#i get lost in the sauce thinking about this quote

[midnight-coffee94]

No single line has ever wrecked me as hard as this one from the Good Place and I think about it constantly

[orphiclovers]

Actually I'm not done talking about yoohankim's awful digital footprint pre-scenarios. Kim Dokja gets a lot of flack for being chronically online and cringe and that's fair enough but let's just acknowledge that neither Yoo Joonghyuk or Han Sooyoung are ANY better.

For Han Sooyoung it's obvious. Despite having her own sucessful webnovel, presumably with fans who support her, she gets obsessed with her one hater who thinks she is a plagiarist, finds the "original" novel where this guy was the only commenter on every chapter, and instead of reading her own comments she spends her time reading HIS and imagining he's saying that about her writing. She does this for years. DERANGED BEHAVIOUR. Pre-scenarios Han Sooyoung has no excuse to be acting this crazy. Sent to internet jail for being weird online.

1863rd Han Sooyoung. Automatically get a pass to act unhinged bc after going through the apocalypse that's just expected and also the only person she talks to for 13 years is Kim Dokja and a creepy old man who calls her god, BUT. That being said she's a perfectly average and healthy internet user! Spends literally every waking moment writing a shitty webnovel so hard pieces of her soul chip away and infuse in it, sure, but she doesn't bother anyone, just does her own thing, posts the chapters and occasionally chats with her one commenter. The most normal one here. Somehow.

Kim Dokja. Big fan of a webnovel and can get intense about it sometimes, starts fights online defending his fave character, recommends the same novel so much he gets banned from forums, whatever. WE'VE ALL BEEN THERE IS WHAT IM SAYING. This is nothing too crazy, only about the level of an average fandom superfan. Uses his real name online which is certainly a choice but some people do that in real life too. Giving him a pass, I was also a cringey emo teen on the internet once. (and im still cringe and emo)

Yoo Joonghyuk as seen in Yoo Mia side story. Absolutely glued to his phone. He checks it while eating breakfast, while in the car being driven to work, while literally walking down the street so that Yoo Mia has to tell him to put it away and hold her hand! He is basically addicted to reading hate comments about himself. In his narration he mentions that there are only a few regulars in the forums he lurks in and that he recognizes all their usernames, accidentally revealing that he's in too deep and officially lost in the sauce. Even his manager tells him he should stop reading the comments because they clearly upset him, but he justifies it to himself by thinking quote, "If someone has a grudge against him, he just needs to be prepared to face that hatred. Then everything is under his control."  That last line especially is such a cope, and reveals that this behavior is another one of his desperate attempts to feel in control of his life, and as pathetic as that is and as much as I feel sympathy this is being weird online and I'm sending him to Internet jail.

Bonus round: Secretive Plotter. Need I say anything. Absolutely glued to his phone AGAIN, no it doesn't make it better that sometimes it's his kkomas instead of him. Canonically has a bound book of every single comment Kim Dokja ever left on WOS, printed out, which is more freak mode than even Han Sooyoung went. Straight to jail.

[capseycartwright]

just kiss me slowly

tommy does this thing, when he kisses buck. to quote myself, i underestimated your rizz, tommy kinard. the two finger chin pull has been playing on my mind since the episode aired, and this pointless bit of fluff was born. buck and tommy are running circles in my head.

ao3 link

Tommy does this thing, when he kisses Buck. Buck has kissed Tommy enough times in the past couple of weeks to know its a thing, and not just a fluke. He hasn't kissed Tommy enough that he's lost count (27 kisses - he's been counting because it still doesn't feel real, and every time he can add another kiss to the growing list of moments he lets himself linger in as he lies in bed at night, or sits in traffic on the way to work, is another reminder that this is real: that Tommy is real) but he's beginning to learn more about the way Tommy kisses, has begun to map the surface of Tommy's lips with his tongue.

He knows its a thing, is the point.

The first time Tommy had kissed him, he'd tugged Buck closer, two fingers pulling on Buck's chin as he'd pressed that chaste first kiss to Buck's lips. Buck had assumed that had been a heat of the moment sort of thing, Tommy tugging Buck closer so he could get his point across, but then it had happened again.

Tommy had come to pick Buck up, for their date. "Old fashioned," Buck had teased. Tommy had simply rolled his eyes in response, catching Buck's chin between his thumb and forefinger, pressing a brief kiss to Buck's surprised lips. "I didn't want to wait until after dinner to kiss you again," he had said, by way of explanation, and Buck had been in a haze the whole drive to the Italian place Tommy had suggested they grab dinner at. No one - no one had ever kissed him like that, pulling Buck closer with a gentle grasp, as though they didn't want to give him a chance to turn his head away.

Tommy liked to kiss Buck. Buck was learning that too. It was all so new for him, but Tommy was confident, a reassuring presence to - quite literally - lean on as he navigated his newfound bisexuality. Tommy had been thirty-one when he'd come out, he'd explained to Buck - so he understood. Understood why Buck had played their dinner off as a friendly thing, understood why Buck hadn't told Eddie yet, understood why Buck hadn't told anyone, yet, only his sister, and Hen. Understood why Buck was more at ease here, in the warmth of Tommy's apartment, than he was at a bar - for now, at least. Buck wasn't ashamed, he was just learning how to lean into this new part of himself.

Buck couldn't help but flush as he remembered the genuine look of pride on Tommy's face when he'd leaned into the other man's space that afternoon at the farmers market, listening intently as Tommy explained the benefits of using a certain kind of tomato to make pasta sauce - the way his mother had taught him to, growing up in New York. Buck had leaned against Tommy, enjoying the way colour rose in Tommy's cheeks as he'd done so.

He'd earned a reward for it too, Tommy using two gentle fingers to redirect Buck's face toward his own as they'd loaded the groceries in the trunk of Buck's jeep, pressing a brief kiss to Buck's waiting lips.

That was the thing, Tommy did - he touched Buck so gently, always redirecting Buck's mouth to exactly where he wanted it to be, and it made Buck melt right down into his sneakers. He'd - he'd just never had someone kiss him so reverently, before.

"If you think any harder, you'll give yourself a headache," Tommy murmured, glancing up from the sauce he was stirring. This version of Tommy was new to Buck - the version of Tommy in his own apartment, relaxed, shoes kicked off by the door, an unfamiliar jazz album playing over the record player in the living room - because of course Tommy had an actual fucking record player. Buck liked this version of Tommy. He was realising he liked all versions of Tommy, actually.

Buck could tell him. He could tell Tommy that the way he grabbed Buck so gently by the chin so often when he was going in for a kiss made his insides turn to goo. He could tell Tommy how good it felt to have someone want him like that, want to initiate kisses. He could tell Tommy that he had spent years of his life chasing other people's lips, desperate for the affection Tommy was already so freely offering him, a mere three and a half weeks into dating.

He could tell him all that, and Tommy probably wouldn't mind - but Buck wanted to keep the thought to himself, a little while longer. This thing with Tommy was so new, and it was good, but it still felt delicate, and Buck didn't want Tommy to stop the way he kissed Buck.

