#it has been too long and formatting is aa

[astroveritas]

❛ I really need to start listening to people when they tell me things. You don't look anything like I expected you to. For example, what are those? ❜

Thin, index finger jolts at the ready, pointing to the shorts on the person opposite her. Mona sighs, eyes rolling before her hands come to rest upon her hips. There's a thousand things she could say here, but really, that was the first thing on her mind to truly shine. Her lips offer a mocking smile thereafter.

❛ And I'm supposed to worship you when you look like this? How silly of you. ❜

@hitokageisei

[teaboot]

holy moley the idea of alexander skarsgard as murderbot is irreconcilable in my head lol. when i read the book for my scifi class i pictured murderbot as more feminine in appearance tbh, and i thought it was weird that no one else in that class seemed to. i feel like i mightve missed something in the text bc i find it wild how widespread "murderbot looks like a man" is. or is their physical appearance more fleshed out in other books?

Murderbot (it/its so far as I've read) has so far been definitively described as having:

A Humanoid figure, with two arms and legs

A human face

Explicitly no genitalia, with none desired, and no primary or secondary sex characteristics noted

(In book one) Having hair only on its head, then eyelashes and eyebrows, being smooth everywhere else

Nonhuman features on its arms/legs that can be concealed under pants and long sleeves

Some kind of mechanical port on the back of its neck that is not uncommon on "augmented humans"

No distinct freckles, moles, or markings

An incomplete internal digestive system

By what isn't described I imagine we can safely assume that it has eight fingers and two thumbs in the usual formation, though wearing shoes I'm not sure about toes.

I also haven't heard anything apropos of scarring, except that it heals rapidly, so I imagine any distinguishing marks from injuries likely wouldn't last long.

Nobody as far as I've read has referred to it by any assumed binary or neo-pronouns, and as relatively progressive as the setting is in terms of queer and poly relationships I can easily imagine that agender humans with it/its pronouns wouldn't be too terribly strange in common company either.

So far, no third party characters have called it a "he" or "she", which could either mean that nobody in this universe adheres to our current rigid social view of the gender binary and masc/fem appearances, or that Murderbot is simply incredibly androgynous. As a reader, I like to think the reality is both- a secunit doesn't need to look distinctive or gendered or have any features it doesn't strictly need outside of its function. As it says in the book, it's not a sex-model, so it doesn't need sex-parts, and it wasn't made to be looked at.

I feel like the only reason anyone would read that and ascribe to it a male face and body is because our current western society tends to treat "white male" as the natural default setting, and anything else as "other".

We expect Murderbot to be a conventionally handsome white man because that's the popular view of neutral.

But there's no reason it couldn't be performed by an actor who is female, or Indigenous, or Korean, or anyone else from anywhere else

If our Pretty White Man isn't the default neutral in Murderbot's universe, and if there is no default neutral, then the Default Neutral Murderbot was designed to look like could be anyone

Provided, of course, that they 1. Have a human face 2. Have no freckles or moles (for book 1 at least) 3. Have two arms and legs, of some manner, and 4. Don't flash their junk on screen

Aa far as I'm concerned, that's all we need.

And you know what? I think the prospect of getting to choose any actor at all, point to them, and say "This person? They're the norm! They're unremarkable! They are a version of True Neutral, and they aren't a small-nosed blue-eyed white guy with abs!"... I think that's kind of exciting, and I sort of fear that it may be an overlooked opportunity to say something interesting

[kisakis-boyfriend]

Thinking about diluc dressed up for Halloween in a slutty dress 🤔

Pairings: Diluc x reader

Warnings: GN!reader, sub!reader AND dom/top!reader, dom!Diluc AND sub/bottom!Diluc, teasing, degradation, public sex

Genre/Format: Smut; Headcannons & scenarios

Author's Note: Hnnngh yes please. Men in pretty dresses are my weakness ❤️ I went a little overboard with this one...my bad 😶

Please check my blog title to verify whether requests are closed or not! Thank you!

Diluc in a pretty maid dress... 👀

You ask Adelinde to help you pick out a nice dress and Moco and Hillie choose the accessories!

Diluc's cheeks burn a bright red as he slips the tight number onto his toned body. It just squeezes him in all of the right places and it's so embarrassing...

The skirt barely covers his groin area...there's no way he's leaving the manor like this. Not a chance.

But that's ok with you since that means you can have this slutty maid all to yourself~

You'll beg him to flip the little skirt up and give you a glimpse of his fat cock in the black and white panties that he's wearing 😳

But you'll really, reeeaaallly need to beg hard if you want him to indulge your pervy requests

And honestly? It works out in your favor, because when you get on your knees and Diluc steps on your thigh while you beg? That's more than enough to turn you on

Though, since he enjoys teasing you so much...he decides to give you what you ask for with his own twists

Diluc's foot slides off of your thigh and lands in between your legs, pushing up against your arousal and causing you to involuntarily buck your hips. His gaze pierces through you as he lifts the skirt of his tiny dress, the sight immediately removing all moisture from your throat

“What would you like me to do now, Master?” He asks in a condescending tone. You stare up at his dick while you contemplate an answer; The tip is peeking out at the top of his panties, too large for them to fully contain his length. The entire outline of the shaft is visible through the lacy front of the fabric, just begging to be sucked on. His red happy trail is also visible as it leads your gaze down his stomach and straight to his heavy cock

You don't answer for a few minutes, lost in a trance at the sight hovering above you but still out of reach unless you lean forward. A flex of Diluc's foot pulls you from your perverted daydream, the little bit of pressure against your dick/cunt was just enough to elicit a moan out of you

“Aa-aahh!! Mmmm...c-can I suck you off?”

Diluc scoffs at the question. “You're my master, right? Do whatever you want.”

As you bite your lower lip, you inch closer until you're pressed against his legs, staring up at the cock just a couple inches away from your face, so close that you can smell it. Immediately, you latch onto Diluc's dick, licking and sucking on the fabric until it becomes soaked in your saliva. He inhales sharply when you lap at the exposed tip, wrapping your hands around the back of his thick thighs and practically humping his leg in desperation

Your partner knows you far too well. He knows that what you need right now is to be degraded and teased about your fantasies while you slobber all over his dick, not even free from his clothing yet. “Hmph. You're such a whore, Master. On your knees for a simple maid like this. So indecent.”

Ok so if you can convince/bribe Diluc to go out to a Halloween party or something... it's going to be fun

He's embarrassed. Completely. And you do tease him for this

He's probably wearing something that covers a bit more than that maid dress though...but it's still really slutty

You show him off to your friends as if he's a prized pet, asking him to give them a little twirl and show off the pretty outfit

As the night goes on you get a little worked up from watching Diluc move around so much

His juicy ass has been taunting you all night long and you really need some relief...

Nobody would notice if you just, stepped outside for a bit... right?

Diluc's chest was firmly pressed against the side of the building, questioning what the hell you were doing dragging him out of the party so suddenly like that. The familiar feeling of your lips on his neck shut him up rather quickly though, your hips pressed against his ass, humping him sloppily while one of your hands pulled at his fiery red hair

“Sorry I...fuck I just...just needed you so badly...” you breathed in between wet kisses trailed from his neck down to his shoulder. You hiked up the bottom part of Diluc's dress before pulling down the panties he wore underneath, groaning at the mere sight of his exposed, plump ass

Fingers swiftly prodded his hole open while Diluc's whorish moans pierced the surrounding environment. His wet hole greedily accepted everything that you penetrated it with, working in three fingers for a bit before replacing them with something bigger

You were certain that a few people who walked past the building saw you two. Saw a large, muscular man in a slutty dress getting railed up against the wall like a cheap whore, moaning obscenities while his ass was drilled. Oh well, you really couldn't care right now. Not while you had Diluc in this position, chanting your name and calling you ‘Master’ as he sprayed copious amounts of cum onto the wall

Reblogs are extremely appreciated <3

[mononijikayu]

hello 🥰 ive been following you and reading your works for a while and i think it's really cool how you can produce so many good quality fics so quickly. your readers are very very lucky ! how long does it usually take for you to finish your works? i would love to learn more about your process ! 🌷

hello hello!!! 🫶

i think it sort of helps that i dont sleep that much or very well and that im an irregular student in uni

i also think another factor is that my mind has ideas a lot. most of the time i sit down and think when im at a park before class and i type out a rough plot draft then i make it as soon as possible

because as fast as thoughts come, they go away too fast too. so i rush!!! which is why i make mistakes often!!! i just come back and correct myself!!!

it also helps that i type really fast. i used type out my notes in my undergrad and even now in my higher educ school days. so i think that's another factor!!! i write both on my phone and my computer (which is whyyyyyyy i have drafts everywhere and i get scolded for not paying attention to people im around when i have an idea 🥲🥲🥲)

making short drabbles or smth like say immortal sukuna, it takes me around an hour or so (the formatting is the hard part 🥲🥲🥲)

and say if im doing something in long format like 3 to 5k, it may take 3 to 4 hours, depending on my brain and my energy. 10k and beyond takes longer — but i try to get it done the same day after a break or tomorrow if i have time.

ashes of love, i got crazy writing about it because i could picture everything easily in my head. so i rushed writing it just to crank out the image i had in my head. because im frightened it would disappear and i'd just lose the vision!!!

but on days i dont update (like during exams) i already have something planned in advice, like a draft i didnt like and i feel like is good enough (a great example would be 'love me back—megumi fushiguro, i liked it but i didnt 'love' it you know???); i publish those to buy myself time.

usually its because im stubborn. i dont like leaving things not done and i wanna be a fan of my work too, so i wanna read it to see if its good enough.

so i have to finish it and give it to everyone to enjoy with me. so even if i only like it, i wanna put it in the world too. i think ill grow to love more than i just do now one day!!!

though, im not immune to being lazy. i think i still havent finished a lot of stuff and i have to rewrite them when i have more time. but i genuinely forget sometimes and i come back, reread and do it again. so it makes me unproductive too.

but writing is a destressing tactic to me and im crazy about it because its a way to find some peace of mind. so ill do it aa much as i can to be sane as much as possible.

tldr — i dont sleep that much, i have more time at times cause irregular school days, im stubborn, i chase my ideas like its the F1 and its a problem but also my sanity!!!

i'm sorry this is long reply, im a big yapper but all this changes depending on what happens and how i am (im also sickly sometimes BUT ideas dont stop even when im sick so i also write too) 😭🫶

(also please dont do this to yourselves, it causes a lot of back pain and cramps too. i sit far too much trying to finish ideas and its BAD. please do it in your pace too and make sure to keep your health first 🥹🫶)

[hollowfaith]

1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

QUESTIONS FOR MUN

1. Who has been your favorite muse to play?

ughhhh this is hard...im gonna cheat and go for nostalgia ok

although i think i missed the mark with her muse in some places i have a special fondness for dahlia hawthorne and her specific brand of caustic sarcasm.

i don't think i've ever come up with so many different creative insults during her runtime...also she had the neatest mix of relationships with random muses, not just in AA cast (tho i remember her tormenting at least 3 different feenies??) but beyond, notably izaya and edward cullen comes to mind.

i also really liked my run as kasen kanesada because he's a very lyrical sword (or at least works hard to cultivate that image) so i had to express that in writing and ended up having a lot of fun doing flowery replies and making up poetry and generally going big ham. (it did take a lot of mental energy though so i started losing steam later on.)

i remember he had a thread with FGO Shakespeare that was pretty nice cause we got to be nerdy and talk about eastern/western literature lolololol, then for his challenge he had to kill like 5 ppl in 24 hours so i actually got 5 volunteers to get decapitated and RP'd mini threads with them all, which was wild (and again a very, very random mix of muses including X-Files Fox Mulder)

i didn't RP OCs back then but i like them a lot now too! the lack of art is an unfortunate reality but the amount of customization you get in exchange...so powerful.

