#almost at 100 pages in my doc!

[savage-rhi]

I've read your fic "Mending Shadows" in three days on AO3 and I liked it so very much!! I really liked discovering your soft Ardyn and his developing relationship with Y/N, it was so lovely and endearing... I can't wait to read more if you consider to write more of them 🥰

Take care!

@nerdypuppytimemachine Thank you for reading my work! I do plan on continuing the story, and eventually finishing it. Losing my job, and graduate school has taken priority over my writing in general. That being said, with me taking Summer term off, I'm looking forward to working on it again when I have the spoons!

Thank you too for enjoying softer Ardyn! I've tried to balance out how he is in the games, and also give my own spin on how he could be gentle if given the right circumstances and conditions. He's a complicated fella, but that makes him fun to write!

[magentagalaxies]

bruce: don't work too hard! make sure you're taking time for yourself!

me, nearly doubling the total amount of aubrey monologues i've written over the course of one weekend like the hyperfixating adhd creature i am: this is how i take time for myself

[springcatalyst]

you'll never guess who reached 100 pages! what if I do a thing

[generalsmemories]

Admiral, the general is touch-deprived.

✧ jing yuan x gn!reader

✧ based on the ask: "Please do one if you haven’t where Jing Yuan is severely down bad for reader and makes it known to everyone and they are just done with him"

✧ content: established relationship, fluff, make-out scene, humor, mentions of other characters

✧ a/n: where did almost 100 of you come- bless this ask for making me write needy jing yuan i love you. not beta-read again anyway buckle up this is another one of unfiltered shame for my love for one mere general with a silly thunder lord that he nicknamed shin-kun in the jp dub because the official title was way too long for this old man.

this was written in a google doc on the phone since I'm on vacation so I apologize if the formatting is messier than the first post 🫡

There's tension in the air.

"... As for Stargazer Navidia, there seems to be another onslaught of mara-struck cloud knights making their way within the area in the next few days. I'll appoint Lieutenant Yanqing to lead a few troops there by the next hour, but be sure to send a messenger cycrane if the situation gets too out of hand or you need to divide the troops up to cover more ground."

You hear a loud "Yes!" as you flip over to the next page, quickly scanning through the documents contents, purposefully ignoring the tension in the air, muttering the details lowly to yourself with a furrowed eyebrow.

It's the sort of tension you wish everyone just ignored, even though it's more difficult than it sounds.

Perhaps being fed up with your avoidance of ignoring the elephant in the room, one of the captains of the Knights loudly cough into the air before meekly addressing you, "Admiral [Name]?"

"Yes?" you look up with a smile, cocking your head to the side. A small gesture to ensure the captain that they have your full attention which makes the knight before you quickly glance to the side and away from you, although that didn't help the pair of eyes boring a hole into the side of his head, "The general…" he starts, coughing once again while glancing back and forth at you and the weapons displayed at the seat of Divine Foresight, "... Would very much like your attention, it seems."

As if on cue, the arms that were wrapped around your waist squeeze a bit tighter than normal. The sudden pressure makes you let out a grunt of surprise while Qingzu lets out another exhausted sigh. Meanwhile you glance down to lock eyes with Jing Yuan, who very much is staring at you with a small pout evident on his lips, "Oh so my darling has finally acknowledged my existence?" he jokes with a grin, meanwhile you merely stare down back at him with a neutral expression before resting your left arm carrying the paperwork on his gray head. The general uses the opportunity to nuzzle his face into your waist, playfully biting into an exposed part of your skin from where his hand had wormed itself underneath your shirt, making you squirm away from him, to which he immediately grabs your back into his hold.

"If you haven't noticed dear, you're practically leeching onto me to the point I can't even stand at my usual side, that is to per say in front of the desk and not literally quite next to you and within your arms." You whisper to him gently. Flicking his forehead before whipping your head around to address the Cloud Knights before your husband can say anything in his defense.

You ignore the looks of disbelief on some of the soldiers' faces.

"I apologize for the awkwardness this position may cause, I can only hope for your understanding being that I've been away from the Luofu for a few months helping Marshal Fua with some matters at her fleet. I've only recently come back." you explain, gesturing Qingzu over to hand over the paperwork to her before waving your hand with a guilty smile, "You're all dismissed, please be safe out there."

"Lady Fu Xuan, how may I be of assis-"

"Are you two arguing or something?" Fu Xuan interrupts before you can even finish your sentence which leaves you staring wide eyed at her with your mouth agape, "Pardon? I'm not quite sure who you're referring to-"

"The general. I'm referring to general Jing Yuan, who else would I be referring to? He sits around the seat of Divine Foresight like a kicked puppy. Which makes it even harder to get any information in OR to him because he's not even mentally present! Can you fix him? Wonderful! Let's make haste to the seat."

You're not even allowed to finish your cup of tea or give an answer before the divination commissioner grabs you by the forearms and drags you out of the teahouse.

"Jing-" you haven't even taken one step into the seat of Divine Foresight before you're surrounded by the familiar scent of your husband. A gentle hand placed by your head while an arm is tightly wound around your waist. You can practically feel the smile of utter glee on Jing Yuan's lips as he buries his face into your hair.

"Darling, I thought you had the day off today?" he mutters into your hair, sounding a bit too happy to have you in his arms again to the point he's ignoring the death glares from Fu Xuan besides you, the divination commissioner just wanting to do her part of keeping the Luofu afloat.

"I was having my day off, before Lady Fu Xuan here dragged me out because someone didn't-" you struggle free to nag at him, but your husband merely smiles softly at you before lifting your chin to give you a quick kiss, "Now that you're here I feel more energized than ever, let me finish the paperwork for today and I'll join you, we can even play a round of starchess." he suggests.

You can practically sense Fu Xuan roll her eyes in disgust, able to hear her mutter about a "lovesick fool" before walking past the two of you, Jing Yuan merely grabbing your hand to lead you towards the seat.

So much for a day off.

You can't breathe.

"Jing-" another press of his lips onto yours as you find yourself pressed on the wall beside the door, "Yanqing-" you manage to breathe out when finally able to pull a tiny bit away from him. Pressing your hand over whatever surface of his face you can reach to try to shove him away, your other hand occupied with bracing itself against the wall.

Your husband ignores your literal hand on his face, somehow having more strength to still slant his lips across your own despite your efforts, the hand he has behind your head pushing you further against him while he shoves a leg between your own to keep you still, "Train-"

There's a rather loud set of knocks on your bedroom door followed by an exasperated sigh coming from behind it, which makes you freeze but Jing Yuan ignores it, sliding his tongue over your teeth while you resign yourself to slam your fist repeatedly on his back to get him to back off.

"General! I know you missed [Name] a lot during the months they were away from the Luofu, but you know that today is supposed to be a training day!" Yanqing shouts from behind the door, and you feel sorry over the realization he's aware of what's happening beyond it.

Feeling sorry enough for Yanqing whose probably already waited 15 minutes before knocking at the door, you muster whatever little strength you have left against your husband's addictive lips to grab his ponytail and yank him off and away from you.

Jing Yuan merely grunts in irritation, looking at you with a glare and swollen lips, but you ignore him. Opening the door before Jing Yuan can grab you again and giving Yanqing an apologetic look, "I tried-"

"It's better than last time, at least." He points out to which you merely sigh before opening the door wider, "I'll give you more pocket money this month, how's that for compensation?" You suggest, shoving your husband out the door before he do anything else, Yanqing smiling in triumph at your generosity.

"You're the best! Give me extra if I manage to land a few hits on the general?"

"5 more than usual and I'll give you an extra thousand." You settle, tapping Jing Yuan on the shoulder. Your husband turns around to face you with a hum, and you lean in to peck him on the cheek, gliding your lips over to his ear, "If you're a bit nicer to him today you'll also get a reward."

Needless to say, there were two very happy boys onboard the Luofu at the end of the day.

[ccircusclwn]

okay guys. abt intertwined (since ive seen people comment abt the next chapter)

i dont know when im gonna create it since my interest on total drama has been decreasing since april (n also since the doc in which i write in is kinda... wonky rn...??)

BUT! im gonna work on redrawing the drawings of the already existing chapters in the mean time - cause some of them were done quick and without any care bcs i jst wanted to update n yeah

tho i have lost interest in td i'd still like to make the fic until the end cause its almost 100 pages long n thats crazy lmao n also i can get crazy w the characters (esp nicki mi hijo)

SNEAK PEAK OF THE REDRAWS:

[mossman004]

My aesthetic

hating school but loving to learn

messy and smudged cursive written in black ink

almost illegible notes

room full of house plants

candles everywhere because ew electric lights

scattered papers all over the floor and desk

owning a bookshelf but half of the books are in piles on the floor

obsessed with David Bowie, Queen and any other rock stars from the 70s

studying with music but the genre of music changes every 10 songs

drinking way too much tea and coffee

sleep?

shelves if trinkets collected from walks (rocks, crystals, bones, dried flowers)

annotating classics with words like "LMAO" and "that's rough buddy"

rereading dead poets society, the secret history and the picture of Dorian Gray a million times

obsessed with astronomy

researching topics and conspiracy theories at 3am

scrolling through TikTok and Pintrest instead or studying

Reading horror books (Lovecraft and Poe)

Only wearing Doc martens and converse cuz they're the only shoes i own

mixing grunge (flannels, ripped jeans, band tees, fishnets) with fancy clothes (grandpa sweaters, collard shirts, dress pants, blazers)

leather jackets covered in pins (bonus points if they're handmade)

loving cryptids and all things supernatural

crimes, sci-fi or horror movies playing in the background while studying

notes covered in doodles

hair constantly being messily pulled back

way too much jewellery

heavy eye makeup (bonus points if slept without taking off)

loving the rain/ dancing in the rain

Mars bars and mint aeros

book pages beside band posters on walls

obsessed with eyes ( but can't make eye contact)

spending cold days at art galleries, museums, and libraries

playing punk rock on guitar and classical music on piano

having the same hairstyle for 3 years

ink and paint covered hands

in love with the moon

talking to the moon and stars

freaking out about failing a test and then getting 100%

Greek Mythology

"Achilles was a bottom"

sleeping with 10 blankets

crying about dead historic figures in the middle of the night

using halloween decorations as everyday decorations

POMEGRANTE

justice for pluto

protesting women's and lgbtq rights

ranting about the issues of misogyny in ancient greece

coffee stained paper

finding random things in pockets

singing songs in different languages but not knowing what the lyrics mean

chipped nail polish

A bowl of used matches

[geneeste]

Creating a personal fanfic archive using Calibre, various Calibre plugins, Firefox Reader View, and an e-Reader / BookFusion / Calibre-Web

A few years ago I started getting serious about saving my favorite fic (or just any fic I enjoyed), since the Internet is sadly not actually always forever when it comes to fanfiction. Plus, I wanted a way to access fanfic offline when wifi wasn't available. Enter a personal fanfic archive!

There are lots of ways you can do this, but I thought I'd share my particular workflow in case it helps others get started. Often it's easier to build off someone else's workflow than to create your own!

