#I'll improve I think I just need to understand how much I must use the sharpening function

[faceglitchsworld]

~Thornapple-Extinction MV~

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME BALDUR'S GATE 3 / PART ONE

i think you're past the point of saving.

together we might survive.

get me out of this damn thing.

we have no time for stragglers.

do you intend to die for a stranger?

i thought that damn thing was going to be my coffin.

you keep dangerous company.

we can watch each other's backs along the way.

enough of this chatter.

who put you in charge?

i'll trust my own judgement.

a miracle, given everything you've been through.

it'll all be for nothing if you don't find help soon.

you're alive. i'm alive. how is this possible?

seems like we're the lucky ones, judging by all the corpses strewn about.

anything's an improvement on where we just came from.

'we'? you want to stay together?

we need each other.

i can't think of better company.

i wanted to thank you again.

you should be furious, shouldn't you?

kill it yourself — you look capable enough.

i was hoping for a kind soul.

let's try to keep that lovely neck of yours in one piece.

no need for this to get messy.

i need her alive.

and to think i was ready to decorate the ground with your innards.

please, allow me to introduce myself.

of course it'll turn me into a monster.

you should travel with me.

our odds are better together.

i was ready to go this alone.

maybe sticking with the herd isn't such a bad idea.

you seem like a useful person to know.

let's hope any future acquaintances don't hold a blade to your throat by way of introduction.

no harm in a little mystery.

conversation shouldn't be made, it should be grown.

maybe i'd like to get to know you better.

i'm usually better at this.

couldn't have phrased it more repellently myself.

you don't happen to be a cleric, by any chance? a doctor, surgeon? uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?

it's not exactly a common affliction.

a parasite shared is a parasite halved.

you're both twice as tall as me but have half the bloody backbone.

no point getting killed.

second worm gets the cheese and all.

nobody's getting any damn cheese.

she obviously sees your kindness as weakness.

don't let her take advantage.

a simply 'thank you' wouldn't go amiss.

your friends abandoned you.

i've got plenty of friends who aren't soft.

let's just hope she reserves those impulses for any common foes.

what a curious way to awaken.

what is the worth of a single mortal's life?

something the matter?

you must have thoughts about our little stowaways.

thinking about it won't help.

i suppose we'd go our separate ways — not a slight on your company, of course.

no reason for us to not stay together if we get on well.

if we do survive, we'll have separate lives to return to.

let's just say it's a very person, very private acquaintance.

you're not the kind of company i'd keep willingly.

perhaps i'll return the favor at some point.

she's delightful, in a very 'look at me twice and i'll dismember you' kind of way.

i understand much beyond your comprehension.

you'd do well to observe more and question less.

and they didn't cut you from navel to neck?

i am still getting used to people like you.

that large, fleshy nose of yours looks like a mistake.

best to keep quiet, lest any drivel leak from your lips.

i do not intend to stay long in this place.

may your actions express the same mettle.

anomalies lead to surprises.

what hasn't happened may yet come to pass.

not a collaboration i'd have anticipated.

can't you tell me something real about you?

i have a great respect for privacy, especially my own.

i have a very disciplined mind.

those tricks won't work on me.

please don't try that again unless i invite you to.

we meet again, as predicted.

care to explain why you're helping me?

what kind of services can a skeleton offer?

a monster forms inside us, and you care to be idle?

i knew your kind to be fragile.

don't you know an exhausted warrior is an ineffective one?

it's a thickheaded notion in a complex circumstance.

what were you two talking about?

if that was any of your business, we'd have called you over.

your business is mine.

we're entwined.

if we're to survive, we need to trust each other.

you seem reliable.

we're overdue some good fortune.

[mochayoubi]

most japanese learning advice i've taken from my partner, which includes:

begin consuming native material as soon as possible and then merge it into your daily life as much as possible

find a method to review new words (such as anki) so you recognize them when you see them while consuming native material

look up things you don't understand

there is just no getting around some things. to get better at reading, you have to read. to get better at listening, you have to watch/listen to actual native material.

keep consistent <- if anything, this is the most important

when he says merge japanese into your daily life, he means try thinking in japanese, talk to yourself in japanese if you have nobody to talk to, switch your devices to japanese. this may sound intense, and for me it took a while to acclimate to it, but if you can manage it it does make a big difference.

because im more sensitive/hesitant about new things and had a lot more hurdles when approaching japanese, i'll add in what helped me:

like any skill, willingness to be consistent in learning something takes an attitude shift. for me it meant accepting that i had to be bad to get better - for you it could be different, but in general know that you will find yourself out in the weeds and that's ok

use native materials you actually enjoy, not just ones people recommend as "good for your level" (they may be good for your level, but if it's a slog to get through youll just make it harder for yourself)

go as slow as you need to, or get through it as best as you can. a dialogue you cant follow but still try to actively listen to is better than not trying at all. a book you need to stop to look up words every sentence is better than not reading at all

find something outside of pure language acquisition to motivate you. when it gets hard and you feel yourself stuck youll need that other motivator to get you through it. for me it was enjoying playing video games or watching shows and i could rely on my enjoyment of those things even if i didnt feel like actively studying the japanese words in them

in that same vein, find an overall goal to work towards. for me, i want to live in japan while knowing the language comfortably, so i think of how much closer to that i get to every time i learn something new in japanese

if you can, find someone to study with. having another person there doing the same thing as you can be massively helpful just to keep up motivation and keep each other accountable

make it easier for yourself, but make sure youre still consistent. read an easier book (but do read). reduce the amount of reviews you have an anki if you must (but do anki or -insert vocab learning method here-).

hope that helps! when it comes to specific areas to improve on i think that warrants a different conversation (like what to do for speaking or vocab practice) but overall these are what guide my studying.

[alciedoodles]

hi!! i saw your other post about how you simplify details and it was really helpful - was wondering if you had any tips abt drawing expressions/poses to express a story/emotions. like i saw your recent sumeru char doodles on twt and the way you draw alhaitham and hungover kaveh is so!!! ahh!! all of the lines feel really intentional, from the expressions to the fabric of the clothing and omg i love it so much. anyways sorry for rambling HAHA thank you sm for sharing your art! gl w art school 💪

Hello!

Thank you so much for the lovely words <3 it's really such a honor to hear that so many people consider my art to be very expressive, which I think is an essential skill to have for storytelling in comics!

First of all, I'd like to say this isn't something I can easily answer... you must already know there's no easy step-by-step guide on how to be "good" at art or expressions or whichever aspect you're trying to improve, the answer will always be observation and practice. However, I can tell you some of my methods I use to make sure emotions are conveyed as efficiently as possible(?). Here are the key points I always try to apply (note that these aren't rules, these are just my guiding points):

Understanding the character(s), the context, and how the two work together

Laying down a foundation

Not letting dialogue be the main driving force behind storytelling

Paneling conveys emotion too, actually

The absence of something can also convey emotion

You didn't specifically ask about comics, but since it's my favorite subject and it ties into your question, I'll be using a lot of examples from the comics I made! And it might interest other people who were curious?

VERY long post ahead :)

1. Understanding the character(s), the context, and how the two work together

This is what I think is the most fundamental part of storytelling! I mean, makes sense, right? Obviously you don't need a PhD in The Character to make stories based off them. I literally cannot tell you every detail about my favorite characters despite loving them very much, but I think understanding them and their relationships on a big-picture level is primordial. What drives them, what are their principles, what are their biggest fears, who do they make exceptions for, etc. Also, to me, understanding their relationships is sometimes more important than understanding the character at a molecular level. We can tell so much about someone just from the way they interact with specific people vs how they interact with strangers. The person I am online isn't the same I am with friends nor even with family-- like one of the reasons some characters can feel one-dimensional is because they don't show variation in their character throughout their relationships (and since you mentioned Kaveh and Alhaitham, I don't need to tell you the way both of them interact with each other is far removed from the way they interact with friends, strangers, etc... I think a lot of people forget who they are outside of their relationship, which a huge point of contention behind mischaracterization in fan works). I don't have much to say about this other than this is something I keep in mind every step of the way through.

