#its a bit verbose in general

[possibly-a-table-or-just-gay]

The Binding of Fenrir

They feared me

They feared my teeth

They feared my bite

They feared the hunger I was born with

They feared me so they kept me close

My brother and sister they cast out

To the abyss of crashing, swelling waters

Choking on his own tail

To the sweeping fog beyond the grave

A Two-Faced Terror, queen of rot

But me,

I ate scraps from their holy table

Fed by the brave hands of law and justice

But my bark and howl made them uneasy

They sought a way to bind me.

A game it was

"A celebration of their strongest warrior!

A test of his power and force!"

They clapped and cheered with every chain broken,

Every rope torn

Cheering with every challenge defeated

But I could see the fear in their eyes

I could smell rat.

I was wary when they brought out the final fetters

Dwarven-made, forged of impossible things

I made them swear

I made them put something on the line.

There was no fear in his eyes

When he presented his hand before me

He did not flinch

When he felt the press of my teeth

My warden, my keeper

I had trust, I had faith

OATHBREAKERS!

Oathbreakers, all of them!

These links do not bend,

This chain does not snap!

I bit

I bit the hand that fed me

I gnawed and I tore

And I was punished for my insolence

But this blade between my teeth cannot hold forever

This river from my jaws cannot flow for all of time

One day they will taste my vengeance

The Wise and the All-Seeing

For I have swallowed law and justice

And one day I with make good on that promise.

[fiendishartist2]

it's your conclusions that make mine delusions– tma

Jon's feet dangled underneath him, hanging limp. Papers fluttered to the floor, forgotten in the mad scramble between the two men. Jon's hands rested loosely around Tim's wrists, just above where his fists were twisted into Jon's collar. With his back against the wall, Jon was trapped completely under his co-worker's wrath. Tim stepped closer, crushing a lazily written report under his shoe.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Stoker?" Jon asked lightly. Tim's nose scrunched with disgust as Jon's smirk widened enough to bare teeth.

"Stop smiling," Tim snarled, "Stop fucking- what is wrong with you? Why are you here?" Although his grip on Tim's wrists remained deciptively gentle– hands poised so that fingertips just brushed skin– Jon's expression grew hungry. Entertainment flickered behind dark irises; Tim got the sense Jon was relishing in his desperation.

"I work here." Jon answered simply, unbothered despite the way Tim's knuckles dug into his throat. Tim barked out a mirthless laugh.

"Not the same way the rest of us do. Prove it- prove you're trapped by- by whatever is wrong with this place. Go ahead, Sims. Say it." He goaded, hoping Jon would rise to the bait. Jonathan Sims was perpetually level-headed, but Tim was at his wits end.

He wanted this puppeteer wearing a human face out of his life– out of all of their lives.

"Personally, I don't have any desire to leave. I'm quite happy with this job." Tim growled, rearing back and slamming Jon into the wall. The back of his head hit the damp drywall with a satisfying crack. Jon blinked rapidly, dazed.

Tim's blood pounded in his ears; he wanted to hurt this thing under his hands and he couldn't bring himself to care anymore. It was destroying his friends, creeping like a crawling rot into every nook and cranny of their minds. Slowly, it invaded– a sweet croon here, a sharp discouragement there; watchful eyes and cutting words hidden behind an open kindness that came from the confidence of security. It felt safe picking them apart sinew by bloody sinew.

Sasha was ruining herself and wouldn't listen to reason. She ran headfirst into any situation she thought would give her leads, not even bothering to tell anyone when she was in danger. She was working longer hours, talking to people in her office in secret, stashing tapes and statements in odd places he and Martin wouldn't look. Every new statement plucked from the mess Gertrude left behind sent her on a spiral, clawing for any connection to latch onto– and she latched onto Jon's words like a woman drowing. When Sasha ducked away from conversation with Tim and Martin, Jon was at her elbow, whispering in her ear. When she eyed Tim with distrust, he could feel Jon's gaze burning into the back of head. When she continued to pull away from anyone who could anchor her to reality, Jon was right there, pulling her along.

Jon's breathing was becoming laboured. Tim pressed more weight against his chest, egged on by the slight give of Jon's ribcage under his forearms.

"Kill me," Jon choked out. Tim lurched back a step, allowing Jon to take a deep breath that left him with a dry cough. His grin split his pockmarked cheeks, "Kill me, right now. Get it over with. That is what you want, isn't it?"

"You're sick," Tim spat. He pushed against Jon until he wheezed, "You're a sick little creep and I- I want you gone. Leave the Institute. Run into traffic. Anything, just- just get out." Jon's beaming smile wavered, eyes fluttering as consiousness was squeezed out of him, "If I ever see your face again-"

"Tim!"

Tim startled, dropping Jon's collar and letting him crumple to the floor. The anger drained out of him instantly, leaving a hollow in its wake.

He stared down at the man at his feet; Jon's narrow back was shaking.

Shaking with laughter.

Jon's boney shoulders jumped up and down, breathless snickering wracking his entire frame.

He peered up at Tim through spidery bangs. As if on strings, his lips were pulled into manic smile, eyes alight with joy. Hysterics were carved into every crease of his face.

"You can't. You will never be rid of me." He whispered, voice pitchy with wonder.

Someone pushed Tim aside; he stumbled out of the way without even turning to see which of Jon's victims it was. Red faced anger entered his sight, made fuzzy by the film of haze filling his brain.

Helplessness squeezed like a band around his chest; no one would believe him about Jon. Not Sasha, too paranoid to see the problem right in front of her. Not Martin, who would give and give and give to a monster who could only take. Not Elias, who had let Jon into the Archives in the first place.

"-at is your problem, Tim?! What could /Jon/ have done to-" A tinny voice buzzed beneath the rapid gallop of Tim's heart.

Jon was right– Tim couldn't do anything. Nothing would keep Jon from weaving his web around all of them; all he could do now was watch as the threads tightened and tightened until they each snapped under the tension.

Something bumped– shoved his shoulder. Salt and pepper hair left his vision and, instinctually, Tim's eyes traced the monster across the room.

From under Martin's arm, Jon pressed his face into his shoulder. Crocodile tears soaked into the soft, well-worn knit of Martin's favourite jumper. In stark clarity, Tim zeroed in on the hand that raised behind Martin's back.

Jon waved at him slowly and deliberately as he was led gingerly into the breakroom.

[cupiddivinearrow]

What is your 💫💫💫Starseed ⭐️ Connection 💫💫💫? PAC Reading

Website Link: (Still a work in progress. So please bare with me)

Hey, check out my website, "Cupid’s Divine Arrow" with this link: https://cupiddivinearrow11.wixsite.com/cupidsdivinearrow-2

Discord link: https://discord.gg/bsWTW7FKbg

Email: cupiddivinearrow1111@gmail.com

(I offer reiki sessions, energy shields, general, love, career, past lives, etc readings, sigils, etc. at reasonable prices…)

Take a moment to close your eyes and breathe, in through your nose, out through your mouth. When your body feels calm, open your eyes and let your intuition guide you to your pile. It’s okay to pick more than one pile!

PILE 1: CHILDREN OF THE COSMOS

Crystal of Choice:

Smoky Quartz

• Keep you grounded if you're doing spiritual work or meditating

• Encourage a deeper connection to the Earth

• Support feelings of peace and calm

• Help you work through personal fears

🌌 KEY INDICATORS 🌌

Balances

Healing Energy

Empathic

Intelligent

Trouble going with the flow

Humanitarians

Spiritual

Innocent, Pure

Magnetic pull to water

Emotional, full of love, guided by love

Self discovery, Finding yourself

Intuitive

Divinely Guided

Mysteries

Unexpected Discoveries

Gaia, Mother Earth, Earth

Animals of Significance:

Parrot:

love, prophecy, verbosity, mediation

Insect:

Feminine power, spirituality, renewal

Chakras of Significance:

Crown chakra

3rd eye chakra

Heart chakra

Astrological Energies of Significance:

Scorpio

Cancer

Pisces

Capricorn

Aquarius

Leo

Pile 1, this group is a very intelligent group. This pile is big on change and exploration. This pile might often have a traumatic past that can be crippling to some.

This pile may also have REALLY BIG HEARTS and moves out of love, most of the time.

The experiences that this pile undergoes are the stepping stones on their path. This pile often goes through changes, are often healing from friends and family, loved ones, that betray them. It’s hard for this pile to trust.

Pile 1, y’all often tap into your intuition due to the inner knowledge that y’all have buried within, knowledge that’s meant to help guide the Earth through the knowledge gathered from past experiences. This pile is meant to keep moving forward, to push through the hardships that could break an individual.

Pile 1, you may be seen as pure, innocent, angelic. Have a fondness to being close to the water.

Overall, this pile has the inner knowledge to push through any hardship, learn from it, and rise up from the ashes like a Phoenix.

Pile 1, you are here, on Earth, to share with the world about Patience. The world is always on the go, maybe this pile too, and it may be a bit difficult to slow down and just be. Be still. Be patient. Wait. But the thing that Pile 1 wants to express to the world that even when there is confusion on your path, being patient and keep in your faith will help push things along. People forget that faith sometimes requires patience, even when things are unclear.

This pile is big hearted, full of love, and nurturing energy. A part of your soul remembers the peace, unity and love that it shared amongst its soul family before having came to Earth and it yearns to feel that again. So when people hurt you, it strikes deep. Because it’s not really here on Earth. Which is the karmic wound that needs healing. Earth needs to heal the parts that make them stir the pot that causes a rift in unity. This pile is meant to shine a light on what’s keeping the Earth so divided, so it can be acknowledged and worked on.

Earth needs to learn how to tap into that Universal love that we all have access to and learn how to truly be sorry to those that are hurt by the carelessness of others. The shadows, hate, wounds, separation, severing, wrongs, and sadness must be acknowledged to bring change. To bring peace.

Pile 1, you may become a bit irritated or impatient at the idea of having to wait and be patient. Especially when your soul remembers being able to manifest your desire without the need to wait, or being able to listen to your intuition then and know what to do and where you were going vs now, where your intuition may whisper to you or not, and you feel more lost than grounded. Try to remember that other planets move differently than Earth, as well as, any progress is still progress. You don’t have to know where you’re going or what’s going on to move forward, just try to listen to your instincts and take a step. That’s all it takes. And by doing that, you’ll also be teaching the Earth to do the same. You’ll be leading by example which will encourage others to do the same.

Pile 1, have y’all been feeling homesick lately? Is your soul remembering the times it had back home? Remembering the feeling of home? Just know that everything will be okay P1. Try to remember that you chose to come here to Earth and that you’re not alone. You didn’t come here alone. It’s time to fully give in to the human experience. Try to anchor your personality, your soul, and your spirit to the life you are living now. Whether you’re yearning for a place or person to find home, just know that this was your choice. Commit by putting both feet completely in and ask yourself how you can be more so? This has been a challenge for you Pile 1, and it’s one that you can overcome.

Pile 1, your soul is being called. It’s being called to connect with the Earth, with Mother Gaia. So often, we can get thrown in a rut; in a repeating cycle that leaves us moving on auto, doing the same things, over and over again, daily. This can cause our souls to start thirsting for more. Our souls were never meant to be stuck in a box. Limited. Stuck. Unsupported, alone. Stagnant. However, when we give ourselves permission to get in touch with nature and ourselves, it allows us to connect more to Mother Gaia, to Earth. To fill that void that we continue to try to convince ourselves will close if we just move, act, sound, etc a certain way. Allow yourself to listen to that little voice that tells you to go against the grain. It’s time to slow down and spend some time out in nature. Listen to yourself. Be still. Breath with Lady Gaia, Earth, the Divine.

🌎 Closing Comment:🌎

Pile 1, you are being asked to take things slow… one day at a time. Maybe it’s time to start looking into the stars and crystalline grids, which provides stored information that contains ancient codes of wisdom that had been forgotten by humanity. These ancient codes will help Pile 1 to assist humanity with the vibrational shift that’s taking place. The crystalline grid are constantly having stars shower emanations onto it, and information sent back to it once things are balanced on Earth. Lastly, this pile’s vibration may be raising and it’s causing y’all to activate your energy body to its highest form: The light body, which will require this pile to move slow in order to integrate this change.

✨ POSSIBLE STAR SYSTEMS✨

Pleiades

Sirians

Arcturians

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PILE 2: 🕊️ MESSENGERS 🕊️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Crystal of Choice:

Rainbow Moonstone

Represents inner clarity

Cyclical change

Connection to the feminine

It is a symbol of light and hope

Encourages us to embrace new beginnings

Closely linked to themes of femininity:

fertility

balance

softness

intuition

🕊️ KEY INDICATORS 🕊️

Harmony

Balance

Divine Feminine

Divine Masculine

Innocent, Pure

Old Souls, Wise

Instinct, Impulsive, Spontaneous

Intuitive

Ice, Water, Emotional

Priest, High Priestess

Trust, Faith, Divinely Guided

Forward Movement

Completion, Ending of Cycles

Ascension

Music

Fate vs Destiny, Akashic Records

Saturn energy

Spiritual Warriors

Gaia

Egypt

Native American

Arctic/ Alaska

Cold/ Ice

CHAKRAS OF SIGNIFICANCE

Crown Chakra

3rd Eye Chakra

Throat Chakra

ANIMALS OF SIGNIFICANCE:

Birds:

Soul, Divinity, Liberation, Creativity, Rebirth

Raven:

Creation, Magic, Illumination

Polar Bear:

Power, Wisdom, Peace

ASTROLOGICAL ENERGIES:

Libra

Virgo

Fire Energies

Some of you may want to check pile 1

Pile 2, **YALL ARE POWERFUL**!!!!! This is the pile that is meant to bring harmony and balance to the world. This pile has dedicated their lifetimes to bringing peace to the world. Y’all might not like big groups or need time to recoup after being in one. This pile may love being near water, or may need to. Some of you may be seeing 222 a lot, 888, 999, 1111. This pile may consist of those that may be on their twin flame journeys. Some of the people in this pile may be highly intuitive, which means you receive lots of downloads from the Divine/ Source/ the Universe. May be immature when it comes to communication, but stay in their heads a lot. May have a lot of love to give but may seem closed off. This pile may love to listen to music, or may be musicians and dancers, very artistic. This pile may also face a lot of trauma that they must heal from, to end unhealthy cycles so you can be reborn. This pile is helps the world to transition by spreading peace around the world through your life experiences that cause you to change and evolve. To grow without going dark. This pile is meant to make moving on and handling issues with Grace. To find yourself through lessons that teach you to let go of anything trying to hold you back and by doing the things you love, things that feed your soul. This pile is all about fairness and Justice through reflection and ascension. This pile is destined to have fulfillment. Y’all are or will be known for making life difficulties look easy. This pile is screaming Spiritual Warriors. You’re all about Faith.