"I'm admiring you hard at work," Buck tilted his head slightly. It was still strange, to hear himself flirt so openly with another man, but he was getting used to it. He had to, really, when Tommy always responded to his flirting with a delighted grin, or laugh.

Tonight, Buck got both.

"C'mere," Tommy murmured, hand gentle on Buck's face as he caught Buck's chin between his thumb and forefinger, pressing a lingering kiss (28) and then a second (29) to Buck's mouth. "Just wait until you try the sauce. Then you're really going to want to kiss you."

As if Buck didn't spend every second of every day fantasising about kissing Tommy, like he was a horny teenage boy again. "Promises, promises."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Make yourself useful and set the table," he pretended to order, but he wasn't moving, nose brushing against Buck's. He kissed him again (30) and then kissed the corner of Buck's mouth, right where Buck's grin was splitting his face in two, his delight so overwhelming he couldn't contain it.

Buck leaned into the embrace, cheek scruffy where he pressed it against the palm of Tommy's hand. "I'm glad we're doing this," he admitted. Kissing, dinner - dating. All of the above. Tommy could decide which one Buck had meant.

Tommy's grin was liquid fucking gold. "Me too, Evan."

[hemi-demi]

I'm sure someone's already said this better, but I think the secret sauce that makes someone a good candidate to be an Avatar of a Fear is to be afraid of it first.

There's this quote from Hideo Kojima I think about a lot:

"I get scared very easily," said Kojima. "Actually, this is true of Alfred Hitchcock as well as Steven Spielberg. Because they scare easily, because I scare easily, it's actually easy for us to make something that is scary, because we understand what is scary." Link to article

Junji Ito talks about this too. That boy is scared of everything and he makes horror about everything.

I think an Avatar works the same way. It's not a full requirement, but I believe you can't be an effective Avatar of your patron unless you fully understand why it terrifies someone.

Jane Prentiss had the wasps nest. Annabelle claimed to be arachnophobic. Agnes Montague feared her own lost potential. Trevor faced his own mortality being hunted by vampires. Oliver tried to escape death. Helen and Michael were completely shaken from their experience in the Spiral. Martin was terrified of being left alone.

And Jon is scared of literally everything, making him a perfect vessel for the Fears.

I don't think all Avatars have to fear their patrons, especially those that were created rather than transformed, but it seems to be a common link.

Makes me wonder if Peter actually enjoyed the Lonely as a child as much as he claimed, considering how chatty he could be with like minded people. Or if Simon ever felt the lurch in his stomach as he stared at the ground below. If Jonah ever resented prying eyes on him and wanted to turn them around and make them feel it back.

It seems like a lot of them faced their greatest fear, and when they made it to the other side they were granted the power to turn it onto others to ensure their survival. Like someone trauma bonding to their abuser. Maybe it feels safer.

[vintagelacerosette]

Weekly Tag game (Catch up)

Forgive meee I am late but I had the other one in my drafts & I hadn't be able to finish it off yet 😅

I was tagged by these sweethearts 💖💕💖

Jessica @guinguin1984 Julia @blue-disco-lights Deanna @deedala Georgia @iansw0rld

Face @burninface Jaclyn @crossmydna Evie @energievie

Bri @y0itsbri Lyle Lyle crocodile @kiinard Macy @heymacy

Mel @gardenerian Sarah @sleepyheadgallavich Julissa @heymrspatel

Harvey @mikhailoisbaby Kat @mybrainismelted Ling @lingy910y

Name: Shermyn

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (or you): Sydney in the western part  

Ok, so this week we are going to snoop into your google search. Type in each phrase and tell us what the first suggestion is that google gives you!

What is the best way to….rule? (hehe nice maybe my Leo tendencies 🤣🦁

This is what I saw on Quora

1) Become a community organizer · 2) Learn to speak eloquently · 3) Tell people what they want to hear · 4) Sell your soul to the Devil · 5) ...

😂😂😂

Where can I…. watch Saltburn? (it's on my watch list haha) Amazon Prime

How old is…. Taylor Swift? (i didn't search this but i guess she's top result) 34

How long does it take… to get to mars? (wow a fun one) Now quoting NASA, "If jt all goes well, you'll get to the Red Planet in about seven ot eight months." ♂️🔴

How many… states in Australia? Six states 🇦🇺

Who set the record for…. the highest jump? Javier Sotomayor good job my dude 👏

When did….michael jackson die? 25 june 2009 (woah I started 1st year of high school then)

What does it feel like to… to be in love? (ummm ive never searched that but damn a pointed search 😭😭😭) Reddit says "when you wake up thinking of that person & go to bed thinking of them"

Can you…go parasailing in sydney? (So me bc i missed out when i was in the Philippines 🥲) You can't anymore booo 👎

Why do… i sweat so much? Google says could he nerves that trigger it.

Is there a way… to save karlach? I really wanna play Baldur's gate 3 what's gonna happen to her?? I love her?? 🥺

How old do you have to be… to work? (boooo i don't wanna work but i want money 😩) In NSW minimum age for full time work is 17

Where do the… kardashians live? (i don't care) Malibu

What is the best time to… to go to fiji? (aaayee holiday??) June to September

And to finish us off…. What comes up when you type in Shameless? shameless last episode date

11 April 2021 I needed it for my gallacrafts 🥹

Name: Myn

Age: 27

Astrological sign: Leo ♌️

Upon which continent do you reside: Stralia 🦘

tell us how you're feeling right now using 3-5 emojis: 🥶💸🤔🤫🤗

whats your favorite flavor of gum? Juicy fruit but the flavour never lasts long

whats the last movie you watched? Anastasia for my nieces first viewing 😆 It mostly became a sing-a-long with my big sis 🎤

what was your worst subject in high school? Maybe science?

whats the job you stayed at for the shortest period of time? Working for a weekend event at a convention centre for the active wear brand Lorna Jane. I got lost on the 1st day & didn't get paid for that 15 min 😅

whats your favorite thing to do at an amusement park? Try all the interesting foods 😋

what condiments go on top of the perfect hot dog (meat or plant-based)? BBQ sauce & caramelised onions 🌰

cincinnati chili, thoughts? Never heard of it!

do you sleep with a plushie? No my plushies are on a shelf bc I can get kicked out of my room every 2nd weekend bc my sister & her family takes it over haha. But worth it to have my baby niece over 🥰

how do you feel about thunderstorms? No strong emotions. It's cool when boom

what's the last animal you touched? My dog Roxy 🐕 ❤️

grab the nearest item with words on it that ISNT a book and tell me the final word: Tulip on this korean dry shampoo I'm trying 🌷

have you ever forgotten to do an assignment until the night before its due? Oh I was organised at knowing darw but procrastinated the hell out of the assignment until the due date. Then trying to finish the night before 😅 I found an old diary entry calling myself a dumb bitch for doing that to myself & saying to never do it again (she did) 😭

Not tagging anyone bc LATE but if you wanna play consider yourself tagged! 🩷🐇

[hekateinhell]

It's always interesting to me when I see the famous Armand/Lestat BC quote floating around because I feel like a lot of the context gets lost in the sauce (it is such an impactful passage, and I absolutely love it for several reasons).

