#and of course has a bunch of hobbies that he dabbles in. but hes not out here with encyclopaedic knowledge

[neurotypical-sonic]

also I'm just not fond of the whole "smart/nerdy character is an expert at all smart/nerdy things" trope. tails I'm so sorry for what the fandom has done to you

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Crafting cottagecore themed furniture 

Intelligence means nothing if you lack kindness and compassion. I once read that on some post a long time ago and it stuck with me since. Spending these past few days with Arabella and Teddy and learning a bit more about that infamous summer they spent overseas that was actually terrible but eye opening in retrospect, it got me thinking about that post again.

The campers and I have been busy crafting furniture these past couple days and it’s been fun. Arabella’s putting together courses on making cottagecore furniture pieces so we’re helping her out by following her instructions to make sure they’re clear and easy to follow as well as make sure the designs work out.

In the process, we’re also helping Teddy fill up her new house. She just moved to a bigger place last month that’s not only closer to the school where she teaches, it’s also in the same neighborhood as her brother’s place. Having upgraded from a small apartment in the outskirts, she didn’t realize how much space she had was until she got everything settled and saw it felt kinda empty. Not wanting to break the bank, Teddy sought Arabella for home decor tips and her timing couldn’t have been better.

So here we are, making a bunch of cute (and functional) cottagecore themed stuff that will be put to good use later on. By the time we’re done I think we’ll have made enough furniture fit for an entire apartment complex!

Arabella’s library of online classes has expanded considerably. While furniture making courses are still her main thing, she’s branched out to other ventures like textiles, painting, bookbinding, and cooking. She has also put up free original patterns for knitting and crochet, which I have saved for when I feel up to it.

I’m especially looking forward to knitting her ballerina top once I get the courage to try a raglan pattern. Hard to believe that after all these years since I’ve picked up the hobby, I’ve been coming across terms and techniques I’ve never heard of that are familiar to most. Then again, I never really delved much into knitting clothes, something I was kinda discouraged from because it’s costly in terms of money and investment. I don’t know, but from my experience knitting a sweater’s one of those things where it’s sorta praised and mocked at the same time. Like on one hand it’s like “Wow! That’s so cool! You must have a lot of patience!” but they also say “You must have too much time on your hands. There’s a lot of better things you ought to be doing”, so it leaves you feeling mixed on whether it’s an accomplishment or a subtle dig at you.

Now that I’m older and have been getting back into knitting - as well as picked up crochet - I’ve fallen into the rabbit hole of following a bunch of mainly knitters. So now I’ve been looking into making my own sweaters, something I feel I have more confidence in now that I have more resources to look into as well as feeling more up to the task. I’ve started with simple patterns - a simple crochet wrap top and a knitted tank top - and they’ve turned out good so likely when the weather starts to get colder, that’s probably when I’ll start making a sweater.

Now I’m picturing myself knitting a cozy chunky wool sweater while enjoying the new decor. Basically living out the cottagecore aesthetic, amirite? Yeah, the nightstand will make for a good place to put all my yarn WIPs. I can already picture all my unfinished yarn projects piling up on there.

Along with Arabella and Teddy, tagging along on this fun adventure of furniture making are Teddy’s brother Royal and his nine year old daughter Dove. Royal has dabbled in carpentry so he’s has been helping Arabella out with her designs over the years. I’ve heard a lot about him and Bessie so it’s nice to finally meet him.

Back in the day, Arabella and Teddy were roommates, living in the big city. Arabella was going through what she called a transitory period before she decided to go back to Isabelle and Digby. Teddy and Bessie were teachers - Teddy at a local high school and Bessie a grade school teacher in the countryside. Before moving to the city Teddy used to live in that small countryside town for a time when she and her siblings moved there. She moved to the city at the suggestion of her cousin, someone who Teddy and Bessie had once looked up to, at least until he turned against them during that infamous summer.

Over the years I’ve heard bits and pieces about what happened that summer. At the time Arabella and Bessie were considering grad school while Teddy wanted a change in career path. Teddy and Royal’s cousin suggested that the ladies come join him to spend the summer attending a seminar, mainly to network with others. Long story short, drama happened, and the guy attempted to sabotage Bessie and Teddy’s careers over a bunch of misunderstandings.

It wasn’t all bad though, Arabella and Teddy said. At least the experience opened their eyes to the ugly side of academia, as in the pretentiousness and classism aspect. I remember Richard saying something similar, how he almost became one of those snobs but was luckily hit with a dose of reality and self awareness.

For Teddy, it kinda helped her realize what she wanted and what she didn’t want. Ever since she was young, she was pushed to climb the ladder of success, to never be satisfied with what you have until you reach the top. So naturally, she felt that she had to advance professionally despite being content with where she was. It wasn’t until after having her career nearly ruined when she realized that she shouldn’t be wasting her time doing something she didn’t feel strongly about. She enjoys teaching and she likes working with teens, so what’s the big deal if she doesn’t get promoted or make huge leaps in advancement? What matters to her is helping kids, whether it’s to understand a lesson or help them figure out their future, that’s why Teddy got into teaching.

As for the cousin, he works at the private school Mimi got expelled from, and is an elitist bootlicker. Teddy said he’s a really smart guy and was like sort of a mentor to her and Bessie, not to mention that he was the reason why they became teachers. But he’s also somewhat insecure, so if he feels threatened by something, he’ll lash out in the worst possible way, and that’s why he tried to ruin Teddy and Bessie’s futures. Royal said he used to feel kinda sorry for him as he was the kind of person who didn’t really have much other than his intelligence, but over time he continued burning more bridges, so while does still feel sorry, he also doesn’t want anything to do with him.

From what I’m hearing, the cousin is the kind of person who should not be in charge of anyone’s futures. Arabella said it best that when he started working for that private school he decided that he liked exerting power more than educating people. I’ve also heard a bunch of not so good things about that school in general and it seems like the perfect place for someone who plays favorites and bullies people into submission. Not to mention that he has a track record of fraud, harassment, suicide baiting - and apparently he’s tame compared to other faculty members.

Outside of that, he’s lost the trust of many friends and family members. Part of it’s because of his strong opinions, which have swung dangerously right over the years. Arabella admitted that while she respected him, he often rubbed her the wrong way. Royal can’t forgive him for two things - harassing Bessie and trying to kidnapping Dove.

The kidnapping is one of those stories that gets worse the more you read up on it. A simple google search will give you the gist of it. Again, how is this guy still allowed to teach, much less have a big influence on a kid’s future?

In the short time before and after Dove was born, Royal and Bessie were going through a bunch of hardships. Financial troubles, illness, homelessness, and finally Bessie’s untimely death - Royal said if it wasn’t for Dove, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. The trouble started when Royal became seriously ill and though he recovered, he was left disabled. Bessie was stretching herself thin caring for him while having her own health to consider. Then the cousin intervened, claiming to have good intentions but looking back no one’s so sure anymore. He did help out though, but had his own ulterior motives as well.

Then Dove was born and for a while things seemed to be slowly settling down. And then all that changed when a destructive tornado hit, destroying the house and seriously injuring Bessie. She was slowly recovering until she learned that they were homeless - who can blame her? - and that’s when the fight in her went out after holding on for so long. Several weeks later she died from complications from her injuries, which ended up being more extensive than previously thought. In Royal’s words, she held on as long as she could - far more than any one person can withstand - and that took a toll on her until she couldn’t hold out anymore.

When Royal was at his most vulnerable, that’s where the cousin took control of the situation. Up until then he had been trying to manage Royal and Bessie, convincing them to pack up and join him in the city, making Royal feel useless in the process so he could solely depend on him. He had offered to care for Dove for a couple weeks while Royal regained his strength, which turned out to be a total lie.

Instead he took off with Dove and refused to bring her home, claiming that she had no future with a single disabled parent. Apparently he was planning to fight for her custody but thankfully he wasn’t able to get there. It’s kinda similar to that case Sophea’s working on, minus the kidnapping. The whole thing made the news for a bit before the school intervened to cover it up, still, the story got out anyway and somehow he’s still there. I wonder if Mimi had to deal with him as a professor during her time there.

Since then, Teddy and Royal haven’t heard from him. Royal, with help from Bessie’s family, eventually got back up on his feet. Almost losing Dove was a wake up call for him as he had been doing nothing but feel sorry for himself since his illness. He and Dove stayed with Bessie’s parents for a time before moving in their own place. By then, Teddy had returned to town after being disillusioned by the big city when the school she worked at closed in favor of being replaced by a parking garage. Now she teaches at the local high school where she and Bessie graduated from.

Thankfully, life has been quiet for Royal and Dove since then. Dove is said to have inherited Bessie’s fighting spirit and vivid imagination. I have read some of Bessie’s poems that she had posted online and she has a way with imagery. From how Arabella, Isabelle, and Digby speak highly of Bessie, I wish I could’ve met her.

As expected, Arabella’s instructions are informative and easy to follow. Just some minor tweaks here and there with design adjustments and clarity, the usual. Arabella is not the type who puts something out until it’s up to her standards so it’s important to make sure things are running smoothly. These furniture pieces are more on the intermediate/advanced level so it takes a bit more work, which I don’t mind. After running this camp for almost five years, I guess you can say I’ve somewhat become a pro at crafting furniture!

[deathbysatellite]

Dreamer Household: Week 1

Entered the household to a couple of weird things going on. Namely, Dirk breaking the fourth wall by staring directly at the screen, and this dart board that I know I didn’t buy, and I know didn’t come with the house because the dart board is from Nightlife. I know that EP objects can show up on community lots, but I’ve never heard of them showing up on residential lots.

UGH SERIOUSLY WHAT IS IT WITH KNOWLEDGE SIMS WANTING TO CHEAT ON THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS??? THAT’S A ROMANCE SIM’S JOB!!

The welcome wagon consisted of Jennifer Burb, Nina Caliente, and Issac Bell. Issac’s from Desiderata Valley. This is the second household in a row in which someone from a different subhood is part of the welcome wagon. I have noticed a difference on community lots, but I don’t think this should be happening this frequently on residential lots.

Dirk invited Gordon Knott home from school, and they played video games for a bit. I found that, like with the telephone, Sims may just leave the game controller on the ground instead of putting it back.

Brandi invited Darren on an outing Downtown, and for some reason, brought Beau along. Who then immediately walked home because it was nighttime. I know they just sort of teleport home, but imagining a kid showing up somewhere in a taxi, immediately deciding “Nope!”, and then walking home to a different city, alone, at night, is kind of amusing.

The bowing continues to spread. Now to other neighborhoods, as Brandi has taught Anna, and Nina has taught Consort.

Consort randomly started being a dick to Nina, and they went back and forth antagonizing each other. Then Contessa Anna joined in and Consort got ganged up on by two red heads. I like the think Anna was coming to Nina’s defense. Unfortunately, no fight happened. Just a bunch of poking, shoving, and the occasional slap. Still, unexpected moments like this are part of what make the Sims 2 so great.

“This is a fun group of people!” I’m not so sure Nina would agree with you there, Brandi.

While catching fireflies, Darren discovered his love for Nature.

And Darren finished his first painting.

Dirk headed off to his first day in the Medical career.

Darren invited Cassandra over for the evening, and she got to know her future son-in-law over dinner.

While Darren was painting (autonomously, I might add), the Hobby Instructor broke into his house to give him a membership to the My Muse II - Art Studio.

I set a little plan in motion as Dirk hangs out with Lillith Pleasant and Alexander Goth. I then find out that if you have that computer with the Sims 3 that Rod Humble gives you, you can play it with the video game console, and it’s multiplayer! I don’t think the Sims community will ever run out of things to discover about this game.

This painting was so pretty, I was a little sad to sell it. But alas, they needed the money.

I have no fucking clue who this jerk is, or why he decided to kick over their trash can.

Dirk invited Nawwaf Jordan home to hang out. I can’t remember if he’s from school, or from work. It’s actually been some time between playing this household, and writing this.

I sent Darren and Dirk out, partially for some quality father-son bonding time, and partially because Dirk wanted to buy an MP3 player.

Their little hangout ended on a bit of a sour note though, as Dirk got pickpocketed by the Unsavory Charlatan. I’d be pretty scared too, if I was in Dirk’s shoes.

I have no clue what this painting is supposed to be. I guess Darren’s dabbling in abstract art.

I kinda forgot it was Darren whose preferred hobby is Nature, not Dirk, so I had Dirk collect some bug and tend to the neglected flowers.