As of late, pile 1, y’all may be letting things be for now. Not pushing anything, but learning to let things come to you. You came to Earth to teach others to do the same. You’re learning how to take the lead in your life. This pile may have a hard time trusting others to lead, as well, in themselves. Y’all might be having a hard time trusting in your actions. However, doubt is part of life. Every hero or leader has doubts, but they had to learn when to push through them. You asked to be here. You asked to undergo these lessons to ascend. You’re here to show Earth that just because something happens that doesn’t feel good, doesn’t mean it was bad or you’re living wrong. Social law vs Spiritual law. Which one matters more? Which one applies more? Care less what others think, and trust your instincts. So often people forget that Earth’s laws don’t apply to what’s meant to be. Now’s the time to help teach the Earth how to let go of control issues by ignoring the background noise, which sometimes, it’s our self sabotaging ways, and focus on your purpose.

Pile 2, have you been facing a lot of difficulties lately that’s been making you feel as if you’ve hit rock bottom? It’s time to love on yourself a little bit harder and have some compassion for yourself. As trying as it has been, please try to remember that situations in life are temporary. That nothing lasts forever and that diamonds are only formed under pressure baby! And you, pile 2, are diamonds in the making, if you’re not one already. So many people don’t realize that hitting rock bottom is a gift. A true blessing. Because the only way you can go is up. And the only way you can truly find out just how strong you are is by learning your fullest potential. Surrender to the alchemy of life. Don’t give up, you’re a Phoenix baby! Rise from the ashes and learn just how powerful you truly are. I bet you’ll surprise yourself in the end.

Pile 2, you may want to learn how to think like the Pleiadeans. You’re being called to learn how to let go of the situations in the past that made you feel bad about yourself. You’re being asked to see the bigger picture. What can you take out of those experiences? Have you tried to ask yourself what about those experiences that left you feeling down and out were a blessing? What did you learn? What was something positive you can take from your experiences. It’s all about perspective. “The glass half empty, half full” saying comes to mind. Just know, an old dog can learn new tricks, and it’s never too late for you to learn something new that could help change the future. Maybe you’ve been feeling inspired lately? The world needs more people that can see the big picture, artists, dreamers, inventors, & visionary thinkers. Trust in the vision that you have and follow through. It takes courage to pace a new path- have faith anyways. Trust that everything will work out as intended. Trust in yourself.

Also, Pile 2, some of you may already know that you’re a pretty strong empath, and for those that didn’t, well now you do... P2, it’s okay to keep some things for yourself. Y’all are so sweet, y’all make be overextending yourself, which can play a part on you feeling drained. So, P2, it’s time to start looking out for self more. It’s okay to take some time to self and to fill your cup. I mean, who’s gonna give you what your body needs and craves if you don’t? You gotta take care of you before you can help anymore. Being an empath, you can draw in others emotions and vibes, and it’s important to take the time to nourish yourself. And don’t worry about whether or not you have time to nurture yourself and do your life’s purpose. As long as you take care of self, the Earth will automatically receive the love that it’s meant to, because it’s literally surrounding you. All you have to do is BE. It’s time to take care of your energetic self. It’s okay, P2. The world won’t stop if you take some time for self, I promise.

🕊️ Closing Comments🕊️

P2, your soul is calling out to you to work on your perspective. It’s time to wake up. Yes, life can be hard. Especially when you’re feeling a calling to find a home, person or place where you feel at home, at peace. Your soul craves it because it remembers it, before all the difficulties of life on Earth. However, the difficulties we face can sometimes cloud of judgement and that’s all we focus on. Not realizing that all it is is a distraction. We’re a small speck of dust compared to what’s really going on out there. Time can be so fleeting. It’s time to see how our mindset affects our ability to follow our contract. Our soul’s experience is a flash compared to what’s really going on in the Universe. Take a moment to see the bigger picture. Find the strength to live on Earth with all your strength and keep pushing forward with great compassion and love from within. Don’t let life’s difficulties change you for the worse. You are a being of love. Try to remember to look at any experience with love in your heart, that’s the only way to truly move forward without allowing poison to warp our perspectives.

✨POSSIBLE STAR SYSTEMS:✨

Pleiades

Sirian

Venusian

Hadarian

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PILE 3: STAR⭐️KEEPER

Crystal of Choice:

Amethyst Crystal

aka “All Purpose Stone

Inner peace

Happiness

Draws in love

Healing abilities

Assist in curing physical illnesses related to the head, lungs, pancreas, liver, stomach, muscles, and reproductive organs

Increase in Spiritual abilities

⭐️KEY INDICATORS⭐️

Cosmic Ancestors

Portal

New beginnings

Intuitive

Talkative

Balanced

Egypt

Star energy; popular, magnetic

Manifestors

Overthinks

Needs to stay grounded

Artistic

Spiritual

Unexpected Changes

Waters, Bodies of Water, Emotional

Forward movement

Juggling

A shift

Depression

Recognition

Non-Judgemental

Creation/ Life/ Fertility

Greek ties —> Goddesses Artemis or Amphitrite

Egyptian ties —> Goddess Isis

Hunger for life, change, something new

Wish fulfillment

Masculine energy

Destiny

Chakras of Significance

Crown

Third Eye

Throat

Root

Animals of Significance:

Deer

Instinctual Energy, Independence, Regeneration

Cow

Fertility, Purity, Divination

Gull

Water, Creation, Emotions

Animal Deities

Divinity, Guidance, Wisdom

Astrological Energies of Significance

Cancer

Sagittarius

Aries

Capricorn

Mars energy

Neptune energy

Pluto energy

How’s it going P3!

This pile may be into the arts, such as music, dancing, drawing, etc. Some of you may be seeing 111s and 222s a lot. Some of y’all in this group may be intuitive. Some of y’all may have had to move on from things that could’ve left you broken. This pile might have a hard time balancing their emotions and their thoughts. Some of you may be feeling a bit pessimistic or depressed? Some of you may be thirsty for life and might be needing a change? Some of you may be dealing with some people in your life that are deceivers, liars, out for self, and it may be keeping you in a distorted energy. Some of you may be heavy in your masculine energy right now, whether you’re a man or woman (I go off energy, not gender). Some of you may be trying to juggle life, career, or relationships, especially after an unexpected change. Some of you have been manifesting a change in your career or hoping to receive a gift that would be a wish fulfillment. If any of this resonates, then this is your pile P3.

P3, after a long and challenging time, the world is officially undergoing a shift. And that’s thanks to y’all doing your part P3. However, I see you’re having a hard time seeing past the difficulties in life and finding that spark again. It’s okay to focus on your spiritual growth, but you must also remember to live in the 3D. You may be feeling like you recently hit rock bottom. You need to remember that it’s okay to be spontaneous. It’s okay to surrender to pleasure and joy. You really need to focus on filling your own cup back up again. The Universe doesn’t want you drowning for love and fun, but to live! To find that spark that motivates you to keep moving forward. This world will drain you if you let it. Stay focused on moving forward, P3. I guarantee, that your manifestations and wishes are just around the corner. That’s a promise. Also, try to remember that life isn’t a race. It’s okay to relax and enjoy the moment. Enjoy the process. Have no regrets when looking back. You’re so much closer than you know P3.

Awwww P3 🥺🥺🥺 One word. Balance. It’s time to find balance. Some starseeds that come to Earth have a harder time living in it. Some starseeds have a hard time balancing their life out with their spiritual side, finding it easier to be part of the Earth than to worry about other things. This battle between the spiritual and Earth is called Transcendence vs Immanence. Most starseeds feel more comfortable with transcending. P3, you came to the Earth to show people how to balance out the 2. You need to learn how to BE in the world P3. Because you have a hard time having boundaries, it may be hard for you to BE in this world. You’re beings of pure, unconditional love. So you see the good in people, which often leaves you taken advantage of. Some of you have been relationships that you may partake in may tend to be a bit unhealthy, and this happens a lot. Some of you are here to learn how to love while in a separate body. P3, it’s time to learn how to love yourself and establish healthy boundaries. You are full of all the love you need and require. Maybe some of you are in a codependent relationship, or maybe some of you are in relationships where you give more than what you get and it’s draining you. P3, it’s time to establish healthier ways. If you lose yourself in relationships, it’s time to maybe, take some time to self and focus on loving yourself and getting to know yourself better.

Some of you may be Golden Children, aka Children of the Sun (I also heard Ra). Children of the Sun are suspected of being highly intuitive and gifted, but often are treated in a not so nice way on their journeys. Some of you may need to heal your inner child from trauma, and some of you may be expecting or will be expecting soon, and it could be a Child of the Sun. To help bring these intuitive children into the world to nurture and guide. Also, some of you who have trouble upholding your boundaries are a bit of a people pleaser and this is causing you to pour salt in your wounds, while adding on more. You’re not meant to be everyone’s cup of tea. You’re not meant to please everyone. The person you should be concerned with pleasing is yourself. Stop giving away your power. Embrace who you are and who you were meant to be. It’s okay if everyone doesn’t understand you. You weren’t meant to be placed in a box (society standards). Embrace the weirdness. Your uniqueness. It’s what makes you shine.

The life lesson you came here to learn P3, is that anything that is unaligned in your life must go. It’s time to question everything that you know and virtually scan what is acceptable and needed in your life, and what isn’t… or who. The shift that is occurring will be doing the same for the world. Society, the World, how people think…? The Unseen will start to be seen. Everything will start to change, or it will not survive. So you must make sure you’re doing your part. Yes, it may be difficult, but it is necessary. It’s time for the world to be reminded how the Universe operates, which isn’t based on what society is pushing today. It’s time to dismantle the ways and beliefs that are no longer serving. It’s time for you to trust in what you need to do and take the baby steps to make it happen.

P3, it’s never too late to learn something new. To change your perspective or goals, your career, or the relationships in your life. It’s time to step into your role and be a visionary for the planet. You decide what you believe… what you follow . And the decisions you make today could affect the wellbeing of the planet and its species, so it’s important that you get a different perspective than the one you’ve had. It’s time to open your mind and dream a new world. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. It takes alot of courage to take the path you’re being called to take vs the easier one. Trust that what you’re about to do will be successful, just hold firm. Doors are opening for you P3. You have the Midas touch right now. Your thoughts are extra powerful right now, the planets are aligned and the timing is right. The Universe has your back P3. All of your hard work is about to pay off, just keep going! Especially since now is the time to work on moving towards your dreams abd ACHIEVING those dreams. If you feel like you’re being called to shake things up and make some big changes, NOW’S the time to do it. Effortless changes are about to happen for you, if it’s not happening already P3.

Some of you may want to check out P1 if you were called to do so.

P3, it’s time to remember that you’re not alone, it can just feel that way when you’re not balanced in the 3D & 5D. You’re being called to check in with yourself more, and to start practicing honing your gifts. It’s time to step up. You came to Earth with a double mission. To grow as a soul and to assist in the shift to raise the consciousness of the world. Some of you in p3 may have many unique gifts that you do or don’t know about that has yet to fully be uncovered. Move towards your being called to do, whether it’s a creative project, a passion, or an adventure. It’s time to step up and leap. Also, some of you in P3 need to take some time to reach out to family or friends, or go on a friendly walk with a someone to gather your energetic resources. As an old soul, sometimes starseeds feel the need to isolate or be alone. But we’re humans. We’re beings that require group interaction and closeness. Find the balance, P3.

⭐️Closing Comments:⭐️

P3, if you’re working on any projects, just know this pile whatever it is has great potential to be successful. Don’t give up. Be like the Mintakans who saw the light in everything and everyone. There is potential in humans and situations, just gotta train yourself to see that. Try to have faith P3, and know that EVERYTHING and everyone are working out to the highest potential for all those involved. Also, try to figure out any unconscious thoughts and patterns you have and bring them to light. If we don’t face what is needed to addressed, they have a tendency to show up. So deal with whatever you’re not dealing with P3, before you’re made to by the Universe.

✨POSSIBLE STAR SYSTEMS: ✨

Pleiadean

Sirian

Arcturian

Hadarian

Children of the Sun

Mintakans

✨ And that concludes this reading! ✨

🕊️🕊️🕊️ Blessings!🕊️🕊️🕊️

[fraterribilis]

The taxonomy of Sly Cooper: Part 1

In which I will be using my higher than average knowledge of zoology to attempt to accurately identify the specific animal species of various characters in the Sly Cooper franchise, sharing some interesting facts about them along the way.

I'll start with the four most prominent characters; Sly, Bentley, Murray and Carmelita. If people are interested I'll be making similar posts for the other characters.

WARNING: I will be unleashing my inner Animal Kid™ in this post. Verbose language and casual dropping of scientific names abound

Starting off with Sly himself, I like to believe that he is a crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus). This quirky little carnivoran is found throughout South America and parts of Central America. Despite its name, it has a varied diet including crustaceans, fish, small turtles (watch out Bentley), fruits and nuts.

As opposed to the common raccoon (Procyon lotor), which can be a bit of a chubby little furball, the crab-eating raccoon has shorter and sleeker fur, and its slender proportions makes it an even better climber than its northern cousin. All of this makes it a perfect fit for Sly in my opinion. Also, its jaws are more defined and powerful than those of common raccoons, which i think is very appropriate for Sly's dashingly chiseled jawline.