We all know this line Armand delivers while Lestat, who according to himself doesn't bow down to God or the Devil, is on his knees, looking up at him:

“I have loved you more than any being in all the world whom I’ve ever loved. I have loved you more than Louis. I have loved you more even than Marius. And you have never given me your love.”

Which is not entirely breaking news, like at all. But it's what Armand says afterwards, as he's concluding his tirade, that holds much more weight to me:

“Yes, even now, I love you, as they all love you, your minions seeking just a smile or a nod or a quick touch of your hand. I love you like all those throughout this palace who are dreaming of drinking just a drop of your blood.”

For all intents and purposes, he's basically telling Lestat, "There is nothing special about my love for you anymore. In allowing what you have allowed to happen here, you have successfully destroyed the love I had for you that set you apart from everyone else."

Whether or not this is actually true, I don't think it's a thought Lestat's ever had to contend with, especially coming from Armand who has been shamelessly apparent with his affections for centuries. Lestat is a pursuer, he loves the chase, and he easily takes many of his closest loved ones for granted - that they will be there when he wants them.

So it really says a lot that in the same scene where Lestat has just recovered Louis, Gabrielle, and Marius (who have been presumed dead up to this point), he also shares this:

The only thought in my mind, the only image, the only idea, was of Armand, and how Armand would feel when he too could hold Marius like this and know that Marius lived, that Marius had been restored, that all of them were safe and secure, and using my strongest power I sent the word to him. I sent the news. And I sent my love to Armand with it.

tl;dr: I just think they're neat!

[its-all-papaya]

🫧 (sheets and towels lol)

I was wondering how you usually go about outlining? I’ve always been so terrible at it so if you had any advice or even just explaining the process a bit that would be lovely.

YAY ALL MY LOADS OF LAUNDRY ARE AT LEAST STARTED TYYYY

assign me a chore!!

i'm actually probably a bad person to ask about this because i'm usually kind of awful at "outlining" fics in any definite way. however.... i do kind of have a process, it's just not usually a formal outline.

my USUAL process is to kind of just dump every thought i have related to a fic in a bullet point list that gets added to and subtracted from as the fic develops. if i have pm's with a mutual that inspired a fic, i'll copy paste those into the list to start. if i have ideas for scenes, i'll add those to the list. if there are irl quotes or events that are relevant, those also go in the list. from there, i'll kind of rearrange things in the order that makes sense (either chronologically or by "type" of thing - i.e. for the hollow hereafter, i had a section of quotes with sub-bullets that were just transcripts from each segment of media, then i had a section of "vibes" that were like "lando just wants it all to end, can't imagine ever feeling right again after how dramatically everything inside of him has shifted", etc). once they're in an order that makes my brain feel good, i put them below a page break and start typing actual sentences at the top of the fic in a blank page. then as i'm typing a fic, if i have thoughts about things i want to do down the line NOT in the scene i'm currently typing, i'll add those to the list too as not to disrupt the actual "proper" text i'm building. once i use a thought off the list, it gets deleted so i can see what's left in the bank more clearly. basically everything that is ACTUAL COPY I INTEND ON PUBLISHING gets written from the top of the doc down, then every stray thought i want to preserve gets added onto the bottom of the doc until i use it. there are usually like sections and sub-bullets on that list to keep things semi-organized.

when i DO outline more formally, such as dad lando, it's honestly kind of stream of consciousness. i started with rough, one-line summaries of what i thought each chapter might be (i.e. one was "first meeting", two was "start texting" etc etc until we get to "epilogue"). then i filled in in sub-bullets what i wanted to include in each chapter. some, such as "oscar meets emma" are like SUPER SUPER vague rn. like three sentences. some, such as "lando goes golfing with max" had really clear inspo in my head and are like two pages of rambling. because i felt strongly about how i wanted it to go, i just started typing in half-coherent sentences (honestly how i answer asks here sometimes? this is a good example of the flow i'm talking about). however, half of that extremely rushed, just-trying-to-get-it-down-on-paper musing about this golf outing is probably word-for-word going to end up in the fic because i just let my brain work. and that's how it works a lot of the time for me. i start typing thinking it's just going to be the gist of plot points, and it ends up prose i really, really like because i'm letting my brain work freely.

my MAIN advice for outlining based on my own learning curve:

write down LITERALLY every thought you have related to a fic. whether it's half a sentence, a guiding vibe, a real event that inspires you in ways related to the fic... literally anything. you obviously don't have to use it all, but sometimes those stray thoughts help re-center me when i get kind of lost in the sauce of a fic. when i'm stuck, i just scroll the list and see if anything sticks out to me to use or draw from to get me out of the block.

don't FORCE yourself to outline every moment or plot point. like i said, some of my dad lando chapters are really thoroughly outlined, some are suuuper vague. i didn't force myself to try and plan out any of chapter three bc i wasn't feeling particularly strongly about how i wanted it to go, and it just worked itself out in time as i typed instead. i've outlined what i've figured out, and i'm going with the flow with the rest. the outline mainly motivates me and reminds me what i'm building towards, ultimately, instead of dictating every little thing i want to include. i'm never afraid to say "and then ????? but they end up kissing" and revisit once the vibes have built around a moment.

may seem obvious, but outlines are not final. i've pushed sooooo much shit i meant to include in chapters one and two of dad lando to chapter four bc it didn't hit right when i thought it would. my outline for thh was like six times as long as the actual fic bc i cut out so much stuff i thought i wanted to use. outlines are literally just to keep track of thoughts, imo, and like i said, to guide you. doesn't have to be fully formed to be useful.

hope that was helpful!!! a lot of this is very very similar to how i used to process my research papers in college, so i've had upwards of like eight years now to refine my process and find what works for my brain specifically. so i guess last tip is just try different things and use what works and throw out what doesn't in terms of methodology. everybody's different!

love u good luck writing feel free to ask more about any of this if you'd like 🫶

[pretensesoup]

Queer books, day 31/30

Turns out I like writing about books in this format, but I read a lot more slowly than I write.

I asked on Mastodon for everyone's favorite romance novels with an NB character in them. Partly because I'm in the process of writing my own NB character and I wanted to see how other people had dealt with sex scenes (in the anatomic sense). Partly because I just wanted to see how anyone else conceptualized nonbinaryness*. That request led me to Sword Dance by AJ Demas. It only sort of answers my questions, but that's okay because it's amazing.

In an alternative version of the Mediterranean, Damiskos is an ex-soldier (now disabled) and current quartermaster who has been sent to visit an old friend (Nione) to secure a contract for fish sauce. At her house, he meets: a bunch of tedious philosophers led by Eurydemos (who seems to preach a very anti-alien, anti-LGBTQ agenda, and yet is writing poems for...), Varazda (a sword dancer and eunuch from Zash, another country in which Damiskos was once stationed and for which he harbors a deep affection), Varazda's "owner" Aristokles, and a few others. Quickly, Damiskos surmises that all is not as it seems--first, he foils an attempt on Varazda's life, and it becomes apparent that the relationship between Varazda and Aristokles may be a lie--in fact, they are conspiring to hide something far greater than the fact that Varazda is not actually a slave. Soon, Damiskos is teaming up with Varazda to solve a murder, then to avert a war and recapture Nione's villa from the philosophers. Oh, and falling in love.

