#if by you mean at least one rather than every

[viperwhispered]

Notes on Jamil's speech patterns

I was supposed to just pick out some examples of typical Jamil lines. How he speaks, the vocabulary he uses, things like that. Something I could easily refer to when writing to get the tone right.

But then it kinda blew up, oop – because it’s hard to talk about how a character speaks without also dipping into why they say whatever they say.

Plus then I wanted to get examples of Jamil in different moods, and could not resist some poignant things that were more related to his character or backstory rather than strictly the speech patterns themselves, so… It expanded a bit.

Anyways. Some things I noticed he tends to do:

Sighs (more than I realized)

Snarks

Tch (though could be a more general twst writing choice too)

Stutters when he’s flustered / embarrassed / caught of guard (what a cutie)

Goes ahem like an old man when he’s trying to get back on track in those off-kilter moments

Kinda formal with his manner of speech and choice of words (especially in servant mode) (I always worry I exaggerate this but he sure does do that)

But there’s still some animatedness with the way he emphasises words, for example

(so long-suffering and ready to bark out directions to Kalim oh boy - the way the directness just comes through when he loses it)

sugarcoating his opinions if he doesn’t feel like he can say them plainly (tyrant becomes rigorous, etc.)

sarcasm, sometimes with a side of deadpan, sometimes with a smirk

“Good grief” (another thing I didn't realize was that much of a catchphrase)

Very mild on the level of insults & swears honestly, (I mean, "drat"?) but I imagine this is more of a result of the game's rating (I guess for in-game reasons we can say he's been very conditioned by his upbringing)

I put the screenshots that seemed telling, and some related notes, on to a google sheet. That way one can filter and order it in various ways.

The sheet is probably best viewed on a computer or another larger screen, the screenshots might make it a bit difficult to navigate on mobile.

I did go in with the assumption that Jamil might speak differently pre-overblot (when the servant mask is firmly in place) and post-overblot (at least those occasions where he allows himself to be more honest). Like, there’s the sycophantic (as Leona calls it) flatterer, versus when Jamil’s honestly voicing his own thoughts. Which also shows in how I chose to categorize the screenshots.

Of course events are a bit wibbly wobbly in relation to the main story so can’t be placed in the timeline in the same way, but there are still those occasions where it seems you can tell the difference between the servant mask and a Jamil who’s not saying things just for the sake of appearances.

So, to explain the logic of the sheet:

First column has a screenshot of something Jamil says. The second two columns give the source.

The column for whether or not this happened before or after the overblot is only really used for main story things, since event stories are kinda murky timeline-wise.

Next is whether Jamil seems to be putting on the servant mask or speaking more honestly. This is where get more to interpretation territory, and I’ve not applied it to every screenshot (either because that didn’t seem like the relevant part for that line, or because I couldn’t tell).

The last column of the sheet is where we get most to my personal interpretations. So of course you might read these lines differently than I do, and that’s completely fine, these are simply the aspects that seemed poignant to me. Some notes are simply pointing out specific word choices or style of speech, others delve more into character analysis side of things.

Totally fine if you want to copy this file or modify it to your own needs. All I ask is that you don’t pass off anything I wrote as your own thoughts.

Order of lines is based purely on the order the pics were in my screenshots folder, so guess this is also an insight on the order I played things in, lol.

Tagging some jamil peeps in case y'all find this useful:

@crystallizsch @diodellet @moonyasnow @twstgo @lex752

@majestickitty @viperbunnies

[yuurei20]

Hello YuuRei! Slight spoilers for Book 7 JP content below, if you don’t mind me asking! I saw Trey’s new Book 7 SSR get translated as both “Queen’s Court Chef” and “Queen’s Chef Coat.” I tried to look into it myself and learned that “coat” and “court” are the same (form what I understand, at least), so I was wondering if you knew which translation to go for, or is both technically correct? With Heartslabyul, honestly court works, too. Thank you so much and Happy Near Year! I hope you are doing well! ☺️

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! ♣️

You are correct! ^^ コート is both "court" and "coat"!

For a long answer:

Yana has done this before, with the Bloom/Broom series that is technically both the word "bloom" and the word "broom"!

We were never shown a romaji name for this series--it only appeared in katakana, where it is both words simultaneously--so if you were to ask "well yes but which one actually was it?," the only answer is: both!

This is one of those things that the Japanese language can do but English cannot, so EN was forced to choose one or another, and they went with "birthday bloom"!

And it happened again during White Rabbit Fes, when Epel says he has heard of someone called "ogama Duke" and Deuce begins to panic because "ogama" means cauldron.

But it also means "scythe" and Epel, who heard his information over the phone and never saw the word written down in kanji, assumes that it is the "scythe" ogama rather than the "cauldron" ogama.

More here!

For a super long answer:

The Japanese language has a lot of different words pronounced the exact same way and differentiated only by kanji: god (神), hair (髪) and paper (紙) for example, are all the same sound (kami).

This means there is a lot of potential for puns! And Yana has always been very big on wordplay, to the point that a pun was the entire basis for her kuroshitsuji manga:

There is a short comic at the end of the very first volume that shows a phone call between herself and her editor where she is telling him how she wants to create a manga about an amazing butler.

