#also whoever says they look cartoonish....

[scorpislothbaby]

[cavegirlpoems]

A story from back when I played D&D. It might have been 3.5 or pathfinder or fantasycraft or one of that ilk. Might even have been 4e. It was like a decade ago.

So. Standard D&D. A party of bold adventurers of diverse origins and skillsets gets together to explore a perilous dungeon and stop a cartoonish baddy. The usual.

I end up building a fairly typical character for me. A goblin Rogue/Assassin. A stealth/melee build designed to get the drop on an enemy, do a bunch of rapid damage, and then fuck off.

She was lawful evil, and firmly in the team-fortress-two-sniper school of "You know who has a lot of feelings? Men what bludgeon their wives to death with a golf trophy. Professionals have standards." school of being a mercenary. I think I even did an aussie accent.

Anyway her schtick was that she'd noticed 'Adventurers' got to do as much violence as they wanted without social consequences, and she loved violence! So she was gonna do a stint as an adventurer, so once she was done she could go home with a big sack of gold to spend on booze and cake and hot girls. But right now she was on the job, so she was an extremely professional team player with a strict code of conduct. Always be honest with the team, follow the plan, don't mess things up for the team, split the loot evenly. Standards.

Verna was a horrible efficient little murder gremlin who was also proudly guild-certified. * * *

Now, another PC was a chaotic neutral gnome bard who was leaning hard on the 'gnomes are amusingly racist to goblins and kobolds and think this is funny and endearing' thing. He teased Verna a bunch about being green and ugly, which she studiously ignored because - remember - she had Professional Standards.

Anyway, there was a human NPC we met that she didn't like, saying he was a bit stupid and very annoying. Our gnome bard decided it would be very funny to use one of his enchantment spells to make Verna suddenly horny for him and watch what happened.

Verna sees the gnome who keeps fucking with her walk up, wave his hands and babble some arcane nonsense, and now she has weird funny feelings she can't explain. She does some thinking and concludes that she'll pay the human for a snog later, because right now this guy's just obviously cast a spell to mess with her mind, which was Not Okay. Of course, she had Professional Standards, so...

She walks up to our gnome friend and basically informs him: "Hi! I know you just did some magical brainwashing on me, and I am not going to tolerate this! However, because we're in a team together, and I don't want this to become a problem, I am going to very generously allow you to settle the matter with me. We will have a bout of single combat to first blood, and then whoever wins I will consider the matter settled and my honour satisfied, and you won't do that again, and we won't mention it. This is a very kind offer of mine, because I have Standards; where I come from the normal response would be to say nothing and strangle you in your sleep tonight."

And our gnome, who is a spellcaster not a combatant, looks at this and decides he doesn't want to get shown up by her, and basically tells her that if she doesn't like getting messed with she can go back to the goblin village, and laughs at her.

So. Shrug. Quickdraw as a free action. I get a surprise round. You're flat footed, so it's easy to hit and I get sneak attack damage. 3/4 of his health is gone. Initiative. He says he wants to say sorry. I respond that he can say that when it gets to his initiative count, but right now it's my action and he's still flat-footed and here's my big pile of d6s for sneak attack and oh dear I think that's him on -10 hp, so he's not going to get the chance.

* * *

Anyway this kicked off a massive shitstorm ooc about how I just kicked off PvP and murdered a PC for no reason and the game fell apart because the gnome's player genuinely didn't seem to understand that 'mind control' is a hostile action. This was in the bad old days before safety tools and I was playing in a fairly neckbeardy group, so 'a man makes a woman horny against her will to humiliate her and laughs about it' was apparently not a deal-breaker while 'the woman stabs him for it' was.

I still think I wasn't the bad guy in this scenario.

There is no point to this story I just wanted to share it.

[mavcancees]

drawing realism is pretty funny because you start hyperanalizing your subjects' traits and find out fun details about them that you don't perceive at first (or originally thought of them differently)

anyways here a list of dnf anatomy details that i've collected through intense studying:

1. dream does not have a large jawline actually. his top one is just completely straight, and his bottom one has no side downward curve. usually human skulls will have the top jaw sit at about a 30° angle, but his is just flat. it makes his bottom jaw look a lot more out. this carries all the way up to his forehead too. his bottom jaw is also almost completely straight from the mandibular angle to the chin.

2. george has THE HIGHEST CHEEKBONES. he just has an equally wide mandibular angle (meaning, his jaw doesn't taper in as much), so it doesn't look like it until you compare his cheeks to his side brow bones

3. george also has very long lips horizontally, and a very angular chin, which gives him this constant almost pouty look, so when he smiles he just has a beautiful lip shape

4. dream has a very consistent beard. no splotchiness whatsoever.

5. he also has a mole immediately below his jawline on his right side (or the side of the ear that is not pierced)

6. one of george's eyebrows is significantly taller than the other one on the arch. the start of his eyebrows are also fairly thin and sit pretty low. (he is not escaping the eyebrow plucking/threading allegations imo, they are so incredibly clean)

7. dream's nose looks almost cartoonish from the side from how soft the curve is. from the front, the tip sits pretty low compared to his nostrils

8. george's is a little more hooked AT THE END (he does not have full hooked nose, his bridge is very inwards on the top half), and from the front the tip and nostrils sit at the same height. it makes it look kind of like a tiny wide triangle

9. they both have very long cupid's bows, george a bit more than dream (see late point 8)

10. "dream is puppy coded" and it's because his eyelids are diagonal in the same way puppies have diagonal eye curves ! he very literally has dog eyes

11. dream's middle lashes are very long, and they get darker as you go out. george's are long all around and VERY full. they both have pretty crazy bottom lashes

12. i am once again highlight george's bottom lip. what a beautiful man

13. cameras need to stop hatecriming dream's freckles. set them free. (they mostly sit directly under his eyes next to his nose. he also has some on his chin, it's very charming)

14. gnf comes from the miranda cosgrove school of fake wasians. having deepset eyes, extremely hooded eyes and consistent, very deep aegyo sal will do that to you. (i say this as an asian with much love). don't be scared to draw his eyes properly, he's not beating the wasian allegations, you're allowed to post your "concerningly asian looking" gnf fanart (whoever says this to you send them to me i will beat them up). that's just how he looks. just make sure his nose is right and you're good 👍

15. dream is a LOT larger than what you think in the horizontal axis. door width. huge forearms. his waist is just "small" (average male waist size). don't let it deceive you

that's all for now i'll reblog with more as i find them have fun arting

[gaybananabread]

HI HI HI, just noticed that you have ATSV in your fandom list and literally exploded?!???? I’d like to order oranges, bananas and cherries pls!! Ler! Miguel and like Lee!Reader BUT LIKE, the reader is like just a teenager?? Found family trope if you catch my vibe yk

TYSM IF YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS, if ya don’t ITS FINEEE BUT YEAH YEAH <333

Fruit(s): Oranges, Bananas, Cherries

This is a pretty fun idea, don’t get many insert requests! I’m pretty sure you meant the reader to be a spider person, so that’s where I went with it. If not, eeeeeh sorry! Never written for Miguel, so I hope he isn’t too crazy OOC in this. Also, since it wasn’t specified, went gender neutral. A tad angsty because it’s been that kinda week. It’s long because I’m a sucker for found family stuff.. Thank you for the kind words, and I hope you Enjoy!

Lee: Gender Neutral Reader

Ler: Miguel

Summary: You’ve been taking unnecessary risks on missions, trying to show off and impress a certain Spider-Man. It has the opposite effect, only worrying the man and making him question you. After you joke around and play off the danger, he uses a special tactic to make sure you learn your lesson.

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don’t like that, scroll away!!

Your life was interesting, to say the least. For the past seven months, you had been your universe’s one and only spider person. That…that was hard. Especially when you had nobody to turn to. Trying to stay in school and keep the city safe was easier said than done, and it was still a mouthful. That stress took its toll on you, and it wasn’t pretty. Long story short, you managed to isolate yourself from everyone who cared.

On one particular night, you were fighting a strange villain you’d never seen before. He…kinda looked like he had a fishbowl on his head; his appearance was cartoonish. Called himself Mysterio. The guy kept yelling about his revenge; how Stark, whoever that was, wronged him. Just another crazy guy. Unfortunately, he was a very powerful crazy guy.

He gave you everything he had. Mists, holograms, hallucinations. You were reeling, struggling to stay in the fight. Mysterio prayed on your anxieties, your fears, your past: everything you had been facing. One thing was painfully clear. 

You couldn’t do it alone.

And that’s when your luck turned. A bright flash of orange and red light broke through the green smoke, someone’s booming voice bringing you back to reality. Glowing red webs popped the hologram devices, a blue-and-red suited man landing a hit square in the fish bowl. 

In a few quick strikes, the fight was over. The man caught your attention with his fighting skills and quick thinking. You could tell he was trying to keep Mysterio away from you. When the fight was over, you rushed over to him, trying to get any information from him. 

He looked you over, having LYLA scan your signature. You were…all alone. Everyone you loved had been shoved away. The man related a bit too closely to that…

Before you could come off as completely desperate, he tossed you a watch and waved you towards an open portal. The rest was history.

