#episode 734

[hauntingblue]

LAWWW FUCKING SHAMBLEEEES

[livmadart]

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Ran and Heiji from @kaitou-kid-my-beloved’s lovely fic! You really bring them and their interactions with their Pokémon to life, it’s fantastic! Can’t wait to read more

Case closed count: episode 734

[rikeijo]

Today’s translation #734

Animestyle 2017/05, Staff's round-table discussion

Part 35.

Oguro: In the new century, the only animes that show male characters' nipples are 'Gurren Lagann' and 'Osomatsu-san', I think? [A bit funny thing to be so knowledgeable about...? 😂]

Ito: I was under the impression that anime that targets women as their main audience shows male nipples, but that's not necessarily the case, huh?

Hiramatsu: I think that for people, who properly learned a bit of art, that's something that they naturally think should be drawn. When working on 'Gurren', I drew nipples stretching, when the character raised their arms, but Gori-kun (Nishigori Atsushi) [character design] was giving me nasty looks for that (laugh). So I drew nipples in Yuri!!! episode 1. thinking that simply drawing nipples was nothing special.

Oguro: In the ending we also see nipples.

Hiramatsu: That's Hayashi Yuuichiro's work.

Ito: It means that everyone shared your nipple philosophy, then.

Hiramatsu: That's right. But it's not that we had a staff meeting about it, or anything.

Oguro: You didn't supervise the ending animation, if I'm not mistaken?

Hiramatsu: I did a bit. I did supervise the cuts that I was advised by the production staff I should look at, but not the rest. On an unrelated note, I've got an email from Nakamura Shoko-san (The Director of 'Doukyusei' anime) saying 'Let me guess, you didn't supervise the ending animation', so I send the reply 'No, I didn't' and she wrote back 'I can see', and I was like '...but where's the issue?'

Ito: Every time I watch the ending, I think that 'yeah, this is Hayashi-san's style of animation' and every time I watch the opening, I think 'yeah, this is Park Sunghoo's style of animation'.

Hiramatsu: So the nuance of that email was 'why didn't you supervise the ending animation?' and I replied that 'it's fine as it is'. Perhaps, because that's my stance, I'm not really fit for the role of Animation Director...?

[aphmaumystreetmemes]

Day 734 of posting Aphmau MyStreet memes till it returns in late 2025 | What would a modern version of this episode look like...

...do I want to know what a modern version of this episode look like

[Originally Posted: November 26, 2023]

[chrismerle]

fanfic: the answer's in the second before the other shoe drops

quite a title this time

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: Gen Fandom: Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon) Relationship: Alastor & Husk (Hazbin Hotel) Characters: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Husk (Hazbin Hotel) Additional Tags: Drinking, Alcohol, Self-Harm, Late Night Conversations, Husk is not paid enough for this, POV Third Person, Present Tense, Not Beta Read, Post-episode two, Threats, Alastor Being Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) Language: English Word Count: 734 Summary:

“...Boss?” Alastor turns so quickly he nearly falls off of his bar stool, and he slams a hand down on the bar for balance. Husk is suddenly positive that, if he checked, he would find another empty bottle. “Husker.” “Everything good?” Husk asks cautiously. “Should it not be?” Alastor asks, tipping his head to the side.

read it here

[abqotd]

wrapping up…

BREAKING BRACKETS: top episodes.

with the conclusion of our tournament, i’d like to share some of the insight and results that came from your participation.

the full results can be viewed here!

listed below are the episodes that accumulated the most votes over the duration.

Breaking Bad:

5.14 “Ozymandias” — 734 votes

4.10 “Salud” — 676 votes

5.16 “Felina” — 472 votes

3.10 “Fly” — 466 votes

4.01 “Box Cutter” — 423 votes

Better Call Saul:

6.07 “Plan and Execution” — 624 votes

6.08 “Point and Shoot” — 613 votes

5.08 “Bagman” — 516 votes

6.03 “Rock and Hard Place” — 512 votes

3.05 “Chicanery” — 436 votes

[thru-the-grapevine]

Rain, Rain, Never Go Away

Had another manic episode and this was the result?

Pairing: Seokmin x Reader

Word Count: 734

Genre: another meet stupid because why not

When Seokmin looked out the window of his new apartment, he didn’t expect to see anyone outside. After all, who in their right mind would go out in the heavy rain that had pelted his window all night long? 

