#and also i guess i should have made the last two pages connect like i did with the rest of them but i think it still works. thematically

[valgeristik]

Ничего не останется от нас, Нам останемся, в лучшем случае, мы

hi. hello. listen to this song

i have so many thoughts about these two. oh my god. maybe i will write it out some day, but for now drawing it out will do

translation will be under the cut! knowing the words does add to the work so i do recommend reading it. or just enjoy the art <3

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heres the translation, color coded according to how i broke it up for the art. just in casies

first page:

Love is scarier than war

Love strikes more true than steel

second page:

More true, because of your own volition

third page:

You run towards all the winds

Let there be pain and eternal battle

Not atmospheric, not earthly

fourth page:

But definitely with you

caption:

There will be nothing left of us,

we will be left with, in the best case, ourselves

[bibibbon]

I think even the "its realistic!" excuse doesnt work on its own terms - cause yeah, for everyone of the 20 people to allways meet up isnt real life, but to atleast have one good friend from school, especially after going through live and die situations?

like Deku and Kachan were astranged childhood friends, who after all that made up, and also Kachan felt a lot of guilt about being a piece of shit and that Deku lost his quirk - it seems atleast those two should meet up, even do to guilt/pity Kachan now feels.

Or Ida, who is charachterised as cartoonishly proper and robotic - even he would probably see it as his duty to not abandon a friend and check on him every few months.

And Tsuy was charachterised as super caring, so after all the bonding and the fact Deku saved her from death at the start at the series, would make it seem that she would want to stay in contact - especially when she was shown to connect quickly to people.

Guess the one realistic one could be Ochako, if they did kinda try dating in highschool and it didnt work out, so it could feel awkard to then try to stay friends and all - yet then the fairytale reunion of 20 top heroes all saving some minor landslide again looks awkard.

And also its unrealistc that everyone besides Deku stayed in the hero life - especially when Jiro had the whole conflict of maybe wanting to do music instead, or the fact nobody moved overseas or did change their outfits enough to not be recognizable, etc

The real truth is that Hori feels depressed about his life and projected it, hence why the awkward happy ending that framed everything came at the last pages - a power fantasy.

It just shows how Hori, like Deku, didnt ever evolve his mindset, and stayed at the childish level of "I wanna be cool like spiderman!!" - cause if he didnt he would show Deku fulfilled as a teacher, giving the next gen the skills to actually change shit, and not see it as "setteling", with a sad expression of "alas, my dream of wearing goofy spandex suits and screaming attack names is dead😔"

The "it's realistic" excuse can work depending on the context. However, there's nothing normal or realistic about 1A and what happend in 430 (surrounding Izuku and 1A that is). It's incredibly understandable that not all 20 members of 1A were going to keep in contact and be incredibly close to eachother. Heck even in UA some 1A members weren't close to eachother and it's even stated by denki that he was never close to izuku in the vigilante arc but that he wanted to help him.

However, I have mentioned this multiple times (and you even brought it up) it's annoying that we don't see izuku hanging out with his close friends outside of hero costumes or UA uniforms. Them not doing so literally paints a picture that they aren't close at all and the whole theme of WE are heroes and power of friendship ends up failing due to this.

Look I know Iam not a huge bakugo fan but taking this into the perspective that bakugo got a satisfactory redemption arc him and izuku should keep in contact from time to time. Something that's bugged me is that after Izuku loses his quirk it seems like his interactions with bakugo are non existent, almost like izuku being a hero and having a quirk is all that their relationship is: a rivalry between who would be the best hero (kind of contradicting bakugo supposed development).

Or take for example shoto todoroki who izuku was close to but they don't seem to interact at all. Or asui. Or iida who very much helped izuku and truly cared for him. Heck tokoyami has also voiced his care for izuku multiple times and so has yuuga but we don't see any of them hang out outside of UA or heroics. Heck this chapter doesn't even give us a glimpse of maybe Izuku texting his friends in a group chat or anything. To me this all seems too bleak. What do you mean the kids who went through trauma together and had an entire theme of helping eachother and sticking together (a theme that carried the final act and fight) somehow not even hang out with eachother outside of heroics or school?

Lastly, I have no intention of making any comment about horis life unless it was stated by a credible source but it does seem like hori might of just got burnt out and he went too far with the story to give it a good ending (a well written one).

Alas, the ending was horrible.

[brightgoat]

My thoughts on JJBA OVER HEAVEN

So first of all -

it seems my JJBA binge is not over yet, I am still on the desert island and instead of their being water sources large enough to get waterboarded in like last time, I am instead finding small refreshing puddles.

This is copy pasted from my twitter so pardon if its formatted weirdly

I read the novel and- (spoilers under cut)

although it might be dubiously canon, I like it a lot that I think it should be considered so, and in my mind overrides any inconsistencies that the anime/manga may bring up. The timeline seems fucked either way you look at it, fittingly for this story I guess

I liked how it showed the evolution of his idea of ‘heaven’ and how it slowly became what Pucci defined it as. I like how it gives depth without straying from Dio’s insane villainy. and the mommy issues were certainly something as well It actually made me appreciate part 1

I have realised this while I was still watching the anime, but the novel confirms it; all the villains either represent a part of Dio, the big bad

Kars - Dio’s desire to constantly transcend his current state, humanity and whatnot, keep moving up the power scale

Kira - Dio’s idea that all humans live for ‘peace of mind’, as he puts it for himself- ‘preparedness’, knowing that the future will be fine

Diavolo - Dio’s resolve to move only forward, only towards the future

I do love how for the two Stand users, their Stands complement their motives, Kira creating time loops to ensure nothing bad happens to him, and Diavolo ‘skipping time’ to move into and foresee the future. Kira is more ‘stuck in the past’ and Diavolo is heading for the future

Dio is in the present, he merely stops time for a few seconds. It sets up the time manipulation premise in the simplest way and also gives him the further mindfuckery he needs to arrive at his conclusion

And then Pucci, the final villain, is Dio’s resolve to get to ‘heaven’, the culmination of the mindfuckery- their conclusion of it being that the definition of ‘heaven’ is obtaining peace by knowing all of the future and all of fate, and living it out in preparedness.

Their Stands are also opposite of one another, Dio stops time for a brief moment and Pucci accelerates it for all of eternity. Pucci is the kind of fucking guy to spoil the entire movie before watching it

I do love how they define fate as ‘gravity between people', and connect that to the theory of relativity (i’m always a sucker for this kind of shit) combining scientific theory with ideas of fate through a religious character is also just a cherry on top, I love it

THAT and how his Stand Whitesnake, whose powers are to extract ‘souls’ (or so to speak), is covered in the abbreviation of DNA compounds. Also fun fact whitesnake’s voice is based off of patrick star from spongebob

Overall, it was interesting to read how Dio became obsessed with the concept of fate, Ironically, were JJBA to be written with more foresight (preparedness even), then maybe Dio’s thoughts could’ve been more implemented into the story. Don’t get me wrong, he should still be his insane-cartoonishly-evil self at the same time, I love him for that. However, this novel was not written by the OG author, so who knows how canon it even is.

Another thing of note: Dio and Pucci seem to arrive at their idea of ‘heaven’ independently (you could argue Dio kind of began it by suggesting the idea of ‘gravity’ to him), but it was Pucci’s circumstances that ultimately led to it. Dio, at least for a few pages, believes that what one is born into decides everything. And they were born into vastly different situations. Dio talks a lot about his hate of nobles and ‘inheritors’ and hated both his biological and adoptive family.

Pucci is from an influential wealthy family and loved them so. Dio’s sibling was a miscarriage and Pucci’s presumed-dead-twin was actually alive. But both lived circumstances that arrived to a shared idea of ‘heaven’. Dio knows at least the deaths in Pucci’s life, I wonder if he knows his background and if knowing it would challenge or confirm his idea of fate.

I can’t help but wonder how Pucci felt reading the diary through Jotaro’s memories. Also wonder if Pucci saw how Dio died through none other than Jotaro’s memories as well.

Also i don’t know why, this is probably not what is implied cuz it wouldn’t fit characterwise(unless?) but……… did Pucci take Dio’s memory of showing him The World????? Why is it written this way and if so then adhsagdah??

Anyways if you ask me if i’m team ‘ora-ora’ or team ‘muda-muda’ its the latter for me baby

[crochetedblorbos]

"We'll all go and be fucking wombles, aye?"

Character Name: Declan Buchanan

Fandom: @realmspod, Liminal London campaigns [Podcast]

Played By: Pip Gladwin

Yarn Used: Hair: CraftSmart Value - Taupe Skin: CraftSmart Value - Mushroom Antlers: CraftSmart Value - Coffee Shirt: CraftSmart Value - Grey Ombre Trousers/Soles: CraftSmart Value - Wine Shoes/Belt: CraftSmart Value - Dark Chocolate

Basic pattern here.

Everybody’s favorite pathetic wet cat of a man depressed alcoholic fae-cursed private investigator! While I was frantically crocheting Monty to get him ready in time to hug him when he really needed it, I was not expecting Declan to need the hugs more. Damn the shiny math rocks, but holy hell, what a way to play that. Anyway, before Series 5 drops and we find out who’s going to destroy this man first, Zack or Pip, I wanted to get him done. (And I did - with a whole four days to spare! Go me!) He varies from the basic pattern as follows:

Shoes: Hey, I remembered the different colored soles again! Declan is described as tall and thin, so like with Mini, I did another round of decrease at R7 of both shoes (sc in first 7 st, inv dec 3 times, sc in next 2 sts, join) to make his legs twelve stitches around. I then did R8 as straight stitching with the shoe color before I switched to the trousers. (The other thing I did, which I should have been doing long ago, was the round before I changed color, I did the sl st to join in the color of the next row.)

