#but i do think it'll be funny if when i do get to like 2000 asks

[oifaaa]

1936 now

Back down to 1935 sucker haha this only works if I either don't answer the ask or don't just delete the ask

[alexanderwales]

Pitchposting: The Yearbook

I just finished the expanded section of The Roottrees are Dead, and it reminded me of an idea that I've had kicking around forever. This will not spoil either of those games, but it'll spoil some of what it feels like to play those games.

In Obra Dinn you're an insurance agent attempting to figure out what happened on the titular ship, filling in a logbook with names and fates based on what you see in the past. It's a lot of fun, I highly recommend it.

In The Roottrees are Dead, you're an inspector or a genealogist or something, filling in the Roottree family tree, using your 1990s internet connection to comb through periodicals and books from the library and half-finished websites. It's a lot of fun, I highly recommend it.

Anyway, the idea came after I'd first played Obra Dinn, and thought to myself "wow, they should make like a million more of these" and then started thinking about what the low-hanging fruit was.

Here, you're trying to fill out a yearbook.

There are a bunch of names and pictures, and yes, there's a full grid, but there are also pages with the various clubs, and other pictures of life at school, and it's your job to complete basically full dossiers on at least the most interesting of the kids, with some of the less interesting ones reduced to "easy" puzzles.

And the mechanism of doing this? Teenaged text messages, poorly composed cell phone shots, a handful of websites, all the digital ephemera. This absolutely works best in the early 2000s, when our social media was fractured and you would naturally get a lot of variety, but the idea is to have a lot of variety and texture to what the player gets to sift through, whether it's AOL Instant Messenger, the robotics team's amateurish website, or a bunch of text messages.

Who are these people, how do they relate to each other? All the answers are out there for you to find and record, and you get to know these people in the process of unraveling everything.

One of the things to consider, in this sort of detective game, is how you open up new information to the player, because at least some of the information is going to be just sitting there, waiting to be entering, with the journey to get to the data source the thing that was most interesting about it.

And I think in this case, maybe the thing that you're slowly gaining access to is phones.

Early 2000s is a transitional era, so maybe you have iPhone equivalents living alongside Blackberry equivalents and Nokia bricks and flip phones and all those sorts of things, and you gain access to them one by one, for those who have one, or maybe their computers. I'm a little on the fence about the best way to do this, but having a picture of a phone/computer would at least be funny way to do it, so you're combing through pictures not just for the people and information contained in them, but for someone whose phone you've never seen before, since that will magically/technologically allow you to read all their messages.

And if you're looking through someone's phone, there are mysteries to solve there, cryptic conversations to unravel. There are aliases. You get a conversation that you know must be important, but the name is saved as just "T-Dog", and that could be anyone! And you have to wander through solving all these little issues, trying to decrypt the local dialect of emoji use, figuring out the timeline for when this guy was dating three girls to see whether he cheated or not. You can realize that someone was being catfished!

The thing that I like most about these games is that you have such great opportunities for organic storytelling, having a guy who you get to know from having seen him in a few places, forming a picture of people from the scraps you can see. And here, there's a high school's worth of personalities to unfold, to get your stereotypes corrected, to have thundering revelation after revelation, and all the ambiguity that crops up where the digital realm doesn't allow you to see the full truth.

I'm picturing 50 or so students, a graduating class that's small, maybe a tiny college town in the Midwest where there's a mix of the students of professors and farmers and lots of variety in terms of class, a place with homecoming and prom and sports teams and all that kind of thing. And somewhere in the early 2000s seems good in terms of what it brings to the table. Am I exactly describing my own small Midwestern hometown and the time period when I was going to high school? I mean, yeah. But I do think that's the best for gameplay purposes.

This is one of those things that I really would like to just throw a few years of my life at making. It calls to me. But while I have the programming skills necessary to figure out that end of things, and I'm a good writer, it would also call for a lot of art and UI design that would be extremely unfun and detail-oriented in a way that does not suit me. Why must we have finite lifespans?

(I think the very first time I noodled this idea, it was with supernatural elements, a single giant party that you would spend your time unpacking, one with cultists and sadists and things from the deep, all kinds of calamities killing these teenagers off, with the player being a supernatural inspector coming in after the fact. And this would ape Obra Dinn more closely, but calls to me a bit less.)

[billpottsismygf]

Space Babies! Weird episode, but it had a charm. I had already prepared myself for the fact that RTD's era was notoriously camp and weird, and that I would for the first time be experiencing new episodes by him as an adult rather than as a 9-13 year-old, so it's not news to me that there would be some campy nonsense with a deeper message, and that this might be more jarring than I'm used to. The deeper themes were really thrown out (refugees, anti-abortion hypocrisy, genocide, capitalism) without being dwelt on, but that's not necessarily a problem.

The babies themselves were... a little unnerving? The mouth movements were quite uncanny, along with their voices and the general "I love you, Ruby!" of it all. I've just now made the connection that the latter puts me in mind of adverts for baby dolls.

The gunky snot monster felt very early 2000s British children's TV. If you weren't there for that, just know there was so much slime; think Slitheen exploding. I am very glad it got rescued. Nice message with the Doctor not usually running from things just because they look scary and, even though this is a creature specifically manufactured to be scary, it still deserves a shot at life.

It feels like a strange story to start with because I suspect it'll have mixed reviews. I would think you'd want a slightly more solid episode to draw people in with. Anyway, there was still a lot of thought put into making this a proper jumping off point with all its Doctor Who 101 stuff. Funny for a long-time viewer hearing it all rattled off in record time, but important to establish for new people, and I do think it's important for the show to remain accessible to people who haven't been obsessing over it for twenty years or more.

As a jumping off point, it very specifically reminded me of The End of the World. There's the big observation deck on a space station where the new companion, in her second episode and first off-world adventure, gets her phone updated so she can call her mum, in particular. The parallels to Rose are interesting, especially with the lecture the Doctor gives Ruby about how they can't travel back to meet her missing parent(s).

Speaking of that, there's some intrigue there with the snow appearing and the memory changing. I didn't like the Doctor doing a DNA scan of Ruby without her knowledge. It feels very 11th Doctor, especially when he literally scanned Amy and withheld medical information, but also the way he treated all his female companions as mystery boxes to solve without telling them. I guess we'll see what that's all about at a later point.

I'm still not completely sold on Millie Gibson, but Ncuti Gatwa is wonderful, and I do really appreciate their chemistry.

Small things:

Jocelyn was a good character, and the Nan-E filter made me laugh several times.

That place name before the Doctor turned the translation circuits off was absolutely not in English. Slightly weird way to phrase that line if it's going to be called Pacifico del Rio.

This is a very early point in the series for Ruby to get a TARDIS key! We're really speedrunning the usual steps here.

