#Or maybe less necessary depending on the design But my interest is not really on hyperreal plush dolls

[vanadiumheart]

Every now and then I will try and find ppl making fat doll art. Nothing much yet. I have to do everything myself huh

[era404-skib]

Theory on how a TVman/woman's abilities work

Okay, we're just gonna be looking at the screen abilities, as their other stuff e.g. hand knives are self-explanatory (well, maybe not teleportation, but I've no clue about that).

-○-

First, we're gonna look at the "anatomy" of a CRT.

To my highly simplified understanding, the Electron Gun sends out a ray of light which is expanded into video by the screen (I am likely wrong, this is just the gist).

Now, I'd say that there's a couple different gadgets at the Fluorescent Screen, which ill explain here.

-○-

Red Screen of Death

[TW: Suicide. Skip to the next one if you don't like that.]

Im going to get this one out of the way first as its the most simple and boring:

Firstly, this has nothing to do with CRT's. We have seen that the RSOD is only capable of being created on flatscreen TV's, whether that's LCD, OLED etc.

I think that it's literally just an EXTREMELY bright red light. It's brightness is just low enough to be as bright as possible without causing instant blindness while also causing excruciating pain and burns to the retinas. The pain is so excruciating that all rational thinking is abandoned. Only one objective goes through the mind of the victim, and its to suicide by any means necessary. There's only one method of escape they can think of, and it's death. Very disturbing, but also really basic.

[Polycephalies' White Screen is basically the same but less powerful: just a really bright light.]

Purple Screen of Hypnotisation

My theory is that this is a combination of light and sounds that transmit signals to the brain/CPU of the target.

The screen creates an inviting, eye-catching glow, which gets the target to look at it. From there, a small circuit (We will call it Circuit 1) sends a signal to the CPU of the TV person saying "Hey! We're hypnotising someone! Tell Circuit 2 what you want them to do!" and the CPU / brain of the TV says "Got it. Circuit 2, I want you to make them do a dance."

Circuit 2 gets the signal and tells the hidden speakers in the TV "Hey! CPU says this has to make them do a dance!"

[Now, I'm going to briefly interrupt here and admit that I got heavy inspiration from this video on the (quite possibly fake) virus BadBIOS, that advertises itself as being able to spread through the air. It does so by emitting a frequency for other nearby computers to pick up that creates a spectrogram image of malicious code that infects the computer and spreads the virus further. Check out the video for more info, its actually super interesting.]

The hidden speakers in the TV then emit a frequency depending on what the the target is:

-If its an organic/skibidi, the frequency is designed to mess with it's brain in a way that stops its thought process and makes it focus on the sole objective that is carried through the frequency. (This frequency is achieved using new technology that would've been discovered by the time of the apocalypse, this is impossible with today's advancements.)

-If its a hardware head/non-organic, it does the same thing as BadBIOS: sending over code which completely overrides the hardwares free will to use its body. Its similar to being controlled by a parasite: the hardware can see what its doing (e.g. TCam would've been able to see he was beating up TSpeaker even though he didn't want to) but its body is being moved against its will. Pretty disturbing if you think about it.

All of this goes on until the light is turned off and the frequency ends.

Orange Screen(?) of Inferno

Now, I put that question mark there as I actually think this screen has nothing to do with cathode ray tubes.

Please watch this video of a solar death ray:

Source: edmundoptics On YouTube

Now, the logic behind this is that the sunlight is concentrated into a ray by the lens which gets thinner and thinner until it reaches a fine, concentrated point and expands outward in radius again. Even rocks that are put under this crack and melt.

Now, my theory is that TV's that can make a OSOI (TTV and TVwoman) have a little slider mechanism inside. Basically, they can alter between the standard Cathode Ray Tube which let's them do the other abilities, or a VERY strong and burning hot light, like a very small sun. It uses the screen as a lens and scorches victims unlucky enough to be caught within its radius. If you're even more unlucky, you'll be in the thin but extremely concentrated part, which will completely crack any metal or porcelain and melt skin.

Extra Notes:

-Diagram of a TV person's CRT.

-Diagram of the OSOI Screen (using a shitty image I grabbed off the wiki)

-Black Screen and Pink Screen are left out intentionally as 1. I have no clue about teleportation and b. The pink screen doesn't really do anything??? idk lmao

[kayetra-spade-queen]

Diving to a bit of heavy stuff here so here are my questions:

1. If shade Ben and prime Ben are separate entities what would he feel around prime Ben's parents? How would they feel if they heard about shade Ben's parents?

2. Aside from his own family, Rex and Randy, have Ben talked to the other members about his disconnection with his own parents?

Oh boy, we're getting into the deeper stuff are we?

I'll answer those questions. It'll probably turn into a word vomit, so beware;

First answer;

Bennett (we'll call him that if we want to differentiate him with prime Ben) and Prime Ben are people from separate timelines, with Bennett never having a good childhood to begin with, leading him into being more quiet compared to Prime Ben back then. Bennett's sense of fashion is what really stuck on Prime Ben upon first impression.

Now, if by chance Prime Ben brought Bennett to his home (for some reasons), imagine the shock Bennett felt upon being treated nicely by Prime Carl and Prime Sandra, although he hides it so it won't appear to be rude.

Let's say that Prime Ben finding out about Bennett's previous home situation from Paradox instead of Bennett himself, and in turn relaying that information to his parents upon bring the alternate version of himself to his home.

Bennett had ever experience parental love from Frank and Natalie, maybe even Randy's parents upon arriving at France, and the Saturdays kinda low-key adopted him in some way. Six and Holiday was a great obvious despite not seeing each other all that much. Being treated nicely by someone who resembles his own parents felt foreign and a bit overwhelming; he was used to being treated like air in the house, not being treated like their real child.

As for Carl and Sandra's feelings about Bennett and his parents, well, they would be upset about what had Bennett gone through in his childhood that lead to him moving a whole different country. They treated Bennett well, thinking that Bennett deserves what it feels like to feel parental love from real parents (although technically they aren't, but they're the closest Bennett could have for actual parents). Sandra was really interested in Bennett with his skills in fashion designing and taste in fashion, Carl was just happy that there's still the Ben he recognized deep down in Bennett, although it's faint, but it's there.

Sandra heavily dislikes the Sandra of Bennett's world.

Second answer;

Ben isn't the type to just blab on and on without stopping. This version of Ben is stoic, and had very little thing to say, but he is blunt and will not hesitate to talk his opinions and what's on his mind if necessary.

However, he doesn't like talking too deep into his personal life. Although all the Shades are his friends, he's not as open as the prime version, and it's not like Ben is the only person who likes to keep secrets; Danny didn't reveal who he really is until about a year and a half after being with the Shades, June didn't even said a peep about being the Te Xuan Ze at her home until 2 years later, Randy didn't even told Ben that he became the ninja when they were in highschool until he got the Heart of Tandem, much less than any of the Shades are even aware that Randy and the Ninja is the same person all this time until a lot later.

It's not uncommon to have someone with secrets, and it's not uncommon either for those who doesn't question it; because they have their own reasons not to talk about it, and everyone respected each other's privacy.

Rex knew because he had witnessed the situation, Randy knew because he was the reason Ben even moved to a different country altogether, and Zak knew maybe sometime along the lines through their friendship (trust trust). Everyone else would at some point find out individually depending on their pace and Ben's initial level of reluctance would lowered to each Shade.

In conclusion, Bennett would've cried if he was treated nicely like he was their child by the prime version of his parents if he wasn't the type to bottle things up. And Ben would've kept himself quiet about his past unless some incident happened that made him do it.

[risingsouls]

🦎 + Consider this one a freebie if you don't really have thoughts on this, but: Character Designs, esp. in regards to wardrobe? ( in DBZ or otherwise )

🦎 For My Sleepy Work Thoughts || Always Accepting!

[Hmmm I can't say I have any like big thoughts or probably groundbreaking opinions on it or anything. I do love good unique character design, whether that's in full body appearance for like aliens and inhuman creatures or simply in wardrobe. It makes the content more exciting and appealing to the eye and overall just more interesting than just slapping on Basic Clothes or making Another Humanoid Alien (which DB is bad at doing unfortunately but I can't say much because, even though I tried in the fic to make some more interesting aliens, I feel I could have done more BUT).

Obviously, basic clothes are necessary depending on the setting, story, etc. But like...in stuff that's meant to be fantastical, removed from our present time, or on a completely different planet or in a different realm, I don't really care to see characters wearing basic street clothes. A few examples of what I mean. Maybe this is me just not "being with the times" but I would much rather see superheroes when they're superheroing to be wearing some kind of cool costume with a neat design. And I don't know if this all that common but eh. Plain clothes superheroes (the only example that comes to mind is like a Percy Jackson type; basically someone who could be seen as a superhero but not like in the comic book sort of way if that makes sense) that aren't meant to BE THAT very specifically (i.e. Batman deciding to get rid of the costume and run around in jeans and a tee) just don't do it for me. Another example is I didn't really care for how they had the characters in Harry Potter wear street clothes while at Hogwarts. Again, a really stupid complaint (if I'd call it that), but again, we're in a fantastical setting that's meant to be different than ours with clothing that is pointed out to be very different than the Muggle style of clothing numerous times. I want to see that in practice more than I want to see the main cast wearing jeans and t-shirts I guess if that makes sense.

And now for me to be hypocritical tho. Ish. Taking DragonBall as the example, I love when they put Goku, Gohan, Vegeta (even if the dumb dad clothes the put on him in Super suck and don't suit him cough), and even Piccolo and all the others get put in "normal" outfits in their downtime. Especially because plenty of those have been iconic lmao. I guess that goes just with liek the superheroes in their down time wearing normal clothes so maybe I'm not a hypocrite for this. But I think I like it because it makes seeing them in normal clothing that isn't their fighting/standard outfit more special and fun than if the always wore street clothes? Again this is all really trivial shit for me lmao.

Now as far as like designs of inhuman or alien characters? I definitely want originality because I find it hard to believe that every alien race would just look human save for one or two features (looking at you Saiyans, even if I do love them lmao). DB probably isn't the worst about this, but considering it's the series I've got the most brain rot for, they get to be the example. They could definitely do better with character design, especially when it comes to the alien races. Like the simplest thing for them to do is not make everything bipedal. Give this alien a hundred legs and that's already more interesting for DB lmao. Give us less humanoid features in general and they would be doing better. Like all of your alien OCs are so cool and thought out (which we would definitely not get from Toriyama lol) and I know other series have interesting designs for their aliens that aren't just...human with a few spikes and a "weird" skin tone.

Long story short: while I'm not going to shit on an entire series for lackluster character design, I do appreciate it and dig originality in it.]

[waheelawhisperer]

Watched V9E5, thoughts are below. This one sucked less than the others, I guess.

Based on the title, we’ll finally get WBY back to normal size. Please. Please. I’m so done with this plotline.

Weiss got to say “freaking”. Go off, queen. Let her curse for real now though

Okay so Ascending is the form of death in the Ever After. Once the process is complete, you don’t remember anything and take a new form.

The Cat acknowledges that the beings of Remnant die “for real” and beings of the Ever After do not. The show is drawing a pretty clear association between Ascension and what we understand as death in this scene.

Now we know what happened to the Red King. It seems Alyx did not have an overly positive effect on the Ever After, from what we’ve seen so far

So something remains after Ascension, some core of… essence? Something that informs your personality and actions going forward. Your memories and who you were previously disappear, but a part of you remains?

Fucking Rooster Teeth reference (specifically to the homophobic slur they named the company after). Jerk yourselves off harder. I would never in my life be proud of an association with that company.

“Exposition is boring” not if you’re good at it (you aren’t) and sometimes it’s necessary

Why is every ally fucking useless

God this cat is annoying

Little is sleeping again, but they’re actually less irritating when they’re quiet so I don’t mind it too much

Penny’s sword did come back after all. I thought the writers had forgotten Ruby was supposed to care about her.

