#other than that overall i find the whole thing to be very well researched and very entertaining !!!!!

[amphibifish]

HEY FISH im curious what do you think about mcga loki. like as a character and loki adaptation

oh my god im so late to responding to this lmao i did not get anotifcation for this but ANYWAY

character wise i like him for what he is ! obviously hes the very common evil loki wants to start ragnarok antagonist but i think his scenes (visions?) with magnus are all very interesting and he's just entertaining to read/watch lol I haven't finished the third book yet so i'm still very curious to exactly what happened with randolph and his plan to foil loki's plans.

as for loki adaptation, he's very entertaining but i don't tend to gravitate towards portrayals of them that make them extra evil and malicious. i do like that iirc the grief and pain the aesir put him through was mentioned but it doesn't seem to be touched upon too much after the first(?) book. i def get a diff vibe from him compared to myth!loki and he just generally seems more malicious than them lol but overall i can appreciate mcga!loki for what he was meant to achieve ^_^ (also i just like him for being like the one other god thats meant to be taken seriously lol)

[teaableu]

WHAT IS YOUR EXILE AU LIKE....

I HAVE BEEN WAITING AGES FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ME THIS

Okay SO a LOT is up in the air right now because I'm doing Research as best I can between classes BUT here's what i got so far:

Lord Kogane is from a very powerful family that wants to take full control over Neo Edo. They think he's doing a poor job because the yokai are running free again and he's overall a pretty useless ruler. They step in and force him to enforce some pretty Messed Up Stuff that put all the people in danger (something to do with the Makkine tech probably). Usagi and his friends have a front row seat as to what he's up to and Usagi decides he won't let them get away with it. I haven't worked out the details but the Koganes' plans threaten the people and the yokai. BUT Usagi's not strong enough to take out the Koganes on his own.

My Usagi has a mystic power of sorts, which makes him very sensitive to spirits. All of the visions he gets through the Ki stone in the show, plus his ability to speak with Miyamoto stem from this ability. A simple way of seeing it would be like, he can see the threads of their lives. So he can read souls and connect with them, and sees ghosts when others cannot. I think the Ki stone sort of unlocked and amplified it when he connected with her. I'm still working on the details of his power but basically he can see and talk to ghosts with a little extra stuff sprinkled in

So the Ki stone encourages Usagi to seek help. Turns out the Koganes have a rich history of killing entire villages and armies that oppose them, dating (maybe) all the way back to Miyamoto's time. So he finds a couple of restless ghosts that are still waiting for vengeance and asks for their help. He strikes a deal that was supposed to help him fight Kogane while allowing the ghosts to avenge themselves their loved ones and their clans. I think he would amplify their power while they help him fight. But he doesn't realize who exactly he's making this deal with and ends up tethering his soul to very powerful VERY ANGRY ghosts that are WAY stronger than he is (I've been researching onryo and yurei for reference). They can take possession of his body, amplify his emotions to be in tune with their own, manipulate his power, and generally cause a lot of destruction. Basically, he becomes their puppet. I'm thinking it's a Venom or Little Shop of Horrors type dynamic between them. Also think of any poltergeist type film

He makes the deal and the ghosts possess him. When Usagi wakes up, he's killed Kogane (who really wasn't even the Big Bad behind the whole thing) and has to flee the city before he's caught and put to death for treason and murder. His friends are all imprisoned but he can't risk returning because he has lost control of his power and is unable to control the ghosts that are bound to his soul. The ghosts are starving for power and burning with hundreds of years of fury and anguish, and feed off of destruction (maybe the living?) It's sort of a pandora's box situation. The ghosts are just a whirlwind of chaos and use Usagi as a means to exact their wrath

I called it exile because Usagi can't return to the city without being arrested and killed for his crimes. The gang was the only one standing up to Kogane, and with his friends in prison, he's sort of stuck. He blames himself for everything that went wrong because he ran off without his friends and jumped headfirst into a situation he did not understand. He was reckless and cocky and now everyone is paying for it.

That's where EMD comes in, but the story continues after EMD season 2 as well.

Some extra notes:

- The timeline for srtuc would probably be a bit different so I can have more flexibility with the season one and season two events, since I wasn't sure when it would take place and I want there to be a pretty big time gap between Usagi leaving and returning. I also might use the Makkine invasion in the story

- I’m still working out Usagi’s backstory/past, but have pretty much decided that he has some history with the Kogane family

- I'm planning for Miyamoto to have a pretty big part in the story as well, acting as a guide for Usagi when he goes into hiding. I'm really interested in their relationship so I really want to take the chance to explore it.

