#I LOVE timelines but also they give me a headache. reasoning out ages based on 400 comics is umm. making my eyes hurt

[heroesriseandfall]

I tried to make a short timeline post but after I found myself citing 5 comics as evidence to why the timeline in 3 other comics made less sense, and also spotting 2 mathematical errors in my DC timeline spreadsheet, I remembered why I find it so hard to make my timeline posts “short.”

[dr-spectre]

a thought i keep stumbling on while trying to work out Splatoon's world, how fairly "utopian" splatoon seems to be compared to our own, and i'm wondering just how far that goes, socially and economically

the primary activity for inkfish is an all-inclusive, free to play social sport where you literally get paid for playing, the only barrier to entry being a weapon, of any kind, even a scavenged up Splattershot Jr. (which may even be freely given?)

GrizzCo, evil as it is, seems to take full advantage of inkfish respawning (the helicopter does not leave even when the Triumvirate shows up in an enclosed space like Undertow, fucking insane pilot), so no one ever seems to actually die on the job? with actually pretty decent pay alongside it (if you get lucky lmao)

there is/this is way WAY too much to type in somebody's askbox but GRAAHHHH SPLATOON LORE

I'm going to be honest, i haven't given much thought on the social and economic status of the Splatoon world LMAO! My knowledge of Splatoon lore only goes to the Idols, the timeline and the hidden stuff in the games. Trying to figure out how money works in Splatoon and the conversion of it to real world dollars is just as headache inducing as figuring out how the fuck does the Inkling and Octoling hair work.

Like look at this chocolate cereal for example, in our dollars, would it be 38 bucks? 3 dollars and 80 cents? Or is it based on Japanese Yen? Because Inkopolis is definitely inspired by Tokyo and other cities in Japan, just take a look at the architecture.

Inkopolis and Splatsville for sure seem very utopian and you don't hear much about crimes or any real issues aside from giant electric fishes being stolen every once in a while, and maybe an Idol goes missing and comes back like a few days later (you know who I'm talking about.)

To me it's basically Japan but more advanced and has sea creatures running the place instead of hairy fleshy humans like us lol. And they have a popular sport anyone can join and get paid for. Turf War is like THE THING in their society and they wanna encourage everyone to play it, so they give out money. Or at least that's why i think Inklings and Octolings get paid when participating in Turf War. Hell it makes sense for Inklings and Octolings to get paid for ranked battles because it's more serious and competitive, like the competitive sports we have in our world.

Also i wanna say something too which is semi off topic, Inklings and Octolings are kinda fucking insane strength wise, they are able to carry large rollers, fire giant gatling guns, survive from nearly any height as they seem to slow down in the air and land just fine. They have no bones and can stand perfectly fine with just muscles alone. And as long as there's a respawn machine, they can never die, and if there isn't a respawn machine then they'll stay as floating little ghosts until they find a machine.

Like Callie and Marie for example, are not some cute little defenseless girls, HELL NO! They will MURDER you easily if given the opportunity. If a creep were to go onto their stages or if someone tried to grab them, they would easily grab them by the neck and throw them into the atmosphere! Their bodies are just pure muscle and ink. (And they have military training too technically.) And that's one of the reasons why i like em so much... They strong... We all love physically strong girls that can carry us or fucking destroy us... Don't lie to me...

The only thing that can truly kill them is age and even then, they age MUCH slower than us. Cuttlefish and Octavio are over 130 years old and they act like they are around 70 to 80 years old in human years. And you can probably extend their lifespan by giving them more ink as when they age they slowly dry out, so all you gotta do is keep giving them ink and they might be able to survive for much longer.

There is also water, however it only seems like large bodies of water make them explode and i'm sure you can't just spray a hose at them to kill them lmao.

It's no wonder Mr. Grizz uses these cephalopods to collect eggs, Inklings and Octolings are insanely strong.

[bitethebulette]

Lighthouse Paintings

So, I wasn't sure I was going to write this, because this is a blog about writing mostly, but I'm also an artist so this has honestly been bothering me. And yes, it's about Dragon Age: The Veilguard!

People keep bringing up the "frescos" in the Lighthouse and I'm questioning if these are actually frescos. These look more like paintings to me or in technical terms - murals. Examples and explanations under cut to save my timeline and minor spoilers if you haven't seen the game:

I will be the first to admit I know nothing about frescos. However, after playing Inquisition, I was really confused by the meaning of the paintings Solas had done and so I kind of did a deep dive and read everything other people have said about them.

(Please click this if you want to know more. This blogger really covers it all. I recommend it if you don't already know about how frescos are made or anything about the frescos from Inquisition.)

Based on the reading I've done that goes into depth about the frescos Solas paints in Skyhold - I find it really hard to believe that the walls of the Lighthouse are also frescos. From what I can tell these are done with bare bones paint. My reasoning is as follows:

You can clearly see the lines of the stone blocks. If this was covered in the layer of plaster needed to make a fresco, you wouldn't see the stone blocks behind it. Yes, plaster can crack over time, but it wouldn't crack perfectly at the points where the stone meets. And you see it's very consistent - you can see every block behind the paint.

The way the paint is flaking off. Painting on stone isn't exactly permanent. I did some quick searching and the durability of paint on stone is pretty weak. For outdoors they give it about 5 years at most - and this is with masonry paint, which I doubt he used. Since these are inside they lasted quite a bit longer. And the paint is flaking off in thin sheets, instead of chunks. If this was plaster it would leave a noticeable texture on the wall as it fell off, since the paint is part of the plaster.

He left behind a paint palette. If you read the above blogs you will have seen the colors for frescos and mixed in pots. This is regular paint. What kind? I can't tell. It could be oil or it could be egg tempera, if we want to pick another old painting medium that no one really talks about anymore. I don't see anything else laying out to suggest this, though. My gut feeling is oils. (Seeing these giant paintings and those small brushes, though, are giving me a headache. Solas, we work smarter, not harder!)