[moonlitlex]

this week's doctor who review.

plot - whatever boring blah pacing was shit felt like the episode could have been 10 minutes long i dont know why it dragged so much the stuff with hellia and the hellions should have been better developed bc i could literally not possibly care less about them it was very bland 2 dimensional storytelling and resolving the colonization and genocide theme with one woman singing a song is frankly just laughable. i feel like i can't even waste time being angry about this. it's literally just a joke. you didn't seriously write this plotline. you don't actually think this is a reasonable story to tell.

characters - belinda got nothing to do again the doctors anger wouldve hit better if he wasnt doing emotional parkour every episode anyway and i wasnt invested in any of the side characters at all.

the susan stuff made me laugh as well. it's so random and out of nowhere i assume it'll be explained during the finale but it's really funny that susan has basically been mia for decades and then out of nowhere 2000 years later the doctor is getting psychic visions of her and it has fuck all to do with the plot and theres no clear reason why now of all times. why for space eurovision of all things. did she miss the like 20 genocides hes done since one left her 2000 years ago did she miss the time war. did she miss the universe blowing up in flux. did she miss when the daleks tried to erase all of reality. (yes i know about big finish but that doesnt count bc you can't expect the show audience to be familiar with the eu stuff made to cater to fans exclusively). even if there's a good reason for it later right now its just making the episode laughable

reveal - hahahahahaaahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhaah (derogatory)

[anxiousapplepie]

Alright, today's question is one you're absolutely free to keep your lip zipped about if it delves into spoiler territory. Which it mostly likely will. Actually, it's a lot of questions because I might as well get a bunch of them out before I forget I have them. Again. Time to begin rapid-fire and I am sorry in advance.

Does the world of Special Delivery pre-apocalypse mostly resembling modern society or that with differences due to gods being a thing? Were they perhaps a touch ahead with technology, hence things like Jemima? Or did that particular advancement only happen, almost paradoxically, after the apocalypse? Did the fallen society know about the gods and ghosts and stuff, (And I mean they actually knew about it for certain, not just theorizing), or did it just all sort of became rapidly apparent as the world fell to shit back then? (I am also curious how exactly civilization is looking now, you could do a comical, as in funny, 'before and after' thing but I know that's just gonna be more pressure on you so don't worry about it too much.)

And also, who exactly built the robot dogs? I presume there's more than just Jemima. Just like how there's probably other postman besides Patrick, but anyway. Who figured out how to create a proper consciousness / personality for the machines? Is it from one source or multiple?

Only answer what you feel up for answering, and take as long as you need for this. My brain apparently decided to blurt all this out so it'll keep you thinking for quite a bit. So, uhh... have fun? I hope?

Ah! asking the big questions, huh? Lemme see what I can reasonably answer at this current time and place >:3

When I first came up with the SD idea way back in 2020, I was aiming for an Industrial Revolution + Steampunk vibe. But now in the year 2025 I'm more willing to be flexible with the aesthetic of the story! ... and by that, I mean it's developed into something I don't know how to describe besides "a postwar nuclear-fantasy nightmare with heavy inspiration from the Aussie outback" There was good technology before the End of the world, but not "sentient robot" good. Just regular chemical weapons and computers from the early 2000s type of good :3

As for the question about the gods and all things supernatural: YES! Humanity was aware the gods were a thing. Sure, there are always phases of skeptical and/or atheistic generations asking if the gods truly exist or care. But it's pretty hard to ignore giant monsters getting kicked in the teeth by one of the gods in an impossible-to-miss battle of the ages, so humanity knew the gods were more than a "theory" or an explanation for things that happened in life. Most of the time.

However, it doesn't matter if you believe in the gods or not after The End, because most of them are now dead. No point worshiping something that isn't alive anymore, right?

As for the one responsible for making Jemima and the other robo dogs that serve the posties, you can blame this guy! XD Long story short, Louie is an (ex) mad scientist who took one look at the post office and said to nobody in particular "you know what this place needs? better security and robot dogs who can kill a crocodile and serve you hot toast!" and then spent the next decade upgrading everything he could get his hands on. Amongst other things!

The method of giving robots sentience and personalities is still something that is being researched, but so far the common theory is "you get what you give". Which is to say, if you start treating a piece of technology like it's a person, pretty soon it starts acting like a person. Other people think ghosts or spirits are just haunting machines. Which might be true in some cases, but not all of them. >:3 Lots of people have stepped forward to claim the credit of 'discovering' robot sentience first, nothing has been settled yet.

ANYWAY! :D This was fun! I had fun answering these questions, and was deeply aggrieved I couldn't do it sooner because flu shots messed me up XD but seriously, your thoughts are much appreciated and thank you for letting me ramble! <3

[mcchipisfried]

I'm watching Hannibal for the first time and I'm not gonna lie I had my doubts. (Currently on Seaon 2 Episode 11)

(ALSO SPOLIERS BELOW though I think I'm the last person on tumblr who HASN'T seen Hannibal)

My forefathers forgive me, I had doubts. So so many doubts. I wanted to go into this show decimating everyone's reasoning that Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham would work as a couple (romantic or otherwise). I wanted to be fed a story about murder, deception, manipulation, betrayal, and maybe even a little but of cannibalism. And don't get me wrong I have gotten this, but I've also been fed a romantic comedy.

I went into this show not wanting to find reasons to want these two together, I wanted to think "Oh the people of tumblr probably pieced a bunch of subtext together and I probably will as well but it'll hardly be anything that I could write about to my friends who haven't seen the show"

I was so fucking wrong.

Really it should have been the moment where Alana and Hannibal were having a ✨️moment✨️ while Will and Margot were also having a ✨️moment✨️ so the way the whole scene played was very. Well. Not what you would expect from a guy that should have every reason to shoot Hannibal on sight. The fucking framing and cinematography got me to send a 3 minute long vm at 2 am to my friend who really doesn't care about Hannibal.

Or maybe it should have been every single time tweddle dee and tweddle dum are even remotely alone together and decide to start eye fucking each other while also making death threats.

But no what got me was when Alana described what was done to Freddie Lounds' body the second time around as a demonstration of a courtship (best way I can phrase it without just explaining the plot that led us here)

Really, its such a small moment.

But the way the two idiots are standing there looking at each other and Alana shouldn't have been as funny as it was nor should it have instantly reminded me of an early 2000's movie where the couple is secretly dating because they just can't help it and some third party, maybe even one the main couples friends discovers them while trying to NOT make it a Big Deal™ because they are in public except y'know, this is happening over the body that Person A burned to a crisp and sent rolling in a wheelchair while Person B got said body after the funeral and made it into an effigy.

Anyways TLDR: I thought the Hannibal x Will stuff was all very insignificant subtext but actually it was just text and it was screaming. I would also like to thank my film, cinematography, scriptwriting, lighting, and storytelling college classes because as it turns out you did do something for me. You made me realize that whatever is happening between Hannibal and Will is not platonic and I will be consulting AO3 to further expand my understanding of these characters as soon as I finish watching the show.

Also yes I know at some point someone says Hannibal is in love with Will. But now I'm starting to believe that.

[catchyhuh]

my fave lupin iii blog .... give me your wisdom

cologne / perfume scents for the gang

i had to do an embarrassing amount of research on this one. mostly because perfume lore goes a lot deeper than i ever could have imagined and i wanted to give you something GOOD so ALL THAT SAID if any of you disagree with this you may be right. i did five quizzes, read up on multiple blogs from the 2000s, learned the "scent families" and at the end of the day just gave up and typed "douchiest colognes" into google

lupin: generally speaking, regardless of WHAT he's getting, any "subtle" notes are going to now have the force of a freight train the way he's practically bathing in this stuff. which is pretty rough when already coupled with really strong, amber-y scent type shit. lupin's cologne does not smell light and pleasant, it smells like you walked into a dark red cloud, which is ironic considering the conclusion i came to was dolce and gabbana light blue. people fucking hate this smell, despite parts of it sounding good in theory, and since lupin's shitty cologne has been addressed canonically numerous times, i feel this is it. even a tiny bit of this perfume makes so many people seem to wither like flowers in the sun so i can only imagine what happens when a guy who's been dunktanking himself in this walks in the room

jigen: again, its kind of overpowering. not because he overdoes it like lupin, but again, these are just not very subtle people, and even if jigen does SEEM reserved, he likes making a scene just as much as the others in the right environment. like, a mix of amber and woodsy types. i ended up on dior fahrenheit on this one and it made me realize both lupin and jigen using like, excessively common brands makes sense. for lupin its brand recognition, for jigen it's convenience. he probably smelled this in the fucking 90s and just committed to it since

fujiko: this was simultaneously the hardest and easiest, because i kept looking trying so damn hard to figure this out, to pinpoint what would SCREAM fujiko while still being unique enough to appeal to her lavish tastes, but NORMIE enough that i would be able to read up the notes on perfume reddit (they seem to know what they're talking about there) only to realize. wait. this is the same bitch who won't even keep her hair dyed the same color all the time. fujiko has no specific fashion sense beyond "stylish and with the current times" and i feel that's what applies to her perfume too. well and. hot. i guess. stylish, current, and hot. that's like 50 bottles right off the bat. regardless, it'll always be bold. thats right baby we're at amber AGAIN, but because she doesn't wanna scare off potential prey there's always a faint undertone of sweet flowers. she's smart like that even her perfume is calculated.