Trousers: Again, tall, thin Declan. Mostly I worked his legs the same as usual, just in rounds of twelve instead of fifteen, but I also made them longer, so they went from R9 (the hdc row for hem) to R34 before I joined them together. I only used a chain of three to connect his legs, too, giving his waist a circumference of 30 stitches as opposed to the usual 38. For the belt, I went five rows above the…well…groin, switched to the belt color, and did a round of fpdc around the round two below like I did with the hem of Joseph’s hoodie. Then I switched back to the trousers color and did a round of sc in the back loop of the fpdc and front loop of the last round of trousers. For the belt loops, every four or five stitches I inserted the hook into the row below the belt, drew up a loop, and then pulled the next stitch through both that loop and the loop already on the hook. (I was kind of pleased with that, actually.)

Shirt: Hey, kids, know what the difference between variegated, self-striping, and ombre is? Ombres go FOR-FUCKING-EVER before they change color! (: Oh, well, it worked out, I guess. I didn’t really vary him all that much here except that I just went straight up with rounds of 30 (and also made his torso a bit longer) before decreasing at the shoulders.

Head: I frogged it. Several times, actually. I wasn’t happy with my stitches and I definitely wasn’t happy with my initial color choices and I also did what I consider the worst attempt at “a sort of perpetual five o’clock shadow” in the history of crochet, and the second time I accidentally added an extra round of increases and several extra rounds in between the increases and decreases - as I put it in the official Realms of Peril & Glory Discord, “He head too big for he got damn he” (remember this meme, guys?) - but eventually I got it right. (Visit his page on my website to see rejected progress pics.) I added one (1) extra round between increase and decrease in the final version as well to give him a slightly longer face, and I think it worked. For the five o’clock shadow, I just used the hair color for part of his face in a pattern that looked and felt right to me, leaving space for the mouth. Once again, I used safety eyes; the pack I bought has basically clear eyes and a bunch of discs you can put behind them to customize the colors, so I decided to give him pink eyes like they’re bloodshot.

Hair: I tried a new technique here. For each stitch beyond the hairline, I did a two-strand puff stitch (insert hook in next st, yo, draw up loop, yo, insert hook in same st, yo, draw up loop, yo, draw through all loops on hook), and I really like the effect!

Arms: There was just enough of the next color in the ombre to make it almost all the way up both arms and I’m trying not to be annoyed about it. Anyway, I started his arms on a base of four sc instead of five, then otherwise proceeded the same way I did for Joseph and Monty’s except that I made them longer (29 rounds total, I believe).

Antlers: I can’t share the exact pattern here because it’s copyrighted, but I used the pattern for jackalope antlers in Crochet Creatures of Myth and Legend by Megan Lapp (and if you click that link, check out her other patterns - they look AMAZING and if I wasn’t already approaching PELE I would be buying some of those). Declan usually grinds them off as soon as he wakes up, so this is just-woke-up-from-a-nap-and-can’t-find-his-angle-grinder-yet Deccy Boi.

[catsafarithewriter]

o’er-fraught heart

A/N: Okay, so confession time: I’ve never read any hanahaki fics (just not my type of thing for reasons) but @tcrmommabear threw an idea at me, and I couldn’t resist running with it. I’m taking this in a sideways direction, so the flowers bloom with any suppressed emotion, not just unconfessed love. 

(Also this hit 3k words?? heads up in advance, I guess. Also: don’t worry, this has a happy ending!) 

x

Baron can’t remember the last time his lungs weren’t wood. 

It doesn’t really matter, not really; after all wood is what he was originally carved from, and it is better that the flowers should bloom within a lifeless chest, than one made lifeless by their blossoming. The flowers will not kill him, and so they have almost become like old friends; a constant through the years, even as everything else changes. 

The first petals to drop from his lips were white; tiny pale buds native to oak that caught on his tongue while he searched for his missing soulmate. The last time he’d seen blooms like that, they’d been carved into the brim of Louise’s hat, a tidy nod to the tree she’d originally been created from. They are laced with unspoken sorrow, salty with unshed tears. 

He lets them drop and shifts his chest to wood. 

Dwelling on such things will change nothing.  

The sorrow subsides in time. The flowers still grow, but softer, slower. He learns to compensate for his perpetually lifeless lungs, pacing the drain of magic until he can function without tempting the worried glances of his companions. Then a day goes by without a petal passing his lips. A week. 

A month. 

He should be relieved. Instead, the guilt gathers in redundant lungs at the realisation that he is forgetting her – no, more than that, he is moving on from her. His mind has become preoccupied by new challenges: by the Sanctuary world he has discovered, by the Cat Bureau he has established, by the managing of his two companions -  a crow Creation and a cat, forever bickering - and that somewhere amongst the mundane he has become comfortable in this Louise-less life. 

The flowers that blossom from his guilt are black rose petals. His lifeless lungs do not feel their thorns, but in his dreams he does. 

“You can always talk, you know,” the crow Creation offers one evening, once a case has been solved and the day is done. Toto shuffles along the inner balcony, his feathers as inky black as the petals Baron strives to hide. “If you need to.”

Baron continues to tidy up his desk. He sweeps away a tiny white petal caught beneath a file. If he speaks of his grief, the flowers will disappear entirely, and he will lose the last connection he has to his lost soulmate. “Thank you, Toto. But I’m fine.”

His friend watches him for a long moment. 

He does not ask again. 

In time, even the rose petals falter, but their roots remain woven through him. He sometimes wonders how far they will spread; if he will one day find roots in place of veins along his arms, if there will come a day he is more grieving, guilty blossoms than Creation. 

Life continues. 

A schoolgirl turns up on the Sanctuary doorstep with a Cat Kingdom on her heels and lilac petals on her lips. The Bureau helps - how could they not? - and when the time comes for them to go their separate ways, both dilemmas are dealt with. The girl stands atop her school roof and finds the courage to confess a burgeoning crush that sweeps the flowers free. 

Life continues. 

He tucks the fallen oak blossoms between the pages of favourite books, but favourite books change over time and he encounters fewer and fewer surprise petals as the years pass. The black rose blossoms find their fate swept into hidden corners, where neither Baron has to consider them, nor his friends fret over. 

And then the schoolgirl returns. 

Years have passed, for she stands taller now - both literally and figuratively - and when she smiles it is difficult to imagine that blossoms ever spilled from her mouth. She comes to them with a problem she hopes the Bureau can fix. “If you meant what you said before,” she adds, “that your doors would be open, be it day or night.”

“I never say anything I do not mean,” Baron assures, and it is true; he simply does not say everything he means, and therein lies a world of petal-speckled difference. They solve her dilemma - a haunting in a museum - and when it comes for her to walk away again, she lingers. 

“It’s all been rather exciting,” she confesses, “and I must admit I wouldn’t mind helping with any other cases you need a human around for. It’s proven to be kinda difficult to unsee all the magic, once you’ve set foot in it the once.”

There’s never been a human in the Cat Bureau, but the case had been all the easier for having one accompany them. And Haru has seen most of what their adventures have to offer - the planning, the running, the hasty re-planning after the first one have gone astray - and she’s still interested, so he really can’t claim she doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into. He promises they will call on her, should they need human aid. 

The Sanctuary seems happy with the human’s addition; the next time Haru enters the little Creation world, she shrinks down to a more convenient height and is able to make herself at home on the sofa, instead of perched on the chest. She comes and goes, tentatively at first, but then more frequently as she finds her place among the Bureau and its inhabitants. She cooks with Muta, plays chess (and loses) with Toto, borrows books from Baron and discusses her thoughts over cups of tea. 

A petal - dead and dried - is settled gently on his desk. He looks up from the violin he is tuning. 

“I found this in the book you lent me,” she says by way of explanation. She stands awkwardly across the desk from him, but there is a stubborn twist on her lips he has come to heed. “Baron, are you... Are you okay?”

He smiles - because what else can he do? - and gathers up the pressed oak blossom. It is smaller than he remembers, shrunk from its time between pages, It seems almost impossibly delicate. “Of course I am, Haru. What would make you ask otherwise?”

Her lips twist further. She has no way to be sure it is a hanahaki flower, and not just a regular blossom pressed for his own uses, but he can see in her eyes she will be watching from now on. She leans against the desk. “Just... tell me if that changes, okay? If you need someone to talk to, I... Just remember you’re not alone, alright?” Her hand curls around his, an intimacy only previously shared in the heat of adventure, in catching of hands to drag out of danger or steady. “You have friends.”

Having a human in the Bureau is easier, until it isn’t.  

He spits out a petal the following day. It’s pink. 

A cherry blossom. 

A fluke. A mistake. Spring is heavy in the air; he’d probably half-swallowed it and was only now coughing it back up. Improbable, but more comfortable to believe than the alternative - until a second petal catches on his teeth, the same pastel-pink as before. 