The man, Miguel O’Hara, took you under his wing. He was a bit temperamental, but it was clear he cared for you. No matter how many stupid mistakes you made, how many anomalies got the drop on you, he was right there. You definitely grew attached, placing him high on your mantle. You wanted to impress him, though that was more difficult than it seemed. Pushing your limits, you gave every mission your all, even if it put you at risk. You were fine. Just needed to do better.

-

Miguel was concerned. No, scratch that, he was worried and downright anxious for your every move. Why were you taking so many unnecessary risks?! He certainly hadn’t taught you that, though a few names came to mind… Regardless, it was a habit you had to drop.

The mission you went on that day was the last straw. It was a low-grade villain, just an average Kraven. Easy catch-and-send; only you didn’t make it easy. 

Kraven had laid all sorts of traps, though thanks to his brightly-colored universe, they were detectable. At least, they would’ve been if you hadn’t rushed in. In your mind, the quicker you captured him, the more impressed Miguel would be. Bursting into action, you didn’t notice the traps and sprung a flash-bang snare. While you managed to dodge the wire, you were dazed and your spider sense was left reeling. Not good.

Struggling to your feet, you shot out webs in every direction, trying to nail him or at least get a sense of where he was. The flash wasn’t good, though if you still caught him, Miguel would at least be a little impressed. A yelp to your left got you what you needed. As you ran to try and web him up, you stepped on a wire; a wire connected to a high-voltage unit. The sound of the electricity hit your ears before the shock itself. 

-

“What were you thinking?”

The dim lighting of Miguel’s office just made everything twice as intimidating. You had gotten a clean bill of health from the med bay, though it didn’t make you feel any better. It felt like you let him down. When you shrugged, he sighed, running a hand down his face.

“Malditos adolescentes.” He mumbled under his breath, trying to stay calm and collected. Miguel was far from mad, but he was definitely worried, and yeah, a little annoyed that you kept ignoring your training. Still, he knew showing that would only upset you further. “You going to start talking or sit here in silence a little longer? It’s empanada day, and I’d be happier if you came clean.”

You rubbed your arm, remembering the way your nerves lit up from the trap. It was safe to say you were embarrassed to admit the real reason you rushed. “Uh…felt like I needed a little recharge?” Okay, dumb joke, but it’s how you dealt with stuff. How a lot of spider people dealt with stuff.

He huffed, not appreciating your attempt to play off his concern. “Look kid, I’m gonna tell you how it is. You’ve been rushing missions, over exerting yourself, and making risky calls I’ve never seen from you before. Tell me what’s going on with you. I promise I won’t get mad.” His voice softened at the end, his look shifting to one of concern and worry.

That made you pause. Lying wasn’t going to get you far, and it was really close to lunch… “I…kinda, sorta, maybe wanted to…ya know, i-impress you…” Your voice dropped off at the end as you suddenly found a scuff on the floor incredibly interesting.

“Kid…” Miguel paused, taking a deep breath. “C’mon. You know you don’t have to try and impress me. I just don’t want you making stupid mistakes and getting hurt.” It didn’t take a genius to decipher the look of guilt that went across your face. Miguel thought back to a few weeks ago, when you had gotten a minor side injury. He had bandaged you up and made a rather adorable discovery while doing so. That’d work.

Trying to control his expression, Miguel got closer, sitting beside you on the ledge. Miggy was trying to get better with his people skills, and since he met you,  he was doing good. “Look, burbujita, it’s okay. Get the guilt off your face, try a smile~” 

You understood where he was going with that immediately. You quickly shot out a web, shooting up towards his tall office cieling. He shook his head, a throaty chuckle escaping him before he followed. It was big, but he knew his office better than anyone. Silently, Miguel landed on the cieling, scanning for you.

A place where rebar met the ceiling gave you a place to crouch. You clamped your hand over your mouth, trying to hide any giggles or heavy breaths. Unbeknownst to you, it was the only spot up there like that. He knew exactly where you were.

Miguel crawled over, springing up and grabbing you by the waist. He huffed at your shriek of surprise, carefully dropping back down and sitting you down on one of the ledges. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, sitting beside you and pulling you close. If he hadn’t been planning such silly antics, it would’ve been sweet.

Before you could try to shove him off, you felt five clawed fingers on your side. The arm around your shoulders tightened, blocking any escape routes. “M-miguehehehel?!” Tickling was the last thing you expected; maybe yelling or a two-week probation, but that? And he was so smug about it, too.

“You should really laugh more, kid. That sound? Que lindo…” Miguel raked his claws up and down your side, being extra careful not to scratch you. You twisted and squirmed in his grip, but it was solid; you weren’t going anywhere. “Cohohome ohon! Ihi’m sohohory!”

He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “None of those apologies. Just stop putting yourself at risk, kid. I’m proud of you for just putting the mask on and going out to fight. You don’t need to overdo it.” Your cheeks reddened at the praise, though you blamed it on the silliness. 

Just when you thought he was done, you felt the claws move to your belly; specifically, he started on your navel. Ignoring your squeal of protest, he dug in. “They really need to make these suits thicker, huh? Great for flexibility, though not too good against wiggling fingers.”

You kicked your feet, squealing and laughing like a little kid. Miguel found it adorable. When he first met you, you were stuck in worries and the unpleasantness of life. It was nice to see you just let loose and laugh, even if it was a little unprofessional. 

He caught the redness of your cheeks, deciding to tease you just a bit further. “You’re so red, kid. Should I start calling you cara rosa?” Feeling your face heat up further, you tried to hide it in his chest. He tugged your shoulder, keeping your red face where he could see it. It was cute.

Wanting to hit one more spot before he quit, Miguel moved to claw at your ribs. He climbed up and down your ribcage, trying to get as many happy giggles out of you as he could. “You gonna stop trying to impress me and just do your best?” 

You nodded, thrashing like a worm on a hook. “Yehehes! Ihi prohohomise!” Miguel chuckled, pinching your side one last time before stopping. He rubbed your back, hugging you close and trying to help you settle down. “Was that so hard?” A small laugh escaped him at the look he received. “Alright, alright, I’m done. If you ever feel like that again, just tell me. I’ll help.”

Right as he stopped talking, a small sound made him smile further. You groaned, hiding your face in your hands. “Guess I tired you out, didn’t I? We should go get you some lunch.” He patted your shoulder with a smirk, standing up and walking to the door. You cursed your stomach’s stupid growl before following, reflecting on everything that had happened to you since you got bit. Living with a man who cares about you, working to keep the spider-verse and all the people within it safe. Yeah, not a bad way to live…

[theninthdoor]

https://x.com/tmikpop/status/1782272659876647336?s=61&t=ga4uchx4UxisGCwQXWGMyg

Could you do a reading on if Min Heejin is actually going to step down from her position at Hybe? I mean she’s been such an integral part of New Jeans success but she also seems to have been really shady with Hybe (leaking other Hybe artists personal information, leaking confidential contracts in order to convince Hybe to sell its shares of Ador) and I can’t see Hybe being forgiving with her.

If she does step down from Hybe, what will she do next in her career?

And also could you take a look at how New Jeans’ career will be affected by this, if she does step step down and leave Ador ? They will still have their signature producers so that’s a plus but min heejin was certainly a big reason for new jeans success and I wonder is they can keep that up if she is replaced by somebody else.

cards: eight of pentacles, six of pentacles rx, five of swords, knight of pentacles rx

If she stays, it's because one of the parties gave up, took the L and accepted a shitty deal, as it was either that or losing everything. They will be forced to consider the long-term, and might just decide this just isn't a battle worth fighting for right now. On the other hand, if MHJ leaves, it was because she saw herself trapped, without options, and had to accept the defeat. They're going against her with everything they have, and there's like a thousand men vs MJH in my head - which could be literal, and likely is to a certain extent, but may also just be how she's feeling. Based on these cards, the odds are leaning more towards her leaving, but it could still change, obviously…

what if she does step down? || cards: the hermit rx, judgement, the emperor rx

So… hybe could (allegedly) end up blacklisting her from the industry altogether, or attempt to. Either way, if she steps down by own her decision or not, she's going focus all of her future efforts on exposing and bringing down those who caused this, and everyone she thinks wronged her. She might even consider establishing a new company and debuting a new gg to prove them that NJ's success was all her doing and not the fact that they were under Hybe, but I don't think that's the smartest idea ever. It's not gonna help anybody.

newjeans' career if mhj leaves || cards: two of cups, page of wands, king of swords

Oh, if MJH leaves, whoever comes next (mtl a man, as we have the King of Swords here) is going to change a lot of things about the group, specially their sound and concept, but also promos, collabs, etc. I don't think they're going to completely erase their identity, but for sure get rid of all of the more childish, cartoonish stuff (and i'm soo sorry for saying it like that, but that's how I heard it 💀). As they do, people who stayed away + disliked NJ because of those things, will gain a new interest for them, and that's going to bring them even more attention and success. Even the fans that liked this stuff won't mind the change, I feel like, and neither will the girls. And I also heard "That's going to prove MHJ wrong", so... yeah.

