#now I’m over 2024

[mindnmybidness]

Waaaait I just learned that one of my favorite noodle joints really closed and isn’t coming back….I’m not ok.

[aforgottenthing]

Tragedy enjoyers when there’s not one, not two, but three combinations of tragic relationships at the center of the narrative AND they’re bisexual

[fallstaticexit]

Would you guys be mad if I continued The Art of Being Seen after the holidays? 🧍🏽‍♀️🥹

[vivsicx]

Happy Birthday Ayn! (★ᴗ★)

I can’t stop thinking about his cn bday sr help

[louielle]

TO JE ZÁZRAK

JSME MISTŘI SVĚTA

JSME MISTŘI SVĚTA PO 14 LETECH!!!!!

JE TO TAM!!!!!

DOHÁJE JE TO TAM!!!

JE TO DOMA!!!!🇨🇿🥇

[laeana]

I love how we prefer to imagine and, even more than that, hope that the public votes are wrong and manipulated, because we do not want to think so many people may be terrible and ignore the distress human beings are going through at this very moment.

Antisemitism my ass, being sensitive to people’s suffering is just called being human.

[princess-starscourge]

I’m developing a crush on Renée Rapp’s Regina George. All her flirty gay looks she sends Cady’s way are driving me NUTS

[siblingshuffle]

Day 12: Regret.

This is a snippet of Sibling Shuffle’s version of Spiritus Ex Machina!

And the theme is regret!

This isn’t very happy. I mean, we’re talking about a mother who was so scared of losing her child that she technically killed her herself and is now confronting that choice. Of course it is.

It’s also a little longer than normal, so be forewarned! ————————

“Speaking of robot girls,” Dr. Light mentioned, “Blues has been very excited to see Tempo again. Did you bring her with you?”

Dr. LaLinde froze, the mirth melting from her expression “…Right… of course…” she murmured, averting eye contact as she turned around. After a moment, she led a girl who appeared to be around Blues’s age to the group, seeming more melancholic than before. “…Quake Woman,” she addressed the girl, “You remember Dr. Light and Blues…”

‘Quake Woman?’ Roll wondered. The girl was clearly a Robot Master, yes - Roll’s sensors didn’t give any indication that she was organic whatsoever - but Blues and Dr. Light had been referring to her by the name “Tempo”.

“Yes. Hello,” Tempo-- Quake Woman-- whichever, waved. The movement was strangely stiff, with no discernible emotion behind it. 

“Why’s she calling you your Robot Master name?” Blues asked, smiling confusedly as he waved back. “You’re not working right now, are you?”

“I am not. However, ‘Quake Woman’ is my name. I am a geological surveyor robot,” Quake Woman responded. Her voice was… strange. It lacked inflection, but it sounded as though it had been designed with a range of emotions in mind. In fact, now that she thought of it, Roll hadn’t noticed her making any obvious facial expressions, either…

Blues nodded slowly, his expression faltering as though unsure of himself. He shook it off so quickly, however, that Roll had to wonder if she had imagined it, “Uh, okay…? I’d like you to meet my little sister, Roll. Roll, meet Tem— Quake Woman, my best friend.”

“Hi!” Roll grinned, extending a hand to shake. “Blues told me a lot about you!”

Quake Woman took her hand, but, looking at Blues, said, “Your statement is illogical.”

Roll blinked, tilting her head and staring at the girl. “…What do you mean?”

“Blues referred to you as his ‘sister,’” Quake Woman responded matter-of-factly. “That statement is illogical. Robots cannot have familial relations.”

Blues stared at Quake Woman, baffled. “What…?” He asked, glancing over at Dr. LaLinde as though expecting answers from her. “...Dr. LaLinde?”

Dr. LaLinde didn’t look at him.

“…Quake Woman…required some adjustments. She’s fine.”

“…What kind of ‘adjustments’?” demanded Blues, his voice low and apprehensive as he studied Dr. LaLinde’s expression, his eyes searching for something that he couldn’t seem to find.

Dr. LaLinde swallowed, biting her lower lip. Her voice was tight when she next spoke. “…I…I’ll…let you get reacquainted.”

With that, she stepped away into the crowd. Roll’s gaze followed her, noticing how stiff her posture was. And with how abruptly she had left… something was definitely wrong.

Dr. Light placed a hand on Blues’ shoulder. “I’ll be right back,” he told him before running after her.

Blues just stared numbly in the direction the two roboticists had disappeared to. Hesitantly, Roll reached out her hand to him, but Blues withdrew, pulling his scarf up to his cheeks and turning around sharply. Before Roll could stop him, he slipped away into the crowd in the opposite direction, leaving Roll and Quake Woman alone.

————————————————————————

“Noele, wait,” Dr. Light called out, catching her by the arm before she could lose him. She stopped but didn’t turn to face him. “What’s going on? Tempo - and you, as well- are acting strangely,” Dr. Light eventually asked, a mix of concern and confusion coloring his expression.