Varazda is an interesting character. He (Damiskos's POV is the only one we get, and he uses male pronouns for him, although he says he thinks of himself as both male and female) was made a eunuch after his father lost a military engagement of some kind. He was then enslaved for a while, until he was sent to the Zashian embassy in Boukos, and then he was freed. This is obviously a major source of trauma, and Damiskos is in a unique place to appreciate that because of his time in Zash. As a result, Damiskos is extremely careful in their nascent relationship to let Varazda lead. Their relationship is very sweet in part because of this deference, and they deal with consent very well.

Key quote: (Varazda has been discussing how he doesn't always achieve an erection because of being a eunuch.)

Rather boldly, Damiskos said, "Want to see if we can make it happen again?" Varazda looked up in surprise. "What--right now?" "Yes, of course right now! Immortal gods. We're sitting on your bed, talking about how beautiful you are and whether or not you like sex--it's surprising I even need to say anything." "I am literally a eunuch, First Spear." After that they were both laughing...

As you might have guessed from the summary above, this is a world in which there is violence, homophobia/transphobia, and slavery, including sexual slavery. Women have some rights to own property, but they aren't voting citizens. The implication, reading between the lines, is that in the world generally, same-sex couples aren't too uncommon, and it's just Eurydemos's students who have a problem with them. (Eurydemos and his students reminded me a bit of Socrates and Plato, but of course Plato doesn't care that much about same-sex relationships, c.f. that one story from Symposium that got turned into a song from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. But I've been privileged to hear some angry Jesse rants about Plato since doing the podcast, and it reminded me of that. Anyway, as Plato says a lot, philosophers with bad opinions were a dime a dozen back in Athens, so.) Also, warning for explicit on-page sex.

*: Is Varazda nonbinary or is he gender fluid? I don't know. At one point, he says, "I never really think of myself as a man, but most of the time I'm quite happy for other people to think of me that way." Elsewhere, he implies that he doesn't want to be neither male or female, so he tries to be both. Maybe genderfluid is a better word for him. Maybe he can't articulate exactly how he feels, because he's not speaking to Damiskos in his first language, or because there isn't a word for how he feels. Either way, I enjoyed the way the character was portrayed.

That's it. Lots of action/plot, a good amount of romance, very engaging, love the setting. 10/10, go read it.

[jomiddlemarch]

that might as well be the first sign of the apocalypse

You didn’t ask people what they’d been through, before Jackson. They either told you or they didn’t. You didn’t ask about the journey, what they’d lost along the way, though no one was pretending there wasn’t a Before and a World Outside. If you didn’t like it that way, you left, so everyone in Jackson was pretty much okay with the unspoken rules. Grace had seen how relieved Joel was when they met and she didn’t try to make him tell his story, how it settled him down to talk as if they’d already been talking, as if silence between them was comfortable and always had been. But all of that meant jack-shit when it came down to what was right in front of their eyes. And ears.

“Who the hell is that? Where the fuck did he come from?” Joel said, as if she wouldn’t be surprised to hear him say it. She knew better than to lay a hand on his forearm, let alone to glance up at his face and try to catch his eye.

“Ted. Last name’s Lasso, if you can believe it, with that hat and the ‘stache,” Grace said. If the dusty cowboy hat Ted wore wasn’t exactly ten-gallons, it certainly approximated it, and there was lilt in his voice when he said Howdy ma’amand touched its stained brim that made her feel like maybe it wasn’t all an act, even though it seemed like it had to be a goddamned act. “I think he’s starting a soccer club. Or league. Whatever you call it. He was calling it football, but there was an uproar, so he’s agreed to say soccer.”

“I was only away for two weeks,” Joel said. Only, when it had seemed like forever to Grace, like two millennia, like she was pining again for a call from a hot guy and cordyceps was a word in a mycology textbook no one had checked out of the college library stacks in approximately thirty years. Across the square, a bunch of people, not only kids, were running around in what was supposed to be some sort of drill and every once in a while, Ted cried out “Off-sides” and everyone stopped in confusion.

“That’s how it goes. Everything is the same for a while, until you think nothing will ever change, Taco Tuesday the regular disappointment without any decent hot sauce, all the comfort of it starting to get a little old, and then someone leaves or someone arrives and it’s all different. This time, it’s Ted. Soccer. And Beard,” Grace said.

“He’s got a mustache, Grace,” Joel said. She’d walked into that one, but there hadn’t been any way around it and she felt like Joel needed a moment of agency. It was amazing how being right in even the smallest way could settle him down.

“Beard’s his friend. Comrade. Samwise to his Frodo and that, I want you to know, is a direct quote and not something I would ever have come up with on my own,” Grace said. Beard had a limp and a lisp along with his beard and a way of keeping Ted in his sights wherever he was that had made Grace wonder about whether they were lovers for a hot minute, until she saw the way Beard pressed his lips together when Ted was about to do something foolhardy and then yelled at the man with the confidence only a brother could feel, recognizing Joel and Tommy in the newcomers. “I wasn’t ever that genus of nerd. I fell asleep watching the movie.”

“It was okay,” Joel said, shrugging. “Long.”

“Ted’s nice,” Grace said. “Beard is a stone-cold killer, but Ted’s…kind. Right away and with anyone. It’s a little weird, actually. It’s like he hasn’t been dealing with all this shit, when you talk to him, he’s always making these puns or talking like some sort of Will Rogers-Farmer’s Almanac mash-up, but then he’ll just drop something like, how he had a kid before, how he’d gotten one of the last flights out of the UK but he was still too late to get home, and it stops you dead in your tracks.” Henry, Ted had said his son was called, but she wasn’t going to tell Joel that and take the chance of making him think of Sarah.

“Dangerous,” Joel said. He meant: to remember. To be caught up in the past, the vast oceanic grief that would swallow you, take you down to a depth where the sun wasn’t even a memory and you were still falling, still far away from the bottom. He’d been living in Jackson long enough to know its strength but he refused to go to sleep unless his bad ear was the one pressed against the pillow.

“Dangerous not to,” Grace said. She dosed herself with Before, an endless titration she could never get quite right, enough to keep from feeling nothing or feeling like a fake Grace in a fake world. From walking out the gates alone, unarmed, welcoming whatever form annihilation was going to take. She whispered useless, unusable things to herself, the Krebs cycle and her mother’s recipe for dòushā bāo, the fourth verse of “Good King Wenceslas,” her DEA number, the scrolling opening of the original Star Wars, and if it was the middle of the night and she’d stayed over, Joel would kiss the back of her neck once before he wrapped his arms around her more tightly, her ass tucked against his hips, collecting her into him so she couldn’t fall apart, only back to sleep. Now, he reached over, laid his hand on her forearm where she’d shoved up her sleeve, his calloused palm warm against her bare skin.

