#its worse than normal bc its raining today

[watobu]

i miss zammbu, oomf. i miss them a lot. ill be back...

i also miss zammbu

[wigglesforsquiggles]

HI WIGGLES!!! HOW WAS YOUR WEEK BELOVED :D

hi rain!!! my week has been p ok. had big stressful events tuesday/wednesday which i handled w ease B) lmao. one went slightly worse than what i wad expecting but the other went better so it balances out !

i also went out last night with a friend and 2 of her friends and i am still feeling the nausea of the hangover like 36h after i had my last drink. don’t trust a jaegar bomb it’s not worth it rain.

in other news, whilst coming back last night i managed to lose my key somewhere in my room, which means i cannot leave my flat. this would be bad normally, but i also need to go food shopping today (cupboards empty), so im in a bit of a pickle. luckily i know its somewhere inside bc i obviously got in last night. but alas. i will have to search my room for the third time today.

anyways, overall my weeks been very fun! lots of hanging out w friends and eating tasty food. i am tired rn so i will probably have a nap or smth.

i hope u have a good weekend rain !!!

[yarchurr]

sopas for a rainy night

bay leonardo x reader

summary: you are a dental assistant at a clinic a few blocks from your shared apartment with April O’Neil, the reporter at Channel Six News. you're tired from a whole day at work but you come home to a passed-out and bleeding 6-foot turtle on the couch and three panicking brothers.

a/n: i normally don’t write fanfics or somestuff because i;m so shy, but i feel a little restless lately. i hope you like my first ever tmnt work!!

things to note: SFW, AFAB Filipino reader with she/they pronouns, some filipino terms here and there but they’re easily understandable.

this is also on AO3 and yes, I am the original author.

backstory: reader recently migrated/moved to NY to work as a dentist but is stuck at being a dental assistant at a dental clinic bc racist boss :--)

The shift at the Grand Willow Dental Clinic was a killer, and it was just Monday.

Dr. Finley, your boss, was a good fellow. He was the first person you talked to when first getting this job and was generally a nice person. Except when he has the gloves on and has the instruments in his hand, then he’s a more serious person, but you understand.

Your other boss, Dr. Medina, was a jerk. He was a stuck-up man who had little heart for others and that reflected in his career. He was mainly the reason you were stuck being a dental assistant for a few years despite having finished dental school and passing the boards in just six and a half years.

He had you running back and forth the halls, offering help to the senior dentists in the clinic (which they didn’t even need), and made you stay a few more hours to clean the place up and lock it down for the night. Judging by his sour mood with you today, you’re probably doing this for half a week. The entire 6 days if he feels like pushing it.

It was 10 in the evening as you left the grocery and you fished your phone in your pocket, shooting a text to April O’Neil, your roommate. You told her earlier in the day you wanted to cook dinner tonight, as you commonly cooked tasty Filipino dishes she hasn’t ever tried before.

She immediately asked if you were going to cook sinigang for tonight but you said you were craving creamy chicken sopas for a while. Intrigued by the new dish, she readily agreed.

‘got the stuff. im omw’

The reporter usually replied in a few minutes, sometimes with just a thumbs up for confirmation. The woman didn’t reply or ‘seen’ the message but you didn’t think much of it. Maybe she was deep into her research for her next scoop, or possibly digging deeper than she needs to? That woman works too hard for her wage, you think with a shake of your head.

When cold droplets slowly started pelting on your head and leaving dark spots on the concrete, you began to fast walk. God, could this day get any worse?!

The gods seemed to have heard your wailing and let out a belting laugh in return, which came in the gift of booming thunder and the onslaught of freezing, hard rain. Thanks, God.

Thankfully, you weren’t soaked that much when you reached the apartment complex entrance. You book it to the elevator (you refuse to use the stairs after standing for 6+ hours, your poor feet) and punch in the floor number.

Your thoughts were too loud for you to hear the commotion going on in your shared apartment with the news reporter. You unlocked the door and were about to yell out you were home when the sights and smells before you took you by surprise.

On the creaky couch was a massive green figure (was that a shell on its back?) with a large gash on its forearm and thigh. It seemed they were knocked out as of the moment, as you couldn't see their eyes through that blue bandana of theirs. Kneeling by the creature was April, a towel on their hands that was quickly turning red from all the blood.

Behind the two were three other hulking figures of various heights, in different colored bandanas but similar wide-eyed expressions.

There was a tense silence before April flung her selves towards you with her arms wide open as if her smaller height could hide the sight before you. She calls your name in a squeaky voice and a nervous smile. “Y-you’re home early! You didn’t text me or something!”

“I did text you, a couple of minutes ago actually.” You finally reply, voice calm but your eyes constantly switching from her sweaty face to the turtle men. You thought the rat population in New York was going to be the worst thing you’d experience. Is this why your mother was pushing for you to go to California? “April, what’s going on?”

She gnawed on her lip before dropping her arms and grasping your shoulders. “Listen, don’t freak out. They’re my friends! They’re harmless.”

“Yeah, we’d never hurt you!” Calls one of the turtle men which frankly, made you startle. One of them smacks his arm and he shrugs in response.

“Are you sure? Are they hurting you?” You ignore their commotion and look into the woman’s eyes, looking for any trace of fear in those brown eyes. “Did they bribe you or something?”

“No, no! They’d never, promise. We’re cool, we know each other way back.” She assures you. Her voice is firm and you can sense she’s being genuine. You drop your shoulders and take a sigh before going forward, closer to the four figures. The three stay firm on their feet, but they seem to tense up a bit.

The reporter bounds up beside you. “These are my vigilante-ninja friends. That’s Donatello,” she points to the guy on the left, who was the tallest and wore a purple bandana and a ton of tech and bobs all over. He waved with a small smile. You see the three fingered hand but you looked at his eyes and politely nodding.

“Raphael,” the middle one was a stocky guy and wore red. He grunted at you, but didn’t do anything else.

“I’m Michelangelo! Call me Mikey, or you can call me yours.” The right one, the one who piped in earlier, interrupted April and did a little curtsy. You managed to stifle a snort but smiled at his little display. He wore orange.

“And this is Leonardo.” She finally points to the guy on the couch. He still wasn’t conscious and you were starting to get concerned. You eye the blue bandana turtle a little more before looking back to April.

“I’m–”

“Oh, we know your name already! It’s (name), right?” Mikey pops in with a charming grin. You nod slowly and look at April a bit suspiciously.

“Okay, introduction aside.” You finally say. “What’s happening here?”

“We were fighting some punks down 6th when this guy had a nasty knife,” Raphael sniffs before pausing. “Did some deep gashes on Leo and takin’ him out before I could beat his lil’ ass.” That would explain the purple bruises around his face and neck.

“We were gonna book it to the lair but April’s place was the closest,” Donatello says to April. “Well, yours and April’s.”

“He’s been bleeding out ever since. It’s the first they’ve come to me like this,” April worriedly says. She murmurs your name. “Can you help him, please? I… I know you do teeth stuff but-”

“I am a doctor, you know.” You chortle. “Doctor of dentistry, yeah. But a doctor still.” You lay down your bags in a corner of the room and start tying up your hair. “Okay, I got my stuff in my room to do some sutures. I need some bowls to catch the water when I clean the wounds.” April nods and hurries to the kitchen to fetch said bowls.

“Um,” You start and you look at the three figures. “Are you... Guys alright with helping out?”

Donatello nods with a smile. “I’m usually the one playing doctor, so it’ll be great to actually learn from one!” Mikey puts up two thumbs up and Raphael nods.

You smile at them for the first time. They were kinda nice after all. “I don’t know how I’ll be as a teacher, but I’ll try.” You fidget with your hands a little, a little shy with your request. “Donatello can help me out with patching up Leonardo. I… actually need you guys to start boiling some macaroni for dinner…”

Raphael was a bit stunned. God, who asks strangers to cook for them! “D-don’t worry! I actually bought a lot of stuff so it should feed all of us. I just need you to boil the macaroni and cut up some carrots if you would.”

“Hell yeah, Chef Mikey makin’ an appearance!” Mikey, the sunshine boy that was starting to grow on you, gladly agreed. “Don’t worry about it, sweetcheeks. We’ll get to cooking!” You give him the groceries you bought earlier and he hustles into the kitchen, tugging at Raphael to follow.

As soon as you assembled all your supplies that you extracted to your room and with the bowls from April, you and Donatello get to work.

You first cleaned out the forearm wound and Donatello did the same to the thigh gash. It was kind of amazing the guy didn’t rouse from the sting of the antiseptic, but he must be really out of it. You first let him watch you do the stitch so he can replicate it on the other wound.

When he gets the hang of it, he starts threading the needle through the skin and making locks to stitch the wound shut. In no time, you both have the wounds shut and are now cleaning up the left blood and caring for the minor injuries the turtle has.

It was when you waddled back from the kitchen for some ice for the bruise on his face that the man finally wakes up, and you instantly feel the tense stare in the electric blue eyes. You immediately stop in your step, the ice freezing your fingers but his stare rooting you to the floor.

Donatello was fretting at his brother, seeing as the man laying was tense and thus straining at the fresh sutures. “Leo, calm down! You’re gonna open up the stitches!”

“Yeah Leo bro, just chill. Dinner’s coming up soon!” Mikey sang from the kitchen. Raphael wanders in from behind you and goes to Leo. He immediately takes the other side of the couch, just standing there with a worried look in his eyes.

“You doin’ good, bro?” Raph gruffs at Leo. The former finally takes his eyes off you and lets out a weary sigh.

“Yeah. Just… a little woozy.” The man finally talks. He puts a hand to his face, and that gets you moving. You approach him and he trains his eyes at you again.

He has the most beautiful eyes you’ve seen.

Oh my god, focus. Jesus, (name).

You clear your throat before speaking. “Here. For your bruise.” You hand the towel-wrapped ice, and he slowly accepts it. You fight the urge to jump when your fingers touch. When the cold touches his face, he lets out a sigh and deflates into the couch. Raph lets out a snort and you smile a bit.

“Call on me when you need something, Donatello.” You lightly tap said turtle’s shoulder. “I’ll get into the kitchen and have Mikey join you. I hope you guys like soup.” You say with a smile before bounding for the kitchen. You could feel the weight of their stares at your back.

Mikey was happily chopping up the last carrots when you walk in, and April was straining the macaroni. “I’ll take it from here, Michelangelo. Go join your brothers, yeah?”

“You got it, sweetheart.” He winks as he leaves the station to wash his hands then goes to the living room, an apron still tied on his body. Your eyes wander to the turtle’s footwear (which boggled you, to be honest) before you snapped out of it and started moving. You clean your hands before you start assembling the soup on the stovetop.

There was silence, only the hushed voices of the brothers in the other room and the sound of the fire on the stove to fill. April was a bit hesitant, but she broke the silence first. “Is everything… cool?”

“Y-yeah. The sutures were clean and Donatello’s applying some stuff for his minor injuries.”

“No, I mean the whole…” She waves her hand vaguely in the turtles’ direction. “Are you cool with it?”

“I…” You start. “I’m surprised, yeah. How long have you known these guys?”

“I actually had them as pets when I was a kid.” She smiles, reminiscing about simpler and sweeter times. “When they were un-mutant turtle babies, of course. But they’re like my brothers. I trust them with my whole life.”

You smile at her sincerity, and she seems a bit shy at the vulnerability. “They’re the ones you’ve talked about before- your bestest friends.” She nods. “You told them about me?”

“Yeah. When you replaced my former roommate.” She says. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, though. I think you understand why I was hesitant to tell you of their existence.”

“No, I get it.” You lay your hand on top of hers. “It’s a big secret. And I promise, my lips are sealed. Besides, you’re like the only friend I made in my entire stay so far.”

She smiles brighter and squeezes your hand. “What about Casey?” She quips.

You snort, and you continue assembling your dinner. “Yeah, sure. Isn’t he your ‘friend’?” You make air quotes and April, in all her grace and beauty, fumbles and gets red.

It only took a while more before you deemed your sopas done. You took out bowls and started pouring them in, before having April help you give out the soup.

Mikey happily chows in the dinner as do the other brothers, albeit a little quieter with their enthusiasm. Leonardo, now sitting upright, was slower in his eating. You and April get your own bowls and eat alongside the brothers in the living room.

Michelangelo finishes his bowl in record time. “It’s really good!” He licks his lips. “Can I get seconds?”

You flush at his praise and you nod, a smile on your face. “Thank you. Yeah, I made a lot.” With a whoop, Mikey flies out of the room, and Donnie follows after him for more servings.

April was talking with the boys, reminiscing about what they found out during their run. This was probably where she got most of her info on her reports. You gather, before bringing the bowl rim to your lips and slurping the rest of the hot soup.

You let out a sigh when you finish, unbeknownst to the eyes that watch you. You get a little red at their stares and April goodheartedly laughs, and you see the blue-eyed turtle quirk his lips a bit.

Jesus, what is happening to me.

As a good host, as your mama raised you well and would materialize and slap you if you didn’t, you collected the finished bowls and dumped them in the sink. As you return, you see the injured turtle being a bit sluggish and that reminds you of something.

“The sutures Donatello and I used were non-absorbable ones, so they need to be removed in about 2 weeks. Please don’t try to move around much for a while, or they’ll reopen.” You say in a calm voice. Those hypnotizing blue eyes are at you again, and you try not to get lulled in. “Your minor scrapes will heal in a few days. You might need some antibiotics and some painkillers for the big wounds, though.”

