#it was pretty fun to try and make my own take on Frankenstein for this
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Still thinking about the mercs as parents...I'm being really indulgent and assuming they're all good with kids in their own way, in the sense that they really would love a child of their own (even if they're terrible influences or let their kids do dangerous things) but anyway here's my thoughts on each of them as dads:
Scout: not used to being responsible for someone else since he's everyone's favorite youngest child of 8. He's a bit awkward with it and scared at first but he'll catch on eventually. He's not the best influence though and definitely teaches his kid things that shouldn't be taught to young children. Family means a lot to him considering his own dad left early in his life so he'll always try to be there for his own kid
Soldier: who let this man have a child. He loves his kid with all his heart but he is a terrible influence in the sense that he doesn't understand how fragile children can be until they get older. He tries his best and likes roughhousing and playing strategic games like capture the flag so at least he's fun to be around
Pyro: surprisingly good with kids! He's got a childish whimsy that translates very well into keeping children entertained. He'll probably play pretend with his kid for hours if you let him. He'll teach his kid all about the usefulness and beauty of fire (and probably commit a ton of arson in the process so he's not exactly an ideal role model)
Demoman: very loyal to his family (despite how messed up his backstory with his parents is) so he'd do anything for his child. Not the most attentive dad in the world but he tries his best and would never do anything to hurt his kid. He is very chill and goes with the flow when it comes to parenting. He's fun at parties and would love to pass the time having a drink with his kid on the porch in the evening
Heavy: he grew up with little sisters so he loves kids and pretty much knows exactly what to do. Most responsible merc when it comes to parenting by far. Loves his family so he'd really find it special to have a kid of his own, he'd probably worry a lot but once the initial fears subside he'd be a great dad. If he has flaws it's that he'd very much baby a kid past an age where that'd be appropriate or wanted so that may seem a bit condescending (he's only doing it because he's extremely protective though)
Engineer: he doesn't entirely know what to do at first but he's very genuine about it. Loves helping his kid make things and playing music together. Would totally kill it at a parent-child science fair making all sorts of weird gadgets that do new (and probably terrible) things. He's got a pretty big heart and is generally pretty tolerant of things that other parents would be annoyed with
Medic: who let this man have a child (part 2). Besides the obvious concerns of him using his own kid as a guinea pig for all kinds of weird experiments he'd actually be an ok dad. Very proud of his child and pays very close attention to stuff like growth milestones. Also would totally kill it at a parent-child science fair. Probably helps his kid make all kinds of weird Frankenstein-esque, cobbled-together toys and is very blunt about the whole "circle of life" thing
Sniper: oh man he has no idea how to do this properly, he's just gonna try to remember how his parents raised him and give it his best shot. He's a bit distant but always makes sure to spend quality time with his kid even if he doesn't say much. Probably takes his kid out for archery lessons, just in case his talent runs in the family. He felt awkward growing up (never knew he wasn't actually Australian by birth) so he makes sure to never treat his own child as less-than
Spy: oh boy. Assuming he actually sticks around to raise a child (this time), he'd actually be a decent dad. He definitely overthinks things, is very strict and overprotective, and is kinda a "no fun allowed" type compared to the other mercs in that he wants his kid to have the most normal and safe life possible. Spends time and effort on a good education, especially regarding the finer things in life. He prays that his kid doesn't "end up like him" despite not really elaborating on what he means by that. Overall he doesn't trust himself to raise a child properly but if forced to he's actually more than capable of it
Anyway these are just my thoughts. Again this is probably not the most realistic but I'm oddly optimistic about this kind of thing, plus I think it's interesting and kinda funny tbh imagining how the mercs might be as fathers :)
#team fortress 2#tf2 scout#tf2 soldier#tf2 pyro#tf2 demoman#tf2 heavy#tf2 engineer#tf2 medic#tf2 sniper#tf2 spy#talking#text post#long post
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I'm pretty bad at drawing dragons, could I have a tip on drawing them.
I don't think there's such a thing as "being bad" at drawing dragons, to be honest.
Dragons can have such a large variety of designs, especially when artists, modern or not, imagine them as something other than your standard fire breathing reptile. Folklore can't even be consistent on what a dragon is. To me, they're not too different than designing a creature from scratch, whether or not you want to make it biologically plausible (aka spec bio). So I can't specifically give you dragon design tips because I use the same process for all creatures I make.
Instead, I'll offer some things I learned about creature design in general from studying animals and from other creature designers.
It all comes down to two questions:
What is the character of this design? And what do you like to design?
It sounds vague but hear me out.
Designing a character and designing a creature aren't that dissimilar. Because by creating a creature, you also focus on what makes its shapes unique from others as you would in a lineup of characters. Think of how you can identify different real life animals based on just the silhouette alone, and the features that give it that silhouette. For example you can tell a giraffe apart from a whale just by the silhouette, right?
What I like to do is make designs that give a good idea on how the creature lives, speculative evolution, and that involves a lot of research into animal biology. Evolution is the most unhinged creature designer, after all.


Ostriches and emus convergently evolved to be built for running rather than flying, and occupy a similar niche in their environments. But if you reduce them down to a single silhouette, you can easily still tell them apart.


Here's two of my own designs to demonstrate this same idea. The left I designed from bears, wildebeest, african wild dogs, and gorgonopsids. It's a pack-hunting species that lives in warmer grasslands. Its arms are also comparatively long for the rest of its body.
On the right is a polar relative, designed from a polar bear, a seal, arctic fox (summer coat), white tailed deer (tail shape), and basilosaurus (for the teeth). Compared to the first design, it's less lean and has more bulk for keeping warm. The ears are also diminished and the snout is way shorter. Despite that they look like they are related species from different climates.
Sometimes I tend to exaggerate a part of the design, such as the neck fluff on the polar guy and the length of the nose on the left one. Even small changes can make a big difference, and sometimes unexpected features can give you the exact design you were looking for. Don't fear ugliness or uncanniness in a design.
Because another fun exercise I like to do is take the body plan of a creature and stretch another creature to fit into that body plan. It may look ugly and cursed but sometimes that's what I want.
If researching anatomy and biology isn't your thing, you still have options. You can always apply chimera rules.


I've also seen this being described as "frankensteining", where you stitch different animal features together without much adjustment. This design strategy isn't invalid, but I don't prefer it.
I know I went with a standard "dragon" look for Pink (and the other diamonds' corrupted designs are getting an overhaul), but that's because that look happens to work for what I wanted.

An easy way to approach any of these methods is to draw small thumbnails in a sketchbook or on a digital canvas while zoomed out. With references handy of course. Being able to find distinct shapes when it's smaller makes them not rely on the littler details to be recognizeable. That way you can iron out the rest once you find something you like. And hands off ctrl+z/eraser (or use it sparingly). I know it's tempting, but try and resist.
I like to use a ballpoint pen for this when on paper, because it makes me commit to the lines so I'm not constantly erasing. I get no progress if all I'm doing is erasing. If I don't like it, I take what I like about the other thumbnails and move on to the next. This process whittles away the features I don't prefer. Notice the little note I left next to the dog in the upper right.
If something isn't working out, that's completely fine. Look at references, build your visual library. Don't get discouraged. Try things out just to see how it looks, even if you end up not liking it. You still learned something from that attempt.
Hang the code. Embrace chaos. Draw and design dragons how you want to.
And to finish this off:
Don't compare yourself to others and let that make you feel bad about your art. In fact, stop comparing altogether. It's okay to be inspired, but you are on your own artistic journey. Give yourself credit for your own progress and let that motivate you.
I see too many people do this, especially when they have every reason to feel good about the stuff they made.
#asks#creature design#hope this makes sense and helps someone out there lol#sorry if this got a bit rambly#but i hope it makes sense#going through the backlog of asks#sorry this is very late#trying to get back into the groove of posting here
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The Papas, DND and VTM
As some of you know, I am an avid TTRPG liker, watcher, player, etc. The idea of the Papas (and the Ghouls) playing a campaign has always been very fun to me, so I consulted with the council (my wives @bonesy-doodles and @parabunny).
And so, I present to you, the Papas and their set ups for Dungeons and Dragons and Vampire: the Masquerade!
Primo
So, Primo is overall very much the traditional Dracula of the bunch. He's all dark and mysterious and probably actually evil (by some metric), despite the garden tending and the (poisonous) plants he takes care of. He for sure is a roleplay guy but will kick ass in combat.