“He bakes. Ted. Started bringing Maria some special shortbread biscuits wrapped up in a red bandana,” Grace said. “Apologized for not having a proper box and a ribbon. Like that’s a thing.” She’d imagined a robin’s egg blue box, like one from Tiffany’s holding a diamond solitaire, but maybe he’d had another color in mind—white or ordinary brown cardboard. Pink like a peony, a flower she didn’t expect to see again in her lifetime.

“He any good?” Joel said. She’d never known him to be particular about what he ate, only paying attention to Ellie’s favorites, shoveling in whatever was in front of him, but maybe he had a sweet tooth?

“Shockingly,” Grace laughed. “I don’t know how we’ll keep him in sugar, but that’s a Maria problem to solve and let’s just say that post-shortbread, she is highly motivated.”

“You think it’s good that he’s here,” Joel said. He’d started to do that with her, ask a question coupled with its answer, some oblique indication that he trusted her, maybe not as much as Ellie, but more than anyone else. Grace thought of Ted Lasso lining up his motley teams, giving a little pep talk that should have made the teens roll their eyes and everyone else jog in place, restive, and how they’d all listened to him, eager to be coached. Coaxed. To play instead of merely live. She’d seen the expression in his eyes, the people he’d lost he was remembering, the risk he knew they took in believing him, the weight of that a burden and all that he had to tether him to this world. Henry was gone. Beard was fierce and remote and clucked over Ted like an old auntie when it got late and Ted showed no sign of resting. She’d seen how Ted almost reached out his hand to ruffle the hair of Idina’s youngest boy, how Joel like to rest his hand on Ellie’s narrow shoulder.

“Yeah, it is,” she said. “Even if I have a lot of sprained ankles and pulled groins coming my way at the clinic and a dwindling supply of still-potent NSAIDs.”

“If he’s that good a coach, shouldn’t see many injuries,” Joel said. “If he’s that good a baker, he’s probably better with people. Less finicky than pastry.”

“It’s enough for you to take my word on him?” Grace said. She wasn’t ready to assume the answer.

“You know better than to ask me,” Joel said. He squeezed her wrist gently, let his thumb rest on her radial artery. “But I’ll see what Lasso says over dinner. With any luck, he’ll bring dessert and I’ll be able to judge him on his merits.”

[themostrestlesskidintown]

// @themostdramaticboyintown @themostcuriousgirlintown we take a brejf break form all the angst forn phillip isabella abd echo incorrect quotes <3

Phillip: Everyone thinks I'm this soft cute person but I'm not!

Echo: Phillip, you cried for an hour after stepping on a bug yesterday.

Phillip: It had feelings! It was probably going home to dinner and I killed it!

Isabella: ...It was a bug.

Phillip: It was a BEETLE, and its wife is definitely worried sick, wondering where it is, and I really don't get why you all think I'm so sentimental because I'm not!

Echo: ...

Isabella: ...

Phillip: Stop looking at me like that!

Echo: I apologize for saying 'fuck' in front of Phillip.

Isabella: You just said it again.

Phillip

Echo: I am not a role model.

Phillip: Isabella and I were crossing the street, and this man drove by and honked at us.

Echo: What did you do?

Phillip: They chased him to the next red light, and reached into his window, and-

Isabella: *walking in* Who wants a steering wheel?

Echo: Due to personal reasons, I will be fucking sinking to the bottom of the ocean in a large metal box.

Isabella: Did Phillip say 'I love you' and you said 'Thanks'?

Echo: THE REASONS ARE PERSONAL–

Echo: I think I need a hug...

Phillip: Good thing I'm hug shaped!

*45 minutes later*

Echo: You... you can let go now.

Phillip: No, I absolutely cannot.

Phillip, in a horrible German accent: Bill Nye is on break, I'm Bill Nein.

Isabella: Can I go to the bathroom?

Phillip, in the same horrible German accent: Nein!

Phillip: If I were a drink, I'd be Cherry Vanilla Coke. If you were a drink, what would you be?

Echo: Bleach.

Isabella: Sewage.

Phillip: ...Please calm down, edgelords.

Phillip: Protip is you do not feel good about yourself after eating tomato sauce on iceberg lettuce.

Echo: What's wrong with you??

Phillip: I literally JUST said I ate tomato sauce on iceberg lettuce?? Pay attention.

Isabella: No, they mean other than that.

Phillip: Ohhhhhh.

Phillip: I haven't slept in 4 days.

Phillip: Where are you going?

Isabella: To get MYSELF a gift cause somebody didn't get me one!

Phillip: I told you I did! Its coming here on Friday!

Echo, knowing full well that Phillip got Isabella an engagement ring: *eating popcorn*

Phillip: Hi, sorry I’m late. I was doing a couple of things and got distracted.

Isabella: I’m “a couple of things”.

Echo: I’m “got distracted".

Phillip: *sneaking in through their window*

Isabella: *turning in their chair and flicking the light one* You want to tell me where you've been all night?

Phillip: I was with Echo?

Echo: *turning in their chair* Wanna try again?

Phillip: Goddamn it, the printer broke while printing out Echo's birthday invitations.

Isabella: Well, what are they supposed to say?

Phillip: "Echo's birthday".

Isabella: So, what do they say instead?

Phillip: "Echo’s bi".

Isabella:

Isabella: Works out either way.

*Isabella dies in a game with ships*

Phillip: This ship is no longer a ship of love, it's a ship of vengeance, a gavel of justice against all that is wrong in the world, showing no mercy, as no mercy was shown to us.

Phillip: The spark of love will now fuel the fires of destructive glory as I wage my war across the world with righteous fury.

Echo: Legend has it that Isabella still haunts the ship, stealing my fucking drinks.

Isabella: Of course I do.

Isabella: Echo, what are you doing?

Echo: Making chocolate pudding.

Isabella: It's four in the morning, why are you making chocolate pudding?

Echo: Because I've lost control of my life.

Echo: Here's your pudding, Philip.

Philip: Oh that's okay, I'm not hungry anymore.

Philip: If I die, my funeral will be the biggest party ever and you're all invited.

Isabella: "If"

Echo: Great, the only party I'm ever invited to and they might not even die.

*Echo is casually searching around the room*

Isabella: Hey Echo, what’re you looking for?

Echo: My will to live.

*Philip walks into the room*

Echo: Oh, there it is.

Philip: It’s funny how well you and Echo get along. Didn’t they hate you at first?

Isabella: Echo hates everybody at first. It’s their way of reaching out to people.

Philip: How do you do that?

Echo: I'm fearless.

Isabella: I saw you run from bees yesterday. You flailed around and tripped over a chair. It was both hysterical and sad.

Echo: I'm mostly fearless.

Philip: There are three ways to handle a difficult situation. The right way, the wrong way, and the Echo way.

Isabella: Isn't that the wrong way?

Philip: Yes, but it's faster.

*Something crashes*

Isabella: Shoot-

Philip: *running into the room in a panic* WHAT FELL?!

Echo: *walking by the room calmly* What died?

*Isabella teaching Philip to drive and taking Echo along for the ride*

Isabella: That's a pothole. To the left!

Philip: Take it back now y'all *Drives into pothole*

Echo, sticking their face into the front over the center console: Cha Cha real smooth.