5. What is the most difficult thing about writing your current muse?

stupid guy won't just kiss klaus and marry him that would solve 99% of their problems hey klaus are u listening u need to seduce this idiot or something so his brain has nothing but u all day to keep him out of mischief hey hey klaus

ahem

also his unspoken obligation to be lawful good (in his POV) really limits his ability to "act out," so sometimes i need to find different ways to de-escalate situations before he hits moral event horizon. you know, flattery and adoration goes a long way in wrapping him around your finger, i'm surprised more people don't try (i guess they can't stand him long enough to get there lol)

7. Who was the very first muse you ever wrote?

i remember answering this question on another meme maybe...?

there's a more accurate answer now: pre-tumblr, i remember RPing a Lopmon on some digimon forum once upon a time. also remember the mod that was RPing with me called me out for "slight godmodding" because i was describing how my digimon was crossing a bridge and apparently that was taking things too much into my own hands LOLOL

8. Have you ever written a novel? If not, does it interest you?

i've started written novels but i haven't finished any except for like, a couple of original oneshots. technically Veoc is a supporting character/love interest (spoilers: he's not the canon pairing) in a sci-fi story where i have the general plot laid out but y'know, actually writing it is... *flops down*

9. Do you write fanfiction, or have you in the past?

i definitely wrote more in the past but i've slowed down to a trickle since then. uhhhh i want to start up again, maybe with drabbles/oneshots, but i need to catch up on canon first before i try to do the characters justice

10. Do you like stylized icons and formatted text or do you prefer to keep things simple?

god a part of me regrets giving Aury his fancy brackets b/c i have to copy/paste that thing in every reply

so yeah i am never doing that again i just wanna open up a post and type my reply and be done with it, bless.

same with icons as long as they show a face and expression (or even body part) im happy wheee i've got plots to write

11. When did you start roleplaying?

i can't remember...gotta be probably early to mid high school cause i didn't know RP existed back then

12. Have you roleplayed anywhere other than tumblr?

forums, emails, tried a LJ group but my app got rejected so i didn't even get in (ROFL), tumblr has been the most stable medium with most long-term interactions though

[minalblood]

Absolutely fantastic additions by @noybusiness as per usual!

Re: Jack being booted from the MOL, they were already (him and Hobbes) working on the brainwashing supernaturals to be guard dogs which the MOL def had no issue with and we see echoes of in SPN, but we also know they draw a line at (like heaven) disobedience since they booted Sinclair for unauthorized experiments and pushing his approach onto them so who's to say where Jack would've ended up. If we take him as a parallel to SPN!John then it is Dorothea's coma/attack that made him into a monster and before that things were just kinda... bad sometimes but the potential was always there. So who's to say? I think it would be a fun idea if he was more likely to have Sinclair aa a mentor in this and then lay low when he was thrown out ... but I don't remember exactly when Sinclair was operating in the MOL.

I would've loooooved to see what they could've done with more episodes, I already wish we got more of all of the Scoobies, but especially Carlos and Lata. For all that they already are fantastic characters in what we do see, they are still (and this counts to literally everyone tbh) inextricably tied to Dean's characterization by the nature of the shows format. I'd love something where they were allowed to exist outside of mirrors and echoes of Dean (as much as I adore Dean and think the format of TW being all a long Dean studies piece was a fantastic choice and the reason I love the show so much).

Also yea, spnwin does a fantastic job at just allowing people to be people, especially queer people to be people. Tbh considering how much thought they put into being as inclusive as they can be and then seeing how they implemented I really cannot wait for what else ChaosMachine has in store and I hope we start getting news about it once the strikes are over.

I always want more Tony and Anton, my god they gave us crumbs but what delicious crumbs they were. I genuinely love all of the new characters introduced in the show.

About Roxy not being there, yes from a meta-narrative perspective it was the being cut short thing, but in-universe I'd say it also makes sense? Like the whole final fight is a bit of a time crunch and gets very personal for Mary especially who kinda runs ahead unthinkily so them not reaching put to Roxy does make sense. I also think Roxy would be fine with it as long as thwyey succeeded in defeating the Akrida.

I also love that she chooses to remember. I still think if she had chosen to go through it would've been fine also, but i love what it says about her that she chooses to remember afterall.

Also yess, omg you're right, the stings would've leave a mark, but keep in mind that Roxy also has that mark, all the Akrida victims do. And it's such a small almost innocuous mark but has wrought so much suffering. I still feel bad about the officer dying, he didn't even know wtf was happening and then he was just dead- and tbh it was prolly the better option 😔

About the "things we do for love" comment, I've seen that take too and yea, basically both Mary and John have pulled this kinds of fucked up grand gestures for the world, hell Sam and Dean and Cas have all done it even more visibly with the whole world as collateral. I wanted to focus on John here though because Mary, via her reply, showed a bit more growth away from SPN!Mary whereas John did still think that and verbalize it so his growth has been ... I wouldn't say slower, I'd argue more consistent (which made it slower) while Mary's has been more inconsistent (we see her go off and revert back to that sorta mentality when fighting the Queen so it's more bursts of change so it appears faster when it's just a different approach).

Ep 10... oh boy theres a lot to say with this one.

We begin with a nice twist. The woman needing help is Akrida and the victim is the other woman who's stopped to help. Since I've recently been reminded of it, this set up instantly made me think of Sam.meeting Cole for the 1st time, but in that the one flatlined actually needed help.

The Akrida committed to the acting I see.

God the actresses did such a good job raising the tension

LOVE seeing Millie do more handywork around. We dont have nearly enough of her getting into machinery

Mary and John hating being left to research is funny af to me.

Congrats Mary for getting into college and I like that John is actually happy for her, even ribbing her a bit. Love that dynamic actualy.

"Normal life will have to wait another day" thay cut deep fellas ngl. Mainly because i would argue its exactly what Sam and Dean told themselves to put off actually getting to do anything they wanted. And we have this exact sentiment echoed 5 min later by Carlos for why they need to break up with Anton (cant afford to with the fate of the world on their shoulders). The fact that both of these are accompanied by Dean's monologue about hunting and happy endings? Very very relevant to Dean and the life he led. But more importantly, the "how far will I go to get it" echoes back a few.more things amd makes it almost ominous. We'll come back to this when we meet Mr Sheffield (i dont remmeber the characters name rn, will use it later when they say it) since the dark meaning to Dean's words is highlighted by his story.

This might be the most clear indication of who Carlos was before the Winchesters, the version Samuel was mentioning when talking about them a few ep ago. The lone wolf version, the impulsive one, the not getting close to ppl one. Im very happy they've changed, i think they're happier like this.

Oh noooo, I forgot we have Roxy here 🥲 this'll hurt.

John and Mary see a tea set and alphabetized books out: now thats truly disturbing behaviour

John and Mary any other time: eh, thats normal

I live for the chaotic pair these 2 make together

Why tf does he still have the key if they threw him.out of the MOL? Then again, considering the many issues with the MOL, this is only a mildly annoying thing.

Ah yes, hunters are apes commentary, ffs what even started this bullshit feud between hunters and MOL?? It was there on Samuel's side too, and we even see Henry go with that particular opinion...

Sooo, either Jack was really the one experimenting on monsters or that actually was Hobbes' job, regardless we know what that turned into - not just the various bodyguards that our scooby gang has encoutered thus far, but the more insidious uses too like the monsters Cuthbert Sinclaire reprogramms or the manipulation of Mrs Butters or even Mary's own brainwashing. Safe to say all this send my mind to Naomi and how heaven has a very similar approach to keeping their angels in check. Fitting then that it's the Winchester side of the family that is MOL legacy with the Campbell side being the hunters family qho tends to go for a more straightforward will just eliminate the threat vibe (more hell aligned u could say). "A lobotomy makes most monsters subservient *wink*" he says and I cannot not be filled with revulsion on multiple layers. Including the actual issue with lobotomies generally and how their extended "use" was due to a fraud profitting off of people... yeaaaa all the red flags with Jack/Porter here. But also in general it goes back to the type of MOL we have in SPN, the exact kind that JAck/Porter is are the ones still alive, who have very little actual care of who they harm in their scientific pursuit.

Clear alarm bells sounding when askes about Henry, he has a very clear tell.

Hint hint nudge nudge about Jack/Porters lack of family

You know the thing that actually annoys me about people like Jack/Porter? The fact that if he'd applied his knowledge to actually get ppl depossessed he could've actually done something helpful, that would save ppl, but nope, instead he focused everything into his fixation and inability of letting go. To everyones detriment.

Well, Roxy's motel room reminds me of several times we've seen Dean in similar places... especially after the Mark got bad.

Roxy breaks my heart. Everytime.

And we have another instance of possession being portrayed as the violation it actually is. SPN had a few moments of showing this, most notably with Sam and Lucifer, but we've rarely had such an indepth showing of exactly how someone no longer possessed is coping. The only other ones I can remember clearly delving into are Jeffrey in s7 and Nick in s14, but in both those cases, Jeffrey and Nick were more akin toa depiction of Stockholm Syndrome or at the very least a dependence had been created having been possessed so long. Which is in itself a bit problematic a message to send tbh, but Roxy meanwhile is the opposite. Not only does she not want the Akrida back, she actively is trying to deny it ever having happened initially and she def doesnt want to be reminded of it.

Ironic that it's Carlos who says the forgetting isnt working for Roxy... considering

I also adore the parallel made between Jack/Porter and Lata in this episode? Like they both have that scientific curiosity that can become really dangerous (as seen with Jack) but unlike Jack, Lata actually wants to help people so she uses what she knows (just as much a type of brainwashing technique as Jack/Porters lobotomy fyi) to offer someone help. But! Lata asks for Roxy's consent and is upfront, where Jack/Porter is lying and manipulating and taking foe himself.

Mary's instant red flag reading of Jack/Porter for the win, but she should've listened to her instincts faster. She believes next to nothing of his words. I love her so much.

I love the round table Arkida scene... its so much fun to watch. Ironic that the Akrida call hunters pests... also yay Dean!

The fact that Jack/Porter is so so pissed off is his own downfall tbh. The bitter comments fucked up his facade.

Tonyyyyy yessss. Also Lata and Tony yaaay

I love how absolutely huge gossip queens both Lata and Carlos are.

I also love Carlos' little notepad during the scene with Roxy.

The description of her possession is way to visceral fuck I fogot how hard to watch this was. And how much it echoes to asault. Not even echoes tbh considering we have a clearer scene relating to sexual assault when Jack/Porter tries to have Dorothea possess Mary so thw comparison of possession to assault is very much there this episode.

Wonder if Jack Wilcox defected to the Brits in SPN? And began what would later be Lady Bevell's expertise? The fact that he even put on a British accent def is meant to remind us of Bevell and the Brits.

God Mary and John are obvious af that they suspect shit ... ffs kids!

Carlos continues to be the one that actually uncovers key info.

Aww, Carlos and Lata are so so kind and comforting with Roxy. I love them so much.

Im so proud of Roxy, but what I genuinely love about how the ep was written is that even if she'd have gone along with the erasing of her memory, it still would've been a valid way for her to move on. Like this it obviously works two fold in somewhat convincing Carlos they also should take a leap of faith that alls gonna be well with Anton, but its set up in such a way that regardless of Roxy's choice at the end, Roxy's own wellbeing was all that mattered however that looked. I can appreciate the nareative not ramming a specific interpretation down our throats.

Ah, yes, wartime decisions excusing the means... it nearly never actually applies tho, Jack. Tho I will say it's very satisfying having it be said to John who in SPN would use this exact rethoric for a while slew of shitty choices.

Now I wont get into the whole issue with the golem being used in this ep and specifically how they kill the golem - others have said far more better informed stuff on it (shoutout to @endofthebookpod fantastic episode discussion) and I do have a plethora of issues with it - what I do wanna say on the subject tho is that at leasr insofar as Jack is concerned it makes sense that he'd steal and use a golem for his own benefit (similar to how the nazi did in 8x13). The actual problem with this is how the writers chose to tackle dealing with the golem here. Because ultimately the golem is used as a weapon by Jack, just as all his lobotomised monsters were. But the ep chosing to not clarify a few things and deciding to burn the golem??? Not good fellas, not fucking good at all.

