#I was waffling on the big reveal at the end

[psalacanthea]

Dissonance and Debauchery: The Drama of an Ill-Fated Bard- Chapter 20

New chapter in the Astarion x Tav fic! In which Zynatheri has a bad case of the morbs, and Astarion happily plays the devil on her shoulder. Sometimes you don't need to be cheered up. Sometimes you just need to be sad as indulgently as possible.

...

Zyn took one last look at the night sky,  eyes scanning the glittering lights that rippled across the canvas of darkness.  A beautiful vista.  So vast and mysterious, full of worlds and wonders never beheld by the ignorant creatures of Toril.  Somewhere, out among those pinprick lights that chased the moon across the teeming sky, where spelljammers and astral ships moored, githyanki were fucking.

Just up there in the sky somewhere, going at it, all snarling and writhing, insulting each other.  They wouldn’t just have sex, though, it would be a fight for dominance.  Claws and teeth and maybe some insults. Dick-biting. If you–

Wyll’s abrupt, coughing laugh interrupted her mental tangent, Zyn’s head whipping around as he bent forward.  Utterly lost, she stared at him, surprised by the vehemence of his laughter. She usually knew when she’d made a joke.  

Zyn was actually very good at them, but, “what did I say?”

“I’ve…never felt your mind before,” Wyll admitted, straightening up with a broad grin still on his face.  “That was beautiful…until the last bit there, obviously.  Truly, to be in the mind of a bard is a lyrical experience.”

Oh gods.

Feeling violated, but tamping it down because she didn’t know why she’d done that, Zyn stared at Wyll in fear.  This was her fault, and she’d done it.  She tried to push back the dismay quickly, glancing away, but she knew he’d seen it.

“I'm not upset with you, I just don't like that.”

“Haven’t you figured out how to do it on purpose by now?  I apologize.  If I’d known it was accidental I wouldn’t have said anything.”

Shit.  She’d just been ignoring it, erasing it from the narrative because it made her so profoundly uncomfortable, but she couldn’t any more.  They were in each other’s heads.

The sheer violation of it made her skin crawl.

Zyn needed to know how bad it was.  “You all mentioned it…happening before, like it was normal.  But eventually you stopped talking about it, and…well, it’s only happened to me once, with Lae’zel, and it scared the shit out of me.  You really do it all the time?”

“On purpose?  Some of us more than others.  It can be useful,”  Wyll said, red eye peering down at her as he tilted his head.  “I’d  assumed you had stronger walls ‘round your mind than the rest of us.”

“I do.  I don’t like things in my head,” she said, grimacing.  “When you play tricks on other people you don’t want them to be played on you!” And she knew people who scried, of course.  And read minds.  Gods, if only she could afford an anti-scrying amulet– well, maybe this unwanted venture would yield some benefits.

If she didn’t die.

“Well, I hope that I didn’t make you uncomfortable, and it was nice to see you open up a little.”

Zyn stared at him in frank disbelief.

Wyll's eyes crinkled as he turned to face her, leaning down a little.  “What?”

“How are you this good in so many ways?  Aren’t you exhausted?  I would be!  I accidentally think…and sorry by the way, for that mental image of Lae’zel and that Voss person having sex.”

Wyll folded his arms.  “Why was that your choice, I wonder?”

“I don’t know a lot of githyanki?” she replied, shrugging at his understanding nod.  “But seriously, what is wrong with you?  Genuinely.  It has to be something really bad.  Like eating babies.”

“Are you lobbing accusations at Gale’s cooking?"

[sunderingstars]

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✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ CHARACTER LINES ⌝

sampo analysis m.list

— what the stars reveal: interpretative analysis, somewhat a character study, elation!sampo

— word count: 4.6k (oh my god i am insane. he makes me insane)

— overview: (as of 2.4) an analysis of sampo’s character dialogue outside of quests!

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✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ INTRO ⌝

I’m putting this here because I wasn’t sure where else to put it, I just wanted to point out that his character intro describes him as someone who “travels freely” between two places (in this case, the Overworld and Underworld, but could also apply to multiple states of being) as well as saying he “acts” like he is everyone’s friend (performance) and is “enthusiastically humorous” (very similar to “infectious enthusiasm”). Being good at bantering also seems very Elation-aligned. That’s all!

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ FIRST MEETING ⌝

Each character’s “first meeting” line is arguably one of their most important lines. Not only does it give you a baseline introduction to them and their personality, but it shows you how they present themselves to others (i.e. the aspects of themselves they choose to consciously, or unconsciously, emphasize when meeting someone). For Sampo, this includes all of the “perks” that come with knowing him. Business, chaperoning, conversation — these are all part of a “deal” to him, a transaction of knowing and being known.

I haven’t talked about this much in my previous analyses, but Sampo has a very specific mindset of viewing friendship as a commodity. This could easily be chalked up to his idea of business and transaction rubbing off on other parts of his life, but given the strange emphasis he places on “being friends” throughout his dialogue, I’m suspicious it might be more than that. It seems he either isn’t willing to or isn’t capable of seeing genuine human connection as any more than another deal, another façade to do business with. It may be his way of keeping people at arm’s length, or perhaps the Elation won’t let him view people as anything more than another joke, another transaction of language and Laughter to make at another’s expense. Whatever the case, he seems dead-set on including “friendship” in his package deal when doing business.

I also find it interesting how he isn’t wrong. For someone who has a penchant for distorting the truth on a whim, Sampo is, in fact, a “chaperone” and “problem-solving conversationalist.” (“Businessman” is a given, we all know how well that’s going for him given that he literally has an idle where he counts his big stacks of money.) Despite not really having to, Sampo goes out of his way on Penacony to take the Trailblazer around and show us the dream bubble — even if it’s not a “traditional” chaperone role, it’s clear he was trying to look out for us in his own way (same thing on Belobog with the smoke bombs). Additionally, he’s very adept at solving problems by sheer virtue of talking, as shown by being the archetype that’s able to talk himself out of a myriad of situations. So at the end of the day, I guess I’d have to agree with him: it is a pretty sweet deal.

However, arguably the most intriguing thing about this line is the meta aspect of it — the big picture of his selling point being multiple things “rolled into one.” I don’t want to read too much into it, but I can’t help but wonder if this “three-in-one” phrase refers to more than just his skills. After all, if a running theme of his character is being a businessman and a chaperone and a problem-solving conversationalist, who’s to say it doesn’t apply to him being a Masked Fool and an Emanator and an Aeon (or a part of one, or a creation of one, or an avatar of one — honestly, at this point I feel like we can mix and match). At the very least, it would match up with the rule of three. Food for thought!

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ GREETING & PARTING ⌝

The greeting here seems pretty standard — going into it assuming he’ll get paid, then waffling and thinking about backing out when he realizes he won’t. What’s notable here, however, is that he covers it up by stumbling out a “Not a problem!” and continuing on with us. I feel like this partially shows how much he values friendship (despite clearly still wanting a payout) while also not quite having enough spine to straight up say “no” to us. The only thing I’m not sure about is if the Trailblazer is special in this regard, or if Sampo would keep going with anyone else.

The parting is a bit more notable, especially the idea of “I’m not going anywhere.” It seems half-comforting, half-threat, like he’ll always be a constant in our lives, for better or for worse. In a way, he may be like a never-ending joke we just can’t get rid of no matter how hard we try. (Don’t worry Sampo, I would never think of getting rid of you 😌.)

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT SELF ⌝

This line, despite at first seeming like a joke, feels more personal the longer it goes on. The first “I’m an easygoing fella” seems like exactly the kind of thing a shady businessman would say when trying to drum up clients: “I’m personable,” “I look out for people,” “I’m a community man,” etc. However, by the time the line ends, it very much sounds like he’s referring to something specific. The idea of getting “pulled into everyone else’s business with nothing to show for it” sounds like a passive aggressive dig at something or someone we don’t have the specifics for. Especially with the “tsk” at the end and the repetition of “easygoing,” it almost seems like he’s trying to vent his frustration about being constantly pulled into things he doesn’t want to be a part of.

Now that we know he’s an “old timer” within the Masked Fools, this line of thinking makes sense — he’s left behind his mask, meaning he may have gotten tired and fed up with getting roped into the Fools’ shenanigans. With how exasperated he sounds in much of his Penacony dialogue, I’m not surprised he said something like this.

Going a step further, this could even apply to an Emanator being burnt out at having to deal with the Elation, or even Aha Themself feeling the constraints of a compulsory existence. I feel like Emanator or Silhouette theories would work better for this particular line, although it’s possible that Aha could achieve this level of genuine exasperation through split/dual/separate consciousness.

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ CHAT: INTEL ⌝

Once again, Sampo shows how smart he is. He may be shady, yes, but he does know how to “maximize profit.” After hearing of Boothill’s run in with an Elation Emanator in 2.2, I can’t help but wonder if it was Sampo playing into this idea of selling information to multiple people — I definitely don’t think Boothill learning of the Emanator’s status was a coincidence, even if he says it was because he got it drunk. To me, this definitely reads as Sampo parceling out information in the right doses to the right people, “packaging” it in such a way that that person is none the wiser.

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ HOBBIES, ANNOYANCES, & SOMETHING TO SHARE ⌝

Despite only being one line, “hobbies” sticks out to me as a potential revelation. First, there’s no mention of the passion or creativity often associated with hobbies, it’s just him stating what he believes — there’s no indication he actually enjoys it deep down (compulsory existence mayhaps). Secondly, “small talk brings big clients” shows how he focuses on the details and minutiae of the larger picture; he may not be one for flashy entrances like Sparkle (hell, his big entrance in Belobog was when he was literally surrounded by smoke) but he does know how to manipulate the odds to be in his favor. I also find “big clients” interesting. While it could just be a reference to his dealings on Belobog, I can’t help but wonder just how far this might extend. What kind of “big clients” has he brought in? Is he neglecting to mention that he’s a “big client” himself? Is he used to shmoozing in the big leagues? Only time will tell.