Darren maxed the Creativity skill, making him 1/7 of the way finished with his Lifetime Want of Max 7 Skills.

Darren got promoted to Orderly, and is proving himself to be quite a popular teen, bringing home Orlando Centowski, the third classmate/coworker this week.

I realized it was in fact Darren who like Nature, as Dirk found is passion in Tinkering. And then decided he wanted a Robot Station, which the couldn’t afford on a $1,642 budget.

Sunday morning and afternoon was quiet as I set up for the wedding that evening.

And of course everyone decided to just stand outside. I had to direct my Sims to call them over.

And Darren and Cassandra become husband and wife. While everyone dances instead of paying attention.

Oof, good thing I had locked in Dirk’s want to buy a Robot Station, as Cassandra brought in over $50,000 to the household.

Found these two autonomously making out. There’s a time and a place guys. Leave the kissing to the newly weds.

I just love the animation for cutting the cake!

Cassandra and Darren the proceed to act like they’re not at their own damn wedding. Cassandra, sweetie, you’re the bride! Let someone else clean up!

It’s not a Sims party unless one of three things happens. Either A) somebody pees themself, B) something catches fire, or C) everybody hangs out in the bathroom.

This wholesome little exchange between brother and sister happened autonomously.

Unlike Dina, who took until four days, Cassandra managed to get knocked up on the first try.

And I decided to end the week by giving Dirk that Robot Station he wanted. There ya go, kiddo.

[indyflanery]

1 and 36!

My answers got super long for both of these.

So I had to cut them.

o1﹕ when were you first introduced to tumblr rp , & do you remember how ?

I vaguely remember the exact circumstances, but I do remember the general ones. Wayyyy back in 2012, I had started a personal blog on here for some reason or another (you know, when things mostly worked). And I was into The Boondock Saints fandom and their associated actors. Which lead to making friends with a couple people in that whole area, who were friends with a couple more people, and I got invited to a group chat on AIM (Remember AIM? Good times.), and conversations eventually turned into making a small little rp group for a bunch of Sean Patrick Flanery characters and eventually Norman Reedus ones when the first one decided to go nowhere (followed by the second one going nowhere).

I was still working on the beginnings of my archaeology PhD and of course Young Indiana Jones was the obvious choice. (Also Indiana Jones). And when both groups went nowhere, I still kept writing Indy because he had so much potential that was only shortly covered by the show and I'd grown attached to him. And to this day I have not come across any other active Young Indy RPer. I think I found an inactive one once that didn't even do much writing... Oh also, I have no idea what is going on with any of those people I started with.

But that's the summary of how I started tumblr RP and the simultaneous story of how this blog came about.

36﹕ how has your writing style evolved since you started writing on tumblr ?

I've had a long standing hobby of creative writing and fan fiction before I got into RP - a lot of my original posts are short dabbles of Indy in character as I fleshed him out. This definitely gave me practice in writing - you improve the more you read and the more you write. It also exposed me to others' writing styles. Both of those were big influences on style evolution.

So seeing how other people write helped me by serving as kind of a menu/sample pool: to figure out what I liked and didn't like, how I wanted to write, the differences in structure between in depth writing for fiction versus academic, and particularly what errors to avoid in terms of structure and grammar/punctuation. Having different people to write with also helped refine my writing to suit different circumstances because I didn't know what was coming next; adaptability was definitely huge. You want to put thought into what you're writing for others.

Generally, I think my writing has gotten a lot more descriptive, but not overly so. I still like to get to the point but I will add more details context to the setting. I've gotten more serious about grammar/spelling/punctuation, but I give far less concern to fancy formatting and keeping up with trends - basically I focus more on content and fundamentals. I also think my dialogue has gotten smoother and content more realistic since I started.

[dramaticsnakes]

heyo! :D may I ask for some of your Remy headcanons? (whether they're ship-related or platonic or even just Remy? idk I just love hearing your ideas :') )

Hi Moxy!💖 Pleasure to see you in my inbox again!!!

I’d love to give you some Remy headcanons! 

- Remy doesn’t actually fall asleep that easily and he is often awake at ungodly hours. 

- I wasn’t the one who came up with this headcanon and I am not certain which tumblr user I owe it to, but Remy’s eyes are sensitive to light, which is why he wears sunglasses everywhere he goes.

- Remy doesn’t care about others that easily and likes to think of himself as ‘neutral’. Though one of the first things he observes about someone if he dares to get a little closer, is their coffee preferences.

- Actually this seems like a great time to just recommend the fic “Remy Sanders and a Bunch of Idiots” because oh my godddd. It’s an amazing Remy fic I love it so much, and most of the headcanons I have for Remy and his relationship to the other sides would probably be stolen from there anyhow. 

- He,,, He likes horses. I don’t have an explanation for this other than something I was thinking about the other day for my own fic but he would have a soft spot for them. 

- Remy has a lot of small hobbies though he stops doing them pretty quickly. He has dabbled in sewing, painting, and a few musical instruments.

- Remy isn’t too keen on cuddling and hugging, and usually stays distant from others. Once he has grown a bit closer to them and they’ve initiated a few hugs (asking for consent of course) he starts doing it on his own when the other seems to be feeling down. 

I can’t think of anything else right now jsdklf

Thank you for the ask!💖

[casually-inlove]

Creator tag game

Tagged by @notthatiwilleverwriteit! Thank you bunches ~

1. When did your creative journey begin?

As far as writing is concerned, I started roughly 3,5-4 years ago. Fiction, that is. I've been writing non-fiction stuff since college and it sort of part of my job. But writing isn't my sole hobby. I also dabble in vector illustration. Those go back years.

2. What is the earliest creative piece you remember making?

I didn't take leisure writing up until adulthood. My therapist suggested I take up a new hobby to combat depression, and ultimately it helped me channel my frustration. Pouring energy onto paper has an odd therapeutic power.

3. What is your favourite and least favourite medium?

My laptop for writing and iPad for making corrections. It's odd how changing a format provides a new perspective. Reading what you write on a tablet device (or with a night mode on) gives you a fresh eye. Of course, I always rely on cloud-based services, such as Google Docs and Zoho Docs. Google offers a wide range of useful add-ons to improve your texts, while Zoho has a fancy (and free) writing assistant, which is almost as good as Grammarly's. Writing by hand is... well, problematic. University and postgrad completely murdered my penmanship.

4. What, if any, training do you have?

While not directly linked to writing, I have had applied linguistics and verbal communication courses in uni. In general cognitive studies do pertain the correlation between the mind and language, so you could say that I do have some formal training.

5. Is there a medium you wish you were better at?

I would love to get better at writing longer pieces. I tend to gravitate towards shorter stories and more concise way of narration because it gives me certain restrictions. I have to choose words with caution and I also have to condense my scenes, which helps me make them more intense. While this is how I prefer it, I would still like to try a "looser" narration style. Most readers I know fancy multi-chapter stuff with long-winded expounding and musings, which isn't exactly my forte. 

6. Do you have a favourite muse?

Not in particularly. Sometimes I make moodboards for scenes.

7. What insecurities do you have about your creations?

Either having too much of a dry narrative or slipping into graphomania territory. I love beautiful stylistic devices and I love getting into the character's heads and writing about their psychology (it's evident from what I post here, huh). The problem is, I can get carried away attempting to put their inner worlds on paper, and thus the scene lags and drags. Sometimes the abundant details become redundant and add nothing of the essence to the story. It's a pain to cut them out then.

8. What do you think are your best skills in your creative field?

Since I know a bit about the way language, the eye and human mind function, I can use that to my advantage to push the reader's emotions where I need em'. It's also easy to come up with fresh stylistic devices once you know how the language works. If you know how something is made up, you can take it apart and break it to suit your needs.

9. What advice would you give an amateur creative?

I have two completely antipathic pieces of advice. First, analyze what you read. Try to figure out what makes the text or the sentence work. Pinpoint stylistic devices, note the rhythm and flow, note the structure. Define what type of narration it is. See if you can figure out the popular tropes, archetypes and clichés used by the author. Figure out whether they add to the story or whether they take away from it. Soak it all up. Second, once you get the hang of it, drop reading for some time. When you like something, it's easy to begin inadvertently copying it. An expression might be stuck in your head, or it could be a sentence pattern — either way there's a risk you'd end up copying someone's style, and thus you'll never find one of your own. Who's attention are you going to catch if you end up being one of many facsimiles? It's far too important to find your very own distinct voice. 

10. Who are some of your favourite creatives?

I've always enjoyed the creations of Bloomsbury Group and the rich mythos created by H. P. Lovecraft. I used to hate Faulkner during my uni days, but sometime later I came to appreciate certain techniques he used in Sound and Fury and As I Lay Dying. As far as fic writers are concerned, years ago I fell in love with coincident. Sadly, they are no longer active, but the truth is, their writing is so powerful that years after my love for them hasn't dwindled.

Tagging: @wrathyforest @ginmayo @msop222 @nalah2410 

No pressure at all ~ Oh and if any writers/artists wanna tell about themselves, feel free to participate. 

[sonicringbond]

Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 17

Greeting everyone, Scene 17 is here and Rosy is finally off looking directly for one of her friends. Obviously being the second episode she won’t be successful yet, but I have brought a character back who has appeared once already. I wonder if anyone will recognize him. I guess the best way to find out is to let everyone read...

Scene Prompt: Rosy finds a flower-shaped (rose maybe) crystal ball.

-----

    ~One really weird thing I noticed while searching for my friends was that almost everywhere I went there were plants growing over everything. It was really pretty, but really odd too. Especially when it occurred out in the sandy desert.

    ~I hadn’t gone to the desert though to sightsee, even though that was the type of traveler everyone thought I was. Nope, I had gone actually because of a rumor.

    ~Supposedly out in the desert there was a crystal rose in a ruin. No one had removed it yet for fear that it was cursed or that the ruin was trapped at least. I’m pretty sure I could remove it, but I know Fang could as well and that’s why I went out there.

    ~Though no one who I had shown my picture too recognized anyone, there was still a chance that Fang would go check it out. He’s a treasure hunter after all and a crystal rose is quite the treasure. But that means it could attract bad people too. But that’s alright too.

    ~We were attacked by mean sky pirates before we ever ended up in these lands and they kept attacking us whenever they caught up. But the last time I saw my best friend he was fighting them, so if any of the pirates show up maybe I could find a clue to where he is. But I have to get there first, and since I don’t want to spook anyone with my speed that means joining a bunch of other sightseers on a tour.~

    The canvas covered truck bed was full of people, more so than could have been comfortable due to the stifling heat and still air. Rosy made herself as comfortable as she could, but there was only so much room and the sightseers had begun to grow restless.

    “Maybe we could do something to pass the time,” Rosy suggested cheerfully, far removed from the tailgate and any opportunity to see the passing scenery. If she had been able to though the rocky crags and blowing sand did not provide much of interest to view.

    “There isn’t anything to do but share stories, and it’s already too loud in here,” one woman bemoaned the situation.

    Rosy puffed up her cheeks not to be deterred. “Well, I happen to tell fortunes as a hobby!”

    It was a moment of pride for Rosy, but she had forgotten that the lands she currently traveled were not fond of the idea of people practicing more than one role.

    “That’s foolishness,” one mangy sapient cat spat.

    “Agreed,” another passenger chimed in.

    “If you wanted to tell fortunes you shouldn’t have become a sightseer.”

    “Ooh~! It’s just a hobby! A little bit of harmless fun!”

    “Communion with the powers of the world should not be taken so lightly child.”

    Rosy paused as a voice that sounded almost as though it were spoken from somewhere other than where it came from warned her of her actions. Turning to find the immediate source, Rosy lay her eyes upon a curious traveler. They were garbed in a burlap robe that completely concealed them. It was hard to get a read on their size and build as well, but Rosy could tell they were easily taller than her to the shoulder. More peculiarly was the size and shape of their head. From where their shoulders ended their head rose to a point that nearly doubled their height. It was obvious they were a member of a smaller sapient species, but what was beyond Rosy. She cared little though as she found their warning to her rude.

    “They’re my friends, well at least my tarot cards are,” Rosy defended herself and her relationship with the mystical. “They help me out when I ask, and I help them out when they ask. Though they can be pretty scary when they do…”

    Rosy trailed off with a laugh, but the atmosphere around the robed figure completely changed. Where the other travelers had no desire to involve themselves with someone who dabbled in more than one occupation, Rosy now had the full attention of the robed figure.

