#idk what possessed me to make this (pun intended)

[daddyplasmius]

[shima-draws]

Okay so a few things about the ending to the DLC. Spoilers below obviously

-Really REALLY disappointed they didn’t go with the whole toxic possession arc thing with Kieran and the new mythical (Pecharunt?) TO BE FAIR that was more of a fan theory than anything but it was one that made a lot of sense and had a lot of evidence to back it up. I guess I got too attached to the idea and was inevitably let down when the game didn’t go in that direction. Still it would have made more sense to give that extra edge as to why Kieran’s treating everyone so awfully,, and having him finally break free of that control during the final fight VS Terapagos would have been SO sick. Either that or before we even get to Terapagos Carmine calls Kieran out and that’s when he finally fucking explodes and rages and vents about his inferiority complex—and THAT is what summons Pecharunt, those negative feelings that it probably feeds off of or smth idk. Then we’d get a split second of Kieran finally being back in control and begging for help. And then Carmine realizing her brother has been under the influence of this Pokemon the entire time and. Okay I’m getting off track into AU territory now lmao sorry moving on

-Switching back to the Terapagos fight, I really enjoyed it! It wasn’t too long of a fight to be drawn out, but it was just long enough that it didn’t feel anticlimactic (also the MUSIC? STELLAR. Pun intended). ALSO ARGHFHH the five stages of grief Kieran goes through in that fight to finally accepting that he’s been going about this the wrong way and has been an awful friend and the way the LIGHT COMES BACK INTO HIS EYES I ALMOST CRIED. This is 10000x more emotional and powerful if you choose to bring Ogerpon with you and fight with her bc that really just. Hammers in the fact that despite all the bad blood and bitterness, Kieran still chooses to fight alongside you and the Pokemon he coveted so much…AND he even processes things enough to fully let go of all his hatred and anger and allows you to catch Terapagos because he KNOWS you’ll take good care of it and after all this time he still trusts you even though he’d probably hate to admit it. #GOOD WRITING

-Something really scary I realized. Kieran brought a Master Ball with him to catch Terapagos. 1. Where did homie even get that. 2. The fact that he was READY and didn’t even give Terapagos a chance to react, that he was essentially catching it against its will (which probably led to its power going out of control), that he was enforcing his own twisted desires and beliefs onto it and not considering its feelings (sound familiar? Looks at Ogerpon). BOY. 3. We’ve only ever seen ONE other person use Master Balls in SV. The AI Professor. I don’t know if this is significant in any way but if the Pecharunt theory WAS true that would make them so so similar and that’s eerie to me. Two characters controlled by something greater than them that they can’t fight…can you imagine how INSANE the dynamics would be listen to me

-Another thing I was kinda disappointed about was Briar? I guess I was just picking up on the vibes that she was actually a villain and would try to steal Terapagos from the player, but I probably gave Nintendo too much credit on that one lol. I do like that she’s not inherently evil, she’s just too absorbed and obsessed with her research to really pay attention to what’s going on around her. BUT. They should have pushed that WAY further. Either commit and do the full villain arc where she snatches Terapagos from Kieran right after he catches it to use it for her own purposes, or pressure him into Terastallizing it so much that it makes him uncomfortable. I want to see Lusamine levels of unhinged obsession. What she had was just a little bit too excited about Area Zero, not a full blown unhealthy and dangerous thing that puts everyone around her in danger.

-Following up on that. Drayton. I kept expecting him to also go villain arc IDK LOL I guess I want everyone to be gay do crime in this DLC 😂 But I seriously kept thinking he was just using the player to knock Kieran off his throne so he could take it right back from us. But no he actually genuinely cared about Kieran and kept pressuring us to beat the Elite Four so WE could knock some sense into him since Drayton wasn’t strong enough to do it himself. Which is a very sweet sentiment, I think :’) But am I the only one who was like bro calm down right after the fight where he was getting up in Kieran’s face and calling him ex-champion…..either he’s way too honest and doesn’t realize he was being cruel OR he was doing it on purpose to be a silly goober (but everyone else was like DUDE. LOW blow.)

-I still have questions. HELLO. HELLO. The notes in Area Zero mentioned the professor meeting a child with a white(?) book? Is that the Scarlet/Violet book? We still don’t know how the whole time travel paradox happened and why Heath talked about meeting Paradox Pokemon DECADES before the professor even brought them to Area Zero through the time machine? What is with the weird ass crystal tree sitting in the middle of a lake in the depths? Is there any significance to the Crystal Pool in Kitakami being connected to terastallizing and Area Zero? I’M JUST. AGHHH. I’m fairly certain we’re getting more content, maybe an epilogue to the DLCs but I’m going CRAZY I NEED TO KNOW NOWWW

-Also isn’t Area Zero like. Top secret hush hush. Why did Geeta let Briar publish a whole ass book about the HIDDEN SECRET of Area Zero that was miles under a closed off SECRET lab. I thought they were denying Briar access to Area Zero for YEARS, probably because they didn’t want her blabbing to the public. Idk. Maybe my memory is fuzzy on that one. Just feels very contradictory fhhdd

-The small little subtleties of Kieran regaining his regular personality as we went down….I ADORED that. His little smiles and him unable to contain his childish excitement and Carmine smiling at him with a knowing look bc after all this time her brother is FINALLY acting more like himself. And Kieran trying to brush it off like “wh-whatever” like he’s some sort of edgy teenager pretending he doesn’t care. GAHHHH it was so cute I wanted to cry 😭

ALL IN ALL it didn’t QUITE meet my expectations but it was still really good, especially considering this was all DLC content. Nothing will ever EVER top the main story of SV but the entirety of TTM and TID came pretty darn close. Kieran my sweet baby boy my blorbo I’m so glad you got your redemption arc and that you finally came to terms with your perception of strength and how it affects others. Baller DLC Nintendo do it again 👏

[picklebunbun]

Hi, I saw you also do the happy tree friend character and I have a request about that if you don't mind, a Flippy/Fliqpy x sibling reader (platonic of course!) who talks in their sleep please ? Thank you if you doing it

Flippy/Fliqpy + sibling!gn! reader who talks in their sleep hcs

——————༻⁂✬♫✬⁂༺——————

hc or oneshot/series?: headcannons

gn reader, you/yours and gn pronouns

genre: fluff, could be a bit angsty if you’re an emotional person, some crack (the drug-)

romantic/platonic?: platonic

cw: mentions of violence/gore (but it’s flipqy too so what’d you expect)

(angel’s note🪽: I actually love this request, I luvvv platonic stories omg and htf so hehehehhe 🤭 we are leaving the scenerio at the end)

~~~

flippy hc:

he kind of gets it, usually sleep talking is due to stress but wow it really freaks him out

sometimes he hears you talk about your plan to destruct the whole world

“I’m going to bomb the U.N mimimimi💤💤😴“ “WHAT THE FU-“

but whenever he asks about it the next morning you always give him this poker face, insinuating that you had no idea you were talking about kill!ng political figures

it usually makes him stay awake at night, the things you talk about are freaky (has this sneaking suspicion that you might kill him- JKJKJK)

always gives you a glass of warm milk, it actually helps, you still sleep talk don’t get me wrong, but it’s less violent

he also bear hugs you (not intended to be a pun) while you sleep, you get very overheated

since he has random nightmares and wakes up at night, he always finds your voice comforting, just a nice reminder that you’re still there

flipqy hc:

just like flippy, he finds comfort in your voice since it’s an indicator that you’re still there. It helps him relax

he’ll accidentally claw your arms when he hugs you, you find some cuts the next morning (flippy had no idea it happens)

whenever you talk in the middle of the night, he screams, this man was TERRIFIED. He hid you in the bathroom because he thought someone was in the house

turns out it was just his sibling talking

he thought that you were possessed by something for a while, kept his distance but he still loved you dw

still shocked about what you say though

scenario:

italics: thinking, bold: yelling

Flippy was in the kitchen making you hot milk, he started doing this a couple of weeks ago. It’s actually helped, not with sleep talking but just calming the “weirdness” of it,

“here!”

Flippy gave you a sweet hot milk drink with a pinch of cinnamon

“thanks..”

you were already feeling sleepy before and the drink endorsed it even more. Flippy patted your head

“feeling sleepy yet?”

“yeah..”

Flippy grabbed your hand and guided you to the bed, he wrapped you around in a blanket making you nice and comfy. The lights turned off, and Flippy climbed into bed, hugging you tightly

-timeskip-

Flippy- or err.. Flipqy sat up panting, he was all sweaty, he had just gotten a nightmare. He looks at you and hears your voice “mm.. I never wanted the..mbbmm” or mumbles of your favorite animal in your dreams made him calmer.

Flipqy sighed, he was still very much stressed so he hugged you tightly while trying to ease his sorrow. He clawed your arms, but since you were so deep in REM, you didn’t really feel anything. Whatever, just sleep for now! ♡︎

(Idk if this was pretty short but if it is I’m sorryy I was in a bit of a rush (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞)

~~~

[jacksonstarkiller]

Heya, for Squiddo's ask game, #1, pick your version

Well, here is the essay answer no one was waiting for!

I’m going with 2004 because I don’t get enough changes to talk about Brady Corbet. 😌

There are A LOT of things I love about Brady’s portrayal in the 2004 movie. His attitude, his gayness, his audacity, his fashion. Seriously, lad is just strolling around in cheap basic jeans and a shirt, despite his father being a rich bastard. SLAAAAYYY!!!!

But right now I’ll focus on 2004 Alan being an ADHD icon because it means a great deal to me.

