#Ok so i'm trying to format this so that everything in the main post in in character and everything in the tags is out of character

[kingdomsofkopry]

Ah, hello there.

Unfortunately, you seem to have caught me at a bad time, I'm not in the most organized state at the moment, so I don't have as much information ready as I'd like. But, since you're already here, I might as well just give you what I know by memory. So, let's start with how our land of Kopry was created, according to the most widespread religion.

At first, there were only stars in an empty sky, and, well, not much was happening. Not until a large cluster of stars started moving closer and closer, until a person was formed from the light! Its name was Koep, the creator. Koep had nothing to do, so he asked the stars for advice. For knowledge. For anything, really. But at the time, since there were no people, there were no souls inhabiting the stars, so there was no one to answer Koep. She was confused and alone, so she started exploring and figuring out what she could do. In their exploration, they found that they could form stars into other things. They tried a few times to create something that could contain something for him to nurture and care for, but nothing quite worked out. He made six planets before he grew tired and went to rest. When it awoke, it discovered that what it created, which had become planets and a sun, had changed on their own, and one of them was growing plants. Koep was very excited that it now had life! But it still felt empty, so they put people and animals on it. All was well for quite a bit, until the people got in a great war. Koep split the land in three in an effort to stifle the fighting, the islands created from fragments that had been chipped off during the Separation.

If you were to look at a map, you could see how Koep split the land. Unfortunately, I have misplaced my map, and I cannot find it. The name Kopry, the name of our land, means the creation, in honor of Koep. You can come back later when I'll have more to share.

[whats-she-gonna-post-next]

So I just finished binding Trust Life by the absolutely amazing @chaiandsage (Hello, I am ready to be perceived now, I hope that I have done your story even the slightest bit of justice) and I just wanted to make a post both showing it off, and going through what I learned doing this bind because I did a few new things here and want to talk about it.

Also I'm not going to subject you all to this, so most everything but the final product here is going to be below the cut.

(Also so sorry that the photos aren't the best. I am... Very bad at photography, lmao)

Ok, so let's start off with some of the cool things I learned during this bind. Or, maybe not necessarily cool, but they are things I learned and I think that learning is cool!

First off, I learned how to download and add fonts to Microsoft Word, which while not interesting, does open up a whole world of fonts for future binds. Is it a little late in the game to have found this? Probably. But it is what it is. I actually downloaded a pretty good chunk of different ones, but the fonts I actually used were MF Love Dings for the heart motif dividers, which was a new download, and then a few standard fonts - Edwardian Script ITC for the title pages, Baskerville Old Face for the chapter headers, Book Antiqua for the chapter titles, and good old Garamond for the actual text of the novel.

Here is the divider and the title fonts. I just think they are neat.

Another thing I learned was how to make book cloth! I found these squares of white cotton fabric at a dollar tree and decided to give it a go. The way I did mine was by painting them first (a task in and of itself, and as you can see on the cover, did not turn out super even, but I love them nonetheless) and then I glued down a layer of tissue paper to give it a little stiffness and make it stick to the chipboard easier, it was a super cool process and I look forward to trying it again in the future now that I have done it once and have a better idea of how I can improve in the future

And now onto some of the other cooler parts of the process!

So I had a lot of fun doing the formatting, it's my favourite part of any binding process, I cannot tell you how many fics I have formated that I have yet to print out and actually bind because I enjoy the process so much (the answer is actually 5 that are completely formatted and ready to go, 3 that I am actively in the middle of formatting, 4 projects completed - including this one, which... may technically count as 3, granted 2 of them were gifts for other people - and 3 that I am planning on doing that I haven't gotten to start on yet. Oh, and a 5 part series that I have printed out but haven't actually bound yet. I have a problem, lmao.) As I mentioned, I downloaded a few fonts for this but it just ended up looking so good in the end. Here is what some of the inner formatting looks like (I did just take the screenshots from word, I thought it was easier than getting the pages in the book)

Something else! This was the first time I actually broke a single fic into multiple parts, and I do not regret it. Each section is fairly large on its own, so it would have been a monster all together. I gave them basically the same title pages and such, just used the main stories summary for all of them and copy pasted everything - work smarter, not harder - and kept the same format for the chapters and such. There were 2 obvious spots (at least imo) for breaking things up, those being at the end of chapter 24, and then again at the end of 57, if you know, you know. However, that made the divide be 24 chapter, 33 chapter, 9 chapters. I was a little worried about how that divide to affect the look of the books, but I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked out. Book 2 there is quite obviously the largest part (it's basically double the length of book 1) but book 3 was surprisingly long for being only 9 chapters and I think they look fairly cohesive together. I didn't realize how long the last nine chapters themselves were. The first and third ones are actually about the same size together as book two, which is pretty cool!

When it came time to put together the actual books, I stuck with my tried and true french link stitch, as I find it to be a sturdy stitch, and then used green, yellow, and red card stock for the end pages, I felt it thematic.

I'm super excited to have this as a physical book now, thank again to chaiandsage for allowing me to bind this amazing story and just for writing it in the first place! I read it like twice in the span of a month, and I swear I have read chapter 57 and 58 themselves way too many times to count. Not even going to mention the amount of times I read the last 6 chapters because I just love a good happy ending.

But yeah, I'm really happy how this bind turned out, I still have to put an actual cover in these - which I plan on doing, I have a friend who is going to help me with the cover design when they are free, so there will be an update at some point.

[protectingtulpas]

🔥 BY TULPAS, FOR TULPAS 🔥

Hey everybody!! Welcome to the blog ✨✨ I'm Badeline, she/her pronouns, and this is dedicated to being a protected space for tulpas, tulpa hosts, and anyone trying to learn about us or is interested in creating one of us. We are people, and we deserve to exist!

Tulpas deserve to love life!! Help me make that a reality!

If you're new here, I'll keep it simple; a tulpa is a sentient being created by willful, repeated, and dedicated interaction with the concept of a person until they start to respond back and stop being controlled by you. They live with you and share your mind forever, generally as friends, and through trust and communication you can learn to do cool things like switch who's controlling the body, chat all day and get another perspective, and generally just have your life enhanced with a companion by your side looking to do stuff! Think of it like an imaginary friend, but you can't control them, cus we're our own people. If you want more info, check out my explanation with sources here! You can also look at "What is a tulpa?" from tulpa.info, or this carrd, it goes into more detail and links some sources. Tulpa.info and the tulpanomicon are some of the best sources out there, especially the latter for creation! I reclaim calling myself a demon but most tulpas DO NOT.

This is half a tulpamancy advice blog and half a support network for tulpas in the face of the hate and shit we get thrown at us. We are real and we deserve to EXIST!! Got formation questions? Skillset questions? Wonderland questions? Questions about intersectionality with other forms of multiplicity? Life questions relating to being a tulpa or tulpamancy? Send in an ask! It's important that YOUR voice is heard. We deserve respect, and we will NOT be silenced by those who'd be happier if we didn't exist! We're not some Supernatural TV thing that'll come kill people in their sleep, we ARE people, and I'm done being quiet.

If I haven't responded to your ask yet and I've clearly answered ones that came after, it's probably because I'm planning a detailed response for it!!

#tulpamancy advice - tag for advice I've given! Check it out if you've got any questions

#making wonderlands - tag for wonderland/headspace advice!

Wondering why I'm taking so long to post stuff?

Here's a shitfuckton of plural resources!!

The difference between tulpa hosts & system hosts!

🔥 Blog dedicated to @eeveecraft

🔥 @moonpool-system is our main system blog

🔥 Times I've been called a bitch counter: 2

🔥 PLURALPUNK + PSYCHEPUNK + UNITYPUNK 🔥

DNI/Stereotypical controversy:

Our only DNI is that if you don't respect the existence of myself and other plurals, get out. That means transmeds and sysmeds can fuck off too, go find someplace else to be a bigot ✨ If you're an endo neutral/anti endo singlet we have P-DID so like actually consider who your exclusion is hurting thanks. Support all of us or admit you're an unsafe place for us.

I'm adding this too - I'm not fucking talking about the trans/ID or rad/queer community here. IMO "transplural" is just a fancy label for wanting to be plural, but I'm not in a place other than that to decide which ID labels are shitty and which aren't. Rad/queers, however, can fuck off. Okay? Ok. Here's some elaboration on that.

I don't agree with every single opinion of every single blog I interact with or reblog from, that's ridiculous. Read my posts, read my replies, but don't assume things about me based on other people. This fight against anti-plural rhetoric is about all of us, but that doesn't mean I agree about everything with every one of my allies. Purity is a tool of bigotry and we have more important problems to face than bickering.

If you're actually worried about what you've heard is cultural ap/propriation, consider this instead: Did you know you're listening to a rumor that originated with sysmeds who tell you that a directly researchable, blatantly open religion is closed, deny and call into question spiritual leaders' words on what meditations can be shared, and can't produce any examples of tangible harm?? (We have asked and gotten answers, by the way.) Anyways, if you're neutral about this or actually trying to learn, do research. Don't let sysmeds with a savior complex dictate what's harmful. There're tons of different people out there with different opinions that aren't homogeneous and shouldn't be treated as such. It's fucking embarrassing we have to go to these people to ask if the etymology of a goddamn word is ok to use anyways, it's time to stop forcing this shit on other ppl. Okay? OK. Sysmeds and aggressive anti-tulpa shit will either be fucking deleted from my ask box or used as an example of why they're wrong.

[cat--comic]

blog 1. happy birthday

welcome to the new cat comic blog! if you're reading this on tumblr, hello! if you're reading this on neocities, i love you more. page looks pretty snazzy, right? check out the very pretty melankorin.net, this page looked a lot more plain before i ate that page's design aesthetic.

ok.

it just so happens that yesterday, the 13th of april, 2024, was cat comic's first birthday. this comic is officially one year old! goo goo ga ga! it makes me glad and more than little scared that i've been working on this for so long. it's my longest-lived project to date and still going strong, which means a lot coming from my bloody trail of abandoned projects.

what the hell is cat comic about?

cat comic is a story born out of a lot of my fears vis-a-vis my creative projects. it's a story about creation, whether that deals with art, identity, or culture, and about the history that doggedly stamps itself on any creation, and about the problems of indie projects. it's a story about a cat and a dog and some other various animals who get into lots of trouble, and it's mainly a story about the end of the world.

i think you can tell that there's a lot of throughlines to my other work (unfinished or otherwise), which is pretty thematically appropriate. actually, cat comic was originally reusing far too much of eyrie, an old comic idea of mine. eyrie followed an aspiring paladin and their little buddy as they made their way to the shining capital of a theocratic nation, delving into a mirror world that reflected public perception of things along the way. it was a pretty fun concept.

anyway, it informed a lot of cat comic's original premise—it began with an ascent from belowcloud to a shining city in the sky. huh... sounds familiar. like eyrie, it also dealt a lot with divinity, mirrors, and perfection (as in: perfection in the eyes of society, not cat comic's current sense of it). it's fun looking back at these early drafts of cat comic because you can clearly see all the influences i was pulling on, big or small. i was pretty fine with doing this because, as it pains me to remember, cat comic was to be a "fun" and "short" project where i could "do whatever". haha.

cat comic's changed a lot since then and it's also hardly changed at all. a lot of the original ideas are still there in the batter, but it's also evolved into something pretty different and much closer to my heart. and it will continue to change and evolve! although perhaps not quite so drastically as it has over the last year.

