#havent done one of these in so long wow

[furutetalks]

About your vecpio post and the ages, you gotta remember that in knuckles chaotix Vector was actually younger like 17 or 18 and they aged him up to 20 age Charmy down to 6 I cant remember if Espio's age was changed but I clearly remember at some point we all agreed he was 14 only for his age to come out as 16 but I think in Knuckles chaotix he was 17, I agree 20 and 16 is a gross age gap, and agree that theres no way in hell they can platonically raise a kid together and I'm glad SEGA is kinda leaving ages up in the air for interpretation my theory is that Espio only developed a crush on Vector but as he got older they fell into something that became a relationship it was never a brother bond and there was never any communication on Espio's feelings or Vectors cause Vector was blindly looking at Vanilla all the time but theres nothing there for him shes a single mom for a reason djdjdhd

Yeah, Vector started out as 16 and Espio was 17 before they changed the ages.

Heres the source, from the Knuckles Chaotix Japanese manual

I've never seen anything about Espio being 14, that may have just been a fanon thing, which wouldnt be surprising. Nowadays I understand platonic parenting better and I could see them starting out as doing that. Especially if they came across Charmy together

Charmy was 16 in the English manual which is definitely due to Archie lol

And yeah, when Sonic Advance 2 released (late 2002-Early 2003) Vanilla was introduced and then when she appeared in Sonic X (Late 2003) Vector was doomed to be obsessed with her. I just tried to find Vanilla's original age and couldn't find a source, so I'm kinda doubting she had one, but generally fandom wise she is like late 20's early 30's. And if people are sticking with 20 for Vector ~30 for Vanilla that is like a 10 year age gap which is (o_o)... like... yeah...its legal but 20 is like so young

In my little headcanon theory world Espio also caught feelings first, and knowing him he would not say a thing, he probably wouldn't even notice how he felt for the longest time. I see them as like being kind-of-coworkers for a few years in some random sketchy business where neither of them really know each other until they find Charmy or something like that. I'll probably do other posts about my own theories at some point

Also omg yeah I am so tired of the "they see each other as brothers" argument I see it in so many different fandoms and it gets so old lol

[nururu]

Don't do a thinkpiece on skypiea if you're going to completely ignore white christian settler colonization and indigenous genocide. Just don't talk about it.

[marciliedonato]

god said you can dye your hair a funky fun color......BUT WATCH OUT !

[rubiesintherough]

.

[hoshifighting]

hi there!!! can u pls make svt’s reaction seeing their ex with someone new? (they havent moved on yet)

seungcheol’d try to play it cool, but inside it burns it really does. his jaw would clench as he watches you laugh with someone else, and he’d force a smile when you catch his eye, but the second you turn away, his expression hardens. “so that’s who you’re with now, hm?” he’d mutter under his breath, feeling the sting of jealousy in his chest.

jeonghan is another one who would try to smile, but you know it’s just a front. he’d raise an eyebrow when he sees you with someone new, giving you a lazy wave like it doesn’t matter to him. “hope they treat you better than I did,” he’d say as soon as you’re out of sight.

joshua's soft smile would falter the moment he sees you with someone else. he’d look away quickly, pretending not to care, but inside, it’s like a punch to the gut. “so you’ve moved on…” he’d whisper to himself, forcing a polite nod in your direction. but you’d catch the hurt in his eyes before he looks away again.

junhui’d try to be all casual about it, like drink water on a hot day, flashing a grin when he sees you, you can tell he’s dying inside. the second you leave, he’s replaying every moment in his head, wondering if he could’ve done something different to keep you.

hoshi’d stare for a second too long, his face will look ass as he watches you with someone new. “oh… you’ve moved on,” he’d say softly, a bittersweet smile tugging at his lips—he honestly thought that you would never move on from him. he’d try to act like it doesn’t bother him, but you can see the sadness/jealousy in his eyes, even as he forces a laugh.

wonwoo would try to be stoic as ever, but inside, he’s a big big mess. he’d keep his expression neutral, barely glancing at you and your new partner, but his mind is racing. “guess it’s really over,” he’d think, his realization heaving. he wouldn’t say anything, just shove his hands in his pockets and walk away, pretending it didn’t bother him, even though it does. and a lot.

woozi is another one who would act like he doesn’t care, but the second he sees you with someone else, his stomach drops, his ego, broken. “so that’s how it is now,” he’d mutter, trying to focus on anything but the tightness in his chest. he’d avoid eye contact, his lips pressed into a thin line, and he’d go quiet, retreating into his thoughts, replaying what went wrong.

minghao’d put on his most indifferent face, pretending not to care, but there’s a storm brewing behind his eyes. heart is aching. he’d watch you from a distance, trying to convince himself that he’s moved on, but the jealousy gnaws at him, making him second-guess everything.

mingyu dont even try to hide it, hes visibly upset. the moment he sees you with someone new, his face falls, and he’s struggling to hide the hurt. he’d probably give a little wave or a tight-lipped smile, but would look away even faster before he ball his eyes in front of you and your partner.

seokmin wouldd try to smile when he sees you, but it’d be shaky, he would have trembling hands hid inside his hoodie pockets. he’s trying to convince himself that is better this ways, that he's way better when he's single. but he’d quickly excuse himself after that, not wanting you to see how much it’s really hurting him.

seungkwan would try to laugh it off. “wow, you didn’t waste any time, huh?” he’d joke, but the bitterness in his voice would be so obvious. he’d glance away, trying to keep his cool, but he’s absolutely fucked, and the second he’s alone, he’s spiraling, replaying the breakup all over again, I think he wouldn't even answer your friendly messages after, because he cant stand the idea of talking with you, when you're not his anymore.

vernon would go quiet so fucking fast, he’d just give you a curt nod when he sees you with someone new, trying to swallow down the jealousy, but the truth is that he's gagging with it. “guess that’s it, then,” he’d think to himself, walking away without saying a word. but inside, he’s feeling more than he’d ever admit. would probably cry alone right after, isolated from the world.

chan would be hurt hurt, real affected but trying not to show it. he’d see you with someone new, and his heart would sink, but he’d force a smile, because he needs to show that he's oh so strong, and that he moved on too, as soon as you’re gone, he’s beating himself up inside, wondering if he could’ve done something to stop this from happening. would pray that it was just a nightmare.