(Disclaimer: All is alleged and for entertainment purposes only. Based on current energies.)

[bookwyrminspiration]

KOTLC Graphic Novel: B&N Virtual Event Summary

There are no spoilers

Shannon Messenger was accompanied by Stuart Gibbs, author of Spy School and other series, who asked the questions

Enjoy!

Event's theme was Iggy Celebration--Shannon chose to wear dark blue, as it's secretly her favorite Iggy

It's officially called Dark Blue Iggy in the books, but the actual color nomination from fans was "tardis blue". She couldn't use that for potential legal issues, but she knows it's actually Tardis blue, making it her favorite

Shannon can't take credit for Iggy's changing color

She'd made him pink in book 2, and so a fan at an event asked her what color he'd be in the next book

Shannon asked her what color she wanted him to be. This fan, dressed in head to toe purple, leaned in and very seriously said "Orange." So Iggy was orange

Opened it to fans after that--but sadly never got the name of that one fan to thank her properly ("Whoever you are girl in purple, thank you!")

Book 10 doesn't have an official release date because Shannon's still writing it (as fast as she can!)

Iggy's color options for Book 10 are still undecided as well

Shannon thanks everyone immensely for their patience; "it's my focus! I want to get to them as fast as possible," but she also wants the book to be good and worth the wait

"Naive Shannon thought the later I got into the series the easier the books would be to write. WRONG!"

she has so many planted seeds to keep track of and constantly feels the pressure to one up her previous books

"I kinda wish I'd set the bar a little lower from the beginning"

She can't make a perfect book; there's always going to be someone who doesn't like something

She's reached the point of realizing her plans, and it's a delicate balance. You don't want reveals to feel like they came completely out of left field, but also don't want them to be like "I guessed that six books ago"

Finding the balance between feeling earned and still surprising is a daunting task ahead of her; it's more labor intensive than she thought it'd be

Stuart Gibbs points out that even if it takes a while, Shannon gives us a lot of book per book, so it's worth it

Shannon never intended to write such long books; she used to say every time that the next one she'd get the hang of being concise and it would be shorter, but everyone stopped believing her by book four

Was a graphic novel adaptation ever part of her plans? Secretly yes--she started as an art major and loves seeing illustrated versions of her characters. The highlight of her year is the cover art, and graphic novels are entire books!

It was on her author bucket-list, but she wasn't sure it'd would be possible; some books just don't work as graphic novels and they're expensive for publishers

When she found out she got the adaptation she "did a happy dance I was very grateful no one could see"

How involved were you in this process? Very involved, since her publishers know she has an art background

They let her pick from writers who auditioned--she wasn't sure that was a great idea because she didn't know if she could be objective; "no, I wrote it this way because it needs to be this way!"

Celina "knocked it out of the park" with her audition

For Gabriella, the artist, she was exactly what Shannon was looking for; she wanted a new style--Jason Chan (the cover artist) is incredible, but she wanted the GN to be distinct and more illustrated

She describes the GN as "like Disney meets manga," cartoonish but not

Shannon gave notes on rough drafts, inked pages, and colored versions--she's sure they got sick of her notes by the end of it

She remembers thinking "certain Keefe jokes MUST make it in," but then seeing them in the visual format they realized "huh, this joke isn't funny anymore"

Anything that surprised you about the process? Definitely some of those Keefe jokes not working, but also the fact they had to split it. At first she thought they could work it all into one, but emotion takes longer to convey visually, and they were "robbing the heart out of the book" by trying to fit it in one

Shannon jokes everything she writes ends up longer than they expect

Do you have any idea about part two? It's in the works, but it's a herculean task for the artists, so it all depends on them; "do not blame them at all! this is a daunting, daunting, massive work load"

Shannon owes Gabriella "all the cookies ever"

it's a very tight timeline, so they'll share the release date when they have it, but for now just let the artist do their thing

Was it weird to spend so much time with book 1 again? Forget anything? Want to change anything? There were some sentences she wanted to rewrite--"a book is never done, it's just due"

Thought about adding Gisela in book one, since she wishes she'd introduced her then; she always knew she'd play a huge role, but thought it'd be more clever to not introduce her until she was ready to bring her into play.

Now she disagrees with that decision and wishes she'd been there from book one, but decided that "it's not bad the way she did it, but it would've been more elegant" so she didn't change it

Does Gibbs have anything he would change about his book? He says you don't always know which characters will catch on, some some that become important he wishes he spent more time with in the beginning--"if I'd done this in book one, I couldn't done this in book 7!"

Any movie news? Hollywood is so much hurry up and wait, a ladder with thousands of rungs; they got caught at the script stage when the writer's strike happened, and even though the strike ended that doesn't mean the gears start turning again immediately.

the script is the most important thing, especially since KOTLC would be a very expensive movie, so the more solid the foundation the better the chance they have of getting greenlit

Her fingers are crossed; she wants a movie/show, but she wants it to be a good movie/show

Fans often don't realize how much work it is and how out of the author's hands it is

Reader questions! (name spellings are to the best of my ability)

Celiana: what advice do you have for young authors? Focus on writing and enjoying that part of the process before publishing! Publishing is stressful and complicated

Shannon throws the question to Gibbs. He says a lot of the times fans tell them they don't like their writing, it's their first draft. "Well that would be the problem."

Very few people hit it out of the park on their first try. Editing is a super important part of the process!

Shannon writers her books weird (editing intensely as she goes because she's always behind on deadlines, and hopes to go back to normal one day), but before that she'd have 2 or 3 drafts each. Book 1 was draft 20, Exile was draft 3, Everblaze was 2.

Gibbs does about 10 drafts each (though admits his outlines process isn't nearly as rigorous as Shannon's)

Shannon reached a point where she said "I don't think I'm smart enough to do this alone anymore!" Her books are like houses of cards, and she simply doesn't have time for the drafts to fall apart

She and her team frequently painstakingly plan things out--and even then sometimes have to scrap things. Remember that scene we rigorously went through last week? "it's not working! Now what?"

Mary Claire: Was it hard for you to find a publisher? Yes. First she got an agent, as that's important when traditionally publishing. She got her at draft 13--said that while she loved the book and its idea, you could tell this was Shannon's first book.

They went through a few edits and thought draft 15 was the one, but she got LOTS of rejections

her confidence was shaken, and draft 16 turned into a mess

At draft 18 it was sold, and then they went through 2 more versions with an actual editor; "so so much rewriting..."

Gibbs tried to get published as a kid, but was rejected throughout all of his schooling, so "to heck with this! I'm going to Hollywood to write movies"...which was actually pretty similar

he came back to writing 15.5 years ago during the last writers strike--"hey maybe I should try this book thing again"

They don't share their experiences to scare you; it's worth it, but you have to love writing to be an author given how much work and rejection it is

That's why Shannon says to enjoy the writing stage as long as you can; you need to fall in love with writing and with your story and truly believe in it

Were you always reading as a kid? Writing stories? When did you decide to write a book? Shannon was very focused on art as a kid and wanted to be a Disney animator, but her art doesn't work for that; she can't draw what's in her head, she can only copy, which "makes me about as useful as a camera"

She thought she could learn the skill, but couldn't in art classes; she realized she was always going to be frustrated if she kept at it

She'd started college at 16 and now her life plan was falling to pieces, so her mom advised her to take a class for fun

it was a film class, since she thought she'd be able to watch TV for school

she was, but her teacher also encouraged her to go to film school since she could finally bring things out properly on the page how they were in her head

"You have a lot to learn, but I see something in you." "Cool, I'm a film major now. Answered!"

Turns out film is too collaborative for her and she wanted more control; "there's those book things, I guess I could try those."

She doesn't regret the journey

Addie: How do you et the ideas to write? Shannon wishes she had a tree that sprouted money and great ideas, but really ideas are everywhere and it's a matter of paying attention.

You don't need your whole idea all at once--can be small like "I wonder if that hat...wasn't a hat at all!"

She knew she wanted to work with elves, and she knew she wanted to strip the magic from the story in favor of sci-fi/superhero logistics. The rest came bit by bit

Some days she couldn't write fast enough, others it was "oo, what if they wore capes?"

Elizabeth: what do you do when you have writers' block? Shannon doesn't like to call it that because that makes it seem scarier than it is; to her it's just being stuck, and she plays the "what if?" game

What if I got rid of the previous scene? What if they went here instead? What if, what if, what if? Open yourself to new possibilities

Gibbs is a big going for a walk person for when you're stuck. We all get stuck, not just young writers. he also likes hiking--walking but not coming back for a while.

At this point a poll was sent to the audience asking them to choose between 5 pairs. Bolded won with percentage included afterwards

Teleporting or light leaping? (63%). Eternalia or Mysterium? (63%). Bathe a T-Rex or Pet a Verminion? (55%). Telepath or Empath? (62%). Cape or No Cape? (60%)

Shannon's surprised the Keefe fans didn't pull through with the Empath vote

No matter what Shannon writes, someone's going to be unhappy, so she started pulling back on appealing to fans and prioritizes what fits the story

Marissa: Will Iggy ever go back to grey? That's up to the readers! Shannon leaves it completely in our hands, so if we ever nominate and vote for grey, she'll write it.

