#my apartment has all these little things that make it ideal for Me Specifically

[marigoldbaker]

got a snow day :) which is nice bc i spent my actual day off (yesterday) in bed being very extremely sad

[elodieunderglass]

It's not really my business, but honestly it feels like it would be advisable to hire a copyright lawyer. Like I don't feel like you're in it for the money, but it might be gratifying to have the guy milking your idea at least have to formally acknowledge you. I think I'd do it just for the peace of mind to know if I've been "legally" wronged or not. Either way, hope you continue to inspire, and live out a peaceful life.

(In reference to this post about the guy who pretends to have invented “Elder Teletubbies,” specifically how he is now kickstarting DnD minis of them.)

Ha, well, it’s all a little tricky I think. I might, hilariously, post on the r/legaladvice Reddit (even though they’re all cops lol) because the only thing I want here is for him to stop selling my “transformative work,” and ideally to stop pretending he invented it (which might be difficult as he appears to fully believe his work is creatively independent.)

I think if anything, my post counts as protected commentary or a transformative work of BBC’s Teletubbies, and I think it’s stinky to profit on that stuff in general (like I’m 190% okay with buying LotR fanart on stickers ! but I wouldn’t dream of trying to publish a fic with the serial numbers filed off. Why?)

I think ultimately I’m not a grifter, I’m a grownup, and I think it’s several levels of eye roll to sell fanart of a tv show on this level. I would be embarrassed to touch money made on that. I’m too fucking scrupulous and artisanal. I have toyed with a silly original novel for funsies since 2019 but keep saying things like, “oh, people will think this is too similar to something else that already exists” as if a silly original novel I write for fun has to somehow pass a Bar of Originality higher than anything salary-writers aim for.

I’m also pretty anti-intellectual-property myself in that leftist sense where I don’t believe people should be acting as if creative works are, like, oil. Like the resource extraction angle of intellectual property freaks me out, I don’t think getting super high-horse and snotty about Magical Brain Property is entirely compatible with the artisanal temperament I personally got going on here. I am like snufkin about this, simply smoking a pipe and making a flower crown saying “poor fools! Producing works for market, and serving as the guard dogs of the market, lest their work lose value if it becomes more common!” I do not have a high horse. I am not going to post 6900 words about the importance of defending fucking… Mickey Mouse. I buy those lotr stickers on Etsy! I do have a horse, but it’s a pretty low horse.

If it was his own work I would not care about this guy doing this in the least (apart from loftily calling it stinky - but hey, nerds are common and nerds are stinky, it’s not rare) IF he wasn’t STEALING FROM MY ANTI-COMMERCIALISATION DREAM TO DO IT.

That’s the bit that PISSES ME OFF too much to ignore: that and accepting compliments for being original like 😌 yes my twisted mind did this idk lol.

Like if you asked him point blank about the artistic choices he’d be like idk my twisted mind just sees the Teletubbies this way teehee! but if you ask ME why, for example, the adult Teletubbies live in the forest I’ll explain that in 2017 I was at a major life crossroads and this dream was ABOUT that. It was goodbye to my identity as a foreigner from the pine forests, and full steam ahead to settling permanently in the fucking shire (where the baby teletubbies on the bbc show live). It was about going back to work having had my first child, and saying goodbye to my various career dreams for myself (famous scientist! Published author!) as I chose instead, finally, the responsibility of working humbly as a public servant for the actual good of society. It is about witnessing the wild and saying “I am not of it, but it is my job to be its witness and voice.” That’s why the adult Teletubbies are dancing in my native forests while I’m watching them from the English hills. This guy doesn’t know that he just vaguely heard “spooky forest cryptid” and didn’t develop it at all, I do more work than that with FANFICTION in my time off!!!

So it’s really about nebulous stuff and ethics and not something worth paying a lawyer for I think!

But thank you so much for this, I think the thing that gets most perennial about it is the TOTAL GASLIGHTING of the “outside world” of the rest of the internet like, fully believing they invented this, and they DIDNT. They’re so wrong on the internet and they don’t know

[notedchampagne]

What makes a tlt au work for you? Do u have any favourites out there/that you’ve thought of?

its hard because it can go down to the writing! i have a huge bias for things that put focus on the characters acting awful and driving the story forward- if a story has a plot thats great, but its the difference between "gideon and harrow keep meeting up at parties and fall a little bit in love every time" and "gideons angry she lost her childhood to the cult so she attends a party with the tridentarii to shotgun adolescent experiences, and harrowhark, frustrated that gideon is pulling on her metaphorical leash, follows to stalk her". the former retains a 5+1 fic format and is more bite-size, while the latter puts more focus into their growth as characters. im not great at articulating what i like specifically, but ill put my favorite fics below:

what if nona was dogs tugs at my heart: its post-canon, slice-of-life, and has a unique concept (said in the title). i judged a book by its cover because i thought the premise seemed too silly at first but ive been made a fool and its pet clown. it feels so true to nona the way its about all the things nona loves and how she gets to explore the world through new eyes. i love the way it explores characters softening up and getting hurt through a third person pov

we have always lived in the apartment by @thatneoncrisis i keep saying this but for the love of GOD guys this au is so good it makes me cry and feel such a deep catharsis from it. it takes gideon and harrow and the ninth as a cult and explores their struggle to adapt to a modern society when noone ever gets a break (WOW ITS JUST LIKE IN REAL L-). quinn writes the sides of griddlehark i think go overlooked in fanfic often: their codependency, their tendency to lash out when theyre defensive, their mutual paranoia and different coping mechanisms, harrows psychosis and gideons bitterness, their relationships to each other as being the only other person who really understands what the other suffered through. god. i feel lightheaded.

"but SAM, i dont like angst but i want to see this writing!" read gap between a tragedy and a comedy

"SAM, i also like when gideon and harrow are horrible because theyre maladjusted teenagers! but i want more antics where the characters drive things forward over angst!" read whats eating gideon nav

you just aint receiving is one of my FAVORITE modern aus of all time (and i heavily recommend the authors other fics as well!) if you really want to see how much i love this fic the fact that my comments take up the entire phone screen probably says a lot. its hard to put it concisely: it keeps harrows air of misanthropy and cruelty but redefines it as the result of her upbringing and personal struggle to live in a university while dealing with a backpack of mental illness and frustration. it changes gideons personality as the daughter of john gaius in a way that makes sense having her grow up with johns middling parenting skills and getting everything she ever wanted (connecting it back to kirionas personality in ntn!). it brings in side characters (specially palamedes. my beautiful boy palamedes) in ways that compliment harrow and gideon but not so obviously that they only exist to be supports. they have their own lives and ideals. its a modern au that brings in the boiling politics of johns cult uprising once again in a really novel way

semi charmed kinda life by @griddlebait. jesuchristo and all his middle names this fic is GREAT for you if you want a slice of life, coming of age type modern au that explores what its like for gideon and harrow if they actually got the space to see who theyd become outside of the stifling fate tlt has for them. as far as modern aus go im usually very hesitant to read them because im afraid modernizing the characters takes features away from their core but i really love and respect the way the author treats the 69ers with care and draws distinct lines that shows me how their grow and change while keeping a line to the anchor. also they write HIDEOUS (complimentary) PINING. DISGUSTING. some of these chapters were so chock full of dyke drama that they made me nauseous and whimsical. i think once a friend said this fic felt like if gh could be reincarnated and i like that descriptor a lot

til the cows come home is another postcanon fic that made me feel sick and crybabyish about it- i would definitely recommend it if you want to explore a happier ending with griddlehark! with this and what if nona was dogs the thing i like most about them is that they mix up vulnerability with pain and fear, so it feels more lifelike that way if that makes sense. i lost my taste in fluff fics over time but when its interspersed with struggle and characters causing problems because they cant cope with themselves it feels much more earnest and raw

this became very long. im not sorry

[lucabyte]

thinking about the very specific reading of isat i had during act 3 for the most part

anyway yeah ill ramble here about this. since it actually explains my headcanons for what the disappearing island wish was

disclaimer: taken as a whole this is way too allegorical for what i'd consider a holistic reading of isat, but it was part of my running theories at the time.