2. Laying down a foundation

This is what the majority of my comics look like on second draft:

I said second because the first drafts usually look like this, which are barely comprehensible to anyone but myself:

The purpose of these are not only to give me a better guide for posing than whatever i did on the first draft (storyboard), but also have a first pass at motion and emotion. The expressions and gestures are legible enough that you can probably glean the emotions of each character based off the little sketches. Ultimately, some of the things I'll draft will end up adjusted, changed, expanded on or even removed.

This particular panel of Reigen is a favorite of mine, because the first pass already shows his confusion, but the final one is even more distorted because it felt like it needed to be even more accentuated.

This panel where he mansplains is also a good example, because the first pass gave him too much of an arrogant/uninterested look (notable with his upturned face), whereas Reigen is more likely to take pride in explaining something he knows to make himself look like a wise and mature figure (notable with his slight smirk and downturned face, as if nodding to himself; the hand is also slightly more forward as if inviting rather than dismissing). And since I basically made an example of it above: body language is super important! This applies for everyone. It doesn't stop at characters who make grand gestures and exaggerated poses every waking moment of their life, but also characters who are socially awkward, private, reclusive...

The posing here is intentionally stiff but not entirely closed off, giving the sense that he's earnest, tries his best to make connections , but also doesn't want to take too much space, thinking the smallest wrong move could cause trouble. Also, give room for the body to do its thing. Avoid cropping out things that shouldn't be cropped out. Leave enough room between the edges of the panel and the point of focus to emphasize what you want to emphasize. Close-up shots shouldn't be too frequent (in fact, personally I don't like doing close-up shots but it doesn't mean they're bad or shouldn't be done, again, my word isn't gospel!), especially if what you're conveying isn't too emotionally charged. Lastly, I have terrible news for people who hate drawing hands. Hands are possibly the second most expressive part of our body (if we don't count the body as a whole), so especially for your charismatic characters, you will very often want to use hands as a tool of expression.

(Think how much emotion and personality would be lost if the hands weren't there!)

3. Not letting dialogue be the main driving force behind storytelling

With my comics, I play an incredibly dangerous game called "I'll think of dialogue as I make the storyboard and then when I'm done drawing every page I'll write the dialogue over it guided solely by memory and whatever I drew". Don't do this. Have a script in hand or write it at the same time as you draft your storyboard. The reason I do this is because I'm lazy and I don't want to open a simple writing software to type down a script. Genuinely I have no other reasons. Anyway, the only advantage this gives to my comics is that they will generally be able to stand on their own without much dialogue; obviously dialogue is essential, but what I mean is that we don't need it to have a pretty accurate read on the room.

For example, if I remove all the dialogue from this page, you probably can't guess exactly what's being discussed. However, you can identify through their emotions alone that there is disbelief, bargaining, and finally a pretty devastating info was dropped. Alternatively, cutting down dialogue from your page and leaving room to expressions/body language alone can be entirely more beneficial than having any dialogue to begin with.

AKA Readers aren't stupid (some may be, but the majority can extrapolate just fine). You'll realize how much you don't need words and how your stories can be even more funny/impactful by pushing forward visual storytelling.

4. Paneling conveys emotion too, actually

Being a "good" artist isn't enough to make good comics. The way you panel things is extremely important, because it sets the tone, mood, pace, you name it. Some of the best works out there are the ones with the most care put into the flow of the comic. You need to understand how people will read it, and it starts with what order you deliver the information and how. This is paneling 101, but a page with irregularly shaped panels, multiple changing camera angles and such will be exponentially more dynamic than a page where each panel is the same size, have similar compositions and/or repetitions with little to no diagonal or curved lines of action.

The two examples above are WIPs from 2 different stories so unfortunately you'll have to make do with the rough sketches. That being said, you don't need to know the context of either pages to know the kind of emotion that should be felt through the paneling alone. Give time for the important emotions to be processed by the reader (unless it's intentionally fast-paced). Every emotion that needs to be emphasized should have its own panel.

In this example, I could easily have condensed these two panels into one by transferring the dialogue from the second into the first and jumping on to the next action. However, it would undeniably give much less impact to Kaveh's disbelief. On an inverse situation, sometimes you will want to condense two panels you made into one, because whatever those two panels are doing are perhaps not important enough to deserve separate panels! Lastly, you can notice that the space on the page is not always filled. Leaving space between each panel and/or between the edges of the page gives room for the reader to breathe and slows down the flow; and inversely, if you want to make the situation more frantic, make everything look more tight and constricted.

5. Not showing facial expressions sometimes conveys more emotion than doing so

This ties nicely to the point I made about body language. You don't need to see a character's face to know what they're going through, necessarily. Sometimes, their posture or their dialogue is enough. In my opinion, a story is more compelling when this equilibrium of facial expressions / body language / paneling / dialogue is correctly adjusted-- you will not need to have all the elements to convey the message or it could be a little overbearing. I don't have many examples for this one because they tend to be more relevant in dramatic scenarios, which I haven't done that many of.

(The first one is once again from a WIP)

And that's about it for my insane guide on comic-ing. I hope ANY of it made sense.

***

Here's a round up of extra tips, focused entirely on the drawing part which might be more of what you asked to begin with :'D

- That little line/wrinkle that adds so much character

Yall know what I'm talking about. In my opinion, too many artists are afraid of giving laugh lines/wrinkles because it makes their characters look older, except when it's to add those sexy sexy eyebags. I'm encouraging everyone to add them to their art little by little and see how much it can improve the expressiveness! Obviously, I don't use it everywhere, but it's a very effective way to make your expressions feel even more... well. expressive.

- Line of action

You've probably seen this picture going around before, from Preston Blair:

Although it's called line of action which implies action, this line is important even when the character isn't really in action.

You can gain a lot in expressiveness when you think of the body as one whole fluid instead of a sum of multiple disjointed parts. This is why drawing a very rough base comprised of only lines and circles can help figure out if the posing works before you start refining it.

On a different note, animation principles work very much in comics as well! I recommend looking up animation guides especially those that show how to make key poses.

- Shadows and/or color fill

This is one I will use quite often for different situations.

Shadows can immediately set a tone when they're used dramatically. For example, a shadow over a character's face can convey unease and/or evil intent.

On the other hand, I will use color fills for different purposes:

Differentiating ground layers

This can help with readability.

2. Conveying a certain mood

It can separate the character from the color of their background to give a sense of isolation, reflection, realization, being disconnected from their surroundings, etc...

- Don't be scared of using codes / tropes / archetypes

...As long as it benefits the narrative, of course. By codes / tropes / archetypes, I mean posing or expressions or visual effects that are universally understood and used for specific expressions. The semicircle sweatdrops and blush made with slashes are incredibly typical of manga/anime, but it doesn't mean they're bad! Visual effects are there to help remove the ambiguity of an expression considering a single expression without visual codes could convey multiple emotions!

- Find what inspires you and take notes!!!

In my case, what greatly shaped my art style to what it currently is: One Piece, the Ace Attorney series and Mob Psycho 100 (yes, I only watched the latter last year but it still managed to become a source of improvement/inspiration for my art even at my current level, because you'll never stop improving :) )

I hope this wasn't too long or too off-topic, and I hope it can also help other people who might be interested! Thank you for reading!

[xinnabon]

he's the type to...!!!

#kazuha & albedo x gn!reader

note; "he's the type to" edition!!! but these are basically just wholesome, on crack, short, and definitely hcs that don't make sense at all.

requests are allowed to be sent but do take in mind that i will take longer than expected since i would require your patience over this. also no nsfw, i'm a minor.

i don't think this is proof read since i just wanted to post after months.

+KAZUHA

he's the type to dance like old married couples with you. life awaits him and now that you're here, many outcomes behold in the future to the two of you as time comes, as he wants you to be a part of it.

he's the type to wait for you. if you're going to be gone long, he'll support you and still stay loyal. why is that?

he's the type to sing for you. the questionable thing is, its like he's alluring you to sleep after a hard day. he has some poems he made and just make it in song form to just make you more sleepier just trying to understand what it means. i do wonder if it does matter.

he's the type to be like a knight. even though he is a noble himself, it is never a burden to sweep you up your feet. saving you and saving himself.

he's the type to lift your stuff. maybe when you try moving in with him, he'd do all sorts of things just to make you feel welcomed enough, or its just simply carrying certain grocery. who knows.

he's the type to write about you ACCIDENTALLY. maybe he'd reflect it over something he foresaw or just something he takes value of and inspired him. as he progresses, it eventually turns about you.