- I'm thinking of adding someone as a nod to Tomoe Ame as well (descendant of her apprentice perhaps), since we got a representation of Chizu, Kitsune, and Gen in the tv show but not Tomoe (sad)

I wrote out the sparksnotes version of this here

In addition to the artwork there I have some other concept art

Blood warning under the cut

[thygoddessouijathicc]

Bishop Edibility Tierlist; A very deeply serious essay about which bishop would taste the best if you had to eat one of them for any reason

Aight, 88% of you voted in favour of this being released, so this is on you. This blood is on YOUR hands. Just remember that as you read this.

So you all remember that essay I did about how the bishops all had some kinda trauma or different reactions to purgatory and shit and how that was such a serious thing analyzing dialogue and reactions and stuff-?

Well there are TWO wolves inside of me, and one of them writes serious researched essays, it’s time you meet the other.

To preface this, this essay is entirely a joke please don’t take any word of this seriously.

To start with, technically anything is edible if you try hard enough, sometimes only once but I digress, however some things are more appetizing than others.

For this essay we will be taking evidence from canon in some cases on things you can eat, but assuming that this only means these things are more appetizing in this world, not that anything you can’t feast upon very specifically in the game is somehow inedible. Meat is meat.

Also Narinder will be referred to as a bishop because he was one.

Ok let’s start our list.

At the absolute bottom of the edibility tierlist is Narinder. Narinder is a cat. While technically cats are indeed edible by the laws of meat is meat, cats hold a special place in the hearts of many including myself.

But to be honest the real reason that Narinder holds this spot is meat quantity and quality of him specifically. Narinder, holds very little meat. Sure he has a head, but his arms are skeletal and it’s safe to assume possibly a lot of the rest of his body tis also but frail bone. Possibly what is not could also be rotten if he’s that kind of god of death that qualifies as a corpse. And while meat is meat, Narinder not only has very little, but what he does have may be poor quality. This cements him in the shameful bottom spot.

He’s also a-

Moving on, next, quite regrettably, is Leshy. Leshy is a major jump in quality from Narinder.

We don’t know much about bushworms or their anatomy but what we do know, is Leshy is dummy thicc, this means he has a large quantity of meat.

Unfortunately Leshy is also a worm which isn’t exactly the most appetizing creature to put in your gaping maw so that docks him a few points.

However the true reason he cannot be higher is that depending on your read of his anatomy, Leshy could qualify as a salad, and EWWWWW VEGITALS!!! 🤢🤮🤮

Moving on to the “would eat again category” we start with Heket.

Now it should not be news to anyone that frogs are edible, especially to French people. But I don’t believe in French people, they aren’t real. Anyway as I’m saying, you can eat frogs to your hearts content!

There are sanitation issues with Anura apparently being super gross which docks some points but overall, Heket is a solid option.

Now we’ve reached “ok hear me out” territory with Shamura.

Spiders are a major food source in cult of the lamb. Which is a bit questionable for a few reasons, including that there are multiple spider characters and Webber exists but also small spiders on the ground which seem to be a separate species which raises a lot of questions possibly best gone unanswered.

What really matters is what you can do with the small spiders you find around, you can chase them down and when you catch them, they drop meat. My friends have told me that this means I’m just taking meat they are holding, after all you can get berries if the spider has taken them.

What I say to this is: but the idea of lamb running around at night and picking up whole large spiders off the ground and feeding them to their followers is fucking hilarious, and also they always drop the same meat and never berries unless they have picked them up. You’d think if I’m just taking what they have and they will eat berries as well as meat, that I’d get berries more often. Nay, only when picked up from my farms.

This leads to the only possible conclusion being that people in the cult of the lamb universe feed often on spiders, that’s right, Helob eating followers is VENGEANCE.

So, we have established spiders are very edible in cult of the lamb, and you know what Shamura is? A giant fucking spider. They are edible, I rest my case.

Now let’s move on to first place oh boy who is it, probably who you should have expected, Kallamar.

His name sounds like Calamari to start with and not only can you eat squids in real life, you can in the game (similar weird separate species thing with spiders only in this case it’s more definitive that you can very much eat the squids themselves.)

Kallamar would also likely cry if you proclaimed your desire to consume him, misery not only makes meat better but his tears could be seasoning!

