#i think Elias has enough references for now

[corvidat]

New lap desk 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

[princesspastel8]

Chapter 6: "It's good to be back!"

Dipper POV

I wake up with a splitting headache. I groan as I sit up, pressing and rubbing my fits against the temples of my forehead. I swing my legs off my bed and hiss out in pain from moving to fast.

"Damnit....Bill.." I said while standing up and leaning against the wall for support. "My head...hurts so much."

I hear Bill laugh before he speaks. "Sorry, pinetree, I couldn't help myself. Seeing the fear in those meatsacks' eyes brought so much joy!"

I tense from his shouting. "Please...no screaming." I beg while slowly walking to the restroom next door to my room.

"Right, you had a pretty memorable night, huh?" Bill chuckles.

I take off my t-shirt and sweat pants, turning on the shower to warm water setting. I step inside, letting out a sigh as my tense body slowly relaxes. I lower my body underneath the showerhead, humming to the feeling of the warm water running down my body and soothing my headache.

"Yes, but enough with games. My plan is to bring you back today, but I can't think of who my last sacrifice will be."

"Haha, oh come on, pinetree. I'm sure there's someone out there who's stupid enough to get close to you -"

Bill is cut off by the sound of the bathroom door opening. "Oh! Oops, my bad dude. Didn't know anyone was in here." I hear Soos say.

I sigh heavily, pushing my wet hair from my face. I peek my head out of the shower currant. "So you're saying you didn't hear the water running through the door?"

Soos shrugs his shoulders. "Nope! But I'll wait until you're done. See ya later, dude." He said while walking out.

A smirk plays its way onto my lips as I pull my head back under the showerhead. "I think I found the idiot I can lead to their death...hehe." I chuckle while washing my hair and body.

"I forgot all about good old question mark! This is going to be hilarious to watch playout! Hahaha!" Bill laughs.

"Indeed." I said as I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower.

I wrap a towel around my waist and walk to my room. I open the door and walk inside, locking it behind myself. I drop the towel while walking to my dresser and pull out black shorts and a black tank top along with some boxers.

I dry my body, putting on my clothes. I place the towel on top of my head, and I walk down the stairs. I raise an eyebrow at everyone. No one's in the kitchen, but everyone is in the living room.

"Uh, why is everyone..." I trail off while walking into the living room. I look at the tv blankly. The news is on.

"A crazed serial killer is still on the lose. The bodies that were found and identified as Robert Stacey Valebtino, Tambry, Susan Wentworth, and Pacifica Elias Northwest. The police haven't figured out a clear motive nor how the murders could possibly be linked. I'm Jessica Jimenez, leaving a warning: be at home before sunset, lock your doors and possibly your windows, and stay safe. And now for the weather -"

Stan turns the Tv off to comfort a crying Wendy and Mable. Ford, however, is taking notes on his notepad, possibly writing everything the reporter stated. I sigh, walking over to Wendy, rubbing my hand up and down her back.

"Ahahahaha! Look at all the chaos and fear you put into those meatsacks! So proud of you, pinetree!" Bill cheers.

I feel my cheeks begin to heat up at Bill's words. I shake my head at the sound of Ford's voice. Everyone turns their attention to him.

"Stan and I will be leaving to hunt down this killer. My thoughts are that whoever is doing this has found out how to summon Bill."

Everyone's eyes widen at the mention of Bill, but my eyes hold shock for a different reason. "Just how did Ford figure it out? The deaths aren't linked in anyway....Unless he's referring to me killing two members of the cipher wheel." I thought to myself.

"What makes you think that grunlke Ford?" I question out loud.

"This killer only needs one more life to take. The fact that this killer killed two members of the cipher will speak for itself. So, in order to prevent such a thing from happening, Stan and I will find this killer and turn him or her over to the police."

Everyone nods their head in understanding as the two prepare to leave. "And no one is allowed to leave for any reason. Do I make myself clear?" Stan said rather sternly.

I sigh heavily while everyone else nods. They walk out the front door, leaving Wendy, Soos, Mable, and me.

"Soooooooo....duck detective?"

Wendy drys her tears and stands up. "I c-can't right now....I have to plan h-his funeral." She whispers, her voice cracking.

"And I have to talk with Candy and Grenda like we promised." Mable said while standing up and walking into her room.

"Oh...alright." Soos said sadly.

I watch as the two leave with a smirk on my lips. I glance at Soos as I stand. "Hey Soos, remember how we used to be dino bros?" I ask.

"Yeah, dude! It was so much fun....you know before the fight we had and almost being killed -"

"Right, right. How would you like to be killer hunters?"

"That would be awesome! It's been a while since I've been on an adventure."

"You didn't understand what I asked. Would you like to come with me to find the killer? Stan and Ford are too old to do it alone."

"Uh...I don't know, man, Stan did say not to leave no matter what." Soos points out with uncertainty.

"Oh come oooon Soos! They'll thank us for catching them!" I answer back.

"Well....if you say so! I trust you, Dipper."

"Great! Just let me get a few things, and we'll be on our way." I said while turning to leave the room.

"Hehe, things just got interesting.", Bill hums.

I chuckle while walking up the stairs to my room. "They have...yes they have."

■■■■

Mable POV

I sigh as I lay back in my bed, petting waddles with my good hand. I still can't believe that Dipper did that to me....he changed ever since that day. I blame myself for everything....I was drunk and just wanted to be cool. I can never forgive myself for that.

I sit up, hearing the door open to my room. It's Wendy. She's been down and out since Robbie was killed. She mentioned how he never came home last night but didn't think too much of it. I always thought Robbie and Tembery would last....I wonder what happened.

"Hey, uh Mable, have you seen dipper? I want him to look after the shack while I make a quick run. Soos isn't here either, so...." She trialed on.

"Huh?! But Stan said not to leave....should we tell them?"

She shrugs, "eh maybe...I'm sure they're safe."

But I don't believe it. Something feels off... really off. Dipper is different, far darker than he was back then. I never knew that he got the Cipher wheel on his back...I would sometimes hear him whispering in his room in the middle of the night. I don't know if it's me or the Mable juice, but Dipper isn't... dipper.

I hear Stan and Ford enter my room with a strange expression.....fear? "Grunlke Stan? Grunlke Ford? What's the matter?"

"No time to explain. Where's Dipper and Soos? We looked all over the shake but couldn't find them. We were hoping they were in here..." Ford said while nervously looking around my room.

"I don't know. I saw them walking into the forest through the window, just thought they were going to help you two find the murderer." I point out while smiling.

"Uh kid... we already know who the murderer is." Stan said in disbelief.

"Well, say it, old man." Wendy said in an impatient tone.

"Dipper. He's the killer." Ford finally said, his voice full of dread.

Wendy laughs as if it was a joke, but the look on my grunlkes faces says it all. The feeling in my chest grew heavier. How could my twin brother..be a killer?

I feel tears fill my eyes as I stare down at my broken wrist. "Wh-what makes you think that -"

"No time to explain! Get ready. We are leaving now before it's too late."

"What do you mean?" Wendy questions warily.

"Before Dipper brings back Bill."

□□□□

Dipper POV

As we get closer and closer to Bill's stature, the wider my smile becomes. So close...so so close...

"Aye dude, where are we going?" Soos asks while glancing around. "Isn't this where that Bill guy stature is?"

I turn around and chuckle, my vision flashing to yellow. "Yes. Yes, it is."

I can sense the fear coming off of Soos. It only makes my excitement grow. We approach his stature. I see tree veins wrapped all around his poor stature. I groan at the sight but smile as I hear Soos backing away from me.

"I don't know about this man. Dipper, I think w-we should head back..."

I chuckle, my chuckles changing to laughs, my voice becoming mixed with Bill's. "Sorry, question mark! But pinetree has other things planned."

I drop my bag, pulling out a pistol I took from my father before leaving for gravity falls. I turn around, aiming the gun right in between his eyes. "Dino bros... yeah, sure, when I was twelve. But things are different now....very different. Think about it this way! Your sacrifice will soon bring me happiness!"

Soos eyes begin to fill with tears, which only makes me laugh more. "Dipper, you can't do this, dude! Wh-what about your family?...you can't do this to us!"

"Family?....Bill is my only family." I frown before shooting him, killing him instantly.

I watch his eyes roll back as blood spats on my face. I place my gun back into my bag, picking up Bill's stature and placing it in the middle of an open space. I pull out a can of blue spray paint, drawing a huge circle around it. I then draw a star, the corners over the star with circles on the tips. I reach back into my back for the jars and 5 candles and a lighter.

I quickly place the jars and candles inside the circles on the tips of the star. I quickly open each jar, lighting up the candles. I watch as the red flame quickly turns blue. I stand before my art, my hard work finally paying off.

