#i'm actually making progress on most of them and it's awesome

[wren-of-the-woods]

WIP Wednesday!

@flowercrown-bard and @samstree both tagged me in similar games (thank you very much <3) so I'm combining them!

Rules: Post the names of up to 5 files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Post a snippet of some progress on one of them from in the last 7 days (if you don't have any, go make some and come back to post). Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them. You must then write 3 sentences in that file, and you can also post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it!

Here's my list:

Renfri Fic

Mouse :D

The Very Literal Sandpiper

Double Fake Dating

And a snippet:

“What exactly is this thing you think he did?” asks the bard, attempting to glare at her. The expression fails to be intimidating to such a degree that it’s almost cute. 

“It’s none of your business,” says Renfri.

“I rather think it is, given that you’re kidnapping me over it.”

“I rather think you should shut up if you know what’s good for you.”

Miraculously, the bard does shut up for a moment. Renfri takes the time to check the sharpness of her blades and contemplate exactly how she wants to kill him without alerting the whole inn to her presence. Perhaps a quick slit across the throat, or maybe she could gag him—

“Are you the one whose children were attacked by that noonwraith?” asks the bard. 

Renfri looks up at him. Instead of outraged, now, his expression is soft and sad. Renfri blinks and says nothing. 

The bard’s sad little frown deepens. “I’m very sorry,” he says. “I can’t imagine what it must be like for you. I swear, though, that Geralt did everything he could to protect your children.”

Renfri can’t help but scoff. 



I'll tag @bambirex @dreamofbecoming @wanderlust-t @elder-flower @thequeeninyellowlace @penandinkprincess @bloodsoaked-rainbows @onwardorange and anyone else who wants to give it a go! No pressure, of course <3

[lissomelace]

THE EUROPA CLIPPER LAUNCHED THIS MORNING, AND I AM SO NOT NORMAL ABOUT IT!!!!!

Space is so fucking awesome. We're headed to one of JUPITER'S MOONS!

Every time a launch happens, it makes the latent space enthusiast in the back of my brain jump up and down. It also derailed all my plans for today. I did have plans.

Instead, someone made one comment about how I could now maybe make mission patches on my embroidery machine, and the space thing crossed over with my current hyperfixation (silm) to produce THIS:

Mission patch for the launch of Gil-Estel! A bit messy, but a good place to start!

Design and linguistics details under the cut, because I put WAY too much thought into it and now must talk SOMEONE's ear off about it. Feel free to ignore this bit:

So, to start: Elvish NASA. I chose to call them Vardildi Elengolmo Vilciryamoyë, or VEV. The Followers of Varda, Astronomers and Astronauts. This could very much be totally wrong. Vardildi is Varda+the suffix used in Yavannildi, the followers of Yavanna. Elengolmo comes from the coined word for astronomer, Elengolmë (star-lore), with the -o suffix from nolmo, wise person. Vilciryamoyë takes the vil- from the root of vilya, meaning air, sky. ciryamo is mariner, and yë is the suffix added to the second word meaning 'and'. (I may be very, VERY wrong on this! If anyone has better ideas, I very much welcome input/guidance/constructive criticism)

So I stuck the tengwar for this on either side of the patch. (None of the tengwar is all that legible, though, I'm working on getting that sorted out) Most NASA mission patches don't actually have NASA on them, but I put it on anyway. Here is the tengwar and the start of a logo I made an attempt at (the tehta is supposed to be a shooting star, but that did NOT come through clearly in the embroidery [because it's tiny]):

(Probably going to try to make an elvish NASA patch before too long, honestly)

Most NASA patches (from research I did with great self-restraint here) have the (last) names of the astronauts. Not sure if they also have the name of the craft or if that's generally somewhere else, but I put both--Eärendil Ardamírë (his fathername and mothername) are the tengwar at the bottom of the patch, and Vingilotë is written on the keel of the ship. None of these are legible because they are small, and my machine has limits. It's a work in progress. Also I apologize for the bad lighting in the photo.

NASA patches sometimes also have a mission motto. That's the tengwar across the top of the patch here-- aiya Eärendil elenion ancalima, Hail Eärendil, brightest of stars (a common cry among elves and Frodo [when facing Shelob]).

(I half wanted to do something a bit more funny--maybe something like 'Now I have become Venus,' or 'Do I get to come down?' but this was a bit easier since it comes pre-translated into Quenya and tengwar, and also I have no faith in my Quenya translations that are any longer than a word)

The horizon is flat because Númenor exists, in the middle there between the shore of Middle-Earth and a teensy bit of Valinor and the Enchanted Isles.

The design for the Silmaril is sort of taken from the heraldic device Tolkien designed for the Silmarilli (though it isn't clear), and it is rayed with the six-pointed star from Eärendil's device. (I stuck the moon phases from the same source around the edges as well)

This was really fun, even if it might be the silliest thing I've ever made! It definitely needs some workshopping--i don't mind the black lines framing some sections from the background fabric, but I might try turning all the tengwar into lines of stitches instead-the satin columns really are illegible.

I now need to restrain myself from doing some sort of NASA/Astronaut Earendil AU, because it now sounds kind of fun (I do not have the background knowledge for this)

Sources:

NASA patches here: https://www.shopnasa.com/collections/patches

Quenya translations here: https://www.elfdict.com/

Tengwar transcriptions here: https://www.tecendil.com/

And if you want info on the Europa Clipper mission, here: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper

Embroidery digitization done with Embrilliance Stitchartist 1, embroidery done with a Brother SE630 machine. Thread is Brothread Cotton and YLI cotton bobbin thread, with a little sulky rayon on the Silmaril. Cloth is a black linen from Fabric Wholesale Direct.

[sabertoothwalrus]

OK PREFACING WITH IM SORRY IF I ALREADY SENT THIS EXACT ASK BUT MY WIFI KILLED ITSSLF AS I SENT IT SO IDK IF IT ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH. but in case it didn’t . i know youve gotten this countless times in the past because i blog stalked just in case youve mentioned something similar before but i need to know if you have any specific inspirations when you draw exaggerated expressions specifically like these two images of marcille. ive actually cried laughing over this comic and being able to communicate this type of visceral emotion is such an insane skill and ive followed your art for probably close to a decade through various fandoms so watching you develop this style has been fucking awesome and epic. like i cannot articulate how funny these are to me i just need you to understand i look at this comic to inspire me to draw now. the closest comparison i can draw to the feelings they evoke are like those mspaint reaction images and also mspaint tails i included for reference even though you probably know exactly what im talking about anyways but its actually so much harder to do that intentionally when you study art. also i lied you literally don’t even need to answer this i just had to let you know how obsessed i am over your silly comics and now ive written out a whole ass discussion post about it. im sorry if this is weird at all i think my daily prescribed amphetamines r wearing off and i know this is such a dumb specific thing to fixate on and im so sorry if its not something you want to hear about your art. ive just always seen that as an artist this type of expressive stupid silly style is something that comes after a significant amount of time and practice and study and style development despite being “simple” in theory. its just so cool to have worked with your own style so much that youre able to go “off model” from it and still maintain consistency with the rest of the piece. i said it already and im sorry this is actually rendundant now but the ability to communicate such raw emotion somehow decreases from at its height when someone is a beginner artist learning how to proportion and keep a steady line and what looks “normal” but somehow it all comes full circle because taking all that experience and using it to almost return to where you started but in a fully informed and intentional way so you can make choices to draw characters like this when the situation calls for it is just dhcidogakgoshfhw. i think i need to cut myself off or im going to talk in circles im sorry tumblr user sabertoothwalrus i just am fascinated by your style and progress and the years you’ve dedicated to art can be seen in so many places but this is just one that stands out to me specifically.

MMMMM what a fun question!!!

I'm not gonna lie, I think it's just Letting A Drawing Be Bad. I definitely think the people that struggle with this the most are people who have genuinely very pretty art styles, to the point of being kind of perfectionist about it. and to Draw Funny often means Drawing Fast and Weird. Pretty is kind of the antithesis of funny (unless being pretty is the punchline). do drawings that make yourself laugh. tracing/lining funny sketches almost always makes them less funny.

one of my favorite types of humor is when it skews more deadpan, actually. This is one of the reasons I love Adventure Time. minimal expressions and flat line delivery + absurd context is a really good combo. the key to comedy has more to do with contrast! if your drawings are allllll crazy ren & stimpy all the time, they're not funny anymore cause it's just "normal". if it's all subdued UNTIL it's extreme, and vice versa, then it's funny. The reason this comic is so funny is because of the complete lack of any expression. I feel like the one you sent of Marcille shouting "WHAT" is funnier when you know how much she tries to be dainty and feminine and delicate, how much she values her appearance, and how averse she is to "gross" or "weird" things.

something I find really annoying (and this is with comics/animation in general, not the expressions themselves) is when the joke goes on for too long. Like you'll have the joke, then the punchline, and THEN the characters reacting to the punchline??? Like the author didn't trust that their audience would find the joke funny, so they basically drew in a laugh track. But, this is distinct from a character's reaction being the punchline (like how the examples you gave from my Marcille comic are). MY POINT IS sometimes expressions aren't as funny on their own as you think, and context can affect how you feel about it!

as far as inspirations go!

my own face! even if I don't have a mirror, I like making the expressions myself so I can "feel" where the points of tension on my face are, and it gives me a sense of what to exaggerate.

my brother's art, believe it or not! we've been trying to make each other laugh with our drawings since we were kids, and he's really good at it.