anyway my guess for the real-world equivalent of the island ended up being French Polynesia by the end of the game. I had initially thrown a dart at siffrin being greek wrt europe, sisyphus allusion, enjoyment of plays and seafairing-- but the moment that little guy started getting real weird about stars and specified they were from an island i switched my guess to him being polynesian. And then that reading only really strengthened from there (and i was pretty close, tbf!)

but yeah during act 3, especially the king plotline, i started thinking about the themes of cultural erasure + lack of identity that the game has and how that plays wrt vaugarde's extremely welcoming and diverse nature.

reading far too much into it but it made me wonder if they are the results of a fallen empire of some kind. somewhere that gathered people from across the globe (as empires are known to do) before dissolving into what seems to be a localised theocracy of some kind?

like. vaugarde is basically the Good End for an empire. Fully demilitarised (they barely have use for police to the point where the defenders are surprised by burglaries, and almost CERTAINLY have zero army), extremely diverse, not caring where one comes from.

(either that or they've been a socialist utopia like, forever? and thus just aquired migrants perpetually... but ka bue is characterised as harsher by odile in a lot of respects so one can assume its not that the whole planet is Niceys All The Time.)

this lines up pretty well with the um. Whole France Thing. Boy do they own a lot of islands still that they maybe shouldn't. Also lines up with bonnie's word-of-god french creole dialect. So Vaugarde as the welcoming, ideal form of former-colonialiser-nation is like. one i vibe with if we're gonna read too hard into the worldbuilding as presented.

Anyway all this to say I did for a time wonder if the Northern Island wish was 'For The Island To Be Safe'. Assuming this world to have any level of inter-country conflict-- Wish craft is powerful stuff, and a singular island might not be able to defend itself against those seeking to take it by force. Hiding the island from the world would protect it.

... though that felt like an unusually cruel read. The implication that cloistering away like that is a 'valid' strategy for a culture to be safe (albeit with the splash damage of hurting any diaspora).

Plus, wish craft is superbly powerful, with evidently its use on the island only becoming more widespread after it was discovered how to make it work Consistently.

(i work here under the assumption that Siffrin's growing cloak is imbued with wish craft, assumedly the same as the king's armour? Since there's no way that was created at that scale...)

So it almost makes more sense, to me, for the wish to be to 'Protect The World (universe) From Us' or to 'Keep The Universe Safe'.

Wish craft being so second nature to the Islanders (See: Siffrin, favour tree), that a wish that breaks the universe is almost inevitable were the knowledge to become widespread and ingrained.

This too is an oddly cruel read, that a culture's rituals can be dangerous to that degree, but ... ? Dunno. Like I said, reading it as hard allegory makes it fall apart somewhat. Symbols can mean many different things at once until you flatten them for direct analysis like this. I don't think it's quite so 1-to-1, and it's honestly slightly too 'no story only lore' for my tastes, so I did push a lot of this stuff out of my analytical mind once I started getting to the back and of act 3 and into act 4.

Anyway. Not the most coherent explanation in the world, but still some thoughts I had mid-game that i figure i should put somewhere at least, even if I don't think they are really what the game is going for.

As a bonus, the discussions on what the island wish were in this context also lead my friend @samhainian to speculation on the colour wish that i really enjoy. Which is....

The wish that removed colour from humans perception of the world being something along the lines of:

"I wish the world was simpler"

ergo, removing colour as an invocation of Nuiance VS Black and White Morality. The world is simpler, easier to understand.

I think it's a fun headcanon! I like it.

Well anyway. A work is more than the sum of its parts and dissecting something so sloppily as this often does it a disservice. So don't take my theorising as anything more than a general rundown of where my head was at mid-game before i had all the pieces. The emotional core of the story is far more where it's at for ISAT sooooo. [Shrugs and scampers away]

[thievinghippo]

46 for Emmrich/Edda! Or Sonnet if you prefer :)

A kiss out of envy or jealousy for Emmrich and Edda! This is set during the 'Blood of Arlathan' quest

#

“Do you think the Antaam gossip about you as much as the Venatori apparently do?”

“Ugh, Neve, don’t remind me,” Rook says, finishing up the buckles on her gambeson. She is so grateful to be out of that itchy Venatori armor it’s not even funny. Hopefully they’ll all move faster through the camp now that they’re in their regular gear. They have to find the Dalish. And quick. “As if they could ever turn me.”

“Fair point,” Neve says as she adjusts her fascinator. “Emmrich might have called that one a fan, but to me, it sounded more like a bit of a crush.”

Rook lets out a laugh. She can’t help it. “I am not the type of person people crush on.” She looks over at Emmrich and smiles. The dopey one that only he ever gets to see. “With one really big exception standing right over there.” A horrible thought crosses her mind. “Wait. Emmrich, do you still have a crush on me? Or are we past that stage already?”

“I most assuredly do, my darling.”

“Phew. Good. I still have a crush on you, too.”

“That is very gratifying to hear.”

Neve shakes her head. “You two are ridiculous. Stop me if I ever sound like that about Lucanis.”

Rook fake coughs. “Seafood and candlelight.”

“Fair. I’ll give you that one.”

Once Rook straps her shield to her back, she looks at Emmrich and Neve. “Ready to head out?” She’s not sure where exactly they need to go, but they need to get away from the main Venatori forces. Ideally soon.

“If you would excuse us for just a moment, Neve,” Emmrich says, sounding far too serious for a man who has a crush on her. “Rook, a word?”

He’s already marching off to a small alcove and all Rook can do is look at Neve and shrug. “I think I’m in trouble,” she whispers, wondering what could Emmrich possibly want to talk to her about. When they’re in the middle of a Venatori camp. “I’ll make this quick.”

 Rook follows Emmrich into the alcove. Who is already down on one knee. Which usually only means one thing for them. She takes a step closer and isn’t surprised in the slightest when he grabs her hand and pulls her into his arms.

He kisses her then, first hard and demanding, before making way for soft and slow. When they break apart, Rook palms his cheek. “What in the world was that for?”

“I just… That Venatori. I don’t like the way he said your name, Rook.”

Rook hooks her hands behind Emmrich’s neck and leans back, just a bit. This is most certainly a surprising development. She didn’t think the man had a jealous bone in his body. But maybe this isn’t jealousy, per say. Maybe it’s something else. And when they aren’t in the middle of a rescue mission, Rook will take the time to think about that.

“Would it help if I told you that the way you say my name is my favorite?”

Emmrich nods, and Rook can’t help but lean in for another quick kiss.

“And you smell absolutely lovely. No Venatori deserves that knowledge,” he says, running his fingers through her ponytail.

“I smell like dirty laundry and blood,” Rook says with a laugh. “But I did use that lavender talcum powder you gave me this morning. So maybe I don’t smell all that bad.”

Rook bites her lip as Emmrich leans in, kissing her neck, before taking an exaggerated sniff. “Don’t think I didn’t notice, darling. Like I said. Lovely.”

If only they could stay in this little alcove for the rest of the afternoon. But they can’t waste any more time as they look for the Dalish. Maybe once the Dalish are safe and this area is cleared from Venatori forces…

“One more kiss,” Rook says, before doing just that. They really need to find more time during the day for kissing. Would be good for morale. Her morale, specifically, and probably his, too.

Emmrich stands but doesn’t let go of her hand. All Rook can do is blush as he brings her fingers to his lips. He is absolutely getting laid tonight, assuming they both survive.

Rook jogs a few steps, then stops, looking over her shoulder. Emmrich is right there behind her.

She grins. “Now lets go save the day."