I do appreciate John's resilience in fighting the golem tho.

Like I said, the sexual assault parallel to possession is even more clear when discussion Mary's possession.

Gruesome death for Jack tho, I will say.

"Things we do for love"?!?! John Winchester I will murder you! If Mary doesnt do it first for u even suggesting that. I do apprwciate still seeing glimpses of SPN!John even now, 10 ep into it. Because for all that people can change, its very very hard to do so and its a slow process.

Thank you Mary for shutting it down immediately. High hopes that this low key promise they made here spells good things for their future. I do hope.

I also love that Lata explains why Roxy wanting to erase her traumatic memories isnt the same as Carlos avoiding dealing with his intimacy issues. But I also love that Carlos feels safe actually confiding in Lata, for all that they banter and shit talk they're each others person.

Perfect timing on the Tragic Haircut lady. Also yea, it def is a tragic haircut.

Noooo, Akrida!Kyle is here. Using Johns past against him is smart but also i need to read that file.

I will say, I never read Millie at the end as believing that John did anything like Ive seen in a couple of other places mentioned. I just saw it as her being a. Shocked about a dead body b. Shocked about John holding a dead body and c. The police being on her heels with john holding a dead body.

But that's all for today folks. Next up, ep 11. Slowly but surely making it through the show.

[oingomyboingos]

Franziska Miles Phx and Spock and Mccoy for the send me a character ask

@matsuorka omg this is so late rip. I kept running out of steam so I only did the aa ones—hope that’s okay!!

Franziska

fav thing: SO MANY THINGS! the potential for her to have an INCREDIBLE arc about recovery from abuse by struggling with her relationship between perfection and the choice between forging her own future or her father’s future. her being trucy‘s aunt—spoiling trucy rotten and seeing a softer, more protective side of her. how much she loves miles and looks up to him, but would never say it.

least fav thing: the games forgetting her after aa2!! there’s so many fun relationships she could have that we’re being deprived of! my fav potential ones are her being a support for klavier to lean on after kristoph is executed (she’s been thru it before with mvk and is one of the only people who can provide true empathy there) and her friendship with simon (which I wrote about in another post here)

fanon pet peeve: not all, but MOST of the franmaya tagged fics on ao3 are for background franmaya in a wrightworth fic. it drives me insane as someone who just desperately wants to see these two lesbians together. i LOVE wrightworth too!! but sometimes being a wlw seeking wlw content in fan spaces makes me wanna scream 🙃

Miles

fav thing: again, SO MANY THINGS! His complicated relationship with guilt, self loathing and atonement after aa1 is super compelling to me (and something i super hardcore relate to with the ex catholic guilt). I think he’d have a really hard time figuring out the difference between atoning for his mistakes and punishing himself for them. like franziska, I love that he invents his own future after being told what he ought to be by mvk for so long. beyond his general character arc, I also LOVE his friendship with maya (steel samurai nerds 5ever <3) and adore the many fics i’ve read where they run steel samurai discords, tumblrs, ao3 accounts, and attend cons together, often never knowing that they’re interacting with each other in these fan spaces bc they’re Big Dumb ™ (and overly proficient at compartmentalizing bc of the #trauma)

least fav thing: this is more of a complaint with canon than him as a character, but I wish we knew more about his life in the period after the 4th grade trial and before the fawles trial. Also about his life during the 7 year gap. which is probably why these are the periods of time I mostly read/write fic about lol.

fanon pet peeve: I genuinely hate that so many fan voice actors cast him with a british accent. I know it’s just “default posh” but the man’s from japanifornia & germany lol. ALSO when fanon makes him into a twink. like, have you SEEN his sprite? the man has a brick wall for a torso. solid. huggable. though don’t let anyone else know the formidable chief prosecutor is a softie who gives out hugs to his giant gaggle of adopted children, it’ll ruin his austere image

Phoenix

fav thing: HUMAN WRECKING BALL OF A MAN I LOVE HIS STUPID ANTICS AND PASSION!! Eating the poison necklace, getting hit by a car, falling through a burning bridge... Most of these have to do with his dedication to someone he loves—and when he loves something or someone, he goes in with all his heart!! I also just love how fucking smart he is which I talk about here.

least fav thing: I really don’t like phoenix’s characterization (or character model) in aa5. first off, the character model is so fuckign ugly, dead fish eyes ew. I haven’t played aa6 yet, but to me aa5 is a huge misstep for the franchise. the game gave us the format change of 3D art, rather than adding in the format change it promised at the end of the game. where’s the MASON/juror system he worked so hard on? don’t get me wrong, it gave me things I love (athena and simon and aura), but at the cost of tanking the progress with phoenix’s character arc. and phoenix taking the lead sometimes really diverts needed energy away from apollo and ESPECIALLY athena.

fanon pet peeve: I have a few that irk me with phoenix.

that people characterize him as stupid when he outsmarted kristoph

people make him an incompetent cook. phoenix is someone who goes through money troubles frequently, and I think bc of that he’s had to learn how to cook at least decently well. I personally think he gives apollo and athena masters classes on how to cook on a budget (like, he has a packet drawer like the guy on buzzfeed who does the budget recipes) and everyone’s like “mr wright thank u but please take some well paying cases and quit the pro bono for a sec you deserve to not have to think about this” and phoenix promptly ignores it bc, again!! his heart is too big for his got damn chest!!!

i’m not naming names but there are some popular pre-wrightworth fics i’ve read that have phoenix get jealous of apollo and klavier getting together. I just can’t get behind it. phoenix is apollo’s dad figure. romantic jealousy? it’s bad, bud.

thank you for the ask!! I had a lot of fun with these :3

[bonesandthebees]

Okay, so, I have made my way through the 5 chapters of 17 hours. And can I just scream about the concept? Cuz 1 hour per chapter, 2 pov’s is a lot of fun. Then you have the good damn end of the world. While recognising that their extensive preparation is the only thing keeping them sane, but they are still slightly losing it.

And then add the not being able to contact each other, because the lines are jammed, Wilbur sold his satellite phone, things are going wrong and the constant feeling of are they dead or not? vs how long will they wait for us? Which is some really nice tension especially now that Phil and Techno have to walk, because Wilbur wouldn’t expect them to be late, so will they get there before he does? And of not, how long will he wait?

-🌲

AA TY SPRUCE ANON!! the concept and format has been my favorite part about writing 17 hours. It was such a fun way to organize writing two different povs and also gave us a lot of limitations for things we could write about or how we had to time stuff (I straight up had a google map route pulled up and kept googling the driving distance between certain map points so I literally would know where Wilbur and Tommy were at each hour)

the tension is quite a lot of fun too. having the differing povs give us a great way of creating parallels and tension at the same time, and I just really love how things all ended up coming together. (not to mention it's a super easy way to tell exactly how our writing styles are similar and different from each other, which has just been a lot of fun to analyze) can't wait for you guys to see the rest <3

[sandwichrin]

A Little into You (Junkyu x Reader) (Ch. 11)

Chapter 11 - One step

Word count: 4.4k words

Genre: Fanfiction, PG13, Comedy, Romance.

A/N: Chapter 11! Wow! Look at how far we’ve come! There’s still more to come in this story though :3 Thank you for waiting you all, enjoy this one <3

“For real? YG Entertainment??” you questioned your team leader again.

“Yes…y/n, you’re acting strange…”

“I-I just…I’m just surprised our company has a client this big,” you said, your voice slightly breathy.

Soomin wrapped her arm around your shoulder, and chuckled, “Yeah! We secured them last year! This is our second time holding and providing lessons for their staff too,”

You smiled at her, an unsure smile. But of course, she has no idea what was running through your mind.

“Oh, but last year we conducted the lessons at their old building. This one here is our first,” she continued.

“Ahh, I see,”

“Is that why you’re acting strange, y/n?” she looked at you, a teasing smile formed on her lips.

“W-what? What are you talking about?”

“You must be nervous seeing such a big building, huh?”

“Oh, that. Yes! You’re right, this building is kind of intimidating,” you nodded at her assumption of why you’re nervous.

“Don’t worry! We’ll be okay!” She said cheerfully. “Besides, one of my close friends work here, so we have nothing to worry about!”

“Aha yeah sure,” you smiled and nodded.

                                                                   *

 (YG Ent. – 5th floor)

 “Lim Soomin! As usual, a little earlier than our appointment!” a man said when he saw Soomin enter the department’s floor with you closely behind her.

Soomin smiled her pretty smile at him and extended her hand for them to exchange handshakes.

The man, also, as handsome and attractive as Soomin, in your opinion, smiled back at her. He peeked at you who was behind Soomin, and nodded as well at you.

You nodded and smiled timidly back at him.

“Ah, you’ve brought a little friend too,” he said to Soomin.

Soomin turned around and gestured at you, “Yeah! This is my friend, and also my new team member. Y/n, this is Bomin, the friend I told you about,”

“Ahh, nice to meet you,” you said.

“You wanna grab a drink at the cafeteria downstairs? Since you’re early and all,”

Soomin gave him a look, “Bomin…” she said with a cautious tone.

Bomin raised his hands, “Hey, just a drink. I swear, and then I’ll pass you your team’s ID card,”

Soomin turned to you again, “You okay with this, y/n?”

“I’m fine with anything, really,”

“Hmm…Okay Bomin. One drink, and then y/n and I will leave with our ID access cards, okay?”

Bomin grinned at her and nodded happily. “Sure, Soomin,”

                                                                *

 The cafeteria was filled with both Bomin’s and Soomin’s loud laugh.

It had been over 40 minutes, and their one drink had turned into 3 rounds of hot coffee by now.

You moved uncomfortably in your seat, holding onto your bladder that was struggling to stay in at this point.

You watched as Soomin and Bomin teased one another, talking about their school days. You smiled and laughed along with the stories they shared, not that you understand most of them since you don’t know them that well, but hey, at least you tried, right?

You stared at your third cup of coffee on the table in front of you. If only Bomin would stop ordering another round of coffee every time he finishes one, you wouldn’t have the struggle of finishing all the three cups that was served.

You let out a soft sigh as you lift the cup to your lips, praying that your bladder would be able to handle at least one more cup of this drink.

“Gosh, Bomin! You’re still as funny as ever!” Soomin said in between her laughs.

Bomin chuckled at this and raised his cup to his lips, “But of course. And you’re still as charming and beautiful as ever, Soomin-ya,”

You almost choked at your drink. Okay! Now is your cue to leave!

Listening to them goof around together was okay, but seeing them flirting with one another was already another thing. You felt like you were third-wheeling a couple’s date.

You placed your cup onto the table and stood up quickly, making both of them turn their attention to you.

“What’s wrong, y/n? Everything okay?” Soomin asked, concerned about you.

“I’m fine,” you said as you waved your hand at her. “I just…really…have to use the restroom,”

Soomin giggled at this, “Omg! Why didn’t you say so?? Sure, sure, you can go,”

You smiled at both of them and hurriedly waddled away.

Soomin watched as you leave the room. She smiled to herself, “She’s actually very cute, don’t you think so?”

“I guess. I mean, you’re obviously cuter,”

Soomin laughed at this and playfully hit Bomin on his shoulder. “Stop that! I told you, we can’t do this here,”

Bomin smiled and nodded at her.

Soomin was about to take a sip off her drink when she realised something.

“Wait! Does y/n even know where the restroom is??”

                                                                 *

 You walked down the wide, open hallway of the floor, glimpsing at every room’s sign and the signages available, hoping to find one signage that says ‘restroom’.

“They usually put the restrooms at the end of the floor right…” you muttered to yourself.

You hurriedly waddled past all the doors of the floor, just wanting to get to the restroom as fast as you could.