Shannon thanks everyone for reading and being patient, as she's writing as fast as she can

When a book is released she usually celebrates with a dessert; she ordered a bunch of fall flavor donuts from Krispy Kreme today, so she's not sure if she'll save one for tomorrow or get something new

It's dangerous that she can just push a button and donuts will show up at her house (doordash)

Gibbs and Shannon hope everyone love the graphic novel as much as they do--and stay tuned for part 2!

[womanofwords]

Moustache Vandalism

This is a bit of a birthday present for myself, I guess. Haven't written about ITSV for a while, so I might be a little rusty.

Miles was fidgeting as he watched Hobie inspect the paint supplies that he had borrowed. "This can't be a good idea," Miles said.

"This isn't about whether or not it's a good idea. This is about making your mark on the place," Hobie said, as he dipped a paintbrush into a bucket. "Now, watch the master at work, Peter Pan."

Miles could only gasp as he watched Hobie paint a cartoonish red twirly moustache onto a picture of Miguel O'Hara. "Proper Spidey colours, here. I get red, and you can have blue." He handed over a pot of blue paint to an emboldened Miles, and the two got to work.

They looked on when they finished and grinned. Miguel now had a thin red moustache, a blue eyepatch, red devil horns and a little blue bow in his hair. "Nice job, mate," Hobie grinned, as a large shadow fell over them.

"What in the world?" Miguel growled. Miles let out a squeak of terror and Hobie groaned.

"Dammit," he groaned, turning around to see Miguel O'Hara looming over them, Lyla hovering over his shoulder.

"Ooh, you two are in trouble," Lyla sang. "Also, nice job to whoever drew the moustache."

"That was me," Hobie said.

"Get over here!" Miguel yelled.

"And now for the fun part!" Hobie laughed, grabbing Miles and racing off.

"What's he going to do if he catches us?" Miles asked.

"Lecture us, probably," Hobie said.

"Actually, he's made a new gambit for people that prank him. Also, you guys were never in his good books," Lyla said.

"I don't believe in goodness," Hobie said. He was about to say more, but then they fell into a pit.

"Good, I finally caught you," Miguel said, as Hobie and Miles did their best to escape. "Don't bother, I greased up the walls so you wouldn't be able to climb up them."

"Good to know. What exactly do you plan on doing to us?" Miles asked, his doe eyes widening in impending terror.

"You'll be spending some time in the gauntlet for your troubles, primo," Miguel said, a cruel smile growing on his face.

(PAUSE)

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Miles yelled, as a family of large spiders caressed his sides with their front legs and mouths. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HEEELP! HOBIEHEHEHEHEHE!"

"YAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hobie laughed, being of no use. The spiders were especially interested in his piercings, stroking his face and pulling up his shirt to see his belly button piercing. "YOU LIHIHIHIHITLLE SH-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Where exactly did you get those spiders from in the first place?" Jessica asked.

"Another dimension. They're harmless and really friendly," Miguel said, smiling faintly. "Also, almost every Spidey has heightened sensitivity post-bite. It's going to be brutal for them, and it'll teach them a lesson about defacing my picture."

"Didn't think that you had a soft spot for these kids," Lyla teased.

"I don't," Miguel said, the smile now gone.

"Sure you don't," Lyla and Jess chorused.

[arwenkenobi48]

Robin Hood Minific: Prince John And The Ghost

Prince John claims he doesn’t believe in ghosts, but a mysterious encounter is about to prove otherwise…

“…an’ legend has it, as legen’ always does, that the ghost of that headless execution’r goes a-wanderin’ through Nottin’ham when the moon is full, lookin’ fer a new head to chop off.” As the Sheriff of Nottingham finished his gruesome tale, he took note of audience’s reaction. Sir Hiss looked slightly disturbed, Trigger was listening with furrowed brow in concentration, Nutsy’s knees were knocking to a cartoonish degree, but Prince John’s reaction really took the cake.

The lion’s fur was standing on end, his eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his entire body was quivering like a golden blancmange. Every few seconds, he made a little whimpering sound like the beginning of a sneeze and in typical Prince John fashion, his thumb was slowly finding its way to his mouth. It took every bit of effort for the sheriff to not burst out laughing.

“Well now, how’s that fer a scary story?” Prince John immediately snapped out of his terror-induced paralysis. “Pah! Headless executioner, indeed. How would he even be able to see where he was going? What a lot of poppycock!”

Little did Prince John know that he and his courtiers weren’t the only ones who had overheard the story. A certain group of outlaws were also listening in on the macabre fable and had seen his reaction. Robin Hood ducked behind the castle wall and whispered to his companions. “Friar Tuck, put your hood up. I think I’ve got an idea…”

1 hour later…

Sir Hiss leaned on the sill of the royal bedroom window, a gentle breeze ruffling the ends of his cape. “Ahhh, what a fine night this is…” Resting his head on the end of his tail, positioned like a hand, he gazed up into the sky. “And what a beautiful full moon that is, too.” Prince John felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up. “D-d-did you say a…a full m-m-m-moon, Hiss?” “Yesss, come and have a look, sire. It’s sssimply lovely.”

Prince John stared up at the moon, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. “Uh, it’s fine enough, as full moons go, I suppose,” His words were more muffled than he wanted. “Are you alright, sssire? You sssseem a little on edge.” “On edge? Me? Rubbish, Sir Hiss! I’m as not on edge as a king can be!”

Suddenly, there was a loud, low clang from the courtyard below. It sounded like the solemn toll of a solitary church bell, but it was really just Little John banging two large metal pots together on the other side of the ramparts. “GAH!” Prince John leapt about a foot in the air. “What was th-th-that!?”

“Did it work, Rob?” Little John whispered hopefully. “Looks like it, Johnny. He’s coming into the courtyard now.” Robin watched excitedly as Prince John and Sir Hiss entered the courtyard. Grasping the hilt of his sword tightly to hide the fact that his hands were shaking, Prince John called out into the dark: “Come out with your hands up, whoever you are!” A strange groaning sound emanated from just outside the castle walls.

“Oooooohhhh…ooooooooohhhhhhh…” A hooded figure emerged from the shadows, seeming to float above the ramparts, draped in a dark cloak and wielding an axe. “Bewaaaaare, Prince Johnnnn!” It bellowed. “It is I, the Headless Executioner! Wooooohooooo!” Friar Tuck was enjoying himself tremendously, swinging his wooden axe about as a camouflaged Little John held him up. Sir Hiss saw right through the disguise, but the same could not be said for Prince John.

“AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!” Shrieking like a mandrake, the cowardly lion turned tail and fled back to the safety of his tower, clinging to Sir Hiss like a reptilian lifeline. “Help! Save me! I’m too young to die! MOMMYYYYY!” Practically falling over his own tail in his haste, he scrambled up the stairs, sprinted to his room, leapt into bed and hid under the covers.

“Heeheeheeheeeee!” Friar Tuck guffawed once he and others had retreated to the safety of Sherwood Forest. “Did you see the look on his face? I guess I do look pretty spooky with my hood up!” “Nah, it was Robin’s ghost impression that frightened him,” chuckled Little John. “Ah, but you’re forgetting, old boy,” Robin smiled. “If you hadn’t been there to make Friar Tuck look like a hovering ghost, none of this ever would’ve happened. Hmm, I wonder what Prince John’s up to now…”

When he was finally sure that the Headless Executioner hadn’t followed him up the stairs to his room, Prince John peered out from under his bedsheets. He had been sucking his thumb so much that it was feeling a little sore. “Uh, Sir Hiss? Are we safe now?”

“Yrsss!” Said a muffled voice. “Hiss? Where are you?” “Yr sssrttrn rn me!” When he finally emerged from beneath the royal backside, Sir Hiss wheezed for air. “Yes, we’re sssafe!” He grumbled. “And I don’t think we’ll be requesting ghost sssstories from the Sheriff any time ssssoon!”

The sheriff in question, meanwhile, had slept through the whole adventure and was none the wiser. But his vulture henchmen, Trigger and Nutsy, had only witnessed Prince John’s legendary display of abject terror. “Well, looky there, Trigger.” Chortled Nutsy. “You’d’a think Prince John’d just seen a ghost!”

The End

[unsettlingcreature]

here's my thoughts on the veilguard reveal trailer. I would say there's a mix of good and bad for me, but I've tagged it as critical just in case. all the bad stuff is grouped together at the top :)

I wonder if they went with a more cartoony style because of Absolution…? I'm not against a style change, but I think it's too cartoonish, I can definitely see the Fortnite/Overwatch comparisons people are making. Taash especially suffers from this WHICH SUCKS BC I LOVE QUNARI

I'm not reaaaally going to comment on the hammy Marvel-esque dialogue because this was mostly just revealing the characters. I'm more upset they labelled Emmrich as the necromancer and not the mortalitasi. Probably aiming for a wider audience 😔

Overall, the tone just feels off. If you put this next to Origins and DA2, you'd barely be able to recognise it as Dragon Age. Is this an end to its dark fantasy roots? Sad if true. We already saw the beginnings of the shift in DA:I but this is… much further :(

OK I'M DONE DWELLING ON THE THINGS I DON'T LIKE, ONTO THE THINGS I DO

Varric looks SO good, you can really tell whoever modelled him put a lot of care into it even if I personally think Mr Tethras needs to go back on the shelf 🙄 very excited to see more Harding, if they deny us a proper romance with her then I will be rioting!