Please note that this is for building an archive for private use -- always remember that it's bad form to publicly archive someone else's work without their explicit permission.

This is going to be long, so let's add a read more!

How to Build Your Own Personal Fanfic Archive

Step One: Install Calibre

Calibre is an incredibly powerful ebook management software that allows you to do a whole lot of stuff having to do with ebooks, such as convert almost any text-based file into an ebook and (often) vice-versa. It also allows you to easily side-load ebooks onto your personal e-reader of choice and manage the collection of ebooks on the device.

And because it's open source, developers have created a bunch of incredibly useful plugins to use with Calibre (including several we're going to talk about in the next step), which make saving and reading fanfiction super easy and fun.

But before we can do that, you need to download and install it. It's available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, and in a portable version.

Step Two: Download These Plugins

This guide would be about 100 pages long if I went into all of the plugins I love and use with Calibre, so we're just going to focus on the ones I use for saving and reading fanfiction. And since I'm trying to keep this from becoming a novel (lolsob), I'll just link to the documentation for most of these plugins, but if you run into trouble using them, just tag me in the notes or a comment and I'll be happy to write up some steps for using them.

Anyway, now that you've downloaded and installed Calibre, it's time to get some plugins! To do that, go to Preferences > Get plugins to enhance Calibre.

You'll see a pop-up with a table of a huge number of plugins. You can use the Filter by name: field in the upper right to search for the plugins below, one at a time.

Click on each plugin, then click Install. You'll be asked which toolbars to add the plugins to; for these, I keep the suggested locations (in the main toolbar & when a device is connected).

FanFicFare (here's also a great tutorial for using this plugin) EpubMerge (for creating anthologies from fic series) EbubSplit (for if you ever need to break up fic anthologies) Generate Cover (for creating simple artwork for downloaded fic) Manage Series (for managing fic series)

You'll have to restart Calibre for the plugins to run, so I usually wait to restart until I've installed the last plugin I want.

Take some time here to configure these plugins, especially FanFicFare. In the next step, I'll demonstrate a few of its features, but you might be confused if you haven't set it up yet! (Again, highly recommend that linked tutorial!)

Step Three: Get to Know FanFicFare (and to a lesser extent, Generate Cover)

FanFicFare is a free Calibre plugin that allows you to download fic in bulk, including all stories in a series as one work, adding them directly to Calibre so that that you can convert them to other formats or transfer them to your e-reader.

As with Calibre, FanFicFare has a lot of really cool features, but we're just going to focus on a few, since the docs above will show you most of them.

The features I use most often are: Download from URLs, Get Story URLs from Email, and Get Story URLs from Web Page.

Download from URLs let's you add a running list of URLs that you'd like FanFicFare to download and turn into ebooks for you. So, say, you have a bunch of fic from fanfic.net that you want to download. You can do that!

Now, in this case, I've already downloaded these (which FanFicFare detected), so I didn't update my library with the fic.

But I do have some updates to do from email, so let's try getting story URLs from email!

Woohoo, new fic! Calibre will detect when cover art is included in the downloaded file and use that, but at least one of these fic doesn't have cover art (which is the case for most of the fic I download). This is where Generate Cover comes in.

With Generate Cover, I can set the art, font, dimensions, and info content of the covers so that when I'm looking at the fic on my Kindle, I know right away what fic it is, what fandom it's from, and whether or not it's part of a series.

Okay, last thing from FanFicFare -- say I want to download all of the fic on a page, like in an author's profile on fanfic.net or all of the stories in a series. I can do that too with Get Story URLs from Web Page:

The thing I want to call out here is that I can specify whether the fic at this link are individual works or all part of an anthology, meaning if they're all works in the same series, I can download all stories as a single ebook by choosing For Anthology Epub.

Step Four: Using FireFox Reader View to Download Fic Outside of Archives

This is less common now thanks to AO3, but the elders among us may want to save fanfic that exists outside of archives on personal websites that either still exist or that exist only on the Internet Wayback Machine. FanFicFare is awesome and powerful, but it's not able to download fic from these kinds of sources, so we have to get creative.

I've done this in a couple of ways, none of which are entirely perfect, but the easiest way I've found thus far is by using Firefox's Reader View. Also, I don't think I discovered this -- I think I read about this on Tumblr, actually, although I can longer find the source (if you know it, please tell me so I can credit them!).

At any rate, open the fic in Firefox and then toggle on Reader View:

Toggling on Reader View strips all the HTML formatting from the page and presents the fic in the clean way you see in the preview below, which is more ideal for ebook formats.

To save this, go to the hamburger menu in the upper right of the browser and select Print, then switch to Print to PDF. You'll see the URL and some other stuff at the top and bottom of the pages; to remove that, scroll down until you see something like More settings... and uncheck Print headers and footers.

Click Save to download the resulting PDF, which you can then add to Calibre and convert to whichever format works best for your e-reader or archive method.

Step Five: Archiving (Choose Your Own Adventure)

Here's the really fun part: now that you know how to download your fave fanfics in bulk and hopefully have a nice little cache going, it's time to choose how you want to (privately) archive them!

I'm going to go through each option I've used in order of how easy it is to implement (and whether it costs additional money to use). I won't go too in depth about any of them, but I'm happy to do so in a separate post if anyone is interested.

Option 1: On Your Computer

If you're using Calibre to convert fanfic, then you're basically using your computer as your primary archive. This is a great option, because it carries no additional costs outside the original cost of acquiring your computer. It's also the simplest option, as it really doesn't require any advanced technical knowledge, just a willingness to tinker with Calibre and its plugins or to read how-to docs.

Calibre comes with a built-in e-book viewer that you can use to read the saved fic on your computer (just double-click on the fic in Calibre). You can also import it into your ebook app of choice (in most cases; this can get a little complicated just depending on how many fic you're working with and what OS you're on/app you're using).

If you choose this option, you may want to consider backing the fic up to a secondary location like an external hard drive or cloud storage. This may incur additional expense, but is likely still one of the more affordable options, since storage space is cheap and only getting cheaper, and text files tend to not be that big to begin with, even when there are a lot of them.

Option 2: On Your e-Reader

This is another great option, since this is what Calibre was built for! There are some really great, afforable e-readers out there nowadays, and Calibre supports most of them. Of course, this is a more expensive option because you have to acquire an e-reader in addition to a computer to run Calibre on, but if you already have an e-reader and haven't considered using it to read fanfic, boy are you in for a treat!

Option 3: In BookFusion

This is a really cool option that I discovered while tinkering with Calibre and used for about a year before I moved to a self-hosted option (see Option 4).

BookFusion is a web platform and an app (available on iOS and Android) that allows you to build your own ebook library and access it from anywhere, even when you're offline (it's the offline bit that really sold me). It has a Calibre plugin through which you can manage your ebook library very easily, including sorting your fanfic into easy-to-access bookshelves. You may or may not be able to share ebooks depending on your subscription, but only with family members.

Here's what the iOS app looks like:

The downside to BookFusion is that you'll need a subscription if you want to upload more than 10 ebooks. It's affordable(ish), ranging from $1.99 per month for a decent 5GB storage all the way to $9.99 for 100GB for power users. Yearly subs range from $18.99 to $95.99. (They say this is temporary, early bird pricing, but subscribing now locks you into this pricing forever.)

I would recommend this option if you have some cash to spare and you're really comfortable using Calibre or you're a nerd for making apps like BookFusion work. It works really well and is incredibly convenient once you get it set up (especially when you want to read on your phone or tablet offline), but even I, someone who works in tech support for a living, had some trouble with the initial sync and ended up duplicating every ebook in my BookFusion library, making for a very tedious cleanup session.

Option 4: On a Self-Hosted Server Using Calibre-Web

Do you enjoy unending confusion and frustration? Are you okay with throwing fistfuls of money down a well? Do you like putting in an incredible amount of work for something only you and maybe a few other people will ever actually use? If so, self-hosting Calibre-Web on your own personal server might be a good fit for you!

To be fair, this is likely an experience unique to me, because I am just technical enough to be a danger to myself. I can give a brief summary of how I did this, but I don't know nearly enough to explain to you how to do it.

Calibre-Web is a web app that works on top of Calibre, offering "a clean and intuitive interface for browsing, reading, and downloading eBooks."

I have a network-attached storage (NAS) server on which I run an instance of Calibre and Calibre-Web (through the miracle that is Docker). After the initial work of downloading all the fic I wanted to save and transferring it to the server, I'm now able to download all new fic pretty much via email thanks to FanFicFare, so updating my fic archive is mostly automated at this point.

If you're curious, this is what it looks like:

Pros: The interface is clean and intuitive, the ebook reader is fantastic. The Discover feature, in which you are given random books / fic to read, has turned out to be one feature worth all the irritation of setting up Calibre-Web. I can access, read, and download ebooks on any device, and I can even convert ebooks into another format using this interface. As I mentioned above, updating it with fic (and keeping the Docker container itself up to date) is relatively automated and easy now.

Cons: The server, in whichever form you choose, costs money. It is not cheap. If you're not extremely careful (and sometimes even if you are, like me) and a hard drive goes bad, you could lose data (and then you have to spend more money to replace said hard drive and time replacing said data). It is not easy to set up. You may, at various points in this journey, wish you could launch the server into the sun, Calibre-Web into the sun, or yourself into the sun.

Step Six: Profit!

That's it! I hope this was enough to get you moving towards archiving your favorite fanfic. Again, if there's anything here you'd like me to expand on, let me know! Obviously I'm a huge nerd about this stuff, and love talking about it.

[lavender-long-stories]

Writing Advice: Getting Words on a Page

With the 75k word count in November and 90k in August, I have been asked questions like how do I keep focus and what do I do when I get stuck. I am going to compile all the advice I have.

Over the last few years, I have posted 700k+ words of fan fiction and have been posting 3 to 6 chapters every week for the last ten months. This is not how to make your writing better. This is how to get words on a page. 

This is not all my original ideas. This is just a collection of things that have worked for me.

I am not sure I am the person to tell you how to make your writing better, but if people want my thoughts on that. I can make that post too.

When inspiration strikes, write like wild. 

If you have the time and you are bitten by the writing bug, keep writing anything while you are in peak form. You will thank yourself later when you feel like you can’t write everything. I have done the extreme version of this where I have a month (four chapters) written ahead of almost everything on my post schedule (you don’t need this), but this was really nice after I brunt out after finishing out the 90k challenge I destroyed myself with in August.

Write in little pockets of time.

You don’t need to sit down and write for two hours. Write 100 words here and 500 there. It will all add up. When I was struggling at the end of the 75k, I would just open a doc every few hours and write half a page until I got distracted and tried again later.

Change your font.

If you are struggling to edit or even just find yourself drifting while writing, change your font. It helps trick your brain into paying attention. (I like doing a mono font like Courier when I need writing vibes. It looks typewriter-y)

Take a shower. 

Not just for shower thoughts, being clean and fresh helps with focus

Get dressed.

I love being comfy, but something about getting dressed makes me feel like I am working and should finish my task. Extra points for it being fun. (Maybe cosplay a pirate or something.)

Move Locations.