The Japanese language 「あくまで」 is used to emphasize that something is being limited or focused on something in particular, like 「あくまで執事ですから、私が決めることではありません」 (as I am only a butler it is not my place to decide).

It is also pronounced identically to 「悪魔で」, which means, "as a demon."

So in Yana's original manga series every time the demon character says "I am a demon butler" all the other characters are hearing it as "I am, ultimately, just a butler."

Since the characters can't see the kanji in his word bubble, he is technically saying both things simultaneously.

And similar wordplay is hidden throughout a large amount of Twst!

Rollo, for example, ends many sentences with a common way to end a question that is pronounced the same way as a word for "bell."

The very first line of Glorious Masquerade is that exact pun:

Kane no oto ga kikoeru kane

There is also Idia's "pretend I'm a bug and ignore me" (both "bug" and "ignore" are the same sound, "mushi"), Riddle's "Rose trees, tear his body apart!" (both "rose" and "apart" are the same sound, "bara") and more!

[warningsine]

Sigh. I'm tired of this claim.

Is the logic behind it that it's written by somebody who isn't the creator and/or not commissioned by them? Or is this about the quality of the writing?

No. Maguire's books are not fanfiction; they're original fiction using public domain settings and characters.

There is a long history of this practice, stretching from Homer to the Modernists, who'd often write "modern" versions of ancient myths.

A difference between what Maguire does and the type of writing we call fanfiction is that the latter is written by non-professionals, that is fans.

The audience for fanfiction is other fans. The audience for what Maguire does is a literary or general audience, rather than just fans.

Also, the former fundamentally differs in purpose. Maguire's series looks to subvert and extend the meanings of Baum's original fiction. What we call fanfiction often exists to exhaust what-if scenarios, romantic wish-fulfilling fantasies of dubious probability, and so on. It tends to have less to say--so to speak.

I think it's wiser to put "Wicked" in continuity with works like the "Aeneid" or "Orpheus Descending" by Tennessee Williams or "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys, which have very little resemblance in their aim and construction to the writing that gives us the term "fanfiction."

You do not really gain much by establishing that something is something else. It is more productive to focus on what a literary work does and whether or not it does it well.

There are people who call "Wicked" fanfiction to insult it and others who do so to convince themselves that their A/B/O Steve/Bucky on AO3 is on par with "Paradise Lost." Both groups are wrong.

If you (dis)like Maguire's "Wicked" as a book, then putting it in one category or another doesn't matter all that much. What matters is why you (dis)like it.

Last but not least, the elephant in the room is copyright, which is a pretty new concept.

"50 Shades" started off as erotic "Twilight" fanfiction, sure, but could not be published until E. L. James changed so many factors so as to make it legally unrecognizable to the source material.

Another example: all of the Marvel films/tv series/sequels/prequels are canon regardless of who writes them--even when the characters significantly change and the timelines diverge. However, anyone who writes a Loki story but is not employed by Disney, is a fanfiction author.

Every time there's a discussion about whether something is fanfiction or not, it is clear that people need to look up two words: "remake" and "intertextuality."

Again, fanfiction is fun, but this is untrue and, dare I say it, rather anti-intellectualist.

It shows that you either don't read books or that you need to ask a librarian for better books.

[powderpinkandsweeet]

Sevika x Reader - Sevika has a reputation as a regular at Babbette’s, you two start going out, someone from Sevika’s past shows up and makes you feel insecure. Reader bartends/waitresses at the Last Drop and is kind of a crybaby (as usual the call is coming from inside the house)

Sfw hurt/comfort but don’t go thinking that means minors are allowed, wc ~1800, feminine language and pronouns for reader, jealousy ofc, a lil crying, not beta read lmk if you see typos

You’d heard of Sevika long before you met her. It was before you’d been hired as waitstaff at the Last Drop. All you knew was that she wasn’t to be fucked with, and that she was a frequent customer at Babbette’s and the Last Drop. When you’d first seen her, her reputation obviously preceded her. Her broad frame took up ample space in her booth, metal arm disguised under her poncho in case the knives needed to come out. She was intimidating to say the least, glimpses of personality visible through jokes and smirks.

It had taken weeks of serving her to learn that there was more to her under the surface. She would flirt with you playfully when the drinks started to pour. You credited her lingering gazes and touches to her nature rather than genuine interest. Her warm, calloused fingers would graze yours when handed her drink across the table. She would push a hair aside from your face, the tip of her finger stroking your jaw as she pulled away. But you had seen the company she kept. An escort could often be found hanging off her arm, preening and fussing over her possessively. All the while they would send you piercing glares, more than aware of the meaning behind Sevika’s actions. It was clear the way her gaze would follow you around the room, and how she would sit up just a little taller when you walked by.

But with every shift that you had the pleasure of serving Sevika, the escorts came around less often. She would interact platonically with the table, obviously friends or business partners with how far apart they sat. You were still closely scrutinized by her entourage, but their gazes didn’t burn with hatred the way you felt before. It was more like curiosity, eyes shifting about the table exchanging knowing looks. When she was joined by a blue-haired woman and little girl, you noticed Sevika’s eye twitch at their suppressed giggles while she talked to you.