It's possible that here in the Lighthouse Solas wasn't as concerned about longevity when it came to the work he decided he wanted to surround himself with. I think he saw all of this ending in his death, per words he spoke to a romanced Lavellan - "I walk the path of death" (loosely translated, of course). He's obviously painted other moments of his life and taken it down, too (at least the best he can. Let's be real, paint might not last forever on stone, but it sticks just enough that it doesn't disappear completely, either). Maybe he thinks it'll be another regret, eventually, and he'll want to be rid of it.

Or, maybe, he also just loves to paint. It's a different technique from the frescos and maybe isn't as time consuming so he doesn't have to spend as much of his free time working on it, because, gee, it sure is hard and busy work trying to tear the Veil down!

OR - this one might be a reach - these were him testing out the designs he wanted to put onto the walls of Skyhold! How he would have access to all of this during Inquisition - I don't know! He starts the frescos in Inquisition before Morrigan shows up with her eluvian. I haven't read any of the related novels, but I've read blurbs that might lead us to believe he was still working with his agents even as he was helping the Inquisition. How? Again, no idea. This is all speculation on my part.

Anyway, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, I guess. Let me know what your thoughts on this are, because the paintings being called frescos in the Lighthouse have been driving me crazy. If you have additional info that might lean more towards these actually being frescos, let me know. The evidence that I see, though, states otherwise.

As a treat: Here are some more pictures of the paintings in the music room. I am doing a 2nd playthrough on my main PC so I can get better quality images for references, so I do not have pictures of the "Regrets" yet.

And some small grafitti-esque paintings found in Solas' hideout in Minrathous.

[lost-in-yujikiri]

Hello, since I understand that you are a knowledgeable person, I would like to ask you a few questions <3

(Warning: I'm sending Alice and Eugeo so I'll ask about them, sorry if you get bored with my questions)

1) Eugeo is in love with Alice30?

2) Are Alice30 and Alice Zuberg the same people?

3) If Alice30 is the same as 11-year-old Alice, is there a chance to remember Eugeo?

4) How would Alice30 react if she remembered Eugeo? (I'm sure there isn't any information on this subject, so you can add it to your own opinion)

5) How were her days there after Alice Zuberg was taken to the Cathedral, was she acting depressed, or was she calm and happy enough to leave everything behind?

6) Could there be "love" between Eolyne and Stica, or will Reki Kawahara bring them together?

(I'm sure I misspelled the characters' names, sorry)

7) Will Alice finally get her memories and remember eugeo?

8) What exactly does Selka think of her older sister Alice30? (Does he want his real sister or does he see Alice30 as his real sister?)

9) Is there something emotional about Asuna and Eugeo?

10) Why is Eugeo being greeted by Tiese and not Alice Zuberg?

(As Quinella destroys Eugeo's memories, Tiese, Alice, and Kirito appear in Eugeo's mind, but I wonder why Tiese was the first to appear to Eugeo, and I wonder why Tiese and not Alice Zuberg?)

11) Will Alice get her memories at the end of the anime? 💕

Well, first of all sorry for taking a while to see this, as I'm currently off tumblr for a while. Thank you for trusting me. My answers will be based on the info in LN (*UNITAL RING ARC SPOILERS WARNING), the game Alicization Rising Steel (which is semi-canon & expands on some parts in LN), and the game/manga Alicization Lycoris (alternative timeline where Eugeo survives and met Asuna & other Kirito's friends)

1) Eugeo had a crush in his childhood days with Alice Zuberg, he doesn't have romantic feelings for Alice S30

2) Alice S30 & Alice Zuberg are not the same people. Anime glossed over it a lot but the LN & games' narratives made it clear they are not.

3) To explain it would be difficult, so think of Alice Zuberg's memories as an old google cache while Alice S30 is the new completely different google update, restore the old google cache mean the update would be deleted. So that's why Kirito said restoring Alice Zuberg's memories would make the current Alice S30 die. So no, she can not remember Eugeo the way you want to.

4) If Alice has both memories of both Alice Zuberg and Alice S30, then tbh she would become a new Alice rather than "Zuberg" or "S30" and would feel extremely confused about her own feelings for either Eugeo or Kirito tbh.

5) According to LN & ARS game, after Alice Zuberg was taken to Cathedral, she spent 2 years to study Sacred Arts in hope that she would return home, and she missed Eugeo the most. Though when Chudelkin tried to trick her to say "Remove Core Protection" for the Synthesis, as a Sacred Arts genius she saw through what the spell means and resisted, thus Chudelkin put her through forced Synthesis. Alice Zuberg's will & memories were locked into Memory Crystal and Alice S30 was born. After that Alice S30 was greeted welcomely by the Knights even though she was originally shy & perplexed by the new world, and was trained to become the strong Knight she is today.

6) I don't know where you heard this from but if it's certain twitter user then it's wrong info. There is so far no clues or info so far that shows any feelings between Stica & Eolyne beyond the Captain and his cheeky subordinates. The illustration scene you might think of is where the girls Stica & Laurannei are heatedly talking about how they fought a match 2 versus 1 against Eolyne and still lost, Stica argued that she doubted they can beat him while Laurannei argued that give it 10 years and they can (very competitive cheeky subordinates, very different than meek Tiese & Ronye, Eolyne must have a handful of headache). Also, Stica & Laurannei are only 15 years old while Eolyne is 20, shipping these two age groups is yucky for me -_-

7) If you're talking about Unital Ring arc, no, she doesn't show any signs of that and probably she won't, for the reason please go back to my answer no.3

8) According to Alicization Lycoris game, Kirito, Eugeo and Alice S30 went back to Rulid, Alice S30 is very afraid to meet Selka as she has the complex that she's not Selka's "real" sister. Though the trio ended up hiding the truth from Selka before they can return Alice Zuberg to her body (Kirito already had a talk with Alice Zuberg while having a slight coma in this timeline, and promised to return her to her body). In latest DLC, even though they didn't spill the bean, Alice S30 spitted out a number of time that she's not the Alice sister that Selka wanted, but in the end Selka still said Alice S30 is her sister whether having childhood memories or not and she will always love her. Tbh while the DLC is heartwarming I always feel like the Rulid Trio keeps overcomplicating things by not telling Selka the truth.