“We still have some in the lair.” Donatello pipes up.

“If you ever need some more, just tell me. We may have some lying around the clinic.” You smile at him. “Do you have questions?”

“Yeah,” Raphael says and his eyes pierce at you. The bright green of his eyes almost blinds you. Is it normal for them to have such beautiful eyes, what the fuck?

“You’re awfully calm for someone walking into four monsters in their home.” He starts, and Mikey swats at him for calling them ‘monsters’.

You sigh as you look at him. “I admit, I was very surprised and a little scared. But April trusts you a lot. Besides, she’s been talking of ninja vigilantes all this time since I got here. She talks of all the good things you’ve done, all the lives you’ve saved.” You smile back as the brown-haired woman knocks on your shoulder.

“And I just can’t let someone bleed out when I know I can help. It just doesn’t sit right with me.” You look at the sitting turtle and he seems surprised you looked at him. He holds your stare. “I promise I’ll help when I can be of service.”

Michelangelo looks at you in awe. “That’s really cool of you, dudette.” He bounds to you and pats your shoulder. “That totally means we’re friends now!”

You ponder it over, and you think you like that. Friends . “I’d love to have more friends if you’d have me.”

“Yeah, for sure!” Donatello beams up.

“It’s getting late.” Leonardo finally speaks, and he slowly stands. You rush to give him the small paper bag that contains some medicine.

“Here. Drink one white tablet every 6 hours for pain, and the one yellow-and-red capsule two times a day after meals to fight off infection.” Your hands feel tingly when they touch his three-fingered one, but he accepts the small bag with a thankful smile that went straight to your fuzzy stomach.

Oh my GOD.

“Thank you. Truly.” He says, to you, and your voice almost squeaks.

“Y-yeah. This should last you for 5 days. If the painkillers don’t work or if you feel you need more, please contact April and she’ll tell me.”

He nods, and they get ready to leave. Leonardo straps on the katanas that were on the coffee table (they were really shiny and they seem well-loved) and has Raphael assisting him as they leave through the window. You decide you don’t comment on it, you’ll most likely see them go in and out of it in the future.

They wave bye to April and you before they jump out. Your heart immediately plummets to your stomach and you rush to the window, and you watch the four shadows that leaped beautifully in the air. You immediately worry over Leonardo and his wounds, but the two connected shadows seem to do less acrobatic jumps and stick to simply getting over roofs as quickly as possible.

They long have disappeared from the view but you’re stuck to the window, still looking and staring. April taps your backside and that gets you moving again, and you start cleaning the space.

As your body goes through the motion of cleaning up, your mind wonders and your heart is beating pretty wildly. The telltale sign of your stomach feeling so light and fuzzy has you alarmed and you are brought to a possible conclusion.

Tangina. You have a crush on a mutant ninja turtle.

[yesimwriting]

The Promise of Rain, Blurb 3

Technically the third in a blurb-ish series (though this is kinda long for a blurb lol) but can technically be read as a stand alone, but i think the other parts make this seem more significant lol

A/n kinda angsty, not sure if i loveeee this but i haven’t posted a fic in such a long time bc of graduation chaos but now it’s summer and i’m working on a lot of requests/stories :))

Summary: jealousy is out of place when there’s no real warrant for it, and sometimes it’s okay to be content--to not need the rain to make you promises. 

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x sunshine-y! reader

--

Tiredness dulls the part of me that craves the rambunctious, but I’m still positive. I smile when someone does something only the truly inebriated find comical. I laugh when something somewhat actually funny happens, and I let the world around me drink. Twenty minutes--in twenty minutes I will claim a headache and go upstairs. 

“You okay, y/n?” Jesper’s concern would border on genuinely considerate if it wasn’t for the slightest hint of slur in his words. Nights in which he consols himself after losing game after game are when he’s the friendliest. “You’re strangely quiet--you’re never quiet.” 

I press my lips together oddly, smiling in a way that finally reaches my eyes. Jesper’s nice in an oddly particular way when he’s tipsy. Overly observant and careful. “Just a little tired,” I shift in my seat, leaning back against the plush seat in Kaz’s office, “I wish Kaz would just get here and dismiss us so I can go to bed.” 

Jesper smiles, lifting his arm slightly and causing his glass to sway. Kaz is not going to take it well when he realizes that Jesper was extremely involved in the downstairs celebration. He turns ungracefully, moving to sit next to me with no warning. I half-heartedly glare as he takes up most of the small couch. 

“You’re grumpy when you’re tired,” Jesper hums, stretching his casually. 

I sigh once, but it lacks any bite. “I do not.” 

He smiles easily, tilting his head so far to the side that it falls against the back of the seat, “No...but I know the real reason you’re grumpy.” 

Rolling my eyes, I suppress my instinctual reaction. That would only expose his words as true. “I am not grumpy, there is no reason--” 

“You know he hated it.” 

I exhale, tired and slowly losing my fragine hold on fake tranquility. “Yeah.” That should make it  better. “I know.” It doesn’t--it doesn’t make anything better. 

So the contact we so desperately needed on our side took to flirting with Kaz. It was an uncomfortable situation because of its precariousness and I was worried because I know about his issues with touch. But it’s not like I care about the flirting part. No. It was unprofessional and so easily turned messy--that’s what my problem was.

Jesper sighs, stretching even more. I let him stretch his legs over me, too tired to push him off. I sigh, setting my chin on his bent knees. “What’s with the face, l/n?” 

I roll my eyes again. Sometimes having someone care about you is annoying. I take back all of my positive thoughts about him--Jesper Fahey is an annoying drunk. 

“There’s no face,” despite my words, I feel my expression sour even further. Jesper’s expression shifts from that of gentle worry to teasing pride. “And if there was one, it wouldn’t be because of Kaz Brekker.”

Jesper’s lips twitch upwards, something strange tainting his tipsy grin. “I never said a name.” 

“One more condescending comment, and I’m shoving you off this damn couch.” 

He laughs flatly, shifting closer and making himself more comfortable. Drunk and touchy--anyone else would have been slapped by now. “You’re nicer after some of this.” 

He holds his glass out towards me casually, amber liquid sloshing slightly. I blink at the liquid with slight disinterest. I’m not exactly in the drinking mood...but I’m not exactly in the mood for any of this. The sound of the door opening doesn’t phase me--it’s not Inej, because she never lets herself be heard. Kaz doesn’t say anything, taking one dull step and then another, footsteps leaching the room of any warmth. The coldness he exudes so easily as a mask is strong tonight, I haven’t even looked at him and I can feel it. 

Maybe I do need a drink. 

I take the glass from Jesper, taking a quick and shallow sip of the liquid. It’s offensive in smell, taste, and the way it spills down my throat. The taste is much more intense than expected, some of the liquid slips past the corner of my mouth. Somehow more bitter than this moment, the liquid leaves me ready to splutter like a child. I exhale, pushing through the burning. Jesper moves his hand forward absentmindedly, wiping a single drop of liquid from my chin carelessly. The gesture would be sweet if my throat burned less. 

“Jesper,” the warmth of the alcohol takes root in my chest, “That’s--” He laughs at my reaction, coaxing a smile from me. “Like literally the worst--why do you even have this?” If this is served in the Crow Club, I’ve never heard of it, this is the kind of under the counter alcohol that isn’t mass produced. 

He laughs a little more freely. “Won it off of someone passing through--I don’t always lose.” 

I wrinkle my nose, “An outlier shouldn’t be--” 

“Oh, shut up.” Jesper laughs again. 

“Both of you ‘shut up’,” Kaz sighs, stepping further into the room, “If you need to drink, at least wait until after my meeting.” I frown, ignoring Kaz’s lingering and sharp gaze, “You should all follow Inej’s example.” 

“We can’t even see Inej.” 

Kaz raises an eyebrow, but he regards me with nothing but voidness. He’s never exactly emotive, but normally in moments like this something I can never interpret touches his expression, coloring it human. “Exactly.” 

“You’re funnier than people give you credit for.” The comment isn’t exactly sarcastic, but it’s something lighter than I should be offering. It’s an attempt at peace, the slight stiffness between us is starting to bother me. Our usual dynamic isn’t exactly friendly, but it’s more than this. Kaz glares. “But not tonight.” 

His expression hardens. “Business is business. It’s not humor, it’s not whatever you try to make it.” Right. Just like it was business when that girl spent more time hitting on him than actually revealing real information. The thought leaves my expression tight as I swallow back my instinctual words. “It’s not whatever you’re currently doing.” 

It takes me longer than it should to realize he’s referring to the position Jesper and I are in. Can he relax? It’s not my fault Jesper is tipsy and touchy. 

“Kaz,” Inej’s voice is soft yet determined as she emerges from the shadows. It’s a miracle the way she’s nothing more than a shadow until she chooses not to be. “What’s our next job?” 

Prompting Kaz in order to prevent a fight--Inej, always the closest thing to a mom available. I give her a partial smile, glad that she’s wedging herself between us and the tension, preventing conflict I’m too tired to follow through on.

“A merchant’s house,” he begins slowly, “We’ll be searching a merchant’s house but I’m seeking evidence more than property.” Jesper swings his legs off the couch with no warning. My head falls. I glare at Jesper who offers me a slightly apologetic tsk before dropping his head on my shoulder. Kaz must note the exchange because something in his expression tightens. He’s extra irritable today. “I’ll disclose more tomorrow,” he sighs once, already turning away, “Most of you are beyond listening tonight anyways.” 

He’s at the door before I can tell him that I’m not drunk. The door opens and closes, but Kaz’s heaviness lingers like led. I frown, letting my head fall to the side, resting on Jesper’s.

“He’s weird today,” I mumble, unsure if I want a reply. 

“He’s always like that,” Jesper breathes, “You’re losing your novelty, y/n--he always learns to harden himself against anything bright.” 

The words leave me even more tired. “I don’t think I’m particularly bright.” 

“Kaz does,” Inej replies, “And it has nothing to do with ‘novelty’, Jesper’s just cynical when he drinks.” I don’t know if I believe her, but I like knowing that Inej thinks that. “And Kaz can’t harden himself against you, and he hates that.” 

I press my lips together, straightening my spine. “I’m not that great, and whatever Kaz does or doesn’t harden himself against doesn’t affect me at all.” My nails press into the plush seat. “I don’t even know why we’re talking about this because whatever he does or doesn’t feel doesn’t matter to me.” I force myself up, doing all I can to seem perfectly calm. “All I care about is going to bed.”

Turning my head, I start to approach the door. Kaz has been strangely cold all night, and while I’m used to his moods, he hasn’t exactly directed them at me so fully since the day he caught me waiting for him to wake up after he almost died. If he wants to go back to how it used to be, then it can. Maybe I’ll care in the morning, when the growing weight of my eyelids is no longer a distraction.

“Sometimes the two of you confuse me,” Inej begins, “And sometimes I see you try to deal with emotion and I see the common ground.” 

The words leave me cold. I don’t think being compared to Kaz is an insult, not when there’s so much it could mean. He’s much more complex than he wants to be. There is goodness within him, gilding the parts of him that are more shards than anything else.  

I exhale, refusing to turn. Inej is too observant for her own good. “There is no emotion.” 

“I’m not going to waste my time arguing over that because I know it’s a waste of time.” She pauses and I consider turning around in hopes of reading something less honest from her expression. “I’m just telling you as a friend that one of you needs to be mature and talk to the other tonight before the tension gets worse and that it’s not going to be him.” 

She’s right. I exhale, “Do you think I should let him go?” Even just saying that leaves my heart aching. I know instantly that that’s not what I want, but it might be what he wants--it might be the best option. I might have the strength to let him go if I work at it. “I don’t--that’s not what I want and I’m not sure I could, but maybe that’s selfish of me.” 

“Y/n.” I turn slowly, but I purposefully avoid her gaze, keeping my head down. “I know that I’ve known Kaz longer than you, and I know that when he’s getting along with you he’s,” she trails off, uncertain, “More him, in a good way.” 

My heart swells, and with that comes feelings of panic. I never wanted to change him--to make him better or worse or anything; all I’ve ever wanted is to know him and to maybe help him with his burden. And to hear that maybe I’ve done that from someone so close to him--someone so observant and aware. That’s everything. And that terrifies me. Nothing good can last; nothing that seems to be all you could ever want actually is. I know that from life before the Crows, before I ran away from the castle I called home.

“I think he does the same for you.” I’ve never really thought about Kaz’s effect on me outside of the fact that he makes me feel warm in small moments and painfully seen in large ones. 

I smile because she’s trying and she’s given me something. “I’d say I’d tell you when I make my decision, but something tells me you’ll know.” 

She nods, expression shifting to something kind. “Goodnight, y/n.” 

Jesper stretches out on the couch, settling himself comfortably, “Night, y/n.”

“Goodnight, guys.” I disappear past the door easily, heading towards my room.

I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to look for Kaz tonight. How much damage could be done in one night? Maybe he needs space. Maybe seeking him out now will make things worse. I exhale, opening the door to my room easily. I’ll decide before going to sleep.

When I step into the room, everything is in place. Everything is fine--but something about it feels off. The light is on. I didn’t leave the light on. Nothing else raises any red flags, so I continue into the room calmly, examining everything carefully. Nothing feels out of place as I further enter the room. I take in my bed, my dresser, and lastly my nightstand. 

