#but still there will be people who remember that electricity can be channeled

[aethersea]

normally I don't bother questioning when a high fantasy is all "ooh the prophesied one will break the world or save it" bc that's what high fantasy is for. don't worry about it, focus on the journey, we'll get to the prophecy when we get to it. but this show has got me wondering what that even means.

the innkeeper who served the Dark said that the Dragon could break the Wheel so that there would be no more suffering, no war or famine or poverty. and the Wheel, we have been told many times, is the Wheel of reincarnation and of fate. It's the metaphor for how all of history has a cyclical bent to it, and it's a real religious belief that souls return to the world many times to live many lives.

how do you break that Wheel such that there is no more suffering? you can't bring about a perfect utopia by breaking such a Wheel. the two concepts just aren't connected at all. the only way I can see is to just......end everything. to live is to suffer, right? there's no suffering if everyone is dead.

kind of a defeatist cause to pledge yourself to, really.

[jazminrhode1]

can you please please do a fic where they are on the podcast and they have matt or chris' gf on the podcast and they talk about their relationship and it's really cute and the guy is just so in lvoe? omg please i need this haha

Forever Be Your Always Matt Sturniolo x Reader One Shot

“Good morning, campers. Welcome back to the cut the camera podcast,” Nick feigned enthusiasm, “can you believe we’re still doing this?”

You sat in Matt’s regular spot, kind of nervous and kind of excited.

You never did this. You never got involved with the triplet’s content. Matt had filmed countless vlogs for his personal channel with you that he never posted. Not because he was embarrassed or wanted to hide your relationship but, because he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

The fans were fine. They had no choice but to be fine. You and Matt had been dating since before they started YouTube. You were in more of their videos in the early days but, you kept out of it these days.

Nick was the one who suggested you come on the podcast. He was sick of editing you out of content. Chris was the one who said they should take a stand and let fans know that they weren’t going to ignore the hate that you get online anymore.

It didn’t really bother you. Not matter what anyone said, Matt was still your boyfriend, Nick and Chris were still some of your best friends.

“Today we’re here with a very special guest,” Nick gestured to Matt to finish the intro.

“It’s y/n” Matt announced as Chris and Nick cheers.

“Thanks, you guys,” you laughed. This felt more natural than you had expected. After a while you forgot that the microphones were even there.

You answer questions that Matt had answered a million times before. Where did you meet? How long have you been dating? What is your favorite thing about each other?

Chris claimed that he got the two of you together and, to be honest, you couldn’t remember if that was true. All you knew was that you were thankful for Matt everyday.

“Okay, fans want to know what it’s like dating the grumpiest motherfucker on the planet,” Nick asked.

You rolled your eyes.

“Matt is not that grumpy. Really, he’s not. You just get so animated for the vlogs, and sometimes you do too much - I don’t think he likes that,” you answered. Nick pretended to take offence but, you two had never been anything but honest with eachother. And, you knew that Nick’s energy is was a hgue part of why they had been so successful.

“Another fan wanted to know if this is the kind of relationship that your younger self would have pictured,” Chris asked.

“That’s a great question,” you said and the boys agreed.

“I mean, we’ve known each other for so long. Almost all of my memories have one of you in them. Like, our moms are so close, our Dad’s golf together, my Uncle was just at your Grandma’s house doing some electrical stuff. You know, we’ve vacationed together. There’s just so much shared history even before we started dating. I don’t know that a lot of people can say that they met their partner at 5 years old and started dating 10 years later. That doesn’t answer your question.” 

You thought it over for a moment.

“I think when I was younger, I thought that someone would come along and sweep me off my feet. I didn’t think it would be my desk buddy from the second grade, you know?”

Matt just smiled. For him, he always knew.

“But, I could not have dreamt him up. I don’t think you could have convinced a younger me that I would get this lucky. That I would have found my person at 15 years old or that our families would become so entangles or that his brothers would become 2 of my best friends, you know”?

“Yeah,” Chris said. His eyes glistened.

“Another question was, do you feel like you missed out on anything since you started dating Matt at such a young age?” Nick asked.

“It’s a fair questions but, no. Even our parents when we graduated were like… are you sure you don’t want to live life separately for a little while, and that was just never on the cards for me.”

“And, Matt what about you? Do you feel like you missed out on anything?” Nick asked.

“No. I have gained more that I could have imagined from being with y/n,” he began. “I feel like I will go through my whole life as a triplet being understood by two other people in this unspoken, unexplainable way. And, in the best way, we were kind of forced together by nature and you are two of the closest people to me and, even if I don’t say it often, I love you guys and I wouldn’t be here with out.”

Chris and Nick exchanged a look. Matt wasn’t usually as forthcoming with his feelings if it wasn’t with you.

“In saying that, I don’t believe in soul mate or destiny because that implies that I don’t have a choice in this. Everyday, I wake up and I thank God that it’s next to y/n. And every day it’s the easiest choice to be with her. And every choice that I make, I consider her above anyone else.I don’t want a relationship, a marriage, a family if it wasn’t with y/n. There is no one else that understands me or supports me or loves me in the way that y/n does. You can’t put a price on that and you can’t manufacture it and if, for whatever reason, we were to break up I know that I will never find this again,” Matt said as he reached for you hand over the bench.

You saw a glint of sadness wash over Chris’ face. Nick was swooning.

“Do you think you guys will get married?” Nick asked. He was straying from the previously agreed up list of questions.

“One day. If there is one thing that y/n’s Dad told me is to enjoy every season. Enjoy being a kind, enjoy dating as teenagers, dating as young adults, don’t rush things because you’ll get to the end of your life and regret not really living in the moment,” Matt said.

“Your Dad’s so smart,” Chris said.

“Yeah, he and Matt are big on the motivational speeches,” you joked.

You answered a few more questions about future plans and Matt’s unpublished vlogs. Chris went on a non-sensical rant about not wanting a girlfriend while simultaneously wanting a relationship that you and Matt had. You knew that he was only scared that the girl he dated would only want to be with him because of his job. You knew that would break his heart.

As they wrapped up and you crawled out from behind the desk, Matt wrapped you in a hug and placed a gentle kiss on your lips.

Without saying a word, you knew how deeply he loved. Everything is better with him and he will forever be your always.

[darth-mortem]

The fourth part of demon!Ghost AU. 141 sets off on a mission, but at the most crucial moment, they encounter an unexpected problem.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Action, explosion, sabotage, cats. 3219 words.

“I don't like deserts.” Ghost suddenly broke the silence.

He and Soap were in position next to the enemy base, ready to infiltrate and carry out a diversion on the orders of Captain Price, who was watching everything through the scope of his sniper rifle. Gaz and Roach had already infiltrated and were now trying to reach headquarters unnoticed to obtain the necessary information.

“Why?” Soap asked, turning off his radio microphone.

Ghost didn't have a radio, so they had to stay together. Colonel Albright said that the demon couldn't use any device with electronics, but MacTavish was almost certain that in this case it wasn't a matter of inability but of his unwillingness to learn. After all, it wasn't a computer or even a phone; walkie-talkies were easy to use, especially if you didn't have to switch channels. However, Soap was fine with working in tandem with Ghost, so he kept his assumptions to himself.

You can keep reading here or on the Ao3

“Albright and his people found me in the desert.” The lieutenant said thoughtfully. ”I don't know which one, but I remember that when I came to, there was sand all around me. I think that's the same desert where I died.”

Ghost's voice was emotionless as always, but Soap's heart sank when he heard those words. He wanted to hug the lieutenant, pull him close, and comfort him, even though he didn't really feel sad. Maybe he would have done so, but at that moment, Price's voice came through his radio headset.

“Bravo 7-1, do you copy?”

“Loud and clear, Bravo 6.” Soap replied, turning on his microphone.

“Bravo 6-2, Bravo 7-2?” The captain continued the roll call.

“Loud and clear, too.” Roach replied for both of them. “Bravo 6-2 downloading information, I'm on guard.”

“Copy that.” Price said. “Bravo 7-1, you and Bravo 0-7 start moving closer to your infiltration point.”

“Rog.” Soap replied briefly, looked at Ghost, and nodded, signaling that it was time to move.

After waiting for the bright beam of the searchlight to pass over the open area in front of the chain-link fence, the lieutenant and the sergeant made their first dash from their cover to a small pile of rocks, behind which they lay down. So far, so good, but Soap had doubts about the next dash: they wouldn't make it to the fence in time, and they probably wouldn't be able to hide from the spotlight on the open ground because Ghost was wearing his black gear, even though he had desert gear.

These fears, however, proved to be unfounded. During the next dash, Ghost managed to reach the fence, which was in the dead zone of the searchlights, while Soap fell to the sand, covering himself with a sand-colored cloak. The lieutenant waited for him, but while the sergeant was getting a bolt cutter with insulated handles, he calmly grabbed the fence. Of course, it was energized, but the electric shocks did not harm the demon, and he easily tore through the mesh as if it were paper rather than 0.16-inch-diameter wire. Ghost held the edges so that Soap could slip through safely and then squeezed through himself. They made their way behind the rear wall of a large building where patrols were rare, so there was a chance that no one would notice the breach until it no longer mattered.

“Bravo 6, how copy? Bravo 0-7 and Bravo 7-1 are in.” Soap reported.

“Copy that.” Price replied. “Move to the diversion zone. Wait for the signal from Bravo 6-2 and 7-2.”

“Rog.” Soap said briefly and waved to Ghost, ordering him to follow.

Gaz watched intently as the download progress bar neared completion. Roach stood at the entrance with his weapon at the ready. He could already hear voices and footsteps behind the door, but there was still a chance that the enemies would pass by or be unarmed, feeling safe in this isolated base far from civilization. Once inside the headquarters, Gary locked the door, so if they heard the lock being picked and if Soap and Ghost managed to reach the diversion zone in time, it might still be possible to avoid a fight here and get the information out unnoticed.

“Well, what's going on?” Roach whispered, glancing at his comrade.

“Ninety-five percent.” Gaz replied just as quietly. ”Oh, ninety-six now.”

Footsteps and voices drew closer and then began to recede. Sanderson exhaled, realizing that they had gotten away this time.

Soap and Ghost used their knives to take out three armed enemies and hid behind the back of an old military truck. The diversion zone was a large fuel tank, which MacTavish would blow up as soon as he got the signal from Gaz and Roach. To do this, he and his partner had to hurry to prepare everything in advance. But as darkness fell, the area around the tank was illuminated by the bright light of two searchlights on the roofs of buildings.

“Damn, I wish one of those lights would go out right now.” Soap whispered, more to himself than to Ghost.

The lieutenant looked at him intently and then held his open palm toward the spotlight. MacTavish stared at him and saw him slowly clench his fingers, and at some point there was a crackling sound, then the light went out and shards of glass rained down to the ground.

“Why didn't you say you could do that?” Soap asked cheerfully, nudging Ghost in the shoulder with his fist.