9) Asuna & Eugeo never met each other in canon so of course nothing. In Lycoris, they are good friends as they quickly bond over being the closest ones to Kirito who took care of him for years. In one quest while Eugeo was going out with Kirito and suddenly met Asuna in the street, Eugeo intended to bail out to give the lovers alone time, but Kirito & Asuna kept him back to talk it out, at the end of quest Asuna allowed Eugeo to hang out often with Kirito as she saw how close and happy Kirito is with Eugeo. Other than that they still have very few interactions.

10) I think you're making an assumption out of nothing tbh -_-. The point of the anime scene is that Tiese, Alice and Kirito are the ones to have closest relationships with Eugeo (Tiese - his page whom he felt responsible for what happened to her recently, Alice Zuberg - his childhood friend and crush whom he hasn't seen for 8 years, Kirito - his best friend & closest partner who has lived with him more than 2 years and has 10+ years of childhood memories with him but both couldn't remember yet) and would influence him with their talks. And while Tiese & Alice can give some words to Eugeo before Admin shut them off, Kirito was also saying something but Admin cut off what he said to Eugeo right from the start. So who is the most important influence to Eugeo that even Admin feared? Kirito

11) You're repeating the question by the way. I still think she won't, but I won't fault you for continue hoping for it.

[rdr2dd]

Goals, Moving Forward, Etc.

Because I’ve gotten a few comments/questions asking about the other projects I’ve mentioned, and also for the purpose of giving myself some clear goals to work toward, I want to nail down the direction(s) that this project is probably headed. Excuse the gratuitous detail, but as is likely becoming clear from my posts, that’s how I work best :p

Project 1: Arthur’s Hidden Family

Goal 1: Finding Eliza -

Accomplished, largely, so hurrah for that. There was a lot of background work to get to this point, even beyond the details I gave in the most recent post about it, so I am beyond glad to have finally gotten it done. This step has already laid a lot of the groundwork for future steps. And also, I’m just happy to finally have a face for her.

Goal 2: Conjuring up Isaac - No progress thus far, but I’ve done some planning on how I want to handle this. No files exist for Isaac, at least not that I’ve been able to find thus far, so any models/textures for him would be entirely non-canon/custom work. There’s no element of bringing hidden assets to light here, like there was with Eliza; having a workable model for Isaac would be purely for my own heart’s sake, and for the sake of being able to do fanart renders involving him. This probably involves:

Using Jack (4 yrs old) as a base model, as I’m not talented or experienced enough to sculpt these models from scratch. Facial features would need to be altered to find a resemblance to both Arthur and Eliza.

Digging through the files to see if there are even other young children in the game to draw assets from - Arthur Londonderry’s son comes to mind, but I’m not sure if he’s the right age range, and I’m honestly drawing a blank beyond that. If anyone remembers seeing any kids in the game, please drop me a note as to where you saw them. 

Possibly resizing/altering adult NPC assets such as hairstyles in order to give Isaac a fitting and unique appearance. This sounds like a headache, but may be reasonable enough to do. We shall see.

Lots of custom texture work, largely for his face, which will be especially hard/dicey if there aren’t other children’s models to borrow textures from. 

Goal 3: Finding the Time - Less technical and more research-oriented, I need to nail down a timeline that I’m personally happy with with regards to when in Arthur’s life the events with Eliza and Isaac occurred. Once this is done, it’ll make it easier to decide what to do with Arthur in any renders I may want to do with the three of them. Which ties into...

Project 2: The Old Guard (Expanded)

This was the project I originally had in mind when I started scrounging around for these files. I have an unreasonably huge soft spot in my heart for the ‘curious couple and their unruly son’, but also, just the young gang in general. Hosea back when he’d steal anything not nailed down? Dutch, young and idealistic and years before his downfall? Arthur, young and broody but not yet hardened? Little John, still feral and a menace? Badass, gorgeous young Grimshaw? Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes, please. Not to mention Bessie and Annabelle, who must have mattered so much to these characters, but who we hear and see so little about. I want to be able to do fanart renders with them, but that’s going to take a hell of a lot of work.

Goal 1: Nail Down the Timeline - I’ve started working on this, but there’s a lot I still need to do in terms of skimming audio files and digging deep in the lore. I want to get a general idea of when it seems folks joined the gang, that way I can get an idea of which models I even need to work with. Heavy focus on figuring out: 

When Tilly joined the gang, as I lean toward her being around quite early, but would like to review the audio. I know there are some numbers dropped in a few missions, with regards to when she joined the Foreman Brothers and when she left them to join the Van der Linde Gang, and I want to get this as accurate as possible. 

When Hosea went off with Bessie, and when she passed. We have some context clues, I just need to nail down the math and then feel out the dramatic timing for the rest.

What the deal was with Annabelle. Maybe I just have a passion for the ladies name-dropped once in the game, but good god do I love Annabelle despite knowing absolutely nothing about her. She should be a non-character, but this is a passion project, so there’s no way I’ll be ignoring her.

What to do about Sean. He couldn’t have joined until after 1889, but depending on what year I want to deal with for renders, I may need to account for him. That wouldn’t be a hardship, as he’s one of my faves.