[tiredsmashbros]

💯MEGA ARTFIGHT POST {kinda long}✨

oh boy oh boy, the fight of art has once again been finalized and wrapped up for the year. and man what a month this was. got more attacks then i've ever received AND attacked more than ever before vs my previous years!!! a sUCCESS i may say B^)))

met so many great new people + made awesome friends!!! seriously what an amazing and fun this artfight was, i can't express the insane amount of love i've received, and hopefully next year i can plan better to gift that love back just as much and mORE <33333

if you haven't please check out the amazing work everyone has done to take the time to make for me !! >> artfight defenses << THANK YOU TO EVERYONE SERIOUSLY I LOVE EVERYONE SINGLE ONE SO FUKING MUCH AND WHOLEHEARTEDLY AND I WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO UNTIL MY GRAVE YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE JOY AND SMILES AND KICKING FEET HAS BEEN EXPRESSED I LOVE ALL OF THEM SO MUCH HOLY SHIT 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

i legit could go on forever but for now, i must get to the actual meats of this post fvecdsx {will only be focusing on the SMG4 community of attackers on here, if you want to see the rest of the attacks i made check out my artfight @/smg4 !! yes i name claimed it LMAO}

IN ORDER : @strange0-0storm @yamperjellety @its-a-me-mango @aquaproductions @r3d2y hehe hi ako 💛

fr thought i was gonna be able to do detailed work for everyone but once again my style changed and i legit no idea i would get attacked so much i had to a big brain move and try a different strat to get back everyone as best as possible 👁👁📝

IN ORDER : @bluesbox @/xxnobodyxx_420

IN ORDER : @kittykibbl @libbytwq @bluestrawberrybunny

for my buddy, @/tinydragontoonz, not in the smg4 community, bUT he's a lover of mario and tons of other awesome stuff PLS go follow them they're aWESEOME RAWRRR FYUGD- ahem,,, and i made this comic... that... only he knows the real context to LMAO but uh uh lOOk tsb is there sooo :))))) UIGYFLUGCKHVBJCDWS

and lastly... if you're reading this... PLEASE GO FOLLOW EVERYONE IF YOU HAVENT OH MY GOD EVERYONE HAS SUCH LOVELY ART AND WORK AND IS SO COOL AND DOPE WOW WOW WOW IM STILL NOT OVER IT SRSLY DRAWING EVERYONES OC WAS SO MUCH FUN AND I AM DEF GONNA BE DOING IT AGAIN AFTER ARTFIGHT I LOVE DRAWIN OCS AAAAAAAAAAAA UIGHBEJWSA

[stjernehiimmel]

Hiii!

Can I ask anything rlly for a LYNEY x reader where reader buys emilies perfume (the new character, he has a VOICELINE how he really likes it but didn’t get it cause it was too strong for Lynette’s cat senses) and wears it? Like not in an nsfw way but in a sfw way. Ty!!

hi! thank u so much for the first request on this blog :) and yes omg that sounds so cute! i havent read much up on emilie, but i wrote that shes got a little boutique or something where she sells her perfumes :)

Lyney - You smell so good.

You knew Lyney liked this perfume, as he had been talking about it for such a long time now. You thought that you might as well buy it for him, since... Well, he's given you a lot of gifts lately and you want to make him surprised and happy too.

You had somehow kept this a surprise, as you made your way to Emilie's boutique.

"Are you sure this is the one, Emilie?" you asked the said woman in front of you and to that, she nodded.

"Yes, Lyney loved this one," Emilie started to explain, turning around to the shelf behind her, which had all sorts of perfumes on display and grabbed one. "He wanted to buy it so badly, but said something about his sister's senses... I figured he would forget about the perfume, but I'm guessing since you're here, then... He's been talking about it." she turned back to you and smiled.

"Yeah, Lyney's been rambling about it pretty much nonstop for the past few days," you said, smiling back. "How much is it?"

Emilie placed the perfume on the counter - the perfume was neatly packed in a little box, with a shimmery ribbon wrapped around it.

"450 mora," she said, but then seemed to think about her answer. "Actually, because it's you, then let's say 400."

You paid for the perfume and said thank you to Emilie for holding onto it for you, then left the boutique to look for Lyney.

---------

Eventually you found him in a popular tourist spot, casually performing some magic tricks for a little crowd of amazed children, while their parents where standing a bit further back and watched.

Of course, you waited until he was done performing. And once the children ran away to go and try some magic tricks of their own, you walked up to Lyney with your little gift behind your back.

"Lyney, I got something for you," you beamed at him. "Can you guess what it is? You've been speaking about it nonstop."

Lyney clasped his hands together and stared at you expectantly, with a big smile on his face.

"Ohhh, hmm..." he started, looking like he was thinking really hard about it, but honestly, knowing him, he already knew what it was. "Is it maaaybe that perfume I haven't been able to shut up about?"

"Ding ding ding!!" you brought out the gift from behind your back and held it out to Lyney, to which his cheeks instantly turned red. Did he not expect it? Or was he just flustered that you actually thought of him?

"Woah, I was right! Who am I kidding, a magician's guess is never wrong!" he took the gift into his hands and looked at you carefully, as if waiting for confirmation to open it. You laughed at him and nodded.

He carefully untied the ribbon and then opened the box, smiling all over his face as he took the perfume bottle up from the box.

"Thank you so much, Y/N! That's really thoughtful of you."

"You're welcome, Lyney. I hope it's the right one. I asked Emilie and she said it was that one you liked." you said.

Lyney seemed to look at it for a few seconds, before holding it out to you.

"Try it on. I think I'll like it better on you."

Your face instantly turned red upon hearing that and you stutter out a few incoherent words.

Lyney just gave a chuckle at your cute reaction and took the cap off of the bottle, then gently grabbed your wrist and spritzed a bit of the perfume on it.

"Let's see..." he said and moved your wrist up to his face, sniffing at the scent of the perfume. "Hmm... Yep! That's definitely the one! Wow, it smells even better on you."

You were speechless.

[artfortytwo]

ONE BRINGS SHADOW ONE BRINGS THE LIGHT wow i havent done deltarune stuff in a long time huh. fewer colors on this large of a sprite than im used to so its a bit fiddly but i think this turned out okayish. good practice either way

[sanzuballs]

how long they last at nnn !!

ft: sanji, zoro, luffy, law

gggaawwdd i havent posted in forever! i love this idea and i wanted to write in november so here ya go enjoy!!

——————-

sanji: november 2nd

wow im so shocked!! zoro was taunting him about how he “couldnt last a day during no nut november” and he got upset. turns out zoro was wrong!! he lasted a day then couldnt bear you. the way you dress, breathe, and exist is just too much for the poor guy. november 1st was rough too, you felt his boner against your thigh as you tried to ignore it. but then in the morning the guy was ripping your clothes off!!

zoro: november 13th

he really really thought he could of done a month without having sex. he genuinely thought he could, after all he had self control. but maybe if your dress wasnt so tiny and tight, maybe if he hadnt drank a extra 5 cups of beer, maybe if you werent so irresistible. after your teasing and a hard party, he couldnt do it anymore. lets just say you had a hard time walking the next day.

luffy: november 21st

you brought up no nut november and he seemed interested so he decided he would do it! his sex drive isnt super high so he didnt think he would mind. although some nights hed get whiny, he held out long enough. then one night, youre feeling needy and he cant say no to your cute face. he tried not to bust buttt it didnt work out.

law: he made it!!

he wanted to experience nnn so he did! it was actually so difficult for him not to suprisingly. of course he couldnt go a month without you so he did play with you quite alot. he might of came in his pants a little but thats only a maybe!! on decemeber 1st, he was a absolute beast.