Not even to mention the fact that after beating him, it would be a moment of victoriousness and pure vindictive nature, to proceed to eat Kallamar, and vindictive nature is something I most definitely do not lack as I cuss out bishops every time I see the statues after I beat them.

Squids also don’t have many bones so unlike the others who you’d have to spend an extensive time processing before eating, Kallamar would be easy and his bones make up very little of his composition.

In conclusion, why did you read this whole essay it’s not even that funny.

And those of you who voted to have this released. Are you happy?

Are you not entertained!?

[hungry-eel]

"The biggest gacha game glutton doesn't exi-"

I am still very new when it comes to granblue fantasy, and as of right now I do not know all that much about the series, and I still won't know that much given that its a pretty old game that I can't access, and haven't head of any recent updates as far as I know. So because of that among other things, I hadn't really known about Cassius or his event story. (Correction: the game is still active and getting updates, just not as much on Cassius)

It wasn't until I was scrolling through some tumblr blogs (which @askbloatedbellyblog thanks for sharing the post that sent me down a spiral) and once I discovered about Cassius and his event story I was hooked! Not only is it one of the only visual novel/gacha games that I have seen so far that actually has visuals of the actual weight gain itself, but its also not done as a one time gag either and we get prolonged scenes of Cassius' overweight state. The story itself is also so good in my opinion! Although the actual content itself my not cater to everyone and their desires, for me, I think the story is one of the best!! It fulfills all of my stuffing fantasies and desires, watching him endlessly devour and gorge on everything that is around him, and finding enjoyment in doing such as well!

No joke, I was so invested in this character and his event story that for a good portion of time that was all I could think about! I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a bit of a mini hyperfixation for me.

To know more about my research on Cassius himself and his gluttonous pursuits, he is fairly new to the setting as he came from another world, and is leaning to discover both this new world, and how everything works. Along with such he applies ration and logic to everything with very little emotions, isn't surprised by much, thinks very literal mindedly, and comes across as childish and naïve.

His other most notable feature is his HUMONGOUS apatite, and how he is able to eat much more than the average person. He has a very high metabolism so he is able to eat in mass quantities without risking his heath or gaining weight. However, during the Ramen Travels event, he manages to eat so much and in such crazy amounts that not even his metabolism could keep up with him, leading to his eventual weight gain.

Although his original purpose was to try out various ramen noodles, his pursuits evolve into eating everything that he can as much as he can. To give a bit of a perspective how much he actually eats during this event, he hits up multiple desert stalls, wins a food eating contest, tries various kinds of ramen, eats entire menus in restaurants including the main courses, drinks, and deserts, eats whole dishes made to serve a family of six in one sitting, and repeats that behavior consistently every day for weeks on end.

Another part of his endless gluttony is also how Cassius also took the term "There is always room for desert" too literally and came to the belief that no matter how much he eats, there will never be enough food for him to eat, and that there will always be room in his stomach to eat and try more foods.

When it came to his eventual weight gain, although the people around him are concerned about his overall heath encouraging him to lose the weight, Cassius himself doesn't mind the weight gain at all and if anything he actually enjoys it, believing that the feeling itself is satisfying, and that the more weight he puts on the more room he will have for food.

This is a man where if he is not calculating and questioning the things around him, the only other thing that is on his mind is food, and although it may make him seem one note, I find this aspect of him to be a really charming trait of him, especially these are traits that he fully embraces, and not even afraid of gaining weight, which is an unusual trait in other foodie characters.

It honestly saddens me to discover that Cassius barely gets any recognition in general, especially compared to the other characters that I enjoy, and now because he hasn't had that much new content in a long while, he has only barely had any new posts and content made on him in years, so I thought if there was anyone who could bring this wonderful character back in the spotlight, even for just a brief moment, I might as well do so.

Last thing, but if your ever wanting to read the full story for yourself, here is the link to the video down below. Know that the video is incredibly long, but is absolutely worth the watch!

[mustbemosstaken]

I know this has been said before but the people bringing it up in the art stream has put it back in my brain (Also please keep in mind this is very /lh and just my opinion based on how I interpret the story of Fable SMP as a viewer):

Y’all don’t want a Rae villain arc, you want an arc where Heyhay can play a villain. A villain arc for Rae would go against literally all of the character development that has been established for Rae.

And you can’t even have the argument of like “oh well the angst of if he’s corrupted and then comes back later to see how he hurt people” because WE HAD THAT. WE HAD LIKE A WHOLE ARC OF THAT WITH THE WARDEN.