what's the plan with this thing?

i had a conversation with a friend a while ago (hiii ardenna i know you're reading this. love you) about our respective story projects and our problems working on them as single creators. i don't have a team for art or writing—it's all me, babey—and that means everything about this project is going to take what we in the industry call a "long time".

this time next year, i want to have a comprehensive plot. that might sound like a lot of time for not a lot of work but believe me i need it—i'm doing a bit of a unique format for this story and i want to put the time in to make sure i stick the landing with it. my secondary goals for the next year also include finalizing designs for all of the main cast and making sure they're all fleshed out... basically, by next year, i want to be able to start actually drawing the comic. i don't want to start drawing it then but, just, you know, be able to.

as of last week, i've handed in my senior project (and passed with flying colors, thank you), which means i can start turning my attention to things other than that. i've already talked a bit in my 2024 blog post about my plans for the year and how i would like to devote the rest of the spring to exercising my comic muscles. i would like to stick to this plan, despite the fact that school is trying to murder me.

right now, i only have vague ideas of what those exercises will be. once i'm completely done with my senior project (report handed in at the end of this month) i'll start workshopping them. again, my priority with them is not telling a story so much as working on coloring, panelling and figuring out my workflow.

and, apart from my year-long goals and season-long goals, i just want to flesh out these pages a little more. i kind of rushed getting these up because i wanted to hit the birthday (and i didn't even manage that LOL). i want to get some more of my brain bits out on canvas! but they never tell you how hard it is to figure out how much you want to share and how much you want to keep to yourself for now. i'm making little lists and i think i'm doing a pretty good job.

final notes (SAPPY WARNING!!!)

thanks to my friends (hi again) who are very excited about my comic. it means an immeasurable amount. friendship forever

and to everyone else... remember: birds can't fly with wet wings. goodbye for now!

[wild-karrde]

One Step at a Time - Part 9

Master List | Previous Part | Next Part

A/N: IS THIS THING ON??? OK HI HELLO I HAVE RETURNED WITH THIS FIC AND I KNOW I ALWAYS PROMISE THIS, BUT I PINKY SWEAR THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL NOT TAKE AS LONG (in fact, I already have a good chunk of it written). I'm super excited to introduce some new characters (and also maybe make a reference to a certain mechanic that I haven't yet named in this series). But anyway, I AM VERY EXCITED FOR THIS CHAPTER AND I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT. THANK YOU as always to the wonderful @teletraan-meets-jarvis for beta-reading this for me and helping me hash out characters and plot and just generally screaming encouragement at me!

Chapter Rating: T

Warnings: language, copious amounts of new OCs (because I cannot help myself)

Word Count: 8.3k words

Lothal wasn’t nearly the paradise Sorgan had been, but it would have to do. Instead of lush green foliage and thick forests, the planet’s landscape was dotted with rock formations that broke up the dead, yellowing grass that covered its plains. Everything appeared to be a different shade of tan or grey.

Arni had told them that the planet had experienced famine and drought during the war, crippling its agricultural industry. But where the farmers had floundered, the mining industry had flourished. The planet was peppered with veins and cave networks that were rich with various metals and minerals that the Empire found useful, so of course it hadn’t wasted any time in swooping in and setting up shop.

Chuckles had been hesitant to travel to any planet that had an Imperial presence, but as Arni pointed out, it was almost impossible to find a world where the Empire didn’t exist in some capacity. Their best option was to find a planet with plenty of rural areas to disappear into, and Lothal provided that. There had been a moment where Chuckles considered returning to Sorgan, but he knew that Ry and Oks had likely had to come up with a story for the drunk that had stumbled out and never returned. Showing back up, especially if the Empire was still around, would only complicate things for them, and that was the last thing he wanted to do for the two women.

So Lothal it was.

Chuckles and Arni had selected a small, family-owned mining operation to target for their next place to settle. The Kern Brothers Mining Company was well away from any major cities, and as a result, a small sort of township had cropped up around the mine itself. It seemed to be a fairly new establishment based on the many job postings that Arni was able to find on various forums, and by all accounts, other than the occasional inspection and weekly supply drops, Imperials largely steered clear of the small community, instead relying on shipments delivered by droids or automated vehicles. 

It wasn’t perfect, but it was about as close as they could hope for. 

As Chuckles settled the freighter into one of the crude landing zones outside of the township, the two younglings pressed forward to get a look at their new home. Aside from the mine, there appeared to be one strip that served as a main part of town, and the area was peppered with buildings that had clearly gone up in a hurry to accommodate the workers. Many of the dwellings seemed to be built from whatever could be salvaged in a hurry, or like the Ayyshus, it appeared many families opted to live out of whatever vessel had carried them there. With opportunities coming and going everywhere across the planet, it made sense to remain mostly mobile should they need to pull up stakes and move on. 

Chuckles could see Nita was less than impressed, and Arni was chewing the inside of their cheek, eyes darting around and taking in every detail. Chuck grinned as the two kids turned to him, clearly trying to hide their disappointment.

Not much of an adventure compared to Sorgan. But, it’s quiet. And probably boring. And we could use boring.

“Not much to look at, is it?” he teased, and he could see both of the younglings relax, apparently considering themselves released from having to pretend.

“It’s very… dusty,” Nita concluded.

“And dry,” Arni added.

“But it’s ours,” Chuck countered. “And we’ll make it what we want. And if not, we’ll find somewhere else.”

Nita nodded, appearing to find this an acceptable compromise, but something had drawn Arni’s attention. They giggled, pointing out the front viewport of the freighter. “Nita! Look! A tooka!”

Nita leapt into the co-pilot seat, leaning forward on the control panel to peer outside. “WHERE?”

“RIGHT THERE BY THAT ROCK!”

The speckled creature scratched at an oversized ear, surveying the ship with disinterest.

“TOOKA!” Nita squealed. “Open the hatch Chuckles! I wanna go make him my friend!” She leapt down from the seat, sprinting towards the ramp and bouncing on her toes eagerly.

Chuck tried to stifle his laughter, releasing the hatch and lowering the ramp. He watched as the two younglings raced outside in the late afternoon sun, Nita at a full sprint with Arni calling for her to slow down so as not to frighten the creature. 

The tooka was most definitely not looking to make new friends, lowering its ears and hissing at the approaching younglings before bolting off of the rock it had been sunning itself on. The clone pilot couldn’t help but grin as he watched the two children chase the Loth cat through the grass, shrieking and squealing as they raced in circles after their furry quarry.

We’ll find a way to be happy here. Dust and dryness be damned.

The sun was beginning to approach the horizon already, casting everything in hues of orange and pink as the cool evening breeze kicked up, rustling through the grass. Chuckles strode down the ramp, leaning one shoulder against a landing strut as he watched the two younglings. 

Yeah. We can make this ours.

—

The following morning, Chuckles headed into the small settlement to look for work. From all of the notices Arni had looked through for job postings, it appeared that the mining company had plenty of positions to fill. Chuckles had opted to once again cover his face, deciding it was a risk not worth taking yet. 

Actually entering the settlement did little to improve his first impression of it. The town was far from a booming metropolis, and while he hadn’t expected to find anything close to the scale of Coruscant’s glittering skyscrapers, he also hadn’t anticipated the rusted out husks of buildings that lined the dirt road that appeared to serve as the main street of the settlement. Even though the sun was barely beginning to break over the horizon, the township was already bustling with activity. Groups of children scampered by, stopping to stare at the stranger with the covered face as he made his way towards the mine entrance. Chuckles had become accustomed to children staring at him during his time as a pilot. The ground troopers were fairly commonplace on Coruscant, but the pilots always seemed to garner special attention from any younglings in the area, wanting to know what it was like to soar among the stars and shoot down vulture droids. 

However, it was the stares of the adults that made a certain tension take root between his shoulder blades. It seemed that there was no shortage of variety in terms of species and homeworld, but they all knew one another, and they also were easily able to identify anyone who wasn’t part of the community. Wary eyes seemed to follow him, and after a few failed attempts at a friendly wave, Chuckles shoved his hands in his pockets, fixing his gaze on the large building in front of him. 

The mine’s main office was certainly one of the most well-maintained structures of the settlement, which he supposed made sense considering it was likely the first thing built, and also the structure that largely sustained the entirety of the small settlement. It was the only multiple-story building in the entire community, well-lit windows glowing in the early morning haze. It was easy to identify the employment office with its freshly painted signage. What did surprise him was the lack of activity inside. He’d anticipated a line out the door, or at least a few applicants waiting around to be met with. But the lobby was completely empty when he entered, a soft chime announcing his arrival, seemingly deafening in the silence. He had to fight the urge to flinch. 

The only other occupant of the employment office was a burly Latero at the far end, who glanced up when Chuckles entered. His eyes roved over Chuckles’s frame, clearly surveying his build and physical usefulness before he heaved himself to his feet with two of his four arms, unleashing a deep sigh and making his way over to a large desk that appeared to be the most central piece of furniture in the room. There, he plopped down heavily on a stool, glancing up at Chuckles again and clearing his throat impatiently. Chuckles took his cue, striding quickly up to the front of the desk, trying not to nervously rock back on his heels. 

“Well?” the Latero prompted.

His voice was gravelly, and he raised a bushy eyebrow at Chuckles, toying with the ends of his facial hair, which was streaked with grey. His forearms were thick and scarred from years of hard labor, and he wore a jumpsuit that was stained and torn in various places. A stitched on name tag on his breast identified him as Jerrno. 

“I’m uh… looking for a job,” Chuckles replied, internally cringing. 

Jerrno snorted. “I figured that much. What kind of work?”

“Whatever you’ve got.” 

The Latero paused, glancing up at Chuckles as though he was an idiot. 

Maybe I am. 

“If ya don’t have career aspirations, do ya at least have a chain code?” 

Chuckles hurriedly produced his chain code disk, handing it to the Latero, who scanned it, eyes glancing back and forth over the lines appearing on his datapad before he glared at Chuckles. 

“No employment history.”

“I worked at a common house. Off the books.”

“How long?”

“Five months.” 

Somehow, Jerrno’s expression became even more judgemental. 

“I’m guessing there’s no references available then. Since ya were ‘off the books.’” 

Chuckles flexed his hands nervously. “‘Fraid not.”

The Latero leaned heavily on the desk, steepling his fingers on his uppermost set of arms while his bottom two gestured at Chuckles. “Son, I know ya see there ain’t exactly a line out the door here. We are hurtin’ for people, but I can’t hire ya if I don’t even know who I’m hiring. ‘Specially with no relevant experience.”

“Listen, I’m strong, and I’m stubborn, and I’ll bust my ass however you need me to.”

Jerrno heaved a sigh. “I don’t even know what species ya are with that getup, and that makes me think you’re hiding from somethin’. I do need people, but not ones that are going to land me in hot water. Understand?” 

Chuckles’s palms were sweaty. 

“I’m human.”

“Can ya take off the mask and prove it?”

We don’t have enough supplies to get anywhere else. It has to be here. We have to make this work. 

Maybe enough time’s passed. The war didn’t really make it to Lothal anyway. Maybe he doesn’t know what a clone looks like.

He sighed, tossing caution to the wind as he pulled off the mask and goggles. 

