#also she was inspirated by luck and logic characters

[onikiribattousai]

A little sketch of Laura's hero outfit (AKA Sha Girl/Sutekh Maiden) with Was Scepter as her weapon, with a pretty sharp edge, in addition to control and manipulate chaos, sand and wind.

(Might do a little changes on her dress)

Bonus: Set being a proud of his avatar while making fun of Khonshu

(This is my version of Set)

What he said:

"My Avatar might be a shy girl and I'm a God Of Chaos, but we have a great bond (unlike some bird)."

[chirpsythismorning]

Mike’s monologue makes so much more sense when you remember, he’s a frickin’ Paladin...

Paladins take their oath very seriously, and I do think that the whole theme of friends don't lie, is in part loosely inspired by this oath that Paladin's make, and how one of their most defining qualities is swearing by tenants of honesty.

All of us often overlook the D&D aspect in the show and how central of a role it plays, arguably even more so than parallels with the hundreds of movies they refer to for inspiration, and that's why this moment of Mike's monologue with El in s4, along with Mike's monologue with Will in season 2, is so important to consider if we want to be ready for what's about to go down in s5.

It's as if Mike is acting out an oath of devotion to these two characters. Though his oath to Will comes off a lot more genuine, it's unfortunately undermined slightly by the oath he presents to El, because they're both attempting to be an oath of devotion. By saying he loved El the moment he saw her and how his life started at that very moment, he's contradicting what he said to Will just hours before about how meeting El was simple dumb luck, as well as directly paralleling (and in turn undermining) what he told Will back in s2, which is that meeting Will/asking to be his friend was the best thing he's ever done.

Mike is inadvertently breaking an oath he once made, while also creating a new oath that stands on false grounds.

We've talked about the whole Watch out dominos, your dominos are gonna fall, and how it's related to Mike because he's in the shot equally to Argyle as he says it. But seriously you guys, it's related to Mike.

It's about the internal struggle he's been having for a few years now, growing and growing and him sort of refusing to examine it closely, because he knows that he's in a situation where he's supposed to be devoting himself to El. It's the expected path, and not only that but he also feels indebted to El after all she has done for him (also what the ga thinks which is why they argue even if Mike doesn't love El, they shouldn't break up bc it would hurt her.... Mike shares the ga's logic...), and so as it becomes more and more clear to him that she loves him and wants him to love her, he's trying his best to accept it, while also not being able to because he knows deep down he's breaking an oath that he already made if he follows through with this.

While I think there are a bunch of different factors at play, very likely Mike is aware of what his heart truly wants, which is why he's having such a hard time following through with devoting himself to El. Because deep down, he knows he's already devoted to someone else.

Luckily (tragically), Mike is breaking his oath because he thinks it's the right thing to do. Which just makes him even more of a Paladin if you think about it. The fact that him not wanting to break an oath is why he's been struggling for so long.

I don't think he knows that he's hurting Will while he's doing it, because the oath has more to do with him and being honest with himself, and I don't think he knows he's hurting El by doing this either, because he's under the assumption she wants him to say all of these things. He had doubts originally because there were reasons to have doubts as a result of Mike stalling for so long, but I just don't think Mike would go through with the monologue, if he thought that it wasn't what El wanted.

What makes Mike's arc so painfully tragic, is that he is led to believe at this point that El wants him romantically more than she needs him and that's the whole problem. He is unable to love her in the way she wants him to at this point, and he knows this. And he's still holding back.

That's another thing that's so sad about Mike going through with it in the end anyways, because I think a lot of his guilt stems from knowing that El wants him to love her, and yet he's unable to meet her halfway. And then going through with it in the end, when he doesn't truly mean it, that's... like he's breaking every code in his own book by doing this.

And it is likely going to really affect him.

The dominos are gonna fall. Not just for him, but for everyone.

The good news is that there is a standard way for this to play out, based on D&D rules and interestingly enough, it fits quite well with what s5 is likely to entail...

[the-goddess-of-everything-else]

BLUE EXORCIST CHARACTERS PLAYING DND

RIN

LIKES TO PLAY OFFENSIVE ROLES LIKE PALADINS, FIGHTERS, BUT ALSO LIKES THE OCCASIONAL BARD.

LOVES THE ROLEPLAYING ASPECT BUT IS NOT GOOD AT IT AT ALL (BUT HE TRIES HIS BEST.)

HE REALLY ENJOYS DND, ESPECIALLY PLAYING WITH THE REST OF THE EXWIRES.

AT THE START OF THE CAMPAIGN HE NEVER GETS ANY GOOD ROLLS, AT ALL.

HOWEVER AT THE VERY VITAL MOMENTS HE SUDDENLY ROLLS A NAT 20 AND SAVES THE PARTY'S HIDE.

GET'S A BIT HEATED AND A LITTLE COMPETITIVE BUT NEVER TO A PROBLEM PLAYER LEVEL.

YUKIO

IS STUCK AS THE DM, ALWAYS

NOT THAT HE MINDS, HE DOESNT LIKE BEING A PLAYER AND WHEN HE DOES HE'S STIFF AF.

LIKE WHEN THE ROLEPLAYING PART COMES AROUND HE SEEMS SO APATHETIC ABOUT IT.

BUT WHEN ROLLING HE GETS LIKE, NAT 20'S EVERYTIME.

WHILE THE REST OF THE PARTY FREAKS OUT AT HIS CONSTANT GOOD LUCK HE'S JUST SITTING THERE STONE FACED.

BUT AS DM HE'S ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD, WHILE HE DOESN'T LIKE ACTING OUT CAMPAIGNS HE ACTUALLY CREATES GODLY STORIES.

DOESN'T LIKE HOMEBREW THAT MUCH AND MUCH PREFERS NORMAL DND

ISN'T AFRAID TO KICK OUT PROBLEM PLAYERS

WAS MOST LIKELY DRAGGED INTO DND BY RIN.

SHIEMI

DESPITE HER NATURE SHE LIKES PLAYING OFFENSIVE ROLES, BUT STILL PLAYS A LOT OF SUPPORT (FAVOURITE'S ARE FIGHTER, MONK, DRUID AND CLERIC)

ALWAYS MAKES HER CHARACTER FLOWER THEMED IN SOME ASPECT AND REALLY CUTE DESPITE BEING BULKED IN STRENGTH.

GETS AVERAGE ROLLS

ALWAYS BRINGS HOMEMADE SNACKS FOR EVERYONE AND MAKES SURE EVERYBODY IS COMFORTABLE.

GETS NERVOUS AT ROLEPLAYING BUT EVENTUALLY GETS THE HANG OF IT.

BON

PLAYS AS MONK, ALWAYS, NO MATTER WHAT.

IS VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THE RULES AND READS THE RULEBOOK BEFORE GAME.

ALWAYS TRIES TO GO FOR A LOGICAL DECISION

IS THE ANCHOR OF REALITY FOR THE ENTIRE GROUP.

GETS MORE COMPETITIVE AT THE GAME THAN RIN AND OFTEN GETS INTO SPATS WITH HIM BECAUSE RIN LIKES TO MAKE MORE OUT OF POCKET DECISIONS.

IS GOOD AT ROLEPLAYING AND TRIES HARD TO HELP THE DM (YUKIO) MAKE THE WORLD MORE IMMERSIVE.

SHIMA

ALWAYS PLAYS A BARD TO ""SEDUCE" THE NPC LADIES WITH SONG

BUT WHEN NOT DOING THAT HE ALWAYS PLAYS LIKE A ROGUE TO YUKIO'S CHAGRIN.

HIS CHARACTERS ARE EITHER, EXTREMELY HOT ELVEN PRINCES OR EXTREMELY BUSTY AND INCORRECTLY ANATOMIED LADIES, NO INBETWEENS

ALWAYS TRIES TO FIND NPC WOMEN TO FLIRT WITH.

ROLLS REALLY WELL SO THE PARTY USUALLY HAS TO SIT THERE AND WATCH HIM DO HIS WHOLE ROUTINE.