I want Lucanis to do unspeakable things to me. I don't think I need to elaborate. I want to give Davrin smooches, I think he genuinely looks the best (visually) out of all the Companions. He looks SO good 🥰 Bioware, they both better be on the list of romanceable characters!

I loved the small glimpses we got of Tevinter in Neve and Lucanis' intros (assuming I'm right, those lanterns look a lot like some of the earlier concepts for Tevinter, especially Neve's)

(OURRRRRRRRRGH I WANT TO SEE MORE OF TEVINTER PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE)

The elven ruins look brilliant, regardless of what I think about the art direction a la the characters, the environments look amazing. Ain't no way my current PC is going to run this game LMAO, I'll definitely need to upgrade before DA:tV releases.

Also baby griffin:) very cute and the dragon looks AWESOME, I definitely think they've improved on them consistently with each game. I can't wait to fight with or against that big ol' beast.

I think that the trailer wasn't a total miss for me but it definitely wasn't a complete hit either. I'll be holding off on making any proper judgements until we get the gameplay teaser + more trailers in general.

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Odd Squad UK -- "The Other Ozzie" Episode Followup, Part 2

Look, I'm not gonna lie...whoever said this episode was good is someone I'm gonna smack. Because my lower body is screaming from dashing to McDonald's, but my hands are primed.

I kid, I kid. I will not smack anyone. But let's see what happens after the break anyway.

Okay, when I said in my followup for "Oddtober the Thirteenth" that this was gonna fuck with the timeline, I said it with "it's not actually gonna happen, right?" confidence.

WELL GUESS THE FUCK WHAT IT'S FUCKING WITH THE TIMELINE AND FUCK YOU JON. KA-CHOW YOUR WAY INTO THE CANNON.

Halfway in, I'm getting the unsettling feeling that, much like Marty Marmalade was previously, Oz is meant to be an audience surrogate for all the kids who can't figure this shit out. Not as strictly as Marty was, but the sentiment is still very much there.

Sorry, Orli, but this episode you're getting dethroned.

"Without a script, I'm useless."

"But you're...you're reciting lines from a script right now."

"No, no. I need the script in my hand. That's how this works, I'm afraid."

"You know what I'm going to say, don't you, Agent Onit?"

"Can I just tell you the name of the place? Without giving you the coordinates?"

"I understand you need to tell them for the math lesson, but give me the name of the place first."

"...The writers are breathing down my ne-"

"JUST DO IT."

No no no. If you were green, you'd be de- stop. Stop it. STOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHP-

In which Oz finally learns about autonomy as a member of the Homo sapiens species.

And still botches it up anyway because...uh...

I dunno, can I headcanon him as autistic? Is...can I do that? Because the more I think about it, the more I start to do an "oh my God, I can relate" DiCaprio point.

This "I'm not good with faces" bit isn't really funny to me. Again, you can have a gag, but there's a difference between spacing it out and using it for everyone. When you do the latter, it's a very irritating inconvenience.

Wh- since fucking when? He's cartoonish, sure, but that doesn't exactly translate to being fast.

Jon, my guy, you're going up there with the ranks of Omar and Tasha and I don't like that.

So if he gets a bunch of ideas at once, will he get a migraine? Will his head and brain explode in a big gory mess?

Yeeeeeeeeah, an exciting chase to catch the villain! ...That will only last for less than a minute.

Won't get fooled again...until I'm fooled again.

Now, see, this portal effect is cool. It looks like glittery slime. I like it.

Timetastrophe? Jon's never heard of he.

Seriously, I devised better rules in The Odd Squad Council and yes that is a shameless self-plug and no I don't regret anything.

Ahhhhhh, here it is. The famous blooper reel of the episode. The blooper reel that we really should have gotten for the entire franchise.

Honestly, we should have gotten this dramatic announcer guy a good 8 years ago when they were advertising the first movie.

Okay, I was half-expecting this, but my attention's really more on how Orby is just Orli with glitter scrunchies. (And Oz is just Ozzie with sunglasses, but y'know, that's a little bit besides my point.)

Like I said, this is the blooper reel we should have gotten for the franchise, but instead get tacked onto the end of a decent-but-also-terrible episode.

If you're willing to film BTS content, you're willing to share the blooper reel. Make that a hashtag!

EVEN THE ANNOUNCER GUY IS FUCKIN' FED UP WITH THIS SHIT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh God...I wasn't expecting to cackle but this was an absolutely beautiful cherry on top.

Guy who knows autonomy, meet a girl who doesn't.

And your credits for this episode. Real shame they didn't give the Mayor a name like with Mackelmore, but I call him Ryan Lewis and I'm fandom founder so you have to listen to-

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

Overall, this was...a hard pill to swallow. Between the board of villains and...well...Oz, this episode is not one I'm particularly fond of. I feel like if they explored a bit more of the Movie Star Dimension instead of staying in the world we know, it would have been better. The way it is now, it seems more like they're trying to shove a unique concept in there but failing to make it actually unique aside from Oz himself.

And speaking of Oz...enough with the damn Math Lady memes. I'm like the "stop talking about Among Us" guy but it's "stop doing Math Lady". Get with the times, boomers.

Well, now that that's over, we've reached the finale, kicking things off with "Three is the Oddest Number", which will introduce the Terrible Three. Confidence not inspired in me, but I have a small sliver of hope. Just a small one.

Seren out!

[mpsansy]

*phew* Okay.

It’s a real bummer to be talking about this with little to no audience cause i'd love to talk and explore these types of things. However, I’d like to write up a few concepts I have on Casper, his uncles, and other miscellaneous pieces while it’s still going through my head. Most of which are not too out of the box, but hey. I’m just trying to entertain myself with all of them here. Anyway, getting back on track:

-When they all were alive, it wasn’t odd for young Casper to be raised around the trio. As a matter of fact, most of the boys would use this to get the ladies. You’d be surprised at how many pretty faces went to converse with whoever brother had the little bundle. Though if you were to see it with your own eyes, you would notice that Stretch kinda had the motherly side to him that wasn’t seen with other men. Guess that soft natured stuff really hit home for a lot of people.

-Those brothers, even in life, stuck together like glue. They had the kind of bond that felt almost unbreakable. To which case, you’d be right! It was practically impossible to break the bond they had. Sure there’s going to be some butting heads, yet that’s typical to have. You’d be delusional if you think they’d live all a happy go lucky life with no arguments. You're dreaming, bud.

-Unsurprisingly, Casper looked more like his mother when he was alive. Their eyes and hair color were nearly identical. However, his facial expressions and personality would resemble more of his father than anything. Though by the time the trio saw young Casper, they would joke around about how his father’s genes were really fighting their all just to be present.

-If Casper were to have lived a longer life, he more than likely would’ve grown up to look like his father. What he would’ve done in his lifetime could’ve been anything. However, it seems that this family was dealt with misfortune that evidently ended in death for each person.

-Speaking of death, the only survivor of this misfortune was Casper’s father, who might as well turned mad at the discovery of his family members passing away. First, it was his wife, then his son, and now? His three elder brothers. And just to say with this telling, he was no scientist. But he soon pursued that career. One could even say that in starting this new career, he soon discovered that magic was indeed a reality. Among other horrors that he once thought to be fiction.

-The world of monsters and humans are so intertwined that it’s practically hiding in plain sight. So just imagine how scary or fascinating it would be to know that your friend could be… I don’t know? A ghoul. A werewolf?? A vampire!?! What a concept indeed.

-I’d like to say that with time, a spirit can slowly forget themselves. Which means that their physical presence also melts away from them, and a new form is created. An empty canvas if you will. Who they once were in life does transition into this newly ghostly form, yet one could argue that their presence is exaggerated. To a cartoonish degree, mind you. But I’m sure they can gain some resemblance of who they once were. Somehow.

-Heading back to the family demise, I’d say that the trio died in not the best fashions. It started out with Stinkie (not a nickname he used in life) getting ambushed by a group of men and dumping his dead body in the dumpster for his brothers to find. And then the two sought out a little payback for what happened. They got most of the men, but unfortunately we’re both shot down. However, they weren’t done yet. They still had one more person to seek.

And it seems like the trio in death reunited just to cause great terror to the man that took their lives away. You think they’re going to kill the man after all this? No. That’s not satisfying anymore. They made it their sole purpose to torment the man all the way till he died of fright as an old man. All alone in a home. No wife, no kid, no friends. Just the manic laughters of ghostly figures that only he could see. Just so it’s to no one’s surprise, that’s not their “unfinished business”. Because in doing this, they began having a new purpose. Scaring. Who would’ve thought that it would be so much fun?