    “Curious child, you claim to have communed directly with the powers of the world. Are you perhaps a medium?”

    “Oh! I haven’t been called that since before I came to these lands. Hee-hee. Though it was a friend of mine who did, even if he said I wasn’t very good. He actually said I was a very bad medium. That was so rude of him, and just because I use a cat-a-something.”

    “A catalyst,” the robed figure corrected Rosy. “I am intrigued now. So much so I would like to take you up on your offer.”

    ~I had talked with the weird person because it was the polite thing to do, and I was bored, but something about him made my spines itch. He was so weird and didn’t come out of his robe at all. Even when I presented him my deck of tarot cards to split it after I shuffled so the reading would be more connected and personal. It was really weird and unsettling.

    ~Even weirder though was how calm he was when he got a really bad reading. I felt bad, but…~

    “Then my goals will be challenged by a powerful adversary. Amusing, but perhaps understandable.”

    “You’re not a bad guy are you,” Rosy pried, growing concerned more and more with each passing moment. Her concern gave way to the laughter of the robed figure however and Rosy’s emotion was soon shared by the other travelers.

    “I do not know your definition of “bad guy” child, but my goal at this point is but to find an old friend. It is unlikely that he is not well, but the state of the world leaves me curious to his wellbeing.”

    “Oh~! So, you’re like me then!” Rosy exclaimed finding common ground to fend off her growing feeling of dread. She could feel the questioning gaze on her through the robes and answered the unspoken question before it could be formed. “You see, I’m looking for my friends too. We got separated a while back and I’ve been looking for them while I travel.”

    Reaching into the shoulder puff of her leotard where she returned her deck of tarot cards, Rosy removed a folded-up photograph and presented it to the robed figure.

    “See these are my friends! Maybe you’ve seen one of them. I know the Ring Shifts make it hard, but even just an idea of where one of them could be would really help.”

    The robed figure stayed quiet for a long time, seemingly studying the picture through their robes. Before finally speaking, they ran a burlap hidden finger down the center of the picture. “The one you have embraced. I have seen him.”

    “You have!” Rosy nigh jumped to her feet with excitement, her tail wagging energetically. “Where was it, where!”

    “Not here child,” the robed figure vaguely answered. Rosy’s boring eyes however prompted them to clarify. “Rather it was a passing moment in some long-forgotten ruin. The presence of the Rings was powerful upon them, but then they were gone.”

    “I hope your friend wasn’t victim to the monster attacking people with Rings,” one of the travelers spoke up before Rosy could press the robed figure for more information.

    ~And that was the second rumor I had heard. It wasn’t just out in the desert though. Supposedly someone was going around attacking people with Rings. It’s such a weird thing to hear since Rings can’t hurt people. But I guess if you’re scared of Rings it would make it scary. But I hadn’t considered that it had anything to do with the crystal rose. The two seemed further apart than me and my friends. That wasn’t true for the ruins however that held the crystal rose.

~Before I could ask the weird man any more questions about where he had seen Sonic we had arrived at the ruins. Tour guides ushered us away and I lost sight of him. Even as much as he made my spines itch though I couldn’t help but worry about him. The rumors of the Ring Striker were all anyone could talk about as we were led into the dark ruin to see the crystal rose.~

Scene 17 · CLEARED Desert Rumors, to be continued

-----

And there is part 1 for our second episode of Rosy the Traveler. I hope the slower pace isn’t putting people off. The next part will have more action for those who need it, though it’ll have more world building as well. World building in general is kind of the heart of traveling stories like this, so I’ll work on better blending in the action as I write more and more. Of course as always I’ll be asking for you help by providing me prompts to keep me coming up with new way’s to build the story so I look forward to the future and hope everyone else does too! Thank you!

-----

Prompt Submitted by – Skylor-The-Ninja Story Format by Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song - Granblue Fantasy — Lumacie Archipelago Mysterious Forest

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

[synchronmurmurs]

Assistant Reader and Nero sound like they're gonna start a heist crew. I'm sure Nico would totally be in board at the get away driver

DMC’s mobile branch has gotta get funds to get started from somewhere 👀 I imagine Credo and Kyrie are the worrying spouses left at home wondering if this is the day they’re going to get a call from the cops on the mainland like “so we arrested them and they’re not coming out for a while, thx” 🤣

But no, Nero just has a lot of energy in him, I think, and he needs to direct it somewhere or else he gets restless. Makes me think he actually has a ton of hobbies and skills he learned/picked up but slowly abandoned over time. 🤔 I imagine he has to be pretty handy, so woodworking, metalworking of course (the necklace he gifted Kyrie was handmade 😌), metallurgy, he’s very familiar with ballistics, maybe he’s looked up glassblowing before too? Just a bunch of little odds and ends that he’s dabbled in, but never really went anywhere with.

I know we joke a lot about the boys having one collective brain cell, but Nero is actually super smart, y’all... 

[9noryn]

New answers!!

From questions asked in the ask-the-incuwives channel in the Seduce Me Discord Server!

From abil:  if your husbands had to stay in the abyssal plains after the events of the war, how would you feel? would you be okay with it?

Noryn would pack up and move with him lmao she's not attached to places, more so people so; of course there has to be a lot of talking and planning together, but she's pretty down to continue making things work from the plains side. She wouldn't have to worry about being found by Angels and get obliterated, big plus. She'd miss her sigil witch brother and her friends in the human world though; but she'll easily think about video calls and gaming and visits. The big make or break would be whether she can get hooked up with high speed internet in the abyssal plains

wait i just realized... the abyssal plains doesn't have internet yet

noryn's not gonna like this one bit; neither would matthew 

two gamers, in a dimension without games

((first order of business is to invent internet and get connected to human world, the first demon world hacker))

Bonus:

Midnight: Noryn starting up a tiktok channel for tiktoks in the Abyssal Plains that only the incubi and the wives see LOL

Midnight: no, she vlogs

Zio: hey demons its ya boi

More under the break!

From tkdigiboy: how would you react if one of the boy's ex-bf/gf or 'playmates'(sex for energy) came to visit or hang. would you let your husband do a one time fling for energy?

noryn's been friends with her exes, and their exes; so as long as things are chill, it's just like meeting anyone else from someone's social circle. it only gets weird if it's like... this person distracts matthew away from noryn a lot or otherwise gets in between her interactions with him

e_e they don't even have to be past lovers, anyone that does that will get on noryn's nerves and make her go on a jealous gifting spree, where in a fit of jealous frustration she buys a bunch of very thoughtful gifts for matthew to give to him later

regarding the one-time fling: emergency sure; but like, consent and all is one time and case specific

like if matthew is blowing up noryn's phone like "iM dY INNg OF SEX STarVaTION AND yOu'RE IN THE HUMAN WORLD" she'd be like ? ?? ? bE SAfe FIRST AND WE CAN TALK LATER

From Kantah: ooh what are the wives' hobbies? :0

Noryn hobbies: being an internet gremlin; tea brewing, drink mixing, bartending/barista; dabbling in potion making

From tkdigiboy: To noryn/zio: how well do you get along with simon and his wife?

pretty well!! though she thinks of simon and simone as mika's pets so whenever she visits mika she likes to try to befriend them and get matthew to play with him :>  simon's a lot less of a rascal when noryn can give him the attention he seeks

From Diva:  how long does it take Noryn to find out Divana’s favorite bubble tea since she cant magically know like usual [cause she’s a collective ton of different personalities]

Diva: Zio wait how long does it take for Noryn to figure out Divana's fav bubble tea after she god damn blue screens

Noryn: -sits there with window xp error noises going off in her brain-

Divana: I think this one died

Zio: poor baby; noryn would probably just blindfold herself and randomly mix ingredients and hope for the best. serving a chaos demon aint easy

Diva: Especially when Noryn Knows Alot of Things™️

From dari_baguls:  Idk if this is more for Zio or Noryn buuuut do you really have the cat stalkings Noryn wears in the game? I cried when I saw Noryn cause I also have the same stalkings and also (at the time) had short hair TvT just wanna know for research purposes

i do have them irl! Her outfit is based off of what i wore when the game was being made

She’d look like this in present day

Gotta refresh noryn’s design cause it’s very undergrad student vs her now working bartending professional :9

From Diva:  Oh no Noryn and Divana in the same room fucking around with potions

Zio: POTIONS POTIONS POTIONS in carrie's kitchen no less

Diva: Many things went wrong that day

Diva: M a n y

Zio:

Noryn: "can i come over to make sum poshuns" 

Carrie: "Of course,you dork"

Noryn: "Also Divana will help" 

Carrie:

Diva: 

Read at 3:45 pm

Zio: 

Noryn: "henlo? carrie u ther"

From tkdigiboy: Question to zio and kary: how do you 2 handle your husbands when their doing their usual routine towards eachother

Karygurl: Start making bets, make popcorn :D

Zio: when sam and matthew bicker; noryn stands aside and lets them get through their system if it's between them specifically; otherwise she's a participant in the bickering LOL they're a lot like rascally friends, and noryn is also a shit starter 

Zio: i headcanon that iri or twila like to occasionally stir the pot, like drop a small [controversial hot take] and watch the boys mcfreakin lose it

sam, matthew and noryn are all competitive casual gamers shit's going down there's no allegiances

From ☁bunny☁: jumpin in here: for all of the incuwives creators, especially zio n kary, how do you guys feel about people writing about ur ocs in their own stories? or drawing them? im writing my own interpretation of the story with my self insert and i love carrie and noryn dearly and would love to include them (and the other incuwives) but id only wanna do it if its cool with their creators first !

Karygurl: I mean please do!! I bookmark and save EVERYTHING that has even a tiny whiff of Carrie in it, I'm honored anyone would want to include her in anything ever

Zio: im flattered if your inspired to write in or draw my characters!! let me know if you want to collab too

Zio: do it do it; shout outs and cameos give me life

Karygurl: SAME Zio

Zio: plus if there's no story conflict, im down to adopt new dynamics/lore/etc from what people create

From Mari: What kind of things would you do to make your husband laugh?

To laugh? noryn would be an utter fool lmao and tell him an embarrassing story about herself (she's had a whopping 9 lives worth, there's no end to headass decisions and shenanigans when it comes to her); something like 

Noryn: "Babe have you seen our dog" 

Matthew, pouty but still hanging in there: "Huh? She's in the other room, right?" 

Noryn: "Now watch this. Bijo, cuddle attack!!" 

Distant pitpattering on the tile gets closer until Bijo, the apron wearing shibe, gets ready to jump with a soft woof

Bijo full-body slams into noryn

oh my god, noryn would do unintentional slapstick when trying to show matthew some new trick or skill

tkdigiboy to zio: pet peeve with matthew

probably him being a touch too open-minded and overly generous with his time to the point that he wears himself super super thin and tired. he's kind of that extreme of being too self-sacrificing? 

Noryn reminds him that he doesn't owe everyone he comes in contact with that kind of life-changing attention and focus, especially if those people take advantage of his kindness.

Noryn is very much "i have limited time and energy in this one body, I focus on saving the one person I can" whereas Matthew is the "I want to brighten everyone's day, and give them what I didn't have or give them something only I can provide"

While they have similar tastes and interests, their perspectives help the other grow into a healthier, better person.

[rpgmgames]

November’s Featured Game: Shooty and the Catfish

DEVELOPER(S): Daniel ENGINE: RPGMaker MV GENRE: Adventure, RPG WARNINGS: Course Language, Gore SUMMARY: Shooty and the Zaat are a dynamic duo solving monstrous mysteries!

Play the demo here!

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! Sure! So my name is Daniel, I guess technically I am an animator. I started out making flash cartoons around 2000 just for fun and became a professional animator in the advertising space around 2007. I have been working in media ever since, both in studios and as a contractor working under the Visitors From Dreams label which is also the label I use for my game development. I started dabbling with RPG Maker in around 2002 but I never got very far. Once I got into the media industry I wanted to pick it up again but with Mac being what almost all my work was done on, at home and in studio I didnt get the chance to actually get into it properly again until MV released, infact I was so excited that I purchased MV the day it dropped and immediately begun development on my first title Flatwoods. Ironically Shooty and the Catfish was developed on a PC, but I digress.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Daniel: Shooty and the Catfish is set up pretty simply. The 2 lead characters, Shooty and Zaat run a sort of monster investigation unit out of their home. They get calls to different desitinations to deal with different monster problems. I really wanted it to feel like it was set up in a similar way to a lot of cartoons from the 80s, where every episode had a pretty similar but still managed to feel like a little self contained adventure. I have thrown in some little elements of an larger narrative but they are light until the final episode. Originally the series was pitched to Frederator for Cartoon Hangover, it got a little ways into early development but then Youtube changed its algorythm and animation on the platform became a struggle and the project was dropped. I didnt want to waste all the work I had done on the concepts and so I eventually tried to find a way to work them into a game, its taken me quite a few years to get as far as I have with development, but I would be even further back if I had tried to animate it all alone. I created Flatwoods to try and get a small project out, you know, to get some experience with the engine, little did I know how much more I had to learn!

