#bit of an infodumpy post

[ghostedrain]

What’s your favorite niche topic

Linguistics! I don't know how niche this is tbh but yah!!

Like for example, some languages don't even have a word for blue? Blue and green are actually the same color! Take Vietnamese, for example—the word xanh can mean both blue and green. You’d only know which one it is based on context, like xanh lá cây for green (like leaves) or xanh da trời for blue (like the sky).

It gets even stranger: in ancient Greek, there wasn’t even a word for blue. Homer described the sea as “wine-dark,” not blue. It seems blue just wasn’t considered a distinct color back then.

Researchers have found that languages develop words for colours in a pretty set order: first black and white (light and dark), then red, followed by green or yellow, and only much later, blue.

It’s also crazy to think that the way we talk about colour can actually affect how we see it. For example, the Himba people in Namibia have fewer color words, and they find it harder to distinguish shades of blue that we’d easily spot.

[e-adlirez]

Treasure Seekers 3 Review/Ramble

Welcome to the third and last entry of the Treasure Seekers trilogy :D

"Wait what?" I probably hear you ask. "What about the other four treasures they said the girls would find?"

And to that I say

yeah it do be a bit sad that they never made a book 4

But make no mistake, Legend of the Maze is a doozy of a third book, and I'd say it's almost on-par with book 1 if not surpassing it. Unfortunately there is no free digital copy of the book, so uh if you're down to spend a bit on a digital copy on the E-book site of your choosing or on a physical copy in a bookstore, I salute you for your determination.

As for the rest of you, you're just gonna have to trust me bro :] /j

Ready? Let's go :D (also this is being written by a sleep-deprived E running on hyperfixation juice so if you find any grammar issues feel free to let me know so I can fix them)

The story begins with the Thea Sisters touring the Capelletti House in Verona with their Italian friend/tour guide Sebastiano. Yes, this Verona.

So yeah Colette is fantasizing about Romeo and Juliet as a romantic ship, Vi is trying to kill her Santa by telling her that Romeo and Juliet are fictional characters (which Colette responds to with "oh hush I can dream"), and oop-- loose floorboard-- what's this package under the flo-- LE GAAASSSPPPP LANE LOOORRREEEEE

The girls fangirl about the ABL jumpscare a lil' too loudly and Sebastiano is a lil' confusion, soooooooo the squad goes out for some snacks outside the Capelletti house to explain stuff to Sebastiano

buckle up Sebastiano you're about to get two 300-page books worth of Lane Lore™

While listening to the story, it turns out that Sebastiano may or may not have heard a peep about a legend about a treasure called the Treasure of Eternal Love (adapted Scholastic name is "Treasure of True Love" which ew, snatches the original Italian name instead), which was said to have been owned by Juliet and tho a lotta people are trying to find it, they dunno where it is now. Sounds very Seven Treasures of the World to me :]

How does Sebastiano know a peep about this very obscure legend? Turns out he learned about it from a letter written by his great-grandpappy Jacopo, who was an archaeologist like Aurora :3

So Sebastiano invites the girls to dinner at his place so the girls can look for the letter. Vi don't get too comfy with the house library I know it looks very cool and antique but we got a goal and that is sifting through a lil' box of Jacopo's kept things and find some-- HOLY CRAP LANE LORE™

-

"Hi Jacopo, tysm for helping me with my research on the Treasure of Eternal Love, you're a real g my guy, regards from me and my sister Linda, also tysm for the tour of Verona."

-- ABL

-

The girls tell Sebastiano their findings over a dinner of bigoli al pomodoro, give some extra Lane Lore™ about Jan von Klawitz and Aurora's six sisters, and mention the possibility that Linda knows where the treasure is, which means that Luke is probably after it too, but also Linda might know where the treasure is, which means a lead >:3

First stop: Verona's city hall, where Sebastiano's friend Guido works and is able to help them with finding information about a Linda Lane who may or may not have lived in Verona approximately a century ago. They find a document that says yes, Linda did in fact live in Verona once, and also her address is listed there because legalities, y'know how it is.

So the girls head on over to the address, knock at the door, and are greeted by an old lady, and :0 turns out this old lady (her name is Mia) knew Linda personally.

-

Linda and Mia met when Linda was in her older years and Mia was a smol child. Mia would read for Linda since her eyesight deteriorated in her old age, and they hung out a lot together. When Linda left to return to England, she left the house to Mia, as well as a good chunk of the stuff she had in said house as mementos for Mia to remember her by.

-

Hey guys you wanna see a trick, it's called "the Lane Lore™ %", aka how fast can we get this old lady up to speed with the ABL drama-- /j

Unfortunately Mia doesn't really know anything about the treasures, but she does have this wack painting of a scenery in Japan that just won't align correctly no matter how much finagling you do to it-- oh there was an envelope inside-- LANE LORE™?

So the letter inside the envelope is a letter from Aurora to Linda basically Aurora telling Linda she found the Treasure of Eternal Love, but because Jan is on her tail, she left the treasure in the "House of the Sun" for now. Now, if you tried looking up "house of the sun", you'd get a hotel in Florida, a manga, a former Incan temple that's now a monastery-- you get the picture, it do be a weird detail and probably not it bro, besides Aurora's too much of a gremlin to be that obvious with her riddles.

At least if you're not a Shakespeare nerd like Colette is (the kind that never read past Romeo and Juliet's wedding), because if you were, you'd know that at one point Romeo equates Juliet to the sun rising in the east. Romeo is simping for Juliet, Juliet is the sun, ergo, the Capelletti house.

But uh, thing is we already went to the house and we already know that Aurora came back for the treasure and took it somewhere else. Sooooo might as well see what the last letter says--

"Hi so I'm on the run rn I can't chat for long because Jan is pissed and he wants to find me and force me to reveal the treasure, and I don't think I wanna know how not-kid-friendly this is gonna get if he does find me. Thanks for introducing me to your friend tho :D she's cool and thanks to her help, the treasure is safe and sound in the shade of the cherry trees! I'll come back for it one day, hopefully that day comes soon. Anyway, hugs and kisses, Linda." - ABL

Spoiler alert, despite having a beeg cherry tree on the painting, there was in fact nothing else hiding behind the painting.

LUKE TRANSITION

So Luke is doing Luke things, not touching grass as per usual. Cassidy comes by to give him a lil' souvenir from great-grandpappy Jan von Klawitz's house in London: Jan's old notes. Luke immediately dismisses Cassidy without even so much as a thank you -- Cassidy girlypop you're not scoring that man no matter what you do, he's the Adrien to your Marinette girlie we're only at book 3, you might as well accept your fate -- and Luke takes a lil' peek into Jan's notebook (he also calls his great-grandpappy "Jan", like just "Jan". I dunno maybe I'm just finding it weird because I'm Asian . .) for the goods.

And goods Luke does find, which he proceeds to consume like a goblin. Bit of Klawitz lore here:

-

"Grrr grrr stupid Aurora and her smartass tricks grrrrr who does she think she is grrrrr she beat me to the Treasure of Eternal Love in Verona grrrrrrrrrrrr well at least now I know how she works, I managed to find this friend of hers Jacopo, who definitely knows about the treasure even though he keeps playing stupid like I don't know that he knows Aurora. Something something cherry trees, I ransacked every single cherry tree in Verona and there was literally nothing, wth, Aurora why are you like this" - Jan von Klawitz

-

Luke responds to this seedy lore from his great-grandpappy with "hehehHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHH JAN YOU IDIOT, YOU COULDN'T SEE WHAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU BECAUSE YOU UNDERESTIMATED THE LITTLE PILOT GIRL, I ALREADY KNOW WHERE TO LOOK"

Cut back to the girls, and they know where to look next, too

It's Japan, i-it's Japan, y'know Japan's relationship with their sakura/cherry blossoms

Turns out Linda has a friend named Kyoko Bianchi, a Japanese-Italian botanist who was raised in Japan. Since Aurora mentions in her letter that Linda's friend came in clutch, she was obviously referring to Kyoko and now the treasure is in Japan.

So Japan transition :D (based on my personal experience in Japan and also a bit of canon continuity consistency, I headcanon that despite being written in English, this segment of the story mostly had the girls speaking in Japanese, a language they would know how to speak a bit of at least (and apparently Vi is conversational in Japanese so c'mooonnnn).)

The girls land at Narita Airport and take a train to central Tokyo (damn Kumi from Cherry Blossom Adventure you came in clutch possibly teaching the girls how to Japanese subway offscreen because they actually didn't get lost using it on their own :D). Kyoko's hometown was Tokyo, so might as well start searching for her descendants/relatives there. First stop: Shibuya.

Colette is playfully ribbed a bit for having a big-ass bag while everyone else only brought smol backpacks around with them, the luck of the girls not getting lost using the Japanese subway must be balanced out so Paulina's GPS decides now is the right time to be a dick, Shibuya Crossing, and finally they make it to the hotel where Amrita Bianchi, their first Kyoko descendant candidate, is at.

And this is the first time the girls come across the concept of cosplaying, I genuinely don't know how they managed to sidestep it for so long especially since they've been to Japan before for a student exchange, all I can really justify it with is that university has been kicking their a-- RATSUNE MIKU??

Gahd even in 2018 Italy there was no escape from her /j

Anyway so Amrita didn't know Kyoko, so their second candidate is Shinobu Bianchi, a guy living in Shinjuku. They find him-- or more accurately run into him (literally) on his way to work, try to explain things to him but this man is running late, so he invites the girls to follow him to his workplace. They find themselves in a cafe on opening time, customers start filing in before the girls can even tell Shinobu what the whole deal is, soooooo karaoke break :D

Vi c'mon it's not like there's much else to do while waiting for Shinobu-- what're you gonna do, sit there and wait? A-actually y'know what that sounds like something Vi would happily do but c'mooonnn Vi where's your sense-a humor :D

Thirty minutes of singing later, they finally get five minutes to explain to Shinobu what they're looking for and Shinobu says "sorry I dunno Kyoko, I am half-Italian on my dad's side, but my mom has a different Japanese surname"

So the girls Peter William a bit emotionally, Pam goes to what Scholastic is telling me is a kiosk but might as well be a 7/11 based on the banger food Pam got from said kiosk, the girls take a taxi to a Capsule Hotel (judging from the illustration it looks like the Shinjuku Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel), and after a bit of dinner, Peter William into their capsule rooms physically.