“You didn't ask.” The lieutenant shrugged and looked at the tanker. “I'll go first. Then I'll cover you.”

Surprised and confused by the sudden failure of the spotlight, almost all of the enemies looked up, glanced at each other, and whispered, and no one noticed the two swift shadows that flashed across the now unlit space and darted behind the fuel tank. Ghost stayed behind to keep watch, while Soap hurriedly took off his backpack and began to take out and install the C4, sticking it to the rounded, metal side that had been heated by the sun.

Gaz pulled out the flash drive with a sharp movement and showed Roach his thumb up. Sanderson nodded, listened to the sounds behind the door, and pressed the button on his radio.

“Bravo 7-2 to all, we're done. Ready to go. Do you copy?” He said quietly.

“I need a few more minutes, Bravo 7-2.” Soap replied, trying to keep his voice calm.

He had already set the C4, but it turned out that the detonators were not responding to the signal. This was absolutely impossible, because he had carefully checked everything before the mission, but yet it had happened, and now the sergeant was trying to fix the problem quickly.

“We don't have a few minutes.” Roach reported and stepped back from the door, because this time the footsteps stopped right in front of them.

“Break through to the exit of the building.” Price intervened. ”I can cover you for a while there. Bravo 7-2, I hope you can finish before it gets too hot in here without an explosion.”

“Aye, sir!” Soap snapped, puffing himself up with concentration.

As soon as the doors to the main headquarters opened, Gaz and Roach, who had been hiding on either side of them, let the enemies in and quickly dealt with them with their knives and bare hands. That was the end of their luck, because there were more than two people, and while one opened fire, forcing the intruders to hide again, the second ran down the corridor, raising the alarm. Price saw from his position that things were going badly and joined the fight, shooting several enemies from the group running toward the building where Harrick and Sanderson were still trapped.

“Bravo 7-1!” The captain called tensely.

“I'm working on it!” Soap replied.

“Johnny.” Ghost put his hand on his shoulder. ”There's no time. Run and meet Gaz and Roach. I'll set off the explosion. Meet me outside the perimeter at the exit point.”

Soap couldn't imagine what the lieutenant could do with the detonators if he, a demolition expert, couldn't do anything. But there was no time for questions, so MacTavish, trusting Ghost again, nodded, grabbed his assault rifle, and ran toward the headquarters building, staying in the shadows.

Through his scope, Price saw that the lieutenant was alone now. After escorting Soap and shooting a couple of enemies who had almost exposed him, he looked back at Ghost and saw that something had changed. Now the lieutenant was standing at full height, his hand resting on the side of the fuel tank. It wasn't visible through the scope, but he took off his glove and touched the metal with his bare hand. With a sense of foreboding, Price switched to thermal vision and saw that the demon's palm was bright white, and the dark mass of the tank around it was rapidly turning red, while the area near Ghost's hand was already turning yellow.

“Lads.” The captain said into the radio. ”You'd better hurry up.”

Soap broke into the headquarters building and went to meet Gaz and Roach. He managed to take advantage of the element of surprise, and, finding themselves together, the three sergeants were able to leave the building and come under the protection of their captain.

“Where's Ghost?” Gaz asked.

“He's covering us.” Soap replied, peeking out from behind the building for a second.

“No, no, lads, stay where you are!” Price quickly ordered, switching back to thermal vision mode and seeing that the fuel tank was now glowing bright white.

MacTavish barely had time to take cover when the ground shook from a deafening explosion. Roach, who was pressing his back against the wall, clearly felt the building shake, and then glass from the windows, blown out by the blast wave, rained down on the three sergeants.

Price saw the tank burst from the heat and pressure, and burning fuel spilled out in all directions, engulfing everything in its path. The air was filled with the agonizing screams of people burning alive, and in the midst of it all, walking slowly through the sea of fire, was Ghost. He spread his arms wide, and streams of white smoke flowed toward him from all sides, souls he absorbed, becoming even more powerful.

The three sergeants realized that this was their chance. The enemies had forgotten about the saboteurs, and the base was in complete chaos. Soap, Gaz, and Roach crouched down and quickly ran to the exit point before the stream of burning fuel blocked their way.

In fact, there was no exit point anymore, because the blast wave had blown away the entire fence on that side. Soap headed for the place where he and Ghost were waiting for the order to begin the mission, and three sergeants, breathing heavily, still stunned by the force of the explosion, fell behind large rocks, hiding from enemy eyes.

“Wait for Bravo 0-7.” Ordered Price, who, after making sure his men had reached safety, turned his gaze to the demon. “He's coming to you.”

Ghost appeared a few minutes later. His gear and mask were covered in soot, and two red embers glowed unnaturally from the shadows of his hood, where his eyes were usually impenetrably black.

“Johnny.” He growled rather than spoke in a voice that was completely inhuman. ”Did I do well?”

“Aye.” Soap replied hoarsely, then cleared his throat, took a step forward, and slapped Ghost on the shoulder. “You did a great job. Well done.”

“All right, lads.” Price interrupted. ”Head to the exfil point. I'll meet you there. Soap?”

“Aye?”

“Tell Ghost from me he did great.” The captain said, then spat into the sand, quickly gathered his gear, and switched channels to call for a pilot.

Despite the success of the mission, the helicopter was filled with tension. Gas and Roach sat next to Price, while the captain himself looked gloomily at Ghost and then at Soap, who had remained loyal to him and sat next to the terrifying demon, whose eyes were still glowing slightly. Only when the silence became completely unbearable did Price break it.

“What happened, Soap?” He asked sternly.

“I don't know, Cap.” The sergeant admitted it honestly, lowering his eyes. “I swear, I checked all the equipment before the mission, like I always do! But when I started setting C4, the detonators were faulty.”

“Sir.” Gaz interrupted. “I don't believe Soap could have missed that. One detonator, maybe, but all of them...”

“I don't believe it either.” Price agreed, looking even grimmer. “When did you check the equipment, John?”

“In the evening, when I got everything I needed from the armory.” MacTavish replied, nervously clenching his fists.

All five exchanged glances. The equipment they had gathered and prepared the night before had been placed in the briefing room, and in the morning, before the sortie, they grabbed their bags and backpacks and hurried to the helicopter. Of course, they locked the entrance to the building and the door to the room itself for the night, but the locks in their block were, to put it mildly, not very reliable, because everything had been done in a hurry to get ready before the unit arrived. And it wasn't necessary to pick the locks if you had a key.

“So, there's a mole at this base.” Roach said, expressing the general opinion.

“We can't say that yet.” Price shook his head. “Ghost, what do you think? Did you hear anything with your demonic hearing the night before the mission?”

“Negative.” The lieutenant replied. “But I wasn't in my room that night.”

“What the hell?” Price frowned. ”Where were you? If anyone saw you...”

“No one could see me when I didn't want them to.” Ghost replied and then placed his hand on Soap's knee, which he was unconsciously jerking up and down.

All eyes involuntarily turned to this gesture. MacTavish blushed and looked away.

“All right, lads.” Price broke the silence again and rubbed his temples wearily. ”So far, these are just suspicions, but stay alert. And Lieutenant, from now on, before missions, when our equipment is ready and in the block, you too must be in the block and make sure no one gets in.”

“Roger.” Ghost replied calmly. “If I catch the intruder, can I kill him?”

“Negative.” Price shook his head. ”If he exists, we need to find out his objectives. It could be us personally or national security as a whole.”

That ended the discussion. The tired soldiers drifted off to nap, and only Soap slept soundly, resting his head comfortably on Ghost's shoulder. When he started to slide off, the lieutenant hugged him, holding him for the rest of the flight. Of course, that wasn't the end of it, and 141 transferred to a plane and then back to another helicopter.

The members of 141 didn't tell anyone about the problem with the detonators, and Price didn't mention it in his report either. Everyone tried to spot even the slightest hint of surprise on the faces of the local soldiers, which might indicate that he or she did not expect the unit to return, but it was all in vain. Everyone, from General Strickland down to the privates, behaved completely naturally.

A couple of days after their return, late in the evening, Soap knocked on Price's door with a mysterious look on his face and asked him to come with him. The captain reluctantly put on his jacket, and the sergeant led him behind their block to the smoking area but stopped at the corner and asked him to peek out quietly. Price, who had no desire to play any strange games, nevertheless complied with MacTavish's request and saw Ghost sitting on the boxes. And he wasn't alone. Cats were sitting and lying on the demon's knees, hands, shoulders, and even on his head, purring so loudly that Price could hear them even from where he stood.

There were about a dozen cats at the base. They used to live on farms nearby, but then the Department of Defense bought the land so that farmers would not accidentally or intentionally breach the facility's secrecy. When they left their homes, people left behind not only their belongings but also some of their animals. Some of them were torn apart by wild animals living in the forest, but the cats managed to reach the base, sneak in, and feel quite at home there, even producing offspring. The general was not thrilled about this, but the animals hunted mice and other small pests that came from the forest, so he allowed them to stay after arranging for them to be sterilized so that the cats would not breed even more.

After watching the bizarre scene for a few minutes, Price hid behind the corner again and looked gloomily at Soap with a questioning look in his eyes.

“The cats love him!” Whispered MacTavish, remembering Ghost's extremely keen hearing. ”So he's actually a good guy!”

“Lad.” Price whispered back. ”Cats are just as much a product of hell as he is. So that doesn't prove a damn thing. Now I'm going to bed, and I hope you are too.”

With a wave of his hand, the captain headed back into the building. Soap watched him go, then sighed and headed for the smoking area.

“Hey, Lt.!” he called cheerfully as he approached. ”Is there a place for me?”

Ghost carefully moved the cat that was lying near, and Soap sat down next to him. Pressing his shoulder against the lieutenant's, he realized that he had raised his body temperature, which was probably why the cats had gathered around him.

“Are you warming them up?” Soap asked, lighting a cigarette.

“Yes.” Ghost nodded and stroked one of the cats on his lap, then MacTavish's head, who immediately lit up with a satisfied smile.

Whatever Price said, the desire to warm the animals was definitely a good thing, and it didn't matter that the demon had to consume souls to provide that warmth. Unlike Ghost, those people weren't good, so Soap had no intention of feeling sorry for them.

“The night before the mission, you left the block for them?” Soap asked another question.

“Yes.” Ghost nodded again and added. “They get cold at night.”

“Not just them.” Soap sighed, rubbing the back of his head against the lieutenant's gentle hand.

“I can warm you up too, if you want, Johnny.” Ghost said.

MacTavish choked on the smoke from his cigarette and blushed, hiding his face in the lieutenant's shoulder. He had once again made the insolent sergeant feel like a little boy, and not because he had said something without understanding the subtext that any adult would have understood, but because Soap wanted something like that more and more every day.

“I'll... tell you if I get really cold.” The sergeant finally managed to say.

“Okay, Johnny.” The lieutenant nodded. “You go; I'll stay here with them.”

“Good night, Ghost.” Soap stood up and, obeying a sudden impulse, reached out and gently stroked the demon's mask.