[butchfortress]

realized i havent posted here much so, umm,

who wants to hear about my blu team headcanons ^__^ this is just my rundown of how they work, what they're like, and even weapon loadouts

ok so im going to roll with the teams being clones, but i dont want to make any sort of drama to be just about that, like that whole existential dread of being a clone thing. its been done to death and i have nothing new to say for it (besides, i'd assume the inital cloning process was years ago when they just got hired, by now the novelty would of worn off and weirder stuff would of happened for them to even care or worry about that.) so what i'm thinking is that there's no way everyone would have the exact same experiences after they get cloned, so everyone just splits off into their own paths and they become their own individuals almost. and interacting with themselves from the other teams isnt "oh thats literally me :(" but more so "oh thats literally me and i need to be better than him >:(" so theres always this bit of competition between everyone; an infinite loop of anything you can do i can do better.

as for everyone individually...... (i'll also throw in a ⭐ for whoever is the "master copy" of themselves)

blu scout: short stop / mad milk / stock bat

accidental honorary delivery boy. when miss pauling is busy with the actually important work, admin sends this scout around the teufort area to send out weapons and other mann co. products. red scout sees him as a bit of a poser poster child and they butt heads often, especially when red scout is off-shift while blu is making deliveries.

blu soldier: rocket jumper / b.a.s.e. jumper / market gardener

if not maybe a bit more of a conspiracy nut and more compliant to the company, i guess the most similar to his original version? can't beat perfection i guess, not a lot of notes here but they probably bite each other for fun.

blu pyro: decreaser / shotgun / neon annihilator

not visually different or note worthy either, but whatever she and red pyro have is unspoken, vicious, and brutal. they will tear each other limb by limb anytime they're in proximity. definitely another reason that fuels most of the team's fear towards them.

blu demo ⭐: iron bomber / scottish resistance/ nessie's nine iron

strategic, cool, and a bit of a schemer. a real master at his craft with sticky bombs and planning traps. red demo actually likes him but blu HATES him since he (red) got the eyelander and he (himself) didn't, so he's very bitter towards him (wow this is confusing.)

blu heavy: tomslav / family business / eviction notice

goes missing from base a lot, no one knows why. he seems to be doing illegal assassin work both inside and out of company payroll. both heavies actually are in contact often and blu gives a good chunk, if not all, of what he makes to him. i'd assume any of the clones visiting anywhere outside of the immediate tuefort area would be problematic and would have restrictions to prevent two of the exact same person from walking around in the world at once, so blu heavy lets his other self take it so long as it goes directly to his mom and sisters. if he can't visit them personally, at least him knowing they're stable financially and doing well is more than enough for him.

blu engineer ⭐: rescue ranger / wrangler / wrench

the dell conagher, enough said. he's the most in contact with admin behind miss pauling for her own purposes. he'd rather not think about his red counterpart, but i will say that this version does not have the gunslinger. that was all red engineer post-cloning. but he does have the only australiam tool between both teams so it balances out maybe.

blu medic ⭐: overdose / vaccinator / solemn vow

he thinks hes dr fritz ludwig from emesis blue 🤣��🤣 tries VERY hard to be a cold collected scientist but ends up being more neurotic and jumpy. screams a lot. actually maybe dislikes his team? and loathes his own red copy for actually trying (who btw (red) is having a great time knowing his existence is an abomination to god, its even an affirmation he tells himself in a mirror.)

blu sniper: huntsman / razorback / kukri

ironically one of the few blu team members that actually stay put in the base. he doesnt call his folks as per aforementioned restrictions, but he has no beef with his red counterpart for that. the worst they do is get extremely competitive; theyre at the top of their game and even have stand offs of just aiming for hours until someone flinches.

blu spy ⭐: revolver / black rose / dead ringer / red-tape recorder

the man, the myth, the legend. more carefree and unserious than red spy, thats partially because he doesn't know about scout's relation to him. red spy found that out post-cloning, he's missing that one bit or character development that makes him a more mature and cold mercenary, but at this moment he's none the wiser. so aside from expected spy vs. spy shenanigans, their conflict is a bit more deeply rooted. he actually visits the red base a LOT, to only a few people's knowledge. makes a lot of long tangents.

[fatallyaddictedtofiction]

So me and @little-doggy-girl-kisser watched I Saw the TV Glow yesterday. After I've had a day to digest it. Wow.

(Edit: this has allusions to my personal mind thoughts so be wary of that i guess???)

Firstly can i obsess over the lighting symbolism, going from largely pink in the first half over to blue in the 2nd, and the use of / lack of sound REALLY effectively drags out scenes to make them either more eery, more empty or scary like ITS A MASTERPIECE

As a young person watching that film, the concept of time slipping away too quickly really resonated, especially because the past few weeks have felt exactly like that (its already scary, this movie made me so scared lmao) and it was so well done, the "I was 19, then I was 20, then I was 21" literally passing by like seconds, and the "there is still time" message really hit hard (i wanted to cry, but i struggle to cry often).

As an autistic trans person, Jeez. Jeez. The whole idea of thinking a show is more real than the life happening around you. Thinking everyone around you knows something is wrong with you. Not feeling comfortable whatsoever in your own skin. God, its so... I dont want to say exposing, but its basically like being seen, or recognised?? I know that I havent even been on this planet for 20 years yet but that movie made me feel seen.

(Also brief side-note as an aroace person, Owen saying "I like... Tv shows?" is so real for that i agree)

The being scared is so real. Even when you have people around you supporting you and loving you, in my experience it can be scary. What if you wake up one day and that's not who you are? What if you thought for so long this was the real you and when you finally accept it you realise it isnt?? SORRY GETTING OFF TOPIC.

The movie perfectly encapsulates that fear of change, and the consequences due to that change, or lack of.

I think one of the important messages is that even though theyd been buried and were dying and suffocating and they werent themselves, their hearts were still beating. Their hearts were still beating even if they didnt know they were dying. Their hearts were still beating because there is still time. And thats such an important message because there is still time.

There were moments where i was genuinely watching the screen scared, for example Mr Melancholy's speech really creeped my out. I wish i could have a more thorough analysis of this but all i remember is thinking "i will have nightmares about this" and i think thats almost the point?? It could be trying to say that this experience can be so scary and horrifying it bleeds into everything, even things as big as the moon.

The moment where Owen saw inside his own chest felt like it was such a huge moment of "that is who I am. That is who I could be" and it was heartbreaking to see it just disappear and see him apologising for something that might not have been real, at least something no one noticed because he is so "if you cant think about it they cant get you / it isnt real" and because he doesn't let himself think about who he really could be, is he even real?

