#nics rambles

[ethosiab]

okay due to me not following hermitcraft basically at all in the past 2 and a half weeks i have no clue who's actually exiled right now. is there like... a list or something someone has made

[ethosiab]

Woah, it's me! Im doing a raffle prize for Hermit A Day May's fundraiser this year, so if any of you have ever wanted to get a commission off me you should definitely donate when the time comes around :D

Introducing the Raffle Artists of HADM '25!

Hello one more time, Hermitcraft fans! March is almost over... which means Hermit-a-Day May is fast approaching! As we lead up to the April 1st release of this year's schedule, I'd like to take some time to introduce the nine amazing featured artists helping us out with our fundraiser incentives this year!

Today: our Raffle Artists, belmarzi, sand-stinger, FantasyKiri, and ethosiab! The raffle is new to Hermit-a-Day May this year, and we hope you find the prizes we have on offer as cool as we do!

Last year, Hermitcraft fanart and animation legend belmarzi blessed us with an amazing milestone reward animatic - and this year, she's back to kick off our first raffle with a bang! Bel's raffle offering is a commission slot for a digital full-body portrait painting, like this one she did of Cleo:

Next up, from the coolest segment of the streamathon:

Sand is crocheting an amigurumi Jellie plushie for their raffle offering! While we don't have photos of the final product yet, you can check out this post to see Sand's awesome crochet skills in action. Jellie will be a little over a foot long (including the tail) and made of super soft yarn for maximum cuddliness! We will cover up to US$25 shipping to get the plushie to wherever the winner is.

Hermit-a-Day veteran Kiri is offering a commission slot for a full scene of up to eight characters, in a similar style to the example below but a bit smaller-scope (and, presumably, less Moomin-y, but far be it for me to tell you what to do with your commission slot! Maybe Moominhermits is the crossover the world needs.).

Finally, our ninth featured artist this year...

Nic's raffle offering is a commission slot for a three-page comic! He will work closely with you to put to page your favorite canon moment, fanfiction scene, or just whatever plot bunny you have in mind! Here's a shorter comic exhibiting Nic's style:

All raffle entries will be $1 - so, for example, if you donate $10 and select the raffle for Sand's plushie Jellie as your reward, you will get 10 entries toward Jellie! You can donate multiple times and select a different raffle option each time, if you'd like. Note that raffle entries do not stack with Individual Reward commissions - you will have to choose one or the other for any given donation. Remember, all donations go to a good cause: the Hermits' favorite charity, Gamers Outreach!

Next time: THE CALENDAR!

[niccolites]

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HOW THE READER DRESS IN THAT PERIOD!! I'm not too familiar around Scottish attire at that time so do you have any particular aesthetic in mind for her? :3 also would love to see Johnny's kilt too! The colour and how he wears it bc ngl (my ignorance) I thought kilts were only worn around the hips so when I read that he took it off I was like 🤨🤨 but I didn't know thye pin it across their chest too. Would love for you to educate us more!

omg yeah !! i'll start with the reader's outfit bc i'll be honest im doing just. generic maid outfits at this stage bc she was just on a farm and i have been like. she will just be wearing a dress she's likely worn for years but im envisioning something like this:

your very. baby's first medieval, basic dresses hahaha

with regards to soap's kilt, tbh when i was looking into highlanders, it's more like. a plaid? like a Very long piece of fabric that is tartan that they wear like a kilt but there's an excess fabric to also have as a cloak, see here:

if i wanted to be accurate, i would be referring to it as his plaid, which i may make him do as he actually hasn't spoken about it yet (so difficult have soap running his mouth about anything that is not pussy in his general vicinity HAH)

but yes kilts are more like. what plaids have become, which is what you see scotsman wear today where it's just around their waist, like this picture of neil

also with regards to the colour of it, i have been going by the colour of the real mactavish tartan, which is this:

shoutout to poor reader man. she gets generic dress that i spend around a few seconds on but i have 5 open tabs for johnny's outfit that i maybe actually refer to in the fic like. twice ✊😮‍💨

however there are female kilts that highlander women used to wear: the arisaid. it doesn't seem to be explicitly stated that this could be in their husbands tartan but i may take some dramatic liberty on this one so that my poor reader can actually have a cool outfit. bless her hahah

anyway other tidbits that i've dropped in is that the keep that the fic is currently in: Dunardry Keep actually is a keep for the mactavish clan that i think they recently re-discovered ! was right on the water tho i have taken even more dramatic licence bc i did not want to have to deal with the semantics of that hahah

[send-me-a-puffalope]

Nat rambling about the entire plot of Pretty Perfect Lives for way too long because autism hyperfixation doesn’t stop for no one.