On any given night, you might bring 5 hard drinks Sevika’s way. She could obviously handle her liquor, but you were slightly concerned seeing how long her receipt had grown when you came to let her know it was closing time. It was a busy night so you hadn’t really considered the possibility of overserving Sevika.

The walls of her self-control were crumbling. As you walked away with her cash in hand, you were stopped in your tracks by a pull to your skirt. Your surprised visage met her hazy one, and she asked you if she could walk you home. You took the scenic route, meandering down the streets and stopping at food carts along the way. Her arm was snug around your waist as she guided you through the crowds. You kissed her on the walkup to your apartment, and she flushed from cheeks to chest. She asked if you would let her take you out again, and you agreed with enthusiasm.

Laying in bed that night, you were overcome by doubt. You had never seen Sevika drink over her limit. Would she even remember this in the morning? You were kept awake by dreams of what could be, knowing you would be rudely awakened the next night. She was hitting on the first woman available at the time.

You convinced another waitress to serve Sevika’s table that next night. You could feel the burn of her stare throughout, and she remained in her seat come closing time.

Sevika’s reputation as a regular at Babbette’s was still fresh in everyone��s minds. Especially to the women working there. They had wondered who stole Sevika’s touch and coin from them. They were competitive enough with one another, let alone an outsider.

When she had the time, Sevika would visit you at the bar. She would sink into the booth at her usual table, in the corner with the best view of the entrance. You were the only acceptable waitress for her table. Sevika said it was because you were the best at your job, but you knew it was for the big, wet kiss you’d plant on her lips. She would rub it away with the back of her hand, like your cooties would ruin her tough persona.

At a nearby table, a particularly clingy woman from Babbette’s, Candy, watched in contempt. She had found the root of her problem: you. It was clear from her sessions with Sevika that she didn’t do commitment. She was convinced that she knew Sevika better than you did or ever could, but Candy had never shared a kiss with her. Jealousy bubbled in the pit of her stomach, and she could feel it start to boil at the sound of Sevika’s laughter. She had never heard it before, let alone been the cause. It was so warm, her smile so serene in a way she never thought was possible. She wanted to take that from you, to covet it selfishly.

As much as you would have liked to linger at Sevika’s table all night, you had a job to do and rent to pay. The ring of the bell at the bar counter called, and you had to attend to the crowd gathered there. Your focus was shifted to taking orders and mixing drinks, Sevika out of sight but lingering in the back of your mind.

Candy tried to use your actions to her advantage. Sevika’s walls were down, shoulders relaxed, the usual crease between her furrowed eyebrows nowhere to be seen. So Candy stepped down from her barstool, downed the rest of her cosmopolitan, and marched up to Sevika’s table. Her confidence waned, though, when she called for Sevika and received a dead-eyed stare. The warm smile on her face had dropped like a brick. Candy’s bright grin faltered, “Sevi, it’s been so long! Where have you been?”

Sevika’s eyes were already back on her cards, grumbling out “working.”

“Always working, Sevi…” Candy cooed as she slid into the booth beside her.

“Mhm.”

A pointed nail reached for Sevika’s chin, scratching under it to meet her gaze and almost purr, “and you must be so exhausted, running back and forth for Silco all the time.”

Sevika’s expression was almost angry, but Candy didn’t relent, “I can make you feel better though, honey, why don’t you come and visit me down at Babbette’s? You’ll forget all about work, promise.”

The sound of a throat clearing made Sevika and Candy both jump. You stood stiffly above the table, a tray balanced on one hand and a jack and joke in the other. Sevika’s head turned to escape the woman’s touch. Your lips were tightly pursed and your eyes narrowed at both Sevika and the woman attempting to climb into her lap.

The woman looked and dressed like a doll. Her hair was immaculately pinned and braided. Her face was dewy, masked in foundation and ample pink blush. She smelled like sugar and vanilla. She looked you up and down, seemingly unimpressed with your plain black cocktail dress and apron.

Your tone and face was flat, “jack and coke,” and you set down the drink firmly on the table. “Something for your little friend here, ‘Sevi’?

She shakes her head, “no, she was just leaving actually.”

But Sevika’s guest didn’t seem to think so. “I’m fine right here, thank you very much. I’ll have a vodka cranberry. Sevi here is just being silly,” and she hid a giggle behind her palm. She locked her eyes with yours, “Now will you get my drink? I doubt they pay you to just sit around.”

Your cheeks were getting hot, eyes burning with angry tears, “no, I get paid to serve shit people like you. And you get paid to lay on your back. Like come on I don’t come to where you work and knock the dicks out of your mouth.”

Sevika intervened at your wobbling voice, grabbing Candy by the wrist. “Enough. You’re leaving.” She pulled the woman toward the exit, practically kicking and screaming all the way.

Sevika returned to her table with a sigh, falling like dead weight into her seat. She slumped forward, attempting to turn her attention back to the game in front of her now.