Even outside of the Warden, you’ve got that whole Among Us AU where we get to see Rae being evil?? We have villain Rae guys what more do you want?!? Villain!Rae is a fun idea for an AU, but narrative wise it does not work in canon at all-

I agree that Heyhay would play a great villain, and would probably find a way to make Villain!Rae really compelling. But Rae has been built up in such a way that to have him suddenly “go on a villain arc” would just like,,, wreck any of his previously established arcs?? At least from my interpretation of Fable so far, the overall arc with Rae as a character, regardless of gods or anything like that, has always been about a man coming to love himself through learning to love other people, and through that, a lonely man finding a family. S1 Rae at the very beginning is a lonely, broken man with no regard for himself or those around him, driven purely by research, who is forced to take a mentoring, and then pseudo-leadership position, and forced to care for and eventually come to love the people around him, who he now views as his family. A family he never got to have beforehand.

That’s why the relationship with c!Jamie is so important to Rae in canon. Jamie is the first person where Rae really had to step up and be there for someone else. Thats why he cares so much about c!Athena, because Rae really had to find it within himself to save them and be there for them. That’s why Banner Fam, or the Breakfast Squad, or even eventually Broters means so much to Rae because he didn’t have that family when we started the story. To have him go on a villain arc and hurt the people around him would narratively break all of that. It would pull apart all of those relationships at the very foundations, and it would be really hard to repair them from a storytelling perspective.

The only way I could see it being done is if Rae was to go “evil” to protect the people he cares about, but as long as those characters are still in the picture they’re the kind of people who wouldn’t let Rae do that to himself. Hell, the man had a full breakdown because he punched his best friend one time, you think he’s gonna murder someone or something?

And like,,, it’s not even like we don’t get to see snippets of these things in canon. We get to see elements of Rae losing himself to anger and desperation in order protect others. We get it when he replaces his eye in S2 and he goes all mad scientists, or when he yells at Ulysses in S3 because he genuinely believes he needs to step up because this man is a threat to his family. Hell, we even see the angst of “his family thinks Rae is evil and is scared of him” because THATS LIKE MOST OF C!JAMIES ARC IN EARLY S2???

Season 2 really is a treasure trove of theoretically “villainous Rae” content. His betrayal of Aax’s trust with the eye surgery, the Jamie memory arc where they do view Rae as evil, delving into more and more dangerous and morally questionable Telchin medicine to help c!Athena, and then the entirety of the Warden arc where he’s actively hurting those around him and taken over by an evil goddess, like it’s all there. We have that guys!?!

This ended up way longer than I thought it would lol, but I don’t know, I just constantly see people in the fandom and in HeyHay13’s twitch chat being like “oooh villain Rae we desperately need villain Rae in canon” and I just personally don’t get the appeal from a storytelling perspective. Maybe I’m just too caught up in wanting characters to be happy lol. Let my poor little meow meow have peace and love his boyfriends and not have to be evil again.

Anyway, uh… TLDR Mosstaken doesn’t like villain!Rae except for when he does I guess lmao /j

[wszczebrzyszynie]

do you have Any advice on researching Historical information? or Just.. Culture? Like any good Keywords to put in the search, websites ect? I may be Dumb but I always Struggle with Researching history Especially more intimate things like Fashion and furniture :(

this is actually a very tough question, because while fairly vague (sorry ... ) i know the answers for it, but my brain gets all scattered thinking about how to word it. sorry if this will be tough to read

i dont think there are any good keywords to look for other than the exact thing you want. you need to know what you are looking for, and the more broad the subject (for example, architecture as a whole), the harder it will be to get a specific result you want. you need to know exactly what are you looking for; the era, place, class. if youre not sure exactly what are you looking for yet, wikipedia probably has a page on it, even if broad

if you know exactly what are you looking for, then just... look for it:

online archives are your best friend; while looking through your local library architecture and ethnography sections can be very helpful and i highly encourage it (its fun too! geniuely. support your libraries) it can be harder to get what you need, especially since its, well, local. while i cannot give you any specific archives, as i dont know what are you looking for exactly, i can tell you that sometimes just googling a list of (your country) internet archives and clicking through them can work. its how i found a few regional polish archives. just be aware that some of them look and behave like they were made in 2002, and can be hard to navigate. but they are worth it, as they can have scans of old books, fashion and home magazines, old photography and sketches, fashion plates; very good things overall. personally i like downloading them so that i can get back to them whenever