How long have you been working on your project? *Daniel: I pitched Shooty and the Catfish back in 2013 from memory, but it didn't start to take shape as the project you currently see until the last 12 months. In that sense I am incredibly happy with how quickly the game has come together.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Daniel: So many things have influenced my work its not funny... Where do I even start? Shooty and Zaat have a bit of a Finn and Jake thing going since when the project was originally pitched to Frederator and thats what they were looking for at the time. Resident Evil 4 (the closest any game has ever come to perfection imo) was the inspiration for the games ammo based combat system. Demons Souls originally derailed the project when I tried to emulate its non linear hub based design (you will notice the demo takes place on a single island instead), that created all kinds of balancing issues though so thats all been stripped back and is what lead to the decision to make the game episodic instead. One element from Demons Souls that remains in the game is a diverse mix of linear and looping level designs when it comes to mapping. The game also features towns that have layouts based on unused maps from the Pokemon GS 97 Spaceworld demo since they never made it into any of the actual games in the series. Pokemon GS also influenced the games visuals. I'm not a big RPG guy, but I played a hell of a lot of Pokemon growing up and Gen 2 is still my favorite. Trying to get MV to emulate the limitations of the Game Boy Color was quite the hurdle, I still cant believe I got it working as well as it is. I also have a lot of cameos from other peoples RPGM games, so there's that. Its a big ol' mixing pot of ideas and inspirations.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Daniel: Countless, the biggest challenge is always scope though. I originally wanted the game to be like 3 hours long tops, now its well in excess of that and that's before I have even put in meaningful NPC interactions. That's why I have decided to break the game up into episodes, each one should be around an hour which is much more my jam. I don't have a lot of free time so I tend to gravitate towards games that are tight and short, I think that's why I am so determined to keep this game in nice manageable chunks. Now that the game is shorter I don't need levelling so I am starting to tone down the RPG elements. One change always leads to another, but episode one is getting damn close to completion. I say this before I have even had the chance to announce the game's going to be episode on my own blog, ha ha. Episode 1 January, The Great Spore Chore! Keep your eyes out for it!

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Daniel: As mentioned above a lot has changed, I feel the biggest change was when I tried to move the game from being episodic into one adventure after playing through a bunch of other RPGM games for ideas, it all started to feel a bit aimless and the storytelling techniques I had planned when it was episodic weren't translating well as the game progressed. So I guess now the game is episodic again we have come full circle! So many ideas seemed good on paper but ended up not really being fun or adding anything in practice. Oh yeah, and the transition from Game Boy green to color was a big one based on feedback from the demo. Some people were finding it hard to tell what elements were interactable, doors in particular, I hope that color has helped minimize that issue. Key items will also have an animation on them so they are hard to miss. I'm not a fan of hunting for items in big maps, it's certainly not something I want to subject people too in my own projects.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Daniel: This project has had a few key people involved. Outside of myself I have worked with 2 musicians. One is an old school friend who did music for my animations back in the early 2000's. He has contributed a bunch of really cool EDM which makes up most of the games OST. On top of that there is also a number of optional bosses (one per episode) that have music composed by Secret Agent Ape who worked on Soma Spirits and a bunch of other upcoming games. I have been really lucky to get to work with such rad dudes.

What is the best part of developing the game? *Daniel: I love designing enemy battlers, my process usually involves me drawing a weird shape, sticking some eyes and a big goofy nose on it and trying to come up with a stupid pun to use for a name while listening to bands like Yes or Klaatu. It's bliss. I have a lot of people ask me why I have limited myself in terms of resolution and color palette, and it comes down to one of the important things I told myself when I got into game making as a hobby was that I would stop if it ever started to feel like work. I spend my days doing heavy visual effects and compositing, sometimes doing complex character animation. I want to keep that stuff as far away from my game development as possible. Ironically working within the incredibly restrictive limitations of the Game Boy has ended up being incredibly liberating and keeps things feeling fun as opposed to feeling like more of what I do all day to pay the bills.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Daniel: I always enjoy checking out demo's of upcoming games. Both Heartbeat and Virgo and the Zodiac's demos blew me away from a technical standpoint on the MV front. I still find it hard to believe those demos were made with the same engine I'm using. I guess it really shows what can be done when the engine is in capable hands. I wish I had more time to play actual full releases, I mean Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass just came out and I have no idea when, if ever I will have the free time to play it because its such a commitment. I feel like I am missing out on some great stuff.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Daniel: I guess I relate to different characters in different ways. Slim Grim is the one who hands out assignments to Shooty and Zaat, he is pretty much done with life, over people and the world itself, I think thats something we all have a bit of inside of us. Shooty is a very positive individual, his solutions to most problems is a bullet with a smile, and I think theres a bit of that in all of us as well. Zaats a bit of a cheeky smart arse, so I guess in a lot of ways I am most like her as a person. One of the episodes also features Gerkinman who is and has been a sort of self insert in my work since 2001 so I guess technically I relate to him most... ha ha, but thats cheating!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Daniel: I wish I had done a better job keeping the project focused. I feel like a good few months were spent making the game bigger in ways it didnt need to be.

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Daniel: All of my games are loosely connected, taking place in the same world. None of them tie directly into each other, im not big on the cinematic universe concept that seems so popular right now, but events in my previous 2 releases and the 5 planned episodes of Shooty and the Catfish are loosely connected in ways people who take the time to look can find. They are also tied into around 17 years worth of animated shorts I have released. I have no plans on stopping now!

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Daniel: Well, theres quite a few things... Mapping for all 5 episodes (outside of towns) is complete, so when Episode 1 is done I will be immediately rolling into Episode 2. I am aiming to have an episode out every 2 months which should be doable with so much of the game already finished. I also have a couple of short films I am looking forward to being able to invest some time into, things have slowed down in recent months due to freelance but I am eager to get to animate some of my own work again. I am also eager to see the comments sections on Lets Plays. Both Flatwoods and Hazmat got a bit of Lets Play action and a couple of those have some pretty substantial comment sections. The amount of theories people try to put together for these projects is staggering. I could never write something as entertaining as what the speculations in these comment sections contain in terms of what my games mean, it cracks me up and I find it quite flattering that random people have put more thought into elements of my stories then I have. Makes me want to keep things deliberately vague just to encourage more of it. Lastly I will be releasing all the build files for the project so if anyone wants to make fangames or whatever they have direct access to all of the core files used to build the games. Im a big fan of the concept of a mod community, and while RPGM doesnt exactly allow for that, id love to see people do similar things to my work as whats been done with a lot of LISA fan games.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Daniel: I don't know about being afraid exactly. I am curious about how my business model for the episodic releases will go over. I was planning on releasing them at $1 an episode and $4 for the bundle when it's all complete. I know some people think thats still charging too much, but some people have also told me im not charging enough and that it lowers price standards accross the board for RPGM content. The way I see it if I can cover the costs of Steam and the music I commissioned then I've done alright since this project was for fun, but that's just me.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Daniel: Just keep at it and set yourself small goals. If your working on a big project break it up into manageable sections. Take things one map at a time, ya know what I mean?

Question from last month's featured dev @overcast-rpg: If you could choose an RPG Maker gamedev to release another game; which one would you choose and why? *Daniel: Oh that's an easy one, The Catamites. I love Space Funeral, it's easily my favorite game made in the engine, and while The Catamites has developed countless games since its release, they have all been in other engines. It would be fun to see them return to the engine after all they have learned about game design since Space Funeral's release and to see what they would do.

We mods would like to thank Daniel for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Shooty and the Catfish if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum

[multi-fandom-fanfiction]

Hiya May I get a ship for riverdale/The originals (if we’re only allowed one I totally understand) anywho thank you💕💕! So I’m 5’0 female with dark brown almost black shoulder length hair and brown eyes I’m also very fair, I love reading and books and writing, I’m a sucker for poetry and rainy days. I tend to be a bit of a ball of nerves always over thinking things. I’m a ambivert and a Infp. So I can be a bit nerdy and introverted or super outgoing it just depends how I feel💕.

Of course, you can have a Riverdale and the originals ship you can have as many ships as you want

Riverdale

Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III

Jughead found you gorgeous

Jughead and you both love to read so there are a lot of nights where the two of you cuddle reading your separate books

Jughead loves to go book shopping with you

Your face lights up and he finds it adorable

Jughead and you are both writers

You are the only person that gets to read Jugheads book 

He encourages you to write he believes you have a future in writing

He jokes you both are going to be an author power couple in the future

When writing for the blue and gold he takes photos and you write

Jughead never was too into poetry 

He found it repetitive, boring, and inaccurate

Until you introduced him to the vast world of poetry

Now you both spend hours reading poetry to one another

You both love to go to slam poetry nights

Jughead loves rainy days it gives him an excuse to stay in and cuddle with you maybe read or do some writing

Jughead also loved to take you to play in the rain

One time he set up a picnic under an umbrella in the rain

When your nervous start to act up Jughead wraps his arms around you and holds you until you calm down

When you are overthinking things Jughead likes to take you to pops and just let you rant

He even created an exercise in case he couldn’t be with you where he had you write out all the things that could go wrong and then one way that could go write for every wrong situation

Jughead is very introverted if it wasn’t for you the only people he would talk to would be his inner circle

You give him that push he needs to go out and have a little fun

But your introverted side also helps balance and not push him too much he is miserable

You bring the perfect balance into his life

Jughead has a tight-knit group of friends the core four and the serpents

So when you came into his life with your close friend's group he was relieved he wouldn’t be forced to pretend to be a social person

Jughead was someone that focused on every small piece of life and you saw the big picture and didn’t sweat the little stuff

So you balanced each other he learned to focus less on the little things and more on the big things while you learned to not only care about the outcome but the journey to

Jughead and you lie in bed discussing philosophical issues

You and the serpent king are constantly questioning everything

Jughead doesn’t admit it but most everything he does is based off emotions so he has to help you make a decision with facts and not emotions and you have to help him make a decision with facts and not emotions

Jughead doesn’t have much planned so his schedule is pretty flexible and yours is to which is grateful for because it means more time he can spend with you

(added headcanon) Jughead took you to the drive-in and then to pop’s every night before it was closed down

The Originals

Elijah Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson found you stunning

He considered you the most beautiful woman that he has laid his eyes on in his 1000+ years of life

Klaus enjoys reading

His life is chaotic so he needs a calming hobby like reading

You both sit in his study your head on his lap his hand lightly running through your hair 

Your reading your favorite book he is reading his book hand only leaving your hair to flip the page

Elijah loves to buy your books or take you book shopping

Your face lights up and it makes Elijah melt

Elijah literally purchased a library for you

Elijah dabbled in writing but never found himself to be any good

Elijah loves your writing

He is your biggest fan and supporter

The original vampire is always on the edge of his seat waiting for what you will write next

He always tells you that you have a very strong potential career in writing

Elijah has always loved poetry

He knew and were friends with many of the great poets 

He loves to share poems that his friends left to him in there death that had never been released

When you took him to his first poetry reading he loved it and now he takes you weekly

Elijah loves rainy days

The slight chill in the air the dark clouds the soothing sound the smell

It is soothing to him

He loves to just sit in his study with a nice cup of tea and a book or just sit at the window snuggling with you watching the rain

When you are nervous Elijah cuddles you close whispering words of encouragement in your ear until you have calmed

When you are overthinking things Elijah sits you in the most comfortable chair in the house pours you a cup of tea brings you a weighted blanket and just talks everything over with you

He lets you rant and then he tries to help you overcome the bad thoughts

Elijah is an introvert but because of his family he is forced to be an extrovert

So Elijah adores the way you can go from being a princess of New Orleans with him as your prince to a book worm hiding away from the world

You balance with him well which is what he needs in his life

There were very few people Elijah trusted you and his family

So he was relieved that you lived the same way a small amount of really close people by your side

He mostly was relieved because he knew your friends would become a part of his life and he didn’t want to endanger a bunch more people

Elijah’s life demands to study every key detail

He constantly worried and stressed over tiny problems

You, on the other hand, put yourself in a lot of danger because you didn’t care about minor details only the big picture

So you balanced each other out you helped him worry less and relax a little bit while he taught you to be careful and think things through a little more before diving into the deep end

Elijah isn’t too big on discussing philosophical issues but he does because you like to

No matter how weird the thing your questioning os or how much it doesn’t make since he still listens and debates because you enjoy it

Elijah was never one to make decisions on emotions that was his siblings’ thing

When he met you and you did the seem it didn’t phase him

He lets you make a decision that you think is right then he stops you and helps you re-decide with the facts

Elijah very rarely has a free moment so it took some time getting used to how you prefer to keep your schedule open

Now he is grateful for it because when he does get a spare moment he gets to spend it with you

(Extra headcanon) Elijah surprises you with a new present daily 

(A/n sorry if your infp traits are wrong I googled them and it said the dominate traits are 

Value close friendships with a few people

 Prioritize the big picture over small details 

Think deeply about philosophical issues

 Make decisions based on emotion

 Keep their schedules flexible

so I wrote some of these headcanons based on those traits so I am sorry if those are wrong anyways thank you for requesting a ship I hope you enjoyed this if not let me know and I will give it another shot)

(Remember everyone my asks box is always open for ship and imagine request or just to talk and answer questions the same goes for my inbox. I would love to talk and befriend all you lovely people)

[noona-clock]

Study: Lee Seunghyun

In which we dig deeper under the surface of our favorite KPOP idols.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the gifs used in this post. I am not an astrologer nor am I a professional psychologist. These are my opinions based on the research I have done personally/as a hobby. If you disagree with any of these statements, please do so respectfully.