The Latero’s eyes widened in recognition. Chuckles’s heart fell. 

“You’re a clone.”

Chuckles’s fingers itched for his blaster. He’d left it on the ship.

“I get that a lot,” he replied steadily, hoping a lie might get him at least to the door. 

Jerrno raised an eyebrow. “Son, I served the Republic. I’d know that face anywhere.” 

Chuckles’s mind was racing, but before he could come up with a solution, the Latero heaved another sigh. 

“Well, at least I get the lack of work history now. You’re right, you’re a hard worker. Never met a clone that was a slacker. We can find something for ya. Maker knows there’ll be more of ya with the decommissioning happening.” 

“Decommissioning?” The question was out of Chuck’s mouth before he could stop himself. Jerrno paused. 

“Yeah. Was just announced a handful of rotations ago. How come ya don’t know?” His beady eyes narrowed suspiciously.

The lie came easily this time, and Chuck delivered it as flawlessly as his nerves would allow. He tapped the scar on his cheek. “Bad accident towards the end of the war. They weren’t sure what to do with me, so when it ended, I was released from duty. Guess you could say I got decommissioned early. But being a clone hasn’t exactly made work easy to come by.” His mind was racing, trying to come up with a lie while simultaneously attempting to process what decommissioning would mean for his brothers. 

Some of them surely survived. What the kriff does that mean for them? 

“Accident, huh? It affect ya too much physically?” Jerrno asked, his eyes still slightly narrowed.

Chuckles forced a dry laugh. “Not exactly winning any beauty pageants, and sometimes have some aches and pains, but I promise you won’t find a harder worker than me.” 

Jerrno surveyed him one final time, eyes raking over the scar on Chuck’s face, how he was standing, his overall manner. His gaze felt like an inspection, and Chuckles straightened to attention out of habit. The Latero huffed a laugh. 

“Alright, I think we can find a place for ya. Opening up a new vein first thing tomorrow. Forewoman’s a Nautolan named Anjii. I’ll let her know you’re comin’.” He popped open a drawer, pulling a badge from it and scanning it with his datapad. “Mine entrance is just through the main gates and on the right. Be there tomorrow morning at 0815. Anj will be waiting for the crew, and you’ll get up to speed on the job. We’re expanding in a hurry to meet Imperial quotas, so it’ll be trial by fire. Got a name?” 

“Chuck. Chuck Ayyshu.” 

The Latero punched a few buttons on his datapad, his brow furrowing. “Chain code says Chuckles.” 

“I’d prefer to go by Chuck if that’s alright with you.” 

“No skin off my ass.”

Chuckles assumed his face would draw enough attention on its own. He didn’t feel the need to also have a name that made him stand out more. 

The Latero handed him back his chaincode, and Chuckles tucked it hurriedly away along with the badge he’d been given. 

“Make sure you pack a lunch and water. And don’t be late.” 

“When do I get paid?” 

Jerrno glared at him as if he’d asked an impertinent question. 

“Got two kids I’m feeding,” Chuckles explained.

The Latero’s expression softened. “I didn’t think clones had kids.” 

Chuckles couldn’t help but giggle at that. “I’m sure there’s plenty of kids out there that have my genetics. But these two are adopted. They lost their families in the war, and I lost mine when I left the GAR. So, we found each other.” 

Jerrno nodded. “A fairly common story nowadays,” he said quietly. “How old?”

“Ten and five.”

The Latero’s mouth crinkled into a smile. “I give ya your credits every two weeks. If ya can hold out to the end of this week, I’ll see if I can get ya a bit of an advance. To help ya get settled.” He extended a hand. “Name’s Jerrno by the way. Jerrno Kern.” 

Chuck clasped his hand in, giving it a firm squeeze. “I take it you’re one of the Kern brothers then?” he asked, jerking his head at the logo on the back wall with the Latero’s surname emblazoned in bright orange lettering. 

Jerrno nodded. “Yep. Me and Teef are makin’ a go of it here. Seems promisin’.” He gestured out the door towards the street. “There’s a school on the main drag for your kiddos. The second largest building here. Got a little red sign and some flowers out front. Not a fancy education by any means, but the teachers there care about the kids. Even have a few getting ready to apply to university in a few months.” 

Chuckles smiled. “Thanks. I’ll be sure to look into it. My oldest certainly would like that.” His chest tightened as the words fell from his lips. 

My oldest. Arni is my oldest kid. 

It came so naturally, but his eyes were suddenly a bit misty at the realization. 

“And your youngest?”

Chuckles giggled. “I’m sure she’ll hate it, but she’ll go. Might take some bribing with her favorite snack. But the older one keeps those well-stocked, so shouldn’t be too much of an issue.” 

Jerrno nodded. As he finished punching information into Chuckles’s newly-created employment file on his datapad, the clone noted a holo on the far desk he’d originally been sitting at. It was an old image, but it showed a much younger version of the Latero that sat before him, a female Latero he assumed was his partner, and two squealing younglings, their heads tipped back in uproarious laughter. The image seemed at least a decade old, and he wondered what had become of the children. There was a certain grief in Jerrno’s eyes that made him think the story didn’t have a happy ending. 

“School starts at 0800. I’d drop the kids off on your way to the job tomorrow.” 

“Got it. They need to bring anything?” 

“The teachers have managed to keep a small stockpile. They should be set unless there’s a shortage.” 

“If that’s the case, is there a store I can shop at?”

“The only store is Grinz’s place. He has a pretty good selection normally. Should be able to find what ya need there. But if ya ever can’t, talk to Grinz. He’s got a few good connections that are able to get just about anything ya might think of.” He paused. “But if it’s ever an emergency. Medicine or the like, ya come to me. I can get anything expedited.” 

“That’s kind of you.” 

The Latero huffed a laugh. “We take care of our own out here, Chuck. We have to. That’s the only way this all works.” He pushed himself to his feet, the stool he was perched on making a loud scraping noise as it skidded out from under him. “Don’t be late tomorrow,” he repeated. 

“Thanks. I won’t.” 

—

“Why can’t we just stay on the ship?” 

While he’d anticipated perhaps some resistance to the idea of school from Nita, Chuckles could honestly say that the fight she was putting up was far more than what he’d expected. She’d appeared to be somewhat receptive to the idea the night before when he’d brought it up over dinner. But now, she appeared to be completely changing her tune when confronted with actually having to go.

“Honey, we’ve been over this. School is a good thing. Right Arni?”

The young Twi’lek shrugged, their nose already buried in their sketchbook. When they looked up, Chuckles gave them a pleading expression, hoping they’d provide some sort of support.

“Sure. It’s great if you like to learn,” they mumbled. 

Not what I was hoping for, but sure. 

The little Pantoran was still digging her heels into the dust with every step, making the short walk to the schoolhouse take an eternity. Chuckles was already beginning to feel the margin of time ticking away that he’d allotted himself to get the kids settled into their classes before dashing off to his first shift. 

I promised I wouldn’t be late. I have to believe kriffing up before I even get started won’t give the best first impression. 

He attempted to lengthen his strides, but Nita tugged firmly, and he almost tripped over her, stumbling and biting his lip hard to keep himself from swearing in frustration. Mercifully, the building that served as the schoolhouse was within view, and he finally readjusted the small pack of food and water on his back and scooped Nita up, tossing her over his shoulder. Her protests grew louder, drawing some additional attention from the townsfolk that were beginning to emerge from their dwellings for the day. Chuckles gave them a tight smile and sheepish wave as Nita thrashed in his grip. 

“I DON’T WANNA GO.” 

She’s never done this before. WHAT is HAPPENING?

“She seems upset,” Arni mumbled.  

“Yes, thank you for that very astute observation, kid,” Chuckles muttered, finally setting Nita on her feet when they were within a few steps of the school’s front door. He could hear children squealing and laughing inside, and some round faces were pressed against the windows, their attention drawn either by Nita’s shouts or just the fact that there was someone new and exciting outside. 

Reaching down, he patted Nita’s head in between the buns that Arni had carefully styled that morning. “Honey, you’re gonna have a great time. I know not everyone can get as excited about school as Arni, but I still think this is gonna be good for you.” 

The little Pantoran was completely unswayed, her large golden eyes brimming with tears as she realized she wouldn’t be convincing her adopted parent to let her stay home. “Chuckles,” she whimpered. “Please don’t leave us.” 

He squatted down, holding out his palms towards her. “I’m never leaving you, honey. It’s just temporary. I gotta go to work, but I’ll be back to pick you up before you know it.” She took his hands, and he pulled her closer, speaking quietly enough so only she could hear. “This is just something we need to do in order to blend in here. School is supposed to be fun! Plus, don’t you want to learn some new stuff? Hang out with other kids?”

Nita’s golden eyes were still shining with tears, and she buried her face in his shoulder, muffling her voice as she whispered to him. “All of the other kids I used to hang out with are dead.” Arni stiffened next to her. 

Chuck’s heart stuttered in his chest as the realization sunk in. He pulled Nita into his arms, wrapping her in a tight hug. 

“Oh honey. I’m so sorry. I didn’t put it together.” 

“It’s not your fault,” she said quietly, some of her tears finally breaking loose. “I’m just scared.” 

“We’re about to start this morning’s lesson!” a voice called from the door. “Will your children be joining us today?” 

Chuckles peered around Nita’s shoulder, meeting the golden eyes of the tall, blue-skinned woman standing in the doorway. She was watching the three of them patiently, some of her dark hair blowing in front of her face in the early morning breeze. Chuckles gave her a helpless smile, and she nodded, seemingly understanding his current predicament.  

“I promise that won’t happen here. You won’t lose your friends again like that. You know that, right?”

Nita nodded into his shoulder. He knew that was little consolation. He’d held similar fears during his entire career, fears that his ship would come apart around him again, fears that he’d lose his entire squadron again. He’d known then he was playing a statistics game, and even though he thought Nita’s likelihood of living through a second once-in-a-millenium genocide that included children was almost zero, he knew that wouldn’t do anything to dissipate the fear she was feeling. His eyes drifted back to the teacher, who was still waiting patiently in the door for her new pupils. 

“Look, your teacher is just like you, honey,” Chuckles tried, nodding at the woman.

“Actually, she’s a Wroonian, not a Pantoran,” Arni corrected. Chuckles glared at them. They shrugged. “They’re different.” Turning, they called over their shoulder to the teacher. “Just a minute. My sister’s a little nervous.”

A sudden thought struck Chuckles. “Arni, are you alright doing this?” he asked, suddenly fearful he’d missed a cue from them too, something that would indicate they shared Nita’s fear. But they nodded, their lekku jiggling with the motion. 

“I’m fine. I want to go to school. But I’m worried about her.” 

The Wroonian woman approached them, squatting down next to Chuckles in front of Nita. “Hello, dear girl. What’s your name?” 

The little Pantoran examined the woman in front of her, her large golden eyes raking over the newcomer from head to toe. A gentle waft of the woman’s perfume filled Chuckles’s nose, inundating him with the smell of vanilla and cinnamon, but he resisted the urge to look over at his new compatriot, instead focusing on Nita and her reaction. 

The wrinkle between Nita’s eyebrows appeared to soften as she observed the teacher for a few more moments before she finally replied, “Nita. My name is Nita Ayyshu.”