(previous bullet extended) "a promise is made out of true loyalty and devotion in committing to someone. either you spouse, friend, family, or even to someone as hard as rock to figure out, it is still a must to be able to harnest your ability and fulfil it. someday, somewhere, somehow, i'll have the will to promise to my own spouse. to make due with at the end of " he scraps it off. (bonus if he just keeps it somewhere instead)

he's the type to save drafts from his writing. he probably has a lot and likes looking at it since it sounds so direct and a few mistakes... just often poorly written or not understandable enough to comprehend.

he's the type to be caught rambling too much about a certain topic or interest by "reflection". he'd go all out and get sympathetic, just by thinking as well what other people would think about it. you sometimes tell him over and over again but maybe he can't stop because it may take advantage of him.

+ALBEDO

he's the type to never judge. even at times of being reckless, he wouldn't bother to pressure you further. he is someone to trust whenever you fear of one's opinion or possible judgement that can lead as an offense. no. he would never.

he's the type to doodle. whenever you come by while he is working or watching him work, he does horrible but cute doodles of the both of you while writing specific formulas or other materials he does. he thinks that it serves as entertainment for you.

he's the type to ramble and fidget around. again, working. you can hear him spitting out certain hypothesis, possibilities, formulas, or literally... anything. he likes it just because he thinks that it can help progress his mind more.

he's the type to be clueless. maybe the first time you were trying to court him, he thought you were just trying to hell regardless of the weird pick up lines you did to get his attention. you literally told him off that you liked him and the fact he only knew now at that moment.

he's the type to accidentally baby you. he's pretty much used to being with klee all the time to the point he is overly protective even if you doubt it. as in, he would ask if you are comfortable with him or not. maybe he does need a break.

he's the type to generally not know how to cook. he'd kept asking you how to just to spend some time and improve. all he probably knows is just to make daily every morning coffee.

he's the type to be less self-conscious around you. people are horribly terrifying to be with because it's either they'd want to test you or even aggravate you to your limit. not you. no. you'd never do that to him. he did thought about it but as timed leaned and further passed, with you, nothing will interfere.

he's the type to be your tutor. history or chemistry, he'd know. instant head aches just hearing him teach you but he doesn't bother to make an issue out of it. but of course, he'll be cut out in trying to go a more simpler level for you. (not an insult...)

he's the type to do crossword puzzles or just puzzles in general. he can be bored or just in a burnt out, and you know all about the cerebrum and testing your brain to become more knowledgeable per puzzle or anything. he liked asking you if you ever want to do some with him but maybe that's your fault for the lack of capacity you contain in your head that you refuse to at times.

[charmedreincarnation]

Doubt and how to persist

When you’re working towards manifesting your dreams, there will be times where doubt creeps in and it feels like it will never come to fruition. However, you need to stay persistent if you want to make your dreams come true. Here are some tips to help you persist even with doubt in your manifestation journey. it can be difficult to maintain faith and believe in the process. Even when you know that it's real and are dedicating time and energy to manifesting your desires, it's common to experience doubt. In this video, I'll explain why it's so normal to doubt your manifestation, and how to push past those doubts in order to successfully realize what you're wishing for.

First off, let's examine why it's so common to experience doubt when you're trying to manifest something. We live in a society that condones logical thinking and tangible evidence, so when we focus on something intangible and unseen, our minds will understandably become filled with questions and uncertainties. This is why it’s natural to have doubts - your mind may be propelling you to view the world in a more analytical way.

It's also important to understand that manifesting often requires us to have a certain level of faith and belief. When we become aware of the doubts and lack of faith that can exist within our minds, it can create further doubt as we become even more aware of our own lackluster faith. So to work around that doubt I think it’s important right First, focus on your ‘why’. Your ‘why’ is the reason you’re motivated to make your dreams come true. Remind yourself why you’re doing this and the impact it will have on your life and the lives of those around you. It will be the source of strength when doubt creeps in. Also limit your exposure to external factors. Doubt can take root more easily when you’re constantly exposed to outside opinions that may not align with yours. Block out this noise and focus on yourself and your ‘why’. The amount of time I see people question their own beliefs just because a blogger says something else is super concerning. Different perspectives and beliefs from someone else doesn’t take away from the validity of yours.

Also..Don’t forget to practice self-care during doubt-filled moments. Take a little break from your manifestation journey and do something that makes you happy. When you come back feeling refreshed, that doubt won’t be so big anymore. God or not, you’re still a person with emotions and this can be overwhelming. Taking a break says nothing about your persistence or your faith, don’t let that false notion stop you from taking care of yourself. Despite how seemingly difficult it can be, understanding how to persist with doubt is something that anyone can work through. Taking the time to practice far-reaching awareness of one’s thought patterns is key to improving internal dialogue and recognizing those pesky, discouraging thoughts. Developing self-compassion and an awareness of past traumas can help in having a more soothing, understanding approach to handling these types of thoughts. Additionally, engaging in activities like mindfulness meditation, journaling, and nature walks can help build healthy coping strategies for when these unwanted feelings arise are all things I’ll never stop advocating for.

Finally, this isn’t talked about much, but don’t be afraid to find an accountability partner or group and keep working towards your goals. Having someone support and encourage you on your journey makes it easier to push through the moments of doubt. Plus, knowing someone else is counting on you can be a huge motivator to keep going. Community and relationships not only have personally held me more accountable but my resolve is always stronger when I’m also encouraging and fighting for others.

I think it's also important to remember that we must persist if we want our desires to come true. I think this is a concept but we’ve all seen but people interpret what true persistence looks like differently.

So let's talk about the concept of persistence according to Neville Goddard. He famously said, “What you persist in imagining, you will ultimately experience.” This is a powerful statement and it's one that we should remember if we want to manifest our deepest desires. Goddard believed that it was necessary to persist in our imaginings in order to bring them into being. He taught that our subconscious mind is incredibly powerful and can help shape the world around us. We can use this power to create the life we desire if we are willing to persist in our imaginations.

When we imagine something vividly, we are actually bringing it into being in our minds. The more we do this, the more powerful it becomes and the easier it is to manifest it into reality. This is why Goddard emphasized the importance of persistence. remember that our desires will inevitably come true, no matter how many times we imagine them. However, this does not mean that we should not persist in our imaginings. We must be consistent in order for our imagined realities to take physical form. This is how we create the life of our dreams. That’s it. Simply having the desire and constantly longing it for it in the imagination is all it is and it’s what we all do.

Persistence is key when it comes to manifestation. When we persist in our imaginings, we are planting the seeds of our desires deep within the subconscious and they will eventually take physical form. But it will only happen if we persist in visualizing and believing in our desired reality.

At the core of Neville Goddard's teachings is the belief that by believing and feeling something is true, it will eventually come true. He believed that each of us has the power to create our own reality by using our thoughts, feelings, and in some cases, physical actions. This means that we have the power to shape our lives as we see fit and that it is up to us to take the actions necessary to make that happen.

So then why does it take so long for a 3D manifestation to conform to a 4D vision?

Well, Neville Goddard himself said that it takes time for the spiritual vision to become physical. That is because, in order for a manifestation to become real, it has to go through several steps, including developing an emotional connection to the desired outcome, defining what that outcome looks and feels like in detail, and committing to the daily practice of visualization and affirmation in order to bring the vision into reality. Another reason why it may take some time for a 3D manifestation to conform to a 4D vision is because the spiritual process requires us to surrender our attachment to the outcome. When we let go of our expectations and surrender our attachment and need for control, we open up space for the divine to work its magic. as Neville Goddard stated, “Energy follows thought” – so if you invest more energy into something, it will eventually come to you. This means that if you are focused on your vision and put in all the effort needed to bring it into reality, not only will you remain patient until its completion but you will also see faster results.

