#if this go well I might open more in the future? with more characters available perhaps??

[cthaehart]

HELLOOOOO Pre-Orders will be open until the end of the month!!!1! Reblogs appreciated >:]

[pukefactory]

PLEASE comfort with n murder drones Tumblr dot com with a s/o who is emotional and constantly thinks they’re not good enough for n whenever you can! /ref ^^

remember to dink warder and eat when u need to bestieeee <3

If there’s one thing I’m particularly good at, it’s drinking plenty of water (which isn’t very good when my bladder is as fragile as glass lol)—but I hope you’re taking care of yourself too, staying hydrated and eating when necessary. The same applies to anyone reading this! That aside, this is such a wholesome request, and I hope reading about N being an absolute sweetheart eases any troubles you might be facing.

˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖✮ WARM THOUGHTS ✮˖⁺‧₊˚ ˚₊‧⁺˖

▷ Summary: A compilation of headcannons featuring N comforting an insecure reader.

▷ Character(s): Serial Designation N (Murder Drones)

▷ Genre: Headcanons, Fluff, SFW, Comfort

▷ Warning(s): None - Completely Safe!

✶ Despite his shortcomings, N is deeply in tune with your emotions—possibly even more than you are. He instantly picks up on your distress, much like an emotional support dog, and is by your side before you can even explain what’s bothering you. Once you open up to him, N is determined to do whatever it takes to show how important you are to him.

✶ The moment you begin doubting yourself in any way, N is quick to reassure you that you’re not a burden to him and that you’re the most important person in his life. He pulls you into a gentle embrace, wrapping you in his sturdy metal arms while offering heartfelt affirmations of love and support.

✶ To help you feel at ease when you’re feeling down, N wraps you in the softest, coziest blanket he can find and sits beside you, resting his head on your shoulder while holding your hand. Instinctively, he wraps his tail around you for added comfort and support. Whether you need someone to quietly sit with you or listen to your troubles, he’s always there, no matter what.

✶ N may not be the greatest at offering advice, but he always puts in his best effort. You can count on him to listen carefully and take everything you say to heart. He works tirelessly to help you overcome any self-worth struggles with his gentle smile and playful gestures of affection. When he tells you he loves you, he truly means it—and if you ever doubt it, he’ll make sure to remind you every chance he gets.

✶ Whenever you begin to relax, N does his best to provide a distraction. Whether it’s anime, drawing, or reading, he will try anything to ease your mind. Once the two of you discover an activity that truly soothes your nerves, he makes sure to always have the necessary materials readily available for any future emergencies.

✶ Forehead kisses are his go-to! He gently presses soft kisses against your head to comfort you, whether it’s after a difficult moment or an emotional outburst. The tenderness of his touch provides a calming presence, offering something reassuring to focus on during moments of panic—a sweet and affectionate distraction.

✶ If you feel drained after a panic attack, N will effortlessly pick you up and carry you wherever you need to go. He’ll often keep you close simply out of concern, refusing to let you out of his sight for a while. His default is to hold you in a gentle bridal carry, never showing any signs of strain, no matter how long he carries you. Your comfort is his priority, and as long as you’re at ease, so is he.

✶ Deep down, N is genuinely concerned for your well-being and simply wants to keep you safe by his side. At times, he may push himself too hard in an effort to improve your mental state and solve everything on his own. However, the moment you reassure him to slow down and just stay by your side, he quickly relaxes, realizing that his presence alone is more than enough for you.

[ranchstoryblog]

Little Unboxing: Nendoroid Claire!

Something fun came in the mail today! It's what will hopefully be the first of a few Story of Seasons Nendoroids: Claire!

Freeing her from her plastic prison, it's time to start messing with all her little accessories. She comes with a little tiny cow and a baby chick, as well as a turnip and (unpictured, whoops) watering can.

She also comes with alternative arms, hands, and shoulders so she can be posed in different ways. Perhaps the pose in the second image is what someone sees when she shows up to their place of business to joyously hand them a turnip she's had in her fridge for two months?

You can also slide out the box's interior and instantly create a cute little farm diorama! It's a little small if you want to use the included stand to hold up Claire, but otherwise it's a nice fit. The golden watering can was an exclusive bonus when ordering from the Goodsmile Shop.

Of course, you can also just pose her alongside any other Nendoroid figures you've collected. It's truly wonderful to finally have a figure of a character from this iconic series, so I'll definitely be trying more poses and taking more pictures in the future.

While preorders through Goodsmile have closed, she's still available if you missed her from some of their partner shops. For example, Big Bad Toystore still has US preorders available, which are shipping early next year. You might also be able to get lucky and get some of the extra stock from Japanese retailers and have her shipped right away, such as from HLJ. Just be mindful of that extra shipping cost if you go the import route to get her sooner!

If you're hoping for other characters from Story of Seasons to get figures, such as Pete, Gray, Marie, the Harvest Goddess, Nami, Rock... Whoever! Be sure to use the official request form! We made a guide on it and everything! And don't forget to try official names too! The AWL protags are Sion and Maya!

[jinnaizaemon]

I've been thinking a lot about Doi and how the third movie, Dokutake Ninja Corps' Strongest Tactician, really is a brilliantly executed love letter to his character and what he represents for the narrative, the characters, and the audience too, so I wanted to write about it a little. I'm going to talk about Nintama as a franchise in the larger sense, and how common motifs are used to portray Doi across different media, but since I feel the third movie manages to crystalize it all in its story, I will focus on it a lot. So if you haven't watched Dokutake Ninja Corps' Strongest Tactician and don't want to be spoiled, please stop reading here! Also, this is just me having fun tying different motifs together. Consider it just food for thought or, the rambling of a nerd who's a little too passionate. Finally, I might edit this post later when the movie becomes available and I get my own copy so I can add screenshots to illustrate. Again, it's not available to watch at home yet, so everything about the movie I write about is from memory. That's another thing I might need to edit later in case of inaccuracies!

The manga and anime being aimed at children, it's rarely in your face, but the setting is central to Nintama, it justifies both the existence of the Academy and the characters' motivations. It's war out there for a land that doesn't call itself Japan yet, and it's important context to know it lasts for more than a century before the relative long peace of the Edo period. The franchise plays with history, of course, but by its rules ninja are either soldiers loyal to a specific castle or mercenaries, making Ninjutsu Academy a school made in response from a need to produce more trained soldiers for the ongoing wars.

I find it interesting that Doi runs away from his ninja duties and ends up teaching instead, because while it gives him a break from actively participating in battles, in the end he's still eventually sending kids to the Sengoku meatgrinder. My point is that Doi as a person is far from perfect, but is actively trying to better himself. I'd say he's in the process of finding ways to repent for his past life : showing gratitude to the Yamada family, teaching children, "adopting" Kirimaru... there's a lot of talk about tsudoi and Doi opening an orphanage in the future, and while it's not canon at all, he's an inherently nurturing character with no interest in the war, so this kind of epilogue makes a lot of sense for him, doesn't it?

Doi's backstory from volume 50.

Contrasting with his early characterization that is more like a sometimes immature older brother to Rankirishin, Doi got wise with time and is known as a caring teacher to the ha-class, and parent/caretaker to Kirimaru. His shift to a nurturing figure might have started when the author of the manga, Amako Soubee, started associating him with Hounen in her mind. Doi has had ties with Buddhism for a long time now, something that is made quite explicit in the third movie. I remember thinking Doi is kind of like of a boddhisattva (one delaying his own state of Buddhahood to help others reach enlightenment) to others, as a teacher to the nintama, but also as an inspirational figure to more characters. But as well-meaning as Doi can be, he's not quite there yet isn't he? He's young and prone to failure, something he acknowledges at the end of the movie, making a point to apologize to his students. Also obviously, despite all the goodness in his heart, he was a ninja before being a teacher, and worked for an aggressive castle according to Ninmyu 12. It's never made explicit, but the story takes place during wartime, so it's easy to imagine what Doi had to do for the sake of his job.

In his quest for betterment, Doi not only appears as an anchor for many characters, the ha-class, Kirimaru all especially, Rikichi too- but also ends up offering an interesting alternative to the cast : teaching instead of ninjutsu, nurturing instead of killing, peace instead of war. Ninjutsu is what Nintama is all about and the reason for being for most of the cast, and yet Doi goes against it... And he's probably right in that peace and happiness are to be found beyond ninjutsu. When children look at professional ninja like Rikichi for example, it's with stars in their eyes, but episodes that focus on the characters' adult worries show stories more grounded into reality. Rikichi has a troubled relationship with his family and ninjutsu, making him jaded about his job, Teruyo and Bouta struggle to find proper work, Demoshika wants the comfort of an office job above anything else, and then you've got Tasogaredoki and their mutual suicide ideation out of loyalty, etc etc. When you start thinking about what kind of future awaits the nintama it can get bleak pretty fast... which is probably why the franchise is stuck in a status quo. We do get peeks at what life could be like for nintamas after graduation, like for example with Ouji and Kouun in Ninmyu 14 being tasked with... going against Ninjutsu Academy and harming their juniors, or Seiemon and Kanbei getting violently beat up by Zatto in The Strongest Tactician.