My heart swells all over again, but this time it feels even heavier than before. On the center of my nightstand, in perfect condition, is a copy of Pride and Prejudice. The same book I told Kaz about, the one thing besides clothing I took from the palace. I told him it was my mother’s favorite and then he asked me to read it to him. 

I can’t picture him seeing this and thinking of me. I can’t picture him thinking of me--but no one else knew about my attachment to the book. I need to find him. I need to--to see him, to speak to him. To look him in the eye and see something I only ever see when we’re alone. Maybe he won’t have that look this time, but that’s okay. 

I can’t expect to always understand him, but that does not mean I don’t know him. 

The thought leaves me feeling a little more settled within the boundaries of my skin, but I don’t ease entirely. The good is more frightening than the bad. My fear of happiness is a benign secret I haven’t had to worry about in years. I don’t know enough about it to know how to deal with it let alone mention it to Kaz. Not that it’s his problem. 

I squeeze the book to my stomach. Swallowing pride is a difficult thing, but I’m used to it with him. It’s usually worth it with Kaz because sometimes when I try he tries in his own way. I should find him. He’s not awfully creative about where he goes when he wants to be alone because people know better than to bother him. Kaz is probably in his attic or getting air outside or…

The lights were on when I came in. I’m an idiot. I didn’t feel weird when I walked into the room because of the book. Someone’s in here. He’s in here. 

Setting the book down like I should have never touched it, I let out a sigh. “Lurking is unbecoming.” 

“It’s also unbecoming to work for me and be so easily distracted by a book.” His voice reveals nothing as he emerges from the shadows. “I could have killed you with how long it took for you to notice my presence.” He pauses, eyebrows drawing together. “The light was on.” 

Normally I’d have some kind of comment, some kind of joke that offers a more peaceful situation. “I know.” It’s a flat response. “I think on some subconscious level I knew,” I drop my gaze away from him, “I knew I was okay.” That sounds dumb. “I mean...I think I knew it was you so I knew I was okay.” Yeah, that wasn’t anymore eloquent. “That doesn’t make sense, but if you get to be confusing, I do too.”

“Confusing? There’s nothing to understand.” Curt. Simple. Dismissive. 

I frown. ‘Nothing to understand’. Right, because there’s nothing confusing about how quickly he decided to dismiss me just to bring me some obscenely sentimental gift. “If you’re mad at me, you should at least tell me why.” I press my lips together. “At least that way I’ll know if I need to apologize or kick your ass.” 

At that, he presses his lips together, corner of his mouth threatening to tilt upwards. “You would kick my ass?”

Great, even when he’s easing he has to be annoying. “I could.” There is no universe in which I could take him in a physical fight. “On a good day.” I let out a breath, doing all I can to not focus on his expression. Awkwardness settles in my chest as my eyes land on my bed. I sit down, trying not to let my shoulders slump tiredly as I stretch my legs across my bed. “You’re not having a good day.” 

“My day is fine, I’m just not naively cheerful like you,” his words turn sharp, “Or Jesper.” 

Weird addition. “Jesper’s not cheerful, he’s just drunk.” I let go of the ‘naive’ part, deciding to focus on the bigger picture. “And I’m not as naive or joyful as you think I am.” I’m not sure if I mean that as a rebuttal or just a fact. “I have bad days too.” This isn’t the kind of conversation I should have while this tired. “I could be less cheerful if you’d like.” 

He’s so silent I momentarily wonder if he’s left. “No.” It’s not much, but I take it. Straightening my back, I pull my legs beneath me, intentionally creating space. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

Ah, blatant rejection. It would sting if I was less in the right. “Maybe you’ll be less weird then.” 

“I am not being weird.” At least I’m getting some kind of reaction from him. “You’re the one who--” 

“Who what?” Finally--progress. 

Kaz sighs, turning slightly. “You’re the one who decided to ignore me after we met with the contact.” I part my lips, ready to retort, but no words come. He did pick up on my slight annoyance, and he reciprocated it in a much larger way. 

He can never know that this all came from some ridiculous, territorial--partial jealousy. “I didn’t mean to ignore you,” partial lie, “I’m just kind of in a weird place today, I’m tired.” 

“Not too tired for Jesper, it seems.” 

What? Is that what this is about? “What? All I did was sit there--he’s a touchy drunk and I just happened to be next to him.” 

“You laugh with him,” he says this blankly, “You can touch him.” 

The edge of unsafe territory cuts into me at an odd angle. Is this about him? Is he really tormenting himself over something so asinine to me when it comes to him? I’d rather have him than all the physical touch in the world. The book on the nightstand feels closer to me, growing by the prospect of its significance alone. That gesture, that’s more intimate than anything Jesper and I did downstairs. 

“So?” I straighten my back slightly. “It doesn’t mean anything.” 

He presses his lips together. “That’s the problem--anyone can manage meaningless contact…” The silence is louder than the words that came before it. Oh. I guess I’m not the only one who gets just a little jealous in an unwarranted way. “What if you were hurt? What if you were hurt and we were alone and you needed someone to help you and I couldn’t?” He lets out a sigh, a sound too tired for me to associate with him. “You say you don’t care now, but you’ll grow tired of it--the only life I can offer.” 

Inej’s words about the similarities between Kaz and I echo in my mind. “Sometimes I don’t like when things are going well because I don’t know how to be truly content, fully happy.” Saying this twists my stomach. “I don’t know how to trust good things, so whenever there are good things I think about all the ways I could ruin something and then I do.” I take a breath. “I’m not saying that things are particularly good for you or that you’re happy, but I am saying that maybe you shouldn’t think three steps ahead when there’s nothing to think ahead about.” I regard his expression carefully, but nothing has changed. “I told you the only thing I want is to know you, and that’s not going to change.”

“Y/n,” his voice is low, “I am not rain--I can’t promise you anything.” 

I scratch my knee, dropping my gaze. “For once I don’t want rain.” 

Kaz sighs. “Get some sleep.” Something about the way he’s speaking is authoritative but it lacks any weight. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

I frown freely, “Kaz--” 

“You look tired,” he mumbles, “You need rest.” He’s using this as an excuse to escape his feelings, but he’s already given me more than I expected. Greed ruins things, but then again, so does selflessness. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“For the job?”

Something strange crosses his features as his expression teeters on shifting. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he repeats, a little more certain.

The response doesn’t satiate me. “Kaz--” 

“I may not be the rain, but I’m capable of making promises as well.” There’s something final about the way he says this, but it doesn’t feel cruel. 

Maybe I’d protest if my eyelids were less weighted. “Goodnight, Kaz.” 

My head falls against the pillow. I’m not sure if he replies, too lost in the drawl of sleep before he can even close the door. 

--

General taglist: @theincredibledeadlyviper, @grishaverse7 @benbarnes-supremacy  @tranquilitymoon @kaitlyn2907 @lunamyangel @christinawxxx @deceivedeer @real-mbappe @tonks33

[novelconcepts]

omg can you do a print of damie in canon just interacting with flora bc i would love that

She’s lost Flora. 

There is, Dani thinks with the forced calm of one already beginning to spiral, little cause to panic. The house is big, but it’s not that big--and Flora is a good kid. She’s not exactly prone to just wandering off. She certainly wouldn’t, say, vanish from sight and reappear somewhere unexpected, suddenly acting like she didn’t entirely remember the time in between.

That doesn’t sound like Flora at all.

She isn’t running, per se, from room to room. Running would suggest there is a problem to be handled, and if she starts thinking along those lines--if she starts obsessing about Flora’s distinctly off-putting way of gazing over her shoulder, of saying things just a little too odd to be hand-waved away, of looking at Dani as though she can see straight through her to the unease thrumming under the surface--well. That way lies nothing useful. Nothing at all.

“Have you seen Flora?” The kitchen had seemed a good bet. Here, after all, is Owen, puttering away over the ingredients for the evening’s meal, his mood somber as he uses the manor to avoid reflecting on his mother’s upcoming funeral. Here is Hannah, dutifully rearranging the china, pretending not to steal glances at Owen’s lanky frame every few seconds. That spot at the table is made for Flora, little legs hanging off the chair, brimming with questions--

But Flora isn’t there, and Owen is shaking his head. 

“Not since lunch. Lost her, have you?”

No, she almost snaps. A count of three, a long-held breath; she smiles tightly, reminding herself that this is not Owen’s fault, nor Owen’s job. The children will be your responsibility alone, after all. 

“She’s quick,” she says instead. Hannah purses her lips.

“Perhaps upstairs with Miles?”

She isn’t. Miles, bent over a book with a solemn expression, blinks up at her as though she’s dragged him by the shirt collar out of the actual wardrobe to Narnia. 

“She asked me to color--what time is it?”

“Two,” Dani says, sparing the briefest glance for her watch. He shrugs. 

“An hour ago, I think? I told her to ask Hannah.” A flash of concern crosses his face, a too-adult creasing of brow. “Was that wrong? I just wanted to finish my book--”

“It’s fine,” Dani assures him, ruffling his hair. Too-adult, his expression may be, but this is the most kid she’s seen Miles in days. The last thing she wants is to dissuade him from reading, or from the loose sprawl of his posture. 

An hour, though. In the days since coming to Bly, Dani can’t remember twenty minutes passing without Flora turning up underfoot. 

Outside, she thinks with another swell of barely-restrained panic. She’s outside. By the lake, probably, where Flora can so often be found keeping company with dolls and talismans and snatches of ethereal song. 

It isn’t exactly a reassuring thought, particularly with summer rain sluicing down the windows, scattering over the roof like pellets. A storm, it isn’t, but an eight-year-old girl has no business wandering in weather like this. 

You'd have loved it, at her age, Dani reminds herself. There’s nothing at all wrong with a little girl puddle-jumping for the sheer joy of it. Flora probably got bored, cooped up with a bunch of busy adults and her brother uninterested in playing games. She’s fine. She’s almost certainly fine.

An umbrella is waiting beside the door, still damp from Owen’s trip in before breakfast. Dani takes a breath, pops it open, steels herself for the brisk wind. 

The grounds are gray, the puddles turning the grass to a squelchy mess beneath her shoes. She keeps her head up, her eyes carefully turned away from the puddles which sit like recklessly-dropped mirrors at every turn; if she so much as glances down and spots a flash of glasses, she’s not sure she’ll be able to keep her composure. 

Flora is not by the lake, as it turns out. Nor the statue gardens. Nor the rose bushes. Flora is nowhere, she’s starting to think, and her mind is finally turning toward the worst--toward the depth of that lake, how easily a small girl might slip off the embankment and tumble headlong into its hungry waves without notice--when she remembers the greenhouse.

Jamie will help. The thought rises without warning, a solid patch of sunlight at the center of the storm. Jamie will help--because Jamie knows every corner of these grounds as well as her own hands. Jamie, who maybe doesn’t know Dani all that well, but didn’t seem to mind offering gentle reassurance, exchanging unexpectedly deep conversation on the couch...or Dani taking her hand in the dark. Jamie, who had said, Who the hell knew? Jamie, who had worn an expression a little like awe.

They haven’t had time to talk about it since, but even so. Even so, for Flora, Jamie is sure to--

She hesitates at the door, fist raised to knock. It feels foolish, rapping on the entry to a greenhouse like it’s Jamie’s own bedroom--but this is, she reasons, as close to Jamie’s home as she’s ever likely to get. 

“Jamie, are you...”

“Here,” her voice comes from somewhere just out of sight. Dani takes a cautious step in out of the rain, jostling the umbrella and pulling it hastily shut. Best not to invite bad luck--she’s certainly already had her share. 

“I’m looking for Flora,” she calls, feeling a bit silly. There’s so much going on in this room--plants and tables, pots and a variety of outdoor furniture draped with old blankets. Normally, Jamie is easy to spot amid the riot of greens and pinks, her hands busy coaxing seedlings to life. Today, Dani feels as though she’s tripped and fallen into a game of hide and seek. 

“Don’t have to look far,” Jamie’s voice comes again--from behind the sofa, Dani thinks. “C’mere.”

“Miss Clayton!” Flora pipes up, and Dani feels the tension leave her body in a violent rush. Her hand grips the nearest table for support, her eyes closing in relief. “Come color with us”

“Come--sorry?” She can’t have heard right. Jamie? Jamie the gardener, putting aside work and temper to waste an afternoon on crayons?

Yes--yes, that appears to be exactly what Jamie is doing. Sprawled on her stomach, still dressed in her coveralls, she’s got a blue crayon in hand and a green one tucked behind her ear. She glances up as Dani steps nearer, a smile lighting her face. 

“Kid came stumbling in out of the rain an hour ago. Expect she didn’t think to warn you in advance?”

“Sorry.” Flora offers a sheepish smile, sitting up quickly. “Are you very cross?”

“No, of course not.” Just going to need a minute to purge the image of finding you facedown in the goddamned lake, is all. “Next time, though, you’ll have to tell me you’re leaving the house alone. I need to know where you are at all times, Flora.”

She expects Jamie to scoff at this--to say, Ah, she was with me, she’s fine. Instead, Jamie stretches over to land a sharp flick on Flora’s upper arm. 

“Rude to make Poppins worry. Look, she’s gone all pink.” She looks up at Dani, grinning. “Not a bad look, if we’re in the market for honesty.”

