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theyhavetakenovermylife · 9 months

Note

Happy holidays! I hope you had a wonderful time during this time of year ♥️ if you are not busy, could you to either a 2003 or bayverse tmnt x reader (crush stage, not together / hasn’t confessed yet) with a reader who really put in all their cards into giving the best gift ever? Maybe something they always wanted, something they didn’t even knew it would be possible due to living in the sewers (e.g: giving a huge bonsai to Leo with a hand painted vase of him and his brothers training, or donnie a huge solar system that follows the current planet positions and the planets light up during night time, as a cute and fascinating lamp for his lab/room) anyways, a reader who’s love language is gift giving, and that’s they way of showing how much they appreciate them ? Please and thank you ♥️

Christmas Crush Stories: Gifts for Him

Bayverse!Turtles x reader

A/N: I have decided to go with the Bayverse boys, as I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of 03 for these past few days. I’ve also changed up the gift ideas, as I had some other ones I thought would be neat💖

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Warnings: Spelling, Christmas crush stuff, turtle boys getting presents and being happy💚🎄🐢

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Leonardo:

What do you get a guy that doesn’t have any wishes for Christmas? A guy who specifically told you not to get him anything for Christmas, because his noble nature just wouldn’t allow that. A guy who also happens to be the one you had had a crush on for years. Well, it wasn’t easy to figure out.

Leonardo had always been a guarded person. He didn’t easily let people in, citing possible betrayal and a general need for comfort. He did not like new things, as new things often got in the way of routine. And to Leo, routine meant comfort. So when you first entered Leo and his brothers’ lives, he took him quite some time to let you in. He watched you from afar, judging whether or not you were a threat. And slowly, over a long period of time, Leo let his guard down, letting you get to know him on a deeper, personal level. You got to know his routines, and the small things that brought him comfort. Meditation brought him clarity, training helped him get out frustrations, the bonsai made him patient, and his tea, his beloved tea, made him relax. All of this together brought him joy and comfort.

So what is a good gift for a guy that had a strict daily schedule, and doesn’t like sudden new things in his home space? Well, Leo had told you that your presence was enough, but that just didn’t sit well with you. You had to give him something that showed him that you cared. Especially after all these past years where Leo had made you promise not to give him anything, and to focus on his brothers’ gifts instead. You didn’t like that one bit. So therefore, this year you had found a gift for Leo, and you were sure he would like it. It was nothing big, as you had come to the realization that Leo did not need any big grand presents. What he needed was something that aligned with his daily routine. Something that let Leo know that you really did care, and you really did understand him.

So that day, as everyone was opening the presents, you quickly made your way over to Leo in the corner, who was watching his family, April, Casey and Vern, as they opened their presents in the living area. But when he noticed you coming over, he frowned in confusion. Especially when he noticed the unopened gift in your hands.

“Is that yours”, he asked. “Why haven’t you opened it yet?”

“Because it’s not mine”, you smiled, handing the gift over to the now very confused terrapin. “Merry Christmas, Leo”.

“(Y/N)”, he said sternly, looking from the gift to you. “I told you not to get me anything”.

“I know”, you said, almost forcing the gift into his hands with a smile. “But I just had to do it. Please, it means a lot to me”.

Leo looked at you for a moment, his blue eyes almost piercing into your soul. You prayed that he didn’t see the way his gaze caused you to shiver. His gaze moved back down to the gift in his hands. You could almost see the thoughts as they moved around in his head, as he tried to think of what he should make of the situation. And then, finally, he started to unpack the gift. It didn’t surprise you to see how neatly he unpacked it, unknotting the ribbon before following the lines of the wrapping paper, peeling back the tape. Once the gift was unwrapped, he started at the brown box in his hands, unsure of what to make of the artwork of Japanese women making tea on the front.

“What is this?”, he asked, slightly confused, looking for the opening in the brown box so he could take a look inside.

“It is a traditional Japanese matcha tea set”, you said, just as he opened the box. “With a whisk, a holder for the whisk, traditional scoop, matcha tea and bowl. All in blue of course”.

Leo stayed quiet as he stared at the matcha set in his hands. Then, without a word, he closed the box and placed it on the ground. You grew slightly nervous at this, not sure what to make of his silence. But then he turned to you, before wrapping his arms around you and pulled you into a tight hug.

“Thank you, (Y/N)”, he said, a smile appearing on his face, his arms staying around you, even as he moved his head to look at your face. “I love it! Really, I do. I had never thought of getting that”.

“No problem, Leo”, you said, feeling the butterflies erupt in your stomach and your face getting red. “I’m just happy that you like it”.

Raphael:

Raphael, the big and hot tempered member of the ninja turtles, and your ever growing crush. Ever since you met him and his brothers a little under a year ago, you couldn’t ignore your growing affection for the big red clad brute. His big build, strong physic and brown yellow eyes had you in awe from the very start. Although he was a little on the offensive during his first meeting with you, it didn’t take long before he warmed up to you, soon becoming a close friend of yours. It was no longer uncommon for him to check up on you every once in a while. Sudden late night texts, telling you he would do a quick stop by your apartment before continuing with his patrol. Or early morning texts asking if you wanted to come hang out with him in the lair. Okay, maybe the two of you were becoming more like best friends…

But there was one problem you hadn’t foreseen when you started getting closer with Raph: What do you get him for Christmas? Well, according to his brothers the best thing to get him was something for his workout. New weights. That new protein powder they had caught him looking at on his phone once. Or a new boxing bag, because his old one was living on its last days. But there was one thing wrong with that - Raph already had that, or his brothers were doing to get that for him. Leo had gotten him a new boxing bag, and Mikey had gotten him a new bench press, however that was possible. Donnie had made him a watch that could read the speed of his punches and his weight lifting. April had gotten the protein powder, and Casey had gotten him weights. Heck, even Vern had gotten him weights. Whatever Splinter had gotten him was still a mystery to you, but that didn’t change the fact that you had to find him a gift. A gift that showed him how much you cared and appreciated him, and hopefully how strong your feelings were for him.

You sat down and had a long think, remembering everything you knew about Raphael. Everything he had told you, and all the things you had done together. Even the things he hadn’t told you, and you just kind of had guessed along the way. And then suddenly, you had an idea. You knew what to get Raphael. It was different from any of the gifts his friends and family had gotten him, and you were sure it was going to stand out. And then, excitedly, you ran out the door, hurrying out to buy his gift.

Christmas in the lair came in a rush, and before you knew it you sat on the couch with Raphael, watching as he opened his second last gift, with yours being the last, waiting patiently in your lap.

“Yo! That’s so cool!”, Raph said as he opened Donnie’s gift. He took the oversized watch out of the box before wrapping it around his arm, reading the numbers on it as he punched the air. “That’s wild!”

“I thought you would like it”, Donnie smiled, not taking his eyes from whatever gift he was fiddling with.

You bite your lip nervously. Your gift wasn’t anything high tech, nor did it have anything to do with the many other things Raph had gotten that day. Nothing to do with weights or working out. For a moment you were wondering if your gift actually was such a good idea.

“Did ya have something for me, (Y/N)?”, Raph asked, bringing you out of your worries and back to reality. A half smile on his lip as he played with the watch on his wrist, yet his eyes were on you.

“Y- yes”, you stammered, before nervously handing the gift over to him. “Though it might be different from what the others have gotten you”.

“That’s okay”, Raph smiled as he opened the wrappings on his gift. “As long as it’s from ya, I’ll be happy”. A blush spread across your face at Raph’s words. Damn him and his words for having such an affect on you.

Once Raph had wrapped open the gift, he turned the book in his hand, slight confusion on his face as he read the title; “Knitting and Stitches from Around the World”. He was quiet for a moment, making you slightly anxious. You were just about to ask him if something was wrong, he threw his head back in laughter, before wrapping an arm around you to pull you into a hug.

“That’s amazing, (Y/N)”, he said, before opening the book onto the first page. “How did you know?”

“Well”, you started, smiling brightly as you felt the anxiety disappear away. “I’ve been to your room, and I have seen your knitting stuff. You’re not really that good at hiding it if that’s what you’ve been trying to do”.

“I haven’t thought of that”, Raph said, with his one arm still wrapped around you. “But thanks, (Y/N). I love it”.

Donatello:

You had been thinking for days - no! Weeks. What the hell do you get a mutant turtle genius for Christmas? This man could make himself anything. Did he need something, no bother. He’ll just make something in his lab and the problem was gone. Easy peasy. Well, could he make an invention that made it easy to tell someone about their big crush on them? You hadn’t gotten around to asking him that, nor did it seem like he had any plans for making that in the near future.

Donatello, the tall dork of tech genius, had captured your heart for longer than you dared to admit. You weren’t sure when it exactly started, but one thing you were sure of; you had developed the biggest crush on the purple clad terrapin, and with Christmas coming up, you had every intention of giving him something meaningful.

It had not been an easy idea to come up with. Like said before; when Donnie needed something, he would just make it or get it done. That was just what he did, and normally there wouldn’t be a problem with that. But when you sat in the back of his lab for hours, watching him work while doing small talk, you couldn’t help but get a little frustrated.

You knew you weren’t the only person in the turtle household, who had had problems with finding a fitting Christmas gift for Donnie. You knew his brothers had started to go for options that Donnie had not asked for, but that they felt like he needed. A new extra soft comforter, new pillows, caffeine free coffee and a white noise machine. All stuff to help him sleep. But you knew Donnie better than that, having become one of his best friends over a very short time. You knew that his strange sleeping schedule was bothering no one but his brothers, and they had the idea that it was bothering him too. But it wasn’t. Donnie enjoyed spending time alone in his lab at night, with no interruptions from his brothers. And it was during one of these late nights in his lab, that you noticed him grimacing towards his now cold coffee, before asking with a sigh if you wanted to go with him to the kitchen, so you could keep him company. You finally knew what to give him.

You sat in his lab, and watched as the clock passed midnight. It was finally Christmas. Donnie noticed it too, a small smile appearing on his face.

“How time flies”, he mumbled, sitting up in his chair so he could stretch his arms. “Merry Christmas, (Y/N)”.

“Merry Christmas, Donnie”, you smiled, fiddling a little with your hands. “Uhm… Don?”

“Yes, (Y/N)?”

“You know, since it’s officially Christmas now, how would you feel about getting your gift a little early on the day?”

“That sounds like a great idea”, Donnie answered, bringing his cup of coffee to his lips, only to grimace at it. “But can we do it after I’ve made a new cup? It’s cold again”.

“Actually”, you said, stopping him before he could get up. “I think my gift can help you with that”.

“Oh?” Donnie watched as you turned to your backpack, and pulled out a present for him. He chuckled at the purple wrapping, before bringing it to his lap so it could be opened. Once it was unwrapped, he sat staring at a box with a picture of a black cup with light up writing.

“I know I shouldn’t encourage you to continue your self destructive sleep schedule, or your lack of one”, you said, as it didn’t seem like he was catching on, on his own. “But I know coffee tends to get cold when you bring it with you into the lab, so I thought a self heating cup would be nice”.

Donnie sat up straight in his chair and stared at you. “(Y/N)! You’re a genius!”, he yelled, before standing to hug you. “How didn’t I think of this myself?!”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing”, you said, feeling a blush spread over your cheeks.

“Time to test this bad boy!”, Donnie said as he opened the box, before running into the kitchen. The sudden sounds of celebration afterwards, told you that the cups was in fact working like intended.

Michelangelo:

“Merry early Christmas, (Y/N)!”, Mikey said as he tumbled through your living room window, wearing a red Christmas hat, a fake Santa beard, and carrying a small sack over his shoulder.

“What on earth are you doing, Mikey?”, you asked in a laugh, watching as he closed the window behind him, shivering slightly at the cold New York winter air.