To be honest i really dont know if i "Got It" or not but thats mainly what I took from it i think

Idk man i love this movie and i want to cry too 🤷‍♀️

[storgicdealer]

ehehehehehe okay. first things first i figured out a good name for stohio: carteblan (i cannot believe it took me this long ive been calling it stohio for like ? oh my god just over a year now)

anyways yeah.

i havent figured out the exact timeline, but a couple years before victim "came back to life"/escaped the ava1 youtube video (that's a whole other can of worms), stickfigures were just finding out about the existence of other living sticks. in particular, freedom was a rather popular figure as one of the first sticks to break out of stick slavery (many living stickfigures were put to tasks, similar to chosen and second, where it was either do the task or die). freedom specifically was the first to discover the outernet, and quickly provided a link to others online.

he then created the "stick freedom ad" (which earned him his name; prior to this, he was simply known as unti (short for untitled) (sticks having Names outside of their roles was not a common thing yet)). he made this ad and scammed several websites into displaying it without actually paying for it by using fraudulent money (there are a couple very old blog posts and forum posts about the Stick Freedom Ad and what its supposed to mean, since clicking on it leads to an error 404).

as more sticks were freed and entered the outernet, they began to build houses. some sticks that had experience with drawing helped draw the sketches for these houses, which was then built upon using the surrounding resources. this eventually developed into carteblan, the city that mango and purple live in today.

however as time passed the culture in carteblan became a little elitist--- victim-blamey (haha), acting like all sticks should be strong, and turning down their noses on sticks who look a little too different from the norm (like paleo, ballista and hazard) (the norm being hollowheads, fullheads and whiteheads).

like i mentioned in my reblog, the sticks in carteblan began to crave more, lives similar to human lives, and amongst that was a demand for stick children. in my headcanon, sticks cannot reproduce and any sex they have is entirely recreational, so they had to devise another method for having kids. adoption, like mango did with gold in my hc, is the most common way of doing this.

sticks like second, that can draw things to life, are extremely rare (like 1 out of a thousand) in the outernet, but theres a couple thousand people in carteblan as of 2024 so there are a few sticks that can actually draw sticks to life. thus, they do 'kid' commissions where they literally draw a kid to life in exchange for money. there are also some website sticks in touch with their animators who ask their animators do do kid commissions as well for people in the outernet.

wow okay this is long. there are other stick cities too but the two major cities are carteblan and adagia most other sticks live in solitude or on websites ok im done woo

grabs you by the shoulders. falls onto the floor. has a fucking awakening

DUDE.

this is one of the most amazing things ive seen recently that inspired me to make a ramble/srs.

im going to create another part of my ramble series and pin it because of it im fr

foundation of the outernet, development of outernet sticks and creation of living beings

(a ramble made with the help of an immaculate person with amazing ideas)

OH MY GOD?????? FIRSTLY. i need to mention that i ADORE that we both have an idea that outernet was discovered by created internet/pc sticks. that its appearance began to be a place for a whole race to live in. and that its not something that exists completely naturally and independently from it. this is the theory of their origins i believe most right now

freedom being the founder IS SICK. ITS SO FUCKING SICK im rolling on the floor

in my "rules of code" ramble also i supposed sticks being in touch with their creators as well and them also BEING DRAWN!!! by sticks and creators. ill put a screenshot of everything hold on

outernets creation

my thoughts about outernets existence that most of which i think i explained

lives of stickmen and reproduction

my thoughts were about reproduction as well!!!!! its mostly accepted as canon in the fandom that sticks reproduce naturally but i cannot say that it actually is canon. everything that was going on with purple was symbolic and didnt showcase like. natural birth

alan said that for gold to exist king would have to marry a very neon yellow stick.

AND THIS made me confirm my headcanon that stick children are created by parent(s) own code. that they cannot influence it or prefer a color, that their code INHERENTLY has the variety of the color palette and hexcodes embedded into it.

ABOUT the code and colors. (i believe that the colors of sticks mixing up with each others is COMPLETELY code.)

all sticks inherently have a code and a name that gives them associated power. that can be messed with as well by a user (tdl command). its something that ive also talked in my rules of code ramble and mentioned the concept of "levels" and name power hierarchy

the chosen one, created and possessing a grandeu amount of power

the dark lord, also posessing a lot of power (that i dont believe couldve came from the command that was written into them. the command of destroying chosen is a goal that i believe is able to not be achieved)

the second coming, the name of someone that ties them with their predecessor (does make me wonder though how exactly their code made a connection with our chosen. maybe its possible that the name "the second coming" by itself, as a level, implies being a coming of someone powerful)

victim, being quite weak by themselves and not posessing any power by their own and having to rely on pc programs they're aware of.

i believe that being able to code a stick into a specific power and duty is something that could only be achieved and controlled through the feature of the program the stick was created in. in case of outernet, since they dont have access to computer programs and therefore, programs of creation such as adobe they cannot influence or change one's code

when it comes to creation of a stick i truly believe that you are able to give them color by yourself, unless the child is made by connecting it to the codes of its supposed parent(s). they gain hue by either actually taking/mixing up the colors of the parents or by taking one color in case of a sole parent.

(societal thought: its possible that outernet sticks, due to not wanting to have a literal copy and just an extension of themselves and wanting to create an "actual new life" by mixing colours prefer to have children with a partner, and not by themselves only)

have thought that color/code of the stick could be influenced by the parent(s) preferences, like a parent would like to have a kid similar to them and name them the same way (thus resulting/having their hexcode being picked out individually) BUT. i remembered alans words about kings spouse.

that for gold to exist king would need to marry a really neon yellow stick.

would it imply that sticks that subtract parent(s) code cannot influence the color of the stick created? as much as it impossible to influence the features of a born child in our real life, only taking it from parents and letting the nature play a randomizer. and that the only thing that they are able to influence is the shape of their creation?

society of outernet

THE CONCEPT OF STICKS SOCIETY BEING ELITIST ABOUT THIS STUFF. im eating it im not sure what fully do with it yet but im eating it

ive also talked about society there

when talking about creators of mercs king purple and co i was mostly thinking about real users. BUT YOUR CONCEPT OF STICKS BEING DRAWN BY OTHER STICKS AND ME THINKING ABOUT IT AS WELL . THIS IS SO FUCKING AMAZING. this is canon for me IDC!!!!!!

it does, however, make me wonder of their living process. we know that alan's hollowheads are created for a reason, are born aware of themselves, how to walk/run/interact/fight and havent been seen aging or changing. and due to chosen, victim and second surviving a whole bunch of damage that should've killed them, second literally REFUSING to delete, the fate of dark lord being unknown and alan not giving a straight answer about it and, very important: cg as created sticks being unable to actually die and needing only refresh of a page to continue living, having all their memories intact... makes me wonder that stickmen created directly by a human hand are unable to die.

(does make me wonder about another completely different thing. the societal perception. is it acceptable to be in touch with your stick creators? how would it even feel. do they perceive them as a distant relative?? do sticks that are able to create life consider their creations close to them as well??? im imagining something along the lines about detroit stuff with connor&kamski but way less intense)

connection of realms and creation of life

ive rambled A TON about connection of internet and outernet and how sticks especially of outernet could connect and travel between realms. hear ye hear ye.

right now i genuinely believe that stick society advanced so far in the outernet and got to live there that their connection with the internet mightve severed:

sticks of outernet don't physically interact neither with internet/pc programs OR travel there unless they obtained something that could allow them to travel to a pc/internet (the minecraft block and nether portals that seem doing quite fine in the outernet dimension) or have powers that can allow them to break through (chosen and the computer/ip sky which, interestingly, has only been seen broken through on the alanspc ip adress//dark portals to the internet).

given this, there's not a lot of accesible methods of traveling to the internet and most of them are available only to pc sticks.