The media I consume usually lacks ADHD representation. I rarely come across it, and when I do, it’s frequently a poorly researched stereotype that pisses me off. Now I know that Alan having ADHD is not canon, but holy shit 2004 Alan is an accurate representation. Best I’ve seen so far tbh.

For starters, the movie literally starts with Alan sitting zoned out in a maths lesson. Iconic! Damn, I feel that scene every time I see it. Alan staring out of the window whilst thinking about his hyperfixiation and needing to be called repeatedly before he actually registers it, 10/10 accuracy.

Throughout the entire movie, there are a myriad of scenes where others are patiently waiting or working on something, and Alan is in the background running around like an overstimulated puppy, flapping his hands, frustrated that doesn’t have something to do. Amazing!

He also exhibits impulsiveness, no patience, mood swings, high irritability, and a short temper. He interrupts people and forgets to look before he leaps. Now THIS is an accurate and complete picture instead of kid who can’t sit still and is dumb and has no other symptoms.

Finally, I love that Alan isn’t stupid. I’ll admit, Fermat is the brains (no pun intended) of the duo but Alan is not an idiot. I’m sick of the stereotype that you cannot be smart if you have ADHD. Seriously, I was in for treatment and was explaining how I struggle with concentrating on reading and assignments and the medical professional (idk what his exact function is tbh) looked me dead in the eye and suggested that university was maybe beyond my capabilities. BITCH, I PASSED MY FIRST YEAR CUM LAUDE (got a bloody certificate and everything) I BELONG TO THE TOP 15 STUDENTS OF MY YEAR!!!!!! I’m gonna fight someone over this one day. But not Alan, because Alan is intelligent! He showed extensive knowledge on the Thunderbirds and rescues. He devised multiple clever plans and ideas that actually worked. It was his idea to use the vents; his idea to use the Thunderizer and the Firefly; he led the final rescue with the monorail; he got himself, Fermat, and TinTin away from the Hood when they were cornered in Thunderbird 1’s silo; HE FIGURED OUT HOW TO DEFEAT THE HOOD!!!! Yes, the hover sledge idea failed but only partially, and 1 mistake does not make you stupid. Also, that was kinda the whole point of the movie, that Alan learned to think more carefully about actions and consequences. And if you still remain unconvinced that Alan posses intelligence, may I refer you to his actual, official report card that was used in a scene, which was later cut from the movie, and that I have in my possession 😩💪🏻

It says “very bright”. 😤

May I also point out that the rest of the comment confirms my diagnosis? 😏

Is anyone still reading this at this point? If you are, you’re a legend!💪🏻

In short, I feel extremely validated and represented by ADHD-icon Alan, and since this is a rare occurrence, it means the world to me.

Alright, alright, I’ll stop. I think I got my point across 😅

[twistedtavern]

P5 SELF AWARE AU POLL

I've been debating on what costume/theming to give Mishima in my self aware au! I have way too many concepts for him 😭 Here are the themes I'm most set with

Propaganda (Mild spoilers under cut):

Yes, I know that a Persona and Palace are huge parts that are connected to a character's personality and story, but HEAR ME OUT I am actually flexible with this

Bug: YES THE BUGGABOY!! I love him. I gave him kusarigama because bug. Also, due to bug, I can adequately give him the fighting style that is yeeting himself directly at you. I also think that the overall rot/decay theming is very fitting for the absolute atrocities that will occur there if I manage to not switch the plot around. Also, AM being his Persona really fits because of his arc revolving around spite and hatred, AND it has the added benefit of being able to spit out the skill cards Mishima hacks into his possession because computer. Idk I just really like bug Mishi, but I'm just not sure how to design him. Also heehee hoohoo computer bug hacker boy, pun intended and noted on his part

Pierrot: I KNOW I KNOWWWW I'M OBSESSED WITH UNWELL CLOWNBOYS AND I'VE SNORTED SAILOR MOON SEASON 4 LIKE ITS CRACK COCAINE SINCE CHILDHOOD I KNOWW!!!! But. I am incredibly attached to this one and I have drawn him like twice. Also, Joker parallels! And I get to make him tell this joke: "What do you call a flat detective?? A PANCAKE!" before trying to bonk Akechi to actual death. I'd need to find a proper Persona for him, most preferably clown-adjacent or from a black and white movie. NO I'M NOT USING STEAMBOAT WILLY (though maybe I SHOULD search old cartoons 👀)

Teddy Bear: I listened to way too much Psycho Teddy and then this creature came into existence. Really not sure about this one, frankly, because I can only imagine him with a full mask on like a mascot head and just straight up paws and that stands out a bit too much for me. He's cute though,, plus he and Player can be plushie friends!

Knight: Ah yes, back to basics. This was one of the first concepts I had for him, and frankly I just wanted to put this here for posterity. However, upon further inspection, this SCREAMS spite towards Akechi. 10/10 teammate behavior. ALSO THE SYMBOLISM GOES CRAZY? A prince, a knight, a dark lord, a king, and a strange creature,,, all on one team. This genuinely slaps I am NUTS over this after pondering it a bit

Not related, but WAGH im sorry I never got to posting about twst and p5 players im all over the place atm but!! I am trying to come back!

[noa-ciharu]

17, 20, 65 for the writers ask!

17 - what is your favorite line you've ever written

Hmm that's hard to tell really, let alone find where said line was. But I remember making x!Subaru go something like "your kindness hurts in ways your cruelty could never" at Seishirou being extra considerate with him instead of being his, well, usual apathetic self. I like the idea of Subaru being hurt by Seishirou treating him with kindness and consideration as he'd perceive them as fake (which might or might not be the case) hence mocking

20 - what is your favorite trope to write

Pwp alright, I gotta admit I have soft spot for jealousy/possessiveness/ toxic protectiveness trope (idk how that happened as I hate those with burning passion irl). I guess my general love for angst + all the tension and the sparks from that trope + all the conflicting emotions and darker side of humanity are one big ♥️🙏🔥 to me. Plus those tropes work so perfectly with any TB/X couple since they're all canonically fuckups. I'd like to see Subaru being jealous, possessive or overly protective one for once

65 - what is your favorite title for the fic you've written

Gotta be 'body count' for my fic where Subaru deals with trauma by being a slut post X and Seishirou goes on killing spree as result. All pun intended 😌

[sweaterlinkcafe]

I realize overtime, over the course of my 26 years of living, that I have a particular type when it comes to celebrities and fictional characters. This includes both men and women, but I will start with the men.

I love men who are ethereal, pretty boys, princely, protective, or some or all of the above. They typically have some kind of brooding front but deep down they are the most gentle and kind souls. For some reason, they all have light hair (silver or white) but doesn't have to be necessarily. But most do. I also love a good fictional man with a tortured soul. Bonus points if they are some kind of demon or vampire. Or a humanoid mixed with some other other-worldly entity. Additional points if they hate everyone but the person they love. Bonus bonus points if he cooks well.

Exhibit A: My first anime crush, Yuki Sohma from Fruits Basket

I was gonna say he just has this princely vibe. But now that I think about it, he is lowkey kinda brooding. He just is not as prominent with it. And he has the Sohma curse, so he also does have a mystical aspect about him. And he's a pretty boy. It all makes sense lol.

Exhibit B: Zero Kiryuu from Vampire Knight

Zero's got somewhat of an ethereal vibe with his light features. He's also is the definition of having a super brooding front but deep down a very gentle and kind soul. I can especially because not only how he treats Yuki, but how he treats animals (like the horse White Lily for example). He's also a vampire. And a tortured soul. And hates everyone but Yuki. I get the vibe he's somewhat protective too, at least with Yuki, so I'm like like good lawd.

Exhibit C: Rin Okumura from Ao No Exorcist

I put him in here too because he's somewhat of an outlier. Not really but kinda? Maybe just because he has dark hair? Idk. Anyway, I liked him because of his humor and the fact he cooks well. He gives me somewhat ADHD vibes too. Teenage me was like damn. I would marry him. And his father is literally Satan himself??? Hell yeah. (No pun intended).

Exhibit D: Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss

Also has white/silver hair. Wow. What a coincidence. He's also. A demon. Wow. What a surprise. And he's brooding by all fronts. An element that makes him stand out is that he cooks and cleans well. And he has a somewhat like sensual vibe? And he has a past. A wild past at that bc, ya know, he's a demon.

He's also very protective of Nanami. So much so he's very possessive of her at times. Some moments in the show made me raise an eyebrow like...huh? But it all comes from a good place, so I don't mind it overall. He pretty much hates everyone but her. And don't even get me started on how he approached Nanami when they first meet when Nanami goes back in time. Like HUH. I beg your finest pardon? Why does it feel so hot in here all the sudden?

I would classify him as a tortured soul because he's pretty much betraying his nature as a demon (and Akura-Oh) for falling in love with a human. And he has a tendency to hide in great conflict and close himself in. So I'm pretty sure he's a soft boy at heart.

Exhibit E: Taemin

Do I need to explain? He's the only real person on here. And that's saying something. He's a pretty boy. He's giving ethereal. Giving sensuality. Sings and dances with so much soul and emotion like he's a tortured soul (and honestly I think he is). He's sensual. He's someone that makes me go, hm, I like him so much that I wanna be him. He's an inspiration for my fashion choices and my dance style. Because I dance here and there and I can say that I'm definitely not a terrible dancer. I've been watching his growth as a performer since 2011 and I just am in awe with Taemin. His music and performances makes my spirit come alive. Like I think yes! Someone gets it. But he could just be autistic and that's why I'm drawn to him more than others. (I'm autistic).