goemon: my man does not wear cologne on any occasion. he thinks its silly because you can smell good for free if you just fucking. bathe. why pay 80 dollars to smell bad? HOWEVER (as just established) goemon is bathing and 90% of shampoos/bodywashes have a scent. and goemon's is very... crisp. kinda citrus-y at times? this is the most mundane answer (and the most accessible they got this shit at walmart) but you know that mint teatree shampoo? he's got the faintest hint of that specific scent lingering on him

zenigata: this is going to sound so funny and mean but like. imagine if a smell was trying to look cool but just kind of making an ass of itself. i feel like that's what he'd have, regardless of if the cologne did actually smell good on anyone else, it'd feel just a bit overzealous on him. it was way difficult to find something that made sense to me but wasnt like, again, 80 fucking dollars, because you know for a fact he's spending 15 tops. and that's if he even remembers to wear it. at best, for some reason, i feel like he'd be a sandalwood guy but i can't really place why? honestly i was kinda ready to give up until i saw GREY FUCKING FLANNEL BABY!!! THIS SHIT IS DIRT CHEAP HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE 70S AND APPARENTLY EVERYBODY'S DAD KNEW SOMEBODY WHO WORE THIS! AND YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN IT? SANDALWOOD!!!!!!

now i can finally close all these fucking perfumania tabs

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

hmm. conversely, most ADHD car?

(A dab o' context for y'all, this ask came hot off the heels of my most autistic car post, hence the "conversely".)

Well, when I read this, I had nothing. But then I thought about it a little, and suddenly, I continued to have nothing.

But you already know that, dear asker, because you're in the blog's Discord server which I turned to for suggestions. And in fact, you chipped in yourself with not one but two picks, first of which the fifth generation Ford Mustang!

So, pray tell, what brings my elementary school self's favorite car ever ever into this list?

uhh from like a cultural view its an unfocused and hyperactive car with a reputation of not going the way people want (see: crowd meme)

Oh, come on, are we really still not over that stereotype whereby late model Mustangs are owned by people both too eager to show off not to leave a car meet flooring it and too inept to actually keep it under control when they do?

Well, I guess to get over it it'll need to stop being true.

But also, being so much of an exhibitionist as to cause physical pain is not about ADHD at all!

Anyone I invite at my house gets bored to tears with a tour of my every possession...

...but not because I have ADHD!

Actually, you know what? That may really be it now that I think about it. Well, anyway, your submission is funny enough to earn a pass even if we don't see eye to eye on this anyway.

How about your second, though?

alternatively: late '90s to early 2000s tuner Civic, for the same reasons

While he included this picture, he advised to use a worse example, so I took the liberty to present you a historical picture.

I say historical because this picture was the definition of rice, the textbook example. If Wikipedia had a page for "rice (automotive)" it would feature this picture, probably second behind that blue early 90s Civic which in hindsight we were all wrong about and was actually sick.

Did you know this was made by a teenager out of metal? I'm digressing.

Friend of the blog (well, pillar of the blog at this point) @demoness-one agrees and suggests:

Honestly riced out clapped out honda civics did come to mind also But i feel like the car that most represents adhd is probably one that isn't finished lol Abstract concept of a car

But she wasn't the only one to vote for her own cars, as friend of the blog and Saturn SL1 owner @chevyventure posted a simple but effective contribution:

zero executive function between those eyes

Not as simple as friend of the blog @brick-enthusiast's, however, who just posted a Suzuki Cappuccino without comment.

In respect of that approach I will not comment either.

However, it's time to make my pick too, as in the process of writing this post I finally understood the assignment, and thus came up with something.

What's ADHD? As this blog demonstrates, sometimes it's being hyperfocused on something exciting, much to the detriment of things that actually matter in daily life. Sometimes it's said focus earning amazing results that seem disproportionate to one's means. Sometimes it's taking comfort in the routine, in deeply ingrained habits and tradition that still have to constantly be actively enforced as conscious choice. Sometimes it's being darty, shooting from point to point with speed other minds can't even keep up with. Sometimes it's having too much energy to contain. Sometimes it's... being loud? Oh really! I thought I was just being Italian!

And if you've read my 100th post, you'll know a car that fits that description to a T. (And if you haven't, click on here before reading on because you really want to.)

Indeed, what could be a better pick than a car that's stayed the same for nigh on seven decades in its devoted preservation of its ability to dart around like nothing else on the road, a car so perfromance-focused the comfort spec is the one that gets windows, a car not one bit less deafening than legally required? What could be a better pick than the Caterham Seven 620R, the literal world record holder for spinning around in circles?

And also just look at it.

If you're wondering about the number plate, it was made to celebrate its Lego version - yes indeed!

And if you can believe it, people still gifted me clothes for Christmas.

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question: if you liked this post, you might like those - or the blog’s Discord server, linked in the pinned post!

[loki-wants-an-army]

spn and pjo might actually work as a crossover- a brief essay

Percy Jackson and Supernatural would actually make a decent crossover- both having that early 2000s, road trip Americana vibe mixed with myths and monsters of the week. Dean and Sam would freak the hell out. Percy and Annabeth would be sassy and suspicious as shit.

Annabeth wouldn't know about them, having spent most of her life on the run and then sequestered at camp, but it's entirely possible Percy or maybe even Grover might've seen Dean and Sam's mugshots somewhere or something. Percy can't be too quick to judge based on that alone considering his own dodgy record, but still it does warrant concern.

Imagine- from the Winchesters' end it sounds like there's weirdly consistent descriptions tied to rumors of kids disappearing or involved in almost inexplicable altercations. From the kids' perspective it's running into weird guys who seem to be a little too aware of the things most people ignore with the mist, while they're on an important quest away from camp.

They could bump into each other a few different times on the road before either one group finally decides to confront the other, or they end up in the same battle. Maybe the brothers save them in a fight, maybe it's the other way around and the kids (especially Annabeth) end up doing the rescuing instead. I don't know, it could be interesting and funny both ways. Let's just say they take turns.

Or alternatively, maybe the halfbloods just happen to pull up to some random town diner or motel, near flat broke and at least a little bloody, running from a monster the Winchesters also happen to be tracking, or vice-versa you could have the brothers arrive somewhere chasing a monster the kids happen to already be running from, and the conversation starts from there, with Sam leading with a few careful questions.