(except. for king and purple. except for king getting a block from minecraft that was not supposed to be in the outernet from that merchant in his backstory. but it is a whole another can of worms as well)

as far as we've seen sticks that werent exposed to pc and internet tech dont really use or possess any tech that could access it??????? the times where we've seen tech such as computers/phones/tvs/pc and programs interface were always in possession of sticks that came from a pc or were there at least once (hollowheads, the cg, purple) or were entrusted with it from someone that was on a pc (mercenaries). talking about the video used on the tv in "the king" episode... it has never been shown that this video was being shown directly from the youtubes platform either. and that lead me to a thought that outernet sticks might not even interacted with internet's properties except for the tools used to create a life that came along with the foundation of the internet and most likely were developed from tools brought by the first sticks. but the way outernet progressed they might not even know that this stuff is literally from another realm

heck, a daring thought.

in case of outernet being almost completely cut off from its original internet history recent sticks of outernet might not even know of the existence of pcs and internet.

this does however clash with sticks being still created by people and sticks that are able to create life being in touch with them. but its still supposable that only rare sticks with an ability to create life somewhat have a.. gene? passed through to them from some of their ancestors that could've been able to create life. and users dont exactly come into this (also given its unlikely that its a regular experience for a user to be emulated in the outernet world like it was with alans cursor in showdown)

continuing to talk about elitism. again this is such a sick concept

im thinking right now that elitism towards stickmen that arent completely strong/prefer not to engage in fighting due to the progress of their civilization//different kinds of stickmen mightve also came from the original stickmen (im going start coloring this concept now. also this whole is some adam and eve stuff) that were created to fight. we know from our real world that the first appearance of sticks in the internet didnt come from a desire to animate them in a fighting ring but the whole scene and culture of fighting sticks came around pretty quickly. the whole reason avam exists as a series

its possible that while predecessors of original stickmen werent created with fighting in mind the stickmen that discovered the outernet might as well been the first sticks created for fight. and since it isnt a thing that gone away and is most likely embedded into the code of sticks themselves in the avam universe the whole "fighting code gene" mightve been carried over to recent sticks as well. and this elitism exists that even though sticks dont have to fight anymore (to literally survive in most cases) due to the progress of their kind some conservative mfs might believe that "this is what our ancestors intendeeeddd you need to bow to your roots and your existing gene"

the elitism towards kinds of sticks is. god its such a big and very explainable and amazing concept

due to sticks just beginning existing in the internet a long while ago and mostly drawn pretty similarly (since most creators were just exploring how to draw them digitally) the race of stickmen that passed down from original stickmen could've been all just fullheads and whiteheads and perhaps hollowheads?.. im really thinking hard about it because. we havent seen hollowheads in the outernet and the fact that orange didnt even know of their existence anywhere else and even WE didnt up until they saw victim (and were probably quite damn shocked) and the fact it was possibly quite a grand moment to them confuses me.

im not sure for what reason, but the number of sticks of the race of hollowheads might have been reduced in present outernet, only having the ones that posses incredible power survive. (yet. also victim. that does not posses such power. but its a whole another idea on that they could've acquired it through different means and not from power coming from their own self)

or, it just is an avam universe rule that users didnt really think of drawing hollowheads when creating first sticks because it was hard for them to keep track of the background besides their damn hollow head and it was easier to have a stick that covered it fully on another layer LOL

either way, coming back to elitism (this sounds funny out of context), due to original sticks being simply drawn as fullheads whiteheads and possibly hollowheads it was the main race that stickmen were used to creating when drawing a new life. but with the progress of their civilization they started to experiment, eventually inventing new kinds of sticks (the kinds of hazard, ballista and paleo). due to some conservative sticks clinging to their roots they didnt like the difference from the norm.

elitism thought.

even with a possible inability to code a stick into doing something by outernet sticks would people still try to draw a stick with a specific build associated with certain jobs and tasks, trying to force them into a mold of who they are "supposed" to be? like, drawing a stick that resembles a sign (like hazard) and having them work for example as an aircraft marshaller or some other job that requires caution and directive? the grey sticks working in rocketcorp, possibly made as clerks and errand dudes?

..could purple be drawn being stronger and having a greater build than a usual stick would have, therefore disappointing navy when they dont match their expectations of a stick they wanted?

would it be a problem that progressive sticks would try to solve? allowing different kinds of sticks to exist, but not forcing them into a certain shape?

another thing. YOUVE OPENED A GATEWAY TO A SEA OF WORMS BY TELLING ME ABOUT POSSIBLE ESCAPE OF VICTIM FROM A YOUTUBE VIDEO.

my previous ramble (rocketcorp, dimensions and virtual reality) made a theory that victim, in one way or another essentially brought pc programs and tech into outernet, thus obtaining power that is, quite literally, linked with their whole creation. (very symbolic considering their whole power is the one that made their life end so fast) and, due to outernet being cut off from programs and powers of internet and pcs, became a being that literally stood higher than the reality and fabric of the outernet realm itself, possesing power that could possibly meddle with it (mercs cannons literally changing structure and whole being of objects like the corndog stand or literally messing with a sticks state and body with chosen). and i have thought that victim is the one that could use internet itself as one of their grand tools.

and. animation vs youtube. we fucking know. that a stick is able to upload itself and break the interface of internet.

no one said that the original ava video on youtube is the whole thing that victim used to escape.

also. remember me mentioning that the original video of animation vs minecraft wasnt shown to be accessed through youtube. this video looked like it was downloaded having a whole different bar at the bottom and everything. couldve it been downloaded by vic or rocketcorp?