GODLY AT ROLEPLAYING, LIKE THIS MAN IS PUTTING ALL THE EFFORT IN AND IT'S THE ENTIRE REASON HE HASN'T BEEN KICKED OUT THE GROUP YET.

KONEKOMARU

ALWAYS PLAYS SUPPORT ROLES AND FAVOURS DRUID, BUT ALSO LIKES ARTIFICER, SORCERER AND WIZARD.

IS MOSTLY THERE FOR BON AND SHIMA.

DOESN'T GET GOOD ROLLS OFTEN THOUGH AND FEELS REALLY BAD ABOUT IT.

ALSO ISN'T GOOD AT ROLEPLAYING, BUT LIKE RIN IS ALSO TRYING HIS BEST.

FIGHT SCENES ALWAYS INCLUDE HIM RUNNING AROUND TO HEAL THE PARTY.

TRIES TO CALM RIN AND BON DOWN WHEN THEY GET INTO THEIR FIGHTS

IZUMO

HAS NO PREFERANCE IN CLASS AT ALL AND JUST GOES WITH WHATEVER THE PARTY NEEDS.

SAYS DND IS STUPID BUT IN IZUMO FASHION IS ACTUALLY REALLY INTO IT.

LIKE BON ALSO TAKES IT SERIOUSLY NOT TO HIS EXTENT.

PUTS A LOT OF EFFORT INTO MAKING HER CHARACTERS AND GIVES THEM DEEP LORE, SHE GROWS SO ATTATCHED TO THEM.

PLAYS AS MALE CHARACTERS INSPIRED FROM HER ROMANCE ANIMES A LOT

LEWIN

CASUALLY PLAYS DND A LOT, BUT IS ONE OF THOSE PLAYERS WHO REALLY NEED A SHOWER

MESSILY EATS FOOD ALL OVER THE TABLE

OFTEN PLAYS MAGIC CLASSES BECAUSE HE THINKS ITS COOL

IS VERY LAID BACK ABOUT THE GAME

WHEN SOME MYTHOLOGICAL CREATURE APPEARS IN GAME HE WILL BRING UP SOME NICHE FACT AND OR RAMBLE ABOUT IT FOR A WHILE.

CHEATS AT THE GAME USING THE SYLPHS TO MESS WITH THE DICE, HOWEVER YOU'LL NEVER KNOW.

ARTHUR

ALWAYS PLAYS AS SELF INSERTS (NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT) BUT BY SELF INSERT I MEAN ITS JUST HIM. NOT A CHARACTER... JUST... HIM. (PALADIN CLASS. OBVIOUSLY)

PLAYS LAWFUL GOOD RELIGIOUSLY

GETS REALLY INTO THE ROLEPLAYING ASPECT BUT WHEN YOU'RE ROLEPLAYING AS YOURSELF ITS MORE OF AN EGO FANTASY.

WHEN HE ROLLS LOW HE ACCEPTS IT AS A PART OF THE STORY IN A "ALL HEROES HAVE THEIR BAD DAYS" KIND OF WAY.

MEPHISTO

LIKES BEING DM MORE THAN PLAYING, BUT SINCE IM IMAGINING IT WITH HIS SIBLINGS, HE ALWAYS PLAYS BECAUSE HE CANNOT PUT UP WITH LUCIFERS BS AND WOULD START A FIGHT

PLAYS BARD A LOT. NEVER SHUTS UP IN TYPICAL BARD FASHION

ROLLS SUSPICIOUSLY HIGH... BUT I'M SURE THERE'S NO TRICKS INVOLVING THAT.

ALSO GETS REALLY INTO THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORIES, IN A MORE SADISTIC WAY LIKE ARTISTS TRAUMATISING THEIR OC'S

LUCIFER

PROBLEM PLAYER, LIKE HOOOOLYY...

GET'S VERY PETTY IF ANOTHER CHARACTER MAKES A DECISION THAT BENEFITS HIS CHARACTER NEGATIVELY

THROWS FITS WHEN NOTHING GOES HIS WAY, THE REST OF THE DEMON KINGS (EXCLUDING MEPHISTO, AZAZEL, BEEL AND MAYBE AMAIMON) BLINDLY FOLLOW THIS MF

MARY SUE CHARACTERS THAT ARE ALWAYS IN THE RIGHT AND ARE ODDLY VERY SIMILAR TO HIM, TOTALLY NO CONNECTION THOUGH.

MAIN CHARACTER SYNDROME

ALWAYS ROLLS NAT 20'S BECAUSE IF HE DOESNT HE WILL THROW A FIT AND TRY TO RESURRECT SATAN, SO THE DM (AZAZEL) HAS TO CHANGE IT EVERYTIME.

AZAZEL

SELF DESIGNATED DM BECAUSE HE'S THE ONLY ONE WILLING TO PUT UP WITH LUCIFERS BULLSHIT AND KNOWING HOW TO BE A DM.

PUTS CARE INTO HIS CAMPAIGN

ENJOYS HOMEBREW AND LIKES EXPERIMENTING WITH HIS OWN LITTLE WORLDS

ON THE VERY RARE OCCASION THAT HE'S NOT DMING HE PLAYS AS MAGIC CLASSES WITH HIS FAVOURITE BEING SORCERER.

IBLIS

ONLY PLAYS BECAUSE EGYN ENJOYS THE GAME.

SHE GLADLY GOES ALONG WITH WHATEVER LUCIFERS DOING CAUSE OF HIERARCHY OR WHATEVER.

SOMEWHAT LIKES THE GAME?

PLAYS AS ROUGE AND LIKES CAUSING AS MUCH CHAOS AND DEVASTATION AS POSSIBLE

EGYN

ACTUALLY REALLY LIKES THE GAME BUT IS AFRAID TO ADMIT IT

VERY GEEKY ABOUT IT BUT HIDES IT A LOT

PLAYS A WIDE VARIETY OF CLASSES

PLAYS VERY LOGICALLY AND PLANS OUT HIS MOVES AND CHARACTER TO AN EXTREME EXTENT

EXTREMELY SERIOUS AND A VERY BIG STICKLER TO THE RULES

ASTAROTH

PLAYS REALLY AGRESSIVELY

THINKS THE GAME IS STUPID.

TRIES TO ROLEPLAY BUT GETS BORED

IDK WHAT TO SAY ABOUT MY G HE'S KIND OF A DICK WHILE PLAYING TBH

BEEZLEBUB

DOESN'T MIND THE GAME, ACTUALLY SEMI LIKES IT.

ALWAYS ROLLS RATHER LOW TO HIS AMUSEMENT.

MAKES HIS CHARACTERS BUG THEMED AND LIKES NAMING THEM AFTER INSECTS

ROLEPLAYS KIND OF ALRIGHT, REALLY JUST DEPENDS ON THE DAY.

AMAIMON

DOESN'T CARE FOR DND. BUT PLAYS ALONG TO FIT IN WITH THE REST OF THE GROUP.

WILL JUST STRAIGHT UP COPY ANOTHER ONE OF HIS SIBLINGS CHARACTERS (PROBABLY MEPHISTO'S) BECAUSE HE HAS NO IDEA HOW TO MAKE ONE.

WILL NOT ROLEPLAY CAUSE HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF IT

WILL INTERACT WITH ANY NPC LIKE HE WOULD NORMALLY (EG. NPC INSULTING HIM, THEY GET DESTROYED IN BATTLE)

[drstonetrivia]

Birthdays!

I compiled what I found to be the most character-relevant and/or funny reasons for everyone's birthdays, however unless Inagaki Sensei confirms the reasoning behind them, these are all assumptions!

Senku - 1/4 - A pun on Ishigami, as 1-4 can be read as i-shi, meaning stone. If you've forgotten about this, then I recommend rereading chapter 56!