My smile disappears as I hear my name being called. I ignore it, holding my arms in the air as the palms of my hands glow with blue flames. "L-T-O-L-O-X-A! His time has come to rise! I invoke the ancient power that Bill has returned!!" I shout to the top of my lungs as my body begins to float from the ground.

"We're too late...." I hear Ford whisper in grief.

I watch as Bill's stature begins to float from the ground as the souls merge with it. The sky darkens, and reality freezes, turning to black and white. A bright yellow glow comes from the stature, causing everyone's eyes to shut tightly. Once everything settles down, I'm greeted by the voice I've yearned to hear from outside my head after all these years.

"Oh, gravity falls, it is good to be back! What is this? The second time?"

[miifu666]

Yandere isekai! Alpha!

Who you met during your mindless scrolling through the brainrotting reels and videos thats feeding the addiction part of your brain, in no time you're suddenly transported in the middle of a busy street with your pajamas.

Not knowing if you've accidentally sleepwalked or if you were daydreaming, you noticed the strange waft of different smells the people around you have.

Its all too much for your brain, the smell of different perfumes clashing eachother is making your head spin. In no time, you accidentally hit your head on someone.

A tall person, maybe 6'7 you note. You have to crank your neck upwards to see him, apologize and run back to your home despite forgetting that you're in the middle of an unknown street.

"S..sorry..?" You half muttered, trying to get a glimpse of the man by squinting, the backlight of the sun isn't helping the unfortunate circumstances you're in.

"No problem! ...hey are you lost, little thing?" The man tilted his head, blocking the sun and giving you a bit of how he looks now. "You don't smell like an average beta.. or omega... even alpha"

He's an attractive person, a lazy smile etched on his perfectly smooth face. Pulling the fat of the cheeks a little and curving his cat-like eyes just beneath his golden rimmed glasses. Theres a few moles you see near his left eye, under the eyebrow and bottom lip. He looks like one of those pinterest models you see, one that people put as a drawing reference.

"Uhm.. what?"

"You're okay?"

"I think so? What do you mean.. average beta?"

Hearing your answer, the tall man can only hummed and fix his dark blue hair. It wasn't long enough to reach his shoulder but not short enough to reach his ears too, a layered cut maybe? You try to figure out the man's body action before hearing out what he has to say. Theres a small fear of you getting kidnapped, pulled into some drunken bar or maybe a dimmed and empty place to steal your organs.

"Betas? You know, the second gender?" He muttered, the lazy smile is still stapled on his face. You asked if he's talking about the same beta, omega and alpha that you know about. The ones that you've read in fiction and posts, a universe where people have secondary genders instead of just the usual biological male or female. "Hmmm... yes?".

You wanted to laugh, make a weird face, punch him on the guts, to say he's joking would be an understatement. He looks serious, in fact. He looks at you judgingly despite the small smile he kept. You panicked, finding out that those isekai fictions are actually happening to you, during your scrolling on the dumb thin brick of electronic. Maybe if you weren't so focused on it, you would realized you're slowly being transported into another dimension.

The man tilted his head again, a small humm is heard despite the loud steps of the crowd walking past you. The crowd, you're also in the middle of the busy street. The sweat on your palms feels more wet now that you realized everyone is seeing you in your pajamas, the only pair of outfit you wear to be comfortable alone, uninterrupted in your small abode.

"You look so anxious.. wanna go somewhere to talk? Seems like you need something to straighten your mind"

Time moves quickly, you're now sitting in a thick sofa. One that feels like its been used for years, the comfortable dent it has gives you a sense of belonging. The man, introduced himself as Elias. Explained to you how this world works, after noticing how despite having betas around. You have a particular smell that isnt too strong or "unique" as he would say it. "Quite the catch you are" he smiled as he tilted his head again, the act reminding you of an owl. "An alpha like me have sharper nose... but i can barely smell you. Its like smelling a deer.. small deer"

Now you're lounging in his house, holding a warm chamomile tea he brewed. Feeling snug despite being in a strangers house, waiting for him to finish changing. He discussed about you having a place to stay, urging you to live in his house for awhile till you can figure things out in this world. 'How kind..' you think, 'maybe the alphas in the fiction isnt as horrible as it actually is in here... '

You didn't noticed the lingering look he's giving you, the licking of his lips each time you tend to appear skittish and unsafe. He has a need to keep you alone, keep you safe around him and maybe spoil you a bit. Who knows? Maybe throughout all his life being an Apex Alpha, you are his true mate. The reason he's been so devoid of any feeling and not so obedient for his wolf side is because you haven't appeared in his universe.

Fortunately hes a patient man, so patient. He can easily break you down to become his perfect little omega, no matter if you'll have it as a second gender or not. In his eyes, you'll always be an omega. His omega

Elias is an old yandere oc i created, i had some ideas of how he is but i wanted to show more of his personality here. Theres a few notes past me put on his character but the rest, is improvised.Sooo this is all not proofread.

[its-your-mind]

guys guys guys

I have done some personal soul searching and I know why jonathan jarchivist sims made the professional decisions he made when he was a Newly Minted Head Archivist

He tried to apply logic to the managerial decisions of a megalomaniac kind-of-immortal servant of a fear god, who was at the time posing as a Respectable Director of an Academic Institution

like listen. clearly jonah did not give a single flying fuck whether or not the archive was organized. all he wanted was for jon to nom on some statements and get soul-tattooed by nightmare-fuel until he was good and traumatized enough to read like… a couple dozen words that would end the world.

But jon doesn’t know that! So he’s a researcher at this academic institution, and he receives a promotion out of nowhere into a completely different department. Obviously, he thinks, elias knows what he’s doing - he wouldn’t be in charge if he didn’t.

So now jon’s trying to reverse engineer the logic, because there must be logic and he’s not going to question the head of the institute. Like, you look at me and tell me you think S1 jonathan sims, wearing his armor of Prickly Academic, is going to admit that he has no idea what he’s doing to the person who has just promoted him. Definitely not.

So why, jonathan sims asks himself, would elias bouchard promote someone from the research department into this position? Obviously he feels that, along with reorganizing the archive, it’s necessary to go back and research all the statements down there!

And then jon poked that theory a bit by asking for tim and sasha to be transferred with him, and elias gave him the green light! So now you’ve got three researchers, and elias throws in one librarian assistant (who has a lot of experience, but not the background needed to guide the whole team), and so jon assumes that the job of the archive is proportionate: 3/4 research, 1/4 cataloguing, with the department guided by the researchers.

I’m gonna go ahead and assume that the only concrete direction jon was given was to “create audio recordings of the statements.” And thus, we have an archive that spends most of its time on research, creates borderline-impossible-to-reference audio recordings, and then catalogues almost as an afterthought.

[aoioozora]

So I drew Hesh in different hairstyles

since it was in high demand (?) and I reblogged it from that post directly but I think it deserves a post and a whole analysis of its own.

Here's the entire piece of 5 sketches:

I get quite lazy to draw and even though it wasn't specifically requested of me, I went ahead and drew Hesh in diff hairstyles because it's a fun concept to think of and honestly it was so much fun!

I got to study the face of this Sexy Man™. I hadn't noticed it before but he had low cheekbones! Now I'm not used to drawing low cheekbones since my default state is drawing them high, but it really challenged me

Right here in the first sketch. His face looks so flat 😭 I had to get my eyes used to the low cheekbones. Looks like I have a lot to learn lmao

As for the hairstyle, I love it, but I definitely think that Hesh wouldn't have his hair like this. He seems to prefer his hair on the shorter cleaner side, like this

But I can see him having a phase where he had long, luscious hair enough for Elias to go "kids these days..."

I honestly think he'd rock long hair ngl. Maybe he had a Metal phase at one point lol

I enjoyed drawing the long hair the most because I love making long, loose strokes. For once I got to fix the faulty way I draw side profiles, and improve my observational skills because Hesh looks a bit like Hesh over here lol

But my obs skills improved way more because Hesh LOOKS like Hesh in this one

Realistically he'd have this hairstyle since he's a 90s-00s boy. Saw the Brad Pitt reference and I just HAD to draw it. If I'm not wrong, he has a similar hairstyle at the beginning of the gameplay

It's really giving surfer boy. And since he's from California, he must've dabbled in surfing, who knows

Also this one is my personal fav. I think this hairstyle REALLY suits him.

Also also appreciation for his big ass nose.