Philip: I don't think that's how the song goes.

Isabella, crying and gripping the handle: Please just take me home.

Philip: Country Roads.

Echo: To the place.

Philip and Echo in unison: I Belong!

Isabella, crying harder: What the fuck?

[goron-king-darunia]

Annon-Guy: Regarding the Room Quotes from Rays, how would you feel if you got a present from each of the five DotNW characters (Emil, Marta, Richter, Alice and Decus)?

Emil: I would pat his head and call him my sweet summer child. "You don't have to get anything for me, but I appreciate the thought." Marta: I would at least feign being polite. My personal disdain for how she's written doesn't make her a bad person. "Aw, thank you."

Richter: I would immediately short circuit and die. And the shambling remains of my body would shakily reach out and shake his hand and a mouth that no longer belongs to me would eke out a very shaky "Thank you so much, son, sir, husband." And then he'd probably scowl at me like I grew a second head. And then my zombie corpse would cease function from nose-bleed related blood-loss.

More seriously, I would probably shake his hand firmly and offer to buy him a meal. And then kidnap him like a yandere. I am incapable of being normal about him. I would bite innumerable people to be in a room with him. Aqua and I share the same brain cell and it unilaterally revolves around Richter. He would Rightfully call the police on me and I would definitely go to jail about it. I would like to hope I could be normal about it because I don't really care for celebrities in real life. But Richter. Dear God. I have the exact tincture of brainrot that I really don't know what I would do. The best I could hope for I think would be to be the Decus to his Alice. What I'm saying is that I'm exactly the cringe fangirl that people make memes about. And I'm so lost in the sauce that sometimes I don't know how much of this is me exaggerating or the little devil on my shoulder grasping desperately for the controls to my life. Alice: I would be so fucking suspicious but I would open it with a 10 foot pole. And if it was anything good and non-toxic I would thank her. Decus: "Ah, so I'm more attractive than Alice. I knew it." I would bully him relentlessly and twist the gesture. I am not above the baser instincts of humanity.

But in all truth I'm so unused to getting random gifts "just because" that the real answer for all of these is probably "I would break down in happy tears and thank them profusely and then cry harder because I'm ugly-crying in front of all the blorbos from my games."

[garouwolfssegner]

Wolfskin Daughter in Fodlan

PERSONAL INFORMATION

GENDER. There’s gender???  AGE. 21 HEIGHT. 6’2” (188 cm) BIRTHDATE. October 11th CREST/HOLY BLOOD. None  CLASS. Black Eagles Professor AFFILIATION. Wolfskin Tribe/Mount Garou

INTERESTS. Collecting treasures, giving said treasures as gifts to friends and family LIKES. Her daddy, collecting things, treasure, Kinu DISLIKES. Her daddy not paying attention to her STATUS. Always on the hunt for new treasures! CLOSE ALLIES: Kinu, Keaton, Sakura

DINING HALL PREFERENCES

LIKES. Pheasant Roast with Berry Sauce, Beast Meat Teppanyaki, Pickled Rabbit Skewers, Daphnel Stew, Gronder Meat Skewers, Derdriu-Style Fried Pheasant, Grilled Herring, Fish and Bean Soup, Fruit and Herring Tart, Fisherman’s Bounty, Fish Sandwich, Two-fish Saute, Bourgeois Pike, Sauteed Jerky, Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew, Sweet and Salty Whitefish Saute, Super-Spicy Fish Dango, Sauteed Pheasant with Eggs, Garreg Mach Meat Pie, Cheesy Verona Stew, Gautier Cheese Gratin DISLIKES. Nothing, she’ll eat anything but she does certainly have her notable preferences.

DINING HALL NOTES

FAVOURITE DISH.  ✧

"I didn't think I would enjoy this, but I have to admit it's delicious."

LEAST FAVOURITE DISH.  ✧

Doesn’t have one. Will eat anything and everything so long as it's put in front of her

TEA TIME GUIDE

FAVOURITE TEA. Crescent Moon Tea CONVERSATION TOPICS. Someone you look up to, Sturdy weapons, The last battle, Food in the Dining Hall, Gifts you’d like to receive, Strange fish in the pond, Cats, 

TEA TIME QUOTES

GREETING.  ✧

(1) "(Tail wagging happily)" (2) “Did you gather all these shiny dishes yourself? Please tell me where you got them.  (3) “I like to spend my free time alone napping and looking for dust bunnies, but this is fun too.”

FAVOURITE TEA.  ✧

“(Sniff sniff) Oh! My favourite, how considerate”

FIVE STAR TEA.  ✧

“(Sniffs) This smells… fancy. Could I just have the leaves instead?”

BEING OBSERVED.  ✧

(1) "(Tail wagging, ears twitching)"  (2) “Can we skip the staring and small talk?”  (3) “Is there anything you’d like to have?”

QUIPS.  ✧

"Do you want a hairball? I could get one pretty easily."  “Didya find a dust bunny or something?”  “It’s so sunny here compared to Nohr.”  “(Barks)” “I’m bored. Just means I’m bored though, nothing special.”  “Oh! Is that a bug?”

ENDING.  ✧

"This was fun, but I think I’ll go treasure hunting now. Later."

FINAL COMMENTS.  ✧

(1) I talk about my daddy a lot because he’s totally the best. You agree, right? You have to agree, Daddy is the best person in the whole wide world!

ANSWER. Nod, Laugh.

(2) It’s not a bad thing to have a messy room. I just like collecting stuff! It’s not my fault that it gets so messy!

ANSWER. Nod. Sigh.

(3) I usually like to spend my time napping or looking for dust bunnies. But I guess stuff like this can be fun too!

ANSWER. Laugh. Chat.

(I couldn’t think of five 🙁)

MISCELLANEOUS DIALOGUE.

GIFT GUIDE

FAVOURITE GIFTS. Ancient Coin, Blue Cheese, Hunting Dagger, Owl Feather, Riding Boots, Smoked Meat, Tasty Baked Treat, Whetstone DISLIKED GIFTS. Arithmetic Textbook, Book of Crest Designs, History of Fodlan, Monarch Studies Book, Stylish Hair Clip

GIFT QUOTES

DISLIKED GIFT.  ✧

"I wouldn’t even add this to my treasure pile."

LIKED GIFT.  ✧

"Cool."

FAVOURITE GIFT.  ✧

"(Sniffs) Ohhhhh! It smells so good! Are you sure this is really for me?"

LOST ITEMS

A COLLECTION OF HAIRBALLS. It seems to simply be a collection of hacked up hairballs. You can’t imagine why someone would want such a thing. But there were some pretty weird people here at the academy, so it belonged to someone. It probably belongs to someone with a penchant for collecting strange things.

Location found: Fishing Pond

AMBER (?). A glowing amber stone with a strange paw mark in its centre.You aren’t exactly sure what it is, but it seems like it would be pretty important to its owner. It probably belongs to a non-human resident of the academy.

Location found: Dining Hall Balcony

RED CLOAK. A red cloak with a hood and admirable white lace stitching. It stinks a little though. You can’t help but to be reminded of the story of Little Red Riding Hood. It probably belongs to someone who usually always wears a cloak.