Bentley was a little bit tricky to identify, as he seems to be a rather generic looking turtle. However, a closer inspection of his shell reveals his kinship.

This rather flat, ring-marked shell has led me to conclude that he must be a diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).

Like Bentley, diamondback terrapins are very resourceful animals, being able to survive in both fresh and saltwater habitats, where they priamrily feed on insects, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. They can be found in brackish marshes and mangrove forests thoughout the east coast of North America. The beautiful diamond-like markings on their shells are unique for every individual. Some people believe that the markings indicate the turtles age, like growth rings on a tree.

I have seen others identify Bentley as a box turtle, which I don't get at all. Box turtles are distinquished by their bulky BOX-shaped shells. The diamondback on the other hand has a flatter, more streamlined shell, which makes it very mobile in the water. Though, I guess this makes it all the more ironic that none of the core members of the Cooper gang know how to swim, despite all of them being based on semi-aquatic animals, but I digress.

Speaking of semi-aquatic, I firmly believe that Murray is a pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis). Not just because I have an affinity for these animals, but I can back this up by examining Murray's design and characterization.

Murray has a very stocky and robust body (friend-shaped), with a relatively short compact snout, not unlike the pygmy hippo. This is in stark contrast to the common hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) which has a very large ungainly (and less "cute"-looking) head in proportion to its body.

I think the main reason that Murray's design in the unfinished Sly-movie was so unappealing, is that they based his proportions too much on those of a "realistic" common hippo.

Anyways, pygmy hippos can be found in scattered populations across forests along the west coast of Africa, where they feed on broad-leafed plants and fallen fruits. They are extremely rare and endangered due to habitat loss and the bush-meat trade.

Unlike the infamously aggressive common hippo, the pygmy hippo is a rather docile and shy animal, whose first instinct when threatened will typically be to run away and hide (not unlike Murray in the first game) though it can defend itself with its powerful jaws. True to its name, the pygmy hippo is less than a quarter of the size of its larger relative, with the biggest specimens weighing in at about 600 pounds (which is lighter than some domestic pigs).

Moving on to Carmelita, there's no getting around the fact that she is supposed to be a red fox (Vulpes Vulpes), what with her strikingly orange fur colour and long bushy tail. The red fox needs no introduction, being one of the most succesful and abundant carnivorans on earth (besides domestic dogs and cats), with a range covering basically the entire northern hemisphere (aside from the Arctic), along with a worryingly invasive population in Australia.

Even though Carmelita is often characterized as a spicy latina, (being inspired by latina actresses such as Selma Hayek and Jessica Alba) Latin America is one of the few places on earth not inhabited by red foxes. These areas of course have their own native fox species. I considered the possibility that she could qualify for being a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), a kit fox (Vulpes macrotis), or even a culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus), but the thing that really cements her as being a red fox is her jumping ability.

Red foxes are able to jump up to 2 meters into the air, which is four times their shoulder height of about 50 cm. This would be the equivalent of a 6-foot person jumping 24 feet in the air, which feels appropriate given some of the insane feats of athleticism we've seen Carmelita pull off throughout the series.

[archeronfilm]

The Fifth Element (1997)

"I don't care, he should have been a butch lesbian."

In case you don't want spoilers, or to hear my long verbose in-detail thoughts on this movie, here's the short and sweet version:

The Fifth Element is raunchy, corny, and campy in all the right ways, and some of the wrong ones. It's far from a perfect movie, but I really enjoyed watching and rewatching it, and I would recommend it! I guess um, 4/5 stars, maybe.

Okay, now let's get serious. I saw the first 15 minutes of this movie while visiting my mother, found it so intriguing that I watched it with a friend, and then watched it again to write this review. Let's get into the meat of it. Spoilers for a 30 year old movie ahead.

Word Count: 6,082

Okay, The Fifth Element (1997), dir. Luc Besson, is a sci-fi comedy starring such greats as Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman, who I've been in love with since I watched Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1990).

We open in Egypt in 1914, in a scene I can only describe as "Mummy-esque." Seriously, this scene came on in my mother's living room and I thought we were watching a yet unseen installation of The Mummy or Indiana Jones. It contains, among other things, an incredibly hammy and not-at-all-subtle dump of exposition. They go out of their way to gravitate back to this wall of runes several times, to make sure you know as much background lore as possible. A later scene renders this odd choice kind of unnecessary, but I'll concede its existence for one key reason-- the Mondoshawan.

The Mondoshawan are the good-guy aliens in this movie, though they're only featured on screen two times, one of them being this scene. Their space ship looms awesomely over this strange Egyptian exposition-temple, and they are a star example of one of the best parts of this movie.

All the effects, or at least as many of them as possible, are practical. Of course, it's a movie made in the 90's, so they would be. But the beautifully clunky and real toddling of these men in alien costumes was a dead-ringer for New Who, and it was incredibly endearing to me. I am a major believer in the power and merit of practical effects and the tragedy of computer generation. And this movie is *swimming* in practical effects. It's a delight.

I will say there's this bit where the leader Mondoshawan is toddling towards this very slowly closing stone door and he doesn't make it through because his very slow waddling is somehow slower than the door is, and I think it was supposed to be semi-serious but I laughed at it. It was just a little ridiculous.

The back half of this first scene feels kind of oddly paced, like it's rushed, which is odd to me considering the scene didn't hold back on dumping as much stuff on me as possible just a few minutes ago. Very strange scene, seems to only have one purpose, which I'll get back to later.

So, flash forward 30 years to something dramatically different in aesthetic and vibe, of course. We're in space. We're gritty, we're militaristic, of course. There's an evil fucking orb of fire flying towards the Earth at top speed. Things aren't looking great.

The president, a man with eyes of a frightening shade, is black! This is not plot relevant, but I find the tendency of movies from this period to feature black presidents far before Obama's term to be really interesting. Is this social commentary? A thoughtful statement about how fantastical the idea of a black man in office is to the average American? I will never know. I really like this character, he's a fun guy. He has more personality than most president characters do, probably due to him being on an awesome spaceship with a team of nodding yes-men in a delightfully Star Trek-esque uniform. I like him a lot. He's my boy.

This is the same scene where we get introduced to Vito Cornelius, a priest who appears to be Catholic because he does the sign of the cross later in the movie, even though I definitely assumed he was some weird member of the church of the Fifth Element or something.

Cornelius is here to suggest that the ball of fire is sentient and evil, and that the president shouldn't shoot it with missiles, because it's so sentient and evil that it'll get even sentienter and eviler. Of course, the president disregards this warning, because that's what movie presidents do to random old men in robes.

From this blunder comes one of the many incredibly hard lines in this movie. Where Mr. President tells Staedert, his military commander, "I have a doubt." and Staedert replies "I don't, Mister President" and then presses the fire button on the huge gigantic missiles. It's awesome, only slightly undercut by the fact that it doesn't work and Staedert and his crew get fucking obliterated right after. By the evil sentient ball which shoots out a flare of flames that has an evil spooky skull in it. That's not a joke at all, that seriously happens in this scene. I laughed.

Now we smash cut to Bruce Willis. He's Korben Dallas, this sort of gritty ex-military guy with a very cute cat. I love this cat. She is an adorable, slightly cross eyed white longhair. It's honestly a tragedy and a waste that she was only in like two scenes. She should have been ever-present, fitted with Air Bud esque mouth animation so she could act as Bruce Willis' voice of reason throughout the film.

Korben Dallas is trying to quit smoking. He's a cab driver who's dogshit at driving his cab and is mere seconds away from losing his license. He is, and I quote, "Still stuck on that two-timing slut." He wants a perfect woman. There are about two Chekov's guns in that last block of text.

He opens his first scene with us in what I can only describe as the sluttiest most hot and sweaty chest binder I've ever seen. And a pair of tight belted leather boots that it really seems like he fell asleep wearing.

And then he gets mugged by a guy, presumably so they can show us how much he knows about guns, and that he has been mugged enough that he now has a secret shelf that is just completely full of guns. Hilarious. I love this bit. It's not even relevant, I just loved it.

Okay so the evil sentient ball of fire. We didn't forget about that. This scene is one that confused me really badly during my rewatch. Here, Cornelius explains in full detail and in much less vague terms than before what the Fifth Element does and why they need it to save Earth from this evil ball of fire. This scene renders most of the in-narrative purpose of the first scene moot. The only reason it now exists (other than some background stuff that could probably have been introduced in a less odd way) is to address a more meta issue, which I'll get to later. But while I was watching it, I couldn't help but think "Well... then what the hell were we doing in the desert with Luke Perry?"

In this scene, we get to see the Mondoshawans again for the final time, so we can introduce the bad guy aliens, the Mangalores. They jack the stones (the elements) from the Mondoshawan ship and blow them up.

I thought this scene was supposed to set up the stereotypical "military incompetent" idea that's often present in this type of sci fi, but the president honestly makes mostly good decisions that don't make him feel like a bumbling idiot once through the entire movie. Honestly, he's kind of cool. I like him.

Okay, now that the Mangalores have been tragically exploded, we get the vehicle towards one of our main characters. Using a saved body part from the Mangalores and some utterly and delighfully made up genetic scienceology, we recreated the perfect genes of some alien into... a skinny white girl with the orangest hair I've ever seen. This scene features one of the only costuming choices in the movie that I truly hate. Leeloo's weird strap undies (and subsequent inability to wear normal pants, but mostly these strap undies?). I just hate it. Why is it here. It's not even that sexy looking. She looks like a ham in an asylum.

The set design in this movie is also delightfully Whovian and Star-Trek-ish. Tinfoil walls, lava lamp type sensibilities. The costumes are camp the set is camp, everything is camp. It's an absolute whale. The costumes the policemen wear while chasing runaway Leeloo are just hilarious. Many fantastic choices made all around, except for those fucking weird underpants.

Some of the sci-fi concepts in this movie FEEL overplayed and hammed up, and then I remember that it was released when a lot of this stuff was new and in-vogue, and it becomes an interesting exercise in perspective. Maybe they were pioneers, what do I know? I'm having an absolute ball.

Okay, so Leeloo falls directly through the roof of Korben Dallas' cab, and before you say anything, I do have many choice words throughout this recap/review about the infamous trope borne of this movie, "Born Sexy Yesterday," and I am aware of its existence. These opinions are sprinkled throughout alongside my others.

So Bruce Willis seems to be a big fan of this strange woman who, especially in this scene, acts very childlike. Korben's interest doesn't really read as creepy in this scene, until later when he randomly assaults her. You know, like a creep would do. I digress.

Leeloo knows how to read Roman lettering, and while I understand this choice in this scene, I do think it doesn't make sense and kills a little bit of world building. Whatever. Language guy complaining about language stuff.

Speaking of world building, there are a lot of worldbuilding things conveyed visually and through dialog in this movie that arent ham-fisted exposition vomit, and I am very fond of them. The hitch inside the rear door of Dallas' cab, saying Leeloo "doesn't have a file," the Fog? That is never explained? This world has some suggestion of richness and intrigue that I love to see from sci-fi. They waste no time painting "THIS IS THE POINT" with big red letters, because it's just setdressing, and I think that ultimately makes these details really sing.

I love the dialog and energy in the high speed chase scene, the vertical train, the Fog??? The way this movie doesn't need to explain itself. Until it does explain itself. Blatantly. And then I get sad.

In a lot of ways, I think this movie's actual plot is the least interesting part of it. More on this later.

It also *really* seems like this movie was sponsored by McDonald's.

A nearly unconscious Leeloo begs Korben Dallas to take her to Cornelius, before passing out with such cartoonish vigor that I originally thought she was kidding.

So Korben takes Leeloo to Cornelius' apartment, getting originally turned away for being mistaken for newlyweds (barf). Instead of knocking again, he just kicks down the door. Cornelius realizes due to a tattoo on her inner wrist that she's the Fifth Element (!) and passes out. Korben places her on the couch.

Now, I don't really understand why Korben Dallas chooses to sexually assault Leeloo by kissing her while she's unconscious in this scene. It not only feels gross, it also feels kind of unprecedented. They've met once, had approximately the amount of chemistry you'd expect, and then she passed out. Maybe in the 90's this felt spontaneous and romantic, but to me it just feels like he did it for no reason. I wish she had actually shot him. Thankfully, her outburst of rage at this momentarily makes her feel a little less like a literal grade-schooler, a much needed respite.

Milla Jovovich does what I think is a pretty good job at keeping her pronunciation of the divine language consistent throughout the scenes where she speaks it. She's Ukranian-American, but I have no idea if she's bilingual or had an accent coach or something. Either way, well done Ms. Jovovich!

Anyway, Cornelius walks in having suddenly changed into these silly ass robes, a great sight gag, and kicks Korben out of the room, but not before he reveals that the words that Leeloo yelled at Korben meant "never without my permission," which really made me wish she had shot him *twice*.

The scene where Korben talks to his friend, Finger, about Leeloo was clearly supposed to be romantic, I'm sure. It actually makes him look like a freak. I hated him for much of this movie.

Now, Back to the Mangalores. The Mangalores are a warrior race who have been hired by the big evil of this movie-- Gary Oldman. For some reason, they decided to make him southern. Not that I'm really complaining, but characters in this movie seem to have accents for no reason, and I really love it.

I love Gary Oldman in this movie. His character, Zorg, is fitted with one of the most ridiculous wardrobes of the entire cast. He has this odd plastic cap on his head, a flaccid mohawk, and the filthiest facial hair possible (a soul patch). He is fucking awesome. I love Zorg.

Spliced between parts of this arms deal, we learn that the stones aren't in the case. Leeloo tells Cornelius that in case they were stolen, the stones were given to someone trusted by the Mondoshawans, but not before changing clothes in front of him and his apprentice. I swear, she does this like three times in this movie.

The cut back to Leeloo in this scene right after Zorg realizes the box is empty is really well done. Effective, funny, punchy. She laughs like a freak, it's great.

