#also one of the reasons I’d rather make a new blog instead of use that original

[sharkieboi]

want to start posting my art again here on tumblr cause i need to share my dnd blorbo stuff and i was like “maybe i’ll use my old art blog wouldn’t that be a great archive of my really old art too!” so i went to check it out and I know we have to let go of cringe to be free but i will absolutely not be posting my art to that account and letting people associate my old stuff with any of my new stuff 😬

[obsidianpen]

Okay, so a lot of people here have talked about the use of AI and large language models such as ChatGPT, and honestly, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I think that using them to help you proofread is fine. So spelling, grammar, and that sort of thing. And writers can also do this process themselves obviously, but I don't see the harm in using ChatGPT for this, as long as you are aware that you are giving your data and story over to OpenAI.

When it comes to ideas, bouncing ideas off of an AI can be fun, but only to the extent that they are completely your ideas (meaning the AI didn't come up with the idea for you and you aren't giving the AI information about someone else's ideas). So your idea your choice, but don't use the AI to get the idea for your work and don't give the AI other people's ideas or works. And this only really applies if you don't have anybody either in-person or online to do this with instead.

The last thing I'll say is that AI writing isn't the greatest. It can sound realistic and be cohesive to an extent, but it isn't the same as a real author. I actually tested this a few times because I was curious how it would turn out, and I promise that it is not a substitute or replacement for real authors. I think this is because ChatGPT and other AIs work by predicting what is the best/most likely word to come next in its response based off of the dataset it was trained on. It even has a function that allows some degree of randomness/variability in the next word, rather than only using the top/best next word each time. But this means it isn't coming up with new or inventive ideas. It doesn't come up with plot twists, it can't plan slowly developing arcs across multiple chapters, and it doesn't make the characters interesting to read, have a lot of depth, sound real, or so forth. There are more things too, but I'm just giving a non-exhaustive list of why ChatGPT's writing is not the same as a real author's writing.

Note: I apologize if this isn't clear or if I'm just rambling or if I made any typos. I'm writing this on my phone and have not had ChatGPT or other AI proofread it for me.

hm. I’d say there’s been a lot more discussion about whether or not Tom Riddle has a breeding kink (he does not; just a WAP kink) and about the height difference between Harry and Voldemort in NG (there are charts; they are, somehow, confusing). I don’t want this to be a recurring theme on this blog, so consider this my (very hopefully) last post on this topic.

My opinion on the matter: I don’t agree with your reasoning for using AI. You said you didn’t think it was an issue ‘as long as you are aware that you are giving your data and story over to OpenAI.’ I think you absolutely should care that you’re giving your data and story over to AI!!! You should care. Pretty much just sold yourself there as far as I’m concerned.

I don’t think anyone should be using AI for proofreading. I don’t know how great it is at this, but even if it’s amazing, I think you should be doing this yourself!!! Editing is a skill, and a great one to have. I catch a lot of things when I proofread my own shit; I realize I missed things or screwed things up - not just grammatically speaking but plot wise, which as you said, AI can’t help with anyway. Proofread your own stuff. Proofread your own stuff!!!! And if you want a second set of eyes on your work, ask a real human!!!!!!!!

re: bouncing your ideas off of AI… no!!!! Bounce your ideas off of PEOPLE I promise you will have much better conversations because they will be with someone who can think critically.

and the thing about chatGPT not writing super well… yeah, duh. But what some writers do is use shit like chatGPT as a starting point, then edit. It doesn’t come up with plot twists - unless you feed them to it. No one is arguing that it’s a good as a ‘real author’ but that doesn’t mean people who consider themselves ‘real authors’ aren’t using it. I think this sucks, because, in case we forgot, chatGPT uses theft as its foundation.

(and this isn’t even touching on the environmental shit concerning AI.)

In conclusion: I don’t think anyone should use it for anything creative. At all. Feel free to disagree (and you can post about that on your own blog), but if you lean on AI to edit or create your creative work, you’re only hindering yourself.

Note: I apologize if this isn't clear or if I'm just rambling or if I made any typos. I'm also writing this on my phone and have not had ChatGPT or other AI proofread it for me, nor would I ever.

[dearweirdme]

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/737790710290546688/hi-rain-merry-christmas-in-arears-and-happy-new

(I am purposely off anon)

Do these anons really think we're that dumb not to realise they're all running through the same playbook? Like we've seen all this shit before 🙄

1)Open with a compliment

2) Claim to be a more reasonable shipper

3) Frame a hypothetical

4) Use that hypothetical to criticise Taehyung and make accusations about his character

5) Hide behind that hypothetical to try to cover for the fact that they've just spent x amount of paragraphs implying every negative characteristic they can think of to Taehyung's name

6) Close as though they're really waiting to hear an opposing argument even though they just want another opportunity to 'hypothetically' shit on Tae some more

Yet they all seem to think they're bringing something new to the table and that they're the first one to pull these tricks 💀

Anon, you're not only just another hater but you're a petty coward also because you clearly have some shit you want to say against Taehyung but you clearly don't have the guts to just openly say it and own it either which means you have no real conviction behind your criticism of Taehyung (if you did, you'd be comfortable saying it with your chest rather than hiding behind imaginary 'others' to say it for you) and that means your hate towards him is founded in your own weird, petty jealously and irritation over him 'getting in the way of your ship' instead of anything he's actually done to deserve your spiteful attacks.

It's also funny that you come here, claiming like the rest of them do, about hate towards Jimin when if you actually did read this blog, you'd see that the vast majority of mean spirited posts are from people like you, using the ask box to passively aggressively attack Taehyung.

As for your actual whining, Taehyung AND Jungkook have always mentioned each other. If you actually paid attention to more than your ship or looking for opportunities to twist into a hate campaign against Taehyung, you'd know that Tae mentioning JK and vice versa is nothing new.

Hi @whattaworldwhattaworld !

Jep, it’s easy to go on anon and just spew hate.. or like that anon likes to say ‘i don’t hate him, I just think he’s weird and a troll’ 🙄. Jkkrs don’t usually come here off anon.. only in the comments every now and then. I’d rather they don’t actually, because I really don’t want people going around harassing each other.

Tae and Jk have always been close. It’s been more obvious this year because we don’t see as much of members and especially not of all members together. But it’s always been this way.

[aesethewitch]

Hello! I just want to let you know that I'm on mobile app and the link to your rules on the Free Tarot Friday post isn't working for me, it redirects me to the beggining of your blog 😭 the link on your pinned post does the same thing. I can't access your rules.

Accursed website!! Try this link: https://aesethewitch.tumblr.com/rules-for-tarot-readings

If that still doesn't work, they're copied below this read more:

Rules for requesting a free tarot reading are simple: 

Send an ask with your question or goal for the reading. Be as clear as you can, and be mindful of the things I won’t do, listed below.

Include your initial(s) and the initial(s) of anyone else involved. No zodiacs or anything else necessary. This is to help me organize my notes, since I record all readings, and to direct my thoughts.

Please mention if you are a minor so I know the sort of language to use with you. Advice/interpretation for minors is (and should be!) different than for adults.

(Optional) Include your pronouns and the pronouns of anyone else involved. This is so that I know how to phrase my reading respectfully. If you don’t, I’ll default to they/them. In this house, we respect ALL pronouns!

Be respectful. Only ask one question for Free Tarot Friday, follow the rules, and don’t be an asshole. Please also don’t trauma dump in my inbox. Remember that I’m a whole person and that I’m not your therapist. And unless we’re friends or have interacted before, don’t be that parasocial weirdo who makes me turn anon asks off.

Things I won’t do:

Yes/No questions, especially ones about love. Instead, try asking “What do I need to know about my love life?” or “How can I improve my situation?” You’ll get better answers that way. I can’t guarantee a clear yes or no. (I’ll sometimes accept yes/no asks if I can reword your question to a more open-ended question such as “How can I make this happen?” – note that these are free readings and I’m not going to bend over backwards to make your ask work because you didn’t read these rules.)

Readings about health or legal issues - trust me, you should talk to a professional about these things. This includes mental health! (General advice like “what can I do this season to keep my spirits up?” is okay – “when will I get better?” is not.)

Sexually explicit readings, including readings about first times, future sex lives, etc. I’d also rather not do “future spouse” readings, but I won’t refuse them. (See below.)

Future spouse/partner readings, in general. Nothing about where a future spouse is from, appearance, when you’ll meet, etc. I’ll do questions like “How can I attract a relationship?” or general love readings.

Anything that constitutes “mind reading.” This includes what people think about you, what people are saying about you, and similar questions.

Readings about celebrities, period. Especially ones that involve celebrities falling in love with you or someone else, but nothing about drama or scandals, either.

Readings on behalf of other people. (For example, “What should my friend do about this situation?” or “Will my sibling fall in love?” or “How does x person feel about y person?”)

Readings on past lives, “twin flames,” “soul mates,” and related concepts. Trust me, you don’t want my perspective on these if you’re in my inbox asking for information about these.

More than one card or and one question at once for free, unless you’re one of the lucky few in the Twitch chat on stream days. Exceptions for this are extremely rare and only happen if I feel the first card is incomplete. If you’d like a more in-depth reading, I have a variety of commission offerings over on my Ko-fi page.

Keep in mind I have the right to refuse to do any reading for any reason. Even if something isn’t explicitly listed here, if I’m not comfortable, if you’re rude, or if I just don’t want to answer a given question for some reason, I’m allowed to refuse. I’ll usually offer to let you send a new ask in these cases.

[pkmnomegaverse]

What do you plan on doing for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

Ain’t that the question!

Honestly, nothing at this point. As has become evident to me (especially the more I worked on Championverse) the one glaring issue of making this verse right around the time XY came out is there’s a big divide between Gens 1-6 and Gens 7-onward in terms of how connected everything feels to each other. Since I made this verse when only Gens 1-6 were out, I timelined everything in a way to get the protags close enough in age that in my own head, they feel connected to each other. I can conceive of how they would all interact together and purposely designed fankids and traveling groups in a way where Kanto to Kalos feels connected. Yes the regions all have their self contained groups, but there’s enough interaction between core groups from different regions that they all connect. Which was my goal when I designed the bones of this verse.

But then SuMo came out, with a much younger protagonist and a clear point in the timeline with no wiggle room, and from that point onward, I haven’t been able to feel like the later gens really connect with the previous 6. I didn’t want to pretend they don’t exist though, since I do like the later games, so I’ve been trying to add them anyway. But in my head, they still don’t connect. It’s partly due to how Elio and Victor are younger than the other 7 protags (Elio especially, which really is what curses Alola for me), but the issue goes further than that in that the fankids I design for those regions just don’t connect with the other ones. I can only retcon so many interactions in, since the main kids already had their core stories and interaction groups set.

Paldea furthers this issues for me by continuing the young protag trend, so I’m once again in a situation where I know no matter what I do, Gen 9 is going to feel disconnected from Gens 1-6. So as a result, instead of forcing things, I’m not going to do anything with Paldea for now. Forcing Alola was a mistake I’m not going to repeat. If I feel like making fankids down the line, then I will and I’ll add them to the blog as that happens. If I never get the urge to add fankids, then I won’t.

While this is a minor reason vs the main reason, as I am a gameverse blog vs animeverse, the anime has also thrown a wrench in things by ending Ash’s journey. I’m very curious to see what they do with Paldea in their newest season since that might also change what I do with Paldea. Currently I have no idea where Gen 9 falls in the timeline, but depending what the anime does, it might give me hints on what the vibe there were going for is. I honestly don’t think the new season will be a next gen, but it’s still possible it’s meant to be farther along in the timeline than just shortly after Sword and Shield. Which were that to be the case, I would be even more unlikely to make fankids for it, since the farther along in the timeline it is, the more likely I am to not use it for much.

That being said, I’m sure at some point, I’ll go ahead and make fankids for Scarlet and Violet. I still have not played much of the game, so that is the other thing holding me back. Just have not felt like playing it right now. I’d rather wait until I want to play it vs forcing it, so that could be soon, it could be months from now. Just taking things slow on the blog since I’m currently pretty happy with the fankids I do have. Don’t have the urge at the moment to add more.

[cdevroe]

Diversions #7: Additional progress

Wow, so much has happened since #6. Where do I begin? Should I try to recap my travels to Portland or to Atlanta for WordCamp or FinCon? Should I summarize all of the progress we’ve made on the addition to our home? Should I write about my recent upgrade to an M4 MacBook Pro? Or, do I focus on the updates that have come to the ActivityPub plugin that has me rethinking how I use my personal website (yet again)?

How about all of it?!

I’ve posted a few photos from Portland, though I have many more photos that I’ve taken on film that I just haven’t developed yet. This weekend I went to do exactly that and hit a roadblock. It would help if I had fresh chemicals around!

I’ve also commented on what happened at WordCamp and wrote some key takeaways from FinCon. So I won’t rehash any of that.

Instead, I’ll focus on the reminder that traveling (in general) and going to events has a positive impact on your outlook, your network, and your business. Not all of them can be directly measured or are reflected on the bottom row a spreadsheet – but you can feel them as you move forward. You may face a challenge and end up thinking of a company or person you met at an event that can help. In short; go to events.

The addition is moving along quickly now. This sort of project seems to be one where the beginning parts; planning, drawing, documenting, etc. are the slow parts. Then, once the work begins, it is difficult to keep up with.

Working from home affords me the ability to jog outside once or twice a day to snap a photo or two of the progress. I’m very happy that I’m not the one doing the work this time.

The foundation and floor base

I know snags are inevitable. In fact, the forecast at the end of this week already looks like it will slow down progress some. But that is how these sorts of things go.

The new lighter, faster 14″ M4 Pro MacBook Pro is really a delight to use. I hit a snag or two when upgrading the software that was Intel-only to their Apple Silicon counterparts (especially Adobe) but other than just a few hiccups — the upgrade/migration process is so easy.

My previous MacBook Pro was no slouch but this one is a screamer. Building projects, running local LLMs, or just having literally every single app open doesn’t seem to phase it. Using it as a laptop, something I was never able to do with my previous computer, is also really fun. I can actually get a lot of work done and the battery life is great!

My last bit of equipment upgrading is going to be a Thunderbolt dock and at least one external SSD. I need my port situation to be a bit cleaner and I’m hoping a dock will free me up to just have a single wire running into the laptop. And, as of today, I’m not backing up using Time Machine so I cannot delay getting a new SSD.

The social media landscape is a mess! Part of me loves the messiness. It is an interesting time and lots of people are experimenting with many things. New platforms, new ideas, new ways of sharing. Gone are the days of only one or two social networks thriving.

But another part of me is frustrated. I don’t really know what I want to do with my personal blog as it relates to the social web. I have the ActivityPub plugin installed, and it works well to distribute my posts onto the fediverse as a first class citizen. But it isn’t (and likely never will be) perfect.

If you’re at all interested in your website joining the fediverse, I recommend giving the plugin a try and learning how it works. This isn’t cross-posting. It makes your website “an ActivityPub endpoint” so that the account is your website (and/or its authors). It is very cool and interesting.

The reason the ActivityPub plugin has me rethinking my personal blog use, is that I can begin to see a future where all of my favorites, boosts, quote posts, etc. live here on my website – rather than my Mastodon account. But for that I’d want to restructure my site’s design a bit (and likely my RSS feed). Of course, if I explore this at all I’ll write about it.