And more recently, the icing on the cake

Exhibit F: Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3

I remember seeing edits of him on Tik Tok in September of 2023. I think that was when Baldur's Gate 3 was released. Astarion was the primary reason why I bought it. I also heard it was a good game in general too and it is up my alley when it comes to fantasy RPGs. So that was a factor. First off, light hair? Second, he's an elf vampire??? Not a thing I would expect coming out of my mouth. And I don't mind it a single bit. And he's ethereal and a devastatingly beautiful being.

He is THE definition of a tortured soul. My guy was a slave for 200 years and had to bed thousands to lure them to an older vampire in the guise of a well-respected noble. And was tortured and had no control and had to do everything this vampire said no question. And for one of those years, he was put into complete darkness. For not wanting to lure in a sweet man.

He puts up a front, idk if it's brooding per se. It's more flirtatious and cheeky and diva-esque. Full of sarcasm too. I think the real him is full of anger/resentment. He is power hungry, but it makes sense because he was controlled. But I'm choosing not to ascend him and have him continue the cycle.

That's it. Thank you <3 (My post for women will be coming soon)

[cygnusdoesthings]

okay doing it

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

... Whenever I write angst, it's in comic sans. I find it funny.

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

no i would rather die

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

uh, the cursed part would be that it's irregular as fuck, but i can probably answer @quotidian-oblivion's, which is 'i wake up in the dead of the night and scrawl out fanfic ideas and a slight start and then faint'

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

oh god. uh. there are so many words that fuck me up to spell but on the spot i've forgotten

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

uhh.. i don't think so>

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

no clue

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

posting to the public and getting validation

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

hell nah

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know.

(Cough) Yes. I am a (somewhat) practicing paganistic eclectic animist. I do. (Cough)

10. Has a piece of writing ever ��haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

What piece of writing hasn't? Haunted, in my books (pun fully intended) means that it frequently lingers in my mind sourly, or even happily.

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

... the what huh?

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

motivation that's it

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

no clue, and hurt/comfort

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

nope, no, no, and no

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

depends on the book, i like to take notes, i used to dog ear my pages, read in the bath, have done a couple times, a book fell in but i microwaved it and now it's crispy but fine, why; because i can, no, and idk man.

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

an actual bookmark. i don't usually use bookmarks and when i do, i don't use like, actual bookmarks, so the weirdest one would be an actual bookmark.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

uh... no thanks. (/lh)

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

blinks. nah too tired

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

oh god. okay. pen and paper creepypasta, to quotev undertale, to wattpad mcyt, to ao3 mcyt, to ao3 dc.

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you've always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

Neither. I wouldn't want sudden eternal happiness. And my WIPs aren't at that level yet.

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

Probably not. Yes. I probably wouldn't because a) constant pressure b) it's one of the only things I'm good at / recognised for, and also, comfort, but mostly pressure, and I don't know what else to do with my life.

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

Google docs. I used to use Notion, but the formatting copy/paste was a bitch. I use folders.

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

in some sort of unhealthy position, probably dehydrated, in my bed or on the couch with my laptop or phone.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

Well. Uh. Usually I just write the barest of scaffolding, and go from there. It drags on. But if we're talking about before I post it... I never post something that's unfinished.

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

/shrugs

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

i'm someone who's incredibly accurate when guessing people's emotions. i'm also an actor. so. it's very easy.

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

alfred pennyworth

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

uh. a cat, probably

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

my brain.

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

oh yeah, i've used dream material. and yes, and yes

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

love you all /p

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

n/a

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

Yes, and yes. No elaborations.

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

the who what now?

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

Oh, I've been waiting for this one. 'Don't use 'and' at the start of a sentence'.

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

uh. no clue

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

this person does not matter at all

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

no clue. and cats probably don't say much in the way of us, instead just saying 'slaves'

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

uh, nothing. but my friends, and the pressure.

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

blinks. i am so sorry i know none.

@quotidian-oblivion hey u wanna do this or no

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you've always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

[ajaxsbeloved]

HEY! I’m wondering if you can do another witch reader-? PLEASE IM OM MY KNEES BEGGING doesn’t matter if it’s Childe or Scarmouche or Xiao I just need one ;-;

-: rimmed hats & love potions :-

feat. childe, scaramouche, xiao, diluc (separate)

genre. fluff/comedy (slight angst on diluc’s order)

summary. being a witch is an interesting part of your life, but your boyfriend is around to make it a little more fun at least (continuation of this post)

warnings. possessiveness in scaramouche’s section (i know nothing about witches so there’s a lot of generic stuff here i’m so sorry)

A/N. omg you’re the first person i’vs seen in my inbox for like a whole year woah ok so i did stereotype witch again i hope that’s ok! also i added diluc idk why i just felt the need to throw him in LMAO

childe:

childe loves watching you brew potions, it’s probably one of his favorite ways to relax is just to lay around and watch you tinker with glass bottles and pretty flowers

he’s very attentive to if you need certain ingredients such as violet grass or naku weeds and whenever he’s traveling he’ll pick some stuff up for you

similarly to xiao in the last post he likes when you heal with your magic but NEVER on other people, he likes to be special

he comes home often times with scratches and cuts from battles and he insists that despite how it could be healed with a bandaid or normal medical supplies that you fix it up with your witchcraft which you can never say no to because of the glint in his eye when he asks

when it comes to your familiar he loves the little thing, i’ve mentioned that he sees it as your guys’ child and when i say he sees it as part of the family that means he includes it in family like activities as well

don’t be surprised if you come home to childe having made dinner for 3, 2 plates are with normal food and another plate for your familiar T-T

he also “takes parental control” of it sometimes meaning he’ll hang out with your familiar and just him every once and a while, he’ll sometimes even take it with him to work and let it rest on his shoulder as he sorts through paperwork and files

now we all know that childe can be a bit mischievous but what he never saw coming was when the mischief in your smile when you asked him to drink something you made for him

forgetting about the whole “i’m a witch thing” he drank the whole glass and was beaming over how good it tasted, that is until the next morning when he woke up and his hair was bright purple…

“(Y/N)!!!” he yelled from the bathroom and his voice cracked put of confusion

meanwhile you sat on the living room couch absolutely dying of laughter to which (no pun intended) increased tenfold when childe came sauntering in looking like he had just seen a ghost

“YOU-YOU I CANT BELIVE YOU WHA-DID YOU HEX ME?”

“maybe :3”

“YOU WITCH”

needless to say it made your whole day

scaramouche:

this guy is kinda stupid if i’m honest, he has no idea how it works but he finds it very useful

but then he starts treating it like you’re an archon or something and starts asking you to do impossible things like make shit out of thin air lmao

you have to explain to him that while your magic is special and not that of a vision users; it’s also not that or an archons and like all mystical abilities it too has its limits

he doesn’t allow you on the battle field, ever. his word is final, sure you had fought before dating him but once you were his he wouldn’t ever let you get hurt by anyone especially if it had to do with dealings of the fatui

he’d let you help out with his job such as healing and other small things but he would never let you into a fight whether or not you could use your magic to hold your own

he’d do his best to keep you away from the fatui, your magic could be useful to him but he wouldn’t allow others to use it. you were his and his alone.

if your magic would be useful to the tsaritsa he wouldn’t let you anywhere near her ever, he knew how dangerous not only his job was but the people he worked with. he was well aware that if you were ever found out you’d likely be in a position with a massive target on your back

of course he wouldn’t ever let you know of this, you’d be blissfully ignorant as he shadowed you and made sure you’re magic wasn’t an open invitation for the fatui

he didn’t mind your familiar but it wasn’t something he was often taking care of, to him it was like a pet which he never had the time to watch or show affection to

if something ever happened to your familiar though he would be really upset, not only because he did like it (though he would never admit it) but also because he knew it would be hard for you and whoever hurt your familiar would regret it

never and i mean never play pranks on him with your magic, the one time you did and made his hat disappear he threw a fit like an absolute toddler

he was so mad at you that he didn’t speak to you for 3 whole days and would ignore you everytime you tried to apologize

he’d end up forgiving you of course but he’d give you a stern talk about how it was to never happen again

xiao:

xiao is honestly hard to write for, i can’t see him having many opinions on this kind of thing or caring too much

it’s not that he doesn’t care he just doesn’t have an innate interest in this field

if there is one thing that interests him though it’s how your magic compares to that of the archons, vision holders, and yakshas

your magic was unique and something that the other people of teyvat weren’t familiar with nor capable of and this definitely intrigued xiao

he likes to see how you can use your magic in ways that the archons may not and wants to know what the limits of your abilities are

he secretly loves your familiar but would rather drop dead than ever admit it, he spends time with it while your asleep or while you’re away quite often and likes to cuddle with it

when you’re not around xiao sleeps with your familiar as he views it not only as a pet but also as another piece of you and so it helps to keep him calm and stop him from having nightmares :(

however because of this feeling that your familiar is a part of you this means that if anything happened to it he’d be furious, he’d get extremely overprotective and wouldn’t hesitate to destroy anyone who dare hurt it

he also would take care of your familiar if anything were to ever happen to you, he’d be the prime care taker and would sometimes have ganyu or zhongli babysit it (i’m crying this is so cute)

if you were to ever prank xiao with your magic he’d just get confused and have this annoyed look at his face but then he’d very surprisingly start laughing

while it wasn’t bursting out into laughter to the point in which your stomach hurts you could tell that he was smiling and he let out small chuckles at your prank

this would encourage your pranking and mischievous behavior to which xiao would continue to actually enjoy