[oldwritingm]

HEY POOKS! I'm back with a cool idea😋

Basically hcs where the ninja have to train the reader(who is younger then them) because Wu told them too. At first neither of them want to train together and make the training sessions difficult for each other but over time the ninja see themselves in the reader which was apart of wu's plan. So overtime they develop a sibling bond and everyone rubs in their faces on how similar they are even when they used to hate each other.

SILLY REQUEST BUT HOPEFULLY THAT MADE SENSE! ANYWAYS BYE POOKIE REMEMBER TO TAKE RESTS AND DRINK WATER🤍💛🤍👻👻

YIPPEE you’re back with another banger!!!

Me when you call me pookie,, teehee

Ninjago - Unintentionally Becoming the Ninjas’ Little Sibling

Zane

Zane doesn’t always hate kids, but he certainly didn’t like you at first

He saw you as disorganized and disruptive

Your fighting style was no better

He begrudgingly took it upon himself to help shape you up, not just as a fighter, but as a person

Your attitude towards him was not helping his exasperation at all

But he’s perseverant

Eventually you start to come around to his lessons, finding that being organized is pretty convenient at times

You secretly started to organize your room

You absolutely did NOT want him to know that though

One time he walked in on you sorting your comics by franchise, and you legitimately flipped your table

“Y/n! Why did you do that? Look at the mess you’ve made.”

“I-I don’t care about messes!! No… I… I like my room like this…”

He insisted on helping you clean up, at which point he noticed that the comics, which had somehow maintained their separate groups after falling to the floor, were sorted

He doesn’t point it out, but he feels some pride in you

He helps you reorganize the comics wordlessly

Sitting there, just sorting through comics in silence, the tension between you two melted

Once Zane realized that his teachings were getting through to you, he stops being so harsh

He offers to help you organize things, and he’s thrilled if you return the favor

From there he’ll start teaching you to cook and do chores too

That’s when the others start to notice

They call you the Rumba because you’re a little housekeeping helper

Zane finds the name especially comedic because a Rumba is also a robot

Though their teasing makes you all huffy, you wouldn’t go back to your old ways just to stop it

You like the time you spend with Zane too much

Besides doing chores, you guys also like to watch documentaries together

You’re both one of those “did you know (weirdly specific fact)” people

You like to quiz each other on your niche hobbies and interests

You’re both definitely one of those weirdly knowledgeable people that seem to have a fun fact for every scenario

You’ll build off of each others’ fun facts as well

“Did you guys know that monarch butterflies are actually incredibly poisonous?”

“That’s correct. That’s why the viceroy butterfly has evolved to look similar; predators will assume they’re monarchs, and thus elect not to eat them.”

This becomes more annoying for the others as time goes on

Kai

He was determined to “tame” you from the very beginning

When Wu tasked him with training you, he convinced himself that you were a real piece of work

This led to a less than ideal attitude towards you, regardless of whether you were actually a problem child or not

He assumes this air of authority, using his age and experience as excuses to boss you around

That’s where your problem with him arises

And when you start to show how much you hate him, he only feels more justified in his treatment

It’s only when he starts to notice your hot-headedness that he reflects on his treatment of you

He sees himself in you, which makes him question if that’s how he would want to be treated

No, he decides, this is not how he would want to be treated were he in your position

So he approaches you one day when you’re all alone, watching the sunset

“Here to boss me around some more?”

“No, I want to apologize. I shouldn’t be treating you like this. It’s just not helpful, to you or me. I’m going to try to be better.”

His genuineness strikes you

You accept the apology warily

Frankly you’re worried about how he plans to change his treatment of you

You’re pleasantly surprised to find that he’s actually a pretty cool guy once he drops the dictator act

He shows you fun fighting moves, even lets you win every now and again when you spar

And he invites you to do more leisurely activities too

It’s a welcome change from the endless stream of chores he used to give you

He still gives you work to do though (mostly things he doesn’t want to do himself)

Your lingering hot-headedness shines through when this happens

“Why do I have to do it? It’s not fair!”

“Because I said so. Now shoo.”

The others start to tease that you’re just like him

Kai doesn’t mind this at all

If anything, he’s proud to have a mini version of himself

He loves doing stuff with you; your determination makes you a great buddy to be all competitive with

You guys LOVE to compete; video games, chores, training, anything

Cole

You get on Cole’s bad side by being stubborn

Cole’s a pretty chill guy who likes to go with the flow, so if you make him put his foot down, he’s not going to like you

So, when you demonstrate the classic huffiness of a child, he gets pretty impatient

He won’t push hard when it comes to enforcing his authority

He’ll just leave

This makes you feel like he doesn’t care about you, which only exacerbates your bad attitude

It becomes a vicious cycle of hate on both ends

It’s only when you realize that you are being a little bratty that you decide to try and tone it down

This takes him by surprise

“…99, and 100! Okay, all done with warm-ups. What next?”

“Wh— no complaining? Huh. Um, okay, let’s practice your high kicks.”

“You’re the boss.”

He starts to actually enjoy training with you once you’re not arguing all the time

This shows you that he really does care about your progress

The negative cycle therefore becomes a positive one

Cole loves to praise you when you’ve done a good job

He’s very proud of you

When you get used to going with what he says, you’re adopting some of his laid-back attitude

That’s where the others perceive similarities

But they don’t end there

Cole likes to invite you to hang out with him after training, and through your hang out sessions you start to pick up on some of his mannerisms

Like eating the cream out of the Oreo before you eat the cookie

Or leaving the TV on while you take a nap

The teasing gets amped up when the others notice these mirrored habits

Neither of you really care, though

You just like that you have a good relationship now :)

Jay

Jay thought you were a total brat

All it took was one bad experience; he’s volatile like that

He sees you in a bad light once and your reputation is ruined

A bad comment, telling him no once, a dirty look, anything small like that

He’s super cold to you when training, dishing out orders like Gordon Ramsay and glaring at you just as intensely

You feel like you can never satisfy him

As the work he gives you piles up daily, you can’t help but shoot a glare back

Your relationship is fixed in the same way it was ruined: with a single moment

You were watching TV, appreciating a rare break

Your favorite character was on screen, and you couldn’t help but smile and sigh

“Man, I wish you were my friend. Then everything would be okay. You’re just so cool.”

“Isn’t he?!”

You whirled around with wild eyes

Jay was diving to sit down next to you, his eyes sparkling at the screen

He was overjoyed to find out that you liked the show; it was super niche, and none of the other ninjas had even heard of it

You listened as he gushed about the show, a little disturbed by his complete flip of attitude

Eventually you couldn’t help joining his fangirling

You spent literal hours talking

Kai dropped in at one point to make a comment about you two being secret siblings, which you both shrugged off

After that day you were pretty much inseparable

You both proved to be total chatterboxes in each others’ presence

The others find this amusing in the sense that Jay has finally found an equal, but annoying in the sense that you guys literally never stop talking

The only time you shut your mouths is when you’re watching your shows

Even when training, you keep feedback flowing between you

“Nice kick! Try lower next time, though.”

“Thanks! Oof, that hurt…”

Nya

When you start to get frustrated/demotivated with your training, Nya does the same

She finds you “impossible to work with”

So she’ll dump you with someone else, making you feel like garbage to be tossed around

Wu has to remind her that she was the same when she started her ninja training

She’s in denial at first, but when she sees you hunched over in anger, she remembers being in that exact position

With newfound empathy she goes over to you

“Hey… you know, I wasn’t much better when I started my training.”

“I doubt it. I’m just the worst. I’ll never be a ninja.”