Dani suspects pink is the lightest shade she can manage, with Jamie gazing at her that way. It’s too easy, all of a sudden, to remember an unexpectedly soft hand under her own fingers, Jamie turning reflexively at the wrist to hold her back. 

“I’m terribly sorry,” Flora says, a phrase Dani is starting to think is more Flora than even perfectly splendid. “Here--I was just about to do one of you!”

Jamie gestures with the blue crayon, a silent suggestion for Dani to sit beside her. “Might as well. Rain doesn’t look like it’s letting up anytime soon.” She lowers her voice, eyes fixed on Flora’s determined rummage through the crayon box. “Sorry about that, Poppins. Know she’s been unpredictable lately, didn’t like the idea of her stumping around in the cold. If I’d known you were worried--”

“It’s all right.” In truth, she’s glad Flora made her way out here. Growing more pleased by the moment with this development, really, as Jamie slides a blank sheet of paper in front of her and presses a purple crayon into her hand. 

“Join us. We’re doing portraiture.”

“I can see that,” Dani laughs. Jamie’s handiwork speaks of a distinct lack of care for detail--each sketch on her page is, at best, a stick figure with a single defining feature. “How does Owen hold up his head, carrying a mustache the size of his torso?”

“With minimal decorum,” Jamie says, grinning. “And she’s right, it’s your turn.”

Dani suspects she’s going less pink, more a volatile shade of maroon, with both parties squinting at her face, their papers, her face again. Flora is doing her very best work, taking several minutes just to select the closest shades of blue, yellow, pink. Jamie makes an enormous production of holding up a crayon, closing one eye, gauging proportions--and then, cheerfully, scrawling a figure identical to the other four already on the page. 

“I’m taller than Hannah?” Dani asks, unable to resist a giggle. Jamie frowns.

“Ah, you’re...standin’ on a crate.” She adds a box beneath Dani’s non-existent feet with a flourish, nodding. “There. It’s symbolic.”

“Of what?”

“I’ve ranked you all on how much I like you. Takin’ into account, of course, certain accusations pointed my way regarding mud and shiny floorboards.” Jamie winks. Dani finds herself gripping her crayon almost hard enough to hurt. 

“You’re not drawing, Miss Clayton!” Flora observes. Dani glances away from Jamie’s smile--a difficult act only a few days ago, nearly impossible now--and clears her throat. 

“Well. Maybe just until the rain stops.”

There are, she thinks as a comfortable quiet settles over the greenhouse, infinitely worse ways to spend her afternoon. 

[gg-astrology]

hiii gg! (i still don't know ur name 😔) what's the difference between sidereal and tropical? im a libra rising 6° sidereal and scorpio rising 1° in tropical.

Hey there (tis Nita but gg is fine too!! skdnfj) 💕💕💕 I’ve been saving this ask for a while and I finally have time to talk about it now!! 💕💕💕💕

[Side-real v Tropical ?? Whats that and What do?? ]

🚫long post 🚫

This is really really stripped down and basic but lemme jus explain a really quick zip up of some stuff

I’m going to skim over alot of details, and by no means am I an expert on this. So please read with your discretion

 I’m jus gonna give you a real quick run down of the basics oki 💕 

Hmm how to do this.. ok so let’s start for beginner beginner and go forward ok?

Beginners, hello! 💕 Today we’re gonna talk about 2 sets of zodiac (same signs just… how should we categorize/where does the start actually start) – that you might or might not know about yet! 💕

When I say ‘sets of zodiac’— today we’re going to consider the 12 signs. Just the 12 signs. And where it starts. Simple yes?

Questions we might be asking today: how do we have 12 signs?? (and consequently: Is there more?) and also ‘what do you consider to be the ‘real’ zodiac?’ 

For most people who started learning western/modern astrology, you’ll probably start off with using the Tropical system– which is the default nowadays and what astro sites usually use! 

Let’s learn a little about the Tropical system then?? What about it?? What it do?? 

Tropical Astrology

Tropical Astrology is probably the one most beginners tend to start out using, most people don’t realize maybe because it’s automated on most astro sites and generators nowadays. But there is an option where you can ‘check’ what kind of Zodiac set you’re using:

Like here, you can see on the left it says ‘zodiac’ and it’s usually set at ‘tropical’. 

In our really long history of astrology through the eras, we’ve transformed and evolve, shift and made things as we’ve come along. It’s still happening today too, but Tropical zodiac we align our Aries (the start of the Tropical zodiac) to when Spring begins (transform/shifts and ‘begins’ or carries through into spring from Pisces -> Aries).

We might’ve heard how cardinal signs are the ‘start’ of each astronomical seasons (Aries- Spring, Capricorn- Winter, Cancer - Summer, Libra- Fall) carrying the solstice and equinox of each one. The year (12 months) can be split into 3 months, 3 months of which we’re supposed to be in ‘each season’💕

Thus the 12 signs are also split into 3 modes, with the elements of each sign falling onto different modes as each other. Creating a certain hierarchy and dynamic, falling into place. The ‘start’, the ‘fixed’ and the ‘end/transformation’ (self, social, transcendent) of each reaction/behaviour in our signs. 

(Taurus/Leo/Aquarius/Scorpio are smack dab in the middle of their ‘season’ before they shift/transform into the mutable signs, that adapts and changes.. getting ready for the new season again) 

With the tropical, because Aries is always aligned with the Spring Equinox whenever the Spring Equinox is-- that’s when Aries is supposed to start. It changes, so it’s nice to consider how the person who considers themselves a ‘sun cusps’ of something can figure out which sign they’re were born in according to their specific year (y know, not really a fixed date since we got Aquarius early this year as well) 

And ok, that’s fair and good. But what about the stars? And this is where the mayham begins.

The Mayham

The thing about it is, the idea that the first degree of Aries also coincides with the beginning of spring can be like, yeah ok that’s good and true bc it’s seasonal and not ecliptical (aka like, we don’t have to consider the foot of Orpheus being in the way of our ecliptic plane and thus complications over that. But also i’d like to remind us that astrology wise: tropical or side-real are both equally relevant and important and shouldn’t be dismissed) 

We can feel the affect of how that might not always be the case though (ugh climate change and global warming but that’s human factor and I’m picking fights with the wrong thing here). 

Climate wise, some sides are having longer winter, longer summers than what was preceded 1000 years ago. Astronomical season vs Meteorological seasons. So should we go with season?? or Stars?? What is the truth?

(also for those of you who are curious about meteorological seasons, it’s like how the start of the season should be at the first day of the month. So the start of spring is essentially March 1st… running to May 31st. Clean, easy, cut and set.) 

Who even came up with the idea of 0/1st degree of Aries = Spring? It’s mr. Claudius Ptolemy (1 BCE). Our favourite Greek astronomer who saw that Aries Vernal Equinox coincide with the Spring back then. 

What we didn’t know however, is that back then the side-real and tropical coincides together. The earth ‘wobbles’ a little through the century (although Mr Ptolemy did apparently know that— but the 21st century will have to deal with it and figure out what we wanna use now, instead of him sdkfjn) 

The ‘start’ of Aries shifts. Not coinciding with the ecliptic. At first it was aligned, so no problemo. But after people started dying and years have passed (centuries) we start to notice that  the ‘start’ of the Tropical zodiac is now 25 degrees later than the Side-real zodiac (what the sky says/what the season says)

(So to answer your question: if you look at your side-real you’ll probably find that you might’ve moved back one sign. In all aspect, so with a Tropical Scorpio ASC you’re now a Side-real Libra ASC) 

The degrees gets added a little more bc of the wobble (or ‘precession of equinox’)… so let’s say its 25 degrees now… 1 (or 1.4) degree is added every 72 years or so (the ‘precession/wobble’) until it becomes 26 degrees different later (and so on) 

Equinox?? Tf??

For those who wanna know what that feels like… The Spring Equinox is essentially– for those who lives around the tropics, This is the time we all begin to suffer from heat (which will get worse and maybe we’ll be lucky for chances of rain). And for those who are upper/lower begins to have better weather. Congrats. 

The wobble that the Earth goes through (I think it’s called the ‘Axial Precession’ and ‘precession of equinox’) causes deviation in our we measure the ecliptic. Instead of looking at the ‘declination’ of the Sun in accordance to Earth (our earthling ego is so big) we now base it around the Sun’s ‘ecliptic/celestrial longitude’ instead.

(— also on that topic you can also check ‘Chandler’s Wobble’ as well!)  

The ‘precession’ gets longer, to skip the details and not confuse you, let’s just say because the Earth wobbles – our Tropical system and Side-real system starts to differ.

How? Why? What is a side-real?? We defined tropical as the 1st degree of Aries coinciding with the start of Spring. So what is side-real?

Side-real

Is a little more based on Constellation Zodiac. Think of us learning how to read constellations. Basically, our ancestors have noticed that our Earth, the Sun, Moon and 5 other planets are moving through the sky with a very specific routes in their travels. 

The observable stars and planets that we see scattered across our night skies makes up the visible ‘constellations’. The ones that coincides with the planets– the ones that the planet moves through, are the ones that we ‘count’. Whilst the ones that are just visible/there– are the ones that we don’t.

So technically, imagine if you were looking up at the sky. And you can see Mars travelling into this bish of a star again. You go ‘oh its Taurus season, it’s happening again ugh’. That’s what it’s like to live with fixed stars skjnksn

That’s a little off, but to help you out a little the path that these stars/planets travels to (the specific path) is called the ecliptic. It’s like how our sun has an ecliptic and sees the paths in which these constellation/stars move above in our sky. A little trippy, kinda weird. But also really really cool huh (think of the gif above of things just rotating along it’s axis and spinning, a little trippy huh)?

The side-real zodiac is based more on the constellations, these sets of ‘fixed stars’ that travels through our ecliptic and what we can see/observed. Because it’s not based on the equinox– the seasons, our environment and how it affects us as humans– the side-real is often regarded as the more ‘astronomical’ or the two.

Around the 5BCE (i think) the Mesopotamia starts to create a ‘standardized’ zodiac for side-real (or jus the zodiac since the hellanistic era is when things really starts to boom up and shift around) — technically some stars are smaller than others. But they decided that they’re gonna give each stars equal segments and make them look like they’re the symbolic representation of the heavens instead (poetic and also really cool, y know like why everything looks like a circle on the chart anyways– also the start of decans, which is really neat too!)  

So let’s… regroup a little.. That was a lot. Let’s give you a little tl;dr summary to work with:

Side-real zodiac would mean Aries ‘starts’ (1st degree of Aries) 25 days before the Equinox (currently)

Tropical isn’t based on the constellations/fixed stars (like side-real) but rather the Equinox and Solstice themselves (Aries ‘starts’ on the Spring Equinox)

Side-real is based on the constellations, and the celestial ecliptic. Whilst Tropical is based on the seasons, how it influences us.

You remember how I mentioned Tropical dates for the Sun sign? How Aries is March 21st - April 20th? With Side-real, it’s completely normal to have a different Sun sign Zodiac. So don’t freak out 💕

Right, that was a lot… so essentially what we’re dealing with here is two sets of zodiac. One that’s based on Season and one that’s based on Constellation/Fixed-stars. 

Which one do you choose?

Well… for me, personally, I just go with both? Learning both can be helpful. Plus there’s so much history behind both of them that it’s really good to balance and use both in my studies.

You might’ve heard of the debate with the star Orpheus that popped up. It’s more of an argument with the side-real part, where people say ‘hey if we’re going by the ecliptic then shouldn’t Orpheus that is between Scorpio and Sagittarius be counted? As the 13th sign in the zodiac?’ 

That’s another topic all together. But anyways. Which one is more accurate which one is wrong– well neither? Just because they’re different instruments, doesn’t mean they won’t end up reaching similar conclusions. It’s just a matter of what you’re using them for, or how you’re utilizing them.

(Also im skimming a lot of the details and debate on stuff, a lot of the argument might center around y know— basing it on stars instead of season. But also what do when feets of stars dangle within our ecliptic. Lotsa argument, debate and stuff on how the earth works in relation to our gravity, space, the Moon as well. Tropical vs Side-real. But y know. Both systems are good and valid it’s the more technical stuff that differs.) 

Tropical and Side-real??

Some people feel more at ease and comfortable with side-real, and that’s cool. Some people prefers tropical, and that’s cool too. None of these sets of instruments are ‘wrong’ because the dance of the seasons that Tropical brings and the constellation star-path that Side-real brings are both valuable and of importance???

One thing to remember for those is that Vedic astrology might not always be the same as side-real. Whilst Vedic astrologers may use side-real zodiac, the set of instrument themselves depends from people to people (vice versa with Western astrology with Tropical, you can use side-real. But it’s not Vedic astrology. Does that make sense?)

These zodiac sets are tools, zodiac instruments. How you play them differ from people to people (Vedic astrologers and Western astrologers) whether you’re a traditional astrologer, or a modern one. Whether you’re a Brazilian Vedic astrologer, or an Indian Vedic astrologer. How you play these instruments differ. So that’s a little something on… that.

Ayanamshas

One last thing about side-real astrology I think…. is that the ‘start’ of something in the Ayanamshas.

When you clicky the ‘side-real’ zodiac option it shows you a drop down list of ayanamshas to choose from (astro.com) The most popular one is ‘Fagen/Bradley’ and ‘Hindu/Lahiri’ – doing a lil bit more research on this might be good for you, since y know. People disagree on a lot of things 

(also you can use whole signs for this, since y know. it makes your life a little easier.)