In comparison, the annoyance line is fairly standard. It’s a link to his shady side, the idea that he’s just a poor businessman, *sniffle,* and how could someone be so mean to such a nice fella? He’s operating in technicalities here, full well knowing why he’s considered a con-man but intentionally being obtuse about it. It is very endearing to me.

“Something to share” almost seems Robin-Hood-esque. At first, I thought he was talking about more “business” stuff, the idea of “sharing is caring, so you should share your money with me,” but the more I re-read the more I realized he’s probably getting at the wealth inequality in Belobog. He’s technically affiliated with the Underworld, after all, and his closest friends seem to be there too. Behind the fixation on profit and only doing things if it benefits him materially, there seems to also be a genuine want to share himself, to “make up the shortfall.” Even if the “sharing” isn’t coming from his own possessions, he still wants to get the Underworld the supplies and means to live comfortably, which is a surprisingly sweet sentiment. He has a heart in there, I swear.

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ KNOWLEDGE ⌝

I feel like this line speaks for itself — the man is omniscient and he is toying with us. He knows way more than he’s letting on, even referencing the Astral Express as a “train” for shits and giggles. Your Elation is showing, king.

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT SVAROG & CLARA ⌝

I don’t know what’s funnier: the implication that Sampo has tried to strike a deal with Svarog before, or the implication that he, Sampo “I can talk my way into and out of anything” Koski, failed. He was probably aware his conversationalism wouldn’t work on a machine like Svarog, but damn if he didn’t want to try anyways. I would pay good money to see that go down. Too bad Sampo exists in another universe and can’t haggle it out of me.

Alternatively, his line about Clara is pretty sweet. Referring to her as “our little girl” shows how he views himself as part of the Underworld — even if he came from beyond the sky, even if he integrated himself into Belobog for a larger purpose, he still cares. He sees himself as one of them. Behind the gaud and the glamor, we can begin to see that silhouette, that want for connection in the periphery, staying in the shadows because it’s afraid to step into the light. Yet, despite him even realizing it, he’s begun to integrate himself. Begun to see himself as more than just a means to an end, an instigator or a jokester or a clown. He has, in a sense, become part of the collective — a healthy collective, one big found family, and Clara is just one part of it. Beyond his knowing, he’s gone from “I” and “them” to “us.” To “we.” To “our.” (And he is also still eternally confused over how the hell to communicate with Svarog.)

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT NATASHA ⌝

I like how naturally he describes the progression of their relationship here. While it may not be entirely truthful or accurate (who knows with Sampo), it at least seems like he views his and Natasha’s friendship as an easy progression from one stage to the next. Despite it being transactional, it doesn’t really feel like a transaction, just an evolution of something whose seeds were already planted. It’s also notable that he started with medicine — not intel, not materialistic wealth like relics or Shield, but medicine. His first establishing relationship with Natasha was literally bringing her life-saving medicine. It really reminds me of how he saved the Trailblazer’s life in The Moles’ hide-and-seek daily mission; it’s the things he does in the shadows that really count, really show that he does, in fact, care. Despite what he tells you, he still wants to help. “You know how these things work” is also so funny because it’s like… no, no the Trailbalzer does not know how these things work. (Also, “arrived” in the Underworld? Interesting word choice, bestie.)

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT SEELE ⌝

I just think it’s really funny to imagine Sampo, either an Emanator or an Aeon or both, being constantly told off by some resistance fighter on a random snow planet. Like, Seele is really out here doing what 99% of beings can’t. (With Doll Theory, however, this is a bit… heartbreaking, especially “Can someone explain what I did to deserve her?” potentially hiding the deeper, more agonizing question of “Can someone explain what I did to deserve this?”. But I am choosing not to think about that right now for my own sanity.)

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT BRONYA ⌝

He really has no self-preservation when it comes to scoring big, does he? Despite how carefully methodical his endgame plans seem to be, his omniscience doesn’t stop him from throwing himself out there when he feels there’s something to be gained. It’s okay, Sampo, she’s nice. You don’t need to risk getting beat up just to talk to her, I’m sure you can arrange a meeting. (Also, I feel like this mirrors his “painful introduction” to the Trailbalzer at the beginning of the Belobog storyline — sure, Sampo had to put up with Dan Heng’s prodding and Gepard’s arrival, but he made the biggest score of all: getting to meet us. So, maybe it’s not just “throwing himself out there.” Maybe it’s all one big calculation on his part.)

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT THE LANDAUS ⌝

Gepard potentially triggering Sampo’s Elation instincts is hilarious to me. I’ll expand on it in a dedicated Sampard post, but it’s so in line with the Elation for Sampo, most likely a god in his own right, to find such catharsis in, what? Being chased around in the snow by a hot blonde guard? In terms of the wider universe, Gepard is literally just some guy. And yet here Sampo is, doing a little heehee haha and having the time of his life. It’s the little things, you know?

(On a more serious note, if we’re dealing with a Sampo who’s constantly felt like he has no control over his “enjoyment” of Elation — even a Silhouette or Doll Theory Sampo who is actively being harmed by “the joke” — then him gradually warming up to Gepard is surprisingly wholesome. Here he is, someone who has always found himself subject to Elation rather than naturally falling into it, finding a way to reclaim that enjoyment and find a genuine place for it within himself. Some sort of reconciliation, perhaps, a bit of happiness that’s his own and no one else’s, some part of a situation that he can control. The elation he feels here is not Elation, but rather a genuine feeling of connection, one not brought on suddenly by the punchline of a joke, but one that has gradually grown over time, matured, blossomed into something warm and real and comforting. Gepard has no idea, but he’s slowly mellowing out the “compulsory” of compulsory existence until it becomes nothing but a fading whisper. Anyways can you tell I love Sampard?)

I’m also interested in how Serval and Sampo used to be “good pals.” While Sampo’s idea of a “good pal” could be wildly off-base from what Serval experienced — with the likelihood that Sampo’s “we were besties” was Serval’s “he was an annoying guy who kept asking me for deals” — it makes sense to me that they might’ve gotten along at some point. Serval is a fairly casual and accepting person, so I could see her and Sampo being friends (although I don’t think she would have fallen for many of his scams). However, I definitely don’t think she’d agree with Sampo’s shady business dealings, so finding out from Gepard just how much of a criminal he is would definitely sour things. She would believe in giving the Underworlders the resources they need, for sure, but definitely not Sampo pocketing money for himself or scamming random people who’ve done nothing wrong. “Gepard’s bad word” probably wasn’t even that malicious, just a statement of fact.

(I, however, like to think that Gepard opened up about his crush on Sampo to Serval and her protective older sister genes kicked in. What Sampo is really registering is the change from “oh, you’re a chill guy” to “if you hurt my baby brother so help me god I will end your entire existence.” It is canon in my heart.)

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT LUKA ⌝

This one is another tie-in to Sampo’s fixation on business and profit. I do wonder why and how Sampo missed out on making money here, though. Perhaps the timing was off, or he had bigger things to deal with, or Luka just didn’t want to work with him for whatever reason. Either way, it’s kinda funny that he knows Luka as “that kid I could’ve made money off of but didn’t”. I can just see him hanging his head dejectedly in my mind. It’s okay, Sampo, you’ll get ‘em next time.

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ABOUT SPARKLE ⌝

Sparkle is a unique case, being the only other playable Masked Fool and having a direct connection with Sampo through the organization. He seems to have a pretty good read on her, which would make sense if his status as an “old timer” includes having a lot of experience dealing with specific members of the Fools. He’s basically reading her like a book, saying: She’s all over the place, and you never have anything truly figured out. There’s also the meta commentary of “outwit herself,” referencing the events of Black Swan’s companion quest and an Inception-like folding in of all her personas. It also seems like it might be a bit of a projection: “Think you’ve got her all figured out, don’t you?” I didn’t say anything Sampo, but if this “you” is in the room with us right now, it’s okay, you can just say it. Perhaps he tried to understand her at some point in the past and it fucked him over. (Just speculation!)

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ ASCENSION & ACTIVATION ⌝

Whoo boy, this eidolon activation. It’s definitely suspicious, to say the least. There’s a reason I chose it as my quote for my Elation!Sampo masterlist, and that’s because it encapsulates so much about his potential identity. There’s the fact he’s not being direct about it, phrasing it as a question where he speaks in second person, trailing off at the end; even now, he seems unwilling or unable to face the truth with his full chest. There’s also the phrase “colorful past,” which just makes me ask: How much of a colorful past are we talking? This could range anywhere from Masked Fools shenanigans to “oh yeah, I used to be an Aeon.” The fact he’s so indirect about it makes me more suspicious — it’s an extremely leading question, very smug and taunting, which makes my mind just go up and up and up the power scale list, much like “old timer” caused me to do the same. There’s just a quality to this line that basically screams, “There is something large and powerful and dormant inside of him! Be careful!”.

The ascension once again links back to money, and his trace activation is about the transactional “business” of friendship. The last notable thing here is his “max level reached,” where he expresses disappointment over… hitting max level? “That’s it? *sigh* I was just getting started,” is not the kind of thing even a regular Masked Fool would say. Again, we’re given a hint of almost incomprehensible power, the idea that the limit of the game, of the universe, isn’t enough for him. In a strikingly eldritch way, our “max” is simply a small drop in his bucket, an ant he barely even notices. He really isn’t beating the Elation allegations, is he?

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ TEAMS ⌝

Since there’s five different ones here, I’ll go through them fairly quickly:

Natasha — Reminds me of Natasha’s own voiceline where she says Sampo doesn’t like owing people things. It shows that he really does try to pay favors back as soon as possible, keeping them present in his mind so they don’t go unresolved for too long.

Hook — It’s interesting how he reacts to her in a similar way he does the Masked Fools: exasperation, but still a little fond. There’s some care, some nostalgia mixed in there, but at the end of the day he still knows that something is getting blown to smithereens.

Seele — On his best behavior. He really doesn’t want her to get angry at him, does he? 

Trailblazer — Interesting how he laughs at the beginning here. Interesting how he says, “Ha!” Interesting how this is only with the Trailblazer. Hm. That is all.