She was shocked to find your attitude so similar to her old attitude

From there she had a better idea of how to help you

You were surprised to find her so understanding

You came around to her as you realized she really did know how you were feeling

You put your trust in her, becoming a little more laid-back and letting her guide you

In other words, you adopted her “go with the flow” mindset

Wu was the first to point out your similarities

You both just looked at each other and smiled

You knew you were similar; that’s why you got along

Nya decides to teach you things beyond ninja training, like mechanics

You become quite skilled under her guidance

The others notice that she’s essentially created a smaller version of herself

She protests that you’re your own person, but she can’t deny that you are basically just mini-Nya

Lloyd

Lloyd gets annoyed if you don’t make progress quickly

His training was very fast and intense, so if you can’t keep up, he gets impatient

He’ll just keep pushing harder and harder

He doesn’t realize that not everyone has a prophecy to live up to, and thus probably isn’t motivated in the same way

He can’t find a way to appeal to your motivation, which leaves you feeling like training is just a waste of time

Lloyd finds this attitude incredibly disrespectful

You guys make so many passive aggressive remarks

“Are you already tired?”

“Well, you did kinda just make me, the kid, do 100 push ups.”

It’s when you finally snap that he realizes he’s been doing it wrong

You explode during training one day, storming off while grumbling furiously

Lloyd just stands there, stunned

At that point he finally recognizes that you’re not just a little version of himself, and he needs to get to know you to understand how to help you

So he appeals to you first, remembering the things he used to like as a kid

He gets you into Starfarer, and you guys bond over your love of it

He learns bits and pieces about you when you hang out, and eventually devises a plan to get you back on track

You take to training much better the second time around, making impressive progress

You aren’t cocky about it though; you’ve picked up Lloyd’s humble attitude

The others reminisce about when Lloyd was in your position and they were the trainers

“They’re kinda like you, Lloyd.”

“You think? I guess they are. I remember when you’d train me like this, Kai.”

He takes pride in knowing he’s facilitated your growth

He’s almost as proud to say he’s created another Starfarer fan

You guys still love to gush over the comics together :)

Sorry this was kind of a long read ^^” but thanks for reading! And thank you lovely anon for your request!!

(divider by saradika)

[marzipanlvr]

Please yesss 👀👀 post about his books you found and your thoughts

hello anon!! hope ur good!! OMG HELLO? HELP ME ARE U GIVING ME A WARRANT TO YAP... here's the real thing i don't want to disclose my age but im a teenager and i havent read all the books he's read (it's impending doom laying upon me ALWAYS :(( feeling so behind rn) but ill talk about the books ive read that he's read!!

sapiens - also part of luigi's favorite's list!! this is by yuval noah harrari my GOAT guys.. i cannot STOP yapping about this book!! if u guys dont like reading very bulky texts and js want to get the main point there's a graphic history version and it's ive read it spits out points very concisely !! so either book it's all good :)) it's veryvery interesting it talks about evolution and why humans act like humans!! i love history and yuval noah harrari made me love evolution so much!! this book was rated a 5/5 by luigi (deserved hehe) girl honestly anyone ANYONE who gave sapiens a chance would also rate it 5/5 or a high rating it's a timeless lighthouse on the fog of defining humanity so since luigi is a very left brained man this deff fits his character all in all (oh js wanted to mention he rated sapiens: graphic history a 4/5)

harry potter - he rated 1st-3rd book a 5/5 def deserved !! ofc it's a classic ive had my harry potter phase die out and live again MULTIPLE times harry potter is probably apart of many people including luigi's first books ive read and loved list

the little prince - 4/5 (by luigi) it still freaks me out that he read the same books as a lot of us, watched the same movies as a lot of us, and that he's js a regular human but his actions moved society to forward him to transcend into the status of being "it is hell on earth to be heavenly - ts", almost even myth-like anyways back to the little prince it's rlly an AMAZING book !! it's a short read and it speaks so much about taking the truth of growing up and adulthood and making it alien through a child's eyes def made a lot of people relive an innocence that once was

animal farm - he rated this a 4/5 and i agree with that i read animal farm for school and it is a classic, so typical and so true i reference it all the time for me i gave it a 3/5 on my goodreads too because halfway through the book PLSDONT FLAME ME FOR THIS i kind ofalready picked up what george orwell was putting down - especially for the ending it was a bit obvious for me PLS DONT GET MAD IM SORRY anw it talks about the oppressive effects of a dictatorship (specifically communist government) and basically talks about how EVERYTHING gets political and even a revolution that looks toward freedom can get blurred when u lose ur ideals that's the main message i got out of this!!

the art of war - i havent finished the art of war yet..sigh.. he rated this a 4/5 and it's fitting since from the reviews ive read it's very strategic and calculated js like luigi so the rating matches with his personality

so sorry that's all the book titles that ive recognized in his roster.. I FEEL SO BEHIND but on a serious note i feel rlly inspired to read more books!! school has been so draining :(( and ive been lacking time to read im trying to light the spark again this year

i saw a lot of philosophy and psychology and self help books (including health about back pain) he's so avid about self-improvement it's stunning

i remember in luigi's reddit too he was very staunch about the fact that when he wanted to bring a book in his backpack it had to be physical and not kindle and he enumerated like 4 points to justify it it was so cute and made me so happy coz i shared the same views as him

oh and i also wanted to mention that luigi is an absolute culture absorber !! so inspiring he reads books about the places he goes to eg. hawaii and based on pictures he's a very openminded social butterfly hehe

luigi is a walking pursuit of wonder. like he read elon musk and the unabomber for specific reasons and i think it's because he was curious to find out the mindset of these people that yk he doesnt exactly idolize to euphonize it at least.. so if we wanna find out what type of person luigi is i think itd be good to judge that based on the books he's read def since it's what he's been exposed to/chosen to be exposed to so if anyone who has read the same books as he has u can always anon message me/make a post hehe i find his mind so interesting!!

i want to say thank you to the anon who send me this message!! i love books SO MUCHRWEDHBS and i had NO ONE to talk to about the books he's read. the minute i stalked his goodreads my jaw kept on dropping till it reached the floorwax. i was so happy that he read the same books as me and i was so excited an intrigued. that marked my crush on luigi i guess.. free nerds love nerds !! thank you anon i love u and ur sweet soul :(( please stay safe anon hoping rainbows ALWAYS find ur way!! <33 u sweetiepie

[mintmoth]

Your oc's are so cool!! It's such a surreal feeling to get back into a fandom and wake up up find that one of my favorite artists is also there. Say, quick question do you plan on making executions for your oc's or do they survive? Well whatever you do I hope you'll have fun with it and as always remember to be well hydrated and take breaks, I hope your doing well mint.

BXDISBSK OH HELLA!! Also thank you 😭😭 I'm glad you're enjoying my silly dr2 art and my oc planning lmao

Honestly I was originally planning on having only 2 ocs specifically because I wanted one to kill the other in order to maintain the same group of survivors in the end lmao. I'm still trying to fully work out the setup and inevitable execution because the plot writing for dr2 is really tight and well progressed imo, so I feel like adding anything would weaken it-

BUT I'm also just having fun and being silly so I know it doesn't have to be perfect it just needs to let me have fun really lmao

I'll add a readmore but I'll ramble about each of them a little if anyone has any interest

First up is the first one I made, Haruka (forgive all of their basic bitch Japanese names, I can't do the fun wordplay to the level I wish) they're the ultimate ballerina, and by extension also nonbinary kind of feminine leaning androgynous but can be masc if needed because they can do any kind of role required of them for a performance

When they're tossed into the dr2 mix they'd probably be found being a third wheel to the dynamic duo that is Akane and Nekomaru, since they're also technically more athletic and would be stretching and practicing every day. I want to sit down sometime and draw them and Akane engaged in a flexibility battle and Kazuichi walking in on them and screeching because they look so creepy

Haruka is planned to be a murderer and I'll definitely get some drawings out once I flesh out my concepts for their execution more

Next up is Nao! She's the ultimate sharpshooter and yes that is a little vague but it's because this includes bows and such on top of typical guns. Hell, she probably even does well with throwing stuff if there's enough focus