In conclusion:

IMHO Hesh looks best with a style slightly longer than a buzz (clean and Brad Pitt)

Hesh is hard to draw (including his facial hair)

That being said, if you have more hairstyle ideas for our big boi here, let me know ;) I'd love to draw them hehehehe

[sshireens]

everyone and their mother likes a tudor silhouette for the lannisters and i understand why! BUT I DISAGREE! i see your sleeves (which are BEAUTIFUL i will never argue that) and your skirts and i raise you:

insane elizabethan gaudiness. skirts that force the riff raff to Keep Their Distance! ruffs god the RUFFS! embroidered and beaded until moving becomes a workout. stiff busks and small waists (looking even smaller next to that TENT of a skirt). ribbons and pearls and lace and rubies (RUBIES! DID SOMEONE SAY RUBIES? CERSEI I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU!) are these dresses not Dripping in luxury and finery? the silhouette is just slightly absurd enough to Stand Out okay you KNOW what era this, therefore the people of westeros KNOWWWWWWW who these people are the second they see that right angle waist. plus added benefit: those bodices are probably stiff enough to stop a blade. not that i dont literally gain years on my life every time i see cersei’s cunty chest plate.

i mean (yes these are closer to costume than recreation BUT YOU GET IT OKAY YOU UNDERSTAND) its theatric its dramatic it has me looking at paintings going What is the point?????? and then i remember the point is to stop the show and draw attention and really leave a mark and is that not the lannister way? now i am known to also be a pre-tudor Plantagenet era slim silhouette yards of fabric Typical Medieval Dress fan for cersei BUT CERSEI TRANSCENDS FASHION OKAY. this is her at casterly rock. this is THE WESTERLANDS. this is who she REALLY IS. i can see it in my mind like this is a vision i KNOW it to be true

i mean come on. guys its too easy. i can see her plotting scheming in a giant skirt and a beautiful ruff. she’s analyzing the minuscule beadwork of other court dresses trying to figure out what message she’s being sent (she is not being sent one). she orders EVERY detail of her own gowns to make sure she’s communicating properly back. ladies in waiting carry their own secret messages in beads and lace and decoration and cersei feels SOOO smart because they dont even know it. she wears gold and jewels in a pattern to mimic a maesters chain because at this point she deserves one. think also how easy it is to hide poison in this shit. so many stones that could be hollow. so many layers and folds. and listen when they’re kids and she and jaime trade clothes to pretend to be each other its EVEN EASIER cause nobody knows what you actually look like in this anyway

the wedding look went crazy okay. ruffs and the fucking. peacock head thing i can’t remember the name of. embroidered lions shimmering with ruby eyes and gold thread, dress tinkling with every move because its dripping in pearls and gold and emeralds. alright this fabric is Stiff with beading and stitching and Layers. you can’t look at cersei directly because the torchlight gleams off of her like some demented early stage psychosis medieval disco ball. golden haired golden dressed golden skinned Gold Gold Gold she exudes richness and beauty and fashion. this is fucking crazy to a baratheon court. she upstages the new king. she upstages the memory of rhaella. everyone sees now that she should have been a targaryen queen. DO YOU SEE IT. like i am such a zealot for this like this is SERIOUS TO ME. red and yellow and black and red and red and yellow and GOLD and in her insane mind these are snide allusions to rhaegar and elia and robert to everyone who can see her. and to jaime. this is a lannister woman marrying in lannister colors and she fucked her twin brother That Morning. okay that is also a silly little reference she’s making. THIS WOMAN IS CRAZY SHE DESERVES THE GAUDIEST FASHION HISTORICAL RECREATIONS CAN PROVIDE!

also if it were real (it is real. im grrm.) the allusion to elizabeth i the virgin queen sole female ruler… that just makes me giggle in and of itself.

i rest my case!

[everlastiingiimmortals]

A Review on the Genius Society and Dr. Ratio: A Conflict of Philosophy

"The Path of Erudition has neither reason nor logic." - Dr. Veritas Ratio, v1.6

I've been thinking a lot again about Ratio and his opinion on the Genius Society lately, particularly with respect to their reception of him and vice versa. Looking through the voicelines available in game, you'll find that currently (as in not including Aventurine, since he's not released yet), not a single person has any reference to Ratio. Nobody speaks of him, nobody speaks to him in team ups. Not Herta, not Ruan Mei, and I can only hope that Screwllum or Sunday actually talk about him -- but unfortunately it is more likely that the latter will not. For such a big name, properly introduced to us by Asta (who also doesn't have a voiceline on him), he goes... well. Largely unnoticed by the target of his ire.

And sure, it's a gag when it comes to the texts you get from Ruan Mei and Herta in the game, for they have absolutely no clue about his presence on the station. Really, the only acknowledgement we get from them about Ratio is Herta talking him the fuck down in the 1.6 livestream, but that's also not necessarily canon, so I'm dismissing that for now. And I'll admit, this is something that I have talked about multiple times, but I find it so foundational to everything that Ratio is as a person that I want to touch upon it again through the lens of the Genius Society as a properly extensive post.

It's really, really funny in a depressing way that Ratio is so faceless to Ruan Mei and Herta that he can waltz around the station and do whatever he damn well pleases, including bullying Asta and intimidating Arlan and trespassing into the Seclusion Zone supposedly without raising any sort of alarm. He receives no consequence for, as we say, ~pulling some shit~ on someone else's proclaimed property, or even literally stealing the Phase Flame from right under Ruan Mei's nose (which he does return to Screwllum despite clearly being capable of utilizing it effectively and having every reason to keep it for himself), almost as if he was never there. And yet this is exactly the problem, isn't it? This is the exact thing he criticizes about the Genius Society. He doesn't exist to them, because he is not a genius according to Nous.

And the problem with that assessment is not that he isn't good enough. It isn't that he isn't smart enough. He has received the acknowledgement of a Genius Society member, # 55 Yu Qingtu, Ruan Mei's old friend, who commended him on his contributions to the understanding of evolution. He was able to solve three of the mathematical challenges Genius Society member #56 Elias Salas, widely known for his publicity, left behind. It is not that he is not on par with them in terms of intelligence. So why? Why was he not deemed good enough? It's a question he asked himself so many times, and a question he already has the answer to.

He's too compassionate.

And Nous was a machine. What does Nous care of humanity? What does Nous care of anything aside from THEIR primary directive? Nous provides not solutions, but questions. Not care, and certainly not compassion. THEY seek only to know what happened before, what is happening now, and what will, or can, come to be. The Genius Society members are all inherently selfish because they are the same as Nous; they must be the same as Nous, in order to assist in Nous' goal. Even Screwllum, gentleman that he is, operates in self interest. He seeks to understand the origin of his own existence, the birth of his sentience. Even he fails to understand why Ratio pulls his stunt until Ratio explains it to him, because it (likely) simply doesn't occur to him that anyone would stand against the Genius Society in the way that Ratio does, when all Screwllum knows is worship. He is a king.

Ratio tells you exactly why he scorns the Genius Society, 'declares war' on them even, and it's because they don't help anyone but themselves. They don't serve anything but their and Nous' interests. There is, to him, no reason to their behavior, nor is there any logic to their blindly faithful worshipers, who are content to simply exist and orbit them. That's not even living, because they aren't striving for anything. The Geniuses are ruthless, greedy, opportunistic, elitist, and in most cases inconsiderate. Ratio's priority is and always has been helping others. Finding solutions. Lifting up others and leveling the playing field. Curing the sick and diseased. This is why he is a doctor first, a teacher second, a genius third. And it's because of this that Herta and Ruan Mei don't acknowledge him. Even Screwllum, who is at least polite and actually notices and speaks to him, disrespects him, refusing to address him by his proper (and rightfully earned eight times over) title as a doctor, both scholarly and medical. They will never see him as an equal because he cares too much to leave the masses behind and relish in the ivory tower as they have.

So no, he does not want to join the Genius Society anymore. No, he does not want to follow Nous. No, he does not want to give up who he is, or what he's done. Take his morals and limits and his fundamental love for life away from him and he's no better than those who turned their back on the commonfolk to chase the stars alone. And frankly? At this point, he'd rather die than receive Nous' acknowledgement now, after everything he's done and sacrificed. That'd be too little, too late for the boy that once dreamed of opening the doors to that beautiful library, that temple to the mind, without any reservations. What a sick joke.

[horizon-verizon]

I think George dont realised what happen to season 2 was a butterfly effects from season 1 yet George still praising season 1, he actually did similar with his complain about Targ sigil, isnt he too late for that? That four legs was already there since season one (Harry Llyod costume), if George still enjoying season 1 and can separate them with his book why can't he do that with the following season they never intent to follow his story btw.

What GRRM was trying to say in the dragons post was what he continues and expounds on in his Maelor/Sophie's Choice post: if you mess with the most critical, moving parts of the plot, you're going to strip the story of its meaning AND empty yourself of logical lines towards future events. that's what anon's referring to.

Well, anon, in that dragons post, GRRM didn't give examples [that had the, in my opinion, very necessary and well warned spoiler] and didn't explain what he meant by "Fantasy needs to be grounded.   It is not simply a license to do anything you like. Smaug and Toothless may both be dragons, but they should never be confused.  Ignore canon, and the world you’ve created comes apart like tissue paper."