“Good night, Johnny.” He said and stared for a long time in the direction the sergeant had gone, pressing his palm against his mask where the sergeant had touched it.

[hardworkandguts]

Weekly Catch-up #4

"This Tumblr is just something I do for fun", I say, while scheduling the first of the two posts for Halloween. Confirming I've dropped Your Forma from these weekly posts because it's a show I was struggling to follow (given the whole "skip the introductory part") but I'm still going back to it once it's completed.

(previous week)

What was on?

The Apothecary Diaries

(ep 2.17) Well, this clears up who is the bug girl and why she appeared a bit out of nowhere. It's still hard to say what to say what are their plans and where Maomao fits in them, other than knowing she's the daughter of Lakan and that Jinshi often relies on her to figure out something weird he knows it's going on but he can't by himself, like why wouldn't the women at the clinic, many who have been in the palace for decades, wouldn't have remembered why the lead skin powder was bad.

Witch Watch

(ep 4) after a full episode introducing Kanshi, we get a three part episode, starting with Nico's homeroom teacher discovering Kukumi is her favourite doujin artist and being extremely normal about that, second about the ill-advised idea of asking Nico to help out with something with magic (well, it did work), and finally we're introduced to Nemu Miyao, a shape shifting (into what, look at the name) witch who wants to make Morihito his familiar but is too shy to even talk with him and absentmindedly follows them home. The kind of character this kind of show gets a ton of mileage from, then.

Food For The Soul

(ep 4) Oh, a surprise fifth girl. She's Nana, a friend of the three that were unsuccessfully trying to start the club, and she didn't initially join because she was trying to start her own club. Thing is, she's even more socially anxious than Mako is and can't even talk with people she doesn't know, which of course makes it impossible for her to do it even after her makeover, and for great comedy when both are together. By the end they bond over souvlaki (the kind you grill, not the one you need guitar pedals for), but I'm sure it's not the last we'll see of that. Maybe my favourite episode so far, and Nana being a great source for reaction images plays into that? Yeah maybe. Also love how they snuck her in the ED.

mono Weekend Animation

(ep 4) on to the cinephoto club, it's a two part episode, first where Kako convinces Haruno to go for a wine tasting (or an all you can drink, your call) and the second where Haruno gets the girls to do a Photorally that unknown to them is also an eating competition. The episode is a bit lighter on the photography side of it, heavy on the tourism promotion side, but one I was ultimately a bit "heh" overall, although we got drunk Haruno.

Kowloon Generic Romance

(ep 5) Uh, well, that surely was a cliffhanger that went nowhere. While it may have been a joke, there's one person for whom it certainly wasn't, and Youmei certainly has her eyes on what Kudou is up to. What is true, however, is that we finally discover the reasons for her plastic surgery as we see what she was up to in her previous life, which I understand might be a weird choice of words for this situation we haven't fully figured out, and puts her talking to Kujirai to just be herself in a different light.

Uchuujin MuuMuu

(ep 4) I've been saying I wanted this to get weird, and it's a small step in the right direction. Carrying on from the giant electrical bill Sakurako got, she's working in the club for meal tickets, where we get to see MuuMuu channelling the Pyramid Power his civilisation mastered (not that he knows how) to turn a battery extra spicy and blowing up on his face. Second story is about the club president trying to impress a girl who's having smartphone battery problems, and after embarrassing himself with the worst analogy possible for USB ports, now has a device that uses a bunch of microwaves to charge her phone at s distance. On this week: opening small appliances, putting a new motor on a milk frother, and how wireless charging works. Could have used one on how to replace my smartphone battery.

Gundam Door Buzzer

(ep 4) Well, this was one of those cases I really don't know if my lackluster knowledge of Gundam is setting me back. Is Shiiko a character from any of the other shows, or is her "Witch" moniker just a reference to the previous Gundam, and she kinda looks like Mirai? Either way, she's in town to beat the Red Gundam, who killed her Mav during the war and wants to settle the score in a clan battle. As how it goes for her, well, that's true Gundam 0079 behaviour, letting your desire for revenge get in the way of surviving, the Gundam RX-78 just has that effect on people. And traumatising Machu, because that's also another thing they do to you.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle

(ch 397, 398) So, we get a very good single story that starts with Zeus and M.O.T.H.E.R. having leg cramps, and you can guess what happens next from the image, and a new arc where the Cursed Musician's mother signed him up for an idol audition which he didn't want to go, but as the Demon King wants to send someone to spy on where it is taking place, of course he goes there with Syalis and the nudist, always a fun combo.

Tis Time for "Torture", Princess

(ch 268) Oh, the princess trying to sneakily get one up on Tortura, who gets legitimately annoyed at her for wasting food. Another one for the "I want to see this animated" pile. And speaking of...

In Other News:

Tis Time for "Torture", Princess season 2 confirmed for the Winter 2026 season (via).

In case you missed it, the Rose of Versailles movie is now available on Netflix. A decent effort but severely harmed by the time they had to tell the story.

[serendertothesquad]

The Ultimate Serendipity-Odd Squad Lore Post

Because you people keep asking for my entire story.

No, no, not my life story. Christ sakes, we'd be here until Gen Z'ers died off if I had to reiterate my whole life story.

No, I'm talking about my entire Odd Squad story. You know, how I got here to begin with, how I rose to fame, and how I am objectively still a god without a religion, a cult, or a religious cult. That story. You all want to hear that story.

If you're an oldie, you've probably already heard my tale at least once. If you're new here to the funny kids STEM show fandom, then damn boy howdy are you in for a wild ride.

Get a snack and a drink, pop below the break, and let's begin.

Allow me to take you back to the year 2014. I was the ripe young age of 15, finishing up my sophomore year of high school, and suffering from undiagnosed depression of the "I'm trapped in my own home" variety. We didn't have cable, and so stuff like PBS Kids, NBC Kids, and 4Kids were the only things I watched on a regular basis. In the online space, I was largely chronline to the tenth degree (and note the "largely", because, y'know...school). The Internet, and spaces like Tumblr, served as escapism, and I spent a lot of time particularly in the Wild Kratts side of things.

I had first heard of Odd Squad through PBS's own upfront, the PBS Annual Meeting, that was held in May (though the show was, as I would find out much later, officially announced back in January at that year's TCA Winter Press Tour). It was the network's first live-action show since The Electric Company reboot in 2009 that got swiftly cancelled, which was already enough to get me interested because PBS hadn't taken a chance on live-action stuff since. The premise, as well, was charming and incredibly interesting -- a secret organization that solves problems using math sounded a little saccharine and thus perfect for PBS Kids, but since it was live-action, I figured it could bring a little spice to the network in a way that not other kids shows of the modern network era (read: 2013 onwards, past the network redesign) did. The fact that PBS was willing to go all-in on the show, up to teasers, previews, even having two new games available for fans to play before its premiere, was practically the cherry on top.

Fast-forward to around September. By this point, teasers and promos were already coming out for the show that showcased Olive, Otto, Oprah and Oscar in action. And by this point, I was absolutely invested. On a whim, I decided to take my Sony camera and record a reaction video of me watching it. Was it weird? Yes, but I had no money for a laptop that wasn't a decade old and didn't run about as well as a computer from the days of yore. You make do with what you have.

Needless to say, when the first episode "Zero Effect" premiered, I was having a whale of a time. That's...pretty much all I remember. Aside from the swearing. Lots and lots of swearing.

(...Look, it was 10 years ago. My brain can only go on a decline after being fully developed. And the depression has been eating away at me for that long. When astrophysicists perfect the art of the time machine, call me.)

I uploaded it to my YouTube channel the day after the show premiered. No editing, just a straight-cut video of my reactions laid on the table. I figured, "Okay, so this would be nice to look back on and laugh, maybe."

And then, a month later, I got a PM from Joshua Kilimnik, the actor who plays Season 1's big bad Odd Todd.

Before I get into that, though, a bit of backstory for my channel is necessary.

I had made my channel in 2011, when Wild Kratts premiered. At the time, it was mostly hosting Wild Kratts content, mainly Top 10 countdowns of fan videos I stumbled across on Tumblr or elsewhere as well as Sparta Remix-related stuff. (Yeah, remember that old meme? That isn't as dead as you think it is? Yeeeeeeah.) Around the middle of 2015, it unfortunately got struck down pretty hard when PBS began to go Nintendo on it, viewed fanworks as threats to their IPs, and decided to rip down my videos from the 'Net in three easy strikes -- and with it, my entire channel. It stung, to see my relatively hard work go down the drain. I'd be lying if I said I had wanted the channel to stay up just so I can look back on it in 5 years and cringe at how juvenile it was. Christ sakes, I even had MLP stuff up there at one point. Why? Don't ask me. I wasn't even watching the show at the time. I truly got into it when Season 5 began airing.

But back to the PM. You know, back when YouTube gave you the option to PM people.

Getting the PM from Joshua, I was, naturally, suspect. Celebrity impersonators are all too common, and as I would later come to find out, Odd Squad was not exempt. I had to laugh, because an autistic nobody like me getting a PM from a child actor who was in the industry long before Odd Squad was like Ariana Grande up and inviting me to have dinner with her because I made a few comments about her diction. It's a miracle, people. Miracles that only happen to those with life-threatening illnesses or those who have done good for the community. I had neither of those. Unless you count me going to high school as doing the community a service, in which case I have one of those things.

I read the PM again. And again. And again. And something in me thought, "Maybe...just maybe...this guy is actually legitimate. Maybe he's telling the truth about the entire Season 1 cast and the show's crew members, creators included, seeing my video. I mean it's 2014, what creator wouldn't look to the Internet for first reactions on their show?"

Fuck it. iBalled. I went for it. I reached out to Joshua.

And by God's oddness-laden utopia, am I so happy I did.

We immediately hit it off, taking our conversation from YouTube DMs to Twitter DMs (no, my current Twitter is not that ancient -- my time on birdsite-now-saltyman-hellhole is a whole different story) and discussing our hobbies and what we did. Joshua confided in me that he helped disabled kids, which, honestly, is a green flag in my book off the bat as someone who is, in fact, disabled. I told him about my animal shelter work and how I loved the show.

At the same time, I had posted on Tumblr about the show. Don't ask me what the post was about -- I honestly couldn't tell you, and combing through the tag is something I'd need a hell of a lot of motivation for -- but it somehow, by some astronomical means, took off. People came in like a small trickle. It was small, but over time, we built a strong community. I didn't exactly know how big my impact on people was until I read "how I got into Odd Squad" stories and saw my name pop up enough times to the point where I could safely say I was an inspiration to more than one person.

At some point in 2015, I had created a Wiki for the show. Fandom -- or Wikia, as it was called back then -- wasn't exactly new territory for me, as I had visited other show Wikis before. However, my Odd Squad Wiki didn't take off, and someone else ended up making another one that became far more successful.

...Yeah, you're surprised, aren't you? Figures. But not even I can lay claim to everything.