The new blossoms are sporadic at first; coughed up at sudden, seemingly unpredictable moments. Listening to Haru singing nonsense lyrics to classical music while baking with Muta. Watching her laugh, with head thrown back. Readying himself to catch her as another case goes horrendously south, and her trusting him every single time. 

Haru. Haru. Haru. 

She sits curled up beside him on the sofa, book in hand and head leant against his shoulder. The casual intimacy is reassuring and intoxicating all at once, a dizzying mix that leaves his brain gently fizzling and his eyes re-reading the same paragraph for the sixth time in a row. He is sure he feels another cherry blossom bloom in his lifeless chest. 

He is so intent on hiding his inattention, he has no idea Haru hasn’t turned a page of her own book until she lowers it. She doesn’t twist to meet his gaze, but he feels her breath shift. He wants to bottle up this moment, before it can be lost to the pain of reality. 

“Did you know I used to suffer from hanahaki a lot when I was younger?”

He shifts his gaze to try and catch hers, but she is stubbornly looking away. “It’s not uncommon in teenagers,” he says, recalling the state she had first come to them in. “It’s a turbulent time, so I understand.”

Haru laughs, short and sharp. “I had it bad, even for a teenager. I hid it so my mother wouldn’t worry, but my best friend found the petals and went ballistic. She tried to convince me to admit my feelings - it didn’t even have to be to the guy I liked, it could be anyone, just so long as I actually said the words - but I never did.”

His breath hitches, even in absence of working lungs. To the likes of him, the blossoms are a nuisance, something inconvenience but worked-around, but to humans the flowers will take root in veins and arteries, weaving their way through the body until their carrier collapsed. “What happened?”

She meets his gaze now. Her cheeks redden. “You did.” She looks away, but the blush only slightly lessens. “Sure, it was partly because you raised the bar and I lost interest in a guy who barely knew I existed, but it was mostly because I found the courage to speak up for myself. You did that. You and the Bureau.”

“I think you were a big component in finding that courage yourself,” Baron reminds her. 

She laughs, gentler this time. “I suppose I was. But - more to the point - I know what it’s like. I know the... strange comfort that comes from the flowers.”

“I don’t follow.”

She doesn’t look like she believes it. “If I never confessed my feelings for the guy, if I held all my emotions in, then I could never be rejected. I would always hold the potential of our relationship in the blossoms instead. It was... safe, in its own way. Except for the whole... flowers growing inside me bit. That was less safe.”

“Creations don’t suffer from that malady,” Baron says, before he can stop himself. “We can use our magic to keep the flowers from causing any harm.” 

“You mean close off parts of yourself.” She’s watching him now, and does not miss the surprise that lines his face. She taps his chest. It makes a hollow sound. “How long have you been keeping the blossoms at bay, Baron?”

As long as they bloom. He’ll take the pain, so long as he does not forget. 

“It’s been a lifetime,” he says. “Why stop now?”

He does not put a name to the cherry blossoms, although their springtime petals leave little doubt as to their cause. They will fade in time, he is sure, just as all the other blooms have; in his long life, nothing is permanent. And yet, the more time Haru spends with them, the greater his internal garden grows. The blossoms take root in his heart, and he turns that to wood also. 

“You should tell her,” Muta remarks one morning. He sits with his newspaper before him, not even deigning to meet Baron’s gaze. He kicks a pink flower out from beneath his chair. “Before things get worse.”

Things must be plenty worse, if even Muta has taken to trying to offer advice, Baron suspects, but he only sweeps the blossom away. “I have everything under control, Muta.”

“Yeah?” The newspaper lowers. “You’ve got something just...” Muta gestures his collarbone. 

Baron picks another cherry blossom from his jacket. Strange. He doesn’t even remember coughing that one up. “A few flowers here and there won’t kill me.”

Muta grunts and flicks the paper back up. “Tell someone, Baron. It don’t have to be her, or me. Tell the birdbrain, even. Just get some things off your chest before it starts to take root there.”

Too late, Baron thinks.

Haru Yoshioka is many things - kind, resourceful, stubborn - and straightforward, most of all. Whatever strength she found with them in the Cat Kingdom, she carries it with her still, speaking her mind as she sees fit. He’s never seen a single hanahaki petal fall from her lips since her reunion. 

But he - his chest is full of flowers, in unequal parts for his soulmate and for the human woman who has stumbled into his life. How can he chase after one happiness, when Louise’s blossoms still bloom within? 

And he will not burden Haru with knowledge of what his heart is doing to him. Or worse still, she might suggest the sensible option - that her absence might keep the flowers at bay. 

He will suffer a few blossoms, if she can only stay a little longer.    

He doesn’t shed so many oak flowers or black rose petals anymore. They still linger, dormant in corners of his lungs, but they are overrun by the cherry blossoms. 

He is grateful for his fur. It hides the stems which run along his shoulders, the roots which burrow along his arms. Slivers of wood scar his form, keeping the sakura from growing into flesh and blood. He does not know how deep the blossoms will grow; any mortal would have collapsed by now. 

He sees his friends sparing him worried looks, and he offers them reassuring smiles with a half-wooden smile. 

Spring comes around again, and Haru joins him on the balcony one balmy afternoon. He gives her a hand up, and the contact is comfortable. Easy. 

“We really should put in a ladder one of these days,” he says. 

“Yes, but then I wouldn’t get to be lifted up by you,” she replies with that teasing affection that blooms fresh blossoms in his heart. She swings out of his hold to take a seat at the outer balcony edge, her feet hanging over the side and her shoulder leaning against the railing. 

He joins her, shoulder to shoulder. 

She leans closer still, and for one wild moment, he thinks she’s leaning in for a kiss, but then she plucks something from his jawline. 

A cherry blossom. 

“They’re growing on the outside now, did you know?” she asks softly. “I’ve never seen it get this bad before.”

“Creations are hardier than your average mortal.”

She doesn’t answer immediately, only cups his face with her hands and picks another flower, this time growing from behind his ear. He doesn’t even feel it. She cradles the blossom in her hands, gently stroking at the pink petals. “You must miss her very much,” she says eventually. 

“Who?”

She looks hurt then, and Baron can’t understand why. Does she think he’s deliberately misunderstanding her question. “Your soulmate. Louise.” A breeze rocks the flower. “Toto told me about her.”

Of course he did. 

“If you wanted,” she continues, softer still, “if it would make things... easier, I can always leave.” 

He almost believes he can feel his inanimate heart lurch inside him. “Why would I want that?” 

“I’m aware that things between us could get complicated.” Her gaze flickers to him, to his half-wooden lips, and away. “That maybe we are both wanting things that can never come to pass, and I... Look, I’ve done that pining from afar thing before, and it got me nowhere. Well, to be exact, it got me a chestful of lilacs, and I’m not interested in repeating the past.” Her smile is sad. “If we keep this up, something is going to break, and I fear it’s going to be you.”

She shifts, as if to move to her feet, but Baron curls a wooden hand around her wrist. She hesitates. 

“I only knew her for a little while before we were separated,” he says, and he feels the roots loosen. “She was my soulmate in the literal sense; we were created by the same artisan, so our souls came from the same source. We were meant to be together, always.”

“But she was lost.”

“I looked for her,” he promises, although he is not sure who he is promising - Haru, himself, or his absent Louise. “I looked - for years. She can’t be gone - I would know, but...”

Haru’s weight shifts, and she leans against him once more. “But eventually you had to move on.”

“I never meant to. It simply... happened.”

“We can’t be sad forever, Baron.” She gently drops the cherry blossom into his palm. “However hard we try. However much we may think we deserve it, or we want to keep it.” 

“The awful thing is, I’m not sure I was ever in love with her.” He cups the blossom. It’s already beginning to wilt. “I wanted to be - no,” he amends, “I felt I should be, but we barely had a chance to get to know one another before I lost her. I miss her, but I also miss the future we might have had, we should have had.”

He feels the roots loosen.

“Is that why you feel the guilt?”

He meets her eyes, and her face takes on a sheepish air. “I asked Toto about the black rose petals. He worked out what was going on with you a long time ago, but every time he tried to talk, you rebuffeted his attempts.”

“I suppose I wasn’t quite so subtle at hiding it as I’d hoped.”

“Don’t quit your day job to play poker, that’s all I’m saying.” She nudges her shoulder against his, a light attempt at joviality. “He’s known you for a long time, Baron. Of course he knew something was up. He said he hoped you would eventually realise that what happened to Louise wasn’t your fault, and neither was you moving on.”

“Some things are easy to say, harder to believe.”

“I know. That’s why we have friends to say them for us.” 

He exhales. “The oak blossoms were the last connection I had to Louise, and then when that began to fade, the roses felt like a fitting punishment for my lapse. If I let either one of them go, I was somehow failing her.”

"She wouldn’t have thought that.”

“You are right about many things, Haru, but that is beyond your knowledge.” 

“I know you,” she counters, “and I cannot believe anyone created from the same soul as you would wish another person to suffer in their absence.” She drops her head against his shoulder, eyes closed. “Did you realise you’re breathing again?”

He falters. The weight from his lungs has gone, and the wood has receded with the threat. The air is sweet, tinged with springtime warmth, the scent of freshly-cut grass and tentative new growth. He hadn’t realised Louise’s flowers had grown so thickly within, even while the cherry blossoms still dominated the rest of him. 

“It’s been a long time,” he exhales. 