What's different now, anon, is exactly what he said in his post, anon: they are messing with VERY CRITICAL MOMENTS that have to do with the end of the war itself; they crossed a particular line in the telling of the story itself, something that should, at all costs, be retained in the show for the ending (Maelor). This isn't about costumes or anything that could be easily reshaped into a "close-enough" storyline, esp bc Jaehaera NEEDS to make it to the end of the Dance and no she cannot replace Maelor. No, she cannot become Aegon's heir; bc the greens were steadfast abt it having to be a boy, having the succession go through males, thus stick to their own guns/reason for going into the war in the first place and going towards their fall. And this part abt Jaehaera, again, is not even the thing GRRM was talking abt out the post.

It's like asking someone to be happy with someone making Nymeria have mostly men instead of women in her group of Rhoynar-rescued; like having the Mountain not kill Elia Martell and her kids, which leads to Oberyn going after the Mountain, which goes into the acceleration of the Dornish plot against the Lannisters going on right now. At least, this is the thing he notes. And he's entitled to expressing what he sees and observes are not-great changes to his story when he see/observes them. As we all are when we're looking at something created for us to watch/read; with him, the actual writer, he has even more "right" to.

In season 1, he also wasn't promised (seemingly) something would happen and then that thing then not happening, as what was the deal with Maelor and Ryan promising Maelor would exist.

the following season they never intent to follow his story btw.

This is conversation of the definition and parameters of "adaptation", but first, GRRM was basically giving us an extended....not metaphor but an extended parallel of what he [the guy who wrote this story for anyone to adapt or not] thinks are the most important elements of the story; and he chose dragon legs likely bc it was one of the most incentivizing amongst many fandoms, he takes great pride in his reasoning for those legs; he wishes to express to his/the show's fans an arm of care and relation towards changes eh doesn't think production or execs should or had to cut or distort BEFORE he he heard of HBO's plans to produce it and when he met with the producers/Condal about it.

Because--before that ill-fated post--from how GRRM writes abt HotD, even when he's positive, it gives off the impression that he's never in the actual writer's room despite how many fans argued that he was and had to have been as an exec producer (that must have been awkward for those fans upon seeing GRRM demonstrate how wrong that notion was). If he's not in the writer's room or has proper authority, all he can really do is sit back and watch the product...maybe a little earlier tha most, but still, he's not involved and he's reacting and thinking about the show.

Anyway, what, anon, do you think entails an adaptation "following" a story? How closely or far from the original plot would you say is "too far", when it finally becomes something that is not the actual story anymore but an invention by those who want to make a completely different story? And does this actually sound like an adaptation? Or a fanfic?

Definitions:

adaptation: a composition rewritten into a new form, or to fit a different medium; a screen adaptation of a novel fanfic: stories written about TV, film, or book characters by their fans (= people who admire them); stories formed from existing, usually published material with a plethora/array of possible interpretations of the source materials present themes, characterizations, etc./the purpose of creating fan material for the sake of personal enjoyment

HotD was always going to be more fanficy sorta thing bc it is a hotly debated section of a history book, however there ARE more probable and likely options of situations the history book creates for us to....not "solve" but piece out. And what you piece out will be very much a reflection of how you view certain behaviors, characters, ideas, AS WELL AS you actual knowledge of what inspires GRRM, why it does, why we care abt those things (I'm talking real history) what the lore of the world Rhaenyra and the rest are in. I'm talking laws, how some people view some of them and how they will twist them to their own emds. And most of all, as I already said, somethings without a doubt...precisely bc it i IS a history book, happened. And some of those need NEED to be on screen for the end to make any sort of sense the way it was intended to.

But I also think he's hopeful abt Ryan making some script changes from his very rare assertiveness.

I also think that this is all part of a reckoning with the different degrees people are willing to tolerate the "inventive" adaption that really changes the source material that many have not actually read or understood; some want the adaptation to match as close as possible to the orig (a lot of book readers), other don't care how far away the story gets from the org, others are in an undefined but just as variant "middle".

[atopvisenyashill]

Hiiiii what are your theories on what post-resurrection Jon with be like?

So I AM curious if he’s gonna be a bit more animalistic. I went back to look at Varamyr and I feel like Varamyr is a weirdo but he doesn’t act like an animal, despite spending a lot of time as an animal. Now you can contrast this to some of the Starklings who will do shit like growl and howl and stuff, and Jojen in fact warns against staying an animal for too long.

“Bran the boy and Summer the wolf. You are two, then?"

"Two," he sighed, "and one." He hated Jojen when he got stupid like this. At Winterfell he wanted me to dream my wolf dreams, and now that I know how he's always calling me back.

"Remember that, Bran. Remember yourself, or the wolf will consume you. When you join, it is not enough to run and hunt and howl in Summer's skin."

But the thing is - it’s Rickon Bran and Arya doing that. Bran & Arya are barely old enough to be self aware and Rickon is a literal toddler (I think all the Starklings refer to him as “the baby” not as in “the youngest” but as in he is TINY still). Jon is sixteen. I do wonder if he adjusts better simply because he’s older. But to flip back again…Varamyr is our only reference and Jojen explicitly warns against it. So will Jon have a temper? Will he growl, go nonverbal when emotional, like Rickon does? Will he howl at the moon like Bran and Arya? Will other people find him unsettling? Not in the “why is this grown man acting like a wolf” way but in that way that actual wolves are unsettling….you know the stories about how you KNOW if you’ve seen a wolf because they’re fuck off huge, they LOOK like predators, and your instincts tell you “this thing can kill me” in a way they don’t when you see a regular dog? What if he’s just unnerving to be around?

I do wonder about his physical look as well. Every person who ~comes back from the dead~ still bares the scars they got while dying. Beric & LSH’s injuries seem to healing human slow - that is to say, if they hadn’t received killing blows, Cat’s vocal chords would be healing at about the rate we see LSH start to regain speech, and Beric’s various cuts are scarring & healing at a normal rate. Bran is paralyzed. Drogo is…all of that. Will he face some issues with his body because the wounds are still healing? Will he have some more stiffness in his limbs, like the way his burnt hand has problems? I don’t really know how he would pick up the red eyes and white hair from ghost - Beric, LSH, Bran, even Drogo, they don’t suddenly change eye or hair color or something, and Brynden was BORN albino it’s not like his magic made him that way later - but I’m ngl I still kind of hope he’ll have the red eyes, I think it’s neat. He doesn’t need white hair tho I think that’s overkill.

When it comes to his priorities, I think we're going to see a huge shift. I know everyone ragged on the show for just having Jon be like "yeah i'm peacing out bye" bc there's going to be more hubbub than that but I do think Jon is going to feel incredibly jaded when it comes to the Night's Watch. I always come back to his confrontation with Maester Aemon and the fact that Aemon is distressed by his choice to not attempt to help Elia and her babies...

Maester Aemon sighed. “Have you heard nothing I’ve told you, Jon? Do you think you are the first?” He shook his ancient head, a gesture weary beyond words. “Three times the gods saw fit to test my vows. Once when I was a boy, once in the fullness of my manhood, and once when I had grown old. By then my strength was fled, my eyes grown dim, yet that last choice was as cruel as the first. My ravens would bring the news from the south, words darker than their wings, the ruin of my House, the death of my kin, disgrace and desolation. What could I have done, old, blind, frail? I was helpless as a suckling babe, yet still it grieved me to sit forgotten as they cut down my brother’s poor grandson, and his son, and even the little children …” Jon was shocked to see the shine of tears in the old man’s eyes. ...“Once. So you see, Jon, I do know … and knowing, I will not tell you stay or go. You must make that choice yourself, and live with it all the rest of your days. As I have.” His voice fell to a whisper. “As I have …”

There’s nothing he could have done and he knows it. AND YET. How do you justify to yourself hiding out at the Wall in safety while children of your house are slaughtered? How do you make your peace with it? You can’t! Love is the death of duty!! Aemon doesn’t ever make peace with it! He spends the last days of his life hating himself for being so old, being unable to help Dany, reaching out for the brother he’s long lost in his dreams. I think being murdered by his men, after months of arguing with them, of trying to get them to put aside their shitty little beef with the wildlings and focus on the real threats to their safety, and the knowledge that “Arya” is ALIVE OUT THERE, it’s all going to massively change his priorities. When you factor in the girl in gray turning out to be Sansa (don’t boo me i’m right!!)…I don’t think he’s going to hem and haw about being a brother of the night’s watch, I think he’s taking his shit, and he’s getting the fuck out of dodge.