The next morning, Nicky goes out for a morning jog as usual (she prolly slept with her capsule open so she wouldn't get claustrophobic), and she finds a gardener tending to a Kyoko Bianchi flower :0 like no joke that's the name, it's a K. bianchi, named after a botanist who founded the Fairy Garden (Disclaimer: neither the K. bianchi nor the Fairy Garden Foundation in Japan exist, they're fictional bits for this fictional story and that's fine :3). Nicky gets the address for the Fairy Garden, runs back to the girls who are having breakfast, and they head on over to the venue.

At the Fairy Garden, the girls meet a gardener named Toshio who happily shows them around, and despite not knowing all the Lane Lore™ (yet), he knows enough to lead them to Kyoko's perfectly preserved office, where the late Bianchi has displayed some pictures from Verona, as well as her furniture and encyclopedia collection.

After a search, they find what was presumably a haiku alluding to Jomon Sugi and the writer's voice being hidden in there, and one jaunt to the record of Jomon Sugi in Kyoko's encyclopedia collection and uhp-- a hidden cassette tape inside the volume!

On one hand, victory, the girls have found a VHS tape that is implied to have a personal recording from Kyoko Bianchi herself, so they're super-close to the treasure now :D

But on the other hand, they found a VHS tape in the year of our lord 2018.

Good news, Toshio knows a buddy who's super tech-savvy, and that's including tech things. Bad news, he's in Kyoto, which is about 445 km/283 miles away from Tokyo.

So the girls quickly take a shinkansen and some bento boxes to Kyoto :D (their wallets are probably sobbing in an 86-USD ticket per person)

At Kyoto, meet Ren, are lowkey surprised that his house is a traditional Japanese house as opposed to a modern flat but hey it's a pleasant surprise, and Ren is able to play the tape for them.

In the tape, Kyoko explains the Treasure of Eternal Love, how it ended up in her hands at the ripe age of 20 through Linda and Aurora, and some Treasure of Eternal Love lore, or rather Ring of Eternal Love lore:

-

Yeah sure Romeo and Juliet were fictional characters, but reality, so it goes, isn't that much different. The Ring of Eternal Love was a courting gift from a suitor to a bachelorette of the Cappelletti household. The suitor and the girl's families had hate boners for each other for a while now, but instead of spiraling into a destructive mess of family feuding and death like in Shakespeare's play, they decided to call off the feud so the two lovers could be happy together. And now the ring, as Kyoko puts it, has been passed down from her to "one who shows love every day, in every way, towards everything that grows from the earth."

-

The girls are happy they got to see the tape and its contents, but they Peter William emotionally once more because well, they're back to square one now-- literally the only clue they have is the thing Kyoko said, and what is the thing Kyoko said? It's cryptic and weird and h a h ? Ren offers to accommodate them for the night, the girls get to sleep on futons for the first time since Secret of the Snow, and the next day they decide to have some downtime vacay-ing in Nijo Castle. A vacay that results in Vi having an epiphany about the riddle and thus who has the ring.

Meanwhile with Luke, he's planning something. Something that's got Cassidy in Japan and putting her master's degrees in Engineering, Chemistry and Computer Sciences to use by assembling a drone (I'm wondering how Cassidy has so little braincells out on the field despite having THREE MASTER'S DEGREES like holy crap--)

Cassidy tries complimenting Luke on the motherboard he sent in from Alaska and-- ew Omar why are you here I thought Luke fired you-- ooh what's that package thing-- oi don't diss on Japanese people being polite, once you see the ruder options you're gonna be pining for that shnit-- wait what how's this drone gonna find the Ring of Eternal Love--

Anyway the girls plus Toshio and Ren take the train back to Tokyo (istg if they took the shinkansen--) and back to the Fairy Garden Foundation, where they talk to the current head gardener: Mr. Murakami.

Mr. Murakami does in fact know Kyoko personally, and after a bit of persuading (it involves a bord like many good things in this world), he decides to bring them to his hometown Nara (which involves a train to Kyoto and then a train from Kyoto to Nara which on the Kodama plus the cheapest option from Kyoto to Nara is-- CHEESUS CRUST 91 USD PER PERSON AND THEY HAVE TO GO BACK TO TOKYO AFTER THIS???)

ANYWAY Mr. Murakami takes them to Nara Park, where he hid the treasure. He brings the girls to it, he checks the hiding place and

It's empty?

Wait, the hiding place is empty?

WAIT WHAT THE HIDING PLACE IS EM--

Off in Alaska, Luke is cackling in his fancy custom-made not-gamer chair.

Mr. Murakami is distraught, most of the girls stay to comfort him while Nicky and Ren scout out the area. In their search, Nicky and Ren find a big broken drone that seems to have crash-landed in the garden, and oop-- LVK logo. It was probably used to spy on Mr. Murakami to snatch the treasure. "DAAAMMMNNNN YOOOUUUU LUUUKKEEEE" Nicky probably would've shrieked at the top of her lungs if she weren't A. in Japan (it's very quiet generally), and B. within earshot of poor Mr. Murakami, who's still recovering from the horrible shock. The girls, Toshio and Ren take the drone to Kyoto while Mr. Murakami stays in Nara with the fam to recover because man, he deserves the break :(

In Ren's house in Kyoto, Paulina and Ren get to work hacking into the drone to snatch its data, and they find that the drone's memory goes as far back as to being in Alaska for some reason. Why would an LVK drone be in Alaska? Unless-- :OOOOO SECRET BASE??

With that lead, the girls depart for Anchorage, Alaska (if I plugged it into Google correctly the price for the flight totals out at a 567-USD one-way flight holy crap girlies have mercy on your wallets-- not including the mini shopping spree for winter clothes Colette was more than happy to drag the girls on). Ren gives Paulina a little flash drive with some written code that could come in clutch in whatever shenanigans they end up in in that secret base of Luke's. Yes Violet as much as I think you're the only person in the group who seems to be concerned for your wallet, ya'll are nawt surviving Alaska with those summer clothes ya'll are wearing.

Behold, a long rest/14-hour timeskip in the form of the last two letters the girls have yet to read from Aurora to Linda. (Well the girls besides Vi, God's sleepiest soldier over here is eeping in the back before the flight's even taken off--)

-

(These are the real letters this time around lmao, if you're confused, Aurora addresses Linda in these letters via her middle name Amaryllis.)

Dear Amaryllis,

I'm very sorry that, because of my job, you are taking on a responsibility that is perhaps too great, and that puts you at risk.

It's all because of the greed of my former professor, a mouse who is incapable of recognizing that beauty should be shared. My dear sister, I have thought about it for a long time, and I have come to the conclusion that the best solution is to take the Treasure of Eternal Love from Verona, where it is not safe... and put you at risk. I am sending you a copy of one of the photos I hold the most dear, in memory of the love that binds us. I hope it will help you make the best decision...

Yours, Aurora

-

Dear Amaryllis,

You wrote me that you are making a decision about the treasure. I agree that the mouse you're planning to entrust it to is worthy of that trust, and I will wait for more news. But you must be careful, even when you write to me, to not mention names or places. We need to watch out, because my former professor is more alert than ever.

It seems that he's building an underground shelter for his riches, designed as a kind of maze to test anyone who manages to enter it...

Professor Jan is clever, and he's always loved riddles, puzzles, and mysteries. I wouldn't wish for any mouse to find themselves in his maze!

Now I must say good-bye, my dear. Sending a big hug.

Yours, Aurora

-

Once the girls land in Anchorage, Alaska, they rent an SUV, pull out Google Maps, read some of the brochures Ren printed out for them just in case, fangirl over a moose (Nicky that's not something to fangirl about have you seen what they're capable of--), and accidental secret tunnel discovery?

Well, accidental secret garbage chute discovery, anyway, since the one thing that allows the girls to not break their ankles when landing is some garbage bags. Food waste garbage bags no less :D Ew :D

Some old aircraft bits are found too which is nice but it's never elaborated on whose old aircraft bits those were so we're moving on to the girls entering Luke's secret headquarters and Nicky trying not to die from claustrophobia :D

CCTVs pose an initial problem, but Ren's flash drive comes in clutch and allows Paulina to freeze the cameras so they can go in undetected (Ren how do you know how to program that is there something you wanna share to the class--). One lengthy labyrinth later, the girls manage to get out of the "we're walking in circles" loop-dee-loop they wound up in and find this little room with a little lit fire pit and an ominous riddle involving the "elements of nature". Pam has the idea of extinguishing the fire pit, and sure enough, inside the fire pit is a key that fits perfectly into the door across the room.

And right after Pam turns the lock on the door, a trapdoor opens up beneath her and she falls into the pit below. It's padded, it's kinda cozy, but it's way too deep for the girls to reach Pam from above without a rope or attempting to risk falling in and getting trapped as well. The girls are very reluctant to leave Pam, but Pam unfortunately only metaphorically slaps some sense into the girls and tells them to go on because they've gone too far to back out now so COMMIT TO THE BIT GODDAMMIT

(you guys like the rhyme-y bits? They're kinda fun to write I do like the rhyme-y bits a bit <:])

And thus the girls minus Pam go through the door to the next room, where there's this swimming pool with a key inside it, which Nicky swims down for, assuming that the trap in the room will only activate once they get the key into the door leading to the next room. Obviously she winds up being very incorrect, as the moment she takes the key from the bottom of the pool, the water starts to drain away until all you got left is a sopping wet Nicky in an empty pool and the key to the next room, which Nicky tosses over to Paulina while asking for her shoes and her dry clothes that they packed. Colette is devastated, devastated I tell you at the idea of leaving Nicky behind, on top of having to leave Pam behind, but Nicky's got faith that the girls will pull through and come back for her; so Colette, Paulina and Violet move on to the next room.

A LOT of walking down a twisting hallway later, the trio make it to the next room (which they use Nicky's key for), and we got four pots with something or other in them, lighting too dim to discern properly what's in the pots, a button sequence puzzle with no margin for error, and a wack riddle. Oh and Paulina's tablet's finally died after possibly uh, 18-ish hours of not charging it. RIP Paulina's tablet, that's gonna be set aside in the corner for the time being.