Regardless of how this phase of the social web shakes out I know I’ll be publishing here on my blog.

An edition of Diversions wouldn’t be complete without some links:

Christoph Rauscher’s newsletter – I like how Christoph publishes his newsletter. Lovely.

Live at Delia’s Third Happening – Site Nonsite live album recording.

Vault – By Commercial Type.

Rex Brasher Field Notes – Lovely little film about Brasher’s work as well.

Rachel Binx’s website – Go take a look.

Apple Pay Plates – This is me buying Crocs or fanny packs.

[onepoly]

The 25th Year | Week 6 | Change

Yeah, yeah, I’m technically two days late. Shut up.

This week hasn’t gone the way I thought it would. Don’t worry, nothing bad happened, I just decided to change my plans a bit.

First of all, I’m separating most of the core systems (terrain, world streaming, etc.) from the project and moving them into a Godot plugin. I’m doing this for two main reasons.

1: To make mod development easier.

2: To make development of my side project easier.

Oh yeah–I’ve got a side project now! And it’s also an open-world RPG. Yup–that’s right! TWO! I’m working on TWO open-world RPGs–by myself!

You’re probably wondering if I’m insane, and the answer is probably yes–but hear me out.

It all started when I was playing Daggerfall. On a whim, I decided to manually ride my horse to my destination, rather than use the fast travel system. On the way, I started wondering what this game would be like if it was made today, with modern technology and design sensibilities. Ideas started forming, and by the time I reached the next town, I had mentally written around half of a design document for a new game.

Its name is Endrizen, and I’m hoping to release it much sooner than I could ever hope to for The 25th Year.

Its world will be large–but not nearly as large as Daggerfall’s insane 62,000 square miles. Graphically it’ll be simple. Low poly models, basic animations, and low resolution textures whenever necessary. It’s going to use a lot of the same basic systems (terrain, open world, RPG systems) as The 25th Year, so I can share a lot of code between the two projects.

Like Daggerfall, I’ll use procedural generation to create most of the landscape, as well as the towns and dungeons. Unlike Daggerfall, I’ll be using this proc-gen world as a base to build off of. For example; towns and villages will contain hand-crafted quests and NPCs, as well as proc-gen ones.

You’re probably wondering why I’m doing this. Why start a second game? There are three reasons:

1. I want to.

2. If I work on one project for too long I start to burn out.

3. I don’t have a job.

That last one’s the most important one. Currently, I’m living at home with my mom. I’d obviously like to change this.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting Endrizen to be a smash hit or anything–but I’m hoping I’ll be able to make a bit of money off it. Probably not enough to afford an apartment (especially not in this economy), but hopefully I’ll be able to help out with the bills some.

Unlike The 25th Year, I’m comfortable with releasing Endrizen in early access. As soon as I have enough for a 0.1, beta 1–or whatever I end up calling it–I’ll release it. No idea how much it’ll cost. I’m thinking somewhere between $10-$15.

I initially considered making two separate blog posts for each game, but I don’t think there will be enough to warrant that. Besides, I can barely put out one on time, there’s no way I’d be able to handle writing two blogs a week.

Instead, each post will talk about T25Y first, then Endrizen. Since I’ll now be covering two games in one post, the way I title future posts will be changing. Rather than something like “The 25th Year | Week 50 | Big fuckin pig” it’ll be more like “Big fuckin pig | A really cool rat”

I’ve also decided to create a proper schedule for myself, because I’m currently very sporadic with what I’m working on, and when I’m doing it. Some days, I don’t get much done. Others, I do a lot, but only after midnight. This needs to change.

And that’s about it. Most of this week was spent doing design work on Endrizen and separating my code out into that plugin I mentioned at the start of this blog. It’s called Enria, by the way.

I did get some proper work done, though. I can now save and load cells, I have a basic version of origin shifting working, and I’ve started upgrading the terrain shader to support actual textures–rather than just simple colors.

Sorry for this weird, somewhat rambly post. It’s currently 1:46 AM, and a big fucking moth keeps harassing me.

See you next time!

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Seven: Regrets

Summary: Iris' first year at Hogwarts has finally come to an end. After the chaos that ensued during her fifth year, she's ready to graduate in two years. As her relationship with Sirius picks up traction and she makes new friends, Iris wants to enjoy her time before she’s forced into adulthood.

Word Count: 3680 

Blog Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

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THE DAY WAS GOING NORMAL FOR THE group of Gryffindor students as they went about their daily routines. After everyone woke up just as normal, Iris and Marlene having a bit of trouble doing so, they met up with the boys and headed down for breakfast.

So they went about their normal routines. James annoyed Lily from time to time, while Sirius and Iris were quite nearly attached at the hip, Wendy and Remus discussed their school assignments and Marlene stuffed her face full of food. Peter wasn’t sure what to do, so he just sat there and listened to his friends while also eating. Poor little Peter Pettigrew, always left in the dust.

Breakfast came to a satisfying end, at least in Iris’ opinion since she got to eat some of her favorite breakfast food. Which is just about anything and everything. Though besides that, the teens all headed out for their first class of the day. 

There was one thing that Iris noticed today; Lily was sticking to her side. Now that’s not that surprising since they usually are around each other a lot. It helps that they’re in the same house and in the same classes and all, but it was extremely obvious today. Everyone noticed it. Though no one questioned it, at least out loud. They shared some questioning looks with each other, but didn’t want to say anything in case they said something to set her off. So nobody commented on it and just watched her go about her day nearly glued to Iris’ side.

Lily wasn’t talking about why she was doing it either. So they tried to disregard it to the best of their ability. Marlene and Wendy tried to distract her with things like homework assignments and such. Though that didn’t work. Not even James flirting attempts completely distracted her from her sister. Lily wasn’t saying or acting any stranger, it was just that she was sitting next to her sister at all times. She seemed to try and keep Iris within arms length.

To say that Iris was a bit annoyed by it is understandable. Iris is used to having some sort of distance between herself and Lily. They’re twins, yes, but they were never stuck at the hip like Lily is today. So the sudden closeness is both confusing and concerning to her.

Eventually, it was break time in between periods and Sirius and Iris had gone off to spend some time together. However, as if she were a shadow, Lily tagged along with them. Neither Sirius or Iris completely minded her being around… though they would rather be alone together. So while the warm sun gazed down on the courtyard, the three were lounging around. Iris was obviously in Sirius’ arms while Lily sat close by.

At one point, Iris started to get a little curious as to why her sister was following her around instead of heading off to the library as usual. “Not that I don’t love you, Lil,” she commented as she stared at her sister with a raised eyebrow, “but you’re a tad bit… clingier today.” 

The other redhead tried to act surprised, but Iris could see right through it. Lily flashed her a wobbly smile, “Really?”

“Any reason why?” Iris’ eyebrow rose even further, nearly disappearing behind her ruby bangs.

Lily’s smile wobbled even more as she tried to stutter out an answer, “Oh, uh no, no real reason. I’d just like to hang out with my sister, is all.”

They were silent for a moment. Lily was internally cringing, realizing that Iris saw through her. Meanwhile, Iris and Sirius shared a look with each other. “Hmm, yes, you usually like to do that from time to time.” Iris commented, “But you’ve been stuck to my side all day, Lil. Is something wrong?” 

She knows her sister far too well to just believe her straight up. When Lily is worried or upset about something, she’ll become jittery or try to distract herself with something else. Most of the time that distraction is school related. This time it seems like it’s more revolved around Iris for some reason. Something was bothering Lily so much that she couldn’t be too far away from Iris. She already had Sirius with her nearly every moment for everyday, now she also has Lily sticking to her too. Iris loves them both, but she would really appreciate only having one of them following her around, thanks.

Not only that, but Lily was willing to hang around her and Sirius. Since the couple is quite open about their relationship and quite like pda. Lily hasn’t been a fan of being around it. However, she seemed to be baring through it just to stay close to Iris. Today was just full of surprises it seemed.

“Of course not!” Lily exclaimed, unconvincingly. 

Iris took in the far too cheery answer with her wide smile as a sign that Lily was lying. She turned to her boyfriend, who also looked a bit confused as well, “Sirius, can you give us a moment?”

“Alone?” He grunted in dissatisfaction, not liking the sound of leaving her by herself. Even if she was with her sister, it still didn’t sit right in his chest to leave her side. 

“Yes,” she drawled out in amusement, “that’s what that means.”

His grey eyes portrayed his anxiety with the idea as they started to become stormy. He bit his lip, “I don’t know…”

Iris sighed heavily and ran one of her dainty hands through her boyfriend's lushus hair. “Darling, I’m with my sister. You can leave us alone for a couple of minutes.” She flashed him her wide brown eyes and a soft smile, “Please?”

It took only a moment for Sirius to melt under her stare as he sighed heavily, “Oh, fine. I can’t say no to you, love.” They share a kiss that was only meant to be short and sweet, but Sirius certainly tried to deepen it. As much as Iris would have been glad to continue on with it, but the reminder that her sister was there and obviously disturbed by something caused her to pull away.

“Mhm, don’t I know it,” Iris smirked as she pushed his chest lightly. Reluctantly, Sirius headed off with some last fleeting glances. Though he left the sisters alone and headed off, no doubt to find his other friends to pull some pranks on some unsuspecting classmates. Just to take his mind off of the fact that his girlfriend wasn’t in his arms. Iris turned to her sister now that they were alone, “All right, Lily, tell me what’s going on with you.”

Lily shook her head, trying to keep up the mask of her being all right. “It’s nothing, Iris!”

That certainly wasn’t getting past Iris in the slightest. The subtle wobbling of her lip and the corners of her eyes starting to turn a little watery were not good signs. Iris huffed lightly, “It doesn’t sound like nothing especially when you’re not letting me out of your sight for more than five minutes!”

“I… I-”

Iris grabbed her sister’s hands, growing even more concerned when she could feel how clammy they were and that they were shaking a bit. Her features twisted in concern,  “You can be honest with me Lily, okay?” She stared into her sister’s eyes with a hard expression, not wavering in the slightest, “I’m being serious here. I’m never usually serious about anything, but I’m being serious now because something is bothering you, like a lot and I want to know what it is.” She implored her sister with a desperate expression, trying to convey just how much she wanted to know what was bothering her twin. “So just tell me.”

They were quiet for a long moment as Lily’s lips started to tremble. She suddenly broke out into a sob as she grabbed Iris into a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” she choked out between her heart wrenching cries, “I’m so so sorry, Iris.”

“Wh-what?” Iris grabbed at her sister, hugging her tightly. The tears that started to drip out of her sister’s green eyes started to pool on her shoulder. Iris isn’t that great when it comes to people who cry, but she certainly would try for her twin. She started to rub circles on her sister’s shaking back to try and soothe her, since it’s what their mother always did when one of them cried. “Hey, why are you crying? You know I don’t do well with tears, Lily. Come on, tell me what’s wrong.”

The twins sat there like that for a while as Lily shook in her sister’s arms. The guilt that had been building up in her for so long. It certainly had now overflowed and spilled out of her with little control. After the other day, it seemed like the revelation that Severus had a part in what happened to Iris had brought up the thought to her that she also played a part. He may have been the one to make the potion and tried to give it to Iris. But Lily was the one who encouraged Iris to use it, was the one to physically force it on her, so she was just as complacent with the plan. Sure she didn’t know that there were any nefarious plans, but she should have done something. She is one of the smartest witches at Hogwarts, she should have seen it!

Sniffling, Lily finally pulled herself far away enough to look at Iris. Though she still kept Iris within her hold. She cleared her throat to try and get rid of the lump in her throat, “I trusted Snape for so long, I thought that he was our friend. I helped him…” Tears leaked out of her eyes as regret swam in their crystal pools. She didn’t even look up at her sister, too ashamed to look her in the eyes. “I helped him hurt you.”

“Lil, it’s fine.” She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair, “Okay. He manipulated both of us. You didn’t plan for any of those…” She gulped, “things to happen to me. Alright?”

Lily shook her head defiantly, “But that still doesn’t mean I wasn’t an accomplice.”

It seemed like Iris was going to have a bit of a hard time getting through to her sister about Lily’s involvement in what had happened. Iris knows that Lily didn’t want anything to happen to her. Lily couldn’t ever have guessed that the one person that they trusted so heavily would do something like he had. The deception on his part had certainly shook them to their core and now, they were starting to question just how much they were manipulated. It is going to haunt them. Not only the betrayal from Severus but also the trauma Iris experienced at the boys’ hands.

The “perfume” should have been a give away in some way to either of the twins. While Snivillus had given the girls gifts like any good friend does, perfume is not one of them considering Iris isn’t the type of girl to usually wear it. Though why would they ever think that the boy they viewed as one of their best friends would ever hurt them in this way? Iris would never place blame on Lily for what had happened. How could she, when she knows Lily would never hurt her, ever.

“No, Lily, I’m not gonna let you do this,” Iris continued to say in a strong voice. “Do not blame yourself for anything that happened last year.”

Lily shook her head, still trying to be defiant and not listen to her sister. Her stubbornness was going to be a bit of an issue to deal with in this situation, “Iris-”

“Lily, stop,” Iris said firmly and grabbed hold of her sister’s shoulders, cutting her sister off before she could say anything. “You’re my twin, and I know that you would never hurt me or anything ever. Just like how I wouldn’t hurt you. So don’t feel guilty or anything about that. You were manipulated, not coerced or willing to go with it. You’re a victim just like I was.” Lily was silent as she took in the words. Every once in a while she sniffled while rubbing at her puffy eyes. Iris sighed heavily, running a slightly shaky hand through her hair. She doesn’t usually get solemn like this. However, the time called for it. She wasn’t going to let her sister get depressed or blame herself about any of this. She groaned, “Ugh, I’m done with serious stuff. So just agree that you’re not at fault and let’s head in. I think Sirius is going to have a stroke being away from me for too long.” While Iris wants to convince her sister that Lily has no part in last year’s incident, she also didn’t want to think back on it. Remembering how she was taken advantage of is terrifying for Iris. Not only that, but even though what those boys had done to her was unavoidable, it wasn’t completely obvious as to why they did it. She could really only theorize as to why they focused on her and why they controlled her in such a manner. 

She shook her head at that, shaking the thought out of her head. In order to move on, she has to forget about it. No need to linger on the things that happened last year, in her opinion. Time to move on and forget what had occurred. Though it may do her some good to… talk through it. However, is she going to be the one to admit how she might just be traumatized by it, no. Of course not. It may bubble up at some point, until then Iris is more than happy to live in blissful ignorance until it comes crashing down upon her.

---

Severus truly is an idiot. There’s not that much of a debate about that. After everything that’s happened in the past year, he has proven to be a stupid, stupid boy. He has now made plenty of terrible mistakes. The first was obviously helping those snakes to manipulate his best friends and hurting Iris. Second, calling the twins ‘Mudbloods’ was the worst thing he could have done after all that. He lost their trust and completely burned any lingering relationship that he might have had with them.

He only has himself to blame. He felt the pressure of being looked down upon by the other members of his house, how pathetic they thought he was. Well, they're not wrong, huh? He’s weak enough to crumble under even the little pressure that came from classmates that he really shouldn’t care about. 