Naturally, when he realizes they're the direct target of the attacks and that it'll probably continue that way if not get worse, Dean frets over them even more, because he's a good guy like that, and then he accidentally ends up semi-adopting the gang, or at the very least reluctantly cross-country taxi driving this group of insanely powerful but scary young demigods (and a satyr)- who apparently have superpowers and their own magic weapons made of a special monster-killing celestial bronze- he should see about adding that to the arsenal- while Sam asks all kinds of questions about Greek monsters and the gods, updating and expanding on his notes, initial enthusiasm quickly tempered by increasing alarm.

They can also bond by angsting over shitty parents, hell knows Dean would immediately cave and take them all under his wing for that alone.

I think it could be an interesting parallel between the hunters and the hunted. Both tormented by monsters and unable/unwilling to give up the fight, and in Sam's case he could also relate to the whole "being haunted by visions" thing. I also imagine Percy and Annabeth's flaws of unwavering loyalty and pride respectively might make an interesting match with the themes of Supernatural. Plus I'm a sucker for found family tropes that follow their own unique dynamics and don't try to just mirror a weird, idealized, suburban nuclear family unit.

edit: Oh! Also Dean hates airplanes and Percy can't do flying because of the whole Zeus wanting to kill him thing

[beoljibentertainment]

Snippets of Woke Up to SuperTV [EP 01]

Pairings: Nara (OC) x Super Junior (mostly platonic); Nara (OC) x Kyuhyun; Nara (OC) x Yesung

Warnings: none, idk?

w.c:  2,6k

English isn't my first language, so it'll probably have some mistakes — I'm also trying to use quotation marks, but in Brasil we usually write dialogues with dashes, that's why it'll probably look so off

please interact with me, I'm dying to know what you guys think about her/the story/everything!!! I want to know your thoughts and asks and what more you want to see 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

20 years since the debut. 

Shit.

Were they really together for more than 20 years? Some of them have known each other since 2000, when they were still teen trainees chasing their dreams. They were family – and Super Junior was their baby. They had a 20 year group that grew up with them and was still prospering. 

They met the previous year to decide what this new decade of Super Junior would look like, in the Super Junior 3.0 project. Several ideas were discussed, and they were starting the year with a bang: they would return with a variety show, but this would be just the beginning of their anniversary year. 

Even if Super Junior wasn’t doing anything new – in the strict sense of the word, because they were producing new content, just using common formulas and rules, not exactly creating – they wanted their fans to have everything. To feel all the love they had felt all the years before. 

So, now, they were doing a photo exhibition. 

Not naked, like Ryeowook had proposed, but Nara thought none of the members would do it if it was real. If it was maybe 15 years before, Heechul would be down to. He 100% would. He had that rebellious character and rage that no one could equal. He loved having his name in the headlines, and he was really confident about his body, about his attributes… He used to photograph himself in the shower – even with other members. Wow. She missed Hankyung Oppa so much. 

They were supposed to be together now. The fourteen of them – but having at least ten of them, after all they had been through, was enough. Nara was trying to enjoy things, even if they weren't perfect… maybe she was getting old and sentimental. Ugh. It was Kyu’s fault, or Jiyong’s. She didn’t know. Heechul said that, now that he was getting old – Nara remembered saying “getting?” and he yelled at her –, he was starting to see things in a different light and get super nostalgic. She could understand that feeling.

Talking about Heechul, he was moving the scenery around when, pulling on something, he started laughing uncontrollably. It was a whiteboard with their graduation pictures on it. Some of the members mumbled some negative comments and others were laughing, be it at their own faces or the faces of their friends. They were at that friendship state that they could say anything to each other. 

Kyuhyun leaned against the wall, already feeling the nasty comments that would be made about his photo. Had he been drinking the night before? Why was his face swollen? What about the double eyelid surgery? He'd received so much hate in previous years that he'd even been called a “plastic monster” even though he hadn't had any more surgeries than that. A fake smile appeared on his face. 

Nara ran a hand over his back, comforting him. They had agreed not to do or say anything that would give the idea that they were a couple, but it would only be seen as a friendly gesture. Nara did that (and more) with all the other boys, so there was no problem... right? 

Kyuhyun looked at her startled, a scream in the back of his throat, not knowing how to react. “Where did you come from?” he said, to disguise it, as if he had been surprised by her appearance and not by the gesture of affection. 

She laughed, and they decided to use the clip. After all, it was a funny scene between friends, and the fans loved to see that kind of thing. They would turn it into memes, and it would be good to promote Super Junior. 

After some of the boys had taken their own photos, it was Nara's turn.

She made her way to the center of the room, standing with her back to the white wall and staring at the camera Shindong was pointing at her. It should look like her old photo; a youthful smile appeared on his face and he tilted his head to one side, still with the model's penetrating gaze.

“You were really pretty, weren't you?” Leeteuk said, moving closer to the photo attached to the board. The boys agreed. 

Click. The test to see if the lighting, focus and proximity of the camera were good. When the photo appeared on the big screen, she smiled, both laughing at what Leeteuk had said and admiring herself. 

“We had already debuted when I graduated. Of course I was already pretty” She said jokingly, and everyone rolled their eyes. Where was her humility?

She smiled again, this time inflating her cheeks a little. Unlike the boys, who had become puffier as they got older, her face was thinner and much less youthful than before. She would still have some body dysmorphia, and now she was feeling like a skeleton next to her younger self. She missed that collagen and being “cute”, but could still accept being up to standard after 35.

“You never had an ugly phase?” Hyukjae asked. 

Another click. The final photo. Gorgeous. 

“Never” she said, now giving them her true smile. It was gummy, and her eyes closed a little in a half-moon shape. It had joy and was nothing like the ones she did for modeling. “I was born beautiful like Siwon,” she said, pointing at his picture. 

It was true, she was born beautiful and never had any plastic surgery… but she didn’t feel like it. To this day, Nara would feel like something was missing, like she was not pretty enough, thin enough, or looked young enough… she knew it was capitalism monetizing her insecurities, but it would not hurt any less. 

The entertainment industry treated idols like pawns. It would always have someone “more pretty” to do her job and she had this internal battle since before the debut. Being so young and suffering so much left some emotional scars that she needed to deal with every day. When she was younger, she was really insecure about her appearance and wanted to look like BoA, Lee Hyori or YoonA. Now, she just wanted to look like her younger self. 

She was getting older and nostalgic, just like Heechul said. 

The next one was Donghae, and she couldn't hold back her laughter. “You looked like a child,” she pointed to the photo. ”Are you sure that's your high school graduation and not your elementary graduation?”

He forced a laugh with paused “ha ha ha”, showing how displeased he was with her joke, and positioned himself in the center. 

After the fiasco that had been Siwon's photos – who didn't quite understand the premise of the event and just sent in his own photos, all in the same position but on different days – it was Nara's turn to exhibit her photos for the gallery. 

The first was from behind the scenes of Explorers of the Human Body, more specifically episode 12. After recording had finished, the director decided to re-watch the footage to see if they needed to re-record any scenes or add any more explanations, since the location was rented and, if anything was missing, they would have to pay more money to finish filming. While they were doing this, the members were free to swim and rest, whichever they preferred. 

It was clear from the photo that Donghae had his legs around Hyukjae's shoulders and Heechul was on top of Kangin, having a water fight. Some members surrounded the four, shouting for their chosen team, while others were not in the frame. In the distance, Kyuhyun was sitting on the rock outside the pool with his legs in the water – he had recently undergone surgery and couldn't go into the pool. However, he wasn't alone. Nara was talking to her friend while leaning on those pool noodles. There were hardly any scenes of her in that episode, so they didn't have to show her in her swimsuit, but she was there anyway.