The pots turn out to have different types of sediment in them, and the wack riddle turns out to be the clue to the correct sequence to input, so the three figure that out fairly quickly and slide down the chute leading to the next room. Except for Paulina, who had to get her tablet from that corner she set it aside in, and wasn't able to make it to the trapdoor-chute in time before it closed on her face, leaving her trapped "forever", as the wack riddle states. The one time you're told to stop holding it, man, unbelievable. I'm never letting go of my tablet again /j

Now Vi and Colette find themselves in an empty room, and they only realize when they get down that Paulina wasn't able to make it out in time. Now this entire time, Colette has been going through it. Of the girls, Colette's been taking the whole leaving-my-friends-behind-for-the-greater-good thing not well at all, and it culminates in an emotional breakdown. Violet comforts her and reassures her that they'll get the ring, they'll pick up the other girls and they'll get outa here soon, but they gotta be brave now for the other girls. (Kinda hard to capture in short and sweet words what the emotion of the scene was but oh well). After a bit of calming down, Colette and Violet look around to find themselves in a... surprisingly simple room? There's a door on the other side of the room from them, and besides that there's literally nothing but thin air.

The two go to the door and move to open it. Yeah this one's surprisingly simple. Just walk on over, pull the door open, walk o-- a gust of wind slammed the door shut . .

Yeah that's right. You ever leave a window in your room open on a windy day and leave your door also open, and the wind going into the room slams the door shut? Yeah, it's that multiplied by uhhhh how much is a vent opposite the door opening up just to blow f%#ken WIMDY-level winds just to slam that metal door shut? However that much multiplies that. The two find themselves in a situation where had all five of them been there to do this puzzle, it would've been far easier; but it is doable with only two people. The plan is one of them wedges themself between the door and the frame and prop it open, while the other crawls under the first person's leg. Transitioning to the second person propping the door open for the first person is gonna be a bit dodgy, but it is doable kinda.

Now Colette has been going through the ringer emotionally, and if you've seen this trope before, you'd know that it'd be a real damn shame if they lost their emotional pillar and had to carry the entire plan on their own, riiiiggghhttt? She's been the handling this situation the worst (emotionally), and it would bring her a belly of the beast to trump all bellies of all beasts and force her to do a The Next Right Thing (hot take: Anna's arc in Frozen 2 was really good), presumably after a lot of sobbing in the corner! It's perfect for angst, and it's perfect for empowerment to see Colette pick herself up and be strong for the girls and save the day!

Which is why Colette doesn't end up being the last one standing :D

Colette was the one who propped the door open for Violet, who crawled through to the other side. The plan was to have Vi switch with Colette so Colette can get through, but one thing they didn't take into account was the fact that the vent would slowly create stronger and stronger winds the longer the door is held open for, so Colette winds up allowing herself to be trapped in the air room so Violet can do the thing. (Oh and the plan was Colette's idea too.)

Heeyyyy Viiiiiiii~ Do you have some cash left over in your wallet? Because I think it's time for you to put your money where your mouth is :DDD

So yeah Violet continues on alone.

Also if you're wondering where Luke is this entire time, he is in fact in his base, still not touching grass and none the wiser about the whole five lil' rat girls sneaking into his base because of the whole frozen cams situation. He does technically notice something's off, but he thinks that the clock in one of the cameras is broken and he ends up complaining about it to Cassidy, haha L. It is also at this point where we learn that the girls have been in Luke's base for a little over three hours at this point :D

Meanwhile, Violet goes down the narrow metal staircase in the hallway outside of the last room and finds herself reminding herself to stay calm but also inside Luke's treasure room, where treasures of all shapes and sizes reside. From whole dinosaur skeletons to ancient Egyptian statues to paintings to suits of armor and-- holy shnit Luke has the Ark of the Covenant in there too o o yeah this guy means business holy crap--

The Ring of Eternal Love is in there too, the lone treasure in the set of seven empty pedestals that Luke was prolly intending for the Seven Treasures of the World. So Vi, clearly not having watched Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, attempts to lift the glass case protecting the ring, which sets off the alarms in the treasure rooms, and whoa holy crap there's a robot voice speaking through the alarms? WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIFTEEN MINUTES TO SELF-DESTRUCTION

Luke, having the shock of his life, comes down to the treasure room to see what's up, and of course it's one of the five brats who's been getting in the way of his endeavors. Hardly a surprise, really, those five have been a pain in the ass from minute one of Luke looking into the Seven Treasures-- from stopping him getting the Alabaster Garden (he didn't even get to see what it was smh), to duping him with the most audacious of gottems to exist only partially due to his goon's stupidity, and now sneaking into the heart of his base without him, his cameras, or his sensors noticing. Strange how there's only one of them, though.

Just like Aurora Beatrix Lane almost a hundred years prior, this young lady is naive, morally stubborn, and idealistic. She is preaching out about sharing these treasures to all, even when the worth of these treasures comes partly in the luxury of not everyone being able to enjoy them. There is value in that sense of rarity, and it's not like any of the uncaring, ignorant whelps working in the museums look at the pieces that sit before them and realize the true value that they have the privilege of looking at everyday. They wouldn't care about them-- they would do the bare minimum to these unique masterpieces and leave it at that. And this naive brat thinks that they are more loving, more caring to these pieces than Luke is?

But as naive and morally pretentious and... ignorant of time and place this woman is (did she really not hear the self-destruct alarm and is thus willing to babble to her grave?)... she is clearly very intelligent. She was able to affect the base's security system such that she could come in undetected. She was able to get past all four traps without getting trapped herself. It is strange how she is alone here, though. She is usually with four other girls-- ah, that's it. They got trapped, and she left them, so she could get to the treasures on her own. What a show of common sense, that is! She must've seen that the traps were designed such that risking oneself to rescue a trapped person is just not worth it, and that first point already makes her far more intelligent than Cassidy or her buffoons could ever be. It could even be on-par with Luke himself. What if... perhaps....

What if they worked together?

Luke, after a bit of back and forth with Violet, gives Violet an offer to ditch her friends and become his partner. If she accepts they can divide everything between each other in the vault, and together, they'll be able to uncover the treasures of the world and enjoy them all to themselves.

I mean of course Vi turns down the offer in favor of sticking with her friends but y'know what it was worth a shot, Luke, kudos to you for spotting a gemstone instead of covering it with mud and pretending it's not there.

Heavily disappointed by Vi turning him down for the sake of "the power of friendship" (I wish I was kidding)(Scholastic!Vi's (?) words not mine)(I would be incredibly disappointed too), he turns to leave her in the treasure room, and it's only then that Vi realizes she kinda effed up. Luke is the only guy here who knows the base inside-out, and thus would know a way to get the girls out so they can Not Die. And to add insult to injury, Luke made a bomb shelter out of his treasure room, so the entire base may explode and the girls might die, but the treasures are gonna be completely fine. Intact, even. Luke leaves, and the robot voice announces ten minutes before self-destruction.

As soon as she's able to, Vi calls the elevator, juggling anxiety and being able to think under pressure. She figures out that Luke oh so helpfully uses pictograms for his elevator buttons instead of numbers, and presses the button for the control room (the heliport floor is locked by a key). She arrives in the control room, eight minutes before self-destruction.

Just as Vi enters the control room, the cameras get kicked back into action, oh so conveniently showing to Violet a timer ticking down to the big kaboom in real time, and footage of Nicky waiting anxiously in the pool room (and Luke leaving), for extra stakes. One Perception check said "yeah, this is a LOT of buttons, TOO MANY BUTTONS", and the tablet sitting on the desk required a password, so oh god what do

Six minutes before self-destruction and one panic attack later, Vi manages to psyche herself up enough to roll for Investigation. She finds a button for disarming the traps, and that allows the girls to get outa the traps and meet up again in the treasure room. Happy reunions aside tho, four minutes to self-destruction

Turns out the girls (thankfully) didn't know about the self-destruct situation. No need to explain tho because Vi is deadlifting the group braincell like she's never done before. She drags them down to the base's... basement, where a train that was probably used to carry the treasures into the base sits unused and ready for the girls to figure out how to work. Three minutes before self-destruction, no pressure :D

Pam sits at the train's controls, Paulina tries to help but immediately brain crashes at the old-timey controls, thus deciding she'd rather help Nicky get the bars off the rails up ahead. Two minutes left, and Pam figures it out and is ready to-- wait they need electricity-- okay cool Nicky and Paulina are taking care of that, cool

Pam gets the train to start up, Nicky and Paulina manage to hop back into the train, and escape the base's explosion range with about ten seconds to spare :D

After stopping the train in a spot where their braincells could afford to deflate, the girls take a minute or two to breathe y'know, just take a minute to breathe, nibble on some wild raspberries growing in Denali National Park, before figuring out what the hell their next move is.

Vi suggests they tell the authorities about the whole secret-base-under-the-park situation and the treasure room and the stuff inside it (since Luke oh so foolishly gloated to Vi about the treasures being perfectly safe), on top of removing the train so it's not getting up in nature's business. They head back to the car talking about their adventure, get a bit sad that they weren't able to find the Ring of Eternal Love-- and oop just kidding, Vi pocketed it in the treasure room right after Luke dipped :D

So on top of the girls escaping with their lives, not only is Luke gonna lose the Ring of Eternal Love as quickly as he got it, he's also losing his entire treasure vault. Can I get a ripperooni

And that's Legend of the Maze :D

I would say that the hyperfixation-that-consumed-these-girls'-lives-for-a-whole-week energy is very strong in this one in the best way, and the girls' personalities are at their most showcased here. The banter is bantering, the girls' dynamics with each other is very believable here, Vi is carrying the group's braincell the entire time and she looks like she's a bit tired from carrying it but y'know wut she's still willing to carry it because it's honest work and she knows how important it is to have it :3 also her trying to kill Colette's "Romeo and Juliet are so romantic" Santa but failing miserably because Colette unashamedly likes believing in the power of love is hilarious

The main thing I wasn't sure about was.... all the infodumpy bits? The infodump goes a significant bit harder in this book than the previous ones (even more than Compass of the Stars, which is an achievement), and it's Scholastic-style infodumping, so you get the girls calling Luke an "evil mouse" or "selfish mouse" and I'm sitting here like "just call him sewer rat please ya'll had no problems calling him that before please for the love of god use that instead it sounds better--"

Don't even get me started with Amrita Bianchi explaining to the girls what cosplay is like she's the damn Merriam Webster dictionary--

Also the Japan segment with y'know Japanese culture and stuff had the terms localized for some reason??? Like haori became "dark jacket", kimono became "long, elegant Japanese dress", they didn't even mention Ren's hakama (he was wearing a very traditional Japanese look), they felt the need to explain bento boxes as "typical Japanese portable lunch boxes" even though "Japanese lunch box" probably would've gotten the point across just fine and also there was an illustration of the bento boxes, Japanese characters became "logograms" for some reason, and dango became "rice dumplings" which became infinitely more confusing for me because the illustration made it look like takoyaki--

I could go on and on but yeah, there are a lot of these and it felt very infodump-y to me. I'm hoping it's just a translation thing, because the story overall feels pretty solid. Scholastic, what happened to the asterisks? Were they just too much for one page? I feel like you would've been able to squeeze them in just fine to make the reading experience a little smoother,,, just like, so it's an optional thing for the reader to read the mini-infodump of the term if they dunno what it means,,,

Other than that tho I don't think I have much to complain ab--

COUGHS GAGS SCREAMS CRIES WRITHES ON THE FLOOR

(I have the magic-of-friendship-invocation tolerance of an angsty teen I'm sorry :'3)

Scholastic, buddy chum pal buddy chum buddy chum pal,,,,

You could've had Vi say "the only way I got here was thanks to my friends", and it would've been fine and infinitely better-sounding and probably more in-character,,, o<-<

Gahd I hate it when Vi's used as the power of friendship prophet -m-

There's a more minor one as the girls are going back to the car and Vi is telling the girls about the deal Luke offered her, and the girls ask her what she said, and she says "I told him I already had the greatest treasure in the world... true friendship!"