The past few days after that incident, things had certainly grown gloomy for poor Severus. He’s become target number one for the Marauders to torment on a daily basis. Sure beforehand, Severus had been mercilly bullied and teased by the group of boys for a long while. However, it’s gotten worse now because of what happened. He had to keep an eye out for them at every moment to make sure that they didn’t ambush him or catch him at any moment. 

Obviously they came to find out about what he had said. It was inevitable, really. The girls were no doubt going to tell their friends about what he had done. Especially Sirius and James. They no longer had any ties to him to keep him… protected from them. He was going to face their friends head on without either of the twins going to keep him out of their war path.

Though he didn’t mean what he said, not truly. It was a… heat of the moment kind of thing. It certainly wasn’t out of any sort of malicious intent. He didn’t really mean what he said at all! How could he, after all. Iris is like his sister and Lily is… well, the love of his life. How could he ever mean to hurt either of them? It was just a slip of the tongue, a lapse in judgment that he did not mean in the slightest. Truly, he convinced himself, he didn’t do it to hurt them. They could understand that, couldn’t they? Well… most likely not.

So here he was, for the nth day in a row mourning for the friendship that he once had. He had more or less barricaded himself in his dorm room. He tried to avoid all of his other housemates, as usual, and really only left his room for meals and his classes. Other than that he always rushed back to his room where he shut the drapes around his bed to isolate himself. His school life had become significantly worse.

He buried his head into his potions book, studying and trying to distract himself from his thoughts. It wasn’t really working, however. The reminder of what he had done, his own voice echoing in his head with those terrible words, was gnawing away at the back of his mind. It was eating away at his thoughts until it was all that he could ponder on. 

Severus has lost the two people in his life that he genuinely loves. Of course, he could never truly stop loving either of them. Iris will forever be his annoying sister who pranked him whenever she could and teased him about every little thing. Lily will forever be the girl who holds his heart and will be the love of his life. There’s no changing that. Though from their view, it has changed. They are no longer his friends, they hate him. Most likely they will hate him for the rest of their lives.

There’s no redemption for him. No way in Hell. In his mind, he’s truly set himself up for damnation in the eyes of the twins. He wiped at his pale cheeks, tears now rolling down them. Severus has forgotten just how many times he’s cried over this. The boy truly is mournful over this. Over the loss of his greatest friends.

For what? He gave up Iris and Lily the moment he went along with Regulus and Lucius’ plans. Severus let fear get to him. He wasn’t courageous enough to stand up to them, to tell the girls what was happening, or to even go to a professor. 

Though was it truly just that? He did what they wanted to keep the girls safe. Severus knows the extent of the power that the Black family and Malfoy family have. If he were to not do what they had said, there’s no doubt in his mind that Regulus and Lucius would have not only taken their frustration out on him but also hurt the girls. So was it so bad that he just wanted to make sure they were safe? Perhaps there could have been other ways to do it, but it’s not like he knew exactly what they were trying to do. So how could he know that by helping them he was just hurting Iris.

In his mind, it was a logical thought to have. Even if to anyone else it was nothing but an excuse for him to take all the blame off of himself. No matter what it was for, it certainly was doing enough to convince Severus that it wasn’t as bad as originally thought. So how could they blame him?

He roughly rubbed at his eyes and tossed his book to the side. Now fully downing in his rampant thoughts about what was happening. He couldn’t think that it was truly his fault. Yes, he must admit that he played a part in what had happened. He can take some responsibility for what has happened. However, the true causes for this were Sirius and Regulus. Severus had finally come to find what really drove them all down this path.

It was Regulus’ pettiness that brought about the idea in the first place. Sure, Severus doesn’t have definitive proof that this could truly be it, but he has enough insight to theorize. Anyway, he believed that Regulus was… envious of his brother, perhaps just plain hateful towards him. Add in the fact that Sirius had become so smitten with this muggle-born girl, Regulus thought up a plan. Severus could only think that Regulus went to Lucius with the lure of impressing their families with how they could tourture a mudblood. They then recruited Severus, well more like blackmailed him into it, and forced him to make the potion. He knew the effects that they were looking for. A sort of imperious curse in potion form. Since they were students under constant supervision from professors and the ministry of magic. A potion would go undetected. And who better to test it out on then a mudblood who Regulus’ brother had grown attached to. What better way to hurt his brother than targeting her! 

So really… It's Sirius’ fault, isn’t it? In Severus’ mind, in hopes to take as much blame off of himself, he started to concoct an idea. If there wasn’t such animosity between the brothers, then everything that happened last year would not have come to pass. If Sirius, and by extension, the Marauders. No surprise there, the Marauders have been a source of Severus’ issues for years! They had drawn targets on their backs, as well as anyone who was close to them. They’ve pranked plenty of people at Hogwarts, so to see someone try to get back at them through their own friends shouldn’t be that surprising.

Did Severus just end up convincing himself, after many days of wallowing in his own self pity, that he had little to no accountability in what had happened? Pretty much. Really it was just a cause and effect between Sirius, the Marauders, and Regulus. Truly, in his mind, Severus had little to nothing to do with it. If anything, he was a victim as well.

Oh, how delusional he is.

---

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[talenlee]

The All of 2022 Wrapup

New Post has been published on PRESS.exe: The All of 2022 Wrapup

In January, I wrote out a plan for the year. In that plan, I described types of articles I was going to make, and kind of like ‘caps’ on the types of subjects I would write about. I also promised to watch more anime, which was like a threat, I guess. I also mentioned the eventual Avatar update, that would serve to bring presentation on a lot of platforms in line.

Knowing that, then, how’d I go? What were the good bits, the pieces of 2022 that I think, now, you should go back and check out (and I will go back and check out myself when I’m browsing the blog looking for ideas I want to further expand on).

Big, long-term projects included a daily Magic: The Gathering card, released at first on a twitter account every day, and now being posted on Mastodon and Cohost. Those got a set of summarising posts. I also did a podcast with Fox about watching all the Disney Animated Canon movies, which we called the Disney Animated Canonball.

It was also at the start of the year that I stopped using an add-on for the blog called Jetpack. Jetpack let me do things like find out how many hits each individual page was getting, and that formed the basis of what I then, at the end of the year, would list as the ‘most popular’ stuff. It was useful to see what you thought was good here, rather than just what I liked, in hindsight. It sped things up. But I’m not using Jetpack any more, and that means that instead… I had to go through all the articles I wrote, and ask myself ‘hey, is this good?’ and ‘why would someone wanna read this again?’

Which means we’re going to look at a lot of links here.

This year saw me do a lot more to revise my world setting of Cobrin’Seil, with a lot of articles that reference or examine other elements of the setting. Back at the start of the year, I spent some time thinking about two ‘standard’ D&D cultures I dislike, the Dwarf and Dragonborn, and the problems of just ditching them wholesale. This led to the creation of two Cobrin’Seil specific cultures, the Dio Baragh and the (Cobrin’Seil’s Version Of) Dragonborn. I also looked at the Halfling, a culture that I originally wanted to discard because of its weird semiotics, but a friend was able to crystallise around a meaningfully interesting idea.

Being as I am a stickler for the question of ‘what’s with all these people-like-people and why are they different,’ I also wrote more about the human-like creatures of the setting. I wanted to look at the Elves and address the question of ‘why are these sub-cultural groupings all able to breed with humans,’ and finally wrote up a breakdown of the types of Elf creatures, and how they relate to one another. It was so big I did break it into a pair of posts on a weekend though.

This kind of thinking got me on a thread about ‘outsider’ cultures, though: the Orcs, yes, but also the way that D&D has a whole collection of orc-like things, as humanoids that exist Over There that don’t have a meaningful reason to be differentiated from orcs or goblins or kobolds. You know the list, the Bugbears and the Bullywugs and the Hobgoblins and Grimlocks and so on. Since I’d already defined the Orcs as having a pretty distinct culture, complete with muddy biological differences due to their relationship to raiding other cultures and the debt you owe to the dead, I eventually decided on the idea of the ‘Urd’ to explain the general forking tree of ‘non-human humanoids who do not relate well to the humanoid coalition.’ I want to expand on this a bit more, since it lets me play with one of the themes the setting does have regarding Deep Time, which is ‘back in history, people were even bigger assholes than they are today.’

Oo, and I also wrote up an article about the way legal power is handled in the Eresh Protectorates! I’m really glad I did that article because it both was an interesting exercise in accounting things that were ‘known’ in the setting, and doing it presented all sorts of fun, complicated and extremely annoying grey areas that players could wind up running around in. Since legal systems are the byproducts of countries, and Cobrin’Seil is a setting with multiple ‘country’ level things laid atop one another, that got me thinking about ways to document it — and that led to the realisation that I’m terrible at maps.

Finally, I also dedicated some space to present, in public, the Themes for the Knightly Orders of the Eresh Protectorates — which was something like four thousand words of just mechanical information and some setting details.

My ongoing examination of 3rd Edition D&D, in both its versions, gave me a lot to work with. I go into the garage, I pull out one of my 3rd edition books, flip it open to a random page and see what that asks and if it’s interesting. It’s a good, ‘completed’ form of the game to look at as a time capsule for an earlier time in gaming (just like 4th edition).

I spent a lot of time in my reflecting on 3rd edition thinking about ways the game fails the players. There’s the badly made Challenge Ratings system, the implicit racism of the weapon categories, the way that somehow worlds with gods that had feelings couldn’t really conceive of any use for Love, and I dedicated a bit of time to the weirdly anti-sex, consent-ignoring Book of Exalted Deeds.

There were a few character archetypes that 3rd edition let you play with. I looked at the Complete Books’ set of full-blown classes, and whether or not they were good (almost always, no). I showed you the basics of my own 3.5 class, the Adherent, which I still intend to put up on DriveThru at some point. I talked about the way that 3.5 made the fighter weaker and the Wizard stronger, the Supermount melee combatant that ran around biting people, the strange questions presented by the Soul Eater and its coincidentally contrary example the Ur-Priest, and the absolutely busto class, the Archivist.

In a more general ‘why do D&D worlds be this way’ I looked at the worldbuilding around alcohol, and assumptions made by teenagers making D&D worlds who do not, in fact, know anything about alcohol, one of the most broken (good) 2e swords interacting with one of the most broken (bad) systems of half attacks, the first time I heard the idea of ‘magepunk’ coalesced into a meaningful idea, and the strange mythological question of whether or not dragons can shapeshift into people.

4th Edition D&D got plenty of articles, but my favourites start with an article about how the Mount Rules in 4e were a step down from 3rd, and also, spent a lot of time not being hot garbage. While I was complaining about things being Not Good Enough from the edition change, I also complained about the Elan, a heritage of sexy weirdoes who were mangled by psychic outsider energies.

From there, though, I mostly looked at 4e in terms of offering ideas for how to run worlds, and ways to build within the space of those worlds. I talked about how 4e rules let organisations be more meaningful without necessarily being more powerful, about how to view a Warlock’s relationship to their patron, the ways you can consider the monster types for encounter design, variant class rules and the ways they both do and don’t fail the player, and of course, in Pride Month, an ongoing joke about memes about bi people, this time expressed as ‘dodge roll or die.‘

I did write about a bunch of my OCs, which I need to be more comfortable calling them. Particularly, I was proud of the writeups for Trancer, where I talk about the challenges of making trans characters and getting over the ‘but what if I do it wrong?’ impulse, Tideward where I just indulge in raw lovecraftian horror monsterboy, The 49th and her absolutely eyewatering build, Robyn Hoodie examining the mechanics of Traps and the social expression of heroism in the Rogue Isles, and Wild Hare, because she was inspired by fanart of an anime character wearing Megan Thee Stallion’s clothes.

I didn’t know it was the 30th anniversary of Star Control 2 this year, which meant that my decision to do a number of articles on things in that game was just a happy coincidence? I looked at the Androsynth (and the way their story went wrong), the Dnyarri (and the way they remind me of Emet-Selch), and then, veered into Star Control 3 to talk about the Clairconctlar, and how you get to play an Abortion Rights Chad in-setting.

While we’re talking about big sprawling games, though, I did a week focused on Final Fantasy XIV, a game I think I will always be able to complain about but which I also, again, keep playing, because I like playing it. Weird how that works. I did a writeup of one of my characters, Karash; I looked at the way the game depises alting, one of my favourite MMO practices; and I did a How To Be focusing on a character entirely because a friend loves her, and how when it comes to that character you’ve sort of got to invent your own material.

What if you follow me for my insights into Magic: The Gathering and its relationship to custom design? I did a piece on designing Partner cards, which need to advance the game and develop the play experience in interesting ways. I did another piece about my reactions to Neon Dynasty, which I still can’t believe exists. I also finally wrote up the idea of Inflexible, a designer problem we need to address.

Academic stuff this year? Oo, I talked about the way that objects carry their ideologies in them, which is something building on the work of Ian Bogost in Alien Phenomenology. I talked about the basics of Mythologies by Roland Barthes, because the man started with a whole conversation about Pro Wrestling. I also talked about the challenge of demarcation, a very real problem that I have to deal with when we’re looking at unfalsifiable experiences. I talked about how materiality of objects lets us share them and NFTs suck ass, and about the idea of the ‘blorbo’ and how they convey fundamental values about the entity just as being implied to being a thing to have.

There are some articles I think of as engaging to write; longer form ones that were worth digging into and which I knew would take some time to explain and which are worth reading as stories unto themselves, stories I find satisfying and interesting. This year, I did a bunch of those, and I think of them as ‘treats’ to have saved up to get a chance to write about, even if they’re on grim topics. These are articles that haunt me throughout the year, while I try to build up to finding the right time to work on them, to express them. Here’s a list of my favourites this year:

I wrote about my findings from a year of Not Being Subscribed To A Bunch Of Things

I wrote about Agent Garbo, the best Nazi Spy who never existed

I wrote about the way that phones have always been changing throughout our lives and the implication there’s a ‘normal’ way to behave on them is weird

I put together a long form version of a twitter thread about America, as explained by a non-American

I grappled with the way that the Buzzfeed Unsolved ghost hunting show gets worse and worse the longer it goes on

I reflected on what it meant to lose the Queen

I dug in deep on the story of Sodafunk, figuring that a year later, the realities of the situation would shake out, and the personal pettiness that got me interested

I revisited Baldur’s Gate 2 as an avenue for romantic characterisation and made fun of Anomen a lot

I also had some posts about single, specific things from media that weren’t the kinds of things you’ve got as major categorical sets on the blog:

I am somehow, an internet resource trusted on The Blacklist and maybe I’ll have to finish watching that show to find out how sensible that is

I talked about how Star Wars is a universe about owning stuff

You know the show Victorious? Well I’ve never seen it

What about the shipping opportunities in Ranma 1/2?

I looked at a favourite ship from the game Life Is Strange

There were major changes in World of Warcraft‘s historical content and people got weird about it

Iori Yagami is one of two articles I did this year about King of Fighters stuff

I got really into a Bible story this year now I had it reframed by a great lecturer, culminating in ‘oh those two dudes were fucking, right?‘

Oh oh and an article about Bleach – Kenpachi and Yachiru!