eventually he’d get used to it and find it an endearing trait of yours, he’d simply smile and laugh a bit when thinking of your pranks or joining in on them every one and a while

diluc

first things first diluc would be in a constant state of worry over your well being, considering what happened to his father he would be very cautious about how your magic works and whether or not it’s dangerous to you

something he finds very interesting about your magic though is your ability to use it in ordinary life. sure it’s cool in combat and on the battle field but the thing he enjoys most about it is how versatile it is to you in mundane life

he also love your familiar, to him the little sprite is almost like a seelie but more useful

he doesn’t interact with it or take care of it a whole lot but he likes to quietly watch the bond between you and your familiar, it gives him a sense of calmness and almost makes him envious

he’d be interesting in how your magic would help the knights of favonious and if it would make them any more efficient

would secretly try to get you to get you to talk to jean about being a captain in the knights and helping the people of mondstadt in a safe way while also being useful to their cause

one time you and kaeya pulled a trick of diluc where you made kaeya look exactly like diluc for a day except it didn’t turn out how you expected

you were thinking that diluc wouldn’t be pleased and would just brush it off but shockingly he screamed in the highest voice you’ve ever heard from him when he came face to face with himself

he then became very intrigued and wanted to learn about the science behind your magic and more specifically how the twin trick worked

so what you expected to be a fun little prank to annoy your boyfriend became a lesson on your magic, though not that you minded

what you didn’t notice was diluc’s subtle smile as he watched your eyes sparkle as you talked about something like magic which was so important to you

tags:

[cinnachuu]

hi hi can i request kirari dating hcs :0

of course u can! :D

kirari dating hcs

warnings/genre: kakegurui level type beat, nothing graphic. dating hcs

a/n: I love her 🥺 thank u for requesting and if this isn’t up to standard send me a message and I can rewrite it!

•right so idk how but u piqued her interest

•👁👁

•something about you just made her brain go ? Oh what’s this? And now you’re dating so you’re doing something right

•that was mean I’m sorry akdnskdksj

•anyways she’s a very bad girlfriend at first I’m not lying

•she isn’t directly mean to you but she has standards, and if you don’t reach her idea of what she wants she’ll dispose of you

•loves to tease you, something about seeing your face flush makes her heart race ever so slightly

•loves leaving lipstick stains on your cheek, it feels like she’s claiming you in her own way

•she’s so possessive tbh

•your her’s, duh.

•if you have longer hair she’ll ask Sayaka to braid it or style it for you

•she often fantasizes about you falling from the tower of doors

•she think you’d look ethereal falling into the field of flowers, the moonlight shining down on you.

•spoils you with anything you want

•flowers and expensive chocolates, flights to Paris, tickets to a concert, etc

•she likes slinking her arms around your neck from the back while your gambling to watch, whispering vague advice into your ear and often nibbling your ear lobe

•she likes seeing you squirm, but she likes seeing your opponents squirm even more

•she won’t do that often, she likes seeing you handle yourself

•also she has a reputation

•your dates often consist of having tea in front of her aquarium while talking about your day

•at first she thought that she would enjoy being more sadistic towards you, but inflicting pain on your enemies is somehow so much more satisfying

•she loves it when you film their reactions to receiving their life plan after gambling against you and losing

•”Darling, look at how they blanch!”

•she loves it when you help her write life plans

•your ideas are always welcome

•pet names aren’t common for her tbh, they’re mostly in private

•she really enjoys watching you gamble, she finds it interesting to observe the heat of the moment

•I know this sounds very fun but honestly, you are disposable and if she’s ever displeased with you, she can completely ruin your life

•good thing she loves you too much for that

•she’s terribly protective of you, and cares deeply for your well being

•she expects you to handle yourself, but she does provide the finest meals and clothes

•if you’re ever in a bout of depression, she’ll ask Sayaka to help attend to your needs while she gets you hand picked gifts

•she enjoys doing your makeup

•”Blue truly looks wonderful on you.”

•she likes kissing your forehead or your shoulders

•she doesnt mind kissing your lips, but it’s not exactly her thing

•her humor is very sarcastic and snarky, so if you date her please be warned if ur more sensitive

•Sayaka didn’t like you at first, but now she’s always at your beck and call

•honestly shes one of the better girlfriends

•it’s difficult because she’s so self centered, but if you truly love her then you’ll be able to at least be loved as much as she loves herself

•don’t expect too much in person help, she works from the background to keep everything running, but she’ll comfort you in her own way

•after she go smites anyone who hurts you

•she won’t go against the program to save you from being a house pet or getting a life plan tbh

•I don’t see her doing that unless she truly loves you, and with her by your side, the chances of you getting a life plan/house pet status is zero to none

•people are terrified of you

•Kirari literally finds it so amusing watching you walk down the hallway and seeing people’s legs shake as you pass

•she gives amazing hugs

•she loves having an arm around you

•her and Yumeko I think would be the two most physical lovers

•tbh she’ll ask life changing questions without blinking

•”would you like to get married my love?”

•don’t ask about children

•she’s not interested

•she likes having you sit on her lap while she works on your presidential duties

•one of the favorite gives you’ve ever been given is your favorite lipstick shade from the brand she uses

•if it’s red or pink, her lips were tinted purple afterwards

•she likes having you in arms reach at all times

•she hates not having you around, your presence helps her work more efficiently and is comforting

•she likes taking long walks with you through the school grounds

•her dates are either extremely extravagant or just cuddling

•honestly if you dislike the house pet system she’ll be even more interested in you

•you’re speaking out against her?

•however she’ll be extremely patronizing and just condescend you and softly call you ridiculous

•anyways, she’s a very interesting lover and if you manage to play your cards right, pun intended, you’ll have a lovely relationship :))

[atinyarmyzen]

what type of boyfriend I think they would be »» jungwoo

boyfriend!nct series »» kim jungwoo

warnings: contains nsfw content

a/n: okay so trying to get back on the bandwagon with this series, if you have any requests for who you want next drop an ask! anyway here’s the puppy himself

- alright so this man gives me whiplash (edit: I honestly did not intend the pun) 

- sometimes I can’t believe we’re the same age??

- 98 line wya

- also, can we take a moment to recognize just how fucking PRETTY he is?? 

- like what the actual fuck 

- an angel

- anyway

- I feel like jungwoo is quite deep despite his very playful nature

- he has a pisces stellium (3 or more placements in the same sign) 

- for him, it lands in his sun, jupiter, AND mars

- essentially, his nature and the way he goes through life  is very heavily influenced by this sign

- we had another capricorn venus here, so really wants a solid and long term relationship

- he probably fantasizes A LOT about the perfect relationship 

- may project these fantasies on people he finds attractive

- which can be a toxic trait, since sometimes the image he had built up in his head does not match up to who the person really is

- which ultimately leaves him feeling disappointed

- however, when he does genuinely love someone, it is 100% committed 

- this is why I think he should seek out a very emotionally mature person

- jungwoo may have a bad habit of being a little too parental in relationships

- has a VERY protective nature 

- may border on possessiveness at times 

- now, if he falls for you, you will feel a kind of love that is stable and romantic

- very much a gentleman to you, respects you a lot

- jungwoo gives everything to his partner

- always thinking of you and puts you before anyone else in his life

- very thoughtful as well, probably an excellent gift-giver

- may have a bit of a jealous streak with that scorpio moon of his (also a placement I have, so I am speaking from a personal place lmao) 

- wants you to be all his

- conversations will always be interesting, has a lot of funny quirks and can be a little wacky sometimes

- physical touch is important to him, will always want to be hugging/cuddling you

- he is quite literally like a puppy in that sense, will die for head scratches and back rubs

- also words of affirmation, since I think he also gets in his head a lot and will doubt himself

- you are patient and caring towards him, which makes his heart explode 

- also is a wonderful friend who would die for you in a heartbeat

- very loyal

- also probably will cry if you argue

- also cries when he’s angry/frustrated 

- now, when it comes to frick fracking

- I don’t think this man is the soft little pastel puppy that SM has been trying to show us

- did y’all see that recent photoshoot where we finally saw the god-like body that’s been hidden under sweaters this whole time???

- idk, he’s a 23 year old man I’m not gonna sit here and think he’s a perfect little virgin angel 

- I think he’s probably a switch, meaning he can easily fall into sub space and let you take full control

- OR

- completely flip and have you bent over the nearest surface, fucking you senseless and making you call him daddy

-  help

- like I mentioned earlier, this man fantasizes a lot

- so he probably has a looot of sexual scenarios in his head 

- capricorn venuses have an intimidatingly high sex drive and are closet freaks 

- don’t be surprised if he whips out some toys

- also, I feel like he is also capable of making the sweetest love to you ever

- sex can be very emotional, lots of “I love you’s” exchanged and eye contact 

- I think he is the relationship type and will want things to be long-term

- he’s after the happily ever after

- and he will do his best to make that a reality for you

[jackintheponeyofdiamonds]

I absolutely love your take on everything here! I have so many theories about Scratch they keep overlaping (pun half intended) each other bUT bear with me its probably gonna be rambly... My main theory is that mr. scratch and scratch are not the same thing, kinda like you said of one represented what people think of alan vs alan's darkest parts. Following that, I think the Tom Zane we see in aw2 is actually mr scratch. The three main things that makes me think that is 1. The Happy Song, 2. just...the vibes and 3. Ilkka Villi said in an interview that to play Zane he had to relearn the dance he did as mr Scratch back in American Nightmare. So yeah, for me Mr. Scratch is just gaslighting Alan by pretending to be Zane since rewriting reality doesnt work on parautilitarians, which is why both Alan and Jesse remember Tom as a poet not a filmmaker. Maybe the filmmaker thing has some connection on how mr. scratch got defeated in AN by a film projector with a homemade movie that Alice made. And Mr. Scratch works for Scratch in a way, works for the Dark Presence. Which for me is why he was called the Herald of Darkness. Like Herald of the Dark Presence. As for Scratch, I don't think he and the dark presence are actually interchangeable like Alan said, he is "just" the darkest side of Alan, but I do think since Alan wrote about it being the same thing may have made the Dark Presence just go with it and play the character per se if that was a way of leaving the Dark Place to control the real world. Not that it was forced to do, it just seized the opportunity. On a kinda unrelated note, since music is such a important part in story telling in AW, i think its worth noting that many lines from Dark, Twisted and Cruel (or what i call "Scratch's theme 2.0") are from Tom Zane's poems from the House of Dreams ARG. So maybe Tom Zane also got possessed by Scratch at some point making him the equivalent of Mr. Scratch in aw2. Or idk maybe Mr. Scratch also got tired of being in a loop 13 years, dropped the niceties of having "mister" in his name and went feral. lmao Ps: I really miss the scratching sound censoring his name :')

An analysis of Alice, Rose, and Scratch’s relationship with Alan as it relates to obsession. Well, my interpretation of their relationships with him.