Cool robot lady, nice

I don’t blame Ruby for not opening up to the stranger here. Like normally it would be an issue that she represses and denies all her trauma but she has zero reason to trust the strange metal chick

We’re really hitting the burden of leadership theme hard this Volume huh

Whose face was that in the dagger? Looks like Ruby is seeing the owner of the weapons when she grabs them

This must be Summer Rose and Summer’s weapon. Looks like we’ll finally get to learn some of the story behind her 10 years in

That was kinda creepy honestly

At least Ruby finally acknowledged that she’s missing Crescent Rose. Maybe now she’ll give a damn about finding it, or at least we’ll learn why she doesn’t

Oh, so that emblem is Summer’s and carries a mother’s promise? Would’ve been nice to know that sooner, but I guess at least it’s something that makes Summer feel like she actually matters as something other than a plot device.

I’ve seen people say Ruby parted with the emblem too readily compared to what it represents/should represent to her, and I get where they’re coming from, but I’m not sure I agree. This scene presents it as a desperation move where Ruby’s grasping at straws (and it’s a nice callback to the other symbolism trades we’ve seen so far), given how she's visibly panicking and we can hear her whimper as she tries to come up with a solution, so I think how well it works for me will ultimately depend on whether the show actually lets Ruby engage with the loss of her mother’s symbol.

Blurch why are you asking what a Jabberwalker is didn’t you literally mention it earlier in the Volume? If not, one of your teammates did

Okay so the Jabberwalker can permanently kill the denizens of the Ever After

Still can't hear shit this guy is saying. If only my torrents had subtitles...

Damn, that was a cold move by the Cat. I already didn't like them, but that was ruthless as hell. If they're willing to toss Harvey Birdman away like that, what happens when Team RWBY stops being interesting? I do not trust them in the slightest.

Ruby you have a fucking Semblance just gap close to the stupid parfait instead of running

Nice heroic introduction for what I assume is the Rusted Knight and his noble steed, which looks like something out of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Cool design tbh

Blurch’s reaction here is genuinely adorable

Once again Yang is the one keeping everyone on track and focusing on the objective. This has been a trait she’s displayed since at least Volume 7 and I feel like it really goes overlooked when discussing her characterization. She was the one who spotted the teapot lady earlier too.

At least the fucking Tiny WBY plotline is finally over it felt like an eternity despite lasting 2 episodes

Yang really does get the coolest finishers

Oh, so this was a Neo illusion? I was wondering how the Jabberwalker had escaped her.

Uh, hello? I can acknowledge the value of a tactical retreat, but did you guys not just justifiably call Ironwood out for running and leaving innocents behind only a few days ago and then insist that fighting back was a Huntress’s job? Hell, just last episode you talked about how Huntresses defend those who cannot defend themselves. Good look for the heroes, MKEK. Maybe they’ll go find another mansion to drink tea in while someone else fights and dies.

Then again I hate everything about the Ever After as a setting so I don’t care if all these clowns get eaten

Wow I wonder if there are any parallels here with the fall of Atlas

or if the narrative will engage with them

“I am so tired of leaving places in ashes” so stop doing that, nothing the show has done has sold the Jabberwalker as something that can duel even one of you, you could’ve at least tried to fight, the three combat-capable members of your team trashed the roided-up Jabberwalker with ease and Yang kicked the original's ass bad enough it ran from her in terror with one fucking arm, you could've at least made a fucking effort to fight the swarm of scrub ones

these writers are hilariously tone-deaf it’s like they think every inadequacy in their work is funny

Blurch is fangirling again this is one of the bits of humor that actually lands for me

lmao it’s fucking He-Man Jaune why is he this sad excuse for a DILF I already hate this choice

The music has been really uninspired this Volume

Best episode so far despite not being particularly good, mainly because it wasn’t outright offensive and never made me angry enough to pause and strangle the air in front of me while pretending it was one of the writers

Overall rating: Mediocre/10

[sam-the-friendly-ghost]

Hello! this is your random anon question of the month! (or however often it ends up being.)

YOUR QUESTION IS:

Do you find character sheets help you when you are designing OCs? What are usually the most important things you'd put on a sheet if you use one? If you don't use one, how do you organize OC lore?

Oooo! This is a really good question.

When I am designing characters I don't tend to make ref sheets anymore! This is mostly because I like the freedom of changing their designs as I work out their story. I do doodle them, and come up with a simple here's what they generally look like, but it might not be coloured, or be really sketchy, or just be a portrait. I also find character sheets really boring to make, so skipping that step makes it easier for me to keep motivation. I do often still end up with a design I'm happy with, but I don't like to "finalise" anything, unless another person is involved in which case I'll make a character sheet. Also that doesn't mean I don't draw my OCs a lot, I just don't make a red sheet for them.

I don't make character sheets, but I do write down basic information about them at the top of my document. Generally it goes something along the lines of: name, age, gender, pronouns, sexuality, some important traits, and then maybe some fun facts at the end. I remove traits that aren't strictly necessary to the story though. The important traits are generally tied to the story, or things I need to keep consistent, like "this character injured their right arm," or "this character is autistic, here are the symptoms they have." This means as I work out a story I can reference these points as I go.

Anything that doesn't have to be EXACTLY the same throughout the story, or might change as I go more in depth doesn't get written down as a note. I might like the idea of a characters favourite colour being blue, but maybe I find that the story works better if they prefer purple.

Note: I do change the format of my notes depending on how much information needs to be consistent and number of characters. For example (although not my OCs) for "Integration" I have note categories like: schedules, diagnosis, and opinions on plot relevant problems." This means I can more easily find how these characters opinions differ, and write medical scenes because their diagnosis are all in the same place.

After I have some basic information down, I just start writing, or drawing! I find it a lot easier to make good characters if I don't assign them personality traits, and instead think of them as people. This stops me from making flat characters that don't hold weight. If I have an idea (like a character liking he colour blue) I might draw/write a short blurb that's relevant to that idea so it's down, but it feels less official than a note. This also keeps my notes tidier so I can find information that is actually relevant and necessary.

Ex) Unless a character is gonna need a blood transfusion multiple times and I want to mention their blood type I don't need it in my notes, but maybe I'll write a blurb about them donating blood and get an idea of how they would handle that situation. That gives me the chance to think about details like: are they scared of needles? Would they be upset if they don't get the good kind of juice box? Why are they donating? After that I can draw parallels between that blurb and the plot to see how they would react to larger things. If they are donating because they wanted free food, I might be clued into how they would react to their rations running low while adventuring.

To sum this up: I don't create official sheets for anything I might want to change with time, but if it is set in stone and needs to be consistent, I will write it in my official notes where I can easily reference it. This helps me to be creative and change character traits for the story, but also keep important details consistent!

Ex of a ref I have below the cut!

This one is interesting cause it shows the flexibility of this system! In this story the characters more represent ideas. Leslie represents denial, and accidentally causing harm. Her story shows how by acceptance you can have healthier relationships and stuff. The sketch shows her general demeanor and an example of something she might wear. I know I want her to wear black and white clothing to represent the harm of black and white thinking. The sketch is there to remind me of that them in her clothing, but it isn't clean enough for me to feel bad about changing anything.

Thank you for the ask!

And if you read this entire thing... Congrats! You won reading a giant info dump about organising character info! (Thank you!)

[neon-moon-beam]

While looking up other info about Legends: Arceus, I came across a thread where people were saying Ingo wouldn’t go back because he was “too necessary” with the Training Grounds and also because he “wouldn’t want to leave his friends in Hisui.”

What follows are my opinions regarding this, and potentially what could happen. (You don’t have to agree.) 

Edit: I should have mentioned it but I'm not really interested in rebuff, or things like headcanons, etc. My primary goal here is to provide reassurance to people who are upset over being left hanging by the way the game currently is, as well as people who are tired of the angst. If you have a differening opinion, please make your own post, and please respect my wishes.

Want more reassurance things will work out? I compiled observations about Pokemon as a whole, as well as in-game evidence here, as well as something I noticed about PokeMas here.

Possible spoilers ahead.

bl*nkshippers dni--I will block you.

First of all, Ingo isn’t especially bonding with anyone, from what we can tell. How much time he spent at the Pearl Clan’s Settlement is up for debate, as he’s only mentioned in passing by one NPC there (the rest seem to focus on Irida and Palina). He doesn’t even stay with Sneasler, choosing to relocate to the Training Grounds in Jubilife as soon as he assists the player. He never refers to Sneasler as “My Lady” the way other wardens do for their Nobles, doesn’t talk about “almighty Sinnoh” at all, etc. He doesn’t appear in the image at the end of the credits of the Harmony Festival, which could indicate a few things, namely that he didn’t go (which would be odd considering his personality isn’t reclusive as well as he’d know it would be important for all the wardens to be at an event designed to more or less start unifying the Diamond and Pearl Clans, as well as Hisui as a whole), or a hint that canonically he has or will go home, but just about every other major NPC was shown there. Irida and Kamado only talk to the player about him (in his presence) when they want the player to interact with him. Irida knows you need Sneasler’s help and hopes maybe you can help him remember things. Ingo has reported to Kamado before regarding the frenzied Nobles, and in the most recent update, Kamado wants you to do the various activities at the Training Grounds designed by Ingo. Nobody ever mentions anything too personal about him, just that he’s great with battling. The NPC in the Pearl Clan Settlement wonders where he came from (after the Disaster Looming mission, before he just mentions how good Ingo is with Pokemon), and Irida and Volo mention his memory loss.

Other than that, Ingo stands there, alone. If anything, his only friendships, or relationships that are more than acquaintanceships or necessary interactions are with the player character and his own Pokemon. The player character/Dawn/Lucas seems to be the only person Ingo told some personal things to, or at the very least, talked about what he barely remembers. If Ingo realizes Dawn/Lucas is from the same era as him, then there isn’t much issue with going back since his closest friend in Hisui isn’t being left behind. Whether or not he can bring his Pokemon is up for debate and both leaving and bringing them seem likely. 

Pokemon is also a series where people and Pokemon do part ways sometimes, depending on the situation and what’s best for the people and Pokemon involved, as evidenced in several games. It may or may not be best for them to return with Ingo.

He can call various trainers for you to battle, but how much does he interact with them other than possibly training them? Kamado is also interested in having people trained in Pokemon battles, and it’s clear the concept is finally catching on in Hisui (some NPCs mention earlier in-game that battling already exists in other regions). But that doesn’t mean Ingo has to stay in Hisui to train everyone for the rest of his life. Last night I found this dialogue:

Zisu is the one who really runs the Training Grounds and is the Captain of the Security Corps. Ingo is likely training her, and given her title, she was obviously capable of battling, if not the most capable perhaps other than Kamado and Beni, before Ingo showed up. She’s the one who wants to build a dojo, not Ingo, and wouldn’t it make sense that if Ingo is teaching all these people, someone could take over for him once he leaves? And if not Zisu, it could be anyone else he’s trained enough, maybe even someone who could be introduced in a DLC?

That’s what I’m hoping this dialogue is hinting at; that someone else will eventually take over for Ingo, allowing him to return to his proper time and place.

Ingo also remembers Chandelure and Emmet, vaguely. Usually characters in Pokemon with amnesia who are not intended to return don’t remember anything, and as seen with Anabel, who so many people compare Ingo to, she was allowed to keep her original Pokemon. Ingo is the opposite; the memories are there, just inaccessible for the most part, and he doesn’t have his Pokemon. He remembers someone who “looked like” him. Later he states he doesn’t know if he had any family, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to be wondering if the man he remembers is at least a relative considering the resemblance. And if he were given the chance to return to where he came from, wouldn’t he take it? And wouldn’t those around him want him to? Ultimately, it would be sad for everyone to say goodbye to Ingo and Dawn/Lucas, but good friends, heck, just good people, would want them to return to their homes and potential families and friends. They may always have a home in Hisui, but returning home and recovering their memories about who they were, reuniting with family and friends, etc should be more important than staying in the past to solve everyone’s problems (Dawn/Lucas) or being the only person to train everyone else.