In the kitchen, you were holding back tears. You gripped the greasy counter with both hands and took deep breaths. You knew of Sevika’s reputation at the brothel, she was a well-known regular after all. You paid no mind to her past provided it stayed behind her.

Tonight, her past came to bite you in the ass. And that pain in the ass was named Candy. She made you feel beneath her and Sevika. And in that moment you were an employee present only to serve Sevika and her guests.

Sevika stayed for the remainder of her game but grew worried at your absence. Minutes crawled by and she gave into the urge to find you. She pushed the door to the kitchen open to find your shaking frame at the counter. You were hunched over, breathing unstably and sniffling.

Sevika approached you like one would a wounded animal, “hey…” and you looked up to see her frame filling the doorway. You wiped at your cheeks with your palms and attempted to regulate your breathing. Sevika was so strong, and you were embarrassed for her to see you at such a weak point.

You cleared your throat, “... what are you still doing here?”

“Checkin on you. We gotta talk about what happened back there.”

You laughed bitterly, “yeah it seemed like you were having a lot of fun back there with your little friend. Sorry to interrupt.”

Sevika scoffed, “she’s not my ‘little friend’. Just some delusional girl from the brothel.”

You looked crestfallen, gazing up at her like a sad puppy. “She was so… casual about it. Touching you like she was yours. She was so familiar with you…” you trailed off.

Sevika was hitting herself internally, “I shoulda done something when she came up, she just wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

You frowned bitterly, unable to hold back your outburst, “then say it louder, I don’t fucking know! She was all over you and you barely did anything!” Sevika didn’t realize how much the situation had truly upset you, scared to admit that the woman had made you feel insecure.

Sevika took hold of you by the shoulders and spoke softly, “hey, hey. It’s okay, honey. Deep breaths, yeah?” Her thumbs rubbed your shoulders in soothing motions as you took a shuddering inhale and slowly puffed it out. When you could focus on her, Sevika continued. “Listen, okay? Babbette’s hasn’t gotten a dime out of me in months. You’re all I want.”

You whimpered and sniffled, “promise?”

Sevika smiled, “I promise,” and she kissed you sweetly on the forehead, “‘sides I don’t even remember who that was.”

You let out a watery chuckle and smacked her playfully on the bicep, “you’re not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?”

She grinned wider, “never.”

This is my first Sevika fic pls be gentle

[ameliarating]

Meta brought to you by @stripedroseandsketchpads who saw me posting about Kant and thought I was talking about Immanuel.

So there's no way this is just a throw-away, so I dusted off my Kant and did my best to apply it to, well, the other Kant.

Specifically I've been thinking about how Kant (the philosopher) does his best to hold a tricky balance when it comes to reason and morality. He insists on the idea that there is always the right and moral decision one must come to that is also rationally and practically the right thing to do. (He calls this the Categorical Imperative.) In other words, to act immorally is to also act irrationally.

But where he really stands out is that this moral decision must come from one's inward conscious (autonomous morality) rather than from only an outward guide or imposition of law and ethics (heteronymous morality (cough cough Captain Chris, Lilly), although ideally autonomy and heteronomy are in sync enough to build a moral society.

So to follow one's conscience leads to acting in the moral way which is also the only reasonable way to act in this world.

But Kant (the tattooist) might be the first to critique what Kant (the philosopher) is putting down (and actually, this might come to many of our minds) by saying: what if there are two calls on my morality?

What if there are two moral imperatives?

What if the only way I can provide for my baby brother who relies on me utterly is to string along and use and doom a man who is falling in love with me (and whom I am falling in love with)?

What is the moral imperative here because there is certainly nothing categorical about it.

And yet Kant (the philosopher) does have another formula that rather dooms Kant (the tatooist) morally: The Humanity Formula:

“So act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means."

In other words - never treat another person (or your own self) as a tool. Every human being is an end in and of themself.

And yet Kant is expert at using both Bison and himself as a means only. Only Babe gets to be an end. Or at least, that's where he's been for most of his life.

So both Kants would probably be the first to say that Kant (the tattooist) is not making the moral choice. But both would be hard pressed to answer the question of, "what is the reasonable choice?"

There are many different ways one could transliterate กานต์ into English: Gan, Garn, Gant, Gant, Kan, Karn, Kant, Can, and Carn are all possibilities. But my favorite way, the one it might have been originally?

Can[']t.

[numberonetacostan]

PACO SWAP AU

Here is the somewhat awaited long post for the Paco Swap AU! I’ve taken pieces from the other posts made about it for this, so you don’t need to read the other posts about it to understand anything!!! I know quite a few of you like this au, so please enjoy the full post about it!!! :D

SO! As the name says, Pickle and Taco swap roles here. Taco’s season 1 persona is her real personality, and Pickle is using her. Initially he’s using her popularity with the viewers to make himself look better, and get himself further in the competition by proxy of being her best friend and primary caretaker, but he doesn’t break his act upon getting voted out/losing, like Taco does in the season finale. Other than that, season 1 is roughly the same besides the end result. He sticks to the role of being her also-dumb-but-mildly-smarter best friend, at least for longer. She wins the season, it doesn’t particularly matter what changes but we’ll just say Bow doesn’t attack her this time, she gets to the finish line first, hooray for Taco!! She uses her money on a lemon orchard, and then somewhere for them all to live with the others’ urging. Taco’s name is on the deed and documentation, because it was her money that bought it, but everyone pitches in to run this hotel. It’s better for OJ and his relationship with Paper, without all the stress of running the hotel on his own and the ego boost he gets from that and winning in the first place. Taco would choose a lot of the decor though!! Not all of it, since someone would step in to make sure not every single thing in the building is lemon-yellow, but there’s still a strong lemon theme, yeah? 