I came for Elizabeth Lail, left debating with my friend about what the fuck I just watched /pos. I was so deeply invested so here’s me just explaining the plot of the entire show:

It starts off with Tiffany and Tucker (imagine Tiffany and Tucker as Barbie and Ken cause that’s pretty much who they are, but as TikTok influencers instead of in Barbieland) recording videos for “the app” and then they’re like back alone in their home and they’re having relationship issues and Tiffany wants to talk about their relationship cause she feels like they’re growing distant BUT she’s recording them secretly so she can post it onto their account for content (which is supposed to be tiktok but they just call it The App probably because they’re not allowed to say TikTok LMFAOO)

And turns out the conversation they end up having is that Tucker thinks he might be into men too but doesn’t want to break up with Tiffany but then Tucker realized that she’s filming all of their emotional talk to show to their audience that they’re “authentic” and rightfully gets mad because Tiffany is using his internal conflicts as content online.

They then post a video about how they’re going to explore an open relationship but open only on Tucker’s side — she was still fully committed to just Tucker. And then they invite this guy Jesse over for a threesome and it was really awkward and Jesse is like oh the way I like to do things is watching the couple do it and i’ll join in when the time is right. and then Tiffany was just like. ohh yeah no i’m not here to participate. i’m just here to watch. and then it was like Jesse and Tucker undressing and Jesse choking him out with a belt while Tiffany was just like fujoing out from her cuck seat

and then Tiffany posted a video about how their “threesome” was and Tucker was like wtf babe you didn’t ask me about this before posting. this doesn’t feel like you respect my boundaries and Tiffany refuses to delete the video because it’s gotten them a lot of attention. and then they argue and then they break up and Tiffany has a panic attack while screaming for Tucker to not leave her alone (Elizabeth Lail’s performance is so so so so good here, her wailing was so heartbreaking) and then the scene changes.

Lights come up and it’s Tucker coming home and being like hey babeeeeeeee and ITS JESSE INSTEAD OF TIFFANY NOW. But it’s like the exact same situation — Jesse keeps wanting him to record videos with him for “the app” and wanting Tucker to quit his job so that they can do like sex work online instead. but Tucker is like woah um. maybe not. what if i want a job in the future. and then he’s like hey babe why don’t we spend some time together instead, off the internet and Jesse has like stopped paying attention and is just like scrolling through “the app”.

Tucker is like trying to sleep but can’t fall asleep and keeps checking his phone and watching videos that Tiffany posted and he’s like shit,,,, i regret breaking up with Tiffany. and he calls Tiffany like hey i wanna get some closure, why don’t you come over. and then Tiffany does in the next scene in the fuckinf hottest full black outfit. black tube or tank top, black jean jacket, black pants and sunglasses and she’s like yeah. i’ve been doing. fine.

and then they have like cuts in of like Tiffany making DAY 68 OF HAVING YOUR BOYFRIEND LEAVE YOU FOR THE GUY WE INVITED OVER FOR A THREESOME videos. the day 195 one was her crying and saying that she was apart of the “women whose boyfriends left them for a man” community but that thanks to neutragena, the redness isn’t as prominent on her face (link in the description /j)

and then Tucker was like i regret breaking up with you so bad i wish we can just go back to the way we were. and then Tiffany was like no, we can’t. we can’t just pretend none of this ever happened. and then storms off

AND THEN THE NEXT SCENE, Tiffany comes home like disheveled and Jesse (now they’re dating) is like babe are you okay?? you can’t just go missing for 2 whole days and say that you don’t wanna talk about it. and Tiffany has a bit of a breakdown and she’s like i miss when we were keeping our relationship hidden, but now everyone on the internet knows and everyone on the internet hates me and i cant take it anymore. We can’t talk this out, we have to break up because i can’t handle this relationship.