But when it comes to his state of mind…again, I’ve come around to the idea that Jon is going to be resurrected 100% due to Northern type magic, and not anything Melisandre is doing. I’m willing to be wrong on this one btw, I do think there’s still a shot some funky magic brings him back but I think with all the build up to Jon actively warging, to accepting his magic, and opening his third eye, is in fact building up not just to Jon spending a long time in Ghost while his body is found and resurrected, but that his body will HEAL while he’s not in it the way Bran’s does, and he comes back to an injured but on the mend body.

If he’s waiting around for his body to heal though, he’s going to be spending a hot minute inside Ghost & greenseeing. Possibly longer than Bran did. I think like Bran, he’ll have his own mini vision quest as he wanders and sleeps in ghost’s body - and I think he’s going to find out Bran is still alive. See, Bran figures out that Robb is dead through a green dream, then buries the memory-

The dream he'd had . . . the dream Summer had had . . . No, I mustn't think about that dream. He had not even told the Reeds, though Meera at least seemed to sense that something was wrong. If he never talked of it maybe he could forget he ever dreamed it, and then it wouldn't have happened and Robb and Grey Wind would still be . . .

And we know Summer is aware of his scattered siblings, dwelling on them often. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that the connection works the other way. We also know Bran is still dwelling on his family, with his weirwood dreams focusing on Ned. Similar to Aemon, similar to Jon’s whole story, Bran struggles in balancing his love for his family with what he feels is his duty. Not only that but imo there’s a lot of connections between Jon and Bran when it comes to magic. Jon is the only character we see saying goodbye to Bran, which has always stuck out to me. Bran also attempts to open Jon’s third eye before Robb (presumably - i think if bran was talking to robb in his dream, he would have brought it up) Sansa, Arya, or Rickon (again, presumably).

It seemed to sprout from solid rock, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender compared to other weirwoods he had seen, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother's face. Had his brother always had three eyes?

Not always, came the silent shout. Not before the crow…. Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him.

And Bran has that near miss where he and Jon are in the same places at the same time, with Bran running into Sam & Gilly. Additionally, we get all those scenes with Mormont’s crow doing weird stuff and we have no idea if it’s Bloodraven or Bran - it’s very possible Bran At Some Point In Time has been trying to get Jon’s attention for a long time.

All of that to say I think there’s a build up to Jon and Bran being the first Starklings to reunite, but not in body, just in mind! While trapped in Ghost’s body greendreaming about his thought to be dead brother, Bran will have the opportunity to jumpstart Jon’s magic the way his was, and Jon will realize Bran is still alive - potentially even exchanging important information about the Others, Winterfell, and Jon’s real parents…Both boys return to their bodies, turn to the people they’ve sworn their lifetimes to and go “actually fuck this shit and fuck you too” and try to leave.

Try, being the operative word here, of course.

[gffa]

So I am very behind on The Mandalorian and just saw 3x03 "The Convert" yesterday, and I was wondering if you had any ideas about how the New Republic was framed in that episode? I'm trying to grapple with it, and am not totally sure why we were shown this. I mean, obviously everything with this is intentional from the writers, producers, showrunners, all of them, but I was wondering how other people saw this episode.

Honestly, I just don't have enough faith in Favreau's writing for the show to feel like there's anything there, I genuinely don't know if it was meant to be taken at face value, if it was meant to be thematic of the problems inherent in the foundation of the New Republic, or just Rule of Cool from top to bottom. If the writing were stronger, I might give thought to well, what is the point of Elia Kane's character, what is the point of bringing back Dr. Pershing, what is the point of showing us this program for former Imperials in the New Republic, but given the way season 3 ends, I'm not sure what the point would be. Anything that's introduced in this season ultimately feels pointless and it's just there because the show wants to expand the universe, not because it's relevant to the thematic elements of the show. I think what the show wants is to have all its Rule of Cool stuff (included just because it's awesome to put in a Star Wars show) and to be something of an anthology series, where episodes are devoted to fleshing out everything that's going on in the galaxy around them, to develop stronger ties between the movie trilogies. Except none of the New Republic stuff really seems to go anywhere, it's not relevant to Moff Gideon's story, it's not relevant to Din Djarin's story (like the Order 66 flashback is relevant because it's illustrating Grogu's characterization and where he's at at this point in time and what he's dealing with), and maybe it'll come into relevance in the fourth season, but I'm extremely doubtful. I can't really get a bead on what Favreau's thoughts about the New Republic are, so I can't really figure out the framing, and I've basically stopped trying because what does it even matter? Like, say what you will about George Lucas, that guy knew the story he was telling and the themes he wanted and, when he included a scene, it was with the thought of supporting the central tenets. I think The Mandalorian has always leaned towards adding things in for fun (the things that'll "break the internet", that are included just to break the internet) but it really came to a head this season and now half of the show is just stuff that's happening without any kind of eye towards the structure of a bigger storyline or purpose. Like maybe I'm missing something because I'm so disinterested in whatever this show is trying to achieve, but it really does feel like there just wasn't a purpose to including it, other than that maybe Favreau wanted to try to connect the OT to the ST because he likes writing references to the movies more than developing the structure of his own story. And sometimes you can get away with that, because people like seeing Luke Skywalker and an interlude of him just doing stuff has relevance just because he's the face of the franchise and so much of the heart of the story. But you can't do the same for Dr. Pershing or even the New Republic as a whole, you have to have a point there and I'm not sure there was one.

[unsleepingtales]

Episode two ayyyyyyy! Once again this is really long soz

The hype this intro fills me with is unreal.

Siobhan’s daily affirmations “this intro is not a tongue twister and is very easy to say”

The auld lang syne reference cracks me up because we know for sure that both Brennan and Siobhan do actually know the words to auld lang syne, because they sang them in the Unsleeping City finale, but they’re mumbling through it here so as not to disrupt the bit and I love them for it <3

Today’s spelling of Daniel’s last name: Fũks

(I had to look up “u with a tilde” to get that and then copy paste it in bc it’s not available on an english keyboard lmao)

God the whole pleasure district is shut down. Losing my mind at this.

Detective Hunch Curio: Vampire

I attempt to steal the child :|

A full on arms race lmao

They keep calling him The Child

Look at you!!

Imelda <3 they are best friends you’re right babe

There’s always so much banter!

Hank I hate to break it to you but dogs do in fact get hurt in this show.

(Gonna kill that dog 🤪😛✌️)

Why has “you’re my best friend” become such a thing in this show lmao first pib in neverafter now this

Siobhan looks wonderful this episode. She always does, but her hair looks particularly lovely here.

I love how Danielle is playing into the reporter thing

God this is sad.

Lore unlock!

Mind reading is fascinating in this context

BANGS

Glossaries!!! I want to know what’s in those oh my gosh

You paid attention to the way that I behave good for you!

Hank what

What

You have been known to whisk!

Imelda <3

How long has he been waiting to say The Fix and the Fucks because that’s Great

Imelda going “it’s me, he knows me” is giving big “I killed him, yeah” vibes

He finds children quite fun! They’re good folk!

On behalf of ALL CHILDREN

The child personification of the conscience realizing that it has power is wild

FACT ALERT

I love that the facts can be comforting and not just threats

Aww they literally light up when they’re happy

A whole glass of grenadine oh god that sounds awful

Yeahhh that’s a good stick

The intense eye contact on room temperature vodka

A CALZONE??

Sure ok love that

Ngl I could go for a calzone rn. My brother makes great calzones.

I love it when people use their class feats

They’re rivals it’s healthy it’s fine

“Nothing fans of actual play love more than a murderer” “aww but he’s a good murderer” he’s onto us fuck-

Can I ask you a question? / (sad and scared) Okay -> ME ANY TIME ANYONE ASKS ME THAT

Literally what am I gonna say to that. No? You think I’m gonna say no when you ask me if you can ask me a question?

Imelda that sounded Pointy do you have Lore

I love this world

That seems like a reasonable idea Imelda but you seem too invested in it and I want to know why

Listen sometimes players set things up for us too well and you end up getting excited. Sometimes the party wants to separate of their own accord!

Conrad and The Fix are the two most straightforward communicators and them hanging out is great.

A bread bowl made out of muffin to hold coffee grounds that you eat. Augh.

If I was writing a story ;)

Dome antics!

What shocked Elias? Why is he having such a major fight or flight reaction?

Ooh reflex switches fun

Yes he does!

This person is scrambling so much

I do not know enough about biology for this what comes from the scalp that would require shock troopers??

Babe what

I’ll reprimand you greatly! And loudly! So that everyone looks at us!

Let’s hear it for FEATS

Tropes!

Ooooooh dome animation

BLOOD?

Jesus christ Brennan is not holding back on the cop hate this season. Love him for it.

What hold on what

Pain responder oh god

HEAD INJURY???

Did someone fucking brain him in an alley after work because he took the file or is he just being mugged or something

Also. Shock officers not allowing the information that he’s been injured to reach his consciousness.