With the dr2 cast she'd be mostly a friend to Ibuki and Kazuichi, their eccentricities are endearing to her, plus if either of them just want to ramble about something they're working on she's gonna listen for hours. Honestly they're such a movie night squad to me. Also post game I feel like she's like a girl in the same way I still see Kazuichi a guy, like in the vaguest terms cuz they're both just Themselves and are gonna have fun with it now since they're apart from society. Ibuki isn't included only since I feel like she'd struggle less, but this is the bi/pan gender fuckery trifecta of the group to me

Oh yeah and Haruka kills her. I've got the death already planned out and ideally I wanna do a cg style emulation for it but idk if I can swing it lmao I'm not very good at style emulation tbh

And last but not least is Tōru. I didn't plan on her existing so idk how I'm gonna get rid of her in time for the end hmm. But she's the ultimate tattoo artist and has the most fleshed out backstory of the three but it's embarrassing and I know it LMAO

Basic run down- and stick with me here- she lives with family that work under the Kuzuryu clan, so she's done a lot of sick yakuza tats, partially because of her skill and mostly because this shit is so good that her tattoos have like, an "aura" that influences the viewer a little. So these dudes have extra intimidating tattoo bullshit going on- BUT ANYWAYS so things start and she can recognize Fuyuhiko and Peko and knows what's up with them, but neither of them have officially met her so she's like "oh thank fuck they have no idea that I know who they are I'm gonna avoid these assholes like the PLAGUE"

But of course that won't hold forever but it just makes me laugh like chapter 3 Fuyuhiko trying desperately to be kinder to everyone like "yeah, maybe I'll see if you're good enough to tattoo me some day" and she's choking on her drink because Haha About That-

But yeah hopefully I can rope one of my friends into having their oc knock her off because I think that would be funny like, getting down on one knee please kill my oc tragically

[bam-bi-buck]

911 Lonestar 5x08 SPOILERS

Don’t answer it again!

Holy shit

Said we’d find you Julio - so it’s not because he’s at his friends house - that’s what I thought because of the promo - wrong place wrong time

Dude my heart is racing

Wyatt 😭

Wooo! Get em Julio!

Why are you standing next to the tree? Somebody’s gonna be there in know it

I screamed - I knew it was coming and I still screamed

Jojo 🥺

Enzo 😭

Well I’m glad he didn’t do it because of greed but idealism

Still doesn’t help him 😭

Boarding school until he’s 18?? 🥺

Whose gonna hug him 😭😭😭

Give me a good rating or Nancy’s gonna kill me lmao

Throwing up sucks, it’s been a few years for me, I’d hate to be in a sich where it’s continuously gonna happen

Love Owen supporting Tommy 🥺

Screw the insurance company

Put em up whoever dined the claim - we fight at dawn

Dang - Carlos’s voice when he woke up

Raised by some institution - TK 🥺

He has a point (imho)

Nooo, don’t fight

But no I agree this is hard choice but

That “bye” legit took me out

My mama “ooh you in the doggy house”

Owen going to the top

I hate this man already

Owen’s gonna make this man regret everything - in this case I’m okay

“Again?”

“Can I have the room?”

“You stay”

Mama “you stay bigmouth”

Oooh this is the case that wraps everything together

Two days?!?!!

“You didn’t hear that” lmao

Carlos let that boy eat his lunch

Owen bringing the budget - hell yeah break it down!

The two belt buckles being mentioned 🤣

I don’t know how I feel about this detective after how he treated Grace but I will admit he was funny this convo

Owen’s gonna go to that budget meeting and rip it apart

👏🏻CAPTAIN👏🏻NANCY👏🏻 in the house👏🏻

Damn killed the man they were looking for

Made it right? He’s dead now, how can you get info from him?

“Can I have a word with your paramedic?”

“I think that’s a decision for your husband”

LOVE CAPTAIN NANCY

“I’m not backing down, it’s my little brother” 😭

TK 😭😭😭

The attics bleeding - ew 🤢

Omg it’s Nestor!

He may not wake up - after all that

“The better half. Be right back”

“Speaking of”

“Middle of a thing”

Oh Carlos

4 kids??!

That thing on their ties kinda bugs me ngl

Knew they were gonna do that

“Tree Killer” 🤣

Oh dang - was not expecting that

The police are helping - though tbf the 126 specifically has helped the police a LOT through this series

“Bet you feel like a big old jackass” you tell him mama!

Love that me and my ma talk to the characters like they’re gonna talk back

“Set the president or kill the president?”

Special fund for Tommy!!!

Tommy!!!

No deal?!??!

Tommy no

Tommy yes???

Holy moley!!!

Heck yes!!!

“Surrenders not in my vocabulary either” 🤣

“He was a cop but he was my friend”

“Mine too” 😭

Oh a Ranger sold out a bunch of people?

Oh Campbell?

I’m not sure I believe it

My mama was like we’re gonna see some vigilante shit lmao

PROMO

NY?

Oooh

No! Carlos!

[eyez-withoutaface]

“do i wanna know” by arctic monkeys makes me think of the secret history.

but specifically the line “crawling back to you” makes me think about everyone always going back to henry because ‘he’ll know what to do’ and him being the ringleader and master manipulator of the book and i like to think that richard sings this part near the end of the book while he’s reflecting about how henry manipulated him and used him as a scapegoat along with charles sharing with richard on how henry even used him also and richard is understanding that henry would throw any one of his friends under the bus to get what he wanted, and that he was capable and willing to kill any one of them, not just bunny. henry manipulated them into thinking killing bunny was a necessary evil type of thing that just had to be done but at the end of the day, he would have done anything, used anyone, killed anyone, to get what he wanted.

“maybe i’m too busy being yours to fall for somebody new, crawling back to you” makes me think of how lost richard is in the facade of henry’s mask of ‘divinity’ that richard painted him in. along with how socially isolated he is from the rest of the college and how detached from reality the whole group is. he’s so enthralled with henry and the whole group. first it was the aesthetics and romanticism of it all and how he idealized all of them, especially henry. he wanted to be ‘in’ so badly and i feel that he never really was. imo the only one he was really actually friends with was francis. he was so obsessed with the idea of being apart of that group, richard has never been apart of a close group before, and he already idealized them so much, that he lost sight of reality and became out of touch like the rest of them.

“do i wanna know if this feeling goes both ways? sad to see you go was sorta hoping that you’d stay” richard is now realizing that henry and his relationship was never true friendship, henry was just a master manipulator and richard was just another chess piece for him. richard was so obsessed and attracted to henry now that he’s addicted to him, his dynamic in the group, and the things he made richard feel (aka, helping with, being an accomplice to, and witnessing bunny’s murder), because it made richard feel powerful.

these are just my silly little thoughts so take it all with a grain of salt ‼️

[brooklynisher]

I just went through and analyzed the lyrics for A Life Of Un-Delightment!

And let me tell you it is depressing.

To summarize, I believe A Life Of Un-Delightment is about a robot that originally had a very positive outlook on life, but as time goes on, and as life gets tougher, this robot begins to lose this positivity and succumb to depression.

It's a song about a hopeful robot losing hope.

The white text will be the lyrics, while the blue text is the analysis!

Enjoy!

In the morning I wake up to the sea breeze (Oh-ah-oh!) I can’t feel it but I see it in the trees (Ok!) My skin of metal glistens in the sunbeams (Oh-ah-oh!) I can’t feel it but it radiates through me (Oh yeah!)

The first few lines set the scene. This is from the perspective of a robot. But despite being a robot and unable to feel, they embrace positive environment. This robot may not feel anything physically, but they can definitely feel something emotionally.

As I stand there my coat blowing and skin reflecting I sight the small things that make this world for me

This robot robot wants to live a happy life, which explains their attempt at finding joy in little things. This also vaguely foreshadows that this robot isn't living their ideal life.

All around is a life of un-delightment (Oh-ah-oh!)

A life of un-delightment! This robot is living a difficult life!

When I wake up it’s waiting there for me

Whatever challenges that they must deal with they expect to occur every single day

Can you feel it, this life of un-delightment?

The robot then asks for relatability as if to ask if they're alone on this.