Luna - 1/30 - Anniversary of Orville Wright (of the Wright brothers)'s death. This may also be another pun, as 3-0 can be read as mi-zero, and the kanji for charm is 魅 (=mi) which could mean Luna has "zero charm". Another option is reading it as 1-3-0, i-mi-zero, or "zero meaning", which hopefully isn't a hint of how useful this birthday-meaning endeavor is…

Related, Luna didn't seem to be born under a full moon either so that's not the reason behind her birthday.

Yo - 1/31 - This is a big logic leap, however: 1 can be read as "ichi", or 位置 meaning position. Putting the 3+1 into context, we have Yo mentioning the "big 3" + himself as the Four Heavenly Kings, giving us Yo as the 4th in a position of power.

I couldn't find any way of making the date fit an exclamation like "Yo!" or "Uei!", but the "ue" (上) part of his name means "up" which fits the theme of positioning.

Chrome - 2/4 - The element chromium has the atomic number 24. I'm pretty confident this was the inspiration, however it's also a month after Senku's birthday!

Kaseki - 2/9 - Another logic jump: copper's atomic number is 29. The era after the Stone Age is the Chalcolithic, or Copper Age. Since Kaseki is the village's most skilled craftsman, it could be implying that Kaseki brought them out of the Stone Age into the next era.

Amaryllis - 2/14 - Valentine's Day. It's also chocolate day in Japan, which suits the sweet seductress that she is :)

Homura - 3/3 - Can be read as "san-san", which means brilliant or bright. As the name Homura means flame, this is fitting.

Ibara - 3/23 - I couldn't find anything of interest, even when checking the blossoming of thorny plants (Ibara means thorn after all). A little disappointing honestly :(

Yuzuriha - 3/31 - The end of the fiscal year in Japan and sometimes the last day of school. Had she been born 2 days later she'd be in a different grade to Senku and Taiju!

It's also the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Gen - 4/1 - April Fool's Day, as well as the day Senku, Xeno, and probably several other Americans broke out of petrification after 3,700+ years. An inversion of Senku's birthday (1/4 and 4/1).

Great job to everyone who guessed the date before it was officially revealed!

Taiju - 4/2 - Likely the oldest one in Senku's school year because of Japan's birthday/grade division. 4-2 can also be read as "shi-ni" meaning "death", which could be related to everyone closest to Taiju dying at some point (both his parents are dead, Senku's died once, Taiju himself was likely dead and Yuzuriha wasn't looking too great in Corn City). If we want to push further though, "death" in Latin is "mori", and "mori" means forest in Japanese, tying in to Taiju's tree theme.

With Yuzuriha, Gen, and Taiju all having their birthdays right after one another, it seems like all of Senku's closest friends have their birthdays together.

Ginro - 4/7 - The element silver has the atomic number 47, similar to Chrome's birthday being the atomic number for chromium.

Ruri - 4/14 - Potentially another ishi/stone reference because of the 14, but it's also the Takayama/Sanno festival wishing for a good harvest. A more modern celebration is Orange Day, where romantic partners from Valentine's and White Day trade orange-colored gifts.

Ironically, orange blossoms are meant to represent prosperity and luck in marriage in flower language… Poor Ruri haha

Kokuyo - 4/19 - Another pun using numbers: 4-1-9 or "shi-i-ku", meaning breeding. Breeding Day is a day to celebrate the work of zookeepers and get people interested in zoos.

The other celebration on this day is the Furukawa festival, one of the three naked festivals. Men in loincloths (fundoshi) fight for the prime location near the central drum being paraded through town. The parade lasts the whole night.

Moz - 5/5 - Children's Day, also part of Golden Week. It's a day to celebrate children's happiness and their personalities. Before 1948, it was also used to recognize fathers, which is ironic given Moz attempted to kill his father when he was 7.

Carlos - 5/30 - Anniversary of Wilbur Wright (of the Wright brothers)'s death, matching Luna. Similarly, the numbers also spell something out: 5-3-0 is "go-mi-zero", or "zero garbage". Whether this means that Carlos is garbage and a zero, or that he's /not/ garbage, I can't tell.

This is also a proper day of celebration in Japan for cleaning up waste.

Ukyo - 6/5 - World Environment Day. (I have recommendations for when Ukyo's birthday should have been instead: 3/3 sounds like "mi-mi", meaning "ear", = his sonar skills. The other date is 9/8, read as "ku-ya", as the kanji for bow (弓) can be read as "ku" and arrow (矢) is "ya".)

Joel - 6/10 - Anniversary of Time. It commemorates the first time-keeping water clock in Japan, open to the public.

Minami - 6/21 - The day after Riichiro Inagaki's birthday, as well as the summer solstice. It's also Refrigerator Day in Japan, a day to check your fridges before the hot summer arrives. Or in Minami's case, to check on Tsukasa…

Max - 6/30 - Asteroid Day, for global awareness about the risks of asteroid impacts. 6-3 can also be read as "mu-mi", which means "tasteless" (無味). Not sure how the zero fits in though…

Luna, Max, and Carlos also all have birthdays that fall on the 30th of the month. What the significance of that is is unclear, apart from the fact that their dates can all create words.

Kirisame - 7/7 - The Tanabata festival, a celebration for two star-crossed lovers, generally celebrated by writing wishes on paper and hanging them from a bamboo tree. It's also World Chocolate Day!

Kinro - 7/9 - The element gold has the atomic number 79, similar to Chrome's and Ginro's birthdays being their atomic numbers.

Kohaku - 8/8 - A day full of puns, as 8-8 can be read as either "ha-ha" or "ba-ba", meaning father and grandmother respectively, but "ha" also means teeth and "hachi" (=another way of reading 8) means "bee"… The list goes on.

It's also World Cat Day! :3

Magma - 8/22 - The kanji for 8 looks like a volcano (八) which is probably the logic behind choosing August. 2 can also be read as "fu", and "fufu" is the equivalent of "hehe" laughter in English. In rare cases, 2 can also be read as "ha", which could be referencing Magma's "muhaha!" It's also the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief…

Nikki - 8/31 - 831 is shorthand for "I Love You", as it has 8 letters, 3 words, and 1 meaning. It's also good for hiding your embarrassment if you struggle to say (or type, or send via Morse code) the words themselves…

Stanley - 9/1 - The anniversary of the establishment of the US's Air Force Space Command, which is now part of the United States Space Force, the American military counterpart to NASA.

Suika - 9/9 - Chrysanthemum Day, an ancient festival in Japan, also known as the Festival of Happiness. It's also First Aid Day, the Katakai fireworks festival, and the day Kiku No.1 was launched by NASDA (now JAXA). The latter is interesting because it's quite round, like Suika!

Matsukaze - 9/15 - Respect For The Aged Day. Sometimes the date varies, but as Matsukaze is a man who follows the Bushido code, this seems fitting.

Xeno - 10/1 - NASA's first day of operations, as well as NASDA's day of establishment, then later JAXA's. An all-around good day for national space agencies. Also falls on International Coffee Day, I wonder if they're connected…

Byakuya - 10/8 - Byakuya's literal name. The kanji for "byaku" (百) is 100, and 8 can be read as "ya", creating 108, or 10/8.

Tsukasa - 10/10 - World Mental Health Day, as well as World Day against the Death Penalty. Ironic given the plot of Stone wars. It's also Public Bath Day and Fishing Day.

Ryusui - 11/11 - Desiring the best of everything, Ryusui's birthday is obviously #1…111. It's also Pocky Day, I wonder if he uses that fact to flirt with people/play the pocky game?

Hyoga - 11/30 - Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare. (RIP Gozan, Yuki, Ren, Akashi, Kyoichiro, and Morito.) It could also be a way of "drawing" his kuda yari in action: 一一三〇

Chelsea - 12/20 - Anniversary of Sacagawea's death (maybe). She was a young girl who helped the Lewis and Clark expedition explore central America. 12°N 20°E is also a location in Chad.