And lucky enough for you, you saw the restroom signage right at the end of the hallway.

And boy did you run.

You literally dashed towards the restroom, with the loud click clack of your high heels echoing in the hallway.

Once you’ve finally entered the restroom, you slipped into a cubicle, locked it and sat down to get your business done and over with.

                                                                   *

 Jihoon and Junkyu entered the main door of the building, scanning their access ID before being able to really enter the inside part of the building.

“Yooo they’re playing this music video after so long!” Junkyu exclaimed when he saw the large LCD screen opposite their escalators showing their ‘I Love You’ music video.

Jihoon too, noticed this and snickered. “Hah! Look at Doyoung! I almost forgot his hair was red for some time!” he said as he pointed at the screen.

A staff walked past them and they bowed and greeted the staff before deciding to go up the escalator.

“Come on, let’s head up,” Jihoon said to his friend.

As they were standing on the escalator, they suddenly heard a sort of loud noise approaching them as they got closer to the floor above them.

Junkyu furrowed his eyebrows and turned to his bestfriend. “Did you hear that? What the heck is that??”

Jihoon shrugged at this, his face confused as well.

CLICK CLACK CLICK CLACK CLICK CLACK-------

As soon as they reached the floor above, they looked around.

“Huh, it stopped,” Jihoon said.

“Yeah. I almost thought there was a dinosaur roaming our hallways,” Junkyu shuddered to himself.

Jihoon shook his head and laughed, “Okay but your imagination is just too wild, Junkyu-aa”

“Hey, you never know.”

                                                                   *

 You stretched your arms happily after finally being able to release your bladder a moment earlier.

You washed your hands at the sink of the restroom and made sure to check your appearance, just in case you smudged your makeup or if you forgot to tuck in your blouse into your skirt.

You leisurely walked out of the restroom, since you were sure that Soomin and Bomin were probably still busy catching up with each other right now.

You decided to just take your time and let them spend more time together.

As you were walking towards the cafeteria, you decided to take a long round walk inside it, and maybe only go back to Soomin’s table a bit later.

You observed the walls of the room, taking in the beautiful design of the place itself.

It’s only a cafeteria, and yet it looks so grand. It looks so classy and comfortable.

You smiled to yourself, thinking about your friends that are artists of the company. You felt glad that behind all of their hard work and practice, they were given a comfortable place to eat and rest.

As you were strolling in the cafeteria, you noticed that there was a path leading to an outdoor section as well.

You peeked at the section, noticing that there was no one there.

You took a step towards the outdoor section. Opening the door, you were greeted by a gentle breeze.

“Oh my god, it’s pretty here,” you said to yourself as you take in the scenery of the outdoor eating section. It looked like a private balcony, or a patio in your opinion. It looked cosy and homey.

You stood near the rails of the balcony (let’s just call it a wide-open cosy balcony).

You closed your eyes and let yourself feel the breeze that was floating in the air. It felt so nice. You inhaled and exhaled a few times.

To be honest, this might be the first time ever that you’ve ever felt this relaxed. You felt like you were in a safe space where no one or anything could ever bother or hurt you.

You opened your eyes again to be greeted by the warm sun rays. You smiled to yourself again.

If you were to be working here for the whole month with your team, this balcony itself would be the perfect getaway spot for you to relax.

                                                               *

 “Anyone else need anything else?” Jihoon checked with his group members before wanting to leave the practice room.

“Hyung! Can I come with?” Jeongwoo asked from one end of the room.

“No, Jeongwoo, I need you to stay and work on that leg movement of yours before we start dancing to the full formation,” Hyunsuk replied to him.

Jeongwoo pouted at this but he nodded and followed what Hyunsuk said.

Since no one added anything for him to get, he decided to just head out of the practice room.

                                                                *

 Jihoon entered the cafeteria, hurrying as well, since he didn’t want to take too much time from their practice, especially since they’ve only just wanted to start. He decided to just take orders for the drinks and bring them back to the practice room since most of them just got here as well.

“Hi, can I get two iced coffees, one chocolate milk and three iced tropical juice?” Jihoon ordered as soon as he arrived at the open counter that the cafeteria staff was standing at.

The staff nodded and made his way to make the drinks for Jihoon.

“I’ll come back to get it, yeah?” Jihoon added, since he decided to roam around while waiting.

“Sure,” the staff answered.

Jihoon pushed his hair to the back with his hand and made his way to his favourite spot of the cafeteria.

Jihoon heard loud laughter coming from the right part of the cafeteria and he tilted his head slightly to check out who it was.

There were two people of whom he wasn’t familiar with. Maybe it was one of the upper staffs, he thought to himself.

He shrugged and headed towards the outdoor balcony.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a figure of another person there.

Jihoon stared at the figure curiously, especially since he knew that the trainees weren’t supposed to be having their break now. And his sunbaes’ were surely a whole lot taller than this figure right here.

Now, Jihoon couldn’t tell it was you because you had your back facing him, and given that your work attire was something he was still unfamiliar with, he couldn’t even tell it was you from the back of your head.

Jihoon was backing away from the balcony, wanting to quietly leave the place and not bother this stranger who seemed so immersed with the surroundings outside.

Jihoon stepped backwards, and accidentally backed himself against the door as he forgotten that he had closed it after he stepped outside earlier.

“Ow,” Jihoon said as quietly as he could.

The sound of him backing into the door made you turn around.

And you saw him, bowing slightly, his hand rubbing the back of his head.

“Oh?” You said.

Jihoon heard your voice, which made his head lift up to see you staring at him.

“Jihoon?” You asked, since he wasn’t saying anything.

You were sure it was Jihoon, since he was literally staring back at you, his face in shock.

And as if on cue, the wind started blowing a little stronger, making your hair slightly float along with it.

Jihoon couldn’t believe his eyes. He felt like he was in a Kdrama, with you staring at him questioningly and standing right in front of him; not to mention the sudden gush of soft wind.

You took a step forward towards him, now concerned since he still hasn’t said anything ever since you both made eye contact.

“Hey, you okay?” You asked again.

Jihoon shook his head slightly, blinking his eyes a few times.

He noticed that you were slowly taking steps towards him so he hurriedly turned around, opened the door and rushed inside the building again.

He ran towards the cafeteria staff, picked up his tray of drinks and ran off towards his practice room.

You, on the other hand, felt puzzled. Why did he look so terrified?? It was Jihoon, right? You were pretty sure it was the right Jihoon that you saw.

                                                                *

 Jihoon ran into the practice room, panting loudly and with the drinks tray in his hands shaking.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hyung? What’s wrong??” Haruto asked when he noticed Jihoon’s panicked appearance.

Jihoon panted, “N-nothing. I just, I ran here so that I could get the drinks here as fast as I could,” he smiled a little, trying to lie his way out.

Haruto blinked a few times and shrugged. “Okay.”

“Okay, everyone! For those who ordered a drink, your drinks are here!” Jihoon called out, gaining the attention of the rest of them.

“Yayyyy hyung got me my chocolate milk!” Junghwan cheered as he ran towards Jihoon to grab his drink.

Mashiho and Hyunsuk both grabbed their coffees from Jihoon whereas Jeongwoo, Junkyu and Yoshi grabbed their juices from him.

The rest moved to their own spots in the practice room, relaxing and drinking their drinks before they began their full dance practice.

Hyunsuk stayed beside Jihoon though.

“Jeongwoo’s so good at the leg step by the way. I corrected him once just now and instantly he managed to do it 10 times better than what I showed him,” Hyunsuk said as he took a sip from his drink

“Waahh, that kid’s a genius I tell you! He’s growing up so fast too,” Jihoon said, sounding a little sullen now that he realised his kids were all grown up compared to when he first met them.

Hyunsuk chuckled at this, “Look at us, talking like real old parents,”

Jihoon smiled and nodded at him. His eyes roamed the room, looking at his members sitting on the floor and talking to one another.

Now, even though his eyes were looking around the room, he couldn’t get the image of your face from his head. He kept remembering the look you gave him when the soft breeze came blowing at the balcony earlier.

“….and better!” Hyunsuk exclaimed.

Jihoon turned his attention to his hyung beside him.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked, since he didn’t exacly catch what Hyunsuk said before.

“I said, the coffee here just keeps getting better and better! It’s so good! You wanna try some?” Hyunsuk asked as he offered the drink in his hand.

Jihoon shook his head politely at his hyung. “No thanks, hyung. I’d want some of the juice the kids are having though,”

Jihoon saw Junkyu sitting on the floor not too far from him and Hyunsuk, sipping on his drink with one hand and his other hand holding onto his phone as he stares at it. He’s probably watching a video.

“Hey, Kim Junkyu,” Jihoon called out to him.

Junkyu looked up from his phone. “What?”

“Come here,”

“Why?”

“Just come here,” Jihoon gestured with his hand.

Junkyu stood up from where he was sitting, keeping his phone into his pants pocket as he walked towards both his leaders.

The moment he arrived near them, Jihoon pointed at the cup of juice in his hands. Junkyu’s eyebrows raised and handed it to Jihoon, immediately understanding that his bestfriend would like a sip.

Jihoon smiled and thanked him before taking the cup from his hands.

“Look at you both, you don’t even need to say anything and yet you get each other so well,” Hyunsuk said, his face beaming with proudness for his two kids beside him.

“Hyung, I think it’s quite obvious that Jihoon only calls me here to taste my drink. We don’t need to predict him wanting me here for anything else,” Junkyu snickered.

Jihoon rolled his eyes slightly at this. He handed Junkyu’s drink back at him.

“Whatever, Kyu. You’re just too shy to admit that we’re soulmates,” he said teasingly.

Hyunsuk giggled at this when he saw it was Junkyu’s turn to roll his eyes at Jihoon.

“See? Soulmates! It must be nice to have one,” Hyunsuk said.

“Yeah, sure, hyung. Like you and our Doyoungie aren’t soulmates,” Jihoon said sarcastically.

Hyunsuk stopped to think for a while. “Huh…you could say so. We understand each other quite well,”

“See? There you go. I think we’re all quite compatible for each other at this point,” Jihoon pointed out.

Hyunsuk nodded at this.

Junkyu was about to leave with his drink when suddenly Jihoon’s loud sigh stopped him.

“What’s wrong? You seem like you’re distracted about something,” Hyunsuk asked Jihoon who looked restless beside him.

Jihoon shrugged. “I don’t know…I mean, if I told you guys, you wouldn’t believe me anyways,”

Hyunsuk shook his head and ruffled Jihoon’s hair, “Heyyy, don’t say that! You know we’re always here to listen to you,”

“Hmm,” he lets out another sigh.

Junkyu started stepping away from his hyungs when suddenly,

“I was at that outdoor balcony in the cafeteria, hyung. I saw this girl there. She looked exactly like y/n!”

Junkyu, who was a few steps away by then, stopped when he heard your name being mentioned by his hyung.

He stayed in his spot, his cold drink still in his hand. To be honest, he looked like a statue at this point with the way he’s standing still.

“Pfft! As if!” Hyunsuk started laughing when he heard Jihoon’s sentence coming out of his mouth.

“See?? I told you, you wouldn’t believe me!”

“No, I mean—it’s impossible! You need access to enter this building. And, y/n is at work right now, isn’t she?? Why would y/n need any reason to be here??”

Jihoon lets out another sigh. “Right?? See that’s why I couldn’t believe it either. And did you know?? When I saw her, she was glowing radiantly too!” Jihoon exaggerated.

Sure, he saw you being all glowy and pretty earlier but the way he explained it left a different impression on Hyunsuk.

Hyunsuk furrowed his eyebrows. “Glowing?? You mean…she’s all shining??”

Jihoon shook his head, “She looked too pretty to be y/n you know?? I’ve seen y/n few times now and I’ve never seen her look this radiant!”

Junkyu, who was still quietly still on his own, blinked a few times to himself. That’s not true, right? You had always been plainly normal to him, but he wouldn’t say that you were never pretty to his eyes.