Goal 2: Knock Out the “Easy” Models - By which I mean Hosea, Dutch, Arthur, and Susan. This will involve some custom sculpting work, but not a whole lot, as their base models for 1899 shouldn’t actually require that much alteration. I imagine I’ll be ironing out a bunch of wrinkles, smoothing out a bunch of normal maps, and then using the clone brush and a sampling of generic NPC face textures in order to create younger-looking face textures for this lot. “Easy” is definitely a relative term here, but I’m counting my blessings in that there are, at the very least, reference images for what this lot looked like in the early days. I still have no idea if I’ll be able to accomplish this, or how hard it will be if I can.

Goal 3: John - An intermediate difficulty step, for John alone. We have no reference images of young, 12/13 year old John, but we do have Jack’s 12 yr old model, and that will serve as a decent base to work from, hopefully. I’ll have to make sure to alter his features to be more in line with John’s, and will have to work heavily with his skin/face textures from there. Clothes will be another hurdle, especially as (referenced above), we see like, next to no children in the game for me to borrow NPC clothing parts from. I’ll need to work with what we get from Jack and otherwise resize and rework adult NPC clothing.

Goal 4: Bessie (and Others) - Stepping up the workload again, though in different ways. Bessie will be a task to work out, seeing as we have a single, not particularly great reference image of her facing straight ahead. It’s not much to work with, but it’s something to work toward matching. No two ways around it, she’ll be mostly custom work and mash-ups of generic NPC materials, but it’ll be a labor of love. Also sliding Tilly and (potentially) young Sean in here, as depending on their age there will be a lot of work to do on them, possibly including custom model work, and we don’t have references for what they looked like when they were younger. I’ll make do.

Goal 5: Annabelle - The holy grail in terms of custom work, or the ultimate slog uphill, we shall see. We have no reference images of her. No traces of her exist in the files. We hardly have any clue about how she died, let alone how she lived. And yet, I love her, or at least the potential of her. Hopefully all of my work on the ‘known’ quantities of this project will give me some hope of turning out a unique and fitting model for her, but who knows.

Project 3: Audio Directory

Goal ??? - On pause for the foreseeable future, mostly as I’ll need to do some networking before I’m totally comfortable putting this out there, and also because holy hell have I set up a bunch of other work for myself. The Dream(TM) was to find a way to set up a directory for folks to more easily find audio files on their own. There’s no way to host all of the assorted cool audio from RDR2 online, but it would theoretically be possible to set up a sort of file directory online, a list of file names and descriptions, to help folks browse their audio files on their own without having to reinvent (or in this case, rediscover) the wheel personally. I’m of the opinion that pulling apart the game files should be an all-hands-on-deck sort of situation, but there are a lot of folks who have already put in this work individually, and I don’t want to step on any toes. I also don’t want to be responsible for anyone mucking around with their game files and having trouble down the road, so I’d need to sort out a clear explanation of what precautions to take, etc. It’s a lot to consider, so I’m obviously open to input. 

Wrap-Up

If you’re still reading, congrats(?) and also, thank you. This is all a bunch of planning for some real pie-in-the-sky shit, but I felt that way about finding Eliza in the files about two months ago, so I have hope. If you’ve got thoughts on any step, please, hit me! I want to hear what folks want to see, though I can’t make any promises on what I’ll deliver. Got thoughts on the timeline or headcanons for the less-referenced characters? I’d love to hear. I would also love to hear from anyone with experience on projects like this; goodness knows I’m a self-taught novice. 

[sandalwoodhusbands]

when i was little my mom used to play friends reruns on the tv constantly. anyone remembers the episode where monica moved in with chandler, and her and rachel cried on the couch because it was 'the end of an era'? i didn't really get it then, but i think i do now.

i know the show will go on. i'm happy that it will. in some way though, it feels like a little piece of my heart left with the last rolling credits tonight. it's only fair that i give it a deserving farewell.

first of all, i want to clarify that this isn't a post for tumblr. this is a post for my friends, that i want to share on tumblr because i am proud of us and of what we've found, and i want everyone to know.

lily. @davnci you made all of this happen, you know? i've always been a casual watcher. a casual reader, a casual listener. if it hadn't been for you i wouldn't be where i am now. this happened because of you, god fucking bless the moment you decided you wanted to fight for an eliott season.

sophie. my dear wifey. i have no words to explain how much i love you. you already know, i've told you enough times. if i could change one thing, it would be the distance between us. you're one of my favorite people on earth, and i wish you all the good in the world. you deserve it.

tara. @jebentnietalleen what can i say to you that you don't know already? you always thank me for reaching out one year ago. i would do it 100 times over. when we parted ways in paris i told you 'I'll see you soon' and you said 'i hope so'. now we're thinking about going on vacation together next year. i think that says enough about our relationship. i love you.

helen. @eliotts-eyes my beautiful helena de troya. my favorite greek godess, and my bro. remember the other day when we talked about missing someone without having met them? that's what i feel about you. i can't wait to sing to harry styles and do cartwheels with you, i don't care what city as long as it happens. i love you.

meg. @lifeisevak my favorite british person, up there in my top 10 favorite people i love to talk to. you came to me like a hurricane, talking about skam og and pride and i was instantly in awe of you. that still hasn't changed. i want to hug you so bad sometimes i could cry. bloody hell, i am so proud of you and all that you've become, it doesn't even make sense because i had nothing to do with it. i am so proud of you for just existing. i love you.

camille. @demaury fuck. you chaos personified. if i had to have 5am conversations about the french revolution with someone it would be with you. thank you so much for taking a piece of yourself and sharing it with me and our friends. if i could bottle up all of the times you make me fucking lose it with one of your jokes i'd have enough bottles to reconstruct the mediterranean sea. i love you.