Mirai - 12/31 - New Year's Eve, a day for looking towards the future. As Mirai's name means future, it's no surprise that this is her birthday!

Feel free to reply with any other discoveries about their birthdays you find! This is by no means a complete list, especially since any Japanese puns are mostly lost on me haha!

[idiasmentalhealth]

yo so this is really weird but im tryna think of names inspired by cozier songs and I see that you have a case of the hyper fixation so if it suits your fancy could you perhaps like think of some (no pressure at all btw)

i'm not entirely sure if i'll be much help but i will try my best :)

and p.s. a lot of his song reference stories i don't know much about and i'm willing to do some research to understand it but not that much so 😭

(edit note: i wrote this last night and stayed up till like 3am i think and i was gonna proofread it today but i was too busy/lazy and forgot to and i don't wanna take too long to reply so here you go good luck lol) i probably put way more effort into this than you wanted me to from the ask buttt too late now

ok so i'll start with the easier songs (the ones with actual names in the lyrics/title)

1.

"But, still, the mind, rejectin' this new empty space

Fills it with somethin' or someone

No closer could I be to God Or why he would do what he's done"

"What you're given, what you live in Darlin', it finds a way to live in you And your heart, love, has such darkness I feel it in the corners of the room"

Selby: gender-neutral name meaning "manor village; from the willow farm"

note that these songs are inspired by the fictional character De Selby. Hozier describes him as "-this philosopher, this kind of scholar, who's kind of part genius part lunatic. He sees the world through a very dream-like logic." its up to you if you want to name ur character after a song inspired by another character or not lol

here's a cool little description of the name on thebump.com: "Selby is a gender-neutral name of English origin, meaning “manor village.” Softly alluding to a place of dwelling in Yorkshire, England, Selby is a wholesome moniker that feels like home the minute it’s spoken. Selby is also a name linked to Old Norse history and points to a person or thing “from the willow farm.” Known for its connections to the Underworld and Otherworld, willow trees, in all their cosmic wonder, put realms beyond imagination right at our fingertips. Both an abode and a bridge to a land existent only in legends, Selby inspires us to look beyond what our eyes can see but reminds us to stay grounded while we’re at it!"

and hozier's other song "Would That I" also references willow trees so in a way it's inspired by 3 songs?

2.

"Do you think I'd give up

That this might've shook the love from me

Or that I was on the brink?

How could you think, darling, I'd scare so easily?

Now that it's done

There's not one thing that I would change

My life was a storm, since I was born

How could I fear any hurricane?"

"Heaven is not fit to house a love (like you and I)"

This song is about the story of Francesca da Ramini in the 2nd circle of hell. Basically Francesca has an affair with Paolo Malasta because of how unpleasant her husband (Paolo's brother) is. Eventually they get found out and her husband kills them. She's saying that even though she's in the 2nd circle of hell (where lustful souls are punished by somekind of hurricane) she doesn't regret loving Paolo and would do it all again. - a summary of a comment on genius.com about the lyrics

Francesca: feminine name meaning "free."

similar names: Francis, Francisca/o

you could also use Paolo (meaning "small; humble) if you want

3.

"I do not have wings, love, I never will

Soarin' over a world you are carryin'

If these heights should bring my fall

Let me be your own

Icarian carrion

If the wind turns, if I hit a squall

Allow the ground to find its brutal way to me

If I should fall, on that day

I only pray, don't fall away from me"

clearly referencing icarus, the man who flew too close to the sun

Icarus: "follower; the one who reaches the sky"

4.

"I'd be the voice that urged Orpheus

When her body was found"

"And I'd be the immediate forgiveness

In Eurydice

Imagine being loved by me"

Orpheus: "the darkness of night"

Eurydice: "wide justice"

similar names: Alice, Justyce, Justin/e

ok now to get more creative

or not. quite a few of his songs reference light/darkness and there are a LOT of names that reference either one of those 😭 here's some examples:

light/shinning/clear/etc:

Phoebe, Clara, Nora, Lucian, Lucius, Elena, Ayla, Claire, Bodhi, Lucia

dark/shadow/etc:

Adriana, Achlys, Akmad, Apollo, Azazel, Asra, Carey, Colin, Corvina, Cronan

now back to "Would That I," he describes 2 kinds of loves in this song: the willow tree and the fire. thr willow being a past love, and the fire being the new that burnst away the attachment to the old. or something like, that im tired.

could always use Willow, which i think is a pretty name.

other names meaning willow tree: Dozier (haha), Arava, Salton, Wellesley, Liu, Wilford, Osier, Vide, Lian, Verba

names meaning fire: Ember, Bedelia (goddess of fire in Celtic mythology), Bridget, Calida, Cyra, Enya, Eliane, Elidth, Elidi, Hestia, Helia, Idalia, Mehri, Soleil, Seraphina, Oriane, Nina (also mentioned in "Nina Cried Power" which is a protest song)

speaking of Nina Cried power, a list of all the names in the song just in case: Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Mavis Staples, Curtis Mayfield, Patti Smith, John Lennon, James Brown, B.B. King, Joni Mitchell, Pete Seeger, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie. These are all names of musicians who contributed to the battle for equality over the years (Civil Rights Movement and other such protests) not sure if you'd want to name your character one of these since it wouldn't exactly be naming them after a Hozier song, but i felt like i should mention them anyways

other names mentioned in song lyrics but i'm too tired to do more researching rn: Cher, Atlas, Fred, Sergei (Sergei Polunin, the dancer in the music video for "Movement")

[nekropsii]

hey man, any tips on how to think of a fantroll name? I'm doing some fantrolls with my friend to do a rp, but the name has been something to think about lol... She went to see *greek* names to help 🤨 (Sorry for any English mistakes! I don't speak your language)

Greek names work, I just wouldn’t choose normal ones. Troll names have to say something about the character, fit their vibe, and sound alien. The last note is important, it’s kind of weird when people give Trolls human names for no tangible reason. If you have a reason then it’s fine, though. Aradia and Aranea are both normal names, but there’s context behind why they’re called that, so it’s fine.

In Homestuck proper, most of the names are near entirely derived from their Zodiac sign… So a good starting point is looking into the sign your character is. Maybe name them after a star in the sign’s constellation as a starting place. Hussie had a tendency of scrambling the words or taking liberties with their spelling as a method of making them fit. For example, Mituna’s name is derived from Mithuna/Maithuna, Vriska from Vrishchika, Karkat from Karkatha, et cetera. Don’t be afraid to do the same thing.

For Sovereignstuck, we also named some characters after concepts they’re based on or inspired by. Retris Morage is named after the Tetris Effect, Annomi Errata takes after the words “Anomie” and… Well, “Errata”, so on and so forth.

You can get funky with Troll names, just make sure it doesn’t sound like a human’s name, and that it has a meaning behind it. It can be an incredibly simple meaning, but it’s gotta have one. Don’t just make it a slurry of random vowels and consonants. It’s basically the same logic as naming any other character, just with an extra step or two. Good luck!

[kiawren]

💛💚💜 hi wren :3

💛/Yellow: Imagine a fantasy au with you and your f/o! What roles would the two of you take? How would the story end?

Well there's this au inspired by cupid and psyche I dumped in the tags of this post about wren being some cupid figure + fallen angel of sorts and kiawe's form is part fire and they fall in love even though circumstances rlly don't favour them to be together or something

A few times I've thought of a prince x knight au where wren is the prince and Kiawe is the knight becuz the latter is very hardworking Buuut I do not want to be royalty nor deserve to be or see myself in that role in an AU and I would rather dedicate myself to Kiawe as a knight does Buuuttt I also don't see myself as a knight becuz im lazy as hell and have no athletic stamina So.

Also an au where Kiawe is a vampire hehegheurgrjtjgkhh and wren woukd be like Haha you want to suck my blood So bad and kiawe's like no Actually i don't need to we have ethical reliable means of getting blood routinely.. But if he doesn't then well I am right Here

💚/Green: Does your f/o get jealous? How do they cope with it?