Also, saying he wouldn’t want to leave friends in Hisui, or is necessary to Hisui ignores some very big details:

He is absolutely necessary to the Battle Subway. It would be a very bad move to revisit Unova and go “Oopsies! Ingo got left in Hisui so it’s just Emmet/no more Battle Subway!” The only bigger way to mess up Unova for fans, at least in Japan, would be to remove N (see this post by @1863-project​ for info on Submas’ popularity).

[desultory-novice]

post forgotten land, do you think hal will retire waddle dees as enemies from future mainline games? also, when do you think the next mainline game will release?

It used to be, we got a new Kirby game around once a year. 

Those weren't all mainline titles, but mainline entries weren't infrequent then by any means. In a way, we're extremely lucky to get a mainline game, an expanded mini-game (how I treat Dream Buffet) and a remake of a mainline game all in one year! Not all companies treat their properties as well as HAL has for their 30th anniversary.

However, the further along the console generations get, the longer development on new titles tends to be, just as a general rule. That can lessen some if you're able to reuse assets and whatnot. It also depends what you're developing for. A system your programmers already know inside and out? Or something entirely new to your staff?

It's safe to say, 5 games in, HAL Labs knows Switch development extremely well. There's no particular rule about this, but a Kirby game is usually one of the last "big" titles to come out for any given Nintendo platform. (I believe that's because HAL would prefer to work on hardware they are familiar with, rather than rush to the newest, shiniest thing.) So I'd say we probably still have one more Kirby Switch game ahead of us after Return to Dream Land DX. Which would be nice, because when a new console inevitably launches, we probably won't be seeing a Kirby game for a few years, while the team acclimates to the new platform.

Director Kumazaki mentioned somewhere something about Star Allies and Forgotten Land are akin to two parts of a single story. Before a new mainline title can be developed, they must decide what Kirby's next adventure will be. Going back through the interviews, I read that Star Allies was designed with the thought of "What might the LAST Kirby game be like?" Of course, it wasn't the last. It was just designed so that it could fulfill that role if necessary. This puts Kumazaki et al in an interesting position, because where do you go from here? Anyway, that's a question for a different ask! Moving on to Waddle Dees...

Hot Take: I don't necessarily think they need to retire Waddle Dees as enemies just because we've rescued and made friends with them. For one thing, being friends with them hasn't stopped us from knocking them around before! Waddle Dee was a companion back in 64. We’ve fought plenty of Waddle Dee since then! 

Something I try to remind myself too is that while Popstar is a world of food, naps, and playtime, "playtime" in Popstar is probably a little more wild than we expect it to be in our world. 

As an example, look at the number of people who see Meta Knight as Kirby's caring, attentive father figure who would make anyone who picked on Kirby regret it with their life.

...This is knowing that very same Meta Knight challenges Kirby to an intense sword duel to the (not) death every time they meet!! That’s not exactly throwing the baseball around the in backyard, is it? But heck, maybe it IS on Popstar...?

I mean, they're bringing back that one mini game where you hit BOMBS at each other with a frying pan in RtDL DX!! I think.... I really think the residents of Popstar are generally less concerned about fighting (and blowing up) than maybe we are...? 

(Probably why forgiveness is given out so easily on Popstar. "Oh, you blew up my castle? Yeah, Kirby did that last week too when we were fighting over who got the last slice of pie. No big deal.")

You can attack the residents of Waddle Dee Town too and they just angry Wanya! at you and go back to what they're doing.

I think it's fine to keep them as enemies because they help make the world less lonely. Sure, they could keep the concept of Waddle Dee Town going, but probably only for a game or two. Kirby games always like to mix up the formula every few entries. Even the most diehard fans of Forgotten Land would probably get tired of that same gameplay loop by "Kirby and the Forgotten Land 4: I Can't Believe They Forgot Again!" 

As enemies, they get a chance to interact with the world in fun and interesting ways too. Do you recall the various swinging Waddle Dees? (I ADORE those ones so much. Sooo cute!) Driving Waddle Dees? Napping Waddle Dees? Waddle Dees who happen to be standing above a pit trap and OH NO WADDLE DEE! I DIDN'T MEAN TO HIT THAT SWITCH!

I typed that last one out because I've had that "Ahhhh! Nooo! Poor little guy!" reaction to Waddle Dees even before Forgotten Land came out. And I imagine I will continue to have that reaction to them. 

You can also avoid them, too! Outside of the mini bosses, you're rarely (never...?) forced into attacking one. (Has someone made a "no Waddle Dees harmed" series of challenge videos akin to that "Can you beat <X> without Jumping?" one?) Kirby is a platforming series at heart. You don’t even need to hurt anyone to progress. Well, not most.

-

That's a long way of saying, I think they can still be enemies because I think it's fine with the Dees themselves if they are! At least, going by the general worldview of Kirby. I believe that when the Dees are really, truly in danger (being kidnapped by the Beast Pack is clearly something they don't want) Kirby and the rest will go out of their way to save them. But I don't think being inhaled or spit out by Kirby counts as "real danger." It's rarely been portrayed that way!

[thefanficmonster]

Phone Call Anxiety

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: None

Genre: FLUFF, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: When wanting to make quality merch, one needs a quality team there to produce and work on quality ideas. Great minds think alike. Great eyes see alike and great hands make alike - the three keys to the formula of creating a clothing line that will be fashionable and up to his brand. Luckily, Corpse knows just who to call.

Requested by Anon. Hi hun! Thank you so much for your wonderful request, I absolutely loved the idea! Sorry you’ve had to wait for it to be turned into a fic for so long, but I still hope you come across it and give it a read in which case I hope you enjoy it! Love, Vy ❤

He’s not a fan of phone calls. Anyone who knows him even remotely is very well informed on Corpse’s distaste for phone calls and upholding a conversation over the phone. He’d even go as far as to say talking to a person face to face is less stressful for him than that previous option.

But still, seeing as how the person he’s trying to reach lives in a different state and is rather busy all the time, arranging an IRL meeting is basically impossible at the moment, and sending her a text results in running the risk of having the text overlooked or completely lost in the sea of notifications she probably gets on the daily.

Therefore, a phone call was his only proper way of reaching her. And it’s what’s got him pacing the room with his nervousness peaking.  He doesn’t know anything about this girl, nothing concrete at least. He was referred to her by Jack who brought her up in their passing conversation when Corpse mentioned how paranoid he was regarding his upcoming merch project. He specifically stated he doesn’t want anything basic and he wants the clothes to be fashionable, suitable for anyone no matter the age or gender and to be endurable. With all the love he has for his fans, he doesn’t want to give them anything less than what they deserve - the best.

“My friend’s the person you’re looking for.“ Jack said enthusiastically and confidently, “She helped me design the latest merch line I put out and I’ve never been more satisfied with my own merch. I’m planning on offering her a position in Cloak for her birthday. Make sure not to let that one slip out if you give her a call though.“ He warned half-jokingly. 

Bottom line, with that kind of intro, Corpse couldn’t help but let his interest be piqued. And so, he asked for this girl - Y/N’s contact info from Jack before he went to surf through her social media where she thankfully posted plenty of pictures of her creations, never failing to mention specifications in the caption of each picture so the viewers would get the perfect and most detailed idea of how high the standard for her work is.

And so he’s finally managed to talk himself into dialing her number that’s been sitting in his phone for weeks now. As he paces his living room, his nerves chewing him out like a dog would with a toy, listening to the ear piercing ring of the dial waiting to get picked up by the girl he’s trying to reach. 

Just then, Corpse’s head turns so that his eyes meet the glowing red numbers on his digital clock on his desk and he damn near hangs up the call right away - it’s half an hour past midnight. Fast as lightning, he removes the phone from his ear, his thumb flying over to press the red ‘end call’ button. Just then, a faint ‘hello’ reaches his ears, coming from the phone’s speaker. She’s answered the call.

He hurries to put the phone back up to his ear.

“Hey, sorry for taking so long to pick up, I ought to clean my desk eventually cause my phone was literally BURIED under a pile of papers.“ A cheerful sing-song voice rattles his stale and sleep deprived consciousness, as if awakening him from a half-dream state. “You’re either a wrong number caller or a last minute client, aren’t you? Need something done urgently?“

Corpse is taken the hell aback by her strong and downright awing first impression. Not to mention her energy at an hour unsuitable for calls. Lord knows he wouldn’t have picked up if her were in her spot. With the intention of not wasting any more of her time than necessary, he hurries to explain his situation. “Y/N, right? Um no, I’m neither actually. I was told about you by a friend, he said you were a real miracle-doer with fashion design.” He trails off for a second, not completely sure of how to hold this conversation, “Uh, sorry for the odd timed call, I lost track of time. I’ve been meaning to call you for hours now but I...I was nervous.” He cringes the second the word leaves his lips, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He doesn’t know why he wants to leave her with a great, better than realistic impression of himself but he does and as of now he deems his attempts as ultimate failures.

He hears her giggle from her end, rifling through what sounds to be papers, “Yeah, I’m her. And boy is it refreshing to get someone who’s calling with an actual purpose.” She sighs as if a weight’s been lifted off her shoulders, “And don’t worry about the phone call anxiety. Makes two of us, to be honest.”

This catches him off-guard. The last thing he’d expect is for this girl to have phone call anxiety. In fact, she appears to be a natural, God-given talent at carrying conversations and upholding chit-chat with people. Maybe he’s a little too quick to judge - probably, considering he’s ‘known’ her for less than five minutes and knows nothing but her occupation, her name and the state she lives in - but that bubbly persona she greeted him with gave off the impression that it’s immune to any and all kinds of social anxiety - or anxiety in general. To hear such an honest and counter-to-assumptions confession on her part rattles him a tiny bit. In a good way though.

“How does that work for you? Isn’t your whole job depending on your phone conversational skills?“ He doesn’t mind that he didn’t phrase that too perfectly or that he straight up blurted it out. He knows he’ll be understood. She’s obviously a person who understands. Not just something specific, but everything. She simply understands. How he drew this conclusion and how accurate it is, he may not know until further notice.

“Well...“ she sighs as if genuinely looking to give him a proper answer, “You see, after doing it for so long and having been caught off guard quite a few times with some absolutely absurd orders, I’ve grown prepared of literally ANYTHING and I have a line prepared for anything the caller has to say. I just no longer let them catch me off guard and it’s fine. Helps avoid any possible awkward silences.“

Corpse’s eyebrows shoot up, her explanation only raising more questions rather than providing answers. But he’s not gonna be the annoying dumbass asking those questions at close to 1AM and bugging her. After all, if she agrees to this partnership, they’ll be hearing and potentially seeing a lot more of each other soon. “Impressive, honestly. You’re gonna need to teach me sometime.“ He’s unaware he’s smiling until he catches his reflection in the window. However, he doesn’t bother hiding it. This conversation is actually making him feel good, serving as a reminder that he’s not the only one who periodically goes through turmoil over small things. 

She giggles again, this time the sound manages to draw a blush out of him, coating his cheeks, “I’d typically stray for revealing my secrets to professional success, but I’m willing to make an exception for you...” she pauses for a second as though she’s just now remembered something, “Oh shoot, I don’t even know your name.”

He wheezes out a nervous laugh, realizing he never introduced him, “Oh yeah, sorry, that’s my bad. My name’s Corpse, nice to meet ya.”

“Nice to meet you too, Corpse.“ Y/N replies, sounding pleased but teasing simultaneously, “Now tell me, you didn’t call me about my phone call secrets, did you? What may be the real purpose of your call?“

Oh shoot, he himself almost forgot what he was calling for. Luckily, the reference designs displayed on his computer screen remind him. “Right, well, I’ve been thinking of launching a new merch line either this month or the next, depending on how long the procedure will take, and I needed someone great on my team to make some merch actually worth the money people are paying for it. And, as I said, I was told you were in that ‘someone great’ category.”