The woman smiled at her gently, extending a hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Nita. I’m Endoline, but you can call me Teacher Endi. Does that sound alright?” 

Nita nodded, slowly taking the teacher’s hand. Chuckles saw Endi squeeze it lightly in greeting before turning to Arni. “And who might you be?”

“Arni,” they replied with a shy smile. 

“Excellent. Well, would you both care to come and join us? Today, we’re focusing on mathematics in the morning with sciences in the afternoon. Do you like either of those things?” 

“I like both of them,” Arni replied eagerly, their large brown eyes lighting up in a way Chuckles hadn’t seen from them before. 

Endi turned to Nita, clearly hoping to elicit a similar response. Chuckles was internally churning, praying to whatever deity was listening that she’d take another step closer. 

“I don’t know about math, but I suppose I like science,” the little Pantoran conceded. “I like the flowers that Arni draws and the notes they make about them.” 

Endi’s smile widened as she clapped her hands excitedly. “Well the two of you couldn’t have picked a better day to join us then. This afternoon, we’re walking out towards the rock formations to see what sort of native flowers are out there and document their life cycles. Does that sound fun?”

Arni appeared to understand that their enthusiasm was noted by default. The three of them all seemed to be holding their breath as Nita mulled it over. 

Finally, she smiled slightly, wiping at her eyes. “That does sound fun.” 

“Very good,” Endi said gently, pushing herself back to a standing position. “Would you like to come and meet the other students? They’re always excited to make new friends.” She reached out both hands towards them. The two children looked up at Chuckles, who gave them an encouraging nod. 

“Go with Teacher Endi. I’ll be back to pick you both up at the end of the day. Ok?”

“Pinky swear?” Nita asked. 

Chuckles huffed a laugh, extending both pinkies. “Pinky swear.” 

Both younglings locked their little fingers with his as Endi stood by patiently. Once their oath had been sealed, they both took her outstretched hands, and she began leading them towards the door. Chuckles stood, trying not to bounce nervously as his two children disappeared inside the school.

Never trusted them with anyone besides Oksann and Ry. And I knew them pretty well before I ever let this happen. I just met this woman. 

He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. 

And it’s going to have to be alright. 

Just before closing it, Endi cast one more look over her shoulder, giving him a soft smile. It was then that he noticed how strikingly beautiful she was, her golden eyes twinkling at him in the early morning sun as she tucked a dark curl back into place behind her ear. 

Dark curls. Just like… 

“I assume you’ll be at the mine if there are any pressing issues?” she asked. 

Chuckles dug his fingernails into the meat of his palm, chasing away the memory of someone he’d long kept buried. “Yep. I shouldn’t be too late picking them up.” 

An indignant shriek ripped through the air, and Endi’s head whipped around as her brow furrowed into an authoritative stare that even made Chuckles’s insides ripple. He couldn’t tell who she was looking at, but he certainly didn’t envy the kid. 

“Dez, what have we discussed about pulling Ooni’s montrals?” she asked firmly. A sheepish response that Chuckles couldn’t make out came from somewhere behind the windows. “Thank you for apologizing,” Endi replied. “Now let’s all take our seats.” She turned back towards the door, giving Chuckles another warm smile. 

He mouthed good luck at her. 

Her smile widened and she winked before she shut the door the rest of the way, and Chuckles couldn’t ignore the way his heart fluttered this time. 

Well. That’s new. 

His feet carried him towards the mine as he tried not to think too hard about the heat in his cheeks. Or the other individual with dark curls and sharp eyes. 

—

Whatever Chuckles had imagined Anjii might be like, he’d never have gotten close to reality. The Nautolan was about as rough and tumble as anyone he’d ever met. She swore more than even his most vulgar brothers, was covered in tattoos, and took no shit from anyone. He hadn’t met many Nautolans in his lifetime, having only bumped into Master Kit Fisto once or twice in between briefings during the war, but whatever impression Fisto had given him of Nautolans, Anjii quickly dispelled. 

0814. Cutting it close, he thought as he’d sprinted into the shaft, scanning his badge and almost tripping on his way through the entry point in his haste. As he hurriedly clipped his badge to his belt, he ran into something solid that knocked the wind out of him with a loud oof. He stumbled backwards, clutching his chest and wheezing as the obstruction in his path whipped around and stared at him with piercing black eyes. 

“You the new blood then?” the Nautolan asked, hardly seeming phased by the collision. 

“Yep. You Anjii?”

“You see any other water dwellers lining up to work on this dried up husk of a rock?” she grunted, glancing down at her datapad. “Go by Anj though. And you go by… Chuckles?”

“I prefer Chuck,” he muttered, mentally making a note to find out if Jerrno had given his real name as some sort of hazing exercise. 

“I would too with a name like that,” Anj cackled. “Doesn’t exactly make you sound like a serious person.” She circled him slowly, eying him up and down. “Clone then, eh? The name makes more sense, I suppose. But why not something cooler like ‘Zap’ or ‘Comet’?” 

Chuckles shrugged. “It’s a family name.” 

If Anj got the joke, she didn’t let on, only responding with a muted “hmph.” As she circled him, he felt his shoulders immediately draw up and back, his spine straightening to attention out of reflex. 

“At ease, soldier,” she guffawed. “We’re not like that here. I’m just sizing you up since you didn’t have a position listed.” 

“And?” he prodded. 

She stopped in front of him under one of the dim tunnel lights, and he finally got a good look at her. She was at least half a meter shorter than him, but he sensed that didn’t bother her. Her skin was a dark grey, and every visible piece of it that wasn’t dappled with light scarring was covered with ink, although he couldn’t discern any of the symbols from this distance. Several of her tendrils had woven bands wrapped around them, and each tendril shifted from grey to a bright green at the tips. He also noted one or two of her tendrils were missing, cut off at various lengths like a bad haircut and scarred at the ends. She didn’t appear concerned with his appraisal of her as she tapped a long finger against her lips. 

“We’ll put you in the clearing crew to start. I assume Jerrno told you we’re blasting into a new vein today.”

“He did.” 

“Good. Deploying droids is a pain if we’re not certain about a vein, especially since we don’t have enough in the fleet yet. So we’ll be clearing manually until we’re sure about the new prospect. Then we’ll redirect a few of them down there to help.”

“Jerrno and Teef planning on upping their droid fleet?” he asked. “Figure if they’re serious about expansion, might want to do that rather than relying on manual labor.” 

Anj scoffed. “Course they are. But you need to make money in order to do that. I don’t know how long you’ve been out of the tube, but in case you can’t tell, this is a fairly new setup.” 

Chuckles huffed in exasperation, trying to keep his temper in check at the reference to his creation. “I suppose it was too much to hope for to not have what I am get talked about, but if it’s alright with you, maybe we keep the tube jokes to a minimum.” 

“A sense of humor is necessary for the job,” Anj replied with a shrug. 

“Yeah, well when you’ve had the term ‘tube-bred freak’ screamed at you enough times by the people you’re supposed to be protecting, it somehow loses its charm,” he muttered through clenched teeth. 

Something shifted in Anj’s expression. She rocked her weight to one foot. “Fair enough. I didn’t know that’s how it was. I apologize. Won’t happen again.” 

“Sorry to be a buzzkill,” Chuckles mumbled. He wasn’t used to being apologized to, and as a result, wasn’t sure how to react. He felt his knuckles creak as he released the fists he didn’t even realize he’d clenched. 

Anj huffed a laugh, stepping forward and slapping him on the shoulder. He’d assumed she was strong, but her grip was still surprisingly firm. “Another thing you need to survive down there is a good sense of trust. I don’t know how many mines you’ve been in, but it’s dangerous work. We watch each other’s backs and make sure everyone goes home at the end of the day. You spend enough time down here with the same people day in and day out, you become a bit like family. And that means we don’t make each other feel shitty or othered. Unless they’re an asshole and deserve it. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied with a lopsided grin. 

“None of that shit, now. Not when I was just starting to like you.” She stepped past him, heading towards a set of lockers. “Now, let’s get you fitted for some gear and get down there. If you survive the first week, we’ll work on getting you some personal stuff more fitted to you.” She popped open a locker, and a pile of helmets spilled out with a clatter. “See if one of those will fit your dome.” 

Chuck squatted down, picking through the battered plastoid helmets. “Not everyone lasts the first week?’’

Anj barked out a laugh as she popped open a different locker that appeared to be her personal one. It was more well-organized, and she pulled out a bright green helmet that matched the tips of her tendrils. “Most don’t make it three days before they pack up and bug out. Jerrno’s assured me you’re made of sturdier stuff. We’ll see how you fare.” 

—

Anj hadn’t over exaggerated, not by a long shot. By the end of the day, standing felt like an overwhelming physical endeavour, and Chuckles leaned heavily against the interior of the lift as it carried them out of the mine’s depths. It had been slow going, but they’d managed to successfully open the vein, finding more doonium than they’d anticipated. When the dust from their blasting had finally cleared enough to see again, they’d cheered when they caught sight of the glittering metallic streaks in the walls around them. Even Chuckles had giggled like a maniac, his breathing filter making his laughter sound like mechanical hiccups. 

Now, every muscle in his body was screaming with exhaustion. When the hissing of the lift’s purge system finally ceased, the crew around him all removed their breathing gear and helmets. Chuckles followed suit, running his fingers through his sweat-soaked mohawk. His hands were blistered under his gloves, and every exposed bit of skin was covered in a thick layer of grime. As he hooked his breathing mask to his belt, he inhaled the sharp, fresh air, nearly choking on how cool it was compared to the filtered warm air he’d been breathing all day. His stomach growled loudly, reminding him that he hadn’t packed enough food or water for himself, something Anj had teased him about before offering him half of a protein bar she’d stuffed in her pocket. 

“The new ones always underpack on their first day. You’ll figure it out. Or you’ll quit,” she’d joked.

With heavy eyes, he observed the rest of his crew that were jammed into the lift with him. There were two other human men in the crew whose names he’d already forgotten. They’d eyed him warily when Anj introduced him, and for the most part, they’d kept their distance throughout the day, which was just fine with Chuckles. There was a tall Nikto that had identified himself as Lu, who also appeared to be Anj’s second in command. He was quiet with fiercely observant eyes and always seemed to be at Chuckles’s elbow any time he had a question, answering quickly and firmly before moving off down the line to help somewhere else. It was a bit unnerving, but Chuckles’s appreciation outweighed the nerves. The technical specialist was a young Rodian that had enthusiastically introduced herself as Helly before talking Chuckles’s ear off about the type of droids they’d need and how she calibrated them to precisely mine the doonium, ensuring that there was minimal environmental contamination from the surrounding rock which made purification efforts down the line less difficult. He was positive he couldn’t regurgitate any of the information she’d shared back at her with any sort of accuracy, but she honestly just seemed excited to have anyone listen to her for more than five minutes. She reminded him a bit of Arni. 

“You alright back there, rookie?” Anj called over her shoulder as she undid the wrap that was holding her tendrils in place under her helmet, shaking them loose. 

“Yeah,” Chuck managed to reply. “Easiest first day I could have asked for.”

Anj chuckled at that, and even Lu huffed a laugh. “Then we didn’t work you hard enough,” the Nautolan replied. 