ATLA has some great expressions

OK KO has been a reallyyyy good source for me lately. That show is so tailored to my sense of humor and the expressions and line deliveries feel exactly like the kinds of things I'd come up with. The tone, timing, and art style are all really close to the tv show pitch I'm working on, so when I feel like I've "strayed" too much from it (like after drawing a bunch of dungeon meshi, and my art feels tighter and... idk "manga-ier"?) I like to go and watch a couple episodes of OK KO to loosen back up

A lot of things like OG Spongebob, Calvin & Hobbes, the Simpsons, Chowder, etc etc

memes in general. if it makes you laugh, keep it in mind

and lastly, I wouldn't say I ever try to mimic funny expressions I see. Like if I watch a show for inspo, I'm not pausing it to copy specific drawings, I'm just trying to notice patterns and pay attention to what about it I find funny.

talking about being funny is really bizarre and I dunno if it makes it lose some of the magic. Ultimately it's something you can't think about too much, and just gotta go with your gut.

[art-missy]

Hi sorry to disturb you but do you know this song

Well if you have do you think you can make a head Cannon of a reader female of course it's up to you who is also the queen of the nymphs or queen of the dragons it's up to you x male characters of vox machina I'm really am sorry if I disturb you or bother you about this it's up to you if you want to do this or not I'm not going to force you anyway so the head Cannon can be anything you wanted to be but to be honest I like this song because you know it's fun to groove out to and well it's actually pretty good song there are other good songs too but like you know any of the other vox machina characters will do as well I don't judge like the reader could be the queen of the nymphs and she doesn't mind any gender because you know nymphomaniac and nymphs don't really mind what gender they sleep with or any creature they sleep with anyway I'm Megan this too long I need hurry it up huh so it could also be about a head Cannon about the reader going through a pregnancy having an heir to the throne and whatnot you know you make your choice it's up to you I know this is a stupid idea if you want that is but for me I think it would be vax or Percy to be the ones who fathered the kids or maybe scanlon or maybe one of the other characters what do you think I hope I haven't bothered you or anything 😇😘 I love your writing you're an awesome writer

Hi Megan 👋 Thanks for the request (and the compliment (⁠灬⁠º⁠‿⁠º⁠灬⁠)⁠♡ )

Even though this song is not my type of music, my brain accepted to be cooperative for once.

It ended up as a small drabble instead of a head canon, though...sorry.

"What if the baby has my father's face ?"

The look you threw at Vax'ildan was so jaded he felt his body wincing. His eyes felt on your heavy belly as you started massaging your temples.

"You know, I'm the pregnant one yet you are the most worried of us both," you said with an almost exhausted tone.

Vax'ildan's cheeks blushed slightly as he looks away. He was tensed. The more your pregnancy progressed, the more worried he was. You've noticed it all. His worries started when you both discovered that you were carrying his child, you heir. The heir of your prospering Realm. And it increased when your powers started to get out of your control because of your pregnancy, as if your baby wanted to pull pranks on their already stressing father.

"I'm not that tensed," Vax'ildan grumbled, to which you raised an eyebrow.

"Darling, it's the fiftieth 'what if' you ask today," you sighed as you guided his hand on your round belly. "The baby is fine."

As if agreeing to your words, the baby kicked right where Vax'ildan hand was. The rogue chuckled softly, his hand roaming on your belly with ultimate softness.

"As fierce as you," he smiled.

"And probably as strong as you," you smiled back. "With these two qualities combined, our child will be a great ruler," you pressed a quick peck on his cheek and winked at him. "Let's just hope our little miracle won't inherit your anxiety."

Vax'ildan rolled his eyes at your words but the smile on his lips widened slightly before fading as an another thought crossed his mind. You sighed, mentally preparing for the fifty-first 'what if' of the day.

"What if the baby has my wings ?"

"Oh Vax—"

"My wings plus your powers," he went on with his anxiety. "How will our child grow ? What if—"

You suddenly pinched both of his cheeks in order to quiet him.

"If our child inherit your wings, then I know that you'll be there to teach them how to fly and to play in the air with them," you released his cheeks from your soft grip and soothed them with your thumbs. "If they inherit my powers, I'll be there to teach them how to control them. If our child inherit both your wings and my powers, then it won't change anything. Don't you agree ?"

You felt him relaxing as your words slowly sank in. He then nodded, his shoulders less tensed as he kneeled before you and pressed a long and gentle kiss on your belly.

"You're right, love," he murmured, his tone reverential. "You're absolutely right."

You nodded along his words and let out a sharp breath.

"Good," you said firmly, your hands clenching on his shoulders. "Because my water just broke."

[gachabastard]

Limbus Company Sinners as Fallen London Companions

Smashing my two hyperfixations together like dolls and making them kiss. What I'm seeking (lol) to do here is not to conflate the Sinners to existing Companions, but rather create Companions based off of them instead. If you know both things then this won't take any explaining.

For people who know Limbus Company but not Fallen London: Fallen London is a browser game made by Failbetter Studios. It is an alternate history of an 1800s London that has sunk deep below the earth into a subterranean cavern known as the Neath and is now overseen by the mysterious Masters of the Bazaar. You begin the game as a Surface-dweller who has recently descended into the Neath for certain reasons, which you are able to decide for yourself and act upon as you progress through the game. Companions are "equipment" of sorts that you can equip to increase (or lower) your character's stats. A full write-up of FL's mechanics could be another three separate posts on its own, so I recommend the wiki's Beginner's Guide and other resources therein to understand the mechanics I'll detail here. If you enjoy the writing in LCB you will most likely also love FL's writing. Please play it, it is awesome. (And lmk if you do, I'll add you as a friend and definitely not stab you in the back)

For people who know Fallen London but not Limbus Company: Limbus Company is a mobile game made by Project Moon. It is the third in a series of games, preceded by Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina, which are both available for purchase on Steam, though Limbus Company can be played independently of these if you want; the player avatar is an amnesiac so things are generally explained as needed (though Lobcorp and LoR are also very good and I recommend them, but you do have to buy those, so). The game centers around a department of the titular Limbus Company, the Limbus Company Bus Team (often shortened to LCB), the twelve individuals referred to as Sinners who make up the team, and their amnesiac Manager named Dante as they brave the ruins of the old branches of Lobotomy Corporation to retrieve strange objects known as Golden Boughs. All of the major characters in LCB are based off of classic literature (for example, Dante is based off of Dante's Inferno). If you like FL's writing you may enjoy LCB, but it is a gacha game which turns a lot of people off. For character info you can visit the Fandom wiki (yeah I know, it's a Fandom wiki), and if you want to read the story so far without playing the game you can check out this github page which contains all of the story text.

And if you don't know either...I don't know why you're reading this, but I hope my explanations and provided resources are enough to help you understand it regardless.

Okay, wall of text out of the way, let's get into the actual point of the post. This isn't meant to be balanced or anything this is just for fun because I'm diseased. Also LIMBUS SPOILERS THRU CANTO VI sorry.

Starting off with Sinner #1, Yi Sang:

Mirror-Marred Litterateur In the Mirror's glass, he observed endless possibilities. One such possibility observed him back. Watchful +4, Glasswork +2, Bizarre +1

Reasoning: Honestly? I thought about Sang Yi chilling in Parabola and that colored my whole concept here. But for real the whole Mirror thing is too perfect. Yi Sang defines Glasswork.

Sinner #2, Faust

Hell-Touched Engineer She hasn't the eyes of a devil, but builds infernal machinery previously unseen outside of Hell. Claims to know all outcomes, but shares precious little. Dreaded +2, Artisan of the Red Science +2, Decreases Nightmare build up

Reasoning: Something something Faust something something Mephistopheles something something her base EGO heals SP.

Sinner #3, Don Quixote

Dreaming Knight The only weapon stronger than a dream is delusion. Dangerous +5, Mithridacy +2, Increases Scandal build up

Reasoning: DQ is so skilled in Mithridacy she's got herself convinced of untruths, man. She's also allowed little a Scandal. As a treat.

Sinner #4, Ryoshu

Bohemian Blademaster Her masterwork blade is her brush; her enemies, her canvas. Legend has it that even the Boatman respects her work. Dangerous +4, Dreaded +2, Monstrous Anatomy +1

Reasoning: I feel like this one's pretty self-explanatory. I added a point of MA since I feel like she'd want to be a bit knowledgeable in monster anatomy for Art Reasons

Sinner #5, Meursault

Chained Stranger "The Neath is a prison," he says matter-of-factly, "And I am here because I am meant to be." Despite this, one could swear they saw the sun reflecting off his eyes. Persuasive +2, Respectable +3, Reduces Scandal build up

Reasoning: Hehe did you see what I did there. I referenced the thing. Anyway aside from being pretty blunt, he's probably the best candidate out of the whole group for Respectable.

Sinner #6, Hong Lu

Bright-Eyed Debonair New to the Neath, from an affluent Surface family. The Neath's many delights confuse and excite him. Persuasive +2, Shadowy +1, Kataleptic Toxicology +1

Reasoning: I think Hong Lu being new to the Neath fits with him being sheltered in canon. Also +1 KA cuz you know that boy is hittin that Honey. The Honey-Dens of Veilgarden already know him by name.

Sinner #7, Heathcliff

Bereaved Ruffian He knows the backstreets of London like the scars on his hands. He remembers that which the world does not, and waits. Dangerous +8, Shadowy -3, Chthonosophy +1

Reasoning: Oops Canto VI colored the fuck out of this one oops oops oops. Happy Firmament Day btw have some Chthonosophy. :)

Sinner #8, Ishmael

Zeefaring Pathfinder She's hunted the most feared creatures known to the Zee, losing her way to chart a path for her mad captain. Her compass will see that she never loses sight of her path again. Zeefaring +2, Monstrous Anatomy +3, Increases Nightmares build up

Reasoning: Ishy-Fishy you were made to embody Zeefaring and MA.

Sinner #9, Rodion

Lacre-Drowned Cardshark Born in a run-down corner of London where the Lacre falls thickest at Sacksmas, she knows a thing or two about cards. She wouldn't mind teaching you...for a price. Persuasive +4, Watchful +6

Reasoning: Heart's Desire vibes. That's it.