When the other Wiki took off, Joshua decided to dive right into the fire and engage with the fandom directly. Now, for any big-name fandom, this is everyday normalcy. The My Little Pony fandom has fans directly engage with cast and crew members who answer their questions, for example. But for small fandoms of niche IPs -- and oh believe you me, Odd Squad was incredibly niche back then -- a cast member interacting with fans was a huge deal. The hype only increased when Joshua was named an administrator, along with a few others, myself included.

Needless to say, Joshua being involved boosted the fandom's activity exponentially, and not just due to his spectacular acting on the show. Fanfics, fanart, fan videos...it was a bustling time of fan content. I can recall some of the most notable works just off the top of my head. The fandom got to be so busy that I made a news blog just to cover every bit of news, shifting away from my Wild Kratts news coverage to focus on a different show instead. I enlisted a few old friends to help me out, converted them to be oddballs (which, I will say, was a stroke of luck), and put them on the "staff team". My aim was to create something akin to Equestria Daily, but on a smaller scale. We did editorials, episode followups, and scoured the Internet for any and every bit of Odd Squad news we could find. It became a reliable source for many, especially considering PBS's horrible track record with even the most basic of news -- cancellations, renewals, and other such announcements. Not to brag, but I like to think I did a better job than them at actually giving news to fans who deserve it. (Hell, I still do. My hunger for even small crumbs of news is very strong indeed.)

I can easily recall when Season 2 was announced. Me and my friends were ecstatic. For me, I never thought Odd Squad would get a Season 2, and the Season 1 finale -- affectionately named OINFO (don't confuse it with "O is Not For Old", that's a different rodeo; this is "O is Not For Over") -- made sure of that. Originally, it was set to air in May, before it got shifted to June to coincide with Season 2's premiere.

And even long before that, the movie being announced blew our minds. I genuinely couldn't believe this niche little IP, birthed only several months ago, was getting a movie. And not even one of those specials that PBS markets as a movie as a ratings stunt. No, no, this was a full-blown theatrical movie. With A-listers to boot! And it was a damn good movie!

(...Okay, unrelated, but man, I'm reading through all my old posts and comments on the Wiki and cringing. God, did I really type like a 10-year-old back then when I was in high school? Egh gross cringe. The "let her say fuck" was strong with me back then.)

Of course, as most actors do, Joshua largely moved on from the show as the years went on. Most long-timer fans stuck around until the end of Season 2 before either other interests caught their eye or real life just got in the way too much. A majority of these fans dropped off the face of the Earth like an introvert who suddenly disappears mid-conversation, though they still popped into the Discord server a few times and I reconnected with one or two on Twitter. Hell, some of them even made a "hey, I'm back, and here's what's up" post on Fandom that made me ask if their accounts got hacked.

As a result, when Season 3 premiered, the fandom had slowed down to a crawl. Anyone who's bore witness to it, whether an episode or a nugget of criticism, can probably guess why. (And anyone who hasn't can feel the wrath of my "trust me bro" card, thank you.) It was like I willingly leapt off of the boat, it sped away without me, and I was trapped in the middle of fuck-all nowhere with sharks. So, you know, like Open Water if it was actually good. But the point stands in that I was pretty much all alone. I couldn't crawl to anyone for the sweet release of death after seeing just how hard S&P tried to avoid The Shadow's very obvious murder attempt by way of hacking into a car to make it fall into a lake of green goo. All I could do was scream and cry into a mic, edit, upload to YouTube, and let all the unsupervised kids looking for free episodes come to me in droves.

Oh, and post to Odd News. Until I accidentally deleted the account.

By that point in time, my old friends had all left due to real life commitments, and only one, Angelica, remained. But even she drifted away, and I was stuck running it all alone. So, I made the difficult decision to let it rot, and frankly...I haven't touched it since. Largely because I left Tumblr entirely and only just now came back. On the news front, I expanded my coverage to PBS Kids as a whole network, just as I do on Twitter.

It wasn't until the back half of Season 3 premiered that the fandom slowly but surely began to grow from planted roots, and I could connect with people again. Seeing people flood the Discord server and Tumblr, sharing art and news and theories, was amazing. Not for Season 3, though -- it was because of the past two seasons. Honestly, to say there's been more talk about Otis and Odd Todd than about any other character in the entire franchise is a hell of an understatement, because it dominated pretty much 98% of the fandom.

From there, new fanworks, fanart, and other pieces of fan-created media were created, and many still continue to be created to this day. Though hyperfixations can be yoted off the cliff and die in an instant (with deepest apologies to Shroom), it's great to see a burst of activity in such a small fandom. Hell, it even got big enough to where we had a Secret Valentine's exchange a couple months back, which was a real joy because it gave me a chance to flex my writing chops even if it did leave me on the verge of a third panic attack. And...the fandom being revived did land me a solid interview for a college assignment. Which, to me, is my own equivalent of getting a dedicated panel at a convention.

But this isn't a whole entire story about fandom lore. It's a story about me.

And honestly...I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little tired with Odd Squad myself.

Between the choking responsibilities of adult life (yay work), the state of my mental and physical health (yay depression and anxiety), and the franchise being fucked over sideways to Pluto and back by numerous entities (yay TV industry), I really can't just focus on Odd Squad anymore. Now, I'll give a fair warning to you and tell you to make no mistake -- my enjoyment of the franchise will die with me and my entire bloodline if the franchise itself doesn't die first. But I've found other special interests and hyperfixations that have grabbed me more than the funny kid agent franchise has. I derive more joy from binging the 90s Frasier series, Pretty Cure, and Neighborhood Wars than I do with the funny kid agent franchise.

Now, does this mean I'm leaving the fandom? God no. To do it on the verge of the franchise's 10th anniversary would be utter blasphemy. And I do plan on weaponizing this blog for more Seren's Studies, including episode reviews and character analyses I can't do with the limited resources I have. But the drive for Odd Squad is just...no longer there for me. I did not, unfortunately, get the "Odd Squad forever" autism. I got the "childhood is hell, but okay, sure, I'll make you a functioning competent adult to a certain degree" autism.

Maybe one of these days, amidst the countless new pieces of media that keep releasing, I'll be able to rewatch Odd Squad. It's worn out its welcome nostalgia-wise, but I find it to be a pretty enjoyable view when I take off those glasses and put on the "my God is an awesome God and that's why I try to attend church every Sunday" ones. I'm still making crossover fan projects to other IPs like MLP, Super Monkey Ball, and Precure. And of course, I'll be seated for Odd Squad UK to see if it's good or not -- I'm more than happy to take the bullet for people who don't want to see it for whatever reason, just as I did for the back half of Season 3. But for now, the drive is pretty much gone.

I will admit, I'm likely missing some stuff. My memory is absolutely terrible, and I had to go fishing for a lot of stuff to refresh it (one of the reasons why this took so long to release in the first place). But this is what I can dredge up.

I'm honestly proud of the little fandom I birthed. I could work a hundred jobs in my lifetime and still say that founding the Odd Squad fandom is by far my greatest accomplishment. I've met so many amazing people, seen so many amazing things, and really, I'm hoping to see more people in the years to come. If the aim is to introduce Odd Squad to new generations of kids, teens, young adults, and adults alike, then I'm all for it. Expose them to goodness. None of that Cocomelon shit.

Thank you for reading, and to all of the people in the fandom both old and new, thank you for touching my life in ways I never thought of. If you've got any further questions about my story, send 'em my way; I'll be glad to answer 'em.

See you all in the next Seren's Studies, whenever that may be.

[seafoamreadings]

week of november 12th, 2023

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: strong mars and scorpio at present give you a power it is so easy to tap into that it's sometimes also easy to not even notice it's there, or that you have been using it. take it easy on people who are struggling a little more than you these days and if you feel like you're struggling too, put a little extra effort into thinking of all the things that are easy - even if you have to start with stuff like "breathing" or "heart beating"

taurus: the week begins with a new moon in your house of committed partnerships, which also rules over your open enemies. set intentions around where your energy is focused. do those enemies deserve your time and attention? or would you rather direct it at love or at responsibility? maybe you can find a good way to split it, but remember it's not an infinite resource.

gemini: expect (or be the cause of!) productive, candid discussions in relationships or with other types of partners. don't leave things unsaid. even painful outcomes will be for the best this way.

cancerians: your homework, your actual spiritual duty, this week, is to get out there and have fun, whatever that means for you. actually you can stay in and have fun too if you prefer that, but you'd better be enjoying the time. even if a background sadness or frustration tugs at you as you go, find pleasure in as many moments as you can.

leo: big stubborn vibes all week chafe at you. but you're stubborn too, you know? so lighten up and loosen up and let things move around a bit. you will probably like them better wherever they settle than in whatever position you're currently forcefully holding them.

virgo: yet again your commitments, especially in terms of relationships, are called into focus. the astrology is supportive, so if things are good they get better. if things are not good, they feel better for now, but problems are likely to fester, so find them and fix them, and dispose of what you know you can't keep.

libra: in general you're a very relationship-oriented sign but it pays this week, literally, to focus more on your money and resources. all kinds of resources, not just financial ones. likely all of it leads you to much greater prosperity.

scorpio: the new moon in your sign is a great time for self-improvement endeavors, glowups, and anything that puts you in the spotlight of some important attention. set your intentions accordingly.

sagittarius: this week's vibe is both stubborn and shifting. know which way to lean in each given situation rather than choosing a side and sticking to it. authenticity is the best policy, which involves most likely a straightforward yet compassionate honesty.

capricorn: by and large if you get the urge to socialize a bit this week, you should act on it! but be advised that the astrology all week is a bit volatile, so you should proceed with caution out there. still, caution doesn't mean stifling the divine spark of will within you.

aquarius: strong uranian activity does suit you and yet the chaos at play at this time can be unpleasantly shocking or even dangerous. this can range from surprises in the personal life to literally electrical dangers; take care to be safe.

pisces: benevolent neptune aspects abound but they occur alongside volatility to a high degree. focus on what you are making, not what you have. but don't necessarily make yourself too vulnerable to any pitfalls either.

[maramontwrites]

Channeling Magic

“No.”

“Yes!”

“No. It's stupid. You can't be serious.”

“I am totally serious. It's more practical than it seems. You should try it sometimes.”

“I am not gonna try that!”

“Then don't judge me. You can't know if it's bad without trying it first.”

“I'm not saying it's bad, I'm sure it works, but it's just so... dumb. Why can't you just use a normal magical object? Something other than... that.”

“Because I like it. I'm not judging you for your preferences, so why would you judge me for mine? There are a lot of things wrong with wands, but you like them, so I'm not gonna say they're stupid, because I don't want to hurt your feelings.”

“What's wrong with wands?!”

“If you really wanna know: a lot of things. First of all, they break easily and are impossible to repair, so you have to buy a new one every time it breaks. Secondly, they're really expensive, especially if you have to buy another one every year. And lastly, the waving is just stupid. You not only have to remember the right spell, but also the right motion for it to work. Who has time to memorize so many things?”