Meanwhile I'm sitting there like "MMMMMGGGGGGHHHHHH 'friends like you' or 'sisters like you' or 'my friendship with you' would've sounded better -m-"

(Also the girls call each other like "friends", so like "you were in fact right, friends", which is like, what happened to "sisters" or "girls" those work perfectly fine and get the girls' close relationship across significantly better than "just friends")

Most of what I'm saying here tho are just nitpicks and probably (hopefully) are just stuff with the English translation-- in all seriousness, the book is pretty good.

Aurora's trail here makes sense and is rather logical, and the interesting thing I find about it is that it feels different from the previous two books' worth of shenanigans. Aurora in this one had far less veers and nation hopping shenanigans, and I feel that it was perhaps intentional. Perhaps to give off finale vibes-- Aurora works far more closely with her sister in this one, and the main thing the girls had to work with was not Aurora's diaries, but the letter she wrote to Linda when they were discussing the Ring of Eternal Love. Something about it feels closer, more intimate, more tragic than the previous ones. I felt the need to put her last to letters in the book verbatim because they were emotional dammit -m- Damn you British Amelia Earhart you've done it again /lhj

Luke's character I think is the strongest here. He gives off in a way the most... normal? Vibes here? He's still not touching grass and muttering to himself ominously a whole lot, but his mindset is nice and easy to wrap your head around here. He literally doesn't care about his goons unless he needs something from them, he is more than happy to overanalyze the crap out of a piece of text if he feels Cassidy didn't look through it thoroughly enough, and he wants what he wants right away, and that includes the things he needs to get the thing he actually wants. He as a character literally observes everything happen from his base in Alaska and backseat gamers the crap out of his goons if he sees something they didn't, or if they fumbled the bag and it was perfectly avoidable had it not been for SM being SM--

Also his blatant disrespect for his great-grandpappy Jan is holy crap haha-- it might just be my cultural background, but when I saw Luke call his great-grandpa "Jan" and then say "you disappoint me, Jan", I was flabbergasted haha, not a criticism I just wanted to mention it because I thought it was funny

I really like the fact that Stan and Max (aka SM) didn't show up at all in this book. It would've been easy to have them show up for regularly scheduled hijinks, but in Luke's mind, none of SM's operations have ever been... up to Luke's standards. Especially with how much of a ruckus they tended to make with their presence, they were more of a liability to Luke than an asset; therefore Luke changing up his strategy to be as hands-off and clean and non-intrusive as possible feels like something he'd do, what with how laser-focused he is on min-maxing efficiency to get what he wants as soon as possible.

Omar still being there despite being "fired" might just be a Scholastic oopsie so I can forgive it, Cassidy is still simping for Luke and trying to impress this man and trying to prove she's at an equal level to him, but every time nah. Just nah. Girlie you think you're on the same level as him, which can't possibly be further than the truth. I haven't seen Miraculous Ladybug, but I'd bet Cassidy has even less of a chance of impressing Luke, than Marinette had a chance at getting Adrien to see her as more than "just a friend" before they finally got together.

Now here's something I've been wanting to ramble about for a while: Violet being left alone instead of Colette. It's actually pretty clever when you think about it: Colette is the closest the girls have to a heart (tho she plays hot potato with Paulina when it comes to that role imo), so she's been the most emotional and the most sentimental of the group this entire time. From daydreaming about Romeo, to wanting to believe in love, to happily picking up a microphone to sing karaoke with the girls, to her strong reactions to having to leave the girls behind one by one for the sake of their mission, Colette was being set up for a moment where she is the one who is left alone. You see it a lot in media: the main character is the most sentimental one and as their friend squad make their way to the Big Bad Evil Guy, the supporting characters are forced to get left behind one by one to either hold the evil minions back or because there's no way for the character to move forward with the MC; so the MC is forced to go through the five stages of grief knowing that their friends trust them to get the job they'd set out to do done. It literally happened in Geronimo's third Kingdom of Fantasy book Amazing Voyage, and in that one Geronimo was the one who desperately didn't want to be alone, but he wound up carrying on alone anyway. You see this kinda thing everywhere.

However, in this bit, it makes total sense that Violet is the one who ends up carrying the last leg of the journey alone instead of Colette. Compared to Colette (and honestly the rest of the girls), Violet is the most level-headed. She's the girls' braincell keeper (in this trilogy), the babysitter holding the leash tied to the four gremlins, the one keeping everyone on track and also making sure that the group's collective ADHD doesn't spiral down as badly as it could possibly be. Whenever the girls make a big move that could affect the whole group, Vi is the one asking if it's a good idea or if it's worth doing, and she's the one thinking ahead enough to say "if x happens instead of y, what then?" You get the idea-- Vi is the most capable of keeping herself level-headed even when she's under all this pressure, and she's good at analyzing and planning on account of her often taking the position of the quiet observer.

With this context, it sort've makes you wonder what was going through Colette's head when she offered to help Violet get out of the air room. Violet and Colette in particular get paired together fairly often, and it's probably because of how well they're able to understand each other-- so with the plan, was Colette volunteering herself to prop the door open out of "it was my idea" courtesy, or was she thinking that maybe Violet would be able to figure things out better and thus needed to get to the other side? She probably was expecting to get to the other side with Vi, but would she have thought far enough ahead to a what-if where that wasn't possible? :3c

And Scholastic and power-of-friendship funkiness aside, Violet did handle the situation well, all things considered. The one bit where she only realized Luke was hers and the girls' only ticket out of there was a bit weird, but it can be chalked up to her not being able to take that into account in the moment because of a mix of stress, sheer bafflement from Luke's deal, and the fact that when put on the spot, observers don't exactly handle taking the driver's seat that well :'D (speaking as an observer myself here)

It makes me wonder a bit if Violet and Luke were meant to be foils of each other, what with how similar they are to each other (both of them being observers and planners who delegate more often than they do the work themselves), yet different enough that the contrast between the two is striking. Said difference being

Violet touches grass. Luke does not :)

Anyway so yeah, that's Treasure Seekers 3, and while it is kinda sad that this is where Treasure Seekers ends, y'know what? It gave a solid show as the last installment in the trilogy. I liked it, I liked the canon compliant blorbo angst, I liked the characters character-ing when the dialogue was letting them breathe :]

And of course, we can't forget

God's sleepiest soldier <3

She deserves that nap after what she went through and you know it--

[ghosthoodie]

Sicily (my Captain Three) Fun Facts

i had a lot of fun making that post about 8, so i want to do one for sicily!! i’ve thought about her a lot! :)

this post also kind of outlines more just general information about the storyline of my agents, since it kind of all revolves around sicily. but eventually facts posties for the others will come out as i develop them more!

also this is very infodumpy lol. so be prepared! there’s no pressure to read all of this, but it WILL probably connect eveything more when it comes to my doodles of them!

anyway! here we go…

TW: mentions of emetophobia and broken limbs

During Splatoon 1

sicily was given to an orphanage in Calamari County at a young age. she never knew her parents, but she knew a little about where they came from.

both of her parents had a close military connection, but her dad did more than her mom.

her name comes from a book the orphanage named all of their children after. it’s an old geography book from the human age. sicily’s not sure what an italy is. her last name, Dyerize, comes from her dad.

when she turned 14, in a teenage crisis to learn more about her identity, she sought out to apply to the military to potentially discover more about her parents and to have a purpose in life.

as encouraged by some of her childhood friends, she went to Inkblot Art Academy for a bit for a Fine Arts degree, but dropped out in her 3rd year because of her overlapping duties for the squidbeak splatoon.

she completed her first campaign with a coworker, ryley. they held each other down and trauma bonded through the whole thing, so much so that they got into a relationship soon after it was completed.

ryley became more of a competitive ranked junkie than a secret agent, so sicily took over most agent duties unless he was needed.

during her downtime, she has a beautiful singing voice and would sometimes provide backup vocals for squid sisters tracks. however, she’s insistent her credit be hidden from the tracks, because she wants it to just stay as a hobby. her voice sounds really similar to theirs anyway, so it’s not like anyone would notice…

she and marie became very close. she likes callie too, but she felt like she almost naturally connected with her more.

During Splatoon 2

sicily met caroline and her little brother midway through the splatoon 2 campaign. learning from her habits at the orphanage, she kind of took to looking after them.

sicily and caroline especially became close. caroline would often come to her for guidance and for general life advice beyond the missions.

sicily didn’t really encourage caroline sneaking out from the apartment her parents monitored to do missions, though… but caroline would never listen when it came to that lol

when caroline’s brother dropped out, she helped him pack up his gear and leave. she’d never admit it, but after it was over she cried over his departure. she knew he’d be okay, but couldn’t shake the guilt of maybe traumatizing him.

sicily and ryley start to become distant.