belle. @choupielu my beautiful dumb dumb daughter. you drive me up the walls, you make me stay up until 6am more than once. you get me in weird groupchats with people i've never met in my life, and i let you. i let you do a lot of things, i hope you feel special. it it all turns to shit, i know who will threaten the world with their bare hands. there's a saying in spanish that says 'las cosas grandes vienen en frascos pequeños' look it up. te queero.

alicia. @crazyabeh you fucking gorgeous human being. if i had to put a face to summer, it'd be yours. i've told you many times. you glow. you're so kindhearted, some would say too much. the first time we met you got me a welcoming gif (i loved it by the way. my mama still asks about you) and the next time we see each other i'll get you a 'let's not spend this long without seeing each other again' one.

glory. @actualsoulmates if you decide on coming to study your masters here you know my door is open for you. in fact, if you don't come live with me for at least a month i will be very upset. you deserve everything good that there is in this world. if this hellsite did something good, is bring us together (and hey, july 23rd... we're throwing a party right?) te amo.

lucie. @hellswolfie for such a quiet one, you're one of my favorite people. i've seen you around for so long, since i very first started my side account. wanna hear a secret? when you joined our friend group i was so fucking happy. i might be the one putting out content, but i was so eager to get to know you for real. you're so sweet, i love you forever.

mara. i don't think i've ever met someone who got the demons in my head quite as you do. i miss you a lot when you're not here. i always feel like a bit of an overexcited puppy when you come back, but i think that's okay, i just want you to feel loved. you know ohana? how no one gets left behind? even when you're not there we don't forget you. you're part of us, always will be, and i love you.

verena. you fucking kind human. you have many reasons to get mad when things go to shit, but you're always the one there making sure everyone is okay and cheering us up. remember that thing you did at the begining of the quarentine? the japanese tradition? no one's ever cared like this for me. i'll forever be thankful. i love you.

manar. @waunderlnst0 you're definitely the purest one out of all my friends. it's funny, really. if i wanna talk to someone i know you'll always be around. you're chaotic good. and hey, thanks for being faster than mr axel auriant in catching his posts. i love you.

ani. @coffeerocks i'm not entirely convinced you and vere weren't long lost siblings in another timeline. you are so sweet. thanks for putting up with my weird texting habits. you've done so many things for me that we both know about and I'll never get to thank you enough. so many genuine acts of kindness, i hope your life will be the happiest it can be. i love you.

julie. @ariavds you're texting me as i'm writing this, and all i'm thinking is 'god, is it possible to be this fond of someone else?'. words fall short for all i would like to say to you. you're not the same person that i met a year ago. to that shy girl, i wanted yo say thank you, for bringing you to me. i said once you were the best person that had happened to me this year and i still stand by it. je t'adore ma julie.

anabelle. @mabubblebulle 🦝❤️🦔🐿️🌸🍍 out of all the things skam france has brought to me, you're the one that came more unexpected. my beautiful, perfectionist ravenclaw. if you ever feel sad, remember that in the parallel universe where the pandemic didn't happen we'd be spending our summer weekends together. just gotta hold in there. happy me ❤️

sophia. @eliottdemmaury an actual eliott demaury in disguise, your username matches you. i really hope for, the best for you. i want you to be happy all of the time instead of just sometimes. you brilliant, beautiful mind that kills me with your words. i am so happy that i met you. i don't wanna see you sad ever. i love you. (an actual babey)

jaime. @surrealsunday well, if it isn't the neglecting parent. you are, how do i even explain it? as a reader, thank you so much for your fics. the last chapter of hollow edge came out 12 hours after i got the news that my flight to paris had been canceled. it was the first thing that got a smile out of me that day. as a friend, thank you so much for indulging me in my bullshit. i was going through a hard time and julie said 'beg her for it, maybe she'll write it' so i did. and so you wrote it. and dedicated it to me. thank you so much for being a part of this fandom.

nicole. @anditsnicole you're such a good heart. i love your take on the show, but i also love how it's more than that. i love that you ask me how i'm doing, if there's anything happening in my life. i love that i care. thank you for sharing your ride with me for the past 2 seasons.

britt. @i-wish-i-felt-you-there for such a young age (she says, the 20 year old), you're such a fierce person. i admire you. i love that you convinced me to watch a whole movie based on a videogame i haven't played in my fucking life and never will. the nights that i stayed up with you talking and laughing, until 6am and i had a headache, i'd never trade them for anything. i love you you disaster human.

keren. @thedelegationofkeren god i miss you. you were one of the first people i met in here. you had to witness at least 3 of my breakdowns, if i remember correctly. and you stayed, even if you were a stranger, you stayed. and i thank you for that. i hope we'll be there for each other in the future too. i love you.

most of all, though? skam france. thank you. thank you for creating a platform that, as flawed as it might be, it brought these people to my life. thank you.

merci, skam france. it's been real.

[chemicalmagecraft]

I Would Totally Kick Jiraiya’s Butt Chapter 17

Neji said something. I don't know what, I wasn't really paying attention. Yeah, yeah. I know, I should pay attention to whatever it was my cousin-slash-brother said, but I was preoccupied. In five days, Hanabi would be born, and probably also Neji's sibling that I had yet to know the name of because they weren't in canon on account of a uncle Hizashi's death. It was something that I should've been excited about, but... How do you tell your adopted cousin that his aunt, and possibly also his mother, has a really high chance of dying in a week or so? How do you tell your adopted father his wife will die? Your uncle? It was a lot easier telling Dad his brother would have died if I hadn't intervened because, well, he hadn't and I'd been all hopped up on righteous indignation at the time.

But there really wasn't anyone to blame this time. I mean, Hanabi and (insert whatever aunt Hikaru and uncle Hizashi were about to name their kid here) didn't ask to be born, and nobody really knew that Mom wasn't really able to withstand the stress of labor a second time until I decided to check what, exactly, killed her. But yeah. Turns out that Mom had some kind of issue with her heart that was just minor enough that nobody ever noticed anything wrong, but still serious enough that at her age, a second child was kinda dangerous. And it was genetic. And aunt Hikaru was an exact genetic duplicate of Mom, as most identical twins are. You can see why I might be a little worried here, right?