Sparkle — “Same rule as always” establishes a long-form relationship; it’s likely they’ve known each other for a long time, or at least long enough to have established “rules” for each time they fight or work together. The fact that the rule is “no backstabbing” is also fitting, seeing as Sparkle (and by proxy, the Masked Fools) are definitely the type to backstab at any given moment. The real question is: Is this rule simply a surface-level attempt by Sampo to stop from getting messed with, or does Sparkle actually listen to him?

It also sets up Sampo as at least pretending to be on the same power level as Sparkle — he’s in a position where he feels the need to be wary and on-guard around her despite occupying a potentially higher status.

✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ COMBAT & MISC. ⌝

Reading through these, I just felt like I was getting smacked over the head with theories. It’s like he was repeatedly hitting me on the back of the head with a baseball bat or something. Having each line side by side really makes certain patterns become apparent. Since there’s so many, I’ll go through them fairly quickly (feel free to ask me to expand on any of these if you want!):

Battle Begins: Weakness Break: “Fun” links to Elation. “Just” is downplaying the severity of a Weakness Break, reducing pain/danger to yet another joke. A somewhat callous view of life, similar to the Worm Fiasco.

Battle Begins: Danger Alert: Endless pursuit of entertainment and Elation — “the stronger the better.” Like Aha, it’s less about winning or losing, but rather the challenge and thrill of the fight itself.

Turn Begins: Line 1 — The idea of “friends” again, showing physical protection and aid to be part of the “transaction”; however “takes care of” seems less transactional and more genuine. Line 2 — More transactional with the idea of “business”; perhaps refers to violence as “doing business” with enemies, or helping the trailblazer as “doing business.”

Turn Idling: “Bring out” and “big guns” links to hidden or increased power, something that needs to be revealed. Since this is his turn idle, it gives the implication that he is “waiting” to bring out this power until the right time (though he is impatient about it).

Skill: Argument One — Silly goofy behavior. Argument Two (Delusional) — “Size” alludes to the physical changing of size between mortal and Emanator/Aeonic form.

Hit by Light Attack: Seems somewhat performative.

Hit by Heavy Attack: Seems to be overly protective of his “face” — or rather, the potential physical facade he puts up to hide his true identity from others. Doll Sampo may be overly concerned with “breaking,” while other theories may be worried about something being “revealed” if too much of his physical form is chipped away. (In a way, the avatar of “Sampo Koski” may be a mask in and of itself, able to be broken.)

Ultimate: Activate: Again with the idea of “waiting,” man is impatient.

Ultimate: Unleash: If we’re going with an Elation!Sampo theory, it seems like he may almost be alluding to Aha as “king” here, which would center themes of betrayal and switching sides. It doesn’t seem personal in this case, but rather a power/money/profit-oriented standpoint.

Downed: *Puts on tinfoil hat* Sampo could actually be referencing a “loophole payment” here; as shown in the Curio Hacker Occurrence, one of the curios given to us by the blue-haired man is “Organic Heart,” a curio that removes the golden (powerful) dice face for four turns, destroys itself, then grants two cheat attempts — if we take this as an allegory for Sampo’s existence, then he may be paying a “price” as an Emanator or Aeon to escape an unfortunate fate later on (or accomplish something impossible). In this way, “This price was too steep…” may refer to Sampo being trapped in mortal form (a more vulnerable state) and realizing the “price” he paid upfront for those cheat attempts isn’t worth it if he never gets to see the fruits of his labor.

Return to Battle: This may also link to the Curio Hacker dice faces, as a combat “turn” could also stand-in for a dice “roll” — he has been brought back to fight, and so he will continue to participate in the cycle until his cheat attempts are granted. (Also, it links to the cyclical nature of the snakes, going from one turn to the next, never able to truly die.)

Health Recovery: Another mention of transactions, debt, and “owing” — according to Natasha’s voice line about him, this is not a phrase he says lightly.

Technique: Laughter, plan and simple. The Laugher, even, if we’re feeling frisky.

Battle Won: Probably one of the biggest clues in his voicelines. “How’re you gonna win if you don’t take any risks?” directly implies a “risk” at the core of his being, some dangerous change he is making to make sure he gets what he wants. May somewhat detract from Aha theories in that Aha doesn’t seem to care about “winning,” however who knows if that mindset has changed or if Sampo simply thinks that because he is currently in mortal form. Either way, it once again links to him paying a “cost” for those later cheat attempts.

Treasure Opening 1: Good old cash reference.

Treasure Opening 2: Kinda sweet that he lets us keep it, even though it’s only because he doesn’t have any use for it.

Precious Treasure Opening: … And of course he immediately shoves us aside when it’s something he’s actually interested in.

Successful Puzzle-Solving: 1: Pretty generic.

Successful Puzzle-Solving 2: Reference to his businessman persona and how he’s made a career out of “solving others’ problems.” It may be that he’s trying to solve a problem for either himself or Aha as an outside entity (or perhaps even a different Aeon of Emanator, who knows).

Enemy Target Found: Sounds almost taunting; there’s no vocal recording in this post, but if you listen to his English voice acting it sounds goading, almost like he’s daring you to start the fight. “I dunno” is a bit more reserved, like he’s hesitating a bit, but I’m definitely on the side of “he can handle this, he’s just fucking with us.”

Returning to Town: Another third person reference! Obligatory business reference.

And whew, that’s all of it! Every single Sampo character screen voice line as of 2.4! My main takeaways are definitely the third-person references, as well as the fixation on business and profit. The lines linking to Curio Hacker especially stand out to me — “risks” and “prices” remind me a lot of Organic Heart. But I’ll save that for its own analysis! As for now, I hope this was a comprehensive-enough coverage of Sampo’s voicelines. In my opinion, this man definitely has some Elation-related shenanigans going on.

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.𖥔 ݁ ˖ જ⁀➴ thank you for reading to the end!

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© analysis by sunderingstars. do not copy, repost, translate, modify, or claim my work as your own.

[blankdotcom]

Lack of Mikes internal conflict (general audience pov) and why this is a sign of byler endgame

Before any byler enthusiasts attack me for the first 5 words of that title, I AM ONE OF YOU. This is about what is visible to the general audience and what’s currently canon, because if we’re going off of what I think, this post wouldn’t be written.

Writers always write everything with a meaning behind it and intentionally show certain things and keep other things hidden. One of these hidden things in Stranger Things is Mikes internal conflict.

Yeah, the fact he was a nerd and was bullied is an internal struggle but it isn’t specific enough to his own personal feelings, thoughts and experiences, because as we all know Will, Lucas and Dustin were all bullied as well for being nerds or not apart of the “norm”. The bullying isn’t an internal struggle but something that can influence it.

And before anyone says “It’s the fear of losing El”, that would be an external conflict because it doesn’t have to do with his feelings or doubts about himself.

So what else is there?…

Um…

Nothing. The writers never show anything that is personal enough to be given the title of “Internal Conflict”. (again i’m talking about anything visible and obvious to the general audience)

And they wouldn’t do this for nothing. This means they’ve been hiding it on purpose, to create a sense of suspense. And writers wouldn’t do this if it weren’t a very big reveal, something the general audience wouldn’t have expected.

This means the reveal of the internal conflict has a big impact on the general audience view on Mike, something that would make the general audience see all the actions Mike has made in another light but also bring all the puzzle pieces together on why he made does actions in the first place.

If this is true and lots of Mikes actions weren’t made for the reasons the general audience thought, a good chunk of this actions will be mileven moments, showing Mikes pov and making some of this moments make sense (because in these moments Mike doesn’t seem to have a reason).

And if i’m wrong about all this, I guess Mike Wheeler was really just an asshole all along🤷‍♀️

reading this back i did waffle a tiny bit at the end but please put some faith in me🙏😭

[lunerenzo]

more prison gf! Ymir hcs ♡

♱ Content. drugs, swearing, fluff , NSFW , not proofread, pls let me know if i missed anything :)

♱ Notes. I see yall love her just as much as me 😋. These are just hcs of her when shes out of jail.

♱ Word count. 848

Pt. 1

REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!

lower case intentional, Enjoy!

prison gf! ymir…who knows how to do your everyday make up and for some reason it always looks better even though she does the exact same steps as you. as well as the more extravagant ones, like the type of make up naezrah does, it always looks amazing cause she has such a steady hand. there is only one rule when she does your make it’s that you HAVE to be straddling her waist when she does it.

prison gf! ymir…who knows all your orders by heart (even your long ass starbucks order) and will order for you so that you don’t have to.

prison gf! ymir…who will side eye you and will order for you anyways if you say “oh im not hungry” while ordering take-out.

prison gf! ymir…who will smack tf out of your hand if you try taking her food with out asking first. somehow you still end up with half of it and she has a small scowl on her face but she still loves you.

prison gf! ymir… who REFUSES to let you smoke her product or get involved in her business no matter how many times you beg and plead.

prison gf! ymir…whos had a polaroid of you in her phone case.

prison gf! ymir…who makes fun of you for eating mint chocolate or cookie n’ cream (whichever you prefer) as if she dosen’t eat pistachio.

prison gf! ymir…who will knock your ice cream on the floor if you make fun of her for it. (don't worry she’ll buy you another.)

prison gf! ymir…who owns two cats with you and if your petting her cat ( you have a “child” and the other is hers) she will grab him and say “leave my son alone”.

prison gf! ymir… who knew you in hs and you were one of her dalma’s when she had her quince. You picked the dresses and if any one complains she would give them the nastiest stank eye.

prison gf! ymir…who was all giddy when she found out her contact name was “pretty girl🩷” with the contact photo of her in her quince dress.

prison gf! ymir…who has a pintrest board for you guys future wedding and has it privited so you don’t know.

prison gf! ymir…who follows you on pintrest and buys you stuff based off what you pin.

prison gf! ymir…who wears this cologne that makes you weak in the knees. before you guys moved in she would spray extra on so that your apartment still smelt like her after she left.

prison gf! ymir…who if she feels like it or is around when you get your nails done will get a matching set with you.