Since Taco is Baby and doesn’t know how to manage money at all, and because as is stated by Bomb in season 1 she currently only speaks French and a few English words here and there, her best friend Pickle is the one who manages her finances. And… well he sure does manage them alright, but not for Taco. He buys a video game here and there. And then maybe some new headphones, a console, a PC, etc. And since he has so many games and consoles to play with, he doesn’t really have time to be hanging out with and watching Taco. And the other contestants start to notice this, seeing Taco by herself more often, more and more packages coming for Pickle, and even Taco sitting outside his closed door waiting for him like a dejected puppy. They try to be more gentle about it at first telling him not to buy too much with her money and to go hang out with her, but they'd get more firm, especially when Taco starts getting rather upset that he's more or less ignoring her now that she's served her purpose to him. 

They end up taking away his access to her money, and he lashes out at them like Taco does in the s1 finale, and then disappears off into the woods like Taco did as well. He’s pretty furious about not getting to use the money he’s worked so hard to earn, taking care of Taco day after day. He’d insult her here too, and even though she doesn’t understand much, I think she’s been called “annoying” enough to understand what it means, and for her best and only close friend to call her that? Sweet little Taco would be heartbroken actually. She doesn't understand what happened enough to understand that it isn't her fault, but she does understand how angry Pickle was and how scornfully he was talking to and about her!!!!! She understands that he hates her but not why, and that it wasn't anything she did. I can imagine her trying to make him feel better when he's lashing out at everyone, trying to give him a lemon or a nuzzle (armless hug; either she really doesn't have arms or truly just doesn't use them often) and him pushing her away and hard enough to make her fall over, which ends up being the last straw for him getting kicked out. 

Augh, and she'd be sobbing too, because her best friend Pickle was so so mad and now he's gone and she doesn't know what she did. I think it would be interesting for Knife to take on a parallel role here to the one he did for Pickle too. When Pickle is gone, he ends up taking over as Taco's caretaker/best friend. Knife the protector, yeah? Genuine or not, Pickle did look after her to keep her from unknowingly getting into trouble, and she still needs someone looking after her. I mean, I think the entire cast would be pitching in more to make sure she's okay after what happened, but I see characters like Knife, OJ, Paper (as the other two menu squad members), and the lot really making sure to take care of her. Knife wouldn’t be as openly affectionate with her as Pickle was, at least at first, but I think she’d wear him down eventually, enough to accept all the affection she gives him and give her head pats. For the whole cast, I think they'd actually start liking Taco more after this reveal? Mostly because they all feel quite badly for her, and all pitch in to take care of her, and then get to know her more!! She pretty exclusively stuck by Pickle's side during season 1, yeah? So spending more time around her may subject them all to the glory of her silly whimsy. They'd bond with her more due to Pickle's betrayal, yeah? I think the others would also put more effort into helping her learn English when they're all taking care of her after Pickle leaves. They don't know her nonverbal cues as well as Pickle did, and as well I'd imagine him not wanting her to learn English if he can manage it. The more she understands the harder it is for him to keep using her, yeah? So they start using little vocab flashcards and simpler language that will be easier for her to pick up on, and she starts understanding more!! She still isn’t a big talker, but when she does decide to say something it’s much more comprehensible!!! Good for her!!!

Onto season 2!!! Taco is not really involved in season 2, beyond episode 7. She doesn’t make it into the season 2 cast, but as a result of the lawsuit the others help her file against Mephone, she does get to host episode 7!!! She would sing the elimination time theme <3. I think she would eliminate Knife. Not because she wants him to lose but because she misses having him in the hotel. He would be all >:| but walk over to her and let her nuzzle him excitedly, since he’d plan to make sure the proper elimination is done when Mephone4 gets back. Taco being Taco, instead of having everyone clean the hotel, she’d make her get her lemons from her orchard!!! No coin flip either. It’s basically the same challenge as s1 ep2, honestly. What can I say? She loves her some lemons!!! I think this would be when her and Mic meet as well. Mic is currently being bothered by Cheesy or being scolded by her team, so I think Taco’s silly, loud fun would be a welcome presence for her, as well as her pretty unconditional affection if you’re someone she likes. S1 Taco would be among the few contestants that don't mind at all when Mic shouts to her heart's content, yeah!! Since Taco shouts all the time too!!! Mic might get a sort of shovel talk from Knife after what happened with Pickle, yeah? Mic would not like that someone was so mean to Taco and put even more effort into being her friend!!! I don’t ship them in this au, but I do think they should be best buddies!!! Loud girl solidarity!!!