I also did a bunch of stuff as it related to representation of gender in media, and even as I say this, man, I should write more about how weird it is that Tali is straight, but anyway:

The transgender Azurills

The Au Ra and colonial views of gender

Care Bears’ trans elephant

Acid Storm, the genderfluid transformer

It’s strange to consider that there are articles I have here that are definitely just about behaviour that, in hindsight, is largely just on twitter, and everyone who’s left twitter seems to agree is bad, and should not be encouraged:

Don’t Buy Corporate Pride Shit

Google Slides Is Pretty Good

The Failing of Dunkology

Culture Not Found

Finally, we get down to the last two types of article, which are misc and heavy. I wrote about how I dislike the Fairy type in Pokemon. Because I love Ettin, I wrote about the way that Mass Effect’s culture of Asari are pretty much just sexier versions of D&D’s awful Beholders, because they both reproduce in the same fundamental way. I reflected a few times on the ways I relate to getting chores done, with a look at Thresholds and Habits.

I wrote a poem this year? About how I’ve learned about the behaviour of my dog, and the things that makes me realise I don’t understand about myself. Finally, I did go in on Alex Jones, and my sourcing on that, and the grim reflection on how I tried to escape one name, and wound up at another name that’s just as grim.

That’s it, that’s the year.

You made it.

If you didn’t make it, and you’re reading this, that’s really impressive and I’d like to hear more.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#2022Wrapup #Wrapup

[barid-bel-medar]

Hero Agencies Meta (Part One)

Or: Locations and Anchors ( @pocketramblr)

Since I mentioned earlier I’d look at this...let’s go.

Alright, so in My Hero Academia, obviously, hero agencies are a Thing. So let’s look at that.

Interestingly enough, Hori actually has rarely told us the specific locations of agencies. A very small handful, including, I think, All Might [Minato, Tokyo] and Manual [Hosu]  are some of the only exceptions; Mirku is a borderline exception, in that we’re told she just flat out doesn’t have an agency (instead the rabbit roams). Nighteye’s agency, where we spent quite a bit of time in canon, isn’t given a specific location. Nor Endeavor, which is a more interesting case since you’d think we’d get a location there, even if to just explain how far it is from Musustafu (thus necessitating the dorming at the agency instead of the boys being able to sleep at their dorms). 

    So I’m going to first focus on ‘location, location, location’.

    Let’s start by looking at All Might’s agency location, in Minato, Tokyo. Alright, standard trope in anime/manga; major things are in Tokyo (which actually makes it so interesting that UA isn’t in Tokyo, but that’s a different matter). Obviously Tokyo is Japan’s capital and by far it’s most populous city (next most populous is Yokohama, which is also across the bay). Minato is one of the major hubs of Tokyo (while not the most populous ward [that’s Setagaya], and includes the headquarters of a lot of major multinationals and the locations of a lot of embassies. So All Might putting himself there, where there’s a lot of places that would be at a high risk for a villain attack (I would not be surprised by someone going after say, Sony’s headquarters, let’s be real here) is logical. Also, centralized location makes it easy for him to make contact with people, etcetera. 

    Tokyo probably has a lot of hero agencies for that exact reason. It’s got a huge population (nearly three times more than the next largest city), is the capital so there’s also a lot of media around (compare the type of news coverage that, say, Washington DC gets versus...Tallahassee), and lots of possible villain targets, thus a lot of places that could need protection, or offer the chance for glory. I doubt you’ve got too many heroes putting up their agencies out in the middle of nowhere, unless they’re rescue focused like the Wild Wild Pussycats. Rural towns probably don’t get much in the way of heroes and their agencies (and it’s also admittedly questionable how much they’d actually get in the way of villain attacks; chicken and the egg problem). 

    I’d also argue it’s fairly possible that each of Japan’s major cities has one, what I’ll describe, as an ‘anchor’ agency. An ‘anchor’ agency, I’d argue, is probably the sort of agency heroes like All Might, Endeavor, or Hawks have, in which in a sense they are the ‘main’ hero of a city. They aren’t the only hero, but they’re the first hero you think of for that city, and in a sense the ‘types’ of heroes in the city are thus affected. As mentioned in a previous post on my blog, I theorize Endeavor probably has his agency in Yokohama rather than Tokyo (which can lead to interesting implications for how he missed the building of the noumu factory in Kamino but whatever) since it’s Japan’s second largest city, and in being in Yokohama it avoids him being drowned in All Might’s spotlight in Tokyo. While one could argue he could also simply be in another ward of Tokyo, I’d argue that putting the entire bay between them would be more logical. Also it would be a relatively simple commute from Musustafu (where the TodoHouse is), but also far away to explain things like why he seems to have dorms in his agency (that he has probably also used at least once). I’d argue Hawks does something similar down in Fukuoko (the largest city in Kyushu and at present roughly the sixth largest city in Japan), especially since we aren’t given much hint there’s any other major heroes down there (and the HPSC would have wanted him to have ‘room’ to himself for the spotlight). 

    I’d argue that the more prominent a hero gets, the more encouraged they are to become an ‘anchor’ location. So that while, for example, Nighteye’s agency wasn’t an ‘anchor’ agency, when Mirio graduated UA (assuming he stayed there) it likely would have been. As it is in canon, I’d argue it to be closer to a...support? Agency. No heavy hitter, but able to help run major missions and ops, supporting major agencies like Ryukyu’s or Fatgum’s. But that it would have changed once Mirio graduated and he would have been the ‘main’ hero for the agency, and then it would become an anchor agency. Team Idaten may have been another anchor agency in Tokyo, but is likely now a more ‘support’ type of deal and is waiting on Tenya’s graduation to take his brother’s spot. And that the Lurker team is probably an ‘anchor’ somewhere, though by themselves Kamui Woods and especially Mt Lady probably would not have (assuming Smash is semi-correct she probably can’t afford an agency on her own anyway).

    Another meta that I’ll post later will go into my thoughts a bit more on newbie pros, how they set themselves up, and the concept of renting out space from established agencies.

[dourpeep]

IT WAS 2AM WHEN I SENT THAT SO I HELD BACK MY SIMPING FOR COLLEGE ALBEDO A LITTLE. tried not to send all my brainrot so I didn't just send a wall of text into your inbox LOL. Some others I thought of were:

- Mona giving astrology forecasts and compatibility readings in this au and Albedo may have asked her about the two of you

- Going to botanical gardens or museums with Albedo but for some reason it feels like a date even when it didn't intent to be. You tug on his sleeve now and then when you see something he might be interested in or even when it's something that excites you, and Albedo can't help but have a soft look in his eyes that he can share this moment with you! Somehow it results in the two of you holding hands - just so neither of you stray from each other of course - and eventually, intertwined fingers. You hear someone say that the two of you seem like a cute couple and you know Albedo heard it too, but neither of you say anything. You feel his hand squeeze yours a little tighter and respond in kind. The two of you are too embarrassed to look at each other but can't help the smiles on your faces.

- Lending Albedo some of your favourite books for pleasure reading and you've left tiny tabs on lines that you like. Perhaps this is before Albedo realizes his feelings so when he reads particularly romantic lines, he wonders if this is how he feels about you. Or did you mark these pages because you feel this way about someone? His stomach is in knots to the thought that you may be intrested in someone that isn't him and he settles for it just being prose.

WHAT YOU WROTE WAS SO CUTE AAA. THANK YOU FOR SIMPING FOR COLLEGE BEDO WITH ME!!

Tugging his hand and not letting go omg . . . you tend to just intertwine pinkies or play with his fingers absent-mindedly that Albedo becomes so accustomed to it so he starts to offer you his hands without a second thought.

WAIT. I gasped at Albedo being a cuddler. He's a little delirious when he first wakes up but you're so comfy that he hugs you a little tighter, asking if you've slept well. You try to reply while worrying about whether or not he can feel your heart thrumming in your chest.

What if Klee is staying with Albedo one night and the three of you fall asleep cuddled up together. Alice comes back early in the morning before any of you are awake and takes a picture. She sends it to Albedo later and he sets it as his phone's wallpaper.

Albedo staring at your lips winded me, thank you.

YES TO THE SWEATERS. I bet Albedo would have the softest and coziest sweaters too! Imagine it being a little cold out and you see Albedo across campus so you bound over to him and give him a hug. You nuzzle into him and mumble out a little 'hello' and say he's warm. You feel his laugh rumble through his chest while he greets you back, wrapping his arms around you

And I LOVE ALL YOUR HEADCANONS! I believe I found your blog around the time you posted Albedo's snort headcanon and it was too much for my heart!! I held tight to that headcanon and never let go lol. I also thought the science + college headcanons you had of him were really nice despite not being necessarily romantic!

Side note: I looked up that lobster fact and that's so cool!!

The Lobster Fact(tm) is my go-to ice breaker and it always fails. I'd imagine it's normally the same w/ Bedo OTL so sad...not many wish to know about potential lobster immortality.

I'm glad that you love the headcanons though!! I enjoy writing for Albedo so so much as you can tell ehe

That being said--if it makes you more comfy to send stuff in a few bursts of asks, I don't mind :DD I'll answer them as usual nodnod

OKIE DOKIE

-

"...Mona, yes?"

"Ah, I was expecting you to come around sooner or later, Kreideprinz."

Really, Albedo didn't mean to stumble upon the Astronomy major, but for some reason the thought of you has been on his mind and the campus' observatory just so happened to be on the way. With the meager hope that...maybe he'd find some sort of answer (in what, he wasn't really sure himself), there she was.

Luckily, she knew just what he was there for.

The moment that she twirls her hand with a wave, telling him that there isn't anything to worry about, the apprehension creeping within his chest at the thought of seeing you next-

disappeared.

It's not often that he turns to less orthodox methods, but he wouldn't lie. Knowing that--at least in Mona's opinion (which tended to be correct, anyway)--the two of you were undoubtly compatible? Something about how your constellations were intertwined...

In fact, Albedo turns a little theory around in his mind. Though based in old folktales, the idea that you gravitate towards those who are made of the very same stardust as yourself, suddenly made sense.

Or, perhaps he was just being hopeful.

-

Little does he know that you most definitely asked Mona about the same thing earlier that day.

-

AHHHHH BUT OF COURSE-

Any of those kinds of places--Botanical Gardens, Art Museums, Aquariums, Zoos, Museums in general--Any place where you're able to utterly lose yourself in your surroundings and look around in awe, really, are your go-to date outing destination!

Usually, it's just the two of you, maybe with Sucrose or Timaeus if it's for a particular class, as well as the occasional Klee in tow whenever Alice is busy with work.

But in this case, fingers interlocked, it's just the two of you on a impromptu trip to the art museum downtown after seeing a promotional banner about a new exhibit. Once inside, you rush along, Albedo trailing close behind with a light squeeze of your hand. The large area used for temporary exhibits isn't far from the entrance, so it's not long until you skid to a stop.

All along the walls are incredibly detailed oil paintings, the thin layered strokes glistening in the light. Albedo takes a moment to whisper to you about how oil paint works.

Due to the thinness of the paint and it's transparency, light passes through every carefully placed stroke, allowing for a unique sort of depth that isn't achievable with other painting media. You smile, the artificial light of the art exhibit making your features glow and Albedo can't help but wonder if you are like those paintings.

So complex, so carefully created in an image perfected with time. Your eyes search his and you say his name and Albedo clears his throat when he realizes he's been staring.

"Do you like this one?"

Ah, you must've assumed he took a liking to this particular painting.

His eyes shift back to it, taking in the sight of the balance of color, the composition, then back to you. He only stares a second longer before nodding.

Whether or not you realize the view he likes is you is something that he dwells on as you both make your way to the next painting.

-

If you had a penny for every time that someone comments on the way you compliment each other, you'd probably be able to pay off your tuition for next semester.

Okay, perhaps not, but the idea still stands.

You're only just at the end of the art exhibit when the security guard wishes the two of you a lovely date. Something about how young love is something to be treasured, something about how the two of you already seem so natural and comfortable in each other's presence.

Before you can mumble out an explanation, Albedo just squeezes your hand, gentle as always, and smiles.

It's a compliment, right? For someone to see how close you are, even if you really are just friends, is a good thing.

Ignoring the warmth that spreads over your cheeks, you smile and turn your head away shyly. Squeezing his hand back, the thought of what it'd be like if you were together crosses your mind.

-

Just as you lend books to him, he lends books to you. Surprisingly, this time it just so happens to be a poetry book--something that you expressed interest in a week ago but ended up not getting.

Within, he's left colorful notes with his neat, slanted writing.

Short discussions (presumably questions to himself) of what the poet must've been thinking, different possible scenarios, are peppered throughout the book. But one just so happens to catch your eye. Rather than a question, it's a statement. Simple, short, and...sweet.

'You carry the aura of the stars.'

The little yellow sticky note pasted beneath a love poem to the night sky stands out. Suppressing a flutter in your chest, you continue reading through the poem book with a few giggles at Albedo's musings until you find a note with most of the words crossed out.

It's entirely unlike him, the way that the dark ink scribbled over the words, making them illegible.

But at the bottom was a continued attempt--one you presume he was satisfied with by the way it lay pristine on the colorful paper.

'You look. I fail to speak.

Your mind, so brilliant as it is I wish to see behind To further appreciate the one I love.

I can only hope one day you shall let me in, So for now I wait patiently by your side.'

Who could he have written this for? You can't help but stare at the poetic attempt, knowing full well that Albedo seldom does something without meaning.

The book closes and you tuck it back on the shelf to ask about later.

-

AAAAA YESYESYESYES I LOVE THAT CUDDLE PILE W/ ALBEDO AND KLEE

Even though Albedo's a grade A student and certified genius (he's adamant in his denial, shaking his head and mumbling about how he just studies hard), he's not entirely a stickler for rules.

Well, that is, Aunt Alice's suggestion that Klee goes to bed by 9.

Instead, the three of you settle in the common room of Albedo's place in a bundle of pillows and blankets at the demands of a pillow fort.

The tv blinks on accompanied by the near silent click of the remote.

"What should we watch?"

Klee always ends up picking the movie. This time, she wants Alice in Wonderland, commenting on how the bunny is like her best friend Dodoco and the blonde girl on screen is named after mommy. Albedo doesn't bother correcting her, even though he knows quite well that dear, sweet Dodoco is a chinchilla.

Between sips of juice and a few mouthfuls of popcorn, the three of you fall asleep, Klee curled up besides you and Albedo's arm draped over you both.

Even when the sun is up in the sky, you sleep peacefully.

So, naturally, Aunt Alice has a spare key just in case something like this happens.

Immediately she's met with the sweetest view--her two kids (she's practically adopted Albedo as her own at this point) and--

Hiding a cheeky smile behind her hand, Alice can't help but sneak a little closer when she spies the way that you and Albedo somehow gravitated closer, his face buried in your hair and yours resting against his collar. Wedged between you with tousled hair, Klee snoozes peacefully.

She snaps a picture, followed by another, and another, and a fourth for good measures before meandering into the kitchen to prep something for breakfast.

Might as well let her three favorite people enjoy the comfort of sleep for a little longer...

You wake up the moment that Klee wiggles her way out of the blankets, nuzzling against the warmth radiating under your cheek.

Nice and cozy. Smells nice...wait.

Eyes fluttering open, you're met with a familiar birthmark and the nearly gone scent of Albedo's cologne.

