be seen as flaws to other people

now let's get into the fun stuff! why i think they're all small

EXHIBIT A: ROCK

- He actively calls himself whimsical ("I wanted a hot air balloon because I'm whimsical!" or smth close to that)

- Described often as "like a child" - friendly fellow, naive at times. They say that and I hear "regressor who's comfortable enough with his peers to regress openly"

- ⬆️ Related-ish, often seen going off on his own adventures and having his own form of fun (not that he isn't keen on his friends' view of fun)

- Described as a mediator who can understand who his roommates are deep down and explain why they're doing stuff that they do. very experienced in the smallness business

- All in all very small fellow! Wants to have fun and have his friends get along even if his emotions get a bit outta control sometimes

EXHIBIT B: PAPER

- BUDDY. HE'S SMALL.

- He really wants to be smart (since his family is apparently all high-achieving) but struggles with it. such stress calls for smallness methinks!

- He gets frustrated a lot, see the above point

- Does at least seemingly relax and have some form of downtime with his pals when he's not all stressed out

- absolutely a "small when stressed / tired" guy. trust me on this

- THIS WHOLE SCENE IN THE WEEKEND STORY (+ the buildup)

- I'M SORRY BUT THAT'S ➡️➡️➡️⬆️ A SMALL GUY i mean they both are but stilll

- I think he mentioned in some episode that he got bullied when he was younger?

- Overall Paper is a guy who's doing his best but it's hard and he just gets stressed out and angry and it boils over into smallness

EXHIBIT C: SCISSORS

- canonical dad issues and it makes sense he might want to have another chance of a childhood. poor lad

- always tries to be cool but is just pretty insecure deep down even when Rock + Paper have their own "things". like paper, such stress calls for smallness

- Seems like a little who's proud and chaotic at his core, but he shuts down quick if he thinks he's messed up even a bit. fortunately his roommates are far better father figures than what his likely was

- also probably the last to willingly admit his own smallness? I imagine Rock admitted it naturally which then prompted Paper to accidentally slip a few days afterwards (making him open up), and then Scissors finally decided to be open too when it clicked that his pals would get it

- I'm sorry i have less points for him

In conclusion! Small roommates. my god i feel so embarrassed writing this but i'm willing to let people hear me out on this if they wish

also if that one person i mentioned at the start sees this uh hello! you aren't alone friend

anyways have a good dayy

[doubledyke]

Now lets talk about Ed:

1: His intelligence. He's just a doofus, or is he smarter than he looks?

2: Is he this 100% pure cinnamon roll, or he's a kind of jerk just like everyone else (yeah, I find him to be a jerk in some episodes, just like Your Ed Here)?

3: Is he so genuinely sunny and carefree, or is this a mask and he's secretly depressed or struggling (you know, his abusive homelife and all more)?

thanks for giving me some food for thought! i do just wanna say that any and all (okay, most) interpretations and opinions, including unpopular ones are valid, even if i have different ideas. im but a humble dumbass that spends my free time blogging about a cartoon. no one needs a green light from me to feel a certain way about any character. the fun of participating in goofy fandom stuff is to hear opinions from people with different experiences that shape their perception.

that being said 🤔

i've posted here before that i think ed became gratuitously stupid later on, especially for season 5. maybe he got brain damage from eddy using him as a battering ram so often. but he's got some lucidity sprinkled on top of his oafishness throughout the series. i don't think he's "stupid", i think he just stays in his own little world and that his brain works differently than others'. early on he comes off more as a dopey guy who hangs with eddy because they're both outcasts and can be themselves around each other. not a lot of options, if you get my drift. of all three eds he has the least culpability when it comes to their eventual injurious antics, in my opinion. he's kinda just there because he hangs out with eddy (and edd) and that's what eddy does. there's a true friendship there, don't get me wrong. but i don't think the eds started hanging out because they found each other interesting or cool lmao. that's comes later as they get to know each other and experience trauma together.......anyway, im getting off track.