And yet, much to his surprise, there were two figures out in the park directly next to the apartment building. He squinted, trying to see what kind of crazy person takes their dog outside on a day like this. And once again, to his shock, he recognizes you. 

He’d met you in the elevator the day he moved in, arms aching with the weight of the box he was carrying. You had held the elevator doors open for him when you noticed him, politely asking which floor he needed. 

Turns out you lived on the same floor, just down the hall from each other. Seokmin nearly dropped the box (which contained all the bowls he owned) when you smiled at him. Everyone always told him his smile lit up the room, but he felt his to be dismal compared to yours. 

Returning to the present, Seokmin realized you had found a stick and were now throwing it for your enormous dog to run after. He wasn’t sure what breed the dog was, but he hoped it was friendly. 

Seokmin wasn’t sure what possessed him to get up and throw his shoes on. He’s also not sure why he decided to take the elevator down to the first floor, open the heavy metal side door of the complex, and step into the pouring rain. 

His entire body was instantly soaked through, but Seokmin didn’t care. His eyes never left you as he hurried down the sidewalk to the park like a man desperate… he wasn’t sure for what exactly, but he knew he was desperate. 

You hadn’t noticed your neighbor approaching you yet, too engaged in a fierce game of tug-of-war with your dog. Neither of you would relent, a determined fire in both your eyes. It was only when your dog was suddenly distracted by something behind you that you turned around. Your eyes widened in surprise to see Seokmin standing there absolutely drenched. Of course, you were drenched too now that you thought about it. 

Taking advantage of your momentary lapse in attention, your sneaky dog pulled a little too hard on the stick. With a yelp, you toppled right over into the mud puddle that used to be a dirt path. 

Seokmin watched you fall as if in slow motion. He dashed to your side, hoping you weren’t hurt. Your dog sat next to you, tail wagging as he gnawed on his new prize. You looked up at Seokmin, a little dazed, and accepted his outstretched hand. He hauled you up, and you realized your entire backside was completely covered in mud. 

You stared at your neighbor for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Seokmin raised an eyebrow, but couldn’t help the smile that came across his face as well. You were contagious. 

“I probably look insane,” you said, reality finally hitting you. 

“No more than I do for joining you,” Seokmin grinned. 

Your heart fluttered. What a pretty smile. “I like being out in the rain. No one else is out, so I have the park to myself,” you confessed with a sheepish smile. 

“I think I might like being out in the rain too,” Seokmin said. 

“But it is starting to get cold…” you mumbled. “Maybe I should call it a day. I could use a warm shower.” 

Seokmin shifted anxiously on his feet. You’re going in already? “Um-” he started, then clamped his mouth shut. No, no, no he couldn’t do this. 

You looked up from where you were re-attaching the leash to your dog’s collar. “Hm?���

Seokmin looked at you again, his heart hurting at the thought of you going back inside your apartment alone, without him. No that simply won’t do. 

“After we wash up, wanna go get coffee?” he asked, his mouth saying the words before his brain could stop him. 

You froze. Was he asking you on a date? Your cute neighbor with the gorgeous smile was asking you on a date?! Oh, you should probably answer him. “I’d love to,” you said, shyly looking at your mud-covered feet. 

Seokmin’s heart soared. From this day forward, he vowed never to complain about rainy days again.

[ao3feed-zukka]

Fatal Decision

Read now on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/dYXMPqA by sillygooberKoisharkthatwrites Words: 734, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon 2005) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Zuko (Avatar), Sokka (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Katara (Avatar), Aang (Avatar), The Gaang (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Mai (Avatar), Ty Lee (Avatar), Suki (Avatar) Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong/Zuko, The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar) Additional Tags: Zuko-centric (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko Joins The Gaang Early (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Azula and Zuko Have a Good Relationship (Avatar), The Gaang Learns How Zuko Got The Scar (Avatar), Sokka Learns How Zuko Got The Scar (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko Friendship, Nonbinary Toph Beifong, Toph Beifong's Life-Changing Field Trip with Zuko, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Eating Disorders, Partially Blind Zuko (Avatar), Partially Deaf Zuko (Avatar), Writing Exercise, I forgot how to write help, writing may be cringe (to me), More tags to be added, how do i tag help, Episode: s02e20 The Crossroads of Destiny (Last Airbender) Read it on Ao3 at https://ift.tt/dYXMPqA

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 41, 2023

Extended perceptive field revealed in humans with binocular fusion disorders. Benhaim-Sitbon, L., Lev, M., & Polat, U. (2023). Scientific Reports, 13, 6584.