I think that’s?? All I have to say for now?? For further research y know the Thema Mundi and learning about the Dendara, History of Astrology in general might be nice to get to know too. I’ll link my sources now:

Ayanamshas - Astro.com

Side-real and Tropical: What is Real?  - Real Astrology

Tropical, Side-real and Tropical Zodiac - Horoscopic Astrology Blog

The Thema Mundi - Horoscopic Astrology Blog 

The Western Tropical, Vedic Sidereal or Nakshatras? - Star Wheel Astrology

The Different Zodiacs used in Astrology - Star Wheel Astrology

Western Side-real Astrology - This ones more Fagan/Bradley based. 

Podcast: Tropical vs Sidereal | Kenneth Browner | Vic DiCara Dendera (YT video) 

Babylonian Star Lore - Gaven White (*change the end of the url link to the different signs) 

Wikis: Chandler Wobble | Axial Precession | Equinox | Declination of the Sun | Axial Tilt | Ecliptic Co-ordinate System | 

Astronomical Season and Meteorological Seasons 

Oh right I forgot to actually answer!! Aaaaahmmm if you count back 25 degrees currently from your Tropical placements, you’ll get your Side-real placements. So to answer why your Scorpio shifted to Libra, it’s like that bc it’s currently 25 degrees apart right now. 💕 But yeah again, the technicalities of it depends on what ayanamshas you use! 💕

[changji]

Here we go I’m finally continuing our convo from like,, last week LOL but anyway 4-5k for an apartment I’m HOLLERING (yes i did it so you’d laugh) I’ve never lived in an apartment before but I’m pretty sure that’s really expensive for one sksks. Also personal chromebooks? My school literally can’t relate we share them with the rest of the students in the school. Tbh I don’t remember much from twilight so I’ll agree w you so that we don’t fight 🥺🥺

I normally go ham when I’m in a pool,, like I’ll start off w my hair up bc I don’t wanna get it wet but when I leave the pool everywhere is soaked. I haven’t played chicken in years?? Oml last time I played I was on my cousins shoulders and I was Puny. Haha most ppl are like “it can’t be that cold here right” and I’m “oh no it gets COLD” which I hate (but it’s colder in the territories so I’m thankful for where I’m at)

I’d rather it be hotter than colder bc at least there’s ac. I mean there’s heat but at least I can still walk outside without snow and ice everywhere. Don’t even get me started on freezing rain and winter tires and shovelling snow and OEUFIHD as you can see I hate the winter here. Tim hortons is so good I literally inhale iced capps 24/7. They’re pretty much blended frozen coffee but it tastes a lot better than it sounds!! I like to think of it as the Canadian pride and joy

I’ve actually never had timmies canned coffee… i’ve had the keurig pods things but they don’t taste as good as getting them from an actual timmies. But hey you never know maybe we will drink from ice bergs one day LOL. I’ll never back out from being your soulmate we’re literally meant To Be 😤😤 iced blonde vanilla lattes are so Good I’d probably inhale them as much as I do with iced capps if they weren’t so expensive

I didn’t even know that milk was a good portion of the drink,, when I saw a starbucks barista fill my cup with 80% milk I was like “hold up what” Your smoothies must be really good if your family specifically wake you up so that you can make them some hhh baker arella? More like smoothie expert arella. i usually make smoothies with whatever works and is in my fridge, but mango will always have my heart

People who eat pancakes plain should be banned from the world that’s disgusting,, you’re literally eating cooked flour,,,,,, I actually haven’t had waffles in 4 years oopsFrench is a mandatory course in grade 9 where I live but then after that you can choose if you wanna continue it or not. ASL classes seem so cool, I would totally take it if it were an option here. German & Japanese seem so hard; I look at the words and here ppl speaking it and I’m like ??? woah okay what’s happening

I’m terrible at English too, but then again I suck at every language? Is that even possible?? Jisung’s literally talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular skskdkf I am a Chan stan but Jisung wrecks me SO hard I can’t with this man. Pls don’t hurt my head too much with the fic I only have one braincell left bit ilyt 🥺 now I wanna try peet’s but I’m probably not going to the US for a hot minute 😔😔

(AJSDHJF I HIT THE LIMIT OF ASKS IM CRYINF) I saw what happened with ur Jisung drawing and I feel your frustration?? I was drawing a photo for an English presentation on photoshop and instead of closing my reference photo tab I closed the drawing (and i didn’t save it beforehand) so I lost the entire thing. Just thinking about it again makes me So Mad like,, how dumb can I be I literally can’t believe I did that!!

School sucks the life outta me I’m dreading going back and school starts in a little over a month? Fav vampire fic PLS I’m honoured. We fr out here as coffee soulmates look at us go 🤧👊

-

it’s so expensive like. whomst. I LOVE IT WHEN PPL SAY HOLLERING ITS SO FUNNY (ur so cute ily). living in an apartment is just Constant Stress esp bc i always accidentally slam a door open and make a hole in the wall and we have to pay but like i never learn LOL. the chrome books suck tho 😪 i would never fight w u LOL but i love twilight hhhh

today i just learned what “go ham” means like. i never knew. idk if i’m uncultured or ur weird (BUT ACCORDING TO CHAN WEIRS IS GOOD AND HES RIGHT.) i hate swimming sksks i burn easily and im Not here for it. i see why u would prefer the heat esp w snow, but i don’t have snow so i like winter LOL. i feel like i would die if i had to shovel snow like. i tried gardening and i gave up in .2 seconds. it was tough.

ooh an ice capp is like a frappuccino? i used to love them but they became too sweet. i believe in lattes and lattes only. keurig never tastes as good as the OG, i’ve had starbucks, dunkins, and peet’s keurig cups but it’ll never live up 😪 u r my soulmate and i snatched u, u can’t leave even if u wanted. period. LATTES ARE EXPENSIVE like. i pay $6.70 or smth like that bc of the vanilla flavoring and the extra shots. makes me wanna yeet myself off a bridge but there aren’t lattes in hell.

RIGHT omg the first time i saw them make it i was like. where r u giving me a cup of MILK but it tastes good so it’s okay. my stomach has not been cooperating and hurts whenever i get normal milk so i have to ask for almond and pay an extra 25 cents. like damn i $7 for a cup of coffee. but it’s okay it’s still good 🤧

& SMOOTHIE MASTER ARELLA HHHH my family is also Lazy like. it’s not hard to make a smoothie u FOOLS but i mean ig. they’ll just be hoes and force me to make them 😤 but it’s fine bc when i make the smoothies i’m let off of washing dishes 🤪

if u eat a pancake plain ur wrong on so many levels. it’s so painful to see. like. WHY. and cooked flour,,,, ada ur so funny omg waffles are so good like. it’s crispy but pancakes get soggy and it’s Gross. not here for it

i suck @ all languages too like grammar who? i only know keyboard smashes and incoherent screams. jisung is amazing and i love him w my whole soul. he’s such a good wrecker like whY are u so perfect?? i was bin biased but jisung came and made me double biased 🤧 i’m unloyal.

i don’t believe in no brain cells i believe in broken hearts and that’s what this fic is going for. angst angst and angst. i’ll send u peet’s and u send me tim hortons i look forward to gross and melted coffee 🤪

WLSKKSSK TUMBLR RLY OUT HERE UR SO CUTE AHHH i screamed for a good 5 minutes. i’m still upset. like. why did i do this to myself arella u big dumb. omg and did u save urself for the presentation? it’s worse for u bc like. it’s for school 😔 we can be dumb hoes together it’s okay

OVER A MONTH WHEN DO U START i have 2 weeks and a half. 3 weeks? i start on a thursday which is weird but Go Off. i’m gonna drop a class i’m not up for 7 classes esp w an AP and 3 honors 🤧 why did i take those classes i’m actually an idiot hhhhh

i stan ada and ada only (jk binsung but yk what they don’t count) stan TALENT my coffee soulmate ily

[farklelucas]

ok katie i've been thinking about your gay version of the nanny and i was hoping you'd indulge me and write a fic where cecil and niles wake up after sleeping together for like the dozenth time and are caught by maxine and fran bc that'd be comedy gold!

hjrktjrke iconic!!! if anyone who is not mauricio is wondering: yesterday i made a post about my ideal gay version of the show the nanny (which you can find here if you haven’t read it, and even if you have, i’ve made a couple changes so it makes more sense askdl) and clearly implied that niles and cecil (aka c.c.) get together As They Should even if maxine and c.c. think they should be together due to comp het. anyway this is for you man!

Cecil wakes up at 7 AM, as per usual, with a rather tense headache, swearing softly as he draws his arms into himself and gradually sits up, straining the aching muscles in his back from sleeping on a strange mattress. This, of course, has been happening more and more recently - where he wakes up with a wine-induced headache, in an unfamiliar bedroom, tangled up in the sheets of another man, his arms wrapped around him. Well, not that the bedroom is all that unfamiliar to him anymore; not after the fourth, or fifth, or… dozenth or so time. No, by now, he could rattle off little facts about the room (and, more surprisingly, its inhabitant) like he could about nearly anything he had an interest in.

The room was not nearly as extravagant as Maxine’s, or even Brighton’s or Maggie’s, he noted, from the rare occasions he had caught a peak inside; it was more of a servant’s quarters, if anything, with a plain tan ceiling and light brown walls. What it lacked in natural charm, however, was made up for with decor. Pictures of Niles and various people in his life; Niles and Fran in London, each doing the forced perspective kind of picture to make it looks like they were each licking a side of Big Ben. Niles and the children when they were younger, Maggie walking by his side and Brighton tugging on his hand and Gracie up on his shoulders, Niles’s eyes practically rolled back in his head. There’s quite a few of Niles and Maxine, one of them drinking champagne together and one of them at a skii resort and one of them hugging after one of Maxine’s shows debuted. Even Sylvia made it on the wall, sneaking in the background of one of the family photos. Pictures of ex-boyfriends and Niles’s little sister and his parents too. Cecil notices a distinct lack of his own face and, while affronted, decides not to comment. They are supposed to be enemies or something, after all.

He glances at the body beside him. Key words being supposed to be; they aren’t really good at it. He guesses it’s his own damn fault. If he hadn’t come onto Niles… or was it the other way around? He was content to blame Niles for this. Regardless of whom came onto whom, it was Niles’s fault for being so frustrating and handsome. Even now, still snoring in the early hours of the morning, he was handsome - perhaps even more handsome than normal, now that he wasn’t making snide comments or sneering. Normally, Cecil would have left by now, climbed out of bed and made a run for the shame of it all. But today, maybe because of the wine headache or the crick in his back, he let his eyes and, frankly, mind stray. He was content to ogle the flat planes of Niles’s back, and the moles that dotted his spine in a small constellation. He let himself examine the man’s flat brown hair, sticking up in the oddest of angles from his tossing and turning in sleep. His lower back is just exposed by the sheet and - when did Niles lose his blankets? Sheepishly, he realizes he must have hogged them during the night, and begins to cover Niles back up. He must be freezing, after all. It’s only the decent thing to do.

Ugh. Since when did he do things that were decent?

Faster than he can blink, though, as his hands hover over Niles with the dark blue quilt, there’s a quick knock on the door. There’s a squeak as it’s pushed open, and a soft “oh!” of surprise. His knuckles tense, and he turns to the door, the words “this isn’t what it looks like” falling from his lips before he can even think about it.

For a moment, Maxine just stares at him, her eyebrows arched and lips caught in an o shape. She blinks at him, and he stares at her, praying she’ll just realize she’s sleepwalking and stumble like a zombie out of the room. But she doesn’t; of course she doesn’t. After a moment of shock, her face schools herself into one of realization and neutrality. And then, one of distinct amusement. A few years ago, that look would have been surprising, even unnatural coming from Maxine. But now, after years of Fran Fine living in her home, it’s more commonplace than not. “I didn’t say anything,” she says, suggestively, implying that she wanted to say something even if she hadn’t.

Cecil feels his face heat up, and stomach twist in an unpleasant way. He had long since given up on Maxine after she had come out of the closet, but old habits die hard, and he always hated being embarrassed in front of her. “Maxine,” he says, on a sigh, “please don’t say anything.”

She holds her hands up in a placating manner, but she still has that damn devilish smirk. “Again, nothing! I said nothing!”

He stares at her, trying to cool his blush. “Seriously,” he replies. “Niles would kill me if he knew you knew.”

“Mum’s the word,” she says, raising a hand to her heart. “Consider my lips sealed.”

They sit in silence for a moment, staring at each other. Cecil glares and Maxine smirks. Then he sighs again. “Is this,” he begins, cringing, “something we need to talk about, or…?”

Her eyes open, in surprise or embarrassment, and she stammers, “Oh, uh, oh my, I think I hear Fran calling me.” She hooks a thumb over her right shoulder. “I suppose I should -”

“What do you mean? I’m over here, honey.” Oh, no. Oh God, there is only one way this could possibly get worse. As the nasal voice and the sound of clicking high heels become closer and closer, Cecil pleads with his eyes for Maxine to close the door and pretend this never happen, tell Fran some lie to explain why he and Niles were talking in such hushed voices. But it’s too late. Fran arrives in the doorway, with a pressed rainbow jumper and teased hair and her phone in her hand. When she looks up, she startles at the sight of Cecil. Then she blinks. And then, she laughs.