“If your wand breaks after a year, you're doing something wrong with it.”

“Not my point.”

“Okay, whatever, you don't like wands. But there are still plenty of normal things you can use. What about staffs? You don't have to do complicated motions with those.”

“That's true, but they also cost a lot of money and those big crystals are fragile, they will break if you drop it once. Plus, they're heavy as hell. I don't want to carry around a big piece of wood all the time.”

“So, no staffs. What do you think of magic books? Last semester I took a course on those. They can be really useful.”

“Books? Really? They're so impractical! You have to carry a heavy book with you everywhere, you have to memorize all the page numbers or you’ll just spent an hour looking for the spell you want to use, and you can't use it when it rains. They're only useful for people with no magical power of their own, because everyone can use them, but in any other situation they're the worst.”

“You really just hate everything. Well, what about orbs? I have a friend who likes to use those.”

“They're only useful for certain spells, they're either very expensive or low quality, which makes them basically useless, they're impractical to carry around, and they...”

“Break too easily?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“You know, I think you're just too good at breaking things.”

“No, everything is too good at breaking. That's not my fault.”

“Whatever. What about just using your hands? Last year I had a classmate who could do that, it was really cool and it doesn't have any of your disadvantages. You can’t tell me your hands will break easily.”

“It has plenty of disadvantages. You need to be really powerful to do that, which is not something that can be learned, so it's inaccessible for most people. And on top of that, you also need to have strong willpower and good intuition. Also, spells are always more powerful when channeled through something.”

“So you just hate everything?”

“I don't hate everything. I just think all those things aren't right for me.”

“And that thing is right for you?”

“Yep.”

“But why a microphone?”

“It's practical! It's small enough to carry, it doesn't break easily, and I can do a lot of different things with it!”

“But what about the electricity? Doesn't that interfere with your magic?”

“Nope. When I use it for magic, it isn't turned on, and when it’s turned on, I don't use it for magic.”

“You actually use it in a normal way too?”

“Yeah! You know, singing is a very good way to channel your emotions, and we all know that your emotions influence your magic. So it actually helps me with my spells.”

“You're so weird.”

“Do you wanna try it?”

“No!”

[anxiouspotatorants]

Hey I am trying to write a fanfic right now and I saw you had some Dave Rygalski headcanons before so... do you have any Dave headcanons about his home life and like him outside of the characters we see on the show?

Hey, I am so sorry for not replying sooner but how sweet of you to think of my headcanons! It really warms my heart to see people still actually interacting with those Dave posts. I’m guessing my input will be irrelevant for your fic by now but I still love this as a prompt so I figure it would be fun to still write and post a reply. Also if/when the fic is up and running please send me a link so I may devour it!!

I never thought all that much about Dave’s homelife. I assume he’s in a two-parent household, but unsure about siblings pets and general family dynamics. Now that I’m thinking about it Dave does seem like the type to have sisters, maybe two or three. He doesn’t strike me as someone with active drama going on with his family during the show (which would be a rare sight on Gilmore Girls), but then again that’s just my take. If I remember correctly he is canonically Jewish, but as a European gentile I don’t exactly find myself informed enough to make religious or too culturally specific headcanons for a Jewish US American boy in 2000s New England.

What I do headcanon is that Dave, Zack and possibly Brian all come from a neighbouring town instead of Stars Hollow. I know US small towns can be a lot bigger than what we define as small towns where I’m from, but Lane’s never met Dave before the band and Stars Hollow is a tiny town with presumably only one high school. They should’ve met by season 3 if Dave was a townie.

I also headcanon that he can’t wait to get out of small town life, which is why he applies to study in California. I don’t think he hates small towns (if he did he would spend a lot less time in ST and a lot more doing daytrips to NY) but he’s probably never truly felt at home and hopes to find that sense of belonging in a physically bigger place. Whether he’s right about that assessment or not is a whole ‘nother case though. I think he has a really tough first year in college getting used to a far noisier and busier city and not having that safe group to constantly fall back on like he would back in New England.

Another headcanon specifically about everyday homelife is that Dave is the technician of the family. Because of his audio-tech passion his parents and potential siblings just assume he’s great at all tech and electricity, forcing him to be the one who has to figure out how to fix a faulty satellite and learn the fuse box, and at some point just switch out all the lightbulbs in the house.

Other headcanons I have which have little to do with homelife include:

Dave’s more of a sci fi geek than fantasy geek (not that all fantasy fanboys know Tolkien inside out but in GG he would’ve picked up on Mrs Kim’s quote… also he’s big into sound tech and I headcanon him as eventually getting into tech period). The boy knows his Asimov, his Analog, his Star Trek, his battlestar Galactica and most definitely keeps tabs on the Syfy Channel.

Sci fi preference be damned that boy is doing something tabletop related and my money is on either Dungeons & Dragons (the guys is studious af and has Brian and Zach as friends) or Magic the Gathering (and yes he would spend all his lunch money and then his student loans on the damn cards)

He might have anxiety (not to do armchair psychology but there’s a vibe. The ones who know, know)

He could become a little tech broish while studying in California (I mean Silicon Valley is right there) but I think it would just be a phase and that he’s more obsessed with nerding out over how things work than spreading the Web3 gospel. And I still stand by my headcanon that he goes into sound engineering or sound related tech for work after college.

Tardiness be damned I hope this was a fun and somewhat insightful read, if only on how I tend to headcanon these folk!

[oldguy56-world]

What Lies Ahead

We have another New Year just a couple of days away. While people will vocally tell others what their resolution is (diet, exercise, drink less etc.) the reality is we all share the exact same wish: to be around for the next New Year as well. This is understandable so I will not dwell on it. (My personal goal is New Year's 2055 which will put me on the edge of becoming 100. By then all of my grandkids will be old enough to help change my diapers.) Putting that aside I have some musings about 2025. Here are some thoughts and predictions.

If we become the 51st US state do we each get issued a gun before we lose our health care? The order of these things is very important.

Is this the year aliens decide to make contact or do they shake their heads (they might have more than one) give up and go home.

BOLD PREDICTION: No current city construction will be completed.

Will I be able to get through another year without my wife smothering me in my sleep with my favorite pillow?

This could be the year cows finally have an uprising. (I have been talking about them for a few years now). They will brand humans with a Golden Arches symbol and will receive support from chickens who have also had enough. Jolly Bee gaining traction was one chicken chain too many.

ANOTHER BOLD PREDICTION: Before the end of February a politician will say or do something incredibly stupid.

The Earth will get warmer still but nothing will be done about it except people will go to the beach more often. In a related story sharks will open a chain of buffets along the coast of every country.

The education system will officially change as English (especially grammar and spelling) and Math will be deemed no longer necessary. Their spot in the curriculum will be replaced with thumb typing and social media marketing.

Billionaires will pay no taxes. They will use the savings to, well do nothing but make more money

Will this be the year we see the Pope visit Russia and bitch slap Putin? If he does will he take requests?

Will Trump see the loophole and get rid of a headache by deporting Musk? There can be only one.

FINAL BOLD PREDICTION: Canada will dam up every river that flows south and stop sending electricity to the states. Americans will not notice as they have been in the dark for almost a decade already.

There are so many streaming channels already that I can see a time (very soon) where each TV show will have its own channel, forcing us to spend $1,200 a month just to watch several shows that we like.

All in all it will be just like any other year and that means remembering to write the correct year on any documents. I was going to say writing a check but anyone under the age of 30 has no idea what that would be referring to.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: Each year should bring renewal, but unfortunately it is usually just more of the same.

[monimccoythings]

Ray fillet headcanons Remake

I watched the movie so now I'm writing with more knowledge. Came into the cinema knowing very well that he was going to be my favorite and did not disappoint. Sweet baby angelfish I love him so much. (But holy shit I was right about him really loving music)

I hope the new videogame, the series and the sequel gives us more depth about his character (Though I'm extremely grateful they finally remembered his existence) and I pray they don't kill him like the Archie and IDW comics did.

Ray's sight is not the best, having one eye missing can really affect your perception, but also having myopia in your only eye left is devastating. That's mainly the reason why he's wearing the scuba diving glasses, the other reason is because he thinks they look cool. But, since they are not prescription glasses they barely have any effect and are completely useless. Thankfully, he relies a lot on his cephalic fins that sense electric fields and allow him to move without crashing into anything. Most of the time.

Nobody knows how he lost his eye, not even his siblings. He just showed up one day with a missing eye and he keeps changing the version every time he tells it.

He loves to sing so much he decided to open a youtube channel to do covers. He had to be explained thorougly what royalties were and why he couldn't cover any song he wanted to just because so. So he started writing his own songs.

Meme songs, he knows them all and will use them for evil. It's both a blessing and a curse. He is the master of rickrolling because you never see him coming.

He found out the ocean's has an awesome acoustic, so sometimes he sings while he is diving and records it for his channel, it's his own ASMR.

He loves tattoos, it's like a form of artistic expression, and he gets to wear them all the time! Bebop is the one who does all the ink work and Mondo just provides the designs, and whatever they come up with, Ray likes it.

Despite his love for singing and the arts, he is one to keep on the background, never taking the spotlight. This is mostly because Superfly's treatment of him and his singing, he feels anyone is going to rudely tell him to shut up. He is slowly regaining confidence in himself.

Out of all his siblings, Ray is the one who suffered the most verbal abuse from Superfly due to his personality and singing. He knew that his brother, despite everything, cared for him, but Ray has always been very sensitive and took it to heart.

To release some steam he likes to hit the punching bag, he feels bad about it because every time he hits it he imagines his ex-brother's face. Regardless of all the mistreatment, he was still his big bro who raised them when nobody else would.

If they formed a super hero B team, Ray would be the least interested, as he says "he just wants to sing" so superheroics are not a thing for him. That doesn't mean he is willing to stand aside and let innocent people suffer, Ray is, above everything else, a very nice and kind soul who will always lend a hand to those in need.

Ray is one of the strongest members on his team, behind Bebop and Rocksteady, but doesn't like to show off his strength unless it is in combat.

He is a big admirer of Big Man in Splatoon 3, he wants to be everything he is, an idol who will sing his feelings to the world.

He is hoping someone will form a band with him and perform together on shows. One of his biggest dreams is to perform at Coachella.

When he gets excited, his tail starts to wiggle widly, which may become a problem due to his sting, at first, he was worried he was going to harm anyone, but he has since started to warn his family when 'the wiggles' are coming so they can move or use something as a shield.

[multifandomthoughts]

Sadness. Despair. Sorrow. Whatever you’d like to call it. That’s all that was left in your heart after your girlfriend Foo Fighters died. The world had been reset, and you were one of the only ones still present from the previous one. You and a child named Emporio.

Every day you spent without her, more agonizing than the rest. Everywhere you go, you’re reminded of her. Whether it be the giant slurpee cups from the seven eleven, or watching baseball on tv. You know you’ll get over her, you have to.