prison gf! ymir…who loves going to the beach with you.

prison gf! ymir…who will carry everything from the car with the maddest look on her face but you better not help cause she will tell you to “push off”. like damn my bad.

prison gf! ymir…who will be sitting there looking like a fucking guard dog if your tanning. let a volleyball accidentally lands near you. she ready to catch another felony.

prison gf! ymir…who will give the ball back, buck at ‘em, and will call them a “pussy” if they flinch.

prison gf! ymir…who is big australia hater

prison gf! ymir...who instigate fights at the waffle house.

prison gf! ymir…who is a big cory and berlezzy fan. like she ALWAYS quoting berlin.

prison gf! ymir…who, if your an artist, keeps every drawing that youve made of her. 

prison gf! ymir…who will be all over you if you wear a skin revealing/ clinging outfit. no matter if you rarely wear stuff like that or most of the time. this is the main reason why you guys are late to parties sometimes. homegirl is struggling with her self control. most of the time she does a good job others? *evil laughter*.  

prison gf! ymir…who loves spoiling you and got you a custom necklace that says your name and a pandora bracelet for your birthday. then got you a chrome hearts necklace for valentines day.

prison gf! ymir…who picks up everything you put down in the store and doesn't care about the price. if you worried about spending her money she’ll tell you it’s fine cause “your worth going broke for ma” with a kiss to seal the deal

prison gf! ymir…who will buy you anything the moment your eyes start tearing up and that little pout comes out. Then she will kiss that little pout away no matter how many it takes.

prison gf! ymir…who buys a strap in your favourtie color.

prison gf! ymir…who would apologize if you tell her its to much and then immediately slams her hips afterwards. 

prison gf! ymir…who would kiss your tears away and say “aww don’t cry”.

prison gf! ymir…who whines and bucks her hips like a bitch in heat when you give her head.

prison gf! ymir…who grips your hair so hard she damn near rips it out. If you have a wig on don’t worry she’ll pay to get it reinstalled but damnit you just put it in. now you hairstylist is cussing you out.

prison gf! ymir...who is absolutely inlove with you.

♱ A/N. My favorite jailbird ❤️. Also THANK YOU @hotxcheeto FOR HELPING ME WITH SOME OF THESE. MWAH.

© 2023 lunerenzo, please don’t plagiarize work or translate work.

[flyingwargle]

it's another day of practice for ejp raijin. the athletes file into the locker room, deposit their belongings in their assigned lockers, change into practice clothes, and head into the gym carrying towels, water bottles, knee pads, compression sleeves, and other protective gear.

suna would join them, but he has a conundrum. you see, he left his apartment in a rush this morning, having stayed up late last night on a call with his boyfriend, deeply engaged in a debate about whether pancakes were superior or waffles (suna prefers waffles, personally). he barely fell asleep before his alarm woke him up, and he slept through the subsequent snoozes. that meant he didn't have time to double-check his gym bag, a habit he got into after accidentally taking ginjima's bag home in high school. there's no chance that this bag wouldn't be his, but you know what he could've checked?

his clothes.

as an adult living on his own, he established routines to ensure he wouldn't forget things like a clueless high schooler, such as packing the night before and keeping spares in his locker for days when he does forget.

it's because of these routines that screwed him over, though. every weekend, he brings those clothes to wash, and because of last night, he didn't have time to pack them beforehand, nor throw them into his bag before leaving. so now, the only clothes he does have are his usual shorts, socks and court shoes, and, for whatever reason, an onigiri miya t-shirt.

suna and osamu don’t share clothes – at least, not intentionally. he can count on one hand the times that osamu wore his team jacket because it was the first one on the hook, or when suna wore his pullover after osamu forgot it. these moments were all accidental, not at all planned.

but this? this seems planned. unless it wasn't, and suna just doesn't remember when he put the shirt in there. it's not like there's a shortage of them either, not when he's dating the man who produced them.

"you better get changed soon," komori calls out to him from across the locker room. "we have to get out there in five."

"yeah, yeah." suna holds the t-shirt up. it's black, short-sleeved, with an onigiri over the heart, onigiri miya's logo on the back. he tugs his shirt off to pull it on, a bit tight in some areas but he can survive. probably. it's all cotton, so it'll be gross at the end of practice, but that's what washing machines are for.

he changes into his shorts, laces his court shoes, carries his compression sleeves with his water bottle out. komori joins him, whistling a formless tune, until- "what's with your shirt?"

"what about it?"

"you're a walking advertisement. does your boyfriend need more publicity?"

suna tugs on the end of his shirt where it rides up with the slightest arm raise. "i didn't pack my usual shirts, and this is the only one in my bag."

"huh." komori pulls his compression sleeves on. "i see."

"see what? i don't."

"i see that you're whipped."

"it's either this, or i practice shirtless."

"i bet osamu would pay to see that."

they join their teammates, sprawled across the court to stretch. washio glances at them, eyes lingering on suna's shirt. "i didn't know you had a part-time job." his tone is mischievous. "it must be a long commute."

"the lengths he'd go to, just to help his one and only," komori agrees.

"i'm right here," suna deadpans. "it's just a shirt. stop making a big deal out of it."

"can't we tease our lover boy? especially now, when you're clearly wearing your boyfriend's shirt."

"he has a closet full of these. who's to say this isn't a fresh one pulled from the shelf?"

coach enters the gym, clipboard in hand, an entourage of assistants behind him. "let's get started." he stops short, sniffing the air. "is it me, or does it smell like rice vinegar?"

all eyes turn to suna. he coughs behind his hand to hide the blush creeping in his cheeks.

practice goes as well as he expects, with wolf whistles whenever his shirt rides up to reveal his toned abs, and jokes about his new job, helping with advertisement, or, thanks to komori, a preliminary test for when his jersey says miya on the back instead of suna. he grumbles his way out of the locker room, away from the teasing, and finally gets freedom when he starts the commute home.

he waits until his evening call with osamu to complain, starting off after exchanging pleasantries. "did you put an onigiri miya t-shirt in my gym bag?"

"uh." osamu's pause is unconvincing. "no?"

"i suffered through an entire practice session because it was the only shirt i had." suna is sprawled on his loveseat, feet dangling over the ledge. "the guys kept making jokes."

"sounds like ya had a fun time."

"it was annoying. they kept asking if we made some publicity deal, or if i got a new job." he remembers what komori said. "or if i wanted to see how my back would like with your name on it."

osamu laughs. "i thought ya said we weren't gonna change our surnames?"

"i don't want to have any connection with miya atsumu, so no, not until he's retired, or i am."

"but yer fine havin' a connection with me."

"odd question to ask, boyfriend of five years." suna rolls his eyes with a smile. "tell me about your day."

"well, i woke up late 'cause of a certain boyfriend of five years-"

"you weren't the only one."

"so i didn't have time ta really get ready. i just put on the first shirt i found an' it wasn't 'till openin' that kobayashi pointed out that i wasn't wearin' my usual shirt. ya know what it was instead?"

suna blinks. "don't tell me-"

"i'll show ya."

the video call request comes a minute later, and osamu appears on screen. he's holding his phone away to show off his yellow-and-white t-shirt that's slightly too big on him. the ejp raijin logo is in the corner.

"how did that get over there?" suna asks incredulously. "i wore it on friday."

osamu shrugs. "magic?"

"well, i want it back. your shirt is nice and all, but it isn't breathable."

"yeah, i want mine back, too. it ain't right makin' onigiri if my shirt doesn't smell lile rice vinegar."

suna snorts. "what does it smell like, then?"

a pause. then, "you."

he should've seen that coming. a blush creeps onto his face, which he hides behind his arm, mumbling into his sleeve. "i'm not doing any more publicity for you."

"not that i ever needed it."

"okay, boyfriend who owns a very successful business."

osamu chuckles, light and sweet. "lemme see yer face 'fore i hang up. i'm goin' fer drinks with some geezers on the block."

"don't drink too much." suna lowers his arm down. "and don't spill beer on my shirt. rice vinegar is okay, though."

"gotcha. i'll do that tomorrow."

"i was kidding."

"i'm not. good night, boyfriend who's an olympian an' the love of my life."

that pulls a smile from him. "good night."

(they never get their shirts back from each other.)

[inanewmoon]

You've teased Ranma and Ryoga for the world fusion... I know Akane will be teased at some point.. but can I ask about Konatsu? Ninja girl in a Ninja world sounds fun.

Oh, wow, that's a difficult one! 💙 I don't have a good answer yet, but I can waffle a bit about it. Maybe it will end in an idea where to best include her. 💙💙💙 (I guess that by itself reveals some of the answer already - I didn't really plan, or ran into a scene that needed her specifically, yet? But there still might be a cameo if convenient, or a short storyline that includes her in some capacity)

In general, I am approaching this merger by transplanting a handful of Ranma characters into Narutoverse (where Shikako from DoS also lives). These characters "have always lived there" in this interpretation, and I had to tweak their ages a little too, since Narutoverse begins at ±12 years old and not ±16 average for Ranma. I don't wanna *overload* the Narutoverse with Ranma characters, which is why not everyone is getting moved. By design, it's gonna focus mainly on Ranma, Akane and Ryoga, and any other characters are slightly relegated to the background and or cameos. Konatsu, sadly, isn't either Ranma, Akane or Ryoga not anyone close to them, so she starts at a big disadvantage in this cruel Ranma character lottery. I guess her fate also depends on my plans for Ukyo... who I also haven't fully decided on (don't tell anyone).

So first, Konatsu is somewhat easy to transplant (pun intended) into Narutoverse, because her skillset... is actually kinda canon to the Naruto verse. The multi body technique and other tricks are part of the common legendarium of what "ancient mythical ninjas" could do. It's more accurate to say that Konatsu and Naruto share the same roots and inspirations for their powers. 💙💙💙 Very superficially, Konatsu shares some commonalities with Haku. Fearful/abusive childhood, devotion to a saviour (Ukyo and Zabuza, respectivelly), and gender-themes, but it's a stretch otherwise.