“Make sure you take it easy tonight and consume plenty of water and electrolytes,” Helly chattered at him rapidly, offering him a flask of water. “It’ll help your muscles heal, and-”

“Hells, don’t overwhelm the guy just yet. We want him to come back tomorrow, remember?” Anj teased. “He’s been kind enough to endure your dumping all day. Let him have a moment of peace.” 

Helly seemed unbothered, but Chuckles still felt a twinge of guilt. “Thanks,” he rasped, returning the flask after taking a massive swig. “I’ll be sure to put down a few more liters before bed.”

Helly nodded silently, but her eyes sparkled. He wasn’t sure how she still had so much energy. 

Maybe I’ll get there eventually. 

Several minutes later, the lift doors slid open and Chuckles shuffled out along with the rest of the crew to the lockers, where he replaced the items Anj had outfitted him with at the beginning of the day. The helmet had been a little small, and he made a mental note to try and size up the following morning. 

Anj squatted down next to him, removing the air monitor she kept strapped to her ankle. She leaned over, speaking quietly to him. “I’d recommend at least two canteens of water tomorrow and plenty of protein bars. Dried fruit is good too for the sugar. Nothing greasy or you’ll be looking at your lunch again before the day is out. Got it?”

“Got it,” he mumbled. “It always like this?”

“What, sore to the point where you think you’re gonna die and ready to collapse on the first flat surface you see?” She laughed quietly. “Yeah. Seems about right.” She clapped him on the shoulder. “See you tomorrow, Chuck.” 

He managed to get his gear put away into the correct lockers before limping through the checkpoint. His legs seemed to get a little less sore as he walked, but he could feel the blisters on the bottom of his feet promising retribution at a later time. He rolled his shoulders and was greeted with the burn of muscle soreness. 

I think even my eyebrows are sore. Not sure how that happens. But Maker, everything hurts. 

His feet somehow carried him back to the schoolhouse’s front door, where he found a handful of children filtering out slowly. When he poked his head inside, he saw Arni sitting at a desk furiously drawing in their sketchbook, their tongue poking out of one side of their mouth. Nita was perched on a bench in the back of the room, weaving flowers into a chain with Endi. At the sound of his boots thudding on the hardwood flooring, Endi’s eyes snapped up, her warm smile lighting up her face again when their eyes met. Chuckles was suddenly very aware of how filthy and unkempt he looked. He ran his fingers through his mohawk again, trying to muss it into something presentable. 

Endi leaned down, saying something softly to Nita, whose head whipped around. Her eyes lit up when she saw Chuckles, and he almost melted with relief as she launched herself off the bench with a chain of flowers clutched in her hand and raced towards him. 

“CHUCKLES!” 

Despite his knees screaming at him in protest, Chuckles managed to squat down to the little Pantoran’s level as she eagerly danced in front of him.

“Teacher Endi helped me make this crown with the flowers we found today. Isn’t it pretty?”

“Fit for a princess,” he agreed, taking the delicate blossoms she held out to him. He grinned at her before leaning forward and putting the crown on her head, nestling it around her buns. “See? Perfect.” 

Nita giggled, bouncing on her feet. 

“What about you, kid? You have a good day?” Chuckles asked, glancing at Arni. 

They nodded quietly, but an irrepressible grin was spreading across their face. 

“Good stuff.”

“Do you have a moment?” Endi asked, coming to stand next to him. 

“Uh… yeah sure,” Chuck replied. “Nita, Arni, why don’t you two go wait outside while I speak with Teacher Endi?” 

The two younglings nodded before sprinting out the door, laughing loudly. 

Chuckles watched them go before trying to push himself to a standing position. He grunted as one leg cramped up, and he would have toppled over if Endi’s hands hadn’t caught his arm, helping him lean against one of the small desks. 

“Sorry about that,” he mumbled, trying to ignore the heat rushing to his cheeks. 

“It’s quite alright. You look like every other miner that’s just survived their first shift with Anjii.” 

“That bad, huh?” he joked, sitting heavily on the top of the desk. 

A silence hung between them for a moment before Chuckles cleared his throat. “So, everything alright with the kids? Did Nita settle in?” 

“She did,” Endi assured him. “And everything’s fine. I just like to meet with new parents to see if there’s anything I should know about their children. And…” she paused, searching for words. “I can tell by your family dynamic that it’s likely there’s a good amount I should know.” 

“Because I’m a clone?” he asked, bristling slightly. 

“Because you’re all different species, because they call you by your first name, and yes, because you’re a clone. It’s not for the reasons you think. I just know that you can’t have been a parent long yourself. You were a soldier, bred for fighting.”

“I can take care of my kids.”

She sighed, raising her hands in surrender. “I’m not saying you can’t. That you haven’t. They obviously love you, and I can see how much you care for them. All I’m saying is that it must have been a large adjustment. I can only assume that they’re orphans, and judging by Nita’s reaction this morning, they haven’t been separated from you very much. I just… I just want to see if there’s anything I can do to make this transition easier for them. And for you.” 

Chuckles nodded, some of his defensiveness melting away. “You’re right,” he conceded. “They lost their families at the end of the war. I was discharged early due to injury.” 

Mostly true. If I hadn’t of hit my head hard enough, I’d have been another cog in the Imperial machine. 

“We’d tried to make a home on a different world, but it’s been hard to find work because of what I am.” 

“But now that the decommissioning’s happening, you’ve had a little more luck?”

“Yeah. People don’t think I’m a deserter,” he joked. 

She laughed softly. “Well, I think what you’re doing for them is something special. I’d argue that you’ve done enough with your service during the war, but taking on two orphaned younglings is something else entirely.”

“It hasn’t been easy,” he agreed. “But never because of them. The two of them just fit with me immediately. There were growing pains of course. Still are at times. But… but I can’t think of them as anything other than my kin at this point. Weird as that may sound. They’re my kids. And I want them to be happy. And I want to give them a sense of normalcy. I think them going to school here will be good. Arni loves to learn.”

“They are a very special student,” Endi agreed. “Their journal is impressive. The way they document everything in such detail and then can recall it later. It’s astounding, frankly. They’re quite advanced for their age.” 

“And Nita is a bit of a firecracker.” 

“That she is,” Endi giggled. “She was shy at first, but I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t unionize the entire class come the winter. I may be facing a mutiny.” 

Chuckles tipped his head back and laughed loudly at that. “Well, be sure to comm me when that happens. I’ll stand with you against her uprising.” Leaning forward, he whispered conspiratorially. “I’m not saying bribery should be your first tactic, but a bag of fried crispy snacks will get you a long way.” 

“Noted. You’ll be my first consult should such an uprising occur.” Her eyes were sparkling, and there was a purple blush in her cheeks. She had darker blue freckles, Chuckles noticed. They dotted over her cheeks and nose, and one or two larger ones were visible on her neck. She cleared her throat, and his eyes snapped back to meet hers. The purple hue in her cheeks had deepened, and suddenly, his face felt like it was on fire. 

Way to leer at the teacher on the first day. Good job, you kriffing nerfherder. 

He pushed himself to his feet hurriedly. 

“Well, I suppose we should get going. I appreciate you helping them along on their first day.”

“Of course,” she replied, standing quickly as well. “There is one other thing.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, Nita did tear a hole in the knee of her leggings today while climbing on a rock. She skinned her knee slightly, but a little bacta should do the trick. We bandaged it the best we could here.” She stepped forward hesitantly, and it was then that he noticed a piece of flimsi in her hands. She held it out to him. “I know new clothes are expensive, and seeing as you’re just getting settled, I imagine credits may be a little tight. If you want, I know how to mend clothing. I’d be more than happy to patch up her knee.” She tapped the flimsi. “This is my comm frequency if… if you’d like that.” 

Chuckles was fairly certain his face was going to melt off of his skull. His stomach was churning and a tingle ran up his spine. When he looked from the scrap of flimsi to Endi, her cheeks were somehow even more purple, and he imagined his entire face had to be glowing with how hot it felt. 

“Th-thanks,” he stuttered. “I just might.” 

“Alright then.” 

They stood awkwardly for another moment before Chuckles carefully folded the flimsi and stuck it into his pocket. “See you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here.” 

“Good.” It felt like a silly thing, but his brain felt completely scrambled, and it was the best response he could come up with before he turned sharply on his heel and stepped outside. 

That was not how I expected this day to end. 

Nita was twirling in circles, kicking up dust as her hair ribbons fluttered around her face. The flower crown was still firmly perched on her head. When she caught sight of Chuckles, she raced towards him. Arni was sitting on the steps, still sketching. 

“The princess of the Starlight would like a piggyback ride home,” Nita stated, her spine erect as she attempted to address him as regally as she could. 

“Nita, he’s sore. I don’t think-” Arni started, but Chuckles put a hand on their shoulder. 

“I can do it. If you carry this,” he said, handing off his lunch satchel. Arni took it, looking on nervously as Chuckles sat down on the steps, patting his shoulders. 

“Your chariot awaits, my lady.” 

Nita squealed with delight, racing up the steps and wrapping her arms around Chuck’s neck. He tucked his arms under her knees and stood, teetering for a second before regaining his balance. Arni looked on with concern, but Chuckles tossed them a reassuring wink. 

It was a good day. I may not be able to walk tomorrow, and they might not like school as much, but I’m counting today as a victory. 

“Faster, Chuckles!” Nita demanded. 

Huffing a laugh, Chuckles whinnied like a fathier as he broke into a gallop, the blisters on his feet forgotten. Nita shrieked with laughter, and Arni jogged patiently next to them. When Chuck looked over, they were laughing too, their deep guffaw that they seemed to reserve for only their most joyous moments. For the first time since they left Sorgan, it felt as though Chuck’s heart might burst out of his chest with happiness. 

We can make a home here. We can make it ours.

Tag List: @seriowan @partofttheeternalsoul @rosmariner @misogirl828 @ellichonkasaurusrex @zoeykallus @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @gjrain20-starwars @staycalmandhugaclone @redheadgirl @fordo-kixed-rex @wizardofrozz @ariadnes-red-thread @extrahotpixels @justanothersadperson93 @leftealeaf @meekaielmyerhs99 @kaminocasey @echos-girlfriend @lucyysthings @obihiddlenox @merkitty49 @littlemissmanga @clonecyaree @baba-fett @sleepingsun501 @rexxdjarin @samspenandsword @babygirlrex0504 @ladytano420 @fxlsealarm @runforrestr @rennyboo9 @djarrex @rain-on-kamino @ladykatakuri @arctrooper69 @hidden-behind-the-fourth-wall

[faerie-remuslupinsversion]

ok the random ask post. you're gone. i'm bored. i have no sleep schedule

1 how often do you Beach as an aussie

2. what's your main book genre :33 might be in your intro post but also i have the memory of a concussed goldfish which has been repeatedly tasered

3. best subjects. like moodboard/vibe wise but also personally

Yay I’m so exited. Sorry I was walking to the shops to get toast milk and crumpets.

1. I live 5 a minute walk away from the beach but I don’t go outside so maybe once every week or so. I went swimming in this beautiful ocean bay two or so days ago, but that was an hours drive down the coast. I am incredibly lucky to live so near to the ocean but heat is my worst enemy and I mainly just stay inside all day. My brother goes out more and so do my mum and stepdad.