-The shame in all this, however, is that all the good traits the trio had as humans were hidden away. Not to say it isn’t there, but with their last moments of living, all their emotions were negative and bitter. Slowly manifesting into the haunting spirits in the afterlife. But opposed to this would be Casper, who still had love left in his heart. As such, a good-natured spirit was created. Something to rival their wicked uncles.

-Unbeknownst to all these spirits, or just the trio in this case. They do care about Casper. But with forgetting about their past and all, they just can’t understand why that is. All they know is that this is their nephew. And as disgusting as it is to admit. They don’t want him to disappear. There are a bunch of complex emotions they each have. Too much that they just end up disregarding it and settle for lightly tormenting the little guy instead of being soft and learning more about WHY they care.

DAMN! Okay, that was a bit much. I Didn’t realize till now. But these are just things that I couldn’t help but write down.

[bluemooniegif]

hi! this is very random so please feel free to dismiss this but i really admire the way you discuss bsd and the works associated with the characters and i want to ask your opinion on something!

i am an art student majoring in illustration, and for one of my classes we've been assigned to create a full book sleeve for a classic book. we had to choose a few from a list to thumbnail out but we were also allowed to pick one or two books off of the list. normally, we aren't allowed to do fanart pieces for any of our classes but naturally i was like this is the perfect oppurtunity to do subtle bsd fanart!

i ended up deciding on wanting to no longer human since i just finished reading it not too long ago

i dont have any bsd friends irl or mutuals on here, so i wanted to see if you may have any ideas on a potential book cover (thats also just thinly vieled dazai fanart),, again no worries if not this is a pretty random request so i get it

anon I am so sorry to have let you down with my reply, I kinda forgot tumblr asks existed again ;-; I hope you did well with your assignment, I would've chosen NLH too! now let me try to make it up to you and respond as if I got this ask a few hours ago!

when I hear "No Longer Human illustration" my mind immediately goes to Junji Ito's manga adaptation. without knowing what your style looks like or how you go through the process of making art, I think of Ito's full-page spreads straight away. something about the chaos, the fine detail, and the balance of it all really draws me in. I think it beautifully captures the subtle horrors of this story and draws them to the attention of the reader in that classic style of his.

in terms of what to actually include on the cover, I have a few ideas that walk the line between dazai fanart and nlh-inspired:

needles: a nod to Mersault and Yozo's addiction. indicates dark themes and a story of one's life told via addiction (to which you could argue, Yozo was always addicted to something. I'm sorry, aot will always be within me now)

a glass of whiskey: incites buraiha, both fictional and real, and again, one of Yozo's addictions.

cigarettes and/or matches; match boxes (say it with me... addiction!)

a gravestone: odasaku; the general vibe of death

it'd also be cool to make the cover look like one of Yozo's comics, but instead of depicting his characters, depict Yozo (or even Dazai!), though this runs the risk of looking too cartoonish. or maybe a rendition of his most perfect self-portrait?

perhaps a portrait that reflects not only Yozo, Dazai (fictional) or Dazai (real), but whoever looks at it? a portrait to reflect the reader, and humanity?

I ramble. I hope this will make up for my late reply, at least!

[yours-the-author]

Spoilers for My Friendly Neighborhood? And Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Maybe? IDK I'm just putting my thoughts down.

I watched Super Horror Bro's let's play of MFN and I really liked it! Gordon is great, Ricky is great, everyone is great... but a lot of people seem to be over looking the whole "living puppets" thing? (or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough.) And that got me thinking... what if the world logic of MFN is like that of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Like, the two have some similarities already (tough, down on his luck guy with a gun deals with the shenanigans of TV mascots while dark things happen around him), but let's put it like this:

In the world of Roger Rabbit, cartoon characters (toons) are alive. This isn't really explained in the movie, as far as I remember, but it's just a fact. The toons are real, they have jobs, they have a place to live, but they're also sort of considered "second class citizens" in a way; they don't really get a lot of variety in what jobs they can thrive in (they work in entertainment, usually), and they don't always get treated very well (Eddie Valiant, the protagonist, often responds to cartoon shenanigans by saying "toons" in a clearly derogatory way; and cartoon tools like singing swords and sentient shoes [which I think are safe to assume they're alive and sentient? less so than other toons, but you get it] are kept in boxes, seemingly for long periods of time). Toons also have their "Toon Town", their own separate place to live that, for much of the movie, is in danger due to the owner of Toon Town (a human) dying and potentially letting Toon Town get destroyed for the sake of a highway, and thus destroying the only known place where toons can safely live.

So, to summarize: 1. Toons are alive, an accepted fact by society. 2. Toons are citizens, and are expected to work to earn their keep. 3. Toons are citizens, and there is slight prejudice against them ("slight" may be putting it lightly).

Now, let's look at MFN:

Gordon J. O'Brien is a human, who is tasked with shutting off the antenna of the studio that used to produce and televise the children's show My Friendly Neighborhood. We see in a cutscene prior to gameplay that most television shows are hosted/acted by human players, except for MFN, which is primarily led by puppet actors. Nothing wrong there; it's a children's show, and as a lot of children shows go, puppets and other cartoonish set pieces are used to entertain. Most adult shows are filled with live people, and at the hour that the TV is shown, adult programming is more likely to be on than children's programming.

But consider what happens when Gordon enters the studio lot, namely when he first meets Ricky the sock puppet. Gordon is surprised by Ricky's appearance, but he doesn't really address it. In fact, he treats Ricky like he might be the owner/face of the establishment. We could argue that Gordon is just rolling with it: it's his last job of the day, he's on probation for a bad attitude and could get fired for failing to do his job or keeping up that bad attitude, so he's just playing along with whoever the crazy human behind the sock puppet is. All well and good, except when things start getting darker.

Gordon sees a puppet (Norman) bashing its head against the wall, seemingly of its own free will, and he offers little more than a "what the...?" Even when the puppets begin attacking him, he just carries on. Maybe he's just super dedicated to finishing his job and leaving so he can go home. But there comes a point, I'd like to think, when dealing with potentially deadly possessed puppets where a normal person thinks, "is this minimum wage job really worth my life?" and usually, the answer is probably "no, consequences be damned, I'm leaving while I'm alive."

So that begs the question: what sort of person carries on with his job when it's possible there are murder puppets after his life? Most people have said that Gordon is just "so done" with everything in his life that he doesn't particularly care, which makes sense; he seems to be a war veteran with little to enjoy in his life. But there's "being done", and there's "a strange but relatively normal day". So: what if puppets being sentient is just... a thing? A rule that the world doesn't necessarily question? Puppets trying to hug people to death is definitely unusual, but that's the only strange thing.

That leads to another supporting question: who owns the studio where MFN used to be broadcast? The buildings, for the most part, are all well maintained with working electricity and general power. It's a little under kept, but the maintenance is there. And yet, there are no people around. At all. All of the offices are empty, all of the sewer areas are empty, it's just puppets all the way down. But why? The show isn't being made any more, so why are all these buildings empty? Shouldn't they be filled with new businesses, new people, new lives? Or at the very least, if no one owns them/uses them, then shouldn't they be knocked down and the land used for some other company? A newspaper mentions a company that bought up a lot of land and buildings for their own consumerist purposes, often kicking tenants out of their homes to do so, so clearly it's not unheard of to knock down/take over buildings that have no obvious purpose.

But the puppets still live there. The puppets do their own thing, wallowing in their accidental trauma, but otherwise not going out and attacking people. They stick to their buildings, and don't bother anyone. So is the MFN studio the "Toon Town" for these puppets? Do they technically "own" the lot? I recall a different note mentioning that the tools and materials of MFN were the "property" of a different company after MFN was taken off air, but the puppets are still in the building, wandering around. Why, unless they have some right to the land?

It could also offer an explanation of why Gordon is tasked with turning off the antenna instead of any other company: the puppets refuse to turn off the antenna and stop broadcasting their show over the network, so they have to send someone in to do it themselves. Not just anyone, though: a down on his luck old war vet with a bad attitude who doesn't seem to have any real importance to the city. If he does get killed, fine, send someone else to do it. If he succeeds, great! In fact, everyone seems so happy to see him successfully disable the antenna that he gets promoted to manager in the "bad ending", despite being on probation. Why is he rewarded so much for doing his job, unless it was really important that the show was shut off? Maybe it's a weird political statement? Or a symbol of human dominance over the "puppet class"? Whatever the case, it's definitely weird that Gordon is so well rewarded for shutting down the show.

Alternatively, in the "normal" and "true" endings, Gordon decides to help get the show back on the air, legally. In the normal ending, he specifically makes a note of how he has to keep his head down, not telling anyone what he's doing and eventually not coming back to the studio because he thinks he's done his part and can move on. In the true ending, he's found out and fired, despite disconnecting the antenna as his job required him. Why would he be fired for doing his job? Unless the wire disconnect was meant to have some bigger meaning? Are the puppets considered "second class", or "other"? Is their show getting back on air and gaining a following some sort of problem for the company Gordon works for? Some people like the show, and some people hate it, but it does gain a following.