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S04E01 - Sid and Nancy PART B

Charlie: *looks to Rex for confirmation that they should stay in the shack* Rex: *is busy ripping the mannequin to shreds*

Hi, I'd like to report a theft by two (not very juvenile) delinquents.

Oh, and their vandalizing dog.

The teasing.

And there was only one... cot. That hardly qualifies as a bed.

And here is where we learn that Sarah turned down the offer from London and chose to stay with the SJPD. And she also requested to have some more time on the field, to my understanding.

Well, that's true but it's definitely not what you mean.

"I'm gonna bite you both."

Sarah: "I can tell you, I do not miss my desk." I don't miss your desk either.

"Yeah, it's good to see you out of the lab more often." You know, Charlie, there are other ways where you could get to see her more often...

Good job, you dork, you put her to sleep.

Rex: "Stay the fuck down, Charlie. I'll get you two together one way or another."

No, but... where was he going to go anyway? There was literally the cot and not much else.

Hehehehehehehehehehehehe (sorry, I am a child)

Charlie.exe has stopped working again.

"This. Sarah. On my shoulder."

His little smile! He's got everything he needs right there. Charlie, you fool, just because she fell asleep doesn't mean you can't try again tomorrow! Like, I'm glad for this season's angst because we barely had any, but at the same time I'm sad that he put himself through all this just because he wouldn't open his mouth.

Also, the lighting is atrocious but they're supposed to be sleeping, there's not much to be done about it.

Cozy.

"Uh-oh. Is my hand on his... Okay, no, it isn't. We can still pretend." If anyone tells me they didn't think about it, you're a lying liar.

Awkward. Also, this ship has had two bed scenes, neither of which was on their own bed.

The way Sarah says, "I was out cold" is definitely like she's trying to excuse the fact that she woke up practically on top of Charlie. Guys, one of you must have moved the pillow on Charlie's lap somehow. Or will you blame this on Rex as well?

What I'm thinking is that at some point Sarah moved in a way where her head fell on Charlie's lap and Charlie had to put the pillow there. Because, male anatomy.

I'll smack you two.

"Hey, lovebirds, we're here about two murders?"

"You never stop working, pal." Unfortunately.

Can you, though? I'm sorry, what is the reasoning behind leaving Jesse to go with a local cop and confront a guy that they think might have killed two people?

He definitely wanted to take a break himself lol. Getting old, Hudson.

"But you think a guy and his dog can handle [Sid and Nancy]?" Rex can handle anything.

Are the both of you deaf? How did she sneak up behind you?

Jesse the trouble magnet strikes again.

Charlie: "We should probably pay for that rye." You can't even steal half a bottle of rye in this day and age.

Well, the takedown was done by Charlie, so that's new.

Yes, you're a strong, macho man.

Yes, you are.

This is another Saint Pierre? Havre means port, I think.

Rex and Charlie are pretty much communicating via telepathy by now. I'm not really making fun of it, they do have a deep bond and pretty much know what each one is thinking.

Is this within the duties of an officer of the law?

That was a very good premiere. Probably my favorite in the show, up there with the S3 premiere. And you could already tell that there were changes on the show and someone was shaking things up, even without the information about the change in showrunner. Also, notice how the episode doesn't end with one of the show's favorite cheesy scenes.

Someone could assume that I liked Peter Mitchell's seasons more because he gave us Charah. No. I liked them more because there seemed to be a point in them, and mostly S4 (S5 too in some regard but I see it more in 4). The writing was improved in the majority of episodes, there was more care in what goes in the scenes, and he tried to steer the show a bit from the standalone episodic style where each episode carried nothing to the next one.

[letmelickyoureyeballs]

whatever I still prefer henry cavill as geralt. Just cause the book version was ugly doesn't mean he always has to be.

Referencing this post. This is basically a long rant about hot actors in media, and adapting books to media. I love The Witcher in all forms, so please don't think I'm hating on the show.

Just want to start off by saying I absolutely loved Henry Cavill as Geralt and I'm super sad and disappointed that he left. He is a huge Witcher lover and played all the games and read all the books, so his performances were always spot on and he really put all his love in the role. Kudos to him and honestly I can't imagine a better actor to play Geralt.

Now for the main part of this ask. I know when a book or whatever gets adapted that it won't always be the same. I know there will be differences that either improve the story or not, and that some things work better in books vs movies and vice versa. The main gripe that I talked about in that post(that was just an observation; I'm not hating on the games or show) was that the games and show made Geralt hot when in the books he really isn't. Granted people keep wanting to fuck him in the books, so there must be some appeal, but generally, he isn't described as handsome and is ostracized a lot from society for his looks and who he is. He's a mutant. Plain and simple.

I do think the show was able to show this whenever he drank a potion with the black eyes and veins, and how pale he became, which was pretty spot on.

But what I was trying to get at is how every piece of media seems to have to have a hot/attractive protagonist or characters. The audience I guess needs someone that they are attracted to, to like the story and want to watch it. Would half the movies and TV shows out there be as popular as they are with ugly/unattractive actors? Not saying that ugly actors are bad and shouldn't be cast. Just that attractive actors seem to be the default, even when the story is based around the opposite of that.

Like I stated in that post, a big part of the books(besides the main plots) is how people treat Geralt for his mutations and looks, and how that view changes as they get to know him. Yes, he looks freakish and non-human and scary at times, but he isn't all of that. He is a nice, caring, and protective person who does the right thing, even when he doesn't have to. He goes against his looks and it's growth for him and the people around him. This in my opinion is not reflected in the games or show with a hot actor.

How is the message of "Don't judge a book by its cover" supposed to be seen with a hot actor who doesn't look "evil" or "ugly"? How is the audience or the people around Geralt supposed to grow in their understanding of him when the only "weird" looking things about him are his white hair and barely yellow cat eyes that you can't really see? Again I know that not everything from the books would be in the show, but I wish this was one thing they kept in, or at least made more of an effort to replicate.

Another thing that someone else mentioned that I'll link here, is the fact that Geralt would not be ripped like Cavill, and if he did have a six pack it would be from malnourishment. A big thing with Witchers is that they are pretty much dirt-poor. Therefore Geralt would not be able to buy enough food to replace the calories he was losing from traveling and fighting. Another thing that was kinda ignored when adapting the books, and instead getting an actor who is ripped.

To conclude this anon, no he doesn't always have to be ugly just cause the book version was, but I wish that he was, or at least was more freakish looking. Henry Cavill was a good pick, but was he the best one? Depends on what you want to watch I guess. Do you want a hot actor who can use a sword and kill things? Then he's perfect. Do you want more of a story realizing that looks don't matter(random examples: The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Deadpool) who also swordfight and kills monsters? Then maybe Henry Cavill isn't the best.

[breelandwalker]

Hello! How are you doing? Hope everything is fine.

I saw your post about not being a pick me witch and I felt called in. Could you recommend me podcasts, videos or books that show how to imrpove this part of the practice?

I find myself always comparing and shiting on the religion I was born in, would like to see any work that could help me through this vice.

Thank you!!

(In reference to this post. Recommendation linked below. Personal experience ahead.)

I'll be honest with you - I used to have the same problem. I made that post because I used to BE one of those witches. It took years of self-work and really examining my motivations to be able to move past my trauma and my anger enough to talk about my craft and my beliefs without leaning on the crutch of I Have Beef With The Church.

And for a long time, it WAS a crutch. I WAS going full-speed down the pagan path partly as a fuck-you to my conservative religious relatives and the faith I was raised in, and I leaned into that because the rebellion felt GOOD. Moreover, it was reinforced by some of the books I was reading and certain portions of the online witch community.

But eventually that momentum faltered and I found that once I looked past the anger and the rebellion, I really didn't properly understand what I believed or what I felt. And I noticed the same thing in a lot of the witches I was associating with at the time, who came from similar religious backgrounds and had similar issues. I also started branching out in my research and found some sources that did not rely on the assumption that witchcraft/paganism and Christianity must be diametrically opposed.

So there I was, tired of being angry, stuck in a rut, processing this new information, and wondering how to make a change. And I finally realized that I had to do it myself.

