#Whatever. At least it means some sense is there

[from-the-owls-nest]

mhm. what if you're too broken, in too tiny pieces, even the base too shattered to rebuild from. what if there's too little good left.

*swallow* that... that probably wasn't the most helpful answer. but I know what you mean. and I don't really have a fix or anything.

*drily, like, ironically* should probably clarify that the you in that first sentence meant me and just me. so. before you get any more ideas. because of course for Me that's Different! At least for my chaos brain tangles.

[ooc: Philosophy Below. idk brain ran away with thoughts call me if u find it /silly]

*silence, thinking over the words again* I don't know. All I can hope is that - that sentence from the movie Aria likes. When we can see no future, all we can do is the next right thing. the next little ray of sunlight. the next little moment of peace.

And if none of that is possible... Wait, and hold on, and look for them, and hope they come back soon. This is just my thoughts - my little agreement with myself. I gotta try the best I can, even if the best I can is a break from trying to recover. And then I'll know that Past Me did their best for me now and that I owe it to Future me to do my best for what they might become. Even if they weren't very successful. Like deciding that however I am right now is me too, and so I am all these things and parts, the good and the rough ones, and they all together make the full me. It's these nice little shortcut across the self blaming and infighting that take a long time to work out but help wherever they hold.

But like. I think I owe it my future self to hold on, and to get through the storms. Our past selves have come such a long way, and who knows where we'll go next, what our future selves and lives might be like. So like. I do think that new paths open up all the time, possibilities. Even if the ones now are all bad, who knows where we can still go. And the only way to find out is to try, and to do our best.

*they pull out their diary, and from the front a little calendar page* Look. I... It's one of these pages I'll keep forever and ever because I need the reminder, and give to others when they might need it. I don't know if it's right. I hope so. and I think the only way to find out is to try and hold on.

For me that's enough. That, little hopes, little good moments, even just the memory of warmth and hope and the knowledge that all that was once can come again - in different forms, maybe, but it can. *turning to lay it next to Will's sneaker*

*more silence* But. Well. That's really big thoughts, and hard to see when everything is so dark. Hm. okay just to throw some thoughts out. You don't have to tell me, you don't have to think about it, just... some ideas. Little windows into that maybe, whenever you're able to look.

what do the voices say? can they maybe be talked to, or be both a little right?

is there anything you wish wouldn't stop? or come back? any little thing. ignore realism and context all that. if you were playing make-believe, your own little world, what would it look like? if you want to we can take turns. I play that game regularly cause, well, bad memory, and i probably should start again.

and... does it have to be a *bad* hurt? like. yes. you're different. stuff happened, and it changed you, and that really really hurt. you might not be the same person as before. is that a bad thing? or, you said nasty. sure. right now it's raw and painful and doesnt fit yet. but... could all these little shards grow back together and become something scarred and mended, and different?

I hope they could. I'd really miss you - not you from before, you however you are right now and however you want to be. Idk doesn't make much sense but - people if they change are still that person, right? just... changed, by a situation or because they got to know themselves better or whatever. Like Butterflies. I'd like to see the next chapter, with you if you want or just knowing there was one for you.

Image Credit @thelatestkate and her website

Love love love characters that present themselves as emotionally open social butterflies but the more you see of them the more obvious it is that they’re the most closed off fuckers in the story. Sure, they want to help you with your personal problems and messy emotions, but if you turn that shit back on them, they’ll shut down or deflect every time. Why are you sticking your nose in their business anyway? It’s not like it matters. They’re not a person, they’re just a role being played. They’re the guy who fixes things and saves people. Please ignore the man behind the mask, he’s fine. Everything’s fine.

