#and now when I'm posting it an eon later

[kumeko]

A/N: For the Oasis Rarepair zine! Well, this ship was a rarepair when I first wrote this fic XD Which tells you just long this has been buried in my to post folder.

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Jean was heavy. Not in the way a real person was, all bones and flesh and sinew, but in the way a rock was, a concentrated gravity that sank to the bottom of a lake. Diluc adjusted his grip on her legs, keeping his back angled so she wouldn’t slip off and fall. Her arms were looped too loosely over his shoulders to be of any help if she tipped over.

He wasn’t sure what he’d call their relationship. They had too much history to be mere acquaintances and too much distance to be good friends. Whatever word fit, it certainly wasn’t one where he expected to carry her across Mondstadt in the dusk.

Jean’s head lolled, her soft hair brushing his neck, and Diluc fought the urge to stiffen. They had never been this close, not even before. He had never let it happen. He certainly would never let it happen again, not when it sent a shiver down his spine, not when his neck still tingled from the contact.

As though sensing his discomfort, Jean stirred. Her head slowly rose, her hands weakly grasping his shoulders. “Master Diluc?” she murmured, voice still husky from sleep.

She was too close to his ear. Diluc tightened his grip in anticipation. “Yes?”

“You’re—” Her breath hitched, and Jean jolted straight up as she realized her position. For a precarious moment, he wasn’t sure if they could both stay upright, but then her training kicked in and she leaned forward before they fell. Her nails dug into his shoulder like little daggers as she quickly took in the situation. “What—where—how—?”

“You collapsed on patrol,” Diluc answered slowly, plodding forward now that she’d regained her balance. A cool evening breeze blew, ruffling his hair. Small lights lit up the path to Mondstadt, their glow only getting brighter as the sun slowly set. “Again.”

“That…” He didn’t have to look to know that she was chewing her lip, her expression a cross between embarrassed and ashamed. “Sorry.”

Diluc shrugged. At least they weren’t far from the city. He could just make out the bridge’s outline from where they were. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not.” Jean wiggled, pulling back. With her sense of decorum and pride, he wasn’t surprised her first instinct was to hop off. “I’m sorry for the trouble. I can walk the rest of the way.”

He tightened his grip in response, forcing her to hold his shoulders lest she fell off. “It’s fine,” Diluc repeated.

“But—”

Forgetting how close they were, he shot her a sharp look over his shoulder. Even in the late light, the sun’s rays painting the sky a soft purple, he could make out the bags under her eyes, the tired droop of her smile, the soft red blush of her fever. Her eyes met his and Diluc quickly turned back. “You’re sick. I’ll carry you the rest of the way.” Sensing she was about to argue, he added, “Jean.”

She stiffened. It was unfair, he knew. Diluc had seen the way Jean looked at him when she thought nobody was looking, the way she said his name, the way she leaned closer when he spoke. He was many things, but blind wasn’t one of them.

But if saying her name was enough to make her listen, to make her stay still, then he didn’t mind playing dirty.

Jean sighed. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his back. Even through the thick material, he could feel her heat, as though her vision was pyro and not his. Softly, she uttered, “Sorry. Thank you.”

He kept his gaze firmly on the path. “No need.”

“Still.” She sighed again, her breath tickling his neck. “Sorry.”

Diluc clicked his tongue. “If you’re really sorry, you’ll stop working so hard you faint.”

By now, it was common knowledge in Mondstadt. Jean was a great fighter. Jean was the acting grand master. Jean overworked herself on a daily basis. Kaeya would sometimes drop into the bar and leave hints about Jean’s well-being, his sharp eye on Diluc’s the entire time.

Knowing his former friend, this was yet another one of Kaeya’s games. The worst part was how it worked every time—no matter how composed Diluc forced himself to stay, no matter how blank his poker face, Kaeya’s eye would crinkle, his lips pulling back into a sly smirk, and he’d leave looking like a cat that caught the canary.

Perhaps he should look into putting a ‘no Kaeya’ sign on his door.

Jean chuckled, light and airy and utterly oblivious to his thoughts. Wryly, she asked, “Are you sure you should say that?”

He grunted, not arguing the point. “I’ve never fainted.”

“No, I suppose you haven’t.” There was a soft rustle as she shifted on his back, her hands still gripping his shoulders lightly. “Barbara says the same thing.”

Considering how much her sister loved her, Diluc wasn’t surprised. The deaconess always looked worried whenever she left the Knights’ headquarters. “Then listen to her.”

“I’ll try, but…” Jean’s fingers dug into his skin. “No promises.”

He stopped walking. Ignoring their proximity, he looked over his shoulder. “Why?”

Jean smiled tiredly. “You remember how it is. There’s too much work and not enough hands. I…I can’t let our people down. Not when they trust us so much. I can’t…”

Let their faith shatter like yours did. Diluc could hear the unspoken words, feel them curl around him like a familiar cat. No wonder Jean was so heavy, he was feeling the weight of all of her expectations, of all the dreams and hopes pinned on her.

“You’re just one person,” he replied. That had nothing to do with you.

Jean hadn’t covered up his father’s death. Jean hadn’t clogged up the requests, delaying even the smallest task behind a mountain of red tape and paperwork. Jean hadn’t accepted loss as an acceptable result to a mission.

If there had been any reason to stay with the knights, it would have been her. But a single person wasn’t enough to stay and fight the corruption. Not even one he used to watch from the corner of his eye.

“I know. But…I thought…” Her voice grew softer, fainter. Diluc strained to hear it. “If I work hard enough, maybe you can rely on us again.”

His breath hitched. No matter how hard he craned, he couldn’t see Jean’s expression properly. And he wanted to, needed to—she had never been good at hiding her emotions. Even without asking a question, he’d find the answer on her face.

“It won’t make up for what happened but…” She closed her eyes, slumping forward. Her chin rested on his shoulder, her cheek brushing his neck. “I want to ease your mind. If only a little.”

Her breathing evened out, her fever finally forcing her aching body to rest. Diluc, however, couldn’t move, still frozen by the sudden confession.

Jean had been a workaholic since they were kids. Whether it had been training, schoolwork, or even just a children’s game, she had always put in more effort than was necessary. When Diluc had seen how seriously she’d taken her position as Acting Grand Master, he hadn’t thought of it beyond her usual behaviour.

But the woman collapsed on his back wasn’t pushing herself for any of her usual reasons. No, it had been out of an unwarranted guilt. A sense of duty.

And now that he had heard it, he couldn’t unhear it. Diluc gritted his teeth. “Why are you always like this?”

There was no response. Her hair tickled his skin as she slept. Diluc sighed as he glanced up at the starry sky—the night had finally fallen, leaving behind only the darkness of the universe.

Leaving behind only the light of the universe, the millions of stars and galaxies twinkling down on him.

Diluc couldn’t return to the knights. That was beyond him now. But he could do other, smaller things. Ease her burden, if only a little—make it so she didn’t have to patrol as much as she did, make it so that when she did, there was no reason for her to collapse.

Perhaps he could talk to Rosaria about it later. And Kaeya. As loath as he was to admit it, they had a good scope of the problems in Mondstadt.

For now, though, he continued to plod home, Jean nestled safely on his back. They hadn’t been this close in ages. Diluc wasn’t sure if they’d ever be this close again. His pace slowed slightly as he shifted her to a more secure position.

Maybe tonight he’d take the long route home. Just this once.

[prettyinpwn]

How Gravity Falls Could Have Been Better + Poor Ford and Wendy (GF Writing Analysis Pt. 2)

GF Writing Analysis Series: Pt. 1 - Ford Pines: A Masterclass in Writing a Good Flawed Character Praise the Axolotl, I feel horrible just writing that title. But let me preface this post with three statements:

I've been in this fandom since the first episode aired. I participated in this fandom while it was airing, and I will always cherish this fandom, those memories, and Gravity Falls itself even when I'm a crusty old lady in a rocking chair someday.

Gravity Falls is still my favorite show of all time, even as someone now nearing thirty years old. Nothing's ever topped it since in my mind, and I don't think anything ever will for me.

Writing and making a show is hard. It's easy for me to sit here and smash my little lady hands on a keyboard and criticize the Gravity Falls writing team's decisions. I'm sure if I'd been on that team, I'd have done a lot worse under that burnout and pressure, and I doubt I'll ever write anything anywhere near that critically acclaimed or beloved.

But... every time I've watched Gravity Falls from beginning to end, I've always felt that there was something off. And in recent rewatches, after I'd studied creative writing in college as a part of my minor, plus just having studied and done a lot of writing in my free time for years... I found out finally what it was:

The flaw, in my opinion, is the pacing. Gravity Falls is - and I mean this in the most respectful way to the writers, and I'm saying this as someone who will praise this show to my grave - poorly paced overall.

So what do I mean by that? Each contained episode is tightly written and nearly flawless in the pacing, but the overarching plot? I'll describe it like this: Picture a rollercoaster starting on a very, very slow incline. The scenery on the way up is gorgeous and entertaining to look at, but damn, you want to get to that peak that was teased in the advertisement of the ride. That first tease is what keeps you going on the slow incline. You know you're going to get there, but...

Okay, we're focused on getting accustomed to the seat, the people around us, how this rollercoaster feels, but... you check your watch. Are we there yet? What about that peak that was advertised? No, it's still a glacial incline. You inch upwards. It's godawful slow. You wait - and for those of us who watched when it aired during the hiatuses (which were more Disney's fault than the core team's, to my understanding) - it takes months to years.

Jesus Christ, you think. What about that tease? I want to know what's at that peak! Yes, I get tension and slow buildup, but this is taking FOREVER, and there have been no glimpses of the peak for eons. And then... suddenly, it gets more intriguing. There's a little bump. And another. And finally... there's another hint of the peak that you saw teased all the way back in the Stone Age.

Now, the ride consistently offers you little fun hills after that long, slow first incline. But seconds later BOOM! You skyrocket to that peak so fast your facial skin is flapping behind you. WOO! This is a blast! But holy hell, this is going a little fast compared to what it was like before. The last third of this ride must be MINDBLOWING, with lots of loops and spins and turns and even greater thrills, right?

And then the ride just drops almost face first to a plateau again. There are no more bumps, really. No loops. No twists. Just an almost straight, logical line back to Earth. Half the ride was pretty and made you laugh a lot despite how long it took, but the other half of the ride went so fast in comparison that it was just a blur. You're at the finish line now. Yes, it concluded like it was supposed to, but... is that it?

Rollercoaster metaphor over with, that's the pacing of Gravity Falls. For a more detailed visual example:

(Note - each episode is listed by their overall number. For example, 1 is Tourist Trapped, the peak at 31 is Not What He Seems, and the finale Weirdmageddon episodes are 38-40. Also, this is a rough, subjective view of the pacing tension, but generally... episodes that hinted or contributed to the overarching plot and tension earned higher points, and ones that added almost nothing besides comedy and character development that didn't necessarily add to the overarching plot were lower. The Weirdmageddon episodes are at a plateau since they - as finale episodes - serve to create as much tension as they do resolving it.)

Now, there are no hard and fast rules in writing, and every writer plots differently, but generally, this is the kind of pacing tension that's considered "good" (and that most common outlining techniques follow, just in different forms):

(Credit - please check out this page for a full explanation of each act.)

Generally, the trend is slow buildup. There's no plateau for eons, BOOM, then faceplant, like Gravity Falls. So that gets us to my main thesis of this post, building on what I bolded before:

Gravity Falls was too short because it's a three act story squished into a two act structure; the first season is paced like they were expecting three seasons - a season for each story act - and the second season is paced like they had to quickly fit the last two acts into one.

Why do I say this? Because there's a common writing plot point called the Midpoint / Plot Twist. So for those unfamiliar with writing techniques, let's explore what a Midpoint is:

"The Midpoint occurs at the 50% mark, halfway through the Second Act and (obviously) halfway through the book itself. Although many writers neglect the Midpoint in comparison to more noted moments such as the First Plot Point or Climax, the Midpoint is arguably the most significant beat within the story. It is what director Sam Peckinpah called the “centerpiece” of the entire story. Everything hangs upon it. In many ways, it is the moment that decides the ultimate fate of the story." "The Midpoint will feature at least one, possibly more, momentous revelations. Within the primary character arc and thematic exploration, the protagonist will encounter a Moment of Truth that forever changes his or her view of the story’s central philosophy. This revelation, perhaps in partnership with a further external revelation about the nature of the conflict itself, will forever evolve how the protagonist approaches the conflict—on both a personal and practical level. It signals a thematic shift from Lie to Truth (or vice versa) and an external shift from ineffective “reaction” to increasingly effective “action.” (Credit).

"But PrettyinPwn!", I hear you protest. "Gideon Rises is the episode smack dab halfway through the story and seasons! And that has a big reveal. And we learn a truth about Stan."

Yes, my sweet friends. Gideon Rises - and the reveal of what Stan's hiding in the basement - is a revelation, but the way the first season is paced, in my opinion it's what writers refer to as the First Act climax or Break Into Two. The Break Into Two is:

"Main character makes a choice and to go on the journey, and our adventure begins. We leave the “Thesis” world and enter the upside-down “Anti-thesis” world of Act Two."

(Credit).

Traditionally, this Break Into Two is literally stepping into a new world. Harry Potter getting to Hogwarts. Katniss Everdeen getting to the Capitol. Yadda yadda. But in Gravity Falls, it's more subtle:

We go from the "ordinary" world of Gravity Falls in Season 1 / Act 1 (which is anything but ordinary, but you get the point) where things are bizarre but lighthearted, to the "new" world of Gravity Falls in Season 2A / Act 2 where things are bizarre and definitely not lighthearted anymore. We've started to see the dark underbelly of this strange place and family, the seriousness ramps up, and... lo and behold... a B STORY pops up right at this point in full force, just like B Stories typically do right during or after the Break Into Two point. And that B Story? Is Stan's work on the portal and his search to find Ford, which was teased in the hook, all the way back at Tourist Trapped.

So no, Gideon Rises is not the real story Midpoint. The real story Midpoint is this nerd:

Let's look at those two plotline graphs again; Gravity Falls' and the typical one you see with three act structures:

Yes. Ford's reveal / Not What He Seems should have been smack dab near halfway through the series. But it's not. It marks the 75% point instead. Technically, if we follow the idea that the Midpoint should be roughly around 50% through the story, Not What He Seems should have taken place near where Gideon Rises is in the episode roster, and Gideon Rises should have been halfway through Season 1 (roughly near Fight Fighters).

So what caused this? Oh boy, I'm getting into speculation territory, and I know Hirsch has said it was meant to be this way, but based on the pacing flaws, here's my theory:

Hirsch and team wrote Gravity Falls Season 1 assuming there'd be three seasons; a season for each act of the story. They burned out, so compacted it down to two seasons, and fit all of Act 2 and 3 of the story into Season 2. That's why, at the time the episodes aired, Season 2 was referred to in two halves: Season 2A and Season 2B. Translation? Season 2A is Act 2 and what was supposed to be Season 2 but condensed, Season 2B is Act 3 of the story and what was supposed to be Season 3 but condensed.