-Admin B

Sun Sign: Sagittarius (Fire)

If you know anything about astrology, you will know Lee Seunghyun is a Sagittarius. Through. And. Through. I really feel like there’s nothing about Sagittarius that doesn’t apply to Seunghyun? It’s almost freaky.

Sagittarius signs are fun to be around, plain and simple. They’re super enthusiastic, and they’re very good at telling stories and making people laugh. Does this sound familiar? Seunghyun is 100% the most enthusiastic and fun member of BigBang. He’s the maknae, yes, but it’s not a maknae act! He’s just genuinely positive and outgoing and fun-loving and flirty. This is completely the Sagittarius in him! 

Sagittarius is a sign which is ruled by Jupiter, known to be one of the luckiest planets. So Sagittarians are just generally lucky people. They don’t live perfect lives, of course, but things usually seem to work out in their favor. They are very important people most of the time, and they’re very aware of their importance and purpose in life. They’re definitely known to be confident - a lot of the time, even over-confident. And I’m pretty sure VIPs will agree with me when I say Seunghyun is extremely confident. But he has a right to be! Like a Sagittarius usually is, Seunghyun is good at everything! He is a jack of all trades, certainly, and he dabbles in so many different things. He loves to learn, especially languages, which is another Sagittarius trait.

Along with the Sagittarius confidence comes the ability to know they deserve to be treated well. I’m pretty sure Seunghyun only puts up with teasing from his hyungs because... they’re his hyungs. There’s always that look on his face which clearly says “I really don’t deserve this.” But he doesn’t get upset because he knows he’s the maknae, and he has to respect his elders.

Moon Sign: Libra (Air)

Like Jiyong, Seunghyun’s moon sign is Libra. While I’m pretty positive he identifies more with his Sun sign, I can still definitely see some Libra in him. Libras are described as charming, social, adaptable, and artistic. While Seunghyun doesn’t contribute much to the music of BigBang, he has mastered the art of business. He’s also extremely charming and social - his picture is next to those two words in the dictionary. And he’s certainly adaptable - or at least willing to be adaptable! He’s not scared to put himself in any situation, and he’ll try just about anything once!

Libras are also very drawn to expensive things. They like to treat themselves to designer clothing, expensive watches, amazing gourmet food, and we really do see this in Seunghyun. He’s always dressed to the 9s (whether or not his taste is your taste), and he cares a lot about how he looks. He cares about how the people around him look, too! He’s extremely concerned with image, and he only wants the best (which would also be his Sagittarius side coming out, lol).

While I usually don’t talk too much about the negative sides to a sign, I have to bring up the fact Libras can be very melodramatic. Because Seunghyun can also be very melodramatic. He’s so extra and over the top, and that’s why we love him, right?

Chinese Astrology: Metal Horse

It’s times like this when I just love studying astrology. When I was reading descriptions on different websites for the Horse, I just kept going “Um, yes. That’s our Seungri, all right. YEP, that’s him too. Wait, is this actually written about Seungri and not just horses in general?” IT’S CRAZY!

Horses are known for being brave, ambitious, charming, persuasive, determined, likable... Need I go on?

Seunghyun is just a true horse, okay? Just like he’s a true Sagittarius! The Chinese Zodiac views Horses as extremely lovely, charming people who have very active social lives. Most of the time, they have massive amounts of friends, and they spend a lot of their time with people. Seunghyun is basically friends with everyone, have you noticed? He’s always popping up in other idols’ Instagram posts and stories! And in his own stories, he’s always tagging a bunch of people, and his posts are very rarely of him just by himself. His social circle is huge, and that’s how he likes it.

Horses are also very determined to succeed. Their goal in life is to just go as far as they can without stopping. Seunghyun certainly does this. He’s extremely hard-working; he’s literally always doing something, always making connections, always putting himself out there. If someone in life is going to succeed, it’s going to be a Horse, and Seunghyun is a Horse through and through. Horses also tend to have a wide range of interests, and this has helped Seunghyun in his endeavors. He does so many things! Music, clubs, DJing, ramen restaurants, record labels, medical companies, cafes... What doesn’t he do?!

Numerology: Life Path  7

Honestly, I wasn’t that surprised when I found out Seunghyun’s Life Path number is the same as Jiyong’s. I mean, we saw earlier they have the same moon sign! But I do feel like both of them share pretty similar life goals. They both want to become their own brand - they just have different ways of going about it!

A person with the Life Path number of 7 is known as “The Seeker.” This can be interpreted in so many ways, and I believe what Seunghyun is seeking most is popularity. This is not a bad thing because he’s doing it for the right reasons. He wants to make the world a better place, and he knows he can best do this by putting himself out there. He has so many side projects and businesses besides BigBang, so he’s constantly seeking in that regard.

7s are also known to be very intense and intelligent, and we definitely see that in Seunghyun! He kind of has to be intense and intelligent with everything he’s got going on, and I feel both of these traits just come naturally to him. 7s also are excellent communicators, and they set really high expectations for themselves and other people. Seunghyun knows how many languages, now? He’s not particularly fluent in most of them, but he knows enough to communicate pretty well! He’s set such a high expectation for himself to be able to relate to and reach out to all of his international fans, so he just goes and learns the language! You can tell he tries to get the other members to learn them, as well, because he’s always encouraging or correcting them. Bless his heart.

MBTI: ESTP

Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving

Seunghyun is the only true Extrovert in BigBang. And it’s painfully obvious he is actually an Extrovert. And he’s a very, very outgoing Extrovert. He is pretty much constantly out and about doing something, and he always has things going on. He doesn’t do quiet, and he definitely doesn’t do low-key. He loves to be around people, and he’s the type to make friends with anyone and everyone. He’s about as ‘out there’ as a person can get.

I would type Seunghyun as Sensing because he seems really “hands on.” He liked to really be involved, especially with his businesses, so he can learn more and become more successful. Sensing types learn best through their own experiences, and this just seems like Seunghyun to me. He’s an entertainer through and through, and he really prefers to be out and about and around people. While this definitely goes along with his Extroversion, it also shows he prefers to use his external senses. He likes to see, hear, touch and just be immersed in a setting.

Typing Seunghyun as Thinking was a very difficult decision for me. To me, it seems like Seunghyun really doesn’t think before he speaks, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he would be Feeling. That just shows he loves to talk and is very outgoing and extroverted. I then thought about how business oriented he is, which is why I ultimately typed him as a T. Out of all the BigBang members, I think he would be the first to jump at the chance to take over Papa YG’s place as CEO. He understands music isn’t just about writing good songs, it’s also about good promotion. Music can’t make people feel good if they don’t listen to it, am I right? At least this is what Seunghyun thinks. In addition, he doesn’t seem to be a very empathetic person. Kind of like a “Why are you crying? Stand up and dust yourself off, you’re fine,” kind of person. Y’know?

I’m fairly positive Seunghyun would type as Perceiving. While this can mean he has a more flexible approach to life and is not necessarily worried about organization, it mainly means his Sensing function is more dominant than his Thinking function. I was definitely iffy about whether or not he was Thinking or feeling, but I was not when it came to Sensing or Intuition. This is pretty telling that his Sensing function is clearly dominant.

Other Studies: Kwon Jiyong, Choi Seunghyun, Dong Youngbae, Kang Daesung

Master list // RULES // Submit a Request! // Read About the Admins

[judailover]

Welcome to Sweet Amoris  part 2

Alright part two will focus on Zaina! @themclbird‘s Phoebe will be making another appearance here :)

The moment Zaina walked out of the student council room, she waited. She waited for a minute to see if Akiza really was going to stay. And she did. It was a bittersweet moment for Zaina because she knew that she wanted Akiza to live her own life and make her own friends but...

She also wanted her to still say by her side. Akiza has really been the only friend Zaina's had and she felt a bit lonely. But it is the way it has to be. She had to pick herself up and make friends as well. She promised Akiza that she was going to be a model student in this school and so she will. With that thought in mind Zaina opened her schedule from her phone and started to look for her classes. The first class she had was English literature in room  508.  It didn't take long for Zaina to find the classroom and as she walks over to her next classroom she spots a door wide open. Curiosity, of course, took the best out of her and she walks over to the room. She pops her head in to see a teenage girl with a gorgeous black curly mane, frantically typing on a computer.

"Shit, this is the last time I'm going over to the park late at night," the teen mumbled to herself as she back spaces all of her work.

Zaina soon realized that the girl was having major trouble and she didn't want to disturb her. The moment she turned around though, her bag hit a bunch of books that were on a table next to the door, causing the books to fall in a very loud manner. Zaina winces at the sound and looks up to see if there was a chance the girl didn't hear anything. Of course, her eyes were wide open and looking straight at her.

"Uh... I'm...uh sorry," Zaina said as she tried to put the books back on the table.

The girl gets off from her spot and walks over to help with the books.

"Are you new by any chance?" she asked as she picked the last book off the ground.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Zaina coughs, "My name is Zaina, nice to meet you."

The girl smiles sweetly at Zaina and extends her hand, "Phoebe."

As Zaina takes her hand, she couldn't help but notice how soft they were. They were just as soft as Akiza's, it was obvious that she took care of them. Zaina took a closer look at the girl in front of her and she could really tell that she did took great care of herself. Her makeup was very on point as was her hair. It shined very radiantly in Zaina's mind, it almost reminded her of how her hair used to be before she chopped it all off. Matter of fact, their length would have been just about the same.

"Well I'll let you get back to work, you seem like you're on a deadline or something," Zaina said

Phoebe's face lights up, "Wait! Wait! I just had an amazing idea! See, I need hand Nathaniel the final draft of the newspaper before school started, but I still need to write one more article before I hand it in. I have been here for about ten minutes trying to figure out what exactly I was going to write about since we are barely getting back to school. But to write an article about a new student would be perfect! Would you mind if I wrote an article about you on the newspaper? It would really mean a lot to me."

Zaina thought about it for a minute. Wouldn't it be better to have her first impression in the hands of all the students instead of introducing herself to them? Especially if Phoebe was going to try write only nice things about her? To be  honest, it seemed like a win-win for Zaina. But what about Akiza? Wouldn't she want to be in the newspaper as well? Probably not, but she wouldn't mind either and besides she was pretty sure that Phoebe would want to  know that she wasn't the only new girl in school.

"Yeah, of course. Just one thing though, my cousin is also a new student in this school so if you could write an article about us both that would be great," Zaina said

"Would your cousin mind?"

"Nah, she'll be cool with it I promise."

Phoebe smiles brightly, "Alright then! How about you take a seat next to me and tell me about yourself and your cousin while I write things down."

Zaina nods as follows over to the curly haired writer and took a sit right next to her.