In short, outside of the safe bubble that Ninjutsu Academy represents during wartime, things aren't so great right now. Which is why Doi is such an important figure, and key to a happy end for the cast.

From 30-35. "I think that young man would make a fine teacher. He might even become even better at it than you, dear."

30-35 is such an important episode because it shows a turning point for Doi that ends up being a huge butterfly effect on so many characters. Doi may have relied on Yamada then and still does, but Yamada's wife showed great insight here. It's thanks to her Doi ended up teaching after all... When Doi plays with Rikichi, it's the first time he offers a child "an alternative" to the warrior path. He doesn't do it consciously, it's something he has in him without his knowledge (and 32-64 shows us he still has a lot to learn), but his influence becomes a central part of Rikichi's character (more on that later).

My general point being made, let's get into some more specific aspects of Doi's character. Since the mangaka mentions shugendou's relationship with ninjutsu, let's take a look at Doi's alter ego in The Strongest Tactician, Tenki, and his design ;

Tenki, scanned from The Strongest Tactician's limited pamphlet.

After Doi loses his memory and becomes Tenki, it's important to know he doesn't become an "evil" version of Doi or a new person altogether ; he's who Doi would have been had he not met the Yamadas. When Doi regains his memories at the end of the movie, the very first thing that comes back to him is a vision of the Yamada family. If Doi's work outfit is all black, as Tenki he's dressed all in white. It signifies a complete tabula rasa for his character and the development he went through since meeting the Yamada, back to a warrior in a blank state. But the white color and this specific headscarf is also reminiscent of yamabushi, mountain ascetics and practictioners of shugendou. The manga takes a shortcut by calling shugendou "mountain buddhism", it actually takes beliefs and practices from multiple sources such as Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism, and local folklore. Practices involve magic and fortune-telling which historically influenced daimyo's decisions during war, so there's no doubt that as Dokutake's tactician, Tenki, dressed as yamabushi with his background of having a religious education in the mountains, used such practices too to establish military tactics! The headscarf he wears is called houkan, literally a jeweled crown, and seems to hold multiple symbolisms. Overall, the white color of the yamabushi outfit expresses a symbolic death to be born anew, and the knotted crown around the head symbolizes afterbirth, placenta... I've seen others sources relating it to shimenawa, the purifying rope in Shinto you've probably seen in shrines, or around significant trees or stones.

The Strongest Tactician continues to tie Doi/Tenki with religion with two specific statues appearing at two points during the movie: when the sixth years are investigating Doi's disappearance, there's a shot of a statue on the roadside of Hayagriva, or Batou Kannon, the wrathful form of the compassionate female boddhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Similarly, in the room Tenki occupies at Dokutake, there's a statue of Daikokuten, a deity of good fortune and abundance in Japan, originally Mahākāla, a wrathful deity destroyer of all things.

Not related to religion, but another obvious motif of duality is in the moon, of course : at the end of Sonnamon and Doi's duel, Doi jumps into the river and what he thinks is the reflection of the moon in it (...It ends up being Happousai's bald head.), and this is when he loses his memory. The typical motif of a rabbit on the moon pounding mochi is replaced with a much more ominous rabbit grinding skulls into its mortar.

...Of course, it turns back to normal at the end of the movie.

I keep talking about how Doi actively chose to dedicate his life to peace and nurturing, and with all these symbols of duality, the movie manages to show us what it would have been like had Doi decided to remain a warrior. Tenki still dreams of peace and justice, and it's how Dokutake manages to manipulate him, but ultimately nothing good comes from participating in war. Had Tenki not been stopped in time (not by force like Zatto attempts, but ~by the power of love~ from Rankirishin), he would have committed the irreparable by murdering children, then not being able to revert back to his old self, and perpetuating the cycle of war and violence.

This is quite a simple pacifist message in a children franchise I think, but I find it interesting how it's delivered through different visuals!

The moon brings me to another thing The Strongest Tactician does a brilliant job portraying, and it's the passage of seasons.

The movie starts with a flashback scene and red spider lilies symbolizing splatter of blood. In Japanese, these flowers are called 彼岸花 higanbana, the higan part refers to the equinox week in March and September when Buddhist services are held and people visit the graves of family. The red spider lily, growing in September, is associated with the dead due to being planted in and around cemeteries.

Soon after, when Sonnamon and Doi are having their duel, it's in a field of susuki grass, associated with tsukimi, the moon-viewing celebrations held in September (that can be related to the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival). Later in the movie, more red spider lilies are seen blooming on the roadside, and people are busy with the harvest. The story is definitely set at the beginning of autumn. Interestingly, the second movie takes place after summer break. In this story, the villagers are in a hurry to get a protection decree probably because harvesting season is coming soon, and the pressure that the lord of Tasogaredoki is exercing on them is a mean to tax more crops from them in the upcoming harvest... Anyways, it's interesting that the third movie takes place soon after. The franchise is over 30 years old, but everything happens during the same school year! there's never a boring day in Ninjutsu Academy lol.

On a practical level, the beginning of autumn means that most people are too busy with harvesting crops to be conscripted at war (back then, most foot soldiers were hired farmers, etc), which explains why Tenki chooses to bluff an attack against Suppontake with the fake branch castle and all, since he had little troops to use.

But I want to focus on the seasons on a more symbolical level this time.

Ninmyu 12 tackles Doi's backstory and the complicated relationship he has with Nue, the ninja who kidnapped and raised him as a child. The canonicity of Ninmyu is discutable, so if one chooses to not take into account Doi's history with Nue and Kaentake ninja it's understandable, but I want to talk about Doi's solo song since Amako Soubee wrote it. It's called 半助春秋 Hansuke shunjuu, literally "Hansuke's Spring and Autumn", but expresses the idea of "the years of Hansuke", "Hansuke's life and times", something like this. I absolutely love this song, but it's a difficult one. I tried translating it and now that I look back at it I already see mistakes haha.. ha. Anyways, the lyrics are divided into two parts ; Doi first describes an dream-like spring scene which seemingly never happened, making it his own picture of peace itself. The figure of a young girl picks up flowers in a field, but that idyllic scene is cut short : "Had that warm spring day been longer," flowers would bloom, and all of nature would bear witness to Doi "returning home with you." The second part mirrors the first, but this time is more grounded into reality. On an autumn night, "remnants of a battle are buried in the overgrown ruins of a castle" ; it makes Doi reminisces the past. This time, the stars and the moon comfort Doi that "he will return home someday". There's that idea of high and low here, where everything dies in autumn and nights become longer with the upcoming winter. And of course, that recurring hopeful idea of "returning home" that is so so so dear to Nintama.

I want to relate this to The Strongest Tactician first, with Doi's symbolic death and rebirth in autumn, the spider-lilies, etc. During the climax of the movie, in an effort to make Doi-sensei remember, Rankirishin try to get a reaction out of him with lines such as "We haven't learned it yet!" "I value money over my life!" and such. But what finally makes Tenki go back to being Doi again is Kirimaru telling him through tears, "Let's go home together." That idea of home is dear to Kirimaru obviously, but it's something Doi has always longed for too. Doi and Kirimaru's back and forth of "let's go home / i'm home / welcome home" comes up repeatedly in the anime, and Ninmyu 12 as well. Did he not stay with the Yamada because he didn't want to impose, or does he wish to have a family of his own? I genuinely think that meeting Kirimaru made Doi more certain of what he wants to do with his life. After autumn comes winter, which is depicted in the movie through a visual of a young Kirimaru trying to keep warm wrapped in straw and taking shelter from the snow. A snowflake falls on his eye, and when you think that all hope is lost, Yuuki 100% starts playing and it cuts to him together with everyone at Ninjutsu Academy. If Doi didn't get to have springs, he'll give some to Kirimaru! The idea of Doi trying to preserve the little childhood Kirimaru has left and that he himself never got to have is so so so important to me lol. Happousai says "If I have Tenki cut these threes[Rankirishin], even if he were to remember who he is, he wouldn't be able to ever go back to Ninjutsu Academy." It goes back to my initial point that Doi is so central to everyone in Nintama ; with him gone, so is the alternative to war for a good chunk of the cast. It's something I talked about before, but another character who has a strong independent mindset regarding peace and ninjutsu is Isaku. The movie does a great job showing how important Doi is to Isaku as well, but his "health committee" philosophy seems to come from elsewhere...? I talked a little about it in my post about the second movie.

I'm not done with Hansuke's Spring and Autumn yet, I also want to relate it to another song Amako Soubee wrote, 利吉のテーマ Rikichi's theme. The two songs have very similar motifs, depicting nature and the idea of going home. But while in Hansuke's Spring and Autumn, nature is depicted as friendly and comforting, in Rikichi's theme it's a lot colder and distant. For Rikichi, he "has no need for stars" / "the moon is an enemy." For Doi, "the stars whisper / the moon reveals / that someday, I will come back home here" The wind "smiles" for Doi, while it just "makes sound" to Rikichi. In the end, Rikichi only finds comfort hiding in the darkness and turning his back to the dawn... But both songs end with hope among ruins, and both express the same wish to go home.