TL;DR: In Gravity Falls, Act 1 = 50% of the story, Act 2 = 25% of the story, Act 3 = 25% of the story. AKA poor pacing. The equivalent in, say, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, would be if Harry spent 50% of the story at the Dursley's before getting to Hogwarts.

If Gravity Falls had had three seasons total, the slow buildup in Season 1 would be totally justified, as the first act of most stories takes its time to establish the characters and world. But we instead go from slow plateau to BOOM to faceplant, instead of a slow ride up to the top that consistently raises tension with a few peaks here and there, then a fun, bumpy ride of resolving the tension on the way down.

That's why Season 1 has a little hint of the overarching plot in Tourist Trapped with the Stan vending machine tease at the end of the episode - that's known in writer's circles as the "hook" or promise of the premise - and then literally almost nothing until the end.

I will reiterate: Season 1 is written like the writers thought they had enough time to pace Act 2 and 3 out over the same amount of episodes for each Act.

All this, combined with the fact that Season 2 has some very out of place episodes concerning the tension (*cough* Roadside Attraction *cough*, and no, I don't care that it was retconned later to have made sense), well... yeah.

But this didn't just affect the pacing. It also affected the characters' writing. Wendy barely got developed, Stan and Ford's backstory AKA the B plot got squished into two episodes, the government agents as an antagonist were "defeated" too soon to try to quick switch over to Bill Cipher for Season 2B / Act 3, and the most oof-worthy part? Ford got the short end of the writing stick.

I mentioned in another post that I think Ford is a fantastically written character as a concept, but unlike Stan, Dipper, and Mabel, his good writing relies more on subtext, rushed plotlines, and external materials (Journal 3, mainly). Thematically, as the show focuses on twins, parallelisms, juxtapositions, Ford should have had just as much "let's get to know this character!" focus and time to develop to the viewer as Stan did. But no, he got... what, roughly 4-5 episodes, some of them where his story was only the B plot? Literally, let's count:

Episodes with Stan plotlines: Tourist Trapped, Legend of the Gobblewonker, Headhunters, The Hand That Rocks the Mabel, The Inconveniencing, Dipper vs. Manliness, Irrational Treasure, Boss Mabel, Bottomless Pit, Land Before Swine, Dreamscaperers, Gideon Rises, Scaryoke, Soos and the Real Girl, Little Gift Shop of Horrors, The Love God, Not What He Seems, A Tale of Two Stans, DD&MD, The Stanchurian Candidate, Roadside Attraction, Weirdmageddon 1+3.

Episodes with Ford plotlines: A Tale of Two Stans, DD&MD, The Last Mabelcorn, Dipper and Mabel vs The Future, Weirdmageddon 1+3.

Ford feels like an afterthought. Dipper, Mabel, and Stan get 100% of the story to develop, and Ford gets less than 25%. Also factor in how Ford is the peak the viewer is waiting for, the whole mystery that keeps viewers on their toes for most of the story... and he gets ~5 episodes, and none of those are 100% focused on him.

It's like hosting a multiple course meal promising the main course - the steak - is gonna blow your mind. And then you get it 75% of the way through the meal and it's like... dime sized. It's a damn good little nerd steak, but it's so small, and we ate like three hundred Dipper and Wendy crush and Mabel crush and really well written and funny but effectively filler episode salads on the way here, including ones that weren't even canon (Bottomless Pit and Little Gift Shop of Horrors), interspersed with the occasional hint of steak with episodes like Dreamscaperers. Which would have been fine had there been an equal and increasing amount of steak, but no. To ask an age old question... WHERE'S THE BEEF?

A summary of Ford:

Worse yet, let's compare his introduction to Stan's introduction.

Stan (in Tourist Trapped): "Heya, I'm a grumpy old conman runnin' a tourist trap, and all I care about is money, but... hey, you kids want something from the Gift Shop?"

Ford (in A Tale of Two Stans): "Greetings, I just returned from sci-fi sideburn land, I'm just going to punch a character - my brother - beloved by the audience in the face after he did something very nice for me, tell my long backstory that kind of makes me look like a douche in multiple ways, plot convenience the antagonist away, then tell said beloved by the audience character / brother to get off my lawn."

No wonder why - after ATOTS aired - lots of people thought Ford was a Class A, prime US Grade, grass fed dick. And to this day, more people seem to love Stan over Ford in the fandom. We get context for his decisions later in... drumroll please... Journal 3. And subtext. Not even an episode.

We THEN understand that Ford punched Stan because of the thirty years of hell he went through, that he was just about to defeat Bill Cipher when Stan activated the portal therefore interrupting him, and Ford was upset that the Shack had made a mockery of his paranormal studies plus Stan had literally stolen his identity, completely turned his house around, and made him look like a conman... so we then have an 'OH!' moment and realize, "Hey, wait a minute, this guy has reasons for what he did. Maybe he was more justified than we thought, or at least as justified as Stan was.".

But not in the show. In a book released after. He is actually equally as well-written as Stan is, in concept. He's a great protagonist with realistic flaws and reasons. But he got a sad little salad in the writing department compared to Stan, Mabel, and Dipper's whole ten course caloric explosion buffet.

So what would have fixed this? Just like the overarching plot's pacing... another season. Season 1 + the first half of Season 2 could have been solving the mystery of Stan, and the second half of Season 2 and Season 3 could have been solving the mystery of Ford.

And that, my friends, is why Gravity Falls is too short.

~

Where does this leave us? Well, er... my next thought is... how would I have written Gravity Falls using the typical pacing progress?

Well, for starters, let's decide this: how many seasons do we want overall? The two options are...

A. Two seasons like it is now, but shorten each story Act.

B. Three seasons, each season is one Act of the story.

If Gravity Falls were just two seasons long in this hypothetical outline, this is what I'd do:

Take out the Dipper/Wendy love subplot. I'm sorry, we all knew while we were watching it that it would go nowhere. I remember watching it as a teen girl as the show aired and being so damn bored with it as a subplot. Especially because... as it stands, most of Wendy's purpose is as Dipper's crush. She never got her own episode.

Put Gideon Rises as Episode 10 instead of Fight Fighters. Make Not What He Seems as the Season 1 finale.

Take out a lot of the "filler" episodes in Season 1. I hate to say this, because I love a lot of the Season 1 episodes. But to pace it better, I'd say order the episodes in Season 1 like this: Tourist Trapped The Legend of the Gobblewonker The Hand That Rocks the Mabel The Time Traveler's Pig Little Dipper Boss Mabel Carpet Diem Land Before Swine Dreamscaperers Gideon Rises Scary-oke Into the Bunker The Golf War Soos and the Real Girl Sock Opera (Any of the "filler" episodes from Season 1 or 2 here) Blendin's Game Society of the Blind Eye Northwest Mansion Mystery Not What He Seems

And as for season 2:

A Tale of Two Stans Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons Then... Here we have a big gap, because we put many Season 2 episodes in Season 1. We squished all that plot into Season 1, so what do we fill episodes 3-17 of Season 2 with? I'll tell you what: More Wendy and more Ford. In this version of the outline, Dipper and Mabel are present characters in every episode, with a special focus on Stan and Soos to a smaller extent in Season 1. So to make it even, I'd make this version of Season 2 have a big focus on Ford and then Wendy to a smaller extent, mirroring how Stan and Soos are focused on in Season 1. And just like the antagonist of Season 1 - Gideon - with a little bit of the government agents, have this season have a few more episodes with the government agents and then Bill as the big final bad.

This gap here gives us ~14 episodes to develop these characters. I also think The Last Mabelcorn should be in here somewhere, so make that 13. If we parallel Season 1, then roughly... Bill should get two episodes as a main antagonist like Gideon did before his finale in Gideon Rises. Wendy should get two episodes as a deuteragonist like Soos did in Season 1.

The Bill episodes could hint more at his backstory like Journal 3 did, have him mess with Ford more and tease at Ford's "sing to me O Muse" backstory with him (because more Ford parallels with Odysseus are always welcome).

The Wendy episodes could delve into the same issues Soos' episodes did: Wendy Episode #1: Her dating issues, but instead of finding someone like Soos did, she's happily single at the end. I vote a plot where Wendy is ready to date again after the Robbie fiasco, Mabel tries to set her up with someone new, tied to a B plot with Ford where Mabel digs into his dating life, finds little to none, and then both Ford and Wendy realize at the end that it's okay to be single and not ashamed of it in a romance obsessed society (also Ford on the ace spectrum ftw, personal headcanon though). Better yet, have it have a kid friendly explanation that some people love differently; actually show that Wendy is Bisexual and Ford is - I'd argue - Ace (or straight or gay but just super bad at relationships because of pouring himself into his work and his other flaws, fear of sharing his baggage with others, etc). Not that Disney would have allowed LGBT+ at that time, because, well... Disney.

This would simultaneously make Wendy A. NOT just a crush figure tied to romance, as female characters often get relegated to, and B. help Ford parallel some insecurities about how he compares himself to Stan, just like Stan compares himself to Ford in the episodes that actually aired, especially if we keep The Stanchurian Candidate as one of the episodes but involve Ford more in it. Have Mabel pull a Jane Austen's Emma and learn to stop being a busybody matchmaker. This idea - in my opinion - is way cooler and less ethically ambiguous than The Love God.

Wendy Episode #2: Her family issues, AKA her dead mother. Make it real tearjerky with a B plot tie to how Stan or Ford never got to see their parents again after the portal accident and before their parents died, and parallel it with Wendy regretting something regarding her mother before she died. This would give us a chance to explore more about Wendy as a character, and both Filbrick / Caryn (AKA Stan and Ford's parents) as characters, as well. I would also lean more towards having her bond with Ford over Stan in this episode. Or, alternatively, you could tie this to Dipper and Mabel and their parents. Because you can't tell me that their parents did NOT have questions about what was going on after Mabel sent that letter home about her "two grunkles".

But why so many Ford with Wendy plots? Because Soos is already the Shack employee tied a lot to Stan, so to parallel, you could have Wendy bond more with Ford. At first glance, this seems like it'd be an odd duo, but Wendy probably could relate to Ford's experiences of feeling like the responsible one in the family, hiding how much they care about things under a more calm facade, the fact that Wendy's dad built the Shack for Ford, maybe add Wendy having an underlying interest in science or the paranormal that she deadens down to fit in that Ford finds out about and tries to encourage her to not hide anymore to tie in with his theme of "it's okay to be weird". You could do a million things with Ford and Wendy subplots.

So that leaves us with a total of nine other episodes to devote to Ford here in this season space. I mean, picture it... in my original counts of how many episodes Stan vs. Ford got in the real version of the show that aired, Stan had around 23 episodes that featured him.

In this version of the outline, Stan would get 14-15 episodes featuring him. Ford would get 14 episodes featuring him. CHEF'S KISS; EQUAL TREATMENT BY THE WRITING. But what would these episodes be about?

A. More bonding and arc between Dipper and Ford. Dipper would go from "notice me Ford senpai / hyperventilating" to "holy crap the Author is as awesome as I thought he'd be!" to "wait a minute, this guy's got some flaws" to "maybe this isn't who I want to become?" to make Dipper's rejection of the apprenticeship feel more natural and take the blame heat off of Mabel (as the fandom's been eager to place).

If Dipper's reasoning for rejecting the apprenticeship was not just "Mabel needs me" but a combination of "Mabel needs me, Stan needs Ford more than I do, Mabel was right and I don't need the Journals / the Author / Ford to be a hero, and I don't want to become Ford", it'd make a lot more sense. Because thematically, the plot of Gravity Falls resolves BECAUSE Dipper and Mabel don't become Ford and Stan; they avoid the mistakes they made, and in doing so, heal the literal and metaphorical rift. And it also makes more sense for Dipper's character arc, which was always about self-confidence.

That, and I think it'd have been great for Dipper to have had a trust - distrust - trust again arc with Ford like he did with Stan. "Oh, Ford's so cool" to "Ford lied to me about Bill!" to "Ford is flawed, but he's still the great uncle I love now". Put a Dark Night of the Soul in there, where Dipper literally 'Trusts No One!'. Not even Ford. Have him teeter on the precipice of going down Ford's dark path, but Mabel saves him from fully falling into it. And have Ford have a Dark Night of the Soul, where now even Dipper doesn't trust or like him, and so Ford feels totally outcasted by his family like Stan felt years ago.

B. Slower plot twist revelations about Ford's past with Bill Cipher. Start him out reluctant to talk about it, especially in front of Dipper, who views him as a hero that Ford so desperately wants to be. Explore some of his trauma, what his choices have cost him, etc. Hell, I'm pretty sure Ford's got some form of PTSD, so throw a plotline in there about Ford isolating a lot because of it. Of course, since kids are a primary audience of the show, you can't get too dark, but you can't tell me Ford didn't experience some messed up stuff on the other side of the portal.

C. Goddamn, take some of Ford's multiverse explorations from Journal 3 and make them actual episodes. What a wasted opportunity in the show. And it better have Jheselbraum in it, or I riot.

D. More Ford bonding with Mabel. Please, for the love of God, I know Dipper and Ford are nerdtopia buddies, but Ford and Mabel would get along so well. They're both weirdos at heart, sweater twins, the older twins, and love the odd and the artistic. Make a B plot with Stan and Dipper bonding, maybe even after Dipper's loss of respect for Ford, and have Dipper "side" with Stan while Mabel starts to "side" with Ford more, almost getting lost in Stan and Ford's rift themselves. Because goddammit, we're riding this juxtaposition and parallelism and thematic train into the Sun!

E. GIVE FORD MORE MOMENTS TO LOOK LIKE A CARING, SWEET GRUNKLE. Stan got a truckload of chances to shine and for the twins to bond with him. Can... can Ford have the same thing? Please? Here, elevator pitch: Ford being forced to put science away to watch the twins for a day because Stan's busy, he reluctantly agrees, and by the end he's just as much of a softie for them as Stan is. Or have Dipper and Mabel get in trouble, Stan and Ford have to work together to save them; have them sabotage each other, trying to look like the better Grunkle, but then pulling their heads out of their asses and working together reluctantly and realizing they actually have fun on adventures like they used to (which would foreshadow their choice to go on Stan-O-War II adventures later).

F. By God, I don't care if Gideon's already in jail by this point, plot-wise. This boy spent episodes chasing the Author's journals. I need to see the look on his face when he realizes the Author is his arch-nemeses' twin brother / great uncle. Please. Have him start a rivalry with Ford that goes as horribly as you'd expect because Ford would use 30 years of multiverse experience to punt this kid into the next dimension for multiple reasons, one of them being having summoned Bill Cipher, another being having used his journal for nefarious purposes.