This ends with Tiffany screaming I JUST NEED TO BE ALONE and a glitch happens and the whole stage gets like covered in code and the lights start flashing and then the stage goes black.

THEN. Jesse appears on the side of the screen joining as an “interviewee” from the incident that happened in the IRS-P (internet reality simulation project) where a glitch happened in their simulation and that Jesse got out but Tiffany and Tucker was lost in the simulation. FUCKING PLOT TWIST, THIS IS ALL A SIMULATION.

And they were asking him questions and Jesse explained that he was honored at first that the company selected him, a small influencer, for their huge giant new project. He had just wanted to feel the rush of adrenaline of people finding him attractive and in the simulation he found Tiffany and Tucker. in every universe, he was always intertwined with Tiffany and Tucker and at first he enjoyed it but then it felt more and more like they were just using him.

and then he starts dissociating and he starts hearing the interviewer as Tucker and he starts screaming for Tucker and asking him where he is and the interviewer keeps trying to calm him down but he’s like screaming and having a breakdown because apparently he’s experienced this interview multiple times and he can’t escape (so this whole section might still be in the glitched simulation ??? or it’s a trauma reaction. unclear and likely up to audience interpretation) (Nic Ashe was incredible here, his acting was so gutwrenching)

And then eventually when he’s able to calm down, the interviewer is gone and he’s alone again and his light goes dark.

However, simultaneously to this, on the dark stage, Tiffany is in this nude suit and she’s just like. taking the stage apart and putting props all over the floor (I think the nude suits are a metaphor for them being stripped of theirselves or baring themselves to the audience/each other when Tucker comes on)

The lights come back on, Tiffany comes back on in her nude suit and she’s like confused about the home being a mess and then she collects like the 8 phones on the floor and she tries to use two to start a fire and fails. and then Tucker comes in in a nude suit too and he asks her what’s happening and she’s like idk i tried to start a fire but i don’t remember how to. and then tucker is like did you ever know how to start a fire ?? and then he tries — using two phones and successfully starts a fire.

and then Tiffany feels like super useless and then Tucker starts singing “their song” because the mood kinda stinks and then Tiffany is like ???? what the fuck dude. not the time. but then she ends up singing too (and good lord Elizabeth Lail can sing i’m gonna kill myself she’s so hot i’m gonna lose it i’m gonna lose it i’m gonna lose it i’m gonna lose jr she’s like really good at singing jrs reallt i’m actually gonna lose it holy shit.) and they have this whole moment in their nude suits where they like twirled around and sang their song.

and then they kinda go back to being emo and stuff and Tiffany is like i think the simulation glitched. do you think we’re gonna be stuck here forever? Tiffany is like the sky and the ocean have no horizon, that’s not normal. and Tucker is like huh. you’re right. and then Tiffany says she’s cold and and tucker tries to use the objects scattered across the floor to build them a fort (the tripods and a towel) and he asks tiffany if there’s anything else long to use to build the fort and she was like uhhhh there’s a ring light (i think them having the social media equipment instead of real items is a metaphor for them replacing everything truly authentic in their lives with their fake personalities online).

and then the conversation goes sour and Tucker is like i’m trying so hard because i’m worried that if i don’t try then none of us are going to be trying in this relationship. and this part was like really funny (not intentionally) because Tucker is just in this nude suit and he stands angrily away from Tiffany but because of the nude suit, he’s just double cheeked up in the corner. and here they actually genuinely have a true heart to heart talk now that it’s silent and not cluttered by their online lives. Tiffany reveals that she signed them up for the IRS-P because she wanted to see who else was out there that she might connect with better than Tucker because it’s always been him but she didn’t want to lose everything she had with him. She wasn’t content with their relationship but wasn’t ready to let go of them.