View cells in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of macaques during virtual navigation. Corrigan, B. W., Gulli, R. A., Doucet, G., Mahmoudian, B., Abbass, M., Roussy, M., … Martinez‐Trujillo, J. C. (2023). Hippocampus, 33(5), 573–585.

Decision heuristics in contexts integrating action selection and execution. Dundon, N. M., Colas, J. T., Garrett, N., Babenko, V., Rizor, E., Yang, D., … Grafton, S. T. (2023). Scientific Reports, 13, 6486.

Independent effects of emotional arousal and reward anticipation on episodic memory formation. Gieske, A., & Sommer, T. (2023). Cerebral Cortex, 33(8), 4527–4541.

Molecular encoding of stimulus features in a single sensory neuron type enables neuronal and behavioral plasticity. Harris, N., Bates, S. G., Zhuang, Z., Bernstein, M., Stonemetz, J. M., Hill, T. J., … Sengupta, P. (2023). Current Biology, 33(8), 1487-1501.e7.

The temporal and contextual stability of activity levels in hippocampal CA1 cells. Hayashi, Y., Kobayakawa, K., & Kobayakawa, R. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(17), e2221141120.

Accounting for endogenous effects in decision-making with a non-linear diffusion decision model. Hoxha, I., Chevallier, S., Ciarchi, M., Glasauer, S., Delorme, A., & Amorim, M.-A. (2023). Scientific Reports, 13, 6323.

A model for transforming egocentric views into goal‐directed behavior. LaChance, P. A., & Taube, J. S. (2023). Hippocampus, 33(5), 488–504.

Cognitive influences on fixational eye movements. Lin, Y.-C., Intoy, J., Clark, A. M., Rucci, M., & Victor, J. D. (2023). Current Biology, 33(8), 1606-1612.e4.

Environmental context-dependent activation of dopamine neurons via putative amygdala-nigra pathway in macaques. Maeda, K., Inoue, K., Takada, M., & Hikosaka, O. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 2282.

Threat and Reward Imminence Processing in the Human Brain. Murty, D. V. P. S., Song, S., Surampudi, S. G., & Pessoa, L. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(16), 2973–2987.

Danger Changes the Way the Brain Consolidates Neutral Information; and Does So by Interacting with Processes Involved in the Encoding of That Information. Qureshi, O. A., Leake, J., Delaney, A. J., Killcross, S., Westbrook, R. F., & Holmes, N. M. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(16), 2934–2949.

Neural Index of Reinforcement Learning Predicts Improved Stimulus-Response Retention under High Working Memory Load. Rac-Lubashevsky, R., Cremer, A., Collins, A. G. E., Frank, M. J., & Schwabe, L. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(17), 3131–3143.

Proprioception gates visual object fixation in flying flies. Rimniceanu, M., Currea, J. P., & Frye, M. A. (2023). Current Biology, 33(8), 1459-1471.e3.

Cross-stage neural pattern similarity in the hippocampus predicts false memory derived from post-event inaccurate information. Shao, X., Li, A., Chen, C., Loftus, E. F., & Zhu, B. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 2299.

Superficial‐layer versus deep‐layer lateral entorhinal cortex: Coding of allocentric space, egocentric space, speed, boundaries, and corners. Wang, C., Lee, H., Rao, G., Doreswamy, Y., Savelli, F., & Knierim, J. J. (2023). Hippocampus, 33(5), 448–464.

Dendrites help mitigate the plasticity-stability dilemma. Wilmes, K. A., & Clopath, C. (2023). Scientific Reports, 13, 6543.

Infants and toddlers leverage their understanding of action goals to evaluate agents who help others. Woo, B. M., & Spelke, E. S. (2023). Child Development, 94(3), 734–751.