I fully realize and acknowledge that my experience is NOT everyone's experience, and that we all need different things in order to grow, and that some wounds take longer to heal than others. But I do think it's still important to be able to talk about what we believe in without the reasoning behind it being anger or hate.

I don't know of any resources that deal specifically with this issue for witches (I know they must exist, I just can't point to any specific titles), but what really helped me was quantifying my craft. I made a journaling exercise of sitting down and identifying what I knew, what I believed, what I was learning, what I wanted to learn, and what questions I wanted answered. When I found myself straying into that old anger, I was able to consciously correct the trajectory and refocus on my craft.

Dealing with the emotional side of the problem was its' own struggle, but even the exercise of separating my craft from my anger helped me to grow as a person and as a witch, and to get past the roadblocks I hadn't realized I'd put in my own path.

If you'd like to give this a try, I'd recommend it for any witch as a thought exercise, a method for tracking progress, and a way of clarifying those sometimes-nebulous ideas we have about our craft. It's also very satisfying when you think you don't know all that much, then suddenly you find you've filled pages and pages with the things you've already learned and the ideas you have.

Best of luck on this part of your journey and I hope that you find the peace and clarity you're searching for. Self-reflection and self-improvement is an ongoing process and it's not easy, but good on you for making a start. Hope this helps! 💜

[scaryspears]

Cassie and Jacqui: Opinions and Thoughts

These are my thoughts and opinions on Mortal Kombat that a bunch of people probably won't care about, but I thought I should post them here. Now I will be using past games as reference, even though every character's interpretation/counterpart is different, they still play part to the canon storyline.

Okay, so these two are besties. Now before I get into any details, this is just theories and opinions. I just want to quickly say that I like Jacqui's character, and not just because I was able to play as a black female character, but I found her interesting and liked her romance with Takeda.

I'll start with Cassie. She is a nice enough blend of Sonya and Johnny, I guess. I found her a little annoying in mkx but only because of her intros, and to be fair a lot of character dialogue kind of sucked in that game. I found her very relatable when I was younger though, because I said a lot of cringey things when it came out. Other than that she was pretty cool, and was a different kind of case where a character voices out what everyone else is thinking. To be fair, Johnny has that as well but Cassie is Gen Z levels of voice (or an everyman). I also appreciate that they made her more girly, although I do miss the tomboyish Cassie from mkx.

Thing is, I don't like how they made it into a thing where they made Cassie feel like a main character, and while I understand that's how it must be done with next generation games, I get the impression that she was treated better than her teammates. That impression was solidified in the mk11 storyline where Cassie was chosen to be the new general with the addition of Takeda and Kung Jin being cut from the game. I get that she defeated Shinnok and whatever, but seriously? It was also a situation where Sonya was choosing randomly, so I think she should've chosen Jacqui simply because Jacqui is genuinely into being a soldier. For a moment the audience is shown the pain on Jacqui's face, and I was honestly anticipating some kind of rivalry to take place where Cassie and Jacqui end up fighting about something within the story mode.

I wrote in another post that I think Cassie joined the special forces because she wanted to impress Sonya. We know that from mkx Sonya was neglective, and if Cassie is much closer to Johnny then I don't think it would make sense for her to not have some appreciation for the creative arts. Meaning, Cassie yearns for Sonya's approval. It was also hinted that Sonya may have been abusive, randomly attacking Cassie and Jacqui with arm bars. Even while Cassie is an adult Sonya is still neglective, as noted in the last game, not even caring about Cassie's love life. It's very clear the two of them have problems with each other. One thing for sure, Cassie has inherited Sonya's cruelty which makes her snark different from Johnny's. A nice blend of seriousness and un-serious = obvious sarcasm. I'm also calling back to the 'Johnny pee pants' incident that she was told about.

"So how are things between you and Bob?" - Sonya

"For the last time his name is Dylan." - Cassie

"Why learn his name if he's not sticking around?" - Sonya

----

"I'm the new improved you." - Cassie

"(Scoff) Improved how?" - Sonya

Well for one thing, she's got powers.

----

"Jacqui says as kids you were scared of me." - Sonya

"You'd randomly attack us with arm bars." - Cassie

"And you learned to always be ready." - Sonya

The fact that she says this with a smug smile shows she sees nothing wrong with the fact that she went out of her way to scare and hurt children. Characters have been drilling in on Johnny but had nothing to say to Sonya about her parenting. Johnny made it his mission to change into a better person, even in his ending he didn't need people to tell him that he was doing something wrong because he realised it by himself. Sonya for whatever reason lacks that same awareness.

----

"Growing up I always wanted a sister." - Sonya

"To exchange style tips and dish on boys?" - Cassie

"No! To spar with." - Sonya

You can do that too, Sonya. Jeez.

----

"You are Johnny Cage's daughter." - Robocop

"Ha! Shocked I'm not some Beverly Hills brat?" - Cassie

Beverly Hills kids: Well... that hurts. I think it's somehow been engraved in Cassie that being any old normal girl is a terrible thing, and I don't support that "I'm not like other girls" nonsense. I think it was Sonya's influence, and potentially Jax.

----

"I am honoured to fight you." - Liu Kang

"I'm no chosen one, Li Kang." - Cassie

"You fought shinnok and won." - Liu Kang

Oh he's mad. He is so mad. Bro died because of Raiden.

----

Now with Jacqui.

I think Jacqui is in Cassie's shadow, hell they even erased her from her own ending. Even when she was given screen time it still felt like she was brushed to the side. Cassie was chosen to be the leader of the friend group, and in hindsight that was a bit predictable. In comparison to her Jacqui is rational and doesn't turn things into a joke. I know Cassie is serious as well, but Jacqui is more passionate about fighting for Earthrealm and being in the special forces while Cassie is more of a show off.

"Leave dad in peace." - Jacqui (mkx)

"There's things only Jax can do." - Sonya (mkx)

---

"What do you see when you look at me?" - Frost

"A cheap second gen knock off." - Jacqui

"I said look at me, not you." - Frost

These two are love and hate, two sides of the same coin. Frost wants recognition and goes against the Lin Kuei to have that, while Jacqui wants to make people proud and carry on a legacy. Both have a male counterpart of some kind. Frost disappointed Sub Zero for not being patient and she became a villain, while Jax doesn't want Jacqui to even be involved in anything kombat related. Jacqui follows, Frost demands command.

---

"Cassandra Cage overshadows you." - Cetrion

"In her own mind maybe." - Jacqui

"Do not deny your jealousy." - Cetrion

---

"It's time to pass on your mantel." - Nightwolf

"Baby girl's good, but she's not me yet." - Jax

"Don't underestimate your daughter, Jax." - Nightwolf

Notice the edge in Nightwolf's voice? Also, Jacqui doesn't have to be Jax. Not to mention she was trained by Johnny and not Jax, so it's weird of him to say that. I think she should be trained by Scorpion as a wedding gift and have a few Shirai Ryu inspired outfits if she's introduced to the franchise in future games. Anything that distances her from Jax.

---

Jacqui is called "unproven" and a "knock off" when she has in fact proven herself, she just hasn't beaten an elder God- oh wait, what is this? Jacqui defeated Cetrion? (Do not bring jax into this, I chose Jacqui). In mkx she beat Reptile and Ermac, the very same Ermac that Jax lost his arms to because he was caught lacking, and held her own against the revenants.

The characters constantly compare her to Jax, which is problematic in my opinion. As a person who was constantly compared to my older siblings growing up it felt like my identity as my own person was being stripped away from me, and I think it's the same case with Jacqui. Jacqui should be recognised more for who she is rather than who her father is, because Jacqui is just as good if not better.

"Such beauty in Kombat is rare." - Shang Tsung. Oh Shang Tsung, you pervert.

Now onto her friendship with Cassie. It's very obvious that these two grew up together and even went to the same school, which must've meant that they lived close to one another, like the same town or city. I don't think the two have always been buddy buddy, in terms of problems coming up. If it weren't for circumstances I think these two wouldn't even be close or in the same vicinity. Cassie went and dated Jacqui's love interest for prom knowing Jacqui liked him. I'm surprised these two are even friends.