I talked about Doi being in a personal process of betterment, his relationship to Kirimaru and the influence they have on each other, but I believe it's important to address his relationship with Rikichi too. Little Rikichi showed Doi that he had it in him to teach and care for children, having innate pedagogy even Yamada lacks / lacked at the time?. Rikichi was taught ninjutsu and martial arts in his secluded home with high expectations from his parents that are ninja themselves. He barely got any childhood, the marriage situation of the Yamada is so messy it deserves its own post, so much that a picnic together and away from ninjutsu meant everything to little Rikichi... If there's one thing that characterizes Rikichi in my opinion it's loneliness that follows him into adulthood, and the tragedy of his character is that Doi showed him an alternative to the life he had always led thus far, only to leave soon after. Of course, Rikichi is younger, but I think he's mentally much more fragile than Doi is - again, The Strongest Tactician did an amazing job showing how much of an anchor Doi is to Rikichi, portraying both his anxiety and his relief brilliantly, I love how expressive he is in this. The most telling scene, that shocked a lot of people too lol, is of course when Tenki draws his sword at Rankirishin, Zatto is about to throw him a poisoned shuriken, and a desperate Rikichi grabs his wrist to stop him. First, poison is dripping from that shuriken, so Zatto is wearing a leather glove to protect himself, but Rikichi grabs him without hesitation. Second, and most of all, in the spur of the moment, Rikichi clearly made his choice between Doi-sensei and the children..... It's tragic how Doi has no responsibility to Rikichi in the end, beyond showing gratitude to his parents for saving him. Realistically, had he stayed at the Yamada household, it might have done Rikichi a lot of good growing up, but it would have put Doi in a very uncomfortable position, stuck in the middle of a very shaky and bizarre marriage. Back then, Doi probably didn't picture himself as a teacher, or caring for kids at all, so it makes me wonder how he would tackle little Rikichi's situation had it happened in present time. Would he feel more involved? Could he have "saved" little Rikichi? I have no doubt Doi sympathized with Rikichi's loneliness back then, but did he grasp the extent of it?... What is sure is that while it's certain Doi has a strong influence on Rikichi, Rikichi is also extremely important to Doi. I said it before, but the very first thing Doi remembers when he regains his memories is little Rikichi, after all. I don't want to diminish the bond between Doi and the Yamada at all ; the third movie makes a point of showing Denzou's concern and affection for Hansuke, that he named himself, making him a son of sort. The Yamadas are home to Doi, and even if he wishes for independence and maybe even a family of his own, time spent with the Yamadas and Kirimaru might be far from what he envisions in Hansuke's Spring and Autumn, but it works perfectly as a picture of peace, doesn't it?

Anyways, all that to say that despite the bleak implications of its setting, Nintama manages to remain so cheerful and hopeful in great part thanks to Doi. He grew both as a character and as a person throughout the story, pays for past mistakes and actively tries to do good in the present, symbolizing peace in time of war. Isn't it interesting that what causes his "defeat" against Sonnamon is him trying to protect a bird and its nest? Again, it's quite the simple message, but I'm so charmed by how it's delivered through his influence on the rest of the cast, and how he's portrayed especially in The Strongest Tactician. Doi is also a great bridge between the children and adult audience of Nintama, families watching together of course but in general, him being a reminder of the responsibility we have as adults towards children moves me a lot personally...

That was quite the long rambling.. ahhh.. I love Doi-sensei.

[animalsalvationassociation]

Calling all Octo-Agents!

Yes! You! Please read till the end, and if you don't have the patience/energy for it rn, come back later! It'll be worth it I promise!

So the holidays are now pretty much over, (except for New Years ofc, but I digress.) meaning I've been looking for new ways to improve my Au. You see, it's come to my attention that I'm not as organized or as thorough as I thought I was.

I've created a lot of lore/characters for this Au, but not very many people really know what's going on anymore. Even I get lost, and it's been a little frustrating ngl. So, seeing as this blog is officially over a year old, I think it's time to "fix" my mistakes and take a new approach.

Ya'll might've noticed that I've been slowing down on content. I haven't been spending as much time on my art, meaning the quality (well I wouldn't say it's gotten worse) hasn't been as strong as some others I've created in the past.

(Don't get me wrong, I'm not making a resolution for the new year, that's dumb and we all know those never last.)

So here's what I'm promising instead since this clearly is the only thing I'm allowed to work on at the moment (not saying I don't have other projects, but if I want to actually publish this story at any point I'm going to have to spend as much time as I can on it, meaning I have to make some sacrifices - RIP my FNaf's & Undertale fanfics)

1. Full Character Redesigns

Taking all the core characters (The Octonauts / Octo-Agents / Y.N. & Fae / The A.S.A. / C.L.A.D.E. / etc.) and giving them a full reference sheet with details, headcanons, and an updated design.

Creating family/relationship tree for those characters (parents/siblings/love interests/etc.)

Family/Team “Photos”

Crossovers (I will still be doing multiple crossovers and soon they will get their very own redesigns!)

2. Updating the Master Post

3. Updating the “Pinned” Blog Post

For reference this will no longer be the current top post with all of the A.S.A. members, but a poster I will create for the fanfic to make the blog appear cleaner. (I won’t delete that post I’m just going to unpin it since the designs are old and not as useful as they used to be)

4. Asks will open January 1st, but I will not start answering any asks before February 1st!

That is so I can properly prepare and reevaluate the blog’s content so there is more information available to anyone who wants to ask questions for the Octonauts/Octo-Agents.

5. A.S.A.’s Rating & Genre (Fanfic)

This story will now be classified as Cryptozoological Fiction, with partial Horror / Science Fiction & will be drawing straight from Folklore & Mythology. (For “Sci-Fi” don’t think space/aliens, think Cryptids in a scientifically evolved world.)

The rating is now PG-14

(Poll Results)

6. Fanfiction

This is really for the fanfiction itself. I’m still trying to figure out how to go about this. As of this current moment I have 1, maybe 2 chapters written out, and soon I hope to have more. However I am my own editor/beta reader, so it might not be as polished as I’d like to be, but I’m just going to have to accept that.

Unless I can find a bunch of people who can do that stuff for me, for fun, that’s the state this story will be in. You’ll have to have patient with me, I’m using all the tools I have at my disposal (Grammarly, Google Docs, LibreOffice, etc.) but I am a human with heavy ADHD and reading/comprehension disabilities, so please be kind.

7. Weekly Posts

I will still be posting weekly, just not on Tuesdays. I realize it’s only been stressing me out to post on that day every week and so I’ve been abusing my attempts at a proper sleep schedule because of it. I still work a very busy retail job and will have to get a secondary job sometime soon, so unfortunately you’ll just have to add me to your notifications if you want to know when I’ve posted.

8. The Future . . .

This one is for anyone who’s gotten this far. I want you to know that the Octonauts still mean so much to me. Even if we aren’t getting updates anymore, the community is still somewhat alive even if it's only a few of us. Maybe one day we’ll get our kickstart, but for now I will continue making content until I’m satisfied with the story and it’s ending. If I stray every now and then, that’s just because I have the attention span of a goldfish with a million hobbies and fandoms that constantly need attention. I love you guys and I promise to do my very best to make my mark on the internet, even if it’s for a silly kids show about talking/walking/nerdy animals who save fish every day.

9. January's Posting Plan

Week 1: Finishing the Octonaut's Headcanons

Week 2: My Christmas gift to the Community

Week 3: Silly Y/N & Fae Content (No it doesn't make sense, deal with it)

Week 4: Screencap Redraw

Week 5: Starting Redesigns

If you made it this far . . . here's a cookie and the secret formula.

🍪🍾

[cat-napsss]

I think we might all be wrong about Jax (Chekhov’s Bowling Ball Theory)

I posted this on tiktok but I feel like I should post it here too. so I literally stumbled my way into this realization while having a bunch of unrelated thoughts about TADC, and it felt like a moment in those murder mystery movies where the detective is standing by the board and suddenly flashes back to that *one* clue that didn’t make any sense and suddenly it ALL makes sense.

lemme ask you something, did you notice in episode two that no one died or had any sort of concern of death? Ragatha gets stabbed through and gets a knife in the head, while Kinger takes like eight of them. then they drive off into a ravine, and Gangle (one of the more anxious characters) has absolutely no reaction to their possible demise. As for Jax, he stands on the truck as it falls much like a Looney Tune (keep that in mind). With this evidence I fully expect an episode in the future to reveal to Pomni that they can’t die (via her own death and respawn or another character’s, who she panics over before finding out they come back) with this reveal we would establish that the players won’t die while playing these levels, no matter the damage done to their bodies. Now I have two questions.