It’s not that high-pitched, nasal nonsense that typically leaves Cecil’s blood boiling, but it is close. It’s more of a silent cousin, as she heaves out a breath and slaps herself on the knee. “Oh, this is beautiful,” she says. “Absolutely amazing.”

“Now, Fran,” Maxine chastises lightly, “Cecil has asked for our discretion, and I promised him he would have it.”

Fran nods, sagely, then holds up her phone and snaps a picture. Cecil blinks, dazed by the flash, and Fran smiles at him. “That’s going on the wedding cards,” she says, and Cecil drops his head into his hands, his face flushing more than before in both anger and embarrassment. “I’m gonna go wake Gracie.” With that, she’s gone, and Maxine and Cecil are alone again.

Maxine sighs and shakes her head. “I’ll see to it that she deletes that.” She smiles quite awkwardly, then reaches her hand for the door. “I’ll leave you to it.” She closes the door behind her with a soft thud.

The thud, is apparently, what does it, and Niles groans as he wakes. He stretches like a tired cat, then rolls onto his side, blinking in surprise when he catches sight of Cecil. Then he smiles, an uncharacteristic action for him, and leans on his hand. “You stayed,” he says softly, and it’s unfair that Cecil’s heart twists the way it does, but it does.

So, of course, because it’s Cecil, he scoffs. “Yeah, well, my mistake.” He’s not sure he’s able to wipe the stupid and peculiar look of awe or contentment off of his face, but maybe just this once it’s okay. Maybe change is okay.

Niles, bless him, just grins and sits up, reaching out for him. Cecil lets himself be pulled into an embrace, Niles’s arms around him as he presses soft lips to his shoulder. “Yes, well, I was worried - the forecast called for rain today, I was afraid you’d melt away while getting on your broom.”

Some things, however, Cecil thinks, will never change.

[distress]

i’m still working part time but for now i feel like tho it will be hard financially it’s the best decision atm. just having today off helped me feel so productive,, normally on saturday i’d just want to rest and on sunday i’d be too depressed about monday. 

i cleaned my kitchen today for the first time in forever and made my first attempt at baking macarons. it was a huge disaster but i already see where i went wrong and will experiment more tomorrow!! i’ll probably just try making a few at a time so i dont have to remake the batter

big long train of thought ramble below as usual

also did a load of laundry..... vacuumed my whole place twice over (because my bathroom is shitty) washed a bunch of dishes!!! not all, but i filled my drying rack three times (i let them pile up super bad ;o; )

took a shower!!! exfoliated n plucked my eyebrows n ~stache~ so i dont feel like such a grody gorl anymore. 

i think the reason i did so good today is bc i let myself take long breaks... i also got out of bed a bit earlier!! still late... but earlier than usual. i’ve gotten into a super bad habit of staying in bed til 2 and it wrecks me so hopefully i can fix that from now on..

i also fixed my curtains on my balcony!! it’s not covered well enough so it’s /was impossible use in the rain. it’s also <10 ft away from another balcony in every direction so there’s no privacy. first i hung regular curtains up but the rain just soaked the shit out of them, and they also got blown up to wrap around the roof. then i decided to hang clear shower curtains in front of the regular curtains and that worked well!! except they were so cheap i couldnt tie them down without the ties ripping through the plastic.. and eventually those blew up around the roof too, except it was worse because they retained water and also got frozen to the roof (which i didnt realize til today). basically i had to tell my downstairs neighbors im about to dump a ton of ice and water on their patio. luckily they dont use it at all. 

anyway between actually taking them down and the moment they blew up in the first place i got the idea to pin them down with super strong magnets to the main curtains and so far its working!!! but it’ll rain tons tonight so i’ll see in the morning if anything went wrong.. 

womp

[thegeminisage]

today’s zeldablogging, big big huge very much spoilers everywhere:

WHERE DO I EVEN GO FIRST there is. so Much

out towards the ocean, i suppose...i see a shrine, and something else glowing that could be a settlement or lava or even a great fairy, and there are those islands to think about

GOD IT'S A COMBAT SHRINE a minor test of strenth okay okay i can do this

oh pffft that was easy

and i got...a giant ancient core, which sounds nice but probably won't let me upgrade my rune

how come the bokoblins can use bomb arrows in the rain and i can't?!

OH MY GOD....

first skeleton bokoblins, then skeleton lizalfos, and now skeleton moblins?!?!

wish i had marked that other glowing thing with a pin...i can't find it now lol

and i am at the islands!! man these bridges sure are tiny and high up

all this climbing i want to do and its about to rain :/

oh good. more flying guardians :|im trapped on top of this island in the middle of a lightning storm in the night besieged by moblin skeletons and keese swarms and my only non-metallic weapon is a korok leaf smh

mkay i am All Done with the islands im gonna warp back to the tower and mark the glowy thing this time

oh they just look like mushrooms?? well i'll go pick them i guess

OH OMG IT'S A FAIRY FOUNTAIN SKDFGH YES!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!

only 500...but i know it gets worse :| im saving up

oh this one is blue!! how pretty

haha i still think they look more like mermaids...can't see their legs and they pop up outta water :3

OMG I SEE THE FIRE DRAGON

THE DIN ONE

IN THE DISTANCE AAAAH!!!!

so far away ;u;

i can't even take a good picture!!!!

oh no

oh NO

skeleton moblins...and now a skeleton hinox ;___;

...skeletons only take two hits. im gonna go fight it

omg the hinox fight music plays nooooo rip m having eventide flashbacks

oh my god! wow! okay! this one takes more than two hits!!

it's lightning too i can't even use my bomb arrows what did i get myself into........

OMFG HE IS TEARING OFF HIS OWN RIBS TO THROW AT ME LSKDJFHG

oh the lightning is a hinox thing. Great i only have metal weapons rn

aaaand he ran away with the dawn. ok

oh dude this shrine is cool you have to like play putt putt golf hahaha

OMG IM GOING TO CRY

i found another memory and it's of zelda saying she's prayed all her life like her father wanted and she still can't make the gods hear her......im so sad for her

there's nothing wrong with you my sweet daughter!!!!

this is cool tho the talk of her father and mother and grandmother and link's father

they have families and lives, it's so neat, i wish i knew more about them

tho ofc almost everyone who knew and loved link is long dead now......

ah. i paraglided her, but

to get out i have to bypass all these flying guardians. Great

NO SKDFGJH ONE SAW ME

so its laser grazed me and only took one heart and i was like thats it?! i'll fight you!!

then i got hit directly and it nearly killed me so now im running

NOOOO THERE'S A LYNEL HERE JESUS GOD

I JUST WANTED TO GET TO THE SHRINE AND I RAN RIGHT INTO HIM SDLFGJH

god and a blue hinox in the way too Why

omg i unlocked a monster shop lskjghf now i will see him in villages at night!!!

ah the shrine is on top of this huge rock pillar, how do i...?

maybe i can glide from a nearby cliff!!

okay...okay...it's not sheer rock, there must be resting places, if i glide form here maybe i can do it

i can't glide from where i'd like bc of the hinox (:

I MADE IT

they better not make me solve a fucking puzzle too

ah good they didn;t

FLAMEBLADE thats so badass

oh god another blue lynel

maybe it's even the same one

my dude i just wanna travel....i promise, i promise

FINALLY the akkala research lab!!!

dude better have some sick duds or something for me i swear to god

the music in here is lit i love it

uh

there's a...blue glowing statue

looks like something out of the tower of the gods awww

haha it's damaged! poor thing

this old man like "show me the wounds on your body you suffered" bro are you asking me to strip

oh my gOD his electric guitar pose thing

jesus chrkjrgh

EVERYONE IN THIS GAME IS A GIANT HAM

im doing a quest where you have to carry fire

AND IT STARTS RAINING

this game has made me LOATHE rain! i thought that was impossible and yet!!!!!

im running out of map stamps :/ why would you give me a world this big and limit me to only 100...?

aaaand it's raining

and my ONLY TORCH BROKE god i keep accidentally using it to hit things!!!

FINALLY i did it!!!!! god that was so tedious

oh my god this guy could make me such amazing gear, but i don't have the materials </3

now to check out this maze building it looks super weird and i can see a shrine in it......

how the fuck are you even supposed to get there i hope my glider can take me

lovely. the wind's blowing against me and i see flying guardians from here

noooo they're EVERYWHERE and i have to do a MAZE oh my god

i can solve it on my map and mark the dead end routes, fortunately

i still kind of want to explore those routes lol

oh they're so bare......maybe not

if i miss something like a korok seed or whatever a guide will direct me back here later

or...maybe not

i mean im next to the shrine but it's surrouned on all sides by wall?

bet it's too tall to climb even with potions and my gear

ooh or if it isn't those lfying guardians will fuck me up in a snap

YES i got lucky and found my way in from the top

or no i found...a sword, great, how do i get into the SHRINE

YES here it is

dude i got an ATK+ helmet!! i got GEAR!!!! YES

AAAAH I GOT ATTACKED AS SOON AS I GOT OUT

nope fuck this im fast traveling. goodbye forever, maze island

geez i guess that must be nearly it for this province then i got one shrine left i think and then i could........go to death mountain?

tbh kinda tempted to go back down to lake hylia but i'll pass for now, i want more Plot

i suppose i didn't do akkala beach but it's small and remote so i'm ok with that for now - i can clean up the endgame stuff later when better guides are out

there's a stable next to this shrine!! yay!!!!!!

omg there's a goron here!!!!! hi!!!!!!!!!!!!

finally hit 10k rupees

ooh this guy is talking about a legendary sword...GIMME MY MASTER SWORD

tbh i'll be disappointed if there's no special quest to get it tho like you just...find it? kinda weak

AAAH I CAN CHANGE MANES HERE........jemma has a floral mane now ;w;

too bad i didn't find this before, i can't ride her up death mountain, unfortunately - it's so much faster to fast travel, and she might get hurt, and i'll have to get on and off of her so much... ):

oh wait, i haven't explored the lake yet! i forgot! i can take her there <3

all the guardians here scared the shit out of me but they arent functional, thank god

NO FUCK THERE ABSOLUTELY IS A LIVE GUARDIAN HERE.....fuck fuck i can't KILL them

omg no i see TWO of them

if it was just one i might try my luck, but...no way

i'm sure in the future i'll be able to get more guardian arrows but right now i have, like, 4? so i can't waste them

and when i have the guardian armor that'll help too but. not Now

aaah i found somsone whose ancestors died at that tower...apparently the last stand was made there at what used to be the fortress after the castle fell ;_; and he wanted to pray there but it's too dangerous and i am AD oh my god

i can see the death mountain tower and a shrine from the akkala tower, but i can only reach the shrine by gliding. the tower is surrounded by (UGH) snow

lol the shrine is by a stable too

AAAH kass is here!!!!!!

AWWW he said the song he's playing was used by the ancient hero to call his horse!! gonna cry omg

bro lmao there's an ostrich running around here what kinda shenanigans

oh my god this dried lava under the tower is SO COOL it's so BIG and i feel so SMALL

ah, eldin tower - so this is the eldin province

wow the first stops are quite a ways up on this one! lucky i have so much stamina

ooooh my gosh the eldin map is HUGE and FULL OF LAVA im not sure im Prepared for this!!!

lol in a fun twist the temperature gets HOTTER as i gain altitude. ohhh man

i guess...i wanna do plot. i'll try to make it to goron city, and come back and explore later

when i have more fireproof elixirs lol rn my inventory is packed so i could only buy 3

oh my god i can't use wooden weapons, my arrows turn into fire arrows as soon as i get them out, even the loot will catch fire if you leave it too long, this is Intense

OH MY GOD A STONE TALUS BUT IT'S LIKE, MAGMA-Y

okay this is cool i wish i hadn't waited so long

lmao i accidentally drank a defense elixir and erased my fireproofness early OOPS

omg you can't use bomb arrows either dkgjhdfg the heat makes them explode instantly

unfortunately the only thing that makes a dent is ice arrows and i just don't have enough rn....BUT I WILL RETURN god that is so cool okay anyway

all right......i really like this region. normally i'm a water person, ESPECIALLY in zelda games, but rain and lightning have been nothing but a pain in my ass since i started playing. maybe i was ready for some #Heat

HA there's the fucking blood moon good thing i DIDN'T kill him it would have been erased right after

the blood moon looks kinda cool when the air is already like this tbh but i still hate it

like on a gameplay/story integration level it's a cool way to explain monsters coming back

but also im angry on behalf of hylians and everyone else like

no matter how hard they fight every month it comes back, it's all in vain

the music here is super cool, also

omg i found a little camp of gorons!!

ooh, a hylian...and he'll give me fireproof armor for lizards OOOO:

hahahaha...they can't dig up ore because of a lizard monster

my heart twisted, fondly

geez i wish i had time to catch some lizards...........

i caught a few but not 10, and i only have one elixir left, since i used one early. i guess if it comes to it i could try to make another but

YES okay i did it!! good

and armor i now have!!

altho i hope i don't run out of armor inventory space that would SUCK what with all the work that goes into collecting and upgrading it tbh

LOL i hit an emu or ostrich or whatever it is and the meat it dropped immediately became roasted oh my god

HOLY FUCK THE MOUNTAIN IS ERUPTING

NOW THIS SHIT BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OH MY GOD

running for cover!!!! almost dying!!!!!!!!! good times im so happy

it's like getting to do it the very first time all over again

oh my god i just got a divine beast cutscene as i got to goron city i am quaking in my boots it is SO BIG

and now i'm out almost 3k rupees but i have full fireproof armor!

oh my god you can get a goron massage at the inn

"it doesn't hurt a bit" yeah i bet

[cue lots of screaming]

omg theres a gerudo lady sleeping here!! are you not on fire?!?!