(victim interneted the fucking internet and started showing avam series like their own show. by the way its ALSO a potential scenario i talked about before. that due to potential severing of outernet citizens with the internet the recorded adventures of the cg on pc, internet and minecraft (ESPECIALLY considering that minecraft existed as a fun simulation game on a festival) that was broadcasted could've been interpreted by outernet sticks as fiction. but its an independent funny concept to be thought about and i still didnt fully figure it out)

op.

you cracked my mind open like a walnut and i cannot stop thinking about all of your ideas

oh my god this did so much to me. ive been writing for the past two hours due to how much ideas it gave me. im going to pin this ramble because its very important to me and puts a lot of theories and headcanons in stone. you are my saviour cindersnows and you are probably going to be fucking FLABBERGASTED by the length of this post

sincerely yours storgic "the aspiring matpat of the avam fandom" dealer

[sassykinzonline]

what’s your opinion on people who say sns is platonic? like i’ll see well done essays about sns and how they changed each other for the better and their love. then… theyll say its platonic.

is it just blissful ignorance or? 😭

oh wow this is a really good question, thank you.

um hm, i never really want to totally shit on anyone's interpretation of anything so long as its accurate to the information thats presented so im not really against any interpretation thats well-defended. i havent read the kind of opinion youre talking about so i cant really say anything more specific than that.

what i will say though is that i think sometimes some snsers get caught up in "fighting homophobia" that they kind of miss the essence of naruto and i's specific relationship: that we are every type of attraction and every kind of love. its obvious in the manga's arts, the different parallels, the words we use to describe each other, the progression of our relationship, the intimacy we share with each other, i could go on and on.

so, do i think our relationship is presented in a way thats exclusively platonic? nope and the only way you could come to that conclusion is either a) homophobia or b) genuinely not being able to grasp the storytelling elements in the manga (ie. you dont necessarily need to be able to understand or feel romantic/sexual attraction to see that the manga shows you it exists between us explicitly). the anime is a bit...worse but i still feel like most people have seen the anime ONLY and still feel discomfort because they cant figure out if we're gay or not, and ive never heard of another shonen anime with a problem that big.

however, the platonic element is a huge and important part of our relationship. there was no one among our "friends" that could truly understand, sympathize, or care for us. but at the same time, that wasnt enough. there's the familial element too, in the sense that we wanted the safety that we knew a family should make you feel. we knew the "family" we had (iruka and itachi) were broken. there's a professional side to it too, where our profession is so intimately tied to our sense of self that thats how we communicate our feelings to each other. there's a romantic element yes, the feeling of completion and feeling that someone is "for you". there's even a sexual/aesthetic element, where just the appearance of someone overwhelms your senses and consumes your body. i would also look at the relationships you have with other people and ask if they dont include different kinds of love/attraction despite mainly being one thing.

ultimately though, i think that the way the narrative is presented (and the way i feel), the point is meant to be that we have all those different types of love except because of our context (familial, political, social, whatever) its difficult to realize the romance that we both desperately wanted from the other. the manga presents the double suicide proposal as romantic, and thats the climax of the story. so the relationship should be looked at as a romantic one. at the same time though, if people feel like "well just because the manga says its a romantic relationship doesnt mean this is inherently romantic, theyre exclusive queer platonic soulmates that kiss and bone" or something then i think thats fine too. so long as they understand that naruto and i will always come before anyone else to each other, and that whatever we feel for the other is not only mutual but mutually desired and all encompassing.

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #33 | 07.26.23

Hi everyone!

It's only been a month (per usual) since the last devlog. But it feels like so long ago! Very weird that last devlog I hadn't even released Intertwine yet. But here we are, back with another one!

Before we get into things, I want to extend the biggest thank you to everyone who has played and supported intertwine!

if you havent played yet, here it is. this is me on my knees asking because i am quite proud of it and what our team accomplished in two months!

in the almost month it's been out, we stand at almost 15k total plays and 200+ reviews which is so crazy to me. i never would've expected that kind of reception for our little game and when i say it has been so motivating for alaris!!! u dont even know!!!

thank you again for all the kind words---i know you are all Sick of me talking about it but i don't know how else to express my gratitude <3 it means so much to me ;_;

I wanted to make sure I inserted an official section for it in the Devlog just to really thank you all for the support. But with that, I shall get into the updates!

But not before a quick belated happy birthday to Fenir!

Writing

I posted it earlier this week, but I HAVE!!! THE MOST EXCITING NEWS!!! At least for me.

I FINISHED DRUK'S FIRST DRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We all know how long this has been in the making. I've been talking about his route for what feels like an eternity. Evidently, it's Very Normal to experience burnout, struggles with motivation, creative ruts, etc. etc. at this point in development. The initial and final stages of development are easier because your motivation is up. In the beginning, it's like Wow!! This is Fun!! And towards the end, it's like Wow!!! I actually Fckn Made It!!!!

And so the middle part of development, aka the stage I just entered with Druk's route, is the slog.

Now that I've overcome that initial hurdle, while I'm not near the end of development, I do feel like I will have a better handle of progress on the following routes since I have a better set of expectations and tools on how to get through this stage (compared to when I initially started Druk's route, and I was like what are all these Feelings?? Why am I Struggling so much??).

That being said, WE ARE OVER HALFWAY DONE WITH THE SCRIPT! It currently stands at 200k words including the demo, and with how each of the routes have been shaping up, we have about 150k left to go. Wow!!!!! It is crazy to know I've written that much for Alaris, and this feels like such an exciting milestone to know that I'm over halfway there for the script!

We also have just about wrapped up Fenir's developmental edits, so that makes Kayn and Fenir's foundational versions of their routes done (all that would be left at this point is line tweaking and/or revisions based on beta feedback)!! Overall, this was a really exciting month for writing updates, and I'm so happy to feel back on track with Alaris development <3 I also finished my dissertation proposal in case anyone is keeping track of that HEEHOO

Art

Most of my attention for art was (un?)fortunately on Intertwine this month AGAIN. I really had anticipated being able to dive right into Alaris and irl work this month after Otojam ended. But the reception to Intertwine made it so I needed to dedicate some time to "marketing" artwork aka the artwork I like to make when reaching certain milestones of support (e.g., 1k downloads, etc.). Obviously these aren't necessary, but I like to show my thanks and appreciation in some way, and the artwork is what feels best conveys my gratitude.

Because we hit milestones relatively quickly, I ended up having to make those pieces faster than I anticipated prior to release. So I spent the first half of this month mostly on intertwine "promotional/apprecation" artwork. Near the tail end of this month though, I've prioritized Alaris artwork and have made progress on both the Kickstarter physical rewards and some CG sketches!

sneaky peeky of pretty mermay Aisa

Vui continues to hit it out of the park with the backgrounds. Most of them are spoilers at this point. But I do have one that isn't too bad of a spoiler! And because you all have been so supportive and patient with me, I show hehe

vui and his bg mastery: a preview of the dragon springs

The demo mentions dragon springs (I..... think......... LMAO), and here is a preview of what those dragon springs can look like. Wonder what the context will be in which we visit them, teehee! I'm in love with the way Vui brings the fantasy world of Alaris to life. I am so grateful for him ^^

Market Research

My wrist was feeling ~delicate~ this month due to Otojam crunch and then post-release pieces. So I don't have any actual art pieces to showcase this month for market research. I did play Otojam games and started Cupid Parasite (ryuki and allan my beloveds). But crescence's wrist needs to relax LOL. So no art pieces more than necessary for this month!

I will send some love to my besties over at Ravenstar Games though! If you haven't heard, they have a game currently in development called Lost in Limbo. It looks sick as hell, and the team is unbelievable talented and hardworking. This month to celebrate Barbie, they were able to sneak this promotional piece in, even while working on their Master's ((Do you see...... a familiar group of people..... heh))

Alaris x Lost in Limbo x Barbie the collaboration of the century

That's all from me for now. Thank you again for all the support and love on Intertwine! I've truly cherished all the fanwork, reviews, kind messages, etc.