Desk, kitchen table, bed, outside: changing location helps move you out of a brain rut.

Handwrite notes.

I take most of my notes on notion, but when I am struggling with my plot, I write out notes by hand, starting with what happened last and continuing from there, writing even things I know will happen. Then I transfer this to my digital notes so they are easier to move around in order, AND a lot of time, I add details when revising them to digital. Double power.

Always, always write down your thoughts and keep them.

Some of my most popular stories came from me rediscovering a 2 am thought that I wrote down six years ago. Keep a notepad next to the bed if you have to.

Change POV

If something is not working in a scene, maybe it is who you have reacting to it. Try switching POV. It helps you think of the scene from another perspective.

Watch a show in your genre.

I watch a lot of the silliest KDrama’s and get lots of romance ideas. Maybe I didn’t think of sending my character to a park or trapping them in a sky lift. Maybe I should add a stalker that sounds fun.

Take your bathroom breaks.

You should always drink lots of fluids and remember to take your bathroom breaks because the brief moment of walking away always gives me an idea.

Skim through the story and make notes on what HAS happened, not just what will happen.

This helps more with my style of having next to no plot outline. Need your next plot point and don’t know where to go? Remember that time they did x? Let’s build off that. This helps intertwine the plot without losing things.

Just read the story back.

You don’t always need to make notes, but sometimes just reading from the beginning can make you pick up on a detail that was unimportant at the time, and you may not even have meant to put in that could have a lot more meaning now. Then, you can call it clever foreshadowing.  

Explain your problem or the scene you are struggling with out loud.

It doesn’t have to be to someone. It could be a glass of water. This is called ‘rubber ducking. It’s a programmer term (hello, that is my day job). Restructuring your problem in a way you have to articulate it most of the time makes the solution come to you.

Try focusing on the scenery.

If you can’t get a scene to work open with the weather or how the floor is creaking under step, give the world a new feeling. How does the person feel about the weather or the temperature of the room? 

Can’t figure out what is wrong? Rewrite the chapter from scratch. 

Open a new doc and rewrite the chapter from memory. I do this a lot in the beginning of a story that didn’t quite hit the way I wanted it to. I will start the chapter from memory and skim the old one to ensure I didn’t miss anything important. Can’t do it from memory? Read a paragraph and write that from memory. 

Take a left turn.

Sometimes, if you can’t go any further, go back a sentence, a paragraph, a scene, a chapter, and just make a different decision. Turn left instead of right. Change how someone reacts to an argument. It opens a whole new lane to go down.

Excited for a scene that is in the future?

Write it! You don’t have to use it word for word in the future. Sometimes, you can copy and paste it in, and sometimes, you can just rewrite it, and you lose none of those thoughts you originally had.  Writing it might remind you of something that needs to happen first to help you get there.

Have more than one story you are working on.

I don’t think you need to be working on four+ stories like I do, but having something to switch to when your brain really isn’t feeling your main is a great way to keep you writing. Call it productive procrastination. This is the REAL reason I have so many stories uploading.  (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

Other Somewhat Related Advice

Context Switching

I work on multiple projects at a time, and I tend not to mix them up because they have a different vibe to me. It feels like stepping into each world.  If you are struggling with context switching between stories, I suggest finding a song or making a playlist that gives you that story’s ‘vibe’ and keeping a link to it in your writing folder or snagging a section of your story that captures the vibe you are going for and keeping it off to the side to reread when you need to switch.

Don’t edit the same day you write.

You’re not going to catch errors. Your brain is too familiar with what you wrote. Also, I recommend Grammarly or another grammar checker for all your missing comma and period needs. (Word, Docs, and any other text editor simply won't bully you enough.)

If you hate editing, don’t leave yourself with a painful amount of editing.

When people ask me how I edit my work, how many passes I take, etc, I tend to disappoint them. The short answer is one read-through (after using a grammar checker).  I learned a LONG time ago that as much as it would be nice to write a bunch of dialog and then tell yourself you will go back to add all the actions or write without quotes because it takes time, you will save yourself a lot of time and pain if you learn to write it correctly the first time and then editing won’t be as much of a chore. I have been writing for years, and I am used to how I write and edit. If you are newer to writing, give it another pass or two, but try to shift some of that work to the writing process, not the editing process.

Make yourself an editing cheat sheet.

Make yourself a doc or a notion of words you notice you use too much or common words you misspell when writing.  I usually make one when I get back and do a post edit (when the story has been up for a while and I get back with fresh eyes and edit it). Reading through your old work and find things that you don’t like or don’t want to do anymore is a great way to build this list and improve your writing.

Now go write.

Got any advice for me? Reblog and tell me.

[acearcane]

Chapter 8, My Darlings

Wow. I've been writing this AU for about a month now. My doc is currently at 100+ pages, and we're almost to 50k words. Thank you to everyone who's been a faithful reader of my project, your support means so much!!

Chapter 8 is a long one; I had a lot to set up and a lot to reveal, so the length was needed. I had a lot of fun writing this one, so I hope you have a lot of fun reading. :)

Plus, could it be...? Hints of Lumity??

[docholligay]

Do you think having such a personalized and detailed headcanon makes it harder to enjoy fic about the show/game that's written by others?

I mean sure, probably.

But unfortunately things I adore, for people named Doc who are me, fall into one of two buckets:

The character work and plot in this show are incredible, I find myself turning it around in my mind like a rotisserie chicken. I constantly discover new things about the show/book/game or the characters in it. I do not read fic about this, because why would I? Every answer I search for is in the text. I want to talk about this with someone, but about what is THERE, not what could be there. Ex: The Haunting of Hill House, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Piranesi, Bioshock:Infinite, Watership Down, Yellowjackets, among others.

The concepts of this could be amazing but are handled so fucking badly so consistently, in a shocking contrast to how INCONSISTENT the character work is, that all I want to do is steal it and make it better. All i want to do is turn it into something that doesn't suck ass when you look at it too hard. So I am going to take it SO seriously, and I am going to develop the rich inner lives for these characters that they lack, with intense backstories and families and motivation for how they got to be the person we know, or know sometimes, in certain episodes or shorts. Ex: Sailor Moon and Overwatch are the biggies here obviously, this is actually not an emotion I feel very often. I don't have intense backstories and extra-textual feelings and ideas about most of the stuff I read and watch, these two are just my Spiders Georg.

So! The odds on me being into something in the correct way to make me want to Seek Treasure Elsewhere but also I have a chill enough attitude about how the characters are that Any Dream Will Do is almost nil. I do not in ANY way mean this in a shady way, but I mostly read published adult fiction for entertainment and not fanfic. I am very picky about my fanfic. So, "plus these two new red and blue girls into Starbucks" often won't work for me, because the reasons to have Haruka and Michiru meet in a coffee shop are completely different from any of the reasons Fareeha and Angela might meet in a coffee shop, and so many of those types are archtypical plug and play stuff. Honestly, I have skated the idea of making a cheat sheet of fanon archetypes of various characters and buying a typewriter to sell 100-200 word 'quick fic' at cons with my sister. That's how common it is to use these archetypes. This is not a criticism! At all!

But, to take the two couples above, I have read so much BORING SHIT about both HM and FA that I could throw up. Lesbian couples have a lot of very milquetoast writing about them, and a lot of meet-cute which isn't really my bag.

But there are authors I love! @oathkeeper-of-tarth was and is one of the best harumichi writers out there and we don't even have all the same headcanons. The rare occasions @verbforverb decides to grace me with "Jewish Mercy I don't Have To Write" I pop a can of bubbly in the tub. And on both fields of battle @keyofjetwolf has stuff I've had bookmarked for years, and there are some things even within Rei's backstory and history that we disagree on.

Actually, to that point what I like is good writing. You can write me into believing nearly anything. There are things I believe about Amelie when I'm reading @lemon-embalmer's stuff that when I go back to my own world, aren't true, but when I'm in her world who the fuck cares, I'm having a great time. EVEN MORE to the point, I read @moonlight-frittata's stupid sun and moon lesbian League of Legends shit and I would rather shoot myslef than know ANYTHING about the game, but unfortunately she has a beautiful turn of phrase and plot flow to her work that I just....read anyway, because it is good. Fucking @tallangrycockatiel had me like 25 pages or so into a story before I was like, "OH SHIT, IS THIS SLASH??? WAIT I DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT BOYS' LOVE!! NO!!" *hits next page* And I still could not care less about that podcast and would never listen to it, and if I did I would be massively disappointed because to my mind, her John and Arthur are the actual article, and whatever the fuck is going on in the source material can eat my dick.

So, yes, I DO think that having a very particular point of view is going to mean I back out of a story where like, "Lena stepped out of her Chelsea flat, custom leather high heels clicking against the step" sometimes, or, you know, "Haruka put down her copy of War and Peace, each meticulous note codified by a color-coded tab. Blue was for historical references to research, green for character analysis, yellow for themes, blah blah blah*" But I am actually shockingly open minded in what I will read, often to the point that I'm reading stuff from SHIT I DO NOT LIKE OR CARE ABOUT, because the quality of the writing is excellent. So, also no.

*I met someone who read books like this and I suddenly realized what the literary equivalent of 'knowing someone is a serial killer' was.

[void-ink-studios]

Oh Glob, He's Been Kidnapped

A silly romp through Ooo, with a touch of bitter sweet at the end. I hope you enjoy y'all!

A few sidenotes:

I've started picturing the Organizer's voice like Agent 47's handler, Diana Burnwood, in the new Hitman games. No idea why, just felt like it fit her.

Random thought that might end up as it's own post, but I find the idea funny if Scarab's species had no real concept of gender, and Scarab just accepted he/him pronouns because that's what everyone in the pantheon used for him and he just shrugged and accepted it.

Next time, as suggested by @scumbkat I think it's about time Scarab gained his own Nightmare aspect.

Fun fact, this was the instalment to push this series over 100 pages in the google doc.

Word Count: 2,500

Of all things Scarab had expected on this "field trip" (as Prismo put it) to the land of Ooo, this was not one of them.

Where in Glob's name did Prismo go?

Seriously, Scarab had turned his back for, like, maybe 10 seconds. And when he turned back, the human shaped mage Prismo was disguised as was just... up and gone.

At first he thought he had wondered off to another shop in market or something, but Scarab had scoured this place top to bottom at least 3 times, and no sign of the Wishmaster anywhere.

He climbed the tallest stall he could find, earning him some choice curses, and nothing.

It wasn't as if Scarab was nervous or anything. Prismo was a god. One of the most powerful in the multiverse. Just because he was currently human shaped did not make him as vulnerable as one.

But, well, this trip was kind of off the books. If Prismo got his body killed somewhere, they'd have the Organizer to answer to, and Scarab was not particularly looking for a scolding next time she visited for tea.

"Prism!" He called the fake name the Wishmaster had given himself, trying to shout over the chaotic crowd. "Prism, where did you go? We're supposed to be heading back soon! Prism!"

All that got him was annoyed looked from the people trying to pass by him.

Great.