Tiffany’s character is so interesting because while she is very clearly in the wrong in the beginning of the show, she’s given more depth as a character— she’s putting on a front for most of the show but when she breaks down from everything going wrong, she admits that she doesn’t even like the sound of her own voice and that she’s made so much of her life about her online presence that she doesn’t even remember who she used to be and how to stop. She has a panic attack when her life starts kinda falling apart when Tucker leaves her but she’s also kinda selfish in that she stops seeing Tucker as his own person and just as an object to gain attention for their “perfect life”. She often shifts the blame onto Tucker when they’re arguing but when they’re in the glitched simulation (the nude suits)— she admits that she does that because she thinks she’s the problem but doesn’t know how to fix herself.

GOD I LOVE,,, ELIZABETH LAIL CHARACTERS. who needs drugs when you’ve got autism hyperfixation

Okay, and then tiffany is like fuck it. and then they both take off their nude suits (Halle-fucking-lujah by the fucking way. I felt like I was committing a crime seeing Elizabeth Lail that undressed) and jump into the “ocean” and they’re like having fun and the world glitches again and goes black.

and then the scene changes again and Jesse comes back onto stage in a suit and sits down and Tucker comes in and tries to makes a conversation and Jesse is like no i think i’m gonna go (i think this is a metaphor for jesse rejecting the simulation and chooses to not staying intertwined with Tiffany and Tucker, by proxy escaping the simulation) and Tiffany comes on in this cute blue dress and she and Tucker start flirting again.

their hair is both wet and they say that neither of them remember how they got there. and then THEIR SONG STARTS PLAYING AND THEY START DANCING WITH EACH OTHER TO THE SONG. and then it fades to black and credits

I think this is implying that Tiffany and Tucker never escape the simulation???? cause they’re very much still in the simulation in the last scene while Jesse chooses to leave.

No one is gonna be reading this whole thing but holy shit I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the plot way more than I thought I would. More importantly, Elizabeth Lail was drop dead gorgeous 🙏 and I almost died on the spot.

^^ don’t ask me what the America TikTok was about, I can’t explain it to ya JFJWJDJ actually I think it was her acting as a conservative saying that gay men are trying to steal your man from you 💀💀💀 but it’s like meant to be satire dw

[applecheckers]

something about nic cage screaming in a movie makes me feel safe

[sleepy-crypt1d]

One of my favorite parts of COF that I find is commonly overlooked is the fact that it doesn't sanitized itself for a broader audience, it comes in with a message, with a story to tell that's hard to swallow with characters that are realistic and heartbreaking, and it doesn't apologize for this once.

Something interesting that occurred to me was how people who have never experienced severe mental health struggles view COF- the specific instance I'm thinking of is when I was explaining the plot to my mom, and had explained the different endings to her and how to get those endings, and what each one seemed to imply both for Simon and his relationship with those in his life, and her takeaway from the conversation was- "I don't like that the mentally ill main character becomes a killer. I don't like that he's the bad guy"

And this was interesting to me because, that's kind of the whole reason why I started to love Simon in the first place.

So infrequently are we shown mentally ill characters who do bad things yet still deserve redemption. Who still deserve to be treated as a person, because they are one. In a world that is becoming largely comfortable with the idea "bad person = deserves to die" it was insanely refreshing to see a character like Simon, who we see hurt people, who we see become obsessed and stalkerish and violent, gain redemption through healing. Through therapy and community and the belief from others that he will get better. That he isn't a lost cause.

In ending 2, one of the darker endings of the experience, we learn that Simon is alone. That his friends and family have all left him. That he's been abandoned due to his disability and general mental health struggles, and this was devastating to me. Upsetting to a degree that had me thinking about it for days afterward. Not helped by Simon's plea to Dr. Purnell to not feel bad because "not everyone can be saved". The way Simon views himself is much too similar to my own view of myself as someone who has struggled with similar issues.

As someone who was led down a path of harm due to untreated issues and still struggles with believing I "deserve" redemption.

Because I do, and so does he.

And it's always so upsetting seeing so many people who view victims as one note stories. As people who just cry sometimes and have trouble talking to people or get sad every once in awhile. Mental health is messy and hard to live with and life ruining at times, and this stripping of it's nuance is so frustrating to see happen over and over and over again.