“Told by who, if you don’t mind me asking?“ She briefly cuts him off, her voice now giving away the fact that she’s half-absent-minded in this conversation, added evidence be the ruffling of more papers on her end.

“Jack. I mean, Sean. You know, Jacksepticeye.“ Corpse explains, contemplating whether he should’ve ratted Jack out like that. Hearing the sound of delight Y/N lets out eases his worries ASAP though.

“Oh Gosh, I haven’t seen that cutie in so long! He’s like a brother to me so a friend of Jack’s is a friend of min-“ this time she cuts herself off so abruptly Corpse thought the line was cut or she hung up on him. She doesn’t let him wonder for long though, “Wait, wait, wait....Merch? And you’re friends with Jack?“ She pauses for a second once again, once again not a long enough second for Corpse to speak up. “You’re a famous YouTuber, aren’t you?“

He was completely unaware of the fact Y/N hadn’t realized he was someone famous yet. In fact, he didn’t think of it because he thought it wouldn’t be a big deal to her considering she’s friends with Jack-fucking-septiceye! In his mind, his ranking is far lower than Jack’s - despite that mindset being absurd - so the last thing he expected was for her to have some sort of impressed reaction to have been talking to him on the phone this whole time. Hell, she doesn’t even know his full YouTube name or what kind of content he produces.

“WAIT!“ She shouts urgently, startling him a tiny bit, “You’re Corpse Husband, aren’t you? Oh my God, yes you are, how didn’t I put it together sooner? Ah crap, I really need more coffee for this.“

“No! No, you need more sleep.“ Corpse hurries to correct her but is very clearly ignored or overlapped with the many sounds that are coming from her end, “What are you doing?“

“You’re getting the first rough sketch of a design by tomorrow morning.“ She says, taking a sip of whatever beverage she’s acquired for the purpose of keeping her awake, “You go ahead and get some sleep, I know exactly what I’m doing. Don’t worry about it.“

“I’m not worried about the design.“ He hurries to say before she, God forbid, hangs up on him, “It’s 1AM, woman, you need sleep! I don’t need those designs done by tomorrow. Hell, I don’t even need them this week!“

“You don’t, but I do.“ Y/N says, sounding almost breathless because of what seems to be overwhelming excitement, “You don’t get it - I’m designing merch for Corpse fucking Husband! You have any idea how crazy that is?“

“I personally would say it’s underwhelming. I mean, I’m no Pewdiepie, after all.“ He says, now sat at his desk with his free hand rubbing his temple as he stares at the designs he’s pulled up on his screen, ones he probably won’t need given that he’s now working with a professional.

“Oh, shut it.“ She chuckles, “Shut it and get some sleep, ok? I’ll talk to you in the morning.“

“Noooo...“ He leisurely stretches the word, “Tell me, Y/N, do you have Discord?” She clicks her tongue instantly, giving him a signal that the question he’s asked is bordering into the territory of ridiculous. He playfully rolls his eyes, “Alright then, lemme find you. If we’re partnering up on this, we’re both staying up.”

“You know you can just straight up tell me you don’t fully trust me with this? Like, I won’t be offended, I get it.“ She murmurs in-thought, the sound of clicking evident on her end. 

“You know you can just straight up tell me you don’t want me bothering you and want me to leave you alone?“ He mimics her statement, smirking to himself as he pulls up Discord, knowing he’s already won.

She huffs and tells him her Discord info, quickly adding a small comment, “...but only because great minds think alike. I know we’ll be getting along on this design pretty nicely.”

“Yeah, yeah, right, sure, whatever you say.“ He laughs, “Accept my friend request and let’s drop this phone call.“

“Hey! - um, before we do that, I just wanna say a quick thank you.“ Y/N murmurs quietly, as if half-hoping he doesn’t hear her.

“For what?“ Corpse asks, his brows furrowing, unsure if they’re on the same page about this gratitude.

“For never once triggering my phone call anxiety.“ She admits, “I mean, I know I said I have lines prepared for every conversation scenario possible, but you totally caught me off-guard.“ She giggles a tiny bit, now sounding dangerously close to nervous, “But, not in a bad way, if that makes sense. Sorry if it doesn’t, I need more coffee.“

“No, no, it does!“ He hurries to reassure her, “It really does. And thank you too. Thank you for, you know, tolerating my BS at this hour. God knows I would’ve ignored your call if our roles were reversed.“

He hears her scoff and can’t help but laugh, “Huh ok, I see.“ She says, sounding greatly triggered and mock-pissed at his confession, “I’ll make sure to think of that next time you call me after midnight. Or at all, ever.“

Laughing his butt off, the only thing Corpse can think of in this moment is:

Damn, this girl and I are gonna get along

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[eringurumi]

Baby Yoda Pattern

Look out friends I know there are so many crochet Baby Yodas out there, and plenty of crochet Baby Yoda patterns, but I’m about to add mine to the mix!  As always, if anyone uses this pattern, please link back to my page, and tag me or send me a picture! I’ll always reblog! Like the rest of you, I’m obsessed with this little sweetie and want to see as many as humanly possible! Or tag me on insta @ erin.gurumi 

EDIT: PDF version here thanks to @romeo-wherefore-art-thou​

EDIT 2: PATTERN FOR MANDO!

From what I can tell, my pattern is one of the smallest designs out there. So, while lacking in detail (I love the tiny hands and facial features people are able to make!), the trade off is, look how SMOL he sits in my hand! Make a dozen of them! Fill a candy dish with them! Put one in the manger of your Nativity scene!

So, the secret to a tiny Yoda is, in part, using tiny yarn. I had this perfect ball of light green yarn in my stash and I have no idea what it is or where I got it (possibly inherited from my grandma?), but you can see it here compared to the Red Heart Super Saver “Buff Fleck” yarn I used for his coat. Also, for his head and ears, I used a 2.5mm crochet hook, while for the body I used a 3mm crochet hook. I think it makes a difference! I’m vaguely curious if this pattern could scale up, maybe with worsted weight for the head and a chunky yarn for the body?

^ Head: 

To make sure his head has a more oval shape, I didn’t do multiple rows of the widest diameter (counter-intuitively, to crochet a sphere, you need multiple rows of the widest diameter, it’s just some property of how the yarn stretches!)  

6 sc in a magic circle

inc 6x to make 12 stitches  

(1 sc, inc) 6x to make 18 stitches

(2 sc, inc) 6x to make 24 stitches

(2 sc, dec) 6x to make 18 stitches

Add 6 mm eyes between last two row, stuff

(1 sc, dec) 6x to make 12 stitches

dec until closed off

^ Ears:

 This is a challenging one since you are working with such few stitches. When making a narrow cone like this, I find it helps to stick my hook into the cup and press it out, to make a more sharp point and better expose the stitches I need to work with.

3 sc in a magic circle

inc 1 to make 4 stitches

(sc, inc) 2x to make 6 stitches

2 rows of 6 sc

flatten ears and sew shut

Sew the ears to each side of the head, making sure they stick out mostly horizontally. Having them too high on the head really changes the silhouette and makes him look less Yoda-like! 

^ Coat:

As you can see, I was actually experimenting on his little potato sack at the same time I was working on the head, because I wanted them to have good proportions to each other. I ultimately went with a slightly larger size than you see here. I know in amigurumi often the head is much much bigger than the body, but here I wanted him to still look a bit like he was swimming in his cute little sack.

foundation single crochet 14

connect the ends in a loop

sc 14

sc 13 (decrease once in back)

sc 12 (decrease once in back)

tie off leaving a long end

^ Collar: 

This is such a crazy important piece of his costume! I wanted him to look cozy and snug but not TOO tightly wrapped up. I didn’t get a good picture of the collar pre-attached, but it really is so simple:

chain 14, turn, chain 2

double crochet in second chain, then 13 double crochets across

I would recommend experimenting with the number of stitches though, depending on how tight they are - you want it to be able to wrap around the neck of the coat with a little left over to form the overlap. To attach the collar, I carefully sewed it AROUND THE OUTSIDE of the main body of the cloak, NOT directly to the top of the coat, as then you can’t attach his head! 

Here’s the two coat/collar combos I experimented with, which was possible since I attached the collar before I attached the head. I don’t think that’s strictly necessary, as it does make sewing on the head harder because you have to reach down through the collar (making sure the head attached to the coat, not the collar!). But it is doable! (The smaller body had 12 stitches in diameter at the base of the coat, and the smaller collar and half double crochets - I just think it looked more squished and messy.)

As for stuffing his body - I kinda didn’t! there were enough loose ends of the various yarns that basically tucking them in provided enough structure - he doesn’t have any feet (it would be easy to make some though, if you wanted), but he actually stands up great like this! 

I mean, he stands up great, but don’t think that means he doesn’t also love to be picked up and held! This is a better view of the back of his collar, which comes up so cute and snug around his ears!

That’s it for Baby Yoda! Good luck and please feel free to ask if you have any questions! If you make a little guy, pleeese share a pic with me! I can’t get enough of him! And, if there is some interest in the pattern for Best Space Dad the Mandalorian, I may write that up later! They are so cute with each other!!

[irisbleufic]

Hi! Just wanted to drop this real quick because I am but a simple lass who adores your powers of analysis.

I found this on Pinterest and what immediately struck me is that yeah, Jerome isn't the craziest version of himself here, but he's still highly dangerous, still decidedly not sane. Yet, his knife isn't even touching Bruce's neck, his hand is. Like a lover softly brushing their knuckles on a partner's throat. His left arm is wrapped around Bruce to keep him in place, but again, take the knife away and this is a tender embrace. And if I were being held tightly by someone holding a dagger to my neck, I'd be clawing at them. I'd be angry and scared, of course. And Bruce is afraid, very much so. Nonetheless, he's clutching at Jerome in a very peculiar way.

Nada, just thought you'd find this interesting. Hope all is going well and you're getting some sleep (writing And teaching, how do you do it?) !

Hi there, @shippinggirl2424!  The trick to this situation is just that: it’s a trick. At this point, Jerome is so eager to please Theo Galavan (and to be a star, which is what Galavan’s promising him via this holding-up of the televised gala) that he’s maintaining this as a measured, controlled performance. The audience and Bruce both need to believe Bruce is in danger, which he is to a degree—but it’s not immediate danger. At this stage, maybe after a year or slightly less of doing time in Arkham and then being freed by the Galavans, Jerome is willing to take directions since acting rashly on his own (i.e. killing his mother and getting caught) didn’t work out so well for him. He can’t hold onto Bruce too roughly and can’t risk letting the knife actually bite into his neck because he might actually kill him if he does that…but that’s not what Theo has told him to do, is it? All he’s really been asked to do is play the actions of menace in this context until Theo arrives to save the day. Jerome doesn’t know Theo is going to kill him; if he had known, Jerome’s actions in this context might have changed drastically. Casting an actor so physically intentional in this role was necessary. Those tiny, subtle distinctions need to be perceptible—and Monaghan delivers.

As for how Bruce carries himself in this scene, that’s not surprising, because Mazouz shares that capability with his co-star. Alfred has likely impressed upon Bruce that struggling in a situation like this carries no advantage unless you’re sure you have the upper hand. Bruce knows he does not; that’s the choice I see in how it’s acted. Keeping one hand over Jerome’s like that shows an unusual amount of poise under duress; he knows he can’t do anything to prompt Jerome to handle him more roughly, but he also knows he needs to have his hands in positions that could let him fight back at a moment’s notice. Like, jeez, they’re both just teenagers here (probably about 13 and 18, or 14 and 19, depending on how much time Jerome did in Arkham before the Galavans busted him and the Maniax out to cause all this trouble), and they’re both under the tight control of others around them. They both stand to lose their lives if they make one wrong move (and Jerome is going to lose his no matter what he does, but again, he believes if he does what he’s told, he’ll get what he wants).