Junkyu, realising that he was now imagining what you look like based on Jihoon’s description, started shaking his head furiously. Why would he bother imagining your face at this time of day??

Jihoon noticed Junkyu shaking his head and he assumed that Junkyu was agreeing with what he said.

“Right, Junkyu? It’s impossible that’s y/n, but she sounded and looked so much like her!” Jihoon said, referring to the ‘you’ he met just now.

Hyunsuk kept quiet for a while.

Jihoon and Junkyu’s eyes are on him now.

“Could it be…” Hyunsuk said in a quiet voice.

Jihoon leaned in close to his hyung.

Junkyu too, started walking back towards the both of them, wanting to listen closely to what his hyung is saying.

By the time Junkyu had reached them again, Hyunsuk raised his head to look at both his friends.

“Hey, Jihoon…did this y/n that you saw earlier…did she smell good? Like, smell super, super good?”

Jihoon thought for a while. “Hmm…I didn’t realise what she smelt like, hyung. But! I noticed that the moment she turned around to face me, the wind started blowing. At first I thought it looked like a Kdrama scene but when I think about it…it’s strange that the wind started blowing at that exact time…” Jihoon said. He shuddered to himself.

Hyunsuk covered his own mouth with both his hands. “Oh my god,” he whispered.

“What? What is it?” Junkyu finally opened his mouth this time.

Jihoon too, started doing the same as Hyunsuk. “Hyung! Could it be??”

“Oh no, you both don’t think—” Junkyu knew where this is going.

“Jihoon! The y/n you met was a ghost?!!” Hyunsuk said, holding on to his shriek since he doesn’t want to scare the rest of his members in the room.

Jihoon started shaking Hyunsuk’s shoulders. “Hyunggggg noooooo! No wayyyy! Why meeee,” he whined dramatically.

Junkyu grimaced at his hyungs. He left the both of them to their drama and decided to just sit down in another corner of the room.

He scoffed to himself. How could his hyungs believe that there was a ghost in this building?? And in broad daylight??

Junkyu rolled his eyes and continued drinking his juice.

                                                                   *

 “Thanks for today, Bomin,” Soomin beamed at her close friend, looking like she’s the happiest person in the room.

“No problem,” he smiled back at her.

“Well, I guess, we better get going?” Soomin turned to you.

You nodded at her, “Sure,”

“Aight. Well, I guess we’ll be going off now,” she turned to Bomin and bowed slightly to thank him again before leaving.

The both of you walked towards the access point near the entrance of the building and Soomin took out a pack of access cards from her bag.

“Here you go,” she said as she handed one of it to you.

Taking the card into your hand, you looked at her questioningly.

Soomin waved her card in front of your face and grinned, “Let’s see how this baby works!” she said excitedly.

Soomin hurried towards the access point and scanned her card, making the barrier lift and letting her through to the other side of the hall.

She turned around, her bright, pretty smile showing when she waved her hand to signal you to try your access card as well.

You walked up towards the access point and waved your card at the scanner. Beep! The barrier lifts and you walked right through.

You reached Soomin, shock written on your face.

“Oh my god, I feel like I’m a secret agent entering a secret agent agency for work!” you said, your face still in disbelief that you just did something so cool.

Soomin giggled at you. “Right?? Our office isn’t as advanced as this so like, don’t you think it’s thrilling to have this kind of special access to one of the biggest entertainment companies in this country??”

You nodded at her happily.

“Alright, agent y/n, let’s head back to our boring and dull office,” Soomin said as she linked her arm with yours.

You groaned at her sentence. “Aww must we?”

“Yes, y/n! Now, let’s head back,” she said, giggling.

                                                                    *

 (That evening)

“Guys…don’t you think we’re invading y/n’s life by doing this?” Doyoung asked his hyungs.

“What are you talking about? Y/n should feel lucky that she has friends who are concerned about her like us,” Jihoon replied, though his eyes are still scanning the hallway, hoping to see your figure to show up anytime now.

“Doyoungie’s right, Jihoon. We could just ask her through text you know?” Hyunsuk sided with Doyoung.

Jihoon folded his arms against his chest and huffed, “And what? Scare the rest of our kids when we ask in the group whether the y/n we saw was a ghost or not in our building??”

“Well, technically…only you saw her there…”

“Hush! She could be here any time soon! We must greet her with a warm smile, just in case she gets rowdy since she might be all tired out from work,”

Hyunsuk glanced at his watch. 7.15p.m. They’ve been here for almost an hour now, and when they got off work at 6 earlier, Hyunsuk wasn’t expecting Jihoon to drag him here instantly. He was hoping to at least get some dinner first.

“Jihoon, let’s just text her. We can private message her too! I’m getting hungry, I’m sure Doyoung and Junkyu are hungry too,” Hyunsuk tried to convince Jihoon.

“Hyung, this is an important matter. We don’t talk about matters like these through text,”

Hyunsuk lets out a sigh. He knew it was no use arguing with Jihoon anyways. Maybe Jihoon needed this clarification since he must’ve been terrified when he saw the ghost that looked like you today.

“Besides, why did you bring Doyoung along? I thought I told you this was a leaders kind of investigation session,” Jihoon asked, as he restlessly glanced at his phone for the 8th time by now, checking the time.

“Hey, you brought Junkyu too,” Hyunsuk pointed out.

Junkyu stood quietly beside Jihoon, confused as to how Jihoon managed to convince him to tag along with this silly investigation of his.

Jihoon glanced over at his best friend beside him who was staring into space, a clueless look on his face.

“Meh, he seems fine with it. I only brought him ‘cause you brought someone else along first,”

“Dang, you both fight like you’re both a married couple who’s trying to make each other jealous. Chill you both,” Doyoung chuckled as he said this.

“Can we just go home already? I’m sleepy, and hungry,” Junkyu whined suddenly.

“Oh? You’re saying something now?” Jihoon said, amused with his best friend’s cute whine.

Junkyu shook his head. “I don’t care, I’m heading back. Our floor is literally 10 floors above hers so I might as well just leave,”

“Awww nooo don’t leave yet Junkyu-aa. Y/n will be here any minute! I promise!”

“Nah, who cares if y/n comes back or not, I don’t need to see her anyways—” Junkyu said as he turned around to leave.

And there, right behind him, was you, face surprised to see your friends in front of your house door.

“Y-y/n-“ Junkyu stuttered in all of a sudden, surprised to see you.

“Oh? Y/n! Hi!” Doyoung waved his hand at you, greeting you.

You nodded at him and looked at the four of them questioningly.

“Hi…Why…are you guys here?” You asked.

 To be continued….

[askaceattorney]

(Previous Letter)

Dear dawsongfg,

Mod Edgeworth: I don’t recall ever including Edgeworth blushing when I answered that letter.

(^ THAT is a blushing Edgeworth sprite) Though, I do agree, he’s hot. Oh wow, is it getting hot in here? Mods, help.

(Referenced Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

Mod Edgeworth: You will have to ask Mod Justice about that, since he likely deleted them, if they haven’t been seen already. I’ve already said my piece here, so I will not repeat myself.

Honestly, it’s not that big of a deal and is water under the bridge at this point.

Mod Justice: If you must know, they were insulting me because I’m “Mod Justice” and he hated Apollo Justice. That’s it. And I am still a bit salty about that.

(Referenced Letters)

Dear Dawsongfg,

Mod Edgeworth: I’m sorry about that. Tumblr is messing with other people’s letters too. Some will show without any paragraph skips. 

If you have noticed the lack of paragraphs skipping to the next paragraph (Pay attention to this Gumshoe “Letty” Fan), use HTML formatting. use <p> and </p> between each paragraph and <br> and </br> between paragraphs you only wish to skip halfway. We sincerely apologize for this.

Co-Mod: I’m sorry, too.

(That such a picture exists.)

(Referenced Letter)

Dear Dawsongfg,

Mod Edgeworth: I love AAI2. It’s my favorite AA game. Though, why did you reference that link?

As for the second question, neither. I’m a bunny person.

I WANT ALL OF THEM!!

Co-Mod: Same here!  (About loving AAI2, I mean.)  As I’ve mentioned before, it was the only AA game in the series that made me cry, plus I loved learning more about the DL-6 incident and what led up to it.  Not to mention the plot twists were as clever as ever.

As someone who’s taken care of both dogs and cats, I love them both, but if I had to choose, I’d go with cats.  They’re lighter, cuddlier, and less rambunctious, plus they even bathe themselves.

Mod Justice: Both are cute, but I’m DEATHLY allergic to cats. Gonna have to go with the doggos on this one.

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: Hey there!  Has Adrian been taking good care of you?

asdgkjlllllc

vvuoiyjjjjjjjjjjoipa

Ahem...  Please get off my keyboard.

Mod Edgeworth: Away from my bun-bun, you heathen!

(Previous Letter)

Dear dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: Yep!  According to Google Translate, the Japanese word for “good night” is “oyasuminasai,” or just “oyasumi,” which is where I got “Imu Sayo” from.  I just realized that’s not much of an anagram, though, considering it’s just the same word spelled backward and split into two.

Dear dawsongfg,

Mod Edgeworth: Hello, Oldbag. At least I don’t go chasing after anyone that’s young enough to be my child or grandson. But sure, if you wanna compete for dat ass, I’ll be more than happy to oblige. Normally, I’d be humble enough to say I have no chance, but considering I am 29, young, have color in my hair and lack any wrinkles, last I checked, I say you’ve already lost this contest before it begun. Not to say I had a chance to win the heart of a fictional character, but I can dream.

(8/10 is my rating)

Co-Mod: ..........Are you finished?

(A little too good, in my opinion.)

(Picture in Letter)

(Referenced Letters: 1 2 3 4 5)

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: Thanks for sharing the image, first of all.  I never would’ve thought an adult Shantae could look so fine before I saw her.  Now I’m a believer.

To answer your question...because Tumblr.

If you want, you can resubmit those letters, and we’ll re-answer them ASAP, or let you know if the images still didn’t load.

Mod Edgeworth: Because of what Tumblr is doing with the anonymous letters, it’s best you send a link to the pictures in its full url. We will make sure to show the picture in our letters. We’re sorry about this.

(Previous Post)

Dear sweetlaive3,

Co-Mod: Just to be clear, we meant that we’ve made it through all the consecutive mobile posts.  There are still a bunch mixed in with the non-mobile ones, but we’ve made it past the ones that we accidentally skipped for so long.

Oh, and here’s some good news -- Tumblr got their stuff together, and we can now see all letters on our laptops!  Way to be, devs!

Mod Edgeworth: Oh? You mean this letter?

I know, we are far behind on letters. We are now in March, wait.... now it’s April. Please keep in mind that we do answer each letter accordingly. 

While there are some exceptions to this where we may answer a letter you wrote earlier first before the later one, that is usually because one mod may not know how to answer that letter. There were times I had to leave certain letters out for Co-Mod to answer and vice versa. Mod Justice also has left us letters to answer before as well. While I don’t recall that particular letter being one I or Mod Justice left for Co-Mod, it’s possible Co-Mod may’ve snatched that letter and needed time to answer it. I don’t do that, but Co-Mod sometimes does that. 

Either way, we do intend to answer any letter that stays within the rules, even if they take time to answer. The only letters we delete are those that don’t follow the rules. 

(Referenced Post)

Dear dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: She only did that with Mod Kristoph, thankfully.  The rest of us were just hit on the head by her “minions” (we didn’t see who they were, but I guess that’s irrelevant).  And it so happens that I do have black hair.  Dark brown, at least.  You did see the GIF of me after the 2018 April Fools’ Day gag, right?

Dear Anonymous,

Mod Edgeworth: Of course and thank you for your letter. It is greatly appreciated.

Co-Mod: You’re welcome, and thank you!  I’m just glad the delight is still able to continue after all these years.

As always, credit goes to the awesome moderators here, to Capcom for creating Ace Attorney, and of course...