A recurring theme in this game is "darkness/meanness vs light/goodness", with modern "adult" television being dark and mean and more "appropriate" in the post war world, and the old "children" television being a bright reminder to be good and friendly, which doesn't correlate with the world that the post war city has become. Maybe the puppets are a living reminder of the "good" in the world that adults are shielding themselves from? I don't know, I'm kind of rambling at this point.

Speaking of the war- isn't it weird how they just refer to it as "the war"? Based on the context and the dates, it's fairly agreed by the community that the war represents the Vietnam War, a controversial event that televised the dark realities of war to everyone with a television, which was mostly everyone. If it's supposed to be the Vietnam War, why not just call it that? Unless it's not the Vietnam War, not technically, in this universe? Since the puppets are living beings (even if they aren't exposed to television and the horrors of war until after the show stops), maybe there are other historical differences in this universe, too? Different lands, boundaries, people, etc?

And when the puppets- no longer supervised due to a world going dark from the atrocities of war- watch television to find what they're missing that other TV shows have, they get traumatized by what they see, and inadvertently incorporate it into what they know. They're impressionable, like children- or a sheltered class of people. They all get a little intense- insane ramblings and hugging people to death- but some of them go so far as to physically change themselves (remove their eyes, give themselves human teeth, turn into monsters) as a screwed attempt to gain the love and attention that the "darkness" offers. Unless someone takes some time to talk to the puppets, to let them know that there can still be good and light in the world, then the puppets will all remain on that lot, by themselves, without an outlet, and will possibly be destroyed when the now pointless studio lot is without purpose. That's what Gordon's for: someone who has also been troubled by the darkness of the world, but can take the time and empathy to be a little bit friendly.

Sorry for the long post; it's possible there's more stuff I forgot to talk about, or some information I got wrong, but feel free to add your thoughts to this! I need to go to bed, I have work in the morning.

[unknownjpegs]

little value

“Halt!”

Stepper doesn’t listen to the command, since it’s not from him, so the lumbering beast continues on stepping. Happy watches lazily, arms tucked into his sleeves, folded over his chest. His tortoise takes another lazy step and the Kings Guards on the road start to seem panicky, waving their hands, shouting the command another time.

“Stepper,” Happy calls, whistling. The Great Tortoise pauses then, one massive leg half lifted. He sets it down and swings his massive head toward him, blinking big doe eyes. “S’nough now, yeah? We’ll rest a bit.” He gets another few blinks before the tortoise opens its mouth in a giant yawn and then the beasts stomach hits the ground hard enough to make the two guards stumble a bit.

“You have papers for this beast? For your wares?” One of the guards snaps, coming forward. He’s taller than the other, lanky with floppy brown hair that pokes out underneath his little royal helm. Guard Two stands at a more respectable distance, has shrewd and beady red eyes. Neither of them pay Stepper any mind now that he’s flat to the ground.

“Are you askin’ if I’m a legitimate merchant, or a man with a giant tortoise carrying goods, roaming around for fun?” Happy takes one arm from his sleeve and uses his little finger to scratch inside his ear. Stepper gives another big mouthed yawn for effect, resting its head on the ground lazily.

“Being short with me, merchant?” The first guard snarls, hand on his hilt.

“Least m’bein’ recognized as a merchant,” Happy mutters, waving a hand in mute compliance to have his wares looked at. But neither guard actually move to do so. Instead they come closer, angling looks at each other. Suspicious and furtive, and both rest their hands on their hilts then. Happy looks between them, bored and tired.

“Looking for this man,” the short guard says, yanking out a piece of parchment. He holds it up for Happy to lazily inspect, head lolled to the side and angled down, because he’s much taller.

It’s Tino, of course. An artists rendering, with charcoal perhaps. It has his smooth cheeks, dark hair, the handsome cut of his jaw. Only whoever had done the drawing had also given him a terrible sneer. A cruel curl to his lip that wrinkled his nose. His eyes were glinting with malice, brows drawn in. He looked cartoonish and villainous and nothing like the laughing, good natured man Happy knew. If someone knew Tino, perhaps they’d recognize this as him. But a stranger, who merely glanced between this paper and the smiling, baby faced man they were looking for, might possibly think there was just an unfortunate resemblance.

“Never seen ‘im,” Happy replies.

The guards stare at him, their eyes narrowed. Beads of sweat roll down their faces, because they’re in light armor. He stares back, nonplussed and unimpressed.

“Suppose you’ll be paying the Kings tax ‘fore we let you by,” the shorter guard says then. He sniffs hard and spits snot onto the ground at Happy’s feet. The wind rustles through the trees a bit. He feels rain incoming and truthfully, he’d hoped to be at Tino’s by now. Because the trail is just shortly to their left, leads right into a clearing where the runaway’s built his little home for him and his stolen babe. And if it weren’t for that trail being so close, so happenstance nearby, Happy might have been content to just let them rob him.

Instead, he gives a shake of his head and sighs.

“Already paid my taxes this year.”

The guards unsheathe their swords with a clanging metallic sound. One points the tip to him while the other starts toward his tortoise. Stepper blinks up at the man as he levels the sword with his long leathery neck.

“Not above killing a man’s beast to set him straight,” the tall, sweaty guard says in a snide and malicious voice.

“Know what he is?” Happy asks in reply, gesturing toward his companion. The tortoise blinks at him this time. His great bulk shifts slightly, excited for the attention. Happy can remember the exact day when he got Stepper. Bought from a traveling merchant just like himself. Small enough to fit into his palm.

“A fucking turtle, what else he be?” The short guard prods his sword closer, point neck level with Happy now. He stares down the long glossy metal. It looks mostly unused. Happy understands. Pricks like the Royal Guards that wander the Kings Road, to keep peace, don’t usually have care to swing a sword. They can bully what they want out of people—and Happy is usually too lazy to argue, cuts his own coin purse and tosses it to them most of the time, without a backward look.

But the trail is so close.

“Stepper is a Great Tortoise. Not to be confused with the little tortoise. The ones you might be used to, yeah? The difference between Stepper and the small ones is not that he’s much bigger.” Happy sighs out, as if this is all some great inconvenience and not that he has a sword tip up to him and his animal companion. He lifts up a hand to wave at the tortoise, who raises his giant head in reply. The tall guard startles and takes a stumbling step back. “It’s that he can kill you.”

Steppers head shoots out fast, a blurring quickness. His great maw opens and then snaps shut around the tall guards head. There’s a distinctly wet crunching sound and then the body falls back to the ground with a loud thumping sound. His head does not follow.

Guard Two makes a brave attempt with his sword, screaming as it arcs through the air to catch Stepper on the neck. The thin metal snaps in two as it strikes the tortoise’s skin, the point of it flying and sticking into the soft dirt behind Happy, who’d stepped to the side as he saw it coming. The half broken sword makes a distinct twanging sound and then the guard is knocked to the ground by Stepper’s giant head.

“No! No!” The guard thrashes, screaming, scrambles—not enough. The Great Tortoise puts a great foot to the mans chest, and in one smooth and effortless motion, steps down. There’s the crunching sound of body breaking as well as the creak and groan of metal giving underneath the giant tortoise’s foot. Happy winces a bit as the blood soaks into the dirt road, dark and thick.

“Well,” Happy folds his arms back into his sleeves and looks to his companion. Stepper yawns once more, blood dripping from his pointed beak like mouth. “Suppose we’re in it now, Steps. No going back once you start killin’ the royalty.” Stepper slowly sinks back to the ground, belly flat, rumbling the Earth once more. Happy sighs, knowing he isn’t going to get any help moving the bodies to the forest.

—

The baby coos at Happy, his little fists waving in the air from the chair Tino’s fashioned for him. Something to keep him locked in, while he’s being fed. In the castle, Benji would have been spoiled rotten—held by a maid while another spoon fed him delicately. Now, he sits there with a plate of mixed foods that he smacks at happily, puts into his mouth messily as he smiles toothlessly up at Happy.

A bowl of soup and rice is handed to him then, by the young father. Happy takes it and immediately puts it to the side and then levels a look at Tino.

“Came here to talk to you,” he says in a mild voice. Not that the food didn’t smell amazing. The entire home did; alive with the cooking. The spices and the fire, and the closed in little space. The baby making excited sounds as Tino steps closer to wipe at the corners of his mouth.

“Not just to visit? Diondre, you know you can sit down. Enjoy a meal.”

“I know a witch,” he says instead, leaning against the table by the window. His eyes cut out to look at Stepper, who looks morose to not be involved. “With a babe just his age. Maybe a year younger or older, can’t really remember. She’s not exactly a nice witch, if you understand me.” He feels a chill sort of run up and down his spine, hairs lifting along his arms, like she can hear him. Wouldn’t doubt it if she could. He’d say it to her face, though, so the chill disappears as quickly as it had come on.

Tino stills, his shoulders tightening. Happy’s head tilts to the side, assessing as the younger man moves around the baby. Benji seems to sense the tension, his giant brown eyes going wide and watery. He looks fit to suddenly scream until Tino brushes a soothing hand over his curly hair. The baby has an absolute mop of it, black waves that stick up until Tino is brushing them down.

“Guards were on the road again.”

“Guards are always on the Kingsroad. It’s the Kingsroad.”