"So what is your name and grade?" Phoebe started off

"My name is Zaina Star and I am a junior. I'll be turning 17 in June. As for my cousin her name is Akiza Scarlet and she is also a junior and has already turned 17 in December."

Phoebe writes for a few seconds, "Alright tell me why did you guys transfer here to Sweet Amoris?"

Zaina tenses up for a bit and plays back a memory where she punched a certain authority figure from her last school right in the nose. He had it coming. He deserved it, but that wasn't something that they needed to know or that she wanted them to know.

"My father, along with Akiza's parents graduated from this school and so the principal welcomed both me and Akiza with open arms to the school." Zaina said

"Cool one of these days maybe you could swing by here and we can totally, look through their yearbooks." Phoebe said as she continued to write, while looking at Zaina.

Usually Zaina didn't want to be with people who only suggest to hang out just to be nice, but for some reason she didn't get that vibe from her. It really seemed like this Phoebe girl is being genuine about her suggestion and Zaina didn't know if she liked it or not.

"Yeah that would be cool." She said

"Ok so now I just want to know some little things about you and your cousin. What are your favorite things to do? Any hobbies? Favorite type of music? I'm just spit balling here so if you have any ideas please feel free to tell me." She gives Zaina her full on attention.

"Oh, um, well..." Zaina stops to think for a moment, "Before I went to high I was home schooled. I was in a Ballet academy for most of my entire life, training to become a professional ballerina. But...uh.. due to some personal event I decided it would be best to quit ballet and go to regular school and be a regular high school student. I still think that deep down my dream is still to be a ballerina, but we will see."

Phoebe stops what she was doing and gapes at the ex-ballerina, "You used to be a ballerina? That's so awesome! I have a few years of dance under my belt but I never dabbled on ballet. I mean it is a hardcore thing here in Euroupe, so that's amazing that you can dance ballet."

The compliments were honestly out of the blue for Zaina, but greatly appreciated.

"Thank you, you're too kind."

Phoebe then shakes her head and laughs, "Alright how about Akiza?

Zaina smiles at the thought of her cousin, "Akiza is an amazing person. She is one of the most responsible people you will ever meet. She loves to play volleyball, both on the court and at the beach.  She is a killer spiker, let me just tell you haha. She also the kind of  person who knows exactly what you need to hear. She will definitely be a great asset to this school, because of everything she can offer to the school."

Phoebe focuses her eyes on the computer but still wanted to chime in about Zaina's introduction to her cousin.

"You think very highly of your cousin don't you?"

She could see in the corner of her eye Zaina's red cheeks and smiles.

"Akiza is the most selfless person that I have ever met. I have never seen her do anything just for herself and I admire that very much. Especially since I've been nothing but selfish these past two years. So I just want to be a better person and that's the real reason I'm here. I thought that maybe if I followed my father's footsteps I could find a myself a better side of me." Zaina said, not really realizing that she said it out loud. But that didn't stop Phoebe from wrapping her arms around Zaina and squeezing her tight.

"Looks to me like you need a friend," she said, "If you like, I'd more than happy to be your friend."

Zaina's heart stops for a moment. When was the last time she ever really had a friend?  She had friends from the ballet academy, but they never really hung out as much because they had to focus on their dance routines and such. Then after she decided to quit, well...

She didn't want to get close to anyone. Akiza became her best friend because she had to be there for her. They were family, they had to be there for one another. Zaina undoubtedly decided that she didn't want friends. That she didn't deserve to have them. Deep down she felt like she would be a horrible daughter if she moved on. If she took the time to heal and be happy again. But for some reason, with this hug she finally thought otherwise. Her parents wouldn't want her to continue to be sad and neither would Akiza for that matter. With that thought in mind, Zaina wraps her arms around Phoebe and whispered a raspy thank you in her ear.

There was a reason as to why the world gave her this opportunity to be in this high school. Because of this high school her father met his best friends, who turned out to be Akiza's parents. If it wasn't for this school he wouldn't have met Akiza's mother and that meant he wouldn't have met her mother. A sense of relief overflows Zaina with that thought in her mind. This place was going to help change her life for the better and Phoebe was the first person to show her that.

The girls departed from the hug and smiled to each other. Phoebe soon looks at the clock on the wall.

"Oh shit! I got to go and print this draft for Nathaniel! I'm sorry Zaina, if we don't have any classes together I'll find you during lunch alright?" Phoebe said as she jumps up and presses the print button on the computer.

As she gets the papers and staples them together Zaina opens the door for Phoebe.

"Hey Phoebe!" Zaina shouted across the hallway as Phoebe runs over to the student council room, "You shouldn't  just offer to be friends with just anyone you know! Because now, you're stuck with me!"

Phoebe laughs, but doesn't stop running.

"I look forward to it!" She shouted back with a thumbs up in the air.

[omnical]

I Sing the Body Electric... (1/?)

( Next )

Summary: All her life, forensic pathologist Dr. Angela Ziegler has dabbled much with the dead. After a bout of self-realization, she decides it was time she learned how to deal with the living.

And maybe ask her colleague out for a date somehow.

Genre: AU, Romance. Dark humor. Oh, and ghosts and psychics (anyone a fan of pushing daisies?)

Characters/Pairings: Angela, Lucio, Fareeha (mentioned), Pharmercy

Rating: T, mentions of body gore and third party violence, dark humor.

Links: AO3

Victim died from a singular sharp force: a penetrating wound to the head, resulting in cranial injury.

Left side, approximately 1.53 inches superior to the left orbit.

No murder weapon discovered in the crime scene.

Angela hummed, tapping her lip with the pen.

She paused the voice recorder and wrote her thoughts down on a yellow notebook, leg bobbing, her mind sinking deeper into concentration. By her elbow, a steaming cup of coffee remained untouched, and a nine-hour-old, empty sandwich wrapper laid crumpled up in a ball. Empty coffee cups littered her desk, alongside a mess of sticky notes with crucial thoughts written on them, such as: ‘the nasal cavity?’ and ‘lentil soup’.

Her uniform smelled freshly of antiseptic and murk from the examination they had performed earlier today. It sunk into her skin, her hair; lingering under her nose. Nothing she wasn’t used to, but being used to the smell did not mean she wouldn’t enjoy a long, hot shower back home. Finally, wiping biscuit crumbs off her wobbling keyboard and cracking her long, crooked fingers -- Angela got to work threading the details together. Her peering blue eyes did not break away from the notes and sketches she accumulated, as she typed down her meticulous observations regarding the case. And after what felt like hours, Dr. Ziegler sat back stiffly, curled hands hovering above the keyboard as she skimmed through her official autopsy report, eyes straining from overexposure to the monitor light.

She needed a few more moments of scribbling and typing and biting her pen. Playing the recorder again, keeping it on repeat; she listened to the sound of her voice, crackling and interspersed with static:

Body was found by janitorial staff at 1:30 PM.

According to the man in question, he was lying face-down on his desk, his pose suggesting a struggle, which explains various points of discoloration on his skin…

Blunt force trauma found on abdomen… bruising prominent beneath the left rib –

Where was his position when he received that bruise again?

Angela hummed, her thumbs tapping a random rhythm on the keyboard's space-key.

Once she reached the end of the tape for the third time, marked by a soft ‘click’, afternoon had already come and gone, her desktop monitor the only light bathing her in blue. She hid the recorder in the drawer, her free hand busy alternating between drafting a few rough sketches on paper, and typing exact details on the autopsy report. The doctor took a moment to grab a folder for Case #765 on top of a pile, opening it and flipping over to the photos of the crime scene: dried blood splattered outwards in every chaotic direction on the victim’s mahogany desk; his leather writing pad askew, probably because of how the body fell upon its expiry. She pinched her pen idly between her nose and upper lip, noting how neat the rest of the victim’s desk looked otherwise. She wondered what Satya would say about that particular pattern of blood. It looked like a bunny rabbit.

“Doc Ziegler?”

Cutting herself off in the middle of her thoughts before it drifted too far, Angela reached out to grab her coffee cup, not minding its ice-cold contents, and re-read her notes during their Internal Examination. Angela could only imagine what kind of weapon the murderer used. Or get an idea of what it was, at least, after seeing the results of the death blow herself. This seemed like a tricky one.

“Doc?”

Now if she were to make a guess, it would have been an extremely sharp knife with a serrated edge or…

Angela blindly grabbed for her pen, cocking her head when she realized, during her feverish thought process, she had lost the blasted thing somewhere and could not for the life of her remember where…

“Yo, Dr. Ziegler!” Angela blinked rapidly when Dr. dos Santos’ face appeared in front of her peripheral vision, her blurry sight sharpening until she could see the quirk of his eyebrow and his amused smirk up close. “Busy?” After a pause, a few seconds spent allowing her mind to buffer as she forcefully snapped herself back into reality, Angela jumped in her chair and uttered a small and startled ‘oh’. Her speeding thoughts halting violently in its tracks, not unlike a race car screeching out of the road in a rabble of chaos. She blinked again and, similar to the spread of colored dye blooming in water, her mind began to consciously feel the kinks and aches in her bones ignored for too long. A beat, and she realized her stomach had also released an embarrassing rumble on top of it all. She sent Lucio a sheepish look.

“Doctor, I’m sorry, I -- ” Angela shoved her skewed glasses up her nose, “You startled me.”

Lucio shook his head and rested hands on his hips while he regarded his frazzled mentor. There were biscuit crumbs dotting the corners of her mouth, and her blonde hair stuck up in several different directions all at once. Her clothing was rumpled and frayed, high heels pushed to the corner of her desk, leaving her feet covered in wrinkled stockings, and -- there were coffee stains on her shirt. He sighed, wondering who was really looking after who, in their professional relationship.

“So,” he said, elongating the word into a drawl, “Please tell me you ate lunch?”

Dr. Ziegler cleared her throat, “Yes, of course I had lunch.” she said, wiping crumbs off her chin. “I had something hot and soup-like almost an hour ago, and – “

“I don’t think coffee counts as ‘lunch’, Angela.”

Angela groaned in defeat and closed her eyes, watching bright spots dance beneath her eyelids as her body melted into the chair like putty. She breathed in deep, then stretched her legs out with an exhale. “Just finishing up on some paperwork, that’s all. You know how I get carried away sometimes.”

“How about all the time? And I think ‘carried away’ wasn’t exactly the term I was looking for. Try ‘workaholic’, or ‘perfectionist’.” Lucio leaned his hip against Angela’s desk, crossing his arms, and peering down at her with a mock frown, his neon green headset bunched up around his neck. Even if Dr. Lucio dos Santos was many years younger than her, and technically working under her, Angela hunkered down into her seat feeling much like a child under the watchful eyes of a parent. “When was the last time you took a ten-minute break, young lady?”

“I am not working too hard,” Angela groused. She sat back up in her seat with a grunt, feeling her back and neck pop. “This is just regular me, doing my regular me things,” She shot him a look. “Mom.”

“Don’t give me lip, young lady, you know you’re wrong about this,” Lucio said, “As your colleague, you know I respect and look up to you. But as your friend? You gotta start taking care of yourself, Angela.”

Angela huffed through her nose and began to get her hands busy, stacking the mess of reports which covered her desk into a neat-ish pile, and actively trying to avoid the look Lucio was giving her. “Just be glad I am out of my funk, Dr. dos Santos. I am happy, motivated, and ready to take on the next seventeen cases.” Even the smile on her face felt fake. “Bring it on.”

“Uhuh.” Lucio wryly glanced at the mess of documents under her desk. “Angela, I’m sorry I gotta tell you this, but you have got to get a hobby. Doing something other than work might help you more with this midlife crisis thing.”

“I am not having a midlife crisis thing. I’m not that old, doctor. And–” Angela raised her eyebrows, denial written plainly across her face, “I do have a hobby,” she said with a shrug, “It just so happens that my hobby is related to my work.”

“Your hobby is dead bodies.” Lucio muttered.

“Solving problems. Discovering the unknown.”

“… About dead bodies.”

“Now, if you would kindly excuse me,” Angela threw her entire weight into tossing a giant, teetering stack of documents on the floor next to her feet with a huff. “I was, in fact, about to go and take my break.” she said, dusting her hands together, “Want to have lunch with me, doctor? It will be my treat.”

“It’s seven-thirty in the evening, Doc.”

“Oh, well, time flies I suppose.” Angela said, opening one of her desk drawers, then absentmindedly shoving Jim Jam wrappers and empty coffee cups inside. As if that would make her trash disappear in the morning.