Sinner #10, Dante

Timepiece Manager An infernal timepiece ticks away where a head should be. They have no memories of their own, but they can never forget again. Chthonosophy +2, Steward of the Discordance +1, Dangerous -5, Reduces Wounds build up

Reasoning: Congratulations Dante on being the only bitch to not have the Discordance because the Discordance isn't real. Ummm I went off vibes here but tbh I think Dante should decrease your Dangerous by way more actually. Hell, let's make then decrease Dreaded too. Let's make them a Weasel of Woe.

Sinner #11, Sinclair

Unrealized Prodigy Young and anxious, jumping at every shadow. His potential is very promising. Dangerous +6, Dreaded +1, Increases Wounds build up

Reasoning: Sinclair may be baby. But he is Scary Baby.

Sinner #12, Outis

Commanding Oneironaut She's led the forces of Parabola to victory more times than you could count. Don't ask her any questions. Dangerous +8, A Player of Chess +2, Glasswork +1

Reasoning: Everybody shut the fuck up Parabolan War General Outis is everything to me, you hear me. EVERYTHING. She favors the Chessboard, obviously, with that +2 to APoC.

Sinner #13, Gregor

Metamorphic Veteran A large insectoid pincer sits where a right arm should be. He'll talk about pretty much anything but the details around that. Seriously, be careful around that thing. Dangerous +5, Shapeling Arts +3, Bizarre +2

Reasoning: You had to know Gregor would be the only bitch to get Shapeling Arts. Look me in the eyes and tell me he wouldn't. I wanted to give him Persuasive due to his amicability but also he actually. Sucks at being persuasive like canonically, so. Dangerous it is.

BONUS! Vergilius

The Red Gaze The most feared Fixer in the Neath. Whatever could you have done to strike up an alliance with him? Watchful +30, Shadowy +30, Dangerous +30, Persuasive +30, Greatly reduces Nightmare build up

Reasoning: He's the Red Goat I ain't gotta explain shit.

anyway hope you enjoyed even though you definitely didn't. i have a headache now so i'm gonna go consume painkillers and caffeine and go run mirror dungeons in lcb for that limbus battle pass.

[i-heart-hxh]

Does Togashi normally post this much of his Gon and Killua artwork? It may just be me getting my hopes up but I’m crossing my fingers that he’s giving us subtle hints that they may be making a comeback in the manga soon.

There isn't actually much of a precedent to go off of--two years ago when Togashi started tweeting, he mostly just shared his progress, and rarely he'd pull a drawing out of his archives and share it, like this awesome Hiei. But he wasn't in the regular habit of sharing things from his archives at that time. Him pulling out previous art and sharing it daily is a new thing he just started doing over the past few weeks.

I was really excited at how much Gon (and some Killua) he started posting all of the sudden, but now he's been showing off various HxH covers in general regardless of characters featured. There has been a large amount of Gon and some Killua featured, but this makes sense because they're the main characters and tend to be featured the most on covers. I don't think it's as much of a serious hint as I was hoping for initially, sadly.

However... I do think he's posting them with full awareness that his fans miss them and want to see them again, so it's not like he's obliviously putting them out there with no thought to the ramifications and no notice of how much attention towards them it creates. It may not be a sign that they're about to be in the manga again imminently (though that is possible, you never know), but...how to put it...him posting them so much makes me hopeful that he's continuing to use them as a vehicle for the popularity of the series and he's continuing to remind us of their existence in the story. It does add a bit more hope than I already had for their future in the series, and maybe even in the not-too-distant future even if it's not a case of "Omg he's definitely bringing them back in the next few chapters!!!"

He likely already has a plan in place (or perhaps even a few different plans he's deciding between, like with his ending scenarios) for when they'll re-enter the series, and it could be that there's still quite a ways to go until then. That's certainly what it seems like with where we're at in the story. But HxH is unpredictable--for all we know, they could appear in the next chapter. It's quite unlikely and, honestly, I'm not holding my breath at all on seeing them in the next 10 chapters (aside from maybe in art unconnected to the story or quick cameos in memories, etc.).

But I don't think Togashi has lost sight of how popular and beloved these guys are at all, and he might even be paying attention to how excited people are to see them, knowing how much the fanbase will explode when their time does finally come again. ❤️

(This is from years ago, but I think it shows Togashi was already aware that his fans want to see them all again, Leorio included!)

[korshrimpski]

WHAT CHAOS: Jordan Spence has the NHL's most interesting backstory

my favourite moments from this podcast [Youtube] [Spotify]

First of all they open the podcast like this: "You are the only player from Manly, Australia. Do you feel pressure being the NHL's only Manly man?"

One of the big reasons why the spence family moved to canada was too see what jordan could do playing hockey at a higher level because Japan's big sports is baseball (which he used to play) so hockey was kinda in the background

Spenny mentions how he got into hockey because his dad used to play it growing up. And he also explains where his passion for hockey outgrew baseball is when he would go visit Prince Edward Island in the Spring to play Spring hockey tournaments.

Jordan talks about youth hockey in Japan and how he played people older than him and when he moved to P.E.I people would ask him if there was even hockey in Japan, which was a very common question.

The host asked, "Have you ever crossed paths with Aito Iguchi?" who is a very popular japanese player and used to make hockey content on youtube. And this is another common question spenny is asked (btw the answer is no, he has never skated with him)

They asked if spenny ever had to do early morning training in japan and spenny didn't have any morning practices and the host find that wild

SPENNY TRIVIA #1: he had to travel an hour to go to his team in Japan

There is apparently a lot of Canadian hockey players that live in japan to play pro there so spenny found it cool growing up focusing on their skills and all that (ik i'm terrible at writing and explaining things, please forgive me)

He was not a chirper when he was younger

Part 1 of my favourite part of the podcast: context; when spenny moved to canada he didn't know english. And something that helped him understand english he asked his teammates "what are some bad words i can say" and in return he would teach them bad Japanese swear words

Part 2 of my favourite part of the podcast: when spenny was first trying to learn english he would speak in 3rd person and to quote, "so i would be like, 'oh Jordan hungry' or like, 'Jordan go to bed.'" LIKE?!? that isfucking beautiful i love it so much

then the host actually makes a funny joke saying that it's devastating spenny's english progressed from there because it would be intimidating if he said something like, "Jordan dropping 'em."

they ask about him being trilingual and this is his reaction (please he's so funny)

14. He would like to think he is trilingual but he kinda isn't? Like he can speak japanese and english.

15. But with french he would like it to be known that when Phillip Danault speaks french to him he can understand it, he just finds it tough speaking french.

16. he picked up french because of school and in the Q a lot of people speak french and when he was traded to Val-d'Or (north quebec),everyone spoke french so he had to learn.

17. he called phillip danault 'the man' twice because they were talking about how he was so popular in quebec and montreal

18. he also found it funny that people would speak french in front of them thinking they won't understand it but spenny would (i wish they delved into this more but sadly they didn't)

19. he found the australia experience very awesome and mentions how a lot of content was around him and how that was cool. But at the same time it was weird for him because he doesn't really feel connected to australia because he was only there for a year and a half and has no memory of it, so he felt like an imposter being called australian (I an australian dub the, Jordan Spence, to be a honorary aussie)

20. spenny wishes he had an aussie accent and him saying this made me feel very powerful like yes.... hehehe we are amazing.. hehe

21. then one of the host says, "Imagine if you were out their still having not finished learning English also speaking in an Australian accent." spenny cuts in and says, "third person as well." then the host continues, "third person as well... but doing like 'Jordan hungry' in australian accent, man you'd be, you'd have outrageous endorsement deals." | Like i'm so sorry i found this so funny because now i'm imagining spenny with a mangled aussie accent saying "jordan dropping 'em" and its beautiful 😭😭

22. then spenny does an... okay ish aussie accent. Idk it sounds the same as all the other non-aussies saying "good 'ay mate"

23. QUINTON BYFIELD MENTION 🗣️ (context: the host mentions how spenny learn qb was german through their podcast)

24. also this moment, "I had no clue (context: qb was part german). And you know, I'm really close with him... You know we hang out all the time." Like physically i am well, emotionally my heart has swollen 2 times

25. then they move onto talking about fantasy football and i'm sorry i don't understand fantasy football (i simply cannot comprehend NFL, so this bits going to be with the things i do understand) which is: qb and spenny have been team owners together for the past two year and so far their top guy isn't doing well

26. "whats [qb] like as a buddy?" 27. "he's such a goofball, it's actually crazy." JORDAN SPENCE DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW UNWELL YOU JUST MAKE ME "he's such a goofball" SPENNY AAHAHAHHA

28. hold on the answer continues, "He's such a goofball, it's actually crazy. It's funny for me you know, cause like I know how he is around the boys and like a great guy like he loves fooling around with the guys, you know pranking guys, joking around. And then you'll be- I'll be beside him, he'll just be doing the media and he's like dead serious. And it's like so funny to me cause like that's pretty much the only time he's serious is if he's doing something for the media or obviously when he's playing. So like he's you know, everyone loves him and he's a great player and you know, i'm, we hang out all the time and it's a lot of fun but it's, that's like on of the biggest thing that's kinda funny is the only time he's serious is like when he's playing hockey really." LIKE YES SPENNY!! ramble about your bestie (he's like me fr i will talk about my friends all day long)

29. One time qb and spenny were spotted on an ebike together and the host ask if doubling up on an ebike is a regular occurance and spenny says, "um yeah i think." and the host is like me fr saying, "fuck yeah." to the info

30. they ask about halloween and if spenny and qb have a couples costume planned and they don't. and spenny explains last years costume and how quinton suggested it and how it was very last minute.

31. also spenny is wearing a mets hat but he's not a mets fan he's just a fan of cool hats

32. then they start talking about baseball... i do not understand baseball either,, sorry. I'll try my best for this bit.