You nearly pull away until the arm, now wrapped around your waist, pulls you closer accompanied by a satisfied sigh. Ah. You shut your eyes tight when you realize that Albedo's going to be asleep for at least another thirty minutes, resigning to your fate gladly.

Of course, Alice takes the opportunity to snap a few more pictures when you've finally fallen back asleep.

-

YES ALSO ALSO

Speaking of Albedo and sweaters and warm and also the just mentioned cologne. A little fun tidbit--not only are you familiar with the scent of his cologne because he wears it often, but it (in this au) is actually one that you picked out some time back. You probably were at the store together smelling some of the perfumes when you came across one that you were pleasantly surprised by.

Specifically, something that's lightly floral, a little warm but sweet with a hint of earthiness.

The pros? It fits Albedo perfectly! It also kinda sticks well and his place faintly smells of it.

The cons?? Well...you're embarrassed to say that hugging Albedo tends to drag on a little longer than anticipated because it's just such a comforting scent-

Not because you associate it with Albedo or anything-

Ehe

Man I really went to town again, didn't I?? Well, I'm glad that you enjoy my headcanons :DDD Albedo just seems like such a sweet person??? Like endearing in a way that just is...him. If that makes sense.

Brain go brrrrrr

I'll admit that my favorite headcanons for Bedo are mundane and domestic ones though! Like these! Just the little moments where there's nothing really going on except for him and you and ahhhh yesyesyes

Okay that's all-

[luimagines]

Hi! I have a request, but first i wanna say your writing is absolutely amazing! The length + amount of time you put into these prompts is insanely good. Now! Onto the request, how would the boys react to a reader from a more modern era? Maybe a more modernized hyrule or our current point in time?

Masterlist

Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm happy to see the response even if this blog is still relatively new.

I hope I do your prompt justice.

I probably could have done a headcanon list but I was hit with inspiration.

I also might have given Reader some backstory.

Scenario below the cut! It’s long, take caution.

It was a cool night, but you didn't mind. Your bed was warm, the WiFi was fast and even if it was three AM on a school night, you managed to keep yourself giggling with cat videos and blursed memes until the words and colors merged.

A night well spent.

But it led to questionable decisions.

Even if the shredded cheese in the fridge was beginning to seem a more and more enticing snack, your body was tempted to succumb to slumber.

Until a large purple light encompassed the entirety of your window.

Something was in your backyard.

Aliens. Your tired brain supplies and you sprint to the glass and push away the curtains. Is this it? Is this where I'm kidnapped and never seen or heard from again?

You pull out your phone and open up the camera.

"Pics or it didn't happen." You remind yourself and snap a few before showing your face.

What you see isn't what you're expecting. Instead of a flying saucer in the sky beaming down a laser or a weird pear shaped space craft on top of the grass, there's a single panel of glowing light, swirling with black accents that creeps in a circular motion.

"Cheese and crackers...." You gasp and begin to blatantly stare at it with no regard to whether something may be coming out of it.

You wait and nothing happens.

You wait some more and nothing happens.

You spend an hour watching this portal that has appeared out of nowhere, waiting for something to happen, willing for something to happen. But you get nothing.

The unknown stares right back at you, unblinking and unchanged.

Go through it. A voice tells you. What if there's something on the other side?

"I'm going to die." You gulp and take a deep breath.

Who else gets a chance like this? The voice talks again. This could be a grand step towards a more modern society. A whole new world could be on the other side, waiting, reaching out, calling to humanity!

You think you a see a shadow move behind the portal and out of sight but it’s gone before you can even process it.

"Should I call the police?" You step away from the window, ignoring the thoughts, the voice- you're too tired to know if it's your own any more. What's the plan? How does one go about something like this?

Where’s your sense of adventure? Pack a bag and go! What if it goes away?

That last thought seems to get through to your tired brain and for a reason beyond your understanding, it latches onto it.

Now you’re excited.

You run to the closet and take out your old backpack. It used to be for school but it was fancier since it was the only one you could get. The bag had a replaceable water bag with a plastic straw connected through the back of it and the straps have just worn down enough to where they’re actually comfortable. It doubled as a hiking backpack and came with its own insulated lunch box that clasped on the back of it.

It’ll finally serve its purpose.

You quickly roll up your favorite blanket and strap it in tightly beneath the lunch box. You’re quick to take out two extra outfits and pack them as well as change out of your pajamas.

Ok. What would you need? You don’t know where you’d be going so this has to a catch all kind of deal.

You pack away your swiss army knife first for good measure. A solar powered charger for your phone and an extra pair of socks follow suit even after you’ve picked out the extra clothes.

You take out the water bag and run to fill it all the way to max capacity as you think of any other necessities.

You’d need food. You have a small jar of peanut butter and granola bars that can fit in the lunch box. You can bring your extra water bottle and put in the side pockets of the backpack, and maybe bring some of those powered flavor packets your brother loves so much. You think he has lemonade and some green tea ones.

Those would be great. He won’t mind, hopefully.

You let the bag overfill momentarily before running back to shove it in your bag. with the lid screwed tight.

Next you run to the kitchen, grabbing the first things that you thought of already and begin to look around for more.

You grab an unopened pack of beef jerky, a bag of veggie sticks and a half eaten bag of dried mangos.

During your search you grab the water bottle and fill that too.

You return to your room with your bounty and begin to carefully put everything in the box. With some more deliberation, you run back to the kitchen and make yourself a quick sandwich, eat it, make another one and pack that as well.

You look out side the window and the portal is still there.

The sun is beginning to rise now so you’re trying to go as fast as you can, unless you want to neighbors to think something is going on.

Even if it is.

You’re about to leave but in a stroke of brilliance, you run to pack sunscreen and bug spray as well. You see a small first aid pack that was bought recently for when you would take your family vacation but you reason that it might one of the most important things you’d have if you got hurt.

Into the bag it goes.

You grab your hoodie before you leave the door, wrap it around your waist and pocket your phone, your headphones and your wallet.

You feel immediately under packed when you step outside and see the portal up close.

It’s weirdly triangle shaped, you think and step closer.

You reach your hand out and try to touch it. It feels as if you put your hand through a humidifier but it’s not wet. It’s misty and cold but not necessarily unpleasant.

An idea hits you right before you take your first step through.

You pull up one of the earlier photo’s you took and send it to your friend’s group chat. It showed up in my backyard. I decided to make a bad late night decision and I’m going through. If you never hear from me again, I want you all to fight over my electronics. Winner takes all. Godspeed.

And you step through.

You had first assumed that it would merely take you tot he other side but very quickly realize that you have to walk through it.

The first part still had a little light but with time, it got darker. So dark that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face.

You kept walking.

As fast as the light disappeared, it came back and you stepped into the light of an open field, right in front of one, two, three, four, nine males that had appeared to be traveling towards you or rather, towards the portal.

The portal disappears in the process.

“Oh so we didn’t have to go through it! We had to gain another member!” One of them yells. “Would have been nice to know before we packed everything up!”

“Ho boy, where am I?” You ask and tighten your grip on your backpack. Why didn’t I bring a weapon?

They all had long tunics and swords on their backs. Old fashioned leather boots and hand bracers were the norm in this group and you realized very quickly that your jeans and t-shirt had wildly missed the memo.

“Dang, I didn’t think I’d walk into a LARP group. Sorry about that.” You sheepishly smile. “I had no idea where the portal was going to take me. But if you would be so kind-”

“Wait, what’s LARP?” One of them speaks up. He was a dirty blond and somewhere in the middle of the group height wise. He wore a white cape like thing with blue designs on the back but you didn’t recognize the symbol.

“Live Action Role Play?” You tilt your head. “It’s why you’re all dressed like that? Right?”

“This is just our clothes.” What appears to be the youngest bounces up to you. “What are you wearing?”

“First I could grab in my closet.” You admit and look down on it. It’s one of your comfiest shirts and best looking pants. You’re a little proud of yourself for finding those in the dark.

“Weird.”

“We’re heroes. We’re all named Link.” Cape guy speaks up again. “Is it safe to assume that you’re in the same boat?”

“Heroes?” Your eyebrows furrow together. “I’m not a hero and my name’s not Link.”

You’re quick to tell them your name and you watch as the confusion covers their faces. “My brother’s name is Link though if that helps anything.”

“Oh we needed him!” The youngest groans and it instantly irks you.

“What would you need with a five year old?” You deadpan and cross your arms. 

The information stuns the group.

“The portal showed up in the middle of the night and I’m the one that went through it. I’m pretty sure I was the only awake to even see it. Are you telling me that it was for my little brother?” You’d be lying if you said that you weren’t a little pissed. “My baby brother was supposed to go through it? He was asleep! He’s five. What kind of logic is that?!”

“Well...” The biggest and oldest of them runs a hand over his face. You think he has some cool tattoos and sick scar going across his eye but he looks about as angry as you feel, so you don’t say anything. “It appears the gods truly do not care for the hero’s maturity, only his existence.”

“Ok...What’s with all this hero talk?” You bite back. “What did... Where am I?”

“Hyrule.” The second with cool face tattoos speaks up. He’s got a large fur pelt around his shoulders and you have to tighten your grip against your backpack again to keep from reaching out to touch it.

Even so you feel yourself deadpan even more. “Hyrule? Like the ancient empire? The one that collapsed more than two thousand years ago? That Hyrule?”

You’re inclined to not believe them and write all of them off as crazy... but you also walked through a portal. And your grandma did say that magic existed in the strangest forms.

They all share looks of concern and some begin to murmur quietly amongst themselves but you’re too far gone to even notice.

“Did I time travel?” The idea hits you like a bus and you feel your eyes widen as you stare beyond the group. You quickly take our your phone and unlock it.

No signal.

“Is that a type of Sheikah slate?” Someone asks you.

“I don’t know what that is.” You reply automatically. “Wait, hold on, what year is it?”

“Why don’t you tell us what year you’re from and we can start from there?” The darkest brunette of the group speaks up.

“202x PC” You say robotically, not really processing the world around you anymore.

“That’s...” The blond with a long blue scarf speaks up with a slight hiss. “...Beyond any of our timelines. You see, we all come from different worlds and eras of Hyrule’s history.”

“I don’t think you’re the farthest down anymore, Wild.”

“This would then make them my successor, right?”

“It would make their brother your successor.” Someone amends. “I think they just jumped in his place.”

“Leave my brother alone.” You snap back into the present, pocketing your [hone again. “Ok, you know what, screw it. I don’t know what you’d want my brother for but I’m here now. I’d gladly take his place if it means he gets to stay home!”

“Hey.” A boy with pink hair stalks up to you looking a little more serious than you’d like.

“Nice hair dude, way to defy the gender norms.” You smirk a little before genuinely grinning, hoping to quell the tension. “What product do you use? It looks like Artic Fox but not every place sells their brand.”

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about but what happened to Ganon in your world? How have you been handling it?” He snaps and places his hands on his hips.

“Ganon? Like my old principle? That’s a name I haven’t heard in forever.” You’re confused again. “Last I heard he joined the police force only to be reassigned out of state. I don’t know what’s happening with him. Kinda hope he gets fired though. He’s not a bad guy but he’s not someone you’d want in that kind of position of power, you know.”

“Police force?”

You blinked and look them all over. They look very medieval. “Oh... You don’t have that...”

You begin to think about your history lessons and what they might be familiar with if they’re telling the truth about being from Hyrule.

“Ya’ll got knights?”

Many, almost all of them nod, a few with face of despair already on them before you finish speaking.

“It’s kind of like that. Mixed with a towns guard position... kinda. They enforce laws... at least they’re supposed to but the whole system is flawed and racist and really needs to be dismantled for the abuse of power that they have-”

“Abuse? Of power?” You have their attention again.

“It’s stupid and it won’t really make any sense if I try to explain because I doubt you have anything similar but it’s basically a group of people given the right to treat the public in anyway they like for their own benefit because they have no one telling them that they can’t.” You groan and slowly begin to feel your lack of sleep catch up to you. 

You slowly reach to behind you and sit down on the dirt, looking at all of them. “Mr. Dragmire wasn’t like...Demise or anything but he was a huge jerk. No one liked him. He liked me though. I remember that. I was the envy of the whole school because I somehow got on his good side while everyone else wants to strangle him. I think he was transferred for some misdemeanor or something like that... like he might have been throwing hands with someone he wasn’t supposed to. I never heard all the details. I didn’t really care for it when it happened either. I’m pretty sure he lost that fight though. The dude looked like a blast of wind could have knocked him over let alone someone’s knuckle sandwich.”

“I would love to hear more about this.” The youngest sits next to you with a large grin on his face. His eyes are bright and his body language reminds you of your cousin Zelda. You instantly think they’d get along like a house on fire. “What are your monsters like?”

“Monsters?” You tilt your head. “Be a little more specific bud, it depends on where you’re from.”

“You have that many?!”

“It depends on if you believe they’re real or not.”

“Speaking of monsters, can you fight?” The shortest walks up to you. You like that his tunic is stitched up with multiple colors and designs. It gives it personality, you think. “Do you have a weapon you’re more comfortable with?”

The question throws you off your rhythm and you don’t fight your wince. “What would happen if I say that I do not, in fact, have any sort of weapon on me?”

“I wouldn’t believe you.” Pink guy speaks up again. “That pack is huge, there has to be something in there.”

“It’s food, water and extra clothes my guy.” You lean back against said backpack since it won’t let you lay down with it still on. “Not a lot of space for anything else. I’m pretty good at hand to hand combat though. Karate’s a good way to fight out stress.” 

“Your bag’s not magic?”

“Why the hell would it be magic? ...Are you trying to tell me magic actually exists?” You raise an eyebrow as your eyes begin to close against your will. “I know my grandma said it does but I thought she meant like fairies and shadow demons.. and bigfoot. Can’t forget him, he’s the real MVP... You know...Children’s bedtime stories and stuff like that, it’s not real. But like magic magic? Magic items and the like? Find me Tinkerbell and I’ll show you Neverland, that’s what I say.”

“Are you serious?”

“Second star to the right, straight on till morning.” You respond.

There’s a moment of silence as the group in front of you processes your words. It’s hard to tell their reaction since you’re not looking at them but you no longer have the energy to do anything else.

“Are you falling asleep right now?” It’s the one they called Wild.

“I...” You try to open your eyes. They don’t budge. “I haven’t slept in nearly 20 hours... I think. I might have past 24 hours a while ago actually. Portal showed up at like four in the morning... I had to get up at six and I didn’t sleep at all before then.”

More silence.

“Great another one.” Someone scoffs.

You snort.

“Why did we pack up camp again?”

“No one kill me.” You say right before you lose consciousness. “Please and thank you.”

“They’re doomed.”

“Have some faith Vet. They stepped in for their little brother. That has to mean something?”

“They’re in for a rude awakening, and that’s all I have to say about it.”

[amysubmits]

“Just Knowing” & Communication

I got an ask recently asking if I could write something about how doms seem to sometimes “instinctively know” things about their sub, and how communication plays into that. 

I thought it was a great point, and I had an experience that I’d been wanting to share in some way, that I thought would work well within that concept. Anyway, here goes...

I have shared experiences where CD reads my needs seamlessly. Those moments can feel almost magical and that makes me want to share them. I have occasionally heard from people who seem to think CD is nearly capable of reading my mind, as a result of posts like that. It’s not my intention to give that impression. 