The emotions still linger, he doesn’t think they will ever truly leave, but they are lighter on his tongue than they ever were in his lungs. Haru tentatively nudges a finger against Baron’s hand. He curls his hand around hers. 

“I love you, Baron,” she whispers. “You don’t have to say it back, but please, tell someone. Tell someone before the person I love becomes a sakura tree, please.”

Blessed with breath once more, he feels the way his chest constricts at the soft plea. He had forgotten the way emotions could take root in unexpected places. He brings his hand to Haru’s cheek, letting the cherry blossom drop, and leans his brow to Haru’s. Neither move. Breath catches in his throat. 

He presses his lips to hers, and she responds in kind. 

In his heart, the flowers fade, and something else blossoms in its place. 

When they break away, Haru’s eyes are bright and full of stars, and they roam across his face. She runs a hand along his cheek, fingers brushing over his living lips. “I suppose that works as well as any confession,” she whispers. 

Baron can’t remember when his lungs first turned to wood, but he knew he’d remember their renewal for the rest of his long life.   

[bubblegum-blackwood]

13 Books Tag Game

Tagged by @mothmage 🖤

1) The last book I read:

Ghost Of by Diana Khoi Nguyen. This is a book of poetry I read for my Intro to Poetry class - it deals heavily with grief, having been written in the aftermath of the death of the author's brother, and if you like free verse, concrete poems, or stream-of-consciousness-like verse, this would definitely be something to check out. Also Othello by William Shakespeare :3

2) A book I recommend:

If We Were Villains by ML Rio! It's about a bunch of theatre kids going to an arts conservatory to study Shakespeare. People fuck, people do drugs, people get murdered, and like half the cast is gay and repressed about it. The prose is really vivid, and overall, I'm just super impressed with the story and the characters Rio created!

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. I know this is a Vampire Chronicles blog so that seems rather obvious but I truly was captivated by this book. Checking it out from the library was one of the best decisions I ever made.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

I'm going to cheat for this one and do a play instead: Hamlet by William Shakespeare. I first read it in school in junior high, then again on my own my sophomore year of high school, and I've flipped through it several times since then. As much as I love other Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet, I never seem to run out of things to say about Hamlet. It's just so rich.

5) A book on my TBR:

Ohhhh soooo many sdljkfklfjasklfsjlkjfskl. But my friend gifted me Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth for my birthday and I figure I should get around to it at some point 😅

6) A book I’ve put down:

A year or two ago, my mother came home from Target with Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris by Anne and Christopher Rice, because she saw our goth mom's name and figured I'd appreciate it since I like the Vampire Chronicles. It's not the first in the series, and I was having a hard time connecting to these random new characters, so I closed the book after a few pages and it's been sitting untouched on my bookshelf ever since 😅

7) A book on my wish list:

Every year for my birthday and Christmas I ask for one or two Shakespeare plays because I want to collect the full set (of all the ones I'm interested in LOL). Next on the list is The Comedy of Errors.

8) A favorite book from childhood:

Ummmm I'm trying to think. I have an abridged version of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott that I read several times in fifth and sixth grade, so I'll go with that. (hilariously, I remember almost nothing about the plot of the book now)

9) A book you would give to a friend:

I'll go with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen because that is currently the book that I have been badgering my bestie to read lol

10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own

The aforementioned Ghost Of but also Girl's Guide to Leaving by Laura Villareal, also something I read for my poetry class, and also something I would totally recommend!

11) A nonfiction book you own:

So many, mostly for school. Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions by Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Feree (3rd edition) is something I bought for my sociology of gender class a few semesters ago, and I would highly recommend! It is very enlightening and full of interesting facts.

12) What are you currently reading:

Blood Canticle by Anne Rice! It's wacky as fuck but you know what, I'm actually enjoying myself. I just haven't gotten very far because I'm super busy with school this semester so I haven't had as much time to read for pleasure sadtoad.jpg

13) What are you planning on reading next?

The next play my Shakespeare class is reading is The Taming of the Shrew, so I guess technically that sfdasffasdf. For VC, I'll move on to Prince Lestat after finishing BCan.

tagging: @fofoqueirah @hekateinhell @covenofthearticulate @dorianslayyy and @leslutdepointedulac

[semper-legens]

29. Hidden, by PC and Kristin Cast

Owned: No, library Page count: 302 My summary: The truth is out. The world know how terrible Neferet is - or, at least, they should. But while she's been shunned from the House of Night, Neferet is working her evil magic on the humans surrounding it. She's conned herself into the mayor's office, into a penthouse suite, and into a dangerous position for Zoey and her friends. The Darkness still needs sacrifices. And what better victim than Grandma Redbird? My rating: 1/5 My commentary:

Speedrun, speedrun, only got three more of these let's go! What else is there to say about the House of Night at this point? Not a lot. It's still bad, it's still offensive and bigoted, it's still a giant piece of shit. And I'm still getting a perverse kind of joy from seeing just how bad it is. Seriously, though I'm going to be glad to see the back of this series, I don't actually regret having read it. If nothing else, it's a great what-not-to-do when it comes to crafting a story. Just do the absolute opposite of House of Night, and you've made a reasonably solid story! Yay! Anyway, let's get into it.

So, picking up from the pointlessness last time, we kick off here with Lenobia and a fire in the stables. And we learn one more thing about Lenobia! Is it about her as a character, or about her relationship to sex and romance? Surprise! The latter. Yeah, turns out Lenobia's pointless sexy cowboy is actually the reincarnation of her lost love from when she first came to America in the 1700s. After he died (because she failed to save him, natch) she swore she'd never love another person. Travis is that guy's soul come back to her after so long, and it's a stupid plot point for two reasons. Reason one - the dead lover was a black man from New Orleans, while Travis is explicitly white. Which…is not a good look. Black lover is fridged, white lover is endgame. Given that the only other men of colour are Kalona and Rephaim (maybe? I don't remember if Rephaim is actually described as looking Cherokee) this is not a particularly good look. Reason two - we're just doing soulmates, I guess. Lenobia has exactly one person she's allowed to be in a relationship ever. Zoey's thing with Heath (more on that later) is a very similar vibe, they're just ~cosmically connected~ and so they've gotta be endgame. People aren't allowed to develop attractions to each other! Don't be silly! You've got to get with the one person you're cosmically destined to be with! Bleh.

Most of the ongoing plot of this one concerns Neferet's rise in human society, a plot point that…does not really go anywhere. It's not even that Neferet needs to struggle to get to the top in human society, she literally just goes up to the mayor like 'you support me unconditionally now' and he's like 'duh you're hot okay sure'. It's bizarre how mundane the conflict between Neferet and Team Zoey is here. Team Zoey are trying to make her seem like a disgruntled ex-employee, and both sides are using the news media to influence people to their way of thinking. Which, given that Neferet's 'exposing' Stark as a murderer, feels…disproportionate? The worldbuilding, or lack thereof, is being thrown into focus here. Surely the police would have something to say about Stark being a murderer? Like, it's established that the vamps are allowed by the police to take care of their own security and policing and such, which is fine, but a) this has not come up so often and b) the amount of vamps there are in the world makes this suspect? At various points, the worldwide vamp population has been implied to both be substantial and not so much. Almost every celebrity has been said to be a vamp in this world, and yet vamp numbers are actually small enough that the world governments apparently just let them take care of themselves with no other oversight. Vampires are supposed to be both incredibly powerful and influential and also a minority, both at the same time? It's vague to the point where you're obviously not meant to think about it, but incidents like this just bring into light the fact that it hasn't been well thought through. Hey, Casts? If you're not gonna worldbuild this stuff, don't bring it up.

More Aurox…ugh. Once again, we're circling the 'badboy redeemed' trope. Honestly, it wouldn't even bug me that much if it wasn't exactly the damn same every time it showed up. The Boy has done some shitty things, but feels bad about them and wants to change. Some people won't give him the time of day, but at least one other person, usually his love interest, is ride or die for him and totally believes he has changed. Over time, the change is proved to be correct, usually with one big heroic action. Stark, Rephaim, and Kalona have all had this arc. Can we have a different arc please. It's getting boring.

So the big climax to this one comes when Neferet kidnaps Grandma Redbird to use her as a sacrifice to the Darkness, which means it's time to talk about Grandma a bit more. Grandma is Zoey's Cherokee grandmother. That is also the extent of her characterisation. She is loving, forgiving, spiritual, and always knows the right thing to say. Everyone loves her. She has no flaws. She is perfect. She knows everything. And she's boring as hell. She's not a character, she's a plot device! Grandma Redbird exists either to be a perfect moral guide or to give exposition about Cherokee culture and spiritual practice (which, as we've talked about previously, isn't by necessity actual Cherokee culture). Oh, and to be in danger. This is, what, the third time her life's been endangered? There's no tension in it anymore, because there's no way that the Casts will actually have anything bad happen to her. Zoey's mother can die, because she was a bitch, but Grandma? Nah, she's too good to die. I never got the feeling here that anything bad was actually gonna happen to her, because she's bounced back from being the damsel in distress so many times.