i think ed is just as multi-faceted as anyone else, it's just maybe those facets aren't explored as much as they are for the other two idiots.

that being said, i don't see him as a jerk personally, but he has his moments i'm sure. i think it's moreso that he doesn't have much of a filter and just says what he thinks. and it's obvious that his doting on sarah is not because he actually gives that much of a shit but because he gets in trouble if she tells their parents. not that it really matters because she makes shit up all the time. he's probably said a lot more jerk-ish things but they're made incomprehensible by his use of nonsensical literary devices. little ed blue is one of my favorite episodes because as we get to see ed when he's upset and irritable which is rare and always fleeting. i'll leave it at that and recommend @gettingfrilly's recent post about that scene where ed is on the tree stump just fuming. they're way more qualified than i to examine this type of stuff 🥴 i'll reblog it after i post this. but i do find it hilarious that he grabs eddy by the face and throws him into a tree. with edd, he gives a warning and pushes him away. there are lots of examples of him being notably gentler with edd and probably even jimmy and others a few times. overall i feel like he's not really intentionally violent with anyone besides eddy. i have a terrible memory so despite watching every episode several times by now, i tend to forget stuff often. so i could be wrong. anyway, again i digress. in 'your ed here' he makes a few playfully sassy remarks when he's playing tic tac toe with edd, but i don't really see it as him being a jerk per se. he thinks he's good at the game so he's doing his weird version of bragging and teasing. and I think a lot of times he comes off as aloof when someone (eddy) is being humiliated and/or getting their ass kicked but i think that has to do with him again, being in his own world and not necessarily because he doesn't care. and finally, with him laughing at eddy and edd's middle names, i just don't find it to be mean-spirited. he thinks the names are funny and so, he laughs.

one example of him being snotty that comes to mind right now is from another of my fave episodes, 'thick as an ed'. it's hilarious to see him try to clap back at edd by saying "stinky hat" over and over. he's expressing genuine annoyance at double dee being well, fucking annoying as usual. to me it's unlikely that edd's hat actually stinks so that means ed came up with something he knew would get under edd's skin. you could argue that it's a bit of a dick move! but given the context of the episode, he's reached a breaking point after his friends have done nothing but try to take his beloved lucky cheese chunk. i can't believe i'm writing this right now.

anyhow, there's definitely a theory out there that ed is putting on an act of being stupid and clumsy just to essentially spite eddy, or foil the scams. it's just not my own personal take on things. interesting nonetheless!

yeah man, ed has an unquestionably awful life at home. his maladaptive daydreaming is definitely a coping mechanism for his shitty reality and probably helps him make sense of the things going on around him. i think ed has a bit of a lack of object permanence (for lack of a better phrase) so once he's away from his house and sarah isn't around, he might be able to put his hardships on the back burner for a while. with the other two eds, they wear their emotions and trauma on their sleeves. there's a lot in what they do, say, and how they react that are tells for their less than ideal upbringings and lack of emotional well-being. a big difference is that they try to hide it and don't explicitly state that things are though back home. with ed we mostly gain insight from his interactions with sarah, the neglected state of his room and personal hygiene, and the random things he discloses about his parents a handful of times. he doesn't even express his opinion about how his parents or sarah act, he simply recalls his past experiences. he's smart enough to grasp cause and effect, even if it doesn't ways show in his actions. his cheerfulness might come off as him being blissfully unaware and i think that's because he essentially is?? at the very least when he's not being actively lambasted by his mother, he's able to hardcore dissociate and go off into ed-land to escape the horrors ™.

TL;DR: i don't think ed's thick-headedness detracts from his distinct personality. he is a loveable oaf and that's perfectly fine in my book. i don't think he's a "cinnamon roll", but i also don't think he's a jerk. my opinion is that he leans waaaaay more towards benevolence. and yeah i absolutely think he's experiencing a lot of neglect and trauma, no doubt about it. i don't see his sweet disposition as a mask necessarily, but more as the result of masterful compartmentalization.