There are occasional moments where I am shocked at how he knows things I didn’t say. I’ve also shared that sometimes those moments where he perfectly meets my needs are often the moments where I feel the most owned. That’s because him knowing and meeting my needs feels so intensely intimate, and so much of our D/s comes down to emotional intimacy.

He isn’t a mind reader, though. We have been together over a decade now, and he’s observant. I think that deserves a big mention, when discussing how he ‘just knows’ things about me. He notices my body language, and how I react to things. He learns a lot about me by simply paying close attention. This is really important to me. Him naturally watching me, noticing my mood and such, is a big way that he makes me feel loved. I couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t naturally drawn to try to learn me, and pay close attention to me. Just him being someone who pays attention is a huge part of how I feel loved. It shows me that he wants to know as much as he can about me, and that he wants to meet my needs. More than that, his desire to want to learn my needs period, matters. There are some people who just don’t wish to get that deep with their partner, they don’t care to know their partner like the back of their had. That would be a problem, for me, because I do want that level of intimacy. Part of how I knew that CD had that desire for deeper intimacy, was how he tried to learn what he could by observing me. 

At the same time, being mindful of your loved one’s body language, facial expressions and behaviors only goes so far. You can’t observe your way into knowing exactly what someone wants or needs. You just can’t. Certain things just have to be explicitly stated. While a good portion of our emotional intimacy comes from paying close attention to each other, more of it comes from our communication.

The truth is, there have been times where I’ve been frustrated that CD didn’t catch something. I’ve occasionally had the emotional reaction of almost feeling neglected because he didn’t notice something about me. And that? Is not a healthy reaction for me to have. That reaction is something I have to try to be conscious of, and I can’t allow myself to run away with those feelings. I have to recognize them and fight back against them. Because I can’t expect him to read my mind, or to pick up on everything, to ‘just know’ everything, or anything, really. If he isn’t aware of something, it is my responsibility to communicate. 

We were new to D/s in particular, we talked about our needs and wants all the time, often daily. Getting started with D/s requires really thorough communication so that you know the boundaries and limits of the dynamic, and so that you know what is expected of each of you. Even though we tried to hammer out our dynamic in advance, we found ourselves experiencing scenarios that we weren’t sure how they ‘should’ be handled with our D/s, because we couldn’t pre-plan our D/s for how to go about every possible scenario that life may throw at us. So whenever we experienced something new and didn’t know how to handle it, we’d have to discuss how we wanted to handle it. Or in there cases we’d handle a situation and then realize we wished it had been handled differently, and we’d discuss that and plan to do differently next time. 

After a while (many months?) it got to where we had the basics down and we didn’t need to talk about things as often anymore. We didn’t have to discuss it multiple times a week anymore, but perhaps a couple times a month was sufficient. Still, the frequency ebbs and flows. We go through phases, even now, 6 years in, of discussing our D/s more or less often. It mainly depends on whether we’re facing new things in life or making changes to our rules or the rest of our dynamic, or whether life is normal and our dynamic is unchanged. If we make changes, that means we’ll communicate about our D/s more often for a while, usually. Tons of what we know about each other and our needs are things we’ve learned through all that communication. Way more than we’ve learned by just observing each other. 

Our “meta-talks” (discussions about our D/s) are perhaps one of the areas that I don’t give enough attention to on this blog. They’re often very private feeling, so it’s hard to feel comfortable sharing much about them. 

A couple of months ago after a meta-talk, we came to the conclusion that it would be helpful for us to focus on making sure I feel very seen. It wasn’t that I had stopped feeling seen...but more that our current life circumstances were making me need to feel more seen than usual. Anyway, CD had me make him a list of things that made me feel seen, to share with him.

The things I shared on that list were all things he had done “naturally” before. So it was more about sharing with him what things he does that make me feel particularly seen. Still, I did over-think it, a little bit. I wondered if it would feel different for him to do these things for me after I shared them with him, rather than doing them purely instinctually, like he had in the past. Would it feel less genuine? Would I be able to absorb it and really effectively feel see if I suspected he was doing this for the purpose of making me feel seen? 

Early on, I did feel a bit bashful or self-conscious when I noticed him doing those things a little bit more often. I felt a bit insecure like “Oh, he just thinks he has to do that because I need to feel more seen.” and for some reason that cheapened it a little in my mind, and also made me feel a bit selfish or something. Worrying about being a burden on people is a deep seeded insecurity of mine that comes in up all sorts of ways. So it’s not surprising that my brain tried to twist this into ‘he just feels obligated to’. Even early on when I was feeling those insecurities, I was feeling seen, at the same time.  As more time went on though, those insecurities softened and I was able to recognize that these things were feeling fulfilling to him, too, which further eased my insecurities. 

This is just one example of how our direct communication has benefitted our D/s. When this type of thing occurs over the course of many years, I hope you can imagine how that can assist with creating those “he just knows” moments. 

I think a lot of good relationships have similar experiences with hesitating to share exactly what you want from your partner. The love is there, the good intent is there, but unless you tell your partner exactly what makes you feel the best...you can’t magically expect them to know. Yet many of us have this instinct that “I can’t tell them exactly how I’d like them to treat me, or it won’t be as ‘real’”. 

I think D/s often complicates this issue even farther. Subs hesitate to ask for ‘too much’ because they don’t want to be too needy, or to feel like they’re taking charge or telling their doms what to do. Which I think is a valid concern. In my view, the answer to that potential problem isn’t to avoid sharing what make you feel good. Instead, it’s just to be mindful of the way that you are communicating, so that you are sharing the knowledge of your needs or desires without telling them what to do. 

Communicating in great detail is a huge part of how we find the intimacy that we’re after with D/s. Understanding in detail what makes each other feel dominant and submissive does SO much to assist us with keeping our D/s on track, and to keep each other feeling loved and cared for. These deep, difficult, detailed discussions are also helpful to our D/s because they make me realize how safe our relationship is. That sense of security allows me to let go and be more submissive. 

As I said earlier, I understand that instinct that if you tell someone exactly what you want, and then they do it, your initial instinct may be to feel like it’s less meaningful when they do it. Like asking for it somehow ‘cheapened’ it. 

I think that is a largely misguided instinct, though. I think that if you tell someone what feels good to you, and they do it just to placate you or please you? You can tell they’re just phoning it in. And if you tell them what makes you feel good, and they do it because they enjoy making you feel good? You’ll feel that too. 

It’s similar to how starting D/s worked for us. When I first asked for it, I worried it would be something he did just for me. But once he found meaning in it himself? I could tell that our D/s was fulfilling for him, that it was giving him joy, and that he was really feeling the connection with me through this dynamic. It was just easy to see that he was really ‘feeling it’. A similar thing can happen with "smaller” things such as specific acts of love, care or service. 

[nanasparadise]

“Imprisonment” Yan!Jolyne x female reader

This blog was in dire need of some wlw content. In that sense, I hope you had a happy pride month and enjoy this piece! 

Summary: You are the target of many inmates in Green Dolphin. That changes when Jolyne becomes your cellmate, for the better or worse. 

TW: toxic relationship, prison, bullying, violence, insults, threats, slight gore (ear mutilation), noncon kiss, allusions to NSFW, MATURE AUDIENCE ONLY/MINORS DNI

Word count: 2853

I do not condone any yandere behaviour in real life. 

„Get your ass moving, girl!”

You truly hated it here. A day spent at Green Dolphin felt like being ten years in hell. The queue in the prison cafeteria moved forward quickly, since everyone got the same horrible food. As you hadn’t reacted fast enough, you’d received rude comments. At this point, you didn’t care about the insults anymore. You were used to them, you had no affiliation with anyone here, meaning the other inmates saw you as fair game. In addition to your nature as a pushover, you weren’t surprised to be the target of many prisoner’s sadistic streak.

You took your tray containing your lunch – a portion of rather questionable meat and some mashed potatoes – and went to your solitary table. A blissful sigh escaped your lips when you finally were alone in your corner. No, worse than any insults or solitude were the threats, hidden under fake smiles. Not a single day went without them. You always were forced to do ‘voluntary tasks’ for the designated mean girls of Green Dolphin or ‘lend’ them money. It was humiliating, really, but you didn’t want to end up beaten to death in your cell, so you followed their instructions.

Once you completed the laundry task, you decided to spend the rest of the afternoon in the library, hoping to find an interesting enough book to teleport you away for a couple hours from your harsh reality. You settled into the couch with a novel in your hands, enjoying this slight moment of calmness. Your peace was short-lived though as a blonde woman approached you, a saccharine smile plastered on her face. Oh no, you knew where this would go.

“Hi! How are you doing today?”, she greeted you with a fake happiness swinging in her tone.

“Fine”, you mumbled quietly, not being able to assert yourself.

“I’m glad to hear that!,” she replied, though you knew she didn’t give a shit about your well-being, “Look, I’m so sorry to bother you again, but could you give me ten dollars? I need them for something very important and you’ll get them back in no time!” She batted her eyelashes at you, seemingly coming across as innocent.

“I would, but I forgot the money in my cell”, you countered, trying to come up with an excuse.

“Then stand up and get it.” Her voice had already shifted into a menacing tone, eyes gleaming like a predator.

“I don’t know if I-“

“Y/N, that was your name, right? Well, if you don’t get me my money, our friendship will be ruined and you’re aware of the consequences of that, aren’t you?”, your fellow inmate replied while pulling you by the collar of your uniform up from the couch.

“Right…,” you whispered, accepting your defeat, “I’ll get it for you.”

“Awesome!,” the blonde chirped, all sunshine and rainbows again, “I’ll wait for you here,  just don’t take too long.”

That was how your life went. You didn’t complain too much, you knew it could be way worse than that. And it wasn’t as if you had much of a choice to change it anyway. You weren’t going to be released from prison in the next twenty five years. “So just accept it and move on, day by day”, you mused, repeating that thought every day.

Your life took a turn, however, when a new inmate joined Green Dolphin. She was a young woman around your age, dark buns adorning her head and a green fringe framing her face. You had been spared from a cellmate, but that all changed now, as she was your new roomie. “Great,” you thought bitterly, “now my last bit of peace has been stolen from me.”

She introduced herself as Jolyne Kujo. Jolyne seemed to be still quite naïve when it came to prison life, claiming she’d been conned and that her lawyer would certainly take her out from there. “It’s time to face the fact that no one cares if you’re here for a valid reason or not, trust me, I know it from experience”, you thought, though you didn’t dare voice that to her.

She actually turned out to be nice. And with that, you meant that she respected your private space and didn’t threaten you. In exchange, you offered her some advice on who to avoid in jail, which the woman gladly accepted.

At first, the change was barely noticeable. Jolyne kept herself quiet except for the occasional small talk in your cell or during a shared task. Instead, she chose to lounge around two other inmates you hardly knew, one with dark braids and the other with a weird-looking green cap. You were glad to see that at least she formed a group, being able to protect herself now better from potential harassers if needed.

Of course you were still exposed to them. You made your way to the shower as a woman with broad muscles approached you, face turned into a dark grimace. By her build and expression, you’d first assumed she was a guard until you’d noticed the familiar uniform.

“You there!”, she shouted at you, a finger pointing menacingly at you as she came closer, “Give me your money, now!”

You cowered back into the corner of the shower room, panic flooding your system. “I’m sorry,” you stuttered, “I don’t have anything on me, I can give it to you after-“

“Don’t fucking play with me, bitch”, she brutely interjected, nostrils flaring up angrily due to exhaling. Your aggressor stood now in front of you, a strong hand wrapping itself around your throat and threatening to cut off your airflow. She yanked you up in the air as she continued her assault. “You think you can pick and choose? Does this place look like fucking Disneyland to you? You better give me my money now if you don’t wanna end up choking water and being beaten up like the dirty street mutt you are.” You were already flinching when the prisoner raised her fist to punch your face as a voice suddenly interrupted you.

“I think that’s enough”, Jolyne said in a firm tone, a fierce expression marking her face.

“And who the hell are you? Wanna join your little friend here?”, your tormentor commented, unimpressed by your cellmate’s entrance.

“Big words for someone who’ll soon be nothing but a bloody pulp”, Jolyne answered, not faltering under the inmate’s glare.

Your harasser proceeded to laugh out loud at her words, obviously not taking her seriously. She dropped you unceremoniously as she shifted all her attention to your saviour instead. Desperately, you panted for air, your hands moving to your hurting throat. You remained in your corner as you observed the scene unfolding in front of you.

“As if you weakling could do anything against me,” your tantaliser spit out, still chuckling at Jolyne’s words, “I’d kill you with my pinky finger.”

Jolyne remained strangely calm, choosing to smile at the threat. “We’ll see about that”, was the only thing she uttered before she lunged at her with incredible speed.  Clearly, you weren’t the only one surprised as the inmate’s eyes widened as well. Jolyne turned the bully’s bewilderment into her advantage, her fist immediately connecting with the inmate’s nose. The latter let out a shrill scream, blood dripping out of her nostril. Clearly, she didn’t expect your roommate to do any real damage, let alone break her nose.

Jolyne shook the hand she punched her with, her knuckles reddened and slightly torn open from the assault. You kept staring at both of them, petrified and unsure about what to do now. 

“I’ll kill you for that, you bitch,” your aggressor barked out angrily, “and your little friend will pay, too.”

You started trembling at the thought of her hand around your neck again. 

“I’ll look for a guard, Jolyne”, you eventually said, the fear barely hidden in your voice. You decided this was enough and someone had to put an end to this. 

“Stay here”, your cellmate replied authoritatively. For the first time, you were actually scared of her. “I’ll teach this woman that she needs to face consequences for her actions.”

With these words, Jolyne placed her fingers on your tormentor’s right ear. You wondered what she’d do next when a sudden yell disrupted your thoughts. The inmate’s cry was far worse than the previous one, emitting all of her pain and agony. You could hardly listen to it. 

Then, with great horror, you finally noticed it. Her ear shell laid on the floor, blood coating the cut off organ. Your gaze travelled to Jolyne, waiting for an explanation to your unvoiced question, though she kept her eyes fixated on the prisoner’s pain-ridden face. 

“You won’t touch Y/N or me ever again, did I make myself clear?”, she asked, her voice coated with barely concealed anger. Your bully only gave out a whimper, but the answer seemed to satisfy Jolyne. “Good. Now, if you see any guards, you keep our names out of your mouth, unless you want to lose another body part.”

The following weeks, Jolyne had become overly protective. She clung to you like a lost child, afraid that you’d be hurt or threatened again without her presence. You didn’t know if you should be grateful or terrified for her protection. 

You’d asked her how she’d been able to cut that one prisoner’s ear off, but her explanation had been more confusing than enlightening. She’d talked about a Stand ability and how only so-called Stand users could see and wield it, but nothing made sense to you. You started to believe she’d just lost her mind. 

Jolyne had also introduced you to her friend group. Ermes and Foo Fighters seemed nice enough, though they behaved in the same weird manner as your cellmate did. You felt awkward in their presence, not knowing why you were even there in the first place. 

In the end, you decided to be thankful. With Jolyne and her friends by your side, no one bullied you anymore. And if your peace meant to spend some time with your cellmate, that was a small price to pay, right? 