Eventually, days begin to get easier. Little steps in the right direction, doing more things around the house, and getting outside helped a lot. You won’t ever forget her, that’s for sure, but the pain of her death lessens, even just a tiny bit.

October rolls around, and it’s been an extra long and grueling day. Plopping down on the couch, you flick on the TV. Scrolling mindlessly, you stop on the classic movie channel. The original 1931 Frankenstein. Leaning back, you casually consume the film, not paying much mind to it. Until the titular reanimation sequence.

You don’t know what it is, but your eyes are glued to the screen. From death, comes life. Does this mean that it’s theoretically possible to bring back your girlfriend? Dropping everything, you run to your room to research. Even if it has only 1% chance, you’d do anything to bring back your beloved.

A thought pops into your head, however. What if she isn’t the same person you once knew? What if she’s the exact opposite, or doesn’t remember who you are? Shaking your head you try to push those thoughts to side, and continue to study. The optimism of success pushes you forward.

Onto the next steps, you visit the seaside closest to you. Wading into the ocean with your bucket, you scoop up a bunch of water, smiling widely. There, floating inside your bucket, was a multitude of plankton, visible to the naked eye. If you’re lucky, there’s probably even more plankton, that can’t be seen!

Returning home, you keep the plankton well fed, and in a tank until the next thunderstorm rolls around. Each day without a storm makes you more and more antsy, and you’re wondering if you should take the easy way out and use some form of electricity in the house.

Shaking your head, you decide to wait a bit longer. In your opinion, it would lessen the impact of your reunion, making it less heartfelt. In preparation for your experiment, you set up a makeshift pulley on the tallest tree you could find. This wasn’t Hollywood, not everyone is going to have a gothic lab in their basement.

Finally, the day comes. You can tell that there’s going to be a large storm by the air, it’s thick and heavy. Black clouds cover what once was a vibrant blue sky, for some people this would bring melancholy….but on this day, it brought hope.

Scurrying off to your workspace, you begin to dump the plankton in a large gallon bag. It’s not the most practical or logical way to store the creatures, but you figure that it’s the most convenient, as well as easiest to get out of.

Hoisting it in your arms, you scurry off to the makeshift pulley. Placing the bag of plankton on the makeshift wood ‘table’, you raise the mechanism towards the sky. Sitting below the tree, you hope with all your might that this experiment is a success.

Every time the lightning hits, you look up to discern if the bag is jiggling. Jiggling indicates that the lightning made direct contact, not just hitting the wood. After a few successful hits, you lower the pulley to see what had happened.

Nothing. No movement. Your experiment had been unsuccessful, as tears begin to flood your eyes. It was heartbreak all over again, but this time it was much more agonizing. Your sobs only get louder and louder, unaware of the sudden movement in the bag. Throat raw, eyes red, you only discover the sight in front of you once saltwater splashes directly on you.

Looking down, the colony of plankton had formed into the non-humanoid shape you knew and loved. As it squirms and attempts to get out, you stare at it, dumbfounded. Tearing the bag open, the creature slides out of it like grease on a wheel. They stare up at you, tilting their head as if they remember you.

“What happened to me?” They ask, and before they can receive an answer, you hug them with enough might to crush them. After getting that out of your system, you begin to explain to them how the world had been reset and that you were the only one to survive it.

Foo Fighters looks at you with what seems to be sorrow, and brushes a strand of hair out of your face. “Well, I’m glad that I’m back…to feel human again, to spend time with you.” Smiling widely, you can feel tears stinging your face. But this time, they’re happy tears. Something with a less than one percent chance of success, actually happened. As you cry, you can feel a slimy sensation coat your face.

Glancing over, you see Foo Fighters gently kissing your cheek and reaching their arms around you for a soft hug. Wiping your eyes, you look back into their eyes. Taking a deep breath, you suggest:

“I can’t wait to make a bunch of new memories with you. I love you so much, and I missed you so much…How about we find you a body, hm?” With that, you carry your reanimated girlfriend towards your home, to plan for the next steps, whatever they may be.

[blazehedgehog]

Pinned Post

Since Tumblr is moving away from custom themed pages it's easier to just have a pin.

Hi! My name is Ryan, but everybody on the internet calls me "Blaze", as in BlazeHedgehog. I've had that internet username since at least 1998 or even 1997, where I picked it for myself as a high school freshman in the computer science lab. I was trying to fit in with other Sonic fans, you see. I just never felt like changing it (and now it's sort of like "my brand.")

I'm the founder of SAGE (The Sonic Amateur Games Expo), though I haven't had an active role in the event in a good while now. I still occasionally dabble in making games, and depending on who you ask, one of those games changed the face of an entire community.

Since then, I've been growing a slightly popular Youtube channel, and I occasionally stream on Twitch. I've been doing both of those a long time -- my Youtube channel dates back to 2006, and I've been livestreaming games since before Twitch even existed (Who here remembers a service called "Mogulus"?) I even used to run multiple Shoutcast radio stations back in the day!

In terms of this blog, it is largely an ask blog. I try to make sure at least one post goes up every day. Most people ask me questions about Sonic games, but feel free to ask me just about anything as long as it's not rude or too personal. Just be aware it might take a week or two for the answer to get posted, depending on volume and interest.

I wrote a big long intro post for the now defunct Cohost. If you'd like to know even more about me, that follows under the "keep reading" tag:

I still care a lot about fangames, and people's right to make fangames. SAGE was founded on the ideal of normalizing the fangaming scene in the eyes of the mainstream. Back when I first started, fangames were often considered another form of piracy. I wanted them re-categorized to be in the same realm as fanart or fanfiction. Whether or not SAGE accomplished that is anyone's guess, but the world is a lot more accepting of fangames these days regardless. A lot of cool people have featured their games at SAGE over the years, including the developers of Sonic Mania, Spark the Electric Jester, and Freedom Planet. SAGE is genuinely one of the things I am most proud of starting in my life, even if I haven't had a managerial role in over ten years.

I have been interviewed about SAGE and how it relates to the fangaming community. Both times I've been interviewed, I was granted permission to post my (very, very wordy) interview in full, if you'd like to read them:

Cultured Vultures: The Weird and Wonderful History of Sonic Fangames

Le Monde: When There’s No Good Sonic Games, Fans Develop Their Own

I was known for a few fangames in my time. I have a Youtube playlist where I've commentated over some of those games.

I've tried to transition to making original games, the most recent one being OverBite in 2016. OverBite was a game I created for a game jam, with the intent on making it a bigger, more robust thing to sell later on down the line. The game jam version you can download today is a little basic and boring. It was created over the course of 33 days and I did nearly everything alone -- coding, art, level design, all of it. I custom-built the physics engine, I custom-built the AI, almost none of it was using prefabs or existing example code. The only outside help I received was music, which was provided by my old friend Malcolm Brown (who really needs a better online presence for links like this).

Circumstances got weird (it's a long story, and this post is long enough) but the short of it is OverBite is permanently on the backburner until further notice. I'd love to go back and flesh it out some day, and really make it something special (I have a giant design doc for it!), but I have to focus my attention elsewhere.

I registered a Youtube channel in 2006, back in the early days before they were owned by Google. Around 2009, I did my first formal video review, for Sonic Unleashed. I was inspired by the style of Gametrailers (now Easy Allies) at the time. From there, I started taking my channel a little more seriously, and recently I have had the impetus to take it very seriously.

I have been livestreaming since at least 2009, as well. For reference, that's before Twitch.tv existed, back when the site was called Justin.tv, and was pitched more as people livestreaming their bedrooms with a webcam (what is now called "Just Chatting" on Twitch). I jumped around between sites like Mogulus.com, Livestream.com, and uStream. In 2012, I teamed up with a friend, Imran Khan, to stream Sonic 06 for charity. The 18 hour marathon raised more than $1000 for relief after the Japanese tsunami disaster of the same year. When I stream nowadays, I do it on Twitch, here. Archives of past streams can be found here and here.

I used to be a paid, professional games media writer for the niche site tssznews.com, but that site imploded after I worked there for 12 years. It ran out of money, the head didn't want to run it anymore, and after an embarrassing social media gaffe, permanently closed its doors basically overnight without warning anyone else. While at TSSZ, I helped break a lot of their biggest stories. A slowly increasing amount of my TSSZ work has been archived at Last Minute Continue, and you can always use the Wayback Machine. I also have plans to archive my "professional" writing on my own site, bltn.net, eventually. Some day.

(Since writing this, I have also uploaded a large chunk of archived TSSZ articles to The Internet Archive.)

I'm also an artist, or I was. Most of my other creative outlets eventually took precedent, but I still try and retain some artistic skill. There's a very dusty DeviantArt profile out there, and an art tag on my tumblr blog you can check out. Carpal tunnel has made drawing a little frustrating these days, however.

Is that it? I guess that's it. There are even more links to things that aren't necessarily worth a paragraph on the Linktree, and not to hustle you after reading all of that, but boy it would be great if more people supported me on Patreon so I can use all this stuff to help pay my bills and get me to a more comfortable place in life. Twitch subs and Patreon donors get early access to my Discord and yadda yadda yadda...

Oh yeah, and I even turned on Youtube Memberships recently.

[tobiasdrake]

We understand the What. But there's still much more ground to cover.

Oh shit, that's a good point Yuma. I can't believe I didn't think of that. That means we can eliminate Iruka from the suspect pool entirely, since she made the fucking thing.

It can only be Icardi. No other killer is possible.

I didn't get the impression that it was his idea. I don't think he ordered a custom gun. I think Iruka made him a gun and he as like. "Uh. Yeah. Thanks." in that civil tone you use when you don't want to hurt someone's feelings.

It was pretty clear from his behavior that he wanted nothing to do with the thing.

Yuma knows what's up. Iruka designed the gun for Shachi because she's a gun nut and thought it'd be a great present for him. Given that it was then used to shoot him, this was a terrible mistake. Gun culture, amirite?

This, in turn, proves that Iruka - One of only two people of the appropriate height and location to have fired that gun - is out-of-the-question as his killer.

Bestie, we are solving a case here. You can ship the Persons of Interest once we've cracked the mystery.

Roof of the hideout, of course. We already talked about this. There's only one place it could have happened. As difficult as it is to believe that a person was up on that roof with Shachi and then mysteriously vanished, it is the only thing that can be true.

This is basically a freebie. The important question isn't, "Where was the killer?" The question is "Where did they go?"

That means they had to vanish fast. They couldn't go down the emergency stairs or through the door.

Unfortunately, we never got a chance to investigate the rubble behind the building, from where the potentially evidence-concealing bombing took place. And I didn't remember to get a peek at the space between buildings. So it's possible there was a body of water for Icardi to dive into. But we can't just make up evidence like that.

Oh good, an opportunity to rectify my mistake. You can even see the blood spray I was talking about, and how it could only have come from "southwest".

Yuma, do me a solid and look down between the buildings real quick.