"Hey, big knight dude" a voice called. Scarab momentarily forgot what he looked like, confused at this address. But, yes, he recalled now. He looked much more like a knight, his shell conveniently passing for armor with a bit more flair. He turned in search for the voice. "Over here, man!"

A human. Or, Scarab was pretty sure he was human, he looked enough like Prismo's body to be somewhat confident. He was tall, muscular, with a mess of blond hair spilling out the back of his hat. A mechanical arm waved him over.

Scarab shook off his frantic edges, striding over with an air of confidence.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"You need help, man? Heard to yelling for someone, and I saw you pacing around the place. What's going on?"

"Oh, I seem to have lost my traveling companion. I turned my back for a few seconds, and poof, gone."

"What's he look like?"

Scarab examined the human a little closer. Big smile, sword on the hip, an attitude similar to a happily suicidal puppy. Hmm.

"And how do I know you don't have something to do with his disappearance?"

"Nah man, I'm super good! I'm the hero in these parts."

Scarab decided that, if worst came to worst, he could take him.

"...I'll choose to believe you for now, hero. Short stature, brown skin, long curly gray hair and beard, most garish pink wizard robes possible? Enough jewelry to be mistaken for a treasure chest? Old?"

"Hmmm..."

"Hey, didn't we see someone like that walking around with those weirdo wizards" a new voice chimed in. Scarab's head snapped to the new comer, spotting a... dog? Rainicorn? Both? She didn't have discernable eyes, but very long almost platinum blond hair that had been fashioned into a hammock in the tree.

The hero thought for a second.

"Oh yeah, that's right Junior! Man, I knew those creeps were trouble!"

"You know these characters?"

"They're quick to sniff around anyone with a hint of magic junk" Junior supplied. "Tried cutting my hair for rainbow powers of whatever."

"What for?"

"We're not sure" the hero sighed. "They keep harassing wizards and stuff, but no one's really gone with them before. You guys new here?"

"You could say that, yes. We're passing through."

"Man, sorry about that. But, if they dragged your bud away, I think I know where they went!"

Scarab released a long-suffering sigh, rubbing his hand under his helmet.

"Glob, Prism, of course, of course you'd get yourself accidentally kidnapped the second I turn my back."

"You don't sound to worried" Junior said.

"I'm not. Prism is more than capable of taking care of himself. But, it is... inconvenient. He probably thinks this is an adventure or some nonsense."

"Hey man, anything can be an adventure! Even kidnappings. C'mon, we'll find him together. What's your name, stranger?"

"Ruby Knight is fine. And you?"

"I'm Finn! And this little lady is Jake Jr. but I just call her Junior."

Scarab was thankful for both his helmet and remarkable poise. If either failed him, he might've started choking on air.

Finn. This was... Prismo's Finn. He finally noticed the tattoo on his chest, a smiling dog cradled in forget-me-nots. Of course. Of course he'd happen to run into the one human Prismo might know.

And... Jake Jr. A daughter, most certainly. Did Prismo know? Most likely, Jake had to have told him if they were as close as he believed, but he made know indication of having ever met her.

Okay... Okay, this is fine, probably. And, it's not like he had much choice right now.

"A pleasure to meet you, Finn the hero. Let's go find my idiot wizard friend, shall we?"

"Alright, let's do this! Adventure time!"

And with that, the human went charging off in a direction through the market. Junior seemed unsurprised, casually standing up.

"We should probably try to keep up. Can't let him have all the fun to himself."

Scarab nodded, quickly catching up and keeping pace with Finn.

"Hey, dude, I don't see a lot of new knights around here! Which princess you work for?"

"None of them. Technically, I work for Prism, but I am my own agent."

"Ooooh, I remember meeting a few of those. They were jerks, way to into their own armor. One followed me around, like all day, trying to embarrass me. You seem cool though."

"A knight obsessed with armor is a lousy knight indeed. I've met a fair share who seem to think the weapons and costumes are replacements for skill."

"I know, right? I got skills though, skills to pay the bills. At least, that's what Marcy and PB say."

Scarab found himself relaxing at least a little bit as he followed this human hero.

"...How you know your buddy would be fine? You sounded really sure about it."

"He's one of the best mages I've ever met. He is more than capable of helping himself if he feels his in actual danger. Problem is he is very bad at telling what is and isn't dangerous."

"Man, that sounds like me. I once jumped into a dungeon without backup, got my ass kicked. By a cat. And another knight, the Bucket Knight. Scarier than he sounds."

Scarab didn't talk to mortals very often, but this he felt was a good one.

One of the fun ones.

--------------------------------------

"Ooooh, what's this do?"

Prismo, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. When three dudes in black cloaks put an arm around his shoulder and offered magic beyond belief, well, he was hooked.

No, Prismo was not an idiot. Everything in there was very clearly cursed, destined to attach or leech or possess the user the second they walked out of the spooky tent with it.

But, no harm if he didn't leave with it.

"That, sir, will amplify your powers into a brilliant burst. You'd be untouchable."

Prismo could tell the goons were getting impatient. He knew he looked like a fat, easy target with his jewelry and demeanor, but he was much trickier than most assumed.

Money's paws were fun, after all.

He could hear them whisper.

"He gonna buy anything or just waste our time?"

"Patience, brother. We'll have him soon enough."

"Can't we just stab him and be done with it?"

"Quiet!"

Prismo chuckled to himself, standing up straight. Scarab had probably noticed he was gone by now, he should probably go back before he split his shell.

"Well guys, this was nice, but I think I should be going now. Lots of neat stuff you got here, but I don't think I'm interested."

He turned with a big smile to see three hooded goons who looked like they wanted to rip him apart.

"...Now?"

"Now."

Two of them surged forward to hold Prismo's wrists, dragging him to a very fancy looking chair.

"Woah, friends, what's the harsh treatment for?"

"Oh shut up, old man. We listened to you prattle on about nonsense for the past hour! We're bleeding you dry of magic, with or without your cooperation!"

Prismo was suddenly very aware of a knife to his neck as he was strapped down.

"Fellas, fellas, you don't wanna do this" he crooned.

"Oh, trust me, it's no trouble, you doddering old fool. It's our pleasure."

"No, no, that's not what I mean. My bud, he's probably looking for me. Not the kind of guy you want to get on the bad side. So just let me go and we pretend none of this ever happened, right?"

"We're not scared of some over dressed, pompous knight! We're wizards, wizards rule fool! Kin, get the bowl, it's gonna get messy."

Prismo rolled his eyes.

Well, this went poorly quickly. He was not gonna hear the end of this when Scarab showed up.

"Yeah, wizards rule, but guys, I'm telling ya, he's not someone you underestimate. I keep him around for a reason, you know?"

"Oh just shut up already! Whatever pitiful little magic you've got won't be worth more than you finally shutting up!"

"Wow, harsh dude."

There was a cold blade against his neck again, making him squeak a little. Okay, he might have to break himself out of this one...

"Uh, guys-"

BANG

There was a loud, grinding bang outside the tent, a yell, and suddenly light.

Everyone groaned at the sudden harsh light, but Prismo smiled at the glittering red armor.

"Prism! You Glob forsaken idiot, you better be here!"

"Ruby, hun, I seem to be in a bit of a pickle."

Prismo giggled a little at the utterly exhausted groan Scarab let out. There was a scream, a warm splatter, and a thud. The knife wasn't on his neck anymore, now kicked far away across the floor.

"Man, this is some serious dark junk." Prismo's eyes widened. He craned his neck, spotting the long blond hair and robotic arm. Oh Glob.

"These are definitely cursed, Finn. Like, the aura in here is toxic."

Jake Jr....

Oh Glob dammit. Don't cry, don't cry...

"Prism, dear, are you okay?"

Prismo blinked, trying to shake away the tears, smiling at Scarab's helmet covered face.

"Yeah, I'm okay, no biggie!"

He felt the straps around his wrists loosen, then him get tugged into Scarab's chest.

"I'm okay, I'm okay Ruby, promise. Sorry for wandering off, I know I'm not gonna hear the end of this, I know..."

Finn seemed to stop moving, slowly turning his head toward Prismo.

"Wait a second..."

Prismo took a deep breath, slowly emerging from Scarab's chest to face him.

"Oh my Glob..."

Prismo expected a lot of things could potentially happen. Yelling about being in Ooo, maybe anger for not being able to bring Jake back, maybe even annoyance for having to save him again.

But he did not expect a hug. A big bear one, that lifted him off the ground, feet dangling an undignified foot and a half off the grass.

"PRISMO!"

Finn laughed as he swung the Wishmaster around, now hugging back both out of respect for the hug, and to not go flying if the human's grip slipped.

"Wait, is that... like Prismo Prismo? As in Prismo the Almighty Wishmaster that dad kept gushing over, that Prismo?"

"The one and only! Man, I didn't know you could leave the Time Room! I'd have invited you on adventures a long time ago!"

"This is a new thing, first time on Ooo, I promise. Finn, you're kind of crushing my ribs here."

Finn carried him outside before finally placing him back on his feet.

"Prism, hm?"

"We didn't wanna attract too much attention. So, disguises!"

"So, wait, then who's that" Junior asked, pointing her thumb toward Scarab. "Is this guy some poor schmuck you hired, or something else?"

Prismo collected himself a moment before holding Scarab's hand in his own. "This is Scarab. He's a coworker of mine and... well, my partner." He placed a soft kiss on one of Scarab's knuckles.

"And you're lucky for it" Scarab sighed. "Who else would I run halfway across a city for?"

"Oh, rad, good for you, man. I know we haven't talked much since... well, we haven't talked much. But, y'know, it's good to see you okay and stuff. And that you've got someone looking out for you."

Junior seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, before she strolled up and tapped Prismo's shoulder.

"I'm uh... I'm Jake Junior." She extended her hand in an offer to shake. "Dad... Dad liked talking about you. It's nice to meet you."

Prismo's smile wobbled, but it was wide. He tried to rub the tears from his eyes, but soon gave up and accepted the hand shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you too. Jake... Man, every other sentence was him bragging about one of you. He really loved you guys a lot."

Junior had a sad smile on her face, nervously rubbing the back of her head.

"Pris, now that I know you can come here, we gotta go on a proper adventure sometime, yeah? And, like, a proper one, not one where you just get kidnapped but some shifty wizard dudes."

"Seriously, they're like, the shiftiest guys I've ever seen and you just... went along with them? No questions asked?"

Prismo giggled nervously as he felt everyone's mildly judgmental stare on him.

"I don't know, it just looked... interesting. Not like they could actually hurt me or anything."

"That might be the case, but if you got discorporated, you would get to me the one to explain to the Organizer why we were walking around with unauthorized bodies."

"Hey, you didn't need to come with me!"

"Clearly, I did."

Prismo groaned, half embarrassed, half strangely happy at the day's turn of events.

He looked at Finn, and noticed the same sad smile Scarab often described the Wishmaster having. "Hey, Finn? If you... wanna hang out, in the Time Room, I can give you my number, or something... I'd like to see you. Same to you, Junior. You and any of your siblings are welcome to the domain of the Almighty Prismo."

Finn slapped him on the back, firmly gripping his shoulder.

"C'mon. Let's head to the Candy Kingdom, there's a bar, drinks are on me."