Why was Ragatha so afraid of the Abstracted Kaufmo if they would all just respawn? And HOW exactly does someone Abstract?

all we know for certain about Abstraction is that it’s the terrible thing that happens when you “reach your breaking point” your breaking point is vague, but what if it’s how exactly it sounds? What if unlike in the games and levels, the circus is a place where you don’t respawn (because as a “safe-place” in the game, that programming was never put there to begin with) so when your character for whatever reason dies (like if you were to “reach your breaking point” and end your life) your file corrupts and creates an Abstraction?

when they found Kaufmo they were surprised, and Zooble comments that they didn’t expect him to have “given up”. Implying that Abstraction to some degree is a choice. Like the only way to do it is to do purposeful harm to yourself while in the circus.

now, to finally get to my point.

who was the one to volunteer themself and others to go check on Kaufmo? Leading three of the five available people to find him, instead of sending more man-power to help Zooble, who arguably needed them a lot more?

it was Jax. Jax volunteered himself Ragatha and Pomni. He then proceeded to reveal he had a key to Kaufmo’s room, and successfully avoided explaining why. Then they opened Kaufmo’s door and found him Abstracted.

why did he (uncharacteristically) volunteer himself and the anxious new girl to check on him?

Well, what does Jax see on the floor and pick up? A bowling ball. HIS bowling ball.

why was his bowling ball in Kaufmo’s room? Why was that something that was added? What purpose did it serve?

and why did Kaufmo run after them? Why did he abandon Ragatha after she was down? Why did he abandon the search for Pomni after that too?

why did Jax dive into the gloink cave?

why did Jax make that expression at the end of episode two when Ragatha invites Pomni to Kaufmo’s funeral, before leaving completely with no sign of him anywhere at all during the actual funeral?

and lastly, lemme ask you how you think someone who behaves much like a Looney Tune, might kill someone indirectly to get away with it?

I think it will be revealed that Jax killed Kaufmo with a Looney Tunes’ style trap, one using that bowling ball.

Because why the hell else was it there.

[be-compromised]

Promptathon 2024 Masterlist

Promptathon 2024 has come to an end! With an impressive grand total of 35 fills, and 535 comments at last check. Thank you to everyone who prompted, created, beta read, commented, cheered, and took part. We hope you had fun! Watch this space for Secret Santa 2o24 sign ups coming VERY soon and maybe a little fun for Halloween…

A promptathon masterlist is now available below and on dreamwidth. If there’s any incorrect or missing information please let me know in a comment to the dreamwidth post and I'll make sure it gets updated. (Our Username Database is a handy way to keep us up to date with your online handles for crossposted masterlists.)

The main links for the masterlist go to the original dreamwidth promptathon comments for archiving, but I've tried my best to also include links to AO3 where I've spotted crossposting. Please feel free to post/share your fills elsewhere! If you're using AO3 we have a handy Be_Compromised Promptathon Collection and you can tag works as be_compromised promptathon and community: be_compromised.

If you still have prompt fills that you’re working on, or feel inspired by prompts now or in the future from any of our community events, please do keep creating. Now that promptathon is over they won’t be included as part of the event or masterlist, but they will always be appreciated :)

And on to the main event…

5 Times Clint and Natasha Cursed the Rain and 1 Time They Didn't | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (PG; no warnings) Prompt: Tokyo wasn't their first time together in an alley in the rain

After The Threesome | AO3 by @inkvoices (Mature; sex) Prompt: After The Threesome They Both Take You Home by Sue Hyon Bae (poem here)

ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard? | AO3 by @quidnunc-life (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: Outsider POV or threesome: Woken up 3:45 by voices yelling outside my window. Turned out to be a couple in formal wear, literally standing in the road, who continued to yell back and forth at each other for quite some time, including [one] with, 'I love you!' and [the other] going back with, 'No, you don't!' Very sad that they can't make it work, but could they please have that conversation not outside our open windows at 4am?!

a masterpiece of a mess | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (Mature; no warnings apply; Clint/Bucky with past Natasha/Clint and Natasha/Bucky) Prompt:Maybe if he was a little less fuckable we wouldn’t be in this mess.

a masterpiece of a mess (remix edition) | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (Mature; no warnings apply; Clint/Darcy/Natasha) Prompt:Maybe if he was a little less fuckable we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Another String To Her Bow | AO3 by ultra_fic (G/K; no warnings apply) Prompt: Clint learns Natasha can shoot a bow.

Blank Slate | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; a little angsty but nothing bad) Prompt: One of them is de-aged. They can't be turned back, so they're going to have to grow up again the long way. (Your choice as to if they still have their memories or are completely de-aged as in they can’t remember any of their past.) The other has to choose whether to also be de-aged and grow up with them, be their friend (and maybe more if history repeats), or stay an adult and protect them (which might have to be from a distance?). Because they both know all too well how vulnerable children are, and had shitty childhoods, and want better for the person they love this time around.

Blindside | AO3 by @cloud--atlas (Teen; no warnings) Prompt: I'm so obsessed with your ex

Butterflies in Iowa | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; Character Death, Depiction of a Suicide, Vormir) Prompt: Lila sees Clint during the test run and the consequences

Daughter of Goose by @alphaflyer (G; no warnings apply) Prompt: In which Liho (or Lucky) turns out to be a Flerken.

desirable (and other adjectives) | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (G; weight gain) Prompt: Clint refers to it as a bulk cycle. Natasha simply calls it getting fat.

Don't Touch Lola | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: Endgame AU/fix-it: when Clint and Natasha show up to fetch the Soul Stone it's not there, it turns out at this point in time that someone else already has it.

Every Hawkeye has a Widow | AO3 by @firlalaith (G) Prompt: (615): Your sister reminds me of me at her age. Stop her while you can.

Get by with a little from our friends by @quietlyimplode (Teen/PG13; no warnings apply) Prompt: I can do it with a broken heart

history be rhyming | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: “He’s dead. Again.”

Hope in the Rain | AO3 by @quietlyimplode (Teen/PG13; Angst(?)/ Canonical Violence?) Prompt: Tokyo wasn't their first time together in an alley in the rain

I Get By… | AO3 by ultra_fic (G/K; no warnings necessary) Prompt: Kate notices the Black Widow tattoo on Clint's arm

I must have turned bright red (I liked what I saw) | AO3 by @icantopenwaterbottlecaps (Teen; no warnings) Prompt:An adult Natasha signs up to work at a summer camp, as part of her own healing and to give back. Enter Clint Barton, who's been a volunteer there already for a while (or may have similarly been originally ordered to work there like Nat). Everyone knows him, everyone gets on with him, he trains kids in archery and teaches them how to swim and grow in confidence, and he’s just. too. damn. Nice.

In Our Professional Opinion | AO3 by @alphaflyer (Mature; no warnings apply) Prompt: Rating SHIELD safehouses

It Might Be Worth It | AO3 by ultra_fic (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: In a world of boys, he's a gentleman

lingering doubts | AO3 by fadedwings (Teen; swearing, nightmares, insomnia, and some angst with a side of cuddling) Prompt: Clint never actually broke entirely free from Loki's control / still had lingering issues until Loki died. Or until the stone that powered the tesseract was destroyed.

Not Another Moment to Waste | AO3 by ultra_fic (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: You took the words right out of my mouth (it must’ve been while you were kissing me).

not just another mission | AO3 by fadedwings (Teen; adult language) Prompt: You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi

Out On the Moonlit Floor | AO3 by ultra_fic (G/K; no warnings necessary) Prompt: This is a love story. It must be; it's got kissing in it.

"Paradise Lost" | AO3 by chaed (T; no warnings) Prompt: Superior Iron Man enlists the services of nefarious assassin duo Black Widow and Hawkeye (dark!Clintasha).

Progress | AO3 by @inkvoices (Teen; a character having some anxiety in crowds and being the centre of attention) Prompt: our mutual friend has been talking us up to the other and when we finally meet, we have to tell them that we’ve been in a feud for the last six years

red light | AO3 by @quidnunc-life (Teen) Prompt: Sex work AU

(REMIX: Red Light / Little Red Lies | AO3 by @icantopenwaterbottlecaps  (Teen; no warnings) Prompt: Sex work AU

REMIX: red light / Little Red Lies / ran the red | AO3 by @asterarchers (G; no warnings) Prompt: Sex work AU

she’s gone by @quietlyimplode (Teen; angst) Prompt: When you hold me, it holds me together And you kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever

The Ties That Bind by @alphaflyer (Teen; no warnings) Prompt: Clint and Natasha are having the most incredible, amazing first date - what could go wrong?

the words of another | AO3 by @quietlyimplode (Teen/PG13; discussion of mental states) Prompt: Early SHIELD. Natasha hacks into the system and reads what is in her evaluation (Psychologists, Fury, Clint, etc.)