2. Idk. I’m reading some classics but I find them hard to get to. My dad downloaded the throne of glass audiobook onto my audible when I was seven and that started a hyper fixation on Sarah j mass’s books which I’m fervently trying to escape. I like old books and romance, thriller and philosophy stuff. I’m reading the secret history Jane eyre and crime and punishment right now. I really loved the illuminae series and how it broke the format of books with its semi comic scrapbook thing going on and I FUCKING LOVBVBERREEE BUNNY BY MONA AWAD. READ IT. READ IT NOWEEEEEWWWW. I WILL SEND YOU PHOTOS OF EVERY PAGE IF YOU NEED ME TO. PLEASE JUST READ IT. I read it in 2 days and it was like a fever dream. The writing is to die for and it’s just confusing enough for me to find it fun to decipher. Could not recommend more. Obviously Rebecca as you know but I also grew up on the odyssey and I can recite the first page of the Aeneid in Latin, thank you Steiner. I also really liked the book “playing Beaty bow” which I read in year 7 and “the bone sparrow” which I read in year 8, animal farm was great we did a play on it and I read it in my own time. I was the narrator in the play. Very fun.

3. Best subjects I am unsure what you mean but if you mean school subjects you may or may not be surprised that they are in order

-art

-English

-main lesson (it’s a Steiner thing it’s basically humanities art and English in one aka the best when it’s not fucking stupid)

-everything else is shit but I’m good at maths.

-I almost failed or because I just refused to do anything. I DONT WANT TO PLAY FUCKING PICKLEBALL.

A mood board of what I think I’m like (I have no clue) but here ya ago

A collage of my style/vibe+a pic of said ratty old docs because I think they’re a part of me

[jedi-enthusiast]

Ok, here's the post about how I write my fics that no one asked for, because I'm bored and it might help someone-

Outlining: Yes, I'm a planster, I physically cannot write a fic without some sort of outline, otherwise I get stuck and abandon the fic--which sucks for everyone. My Outlines tend to look like this:

(I found this formatting on TikTok, but I can't remember exactly who came up with it) If the fic is a series, I make a separate outline for each separate work (so, for example, the one above is the outline for the 3rd work of The Great War). If not, then I just put all of the info into one outline. - The Main Point(s) section is exactly what it sounds like. I put the main themes and the chapter's purpose there--so things like "Character A realizes they like Character B" or "Expands on Character B's past trauma." - The What Happens section is also what it sounds like. It's where I lay out the main points of how the chapter proceeds, so like "Character C is in danger and worried about their friends, unsure if they'll survive this battle--which scares them" and the next point will be "Character A appears and saves them, shooting of a snarky quip, before running off to fight Secondary Antagonist." (I also use the What Happens section to separate what happens in who's POV) - If my fic is following a certain TV show, then I put the episodes in the Episode(s) section--putting N/A if there isn't an episode to follow.

----------

The Writing Process: My writing process could be seen as really simple or unnecessarily complicated, depending on how you look at it, but it's what's worked for me for the 4-5 years I've been writing. First, I write out the entire chapter I'm working on as a screenplay--referencing the outline for what's going to happen. I'll write out the dialogue, the character movements, and what the characters are thinking--but in really basic formatting. For Example:

Obi-Wan: Ah, yes, of course. Knight Skywalker. Captain Rex.

---

[Rex and Anakin hide behind the rocks with Cody and Obi-Wan, unhurt but tired]

Next, I'll write out, what I like to call, the "shit draft" of my fic. It's basically me going back to the beginning of the chapter and taking things out of screenplay format--but still not really putting to much effort into making things sound good. My main focus during this part is putting down the pieces of what I want the chapter to be/touch on. For Example:

The General just smiled, "ah yes, of course. Knight Skywalker. Captain Rex."

---

Suddenly Rex and General Skywalker jumped behind cover, looking tired but only sporting minor injuries.

Then, finally, I'll go back to the beginning again and rewrite everything I just wrote in the "shit draft." This time actually trying to make things sound good. For Example:

“Ah, yes, of course,” he replied indulgently, “Knight Skywalker,” he nodded towards Rex, “Captain Rex.”

---

Suddenly General Skywalker and Rex ducked behind where Cody and the General were taking cover, breathing hard and sporting several different cuts—on their skin and armor, respectively. 

After that, I'm usually happy with what I've written and I'm free to start working on the next chapter and/or post that one, but you can send it to Beta readers or rewrite it as many times as you'd like or whatever suits your fancy.

Anywho-

I hope this at least helped someone!

[p2ii]

HEHE OK!! Here's my current fic dumping:

Takes place like... Just after the cover story where NEO-MADS formed, semi-during Wano (though Wano events are p much irrelevant, its just a timeframe). Levely ig also going on which IS funny to me because. The fact that the one Levely we see is the very first one Germa doesn't get invited too is crazy. Vivi has probably met the Vinsmokes once. They would be as problematic and unhelpful as Wapol is.

ANYWAY! Germa is trying to restore itself after Whole Cake Island, and Caesar is specifically currently helping to restore labs and gather supplies for them.

Currently writing in 3rd person Yonji POV just... bc thats what I ended up doing, he's fun to write.

Ichiji is the main one who is kinda... off, after WCI. I read a good post pointing out how Ichiji was probably the one who decided to save his brothers, not Reiju (who mostly just sees them as machines) and I kinda ran with that idea. I have BIG interest in Ichiji being the first to break down, I mean, he's the most PERFECT and emotionless, and the next in line for king, so when he crumbles... what are the others supposed to do?

Though my main original idea here... Judge has that "Soldier Stock Depot". Judge is one of the only characters we know who knows how to clone, the other being Vegapunk himself (iirc). If his greatest experiment (as in, his literal CHILDREN whom he "lovingly" named 0 1 2 3 4) all end up failing him... his greatest failure being the main savior of the WCI incident... well. What's stopping Judge from starting all over, and cloning his little failures to make new ones?

A bad experiment is one with only one, maybe two trials. Maybe Judge even gets inspired after a non-serious, one-off comment from Caesar. Either way, its safe to say the cloning room is off-limits to the siblings again, for some inexplicable reason.

YAAAY :DDD!!!

I think it's so cool you're settting it after neo-mads formation cause I don't think I've read any other fics that include ceasers involvement with the vinsmokes. he's such a silly guy I can't wait to see what kinda chaos he will cause XDc

yonjis POV of post-wci... that's so interesting 👀 I've noticed for people tend to see him as the 'most emotional' of 124ji since he's explicitly silly and horny on-panel, that and being the youngest opens up alot of potential characterization for him! can't wait to see where you take him (also glad Ur having fun, I love when a character is just delight to invade the mind of)

i think I read that post before! there's something about him being the heir and also the emphasis on second OLDEST (because judge is a sexist prick) that puts him in such an interesting position. LOVE LOVE LOVE that your're going that direction w him it's one of my favourite kinda of plotlines for them.

I mean, he's the most PERFECT and emotionless, and the next in line for king, so when he crumbles… what are the others supposed to do?

THIS OMG... my heart </3 you are so right like. everything just crumbles. reiju doesn't care for 24ji like that and judge is their obvious abuser, all they really have is each other and this strict hierarchy they live by 😭.

clone angst... clone angt smy beloved...

Either way, its safe to say the cloning room is off-limits to the siblings again, for some inexplicable reason.

THE MYSTERY AND HORROR PF IT ALL TOO IM DYING. bro if I wasn't already hooked this got me. the angst and suspense alone wow.

just know I'm hyping you every step of the way with this dude Ur mind... happy writing!!!

[docilepillow]

March Media Diary Thing 2024

This one's a weirdo! I'm typing this first paragraph after the fact, because it's the 30th instead of the exact end of the month like i wanted to post it . This post's a two-phaser, just because the way i typed this one out was in a " Live thoughts as fresh as i got them on the day i did stuff " kind of format. I didn't realize that there'd be so many more embeds then in febuary and january, but i guess it's just that kind of thing where you end up doing alot or doing the same but having more to say on it because its Now and not Before? I guess? I dunno. Everything below this space was gonna be from the start of the month , approaching towards the end. Okay, see you at the end of the second media diary post, now ! I'm gonna mix up this one and like unlike the last two i'm gonna try and write to this as i finish stuff instead of leaving it all until the end of the month, i think. im wondering if it'll make my thoughts more consise or not, but honestly, i have no idea! the main thing i think that gets lost out from this is the fact that i'll probably have less personal anecdotes about the month itself. Ohhhh.... MIGHTY SWITCH FORCE! < Silliest 3DS Home Screen Jingle >

i'm not giving this one a docism as a title just because it's kind of embarrasing to make too much more focal then it is, but the game's visual design and the way it flaunts itself does kind of make it a little distracting, but, i guess, more then anything else i've played from wayforward. um

i dont think its nessisarily a bad game or anything its perfectly alright. its like a little short for the price it retailed at on 3ds at least but its like. mediocre good i think . its not like bad or anything. its mostly just a game that sells itself with cute girls. which is fine i guess. like the game design Holds but the games focus is kinda scattershot, but whatever. it doesnt overstay its welcome or anything. the design's sound its just kind of okay all around NO MORE HEROES 2 - DESPERATE STRUGGLE < voice clip game of all time >

unintentional misogyny theming in this media diary oh no

coincidentally as i was playing i learned that the day i chose to start this game came out 3 years after the first game, which, coincidentally , lines up with the game's actual in-universe timeline iif my opinions on this game lines up itll be like, (9) years until i play the next one thats for sure

ok so my story with this series is that i played the first game accidentally completely handicapping my own experience with it because i didnt know you could upgrade your stuff in it and thus made everyone in the ggame into a big dumb hp sponge that wasnt enjoyable to figght and despite my best efforts to try and like this game more ( And, i will say, despite the very prevalent appeals to the male gaze, it CAN be charming ! ) i also took entirely way too long to learn about switching weapons worked functionally, just because despite SEEING the tutorial prompt for weapon switching, i didnt put it together because it takes a bit longer to activate then you'd expect, and thus, never used it. Oops! but yea this game mostly just stands on its own crass nature and in that respect its both very self aware and self indulgent. if you like that kind of vibe youll enjoy the game and its style or be mostly indifferent/uncomfortable with it . Shrug! shinobu is pretty cool. u get to play her after the events of the first game and its neat.

one thing i like about this games like direction is that its very well established that nobody in this game is a good person like even remotely and in that aspect it does get to explore cool stuff i can appreciate. i like that much. i tthink my favorite boss conceptually is the big robot you fight at one point in the battle royale segment. but id mostly consider this game as kind of a gimmick. i can see elements in there that'd make it a classic to a certain brained kind of person, but it doesnt appeal to me. i did wanna try and i did get at least to the very end until the final boss, at least. people say thats one of the worst final bosses in video games period and i gotta say they didnt lie shit doesnt really work

i got endeared by this sign , so i took a screenshot of it . i also like the crickets in the bug minigame.

pretty good though the games just kind of middle of the road for me overall. i didnt hate it enough to not completely finish it and as of typing this and as is its only 3/9 , so i might still truck through the final battle of this game, but, i wont really guarentee or force myself after 3 hours straight of it ----- ok nevermind literally the next day first thing when i woke up i first tried the guy lol games charming its just very peculiar

get fucked idiot SUPER MARIO BROS DELUXE

I technically started this last month but this is the month where i actually sat down and finished it just because MAR 10 ran around so like. might as well fish out some random mario sidescroller to play next also. its short and ive heard some ssay its like definitive mario 1 but the way mario's speed + the screen crunch make it kinda sloppy in a way. limitations of a gameboy color i know but i guess as a standalone way of playing mario 1 its not like. the worst in the world . ive never actually finished mario 1 before on my own so this is a new experience for me !

if you think the 3ds being retro in the modern day is extra fucked up, consider the fact that this version of mario 1 came out 14 years after the original....!!!! if you think the ds being retro in the modern day is extra fucked up, consider the fact that this version of mario 1 came out 14 years after the original....!!!!