G. Don't make the government agents go away so easily. Foreshadow Stan's return of memory in Weirdmageddon 3 with the agents remembering what happened before the memory gun wipe in Not What He Seems, not only to utilize them better as antagonists, but to increase the stakes, and also to make Stan's memories returning later seem more plausible. Have Ford play a part in getting rid of them as a threat.

Or have them switch from antagonists to allies once they realize Bill Cipher is the real threat, but have them fail to neutralize Bill to make him seem that much more insurmountable and the Pines' defeat of him that much more of a feat. To wrap up them as an obstacle, just have them thank the Pines at the end and then have them put forth the whole "Never Mind All That" act and keep the stories of the weirdness contained to Gravity Falls. Have them try to lock Stan and Ford up still, though, but realize that they're gone on the Stan-O-War II trip (which, if that story's ever made into a show, they could serve as continued antagonists chasing after the Stans).

H. More Pacifica. Make her redemption more believable. Give her another subplot in Season 2, maybe following the plotline she had in the Lost Legends comic side story with Dipper. In fact, give her a B plot episode storyline with Ford; have them bond over having had to be perfect golden children with a parent(s) that care way too much about money, and it gives Dipper and Mabel more context and understanding about Ford's struggles. There. It writes itself.

I. More McGucket. I want to see Ford angst more about what happened between them. Then, finally, after all these episodes with The Last Mabelcorn somewhere amongst them... Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future Weirdmageddon 1 Weirdmageddon 2 Weirdmageddon 3

And ta-da! You'd have a version of Gravity Falls with two seasons with more fair attention to Wendy and Ford, more evenly paced tension and plot twists, and an antagonist cycle that goes from town enemy to world enemy to multidimensional enemy. ~

As for a three season version of this outline, keep Season 1 completely as is, make Not What He Seems episode 10 of Season 2, and... this is a bold suggestion, but turn the Season 2 finale into Dipper and Mabel vs The Future and make the Weirdmageddon episodes into a whole season. Make the failure to stop the rift really hurt, and use the whole of Season 3 to have the Pines figure out how to stop the end of the world. Use some of it to rebuild the portal, explore some of the Multiverse to find a solution, have them try to find Jheselbraum to help discover more about Bill and his weaknesses and his previous attempts on Earth to break reality (like Modoc's story in Journal 3, in fact, have an episode where they time travel back to Modoc which would give him inspiration to have drawn the prophecy wheel on the cave wall that Ford found hundreds of years later), gather the whole gang and build the Shacktron, have it fail and have to use the prophecy wheel... But wait, it fails, too, and Bill scatters everyone involved across the Multiverse instead of making them into banners - while also destroying the portal - to buy himself some time to get Ford to give up the solution to breaking free from Gravity Falls. Explore the Multiverse more to gather everyone again, use each episode to devote yet more time to developing each character, parallel Ford's journey in the Multiverse for 30 years. Maybe even have a bit of a subplot where Ford breaks from Bill and tries to rebuild the portal to get everyone back, paralleling Stan's struggle to get him back for 30 years.

Learn more about who Ford was those thirty years he was gone. Use the Multiverse episodes to make Stan sympathize more with what Ford went through for thirty years. Have Jheselbraum reference the whole "you have the face of the one who will destroy Bill" to Stan instead of Ford like she did in the past, and have Stan be confused at first, thinking Ford will be the hero again. Dark Night of the Soul up in this season, man, and make the prophecy wheel fail again, and Stan realize yep, time to brain zap, Jheselbraum was right, but HE'S the one that has to stop Bill, not Ford. And THEN try Stan's conman trick to trap Bill in his mind.

And that's how I'd rewrite Gravity Falls as three seasons.

~

I'll say this: after all that criticism I just laid out, you might think I hate Gravity Falls as it is now. No. I love this show. It won't leave my brainspace and lives there rent-free, like Bill does in Stan's mind. And I will say, I understand 100% why it was written the way it was. They seemed to have had a plan in Season 1, switched gears between seasons, and tried to wrap up two seasons of plot in one season for Season 2.

And they did it with little to no flaws in terms of the overarching plot. They told the story they wanted to. They pulled a Stan and took some shortcuts, but had good intentions and got the job done. And the show is still like... an A- to solid A grade show even with these flaws.

But it could have been nearly flawless and A++ had they either planned for two seasons from the start, or powered through the burnout to make three whole seasons (which is easy for me to say, as someone that didn't have to live through what must have been hair graying levels of stress).

All in all, I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on my critique, or if anyone would like to add more about what they'd put in this hypothetical Season 2 or 3. Or if you'd prefer the two seasons still as they are, or as I hypothetically rewrote them, or as the three seasons idea I explained above. Or if you think I'm just crazy, and that Gravity Falls is perfect as is.

[void-ink-studios]

Wrath of the Wishmaster

You asked, you shall receive.

Thanks for helping me clear my writer's block. I might write more scenes that happened prior to this, but enjoy what's here for now! Might post to AO3 later, who knows?

Enjoy babes!

Word count: 2,500

There were many things Scarab did not understand about the Wishmaster, Prismo.  Many… Many things.

Why did an all powerful being decide to spend its eternity making pickles and writing fan fiction of the universes he observed?  Why, of all things to add to the featureless Time Cube, was there a hot tub?

And why, above all, did he tolerate all of Scarab's... strangeness?

Because no one liked bugs.

That was the lesson Scarab had learned in his eons of existence.

No one liked bugs.  At least, not the kind of bug he was.

Of course, people like butterflies.  They liked to watch the pretty and dainty little things as they flutter along.  But only from a distance.  People still recoiled if they got a good look at their face.  Or anything that reminded them that they’re bugs, and not just living little splashes of color.

And Scarab was no butterfly.

He was a beetle.  Was?  Is?  He wasn’t sure anymore.  So much of himself had changed since he first emerged from his burrow.

And yet, there was Prismo, calling his little chirps and trills "cute." Encouraging him to find places in the Time Room to burrow and hide and crawl.

There was Prismo, who didn't recoil at the site of his real face. Who saw his strange mouth and eyes and decided to kiss it all over, rather than hide it behind his mask again.

So no, he did not understand many of how Prismo operated. But Scarab was not about to complain. He felt more alive in his own shell than he has in eons. He kept his mask off more often than on these days. His hidden arms had seen more exercise than ever before. He was starting to remember the strange language of chirps and trills and buzzes from his old home.

Of course, there were still bad days. Days where he had to sit still and stare at something stationary just to remember what direction was up. Days where he crawled away into one of his hidden nooks to tremble out of sight.

He had been reluctant to let Prismo in on those days, at first. He held up walls and scooted away and flinched enough to get the Wishmaster to back off for quite a while.

But, as he came back into contact with himself, and as Prismo called him beautiful and quirky, rather than disgusting and unsettling, the walls came down.

He wasn't ready to tell him what happened to his antenna and wings. But, Prismo was at least there to turn the screen wall to something calming. Or to rub his aching back and shoulders on days where he could do little else but shake.

It was... nice. He hesitated to call it wonderful, but it really was. Much better than a bug deserved, but he was not about to remind Prismo of that.

No, he had Orbo to do that for him.

He knew he had grown far too comfortable with Prismo when he heard the orb roll into the Time Room, loudly calling for his buddy the Wishmaster. Who was not currently there, but instead tending to his pickles for the moment. He trusted Scarab to watch the main room for any wishers, which he had been doing diligently from his perch on the ceiling.

Scarab froze, stuck to the ceiling like he was pinned there.

Maybe if I don't move, he won't notice I'm here.

It was a nice thought. But when had the universe been nice to him before?

"Uhm... Scarab? Mate? Whatcha doing up there? I thought we cleared up a while back that that creeped people out."

Scarab stayed silent as he crawled back down the wall. He ignored the way Orbo visibly shivered at his method of locomotion, standing at attention once his feet touched the floor.

He unconsciously made a nervous, light buzzing sound, his mouth parts clicking together as the orb stared at him like a disection project.

"So, what's all this then? You think just because Prismo's not here, you can do whatever you want? I thought we talked about this forever ago, Scrabs. You might be just a bug, but you got raised to the pantheon. You gotta act like it."

Orbo rolled to look around the Time Room. Scarab reached gingerly for the remote, trying to alert Prismo to their visitor.

"Seriously, I still feel bad enough for Prismo to get stuck looking at you when you were at your best. If he's stuck with you, it's the least you could do to not creep the guy out. That's not how you show appreciation, Scrabs."

Scarab tried to tune it out. He wasn't creepy, not to Prismo, Prismo called him beautiful, insect traits and all. Orbo swung around to look at him, now noticing his face.

"Where's your mask, man? No one wants to see the horror show your kind calls a mouth. It's bad enough when we have to watch you eat, you can at least put the rest of it away."

Scarab felt small. Tiny. Just like he did when he first met Orbo, who took one look at him, and decided he wasn't meant for the glittery Judgement Hall. He barely even noticed when he shuffled the plates back over his face.

"Much better. So, where's Prismo then? Not like I came all this way to talk to you, right?"

Orbo laughed. Scarab didn't. He just kept his eyes trained to the floor, still quietly chirping to steady his nerves. His world started to feel tilted. What he wouldn't do for his cane right now.

"Cut it with the noise, mate. It's like you've forgotten you're a god or something. You want to go back to the dirt? Is that it? I can talk to Boss for you, if that's what you want."

"...No. That won't be necessary."

"That's what I thought. Now, where in Glob's name- Oh, Prismo! Buddy, there you are!"

Scarab didn't look up to acknowledge the Wishmaster's presence. He felt so tiny. Just like a gross little bug pinned to the wall.

"...What are you doing here, Orbo?"

That made Scarab look up. Prismo's tone. All the warmth had been sucked out of his voice. There was an edge to it. One that the beetle had never heard before, not even during the whole Fionna and Cake disaster.

"Aw, mate, can't I just come check on my good buddy? It's been ages since your last party, man. Us at the office are just itching to groove again. We'd love to see you!"

Prismo's expression was unreadable. Scarab wasn't used to not being able to read the Wishmaster, he was usually an open book. The blue eye shifted between Orbo and Scarab subtly.

"Just haven't been in the partying mood, Orbo. I've been having some friends over for board games, I guess, but I'm not planning on a party any time soon."

The star core seemed to catch Prismo's shifting glance, turning his attention back to Scarab. The beetle stood ramrod straight. Partially to not draw attention to himself and partially to prevent his body from shaking on uncertain legs.

"Oh. Prismo, buddy, why didn't you say anything sooner?" Orbo rolled back over to Scarab, smirking.

"Say what sooner?"

"That this dude was killing the vibe in here! I mean, I totally get it, I wouldn't want a party either if that was lurking in my place somewhere."

Prismo's expression hardened.

"Scarab's not 'killing the vibe' Orbo. He's been nice to have around, he plays board games with me, Cos, and Death."

Orbo rolled his eyes.

"Prismo, you're cool. You don't have to keep it quiet for his sake. Just say the word and I'll find something else to do with him. It's not the first time he failed to learn a lesson."

"I'm not keeping anything quiet. I like having him around. He's actually pretty cool when he's got the space outside of work, and you're being, like, really uncool, Orbo."

Scarab was stunned. He'd been the only one to ever really talk back to Orbo. He'd never expect someone to do it on his behalf.

"What? Me, uncool? Pris, c'mon, mate. You're allowed to say he's creepy, we all know it. He's a bug. You know, those little creepy crawlies? I thought I trained most of the creepy stuff out of him by now. I know you're everybody's buddy, but you really need to make sure the lesson stays in his head if you don't want him weirding you out. Like, I came in here and he was on the ceiling! Looked like a ghost or something. And without his mask! I thought I made it clear his face is a horror show. Thank Glob I got him to put it back on before you had to see it, bud. It's a real doozy, I'll tell ya."

The beetle wasn't looking at Orbo anymore. No, he was watching the growing horror on Prismo's face. Horror not directed at him for once.

"Dude, Scarab's not that bad. A bit uptight when he's stressed, but still a pretty cool dude. Why should he have to hide so much? This is the Time Room, you're supposed to relax in here."

"Oh, Prismo, you sweet dream child. Scarab's not cool. He's not like us, you know?"

"Like us?"

"Buddy, you're the dream of one of the greatest living wizards in the multiverse! I'm the core of a collapsed magic star! That's where gods like us are supposed to come from! Scarab though? He's just a bug. A creepy crawly cockroach that somehow made it up from the dirt he's meant for."

"Didn't he manage to take down a galactic level threat that you couldn't catch?"

"He got lucky." Orbo looked annoyed. That usually ended well for no one. "Knew I should've finished his punishment before he came here..."

"I thought this was his punishment."

"Oh, no, I'm talking about his punishment for trying to start a revolt. Went over my head to the Boss! All over that nonsense with that unauthorized universe of yours. I was gonna take his legs. Maybe should've pulled out his other arms as well. I still can, if you wanted me to, mate."

The silence in the Time Room was deafening. Scarab has seen a lot of expressions on the Wishmaster's face. Contentment, sadness, boredom, amusement, joy, frustration, all of it.

But he had never seen rage. Not until now, anyway.

"What?"

Orbo seemed to completely miss the change in atmosphere, as he carried on just as before. "Oh yeah, it seems to be the only way he actually learns. Thought the antenna would be enough, but nooo, Mr. Buggy Bigshot still thought himself better. I really thought the thing with the wings would've gotten through to him, but I guess not."

The lights in the Time Room went out. Not even the stars from the void outside shed much light into the cube. Scarab never thought he'd miss the sickeningly bright yellow of the Time Cube, but he's permanently paint his shell its color if it would turn the lights back on.

"You. Did. WHAT?"

There was a guttural hiss coming from where Prismo once was. Blue what replaced by a bright purplish pink, staring down at Orbo and Scarab. A friendly smile was replaced with jagged teeth. Fingers replaced with claws. And a growl rumbled through the cube.

Scarab didn't think. Just acted. He opened himself a passage into the lower levels of the Time Room, scurrying in as fast as his legs could carry him. He could faintly hear Orbo yelling after him, but he ignored it completely. The adrenaline let him ignore the pain, ignore the feeling of constantly tipping over. All his instincts told him was run and hide.

He crammed himself into one of his many makeshift burrows, backing as far into the hole as possible.

Prismo was angry, he knew that much. Anger meant pain. Anger meant he'd lose another piece of himself. What would it be this time, he wondered.

It didn't matter he knew Prismo would never hurt him. It didn't matter he knew he probably couldn't be hurt like that while in this form. All he knew was to curl up and hide.

And so he did.

He shook, in fear and pain, and waited. For what, he wasn't sure. But he didn't dare come out of his cubby.

So he waited.