33. spenny likes baseball but doesn't have any teams and he usually watchs games for japanese players. and he would love to mention shohei ohtani

34. they ask him his relationship with drew doughty because spenny's family dog is named after hi. Because growing up jordan didn't really root for any team he mainly had players (his top 3 players were, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang and Drew Doughty (doughty being his fav))

35. spenny calls drew a "goofball" in his rant about how cool drew doughty is and can i just say i love spenny describing people as goofballs

36. after the draft he is asked a questionnaire and one of the questions is "do you have a pet if so what is their name" and jordan was sitting there like "shit this is going to look so bad, because people might think i just got the dog and named it doughty." like my man was stressing

37. but it wasn't until 2 years ago when drew actually found out about the dog because spenny's roommate alex turcotte (a little tidbit: alex and spenny have been roomates for the past 3-4 years) and jordan is pretty sure turkey is the one that told dewey and dewey just starts laughing (thank you turkey for your service to the cause of embarrassing spenny)

38. Now spenny doesn't think to much about the dog being named after drew but when that happened he was so embarrassed

anyways hope you all enjoyed my incoherent rambles :3

[hollow-lime-green]

Can you tell us a little about your D&D stuff? -sincerely an avid dnd player who loves hearing about other people’s characters

aaaa sure!

briefly - when I do actually get to be a player, I fucking love playing rogues. god i am so basic and easy, catch me playing a tiefling/changeling rogue 100% of the time. i am a power gamer though, and i'll take a lot of feats to do all sorts of weird bullshit (and the 2024 thief buffs are going to make me insufferable. fast hands has always been my favorite ability in the game, and now thief is finally good for real and not just by dm fiat).

i like every class except artificer and monk (fine just not for me), but rogues have my heart. in every game, skyrim to borderlands to d&d, I like being a pain in the ass from a long distance away. i don't get to play a lot, so i don't have a lot of characters that i'm super tied to, but right now, i'm essentially playing a cabal of tiefling/changeling rogues (one for every subclass) that are running the underground of my friend's city in a westmarch style progressive series of oneshots he hosts at our local game store.

mainly, though, i have always been a perma-dm of my groups, although I am trying to find a group that rotates better because as it turns out, being a perma-dm can absolutely fuck with your interpersonal relationships. i had a really awesome d&d group in undergrad that I DM'd for, and I have a lot of great memories from that. we played on campus for the first two years, then on roll20 for a few more years after that. unfortunately, as most d&d groups do, we died to the BBEG known as Adult Life Schedules.

since then, I've been DMing semi-regularly at a local game shop, sometimes playing, and I've made a lot of in-person friends. we play both at and outside of the shop, but almost all one-shots, although when I eventually move away from this current location, I will probably try to drag them into an online campaign. lots of dm talk and pictures under the cut, since this will be kind of long. :)

Props!

as a dm, i am very prop focused, i love a good prop. it's the engineer girlie in me. sat night I ran a 12th level one shot for my friends to test out some of the new 2024 rules at high level, and what I'm most proud of was my hidden magnet bridge (see below) - this is a progress pic but I do generally keep my sets pretty minimal aesthetically. anyway this was super fun because i set it up as this precarious bridge that they needed to get across and do some puzzles (hence the set), and then i ambushed them with the hidden magnets (actual reason for the set).

this is one of my faves from maaaaany years ago. i could do it better if I tried it again, but it's tough. this was for an encounter where an enemy was locally changing the direction of gravity, so the set rotated. it was surprisingly stable but difficult to play on due to the fact that you have like 270 degrees of the table that can see and then whoever is behind the wall (the dm) can't see shit. this was during my in-person UG years, so baby engineer but still making it work.

this is something I've done more recently that is more minimalist but insanely effective as a minigame. i had some players navigating through a space field, so they had to plot a course through this minefield and peel off the tape stickers one by one to see if they hit a danger. again, left is a progress pic. they all got blacked out. the right one was actually my dm key during the session lol, so I knew what they were gonna hit before they hit it.

I do a lot of mini prop pieces to go on top of my battle map as terrain, mostly cardboard just to give height and make things a bit more dynamic. and i'll usually have some lair action that rotates or takes away some of that terrain. one other thing I'm playing around with is this plexiglass transparent overlay designed for water combat, so I can put biiiiiig bad guys underneath the party. that one is for a oneshot based on the game DREDGE (which I highly recommend by the way - fishing survival cozygame with an eldritch monstrous flair). this lighthouse works as a sanity indicator, so as the party loses sanity (due to the eldritch fish), I can change its color.

i have no idea how i've run this game like 7 times and yet I can't find any pictures of it, but I have a one-shot that is based on Potion Permit (another farming sim cozygame) where the players collect these tiny cardboard tetris pieces and have to use them to complete tetris piece recipes to make potion and Save The Town From Illness! players love a prop, players love a minigame, and i love running those things as well.

Characters!

I have a lot of DMPCs that I love from my long campaigns, but DMPCs can be irritating, so i have shifted away from character-driven things for my oneshots. when I go back to doing campaigns, I'm going to try to do them better? I don't know, getting people invested in OCs whether it's writing or ttrpg is always sort of a challenge. players get invested in the bonds between the party but not often in their actual NPCs. So I'm not going to yap about them too much, but I'll list the concepts of my fave DMPCs:

blind bard who sees through a force field cantrip like cat whiskers - later becomes a seer (like divination) at the cost of losing his blindsight due to Player-Caused Apocalypse. becomes an unwilling consort to an archdevil who rules the wastelands after Player-Caused Apocalypse.

red hag who used a wish spell to free herself of pacts of loyalty but as a consequence cannot form lasting relationships with any creature, and cannot wish again. trying to make a Deck of Many Things to get more wishes and fix this (doomed)

half-fey archer with the mantle of the summer court trying to avenge her parents killed by the winter court, warrior softened by the touch of a woman (autumn fey cottagecore mom friend with an aussie accent). they were fun because the party actually got really invested in them and they got to complete their love story :)

spellthief rogue champion of the gods caught in a messy 'the parents are fighting' situation where the aspects of law and chaos fight. she is going to make a return when i start my next campaign because it's going to be a time loop situation, and she'll be the one resetting the timeline and trying to make off-screen changes (killing monarchs, planting magic items) to affect the future.

[kaiowut99]

A Special Announcement~ | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special Re-Translation Project!

I've been itching to get around to posting about this for a few months now, but wanted to wait until I'd worked on enough for it, but also had the idea to create an announcement trailer to go with it for added good measure--after recording and editing clips for a couple weeks and leveling the audio last night, heremst we are! (For some clips, I forgot to turn off the PPSSPP emulator's DevMenu option so that shows up in the top-left, buuut I didn't feel like re-recording those, lmao.)

Details worth reading below the cut here, but tl;dr work has been in progress for over a year in between things, work will continue to be in progress for a while, and the release will happen when everything's ready, but stay tuned, fun's getting started etc etc~

So, I'm sure most of us are familiar with the as-yet-unlocalized-by-Konami TFSP, the seventh and last entry in the Tag Force series on the PSP that came out early in ARC-V's run (featuring the first five series which was a cool first), as well as the current translations out there originally worked on by the guys at XenoTranslations (omarrrio and ScrewTheRules/ClickClaxer01 at GBATemp handling the card and story/etc translations, respectively) and how there are... some issues with what's out there. Everything from the DM story mode being loaded with YGOTAS references (no shade to YGOTAS and much respect to LK/Martin for his ongoing work on it still making me laugh sometimes, ofc) to the off-the-cuff edginess of 2014-2015-era internet culture and the problematic (in some cases, derogatory) language that permeated it--though to its credit, some parts do have some level of translation attempted, but taken as a whole, it can definitely turn people off from giving the game a try and seeing what it brings to the table (which is still a good amount despite the corners Konami cut here/there compared to prior TF games).

I actually did attempt a translation of my own back in 2015 (if you've been following me for a long time, you might remember it lol), tackling the GX story text starting with Judai's heart events, but eventually put it on the backburner as I focused more on my GX subbing work and beginning to finalize everything (which I'm still doing). Sometime in 2022, a friend over on NeoArkCradle (the "anonymous YGO fan" in the opening screen) was poring over the story text and patching it up the best he could to remove the references and inaccuracies with more coherent work, and after a while of seeing what he was working with in the Discord, I was a bit blown away by just how inaccurate much of it was--so alongside him, and using the better tools available since then (including some really awesome work from both nzxth2 [who did a proper re-translation of 5D's TF6 not too long ago and was kind enough to release his tools for it] and our coding helper Xan1242 who we eventually reached out to for some help), I decided to *cracks knuckles* get involved and help give everything a more accurate and professional translation, much like I do with my GX subs, working directly off the Japanese text and files. I've been taking cracks at everything in between the GX episodes I've been finalizing going back to at least last January (and I'd used my little hiatus after finalizing GX Season 2's subs to really get at some other stuff throughout the game), starting with re-translating DM's story text but also properly translating other aspects of the game, from the character names (using the original Japanese names, including those of the TF-exclusive characters, partly since Konami made a whole mess of them in English TF1-5), in-duel dialogue, pack descriptions, and more to images with Japanese text (such as localizing the in-duel cut-in onomatopoeia as you see in the video above, or other little images throughout) using some Photoshop skills I've picked up. And it's been a joint effort, as said NAC friend and I have been bouncing off how we'd like to see this go between us to stay on the same page and all, while also checking with other translators there for second/third opinions as needed.

Our plan is to release two versions of a translation--one which uses the OCG [translated] card names in Story Mode, in-duel, and other text but not in the game's card system (mainly to deal with story-relevant notes like Osiris vs Slifer with the Gods or things like not-Utopia Hope being symbolic between Yuma and Astral, akin to how I do my GX subs), and one which uses the TCG card names in everything (like how the official subs go about it). While we're mostly working with the Japanese game files due to how the Xeno team went about decoding everything, we'll be using the card-system-related files from the fixed ISO provided by FLSGaming which fixed some issues that had been present there. And Xan has helped us with a plugin that will be used to apply our translations to the system files that were hard to edit otherwise (things like the character and recipe names, as well as the pack names pulled from for the Card Description screen), but more on how that'll work once this is ready for release, lol. At some point, I'd like to also look at HDifying textures and things, but that's definitely a bonus-level thing for after the main work here is done.