some museums, libraries and universities have online archives avilable for public. when i was working in my local library i was actually tasked with making online scans of some magazines from 20 years ago. hellish work but digitalization is good and these places are very much worth looking for, but theyre often specific to their own little thing, so again, you need to know exactly what are you looking for. sometimes you dont even know what project has an archive; a very nice highland scottish archive i found on request of my mutual is either run or partnered with a charity, so really just look for archives. chances are you find something

despite what i said earlier, it really is worth it to check your library. while online archives have book scans, they have to comply with the copyright law, meaning that many books on the subject of your interest are going to be unavilable there

chances are, there is a blog about it. not only on tumblr, but old blogs on things like wordpress can really be a lot of fun to go through. while theyre usually not run by experts, they can be of huge help and i love them dearly. you just need to be extra careful with these and not take any for granted, especially if they dont have sources ...

not sure if thats what you wanted exactly. but thats the best i can offer at 11pm

[alienteashop]

ALIEN ROMULUS

SPOILER WARNING

From Below the Cut

just want to say this is all my opinion but let's get into a rating from me lol

So overall I set a rating for Alien Romulus to a 8.5/10

This movie to me was great. there were a few drawbacks overall in which I feel took away from some of the horror elements in this movie like the amount of references to all of the other movies before it, and when I say all, I mean ALL of the movies both new and old

The thing about this movie is that I both hated and loved the fact that it was a mash up of every single alien movie before it, love in the fact that the tech was the same as the original movies (something people complained about in Prometheus) and that the original alien designs stayed the same in both looks and mannerisms

The thing I mainly disliked was the fact it was a mash up of every single movie, don't get me wrong some were really good and well done but others were kinda... cringe? In a way that you almost get second hand embarrassment from knowing them but in a laughing way

The actors I think did an amazing job and the general cinematography is great, it feels modern without taking away the old charm and tricks

The settings and placement of the general look and feel of everything was great with certain references to all movies and I believe even the game

Now I'm going to talk about the scenes in specific

just so everyone knows I'm not doing a summery I'm just talking about my favorite and or least favorite scenes

--

So in the beginning I just want to praise the use of the colony, an ALIVE colony I might add, and even though it's only a short part I do like the little insight you learn about the lives of the people and main characters, I also do like the clothes and lighting of these scene(s)

However in the beginning beginning aka the opening, they get transported fossilized rock and take it into research or whatever, not much is known other than the fact that the alien is back lol, it did kinda remind me of dead space with the artifact and it bringing the aliens along

And I think it was coolI also love the use of the androids in this film, with Andy being known as an android in the very beginning which proves to be useful later (Also I might add I do find the brother sister dynamic of the two bittersweet)

As for the facehugger scenes I absolutely loved them, I do think it was a little cliche with the whole body temperature thing and the fact that they couldn't see them because Andy said that if they sweat at all they kinda die and I felt like you would definitely sweat at that temperature especially with that stress but honestly it's kinda the nerd in me

However for the alien scene I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT I loved the use of a cacoon and the remembrance of acid for blood playing an important impact

I don't like the use of pressure in here I do feel like in space the pressure would definitely kill faster than it did/didn't but I appreciate the mention of it mainly in the ending scenes where her helmet is cracked and she didn't die? Maybe I need to catch up on space and pressure but idkkk anyway still the nerd in me

My favorite scenes were in the beginning they were walking down the halls and the lights was muahhh chefs kiss loved the tension and shot

I do genuinely like the lab part in the movie where the black liquid goop was shown as something good but was actually bad as seen with the rat transforming into its own thing

Because in the end although the Xenomorphic are parasites they are their own species in the end meaning they are going to be separate form whatever you put them in (idk if that made sense)

Now I will say I was a little hesitant when I realized in the end it was going to be a spin off of alien resurrection (aka alien 4) but I will say they did it amazingly

I do absolutely love their take of the human alien hybrid baby and the love the thing of the creature/baby eating its own mother like many species do and the creatures design is something that I will admit truthfully disturbed me the uncanny but also very human face and expressions made my skin chill a bit

I did not like the acid seen I feel like it could have been better

Final notes

--

I wrote this in my car directly after the movie so it's a little scatter brained but I needed to get it out lol

Okay truthfully that was all I really wanted to talk about I genuinely love this movie and thought it was great, and I will say that I'm just waiting for fanfiction of xenos of that one scene in the elevator where it caught Rain with it's tail, I feel as if people are going to eat that up 😂

Overall 8.5/10

Some cringey lines and scenes which are sooo obviously ripped from the past movies along with concepts but I think the movie was great and a fun time for sure

--

Also a thank you to @ozzgin for hyping the movie up for me 😆

[cattocavo]

Six sketch sunday

Thanks so much for tagging me @thewholelemon

I actually have something pretty exciting to share if i do say so myself!