I can feel it all through my metal being (All through!)

Regardless of if you can relate or not, the robot declares that they feel life is difficult. Even though they are a robot and robots aren't supposed to feel anything.

Ooo yes, I must confess, I can see the sunshine

There's a difference between the lyrics here and later. Here they use the word "Confess" as if to say they did something wrong. This implies that they think it's wrong to find joy in these conditions. Whether it's because they're a robot who isn't supposed to feel, or because the scenario doesn't seem right for good feelings, is unknown.

Tossed into churning gears, I can see the wind fine

This describes a very specific situation this robot has been in. Whether it's literal or not, this situation is tearing them apart, but despite all the badness of it all, the robot still finds something good about it. The wind is blowing fine! The world is still spinning! It's not so bad even if you're being ripped apart by gears.

But oh no, I must have shown, too much of my ways How I have some good days, out of the haze

Suddenly, this positive outlook on life is turning against the robot. We're not told how, but the phrase "Oh no, I must have-" tells us that the robot must've accidentally caused a problem through their positivity.

When the sky clouds and sheds some tears of joy now (Oh-ah-oh!)

The robot's still holding onto this positive outlook on life. Even though rain is commonly associated with sadness, this robot tries to make it about something good! Who says tears have to be sad? Who says only sad people can cry?

I can’t feel it but they drip right off of me

This robot still can't feel anything physically , and it's looking like they're starting to have difficulty feeling anything emotionally too. Before, all the good things would "radiate" through them, but now they're dripping right off. They're trying to see the brighter side of things, but they're struggling to believe it.

A boom of thunder, a buzzing bolt of lightning (Oh-ah-oh!) I can’t feel it but it sizzles all through me

The robot's ability to feel emotionally is not lost, but now they're more likely to embrace these negative feelings.

As I stand there my coat soaking and skin vibrating

The robot is in a really rough spot right now. Vibrating and soaking wet, yet they're not going anywhere. They're just succumbing to these negative feelings.

I sight the small things that make this world for me

But there is still hope. The robot doesn't want to succumb to these negative feelings. The robot's still seeking out joy.

(Chorus skip)

Ooo yes, I must profess, I can see the rainstorms

Before, the robot had to confess, as in admit they were feeling good, as if they felt bad about it. Now the robot needs to profess. As in, openly admit that they see the world in a more depressing view. This time, they don't feel like they are wrong like they did last time. As if to say they were doomed to feel this way.

Fallen to the short circuits, I can see lightning form

The robot continues to feel these difficult emotions as we're given another example as to how. The robot is breaking down. Emotionally or literally is unknown.

Oooh no, I must have shown, too much of these ways

The robot is no longer claiming "these ways" to be their own. Yet they still feel that showing "these ways" was the result of their downfall despite not being on purpose.

How to have some okay days, out of the haze (Here we go!)

The robot's positivity is dwindling. At most, the bot can hope for an "okay day" because "good days" must seem impossible for them at this point in life.

All around is a life of un-delightment If I wake up, it’ll be waiting there for me

The robot is either suicidal or just completely hopeless. They're no longer expecting themself to wake up the next day. At this point in time, life is either so difficult to the point where the robot cannot tell if they're going to live tomorrow, or that this robot doesn't want to live tomorrow. Because the robot no longer says "When I wake up" but instead "If I wake up"

At least, that's what I've gathered

[blanketorghost]

SIDE A:

I fell in love with the ideal person But as you can see They had to go And it is the love that tore apart my entire heart and soul When holding hands, In the park we kissed and tears fell On fallen rose petals And, sadly, they told me so: "I have to leave, And it's not because of me, my heart lies with you All the love of my insides, my chest and my soul I know one day I will return."

SIDE B:

It was you who said goodbye And yet tears run down your cheeks If you are going to erase even the memory of yesterday like this, That's enough. Just smile for me. I sing and sing about love, one that's out above the clouds But I can't see it with my clouded mind No, no, we talk and talk about those regrets that grow day by day, and as the night swarms We forgive each other but there's no meaning to it.

SO HEY UH. LIL SNEAK PEEK OF THEIR BREAKUP ARC???

TW: for mention of underaged sex (??? only adding this just in case bc it all depends if you think their bio ages are counting their bdays during the school year the main story takes place so they'd be 17/18 respectively but I consider them to be before the school year so they'd be 18/19)

ANYWAYS HI

I decided to make their breakup so specifically heartbreaking i myself choke up a little when I imagine the scenes I'll have to write (I'll definitely cry)

So uh.

The inevitable happens and Yuu has to leave. The days leading up to his leaving date things are very tense between them. A lot of their conversations are thinly veiled arguments about Azul wanting Yuu to stay and Yuu telling him he has to leave even though he doesn't want to. Azul thinks that he's making excuses and wants him to admit that he values his life on earth more than their relationship─ Yuu just wants Azul to understand that he has way too many responsibilities and life issues he needs to tie up before he can even think about running away with him to another dimension where he has nothing to his name and could slow Azul's progress down (It also doesn't help that Yuu never actually tells Azul just how famous and influential he is on earth). Yuu also thinks that they could try making a long distance relationship work since Idia and Ortho are working on ways to allow Yuu to reliably travel since they've already managed to make phones work, but Azul is very against long distance because he thinks Yuu would fall out of love if Azul isn't physically there to be of use to Yuu. They always get out of these fights by apologizing and just expressing how sad they are they can't be together but they ultimately never decide on anything. It's actually so stress inducing for everyone because they were in their whole honeymoon phase before this.

There's a whole going away party the day before Yuu leaves and even though it's fun, everything is very bittersweet and I even have this cute scene where Grim asks to go to sleep on Yuu's bed like how they did before Ramshackle was fixed up pre ch.3 🥺

BUT ANYWAYS before the Grim scene, Azul texts Yuu to come to his room in Ramshackle (Yuu often gifts the dorm's spare rooms to friends including Azul ofc) so they can talk about what they're going to do. Yeah well the conversation gets derailed and they end up having sex for the first time as like a way of Yuu physically trying to show Azul that he will love him forever no matter what //sobs

Thats when Grim barges in after they're done and asks for Yuu to sleep over. With Azul's permission he goes and sleeps with Grim but he still feels guilty because they did something very intimate together and if able he would've wanted to spend the night with Azul instead. Yuu ofc can't say no to Grim because he also loves him a lot, though.

In the morning then Yuu wakes up and makes breakfast for Azul as like a way to apologize for not staying over+ maybe make up and talk more about what they'll do?? but when he goes over to Azul's room he finds out that Azul left even earlier in the morning and broke up with him through LETTER.

So uhm yeah Yuu is obviously very heartbroken about all this but he tries to keep a strong face for his friends since he is literally leaving today and doesn't want anyone to feel even worse than they are rn. All while Yuu is giving his goodbyes, he doesn't see Azul and thinks he just dipped and won't say goodbye in person. But Azul actually does go at the last second and they say goodbye, trying to leave their relationship in amicable terms despite everything and despite they're both crying like babies. But then Yuu kisses his forehead tells him he LOVES HIM so Azul decides to play the bad guy and say goodbye to him for good.

Obviously he eventually regrets that decision but in the meantime,

here we are

also fun fact!! Yuu's vc is Symag (alongside others- im trying to catch a vibe) and this SONG in Yuu's canon he actually writes it after their break up so legit this song is about Azul in Yuu's universe BYE

[gayeilgeoir]

You all seemed to like this the last time I did this so we’re doing it again. Here’s a radical feminist analysis of Taylor swift’s feminist songs! I’ve done The man, so I’m moving onto Mad Woman, one of my favourite personal songs of hers.

A summary of this songs overarching meaning is that as a woman, your reactions are judged tenfold. You are instantly more dramatic, more violent. Here, Taylor embraces it, she realises she cannot fight to be seen as a “nice girl” and also as a dignified human being who stands up for herself.