Cell phone? Cell phone would be a heavy thing vibrating near that area if it’s in his pocket?

Actually finding a partner is Not on the priority list for your government at the moment sorry. Why are you lying to this man.

What

Oh yeah he might not be conscious actually. The eyes are closed.

We love completely improvised lore

Fucks (expletive)

They share a courtyard probably

Conrad’s home is gonna make me so sad I already know

Man sometimes people say things and. We just have to live with them yk.

(Brennan makes that “hlblbblblhblhb” sound)

Sitting in this discomfort is so good actually. There is discomfort and uncertainty and fear here and that is good.

Ichabod. What was Ichabod the wayward interest?

HELP Conrad was so resigned to dying Alex nodded like yeah that makes sense

FACT ALERT

I relate to The Fix in that I also will share random facts in the hope that it will make someone feel better.

If there was an amount of dead he didn’t want you, he wouldn’t have called me. DAMN.

Hank so genuinely lit up at the compliment

That’s Hank talking.

What is happening and why do I feel about it

I do feel bad that like. The kid’s losing his home.

Repressed trauma memory!

Oh god okay so his conscience made him defend his little sister and it ended incredibly traumatically so the lesson he learned from that was that listening to your conscience gets you hurt and he learned that as a child! So he never had a chance to see that that wasn’t the whole story!

(thoroughly impacted) Okay.

Levity!

Still find it fascinating that the actual university is in the red light district.

Is it no longer the middle of the night? Wasn’t it the middle of the night? Why are students just now heading to the Big Game

Just a flat no. Love it.

Ammon’s Horn Memorial * look up later

He’s dabbling in the arts!

Oh god but really it makes so much sense that the brain university defunded the arts years ago. Like within the context of who this guy is and how harshly all distractions are dealt with it makes perfect sense that they don’t have art classes.

DC 20 😭

STEM only :(

Lady you are not poor-

Silly little woman :)

HELL YEAH SIOBHAN

Psychometer

Add something fun!

Of course, every time a memory is recalled, it is altered! We demand that you add something cute and fun. Love that.

We try to have fun here

Hunch now is the time to let it GO

We need Stacy Fakename merch

You’re frickin haunted man

Oh god he got jumped.

Let’s just steal it!

De’lux meaning of light. Oy.

(Brennan makes a sound of satisfaction with his punnery)

Exceeded the dc by 10!!

Trapp uses moxie so freely

Oh they’re all getting jumped. Like host body like mental functions I guess?

Ugh, wool! So naturally oily and slippery!

The Fix and his traits <3

Ol’ Johnny Gullible

FEATS <3

New life!

FACT ALERT

He’s gonna break all those bones

WHAT

He’s so terrifying without trying

What a wild sequence of events

Bro I would also dissolve into mist if someone looked me in the eyes and talked to me like that.

I’m low key worried about what happens if they restore vision without anyone in the buildings to distill the raw visuals

DEFENESTRATION

Oh my GOD

Oh my god.

Oh my god????

(cheerful jazz music)

[helenofblackthorns]

With everything that was happening so fast in London how are we to expect a funeral in Idris when all that was going on? Cofdelia wasn’t in London long enough for a funeral, wasn’t it only a few days that had passed until Belial took over London? Nevertheless CC cutting Elia’s funeral was something I was grateful for because he was no good and it would’ve taken up even more page time. She intentionally skipped all the funerals in CHOT

I mean.... I personally don't like the plot of CHOT so I'm fine with throwing the whole thing away in order to actually wrap some things up satisfyingly. Like Belial possessing James so he can be King of England of all things.... what was that lmao

Also, I don't think Elias should have had an on page funeral because he deserves it or anything like that. It more has to do with Cordelia, and continuing her arc. She has a complicated relationship with her father, especially now she knows about his alcoholism, and that really should have been resolved better than it was. Also, how does Jesse fit in to all of this? Because imo his involvement with Elias' death is brushed over in CHOT. Like how does Cordelia feel about the fact her bestie's new boyfriend is walking around with her dead father's voyance rune on his hand? Jesse's face was the last thing her dad ever saw, his last words were in reference to Jesse ("You?"). Elias' funeral would have been an ideal time to kind of dig into these questions!

And that's just Cordelia!! What about, Alastair, and how he feels about these same things and how it differs from Cordelia's feelings? Or Jesse himself, further expanding on his "complicated story" and how he was made complicit in these murders against his will? Does this effect his relationship with Grace, after learning she too was controlled and manipulated? How does this lead up to the fact Cordelia is the one who will kill Tatiana, his mother. How does this reflect back onto Cordelia and Lucie's already strained relationship? What about Matthew and how he's been compared to Elias several times, how does this effect him?? I could keep going but you get my point.

Elias' funeral could have been used in so many different ways narratively speaking, and been a central moment for multiple character arcs. I get not wanting to necessarily read that, but in the grand scheme of things, I think it should have been included.

[lycanlovingvampyre]

MAG 106 Relisten

Activity on my first listen: putting up a new fence

Hearing the episode title I somehow already suspected this could be a space one...

Huh... The spinning of the tape breaks off there for a moment after Melanie's clap (1:21). I never noticed this. Probably always thought it was a brief loading error. Thought it now too at first, but I went back to check.

"More than large enough for the swell of humanity to grow, and ultimately extinguish itself." Hm, a touch of the Extinction there?

"and when I think of it too deeply, I feel like I’m going to throw up. Like a sort of existential vertigo." Yeah, I know this feeling. When I try to think of things which are incomprehensible for me I get this weird feeling and feel dizzy.

"I knew that if it chose to cry out, it would have destroyed me utterly." The Vast is the most cosmic of all horrors of the Entities. This literally sounds like an Old One.

"And I wish that I could convince myself that ignorance was the same thing as safety." Louder, for Jon in S1!

Although this is a statement with a lot of rambling and very little actually happening (and usually I simply cannot follow those kind of statements) I absolutely love this one. I'm not only afraid of heights and I hate falling (generally avoid rides with a drop at theme parks), the aspect of one's own insignificance compared to the sheer size of the universe really gets to me, but also fascinates me.

Nice to see that the rest of the archival team is actually helping Martin with the statements.

MELANIE: "Also, I um, I can’t find Jan Kilbride." Sounds like he has been swallowed up by the earth! *badum tss*

BASIRA: "Yeah, it’s, it is not cool down here." MELANIE: "Summer in the basement, I suppose." Is it really hot in some basements in the summer? Because mine is always cool. Very comfortable in summer, too cold in winter.

BASIRA: [ugh] "That boy needs to relax." MELANIE: "Or at least find someone else to fuss over!" BASIRA: "Yeah, he’s got it bad." This is top quality office gossip!

BASIRA: "Do you know if he and Jon ever…" MELANIE: "No clue, and not interested! Although… according to Georgie, Jon doesn’t." BASIRA: "Like, at all?" MELANIE: "Yeah." First of all, Georgie randomly telling a mutual that Jon is ace, it that allowed? Second, Melanie randomly telling a mutual (and co-worker!) that Jon is ace... General opinion on the confirmation of an ace character: Yay!!! I don't really know what to think of confirmation happening by mentioning it in bonus material, a lot of people probably won't catch it that way, so having it in the main canon story is great! Then, yeah, it's kind of hard to reveal it when sex isn't really a topic in itself in the story. It comes up very rarely in statements, implied with Tim and towards the end with Georgie and Melanie. So how do you touch upon a topic that isn't really a topic? Have people talk about it and I think the gossip was a good way to handle that. The benefit of the gossip and especially the circumstance of who is telling it makes it vague to leave room for interpretations so people can put him anywhere on the spectrum. The vagueness of certain story points is doing a great service for fan content in my opinion. As someone who asked themself why I had not yet come across proper ace representation in fiction, hearing of poor little meow meow Jon being ace made me so happy!

BASIRA: "No way. I used to love that show. I mean, the first couple of seasons, at least. Took a weird turn in season three, when they introduced –" I heard this may be again a reference to The Black Tapes?? Yes, no, maybe?

ELIAS: "Whatever I’m planning needs to be stopped even if it cost a few lives. Including your own." That's very Gertrude-y of Melanie. Except for the part of risking her own life, that's very Slaughter-y.

Ben's voice acting is so on point!

When I heard Ivy Meadows I immediately knew, this is going to be bad. I remembered very well that this was the care home from MAG 36.

So that knowledge-insertion torture... THAT was the moment I finally decided "Holy shit... Elias really is evil!"

@a-mag-a-day

[pixelated-pancakes]

Here’s Why Things Are the Way They Are

The Overall Layout

Let me start off by stating that one of the characters (read: Oliver Banks), in podcast, describes the Magnus Institute (TMI) as small. SMALL. 