There is a body of water down there. You can reach the flooded city below from here. But it'd be a hell of a trick to pull off with that giant pipe in the way, even for a professional diver.

What's particularly interesting about the method of escape isn't just that they didn't use the emergency stairs. It's that they didn't intend to use the stairs. They didn't know we were coming. When they shot Shachi, the next course of action should have been to run to the stairs, bump into us, and go, "WHOOPSY DOODLE I'm busted!"

It's possible they didn't do that because they heard us clambering up the emergency stairs, though. But either way, they had a third avenue of exit already planned out in advance. They knew, going into this, that they couldn't trust the stairs or the door; That they couldn't just leave and had to instead vanish. Probably because they anticipated the place swarming with Peacekeepers after that bombing stunt.

Since I think we can safely assume they did not leap between the buildings and then break their collarbone on the pipe, that leaves only the rubble behind the building as the key to our mystery.

Without knowing what they destroyed, we can't solve the escape method. I guess we do have a use for Shinigami's Revisit Crime Scene ability.

I want to go back to when we first showed up on the rooftop. To see what the back of the building looked like then.

Nothing that's visible from the rooftop. That's because the key to our mystery isn't on the rooftop.

And there's the smoking gun.

Icardi removed the grate from the storm drain so that he could make a high-altitude dive into the hydro-electric channels below. He shot Shachi and then made his great leap. Then he swam through the channel into the power plant and disappeared into the flooded Marunomon District.

And that is the truth behind Who and How. Though Why remains unsolved. The most plausible reason is that Icardi (and Servan, who had to be in on the terrorism plot with him) was working with the Peacekeepers. But if Icardi was a pig in a blanket then he wouldn't need to premeditate an elaborate escape method like this.

The alternative is that Icardi and Servan killed Shachi because they didn't want his pacifism holding them back. That they were more violent revolutionaries trying to strike a spark.

But then it's weird that they'd play Terrorism Minigames with Yuma instead of, like, carrying out real bombings. Still can't make heads or tails of what that was about.

We should note here that, since they planned to intentionally provoke CTU, it's conspicuous that Margulaw excused himself and left the district before it could become flooded with cops. That doesn't necessarily mean he's a co-conspirator but it's a bad look.

And we all know the one person who could make that dive.

Don't worry, bestie. Only two, maybe three of them.

Ha! They're standing in Most to Least Suspicious order right now. Servan isn't the killer but he had to be involved in the bombing plot. Margulaw has no reason to suspect him of conspiracy but it's suspicious that he left. Iruka is totally clean; She wouldn't have let Icardi make that stupid right hand/left hand mistake.

In what sounded very much like Icardi's voice, giving him away.

That would explain why Shachi didn't go out the front door, yeah. It was super weird that he went to the roof when he was trying to flee the police.

Maybe that's why he left the key in the lock? It might make the lock sturdier somehow? I dunno. That's still weird to me.

It's funny that I finally pegged the right killer on the mystery I had the most trouble piecing together.

[pathfinderunlocked]

Lady of Ash - CR12 Mesmerist

I can save them. And I intend to do so. I intend to make them mine, in exchange for returning their memories and sanity to them. And this will be my city, filled with the accursed walking dead whose sunken eyes still remember life, whose hearts still remember what it was like to be loved by the living.  But now I love them.  My Ashfallen.

Artwork by Oukawa Yuu on Seiga.  Badly edited by me.

The Lady of Ash is a faction leader in my dark fantasy setting of Vorseah, and her stat block reflects a character who is mostly involved in preventing fights, not winning them. If the artwork looks familiar, you probably remember it from the Vampire's Daughter monster that I posted; this is the same character, 600 years later.

The unusual combination of ancient youth dhampir vampire is what happens when someone is born into a vampire family and gets killed by vampire hunters as a child, and then gets raised into undeath as a full vampire by her surviving family members.

Her unique vampire power grants her the ability to awaken undead, in place of dominating humanoids. She uses this power to form a small civilization of intelligent undead. She has little concern for whether the undead she awakens are, or were, good people - she only wishes to provide them the same freedom over their destiny that living creatures possess. She wishes for both herself and her people, the Ashfallen, to get along peacefully with others, whether they be crusading paladins or evil necromancers. Despite that seemingly benevolent goal, her powers and her upbringing have warped her view of the value of life, and she isn't a good person. She has no empathy for the living, only a desire to avoid conflict with them.

However, she lacks the ability to create vampire spawn, and doesn't desire to create new undead regardless. She relies on her allies to subdue undead and allow her to use her powers on them.

When faced with violent undead, she uses her Command Undead ability to stop combat, and then uses Awaken Undead later at her leisure when the target has been secured and restrained. Against living targets, she charms or dominates them instead of fighting. She virtually never uses her energy drain or blood drain attacks; even if forced into combat against something like an aberration or outsider that she can't dominate, she'll either flee or rely on others to fight for her.

She always has her Umbral Shield trick implanted in herself, and begins battle with her other two mesmerist tricks already implanted in her allies. Typically she implants Compel Alacrity in melee allies and Mesmeric Mirror in spellcasting allies.

Have I ever mentioned that I hate making NPCs that use character classes? This stat block has too many special abilities. Some of it is the vampire template's fault.

Lady of Ash - CR 12

Avoiding the light from the window is what appears to be a young girl in a dress with long black hair and a white hat.  She has unusually pale skin, and the hanging oil lamp casts no shadow on the opposite wall.

XP 19,200 Dhampir, ancient youth vampire, spirit walker mesmerist 11 LE Small undead (augmented humanoid) Init +7 Senses darkvision, low-light vision; Perception +23

DEFENSE

AC 27, touch 17, flat-footed 23 (+3 Dex, +2 deflection, +1 dodge, +7 natural, +3 shield, +1 size) hp 141 (11d8+88); fast healing 5 Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +16; +2 vs. disease and mind-affecting, channel resistance +4 DR 10/magic and silver Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 5 Weaknesses vampire weaknesses (except sunlight weakness) Immune undead traits

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., spider climb Melee slam +10 (1d3+1 plus energy drain) Special Attacks awaken undead (11 HD/day, DC 22), blood drain, children of the night, command undead (8/day, DC 22), energy drain (2 HD, DC 22), hypnotic stare (-3 Will/Perception/Sense Motive/initiative/concentration/DC vs. Diplomacy/DC vs. Intimidate, 5 or 3d6 damage, 50 ft.), mesmerist tricks (3 at a time, 11/day)

Racial Spell-Like Abilities (CL 11th; concentration +18)     1/day—charm person (DC 20), command (DC 20)

Mesmerist Spells Known (CL 11th; concentration +18)     4th (3/day)—dominate person (DC 23), serenity (DC 23), speak with haunt     3rd (6/day)—appearance of life, charm monster (DC 22), dispel magic, nondetection     2nd (6/day)—aversion (DC 19), command undead (DC 21), detect thoughts (DC 19), knock, suggestion (DC 21)     1st (7/day)—adoration, hide from undead (DC 18), innocence, mindlink, sow thought (DC 20), undetectable alignment     0 (at will)—daze (DC 18), detect magic, message, open/close, touch of fatigue (touch +10, DC 17), unwitting ally (DC 18)

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 16, Con —, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 24 Base Atk +8; CMB +8; CMD 23 Feats Bouncing Spell, Command Undead (see text), Extended Stare, Extended Stare, Demoralizing Stare, Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (enchantment), Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness Skills Bluff +37, Diplomacy +23, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (arcana, local, history, nobility, religion) +6, Linguistics +5, Perception +23, Perform (oratory) +9, Sense Motive +26, Spellcraft +9, Stealth +15, Use Magic Device +14; Racial Bonuses +10 Bluff, +10 Perception, +8 Sense Motive, +8 Stealth Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Infernal, Necril, Orc Gear potion of inflict serious wounds x2, Lily Sunhat, +2 reflecting mithral buckler, ring of eloquence (dwarven, elven, gnome, halfling), amulet of natural armor +1, ring of protection +2 SQ bold stare (allure, distraction, susceptibility), change shape (dire bat or wolf, beast shape II), gaseous form, glib lie, undead inception, shadowless, spider climb

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Awaken Undead (Su) In place of a vampire's Dominate ability, the Lady of Ash has the supernatural ability to soothe and awaken undead creatures and break a necromancer's control over them.  She can use this on up to 11 HD (a number equal to her own hit dice) of undead creatures per day.  This does not cause the undead to become under her control, but it breaks effects such as Command Undead, grants the undead creature an intelligence score if it doesn't have one (typically the same score they had in life), and changes its alignment back to what it was in life.

To use this ability, the Lady of Ash must touch the target as a full-round action.  An undead creature makes a Will saving throw against this effect, DC 22.  If the creature is under the control of a necromancer or other undead, the Lady of Ash must also succeed on a caster level check with a DC of 10 + the hit dice of the creature exerting control over her target.  On a successful saving throw, or if the Lady of Ash fails the caster level check, this ability has no effect.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

A creature affected by Awaken Undead rolls a d100.  On a roll less than or equal to the Lady of Ash's hit dice, it becomes friendly toward her.  On an 80-89 it becomes hostile to her, and on a 90-100 it becomes confused and self-destructive.  Otherwise, the soothed creature becomes indifferent toward the Lady of Ash.

Blood Drain (Su) A vampire can suck blood from a grappled opponent; if the vampire establishes or maintains a pin, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage. The vampire heals 5 hit points or gains 5 temporary hit points for 1 hour (up to a maximum number of temporary hit points equal to its full normal hit points) each round it drains blood.

Command Undead (Su) As a standard action, 8 times per day, the Lady of Ash can enslave undead within 30 feet. Undead receive a DC 22 Will save to negate the effect. The save DC is Charisma-based. Undead that fail their saves fall under her control, obeying her commands to the best of their ability, as if under the effects of control undead. Intelligent undead receive a new saving throw each day to resist her command. The Lady of Ash can control any number of undead, so long as their total Hit Dice do not exceed her mesmerist level. If an undead creature is under the control of another creature, the Lady of Ash must make an opposed Charisma check whenever her orders conflict.

Continued Animation (Su) Three times per day, when the Lady of Ash is using hypnotic stare on a humanoid target and the target dies, as an immediate action the Lady of Ash can force the target’s soul to remain in the body. The Lady of Ash can then control the target as if using dominate person for 5 rounds. The creature gains 22 temporary hit points and continues acting as though it were alive and conscious until it loses those temporary hit points or the duration expires.

During this time, the creature counts as undead, but it can’t be healed by negative energy. The target receives a DC 22 Will saving throw to avoid this effect and die normally. The save DC is Charisma-based.

This ability ends immediately if at any point the target’s body is completely destroyed (such as by disintegrate) or restored to life.

Change Shape (Su) A vampire can use change shape to assume the form of a dire bat or wolf, as beast shape II.