I think emotion wise he can be the type to feel jealousy but logic wise he's trusting of his partner and we communicate so he wouldn't find much reason to... Um to answer the question i think when kiawren is still pining then yeah, I think wren hangs out with Ilima becuz he helps wren with academia and research and the places to do fieldwork in alola cuz I think he's done research to write his own papers as well idk I forgor what's Ilima's academic qualifications that's what I have for now, then yeah kiawe gets jealous but when they're already dating then not really.. How he copes with it... Just seethes in secret or asks wren why he needs to spend time with Ilima so much (but trying to be subtle about it he will not say he's jealous or anything at all) but he will understand cuz wren has said it themself that he prefers spending time with Kiawe the most and everyday will still find time to do so, so honestly kiawe doesn't need to worry about wren avoiding him or spending less time with him or anything, if anything he shoukd be asking why the hell wren wants to meet him every single day

💜/Purple: What would your f/o do if you got into a argument? Would they eventually apologize?

Well they don't rlly get into arguments cuz they can communicate and wren is chill and would avoid conflicts. Though, they really do have parts of their characters that really do conflict. Like wren being too passive and slothful regarding their commitments while kiawe is actively working hard every day, maybe one day he might really try to sternly tell wren to get their stuff together if they really want to reach their ambitions instead of dreaming all day, but then again whatever kiawe says abour wren's flaws will be valid as hell becuz his criticisms are not petty but actually genuine so honestly wren woukd be like damn yah ok you make sense and they won't argue or anything.

Alsoooo... Okay yeah this one could be realistic too — kiawe gets reallty worried about not getting into his dream school to study dance abroad, and wren assures him by saying don't worry you've did what you can and just don't think about it if it's out of your control basically stuff that kinda brushes off the problem and encourages him to relax instead (becuz wren isn't confrontational about their own problems, this is true for me irl), and kiawe gets annoyed and says you always say that and you never do anything tangible to try and succeed and I'm actually worried and kinda scared about my future and want to take real steps to make me more assured but you're just saying words to make me feel better. Okay becuz this is what I always say to my sister and she's just kinda tired of me saying "it's past 9pm don't think about it" cuz that mindset doesn't work for everyone and for Kiawe I think he believes in the work he puts in helping him reach the outcome instead of just luck or pure optimism, so yeah wren probbaly says okay what do you want me to do, youve literally put in all the work you can and I see it and I think it's more than good enough and reallt reflects your genuine passion so what can I do if you dotn get accepted or if it's deemed not enough.

Um yeah for apologies.... Kiawe apologises first, I don't really apologise instead I just wsnt to move past the argument and pretend everything is fine and interact normally after... I just find it awkward to communicate it out even though inside I'm genuinely sorry and can objectively think it through in my head to see I'm wrong, but still Kiawe will apologise first becuz he cares about all his loved ones and won't let one-upping each other in arguments be worth the time we spend brooding in silence. And once Kiawe apologises wren will apologise too and everything will be okay and they try to talk things out 😁

[nimbus-bugs]

Nim Sketch Dump

as promised, here's a big sketch dump of my sona/oc nim! this isn't gonna be a popular post and I don't care 👍

I didn't originally intend to post these so I've referenced some art works heavily but I've written the name of the artist and I'll type it out too! if any of the artists see my references and is uncomfortable with it please let me know and I'll remove it from this post :D

dump under the cut!

the first ideas for his "modern design" (he's been around and recycled for a loooong time). the pose in the top right hand corner is taken from @/hiraethminds! they are a very cool artist and inspire me a lot. though the grey-ish tones as the major colour goes away I still really like the centipede tattoo, centipedes are rad as fuck and you can't tell me otherwise

I started to play with the idea of a goat design for him here! which is strange because like. that's not even his main design or motif or anything, I just really liked the idea I guess LMAO also Aurelai belongs to my mate of the same name! she's not on tumblr (yet) but you should still like her because she's cool and awesome

a treat for my qsmp enjoyers!! an unfinished short comic I sketched on the day tallulah lost her first life. the other characters in this are my old ocs, don't even worry about them

I straight up just have the image that inspired me in this one. its by @/sss-eriema and it was a gift from GOD. I was trying to sort out the colours and wanted to incorporate both orange (my favourite colour) and green (my close second favourite colour) but wasn't having much luck. eriema's artwork showed me that it can work in a more muted way and it was very very helpful!!

maid dress. sorry. also slimecicle

I started to get the colours down in the bottom right corner!! I really like this sketch page honestly. some bonus self portrait sketches because I wanted to try and put some more of my own features into his design as my sona! also in the notes I was debating between the two eye shapes and I'm still thinking about it. I think the bottom ones fit his personality more and are way more expressive but I just like the Vibe of the top ones

a lot of little drawings with varying styles! also more slimecicle. I am adhding so hard for him right now, it's concerning.

t. this one is the reason for the blood tw in the tags. I just really like drawing blood. as a treat. don't come for me this is my self-indulgent safe space leT ME BE EDGY </3 also the writing is a little hard to read so I've put it in the alt! and more qsmp doodles!

I'm starting to ditch the goat design but this one is my last hurrah. basically settled on the general colour scheme now! and more qsmp stuff. its literally gripped my brain I can't escape it, even in my personal work

then I realised. nimbus-BUGS. bugs! what if bug? this was a really fun study for using more creature features that I wasn't used to! loving the mandibles tbh

my most recent sketch as of posting! I might update this later, but this sketch page is probably the most gratuitously referenced, the expressions in the bottom left and top right were basically ripped from @/microwavablesquid so if you like those please check them out! the basic design structure of the full body was referenced from @/aresonist, retroactively I realised a lot of my design choices. uh. they also made LMAOOO so if my design in General tickles your brain, follow them!

as for his lore and basic information for what he actually Is, uhhh. ??? I don't know HAHAHA he's a little guy! he's creature! is he human? probably not but no one could say for sure! is he bugs? is he 1000 bugs in a trenchcoat? sometimes he's goat I guess??? I can never decide on a design and I think that aids his cryptid-like habits. he shows up sometimes, vibes and can't die in a way that matters! he has a running motif of my fake-God-thing, the centipede ouroboros, so I was like "what if he was a harbinger of the ouroboros, what then." and I like to imagine he has video game logic where when he dies, he basically respawns. also weirdly it's worked out in a way where he has lots of biblical motifs, like my name is literally nimbus, like the halo, and he's a messenger of a god like some fucked up blorbo angel. also lily of the valley is my favourite flower and I like drawing him with it, it also has lots of symbolism in the bible?? wild.

I sincerely doubt it but if you guys have any questions about nim or want to draw him or anything I would Die. I would just keel over. you'd take me out.

thank you so much if you got to the end of this btw!! this was a lot. seriously though, it means the world if even one person would like to see my little guy <3 have a great day and take care of yourself!

[whenjustdancehitsdifferent]

The secret identities of the heroes... revealed!!

Do you want to know the secret identities of the hero coaches? Well, you're in luck...

Warning: this is absurdly long so I'm putting in a cut

Okay, I know I already talk about this one a lot, but I'm going down a list here so I had to include it. Y'all are lucky this blog didn't exist yet when I put this together, it was genuinely all I talked about for roughly two months straight.

After a couple decades of doing dutiful hero work, Kem moved to Sun Horizon with his fiancee Lillesol, fulfilling their lifelong dream of retiring to where everything was slower, quieter, and warmer. (That's why it doesn't really look like him - he's significantly older in Baby Zouk, but the fun lighthearted attitude and the pool-themed powers/dancing on a beach parallel would match up!)

I can explain, listen - the lobster is a mascot suit, for a restaurant, and his day job is dressing up and entertaining people. Think like...if Red Lobster had Chuck E Cheese style characters. It started as a summer job for him in high school, and the cool hairdo is what inspired him to make big hair his gimmick. It's just goofy enough to work for Just Dance logic, okay? He fought a giant spaghetti monster canonically, anything goes.