The two gods walked behind the mortals. Prismo could feel Scarab looking at him, a question trying to push past his mandibles. The Wishmaster didn't answer. He opted instead to tuck his hand into Scarab's and walk in comfortable silence, listening to these two mortals talk.

Maybe things would continue to be better.

Maybe Prismo's heart could take this.

[douglysium]

Episode 20 TMP Quick Thoughts

Housekeeping and Prologue

Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(​What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 19. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 19 TMP Quick Thoughts).

However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.

These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.

Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don't really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you're getting all the nuances.

These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.

Episode 20 “Social Stigma”

This is yet another episode I find interesting because we actually get to hear about some of what’s happening from Ink5oul. But first, we start in the breakroom of the OIAR as Sam, Celia, and Alice have a conversation about the Institute and some of the stuff surrounding the OIAR and the government. The transcripts note “Sam, Alice and Celia enter. Sam is almost vibrating with nervous energy.” and Alice says “This had better be worth all these theatrics…”

Celia makes it clear that Sam wanted to talk in the breakroom to avoid having the computers listen in on the conversation. Alice is clearly annoyed and says “If this is more neurotic conspiracy shit about the Magnus bloody Institute…” before Sam immediately tries to talk about what led to the Institute’s destruction. Alice is afraid Sam will become paranoid like Colin but Celia tries to vouch for Sam’s sanity. Sam reveals that he thinks Starkwall killed the Magnus Institute on behalf of the OIAR. Celia questions the fact that a security company would do this but Alice argues “They’re more than a security company. They’re a PMC, Mercenaries. It’s not impossible.” Sam says what he thinks the Protocol in the last episode involves: “Burned it to the ground and killed everyone who worked there. That’s what “The Protocol” is.” This would match up with the Protocol’s connection to the burning of the Magnus Institute, Great Fire of London, and the stories of Isaac Newton having lost 20 years of research to a fire. This could also mean that the strange fire seen in Episode 7 (Give and Take) was in fact this Protocol in action, considering all the machine gun fire too.

Alice warns Sam against snooping around secret government stuff but Sam still wants to get to the bottom of this and brings up the case from last episode. Sam explains “Okay, so, it talks about “The Protocol” right, about how it was used to reign in weird stuff Newton was working on and it reminded me of what happened with the Institute, but I mean, it’s 300 years, right? No way it could be the same thing? Right?” “But I had an email when I got in tonight. It contained a bunch of files from 1999. Some… paperwork between Starkwall, or GSR Security as they were back then, and William Price, who used to run the response department. The documents were very thorough, and what wasn’t redacted was pretty clear. They totalled the Institute.” Alice asks who sent this mysterious email and Sam says “I don’t know. The email address was gibberish and when I tried to reply it went nowhere.” This email is probably somehow related to the one Sam received from someone named “John” in Episode 7 (Give and Take). In that episode Sam tells Colin “Uh anyway yeah, I was wondering if you knew who “John” was?” and explains “I got a weird email from “John” with a random name and an address and it looks like it’s from an internal email so… ” However, Sam doesn’t mention the newer email having any name attached to it so it could be from a different person, thing, faction, etc. (such as ERROR). If you want to subscribe to the idea that Jon, Martin, and Jonah somehow have a connection to the computers then you could say that the email’s address depends on which voice is sending it. But there’s not anything really concrete at the moment and Sam doesn’t mention the email coming from an internal source like the first one did.

Alice basically admits that she is pulling a season 1 Jonathon Sims by using feigned denial and ignorance as coping method when she responds to Sam’s “So you believe there might be something to it?” with “Of course I do! That’s why I’ve been trying so hard to protect you!” Alice states that Sam is putting himself in danger by going through classified documents and “I don’t know what the OIAR looked like in 1999, but I know what it looks like now, and it’s basically the five of us and Colin, who, I might remind you, has already lost it. I seriously doubt we’re still doing covert Protocol shit. We can’t even turn up on time!” Celia points out that Lena is secretive but Alice retorts with “(restrained) Okay class. Let’s entertain the ridiculous notion that that kind of stuff is somehow still going on. Now do we think that sticking our nose right in the middle of that steaming mess and taking a big old whiff is a good idea or a terminally bad one?” Alice does have a point about the staff but I suppose the other staff members Alice wouldn’t be able to take into account are the various Externals like Mowbray and Bonzo. These Externals might be the people / things aiding the OIAR in enacting this Protocol with Starkwall and it’s also possible that any target the Protocol misses is later cleaned up by an External such as Bonzo or Mowbray.

Sam doesn’t believe that Alice can be okay with working for such a shady government but Alice explains “Look, of course I’m not happy with anything about this. We’re trapped in a vicious, petty, awful machine that rules over a vicious, petty, awful little country. I hate that that’s how things are. I hate it. But that doesn’t stop it from being true and if I’m going to put myself and the people I care about in actual, physical danger, it’s not going to be over a matter of principal. It would need to be for something that’ll actually change something. And I’m sorry but going to the press with “British government did another bad thing in the past” doesn’t exactly scream revolution does it.” Alice does have a point even if I find myself agreeing more with Sam. It’s clear that Alice doesn’t think they are in a position to really do anything and there’s a good chance that Sam just ends up “mysteriously disappearing” after sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Also, obvious commentary about the British government here and it’s brutal, colonialist, etc. past. 

Sam asks Celia what she thinks about this information and she wonders if destroying the Institute was the wrong thing to do. Sam reacts with “(shocked) Celia, they killed like forty people.” but she argues “I know. And that’s awful. But from what I’ve found the Magnus Institute was up to some pretty bad things. Like catastrophic, world-endingly bad.” This is another moment that paints Celia as really suspicious. As mentioned in previous episodes, there’s a lot to imply that Celia either is from the TMA universe or somehow knows a lot about it. This “world-endingly bad” catastrophe being orchestrated by the Institute could very easily describe that ritual performed by Jonah for The Eye (and other Entities) in order to enact the Change. Something we know would have eventually killed off all life because new animals / people could not be born but they could die in specific Domains run by The End so eventually all the things feeding the Entities their fear would die. Now whether Celia is making a guess based on what the TMA’s Institute did or she came across evidence that points to their Protocol counterpart doing the same thing is still up in the air. We still don’t know just how closely the TMA and TMAGP universes parallel each other but we have seen characters like Gertrude, Gerard and Georgie show up in both universes. However, it’s clear that their lives have taken at least somewhat different paths at various points since if things were exactly the same Gertrude and Gerry would have been dead before Sam even joined the OIAR. Plus, the Institute seemed like it had a lot more resources in TMAGP (at least enough to actively detain people).

Sam asks what makes Celia think the Institute was up to anything world ending but she sort of dodges the question by saying “Never mind. The point is we don’t really know what happened and as horrible as it is to say it, for all we know this Protocol thing was a necessary evil to stop something worse.” Sam still doesn’t feel great potentially working for an evil organization and Alice makes it clear that she’s scared for herself and everyone else so she wants to be left out of this whole conspiracy Sam is trying to unravel. But Celia wants Sam to keep her posted on any info he finds. 

Case?

I’m not sure if this counts as a case but we do get a case or statement from Ink5oul (pronounced Inksoul). So maybe this is a live case? Well, it’s not any sort of case spouted by the computers and this is one that’s actually told to use directly by Ink5. We cut to Gwen’s phone as she enters a warehouse and the transcripts say “Gwen walks nervously through the cavernous warehouse. She is walking towards the distant buzz of a tattoo gun.” Gwen approaches someone and asks “Hello? Is that… Grace Wilde, AKA “Inksoul”?” Looks like we finally got their official name. Ink5 questions how Gwen found them and Gwen just says “We uh have our ways.” I assume Gwen doesn’t actually know how the OIAR found Ink5’ location and she was just given an address to go to. I’ve been arguing that the OIAR is potentially connected to an Entity like The Eye, and The Beholding is well known for being connected to the ability to randomly know things, such as where a person is.

Gwen takes notice of the body Ink5 is tattooing and asks if they are alright and Ink5 reveals that the person is in fact dead. I wonder if they were stealing tattoos from this body or were merely using it for some kind of weird practice, or maybe both. Ink5 starts tattooing the body again and asks if Gwen has any tattoos of her own. Gwen says no and Ink5 responds “Shame. You’ve got lovely skin.” Pro tip, if you are in TMA and someone starts talking about how nice your skin is RUN. It never ends well. Gwen explains, to the obviously annoyed and dismissive Ink5, that she is from the Office of Incident Assessment and Response (a civil service) in order to recruit Ink5oul. When Ink5 notices how odd it is for a civil service to want someone for their tattoo skills Gwen says “Not exactly. We have some use for someone of your… type.” which gives Ink5 pause. It’s obvious that Gwen means someone with some strong connection to the supernatural but she’s clearly still being kept out of the loop on a lot of things. Ink5 asks what their “type” is and “(approaching) Tell me what’s happening to me. Something is happening. I can tell. I’m not- There’s- I’m changing there’s all these – I don’t- TELL ME WHAT I AM!” Gwen explains “I-I don’t know! I’m sorry! They haven’t told me! All I know is we call you Externals!” and Ink5 asks “External to what? Your department? Society? The world?” and Gwen basically says that she doesn’t know

Before I continue I think this interaction reveals some important information. Not all the cases on the computers in the OIAR deal with people who are currently Externals. I mean this is kind of obvious since some of the cases deal with people who are long dead but it does show that just because a case takes place in the modern day and has some sort of monster or supernatural being that doesn’t mean said being is with the OIAR. It also makes me wonder if Gwen is going to have to recruit Needles next.

Gwen asks Ink5 why they are in the warehouse and they say they are hiding from everyone due to how popular they are on the internet. This is the part where Ink5 starts giving their case. I found it strange that Ink5 was giving a very well put together story explanation for Gwen and the last time I had a thought like this in TMA it turned out that anyone in the position of Archivist had the ability to force people to answer questions and give statements. So it’s not impossible that Gwen’s promotion to Liaison came with certain supernatural benefits. It’s also possible that some other force can compel cases out of people but I’m not sure what that would be outside of potentially ERROR or whatever is listening through all the devices and we still know basically nothing about those two.