During Octo Expansion

soon after that, she’d been assigned to watch over an unstable area near the mountains. that’s where she encountered an early kait, at the time a rival male octoling, and an average soldier partner (kira).

sicily didn’t want to engage because of the instability of the area, but the octoling was so aggressive that she was forced to. eventually, the ground gave out and her, captain cuttlefish, kait and kira fell into the Deepsea Metro.

she attempted to negate the damage from falling by using an illegal canned special, the bubbler. it worked, but bouncing around the bubble still left all of them with slight head trauma, causing kait and kira’s amnesia.

when she saved the 8s and captain cuttlefish, she punched the blender so hard she broke her arm on impact. she immediately passed out after from shock.

she doesn’t remember her sanitization. all she remembered from that time was a disgusting taste in her mouth, and a burning in one of her nostrils. similar to hand sanitizer.

similar to when they met on the surface, kait fought sicily and kira provided support.

immediately after the NILS statue was destroyed, sicily was rushed to the hospital and treated for her injuries. because so much of her ink capacity was filled up with the sanitized ink, she would constantly vomit up goo if overwhelmed.

kait(at this time aachi) was assigned to look after sicily. it’s not that kait didn’t like her, but it was weird getting adjusted to caring for your rival at their weakest, rather than take advantage of it.

sicily and ryley break up at this point. sicily kind of guessed that he was being unfaithful, and some inkstagram stalking later confirmed he was already in a new relationship soon after.

sicily, mentally and medically miserable and locked in her apartment in a cancer-patient like state, found a lot of comfort teaching kait more about the world. around here is when kait starts to fall in love with her.

after a LOT of flirting, training, rehabiliation, friendship building, gender identity exploration, and a passionate confession during a frustrating spar session, kait and sicily become girlfriends.

caroline also visited sometimes, and shipped the fuck out of them! also played turf war and ranked with kait when she was curious about it. sicily liked watching their game highlights.

During Splatoon 3

captain cuttlefish steps down and she’s promoted to the captain. she’s really excited, and says that she’s the captain because she’s the best at paperwork

(she is fucking awful at paperwork)

she’s assigned to travel to the splatlands because of an emergency call from a splatoon down there. before she leaves, kait proposes to her at their going away party.

she says yes, and cries and cries on the train ride to Splatsville.

she picks up 2 new agents from wandering the desert that surrounds the crater. at this time, they didn’t have names, so sicily, being as creative as she can, called the inkling girl Agent 3A and the octoling boy Agent 3B for the time being.

after they befriend deep cut though, they insist on naming them, thus the names Trikaya (Frye’s pick) and Mitsuo(Shiver’s pick) were born!

during this time, sicily and kait are texting and calling each other incessantly, until kait is deployed on a mission in bleached inkopolis square. they slowly start to text less, and eventually lose communication due to kait entering an unknown environment.

sicily, having flashbacks to ryley, immediately is overcome with anxiety about kait’s whereabouts. not to mention, kait is very much one of her safe people.

however, she tries not to let this get to her and continues with trikaya and mitsuo’s campaign.

THAT WAS A LOT! ok time for some one offs!

General Facts

she’s 5’4, and although not proud of it at first, she loves how tall kait is compared to her…

she’s such a sappy drunk! often she has a hard time expressing love to people, but when shes drunk she gets all mushy and sweet, especially to trikaya and mitsuo’s surprise.

she likes to foster animals, and has kind of a rescuer mindset.

extremely motherly to the new agent 3s.

she picked up wearing long skirts during her recovery period because they were easier than pants, and the style just kind of stuck with her. she still wears pants for functionality though

sometimes runs into ryley in ranked, still. she tries to avoid engaging with him, but with the both of them being frontline players it’s a little difficult not to!!

she likes nose kisses. she thinks theyre cute

mains shooters. kait is constantly whining at her about shooter bias so she has so much survivors guilt. her favorites are splattershot, 52 gal, and a forced learnt splash-o-matic

she loves to dress up kait, since she’s more crazy about weapons than fashion

WHEW! i think that’s everything. if you made it this far THANK YOU FOR READING YOURE SO COOL

i also wrote this at 2 in the morning soo i might come back tomorrow and make edits heehee

[ysabelmystic]

Gimme your most unhinged rant about any topic of your desire, the more infodumpy the better

Oh anon, it would be my pleasure.

If you've been alive in the last two years, I'm pretty sure y'all know at least a little bit about the Duggars; that crazy religious family with 19 kids and a p*d*ph*le for an eldest son. This isn't a post about them. This is a post about a woman who wishes she was Michelle Duggar, a wackjob who longs for fundie royalty status but will never be able to obtain it. This is a post about a woman name Jill Rodrigues and the unchecked narcissism that has lead me to a place of mild obsession. This is not a complete list of her questionable decisions and odd bits of lore, but it will be long enough that I will be posting a google doc because I have no doubt that this will surpass tumblr's character limit. Note trigger warnings in the tags, but otherwise, enjoy the horror show.

[earlyspringtranscendence]

i finished edge of the woods today & now i have to talk about it (spoilers for every andrew rowe work within the climber's court universe)

starting off with the obvious: i'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to get to this book (though i think it has smth to do w the fact that now i've read All of andrew's books not including novellas + i think i thought it was YA ? i'm honestly not sure) but i think i'd have gotten to it faster if i knew that JONAN WAS IN IT YEAHHHH BABYYYYY JONAN NATION!!!!!! i'm very happy about that. i mean i know he was like Barely in it i know it's so severely Not About Him but like. he <3 i've always loved jonan & i always thought he served as such a good counterweight to taelien etc etc

also . i pretty much solely listen to andrew's books on audio bc i love the narrator(s) (<- like it's primarily nick podehl & i'd be a fool not to like him but i also really like the shattered legacy narrators, that's not so much his books but like they're part of the universe, so) but i did end up reading Andrew's blog post about eotw earlier so now spelling out sal's name i'm like HUH OK. listen it's not fair to tell me i'm slow to catch on when Edge spends the entire book going 'yeah idk like i like my name but i feel like there's a part missing' bc in my defense i thought it was spelled lian and not lien so. there.

but that does bring me to 2 things: who Edge is to Taelien and the EoTW retrospective. i'm really pleased that we're going to get some more big answers soon but i can confidently say i'd love to keep reading this absolutely massive world forever and just figure stuff out as it goes. it feels a bit like watching a tapestry being woven, or maybe done in a jacquard, like you keep getting little bits of the picture with every colour added in but you can't see the whole picture until every single part is finished. *I* don't mind that. i also don't mind a slower, infodumpy book. i actually really liked the solo-pacing of Edge's story & everything wrt the training at the sword school. i also wish i had a physical copy of this book so i could leaf through and check, because Edge's scabbard was made out to a certain E (whom i believe to be edge himself) but was it FROM T ? now i'm convinced that it was but like. i could very well be lying to myself.

either way i'm dying to know whether edge is like... mirror world keras or if he's a different part of keras that was split off from him at birth (?) orrrrrr i mean if we're talking faeries if he's some manner of changeling or what. also, i could very well be wrong here, but isn't Edge younger than keras? in my mind edge is like 17 as he's chatting with Jonan but that could be a misconception born from my thinking this is a YA book ... i know to pay better attn during a climber's court novel so i'm a bit miffed at myself.

anyway. i have many more questions & theories but i know myself to be a little impatient and a little bad at making connections so i won't make a fool of myself by going into potentially very obviously incorrect statements. i am just thrilled for AA5 & whatever else is coming at us, especially if EoTW2 sees Edge and Ayara interacting..... mostly just because Ayara remains a figure of such mystery to me, i don't know how she fits in with selys & the tyrant in gold & all the other divine and / or mythical figures of the lore

[worlds-largest-juice-container]

another lore post? about my ttrpg world? wow, great job wljc! what's today's subject?

Today's subject is the three wizard brothers! three of the strongest and most assholish beings on the planet, these three influence nations with their immense strength!

once again, long, infodumpy post

The three brothers were born to an unknown family, none of them like to talk about it, mostly because it was so long ago that they can barely remember. in their young age, they studied together to become wizards, and as they grew, they realized they were incredibly talented in magical arts, and they decided to use this power to change history. together, they cast a spell to grant the three immortality, that could only be broken by the consensus of two of the other brothers, and if only two left, the spell could be broken by the other in an all out match. the three separated, each one choosing their own way to live and make their mark on the world.

First brother, Guillermo. A charming man, rather tall and wears stylish clothing, kind of like slayer from guilty gear. he is considered the strongest man in the world, and he doesn't hold that title for no reason. he would often go on journeys specifically to challenge great fighters from nations all across the world, and with this, he grew very powerful, so much so that he became bored of using magic to win. his most devastating attack was called disintegration cannon. he would prepare disintegration on each finger of his hands and then fire all at the same time. as you can imagine, this worked very well. he now fights with his hands exclusively, though he does use minor enchantment to make him a bit more tough. he still dominates the competition though, and faces almost no challenge he can not overcome.

his mark on history was creating the most powerful nation on the planet. this nation is a large circular area that is essentially just one city and several frozen outskirts. this area is very powerful as a mine was discovered with magical crystals that has helped to advance technology by a great amount. the area where the city lies is constantly hit by storms, and using his magic, guillermo created a barrier that prevents it from being damaged, but he needs to stay near the barrier to keep it from breaking and the storms affecting people again. this city is where the campaign would start, and it is also where many technological advancements are made, such as the invention of guns and robotics.

Second brother, Vincent the Necromancer. This dude is an absolute bitch. he's a lanky bastard, about 6'7 and has short white hair along with his massive beard. wears white tattered robes that show off his slutty wizard midriff and has white gloves. as his title suggests, he is a necromancer, and a powerful one at that. He channels his magic through his trumpet, (lisa reference) controlling his skeletons and other resurrections. He often travels to different parts of the world in search of magical items and information, trying to find a way to fulfill his dream of harnessing the titan's power to become a god and reform the world to be free of suffering. One day he found a spell that would allow him to do so, but it would sacrifice all living things on the planet. Along with the third brother, he was conscripted into the dwarven military against the elves, and helped perpetrate the elven genocide.

Necromancer bro's mark on history was the eradication of 80% of the elven population, as with a spell, he sacrificed major towns and settlements to grow his power. Generally? This guy is a massive dick and is the main villain of the world.

Last brother, most mysterious (given the least thought) Wizard with a shotgun, real name Warren.

Warren keeps to himself mostly, and does not communicate with the outside world. He lives deep within a cursed thicket (he cursed it to keep people out) hunting and living free. His most prominent feature is his shotgun, which he does use on trespassers/those who hurt his forest. He's a gruff man, but he is kind to his forest creatures and has respect for the animals he kills when he hunts. Also he just casts create food/water if he doesn't feel like going out.