~

You didn’t notice the pair of chartreuse eyes observing every bit of your sleeping form. You never did. 

Jolyne had been looking at you for many nights. This time, it wasn’t an exception. She tentatively brushed her hand over your cheek, marvelling at your slight reaction as you furrowed your brows at the touch. 

“You’re really cute Y/N, do you know that?”, she whispered to you. Of course you were unable to answer. 

Jolyne had been unusually shy around you. She was well aware of the fact that after her act of violence, you felt uncomfortable around her, possibly even scared. She tried so so hard to make you see that she was only protecting you! In fact, the young woman wondered how you could have even survived in Green Dolphin before her arrival. 

She had a hard time picturing your life without her in it. At first, she’d been furious and crushed at the revelation that her ex-boyfriend had purposefully framed her for a crime she hadn’t committed. She had loved Romeo, so naturally, her heart had been broken. 

But then, you entered her life. She saw now why she needed to be here. Who else could protect you, love you, like Jolyne? You were everything she had ever wanted. 

Lovingly, she placed a small kiss on your cheek. You stirred slightly from the feathery peck. Nevertheless, you continued your slumber. Jolyne wished she could touch you more deliberately, more intensely. She’d grown tired of this little hiding game. The prisoner didn’t want to secretly let your brush run through her hair anymore, imagining it were your fingers instead or coo at you when you were sleeping. No, she wanted to feel you, to be touched and loved by you. 

Sure, you might feel uncomfortable around her, but that was only because you didn’t see how much she cherished you. Maybe it was time to be bolder around you. 

~ 

“Hey Y/N, could you give me my toothbrush, please?”

“Sure”, you replied casually as you handed the desired object over to her. 

“Thanks, you truly are the sweetest.”

Your face heated up at her flirtatious tone. “She definitely didn’t mean it in that way”, you thought to calm your nerves. 

“You still don’t want to join me showering? I’d hate for you to get attacked again”, your cellmate asked you, concern swinging in her voice. 

“I’m good,” you mumbled, “I’ll just go next morning. And I doubt anyone’s gonna threaten me again after your lesson.” The thought of Jolyne mutilating another inmate terrified you, no matter how much your former aggressor deserved it. 

“Come on, you’re just afraid to see me naked,” Jolyne teased while giving you a toothy grin, “it’s alright, you can tell me. I don’t mind.” 

You didn’t think you could get more flustered. “That’s not it!”, you countered hastily, “I mean not that you're not a beautiful woman or anything, it’s just that…”

Jolyne stopped listening and straightened her back. You thought she was beautiful? Was this finally the moment she’d been waiting for? A dreamy expression marked her bright eyes. 

“You think we could be a thing?”, Jolyne interjected your rambling.

“What?!”, you stuttered, unsure if you heard her correctly. 

“I mean, I do really like you.” Suddenly, she stood up from her bed and moved over to you. You stared at her big-eyed, still not knowing what was going on. A hand came resting on your cheek as her gaze was locked on you. “Who am I kidding? I’m totally in love with you.” She softly traced her fingers over your skin, sending a chill down your spine. 

“Jolyne”, you whispered quietly. You had no clue how to handle the situation, images of her brutal side flashing up in your mind again. You gulped harshly. “I didn’t know you felt this way, I thought we were friends.”

“We are friends,” the young woman retorted, “we could just be more, you know?” Jolyne leaned into you, closing the space between you, as her lips landed on yours. She kissed you with gentleness and care, as if you were made of glass. When you felt her teeth slightly tugging at your bottom lip, begging for more, you eventually snapped out of your surprise and pushed her away from you. 

“What was that?”, you asked her out of breath, unable to conceal your anger. 

“I’ve kissed you, silly.”

“I’ve just told you that I’m not interested in a relationship!”

Ah yes. That must have been when Jolyne had blended you out in favour of marvelling at your compliment. 

“I think you should think about that again”, your cellmate replied, a dark edge manifesting in her voice. 

“And why is that? Do you want to cut my ear off too?”, you asked, your iritateness making you feel reckless. 

Jolyne huffed at your comment. She did that for you! 

“At least you could be grateful for what I did,” she spit out, “but no, I’d never hurt you. I can’t guarantee the same thing about the other inmates though.”

You immediately caught onto the threat. Your anger easily transformed into fear again as you realised what impact your words had on the woman in front of you. When Jolyne noticed you wouldn’t counter, she put her hand on your body again, this time deciding to let it travel up and down your arm. 

“If you keep saying mean things to me,” she said, her voice still sounding menacing despite her gentle hand movement, “I might just not talk to you anymore. Once the others see that we’re not hanging out anymore, they’ll just change their mind and choose you as their target again. And what do you do without my protection? You don’t want to be their punching bag again, do you, hm?” 

“No”, you managed to utter silently, eyes cast onto the floor. 

“Look sweetheart, I can make an exception for today. I’ll forget your behaviour and you reciprocate, right? Unless you want to go back to your initial position.”

“No!”, you answered a bit too fast, your eyes looking at her face again. You could only imagine what the inmate with the mutilated ear would do to you… “I’ll be good, I promise.”

Jolyne took hold of chin, ensuring that your eyes were still trained at her. Then, she kissed you again. Despite your feelings, you gave in, much to her pleasure. When she eventually removed her lips from yours, she shot you another love-struck gaze. 

You knew your life in Green Dolphin had been shitty before Jolyne, but now you only felt what it meant to be truly imprisoned. 

“I’m glad to hear that, honey,” the young woman said with a bedazzling smile on her face, “I’d suggest we finally take a shower, after all I can’t wait to see everything of my darling.” 

Her grin gained a sinister note. 

“And we’ll see how the night goes after that.”

[maxwell-grant]

You have done an (excelent) post on how to reinvent Batman as a Pulp Hero. Do you think you could do one to Superman as well? Or do you think it is impossible to do this with the progenitor of the Super Hero genre without transforming him in a totaly diferent character?

Well, you saying it as impossible only makes it seem ever more tempting of a challenge, but yes, it is a bit harder. I'm gonna link my Batman post here as a reference point.

Partially because Batman's a franchise I've thought extensively about for a long time in regards to what I like about it or how I'd like to approach if given the opportunity, which is not something I can really say for Superman until more recently the Big Blue to start orbiting my brain. I don't have years worth of redesigns or fan concepts saved on my galleries and files to comb through to pick and choose here, and my experience with Superman as a character is considerably different, in some aspects more deeply personal, and not really something I'd like to go into in this blog, at least not now.

Part of the reason why it's harder is also because Batman and Superman have very different relationships with their pulp inspirations. Batman was, ostensibly, a pulp character adapted to comics, a dime-a-dozen Shadow knock-off who picked up and played up diverging traits from other characters and gradually ran with them to gradually forge a unique identity. Superman right from the start was rooted in a much stronger conceptual underpinning: the Sci-Fi Superman and Alien Menace who, instead of being a tragic monster or a tyrannical villain, becomes a costumed adventurer and social crusader. Even the name Super-Man was taken from an early story of Siegel and Shuster about a telepathic villain who ends the story lamenting that he should have used his powers for the good of mankind instead of selfishness. I hesitate to call what Siegel and Shuster were doing “subversive” because that term's picked up a real negative connotation, and it's not like Siegel and Shuster were out to upend their influences (they were pulp aficionados themselves), but rather putting a more positive, new spin on them.

Which is why it also becomes a bit harder to do what I did with Batman and align Superman with some of his pulp-esque inspirations, like John Carter, Flash Gordon or Hugo Danner, without just making it "Superman but he's John Carter", "Superman but it's Flash Gordon", and "Iron Munro / Superman but everything sucks" respectively. It's harder to create a character that wouldn't feel reduntant and derivative at best, and actively contradictory to Superman at worst.

I guess if I had to come up with a "Pulp Hero Superman" take I liked, well first of all I'd have to take steps to distance it from the likes of Tom Strong or Al Ewing's Doc Thunder, those two are as good as it gets in regards to Pulp Supermen. I stipulated for Batman a "No Guns, No Murder, No Service" policy partially to distance my takes on Batman from all the "Pulp Batmen" that just add guns and murder and take Batman back to the barest of basics. Likewise, I'm adding a "No Depowered Science Hero" rule here, which means it's a take that's likely going to veer off a lot more into fantasy and probably enough tampering with Clark's character that it does risk becoming a different character.

Frankly I don't think I'm gonna succeed at doing these without just making it a new character entirely, because with Batman you can get away with just upending the character's aesthetic and setting and even origin and still keep it recognizably Bruce Wayne (in fact Batman does that all the time), which isn't really the case with Superman, who needs those to remain recognizably Superman as he goes through internal changes and character shifts. I guess what I'm gonna do here is more taking the building blocks of Superman/Clark Kent and see a couple new ways I can rearrange them to create a Pulp Superman

Perhaps something we can do is to scale back or recontextualize the "superhero" parts without diminishing Superman's role as a superpowered fantasy character.

One way we can start is by picking on that connection between Superman and the sci-fi supermen/alien monsters of pulps I mentioned earlier and play it up further, to create a Superman who's deeply, deeply alien in a way that no mild-mannered disguise or colorful outfit can really disguise, something so dramatically powerful and alien, that instead you could get tales about the kinds of ensuing changes and ripple effects this has on the world upon the The Super-Man's arrival. And for that I'm gonna have to quote @davidmann95's concept for Joshua Viers' absolutely stunning Superman redesign on the left side of the image above

The red, the goldish-orange and white, the alienness, the angelic, sculpted feeling, the halo, that innocently curious expression: it’s genuinely beautiful. Superman as a redeeming science-angel from beyond our understanding, as much past the uncanny valley of limited human comprehension as a Lovecraftian monster but tuned to the opposite key - you could spend an endless procession of human lifetimes trying and failing to understand this being, but all you’ll ever know for sure is that it is beyond you, and it knows you, and it loves you.

Superdoomsday from Earth 45, healed and transformed into the savior it was originally envisioned as? Some descendant of his, or a future of the man himself? An alien who picked up on a broadcast of Superman from Earth, and so inspired reshaped itself in his image to spread his ‘gospel’ to the stars?

Alternatively, to come back to Earth a little, many, many pulp characters and series were built off the antics and personalities of real people, celebrities getting their own magazines or serials or fictionalized takes on them, so perhaps one way to make a "pulp" take on Superman would be to emphasize a bit more of Superman's real-world roots, trends that inspired his creation directly or indirectly at the time. The Jewish strongman Sigmund Breibart and Shuster's interest in fitness culture, Harold Lloyd's comic persona, the rising "strongman" film genre in the early 20th century, actors Clark Gable and Kent Taylor that supposedly named his secret identity, Clark Kent being a socially-awkward journalist based of Siegel's own school experiences.

Maybe one start to an authentic Pulp Superman, who would still be Superman, would be to just ask the question "What if Superman was a real person and/or a celebrity, and they started making pulp magazines and serials dedicated to him? What would those look like?". You wouldn't even have to restrict it to just a story set in the 1930s, in fact you could even play around with the rise of new mediums over the decades.

This third one is a little closer to some plans I have for my own take on a Superman character, not necessarily what I would do with Superman proper but one of my ideas for a Superman analogue. Superman's a character I'll always associate strongly with childhood and childhood fantasy, and to tap into that I would emphasize the other end of the fiction that influenced Siegel and Shuster: comic strips, in their case specifically Little Nemo and Popeye.

In my case I would bring additional influences from some of the comic strips I personally grew up reading like Monica's Gang and Calvin and Hobbes, and I already talked a bit about Captain Fray in terms of how he’s a Superman character despite being a villain. I guess you could call this one "What if Superman was a public domain comic strip character, stripped of the importance of being the founding figure of a super popular genre or extended universe, and also was kind of ugly?".

He's not "Sloth from the Goonies" ugly, I swear I didn't actually have Sloth in mind when typing out this idea, I've never watched that film nor did I know until now that he actually spends the film in a Superman shirt. That's not really what I'm going for. Visually I was thinking of modeling my take on Superman heavily after Hugo from Street Fighter and his inspiration Andre the Giant, to really emphasize the “circus strongman / freak wrestler” aspect of Superman’s inspiration, particularly in regards to how Hugo’s SFIII version strikes a really great balance in making Hugo ugly and both comedic and fearsome in battle, as well as lovable and even a little dopey (without being outright stupid, like his IV self) in his victory animations and endings.

He's still Superman, he still goes on fantastical adventures to help people, he's still a deeply loving and compassionate soul whose face beams with joy and affection and who's got wonderful eyes and a great smile. It's just that this smile has a couple of mismatched stick-out teeth or some missing ones, and he's got a crooked smile some people take as smug or malicious, he’s got a strongman’s gut instead of a bodybuilder’s abs, his nose is a little busted (maybe he’s had too many crash landings), and his hair is a little wild or greasy, and he doesn't exactly have very good people skills because of how others usually react to him and, y'know, he doesn't get the kind of publicity Superman would get despite doing ostensibly the same things. He’s not deformed, he’s incredibly intelligent and capable, but in comparison to how superheroes are usually allowed to look, he might as well be Bizarro in the public eye.

It becomes a running gag that people tend to assume some nearby fireman or cop was the one who rescued the hundred orphans out of a burning building single-handedly, meanwhile he's getting accosted off-panel by police officers who think he set the building on fire, or think they can bully this weird man dressed funny. He goes to rescue old people in peril and occasionally they yell at him that they don't have any money. He doesn't get asked to lead superhero meetings or teams even though many in the community advocate for just how much he does for the world, he gets censored out of tv broadcasts or group shots (even his face is sometimes pixelated when they do show him), people invite him on talk shows and don't really let him talk or assume they got the wrong guy. He goes to rescue a woman dangling off a building, and then he gets attacked by like three different superhero teams who assume he must have kidnapped the poor damsel. He was the first superhero, he is the strongest of them all still, but he never really gets credit for it, it nor does he even want to. None of this at all stops him or deters him, except for some occasionally funny reactions.

This never really changes for him, he doesn't really earn people's approval nor does he have to, instead the stories, outside of the gags and adventures you’d expect from a comic strip, veer more towards others learning to be less judgmental and him learning ways to better approach people. He isn't any lesser than Superman just because he doesn't look like most people would want him to look and he doesn't have to look like Superman. Really I think we could use more superheroes that don’t look all so uniformly pretty.

Again, probably not a take that would work for Clark proper, but it’s one way I would take a shot at doing Superman with my own

I have other stuff in the works for this character but I'd like to keep them to better work on them for now, but yeah, these are three of my shots at developing a Pulp Superman.

Alternatively here's a fourth idea that's more pulp than all of these: Join up Nicholas Cage with Panos Cosmatos again, or whatever weird indie director he decides to pair up with next, and let them do whatever the hell they want with Superman. Give us Mandy Superman. Superman vs The Color Out of Space. Superman vs Five Nights at Freddy's. Superman’s quest to find THE LAST PIG OF KRYPTON. Anything goes.

[possiblyimbiassed]

The lying liars who lie

Years and years late to the party, I’ve finally gotten my hands on all the DVDs of BBC Sherlock, and I thought it would be fun to watch the extra material carefully, one piece after another, and also listen to at least some of the show makers’ commentary of the episodes. But at this point, after S4 where DVDs seemed to be a constant lying device in general, I tend to look at them with a bit more suspicious eyes...