There's a bit of dialog Zorg has with his right hand man right after this failed arms deal where he talks about his philosophy around warriors and why he prefers killers. I love this bit. The way he just coldly leaves them with a bomb built into his holy-overkill-gun is hard as shit, and it gives us a nice insight into our villain in the first scene he's in. I like it. I like Zorg.

Speaking of Zorg, we get a proper introduction to him just after. Here is one of the most interesting scenes in this film, where we get some insight about Zorg and Cornelius' respective opinions on life and death.

The interesting thing about this scene is that I kind of agree with Zorg, his saying that death exists to create life for the living, ostensibly feeding the cycle of life and progress. Regardless, he is painted as stupid when Cornelius has to rescue him from choking on a cherry.

And why the hell would you ever put a whole cherry in a glass of water? You're basically asking to choke to death. And Cornelius has a point, why don't you, a guy who has a special button to unearth his bizarre elephantine freak creature from the secret drawer in your desk, have a special robot to smack you on the back when you're choking? *Especially* when you do dumb shit like putting whole pit-in cherries in your glasses of water? Answer me that, Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg.

Actually, I don't know how this bit is supposed to disprove Zorg's point. All it really proves is that people need each other sometimes, which has nothing to do with what Zorg was actually saying to Cornelius here. Now, we could argue that it goes against the way that he executes this philosophy, which is true, being that he is a weird freaky villain who has henchmen, but I don't want to argue that. Because the fact that they have this strange sum-zero philosophical argument where they're ostensibly not even talking to each other is way funnier.

Right after this there's a bit where he sends his right hand man to literally bug the space-oval office. As in, it's a cockroach with a little camera and microphone on it. This bit is super funny. No thematic relevance, I just loved watching the president fucking cream the roach with his shoe while Zorg's henchman writhed in pain from the mic feedback.

The next important scene, by which I mean the next scene, starts with a healthy serving of "Sci-Fi setting that is weird about Asian people." Get behind me, Mr. Kim, this movie doesn't respect you enough.

Anyway, Korben's hilariously young adult-sounding mother calls him on the phone to bitch at him insanely about how he never calls and gives us a key piece of information-- Korben has won an all expenses paid trip to Fhloston Paradise! This coincidentally is where Leeloo told Cornelius the person with the stones was. This contest was actually alluded to on Korben's television in his first scene as well. This movie is very, *very* good at setup-payoff. Lots of domino situations.

Korben professional-improvs his way out of a police confrontation (organized by Zorg) just to get walloped over the head by Cornelius, who intends to steal his tickets so he and Leeloo can save planet Earth. In the process, he also puts his former superior officer in a freezer. Everyone wants Korben's sweet sweet bod in this scene. It's really something.

There's a couple of details about Korben's character and his relationship with Leeloo in this scene that jumped out at me, and I will be addressing them alongside the others of their ilk later in this review.

Cornelius hatches a plan to make his apprentice David impersonate Korben so they can get to Fhloston. It doesn't work, of course, because this movie chose to represent being knocked out the most realistically I've ever seen in a blockbuster flick. Korben is only down for the count for a second or two, which means he caught up with them and pulled some more startlingly effective improvisation out of his ass to get on this flight with Leeloo. It's really remarkable how good this ex military guy is at improv. Get his ass behind a mic. Get Korben on Whose Zorg is it Anyway, and pay me royalties.

I have a note here that just says "Everyone in this movie wears what I can only describe as rave wear. It's pretty hilarious." I have nothing to add. That's accurate.

So they're boarding this flight, right? And here's a real doozy. 1 out of 2 of my impassioned rants on one specific character in this movie who we meet in this scene. Ruby Rhod. Ruby ffffucking Rhod.

I actually *need* to talk about this guy. He is like the Prince of outer space. His scenes where he does his talk show are mesmerizing, zany, all over the place. I felt like I was having a nightmare. He's fascinating, fabulous, flamboyant, some other f word that I'm choosing not to say right now. His use of "green" to mean "good" is just perfect. Korben's completely dodgy and stiff responses are honestly the perfect contrast to Ruby in this scene. They're foils. This scene has captivated me. Ruby prowls around while tiger growling noises play in the background and flirts with this random stewardess ON AIR, inches from her face with the mic separating their mouths, promising to have sex with her later. ON AIR. It's implied that this is a normal thing that is acceptable on his show.

Ruby also has a whole gang of yes men, all of which are only slightly less flamboyantly homosexual than he is, but still feel more explicitly homosexual than Ruby, who has sex with as many women as he can possibly manage, which seems to be many, because every woman who mentions his name in this movie appears to cream their pants if he so much as breathes near them. That girl he flirted with? She moaned and collapsed on the floor right after.

The scene after the show, where Korben Dallas pins Ruby to the wall and threatens him, would have been beautifully compelling if Korben Dallas was a butch lesbian. This is the furthest thing from thoughtful character analysis, I just would have liked it more.

It's implied in the following scene that Ruby has only ever really wanted to fuck aliens before meeting this random stewardess, and we get to watch a very cleverly compiled set of scenes from wildly different locales that all fit together. Ruby having sex with this stewardess, the ship taking off, and Zorg blowing up his right hand man for failing him. They also use the Wilhelm scream in this scene, but given that the movie was made in the late 90's this is par for the course, and is really much more tasteful than usual.

For some reason, rasta(?) music is playing. There is a vaguely rastafarian man in this scene, but only for around 12 seconds. The use of regionally and culturally specific music in this movie that has no bearing on the actual space the characters inhabit is absolutely fascinating to me. There was some music earlier, playing in sci-fi New York, that I swear used a Raga scale. All the music is very good, good job Éric Serra.

After Zorg finishes exploding his frankly very competent right hand man, we get a scene where we discover that he's after the stones because some man he's working for, Mr. Shadow, wants them. Zorg is the main antagonist for most of this movie. Mr. Shadow never comes back again, and we do not need him. All he really serves to do is to make Zorg look more pathetic and give him an excuse to be more desperate when he can't get his hands on the stones, which, while fine, I think the movie could have gotten away with just having Zorg being a dramatic villain who freaks out when he doesn't get his way without this bit. Not egregious, but not really a necessary scene.

Okay, I have a big question. Why is Fhloston paradise Hawaii? It just *is* Hawaii. Did Hawaii escape to a separate planet at some point? Good for them, except that Fhloston is still a crazy tourist spot full of annoying white people, so not really. This is just Super Mega Hell 2 for Hawaiians. The song they sing in the first Fhloston scene is really good, though. Thanks, Éric.

On the topic of Fhloston, I really love the use of color in the set. Given the way the rest of this movie is, it's possible that it's more for visual contrast and not theming, but there is a scene during the opera performance that switches between complements, and the visual contrast is, well, good.

Speaking of the opera, Korben has front row seats, and its 5pm. You know what that means.

It's fucking Ruby Rhod time, baby! Ruby is back in black, in the most fantastic costume in this entire movie. Despite it showing off his entire clavicle (no exaggeration), it manages to get more and more revealing as this scene plays out. This bit where he asks Korben if he's happy with being on Fhloston in his usual over the top, loud, flamboyant way and Korben looks into his eyes, leans into the mic, and says "Thrilled" drolly is a short interaction so packed with sexual tension that I can't even argue for it without just telling you to watch the scene. This is their only interaction that really FEELS like gay sex, and it made my jaw go slack for a couple of seconds, even as the movie immediately moved on to the much more important opera segment.

Speaking of the opera, for real this time, I have one complaint. It's an annoying complaint that nobody ever wants to hear, but I'm saying it anyway because that's what I'm here to do: Diva is *not* singing. Now, maybe in some later movie review we can learn my detailed opinions on live recordings of singing performances in film (short version: I don't think they should happen, and I hate them) my main complaint is mostly that Diva's actress is just not very good at *pretending* to sing, much less opera. She doesn't pretend to breathe, doesn't try to move her mouth with the incredibly strong vibrato (understandable to some extent) but most of all, her mouth shapes just aren't right. I can concretely point to certain mouth shapes and say "that's not the shape her mouth should be when singing that vowel," it's obvious enough that I can do that. Granted, I have some experience in singing on stage, so maybe that's just my personal annoying musician experience speaking, but it was really noticeable to me. Okay, annoying complaint over, now I can say nice things

This opera, Lucia di Lammermoor with a poppy remix track towards the end, is ridiculously well performed. Diva's vocalist, Inva Mula, does a stunning job at both the formal and informal portions of this song. It's actually amazing how little of her voice had to be computer edited to sound more "alien," it's only done like twice in the portion that it's done at all, and the rest is pretty clearly just her. She really knocks it out of the park here.

The movie does something interesting here that I really enjoyed, where they periodically show us different characters reactions to this opera. Mostly Korben and Leeloo. I want to focus on Korben, who looks at Diva like this is the first time he's ever been moved in his life. Seriously, his eyes are wet and shining with unshed tears and I really mean that. Right when we get this poignant reaction out of Korben, the pop track starts playing and the somber moment abruptly ends, which is kind of what it's like watching this movie, or clicking on a Read More and discovering a film review that is easily over 5k words.

This movie has a great penchant for match cuts. Actually, most of the transition and shot choices made in this movie are really top of the line. They're all punchy, sharp, playful, to the point. Fantastic cinematographic choices, guys.

Diva finishes her performance right after Leeloo finishes fighting Zorg by getting shot at while up in an air duct. The opera is then laid siege by the Mangalores, who brutally murder Diva. This is sad for me, because I wanted her and Leeloo to be friends, and for Korben Dallas, who just felt the strongest emotion he's ever experienced thanks to her.

Ruby, of course, continues reporting on his talk show throughout the assault, because he's a goddamn professional. He also spends the next scene and a half shrieking in fear.

The reveal that the stones are literally inside Diva's body not only makes me watch one of the more disgusting scenes in this movie, it also makes me wonder-- Was Leeloo just supposed to kill her? Also, how did they get in there? Many questions and no answers, because we aren't here to fuck around.

While Diva is giving Korben this weird spiel about how Leeloo needs him and his love to survive, there's this brief cut to Leeloo, bleeding in the air vent. This cut is an absolute pang to the gut. She sits, curled up, alone, sobbing painfully with a bullet wound in her leg. She looks small, helpless, childlike in this brief scene. It was so impactful to me that it just made me angry about the way Korben and Leeloo's relationship in this movie is executed. This is another "get back to it later" thing.

For the rest of this "getting shot up by Mangalores" scene, Ruby Rhod is cowering and sniffling and screaming for Korben to help him. It's honestly like this for the rest of the movie. They're just friends now. It's awesome. I love this guy. He accidentally shoots a guy in the head and then asks Korben "You think he'll be okay?" He's the best character in this movie.

We get one of Korben's final fantastic moments of improv in this scene. It's around this point, during the "negotiation" scene, that I realized that the problem with this movie is that the best parts of it are the parts that aren't about the two characters who I'm supposed to care about the relationship between.

This scene, where Korben gets in a fighter jet, says it's just like driving a cab (a contrast from his conversation with Finger in his first scene, where he says driving a cab is easy because he isn't driving a jet) and then blows a fucking hole in the airlock and guns it out of the Fhloston ship, is so fucking cool. I'm a very simple man. It was awesome. One question, does Korben have some kind of allergy to reminding people to put seatbelts on? This is the second time he's just allowed his passengers to fly around the cabin while he drives recklessly.

Ruby's show ends at 7pm, when he tiredly proclaims that it's the best show he's ever done. I was thinking the same thing. In fact, Mr. Rhod, I really think you should hire Korben. There, now he has a new job.

Right here is where I'm going to address one of my main points (gripes) about this movie. Yes, I know, over 5k words in.

This part of the scene, where Leeloo has her weird crisis of faith about the evil of the human race, learns about war and concludes that humans aren't worth saving, falls flat to me. Sure, it feels over-played, but ultimately the problem is just that it's not done well, much like the rest of her characterization. Leeloo's depiction as being naive and childlike, which honestly only holds because she doesn't really speak fluent English, holds back her character because of the movies comphet insistence that her and Korben be romantically involved. A narrative where Leeloo, naive and unfamiliar, Leeloo, who needs other people, who sobs painfully alone in an airvent, who needs to be dried off with a towel after getting soaked with water, is actually a child, would be more compelling. And her not being able to reconcile with the evils of humanity would also have felt more convincing if she was literally a child. Like, of *course* she can't see the situation with any nuance, she's a kid. A narrative where Leeloo and Korben's dynamic is more familial would be more interesting, and honestly the way she's characterized already lends itself so perfectly to this narrative that there were points where I got actually upset that the movie refused to go that direction.

I'll go ahead and talk about Korben's character here as well. Korben is a refreshing detraction from the classic grizzled tough guy trope that we tend to see in action movies. Whether this is a result of 90's zeitgeist or just the writer's own preferences, I don't know, but I noticed it. I was expecting Korben Dallas to be a sort of obnoxious, emotionally stunted brick wall of a guy-- but he isn't, really. Korben is quick on his feet, improvisational, messy, and sure he's genius with a gun, but he's also *nice*. He's nice in a distinctly not "Grizzled emotionally stunted guy" way. When he accidentally gets Leeloo soaking wet, he gets her a towel at warp speed, apologizes up and down in a much softer tone than he ever uses for anything else. I thought at first "of course, because he likes her," but then-- Then! When he discovers that he's accidentally plastic-wrapped Cornelius, he rips the plastic and apologizes-- in the same sort of tone. He adapts his approach to the Mangalore barrage in the cruise ship to Ruby Rhod, never complains about Ruby being a nuisance or being in his way, just brings him along and asks him to help out. I honestly really like Korben Dallas. Which is why, upon reflecting on earlier scenes in this movie, it really irritates me that he just kisses Leeloo for no reason, or even that he's in love with her at all.