Warren's mark on history was being a main player in the dwarven war, being one of their top generals. He was unaware of the plan to massacre the elves, and when he found out, he fought his own battalion of dwarven soldiers in an attempt to get to the king. He succeeded, but by the time he reached the king, he was so exhausted that he lost to the dwarven king and his closest guard, which gave him a NASTY scar he keeps hidden behind a metal mask (DOOM style) Warren has PTSD from the war, and that's why he hides in his thicket, kinda like vietnam for him, comforting in its familiarity but reminding him of his failures. He wants to remember what he did wrong and never forgave himself for his actions.

The brothers almost never meet, and they have all been alive so long, they have forgotten their last names. In a classic magic style thing, the last names do change their magic somewhat, but they are this strong without it, so they really don't care about finding it out.

[bregee13]

Ooo! I submitted Cross my Heart! I'm glad it's being shared, though there's something I should share. (Sorry this gets a bit long! I got a bit infodumpy about it)

I must've lost my reading comprehension in the rush to share this song but Richard Myhill has just shy of 40 thousand followers on Spotify. I realize that goes over the 5000 listeners, so if you want to remove it I understand.

But at the same time, I think it's important to note that it is a bit of a more obscure song that I don't even know the actual performer of.

The song is on the Spotify for Richard Myhill. It credits him as the performer, but it's clearly not true as it sounds nothing like him. He more likely wrote or arranged the song. (While he has performed his own music, He's also written and arranged a lot of music, actually! Several are hits/generally well known. For reference, Spotify lists his most popular song as a song from SpongeBob called Hawaiian Cocktail. He Is also known to have arranged music for Duran Duran. So yeah, I guess he is fairly known 😅)

The real perfomer appears to be uncredited. And there doesn't seem to be concrete evidence for who they might be (at least none I can find). There's claims that it might be "Phoenix Chan", but I can't find out who that is. There's also claims that it's "Ayaka Komatsu", but that wouldn't make sense if it's an 80s song since she appears to be born in the 80s?? she would've been like 4 at most lol. (I think somebody posted an edited version of the song and claimed it was by her, resulting in a bunch of people falling for misinfo lol. "You think someone would do that? Just go on the internet and lie?") Maybe the physical album gives the proper credit? Idk

Speaking of the album, the only album I could find this song on was a compilation album titled "80s Chartbusters" from the year 2000. It describes the songs as "the greatest hits of the 80s you never heard". Maybe it was simply made to artificially fill the charts? Or bought it's way into them? Kinda like (ex-lost media) Ready N Steady? (Also a nice song imo) Idk just a thought.

For extra judgement, as well as an excuse to infodump more, here's every media I'm aware of that used the song. It was featured in a couple places as far as I can tell. It was on an episode of a Netflix tv series called GLOW. (season 2, episode 9), It was featured at the end of a movie called "Crazy on the Outside", and in another movie called "Let's Be Cops"

So here's everything I can think of to share about this song. I don't really mind if it gets disqualified as long as people get to listen to it :)

Bracket E - Fifth Set

Cross My Heart - Richard Myhill

Hurricane - My Cat Umi

“OKAY SO THEY TOOK THE SONG OFF SPOTIFY BUT I SWEAR ITS FUCKING REAL. THEY HAVE AN INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT BUT IM RUNNING ON DATA SO I CANT GET IT AND IM STRUGLGIN”

Very sorry about the link, but I think this might be the only place you can listen? Couldn’t find anything else and the Spotify link was very much dead LMAO.

[systemexploration]

okay uhm this is gonna be hard to explain but i'll do my best. if you need a better explanation just say so and i'll send another anon ask. i'm on anon because i'm too scared to ask on my main blog.

i've been questioning lately if i'm a system. i've started disassociating and derealising more often, and i've realised i have multiple personalities. but not in the way that we're seperate people. it's like... they're just different personas that front depending on the situation. they all have their own pronouns, they all have their own appearance, they speak differently, they handle situations differently, but i just... don't feel like i'm an actual system.

for example, i have a 'true self' alter, a school alter, a 'trauma holder' alter, a punk riot-y alter, a 'cringe' alter, and a 'vent' alter.

i feel more aligned with the term Multiple Personality Disorder because that's all we really are, multiple personalities. i feel more like a work in progress, or still developing system, if that makes any sense. i'm also autistic so i was thinking it might just be masking, but it feels deeper than that. i don't really have a headspace that i can go to, they don't communicate as if they were seperate people, and i'm just so confused.

i don't know where i belong or what's wrong with me. we feel like a singlet in the way we work, but i know from other people that this absolutely isn't normal, and that something is very wrong. i have a decent amount of childhood trauma but i don't remember a lot of it, and i also don't remember ever feeling like this when i was younger. also, the trauma is from multiple sources.

i can't get therapy or any sort of treatment because of my parents, so all i've had to work with is a few systems i've met irl, some systems i follow, and a lot of articles about it.

sorry if this is a bit of an infodumpy rant/vent, and also sorry if i'm being an annoyance or you don't know how to help.

i guess the tldr of this is; i feel like a system but like only half a system. my alters don't feel like seperate people, more like different personas. i'm also autistic so maybe it's just masking?

i am grateful for any advice you can give, any labels/terms you can show me, or any websites/resources you would recommend.

also oh my God i'm so sorry this is formatted/spelled/grammar'ed terribly, my brain just can't process how to explain this mess of a situation.

i hope you have a nice day!

-paperbag, they/he.

sorry this took so long to answer!! we were having some in system problems so typing a lot wouldve been hard /nmay

this sounds a lot like experiences ive heard from median systems! i want to preface this post with saying: we are not a median system and can only speak on things we have seen from median terms or things median systems have said. if any median system sees this post please feel free to correct or add things!!

heres the pluralpedia link: https://pluralpedia.org/w/Median but ill talk about it too

there is definitely a change you could be a "wip system" but you saying "half system" and "my alters dont feel like separate people more like different personas" sounds a lot like facets which are the headmates in median systems (though ive seen they are sometimes still called alters/headmates)

the "true self" is very similar to a definitions of "core". we have a core but it applies to our headmate that was here before we were plural. but the definition that relates to what you described is

now about the trauma memories, it is possible for median systems to not share all memories. we have certain memories that aren't shared, related to our trauma, but most of our other memories are shared. memory sharing is a spectrum and doesn't need to just be all memories shared or all memories split.

about the headspace, not all systems have headspaces. there are systems with vivid headspaces, systems with semi-vivid headspaces, systems with headspaces that they can only access when not in front, systems with no headspaces, etc.

about the communication, i unfortunately dont know really anything about how median systems communication works. i know that in general, systems can have a range of communication that goes from completely closed off to completely open.

i apologize if this was a bit overwhleming! im not at all trying to force median systems onto you or anything but i think it would be really good to look into! it definitely is possible that you just feel like you adopt a different personality in different situations, especially with your autism and masking. but if you feel like it is more than masking then i definitely think you should look into system/plural stuff!

Resources: Pluralpedia Plural Oasis Discord - Has a verification process Plural Palace Discord - Has a verification process Resources from @/the-plural-archive Resources from @/plural-culture-is

[madammobius]

Chao Update: #3!

Heyo! Madam Mobius here again, and welcome back to the Mobius Garden! I’ve been really busy, and tonight I’ve got some special stuff for you, but first I just wanted to have a bit of transparency and go over a few things.

Since last time, I’ve started using Chao World Extended, a mod meant to enhance and improve the overall Chao World experience! However I’ve always been a *bit* of a purist when it comes to modding games, so I went through the customization options and only checked things that met one or more of these requirements

1: Aesthetic only: Things that only effect looks like the day/night cycle option

2: Was in the Dreamcast/GC port, but was somehow made unobtainable on PC. A good example of this is the jewel chao. The dreamcast had a little gadget called the VMU packaged in, and if you had enough of the in-game emblems you could unlock jewel chao, a special chao variant, with it. However, since the gamecube and PC have no VMU they have become completely unobtainable. Chao World Extended adds a different way to earn them through the Jewel Races! I thought this was fair because it’s still a challenge, and there would be no other way to do it anyway.

Here are some screenshots of the only options I have checked for the mod (as well as my SA2 application as a whole): 

I’ve talked to some of the chao island admins and one has confirmed that beyond one thing (which we’ll get to when the time comes) there are no other vanilla changes, just additions

Okay cool, that’s probably the most infodumpy I’m ever gonna get here lol, like I said just trying to be transparent

Now who’s ready to see some cute chao? 

They’re conversing :00 

Full video with sound here! (You can hear them talk !!)

He loves when I shake him hehe :)) 

Onto some of the more substantial changes though! I’m still trying to decide what type to evolve these little babies into, so throughout this post you may notice that I change course a little bit in the types of animals I give and which stats are highest. Rest assured though! By the end of this post I will definitively have the answer for my evolution plans!

Took a look at UwU’s stats, and it looks like her personality has cycled from the last time I checked! It was cry-baby before but now it’s energetic

Veeeeerrryyy interesting combination !

You absolute troll  ( ⚆ ◡ ⚆ )

Work hard

...nap harder

Time to learn some wonderful singing! I wanted to focus on UwU for a bit so I left OwO in class

I’ve decided that UwU is going to be a power-type! Her highest stat grade is an A in Power so I decided I want to raise it to an S when she evolves

Soon she will be strong enough to demolish the competition in karate (｀\/´)

More stat grinding...

OwO has returned! He is now a wonderful singer :)) 

Accidentally gave UwU a vulture but the new wings and hair kinda look cool with the arms lol

Laaaaaaaaa!!!

I threw a bear at him lol (￣\/￣ )

Checked the black market and they had a very interesting item for sale! It seems my emblem collecting has paid off and there is a shiny blue egg for sale

( I actually saw a rarer orange one much earlier but didn’t get it so  (ゝз･) )

I mean I really SHOULDN’T buy this one... I have enough emblems for much rarer eggs to appear... plus I’m already swamped raising the other two chao and... hmmm

I bought it.

They have all gathered around for the hatching!

Well..... at least she was there at first...

Guess she was curious and decided she doesn’t care  ¯\_༼ ಥ ‿ ಥ ༽_/¯

She’s aliiiiiiiive!!!! 