Michelangelo, that cute weirdo. He was one of the sweetest and most innocent guys you’ve ever met. With big blue eyes and a fun loving personality, he had you from day one. There was nothing you could do when he first introduced himself and his brothers to you. The moment he spoke you fell for him, and developed the biggest fattest crush you had ever had for anyone. There was nothing you could do, especially not when he quickly became your best friend.

You and Mikey would hang out, all night and all day. He would often drop by your apartment unannounced, or text and call you in order to beg you to come to the lair and hang out. It was almost daily at this point. You couldn’t remember a day in the past few months where you and Mikey hadn’t been either watching movies, playing video games or eating pizza together. You clearly remembered the time a few weeks ago, during a round of video games at your apartment, where Mikey discreetly tried to ask you what you wanted for Christmas, hoping you wouldn’t notice. But of course you did notice, trying your hardest not to laugh at his adorable expression as he listened to your answer. But that question made you wonder; what would Mikey want for Christmas? Would he like a new drum set? No, the one he had was still perfectly fine. A new skateboard? The one he already had could fly. There was no beating that. A new bluetooth speaker? No good either. He just used his brothers’...

That was when Mikey won the game and started jumping around your living room, all with a bright smile on his face, celebrating with loud yells and fist pumps into the air. You laughed at the scene in front of you, feeling your stomach tingle with butterflies at Mikey’s happiness. These were the kind of moments you wish you could keep and hang up on your wall… That’s it! You knew what to get Mikey for Christmas!

“Christmas isn’t until tomorrow, you know”, you laughed, pulling down at his fake white beard, just to tease.

“Nothing wrong with being a little ahead of time”, Mikey said, poking his tongue out at you. “Besides, I thought I would come over with your gift a little early”. Mikey took the small sack down from his shoulder, opening it to reveal one single present. “You know, because my gift to you is so good that it will make my brothers jealous or sad. I would rather not undermine all their hard work”, he finished with a small wink.

You couldn’t help but laugh. Why did he have to be so adorable? “Okay, but then it would only be fair if I also got you your gift”, you said, turning to leave for your room. “I hope it’s okay that it isn’t wrapped. I thought I still had plenty of time to get that done”.

“That’s fine by me”, Mikey said, fishing your gift out of the sack, before taking a seat on the couch. “I tend to get very impatient with wrapping paper”.

“I had a feeling”, you chuckled, as you found Mikey’s gift inside of your closet. “Close your eyes and hold your hands out, Mikester!”

“If you say so, Angelcakes”, Mikey said, before pulling his red Christmas hat down over his eyes, and holding his hands out in front of him. You chuckled at the sight, and placed the brand new polaroid camera into his hands. Mikey felt the object in confusion, before pushing his hat back from his eyes. “What’s that?”, Mikey asked, turning the camera in his hands.

“A polaroid camera”, you said. “I thought that was the best kind of gift for you, so you can capture fun memories, you know, with either me or your brothers”.

Mikey looked from you to the camera in his hands, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. “You mean, like this?” Mikey sprung from the couch, bringing the Christmas hate over your head, before pulling you in for a hug and a quick selfie. “Say cheese!”

You laughed, bringing your arms around Mikey’s neck, smiling at the camera with a big smile. “Cheese!”

Mikey watched as the picture came out of the machine in his hand. “I love it, (Y/N)! Now, open your gift so I have something to hang by my bed!”

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mdhwrites · 3 months

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What Were the Palismens' Point and Did They Succeed?

I got a really long ask that started with asking me how I would have handled the Palisman. For a question like that, I believe there are two core tenants that need to answer. The TL:DR though for this is that despite the Palisman having presence since S1, their point in the story is only made clear in S2 and then their point is useless except for Luz, weakly, because of how TOH defies normal genre convention, in a way that is very counterproductive, when it comes to character climaxes.

Anyways: The questions.

What is the narrative concept of the element we're talking about?

What is the point of the narrative element?

For the Palisman, this isn't clear until Hunting Palisman. Before then, they are glorified broomsticks with one episode acknowledging their agency but at the end of the day in S1: They're just glorified broomsticks. Hunting Palisman very clearly and bluntly states what their point is.

They are a physical manifestation of the witch's will and desires. You can only obtain one with a clarity of purpose and conviction. This is also the point of them: They are essentially character statements. The grand thesis of whoever that palisman is connected to. Honestly, as far as creative uses of magical items to present the culmination of a character, the palisman are...

Exceptionally stock standard. Like painfully so. Anyone watched a season of Power Rangers? Yeah, the Palisman are just the battlizer. If you watched Winx Club like... AT ALL past the first season, maybe even requiring that long, it is ANY of their power ups because they always come with a big character growth moment that defines who they are as a person. It is maybe one of the basic fantasy tropes out there to have self actualization be a power up.

And this isn't just me being hyperbolic. Even from their first introduction, it is presented as a part of a witch growing up. That the school grants witches their palisman but that Luz will have to earn hers. Once she does, she has a loyal companion and the ability to fly. Even at Hexside, you still have to reach certain age to get a Palisman. They're not just giving them to kindergartners. The show itself, by all accounts, says this is explicitly what they are. It's even why Hunter can have Flapjack like he does because the two are their most at sync the closer Hunter is to being Cale- Being the good person he always was. -_- Before then, during moments like Eclipse Lake, they are out of sync, just like he says.

There's just a small, tiny, MINISCULE problem with this concept. Barely noticeable so I'm probably making a big deal out of no- HOW DO YOU HAVE TWO CHARACTER CLIMAXES LIKE THIS IN THE SAME MINUTE AND THEN ONE OFF SCREEN!?

TOH has this weird aversion to character climaxes, at least traditionally paced ones. This is any episode focused on the ending of an era for a character. When a hero falls to the darkside, with the entire episode, or episode after the fall happens at the end of one episode, being about his fall to the darkness. When the scoundrel decides that there are indeed things worth more than gold and has to grapple with that. The end of Book 2 of Avatar spends a lot of time in its last couple episodes grappling with what is a character built up over the entire season: Which side of Zuko wins out for his future? This is balanced with Aang's character climax with the guru with asking questions about how much Aang is willing to give up to the job of the Avatar instead of being the free spirited, loving kid he's always been. A LOT of time is given to this.

TOH hates giving time to ANYONE who isn't Luz. Very few people get real character climaxes of this sort of variety. Willow essentially never gets one and Gus never gets one. You could Watching and Dreaming and Labyrinth Runners specifically but those episodes aren't about self actualization. A VERY common thread with character climaxes is a choice the core character has to make in order to make things right. Meanwhile, in both episodes, HUNTER is the one to make the choice and actions to fix the problem. It is not about self actualization that then prompts a better, more refined character... It's honestly just one problem of the character amongst many like most kid's show episodic issues. This is ESPECIALLY true for these two because Gus' having this level of confidence issues has never been a thing. The closest to ever come to it is the Human Society episode and, well... That happened like a season before Labyrinth Runners with MAYBE one more hint at the S1 penultimate episode from the orb giving him a pep talk. Otherwise, he has confidence. Willow's is worse because she's NEVER taken on others burdens like they talk about. The stories they tell do not sound like Willow at all and Gus, her best friend, has NEVER called her 'Dependable Willow' before now. It has all the hallmark fingerprints of a long running kids show retconning elements to have a plotline this episode. You know, during the season that was SHORTENED.

And this is without recognizing that their palismans have NOTHING to do with either episode, at any time. They are absent from being a part of their self actualization and why shouldn't they be? They already bonded and obtained their power up back in Hunting Palisman. Both made declarations and received a palisman for it because... What the fuck?

This is the core of why when I saw the initial question, I kind of went "I can't do them better because they're pointless besides giving the fandom Patronus stand ins for OC creation." They don't do jack shit.

Amity gets this THE WORST. She makes her palisman off screen, before the shortening took effect, and we only get told what it was... As a part of comforting Luz. Her character thesis, the embodiment of who she is, her will made manifest and it's used narratively to try and comfort her girlfriend. The words actually don't matter because a character climax should not just be words. It should include action alongside it. A showing of their character alongside them telling you, if they tell you at all.

This is also why Luz's character climax blows on this front. Not only is it not well built up to (I despise Luz's character climax) but it also doesn't have action behind it. It's a big statement before she... Just shows off Stringbean to her friends and then gets ready to go fight the Collector? What does that have to do with Luz? What does that have to do with 'wanting to be understood'? It's not even like her goal is to show the Collector understanding now that she's figured this part of herself out. As far as we can tell, her goal was to kick the Collector's ass right up until the Collector tried to show he was an uwu baby, please ignore the murder stars and the fact that I actually know the consequences of my actions (he KNEW King would hate him for the dreams and so is shown to have understanding of his actions upsetting people) and yet did them anyways. Obtaining Stringbean is meaningless besides the meta context of "She just like me fo real" for the people who identify with her.

All of this because TOH won't commit an episode to just finishing a character's arc, or even part of it. I have LONG been complaining about how Escaping Expulsion IS a character climax for Amity but she's in like a collective four minutes of the episode. It is the complete refusal to continue to be who she was. To be willing to throw away even her family in the pursuit of her own happiness and desire to choose her own future. For her to be such a small part of it centers her motivation on Luz because she hasn't had enough time to explain or put focus on why she doesn't want to be who she has been. It's always just on "I wanna be with my friends." or "I want to protect Luz." or "Luz and her friends make me happy." As such, the motivating factor being Luz's life being in danger doesn't make it feel like Amity self actualizing, it makes it feel like a young lesbian throwing away everything for someone she has known for like two months. That what matters is not her character but just that this is another step towards Lumity for her. That's not exactly great, is it? Especially not with how much they want Odalia to shoulder the burden of the fact that Amity CHOSE to be pure evil to Willow for YEARS. For her to be cast off so easily... Well, it just doesn't hit right. Not like it should for a climax like this.

Almost every character climax in the show suffers from stuff like this. Eda's big farewell in Agony of a Witch? She's in like four minutes of it and barely spends time with Luz so we never get that deliberation before Eda chooses to lose her life. It can't even be said that the season built up to it because Luz and Eda haven't had a plotline together since Adventure in the Elements. At best? Grom. And Grom doesn't exactly help build up how deep their connection is, does it?

And so how would I do the Palisman better? I'd just remove them. They are not used for the purpose they were built for and the show doesn't do the elements they're connected to in a way that would ever work for them. They have no point besides being cute and marketable but otherwise? They're entirely superfluous.

Which is a pretty shitty thing to say about something that's meant to represent the best your character can ever be. See you next tale.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #palisman

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comicaurora · 1 year

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i think pacing is THE literary tool that most directly proves that you write good when you've been writting a lot. pacing is a feel, you can and def should read stuff about pacing, but you simply can't develop the muscles for it without hitting the gym.

so uhh, when did you start feeling good about how you've handled pacing in previous works and current one? was there a moment? i feel stuck, and discipline tells me to keep on trucking but its demotivating. sorry for long question aaa

Conveniently it was during the process of making the comic, because I absolutely did not have it down before I started. I had a moment of clarity sometime around chapter 3 that all my artistic practice for the comic had done nothing to prepare me for the invisible substrate of visual storytelling: pacing. Splash panels and big dramatic establishing shots are much more common in those early chapters because I hadn't processed how to fully utilize the space on the page. I had to do some backend reworking of the general timeline as I realized that any amount of narrative backtracking would grind the story to a halt AND take me way too much time to make. I realized I had a lot of unconnected filler in my initial plan that kind of just kicked the plot into little zero-consequence cul-de-sacs that didn't move anything forward, so I began to prioritize story beats that advanced at least one of either the plot or a character arc - I didn't want to fall into the trap of making absolutely everything tie into one singular grand evil plan or not have any room for broader worldbuilding, so I allowed for some outside-context antagonists and threats as long as they let me reveal new things about the main characters. It gave me a feel for what constituted forward motion or broad expansion of the story.