In DND, he would definitely attempt to play a Dhampir Warlock or Artificer. Artificer especially would allow for alchemy and a lot more fucking around with spellcasting - therefore making it both challenging and engaging and for Primo to pull some insane shit during session. He could also just multiclass Warlock/Artificer, definitely pact of Fiend, Undead, or the Great Old One. The Dhampirism is for vibes, okay. It just fits.
As for VTM, he would be Malkavian or Nosferatu, but the oracle aspect of Malkavian makes it all the more ominous. There is also Hecata and Tzimisce! Either way, he's one of the more ancient, traditional vampires. Primo would play VTM and say, "I am Cain." (bones said this) Much to the chagrin of the Master of Ceremonies.
Primo is also a dice hoarder, he has so many sets and he has a specialized dice bag for it too. It's embroidered.
Secondo
Secondo is very - how you say - wild? He would bring chaos to the table I fear, but he does it in character rather than like being a frustrating player. While he does read the rules well, he does it to get around them I feel.
In DND, he'd play a fighter class, probably just straight up Fighter or Barbarian. And he'd play bigger species like Dragonborn and Orcs! So basically the tank and also main hitter. But for a little bit of religious aspects, an Oathbreaker Paladin would be perfect for him. It has those angsty, turned back on my god vibes as well as the tankiness of melee classes. a Barbarian Paladin multiclass would hit hard methinks.
VTM wise, he'd definitely be Ravnos. I considered Toreador and Gangrel, but I think Ravnos fits the best. He loves (un)living on the edge and rather than the high art vibes that Toreador embody, it's a lot more, well, wild! And also cool. Very rogue-ish and plays by his own rules.
I think he likes fun dice that are like, metal specifically. Some of them are more dark, gothic designs and then some of them are just super fun.
Terzo
Alright, this guy for sure is a roleplay-heavy player. Yeah combat is fun and all but only to get shit done. He loves taking his time curating his character's aesthetics and their motivations and all. He will stick to the bit, do not try him.
That being said, of course he's playing a Bard in DND. He would play either a Tiefling or something of the Elf variety. College of Eloquence would be what I'd assign to him. The bardiest bard to bard, you know? However!! He could also play a Warforged, specifically one with Art Deco elements and that could also reference Frankenstein. It always comes back to Frankenstein with him.
To riff off of the artistry of bards - Terzo would be a Toreador. They're known for being artisans. They're beautiful and charming, seductive...all of which fits the bill for the type of character Terzo likes to play. On the other hand, he could very well play a Brujah. They're known as rebels, warrior-scholars. Terzo would play a vampire that's very Vampire Chronicle-esque.
He's also pretty superstitious about his dice, like if one of them rolls badly he will retire it.
Copia
I think Copia also enjoys the roleplay aspect of TTRPG's a little more than the combat but he gets super giddy whenever he hits a critical hit or takes someone down.
For DND, he would play a Tiefling Cleric. He's got that vibe that he enjoys both the aesthetics and the idea of Tieflings conceptually! Personally I think he always has a Tiefling PC on hand at all times, like it's just his thing. Other than Cleric, he might also take Druid for Wildshape, so he could turn into a little rat. Otherwise, he might also enjoy Sorcerer (magic nepotism /hj). Who has time to learn spells? Not him!
VTM though, it'd be funny if he played a Lasombra. Definitely hilarious considering their whole social-climbing thing and the administrative aspect! Tangentially, the Ministry Clan would also be kinda ironic. I just think he plays that sort of vampire that is less Ancient but more like What We Do In The Shadows vampire.
He likes having dice for each of his characters, he might reuse some, but he prefers having one set for one PC.
Extra
They all play an Oops! All Tiefling Bard Game, at some point. It is so stupidly fun.
There have been fights over in-game choices. Many of them. It's okay, they get through it.
The Ghouls do play as well! I have not figured out their own preferences yet, but trust, they get to have their TTRPG time.
OC tidbits
My OC, Sibling Nephtys would run games like Monsterhearts (college ver) and Monster of the Week.
Bones's OC, Sibling Rigorian, would run Dungeons and Dragons.
Para's OC, Bunny, would run Vampire: The Masquerade.
#the band ghost#headcanons#unseriously serious#ghost bc#primo#secondo#terzo#copia#papa i#papa ii#papa iii#papa iv#ttrpgs#emeritus brothers#vtm#dnd
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omg since you’re taking off todya from studying can we hear some of your beatle hottakes?
ughhhhhhh sorry, these are so hard to come up with these days
meta take: I sort of wish we could have a genuine conversation about the blurry line between wishful thinking/headcanon and more objective (or, aspiring to be objective) historical analysis – I get the headcanons, I really do! but just in the past year, there's been several instances of people in good faith asking about sources or questioning "fan favourite" anecdotes and being shouted down for "ruining people's fun". If you want to engage with this stuff in a more lighthearted way, that's fine! but accept that that's what you're doing. Being rude to people trying to get to the truth is not a good look. Your imagination can withstand it, I promise.
more people need to jump on the Day Tripper tinhatting train. shit's crazy up here
the more I listen to Double Fantasy the more I'm offended that a certain brand of John fan basically only names songs from 1970/71 as his best. ditto with Walls and Bridges…
Again And Again And Again: best Denny solo-written Wings song ( it's hard to gauge how much is him and how much is Paul for their collabs. Anyways, No Words my beloved)
Sexy Sadie is kind of perfect… The lyrics, the chords, the distorted doo-wop it all embodies that DISAPPOINTMENT so well. The guitar solo is great, the high-pitched oooooooooohs. No notes, underrated song for sure.
the Mind Games album cover is soooooo deranged but so fucking good. That and Ram might be the best post-Beatles album covers.
this isn't exactly a take but the SADDEST part of Hey Jude is when John harmonizes with Paul. I can't not hear all the unspoken pain.
I kind of hope we get versions of Free As A Bird and Real Love with cleaned up John vocals like Now And Then. I don't want to erase those originals because the audio quality tells a story of its own, but Real Love especially suffers so much from it. I listened to it earlier today and nearly got teary. "No need to be alone" kind of gives me goosebumps. There's something so raw and emotional about all three of these songs…
This is almost the opposite of a hottake, but it kind of Doesn't Matter To Me who Now And Then is about. It could be about Paul, it could pretty easily be about Yoko too, and a few people I've seen say they think it's about May, which could be too! It perhaps not being directed at Paul doesn't take away from the song for me, because the song feels bigger than just its direct inspiration.
On that note, I sort of think that sometimes people could stand to.... Die on fewer hills? Like, the notion that Now And Then could be about Yoko doesn't negate John and Paul's relationship or most things people theorize they may have gotten up to. Now And Then Release Week bonus round, cause it's been long enough to talk about it a bit:
Paul (and Ringo and George! they also have a writing credit, guys!) making editorial choices about John's unfinished song with the blessing of his widow is literally fine. "But John might not have approved–" yes, this is how death works. John also might have found the song embarrassing and not wanted it released at all. It wasn't on Double Fantasy after all! Or maybe he would have specifically wanted to remove the same bit! (which I maintain is musically strange and unfitting at worst and at best a still really rough idea that would probably require a lot of work in of itself – echoing the chord progression in the instrumental bit is the best compromise I could imagine)
I actually really get the George girls who were a bit bummed out by the rollout of the song. He DID get the short end in this situation! but… what would have been better? I saw some people say Paul isn't nearly as good a slide guitarist at George. Okay well then… So Paul should've hired a session musician? How does that makes sense? Paul should've asked Dhani to find some random guitar bit George recorded 25 years ago and frankensteined it onto this song? I'm asking this honestly: what should have been done instead? Because… I sort of got the feeling from some of the criticism that the only acceptable solution was to not release this song at all. And TBH I don't think George "getting the short end" is worse than not allowing Paul and Ringo the closure of completing this song. This wasn't perfect but again: yes, this is how death works.
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Flufftober 2024- 8 Nathan Bateman
There was no point in celebrating Halloween with Nathan Bateman.
First, because he could be a real nightmare all by himself all year long. Then, since they were alone in the middle of nowhere, no one would come asking for candy. And the genius always found a way to criticize the things that Y/N liked.