(Art by MJEGameandComicFan89)

(Video in Letter)

Mod Edgeworth: No, but I’d bet cha it’d be better if Manfred and Apollo had a screaming contest.

Co-Mod:

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: Funny you should say that -- it actually just got revived.

Is anyone else brimming with excitement about it?

“I know I am!”

Hey, hey, hey!  Back behind the fourth wall, please.

-The Mods

[kkintle]

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch ; Quotes

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can me inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better.

There will be time and motive enough to prose on about my life when I shall have generated as it were a sufficient cloud of reflection. I am still almost shy of my emotions, shy of the terrible strength of certain memories.

I always felt that we were in the same boat, adventuring along together (…) We enjoyed and craved for each other’s company. What a test that is: more than devotion, admiration, passion. If you long and long for someone’s company you love them.

Is it true however? Well, it is not totally misleading, but it is far too short and ‘smart’. How can one describe real people?

Did I face it well? I think I did. Forgiveness and money were so ready as soon as I knew that she was doomed. That sounds cynical. I always loved her; and we were rewarded. At the very end we were both perfect. Poor Clement. That is a dreadful land, old age. I shall soon be entering it myself.

The image of Hartley changed in my mind from fiery pain to sadness, but never became blank. And in a way, I did keep searching for her, only it was a different and quite involuntary kind of search, a sort of dream-search.

Oh Hartley, Hartley, how timeless, how absolute love is. My love for you is unaware that I am old and you perhaps are dead.

‘I could have told you that country is the least peaceful and private place to live. The most peaceful and secluded place in the world is a flat in Kensington.’

I confess that I went to Peregrine not only for a drinking bout and a chat with and cold friend, but for male company, sheer complicit male company: the complicity of males which is like, indeed is, a kind of complicity in crime, in chauvinism, in getting away with things, in just gluttonously enjoying the present even if hell is all around.

‘We are such inward creatures, that inwardness is the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than our reason. But we cannot just walk into the cavern and look around. Most of what we think we know are pseudo-knowledge. We are all such shocking poseurs, so good at inflating the importance of what we think we value. (…) People lie so, even we old men do. Though in aa way, if there is art enough it doesn’t matter, since there is another kind of truth in the art’.

‘And if there is art enough a lie can enlighten us as well as the truth. What is the truth anyway, that truth? As we know ourselves we are fake objects, fakes, bundles of illusions. Can you determine exactly what you felt or thought or did? We have to pretend in law courts that such things can be done, but that is just a matter of convenience. Well, well, it doesn’t signify. (…)’

‘(…) Do you know what marriage is like? You say she’s unhappy, most people are. A long marriage is very unifying, even if it’s not ideal, and those old structures must be respected. You may not think much of her husband, but he may suit her, however impressed she is by meeting you again. Has she said she wants to be rescued?

How very convenient these cliché phrases are, how soothing to the pained mind, and how misleading, how concealing.

It is an interesting fact about jealousy (…) that although it is in so many respects a totally irrational as well as totally irresistible emotion, it does show a certain limited reasonableness where temporal priority is concerned.

I love her, I thought, just as if I have been married to her all those years and have seen her gradually grow old and lose her beauty.

You’ve lived in a hedonistic dream all your life, and you’ve got away with behaving like a cad because you always picked on women who could look after themselves. And my God you told us the score, you never committed yourself, you never said you loved us even when you did! A cold fish with clear hands! But it was just luck really if the girls survived.

She summoned up my whole being, and I wanted to hold her and to overwhelm her an to lie with her forever, jusqu’a la fin du monde, and yes, to amaze her humility with the forces of my love, but also to be humble myself and to let her, in the end, console me and give me back my own best self.

After looking at the bright candles I could at first see nothing, and it struck me in an odd way that while I was talking to Hartley I had forgotten about the sea, forgotten it was there and now felt confounded and at a loss to find myself half blind among those terrible rocks.

The formation of my love for Clement, had been one of the main tasks and achievements of my life: that love which so often almost failed but never quite failed.

Being in love, that’s another slavery, stupid when you come to think of it, mad really. You make another person into God. That can’t be right (…) Real love, is free and sane. (…) Real love is like in a marriage when the glamour is gone. (…) Love. God, how often we uttered that word in the theatre and how little we even thought about it.

‘Yes, it’s strange, but in a way I do know you, and there isn’t anyone else who’s near me like that. I support it’s just because we were young, and later you cant know people, or I couldn’t.’

‘It’s happened fast because it’s right, it’s easy because it’s right.’

‘I wish I was dead, I think I’m going to die soon, I feel it. Sometimes I felt I would die by wishing it when I went to sleep but I always woke up again and found I was still there. Every morning finding I’m still me, that’s hell.’ ‘Well, get out of hell then! The gate’s open and I’m holding it!’ ‘I cant. I’m hell, myself.’

‘You just want someone to remember things with.’

It ceased at last, as everything dreadful has to cease, even if it ceases only by death. My presence, my cries, had no effect on her, I doubt if, in a sense, she knew I was there, although also, in a sense, the performance was for me, its violence directed at me.

I remembered, as I now did whenever I awoke, with a pang of anguish and love and fear, that Hartley was in the house.

(…) and although, with her disordered grey hair she looked old and mad, she seemed in that arrested moment like a queen.

‘And you are using this thing from the far past as a guide to important and irrevocable moves which you propose to make in the future. You are making a dangerous induction, and induction is shaky at the best of times, consider Russell’s chicken –‘ ‘Russell’s chicken?’ ‘The farmer’s wife comes out every day and feeds the chicken, but one day she comes out and wrings its neck.’

‘Not to worry. Sic biscuits disintegrat.’ ‘What?’ ‘That’s the way the cookie crumbles.’

We did not dare to say much to each other. By now I wanted the whole thing to be over. I could scarcely endure the idea that she might even now say ‘I don’t think I want to go after all.’; and the impulse to cry out ‘Stop!’ was a pain which I urgently wanted to be without. Perhaps she felt much the same.

James said, ‘I hope you don’t feel that I’ve influenced you in any way against your better judgement?’ ‘No.’ I was not going to argue that point. Of course he had influenced me. But what was my judgement, let alone better judgement?

‘Time can divorce us from the reality of people, it can separate us from people and turn them into ghosts. Or rather it is us who turn them into ghosts or demons. Some kinds of fruitless preoccupations with the past can create such simulacra, and they exercise power, like those heroes at Troy fighting for a phantom Helen.’

‘I’m not calling her a ghost. She is real, as human creatures are, but what reality she has is elsewhere. She does not coincide with your dream figure. You were not able to transform her. You must admit you tried and failed.’

‘(…) It is a mental charade, a necessary one perhaps, it has its own necessity, but not like what you think. Of course you can’t get over it at once. But in a few weeks or a few months you’ll have run through it all, looked at it all again and felt it all again and got rid of it. It’s not an eternal thing, nothing human is eternal. For us, eternity is an illusion. It’s like in a fairy tale. When the clock strikes twelve it will all crumble to pieces and vanish. And you’ll find you are free of her, free of her forever and you can let the poor ghost go. What will remain will be ordinary obligations and ordinary interests. And you’ll feel relief, you’ll feel free. At present, you’re just obsessed, hynotised.’

‘(…) When you’ve known someone from childhood, when you can’t remember when they weren’t there, that’s not an illusion. She’s woven into me. Don’t you understand how one can be so absolutely connected with somebody like that?’

‘(…) I gave her the meaning of my life long ago, I gave it to her and she still has it. Even if she doesn’t know she has it, she has it.’

‘Just like even if she’s ugly she’s beautiful and even if she doesn’t love you she loves you – ‘ ‘But she does –‘ ‘Charles, either this is very fine, very noble, or else you’re mad.’

‘(…) You mustn’t interfere in other people’s lives, especially married people. That’s in a way why marriage is so awful, I can’t think how anyone dares to do it. You’ve got to leave them alone. They’ve got their own way of hating each other and hurting each other, they enjoy it.’

‘”For in that sleep of death what dreams may come.”(…)’

Some kinds of obsession, of which being in love is one, paralyses the ordinary free-wheeling of the mind, its natural open interested curious mode of being, which is sometimes persuasively defined as rationality. I was sane enough to know that I was in a state of total obsession and that I could onlythink, over and over again, certain agonising thoughts, could only run continually along the same rat-paths of fantasy and intent. But I was not sane enough to interrupt this mechanical movement or even to desire to do so.

‘(…) And perhaps I was pleased to see you. We sometimes like to see people whom we hate and despise so that we can stir them up to further demonstrations of how odious they are.’

‘Jealousy is born with love, but does not always die with love.’

‘(…) Ordinary mediocre people think that if they confess one tenth of the truth they’re in the clear. You’ve made all your words into lies, you’ve devalued your speech and – in a moment you’ve spoiled the past – and there’s nothing to rely on any more.’

There were a few clouds, big lazy chryselephantine clouds that loafed around over the water exuding light. I gazed at them and wondered at myself for being too obsessed to be able to admire the marvels that surrounded me. But knowing how blind I was did not make me see.

(…) people can be light sources, without ever knowing, for years in the lives of others, while their own lives take different and hidden courses. Equally, one can be, and I recalled Peregrine’s words, a monster, a cancer, in the mind of someone whom one has half forgotten or even never met.

As James said, ‘If even a dog’s tooth is truly worshipped it glows with light.’

‘Can you hear the sea?’

‘I think you’re nearly through out of it. You’ve built a cage of needs and installed here in an empty space in the middle. The strong feelings are all around her – vanity, jealousy, revenge, your love for your youth – they aren’t focused on her, they don’t touch her. She seems to be their prisoner, but really you don’t harm her at all. You are using her image, a doll, a simulacrum, it’s an exorcism. Soon you will start seeing her as a wicked enchantress. Then you will have nothing to do except forgive here and that will be within your capacity.’

‘The sea is clean. The mountains are high. I think I am becoming drunk.’ ‘The sea is not all that clean,’ said James. ‘Did you know that dolphins sometimes commit suicide by leaping onto the land because they are so tormented by parasites?’ ‘I wish you hadn’t told me that. Dolphins are such good beasts. So even they have their attendant demons.’

‘What after all is superstition?’ said James, pouring some more wine into both glasses. ‘What is religion? Where does the one end and the other begin? How could one answer that question about Christianity?’

‘(…) But this power is dreadful stuff. Our lusts and attachments compose our god. And when one attachment is cast off another arrived by way of consolation. We never give up pleasure absolutely, we only barter it for another.’ (…)

What was my role in this play? I felt myself being relaxed and smiling like a man in a dream who cannot remember his lines but knows he can manage impromptu.

If there’s any fruitless mental torment which is greater than that of jealousy it is perhaps remorse. Even the pains of loss may be less searching; and often of course these agonies combine, as now they did for me. I say remorse not repentance. I doubt if I have ever experienced repentance in a pure form; perhaps it does not exist in a pure form. Remorse contains guilt, but helpless hopeless guilt which knows of no cure for the painful bite.

However life, unlike art, has an irritating way of bumping and limping on, undoing conversions, casting doubt on solutions, and generally illustrating the impossibility of living happily or virtuously even after (…)

Time, like the sea, unties all knots. Judgements on people are never final, they emerge from summing up which at once suggest the need of a reconsideration. Human arrangements are nothing but loose ends and hazy reckoning, whatever art may otherwise pretend in order to console us.

But am I so exceptional? We must live by the light of our self-satisfaction, through that secret vital busy inwardness which is even more remarkable than our reason. Thus we must live unless we are saints, and are there any? There are spiritual beings, perhaps James was one, but there are no saints.

There may be no saints, but there is at least one proof that the light of self-satisfaction can illuminate the whole world.

Of course this chattering diary is a façade, the literary equivalent of the everyday smiling face which hides the inward savages of jealousy, remorse, fear and the consciousness of irretrievable moral failure. Yet such pretences are not only consolations but may even be productive of a little ersatz courage.