Moving onto her relationship with Jax, I liked Jacqui bonding with the younger version of her dad during story mode, and seeing the differences between older Jax and young Jax.

I always saw Jax as an a-hole, but jeez. I understand being a protective father but he needed to accept that he couldn't breathe down her neck for too long. What ticks me off even more is his disapproval of Takeda. I think one of the reasons Jax isn't very fond of Takeda is because he mildly reminds him of Johnny. Takeda has that charisma about him and makes jokes as well and overall has this easy going air about him. Even after Johnny and Sonya got married, meaning Jax saw Johnny a lot more, I don't think Jax grew a liking to Johnny. I'm not sure if Jax truly had feelings for Sonya, but I do think it's a possibility if Johnny not only did not want to get between them under the suspicion that they were together, but also because he thought they would end up together.

I have a bunch of stuff to say. I believe Cassie should've done MMA fighting or something around there, that way Cassie wouldn't just be another copy of her parents.

If Jax and Sonya did end up together then I think the turn out would be more extreme. An overprotective father and a neglectful mother.

[donnerpartyofone]

I think to myself, well I'm unemployed and I can't cook and I don't produce anything and I really have nothing to do, so why don't I clean the bathroom. Cleaning the sink is easy. Cleaning the toilet and the tub is easy. I did it recently enough and I've done it a hundred times, I will make myself useful and I'll feel good about this. And it's just a disaster. It takes three or four hours. Every time I think I'm almost done, I discover a huge mess in an area I just "cleaned". I was really thinking about it, I was being thorough, but I just couldn't work it out. Every time I have to do something, almost anything, it has to be done over again many, many times, often by someone else. It doesn't matter if I take my time. It doesn't matter how much practice I have or how much research I do or if I ask for help or advice. The other day I needed to update about four sentences in my cover letter to apply for a job and it took me an hour because there was something about the file I couldn't understand. It's just a Word document. I worked in an office at a tech startup for almost ten years (they hired me out of desperation when the only person in one whole department needed a vacation; the only thing they asked me was "Are you sure you want to do this?"). I had a computer in college, and ever since. Most of what I do with my time on Earth is type documents. This is not foreign to me. But even when I finally fixed my problem, I don't know how I fixed it. I couldn't repeat it. Honestly I still don't understand what the actual problem was. The next time I have the problem I will just have to hope the same corrective accident happens again. I don't know how I'm going to find a job again. Actually I don't even know what I can do. My only choice is to keep trying and trying and trying and trying, at everything. It's amazing how often I wake up feeling genuinely ambitious about something, even something small, feeling convinced that I've been trying so hard to improve for so long that today absolutely must be better than yesterday. But I think I've been living the same day for my entire life. Please god find me a job I can do, help me figure out what thing I haven't tried yet that I can be competent at, some little corner of life where I can be useful and reliable. Something that can sustain me enough so I'm not wasting entire days and making everyone carry me. Something to justify the space I take up and the resources I use. The future is starting to look pretty bad. It looks a lot like the past, and the present. Please help me find a job that will make me helpful and keep me out of trouble. Otherwise I don't know what will happen to me.

[rubsjuice]

Why is Swatch a class traitor???

Thank you very much for asking :)

In this post I'll be using he/they pronouns interchangeably to refer to Swatch. I enjoy the idea of they-pronouns Swatch but at the same time I refuse to believe that the only instance of canon pronoun usage to refer to him is misgendering, as some people posted about before, because that's not how Toby flies.

That being said, before talking about Swatch specifically, I need to explain the logic behind this reading of them. Swatch being seen as a "class traitor" is derived from the marxist idea of class consciousness, or in different terms, the fact that people who are in the same economic position understand each other and therefore owe each other solidarity, the idea that people need to be conscious of their position in their society and side with people who will help their situation and improve their lives.

In this sense, a class traitor is a person who, despite understanding their position in the social strata, refuses to side with their peers and instead either shuns them to appeal to a higher social class, to "appear as one of them", so to speak, or completely refuses the idea that they are part of that class to begin with. A good, palpable example, are snobbish, classist doctors. Doctors are employed by someone – be it a hospital, a clinic, an insurance company, the government in some countries, even in private practice, etc, but they are not, by Marx's definitions, owners of capital, aka someone with the exorbitant amount of money that allows them to control production in a large scale (in other words, conglomerates and billionaires). However, having a higher material condition on average, and having attained this social position through study that was allowed by a higher material condition in the first place, some doctors don't realize that they are just as much of a proletariat as the poor man they are treating, and thus exhibit behavior like discrediting, ignoring or even being hostile to people they identify as lesser, despite the fact that they're supposed to be together, sociologically speaking.

What the fuck does that have to do with Swatch, you ask? Well, Swatch is, to put it bluntly, literally a servant to aristocracy. They are, by definition, part of the working class, and therefore they owe solidarity to their fellow workers. Spamton, in direct counterbalance, is a member of the working class who has been elevated, by one way or another, into a position that makes him just as, if not more powerful than aristocracy. Spamton had become burgoise, though he still retains his origin as a working class salesman, that much hasn't changed in him, as far as we can tell. This seems to be going on just fine, if we are to believe Spamton's response in the Q&A, until Spamton needs a support system, when his business goes belly up to the point that he ends up homeless.

I really need to emphasize this point. Spamton isn't a "funny little guy who lives in a non-house cuz it's funny", not even in-universe. He is, put it simply, destitute. He does not live in the trash because he wants to. And, I think that every clear-headed person understands this, you cannot go from being one of, if not the, richest person in your entire world, to a homeless man living in a garbage can who people pretend doesn't exist, unless your peers and your society have wronged you tremendously. Spamton didn't become a homeless man just because he fucked around and found out, he became a homeless man because he fucked around and found out, AND none of his peers from this time wanted to help him. And, most importantly, this includes Swatch.

As a servant, he must know what poverty looks like. He must know what having a material condition worse than the ones you surround yourself with is like. And they did nothing to help, or maybe even contributed to Spamton's isolation, which is a separate can of worms I don't have the energy to look at gameplay videos for at this time of night.

For real, does the guy who sells Spamton's bowties with the label removed, and refers to him as a "crooked salesman", and plays it coy and laments when Spamton goes off the deep end sound like they have class consciousness?

Do they sound like they wouldn't shoo off a poor, hungry plugboy from the palace's kitchen back door?

Swatch has apparently rejected his origin not only as a metaphorically working-class artist, but the fact that he could empathize with other working-class people as well, including the less fortunate and the desperate. This makes him a class traitor, by Marx's own theory.

Of course, there's a lot more nuance to Swatch and Spamton's relationship, especially the fact that Spamton isn't the perfect portrait of a poor victim and is very combative and aggressive, which doesn't make people very willing to empathize with him in the first place. There's also the power inbalance and dynamic involved in the fact that, when Spamton lived in the Pandora Palace, Swatch was his butler as well, and that might complicate things from Swatch's end.

At the end of the day, this is just my own takeaway from Swatch's words about Spamton, and Spamton's words about Swatch. This doesn't mean much for anything besides my own understanding of Deltarune and what sort of fun dynamics I can explore in fanworks, nor does it mean I am claiming it as truth, but I do think it's an interesting exercise in media analysis.

Edited to include a few more words on Spamton becoming burgoise cuz I meant to do that but forgor lmao

[akuaya-eng]

(Main story) Chapter 3 - Episode 1

- THE BATTLE OF HUMANS -

Dia

The Gem of Colchicum was stolen, and I was manipulated into causing the "Scarlet Wall" to go berserk… On that day, I turned from a human into a devil.

----------

Fiori

Prince… Dia was merely used. The "Scarlet Calamity" that happened a thousand years ago was beyond his control…

If I believe that story entirely, then Dia might not be the devil who willingly caused the calamity. But…! That can't be true. It doesn't add up. If it wasn't Dia, then who caused that disaster!? The "Red Moon Calamity" that killed my sister!

Who am I supposed to take revenge on--

----------

Tuner

Dia and Fiori are deeply troubled. What can I do for them…

Spirit of Wisdom

(appears) …You mustn't get too involved with them.

Tuner

But…!