Dr. LaLinde still didn't turn to face him. “…You have a lot of people you should catch up with, and there’s not a lot of time to do it before you have to be onstage for the debate,” she said, her voice tight.

Dr. Light nodded. “You’re right, but that can wait,” he insisted. “Something’s going on with you.”

Dr. LaLinde took a shaky breath. When she turned towards him, her eyes were more tired and sad than he’d ever seen them before.

“You know that you can talk to me, right? Any time that you need me, I’m here for you,” he offered gently, taking her hands in his. His eyes were filled with a warmth that could melt the sturdiest of defenses - a familiar, understanding, comforting warmth, but one that burned if Dr. LaLinde tried to look directly into.

Dr. LaLinde extricated hands from Dr. Light’s.

“Thomas, I know you mean well, but…” she shook her head. “…nothing is wrong.”

“…You’re sure?” Dr. Light asked, his voice soft. He knew Dr. LaLinde was brilliant, the dark circles under her eyes made him wonder how much sleep she had been losing as of late.

Dr. LaLinde inhaled sharply, but nodded, though her eyes remained downcast. “I’ll see you at the debate, Tom.”

Dr. Light watched her leave again, a sense of helplessness, concern, and worry pressing down on him.

Dr. Light couldn’t help but reflect on the LaLindes he had known before - the vibrant, happy family that only nominally resembled the lifeless one he’d just met. It seemed impossible to reconcile the two, yet he knew they were one in the same.

Dr. Light sighed deeply, his hand combing through his beard, his mind racing with questions and concerns. The loudest question of all, though, was this: what happened to the LaLinde’s?

————————————————————————

Story Notes:

My autocorrect tried to call this segment “Sorry Notes” and I think that’s kinda fitting lol

I know you guys know what happened, and furthermore that Dr. LaLinde had sympathetic reasons. However. No one else does at this point on the timeline. All they know is that Dr. LaLinde seems sadder than normal and Tempo isn’t emoting at all. And it’s freaking Blues TF out—

Dr. LaLinde mostly keeps her reasoning to herself because of grief & guilt & regret (as well as the narrative reason of “it makes for a better story if we don’t learn her reasoning until the timing it took canonically”)

DISCLAIMER: Dr. LaLinde is a very compelling character to me! I like that she’s a flawed parent trying her best! In fact, I like all of the LaLinde’s! They’re awesome characters and fantastic foils that I could go on for hours analyzing if I had the time! That aside, though, Dr. LaLinde is a foil to Dr. Light just as much as Tempo is to the Light kids. They’re both parents who care deeply about their kids and would do anything to protect them. The thing is, Dr. LaLinde took it too far by removing the possibility for Tempo to feel anything at all, pain included, and ended up hurting herself and others in the process.

This is a snippet from before any of the Healing Journey character arc starts - she misses her Tempo, yes, but she can’t really bring herself to admit that she was wrong quite yet. Surely it’s better that she removed the part that was her child but kept the part that was a tool. Surely then it would hurt less. Surely it’s better to feel nothing than to feel pain. She must be doing the right thing. She doesn’t know what she’d do if she were not.

Can you imagine having to re-introduce your newly-emotionless child to your child’s former best friend though. Can you imagine that.

I didn’t write it in here (because it would end up turning into a whole novelization of the Sibling Shuffle version if the first comic in this arc by that point), but Blues is so distracted that he ends up knocking over Kalinka and meeting the Cossacks in a way that is similar to the original story, just with the Cossacks not getting to catch up with Dr. Light quite yet.

Everyone ends up present for the debate, with Roll meeting Kalinka when they sit next to each other. Blues ends up storming out of the lecture hall after connecting a couple dots, and from there the Emerald Spears attack.

————————————————————————

Art Notes:

Reference: Tempo’s introductory panel.

Someone pointed out that her eyes half-lidded “made her look high” so I just didn’t make her eyes shiny instead. This is a serious emotional scene lol

Lowered the color saturation & brightness slightly to play more into the mood

[hplonesomeart]

AUUUU STOP THIS MOMENT WAS ADORABLE AND SWEET AND PRECIOUS AND MY HEART MELTED FOR THEMMMMM 😭💕

(lots of writing under the ‘read more’ btw incase you want my personal thoughts on things!)