Somewhere along the way - I think maybe around chapter 9? - I gave myself a rule of thumb that every page needed at least one new thing on it. That "thing" could be a piece of new information, a turn of events in the story, a reveal of something previously unseen, a character making a decision - it's not a hard definition by any means, but it helped me stay on track. It also helped balance the two completely disparate pacings I need to account for, namely how the story is paced when you read the archive through vs how the story is paced when you read it as it updates three times a week. "One thing per page" means the people reading it as it updates always get something new to chew on.

When I bit the bullet and started this story, I was as prepared as I could've been for someone who'd never made a longform comic before, but that meant I was completely lacking in experience with the unique and invisible elements of comic storytelling, of which pacing is the most foundational. It's ok if you don't think you're good at it yet; it's impossible to get good at it before you begin. Starting the story is the hardest part.

#asks #aurora #behind the curtain

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legionofpotatoes · 11 months

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All other criticisms of modern Star Wars aside, the thing that gets me the most is how every single story is being written to fit into some Avengers-level grand finale that just isn't laying a solid enough foundation to make it worth the wait. Regardless of whether the individual stories are good or bad, what makes them fall so short, imo, is that there's usually no real payoff within their own runtimes (unless you count cheap callbacks or loose promises of More, which you shouldn't)

Like, I already knew halfway through Ahsoka that we were in for a cliffhanger and it's just like...alright, guess we'll see how this ends in about 5 years? Even Mando, which had a great first season and was poised to stand on its own two feet and ride off on a rootin' tootin' bounty huntin' adventure, has ultimately become yet another dusty path on the road to the current Big Plot with an indeterminate due date. That's not deliciously addictive media, it's a dry-ass carrot on a spindly little stick, lol

Of course, this is a problem that many franchises are happily getting cozy with lately because everybody wants to have their own Infinity War / Endgame moment, but I guess it seems a bit more egregious with Star Wars because, ironically, it used to work best because it had less overall focus. Like, sure, we had concurrent movies, animated series, and games, but they were always happy to do their own things and tell their own stories with definitive conclusions. Now it all has to funnel into the Big New Plot and, man, I honestly just can't bring myself to care when it feels like an endless waiting game

I definitely need to get around to watching Visions at some point because, every time it pops up, it sounds like the lifeblood that Star Wars sorely needs atm

Yeah the setup-and-payoff a-to-b type dramatic clarity that seemed so entrenched into the very bones of cinematic grammar - up to around the emergence of streaming, wink wink nudge nudge - is sorely missed in star wars atm. sure maybe downsized writers rooms fidgeting with limited series formats instead of doing actual seasonal TV has something to do with it, but even that is probably such a small piece of the larger issue that spins all this longform storytelling bullshit ferry wheel around.

Another part is certainly chasing the MCU business model of it all like you said. Carrot on a stick is verbatim how I've often described these things myself, the endless promise of another promise of another promise instead of forming a complete thought with a beginning and an end. servicing the plot before story at all costs. another part still is reverence towards the aesthetic trappings of the source material instead of its themes, trying to nail the exact texture of tatooine's huts and dial in the perfect balance of lightsaber choreography and pay homage to a thousand iconic shots before articulating something true in the text.

And like it's an endless laundry list, this confluence of capital-I Issues both industry-scale and creatively-driven that seem to be flaying the skin off the bones of whatever star wars even "is" nowadays. no one can answer that in the context of billions of dollars made off toys and storylines centering around this one moment in fictional history about sons and fathers and empires and rebellions. so they just keep twisting in the wind filling in any gaps within that period. I don't know nonnie, it's all so bleak. ahsoka and obi wan and even mando tbh. as charming as season 1 was, it truly felt like it coasted on its incredible restraint to avoid muddying its aesthetic with cameos, and lucked into effective storytelling as a result of that utterly unintentional alchemy. that's obviously well and truly gone now as its true optics have reared head.

what star wars is by itself is such a pointless discussion, right? andor argues it's a perfectly functional heightened universe that can support incredibly nuanced and dramatically charged stories of grassroots rebellion and the bureaucratic strain of fascist regimes. visions argues it's a world beholden to the force, an endlessly mutable and elegant metaphor that can support infinite monomyths and fairy tales. both are equally fantastic at executing on their takes, despite being in diametrically opposite extremes of interpreting the source. so it's not really about that at all, why the other stuff sucks this bad.

they're just bad at the craft of it, that's really it. whether it's auteur worship or business decisions rotting that fish down, it still rots all the same. maybe the new writers' guild contracts can shift the winds a little, because I was so securely done with star wars and then the aforementioned 2 shows came and affected me. so, so profoundly that I'm back on the hook again. like a lil sucker!

#long post #anon #asks #boy howdy forgive me mister baby yoda for I have engaged in star wars discourse again #this will definitely not backfire on me as it never before has.

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beegalactica · 7 months

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living on auto-pilot // surviving the february slump

Now that we are in February, all of that 'new year new me' motivation has worn off. It feels like we are living our days floating from one event on the calendar to the next. Sometimes days just go by where we do things, but it feels like we've done nothing at all. January the 1st was the grand 'reset' button, but one month later, how are you holding up on your goals?

For me, I've found that the goals that I personalised the most and tailored to fit my attributes are the ones that have been the most successful so far, like embracing my natural hair.

Some more abstract goals have been harder to attribute success to because it feels like no matter how many smaller goals I break them down into, there is just not enough clarity or it just doesn't identify with me.

This past month, we've all faced some setbacks in some ways. I hope that you haven't let it discourage you completely. There have been moments when I didn't get what I wanted and I realised instantly why it was better that I didn't, and some where I'm still waiting for that moment to hit me, but I want you to know that everything happens for a reason. Never feel like you have to settle because you're tired of reaching out for better.

Some things that have really helped me take back some control in moments where I feel like I'm not present are:

Faith - whether you are religious or not, knowing that there is better out there for you can bring you great warmth.

Nature - the weather has been quite terrible recently, but it has made me appreciate every bit of sunshine I get

Stillness - being able to just sit and breathe without being bombarded by different thoughts is so healing

Being able to just take a step back and look at where you are, and how far you've come, is so important and can serve as a great motivator, especially during moments where you feel like life is controlling you, instead of you being in control of your life.

#lifeblr #becoming that girl #girlblogger #girlblogging #it girl #self improvement #that girl #self care #digital diary #journal

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wordslikesilver · 3 months

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Sometimes I think about how ready discord servers of big companies and games are to literally just ban people for being homophobic or transphobic, zero tolerance whatsoever and I think for just one moment of blinding clarity how nice it would be if tumblr was actually that intolerant and direct about online bigotry as well. If facebook was like that. If Twitter was. Suddenly I feel like I get it. I understand what it would feel like to actually be supported and truly accepted by society. Like what the fuck kind of place is this where you can just spew hate speech and face nothing from the people who keep the lights on? Why is League of Legends more queer friendly than Tumblr?

Years ago, BLM protested and made the Pride parade in my city of Toronto ban cops from being in the parade and every year that passes I feel like I get it, more and more. How dare they let them march? How dare they let the police pretend they’re not still complicit in rampant queer and BIPOC violence and discrimination to this day?

How dare Tumblr tolerate TERFs and discriminate against trans women as freely and readily as they do? Fuck it makes me so angry. There’s a taboo against saying free speech is bad but you know what? We don’t need to be lawless and indifferent to the suffering of an already discriminated against people. We don’t need to welcome everyone. There’s no slippery slope or ruthless calculus, it’s basic fucking math. Bigotry and hate speech should not be welcome. Period. You’re right, it’s not free speech anymore, it’s the super spooky censorship devil. Censorship is not evil you stupid fucks. Reddit deleting r/jailbait is censorship. Deleting incel subreddits is censorship. Deleting racist, fascist, predatory cess pool subreddits is censorship. It’s a tool. And just like a shovel can be used to kill a person, so too are it be used to clean up the garden and remove the rot and the sickness.

I truly believe deep in my heart that making space for any and all opinions to be heard is cowardice. To make space for evil to flourish and refuse to weed it out is to welcome and encourage it. This is not subjective. The systemic oppression of and hunting of minorities is not a subject with deep or complicated nuance. It is evil. It is evil and it has always been evil. We’ve been so slow in the grand scheme of history to acknowledge this, but even slower to accept that we need to be kill the myth of the censorship devil and recognize that maintaining a stance that tolerates and thus encourages bigoted behaviour is to be accomplice to a wicked and wretched, rotted evil. I believe in the inherent intelligence and goodness of humanity, I fully believe without a single faltering of my heart that we can establish on far larger scales than a fucking discord server, rules of conduct and behaviour that reject the rampant and heinous bigotry that my trans sisters and DOZENS of other minorities face day to day. I believe without a moment of doubt or wavering resolve that it can be done in clear ways that are above and beyond reproach from the incessant, inane and ill intentioned questioning and muddying of rules that of course would follow from those who would cry villainy that they can no longer voice their disgusting, hate fuelled opinions on matters of basic human rights.

I know how I sound. I know these words can be used just as easily by The Other Side about the Woke Left and Special Snowflakes with fragile feelings being cowards who can’t Get Real and accept the world’s rejection of who they are. But isn’t that what they’re really afraid of? That they’re the ones who are wrong and need to change if they still want to be welcome anywhere? We don’t welcome cops in the pride parade because being queer isn’t about everyone being valid and welcome. We are a people and a community that will not quietly bow to hatred against us. Anyone who wants to claim they support us cannot abide the proliferation of hatred against us when it happens under their own god damn roof.

#lgbt #lgbtq community #lgbtq #lgbtqia #queer #queer community #lgbtq+#politics #tumblr politics #my writing #censorship #free speech #done being the tolerant left

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mercuriallily · 10 days

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After my Princess posting last night, I realised I forgot to include a post detailing which animation Shifty has when presenting you with various vessels, so this one will have that, as well as some insight into how long it took me to compile such information

Chapter 2 vessels Chapter 3 vessels Endgame poems (Chapters 2s) Endgame poems (Chapter 3s)

Dance: Adversary, Damsel, Thorn, Tower, Witch

Hands: Apotheosis, Networked Wild, Prisoner, Prisoner's Head, Razor's Heart, Stranger, Wounded Wild

Roar: Beast, Den, Eye of the Needle, Fury, Razor

Scary: Burned Grey, Deconstructed Damsel, Drowned Grey, Moment of Clarity, Nightmare, Spectre, Wraith

* * *

So. There are 25 statements by Shifty about each vessel and 34 endgame poems. That is a grand total of 59 different things I had to write down and categorise. Averaging five minutes to write out Shifty's statements and ten minutes for endgame poems, it took me about eight hours to get it all down (and that's not counting playing through the game numerous times or making the posts). I will be doing all of this for the Pristine Cut too, so that's another few hours. It's exhausting, but it's fun

If you come across this post, I'd be ever so grateful for a reblog. I want to make this stuff easily accessible for people who don't want to go through the whole game over and over and over again

#slay the princess #I'm not tagging all the princesses #you may be thinking 'why'd it take you so long to write down the poems?'#well. I can't write by hand for extended periods of time without getting hand cramps #and I had to make the writing legible enough to consult #so it was a bit of a...challenge #who's looking forward to the pristine cut yayyyyy

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goldenreveries · 19 days

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Ladies and Gentlemen, step right up and behold the Soulglad Billboard! The latest and greatest marvel in Penacony information innovation! In this dazzling age of plenty-Dear Dreamers, we present you a grand tapestry of opportunity, where aspiring gentry and industrious souls alike may find their fortunes! This splendid showcase features an array of job prospects, from the glittering heights of Golden Hour to the bustling Moment of Dusk. With the Soulglad Billboard, our mission is clear—to connect talent with ambition, dreams with reality, and the bright-eyed Dreamers with their destined paths. So don your finest attire and peruse this marvelous display, where your future awaits in resplendent clarity!