Dahlia's avatar quote is "art is more comforting than ice cream - it helps me break free!". Which seems like odd phrasing...until you remember that Break Free is the name of another routine. The hair and makeup stylings look suspiciously similar too, so I will insist on this forever idc this is one of those ones where Ubi could break into my house and tell me I'm wrong and I still wouldn't believe it

Brown hair and cheesy 80s music? Yeah, that's Mister Overload all right. Better not to ask who the girls he was with in Careless Whisper alt were - even heroes can find themselves in situations...

Curly dark hair, left is of course significantly brighter but she still wears a bold blue color and they're from the same game and...y'know you're just gonna have to trust me on this one.

Do you ever just...call something as a joke, but then it kinda sticks? Yeah...I was going down the list of blonde coaches, put this together as a joke, but then it actually started to click with me and now I'm obsessed with the concept. Send help

Bonus: the "neutral" coaches!

It's the heart locket that does it for me. I know the purple hair isn't quite the same shade, but that is her.

They just have a similar attitude of being a badass, and Super Bass has lighter greenish streaks in the hair too even if it's hard to see...but more importantly the idea that she and Eteria had some big spat that Rosaria was just sitting on the sidelines of just casually watching with a bucket of popcorn is just too funny, I'm sorry.

Rosaria's hair is light with dark at the bottom, and Stop Drop Roll P1's hair is the opposite. But it's still similar enough that I noticed like "hey, wait a dang minute"...

These two aren't really confirmed to be on either side either and if anything are more likely to be sketchy, but it feels weird to leave them out when I know stuff so

It's the hair, it's the red hair. But it's also the fact that Happier Than Ever canonically knows Dahlia, who as I mentioned earlier is like totally Break Free, so maybe they met because they worked together on something.

Idk, I'm probably not the first person to notice the similarity, but two pilots in the Danceverses that are goofballs and wear pink? Nope, more likely to be the same person.

And this is just straight up "the two heroes are the same hero" but close enough

Their color palettes are almost completely identical. Just looking at them side by side, it seems obvious to me that there's a correlation.

[quixoticrobotic]

Question entirely on a whim - classpect the comicrew, go!

CLAPS MY HANDS TOGETHER LETS FUCKIN GOOO

i also have jaeris, joanna, erin, and allen bc sburb aus delight me i also have chumhandles, i can share those if you like

also i assume you want reasoning

Linkara: Knight of Mind. Hes such a knight of my god like insisting your fine when you arent? absolute knight behavior. i chose mind because one of my favorite aspects of linkara is hes like. the kind of character who needs to have a plan for everything which is usually a bad guy trait and is a trait you see in a lot of neurodivergent ppl so its nice to see in The Hero

but yeah a knight of mind would use logic and thinking as a weapon which linkara really enjoys doing

90s Dude: Mage of Hope

hope players represent! (im seer of hope!) but yeah hope is a broad term bc like lots of things can inspire it, hope plays typically have something they're really passionate about, something that sparks that ability to believe and like i dont have to say what 90's dude's is. he wears his passions on his sleeves, he gave us "more radical, less sadicle", the stuff that hes passionate about is his strength. mages are kinda like seers except less direct? instead of sharing knowledge to help the team they have this very personal, intuitive understanding of their aspect and how to wield it. fits the sleepwalker arc p damn well

Harvey: Prince of Time

every time i have to make a character i love a prince like i know you'd hate these pants im sorry

but ok i knew harvey would be a time player bc time is associated with music and death, two things that are very relevant to harvey as a character. i think i settled on this bc i saw a quote on pintrest "not living, just killin time" and harvey was the character i was fixated on that week. princes destroy their aspect/are destroyed by their aspect/destroy with their aspect. so if you wanna put a less gloomy spin on this you can go with "making up for lost time"

also i rarely get to have a session that has both a time and space player and thus isn't automatically doomed, which brings me to

Linksano: Seer of Space

multiverse and green. also seer fit since his official job on the team is science consultant like, he uses his knowledge of the multiverse to help his friends

Jaeris: Thief of Void

THIS IS ANOTHER MEAN ONE like thief bc of him stealing magic weapons BUT ALSO thief's tend to have a "my way is definitely the correct way of accomplishing this goal" and it bites them in the ass. i saw a theory i take whith a grain of salt but its basically void players tend to have their perspective skewed by some personal bias

and meanest of all

jaeris gets nothing. thieves take their aspect for themself. void is nothing. jaeris gained nothing. im so sorry space cowboy u make it too easy

Joanna: Witch of Doom

AW YEAH I GET TO TOUCH ON MY HEADCANONS ABOUT WHAT JOANNA IS LIKE

so doom is destiny, fate that cannot be changed. but this often represented by computer code/coding (which fits so neatly into the at4w 'verse tbh)

witches manipulate their aspect

now of course we know joanna sees the tapestry of fate and pulls out a seam ripper

but i also headcanon joanna is a cool gamer hacker babe who likes computers/ai/robots/ect. she and jaeris are a steampunk/cyberpunk power couple. also i like to think think by giving her one of the most OP classpects i'm making up for her lack of screen time

Erin: Rouge of Light

rouges allocate their aspect to help the team, light is luck, fortune, and fate that can be changed. fits Miss "Technically I was always your friend. Just in very weird and roundabout ways." who was introduced stealing the magic coin

Allen: Page of Life

im not gonna lie allen is mostly here so we have an even number of players. im sorry allen fans

i dont actually have a gt for mark bc linkara needs a strife specibus

and we cant have marksprite because PLEASE DO NOT PROTOTYPE THE EXTREMELY POWERFUL MAGIC WEAPON

[bolithesenate]

des farners fuchs for the wip ask game? 👀

ohh this one is fun for me, because this is the big original story I am working on in the fantasy writing course I am in!

The framework is sci-fi, but in true star wars fashion all the logic and many characters are pure fantasy, more specifically I am taking a ton of inspiration from Swiss folklore and yeeting it out into space.

(the titular Farner being a local figure from where I live, who leads a part of the wild hunt and that part consists exclusively of foxes :P)

Still figuring out a bunch of stuff, but what I do know is that the main character is gonna be the space equivalent of a trucker and also swear a whole lot.

“How involved in your father’s business were you before his passing?”

Feria blinked into the blank visor of the CAMPAT officer that was posturing in front of her. The Whiskey Sour and numerous other drinks from the night before, most of which were little more than the vague memory of a burn at the back of her throat and a heavy throbbing between her brows now, had done their job a little too well it seemed. This was the third time he was asking her this.

She closed her eyes. “Fuck if I know.” She really needed something salty. And liquids that weren’t alcohol. 

Soup? Soup sounded good. Soup sounded glorious, even.

A heavy sound jolted her from her reverie and moments later she was rather unkindly shoved against the upholstered backrest of the little nook she’d crashed in. 

“Hey!” Her hand flew up to the broad barrel of the stun-rifle that now was pressing almost painfully into her chest, right underneath her clavicle. “What the fuck?,” her voice was a little more chipped, a little higher than she’d have wanted, “That’s dangerous!” Which was a stupid thing to say. Of course it was dangerous. Standard stun-rifles, even at a low setting, could be lethal from less than a meter distance. A CAMPAT rifle this close to her motherfucking heart and brain was nothing shy from a death threat. She knew that, the fucking pig threatening her knew that – hells, even the down-on his luck bowa farmer lounging at the far end of the bar fucking knew that.

[y2kbugs-moved]

I classpected some of the Arcane characters according to my own interpretations. why? Because it’s fun.

Vi - Knight of Blood. holds the most responsibility and spends the whole story trying to find her sister and reconcile with her. Famously makes a strong connection with a high-class woman despite being of peasantry. Literally just fem!Karkat. Very good in combat, but also importantly uses the power of family and friendship and empathy to push through (even if she may seem mean and hotblooded at first glance like Karkat).