However, he could have liked this holiday. They could have eaten sweets, drunk alcohol while watching a horror movie. He wouldn't have been scared, but he could have made fun of it by hugging Y/N.
It was tempting, she could have at least offered it to him, but being used to his refusals, she hadn't even tried.
While he would be busy in his office underground, she would spend the evening on her own, maybe in the company of Kyoko, observing her micro reactions to jump scares and other scary scenes. If she had any. It was unlikely that Nathan would have thought to include this kind of thing in her program. Y/N was curious to find out.
What she had forgotten was that Nathan was curious too. Not caring about privacy, conventions, other people.
The moment he saw what was happening in the living room, that Y/N was spending time with his mute creation rather than with him, he abandoned his work. There was nothing in the world that Bateman hated more than not being the center of attention.
"What are you doing ?" he asked casually, taking a bottle of water from the kitchen.
"As you can see, we're watching a horror movie."
"Why ? Kyoko can't appreciate that kind of thing."
"Ah. What does she appreciate then ?"
"Serving me. Cleaning, cooking, good sex."
"Lovely. Now, shush, let's watch the movie."
He grumbled a little, but Nathan obeyed, coming to sit with her. If he understood the absurdity of the situation when he discovered that she was watching Frankenstein, he kept it to himself, staring at the screen without saying anything.
For at least ten minutes, a world record.
"Why are you watching this ? It's not even funny."
"I think it's pretty funny. And it's the day for it."
"What's that supposed to mean ?"
For the first time since he had entered the room, Y/N looked at him, trying to determine if he was serious or if he was pretending not to know what day it was. As if he was doing it on purpose, Nathan stared back at her with a neutral look that was impossible to decipher.
"Kyoko, get out." he suddenly ordered, making his robot obey him immediately.
"We were having so much fun though. She could have been inspired by the creature."
"Impossible, she is programmed to love me more than her own existence. You could be inspired by her, like that you would have considered inviting me to your little horror party."
"You would have refused."
"I would have appreciated the gesture, and I might have joined you later, delighted to find you in a sexy maid outfit. You know my passion for role-playing games, I can't completely hate Halloween."
The discussion could have lasted a long time, a discussion they had already had often enough to know it by heart, her telling him that he was only a selfish pervert, he telling her that she could leave if it didn't suit her, folowwed by a silence for a while, until Nathan found a way to make up for it without ever having to apologize.
Y/N therefore turned her attention back to the end of the film, with the mad scientist killing his thing, before kissing his beloved fiancée tenderly.
The only time Bateman was tender was when he was drunk. But maybe those were the times he was the most honest.
"I wouldn't have chosen a maid costume." she sighed.
"Whatever, you're always sexy."
"You could ask Kyoko."
"I could, but it wouldn't be the same."
And there it was, his subtle way of telling her that she mattered, a little anyway, more than his own creation and all the other humans he'd fled when he moved here. Even if he was serious about the costume.
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Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #234
It rained today!! It rained a lot!! And there was thunder booming outside and everything!!!
…SO I WENT OUTSIDE!!!! But I didn't get any pictures; it was raining so hard that I felt it best to leave both my glasses and my cellphone at home.
And I ran!! And I looked up at the sky and let the rain fall onto my hair and face!! And I let my shoes glide along the surfaces of puddles, spraying water everywhere!!! And I found some really deep puddles to stomp around in and I kicked the water up into the air, and I listened to the booming thunder in the distance, and…!! and…!!! AND…!!!!
Well, of course I got soaked. The insides of my boots got all squishy and weird, hahaha! My hair became a shaggy, sopping mess. My clothing was literally dripping wet.
And then there was the guy in the groundskeeper's cart. I wasn't expecting anyone to be around because it really was raining super hard outside. But still he was there, and… goodness, I felt more than a little self-conscious; I'm very well aware that it's not "normal" for a grown person to frolic in the rain with reckless abandon. The fact that joy is not considered normal in my world is beyond my understanding (and is probably a large part of what's fucking wrong with this place), but it is what it is.
…Still, who fucking cares? I only get one shot at making life awesome for the soft animal that carries my soul, and I am autistic; I am socially unacceptable by default anyfuckingway, so what do I have to lose? So after pausing to bow at the man, and after engaging in brief, but pleasant conversation, in my own mind, I waved a great big huge middle finger at the lingering echoes of past people who tell me I should be ashamed of myself, and I continued to fucking frolic, like a goddamn BOSS. Those old thoughts are terrorists, and we don't fucking negotiate with terrorists.
And you know what!!! After that, I found a particularly deep puddle!!! It was so deep that the water went all the way up to the middle of my shins!!! IT WAS FUCKING GREAT!!!! And so I jumped and splashed and twirled around and stomped and kicked the water EVERYWHERE!!!! It was WONDERFUL!!!
The man came by in his cart again, this time with another man riding in the cart. So I turned and bowed to them once more. They told me that pretty soon, they were going to try to drain the puddles; they wanted to let me know because they thought I looked like I was having fun, and they didn't want me to be sad unexpectedly. So I thanked them, and I bid them peace, safety, and luck, and I told them that I hope they find excuses to dance today. And then I went home. I took my time. I jumped in a few more puddles. I rolled around in some wet grass. But I went home. And it was good.
Of course, by the time I got home, I maybe looked like a bit of a sasquatch, hahaha! So J took a few pictures; I am at home, so in these, I am not bothering to hide the weird ways that the autism and the dyspraxia and the hypermobility make me move and hold myself (people get uncomfortable and unsettled when I don't mask...); for today at least, I do not fucking care! And for today at least, I think maybe these will make you smile, even just a little:
...In case you wonder why autistic people tend to do "t-rex arms"? It's because we're more likely to be hypermobile, and keeping our biceps partially flexed prevents the humerus from coming out of its socket from the effects of gravity. The more you know!
For whatever reason, J then asked me to do my "best impression of a cheese goblin." It's very silly, but he asked, and what he asks for, he gets!
...I, uh... I think I accidentally did a "Frankenstein" instead of a "cheese goblin". And I tried to be really scary, but I don't think I was very successful, because I couldn't keep a straight face while doing it for very long, as you could see, ahahaha~!
Anyway, so everything I was wearing was covered in rainwater. So I had to take it all off and put it in the washer and then change into dry things! And then I put it all in the dryer, and it should be mostly dry now, I think??? My boots might need a few more cycles, but that's okay. I don't mind.
The rain stopped just a little, shortly after I got home. But then, while I was writing this letter to you, it began again, although not quite as strongly as before! Sometimes I think maybe you might miss the rain, so I tried to snag a video of it for you:
youtube
Hey, Sephiroth!!! If you're in my neighborhood the next time it rains like this, let's go outside and dance, okay??? And let's go splash around in the puddles and run around with wet hair and dripping clothes and soggy boots, and let's yell and laugh right back at the thunder and give permission for the wind and the rain to caress our faces!!! And then let's go home and be cheese goblins or Frankensteins or whatever!!! And then we can get cookies or macaroni and cheese!! It'll be fun, I promise!!!
You know what, Sephiroth!! You know what! I think I'm gonna play some Dead Cells now; it has been far too long!! Come and join me if you want to!!
I will end this here for today!! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had fun writing it!!
I love you!!! Please stay safe and work hard out there, okay? But don't work so hard that you break, got it??? You wouldn't want me to come snatch you up and sentence you to a thousand years of cookies and milk and cartoons and macaroni and cheese and nature walks and yummy tea, would you????
...Who am I kidding? Of course you would! But please don't overwork yourself until you break, anyway, okay? I'm sure you remember what happened last time. I'm sure you don't wanna repeat your mistakes. I'm sure you wanna be able to make better choices.
Do your best, okay? I'll write again soon!