Untitled Fill (100 Word Drabble) by @quietlyimplode  (Teen; angst) Prompt: Non sexual (physical) intimacy

what we do to each other by @poppypickle (T; beginningsofcomplicatedfeelings!fic) Prompt: Don't know what to call this situation, but I know I can't call you mine

you've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks | AO3 by @asterarchers  (Teen and Up; no warnings apply) Prompt: Gentle Ways To Let Him Know You're Dating Each Other

[special--interest-collector]

I hated the ending to The Umbrella Academy.

Because I couldn't stop thinking about it, I decided to write my own ending. A Season 4.5 if you will.

None of this will make canon sense. I didn't think this all the way through, and this stemmed from late night ramblings with my partner.

So please, enjoy! Or don't! I already have my ideal futures for each character in my mind. I also disregard the Marigold, and that being the reason for the world ending each time.

-

TW: Mentions of family separation

"There might be another way..."

The Hargreeves siblings all turned to look towards Five. Each of them open to any other idea than having to sacrifice themselves. Allison clung to Claires hand; Klaus leaning against the back of the couch; Luther standing with Victor as they worried about Ben and Jennifer; while Diego and Lila stood at either side of Five.

"Well? What is the other way?" Diego raised a brow to his brother, waiting for an answer. The tension between them still rife from what had been revealed beforehand.

Five began to explain the idea that had occurred to him. It was a long-shot but, in the face of sacrificing themselves to save the world, he thought it might be worth trying. His plan- to split the siblings up in different timelines. Hoping that with them all separated, it would cancel out their destructive power. And with the subway available to him now, Five felt like it was at least worth trying.

The other siblings could only look between each other. None wanting to be the first to break the thoughtful silence. Tension was heavy in the air. It fell upon Luther, the leader of the group when they were still kids, to start the discussion.

"OK, tell us more, Five."

---

All of the siblings sat upon the subway train. Each in their own minds about what was about to transpire. Five, ever the planner, had explained how he was going to deposit them in their most fitting timelines. A favour to each of them before they were separated from each other.

The only sound being the sound of the wheels against the tracks. Lila had insisted on bringing the children and family members to wherever they would go. Claire clung to her mother's arm as they sat side by side.

"Wherever you end up, make the best of the situation. I can't guarantee anything, no matter how much I would love to tell you I could. Time travel has always been unpredictable."

Slowly, the subway train would travel through the timelines. Each sibling departed from the train into the unknown. Until only Five remained, getting off at the last station.

[kadextra]

so on a whim I started reading omniscient reader’s viewpoint manhwa

..and got hooked on the story so hard that I easily blasted through all available eps in less than a week. istg they put dr*gs in this thing it’s so good???? 😭

[SPOILER WARNING! big ramble ahead. if you’ve never read it, leave this post. consider checking it out you won’t be able to put it down]

lets get this out of the way first.

RAHHHHHH KIM DOKJA….. KIM DOKJA I LOVE YOU

GUYSSSSS 🥺 LISTEN. HE’S SUCH A GOOD PROTAGONIST. MY TRAUMA BOY. MY DUDE WITH THE POWER TO INFODUMP PEOPLE TO DEATH. YOU SELF-SACRIFICING IDIOT. his cunning intelligence makes him super attractive what can I say, I LOVE smart mcs with ambiguous morality and self sacrificial nature

here’s a big ✨shut your mouth✨ to every character who’s said he’s ugly- get your eyes checked, get a job get away from him (I know it’s because of the fourth wall’s filter it’s not their fault I’m just being silly)

the fourth wall is such a cool power to have. the complexity of how it acts based on his perception of fiction vs reality as the reader …. that’s very interesting and well thought out!!! how it lowkey has a consciousness too and it’s so tied into his mental state makes me want to psychoanalyze this guy even more. probably one of the most unique powers I’ve seen created and explored in a story tbh

I think the entire system of how the world works is really well done in general. constellations watching the apocalyptic bloodbath via livestream and sending donos to their favorite little guys shouldn’t work as well as it does and cracks me up so much 😭 (uriel is the best). I enjoy learning about all the irl different fables, history & mythologies too. plus doing my own research is fun! I did a deep dive through the web to learn about dokkaebi folklore lol I’m having a good time

I also related hard to how dokja read TWSA throughout his life, the story was a companion for him. got choked up bc I reflected on how much my own favorite companion stories for years mean to me. there’s been situations I’ve thought “what would (character) do?” dokja saying stuff like “what would joonghyuk do?” felt like I got called out <3 I’d probably be the same as him if my favorite characters suddenly came to life

anyways yeah I caught up with the manhwa looked online and discovered it comes from an already completed novel with over 500 chapters and the manhwa is barely a third into adapting it though it’s been releasing every week for 4 years. and that it’ll take like 10 more years to finish. I then planted my face in my hands and screamed with despair

I’ll shrivel up waiting to see what happens��…………heyyy woahhhh.. whats this light of salvation ? the novel file just completed download on my phone ? that’s crazyy wow I opened it ? im scrolling it right now ? omg I’m telling myself in the mirror “pace yourself, try to space your reading out do NOT read too fast” ?

jokes aside im excited, first I’ll take some time to read back through the earlier chapters for extra context of scenes! >:D after I finish doing that…. pls pray for my self-control to try stretching this for as long as possible. I’m pumped to see what happens next with this demon king part so maybe I’ll read along with the manhwa unless I get too impatient heh

to conclude- I had no idea the fandom of orv was so passionate. while closing my eyes to spoilers, I was looking at beautiful fanart and animatics (watched this one and ascended that’s one of my fav rin songs). I can tell how much you guys love the story, there’s always going to be people like me who get interested so keep it up :D if the fandom does end up reading this, ummm *knocks on the door* hi im new

I will likely talk about it more in the future!! tagging under “#kade reads orv” ! might draw fanart on my art blog too bc brainworms <3 happy reading everyone

[psiirockin]

do you have any advice for opening commissions? i feel like you have them very professionally set up, and i have pretty bad social anxiety, so it might be helpful to hear tips for communicating with customers and such, or setting up a fair tos!

hi so, maybe i do have some advice!!! <33 thank you so so much for the kindness & seeing me as professional lol i’ve been doing comms for 2-3 years and i must say.. still getting the hang of a lot of things. you go through a lot of trial + error trying to figure out what works best for you, so remember theres no truly right way to go about comms! they should all fit the needs, pace, and benefit of you and your work ethic!

what i did personally is start off at some lower prices just to test the waters and get the ball rolling. i priced rendered characters at i think, $24 per character? possibly lower, i cant quite remember. and then i gradually went up as i started to progress in my art style more + had more people coming in.

with customers, i have a lot of anxiety as well! im autistic, so i never like making a customer feel like i dont truly care abt the commission by accidentally sounding too flat or anything. i tend to RLLY overthink it lol so we make sure we are extra talkative + kind about their comm! giving them compliments on the character, showing genuine excitement so they know theyre in good hands! (we love engaging esp when the customer seems VERY excited or enthusiastic abt the commission!)

a lot of irl turmoil tends to happen in our life which can make a comm delayed sometimes. could be severe mental health problems, just being busy w/ shit in general. its important to just keep your customers up to date, especially if its going to take a realllyyy long time or the customer likes frequent updates.

i used to be able to get shit done in like a night. but, with an actual line up/queue of comm work we progressively started taking longer and longer esp as we transitioned from a teenager starting out and into a busy adult with persistent mental health issues. (plus our art becomes more complex as time goes on, so that has to be taken into account) tbhs, depending on your availability and how much effort goes into your work, and as the demand grows, you need to charge accordingly and just be honest with your clientele.

as for TOS do what makes you comfortable! make your limits known and put your foot down when a request or any topic makes you uncomfortable. dont let your customers get inappropriate with you or try to make you feel bad if they dont wanna pay for what they ask for, etc. i also recommend requesting payment after sketch/half and half when starting out just so you can get some experience under your belt + assure future clients that youre professional n wont scam them! (if you plan on switching to payment upfront in the future)

just remember that u are not a machine, you are a human being making art for someone else. putting love n effort into your craft, time and effort. take your time getting the hang of comm stuff, things dont have to be perfect in your setup at first.

[spacemagictea]

Drifter Character Sheet

edit: fixed face screenshots cuz turns out I had the wrong aspect ratio the entire bloody time

Birth Name: Kaylessa

Titles: Drifter, Time Freak (‘title’ she gives herself)

Nicknames: Kay, Kayle, Marty, whatever Amir comes up with

Sex/Gender: Female

Birth World: Venus

Home World: Earth

Current Residence: Höllvania

Birthday: 30th June, year ???

Height: 170cm

Weight: middle, she’s got decent muscle

Eye Shape and Color: idk eye shapes well, visual reference above. Color emerald green

Skin Texture and Color: freckled, white, pale-skinned. Her body is littered with scars - arrows, cuts, claws, some burns, most notable however are a prominent scar in the middle of her chest from the usual method of execution by impalement she suffered in Duviri and tendrils of void scarring on her left hand and forearm caused by the severed hand of Lotus merging with her hand in Duviri.