After six months working in King’s Row Forensics Department, the terrifying sight of Dr. Ziegler’s desk hygiene was common enough for Dr. dos Santos to see. He learned early from older residents how futile it was to drag Dr. Ziegler away from a job, and Dr. dos Santos no longer stared at her and her atrocious, self-destructive habits in awe. Their student-mentor positions didn’t stop Lucio from chastising her about her work ethic, especially after witnessing drawn shadows prominent under her eyes everyday, and her smudged make up only completed Angela's usual look. Now one of Lucio’s many fears was finding Angela Ziegler in their morgue someday.

However.

Dr. dos Santos peered at her above the rim of his glasses, and noted the glow about her cheeks with a raised brow.

"Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen you this excited about solving a case since…”

“I am always excited about solving cases.”

“But where was that Doc Ziegler who was ‘tired of it all’ and who ‘wanted to do something new with her life’?” he asked, “Someone who wanted nothing to do with ‘death and dead stuff’? Don't give me that look, you know what I'm talkin' about."

"Lucio--"

"Where was that Angela Ziegler who was planning to quit and maybe try being a football coach or a field medic or something?”

“She is still here, and she happened to get a grip on reality after a lot of thinking.” Angela said, ducking her head, as if that would hide the dusting of red on her cheeks. “Besides, I am already finished with this case. The precinct needs it urgently tomorrow, and, you know…” she stumbled on her words.

“And?”

“I had to finish it quickly.” Angela finished lamely, her voice raising an octave higher as if that would make her sound innocent with her intentions. “Detective Amari was asking about it this morning, and I felt compelled to help her crack this case as soon as possible.”

Lucio felt both his eyebrows reach up his hairline. “Oh. I see. I see.” he said, a twinkle reaching his eye while he casually turned to check his nails, trying to appear more interested with its polish rather than the conversation itself, “Detective Dimples is an awesome source of motivation, isn’t she? Hoping to share a hobby with her, huh?”

“Oh, Lucio!” Angela almost jumped out of her chair, smacking his shoulder with a manila folder. “Don’t call her Detective Dimples.”

“Hey, you were the one swooning over her ‘smoky voice‘ and ‘beautiful smile’ a few days ago.” Lucio laughed, rubbing at the spot she slapped. “Admit it, doc, you’re too gay to handle another meeting with her.”

Angela exhaled, and schooled her features before she became too flustered; raking her fingers through her hair, and hoping the red flush now covering her neck down would fade before another nosy nancy came into the office.

Relax. You are a doctor. You are a professional.

She straightened up in her chair, and folded her hands together in her lap. “I wanted to make sure I handed it in right away, that is all.” she said, managing an impressive professional lull in the tone of her voice. “I didn’t want to make our relationship with the precinct worse than it already is. And secondly,” Angela’s brows pinched in annoyance, and pointed at her office with a sharp jab of her forefinger: “‘Detective Dimples’ stays inside this room, doctor.”

“Detective Amari’s bone structure and cheekbones are so sharp and prominent–“

“Lucio.”

“It makes me want to take up anthropology. Oh Detective.”

“Lucio!”

“Fine, fine, I promise I won’t bring it up again.” he said, trying not to double up in laughter, his poor attempt almost making him slip off her desk. “Professional reasons my ass, though, I know you’re her favorite in the lab. Always asking about you and your ‘thoughts’.” he waggled his eyebrows, “You should ask her out instead of doing this–” he motioned his hands at her vaguely, “Weird flirting ritual thing you’re doing. I doubt you can woo her by talking about dead bodies, Doc Ziegler.”

“I do no such thing, doctor.”

“You need to get out there and get a life. Any life. Get a hobby. Get some friends. Ask Detective A out on a sweet date. Live a little.”

“I do have friends. You’re my friend, yes? Sometimes I even read books.”

“Thrilling.”

“And the detective and I do connect, socially, but just as acquaintances and nothing more.” Angela said, pulling her fingers thoughtfully, “I am a grown woman, doctor, I have complete control of my life.”

“Last time you spoke to her, you struck up a conversation about bile.”

“Well, I thought it was fascinating.” Angela grabbed the rest of her documents and began to rearrange them in a tray next to her monitor, this time with less gusto, feeling herself hunch over as her mind began to conjure up depressing thoughts. “I don’t think I am her type, anyways.”

“Oh, nonsense.”

But it was true. Whether Angela liked it or not, why would anybody consider dating a frumpy, high-strung workaholic, who liked to open up dead bodies for a living?

Dr. Ziegler and Detective Amari were connected through their profession only, no matter what her feelings were. They barely did anything beyond striking awkward pleasantries and empty conversations with each other. Trying anything more proved too much for her to handle. She found it difficult navigating through compelling words above work jargon, while stuttering and pushing through her infuriating and terrifying feelings. Not even the universe was kind enough to let them to meet on different circumstances, thus, they only ever saw each other to discuss murder cases among... other things.

Angela’s eyes, tired and unfocused, turned to look back at the autopsy report, wishing she could get sucked back into its world, where things had more clarity and sense and nothing was embarrassing.

Angela wondered when speaking with the dead became easier for her than dealing with the living.

She checked the time on her digital clock, blinking when she read it was now seven-forty six in the evening. The lights from the city cast a glow over the smoggy horizon, and as Angela listened carefully, she could hear police sirens echo off from a distance. She wondered if it was going to be another case they would eventually find through their doors.

Another body, another life ended.

She felt a hand on her shoulder ground her, all teasing gone from Lucio’s voice. “You won’t know unless you try, Doc.”

EDITED (26/09/17): Just the pacing and switched some words :) Thank you!

[caveartfair]

How Jonas Wood Got His Start as an Artist

Artist Jonas Wood possesses one of contemporary painting’s most instantly recognizable aesthetics. His canvases depict plants and ceramics, often on shelves or in lush domestic interiors, rendered with a flattened perspective in vibrant hues. Yet Wood’s work is hardly formulaic. His subjects are merely vehicles for skillful, textured mark-making, which evolves year by year.

Success caught Wood (b. 1977) early. In 2006, four years after he graduated from the MFA program at the University of Washington, the Los Angeles art space Black Dragon Society gave him a solo show that launched his career. In the years since, he has participated in exhibitions from Tokyo to Dusseldorf, Los Angeles to Beirut. Through July 14th, the Dallas Museum of Art is mounting Wood’s first major solo museum presentation.

Jonas Wood, Untitled (Self Portrait), 2006. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist and Black Dragon Society.

Wood now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, fellow artist Shio Kusaka, and their two children. Before he was settled and successful, though, Wood was floundering and alone, struggling to develop the discipline and practice that have led to over a decade of fruitful making.

How did you become interested in art?

Jonas Wood, Ideal Living Room, 2006. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist and Black Dragon Society.

My parents were into art. My dad was an architect. My mom was a drama teacher. They took me and my sisters to museums. I remember visiting the MFA Boston, where I grew up. Once, I saw a Lichtenstein landscape show there. We went to New York City and I saw MoMA and the Met.

A woman named Kimmy came to our house once a week to teach art to my sister and me. My sister, Augusta Wood, who’s now a photographer, was already an amazing artist at around 12.

Jonas at his parents house, Weston, MA, circa 1997. Courtesy of Wood Kusaka Studios.

My grandfather collected art. He had this giant Francis Bacon painting that he’d bought in the ’60s, hanging above the living room piano. It didn’t mean that much to me at the time, but when I got to grad school I was like—holy shit, I grew up with a Bacon painting. My grandfather also had a blue Jackie O Warhol in his study.

I had learning disabilities and dyslexia—I got kicked out of public school in third grade because I was disruptive—but was good at puzzles and drawings. I was a maker. I think my parents pushed me to do that stuff as much as possible because it was rewarding for me. They weren’t saying, “You should be an artist,” but they thought it was good that I was making stuff.

I was in an environment where there was a lot of interesting art, but I don’t know if I was really conscious of it until later.

You got your bachelor’s degree in psychology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, then decided to get your MFA. What made you decide to pursue art?

I was just somebody who made stuff. Maybe other people’s perceptions were like, “This guy’s an artist.” But early on, it was just my hobby. I doodled, made colored pencil drawings, took undergraduate art courses. After my junior year of college, I finished my major in psychology and then reconsidered my plan: I always thought I wanted to be a doctor. Instead, I started learning to paint and get better at art. This was around 1999.

Jonas Wood, Untitled (Rosy), 2006. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist and Black Dragon Society

Jonas Wood, Untitled (M Tree), 2006. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist and Black Dragon Society.

Out of college, I started working in a psychology lab—an fMRI lab with neuroscientist Deborah Yurgelun-Todd. I administered IQ tests to study participants. At the same time, a friend let me paint out of his barn. I painted all of my family members—already, I was just mining the stuff around me for material. I made enough work that I could try to get into painting school. Still, I didn’t really see myself as an artist. It was when I got to grad school that I realized I had all this time to just do this one thing I’d been dabbling in my whole life.

Now, art is my life and my therapy, and if I don’t do it, I’m not going to feel great. It definitely has saved me in some ways.

Were any instructors particularly helpful?

This college professor, Nick Ruth, told me I needed to learn how to draw and spend more time working. That was really good advice. He also suggested I go to the University of Washington for my MFA and study with the person who’d taught him, Denzil Hurley, who shows at Canada Gallery. I applied to seven or eight schools and only got in there—which makes me think it was definitely nepotism. One person was vouching for me. If you look at my work from that time, it was so pedestrian; unrefined and underdeveloped, but I was ready to work.

Jonas Wood’s graduate school studio, 2001. University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Courtesy of Wood Kusaka Studios.

I instantly connected with Denzil’s approach. He had this idea that you should be able to make the work even if you live in the woods by yourself in a cabin, without anyone coming over to tell you what’s good. You should be able to be critical of your work and push yourself to have a painting practice. I needed to learn that because I just had raw ambition and potent surroundings. Denzil was like the painting Yoda.

I knew I was a figurative artist. Denzil told me I shouldn’t paint from life, though. So I removed this mirror (which I was using so I could paint from life) from my studio and ended up having this horrible accident. The mirror shattered and a shard of glass cut my right hand really badly. I cut a tendon and nicked this nerve bundle. It was like this weird metaphor.

Left-handed paintings. Jonas Wood, Shio with Three Eyes, 2002. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist.

Jonas Wood, Untitled, 2002. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist.

This surgeon—who worked with dock workers who had accidentally cut their fingers off—had to sew my hand back together. I couldn’t use my right hand for four months. I finished the work for my thesis show with my left hand. They were these crazy paintings with cartoonish shapes; angry paintings that wouldn’t make any sense if you saw them.

Since that time, I haven’t painted from life.

How did you land on your signature style?

When I was in grad school, I made images with letters and numbers and tried different ways to mark-make and make a line—it was all over the place. I didn’t have anything to hold onto. Then I started to develop these big, flat shapes and colors that pushed up against each other with different colors. The flatness comes from this idea that painting isn’t real; it can be whatever you want it to be.

Red Rug Still Life, 2015. Jonas Wood David Kordansky Gallery

I wasn’t giving myself enough time to mix paints before I tried to make an oil painting and move everything around and change all the colors. Everything would get muddy. It was like my brain was moving faster than my body. I couldn’t even access my ideas. Finding myself as a painter was figuring out how to change things, so that I could get a result that matched what I was thinking of in the first place.

I started sourcing images, compiling pictures that I took (of plants, for example) or cut out of magazines, or that people gave me. I’ve always been super into color. I started picking out the most potent stuff, [combining] a bunch of found images to make a hybrid space. It just kept evolving.

Red Pot with Lute Player #2, 2018. Jonas Wood Gagosian

Landscape Pot with Plant, 2017. Jonas Wood Gagosian

“How I found my style” is hard to answer. I don’t feel like I’m there yet. Even when I’m in a moment of making a lot of things, there’s still this daily practice of putting colors and shapes together and figuring out the balance, adding details, and deciding whether it’s interesting. I’ve had this strategy the whole time that I need to get better—as opposed to thinking that I’m the best. Painting practices are ever-evolving and cumulative. I’m just starting.

Did you have any mentors after graduate school?

When I first moved to Los Angeles in 2003, Matt Johnson, who shows at Blum & Poe and 303 Gallery, was like a mentor. He was the only person in the city that I knew. We went to high school together. He’s really rad. When me and my wife moved to Los Angeles, he got us jobs. I worked for Laura Owens and Shio worked for Charlie Ray.