[baphometsss]

my childfreeness is projecting again so here, have some of my childfree headcanons

Solas is sterile because he's old as fuck and his balls just don't make baby batter like they used to (Trick lk confirmed this teehee 🩷)

Did they ever work though?? I mean he literally just manifested as a fully grown man like all the ancient elves did. Iirc that's why modern elves don't have DNA. We never seem to find out when they started having babies naturally so it's possible he was always sterile (kind of like in TRC when Ronan pulls people out of his dreams and they don't even have internal organs)

Taleani Lavellan has always liked spirits and animals more than people because they're kind of uncomfortable around kids and people in general so not breeding is a very natural choice for them

Not to say they don't care about them at all bc she had a duty as her clan's midwife and helped all the new mothers out etc but she just doesn't have a clue how to talk to kids and has no desire to learn

Solas also doesn't know wtf to do around kids and either ignores them or talks to them like they're fully grown adults while they stare back at him blankly

He also canonically doesn't like loud noises and bollocks Blackwall for training the kids right outside his room in DAI

"Not now kitten Daddy's lamenting his war crimes and I have to talk him down again"--Lavellan probably

Being childfree makes them focus on each other a whole lot more. Makes me think about that old photo of some soldier returning from war to meet his kid for the first time ever and just shoving it under his arm upside down so he can kiss his wife. That would be Solas as a dad

Seriously they would have 0 time for that kid while the other was present . Tough luck kiddo your mother's wearing a low cut top today and her titties look divine. Go play in the Fade and don't come back for at least a couple of hours

Straight up Gomez and Morticia Addams if the kids weren't there

Absolutely fucking awful parents . No time to be normal when there are blighted titans to deal with

Also they can explore the Fade much further and learn so much more without having to get a spirit babysitter in

They can nerd out over all the new discoveries they make and do all the dangerous experiments they like without having to worry about the safety of a person with no sense of danger

They can have impromptu shags on the kitchen table and not worry about getting walked in on and scarring that kid mentally with their outrageous sex life

When they're stressed from a hard day of titan soothing and they just want to relax and talk they don't have to fight the bedtime battle or deal with whatever stinky mess the kid made

Lavellan doesn't have to worry about losing her teeth, or becoming incontinent, or having any of the myriad health issues that arise from pregnancy and childbirth with limited resources to do anything about it

Solas can teach Lavellan how to take a big wolf form like him once he binds her to his life force so they can live forever and it won't endanger the kid

Taleani doesn't give a shit about having a legacy but who needs one anyway if you live forever?

No kids stuff littering the house means more space for books and dangerous artefacts and frescoes that won't get ruined by sticky hands

No arguments about how to best raise a child. Just arguments about philosophy and war crimes

No kids mean they can sleep all they want and have epic dream escapades without interruptions

Just. No kids in the Fade prison allowed. Or the Fade. Or within a 500 mile radius of Solas and Lavellan. Seriously who the hell thought that was a good idea in the first place

[haunted-carousel-productions]

Lessons for first-time Audiodrama creators I learned making Lavender Evening Fog

Today marks the four year anniversary of the first full episode of @lavender-evening-fog-podcast. If you want to make audiodrama, here are some lessons that I learned along the way, that will make it easier for you. We went into it loving the audiodrama artform but not knowing a lot about it, so please learn from the experience we gained making the show over four seasons.

Cut the volume you plan to put out in half. And then maybe cut that in half. There are a few ways you can do this-- for example if you are planning on every other week, put out monthly episodes instead. Or maybe rather than doing a 12-episode season, you do a 6-episode season. Or maybe rather than doing 12 half hour episodes, do 12 fifteen minute episodes. One of these ways of reducing may make more sense for your story than the others, but the takeaway is the same--producing an audio drama is a lot of work, and if you have never done it before, it is likely more work than you expect. You can still tell your story, it might just take more time. "But Victoria," you say, "I am already being very pragmatic about this!" I believe you dear reader. When we started LEF we intentionally made the episodes monthly because we knew more frequently would be difficult. Yet the plan was to have two 12-episode seasons that would involve dropping an episode every month for two years without break. About six episodes in we realized that we would burn out if we did it that way. Fortunately, because of how we mapped the story, it was very easy to convert that to four six-episode seasons. This allowed us to take breaks while still having consistency in our release cadence, because that consistency is incredibly important, and it is easiest to sustain over time if you have a handle on the work.