I love how in the game, there are characters, well three in total, who have an obsession (well, not in Alice’s case but I’ll get to that) with Alan Wake (the man himself) and how interesting those dynamics are in relation to how Alan views the person.

With Alice, it’s not an obsession but she does do everything she can to help her husband, even willing to throw herself back into the Dark Place to help him and is helping him every step of the way. Alice has always wanted to help Alan, which is what led her to bringing him to Bright Falls to get help, and I can imagine that Alice is happy to finally be able to help Alan, even if it’s from a distance.

With Alan, he cares so much for Alice. He cares to the point of doing anything to ensure her safety, even if it ends up being detrimental to himself, such as sacrificing himself so that Alice could emerge out of the lake, and Alan is constantly worry about Alice, with his goal often being about how to help her, to save her even. Alan’s view of Alice is almost like he doesn’t believe she can handle herself, which is the exact opposite, and when Alan falls for Alice’s rise in believing that she is dead, he gets furious, then guilt ridden when he learns that it was him haunting her, causing him to almost have a disregard to himself, thinking of saving everyone and even ending the story with him dead, taking Scratch with him and Alice refusing to let that happen as she helps him ascend by leading him to where he needs to be, slowly inching him towards ascension as Alan probably has something he hasn’t felt in a while, hope. Hope of escaping and to be with Alice (and I do hope they will be together in the end and the story not end in tragedy)

Alan’s relationship with Alice is one on how romantic relationships are, on how it’s about love but also about conflict in the relationship. Alan’s refusal to get any sort of help and to sulk when he was experiencing Writers Block began to strain his and Alice’s relationship and how as much as Alice tried to help, Alan had to be willing to put in the work. It’s about how mutual their relationship should be, instead of Alice constantly worrying about him as Alan, quite frankly, treated her and others around him like shit. It’s about how strong their love is, with Alan being shocked how Alice was still with him, even after everything he did, and their relationship isn’t abusive, it is heavily flawed, just like all types of relationships are. Their relationship to each other is about care and so, so much love for one another, and how that even if relationships grow sour, there is always a chance to change it and to possibly have their relationships become stronger because of it, and that through all their hardships and being separated for so long, their love for each other remains just as strong as it did thirteen years ago.

It’s not exactly obsession, but I feel like Alice’s relationship with Alan is important to keep in mind as I continue to discuss about other two people who have more intense feelings for the writer, but in more unhealthy ways.

With Rose, almost everything she does revolves around Alan. She worships him, wants to be his muse, wants to be with him, and writes fanfic about him (which is not a bad thing but I love that she writes fanfic, you go girl) and she basically has a shrine of him, but is able to show self restraint when she meets up with Alan, which surprises me, because she was very professional when she met with Alan, but with Saga she was basically gushing about him, being happy to help him in whatever ways she can, doing anything to help him, and I mean anything.

Alan’s relationship with Rose is one akin to a parasocial relationship. Rose is head over heels for Alan, calling herself his ‘muse all along’ and writing fanfic and drawing sketches about him while Alan remembers her ‘as Rose from the Diner’. Since Alan said that he wasn’t leaving Rose any messages, it was most likely Scratch, and it shows how easily Rose is to be manipulated by others if they just use that ‘Alan needs her’ (Saga even said the phrase that Rose had been waiting for and got excited even though Saga didn’t believe that she was a character in his story) and, believe me I understand liking an famous people or obsessing over a fictional character, but Rose took it to the next level, having her whole life dedicated to helping Alan and, being stated to ‘read The Sudden Stop before she goes to bed’, and while it’s okay to like authors or fictional characters and actors, it’s not when it becomes to unhealthy standards, like how Rose started to basically dedicate her life to him and never outgrowing that obsession for him.

Rose’s obsession with Alan was used by her to Scratch’s advantage, using her obsession of Alan to his own gain, and with Rose’s parallel to Cynthia Weaver, who was obsessed with Zane and how that ruined her life and led to her demise, it is very possible that Rose’s obsession with Alan may lead to her demise. (I love Rose and while it’s fine to like Alan’s work, considering her parallel to Cynthia, I hope that her obsession with Alan doesn’t consume her to the point that she doesn’t have a life outside of a singular goal to help her crush, just like Cynthia, and I hope that Scratch leaves my girl alone!)

Now speaking of Scratch, let’s get to him.

Scratch is OBSESSED with Alan. Scratch is basically after Alan in Alan’s section of the game. Scratch is way different than his American Nightmare self, being more reclusive in his appearances rather than his more boisterous self in American Nightmare (and also that he was drenched in blood a majority of the time) He then hitches a ride in Alan’s body, laying dormant until Saga got the Clicker, then he comes out and WANTS the Clicker, so much that he even takes over Saga’s Mind Palace before Saga regained control. Then Scratch takes over Casey, takes the Clicker, and turns Bright Falls into a never ending DEERFEST in which they talk only about one thing: Alan. It’s all about Alan, about his book, Return, and how is a fantastic writer.

Now we get to the chase scene in the Wellness Center. Scratch says many stuff that alludes to his obsession of Alan (and himself by extension) saying lines such as ‘welcome be back home’ and ‘everything revolves around us’ and ‘you are home’ a bunch of other lines. It’s such specific dialogue that Scratch says, mostly referring to him and Alan as one, especially since he had disdain for Alan in American Nightmare, often remarking that he is better than Alan and doesn’t even want to be put in the same league as him. Now, we have to remember that Scratch is now an aspect of Alan in AW2, so Scratch’s obsession over him could be the fact that they are both linked together, with Scratch being Alan’s dark self manifested.

Now, Alan’s relationship with Scratch is purely antagonistic. Alan holds immense disdain for Scratch, to the point of writing a note that Scratch is bad. Since Scratch wrote Return and Alan modified it, Alan has even more disdain for Scratch, and then he learned that, apparently, Scratch was haunting Alice, which resulted in her ‘death’, and then Alan went and shot who he thought was Scratch, only to learn that it was him, that he was the one haunting Alice.

Alan then, as a result of Saga being thrown into the Dark Place and Alice’s ‘death’ and Casey being taken over, blames himself for everything that happened, and while he still has animosity for Scratch, he acknowledges that he also had a role in what happened and that he had to fix it, with him writing him dying, taking Scratch with him, beckoning him home, most likely a symbolism of Alan accepting his dark sides, as Saga shoots him with the Bullet of Light, resulted in him dying, then coming back as he utters “It’s not a Loop, it’s a Spiral.”, leaving Scratch’s fate ambiguous.

Scratch and Alan’s relationship is one of repression, of trying not ignore your worst qualities, and instead of trying to resolve them, you ignore them as you let them fester, and since Alan is in the Dark Place, a place that can alter reality, Alan’s dark self was manifested as Scratch, at first a murderous, suave being who had no regards for anything and dislikes Alan, to an animalistic egotistical being that wants to take over Alan’s body (and if you want you can also interpret Scratch wanting to be Alan so that he can take his place, just like how Mr Scratch in AWAN wanted, but instead of being separate he wants to be the only one, which may be why he wants to be in Alan’s body, since technically Alan would be out of the picture) in which Mr Scratch represented people’s interpretation of Alan while Scratch represents Alan’s repressed emotions.

I wonder how Scratch will be in NG+ or in a hypothetical Alan Wake 3 if NG+ doesn’t wrap up the ending. I wonder if he will even play a part since Alan technically took him ‘back home’ or if Scratch is still out there. Since this is a spiral, is Scratch still inside Alan? I guess we will have to wait and see until NG+

Can’t wait to see what else is in store for this amazing game and, if NG+ really does change a lot, how these relationships change (or not change) in NG+ (and to see more of Alice)

To anyone who has read all of this (my ramblings) uh… thanks. Feel free to correct me if I got anything incorrect and wow this was a longer post than expected.

[wozwaid]

Strawhats with an affectionate fem S/O

(everyone but chopper i love him but i dont feel comfortable writing for animals even though he’s kinda human??? idk man)

Luffy

- BRO HES PROBABLY 1930581039 TIMES MORE AFFECTIONATE 

- literally he will wrap his entire body around you if you hug him

- especially when hes jealous omg mans will wrap himself around you and hiss at whoever you’re talking too

- my lil snake boi awe

- but he won’t pass up a chance to show you that he loves you

- and it makes him so happy that you love him too!