SO IS PAINTER DUDE...?

omg they must have elixirs ldfjkgh

"abandoned mine - do not stray from path! both literally and figuratively" slkdfjgh what does that MEAN...

aw, they sleep on beds of hoat coals

man this shrine im doing is so complex!! like many multiple rooms, it's neat

i got like 9 orbs now i need to find somehwere to trade them in

omg so im lookin for the goron who went to get the stuff out of the vault and HE'S TALKING IT'S SO WEIRD it still always shocks me

how do i..? my bombs don;t work, so

OH OMG I CAN USE THE CANONS i thought maybe you had to wait for permission lol

poor goron he's scared and trembling...haha just like the ones in the fire temple. bye

HE TALKED IN HIS OPENING CUTSCENE...IM SO GLAD

yunobo! aww he's precious i love him

i suspect this is the area where i'll have to get inside the divine beast tbh bc of all the cannons

lol almost yped it with one n. shh

the embers here are so pretty...next time i paint hotland i'll remember them

i wanna paint THIS, tbh

like, anything. from this game. god Damn

ooooh a daruk statue

omg IM GETTING A MEMORY YES!!!!!!

I LOVE HIM

I LOVE DARUK

WHO PATS BACKS TOO HARD AND PUNCHES OUT ROCKS

oh my god he had the same kind of barrier that yunobo put up around himself are they related!!!! im gonna cry i love them so much

yep hahahaha the next words out of boss's mouth!

oooh he has the blessing, that's what the barrier is

yunobo's at eldin bridge...? that's MILES away

OH!!! omg my brother reminded me there are two in tp hahahaha so i guess i got them mixed up

so where is eldin's bridge actually......

too bad i cant swim up lavafalls lol

i found a minecart and put it on the track but bombs dont make it go and i can't magnesis it when its under my feet??

AHA, STASIS

okay that was super fun but i hate beating up my weapons like that

there's a shrine here but the glowing orange blends right in with this lava, i nearly missed it

AWWW yunobo's gonna be the canonball! bless him

omg is he gonna follow me!!!! I HAVE A FRIEND

IM GONNA CRY FINALLY IM NOT ALONE <3333

oh god okay here we go i guess??? im so scared

like. its so big.i cant impress upon anyone who hasnt played it. how big it is. and the mountain is so much bigger and i am so small. i keep saying that but i'm like. DWARFED by this thing, it's truly incredible

ohhhhh an escort mission.......and stealth, which im Bad at. man, the elephant was a lot cooler so far

AWW omg we snuck past the first one and he went "hee hee!" and it was so cute i love him so much

he stands at attention so quick when i do the stop whistle please please i love him

also i feel like i recognize SO many voices in this...i gotta imdb it later

the voice acting isn't even anything extraordinary, it's like, not awful but nothing jaw dropping

but the fact that they speak blows my mind every time

i used to fantasize about that in a "fff yeah right the day after never" kinda way and here we are.....

omg i got stuck and talked to him and it's like. what he said was completely useless but it's like having a companion!!! oh god i've been so lonely

oh god i looked up too far and saw the beast and it is. so big. i know i keep saying this but it is gargantuan. it's HUGE. i can't believe how big it is

lol i couldnt figure out why the trail ended and spent half an hour wondering what i was supposed to do

turns out i should have been firing at the divine beast this entire time so i gotta go back and start over and walk up the trail again LMAO

at least you only have to clear the sentries once

ah FINALLY im inside!

DARUK IS TALKING TO ME ;_;

HE ALWAYS KNEW LINK WOULD BE BACK im so sad. i feel human emotion

oooh it's all dark in here

and blue flame!!

ohhhhh man i love these 3D maps

OH MY GOD YOU CAN TURN IT

it's so big. oh my god

wait it isn't hot in here! i can use any item i want!

god i forgot how the music becomes creepier the closer you get

i can't believe this...turning the whole dungeon...some stone tower temple shit

ooh okay still hot OUTSIDE of the divine beast...too bad

noooo i found the cockpit pod thingy...like are their skeletons just decaying in there or

ooh boy oooookay last one here we GOOOO...

"PAIN IN THE CRAG" LOL NINTENDO PLS

omg daruk cheering me on as i fight ;______;

awww that wasnt too bad ive fought WAY worse enemies just roaming around on the map

oh ew GROSS

DARUK ;_;

me after daruk sent link away: aaaww i love him but that wasn't as gut-wrenching as mipha's

me after daruk saw yunobo from a distance and they waved at each other: literally actually crying, there are tears really on my face

WHY COULDN'T MIPHA SEE HER FAMILY FROM A DISTANCE, HUH

if it doesn't happen i swear to god i will draw it if i have to

oooh boss is talkin about the master sword

it's in a forest - that's gotta be the lost woods or i'll eat my pointy green hat

but i mean. if you just find it. there's gotta be some kinda quest or build up

wow, i'm finally at the tippy-top opf death mountain...i feel like i could go anywhere from here

omg i flew to a shrine and i have to complete a training thing to get in??? oh my god

oh no. i have to climb the thing. #why

aww that wasn't too bad. did it on the first try

i found the end of the map on "land" ... it's a deep gorge and you die if you go too far down, probably even if you're on foot

but there's land beyond that, even on the map, so it doesn't feel as freaky as just MEGA WIND on the ocean

why is there a hinox EVERYWHERE i try to go. why.

dude theres a giant skeleton of some sort on my map...omg

probs a hinox there too tbh

...wait a second.

i'm at a HOT SPRING

i recover hearts by swimming, so maybe i could fight this hinox...

AND i have daruk's protection, three whole charges, two fairies, my hearty radish food, and mipha's grace.........i can do it!!

wow okay and i just used up the grace and one fairy on this bokoblin camp so nevermind

tbh i don't even like fighting them...i suck at combat and the rewards are almost never worth the fight

okay but i literally could get anywhere from death mountain i think and i do mean LITERALLY that isn't hyperbole, assuming i had infinite stamina. damn. thats a Big Mountain

gonna go investigate the skeleton

there's monsters under it! i am standing above them on the ribcage and cheesing it with bombs

also it says eldin great skeleton was this a dragon.........

was this in the trailers or was it somewhere else?

standing inside the skull of this thing 

i realize just how BIG the dragons are

like. damn

everything in this game makes me feel like an ant

lol this is the First Ever shrine i'll have to come back to not bc i can't figure it out but bc i ran out of fucking arrows. incredible

the problem is i can't really explore here bc my fire armor hasnt been improved at all, my defense SUCKS

i just died bc i found a talus lol and it two-shotted me and like. i have a pretty good amt of hearts, here

also next time im exploring first i feel like i'll never know if ive seen everything or not bc i'm all lost and don't know what i looked at and what i didn't :/

i hate to like, leave it and say i'll come back to it bc i know i probably won't, but games are supposed to be fun! and attempting to explore this area with all my armor at 3 defense is like. not fun. dying over and over: Not Fun

i feel like seeing or doing something new!!

what i need is my own copy of the map on the computer so i can just mark off the areas i wanna explore later

oooh i found an interactive map!! which i can't. screencap and annotate for myself, but

oh well, it's too much trouble to find one, and ps would be really slow rn anyway since i havent used it in awhile

however this map DOES have memory locations, so i'm gonna grab a few of those

okay NOW i found a shrine idk how to do. tbh i can't be fucked rn, i wanna go get memories

holy fuck the first memory i unlocked had like a PILE of dead monsters link just fucked up, including a silver maned lynel, which my ass has NOT killed yet, holy shit

ONWARD

HOLY SHIT the one i just got was in the trailers!! zelda crying on link ;_;

i'm glad tbh bc i was lowkey like...well i know you get her out of the castle bc she cries on you later

but no!!!!

also he strains of zelda's lullaby, them being covered in mud, and link's master sword! MAN

i can't get to anymore atm so i guess i decide where i go next...

tbh i wanna do gerudo next like my brother which means going thru lake hylia!! so it will be a long time before more plot, i guess

ah! the blood moon! gonna warp to the stable and watch it with that guy

lol he's all beautiful moon tonight, eh, finally the blood moon

UM HE'S FREAKING ME OUT HE JUST STARTED RUNNING AROUND AND SAID HIS BLOOD WAS BOILING???

"IT'S SO GLORIOUSLY RED, ARISE MONSTERS" WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

and he acted totally normal after!

"oh you were researching the blood moon too?" WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM YOU FREAK

yep goodbye im leaving

upgraded my armor as much as i could with the fairy, STILL can't afford anti-guardian tech, am actively dying without it, will attempt gerudo and/or lake hylia tomorrow

[coreytravelogue]

Victoria, BC - August 19, 2018

Another entry another bit of traveling done for me, this one was just a day trip to Victoria, it won’t be my last. Every time I come I am reminded that I should come here more often than I do but when I do I can’t help but bring back movies and vinyl that I don’t need but my impulses say I do. I should just come for the beer but that will be for my birthday I think because by that time there will be nowhere else to go unless Yellowknife trips go 50% off than they normally do there.

2 weeks from now I embark on the biggest trip I have taken since 2014 which is to Australia to see my girl friend. I wish I could go for more than the two weeks I will be but that was as much as I could stretch out of my 7 allotted days off allowed. Thankfully next year it will be at least two weeks w Roth but it is looking like 7 will go to Japan and 7 to Newfoundland unless I can get my parents to come which I doubt they will.

I would like the first two weeks of September to go as slowly as possible. The plan is 2 days of Adelaide before going to Roxby Downs, then go to Melbourne for a few days then back to Adelaide for the rest.

That won’t be the only rest of travel I do though, two weeks after I return I will go to Montreal on Thanksgiving long weekend. There is also the slight possibility that I could go back to NFLD this year too but it will only be for a week if I do.

It has been amazing the amount of travel I could pack into this year and for good reason as it will be harder in the future.

I won’t look back at it all till at least Montreal or next time a go to Victoria.

I will always be a big fan of Victoria, I don’t like how they handle their sewage but outside of that I like it. Can’t help but feel depressed as what should be cleared skies is filled with smoke. A result of climate change and. Something we will have to live with as no one is ready and willing to get off the oil addiction here. Even as BC is on fire we are still bickering over climate change. Humans.......

I arrived in Victoria far later than I expected, did not expect so many people would be going to Victoria on Saturday. When I arrived I found out I made a brain fart. I booked a bed from 17-19 instead of 18-19 which I what I thought I did. So I realized I wasted 36 dollars and would have to spend another 36 dollars just for one night today. I thought for a moment it was a glitch but no, it was my fault.

Even though the concert started an hour early I had to wait 4 hours for the band I wanted to see to come on. Thankfully this was a free and open concert so I walked around here and there. I wish I did more of it but I kept thinking Archers would come on at any time but I should have known better, they were the headliner as if it was any doubt but then that is what today is for. In two hours I will look around for dvds and vinyl as I always do then head straight home to pick up my bike from the shop where I sent it in to get tuned up.

The one hour concert itself was pretty cool, the beer cheap and not great but hey it was all IPA beer which is my least favourite. There was supposed to be a after party at another bar but by the time I got there the line ups were too long and I had no patience to be around even to meet the band.

I returned to my dorm where I got the top bunk and squeezed maybe 4 or 5 hours out. My trip could have been better but could have been worse and most of it was my own fault.

Since I am in Victoria and have 2 hours to kill I should give Victoria a review.

The vibe Victoria has always been chill and easy going, that has always been the appeal of Victoria to me. When you come to Vancouver things are slower but not Conservative slow. Things are more relaxed, it is still a city but not a fast city like Vancouver. That being said the poverty in this city seems to be getting worse and worse every time I come and it is getting too noticeable. With all that I give Victoria a 3/4 C on vibe.

Things to do I give Victoria 2/3, there is lots to do depending on where you want to go. You want to shop this place has a little something for everyone, you want to eat there is plenty hear, you want to hit the parks or harbours you can spend a day doing that too. If you want to see music you can do that too.You can spend at least 3 days before you really get bored here. With that it is not a museum city so much as it’s be outside city which sets it apart from most of the places I have been to. For a smaller city it has a lot to offer and offers a great counter measure to what Vancouver has.

The food I will also give Victoria 2/3, I don’t think there is much local cuisine but like most Canadian cities we don’t have much of our own food. With that Victoria still has a wide variety of resteraunts to try. Not on the level of Vancouver but again for its size it got much of the same.

The beer I will also give it 2/3, it was through a Victoria based brewery that I started really discovering BC beer and most of the breweries I have tried here have always had good beer. Again they do t have the same amount of options and Vancouver but in terms of quality I would nearly say Victoria almost beats Vancouver but not quite. Vancouver has the numbers but with its numbers it also has variety and quality. Victoria has the same but with lesser numbers.