And finally…good Lord, I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to realise exactly what's wrong with Nyx as a plot element. To be fair, I haven't given much thought to Nyx as a character to this point; she literally just shows up to be a perfect mother goddess and be right about everything and then disappear. But the climax of this book comes about when Zoey and co are scared and unsure of what to do about Neferet kidnapping Grandma Redbird. Zoey prays to Nyx, and essentially gets the answer that she needs to stop cowering in the darkness and actually do something. All very fine and well, and even a half-decent plot beat. The thing is that how the plot actually resolves is that Kramisha gives Zoey one of her prophetic poems, and it tells Zoey exactly what to do to save the day. And since Nyx gives Kramisha her visions, this is essentially just Nyx ssaving the day with Zoey as a conduit. And the problem with all of this is that it's the worst of the conservative Christian idea of God and humankind's relationship to God. God is infallible and doing what He wants will always solve your problem. Nyx is always right, and finding what Nyx wants you to do, even if it's hard, is always the right path. Zoey has free will, but pretty much any path other than specifically what Nyx wants her to do is usually wrong. I don't know much about what the Casts believe theologically, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it was a 'raised Christian, switched to 70s Neo-Paganism' kind of thing, because Nyx here just reads as if the Casts switched Christian God for a mother goddess without really changing anything about how they percieve this deity and their relationship to said deity. I've been getting the vibe as we go through the series that Nyx does some shitty things, but I'm not sure I was meant to? Her forgiveness of people like Kalona and Rephraim seems overly punitive at times, but at this late stage in the series there's no room for that to be an arc or anything, I think we're supposed to take as read that Nyx is perfect. And that just skeeves me out in general.

Next, I told you it was a speedrun! The penultimate installment of the House of Night series!

[amazing-spiderling]

fandom ask game: 1 8 12 15 16 17 21

the character everyone gets wrong

Okay, I don't know that this is *wrong*, per se- but I think the ITSV characterization of Gwen Stacy has everyone thinking that Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider/Whatever is this like... cool, super competent hero with an unwavering sense of right and wrong while her incarnation in the comics is just about as far from that as can be. For starters, Gwen is older, at least 19 to start but the story spans at least a year, maybe more. She's also a certified mess, and she makes a lot of mistakes and missteps and spends a lot of time disappointing people, and we didn't get a sense of that in ITSV. That's fine, because at the end of the day it was Miles' story, but even making her a ballerina with sick dance moves instead of a "she gets by because she has powers" fighter just makes her seem way more put together than she is. I'd like to see more of "barely holding it together like she's made out of masking tape and old corn dog sticks" Gwen in fanworks.

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

That there is a "best" Spider-Man. You are 1000% entitled to your *favorite* Spider-Man, but the character has been so many things over so many years and mediums, each geared towards a different audience- people who try and put some sort of objective judgement on something like that are just stating their personal opinion as though it's fact.

If you don't like a certain incarnation or love another one, that's fine! Just own that as your personal opinion.

All the Spideys are friends and love each other, even when they fight.

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

IDK about unpopular? What does that even mean these days... I guess I'll interpret it as "characters that need more time in the sun"?

I have a soft spot for Arach-Knight (the Moon Knight/Spider-Man hybrid from the Infinity Warps comic) and I wish there was more fan content of him. I think it was a genius mash up, because so much of Spider-Man's internal conflict comes from an inability to compartmentalize the different parts of his life, but Arach-Knight is this great example of compartmentalization gone too far. I believe the implication is that the 616 gang is aware of the temporary folding of the universe? So in theory they might still retain some memories of their Warp selves? If I was a faster writer, I'd love to explore what that means for 616 Peter.

Oh, and shout out to Last Devil, silent hero from like 5 pages of Spider-Man/Daredevil. We barely knew ye, but I found myself very compelled. The design, the implications of a Daredevil who has a connection to the Hand... there's so much going on there, I want to crack him open like a geode.

Second shout-out to Weapon Xi (the "not deadpool" from X-Men Origins: Wolverine) because as bizarre as that interpretation was, the character has the potential for so much ANGST and I want it.

that one thing you see in fanart all the time

Alright, I guess the point is to be spicy, so I'll go ahead and say it. I've reached my quota of "twinky goodboy uwu Matt being manhandled by big stwong Frank" artwork. I'm good. We can stop.

you can’t understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

When they were handing out the part of the brain that ships Wolverine and Nightcrawler, I guess I was getting second helpings of "love Nightcrawler". It's not that I dislike the pairing, or even that it squicks me, it just does nothing for me. I nothing it. I see tons of beautiful art (and I've read a few fics) but I might as well be looking a a photograph of a very nice car for all the warm feelings it stirs in me.

The wild thing is!!!! I LOVE friends to lovers. Love some best buddies who mean the world to one another that come to mean even more. I just...??? I don't know. There's some kind of blinders on me when it comes to those two. Maybe this isn't the answer to this question bc it's more about my own inability to like something than not being able to understand other people's interest in it.

I think I also have a tendency to try really hard to understand why people like the things they do. Like, even if a dish is not for me, I'm still able to say, "I do not want to eat this, but someone who loves spicy food would be crazy for it." And I have that approach to fandom stuff too- so with *most* things I think I have some understanding of *why* it has a fandom, or what the appeal is.

there should be more of this type of fic/art

Stuff based on the Marvel 1602 universe. I really want to take a stab at doing some artwork of this at some point (after my current projects give me some breathing room) but gosh. I'm surprised more people aren't playing in this universe. Maybe it's because the books came out before the MCU boom? Maybe because they're kind of dense or historical based AUs don't interest people? I just feel like it's fertile soil and gosh, drops just enough crumbs for us to use to make a whole meal.

part of canon you think is overhyped

A lot of the classic X-Men stories. I don't know if it's fandom that lauds them as the best thing ever or just the people making media that are convinced the stories that were popular four decades ago still hold up, but like... some of those stories were revolutionary because it was the first time we'd seen the concept in comics- but that was decades ago. The concept of a hero being pushed over the brink and embracing evil is very well explored now. We don't need ANOTHER Dark Phoenix story. My hope is that if/when the X-Men enter the MCU, we really embrace some of the weird stories that team has been through.

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

DO IT let me hear you ramble about sksw

Ok. So. At first glance, Skyward Sword seems like a perfectly normal game, with one unified timeline that you travel along, right?

WRONG! IT IS THREE DIFFERENT TIMELINES IN A TRENCHCOAT!!!

Let's start with something simple. The Gate of Time lets you travel back in time, make a change, and return to your original timeline, which is now changed, as evidenced by the Tree of Life. True, yes?

NO. NO IT IS FUCKING NOT.

(It was at this point that she grabbed a notebook from her overstuffed desk drawer. The pages were oddly wrinkled.)

Fun fact: you can see the amber that Zelda is in at the very beginning of the game. By this logic, you should also see the Tree of Life. You don't. This is a game mechanic. It's a game mechanic that I REALLY DON'T LIKE.

(For the sake of my sanity, we will not be discussing timeshift stones. They just confuse me, really)

What does this mean? It means that time is fucking fluid, I guess, and that the present means nothing because changes made in your future to your past will also affect your current present, and not just your future present, which… Yeah, that makes sense.

You COULD say that actually, you travel back, make a change and cause a split, and then travel forward to the split's future. This means Link is actually abandoning timelines (three in total are abandoned, one when Zelda travels back (Link is somehow connected to this one), one when Link travels back to meet Zelda (if Zelda wakes up, I guess she can fight off Demise again?), and one when he plants the tree (same as the last one, regarding its fate).)

Except, um, no it doesn't! Because the amber is visible in Link's original timeline! This means that it's not a case of splitting and abandoning timelines (hehe pun)! (Also Demise likely would've escaped and killed everyone.)

I have not found a way to explain the tree and the amber, thus I will not. We will ignore it. It is a game mechanic and will only further complicate this. This does not mean I will not be eternally upset about this. Perhaps, one day, I'll be able to come with something that doesn't make me sound crazy

Now, let's continue on to the REAL, ACTUALLY "SOLVABLE" PROBLEM.

I call this section: two Zeldas. (This is where my notebook is used, to construct a visual for me. It's really shitty. Spoiler: I ended up never using it.)

Timeline A:

Link retrieves the Triforce. He wishes for the Imprisoned to be killed, and this wish is fulfilled by the Goddess Statue descending and crushing it

Zelda awakens

Zelda is kidnapped by Ghirahim, who then travels to timeline B

Timeline B

Link arrives, ritual begins

Demise is resurrected

Demise is killed (split solidifies)

Master Sword is laid to rest

Zelda gives Impa one of her bracelets

They travel through the Gate of Time, it self destructs

Granny/the old woman reveals herself to be Impa

She dies, we get one final look at the Master Sword (amber not visible behind it) before

CREDITS ROLL

Fast forward: Link and Zelda stand on top of the Goddess Statue

Timeline A

What? How are they doing that? The statue's descent was clearly a timeline A event! Shouldn't we be in timeline B right now, since we saw old Impa and the Master Sword?!

Oh, I get it! The timelines merged! This makes sense!

Wait a second. This… Why would that happen?

Timeline ?

Uh, okay… oh! Impa took the Master Sword to Lanayru, traveled to timeline A's past, because there is clearly an option for this, and that's why it's possible!

Oh, right. The deactivated Gate of Time in Lanayru is clearly visible in both the Wii and HD versions of the game.

So… what happened? How did they reach timeline A? Could it perhaps…

Solution:

A merged timeli– THAT'S WHAT YOU THOUGHT I WOULD SAY, RIGHT?

Okay. I know this is all just to make the game nice and neat. However, I, an avid lover of all things time travel, FUCKING HATE IT.