Enough babbling let's get on with the show~!

DREAMSCAPE SALES HEIST

The Dreamscape Sales Store has been compromised by the most notorious crime ring of Penacony! Dream Bubbles are being extorted at an all-time high at the Dusk Auction House--with a twist. The gang leads at Morning Dew's Hive of Villainy are looking for contenders to crash the auction secretly lead by their rival gang with a promised payout well worth anything more than whatever these aforementioned Dream Bubbles are worth; so they say. Rob one Syndicate to pay the other? Complete their favor and you'll earn your place within the endless tunnels of scum and lechery for a lifetime to come. How will you weasel your way into the underworld? Sabotage? Climbing the ranks via the underground arena? Throwing yourself into the cage to fight? The choice is yours!

SERENITY PRISON BREAK

The Family is scrambling for takers to help lockdown Sunrise Mansion. In all effort to keep their previous place of structured and otherwise pristine housing from exposing its tarnished reputation, this infamous landmark is open for a limited time to those brave enough in venturing forth. Beware, as fragments of the past still remain scattered within, conjuring supernatural sightings and equally ghoulish happenings. It seems the most ancient of forbidden experiments conducted within the undersides of the great Mansion are not so sound asleep after all... Here, where the most terrifying of convicts and monsters roam alike, the very balance of dream and reality preside where one experiences the unspeakable terrors conjured by the fabled Hour of Order threaten the very livelihood of the Dreamscape itself.

SNAKE-OIL HEALER

Perched atop a misty hill, the enigmatic Healer of Dayspring Village casts an otherworldly presence, her reputation as a miraculous savant stirring both reverence and unease among the townsfolk. Claimed to possess the divine gift of healing, she draws countless souls seeking respite from their ailments. Yet, beneath this façade of benevolence lies a troubling truth: the Healer's purported cures are nothing more than a sophisticated transfer of wounds from one person to another. Each malady she "treats" merely shifts the affliction from her patient to an unwitting new bearer, leaving the village in desperate need of uncovering the true nature of her dubious art. The people of Dayspring beseech you to unravel this mystifying charade and restore genuine healing to their beleaguered community.

ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE

At The Sweets Corner in Aideen Park, excitement is in the air as they unveil their latest creation, the Ice-su Pick Me Up! This delightful new drink promises a frosty explosion of flavors with every sip, topped with a playful layer of bubbly, effervescent foam that crackles like fireworks on your tongue. To celebrate its launch, they're offering enticing discounts, but beware—the sweet, sparkling sensation might just lead to unexpected confessions and candid revelations as the bubbles unleash your inner monologue. Are you brave enough to indulge in this whimsical treat and see what secrets might slip out?

Participation garners talent points and extra credits for towards future shop purchases!

#grsoulgaldbillboard #monthly prompts

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huffle-dork · 1 month

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Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 11: SepticPirates

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

There's slight movement all throughout the night, as the crew of a pirate ship never really falls asleep. But as morning dawns, movement picks up. The crew is getting up, getting ready to cast off. Some of them grumble and hold their heads, and there's a steady stream of people heading towards the doctor's office.

The Brody brothers slowly start to wake up, groggily taking in the sight of the crew moving.

Alt groans and covers his face with his arm, curling back up in the hammock. “…fucking hell-“

Bro on the other hand seems perfectly chipper as finishes waking up and hops out of his hammock. He ties the slash back on his head and grins down at Alt. “Morning bro!”

“Shhhhh-“ Alt groans, waving a hand his way.

Bro laughs quietly. “Went a little too hard huh?”

“Shush up ‘fore I blast that smug look of yer face-“ Alt mumbles in the hammock’s fabric.

Bro just laughs again and lightly pats his head. “I’ll get you some water-“ Bro then hurries onto deck, squinting but smiling at the morning sun.

The early morning has dawned bright blue. There's a lot of rope tying and cargo storing happening up on deck, a surprising amount of movement.

"Ah, me! Or, uh—other me!" The speaker is Chase himself, standing up at the helm, speaking with the same woman who'd been manning it last night. Chase's hat is pulled low over his eyes as he waves at Bro. "How are you feeling? And your brother?"

Bro looks around for a bit then turns around and grins up at Chase, heading over to them. “Oh I feel grand, honestly.” He laughs, “Alt’s having a hard go at it though.”

"Really?" Chase looks at Bro in surprise. "Grand, hmm? Your witchcraft must be very special." He laughs.

“Eh yeah my powers help me recover from stuff pretty quick- sucks ass when I wanna be drunk though.” Bro laughs.

"Well. Does your glass eye tell you where to go?"

Bro blinks and digs around in his pockets finding the tracker. “Oh right!”

The tracker tells him that they’ll have to head due southwest. “Due… southwest-“ Bro says slowly and looks back at Chase, “Is that enough?”

"Aye, that's perfect!" Chase nods.

Next to him, the helmswoman takes out a compass, turning in place for a moment before finding their direction. "Everyone! Get ready to cast off! Loose the sails! Hoist the anchor! We're heading southwest!"

Activity on the deck immediately kicks up. A handful of crew swarm the center and start pushing some sort of massive dial in the center: hoisting the anchor. Others start climbing the rigging up towards the sails.

Bro looks around at everyone rushing around and grins, thinking of his last adventure on a ship. He didn’t really get to enjoy it last time since he was so worried about Alt.

Below deck, Marvin walks up to Alt's hammock, leaning down and waving for attention. "Headache? Easy to overindulge, isn't it? Here." He holds out a wooden tankard for Alt. "Water mixed with some lemon and tri-weed. The texture isn't the greatest but it works wonders for this."

Alt makes a grumbling noise and peeks his eye out from under his arm, squinting at Marvin. He fumbles for a second for a good way to hold it before carefully sipping at the water. He makes a face and sticks out his tongue. “Bleh-“

"I know, I know." Marvin nods. "But it does really help. I'd go to Henrik and get a tonic, but uh..." He glances over towards the doctor's office. "Looks like he'll be busy handing those out for a while. We're lucky they're really easy to make."

Alt grumbles and drinks some more, getting a bit more clarity. He looks at the line and makes a face, “Mm yeah- I wanna avoid that if I can…”

“Yep.” Marvin grins. “Well… when you’re feeling up to moving, head on up to the deck. Or don’t. You can stay down here if you want, I’m not your captain.”

Alt nods and leans back to nurse the tankard some more, “I’ll be up in a minute…” he slurs sleepily.

Marvin laughs and nods. "Alright. Sounds like things are picking up the pace up there, I'll go help. Be seeing you later." And he turns away, heading up towards the top deck.

Alt watches Marvin leave and then picks up on all the noise and curiously turns towards the sound. He looks down at the tankard and downs the rest of it before glitching up to the top of the stairs, watching everyone rush around with a bit of awe.

"Where the lock is Jackie?!" Chase shouts, climbing down the stairs from the helm deck to the top deck.

"I'm here." Jackie walks up from the stairs leading below, stopping next to Alt. He's squinting a bit. "Gods, it's bright out here."

"We're heading southwest, d'you still have that map?" Chase asks.

"Of course I do." Jackie reaches into a pocket and pulls out a square of paper. Or, well, it looks more like cloth than paper, some sort of yellowish material that's in between the two states. "Southwest, you said?" He unfolds the map. Looks like this is a miniature, less-detailed version of the world map in the captain's cabin.

Alt glitches up to look at the map next to Jackie, curiously tilting his head.

Bro hears the sounds of Alt’s glitching and grins, hoping onto the railing of the helm and then hanging off it upside down so his face is right by Jackie and Alt, “GOOD MORNING!” He greets brightly.

Alt yells in surprise and falls back on the stairs.

Bro winces, “ah- oops.”

"Damn fucking locker!" Jackie jumps backwards, teetering on the edge of the staircase, barely managing to keep his balance. "Gods. Good morning, Chase--other Chase." He shakes his head. "Going to send me off the side of the boat like that."

“Sorry! Thought it’d be funny!” Bro snickers.

Alt glitches back up and glares at Bro who just grins at him sheepishly before pulling himself back up onto the helm.

"Jackie!" Chase approaches him. "What's to the southwest?"

"Ah, right." Jackie checks the map. "The Jungle Islands, looks like. They're the nearest ports."

"Hmm. That's still pretty far."

"But that makes sense, doesn't it?" Marvin suddenly appears, Jameson beside him. "Ghost ships aren't exactly known for getting close to land. Oh Jackie, if we stop by Rojagua you can see the sweetheart you have in that direction."

"Wh--we are not sweethearts!" Jackie protests.

It's on and off again, Jameson says jokingly. If you get close to someone you like you become sweethearts while you're within range.

"There's one for each cardinal direction," Marvin adds in a teasing tone.

Alt blinks at Jackie and tilts his head with a smirk. “You have that many sweethearts?”

"I do not!" Jackie protests.

"Do we want to count out every one of them?" Marvin asks. "There's Rama in Rojagua, of course, that's the nearest one."

And that dark haired woman from Nordømme, JJ adds. Sigrun, or some such.

"Guys!" Jackie protests. "Don't forget Captain Chiu," Chase says. "Oh no you leave Fengge out of this! Leave all of them out of this!"

Alt glitches to sit up on the helm’s rail- and him and Bro share glances as they recognize some of those names.

Marvin laughs and looks at Alt. "Every time we get on land he finds someone to court for a moment, and then when it's time to leave he says something like 'sorry my first love is the sea' and they cut things off. Then we arrive in the area again and he says 'I wonder what they're up to' and ends up starting the whole thing over again."

"I'm open about my love life!" Jackie folds his arms. "If any of them had a problem with it, I wouldn't ask about it when I saw them again!"

Bro laughs, “No judgment here bro! I bet being on the sea can be like- lonely in the love department way.”

“That would explain why our Jackie doesn’t want to be disturbed when Zara gets home,” Alt smirks.

Bro laughs harder.

Oh, Zara? Jameson repeats, grinning. Jackie knows someone by that name, too. I believe she does research on ocean creatures--

Jackie shoves him lightly. "Oh shut your hand-mouths 'fore I smack you upset the head."

Jameson laughs.

Jackie rolls his eyes. "What about you and that Moizone guy, hmm? That Romitan commodore from the Inlet Sea?"

See, the difference is that I don't get all defensive with my love like you and Henrik do, Jameson says smugly.

Alt and Bro gasp in delight. “yo! That’s just like our Jackie’s wife!!”

“Oh he’s not gonna believe this at all.” Alt laughs.

“He’s gonna kill us for going on an adventure like this without him,” Bro shakes his head with a laugh.

Alt chuckles at Jameson’s comment, “I’ve noticed that! No matter what world the Jackies and Henriks get super flustered about their partners-“

“Well so do you, Alt,” Bro grins, “Should I tell them all about your tearful goodbye to Oliver?”

Alt’s face turns bright red and he slams his hands over bros mouth in a quick glitch, “No! No t-that’s okay!”

"Oliver?" Chase repeats, blinking. "Huh. you know, our captain, Jack, has a friend from Hangal who runs another crew, I think one of them was named something like that..."

"Really?" Jackie says, looking surprised.

"Oh yes, one of those four siblings who were the stewards," Marvin agrees.

Alt blinks and makes a face as he thinks- then he imagines Oli dressed as a pirate and he starts to blush more.

Bro gets tired of Alt’s hands on his mouth so- “Ack! Fucker did you lick me?!” Alt glitches back and shakes off his hand. “What are you, five?!”