The transit however is where the city takes its biggest it, it gets 1/4. It’s transit is suffice to enough once you know how to use it but compared to other places it’s fairly poor and slightly confusing for someone who has never used it to use. Seems so strange for a place so connected to Vancouver to have a stark difference in this since one could say transit is one of Vancouver’s greatest strengths at least on a Canadian scale. This city is very bike friendly though but that is about it.

If adding my fractions correctly Victoria gets CCC on the Corey Scale. Between Whitehorse and Fort Mac it gets middle of the pack.

I still got 90 minutes so I feel now is a good time to grade other cities. I will save grading the Europe cities for the four year anniversary if I remember and have time for it. I assume if I do do it it will be before I leave for Adelaide.

Vibe of Vancouver is good now that I can grade it without a jaded sense to it but that being said I would still give it 1/3 because the city can come off as distant and arrogant at times. There are still friendly people in the city but the city is very cliquey. As a tourist people are nice enough to you but if you live her it can be very lonely till you find your clique but once you find it it’s not so bad.

The transit from my experience compared to most other places in Canada I would say is second to none, at least till I go to Montreal. The transit is great, the city is very walkable and very bike-able.it is expensive to use the transit but the transit will take you anywhere you need to get to with minimal fuss. So with that I feel like it should get a full C on that.

The food should also get a C and that is not because I have a bias for living in Vancouver because if you knew me you’d realize I have some long standing anger towards Vancouver but even when I hated Vancouver the food choices in Vancouver beat anywhere in the world period. Pick a culture and they got it, pick a diet and they can work around it. Vancouverites are utterly spoiled with food. As much as they like to complain about a lot none of them will complain about food choice.

Things to do however I have to give Vancouver a 1/2, it is a summer cit when their should be no excuse for it especially for its size. Yes it has many museums and gardens and places to still hike in the rainy periods but that is it. To experience Vancouver fully and completely you have to be there in the summer. Then you can spend a week and get a full weeks worth may have missed things. To me there is no excuse for that, other cities still try to get you in with stuff during the winter and their winters are far more harsher. All Vancouver has is cold rain and maybe a week of snow. In the summer Vancouver is hard to beat, in the winter it’s hardly worth passing through. You may as well go to Whistler and that is it or Victoria even.

Vancouver is the beer capital of Canada, period end of story. Unless Montreal can suddenly show me something in the four days I will be there I can’t see how anywhere else in Canada not named Victoria or Alberta collectively that competes with Vancouver toe to toe, it’s not even a fight. I have been to nearly everywhere in Canada minus NWT, PEI, Labrador and Nunavut and I can’t imagine they could sway me with their beer culture. There are so many breweries in Vancouver it’s insane and all of them experiment all the time with beers to drink. Name the style and you might find it. Mind you their own weakness is one most breweries do and their beer reflects seasons. So that means summer you get wheat beers, kolsches and the lighter colour beers, in the winter you get more porters and dark beers. Fall or spring is often a crap shoot but even then there are so many beer options in Vancouver that you are bound to find what you like. Plus most bars compete with each other in having variety. Gone are the days in Canada where your choices are Canadian, Budweiser or Kokanee/Labatt. So with all that Vancouver gets a full C.

So with that Vancouver gets the highest grade with CCC5/6. That may be the highest grade any city may get. Maybe a German city will get close but the city just rocks the transit, food and beer.

So that really all I got for now. Next time you hear from me is I’ll either be preparing for Australia or I will have already been in Australia for a little while. Either way you will hear from me soon. Shazbot nanu nanu.

[junker-town]

THE NUMERICAL: BC (!) and Mizzou (!) have been college football’s hottest teams, while Bama’s been the best

Let’s see which teams have beaten their projections by the most over the last month.

Ten weeks into a college football season, most teams are not what they were at the start. Injuries, slumps, surges, freshmen actually learning where classroom buildings are ... lots of things have changed.

That makes it difficult to rank teams. Sample size is an issue in football, but it gets especially tricky when the teams you’re grading have changed even within said small sample.

For a yearlong measure, that makes things a little bit weird. S&P+ (and other metrics) still have pretty good reads on a large number of FBS teams, but it’s hard for a single metric to keep up with so many changes.

With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to take a gander at which teams have changed the most in recent weeks. Who is S&P+ struggling the most to keep up with?

Below is a table with four numbers for each FBS team:

The team’s overall S&P+ ranking

The team’s ranking, if we counted only the last four weeks of games

The difference between a team’s projected results (per S&P+) and its actual results over the last four weeks. Example: If you were projected to win a game by 5 and you won by 10 instead, you get a plus-5.

Each team has played only three or four games in this sample, and it isn’t necessarily meant to be a predictive or statistically significant observation. (That Arkansas State ranks fourth in S&P+ over the last four weeks should emphasize that point.) But it will give us a very good idea of which teams aren’t the teams they were a few weeks ago.

Some thoughts on the hottest teams:

Boston College suddenly discovered an offense.

Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Big AJ Dillon has been a revelation for BC.

The Eagles were 2-4 and averaging 16.3 points per game following a 23-10 home loss to Virginia Tech. The last three games, they’ve won a 45-42 shootout at Louisville, thumped Virginia 41-10 in Charlottesville, and waylaid Florida State 35-3.

This happened as the Eagles leaned on freshman quarterback Anthony Brown and freshman running back AJ Dillon. That’s stunning.

Brown is still battling inefficiency — he was 19-for-24 against Virginia but 11-for-37 against UL and FSU — but in the 240-pound Dillon, Steve Addazio has found his new Andre Williams. Dillon’s averaged 32 carries per game in this streak. And given extra help from the offense, the BC defense is coming off of two straight great games.

Missouri suddenly discovered its confidence.

The offense began to turn around after a bye in September. The Tigers scored a total of 30 points against South Carolina, Purdue, and Auburn but have averaged 45 over the last five.

The emergence of junior receiver Emanuel Hall (21 catches, 500 yards, four TDs in these five games) and freshman tight end Albert Okwuegbunam (six touchdown catches in the last four) has given the Tigers too many weapons for most defenses. Combine that with Drew Lock throwing one hell of a deep ball, and you’ve got Mizzou leading the nation with 13 passes of 50-plus yards.

The run game has stabilized, despite an injury to star back Damarea Crockett. Led by senior Ish Witter and freshman Larry Rountree III, Mizzou’s rushing success rate has been 50 percent or higher in each game since he went down.

The defense ... is only okay. But since getting emasculated by Georgia, Mizzou held Idaho, UConn, and Florida to 4.3 yards per play and 16.3 points per game. Opponent adjustments and all, but that could be worse. And thanks to the SEC East’s collapse, the Tigers’ odds of bowling have gone from 6 to 69 percent, per S&P+ win probabilities, in three weeks. Nice.

No one knows what it is more than Arkansas State.

In four seasons under Blake Anderson, the Red Wolves are 5-13 in non-conference play and bowl games, 2-12 against FBS competition. They’re also 24-4 in the Sun Belt. Sure, that drops a hint about quality in the SBC, but it also shows intention.

ASU is not a national title contender; therefore, non-conference play only means so much. Going 0-4 means qualifying for a bowl is difficult, but that seems to be something Anderson is willing to live with if it means using the non-conference schedule to figure out what he’s got and prepare to unleash hell.

In 2016, ASU was so bad in non-conference (which included a loss to FCS Central Arkansas) that even after winning eight of their last games, the Red Wolves finished only 80th in S&P+. This year, that hasn’t been as much of a problem. They went just 1-2 in non-con, but they nearly beat Nebraska and smoked UAPB before getting smoked by SMU. And they still found a switch to flip; they’re 4-0 in the Sun Belt, with an average margin of plus-28. S&P+ gives them a 72 percent chance of finishing either 7-1 or 8-0 in conference this year.

Jason Kirk and I discussed Arkansas State’s rankings rise, among other things, in this week’s Sunday PAPN:

Of course, four weeks or 10, the same is atop the heap: Bama.

Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide refuse to succumb to the chaos that is trying to envelop this season. Where’s the rest of the S&P+ top 10, in terms of recent ups and downs?

Overall No. 2 Ohio State (which means S&P+ would still pick Ohio State against most teams, not that Ohio State has the second-best resume; Resume S&P+ has you covered there) is No. 20 in the most recent four weeks. Not all of that is just because of the Iowa game, but ... most of it is because of the Iowa game.

No. 3 Washington has been the 10th-best team over the last four weeks. That defense is getting increasingly ridiculous, though the offense suffered a two-week blip.

No. 4 Georgia is the second-best team over the last four weeks. The eyeballs agree, I think.

No. 5 UCF and No. 6 Wisconsin are No. 11 and 12, respectively, doing what they need to do against less-than-impressive slates.

No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 TCU are No. 8 and 6, respectively. Chugging along.

There’s slippage at the bottom. No. 9 Auburn had been just the 19th-best team over four weeks, though the Tigers were outstanding against Texas A&M on Saturday. And No. 10 Penn State, down from No. 3 just two weeks ago, has played like barely a top-40 team. Playing Michigan State in the rain will mess you up.

As for the team at the bottom of the list, Ball State is one step from playing walk-ons.

See if you can spot when the Cardinals’ season went awry:

Ball State’s offense, first 4 games: 30.3 points per game, 58% average offensive percentile performance

Ball State’s offense, last 5 games: 9.2 points per game, 10% average offensive percentile performance

What happened? The two-deep got detonated.

Starting quarterback Riley Neal went down, and his backups started falling. Four Cardinals have thrown at least 15 passes, the latest of which (Drew Plitt) is a redshirt freshman.

Starting running back James Gilbert went down. Freshman Caleb Huntley has taken on the lion’s share.

Leading returning receivers Corey Lacanario and Jordan Hogue, both seniors, have combined to play five games and catch 14 passes. The leading receivers are two freshmen and two sophomores.

The starting offensive line has changed five times in nine games. BSU was supposed to return three linemen who started all 12 games last year, but one (Pat Maloney) was medically disqualified, and another (Alex Joss) tore his ACL in the opener. Starting left tackle Kaleb Slaven also just went down.

Mike Neu showed promise in his first season at BSU and seems to be recruiting well. But this team doesn’t have nearly the depth to handle this bad luck.

Big Play watch

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Baker Mayfield was almost perfect in Stillwater on Saturday.

One final nod to Bedlam. We use the term “track meet” to describe offense-friendly football games, but Oklahoma’s 62-52 win over Oklahoma State was a bit more literal than normal.

Despite both offenses slowing down in the second half, the Sooners and Cowboys combined for 1,446 yards — more than three-quarters of a mile — in just 164 snaps.

OU had six rushes of at least 13 yards, while OSU had seven.

OU had 14 such passes, and OSU had 13.

OU had seven passes of 30-plus yards, and OSU had six.

The 13 combined passes of 30-plus are more than 61 FBS teams have managed all season.

And to think, the game was basically decided by defense. OSU gave itself a chance to take the lead with a goal line interception with three minutes left, but OU forced a turnover on downs. And after scoring 76 points in the first half, they combined for a mere 38 in the second.

Elon watch

The Phoenix did it again. As mentioned in last week’s Numerical, the wildest story in Division I continued as Elon moved to 8-1 for the season with a 33-30 overtime win over Towson (replete with a huge fourth-quarter blown lead) for Homecoming. They are 6-0 in Colonial play; they were 6-34 in the CAA over the last five years.

This makes it even crazier: the Phoenix still have a negative scoring margin for the season. At 8-1! They lost 47-13 to Toledo in the season opener and have won by three, two, three, six, eight, one, five, and three points. That’s eight wins by a combined 31 and a season scoring margin of minus-3.

Is this sustainable? Of course not. Elon fumbled four times against Towson and recovered all four. They are 44th in total offense and 72nd in total defense. Even if they get by No. 16 New Hampshire on the road this week (presumably by two points), they will probably get smoked by No. 1 James Madison the week after.

But hell, man, you don’t worry about sustainability during a run like this. Worry takes away from your ability to soak it in for all it’s worth.

Elon was ranked in the #FCS committee's top-10 last night. Now go behind-the-scenes with the Phoenix (via @ElonFB) http://pic.twitter.com/fAhDLFVSgm

— FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) November 3, 2017

Gunner of the Year watch

Out of pure curiosity, I’ve been tracking special teams tackles this year. Maybe we’ll give a pretend award out to whoever has the most at the end. Winner of the award gets it named after him.

There wasn’t a lot of movement this week, but here’s your fake award watch list through 10 weeks:

South Alabama’s Deonta Moore still leads with 11 special teams tackles, but he did not add to his total in the Jaguars’ 19-14 loss to UL-Lafayette. They needed him to: two nice Earnest Patterson punt returns set up 10 Cajun points in the tight loss.

WMU’s Alex Grace added a tackle to his ledger; he’s now at 10.5 tackles. He’s taken part in five punt returns (average return: 7.4 yards) and seven kick returns (average return: 18.3).

USF’s Nate Ferguson continues to hang around. He’s up to 10 ST tackles and has taken part in nine kick return stops (21.1 average) and three punt return stops (5.7).

BGSU’s Nilijah Ballew, a familiar watch list name (and a great name in general), combining quantity and quality: he’s at nine ST tackles, and opponents are averaging 3 yards per return on his three punt stops and just 10.2 yards per return on his six kick return stops.

EMU’s Matthew Sexton, sophomore receiver, is also up to nine ST tackles, with a punt return average of 2.2 yards and a KR average of 14.8.