He didn't know how long it was until he felt the familiar tingle of light against his back. He flinched, a frightened trill falling unwillingly from his throat.

"...Scarab? Sweetheart, are you there?"

...At least he sounded like Prismo again...

"...Yes... Yes, I'm here."

"Good, good. I... I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I don't like what I am when I'm like that but... What Orbo was saying... Your wings..."

Scarab felt his elytra twitch under Prismo's touch. The ragged scraps of wings shivered as well, as the beetle sighed out a soft little chirp.

"...It is the way of things, Prismo... Orbo is not the only one with thoughts like that. It's what I've been taught for eons. No one likes bugs, after all."

There was a long silence after that. Prismo was looking at him with a sad calmness. He reached his other arm into the hole, petting a hand over the parts of his face he could reach under the mask. The bug shivered pitifully into the touch, trying and failing to resist the urge to lean into it.

"...You deserve better, Scrabby."

That's what did it. That's what broke the dam.

Scarab wept into Prismo's hand, shaking hard enough to make his carapace rattle.

"Shh... It's okay, honey... Can you come out here?"

It was slow. Almost painfully so. But he managed to peek his head out of his hiding spot. The Wishmaster gave him a kind smile, if not a sad one.

"Can you let me see you, beautiful?"

Scarab hesitated. Orbo's words echoed in his head, loudly, cruelly.

"...I'm not pleasant to look at, Prismo... Much less beautiful..."

"Nope. Not true, Scrabby. C'mon. Let me see that pretty face of yours."

"Prismo..."

"Please, Scarab?"

The beetle sighed. His face plates shivered again, tucking behind his head. His eyes stared, wide and wet at the Wishmaster. A soft kiss was planted on his forehead.

"There we go. Much better."

Scarab refused to start bawling again. Instead, he climbed the rest of the way out of his burrow to curl against Prismo's chest.

"You don't have to worry about Orbo anymore, by the way. He won't be coming back. Not for a few eons, at least."

Scarab didn't choose to question it. Not right now at least. Instead, he closed his eyes as Prismo's hand pet gently over his aching back, the beetle unconsciously opening up the elytra. The dream's hands were always careful when working around his sorry wings. They made the ache go away.

Scarab began chirping. Softly, at first. But it slowly grew, morphing into a simple, but filling cricket song. He heard Prismo softly join in with a light humming.

He might've been just a bug.

But it turns out at least one person likes bugs after all.

[silusvesuius]

unleashing the same hellscape i did on my notes app here it's my nelvas thinking dump i wrote just for fun and to keep track of what i view them as up 2 this point. Might change my mind on it later on it has a lot of things written in brackets for no reason . it's like ~2500 words long which isn't much but i think i said everything i've had in my mind for now read it for fun if you like to have fun leik me :) And talvas :) And nelothxP

retyping what i said in the tags of those last text posts and rearranging those thoughts a bit: in my train of thought that's been going steady since early 2024 i'm almost certain that neloth might see talvas as the epitome of being morally Clean (before that changes because of neloth's influence over him) and generally pure as a person. pure not used in the Pervert way; neloth is just a veeery big fan of talvas having absolutely no backbone and being very docile when it comes to him. which is r expected traits 4 someone if they find themselves under neloth's thumb as an apprentice, but it being written that he isn't at all catty and defiant to his face is cute. all talvas manages to do is shit talk neloth to others and pray neloth doesn't find out he meant the things he said but also can’t help feeling bad about it, even though neloth doesn't and wouldn't care, if he found out. neloth is happy with being an obnoxious & disgusting person. truly.. him growing obsessed with talvas' docile and innocent nature doesn't necessarily have to add up to him wanting to Taint or Ruin him (and if it happens ((it does)) it's not done on purpose, neloth can't hold that much control and power of his actions in that specific department). he encounters difficulties when he realizes he actually wants that Elven Twink.. it's too far gone to fix anything after he's tampered with talvas' patience and stability, and even then he can't be honest with talvas about anything, because he still wants to hold a great deal of power over him (neloth essentials for survival).

Might be the type to just want talvas to magically(haha) think it's okay that his wizard master desires him and expect that energy right back without talvas actually acknowledging it because it'd make neloth feel insanely cringy and embarrassed.. humiliated.. EVEN. but that's just in a deep deep dark corner of his mind, he isn't stupid. when trying to gain 'access' to his apprentice ("*His* apprentice" is also kinda funny way of viewing his mind too. just cause talvas is working as an apprentice under him neloth probably already feels a concerning sense of ownership over him that makes him feel very good) he can't even make the signs of interest be apparent to talvas because he's insanely inept at being Soft and honest for obvious reasons. he can tell what possibly could make talvas warm up to him even after he treats him like shit for eons but there's no way he's bringing himself to do it (change is embarrassing, especially in their formal dynamic, and especially at his age). so it's a half-assed attempt (actually he's trying his hardest🙄) to try and make talvas be (at least) less afraid of him. not that talvas has any other place that we know of that he "Belongs" to, he just sticks with neloth regardless of anything. neloth watching him as he sleeps ensues . Guys what do i do to make my apprentice let me hit because all of the eye contact i do with him while gripping his arm or petting his knee isn't helping. 

if we were to go back to how that spark is ignited in neloth swamp of a heart, brain… idk, it has to be when he realizes talvas' capability of forgiveness and 'Sucking it up' instead of lashing out at neloth after .. anything, but perhaps physical abuse in particular. neloth a 100% has absolutely no problem putting his hands on anyone, especially someone he sees so often, such as talvas. not that talvas really annoys him (his clear and voiced obedience pleases neloth as anyone can tell), but he just doesn't see it as too much of a big deal. the physical mistreatment that happens once in a blue moon isn't intense enough to scare off talvas for sure anyways. neloth is a bitch so all he can so is smack him at the back of the head (talvas finds it very normal) and slap him if he's feeling festive (something talvas finds kinda extreme but not that it happens often. he sometimes feels like he deserves it, or that neloth is warranted to do as he pleases. he tosses around it being justified or pitying himself, though). May be possible that neloth would realize he Like Likes talvas once he slaps him, mayhaps, for the first time, but talvas' immediate reaction to being treated like that is just sadness mixed with feeling shame for tearing up/crying in front of someone he respects *bishoujo sparkles sfx*. talvas is a delicate soul so he can't hold warranted emotions like that for long, and even tho it's expected of him to be making eye contact w/ neloth in a setting like that, he wouldn't be able 2 bring himself to do it because looking at neloth would make him wanna burst out in tears like a weeeee baby. Booo hooo.. talvas is the 19th century (4th era) damsel that runs out of the ball in tears after no young cavalier invited her to dance. watch this bleed into the most awkward and silent week of neloth's entire life because talvas doesn't even really feel like speaking to him or looking at him, but neloth doesn't wanna brute force the usual respectful etiquette out of him cus he thinks that's just gonna make talvas hurl himself down on some rough rocks at the seashore. Good thing talvas is very spineless and forgiving (especially in relation to neloth… i mean.. who r YOU to not forgive him) so that might just last a day or two. the hurt always stays tho. neloth this is why talvas doesn't wanna smash you.. you might've made some conclusions about what elven twink you like but talvas is just even more scared of you now. was your Pervert awakening worth it. and even if we do backflips and jump thru the point where everything is too far gone for either of them to go back, dude is still too afraid to make out with his apprentice. Deserve. but why though because talvas wouldn't refuse. for what reason? we may never know

^^^ this makes me feel like i love seeing characters i reaaaalllly love (elenwen and talvas in this case) as enigmas in situations where they're confronted with something so ""Intimate"". elenwen's stance on this is final tho cause she's a grown ass woman and there's no way you could reshape her brain. ulfric left her mind plane in SHAMBLES. talvas has more right (in the literal sense) to be erratic or inconsistent with his actions. maybe he likes to be desired. Also i strongly believe that talvas has probably never been in love (for any reason rly but it's mostly him not having actual time for it + not seeing it as something that is important to him at that point in his life)… i want neloth to be his first experience with Love so that it ruin his view on it forever. can't get myself to say he'd be in love with neloth at any point though. From his standpoint it really should feel empowering and 'nice' that neloth wants him in many ways (ew).. cause that's a man with status.. power.. ability to do anything rly . talvas is in no condition to be playing mind games with him or anything tho so don't get that idea. he's not strong enough of a person to be Tricking anyone or to be Playing with anyone's feelings. neloth would be immune to that, too. neloth can just kinda tell talvas is too good and … UNTAINTED. talvas wants to see the best in everyone. too bad he genuinely detests you, neloth.. so: he doesn't actually love neloth but wouldn't be happy to see his tombstone either. SO (PART TWO): if you time it right he wouldn't be against getting Freakkkkyyyy with you okay?but no promises

even if @ some point talvas develops indistinct feelings towards neloth cause of neloth's own incessant weird-mild advances it wouldn't have to mean he just likes old men permanently now. actually it kinda does. i can sorta feel it rearranging his braincells and making him unable to normally interact with people in his age range. he probably already had a hard time talking to others in hopes of developing a friendship just cause he's timid but after neloth's nonstop abuse and Accidental romance mind games he morphs into a whole new type of guy. it's hard to notice at first but he'd probably just start to leech off of neloth's prissy and unbearable personality in a natural course of things + neloth is the only person he sees and talks to on the regular pretty much. < this can just be reworded as just the cycle of abuse and whatnot. if he notices an opening in the abilities and Smarts of another person, especially someone his age/younger, he will automatically see them as umm…stupid. and also insult your abilities to your face if he snaps. he strikes me as the type to be afraid to say what he really thinks (another consequence of being glued to neloth all the time when all talvas does is act like he totally respects anything he says) and gets scared if anything slips out his mouth but is proud in letting the "Truth" be known because he already figured out you're a lesser being than him. he's just cloning neloth's verbal abuse braincells though he would never put his hands on someone. his desire to be mean and see himself as superior stems from neloth always disparaging him obviously.. talvas 4 that reason is very self conscious of his abilities and doesn't rly think he's all that useful or talented. his self doubt then would play into how he doesn't know when to believe what others are saying to and about him.. i wanna imagine that talvas is very oblivious to neloth's weirdo status just cause he partly doesn't even want that thought to cross his mind. i bet everyone but him sees it and finds it gross😕 but nobody in the vicinity is strong enough to tell neloth that he should be ashamed LMFAO. if you would try and even hint to talvas that it's happening he'd never take you seriously and just get mad. he's protective of neloth's image more than neloth himself is; not that people knowing neloth has abnormal sodomistic inclinations toward his apprentice would make his public image worse than it already is (everyone already thinks he's weird so it's not shocking at all) but talvas still wouldn't wanna hear it cause he thinks it's just false. maybe he's just ashamed that he's being brought into the whole thing. also because he doesn't wanna face the reality EJI23JRIO32KJ Well talvas when neloth makes an actual move on you don't say that we didn't warn you.. we're all waiting till neloth's status as an obvious apprentice-pervert becomes obvious to you

even if he's willingly ignorant of the fact he still thinks of the 'accusations' a lot when he feels like it. and unknowingly begins feeling even more uncomfortable in neloth's presence. heart starts beating faster and everything. neloth could come up to him meters away and talvas would still cover his mouth in realization and be like "i knew it… the DB told me but i didn't wanna believe it …..😦 so you really do like young men … and you're in love with me ..😨" *Neloth wakes up from this fever dream drenched in sweat* < neloth doesn't want (obvi) talvas to react that way at any point because he himself would just get scared so they'd just be staring at each other wide eyed. but talvas jumping into his advances isn't what he wants either (that'll also scare him). neloth is still relying on talvas' politeness to let him do as he pleases. but it is impossible for talvas to let it slide without questioning anything regardless so🤷‍♀️ take your few Ls and move on. neloth just wants talvas to sit on his lap. wants to spoonfeed him soup. he's so romantic. he also wants to(sniper on rooftop blows my head to bits). neloth is actually a pretty touchy feely person when he's feeling Frisky (=deranged about talvas). I'm certain his favorite part of talvas' body is his legs. talvas has beautiful young man skipping leg day legs. so nothing special at all but neloth wants to touch them lol.. let your master wizard squeeze your calves and he might just be occupied enough like a kid playing with a fidget toy to not abuse you verbally for 3 seconds. as i said befoar neloth is unpleasant with his touch because he doesn't know how to be soft + doesn't even want it to necessarily feel very 'rewarding' as to not pamper talvas. petting talvas kinda turns into a nervous habit for himself and an instrument of some sort of Reassurance 4 talvas when he wants him to know he’s not mad, for example. non-vebal confirmation. talvas still finds it weird but thinks it’s a charm point too. neloth wouldn't even be against touching him familiarly in front of others but only in a "older male figure" ways ex. touching his knee or putting his hand at the back of his neck (talvas sees it as some sort of disciplinary tactic though). physical touch that matches neloth's age and is enough for it to be seen as not necessarily romantic / overtly weird. 

there'ssssss no saving talvas after such a powerful person gets his hands on him. any will to leave would leave HIM either out of fear or out of attachment and neloth wouldn't just let him go (Alive at least) since he knows the things he knows. if talvas were to escape i'm a Truther of him not feeling in place and wanting to go back cause it's the stability that he's used to. but tbh if he encounters neloth on accident anywhere he's gonna start running. I was drinking tea while writing this and started choking on it i just nearly died writing this are youhappy. anyways, nelvas is a never-ending abusive relationship that doesn’t even have High highs, all it has is low lows. neloth always mistreats talvas for any reason but is never genuinely kind from the heart or out of remorse. .. hmm……yeah. I forgot to type this back out from my posts tags > talvas might just start viewing neloth as fuck crazy and demented after he Finally notices at least one molecular sign of gay attention from him . like ‘Oh wow Master Neloth obviously doesn’t get any female attention or anything cus he’s a sick fuck why does he have to search for it from me Can varona take the hit for me 🥺 *sees her dead body being dragged by the DB* hmm i guess not well i’ll figure something out i guess’ (he doesn’t) also the dialogue talvas has with varona after he steals neloth’s book trying to conjure some bs up will always be so cute to me he’s so defensive and afraid of neloth finding out. Him trying to decipher neloth’s handwriting is cute TOO ik their 19th century love letters to each other would go crazy and make sense to anyone but each other but i’m not gonna talk about 19th century girl talvas x neloth rn it’s too much . what ever. i think i’m done thank you i should just go back to drawing them as grecian pottery red figures or smthj Fun stats for you 4 getting to the end: times the word ‘abuse’ is used: 6

[ducktracy]

You ever think about how daffy looks in 'Daffy Duck & Egghead'

MOST CERTAINLY!!!! i drew him a few times with that design eons ago

there are a handful of shorts that when i first discovered them i immediately hooked onto them and basically made them my whole personality. i posted every single thing there was i could post about those shorts in the span of days (and now it haunts me 5 years later because i didn't know what i was talking about then and i'm like "well i posted everything i could about that short which sucks because now i just want to say the same things but with the articulation i have now >:("). Book Revue was a big one and this one was another. i definitely feel there was a time where i was always talking about his design here... this was my icon on Twitter for awhile

he's so cute. i see why it didn't stay and i'm a bit glad it didn't (though i much prefer it to his design in Daffy Duck in Hollywood, extremely funny how Tex gradually eased away his cuteness). the blue looks great with the yellow beak though, and i am REALLY sad we didn't get to see more instances of Irv Spence animating Daffy (for reference, he animates the short's song number) because i seriously think that would have been something magical if it continued

i like how some poses of Spence's Daffy animation end up looking like something right out of an Ub Iwerks short. the spirit of Flip the Frog is trying to insert itself into this duck

very tangential, but since i'm thinking about Tex Avery Duck i'm yet again obliged to share the model sheet for Porky's Duck Hunt. can you imagine if he stayed this small forever, and how excruciatingly hilarious every single cartoon starring him would be. nothing changes fundamentally accept for the design and size difference. it would be magical

[sorin-in-the-stars]

Appreciate Beauty (Blurb, Multi)

Appreciate Beauty

Tighnari, Scaramouche, Childe, Diluc x GN! Reader (Seperate)

Contents : Fluff, appreciating their beauty, a single kiss in Childes, and a few more things

Wc : 1.2k (300 each)

Not posting on Ao3

Wrote ALL of this in class when I was done my work, and I am posting this in class, so enjoy I'm risking getting my laptop privileges here man/hj

TIGHNARI

The teacher walked around the classroom, reading off the board full of notes. You could barely understand what he was saying, not caring too much to pay attention.