Bro just giggles.

Suddenly, the sails unfurl, billowing white canvas rolling down and catching the wind. "We're underway, mate!" the helmswoman says. "Perfect!" Chase shouts back.

The brothers both look out as the sails unfurl. Alt watches with starry eyes.

The deck starts to sway more noticeably as the ship pulls away from the dock.

Alt feels the sway and yelps a bit, stumbling and holding out his arms to balance.

Bro grabs his arm to help and laughs. “It’s kinda weird to adjust to, huh?”

“It’s… so weird-“ Alt comments, wobbling along with the ship. He goes to the rail and clings to it.

"Prepare for about face!" Chase shouts. "Hard to starboard!"

"Aye, mate!" The helmswoman turns the wheel.

"Marvin, can you check the weather?" Chase asks.

"Of course." Marvin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of eight-sided dice made of ivory. They don't have numbers on their faces, but instead strange pictographs. He walks over to a section of the deck that's clear of crew and rolls them, his eyes briefly turning green--not glowing green, as Alt and Bro are used to seeing, but a more natural shift in the color of his irises. "Looking clear!"

Alt curiously watches Marvin use his dice. “Oh woah- are those.. divination dice…?”

Marvin looks back at him and grins. "Exactly! A set of divining dice for seeing the current fate." He scoops them up. "Here, hold them if you want." He then reaches into his pocket. "I also have these." He pulls out a set of 12-sided dice in different colors: green, white, red, black, and blue. "More powerful dice, if you want to see farther, or even try to influence circumstances a bit. You have no idea how expensive these are."

"Didn't you take those from that witch on Isla de Espada?" Jackie calls.

"She tried to kill us, it cancels out," Marvin shouts back. "I also have divining cards, too." He takes out a deck of cards. Their backs are dark blue, with intricate silver patterns forming waves, crystals, and an eye-like pattern in the center.

Alt’s eyes light up and he grins holding the dice in his hands. “Oh sweet- I gotta get more into divining… it’s really fascinating I just- usually work with more… combat related spells.”

"Hmm. Rare to get that sort of direct magic in this world," Marvin says, nodding slowly. "Witches here find more indirect ways easier, usually. Subtly changing the ways of the world. Forms of divination are my specialty, actually."

“Oh really? How does that work?” Alt asks, looking fascinated.

Bro makes a face, showing his disinterest at the magic talk to the others before he looks around and starts to climb the rigging again.

Jackie and Chase also seem to disperse with the sound of magic talk on the horizon, though Jameson lingers. Sam lands on a rope nearby and he feeds them a cracker.

"Lots of knowing what the symbols mean," Marvin says. "Here." He holds out the green jade d12. "Look at this. Sun, compass rose, lock, key, wave, cloud, and fish. Those are on the eight-sided ones, too. These twelve-sides also have skull, gem, lightning, and hourglass. Each can mean different things. Many people can memorize the meanings, but witches like us often know in our gut what they're meant to say. You roll, thinking of your question, willing the answer, and the dice will respond. There are other methods too, like the cards, like mirror-gazing, but you'll find most people like using the dice."

Alt leans in closely and tilts his head at the dice, looking them over. Then he grins. “That’s so cool! I know my mentor talks a lot about more subtle magic like this… stuff like- human witches do back at home. Focusing on gut feelings and using stuff like these… I haven’t been really good at them but the art of it is really fascinating!”

Marvin grins. "It can be hard to learn at first. How do you know that you're not seeing what you want to see? It takes a lot of practice. Here, do you want to try? Think of a question. The more vague it is, the more dice will give you results. The compass rose is a zero result you can ignore any dice that land on those."

Alt hums at this then nods. What should he ask? …there’s the biggest question on his mind- if his magic will be enough to stop the red Anti that’s hunting them down. Seems kinda like a serious question but… maybe this will help him. He keeps his question on his mind as he rolls.

There are seven dice in the set. They roll across the deck with a satisfying clacking sound. The pattern they land in is surprisingly regular, with one in the center surrounded by all the others in a circle. The center one has a key. The others alternate between wave and cloud.

Marvin whistles. "You must have asked a big question. Not a rose in sight. Of course, I don't know what you could have asked, but the clouds and waves together usually mean a time of difficulty--stormy weather, you know? The key is usually interpreted as a 'yes,' or generally an answer or solution."

Alt seems to relax and smiles to himself with a nod. “Okay… so… it’ll be difficult but- I… I can do it.” He looks up at Marvin and laughs, “Guess it was kinda a big question… we’ve been on a… kinda intense journey so far.”

Marvin raises an eyebrow. "Really? Oh! Let me see if I can figure it out." He reaches for the dice, then hesitates and takes out his cards instead. "I'm sensing these will be better."

Alt blinks a bit in surprise but he’s pretty curious how accurate Marvin will be. He perks up at the sight of the cards. “Oh! Are those… crystal eye? I’ve seen those before!”

"Crystaleye...? That sounds familiar, but I'm not sure where I've heard it," Marvin mutters.

“Oh, well… I’ve seen cards similar to these then,” Alt says sheepishly.

Marvin pulls out three cards and lays them down on the deck in a line, flipping them over. Each one has a name and illustration... tarot of some sort. The Shadow: Someone dressed in white standing against a wall, a black shadow cast behind them in a mirror image. This card is upside down. The Star: An eight-pointed star shining bright in the night sky. Time: An illustration of a clock space, stars swirling around it, the background whirls of purple and blue.

"Ah... so your journey has brought you in contact with some dark mirror of yourself," Marvin says. "And yet, there have been times of rest and rejuvenation. Even so, you've been forced to continue forward."

As Marvin reads out the cards, Alt winces a bit at the mention of the dark mirror, holding his arm and curling up some. “…yeah that’s… pretty spot on, actually.”

Marvin looks at him, a bit concerned. "Do you want... a card reading for the future of your journey? That might... assure you?"

Alt is quiet for a second before looking back at Marvin with a vulnerable expression. “…if you… wouldn’t mind-“ he says quietly.

Marvin nods. "Not at all. Here." He puts the three cards back into the deck and shuffles it, then draws three more and places them down in a line, turning them over one by one. Fracture: A colorful background split by a black, shattered, cracks. The Artist: A blue-haired woman sits at a blank easel, turned away so that only her back is visible. Aeon: A humanoid figure floating in the center of the card, their form glowing yellow and surrounded by waves of bright color.

"...huh. That's... not what the Artist illustration usually looks like," Marvin says slowly. "Normally it's a person with short red hair."

Alt furrows his eyebrows together, looking at the Artist card. “Huh… I… I know an artist with blue hair, she’s my friend… god it’s been ages though.”

Marvin shakes his head. "But in any case. It looks like you'll face a great disaster, yet with the help of something--creation, or a new idea, or some great swell of emotion--your journey will be fulfilled. Aeon often means a new dawn of some sort. The start of something new."

Alt nods to the prediction, humming to himself. “….creation or emotion huh…? I mean… I knew this journey was gonna be important but… damn. A-At least the cards seem to think we’ll win, that’s good.” He tries to laugh.

Marvin smiles encouragingly. "Exactly. The cards aren't perfect, of course. But if you reach for this future, I'm sure you have the power to make it happen."

Sam the bird suddenly swoops over, landing nearby and blowing away some of the cards with the wind from their wings. "Avast!" They squawk. "Swab the deck!"

"Sam!" Marvin quickly gathers up the cards and dice.

"Swab the deck!"

Jameson chuckles. Sounds like Sam wants you two to chip in.

Marvin jerks his head back towards the masts. "Alt's brother is just climbing around, does that count as chipping in?"

Bro is indeed, just climbing to the top of the rigging and looking out at the ocean with a big smile.

Alt rolls his eyes, “Feel free to tell him to find something to do.” He glitches to his feet and looks around, feeling a bit wobbly again. “…I dunno how to help out though…”

"I never do, either," Marvin says. "Jameson and Henrik get official positions, they don't have to help."

Jameson raises an eyebrow. I do try to pitch in where I can.

Marvin gets to his feet. "Chase?!"

"Aye?" Chase leans over from the deck above. "Anything we can do to help?"

"Ah, Alt doesn't have to, being a passenger, but if you can scrub the deck--"

Marvin groans.

"You asked!"

Alt hides a laugh behind his hand. “Oof- bad luck, mate.” He laughs. He then looks up above at Bro. He grins at Marvin then gives him a little salute. “Thanks for your help, dude- I’ll go check on my brother then~” he giggles before glitching away- up into the riggings with Bro. He fumbles for a second to get a good hold on them but Bro shouts and quickly helps to right him. “hey Alt! Didn’t expect ya to come up here!”

“Wanted to see what all the fuss was about-“ Alt grumbles, clinging onto the ropes and trying to sit like Bro was.

The older brother laughs. “Never thought you’d be one for heights~ but isn’t it great up here? The wind is nice and the view is…” He trails off as he sees Alt staring out at the open sea with wide starry eyes, the wind tousling his hair.

Bro smiles warmly.

The rigging jostles nearby and Jackie appears, climbing up to the crow's nest. "You got up here fast!" he comments, looking at Alt and chuckling. "Enjoying the view?"

It's nothing but endless blue wave all around. Up here, there's a slight breeze as the ship travels through the water.

Alt slowly nods, “I’ve… never seen anything like it.” He closes his eyes to feel the breeze.

There is also a faint image of a ship in the distance, with strange sails. Jackie squints into the distance. "Looks like a Zhongu ship over there. Can't see the colors from here."

Bro leans forward and squints at the ship. “I’m guessing that’s another country, right?” He asks Jackie.

"Mm-hmm. They have very distinctive sails." Jackie takes his map out again. It flaps a little in the wind. "Here, it's on Donfang continent, right there." He gestures awkwardly. There are only about three continents in this world, none of them bigger than Australia on Earth. Most of it is water and islands. "Fengge and Zara, who you heard everyone talking to me about earlier, are from Zhongu."

Bro hasn’t seen the map yet so he balks when he sees how much water there is. “Yo what the hell?! There’s like- barely any land at all on there?? Is your map broken?!”

Alt bursts into laughter.

Jackie blinks. "No? Well, it is a simpler version, but it's pretty accurate." He pauses. "Are you saying there's more land where you're from? Really?" He sounds just as incredulous about that as Bro is about how much water there is.

“Yeah dude! Where we’re from we have like- 7 huge continents! Most of them are bigger than these guys! And even so our world is like 70% water or some shit-“ Bro explains.

"Huh???" Jackie blinks. "Seven continents?! And even then it's still seven parts water?!" He looks down at his map again. "Well I'm sure some islands are missing... I think our world is eight parts water? Don't listen to me about that, though, I'm not good with numbers, that's why Jameson's the purser and not me." He laughs.

“That’s insane-“ Bro laughs. “But- I guess not every world would be made the same way… Alt I wonder if Glasuil was this different over all! Country wise at least-“

Alt shrugs, “Who knows? Maybe we can ask next time we go.”

Jackie shrugs too. "Well, everywhere has maps, you'll just need to find one of this ah... Glasúil place... What an unusual name. Reminds me of home, of Éire."

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they were pretty similar,” Bro smiles.

Jackie points to an island on the east half of the map. "There, right next to Anglice. That's home. for me, at least. We have a whole bunch of crew members from different places. This is where Cutlass Cove, by the way." He indicates an even smaller island in the west, barely a dot. "You won't find that on many maps, believe you me. Trade secret."

“Seemed pretty bustling for somewhere that’s hidden on a map,” Alt observes.

Jackie laughs. "Every buccaneer this side of the Peridot Sea knows where Cutlass Cove is. It's a safe haven for us to trade goods and such. A bit closed to outsiders, though. But that's for good reason. Don't want a nation's navy or the Iris Armada to find it and take back all the things we've... liberated."