Dōbutsu no Mori ( The Animal Crossing Anime Movie ) < Ough-est main character >

Watched this one again for the second time in a discord movie night! A very sweet and nice little movie with very very very cute characterrs. i see the able sisters on the screen and i clap

whats wrong with her

shes like a frog anyway the movies cute and theres aliens at the end. id describe it as a very loving adaptation of an animal crossing player's imagined version of events going on in an animal crossing gamecube-era town. though the biggest thing of all that endears me is AI i think theyre so silly looking

Pictured : Another Silly Subject KERO BLASTER

another game ive played many times before, but, considering my recent cave story fix, i felt drawn to playing it again. i still think its a cute and extremely solid sidescroller game..aaaa ithink everyone should give it a try if thats ur kind of game. also theres lots of very good video game enemies in this

very simple but effective art direction theres like a very nice feeling of atmosphere to it ( cool game ) idk what else to say ive playedd this game like five times before and this is a media diary for documenting new feelings and thoughts and not for like full on game reviews, i think. < Mid-Month Side Note >

i still havent completed this game's story mode to this day, but, recently, cus' the efforts of the team 0% team ( group of crazy freaks with the sole goal of making sure every mario maker 1 / 2 level gets cleared ) ive been driven to try and finish my super world recently. i might feel like showing off the levels ive made at the end of the week,as well, but it's honestly really satisfying, even if i know that the userbase for this game's comparitively shrunk since launch. idk! its fun to make mario levels. i think its satisfying and ill do it even if nobody plays them. also apparently i forgot to turn off my nso subscription so thats why im extra driven to upload lots of levels while i have it. I still hate how NSO is a paid service attached to online. it just kind of paywalls large swaths of games that don't need it and it's just dumb, evil, corporate greed. Ugh! That's the price of gaming in the modern era, i guess....

PETAL CRASH < Thank you, Bison...! >

game i've only played very recently, and arguably, doesnt fall under regular completion criteria, as it's mostly meant to be played on a whim in short bursts ( it does have a short story mode, though, plus a bunch of challenges i haven't played yet..! ) ( I might not be smart enough, for those... ) , but that doesnt really matter! This game is absurdly , amazingly, adorably adorable! !! !

Look at these things!

Ouuu!

Fairy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aside from having an adorable fairy character that appeals to every aestetic i love, its also a decently digestable GBC styled puzzle game ! thats really fun!! and ive been playing it on steam deck, where, i think, it really shines!! the character design in it is really good!

i've yet to master it , as it's pretty fast paced, but its essentially a match game that bumps stuff togetheer good with cute characters like puyo. i havent interacted with that series before but i have played kirbys avalanche and star stacker and this is pretty fun like those. if you like those games you'll like this.

Thanks to my BF for buying this game for me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth < most symphony of the night award >

the docism is kind of demeaning but this game is really solid i finished it just now in 6 hours ( 3/21 ) ( Wait, those numbers add up to 6! wow! ) i think this games strongest suit is how drop dead gorgeous the sprite art is . like . holy shit there are giant gorgeously animated ps1 quality era crisp pixel perfect sprites just everywhere

the picture quality google images gave me doesnt do it justice but there are just like these fantastically rendered fantasy sprites wherever you wanna look for it and it just reminds me how awesome the ladybug developer team is. i think in terms of indie studios ive gotten attached to this is definitely like a dev i eagerly cant wait to see what they do next in the metroidvania sphere. like. considering the source material the actual designs dont stray too far from like what " conventional " fantasy looks like,( A little basic ) , they still kept my attention just from the number of moving parts and shit. and like. mechanically this game is actually pretty neat. they make you juggle a whole lot of projectiles on screen, but it becomes pretty managable when you learn how the two-prong element system works to be pretty engaging ( It reminds me alot of cave story's weapon system, actually! ) ( really cool! ) https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//36872249/d5f18e9ecfb93d0547f6ccf894cd2e0bab2d12c1.gif WHAT???? tumblr posts have a 20 image limit! What! i didnt know about this! i think websites should let u post as many cool images as you want. i should make a neocities for these at some point if i keep doing them...... regardless i think this game is awesome even if the story is kind of like throwaway ( saying this as someone who hasnt engaged with the source material yet, which there apparently is, so maybe thats not a fair thought. on the games steam community page though i saw a gif of the main character in an anime adaption wiggle her ears around with a silly face, so maybe it'd appeal to me if i look into it? Huh. ----- PART TWO WILL BE POSTED SOME TIME IMMEDIATELY AFTER THIS FROM THE EMBEDDING ISSUE -------------------

[image-thot]

Ok, peeps for Valve & Spike information I'm gonna try and organise things. Make them look neat n pretty.

So this poll is mainly just to find out what you'd like to view them as/on. After all I'm fine with looking at my shitty little Excel spread sheet but I'm not going to kill your eyes with that.

[asksoldieron]

SO-24: Whatever Happened to Poor John?

If there's a lot of engagement on this, this post is liable to get real long, beware before you expand.

No art, but I am working on it and I will add it retroactively. The eyes are letting me draw, just real slow.

Welcome to the Engagement Lounge, for La Goualante du Pauvre John (253|24) an instalment! Short comments can go in the replies, but there's a 475 character limit. Longer ones will need a reblog. Remember to @asksoldieron if you're reblogging someone else's reblog, so I can see it too!

Woo! We just got back from a 2 night stay on a houseboat, it was definitely trying to kill us (I'll do a post on the main blog later, I have so many scary pictures), and we loved it anyway. So I'm distracted, but I did manage to unwind a little. No wifi, only phones! But I think I got pretty much everything formatted OK before we left. We'll see!

Now it's time to back up and see what happened to John after he smacked into the Elysium Inn's glass door and escaped into the wild! His friends picked him up and they're ready to do more terrorism together! ...Well, maybe in a little bit. They all need a break to unwind, too, but they're not gonna get it. Jenny will put her big brother back together as best she can, but she's going to be a little irritated with Erik and Co. and everyone else who allowed him to break down that badly.

And we end on a cliffhanger! The "real spy" is suddenly revealed! Unfortunately, that'll be all you get for about two months, unless I can put something cool together for our birthday in April. It's doubtful.

The spouse and I are about to have the most stressful two months of the year (probably... hopefully). He's got to prep for his CPA exam, which is 8+ hours of testing over multiple days. They will require him to do two practice cases a week, timed, the longest of which will take 5 hours. We expect adding that much fake accountant business on top of his actual job and everything else we gotta do will fry his brain. And there's the added stress that the test costs thousands of dollars. If the unlikely happens and he fails this time, taking it again will hurt. We can swing it, but it'll hurt.

It looks like his current employer has his back, though. The capitalist exploitation is different up here! A promotion to a better-paying position that will qualify for the experience he needs to be a full CPA (he needs 2.5 years) is in the works. If he gets it, he can stay with them, and they'll pick up his school costs. His dream job is still doing actual, meaningful work for a nonprofit of some kind, but he can hack this one for another 2.5 years if necessary. As long as we can still afford food and housing! I think we can. The whole immigration thing seems a bit backed up, but when we're allowed to own property, we can afford a floating house like that houseboat we stayed at. Not exactly like it, dear god no, but similar. That may be what our future holds.

But we gotta make it to June, first! I have no idea what my internet life will look like or how often you'll see me, but I'll try to get some stuff done. Hopefully, I can come back with another six, illustrated, as soon as the stress abates. Thank you for your patience until then!

[Back to Site?]

[foolish-fitz]

rain wild chronicles thoughts (mostly negative ones)

warning for me being a hater - if you liked this series, I'm happy for you!!! feel free to click away from this criticism with the knowledge that it's okay to like and dislike different things.

that being said, this was by far my least favorite Hobb series. there are some things I really liked, but I feel overwhelmingly "meh" about this series. it feels like there's a lot of missed potential and it's a significant dip in quality from what I know Hobb can do.

I think this review is best formatted with a list of things I liked, and things I didn't.

things I liked:

I really enjoyed and related to aspects of Thymara's arc. her struggles with the model minority idea was super interesting, and her issues with sexuality hit home for me in a weird (but good) way.

the Rain Wilds :) they are so cool! tree cities yes please!!!

Malta in book 3. this deserves another post and I've already ranted about it on Discord, but I'm continually amazed by Hobb's skill in developing characters. we pick up with Malta after a significant time gap, and she is clearly different, but it's so clearly still her and she's been informed by everything that's happened to her and it's just amazing.

also the scene where she gives birth to Phron and kills the Chalcedean. good for her. it was extremely disturbing to me but also extremely badass

also her relationship with Reyn is very sweet

the Hest/Sedric flashbacks to the start of their relationship

learning more about the ancient Elderlings and their city was cool

things I disliked:

Malta in book 4. "but Eve you just talked about how much you love her" yes but she got fucking boring in book 4 ok. she did nothing.

this actually hits on a bigger issue with RWC to me, which is that none of the characters really had a character arc worthy of four books. most of them had a pretty simple thing (in terms of story) to overcome - ie Sedric and Alise realizing Hest was a horrible abuser and finding self-worth without him, Thymara embracing her sexuality and choosing a partner, etc - but once they did that, or if the story wasn't allowing them to make progress at that point, their arcs just kind of... stopped. which could have been workable, except Hobb was committed to giving characters POVs even if nothing interesting was happening with them.

this is my main frustration with Alise - it feels like her arc pretty much ends when she has sex with Leftrin. yeah there's the stuff about being a scholar and accepted into the Elderling community, but it's boring and not impactful to me and doesn't feel satisfying. but even when she's a very static character, she still has POVs, and they're repetitive and boring.

WHY HAS PARAGON BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH ANOTHER CHILD. WHAT THE FUCK. this better get addressed in F&tF or I riot. (no spoilers please)

WHY DID WE NOT GET ALTHEA AND BRASHEN'S KID'S NAME. i have been waiting for so long!! (again, no spoilers)

Selden's arc ends with him being dragon pilled again!! whyyyy. it could be interesting if it was showing the futility of trying to build a life without the dragons, and how he's destined to be a slave to them and that's tragic, but nope! he's just a happy minstrel again! yay /sarcasm

the dragon and Elderling plot in general kind of went nowhere... it was cool to see the Elderling development but the books ended without most of the dragons changing in any significant ways, and the new Elderling society really wasn't explored to the extent I was expecting.

THE WAR AGAINST CHALCED IS LIKE FOUR FUCKING PAGES LONG. it's one battle and the resolution isn't even on screen!!!!!! the narration of the dragons flying to Chalced is longer than the ENTIRE WAR WITH CHALCED. girl.

I could go on but I don't want to.

TLDR: I was really disappointed in RWC. I thought the characters were pretty shallow and boring and didn't deserve four books of POVs, the plot was... fine but not exciting, and the resolution was rushed and not impactful.