“And this,” Happy says, with a gesturing hand toward the placated baby. His little fist is wrapped tightly around one of Tino’s fingers, teething at the tip of it happily. He blinks at Happy, his eye lashes already thick and long. He looks nothing like his father. Not yet anyway. “Is the King’s son.”

The two men make eye contact then. Tino’s capable of a vastly darker look than one might assume him capable of. Nothing like the snide villains sneer on the parchment Happy had been shown. It’s not cruel, but it’s a cobra’s strike of warning. Benji makes happy, bubbling sounds. Happy sighs, takes the bowl from where he’d put it, assumes the soup is finally cooled down enough to eat. He won’t make this argument a third time; Tino will keep the baby, and Happy will keep selling along the Kingsroad to ensure that baby isn’t found.

Stepper breaks the tension by shoving his giant head through the window. Benji shrieks, but not in terror. He waves his hands in the air as the tortoise’s head comes closer. He yells in his babies babble and Stepper’s giant mouth opens, yawning large and wide.

The maw snaps shut on a bundle of herbs just above the mantle. Stepper chews contently, big eyes blinking as Benji continues his cherubic giggling.

Tino swings toward Happy with a delighted smile.

“You’ll be paying for the herbs then?”

Happy’s head rolls back on his neck, sighing out as he fishes for his coin purse.

—

Outside, Happy walks alongside the tortoise. The baby sleeps contently in the basket that Stepper carries inside his mouth. Tino watches from the door of the house, puffing away at the pipe. The smoke carries up into the air, disappears among the pink and purple clouds as the day slowly ends.

“I knew your father,” Happy says to the sleeping baby. Benji is swaddled tightly. He’d been fussing and crying, arguing against his sleep when Happy had scooped him up and placed him into the basket. It’ll help. Babies like the rocking motion, he’d explained as Stepper had taken up the handle without question. They lumber along now. Benji sleeps soundly, little face perfect.

“Well,” Happy continues, hands in his sleeves again. “Your real father, not that one. Know him too, for a bit now.” The edge of the forest greets them, so they make a turn to continue back toward the house. Tino has not moved, watches dutifully. “Not a big fan of the King, Benji.”

Stepper stops suddenly and sinks down onto his stomach lazily. Happy leans over to inspect the baby once more. Nothing but his face pokes out from the layers of blankets that keep him safe and warm. Happy crouches to look closer. He tries to find a shred of The King inside this face, but comes up empty. Not that he looks much like Tino either. Happy suspects, he’ll grow into a face that is uniquely his own.

“They’re going to come for you one day,” he murmurs. Stepper yawns out, puts his head beside the basket. Blinks his eyes closed. Happy sighs, looks up to the slowly darkening sky. Then he fishes within his red robe, pulls out the long necklace he’d stolen before he left. “This was your mothers. She was—well. The light in the halls of the castle, I’d say.” It’s not something a queen would wear, it’s simple, and of little value. It’s gold chain is old and the ornate gem at the end might not even be real.

Happy tucks it into the basket anyway.

[regina-cordium]

For the writer asks: 4, 14, 18, 35, 40?

please pretend like i answered this in a timely manner i truly am the worst at answering messages

4. What's a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

cobble is The best word to say. Great mouth feel.

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your "lost" books are and which specific friend from school you haven't seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

OP has been deeply wronged in their life jfsdiojfsf but yes, I'm willing to lend by books out to whoever. HOWEVER. it is a one strike system. the second u hand me back a book that looks worse than when i gave it to u, u get no more books. use the library.

18. Chose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

I wanna talk about the cafe scene from like a star across my heart

i knew that katherine and sarah needed to get together to work out the details of their fake dating endeavor, and it seemed to me that it would be easier to work it out in person rather than just over text. plus, they uuuuuhhhhhhh needed to actually meet in person lmao

i really didnt have anything specific planned beyond (and this is a direct quote from my outline) "[Insert increasingly cartoonish reasons they haven’t actually met before]" which. miiiiiiight be obvious? i'm gonna be sososososo real with you. i wrote that scene at, like, 4 am. it was VERY much just going with the vibes

however, to again quote my outline, i knew the background vibe was "Oh No She's Hot" and "Katherine Ethel Pulitzer can be Totally Fucking Normal in the face of extremely pretty girls. She’s an Adult." i definitely went overboard with katherine dying in the presence of a pretty girl, but also she is NOT as dignified as she pretends. she is no less chaotic and messy as her friends. i Needed it to be noted that not a single person in this friend group is normal

35. What's your favorite writing rule to smash to smithereens?

using "says" like. sometimes characters are Just Saying Something. not yelling, not snarking, not whispering. just. they're just saying!!

also, i love me an adverb. let me overly describe the most minuscule of details for no reason whatsoever

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

My absolute favorite poem is The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 6

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “I did not know the bank was being robbed because I was engaged in my sworn duty as a police officer.”

Number 6 is…Inspector Clouseau, from The Pink Panther.

It is difficult to say where the trope of the “Bumbling Detective” began. Some would point to the various Scotland Yard officers in the Sherlock Holmes stories…although, to be fair, in many of THEIR cases, they weren’t so much total idiots in the books, so much as just constrained by their inability to look beyond what they saw, so to speak. One character who I think doesn’t get enough credit for the beginning is Inspector Fix from “Around the World in 80 Days,” who felt like a more slow-witted Inspector Javert. There are probably still other characters one could credit for the concept…BUT, regardless of where it all began, I would venture to say that the concept reached its absolute zenith with the creation of this guy: Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

Originally played by Peter Sellers, Inspector Clouseau is the quintessential bungling Inspector. Speaking with an over-the-top French accent (which grew increasingly more cartoonish as the films went on), he is a clumsy buffoon, completely oblivious to his own ineptitude as a police officer. In the first film, Clouseau was actually a case of a Heroic Antagonist, depicted as an honest (but thoroughly stupid) detective, trying to apprehend his arch-nemesis: a mysterious jewel robber known simply as The Phantom. At the end of the film, the Phantom – a.k.a. Charles Litten – and his allies defeated the bungling clod by framing him as the true culprit. This was not the end for the Inspector, as he somehow was able to clear his name, and would continue to have a life in many other films in the “Pink Panther” film series. For those who don’t know, the actual Pink Panther is a pink diamond, not the cartoon character, who was more of a mascot for these movies, and became popular in theatrical cartoons that came later…but I digress.

Whenever I think of comical and incompetent detectives, Clouseau is the first character I think of. And, in a way, out of all the doofus detectives in the world…Clouseau is actually the closest to BEING competent you may find. Make no mistake, he SUCKS as a sleuth, but what’s interesting is that, in most of the movies, Clouseau still manages to win! He’s able to catch the criminals, whoever they are, and escape without much of a scratch. He’s also, despite his inherent clumsiness, surprisingly skilled in martial arts, although he rarely uses this fact to great advantage. A lot of this is because of Clouseau’s single greatest character trait, in my opinion: he follows a code that his creator – Blake Edwards – called “The Eleventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Give Up.” Clouseau’s greatest strength, AND his greatest weakness, is that he is ALWAYS very confident in his own feelings and decisions. If he feels somebody is honest, absolutely NOTHING will convince him otherwise, no matter how high the decked is stacked against that fact. Similarly, if he feels he can handle a situation, no matter how ludicrous or perilous, nothing will stop him from doing it. This gets him into a LOT of trouble, as you can imagine, as he seems totally shocked when people who very obviously despise or distrust him cause trouble for him, and he is always startled by his own slapstick buffoonery. But at the same time, on many occasions, his instincts about what is going on and who is or is not responsible for a crime DO turn out to be correct.

While Sellers absolutely made the character, there have been other attempts to portray Clouseau since. The most successful, in my opinion, was a cartoon series called “The Inspector”: the title character was never CALLED Clouseau, by name, but the series was made by the same people (and apparently in the same universe) as the Pink Panther cartoons of the time, and it’s pretty darn obvious that’s who he is. I also have a personal soft spot for the first of the Steve Martin “Pink Panther” reboot films, even though I’ll acknowledge it isn’t that great. I actually initially wanted to put Clouseau in the Top 5, but after revisiting some of the Pink Panther movies, I no longer felt that was entirely fair. For one thing, his incompetence DOES have to be taken into consideration: he still counts for the list, but he’s obviously NOT a good detective in the truest sense. For another, the other detectives above him have all, in my opinion, weathered the test of time much better than Clouseau has: they have survived through numerous incarnations, and even a lot of the older stuff with them still holds up today. The Peter Sellers films have some rather dated bits of humor that haven’t aged well (though I should point out the majority of the jokes DO still hold up), and aside from the aforementioned cartoon series, most takes on Clouseau that AREN’T Sellers just haven't been quite as grand. So I think it’s unfair to place him TOO high. But, for being by far the most iconic COMEDY detective – at least in my mind – Inspector Clouseau still gets a big thumbs-up from me. A pity he gets a thumbs-down from anyone with half with a brain. (I’m certain he only has about a quarter.)

Tomorrow, the countdown enters the Top 5!

CLUE: “Let's vote on it: mystery, or pizza pie?"