A normal person, upon reaching this point, would conclude that, uh, maybe Link and Zelda just brought down the Statue anyway, and they're still in timeline B? Yeah, that's good. I, a normal person, will stop here.

CLEARLY, I AM NOT NORMAL.

I can't fix this. I can't. I freely admit that this is just infuriating, and clearly not meant to be looked at closely. I can provide reasonable alternatives, though.

Option A. They are still in timeline A. No splits occured.

My main argument against this– nothing, really, except that if Demise was defeated, Hylia would not become mortal, events of the game would not occur, thus Link would not, presumably, kill Demise. Some paradoxy shit here. Discarded. If you like this, come up with a way to explain it on your own.

Option B. A split occurred, and they now reside in timeline B.

Good option. For whatever reason, Link and Zelda brought down the Goddess Statue, which does make some amount of sense, if all of Skyloft will eventually live down there. I could be satisfied with this, beyond the, uh, obvious issue of:

Timeline B's Zelda was never awakened, or if she was, it was after Demise’s defeat, and she got trapped in the past after the Gate's destruction (poor girl)

Skyloft. There's a Skyloft up there somewhere, and another Groose, and another, not a hero, Link (but probably not a Zelda, or just a Zelda without Hylia's influence). Timeline B's original Link, Zelda, and Groose could be replaced/merged with timeline A's.

If they are not: uh, Zelda gets stuck never getting to be mortal again except with Link and Groose (presuming they don't know/don't tell about timeline A), and must always take the role as Hylia. All of them are stuck just awkwardly not explaining why they look like three of Skyloft's residents. I want to write a fic with this, now

Honestly, the best thing they can hope for is to merge with their timeline B's counterparts. You may now put your usual post-ss events here. Timeline B's amber Zelda is still just having a rotten time, though

Option C. Merged.

Self explanatory. Schodinger's Demise, in which he is neither dead nor sealed as the Imprisoned. I think this timeline would explode in about five seconds, for obvious reasons. I can't have fun with it, so. Not gonna talk about it.

Option D. The neat one! And the fun one, for me, at least!

Let's begin.

Link, Zelda, and Groose are in timeline A. Impa and the Master Sword are in timeline B. The end of the game proceeds without any headaches, although the old woman– well, she just doesn't have the bracelet I guess?

In the good version of events: since that was the timeline that Link was cursed in, his soul just somehow… jumps over, I guess, like it does between the child, adult, and downfall timelines after oot.

The events of the regular Zelda timeline occur, and all our problems are fixed. And, look! Zelda is stuck so far in the past that I can fix totk timeline issue! This was unintentional but I'm not complaining! (I'm not elaborating here but it works trust me)

Everyone of timeline A lives out their happy lives, and Hyrule is never subjected to The Horrors (Ganondorf and various assorted other villains).

Bad version of events: Link's soul is pulled between both timeline A and B, and while B has the Master Sword, A does not. Well, let's hope that Zelda and/or Link had the foresight to create a new weapon! Or that Zelda's descendants are strong enough. Either way, Hyrule has lost one of its greatest weapons.

It was at this point that I reread what I had so far, and realized I forgot one small detail, which invalidates– nothing, I guess? The amber is missing, but Zelda A has left the amber, and Zelda B would eventually leave it too– and sure, the vines are there, where they should in theory be, y'know, not there– but whatever. I'm tired. Come back tomorrow.

IN CONCLUSION:

[anactualcartoondog]

tag game

i got tagged by @goodmode and @king-yeen . it's nice to be thought of, thanks c:

questions under the break

Last song?

Waiting Around to Die by The Be Good Tanyas which is on my playlist b/c i heard it in a breaking bad episode and it reminded me a LOT of another artist i liked but couldn't place and i'm still not sure who it reminded me of but i like the way the singer's voice sounds.

(Btw Goodmode i like the Glass Animals song you linked. Sounds like a personal connection! I'm glad it brings you comfort now. I really enjoy the synthy bass line in the song.)

Three Ships?

Chekov X Sulu from Star Trek: TOS My DnD character Compassion X my friend's character Isaac uhhhhh. idk i don't really do a lot of shipping these days ^-^' I guess i'll pull one from my Youth and say Kakashi X Gai

Currently Reading?

Ship of Theseus by Doug Durst (with "ideas" from J J Abrams, whatever that means). It caught my attention while I was walking out of the library on Saturday. It's an interesting book; a book by a fictional author with a lot of mystery behind him, with "notes" left in the (EXTREMELY WIDE) margins by two previous readers who passed it back and forth between them, and has inserts in it like newspaper articles and notes. Just like, loosely tucked between the pages. I've decided to read it twice; once on it's own and once actually reading the marginalia. So far I'm interested in the story but pretty over the actual prose of it. It thinks a lot of itself but little of the reader, and belabours the metaphor to the point of abuse. And when a metaphor isn't made to do a tap dance so you don't miss it, one of the previous "readers" will have left a helpful little note just to be sure it doesn't squeak by :)

So far it's a cool spooky ship mystery! An amnesiac kidnapped onto a creepy ghost ship with a ghastly crew and a brazen escape in a stormy night!! Looking forward to where it's going but bracing myself for disappointment.

Last Movie?

Fuck man I can't remember XD i don't watch a lot of movies. Probably uhhh Star Trek 4: Undiscovered Country bc I've been watching Star Trek in order of air date. It's the movie where we learn that Klingon blood is bubble gum pink!! How fun! It also has a really cute alien dog puppet.

Craving?

Nothing atm because I just finished some very dry cookies BUT lately I've been mixing peanut butter and strawberry jelly into vanila ice cream and you should try that.

ok that was fun! i'll tag @krazybomb , @hormse and @milquetoaast but only of u wanna~

[oracleofsecrets]

Zelda EOW cosplay log: cape detail

Was originally planning on taking a work from home day last week to free up some time to work on it, but then I remembered I still need to print off the rest of the cape pattern and also make and print a pattern for the geometric detail on the back. Once I printed all that off at work and did some Actual work at work I decided to make it a half day, heehee

A smarter or braver person probably could have eyeballed the geometric thingy but I am not that person 💖 so I used my work computer the other day after hours to make it in illustrator lol

I had to look at some screenshots I’d taken of a view angles of the cloak, and I forgot it’s really more of a Cape. I’ll most likely have to modify the pattern a lot to make it narrower but shouldn’t be a problem (famous last words). I measured the widest part of the cloak pattern—or where I Guessed it would be bc I hadn’t printed off the last few pages of the pattern…then I did a quick and dirty measurement of my shoulders (I know I wrote it down Somewhere, a while ago when I did my first Clothes sewing from scratch but Idr where I put it) and loosely wrapped measuring tape between my pinkies and held my arms at my sides to see roughlyyy what the max width would be, based on the like “reference points” of character model

Once I had that I upscaled the design in illustrator to what would be Actual Size. Before I’d actually made the pattern, when I was still assuming it was a very wide cloak, I thought the “strips” could be like 3 inches wide bc that seemed like a nice width (person who isn’t good at envisioning measurements). Obviously that wasn’t doable, so I just doubled the size of the design in illus to make the strips 1 inch, which was too big to fit on printer paper, so then I dicked around trying to figure out how to like Slice the design to put it onto multiple pages like ppl making sewing patterns do

I’m not sure how I want to cut out/assemble the design… I bought fleece in another color, so I plan on just sewing it onto the cape like an appliqué. But idk if I should like cut it all out as one piece (well, two technically bc one of the swirlies of the design isn’t connected) or if I should just cut out lengths of strips and place them next to each other?

Reddit provides 💄 <- that was supposed to be the hands together emoji but yknow this is more fun. The answerer mentioned I could sew the design on and Then cut it out, but I don’t have duckbill scissors :/ but the other explanations they laid out for options was helpful bc it reminded me I’d bought fabric glue stick for this purpose lol

{update} I am not going to bother with the swirly actually bc I was very worn out from all the hustle and bustle of making this project 🫡

[tenaciouschronicler]

June 16 2024 2009

For the last time, this boy's name is John!!!

Whoever >VOICE is has done nothing this update but make me and Narrator annoyed. At least theyve finally taken the hint and use our boys name for the majority of the following commands. Theyve also got a better grasp of what commands will yield results in moving plot forward.

Firstly we get to talk with Rose.

TT: I've been watching you scramble through the house like a lunatic.

Which is great news! We have confirmed there is still a connection between them and John at least had someone to talk to.

EB: oh man, sorry, i was looking around for my dad and i can't find him anywhere!

EB: have you seen him?

TT: No. I'm sure he'll turn up.

I wonder if Rose was too preoccupied with worry for John to be paying attention to Dad. Since she is able to place objects anywhere in the house it's obvious she can view everything. She may be limited to only seeing one room at a time however.

But now for some pressing questions.

EB: yeah, like where am i??

TT: I don't know that either. But I've determined your neighborhood was destroyed by the meteor. Wherever you were transported, it saved you from the impact.

TT: I've been reading reports in the news. Over the last few days, there have been many smaller meteor collisions with people's homes around the world.

TT: And they seem to be getting bigger. Yours was the biggest they've identified so far.