Plastic and stimulus-specific coding of salient events in the central amygdala. Yang, T., Yu, K., Zhang, X., Xiao, X., Chen, X., Fu, Y., & Li, B. (2023). Nature, 616(7957), 510–519.

Unsupervised approach to decomposing neural tuning variability. Zhu, R. J. B., & Wei, X.-X. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 2298.

[thacoshammer]

Splatbook 180 – Freeze!!!

We’ve got our hands up and our eyes cast down for this episode! Join DMs Glen, Brian and Fulongamer as they serve up another (long overdue) helping of 2e goodness! First they analyze the Remove Paralysis spell and its reverse, then they talk about the cockatrice and bring it home with a Brainstorm.

You can find us on Facebook (Thacos Hammer Podcast), Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter (@thacoshammer). We are in the midst of reorganizing and starting a new podcasting network, and our episodes will be on Spotify under the name Thacos Hammer. We will be uploading our old episodes a little bit at a time, so please be patient. We have an RSS feed for the new loacation, and that address is: https://anchor.fm/s/f67dd77c/podcast/rss. We still have episodes on archive.org, and the address is: https://archive.org/details/episode_archive. It has been reorganized, so you can find episodes much easier now. If you are looking for our Actual Play (AP) podcasts, you can go to https://archive.org/details/HammersOfTheDuchySession0. You can also email the show at thacoshammer@gmail.com, and you can leave a voicemail for the show at 734-623-0832. Please indicate in the voicemail if you’re calling for Thaco’s Hammer, because the number is shared with another podcast.



Also, we now have T-shirts thanks to Zazzle.com, and they are designed by DM Glen and DM Cory!! Get yours today! Here are the links:

Design by DM Glen: https://www.zazzle.com/thacos_hammer_t_shirt-235437242428047038

Design by DM Cory: https://www.zazzle.com/thacos_hammer_shirt_1-235721719516592459

Magic Fingers – Remove/Cause Paralysis

Snipe Hunt – Cockatrice

DM Brainstorm – The Garden of Statues

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

Megaman Production Art Scan of the Day #734:

Ruby Spears Dr. Light Fist Pounding Cel

Now we get into the scene duplicate cels of Dr. Light. So sadly, nothing much new here. If you saw the last Double Buster set I posted, it's just a continuation frame. A little line loss and some paint stuck, mostly around his face. So once more, also including an edited version.

From Episode 1, The Beginning. But this time, with 2 fists pounding the door, not just 1.

Scanned from: My Production Art Stash

Full Resolution Scan: https://imgbox.com/pEUFO02F

Edited/Touchup Repair Scan: https://imgbox.com/aLa65yLx

[klcthebookworm]

10 November 2023 Metrics

Previous Word Count: 58,320 New Words: 734 Total words for the first draft: 59,054 NaNo 2023 Cumulative Word Count: 9639 What I Accomplished in the Narrative Today: I think I almost have this investigation scene wrapped up. Fave line: “I really thought your whole family needed to be on the force for you to be a legacy. Like on Blue Bloods. Or at least your dad, not your uncle.” What Else I Accomplished Today: Dental cleaning. I think I have straightened out most of my refills and should get the ones I’m out of tomorrow. And the kitchen is looking so much better, even if I lost a lot of oomph when in order to run the dishwasher I had to rake under it, the stove, and a set of shelves to find where my void babies had hidden the faucet adapter for it. I successfully found it (and if my house burns down, something they stuffed under the stove could be a culprit) under the shelves, but I should have took a nap to get second wind back. I did eventually recover and did another writing session after that. And discovered that the focus music really does help. I had kept listening to my podcast episodes without thinking about changing what was going in my ears for the first two writing sessions. After I broke down the two experiences, I discovered I was writing 6 words a minute with the focus music playing and only 4 words a minute with the podcasts. What I'm looking forward to: Definitely caring forward with turning on focus music for the writing for the rest of the month. Also going to keep the to do list and timer list so small. Just bouncing between writing and dishes and laundry. Though laundry really doesn’t work with the timer. What I'm not looking forward to: Interruptions. There are bound to be some.

[dangerousyako]

gotta love detective conan. People will be talking about "Thing that happened the other day" and it will be from an episode from 200 episodes ago

(this is about ep 734 - Jodie and the Cherry Blossom Viewing Trap referencing ep563 Detective Boys vs Robber Group)

[confessionsofanarcadeaddict]

Episode 64 – Going Back To The 80s!