You sighed, leaning your head on your hand that was resting on the paper clad desk. You smiled tenderly at your deskmate. He was so pretty. You always found yourself at a loss for words when looking at him.

How were you going to pay attention to class when he was seated next to you?

He had this look of complete and utter determination. There was a sparkle in his eye whenever he found himself learning something new.

You admired him for that. Wanting to learn more about nature, whether it be in a classroom or out in the field. However you could tell he preferred to be out in the field taking it all in.

When out in the forest the look on Tighnari’s face was breathtaking. Focus would be evident, along with pure joy and devotion.

You loved the expressions he would make.

“Hey, are you not paying attention? You big Lummox!” Tighnari whispered, eyes now trained on your rather the teacher. He held no anger in his expression nor voice, rather worry.

“Hm? What?” You asked, snapping out of it.

“You idiot.” He sighed, slumping his head down in defeat. “So you weren’t paying attention?”

You laughed softly, shuffling in your seat a bit. “How can I? I wanted to appreciate the beauty next to me.” You breathed out, not thinking before you spoke.

Tighnari sat there stunned, a small blush gracing his face. “Just pay attention. I don’t want to tutor you on this later if you weren’t paying attention.” He huffed, obviously embarrassed.

You turned your head with a smile, deciding to pay attention in class.

SCARAMOUCHE

You stood strongly behind your harbinger- well. Now Ex-Harbinger. You told him that as his right hand, you were to follow him and only him. To serve only him. You were completely devoted to only him at this point, going as far to indulge in his little god complex and calling him your god.

And it sure did fuel him. Until the Traveler came and ruined everything.

So now, here you sat with the newly reformed god, now going by Wanderer. You preferred his old name Scaramouche though. He didn’t seemed to care what you called him at all.

You stared into his eyes as he spoke, getting lost in them and not wanting to come out. They were a sea of blues, a night sky of the hue. It was mesmerizing, really.

You adored how expressive they were, despite him not wanting to show those emotions. You could stare into his soul for eons.

You sighed out lovingly. Leaning forward onto your arm that rested on your knees. You were so lost and warm. Not even hearing a word he spoke.

“Are you even listening? God you’re so unbearable sometimes.” He scoffed, turning around to face the forest greens.

“Hm? Sorry…I got lost in your eyes." You spoke, speaking nothing but truth. You stood up, taking a few steps closer to him to stand next to the male.

"My eyes? What's so great about them?" He asked, refusing to look at you. He crossed his arms, furrowing his eyebrows.

You knew he was genuinely curious about your answer. You could see it. He just didn't want to admit it.

"They're beautiful, Lord Scaramouche." You replied, turning your head to face him.

There Scaramouche stood, ears tinted red and a hand covering his lower half of his face. "Beautiful? Lies." He scoffed once more.

Laughing softly, you shook your head. He was the one speaking lies. You knew he wanted to believe you. He wanted those compliments.

He craved them even.

"They are beautiful. My Lord. I never lie." You stared at the forest, seeing the sun setting behind the mass of large trees.

CHILDE

“At last! I’m home!” You heard a voice call. It was Childe! He was home after months of being in Liyue!

You stood up quickly from your spot on the bed, and rushed to the front door. You smiled and jumped into his arms, happy he was finally home. “You were gone for ages!” You said, softly hitting his chest.

He laughed softly, and kissed the top of your head. “Sorry, sorry. A lot happened in Liyue Harbor. But I’m home now.” He said knowing the Tsaritsa would give him some time off to be with his family. He did ask after all.

“Yeah yeah, I’m sure there are a lot of stories to come as well.” You whispered, looking up at him.

His usually dead eyes held a small glimmer of life. You always thought they reminded you of the Dead Sea. Which was ironic. You were glad you were the one to bring some sort of life back into them, even if just a small spark.

“Hey now, don’t get lost. I don’t feel like fishing for you, yknow.” He laughed, having caught you staring into his eyes.

“Psh, as if. I can drag myself out any time any day.” You said, turning your head to face the other direction. You couldn’t, and you knew that for a fact.

“Hm? Is that so?” He let you go to rid himself of the bundle of winter clothes he wore. “If you say so, know I won’t be saving you from the sea, my eyes hold.” Childe laughed quietly, enjoying the pure love you held for him.

“No need to save me, they are simply just a beauty for me to admire.” You whispered, turning back to him and wrapped an arm around his neck.

Childe wrapped his own arms around your lower back, pulling you in close. “Beauty? Do you find them beautiful?” He asked, lowering his head.

You nodded and leaned up, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

DILUC

Diluc stood behind the bar stand, whipping down a now clean glass as he spoke. His voice was soothing to listen to. What was he talking about?

“And there you have it, the finest grape juice in all of Teyvat.” He stopped, setting down the glass to pour some of his grape juice. “Dear? Were you listening?” He asked, sliding the glass over to your end of the bar.

You nodded, hand resting on the counter with your entire body weight leaning against it. “Mhm, I was…” You trailed off, eyeing his hair which was tied up in a high ponytail. You loved playing with his hair, if only he would let you braid it.

He nodded in return, going around the entire tavern with a cloth and a small pail of water to wipe down all the tables.

“Wait, why’d you stop talking?” You whined out, turning to follow him with your eyes. Your shoulders slumped, sad he is denying you of his voice.

“Oh? You’d like to hear more?” He asked, giving you a knowing look from the side. He knew his voice soothed you, he often told you stories to get you to sleep when you struggled to do so. He enjoyed those nights, it’s when he had you on his chest, softly playing with his hair.

You nodded, pushing yourself off the bar to go follow him around the tavern. “I do. Same with your hair. It’s all beautiful.” You trailed off, getting closer to him to grab a strand of his fiery hair. “You’re beautiful Diluc.” You stated, playing with the strand before letting go.

“Same goes to you, my Love.” He kissed your forehead before getting back to work, and telling more simple stories.

[teeth-n-ambitions]

So Be It

Okay so I lied about how soon I would post again. Life's kicking my ass a bit. But here we go! I'm very happy with this part so let me know what you think! If you want to be added to the tag, feel free to reach out.

@deluxewhump @whumpyourdamnpears

TW: possessive whumper, vampire whump, lady whump, pet whump, blood, knives/cutting, licking(?), slight dehumanization

It’d been a few months, but Lila remembered how it felt to dissociate. That fish-bowl feeling where life happened outside of her and all she could do was watch. When she’d forget moving from one place to another. How she would stare at some fixed point in space, allowing everything around her to dissolve into static. It always came with a hollow feeling in her chest and molasses in her limbs, apathy heavy on her tongue.

This was not that.

Lila was fully conscious of her surroundings when she inexplicably followed Cassara out of her prison. Even as she kept her eyes on the creature’s straight back, she could see her surroundings in her periphery every step of the way, and yet she could not remember a single detail of it. They went up a floor, made a few turns, but that was all her memory could conjure. Cassara had done something to her. Even now, as she struggled against it, silently begging her legs to run the other way, she instead stood beside the sink in a large bathroom, perfectly still as Cassara rubbed a wet washcloth against her stinging cheek. If it weren’t for her shallow breathing, one might think she looked almost relaxed.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, darling,” Cassara said. “It’s frightening, I know.” She squeezed the washcloth, let more water run down Lila’s face. “But you’re far too worked up at the moment. I can’t take care of you if you’re going to fight me the entire time.” Once she was satisfied with her work, she tossed the washcloth into the sink. “Now this is going to feel a bit strange at first, but I promise it’ll help.” Gingerly, she took Lila’s head in her hands and licked a stripe up her cheek.

A shiver of disgust raced down Lila’s spine, making her stomach churn. Cassara’s tongue was cold, like the rest of her, as was the saliva she was so carefully lathering onto Lila’s skin. The whole thing was reminiscent of a slug repeatedly running across her face. She wanted to gag.

Finally, after what felt like eons, Cassara retreated, stood tall again. “Just give it a moment to sit, and…” A few seconds passed before Cassara retrieved the washcloth from the sink and rubbed Lila’s face one last time. “There, all better. Go ahead and feel.”

Lila’s right arm could suddenly move independently again. She brought her hand to her face and found it…smooth, undamaged. It was as if she’d only dreamt that she’d hurt herself. The scrapes—and the accompanying sting—had completely vanished. Just like that.

An amused little smile appeared on Cassara’s face. “Vampires’ saliva speeds up the skin’s healing process,” she explained. “Perfect for keeping your prey from bleeding out and attracting others.” Her hand reached out, Lila involuntarily tilting her head, and ghosted her fingers over the sore spot on Lila’s neck. “Or to save for later.”

Though she’d been breathing this entire time, Lila gasped when she could open her mouth again, took in a few heavy breaths before practically snarling, “What the fuck did you do to me?”

Lila’s arm lost its mobility once more as Cassara stepped toward her and snaked a hand behind her back. “Just a bit of my influence, love.” She guided Lila away from the sink, over to a folding chair beside the large bathtub, and sat her in it. “Hypnosis, in my thrall, whatever you want to call it.” Another chair stood against the wall in the far corner, over by the towel closet. Cassara strode across the bathroom and grabbed it, let it fall and unfold as she lifted it off the ground. “It’s just until you’ve calmed yourself.” She dropped the chair a foot or so before Lila, graciously crossing her legs upon sitting down. “I supposed I could fulfill my end of the bargain and explain things to you in the meantime.”

“And you can just do this whenever you want?” Lila asked. “Just—” She grunted, trying again to move, but she couldn’t even tense her muscles. “—just freeze any part of my body without even blinking?”

“More or less. It takes some focus to fully control someone, but anything less than that comes naturally after some practice.” Cassara shifted in her seat. “Is that where you’d like to start? You seem to be hung up on this.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry that I’m struggling with the revelation that fucking magic is real,” Lila barked. “Is it usually easier when you kidnap people?”

Cassara waited a moment before speaking. “Let me make something clear.” She leaned forward slightly. “Your soul became mine the moment you trespassed onto my territory. I cannot ‘kidnap’ something I already possess. Do you understand?”

“I didn’t realized you owned a random-ass forest in the middle of fucking nowhere. Is it the whole forest? Is the road included? The phonelines? If that road’s yours then you’ve got a lot of potholes t—” Lila’s lips suddenly pressed together, her tongue stilling. She would have glared if she had control of her face.

“You may speak when you’re ready to actually converse with me,” Cassara said. “I’ll summarize everything, and you can ask for any clarification afterwards.” She leaned back in her chair again. “This wood has been occupied by my kind, and others, for centuries. The initial agreement was that we’d stay within the general confines of the wood, but anything that entered was ours to handle however we pleased. You humans may have forgotten it over time, but the deal still stands. Blink twice if you comprehended that.”

Lila obeyed, her eyelids the only thing she could move.

“Good. Now, you stepped onto my portion of the land, so I choose what to do with you. I intended on draining you and letting your carcass fertilize my lawn, but you were so cute—” She punctuated this by gently tapping the tip of Lila’s nose. “—that I’ve decided to keep you. You will be my pet, and you’ll be treated well as long as you earn it. I am not cruel, but you are to know your place. I will train you personally so you understand exactly what is expected of you. Got that?”

Lila would have grit her teeth if she could. She blinked again, slow and pointedly in the hopes of properly conveying her anger.

But Cassara paid this no mind as she continued, “My servants will tend to you as I direct, but you’ll primarily spend your time providing me with companionship.” She waited for Lila to reluctantly blink once more before waving her hand and saying, “You may ask me your questions now.”

Lila sneered the moment she regained control of her facial muscles. “You’re fucking delusional. I’m not going to be your goddamn dog.” She was pushing it, she was certain, but she held Cassara’s gaze regardless. Even as the vampire’s eyes locked on hers for a long, silent moment, she kept her face set. She willed her heart to keep its pace even as the spot on her neck began to pulse again.

The standoff finally broke when Cassara snickered, shaking her head. “It appears you’re still struggling to fully grasp the situation you’re in.” She rose from her seat, smoothed out her skirt. “That’s fine. We’ll just have to skip ahead a few steps in the process. Come.”

Cassara’s magic seized Lila’s muscles once again, forcing her to stand and quietly follow Cassara out of the bathroom and back the way they came. Again, her memory failed to map a single step of the journey, leaving her unable to remember exactly how they’d ended up back downstairs where they began.

While Cassara went straight for the collection of knives mounted on the wall, Lila’s body marched to the sleek metal table standing tall beneath the domed light smack in the middle of the ceiling. She climbed on top of it and laid on her stomach, placing her forehead upon her folded arms. Her heartbeat picked up, oh shit oh shit oh shit circling round and round in her mind. Every hair on her body stood at the sound of Cassara’s voice suddenly just above her.

“I can tell you’re trying to mask your fear with that harsh tongue of yours.”

Lila shivered at the distinct sound of knives clattering onto the table beside her ear.

“And while it’s a valiant effort, it’s not going to work.”

A chilled hand ran down Lila’s back and slipped beneath her shirt, gently lifting it off her skin. The other selected a blade from beside her, the soft clinking of the metal loud as a jet in her ear.

 “Typically, this is step four or five—” Lila felt a tug at the back of her shirt collar before the knife was ripping the fabric in two. The halves fell at her sides, exposing her skin to the damp air of the room. “—but every pet is different. If you need me to prove my ownership first, then so be it.”