This is all to say, there are absolute reasons why you perceive “gentleness” in the contact here. It’s not so much gentleness on either of their parts as it is restraint. They just each have completely different reasons for showing a measure of restraint. If you compare this encounter to the night of Jerome’s resurrection and the fun fair, which is another year or so beyond this incident, none of this restraint applies. Jerome wakes up thinking the desire to kill Bruce was conceived as his own notion, when really it was Galavan’s design, and Bruce by that point has lost many of his illusions and reservations surrounding his own use of violence. I always end up in a place, in my stories, where, out the other side of this hate that’s been set up for them, they realize they have a lot more in common than they’d admit—and it’s so interesting to make them cooperate in matters surrounding the fact they’ve fallen for each other’s “siblings” (Jeremiah doesn’t merit quotation marks, but Five does both due to the lack of specificity in canon surrounding his creation and to the manner of specificity I’ve built for my stories to fill those gaps in his origins).

Strip away the strings controlling Jerome and Bruce, or the remnants of strings, and they have the potential to end up in situations where they’re of more help to each other than hindrance (I mean, look at the diner scene in S4). They don’t have the same kind of complicating spark, by which I do mean a crush, that Bruce and Jeremiah form from the moment they first see each other. Get on the bad side of somebody you love or somebody you’re in love with and it’s far, far worse than getting on the bad side of somebody you’re just stuck with. Bruce and Jerome kind of just get stuck with each other, and after a while, every time they cross paths, it’s like, oh, right, you again. The first time you put Jeremiah in the mix with Jerome and Bruce is the one time it arguably ends worse for Jerome than it ever has before, and it’s at least partly because Jerome and Bruce each feel something far more complicated for Jeremiah than they feel for each other.

[mc-lukanette]

Marinette was so incredibly sick of working with Gabriel. The man was emotionally dead inside, and that day specifically had made her dead tired. She was honestly glad she didn't have a car, as there would've been no way she could've driven it all the way home without falling asleep at the steering wheel.

Stumbling her way onto the bus, her vision blurred as she forced herself to walk to the back, given that the rest of the seats were already taken by at least one other person. The back seat held one person as well, but the seat was at least long and there was less risk of her accidentally falling on them if she passed out.

She plopped down onto the seat, letting out a sigh of relief that she was finally about to relax to some degree. Glancing thoughtfully at the empty space next to her, she removed her jacket, not caring how subtle she wasn't as she laid it down onto the space, just in case she did indeed fall asleep.

An insurance policy, she figured, so she could pass out on it. She was fully aware that having a "plan" for such things so quickly said something about both her and her tendency for exhaustion, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She vaguely heard the doors to the bus close, then felt the steady rhythm of it moving along. She regretted the latter immediately, knowing she must've been tired if the steady motions of a bus were soothing her to sleep.

It didn't take even a minute before she felt her eyes start to flutter shut. She barely managed to catch herself when she started to fall to the left - towards the person next to her - and her eyes shot open on alert.

Er—wait, was that left? Or had it been right? She was sitting straight again at least, but was she not as straight as she thought?

Had it always been so dark?

—————

The next thing Marinette knew, she was being gently shaken by something. She whined, burying her face into her pillow and clutching it tighter, almost in protest.

If that shaking was an earthquake, she was going to sleep through it as if her life depended on it.

She was shaken again, this time more strongly. Groaning, she finally peeked upwards, seeing a man with black hair and blue highlights smiling sympathetically at her.

While she was wondering how such a handsome man managed to sneak into her bed, he explained, "Sorry. I wanted to let you sleep, but... I didn't know where you got off, and this is the last stop on the bus."

She blinked, confused, until the word bus registered with her and she realized that she couldn't remember having gotten home. She jerked up, looking around in a panic and confirming that she was indeed still on the bus and had fallen asleep on a stranger, despite having taken precautions so she wouldn't.

Her so-called "pillow" had been his arm, and she'd been gripping the sleeve of his jacket.

Blushing red, she stood, flailing her arms frantically at him. "I am SO sorry! I swear I didn't mean to! I feel awful—I mean, not physically because you were actually really warm and nice, but emotionally because I just—" She practically slapped her own face with her hands, muffling a scream into her palms.

"I didn't mind," the man assured, standing up as well and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm Luka, by the way, and I know you got a little sleep on the way here—"

She groaned at the reminder.

"—but do you mind if I walk you home?" he asked. "I want to make sure you make it there alright."

She peeked out at him through her fingers, then lowered her hands. "H-huh? You don't have to do that."

"I know, but you've had a rough day," he observed, despite her having not told him. "I'm guessing this isn't your stop either."

She slumped. "No, it isn't." Not wanting to dismiss his kindness though, she gave him a reassuringly look. "But you were letting me sleep and it was probably for the best. If it's really okay, I... yes, you can take me home."

He smiled, satisfied with that, then began walking off the bus. She followed after him, though was confused at why he seemed happy to take her after she'd slept on him. Did good people really still exist in the world? She was just so used to Gabriel.

They were already off the bus when she noticed that she hadn't introduced herself in return. "Oh! Uh, I'm Marinette." She leaned forward so he could see her even as they walked side-by-side. "You're sure you don't have anything important to do?"

"Not really," he replied. "I had a pretty relaxed day."

"Lucky." Marinette pouted. "I wish my day had been like that. I wasn't even supposed to go into work today, but Gabriel needed me."

"Gabriel Agreste?"

"Yeah."

He grinned, still sympathetic but with a little playfulness now. "That explains why you were tired."

She snorted. "Yeah." She paused, then blushed in embarrassment and covered her mouth. "Well, mostly."

He didn't prod, but she could sense that the offer to be listened to was there.

Rubbing the back of her head, she continued sheepishly, "It was a late night for me yesterday. I really was going to head straight to bed, but then I went to lay down and, of course—"

"Inspiration hit," Luka chimed in.

Her jaw went slack, brows raised in surprise at him. "How'd you know?"

"I'm a musician," he replied, "so I know what it's like when creativity wants to play its song."

Marinette gasped. "Oh my gosh, you understand me."

They shared a laugh, and the conversation naturally transitioned from there into talks about their jobs, as Marinette was already wondering what instrument he played. She learned that he mainly played the guitar, among multiple other instruments, and his last name was Couffaine. He was the leader of a band called Kitty Section, which Marinette felt bad for having never heard about. He assured her it was fine, and that they didn't do anything big anyway; it was usually small venues or whoever would welcome them. He offered her one of their CDs as a sample and she promised to listen to later, though Luka was already uninterested in talking further about it at that point, wanting to hear about her instead.

She started out vague, not finding herself all that interesting. She was a fashion designer working under Gabriel Agreste, a job that paid well but was stressful when Gabriel himself could make changes and fire people at the drop of a hat. She adored fashion, of course, but everything that came with that was a bit of a downer. When she wasn't fretting over seams and fabrics, she preferred gaming, or tending to her plants.

Luka admitted to having barely touched games in his life, but Marinette was pleasantly surprised to hear that he had his own plants he liked tending to; apparently, his mother's houseboat was full of them, both when he was growing up and after.

Marinette realized partway through their conversation that she hadn't gotten out much due to the stress of her job, which she figured factored into her having not heard of Luka's band, however much of a pity it was. Though she didn't say it out loud, she silently considered hopping around places they might be when she was free, hoping to catch them playing one day and surprise Luka with it.

They were still deep into their conversation when Marinette noticed that they'd reached her house. At first, she thought it was strange that they'd arrived so quickly, but looking at her phone made it clear that they'd been talking for at least thirty minutes. She hadn't gotten so absorbed in talking to someone in... well, a long time. How'd she even manage to walk that long without collapsing on the street?

Despite the fact that she felt terrible about causing him trouble by falling asleep on him and letting him walk her home, she couldn't help feeling disappointed that their time together was about to end. Luka seemed equally reluctant somehow, staring at the door she stood in front of but not immediately saying anything, though Marinette imagined that she might've been projecting what she wanted onto him.

"Um, thanks for walking me home," she told him, hands clasped together at her waist.

"You're welcome." He gave her a smile. "I'm just glad you're okay."

She nodded, hesitating for a long moment before turning to the door. She grabbed the doorknob, but didn't open it, her fingers only twisting the knob back and forth with no end goal. She bit her bottom lip, debating with herself over what she should do.

The terrible feeling increased. He was her bed and companion for the night and he was about to walk all the way back to his house with her having done nothing about it.

She had to do something for him.

Eventually, she turned to him, hoping she didn't sound too desperate as she called out, "Luka."

He seemed briefly caught off-guard, but not weirded out, which she took as a good sign. "Yes?"

"Um..." She sighed. "Would you—come inside for a bit? Maybe stay the night?"

He gaped. "Ah—"

"I mean—!" She stiffened, but didn't take it back. "At least let me thank you with dessert, you know? And it's just—you would've already been home by now and obviously I don't know if you planned on going to bed right when you got there, but I figured you could sleep over so you can still get as many hours as you can?"

He blinked at her for a few seconds, then stifled a chuckle, directing his gaze to the ground. He closed his eyes, seeming to genuinely contemplate the offer, then looked back at her with a smile. "That makes it sound like I'm the one troubling you now."

"You aren't!" she insisted, almost—no, actually offended. "And if you think so, then fine, trouble me! I want to be troubled!" She opened the door with a huff, gesturing inside with both hands. "See? Trouble is welcome here, that's what the mat is for!"

He didn't bother stifling anything this time, letting out a warm laugh that made her heart do a flip. Was he honestly charmed by her lame outbursts?

"Alright," he said once he'd calmed down, straightening and taking the steps necessary to stand next to her. "I'd be happy to, Marinette."

She beamed at him, not understanding why he'd accepted but not complaining either. Rushing inside, she held onto the door and waited for Luka to enter before shutting it behind them.

Their conversation continued right where it left off, delving into their favorite sweets as Marinette showed him around the kitchen.

[maxwell-grant]

Do you have any opinion on the Wold Newton universe or more generally the attempts to create a coherent universe based on massive crossover of victorian and/or pulp fictions ?

Fair warning to any and all of you who follow my blog and might think to yourselves "Wow, I want a Pulp Hero Cinematic Universe!". You don't. What you want is for these characters to thrive again and maybe kick ass together after reestablishing themselves as cool and popular and interesting characters in the pop culture eye, and I want that too, I've been working on ideas for years to try and bring some of that to reality, it's part of the whole point of this blog in the first place, and I must stress: Nothing, and I repeat, nothing, is going to put these characters six feet under faster than a botched attempt to follow in the MCU's footsteps. You don't want to watch these characters suffocate under the strain of a cinematic universe. I didn't like watching it happen with Marvel to begin with, as much as that clearly worked out for them.

If DC could only just barely catch up to the MCU's shadow and only started to thrive when they took a diametrically opposite approach, if the Monsterverse, despite the fact that it's characters were already in a cinematic universe together, only just barely limps on due to the popularity of it's central players, the pulp heroes don't have a chance in hell if they try and play by those rules. The Shadow and Doc Savage and Green Hornet can survive failed reboots, but not every character's got that kind of safety net, not every author can afford to take the risks necessary to commit to these properties, and some characters take a lot longer to crawl out of graves than others.

So with that said, let's talk about the WNU.

When I first started doing research on pulp heroes in general I spent a very long time going through all of the Wold Newton pages I could find, and I have a lot of them saved in case the websites get taken down one way or another. I still consult them frequently and I still consider them a pretty invaluable resource for anyone who wants to get acquainted with pulp characters, even if it must be prefaced that the WNU is basically fanfiction.

The Wold Newton Universe was a massive shared fanfiction universe before we had a proper name for this kind of thing and I do find it a little disheartening that, despite it predating or influencing works like LOEG and Incognito and Planetary, and how several current authors either got started writing articles for it or even professed their love of it, it's a currently dead project. I guess it ultimately wasn't supposed to even last as long as it did anyway, and much like the characters it's based on, it ultimately doesn't really die so much as it just lives on differently.