Ink5 recounts their internet career and how it took off. It started with a tattoo of a snarling wolf but the wolf looked like it had more of a cheeky grin due to how Ink5' hand slipped during the process. They didn’t consider it their best work but decided to post it anyway and it took off online. “It was reposted by HellYesTattoos and suddenly my 79-follower account was getting thousands of favourites, hundreds of new followers and so many… lovely messages. They were trawling through all my old work, really amateur stuff, but they still left the nicest comments.” However, there were haters too “They didn’t see the appeal, didn’t understand why everyone was sharing it. Those messages hurt. They hurt a lot more than the nice ones boosted me, but… it was still thrilling, you know? Knowing that a stranger looked at you and saw someone important, someone worth getting angry about. I didn’t feel good, I felt… important.” This does sort of add some context or irony to the tattoo they gave Madam Electrum in Episode 16 (Anti-Social). In that episode Electrum says “It hurts. All that hate, all those people wanting me dead or worse… I can feel it. No cap, it hits right here. It’s like y’all are bees stinging me over and over right in the heart. I dunno if the camera’s picking it up but you can even see it… ”

In hindsight Ink5 wonders if they should have resisted “but why would I? These people wanted to hold me up, tell me I’m better than them, I’m special. Why should it be on me to convince them otherwise? Why should I spend my life scabbling in the dirt telling them “I’m just like you, honest!” when I’m not. I’m better than them. I must be otherwise they wouldn’t all spend so much of their time thinking about me.” The next year Ink5oul’s career hits a rough patch as their follower count plateaus before dropping even as Ink5 churned out piece after piece. “At one point I made a bit of mess of client’s Satan design and it got posted on that OopsTattoo blog. It got more traction than all my other recent posts combined, so for the next few months I deliberately started having “accidents” with client’s tattoos. All it got me was a black eye and a handful of refunds. I was getting desperate. I needed to be seen again.”

It was during this attempt to become seen once again that Ink5 came across Oscar Jarrett “He was a pupil of Sutherland Macdonald.” “He was this pioneering tattoo artist back in Victorian times – real popular, tattooed Prince Alberts cock or something, and everyone adored him. Anyway, he had a bunch of students and one of them was Oscar Jarrett. I learned later there were all sorts of stories about him, rumours of him doing hand-tapped tattoos with sharpened human bones, mixing strange chemicals into his ink, all that sort of stuff.” Not a lot of Oscar’s original designs are remembered and few people actually know who he is. “I stumbled across an old photo of one of his designs in a 1930s book. I’d taken to hunting down vintage inkwork books as people were less likely to notice when I lifted a design from some old obscure artist. My own stuff clearly wasn’t cutting it, so I had to try something else.” A photo Ink5 encounters stops them in their tracks because the person with the tattoo was 70 years old. However, the skin under the ink was pristine and the design itself looked like it had been done a week before. Collecting books in TMA isn’t new and important characters like Leitner collected magical books. But I can’t really say that the books Ink5 is collecting sound like leitners, especially since we know some of the tattoo designs come directly from dead bodies.

Surprisingly, this actually isn’t the first time we’ve encountered tattoos that grant some sort of weird effect in TMA. Within the original TMA Gerard is noted as having tattoos of eyes on all of his joints and over his heart. In MAG 12 (First Aid) we get “Like the first, he was completely covered in almost uniform second-degree burns, except for what at first I thought were small black scorch marks. Looking closer, I saw that they were eyes. Small, tattooed eyes on every one of his joints: his knees, his elbows and even his knuckles, as well as just over his heart. I would have expected the burns to have almost destroyed tattoos that small, but instead they were unblemished, and the skin about a centimetre around each one also didn’t seem to have been affected.” Not exactly 1-to-1 but the tattoos preserving the skin under them are vaguely similar.

Ink5 actually gives a description of the tattoo they found “It was an abstract sun design on his shoulder, shaded in this dull, muted yellow and there was a black dot in the centre that if you really squinted, you could see was an intricate network of crosshatched lines. The round edge of the sun was ragged and wavy, and I could almost feel the warmth of it. It was labelled “Fig.3 One of the few surviving examples of Oscar Jarrett”.” Ink5 eventually encounters a man named Harry who wanted a tattoo of a sun from major arcana tarot cards. Seeing their chance, Ink5 lies to him by showing him a different design and then proceeds to use Oscar Jarett’s design once Henry is on the table. “After all, once he was face-down I could inscribe whatever I liked into his skin. Don’t forget I’m the artist. He was just the canvas. Besides, I had slaved over that design.” “He started screaming about twenty minutes into the session. He said it burned, that it felt like his whole shoulder was on fire. He didn’t move, though. It was like he was nailed 

down as my ink spread across his skin, the smell of scorched flesh filling the room. He stopped screaming by the time I finished. Just whimpers at the end. I cleaned off the blood and took my photos, and for all the smell it didn’t look like there had been any burning at all. Harry stumbled out like the drunk he was, not even bothering to put his shirt back on. At first I was worried for when he’d be back to complain about the design I had actually given him, but I never saw him again. At least, not in person. Saw his picture on a news site though, he’d been killed in a house fire. The story got decent exposure actually.”

If we look at this specific sun tattoo through the lens of Smirke’s 14 (plus The Extinction) it bears the strongest resemblance to something like The Desolation. I mean yes The Desolation seems to have an affinity for fire but it’s an Entity revolving around the fear of loss and destruction as well as the pain associated with it. Fire symbolically connects to this very well due to being a painful and destructive force that can destroy entire houses. Harry eventually dies in a house fire which could fit very in line with The Desolation. Not only is the home usually something people don’t want to lose but The Desolation is also prone to manifesting as bad luck or weird accidents and the fear associated with them (such as with Jason North mysteriously having all his stuff breaking down and loved ones die in MAG 37(Bad Offering)). In MAG 89 (Twice as Bright) Jude Perry describes the Dread Power as “The Desolation. Blackened Earth. The destructive, agonising heat of burning flesh and land scoured of life. The light, the comfort of fire stripped from it, leaving nothing but the terror of its approach.” So a scorching hot sun could be very in line with The Desolation. Additionally, the domain Jude Perry watched over after the Change takes the form of a tenement block that constantly catches fire, destroying the victims’ homes in the process. The fire does subside at times but only long enough to destroy all the homes once they are repaired.

As far as other possible Entities I suppose there’s The End, since Harry does die in the end (but other Entities are no stranger to killing people either), potentially The Flesh with the body horror and maybe The Buried with the idea of ending up stuck in a burning house. 

Harry’s death doesn’t really matter to Ink5oul though because they already snapped pictures of the tattoo and a lot of people loved it. “Followers, views, messages and… sponsorships. It wasn’t much, really. Almost nothing in cash terms but it wasn’t about the money. I have a small inheritance that takes care of that, it was about the respect. The adulation. The love. They started calling me an “influencer”, A “bold new voice in skin art”. I started making all these connections, hanging out with other influences whose follow-counts dwarfed even mine. I had arrived.” Ink5’ old friends start worrying about them but Ink5oul writes this off as jealousy and remarks “they were never very photogenic.” So it’s clear that the priority of Ink5 has completely shifted to becoming more popular. Ink5 comment about the inheritance continues the theme of wealth enabling those with a lot of it to harm more people than they otherwise would have.

“But a handful of pictures do not a career make, and so after another lull where I pushed through some more of my own designs I had to admit to myself that my skill, my real skill was in adapting Oscar Jarrett. If anything, I was doing him a favour – nobody remembered him at all but thanks to me his designs were fresh and relevant. Besides, its not like he was around to miss out on anything.” So Ink5 begins plagiarizing from Oscar Jarrett even more. Ink5 begins searching for some other tattoo designs from Oscar and while they are difficult to find it’s not impossible. However, they eventually use all the designs they copied and struggle to find new ones. At some point they come across a ledger with most of Jarrett’s clients and learn that all the skin touched by his ink never decayed, “Even after death, they were all flawless.” However, Ink5 runs into another snag because while the inks did last the people the tattoos were attached to did not (implying that they would often either die or mysteriously disappear. Think of Harry and the house fire that killed him or even Madam E). There was also the fact that tattooing these designs was very painful and Ink5 had trouble keeping people still: “It was very difficult keeping canvases still on the more complex designs and after I was done they would usually end up having grotesque experiences. That didn’t matter so much to me once the pictures were captured and posted online but after a while the police did notice a definite, if unprovable, connection between my tattoos and a series of rather disturbing accidents. Eventually it was easier to just use some chemical cocktails to keep clients quiet and become a bit more… nomadic when it came to studios.” Luckily for Ink5, and unluckily for their clients, all this stuff only added to their mystique and brand. “The fans ate it up, and all these empty warehouses gave me some space to think and reflect. Everyone wants a piece of you when you’re this famous.”

However, it’s not just the tattoos of Ink5oul’s clients that started behaving weirdly as they note “I don’t remember when my own tattoos began to change. I know it was around the same time I started craving “the look” more. Not the pleasure in a client’s eyes when they see their new skin, but the one I saw just before they went under: terror, helplessness, and the certainty that they would wake up changed in a way they could not understand. It filled me up in a way I can’t quite explain but I have never felt any other time. And as it did so, inside my skin the ink- There! Do you see it?” So it’s clear that the fear of their clients has somehow started feeding them or their tattoos. In Episode 2 (Making Adjustments) Daria describes Ink5 as having “an absolutely gorgeous floral serpent design running up their arm and into their neck that was so vivid it looked ready to slither off their skin and onto the chair.” This snake is probably connected to the ink 5oul is talking about. Snakes are often also used as a metaphor for things like gluttony or betrayal so I wonder if that’s somehow connected to Ink5 clambering for more and more popularity or how they lie to their clients so they can stick whatever tattoos on them.

“Jarrett doesn’t matter now. The ink flows through me and out of me, transforming the lucky into something newer and more beautiful than their own shallow tastes could have conceived. But I… I don’t understand it. There’s something inside me that remembers worrying about... I’m not sure. Did I always want to hurt people? To make them afraid? It’s so much a part of me know that maybe it always was. Have I changed, or have I simply emerged? What am I? I’m…” However, Ink5oul makes it clear that they are not sorry or remorseful for what they do / have done: “And why should I be sorry? This is what I deserve. I don’t even need to wait for clients anymore. I can do it to anyone, whenever the mood strikes me. But then I wouldn’t have anything to remind all those people that they are right, I am better than them. Besides I wouldn’t get to see “the look”.”

Gwen is surprised by how eloquently Ink5oul explained their situation and feelings. Ink5 asks “So you understand? You can explain to me what all these changes, these hungers are?” and Gwen says “Well, uh, it sounds like, perhaps through your actions you made contact with some sort of… power? And it’s changed you?” but this only annoys the tattoo artist because that answer was glaringly obvious to even them. What Ink5oul is describing sounds like the process of becoming some sort of Avatar. What’s causing Ink5 to transform is most likely the fear being generated with their actions. They seem really attached to the terror in “the look” and in Episode 6 (Introductions) Needles says “Oh the land is definitely marked now, same as me, and it feels good. It satisfies in a way I never really thought anything would. It fills that hollow, lonely hole inside quite nicely. It’s not sadism, or masochism, I tried both of those already. I think it’s the fear, the look in their eyes once they realize their mistake, it just makes me want to hold them close, so I do.” So there’s a similar focus on fear in that episode too.