That scene I mentioned, where Korben dries her off, or even as early as the cab scene where she's talking animatedly to him in the divine language and we get the "bada boom" dialog, just oozes a kind of gentleness and care that doesn't speak satisfactorily to romance or sex. Leeloo, this childlike character, and Korben, this gentle man who happens to be great with guns, don't feel like husband and wife. They don't feel like sexual partners. He feels like her father. That moment with the shower soured the rest of their dynamic for me during my rewatch, because I kept thinking about how much better it could be. That dynamic, as I've already said, would have been deeply compelling, especially given the final reveal of the movie.

Now that we've escaped Fhloston, we've headed back to the temple in Egypt. This is that meta function of the first scene I said I'd address-- without it, there is no sense of a sort of circular journey the film takes. The film establishing this temple *is* important, because otherwise this scene where we return to it just wouldn't land as well. That said, I do still think the first scene is a little odd and clunky. Then again, so is much of this movie, and it's still a good scene.

Our characters spend a frustratingly long time decoding a "riddle" that Leeloo tells Korben, one which was so simple that I was yelling at my laptop the first time I watched it. We get another very gratifying and subtle payoff from an earlier scene where we see Korben has only one match left, which he needs for the fire stone. Earlier, we see him subtly take his penultimate match from the box. This movie's Chekov game is crazy.

Much like this review, Leeloo says something that feels deeply substantial nearly 2 hours into a 2 hour long movie. She says "I don't know love. I was made to protect, not to love. There is no use for me other than this."

This line is so compelling to me. It's the most CHARACTER I've seen from her in the whole movie, and its 2 hours in. We do not get to explore it.

You might have noticed, based on this line, what the Fifth Element actually is. What Leeloo needs in order to activate her Element and shoot the big fuckoff laser into the evil fire ball.

Its ~Love~.

This is, of course, ridiculously corny and requires them to kiss nasty on the mouth for longer than I would have liked to see (Of course, I would have like to not see it at all).

I don't actually mind this conclusion or the theming. It's silly, but so is the whole movie. But you might, like me, see an issue here.

If we had approached this movie the way I so desperately craved, made their dynamic more familial, made Leeloo a child and given Korben a new weird alien daughter, this conclusion would have been leagues more powerful.

Not only would it be a unique approach to what is usually a very hetero and sexual genre, it would have given a much more gratifying conclusion to Korben's character arc. At the beginning of his arc, Korben talks about how he's looking for a perfect woman after his wife left him. In the movie, Korben just... *gets* the perfect woman. He gets exactly what he wanted and he learns nothing. If Korben instead had to reckon with this new facet of his life and identity, had to reconcile with being thrust into quasi-fatherhood, he might actually have deigned to, you know, *develop* as a character. He would have *learned* something. I'm not saying every single character in the movie has to learn something, but the main goddamn character probably should, right?

But since it's an ~adult movie~ for ~grown ups~, we can't tell compelling family narratives, and the movie has to end with them having sex in a reactor pod. I hate that. I hated that conclusion and my least favorite part of this movie was its main conceit, which was genuinely tragic given how enjoyable I found the rest of the film.

So, I'll leave you with this.

The Fifth Element (1997) is a *good* movie. It's incredibly fun, zany, raunchy, and lively. The music is very good, the costuming and set design is whimsical and fantastic. It's a little weird about Asians. It birthed one of the worst cinema tropes ever invented, and it didn't even have to, because the movie would have been really, deeply beautiful if it hadn't.

And Korben Dallas should have been a butch lesbian.

Actually, I'll leave you by saying that the song that plays in the credits of this movie is really good. "Little Light of Love," it's called. I'm going to link it so you can experience it, too.

[effervescentdragon]

buckle up, because I’m about to go off. So i posted this take this morning, because I was thinking about F1 fandom’s habit and hipocrisy of criticising “third-world” or “middle-eastern” countries about their breach of human rights (no matter how much i personally think most of it is performative, pat-myself-on-the-back-for-being-a-good-human kinda “activism”), while nobody is saying anything about F1 racing in Miami, Florida, which is currently literally one of the worst places to live. to which, as is usual on good ol’ tumblr, i got this ask

i blocked the anon, obviously, but to borrow dear friends’ words “this ask is so american, all it needs is an eagle, a gun, unaffordable healthcare and perhaps a burger”. HOWEVER. i can’t stay silent. i choose violence (metaphorical) these days. my first thought was to reply with “i’d check my privilege but im too busy being able to check my bloodwork with my free healthcare”, which may be a bit tone-deaf and mean. so i outsorced this ask to certain friends (including a full-blooded american and a person from the middle east), and here is a series of screenshots of their responses, because they are wonderful and smart and more verbose than i was this morning, with only one coffee in my blood and irritation level of +billion. their opinions also kind of matter more than my own, because these are their lived experiences. 

now. as i said, and as you can see, these are the lived experiences of my friends, and are therefore also subjective at their core. so lets look at some facts. 

“florida is in the usa, a free, democratic, modern, developed country where protection of human rights is enforced”, i believe you said? ALLRIGHT:

- a bill that passed in florida 10 days ago that allows judges to alter custody agreements if they think one parent might allow gender affirming care

- florida abortion ban after 6 weeks, with no exceptions for rape or incest after 15 weeks 

- a transgender sports ban in florida that allows genital inspection of minors, aka children (thank you @lauda4theback​ for finding these links for me)

- USA’s position in the Democratic Index;

- tumblr post with sources made around four days ago with details about just some of the gun violence happening in the US currently;

- BBC article about 160 mass shootings that had happened in 2023 up until April 16th and data from gun-violence archive (which, correct me if im wrong, is singularily an american thing);

- Anti-Trans Bill tracker no 1 and no 2 in the US, which, you know, implies violation of basic human rights;

- banning of books in the us to cripple education and avoid taking responsibility and acknowledging already existing and rampantly rising levels of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and generally what you all like to call “traditional (christian) values” and the rest of the world likes to call “blatant right-wing fascism” - here’s florida specifically (god i hate nyt); 

these are just some of the FACTS about the united states, and they very much speak for themselves. i couldve found a million more sources, but, honestly, i dont feel like waddling through more of the mud that is this country’s awful politics and policies. 

now its time for my opinion. im assuming youre american, because if youre not, thats just... i have no words, then. you can come in here spouting absolute fucking brainwashing propaganda your country does to you on a regular basis, but dont expect me to have to listen to it, and do anything other than laugh derisively. your-us centrism is tiring, scary, and insane, because your country, to me, is little more than a glorified cult. it’s dangerous to the rest of the world for many reasons, not the least the way it permeates every sphere of our public life and pushes american fucking propaganda upon all of us, whether we want it or not, and its absurd and awful fucking military, which i would like to see razed to the ground immediately, but i pity you, anon, for being so absolutely lacking in critical thinking that you actually believe this bullshit that you are spewing. i was trying to criticise our fandom’s way of expressing outrage when it comes to non-western, whatever the fuck that means, countries while simultanously not speaking about or even acknoledging the fact that rapid erosion of democracy in the us has all the markings of the same “dictatorial” regimes we like to be enraged over when it comes to racing in bahrain or jeddah or abu dhabi, except the usa is not being held hostage by a single autocratic dictator but with the republican party which controls the government institutions. that is sometimes the only difference i can see.

i wont speak about human rights in the middle east, because i am not middle-eastern. there’s people who can add their opinions here, and i invite them to do so. i also invite anyone to tell me if i got something wrong, used a wrong source, or said anything that i need to re-check or do more research on. but the bottom line is: for you to take my LEGIT criticism and get offended on behalf of the fucking US instead, well. that says a lot about you and your priorities, doesn’t it?

[biennatodd]

its so interesting to me that there is this divide in how people-who-prefer-JFM talk compared to people-who-prefer-YZY among the lotus pier fandom (specifically referring to MDZS fans who spend a lot of time headcanoning, theorizing, and writing about WWX, JYL, JC, JFM and YZY as a household, and the dynamics of Yunmeng Jiang as a sect)

in many posts by people-who-prefer-JFM there is a lot more leeway about his motivations, and generally hes given more space for the possibility of other styles of behavior under different circumstances.

The language around JFM is often loose and accommodating. It "seems" like he wanted this; He "tries" to do this; "Maybe if-"; He "could" have done this. It's often framed around how other characters perceive and react to him, rather than addressing him as a cause.

The language around YZY is much more concrete. Very much so "YZY did this, because she is [this] way". The framing is around her actions and how she makes people respond. The fault lies with her. There is no room for hypothetical, and everyone seems to know EXACTLY how she would behave outside the confines of the story despite that being literally impossible. There is no what if, only what is.

Part of this is of course because YZY is more verbose, and thus we have more insight into how she thinks as a character, but I think it goes beyond that as well.

Because people who tend to favor YZY, or at least express more interest in YZY, will have similarly loose and accommodating language when theorycrafting about her, but unlike people-who-prefer-JFM, they tend to still apply that loose language to JFM as well.

There is space for them to be different, or more complex, than what is presented to us.

And this often trickles down to how people talk about WWX and JC respectively as well. WWX is the MOST verbose character in the novel, not just because the entire book is from his POV, but also because he just doesn't STFU (and I love that for him). But JC is more withdrawn and we don't get nearly as much insight to his thought process (although there is still quite a bit).

You would think that'd mean that JC would receive more accommodating/loose interpretive language due to vagueness, while the understanding and descriptions of WWX would be much more concrete but that still isn't the case.

Instead WWX gets slotted into the same more-forgiving category as JFM, while JC gets a much more strict, inflexible interpretation like YZY (unsurprising when taking their characterization into account that they'd be paired together).

People just don't talk about JYL enough for her to even be included 😭

[skyethewolfwizard]

Pinned Post

This Blog:

Wizardblr & RP

My original art

My original written works (poetry, stories, OC lore)

General reblogging, which can be anything from my blorbos to my political views

About Me:

I am Skye (both OOC and IC), I use Se/Ser. I am sapphic, aroaceflux, asexual, aromantic, aroace, lesbian, bisexual. And also a nonbinary, transfem, alterhuman. A bit much? Sure, but it's me and I am verily sure of it.

I am also staunchly in support of Palestine and its people, the Congo with how much they've been exploited for our convenient technology, Sudan being stuck in a brutal conflict, Hawai'i and its history of being exploited by the USA, and all the persecuted people of the world. I may not be able to help as much as I wish, but I give my time and wish to give my life to them. As I have been and will continue to fight for the freedom of my country's people and for the freedom of all

My Tags:

wizardposting, wizardblr, wizardrp

For roleplay posts between my characters and other's

wizardposting, wizardblr

For when it is about wizardry but no roleplay

wizardpostingnsfw

For when it is NSFW

wizardpostingn't

For anything not pertaining to wizardry

My OCs:

• Skye

Se/Ser | Sapphic Aroaceflux Lesbian Bisexual

Old wizard, last of the wolfkin race. The Main OC you will probably interact with. You can do that by the way through the asks! Se lives mostly alone in a tree tower in the middle of a forest on wizard island. (Omitted a lot, but hey! That's for you to find out through RP or when I decide to make my comics finally)

My Works:

Not much for now, but I am working on some stuff just currently refining my art skills before I post any.

I am fleshing out some character lore, some story ideas, and poetry. And studying coding, computer science, that whole thing y'know to make a website to better host my stuff.

When they're done they'll be listed here hopefully.

Other Notable Things:

I am stuck in a country where I have extreme difficulty with getting gender affirming care, expect me to bitch and moan about it sadly

Notably, I am a furry (obviously)

I would enjoy it so to becometh friends! Just send a message for me to hark

I love verbosity, quite obviously. And as you can see, I also enjoy rhymes oh so witty

[saiyomiya]

Mamiya Review

Man, I don't know many people who know what Mamiya is, and that's a shame. Hell, the only way I know it is because I checked Andrew Hodgson's portfolio the other day and was captured by the art.

People should REALLY check this out. It's like if Nisioisin and Subahibi and the bunker dream scene in Disco Elysium and your lingering yearning for whoever just came up in your mind just now had a love child with the brain the size of thousands of universes or something. Like is that not the most incredible sentence you've ever read? I'm me and I wrote that sentence but it would've made me want to read it.

Pros

Beautiful art

Incredibly curated freeware OST that made me a fan of Ludo for life

Great translation with beautiful and succinct prose

Incredibly well-paced and doesn't waste your time at all

Cons

There is some thematic messaging in the game that leaves a bad taste in my mouth which is obviously subjective but hey this is my review

Will probably leave you hanging and wanting more answers when you're done, maybe even a bit dissatisfied (warning: I am dumb and maybe something flew over my head, a single read is definitely not enough for this one)

Rating: It's good, great even. The part I don't really like about it is subjective and some/most people might be fine with it or understand something about it I don't. I tolerate it because the rest of the game is interesting and everything else about it is very up my alley. If you're interested, make sure you buy the DLC DoomsDayDreams as well. It contains the last chapter of the story.

Spoiler subjective rambling to myself below the cut. Warning: I am dumb and might be too stupid for this game

Steam | VNDB (Part 1)

Why this game is kino

The settings are super interesting and the writing is beautiful. Honestly I would love to fine tooth reread it someday, maybe in Japanese. (Too bad Textractor can't since the engine uses Javascript).

The scope of the game is impressive and how verbose it is about all of those things is an incredible accomplishment. There is something universally accessible about Mamiya's message. You don't need to read a trove of philosophy books to understand what it wants to say. (Though obviously there are references.) You don't need to tolerate great horrors to get to the good parts. The pacing is good and it doesn't waste your time. It doesn't think you're stupid and believes in your ability to figure stuff out. There's a chance I'm jabbing at a kamige a lot of people revere that I also like for the most part but despise at the same time

MAMIYA (meme), Natsume, and the trichiliocosm are all very interesting and well handled themes. I've never really been able to word these feelings myself, so reading a story that builds something about concepts I've felt in my core was very freeing. It kind of makes you feel like an atom, if we could understand how a single atom feels. I think we all have thought about these things at least once. As humans, we all worry and think of the beyond every once in a while.