Dreaming of Sunshine story has chosen to not lean onto trans interpretation of Haku, focusing on Haku's "oh... and... I'm a boy" instead, but in my heart both Konatsu and Haku deserve to be trans girls. 💙 They just live in the worlds that might not have had that exact word or description to fully-understand at the time? Mostly due to the meta reasons, too (Kishimoto just can't write girls, and Rumiko probably didn't have an lgbt+ vocabulary at the time, even though Konatsu is much more obviously trans-coded than Haku). It's a whole long conversation I don't wanna get into too much.

I will be doing "more gender" in Leaf's Ranma, so Konatsu can feel safe about her identity if she makes the cut 💙💙 So... to sum up in some ways Konatsu's similar to Haku, and one option (devasting for Konatsu-fans in Leaf's Ranma AU) would be to give some of Konatsu's roles and impacts (which were minimal in the Ranma managa, she came entirely too late to change things, even when we love her 💙) over to Haku, not *needing* and extra character in the mix.

But... I don't think that is satisfying enough. The scope of the Leaf's Ranma story isn't huge and all-encompassing, so I might just not find time for her at all (sorry). But if I do... I suspect I will place her by Ukyo's side, whichever form Ukyo is gonna take up in the AU.

So... that's was a whole lot of words to say "I don't know." But if she does show up... It's gonna be with Ukyo. 💙

Thanks for the question, sorry for a mess of an answer 💙

[theminecraftbee]

did anything in particular make you decide to study grief through solving counting sheep? very much enjoyed chapter 16 but augh my heart

this one’s under a cut because I ramble a LOT here!

so: SORT OF! it’s a long story!

so scs was ALWAYS gonna be about identity. even from day one, when half my original thought was “doing this from three’s perspective would be funny”, there wasn’t a world where the story wasn’t largely about identity, because this is the kind of story you can’t tell at all without it being about that. like it was maybe day two or three of waffling about this au, at least a month before I would actually commit to writing it, that I went “oh three isn’t actually really grian” (albeit in a different way than I ended up exploring it here).

the part about grief came later.

originally, the theme of grief came about because I was trying to decide WHY martyn was about and stealing watchers. that’s when I remembered a common watcher!grian trope: it’s fairly common (at least on the watcher!grian I’ve read, which to be fair is limited) for grian to have assumed the evo crowd was dead and vis versa. and I was like. aha! martyn can be attacking the watchers in vengeance for grian being dead! then I’ll be able to REALLF play with the dramatic irony if already wanted to use, where no one but the audience knew three was grian, because there’s another angle to work at that on!

cue: oh no wait this is about grief again. (see: tumblr post that I’m pretty sure is still semi-viral.)

the thing is, oftentimes “the evo crew thought grian was dead” is played for grian angst, which makes sense in grian-focused angst fics (this is not shade). but I was like. but that’d fuck up the people involved, right. like having your fun mystery game ended by someone actually getting murdered would tear basically everyone there apart, and that’s not even considering that the evo gang isn’t the WORLD’S most communicative people already. so I went… what if I made the story about that? what if, alongside being about three and identity, it was about the evo crew, grief, and how trauma can fuck up your relationships in unique and messy ways?

plus, like. this is a winter soldier fic. a staple here is “the moment steve realizes the winter soldier is bucky”, and while in three’s arc that bit is almost all about it taking the final step to establish its own independent identity, in the other’s arcs, that’s when they have to come to terms with who three used to be. and like, even in a world where three is uncomplicatedly grian, that’s a pretty big grief to have to unpack all over again. but this is a world where three is not grian, where I realized I’d have to tag mcd despite the character who died sort of also being alive, etc. at least there, grief would have to be explored.

also, for the weight of “grian and am I him” to actually hit three, three has to have an idea of how heavy grian is. like, in the original version I had pearl with the line “oh my god why are you grian” as a joke, and three responding “who is grian”. (oh, the early darlings of this au I killed.) but that doesn’t actually hit the same way, thematically, right? because it works best if once the reveal happens, we all know how much of a shadow grian casts.

in that way it comes back to the theme of identity, because identity here is therefore kind of intrinsically linked to grief. that final hurdle three has to cross to figure itself out of “can I define who I am out from under this shadow” doesn’t work unless everyone is really grieving for that shadow, yeah?

and, well, I’m me. I can’t avoid writing grief that long, it’s a theme I tend to gravitate back towards all the time. it makes sense in a fic that ended up actually being somewhat personal thematically that I’d end up back there.

it’s just one of those things. I realized martyn was there to avenge grian and then realized the story all worked so much better if it was about grief.

anyway this was a REALLY LONG RAMBLE but I hope you liked it! a glimpse into my thoughts I guess.

[berenwrites]

Wolf in the Light Ch8 - Steddie - Stranger Things

Wolf in the Light: Secrets & Revelations

Steve has been keeping a big secret: he’s a werewolf from a long line of werewolves. Only problem is, he’s a complete failure at it. He can’t even shift, but it does make him a bit harder to kill, so he thought he’d found his perfect niche keeping the kids and his secret safe after ‘83. With their plan to end Vecna only half successful and Eddie bleeding out, he has no choice but to reveal the truth and try and convince his friends that werewolves are real. That would be enough of a task for anyone, but to his shock, his heritage has an even bigger surprise in store, and of course, there’s Max to worry about too.

Read on AO3 | Wonderful Art by the amazing @kassifieddocuments2 (check it out and leave some love)

Updates daily - 20 chapters

Check out the other fabulous @steddiebang2024 fics too.

still NOT a/b/o (saving that for another fic)

Chapter 8 - Of Eyes & Need

Excerpt under the cut

“My eyes were really purple?” Steve asked as he nibbled on his fourth waffle.

Eddie seemed to have no doubts he was an omega, but he couldn’t help doubting himself. An omega werewolf was a legend, a story wolves told their kids like Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella. According to the stories, the most obvious trait of an omega was their eye colour compared to normal werewolf gold, or alpha gold and red.

“Stevie,” Eddie said, reaching over and taking his hand, “I know it’s hard to believe, but yes. You are an omega, the be all and end all of werewolf kind.”

“But why me?” he responded.

Read the rest on AO3

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

What kind of character development do you think Tanizaki could get?

Oooooo ok so other people have answered this far better than me but - have you seen any of those theories that Naomi is a creation of Light Snow and that the real Naomi has died? That Tanizaki may be selected to join the Port Mafia? That he may have been recruited by the Agency to stop him from showing up on the Mafia's radar?

I recommend looking through @tachiguin's blog for Tanizaki stuff; the analyses are supplemented by information and references to the real life Tanizaki-sensei's works and definitely worth a read if you're curious about him!

But really... Tanizaki has to get some kind of focus at some point. We know so little about him compared to the rest of the Agency. He's still a big question mark despite appearing at the very beginning. And... there's something really off about him.

His narration in the first part of Untold Origins has him basically repeating over and over what a normal guy he is. He does not remember his entrance exam because he blocked it out. He is one of the most comfortable with killing. His eyes go darker and more unstable than anyone in the Agency (even some in the Mafia). He cares little for morality if Naomi is in danger ("world-burn" anyone?) and in Beast, he is supportive of Akutagawa killing the people who took Gin, which shocks even Naomi herself. He puts his ability down as not useful in combat, only for it to repeatedly be shown to be invaluable for assassination. Ayatsuji, in a side story, considered him suspicious enough to capture and tie up (this was more for comedy... but still). Asagiri mentioned that he considers Tanizaki to be the member of the Agency that is "closest to evil". ...yikes.

Anyways, I definitely think we're setting up to reveal something about him. He's been there since the beginning, and even minor characters we thought we probably wouldn't get much elaboration on or would play a major role (Tachihara, for instance) did eventually get some background. The only characters in the Agency we really know nothing about are Tanizaki and Kunikida, though at least with Kunikida we have the Azure Messenger backstory... with Tanizaki we have literally nothing. I'm sure that's not unintentional.

Personally, I am hoping that whatever ends up happening, that we get more Naomi focus too, since she's actually so so cool. There's a post here about how Naomi actually has an inner voice and a definite consciousness, which has some fascinating implications for Light Snow if she really is a created construct. There's also her quick thinking (she's canonically very clever), and the fact that she has picked up little tricks and some strategic thinking from observing Dazai (someone on here brought up the possibility of her learning to do the handcuff snap he does and I have not known peace since. I need to see her do that so bad). She's also apparently something of a trusted figure for Fukuzawa and comfortable going and getting him when the Agency is waffling over whether or not to save Atsushi. She's openly annoyed by Fitzgerald which is really funny. Naomi is also super protective of Tanizaki and Haruno, she's sweet to Kyouka and playfully teasing yet supportive of Atsushi. If we ever get a focus on Tanizaki, I need that focus to split between the both of them. There's foundations to do some fascinating storytelling with each of these characters!

[thepotatowithahat]

Dancing Like Real People Do - A Kanej Fanfic

SUMMARY: Inej and Kaz open up to each other and slow dance together after Kaz recognizes a song that his parents used to dance to. For once, everything is perfect.

TAGS: Fluff, First Kiss, Slow Dancing, No Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, Declarations of Love

It was a joyful night in Ketterdam.

The gloomy streets were engulfed in the soft glow of lantern light, while the Dregs danced and sang in carefree harmony. Night had emerged, and somehow a celebration erupted from the streets below. One by one, people joined to witness this rare inkling of beauty in a city of grime. Inej was seated on a table perched outside of the Crow Club, where people were dancing and singing wildly to whatever songs their throats could scream raw. It had been a while since she had last visited Ketterdam, but she had thought that it would be nice to take a break and visit once again. It was strange. Most people would have scoffed at the idea of relaxing in the grimy streets of Ketterdam. But despite its filth and dirt, it was still her home. On nights like these, she was reminded of the beauty this city held. All she had to do was look close enough, and it would reveal itself.