As for Pickle, he’d probably try working behind the scenes like Taco, though not with the same success that she does. He doesn’t have her intellect, even in this au, so he can’t come up with the same plans that she can. He’d pick someone that could get further in the game based on likeability rather than strategy like Taco in season 1, and someone that would be willing to work with him, since he can’t offer the same advantage that Taco can. He can’t scheme well, nor did he make it to the finals like she did. I’d say Lightbulb could be a possibility, her being very well-liked and having been Taco’s second choice, yeah? She’s friendly to canon Taco so I think she’d be relatively friendly with Pickle too, with the same hopes of him getting better. Mic would probably be voted out earlier without Taco’s help, so there’s that too. Knife would probably play the same role here, finding out that LB and Pickle were working together, as much as Pickle could manage. He is manipulative in this au, don’t get me wrong, he’s just not that smart. He’d still reach for the portal, though she wouldn’t see it since she got sucked in, so she doesn’t ask him about it. No eye injury for him! He already had one in s1 anyways. As for why LB would cut things off? I think Pickle would sabotage the rocket, like Mic does in canon, but he does it after telling LB he was going to- to which she gives an adamant no. Testy is her friend, and Fan just got kidnapped! It’s serious o’clock!! But he still does it, the rocket nearly fails, and LB cuts things off with him. She’s not gonna work with him if he’s gonna hurt her friends, and Pickle is left once again without a silly, happy companion.

Onto season 3!! S2 is on hiatus now!!! I already answered an ask that goes over everything involving her in season 3 lol, so I’ll just gently place that here. 

I suppose most of her swapping is done with Pickle, in regards to the betrayer/betrayee dynamic, but since the winner would swap she is indeed taking OJ's place in season 3!!! And yes, she would not care about being "dethroned." Frankly, she'd find Silver to be rather funny and probably burst out laughing during his speech. I think she'd more or less understand what he was trying to do, but think it was funny that he was taking things so seriously and that he'd seen her as some sort of obstacle to overcome. She just likes having fun with her friends!!! Winning doesn't matter to her. She'd just give a happy little "bye-bye!!" and be sent off to Indefinite Island. Though, at least for Painty, this would cause more scorn towards Silver. It's one thing for him to make that speech at OJ, a pretty mature guy, but to do it at Taco? A little Taco who already had one pulled over on her by who she'd thought was her best friend? Painty would not be cool with that. I think she'd be on Indefinite Island for a bit, primarily because it wouldn't be safe for Taco to try and get back to her hotel on her own. I'd imagine she stays until Painty gets out and they go back to the hotel together. Lifering and eventually Tea Kettle when she gets there would be the ones watching over her while she's on Indefinite Island. Like you said, Mic probably would get out sooner without having Taco to help her, which might be for the better with how much better she can grow her confidence without being in the competition.

As for the finale, I think she'd initially want to vote for Silver, actually? Because she still thinks he's funny. But after he punches Candle's flame out, she doesn't like him much anymore, he's more scary than funny now, and she would vote for Balloon. I don't think she'd talk much to Cabby, since Cabby doesn't get to Indefinite Island too long before the rejoin challenge and she's not as patient with the others until later on. She'd definitely be frightened by the unvitational committee, she'd understand what's going on more than she did in season 1, yeah? TK and Lifering, having had taken care of her, would definitely be watching out for her, as well as Painty and even Nickel, though in his own way. He doesn't like Taco that much anyways, but he might casually position himself between her and the unvitationals, yeah?

To add on to the season 3 finale, I think Taco and Cabby would interact a bit at the end!! Cabby is the first winner since Taco, after all. I think Taco would poke her arm out of the top of her shell (I love it when she does this IT'S SO CUTE) and offer Cabby a victory lemon!!!! With a little "We're winners!", yeah? Keep in mind that, in this au, Taco really did only speak French and some other random words in the beginning, but her English has been improving!! Mostly in comprehension, since she doesn't talk much in general, but by the latter end of this au she can definitely speak more!! Pickle's betrayal did set her progress back, though. She didn't feel like talking for a while after he left.

Truth or Flare would be similar, Pickle probably couldn’t even try reprogramming Mepad like in canon, so he’d just be spying and take the chance to jump into the challenge when he hears what it is. He might hold Mephone or Mepad at like… rock point? Threaten to throw a rock at them, which is a genuine danger to their lives, I suppose. I’m doing my best here guys it’s not my fault he’s a much less threatening antagonist than Taco. Well I guess it is a little but it’s more in character for him!! Regardless, he doesn’t fall apart but instead retreats into the woods when he finds out someone else is coming, and Mepad goes after him of his own volition. It’s Mepad, he sees someone who needs help, he’s gonna help them. (RIP king you would have loved my shiny buneary). 