The effect this story has on you is genuinely beautiful. How can you feel so small and yet so important at the same time? Not only are you a body, you are your soul, you are your mind, and you have an existence before anyone knew what you are. Yet at the same time, we are all part of an infinitely expanding universe that is not only what we ourselves see, but what everyone else generates.

You feel so cherished and yet so insignificant at the same time.

I find MAMIYA so fascinating as well. To verbalize and personify the idea of yearning and admiring a ghost of a person is super interesting. Everyone has felt that for someone else, a longing to be with or to become a beloved. A lot of people grow out of that, but what happens when you don't? What happens when the scars that that yearning left are too deep? Being able to write a story about this concept, give it a mind of its own, and make it metatextually infect actual readers is brilliant.

It's kaleidoscopic in nature. It's a story that is so many things. It wants to be a literal read, it wants to be an abstract read, it wants to be meta, it wants to haunt you, like a ghost, like a veil, for the rest of your life. It's an incredibly unique and unforgettable experience. The only other game to make me feel similarly was Subahibi but I felt way less miserable while going through Mamiya.

That, on top of watching these characters face their weaknesses and ultimately conquer them with their own strength really tickles the Nisioisin fan in me. Like, all of this is incredible stuff. EX is incredible too, even though it hurts so bad. The bittersweet and vague and confusing endings for me leave me wanting more and someone smarter than me to explain what happened help

It leaves you with a love that is yours alone.

If you like the Pink House characters don't read this word vomit

(Vague Door 2 Fata Morgana spoiler mention)

Okay, time to get negative. I dislike almost all of the Pink House characters. I mean, that's definitely by design. All of them are groomers who succumbed to mental weakness and also nobody likes a groomer. It's pretty hard for me to view them just as characters because they did such horrible things to vulnerable children for their own self-satisfaction and weakness. Like brother I'm sorry but I can't just look at characters like this as just characters.

I fucking hate Osamu as a person. He's my least favorite character. To instill MAMIYA is to leave yearning, but damn, him leaving Ryou with his abusive mother and his biological daughter behind is just despicable. He is insufferable to everyone he talks to, he's ugly asf too, I'm gonna kill him, give me ten dollars. If you like him, more power to you, you're better than me, but my brain just can't run the calculations to tolerate him. Just a subjective thing.

Mayuri's relationship with their mother is relatable and I think their struggles with their inner child and self love are very interesting. However, what they do to Minato throughout DDD is despicable and unforgivable to me and it's very hard for me to look at them objectively. Like I totally get that's a me problem.

I mean, I get it though. There are people in my life who've done awful things to me, but I don't want them to die. Rather, I want them to live and be happy, but away from me. I don't wanna know how they're doing either. In this way, I really have nothing against the better ending Minato has with Mayuri, and I found their duel together interesting. It's well done, in my opinion.

Touma is the least offensive of all of them to me and I don't have much to complain about with him, at least from my understanding of his struggles and what he did overall.

Okay he did bad shit too but somehow it didn't leave as bad of a taste in my mouth than the other two. That too, is subjective.

Finally, Samejima is so boring to me. I never cared about Yukimasa from Fatamoru, so more of the same is more shit I don't care about. He's not very interesting to me on a personal level. I just never cared for characters with his narrative.

I guess for me, since ALL of Natsume's friends patch things up with the Pink House quartet it starts to feel very vaguely like, the way to handle your abuser is to understand why they abused you and then accept that it is a cycle and maybe get along with them and cheer them on. Saying that hilariously minimizes every arc but I mean, this was the vibe I got from all four of them just... more or less forgiving their abusers who put them through psychological and sometimes physical hell. It just didn't sit right with me. I think, for a game like this, having at least one character NOT be the "bigger" person and not be amicable, not forgive even after trying, would've made the message come across more clearly. Forgiveness and handling of abuse is messy and a bit of inconsistency among the cast would've garnered a bit more goodwill on my end.

Of course I might be missing the point or blind. I might be dumb as hell who knows. I would love to be enlightened otherwise. It just left a really bad taste in my mouth for a story I overall liked and became the hugest con about it for me.

Character rankings

Upper layer: Nidome > Mamiya > Natsume > Librarian > Senior

Nidome is cute even though he doesn't do much. I liked his design and I felt like this whenever he called Natsume a silly goose. Librarian and Senior are cool I just wish we saw more of them. The upper layer itself is really cool conceptually and I would love a story about it, but who knows if that's gonna happen.

Natsume and Mamiya are givens to like. I honestly can't tell if I like one or the other more.

Natsume's friends: Minato > Haruki > Ryou > Keito

Minato's narrative is relatable and I like them a lot, Haruki I liked more than expected, Ryou is fine, and I like Keito enough, but I feel like as I've gotten older I've had less patience for characters of his archetype. Or don't care about them. Like he's just there to me.

Pink House: Touma > Samejima >> Mayuri >>> Osamu

Touma is the least offensive of them to me (to the point that I would say that I like him), I don't like how Mayuri was handled and Osamu is just trash to me for reasons I spoke of earlier. I don't feel anything for or against Samejima. It's not his fault I don't care for his narrative archetype, but at least he's better than the other two behind him.

Natsume: Spectator/Idea/As a part of MAMIYA > Body

I'm just fucking around at this point

Conclusion

What can I say that I haven't said? It's good and I hope it gets more popularity someday. It certainly deserves it and I think it could be considered a kamige among VN enthusiasts if they gave it a try. People are just going to have to spread the word. I do think that most people would more positive than me even though I feel relatively positive about it, so go crazy and become the salespeople Kenkou Land deserves.

I still feel like I have so many questions and want so many answers for the main endings themselves. EX is both heartbreaking and yet so freeing at the same time, and the main ending is bittersweet and confusing.

It's as if I woke up to news to my dear friend Natsume Souichirou dying myself.

[atsadi-shenanigans]

Feeding Alligators 17 - Panties!

You and Gale chat about linguistics. Astarion has elf ears and thus, elf hearing. Ruh-roh.

Rated M for language and violence. Still not for smut, because when I said this was a slow burn, I meant it and also Eleanor is demisexual, so does not compute for her (yet).

On AO3.

You don’t make it much further before calling quits. Between your horror vomiting, Lae’zel’s brush with acid, and the rest of the party being generally wrung out from killing a wholeass owlbear, y’all are beat.

Camp is in a pretty, little clearing just off the trail. The grass is soft—and joyously free of ticks—with patches of pretty, yellow flowers. It’s a clear night; the moon is a great, big silver plate, and the spray of unfamiliar stars overhead shine bright and crystalline.

While Lae’zel scrapes the brains out of the skull of the owlbear, the others hunker down for a good and proper soup. It’s mostly vegetables, with sliced sausages, and you’re so, so fucking thankful Gale kept spices in his magical go bag. More than salt and pepper, too. You’re picking up traces of chili powder, paprika, and even a taste of cumin, you think. Not bad at all.

After your meal, y’all sit around for a bit. Astarion returns from scouting and takes his bowl back to his tent. Mr. Fancypants doesn’t like eating with commoners. It’s the first night everyone’s free, not working on spells or meditating or sulking alone. But the mood is still heavy and subdued.

Fucking cults will do that.

You wonder if your group’d listen to White people ghost stories—the Cherokee ones you do not tell at night out in the open.

You kick back and stare at the red line dancing around the edges of the embers.

Your stomach is still sore; throat still scratchy. And your headache is a constant grind. Must be the brainworm chewing on your gray-meats. The others hide their own discomfort pretty good—though that might just be the whole “not human” thing. Except Gale is human. Does he have wizard ibuprofen?

You stare into the fire some more and resist the urge to palm your right eye and press until you see sparkles.

The next thing you know, everyone has moved around the fire.

You sit up. Look around. Shadowheart and Lae’zel are arguing over the importance of keeping trophies (which Shadowheart dismisses as barbaric nonsense). Astarion is now standing outside his tent with a book propped open on one arm. You literally blinked and they all moved. What the fu—

“Are you alright?” Gale says. He was opposite you on the whole other side of the fire. Now he leans on the same fallen log you rest against with his own book sitting in his lap.

“I,” you say. You lost time. You completely lost, at minimum, several minutes. You try to breathe normal, instead of panting like a sick dog. “Yeah. I just…zoned out pretty good right there.”

Gale frowns. “’Zone?’ How would you use area as a verb?”

God, your head hurts.

You flap a hand. “Means I wasn’t paying attention, is all. D’you, you got anything for a headache? The stress has got my neck wound so tight it could crack a walnut.”

“Mmm, I don’t think so. Shadowheart may have an easier time of it. Are you…?”

He pauses. There’s more than confusion etched into his brow. It looks suspiciously like concern.

“Are you having any other symptoms?” he says in a low voice.

You look at him until it clicks. The whole face melting thing. All the stuff he’s described.

“No, no,” you say. “I don’t think it’s any of that. I woke up with this back on the butthole—I mean, the nautiloid.”

But his eyebrows have already shot up to his hairline. “The what? I’m not sure that translated accurately.”

Oh shit.

You groan. “No, it probably did. It’s what I been calling the nautiloid, before I learned its name. The doors on there looked like, well, buttholes. So I just went with it.”

His mouth opens. No words come out. You’ve shocked Mr. Verbose into silence. You almost give yourself a high five.

“I named all you’uns,” you continue, a bit more of Uncle Randy’s vernacular slipping in. It feels nice, letting your tongue slide back into that cadence. Feels like relaxing. Once you’d moved away, you tried to soften your country accent, fold it up into neat, shortened northern.

“I can only hope it was more sophisticated than your naming convention for the ship,” Gale says.

“You were mumu.” You wait. His expression doesn’t change, so the dirt potion must not’ve had a decent replacement for that. So you explain it, and by the end, he’s got a wry sort of smile.

“I can state with full confidence I’ve been called much worse,” Gale says. “Though it is a slight blow to my ego that I couldn’t impress any of my more noteworthy traits over my wardrobe.”

“It was either that or mullet.”

Having explained that, he proceeds to quiz you on the others, stumbling only over “goth.” But educated on that, he agrees with you on all counts.

“We’d been calling you Tav,” he says. At your blank face, “It’s a name used for orphans or someone whose name isn’t known, usually due to illness or injury. Quite common.”

Tav. It’s…their version of Jane Doe?

Then Gale’s face twists up. You can’t tell if it’s some flavor of perplexed, or if there’s a hint of amusement around his eyes. “Though I am curious how you’d gotten a glimpse at Astarion’s pants?”

You stare. Twist to find Astarion lounging on a nest of pillows he’s somehow managed to collect—he stole them from the tieflings, didn’t he.

“He’s wearing them?” you say and gesture with your thumb.

Gale’s whole face opens in surprise (relief?). “Ah! Another translation quirk. We call the outer garments trousers. The inner clothing is called pants, or smallclothes.”

You sit there. He’s definitely amused, now. Because you’ve been calling Astarion ‘Fancy Underwear.’ Good god. You’re so glad you figured that one out with Gale.

“Right,” you say. Your face definitely doesn’t feel warm. Not at all.

“Apologies for the distraction, and back to your headache. So you have no other symptoms.”

“I mean.” You gesture to your face, which as far as you can tell by touch is still your face. Goddamn, you haven’t had a proper bath in days. At least y’all are camped next to a stream; you can keep on dunking yourself as best you can. Still, no moisturizer or shampoo. Your elbows are getting rough.

“It’s all rather odd,” Gale says. “We should be halfway through the gestational process, yet none of us—aside from possibly you—have shown any sign of it. Either your being from a different plane has made you more susceptible, or our own physiology has shielded the rest of us. But Lae’zel isn’t a local, either, and even you aren’t following the standard process, as I understand it.”

He studies you a long moment. His lips press thin. But then he sighs and shakes his head.

“No, I don’t think you alone are going through the melt-change-condition.” You catch the vague shape of the actual word he uses behind the magical translation, but can’t suss it out. “I think it safe to assume this is merely the stress from all of this. I would suggest you find a way to relax, but, well.”

Lae’zel has finished both her scraping and her argument. She settles down next to a big, stone wheel that starts to spin as her foot taps a pedal. You watch, curiously, until she lifts her brains-scraping knife and you realize that sumbitch is a fucking grinder.

The noise shoots right through your eyeball to lodge deep in your aching brain.

“Nice talk, Gale, I’m getting out of here,” you say.

He winces next to you. Nods. “I’ll retire to my tent and see if I can’t come up with something in my stores to help with that ache of yours. In your head. That you mentioned.”

He rolls to his feet super spry for someone with gray streaks in his hair. He gives a little bow with his head, which you return with a nod as you make your way to the opposite side of the camp from Lae’zel.

Which happens to be where Astarion has set himself up for the night. Almost like he didn’t want to be around someone scooping out a dead owlbear head.

He glances up as you near. Watches you sink down into the grass nearby. You pause for a moment, considering, and flop onto your back in a full sprawl beneath the stars.

You don’t say anything. Neither does he, for a long moment. He flips a page. The pounding in your brain begins to unclench. Turns another page.

“So,” he says in a fucking tone.

“Oh god,” you say preemptively.

“You think my pants are fancy?”

Fucking elf ears. Of course he fucking heard you. Of fucking course.

You cover your face with one arm. “Would you stop if I said it was a mistranslation and I meant your trousers?”

“Whyever would I do that?”

Whyever would he. The man is a fucking menace.

Thing is, you’ve been so polite and quiet this whole time (until today, really). But Mother and the other leadership saw something in you, even as a child. And they weren’t exactly wrong about it (just the part where it was bad bad sinful bad the devil shame shame bad).

You turn to squint at him through the throbbing in your skull. “Are they?”

“Are what, dear?”

“Your underwear. Are they fancy?”

Bitch doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. He wants to give some, he better be able to take some.

You almost miss his hesitation, it’s so fast. Then his malicious smirk is back on and he snaps his book shut. Spins to face you. “They are, actually. I would ask the same of you, but I’m rather sure you’re not wearing any.”

“Nope,” you say, popping the “p” and waggling your legs back and forth in the grass. Outbrazen that, chucklefuck.