- kiss his nose and he’ll dissolve 

- he doesnt understand the concept of privacy, so if you give him a kiss in public he just like starts to make out with you? its not an issue but luffy... honey... we’re about to die can you wait like 3 seconds...

- he loves pure gestures of affection, like hugs, cheek kisses, nose kisses, cuddling, god i need luffy in my life

Sanji

- when he gets attention from girls he like...explodes

- but it’s different with you

- he’ll start crying

- sanji had a rough childhood, so when someone shows him a pure gesture of love he doesn’t know how to react

- the only person that actually showed any form of affection was his mom

- and NOT IN THE SANGWOO WAY, but u remind him of her

- henceforth the reason why he cries

- he just loves you so much, and he finds it so unbelievable that someone like you could love him back

- he loves it when you sit in his lap

- not in a weird way, like you sit on his lap, hug him and/or rest your head on his shoulder 

- it makes him feel safe!

Zoro

- ahhh zoro zoro zoro

- he’s so confused

- you wanna hold his hand? he will GRAB YOUR ARM AND HOLD ON WITH THE FORCE OF 19999999 WATERFALLS LIKE NOOO JUST LET ME LOVE U ZORO

- so you gotta explain it to him and he’s like “oh thats easy enough”

- he’s an awkward hugger but once he feels comfortable he’ll MELT

- he thinks you’re so adorable

- and i know for a fact that zoro is just WARM 

- so you tend to fall asleep while hugging him

- and he doesnt. move.

- doesnt matter whats going on. if theres a storm? he wont move. itll wake you up. a monster? luffy and sanji can handle it. he doesnt want to wake you up. HE WILL LITERALLY CUT ANYONE THAT TRIES TO WAKE U UP WHEN UR SLEEPING

-he gets up early to work out, and when he gets out of bed you start whining and reaching for him in your sleep

- my god he almost broke into tears 

- he might be awkward but he loooves you

Usopp

- PANIC PANIC PANIC

- WHY IS SHE TOUCHING ME JA9IJOWEFAOPWGJLIERLESDJFILWK

- he gets really cocky and ends up saying something really REALLY stupid

- he WILL call you sugar tits

- and then he’ll throw himself overboard

- usually you can only be super affectionate with him when he’s asleep cuz he will freak the fuck out when he’s awake

- he cuddles you when you’re asleep cuz he’s secretly just as affectionate, he just gets flustered!

Brook

- yo (hohoho) he just doesnt get it

- like hes bones? he doesn’t understand why youre hugging him but he LOVES IT

- he gets a bone- nevermind sorry 

- PLAY WITH HIS HAIR OMAIWTJEGRAPTWOIEFJAORPWEI

- HE LOOOOVES IT

- if you run up to him and hug him he might shatter out of pure love

- his heart would explode

that is if he had one in the first place YOOHOHOHIOHOHOHOHUOIJAWTEAWWROE

sorry

Franky

- so SO SOFT

- not physically, hes metal

- BUT HE LOVES YOUR HUGS

- HE’LL PICK YOU UP AND PUT YOU ON HIS SHOULDER 

- KISS HIS CHEEK AND HE  L O S E S  IT AHHH

Nami

- if you ask for a hug, you’ll have to pay her

- but if you just run up to her and do it, she’ll LITERALLY PAY YOU

- like you pull away and she’s like “bitch why tf did u stop”

- you give her a kiss in public? she ain’t afraid to make out with you in front of everyone. she’s very possessive.

- if you hold onto her in any way... this woman will literally melt she won’t let go of you no matter what she just loves u SO MUCH

Robin

- ceo of not knowing to do with her hands pUN INTENDED

- she just kinda sits there?

- don’t get me wrong she LOVES IT

- she just has no idea what to do

- she buys a book about it so she knows what to do

- she LOVES LOVES  L O V E S   IT WHEN YOU MESS WITH HER HANDS

- like touch her and she’ll SQUEAL

- robin isnt very affectionate but once she gets the hang of it SHE WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE LOVE YOU DESERVE

- when you subconsciously cuddle up to her she will pull you so close to her and just hold you. she doesnt sleep bc you just make her so happy

im hugging my pillow robin come here gimme a kith

[myheartisbro-ken]

you mentioned in a comment on a supercorp fic (i feel like a stalker, yikes) that you got in contact with darren doyle and he gave you some tips on using kryptahniuo, the sentence structure, the krius thing, etc.. would you mind sharing them? because i feel like i've sucked all available resources dry, and as a huge kryptonian nerd, i'd really appreciate it! (ofc, feel free to ignore me and pretend like this never existed if i'm intruding or unknowingly acting like a jerk.)

Okay, soooo, this is all from 3 years ago and I don’t have the best way to make myself clear when talking to people, but I’m gonna put here the things that are relevant and cut out my cringey communication. This is also for anyone who writes and would like to know a lil bit more about the language, or just people who enjoy conlangs. The vocab is over at kryptonian.info, but this is a clearer explanation of some things I had a bit of trouble with.

It’s pretty long though, so strap in.

Here we go:

Me: I was kind of having a hard time trying to figure out what the present form of zhao would be since it already ends with an 'o' and the present suffix is 'odh', I wanted to say 'I love you' with zhao , and on your page I could only find the ukiem sentence. Would it be zhaodh? And how would the full sentence be? What about shovuh, would it be shovuhodh?

Doyle: Sweet! I'm glad to help (I only wish the writers of the show would help instead of butchering the grammar ... and pronunciation)

Ok ... give me a moment to work on this...

Ok ... /zhao/ ... this doesn't end in /o/ (as in go) it ends in /ao/ (as in cow) which is a different vowel. Even if it did, though, you would still go ahead and use the /odh/ suffix. Two vowels in a row in Kryptonian is going to be super rare (pun intended), but in those cases Kryptonian phonetics will use a slight "w" sound to separate the vowels.

So ... it would be /zhaoodh/which would be 3 characters in Kryptonian writing: zh + ao + odhSo, your sentences would be: /zhaoodh (khuhp) w rraop/ and /shovuhodh (khuhp) w rraop/The subject is optional

Also, this is a sentence that would likely be gendered (familiar and/or intimate speech)

So, "I (female) love you (male)." would be: /zhaoodh (khap) w rrup/

BUT

Let's talk about informal speech, because the I love you stuff gets weird ...

zhao and shovuh are primarily nouns, but at some point they got codified as type 1 verbs (taking suffixes)... and grammatically (especially formal writing) type 1 is kind of the "proper" way to use them. But in day-to-day speech, these usually get treated as type 2 verbs (no suffix)

I should back pedal briefly and say that all this applies to /ukiem/ (familial love) ... and actually to /:jev/ (n. happiness, joy) with /:jevodh/ meaning essentially "like" or "enjoy"

So anyway, the informal variant ends up as something like /zhao w rrup/ (you would almost never use the subject with the type 2 forms of these words) Total side topic ... (hope I'm not overwhelming you here) ...

Since type 2 verbs mark tense with a vowel change, there is an interesting result with /zhao/ ... since the past and future versions end up being /zha/ and /zhi/ respectively which also just happen to be the words for "yes" and "no" which also act as augmentative and diminutive markers...

It's a bit of a chicken and egg situation as it's unclear if the "will love/did love" meanings gave rise to the "yes/no" meanings or if the existing "yes/no" words guided the vowel shift as /zhao/ went from noun > v1 > v2

Me: Okay, first, in the verb section of your page you say that not using a suffix creates the potential form of the verb, yet there is a prefix, kai, for potential, so if someone were to ask 'can you do...' say, 'can you speak/say this' would it need the prefix and then the present suffix, or just not use either. Like, would it be 'ta-kai-ehworodh rraop w [thing]' or 'ta-kai-ehwor' or just 'ta-ehwor' or is all of that completely dumb and I totally misunderstood everything? (I'm also not sure when I should and shouldn't use the hyphen) And the second is simpler, I guess: going by 'us-kah' as like a petname for your child, would the same apply to a parent, such as saying 'jeju-te' in sort of the same way kids say 'mommy' and not just expressing relationship. And could that apply to a person's name as well? Like, idk if that works in english, but say you have a nickname for someone and then you say 'that's MY [nickname]', (I do that for my aunt in portuguese, which is why I'm asking)

Doyle: Dang ... the "suffixless form of the verb forms the potential" is actually a holdover from an idea when I first started making the language that eventually got abandoned. Thought I removed references to it, but I missed that I guess.

Hyphens are just there to help show the morpheme breaks when explaining the language. If you are just writing Kryptonian, then you wouldn't use them at all.

so /?takaieworodh rraop ki kryptahniuo/ would be correct

Ok ... the "familial-possessive-honorifics" ...

They kind of act like an honirific (Mr., Mrs., Sir, Ma'am, Señor, Señorita, San, Sama etc.)

They attach using the proper noun punctuation...

So ... Kal-El => /kal,ehl/

Mr. Kal-El => /kal,ehl,jran/

(I'm not related it Kal-El)

Let me start over on that last one

I am talking to you about Mr. Kal-El, I would say ...