Welcome to the world, small child

DRAMATIC POSE

𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙑𝘼𝙏𝙀

...this is literally the most adorable creature on the planet I would die for you （；へ：）

Stat check!

Not terrible! I don’t think I’ll evolve her based on stats though, she’s way too adorable NOT to be evolved for looks

Checks out

Taking her to the fortune teller to get her named next... 

hmmm... blue... shiny..... water name? uhhhh hydro? no no.... ocean? nah nah...

wait.

Heheheheheh....

Heheheheheheh...

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH...!

Everyone say hi to Soleanna! (Second N was removed in-game because of character limit, but her name is Soleanna)

For those unaware, Soleanna was the name of the City of Water in Sonic 06! I thought it was fitting because it’s water themed but also silly and a sonic reference lol

You know truth be told... UwU and OwO’s names were just kinda pulled out of a jokey joke hat because I needed to call them SOMETHING. I was gonna wait a little longer, but now that we have a naming theme...

Elise and Mephiles it is!  (again, Mephiles had to be cut short because of character limit but...)

I thought it made sense because they’re both hero and dark chao, plus it fits with the Sonic 06 reference theme

Mephiles would be proud to have an evil chao named after him :)) 

I guess Elise has taken a liking to Soleanna’s eggshell.... I can’t tell if that’s endearing or SUPER weird...

bird :)) 

looks like Mephiles is going to the races!

LITERALLY ANNIHILATED THOSE OTHER CHAO

ONCE AGAIN

He won a shovel!

Elise is gonna do some Karate! Use the strength of all those bears I gave you!

OHHHHHH!!

TWO HIT K-O!! 

She preceded to absolutely annihilate the entire tournament!

Owned

whatcha got there, Soleanna?

SHE’S RIDIN’ THE DUCK!! (ⅈ▱ⅈ)

Awwww, Elise and Mephiles are singing and playing music for her while she rides!! They’re all so cute !! 

So uh.... I kinda did some stat grinding with a dark character on Elise and well...

...she looks a bit like moldy cheese now

I’ll get her fixed up with Tails, don’t worry  ε-(´ D｀) ﾌ

no thoughts, head empty

wait a minute... i hadnt even noticed! Elise’s evolution stat traits are starting to come in! that means she’s getting closer to evolving into a power chao! (power chao have these sort of stripey patterns on them)

We did some more karate to celebrate

It went about how you would expect after her last performance  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In other news though, I’ve decided Mephiles’ final type! I’m gonna go with run! Mephiles’ namesake is a Shadow impersonator, and since a Dark-Run chao looks like Shadow I thought it would be funny :)) 

So I went to City Escape to collect some rabbits! And uh...

They are looking....

...and I do not know if it is respectfully ●﹏●

Mephiles understands that even dark lords of evil can have cute pink bunny rabbit ears

I’m sure you’ve noticed, but Mephiles’ evolution stat traits are coming in too! He’s growing spines and getting a little bluer!

You’re so adorable I’m gonna lose it...

Alrighty! Before we go, here’s a final stat-check for the road!

----------

That’s all for now folks! Thank you for reading it all if you made it here :))

Remember to check out https://chao-island.com/ if you want to learn more about chao and the raising experience! It’s a great resource

My chao posts will always be tagged with #MobiusGarden in case you wish to block them

Love u!

[ficsex]

more things to share from people!

somewhat infodumpy ramble about PCOS and internal exams:

there's three main criteria (Rotterdam criteria) commonly used for diagnosis, and you have to meet two of them: irregular periods, increased androgen levels (shown on blood tests or in physical changes like body hair), and little sacs called follicles on the ovaries seen via internal ultrasound (these are not actual ovarian cysts despite the name of the syndrome. yes it's confusing). You can dx with the first two criteria, hence diagnosis without an internal exam

treatment for PCOS is usually just treating symptoms (eg. acne/hair growth from increased testosterone, irregular periods) and associated issues (eg. insulin resistance, infertility) so afaik it's kinda rare for that to require exams as well, but it's not unheard of (eg. the ovaries have grown in size from the follicles and that's causing pain)

thank you so much!

I'm grateful for this blog <3 I'm in my early 30s and super asexual and never had sex or anything, I only saw a gynecologist once a few years ago bc of trouble with periods and he said he doesn't, like, touch patients who have never had sex (he did an ultrasound (? not sure if that's the word in english) and gave me some pills and it was fixed with that so gynecology things never came up again. In my region the government gives you periodical free pap smears from 25 years, they scheduled one for me automatically when I turned 25 and I called them to ask if I could/should get one since I'd never had sex. The person on the phone sounded surprised that someone at 25 had never had sex (is that even so rare?! smh) and didn't have an answer for me except that I could cancel it, so I canceled it. But I haven't talked to any medical professional about it ever since. Ah I didn't mention that I can't fit anything larger than 1 finger inside my vagina (I tried multiple times out of curiosity but it's just weird and anything larger is just painful and won't get inside anyway), which is not an issue in my daily life at all, so I never saw a doctor about it but it makes me nervous in case I should have a doctor put things inside it for medical reasons - I know I should just see a gynecologist and talk to them about the whole thing, but I really don't want to go through the potential humiliation of not being understood. (I've had bad experiences with mental health professionals who didn't know shit about my sexuality & adjacent things, and that messed up with my brain a bit.) Anyway sorry for the long message but I just wanted to say I'm glad to see people around my age with similar situations, it makes me feel less weird about this stuff. Thanks again for the blog, it's great :)

it can be so stressful to try and find a doctor who will understand you - if you have any friends in your region, maybe see if one of them can recommend a gynecologist that will treat you well, or a message board for people who have similar mental health / sexuality experiences to you.

here are two more possible reasons people could have foot fetishes:

1) feet (and hands) have MANY more nerve endings than most body parts. while they aren't a typical erogenous zone, you could still stimulate them like you would someone's genitals.

2) it might be considered humiliating to have to do stuff with someone's feet, and some people like humiliation

and

For feet anon, lol, altho I probably wouldn’t suck toes, feet are personally attractive in the same way hands are—not all of them, of course, but some feet are elegant?? Especially as they have curves such as the arch or the ankle 🤔👍yeah I think that’s most of it for aesthetics, personally//plus I think they’re a vulnerable part of a person, which does add to the appeal and intimacy

about feet!

(and like, I've sucked on my partners' toes, to see what it felt like. it was fine, it felt exactly like sucking on fingers, just shorter. literally not even a smidge as weird as people make it out to be)

(this is not a question and does not need answering, i've just unloaded a whole lot of questions on you over the last few days and realized i had never thanked you or sent love! so, so many thanks and so much love for doing what you do, you've emboldened me to actually writing smut with confidence for the first time.)

oh, hooray! I am so pleased that it's helpful!!

hi, about the anon who asked about labia. some people have very small inner labia. mine personally are very tiny, almost as if they're not there at all. so maybe theirs are too?

laaaaabia are so cool and vaaaaaaaried!

Regarding your post on noncon fantasies. My reason for enjoying them is I am simply lazy and don't want to have to put in the effort to let people know I consent or even to initiate conversations. Also I get very anxious and overwhelmed by all the stuff I can choose to do, so it's almost calming to imagine not having a choice, if that makes sense. I don't know where that fits in your main reasons, or even if it does at all, so I thought I'd just share so people can know another thought process behind these types of fantasies.

more thoughts on non-con, thank you anon!

[shadowsong26fic]

💎 for Precipice from the writing asks? :D

💎- What was your favorite part?

Ooooh, right out the gate with a Hard one, lol.

I don’t think I have a single favorite part? So here’s a(n incomplete) list of some of my favorite scenes, in no particular order:

1. Rex meeting Leia      i. Just. The way Anakin sets it up, the way Rex.exe stops functioning briefly, two-year-old Leia chastising Daddy for being mean...it fills me with delight.

2. The first time Obi-Wan runs into Hondo, way back in arc...two, I think?      i. Look, Hondo is a Delight, and there’s that whole “What a pity my unfortunate friends had no interesting hostages in the basement” bit.

3. The actual Reunion.      i. Hard as it was to write, that moment where they’re all in the same room for the first time in ten years was pretty great.

4. The duels with Specter and Infernalis.      i. The way the two apprentices reflect him was fun to play with. Plus, there was some self-indulgence there, ngl.           a. (As a corollary to that, the scenes with Artoo and Obi-Wan in the aftermath of the two Infernalis duels. In part for Anakin being like “no, it’s totally cool, I’m leaving with as many limbs as I came with and everything!” and their response being “that’s. not exactly reassuring, my dude.”)

5. Most of the scenes with Anakin and Beru      i. I just...really like Beru? And I think Anakin benefits from having someone stable and practical in his inner circle. He and Owen will never be friends (their personalities just don’t mesh super well), but Beru is another matter. And, like, I love all of the other leads in the Jedi side of the storyline (Obi-Wan, Rex, Ahsoka, etc.) but. uh. ‘stable’ and ‘practical’ are not really terms I’d use to describe any of them. not in the way Anakin needs.

6. The conversations with Sola and the handmaidens.      i. Because Padme needs friends too! And also Sola being on the fringes of everything and knowing just enough to know she Does Not Want To Know more is a fun dynamic to play with.           a. (Side note: at one point, I had a whole...like...set of notes about the four handmaidens who are with Padme in this fic, what their particular skillsets are--obviously, before Queen’s Shadow and Queen’s Peril came out--and, like...somehow this all got related to Sailor Moon and the four Inner soldiers and while I personally will never write that AU someone else should get on it.)

7. Leia’s vision in the Temple.      i. ...actually, that whole sequence, honestly. Love Chirrut and Baze, they were a lot of fun to write. I think I wrote up at some point some of the other visions I considered for her--and I know I posted one alternate version in Bonus Content--but I really like the way the Official one came out.

8. Bail and Breha being cute together.      i. Not much more to add here, I just love these two a lot.

9. Dr. Naar’s introduction.      i. Just...considering the concept of neutrality and medical ethics, especially in a situation like this. Also, this is an archetype I love (both doctors/healers in general and this particular Gruff Old Man doctor).           a. (Fun fact! You may have noticed that Dr. Naar is never actually described in-story. This is in part because fitting in descriptions like that always feels clunky/awkward/infodumpy/As You Know Bob unless it’s Super Important [i.e., with Specter and Infernalis]. It’s also in part because I can’t decide whether or not he’s a Human or a Besalisk.)