The big problem I have with the mainline WNU is, besides not liking Phillip Jose Farmer's writing, that much of it is basically crack fanfiction built on very, very flimsy family connections as an excuse to tie characters together, and already I think the premise that somehow, all of these characters are related, all of them are part of a special family tree connected by meteor-irradiated blood, to be extremely weak. A lot of the writing in many of the WNU pages is just not good and not workable, and it's hard to fault it as such considering this is fanfic, it's written by enthusiastic fans and not professional writers (although some of these people are, the Lofficiers have no excuse). But the great thing about the WNU is that, because it's a shared project with no ownership, everyone gets to play around and rewrite canon at will and bring their own angle to it.

There's WNU pages that are very hardline against the inclusion of superheroes, others don't have that restriction at all. There's WNU fan pages focusing exclusively on monsters and horror. Jess Nevins wrote a ton of pages digging out the really obscure characters only he knows about. There's Cool French Comics which is focused heavily on the European side of things, which is also where I discovered The Grey Claw's existence, and Tales of the Shadowmen is based a lot on these. I know for a fact that there used to be at least a couple of pages focusing on anime although the Wayback Machine doesn't have most of them archived. It's not so much a single shared universe or timeline so much as it's several, outright dozens, of them depending on who's writing the pages, and they were all free to either incorporate theories made by other authors or purposefully rewrite them. It’s a freedom afforded by the fact that these are non-profit fanfics, and the fact that over half of the characters in these webpages are public domain or in copyright purgatory to begin with.

Unlike with DC, who's got a hodgepodge of concepts that logically shouldn't work together but are still held together by the consistent ideal of the superhero and the Justice League and whatnot, and Marvel, who was a continuous crossover soap opera right from the start, the Pulp Heroes don't live in the same worlds, don't live in the same time periods, many of them weren't designed to do so, don't have a sliding timescale or rebooting timeline to keep them perpetually on the same level, they don't exist under unified copyright, don't operate by the same rules, and are less built to sacrifice their individuality and settings for the sake of costumed punch-ups with a bunch of randos. Superheroes are able to exist together by operating under a very strongly defined notion of what a superhero is and does, and if the Pulp Heroes had anything of the sort, I wouldn't have to make a chart in the first place trying to create a coherent explanation as to what defines them.

Before the MCU could sell people on the Avengers, it first had to sell them on all of it's other team players first, it needed to do the groundwork and rework all of it's existing characters to make sure they could reasonably be crammed on screen together. From the start, their universe was dictated by the need to have these characters team up. Be honest: Do you think this is gonna work for the Pulp Heroes? Characters whose greatest selling point, whose most enduring and unique traits, are the ways in which they are not like other heroes? Characters that currently struggle for newfound popularity because of the common notion that they are just superheroes, except old and racist and outdated. Do you think these characters aren't better off instead dispelling these preconceptions to rebel against the superhero dominance and thrive in different areas? The secret of their success in the first place was the ways in which they weren't like the Victorian Heroes that preceded them, and guess what, now they are on the same boat.

The concept is not unworkable, it's not impossible, some good stories have resulted out of mashing the icons big and small together, hell I have several Pulp Hero universe concepts I'm working on. But I must stress the need of approaching this from a different perspective. And that perspective starts with doing the groundwork on what works and what doesn't for them.

The only genuinely successful pulp hero universes to an extent I've seen were those that were built from the ground up based on an idea that these characters were supposed to interact and work together, or at least share a history together. The strongest one I've seen would definitely be The Chimera Brigade, because it's not preoccupied with mashing icons together but instead telling a story informed by the history of these characters, informed by it's central point: Namely, what does a pulp/superhero history look like from a French perspective. It's biggest names are used only sparingly, it's got a ton of original characters to make the world feel more seamless and real, it takes the routes less traveled to make the story stand more on it's own feet and not just based on the characters it's intended to reference. And in doing so, it's also allowed several of it's characters to thrive individually as well as collectively.

In that regard, I think the greatest thing the WNU has is that it provides a skeleton to work with. It provides not just one but several ideas of what you can do with these characters past their respective stories, either in personal canons, crossovers with other properties or even existing in shared universes. The ideas are there either for existing characters or original creations. What you do with those ideas is up to you.

[jonthethinker]

After a long day of truly cursed thoughts, I’ve come to the determination that the Cerberus Assembly can act as a sort of Exandrian analog of our world’s Silicon Valley, and I hate it. I hate hate hate it.

The more I think about it, the more it just sort of melds into my mind as fact. I can’t escape it. This is where I live now.

You’ve got this collection of self-proclaimed super geniuses, unbounded by modern social mores and determined to invent a new sort of ethics, with an intent on shaping history and sagely guiding the world into a better future. This is despite the fact that most of the ideas they have inevitably end up making the world worse, and the only thing “new” that they really bring into the world is a bunch of actually very old ideas coated in fresh circuitry/magic.

But let’s dig a little deeper and start getting specific.

They both have these images of fiercely independent, creative bodies desperate to remain free from government control, and sometimes even as a check on that very government. The heads of the Cerberus Assembly outright say their intent is to act as a check on the Crown, and are known to have many secrets the Crown is, to their knowledge, totally unaware of.

Tech companies, particularly in America, have this outward facing very libertarian outlook on things, saying they don’t wish to interfere in the very important process of democracy and free speech, while simultaneously feeling it is their responsibility to fact check those in power and hold them to account, with their “serious vetting” of political ads and the like on their platforms. They also lobby heavily against any and all regulation of their various products and services, preferring to let the “invisible hand” of the market provide the service of keeping them in check, much as the Cerberus Assembly prefers to handle its own problems internally.

But when you really dig into the details this is all bullshit. The Cerberus Assembly, for all intents and purposes, IS the Empire. They run the secret police, for goodness sake. The two are so interconnected, and the Assembly as an institution is so dependent on the infrastructure and manpower, and of course money (because the fancy clothes, giant towers, and expensive sets of material components don’t pay for themselves) of the Empire to accomplish its goals, it can’t serve as a real check on Imperial forces possibly “overstepping”, and it also has no material interest in doing so; the more power and control the Empire has, the more power and control the Assembly has; the less freedom the citizens have due to authoritarian “safety” measures implemented by the Crown, the safer the Assembly itself becomes to pursue it’s morally dubious work and experimentation.

The same goes with Silicon Valley and the various tech companies that fall under its ethos. They will expound continually on the necessary freedom from government control they must have to truly change the world in the ways they think are best, but the primary source of money for most of these companies are governments. They either primarily contract with governments for most of their actual profits or to use its already established infrastructure, as is the case with Amazon, or depend heavily on publicly funded research for their innovations, which is everyone from Apple to Google to Microsoft and dozens and dozens of smaller companies besides. They then even get to patent these publicly funded innovations and hold a monopolized stranglehold on their use. This is not even to mention the starter capital necessary to form many of these companies in the first place itself was provided by governments, with the rather, shall we say “morally questionable” Kingdom of Saudi Arabia being among the top contributors to such start ups.

Even when either of these groups claim to be self-made, it’s all bullshit. So many of our famous tech overlords that supposedly built themselves from nothing started at the upper reaches of society, with more than enough capital and connections to insure they were never at any real risk of failing in the first place. Most even went to the same elite institutions of learning that provide the vast majority of the political leadership of the United States, institutions they had access to due to their wealth and familial connections, not their brains. Elon Musk’s family owned an emerald mine in Zambia for God’s sake, one his family would have never owned without the British Empire being a thing.

The same can be said for the Assembly. The upper classes of the Dwendalian Empire are lousy with mages and magic users. If they don’t have a place to climb among the nobility, they work for the Assembly, and hope to climb there. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the only poorer mage recruits we know anything real about all were sucked up into the service of the Scourgers, one of the few arms of the Assembly known to regularly interact with societies lower reaches and not so positively at that, and had their familial identities obliterated in the process. Both of these groups are of the upper reaches of society and serve the upper reaches of society, and we should never think anything less.

And this brings us to the ideological framework both of these groups think with. They are both full to the brim with people who are individualists to the extreme. They all believe they are singular actors in the great tapestry of history, who got where they are by hard work and dedication, and anyone who isn’t there just didn’t do enough. The folks living in the tent city outside Zadash? lazy layabouts who simply have not applied their mind to be something greater, or perhaps their veins are just full of bad blood. Poor former factory workers in Detroit whose jobs have been moved to places where labor laws are weaker and wages are lower? If they’d only taken their education more seriously, they could be where I am! Or maybe they just never tried to be an Uber driver or delivering for Grubhub, because that’s how you really pull yourself out of poverty.

Meanwhile, most of the groups consist of people who have never once known real adversity and certainly not the hardship of poverty nor the lack of social and political power that position entails. They are blinded to the reality of most people in the world outside their rather small one, and thus have no understanding of the material hardship that most people experience during their everyday life.

You see this most clearer in the manner in which they try to solve what they see as societies great problems, with no clear thought put into the consequences of these particular solutions. In our world, this is particularly obvious. Uber is painted as an innovative means of transportation on a budget, when in reality it’s just a fleet of untrained, underpaid, non-unionized taxi drivers using their own personal vehicles at their own expense. Elon Musk is seen as this super genius when his solution to LA traffic wasn’t a more robust public transportation system or slowly reconstructing the city to be more pedestrian friendly, but instead to build a massive network of single car elevators under the city to zip cars to key hot spots faster in a manner people less anxious than me would still call risky at best. I mean most of these people think the key to ending poverty is teaching people to code or giving them STEM education, even when in a capitalist economy the only thing a sudden flooding of new coders and STEM educated folks would insure is that the jobs that require those skills will see a sudden massive drop in pay and benefits as the pool of prospective employees becomes over-saturated and individual workers no longer have any bargaining power to protect their once rare jobs. You already see this in animation and video game design, and you’ll certainly see it elsewhere.

For the Assembly, despite being praised as the brightest arcane minds of Wildmount, seem to get most of their ideas either by stealing them from others or digging them up out of the ground. But this is just the nature of empire; it’s always easier for an empire to consume than it is to create. So as little as they think of the Dynasty, they are eager to steal every little bit of knowledge they’ve discovered about Dunamis, and without the faith and moral sense the Luxon-based religion imposes, they will never be forced to put the use of this rare and dangerous magic into perspective. Imagine what harm they can cause with gravity and time magic when they don’t have that religious pressure to consider the value of life and choice. But this makes sense when their main sources of inspiration are the wizards of the Age Of Arcana; you know, the wizards whose hubris nearly destroyed the entire world and spurred an apocalyptic war that sent society into a dark age in which the gods themselves abandoned them? A+ inspiration material if you ask me.

Even the culture of these two groups in regards to how they regulate themselves is so eerily similar. Think of Delilah Briarwood. Member in good standing of the Cerberus Assembly. Also, worshipper of Vecna and talented necromancer. Only expelled from the Assembly after involvement from the Cobalt Soul, even when you know every other member of the Assembly almost certainly had loads of information on this lady.

It just makes me think of all the weird, right-wingers and Nazis who occasionally get expelled from the heights of Silicon Valley whenever some journalist exposes them, and how quickly their colleagues are to condemn them even when so many of them either knew this person was this way well before they were exposed or actively agreed with them and still do. I mean, think of how protected Bill Gates is, because of how much his philanthropist image has served to insulate and protect the gross consolidation of wealth and power in the hands of so few, even when his fortune was built on stolen ideas, military funding and research, and a hardcore software monopoly for well over a decade or two. Also, his philanthropy has done nothing to help African people build their own institutions of power independent of European and American influence, and have help distract us from the damage really caused to the entire continent by earlier colonialism and later capitalist imperialism.

This is to say as bad as our world is, I now definitely don’t want to live in Wildemount. I don’t want to live a world where Mark Zukerberg can cast Disintegrate. Not ideal. I guess I’ll just have to work that much harder to fix this one and not depend on learning Dunamancy to just put us on a different path. Bummer.

[shyrose57]

2nd part than.