Ok so John is Not Here, meaning Earth, and all those meteors we had seen we in fact Not for John. I guess each SBURB player gets a meteor assigned to their destruction. I wonder if this phenomena has been occurring since SBURBs launch. Did meteorologists and astronomers alike come up with theories and reports that have only recently been made public? Rose doesnt seem to have any gunning for her place so its safe to assume only triggering the countdown would cause a meteor strike. Also how big is 'neighborhood'? Is it the block? The road? This picture? In the flash we zoom out to more houses. Is it all of those??

In an effort to gain normalacy we get this cute interaction.

EB: wait, rose! one thing...

TT: What?

EB: you never even wished me a happy birthday!

EB: um... hello?

TT: I was working on something to send you, but I was running late with it.

TT: I didn't want you to think I believed meager well wishes alone would suffice for the occasion.

TT: That said, happy birthday, John.

EB: haha, oh jeez, that is silly!

EB: anyway, thanks!

I really worry for John right now. This has all gotta be really stressful and hes just grabbing at straws.

What follows is a frustrating sequence to grab the PDA wherein >VOICE becomes more and more punchable!

<DO AS THE PURPLE TEXT SAYS. TO THE BALCONY.>

[John makes his way to the balcony per your awkwardly-worded request.]

Looks like more one-sided banter between these two is gonna be happening in the foreseeable future...

<JOHN. RECYCLE THE GRIST AS WAS DICTATED BY YOUR COHORT.>

[John cannot do anything with the GRIST as of this moment! That is up to the Sburb player.]

<I SEE. ==>?>

[Yes, that will suffice.]

My guess is the Player is supposed to supply the Server with GRIST somehow so that the Server can then make the appropriate actions of building, moving, ect. Its still unclear how thats supposed to be achieved.

Luckily not all the grist was used in redecorating. Upon deleting the GENERIC OBJECTS [6 units of BUILD GRIST are restored to your GRIST CACHE]. Looking back at page 193 each cube was worth 2 GRIST so deleting all 3 gave us the total of 6. For this reason Im still holding that moving the CRUXTRUDER should be cost free. Its apparent theres no loss in conversion.

Rose uses these grist to build a walkway from the balcony to nearly above the PDA.

JOHN RUN ACROSS PRECARIOUS PLATFORM SWIFTLY.

excuse me?

BOY I SAID MAKE HASTE ON THE NARROW CATWALK!

Excuse me!!! Sir!!! Who are you to talk that way to John!!! How dare you make the boy frown!!!

John is very nervous about the idea, and the strident tone of your commands is starting to make him a little upset!

Exactly! Thank you!

And then the audacity to start your next command with <FINE.>! The only one with common sense here is the narrator (　｀ー´)

At least Rose can get the PDA to John...

You grab the PDA, launching one of the HARLEQUIN FIGURINES into the night.

You can kiss that one goodbye.

... with... minimal casualties...

[occulticvioletdepths]

ooc: so hey what's the camille lore. i can't put it together.

//okay yeah i should make a dedicated lore post/page huh...

anyway. let's start off with what's known IC first

camille is a hex maniac / occultist who lived in kalos and moves to unova. she's on the no fly registry for kalos, too, and she used to live in Santalune (a very conservative town). at some point, a couple of murders happened with the result of one of her friends dying, one Evangeline (the Santalune Swap case), and a mansion close to the woods burnt down (Sinclair Estate arson), one Uberto Demian being implicated for what happened. so she ran away from home with a fake passport. this is the story as she tells.

there's also, someone, who tried to arrest her at some point. camille, in her own words, cursed them to die before they could. she also had a few spats with the occulture unova editing team for their reports(?) on the aforementioned murders and the arson, and a fake interview starring "camille". all of this has been rectified, but not before a pokémon battle gauntlet with the occulture editorial. here, the then-editor-in-chief Elmir Demasque (yeah that's a pso2 reference) alluded to camille "having done things". and according to the new editor-in-chief, Callme Ishmael (yeah that's a moby dick reference) elmir had dealings with some white-haired girl with red eyes in police attire. and she (and mx. ishmael) don't think she's a sanctioned cop.

now, here's all what's known through OOC info. under the cut if you do not enjoy spoilers

camille was born to the sinclair family, rich fuckers with their hands in the pockets of some businesses. her family... wasn't great. for some reason, they abhorred pokémon, and they were very strict... and were very punishing in their discipline. furthermore... camille is trans. and it's implied that anyone that steps even one inch out of line of the traditions of the family gets punished and/or disinherited. camille's more scared about the former. she also discovered she has psychic powers (like psychic trainers. y'know.) so she fled into the basement for a bit because she thought her having those powers would mean her parents may find out. that's where she met melisma and the two of them became close friends (also at that point melisma was still wild fun fact). aaanyhoo she did go to public school where she made a few friends (though it's mostly just the few misfits hanging together) - Franciska Chroma (the daughter of detective frankel chroma, both ZERO connection with any other chroma in pkmn_irl (unless they want to... fufufu...)) and Evangeline Marie, who likes bugs and has suspiciously camille-like hair... anyway the three were friends because "misfits" and they were close.

around some time in the summer, camille made a deal with a fellow hex maniac and street musician, Uberto Demian, in the santalune forest, for yet unknown reasons.

....eventually, one day, during the winter solstice (i'm not big on christmas being pokémon canon but i do like the celebration of solstices), everything came ahead all at once. the Santalune Swap murders. the Sinclair Estate arson. evangeline was found "shaped" like camille was, like the two swapped bodies.

"And somehow, her body took on the characteristics of the Sinclair kid, like they swapped bodies, but didn’t swap DNA, which, well… it should be impossible considering what DNA is."

...so you can guess the implications there. the day after, camille left for unova... but she definitely wasn't alone. detective Frankel Chroma followed her. and one day, approaching another winter solstice, camille tried to curse him through the ox-hour shrine visit curse... and on the last day of that curse (the actual day of the solstice, she got herself into a situation where, well... her curse did work. though she had to finish "the job" manually. funny how those curses work don't they?

anyway. then the rest of what's known ic happened. but now there's Implications™... but yeah she met calli, became her weird rival, then years later (now) they started kissing on the nimbasa ferris wheel and that's that

so excited for the things i have planned in my head but refuse to write down because i'm dumb.

[ujuro]

saw your post abt hot issue/kiss of life whats going on??? or where can i read more abt the members ig (tysm in advance if you do reply but dont feel obligated)

Lmao it’s just industry stuff and nugu grind its nothing that should stop you personally from stanning the group (i mean Julie has said the n word but that’s a different thing I guess 💀)

I was just really invested in hot issue and really liked the group and the members so seeing them trashed after one cb pissed me off and seeing them trashed for another gg with slightly more well-known members instead of a bg like everyone thought enraged me. Like if you’re not prepared enough to get your group through a couple cbs to see if they take off then why are you even debuting them to begin with like what a waste of everyone’s time not to mention the uprooting the lives of seven young women like now yewon has to struggle through a survival show and mayna has gone back to China like good job everybody 🙃 it’s just a flat-out insult to the former members of hot issue and really any trainee in the industry who doesn’t have the connections of formerly being affiliated with a big 4 company (no one in the group has hybe ties as far as I can tell but the jyp yg sm links are all there)

So even though I like natty I just can’t particularly bring myself to care about this group or how it does. I mean nattys solo is also the only song of theirs I like so it’s not a big problem for me and like I said my anger at s2 entertainment shouldn’t stop anyone else from liking them. Also my definition of “not supporting” is different from most peoples lmao for me it just pretty much means not subscribing to their yt channel and shit-talking on tumblr I don’t have the money to buy albums to begin with and I’ve always flat-out refused to zombie stream songs

As for belle being a nepo baby that’s just a fact LMAO read her page on the kpop fandom wiki but alas she is not the most blatant nepo baby in kpop anymore that goes to my guy Anton in sms new bg alsjdhdhdhdhshshs she only held that title for like two months

I can’t believe kpop is now old enough and large enough that the blatant industry nepo babies are debuting instead of just the incredibly rich ones my girl sieun was a pioneer. Anyway I was actually legit angry when I made that post about belle but I don’t really care in all actuality (I mean sieun ranks last in my stayc bias order but that doesnt have anything to do with her dad or anything she did that’s just how it turned out). it comes with the territory but I WILL laugh at them a little bit cause what else can you do

So in conclusion idk stan kiss of life if you want but also stanning nugu groups is pain

(But also like hot issues cb/eventual disbandment song wasn’t even good it was just ok and the type of song that doesn’t ever chart so why was the company shocked it didn’t take off like it was an average song if the company had put more thought into their concept and given them a song that had shown off the members improvement between debut and cb MAYBE we wouldn’t even be having this conversation…anyway I’ll shut up now)

[drinkinstars]

Hello again, I would like to request the match ship please. My chosen groups are Enhypen, Stray Kids, and NCT 127. A brief description of who I am is that my name is Madison, I am 20 years old, I’m 5’5, I have shoulder-length medium brown hair, dark brown eyes, and I wear glasses. My MBTI is INFJ. I love to read, learn new things, scroll through the internet on my phone, watch videos, movies, documentaries, and tv. My favorite colors are pink, red, purple, blue, black, and white. My favorite foods are spaghetti, pizza, chicken, hamburgers, fries, sweet potatoes, cupcakes, chocolate, cookies, jambalaya, and ice cream. I love God and everything related to spirituality. My Big 6 is Leo sun, Virgo moon, Pisces rising, Virgo mercury, Libra venus, and Leo mars.