Victims are not your savior story. They are not cookie cutter helpless children that need to be protected. Abuse and severe struggles do not make you stronger, they do not make you better, they do not magically make you more empathetic or loving and I'm fucking tired of that narrative. I'm tired of being talked over by people who've never experienced it or other victims who think they're the "good" ones because, well, they never did that which means anyone who did is horrible. I'm tired of stories of illness being sanitized for other people's comfort.

Victims can become perpetrators, that does not take away from their victim status. That does not change the fact that they still deserve help. That does not take away from their personhood. They are a human being that needs help, not a death sentence. Should they take accountability? Of fucking course. Does their trauma absolve them of wrongdoing? No. But I'm tired of people acting like cycles don't exist, like the second you act out on your trauma you're past saving.

Simon's story is perfect the way it is. A story of redemption and acceptance, of learning to live and grow and learn from past mistakes and find a way to live peacefully. To take responsibility and attempt to rekindle the relationships you lost, the ones you hurt.

Ending 4 and his admittance to the hospital, as well as his continued friendship with Sophie but acceptance of his loss of a romantic one, is heart breakingly bittersweet in a way that is hard for me to describe. Him getting better but living with what he's done, growing from it and learning to live anyways.

Another part of this is that, in his happy ending, in the ending where he does get better; he doesn't do it alone. Largely, the narrative of community is lost in these stories, how helpful a support system can be. Simon gets better because he has people there for him, because he has Purnell and Sophie and his mom looking out for him. He has his doctors and the staff at the hospital and people who know he can get better, that he's still a person deserving and capable of good.

People need people, and this seems an obvious note to me in the story of COF. Simon needs people. He needed people the entire time. Someone, anyone, to listen to him and give him the hand he needed.

And it's so refreshing to see a character like Simon still be loved and cared about and helped even when he was "the bad guy". Let mental ill characters be realistic. I'm begging you.

[nicstylus]

Can we appreciate the fact that China Sorrows' magic legitimately reached THROUGH the books and seized most of the fandom by the throats?

We haven't even SEEN her and we're like "Yeah I'd marry her. Yeah she's my wife. Yeah she could run me through with a sword and I'd thank her."

She has people throwing themselves at her feet and we're not even in the same plane of existance as she is.

Her magic is the truest magic of all

[ethosiab]

THEY FINALLY CHANGED IT!!!!!!!

[nicolloyd]

just watched the shadow of ronin cutscenes and theyre my new favourite thing ever the characterization of lloyd really gets me 😭😭

like his voice and hair all work so well together and also the fact that he really wants to beat ronin up like "But hopefully, it involves me hurting Ronin" is something pre s7 lloyd in show would never say which makes it 10x funnier 😭 there is no one he hates more thsn ronin i fear all his anger had to be projected onto someone after losing his father and its ronin

[madness-of-void]

Since I've been seeing it a lot lately, weirdly enough, I wanna say how I hc Ink is as a parent:

He already has to write things down on his scarf, yeah? Well, I think he would do the same with his kiddos. Except! That's so much info to have. Especially if you subscribe to the belief he has multiple kids with multiple people at once instead of only one set of kids with X person.

So, for each kid, he has a notebook dedicated to them. He has a list of things they like, things they don't, what they're scared of, how to do bedtime routines, ect ect.

Of course, at first, it's hard as hell for him to keep all that organized, to be organized in general, and he definitely stumbled around. But he at least TRIED. STILL tries. It comes a little easier for him as time goes on, but he still relies on the notebooks. Especially as the kiddos get older and they mold into different personalities.

He also has to create a place for them to live. Can't just have them wander around the Doodlesphere all willy nilly! Well, he could, but he would definitely not want to go on a hunt for the missing tyke as well as possibly explaining what happened to the other parent. So a legit home with bedrooms and other needs it is!

Speaking of other needs...kids gotta eat, right? Crap. That means he has to learn how to make at least something from time-to-time. Can't keep constantly eating out! That's such a hassle! Plus, it's not healthy (several Toriels told him so). Cue many burnt to hell meals, several almost house fires, and just going out for food anyways before he can figure out how to make something at least edible. Even then, it takes even longer for what he can make to taste good.