For Nara, it was a good memory. They were all still together and Kyuhyun was well, having just returned to recording shows with him – after not having taken part in the movie that had come out a few months before the photo. It was important to her that they were there, that they were together and having fun, especially after the accidents. It was important to her before, and it was still important now, even with four fewer members.

“This photo is incredible! I didn't even remember that,” Heechul commented, getting up to take a closer look. “Where did you get that?” 

“My manager at the time sent it to me a few years ago, after Sabbatical Serenade was released. She said she was very proud of me and that she knew I was going to do great things, that I was good,” she said, recalling the conversation. When she started doing Kid’s Club, she needed to have a manager for herself, as the Super Junior one could not deal with the fourteen of them. She was old in the entertainment industry and cared a lot about Nara, ready to fight so that they wouldn't sexualize the girl in the shows when she was so young. 

The boys were afraid of her. She was demanding and, at times, cruel. She demanded perfection from Nara that had never been produced before. She was the harshest person they had seen on set, and she was completely obsessed with Nara. Her voice had to be drowned out from filming and backstage footage as she was always shouting about mistakes, scolding the idols and making the atmosphere at the Kid's Club tense. 

She had managed to make Nara a star at a time when television was still dominated by men, but she treated her like a puppet – “put your clothes on”, “talk like this”, “don't do that”. Nara knew that she was still being treated better than all the other people who worked with her. 

Fortunately – or unfortunately, Nara couldn't understand the extent of her feelings at the time – she was fired after a fight with Lee Soo Man.

“Some netizen sent us messages saying every time they turned the television on, Nara was there,” Shindong joked. It was true. They discussed it at the time behind her back, probably when she was on another recording. 

“I had fixed variety shows and, when Super Junior was invited to another show, I appeared even more,” a smile appeared on her face and she tucked her hair behind her ears, explaining to the camera. She remembered going to all the variety shows Kangin hosted at the time and her heart felt heavy. 

“Maybe younger fans don’t know, but she was really famous at that time”, Kyuhyun added to her explanation, thinking he was helping. Then he felt something hit his arm and yelled “AH”. His face turned right and he saw Nara, who was on his side, with an angry face. 

“I still am!” she tried to defend herself. The angry face didn’t last and she was now laughing. 

The camera focused on the two of them, against their better judgment. It was not good doing close takes, as they could see more of Kyuhyun and Nara’s expressions but, hoping they wouldn’t display any sign of affection, they decided it would be better if they filmed it than Yesung’s foaming face looking at the two of them. Maybe the other members couldn’t see it, but Yesung rolling his eyes every time Nara spoke was not good. 

Some staff member behind the camera made a signal to Leeteuk, and he continued to talk. “Younger fans only know Heechul,” he said, and Heechul made a cute face, sending a kiss to the camera. “Maybe Donghae or Siwon too,” he completed, looking at his members. 

“Hyukjae is also famous among the youngest,” Shindong added. 

“They like this ugly?” Kyuhyun pointed at the referenced friend. 

“YAH!” Hyukjae yelled and Kyu received another slap on his arm, this time from the member on his left. 

In the second photo shown, she was sleeping on the sofa in one of the waiting rooms before the show. The photo was shaky and, while all the members were shouting, running and stretching, Nara was trying to rest. She couldn't remember exactly which concert it had been, whether it was a tour, a fancon or a special event. She was like this at every concert and, due to sleep, her brain had little space to store memories. 

“I barely remember her being awake at that time,” Ryeowook said, a venomous tone creeping in his voice. She gave him a death look and he smiled. This toxic duo… 

“Right! She was always sleeping, and we couldn’t even throw water at her” Donghae said. He really was a little devil cosplaying as a good baby. He was the one that always initiated fights – even if the members didn’t know it exactly – and wanted to throw water at her. 

“She hardly slept because of the Kid's Club and rehearsals,” Kyu explained again. 

This time the camera didn’t focus on anyone and the staff members didn’t notice the side eye Yesung gave to them. He felt as if the two of them were doing nothing to hide the relationship, as if they were just exposing themselves openly for all the fans to see. Ryeowook nudged his back. What he was doing was not fine. Kyu and Nara were talking as friends, as the maknae twins, as maknae on top and evil maknae… Yesung was the one treating it as more than it was, and it wouldn’t be fair to any of them if the public realized it before the time came. 

“I'd tell the kids to study, and I wouldn't go to my classes so I could train the dances... or get some more sleep. I was exhausted”, Nara said, laughing. It was her first time telling this to the public, as she always needed to pose as a perfect girl to be an example for kids. 

“You almost repeated your last year due to lack of attendance”, Heechul remarked, and her eyes widened. She was exposing herself, but she did not expect it to be so deep. 

“Does anyone else want to talk besides Heechul?” she said, her tone telling him to shut up before she started spilling some information about him there. 

Everyone laughed and the conversation continued. Nara remembers trying to go to university the following year, but dropping out a month later, saying it “wasn't for her”. Of course, other idols – including Kyuhyun – went to college while pursuing their careers, so it was good to have an alternative plan, but she just thought she was dumb... 

Her insecurities got the best of her almost all the time in her younger years. As said before, she was really hurt by all these experiences and had a lot of emotional scars. All of them had, in their own ways, but they were grateful for continuing in Super Junior and growing up together.

She went to college later, in 2019. She is now a bachelor in anthropology and linguistics. 

She was not dumb. She was not ugly. She was so busy doubting herself that she didn’t see others being intimidated by her potential.

𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ.ᐟ 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝟶 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙���𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 — 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦.

𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑠, 𝑛𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦.

[dearamleo]

fanfic author interview game

Thank you @imsiriuslyreading for tagging me!

How many works do you have on AO3?

Six! +1 hidden one.

What's your total AO3 word count?

364,529 (and I'll be honest, that's way more than I thought)

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

Writing Pages - Remus can't stand rich people, Sirius is just tired and Lily and James want them to shut up and date already.

The Sinner's Feast - Doctor Remus Lupin meets outlaw motorcycle club VP Sirius Black. Falling in love with a criminal is complicated and dangerously messy.

Mischief Managed: Marauders' Mansion Mayhem - The dumbest Scooby Doo AU that turns out to not be like Scooby Doo at all. Much to James's disappointment.

An Ode to a Conversation Had at a Funeral - James Potter is dead and Sirius is spiraling. Which gets even worse when Sirius learns about all the secrets his best friend apparently kept from him.

Come Join the Murder - The Marauders, but make it Red Dead Redemption II

Do you respond to comments?

Not as much as I want to... I'm so painfully awkward when it comes to people perceiving me and especially my writing. I'm very excited to see comments and then immediately wanna duck under a blanket or something.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don't think I'm capable of writing less than happy endings. I've tried, made myself upset and rewrote it lol

But there's definitely a fuck load of angst the rest of the journey.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

They're all happy, but I think the ending for Ode to a Conversation fills me with the most satisfaction. (and maybe one day soon you'll get to read it too lol)

Do you write crossovers?

No- but I do apparently write so many other fandom AUs. Like there's nothing I love more than sticking Wolfstar in another one of my favorite fandom universes and seeing what they do.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really. Someone did bookmark Writing Pages with something along the lines of 'I had to stop reading because they're too emotionally well adjusted'

Which was truly just funny.

Do you write smut?

I... attempt to. I would not say I necessarily succeed and it's probably the thing I struggle with the most because I apparently turn into a blushing virgin the moment I try to type the word stroking or something.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No and I would be a terrible writing buddy. My writing process is pure chaos and I would never subject another human to it.

What's your all-time favourite ship?