Welcome to Episode #64! In this one, Brian talks about another top ten, gives a rundown on an arcade, and provides a full breakdown of a classic arcade game.

If you would like to contact the show, you can send an email at arcadeaddictbrian@gmail.com or you can leave a voicemail for the show at 734-743-2433. The show also has a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/arcadeaddictbrian), and is also on Instagram (@arcadeaddictbrian), Twitter (@ArcadeAddict_B), and Tumblr (confessionsofanarcadeaddict.tumblr.com). You can help the show by leaving a five-star review wherever you listen to it, which helps other people find it. If you want to help the show directly, go to https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coaa and click on the Donate button. For as little as a dollar a month, you can help the show develop further as a podcast, as Brian uses those funds for things directly related to the show such as buying podcasting equipment, and funding arcade runs to new locations for him to review for the show. Hope to hear from you soon, and good gaming out there!

RSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/4481fd0/podcast/rss

#anchorpodcast #confessionsofanadcadeaddict #coaa #classicvideogames #classicarcadegames #arcades #actionrpgs #retroelectric #galaxian

Voicemail From Mike Stewart (never saw Asteroids Deluxe)

Top Tens – Action RPGs

Arcade Rundown – Retro Electric Arcade, Lowell, MI

Are You Experienced? – Galaxian

Time For Some Stragedy - Galaxian

[interuniversalcookingshow]

Welcome to episode 734 of the Inter-Universal cooking show! On todays episode we will be making Meta Cookies! No, they do not grant awareness of meta elements. The name is just a pun.

Ingredients: Mettaton, a cookie, 1 liter of lava, 1 geothermal generator, and a soul of Integrity.

First, you will need to crack open the soul and pour its insides onto the cookie to make sure it does not melt, next you must bash Mettaton in the box form to prevent them escaping as a ghost and to stop them from transforming into the EX form. Now, pour the lava onto Mettaton and wait 1 minute before hooking the geothermal generator into Mettaton and shocking them badly enough for the circuits that are untouched to catch fire and melt them even more. Pour the molten remains of Mettaton's body to get their full essence, and put it in the freezer to wait 5 hours for it cool.

Voila! A Meta Cookie! Somehow it retains its shape while looking like metal.

[dbphantom]

for the fic thing, numbers 4, 20, 33

Ah thank you!!

The fic writer questions post

I'm sorry in advance, this got really long, so I had to switch to desktop halfway through to format it so it wasn't just a big block of text 😅 Like... I'm sorry. Genuinely, I am really sorry.

4. What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of?

I'm going to do Alkali [ffxv H2O AU] because it's the one I'm currently knee-deep in. I hope that's alright! Truth be told I'm proud of a ton of tiny details in that fic, but my favorite is the change in what fire represents as the fic goes on to parallel Ignis's feelings about himself and the others. It's one of my favorite little descriptions to 'hide' throughout while I'm writing because there's just so much you can do with it.

Fire is dangerous, but it can also represent safety and home. Also it looks beautiful and provides comfort, but if you get too close it will burn you. Something something masquerading as light and leaving only blackened ash something something. Lux Et Umbrae or whatever. Generic stuff. You know. It's enrichment for me though, so I have fun with it.

I think the point where his view on it begins to pivot for the better is after the diner scene with the TV when him and Noct have a chat at camp that night, because Noct is the light of my fucking life surprisingly good at saying awkwardly nice things. Like, okay, he's actually awful at it, but the sentiment is there. Also fire is actually really important in the backstory fic [hang on, I'm getting ahead of myself-] and there's a similar evolution in its meaning for Celor [Ignis's uncle] as well, though his development with it is a bit more straightforward and... Obvious? I guess XD

If you want something a bit more silly, I've hidden exactly 7 H2O: Just Add Water and 2 Aquamarine references in the parts I've written out so far. And 3 Ariel references in Ardyn's dialogue. Oh, you poor unfortunate soul...

20. If you wrote a prequel to [insert fic], what would it involve?

CELOR. cough. I technically have one fully planned [chapters and all], the catch is I actually have to finish the current fic first and oh boy. This backstory fic is technically split into 2 parts. Celor B.B [before baby] and Celor A.B [after baby]. <- I wish I were kidding, but that's how it's split in my brain. It's a lot of years!