The knife was set back down. Lila’s breath hitched at the brush of fingers against her back as they unhooked her bra and pushed the wings aside to rest with her shirt. There was a small pop above her. Then the wet tip of a marker pressed into her spine, right between her shoulder blades.

“This will tie your soul to mine,” Cassara continued. She gingerly laid her hand on Lila’s back to steady herself, the other drawing a perfect circle reaching a third of the way down the girl’s spine. Without picking up the marker she started on the sigil. Her hand never faltered, the movements so familiar that she could have done it blind. “As long as it remains, you’ll be unable to run from me. You’ll be completely at my mercy.”

Snot dripped from Lila’s nose to mingle with the tears collecting beneath her. She had no idea when the tears started, but they were flowing freely now, unable to blink them away. She could only swallow when the vampire’s ice breath blew onto her back to dry the ink. Another shiver surged through her.

Cassara capped the marker and swapped it for another knife, this one smaller, more precise. “Your survival will depend solely on mine. I die…” She pressed the tip to the top of that circle, lining up the blade with the curve. “…you die.”

A burning scream caught in Lila’s throat. The initial prick of the knife quickly gave way to a sharp, searing pain as it glided effortlessly through her flesh. She screamed again and again every time it skated over spine. Her lungs ached with each stuttering breath, suffocation inching closer and closer with each push of her chest against the table.

Regardless, Cassara’s hand stuck to the outline without issue. Even as fresh blood pooled in the wound, spilling over and trickling down the human’s sides. The copper scent swirled around her, making it harder and harder to ignore the swell of her venom glands. More than anything she wanted to taste it. To feel it gather on her tongue as she dragged it across the broken skin, lap it up like an animal licking a plate clean.

But she couldn’t. Not this time. Then the skin would heal all too fast and she’d have to go through this whole process again. No, she would restrain herself, no matter how badly her jaw ached.

Lila’s poor back was a horrid, bloody mess by the time the knife finally retreated from her body. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Bile threatened to race up her esophagus. She almost puked right there at the cold fingers carding through her hair, the tenderness giving her whiplash.

“Almost done,” Cassara murmured. “You’re doing so well.” She pulled her hand from Lila’s head and walked to the sink against the other wall, grabbing the drying bucket from underneath it. The washcloth on the rim was still damp from its last use, but it was clean. She sat the bucket beneath the faucet and turned on the hot water. She shut it off once a few inches sloshed around in the bucket, letting the washcloth fall in as she lifted it out of the sink and over to the table. Rolling up her sleeve, Cassara dunked her hand into the bucket, retrieved the washcloth, and squeezed out the excess water. Her free hand went back to Lila’s hair as she began to dab at the blood.

Lila hissed at the contact, though the sting was bliss compared to the agony of the knife.

When the bleeding stopped and the blood was cleaned away, Cassara brought her thumb to her mouth, swiped it across a fang until her own blood rose to the surface. Carefully, she pulled the apart skin in the center of the sigil with her fingers, opening up the incision enough to press her bleeding thumb directly into it. Lila whined. Cassara shushed her.

Bright, blinding light began to shine beneath her thumb. She kept it in place as the light raced through the carving in Lila’s back, until the entire sigil was lit like a neon sign. It glowed for a few seconds before abruptly dying. Cassara popped her thumb back into her mouth for a moment, let the skin heal.

She grinned. It was finished.

Every muscle relaxed the moment Lila had control of her body again, her mouth falling open and heaving in a breath. Her nostrils were almost completely blocked by mucus, and breathing had been near impossible with her mouth shut. She could have cried in relief if she had any tears left.

Her vision was still watery when she lifted her head off her arms, but she could see Cassara’s gorgeous face gazing down at her all the same. The creature’s ghastly fingers were still in her hair, massaging her scalp in an cheap effort to soothe her. She didn’t have the energy to smack them away.

“I hope you understand things now,” Cassara said. “You’re mine, and anyone who sees that sigil will know it. You’ll know it as it burns, you’ll know it as it heals, and you’ll know it as the scar tissue leaves it permanently etched into your skin. You are my pet, and that is your collar.” Her fingers constricted, making Lila wince as she pulled her hair taut. “I own you.”

Pain bloomed behind Lila’s puffy eyes as a headache formed, her forehead throbbing in time with the angry wound on her back. Her throat stung when she swallowed, voice hoarse when she opened her mouth.

“Okay,” she rasped. “Okay.”

[dragondice42]

The Funny bone🦴 Hot Dog🔥 Connection

remember that "funny bone was a fire dog before he became undead" theory i mentioned in the Funny bone headcanons post? this is that theory. click read more if you feel like reading my intense brainrot

ok, if you clicked read more, you understand what you're getting into, so strap in folks this is gonna be a long one.

first and foremost, their physical similarities, aka, what spawned this in the first place.

put the two side by side and you can probably already see what i'm talking about.

first one i'm going to talk about is head shape, especially the shape of the face

as i've outlined in the above image, both funny bone and hot dog have similarly pronounced brow lines, and both have a pug-like smushed in snout style, as well as very similarly proportioned eyes compared to the rest of the face. they even have similar arrangements of teeth, the only difference is funny bone having an extra two on the bottom jaw.

next up, the legs/torso.

as i have once again circled, the way their legs are shaped/situated are eerily similar. same paw shape, same number of toes, same claw style, same overall leg shape, the only reason hot dog looks any different is only one of the two has any meat on their bones, pun definitely intended. another of many similarities that cannot be ignored.

i used a different hot dog image for this one since the poses are more similar, to more easily outline their once again almost identical body shapes. of course funny bone being a skeleton does effect things a bit, but it's still clear that their bodies are extremely similar.

now onto the things that could poke holes in this theory, and my answers to them.

first up, funny bone's horns.

while yes, funny bone has rather large horns, and hot dog does not, hot dog is explicitly stated to be a fire dog pup in his biography, and many more times referred to as a puppy. since, at least to my knowledge, hot dog is the only fire dog we see, who's to say two of those spikes on his head don't grow into horns on older individuals?

there's even a set of spikes on his head in almost the same spot as funny bone's horns, even more evidence to my theory.

another major point, their tails.

funny bone's is a fair bit longer, and has a rather large crystal at the tip, while hot dog's is very much not.

as we can see, hot dog's tail is short and fluffy, a bit like a tail one would find on a young husky or pomeranian. who's to say under that fluff, there isn't a little crystal similar to that on funny bone's? and like that of a husky, the tail would likely grow longer and fluffier later in life, accommodating a larger crystal.

next up, psychological similarities. yes i am going this deep. it is 1:44 AM as of typing this and i have 0 remorse.

while Funny bone gets very little in the way of characterization, we can draw quite a bit from what little there is.

first up, they both have a explicitly mentioned tendency to bury things.

"Hot Dog was brought back to Eon's Citadel where he became a Skylander - and then he proceeded to bury Eon's staff."

"and true to his nature, he likes to bury things, especially imps."

" Funny Bone was in the middle of burying his neighbors’ birthday cake on a breezeless day when the invaders arrived."

the three above quotes come from official statements in Skylanders Universe: The Complete Collection and Skylanders Universe: Book of Elements - Fire and Water

their in-game lines also show several parallels.

Funny bone:

"Beware of dog!"

Hot dog:

"Fear of dog!"

Funny bone:

"All bark and all bite!"

Hot dog:

"My burn is worse than my bite!"

Funny bone:

"Fantastic hat! Ha ha, can i get a collar to match?"

Hot dog:

"Ooh hey, this matches my collar!"

Funny bone:

"Top dog!"

Hot dog:

"Ooh! Top dog!"

in conclusion, funny bone and hot dog share enough parallels, both in biology and behavior, that i have come to believe that before Funny bone became undead, he was a fire dog like hot dog, probably either adult or late adolescent at the time of death.

either that or i am reading way too far into this, which is also a distinct possibility, though in my personal opinion, there are far too many similarities for this to be mere coincidence, especially considering funny bone debuted in Trap team, which was released two years after hot dog's first debut in skylanders giants. ample time to plan these sorts of details into funny bone's design and mannerisms.

[veneritia]

when comes the dawn monthly update { 9.30.23 }

And here's to the revival of WCTD and the first ever WCTD monthly post! But first things first, let's get some basics out of the way

↳ WHAT IS WCTD?

FENICE VI AETIER, a portent of ill omens and the estranged daughter of the Vasilier, ignites a dangerous succession game between her and her half-siblings, where losing means death and winning means an empire. But to compete in this game requires the acknowledgement of the Vasilier himself, one that he isn't willing to give Fenice unless she gives him something in return: the head of the deposed king of Hesperia.

When Comes the Dawn is a new adult fantasy court intrigue novel featuring succession battles, an aro/ace lead, shifting alliances, cut-throat relatives, and a family that's torn themselves apart in the name of ambition for eons. You can find the wip intro here or follow the wip's main tag (#series.wctd)

↳ WHAT IS WCTD MONTHLY?

I've had this wip for a long time but have never made much significant progress before shoving it to the side because of work, school, life, or just being burnt out. WCTD Monthly is my way to try and motivate myself by giving myself a space to talk about all of the different work I've done on this wip. (And to pressure me into actually working on it so I have something to talk about.) You can follow along with my updates with the #wctd-monthy tag

↳ NOW, ONTO THE SHOW

outline → the first 9 chapters have been outlined. outline document is currently at 4k+ words. The main plot beats for Act 1 and Act 2 have been outlined

notion → I rebuild and organized my wip notion, as well as all of the character pages

series → because of the different character arcs and plot beats that I wanted to explore, I decided to officially make WCTD a duology as opposed to a standalone like originally planned. No official title for book two as of yet, though Crowning of the Sun is a tentative one.

worldbuiling → realized that the majority of book 1 takes place in the now subjugated kingdom of Hesperia as opposed to Aetier, where I focused the majority of my worldbuilding. This means that I'm starting to worldbuilding from...almost the ground up. It helps that I'm mostly focused on the province of Isidore.

characters → the vi Aetier family has been expanded! Fenice and Charles now have 3 other half-siblings (Euphemia, Konstantine, and Basil) as well as their siblings' respective mothers. I've added 9 noble houses to form the unofficial oligarchy of influence in Isidore, and I've given Leda a rival-turned-girlfriend-turned-ex to help flesh out her character.

extraneous content → attempted to make the vi Aetier family tree starting from the beginning of the vi Drochona dynasty (I'll probably clean it up and post it separately at a later date). I also added another god to the pantheon (Heleia, goddess of the wild nature, the hunt, liberation, and childhood), and finally re-introduced wctd (linked above)

events → I participated in WTW's character event week! You can find all posts here: protagonist / tropes / representation / antagonists / relationships / traits / wildcard

↳ WHAT'S NEXT?

I'll be using preptober to outline as much as I can for nano! My goal is to finish outlining act 1 and my stretch goal is to reach half-way to act 2

posting 1 or 2 character intros or worldbuilding posts

Find more WCTD content with the series tag #series.wctd and keep an eye out for monthly progress updates with #wctd-monthly

↳ Taglist under the cut (ask to be +/-):

GENERAL → @charlesjosephwrites | @bearunicorn154 I @seasteading| @writting-in-blood | @trapped-inadystopianovel | @inky-duchess | @thats-my-type-writer | @serpentarii | @myhusbandsasemni | @aphaimaniis | @writinglyra | @belialwrites | @amoranza | @pseudepigraphic | @mel-writes-with-her-dragons | @uppoffringar | @fantasydisease | @sourrcandy

WCTD → @zmlorenz | @andiwriteunderthemoon | @ryns-ramblings | @marchdove | @cielnocturnes | @wren-is-writing | @lord-fallen | @tragicbackstoryenjoyer | @bloomingwrites | @kaatiba | @writerjodie | @worldbuildng

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase - Season 1 Episode 1 "Lost my Marbles" (part 1) - How It All Started

Hello, all. I want to talk about a particular episode of Cyberchase today. I don't know if I will put together discussion posts like this for every episode, but I feel like I need to put one together about this one. This was the first proper episode for Cyberchase after the pilot episode. Sure, we had the three-part prequel web comics and other promotional material. However, I bet most people who saw this episode saw it before they saw the webcomic or other promotions.

I didn't see this when it first premiered, but I did see the re-runs. That was long before I knew about the web comics. So, where do we begin?

The Hacker: Ahahahahaha!

The Hacker: At last! The moment I've been waiting for! Haha. It's absolutely perfect.

Yeah, The Hacker gets the first line of the entire series. As if he was going to let anyone else have that.

Imagine you'd never heard of Cyberchase before. Imagine this was the first episode you'd ever seen. We have this clearly villainous character flying his ship through a strange world. And now he's laughing with evil intent while remotely spying on some children at a library.

Buzz: Yeah, you're right, Boss. Cyberspace is simply enchanting.

And then the more competent (?) of the two Duncebuckets gets the second line. Delete is noticeably silent in his introduction, and he looks annoyed that Buzz is interrupting The Hacker's speech. I feel like this dynamic flipped later in the show. Delete became more prone to outbursts, and Buzz did more to tug him back in line.

The Hacker: Those Earth kids are the key to my plan.

Buzz: Oh yeah, you mean your master plan for all-out domination of Cyberspace that will allow you to spread chaos and evil from site to site?

The Hacker: Of course that plan, you robotic duncebucket!

Buzz: I thought the only way to take over Cyberspace was to get rid of that Cyberbrain that runs it, Motherboard?

The Hacker: And so we shall.

So, Buzz is a good, if somewhat clunky, vehicle for exposition. He explains The Hacker's ultimate goal, as well as the big step that he is about to take to achieve that goal. He also refers to Motherboard as a Cyber-brain. It is possible that that was some sort of slur, but I don't think Buzz is that kind of bad guy. It's largely accepted by the community that Motherboard's species is called Cyber-brain. That raises the question as to whether there are more of her out there.

During this exchange, the scene cuts to the kids on Hacker's big board. They don't have dialogue yet, but this is the very first interaction among them.

Yeah, they were on The Hacker's screen earlier, but Matt and Jackie were frozen in the place, and Inez did some sort of idle animation. However, this shot, Matt and Jackie are clearly working together to figure out how the library map screen works. Matt is poking at the screen. Then, he looks in Jackie's direction. Jackie smiles ad gestures with her hand. Matt smiles back. Calm down, shippers. They just met. Oh, and Inez is standing there with her arms folded. Her expression is neutral. She may be annoyed at how long tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum are taking to figure out how the map works. She did have a long bike ride over here, and it was stated upon her arrival that the library was closing soon. I'm not sure how much work any of them expected to get done today.

Now, we enter Control Central and see Motherboard for the first time. Digit and Dr. Marbles are working on her.

Dr. Marbles: Upgrade nearly complete, Motherboard. Stand by for reboot.