Your friend, Lumine
#sephiroth#ThankYouFFVIIDevs#ThankYouFF7Devs#ThankYouSephiroth#final fantasy vii#final fantasy 7#ff7#ffvii#final fantasy vii crisis core#final fantasy 7 crisis core#final fantasy crisis core#ffvii crisis core#ff7 crisis core#crisis core#ff7r#final fantasy vii remake#final fantasy 7 remake#ffvii remake#ff7 remake#final fantasy vii rebirth#final fantasy 7 rebirth#ffvii rebirth#ff7 rebirth#final fantasy 7 ever crisis#ffvii ever crisis#ff7 ever crisis#ffvii first soldier#rain#dancing#wholesome
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im here to serve fucked up ryou headcanons
( except my version of ryou is real horror centered and only about his eternal suffering ) this list is probably controversial but ive made this man into my own character at this point and figure someone will enjoy
im diagnosing that man with APD but i need to do more research on it. serious inferiority complex
he attempted off the school roof once and seriously fucked up his legs since he landed on them. sometimes has to walk with crutches (also need to do more research on what kind of injury he would have) ( the only reason he landed on his legs is because yami possessed him in time to turn his body around like a cat so he wouldnt land on his head and die )
he dug up his dead sister at one point and keeps her in the spare bedroom of his apartment. real paranoid someone will find out. can accidentally hint at it cause he gets real defensive when discussing family
a lot of scratch marks on his arms and neck cause sometimes bugs like beetles or scarabs or flies will appear and crawl under his skin. im writing this one off as a Freaky symptom of carrying the Millennium Ring everywhere. its wacky creepy magic it doesnt need explanation. sometimes throws up bugs when hes real stressed
i project like a motherfucker ( hes a binge eater and has dermatillomania) but unlike me i think he would mostly have that on his hands like his nailbeds are always really messed up
sometimes local livestock goes missing. He steals their blood for fun rituals. got in trouble one time because he was spotting during it but his yami took care of it
hes figures if the "magic" in the ring is real, demons and angels are real, he prays and makes offerings to them and probably has made too many deals. he only makes them because 1. He wants his sister and his mother to come back or 2. he wants friends that don't die.
this one is old but; he has a pretty knife collection and likes to do fancy tricks with them. lots of accidental knicks on the fingers.
probably does five finger fillet at school while all the girls following him around tell him to stop
im on the fence about this one As in, he probably wouldn't Actually do this but would daydream about doing it ; he takes off parts of recently deceased girls and frankensteins them together to form what he thought his dead sister might look like if she were still alive
he has the most piercing horrific Green eyes but by the time he got to yugis school he started wearing brown contacts (that ones a Fun Fact one Because in season 0 he has green eyes, but in the anime he has brown eyes)
i think ryou has a great capacity for aggression mostly because of his yami and one day hes going to explode and cry and try to beat the shit out of yugi for abandoning him right after he gave up his life twice for him and his friends in a row...
just like he did in duelist kingdom i think he would just stalk yugi and his friends around their adventures when they dont invite him because he LITERALLY has NOTHING else to do and nothing to live for
when he gets too close to being able to pull the ring off his neck, it just melts/embeds itself under his skin. one time he tried to cut it out but then it just went under his abdominal wall and it really hurt so he gave up. quickly learned it was fruitless to try and take it off
#rambljngs#bakura ryou#ryou bakura#ygo dm#ygo season 0#yami bakura#back on my ryou loving bullshit#real excited to see how the fans react to this one. please reblog and share thoughts if u read
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asking you all of the in character ask questions at once GO
WHUH- I'm only doing Callie for this or else I'll be here for hours.
"Asking me ALL the questions?! Wow! Okay, let's begin!"
Questions Here
When outside during the rain, do you use a raincoat, an umbrella, or something else? Do you enjoy rain?
"I sometimes use an umbrella or a coat, but I actually quite like the rain! There's been a few times I've been sat in the cemetery and I've been caught by the rain, it was actually quite fun. Mum wasn't too happy when I got back, though..."
Are you a good cook? Do you enjoy cooking? What's your favorite thing to cook?
"I'd say I'm below average? I can cook pasta and stir fry and that's about it! I like to make a fish pasta dish, that's got a creamy penne, salmon and prawns in! It's yummy!"
Do you prefer to take a shower during the morning or evening? Do you like taking baths? What's your favorite scent of shower gel?
"Definitely the evening, it takes me a while to come out of 'shower-mode'. Baths are fun, but it's a lot of energy to make a bath, so I don't have them that often! Oh, I really like lavender scent! Makes a nice and relaxing bath!"
Would you do something that someone told you not to do? Why? Is there someone you'd actually listen to more than everyone else?
"Of course not! They'd tell me not to for a good reason, right? Unless... Well, I guess if not doing something was going to hurt someone, then I'd do it... Oh absolutely Xavier! If it told me not to do something, I'd absolutely listen to it."
What will make you give up?
"I'd like to think I wouldn't give up but... I guess it's if someone got hurt, or something like that. I guess it links in with the last question you asked, but if X told me to stop, I'd definitely stop."
What kinds of books do you read? Do you have a lot of time to read?
"History books! Old journals of people long gone! Oh, and horror books, like Frankenstein or Jekyll & Hyde, and ones like that! I generally do have a lot, when I'm not working I'm usually reading... I don't have much else to do...."
What's your favorite kind of sport? Do you follow sports closely or don't care at all?
"Oh, this is a really hard one! I guess... Rugby? I watch X do it often, but I'm not really a sporty person. Xavier's good at it, though, and I enjoy watching him play!"
How often do you get sick? Do you stay at home when sick or do you end up going outside to, say, get some groceries? If you go outside, would you wear a mask?
"A lot... I don't have that good an immune system. I've had to stay at home a fair bit, so I just try to kind of... Push past it, and go in anyway. Why would I wear a mask...?*"
*Author's note: Covid-19 doesn't exist in this universe, so masks haven't come into popular use in Britain.
Do you have to wear a uniform somewhere? If yes, how do you feel about it? If no, what kind of uniform would you love to wear?
"Thankfully no! My school isn't one that has a uniform, which I'm really glad about. However, I do sort of wear a uniform, cause I wear the same style of outfit every day! I guess that's a kind of uniform I'd love to wear!"
How do you celebrate your accomplishments?
"Usually by getting a little treat for myself from a shop! Usually a snack or a candle or some more fairy lights, or - if it was a big accomplishment - a new book!"
What's your preferred way of getting somewhere - own car, public transport, a bicycle, or something else? How well do you follow the traffic rules?
"I can't drive, so that rules that one out. I like going by train, and walking places is fun, but I get tired pretty easily and my legs start to hurt quickly, so I usually use public transport. I'm going to bug X to drive me places once he gets his driver's license, shouldn't be too long now!"
What do you use to check what time it is?
"My phone or a clock!"
What would make you feel happy and loved?
"Someone going out of their way to listen to me infodump! Speaking of which, if you're still listening to me answer questions, why not check out @secrets-of-everwich which is my podcast!"
(Author's note: please do check out my writing if you're here and haven't already, since I've banished this under a cut hehe)
Do you believe in other dimensions?
"Maybe! It would be cool! Maybe there's a universe where I don't exist... Or maybe there's a universe where I'm a witch helping someone out as they brew potions!"
(Author's note: if you get that reference, you've been paying attention to my posts)
What kind of music do you mostly listen to? Do you know how to play an instrument, and if not, which one would you want to learn to play?
"I listen to a lot of goth music, my favourite is Siouxie and the Banshees, especially 'Trick or Treat'! I can play the flute, and a bit of the piano, but I think I'd like to learn more of piano to play some sheet music I found!"
Do you collect anything? Why?
"I don't think I do...?"
Author's Note: She collects fairy lights and Weird Old Trinkets, like the tape recorder. They do not realise this counts as a collection.
What's your go-to thing to drink? Do you prefer cold or hot drinks?
"I like hot chocolate! I usually drink blackcurrent squash, though, because it's a lot tastier than water!"
#pixies rambles#asks#kaerynn#infodumping !!#secrets of everwich#oc ask game !#THANK YOU KAE FOR ASKING ALL OF THESE YAY THANK YOU#(i had been getting a lil worried i wasnt gonna get any asks for this-)
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Frank Zappa: Them or Us (1984)
Frank Zappa often said that all of his works were part of a unified whole he dubbed the "Project/Object"; one big-ass "composition" connected by a "conceptual continuity" that saw him revisiting certain songs and subjects at random and when least expected.
Poodles, for instance ...
And in 1984, he obviously had that absurd breed on his mind, because he issued no less than three separate LPs boasting slight variations on the same canine artwork: the orchestral Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger, the synclavier collection Francesco Zappa, and the double rock/pop compendium of Them or Us.
The latter arrived in stores 40 years ago and represents the "Project/Object" philosophy with its dizzying array of styles (performed by an army of musicians), strung together with no apparent care for "musical continuity," much like other double LPs Zappa had assembled in recent years.