Before is the whole 'King Regis and his sluts the gang go on that funky little road trip during the war' thing, which basically establishes Celor as a character, the Scientias in relation to the royal family, and his relationships with the other OGs [Old Guys]. Basically, it goes into detail of what happened in Altissia that caused Weskham to get injured and how the other guys found out about Celor.

It also details the events of that one throwaway dlc? Like some dude showed up in Insomnia? Idk, it was so weird. U might not remember it [joking. Episode Ardyn, M.E 734]. Celor wasn't there for the main event, so he doesn't! He was off working with Drautos to evacuate civilians and stuff. Which kinda starts off their whole one-sided rivalry because Drautos sees some stuff and is like '🤔' about it. Celor is... well, to put it nicely, an oblivious idiot and doesn't even realize, so Titus is snooping around and everyone in the Citadel is like 'dude stop' except for the guy he's actually investigating. I also believe that Drautos has pretty much always been working with the empire. It's not specified when, but you don't become high commander of an army overnight [stares down Ravus]... Just kinda weird that he had time to pull that while also captaining the Kingsglaive, so I think he's always been allied with the Imperials. I digress.

After this attack is over the kids are all born (or cloned, lol) [basically... give it like 2 years and everyone exists] and we enter the A.B era where Celor proves just how bad of a parental figure he can be. For the record, I don't normally like killing off parents in fics too often but, well, Ignis doesn't have any mentioned in canon, so it feels weird to just have them suddenly exist in present-day... Celor is already toeing the line of being a full-fledged OC because there are TWO LINES in the audio story Parting Ways where Ignis's uncle speaks and then I did ALL OF THIS with him. 😮‍💨

Anyway, Ignis's parents' names are Julia Scientia and Harry [who married into House Scientia and took the name]. I named Julia for one of the OG mermaids in H2O, who likely had Rikki's power, and Harry for Rita's fiance in Mako Mermaids who ISN'T a total jerkface, thank you, Karl, you fuckboy- his sole existence made me distrust Karl MM so hard my first time through lol. Anyway, given their names you can probably guess their stories, but also they both die at the end. As parents do when you're discussing protagonist backstories [stares in Aulea].

Julia is the identical twin of Celor [yes, I'm implying he's transgender, do you think their parents named her Julia and him CELOR? Hell no, that's a transmasc name if I've ever picked one-] and Ignis takes after her, and therefore looks a lot like Celor (a lot of people confuse him as being Celor's son). That's why, in chapter 1 of Alkali, Ignis is standing there musing if the mermaid-looking daemon Noct killed in the arcade game would've looked like him. It's not explained why he thinks that in the text, but there you go. Reasons! Oh, also, Julia and Harry are killed by a mob for suspicion of housing a daemon after Julia is discovered, leaving their house burning to the ground and Celor returning with a 2 year old to... that... [seriously, the civilians in this universe are kind of hardcore and not in a good way...].

Celor takes Ignis back to the Citadel after a lot of [kinda superficial because pretty much everyone knows what happened] questioning and Regis (who is also actively mourning his fucking wife and raising a newborn) is like "whatcha got there, bud" and Celor's like "trauma" and Regis just nods and lets it happen. Not... not actually, but that's basically how it goes. Dude gets it. By god bahamut does he get it. Clarus is working overtime so hard to help them both learn how to be a dad. Anyway, you can imagine Celor's surprise when Ignis comes into his magic and it turns out to be temperature control. AKA this kid can now light stuff on fire whenever he wants. Even more bad when it's emotionally-tied. Celor and Cor, uh, put a lid on that ticking time bomb real quick. Just, fully shoved it in the shoe box and wrapped it in 7 layers of duct tape and buried it in the woods. It's not still ticking. IT'S NOT. [It is. :(]