His mask doesn’t even crack. Not a flinch, not a micro expression; the man is stone cold fucking with you. “Are those not a norm in your realm, either?”

“Oh, they are, I just didn’t have them on me when I got grabbed.” Let him wonder about that. Dare him to fucking ask. The reason is you were asleep, but he doesn’t know that. “Unless we find some kinda clothing store soon, I think I’m gonna have to make some myself.”

He leans forward to rest an elbow on his bent knee. “I could help you with that, you know.”

You…can’t tell if he’s being serious.

“I ain’t wearing your drawers, fancy man. You only got the one pair anyway, unless you’re walk around with spares in your pockets.”

To this, he grimaces. “I didn’t need the reminder. All the material we’ve come across has been roughspun, mildewed, or both. Not a scrap of silk to be seen anywhere.”

You turn your head to frown at him for a long moment. Because yeah, that tracks. Of course this floof-haired, ridiculous city man wears silk drawers. You should not be so surprised at this. But also…

“You expecting to find you some silk out here in the boonies?” you say.

Now it’s his turn to frown. You watch his lips form the word “boonies.”

“Outside the city,” you say. “Back woods, back water, the sticks, wilderness, middle of fucking nowhere.”

“Hmm. No, I suppose I didn’t. People travel through here, but not the sort to own any apparel worth salvaging, would they? No, you’re correct.”

You say nothing to that. Content to lie beneath the moon and let the conversation about y’all’s panties die a quiet, natural death.

Out of the corner of your eye, you catch his head tilt. He’s watching you.

“That was a clever little plan, back there,” he says after a moment. “I dare say, you thought further ahead than any of the others regarding those cultists. And regarding how to deal with them. It was very clean—efficient, even if their deaths were very much not. It’s a shame you had to leave us so quickly back in that den.”

To vomit.

You’re not gonna out-edgey the edgelord here. Simpler to go for the boring answers. “Ain’t used to seeing something like that. Horror is a normal response to people getting torn up back where I come from.”

“Mmm. Sounds terribly dull. And yet, for someone so inexperienced,” he makes some gesture that either their version of air quotes or him just being a theater kid, “you came to that conclusion quickly and you saw it through. Against some objections, even.”

Objections from half of them. Or only Gale, really, as the only part Lae’zel hadn’t liked was the sneak factor. She seemed pleased as punch when then owlbear turned on y’all and she got to hack it to pieces.

And Gale got over it all well enough to come hang out with you at camp.

These fucking people.

And goddamnit, you’re fitting in.

You find him with his chin propped up, his gaze fixed on you.

“I have never, in my life, had to deal with this kinda shit before,” you say. “I’m just…getting ideas as we go along and trying not to die.”

“Quite vicious ideas.”

Your neck is hot. You turn away, point your face at the sky as if the cold starlight will chill the head building over your cheeks.

He’s not wrong. You have a ruthless streak, you know. Part of your whole healing process was recognizing and accepting that part of yourself. And you had. And now, you wonder if that is part of the problem. If you hadn’t just gone down into your mental basement to feed the monsters there, but you’d pulled up that cellar door and leapt in yourself.

You feel guilt, for sure. But you already know you’d do it again. You’d put up that ruthless streak in a shoebox and set it up on a tall shelf in a back closet in your brain. But now you went and you opened that up, and it’s working for you. It’s a tool and a weapon, and it might be your best shot at surviving all this.

“Your ideas got you out of that crash,” Astarion says. “They kept you with all of us, saved you from that bandit, and effectively took control of our little band of miscreants.”

“What? I’m not—”

You didn’t take control. Did you? They went along with one horrible idea. Or two, actually, with Kahga. Except there were several ideas involved in that—

You’re not the leader.

You’re not.

“And even now, that mind of yours is plotting out our continued survival, isn’t it?” he says. “You might be a useful person to know.”

“Well thank you, darlin,’” you drawl.

He makes a sound that forces your attention back to him. You catch his eyebrows raised, eyes round. The laugh is more of a snort, and he seems as surprised at it as he does at…whatever caused it.

Oh.

Oh fuck.

“That’s just a saying,” you start.

But he’s already waving it off. “Not to worry. I believe I’ll leave you to your little respite away from that cacophony. Take a walk and get some air, myself.”

Oh shit, you weirded him out. It’s just a phrase. Old, southern ladies you’ve never met call you “sugar” and “honey” all the time.

He stands. Sweeps the wrinkles out of his clothes—mostly his silly, frilly shirt. Then he gives you some ridiculous, over-the-top, one-arm-in-the-air courtly bow. “Do sleep tight, darling.”

He wanders off. The wind hisses in the trees. Lae’zel’s grinder screeches like a thousand souls of the damned, and your brain worm nibbles contentedly at a piece of your pre-frontal cortex.

“Jesus christ,” you say and roll over to lie face down in the grass.

Previous - Index - Next Chapter

[msbarrows]

Yeah, got behind because I wanted to include photos of my crochet and kept procrastinating on that, so have a verbose post of four days at once.

Aug 15 - finished the green and white cotton wool scarf! Overall pretty pleased with how it came out. It's a little weighty and has great drape, as cotton generally does.

Then I killed some time looking at various shell crochet based shawl patterns online, before settling on a simple one with a good video tutorial, Lacy Triangle Shawl by Hopeful Turns (damn but she's a fast crocheter).

For supper I got the pair of remaining moose hand pies out of the freezer, and reheated them in the air fryer. Served them with potatoes mashed with chopped green onions and smoked paprika, steamed butternut squash, and a couple of fresh garden tomatoes cut in quarters.

Aug 16 - More crochet, more Anno 1800. I'm half regretting going for such a fine yarn; thinnest one I've ever worked with, which is proving to be a PITA. But it'll look fantastic if I manage to complete it. Right now I'm just trying to start it; I keep making mistakes and having to frog back and try again.

Supper was mild Italian sausages with hashed potatoes and corn.

Aug 17 - slept in stupidly late after staying up until stupidly early. Disordered sleeping'r'us.

It was due to a combination of Anno 1800 and getting very focused on crochet once I went to bed; I'm finding that crocheting for a bit before trying to sleep usually helps my brain wind down. Anyway, I finally got the hang of the pattern of repeats for the lacy shell crochet and got a reasonable start on it:

After that I decided since I was still feeling too wired to sleep that I might as well frog the crochet vines (the scale of them really is completely wrong), drag out my yarn winder to rewind the variegated yarn from that into a cake, and then start on yet another scarf using the green yarn I'd been using for the leaves. Yup, I now have two projects on the go at once. Got the first few rows of it done before I finally felt tired enough to sleep, on the wrong aide of dawn. Brain, why do you do this to me?

Once I finally got up, showered, dressed, etc, I didn't really have time (or motivation) to cook anything else, so supper was pasta, with meat sauce from the freezer.

Aug 18 - Day started out with a nice long power outage, so what did I do? Crochet, of course! Overcast day so I stuck with working on the green scarf, which doesn't need me to work under a light to differentiate the loops from each other (also helps that it's all one colour). Made pretty decent progress on it, since the rather large yarn (having to use my biggest crochet hook with it) means it adds up fast. I'm working this one out of my head, not from a pattern. I think I'm going to aim for about three times as long as it is wide, if the wool lasts that far, as it's quite wide.

Not a big fan of the yarn. It's 100% acrylic (Red Heart stuff) and works up very stiff; even with netting parts I think the final scarf might be uncomfortably bulky and not have nice drape, though that may improve with size, as its own weight will affect that. I'm mostly thinking it'll go in a pile of stuff to eventually donate or give away or something, since there's only so many scarfs or shawls or whatever my mostly house-bound self needs.

I need to find a sizable project to work on that isn't either of those two types of items. Maybe buy a LOT of yarn and make something sweater-ish. I'm looking at the construction of a poncho-style ice dyed top I purchased recently and thinking it might lend itself really well to a crochet coverup to wear over other items; it's basically two same-sized rectangles, with a slight scoop at the middle of one long side for the neck opening, joined along that long seam, and then partially up each short side, but set in from the edge hems so there's a few inches of loose fabric beyond the side hems to be all flowy:

It looks like it should be very easy to make out of a couple crochet panels, I just have to figure out how to work the scoop. I'm thinking make the back panel first, from the top hem on down, then starting at the top edge of it again work the front panel directly off of it as well, so my starting chain is lost in the join except along the back of the neck opening. Then I just have to slip stitch the side hems and done.

Ended the day playing even more Anno 1800. I'm teetering back and forth between making and losing money, but am generally gaining more than I'm losing. Have gotten even further than last time (yay!) and have now hit a spot where I can see a hump looming that I need to get over or around, can see what the way past it probably is, and just have to work through some prerequisites to unlock some technology so that I can change from shipping a bunch of things long distance from other regions, to making them locally out of alternate (local) materials.

For supper I made corned beef hash. Yum.

[choctalksalot]

@tipsygnostalgy HELLO HI UH THIS IS AN INCOMPLETE VERSION. i snipped out some bits because im throwing down anxiety in.the ring even posting this. im frankly a little embarrassed i can't give everything tonight even what i have down as okay to upload is not my top form at all, im just really really excitedaaaa i'll probably reblog the lovers post with a complete version eventually, but for now this is the best thanks i can offer for the nigh lethal dose of dopamine you've shot into my skull.

apologies in advance for my verbosity it's chronic

im posting dirk's half first because i definitely talked too much on jake's. it's almost double the length. i think it's partially because ive chewed through dirk so much i can make it through a considerable amount of his sections without dissolving completely. and i'm impatient!

note: my interactions with philosophy are limited to the two month bonanza i spent when i was 14 which i barely remember due to my general memory issues because my philosophy teacher was shit at his job and i took matters into my own hands, and uh. dirkjake! and one character from one other fandom. yeah. i am a nerd who loves breaking shit down, i love information, and i love philosophy nonetheless but i am So unqualified to be doing any of this

entry 1:

can i scream? i'm screaming. out loud. in real life. holy two fucks and a half. what do i even say it's So Good. dirk could excuse his inadequacy with the minute comfort that the brother he idolizes is functionally perfect in a way he could never conceivably live up to be. everything is shattered when he meets a version of him who is on the same footing. Yes. i literally have a post typed up about it.

im copypasting a small segment here but it's so close to exactly what you said im almost unnerved. mostly excited tho i am SHAKING

the most devastating thing to know is that dave is just a guy. dave strider, 16 year old. human and flawed and still enough in ways dirk never could be. what he did for his team his friends the things dirk couldn't, he is made to serve and no matter how hard dirk tries he cannot live up to be the same because this is not his role.

words? words. that's so much many words.

this is not his class. he is doomed to be selfish, his thread is already in the tapestry and he falls right into the path no matter how much he fights it. what can be counted as him indirectly the plot was created at the service/detriment to himself (hal) and what is himself directly aiding his party is in fact orchestrated by other more helpful, more selfless people and he hates it so much.

YES IT'S EXACTLY THAT RIGHT THERE RIGHT RIGHT THERE dirk is so so So aware that he is selfish that he cannot help the people he cares about oh so deeply and the knowledge that dave on his own, after being hurt so much "more" than dirk direct abuse he was able to pull through, he was still enough. shit man !!!!!!!

funnily enough i think dirk might have been able to learned new skills to do with his classpect besides the passive narrative bend it has on everything he does to destroy. this is entirely theory but your classpect and your development with it helps you develop as a person. it's like a muscle if you think about it; the more you use it, the closer you get to its core, the more you learn to bend ithad he tried to use it (resisting the urge to say like dave did because that will stomp on the shattered pieces of my heart) i think he would have gotten a bit more control over his position in the narrative if it makes sense.

ironically, i think learning how to direct the destructice force his classpect gives him might have allowed him to get a hold on said narrative bending, and stop unintentionally wrecking shit. but doing Anything as a prince is the last thing dirk wants.

(god it's so tragic this theory is so tragic without it dirk was always doomed to the inevitable but with it he could have done better in his eyes nevermind that destruction of selves isn't always bad if you know how to direct it, see bgd @ aranea, but it literally requires him to take the path he's trying to hard to fight. you define how your classpect changes you. oh dirk.)

i think a lot about this if you can't tell

FUCK IM GETTING OFF TRACK. STOP OKAY CAN THE THEORIES FUCK.

[insert 2 paragraphs more of me screaming about the katana line hally lieu yeah]

entry 2:

HAL MY FAVOURITE KENTUCKY FRIED FUCKER HELLOOOO HELLO OOHOHOGO

god my old hyperfixation on deep learning models is coming back to bite me in the jungular. delightful slash gen

dirk does love his control mhmm mhmm god im gonna go dig up that picture my friend sent me once one sec

that's who he wants to be. so badly

he Hates not understanding shit prides himself on being the (im quite sure it's part of how he gauges his use. he has a very utilitarian view on it. being the one to pull the strings thus being useful by virtue of organizing their success. proceeds to eat gcatshit trying)

i think a part of why dirk insists so fucking much that hal is Not him and Not alive could be one of two 2 reasons, beyond the already tangled pumpkin patch of conflict.

1) not taking credit for hal's contributions. the fact that hal has served the team without dirk's direct orders + dirk's objective pride about being the puppetmaster, he wouldn't want this tied to him

i doubt this one honestly, it's incoherently explained on its own because it's really late but also it just there's a lot of holes in the logic here. the second one breaks my heart a little:

2) if he accepts hal to be sentient, he has to accept he has created a new conscious person. he cannot cling to any notion that he did help his friends, he created an intelligent AI and that tool he made in turn was used to aid and guide his friends. he is still in control here. he still helped, he built that bot and it helped.

right?