That time of attentive mourning for her death was quite unlike the black blank horror of the thing itself. We had mourned together, trying to soothe each other’s pain. But that shared pain was so much less than the torment of her vanishing, the terrible lived time of her eternal absence. How different each death is, and yet it leads us into the self-same country, that country which we inhabit so rarely, where we see that worthlessness of what we have long pursued and will so soon return to pursuing.

There were no trains going where she was.

I cannot now remember the exact sequence of events in those prehistoric years. That we cannot remember such things, that our memory, which is ourself, is tiny, limited and fallible, is also one of the important things about us, like our inwardness and our reason. Indeed it is the very essence of both.

The only fault which I can at all measure is my own.

Anything can be tarnished by association, and if you have enough associations you can blacken the world. (…) In hell or in purgatory there would be no need of other or more elaborate tortures.

My love for you is quiet at last. I don’t want it to become a roaring furnace. If I could have suffered more I would have suffered more. Receive us now as if we were your children. Tenderness and absolute trust and communication and truth matter more and more as one grows older. Somehow let us not waste love, it is rare. Can we not love each other at last in freedom, without awful possessiveness and violence and fear? Love matters, not ‘in love’. Let there be no more partings now. Let there be peace between us now forever, we are no longer young. Love me, Charles, love me enough.

I suppose that is right, though there is a kind of impiety involved in letting any of James’s stuff go away. Do I then suppose he is likely to come back at any moment?

It is strange to think that when I went to the sea I imagined that I was giving up the world. But one surrenders power in one form, and grasps it in another.

[sciencespies]

Weird space rock confirmed as super-rare hybrid of comet and asteroid

https://sciencespies.com/space/weird-space-rock-confirmed-as-super-rare-hybrid-of-comet-and-asteroid/

Weird space rock confirmed as super-rare hybrid of comet and asteroid

Comets and asteroids are both types of rocks that hang out in space, but their differences are pretty pronounced.

Comets typically hail from the outer Solar System and have long, elliptical orbits. They’re filled with ices that start to sublimate when the comet gets close to the Sun, generating a dusty, misty atmosphere (called a coma) and the famous cometary tails.

Asteroids usually hang out in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter, with orbits that are more like those of the planets. They’re also thought to be pretty dry and rocky, so they don’t tend to engage in the picturesque outgassing seen in their more exotic relatives.

A newly discovered space rock, however, seems to have characteristics of both. It’s called (248370) 2005 QN173, and it hangs out in the main asteroid belt, like millions of other asteroids, going around the Sun in a nice, planet-style almost-circle.

But, like a comet, in July of this year, 248370 was spotted showing signs of outgassing at its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion), and a long, cometary tail. This would make it a rare hybrid of the two – a type of object we call an active asteroid, or main-belt comet.

It’s one of just 20 or so of these rarely seen objects – among the over 500,000 known main-belt objects – that have been suspected of being main-belt comets, and just the eighth object of this type confirmed. Moreover, astronomers have discovered that the object has been active more than once.

“This behavior strongly indicates that its activity is due to the sublimation of icy material,” said astronomer Henry Hsieh of the Planetary Science Institute.

“248370 can be thought of as both an asteroid and a comet, or more specifically, a main-belt asteroid that has just recently been recognized to also be a comet. It fits the physical definitions of a comet, in that it is likely icy and is ejecting dust into space, even though it also has the orbit of an asteroid.

“This duality and blurring of the boundary between what were previously thought to be two completely separate types of objects – asteroids and comets – is a key part of what makes these objects so interesting.”

The behavior of 248370 was discovered  on 7 July 2021, in data from the robotic astronomical survey Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Confirmation observations taken by Lowell Discovery Telescope showed clear signs of a tail, and a perusal of the data from the Zwicky Transient Facility showed the tail appeared as early as 11 June.

Between 8 July and 14 August, new follow-up observations were taken using different telescopes, confirming earlier data. There, in the asteroid belt, 248370 was sporting an absolutely stylin’ tail.

Measurements taken by Hsieh and his team revealed that the cometary nucleus – that’s the chunk of rock from which the tail extends – is around 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) across. In July, the tail was more than 720,000 kilometers (450,000 miles) long, but just 1,400 kilometers (900 miles) wide. That’s crazy narrow in comparison to the tail’s length.

“This extremely narrow tail tells us that dust particles are barely floating off of the nucleus at extremely slow speeds and that the flow of gas escaping from the comet that normally lifts dust off into space from a comet is extremely weak,” Hsieh explained.

“Such slow speeds would normally make it difficult for dust to escape from the gravity of the nucleus itself, so this suggests that something else might be helping the dust to escape.

“For example, the nucleus might be spinning fast enough that it’s helping to fling dust off into space that has been partially lifted by escaping gas. Further observations will be needed to confirm the rotation speed of the nucleus, though.”

Further observations will help us better understand the object, too. Based on our understanding of the Solar System, 248370 and the other main-belt comets shouldn’t exist. That’s because the main asteroid belt is thought to have been there since the formation of the Solar System, around 4.6 billion years ago.

The asteroid belt lies between around 2.2 and 3.2 astronomical units from the Sun. The Solar System’s frost line – the point beyond which it is cold enough for ice to form in a vacuum – is at around 5 astronomical units. So it’s unclear why these main-belt comets have retained enough ice to produce cometary sublimation activity.

In addition, they could help us understand a little bit about Earth, too. In the early days of the Solar System, impacts from asteroids bearing water could have been one of the ways water was delivered to Earth. If main-belt comets have water, we might be able to explore this idea a little further.

“In the long term, 248370 will be well-placed for monitoring during the approach to its next perihelion passage on UT 2026 September 3,” the researchers write in their paper.

“Monitoring during this time will be extremely valuable for further confirming the recurrent nature of 248370’s activity, constraining the orbital range over which activity occurs (with implications for constraining ice depth on the object, as well as its active lifetime), measuring initial dust production rates, and comparing the object’s activity levels from one orbit to another as well as to other main-belt comets.”

The research was presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences, and has been accepted into The Astrophysical Journal Letters. It’s currently available on preprint site arXiv.

#Space

[sarahwyland]

It’s sick that there’s a version that Nick walks out on his kid or where Sabrina refuses to let him see him or her. It’s an AU I know you like writing angst, but keep the characters in character from who they are based on. Deeply saddened and just offended. Nick wouldn’t walk out on his kid. Nor would Sabrina refuse to let him near said kid. If you’re going to write the single fic go with the other.

I’m sorry you feel this way and I’d like to talk a little more about this fic idea because of some of the comments I’ve received about it. This is lengthy, but I feel it’s important, as a writer and a person, to dig into this more. 

I do like to write angst. I like to explore the darker parts of our characters. Because they all have very dark sides to them. That’s what drew me to Sabrina - the depth and dimension of some of these characters and the boldness of the stories they told, particularly in parts one and two. 

We like to focus on the love Nick and Sabrina have for one another, the attraction, the connection. But Sabrina has faced loss, abandonment (who else’s heart broke when Edward said he didn’t want her?), and Nick has faced a world of trauma, shown a tendency to lean on alcohol and drugs to cope. Hell, he committed suicide. Some view that as a grand romantic Shakespearean gesture. I don’t. I view it as someone who a hurt and darkness they couldn’t conquer. Sadly, I think we all know people who have lost their lives because their internal struggles were just too much. My mom’s favorite cousin is one of those people. He suffered from deep depression and PTSD. My stepdad’s nephew is another. He was transgender in a family that “doesn’t believe in that.” I will go to the mat over mental health, over access to care, and the stigma around speaking up when you’re hurting. Advocating for mental health is a big part of my life you don’t necessarily see on Tumblr. 

As a writer, those dark sides, those things we each have in us, no matter how sunshine and daisies we are, are what gives our characters dimension. It’s what gives them an emotional journey and makes the reader/viewer want to root for them - or hate them. It’s what makes you look at a Nick or a Sabrina or a Prudence or a Zelda and see yourself in them, the good and the bad. I won’t apologize for exploring these darker parts or for tossing around thoughts and ideas with my “internet friends” about stories I may or may not share. 

If this version of this story ever sees the light of day, it will likely not be in this fandom. I only wrote a handful of pages, exploring as I tend to do. At this point, I’ll give the characters new identities and write a manuscript or a pilot that will either live on my laptop forever or land me a Netflix deal.  

On a more personal note, I, like many of you who also write, tend to “write what I know.” I know a lot about addiction and mental illness, not as a professional, but as a person who has been deeply affected by it. I have anxiety that tends to manifest itself at the most inopportune times. I’ve had panic attacks that have put me in the ER. I’ve alluded to the suicides that stemmed from depression my family has experienced. 

A lesser known but not secret fact about me is that my dad, who I love and adore and will swear hung the moon, is an alcoholic. He’s been in the hospital due to alcohol withdrawal twice in the last year. The first time he nearly died. Delirium tremens (DTs) is a terrifying thing to witness. I imagine it was even more terrifying for him to go through. Two weeks ago, while I was posting prompts and updating ‘The Hunted’ and lamenting how I’m going to shoot a short film in a pandemic with all the COVID rules, I was also fielding calls from the other side of the country from my dad’s doctors, giving me updates and discussing his treatment plan moving forward, AA meetings, psychiatrists... I also had to sign an advanced directive for him - just in case. 

I see him struggle with his addiction. I also watched him stay sober for more than 20 years, only to relapse when he lost his sister to a nasty battle with cancer a few years ago and then struggle to regain that sobriety. He’s a good man who works hard, has done well for himself, loves his family, takes care of his 93 year old mother, calls me to ask if i’ve remembered to get my oil changed (the answer is always no), but he’s also an addict and he’s done things I would have never thought he’d do while under the influence. Even 20+ years sober, he was always an addict. 

And so, this very long note to say this fic would have been bigger than “Nick left his pregnant girlfriend.” It would have been a story about a man who has struggled with addiction, who made mistakes, who still carries the love he had for a girl with him in hopes that he can redeem himself in her eyes and be the man he so wants to be, and about a girl who faced loss and heartache at a young age, who tried with all she had to help the man she loves, only to learn the very hard lesson that you can’t help someone who isn’t ready to be helped. It would have told a story about overcoming those obstacles and making a life from the ashes. 

You probably didn’t bargain for this long of a response, probably didn’t bargain for an answer at all. But for reasons I can’t wrap my head around, this single mom fic idea that’s popped into my inbox a few times over the last year from various folks causes chaos (no pun intended) and I felt the need to explain the rational behind a story that I doubt I’ll ever publish in this format. 

I always encourage sharing of opinions. But I also encourage the sharing to be done with grace and kindness and for criticism to be constructive, feedback helpful. My inbox is open. 

[mamthew]

Thoughts on Great Ace Attorney: Adventures

I finished the first of the Great Ace Attorney games last night and have some thoughts I want to write out. I'll be mostly avoiding spoilers, and I mark the ones I do have.