Finale!!!! Okay, not too much changes!! But we’ll start with the Pickle & Taco apology scene and go from there. He comes in and knocks on her door, and she’s so very happy to see him!!! Surprised, but happy!! Before she can start giving him affection though, he gives her his apology. He doesn’t know how much of it she understands, since she learned a lot of English in his absence, but he gives a solid, sincere apology. Which Taco is very happy to hear!! She wasn’t really mad at him in the first place, she just missed him a whole lot and was very sad. But now he’s back!!! She squeals and “sour creams” and nuzzles him!!! She even tells him it’s okay and that she’s not mad, though not in so many words. Though unfortunately for Pickle, Mic hears Taco getting all excited, and comes to check on her, catching them together. Mic isn’t happy and starts berating him for showing up around here, as I think she’d be prone to do with him having hurt her buddy Taco is deeply, as Taco tries to get her to stop. That gets cut off, though, because their yelling attracts MephoneX, and Pickle is yet again the first to fall. This gets the attention of more of the cast, especially as it starts to go after Taco and chases her into the lobby area, X-ing her like he does OJ in canon. The finale starts playing out relatively normally after that. 

I think Mic would help her through the red line game and hold her hand (if she could convince Taco to bring it out of her shell), like in canon, and Taco might even help her too! With how she stops in the finale because of the images of her being ignored no matter how loud she screams, yeah? But there's a little Taco who likes to yell with her pulling on her hand, and they run across the line.

But after they all get back she wouldn't understand why Mepad isn't powering on. She didn't spend much time with him, since she didn't compete in season 2 nor kidnap him in this au, but she'd know it isn't normal. They probably would have to keep her away from the body, because she'd keep trying to get his attention and get him to turn on like normal, especially since Pickle would be quite upset about his death like Taco is in canon. 

She would understand that Mephone made them when someone tells her directly, but I don’t think it would really phase her, honestly? She doesn't care, their priority should be getting her lemon orchard back. Everyone else is being so very careful, but it's business as usual for Taco, yeah? She'd probably get another babysitter or two with how fragile her shell is. She might playfully spit a lemon at someone, and end up with Knife carefully but very firmly telling her she can't spit lemons at people anymore and has to be very careful not to hurt herself or anyone else. Getting scolded might make her sad since she doesn't totally get the stakes of it all, but after a few days of hiding from him behind Microphone she'd be okay again. 

She and Pickle would hang out again!!!! But on a tentative basis with everyone else. Taco would definitely be annoyed that the others weren't letting her and Pickle hang out one-on-one. They used to do it all the time, and now Pickle is nice again, so there's no more problem!!! She might try to be cheeky and sneak away to go hang out with him, but he'd probably let one of the others know where she is and that they're together anyways. She wouldn't like it, and it might make her think he still doesn't want to spend time with her, but he'd still be on thin ice with everyone else, yeah? So he wouldn't want to be sneaking around them and losing even more of their trust. I think eventually they’d be let alone again, and Pickle would take even better care of her than before, even if he isn’t her main caretaker after coming back. He’d slowly get off thin ice with everyone else, though there may be some (Knife) who are extra protective of Taco and keep an eye on him. But overall it’s a happy ending for Pickle and Taco!!!! :D

I think that’s everything for this au!!!!  ＼(＾▽＾)／ I hope you’ve enjoyed, and if I forgot to include anything please let me know!! If there are any questions, please feel free to send in an ask!!!

[bomberqueen17]

how it's going

I am delighted so far by the responses to the post about signing up to beta/cheer-read the solarpunk tallship bisexuals novel I've decided to really give a go this year-- if you missed it, this is the post-- I have gone through and added everyone who signed up so far and it's a lovely mix of names I know and names I don't, not so many people it'd be hard to keep track and not so few that I'm worried about burning somebody out or totally winding up relying on one poor reader to keep my sanity going. I am also always pumped to get a lurker to de-lurk and say hi, not that there's anything wrong with lurking, I've got a few spaces where I lurk because that's what I need from that space. But it's always nice to be able to like, relate to somebody, y'know?

Not that you can really talk a lot in a google doc. I admit a lot of what's kept me going on Witcher has been having various little Discord threads where I can paste in whatever line I'm smug about, or that I'm stuck on for workshopping, and having a conversation about it, and not having that (I have a thread going in a Witcher discord but since it's off-topic it's kind of... well, low-traffic). I don't know if it's feasible to make a new Discord so I probably won't. But.

Anyway I will at some point turn that form off, but it seems to have worked pretty well so far as a method for adding people specifically to the doc, and I will leave it open and keep checking it for a little longer if any of y'all reading this were on the fence about signing up. I just can't rattle around alone in that doc and still keep my momentum. I'm only up to chapter three or so and the main plot hasn't even started but there's thusfar been at least one really confusing action sequence and I've realized that I've got a serious case of zero visual information being conveyed, so that's been helpful. Even with only a couple of readers-- ha, even the last couple of hours before I started adding people to the doc it had already done a lot of its job because I started proofreading with an audience in mind, which in my case tends to improve readability, which is what I want.

Listen, there's a noble purpose in telling stories for their own sake to yourself, but the idea of telling a story so that others can understand it is important to and I value it highly. So. That's what this is about.

So I've got a few people poking around in there with me and I feel much better about life and have some hopes I might make it over the hump into a real plot now, LOL.

But I think I'm gonna snippet post, which I haven't much with this work yet! (Have I? I forget. I started it in the fugue state of pre-holiday fuckery last year so who knows.)

bah i can't find a good snippet. well, here's a recently-composed one anyway.