Spirit of Wisdom

I'm saying this for your sake. If you value your life, you shouldn't get too deeply involved. It's the fate of the "Tuner."

Tuner

…I understand. My role is to watch over them…

Spirit of Wisdom

That's right. Not just this castle, but everyone else too. Let's take a look at the humans next--

Tuner

This is…!

----------

Eric

Haa…! (purifies) Whew… No matter how much I purify, it doesn't seem to decrease. I can't believe there are so many curses…!

Claude

It's too early to collapse, Eric. Ghosts and cursed energy remain everywhere.

Eric

I-I understand! I won't tire from just this…!

Claude

Good, that's the spirit. Leave this to me. I'll advance a bit further.

Eric

Yes, sir!

Swarm of ghosts

………

Eric

… I feel sympathy for those of you who have been consumed by curses and turned into ghosts. I could easily become the same. But precisely because of that, I must end this with my own hands…! (purifies) Alright. This area should be cleared. I need to support the captain…!? Damn-- (ghost appears behind him)

Oscar

Take that!! (slashes and purifies)

Eric

Ugh…

Oscar

That was close. Are you alright, Eric?

Eric

… I'm fine.

Oscar

Huh? You were saved, so why the sour face?

Eric

I could have handled that on my own. It’s true I was caught off guard, but…

Oscar

Yeah, I know you could handle it.

Eric

Then why did you interfere…!

Oscar

I thought it would be quicker if I took care of it. As long as it's defeated, does it matter who does it?

Eric

That may be true, but…

Oscar

So you didn’t like the help? What a troublesome youngster.

Eric

Who are you calling a youngster! I just want to be treated equally--

Claude

Both of you, what are you doing! The fight isn't over yet.

Eric

Y-Yes! I'm sorry!

Oscar

…Look at that, the ghosts are almost gone. Did you take them all down yourself, captain?

Eric

Even the curses that filled the area are disappearing.

Claude

I've gotten used to using purification power. You two should aim to do the same.

Eric

Yes, I will strive to improve!

Oscar

Yeah, yeah. Let's get going.

Claude

Wait. If we keep fighting individually, the ghosts will scatter. If even one escapes, the curses might spread again.

Oscar

Do you want to surround them? Isn't that a bit much with just three of us? The other soldiers can't get close to these cursed areas.

Claude

Ghosts are mindless zombies. If we lure them properly, we can lead them where we want. If we gather them in one place, the three of us can handle them.

Eric

I see…!

Claude

I'll be the decoy and draw them in. You two will flank them and close in.

Eric & Oscar

Yes, sir!

Claude

Alright, let's go!

Swarm of ghosts

……….

Claude

Haaaah! (purifies)

Eric

Amazing…! He's taking down the ghosts one after another…

Oscar

As expected of our captain. No hesitation in his movements, no matter how many there are.

Claude

…!

Eric

Ah, captain! There's cursed energy at your feet…!

Claude

Hmph! (purifies)

Oscar

He doesn't even flinch at sudden curses. We could take a nap back here.

Eric

Don't joke around! We need to do our best to lessen the captain's burden.

Oscar

Yeah, yeah, I know. But I still can't get used to this purification power. Fighting and purifying at the same time feels weird.

Eric

I agree. Maybe we should think of it as fighting the ghosts…

Claude

Eric, Oscar! Now!

Eric

…Yes, sir!

Oscar

Alright, let's go!

----------

Claude

…Alright. The ghosts are mostly dealt with.

Eric

Yes. The remaining ghosts are being handled by Oscar and the others.

Claude

Let's focus on purifying the scattered curses. You take that side.

Eric

Yes, captain!

Curse's voice

…The calamity spreads… aah... all because of that devil… the Scarlet… Devil…!

Claude

(purifies) Hah!!

Curse's voice

………

Claude

(purifies) "The Scarlet Devil"… So this curse was indeed caused by that calamity. The "Red Moon Calamity" caused by that devil…

Eric

…Captain? Did you say something?

Claude

Hm? No, nothing.

Eric

Oh, I must have imagined it. Sorry!

Claude

Is there something you need?

Eric

I finished purifying the curses over there, so I came to report. What's next?

Claude

Ah, then help with the purification over here. I'll join you soon.

Eric

Understood…

----------

Tuner

Claude's muttering just now… The "Scarlet Devil" is definitely referring to Dia. Does Claude know something about Dia? I should investigate.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #77

I have no idea what I'm going to write to you about today. After yesterday's letter, my brain feels pretty empty.

I do have a major development, though! J and Br and I are all in a partnership now, with M's blessing and joy, of course! J has been crushing on Br for a while now, and Br has been crushing on the both of us, and at this point, we all know each other well and understand each other as kindhearted individuals who value integrity. So we've decided to give it a try!

Although this represents a huge change in the relationship dynamics between us, and change is often scary and adjustments will need to be made, I'm very excited about this development! We are all passionate about healing, self-improvement, open communication, and caring for those who are good to us, so I think the dynamic has the potential to spur amazing growth in all of us!

…And, it's pretty freaking wonderful to be able to get to look over at the couch and see J and Br cuddling happily, not gonna lie!! Ahahaha!!! 😍

One of the best things about being polyamorous is that when there are more eyes on a relationship (as long as those eyes are earnest and conscientious and committed to the greater good!), the relationship usually becomes much more stable as a result. That's because if there's any kind of trouble, then there are more brains available to work towards solving whatever the problem is. Any conflict is never supposed to be people pitted against each other - rather, it's supposed to be the people versus the problem at hand. Anything is resolvable as long as there is trust, communication, and integrity of word and deed.

So, as I'm writing this, we have M playing the next segment of your story, me on the floor with my laptop on the ottoman, typing away, and Br and J on the couch. At present, the dynamic feels seamless and natural; as though Br has always belonged here. 🥰

We are at Costa Del Sol. I've been trying to pay attention to the kinds of foods that are available in your world, for some reason. I see the stalls around, and I'm noting lemons, apples, tomatoes, corn, bell peppers, nasturtium, onions, watermelons, bananas, cucumbers, basil, potatoes, at least three different kinds of pumpkin or squash, avocados, and I think persimmons and zucchini! I also saw cows and chickens in previous areas, which must mean that you have eggs, milk, beef, and poultry. And there were baked goods, too, so there must be wheat! And I saw a picture of a pineapple, and! Other media has shown things like garlic and grapes!

I suppose it's of immense comfort to me to know that your world and mine aren't so different. We don't have Banora White Apples here, or Gysahl Greens. But the fact that we have at least some of the same things makes me very happy, for reasons I don't know how to articulate.

…After spending a moment thinking about it, maybe it's just the fact that maybe we both might like pineapple. Maybe it's the fact that canonically, we both like noodles. The fact that we both like pumpkin. That we both probably know what onions and garlic taste like. The fact that you can probably make any of the recipes I've given to you, once you build yourself a peaceful life. All of the little things that show that you and I really aren't all that different.

Hey, Sephiroth. Really, you and I aren't all that different. So if I get to have a peaceful life full of love and safety, you deserve the same thing. Work on it, okay? You gotta make it to the end of this, because lots of people will never be the same if you don't. You can't drown in the swamp, got it?

You're loved. You're needed. You belong. Please use that knowledge to gather sufficient courage to remain soft and to make good choices in this world, and keep yourself safe and well cared for in the process.

I'll write again soon.

Your friend, Lumine

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Based on @sillymanwithocs idea of Vicki Vale helping Talia clean her name from slander and bad representation and Joker clear his name from having a cause and good representation.

Penguin: Miss Vale, I have a proposal...

Vicki: Absolutly not. You are a capitalistic mob boss who once feed a guy to a penguin I'm not joining your P.A departament.

Penguin: You don't understand-

Vicki: The media is prejudiced against you somehow and you aren't actually that bad?

Penguin: No, no. I mean I would preffer if they stoped making mean coments about my apareance and focused more on my crimes but that wasn't the point.

Vicki: Oh I can do that.

Penguin: Help me look like a good guy because I paid you a lot?

Vicki: Hell no! I'm not Jack Ryder!!! But I could try to make so they stopped focusing on your looks?

Penguin: And how much would I have to pay?