Children of the Night (Su) Once per day, a vampire can call forth 1d6+1 rat swarms, 1d4+1 bat swarms, or 2d6 wolves as a standard action.  These creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the vampire for up to 1 hour.

Gaseous Form (Su) As a standard action, a vampire can assume gaseous form at will, as the spell (caster level 5th), but it can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.

Hypnotic Stare (Su) The Lady of Ash can focus her stare on one creature within 50 feet as a swift action.  That creature takes a –3 penalty on Will saving throws, concentration checks, initiative checks, Perception checks, Sense Motive checks to oppose Bluff, and to the DC of Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against it.  The Lady of Ash can maintain her stare against only one opponent at a time; it remains in effect until she stares at a new target, the opponent dies, the opponent moves farther than 50 feet away, or the Lady of Ash is reduced to 0 hit points.  The Lady of Ash can remove the memory of her stare from the target’s mind; The creature doesn’t remember that it was affected (nor does it realize that it is currently being affected) unless the Lady of Ash allows it. 

The hypnotic stare is a psychic effect, and relies more on the focus of the Lady of Ash than the target's perception of her stare.  It can’t be avoided in the same ways a gaze attack can.  She can use this ability even while blinded, but must succeed at a DC 20 concentration check to do so.  The penalties from multiple mesmerists’ stares don’t stack, nor do they stack with penalties from witches‘ evil eye hexes.  This is a mind-affecting effect, but can affect undead, ignoring their immunity to mind-affecting abilities.

Once per round, when a creature affected by the Lady of Ash's hypnotic stare takes damage, she can increase the damage by 5, or by 3d6 if she dealt the damage herself, and the target must succeed on a DC 22 Will save or become shaken for 1 round. This is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit. The save DC is Charisma-based.

An undead target affected by the Lady of Ash's hypnotic stare loses its immunity to her mind-affecting spells and abilities.

Shadowless (Ex) A vampire casts no shadows and shows no reflection in a mirror.

Mesmerist Tricks (Su) As a standard action, the Lady of Ash can implant a mesmerist trick in herself or a willing ally she touches.  She can do this up to 13 times per day, and can have up to 3 tricks implanted at a time.  The trick remains dormant until either it is triggered or the next time the Lady of Ash regains her spells.

As a free action usable even when it’s not her turn, the Lady of Ash can trigger this trick under the conditions listed for that trick.  The subject must be within 210 feet of the Lady of Ash for her to trigger the implanted trick.  She doesn’t need line of sight, but anything that blocks telepathic contact prevents her from triggering tricks.

The mesmerist tricks the Lady of Ash knows are as follows:

Compel Alacrity The mesmerist can trigger this trick whenever the subject begins its turn within an enemy’s reach. The subject can move 20 feet as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. The subject can’t move farther than her speed in this way. The movement from this trick doesn’t count against the subject’s movement speed for that round. Mesmeric Mirror The mesmerist can trigger this trick when the subject is attacked or becomes the target of a spell that requires an attack roll. Three duplicates of the subject appear, and the attacker must determine randomly which it hits (as mirror image). Each image lasts for 11 minutes or until destroyed. This is an illusion (figment) effect. See in Darkness The mesmerist can trigger this trick when the subject moves into an area of darkness. The subject gains darkvision with a range of 60 feet for 1 minute. Telepathic Link The mesmerist can trigger this trick when the subject and her allies are outnumbered in combat. For 1 minute per mesmerist level, the subject and the mesmerist can communicate telepathically. If the subject and the mesmerist are more than 210 feet apart, the telepathic connection is severed and cannot be regained unless the trick is implanted again. The mesmerist and the subject must share a language to be able to communicate. Umbral Shield The mesmerist can trigger this trick whenever the subject would be exposed to harmful bright light (such as sunlight is to a vampire). Once triggered, the subject ignores any harmful effects of bright light or sunlight for 1 minute.  The subject is immune to the dazzled condition while this trick is in effect. Unwitting Messenger The mesmerist describes a recipient to the subject while implanting this trick, then recites a verbal message no longer than 55 words. The subject of unwitting messenger has no memory of the message or the target recipient. When the subject encounters the specified recipient, the subject repeats the message verbatim, but does not recall speaking the message or its contents. This trick ends if not triggered within 24 hours. The subject of unwitting messenger can be fooled by mundane disguises or illusions, causing her to deliver the message to the wrong recipient.

Reflecting Buckler Once per day, the Lady of Ash can use her buckler to reflect a targeted or ranged attack spell targeting her back at its caster. Area spells, touch range spells, and other spells not directly targeting her are not affected.

Vampire Weaknesses Vampires cannot tolerate the strong odor of garlic and will not enter an area laced with it. Similarly, they recoil from mirrors or strongly presented holy symbols. These things don’t harm the vampire—they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from the mirror or holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against that creature. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action. After 1 round, a vampire can overcome its revulsion of the object and function normally each round it makes a DC 25 Will save.

Vampires cannot enter a private home or dwelling unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so.

Reducing a vampire’s hit points to 0 or lower incapacitates it but doesn’t always destroy it (see vampiric fast healing). However, certain attacks can slay vampires. Each round of immersion in running water inflicts damage on a vampire equal to one-third of its maximum hit points—a vampire reduced to 0 hit points in this manner is destroyed. Driving a wooden stake through a helpless vampire’s heart instantly slays it (this is a full-round action). However, it returns to life if the stake is removed, unless the head is also severed and anointed with holy water.

Normally, exposing any vampire to direct sunlight staggers it on the first round of exposure and destroys it utterly on the second consecutive round of exposure if it does not escape. However, the Lady of Ash's lily sunhat prevents her from being harmed by sunlight.

Vampiric Fast Healing (Su) A vampire gains fast healing 5.  If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, a vampire assumes gaseous form and attempts to escape.  It must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed.  (It can normally travel up to 9 miles in 2 hours.)  Additional damage dealt to a vampire forced into gaseous form has no effect.  Once at rest, the vampire is helpless.  It regains 1 hit point after 1 hour, then is no longer helpless and resumes healing at the rate of 5 hit points per round.

[ask-st-ccchoir]

Subcollective fear, hm? I can work with that.

Ocean, you are so very afraid of failure. How would you feel if I told you that you failed to change anyone? Not your parents, not your friend. You have not changed the world, your existence has done nothing. You have failed yourself. You have failed at everything you ever tried to achieve.

Noel, you are afraid of being ignored. Then again, you are like so many people. You blend in so naturally with the normal world, you are so very average. You are always ignored. Nothing interesting about you. Everyone fantasises, and you are not special in any way.

Mischa, you, are afraid of abandonment. How would you feel if I were to tell you that Talia has moved on. That your adoptive parents do not care. Your channel is already forgotten, and anyone who cared for you has moved on.

Ricky, you would hate being stared at. You are perceived, you are looked at with pity. Everyone knows what you do, what you write. You are the centre of attention, forever being stared at with all the same pity, with the envy and with the want for you to be gone so that they will be pitied. You are so known by everyone. They still repeat your name to this day. "Poor Richard Potts"

Constance, you fear being hates. But your little brother hates you for dying, the people of Uranium hate you for leaving, for not helping anymore. They all despise you for how nice you were, how much help you gave them. They absolutely hate your guts for ever existing among them. They hate your life and they hate your death. You will be hated for as long as you are remembered.

Jane, you are everything and nothing at once. How would you feel that you are remembered, but forgotten? Not etched into memories as the person you once were, but rather what you are now. A being not entirely human, even if your body was. Always being remembered as Jane Doe. Not forgotten, not remembered.

Karnak, you are so very afraid of death. Truly humorous for a machien that sees nothing but humanities mortality. You have not truly experienced it. Being fixed by a being that does not work with wiring. That does not comprehend electricity. You do not want to move on from the warehouse, for you are so very afraid for what is after it, that you keep yourself and everyone else here. You have seen death once. Never again.

🌊n-no. I didn't fail myself.. I never did! I changed something about the world..my school at least.. I hope.

🌹i dont have a fear of being ignored. Never did.. I.. Dont blend it.. I dont. Mom tells me im special- i am.. In my way..

💵talia hasnt moved on yet.. Hopefully.. Its too fast. People will know me by- by badegg. Its not forgotten yet, is it..

🌌indifference is what i fear- pity. Those pitiful looks are what i fear from their eyes.. you ARE subcollective fear, huh.?

🍬n-no! No! They dont hate me! They- they dont.. My brothers love me more than anything, they just- they dont hate me.. No one hates me.. You're just lying.

🐑well, at least im known in someway or another ..

🔮 i don't have a fear, for i am a machine. I've always known when and how my death was. Yet, the unknown is just pit of darkness swallowing people one by one is what i fear slightly.

//HEHHE GIGGLES SORRY IF THEY SUCK 💔💔//

[riveroverthesky]

I've been in California for just over a month now, so here's list of all the things I love about America:

The people are very polite and eager to help

Designing a town in a grid system and dividing each avenue into numbers and letters makes sense for figuring out where everything is. As does the freeway having the exits divided into avenues and each one is a mile apart so you know when your exit is (its logical)

Plus sized manquins in clothing stores (body diversity win)

Aircon in the house (I will never go back to using an electric fan again)

Watching the sunrise over the desert

Travel sized books (genius!)

International food is so much easier to find (I finally understand why so many cooking channels are like "just go to your local asain market")

Fandom merch is also so much easier to find. There were so many shops in this one mall that were all deidcated to anime. Even stuff I didn't think would get much attention has at least a T-shirt. Hocus Pocus stuff was everywhere! Who even remembers that movie???

The food - Real mexican food, deli meat sandwiches, olive garden breadsticks, pumpkin spiced everything, so many different types of cereal

Thin duvets that I can snuggle up in on the sofa :3

And for balance here is a list of things I miss about the UK

Pepsi Max Cherry (California only has regular and diet)

Good chocolate (the Halloween candy I gave out was bad and those kids deserved better)

The standard of driving

Pavements (streets in America just randomly stop existing and it's not wheelchair friendly. Where am I suppose to walk???)

Public transport/the ability to just walk to where I need to be

The price on the tag is the price you pay (Hidden fees can die in a fire)

The ability to communicate with just a look (British people don't like talking ok.)

Green grass and rain and hills and winding roads.

The DVLA (The DMV can suck my dick. They wanted me to come back, to show them some paperwork that was missing from my first visit. Not post it, or email them a copy. They wanted me to go through the whole queue process AGAIN just so I can hold up a smog certificate to this miserable employee. Why do you hate modern technology? Just put everything online???)

Car dealerships (I'm not lying when I say California traumatized me. They stand outside the building like vultures, they won't let you wander around the lot at your own leisure, they ask too many questions, even when you tell them what you want they still want to show you other cars, they won't shut up about how much they care about you and getting you the right vehicle (stop lying to my face you creep), the guy showing you the car can't sell the car so you meet his manager who also wants to have a chat with you, and they're just creepy. They're not even trying to be professional. They're just creepy with their creepy ass smiles as they walk you to your car)