She placed her chin in her hand and breathed in the sweet scent of freshly made waffles and petrichor. A light breeze blew through her hair and she relished in its gentle caress. She was thankful that she decided to stop by at the perfect time. People were singing a Kerch drinking song whilst someone clumsily strummed a guitar. Inej watched with a smile as Jesper clumsily took Wylan’s hand and laughed as he pulled him in for a dance. They held each other’s hands as they clumsily spun around, laughing wildly into the night.

Wylan’s smile was as bright as the morning sun. “What are you doing?”. He laughed gleefully.

“Just showing my spectacular dance moves merchling” chuckled Jesper.

Wylan giggled. “We’re going to fall if you spin any faster!”

Jesper laughed. ”Well then, don’t let go!”

The two stopped spinning after a while, and Jesper pulled Wylan in for the clumsiest waltz Inej had ever seen. His hands were in Wylan’s curls, and Wylan held tight to Jesper as they frantically waltzed across the room, skimming past the rest of the drunken members. She failed to suppress a giggle.

“They’re adorable, aren’t they?”

Inej looked up and there stood Nina, holding a plate with a thick stack of waffles topped with dollops of cream and red berries. She wore a crimson sleeveless dress with flecks of gold embroidery sewed into the fabric. Her hair was shorter now, but she was still the same Nina that Inej knew so well.

Inej smiled. “Saints, I haven’t seen you in ages Nina”

Nina’s face split into a grin. “Glad you could stop by, Inej. Everyone’s been wanting to see you for so long. Especially…” Nina grinned and pointed towards Kaz. “a special someone”

Inej glanced across the room to see Kaz cooped up in a corner, far away from any of the cheery gang members. His shiny hair was slicked back, tiny strands carefully falling into place as leaned back into his chair. His coffee brown eyes glowed in the bright light, and Inej couldn’t help but wonder how a face could be so perfect. Kaz caught Inej’s eyes, and she gently waved at him. He glanced around and then waved back to Inej with a shy smile on his face.

“He’s been grumpier than usual ever since you left,” chuckled Nina. “Who knew Kaz Brekker was such a hopeless romantic?”

Inej laughed “Don’t worry, he’s a little ball of sunshine on holidays”

Nina scoffed. “If the sun was a gloomy ball of darkness, then sure… He’s such “a little ball of sunshine”. Nina made sure to form quotation marks.

Nina took a big bite out of her waffle. “But really, Inej… What do you see in him? I love you and all, but your taste in men… That’s still a mystery to me”

Inej thought of the way Kaz picked locks, his hands carefully working, or the way he always saved her when she was in danger, whether he was with her or not. How his smile reminded her of a shooting star. Rare, but beautiful whenever she caught sight of it. If she could have frozen his smile in time and watched it over and over again, she would have. It terrified her years ago, but now she found comfort from relishing in the warmth of the feeling he gave her.

Inej turned to Nina and smirked. “It wouldn’t be any fun if I told you. Let it be a mystery”

“Saints, why do you two love to be so mysterious?” sighed Nina.

“I guess we’re more alike than you think” chuckled Inej.

Nina smiled and looked around. “So many love birds are out tonight. Makes me feel like I’m missing out.” She chuckled.

Inej looked at Nina and thought about that fateful day all those years ago. How Nina had spent months trying to form a smile on her face, though Inej knew her better than that. She thought of the pained expression Nina made anytime she heard somebody speak Fjerdan, or when she stared at her waffles for too long, and Inej just knew who she was thinking of. It had been years since then, but the memory still lingered in the Crows’ hearts every day. It was a shadow looming over them as a constant reminder.

They were not immortal. One day, every person turned into a memory. Inej looked at the people she loved so dearly, so full of life and joy that it nearly made her heart burst. Nina was much different after that day, but through the years, she had grown stronger. She had been able to smile fully, been able to eat waffles without a care in the world, and had still been the friend Inej cared about dearly.

Inej thought of how Nina must have felt that day. To fight so hard for a happy ending, only to have it snatched away so ruthlessly. It was a cruel joke life had played on her. On all of them. What would she have done if she were Nina? What if one day Kaz was in danger and she couldn’t come save him?

What if Kaz…

She didn’t want to think about it.

“Have you found someone yet, Nina?”. The question came out of nowhere before Inej could stop it. Nina looked at Inej, a surprised expression painted on her face.

Inej scratched her head. “I... I’m sorry it sort of just came out—”

“No no, it’s fine!”. Nina glanced at Inej. “I… I haven’t gotten into any relationship but…”. Nina leaned in to whisper into Inej’s ear. “There… There is someone I like”.

Inej smiled warmly at Nina. “That’s wonderful Nina… I’m happy for you, I really am. How are they?”

“They…”. Nina chuckled and gazed at her waffles, smiling warmly. “They’re wonderful Inej. They’re smart, funny, kind and I… I think I really like them”

Nina had finally found peace after all these years, and Inej couldn’t help but feel everything was just right. Her closest comrades and friends were all in one place, so full of joy that it made her want to bask in the feeling forever.

“Hey, why is there a piano outside?” said someone drunkenly.

“Somebody play it!” said a person on the verge of throwing up.

Jesper slowly turned towards Wylan with a wide grin across his face. “Oh, I wonder who could possibly play us a song?”. Jesper playfully placed an arm around Wylan’s shoulder.

“Say, Wylan, would you know anyone?”

Wylan glanced up at Jesper and laughed nervously. “Do you… Do you really think I could do it? I mean, I’m not the most skilled and-”

“Believe in yourself sunshine”

There was a severe judgement in Wylan’s eyes. “Sunshine?”

“What? It’s cute”. Jesper leaned in closer. “Just like you are”

Wylan’s face flushed a bright pink. “Ok ok, I’ll do it,”, Wylan sighed. “You’re lucky you have such a nice face”

Jesper grinned and ruffled Wylan’s hair. “That’s the spirit”

Inej watched as Wylan nervously walked to the piano. Rows of eyes watched him curiously. He sat on the stool and ran his fingers over the keys, playing a few notes to test the sound. He glanced towards Inej with a worried expression plastered on his face. Inej gave him her most reassuring smile.

It’s okay. Play us a symphony.

Wylan smiled back in gratitude and took a breath in. Then he started to play.

The atmosphere in the room shifted as soon as the first notes rang out in the air. The calming waves of the music replaced the wild energy in the room. Inej watched as people leaned into their chairs and took in the sounds of the beautiful melody. Inej didn’t realise the song, but she remembered how she often heard it hummed by children in the streets of Ketterdam.

It must have been a lullaby.

Many of the Dregs were faintly humming the song and closing their eyes, almost like they were reminiscing about old memories. Jesper looked at Wylan, as if they were the only two in the room. It was as if nothing around him at that moment mattered except him.

Did Kaz ever look at her like that?

Nina laid her head on the table. “I’m feeling incredibly stupid for not bringing them right now…”. Nina sighed and glanced towards Jesper and Wylan. “They really are adorable” Inej nodded. She glanced around the room, looking for Kaz, yet she couldn’t find him.

“Nina, where is Kaz?” asked Inej.

“Hm?”

Nina raised her head from the table and scanned her surroundings thoroughly. “Saints, where is he off to now? Sorry Inej, it’s yet again, another mystery to me”.

“That’s strange, he was here a moment ago”. Inej inspected the crowd until she heard a familiar cane clicking in the distance. She spotted Kaz limping away past the crowd as if he were nothing but a shadow passing by.

Why was he leaving so soon?

Inej pointed towards Kaz. “There he is”.

Nina squinted and sighed. “You have a good eye. Where is he off to now? The party isn’t even done yet, and he just disappeared into thin air.” Nina turned to Inej. “I thought that was your thing?”

“I suppose he learned a few new tricks while I was away”. Inej wondered why Kaz had been so quick to leave when he seemed content a few moments ago. She imagined him cooped up in his tiny room, looking out from the window, watching his comrades laugh in perfect harmony while he was just out of reach, yet never able to draw any closer.

It was a perfect night for her. She wasn’t going to let Kaz feel like it was a lonely one. He always had her back, and she had his.

Always.

“Nina, I’m going to go”. Inej put down the cup she’d been drinking from and abruptly stood up.

Nina tilted her head. “Already?”

Inej sighed. “Yes… I have some… business to attend to”

A wide smirk appeared on Nina’s face. “Oh… I see…”. She looked from Inej to Kaz. “Well… have fun attending to your business”. Nina winked.

Inej rolled her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the Waffle House. Waffles are on me”

Nina’s face was brighter than a thousand candles. “Captain Inej Ghafa, what a Saint you are!”

Inej chuckled as she softly threaded through the hordes of lethargic people, carefully avoiding the drunk members slouched on the floor. Once she was done, she walked quietly on the rough pavement while she trailed Kaz, who slowly limped towards his room...

Click here to read the rest of the story!

[waitmyturtles]

CONTINUED UNPOPULAR OPINIONS ABOUT STEP BY STEP, EPISODE 11

I will spare y’all my biting criticism with a read-more. But, TL;DR -- my review is short (for me, HA!), and I hand this show over lovingly to anyone who wants it. 

(Thanks to continued conversations with the inimitable @lurkingshan and the utterly lovely @neuroticbookworm to ensure I’m not going insane with these thoughts.)

At this point, I don’t know what narrative lens we’re supposed to be watching this show through*. Maybe a few of them, together, but that is striking me as an understudied, overambitious, overworked, and confused approach to understanding this show.

Is it a queer narrative about how Jeng has been closeted-ish/held back in his public queer identification for so long that he’s turned into an inconsistent, incommunicative, distrusting putz? Is there a connection between his family being disapproving of his sexuality, and/or him running away from a filial fate of taking over his dad’s company -- and him being a bumbling asshole to Pat?

Is it a trust narrative about how Pat can’t trust ANYONE? Put, Jeng, Jeng’s dad, the company, Toh? Maybe even Chot? (I’m just throwing that out there, since Chot sent him into the battlefield with Jeng during the last episode -- I love Chot, I ain’t blamin’ Chot.) (Maybe I analytically get to this narrative by... assuming Pat can’t trust anyone, since his loving, COMMUNICATIVE parents ended up getting divorced?) (And in the process of that divorce, we learn, in part, that Pat’s mom couldn’t find her full potential in life unless she was outside of the marriage?) [So maybe that’s what needs to happen to Pat? Since Jeng is CLEARLY UNDERMINING Pat’s efforts to be successful on his (Pat’s) own, in multiple ways, by really not allowing Pat to have control over his (Pat’s) own life?]