Have as much as possible done before you develop a release schedule. This may be the exception to #1--if you have everything done, by all means, go forward with whatever schedule you like. But it is easier to have a season done and drop episodes than to be working on it up to your release day.

If you can't have everything done before you start thinking about a release schedule, at least have the writing done and polished. Sometimes, you will need to revise pretty heavily. Especially at the beginning when you are getting the voice right. Because writing and getting feedback can take awhile, you want to give time to think about it, try to have your scripts done if nothing else.

If you find yourself relying on some part of your story too heavily, try writing a scenario without it. At the end of Season 1, we introduced the idea of Nick voicing Billy, and by the Season 2 premiere, we felt comfortable recording more interactions (remember, this project started during peak Covid). I was so excited to write for more than just myself, so I wrote a bunch of Billy scenes that didn't move anything forward. Once it was pointed out that this was a problem, I decided to send Billy to a conference. That gave me an opportunity to reframe rather than relying on a narrative crutch. This resulted in the Anna-Georgina is sick episode, which I still think is one of my favorites.

Create frameworks that make writing easier. For example, we wrote the show in little fragments of Anna-Georgina's audiodairies. That made it so much easier to plan (we know we need 8-12ish segments per ep), to write (again, if I wasn't feeling like tacking a particular big of the plot, I could work on another), and to record (The Lucy letters and the long pieces of exposition were always recorded last)

Figure out your tech before you record your first episode. We didn't fully and I'm still kind of embarrassed. Like I'm proud of what we produced starting out, but I wish we (mostly me, Nick always knew what he was doing) had figured it out earlier.

[ambarraquel]

Okay, since Episode 3 is out, I want to share what’s been on my mind since Season 1. I don’t know if this is possible or logical, but it’s about Irving.

This might turn into a rant 🤣. But keep reading—I promise it makes sense in a LUMONesque way.

1. We know severance is mostly irreversible, and Rhegabi just confirmed how hard it is to send messages between the innie and outie.

2. So how does outie Irving recognize that elevator?

Thanks to Felicia, we now know it’s “The Exports Hall,” where Optics & Design used to handle shipments directly. But if Irving has never been there, how does he know about it? It makes no sense for him to just know.

And then there’s his connection with Burt—it feels so deep, almost like it transcends severance.

What if Irving has been at LUMON longer than he remembers? The severance procedure can selectively erase memories, and we already know about the past MDR Refinement Calamity that LUMON may have distorted to create the lore and keep the departments separated. The most important thing is that MDR is curiously the center of all that weird lore!

Now, the OTC escape plan/MDR Microdat Uprising of Irving Mark Dylan and Helly has become new lore with the whole claymation thing—which we know has been spread to other innies, at least to some extent, because of the new employees Mark briefly shared as coworkers. What if that alleged cannibalistic assault from the paintings actually happened?

Maybe the exports elevator area was so successful that they decided to utilize it in different forms—thus the cannibalistic revolt. LUMON could have devised a whole plan, making that revolt happen as they tried to crack the technology enough to create Mrs. Casey. (Or maybe the revolt was an accident that led them to the technology behind her.) So maybe that place beyond the hall exists because LUMON had to devise a place for trial and error? Maybe employees involved in the cannibalistic revolt were wiped and “reset” down there? Maybe LUMON was experimenting with early severed chips?

We know for sure that down there is where they keep Miss Casey in storage. If LUMON can erase memories with severance, it makes sense they could also erase people or keep them in a state of suspension. So if Irving has been there before, maybe something happened to him—maybe he was even kept there as punishment. Maybe that was an early Break Room. Whatever it was, it must have been such a strong memory that, even without fully understanding it, it pushed him to take LUMON down.

Which brings me back to Irving and the plausibility of his remembrance.