So yeah. I mean, I probably should've told someone about said heart defects instead of simply passive-aggressively hinting about it, but I was kinda... scared to talk about it? Soooo instead I silently checked through all the possible forms of making sure someone doesn't die that I had available to me. Sage-enriched red chakra is pretty freaking good for the heart, especially when you throw in a temporary copy of the Uzumaki bloodline's vitality. So now that it was a week or so away from Hanabi's birth, Chikage was off grinding her power enough that she'd be able to cover both at once. She could split herself in two, but at the cost of both copies having half the strength of the original. So both Chikages were training at once to raise their capacity and power in our secret base. Well, two Chikages with most of the power were training, and then a much lesser Chikage clone who was rocking out in preparation for YET ANOTHER upcoming deadline, this time the Uchiha incident. Well, just before the Uchiha incident. We all agreed that one of our favorite songs would be very apropos in the event that we had to confront Danzō, and she was trying to figure it out because I never actually played it before. I liked it a lot, though, so I knew it by heart.

Okay, maybe there were better uses of our time, but with the power level of that specific clone, making and then playing the guitar was a surprisingly good form of training.

Neji hit me lightly to get my attention, bringing me back to the present. "Were you paying attention?"

"Muh..." I muttered. "Not really."

He sighed. "I asked if you wanted to spar? You looked worried about something, so I figured I'd take your mind off of it."

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

kukukuku~

I nervously bounced my leg. Today was the day. My sister and cousin were going to be born within the hour and I wasn't entirely sure Mom and aunt Hikaru would be alright. Yes I could see the future, but my own actions, and consequently Chikage's, were what changed the outcomes I saw, meaning that until Chikage pulled it off and it wasn't the future anymore but actually set in stone, I could see both the future where they survived and the future where they didn't, meaning either outcome could happen.

After a while of tense waiting with my family in the hospital, I felt a burst of information. One of the two Chikages just depleted herself, and like a shadow clone that meant her memories returned to me. A few moments later, the other other me died as well. With its fate no longer in my hands, the future I wanted to see wouldn't branch out, and... success! I closed my eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief. Two healthy baby girls, born to two nearly-identical sets of parents. I practically melted in my chair, the tension I'd been feeling for weeks suddenly draining away. "Fate averted," I sighed, then yawned. When was the last time I slept? "Hey Neji..." I murmured, my eyes heavy. "Wake me up when..." I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

kukukuku~

Someone was shaking me. "Kouki!" Neji shouted.

"Mmmh." I rubbed my eyes. "Why are you yelling?" I muttered.

"I've been trying to wake you up for ten minutes!"

I licked my lips. "What do you need me for?"

"Did you forget about how our sisters were just born!?"

I nodded blearily. Then I remembered three separate sets of memories of agonizing over the impending doom of loved ones. "Oh."

"Yeah. Uncle Hiashi told me to wake you up." It looked like he didn't notice the trauma. To be fair, I was pretty drowsy. He offered me his hand and pulled me up. I swayed on my feet a bit. "Are you okay?"

"I... haven't slept in... I dunno, probably a week?"

Neji sighed. "You're sleeping when we get back home."

"'Kay..." Neji dragged me by the hand to the right room. It looked like Mom and aunt Hikaru were in the same room. How coincidental. Neji led me to my mom. Or at least, I think she was my mom. Normally I was a bit better about that, but I was so tired that I was having issues sensing the difference between my mom's and aunt's chakra signatures. Really, having an aunt and uncle who are both almost identical to my parents is really annoying sometimes.

"Kouki," she said, smiling. I grinned back at her and looked at the bundle of cloth in her arms. "Do you want to hold your sister?" She handed her to me. I looked at the baby in the bundle as a sense of calm washed over me. To be honest she didn't look like much, as is the case with all newborns, but she was my sister! "Her name is Hanabi." She gurgled at me, and I gave her a small grin as I placed her back in Mom's arms.

"Do you want to see your cousin?" aunt Hikaru asked me. I calmly walked over to her and accepted the proffered child. She looked exactly like Hanabi, though to be fair that wasn't saying much at the moment. "Her name is Hanako." I snorted. That was probably planned. Hanako grabbed my finger, and something hit me. Hanako was an original character. Her parents were dead in canon, and the only reason they weren't in our... timeline(?) was that I showed up one day and sliced a guy's leg off. And just now, my aunt's life was almost traded for hers, had I not... taken it upon myself to stop her death while shying away from the simple option of telling my family about the impending doom. I really need to work on my social skills...

My eyes blurred, and I sniffed. I'd almost lost my mom. Again. I'd almost lost my aunt. Why couldn't I say anything? I quickly handed Hanako back to aunt Hikaru as the tears started streaming down my face. "Kouki?" she asked. I sobbed and bit my lip.

"Kouki, are you okay?" my dad asked me. I shook my head. "Do you want to talk about it?" I shook my head.

After a few moments of sitting down and breathing deeply, I managed to calm down enough to talk. "I'm fine now..." I muttered. "Need to sleep though. Got a headache."

"Fine, but we will talk about this later." I nodded.

kukukuku~

I'm sure you guys would prefer not to hear about how I told my dad talked to me about that whole debacle. Suffice to say, though, there was some crying and on my part and a few stern and then reassuring words on his.

On a completely unrelated note, Hanabi and Hanako were born like a few days before the first day of our second year of school. Yaaaaaaaay.

"I don't wanna go to school!" Naruto griped. He and Tenten met up with Hinata, Neji, and I while we were walking to school.