As they approached the ship, Tom said, “You’ll tell the others, yeah? Simmons didn’t know. It ain’t his fault.” “I don’t know as it’ll help,” Keller said. “They’re mighty displeased about how you been treated. It reflects on them, y’know?” “It’s not so bad,” Tom said. “I’d rather be here than escorting the Barka convoy back to Subia in Jeanette all by my lonesome knowing damn well Righteous is waiting there for me with a bone in her teeth. No thank you, I’d rather not be set up on a suicide run like that. And you know if I got killed in a fourteen-gun sloop facing down a bloody-minded forty-gun privateer they’d tut-tut and say a proper Subian gentleman could’ve won.” “Oh sir,” Keller said. “You know they’d say that,” Tom said. “You know they would. No thank you, I will take my lumps and stick with Haines and I’ll thank you not to force me to defend poor Simmons the entire time. It weren’t none of his doing, Henry Keller, but that don’t mean I want to have to argue with the rest of you lot about him every blessed day of this commission.” “He’s also an ignorant sod,” Keller pointed out. “It don’t signify,” Tom said. “You know me and Yardley won’t let no harm come to the ship.” “Oh, Yardley,” Keller said. “I forgot he’s aboard. He’s been scarce.” Tom rolled his eyes. “He’s taking it well, too,” he said. He rummaged through the few parcels he’d brought back, and pulled out a bag and handed it over to Keller. “Share that out with your mess-mates,” he said. “And tell them-- it ain’t his fault, at all.” Keller took the bag with pleasure-- it was candy, Tom knew they’d have liked liquor better but he didn’t dare risk them being found with it and punished, with Simmons and not him in charge, so candy was safer. Keller looked back up at Tom, weatherbeaten face crinkled with a grin, and said, with a wry, grudging concession, “I’ll tell them.”

[reel-fear]

MIKE BLOCKED ME ON TWITTER FOR ROASTING HIS DUMBASS RESPONSE TO THE GRAPHIC NOVEL STUFF!!

grown ass man scared of the 19-year-old queer being mean to him over his public meltdown more at 8.

[whatudottu]

Scalding hot take probably only I agree with: “Ancient Aliens” by Lemon Demon is such a Ben 10 Cinematic Universe coded song

If this were an elaborate scheme to get me to listen to a song at random this is how you’d do it, link it back to Ben 10 (or some other on of my fixations, thank you NSR fandom for TheFatRat’s Electrified), though it might be my headache or my dislike of songs that are glorified broken records but I… :P don’t like Ancient Aliens (fitting for my loathing of the conspiracy itself). Either way though I do see the vibes in the lyrics, probably my preferred Ben 10 x Ancient Aliens combo, at least it doesn’t try to claim the work of ancient Egyptians were the work of tetramands only call THAT fake by sourcing it to the bumbling of the galvan duo Blukic and Driba-

Sorry, got sidetracked :P

Your ask reminded me of a song that I’d often connect to Ben 10 - Alien Boy by Oliver Tree, if you’ll allow me to exchange songs with you - and the lyrics always made me think specifically about omnivoracious, but “I’m an alien among the human beings” stood out to me. I don’t know where that ranks on the take scale nor if it makes the song any good (roast me, it’s only fair for what I’ve said), but the power of ‘making everything about the character’ has lead me to wilder journeys that i can’t remember woops eto bleh

[wheelercore]

Theory with no coherent proof on my part: brenner only visibly ages rapidly when a portal is open.

[punkshitposts]

something I think is actually hilarious is that if you go left enough you start having more stances in common with (individual) conservatives, and if you go right enough you start agreeing with (individual) leftists. like i have a pretty close friend who's self described as "just far enough right that I hate politicians" , whom I hard disagree with his overarching political stances. but the finer details of it... yeah we agree with each other. gun control/gun rights opinions taxation opinions pro-small government opinions slight separatist opinions anti two party opinions anti-corporation opinion ect ect ect.

we stand on opposite sides of a standard political compass but I genuinely think if I were to count stats, I'd agree with as many of his stances as I would a liberals/democrats stances. my hs gov teacher described the difference in right vs left to us as "everyone's goal here is the betterment of mankind, they just think the best ways to do it are different" and that's literally the best way, to me, to describe what the difference in right vs left is regarding anarchism specifically. we got ESSENTIALLY the same opinion but the ways we think are the best ways to go about enacting said opinion are what makes us different. and something abt that is really painfully funny to me. envisioning a world where an-something is the major world thing, not capitalism.... and there's STILL right vs left... but The Anarchist Versions. christ.

sorry for the book i wrote in the tags. ignore typos I am NOT retyping any of that to fix them xoxo

[bronsinseele]

i cant talk for any other hyv game but i do think it’s interesting how hi3 and genshin’s story flaws/ideals are bc of the very specific medium they’re in.

[simcardiac-arrested]

ok now why the fuck are people tagging my out of character ask answer as goodtimeswithscar from hermitcraft

[scrcrwfsh]

roadtrips suck

[lunarsapphism]

.

[budugaapologist]

what if i just put my ffxiv hot takes in the tags.