Vicki: To stop assholes being capacists and fatphobics? Nothing. I'll do it hapilly!

Penguin: Thank you, Miss Vale. I do have another question...

Vicki: I have no idea where Jack lives or how much you would have to pay for him to help you with your schemes.

Penguin: Well thanks anyway. I'll look around.

[...]

Scarecrow: But-

Vicki: NO! I'm sorry but I can't even begin to think of a way to explain that even if I somehow was insane enough to want to help you there's absolutly nothing I could do to make your "research" peer reviewed!

Scarecrow: You could at least publish it.

Vicki: Why though? It's unetical, isn't reviewed and it literally starts with a creepy laugh and you screaming "fear me, mortals"!

Scarecrow: But you published the first one.

Vicki: I didn't published it. I mentioned it on the program BECAUSE it was an interesting, ethical and peer reviewed research. Is not my fault you went insane and became a maniacal chemical terrorist.

Scarecrow: I preffer improved my reshearch tecniques.

Vicki: Well when the rest of the scientific comunity agrees with you, we talk.

[...]

Jervis: Please!! Please! I could be mind controlling you but I'm actually asking isn't it enough to show I have good intentions?

Vicki: Look while I understand it must suck to be wrongfully called a pedophile if I just publish an article saying you aren't one no one will believe me. I can try to help you. But you will need to actually act less predatory.

Jervis: I'm not predatory!

Vicki: Well not intencionally...

Jervis: What you mean?

Vicki: You mind control people, mostly woman, to play tea party with you, has zero notion of personal space and calls everyone pet names.

Jervis: Okay. Gotcha. So all I need to do is be rude and kidnapp more guys, enbys and elders.

Vicki: That not ... you know what sure.

[...]

Waylon: *enters*

Vicki: Sure. I will totaly help you.

Waylon: Eh? I was going to ask if you know where Harley is... I hear you two are friends now and since it is apparently unsanitary to keep it on the sewers she has my coffe machine.

Vicki: Oh. She is on the apartenent upstairs with Pam, they're hidding from Batman.

[...]

Vicki: Pam, I love you but I can't.

Poison Ivvy: Why not?

Vicki: Because while I understand where you are coming from I can't just write a piece about how we should genocide the human race barr some people.

Poison Ivvy: But it would solve the enviromental crisis! That's not fair.

[...]

Riddler: Hello, Miss Vale.

Vicki: Look I'm really tired I have actual jornalism to do, I can't stop just so I can try to make people stop calling you "poor man Joker's".

Riddler: They are still doing that? You make a jokey riddle ONCE!! Stupid fucking people and their inability to distinguish really different concepts!

Vicki: I also can't stop them from calling you "fairy" and "weird" and "not a treat" or "not a real villain"

Riddler: That's so rude! Who the fuck is even saying that???

Vicki: Jack Ryder and his viewers.

Riddler: That moron can't even solve the riddle of the Spinx! How dare him??

Vicki: Uh okay is that about the recent mayor discourse after you went to Arkham using you as an example and calling you a manchild and insulting you outfit? Oh wait is it about that famous gotham tiktoker theorizing you are an incel?

Riddler: Now you're just being mean.

Vicki: Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out what you want me to clear in your image so we can finish this conversation quicker.

Riddler: I didn't want to improve my image!! This was supposed to be a hostage situation but you ruined it!! Apparently everyone just made a laughting stock out me...

Vicki: *ackwardly* Not everyone... Just a bunch of people on the internet... and on TV... and the mayor.

Riddler: *crying* It's been a really though month, okay? I just wanted one thing to work out. But noo is just another lost for stupid Edward. Guess I'll just go home. *to his hiding henchmen* Sorry guys no heist today.

Vicki: *even more ackwardly* You can still kidnnap me if you want to?

Riddler: *angryly* I don't need your pitty. *leaves*

Randon Henchmean: That was really mean of you! I hope you're happy.

Vicki: I didn't... what just... what is my life?

[amskvaris]

Have your OCs ever interacted before? I wonder how Taki would get along with Sabriel, since Ilma is low key angsty like Sabriel is too

I MEAN ON ONE HAND i haven't actually used sabriel in ages (i had to put the ilma stuff on her bc she already had the eyes) but i will try to make things up as i go. (no promises i didn't contradict myself on anyone's characterization though lmao. anyway)

-

taki being around ilma means she'd meet player!sabriel at some point, maybe during stia story. "Oh! You're Sabriel! I always hear about you but never met you!"

and sabriel was literally just taking a break away from people and watching central city from a place high up that she thought she'd be left alone at, but… guess not. she turns her head just a little to look at whoever found her. "… And you are?"

"I'm Taki. I help Ilma with research!"

"Ah." sabriel doesn't recognize the name but isn't in the mood for polite introductions. "How is he doing?"

"Getting better." big smile. "He's been alone for so long that he doesn't really know how good being around new people feels. Not yet, anyway."

"I see. It's good to hear he's improving." she doesn't need to say anything else and just turns her head back to watch central city. sounds like they both know how ilma feels.

"Yup." taki nods just to herself. "I'm trying to help him that way too. I think it's working."

sabriel just acknowledges that with a hum.

it's quiet for a bit. taki stares across the city too, smart enough to know not to say anything. sometimes the best company is silent company. also, central looks nice from up here. a good view!

and it's sabriel to break the silence after a belated realization she has no idea what taki meant. "… What way?"

instead of answering the question, taki giggles. "Because we're dating!"

-- huh??

sabriel turns back to stare at taki wide-eyed. she never ever ever expected ilma, of all people, would be interested in romance in the first place, much less Be Dating Someone.

but… now that she thinks about it, ilma is at the age where young love is feasible… though isn't he pretty attached to manon? although he still didn't seem to listen to manon any time sabriel saw them working together…

she's still struggling to believe it though. this taki girl sounds a bit too airheaded to be more than an assistant.

meanwhile taki just smiles a little less. she's not sure what she expected from the soon-to-be hero. "Well, it's okay. I'll try to be around next time you see him."

and they're both back to staring across the city.

taki still hasn't left. she knows exactly what sabriel is thinking about. that implied understanding over how ilma feels and now her disbelief that he would ever be dating... "You lost someone you love, didn't you?"

"I lost--" sabriel turns to face taki directly, wide eyes again-- "How did you… ?"

"You know how alone he feels and didn't believe he would date anyone." taki's smile is sad and soft at the same time now. "You understand what love is too, but you're not with anyone anymore. And as a Meteorn, you wouldn't have that kind of connection anyway."

is... is taki a genius in disguise too? is that why she's dating ilma?? sabriel doesn't do anything but blink and keep staring.

taki continues. "Meteorn are all supposed to have total amnesia, but you don't. Right?"

a sigh. "… I remember some, but not much."

"They must have meant a lot to you if you still remember them." taki hums. "Maybe it's not my place to assume, but… would they really want you to feel like this?"

sabriel relaxes. this is pretty intrusive, but taki doesn't seem to care and she does have a point.

"It's not like you have to forget them. You just have to accept they can't be at your side anymore. It would probably help to have new people support you too."

is she really getting a lecture from some girl she's never seen before that says she's dating ilma… ? sabriel still remains silent though. taki obviously means well, but these are things to think about later.

at least taki gets the hint. "Stuff like this doesn't make sense right away, but you'll figure it out eventually." she lifts herself right over the railing to sit on the bars with nothing but the sharp drop below.

... is she--

sabriel reaches for taki as a reflex, totally alarmed. is she going to jump from this high up? she doesn't seem the type to know how to glide, but--

too late. taki's already falling. sabriel doesn't even get over the rails herself in time before...

right before impact, taki slows her fall by the same glide skill and lands perfectly on her feet, brushes off her sides, looks back up and waves before running off.

…

blink blink. sabriel takes a deep breath. that was... a lot.

still, she has think about whatever just happened later and try to relax for now. back to leaning against the railing behind it.

... until someone else shows up, at least. clearly this isn't as secluded as she had hoped.

"Oh, there you are!"

ahh, right on time, aina found her too.

(at least she didn't show up in the middle of taki's lecture… that probably wouldn't go well, would it...)