"Too bad!" Tenten, who was carrying him like a sack of potatoes, shouted.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad, Naruto-kun," Hinata offered. "If you want, you can... sit next to me?" Naruto was still squirming around in Tenten's grasp and it didn't look like he noticed her.

I heard a laugh. "Is Naruto being difficult?" Ino asked. She and Sakura walked up to us. "Isn't he heavy, Tenten?"

Tenten blushed. "I'm-" she shouted, then sighed. "I can hold him."

Ino shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm pretty someone else here can carry him if you need a break, though. Not me, but..."

"I-Ino..." Sakura muttered.

"I was thinking more like Neji or Kouki, Sakura-chan," Ino assured her.

"I can carry him!" Tenten shouted.

We chatted all the way to school.

kukukuku~

Chikage

I decided to shadow Hinata's class for the first few days, I guess mostly out of boredom and curiosity than anything else. Naruto was a lot of fun to watch simply from being an idiot, plus this timeline Iruka got to yell at Naruto because his mom was a teacher. It didn't help, but it was funny.

The only really interesting event was, once again, the sparring matches. To be honest, I was a little excited to see how this would go. In canon, Sasuke wrecked Naruto. But now, Naruto was the son of not only a ninja schoolteacher but also a special jōnin, both of whom taught him some of what they knew. And then I made him train a bit. So odds were Naruto would at least give Sasuke a run for his money. "Start!" Iruka commanded. Naruto charged at Sasuke almost immediately, but instead of getting immediately knocked over he caught Sasuke with a feint. Then he punched him in the face. Naruto did eventually lose, but Sasuke looked genuinely worried about Naruto's ability to fight at points. After the match, Sasuke begrudgingly acknowledged the fact that Naruto was a bit of a tough opponent instead of just being a little jerk.

Next up on the list of noteworthy fights, Hinata versus some kid. Some kid got beat up rather easily, which made me proud. Next, Sakura versus Kiba. I shifted my position a bit to get a better view, a smirk on my nonexistent face.

Kiba grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Sorry, Sakura, but it looks like you're doomed." Sakura whimpered, but clenched her fists. Kiba shrugged. "It's not your fault, of course. It's not like a girl like you could beat up me. Tell you what, I'll give you the first shot." He just stood there with a stupid grin on his face.

Sakura hesitated for a moment and took a deep breath. Then, with a determined look on her face, she cocked back her fist, shouted "Shannarō!" and punched him in the gut with about one fourth of her full strength. Kiba was sent flying.

"I... guess... Sakura wins?" Iruka said after a few moments of stunned silence. Sakura blushed as she bashfully returned to where she was sitting and Iruka made sure Kiba was alright. Everyone crowded Sakura, asking her how she did that and calling her awesome. It looked like she was starting to enjoy the attention, at least from the smile she had. I hoped it wouldn't go to her head, though...

kukukuku~

I reclined on the sofa in my secret base's living room and opened up my compact. I could't see how our timeline would go down as far as the Uchiha Massacre yet, but from what I could see that still hadn't stopped being a thing. Foundation plants riling up the Uchiha police force, spreading gossip among the civilian population, and even outright killing people on both sides and framing the others for it pretty much assured that. Even though Chikage was able to pick them off from and into the shadows when nobody was looking with her new Claimed by the Shadows Jutsu (which allowed her to seal objects and even people in her shadow body), they just seemed to keep coming! And of course, while we were able to at least legally detain the insurgents, we couldn't interrogate them, even after I broke their seals. The brainwashing was strong with those guys, and even Yamanaka Inoichi couldn't break their psychic defenses. I guess they were the most prepared for that, having access to Yamanaka of their own...

The portal to the living room opened, and a moment later the Hokage stepped in. "Hokage," I said, then stylishly shut my compact. "Should I offer you something to drink?"

He grunted. "Kouki. What do you have?" I rolled off the couch and flew over to the minifridge.

"Right, let's see..." I opened the fridge and rifled through its contents. "I've got water, milk, chocolate milk, soda, juice, aaaand that's about it on the drinks. I could boil you some water but I don't have tea leaves or anything. Just hot chocolate."

"Is that all you have?"

"Okay in my defense, I don't like tea. And if you mean all I have period, because I recognize that judgy tone of voice, the big fridge over there contains actual food." I pointed to it. "And yes, at the request of my parents that includes veggies. So what do you want?"

"I'll take a water, then." I grabbed a bottle of water for him and a bottle of chocolate milk for me, then went back to my couch. Sarutobi had taken a chair on the opposite side of the table from my couch. I tossed him the water, sat down, and took a sip of my milk.

"So..."

"It's not your fault, you know."

I shrugged. "It'd have happened without me, and I did manage to take out some Foundation stooges. Speaking of which..." I tossed three sleeved cards at him. The good thing about shuriken training was that I could also throw cards at people. "Today's catch."

He examined the three cards, though he made sure not to take them out of the opaque sleeves. "They're getting more active." The cards, by the way, had special seals in them that let me dump things Chikage caught, then remove the Chikage part of the shadows without destabilizing the jutsu. The sleeves kept them in shadow, which was needed to have the jutsu stay once Chikage left.

"I suspect at least some of them are trying to investigate the disappearances." I chuckled. "Danzō's whole 'no individuality' thing is actually biting him in that regard. Most of the Foundation that I've spirited away are nobodies, right?" He nodded. "So he can't use them against us without revealing his entire organization and incriminating himself. And the others have already gone 'missing,' thanks to him. That's the problem with having an organization in the shadows. You're likely to get eaten by a grue."

"Right, well... Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been trying to stop this for over a year now, and from the way things are going it looks like the massacre will still happen."

I shrugged. "This might sound bad, but... well, I've gotten over it? It's looking more and more like we can't prevent the Uchiha massacre no matter what. I mean, I haven't quite given up yet, but if we can't save Shisui then I'll hopefully be fine with just making the massacre not as bad as it could be."