Wolfstar (obvi)

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

My 'Endless Fic WIP' folder has... 30 active WIP so I'd say there's a lot that will likely never get finished.

But the one I really want to but just feels like it'll be too big to ever finish is a One Tree Hill AU where the Black brothers are the Scott brothers, James is Haley, Remus is broody Peyton, we've got Barty as Brooke Davis and Evan as a cheerleader-- Just so much.

And I have so many random bits written that are pure early 2000s over the top drama. But yeah. Don't know if it'll ever see the light of day.

What are your writing strengths?

I've been told I can set a scene really well. Really lay out the tone/mood/vibe of the space the characters are in and how they interact with the environment.

I don't know, I tend to write in a pretty visual way.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing/Timing. And I don't know if it's because I actually suck at it or because I'm so paranoid I suck at it but I spend SO much time overthinking if I'm portraying the passage of time in a satisfactory way in a story.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I don't know if I have a whole lot of distinct thoughts on it.

I don't think I'd ever really do it because I'm painfully, stereotypically American and can only speak/write English. I don't think I'd be comfortable attempting to use Google Translate and not knowing if I mucked it up or not.

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I really wanna write Drarry. And I have one or two drafts started for fics.

What's your favourite fic you've written?

Oh gosh.... Okay, I think Writing Pages is my favorite because it was the first time I ever let anyone read anything I wrote and I'm so very proud of it.

But honestly... Come Join the Murder has been the most fun to write. I'm really loving the chance to write so many different character POVs. Like James Potter has become my beloved in that fic and I didn't even mean for it to happen.

Tagging: I think all my writer friends have already been tagged/done it already. But if you haven't, I tag you!

[eriexplosion]

Moving right along to Cornered

Listen the fact that Hunter was just going to take them to an uninhabited planet to hide out forever. The community themes of season 2 make much more sense as part of the overall plot when you look at that ORIGINAL plan. What if they just go to Idaflor and never see anyone ever again? A great plan!

"Can't we explore?" No Omega you will go to your empty ass planet and you will LIKE IT.

Genuinely the way that Omega is going to influence them is so clear in these early episodes. She wants to go out and engage with the world while Hunter especially wants to withdraw and put up barriers to avoid getting hurt. Omega trusts people and reaches out and it does put her at risk of getting hurt, but it's also one of her biggest strengths, because it's what lets her connect with people, and I think a lot of those connections are going to come into play for season 3.

Just squealing over this, Omega is the reason they all start to branch out with Hunter being the slowest (other than Crosshair of course who has a good excuse for not being ready given the whole Imperial Brainwashing followed by intense torture thing) and I think that the best ending isn't one where he sacrifices himself for them (he would have done that from day one, it's not an ARC) but one where he finally, finally lets himself open up to the world beyond just them, when Hunter lets himself and his family actually thrive instead of survive.

"Without the republic to provide us supplies we'll have to acquire these necessities on our own." Spoken like a man that is aware of the concept of credits but has never had to actually use them before.

The scene with the repairman is great, they are so unfamiliar with the concept of a bribe. Wrecker is so genuinely confused and just to make it clear this is not a Wrecker thing, Tech takes so long to fully grasp that this is what he's asking for too. He heard about this once but has never encountered it in the wild. And Tech tries to be SO SMOOTH about the fact that he doesn't know how much a bribe is supposed to cost.

Obsessed with this face he makes. Boggled! At The Shipyard!

AND IT WASN'T EVEN ENOUGH THE GUY CALLS FENNEC INSTANTLY.

Hunter has found the one (1) item they have that is worth money and it is a SINGULAR EXPLOSIVE. Everything else they own is presumably absolute garbage.

Echo's SUPER confident "NOT DRESSED LIKE THIS!" gets me every time. So proud of this droid disguise.

Do not be alarmed it is I, a harmless protocol droid that happens to talk like a drill sergeant.

Your explosive might be worth 1800 in the black market, and Hunter is still catching up to the fact that there are different markets to begin with.

Love the glimpse of Hunter's college bro self we get with the Selling Echo scene. Come on, it'll be fine, it's just a minor scam!

I AM WORTH MORE THAN 2000. Know ur worth Echo.

What does this look like from the outside that he's discussing the price of the 'droid' with said 'droid'?

Did they ever pay for that trooper doll or did Omega just commit theft with more steps?

I'm sorry I can't breathe looking at this picture. Hunter is so fucking pleased with himself, he did so good with this scam, and in the distance you just have Echo flailing their scomp arm like BROTHER... HELP ME....

The droid supervisor is so funny to me, they really just invented a whole series of protocol droids and made them want nothing more in life than to be a middle manager. And Echo just fucking pulls a blaster on her. She was NOT programmed for this.

Fennec introducing Omega to the wild world of theft with the least subtle fruit stealing I've ever seen.

Cannot get past how attractive the knife kept in the small of Hunter's back is.

Echo has unionized this droid workplace, time to stage a walkout.

I will say Wrecker should not have gone down to Fennec so easily. I blame his likely ongoing migraine from his desperately trying to activate chip.

Hunter stealing the speeder to get Omega, he's really in his crimes era this episode. And I still can't get over how funny his HanGiNG? line is. Please he's SO TIRED.

RIP to this guy that Fennec straight up murders.

Also shout out to this guy who is the most blissfully in his lane person in this episode. Flourishing.

Forgot Fennec also shot a traffic cop following up on the likely violation of multiple people hanging off a vehicle.

Replacements was tense and you know this because the high speed speeder chase is the breather episode.

My crime wife Cid is gonna be here soon and I'm so disappointed that I have to go to bed instead of going onto Rampage DAMN IT.

[daz4i]

while ratio being Just Some Guy is most likely the case and fits him narratively, i do love the hc/theory that he's not quite human (either smth supernatural or just a different humanoid species. tho i obviously enjoy the first one more)

1. there's smth abt a character constantly reminding you, the viewer, that they are one thing only to be revealed as the opposite. so like him constantly reminding you that he's just a regular mundane human with nothing special about him can come off as sus

1a. i will say tho. playing it straight and not revealing anything ever beyond showing that he's just an extremely weird and eccentric human is funny

1b. that being said!!! my favorite take on that is that he's not human but wants to be one so bad bc he loves humanity. bc that's so cute and another trope i love. that's why i don't like theories abt him *becoming* not human bc it seems even more antithetical to who he is as a character

2. it'll explain some weird little details abt him that don't quite make sense for a normal human. bc like. i get that he's very smart but on a practical level, achieving the things he has should be impossible in what is likely a short time frame

2a. most recent example i can think of is him sending tb a file that takes "just one amber era" to read, which, from what i gathered, is about couple of years. so he compiled all this information while also working on the divergent universe while on a mission in penacony. and if these first 2 things took him a few years then he did them while developing weapons and curing space cancer and writing whatever he did to get him his phds (so like, a few book-length theses probably) which was probably already a few years ago by the time we meet him, and he's supposedly very young for someone with his achievements so probably in his early 30s at most. idk how to find this post rn but someone calculated that he has either been teaching for 10 or more years by now (which. let me remind you. he started *after* getting his 8th phd) or that he taught like. an insane amount of courses every year to reach the number he did. supposedly while also working for the guild + developing all these aforementioned things + doing his own research like what he's been doing on the space station. does he ever sleep. how is he in such a good shape and able to preach about health when it's like physically impossible to do all that within such a short timespan. even if you've got a genius brain like that's just too much going on at once

2b. sorry that last point was so long. this one is shorter bc it's abt smaller examples, like him disappearing abnormally fast while talking with aventurine, or this little fourth wall break of him referring to himself as a supporting character. floating on some invisible chair might be an imaginary powers thingie so i'll let that slide but he's on thin ice

2c. all the little implications that he's old. like OLD old. his recommendation letter being described as yellowed paper. that one occurrence in gold and gears that mentions him, despite occuring around 2000 years ago

3. why do his eyes glow. why are his pupils cat-like. i get that it's for aesthetic reasons probably but it's still goddamn weird especially the pupils bc iirc there is at least SOME explanation for why other hsr characters have weird eyes, but nothing about him.