Hair Style and Color: straight hair, usually shoulder length, kept in check with a bandana or tied in a ponytail if she lets it grow longer, crimson red color

Style/Fashion: 

casual wear: somewhat loose, comfy clothing. She loves turtlenecks and flannel. Often found wearing sunglasses and headphones plus a backpack. Pink, purple and black/grey.

battle fit: Armor that resembles Dax armor but with a closed mask with a plume at the top, black base with silver and golden parts and red cloth accents.

Age: Visually 30ish, actual age ??? (she was 13 when the Zariman Incident happened)

Personality Traits: Gentle, kind, honest, reckless, awkward, open-minded, curious, patient, protective

Likes: tea, plants, animals, floofs, books, music, good stories, tinkering with tech, AMIR.

Dislikes: pollution, Indifference, pointless cruelty, ALBRECHT ENTRATI.

Pet Peeves: hard to find whole leaf tea in Höllvania and these teabags SUCK

Habits: always keeps a tea set in places where she spends a lot of time, often fidgets with the bouncy glaives she can summon through her amp, likes to stay up late

Morals: never refuses to help others, tries to approach everyone with kindness, willing to avoid fighting if it’s not necessary, avoids dishonorable combat. She is vengeful, especially against people who hurt the innocent or things/people she cares about.

Phobias: seeing people she cares about die, having to go back to the future with no way to bring the Hex with her

Pros: good listener, will comfort you, bring you tea or any preferred beverage and tell you a story. Considers protecting others her duty. She’ll not disturb you if she doesn’t have to and you can basically chill alongside her doing your own thing.

Cons: often disregards her own well-being and/or safety. Tends to put others before her too much. A bit… touchy. She was very touch starved so if you don’t like hugs or touch, warn her beforehand because she likes to give hugs.

Personal Glories: getting Amir to date her lol 

Personal Trauma: had to kill her older sister when she turned mad because of MITW and as a result she always feels like she failed her in some way. Major survivor’s guilt.

Powers: time looping, Tenno Void powers - while she can perform anything her operator self can do, she has less control over these powers, for example, her void mode/cloak doesn’t always fully protect her or turn her invisible.

Abilities: melee combat, Kaithe riding, pistol/amp shooting. More recent abilities come from the Void powers obtained when she met with her alternate self and became empowered when they chose to have the Drifter be the more active person for the time being. Due to not being used to them yet, she might at times forget that she’s got some of these tools available - mostly concerning focus school abilities. Current main extent includes Void mode/cloak, Void sling, Transference and abilities of the Vazarin/Unairu schools of focus. Still working on the other schools and mastering what she’s currently got. Occasional void mode issues have her try to figure out if she can potentially do the partial void mode on purpose and for example only use the damage protection mode, without the invisibility.

Weapons: Sirocco, a pistol she uses in Duviri, Edun, melee spear she uses in Duviri (I know DE doesn’t let us but she also uses it outside Duviri) and an amp called Flying Blaze, which can project damaging Void energy as either homing, bouncing glaives or a pistol-like blast. When using Warframes, she’s got a variety of weapons to choose from.

Combat Affinity: Flexibility is key. Whether fighting as herself or using a Warframe, she adjusts to the role that is most necessary and controls the battlefield that way. She can switch from attacker to defender and vice versa quickly.

Warframes of choice: Protea Prime, Hildryn Prime, Nova Prime

Social Skills: She’s friendly and open but awkward. Years of isolation make her a bit hesitant at times but if approached, she won’t refuse interaction.

~Relationships~

Lover: Amir. The spark between the two ignited quickly, the common ground helping them develop a friendship that eventually bloomed into much more than that - a true love. They are truly open and vulnerable with each other like with nobody else, sharing their experiences, their nightmares, their joys and their sadness to the full extent. She loves him for all of him. And the most precious thing to her is how he sees beyond her powers and her heroics and sees her as a person. To many, she’s an admirable hero and/or a powerful asset. To Amir, she’s just Kaylessa. 

Family: 

Deceased parents, she forgot their names at this point but she remembers they were kind and loving. They were scholars.

Deceased older sister, Aurelia, who aspired to be an Archimedean and was a great inspiration to young Kay.

The Hex are kind of a found family to her. They’re both best friends and siblings to her (aside from Amir being her lover)

Friends:

Aoi: They enjoy sharing music sessions with fun beverages together. Aoi greatly encouraged Kay to take the step to confess her feelings to Amir and taught her where the most fun date spots are.

Eleanor: They share legends and stories with each other and hold challenging discussions. Eleanor teaches Kay about languages and the state of the world in 1999. She also helped her name her feelings towards Amir and encouraged to take the step further.

Lettie: finding a lot of similarities to her older sister, Kay holds the softest spot for Lettie. She loves to help her with medical duties and making sure that Lettie can earn a moment of respite. And Lettie helps keep Kay grounded.

Arthur: a relationship of great respect and true friendship, Kay helped Arthur open up and evolve as a leader. They also practice cooking together. He made Kaylessa, who used to be a lone wolf, consider how she works with a team more.

Quincy: while she does consider Quincy an asshole at times and still has a slight grudge about his early treatment of Amir, the fact that in the end he tries to do the right thing has her consider him a positive relationship. She finds how he takes care of the kids in Höllvania to be the most noble thing. She helps him find educational resources.

Others:

While she has close relationships to the folks of the present time, she still considers herself quite… separated from them, especially now that she developed deep relationships with the Hex.

The Lotus (Natah): a mother figure to the Operator, Kaylessa’s title of Champion makes her feel a bit weird but working under her guidance has been a great honor.

Teshin: her mentor and a father-like figure, she cares greatly about him and always appreciates his lessons.

Operator Kaylessa has a sibling-like relationship with Drifter Kaylessa, but the main role the Operator took was one of a mentor.

Ordis: Ordis treats both versions of Kay the same way, like a caretaker. To the Drifter, he’s kind of like an uncle.

Loid: a friendly guide, she deeply appreciates his efforts, but has a bit of a hard time telling Loid that if she saw Albrecht ever again, it’s on sight.

The Cavia: the animals are deeply precious to Kay and another big motivation for her vengeance towards Albrecht.

Dominus Thrax: she pities the child king, after all she created him and kind of made him into her personal punishment

Albrecht: enemy number two, after the Indifference

Viktor: enemy number three

Theme Song: Dead Cells - Clock Tower Dead Cells - ClockTower (Official Soundtrack)

What voice I imagine her having: Sandra Nasic from Guano Apes, especially the first three albums era

Biography: Kaylessa’s parents were biology scholars of good renown. Born in one of the first cities built on the terraformed Venus, Kay led a quiet and idyllic life, in tune with nature from birth as her parents took her and her older sister Aurelia on their research expeditions. Aurelia, being 6 years older, made sure to protect her little sister whenever she had an opportunity and show her the world to the best of her understanding.

Boundlessly curious, Kay took up to learning all about plants and animals, giving her parents great hope she’d follow in their footsteps. Her sister was an academic ace, especially excelling in genetics, with an early dream of becoming an Archimedean. The more reserved future Drifter did not think of such ambitious things yet, but she was no less knowledge hungry, often preferring to read books once she was able to read and look at the beauty of the natural world over interacting with others.

When Kaylessa was 10, her family was selected to be among the first colonists of Tau, boarding the fated ship Zariman Ten Zero, which was to be their new home… and ended up being the tomb for most of them. Three years later, she lost everything and everyone she cared about. Forced to kill her sister who turned mad then watching her parents tear each other apart when imprisoned left her with haunting nightmares and a major case of survivor’s guilt.

She ended up stranded on the Zariman when the deal she made with the Man in the Wall made it so everyone else but her was saved. Escaping into Duviri, she ended up stuck for a long, long time, until the New War’s paradox brought her salvation.

She took up a more active role between the two versions of her after emerging, hoping to give her child soldier self some respite from everything that happened. Until she had to travel in the past… and now she does not know if she’ll want to return, unless she finds a way to bring the Hex with her.

Other notes: ADHD and autism traits but do they diagnose that stuff in the far future? Probably not, up to you if because it’s considered a normal thing or because things are just ignored due to everything being gigafucked. She’s left handed so I mirror everything that defaults to right hand to left hand in my mind, like the Lotus hand. She’s demisexual. Her face scars are less prominent but even then, that’s why she got accessories on her to draw attention from the scars away.

------

As you can see I gave her a small look revamp - after they fixed the kiss cut scene it had me notice a few things that I liked more before fixes and some things that pestered me too much so, I adjusted her look.

Character sheet courtesy of @ashandshy https://www.tumblr.com/ashandshy/772406073411960833/drifter-character-sheets-of-2025

[lamaison]

Well, I've spent about four days with Zenless Zone Zero (and truly other than my Genshin and HSR dailies it's all I've played in those four days). I'm at the beginning of Chapter 2 in the story, where they soft lock you behind Inter-Knot level 30. I've also played a small about of the Hollow Zero and Shiryu Defense modes.