Is this a MACRO MACRO narrative commentary on the failings of BL tropes and the BL industry as a whole? (The reveal of the once-toxic Ying as a fujoshi?)

It could very well be all of these narratives at the same time. However, the execution of this storytelling, at this point, is so inconsistent and choppy that 1) I can’t exactly tell, and 2) I’m so frustrated about the amount of time that I’ve spent trying to understand this show that at this point, I don’t really want or care TO care.

To refer back to my first point (*) -- I think it’s unfair for me to demand that ANY show have a singular narrative lens. But I propose that Step By Step would have been an actually successful drama if it hadn’t tried to do so much. I’m EXTREMELY biased right now on this kind of analysis, because I’ve just finished Until We Meet Again for the Old GMMTV Challenge, and watched two narrative lenses in DeanPharm and KornIntouch come together into one cohesive story. (And, fuck, I cannot believe I’m saying this about a New Siwaj show.) I mean -- you can take filmmaking classes that can teach screenwriters and directors how to handle multiple narrative lenses successfully.

Maybe that’s the word: cohesiveness. I’m not seeing cohesiveness in Tee Bundit’s Step By Step. Instead, I watched an episode with actual minutes -- MINUTES! -- spent watching an office team held in tension as internet “likes” poured in. Looking at computers. I spent MANY MINUTES watching Jaab WAFFLE over MULTIPLE episodes going back and forth on Jen... only to discover that he missed Jen’s departure to Japan -- a Very Big Life Decision that Jaab just *missed.* Okay.

And.... we are left with the break-up of Jeng and Pat. And a time jump. 

I mean. 

All that growth of the previous episodes, all that slow burn, all that processing of Pat’s growth into a hopefully successful professional digital marketer. For what. No cohesive character development or a sharpening of any narrative lenses.

The last thing I’ll offer is that I understand that Tee Bundit added themes to this show that were not present in the original novel, such as the aforementioned macro commentary on the BL industry and other workplace storylines. And, starting with episode 10, he was on his complete own, outside of the novel’s romance arc (thank you to @lurkingshan for confirming this for me). I’ll theorize, therefore, that what we’ve been watching these past few weeks is a Frankenstein-ed approach to this story where the novel focused on the romance aspect of Pat and Jeng, and Tee’s been wanting to drive home themes of workplace success (I think); professional growth (I think?!); homophobia in the workplace and the harms of either being disapproved of and/or being closeted or closeted-ish in general (Jeng, Chot/Krit, Pat), plus that macro commentary on the BL industry that got edited out. 

But, and I emphasize here: not a SINGLE one of these threads has been illuminated to the point of clarity. I’ve wondered in the back of my mind if Tee maybe threw the baby out with the bathwater on this show AFTER the whole ZeeNew debacle, but -- whatever. The seams on this show were fraying weeks ago, and it shows.

Again -- I can’t think much longer on this show. It’s over next week. After a break-up and a time jump. We’re on the express train to a likely happy ending that I’m going to guess will be totally unearned. I had high hopes for each episode, only to be sorely disappointed since episode 8, when the drag got so unbalanced that I started to raise red flags. I want to see a surprise turn towards good storytelling for this finale next week. I want to be proven wrong about my instincts, but I ain’t putting any of my money on it.

[exocynraku]

thunder spoilers under the cut!!! read at your own risk!!! here are my opinions on the book!!! i wrote this right after reading originally on the 4th and planned 2 post it on the 7th. it's not the 7th exactly where i live but the wiki updated with spoilers since it's the 7th over there so whatever

okay, so, overall, i liked it. i didnt LOVE it, but i liked it. sunbeams chapters were all great, and with nightheart travelling with frostpaw, he finally had the chance to not be an ass, and he wasn't as bad! i actually read his chapters this time, and oh my god frostpaws chapters were INCREDIBLE!!!! i loved her interactions with whistlepaw and smoky, and wow. she did get spayed, LOL! got spoiled for that early (thanks, assholes!) i was NOT expecting to meet the new cats of the park! i totally thought we'd encounter warriorclan! i'm a little bummed about that, but the cats of the park were all super nice to read about which was super nice. especially bee! thought i'm upset she has the same name as another cat.. wails the reveal of splashtail i totally expected, but i'm a little surprised over curlfeather. i know that there's been suspect she was a villain, but damn! i wanted to hold onto hope! but hey, her being evil is super interesting. plus, wow! she's in the dark forest! i guess i shouldve expected that, but it's felt like forever since a cat got sent there. (which i dont think is rlly true? juniperclaw went i think that was tbc? whatever, still feels so long ago) also i didnt mind that it was a travelling book! i know a lot of ppl HATEEEE travelling books, but i think there was still enough substance to make it interesting! now, that ending... er, hard to explain my feelings. i like cliffhangers because they make me really excited for the next book, but man! this one hurt bad! i want frostpaw to jump out !!!! raugh!!! also, waffle and wasp are cute! i'm happy theyre coming to the clans! we NEED more genetic diversity SOBS and honestly, with frostpaws thoughts right before leaving the park, with the clans needing to become less harsh and fighty, and more open, especially to outsiders? that was incredible! genuinely, genuinely incredible! and i hope they go through with it, i really do! berryheart is also an interesting character. if i'm being honest, i hope she leaves. not becaues i dont like her (i think she's one of the most interesting characters we've had in the series for a long time, even if she sucks), but because like i said earlier we NEED more genetic diversity in the clans! more cats with long blood lines need to leave or die, and new cats w/o long blood lines, or none at all need to start existing. all of the incest is pissing me off. so i'm glad that somecat with not a particularly long bloodline, but a big one (berryheart has like 70 siblings) is leaving. plus those other cats. last misc things, finally, some tree action! it's a miracle! i also like how there were mentions of 1: thunderclan being overcrowded (please please please mass exctinction event GO) and 2: tree being mediator, but never really having the chance to shine. also, cherryfall sucks. jeez louise! i used to like her for gods sake! spotfur and her kits were adorable, i liked ivypool in this book, and oh my god, brambleclaw finally gets less of a spotlight! overall, i liked it. not the most amazing book to ever exist ever, but it definitely got my excited for the next books!!! really happy with ASC so far and i'm pumped to see what's going to happen with it in the future.

also, with the cats of the park cats being introduced, i'll have to draw them! oh boy more work for me to do

[runjumpkauf]

The Amazing Candy Canyon Kingdom (Super After)

(Of Course, Spoiler Alert! Watch This V.D.O.(Virtual, Dynamic, adventurOus.) And If You Know Me And Gooseworx Well, You Can Understand This Lolli-Post.)

Howdy, Everyone! I Told You Before, I've Been Waiting For This For A Long, Long Time, So I'm Going To Be Watch This For The Next Three Days. But I Couldn't Waitin' Three Days. (Cuz I Like Caine And Pomni)

This Digital Amastic (Amazing And Fantastic) Show Is Goin' To Have Episode 9. Because Jax's Voice Actor, Michael Kovach Wanted Episode Featuring The Sea.

Also, I Found 6.4 Another-Advanced-Adventurous-Advantages In This Eclair-Pisode.

1. It Was Revealed Why Caine Sent Pomni The Nervous Clown, Jax The Dreaded Hare, Ragatha The Jax Caller, Kinger The All-Possible King, Gangle The Smiley-Misery-Saddery-Tear Master. (Zooble Did Not Join This Adventure. Because She Hated It.) Because Candy Canyon Kingdom's Most Valuable Resource, Maple Syrup Been Robbed! (I Was Shock-Prised Again, I Like Maple Syrup. Personally, I Like Chocolate Maple Syrup The Best.)

2. Brand New Goofy Characters. They're So Geeky As A Gloinks! Gummigoo Is Leader Of "The Syrup Bandits". They're Tryin' To Steal The Maple Syrup Truck. Princess Loolilalu Is The Queen-Shaped Princess. She Is Cheered By The Mannequins Of The Candy Canyon Kingdom. And My Favorite Character In This Kingdom Is "Fudge Monster", "Fudge"! He Can Doin' Too Acrobatic Fudge-Moves! With Melting Voice, Interesting Design, Ravenous Mouth, Blobby-Spits. And Totally Greatest Dinner END!!! (I'm Not Jax. Just, Whatever.)

3. Dashing Mad-Maxing Truck Scene. Rollcake Truck VS Snack Truck! It Was Such A Cool Scene! Jax's Waffle-Zooka Shot The Max. Gummigoo Shift The Engine To "Rocky Road". Max's Continuity Poses To Follow The Snack Truck. Gummigoo's Western Tough-Voices. Pomni's Double Swearing With Ugly Faces. (Jax, You Booty...! (Yes, I 'Hear'ded.) Are You Guys Trying To (Small Boink Sound)UCKING KILL ME?!) Kinger's Life Buoy And Anchor With Ropes. Drift-Fallout! And Fudge-Splorch!

4. Gummigoo And Pomni In Literally Digital World Scene. There, Gummigoo Realized That His, His Family, His Memory, And His Life Were All Just A Fake. I Thought This Sounded Weirdo-Noncence. But I Understood His Felling Feelings A Little. And The Scene Where Pomni Was By His Side Persuading And Comforting Him Felt Quite Fainting Paint. Kaufmo's Funeral Too.

5. Jax Seems To Have Become Twice Or Thrice As Evil Genius! He Wants More Violence. He Blamed Gangle. Hate Wholesome. He Think Bad Point Is A Great Point. He Hope Most Among The Worlds Caine Creates Is, "One Big, Final Battle. Bloodshed. Death. CHAOS!" And Unbelievably Disappointed By Fudge Monster's Death. He Didn't Even Attend Kaufmo's Funeral. And Fudge Monster Revived, Kingdom Doors Opened, And Candy Canyon Kingdom Was Turn Into CANDY CANYON KILLDOM!! What Can I Say, I Think He's Becoming More And More Like Me. (Not A Joke) Except For Blaming. I Have No Complaints There.