* (neither of us is related to him): /kal,ehl,jran/

* (I am related to him, but you aren't): /kal,ehl,te/

* (we are both related to him): /kal,ehl,kah/

* (I am not related to him, but you are): /kal,ehl,ni/

* (Neither of us is related to him, but we are talking about someone who is related to him and that relationship is pertinent to the conversation): /kal,ehl,cheh/

So in that sense, these are honorifics ... they are more formal, not less

so ... us,kah for a child probably wouldn't end up being a pet name

and it means "our" child ... so even less likely in that sense (us,te would be "my child")

and it uses the less intimate gender-neutral form

wait ... scratch that ... /us/ is masculine (derp derp)

so, a more likely candidate for a pet name for your child would probably be /us kir/ (little boy) or /is kir/ little girl

you could also do something clever like /krius/ or /kriis/ (that second word would be pronounced "kree-yees") ... borrowing the "bright" prefix and applying it to the child noun

For Kryptonians that wouldn't have as much of the meaning that an English speaker would assign to "bright" (smart, clever, etc), but more of a sense of "joyful", "pleasant", "you-light-up-the-room" kind of sense.

An English equivalent to /krius/ would be something like when you refer to someone as "my little ray of sunshine"

getting back to your actual question ...  

/jeju,te/ and /ukr,te/ would also be more formal. Kids (especially older kids) would be expected to use this form in public when addressing parents

but at home it would probably be just /jeju/ and /ukr/

for the very youngest kids, /jeje/ would be "mommy", and /uku/ (or even /kuku/) would be "daddy" ... but, unlike some dialects of English (especially in the Southern states), those variants wouldn't last very long as kids would be encouraged to use /jeju/ and /ukr/ as their speech developed

So ... ummm ... I'm not sure if I've answered your actual question ... if I have, I may have indicated the opposite... Kryptonians would remove the "my" on a petname ... does that sound right ... hmmm ... thinking about it

Shoot ... I guess I don't really know how to give you a solid answer on that one. Pet names can be funny things, I think ... because even in English I can see formal titles being absorbed as "cute" ... like having a little fluffy dog that you pick up and in a cutesy voice call "Sir Snuggles"

so ... armed with the info for "normal" speech/grammar ... pick whatever feels right to you!

Me: The first I wanted to ask is if 'Awuhkhu zhadif khap w rrip' is correct for 'I'll never leave you'

And the second I tried to make it out, but the result looked weird so I was just very unsure about (while the other I'm a bit more confident about) so how would 'please don't leave me' be, cuz 'please don't' is a full prefix, right? so it'd be 'please don't' prefix + leave + present suffix and then the pronoun separately. By that logic it'd be 'sozhaoawuhkhodh khap' is that correct?

Now there's actually a third one that I don't even know where to begin (mostly because I didn't try too hard) but I wanted to know would you say the sentence 'she left me alone' or 'my mother left me alone'?

Doyle:

/.awuhkhu zhadif khap w rrip/ ... yep, that's correct!  

/sozhaoawuhkhodh khap/ ... yep, that's right too

or you might go with the future tense, especially if those two sentences are going together

/sozhaoawuhkhu khap/

actually ... whoops... /khap/ is the object of the sentence...

/sozhaoawuhkhu w khap/

Let's see for "she left me alone", I would use the malefactive and the past tense of "to go" (which I just realized wasn't in the dictionary - doh!).

So ... let's see... go+past-perf she w me mal.

hmmm... alone, though ...

cause/PST she be/PRS me w alone ki go/PST/PRG ... ?

/podh zhehd nahn khap w chahvymah ki rrosh/ (that last verb wouldn't take a suffix, derp) ... "She made me alone by going" ... hmmm...

You could always just use /podh zhehd nahn khap w chahvymah/ ... she cause me to be alone ... that's probably the closest to the English 

So that’s it, so much information that I thought it was actually a longer convo

[absconditus--praenomen]

I’ve Been Toying with Some Ideas

TL;DR [minus the unapologetic tangenting (I regret nothing)]:

   I’ve been entertaining the idea of recording my voice to practice reading/reciting poems, narrating pieces I find interesting in general, and maybe even singing/music as well.

I find it to be an intriguing option for many reasons ranging from personal growth, to the chances for simple celebration of art, and to the potential it could hold as a platform for human interaction, interaction that could very well go beyond me, or any single human for that matter, really, because it’s interaction that’s born from existing as humans along side one another. But no, say I really were to consider playing with this idea in a more serious sense, maybe bring it to life, would anyone happen to have suggestions for reading material to record with, or perhaps something more musical for me to record vocals? Seriously, I’m curious, ahaha! :)

_- -____________________________=____________________________- -_

I’ve been thinking about practicing reciting/reading poetry (and any reading material I find interesting, really) aloud and recording myself. I love to perform actually, fun fact ahaha! But no, I was thinking about doing that, as well as singing perhaps, and then I considered it might be fun to upload it (here or on YouTube channel I’d make specifically for this blog and link to it in the pinned post) and just see what happens.

While I am no stranger to public speaking, and even enjoy it in ways at times, I think it’d be helpful practice and a good learning opportunity for me. I have an auditory processing disorder, ADHD, and dyslexia so (in regards to my personal symptoms/experiences with said conditions, of course) it’s not too surprising that there’s some aspects of language that have an increased tendency to trip me up. It might be interesting to practice in such a fun way. 

Also, and more specifically in correlation to my hearing impairments, I’d be fascinated if I could learn anything about my voice or sound as a whole. While I do of course research these things that interest me, there’s still value in more anecdotal(?) research, and there’s still a difference in practice versus study. My hearing is impaired as a result of my brain not processes sound as it should which, for me at least, entails a variety of interesting repercussions-

(Do you appreciate my partially/mostly accidental, loosely existing percussion pun? I do. I mean it’s not my strongest pun but that’s certainly no requirement for me to appreciate the beautiful example of language arts which puns stand as evidence to!)

 [Fu*k, now I need to remember what I was writing, one sec. And yes, we are going to ignore the suggestion that my comment at the end of my previous sentence is in some lights unnecessary, not because it is invalid to suggest things but because I have considered such a suggestion already and have deemed it completely irrelevant to my enjoyment of spontaneous and debatably inconsequential tangents. Sure, I could edit this out but I’m quite, perfectly happy to leave this artifact of humanity, this thing which we collective agree to be the tangents of an extraordinarily derailed conversation. Though let’s be fair here, ‘extraordinary’ isn’t honestly all that accurate. This really isn’t an impressive tangents given my capabilities. To say I have extraordinarily derailed this conversation would be a gross underestimate of my skills. Not that I have particularly been trying to derail this line of conversation, just that I’m aware of certain habits I’ve been observed to possess and proficiency in expanding the field of conversation, so to say, as well as any of the other things which I could from my, evidently, no shortage of further additions I could continue this list with, a list which I admittedly only remember the purpose of thanks to my oddly specific, good memory and not my piss poor figment of an attempt to keep track of what I intended to be a brief mini tangent before I started wrapping up my main surprise secondary topic of conversation. So back to why we’re ignoring the theoretical suggestion at the beginning of this tangent in brackets (--> [ ]*). We’re going to ignore also because my quiet laughter in amusement from the notion of creative time fuckery which could be borne from a blog post and fully embraced choice to indulge in confident, blatant tangent-ery is, perhaps not so shockingly, prime kindling for some hot topics to visit with this train of thought, and therefore not conducive to actually remembering where I was in my main point. Ah, ok, I got it! I was about to mention how my hearing impairment impacts the way I interpret speech and voices such as my own!] 

-such as how I perceive voices, including my own. Basically what I’m getting at is I can’t really describe voices or pick out vocal characteristics too well, this goes for my own voice as well. So I’d be totally fascinating to see if/what I could gleam about my voice, and my hearing itself from the experience if I were to bring my experimental ideas to fruition. 

It would be interesting to see if this would be a good outlet for emotional and/or artistic expression or perhaps a good way for me to keep up with practicing and maintaining singing (and vocal skills in general too come to think of it!). 

On top of everything though I honestly just would be interested in this sort of thing myself ahaha! And also I so think it could totally provide a potential platform for some seriously cool human interactions, you know! But no, I’m thinking I may consider these ideas in some earnest. 

Obviously I would remain anonymous still (it’s a personal preference of mine). I mean, I don’t believe my voice to be all that recognizable; any time I’ve heard my voice describe I’m told it’s calming/soothing but I don’t believe it’s been called unique/distinctive in particular. Sure, there’s been times my voice was describe as relaxing/soothing (maybe something else - “nice”? idk, I’m neutral to my voice for the most part as purely a sound (I love it because it’s mine, though)) so I can’t say I personally understand but I appreciate the thought given in their observations and their compliments regardless, but I doubt my voice sticks out, so to say, or leaves an impression.  In other words, I think I could possibly comfortably maintain my anonymity if I ever were to legitimately try my hand at voice recording. I am a bit of a paranoid bastard admittedly though ahaha! 

Still, say I were to some day play with this idea in a more serious way, would there be any suggestions for my subject material you’d like to offer? Hypothetically speaking, of course ;)

[zenosanalytic]

Harrow the Ninth: Wordplay and Implication

So I started reading Harrow the Ninth last night(haven’t gotten far; I’m only on page 47), but some interesting stuff cropped up I wanted to yack about. Explaining it requires some Serious Spoilers tho, so don’t read past this point if you haven’t reader further than me and are also avoiding ...spoilers... X|

Ok so: Harrow is obvsl going through some Things. To begin with she seems to be having some manner of psychological break exacerbated by(possible caused by) the Lyctor transformation? A huge part of it is obvsl grief over Gideon -she seems to be avoiding any memory or thought of her and this mental block seems to be impacting her ability to access Gideon’s soul and thus her full Lyctor capabilities- but she’s also overwhelmed by her new senses and her inability to feel physical pain, and a bit unstuck in time? Some of that just might be her grief-driven illness, but so far there’s been some jumping around in the timeline/her memories so it’s possible this is also a side-effect of the Lyctor transformation and existing on both sides of life and death.