8: (This ones longgggg) Their rooms all have the same beige (like brown mushroom color) walls and floors. As their not allowed to change that. But Watson has some bookshelves in his room along with a old adventurer cape that goes in front of his body and hangs to his ankles (Item-Ya Adventurer Cape is a perfect example. Idk the actual name for the kind of cape it is), some display cases featuring his strongest bows and arrows, along with a sword and axe, along with pictures of the group toghere and pictures from his travels on the walls, he has a single lone desk that is only used when designing new bows or arrows. Ran also has bookshelves, but his is bigger and takes up a whole wall, he also as a winter cape with fur on its shoulders hung up (he lived in a snow biome for a little while and made the cape himself), along with a single weapon case that features a lone damaged neitherite sword, he also has chests stacked along a wall filled with random stuff that he sometimes gives as gifts or uses to throw at people. Jackie has a few paintings and posters in his room, along with the only carpet in any bedroom (that he totally didnt steal from Grievous), a panting easel, he has a single display case in his room that displays the sword Porkius gave him for winning, theres also pictures of the group toghere and a small chest next to his bed filled with things that belongs to someone in the group. Grievous has a small bookshelf (one book is a naming book Watson jokingly gave him), a chest filled to the brim with blankets and pillows (cause for him comfort is a necessity), he also has a desk that he tends to fall asleep at when doing literally anything on it. Everyone also has a good sized wardrobe somewhere in their room that is filled with different outfits and w statue stands with either iron armour or empty. There is also a four-way-bunkbed in the living room/area, they typically use it when someone is having or had a very bad day and needs comfort, or when Jackie's separation anxiety is bad and needs to sleep with everyone nearby. 

Ran loves reading and sometimes gets mad when someone intrupts his reading. Watson loves designing new bows and arrows and just designing weapons in general (Grievous does too and helps him sometimes). Jackie likes to paint and has a interest in adventuring one day. They are well known but only in Subbin and surrounding cities. Though word does travel about them at times which can bring people to Subbin. They have 2 titles actually! First is used in typical matches, while the second is used in more formal or serious matches (like those for general). Ran: The Enderman, Partikel Tari (Dancing Particles, referencing how when he fights when serious its like he's dancing as he teleports around the field). Watson: The Archer, Multi (Referencing how he has more experience than anyone in the use of all kinds of weapons and can quickly adjust to situations). Grievous: Multi-Named, Unpredictable (referring to how he is by far the most unpredictable person in serious battles). Jackie: The Child, Diremehake (Underestimated, referring to how he gets underestimated a lot during any battle). They get recognized quite often and get called their stage names, when they dont want to deal with people recognizing them they often either yell at them to go away or just run away. 

9: They do all of the above! It depends on the match up (Jackie and Watson stay out of eachothers way mostly, Ran and Grievous make it one on one, and Ran and Jackie take them out quick). Oh the first time Ran threw Jackie was hailours. You could hear Watson screaming from the stands in fear and Jackie just head-butted the guy in the stomach. Then when Jackie recovered he just yelled for Ran to throw him again, and once again you could hear Watson screaming no and threats at them from the stands. Ran agreed and threw Jackie at the last person, who he just bear hugged as he hit and held them down. Then after the battle Watson smacked the two and chastised them.

10: At first he drops stuff and trips over his feet on a regular basis. But after about 3 weeks he fully regains his balance, and is able to finally walk without tripping at the start. While the attempts at bonding do work to get Ranbob and Cletus closer the two never get as close as the rest. Neither can really name what's stopping them from getting closer though. For the first week people need to constantly remind Ranbob to do all of those things. As he thinks the constant hunger, thirst, and tiredness is all normal when its not and their trying to get him to understand that. And while he eventually starts to do it himself, theres still some nights where he doesnt eat or drink or sleep. They just leave the two in the house, but later they do start to expand the house a bit to fit the new addition. He does not get his own place up, he just gives up after some time. He doesn't fall asleep out there to often thankfully, but since the house keeps falling on him he does get cuts and bruises quite often. He gets stuck in a rain storm only 2 times which isn't bad, but he does get semi-bad burns from them sadly that Benjamin has to sit him down for and have Charles distract him for long enough to wrap his wounds properly. And it only took Benjamin like 4 weeks before he finally got fed up and forced him inside and had him stay with them. He has dealt with a storm before when he was young! But it was when he was about 12 so its been a long while. 

11: He spends all of his free time glaring at them. And for the first few days whenever he sees someone from his group hanging around his brothers, he'll go over and pick em up and just carry them away. The fishermen worry for a bit that Ran may hurt them, but Watson assured them that Ran knows the two groups like eachother and wouldn't hurt them incase that could hurt his families feelings. 

12: Ranbob is extremely happy about potentially getting new members of his family! And eagerly tries to talk with them. But Ran is far less happy and actively avoids them (and drags his family away at times).

13: At the start they have no idea where their going. But when Grievous brings up about Rans damaged sword they decide to find a nether portal so they can find whats needed to repair his sword! And Watson decides on the way he can show them all the different biomes in the world, which Jackie is extremely excited for. 

14: If the fishermen get separated from Ranbob for too long he actively goes and searches for them. And refuses to stop until he finds them. When upset Ran loves to pick up members of his Haunting, though he doesnt do them often as he knows his Haunting doesn't like it when he does it to often. He and Ranbob also pick up blocks though as it's a comfort action and soothes them. Cuddles piles do happen! They happen more for Ranbob to comfort him after a nightmare or just a bad day, or when he basically relapses and wants to go back to Dream. But cuddle piles are more rare in Rans group, as cuddle piles only happen when anyone is doing really badly mentally or physically and just need comfort, or when they all just need some comfort. But their much more sentimental and have more meaning than Ranbobs groups. 

15: Oh definitely. I forget if I included it when I first introduced my Au. But soon after Ran escaped Mizu, he was hunted for his pearl and respawn ability. Though he killed the people hunting him. Every year he was out of Mizu and every year before he entered Subbin he was hunted by multiple groups. He's become legend just for avoiding so many groups and killing a vast majority of them. He's known as the "Green Eyed Enderman." and is a top goal amongst hunters. There are some times Ran got jumped in Subbin for being a hybrid but he quickly defeated them. 

Karl has played his role in this! Though maybe I could make it so he comes in later on during a really difficult part between the  brothers, and helps out. Using his own experiences in the SMP and seeing what ruined relationships like brothers does to someone and others, to make sure their relationship doesn't stay so broken and hurt so many people. Maybe at the end I'll have them go back and face Dream so Ranbob (and even Ran slightly, with how Dreams presence affected him) can finally be completely free. As of rn no one has a pet. But that question made me really want to give someone a raven and idk who. I want to have bits of the other Tales in it! Im not quite sure how yet but I want this to be a mostly Tales ONLY au (no main SMP stuff unless needed or necessary) as the Tales don't have enough love. He does write down the experience he had with the Dream Experience and writes down very important things, but other than that he leaves it behind. 

Im really happy to hear that you like my au. I love world and story building a lot and can't control how much I write sometimes, again im sorry this is so long and I'll do my best to not make anything this long ever again. Sorry if this bothered you

8: Sounds pretty interesting, overall. Was Watson-as his cape suggest-perhaps an adventurer? And he designs his own bows and arrows? Very cool. What kind of things does he come up with?  Ran also sounds like he’s traveled a bit. He knows how to sew? Has he ever made anything for anyone else? Where did he get his sword? Jackie’s got a carpet? Very nice, he deserves it. And a painting easel? How good is he at painting? Or is it more of something he’s just trying? Grievous sounds like he could build a very good pillow fort, and honestly, good for him. How often do they camp out in the bunk bed room? 

Ran not liking being interrupted is understandable. Does he ever read to anyone, or is it more some alone time for him? Grievous and Watson must design some terrifying weapons. Where is Jackie looking at adventuring to? Anywhere specific, or just around? And what language(s) is Ran and Jackie’s secondary titles in? Latin? 

9: Very smart of them, means it’ll be harder to pick up a pattern. And hearing about Ran tossing Jackie-I’m laughing. I’m not going to lie, kind of assumed it was planned pre-match, but hearing that they just decided to throw him? Watson’s reaction? Just...hilarious. Was Jackie even prepared for it, or did Ran just toss them without warning? Honestly, it kind of sounds like people might come to the Pit for the comedy just as much for the fighting. If this was the kind of thing that went down, I’d probably come to watch.

10: Oh no, Ranbob! At least he’s getting better. So Cletus and Ranbob never quite click, huh? Well, that’s alright. Sometimes people just don’t. Doesn’t mean they don’t care about each other! Ranbob thinking it’s normal, oh god. Does he ever say something along those lines, or get confused why the others are so worried about it? If so, how do the fishermen react to that question, and how does Ranbob react to the answer. As for the house, well. He can say he tried if nothing else-and hey, funny story to share with the gladiators later on. It’s good that he wasn’t caught in too many storms, less that he was caught in some at all. I’m sure that was a big help in convincing Benjamin to finally just put his foot down, which, honestly good for him. You go, Benjamin!

11: Ran, bud, chill. I like how you said his free time though-my first thought was that he immediately finished a book and went over to glare at them. Probably not true, but a hilarious mental image. Very glad Watson has reassured the fishermen-how did Ranbob react to that worry of theirs?

12: Ran’s actions are pretty understandable, but still a bit sad. How does Ranbob feel about them? Is he resigned? Determined? Upset?

13: Adventure! Into possibly dangerous places! How fun! Can’t wait to see where it goes. What do they see? What’s the first stop? How long are they heading off?

14: He won’t stop? Like, potentially will work himself into the ground won’t stop? Ran just picks up his members like blocks. And, oh boy. Ranbob wanting to go back to Dream? That’s just. Oof. Very much oof. How do the fishermen deal with that, and how do they feel about it?

15: Ran sounds like he’s had a less than enjoyable time out there. Do these hunters ever go after them once they leave Subbin? Do they target Ranbob? I mean, he’s another Endermen hybrid, and one who definitely isn’t as skilled as Ran, or as used to them. He’d be a much easier target.

So Karl’s gonna come in towards the end. Nice. Ran was also affected by Dream? How so? Obviously less than his brother, but did he ever notice? Did Ranbob? Sounds like it’d be a good final showdown, over all.

As for that pet raven, may I offer some suggestions? You could give one to Jackie and Grievous, so it can help them cause havoc, or maybe one to Benjamin, so it can help him keep an eye on his dorks. Maybe even Cletus, to help snag things, and mess with people, or Isaac, maybe to help find things. Even Watson, or one of the brothers, to help keep watch over their groups. Really, you could give any of these guys a raven. Depending on said bird’s personality, it could fit anywhere. Just depends on what you want to do with it.

I completely agree with you, we need more Tales AUs. Ranbob and Ran did come from what was basically a city of historians, perhaps you could use that to tie in the other Tales? Or even have them across the old ruins of areas on their adventure. Even chunk in more time travel, via Karl or otherwise, if you want to toss in more characters.

Ranbob pretty much starts over then. Good for him. How does Ran feel about that? Actually, who was Ran’s idol, and his general life on Mizu, before the Dream incident?

Other questions:

One thing I’d like to know is how the groups react to each other’s experiences and general life styles. Like for one, Ranbob and the fishermen generally seem more physically affectionate with each other, while Ran and the gladiators seem fairly less so, but no less close. 

For another, the fishermen probably still remind Ranbob to eat or sleep, which would probably seem a bit confusing for the gladiators. How much do they know about both sides? Obviously enough for them to want to help get the brothers back together, but like.

How much do the gladiators believe Ranbob’s side. Are they wary, or skeptical, or do they believe it completely, and if so, why? 

How long was Ran left running, evading hunters, and how has that affected him? How many times do both brothers say something concerning, and how do they react to what the other says?

You’ve said Ranbob occasionally relapses and wants to return to Dream. Does this happen on the trip? And if so, how do the gladiators react to such a thing-depending on how much they know about the whole thing, I can imagine mixed reactions. How does Ran react?

How do both groups react to the new endermen hybrids? They seem to have dealt with different instincts before now, so seeing Ranbob trail the fishermen and Ran just pick up the gladiators must be a bit strange. 