Lots of frustration. Lots of calls to his dads, Blue and Dream, sometimes a Toriel or two, sometimes even another Sans or a Papyrus, begging for help. Lots of zoning out from the stress coz this was easier when he was by himself, but he helped create the little thing reliant on him and will never forget him and won't abandon him like his own creator so he needs to be on top of it and stars how does Dream do this all the time with an entire Multiverse!

And he has yet another conundrum to deal with: his paints are mixing oddly. He doesn't understand why he became so highly protective of the little one in his arms when it was suggested he should put them up for adoption (no one ever suggested that again, they did not want to see a raging Ink a second time). Or why whenever they look at him he gets this warm, fuzzy 'feeling'. He mixed his paints as usual, and even changed it up a few times. Still the same protectiveness and the weird 'feeling'.

It takes an embarrassingly long time before he finally takes about it with someone, it just comes up randomly in said conversation, and he finds out what it all is is parental love. Love so strong that it overrides his paints somehow. Just like with everything else, he has no idea what to do. Technically, this shouldn't be possible! Or...he thought it wouldn't be. It also takes an embarrassingly long time for it to click for him that this is a thing, and it's not going to go away. When it finally sets in...he tells the kiddo(s) that he loves them, absolutely sobbing and smiling a little too wide coz, wow, he can feel love! And he doesn't miss a single moment to announce it to anyone who listens (pay no mind to the pics he shares of the ankle biter, he's just excited).

What about the other parent?

Well, depending on who it is, it shouldn't be too much work to convince them to be in the little one's life. Definitely no moving in (he has thought about it, scripts be damned), but there should be slotted times for everyone to be together, or the kids having time with their other parent. Hell, might even be the other parent who suggests all the things and they might be the one who has the kid living with them while Ink is the one with visitation (and in that case he visits daily coz he is just too fond and protective).

But what if the other parent is one of those that just...wants nothing to do with the little one they helped make? Well...it'll be hard. At first, Ink won't make a fuss. He has plenty of people who would help him. The kiddos don't need the other parent! But as time goes on, and maybe a few curious questions from said little one...he will feel another surge of protectiveness. He never hid who the other parent was, and has asked everyone else not to either, but now it's more serious. Nights of cries for someone never there, hundreds of questions why the other "doesn't love me"...Ink will not stand it. He will invade the other's space with a passionate and firm speech. All he's asking for is just every other weekend with the kid, and they have 2 months to prepare to pick them up at the home he made in the Doodlesphere. He won't force them to come, to be in the child's life. But he has to try. If they don't show up, then he has something planned instead for the whole weekend, on top of apologizing for something not his fault. At least he tried...and hopefully that's enough.

And, wow. That's it. I got my ramblings out. All done. Pretty sure nobody would subscribe to this, but eh. Everyone has their own headcannons and what have you. It's all in a bit of fun!

Now, if you excuse me...I have a fic to write about this...

[comebackbehere]

we really didn't know anything that was going on huh

[thegraveyardsh1ft]

“The management of Macabre Mart, on the behalf of one of our fellow staff members, would like to reiterate to the rest of the staff that any mention of a certain leaked audio to said employee will now result in personal injuries and/or death, depending on the situation.”

- Henry

[myfairstarlight]

Just got reminded Nicola Coughlan will appear on Doctor Who in the next Christmas special and I fell to my knees at the thought of her and Ncuti on my screen together

[niccichi]

Everything We Know About Jamie (so far)

Recently some developers for SF6 revealed a bit of Jamie's backstory at an event, and since he's my babygirl I decided to compile everything that's confirmed to make it easier to reference! I tried to pull everything from the game (World Tour, official descriptions), developer tweets and summaries from events like these. Most of these were in Japanese though, and since idk Japanese I had to Google Translate, so please take these with a grain of salt!

Putting everything under the cut because it's long and I don't wanna clog up dashes 🍶

He’s 2 years younger than Luke. Luke’s in his late 20s.

While Luke loves fighting for the sake of fighting, Jamie takes his relationship with his opponent into consideration. He reserves some techniques (like the finger snap) for a few opponents.

Jamie’s dad is a rich businessman and his mom is his dad’s mistress. His father’s wife passed away for unknown reasons. He hates his dad but loves his mom as they both went through a lot of hardships together (not sure how correct this is considering in WT he says he rarely sees her and doesn't know anything about her besides the fact that she's pretty). He calls his mother often, and he is very close to her.