Image of Jonas Wood’s notes. Courtesy of Wood Kusaka Studios.

Working for Laura Owens was a big part of my development. I got to see how she made her art and applied some of those things to my own work. I’d never used an overhead projector before. What’s fascinating about Laura is she made these smaller works on paper and then either projected them or used these huge pieces of paper where she would draw the shape of the painting. Her drawings were pretty automatic, but the paintings were all slowed down: She’d dissect these smaller drawings and studies, then rebuild them as paintings. That really clicked with me because I was more of an automatic drawer who needed to slow things down when I painted.

I’ve had this strategy the whole time that I need to get better—as opposed to thinking that I’m the best.

That strategy really unlocked my work and brought back some of my psychology experience, too. Not insight into a brain, but what happens in a lab. Like cooking. How do you formulate ideas and test them? It’s like a puzzle.

Laura also underpainted with a certain type of paint, and she overpainted with a different kind of paint. I ended up doing something similar—underpainting with acrylic and overpainting with oil. I saw how she organized her studio and got ready for shows and used materials. I feel very lucky that I had that job for a couple years.

Jonas Wood, Scholl Canyon, 2007. © Jonas Wood. Photo by Joshua White. Courtesy of the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York.

Jonas Wood, Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2007. © Jonas Wood. Photo by Joshua White. Courtesy of the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York.

We had a nice community in Los Angeles. Matt was just graduating from UCLA. My sister, Augusta, went to grad school out here for photography. I came to a community. Then in 2006, I had my first show, at Black Dragon Society. I met Mark Grotjahn, who bought some of the work and became a mentor and a really good friend.

I read that you met Mark Grotjahn through playing poker?

I’ve been playing poker with Matt Johnson, Jeff Poe, and Mark Grotjahn for 13 years. After I worked for Laura Owens, I worked for Matt. He was getting ready to do a show at Blum & Poe. Mark Grotjahn, Mark Richards, Bob White, Matt Johnson, and I got invited to play poker at Blum & Poe.

Jonas and Mark Grotjahn during install of their collaborative show at T&SnKreps, New York, 2009. Courtesy of Wood Kusaka Studios.

I knew who Mark Grotjahn was just from being in L.A. for three years. I had a big painting crush on him. Mark didn’t know that I was an artist. I definitely brought posters to Blum & Poe and said make sure Grotjahn gets one. He introduced me to Anton Kern and Shane Campbell, who both started showing me in 2007. Jeff Poe and Tim Blum got work from the Black Dragon show, too. It was like I instantly had an advocate.

What were the biggest obstacles when you got to L.A.?

The biggest obstacle early on was just not understanding how to put myself back together after grad school and access my power. My grad-school friend said I had a wild horse inside of me, and I needed to learn how to ride it.

In progress works in Jonas Wood’s studio. Compton, Los Angeles, 2007. Courtesy of Wood Kusaka Studios.

I was around a lot of young artists in L.A. We were just trying to be artists. Me and my wife Shio, too. We got married right after grad school in 2002, and then broke up for a year and a half, mostly just because we just hadn’t figured out how to make work. I was obsessed with that part of the struggle, trying to get traction and get people to pay attention. I remember feeling a lot of anguish. I just needed to get to that point where things started to click and it became more fun. Now I’m challenging myself, but it’s super fun. I have access to this amazing thing. This line that can describe something that you can identify as me.

How did you meet Shio? How did you end up getting back together?

Shio worked at the art library at the University of Washington, which was in the same building as the grad studios. She was an undergraduate ceramicist senior, and I was a first-year painting grad student. She’s five years older, but this was her third sort of undergraduate experience. She studied English, then accounting, and then tried out pottery when she was in Colorado, and a professor told her she should study in Seattle with Akio Takamori.

Jonas and Shio Kusaka at University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2001. Courtesy of Wood Kusaka Studios.

I was checking out an exorbitant amount of books because I was trying to learn about art. I’d thumb through the pages and paint at the same time, trying to study and see what I liked. When I saw her at the desk, I kind of hit on her. Then we saw each other at a bar and she introduced herself. We’ve been together ever since, except for when we broke up for a year and a half.

Jonas Wood, Shio’s Still Life, 2006. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist and Black Dragon Society.

Frimkess Chilean Landscape Pot, 2015. Jonas Wood Gagosian

We never got a divorce. We got back together right before my show in 2006. We’d been seeing each other 8 months or 10 months after we broke up; being together, but not really being together. Then we moved into a house together. I guess it was mostly about getting to a place where I could handle somebody else. Selfishly, I guess we both needed our own time to get there.

If we hadn’t broken up early on, we never would have made it. Obviously, it worked out because we have two kids. Since we got back together in 2006, we’ve shared studio space. We figured it out.

Did you ever feel any sense of rejection early on?

Oh, yeah. When I first moved to L.A., I set up a studio visit with some gallery and they never showed up. I felt like I was ready to show right when I got to L.A., and it wasn’t happening. It was for the best—it would have been a fucking disaster if I showed right off the bat.

What would you consider your breakthrough moment?

Jonas Wood, Make It Talk, Teodoro, 2006. © Jonas Wood. Courtesy of the artist and Black Dragon Society.

There were a few paintings right after grad school where I started to put it together. But I think I really started to feel secure after my 2006 Black Dragon show. I had my first real stage, and people were paying attention. I didn’t need a job after that. It’s like if you’re in a band and you can go on tour instead of working at the bar.

I was just so happy to have a show in the town where I was living. People were going to see it. It’s every young artist’s dream, right?

from Artsy News

[avicebro]

If Issei participated in the Holy Grail War

Updated this one! 

So this is going to take some liberties of course, but basically this is what Issei would have been like, and how I think he’d affect the Holy Grail War. This will be more if he was from a magical family, less like Shirou who only knew small magic and became a master because of his father.

Firstly, Ryuudouji Temple. It lays on a leyline, which means that you’ll summon stronger spirits. It’s also one of the points where the Holy Grail appears.  Furthermore, it’s pretty secluded—something that many masters value, like the Einzberns. So, for a magical family to control the temple, they must be very powerful and respected, like the Tohsakas, who’s house is in a similar spot.

Therefore, one can say that the Ryuudou family are likely an older magical family, with a long lineage and high respect in the city. They are likely younger or newer to Fuyuki than the Tohsakas, as they control the city and every magical family must ask to settle there, but they must be friends for the Tohsakas to give them such a nice place to settle down.

To survive the dwindling importance of mages, the family sets up a temple, acting like monks to explain their distance from the city and their weirder hobbies. To be successful they specialize in healing magic and making crafts (similar to Medea’s crafting ability) to bestow luck. Thus, while they are one of the key families in the game, because of their specialization in healing magic and crafting, they are regarded as weaker compared to the First Three families. However, in other wars, they are the first families to side with another family, as their healing proves very useful in the war.

So, now that we’ve got all that down. Now to Issei.

Except not. In Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, we learn that Issei is the second son in the family. So, this means that Issei’s older brother must have not been born with the gift of magic. This might be because Issei’s mother isn’t as talented as Aoi at birthing mages, or maybe Ryuudouji temple is starting to dwindle in magical power. Nevertheless, his brother does not learn of magic, and instead is trained to become the head monk once his father passes away. This leaves Issei to train more for magic.

Issei is thus born with magic ability. From what we know about Issei in the games, we know that he is very diligent and would likely love learning magic and practicing his skills, similarly to Tohsaka Rin. He would watch by his father when he did his healing, and would spend his nights making trinkets to increase his luck, improve his health and his grades. I love the idea of younger Issei giving one of these to Shirou, and that’s one of the reasons why Shirou has so much plot armour. With this, Issei likely dabbled in many forms of magic, but ultimately sticking with crafting and healing, as that was what he learned the most of. 

Issei is trained to be a mage and a monk, but his final training comes when Souichirou Kuzuki appears at the temple seeking refuge. Souichirou teaches Issei martial arts and becomes a strong fighter, able to take down Shirou on the rare occasion Shirou asks to fight him.

When the Fifth Holy Grail war starts, we have this great competition. Rin versus Issei. While Rin is a much stronger mage, Issei has his monk and martial training to compensate. Many players consider these two to be the key players in this Holy Grail War—whoever beats the other wins the grail. This fits with their competitive natures, and I originally thought Issei was a master simply because of how much Rin/Issei interaction we got in the prologue. Also, I feel like these two would be very interesting for Kirei, and he would funnel resources into the both of them to make this war much more fascinating, like he does for Shinji in UBW.

So, what would Issei want for the holy grail? I think, considering his personality, he’d probably either want to access the Root, or simply to win. Issei would be the perfect foil for Rin, both of them wishing them same things, but because of a mutual hatred for the other, they would refuse to work together. The root would tickle his intellectual self, while winning would restore some of the shame his family had undergone in the last couple of wars (similarly to the Einzenberns).

Then, Issei’s servant. Now, for him to be in the war, he’d have to replace one of the masters. Thus, I have three possibilities: replace Souichirou, replace Shinji, or Medea doesn’t summon Assassin. 

Now, for Souichirou first. I really dislike taking him out of the war, because then there would be so many kids in the war. 5 out of 7 masters would be kids (Shirou, Rin, Issei, Illya and Shinji/Sakura). Souichirou was so interesting and important (especially in UBW) because he was an adult fighting against a bunch of kids, he had lived through much more than these kids, was a trained killer, and thus he didn’t value human life as much as Shirou does. This also opens up a seventh master, as Caster would not control Assassin. Hassan would be in the picture, and it’s interesting who could control him. Maybe Sakura kicks Shinji out and Hassan sides with him for revenge? Maybe Kotomine summons him and thus Bazzett is a player in the war? Maybe Zouken sides with him, similarly to Heaven’s Feel? But, if Issei takes his place, then for a Caster, I see two choices. The easy one would be Issei to summon Saver instead, who is Buddha. However, if he was to stick to a Caster, I’d like one of the Sohei, a group of warrior monks, to be his servant. They were important players in the Warring Kingdom times, and it would be more likely for Issei to have a relic relating to monks than anything else.

So, if he replaces Shinji.  This would put Issei against his teacher, which would be an interesting topic to delve into. Maybe they would team up? If so, they would be really strong. So who would be his rider? Like the Sohei, someone from the Warring Kingdoms period would a great fit, and a couple come to mind. Tokugawa Ieyasu or Oda Nobunaga would be great picks, but they would likely pose a more Rider-Waver relationship as the servant would be so much greater than the master, which I don’t think Issei would like. Therefore, I think Toyotomi Hideyoshi would be a good Rider for Issei.

Finally, if Medea never summons Assassin. Maybe by this point Assassin has already been summoned by Issei, or maybe Medea never decides to summon him. Part of me really wants Kojiro to be summoned again - maybe the temple is such a perfect catalyst, or maybe something goes wrong in the summoning and Kojiro shows up instead of Hassan. It’s upsetting that we don’t actually get to see how those two would have interacted, but I love head canons where Issei grows old and dates his ghost samurai boyfriend. If he summons a hassan, the No Name Hassan from f/sf or Hassan Lily would be good picks for me. These servants would probably help him get over Rin. 

Ultimately I just want his servant to be like Souichirou. From F/HA we know that Issei really looks up to him, and if his servant was similar, it would be very sweet (especially if in this world, Souichirou doesn’t participate).

For either Rider/Issei or Assassin/Issei, we could have a strong pairing of Issei and Souichirou with their servants. Imagine that!

Finally, how would Issei do? As there are three routes it’s hard to say, but I’ll put two possibilities.

Either Issei continues to be a foil for Tohsaka and survives until there are only three masters left (four if Kirei/Gil) or he dies early, similarly to basically everyone in Heaven’s Feel. If Issei survives until the end, this could push Shirou to choose who he would side with, as I believe he would want to side with both. If he dies early, this would likely be because of a small miscalculation, underestimating someone, or Kirei being Kirei. If this happens, it would help Rin seem much stronger, and prove why she’s such a great master, which thus then pushes the Kiritsugu way of being a mage versus the Tokiomi way of being a mage. And ultimately there is the ending where he and Kojiro win, they grow old and gay together, live happily ever after. 

But yeah, that’s my thoughts. This is simply if Issei was from a mage family, as I think he would be in a lot worse of a position if he was thrust into the mage world like Shirou. I really love Issei’s character in the series and wished that he had become a master in the game, sadly that wasn’t the case. 

I will be writing some more on my take of what a Issei route would be like, now that I know how that would likely go. 

Thanks for reading!