Location found: 1st Floor Dormitories.

LOST ITEM QUOTES 

OWNER.  ✧

"You found it!! Yay I’ll love you forever! I mean, not more than Daddy, but almost as much!"

NOT OWNER.  ✧

"Not mine. Could sniff out the owner though."

BATTLE QUOTES

MOCK BATTLE RETREAT.  ✧

“I give up. You play too mean.” 

FIRST KILL.  ✧

"Of course I managed it. Wolfskin like me and Daddy are great at hunting!"

MONASTERY QUOTES

CHOIR PRACTICE.  ✧

(1) "... Why do we have to sing anyway?" (2) "(Humming) Wow. That’s really bad. I’m sure my Daddy could do much better!"

COOKING.  ✧

(1) "Can't someone else cook? I'd rather be anywhere else but in the kitchen." (2) "My daddy taught me how to cook ages ago. The wolfskin all love my food..." (3) "This tastes terrible. There's no way the wolfskin will ever eat this..."

TUTORING

INSTRUCT

N/A (Is the instructor)

TASKS

STABLE DUTY. ✧

“Do you think I could pluck a few horse hairs off without anyone noticing?”

WEEDING.  ✧

"(Eating the weeds)"

SKY WATCH.  ✧

“You know, I don’t think wolfskin were ever supposed to fly.”

CERTIFICATION EXAMS FAILED.  ✧

"(pouts) But Daddy will be disappointed…"

PASSED.  ✧

"Ugh, this means a lot of work, doesn't it?"

LEVEL UP

0 TO 1 STATS UP .  ✧

“I hope Daddy's not disappointed in me…”

2 TO 3 STATS UP .  ✧

“I grew a little.”

4-5 STATS UP .  ✧

“I grew a lot. I guess training is worth it...”

6+ STATS UP .  ✧

“I'm getting...strong! Wait 'til Daddy sees!”

UPON REACHING LEVEL 99 .  ✧

“That’s it?”

BUDDING TALENT

“Time to shift focus. Or nap. Whichever.”

NEW SKILL

“Let’s go.”

RECLASSING .  ✧

“But I don’t need any of this stuff…”

BATTLE QUOTES

WHEN SELECTED

FULL/HIGH HP .  ✧

“I'll take out the garbage.”

MEDIUM HP .  ✧

“Mmm, looks yummy.”

LOW HP .  ✧

“I guess I'll help...”

ENEMY DEALS 1 OR NO DAMAGE OR MISSES .  ✧

“That was too close!”

CRITICAL ATTACK .  ✧

"*sniff*...Delicious." "This makes me hungry!" "I always play with my food." "A-hunting I will go."

GAMBIT .  ✧

“So stubborn!”

GAMBIT BOOST .  ✧

“You're lucky I'm here!”

DEFEATED ENEMY .  ✧

“Daddy, are you watching?”  “Ugh, what a nuisance.”  “About time.”

ALLY DEFEATS ENEMY .  ✧

"Nice hunting." "Ooh, something shiny!"

ALLY HEALS/RALLIES .  ✧

“Yay.”  “I didn’t really need that. But thanks...” “Thanks.”

DEFEAT QUOTE

CASUAL .  ✧

“That's all the hurting I can stand! Time to retreat.”

CLASSIC .  ✧

"Sorry, Daddy... I can't even remember... your smell...”

THE ADVICE BOX

"I MISS MY DADDY SO SO SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH. ANY TIPS FOR COPING WITH HOMESICKNESS?"

> Go home, I guess? > Your… Daddy? > Send him lots of gifts if you miss him that much. I’m sure he’ll love that. (Correct Answer)

[chubbycaucasianchristiancloseted]

I hope none of it has ever leaked in her bag.

I hope none of it has ever leaked in her bag. The Time tries to cover for Hillary Clinton boasting about the health benefits and her collection of hot sauces. If that is true why not say that in the interview? Actually after this comment she was told people are going to think you’re pandering to the black community where she said “is it working”.

Direct Quotes:

In a radio interview Monday morning, Hillary Clinton was asked to name something she carries with her everywhere she goes. “Hot sauce,” she answered. “Yeah.”

The Clinton campaign has confirmed to TIME the type and brand of hot sauce now toted by the Democratic front runner for the presidential nomination: Ninja Squirrel, a Sriracha from the in-house brand of Texas-based Whole Foods Market. “And we continue to carry chili flakes and jalapeños around,” says Clinton campaign spokesperson Nick Merrill.

Clinton was speaking to one of New York’s largest hip-hop and R&B stations, 105.1 FM’s the Breakfast Club, a morning radio show hosted by DJ Envy, Angela Yee and Charlamagne Tha God.

In 2008, she told 60 Minutes her habit of regularly eating chilies to stay healthy goes back to 1992. At the White House in the 1990s, Clinton boasted a collection of more than 100 hot sauces, according to a December report by the Associated Press.

“No seriously, hot sauce. I’ve been eating a lot of hot sauce. Raw peppers and hot sauce,” she said. “Because I think it keeps my immune system strong.

Chilies are absolutely crammed with nutrients, including, as I write in my upcoming book Hot Sauce Nation, folic acid, and vitamins A, E and about six times as much vitamin C as an orange, all of which science indicates contribute to a strong immune system. Though some nutrients get lost in the processing of raw chilies, the chopping and smashing can actually help release some of the beneficial compounds, meaning hot sauce does more for chilies than ketchup does for tomatoes. A 2015 study of the health outcomes for about half a million Chinese adults found that people who ate spicy food every day or almost every day had a 14% decrease in mortality over the course of the study. The compounds in chilies can even help ease sinus troubles.

Since eating hot sauce causes a little bit (and sometimes a lot) of pain, it triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller, which have an abundance of additional effects beneficial for anyone running for elective office. Endorphins lower stress and anxiety, can even impart a sense of euphoria and, yes, boost the immune system.

[magerywrites]

I should probably add some justification for proposing Fate doesn't really know who Ninshubur is, so let me elaborate. First and foremost, as far as I can determine, Fate interprets Ishtar almost exclusively from the Epic with the occasional flutter in the direction of the Descent.

It's aware that some of her other myths exist, but when I say almost exclusively from the Epic I mean things like how Archer Ishtar's material entry poorly paraphrases a quote from Enki in Enki and the World Order—who notes to Ishtar that "you destroy what should not be destroyed; you create what should not be created"—to report it instead as "Inanna? Is she not the most annoying goddess in the world!? She will destroy something that certainly does not need to be destroyed, and she will also create something that does not need to be created!" and attributes it to Gilgamesh.

Nasu, I'm very happy for you, and I'm going to let you finish, but I have read several different translations of the Epic, two of which are sitting on my desk as I write this, and our boy Gilly-P does not at any point say those words in that order.

Anyway. Speaking of an occasional flutter in the direction of the Descent, yes, Ninshubur has a major role in the Descent. However, of all the deities who feature in it outside of Inanna and Ereshkigal, Fate only ever acknowledges Dumuzi, who, likely not coincidentally, is also the only one of those deities the Epic mentions in relation to Ishtar.