SO.

Currently, Story-Mode-wise, I've gone through everything up to Yusei's events--so Dark Yugi/Kaiba/Jounouchi/Ishizu/Mai in DM, Judai/Manjoume/Asuka/Misawa/Ryou in GX, and Yusei in 5D's have been fully retranslated, though I took initial cracks at Yuma and Yuya's events to get content for this video lol (I've also been intentionally holding off on as much ZEXAL as I can until I've properly watched the whole show so I have context). I haven't tackled overworld text yet, though (like pre-duel or the tournament-related text, which is all in the same file as all the story text). I've also been handling the in-duel dialogue as I go through the character stories, so also just up to Yusei, though I did take initial cracks at Aki's, Yuma and Shark's, and Yuya and Yuzu's for the video.

Other things tackled that were sprinkled into the video, along with some other notes:

Pack names and descriptions have been retranslated, though the descriptions may see minor edits closer to release for a little variety between worlds given the different characters at the shop. Character recipe names were also retranslated, with Yugipedia's translations for them used as an occasional second opinion, though ones based on pack names had to be abbreviated in spots.

Menu text, from the Options to Help screens and stuff in between, has been retranslated, as have in-duel text strings (so, you'll see a full "Activate Effect" instead of "Activate" or "Switch to Attack/Defense Position" instead of "Switch to ATK/DEF Position", etc--also fixed the "BATTELE PHASE" graphic typo, and NAC friend created a new translation for the "Turn Change" graphic for accuracy since ENG TF1-5 made that into "Next Player's Turn").

Database stuff, such as the Sound Test, Tutorials, Duel Missions, etc., have been retranslated closer to the Japanese text; originally I retranslated the Tutorial text via hex editor, with compromises done on quite a bit of it due to the space limits, but as Xan recently updated a text extractor tool of theirs to more cleanly pull out and reinsert that text, I've been going through and fleshing out those translations more (on my commutes to/from work mostly, to be productive lol).

As mentioned, I've been localizing/translating Japanese-text images throughout the game as I come across them, like with the in-duel onomatopoeia that come up during cut-ins or images in the shop/duel/etc screens using Japanese text, to make sure the game is fully translated.

The series logos, used during the title sequence and in the Series Select screens, were updated with translated fan edits shared on Deviantart (which we'll credit in the final release) for DM and GX, while the 5D's-ARC-V logos were edited to enlarge the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" text on them that was pretty hard to see originally.

The game's original opening sequence starts on an anti-piracy message before going into the Konami logo and then a "From Yu-Gi-Oh!..." screen before the opening animation for each series logo--the original team decided to use the first image to vent their frustration at Konami for not localizing this game, and while that's valid (to some extent), we thought we'd use the opportunity to dedicate this project to Kazuki Takahashi for inspiring our love for YGO and the place it's had in our hearts for all these years.

We'll be updating the names of cards that had TCG releases after the original patch was worked on/updated by FLSG to those corresponding names.

Xan has been working on many UI fixes for us to apply with this, among them 3-line dialogue box text as is used in the ENG TF1-5 games--once implemented for TFSP, I'll be going over everything to make full use of that extra space where needed, so things might not look as they do in the video by then.

Character bios will be worked on after I've done the story stuff, though I've taken initial cracks at it for Yuma and Yuya's bios for the video, along with translating the location/affiliation names ("Domino High School," "Satellite," etc).

Currently no release date is planned, as I'm working on this between my GX-finalizing work and actual IRL work, though we'll see how later this year looks as more work gets done--but as noted in the video, all things being equal, it will be released when everything is ready. I'll try to post regular updates or rambles now that this announcement's been made, lol, but do try not to constantly check in on a release date. 🙏🏽

All that said, I think that covers just about everything I wanted to put out there with this, lol. It's been fun to work on this so far and getting to see what I've re-translated in-game is definitely neat; looking forward to us being able to release everything when ready.

Stay tuned for more; the fun's just getting started!

[box-architecture]

I was rereading some of your stuff on Ao3, and went “huh. I know Sapnap kidnaps Dream out of a misguided idea of what’s happening at one point, but how does that all go? How did Dream react? What was Sapnap like?”

So now I’m asking you. At 12:20 am. I have class in 7.5 hours!

Okay so we're going to ignore how long this has been sitting in my drafts, half answered. Okay? Okay. Awesome

-

So at some point during the Discovery Of Many Kinks (because when you're having a weird poly relationship with your former Warden, you're going to try a bunch of different things. For Science) awesamdrunz attempt to do a sex tape. It gets left around and found within like three days. By Sapnap.

So of course because of burning curiosity he has to watch the mysterious tape to see whats on it.

Then the only reason he kept watching was shock and also trying to figure out who the hell the third person was, why they looked familiar but also what the hell happened to them. Fun ways to find out your former best friend wasn't lying when he said he was horrifically tortured by your kind-of finance: finding his sex tape.

And listen, originally it was a fun crack idea to have him see this relationship nonsense where awesamdrunz was basically fucking in sex dungeons (made by Sam) after kidnappings, and decided that this was actually a really good template to fix his own relationship. He ends up trapping Quackity and Karl in what might be a previously unused sex dungeon!

(Resounding success: both of his boyfriends did not murder each other (due to bars in between them) and even spoke to each other in order to escape. This is the most progress he's had in months.)

But then! Alternate Idea! Sapnap sees the sex tape and (honestly not unfairly given his prior knowledge) believes Punz & Sam are at minimum, pressuring Dream into this relationship, and somehow this is a worse crime than murder. No wonder Dream couldn't stay in the prison! (Which. Not inaccurate.) So Sapnap sets about needing to find and protect Dream.

Sapnap finds Dream, and tries to convince him that he'll protect him. Dream is confused about what Sapnap saw, and has a tough time refuting anything. He also does really miss his friend. So he,,, doesn't really fight when Sapnap takes him to a secondary location.

-

"The windows are nice. Not as defensible, but you'll know if the enemy approaches." Dream commented, staring at the cloud-covered sea.

Sapnap laughed nervously, pulling open kitchen cupboards. "Yeah, I don't know. There shouldn't be any way for someone to find us out here though; its not like I told anyone where we were going."

Dream pursed his lips, but said nothing, eyes following the way the waves crashed against the shitty boardwalk Sapnap cobbled together half asleep. He figured Dream wouldn't want to be cooped up in the cottage all the time, not after… everything, so they could go sit out on the beach and fish, maybe, or go look for seashells. They hadn't built a sandcastle since they were kids, either, so it would definitely be something fun to try. Just like old times.

The wheat was crumbling in his hands, so Sapnap quickly tossed it on the counter.

"Are you hungry?" He called out, trying for a bit more cheer. Dream's gaze pulled to his, and Sapnap began pulling more ingredients out on the granite. "I know I'm not usually the person who cooks, but I've been getting into it lately! I made rabbit stew for Karl the other day, and he didn't even make a face when he was chewing."

He didn't really think about the potatoes as he dumped them into the sink, but he did notice the way Dream flinched, drawing in on himself and towards the doorway.

"Dream?"

"Just…" Dream looked back out into the sea. His fingers, what remained of them, dug into the fabric of his pants. "Nothing with potatoes. Please."

Sapnap felt his anxiety roll like the tide.

"Yeah, dude, that's cool. Doesn't sound appealing right now anyway." He said uncertainly. Dream's shoulders relaxed marginally, but Sapnap still felt off. "Anything you're in the mood for, though? Beet soup? Cheese sandwich?"

"Whatever you cook is fine." Dream reassured him. A brittle, but teasing edge appeared in his smile. "Unless you somehow got worse at baking bread."

He had, but god forbid would he ever admit to that. He grinned, and sat up on the counter. "Oh, like you're so good at it. I tried your stupid 'Everything' bread, and it tasted like ash."

"You turned off the timer and it burned."

"Well maybe next time don't leave random timers on the oven and expect anyone to know what they're for."

"Maybe next time you should assume its there for a reason and not touch it." Dream said in exasperation. Sapnap stuck his tongue out, and Dream threw his hands up, exiting the kitchen. He was so dramatic, Sapnap thought fondly.

-

Its a lot of Sapnap attempting to reestablish their previous connection and realizing how much Dream has changed, and staring at the scars when he thinks Dream isn't looking. He gets Super Protective and promises he wont let anything else happen to him. Dream is instinctively upset (why now, why does it matter now, why do you care, I am Perfectly Fine) but its one of his People and he is So Tired.

Sapnap is sorta kinda keeping Dream with him. It's not exactly against Dream's will, but it's also like, if Dream could walk out the door and come back later without Sapnap freaking out he'd rather do that. But Sapnap is freaking out, and seems to believe that there is a credible threat against Dream if he leaves. Given Sapnap's previous relationship with Quackity, Dream is willing to believe he might know something and that alone makes him anxious enough that he wants to stay.

Sapnap gets more horrified the longer he's with Dream (Dream flinches under his touches, his fingers are gone, Dream makes a snide comment about Quackity when Sapnap asks about the scars,) and this only convinces him more that clearly he needs to be protecting Dream. Sapnap expresses a lot of fury towards Sam, and Dream doesn't have any good arguments against it. There's a lot of stuff that he just sorta, decided to ignore, and now that coming back up is messing with him.

They get into a brief yelling match when Dream gets tired of what he presumes is pity and fake behavior, and it ends with Sapnap holding Dream to keep him from leaving or collapsing.

(The irony(?) of Dream comforting Sapnap for most of his life only for them to switch places in this moment is not lost on him.)