Here's the problem: stack Them or Us alongside 1979's Sheik Yerbouti or even '81's You Are What You Is, and the overall decline in song quality and fresh concepts is pretty stark; suggesting that even rock's most eclectic musical genius was running short of ideas.
OK, so both the opening cover of The Channels' "The Closer You Are" and remake of "Sharleena" (first heard on 1970's Chunga's Revenge) are noteworthy for being largely irony-free, while the closing jam on The Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post" -- though masterfully executed -- is practically nothing BUT irony.
Yet another mutated doo wop, "Be in My Video," pokes fun at MTV's music video cliches and simply hasn't aged well, but let's not get off-track here: the bottom line is that most every other Zappa trope revisited here falls depressingly short of past efforts.
I'm talking about not-really-funny filler like "Baby, Take Your Teeth Out" and "Frogs with Dirty Little Lips," the lazy xenophobia of "In France," and sexist tour shenanigans of "Stevie's Spanking," which are distasteful even by '80s standards.
Worst of the bunch, "Truck Driver Divorce" is a complete waste of time and space -- truly embarrassing -- and "Planet of My Dreams" was recorded in 1981 and written in '72 for Zappa's unrealized stage musical Hunchentoot, which sounds like a Spinal Tap gag, don't it? (*)
All three of the featured guitar showcases are edited and remixed from past live improvisations, and while the title cut and "Marque-son's Chicken" both have their moments, the pick of the litter, "Sinister Footwear II," once again extemporizes on an older idea.
Finally, the album's saving grace and best number, by far, "Ya Hozna," is quite literally a Frankenstein -- brought back to life with electricity and a bunch of spare, pre-used "body" parts!
Combining 5/4 and 6/4 time with Steve Vai's hard rocking staccato riffs and solos, plus backward vocals taken from old Zappa material like "Sofa No. 2," "Lonely Little Girl," and Moon Unit's "Valley Girl" outtakes, the song makes no sense whatsoever but it still rocks.
But it hardly justifies Them or Us' price of admission, let alone Zappa's overloaded release schedule in 1984, which reached a new low with the atrocious stage musical, Thing Fish: maybe the only product issued in Frank's lifetime I have no desire to own.
Luckily, 1985 would give Zappa a new, more important topic to focus on -- politics -- as he took part in the Congressional hearings to address the P.M.R.C.'s crusade against free speech in popular music, and remained engaged with political matters for the rest of his life.
* Frank evidently watched the legendary "mockumentary," because "Be in My Video" includes the following telltale lyrics:
"Wear a leather collar; And a dagger in your ear; I will try to make you smell the glove; And to try to look sincere."
More Frank Zappa: Freak Out!, Absolutely Free, Lumpy Gravy, We’re Only in it for the Money, Cruising with Ruben and the Jets, Uncle Meat, Hot Rats, Burnt Weenie Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Chunga’s Revenge, Fillmore East – June 1971, 200 Motels,Just Another Band from L.A., Waka/Jawaka, The Grand Wazoo, Over-nite Sensation, Apostrophe (’), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, Bongo Fury, Zoot Allures, Studio Tan, Sleep Dirt, Sheik Yerbouti, Orchestral Favorites, Joe’s Garage Act I, Joe’s Garage Act II & III, “I Don’t Wanna Get Drafted,” You Are What You Is, Ship Arriving too Late to Save a Drowning Witch, The Man from Utopia, London Symphony Orchestra Vol. I, Meets the Mothers of Prevention, Jazz from Hell, Broadway the Hard Way.
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Dr. Wasabi Headcanons
(some of these are gonna be related to romance and relationships because I’m a mega simp)
• When she says she wants to get to know you inside and out, she means it. Her love language is dissection and experimentation, the exception of course being Mustard Cookie
• She’s very observant when studying patterns in behaviors, and sometimes she’ll even make note of things she deems to be extremely important, even if the person in question sees it as something small
•She’s a gamer, her favorite genre being online fighting games. This woman is an absolute MONSTER when it comes to mastering input combinations, a fearsome foe to be certain. I can imagine her and Mustard Cookie duking it out every so often whenever she visits the lab
• She sometimes affectionately nibbles her loved ones’ hand or arm
• Pansexual leaning sapphic (I was originally gonna say she’s a full-on lesbian but actually since she’s so down bad for Roguefort in the manhwa I think this makes more sense for me personally)

• She has a hard time standing still, always rushing around the laboratory and trying to get several things done at once. If she’s in a conversation with someone she might pace around or mess with her gloves
• She’s somewhere on the spectrum. Adding onto that, she has a lot of knowledge about a wide variety of subjects, she could go on Jeopardy and do pretty damn well probably

(I know everyone in the operation survival manhwa talks like this but infodumping fits her personality really well I feel)
• Since she’s a wasabi cookie, she can tolerate very spicy foods. On the rare occasions that she has guests over (she usually prefers to be alone when she’s tinkering with experiments in her lab) she forgets that not everyone likes food that will set their mouth on fire
• When she watches horror movies she picks apart all of the scientific inaccuracies, ie “actually if they were stabbed in that location then this would happen” don’t ask how she knows this information because you can probably take a pretty good guess. Despite this she still thoroughly enjoys them most of the time
• You’d be surprised just how flexible this old woman is, she can move in ways that contortionists can only dream of (I mean you just have to watch her slide in ovenbreak to know that)
• She can literally MacGyver any sorta contraption out of whatever junk is lying around, whatever you’ve got this woman just makes it work somehow
• She views Zombie Cookie as a son, think like if Victor Frankenstein were actually a good parent
• Her handwriting is absolutely atrocious, mainly just a bunch of incomprehension scribbles that she’s somehow miraculously able to read
CONCLUSION
I have many many many many thoughts about this woman, a lot of them pulled from the manhwa but some of them pulled from the games or just from my own brain. Ofc I know the manhwa isn’t canon but I feel like it does a really good job at portraying her personality so I incorporated it into my headcanons because of that. If you guys have any questions or additions I’m always open to hearing about them, I love unique character interpretations it’s just so much fun fr! Anyways if you enjoyed this post then that’s awesome, cause I’ll prolly be making more Wasabi content in the future teehee, absolutely obsessed with her ✨
#cookie run#cookie run ovenbreak#ovenbreak#crob#cr ob#cr ovenbreak#cookie run headcanons#cr headcanons#dr wasabi cookie#jfc so many tags#I’ve been really nervous about posting this one tbh#like it’s been in the drafts for MONTHS#I just don’t usually post stuff that’s THIS in depth ykwim#if I ever find more translations of the manhwa then I might make a part two to this#also if people give me their own headcanons that I really like#anyways yeah that’s all I got ig
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My thoughts on Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

And now we come to the end of of this journey with Creature from the Black Lagoon
Back when I started this, I mentioned I had seen exactly one of these movies beforehand. Well, this is it, this is the one. I got the dvd for this when I was a kid and watched it multiple times. Gill Man was one of the my early blorbos, long before that word even existed.
This movie is kind of weird in regards to the history of horror and monster movies, in that it exists in two worlds. I'd highly recommend @tyrantisterror 's insight on their "Four Horrors" theory, and their own analysis on the Gill Man on their personal site for a better explanation, but this movie, and thus the Gill Man, exist on the crux between the gothic horrors of old, and the "atomic age" monster stories that began emerging in the '50s.
But let's get to my thoughts
This is the longest of these movies, and its actually pretty well paced and manages to cram a lot of stuff in a still admittedly short run time
The Gill Man has a leitmotif, and universal would just end up using it as stock music for a whole bunch of movies after this, and infamous example being the English version of King Kong vs. Godzilla, which they distributed
Honestly all the characters that aren't the Gill Man and that boat captain are kinda nonentities
The underwater camera work is surprisingly pretty good, considering time and technology
Credit of course to Millicent Patrick for her work on designing and sculpting the Gill Man costume, a legend
And to Ricou Browning for the Gill Man underwater scenes, the fact he was able to swim at all in that costume is a feat in itself
This is a 50s monster movie, so naturally we need to begin with the standard opening science exposition
And of course, being a 50s monster movie, the science doesn't make a whole lotta sense
Writers cannot do math when it comes to geological eras
That is not paleontological procedure
They bullied that alligator with the boat noise what the fuck guys
Mark really is a professional hater
I'm glad he dies
I have a strong feeling that Kay's swimsuit was probably risqué in 1954
She also has some pretty good fits that I'm somewhat jealous of
Unfortunately though, she does suffer from "woman in a 1950s monster movie" syndrome
Damn shame
I weirdly enough get a lot of "Ariel from The Little Mermaid" vibes from the Gill Man
I'm just imagining the "caught in the net" scene from Gill Man's perspective
Kay don't throw cigarettes in the black lagoon that's bad
The creature's cave pad sick af
Ok I'm without a doubt extremely biased, but I'm totally down with the Gill Man taking his revenge on these losers who invade his home, shoot him multiple times with spear guns, and also drug him several times with a substance that explicitly makes it hard for him to breath
David, stop trying to bring up the space thing it's not gonna happen
I don't care what the movie wants me to think, Gill Man did nothing wrong was completely justified in his actions
And that's it, I'm done. Feels weird.