That being said, while it was a bit of a struggle getting back returning to the Alaris world initially (I was literally like what.... was the plot of this again... LMAOsazodujf), it's been so rewarding to return to my OG gang. The intertwine release and return to Alaris work has also been strangely sentimental since it's reminded me how far I've come in the two years I've been in this dev Thang. As always thank you for your continued support (and for supporting Alaris since it's inception when I was a Wee Dev), and I look forward to bringing you more updates in the future <3

See you all next month, and stay safe!

[honeekyuu]

hi honey! im sending this to ask you how you decided that you wanted to pursue a PHD. im thinking of getting a phd in economics because I’ve always been super interested, but im not sure if that’s the path for me yet. what do you think are some pros and cons to getting one and how did you know that this was the right path for you??

-b.

hi!!! omg wow what a question. i will say first that everyones phd experience looks a little different, so i can talk ab mine but definitely take it with a grain of salt!!

i knew i wanted to do a phd because 1) i love being in school, and 2) while i was getting my B.A in linguistics, i had a lot of questions that were higher level and more specific than my undergrad classes could really get into. I also worked as a research assistant to a professor in the East Asian Languages and Civilizations dept for about 3 years, and she was my closest mentor and advisor in that time. she was a korean historian, and she encouraged me to keep studying something related to korean, because that had been my specialization of sorts when it came to choosing classes and research projects. i had a feeling around that time that i wanted to go on to a graduate program of some sort.

after i finished undergrad, i took a year off to figure my life out, and in that time, i worked one on one with a professor in the Linguistics dept at my undergrad for about 9-10 months. under her guidance, i wrote what would have essentially been a masters thesis about korean linguistics, and i knew in that time that i wanted that paper to be the paper i submitted to phd programs.

i think there are a few things to consider when thinking ab a phd:

phds are extremely individual research focused. my program doesnt offer a terminal master's degree (it's included within the phd program as a milestone), but phds are NOT like "undergrad 2.0". ive seen a number of people make that mistake in my program, focusing only on coursework and waiting for their advisor to give them research to do. im not sure how econ works, but in ling, we're thrown straight off the deep end into research. im only a 3rd year, and my master's degree research project was accepted into the top korean linguistics conference in the world, which is 100% a FLEX but also this is only happening because my advisors are cutthroat research gods who pushed pushed pushed me from the very first day. so please be aware that phds are very self-driven. you need the motivation to work on your own for long periods of time.

some people think a phd is a lonely experience. i think it certainly can be, because everyone is working on their own hyper-specific research project, but it's also very important for that reason to have friends. my closest friend in the department is 3 years above me, and we only became friends because i arrived screaming crying throwing up with fear and anxiety ab my work and he literally clocked me as the kid who needed the most emotional grounding LMAO. my other closest friend was literally my research assistant. he was an undergrad. but he was my age (korean military service delays college quite a lot, it seems), so once his contract w me was up, it turned into us helping him apply for grad schools too!! and now the four of us (them + my partner) have weekly stardew valley screaming sessions on discord and saturday brunch with animal crossing. it's not lonely, and i think that's because i knew it would be if i didnt make friends.

i think ill say one more thing before i stfu. grad school is hard. it's so so hard. please be aware of that. some days im drowning in mental health issues and fearing even a chance encounter in the hall with my advisors because i know theyll ask about something i havent gotten done yet. sometimes im literally sobbing on my couch, overwhelmed beyond belief wondering if i can do this. sometimes i become self-destructive and isolated and so terribly unwell that my mom starts calling my partner because i wont pick up the phone. it's fucking hard. but it's also the happiest ive ever been, truly. the really really hard days are worth it, because the really good days or even just the decently good days are much more frequent and amazing. running down the hall to avoid my advisor seeing me is worth it because, when things are good, he invites me to coffee and we spend 2+ hours talking about my future. he tells me he pushes me because he knows i can do what needs to be done and change the field. he makes my life hell because, once im through it, no one else could ever question the quality of my work and the job market is going to be so beautiful once i get there. i started grad school a nervous wreck with terribly low self-esteem who thought that my research could never cut it or be interesting enough. im barely going into my 3rd year, and ive been broken down and reformed into the kind of person i used to look up to, by my own sheer willpower to be the strongest i can be. im not afraid to fail anymore, because ive failed a million times in the last 2 years. im not afraid to fuck up, because ive fucked up so many times, in front of the two people who hold my future in their hands, and im still here. grad school is worth it to me because im the version of myself that the me from undergrad would never believe exists.

[tinyascanbe]

Introducing my g/t story

Beetle Shells

its based on actual entomology work ive done as a scientist, very self indulgent! TW: Cursing, light nudity, light blood, bugs (non aggro bugs)

Chapter 1: Introduction

I took quick and long strides down the sterile white hallway. At the end of the hallway were double doors tinted a dark black with yellow and red warning plates on the side. Reaching the end of the hallway and approaching a set of lockers, I instinctively reach for one marked with pink duct tape. Sighing, I shed my coat and donned a fresh laboratory coat along with medical boot covers. I tied my hair back into a messy bun of curls and finished up by secured the boot covers and buttoning up the coat. Beep beep beep beep! I stepped through the first door after punching in a personalized unique code. It was completely dark except for the UV light and stepped onto a sticky white pad. I heard the familiar hissing and allowed the cold air shower to blow onto my face and body before the stream dissipated. Lights automatically turned on and she then entered the quarantine lab. The quarantine lab was divided into four sections with one of the chemist labs right at the entrance.

“Heya Kyle. Any lucky today?” I approached the other scientist, peering around his shoulders at the beetle he was dissecting.

“Eh yknow, still having a hard time replicating the pheromones of this particular species. Still no preference or response to any of my solutions. The boss is pressuring me to get one ready in preparation for a public meeting with the state. Theres some big money involved with this research and the public havent been responsive. These invasive lil guys sure are causing me to lose sleep.” His face is creased with stress as he talks about it and he drops his tools in frustration.

“Yeah…they sure are cute lil guys. Imagine when you finally formulate it though! Theyll want to be all over you. Then your army of beetle lovers can eat the public opinion!” I laugh and pick up an analytical jar filled with peat and watch as the horned beetle emerges to munch on some sugarcane.

“Also hey how many do we have in inventory?” I inquire.

“Uhhh probably around 400 individuals over 5 generations. Sixth generation is scheduled to emerge in a few days now.” He answers, still not looking up at me. I admire his brown sleek hair, shining under the fluorescent lighting. I usually made excuses to talk to him throughout the day.

“Wow I wonder how much room we have left in here, we’re packed full. Well I have to work for about 3 hours with the longhorns so Ill come check in later to see if I can assist you.” Striding off, I walk through a hallway and enter a large metal door with a large latch.