He gets to snuggle with him under the covers and gets a kiss on the chin (Dream is half asleep, and thinking about how much he missed him.)

Meanwhile, Punz is going to Murder Sapnap.

Punz has no context for why Sapnap took Dream so he is assuming Sapnap is going to attempt to imprison Dream again (after failing to kill him) and while he is 100 percent confident in Dreams abilities he also is aware that Sapnap is one of Dreams People and therefore capable of hurting Dream emotionally. Hurting Dream is Not Allowed.

Sam is having a panic attack because Dream isn't within sight line and isn't with Punz and therefore everything is Wrong and Bad in his world.

When you finally get a confrontation between Sam and Sapnap (because at this point, they don't know that Sapnap knows about Punz, so Sam is going in first), Sapnap responds viciously, tearing into Sam both for the scars on Dream's body, but also stating he knew they were fucking, and there's no way that's even remotely acceptable given the position of power Sam had (he's not wrong. this is a true statement of fact for everything that occurred prior to the prison break. it's just that things got weird after that). Sam has no good rebuttal, and faced with violence from Sap, has to flee. He's left shaken from everything.

Dream: listen he may have enabled my torture and abuse, and starved and isolated me, and accepted sexual favors from me while being in a position of power over me But he's also a very sad wet cat of a man, and I'm a control freak

Punz tries to talk with Sapnap on slightly less,,, angry grounds? On his part. Knowing about the interaction with Sam, he feels better about the fact Dream is probably safe and Sapnap probably has good reason for what he's doing.

To be clear though, Sapnap is furious with Punz. Right out of the gate he reveals he knows Punz was involved. At first, he's assuming that Punz was paid off to help Sam, but Punz decides "fuck it" and reveals at least part of things. He explains he was working with Dream after the prison break, that he felt bad for betraying him, and that they had a relationship. Dream wanted to involve Sam post-prison, Punz was against it, but wanted Dream to be safe.

Sapnap: you're forcing him to do this! Punz: I DON'T EVEN WANT HIM TO BE DOING THIS Sam: >:(

Sapnap needs to take some time to processes that, but he then presses to clarify; Dream and Sam had a relationship while Dream was in prison? Yes.

Sam had a hand in the torture and Dream's condition? Also yes.

After he broke out, despite all of this, Dream still felt like he wanted to return to Sam? Yes.

Sapnap: And you LET him?!

Punz doesn't have a good answer for that, other than Dream is his own person, and Punz can't stop him from doing what he wants with his life. To which Sapnap responds, yes you can motherfucker

It's a very fundamentally rift in their two perspectives. Punz, particularly post-prison, couldn't morally justify restricting Dream or telling him how to life his life or cope. Sapnap, thinks that Dream was not in a position to make a choice like that.

Punz doesn't have a good answer for that, it's the exact thing he's been feeling guilty over. So he ends up leaving, Not for forever. Just to think.

Meanwhile, Dream overheard everything. He now understands what Sapnap is seeing as the "real issue" (or at least, the current threat at hand), and he knows that he's going to make his own choice here.

Dream: I understand that my decisions are problematic but have you ever considered that I've made my choices and will continue to make them, even if you don't agree Sapnap: NO

Dream tells Sapnap gently that he's leaving now. He wants to go back. Sapnap doesn't want him to, he makes fair arguments about how much Dream could be hurt here. Dream understands, but he's also an adult, and he's decided what he wants. He's forgiven his stupid creeper hybrid boyfriend. It might not make sense to, but he has. It's his choice in the end.

Sapnap doesn't like it, there's a long people where he's just holding Dream and in tears. He's apologized a lot. For leaving Dream there. He says it again for good measure. Dream gives him a soft kiss on the forehead and he doesn't say it's okay, but he does say that he loves him. That it will be okay.

Dream has to go now, but he promises to come back, they set a time and they get to just spend time together. Talking about things one at a time.

(Sapnap and Dream see each other a lot now, as he slowly enters Dream's life again. Occupying his space and checking up on him and fretting. They get more kisses, more cuddles in bed. Once a week they come back to their little cottage and grow something that isn't what they used to have, but its still good, and its full of love.)

Later, Dream will be reassuring Punz that he made the best choices he could make, sighing and pulling Sam out of his prison depression hole. Kidnapping once again proves to be a great way to solve problems.

[aspoonofsugar]

A Quick Nora Thought...

Nora's first appearance in the series sets up her arc in two ways:

Nora: I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm… well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know? We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not "together-together…" Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?

Let's focus on 2 lines:

Not "together-togheter"...

I'm... well, I'm me!

Not together-together

Nora is initially co-dependent from Ren. She is saved by him and spends the majority of her life by his side. As a result, she struggles to find a new balance, when her feelings become romantic. They are together platonically, but not romantically. At the same time, Nora's idea of getting together-together as things are is unhealthy.

I'm... well, I'm me!

Let's consider these 2 scenes:

We've got a world-renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench five of me… Jaune… We've trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore and… Uhh… Jaune!

Nora: Yeah, they’ll be fine. Jaune’s a great leader, Oscar’s grown a ton, and Yang is more than capable of protecting them all in a fight. Oh, and of course Ren is- um…

Whenever Nora can't properly say who someone is, she would define them by their name. In volume 3, Jaune is still unsure of his identity, so he is no-one, but Jaune. In volume 8, Ren is going through a similar identity crisis, so Ren is someone Nora doesn't know anymore. This speech pattern highlights that the character mentioned has a frail sense of self. Well, what does it say about Nora, then? The very first thing she says is that she is unsure of who she is. Ren is someone, for example a handsome perfect student. But Nora? Who is she?

Ren + Nora = Renora

Nora's arc is built around 2 ideas, which seem opposites. On the one hand her story focuses on her relationship with Ren, as he is her objective since early on. On the other hand she must figure out who she is as an individual. So, how can she be together-together with Ren and be just Nora at the same time?

Nora: I don’t know what he is. Every time I think the two of us are making progress, he… (sighs) We’ve been together our whole lives but I feel like I understand him less now than ever. And I don’t know if that’s his fault or mine. Blake: When you’ve been at someone’s side for so long, after a while they become a part of you. But that’s just it, they’re only a part of you. Don’t forget about the rest. Nora: I don’t actually know who I am… without Ren. Pretty sad, huh? Weiss: Well, maybe take this opportunity to find out? Do something only Nora can do.

The two thematic threads come together in volume 8. Nora doesn't know who Ren is and since she has built her self-image around him, she is suddenly unsure of herself as well. It turns out that to go from Ren + Nora to Renora, our girl needs to figure herself out:

Nora: When my mom ran from the Grimm and left me behind, you found me. We became Ren and Nora. But I realized on this mission apart, I don’t know who “Just Nora” is. And if I’m ever going to find out, then I have to do it alone. Because I’ve always loved you, Lie Ren, and that pretty head on your shoulders seems like it’s doing a lot better. But I still got to get mine sorted out before I can be the partner you need. Is that…okay?

Only in this way, she can be by Ren's side (together), but not in aa codependent way (together-together).

As for who Nora is... the episode Risk makes it pretty clear.

The most beautiful flower of all

What beautiful blossoms we have this year, but look... This one's late...But I'll bet that when it blooms it will be the most beautiful of all. (Mulan, 1998)

The Renora's confession scene ends with Nora being not ready for a relationship with Ren. And yet, the moment looks at Nora he sees the air full of petals ready to bloom. Considering Ren's Mulan's allusion and the importance flowers have in Renora's arcs, I think the reference is pretty clear.

Nora (a pink flower) has yet to bloom. She is late in a sense. However, the flower which blooms late is the most beautiful of all. That is Nora. Our girl will definately bloom into herself, no matter the adversity she meets:

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all (Mulan, 1998)

[annakie]

Okay so I just finished season 2 of Prodigy.

I woke up early this morning and got a few episodes in.

I WFH so I worked all morning getting shit done, and then watched at lunch, and then my normal Monday afternoon work is work that can easily be done while multitasking watching things, so I actually got a ton of work done while watching straight through the afternoon and finished the last 5 or so episodes after work/dinner.

I posted a few posts today with some thoughts but hey let's make it more coherent.

Heavy spoilers!

I loved this season so, so much from start to finish. It somehow never felt like there was a lull. Every episode either did something interesting or pushed the story forward in an important way.

So many shows do that "one story in a long season" thing and the show really suffers for it in the middle, especially. But I, personally, never felt that, even when they were taking diversions like getting Zero a body, that and the Tribble episodes might have been the "slowest" and still, I really enjoyed those.

Digging deep into the tropes and finding something new.

And the arc actually came together so well and nothing felt forced. It was a complex arc, too. So many moving parts, and it would have been easy to lose some threads and let things drop, but it actually felt like every element was important and it all tied together nicely.

They did a great job giving recaps where needed to reinforce what was going on in the storyline and why they were doing what they were doing, which was appreciated. I never felt lost. No arc felt like it dragged on too long.

Everyone got their moments to shine. Some of the characters had more of an arc in the season, like Zero, and some had less, like Jankum, but no one felt left behind from the main cast. I think it would have been easy, especially with adding in a new major character to the group, Ma'jel, but they really made her fit in. I especially love that they used Wesley to help cement her part in the group.

And yeah, the cast was huge. Seven main "kids" now. Janeway, Chakotay, Wesley, and the Doctor all felt like main cast throughout the season, plus Ascencia, Dreadnok, Ilthuran, Tysess and Noum... the cast is huge but everyone had a place. With 20 episodes they had some time to breathe, and I loved that.

The kids each had a lesson to learn, something to contribute. Gwyn was at the center of it all even more than last year, but she's such a fantastic character that holds the story up so well.