Alt and Bro pick up on that name, Iris, and give each other a look. That name seems to be everywhere.

“So full of pirates-“ Alt grins, “Pretty sick.”

"I'll assume that means 'good' in your world." Jackie grins right back.

“Yeah it does.” Alt laughs.

"Now. Would to like to see around the ship? the Septic Eye is a fine vessel, more than just these riggings--though they're the best part if you ask me." Jackie continues.

“Ohh a tour??” Bro asks excitedly, hanging a bit more on the ropes.

Alt makes a face then eventually shrugs, “Yeah- why not? Might as well explore.”

Jackie grins. "Back down to the deck, then!" He folds his map up and scrambles down the rigging. Like a little monkey.Bro laughs and climbs down a bit before jumping down and rolling like a parkourist onto the deck. Alt rolls his eyes at his brother’s antics and glitches down to the others.

"This is the main deck," Jackie says, gesturing around at everything. "In the center here, this is the mainmast, over in front is the foremast and in the back is the mizzenmast. The deck above the captain's cabin is called the quarterdeck, but we often call it the helm deck, since that's where the helm is. Do you know the directions of a ship? Port and starboard and all that?"

Bro nods along, repeating what Jackie says under his breath.

“Uh… vaguely,” Alt says sheepishly.

Jackie grins. "Bow, stern." He points towards the front of the boat and the back. "Port, starboard." Left and right, relative to the front of the ship. Alt points and repeats before nodding.

"We're going below now, heading down into the ship." He goes over to the staircase in the center, talking as he goes. "The hammocks are on the gun deck--you probably noticed the cannons. Or maybe you didn't, given your state last night."

They follow after Jackie and Alt blushes as he looks around, “yeah I… didn’t… notice…” Bro giggles.

"Ha!" Jackie giggles. "We're in the middle of the boat right now--amidships. The cannons line up towards the bow." He goes over to the side and pushes open a wooden trapdoor on the side, opening up a window that you can push the cannons out of.

Bro and Alt both comically peek their heads out of the cannon’s trapdoor.

"Over towards the stern are all the offices. For the officers, of course, though Chase doesn't use the first mate's place so we keep water and rum in there.”

“Huh- why doesn’t other me use the first mate’s place?” Bro wonders.

“There's also the--"

"Doctor's office?" Henrik appears out of nowhere.

Jackie jumps and spins around, closing the trapdoor. "Among other things. Hey, Hen! Good to see you finally got some time."

Bro also jumps and Alt glitches a bit in surprise. Then, Bro laughs. “morning Doc!”

"Hello." Henrik waves. He jerks his head back towards the stern. "Want to see the doctor's office? I have two headache tonics if you need them."

Alt blinks then laughs quietly, “…I wouldn’t mind one.” He doesn’t feel too super bad thanks to the drink Marvin gave him- but he can still feel one nagging at his skull.

Henrik chuckles. "Follow me, then." The group heads towards the back, where there are wooden doors that slide open. The doctor's office is the closest one, and Henrik pulls the door open, revealing a small wooden room with a desk and a bunch of trunks.

Bro blinks at the room, “Tiny-“ He comments lightly.

"And ah, the size is normal. Not much space on any ship. Why do you think we all sleep in hammocks and only the officers get rooms?" Henrik explains.

“That makes sense!” Bro laughs.

Henrik walks inside the office, "Did I hear you ask why Chase doesn't use the first mate's office? I think it is hard for him to get used to it. He started as a regular crew member, you know.”

“Oh really? Huh! Guess that would take some getting used to. How long have all of you been around?” Bro asks.

As Henrik opens up one of the trunks and reaches in for a tonic, Jackie talks. "I've been on the longest, for going on four years now? Henrik joined shortly after, about three and a half years now. Then Chase, and then Marvin, right around the same time. Jameson is the most recent, been here for about two years. I'm assuming that's all you mean by 'all of us.'"

Bro listens to Jackie and smiles nodding, “Yeah! So you guys all know each other pretty well then!”

"For sure!" Jackie smiles.

Henrik hands Alt a small, roughly-made glass bottle, about two inches tall. The creamy liquid inside is a pale pink. "You can mix that in with water if you want, or simply drink it, though some find the taste too strong."

Alt takes the bottle and looks at it with a raised eyebrow. …he should listen to Henrik and just find some water… but he’s so curious. He opens up the bottle and takes a small sip of the tonic.

The taste is remarkably close to the artificial grape taste that a lot of modern cough medicines come in. But it's clearly not that, at the same time.

Alt blinks in surprise at the taste then chuckles, “This tastes like the medicine I used to get as a boy.”

He takes a bit more then smiles at Henrik, “Thanks Schneep!”

"It does?" Henrik blinks, then laughs. "Schneep? What an unusual nickname."

Alt flushes a bit and grins timidly, “Uh- oops… that’s a nickname some if the others yous use-“

"I love it, I'm going to use it," Jackie says cheerfully. "Now, besides the doctor's office, we have the officer's quarters and the purser's office. That's where Jameson spends a lot of time."

"You know... I just realized, they probably do not know what a purser is," Henrik says. "That is the man who handles the money. Very important."

“Ooooh! That’s why he needs to be good at math!” Bro laughs, “Makes way more sense now!”

"Exactly." Jackie grins. "If I have to be honest with ye--not many of the crew know maths that well. Jameson's probably our best man for that."

“Oh huh- given the time and spending most of days at sea, guess you wouldn’t really need much maths.” Bro comments.

"Should I be offended, Jackie?" Henrik says jokingly.

"And Henrik. Oh--Schneep." Jackie laughs. Henrik chuckles as well. "So. You are giving them a tour? To the galley next, I am guessing?"

"The hold and the galley, yes." Jackie looks at Alt and Bro. "If you've seen everything here."

Alt stuffs the rest of the tonic in his pocket and nods, “I think we’re good! Lead on-“

"Alright!" Jackie grins. "Henrik, want to come with?"

Henrik shrugs. "Might as well."

The group heads down another set of stairs. "This is the orlop deck, it's where the galley is, as well as one of our cargo holds. Below that is the brig, another cargo hold for less essential cargo, and the bilge, where any excess water gets drained."

“Orlop~” Bro repeats and giggles, “That’s fun to say!” Then he blinks at the mention of the brig, “Ohhh the brig- those always sound so ominous.” He makes spooky fingers at Alt, “Imma send you to the brig, Alt!”

Alt scoffs and shoves at him, “You’re being a dork-“

Jackie laughs, but Henrik is serious. "The brig is no laughing matter. It is not a comfortable place."

"Oh come on, Henrik, don't be so serious," Jackie says, nudging him. "The word is funny, isn't it?"

"All Anglish words are funny to my ears."

"Oh, don't tell me Deutz words are not funny at all, either." Jackie laughs a little.

Bro straightens up and blinks, “Oh uh- sorry.”

"No, really, don't think about it too much," Jackie insists. "Henrik is really serious all the time, he has a stick up his--ow!" Henrik smacks the back of his head.

Jackie rubs his head. "In any case, here's all the cargo."

They are currently surrounded by stacks and stacks of barrels and crates. "This is mostly food and water... but we have the occasional something more exciting, too." He grins. "One time, we dug up a chest full of all these rubies. I'm not sure why people bury their treasure so much."

“Ooh that’s so cool!” Bro says, then he thinks, “…yeah why do they bury stuff? I swear I’d just forget-“

"That's what the maps are for, I guess," Jackie chuckles.

"They bury it so that others won't find the, ah, stash," Henrik says. "After all, they worked hard for that treasure, it would be terrible if their ship was sunk and all the treasure was lost."

Bro nods, “Ah right- cuz if something happened on the boat- it’d get lost to the sea. Damn… wonder how much treasure is just floating around down there.” He muses.

Alt glitches around a bit to look, peeking inside anything that’s open like a curious cat. He mostly sees food, like salted meat and flour for bread and the occasional crate of whole oranges. But there is one stack of boxes that is open and full of gold pieces of eight, along with smaller silver pieces, round bits of polished jade, and tiny gold coins with holes in the center.

"Hey, careful!" Jackie says as Alt looks into that one. "That's our spending coin."

Alt startles and glitches back up to look back at Jackie. He rubs his head and grins sheepishly, “S-sorry I was just curious-“

“Damn! That’s a lotta coin!” Bro whistles.

"Much like those people who bury treasure, not all of our coin is on the ship," Henrik says. "But yes, it's a lot. After all, there are many of us on this crew who needs shares of their own."

"Our most important stuff is--ah, well, that's probably not at liberty to be shared." Jackie chuckles.

Yeah keep that to yourselves,” Bro laughs.

"Want to see the brig?"

Bro perks up, “Sure! Gotta see if it’s as spooky as ya think!” Alt glitches back over to join back up with them.

They go down one more staircase. It's a bit dimmer down here, and the areas are separated by wooden walls, as opposed to the orlop deck where everything was open. There's a set of barred walls--four cells. No doubt that's the brig.

“…yeah it’s kinda spooky, not gonna lie.” Bro says with a nod. “Def would hate to be down here.”

"Yep, not a pleasant stay," Jackie says. "But luckily people don't stay down here that often. Jack didn't believe in it."

Henrik chuckles. "Though occasionally we did have to throw you in here to sober up when you went too far."

"Hey—I don't do that anymore! I know restraint!"

Henrik grins at the other two. "He used to be very wild."

“Ha! I can imagine that!” Bro snickers.

“How far is too far? Like- so drunk he’s gonna fall off the boat?” Alt asks with a laugh.

"Exactly." Henrik nods.

"That's in the past, I'm more careful now," Jackie says, waving it off. "In any case, it's around noon now. We should grab some food from the galley before it gets swarmed."

“Oh yeah! God I didn’t even realize I was hungry-“ Bro says with a laugh.

Alt nods in agreement, “Food is good.”

Jackie grins. "Let's go on up then! Cook won't be making an actual meal until dinnertime but we can grab things from the counters." He rushes up the staircase, Henrik right behind him. Alt and Bro trail after Henrik. "Hm... what are you wanting? We have just about everything, though I can't promise it'll be the best."

Bro hums and puts a finger to his chin, “hmmm I dunno! I don’t really know what to expect on a ship!”

Alt shrugs, “I’m not particularly picky. Whatever you all have is fine.”

"Let's see what's in store, then!" Jackie says.

The galley is towards the stern of the ship, built into one side with a small island of counters nearby. An older man is busy looking through the cupboards.

"Hello, Cook," Henrik says.

"Hello boys," the man says.

Bro waves at the Cook with a big smile. Alt nods politely.

"What can I do you for?" Cook asks.

"Lunch before the rush," Jackie says.

"Look around, then."

There's a variety of foods in the galley. Bread with crunchy crusts, cured and salted meats, some dried fruits and berries, a variety of nuts--and some fresh oranges and lemons. There are also bottles of rum.

"Ah, don't worry, these aren't strong," Jackie says, picking one up. "Mostly water, in fact, the rum is for taste."

“Oh that’s like us getting those flavor packets so Jackie would drink more water!” Bro snickers to Alt who laughs. They both look around and grab some of the bread and meat, Alt grabbing some of the dried berries and Bro grabbing an orange. He tries to play catch with it for a second.

Jackie grins. He grabs an orange as well, tossing it around. Bro grins back. Alt snorts at their antics.

"Idiots," Henrik mutters fondly, taking some bread for himself. "What is for dinner, Cook?"

"Using some of the veg to make a good stew for our guests," Cook says, nodding at Alt and Bro.

The brothers blink at the cook. “Fuck yeah, stew!” Bro says cheerfully. Alt tries not to laugh.

"You should be honored, we don't have stew often," Jackie says. "Gets stuck on the decks, can cause difficulties."