Before the episode started I has been bracing myself for the genocide route, but it seem like what we ended up getting was the pacifist route because NEVER would I have anticipated such an empathetic twist??? I was dead convinced that my hopes/dreams of Puzzle redemption were squandered and left to rot (they probably still are to some degree actually lol but oh well I can accept that he’s a lovable psycho). And yet this episode does the impossible….giving us an unfathomably wholesome scene that helps heal his dejected inner child, even just a little. PLEASE this wasn’t something I was prepared for and it’s gotten such a strong grip on my heartstrings right now. I love themmmmm holy shittttt <33

I didn’t think Meggy would step up and try to connect with him like that especially since she was so aggressively defensive when he initially reached out. And I like that even when she gets to speak to Little/Kid Puzzles her behavior is very stern at first lol. Kinda like a disappointed older sister who can’t be bothered to put up with him for too long. But using Leggy as a way to build that bridge again was so clever of her—and hey it helped lure him into false sense of security so he’d get jailed up jskjsksp. Everyone wins I guess!! ALSO can I just say whoever composed the soundtrack (Zach Preciado for the rap segment specifically) deserves just as much praise as the voice actors because DAYM the layering of all those instruments and the seamless transitions into different emotional tones was superb :))

[butchrindou]

everytime i see someone draw fem rindou skinny as fuck i actually start crying and contemplating putting a bullet through my head SYOP BEING A PUSSY ABD GIVE HER MUSCLES

[tojiscrack]

how i feel knowing that when your ‘liar, liar’ fic gets big (and it WILL), i’ll get to say that i was one of your og readers, laughing as the new readers (peasants) wish they were here during the chaos - when people were shipping malakai with EVERY CHARACTER EVER or when people were making predictions about future chapters or everyone collectively losing their minds over the angst tag etc etc:

we’re going to look back at this time and feel nostalgic when the fic’s over. i need megumi and y/n together RIGHT NOW but i know that when that happens, their story will be over ☹️

liar, liar masterlist here:

AHHH NOT THE TIKTOK PROUD EMOJI LMAOOO 😭 fun fact: it’s my fav emoji in the world and if apple doesn’t find a way to let me use it outside of tiktok, i’m gonna combust on the spot 😀

‘and it WILL’ — your confidence is what i’m gonna hide behind, ty 🌝

DON’T CALL THEM PEASANTS OMG??? 😭 THEY’RE NOT EVEN HERE YET 🫨 i’m trying so hard not to laugh rn 😟

it’s already been, what, a couple of months since the first ever malakai x y/n ship started by that anon who, like, never returned after causing all that chaos? 🫢 so it’s already becoming an old thing the ogs would know about, and don’t even get me started on the panic the angst tag has everyone in LMFAOO, my fault, honestly, but idc i like it 😋

and girl, we have a LONGGG way to go before mercupine’s story is at a close. we’ll worry about that when we get there, i’m just glad the small family we’ve got are still here after nearly an entire year with such slow updates (i’m sorry 😭) <3

and ofc, i’m well aware that you are one of the og’s, sending a cute (albeit weirdly confident/funny) message about it was not necessary ‘cause ANY time i see ur user in my notifs, i remember that you were the first ever reader of SOANO (which i’ve yet to update but i’m working on it if you’re still interested 😔). your support has meant, and still means, the world to me. idk how to speak in such a sappy way, i’ll pocket that for when i’m done writing liar liar 😤💘

[rickybaby]

another angle of blake and daniel. 😅

https://twitter.com/TimKraaij/status/1761053475419390447?t=7GBOMqzYL2Nc-qS7HF2Z9Q&s=19

Look who’s here at Turn 8 👀

[klaxonsynth]

when the snake is solid‼️

[lunar-years]

One thing about republicans is that those bastards will band together through hell or high water because they know it benefits them and keeps them in power, and they know how to utilize that joint power to push their agenda and get things done their way. That’s how you get someone like “never trump” J.D. Vance becoming Trump’s VP. Or someone like Megyn Kelly going from feuding with Trump throughout 2016 to speaking at his final rallies in 2024. It’s why even members of Trump’s former staff and (formerly) prominent republicans like Liz Cheney speaking out against him didn’t seem to make any sort of substantial difference. Republicans will still flock to Trump’s majority because it benefits them more than the bits they don’t like harm them.

Meanwhile, democrats tear themselves apart from the inside, refuse to engage in productive conversation, and instead dismiss full board anyone who even slightly disagrees with them, resulting in so much internal divide it’s impossible to see a clear end game or bottom line. Yes, if everyone who voted third party had voted for Kamala, it still wouldn’t have won her the election. But the problem is not merely third party voters, but third party voters plus the apathetic left who saw no point in voting at all (turnout was far lower this election than in 2020) plus the inability of both liberals and leftists to see beyond themselves and their own narrow interpretations of a perfect society to any feasible channels of actually getting CLOSE to there. If we cannot work together, work within existing systems as a starting point instead of leaping to unattainable ideals, and learn how to compromise, nothing is ever, ever going to change. The republicans figured that out a long time ago and it’s why they’re winning and we’re not.

[vilecemetery]

the amount of love, admiration and respect I hold for imane khelif

[foolsocracy]

Your noir!mj is everything. She deserved so much more than Just love interest laser beam. Like there's so much she could add to the story and I love her

I know!!! It’s insane to just reduce her to only a love interest when she’s such a compelling character. Idk why fun characters who can have agency and will to shape the world and narrative are just never given the chance. It makes for a better story??? But whatever. I have no clue what happens behind the scenes of comic stuff so I don’t even know who to point a finger at LMAO