(i totally used this numbering format wrong huh. forgive me it is 2 am i'm typing this bc i couldn't sleep. btw while i'm at it lemme apologize for all the grammar errors and missing words and such that are all totally there only bc of how tired i am and no other reason whatsoever)

there are, however, contradictions to the theory of course

as already mentioned, it kinda goes against his Point as a character in the story. like he SHOULD be normal that's why he's the foil for the geniuses

speaking of. if he is something beyond human, why seek the recognition of nous? if he's some powerful and possibly immortal being, why would that matter for him enough to try?

there's probably more i'm forgetting now but lbr it's mostly that first point lol.

ok so establishing all that. what even IS he?

option 1: immortal, over 2000 years old

boring. i don't like it. but i gotta acknowledge it bc as things stand it's probably the most likely one...? (other than him being Just Some Guy lol)

so there's everything i mentioned abt his achievements not making any sense in the timeframe he was likely alive, as well as the intelligentsia guild occurrence that mentions him

i don't like it bc it kind of implies that his main achievements were coined thousands of years ago. iirc he was invited to the guild *after* he achieved those. so did he only teach 50ish classes and didn't get any more phds over the span of 2000 years?? (it's possible we just don't have that information but. given how abnormally exceptional he is. why leave his other work out? he already doesn't seem humanly possible so. what's the harm in going further? will add a comedic effect to it too at some point)

also it's basic. boo

option 2: aha emanator

worm theory go brrr (i can't embed the link on mobile unfortunately but i can dm it or leave it in the replies if anyone needs it 🫡)

worm stuff aside tho. the fourth wall break and things just generally being Weird and so damn silly about him. his bust can count as a mask. aha having an owl symbol on the same side as the shoulder he has his owl symbol on. his eyes having aha's color scheme. we don't know quite what powers aha gives their followers afaik, but like the disappearing quickly thing is smth sampo does too, for example, and we know that he's a follower of aha. so who's to say all the other weird things about him are aha's work too?

there's the question on if he is like, an unwilling emanator that aha forced powers onto, or that possibly he is like zhongshan and just pulling an insane bluff

(given that the only times we see him sow chaos it is for a very clear purpose that has nothing to do with joy, i lean more towards the first)

also he embodies elation for me bc every time i see him i'm elated. is this anything

option 3: literally anything else man idk the hsr universe is so big every 2 patches we get a whole new faction or planet mentioned so who knows what else can be out there

possibly making him just go. very fast. he has lived [insert normal amount of years] but experienced much more in them than a normal human would

possibly having some powers like. fuck idk man. freezing time?

possibly able to split himself into multiple beings? (would certainly add a layer to his statues and especially the way they were presented in his trailer)

option 4: stealing that one straight from my fav fic actually (once again can't embed a link but it's "what do you want" by The_smallest_chibi on ao3!) but also altering it a little. something happened that caused him to *lose* his humanity, but he is trying to cling back to it. so he's possibly only slightly older than he seems but like this allows him to do things normal humans can't or go through life without needing things that normal people might, like food sleep etc.

i don't think it's very likely for the actual game i just wanted to tell you to go read this fic it's really good 👍

this is all i have for you now. i might repost (and this time tag) this later in a more organized and hopefully less rambling way with all necessary links and screenshots maybe. but don't count on that too much :P

[emeritus-fuckers]

Howdy hey I'm interested in trying the match-up event. I always enjoy reading the things y'all've written.

Apologies in advance if this is a mess. 1. Identity: I am nonbinary, use they/them and she/her pronouns. I'm bisexual and a bit on the demisexual side.

2. Who I like: I'm cool with either the papas or ghouls

3. What I look like: I'm 5'8" and chubby. I'm pretty strong and got some muscle so I'm built perfect for giving big hugs and cuddles (though it'll take a bit of convincing to get me cuddly). At the moment my hair is dyed bright red but it changes colors often. Both my eyes have sectoral heterochromia and are green with a bright blue chunk. I usually wear all black graphic tees, skinny jeans, boots, and fun colored socks that often show because i never find pants that are long enough in my size lol.

4. My personality: I am introverted but enjoy being around others even if it wears me out. I'm good with kids (I'm a human jungle gym at this point) and people tend to tell me their secrets and find it easy to be open/themselves around me. I'd say i'm pretty smart but I will do stupid things just because i'm curious. Folks i'm comfortable around will never hear the end of my current interests and I'm a complete goofball (I've been banned from being funny at the table because i've caused too many people to choke laughing oops). It takes a while to actually get to know me deeply because I keep things close to my chest and dont open up easily. I've got a lot of anxiety and some baggage that I keep hidden but I'm working on I swear. I can get really competitive over trivial things and can turn anything into a game. I sometimes go MIA when im distracted with whatever the hell i'm into at that time but when I reappear there's always something new to share. (I can tell you everything you never wanted to know about pipe organs!)

5. Interests: I've got the adhd so my interests bounce around a lot. I like making things and I mess around with a lot with different crafts. I do a lot of fiber arts stuff and I've also recently been whittling bears (I have a few around somewhere). I love music both listening and playing it. I play 8 instruments (violin, viola, cello, mandolin, ukulele, trumpet, trombone, and french horn) but I'm best with the violin because i've been playing it for around 17 years. I'm also teaching myself accordion and guitar. I play video games sometimes and I especially enjoy getting 100% completion. In general I love learning anything and everything and am a "jack of many trades but master of none"

6.Trivia: My favorite movie is fantasia 2000 and recently I completed my goal of performing every music piece in an orchestra (The Pines of Rome and the Firebird Suite are my favs). I collect knickknacks and random things I find and use them to decorate my spaces and I have a skeleton with a mustache in a wizard costume in the back seat of my car and its name is Todd. I also keep googly eyes in my bag just in case

This post is part of the 1000 followers match up event. Entries for the event are now closed.

Your match is...Swiss

You and Swiss quickly became friends, he's so excited by things and so enthusiastic that you got swept up in it all. He's charming and really sweet to you, so you started to fall for him. One day you were sitting outside, Swiss taking a large drag of his vape before he looks at you and grins. "I love ya, you know that right gorgeous one?" You blush and blurt out that you feel the same way. Swiss responds by biting your shoulder just under the collar of your t-shirt. "There now it's offical" he says so excited he's practically jumping up and down "you're my mate!"

Swiss adores your eyes, he thinks they are the most awesome thing ever, and so beautiful. He tells you this a lot.

Swiss adores how much of a goofball you are, he is too, and you spend a lot of time together both laughing so hard you end up tearing up.

If your anxeity is getting bad he will cuddle and do anythig he can to help. If things get too much and you seem sad he'll hold you. He will cuddle you as long as you need. Then he'll try and take your mind off things, anything to get you to laugh a little and smile. Swiss is chaos personified but one thing is constant for him, he loves you and is devoted to you.

Swiss can keep up with your changing interestests. Infact he loves it! This Ghoul enjoys chaos and jumping around from thing to thing, that keeps him occupied. Whatever you get into he'll throw himself into it completely with you.