Powder/Jinx - Bard of Life. Starts out well-meaning, but rebellious, is upset that no one can seem to understand her potential, becomes extremely depressed and angry, associated with bombs and explosions. “Jinxes” everything, stealing is something she often does. Passively destroys life, aka kills by accident.

Caitlyn - Sylph of Mind. Logical and rational and associated with detective work and justice like Terezi. She literally says “the city needs healing”, and is kind, but not cushy. Sylph of Mind, but much more active, ghosting Maid? Genuinely does want to help others, especially Undercity residents even when the council and her parents disagree. She is a strong believer in justice, and can help a person set their mind to it. Also thoroughly helps Vi’s mental state a lot, keeping her grounded. Bit of an “only sane woman” trope.

Jayce - Page of Light. Very Page-y, almost like Jake English really. Starts out kind of lacking in Light (knowledge), he is smart, but naive and tends to be confused and indecisive at first, but grows tremendously and has a lot of power in knowledge, luck and fortune later on...even using it in more unsavory ways. Inspires others, brings knowledge and fortune to others (to Piltover especially), but has the weakness of being egotistical, sometimes indecisive, and overly ambitious.

 Viktor - Mage of Void. He absolutely has Mage vibes (suffering and knowing like Sollux) and has Void vibes (Secretive, mysterious and lonely, Jayce outright says “he disappears sometimes”, connected with Horrorterrors)...combine this to make a very lonely, isolated man who tends to keep secrets and does not want to be in the spotlight. He still wants knowledge, but in a different approach, and clearly suffers from this isolation and ostracism, being dismissed by others, even those he grew to befriend (Jayce).

Silco - Prince of Blood. This one’s obvious...like with Vi he values bonds and ties and has a strong focus on relationships with other people, just in a fucked up and evil way, so he’d be a destroyer class in contrast. Very Prince-y. Tells Jinx that her sister abandoned her, no one likes her except for him, and that betrayal is inevitable (see: his brother). Genuinely does love Jinx, just in a very manipulative and destructive way.

Mel - Witch of Light. Very strongly associated with good luck, knowledge and fortune as she’s the richest councillor in the group, and is pretty good at manipulating others, though with good intentions this time. Has the ability to change the knowledge and luck for others, exemplified by her status as councillor and her role in voting.

Ekko - ??? of Time? I’m having some trouble here, he’s very much time based in combat but he also feels like Life or Hope given his goals and motivations and symbolism? I don’t want him to be a knight because then he’d basically just be Dave 2.0.

[stabby-potato]

RWBY Legacy AU idea

For a long time now I've been thinking on an concept for a RWBY AU, without doing much about it, so I figured that I might as well share its founding details here.

I've been working on this for long enough to have touched a wide portion of the RWBY's character, world, plot. This post is some of my ideas for Team RWBY themselves. Mainly differences to their family situation and backstories.

Ruby & Yang (the STRQ fam):

The question that started all this was 'what if Qrow had run away instead of Raven?', the logic being that his semblance could bring harm to loved ones, while Raven's could bring her home instantly, contradicting the life paths they took in canon.

In this AU, Raven never left Tai and the family, she even agreed to keep doing jobs for Ozpin under a number of conditions (including being the best paid huntress in Vale).

With Tai not moving on to Summer, Ruby needs a new justification to be born, which Qrow can neatly fit into as her AU father. It helps that Ruby's father having run away matters a lot more to her than if he was an uncle she'd never met.

So to start, Raven stayed and Qrow fathered Ruby. He ended up running away after an accident that was undeniably caused by his semblance injured the pregnant Summer. Unable to take his bad luck into a hospital, Qrow was left behind as Summer was rushed away. As the doctors cut a premature Ruby out of Summer, Qrow disappeared to prevent it happening again, abandoning his partner alone, having never even met their new child.

Years pass and Summer still dies, leaving a parentless Ruby in Tai & Raven's care.

Having two parents instead of a wounded father and wayward uncle gives the girls a more stable childhood, though not necessarily a better one.

On Yang's side of things, she still steps up to be Ruby's sister, especially in supporting her parents loss, but she doesn't need to take the extra step and be a caregiver to Ruby. Yang has less need to be responsible and more desire to be the extra cool big sister. Additionally, just because Raven stayed doesn't make her a good mother. Their relationship is tense and full of fights, with Yang running full tilt into teenage rebellion. In this AU, Yang wasn't at Junior's club to find her mother, but to escape from her.

Ruby, at first glance is the same as canon, the cheerful girl. But there's more hiding behind her smile, the pain of not having her parents, and desperate desire to know why. Ruby is still attached to fairytales and stories of brave heroes, its an escape from the harsh realities of huntsmen life and lessons by the cynical Raven. To those who first meet Ruby, her gothic attire doesn't match her at all, but it fits all too well for those familiar with Ruby.

Weapon-wise, without Qrow to teach the scythe, Ruby still ended up developing Crescent Rose the sniper rifle, but its crossed with a naginata instead, taking inspiration from Raven's eastern katana.

A bonus, that I've considered but is not essential to this AU, is the idea that Silver Eyes pass similar to the Maidens, only one a time, passed to a relative on death or blinding. This idea came about to prevent the possibility of a large silver eyed clan, with dozens of members who can wipe Grimm with ease. Its also dramatically appropriate for the AU, Ruby could've been born with red eyes, only turning silver with Summer's death. The balance of aangst and mystery depending on whether or not Ruby was old enough to remember it happening.

Aaand that is the beginning of my AU concept, if you'd be interested in hearing more, I have it. Asks are also welcome, if I haven't thought of an answer already, you might spur me to come up with something.

Coming up, changes to Weiss & Blake, and some light worldbuilding on why Remnant has such a multicoloured population, with possibilities like pink eyes and naturally occuring streaks in your hair.

[simsvaleria234]

Jewelry Spellcasters Photo Shoot (TS4 Save File)

(2/5)

05/11/24

1."Eye": Heavy Metal + Jet. Author: Jet Orlowski

For Jet, this work of art is something that connects him with one memory from his childhood, when he was lucky enough to go on an excursion not far from the Underworld, to a Gothic mansion, and see with his own eyes such a vast, enchanting and mysterious figure in a cloak… the Grim Reaper himself. Not only his life's work, but also such dark, like Jet crystal, eyes that were fleetingly visible from the dark space of the hood, conquered the young heart of the boy. Grim Reaper, being flattered by such attention, told him about the crystal that will help them see each other again. These decorations are both the eyes of the Grim Reaper himself in the World of the Living, with the help of which he can observe unfortunate souls, and a way for desperate daredevils to interact with the Underworld, who are ready to look into the eyes of Death itself for the sake of saving their loved one. Rumor has it that if Jed becomes the Sage of Untamed Magic, he will give the jewelry to his main inspiration as a thank you for the time spent with him.

2."Botanical": Plathinum + Rose Quartz Author: Tessie Emerald

Tessie usually approaches her creations from the point of view of what potion it could replace. True, Rose Quartz is not often found in alchemical recipes. Only recently it was discovered that this crystal can cleanse a person of negative thoughts, with only one "oddity" - he will become flirty. Therefore, she went from what most often surrounds her. And the logical answer is her favourite plants, in particular her favorite cowplant from the earthly garden named Zoomy. This is how the "Botanical" jewelry appeared. "Get trapped by Mother Nature and merge with her!" When you put on these jewelry, you can expect a flow of flirtatious mood with an unusually powerful sense of calm. Perfect for the same "lonely hearts" like Tessie.

3."Starry Sailor": Silver + Turquoise. Author: Quartz Bird

Quartz often connects her works with stories and legends that she heard as a child. For the Mischievous Spellcaster, such works are a treasure box of ideas for mischievous spells. And for the elf, whose power is to manipulate the consciousness of others through dreams, these are also the part of her element, because those stories most likely came to their authors from the dreams and fantasies that she and her ancestors created over the centuries. Although the spellcasters considered the jewelry a rather cute gift for their lovers, Quartz put a different meaning into them. Turquoise is a symbol of protection and luck, allowing you to quickly find friends and allies in battle, and the shape was inspired by a distant story about cute warrior girls who, in the name of the "Power of Love", stood up to defend the Earth from space invaders. And although the legend has a beautiful ending, its main character had to go through a huge number of difficulties, including the death of her friends and lover, for the sake of a happy future. She wonder if anyone here has even heard of this story?