“Does a scorpion sting when fighting back? They strike, to kill and you know I will”

Here, she calls her response and anger towards the misogynistic backlash she received inevitable. She does not claim to be innocent, likening herself to a scorpion and calling her anger a fight, but she does not believe that fighting back villainises her, it’s an inevitable result.

“What do you sing on your drive home?…fuck you forever”

Here, Taylor paints an image of her haunting the narrative of the life of the people who have hurt her. She imagines their guilt, heading her music, seeing her face and she reveles in it. She is ending the phase of her life where she forgives and forgets, let’s people walk over her and does not advocate for herself. Here she delights in the guilt and suffering of the people who have made her suffer.

“Every time you call me crazy I get more crazy, what about that?”

Here, Taylor disallows the use of her pain and anger as weaponry against her. She refuses to let misogynists shame her for her anger and use it to prove their own point of her being over dramatic. She does not play into their image, but makes it useless

“And you’ll poke that bear till her claws come out and you find some thing, to wrap your noose around”

This refers specifically to being a woman in the public lens . Having yourself picked apart, every detail of your scrutinised within an inch of its life until you finally crack and your human reaction to being aggravated for years is used to defame you. One woman will be tolerated by all, but to do so, she must devote herself to all. She has to be constantly making herself smaller to not step on others toes and make them feel bad about themselves, she must not be too proud of everything she has fought for, because being famous and a woman, means if you are not completely the pinnacle of patriarchal womanhood, you’re shot down because you’re sending a message to young women and girls that they can be something else.

“And women like hunting witches too, doing your dirtiest work for you”

I’ll try my best not to name and shame, but I think we all know who this line refers to. She talks of a woman who serves the patriarchy by putting down other women. She belittles and degrades women for little reason to make men like her more. “Doing your dirtiest work for you” refers to being a vessel of misogyny, if a man you hates tells you you’re ugly and worthless, It hurts a lot less than a female friend saying the same thing.

“The master of spin has a couple side flings, good wives always know. She should be mad, she’d be scathing like me but no one likes a mad woman”

The “good wife” in this analogy is a woman who lets people walk over her, accepts abuse and allows men to treat her badly. She becomes an accessory to a man the acceptance of his bad behaviour. “She should be mad” means Taylor is saying that it’s a pity these women feel the need to be subservient to be accepted, and they need to learn that they can be loved and fulfilled without devoting all of themselves to patriarchal ideals

[periwinklemoonlight]

I AM VERY INTERESTED I LOVE HEARING THOUGT PROCESSES AND ITS SO CLEAR HOW MUCH PASSION AND CARE WAS PUT INTO YOUR ZINE PIECE

AHH THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! i have so many thoughts i dont know where to begin LMAO ill start with the outfit designs first!!

to start things off, every design has one specific colour in mind to represent that hermit! pearl - blue, gem - green, impulse - yellow, doc - black/gray, and grian - red! (everyone's nails are painted their colour) every design was deliberately punk-inspired, since during the king arc the soup group was a force of resistance against the monarchy's tyranny :P therefore, the soup group are the main focus of the art and their designs are intentionally made so that they stand out more from the other two, though i made sure they were all unique in one aspect or another :] let's go character by character now! (i'm including all my initial design sketches + some inspo photos too)

pearl - she's the lead singer of soup group, along with playing the electric guitar! her design features a double tank top + low rise big pant combo, moon motifs of course, and two distinct shades of blue! The darker one is seen throughout her hair and outfit, while the lighter one in her moth antenna is reflected in her guitar. the main inspiration for her look was avril lavigne, which is also what influenced me to add those fun blue hair streaks :D on her shirt i wanted to have a sort of skeletal moth/butterfly design!!

gem - the keytar! i wanted to make sure that gem and pearl's designs looked very distinct from each other, so i went for a slightly different vibe with gem's! her design is based more off of the plaid skirts, big boots, and fishnet looks i found while looking through early 2000s lip service magazine scans (as well as some hayley williams looks!!) :D additionally, shes got vine tattoos over her body to call back to her nature elf vibe this season!

impulse - the drummer of course!! for his look, i wanted to go a little more anarcho-punk (since its a much older punk style and hes the oldest member of soup group LOL), so his vest jacket has got a bunch of diy additions like patches, pins, paperclips, and chains, along with a bunch of spikes!! in my mind, the back of his jacket has probably got a whole lot more patches, spikes, and studs :] beyond that, i made sure to give him lots of piercings (though my options were limited since s9 impy has a beard lol), and stretched earlobes for fun!! ideally his pants would also have a lot more patches and fun bits, but since his legs would be entirely covered by his drums in the final piece i went for something simpler

doc - an opener and feature on the song! since he's not part of the soup group, his design is quite a bit simpler than the others in terms of both look and concept :] his look is monochrome save for his robotic red parts and green skin, but still looks interesting thanks to that fun leather jacket :D his look is purposefully more reminiscent of a 50's style greaser, i wanted to go for an older fashion style to make him look more intimidating/mature, as well as set him apart from the look of soup group since the perimeter was an independent nation in the king arc!

grian - another feature/opener! design wise? hes literally just green day i can't even lie like the pun was perfect and also the black shirt + red tie combo is iconic and also fits his look so effortlessly it had to be done LMAO also, if you look closely in the final piece you can see he's wearing eyeshadow! this of course is again because hes grian day /silly. but to be real, i think this style also fits him really well since the tie + spikes & studs combo gives the look that sorta rebellious vibe that was all over his videos during the king arc :]

AND NOW FOR THE INSTRUMENTS!! this segment is thankfully much shorter

pearl's guitar is of course a nod to my design for her and her moth wings! butterfly guitars are harder to draw than you'd think LOL

gem's keytar has got a vine design all over it to match her tattoos

impulse's drum set has got the soup group punk band logo! the logo design may honestly be my favourite part of the piece, i feel like i really nailed what i was going for :D

and thats it! i'll edit this post or rb with any details i missed if they come to mind! thank u for reading anyone who has made it this far <3

[rainedragon]

do you have any tips for scanning old magazines/catalogs? i'd like to help archive some of the publications i have, but i don't really know where to start ʕ⁠´⁠•⁠ᴥ⁠•⁠`⁠ʔ

i'm mostly concerned about binding (especially on glbs) and what scanner specifications to look at, but any other advice or resources would be appreciated too!

So, I'm not actually an archivist, I'm a web developer by trade. I own a relatively inexpensive flatbed printer/scanner, mostly because it was what I could go out to a physical store and buy for relatively cheap when I started out scanning old magazines and catalogs.

For anything that is staple bound, like a magazine, and can be put flat on a table while open, scanning is relatively easy. You just need a flatbed scanner that is bigger than the pages, and a book to put on top of the lid to keep it flat (don't use too heavy of a book or you will damage the scanner 1-2 magazines is usually good. Also, don't forget they are there, open the lid and fling them across the room). Line up a corner of the page on the corner of the scanner and you should be golden. Scan in photo mode if your scanner software has options. Ideally, for things like the GLB, you would either want a copy you can destroy (which I kind of think is what some of the 'latest magazines' scanning farms were doing in the 2010s) and to carefully unbind the whole thing and scan the pages flat (which I have no personal interest in doing because destroying books pains me and I'm not trying to digitize "clean" digital copies for any professional reason). OR, my understanding is you want something with a V-shaped cradle of some type that is specialized for scanning books, either as an actual scanner or a camera setup with software. The problem is last time I looked those were like 10K and up if you get a piece of specialized equipment.

I've vaguely dabbled with the idea of doing a very hacky version of a DIY build with boxes cut down to the right angle and some panes of glass and my DSLR for my pink house catalogs because they are too big but I never really got it fully figured out. I will admit, I haven't tried super hard. I kept getting reflections, and I had to worry about the glass scratching the pages, and I didn't feel like getting a proper light.... I know I should really try again, and try a little harder, but it's a lot and I have a lot of other stuff I need to do so it just keeps getting kicked down the road.