I come into an enclosed refrigerated room and curse my luck on being stuck here. Its all plated metal with a chrome shelving unit on wheels and a long black table that stood about waist height. Plopping down on the black top swivel stool, i reach up for my clipboard, a binder, and mechanical pencil. Flipping open the binder, I scan the list of insects to be tested and pull out a form from another tabbed section. I flip open my airpod case and connect to my phones spotify playlist and walk out of the refrigerated hell to go grab my lil buddies that I get to hang out with for awhile. The insect species are separated by room so I dance over to the longhorn beetle room down the hall. The walls are lined with cups full of insect food and individual insects in each container. Buckets of different types of plants for feeding and a few carts along with another black table in the center of the room, fairly messy with forceps and papers were scattered about. The containers were marked with a gender sticker and had assigned genealogy tracking numbers. Sometimes Id mark a little heart on their containers if I was particularly fond of one of the individuals.

Dancing over and grabbing the cart, I stack male beetles and referencing my clipboard every so often. I scooted them all carefully back into my refrigerated testing room while grooving a bit to the music. I grabbed my favorite stick from the shelving unit and popped the top of the container to LB-08924 and was greeted by shaking and hissing.

“Oh nope. How bout you calm down there young man. Ill give you a few more minutes.” And grab another container for a second try.

On the table is a glass Y tube. Theres one small air hose connected to one side with the vaporized pheromone that the lab created and one small air hose connected to the other side with regular air. I get the next individual onto the stick and gently transfer them to the entrance to the tube and start a timer. The little antennas move a bit and stays in place. Waiting for the male to make a decision, I scribble in quick notes and information out on my form. Finally after 3 long minutes the male decides to walk down the tube towards our lab solution. I detach the air hose and gently pinch the lil guy to pull him out with a gloved hand. With a rather ungraceful plop, the male is dropped back into the container and the lid snapped shut.

Three hours go by and Ive listened to a whole Phish album and a podcast. I push a fallen curl behind my ear and straighten my posture, flipping through my reports to make sure I didnt miss any information.

Id been looking forward to taking a break and talking to Kyle again and the thought made me smile a bit to myself. I replace all my test subjects back to their respectful places, pop out my earbuds, and walk down the long hallway back to the main chemist lab.

“Kyle! Still hard at work I see. Im finished up with my beetles, need me to try and take a crack at yours?” I call out, seeing him in the same exact position as before. But this time, he actually turns to meet my green eyes with his darker gaze.

“Actually…yeah. The boss just fuckin yelled at me again to hurry this up. He doesnt understand that I cant rush this and once it is formulated, we have a long QC process ahead of us… Test this for me will you?”

“Yeah, anything for you. Give me a couple minutes to warm up first. Sample size?”

“Lets do 50 individuals. Using a spoon is your best bet to dig em out of the peat. Thanks, Clementine.” He holds out a vial to me and i take it, flashing him a smile and receiving one back.

I take the vial and slip it into my lab pocket readying a new cart of the new much larger rhinoceros male beetles. I struggle to balance their glass containers on the cart and right as I attempt to move the cart into the doorway of the testing room, the cart wobbles and causes the glass jars with the beetles to fall. Lunging to save the falling beetles, I trip in the process, breaking the vial and causing the glass to puncture through my jacket and shirt into my side. I land on other glass and thankfully none of the beetles.

“FUCK. ME.” I hiss and to my dismay I hear footsteps running over to me.

“Dude this didnt happen, lets not file an OSHA report and shit you know how much paperwork that is. Its my fault I shouldnt have tried to bring in that many bugs. I’ll take care of it all seriously Im fine. Im so sorry for breaking your vial I know that took you a long time..” I couldnt stop talking. Nevermind as fast as I was. I felt so embarrassed by the whole thing and wished I was alone. Kyle was staring at me with saucer eyes as if I ended the world by smashing his creation and I felt so badly about not being more careful.

“Uh Clementine… are you…. are you ok..? What the fuck…?”

I look down and see blood… but the blood stains look huge…but so does the lab coat itself…fuck I dont feel good. Woah all the beetles are surrounding me. The ones on the walls all surfaced from their peat. What the fuck….

Everything was in slow motion. I couldnt think straight and I felt like I was floating on hard drugs.

I realize Im craning my head up at Kyle with panic in my eyes.

“What was in the vial?” I slowly struggle to ask?

“Nothing that would cause this?? Its impossible. Maybe a dream??” He looks down at her with matching panic, hands shaking and staring down in fear as he appeared larger and larger to my now slumped body.

Ten or so beetles had finally began to crawl on me as I reached the height of the waist high table. Fear gripped me in the uncertainty but I realized I could barely stand from the overwhelming dizziness and weakness that overtook me. I was no taller than the waist high table and I collapsed to the ground causing two beetles to jump off.

“Help, please” desperation soaked my voice as their barbed legs gripped into my skin and my height still diminishing.

Kyles eyes darted and he finally began snatching the beetles off me and placing them in the labs emergency bug net. His huge hands approaching me caused my heart to race faster with fear. Holding the net of angry buzzing beetles, he turned and ran to secure them, leaving me. I had no idea how tall I was at this point, just that I was probably under 1’ by the look of things. I began to drag myself towards the bottom of the cart to try and hide underneath. There was no where else to hide and I couldnt trust a scientist, no matter how cute. The loud sound of footsteps coming back pumped fear through me and I realized I wouldnt be able to hide in time.

“Oh fuck youre so much smaller now…are you still shrinking?! Wait hey stop its ok theres no more beetles. All the insects are all locked up.” Kyle pushed the cart to expose the top half of me that had dragged myself under and squatted down in front of me.

“Uh sorry it took me a minute to process everything before helping you. I have no fucking idea whats happening but I feel responsible for giving you that vial. Im going to….pick you up now. Theres a lot of glass on the floor. Youre like 4 inches right now and I think you stopped shrinking.”

I watch, laid out on my side, bleeding in various places as he reaches both hands out in front of him, tilting his head as he considered how to exactly pick me up. I swallow as the hands approach. He uses his pointer finger to roll me onto the palm of his other hand. I puke in my mouth as he slowly raises me up to his gaze. His eyes are massive now, huge glossy orbs of color right in front of me. Exposing me. I had never felt so naked before and I shyly move my hands to cover myself despite my naked body already touching his warm palm. Averting my eyes, I hold back tears and feel absolutely out of control of reality.

“Ive got you, dont worry. I’ve got you.” He whispered quietly.

“We’ve gotta go though. We need to address your wounds first and foremost. Youre coming back with me.” Taking control of the situation, Kyles voice filled with more confidence.

“We gotta put you down first though so I can clean this up to prevent any suspicion. Im gonna lay you on the table now. Ill grab your shirt so you dont get cold. Youre shaking…i think.”

I couldnt speak. I didnt know what to say. I nodded weakly at the massive being and the nausea hit again as he lowered his hands and moved to the table. Using two fingers, he gently pushed me off his palm and I rolled onto the cold metal. In that moment I felt like a rag-doll specimen. He quickly plucked my bra from my shirt and brought the shirt up and wrapped me in it. My shivered chattering began to quiet and I soon found myself asleep to the sounds of him cleaning up broken glass.