Anyway, there’s some nifty wordplay associated with all of this :>

the first one is in an edited memory, and it’s right at the start of it, in the chapter-title for said memory: “Parodos”.

Now most obvsl, that looks&sounds allot like “parody” and, while they aren’t directly related, the connection btwn the two is STILL intriguing: “parody” comes from para(side/beside/parallel) and oide(song), in the sense of a comical/mocking “parallel” to another song; parodos literally means entrance, though specifically it’s the name of a SIDE-entrance in greek theater-design which gave actors access to the stage, or the chorus access to the orchestra, BUT ALSO it was the name of the song(oide) the chorus sung upon first entering the play, coming after the prologue. The connection to an actual side-entrance makes me suspect the “par-” phoneme is from “para”, but I can’t find a constituent breakdown of “parodos” so it’ll have to remain a suspicion :T

Regardless: it is, in the manner of a proper parodos(even IF Harrow, here, is her own Chorus; this is a 3rd person perspective section), seeming to introduce us to the central conflict of the tale; Harrow is censoring Gideon from her mind, altering her perceptions and capacities in response to her grief, struggling with feelings that she is LOSING her mind(associated with, possibly embodied by, her “hallucinations” of The Body[1]), and clinging to this expression of control as a life-raft among all this trauma. At one point The Body even appears in this memory just to tell her it didn’t happen like this which “gave Harrow a curious strength”.

IntriguinglyER(and this is more of a stretch and idk if Muir really intended this implication) parodos is often popularly confused with/assumed to be related to “parados” which is a fortification embankment built to protect the rear of a military position(it’s basically the backside equivalent of parapet. Parapet=forward, parados=behind). What makes this intriguinger to me(aside from the fun of a FALSE pun for a FALSE memory :p), is that the false memory is part of Harrow’s mental DEFENSES, and in it she asks Ortus Nigenad to PROTECT her by keeping the secret that she is “insane” because, since opening the Locked Tomb and seeing the girl trapped there, she’s been experiencing full-spectrum sensory hallucinations of said girl(ie: seeing her, speaking with her, feeling The Body[the girl] touch her, the whole hog, etc etc). I feel like this is MOSTLY symbolic though, and the REAL secret she’s asking him to protect her from is Gideon’s death(and her “consumption” there of; since becoming a Lyctor The Body has had Gideon’s amber-colored eyes). Of course there’s another aspect to this and one of two OTHER potential secrets; Gideon’s body wasn’t recovered from Canaan House, Harrow does not seem to be in “possession” of her soul(though she does have SOME aspects of Lyctor abilities, so perhaps it’s partial or a connection?); so

it’s possible the SECRET Harrow is actl using Ortus to protect is that Gideon isn’t dead, that they healed her after defeating Cytherea and somehow undid the Lyctor process. OR

They’re keeping Gideon’s existence a secret for some reason

Now I think these are a bit out there theorywise because, while I’m not far into the book, I’m fairly certain that it’s only Harrow who is thinking Nigenad was her cavalier at this point. I mean: the Emperor would have spoken to Ianthe, and there’s no reason why she’d keep Gideon’s existence secret(also everytime the Emperor says Ortus Nigenad it’s attached to a description of his mouth moving oddly, so I’m fairly certain he’s actl saying Gideon Nav and her brain’s editing it to Ortus Nigenad to spare her facing Gideon’s death). Also and SUPER tellingly there’s this passage:

The Resurrecting King took on the expression of a man working out a very difficult and emotionally taxing anagram. He said, “Ortus,” again, but the bile was sputtering up into your throat...”

Now that just seems like an INVITATION to see what Ortus Nigenad can be an anagram of, doesn’t it? And, INCREDIBLY OBVIOUSLY it’s a partial anagram:

Ortus Nigenad

Gideon

Of Gideon’s name. Partial, because it doesn’t include “Nav”, and also there are these left-over letters

rtusna

Hmmm... What can THAT be an anagram of?

rtusna

Saturn

Well flog me with a spoon! I have NO IDEA what this, GIDEON SATURN, could POSSIBLY mean in the context of this convo or of the larger story(also: maybe this anagrams to other words? I honestly didn’t try too hard after this very obvs one. AtRSun??? Taurns?? OF COURSE Harrow would play Horde if she played WoW, but I’d imagine she’d’ve been a Forsaken Warlock, or Orc one at the very least :p), but that we have a character’s name being called an anagram by the narration and then that character’s name turns out to BE AN ANAGRAM of the first book’s, now(mysteriously[2]?) absent, protagonist plus the planet Saturn[3], seems an awful coincidence. Of course that doesn’t mean it ISN’T a Coincidence, nor that it means anything in relation to the story even if it IS intentional; it could be meant to throw off theorycrafters, or just as something Muir thought would be fun to do(making Gideon Nav, “the greatest cav the Ninth ever produced”, a near-anagram with Ortus Nigenad, one of it’s worst). Of course, it could also be a hint to Gideon’s origins, or where she/her body is now. For what it’s worth, I seem to recall the big contenders for her origins were Third through Fifth House, and those seem to be the most likely to be the Gas Giants&GG Moons(Third’s the wealth-house, and there’s probably more concentrated resources in Jupiter and Saturn than on any other planet in the solar system. And, for whateverMORE it’s worth, Saturn WAS the Roman god of wealth&the harvest. If Mars’s ...Martial[X| X|]... associations are a firm enough basis for its guess in the order, then why not Planet Fucking Saturn? Of course the trident theme suggests Neptune, but why in the cosmos would THAT be the third colonized planet in the system? Makes no damn sense |:T |:T).

The last thing(two things?) that I wanted to bring up, though it’s not really related to any of the above, is Alecto, the name for the next book. Presumably, this is The Body/The Girl. Alecto means “Implacable/Unceasing Anger”, and it is the name of one of the Erinyes; the Furies; the goddesses and purveyors of Vengeance. The Furies, according to Hesiod, were born from the blood of Ouranos spilled when Kronos castrated him. Interestingly, the way Necromancy works in this universe(as explained in these early pages) is that the Cohort “breaches” a planet, after which point its “thalergy”(life energy; presumably metabolism-produced energy since necros aren’t snacking on ambient heat&light) begins converting to “thanergy”(death energy, tho it’d be more precise to call it the energy generated by the detachment of a soul from a body), which Necros can use to do Necromancy. The microbiology within a planet’s soil can similarly be drained, as can the animals and plants, and the process of “breaching” allows Necros to draw on the thalery/thanergy of all of these. So Necromancy is a metaphor for environmental/planetary destruction&exploitation. Kronos is a harvest-god(his name is obscure, but probably means something like “the cutter” or “the striker”); Ouranos is the sky(probably a raingod with a name related, hilariously, to the verb for “to piss” :p :p), but at the same time still a planetary deity. Coincidentally, the primary antagonists so far in the book are “Resurrection Beasts” which seem to have been created by The Emperor Necrotising the Nine planets of Dominicus, and who have been pursuing him and his Lyctors to destroy them for this/for becoming Lyctors(Lyctordom is legit called “the indelible sin” by the Emperor himself) ever since. Sounds allot like the Furies, doesn’t it?

In this context, the Kronos Ouranos myth can be read as a story of planetary exploitation/injury(caution: I am NOT saying that’s the intended meaning of the myth originally, just that it is a possible application of it as a lens of analysis[it being referenced by the series through Alecto] to this story), and THAT suggests that Alecto, the Fury, may have been associated with this initial Necrotization(The Resurrection/Nine Resurrections, which SEEMS given what little I’ve read so far to be what they call the initial Necrotization of the Nine planets of the Sol System? Though maybe they were already Necrotized&all used up, and the Emperor revitalized them somehow?? I’m not sure yet), may be something instanced to stop it, or may be a “Resurrection Beast” herself; perhaps the initial form they took before 10k years of thwarted rage pushed them to become more monstrous. Alternately, I wonder if Alecto might be a manifestation or servant of Death? There’s a repeated focus on the Emperor having “defeated” Death, and The Body in the Locked Tomb is repeatedly referred to as a foe he defeated once but could not defeat again, so there are good reasons to disregard all the mythological trappings and focus on the clearer, less metatextual possibility.

Of course: it’s probably none of this and I’m just spinning Fantasy wholecloth from between my entirely metaphorical ears :p :p :p

[1]The Body is The Girl in the Locked Tomb which Harrow fell in love with. I’ll get to why this is relevant very soon after this footnote

[2]I mean we watched her force Harrow into Lyctorship by killing herself, so I’m still more convinced this is all trauma response. Her corpse IS MISSING, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t super-dead. Though: Camilla and Palamedes DID have a contingency, and Gideon DID wink at Harrow post-Lyctoring, and it was ambiguous if this was her impaled body or her spirit/hallucination doing the winking, so I can see ppl running with this theorywise...

[3]which is one of the Houses, obvsl(or at least it’s moons), though I’m only really confident on Sixth House(Mercury), Ninth House(Pluto), and 2nd House(Mars) at the moment. Seventh House is PROBABLY Venus, giving all its connections to poison, wasting disease, and Aphrodite(Cytherea is another name of the goddess), but that’s all just thematic suggestion. Oh also, I figured I should throw this in here given the large digression on Kronos and Uoranos, Kronos is Saturn’s Greek equivalent(or at least, the Romans considered him so).