Stepping outside those two myths, Narita references Enheduanna in Strange Fake, which is an unexpected flex, and part of Ishtar's improved characterisation may be drawn from how Enheduanna speaks of Ishtar in the Exaltation and the Hymn. However, I'm strongly inclined to put that down instead to the fact that Narita—based on this section of his author's note at the end of of Volume 4—actually just genuinely thinks Ishtar's neat and is willing to write her far more charitably because of it. He's very plainly still drawing from the Epic, not just because of the way he writes Ishtar's personality, feats, and general description but because, well, one of the lynchpins of the entire story revolves around the entangled relationships between Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Ishtar, and Humbaba. It's fairly obvious where the man's coming from; it's simply that he's also willing to grant Ishtar genuine grandeur and dignity in the process, which cannot be said for Grand Order.

Overall, I'm forced to draw the conclusion that Fate just doesn't really care about any Ishtar content outside of the Epic, which, as a corollary, means it just doesn't really care about Ninshubur either. We will never get a meaningful Ninshubur—at best we'll get a passing reference like Enheduanna does—so she might as well not exist for its purposes. She's outside of its very specific snapshot of a limited array of characters, so we can ride as eternal, shiny, and chrome as we like out here on the borderlands.

To be clear, there's an obvious appeal to Fate's approach: when you're bouncing around so many mythological systems to put together your own spin on all of it, you kind of have to not get lost in the sauce, especially when you can't guarantee how many sources are even available in your native language. This is doubly relevant in the case of Mesopotamia, given that Gilgamesh has played a starring role since Stay Night—the Epic was always going to be Nasu's first stop for anything Ishtar, and it's not like Fate treats mythology in general as much more than a series of stories to adapt and play with in service of the stories it wants to tell. In the end, it's a largely reasonable approach even though it regularly results in unreasonable things.

I just like to dream of a world where somebody at Type Moon shared my specific hyperfixation too.

Look at her! Isn't she great? I think she's great.

(Source is Fate/Strange Fake Volume 5; artist is Morii Shizuki.)

Can I pretend that Ishtar really likes Haruri because she looks like Ninshubur?

It depends on how attached you are to Fate canon!

As you likely already know if you're asking me this question, but which I shall explain for the more general audience, in Strange Fake Ishtar has two main reasons for liking Haruri and deciding to protect her.

One of them is that, despite using magecraft, Haruri's values, opinions, and beliefs mean she's still "human", rather than a "mage", concepts Ishtar draws an important distinction between.

(There's honestly a lot to talk about in Strange Fake about Ishtar's relationship with humanity. It's not just in her big declarations about watching over them and ruling them, or how she can "find something to enjoy even in the most awkward of dances, as long as you never abandon your humanity", but also in the little things like how Enkidu notes that all the gods "except Ishtar and Ereshkigal" thought Humbaba was a "complete human being". But that's beyond the scope of this ask.)

The other, which I was alluding to in my initial response, is that Haruri's name "was kinda similar" to Siduri's name—that's the "deep reason" Ishtar has for naming Haruri her high priestess. Ishtar's instincts "couldn't possibly choose the wrong person", so that similarity was enough.

But it means that Ishtar's first association with Haruri is Siduri, not Ninshubur. If she had thought of Ninshubur first, she probably would have said something to that effect.

However, if you're willing to step beyond Fate canon, you arrive at a space far more rife with possibility.

By that, I mean it's an even bet if Fate even genuinely knows Ninshubur exists, so go wild, comrade.

Spread the Haruri-Ninshubur word!

Hell, go above and beyond and make it a little fruity: see this speculative essay by someone whose Mespotamian expertise makes me look like a flailing child.

[scholarhect]

jontim would’ve been SOOOO good if it was actually anything like all us gay people on the internet imagined it was. and i know that’s literally what shipping is and it’s fine but it’s kind of funny to me that we all saw two bisexual men with a compelling angst arc and made it like 4x as compelling and angsty and invented sexual tension that wasn’t actually there. like it took me months to realize that jon & tim never had any actual romantic chemistry and we were all just going insane over their potential to have possibly had romantic chemistry off-screen. actually i was wrong we didn’t make their arc more compelling, it was good already, but we did invent the romance bit. can’t stress that enough. and we were right to

[cassowariess]

It’s pretty interesting how many people who have suffered from mental health issues/trauma have latched onto Rick and Morty this season. (I’ve noticed it mentioned in a lot of people’s posts, and no I’m not going to name names because even if their posts are public it’s still their personal stuff lol). And a lot of them I’ve seen are new fans. (I think a lot of people who were former fans drifted AWAY from the show post season 3, not because it was bad but because it got a reputation as “that show toxic men like.”)

Personally for me the first time I felt something relatable in this show as a person with mental health issues was the end of the Unity episode in Season 2 where Rick attempts to kill himself. I was like “whoa...this show actually has heart and understands this stuff isn’t easy.” I didn’t know the context of why he had tried to do it until seasons later, but it was still painful and relatable in a strange way.

And I wasn’t really into the fandom then. I became a big fan in Season 3 after the April Fool’s premiere. Rest and Ricklaxation is actually one of my favourite episodes as a person who suffered for years with undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder and I even wrote a little thing about it at the time here.

But things really came to a head in Season 5 (and partly Season 4, but again we didn’t have the context) when we now know why Rick is the way he is. And instead of the show going “look at this innocent bab” it still makes us aware that “actually this man is in deep pain, but he’s still a piece of shit and HAS to get better or he’s going to continue to destroy himself and everyone around him” while still painting him as a sympathetic character.

And all the things the Toxic Szechuan Sauce fans assumed Rick was (straight, white, neurotypical, in control, unfeeling) are being deconstructed as each season goes on and reveals the layers of trauma Rick has endured. His bitchiness at a wedding? Not behaviour born of toxic, unfeeling dudebro shit but because the man he has loved for 35 years is marrying someone else and reminds him that he’s lost everyone he ever becomes attached to. Which he felt totally vindicated about when Tammy killed BP in front of him. His weird aloofness around his daughter? It’s because she’s not his daughter and he still doesn’t know how to handle that.

I read this quote where Dan Harmon refers to Rick as “crazy” or “insane” several times and despite it being really obvious there are a lot of people who seem to gloss over that. But how could anyone who has seen the horrors of the multiverse not be insane? Imagine you have infinite daughters, but none of them is YOUR daughter. Could you possibly love every single one of them just because theoretically the Rick in that universe is their father? Or would that send you into an existential fucking crisis? Now imagine having to think that way about everything in the multiverse on top of the trauma of watching your original family be killed in front of you and the reason Rick starts going heavy on the substance abuse starts to make sense. Even the family Rick is living with now seem to cope better with the knowledge that the multiverse exists. Maybe it’s because they haven’t been aware of it as long, but it’s crushed him to the point where he can barely function. To the point where he’s so terrified of getting attached to people that he treats them like shit or pushes them away.

And I think the reason it resonates with a lot of people who have suffered from mental illness is the thought: “I am this way for a reason. But a reason is not an excuse. And if I reach out my hand and accept help, things could change.”