Motherboard: Hurry, Dr. Marbles. My firewall's been down long enough. It's not safe.

Digit: Not safe! C'mon! What could possibly happen?

He just had to say that, didn't he.

Motherboard: Hacker alert! Hacker alert!

Digit: Hacker's Back?!

Dr. Marbles: Impossible! We drained his power grid and exiled him eons ago.

Inez: Excuse me? You two aren't the only ones who require access to this map.

Matt: Hang on, I'm just trying to figure out how to use it, okay?

Yeah, Inez is already done with their shit, and they haven't even been properly introduced.

Jackie: Alright, you're here, see? So, just find where you want to go and touch that spot.

I love that Jackie's first words in the episode were to try to calm down Matt and Inez. Jackie also just turned key #1 of 3.

Matt: Okay. Mythology... Mythology...cool!

And so, Matt turns key #2 of 3. We can see that the map drew a line between the Lobby and the Mythology room. I'm not sure how it would have helped with navigation though, as it seems to be a straight line or a simple curve. We also don't see any step-by-step directions.

Inez: But I need to go to the research room!

I love how Inez lunges for the map to tap the still-glowing Lobby button again. Matt and Jackie make a point of stepping backwards out of her way.

And so, Inez gets her useless directional line to the research room. She also turns key #3 of 3.

Inez: *gasp*

Matt: Hey, what's up with that?

Jackie: It looks like the icons are going to crash into each other, right...

Matt, Jackie, and Inez: Here!

Dr. Marbles: Hacker has found a way to breach the system!

Motherboard: Quickly, reload my firewall!

The Hacker: Behold, my half-baked henchmen. My concoction of computerized chaos is about to... attack!

Motherboard: Hacker has launched a virus. It's coming this way.

Digit: Hurry Doc! Hurry! Close her up!

Dr. Marbles: Firewall loading! 45! 50!

Motherboard: It's too late... the virus has invaded my circuits. It's shutting me down.

Dr. Marbles: Firewall up! No further damage anticipated.

Digit: She's in bad shape, huh, Doc?

Dr. Marbles: Her Encryptor Chip has been destroyed! I can't retrieve it! I've got to locate and install a new one.

Dr. Marbles's quest goes poorly, as Hacker immediately captures him.

So, let's pause for a moment and process what just happened here. The Hacker, who was apparently exiled eons ago, has returned. We know from the official prequel web comic, "How It All Started", that The Hacker attacked Valussa after he was banished, but before he infected Motherboard with the virus. That was a major event, as it led to Digit betraying The Hacker for the second time, The Hacker imprisoning Digit, and Digit escaping and defecting to Motherboard.

Assuming Digit gave Dr. Marble and Motherboard the full story of The Hacker's attack on Valussa, they had to know that The Hacker was still alive and capable of causing chaos on Cybersites in spite of his downgraded power supply. So, I don't know why Dr. Marbles is in such disbelief that The Hacker is back.

It's not clear what happened in the time period between the events of the comic "How it All Started Episode 2", where The Hacker attacked Valussa, and "Lost my Marbles". This gets murkier if we bring in The Flying Parallinis' storyline, since The Hacker was imprisoned on Mount Way-Up-There without Digit.

Maybe I was wrong in my original assessment of the Parallini's storyline. Maybe The Hacker's imprisonment on Mount Way-Up-There wasn't really a retcon. Maybe Motherboard was content to just stuff him in a pod and launch him to The Northern Frontier over the theft of The Encryptor Chip from "How It All Started Episode 1". But then, after he terrorized Valussa and Digit defected, perhaps Motherboard saw fit to put The Hacker on Mount Way-Up-There as an additional punishment. If so, there was apparently nothing there to alert Motherboard if he left the mountain. Now that I think of it, that arrangement might clear up the inconsistencies in Buzz and Delete's origin stories. We know The Hacker built them with parts from Cybersite Botopolis, but they also talk about a time when they worked in a cyber cheese factory unassociated with The Hacker. If we take Mount-Way-Up-There as a separate punishment, then perhaps Buzz and Delete lost their jobs when The Hacker went up the mountain. Then, when he came back down, he pulled them back in.

I'm not going to touch "Hacker Hugs a Tree", since that was 100% a retcon of How It All Started.

I don't think The Hacker attacked any other Cybersites between the Valussa event and the attack on Motherboard. I think he laid low while cooking up the virus. I suspect that sometime between The Hacker terrorizing Valussa and "Lost My Marbles", Motherboard, Dr. Marbles, and Digit got complacent. They figured he was just sulking in The Northern Frontier.

In addition to writing the code for the virus, The Hacker must have rigged that library map to open a breach in Motherboard's defenses. Even with her firewall down for maintenance, he couldn't launch the virus, or he would have done it. We also know that raising the firewall was able to prevent the virus from causing further damage after the initial infection. So, The Hacker needed her firewall down, and he needed the breach opened at the same time in order to pull this off.

But how did the breach work? I feel like I could make an entire separate post theorizing about that, and I probably will. I won't bog down this post with it though.

So, back in the real world...

Inez: You think we broke it?

Matt: I don't know.

Jackie: There must be some way to reboot this thing!

Motherboard: I am Motherboard.

Jackie: Uh oh.

Matt: Mother-who?

Jackie: We're in for it now! She's probably FBI!

Motherboard: I am protector of all Cyberspace.

Inez: Right, and I'm Xena, Warrior Princess.

Motherboard: When the three of you touched that map, a breach in Cyberspace allowed a nasty computer virus to reach me.

Motherboard already know their names, possibly through spying on them in the library. She pulls them into Cyberspace. This is the beginning of the next 20 years of their lives spent working to keep Cyberspace safe from The Hacker.

The old pitch documents claim that Motherboard "conducted an elaborate computer search of every being in every galaxy for the right combination of bravery, moxie and math skill", and these three actual children were the best for the job. That comes with the caveat that Motherboard had just suffered brain damage from a virus first, of course. There is a popular fan theory that she pulled them in to make amends for accidentally opening the breach.

They meet Digit.

Digit: Without Motherboard, everything and everyone in Cyberspace is doomed!

Jackie: You guys, we can't let that happen. We can't just stand by and let this Hacker guy destroy Cyberspace. We have to help! We just have to!

I love that Jackie is the first one to insist that all three of them band together to save Cyberspace. She doesn't know her new teammates, Motherboard, or the scope of the mission, but she's ready to ride or die.

Inez: Excuse me, I don't even know you guys. This is a major decision! I need time to think about it.

I love that Inez is being the rational one here, arguably more rational than Motherboard.

Matt: There isn't time to think about! We've got to act now! I'm in!

I love that, the moment Inez mentions taking time to think about it (i.e. waiting), Matt throws his hat into the ring with Jackie.

They don't get cyber-suits or virtual avatars, but they get, Sqwak Pads, funky little handheld computers for problem-solving and communication.

I'm nearing the limit for these posts, so I'll stop here. I'll make a part 2 for the rest of the episode, as there are some important scenes to high-light. I probably won't go scne-by-scene, since that will take forever. However, the scenes that I covered in this part were all very important, since they set up the premise for the show and introduce our characters.

[aita-blorbos]

( canon character, but with my own personal take on said character's lore!! :D )

AITA for getting upset over a book and ending a hang out session early?

Hello. I am still rather new to social media, but one of my roommates has encouraged me to take this matter here so I may get unbiased opinions on it. For the record, I am genderless and present as such, so refer to me however you'd like. I am also technically thousands of years old, but physically I am only in my 40's or so.

Also, I have the feeling this post will be long, so my sincerest apologies in advance for that, but I believe the exposition is important for context.

This starts long, long ago. I was a knight back in my heyday, and a highly revered one at that. The people I was sworn to protect respected me greatly. I was involved in numerous battles, of which I prevailed in all of them. Of course, these fights were more for show than true battles.

And then, a horrible war broke out. Back then, the worlds of technology and magic were not as intertwined as they seem to be nowadays. A few rouge scientists stole trade secrets from the magicians, causing said war. I was firmly on the magicians' side, as they were my people. I simply couldn't abandon them in a time of need.

I fought countless battles, my men and I claiming victory in each one. I was regarded as a hero by the magicians.

Or, so I thought. One day, during yet another fight, I was sealed away in a crystal by some of my comrades. Looking back, I'm sure they were traitors.

I was stuck in that crystal for eons. The war was never resolved, from what I can gather. Most participants were simply... gone. As if they had never existed. The only time I was let out of the crystal, I was made to battle once more, this time with a knight of the current generation, MK. (Male, no idea how old he is. Around my physical age, I'd say? A little younger?)

MK won the battle, and I found myself in the vast darkness of space. Thankfully, I was rescued by one of my current roommates, M.(much like I, they have no preference in how they are referred to. 19 and a half. they made me specify.) M assisted me in getting to their home planet to heal, thank the stars, and I've since then made the planet my personal home.

Fast forward to now. I've made a few friends. M, as previously mentioned, is one of them, as well as a witch, G.(Non-binary, 32.) Both have since become my roommates. It's a long story. I've also properly made amends with MK. While we are not friends, we do occasionally hang out with one another.

One of these hang out sessions was at a local library. MK and I are both fans of literature, and we often accompany one another when we take trips to the library. That day's book selection from MK included a history book, specifically pertaining to stories about my time. I was admittedly a bit confused, as I was sitting right there, but I didn't see an issue with it as MK isn't one for conversation, at least with me.

Eventually, I let my curiosity get the better of me, and asked MK if I could see the book for a bit. He obliged, and I got to reading. And let me tell you, those stories made me out to be some kind of brute. The "greatest warrior in the galaxy" part was true, yes, but the rest of it was a complete fabrication! They made me sound like some kind of cold-blooded killer or something! It made it look as if the war had been one-sided. It was annoying, to put it lightly.

When I vented about this to MK, he stated that sometimes, history is simply wrong, and it is up to us to correct it. Of course, I agree with the sentiment, but this frustrated me more, so I left early. When I later brought it up to M and G, they had the same mindset.

I have since apologized to MK for my behavior during our day out. He has accepted my apology, but I still feel a bit bad for getting upset with him for something that is not even his fault.

So, am I the asshole here?

[sparklinpixiedust]

Map

Okay @cipheress-to-k-pop , this was going to be reply to your recent ben 10 post ( link to it ) but it was getting long so i made it into a post of it's own, hope you don't mind.



Yeah I'm pretty sure Aggregor was just following ben and the gang around, I really doubt he knew where the pieces were.

I guess since he knew the map existed he would've found out where the pieces were eventually in the long run, but keeping in mind the timeline of the show, I'm gonna go with he just followed Ben.

In fact they actually got the pieces for him. They always did the hard work and aggregor would always sweep in last minute and grab up the piece.

The thing with Paradox making the map in the first place , now I'm just headcanoning here, I think he made the map in case he ever forgot about it or if there was ever a desperate need for it and he for some reason was not around to guide people.

Like Paradox has mentioned there are things he cannot do and places he cannot go. Going to the forge of creation is a big no no for him, he's literally not allowed even though he technically can.

And I don't think he's allowed to send people in there either.

We know there are tons of villains out there , time travelling villains like Eon, crazies like aggregor, and who knows who else in the future of ben 10 popping up.

Since Paradox has seen the future play out more or less, I think he came to an understanding with the celestasapiens about having someone come there in case if there was a universe ending emergency and someone needed help, hence having a little scavenger hunt with obstacles.

Because tbh i don't think Ben isn't the end of it. I'm pretty sure there'll always be good vs evil even long after Ben has passed with worse bad guys popping up every time and paradox has likely seen it all.

But the condition was someone could come in if they were worthy i.e were able to find a map to the place.

Maybe that's why the preplexahedron opened up with the 3 pieces, it was likely designed to open with someone with 3 pieces because only a "worthy" person would've been able to get the 3 pieces in the first place and under the assumption that someone desperately needed the map to save the universe. But the booby traps were still set up as a fail safe in case it was some bad guy.

Paradox only guided the trio, he didn't actually go to those places himself or tell them how to get the pieces, because I guess he's not allowed to. In the end he did end up taking the trio to the entrance of the forge and he could get way with it because the trio did actually manage to get the pieces all 4 times, it just happened aggregor stole those pieces from them later on. So according to the rules set, they were allowed in.

As far as why azmuth knows, i think azmuth is the one who made the map. He made the sword and the omnitrix so I guess thats why paradox chose him to make the map for him as well. We know there's other smarts alien out there, but we haven't seen anyone as driven to make things like azmuth. I don't think Paradox literally sat around and made the map with his own bare hands, he had the idea of it and then chose azmuth to execute it.

For the Dominus librium, I think the whole situation was a bit tense and thats why they didnt think of that, plus after that episode i dont think the trio even knew that thing even existed anymore. As far as they knew it was destroyed. It was only when Gwen went to Micheal in desperation did he reveal he actually managed to save a little piece.

[lukecastellanshandholder]

I happened to think of that one Read Riordan article where they said that Hermes really did "love and care for Luke" and now I'm upset, so let's talk about that.

How did that ever get greenlit to be posted on a website that people look to for additional canon content? When through out all of the main series there are so many examples that show that Hermes didn't really genuinely love and care for him.

The first example is at the very beginning of Luke's life. Luke was about a year old when May tried to become the new Oracle and was instead driven insane by the curse of Delphi. It was when May had the first vision of what would happen to Luke, what his fate was. Now up until that moment, it's said that May, Hermes and, Luke lived together as a family for the most part. This could've been because Hermes loved May much like Poseidon loved Sally and Hades loved Maria. However, given what he does later, I doubt that. I have the feeling that Hermes could sense something different about Luke. He could've been able to tell that Luke would grow to be a strong demigod, a perfect Hero to fight for him.

Then he found out about Luke's fate and just... Left. Stopped coming around as often and then not coming back at all. After he learned that there was no way to cure May of her madness, he just gave up to wallow in self pity. Leaving Luke with someone who was mentally unstable.

That's not what you do when you genuinely love and care about someone.

He left Luke alone to take care of his mother until it was too dangerous for him. Until he had to run away out of fear of his mother's episodes.

Even after everything Luke still prayed to Hermes, pleading for help or guidance. Anything. But he got nothing in return. Then after years and only meeting his son once, Hermes sends Luke on a quest. A quest that was just a fools errand and that had already been done before. A quest that really wasn't necessary in the slightest.

And that's supposed to be Hermes genuinely caring for him? He sent Luke on a dangerous quest with no significance, just to show that Luke is his "pride and joy?" He would've showed that he cared more if he would've just left Luke alone and let him grow up peacefully. There was no need to unnecessarily risk his "beloved" son's life over a stupid apple.

Unless, Hermes sent Luke on that quest to try and keep him under his thumb, or to maybe get Luke killed. He knew the prophecy. He knew Luke's fate. It really wouldn't be too far fetched to believe Hermes wanted to stop it by any means necessary, even if it meant letting his son die.