So time for some non-spoilery thoughts!

In terms of combat, it's very fun! I was worried it would be too frenetic for me, but it does a good job of prompting you. The perfect assist is so satisfying. I appreciate the option to select casual or challenge difficulty. I'm on casual difficulty and I'm starting to get to more difficult content, but the regular story missions are honestly hard to fail on casual.

I know a lot of people have problems with the monitor portions, but I enjoy them. There have been some fun puzzles with these and I love a good puzzle. I had a few problems where it wasn't responsive but that was my only frustration and that might just be my internet connection.

The activity loop is enjoyable too. You can definitely see the inspiration from Persona with the day being divided into sections and actually feeling like time is passing. And there's a good balance between activities that cost energy and those that don't. It's not open world but very similar to Persona there are small areas of the city you can travel to (I do wish these spaces were a little bit larger however, it seems kind of silly to have three fast travel points within the very small construction site area)

THIS is the comedy Hoyo game - they tried to sell HSR as the comedy and it's funny, but this is over the top. I have laughed out loud at multiple points. The animation in the cut scenes works for it too; it has a bouncy quality that fits the tone. They must have their own animation team because the quality of the cut scenes is so different from Genshin/HSR.

I really like that no matter which sibling you chose to play as, both Wise and Belle are present and active in the story. They also have individual rooms above the video shop!

I like the story so far - it's got enough to hook me for the moment. I'm excited that it looks like we might be able to get outside the city in the story that's available now. I'm just not far enough to tell for sure. Also lore players rejoice, they gave us a reason to play the roguelike mode! You're able to pick up lore clues like audio files within these levels so at least for me now I have an actual motivation to play that.

I ADORE the city and NPC design. Hoyo has really struggled with interesting NPC design, reusing the same bodies with different outfits. Here the NPCs have many different bodies and outfits and it adds so much life to the city. You can also run into current and possible future playable characters in the overworld.

Finally, props to ZZZ to be the Hoyo game brave enough to go full furry and not just humans with animal ears/tails. I love the bears that work at the construction company.

Overall, I've enjoyed my time with it so far and I'm going to continue playing.

[oreramar]

Florist Talk: daily tasks

I recently made a post with bullet points talking about some of the common aspects of being a florist (caveat: at a mom n pop shop in a small town in the US, not all points apply universally). This time I'm going to narrow down on the normal sorts of everyday, week to week aspects. This is written as though it's a guide for the writing of Florist AU fiction/fanfiction, so occasionally I'll refer to the example Florist as your Florablorb, or, now, Florbo for short.

May this be of use to anyone writing such a story in order to simply ground your character in everyday tasks when plot/characterization needs to happen.

Opening tasks: I'm sure you can imagine. Doors open, lights on, computer/POS logged into and till shift opened, any ambient music turned on. Extra details can be added such as dragging out sandwich board signs or those outdoor flags or maybe even an outside display stand/cart (only in warmer months) or shoveling/salting a walkway (if in a snowy time/place).

Then Florbo goes into the walk-in flower cooler and removes any flower arrangements premade for delivery on this day. Maybe delivery slips are organized now, maybe left for when a delivery will actually be made. Anything that was ordered in day(s) before this one should be delivered on the first run of the day if possible.

If there's a florist website it's possible web orders came in after previous day's closing/before opening this one. They might autoprint and simply need to be collected off the printer. If they exist they get sorted into same-day or put into whatever organization system is used for future orders. The shop I work at has a series of cubbies labeled Monday through Saturday; order sheets are folded in half and put into whatever day it's meant for.

Start working on whatever flower orders came in for this day. If they're done before first delivery time then they can go out with the others. If not, they'll go out later. On a busy day, an unspecified or "designer's choice" arrangement can be chosen from the display cooler for speed. It'll be replaced by a design of similar price when more time is available.

If calls or walk in customers happen during any of this then they're handled in between the rest of it.

Usually in my experience there's minimum two deliveries per day: one mid morning / before noon, and one after lunch breaks are taken / mid-afternoon. Rarely are there fewer runs, and occasionally more orders come in during or after the second run so a third (or fourth, or sometimes, rarely, even a fifth) are needed. This might be very modest given the size of the shop/town I work in; more may be normal (especially with a dedicated driver) in a larger or busier city.

Again, usually I can get any same-day morning orders done either before or just after lunch breaks conclude. Again, this might vary place to place, and definitely varies day to day.

Lunch breaks can be half an hour to a full hour depending on your place and person and how busy it all is. I've got a near-retirement boss who likes to go out to lunch and takes a full hour. I usually only do half an hour unless for some reason I need to run home for lunch in which case I can typically have an hour as well.

If and when same-day orders are finished, Florbo will get into the cubby/other organization and find anything already there for the next day and start working on those orders. Floral arrangements go into the back cooler (not the display one, to avoid confusion/people walking in and wanting to buy things already made for others). Any live plants or gift-type items go on some sort of shelf or counter or other out of the way surface. Confusion can happen if Florbo doesn't pay attention to dates: an order for Monday the first will be in the same cubby as an order for Monday the eighth. Gotta try to stay on top of that but mistakes can happen.

If a same-day order is made while working on next-day orders, it gets priority.

Obvious is obvious but orders that go to schools have to get there comfortably before school lets out. If that is just not feasible because someone up and ordered fifteen minutes before the final bell they'll need to be told that it's gonna be a tomorrow thing now. This usually isn't an issue.

There's usually a same-day delivery time cutoff, usually sometime in the afternoon. How strictly it is followed may vary by the day and store. If someone tries to skirt this cutoff by ordering online they may or may not need to be called and informed that it's not gonna work this day. There will be a separate post on Delivery Protocol later because that gets a bit long.

Make any arrangements needed to refill the display cooler. Every few days or so, recut and rewater any arrangements left in the display cooler to give them more longevity.

Normal cleaning chores might be done during lulls as well. Dusting shelves or watering live plants is occasional, but sweeping the work area and cooler floors is daily. No matter how careful you are in cutting leaves and flower stems stuff will end up on the floor. Some of those stems will ricochet wildly when clipped.

Flower deliveries come about twice a week. They could arrive any time of day, even overnight (warehouse drivers will usually have a key shop to put them inside for you) depending on your suppliers and their routes. Flowers arrive bundled in big, long boxes, and must be trimmed and put into water treated with flower food.

Flower food comes either in big buckets of white powder (mixed into water) or big buckets of liquid concentrate (again, mixed into water, and a handy hose that connects it to the water source through a special nozzle makes this much easier. The nozzle is squeezed like a gas pump and can be used to fill buckets/vases/jugs directly).

Closing bits are just what you'd expect. Sometimes someone calls or walks in five minutes before closing, and Florbo must unfortunately suffer this.

SATURDAY SPECIAL: any and all of the above needed, but this tends to be the slowest day for orders and deliveries, so instead some of the time is filled by removing literally all flowers from the walk in cooler, sweeping and mopping the floor, and recutting/reorganizing/refreshing all the water buckets. This includes emptying a bucket used to collect cooler condensation water via a hose. There's never much in the winter but in the summer this has to be done two or three times a week otherwise it gets too full to lift or carry and your poor Florbo, if they have floppy arms, might be forced to drag it across the floor to tip it outside.

Of course things can vary depending on the day and vary even more if there's some kind of holiday altering the flow of business, but that bit's for a later post. This one's gotten long enough.

So go now, and couch your Florbo's dialogue and narrative in actions such as processing a fresh order of flowers from the wholesaler, or in resorting to dusting shelves for the third time that week because business has been so slow and they've run out of normal things to do and space in the display cooler to make things for. There is much variety to be had beyond writing them arranging yet another dozen roses every time plot rears its head!

[laurarolla]

Couple random tidbits of info regarding the games I'm playing:

First off, started Lies of P, first boss first try, damageless until phase transition, no big deal, easy game for babies. I know it will get harder, but the main thing that stands out from just the first hour is a number of little quality of life details the game has over the other souls games I've played, like selling soul items for their full value (not uncommon now but very unusual in the earlier games I played for years), or selling the three starting weapons for extremely cheap before the first boss so you can try each one and find what works best before the fight. I like that the fashion game is entirely unconnected to your stats, but I do with we had a few more mix and match options. However, running around with reindeer antlers and classic Wizard of Oz book Emerald glasses is pretty neat. Kinda wish the red nose could be worn with the glasses too but sometimes you have to accept limitations in life. XP

Second, Septerra Core is going well, just a couple more sections before the point where travel opens up and most of the side quests become available. The odd thing is that I found a copy of the original Strategy Guide for the game from 1999 for cheap, and I think it's pretty well-written and explains the main campaign path well. It even provides a lot of info on enemy health and attacks that is really handy to have. There is, however, one glaring problem with the book: the side quests aren't in it. At all. Only one of them is even mentioned in the character section since two characters unlock a special attack by doing a side quest. What angers me the most is that this is not an oversight. In the same era as the horrendous Final Fantasy IX Strategy Guide that primarily existed to push the PlayOnline website before FF11 came out, Septerra Core's strategy guide tells you go download a PDF from the (now very much long dead) Sybex Games website for all the secrets and side quests.