Overall, this movie has a special place in my heart, and nothing can change that. But from an objective stance, the James Whale-directed movies are better. I'd still put this higher than Wolf Man, on account of the fact that you get a lot more of the monster in this.
For these movies my final ranking goes from top to bottom:
Tie between Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
Then Invisible Man
Then Creature from the Black Lagoon
Then Wolf Man
Then The Mummy
And lastly Dracula
This has been a fun project, glad I could finally watch these
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One more secret won't hurt / Bunny x reader
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
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Chapter 5: The shores of Metahemeralism
My curiosity gets the best of me, and I take a seat one table closer than I was last time. I’m still carrying the damn Frankenstein book around, the essay still unwritten, so I take it out, both to look less like a stalker and to actually try to do some reading. Most of them are quietly reading as well, except of course for Bunny, who’s talking Henry’s ear off about yet another thing I know nothing about. Thanks to Judy now I can put a name to all their faces, but it only makes me feel even more like a stalker, knowing trivial details about these people I’ve never even spoken to.
Henry seems quite amused by whatever Bunny is saying, his eyes going back and forth between Bunny and the paper he’s holding in his hands. I look down at my book and try to eavesdrop as discreetly as possible.
- “I tell you; this might be my best paper yet. Julian is gonna be all over it when I turn it in,” Bunny’s excited words cut through the silence in the library.
- “Bunny, I’m still not sure ‘Metahemeralism’ actually exists…” says Henry, shuffling between the few sheets of paper in his hands. “Also, why does it look like this? What’s up with all the space?”
- “Huh? Oh! Well, it needed to be five pages long, so I triple spaced it, pretty smart, huh?” I can hear Henry snort and look I up to see him covering him mouth with a hand, trying to remain composed. He lets out a small chuckle. In all the times I’ve seen them around campus, I’ve never seen Henry smile once, let alone laugh.
- “Hey B, you want me to take a look at it? See if it needs any corrections?” Francis offers from behind his pince-nez. I’ve never seen anyone wearing pince-nez in real life. I’m not sure they even make them anymore, so I wonder if he’s wearing an antique pair or if maybe he had them custom made. They just add to his quirky charm. Judy was right. Now that I’m closer I can see he’s indeed very handsome.
- “Nah, don’t worry about it. I just want to turn it in and be done with it. Plus, it took me 2 weeks to write, so I’m pretty sure it’s a masterpiece.” Bunny says, triumphantly.
- “What was it, again? ‘Methemeralism’ I mean,” asks who I assume is Richard, the one Judy likes.
- “It’s ‘Metahemeralism,’” Bunny corrects confidently. “Comes from Latin, it has to do with irony and the pastoral.” They all looked up at him, dumbfounded. I’ve read hundreds of books throughout my life, both for school and for fun, and I’ve never heard about Metahemeralism either.
- “Bun, wasn’t the paper meant to be about John Donne? Are you sure you didn’t mean ‘metaphysicalism’ or something?” Camilla asks sweetly, genuine concern in her eyes, as she closes her book, one finger sandwiched between the pages as a bookmark.
- “Oh, John Donne, John Schmone. I did mention him a couple times, but the star of the paper is definitely Metahemeralism. It’s the glue between the poet and the fisherman!” he speaks with his hands, as much as with his voice; he waves them around and then brings them together, interlocking his fingers, as if they’re the poet and the fisherman being glued together, whatever the hell that means.
- “Let me take a look at that,” says Charles, yanking the paper from Henry’s hands. He skims the paper for a few seconds, and suddenly bursts out laughing. Bunny’s glaring at him, clearly offended by the reaction. “‘And as we leave Donne and Walton on the shores of Metahemeralism, we wave a fond farewell to those famous chums of yore,’” he reads off the paper. “Bunny, you’re right, this is a masterpiece,” he wipes a tear from his cheek, and hands the paper back to Bunny, with a soft pat on his shoulder. The others are all fighting their own personal battles not to burst out laughing. Bunny seems unsure if Charles was being sarcastic or not.
- “Well, we’ll see if Julian likes it, he’s gonna be the one grading it after all,” he says, with a nonchalant little smile. “I’m gonna put the masterpiece away now, unless anyone else wants to take a look at it.”
- “Could I take a look at it?” the new voice startles me at first, but I am completely frozen when I realize it’s coming from me. The six of them fix their eyes on me, just as startled by my interruption. I make eye contact with Bunny and immediately feel my knees betraying me, but I do my best to remain stoic. I’m not sure where the confidence came from when I spoke up, but it certainly abandoned me after the damage was done. Several seconds pass before anyone says anything. From the corner of my eye, I’m pretty sure I see Camilla giggling and sharing a look with Francis.
- “Uh… Sure. Here you go,” he finally answers, extending his arm and offering me the paper. I stand up, walk the few steps that separate our tables, and take the paper carefully with the tips of my fingers, careful not to wrinkle any corners or smudge the ink. He looks confused by my interest in his paper, but still gives me a smile.
He stands there while I quickly read through the paper. It doesn’t take too long, considering he really did triple space it. I feel everyone’s eyes staring at me, expectantly. The paper is a bit all over the place, touching on many topics without actually concluding anything relevant. It could be a good draft; it just needs a little more work connecting the ideas to each other. I’m still unsure if Metahemeralism is even a word, but it’s definitely an interesting read. I reach the end and I find myself smiling widely at the paper.
- “So…?” His voice breaks my trance, and I look up at him startled. “Did you like it? What did you think?” It feels like they are all holding their breaths, waiting for my answer. I suck at speaking in public, or under pressure, or both at the same time, so I take a deep breath to avoid stammering once I begin speaking.
- “I did like it,” I confirm. “I would work on it a little more to connect the ideas more smoothly, but it has potential. I’m not a classics major though, so don’t take me too seriously.” I realize my mistake a second too late and hope they won't notice and ask how I knew their major. I chuckle nervously and hand the paper back to him.
- “What’s your major?” Camilla asks from her seat, right in front of me. Her big eyes staring at me, making me feel almost as weak as Bunny’s.
- “I’m a literature major.”
- “WHAT?! A lit major! Of course I’m gonna take your opinion seriously!” yells Bunny, beaming at me. Just as expected, his energy is contagious. I beam right back at him. “Nice to meet you, I’m Bunny,” he extends his hand to me. I look at it for a second before I realize I’m supposed to shake it.
- “Oh, right. I’m Y/N,” I shake his hand. “Nice to meet everyone,” I add, feeling their eyes still on me.
- “That’s Henry, and Richard. Over there is Francis, and these are Charles and Camilla,” he points to each of his friends, and I pretend I didn’t already know all their names. A wave of ‘Heys’ and ‘Hellos’ erupts from the group.
- “Whatcha got there?” asks Camilla, and I see her eyes are on my hands. I’m still carrying the damn book, still very unread.
- “Oh, I have to write a paper on Frankenstein and it has to be original and revolutionary so I was trying to re-read it to see if I could come up with anything, but my brain is still blank.”
- “Original? About Frankenstein?” Francis scoffs, rolling his eyes. “They should’ve assigned you a less ancient book if they wanted something original.”
- “That’s exactly what I said!” I exclaim, happy to have someone agree with me, though it comes out more as an excited shriek. Camilla and Francis giggle again, and I feel my cheeks blushing. “Well, I’ll let you all get back to your stuff-” I start saying, feeling bad about interrupting the group of strangers, but Camilla grabs my wrist. I look down at her, confused.