That said, if you want to get into trying a DIY build, there is a whole community of people who were doing that in the 2010s that have posted good info on types of glass and way more detailed suggestions than I can make here: https://diybookscanner.org/forum/index.php This box scanner is essentially what I was trying to set up and it theoretically should work, I'm pretty sure my whole issue is that I was trying to do it all quickly at like midnight one day and did not have the right lighting and didn't try too hard to fix that. Like... I could have tried a lot harder than I did https://www.instructables.com/Bargain-Price-Book-Scanner-From-A-Cardboard-Box/ (good pictures of one here: https://diybookscanner.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1202)

And then I needed to take it apart because I needed the table back...

But yeah, if you don't want to invest thousands or destroy them, I would say try a cardboard box scanner for things like the GLB, see if you can get it to work for you?

And then for things that can go flat, a combo scanner/printer that is good enough for photographs will be more than good enough for the print resolution of most magazines and the scanner/printer combos are way cheaper than dedicated scanners because they think you are going to become an ink customer and buy printer ink, so they make it cheaper. But the joke is on them. My combo scanner printer has never had ink in it before. (Note: do read reviews and make sure it's not stupid enough to require it's ink to be full to scan. I wouldn't put it past some companies to add that to their software). If you are really passionate about this, there are a lot of people who are way more dedicated to archival book scanning who have developed all sorts of DIY solutions for speeding up the process, automating parts of it, etc, and searching for terms like DIY book scanner should get you in the right place on the internet.

[neos-schlond-poofa]

Resident Lover x Ethel Cain I

Which song fits each RL Character the best, and why? Only featuring songs from Preacher's Daughter; any other Ethel Cain albums and EPs will be in another post if I feel like it. And also, you don't need to know any Ethel Cain lore to get this post.

BELA DIMITRESCU: Sun Bleached Flies

Listening to the choir, so heartfelt, all singing God loves you, but not enough to save you

A song about one making peace with their fate; not so fitting for Bela, is it? The one love interest who never stops fighting for MC?

But what if the she's accepted that her fate is fight for MC. Her fate is to always be there for them, even when the universe tries to tear them apart, even when everything is utterly terrible. And all throughout the song, it is clear that what Ethel wants is just her lover back, just as Bela hopes to have a wonderful life with MC without the fear of Miranda ruining it all.

I'm still praying for that house in Nebraska By the highway, out on the edge of town

CASSANDRA DIMITRESCU: Gibson Girl

You wanna love me right now You wanna get alone with me

Arguably the hardest character to assign a song to, Cassandra is the Gibson Girl not due to the specific lyrical nature of the song, but the interpretation others have from it when listening to it without knowing its full story.

Those who don't know the story of Preacher's Daughter just believe this is a song about being hot and sexy and getting around. Just as some believe that is all there is to Cassandra. But truthfully, Gibson Girl is a dark song hidden behind the sound, with so much more to be read into than just "this song makes me feel so good." And like the song, there is so much more to Cass than just her looks and her relationships... she's her own character going through her own things who doesn't just want these small flings, she wants a relationship, she wants someone to love her.

Then I would show you something You can never have

DANIELA DIMITRESCU: Strangers

I tried to be good Am I no good?

The forgotten sister who just wants to the best version of herself as she can. The one who wants to please everyone even when she doesn't know how to. The one who has so much expectations put onto her.

This song, similar to Cassandra's, is a bit of a stretch, but I'm not basing it directly off the story, am I? Dani is Strangers as even in her darkest moments, she cares for others, even the ones who haven't been the best to her or the ones she has complex relationships with. It's as simple as that.

Found you just to tell you that I made it real far And that I never blamed you for loving me the way that you did

ALCINA DIMITRESCU: Televangelism

You see, this is hard, because there are no lyrics, so it really messes up the layout. However, I don't need lyrics for this. This song is all about Ethel's journey to the afterlife and her acceptance of such. And for Alcina, is appears she has just accepted her life to being one of Miranda's tools for getting MC back. She barely fights for herself or her daughters unless the player pushes for it.

ANGIE BENEVIENTO: American Teenager

Head full of whiskey but I always deliver Jesus, if you're listening let me handle my liquor

I promise I didn't just pick this song because of its mentions of alcohol. But Angie, out of all the members of the cast, is the most similar to American Teenager, even if she isn't American. Angie wants to have fun, she lives an idealized life where she parties every day and has little to worry about. Out of all the songs on the album, this is the happiest sounding one, but just like Angie, there are somber undertones to it.

Angie's life really isn't ideal. She's a doll. She can't go anywhere far or she will basically die in a weird, non-permanent way. Her life isn't all that great, and neither is the place that she lives in. Just as Ethel grew up with an amazing view of the world, only to realize it's not great and had been glamorized.

It's just not my year But I'm all good out here

DONNA BENEVIENTO: House in Nebraska

We had nothing except each other You were my whole world

A torch song. Fitting for Donna, who has gone through multiple timelines where her love is unrequited after a previous one where she experienced the happiest moments of her life.

At the core of this song is truly a sense of longing. Ethel misses her lover who left her before the events of the album. Time has passed, yet she can not accept that he is gone. As for Donna, years could have passed since her time with yet MC, yet she still loves them. She almost always remembers what they had and what they didn't. The pain both of them went through, but the love they still had for each other afterwards. The nights they had in the flower shop and the mornings they had waking each other up with kisses. And yet, it's gone. And Donna will never truly have that back due to the loop. She will never have her love. The person that helped her with her mental health and allowed for her to become an even braver person than she ever would've been before.

She's alone without MC. She has Angie, of course, but that's her niece. As for the Dimitrescu sisters, she isn't that close to them as she is with Angie, and Bela, with whom Donna has the closest relationship with out of them, will forever lose her trust in Donna. Alcina and Miranda aren't that great figures in her life either; MC was her light, and it was taken away from her. She understands she doesn't own MC, but she still wants them. She loves them so much and hates the thought of them being gone. But ultimately, she has to accept that there is no happy ending with MC.

But God, I just hope you're doing fine out there I just pray that you're all right

MOTHER MIRANDA: Ptolemaea

Heard you, saw you, felt you, gave you Need you, love you, love you, love you

Miranda is not a good person. In this case, she is not Ethel in the song. Ethel can easily be viewed as any other character in the game. Instead, Miranda is the haunting voice of Ethel's murderer. And while Miranda does not murder everyone in the game, she does ruin their lives for her own sake.

Miranda is the figure that harms everyone else. She manipulates them and makes sure none of them gets their happy ending with MC. She owns MC and she loves the idea of having a relationship with MC. Miranda has done so many terrible things just to have MC, who will truly never be in a happy relationship with Miranda. MC had no choice in what would happen to them, they have no choice in being in a relationship with Miranda, as even though they "choose" Miranda in her route, that is only after countless resets by Miranda to get MC for herself.

Run then, child You can't hide from me forever

MIA WINTERS: August Underground

Another song that ruins the layout. Mia might seem a bit of an odd choice to be included, but she is just as important as the other characters. However, that doesn't mean I have a good reasoning for her being this song. It's just an ominous, creepy song that matches up with Mia being crazy.

MC: Thoroughfare

And you said, "Hey, do you wanna see the west with me? 'Cause love's out there and I can't leave it be"

A long song dedicated to Ethel falling love with her ultimately doomed lover. What could be more fitting for MC? After all, to be loved by MC is to be doomed by the narrative. And that includes for MC.

MC will have the most passionate romances imaginable, but they mean nothing. They will always be taken away from them or end terribly, such as being murdered by their lover or watching them just leave for someone else. MC never even intends to fall in love, just as Ethel didn't mean to fall in love here, but they both did. And it seemed so amazing for the both of them. Just a wonderful moment of bliss that didn't last long.

'Cause in your pickup truck with all of your dumb luck Is the only place I think I'd ever wanna be