Suffice it to say that I respectfully decline and offer you (what I deem) a medium sized building instead. Before you ask me, 'did you even try', I attempted to make two other layouts in the ‘small’ category that just. Did. Not. Work. So yeah. No small Magnus Institute for you.

The only reason I didn’t make it 'large' is because of a bit of research I did into probable locations of TMI, where none of the buildings were taller than four floors, or could be considered large by any stretch of the imagination. In terms of facade and size, I think TMI is kind of like a Starbucks on a college campus. It isn’t distractingly out of place, but you can find it easily enough.

Most of the more interesting shapes in the various floor layouts are the result of scouring Google maps and historical images for architecture typical of the 1800s. While it’s entirely possible for the building to have been gutted between now and then, I like to think of the Magnus Institute as being a preserved historical building, one that can’t be completely replaced without losing that status. Which is, unfortunately, why it doesn’t have an elevator/lift either.

Ground Floor Rooms

On this floor lies the rooms that gave me the greatest trouble: the Boiler Room and Artefact Storage. 

The source of my difficulties? MAG 038-040, three episodes wherein the amount of setting descriptions provided is greater than the sum of the descriptions found in the other 197 episodes. The entire Prentiss scene is extremely difficult to justify in a building with a feasible layout that can be designated as ‘small’ or even ‘medium’. 

Here are the most important points I used making this floor, just for easy reference:

Elias and Sasha have to find the boiler room ‘a few floors down’ 

The worms are on the upper floor (possibly the ground floor, one floor above the basement)

Elias and Sasha have to ‘turn a corner’ to see a ‘tidal wave of filth’ rushing towards them

Elias has to 1) lose Sasha, who finds her way into Artefact Storage and 2) take a roundabout route that requires 10-15 minutes to reach the boiler room (with one close call)

There are multiple corridors, only one of which contains the filth mass

Artefact Storage does not have any windows.

I spent so much time considering whether the Artefact Storage and the Boiler Room were in the basement or not — and I have been working on an alternate layout somewhere to do just that, if anyone’s interested — but ended up settling on the first floor because a lot of the descriptions didn’t line up with the idea of either of those rooms being in the basement. Elias’ ‘alternate route’ and ‘corridors’ from MAG 040 were one such description.

I also couldn’t bring myself to justify lugging a table all the way down to the basement.

(The reception, break room, toilets, and an administrative office are all located on this floor largely due to convenience and/or logic.) 

First Floor Rooms

This was the easiest floor to design. I didn’t want it to be too far from the research floor or Artefact Storage, and I knew that the library deserved its own floor. Simple, effective, and logical. I gave the head librarian an office, too. It’s what Diana deserves.

Second Floor Rooms

So, as it turns out, to run a business you need more than just the spooky parts. This includes offices for workers that are essential to keeping the company running. Marketing, accounting, the like. I also read on the wiki that the Magnus Institute has approximately 80 workers and couldn’t justify not having this floor. 

If you’ll notice, the HR department has an office smaller than the toilets. This is because Jonah Magnus deems it nonessential. The janitorial staff, however, are both very important and very well stocked, so they get one of the larger rooms. 

Third Floor Rooms

TMA explicitly states that researchers work on the third floor. Therefore, the research room is on the third floor. What is not explicitly stated is whether or not the floor levels are based on the British English floor system (which would make sense), where the ground floor is street level and the first floor is one level above, or the American English floor system (which would not make sense), where the first floor is on street level. I went for the obvious choice.

As for Elias’ office being on the third floor, in MAG 039 Elias states that there’s a manual release for the Archive’s fire suppression system “a few floors down”. Originally, I wanted his office to be on the second floor, or the first. In the end, I got a bit stuck on the idea of “a few”, which seems like it’s more than two, so all the way up to the top went Elias’ office. It stayed up there for character purposes — namely, the idea of Jonah Magnus being able to watch the city from his office.

Basement Rooms

In the basement is, of course, the Archives. Surprisingly, despite how much of the podcast takes place in the Archives, the layout is just as nebulous as the rest of TMI. 

Here are a few notable details I used in planning, all from MAG 038-040:

In the Archives, there is an office (likely small and intended for statement recording)

There’s an entrance to the tunnels in the Archives

There’s a storeroom intended for statements/files that need more care

From the storeroom, the office is visible, as is the door to the Archives.

While the second break room and toilets are not mentioned in the podcast, I thought I’d include them because it makes sense to me that a spacious area with only one exit has options in case of an emergency.

I am almost absolutely certain that I misinterpreted the description of the Archives, but alas, I won’t be remaking it for a while. The new version can wait until I’ve regained my sanity.

About the Stairs

The odd positions for the stairs are the result of trying to reason my way through the descriptions provided in MAG 038-040. My idea was that he and Sasha would descend all the way to the ground floor using the stairs closest to his office, only to run back up after meeting with a wall of corruption. 

At first, I thought that Elias’ “roundabout” route to reach the Boiler Room (MAG 040) would have him dashing through the library and down the other set of stairs, so that particular set of stairs by the Boiler Room only went up to the library floor. 

Then I thought it would be hysterical if Elias didn’t even bother running through the library because he is genuinely terrified of the librarians. (He tries to justify his actions by stating he wanted to extend Jon’s exposure to the corruption and Sasha’s encounter with the table, but he’s lying.) So in went another set of stairs.

TL;DR

The Magnus Archives is a wonderful podcast with descriptions that are highly immersive while allowing for a lot of interpretation by fans, which is something I've always appreciated in storytelling. Although I’m certain those at the Rusty Quill have their own layout, unless they choose to release all the specific details, the Magnus Institute truly is what we make of it.

Also, Elias’ description of the Prentiss invasion can get burrowed into by worms :) 

Me trying to explain the Magnus Institute layout according to the Prentiss Incident™

A Few Sources

Thoughts on layout and location of Magnus Institute

Robert Smirke (architect) - Wikipedia

Donald Insall Associates | Historic Buildings Research - Donald Insall Associates

Mostly Google Images of random 1800s buildings located in Britain and searches for reasonable building dimensions. (Never thought I'd Google, 'how big does a restroom need to be', but here we are.)

[constellationandcompendium]

In honor of Worldbuilding Wednesday... How do you present your worldbuilding to your audience without overwhelming or boring them? What techniques do you use?

Thanks for the ask @amaiguri!

This is an interesting one - I always think the knack is in finding a balance between just informing (aka straight paragraphs just explaining the world) and not doing enough (aka having characters references terms / places that make no sense because the world hasn’t been introduced).

With the proviso that I’m not an expert and these are my personal opinions, here’s how I generally approach presenting worldbuilding:

Snippets built into dialogue / narration which hint at or develop the nature of the world

Details of the world / society which also form part of character building moments

When relevant to give necessary context to the scene / action

and as a cheeky bonus (though it’s not always appropriate)

Including a map! I love a good map as a way to orient myself in a new setting

To give you some practical examples from It All Falls Down:

The setting of the book is a group of islands that exist within the eye of an enormous and seemingly never-ending storm, cut off from any world beyond. Details about the isles and storm are hinted at regularly in dialogue / narration.

‘His office wasn’t much to look at. It wasn’t run down exactly but, much like the building itself, it had that tired, rain damaged look that characterised the Stormbelt area.’

‘One was that the shock of dark curls and tanned skin pinned him as a citizen of the Vale, that golden valley of the Isles that Elias himself had once called home.’

An important aspect of Elias’s character is that he is in many ways ‘other’ to the world he has found himself in. Elias practices the faith of his mother - an outsider to the setting of the Isles - but he keeps it secret because he knows it would not be accepted by society.

‘Stretching in the early morning light he grabbed an old jumper to keep out the cold, pulled out the patterned mat and book from the hidden compartment in the floor. Laying out the mat he knelt in the centre with the book balanced on his knees. Brushing his fingers across the worn cover he took a moment to breathe.’

Finally, at one point in the story Elias and Sebastian are trying to avoid surveillance, so they head deeper into storm affected areas as technology doesn’t work as well and it lets them use natural (weather) cover and other elements of the world to their advantage. This gives me a chance to slip in some worldbuilding!

‘The intersection stood on the edge of the Copperfields District, where the main road towards the lightning installations for the sector ran, the great fields of metal rods that harnessed the storm and used it to power the city. Although they kept to the shadows, there was very little surveillance this far out from the Solarium, with the persistent spray from the storm drastically increasing the frequency of the need for technological maintenance. In the end of Solarium had decided it was cheaper to employ more guards that pay for the upkeep of the cameras. “What are we waiting for?” Sebastian asked.“Any minute now.” He glanced down at his watch. It was less than that before the sound of footsteps broke through the patter of rain and whistling wind. Shift change.’

Would love to hear from other writers how they approach presenting their worldbuilding!