That's not what someone does to their "pride and joy".

Then there is later in the books, mainly when Hermes would talk to Percy and manipulate talk Percy into helping and trusting him.

One conversation that strikes me is the first one that Hermes has with Percy in SoM. You know, the one where Hermes literally says, " My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it."

Now that's really funny coming from the guy who literally abandoned and gave up on May and Luke. His family. It's obvious upon reading the rest of the books, that Hermes didn't mean what he said. It was just a tactic to appeal to Percy's loyalty and sense of family. And it works. He tricks Percy into believing that Hermes still really cares about Luke because he loves him. When in reality, he only wants Percy to stop him because Luke has become inconvenient for him. For his reputation that he cares so much about. I mean hell, they even make it a point to drive home the fact that Hermes is very vain and cares an annoyingly large amount about his image. It might be used as a comedic tactic, but it really is showing of Hermes' true disposition and what he cares about most.

Then we come to the very end, the last book of the series. There is a part in there where Percy goes off on Hermes, accusing him of never caring about Luke. Asking why, if Hermes cared about Luke so much, then why did he abandon him instead of being there for him?

And Hermes' response is to get mad at Percy. This is also all because Hermes gets mad at Annabeth for not running away with Luke and taking him away from this fate. Hermes is so obviously trying to blame others for what he did, for his mistakes, instead of possibly ruining his image. Trying to make others feel guilty, when the only one that should have any true guilt about all of this, is Hermes. This is a manipulation tactic if I've ever seen one.

And back to Percy's point, if Hermes really cared and didn't abandon Luke? They wouldn't have been in this situation. And it's absolutely true.

Nothing that Hermes does throughout the series shows or even hints that Hermes may genuinely love and care for Luke. It shows that he only cared about what Luke could've accomplished, and the things Luke could've done to serve Hermes and better his image. And that is not genuine and unconditional love. Not in the slightest.

But even with all of that evidence? Yeah, "Hermes really genuinely loved and cared for Luke".

Give me a break 🙄

[queen0fm0nsterz]

You make a lot of bodacious and radalicious art and takes on the canon Itty Bitty Nightmares, but one thing I see brought up ( Although I haven't scoured your entire archives tbh ) is the "Eyes". That would be the Flesh Walls / Signal Tower? What is your take on that fine ensemble? Their purpose? Motivation, if any at all? Is it even sapient?

First of all thank you, this is the first time EVER my art is referred to as "bodacious and radalicious". I had to look up what it meant and I'll say I'm very flattered.

The Eye I keep referring to encapsulates a whole variety of... elements in the LN world of which the Signal Tower and the Maw are also part. It takes physical form with the Flesh, but it's everywhere and anywhere. It's in decorations, paintings, on the walls and occasionally it can even be found arranged in natural elements (I have never forgotten the stone eye in cave at the end of VLN).

The way it keeps being presented, I would almost suggest it's considered to be a deity. The part of it that resides in the Signal Tower, which is the Flesh, is one I oftenly refer to as "Them" in my works. My personal interpretation of it is that it's a collective consciousness, where every person absorbed by it through the TVs becomes part of the hive, whose only purpose is to keep itself alive and growing by leeching off the world and its people.

(I have a theory that the other "spiritual" half of the Flesh resides in the Maw, but I will elaborate on this more on the Ladies powerpoint... or if I'm asked I suppose)

However, when it comes to what it actually is... hard to say. Since I've seen a few people refer to the Flesh as a "lovecraftian horror" looking monster, I got interested in seeing how true the statement could ring, and what do you know! There is a monster that could potentially be considered akin to the Flesh.

This is called a "shoggoth".

It a sentient amalgamation of flesh that drags itself around and there are multiple of them; they were originated as mindless creatures meant to server the Elder Things (which are another class of sentient beings not to be confused with the Old Ones, of which Chtulu is part), but during the eons they developed a conciousness and decided that they weren't going to be slaves any longer. They rebelled against their creators and started establishing societies of their own, becoming so powerful that even the Old Ones seek allyships with them.

The thing that caught my attention is why they were used as slaves. Apparently they have the ability of morphing into any building and object, which the Elder Things used to their advantage when building their own cities.

In the Lovecraft universe, these beings are known to live in remote parts of Earth, such as Antartica or deep in the sea (MHHHH), but they also have their own cities scattered around the universe which they built modeled after the ones they were originally forced to build by the Elder Things. To kill its victims, it envelopes them in their flesh and tears off their heads.

Now, the shoggoth has quite a few differences from the Flesh, mostly in appearance - the shoggoth are given mouths and occasionally even tentacles in a few depictions - but this could be a very good starting point to begin to wrap our heads around what the Flesh could be, and what it's purpose is.

Also, before ending this post, one final thing I'd like to point out: the Signal Tower is not what manipulates the Transmission, Mono is. It's the reason why it needs Mono to be its host; it was standing just fine when Six was inside of it, but Six has no control over the Transmission, so ultimately she would have been useless to their growth.

And the fact that it purposely helps Mono reach Six so that he may be betrayed later on leads me to believe that it is sapient and knows exactly what it needs for its twisted cycle to continue.

Thank you for your ask!

[yolowritter]

A perspective on Gideon Ofnir part 3

Alright! Last post of this saga, continuing off this ramble about Gideon. This time, I want to explore more about what happens at the Endgame, so obviously spoilers for that. Let's get started with a bit of setupt!

So, Gideon remains as I previously stated until we finally defeat Morgott, at which point several things change at the Rountable. If we visit Enia the Finger Reader, she'll inform us that the Two Fingers are disturbed by this turn of events (the Tarnished being barred from the Erdtree by Radagon's wall of thorns). It's extremely likely that this is Radagon's going (and maybe by extension the Greater Will's) since it's his symbol we see amidst the barbs. The Fingers then decide to reach out to the Greater Will...only to never get an answer. Enia says that "thousands of moons might pass" and asks the Tarnished "oh, how will you manage the wait?". If we venture to Gideon's office after this, we see him singing a different tune towards them as well. He urges us to go to the Mountaintops of the Giants, against the wishes of the Fingers, when before he insisted that any Tarnished was forbidden from entering the Capital until two Great Runes had been collected.

Gideon even says that "the Two Fingers lost their purpose a long time ago" in a later conversation, but before we defeat Maliketh. The point is that he finally sees them for what they are, envoys without a master that have been reciting off a script for eons upon eons. Gideon then urges us to reach the Flame of Ruin, believing that to be in accordance with Marika's wishes. Perhaps he suspects that she isn't the one who placed the barrier at the Erdtree, since it's the Queen who gave all Tarnished the call to return to the Lands Between in the first place. So...why would she block the way? I'm sure he's picked up on it, and Gideon even has some extra dialogue if we return after defeating the Fire Giant.

He's finally made up his mind on leaving the now burning Rountable Hold, but only after he's collected as much knowledge as there is to be gathered from his library. Even now, at the penultimate area of Elden Ring's conclusion, Gideon acts consistantly with how his character has been portrayed throughout the game. So that begs the question, why does he attack us in the Ashen Capital, seemingly betraying his own ideals?

Well...I think it might be Radagon's fault. Many others have already said this, but I feel the need to reiterate what's been said in defense of Gideon. Now, the matter of Marika and Radagon's relationship to the Greater Will is a completely different topic that I won't cover here, but it's quite obvious that Marika rebelled against the Greater Will while Radagon (willingly or unwillingly) continues to hold onto the dying Golden Order. And with Gideon always following the Eternal Queen's will, as well as never indicating he knows that they are one and the same...it would be easy for him to be misled, to fall prey to the very faults that Tarnished before him did, and fail in his own journey.

It's ironic, that Gideon has spent so much of his life standing back and watching countless Tarnished always fail at the very last step...only for him to finally undertake his own journey...and do the very same thing. What I believe happened is that Radagon came to Gideon as Marika, and since he didn't know they are the same person, Gideon just assumed he was getting direct orders from the Queen. Radagon must have tricked Gideon, or re-contextualized Marika's original plans to make it sound like this prolonged dying gasp of the Order was the plan...when we know otherwise. Radagon is heavily connected to the themes of stagnation and absolute beliefs, so it's no wonder he would want to keep the world as is regardless of the ruined state the Lands Between exist in. It's no wonder that Gideon's potential arguments would never have swayed him, because absolute belief is just that. Unchanging.

And so, while Gideon was passing through the Erdtree Sancuary, potentially about to go challenge Godfrey...he recieves a direct message from "Queen Marika". The first directive they've recieved aside from the drivel spoken by the Two Fingers. It re-ignites Gideon's hope, that he and the Tarnished have done it! That they're so very close to the Elden Ring, to finally restoring these fractured lands...but he's told to do the opposite. Direct, clear orders from "Marika" say to prevent us from going near the Erdtree, that this age must last unto eternity. We all know what happens next. Gideon grabs a hold of his staff and seal...and the rest is history. Even more ironically, this too is hopeless. It's very possible that Gideon has lost the Guidance of Grace for going against the Two Fingers earlier on, because he doesn't come back. No matter how many times he kills the Tarnished, we will inevitably return to challenge him again.

Also, remember what Gideon does when he defeats us. He doesn't gloat or brag that he's the better fighter, instead he congratulates us. "My fellow, you've fought well, until now". I think it could be a way to thank us for co-operating, or an acknowledgement of everything we've been through on our journey (sometimes on his behalf). Gideon continues to fight, never tires and stands guard in the Sanctuary, because those are his orders. Because he believes this to be Queen Marika's will, and cannot go against her. And when we finally defeat him? Gideon at last lets his hopes die, gives into despair and says that it's all pointless. No man can kill a God. Not even us, whose progress he has been watching with a keen eye for such a long time. Actually, I think this is where Gideon loses Grace. By giving up the mission, by foregoing his ambitious spirit that drives him and guided him for so many years...the fleeting specks of gold leave his eyes, and Gideon Ofnir dies a hopeless, broken old man who would only have needed to choose his battles and see his dream of restoring Order finally come true. This unrelenting conviction that helped him hang on until we finally arrive...is the very same reason he falls prey to Radagon's lie. Ironic, isn't it? That if only Gideon had held firmly to his faith in us instead of an absent God, we could have challenged Godfrey, Radagon and the Elden Beast together, finally seeing his dream come true?

Well, this is my take on Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing. I'd love to chat more about him, so feel free to drop asks or comments to let me know what you all think. It'll be a while before I post about Elden Ring, but until then, Stay Tarnished everyone!

[paris-geller-was-straightwashed]

A Ramble about St. Patrick's Day, Irish identity/diaspora & colonization

Dia duit! Cal is ainm dom. Labhraim Bearla ach táim ag foghlaim Gaeilge. Sláinte!

hope that was legible (and that I didn't just embarrass myself in front of fluent Irish speakers..). it being st. patrick's day, I was having some thoughts, and I've been trying to figure out what I want to say.

after once thinking st.pat's was nothing more then a throwaway holiday for drinking, now, after delving into my family genealogy and therefore into irish history/identity, I'm one of the people who I'm sure are pissed that a holiday meant to celebrate irish identity has been dwindled into nothing but stockphotos of leprechauns and drinking till you black out.

one could argue about how heavy drinking has been weaponized as an anti-irish sentiment for years, but I digress. instead, I would encourage anyone listening to learn a bit more about irish history beyond the stereotypes, and especially if you have irish roots yourself! irish immigrants carried this holiday and their irishness across waters, but overtime, for some that identity and cultural tie has been thinned.

identity is huge in a person's life, and for me, I've always been curious as to where I come from. I've been thinking a lot lately, about how there's this unspoken gap within the diaspora of north american white people (this really interesting post sparked it) when it comes to cultural identity. the majority of us would state first that we are canadian/american, but for some, unless you are indigenous, you have no other ties. I've always wanted to feel that - to know where my roots are, to know that my ancestors once had a language they taught their children, a shared dish, a way of dance. something that belongs to you. it's key to know where you come from, and some people on that that post were saying they come from nowhere - that is not true! my friend, you come from somewhere! your ancestors had traditions and dishes and loving terms of endearment in their own tongue, that they passed down for generations and maybe hoped, it would reach you. you have roots, friend; ancient ties came before you, and they're ready to be picked back up if you wish.

my irish roots come from my father's father's grandmother. she carried the name phelan - o’faolain, which loosely means wolf. the name carries all the way back to the ancient names of ireland, to the decies, before the normans arrived. before we even dated the year with four digits. once from the waterford area, later many moved up to kilkenny - the very place my irish ancestors lived before they immigrated in the 1800's. anyone who's looked into irish history, knows it's both beautiful and tortured. there's a lot of suffering from colonization and other tragedies that's still felt today, but there's more to learn then that. after always assuming I was bad at languages, I'm now four months into irish lessons and am learning lots! and as of last week, have ordered my own bodhram, or irish drum, with hope I can learn to play it (it's got this sick ass celtic dragon on it too). I can play it, knowing people with my cultural ties have long enjoyed tapping their toes to it's jigs, and I can (clunkily) speak the tongue, knowing it carried my ancestors for eons.

this is a great time, to reignite roots if you wish. and a great time, to know that the irish are more then the horror handed to them or the lucky charms mascot in a pot of gold.

HOWEVER,

I would feel it wrong without noting what learning about irish history has given me - and that's a deeper understanding of colonization. it would be a disservice, to celebrate my ancestors and the people who survived it, while an active genocide is going on in gaza right now.

while the minute details sometimes may be different, what I can see now, is that regardless, colonization is the same anywhere you look. the people in gaza are starving now just as the irish did over a hundred years ago - by their oppressors danging the aid they need out of reach. entire family lines have been wiped out in gaza, and right now, remnants of bones of whole irish families taken by starvation lay deep in the ground. reports of gazans left to eat nothing but animal feed, the same starvation that drove irish families to scavenge for seaweed by the shore. this isn't even to mention the troubles and irish fighters gunned down by (british) forces similar to palestinians being gunned for daring to fight for their independence; or northern ireland, irish land stolen by the british just as palestine was stolen by israel. while not wanting to center western views, there's a reason you see irish flags at palestinian protests. the leftovers of colonization don't magically disappear and a people simply don't forget.

and let me say right now - my ancestors and their people didn't survive those horrors just to allow it to happen to another. I and many others in the diaspora are here bc by chance, our ancestors survived; gazans should not be having to put their lives at the same gambling table. 31,000 deaths as last checked, and many families are already lost - this needs to stop now.

you can donate to the PCRF (aid for children) and UNRWA, who've been delivering aid on the ground. there's also e-sims you can buy to help gazans connect to their loved ones and get help. and if you're truly broke and/or simply cannot, there's daily clicks to generate aid.

Happy St. Paddy's and Phalaistín saor in aisce!