To make things... a little more clear, Celor isn't a bad parent, he's doing his best, but also he's absent-minded and kinda paranoid about keeping the secret after what happened to his sister. Which, you know, a very valid reaction, but also causes him and Ignis to argue a lot over it, especially regarding Noct, especially after the whole Marilith thing. Celor actually argued against Ignis becoming Noct's advisor at all, but Clarus eventually pushed him into it because the kid's gotta live his life at some point, you know? [You might notice some parallels between Clarus and Gladio throughout, because they tend to be the voice of reason :V (most of the time lol)]. But yeah, after the whole Marilith thing, while Noct and Regis are in Tenebrae, Ignis and Celor get into a huge fight about who gets to know about the secret, Celor takes Ignis to the Lux Et Umbrae museum exhibit to make things up to his nerd of a nephew, and I get to loredump about Solheim and how merpeople came to be under Leviathan :) Of course the museum is a little... off... on the details given they view merpeople as a legend about variants of darkness daemons, but still. Shapeshifters show up on full moon nights to steal the bodies of your loved ones and make you one of them, blah, blah. Celor explains it better from what he knows, and Ignis learns about their connection to Leviathan.

Which, oops! Because this kid is pretty determined and he near immediately formulates a plan to summon Leviathan and bargain with her to become 'normal'. Hence the necklace. Which, yeah! Iggy's skull necklace is an important part of Alkali. I don't really bring up too often until they reach Altissia. See, the bargain ended up working... for about a month, until Leviathan intentionally meddled with the set rules to get what she wants (as you do when you're a jealous, vengeful god that also wants your other god friend to, you know, NOT nuke the entire planet). Because Ignis even bargained with her in the first place, and due to the rules she set, he basically gives up his half of the bargain to 'save' Noct's life (it was not actually in danger... parallels!) and still has to pay Leviathan back for her half. The necklace is his reminder of that. A literal chain around his neck. Anyway during this whole thing, oops, Drautos sees some stuff and is like '??????' and passes this info on over to Ardyn who is like '👀👀 interesting...' because, you know, he's an immortal bitch with memories from tons of people and also literally Ifrit. Who was there when Leviathan made merpeople because she was jealous. Jealous and vengeful. Not a good combo... But, yeah, Ardyn easily puts two-and-two together. So, when the Titan roadtrip caravan scene happens in Alkali, it should make a bit more sense. It didn't really NEED explaining, because it's Ardyn, but hey. I did. Bite me.

[And, YES, technically Leviathan was sleeping at this time, but it's more of a dream-state of her being summoned than actually her. I... didn't exactly want 7-8 year old Ignis summoning a literal, very miffed god in the middle of Insomnia's bay. If you know the first ever scene of the water dragon appearing in Mako Mermaids, it's something like that. Water and moonlight and rancid vibes. That's actually another plot point in Alkali, because when they're in Altissia Leviathan wants to wake up on her own terms, so she's trying to get Ignis to the Altar of the Tide Mother to wake her up permanently with his blood. Hey... it comes full circle... ... I should write an offshoot of this where it actually works and angst happens. Hmmm...]

Anyway, things happen after that pretty much as written in Alkali already, though this backstory fic would also cover the fall of Insomnia from Celor's perspective and his death :( It's funny because throughout this, Celor goes from loathing fire, seeing it as the brutal destructive force, to seeing it as hope and joy as seen through the eyes of kid Ignis learning his magic [contrast that to how Ignis views his own magic after training lol], and then after Ignis leaves Insomnia, fire goes back to being this awful uncaring force of nature that ends up getting Celor killed. Well, okay, it was mostly Drautos. But fire played a big part in it. And that's Celor's story. Pathetic merman uncle.

33. If you write chaptered fics, what’s your ideal chapter length to write? Is it different from your ideal chapter length to read?

Um, well. If the above showed you anything, I tend to write a lot... Sorry about that. I would say 20ish chapters is normally what I plan, but then everything goes off the rails. I intended for Alkali to be about 15 chapters, then it hit 20, then 30, now we're at 67 in planning and counting. Now if only I could actually write it all XD

And no, I love all kinds of fic!! One-shots, multi-chapters... So long as the premise is good, I'm here for it. I won't guarantee I remember to finish all the fics I start reading, but the chapter length has never held me back on starting them before. I just have a bad memory and never check my bookmarks :( Which I should do more often!!! Maybe I will do so tonight...

Anyway, thank you so much for letting me ramble about this! I really appreciate it, I'm always itching to talk about the stuff that lurks in my brain. 💙💙 I owe you one.