Here you go ~

@moomoobug

In ENHYPEN i would ship you with:

Heeseung

Again for me you and Heeseung are quite an obvious choice! The vibe of your couple would be really peaceful as you two would have a great ability to take care of each other and it seems like you can understand one another so well! The two of you would be totally committed and would put your couple first I can also see two wonderful parents in you two. From outside because you and Heeseung tend to be overall similar it could seem a boring relation but it’s the opposite there’s exactly the right amount of similarities like curiosity,sensitiveness, authenticity and empathy to create an instant connection and the exact amount of differences that keep making grow the both of thorough the relation, he brings your ideas to become projects, you bring him the confidence to achieve his own goals..The type of duo that could even work together all day and comeback home in the afternoon still not being tired of the other one presence because y’all know when it’s time to be together and when it’s time for yourself without upsetting the other one, when it’s time to be coworkers and when it’s time to be a couple you two can switch well because of your dualities and are the perfect recipe for a long lasting relationship if you two don’t forget to take it slowly. For me the type of compatibility that don’t need to talk to understand each other needs, that couple that could go on a farewell trip far from everything with only fundamental things and listen to the silence of nature enjoying the presence of their dearest one.

🫶🏻🫶🏻🤍✨

(On one of your escape from everyday weekends)

In Straykids I would ship you with:

Changbin

Okay so woaw where should I start ? Even I didn’t excepted to choose him for you in the end, actually for Straykids it was an hard one as in the beginning I find for half of the group reasons for them to be good with you that were unavoidable and then reasons for them to not fit you EVEN MORE unavoidable and I guess in the end Changbin was just the perfect mix of everything.

Okay so while you and Heeseung would be the perfect example of “birds of a feather flock together”this couple would be the defender of the “opposite attracts”, the relationship you remind as the one that couldn’t last but you enjoyed the most reading the pages of your teenage years diary, the “if only i could have made it work”, but you may be asking why I chose Changbin then ? Because even if the chances are slight if you two would make it work out it would be on my opinion the relationship you would enjoy the most in Stray Kids. If you two put your EGO asides and it’s not as easy as y’all think because even if one of you two succeed doing so it’s not certain the other will follow (blame the Leo placements),COMMUNICATE and I know you two are honest but being TOO honest you will keep hurting e/o with harsh words and finally ACCEPTING your differences and that you cannot change your partner but rather understand him or break up and those are for both of you but if you two can overcome that here what beautiful relationship awaits you: You would be his guardian angel literally every time Changbin would maybe be too hotheaded you would be the one calming him, if he loose control you would be the one telling him to use words instead of it’s and that he’s worth more than the image is giving, and you saying that would be the only thing that matter he would wanna grow not only for him but so you can be proud of your boyfriend, you would naturally give him attention (ngl his Leo placements would purr) and in return he would wanna fulfill all your wishes maybe sometimes you would be talking out loud about something you want be assured that by tomorrow he would come back with it, you would make Changbin wanna cherish you as he would want you to do the same, for example after a stressful day he would just sigh and you would already be behind giving him a massage listening to him, and what makes you so special and good for him is that for you those things would be natural it wouldn’t cost you much you are a natural empath and a good listener, and you also are everything Changbin misses and aspire to be a lil more. Also you are a romantic and he is too, I could totally see you in a funny situation like for St. Valentines you planning a surprise date and about to send him a message so he come to the secret place but before you could send it you would receive a “Surprise..come there at 8PM~” and you would be like “shit he got me”. Because you and Changbin are opposites each day you would make discover new things to each other, and your curious self would enjoy going trough his hobbies as in return he can promise you sometimes chill Sunday afternoon cuddling and watching a vintage film on tv. Overcome the difference,understand each other and even a long time after you started dating you will say “it seems like the first day”.

(He convinced you to still go out watch fireworks after an argument) ps:(the height difference wouldn’t be that big tho haha🥲)

In NCT 127:

Doyoung! (Followed nearly by Jaehyun and didn’t know if you wanted Winwin included if yes he was close too)

Ok so this one was hard too as i hesitated between Jaehyun and Winwin too, since Winwin wasn’t active in recent activities of 127 I decided to be more on a Jaehyun versus Doyoung, and as you would be perfect for both of them I feel tho that Doyoung would bring you more happiness and it would be a giving giving relation so let’s start~

Okay so it might be again a little unexpected and not the easiest relationship but it’s so shippable and precious if well developed it can be a “growing together” love trope hurting but then healing è/o.

For Doyoung you are like an angel and his calm in the storm for you Doyoung he’s the confidence you miss, both of you admire each other and because you two are so different it creates both attraction and conflicts..But first the good points you two share the same values and compatible love languages, for Doyoung promises are important and you the type to keep them, you naturals kindness makes his heart flutter every time how you take care of him with still a sort of carelessness but actually it’s because it’s your nature your little gestures for you are nothing but for him it means a lot, but there arise the first conflict your gentleness is for everybody but he would want it to be only for him he envies how you can be so warm to everybody and helpful but can’t help being jealous, as his love language is often the special treatment (and your Leo self must appreciate it) he shows you a side of him that is only yours he is also a lot with words of affirmation but in return he likes you to go out of your way for him and there your connection is perfect as you like to show your love with quality time and moments of deep connection, Doyoung loves also gifts and you like giving them too in a breakup you two would have a lot to throw away..often Doyoung would think you too god for this world and would be really protective, but you being with him would be a blessing this can seem really cheesy but you can make melt the icy heart. Living together could be challenging after a stressful day Doyoung coming home stepping in your disorder could make him sigh but fortunately everybody has flaws and strengths and if both of you willing to make the effort there’s really a lot to bring to one another, Doyoung would probably make you mature and bring you stability again make your ideas into project and you would make Doyoung fight for what he wants and allow him to dream out of the box and of his usual routine, the thing that is good is that rather than a relationship loosing with time it grows better and better with time, you two would find each other at the moment you need the other like fate being what the other misses and when everything seems to go wrong you two together make it right.~~

(You remembering bae the skincare before going to bed after a stressful day)

Thanks for ordering feel free to ask again!

[fayrinferno]

Again, I will add my comments on this chapter:

I feel this chapter is already significantly closer to its episode counterpart. I mean, sure, the lines and details are a bit different, but the events are the same.

I loved that a "yellow-beaked" or "baby bird" analogy was used for Van. I used it once or twice myself in the past.

It is confirmed at this point that Hitomi calls her pendant an energist. It was used in some latter parts I translated and people were wondering why. It was never explicitly stated in the anime that what the pendant is made of is energist stone but I suppose it makes a lot of sense. I feel like it might be an energist with possibly even more density and concentrated power than a drag-energist.

Finally, I get a confirmation on something I wondered about for years: why did Allen randomly mention Balgus during their fight? And this kinda confirms my headcanon: Allen knew Balgus trained Van... and he does not say it to surprise him and throw him off, he says it to scold Van. It's eerie when the line I used in my Allen analysis "did you even learn anything from him?" practically appeared right on the page. So yes, there's that senpai-kohai dynamic, although Van does not even realize that. I think things are way clearer here in the novel.

OTP moments: (1) Hitomi notes Van's expression is displeased at Allen's ministrations... ha, I thought the Allen effect would have clouded her mind enough not to notice. Cute. (2) She grabs the hem of his shirt while climbing the Mole Man’s tunnel, which is kinda normal in the situation, yet cute. (3) When Hitomi finds out Van actually managed to land a blow on Allen, she rushes to tell him to cheer him up… then she’s interrupted by the vision. Not cute. (4) She's not just any woman ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Now, to the differences:

Allen doesn’t have Natal (the owl) :(

Anime Allen just punches Mole Man, the novel one “puts away his sword”. I think this makes sense, if Allen drew his sword on a culprit who appears to be assaulting a young girl, he would be dead, probably. Remember when he says he doesn’t “draw a sword for games”? It likely has also to do with the fact that Allen recognizes Mole Man in the anime and knows he’s just “a petty thief” who isn’t really dangerous.

The soldier blocking Hitomi and Van from leaving the room should be Gaddes, even if his name is not mentioned. Hitomi as the POV character doesn’t know the name yet. But by his lukewarm approach to guarding them, and having even a disguise ready (lol), I think I’ll just decide it’s Gaddes, whether intended or not.

Meanwhile, there are introductions between Allen and Dilandau happening, which the anime skips upon following Hitomi back in the room with Van and Gaddes. In the novel, Dilandau says he “heard Allen’s name before” in their introduction, which may be connected to him knowing of his “reputation”.

In the anime, it’s Mole Man who brings Hitomi’s bag to her again. Guess in the novel, she just had it with her. I think the implication in the anime is that he tried to steal it but since he unexpectedly came across them, he is sort of forced by circumstance (and Van having a sword) to return it. I swear that bag’s like a boomerang, always finding its way back to her in some way.

Van actually blocks two attacks in the anime, it’s not over by first. Also, the part he manages to hit is different, in the anime, it’s Sherazade’s arm, in the novel, the hilt of the sword.

Okay, last part of the book incoming!

Escaflowne Novels: Book 1 Part 3 (EN)

As I mentioned, I'm going to share all that I've translated of the Escaflowne Newtype Novels. Here comes the third part of book one of the series novelization. Sorry for any mistakes, I decided to just start posting it as it is. Title picture is edited from the novel cover illustration by Hiroshi Osaka.

READ HERE