He is fascinated by all the things you collect. He loves how varied they are and the skeleton with a moutache is his favourite. He was very excited when you whittled him a bear. You handed it to him and he just looked at it like 'woow this is awesome'. he keeps it in his room, pride of place.

He's more than happy to help you learn guitar, he gets so excited his tail starts swishing around. He passes you his guitar and sits behind you legs either side of you showing you a cord and then letting you practice. He'll kiss your neck or softly bite your shoulder every now and then. He'll rest his chin on your shoulder and watches. He smiles at how fast you are learning, his smile is gorgeous enough to make your heart melt for him, to forget completely what you were playing and you just smile back. Often this leads to you getting so distracted the guitar gets forgotten as he presses his lips to yours.

~

Written by Nyx

[angsty-prompt-hole]

WIP Question Tag Game

Tagged by @ceph-the-ghost-writer

Rules: Answer as many (or as few) of the questions about your WIP as you can.

Tagging: I'm leaving this as an open tag

I'll be answering all of them for A Hero's Call.

1. What was the first part of your WIP that you created?

The very first part of A Hero's Call that I created was the concept of dimension jumping in general. It was inspired by both the ghost portals from Danny Phantom and my middle school self's mighty need for crossover content from my favorite shows, and then I kind of just made a self insert to make those crossovers happen, and that self insert evolved into Kira.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the intro song be?

So, when I was young and naive and didn't know how filmmaking worked, I wanted A Hero's Call to be a tv show. The intro song was always gonna be some sort of early 2000's rock/emo/metal song, and I almost always came back to In The End by Black Veil Brides. And honestly, I still stand by that.

3. Who are your favourite character(s) and why?

So, I love Kira, I really do, she's the main character after all. HOWEVER, my blorbos for the series are definitely Lucent and Cairn, which is really funny if you have the knowledge I do (that knowledge being that Lucent has ice powers and Cairn has fire powers). Lucent was a character I originally made to rp with some friends without having to use my already established characters, because I was weird and had stupid hangups about sharing my work, and she's kind of become my punching bag OC of the series which is how I know she's one of my favorites. I love making her go through physical and emotional torment.

Cairn is just fun for me to think about conceptually, because he's a villain that really could have chosen redemption, and he almost does at quite a few different points in his life, but ultimately he succumbs to the cycle of abuse and gives in to that darker side of himself. Also the thought of this very inhuman-looking dude having a Tumblr is SO funny to me (he is canonically VERY internet-savvy).

4. What other pieces of media could share a fan base with your WIP?

Any number of media pieces tbh, but the biggest one would probably be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was a HUGE inspiration for this project.

5. What has been your biggest struggle while writing your WIP?

Writing the beginning of it. I've struggled so hard with it and I can never figure out what's holding me back, which annoys me. And the more I write the more I discover that when I have all the pieces to a story that I want to tell, the writing starts flowing eventually. But with this WIP I've just had to drag those first few chapters out kicking and screaming from my brain and I can tell something is missing, but I don't know what.

6. Are there any animals in your story?

Yes, there are. There's the Shade family dog, a golden retriever named Gary (who is, in fact, just my real dog inserted into the story), and there's also Lucent's "pet" Jannik, who is a ferret-like creature called a skitnik. Emily and Pickle are ranch kids so they have a ton of animals that sometimes get mentioned, but Gary and Jannik are more central to the plot than those animals are.

7. How do your characters get around?

All the normal ways you would get around in rural Wyoming in the 2010's (cars, horses, off-road vehicles, etc). And, of course, dimension jumping.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

I'm rewriting the first few chapters (again) to try and get them ready to post on AO3 because I've been churning out fanfiction nonstop because of how much the kudos and comments go to my head, so I want to see if putting my original works on AO3 would spur me on to work on them more.

9. What aspects of your WIP do you think will draw people in?

I think that the characters and the worldbuilding will be the major draws for people, cause I have a LOT of lore and a lot of fun characters to introduce and I think it'll be fun for people to explore.

[phoenixwatchesmovies]

What I'm Watching: January 2024

New year, same monthly roundup. And off to a solid start with what can probably be summed up as Robert Englund month...

Zombie Strippers!

The exclamation point is important. This movie was like sticking real diamonds on costume jewelry. Which is to say, it's exactly what it sounds like, but contained some surprising gems. But then, horror comedies are just like that. There was plenty of ridiculousness (to be expected for a movie about a zombie outbreak infecting dancers at a strip club), but I'm still impressed at how well the humor landed. I mean, they really didn't have to try that hard. But no, it was genuinely funny and had more than a few existential moments, and I loooooooooove me some existentialism. Throw in some gore and so many boobs, and there ya go. Made for a niche audience with love.

Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon

I need to study this movie. To be fair, you almost have to as a matter of honor, if you're a horror nerd, because there are so many goddamn references. Don't take that as me complaining, tho, because one thing about me is I'm a fucking nerd. I didn't think it was possible to get more meta than Scream without getting gimmicky, but this one pulls it off. I knew enough about the plot to know more or less where things were heading, but there was still enough of a mystery to keep me on my toes, and the twist is the kind that makes you feel proud of yourself for piecing together. Even if slasher movies aren't your thing, this is still a ton of fun.

Urban Legend

I live blogged this and had a great time with it. This is another one for the "best watched with friends" list, and one I'm going to have to come back to for sure. And in case you haven't heard, I love Professor Wexler.

Cowboy Bebop

What? You thought I'd watch the live action without it tripping the rewatch sensor for the anime? Besides, I've only ever seen the sub and I've heard the dub is just as good. And folks...IT IS. IT REALLY IS. I'm not quite mentally prepared for the spiral the finale will send me into, so I'm taking my time with it. But again, I'm not complaining. It looks beautiful, it sounds fantastic (THE MUSIC!!! HAVE YOU HEARD THE MUSIC!!!) and it's just so fucking cool. Joss Whedon can suck it, because Firefly can't touch this.

The Last Showing

This was a fun thriller. You gotta love it when you can see the love of the genre and the art of cinema itself so clearly in a piece. Stuart reads like Stanley Kubrick if he never made it as a director, and on one hand, I wanted the poor guy to finish his movie, but on the other...bro, you can't do that.

2001 Maniacs

Well, this sure was a movie that I watched. Not gonna lie, I wasn't sure I was gonna make it through this one, as it goes for the over-the-top Southern redneck stereotype that goes into caricature territory reeeeaaaaally fast and finishes it off with the usual horny douchebag mid-2000's protagonists that don't even try to make you like them much less invest in them, but once you realize where things are going, you wanna see how it plays out. I cannot emphasize enough how over the top and how horny the first half of the movie is, but the inevitable gore is so theatrical it's fun, and it has plenty of laughs once you stop taking it seriously. It's one of those where the ending recontextualizes everything leading up to it without everything hinging on the twist, which I always appreciate. And I was not a bit surprised to see Eli Roth.

Hereditary

In hindsight, there were better gifs I could have used. *shudder* This was the first rewatch of the year, and honestly, it's been analyzed, raved over, and talked about much better by people who actually like it, so I don't have much to contribute. Not that I hate it, really. It is a well made, nerve-wracking, gut-wrenching movie, but it's just not for me, and that's okay. Hard to pin down exactly where they lose me (I have an inkling, but it'll take more time to discuss than I'm willing to spend here), but the stuff that works, WORKS. Some bits had me shaking. Others had me trying my hardest not to burst into tears. It's excruciating to sit through, I tip my hat to everyone involved in it, and I never want to watch it again.