This is another example of how properly preserved physical media is just really damn important. Yeah, it's a video game strategy guide, it's not gonna affect future historians understandings of our lives, but it still illustrates how just keeping everything in data form leads to a constant threat of loss in very short order. Thank goodness for GameFAQs, which clearly isn't threatened by the rise of modern wikia sites and will obviously last forever for the future of retro gamers. Clearly.

Side note, I looked up the Lies of P wiki and it kinda sucks. That might be relevant to the point I'm making here.

[s0crvtic]

Hello everybody I'm Cayo (they/them) and it's my pleasure to bring you Lim Namgyu AKA Agent Figaro ( originally skeleton ADVOCATE ) He is the dependable but cranky man that cleans up the legal aftermath of missions and that makes sure your character sees another day without prison bars blocking their view! It's grueling work and he's one headache away from losing it, but he's pretty damn good at what he does. I'm looking forward to plotting and chatting with everyone very soon—my discord is my preferred point of contact and will be available upon request, but I can use IMs as well if it's more convenient for you.

Below is a quick summary, along with some wanted connections to get the ball rolling! Race you to the end xoxo.

Origin Overview —

-Lim Namgyu is the son of two previously powerful lawyers that spent more time dedicated to their jobs than they spent raising him. Early on, he has to foster a sense of independence, surviving on the echoes of two nearly imperceivable people who were supposed to love him. He lives a financially stable life, but it's a lonely one that hardly opens up the windows for entertaining luxuries even if they could technically afford them.

-Late in his childhood, both parents are convicted for unjust law practices favoring some of South Korea's most notorious crime syndicates and while the realization of their wrongdoings stuns him, he can't find it in himself to grieve for people who were hardly there to begin with. He is taken in by his paternal aunt and his elderly grandmother shortly after. They show more interest and care for him in the span of his first year with them than he thinks he's ever experienced in his whole time living under his parents' roof, if that were to be considered truly living at all.

-That care is what pushes his aunt to heavily discourage Namgyu from following in his parents' footsteps. But when he gives in to his natural inclination for studying law in part to years of exposure to the lifestyle, the book of his future already begins to write itself. He exceeds the benchmarks his mother and father set when he enrolls in the same law school they attended, graduating and quickly being swept up into some of the biggest civil cases Seoul has to offer at the time. This garners him plenty of attention, even more so when the court rules in his favor.

-Because of this publicity, a senior agent from Aegis approaches him in the bustle of an emptying court room, under the guise of paying him for his time and dedication to an embezzlement case while the dust still settles around them. With the check that gets tucked into his suit, is a business card. With the exchange, memorable words that stay with Namgyu to this day:

"You want to do something actually good in this city, kid? Give me a call."

-It only takes a week for him to mull over dialing the number and over a drink shared at the Obsidian Lounge, Lim Namgyu is recruited into Aegis as their primary legal consultant and crisis manager. In present time, he is going on his sixth year with the organization.

Character overview —

-He's usually never a friendly face to happen upon in the halls of Aegis International, mostly because he's exhausted but also because he can't seem to ever separate his personal life from his business matters; making sense of and justifying some of the more convoluted happenings in the agency has left him in a seemingly perpetual state of cold indifference. Though, some would say he loosens up over a dirty martini from time to time or that he might crack a smile if given praise over coffee. These allegations, however, could be entirely false, and just a way to make Agent Figaro feel less like a heavy gavel to the temple and more like a colleague that cares. It would entirely be up to a curious individual to find out for themselves.

-Don't ask questions you don't want factual answers to, devoid of empathy. Hypotheticals leave too much space for Namgyu to interject with legal jargon—he's not fun at parties and that is precisely why he normally never gets an invite.

-Caffeine and spite fuels him through his days of paperwork, discussing and debriefing whatever the agency needs him to oversee and sitting through hours long discovery sessions with Seoul's most prestigious defense attorneys. Yes your call is going to voicemail so either send it in an email or say whatever you need to say to his face.

-He has a sweet tooth and a poor habit of leaving the evidence all over his desk. If you have a problem with clutter he will simply ask you to just avert your eyes since it's his space you're intruding anyway. He's too busy to use the trashcan at the other end of his study.

-Namgyu is normally holed up in his office most days or harrassing other intelligence and analysis operatives on others in order to help fill out holes in his documents. No stone left unturned heavily applies to his line of work, specifically if those details could mean keeping his colleagues out of hot water.

-He leaves little to be desired in terms of self defense but he does thankfully know how to use a firearm if he absolutely has to. Normally, Agent Figaro will tow a field operative with him if his business requires him to leave the confines of headquarters to ensure he has the manpower to overcome any threats that may follow being a man in his position.

-Don't bring up his parents' fall from grace and he won't bring up the theoretical criminal record that he's managed to protect you from strangling your career with.

-While he was initially raised well to do, he was not given many opportunities as a child to actually realize it. This made transitioning to live with his single-income aunt easy to do and has translated to a quiet appreciation for the finer things in these years that he's been able to afford them. One point of pride specifically would be a thick, golden watch on his left wrist.

Wanted Connections !

I've been more partial to brainstorming lately as I think it brings out equally interesting and unique aspects to all characters involved, but for now I'm itching for the following and this list is subject to change (likely further elaboration when I have a better idea of how Namgyu functions)—

◇ You both existed frequently in the same spaces before being recruited into Aegis International. This would be applicable to characters that were either constantly in need of legal consultation because of how involved they were in local crime within his district or characters who were active in Law Enforcement. If it's the latter, and you took your job seriously than he likely has a positive view of you! If it's the former than it might be more of a complicated relationship.

◇ Late Nights, No stars in the concrete jungle. Smoke breaks feet away from the Obsidian lounge bouncer to feel human again. You both don't often say much when you're together but there's something in the way your eyes mirror each other that doesn't need words. Perhaps one day you're not in your usual prowling area or vice versa and they have to actually find each other to initiate their quiet rituals. Are we going to talk about how we've made a habit of each other?

◇ He wont leave you alone because you're a walking legal disaster that keeps things too close to your chest, hardly wiping the blood off of your shoes when you walk past his office. Namgyu knows you don't like him, but unlucky for you he also doesn't care.

◇You're often the first person called upon to accompany him on his legal outings and because of that you either loathe him and wish desperately that he would learn how to better defend himself so you didn't have to be subject to awkwardly trailing after him all day, or you've grown fond of the peaceful silence he offers in the hustle of your normal schedule.

[starshower1215]

Hearthstone: Tragic Hero Version

There are five elements to a tragic hero in literature. They must 1) be highly renowned, 2) have a hamartia, or tragic flaw, 3) have their fortune reversed, 4) recognize their mistakes, 5) accept the consequences. So, if Hearthstone were to be the protagonist of a Greek tragedy, it might go like this:

In the high house of the Aldermans, Hearthstone is born the eldest of two, and is heir to the great fortune and power of his family. However, he is deaf, and all of Alfheim scorns him for it. Hearth devotes his life to proving his own worth to them, but... he is ignorant, and tends to place his loyalties and values in the wrong people.

One day, the opportunity comes upon him to visit the all-knowing god Mimir and his well. All in exchange for either a sacrifice or servitude, Mimir offers him two choices: great power in the ways of the runestones, or acceptance in Alfheim by gaining the ability to hear.

Hearth, desiring the love of his people, chooses to hear.

Like Odin, he gauges out one eye and drops it into the well for Mimir, knowing the wound could be hidden, and drinks from the prepared cup of water.

Now a hearing person, he returns home to Alfheim, and for a great period of time, news spreads of his 'sudden cure' and 'miraculous saving.' Bad news, however, travels just as quickly, and soon Hearth is mocked and rejected more than he'd ever been for being deaf. Even the power that his heritage provides cannot pull him out of the hole he has dug.

Hearthstone drags on through life, though it has lost what little light it held. Every which way he moves, there is a curled lip or narrowed eye of disgust. As time runs on, he begins to realize that, if he were trying to open a box his whole life to find the love he desired inside, he would have found it empty. It is a hard pill to swallow, but Hearth learns then that what he wanted was never truly available. It was hopeless. And though he may wish to turn back and retain his former self, he accepts that this was what happened, and this was what he'd have to live with.

Moral of the Story: This is not anything related to the idea that deafness is a flaw. It isn't something to be fixed, and though canonically, being deaf and choosing to be deaf is a big part of Hearthstone's character, there was undoubtedly a part of him which, at some point in time, would have made the trade immediately- as everyone would, to feel that they belong, because who likes being lonely? He makes the decision based on other people, not himself, and thus it is and always will be the wrong choice.

Additional Note: Greek plays tend to begin with the nine muses giving a prophecy or revealing the ending. I feel the prophecy might specify a regrettable choice in the future, obviously the reversal of fortune (or peripeteia), etc.