Jamie's mom is a former actress.

He was born in Shanghai, but moved with his dad to Hong Kong to live with his mom.

He knows how to play the trumpet and learned it when he was a kid. The taunt he does where he sings his theme song and pretends to play the trumpet actually has the right finger placements.

He values his friends highly, always considering them first before himself.

He finds it hard to open up with people he likes, but he has no problems being honest with people he doesn’t like.

He moved to the US with his parents in high school due to his father’s work.

He hates lectures and arrogant people.

He loves his grandmother, Yun, and Yang.

He lived with his grandmother for a little bit in China, in the middle of nowhere. His parents sent him to live there when they got tired of his reckless behavior. He says that she was the one who taught him "how to fight" and "how to live." It's unknown how old he was when he lived with her.

Yun and Yang saved his life when he was in middle school after he got beat up by a gang member and was about to be killed for refusing to join their gang. He's admired them since and considers them his bros. He hasn't seen them in recent years though.

His favorite food is cloud noodles. He loves spicy foods and candy too.

He doesn't like carbonated drinks, and he doesn't like any foods with raw fish because he can't stand the smell.

He's ambidextrous.

Jamie started wearing make-up because of his mother.

He looks like his mother but his personality is like his father's. It's unknown why his relationship with his father is so strained.

Jamie doesn't text anybody because he doesn't like having messages being left behind. It's unclear why he doesn't like having messages - it's speculated that he either doesn't like having proof of people he's close with being found out because of his 'work' (see next point), or that he doesn't like having the memories there. He only calls people.

Jamie makes money through 'dirty work,' but it's unclear what this work involves. However, director Nakayama said that he learned how to do these jobs from Yun and Yang, who are speculated to be involved with the criminal underworld in Hong Kong in order to maintain the peace, resolving issues in their town by getting paid by residents to act as bodyguards/security, and Jamie might be doing the same in Chinatown if he learned from them.

[ethosiab]

I’m. So normal about the team Canada au. So normal and definitely not about to combust. Really just the most normal a person could possibly be. Perfectly still and certainly not vibrating out of my skin. I am. Calm.

Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please say more I must know about the little dudes I will not survive the winter

i believe you . you're soooo normal.

i, however, am not. long rambles + art under the cut

plot-wise, the AU is predominantly centered around the two Ethos—the 'original', who works for the Script Foundation and donated his DNA to their clone research for a little extra cash, and 404, an escaped clone and one of the more successful results of said research. The Script Foundation is a scientific/medical corporation, among the many in the system looking for a cure to death. To get around their inability to experiment on human subjects, they developed the cloning program, to develop realistic human bodies without the consciousness that brings in ethical issues (spoiler alert this does not happen).

When 404 escapes, of course the Script Foundation wants them back. A bounty is put out for them, and the Etho's put on a team to help bring them back. Etho, Tango (ship mechanic, Etho's only friend), and Joel (bounty hunter, does not want to be here) spend their time hunting down 404, and running into many issues along the way.

On the other side of things, 404 spends only about 3 hours on the run before they run into Pause and Beef. There's a lot of weirdness here, 404 doesn't recognize Pause and Beef beyond a sense of deja vu, and Pause and Beef think 404 is Etho (who they have not seen in years and have presumed is dead). I'm writing a fic for this scene, actually. long story short team canada takes 404 in, and agree they can stay with them for a bit.

From this point on, there's a lot going on for both sides.

Etho's face is plastered all over the city, it's a pretty high bounty, and he probably gets mistaken for 404 multiple times before the information gets updated with a photo of 404 with the scar. Joel and Tango have to work together to rescue him after he gets captured by rival bounty hunters

404 gets beef and pause to call them that, because they don't want to be etho (and the confusion that would come from using that name is immense). they aren't etho. they're not entirely satisfied with going by their number designation though, but they've got nothing better

pause and beef continue to grapple with the fact that A: etho is not dead, B: the guy that looks like Etho, who is currently sleeping on their couch, is not actually Etho, and C: they're helping a wanted criminal

The two of them do briefly consider handing 404 over, with the logic that they shouldn't have any attachment to them since they're just a clone, not actually their friend. They can't bring themselves to, though.