"This is a special occasion," Cook says.

“Daw- you’re gonna make us blush,” Bro laughs.

"And we'll probably have to have a hearty meal if something's coming up."

"Ah, yes, has your glass eye changed at all in direction?" Henrik says, looking at Alt and Bro.

Alt digs into his coat for his tracker and touches the pupil. “Oh yeah lemme see-“ The tracker says they must veer ten degrees to the south—pretty specific for directions.

Alt furrows his eyebrows in confusion and looks up at Jackie and Henrik, “it says… we need to steer 10 degrees to the south…?”

Jackie immediately takes his map out. "Hm... don't see anything in that bearing. But we're looking for a ship, so we shouldn't count on getting to an island."

"Well, I will go alert Kilani that we need to shift heading a little," Henrik says, tossing a couple berries into his mouth.

“Does 10 degrees even make much of a difference?” Bro asks, biting into some of his bread.

"When you're out in the open ocean? Yes." Henrik nods. "But I will admit, not too much. Still, we will take what we can get when dealing with a fucking ghost ship.”

“Huh- neat.” Bro says.

“I'm heading topside, want to come with?"

Alt nods to Henrik, “Yeah- think it’ll be nicer to eat up there.”

"Oh wait, good idea, I'm coming too." Jackie had been leaning against the counter, and he now stands up straight and follows the group.

The sun is beating down hard on the deck. It's actually noticeably hot for the first time in their journey. But luckily their outfits seem to have been designed for hot weather. Even Alt's longer coat is surprisingly breathable.

Henrik heads up to the helm and tells the helmswoman--Kilani, apparently--that they need to shift course a little. She nods and turns the wheel accordingly, checking her compass afterwards.

Alt shields his eyes a bit then goes to find a good place to sit and eat. Bro flops next to him, digging into his orange. He hums, “I didn’t expect it to be so warm! But I guess that makes sense when it’s just the sun beating down on you-“

"You guessed it!" Chase shows up from out of nowhere, leaning against the ship wall besides them. "Out on the sea, it's usually either hot from the sun or cold from the spray of water. Though it... probably doesn't help matters that we're close to the center of the world. That's where it's hottest, you know."

"I am sure they know what the word 'equator' is, Chase," Henrik says. "Their world cannot be that different."

“Oh yeah we know that word!” Bro laughs.

“We don’t live anywhere near it though, in our world,” Alt adds, “we live more up north. So it’s colder there- lots of rain.”

"Sounds like my home," Chase mutters. "Hen, does Deutsreich get a lot of rain?"

Henrik shakes his head. "We are not known for it. But it does get cold. There are some mountains, they get beautiful snow. Though not as much snow as up north in Rosstvo and Nordømme, I'm sure."

"Well, home doesn't get much snow at all, so you're winning in that race."

“Oh yeah it sometimes snows for us but not for long,” Bro says.

“The sea must be such a difference experience for all of you then,” Alt comments in between bites of his lunch.

"Oh yes, but it's a good difference," Chase says. "It's rare that someone will commit to spending so much time at sea and not enjoy it."

Henrik nods. "I became a ship's doctor to get away from home at first, but I stayed a ship's doctor because I love the journeys."

“I hear that! This seems like great fun!” Bro grins.

Alt chuckles, “I’m sure it has its hardships… but the adventures you all have must be more than worth it.”

Chase grins. "Aye, I think so too. Not everyone's made for it, but if you are, there's nothing better."

"Though I won't lie, there is a lot of downtime," Henrik says.

"Maybe you need more to do," Chase says. "Do you want to help swab the deck?"

"Booooo."

Alt and Bro laugh. “Yeah guess there’s not much to entertain you out here.” Alt says.

“Why do you guys always say that huh? Swab the deck- such a pirate saying!” Bro laughs.

"Well you have to keep the deck clear," Chase says, shrugging. "Don't want anyone to trip over something. And the water helps keep the ship in... shipshape." He bursts into laughter.

Henrik rolls his eyes.

Bro also bursts into laughter, “Ayy! Good one!” Alt snorts slightly but also rolls his eyes.

Chase calms down. "Well, we'll still be sailing for some time, it seems like. Keep a hand on your glass eyes, tell us if we need to adjust our bearings again. Until then--hope you enjoy the ship!"

The day passes, and the sun gradually moves through the sky, until it approaches the horizon and turns the sky orange and pink again. With everything set and the ship underway, the crew has some free time. They seem to really enjoy their instruments, as a group forms around the foremast to play.

As the others bring out their instruments, Alt moves close to listen. He doesn’t know how to play anything they’re playing but the music is infectious. He doesn’t like big crowds though so he gets up somewhere high and brings out his iPad to draw people on the ship.

Another group forms around the mizzenmast. Are they taking turns telling stories? Huh. Bro goes to the mizzenmast to hear the stories- unlike his brother he’s all for being in a big crowd and trying to act like one of the crew.

The sun's halfway below the horizon when one of the crew members comes up onto the top deck and shouts that stew is ready. Everyone cheers, Bro being one of the loudest. Alt laughs at everyone’s excitement but stays where he is, watching as everyone goes to file in for food.

Down in the galley, Cook and another crew member spoon stew into bowls, handing them out to anyone who comes by. The stew is thick and creamy-looking, with bits of meat and chunks of vegetables mixed in. There are also crackers, and to drink, water and rum, of course.

Bro hurries down to the gallery and grabs stuff for him and also some for Alt. With arms full he comes back topside and looks around, finally finding Alt hanging up on one of the masts, tucked against the middle beam and out of the way.

Bro looks around then bursts up into the air to Alt’s side and grins, “You still being a loner, baby bro?”

Alt startles slightly and then gives Bro a look before perking up at the smell of dinner.

“Hurry dude imma drop this!”

Alt hurriedly takes the bowl and rum bottle from Bro and the hero zips up to sit next to Alt, trying to balance. Alt sticks his iPad in his coat and digs in, relishing in the delicious stew.

Bro watches him with a smile before sitting crossed legged and digging in too. “I wonder if you would have been this reclusive on the other ship- the one in Glasúil.” Bro comments after a bit.

Alt shrugs, “Probably? You know I don’t like being around a lot of people.”

“You like being around us though-“ “For the most part,” Alt smirks. He looks out at the sunset and darkening sky, “…I just like the view.”

The two eat together, enjoying the moment and the beautiful ocean around them.

#swap beyond the crystalverse #SBTCV #SBTCV Pirates #septicpirates #this one is a bit more tame- just the boys having fun with pirate-y things and learning about the world :D #which i think is fun but its def not an action packed chapter agjahbk #tomorrow will be though!

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orbmanson7 · 2 years

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Expressing Anger: An Extensive Analysis of Logan's Statement in SVS:R

Let's talk about Logan's statement here, shall we? (This is a very long post; continue at your own risk.)

The last plot-specific episode, Putting Others First (aka Selfishness vs Selflessness: Redux), showed something unique about Logan that I haven't seen many people mention.

Logan spoke up about his frustration.

This may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but hear me out.

Typically, Logan states facts and provable truths; he sticks to what he knows and what he believes will be useful for the topic at hand.

However, he has had moments of frustration, annoyance, and anger, alongside other emotions that he may or may not even be aware of, that don't necessarily counter the facts he relays, but can change their meaning and interpretation. In these moments, something precedes Logan's anger and he has, at times, responded impulsively instead of thinking through his actions and deciding on a better move.

Take, for instance, the moment in Learning New Things About Ourselves where Roman and Logan argue for a second time about clarification, and Roman remarks that Logan wasn't just going "above and beyond" with clarity but that he was going "overboard" with it and that it was stupid. This finally bothers Logan enough that he crumples up the card in his fist and shouts as he throws it at Roman, hitting him in the eye.

Now, Logan instantly expresses shock, confusion, and then regret after this moment, and then promptly apologizes for his behavior and suggests he should leave, likely to prevent the unusual situation from happening again.

Logan at no point in the rest of the episode addresses what caused him to react that way. He speaks on the initial argument he and Roman had, but focuses more on the root of the problem presented there and agrees to try to do better.

When it comes to his emotions, though, Logan's response is only to ever explain that he doesn't have emotions, which we (and everyone else) know is a lie, including Logan.

Because Logan doesn't bring up the frustration (and may have not fully realized it was frustration), there is no true reconciliation from Roman about what he said that upset Logan, nor from Logan about his harmful actions towards Roman.

This is a more common occurrence than one might come to expect, though, as Logan is either unwilling to or deems it unnecessary to address what causes his outbursts. And that's because anger doesn't just bubble out of nothing, especially not for him.

Anger serves the purpose of notifying others of when they've crossed a boundary, getting them to stop or change their behavior, and standing up for what someone believes in or standing against something they don't.

So, fast-forward to Putting Others First, and the scene where Logan is asked to provide information from a "real philosopher" to support what Patton was trying to explain, only for Patton to hit "Skip All" and effectively remove Logan from the discussion.

This is something far beyond having your methods labeled "stupid" in an argument, as Patton had asked for his help and then when that help was provided, Patton didn't like it. But instead of saying as much (instead of beating around the bush about it), he quickly took advantage of Janus' trick to 'skip' over Logan's dialogue. We are shown that Logan is then removed from the scene entirely, and there is no response to this action. They simply move on in their discussion as though it meant nothing.

Later, when Logan (the actual Logan) resurfaces, he does something he has never done before.

He expresses his frustration with the situation.

Well, I mean, he did technically admit once to being frustrated back in Moving On (Part 1), but that was only because everyone was also frustrated and he never mentioned anything about it beyond that. But in this particular instance in Putting Others First, he actually expresses himself in regards to his frustration.

He says it in a very passive-aggressive tone, stating "Not that any of you care, but I am unharmed. And I don't want to talk about it. I'm just here to deliver one last fact, and then I will do you all a favor and spare you my company."

This remark is full of anger, as anyone can see, but it's very interesting if we break it down and look deeper at each individual part.

First, he's addressing the other sides and Thomas' failure to respond to the action (wrongdoing) made against him by Patton (and Janus) earlier. He specifically says "not that any of you care," which is a very emotionally-charged thing to say for someone who prefers to stick to facts and stay objective.

He is assuming that they do not care, which could have easily been inferred by their lack of reaction and failure to respond to the action made against him. But even if it was true that they didn't care, Logan would have no way to know that this is absolutely true. (Note: I think they probably did care, even if they didn't show it, but they were all caught up in Thomas' problem and what Patton had to say about it that they pushed any concern for Logan down to a very low priority in that moment.) But he is stating this as though it is a fact.

This is odd because, as we've seen throughout the series, Logan doesn't often pick up on mood shifts and appropriate responses within conversation - his EQ (emotional quotient) is rather low, meaning he is prone to not always recognizing or understanding emotions (both his own or others'), not always picking up on body language or sarcasm or changes in tone, and not always knowing how to communicate effectively in certain situations.

However, there is one thing he seems to do when he's frustrated or annoyed that we've seen in multiple episodes, which is that he states what he thinks very bluntly. Now, this can be difficult to pick up on as Logan tends to speak very bluntly and concisely at all times, but the distinction to look for is the underlying emotion that is present in specific moments.

Take, for example, his part in the Incomplete song from Learning New Things About Ourselves, after Thomas says, "Actually, that was for your benefit," and Logan responds, rather bluntly, "I don't see how that can be relevant." While this was rude within its context, he is mostly just speaking bluntly. He is saying outright that he doesn't understand why this has anything to do with the discussion they were having. However, he is frustrated because he thinks the song is a waste of time, and he wants to say this objectively and resolutely, but he is angry and that anger coats his words, whether intentional or not. As such, his comment about relevance doesn't sound like someone who's confused, it sounds like someone who thinks they know better and is rudely telling them off for doing something wrong (and that's how tone change works!).