What can Ranbob keep down? Not only was Dream in control, and not particularly careful with his body, but supplies were probably also somewhat limited when he did eat. So how has that affected him? 

Are there any nicknames within in the groups? How do the gladiators react to the schedule change, considering they had set times for so much before? How do the fishermen react to the new areas? What habits are/become shared, and what habits are restricted to one group.

In general, just...how the fishermen and the gladiators differ in lifestyles, basically. 

For another, in one of the earlier post, you mentioned both Isaac and Cletus wanted to return to Mizu. Isaac kind of gives me a historian vibe himself, or some sort of archaeologists. Just a kind of person who wants to learn about history-perhaps something to do with the fact that he was played by Karl, and the whole time traveler thing. 

But anyway, what exactly did those two want to do down there? Explore, learn, steal?

And how would you say everyone’s personalities are like? Will you be introducing anymore characters, Tales or otherwise. It’d be interesting to see a Pit version of Tommy, or Puffy, or such.

How does Ran react when he finally accepts the truth, and what exactly pushes him to that? 

Hope this isn’t too many questions. I’m pretty invested, not gonna lie.

And seriously, I don’t mind the length. Long or short, I’m really just happy to hear more about your AU, and I look forward to more.

[stitch-n-time]

Can you explain how the US housing laws work? You have me interested

Short answer: they don’t.

Longer answer (because I have to work tonight and truly don’t have like 8 hours to write the thesis, because you bet your ass I could):

There is actually an internal structure that the low income housing system has been built around that makes it nearly impossible to navigate, difficult to get into, and specifically works against the people that it was supposedly built to help.

I’m actually not quite sure where to start with this, so it’s going to be all over the place and bouncing back and forth, but that’s also kind of on brand for the low income housing system.

The system as we know it is very much a post WWII thing, so the info here will be from after that point. A lot of this will be in kind of broad, sweeping terms. But since the US is like 60 different states in a trenchcoat trying to sneak into an R-rated movie, very little of it actually covers the entirety of the country. There are also state and city levels of bullshit that people have to wade through. Most people don’t make it.

I’m going to use my own experiences as an example. But know that my experiences are NOT typical. When I started down this rabbit hole, I was a 30-ish year old white woman, a part time student, presented as a professional female on a daily basis, had a fairly stable income from a job I had held for years, and a vehicle (though making payments). All of this put together meant I had it pretty easy.

Some of that caused problems, though. The vehicle was a problem. It was a newer model gently used vehicle. According to the dealership, the previous owner had traded it in because it was a manual transmission and they wanted an automatic. When I bought it, it had less than 60k miles on it and was in excellent condition. In the eyes of the people who approve the paperwork and rubber stamp applicants for low income housing, I could get rid of that vehicle, and the moneys spent on the payments and insurance could go toward housing. Which would be reasonable, except most of the US doesn’t have public transportation at all. What public transport does exist is sketchy, rarely runs on schedule, and often does not go into residential areas. I COULD have gotten rid of the car, but that would have meant a 2 mile hike to the nearest bus station, 4 hours on a bus to get to class and 5 hours on the return trip twice a week, then a 2 mile hike home OR a 2 mile hike to the nearest bus station, 4.5 hours on a bus, another 2 mile hike to get to work, and the same on the return. At that point, I would have been spending more time on the bus than either at work or school, and might as well just live on the damned thing, since all I would have time to do at home is shower and MAYBE eat a sandwich?

But that’s also typical. Part of the laws as they are written specifically state that a person or household can not own physical properties that are over a certain value, because those properties could be sold in order to elevate the person/family’s lifestyle. That also makes household absolutely reliant on public transportation, which is simply not available in many poor areas.

Which goes into redlining, and systemic racism, which is a huge part of this, but is a whole ‘nother essay.

The fact that I was a student also worked against me. If a person can afford to go to school, they can afford housing. So why would you want/need help from the government? I’m just thankful that I was a part time student when the need for low income housing arose… If you’re a full time student, you are automatically denied on any application for low income housing. There are different legal designations for “low income housing” and “student housing”. They can not exist in the same housing complex for legal reasons. So if I had been taking one more class that semester, I would have been denied, and would have been homeless.

That in itself doesn’t sound terrible. And there’s reasons for the legal differences. But think about it… What if I had been in the last semester of school and something had happened? What about the people who are both enrolled in school and are working, trying to make ends meet, trying to be able to do something better, and either their lease is up or they get evicted or… I don’t know… their house burns down or a tornado hits or suddenly medical bills? If a person fills out that paperwork while still a student, even if they say “I’m graduating next month and want to move in the month after that” they still count as a full time student and would get denied. Which means leaving school and being spit out into the post graduate world probably without a job, while being denied help with keeping a roof over their head, when it’s absolutely necessary to have a physical address while searching for a job.

Which goes into the anti-homeless way of thinking, which is a huge part of this, but is a whole ‘nother essay.

I’m going to lump the “fairly stable income from a job I had held for years” and “presented as a professional female on a daily basis” into one, because they are directly related. I had worked my way through a trade school, and had been working in the medical field for nearly 4 years. The practice was open 4 days a week. I was there 2 days, the male counterpoint was there the other 2 days. If a client preferred one of us over the other, either they scheduled appropriately, or the doctor asked us to come in for that client’s appointment time. Because a large portion of the clientele were middle aged and older, as well as conservative, the dress code reflected accordingly. Since I actually REALLY liked the job, and the doctor and his family were pretty awesome people, I dressed and styled accordingly, on a daily basis. But because the number of hours on the clock varied with the number of clients scheduled for therapy appointments, there were times when those paychecks got mighty thin. There were absolutely trends of busy seasons and light seasons. Sometimes during that light season there were days when I would go to work for a couple of hours, go home until about 3PM, then go back for 2 or 3 hours. It was hard to pin that down.

Having to explain that I could not pinpoint an amount of annual income with any accuracy while filling out the application worked against me. And just about anybody who works in retail, food service, etc. - all the jobs that people with low incomes tend to have – will tell you that they suffer the same thing. Go  into work, put in a couple of hours, and have the manager come tell you to go home because it’s not busy enough to justify having people on the clock. But without having an accurate estimation of annual income (that could be verified by their calling your employer) means that the application is denied. The general consensus is that if you can’t pinpoint your annual income, then you’re lieing on the application, which means you’re untrustworthy, and therefore don’t deserve to get the help you need to keep a roof over your head.

That conservative professional look helped me here, though. I went into the office dressed well, in khakis and a nice blouse, to fill out the application and speak to the people. While I was there, another lady came in to fill out an application. This is somebody who I happened to know personally. She was also a professional, who was arguably in a slightly better place than I was because her income did not fluctuate (though it was low, as she was recovering from a divorce and most of the family income had come from her ex husband), but she was “dressed down” in shorts and a t shirt. We made the same arguments. I ended up in an apartment, and she did not.

Honestly, I was actually lucky to get into an apartment. A lot of people don’t realize it, but even with things being classified as low income housing, it takes a LOT of money to get into places. Just like every other rental in the US, before you move in, you have to pay the first month’s rent. And a deposit. And if you have pets, another deposit. And the cost of having the electricity and water turned on. And depending on the specific details of the contract you have to sign, possibly trash pickup. And if you want internet, either you pay for that and get a modem through the ISP, or you pay extra on signing the lease. And if you want to do your laundry in your home (if there’s even a hookup), there’s an extra rental fee for a washer and dryer, unless you bring your own.

I got lucky. When I applied and was approved, this particular housing development was running a “special” - if you sign a lease, you get one month rent free to use within 12 months of signing. I had to use it immediately. With all the extra fees and everything else, I could either pay for the rent OR the deposit, but not both – so I paid the deposit and laughingly told them I’d like to use that free month on the first month, immediately, right now, please and thank you, now where’s my key? They almost turned me away at that point.

I honestly believe that if it hadn’t been for my professional clothing and the fact that I could point to a couple of scabs on my face, that I would have been denied at that point. (The scabs were from a dog. I had been renting a room from a “friend” who is no longer a friend. Her dog bit my face, and instead of punishing the dog, she decided I needed to move out that weekend. Note: this is literally the ONLY time I’ve had a dog bite me, despite having been around them most of my life, and this particular dog had snapped at multiple people before.)

Which goes into classism, which is a huge part of this, but is a whole ‘nother essay.

Now the thing that has been on my last nerve for a few years now is a good one. The laws state that if your household changes in any way, you have to fill out the application again. Doesn’t matter if you literally got approved the day before: you fill it out again. Because there have been household changes. It doesn’t sound terrible at all, but I know somebody who got evicted from low income housing and ended up homeless because his wife left. Suddenly the household size was smaller, but had the same income, and it was over the limit for the household size. Sorry not sorry you have to go. I know somebody who was evicted for “falsified paperwork” because she had a baby and was in the hospital for 2 weeks, so didn’t get the paperwork in on time. They ended up in a homeless shelter (in this city, homeless shelters are more expensive than a lot of low income housing). Now she’s in debt that she’ll probably never get out of, due to that.

What’s more is that the eligibility requirements to be able to pass those income thresholds change constantly. Out of curiosity, I tracked the changes over the course of a year. Just checking on the first of the month. In a single year, the income requirements changed 10 times. It’s not easy to keep track of, and there’s not much reason to track it unless it’s literally part of your job, in order to keep in compliance with the laws.

My own personal gripe is much less severe than that. I can’t get married. Technically, my fiance can’t live with me. On paper, he lives with his parents, miles away. But he spends most of his time in my apartment, which is under my name only, because I’m disabled (but ineligible for disability) and need his help. We’ve been together for a decade. We’ve been engaged for over 5 years. But if we get married, then the household changes, and we have to fill out the paperwork and get approved again. The thing is: if we put together our incomes into one “household” income, we would never be eligible for low income housing. Which means we would have to move out.

Moving out comes with it’s own difficulties. Because of the paperwork you have to sign to lease low income housing – and depending on where you are because 60 states in a trenchcoat – there are hoops to jump through. The lease in this particular development,  you get a choice. If you break the lease you either a) pay the full amount of rent on the apartment through the end of the lease term or b) pay two months’ rent on the apartment after termination of the lease. So not only would we have to find other housing that we could afford (with all of the move in fees, deposits, transfer of service fees for utilities, bla bla bla), we would also have to pay 2 months’ rent on top of everything else. Which means either borrowing literally thousands of dollars from an individual – banks won’t do loans for this – or having to decide which bills get paid and which don’t while surviving off of ramen noodles for months at a time. Which… uh… would not work well with the man-thing’s diabetes.

Which all goes into respectability politics, and deciding whether or not poor people deserve to have stability and emotional fulfillment, which is a huge part of this, but is a whole ‘nother essay.

Now this may sound like a whole lot of personal whining. And it kind of is. But I can’t speak for anybody else. This is my personal interactions with these people and with the laws behind their behavior. But it’s the laws themselves that are written to be exclusive of the people that need help the most.

Homeless people can not apply, because they don’t have a current address.

Unemployed people can not apply, because they don’t have an income.

Full time students can not apply, because of the legal definitions of the different types of housing.

People with “disposable” property (such as cars) are often denied because they could turn those assets into monies.

People who rely on that “disposable” property for work are unable to take advantage of low income housing due to the above.

People of color who have been relegated to specific neighborhoods where public transportation is not available due to the redlining of the last century are unable to take advantage of low income housing due to the above.

People who do not have thousands of dollars readily available are denied because they can not pay both the deposit and rent.

People who face employment discrimination (even though it’s illegal) are denied because they can not provide proof of steady income.

People who have bounced from employer to employer are often denied for the same reason.

People who have successfully gained low income housing are often unable to change anything about their household.

People who have successfully gained low income housing are often unable to get out of it if their situation improves.

All of it is written into the laws surrounding the housing itself.

So…. Yeah. It doesn’t work. But if you want me to actually get into the nitty gritty, I can start actually researching. But somebody’s gotta pay me for it.