404's scar is from a knife to the face- when they first met beef and pause, 404 had no idea who they were. they were scared, and intimidated, and those two were acting way too familiar with them. they attacked pause, and he retaliated. it just so happened that pause was armed, and trained how to fight, and 404 was...not.

luckily, 404 heals quickly. a cut to the face that should have taken minimum of a month to heal, and should have been fatal without medical attention, resolves itself in a few days. ...that's probably why the script foundation wants him back, huh.

Team canada are able to keep the knowledge that theyre harboring a fugitive on the downlow by being known bounty hunters- they've generally got good standing with people.

in fact, 404 just helps them with bounty hunting. They have the time of their life doing this shit. pause and beef love having them around too (it makes them wish Etho had agreed to join them doing this, all those years ago).

team canada are having a lighthearted and fun time, things go wrong but they escape trouble and everything ends alright. that's their vibe.

for etho though, everything keeps going wrong it's almost comical. everytime they've got a lead and almost catch 404, something gets in the way. in my head this au really is just a space opera anime in a similar vein to cowboy bebop, so etho and the gang are like the very unlucky villains.

tango and joel are constantly bickering. a big point of contention between them is that joel wants to fly the ship, because this is his mission and he was hired to do this, but Tango won't let him because its his ship and he's not going to let some bounty hunter drive it. Etho is so tired.

404 does not wear a facemask like etho. in fact its just a generally stressful time for etho to have his face well known everywhere. he doesn't like people seeing his face, and while mostly its an anxiety thing during social interaction, after so long of keeping it private, its really unsettling having to see it everywhere.

Joel's mostly in it for the money to pay off his debt, Tango's there because he's worried about Etho, and Etho's doing it because he thinks he has to. He hasn't really had a life seperate from the Script Foundation in years, it's all he knows. for him, this is about finding out what he's being made to do it fucked up, and the choice to do something about it.

It's about seeing this happier and more free version of himself, and choosing to help them instead of feeling the resentment he wants to. (Look at this person who is meant to be you. they are experiencing the joy you never got with the people you turned your back on. you realise you've never gotten that, you've been hiding from yourself for your entire life because you've been scared of upsetting the quota. you've been settling for mediocrity when you could've had so much more. Are you going to allow them that?)

also 404 might figure out theyre trans so that's a really fun thing for etho to find out about himself through his clone.

yeah i think the genres here are very different depending on whether you're looking at it from 404 or from Etho's pov lmao

and this isn't even getting into the shit about genetically enhanced humans, or cyborgs.

okay you've made it this far, have some sketches of the ethos as reward. these are from probably a mid point in the plot, i was playing with the idea of 404 being able to grow their hair our for a few months after escaping.

[niccolites]

Hello! Any suggestions on writing Soap's accent in fics? I keep trying and keep feeling like I'm really mucking it up 😭😭 any help would be very much appreciated 💚💚

hiya ! very flattered i am being asked however i do have the cheat code of having soap's accent so i usually say what i want him to say and try to type that out phonetically

usually a bit grim bc i do make him say the most depraved shit HAH

anyway um i do make johnny Glaswegian bc that's what his accent sounds like to me (i am biased as well as that is my general area lol)

so the west coast accent is like. we Love swapping out a vowel sound. so 'I' in a sentence comes out as 'A', 'You' sounds more like 'Ye'

for example:

"I did not," becomes "A dinnae," instead

There's also just other small things. West Coast calls children Wains (pronounced like Wayne a la Bruce from Batman haha), but up north they're called Bairns. So, I don't use bairns when i write Johnny as per my bias lol

'Yes' would be 'aye' , borderline every time without fail.

I don't use 'ken', as that's more of a Edinburgh/Dundee type of slang. The word 'know' stays the same, we seem to like the 'o' sound in that one

We also drop 'h' a lot, so 'him' becomes 'em' if that makes sense

It's difficult to type out lol, but honestly if there ever a sentence u want johnny to say, i am more than happy to say it aloud, upset the people around me and then try and type it out phonetically for you haha