1) What if he was originally in Optics & Design and met Burt over and over again, kept falling in love, and they went to the Exports Hall for work early on? So he was familiar with it, but didn’t expect to be exported himself. Maybe one of his last, most emotional memories was that black hall, which is why he remembers it. Maybe LUMON erased them multiple times because they wouldn’t allow it—or maybe they even knew each other as outies and chose to have their memories wiped. Maybe that’s why Burt followed Irving in his car—because he actually knows his outie—but that seems more convoluted 🤣.

2) Another theory of mine is that maybe Irving was part of the original cannibalistic revolt of MDR. I’d love to believe he also met Burt at that time, and he somehow survived and chose to have his memories reset rather than be fired—because that would mean living in a world where Burt was also in it, even if he couldn’t remember him. And maybe Burt was also reset?

So, the only explanation that makes sense to me for outie Irving remembering that elevator is that he’s been there before, but his complete experience was erased—except for that one lingering image of the elevator.

(And yes, I know the much simpler explanation is that someone from a Let’s Take Down LUMON secret society could’ve shown him that picture, and he’s painting it over and over because he’s part of an effort to take LUMON down. But honestly, that’s too simple—it takes the fun out of it 🤣.)

[zoswriting]

✦ ‘if you ask an axolotl…’

⤷ synopsis : you figured out the best way to put shoto to sleep in seconds.

⤷ a/n : a quick drabble, just to try and get myself writing again (i knew this would happen), but this is based off of that one axolotl song on tiktok. if you don’t know what i’m talking about, i mean this. it’s been stuck in my head for way too long and i swear, it silences every thought i have.

⤷ warnings : fluff, not proofread (nothing is proofread anymore, i can’t be bothered for that shit), on that note i have no idea if this makes sense because it’s late, shoto’s essentially just a big baby, i feel like he’d have no idea around lullabies, poor baby didn’t get any growing up, i don’t know what else to put here, have fun

‘there’s an axolotl on the pink— stairs. is an axolotl supposed to be— there? if you ask an axolotl, if they’ll be back tomorrow…’ was all that would run through your head. you could be doing anything; trying to clean, working, trying to sleep, every day tasks, and that damn, soothing-ass song would be engrained into your brain.

you’d find yourself singing it out loud at the most random times, too. watching tv? making dinner? showering? a pink axolotl was mentioned in at least every thought of yours. and now it consumed shoto’s too.

the first time he’d heard you find the video, it was late at night. both of you were trying to sleep, and he was watching you as you scrolled on tiktok endlessly. it’s not like he was tired—yea, he knew he should probably be asleep, but it’s not like it was too late, and it’s not like he was fighting to keep his eyes open either. but the minute the second line played? he was out like a light.

he’d woken up feeling so utterly refreshed, still laying in the same position he fell asleep in—on his side right beside you, his chin still on your shoulder. this was the best sleep he’s had in days, weeks even, and he kept trying to figure what he did differently. was it because you were there? no, you were always there, always asleep next to him. was it because you washed his hair for him that day? yea, it gets him relaxed, but you’ve done it countless times and he’s never got these results. so what was it that was different?

and then he heard you singing it for the next week, and every time you did in that soft, gentle voice of yours, clearly mirroring the tone of the video, he’d find himself yawning. he’d find that his mind would clear of any thoughts and suddenly, he was losing his focus in the best, most needed way possible. soon enough, he chalked it up to it being the song, but he’d never understand why.

days later, he’d ask for you to ‘play that song’. you were confused the first time, wondering whatever he meant, but when he loaded up the short track on your phone and he fell asleep immediately, you quickly caught on. and just as quick as you caught on, it turned into a weapon even quicker.

you get into a silly little argument about some small thing you both know is stupid? in the middle of him talking, you’re playing the video and he’s quick to shut up.