- “Wait, no. Sit down. Maybe we can all brainstorm some revolutionary ideas about Frankenstein, we’ve all read it, I’m sure,” she says, dragging her chair to the left and pulling up another chair from a nearby table, between her and Francis. She winks at me and takes the book from my hands, skimming through a few pages. There's no way I can say no now, so I just take a seat.
They all start throwing random ideas at me. Most of them are definitely not original, stuff about the novel that has been overanalyzed for 2 centuries already. I still write everything down, every idea counts. Maybe I can combine some parts of an idea with bits of another, and create a new, better idea. I see the irony as soon as the thought crosses my mind.
Through all the chaos and voices speaking over one another, I try my best not to look directly at Bunny for too long, scared of giving them the wrong impression. Now that I’ve spoken to him and everything seems less mysterious, less unreachable, I can finally stop overfocusing on it.
Half an hour later I have a rough draft of what my essay could be about. Henry suggested I analyze what the book would’ve looked like if it had been written by Percy instead of Mary; and Francis suggested I analyze how society would’ve responded to the book if it had been written by a man instead of a woman. I’m not sure how original it actually is, but I’ve never read anything from this perspective, so that’s good enough!
- “Thanks guys. I’ve been trying to write this fucking essay for like a week,” I say, putting the book along with a bunch of crumbled up papers with discarded ideas, into my bag. “And Bunny, thank you for letting me read your paper,” I say, turning to him.
- “Nah, thank you for reading it!” he says, smiling broadly at me. “I’d love to hear some of those ideas to make it smoother sometime…” he casually adds.
- “Sure thing, anytime you want,” I say, writing down on one of the discarded pieces of paper. “Here’s my number, just let me know.” I look at the rest of them, “You can all save it to your phones, in case you need help with anything literature related,” I add, before turning away towards the exit. A wave of ‘Thank yous’ and ‘Byes’ flowing behind me.
Outside the library, I breathe in a mouthful of fresh air. I feel my shoulders lighter already. I knew I only needed to find the courage to speak to them to chase that overwhelming mess of thoughts out of my brain. I remember what Judy said about them when I first asked, and I could definitely see some of it firsthand, like Henry’s seriousness, yet I couldn’t help but liking them all. Sure, they’re a bit strange, but then again, so am I, I guess. There’s one thing Judy was totally right about though.... Bunny is indeed very nice.
#the secret history#bunny corcoran#this one was fun to write#francis abernathy#camilla macaulay#judy poovey#henry winter#charles macaulay#richard papen
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A much-belated Writing Questions tag game from @thesorcerersapprentice, who you absolutely need to be checking out! Check out her own responses to these questions over here!
Sending no-pressure tags to @saintedseraph, @meerawrites, and @lorenfinch. This is also an open tag to everyone, so if this sounds like your jam, get in on it!
What is your absolute all-time favourite idea you’ve ever had?
Gender swapping my main character’s love interest in my Silent Island stories for the Island of Crows reboot. I was fully in the throes of comphet when I was working on the Silent Island, and so I felt like my character had to have an opposite sex love interest - after all, the others I was writing with were all writing opposite sex love interests for their own characters, so I guess I had to, too. And while I like the idea of a romance, as a wlw, I am not interested in the idea of romance with a guy, so despite having some interesting concepts I wanted to play with in regards to this romance between these two characters, I couldn’t bring myself to give a shit about them when it came time to put pen to page. But switching the love interest from being a man to a woman? Honey, I could not stop the words from flowing!
Is there a question you’ve been asked that really stands out to you and that you still think about sometimes?
HAH. “What kind of drugs/alcohol were you on when you came up with that idea?!” That question stands out because I HATE it! Ever since I was little, I’ve heard so many people say that about any kind of story that was a little bit off the wall. Frankenstein, Alice In Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, Dune, “cLeArLy NoNe Of ThOsE cOuLd Be WrItTeN sObEr!!!” Shut the fuck up! It gave me this weird mindset for the longest time that I wouldn’t be able to write an “interesting” story unless I did so under the influence. Because of this, I had so many half-baked ideas and half finished things that I thought I wouldn’t be able to complete until I was able to get inebriated? Like I somehow wouldn’t be able to unlock the “true potential” of them or something?! So I try drinking (tastes nasty, makes me feel wretched) and drugs (weed: tastes WORSE and makes me a total space case, shrooms: mildly better tasting but gets me way too hyper to focus on anything), and attempt to write while under the influence, and surprise! Everything I came up with was trash! Bad! Nonsensical, but in a stupid way, not a fun creative way! It turns out that the real way to improve your writing is to sit down and actually write, and not wait for what is essentially a magic potion to make you a better writer!
What is your favourite part of being a writer? What parts could you take or leave?
I really dig the brainstorming phase, mostly because I can do that pretty much anywhere! LOL THE AMOUNT OF PROFESSIONAL, WORKING HOURS I HAVE SPENT JUST FULLY MALADAPTIVELY DAYDREAMING IS MAYBE A LITTLE CONCERNING, WHOOPS! But the stage where you get to metaphorically throw everything at the wall in order to see what sticks, I really love that part! The whole, more modern trend where you have to become an influencer if you want to get published? Not a fan of that!
What is your greatest motivation to write/create?
Shittily executed stories, hands down. When a work has a kernel of something cool under layers and layers of metaphorical feces, that inspires me way more than something that, to me at least, has been expertly crafted. Breaking down the essence of something that works for me in a bad story and moulding it into something of my own? Love doing that!
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever read or been given as a writer?
Honestly, it’s the one about how if you’re stuck, then the problem is three sentences back or whatever. I used to try and brute force my way through roadblocks in my writing, but I’ve never been satisfied by the results of those methods. Rereading to find trouble spots when I hit those kinds of stoppages has done wonders for me, personally!
What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out writing?
Gonna go off on a tangent for a sec, so stay with me! When I was little, like toddler little, I didn’t quite understand how writing worked. I knew that books held stories, and I fucking loved stories! Like most kids, I made up all kinds of weird little scenarios with my toys, and I thought it would be rad as hell to keep a record of them so I could go back and read them. I somehow came to the conclusion that if I just thought about what I wanted to write while I wrote, then my thoughts would just, I don’t know, psychically imprint themselves on the page?! So I made a bunch of little books by cutting up loose leaf paper into smaller sheets and stapling them together with a construction paper cover, and I would “write” my stories by grabbing whatever book or magazine I could find and copying the letters on the pages into my “books” while I thought about what I wanted the story to be like. I would then go back and “read” my books, but it was really just me daydreaming about whatever the story was supposed to be about, which I knew more from what I’d crayoned the cover to look like, rather than any of the actual contents on the pages. It wasn’t until I started kindergarten that I learned that letters are sounds, and that the sounds put together make up words, and the words put together is how stories are made. So the thing I wish I knew when I first started “writing” would be how words actually worked!
What is your favourite story you’ve written to completion? Link it if you’d like and can!
I’m going to cheat because it’s technically not complete, but the Silent Island stories that I wrote with my pals. We wrote them, off and on, between 2003 and 2015, so that is the majority of my life! It’s an inextricable part of me at this point. It’s not something that’s going to be traditionally published, but having it up online is probably going to be in the cards for this beast. LOL ALAS NOT ANY TIME SOON! Still gotta sort through it all!
Which of your characters would you say has the most controversial mindset? Why do you say so, and how do you personally feel about their ideals?
For me, personally, the character with the most controversial mindset would be Ransaran, who is the antagonist for the Starcrossed Cycle. A “god” that only sees people as a natural resource to be exploited, I modelled a lot of its behaviour and mindset after people I find deplorable in real life - people like Bezos, Trump, Musk, and Epstein, to name a few - people who take, and use, and destroy for their own pleasure, with absolutely no thought or care for anything beyond their own selfish desires. People like that are the antithesis to everything I value as a person, so when I think “villainy”, those are the types of people that come to mind.
If you, when you first started writing, met you now, what would younger you think?
I think younger me would be blown away by the sheer volume of writing that I’ve produced over the years. Alas, most of it incomplete, or half baked planning, but I have written a metric fuckton between then and now! But hey, here’s hoping that the me from now would be blown away by the amount of actually completed works the me ten years in the future will have under her belt!