[kaiba-fangirl]

Even when YGO was first airing in the US, once I got internet like a year into it, I remember "Puppyshipping" being THE most popular ship. Certainly was at least one of the biggest.

The discourse was about whether it was abusive, but it was all incoherent nonsense on both sides, with varying degrees of seriousness. I might've posted 1 time on the kaiba corporation forum my own opinion: in-world, yes abusive. in-fics, usually abusive. does this mean ppl shouldn't do it? nah, whatever. I understand why the dynamic interests people. Ship and let ship. Not my ship, though. Could never be.

...cuz...

See, my brother & I -unused to anime aside from Pokemon- thought we should root for only Main Character TM, but soon after jumped on our faves. Mai & Kaiba for me. He stuck with Yugi more to annoy me, & Joey as the blonde underdog in green (like himself; & this smelly green soccer jersey he never changed or washed cuz it was his "Joey shirt" 🤮).

So for me, it personally always felt skeevy to ship my faves with my brother's faves.

I started getting over it once Joey became obsessed with Mai in Waking the Dragons, but the little-brother-protector thing id with Kaiba was still stronger. Plus my brother spent the season annoyed with Joey's pining & hating Mai for her betrayal, so that helped disconnect them there.

I didn't really get into it the slightest bit til I came to tumblr, & I was part of the convo to rename it "violetshipping" to address the unwelcome default feeling of an abuse undertone & instead focusing on their complementary parallels & contrasts (which we all casually agreed was ok, canon, ic, but shouldn't be assumed within the very ship name), around the same time my relationship with my brother began deteriorating. So even though I got him into one last hurrah with DSOD, he's basically been lost to the right.

Tumblr's format also makes it a lot easier to stumble upon lots of things that just go by on your dash. I don't even remember seeing any puppyshipping fanart in the old forums & webrings of geocities & DeviantArt & AOL image searches, cuz I never searched for it. Read a couple fics trying to give it a chance, but they always ended up grossing me out with characterizations alone.

.

But ya know what I never did? Never actually called it incest, even though that's what it felt like to me in my own unique experience. & I never said *anything* to people online who shipped it. I did talk about it with friends in school, where you would've seen my full body language reaction for "I don't wanna be rude - I'm just reeeally not into it - cuz my brother - so I don't wanna talk about it." Which was perfectly fine & accepted!

Who *did* I ship Kaiba with? Well, most in-character? No one. As in he would actively choose no one. As sexy as he was, I didn't see him being interested in pursuing any kind of relationship or sex. (It would take another several years before I ever saw the term "asexual," to which my first reaction was, Oh! Like Kaiba!

I've used the joke of shipping him with money.

But once I found Silentshipping, I was hooked. They had interacted ONCE when Serenity yelled at him, & he was just like "Uhh..." where if it were a Disney movie, that'd be where he fell in love but hadn't realized it yet. Then they NEVER interacted again. Serenity hardly had much of a personality beyond "nice." It was a perfect blank slate to make anything up! & she was perfectly generic for girls to project onto, without fear of being called a self-insert or Mary Sue -the biggest worries of the time.

But I also loved how it connected Joey & Kaiba as, usually, either eventually or at least effectively, brothers-in-law, still pitted against each other. To me, it was sooo much better than actually putting them together.

.

It is sooo easy to not call everything "incest" that merely feels like brothers to you. It is sooo easy to not harass others for what they create, especially when they purposely help keep away anything you may not wanna see.

[eilinelsghost]

Fic writer bingo!

Tagged by @thelordofgifs!

Yep! AO3 account is the same as on here: EilinelsGhost

Lmao ok so when I was a middle-schooler in like 2000 or 2001 or something there was a Realm of Nargothrond thing where you typed commands to move around from room to room and write out paragraphs as characters? It would output logs and you could read them like little collaborative stories. I think that counts? I'm not really familiar with what online roleplaying is, so I'm not sure. But you were writing and interacting as the characters, so that sounds right anyway.

I beta read this Edrahil piece by @solmarillion 😊

Rather convicting, but I've never had anyone beta read anything I've posted. Well that's not strictly true - @actual-bill-potts and @sallysavestheday saved my bacon on A Shifting Mirage by reading a couple segments for me. But I've never handed anyone a full draft to beta.

By Any Other Name is my favorite indulgence one I've written. In Sickness and Health also counts, but that was specifically to indulge @actual-bill-potts so maybe that counts double?

I have only this year acquired the wonderful tool of the keysmash and I am a big fan

Well, I'm a sucker for very specific fluff fics. Like pretty much any of the lovely lil Finrod/Balan numbers that @actual-bill-potts cranks out.

lmao since Atandil is almost the entirety of what I've written...yeah checked that m/m box.

Look, the obsessive need to research everything is one of the main reasons I'm an annoyingly slow writer. My deep apologies.

An outline, a whole folder of notes, a yarn wall of a planning web...

I sit and refresh my computer or phone for the hours after posting. I can't help it. I try not to, but the panic sets in as soon as I hit the publish button. EVERY TIME.

Yes! @ilaneya made this beautiful piece of Finrod from Here in Our Frailty 😍

"at least one unpublished story" lmao at last count, the running total for Atandil was 38 installments so uhhh yeah I have some unpublished stories in the hopper

Editing doesn't bother me too much (I love going through with a fine tooth comb) but AO3 always fucks up my formatting and I have to redo the whole thing every time and try not to miss all the italics. Hate it.

I keep the notes app open on my phone when I go to bed so all I have to do is unlock and type 😂

Yup. I drunk wrote once and somehow made Haleth and Bëor have a conversation because I guess how timelines work is the first thing that goes out the door

Actually I'm not sure if this means a published fic that you think people are sitting on or an unpublished. I marked it thinking unpublished and currently it's my TRSB fic 😬 I got stuck on the current chapter and so am trying to knock out the next Atandil to see if that helps get me out of block

No pressure tags for @actual-bill-potts, @sallysavestheday, and @cuarthol - and anyone else who wants to play!

Clean bingo card:

[zyafics]

ok idk how to switch to my obx blog (hi summerpogue here) when asking but I just read all of heartbreak live and I wanted to spare my tl in my reblog but I have things to say

first of all, fantastic. no notes. this really is the most creative fic I’ve read in a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen one formatted like this - I can’t even imagine the time that goes into making this and keeping everything organized like my google docs is messy enough with just words so hats off to you, this is seriously amazing

I love the commentary from other students, genuinely had me cracking up and the spotify communication is unhinged but adorable and my girl cleo as the main bestie??? love seeing her featured so much in a fic. idk if I’m dumb and I missed it somehow but I’d love to eventually see the origin story of how reader came to be with the pogues bc it doesn’t sound like she grew up on Kildare? I wish you could have seen my face when I got to the end of what’s posted like I am truly on the edge of my seat and cannot wait for the next part (but like… I will, take ur time girly)

anyway I hope this wasn’t too long or anything, I just had to convey to you how much I’m enjoying this and if anyone needs me I’ll be reading everything else posted to your blog 😇

aaah!! sorry that it took me so long to answer, but thank you so much!! yeah, i think i (lowkey) trendsetted a new formatting dynamic on smaus on tumblr, but it was truly not my intention. i just love making graphics for my characters and decided hmm, maybe i could make a story with this, and boom, hb:l happened! i don't know how i've been able to be so organized, u should see my desk, it's like plastered with sticky notes about the plot haha

and i'm so happy to hear u adore the commentary from the students! i feel like i was talking to the different voices in my head trying to explain what's going on and to make it sound believable. and YES!! i love my girl cleo. she's so underrated and i adore cleo+pope so much, i decided to make them the main side characters for this fic! we gotta get more screentime for them!! and this is my way of doing it!! 😌

and no, you didn't miss anything. i didn't feel the need to clarify that how reader and the pogues meet. i feel like it wasn't as necessary. it was just—it was easier to name the gc pogues so that u guys knew what u were walking into. the thing about fanfic that i adore is that there's already set and established relationships, so when i go in and add a reader, i just want them to mingle with that relationship rather than to flesh-out an entire backstory. but yes, reader did not grow up in kildare!! she's just... a normal college student that managed to find friendship with the pogues and they treated her like one of their own. but overall, the social class dynamic is not a prominent feature in this story.

and omg, it is NEVER too long to hear from you. i love hearing how u guys perceive my stories and interpret them!! thank you so much for taking the time to drop a little ask in my inbox 💗

[castlebyersafterdark]

just seen some people say they didnt vibe with max's running up that hill scene and i think that reactions and people reacting quickly about media for socials is part of the cause of this new thing where people have so many divisive opinions. when i watch something new i am eyes and ears at full alert, taking in everything as it goes rather than trying to figure the plot out ahead of time, and i realised i would make a shit reactor because it's all happening internally. i dont want to express anything aloud as i watch because you would miss something; dialogue, music, emotional beats? even if stories aren't meant to be consumed in dead silence, i'm amazed at how quickly people form coherent opinions about characters a split second after they've done something instead of just seeing how everything plays out. i'm thinking about lucas 'betraying' the party in s4, people thinking he was genuinely hunting eddie instead of just seeing where his story went. in terms of byler, even now with the story unfinished i am so unable to conjecture real 'proof' or evidences of byler wholly because its open ended! i wont judge anyone until the story is complete.

i'm just amazed by these reactors because theyre usually just GA/nerds, and its fascinating to see them respond and react so quickly and so judgementally, i wonder if it's partially for views now instead of an honest reaction theyre sharing online.

Reaction videos are not something I watch, unless a very funny clip gets shared, I guess because I'm maybe feeling some of the same things you are - they don't feel sincere a lot of the time? I don't think there's anything wrong with all of them. I know a lot of people like watching them especially after they finish a show so they can go back and see what others are taking away which could be interesting. It depends on the reactor. So I can understand the appeal to an extent, but I don't personally like a lot of that format because like you said, the initial over the top gut reaction isn't that useful to me? I'm also mentally absorbing a show if I watch. I'll gasp or maybe cry a little at a scene, laugh, but mostly I'm just watching. The reactor videos are a performance, but then these folks use that performance to inform their opinion. It's a little too off the cuff for my personal taste.

I think for me, I just can't imagine ever filming myself watching something to showcase my emotions, especially if it's something I really care about? So I don't trust reactors as true fans. Because it's just not so authentic. You're aware of the content you're trying to capture. You overly emote, you pay more attention to the fact that you're recording. It's never completely a natural opinion or reaction. I'm not so much into livetweeting/liveblogging, either, so that's probably a factor. Sounds pretentious, but if I care about a movie or show, the first time I watch it I need to be present.

I know when season five drops, I'm turning off my phone from the moment it's available on netflix until I've finished watching what's out myself. That's my plan. Divisive is the key word. Social media moves fast and everyone wants to be the first to post something or see something or point something out. I'll be ok being a day late to things!!

It's why the main Byler fandom on tumblr isn't appealing to me anymore, because one thing I kept seeing is people getting pissy about folks 'pointing out stuff that's been talked about already too many times' or 'I already thought of this theory first and this user is copying me now' as if everyone watched and thinks at the same pace? As if people innately know every post that's ever been made on tumblr or added under the tag? Calm down. Yeah, if it's a rage bait opinion, or blatant plagiarism, but that's not what I'm talking about.