“love, that’s not fair. that’s my kryptonite, you know tha—” his sentences would always be cut off by a yawn (the man probably ended up pavlov-ing himself because he’d use it to fall asleep so often) and you’d just stand there with a cocky smirk, trying your hardest not to laugh, whilst he glared at you.

you need him to do something and he decides to be an asshole and say no? ‘there’s an axolotl on th—‘

“fine, fine, i’ll do it,” he’d grumble, hating—but secretly loving—that you’ve caught on to his weak point so quickly.

on nights where you feel like he’s stressed, tense, or just needs something, even when he thinks he’s fine, you’ll tuck his head under your chin and play with his hair, gently humming the tune of the song. some might consider that cringe, but you’d do it a million times for him if it means he’ll be softly snoring, his shoulders immediately un-tensing before you have a chance to start the song again.

‘we’ll see you, tomorrow.’

[thorns-and-rosewings]

Okay I have been stewing on this all day and I will just add my thoughts here...

Now take my opinion with a grain of salt, I'm just a nobody who watches and loves the shows. I don't have a crystal ball to know the future, but I would hope that I am capable of looking at things rationally and logically.

Firstly, Im not sure that this is necessarily the 'end' of the Lunar and Earth Show for one specific reason.

This has ALWAYS been a bridge the characters were gonna have to cross...

Pretty much from when we first met Gemini, they have said that Lunar might have to leave and become an Astral. So... Whatever is going to occur has long been planned.

Do I think Lunar is going to leave? Eh...

I give it a 50/50 chance...

Just given everything that has been happening for Lunar in his life, he might leave to try and keep his family safe. Or to find a purpose in his life which he feels he currently lacks... Or believing that he's hurt his family enough, such as the case with Earth. But what life would he have? Gemini has become icy towards him courtesy of the latest episode, pretty clear they now view him as an investment more than even a friend... Leo clearly still hates him even if we haven't met him yet.

And even if Lunar leaves, Rez and Kerian are still on earth and are presumably not going anywhere. Maybe Kerian would follow Lunar, but Rez won't and that's a big threat to the family... Not to mention the Creator when he gets unleashed.

Now playing devil's advocate for a sec and assuming he leaves, what would happen? There's several options here...

The show just ends... Now this is HIGHLY unlikely. But it's understandable that everyone jumps on this bandwagon, given how we have just lost two wonderful VA's amongst the shows. But hypothetically if Lunar goes with the Astrals, they will just replace him as a main character.

Would it be permanent though?

We could have Lunar leave for a month and then come back... Even though they said that wouldn't be possible, who knows what is actually planned.

As for who would replace him. I know that everyone would automatically assume Davis and that is certainly possible... But I think it's unlikely. The reason? Davis plays HOW MANY CHARACTERS?! I know he plays Solar normally but I don't know if he could do ANOTHER show. I mean it's possible... But unlikely.

Also one thing that makes the show ending unlikely is because we just got introduced to a new character in Kerian and his interactions with Lunar get lots of views.

A lot of things do boil down to what is the best move financially, these shows are run by a company after all. LAES is pretty popular and gets lots of views. So one needs to take that into account.

Due to that I don't think we're going to get a 'Lunar says Goodbye' episode... Although it's still in the cards.

Personally... I think Lunar might just close the book on the Astrals and move on. Him choosing his family over the powers forever. That move would make the most sense. Although it would result in the Astral storyline ending. At least in its main part. But it would also probably allow the writers to explore different stories with the characters, possibly some more whimsical and happy stories and just a little less angst.

Who knows, I sure don't...

But what I do know is I trust the writers to do what they think is best and I will accept whatever they choose to do.

...that's all I got y'all...

THE LUNAR AND EARTH SHOW WILL BE GONE SOON. ITS HINTED

A lot of the TSBS shows have been dying and gettIng rebranded with new characters. Since the latest LAES episode, lunar will have to make a choice either he gets his powers back but then he has to leave earth or he doesn’t get his powers back. this is hinting that the main character will probably go away and the show is gonna be rebranded. Probably it will be renamed as the THE SOLAR AND EARTH SHOW or THE EARTH AND SOLAR SHOW, which I predict it will be from watching the live stream. But we’ll have to wait and see.