[cutoff point 2. im rushing. im so sorry ajsjaj]

entry 3:

killing me

"He likes emotion, he likes people, he just wants to be completely perfect when interacting with them so that he’ll never lose them." YES. YES. YES YES YES yes okay yes exactly Yes

this is one of the things i headbutt against in dirk fandom stuff a lot (even borzoi's take once i think correct me if im wrong) it's the fact that i think dirk likes people. he's been alone his whole life yet he delights in dialectics and dialogue, he's socially awkward and introverted but he's not socially averse. i am not gonna let myself run over the hills and far away with this tangent but i am hushdhsj AAAAA

what he doesn't like is feeling inadequate interacting with people. he doesn't like being inadequate in general he reflects on his flaws near constantly and the biting reminder of his alternate selves' sins in the back of his mind doesn't help, but with people he Cares About interacting with them he does not like not knowing what to do, he does not like being unable to navigate these situations. he likes being human and experiencing emotions and connection and he hates the fact that it requires error to the trials, he just wants to be entirely logical while still having a metaphorical right brain totally not a big thing to ask for ahshdhskjrh[explodes]

AHAAAAA SISYPHUS YYYES YES YRS EYSBEYDHHWHEHSHEHD FUCK YES oh man i am much more a theatrical literature person so this is ringing off bells in the wrong direction than intended but im reading reading reading chewing

"upon facing the question of the absurd in the fullest extent, one can either choose to kill themselves or make a ‘reply.’" hogh

two roads: become god, or kill yourself. jesus fuck that's a screwed up twitter thread if ive seen one. and of course he picks the secret third option: Both. absolute DiStri Moment™

fuckitweballkind that's joining my regular vocabulary holy shit your language is amazing

this feels like an extension of dirk's dilemma between subjective experience with objective control; coming to grapple with the unpredictability of his absurdist existence and his solution being to take control of the narrative entirely. i feel like there are a lot more dots i could connect here. i will sleep on this

[addition i feel is important even though it has minimal connection as of right Now:

roxykisser put out something about classpects and the ult self being the literal narrative very recently and how they tie into the narrative and it's That it's that. my take is partly influenced by past fandoms but it has always ruined me that in order to god tier, quite literally, you're killing the person you were before the embrace the narrative role. you the actor are giving up your freedom to the performance, and the closer you get to your classpect the more you embrace the narrative. in return, you gain more flexibility and control in said narrative, more ways to use your classpect. to become the ult self is to become the role. you kill the person, you become the role, but at the cost of your self, your mind may be driven by the consciousness of an amalgamation of every You, but your core is now your role.

im incorporating and altering this with my consumption]

really hope this is like at least mildly entertaining i have no idea what im doing but!!!! I Am So Abnormal About Everything i love this i love you i love love this so Much

[headspacedad]

hey new tumblr users

Welcome!

So - you’re starting to settle in to your new tumblr home but the landscape is still pretty wild and you’re not sure entirely what’s going on outside your window.  Since my first post about reblogs kind of blew up a bit and it had a couple of questions showing up in the comments, I figured I’d make another post in case that helps anyone.

Today let’s talk about communicating.

no, no, come back here.  It’s gonna be okay.  This is something you only have to do if you want to.

You can go your entire tumblr existence just reblogging posts and enjoying the people you’re following.  That’s cool.  But I see a lot of new arrivals want to be interactive too and that makes sense considering this is a social media site.  In fact, tumblr can be VERY social given half the chance.  This post here puts it wonderfully.

So, you’re on tumblr.  You’ve picked out an icon for your blog.  You’re reblogging posts you enjoy (sharing the cool rocks you found with the people hanging with you) and you’re ready to get a bit more interactive.  Its kind of daunting though because tumblr seems to have a lot of ways to interact and some unspoken rules on how to do it.  Let’s break this down.

First and easiest is to respond to posts.  You see something you want to comment on, an interesting post about sharing rocks for example.  There are three ways you can interact directly with the post.  

1.  When you hit ‘reblog’ there’s a spot for you to add comments (gifs, etc) of your own.  This is great for things you don’t mind everyone and their cousin getting to see.  A quip, adding a fact, telling a related story, politely disagreeing or providing another viewpoint, bouncing off their idea and expanding with one of your own, adding to the story idea they’ve presented, throwing in a relevant gif,  etc.  This is the space for things you don’t mind the entirety of tumblr getting to read.  You’ll notice a lot of posts are chained comments like this with multiple people contributing to the post by the time it reaches you.  There really isn’t any rule about not doing this but general consensus is to make it, somehow, apply to the original post and to not be a butt about whatever your reply is going to be.  Someone posting about fighting depression by making themselves stop and enjoy the way roses smell probably doesn’t need you replying by talking about how rotten roses are and how life is pain, highness.  Start a new post of your own if you want to express that.

2. tags!  Tags are the #tags part of a post when you hit reblog.  A lot of people use these for their original purpose, which is to *cough* make it easier to find things using tumblr’s search engine (tumblr’s search engine is pretty wack).  Still, tags are sometimes useful.  They can, theoretically, help you or people on your blog look up posts quickly.  They can help people doing a general search of tumblr tags find posts on subjects they’re interested in.  I regularly search ‘bunblr’ for instance (highly recommended).  BUT tags have a secondary use that a lot of people have adopted as well.  Tags can be used for a kind of ‘aside conversation’.  This is where you can write comments when you don’t necessarily want to add them to the body of the reblogged post.  It isn’t meant to be shared with tumblr as a whole.  It’s for the people following you.  Sometimes one of your followers will paste your tags to the post itself and you’ll see comments like ‘how could you leave these in the tags?!’  That’s a good thing and usually means you hit a cord but most of the time tags are just for aside conversations and not derailing the post itself.

3.  Reply.  That little speech bubble at the bottom of a post?  Click on that and you get the little ‘reply’ section.  Here’s where you interact with the original poster (OP) directly.  You can ask a question, add a short story, give encouragement, etc.  There’s a character limit on it so you can’t get crazy verbose but its a good way to add a short bit to a post and - hopefully - get a reply from the poster.  Be aware though, people like me are pretty forgetful and don’t always check their notifications.  That little lightning mark at the top of my dash is always at 99+ and pretty roundly ignored on the daily.  Still, other people can also read the reply part and sometimes you’ll get entire discussions in there as people respond.

Be aware that all three of these methods are viewable to everyone.  Anyone who sees the post can click on the notes and the tags, comments and replys will pop up for them.  These aren’t for private conversations.  They’re three ways to interact with posts publicly.

Private communication will be for another post.  So - you ready to test it out?  Use this post as your free trial and get some social interaction practice going on!  Once you’re comfortable you can branch out and there you go.  Social times for everyone (that wants it)!

[valeriefauxnom]

i just caught up to your post canon dragalia fic in one day and hollyy shit dude. i am on the edge of my seat!!!! its so enjoying and well versed and i cannot wait for the next chapter

Ahhh! I always am ecstatic to hear reviews or even just random thoughts of any kind regarding my work, but hearing people like my work on Scaling enough to binge it is even crazier! I will forever be more and more amazed people have done that as the length increases, like don't they say an average novel is like about 50k words?? That would mean you've just binged 3 novels of my crazy assortment of thoughts on a possible post game scenario for a dead game in 1 day, which is nuts!

With Scaling in particular having such long chapters I worry sometimes that I'm getting a bit too lost in all my thoughts for it and getting too wordy, so it's always nice to see people are still enjoying it after it has grown increasingly complex, even if we are starting to get closer to a more definitive break in the case, were it a proper mystery novel.

You're the first person to send anything on Tumblr about it (or anything in general really), too, so this message is precious in another way! I'm always glad to field questions (though of course would shy away from spoiling my own works) or explain more about why x decision was made because boy I think I should just make 'overthinking' my hallmark at this point!

As a treat for how much this makes my week, here's a little snippet of a dragalia fic in progress that will probably be a long time in the making yet if it ever does see the light of day on AO3 properly, (so I don't get distracted by yet another thing instead of working on Scaling and/or finishing Control). It's a tentative collection solely based around the concept of the siblings finding out just how weird the Halidom is, especially Leonidas and Chelle since he was in charge of it for all that time and she's always poking about for info.

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But when he looked back up to the expenses log, all the expenses listed were sky-high as well. The food expense, dragon expenses, aid expense, equipment expense, everything was all exceedingly high for such a small nation (as they should be, given what he knew about Euden’s governance). But to still draw a profit if expenses weren’t being understated meant an even more ridiculous income. 

Sure enough, the few categories under income were even more egregious. Tax revenue was relatively moderate, but other revenue sources like ‘precious gems/mining products’, ‘gifts’ and ‘tourism income’ were far, far beyond what was rational in a kingdom engaged in war for its entire history. 

Just as he was about to start demanding explanations for the inflated income, he spotted yet another egregious, incomprehensible bit to the income column. “Pipple?” He said, almost hostile, “What exactly is a pipple, and why is it on the income statement, let alone for such riches it is supposedly bringing in? No, no, I think I understand now.” Not waiting for an answer, Leonidas began to speculate. He’d never heard of anything sounding like ‘pipple’ before, and Leonidas boasted quite the vocabulary as crown prince. He was expected to have a suitably verbose and eloquent bank of words with which to communicate with foreign heads of state and domestic nobility alike. That meant this was likely something of a new invention in language.

A new invention, and something that brings in exorbitant funds…something very well hidden, if Chelle did not report on its trade or presence in a service business when we made joint moves on the Halidom, and it’s that sizable of an industry in New Alberia…Ah. 

Quite devious of you, brother. I never expected for you to become so involved with such a shady industry, but it explains a great deal of their surprising shadow wealth.

There was only one thing this ‘Pipple’ could be: some sort of newfangled illicit drug his brother was putting to market as a supplier, raking in rupies hand over fist as people learned the effects of whatever potent cocktail this Pipple was composed of.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and a new nation in war against a vastly more powerful, established land was desperate indeed.

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So yeah, thank you again for your message! Not to toot my own horn too much, but if you're eager for maybe a bit more dragalia fic from me as you wait, I've got another fic up on AO3, though it's not connected with Scaling or even canon in general as a bad-end au what if! It's also likely not quite as polished, being written in like 2 days, but hey I'm just too happy about the two artworks my best friend made for it and now am legally obligated to try and show the art off at any given moment!

[animazi]

so I started writing this in tags. and then it got too long (classic case of verbose disease, me)

first two episodes of the acolyte little spoiler free review thing:

I am overall fairly neutral on it; interested to see what comes next, but I don't think it's going to be stunning.

visually its fine? I don't think there were really any moments that really stunned me - although there were really good and beautiful ones, and equally there was nothing bad. keeping up the proud tradition of power point transitions though lol. this is one of the moments where I do think its a bit unfair to the acolyte to comp it to andor, which is very good and creative on the cinematography front, whereas the acolyte is a bit more uh. standard. imo there are a few general tonal and slight dialogue issues - one of my friends put it as some parts feel marvel-esque, and others very much don't - which I do agree with. the sort of snappy dialogue can work and be emotional, russian doll has quite a lot of it, as an example, but the acolyte doesn't quite have the perfect balance. equally I think like 5 more minutes per episode would solve a lot of my problems by giving the emotional beats a bit longer to breathe. the jedi murders would be a lot more impactful if we had time to sit with the communities a bit longer rather than just moving on; imo felt like we never really got to know how these deaths actually affected other jedi.

that said, the fact that the story is going in the direction it is, and speeding away from some horribly tired tropes, does give me some hope for the second half of the season. I think this first half (e1,2,3&4) are probably going to be setting up the 'status quo', and the second is going to be where things get more interesting and emotionally complex.

so. y'know. hope etc.

[eomereadig]

Snippet: The Itch

Hey guys, this is a little extract of the fic I’m working on atm, hope you enjoy!

Fandom: Star Wars

Pairing: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul

Rating: G

Tags: Cuddling and snuggling, fluff, purring, timeline? what timeline? domestic fluff

Full fic now avaliable here

There was a low thrum in the air, and not just from the second-rate generator Obi-Wan had managed to acquire in town. It wasn’t often that Maul allowed himself to purr, the biological reflex only taking hold when Zabraks were at their most content and safe, but it seemed to be occurring more and more nowadays. 

It was as if Maul were attempting to press himself into Obi-Wan’s skin. And when mere proximity wasn’t enough for the Zabrak, Obi-Wan felt the distinct pressure of teeth glancing over his skin, pressing carefully in the ghost of a bite before moving onto a new spot slightly higher up. Maul’s purring always seemed to get louder when his mouth was attached to Obi-Wan’s skin. The not-jedi had stopped reading into that too heavily. 

Once Maul’s kitten-like bites reached the crux of Obi-Wan’s shoulder, his trapezius muscle where Maul was able to sink his teeth in just a little deeper without breaking the skin, he retraced his steps back down Obi-Wan’s arm. Obi-Wan supposed that when Maul bit him open-mouthed, pressing his tongue flat against the skin on his upper-bicep, that he would have been disgusted, only he couldn’t bring himself to feel anything in that vein at all. 

He might have been only human, but Obi-Wan knew more about Zabrak instincts than most, not in the least from living in such close proximity to Maul for the past few months. The urge to claim, to bite , to leave their mark, their scent, was a strong one - and one that Maul had already demonstrated countless times before. 

Obi-Wan’s stomach swooped at the idea that he was worth claiming. 

He blinked once, and then again, and tried to focus back on the datapad. There were more transports than usual, both coming into and away from the planet’s surface. If only Obi-Wan had access to the passenger-

Maul’s mouth had worked its way past Obi-Wan’s elbow to his wrist. Not feeling particularly verbose, Maul simply seized Obi-Wan’s arm in a firm grip and ripped it away from the console, bringing the other’s hand up to his face to receive much the same treatment as his arm. 

It was unexpected enough that, if only for a moment, Obi-Wan forgot about the itch. He glanced at Maul with a raised eyebrow but the Zabrak simply said nothing. His purr grew in ferocity now that he’d claimed his prize and he quickly set about licking and gnawing lightly at Obi-Wan’s fingers, rough swipes of his tongue over the other’s palm and between his fingers. 

Obi Wan thought best to just leave him to it. It kept Maul quiet for a while longer, at least, and he still had a free hand to use for his datapad. 

Full fic now avaliable here