Some might take Ink5oul’s talk of “hunger” as evidence of a new Entity or force but I’m currently unconvinced. Metaphors revolving around food and eating have been a thing since the original TMA. In MAG 89 (Twice as Bright) Jude Perry says “The point is, whatever form it takes, you have to feed it for it to grow strong. Otherwise you’re the one that gets consumed.” and we know Avatars can be weakened or even die due to “starving.” if they don’t feed on enough fear within a certain period of time. In MAG 200 we get “Once upon a time there was fear. Old fear. Primal fear. A fear of blood and pounding feet, a fear of that sudden burst of pain and then nothing. And that fear was nothing. Went nowhere. Knew not what it was. Then it became. Or perhaps it always was and simply entered. But fear was here and true and was itself, and it hungered. It wished to know more. It wished to feel more. It wished to be more. And to those things that hurried through the grass, that shivered through the night in their burrows and their caves, because they knew the dark held flashing talons and shining eyes, they fed the fear. It was blunt and it was simple, but still it was solid enough to satisfy. And the thing that was fear was sated and content.”, “And something else began to happen. Some minds did not simply recoil from them and feed them. Some seemed almost to call them, to court them, to hunger for them in return. Minds that saw the faces of the things that were fear, and were compelled as much as they were repulsed. Whether or not they knew what it was they did, they called out. And they were answered.”, and “And with this newfound power came greed. The hunger for more, the unformed, unfocused, but impossibly huge desire to exist. To join the minds that gave them shape and purpose, and finally drink their fill ‘til they were one and the same. They had no concept of how, or when, or even why, but they needed it. They needed it.” So here we can see hunger being connected to the Entities as well as their Avatars and followers. Jon has also described his urge to take statements as being a hunger and in MAG 148 (Extended Surveillance) he wonders “Does reading a statement of the Ceaseless Watcher count as a sort of auto-cannibalism, I wonder? Or some sort of bird-like regurgitation of fear? Re-consuming secondhand terror.” after reading a statement having to do with The Eye.

So I don’t think the “hunger” being mentioned in Protocol is actually a completely new theme but rather a continuation of a previous one and Ink5 has merely not realized that it's the fear that this strange Power is reacting too. Something that was true for Needles and even some characters from TMA didn’t immediately realize that they had become an Avatar or somehow tied to an Entity. Becoming an Avatar does not automatically fill you in on your Entity or what’s happening. I suppose this case also confirms that Ink5 is only copying existing tattoos and they cannot make their own supernatural tattoo designs. There’s a clear commentary on the connection between trying to become popular and things that can pressure one to plagiarize.

There’s still one thing to consider though. Becoming an Avatar requires one to die but while this death can, and often is, literal it can also be metaphorical or symbolic. So if Ink5 really is a traditional Avatar then when would they have died? Well, you could very easily see their embracing of their online persona as a sort of ego death, especially when they cut many of their old friends out of their life. In a metaphorical sense Grace Wilde died so Ink5oul could be born. However, this is just my speculation and who can be 100% sure if Avatars as we understood them are really going to be a thing.

This is the part where I try to look at the case through the lens of Smirke’s 14 (plus the Extinction). If you want part of the reason I’m doing this you can read it here (Why Smirke’s 14). The other part of the answer is because it's fun. However, Ink5oul proves to be a challenging one to place since each of the tattoos they “borrow” from Oscar seems to have a wildly different effect. I suppose if you wanted to you could argue that Ink5 is somehow connected to an Entity like The Flesh due to the body horror involved and the whole “they would wake up changed in a way they could not understand” thing. It’s also not impossible for Entities to involve other Powers in their work. Breekon and Hope were connected to The Stranger but delivered artifacts connected to various Entities (such as The Web and Buried) for example and the Institute collected a variety of non-Eye related artifacts for research and experimentation (Sasha notes being forced to interact with them at her previous job in the Institute). So maybe it’s merely one Entity like The Flesh interacting with other Entities. It could also be that the tattoos themselves are tied to specific Entities but Ink5oul is tied to their own Entity more directly. It’s also possible that Ink5 is something akin to an Avatar but doesn’t belong to a specific Power as we understand it. While the categories are useful they are ultimately a vague spectrum so it’s just as possible Ink5 is sitting on some vague or more nebulous part of the spectrum or that the particular Entity they are tied to doesn’t matter that much, or maybe their tied to multiple Entities (which we know is possible). It’s kind of hard to tell when not even Ink5 seems fully aware of what’s happening or what they’re tied to.

I can’t see a lot of other obvious picks for Entities here except like maybe The Eye with a desire to be seen and go viral along with the idea of someone using you to be seen (and we know Ink5 streams some of theit sessions) or The Web in relation to not being in control when someone forces a tattoo design you didn’t want on to you and The Web likes to do things like control movement or make people lose control of their body (like how Harry seem paralyzed during the tattoo process).

I’m also using Avatars as a reference point and it’s possible that “External” has a different meaning or connotation. Maybe External refers to what TMA would call Avatars AND Monsters or maybe we’ll learn that “Externals” have their differences. At one point 5oul asks “External to what? Your department? Society? The world?” and Gwen says “I don’t know. All of them?” Clearly these characters have no idea what’s going on so you can only take so much of what they say with more than a grain of salt but I could see how External relates to all these concepts. The Entities might be from another universe which would mean Externals draw their power from an external source, they are externals of the OIAR as an institution, and I doubt beings like Mr. Bonzo fit into normal society (thus making him an outsider or external_.

Ink5oul definitely doesn’t want to sign the OIAR’s agreement and Gwen snaps after Ink5 tells her to piss off: “(bristling) I know what I’m talking about when I say you’re being an idiot. It’s a good deal, and the only way your story doesn’t end in a “where are they now?” article that no-one clicks on. So just sign the damn contract while you still have a chance. You’ve got plenty of ink, and I’m sure even you can manage to write your own name.” I wonder if this is some kind of foreshadowing or Gwen is assuming someone will attempt to kill Ink5oul in the same way Klaus was supposed to be killed. Knowing how the OIAR works I wouldn’t be completely surprised if something like Mr. Bonzo was sent to deal with Externals that refused to abide by the OIARs rules or legal agreements. I also wonder if the paper has any supernatural properties since the papers signed when working in the Archives of the Magnus Institute in TMA were magically binding, so I wonder if something similar is supposed to happen here. I mean are they really just going to take Mr. Bonzo’s word that they aren’t going to kill a few extra people on the side every once in a while and if he decided to cut loose who would stop him, or would you just have to send more and more Externals to deal with each other and keep everything in check?

Gwen’s outburst does not go well and Ink5 threatens her by saying “You want ink?” “You really do have the skin for it…” “This is the part where you start running.”

Conclusion

Yet another episode that I found quite interesting. The way the case came from Ink5ouls themselves was also interesting and it does more to show that cases seem to function like statements in many, if not all, ways. If you want the categories for this case in the transcripts they are:

CAT1RAB2534-12042024-12042024 

Transformation (tattoo) -/- Social Media (influencer) 

Incident Elements: 

- Atychiphobia (fear of failure) 

- Desecration of Corpses 

- Body Horror 

- Non-Consensual body modification 

- Mentions of: exhumation, needles (tattoos), conspiracies, 

burns/fire, drugging 

- SFX: Tattoo buzzing 

 If you want to read my other Quick Thoughts you can do so here (TMAGP Quick Thoughts Archive).

[kimyoonmiauthor]

The worst recipe for Kimchi I've ever seen.

So I'm a food nerd, if the love of Anthropology of food isn't self-evident enough in the 50 page doc on the history of food and food Anthropology based on Subsistence. lol

And I'm a super food nerd when it comes to kimchi. I've tried almost all the varieties of vegetables one can kimchi and learned their mush points. And this, by far is one of the worst recipes of kimchi I've ever, ever read. And being a food nerd, I'll break it down for you.

Don't worry, it's not made by a Korean--it's made by someone white, but I am Korean. And before someone chases me down, "You're an adoptee" I grew up in Korea for the first 5 years and have been tracking down Eomma's kimchi recipe after I semi-remembered the flavor. TT Covid stopped me from going overseas to test it out.

I know when you think of kimchi, you most likely think of the spicy cabbage variety, but I'll inform you that I've made a lot of types of kimchi. I made the Dae Jang Geum Kimchi after a lot of research and digging around. I made kimchi in plastic that never turned out well. I've taken out ingredients and put them back in. I've made kimchi out of different vegetables, and I famously got cited by my own city for making Eomma's kimchi, which BTW, has raw clams and mussels in it.

I've made monk Kimchi too, and gave those tips off to Maangchi.

I'm like kimchi geek over here. I can tell you all different facets of kimchi. Maybe because I tend to hyper focus on things, and I definitely hyperfocused on kimchi.

So I definitely can say the above is not kimchi.

Let's define Kimchi:

Kimchi is an aerobic lacto-fermetation process that is usually balanced with a protein in order to preserve mainly vegetables/vegetation, but sometimes seafood or other seafood matter.

Why is this not a kimchi?

1 Chinese cabbage

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2.5cm/1in piece ginger, grated

2 tbsp fish sauce (optional)

2 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce or chilli paste (see below)

1 tbsp golden caster sugar

3 tbsp rice vinegar

8 radishes, coarsely grated

2 carrots, cut into matchsticks or coarsely grated

4 spring onions, finely shredded

Chinese cabbage is not the same as napa. Chinese cabbage is longer than napa. Does it look similar, yes. Have I attempted to make kimchi out of it yes. Did it have the same properties? No.

But forgive the white person for not knowing that. Chinese cabbage has more water content than your average large head of Napa.

3 Garlic cloves is laughable. It won't preserve for a year like kimchi is supposed to.

1 thumb of ginger? No. No. No. That's not enough.

The fish sauce is not optional. You need that to even out the lactobacilli. If you're not going to use fish sauce, then up the protein content with barley. I really do swear after messing up kimchi on purpose the fish sauce does have a FUNCTION not just a taste.

BTW, more than fish sauce goes into kimchi, though. Usually depending on the region you might get shrimp paste, mussels, clams, crab, octopus, squid, oysters. These pretty much ceviche in the liquid over time.

My favorite is Eomma's recipe with katuggi. ^^;; But I suppose that would anger both my parents. Hers I'm fairly sure had mussels, clams and maybe crab? And yellow corvina fish sauce.

Anyway... Sriracha is made up of red jalapenos, which do not belong in kimchi. Kochu is special. BTW, this already has sugar in it. Kochu is designed to stain on purpose. See the slurry portion below.

golden caster sugar isn't something that came about until industrialization.

rice vinegar is a totally different process of fermentation than kimchi. It won't render the same results.

European radishes don't belong in kimchi. Have I tried it? Yes. Did I regret it? 100%. TT There isn't really a substitute for Mu. Daikon is a distant second. European radishes are when you're dying in a desert and there is a gun to your head to make the kimchi with them and you have no other choice. Get this: Koreans who moved to Brazil, rather cut out the radish component completely, use European cabbages than use European radish. It's just nasty to bite into as a kimchi. Mu has less water content and is far denser than your average daikon and definitely over European radish. I'd choose watermelon radish over European radishes. (Have I made that into kimchi? Yes.)

Carrots do sometimes go into kimchi, but I don't think that's why it's there. This is more a Jeolla thing though.

You're not supposed to shred green onion for any dish I know... and I'm thinking of things like pajeon and green onion soup. Where is the slurry? ALL Korean Kimchi has a slurry, if it has sweet rice flour, whole wheat flour or Barley flour. It has to have a slurry. The slurry has a function. It's there to make sure the ingredients distribute evenly.

Lactobacilli aren't going to act in ONE day. This brings the health benefits of kimchi.