I approached this game with the thought that this - a new AA game with completely new characters, set in an entirely different time period - would be the first entirely functional jumping-on-point the series has had since the original back in 2001. For that reason, I critiqued the game mostly through that lens: how much of this game would show newcomers the best of what the series has to offer without requiring information it doesn't provide? GAA fits the latter wonderfully. There's no Phoenix or Apollo or Athena, only minor references to other games that don't detract from this game's story in any way. Players don't need to understand spirit channeling or magician heredity or Larry Butz. This is a game a newcomer can approach and play without any long exposition on who has what relationship with whom. However, this game simply doesn't show newcomers the best of what the series has to offer. GAA has five cases, and of those five I would consider two of them to have a satisfying resolution. Obviously, that's pretty subjective, but at the very least, Ace Attorney is known for its villains and this game has maybe one. And that one villain...doesn't get a freakout. Two of the cases feel like attempts to redo and fix the two most poorly executed cases in AA2, and they definitely succeed at doing that, but it means that the cases don't have satisfying conclusions by design. The gimmick of this game, too, feels less satisfying than previous gimmicks. The testimonies place multiple characters on the stands at once, and in theory that means the player must be scanning the other characters' faces for reactions to what is being said, but in practice the game simply makes a loud sound and gives you an icon telling you exactly which character made that sound. It's considerably less satisfying than scanning for subtle body language hints as Apollo or using your evidence to break through people's walls as Phoenix. It's too simple, and that, combined with the mostly uninteresting solutions to the cases, makes finishing each case not feel like an achievement. This is also the first game in the series to spend a lot of time setting up plot points for future games. Every other Ace Attorney game is self-contained; it's useful to know the previous games, but every mystery brought up in a game will be solved by the end of that game. I can think of at least ten questions off the top of my head that are introduced in this game but aren't given any resolution specifically so that those mysteries can carry forward into the sequel. This probably is less of an issue in this format, where both games are in one collection, so I can just move on to the next one as soon as I'm done with this one, but it makes GAA feel like a less cohesive title. I've played five cases of this game and could tell you almost nothing about the prosecutor. There isn't a single other AA game where that's the case. Obviously, this is just a different storytelling philosophy than the series has had in the past, but it's one at odds with the game's own theming. The character of Sherlock Holmes is very important to the plot of this game, which is delightful, and makes sense given just how much influence Holmes mysteries have had on the series as a whole. But each of Doyle's stories about Holmes was self-contained, which was why the character held such mass appeal. The writers of this game are laying claim to a pedigree from which they are simultaneously distancing themselves. Hell, in the past I've turned on old AA games on a whim and replayed old chapters out of order because generally each mystery stands on its own. I would not do that with this game. There's no reason to replay case 3, for instance, without just replaying the entire game. Case 4 spends more time dealing with the fallout of cases 2 and 3 than it does investigating its own mystery. And it looks like this trend will be continuing. I watched the opening cutscene of the second game, and its first case seems to be about answering the questions left unanswered from the first case of the previous game. That

leaves me excited to play the case and learn the answers to those questions, but it also means the tutorial case for GAA isn't resolved by the end of the game. That's ludicrous when compared to any other game in the series. The closest comparison I have is the first case of AA4, in which the victim's identity, the murderer's motive, and both their relationships to the defendant are left hanging, but that's all resolved in case 4, and the act of solving the murder itself was satisfying enough that I didn't find myself worrying about those answers until I was meant to. By the end of GAA, I only know one of those details about the first case, and I spent most of the game waiting for those answers to come. Hell, in case 4, two characters I'd never seen before or since stage a conversation in front of the protagonist, and I can only assume they'll be important again in the second game. Their character models honestly shouldn't even have been in this game. The pacing is also oddly quick, even with an extra case. We only see the prosecutor's gimmick in action once, another character out-mia-fey's mia fey with the level of disrespect in their death, and while the main themes of the series get a lot of lip-service in this game, it mostly doesn't feel earned, except in the last case. To dip my toe into spoilers for the next paragraph:

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Every AA game deals heavily with the theme of belief in one's client. The Japanese justice system is pretty fucked, so the games talk a lot about how a defense attorney must fully trust in their client's innocence, because literally no one else will. It's a pretty powerful motif, especially when you consider the real-world implications. In Ace Attorney, trusting in your client's innocence includes being willing to take risks by pointing out evidence that seems to hurt your client's case, because getting a fuller understanding of the truth is the only way to find the real culprit, in the end. In GAA, the protagonist's ability to trust in his clients is dashed with his very first case, so early he never had a chance to understand the importance of that trust. So his journey of trying to learn how to trust in his clients feels unearned for returning players and will probably feel entirely confusing and out-of-place for first-time players.

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Okay, that's the end of those spoilers

None of this is to say this is a bad game. It's much better than 5 or 6, and it's still probably the best jumping-on point since 1. If anyone asked me where to start the series, I'd still tell them to play the original trilogy, but this isn't a terrible place to start either. I love the characters a lot, their take on Sherlock Holmes is delightful, and the use of the turn-of-the-century time period is great. You even defend an actual historical Japanese novelist from the time, which is really a treat.

But I worry that unless the second game is a considerable jump in quality, that this side story simply won't have the staying power of the original trilogy, 4, or investigations. I've been mad for a really long time that we only got this game 6 years after the first one released and 4 years after the second, but after having played this I'm at least glad it released packed in with the sequel, or I'd've probably been considerably more disappointed with it than I already am. Then there are other issues that come with the collection format meaning we essentially have a second tutorial halfway through the game.

In any case, once I've finished the second game I'll probably write some thoughts on that, too, and possibly rank the series.

[radramblog]

A handful of hot cardboard takes

So due to having assignment work to do and a relatively busy day tomorrow, I’m going to be writing both today and tomorrow’s blog articles tonight. Unnnnfortunately, it’s approaching 11PM, and I haven’t even figured out what I’m writing this one about- it has to be relatively short, since I don’t have that much time, and I want the tomorrow one to be an album, and that always takes time, and ehhhh…

I guess it’s been a hot second (read: a week exactly) since I talked about Magic, so that’ll do. But what specifically?

I mean, I guess there’s these new spoilers to go on about. I guess I’m hotting some takes.

First of all, we have the D&D set, Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. I feel like this set’s creation was inevitable. WoTC has had D&D and Magic for decades now, and the only crossover we got was the Un-Card Sword of Dungeons and Dragons? And yet fucking Walking Dead got a whole-ass secret lair? Yeah no way this wasn’t happening. So far we only have 5 cards, so one by one I suppose.

Tiamat was obviously going to be a thing, but she feels exceptionally underwhelming. Admittedly, cramming her massive list of abilities and flavour into one 2.5 by 3.5 inch card was going to be difficult, but this is just meh. She finds five dragons, whoop de fucking do. This is never going to see any play outside of Commander, and I can’t imagine picking her to lead your 5-colour Dragons deck above The Ur-Dragon, it’s Scion, or even Morophon. And, I’m all for underrated jank commanders, but I also don’t like tutors, and if you’ve ever resolved Conflux (which this kinda feels like) you know it can be a huge pain. A solid Meh/10. I do like that they didn’t give her an epithet, though.

The Vorpal Sword is actually pretty sick. Not only is it a cheap coloured equipment that slots great into Black/X Voltron Commander lists, not only is it an alternative wincon that isn’t complete shit but also requires going all in and is very interactable, but I actually think this has a slot in cubes interested in Black Aggro, Black Artifacts, or both. The arts for this card look sick aas hell, and I’m extremely interested in seeing in snicker-snack someone to death.

I was wondering whether or not Halfling was going to be a creature type, and that question got answered fairly quick. Citizen on the typeline is interesting considering it’s only been seen on 4 token producers so far (and also Mobilized District becomes one), and the recent Edgewall Innkeeper being a peasant. I guess this guy is too prosperous for the peasantry.

Oh, the card itself? Well, I was never a fan of Wily Goblin, but I don’t really think that’s why we’re here. This charming fellow is a second Green Soul Sister, supporting the Witherbloom lifegain archetype from Strixhaven, and it’s nice to see colours other than White (and occasionally, Black) get to do life things. It’s always been secondary (tertiary? They don’t get lifelink) in green, or only on shite cards, so it getting pushed is an interesting twist.

It is an utter tragedy that you can put a Bag of Holding in a Portable Hole in Magic now, and it doesn’t even do anything. I get the feeling this is going to be either everywhere or nowhere, though I’m leaning towards the latter. Any permanent type is really nice, but 2 or less is restrictive enough that this misses way more often than you’d like. But, if it ends up being good, you’re going to see a lot of Portable Holes exiling Portable Holes, and that’s just kinda funny.

Isn’t there supposed to be a colon in there? This is just a more splashable, flavour-twisted variant of Victim of Night- though that card ends up being one of the best Terrors Mono-Black gets to run, out of a long long list. This, unfortunately, is a bit worse than that is in competitive formats, and considerably worse in EDH where giant Angels, Demons, and Dragons are often the targets you want to tell to die. I’m just going to stick with Doom Blade. And Go for the Throat. And Snuff Out and Hero’s Downfall and Victim of Night and Heartless Act and

So, I actually really like these basics, but specifically for this set. Box text is an essential part of D&D, and putting it on the basics is just a lovely bit of flavour. I don’t know if they’ve said whether every basic variant is going to have this, but I kinda hope they do. The art for these is top fucking notch, too. I’m not convinced this should be a permanent thing though.

 But of course, that’s not the only set we have spoilers for, because Magic Spoiler Season is a sine wave of hype now and it will never end. Modern Horizons 2: because the first one didn’t fuck enough formats up. That’s not very fair, that set was cool as fuck, but in my eyes that’s for the kookier designs rather than the bonkers powerful shit. More Throes of Chaos, less Hogaak. Anyway, we’ve got 3 new cards and some reprints, so let’s get into them.

I’m really not sure how to feel about this art, but hey, that’s just my opinion. Brainstone is a solid role-player in all sorts of artifacty, eggsy decks, probably the best Egg we’ve seen in a while. It’s going right in my Radha deck, I’ll tell you that much. Considering how expensive the worst card ever made, Sensei’s Divining Top, is getting, having a colourless topdeck manipulation option that’s likely not too spenno is nice, even if it’s a oneshot. I like it.

Oh, haha, it’s Lion’s Eye Diamond but they drew the rest of the fucking Lion. While this looks absolutely gorgeous, it doesn’t go into Cat tribal, and I’m not that much of a degenerate, so meh. For real though, this doesn’t actually look broken to me- LED is powerful because it’s a lotus, whereas this takes that and makes it a slow, multi-turn Pyretic Ritual. I also don’t think having an LED effect in Modern does much for the format, so. Eh?

Ok, here’s the one everyone’s talking about. Urza’s Saga is such a slam-dunk on a meta level. It’s a card named after a set, a fun reversal of Time Spiral block all being named after cards, and considering Modern Horizons was basically Time Spiral 2 I wouldn’t be surprised if MH2 was TSP3. It’s also an Enchantment Land but doesn’t look like it, referencing the fact that Urza’s block was actually Enchantment Matters but no-one remembers that because basically none of those cards were the good ones. This card is blatantly powerful, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see it pop up in a loooot of decks in various formats. In commander, this is a land for 3 turns that then turns into a Sol Ring, while also maybe making you a token or two and maybe even finding a weird hate piece or combo machine (…or Top) instead. In Modern or Legacy, it tutors for all sorts of nonsense, while making potential threats for artifact decks in the land slots. This card, while slow, has potential to be patently absurd, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it was banned in at least one format by the end of the year. We’ll see which ones.

Counterspell in modern is something a very specific group of people were counting for. Personally, it’s not the vintage spell I would have been hyped for, I was wanting Swords, but here we are. I almost feel, however, that Counterspell’s potential in Modern has been wasted at this point. Like, how many decks are even running Mana Leak these days? And how many of those decks want to be holding up UU on turn 2? Because in a fast format like this, Mana Leak might as well be Counterspell most of the time. The new art is baller, ill give it that.

I…don’t know enough about how this card is in Legacy Death and Taxes to know how well it would be in Modern Death and Taxes. It seems pretty good? I like that they’re doing old-border reprints again, though, that was like the only good thing behind Time Spiral Remastered.

Fucking Finally. With that said, I’m not convinced that finally reprinting these fetches is going to keep the price down much, and for long- the Horizon lands from MH1 see a fair bit less play, and they are creeping up to $20 a pop for some of them at this point. I guess if you need them, buy them now, because they aren’t going to stay low. It’s going to take more than a single reprint in a premium product before I’m satisfied in the reprint quality.

 Anyway, that’s the lot of them. My takes on these cards was probably a bit chiller than what you’d see from someone who’s actually in the know of competitive formats these days, but if you came here for serious analysis, then I’m not sure what to tell you. More well-thought-out Magic talk, uhh, next time I talk about Magic.