10. The scene in Arc Three with Palpatine and Padme.      i. So, uh, I actually kind of enjoy writing Palpatine’s POV? Don’t get me wrong, he’s an awful, awful person but just...the way he puts his thoughts in order, the turns of phrases he uses, it’s weirdly entertaining. Like. He’s absolutely the bad guy, he knows it, he’s living his best/worst life. It’s fascinating, and once I get into his head, it generally flows pretty quickly.      ii. But I picked this scene in particular because of the way it balances his sort of exasperated amusement at Specter (what was the line, “like a pet feline delivering a rodent, full of pride in a gift that was neither expected nor particularly wanted?”) and his cold analysis of the situation, both with Padme specifically and with his overall regime/setup.

11. Rex and Jyn’s teamup.      i. Jyn was originally going to be Dame Not Appearing In This Fic but it ended up working pretty well? That sequence as a whole was Hard because Saw is hard, and also I changed my mind about some things halfway through, but the bits with Rex and Jyn were pretty great.

12. Ahsoka’s teamups with Leia and Rex at various points.      i. I just like writing my girl being badass, y’know? And the way she plays off these two is a lot of fun to work with.

....lol, that’s probably enough for now XD I know I could list more (which I will not start doing because then this will get even longer) but these were the first dozen or so that came to mind. It’s a long fic, and I try to write stuff I like, y’know? So I like a lot of parts of my things. Even the parts I think feel rushed/like I could do better.

Send me a question!

[random-thought-depository]

I’m not going to continue that series of infodump posts on the “bad guys” from the story I’m working on now (i.e. this one and this one). I tried writing up the final post in the series I said I’d write, but it’d be so long I’d have to split it into two or maybe even three posts, and I feel like it’s taking up a lot of effort and energy that I’d be better off putting directly into the actual story. I also feel like these sorts of big infodumpy worldbuilding posts might kind of diminish the story for people who read them first; like, part of the fun of the sort of story I’m planning is having the story gradually build up a picture of the world it’s happening in as part of the narrative.

I’ll probably post little tid-bits of worldbuilding for this story and so on as I think of stuff I want to off-handedly share, though. And the effort wasn’t a complete loss, I’ve got a couple of drafts sitting in my draft box, writing them was actually helpful in figuring out certain details of how I want these “bad guys” to work, and I’ll probably save those drafts as notes for planning and writing this story.

I made a tag for stuff relating to this story: “Artemis of the airless vastness.” Everything I post relating to this story will have that tag.

[hunter-the-sad-skeleton]

Got any Infodumpy facts about the comic? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

(*Cracks knuckles*)

Oh ho ho ho....fool....do I have any? You have no idea what you’ve signed up for! Under the cut because I get REALLY REALLY into it!

So basically, the working title for the comic is “Traders and Traitors”! It’s a comic I’m working on with Morro, his Ghost crew(Soul Archer, Ghoultar(MY SON), Wrayth, and Bansha), Ronin, and a persona! This comic is gonna be mostly headcanon based, so divergence from canon is to be expected!

In the first part of the comic, Soul Archer arrives to warn Hunter about the dangers of working with Ronin.

(ID: Soul Archer, a character from Ninjago saying “Meh. Having said that, that’s not what I’m here about. I’m not here to hurt you, nor wound you. No, no, no, if that were so, I’d have done so already and sent your soul off to the Cursed Reaml. NO, HUNTER DEAREST, I DON’T WISH TO CAUSE YOU HARRRM, THAT’S NOT MY GOAL HERE. I CAME TO WARN YOU.”. There are four speech bubbles breaking up the dialogue. In the second panel, it zooms in on Soul Archer showing him with a rippling eye effect. End ID.)

It may not seem like it, but Hunter does have a LITTLE bit of doubt after this event with Soul Archer. When they get back home(in the part I’m currently working on ;3c), Ronin dispells these fears, rolling Hunter into the room he’s staying in.

I should explain Hunter’s wheelchair, huh? Basically, while he is a self-insert, the wheelchair is one discrepency. I do not need to use a wheelchair Irl, but if I stand up for too long or I exercise for too long, my legs feel like their bones are trying to push out and it starts to hurt.

This whole comic idea sprang from a friend on Discord mentioning Yanderes and. Well. This whole comic is self-indulgence.

You know how Soul Archer mentioned working with Ronin was “Dangerous”? Well...

(ID. A page from the Ninjago fancomic “Traders and Traitors” where Hunter is sitting in a wheelchair on the edge of a dock while Soul Archer is talking. Soul Archer says “He sees people as thing, Hunter. Means to an end. I’m sure he’s led you to believe he cares, but he doesn’t. He’s dangerous to be around.” One speech bubble is cut up. End ID.)

The last speech bubble from Soul Archer here is cut up. I won’t say the whole of what the speech bubble said before getting cut up, but it is worth noting that! 

I will say; Soul Archer getting sent to talk with Hunter was merely a scare tactic used by Morro to prep him for later use as bait for Ronin for his own plans. 

Morro’s plan in this comic is very...Interesting. Since this is an AU, I’m deviating from canon a bit here, in that it takes place post Possession season-ish. That may change, I don’t know yet. 

But I do know that Morro is tormenting Ronin for a reason that I’ll figure out at some point!

I’m gonna make a list of flaws that Hunter and Ronin have so that y’all can get a measure of their characters, sorta!

Hunter flaws: 

SUPER skinny and lightweight due to having to ration out food and money before working with Ronin so that he could have a chance at paying rent.(He’s around 19-ish during the comic, his parents kicked him out due to bigotted reasons, you can guess what I mean by that, probably.)

Doesn’t eat much due to being so used to rationing out supplies.

Struggles to get a good night’s rest. This is mostly due to nightmares about his family taking him back and not treating him well, or nightmares caused by Morro’s group.

Unable to walk long distances, hence the wheelchair.

Alright, now onto my favorite!

Ronin:

Not used to love due to living alone for so long, so he’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep that feeling with him.

If the going gets good, he’ll get Rex up and running and get the heck outta there!

Ya know how I mentioned Yanderes earlier? Well...

Let’s just say that the Soul Archer scene in the end of the first part...WASN’T an accident.

Can tend to be cold and calculating.

Overly protective of Hunter. 

Originally, Ronin? Didn’t give two flying cares for Hunter. He just saw him as a clumsy assistant who didn’t know what he was doing. 

Then time passed, and, well...

Has a...concerning knowledge of how the human body works.

Feels a need to know where Hunter is at all times.

If Hunter gets hurt, he’s the first to know, even if he was nowhere near him at the time.

Has accidentally guilt-tripped Hunter on multiple occasions due to not wanting to lose him.

(Flaws section over)

I feel like Hunter and Morro will have some interesting interactions tbh. Morro as a character is interesting(To me at least), so him meeting up with Hunter is gonna be interesting! 

If ya have any other questions, feel free to give me a buzz about it! I’d love to talk more about this comic!

[emperorren]

Oooh, finally some good food from the leakers! JW posted that we'll see flashbacks to Leia telling Luke she's pregnant and Luke realizes Ben Solo is coming. JW then said "If this rumor is accurate in the way I've heard it described, it sets the tone of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hard and fast. This movie is about saving Ben Solo and bringing Rey into the fold."

I’m a bit skeptical with regards to leaked flashback scenes (we got a couple in TLJ, but they had no dialogue and were instrumental to avoid an infodumpy monologue on Luke’s part, and to create the rashomon effect around the truth re: Ben’s fall, but in general SW isn’t big on flashbacks). We’ll see though. This is a very encouraging rumor.

[ninja-muse]

Childhood’s End - Arthur C. Clarke

In brief: First contact is made and the aliens are improving everyone’s lives—but are they, really? And what is their goal?

Thoughts: This is a wonderful example of mid-century classic science fiction* and is best read these days as a cultural object. This isn’t because it’s particularly dreadful but it, um, hasn’t aged well.

I was surprised how accurate some of Clarke’s predictions were, especially how neatly his alien-affected future lined up with current post-scarcity SF, and some of his analyses of human nature and mob mentalities was also spot on. There were sections where I nodded along that yes, people would do that when faced with mysterious secretive beings, and yes, of course things would develop that way…. I liked the way he set up the aliens, who are very secretive and sort of middlemen but also students of culture, and there’s some alien tech that’s put to interesting and creative uses.

Clarke’s also pretty good at building tension and seeding doubt. You know the aliens are up to something, but what? How do the clues fit together? Unfortunately for the modern reader, he achieves this in infodumpy, explanatory chapters. (You get a chapter of characters, a chapter that sums up the state of the world over several years or decades, more characters.) They’re well-written chapters in a 1950s kind of way, but they’re also a bit jarring and wearing for someone used to modern novel structures.

And that’s a nice segue into the other bits that haven’t aged…. It’s kind of funny how Clarke can be so good at predicting stuff and then totally miss the mark on other stuff. It really shows how dominant a person’s culture can be. For instance, the UN gathers economic data via fax and employs people to collate the data, and there are no women who aren’t happy housewives. I suspect there’s a lot of “fear/love of the colonizer” stuff that’s also missed its mark, largely because Clarke didn’t take an extra step back and examine how the British empire was viewed by people of colour. And he lost me at the ending, where his behavioural predictions kind of failed and things got … weird.

So, am I glad I read it? Sure! Always nice to know where a genre comes from, and to know that it’s not all has hilariously off the mark as some examples would have you think. Clarke has done some fine work here and made some good points about the future and human desires and how alien contact might change things, and I can see why this is one of the early SF novels that still gets talked about. But it’s not a great read by today’s standards and the content is equally iffy and honestly, I’d kind of forgotten I’d read it until I started going through my “to-review” list so … yeah. Sigh.

* She says, damning with faint praise

Warnings: Not great to women (see above), largely white and European, can’t quite escape the colonial upbringing of the author, has several instances of the n-word (but it’s “okay” because nobody cares about race anymore).

6/10

[realizing-myself]

REading the Daughter of the Moon Goddess.

1. i have the funniest summary ever i can never post her, but i might do something like it for future books

2. WAs an interesting book, a bit infodumpy in the education arc at the beginning but overall world building shapes nicely

3. Great plot twist

4. A genuine love triangle where neither dudes are shitty (this be the most surprising thing until one of them turned shitty)

5. Over everything else, Xingyin deciding that love isn’t everything which is amazing b/c i love a good romance novel like many people but seriously, love isn’t the end-all, be-all and it really shouldn’t be marketed as such