Of course there's a contrivance in things like... them not getting thrown in the brig in the first couple of episodes, and the fact that the ending was something allowed at all when they literally just said because of the Synth attack on Mars ships were in short supply but I mean, all easy to overlook in the name of the Story needs to happen. None of it really bothered me.

But as much as I love the kids, what they did with the legacy adult characters this season meant the most to me.

The Doctor fit right into this show, and was such a great inclusion. Still the same egotistical but loveable hologram. It was so good to have him back. And that scene with him and Holo-Janeway was adorable. I was glad to see that their rights weren't affected in the Synth attack -- at least not yet!?

I don't know if ANYONE would expect Wesley Crusher. That hit me in the face like a ton of bricks, seeing Wes again, and it was amazing. He's now been in Picard, Lower Decks and now Prodigy and every time I'm just delighted to see him.

But this was definitely his best re-appearance so far. A Wesley Crusher at his full Traveler powers. He was so smart, and funny, and a little manic with his big brain running at a thousand miles an hour. It really felt like this was what Wesley always had the potential to be, a real logical progression in the best way from the Wes we saw at the end of TNG. Space, Time and Thought all coming together and he had awesome magical powers to go along with it.

I was hoping after his initial two episodes that he'd be back! They dropped some decent hints about it, and they mentioned him almost every episode while he was gone, so having him in the final handful of episodes was amazing. And it seems like he might have a place in the future of the show, if we get that future! (and GOD I hope so.)

But my absolute favorite part was the MOST unexpected. I was hoping we'd get to see a bit of him calling Beverly. But then the hug, he went and saw her and Wil's voice breaking when he said Hi to her and gave her the hug broke me, and I cried.

Then, holy shit, they closed the loop on that burning question so many of us had at the end of Picard S3, if Wesley ever met Jack. Wes met his brother, and spent time with Beverly, and that meant so much to me.

It's crazy that the ending of this season tied up loose ends from other shows, and integrated those shows into the universe with fewer seams. It was amazing.

---

And as great as all of everything else was... I just want to be more coherent about Janeway and Chakotay.

Not going to lie -- the fact that there wasn't a kiss, or an obvious love confession did sting a little, but what we got was so, so good, and it was enough.

I do get it -- this is a kid's show and as much as we love them and how important they were to the season, this show is about the kids and not J/C as much as some of us are watching for J/C reasons. I'm not mad about it.

We got fed. More than Voyager.

You'd have to be blind to not admit that there was love there, on both sides. They never gave up on each other, they both looked forward to that reunion, they were terrified of losing each other again but did their duty. There was a little tiny bit of hand holding and quite a bit of touching. It's enough, it's canon enough for those of us who have been shipping it since Season 1 of Voyager.

And like I said in that previous post, they did so much more for Chakotay than Voyager did. This post summed it up better than I could. This season took two of the most maligned and neglected characters from their initial iterations -- Wesley and Chakotay -- and not only did them justice but made them the best versions of themselves. I felt like I was seeing the Chakotay from the Beyer novels on screen, the character he always should have been.

His relationship with Dal was an unexpected delight and I very much hope that in season 3 that mentorship continues.

I need more of that Chakotay. I need more of Janeway and Chakotay together. I just need so much more of this show.

---

I love every Trek. Yes, even that one that isn't that popular, or that other one that people forget exists. But this was without a doubt one of my favorite seasons of any Trek ever.

I'm so mad at Paramount's treatment of this show.

I'm so glad that Netflix stepped in and let us get this one.

I need at least one more season, y'all.

[utilitycaster]

hi, what are your thoughts on the recently announced changes to dnd classes? I'm particularly interested what you think about the new paladin and warlock since you always have very correct opinions on them.

Hi anon, I must admit I have not been keeping up with the PHB playtests; I do intend to get the updated book when it comes out but I found keeping up with every change was a lot of time I would rather spend on other things, especially since they came out very intense and have walked a lot back (some for valid reasons, some not)

I did, however, go look at Paladin and Warlock though I didn't go into depth with any subclasses.

Warlock, since that's the one I found first (Playtest 7): in terms of general progression I am always pro focusing more on invocations so having them from the start and having two more is good in my mind. I am also pro pact magic. I think it is a cool different thing and is a feature of the class; making it a normal spellcasting table was a mistake. Spell progression/cantrips/slots seem otherwise the same as the 2014 PHB, which seems reasonable.

I haven't read thorough other classes so I don't know if swapping cantrips is true of every class; I do think there should be a way to change out cantrips because sometimes you pick a bad cantrip. You shouldn't be able to prep them if you're a prepared caster (wizard, cleric, etc) but yeah I'd say levels or at least ASI levels should permit cantrip swaps.

Magical cunning is GREAT actually because that used to be a L20 feature and now it's slightly weaker and L2. Hilarious, but also I think it offers more opportunities for engaging with your patron and the RP/story that provides. Same with the Contact Patron L9 feature. Keeping Eldritch Master for the capstone is admittedly a little weak but also I'm lenient on L20 because so few people play at L20.

I think the pacts being invocations is fascinating because like, you could just be a pact boon-less jack of all trades if you really wanted, OR you could have all three, and that's funny to me. I also like that you get additional spells rather than just expanded options.

The one thing I'm not sure about is moving the subclass to L3. This works okay for paladins because paladins are like, you dedicate yourself at L1 and your powers come from your own dedication and conviction, and then you take an oath at L3. Warlocks are like...until you have a patron you are just a guy. That should be at L1.

Paladin:

Bonus action lay on hands is killer. incredible. no notes. big fan. I do think they should still be permitted to cure diseases however; basically 5 lay on hands should be a lesser restoration spell.

Simplifying spell prep is probably a good idea just in terms of time and ease but the drawback is you don't have as many cool options each night. Less of a big deal for a paladin but this would be an issue for full prepared casters, and I checked and (EDITED I FORGOT TO INSERT WHAT I MEANT TO SAY HERE) full casters get full spell prep as before so nevermind, fine for paladins.

haven't been following weapon mastery but given most characters don't swap weapons that often, seems fine.

Smites are also fine; paladins can do STUPID damage as is so limiting smites to only one per turn is not unreasonable imo.

Big fan of find steed always being prepared because I think a lot of people just don't use it because there's better spells unless it's a really important part of their character. We need more steeds.

Abjure Foes seems awesome; Radiant strikes are great also FINALLY. SORT OF SMITING ON UNARMED STRIKES.

Restoring Touch makes more sense to me than Cleansing Touch, also seems reasonable.

Broken Oath flavor text very good

Overall this seems pretty good for paladins and the only warlock thing is that I think they need to work on when you choose a subclass.

[shoku-and-awe]

I am *not* a fan of nameko mushrooms. There are a lot of difficult, acquired-taste, fermented or smelly or slimy or otherwise challenging Japanese foods that I'm good with, but these, I've never come around on. I don't like the smell (fruity, kinda rotten), I don't like the liquid they're packed in, I don't like the slime (it lingers on other foods and coats the roof of your mouth), I don't like the way they roll arond and squish and slide when you bite down. I simply am not a fan.

However! I am even more not a fan of wasting food. And I happen to be a recent recipient of a pack of nameko. So let's go! Let's make them palatable!

Step 1: My colander is my best friend. I rinse the nameko several times, under different temperatures of water, trying to see if I can get the slime off and turn them into normal mushrooms.

This is about as good as it gets. It's progress—they're no longer coated in the fucking ooze!—but we're still well far away from normal mushrooms.

(The gossipy mama at the 7-11 will later tell me that slimy food is what I need to heal my back injury. Okay! So maybe this failure is a good thing? I don't know if the slime actually helps, but I understand that it's considered to have an anti-aging effect, skincarewise, so I can see why it might help with old-person-related injuries, and anyway, I'm really enjoying okra in my shrimp and mulukhiyah leaves in my miso soup recently and that's certainly not hurting anyone! I'm still years away from being a nameko fan, though. [OR AM I?])

I chop and sauté a quarter onion, half a leek, and a couple cloves of garlic. When they're smelling good, I throw the nameko in too.

I make a batter with flour, water, salt, and a drizzle of sesame oil. If I'm doing it right, I think, I would mix the nameko straight into the batter, but for some reason, I don't. I pour it on top of them in the pan and immediately begin worrying that I've fucked up. I tear up a piece of my husband's sad-person reduced-cholesterol plastic cheese and throw it on top for insurance. Can't go wrong with cheese.

It might be starting to come together! The key is to start out low and slow so the pancake/pajeon/pizza has time to solidify and cook through. Once it's solid enough to flip unassisted, you can turn the heat up and get it crisping real nice.

I do the awesome flipping maneuver: cover the pan with a plate, then flip the whole deal over so the wet side of the pancake falls onto the plate, then sliiiiide the wet side back, facedown, into the pan to finish cooking. It's really coming together!

Would you look at that! It looks like real food!

I cut it with food scissors and find a dipping sauce. Most people would prepare some kinda soy sauce mixture, but idk; I just use chinkiang vinegar, one of the best things in the world. Which it turns out goes great with cheese!

And it's tasty! It really is. Some of the fruity, fermenty nameko flavor is still there, but between the doughy/crispy pancake, the cheese, and all the allium goodness, it's a very mild, soy saucey flavor! It's not unlike a very, very Japanese white pizza. If you'd told me a few hours ago that nameko could be this good, I wouldn't've believed you! Honestly, I still might not! Good for me.

[radiance1]

Amity Park is an unusual place. Home to the ghost crazed inventors Jack and Maddie Fenton and their two children, Jasmine and Daniel Fenton.

It is a peaceful town, if only when the Fenton's aren't up to their shenanigans, besides that it was a town were nothing to significant happened.

Which is why it was so weird how the town was built right next to a magical leyline.

(His parents are actually weirdly connected now that he thinks of it.)

Now you see, Danny never cared about his parents' obsession with ghosts, nor their apparent 'portal to hell' that's a work in progress.