I still love the show of course, but now that I’ve taken this deep dive into all the special features, I find them a truly hard thing to try to wrap my head around. Even this long after the fact, I’m amazed by the amount of shameless, self-congratulatory BS in the DVDs, where the people involved can’t have enough of complimenting each other and their show, while they skillfully avoid to discuss anything actually meaningful about the plot line. ;) For example, Moffat claims in the S2 DVD that “In fact, you’ll never see a more obsessively authentic version of Sherlock Holmes than this one”. But if we follow their light-hearted commentary, which basically takes the show at face value, I’d call that not just hyperbole, but an outright lie. If you want to see the ‘authentic’ stories from ACD’s work in this show, you’ll definitely need to go much deeper into the subtext and meta levels - neither of which are mentioned on these DVDs of course. Here’s my own (rather subjective) ‘review’ of the whole thing, trying to pinpoint why I view most of the commentary of the show from its own makers as an advanced art of deception. 

(My musings under the cut)

Series 1 - a wealth of extra material

First of all - as many of you probably knew already - the whole of the Unaired Pilot is added to the DVD of S1. In the extra material about the making of the series, they (Sue Vertue, Mofftiss and others) talk about what things they changed between the Pilot and ASiP, claiming that many changes were necessary improvements once they knew that they had a whole series and a lot more time at their disposal. 

Which I can perfectly understand and agree with in general. But I think what’s missing in their discussions is more interesting than what’s actually there (”Mind the gap” ;) ). Things that I would expect from the show makers when they go to the trouble of comparing the pilot version with the aired product. There’s not a word, for example, about the fact that they added both Mycroft and Moriarty to the story in ASiP - two characters who later turn out to play major roles and appear in almost every other episode until the end of TFP. Or about the choice that one of the screenwriters would play Mycroft. 

Neither do they discuss why they chose to relocate the place where Sherlock was challenged by the cabbie from 221B to Roland Kerr’s School of Further Education. Instead they focus on the details, like for example the new design of the interior of 221B.

Not to mention the fact that almost every scene in the Pilot is mirrored in ASiP (as pointed out long ago by @kateis-cakeis X), but at Angelo’s in the Pilot Sherlock follows the events with the cabbie while looking in an actual mirror. I even noticed that in the Pilot the cabbie is offering Sherlock dark-coloured bottles with the pills in them, while in ASiP those bottles are transparent, as if the cabbie is offering Sherlock to play Black or White in the chess game that he is simulating. What’s with all these mirrors, though? Not a word on the DVD... ;)

Now, even though these rather remarkable choices are neglected together with a great bunch of minor ones, I still think that the most interesting fact about all this is that they actually included the whole pilot version within this DVD, which is sold by the franchise. Why even do this, when it raises far more questions than it answers? The only logical reason I can come up with is that they’re laying out a track of little hints that anyone with a deep enough interest in the show to actually buy the DVDs can try to follow. And it seems to me that lying by omission is one of the first steps in the long line of cryptic and misleading author comments on this show. But at the same time, they clearly want the fans to have access to it all, even the abandoned version.

Moving on to Series 2, time for bigger lies 

In the extra material of this DVD Benedict himself describes how his character "faces one of his deadliest enemies in the shape of Love, and it comes in the form of Irene Adler, who is this extraordinary dominatrix [insert here a bunch of superlatives regarding Adler]...”. And then we see how Adler whips Sherlock with a riding crop (without any kind of consent, I have to add) while he’s lying on the floor, and we have Lara Pulver telling us how it was to have a go at Benedict on set. So Holmes whips dead bodies and Adler whips living; seems like a match made in hell! :))

Gatiss claims, grinning with his whole face, that “they’re clearly, absolutely made for each other”. OK, so I think we can see Sherlock being intellectually impressed by Adler, and even trying to protect her from Mycroft, and we can see John acting jealously. We can also see her being dressed and styled as a perfect, female mirror of Sherlock. But I’m still at a loss what all this has to do with love on Sherlock’s part? Especially since he’s not even responding in any fashion to her various attempts at seducing him. 

And there’s more: Paul McGuigan, the director of ASiB, claims that the scene where Sherlock has a conversation with Adler inside his Mind Palace about the crime case with the car that backfires "is a part of a kind of love story, if you like...” No, I don’t. Maybe it’s just me, but if their aim really was to convey to their audience a love story between Sherlock and The Woman, I think they failed miserably. All I see is a guy ’mansplaining’ to a clever woman how to use her brain, while she’s trying to flirt with him by expressing her admiration (to no avail, though) and make deductions at the same time. Nothing new under the sun, really. John did the same thing repeatedly in ASiP (without making own deductions) and got far more attention from Sherlock, but I’ve never heard any of the show makers call that ”a love story”. But by ’lie-splaining’ the scene with Irene to the audience, they try to manipulate us all to see it as such...

In all the direct commentary of this episode, where Steven, Mark, Sue, Benedict and Lara are present, I get the impression that every time they even touch on the relationship between Sherlock and John, they hurry to add the term “friendship” or “man love” or similar words in case they forgot them at first, avoiding even the tiniest possibility that there could be anything more going on between them. They even explain that when Irene calls them “a couple” she does not mean anything romantic. This whole approach feels almost paranoic in the midst of all the laid-back jokes and light-hearted talk about the filming. It’s as if a sort of restrictive, heteronormative filter or blanket is being constantly applied, to teach the audience the ‘no homo’ lesson of it all. And the more I listen to this, the more tiresome it becomes.

In the commentary Moffat does reveal an interesting detail, though: that the ‘Flight of the Dead’ in ASiB was inspired by a cut out scene in the Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. To me this is just one more reason to question the ‘authentic’ quality of this scene, as opposed to possibly taking place in Sherlock’s Mind Palace. But I digress... 

Listening to the commentary in general, it’s like it’s aimed to distract the attention from what’s going on at the screen rather than highlight it and try to explain their intentions. They do mention that Irene didn’t actually ‘beat’ Sherlock in the end of ASiB, but there’s no explanation of this obvious deviation from canon, where Adler does indeed fool Holmes, taking advantage of his prejudices.

The rest of the extra material of S2 is mostly about technical stuff, special effects and such, and also about filming techniques and Benedict’s delivery of fast deductions. But the part I really do love is the one where Andrew Scott talks about how much he enjoyed playing the scene where Moriarty dances before breaking into the Crown Jewels. That’s one of my favorite scenes of he whole show. :) Also, the takeaway message from this DVD is Moffat’s words at the end: 

“These are still the formative years of Sherlock Holmes, and the most important thing about this series is not that it’s updated; it’s the fact that those two men are still young and they’re still at the beginning of what they don’t yet know is gonna be a lifelong partnership”. 

And then comes Series 3... 

...and its extra material, with the most blatant attempts at deception so far, I believe. At this point Sherlock is called a “psychopath” by both the show’s characters, John’s blog, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as if it were true, which is a big deviation from ACD canon. That simply doesn’t happen there; while Holmes is sometimes described as eccentric, no one in the books is ever claiming that Sherlock Holmes has some kind of mental illness leaning towards cruelty and egotism - not even his enemies say this about him. In the show, however, they begin in ASiP with making him torture a dying man for information (something that is not included in the Pilot). And in S3, where they avoid discussing the reason why they turned Mary Morstan into a ruthless assassin, this major shift is glossed over by the fact that in the same episode (HLV) they also turn Sherlock into a murderer, who cold-bloodedly blows the brains out of a blackmailer for threatening to make said assassin’s crimes public. 

But without ever getting into the “why” of it all, the cast and crew seem overly happy and smiling describing these rather morbid choices as something positive; “fantastic”, "fresh and new” and "amazing” are their choice of words. Benedict claims that Mary, who has literally shot and almost killed Sherlock in HLV, is now "a new best friend of Sherlock’s”. Amanda claims that Mary “is protecting John” when she shoots Sherlock in the chest. Now they’re both psychopaths, and poor little John is forced to stomach them both because he’s addicted to danger. In Amanda’s words, Mary also “kind of gets in between the two of them, but she wants them to be together as well”.  Which is a load of BS considering that Mary tries to kill the protagonist of the story.

Lars Mikkelsen thinks it’s “such a good script” because “you’re mislead as an audience”. But he never gets the chance to expand on what the misleading actually contains, because then Mofftiss cut in to express how much they love playing with “what ifs”. As if this whole mega-budget project of a show were just a big experimental playground without any actual story to tell. 

Benedict repeats his line from HLV that Magnussen “preys on people who are different” and Moffat also says he “exploits people who are different”. Which is really confusing, considering what we can see Magnussen actually do in the show. Lady Smallwood and John Garvie are two well-established, powerful governmental politicians whom Magnussen blackmails by finding their respective pressure points. In Garvie’s case his pressure point seems to be alcohol problems in his past, but according to media he’s later arrested on charges of corruption. Lady Smallwood is blackmailed on the basis of her husband having sent compromising letters to a minor many years ago, in spite of later claiming that he thought she was older and stopped when he found out the truth. And then Magnussen is blackmailing an assassin who recently threatened to execute him but shot Sherlock Holmes instead, in order to try to get at Sherlock’s brother Mycroft, another powerful governmental figure. 

But what does media seeking out dirt on certain people in power and their families have to do with “people who are different”? Despicable as the method may be, isn’t this unfortunately how political power play usually works in our society? Or are TPTB somehow a repressed minority group now? Unless this whole “people who are different” accusation is actually about something entirely different, something that none of the show makers even cares to mention... ;)

In these DVDs, none of the involved persons is ever discussing the change of roles with regards to canon, though, or the (lack of) logics in this turn of events, or even a hint about the narrative motivation behind them. It’s all about the great Drama, the extraordinary visual effects and the aim to endlessly “surprise the audience”. Which is fine by me to a certain extent, but when this is all that’s being said, it feels extremely superficial, as if the audience is merely seen as a bunch of consumers that have to be triggered more and more by horror, special effects and cliff hangers to be able to appreciate the show. (“Warm paste” indeed, like Gatiss has later criticized some viewers of wanting...) While the "why”; the idea behind this surrealistic adaptation, made by self-proclaimed fanboys of ACD, is not even touched upon. Around this, the silence is total and therefore totally confusing.

Maybe I shouldn’t even go into Series 4...

...but why not, since I’ve already started? :) 

First of all, there’s a lot of extra material on this DVD and I particularly love the parts about the music and composing and Arwel Wyn Jones’ work with the design and build-up of John’s and Mary’s flat and the interior of 221B. Those bits are truly enjoyable. What I could live without, though, is the leading commentary that kind of instructs us, the audience, how we should interpret the show. 

Benedict is on it again on this DVD, telling us that in TST they picked up where they left off in S3 and “It’s a very happy unit of three people that then become four.” Why does he feel the need to make this statement, considering how S3 ended? Actually, if there’s anything I totally fail to see in S4, it’s happiness. The banter between the three  of them may seem entertaining for a while, but who could have a relaxed, warm relationship with someone who tried and almost succeeded to kill you less than a year ago? Without any sign of remorse? Now there’s a dark tone of discomfort and mean jokes that feels forced and not even a bit happy to me. 

But Martin tells us how excited John and Mary are about starting a family and Amanda mentions how much they’re looking forward to the baby. Again and again it’s repeated, as though trying to rub it in: “they’re in a good place, they’re a loving, married couple”. Yeah, right - a child that (judging by TSoT) wasn’t at all planned and now with an assassin for a mother... Twice we see the new parents complain that their daughter has the mark of Satan on her forehead and debate which horror movie she’s from. The clichéd hypocrisy of it all is sickening, and I’m willing to bet that it’s really meant to be. ;) 

But Gatiss chimes in, deciding for us all that the christening of Rosie is “a funny scene” and “they’re enjoying each other, enjoying being on adventures as a three”.

An interesting detail is that Gatiss also tells us that the working name of this episode was “The Adventure of the Melting power Ranger”. So this little blue guy was that important? :) And - even more interesting - is when he says: “Cake is now the code for violent death”. So how should we interpret Sherlock, John and Molly going out to have cake in TLD then, on Sherlock’s (supposed) birthday? 

These might be jokes, though, but when they tell us that Sue cries every time she sees Mary’s death I strongly believe they must be joking. How could anyone feel truly moved by this overly sentimental long monologue where far more efforts are put into reacting to Mary’s speech than saving her life? And John’s mooing like a cow, is that also moving? :)

One thing Martin says about TLD that actually disgusts me is regarding the morgue scene where John assaults Sherlock and Sherlock lets it happen: “From there, really, their relationship can only sort of rebuild, that’s the absolute worst it can get”. As if outright physical abuse would be something that makes you want to rebuild a relationship? Wow - just wow... How far can they go with this crap?

Anyway, when we finally arrive at the absurdity of TFP and Sherlock’s ‘secret sister’, everything is of course discussed as if she actually does exist on the given premises, and everything she does is ‘real’, no matter how impossible it would be in real life. The abandonment of any attempt to have the story line make logical sense is skillfully covered up by more distraction with fascinating technicalities of the film making process. This is where Gatiss makes his now almost classic statement that after Sherlock and John jump out of the window at 221B when a grenade explodes there, it’s just “Boop! And they’re fine.” 

Of course there’s no serious attempt at explaining this logically. Except perhaps Gatiss claiming that they both landed on Speedy’s awning - whatever good that would do to them, since the awning is leaning downwards, but never mind... But we never even saw that happen, did we? A great deal of time is then dedicated to show all the precautions to have Martin and Ben jumping safely at low level onto a madras supported by empty cardboard boxes.

Sian Brooke did say something interesting about Sherrinford, however, that got me thinking. She said that Eurus “wants revenge for the years and years that she has been held captive” there, isolated, and that in TFP the Holmes children are now “lab rats” and “it’s an experiment”. On a meta level, I think we can indeed see this episode - and maybe the whole show - as a kind of experiment, but maybe we, the audience, are also lab rats? Since Sherrinford is slightly shaped like a film camera (not commented in the extra material, of course), it leads my thought to all the adaptations through the years and years where Holmes and Watson have not been allowed to be together. A whole century when Sherlock Holmes has been held captive, restricted by the very same sort of heteronormative filter that all this extra material imposes; it’s like Sherrinford, isn’t it? Which gives all the more meaning to Moriarty’s arrival to the island, accompanied by Freddy Mercury’s “I want to break free”...

I think I’ll let the final words in this little exposé come from Mark Gatiss in The Writers’ Chat (my bolding):

“Moriarty is a fascinating thing in that in our sea of ongoing lies, one thing we’ve genuinely been completely consistent about is telling people he’s dead. But no-one believes it! And it’s a rather brilliant thing.”  Again - self-congratulatory statements. But instead of providing some actual evidence of the death of this character, who has kept popping up in almost every episode since his supposed demise, they think that the more a confirmed liar repeats something, the truer it gets? And the more we’re supposed to believe them? Well, all we can do is wait and see. :)

Tagging some people who might be interested: 

@raggedyblue​ @ebaeschnbliah​ @sarahthecoat​ @gosherlocked​ @lukessense​ @sagestreet​ @thepersianslipper​

My earlier meta on a similar topic (X)