Hmmm…. Perhaps Timer (if you don’t who he is, he was introduced from the episode where Sun and moon travel back in time and stuck in loop, go watch it.) could help? He’s the god of time! 💫⌛️

[cupcakesmoothie]

The girls (the emotions in my brain) are fightinggg

[xxplastic-cubexx]

erik will genuinely jump at any chance he can to steal charles' last name and be so catty about it i know this for a fact WHAT is his deal

[Magneto (2011)]

[revvethasmythh]

tbh i think the idea that predathos wouldn't go after lesser idols or celestials because they're not big enough sources of divinity for it to want is one of those things that feels the most...idk, ridiculous to me? like, if predathos even consumes any minor divine healing that happens around it, it feels a bit silly to think it would ONLY eat the gods because it can ONLY attack large sources of divinity, or whatever. like what is about the gods that makes it attack them personally and not anything else? IS it sheer volume of divinity? is it something else? I literally don't know! and if it does specifically consume divinity, it feels like there's no reason it wouldn't try to eat lesser idols and celestials except as a pulled punch cop-out for why releasing predathos wouldn't completely decimate the cosmic ecosystem. this is, tbh, my biggest ???? about this whole thing

[sanasanakun]

I guess I find the shipping discourse a little funny because fandoms are gonna create ships regardless of the subject matter. I think really heavy, depressing media creates a need for people to see human connection. It’s like a way to cope, you know? More importantly and specific to this game (Mouthwashing), I also find it a little funny just because the devs themselves seem to be leaning towards ~one~ “ship” by retweeting artwork that depicts them as pretty close and protective. They even did an edit of them on that Florence Pugh and that one white guy romance movie with a “what could have been” caption. Sooo tldr the ship drama is kind of dumb. Please block and move on cause the discourse is taking up space on my feed when I’m trying to look for more art of Daisuke lmao

[d8tl55c]

oh boy !! ! ! ! !!! ! thANK y0u all for the kind words on my last art posts. you all get it and i was/still am so happy about it

as promised, here's some close-ups of the comic for image quality's sake, and other screenshots i rescued from the community whiteboard (and something else)

first up another sketch of mystery gender-ambiguous being. (please send me more name ideas for them if you got one- i like to hear em! (reminder it's the side character that appeared for <10 seconds in AvM Ep. 30))

a few fav scenes

emotional support cwab

they weren't meant for this purpose exactly, but i do have countless "fluffy sticks" loose in my notes and homework sheets from the school years.

papery critter.

even when i wasn't confident in fur or feathers, they helped me practice posing and create some satisfying gradients/flowing poses. (im a sucker for good tail poses) (oh yay! i found a good pic...)

and finally, little sneak peak for you for reading so far ;3

i realized that whiteboardfox is pretty great for my working needs. simple and to the point and all. feels nice with the mouse and the tablet.

so i started hashing out a big project idea just to see if it holds up and

[

several hours later ...

]

oh

oh man

it's a little bigger than i expected

<next>

[al-luviec]

still haven't moved on from zane in this episode (aka I hit tag limit again and am unhappy about it)

[moeblob]

Moeblob: (tries to establish a fish theme. likes to be called salmon.) FEH: Broccoli alts only, no negotiations.

(this is for you Leo.... I'm sorry........... you don't deserve it)

[yellllowstar]

slowly I'm recovering the beauty of discovery

(creature by half•alive)

(textless + timelapse below cut)

[icewindandboringhorror]

finally finished all of one character's entire quests/optional dialogue/questions/etc.... 100,000 words... .... aughhh

[hungry-hobbits]

also i genuinely hate that when you get a gift from a family member, and you can tell that there was clearly no actual thought into whether youd like it or not, that there's no way to say "look i appreciate that in some capacity when buying this you were thinking about me, but i dont want it. the money you spent on this couldve been put towards something i wanted if you had asked for a list and followed through, and it wouldve been a surprise because i wouldnt have known what you were getting for me. we both wouldve come out on top" without looking like a rude ungrateful cunt