6. Do You Watch The "POMNI WAKE UP TIME TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE"? In This V.D.O.(i said, Virtual, Dynamic, adventurOus.) Showing Kinger With A ShotGun! Jax's Minimum Wage Labor! Orbsman! Recorder! Ghosts! But Episode 2, There Were No ShotGun And Minimum Wage Labor And Orbsman, Recorder, And Ghosts. Well, I Understand Because I Gets Complicated If Glitchworx Put All Of This At Once. I Hope Episode 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, And 9.

6.1. Zooble Always Replaces Its Zooble-Parts Every Hour And Day, And Stores The Parts In The "Zooble Box".

6.2. Who Knew Gangle Could Drive A Truck? I Guessed Jax.

6.3. Do You Know About "Fudge"? Fudge Is A Soft Sweet Candy Made From Sugarly Sugar, Buttery Butter, And Milk. It Resembles Caramel, They're So Brown Like A Thick Mud.

6.4. JAX!!

And That's All I Know About The Amazing Candy Canyon Kingdom And Other Things I Found.

Episode 3 Is Said To Be Zooble's Episode, And Since I Find Out Zooble Was A Tattoo Artist Before Joins The Amazing Digital Circus. There's A Possibility That The Amazing Digital Zooblore Will Be Based On This Past.

And It Looks Like Episode 3 Will Come Out Around September Of October.

SO LOOK FORWARD TO IT!

[TO BE CONTINUED IN THE AMAZING MYSTERY OF MILDENHALL MANOR!]

P.S. https://www.glitchprod.com/thewackywatch

P.S.2. (Not A Playstation2)

P.S.3. (Not A Playstation3)

P.S.4. (Not A Playstation4)

This Is The Triumph.

[transformers-mosaic]

Transformers: Mosaic #538 - "Lament"

Originally posted on September 3rd, 2010

Story, Script, Letters - Seb Script - HdE Art - Roy Stiffey

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk

wada sez: This Crosscut spotlight is absolutely the funniest Mosaic I've read in ages. On deviantART, Seb said: “Well, my dictionary defines 'soliloquy' as "the act of a character speaking to himself so as to reveal his thought to the audience" (whereas 'colloquy' would be a regular conversation between 2 parties). Technically, Crosscut doesn't 'speak' here, which makes this a 'monologue' instead of 'soliloquy', but since the piece is all about big words, the latter one sounds way more 'literate' ;p”. HdE added: “With LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS, Roche and Roberts gave us the horrors of war, musings on insanity, sacrifice, betrayal and a huge helping of death and destruction. With LAMENT, Seb and HdE give their audience... big words. And waffle. Lots of waffle. Mmm... waffles... [...] Our intention here was to put Crosscut over as being far-too-verbose and serious for his own good. But hopefully, you can still feel a pang of pity for him at the end.” See below for a mirrored version of Seb’s full commentary for the strip, originally shared to his own deviantART account, along with clean colors and even an Italian translation.

Now to explain the not-so-pure motivation behind this piece, sigh.... :) Mainly, there are two reasons:

1) I was always amazed (not always positively) by how TF fandom takes pride in (sometimes even competitive) knowledge of insanely obscure trivia, situations and characters from within the franchise. In 25+ years, said franchise has accumulated an insane number of somethings than can, depending on the case in question, be labeled as a character, "character", pitiful excuse for a "character", and pitiful excuse for a word "character". No matter, for as long as someone is "official" (appeared in some officially sanctioned part of the franchise), poor he/she/it "deserves some love", regardless of the fact that 2 minutes of someone's mental effort can result in a MUCH better "character".

This is only partly "derogatory", for I myself indulge in such things. I'm poking fun at myself as well. :D

Now, I knew this had to be pulled of with a Mosaic starring Crosscut - a (let's face it) pitiful excuse for a word "character" who appeared only on 2 panels of a Marvel TF issue from '86, the first one depicting him in a glow of energy while testing the Space bridge, the second one depicting him explode into pieces due to Bridge's faulty fuel line....but one thing had set him apart from all the others "hi-then-die" guys - he was NAMED.

So, the idea was giving that sorry li'l dude a back-story most profound, not knowing what it'll be. And it waited....

2) I had a discussion with HdE about overly serious and over-the-top writing bursting with pathos that can be seen in writing in general, and how a whole lotta NOTHING can be disguised with big, dramatic words. The talk (d)evolved into a hilarious exchange of pretentious and verbose pseudo-poetic ramblings, and thus the idea of Crosscut the Poet was born!

I compiled that pompous mumbo-jumbo, adapted it for the situation, added quite an amount of equally verbose pretentious fillers, distributed it among the panels and sent the draft to HdE. He Shakespeare-ized the ramblings even further (which I didn't think was possible, but it was!), added several additional juicy passages, and VOILA!

All the script needed was master Roy to bring this fragile beauty and innocent vulnerability to life! :)

...and here it is - a blank slate given the deepest depth imaginable. ;)

[allfryam]

Spider-fat part 2

Peter awoke with a sharp pain in his stomach. He didn’t know where he was. He was on an old couch in a small apartment. There was a small tv and some pictures on the wall. Kevin. Peter must have passed out after dinner last night. His shirt was on the floor with 2 buttons missing and the fabric was stretched. Then peter remembered. He looked down to see his massive gut in front of him. His skin was tight and the bottom of his stomach was beginning to hang over his shorts. Peter eventually decided to go back to his apartment wearing a shirt that Kevin gave him. Kevin also sent him home with some waffles for breakfast.

on his way home, Peter heard an alarm. Someone must have broke into the bank! He reached into his bag and pulled out his suit. Hiding in an alley he pulled the suit over his legs and began pulling it over his stomach. Yikes. This suit was starting to get really tight around the midsection. He struggled to zip it up but he eventually got it on and stopped the robber. “Looks like Spider-Man needs to stay away from the buffet! Haha!” Said the robber. Peter shrugged it off and swung home.

A few more weeks had gone by and peters gains weren’t slowing down. He really tried to eat less and workout more but he never had time to workout and Kevin kept inviting him over for dinner. Every time Peter showed up, there was an incredible feast displayed on the table. And tonight was no different. Kevin had prepared a huge bowl of beef stew along with buttery garlic bread, some homemade pizza, and some kind of pasta. Recently, peter had began counting his calories to try and control what he ate. He had already ate more than he would have liked because of his McDonalds lunch. Peters goal was to stay under 2,500 calories for the day. But today he was already at 2,300 and he hadn’t even eaten dinner. He told Kevin that tonight would have to be a light meal but Kevin persisted. “I would hate to have to throw away all of this food” he said. Peter didn’t want to make Kevin mad, so he swallowed his pride and ate the delicious feast.

after another decadent dessert, peter decided to check how many calories he ate and how many he would have to burn. After putting in the 2 bowls of soup, 4 slices of that delicious garlic bread, 3 slices of pizza, 3 large plates of pasta, 7 cookies, 2 slices of pie, and a banana split, he had eaten a whopping 7,800 calories for dinner. That put him at over 10,000 for the day. That was like 4 times his limit! He told Kevin and Kevin started smiling. Peter thought he also saw something growing in Kevin’s pants but maybe he was just hallucinating from all of the food. “That’s nothing!” Kevin said. “I’ve still got plenty of food in the fridge. A big strong man like you could eat way more than that! I bet you’re not even full.” “What?!” “No! I don’t want any more food.” Peter watched as Kevin’s smile faded. Peter had never seen him this sad. “Fine. but only a little bit.” Peter reluctantly said. Kevin grew giddy and went to get more food.

By the end of the night, peters shirt had rode up to reveal a sliver of his full stomach. Kevin had gone to bed and left Peter on the couch to groan in pain. Peter added his second meal to his calorie counter app. A pint of ice cream, a few slices of strawberry shortcake, a fish fillet, 10 homeade chocolate chip cookies, and 4 bottles of beer to wash it all down. 16 thousand 4 hundred eighty seven calories for the day. If Peter kept eating like this, he would no longer be able to be Spider-Man. He had to find a plan to stop this.

[jodeeeart]

Hello Jodie, I was curious about your work on Black Mass Rising. How did you manage to do it without burning out, and what did you take into account to keep things simple. Thank you for gracing our eyes with your art

Hey nonny,

Thanks for the ask! Honestly, I am not so sure I did escape without some burnout. I was completely exhausted by the end of it! I was working on BMR over lockdown so the stress of it was kind of amplified. I made a few mistakes that I wouldn’t make again but by far the biggest one - I took on other work alongside it. If working on that book taught me anything, it’s the limits of what I am capable of haha! I would never load myself up like that again. I think it took me around a year and a half after I had handed in the finals to truly feel reconnected to any creative desire of my own. I don’t think I was fully burned out as I continued to work over that period, but it felt like I was at a distance from what I was making in a weird way. I think another contributing factor was that it just wasn’t my baby. Perhaps if that level of labour had been in service of my own idea and vision, I may have felt very differently at the end of the project. That all sounds very doom and gloom I know but I did learn a lot about economy, working under pressure and time management, those skills have transferred to other projects! I have since had the opportunity to work on some motion comics and animated 2.5D stuff on Valorant map reveals and New World cinematics. Being able to juggle many tasks at once definitely came in handy! Same with some concepting jobs I have had since too, I have developed my own economic shorthand which answers the other part of your question about style. I was delivering 3 fully painted pages a week to the editor which necessitated a much simpler visual! It was all about reduction in the right places. Big shapes and readable forms with focus on expressions and body language to assist the dialogue and narrative. Creating character designs that were distinct from one another but not too complex that they would require loads of detail on every pass. Theo Prasidis (Author) wanted to give the book a more European feel, less like something you might get from one of the big two so we leaned into a more painterly and looser vibe.  That got a little waffles there but I hope that answer was useful to you in some way at least!