The food science:

Since the majority of Korean fermentation lives on the wild side and likes things like air and sun, often the "weird" ingredients in kimchi that foreigners hate are there to MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DIE when you eat it. Stop trying to cut it out without understanding its function.

Got it? Now stop doing this crap and actually understand the food science of things like the anti-bacterial properties of garlic. How lacto fermentation is good for you, so you don't leave it out for only one day.

Koreans boast their heads off about the health benefits of kimchi as passed down from our ancestors for thousands of years. Why mess with a good thing without understanding why our ancestors made it that way?

[mamamittens]

So I have two things I need to do this week. One being a comm for ceb (got the doc set up and everything, I swear!) and one being zine art (which is technically due May 1st I believe, oof!). And then I have a zine piece i need to write but the deadline for that is a ways off so I'm not concerned about it right now.

And my Oh Shit Sale is still active and will be closed down when my roomies get jobs, which should be within the next week or so.

but this isn't about that.

If you've been squatting about the sidelines for a bit, you may have noticed I've gotten back into pokemon. One character and fic that's build more for the laughs and shenanigans and the other with a Tragic Backstory (TM) that's more about the plot that I've been tooling for the past few weeks.

For Fin, the character with unfortunate history, I've actually written about 4K for. Still lowkey tooling some details but they're down the line honestly and it doesn't feel as dire when I acknowledge that this will be a slow update fic rather than my previous approach where I assume I'll be able to regularly update.

And anyway, I'm wondering if I should start posting it or wait until I have a lot more written for it and risk losing motivation to share it. I've got a few like that where I have a lot written but it's lived exclusively in my head and hard drive for so long it sort of doesn't register as interesting anymore for anyone. which is a little silly given no one but me has read it. Last I checked it was over 100 pages?!? But I think I was skipping around the plot with that too, I don't know. It really has been months since I've looked at it.

And anyway, I figured I'd see what the response was while I turned my actual attention to necessary projects in the short term.

TLDR: Should I start posting chapters of "Lay Down New Tracks", a Pokemon Black/White fanfic featuring Finley, a tragic retired champion of Kanto rediscovering her love of battle after losing her entire team almost a decade ago with the help of the Battle Subway and her support pokemon Platinum (a riolu).

I do have some details I want to iron out more, like integrating sign a bit since Finley is selectively mute.

[wallpaper-inside-my-heart]

i would love to whose perspective you had in mind for all of the spommy taylors version songs!!! unless they were picked solely on vibes which is also totally valid

Oh Anon you have no IDEA what you have unleashed by asking me this question! So thank you so much for that <3 and let's go!

(I have like almost twenty pages worth of google doc with assigned lyrics and comments for why (most of) these songs fit for them and in this playlist! I will try my best to keep this as short as my brain allows...)

As I mentioned in the original Spommy (taylor's version) post, the order that we put these songs in has it's reasons. So I will go through the different relationship stages and corresponding songs one by one. And try to briefly explain whose POV it's supposed to represent and maybe highlight a few specifc lines.

Colour coding the song's main POV:

Tommy

Spencer

both

(Song assignments under the cut)

small disclaimer: obviously we are talking about a fictionalized version of "canon" that is loosely based on/inspired by stuff they have mentioned in videos and their general internet personas. None of the thoughts I'm sharing here are meant as 100% fact or true "insight" to their personal lives. We're all just having fun! (Obviously we all agree on this kind of stuff, I just need to write it down somewhere, for my own conscience)

The Before Meeting stage:

You’re on your own kid

Anti-Hero

-> both of these songs feel super tommy-coded (the whole sexy baby/monster on the hill stuff, for example, reminds me a bit of the body dysmorphia he's mentioned in a few videos)

tied together with a smile

-> this one could work either with one or both singing this about themselves or the other imo

-> just the whole aspect of trying to hold yourself together while struggling with fullfilling expectations

2. The First meeting/Beginning stage

Everything has changed

-> both of them just being fascinated by eachother upon their first meeting

mirrorball

-> a theme for a lot of the more Tommy-centric POVs of these songs was inspired mostly by the aforementioned body image issues and also the fear of living up to his own or other ppl's expectations in terms of his own creativity etc.

(I'm sure others, like maybe Spencer, struggle with parts of these aspects as well, I just feel like Tommy has talked about it more)

-> also Tommy beginning to see Spencer as someone he doesn't have to "pretend" around

cowboy like me

-> both of them recognizing pieces of themselves within the other

3. The Pining Stage

-> this stage is mostly from Spencer's POV. I believe in Pining!Tommy rights as well, however I felt like these song examples just fit Spencer a bit better given the situation

gold rush

-> aka the mini denial stage, where he falls into a daydream of what being with Tommy could be like; but not wanting to let himself indulge too much in these thoughts

also "your hair falling into place like dominoes" sounds so much like a line that could be about tommy!

Teardrops on my guitar

-> the pining is now in full force, but sadly Tommy has a boyfriend and Spencer has to suffer through him gushing about it, while he feels his crush begin to grow more and more; tho he doesn't allow himelf to do anything about his feelings

you belong with me

-> Spencer's switch from the 'good ol' fashioned pining' to "Um, actually I would fit way better with you than he does! So why can't you see what's right in front of you and start dating me instead?!"

(tho he still doesn't actually voice this outlout, yet)

4. The Flirting Stage

new romantics

-> mostly as a set-up for both of their general attitudes at the beginning of this stage and for the dancing/club theme of Gorgeous

gorgeous

-> this one is actually splitting the POV across different parts of the song

-> Verse 1 is Spencer with lines such as "compliment/made fun of the way you talk" and "you're so cool, it makes me hate you so much" (also the last time the soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend is mentioned in the playlist)

-> Verse 2 by Tommy with "talking to everyone here but you" (which reminds me of his dating answer in hot ones; but if I start talking about my thoughts on that bit, this will get way too long) and also "Ocean blue eyes looking in mine" (literally about Spencer💙)

-> the chorus is first sung by Spencer, next one Tommy and the others by both of them at eachother

-> also "Guess I'll just stumble on home to my cats… alone... Unless you wanna come along" is literally such a Spencer-coded line to me

-> also! if you or anyone wants to check out a fic of them with a slightly similar premise to this song, I can def reccomend Spencer vs Gay Panic by @soupy-girl 💗

I can see you

dress

-> with these two songs the daydreaming about the other and flirting increases

-> also I initially added this one to the list bc "flashback/your buzzcut and my hair bleached" are literally both accurate about Spencer lmao

i think he knows

-> I imagine the first verse mostly sung by Spencer and then the (pre) chorus by Tommy bc of lines like "He got that boyish look that I like in a man" and "Wanna see what's under that attitude" and of course later on"lyrical smile, indigo eyes" being about Spencer as well

5. The pre-dating stage

treacherous

-> I feel like this song has a constantly switching POV, in a duet sorta way. For example:

This slope is treacherous. This path is reckless.

This hope is treacherous. This daydream is dangerous.

but the bridge would be sung together, both deciding "I'll follow you home"

glitch

willow

jump then fall

fearless

Electric touch

-> I don't have a lot of notes on these 5 songs in particular, but the idea was basically them going from the insecurities that are still present in treacherous and seeing the thing that's developing between them as smth that just happened to them by accident, to then deciding to fully "jump into it" and letting themselves actually feel the excitement of it all in full force

6. The first few dates

begin again

-> the line "you throw your head back laughing like a little kid" fits both of them so well and I'm so soft just thinking about it

king of my heart

-> in the google doc I said that she wrote "Now you try on callin' me "baby" like tryin' on clothes" about this fic by @jovenshires and I stand by that

today was a fairytale

-> the whole first verse with "You wore a dark gray t-shirt You told me I was pretty when I looked like a mess" also feels so them-coded idk

style

-> I think this edit of them explains this better than I ever could 💖

I’m only me when I’m with you

-> it's about the "Well, you drive me crazy half the time"-but still being eachothers comfort person- of it all

snow on the beach

-> another duet style song where they take turns singing the verse and then chorus together; "Weird, but fuckin' beautiful"

-> also! I must admit that I was heavily inspired to add this song bc of this fanart by @urmxotive! which is so beautiful and reminds me of the "I've never seen someone lit from within" in this song

7. Dealing with Insecurities while being in a relationship

the archer

-> both, but especially bc "I cut off my nose just to spite my face" reminds me of what I briefly mentioned with Anti-Hero

nothing new

-> me and katie agree that this song is 100% tommy coded, but I don't wanna go into too much detail since this post is getting way too long already 🙈

peace

-> another duet-style song for them starting with tommy in v1 and then Spencer in the chorus

new year’s day

-> duet again, in the same order as the last one

stay stay stay 

-> mostly Tommy's POV and him being relieved that Spencer knows how to deal with his mood swings

safe & sound

-> and this song from Spencer's POV about essientially the same "issue"

mine

-> themacceptance of their insecurities and celebration of taking on the future together

8. Good ol' estabished relationship fluff

call it what you want

-> similar theme as peace and nothing new, but leaving those worries behind from tommy's side

-> and also "My baby's fit like a daydream" reminded me of spencer at 1:43 in this clip ( from this video)

daylight

-> also duet-style; "Maybe I've stormed out of every single room in this town" reminds me of tommy ripping up his headshots

you are in love

-> I think Katies fic explains the POVs for this perfectly 💜

paper rings

-> "I hate accidents, except when we went from friends to this" tying back into glitch etc

invisible string

-> both of them growing up in florida and also both being eye-ptach-kids?? makes me so insane when I think about it for some reason

sweet nothing

-> it's about the "You say, "What a mind". This happens all the time" and "To you, I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it" of it all

lover

-> and, finally "Swear to be overdramatic and true" and "And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me" is literally them. I rest my case, your honor

So this post got wayyyy too long and was prob way more then you asked for, anon, but I hope you enjoyed my ramblings anyways 😊

I have so many more thoughts about some of these song choices (like Nothing new, peace, new year's day and several others) and their order, and also even more specifically assigned lines in my google doc for this playlist. So in case you or anyone else wants the link to that, feel free to dm me. Or if you have you're own ideas about some of these choices or are curious about some specifics, my asks are always open 🤗

[blueskittlesart]

Hey!! Hi!!

Big fan of your posts! Been meaning to read your 40+ page doc but I can't read on screen for too long so would it be ok if i print it to read it without messing with my sight?

I'm a real big fan of Zelda, OoT was the very first Zelda i played and completed 100% in my N64.

I think yours is almost the only ZeLink content i can take because when i first played OoT, i was like 10 and English is not my first language, i probably misread something and understood they were long lost siblings lol, it didn't help that they looked so much alike in-game.

So for years i had that in mind and when i started going online looking for fan content and found about fanfiction in ff.net most zelink was... Not appealing.

What I'm trying to say is your content comes a real fresh palate cleanser. I mean this with admiration and respect.

as long as it's not being sold or distributed hell yeah go ahead and print it! im glad you're interested in it lol. i think i have it set so people can make copies of the document on google drive but if there's any settings that stop you from printing it lmk and i can change them!