[maciek-jozefowicz]

My Silly Puzzles

“My Silly Puzzles” is a 600-page* book of word and logic puzzles.** It is the second book in the “My Silly…” series. (The first one is “My Silly Poems”; the third one will be “My Silly Thoughts”.) What makes this book distinct from other puzzle books is the way that the various puzzles are presented—with humor and with rhyme. Many of the puzzles begin with a poem and that poem is the inspiration for the scenario, written in rhyming prose, for that particular puzzle set.

Here is an example of a simple, traditional Truth Teller and Liar logic puzzle (of which type there are numerous variations in the book, each with different characters and a different scenario, one set includes Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty and Inspector Lestrade):

“The Lion and the Mayan”

 Two little lies / Put on disguise, / On Halloween— / One is a hungry Lion, / The other a lonely Mayan.

Heidi and Monique put on costumes to seek sweet treats on their neighborhood streets. But who is who? Even their mother can’t tell one from the other. She knows that Heidi always tells the truth, and Monique, being so clever, does so never. But the mother, having more than a bit of her own wit, unmasks—“Is either of you Monique?” she slickly asks.

And if the Mayan replies, “Mom, of course one of us is Monique,” then who is the Mayan and who is the Lion?

Besides Truth Teller and Liar puzzles (also known as Knights and Knaves), there are Cryptograms, puzzles in which digits have been replaced with letters. An addition problem is given where the addends (the numbers that are being added) are represented by letters and the sum is a number. Using this problem, you can determine which letter represents which digit.

Once you solve which letter stands for which digit, you have to decode a secret note that’s been written using those digits by replacing the digits with the corresponding letters. For example:

straight + starts = 15,898,016

Secret Note: 5645’173265!

(To make them easier to solve, these types of puzzles are formatted differently in the book than in this example.)

There are other logic puzzles, like Elimination Grids / Logic Grids (“Neighbors,” “Who’s Got Kenny’s Teeth,” “Monique, Missing in Mozambique,” “The Apartment”), as well as word puzzles (“Daisy Goes A’Kissin’,” “Bad Luck, Stadium Stuck,” “Ticktionary”) that are also introduced and explained with poems.

For example, “Bad Luck, Stadium Stuck” begins—

In a broken stadium elevator, Thirteen spectators with bad luck Get stuck! How many can you list? An illustrator. An innovator. An imitator. Do you get the gist? There are thirty, sturdy, other fans (Where is my pen? That is wrong, There are only ten!***) From a variety of clans, Tapping the floor with their toes, As their tetchiness grows, And their souls, unseated, Get overheated. While their teams on the field play, Who are they?

A clue in the form of a short poem is given for each spectator that is stuck in this useless elevator.

“My Silly Puzzles” also includes a new type of puzzle—the Poetry Path. The Poetry Path puzzle is my own creation, an amalgam of two puzzle types—the Maze and the Word Search.

In Poetry Path, instead of looking for individual words, like one does in a Word Search, you are looking for a poem, a combination of words that link together to make the correct path through a field created from letters. (There is no actual “maze” as such, and there are no walls that would define paths because there is no need for them. Words are the paths.) The poem that the player is searching for is not given. It has to be discovered. Only visual clues as to where the poem begins and where the poem ends are given.

“My Silly Puzzles” is a book that is fun to read and fun to solve, and it can be enjoyed alone or in a group,**** in lieu of a board game, by children and by adults. It’s a great way to unplug and give your eyes, and your mind, a respite from digital over-saturation.

————————————————————

* The softcover and digital versions are each 608 pages. The hardback version is 544 pages. The content is the same, but I was forced to condense the presentation of two puzzles to fit under the Amazon 550-page limit for hardback books.

** In addition to puzzles, sprinkled throughout the book are some of my silly riddles.

*** The narrator of this poem is wrong on both counts. There are 21 puzzles in this set.

**** With Truth Tellers and Liars puzzle types, for instance, each person can become a character and read his/her lines while the remaining players try to figure out who is who.

The book is available from Amazon at:

https://www.amazon.com/author/maciek_jozefowicz

[nanowrimo]

9 Ways to Tighten Up Your Novel’s Middle

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Scrivener, a 2022 Camp NaNoWriMo sponsor, is an award-winning writing app that has been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists and novices alike. Today, Scrivener director Julia Pierce is here to share some tips on writing your story’s middle:

We’re midway through Camp and around now, some of you may be starting to experience the curse of the saggy middle. This isn’t just a euphemism for what happens when the need to meet your daily word count target becomes all-consuming and takes precedence over your daily exercise routine. Nope, it’s that bit where the doubts about your story’s structure start to creep in… Is that storyline really as gripping as you first thought? Would the hero really make that choice…?

Unfortunately, writing the midsection of a novel is tricky—it’s where the hard work happens, the plot is driven on, characters grow and plans are tried (and fail). With this part taking up around 50% of the word count, a good rate of momentum is vital to carry the reader with you from your perfect beginning to the novel’s climax. So, how can you pep up your prose? Here are some tried and tested methods:

1. Get your outline in order.

Even if you’re a pantster, a rough outline can really help you keep on the right path. Create plot points on index cards (or virtual index cards) to view your ideas and where you plan to go with them. Does each point flow logically with the final goal in mind?

2. Check your antagonist.

Do they draw the reader to them? Is their motivation strong, and do they have enough power to make their anti-goal achievable? A good antagonist is sympathetic—but remember, not more so than the protagonist. 

3. Make it complicated....

Is your protagonist meandering from A to B? Why not make their life difficult? Throw in obstacles—then make them bigger and more complicated. With every heroic step forwards, does the villain also come closer to a win? Crank up the emotion. Make that hero earn their prize.

4. ...But not too complicated.

Nobody loves a story where the protagonist can’t catch a break. Add some wins for them, however small. Keep a spark of optimism alive to make their continued motivation to succeed believable.

5. Fuel inner conflict.

No matter how determined your hero is, a good dose of inner conflict is the ideal tool for throwing them off the right path, raising the stakes and leaving the reader rooting for them to overcome their turmoil. Pull them in opposite directions between their inner and outer goals - a struggle is compelling reading.

6. Raise the stakes.

What does the protagonist have to lose—or gain? Reinforce and heighten this as the story goes on, and remind your reader of the consequences of various outcomes.

7. Weave in a subplot.

Show the reader (and hero) the dangers of failure through a secondary character’s eyes. 

8. Throw in a midpoint reversal.

An unexpected turn of events throws the plot sideways: shock your readers or tease them with a will it / won’t it event or a secret.  Change up what the reader thinks they know to make the end unpredictable.

9. If all else fails...

If you still can’t find the right way to firm things up, reset your brain by going for a walk, taking a nap, or playing a word game to revive your energy levels or maybe find the inspiration you need. Often, just disengaging your conscious mind and encouraging your subconscious to mull over your plot can be enough to tip you over into a flow state once again. Best of luck!

Julia Pierce is a former journalist who now writes for fun. She’s also a director at Literature & Latte, creators of the writing app Scrivener—the perfect tool for planning out, adding structure to or editing your book. Get some writing inspiration on the Write Now With Scrivener podcast here (https://podcast.scrivenerapp.com)

All Camp NaNoWriMo participants receive a 20% discount on Scrivener’s regular license by entering HAPPYCAMPER22 into the coupon code text field in the web store through August 7th, 2022. If you want to try out Scrivener first, you can download a free trial that will run through August 7th, 2022.

Top photo by patricia serna on Unsplash