(Danny is 12 here AGAIN because I'm just built like that)

He did like to invent small versions of the Chaos Emeralds from the sonic comics he asked his parents for. He was honestly completely surprised they managed to get him actual real-life copies of the comics, considering they ceased productions years before he was born.

He isn't even going to ask any questions about the where and how.

So, he read through the books, told his two friends about it and they came over then they read together. Sam was a bit surprised, since even her parents didn't know where to source them from.

So, you give a twelve-year-old access to discontinued comics about a hedgehog who can run faster than the speed of soun and he sees these super powerful gems and has access to highly advanced tech made his parents (mostly ghost centered but eh) and you expect him not to do anything?

So, he, Tucker and Sam came together and sketched out a design for what they wanted this machine to look like to (hopefully) make their own versions of the Chaos Emeralds.

It wouldn't be the real thing, but they just want something close enough that they can look at.

So, they drew the machine, trying to see which parts would be needed in the actual building part of it. To which they kinda grew to a stump at, Tucker is insanely good with computers, Danny is insanely good at building things and Sam has extensive knowledge of the occult and money.

But they weren't good with the actual designing part. The drawing was pretty crude, not as good as his parents' blueprints, but it was good enough. They just couldn't figure out what materials would go where and which they would even need.

Then his parents caught a glance at what they were working on and extended their help, surprising all three of them since this wasn't anything ghost related. With their help the actual parts for the machine came together, and sure the design had to be changed a bit here and there, but it was worth it!

They didn't know where exactly to build said machine though. Until Sam mentioned the nearby forest, and really, it just went on from there.

So there they were, walking through the forest, looking for the perfect spot to build their machine. Finally coming to at a small hill, Danny decided to build the machine here!

It was the perfect spot for a replica of a super powerful, mega awesome giant emerald!

The spot did however feel really weird, like there was something living in the area. Not that Danny minded though, he wouldn't be a Fenton if he didn't ignore something crazy like this!

Sam was honestly just there for the vibe to be honest.

Tucker was persuaded to be here with the newest PDA that came out and practically unlimited data (He was going to be there anyways but who could pass up that.)

So it took a while, having to carry the materials out there (or carrying them in a cart, for the bigger pieces) and then having Danny putting it all together with his friends handing him some pieces here and there, and then Sam and Tucker having to goddamn drag Danny away from the unfinished machine to take a break and play a game.

Most of the time, Sam would distract herself with reading some occult books, while Tucker would surf the internet while Danny built his machine.

After about a week Danny finally managed to bring the machine to life, a giant mold in the middle of it in the shape of the Master Emerald when it came together and 21 smaller molds.

Coincidently, that was also the time his parents finished their 'portal to hell'.

So, Danny closed the machine, pouring the resin for the master emerald into the machine while his friend poured in resin of different colors into the other molds.

White for Danny.

Black for Sam.

Red for Tucker.

And green for the Master Emerald.

After that, well. All that was left was to turn it on, so they did.

At the exact moment the Fenton's turned on their ghost portal.

The magical energies of the leyline flooded into the molds of the gems, it was extremely chaotic and unfocused, its magical energies unable to be controlled.

For there to then be what is basically the perfect vessels for its excess power?

Well, safe to say it took the opportunity as it was.

At the exact same time Ectoplasm flooded into the world from the portal, and the door to the other side was opened.

The world, tilted off the combined events of the portal opening and the leyline finding a vessel for its power.

Shifted.

Then it and another world became one, a relatively smooth transition as barely anyone noticed.

Barely.

But that isn't what we're going to focus on right now. ;)

The entirety of Amity Park experienced city-wide electronic mayhem. Basic household appliances started going wack, as did their phones or anything electronic. Then the power went out as an earthquake ran through the city.

It stopped as suddenly as it began, everything was normal. So the Amity parkers went on about their day as normal too.

Danny, Sam and Tucker were knocked unconscious by the event, to which they then awoke about an hour later and saw the sight of their machine broken beyond repair. Danny ran forward and cried over the loss of his hard work, then Sam and Tucker got him to look up a bit higher to see it.

The Master Emerald in all of its beautiful, rainbow glory, and floating around was 21 gems made alongside it.

At first, Danny was stunned, unable to figure out how the hell the gem replicas are floating when they were made to be just that, replicas and not anything else.

They then floated down to each of them, the reds circling Tucker, the blacks circling Sam and the whites circling Danny.

And Danny, being 12 years old forgot all about that and went fuck it.

They stayed there for a while, playing with their new gems. They tried to be responsible, they swear! But they just couldn't help but test what they could do...

They found out that, while they aren't as powerful as the originals in the comics. They were still pretty damn strong, so then Sam had the great idea to train themselves in the usage of the gems like responsible people would.

(Which is basically just an excuse to run over to her books and try out each and every spell she could see.)

Which is how they also found out that the Master Emerald replica also had the ability to render their own gems inert like in the comics after they went a bit overboard with them.

Then they came back home and apparently ghosts are a thing now. They politely kept their new gems and the existence of the giant one a secret.

And like that, two years passed by. All of them now 14 and having very good control over the gems, with the help of the Master Emerald that somehow became semi-sentient and finding out that the reason why it happened is because they literally built the machine on top of a magical leyline.

They took on the role of guarding the gem, just like Knuckles the Echidna. Which also doubles as their hangout spot too, so there's that.

They had super-secret personas and totally cool outfits for when they're guarding it too. Which isn't really necessary since nothing happens, but they don't really care about that too be honest.

Amity Park is a relatively closed off town, new faces only being there in the ways of tourists. It is a peaceful town, minus all the ghosts and the Fenton's in their battles, it is a nice town where nothing too big happens.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker thought so as well. Thought that nobody would find out about their little secret.

They were not pleased when they found some old British guy was walking around the Master Emerald.

The Fenton parents were very pleased when three of earth's greatest heroes, batguy, supersomething and Wondergirl pulled up at their doorstep asking to see their inventions. (They swear they could never quite remember those three's names, what with all the ghost fighting, realizing they weren't quite right in their research and renouncing everything they ever said about ghosts as a whole while also trying to reconnect with their kids after realizing how neglectful they've been over the years.)

[themonotonysyndrome]

hello, lovely lady!

i truly hope you’re doing well, and im sure you know this, but your work is much appreciated, but please please take care of yourself!

with that being said, even though i’ve seen previous head-cannons, do you think it would be possible if we sort of got an updated head-cannon of how Cecila and Castin will parent their children when they’ve reacher their teen years? just curious. 🙃

please don’t feel obligated to indulge me or do such, and as always have a fantastic day/evening.

💖🤍

It's the awesome addie! Hello, hello!

I'm okay—well, as alright as I can be. I'm very happy that you enjoyed my writing, and that's enough to make me feel so much better!

Ah... teenagehood. I was a pretty chill teenager—moody but pretty tamed. I was more into writing than doing sports, lol. But let's check out what Celica and Castin are like as parents raising their teenage twins!

Headcanons where Dain & Deirdre are teenagers & how Castin and Celica raise them:

This may come across as surprising, but it's Castin's that's gonna be a low-key helicopter parents 😂

Castin is very invested in Dain & Deirdre's life. What's the tea at school? Any dramas between friends? Any crushes? 👀 Any new hobbies?

While Celica is also interested in their children's daily lives, she only asks how they fare in their studies and if they've been keeping up with their etiquette training, which their governess would report to her directly. Unfortunately, after giving birth, the Baroness is busier than ever.

This isn't to say that Castin is also not busy with his patrols and hunting down any signs of rebels, but unlike Celica, who's actually at home, he would keep in touch with the twins via letters and calls even when he's on the other end of Intacia.

Castin habitually announces ridiculous rules for the twins during dinners every other week! EX: "Neither of y'all are allowed to talk more than 100 words to your crushes." And the next week would be "Don't spar with the opposite gender! Oh, wait - " Yeah, the twins learned to just ignore the rules, lol.

As for Celica, though? She has only one rule for the twins: "Do not tarnish the Anesidora name." Now, this might seem cold, and while the twins absolutely hate it, believing that their own mother is more concerned about their family's reputation than her own damn kids that she nearly died giving birth for, Celica's rule is actually a test to see if the twins are good at deception and finding loopholes on doing any anything that she doesn't like behind her back. Because if they can pull it off? That means they're on the way to inherit her position, and that's what Celica has been waiting for.

Now! Teenage rebellions!

"Don't worry, baby. Big Daddy Caddy is on it! He knows a thing or two about stopping rebellions!"

"Please do not tackle our children to the ground as if they are criminal."

"Pfft - I won't, I won't!"

Each of the twins acts out in different manner but most often, their attitudes are directed at their mother. Dain's acts of rebellion are more... subtle. Avoiding eye contact when Celica is talking to him, refusing to smile in her presence, purposely scrapping his cutleries onto the plates when eating, creating an ear-piercing sound and etc. Deirdre is a lot more of an outburst. She would skip lessons, walk away in a middle of the conversation, and getting in a shouting match with Celica because all she cares about is asking about their progress, not how they really are.

Of course this isn't true as Celica is only thinking about their future and of course, every time her children lash out at her, she feels hurt but then she would react in ways that was ingrained to her since childhood - stoic face, silent and retreat to her office for several days.

Those are the moments where Castin had to mediate between them and always remind their twins to be patient with their Mum and try to think about things in her perspective. The only reason they could act freely as teenagers and not would-be politician or hell, even consuming poison are because the Baroness constantly serve as a 'shield' for the twins in high society.

Every mistakes they made in public, every blunder they offend a household would immediately smooth out by the Baroness.

That's her form of love. Castin knows this after being married to her for so many years but the twins don't understand that.

She's hard on them because the world was cruel to her growing up. She's awkward in showing affections because her Ezekiel, Eaton and Tristan keeps her at arms-length due to their status.

She's a damn good Baroness and she hopes that in time, she'll be a worthy mother to Dain and Deirdre.