[gutsfics]

Evening Plans

Fandom: Laws of Attraction Characters: Reigan Lee (M!MC), Joaquin Morales Length: 1710 words Rating: General No warnings apply

Prompt: @choicespride aromantic celebration- a night in with just your pets. Summary: Joaquin tries to use some information related to the Colby case to get Reigan to join him for dinner-- but Reigan has other plans.

A/N: I'm really scraping by getting this out by the teeth of my skin whoops. Anyway like the first half of this is mostly from LOA bk2ch10, the part where Joaquin asks the MC out to dinner. Just so ya'll know.

Reigan narrows his eyes as he stepped into his office, unhappy and, frankly, annoyed to see Joaquin splayed in his chair like it was his own office. “Joaquin. If you keep showing up like this, I’ll have to increase security.”

Joaquin shifts in the chair, crossing his legs. “Probably not a bad idea. I have to admit I was surprised Lucy just let me walk in here.”

“We’ll be sure to enact a stricter policy from now on.”

“Good. I could have been a lunatic.”

Reigan sighs and rounds his desk, coming to a stop behind his chair, hands resting on the back.

He doesn’t miss the way Joaquin’s face lights up when he tips his head back to grin up at Reigan.

With a roll of his eyes, Reigan pushes the top of the chair forward, dumping Joaquin out.

He stumbles, but catches himself. “Now, what was that for?”

“Stay out from behind my desk.”

Joaquin puts his hands up and moves to sit in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk.

“Care to tell me the point of your visit?” Reigan asks, sitting down himself.

Joaquin grins again, that dazzling smile that could make anyone fall in love.

“But we’re having so much fun.”

Well. Almost anyone.

Reigan scrunches his nose, unaffected by his charm. “You and I seem to have different ideas of fun. This is a social call, then?”

“I’d certainly like Martin to think so. A little ruse that would gain more credibility if you let me take you out to dinner tonight.” Joaquin leans forward, almost hopeful. “I would make it worth your while.”

Shaking his head, Reigan decides to ignore the attempted flirting. He picks up a pen and rolls it between his fingers. “What makes you think that Martin’s going to be okay with that?”

“He holds the misguided belief that I prefer to keep business and pleasure separate. I’ve told him you fall into pleasure.”

The pen clatters to the desk. “Why on earth would you tell him that?”

Joaquin reaches across the desk, picking up the pen and rolling it in a way not dissimilar to how Reigan had been. “Call it wishful thinking.” His eyes meet Reigan’s, then drop down to Reigan’s lips. “Even Martin knows you’re a knockout.” He turns his head to physically drag his gaze away. “And before you ask, if you join me, I promise there will be a business benefit for you.”

Reigan snatches the pen back, tucking it away in the top drawer. “So, what, you’re bribing me to go out with you?”

Joaquin shrugs, smiling coyly. “I’d like the pleasure of your company enough to guarantee I’ll have it. So? Tonight?”

“Already got plans.”

“Can I crash them?”

“No. It’s a phone call with an out of state friend.”

“After, then?”

“It’s been a while since we last talked; we’ve got a lot to catch each other up on.”

“I’ll wait however long you need me to.”

Reigan lets out a huff. “How many times do I have to say no before you listen?”

“How about a raincheck, then?”

“If it’ll get you to leave my office faster, sure.”

“Alright then. But I will get that dinner.” Joaquin stands up. “No harm in telling you what I wanted to now though. Consider it part of my ongoing job application.”

“...Sure.”

Joaquin tells Reigan of how Calvin Colby referred Elias Ritter to Mcgraw Bryne, specifically with the promise that Martin could “protect” him from Ricci & Associates.

Reigan thanks him for the information and waves him out of his office.

Just before he opens the door to leave, Joaquin stops. “This friend of yours… is it that doctor? The one you quit working at Mcgraw Byrne for?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Last I heard, they had been caught in the middle of an assassination attempt. How’s their recovery?”

“It’s… fine. They were discharged about two months ago.” Reigan shakes his head. “You don’t even know them, and I’ve never told you about them. Why are you asking.”

“Just… curious. Glad to hear they’re all right.” Joaquin pats the doorframe. “Let’s get that dinner sometime soon.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

-

Reigan had lied.

Sort of.

He and Baxter had had a phone call planned for the evening, but just before Reigan had gotten into work that morning, Baxter called to let Reigan know that some work thing had come up- some team bonding exercise in the form of rubbing elbows with the new owner of Edenbrook’s peers and associates in the tech industry.

But Joaquin did not have to know that.

On his way home from work, Reigan stops by a deli for a sandwich and a bakery for a slice of chocolate hazelnut cake- his favorite.

Even before he makes it to his apartment door, fumbling with his keys, he can hear one of his cats on the other side meowing in increasing distress, the way she always did when he came home. The second he gets the door open, her crying immediately halts, replaced with a friendly “mew!”, her fluffy orange and white tail raised in greeting.

“Hello to you, too, Commander T’ana,” Reigan says, bending down to scoop her up before she dashes down the hallway. “You have got to stop crying like that when I get home, the neighbors might complain.”

T’ana purrs happily in response, batting at his chin with a paw, claws sheathed.

He laughs and kisses her right on her fuzzy little forehead, kicking the door shut behind him. With the door closed and locked, he places T’ana back on the floor and heads to the kitchen-- trying his best not to accidentally kick or step on T’ana as she tries to climb up his pant leg. He sets his own dinner on the counter before getting two cans of wet cat food out of the pantry.

The sound of the cans being opened beckons his other cat, Quark, out from where he had been hiding in a basket of blankets, and the process of getting dinner for both cats and himself becomes a bit of a struggle as Reigan tries to push both cats away from the dishes he was attempting to fill with food.

When he finally gets T’ana and Quark’s food on their little eating mats for them and sits down for his own dinner, all of that energy he had left from the day just drains out of him. For a moment he just sits with his forehead against the table and exists, trying his best not to think about the stressful world just outside his apartment, the one where his colleague’s grandmother’s rights have been stolen from her, the one that nearly killed his best friend- which he had been unable to do anything about because he was too busy suing a woman for birthing a baby that was “too ugly”.

Sometimes it was hard not to take the worst parts of work home.

Joaquin’s insistence on flirting with him every time they saw each other despite Reigan’s constant rejections did not help in the slightest.

He stays like that until he is no longer Reigan Lee, hotshot NYC lawyer who solved the murder of a beloved actress, and instead Lee Sungwon, Star Trek fan and cat parent.

A man who’s toasted sandwich is getting cold.

Oh, shit.

His sandwich.

Sungwon sits back up and shoos T’ana- done with her own food and now trying to steal his- off the table.

Even with the meal in his stomach, something about the day had left Sungwon with an off feeling, like he just needed to turn off his brain and veg out for a bit, so he flopped down on the couch and started scrolling mindlessly through his Netflix recommendations.

Nothing seemed to jump out at him, so he decides to turn to his failsafe for picking something to watch: having T’ana pick one at random.

He grabs a pen and some index card from his office and sits on the floor next to where T’ana was sprawled out. “Wanna help me pick something?”

She makes a little chirping sound.

“I’m thinking the options for tonight will be… Deep Space Nine-” he writes it down on one of the cards- “The Voyage Home-” the second card- “and…” he pauses, the pen hovering above the last card. “You know… Everyone is always saying I should branch out from Star Trek. I supposed it wouldn’t hurt to just try something else for once. What do you think?”

But T’ana doesn’t answer, too busy being a cat and trying to chew on the pen in Sungwon’s hand now that it had stopped moving.

“No, no, you’re right. Trust the system. If you pick the something else then we’ll watch the something else.”

On the last card he writes Breaking Bad, which he had been recommended several times by many different people but had never gotten around to watching.

He shuffles the cards around and places them, face down, on the floor in front of T’ana.

She looks at the cards as if she were genuinely trying to make a decision, then baps a paw down near the one on the left. Or perhaps she was just going for a small bug on the floor Sungwon hadn’t noticed.

He turns the card over.

The Voyage Home.

“Aw, yes, that’s what I wanted to watch!” He scratches T’ana under the chin and gets up to put the movie in the DVD player.

When he sits back down on the couch, Quark leaps up onto his lap and makes himself comfortable, purring happily as Sungwon pats him between the ears. T’ana climbs onto the couch as well, settling half on the back and half on Sungwon’s shoulder.

Sungwon relaxes, ready to just chill after a long day.

Snuggling with his cats and watching his favorite movie- there was nowhere else he’d rather be right now.

-

It isn’t until the credits are rolling and Sungwon is cleaning up from the earlier meal that he gets an urgent text from Aislinn telling him and Gabe to turn on the local news.

And just like that, the good vibes Sungwon had been trying to build up since coming home were gone.

[][][]

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