#writing questions tag game#writing ask game#writeblr tag games#writers on tumblr#writeblr#gametime.exe#voidyelling.txt
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Homebound AU
Hi there, welcome to my silly lil Welcome Home AU! It's a pretty simple little au, but it's one I've had a lot of fun with.
Essentially the idea is: what if Home & Wally were actually the same character? After another neighbor moves out of Home it gets the brilliant idea to make a neighbor to be it's resident. Something as we know from Frankenstein is a pro gamer move with no consequences!
...I'm lying of course it had consequences and those were it accidentally trapped itself in the body it made from the rug. Eventually they figure out how to switch between the two but it takes a moment bc the bodies are fundamentally different. I made a lil edit below the read more of em (the pic was bigger than I realized)!
Home!Wally fun facts:
Home!Wally's pronouns are he/they/it
This Wally didn't originally have anything on it's shoes - he saw how Barnaby's paws would leave lil hearts as he walked and rlly liked that so one night he added the apples so he'd leave his favorite thing (besides the neighbors of course!) everywhere it went
This Wally loves apples not only bc they were some of the 1st things he ever got from the neighbors, but they also come in a lot of the colors it does. A lot of the books he's bought from Howdy are about orchards or different apple types
His ribbon is actually originally part of the rug it made this body out of, he added the strings of beads later with each color representing one of it's neighbors.
All the colors besides his skin tone comes color picked from Home, the skin tone was taken from the main Wally drawing on the website
Wally often talks to himself, a trait from when it'd spend months without anyone staying with it
While they stay in the Wally body often, if they aren't feeling up to interacting or just want a quiet day they'll stay in it's Home form
They love music because it makes them think of their neighbors! A lot of the records in their living room were ones left behind by the others, and they'll play them and sing along while making something for whatever neighbor left that record behind.
Home!Wally sometimes uses mobility aids like canes, especially near the start of having their Wally body since moving was hard for him.
Despite their flower accessories Wally actually has pretty bad hay fever. It was a common joke that Barnaby's fake water gun flowers could even cause his hay fever to act up
They have a pretty large catalog of potpourri recipes in their head. No it absolutely doesn't help their hay fever - especially when they add things like cinnamon. Yes they'll still make them in spite of this fact because they smell nice!
They like reading books in both forms! Sometimes they get worried about how little they know about things, but luckily the Bodega has a lot of books for sale. As home they push the pages with their drapes
They're not very good with art, but they try their best. He instead opens episodes with books connected to whoever's teaching the lesson they're learning (ex. a book about Shakespeare when he'll be going to Sally or a book about beetles or another insect when visiting Frank). Each friend has their own shelf of books!
That's all I have for now! I do have a fanfic written for it, but I need to finish editing it so it'll go up tonight. Thank ya for reading: have a boi.
Special thanks to @kindestegg for drawing this silly lil version of my boi!
Here's the edit because I didn't realize how big it was before making this post:
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Your Body a Temple, or the Postmodern Prometheus by Charm Cochran
Note: this was a La Petite Mort entry. IFDB - Game CW: body horror, implied queerphobia, violence, and avoidable non-sexual descriptions of genitalia, all on a purely textual level.
Summary: Oh, my dear, they’ve destroyed you, haven’t they? They could never understand a being such as yourself. Not to worry. We’ll build you a new body, with which you will take your revenge.
A little bit Frankenstein, a little bit Build-a-bear, a little bit of making the body your own. It is both creepy and strangely soothing, ans you get to pick and choose how you want your body to look like. Kind of like any character creators, but a bit more spooky and personal.
Though the underline is fairly sad and a bit depressing, the responses of your choices are still quite playful and with lots of charm. It's pretty fun to reload the game and try a new body, getting as close as possible to becoming a specific kind of “monster”, or mix-and-matching the different parts given. The stats at the end sort of taunt you to min-max them, which is fun!
While part of me wishes it was longer (control yourself with this new body and interact with other people), it is also quite perfect the way it is now.
#Your Body a Temple or the Postmodern Prometheus#Charm Cochran#interactive fiction#complete#2023#twine game#review#ectocomp
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Oh yep. I have met that kind of programmer, that kind of engineer, that kind of mathlete.
For example, the time I took cryptography. Junior year of college is a period of my life that generally needs fact checking, because for reasons of being a double major in "things I like but which aren't exactly compatible" I started taking 3 lab classes in the fall, had a breakdown, bon appetit. But I remember the January intensive class very well, because due to schedule shennanigans, I had to pick a new class to sign up for the day before I left for christmas break, saw Cryptography, said "I know what that is!" and clicked yes.
Two weeks of disassociation and playing lego with my smaller cousins later, I turned up in what I was about to be informed was a math class. But like, Math history! If you can survive algebra you'll be fine! Okay, I probably needed a math credit. Turns out I was the only one here to get a nonmajor math credit: in addition to being the only girl in the room, I was the only person whose major wasn't math or computer science. They were a pretty fun crew: one of them taught me how to actually use the formula function in excel, I got another to start reading Sherlock Holmes, this one guy I knew from japan club was also there, and we had several 3D tetris tournaments, because that was a brand new browser game that year.
I was also having a lot of fun with the assignments, because or homework every day was to decrypt something, no rules on how, and the professor was the kind of expansive nerd that translated the opening passage of frankenstein into quenya lettering and also accepted "I deleted the special characters folder in word to force it to revert to plaintext" as an A+ in decryption. Multiple times the professor gave out cyphers that were from well known, public domain novels (for example, the opening passage of Edgar Allen Poe's The Gold Bug was presented in the cipher from that same story.) My encyclopedic memory of extremely old detective stories was finally being validated!
Meanwhile several of my classmates, who thought more along the lines of "I have 24 hours to build a program to decode the playfair cypher" were becoming politely furious that I was spending my afternoons mostly playing The Sims or Minecraft and still getting A's. I, having the approximate mental capacity of an oyster at the time, did not notice until there was a minor discussion about who got to be paired with me for our final project, which was to create our own cipher, exchange it with a partner, and then crack theirs.
Running on detective novel brain, I came up with a doozy and translated part of our syllabus into it. My partner allegedly spent a whole day over the weekend writing an encryption program. ... And when I got the printout, I actually felt pretty bad. He clearly hadn't tested it: he'd done something to try and make each letter be one of multiple strings of numbers, but it didn't randomize properly. I was able to do some quick statistics, and then use copy - paste to make the whole thing into plaintext in about an hour. Meanwhile I'd given him a sheet that read something like this: D@C$D#C#F@BC@B!D#D@F@C$D#F@C!D#B@G@D#F@DF#FG@B1B@ Well, he'd been bragging about being able to make the computer do his statistics for him, he'd be fine. ... He was not fine. He turned up to our final class demanding me and the professor that I tell him what the key was because I'd done my encryption wrong and he could prove it! Me: It's keyboard to keyboard. Him: What Me: It's the note you would play on a piano keyboard if you typed that letter, except I added another character as an indicator for which hand and which row. Except to the keys that are on the left hand home row. Dude: That's impossible, I should have been able to run statistics on the... There was a brief moment of silence as the class of twelve realizes that I've inadvertently used one method of encryption on 75% of the letters and another on the remaining 25%. I have come up with one clonker of a code that is nearly impossible to use practically (It took me like 15 minutes to replicate the line above) and ruined this guy's weekend by throwing two kinds of statistics into the same puzzle. And then we all went to lunch to play competitive 3D tetris on cafeteria wifi.
The whole AI sphere makes me think that colleges need to engineer more opportunities for programming people to get their butts kicked, in their own sphere, by humanities majors.
#Also Japan Club dude had to sit me down later and remind me that while HE found my antics very funny#his colleagues were developing complexes about it#Apparently a certain kind of young man short circuts if the non-major girl effortlessly keeping up with him#is less of a manic pixie dream girl and more of a stout ace chick wearing knockoff lisa frank pattern sweatpants#This sort of young man tends to be concentrated in the engineering and programming spaces#largely because he would have to learn something if he were anywhere else#But Japan Club dude I don't like boys! Or anyone!#Him: that's valid but I'm afraid it does NOT change their minds at all#Kinda miss Japan Club dude he used to design origami in his head whenever we were stuck in a stupid lecture#Which you would THINK wasn't often#because he was an astrophysics major#but we had Freshman Lit and Philosophy together#and sat through the Economists during summer labwork too
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