And because his words are perceived as rude and undermining, everyone around him reacts emotionally, which Logan then responds to with emotion, as well. His anger becomes more prevalent as he goes head-to-head with Thomas, purposefully pinpointing Thomas' negligence and desire to distract himself from the actual issue (because that's what he thinks all this singing and puppets really is - another distraction from the work that needs to be done). It's not until later, when he realizes this was a creative way to work through the problem for Thomas and was not actually a distraction, that he releases the frustration and tension he had throughout most of the episode, where he then continues to speak bluntly but without that underlying emotion tinting it.

Back to Putting Others First, his remark that the others do not care is steeped in this same emotion (but far more intensely), and while his words may seem blunt because of how he's speaking, they are not blunt at all - they're actually very sharp!

He is purposefully targeting them emotionally by saying "not that any of you care" and leaving no room for argument. He is stating it as if it were a fact, and likely knows that this will hurt them emotionally, to possibly give them pause to reflect on their own actions (or lack thereof) and feel regret. It's a form of retribution, something that anger is all about.

He wants them to feel how he felt.

In essence, this is a counter attack, a strike in return for the strike he received.

Moving on, he states that he is unharmed. Again, he is stating this as a fact, likely because it is a fact - physically, at least. But why mention it?

He is, again, poking at their emotions, by bringing forward their disregard to his safety due to their actions (or lack thereof). By saying "I am unharmed," what he means is "I could have been." And with the precursor of "not that any of you care," he is implying that they wouldn't care if he was actually hurt, and stating it altogether as though he knows it's a fact. Again, this is a phrase built for retribution, it's meant to invoke an emotional response from the others, to bother them and make them regret what they've done (which seemed to work, given their reactions).

What's a little odd is that, if this was only about any kind of physical harm, the others should be able to easily recall Logan stating he (as a metaphysical being) could not be physically harmed back in Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts when he endured multiple 'attacks' from Remus. He showed that these have no real-world impact and kept very calm and unbothered throughout them all to prove to Thomas that things would be okay and not to be scared.

So if they remembered Logan couldn't be physically harmed, they would have no reason to worry if he was okay after what happened. But Logan knows how much they did worry back in Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts, so much so that he had to show them multiple times that he was perfectly fine.

So, given that Logan was angry in this moment and wanted to provoke an emotional response, this just adds to the fodder. He wanted them to think about if he had gotten hurt and how he believed they wouldn't care if that happened. He wanted them to feel bad for not caring about him, regardless of whether it was even possible for him to get hurt in the first place.

We'll not get into emotional harm here, as Logan wouldn't have admitted to it if that was the case, and while it has definitely had an emotional impact on him, he clearly didn't want to address that, which is why he didn't clarify the type of harm in his statement.

After this, he states "and I don't want to talk about it." Again, this is probably actually true, as he is speaking about himself and what he wants, and he would know with certainty if that is true or not.

But here's the thing - when was the last time Logan has expressed what he wants? It's been a very long time, so I actually went ahead and rewatched old episodes to find this out. There are only 4 instances where he mentioned wanting or not wanting something throughout the series, the most recent being Learning New Things About Ourselves wherein he inferred that he didn't want to be seen as a joke because he needed to be taken seriously in order to do his job. The only instance where he has actually stated blatantly that he "wants" anything was in Accepting Anxiety (Part 1) when Thomas asked him if he wanted the other sides to weigh in on the issue, and Logan said that he did want that.

But, regardless, my point here is that this isn't really something Logan typically does. In this moment in Putting Others First, however, this is very significant, and the reason is because what Logan is doing here with this statement is establishing a boundary.

He is stating, resolutely, that he doesn't want to talk about his situation. He's expressed that he believes the others don't care about him and he's leaving it at that, with no room for their excuses, and then making it clear he wants everyone to move on with the discussion and not talk to him about it.

It's easy to think this may be untrue, that he does want to talk about it but that it's maybe 'too fresh a wound' to be comfortable doing so right now, but Logan is the type to be upfront and speak honestly. If he was bothered and wanted to discuss this later, he would have said that, even while angry. But what he stated instead was that he did not want to talk about it, establishing a clear and concise boundary, meaning the others should listen to that and respect it.

(This is also why Logan raises his voice afterward when Patton tries to placate him, which he just outright stated he did not want them to do.)

But like I mentioned already, this is one of the only times Logan has ever established a boundary for himself. He is someone who tends to find ways to adapt for the benefit of Thomas and the other sides, and this leaves him very open for making mistakes, experiencing failure, and enduring ridicule. And yet, through all this, he doesn't often state what he wants. He has, on many occasions, mentioned his suggestions for Thomas to improve himself, but he doesn't tell Thomas or the other sides that they need to adapt for him. He makes suggestions if there may be a benefit to Thomas (ex. telling Virgil and Patton to back off a bit in Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts), but he does not expect anyone to cater to his wants at all, which is why he is so surprised when he gets something he likes (ex. 12 Days of Christmas, Crofters The Musical).

The point I'm getting at here is that Logan doesn't really establish boundaries, either because he's learned his won't be respected or because he knows he needs to adapt for the sake of others and placing rigid rules can keep him from adapting as flexibly as may be required to do his job.

A weird example off the top of my head here to better explain this, but if he established a boundary that he didn't want, let's say, cookies to be eaten during discussions he has with others, he may recognize there could be some sort of convention to eating as a multitasking behavior to keep Thomas focused, or that he needs to placate Patton or the others to maintain their interest in a particular topic, or maybe he will learn that they learn better through a reward system and thus will have to pull back this boundary because he's seen that the pros outweigh the cons, no matter his reason for establishing the boundary in the first place.

It makes sense he doesn't want to waste time putting some rigid rule in place if he thinks it may need to be changed later in order to do his job, and especially if the other sides won't respect it anyway.

This is why we should fully believe that he means what he says about not wanting "to talk about it" and that Thomas and the other sides need to respect the boundary he just established.

Alright, moving on. Next, Logan explains that he only returned to give one last fact before he will be taking his leave again. This is less emotionally-charged than the rest of the statement, but there is still emotion there. He's telling them that he only came back to teach Thomas something here, so he is both saying he doesn't want to be around them but also that his priority here is his function and use to Thomas, not the other sides. If he didn't have anything useful to say, he likely would have never shown back up at all. Thankfully, though, he did, as it gave him a chance to express his anger, even though he's clearly holding a lot of it back.

But it's important to note here that Logan is playing in to part of the problem he's having, by only appearing in the discussion to fulfill his role and nothing more. He has come to recognize, especially due to events of this episode, that he is only needed to provide information to Thomas, and that (apparently) even that has its limits. Based on their words and actions, Logan believes the other sides do not want him to be included in the discussion. This was probably already the case long before this episode, given that he chose to use a less "invasive" method for his participation, only to be told immediately by Roman that he was unsuccessful in this. Logan would not have been making efforts to exclude his presence unless he knew it was something the other sides wanted. He doesn't decide things on a whim, he would have to have come to the conclusion that this was the best approach.

I specify "the other sides" here, by the way, because I don't know how true it is of each individual side or about Thomas' view on this, and I'm sure Logan isn't fully certain about that, either. Unfortunately, due to the events of Putting Others First, Logan may be more inclined to believe Thomas doesn't want him there, but there may still be hope that Thomas does.

So, Logan is playing into his role with this part of his statement, both indicating that this is what he thinks the others want of him (to be absent from the discussion) and that he may believe this is all he can properly provide to them at this point. And what I mean by that is that Logan may believe the others are right to not want him around, or that he may only be useful if he is limited to serving his function to Thomas and nothing more. This isn't true, of course, but if a situation is presented with the same conclusion over and over again, you're more likely to believe that that conclusion will always remain the same. It's understandable if Logan has come to believe this may be true, even if he hopes it's not.

On that sad note, we get to the last part of Logan's statement, which is possibly the part with the most emotion, though that emotion is less anger and more sadness.

He finishes his statement by saying, "and then I will do you all a favor and spare you my company."

There's...a lot here. Like I stated just before this, Logan believes the other sides do not want him around. And while, at face value, this sentence indicates that by leaving, he is doing what they want - in reality, that isn't the full story. Because this part is said with that underlying emotion - two of them, actually - anger and sadness.

The anger is directed at them and the wrongdoing that was committed against Logan, but the sadness is more directed at what Logan sees to be the likely truth. He is angry that the other sides dismiss him and don't want him there, but he is also saddened by this, especially because he thinks it must be a fact.

Hope is hard to have in the face of knowledge, after all. I may want to believe the sky is orange, but there's a hell of a lot of proof that it's blue, you know?

Positive thinking only gets you so far, and at some point, you just have to face the facts and try to keep moving forward despite the negativity of the truth. And that's what Logan has been doing, he's lost that hope that maybe there is some silver lining to how he's been treated, that maybe if he adapts enough then he'll finally be accepted, but this episode, this moment, must have been one of the absolute last straws for him, as he is certain of this truth now.

If anything, he can put that positive thinking to use for their benefit instead, and also be passive-aggressive again. This is why he says "I'll do you all a favor" in reference to him leaving. It's not just what they want, it's his gift to them. A big, shitty gift, one that hurt him a lot, but this is what they wanted, right? And shoving that in their faces, again, serves to enact that same retribution as before. He wants them to know he's been hurt and wants them to feel bad for what they've done. The only difference this time is that he's not just angry, he's sad because he knows it won't change anything.

Lastly, I want to note that he specifically refers to his presence as "my company" which I found kind of interesting. It's just a synonym, sure, but 'company' is usually used to infer companionship, that it's time spent with someone who you like to have around or someone who complements or matches you.

So for him to specifically use the phrase "spare you my company," he is either saying 1 of 2 things here - either 1) that he still sees them all as equals, but that he recognizes they cannot be companions with him by definition because they don't want to spend time with him, or 2) that he no longer wants to be considered companions because they do not want him around and that he wants this connection severed.

Overall, it seems this statement from Logan is embedded with emotion, namely anger, and he said it with the intent of causing an emotional reaction from the others. He expressed his frustration.

Now, it'll only be a matter of whether this is ever addressed in the next episode (one that's not an Asides) and if anyone bothers to reflect on or change their behavior regarding it to see its true effect on Logan.

One last thing I'd like to note:

Decisions made of anger are often impulsive and not well thought-out, they are driven by emotion and the need to feel vindicated. This can often evoke regret, the feeling that you made the wrong decision after having the benefit of hindsight.

It is completely possible that Logan may retract the statement he made in this episode. He may review it later and realize he was too emotional, and since he wants to be seen as serious and someone who makes objective decisions, he may regret his decision to speak in the way he did.

He may decide that establishing a boundary could hinder his ability to continue adapting to Thomas' needs and may wish to retract his statement to prevent this becoming a problem, but I doubt he would need to as Logan's personal concerns are very rarely brought into any discussion.

And he may still have hope that some of what he treated as fact was not actually true, and that the other sides do care or that he perhaps has another chance to change himself for their betterment.

That being said, he may come to regret this decision but may stick by it, either out of spite or failure to receive the retribution he desired. He might have come to believe much of what he said was factual and saw no need to counter it, or still has the barest hope that things can improve if he just keeps trying.

In the end, my hope is that this moment is given more meaning in the future, even if it's not addressed right away in the next episode. I would prefer Logan either finally stand up for himself and deal with the potential discord that comes from it, or that the others attempt to reflect on their behavior towards him and begin to change their ways. Obviously, Logan also has some work to do in that regard, but it would ultimately do him some good to speak his mind and genuinely express himself more often.

#sanders sides #logan angst #sanders sides analysis #logan sanders #ts logan #long post #orbs thought bubbles #might make this more palatable with gifs later #god it's so damn long I'm so sorry

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