"I see. I suppose your maturity is natural considering your ability to see the future."

I licked my lips. "And the fact that I have, like, seventy-two hour days."

"That too."

I got up and clapped my hands. "Right, unless you have anything else you need me for, I have to go work on homework."

"Congratulations again on getting a younger sister."

"Thanks."

[forbessierra95]

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[gerec]

XMA/Logan AU

The Muse wanted to write this one shot for the lovely @awfullythick, whose frankly AMAZING idea has been sloshing around in my head for ages haha. It’s an AU where Erik’s family lived and Laura’s there too with Logan, all in a vaguely XMA-ish timeline. It’s not exactly the same as the great stuff in the post, and this takes place after the amazingly dysfunctional roadtrip mentioned lol, but yeah, I hope you like it :D

Obviously the pairings here are Erik/Magda and Charles/Logan, though the Cherik is pretty strong too ngl…

Magda wasn’t sure what surprised her more; that the ‘house’ where Charles Xavier lived turned out to be a castle, straight out of one of Nina’s fairy-tales —

– or exactly how strange – and strained – the various reunions would be, as the five of them pulled up to the circular driveway and found their host already waiting outside his own front door.

“Here we are,” Logan said, as he pulled the station wagon to a stop, and waved at Mr. Xavier and another man – Hank McCoy, Magda guessed, based on his earlier description of the School’s inhabitants – “home sweet home.”

Nina by now was practically bouncing in the backseat, and she grabbed Laura’s hand excitedly as she pressed her nose against the car window. “Are we finally here? Can we get out of the car, Mama? I need to use the washroom!”

She laughed, and turned around just in time to see Erik catch their daughter gently by the shoulder. “Nina, remember that we’re guests here and we need to mind our manners. Let’s say hello to Mr. Xavier first, and then we can all go inside.”

Logan snorted as he took the keys out of ignition and flung open his door. “Come on then, everybody out. Don’t want to keep ol’ Chuck waiting. He’s so excited, he’s giving me a headache.”

It was barely noticeable, just a slight stiffening of Erik’s shoulders, but Magda had seen it every time Logan referred to Xavier by his nickname over the past couple of days. He’d been quieter too, and more solemn the closer they drew to Westchester; for all his assurances to the contrary, she knew that Erik doubted the welcome they’d receive from his estranged friend. But they’d also agreed all those weeks ago that Nina needed training, and Erik had insisted that Charles wouldn’t turn her and Magda away, no matter how he felt about Erik himself.

The girls scrambled out of the car after Logan, and Magda reached into the backseat to give Erik’s hand a quick squeeze. “It’ll be fine. You told me yourself – he’s a good man. A forgiving, kind man. It was a long time ago, Erik. There’s no reason to expect the worst before it even happens.”

He sighed, but pulled her closer to press a kiss to her forehead. “I expect the worst, because that’s what always happens.”

She shook her head but said no more, and he followed her out of the car without another word. They caught up to the others just in time to hear Nina introduce herself to Charles and Hank, along with her newly acquired best friend.

��—and we met them when our car broke down in Texas, and they offered us a ride when Mama told them where we were going! And Laura doesn’t talk, but she’s really nice…oh and she bought you a present! It’s really great; I helped pick it out!”

Magda watched as Charles’ smile widened even more, and his eyes softened as Laura stepped closer to his wheelchair and slipped something into his hands. It was a keychain of a little horse that the girls had seen at one of their gas station stops, and Laura had instantly been fascinated, pocketing it without a second thought.

Nina, bless her, had explained gently that they had to pay for it first, because stealing was bad, and that she was sure Papa would buy it if they asked him nicely.

And of course Erik had listened carefully and then smiled wryly at the girls, and paid the cashier for the keychain along with a pretty postcard of an eagle for Nina.

“Thank you, this is wonderful,” Charles said, and he extended his hand carefully to Laura, who surprisingly, didn’t hesitate to link his fingers with her own. “I am so happy to finally meet you in person. We have so much to discuss, and there’s so much I want to show you. Both of you,” he added, as he smiled kindly at Nina too, who seemed enraptured by his undeniably charismatic presence. “We’ll give you a tour once you’ve settled in your rooms, and I’ve had a chance to catch up with your parents.”

He looked up then, and met Magda’s eyes, and oh they were incredibly arresting – a shade of blue that made her think of the mid-summer sky. She could understand Erik’s attraction immediately, as they shared a quick smile, and then when he turned to acknowledge her husband…

….the tension in the air was palpable, as they stared wordlessly at one another for long moments, and Magda would have turned around and packed them all back into the car if she didn’t know her Erik, and trust in their love with all her heart. She knew there were words to be had and amends to be made, but now was not the time for it, on the doorstep and in front of the children, and hoped that she wouldn’t need to step in and interrupt the quietly loaded exchange.

Luckily, it was Logan who stepped in, reaching to grip Charles’ shoulder gently and drawing his gaze. Erik too, turned abruptly then to unload their bags from the trunk, while Logan shared quiet words with both Charles and Hank, the latter unable to entirely hide his discomfort with their presence. She saw Charles take Logan’s hand then, squeezing it lightly as they talked, and realized with a flash of clarity the likely nature of their relationship. And Erik’s seeming distrust of Logan – a fellow mutant, and someone he professed to have known and partnered with for a short time – suddenly made so much more sense.

“Mrs. Lehnsherr—“

“Magda, please,” she interrupted, and was rewarded once again by that dazzling smile. “I insist.”

“Magda, then, if you’ll call me Charles,” he agreed, and then winked at a fidgeting Nina, who she knew was practically bursting to see all the animals on the mansion’s grounds. “Please, follow me. And welcome, all of you, to Xavier’s School for the Gifted.”