In november 2022 i did a master study of romeo and juliet by frank bernard dicksee. I was very happy with it. But over time I’ve become less and less happy with it, specifically how baz looks :((

This is due to the fact that i traced A LOT in late 2022 (I was 15 ok, I’m sure we’ve all had one of those phases😭) I traced the whole painting, but baz was hard bc the original painting featured a woman, and her whole figure was covered by a white loose dress. 2022 me did their best interpreting the shapes and forming a new body for baz, but honestly they didn’t do it very well. Ive hated Baz’s face and body for a while now, but still loved simon and the painting in general. Which is why I came to the conclusion that for me to be at peace and happy with it again, I have to remaster it!

And again I’ve had this on my mind for a while now, mulling it over, because it’s quite a big project. But 7 days ago i finalized my decision and started looking at references and whatnot. It took me so long to find references bc I was confused of the angle of Juliet’s head in the original painting (so I’ve changed the angle whoops) and i needed to make sense of it all. Before i knew it i had spent 5 hours (according to procreates tracker) drawing, and literally nothing had changed.. but then i spent like 2 hours more and THAT did it. It was like digging a whole in the ground searching for water. You dig a little and nothing happens, and when you finally dig deep enough the water reveals itself like a goldmine.

Anyways, i haven’t gotten around to do any recoloring yet, so ill show you the sketch (ahem, traced) of my 2022 version versus what I have now

The one on the left is the 2022 version. The one on the right is the current sketch.

I’m trying to incorporate a lot more body language from baz this time around. I think the old sketch of baz was very rigid. His torso is very short 💀 my biggest issue was his face though. It was far too feminine. The bone structure wasn’t exactly giving baz, in fact the whole face didn’t look like baz to me. The expression also bothered me, it was too superficial. Like it’s exactly the predictable expression you expect him to have. I tried to spice it up in the new version by making him appear a bit more anguished. It’s romeo and juliet after all.

Im currently looking at references to what clothes he should be wearing (don’t worry, i wont cover up his sleeves. Even if it’s more time period accurate) so if y’all have any inspo or suggestions, feel free to share them with me!

While baz is the inly thing getting completely redone, I’m also touching up some other thins. Just giving it a more refined, finished look overall. The plants in the original were really messily done, so i’m gonna work a lot on those. 2022 me also slacked on the curtains, so I’m repainting those to match the original frank bernard painting.

Once I’m done with it all i think i might sell some prints. Ive gotten requests to sell prints of this one before, but never really got around to do more than research. If i do make prints, I’m a bit worried they’ll all go to waste bc they’ll have to be shipped from denmark, and shipping in expensive :(( (I’ve tried to set up middlemen and it didn’t work for me. Red bubble wont even allow me to add a credit card😬) but if y’all are still interested in prints, do let me know! Ill definitely put in more of an effort to make it happen if i know it wont be in vain :))

Thats all from me for today :3 see ya next time

(Also check out what my COBB partner @thewholelemon is doing! It’s gonna be so good!)

Tags! @monbons @raenestee @j-nipper-95 @orange-peony

Id love to see what y’all are doing!

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ep.23 thoughts

[Mamaaa! Didn't Mean to Make You Cryyy!]

I guess if any episodes had to be the best episodes, it's appropriate that they be the end of the season, but god dammit, why wasn't every episode this good???

The animation, the music, the emotional weight, this episode was a real all-rounder. Even with how comparatively little action there was, it was great!

I actually feel like there's nothing for me to say, it was so good. There weren't any big reinterpretations of the source material for me to latch onto, mostly just little details like the pages crumpling under Sean's feet to convey his presence or a subtle Easter egg when Rip cut off Anno Un's arm. The coolest detail was definitely that Akira couldn't narrate the preview anymore now that we know who he is, but I get the feeling I wouldn't have noticed that if other people hadn't pointed it out first

If we're lucky, maybe that'll mean there's no recap next week...

Something this episode did help me realize, though, was that Yuki Yase's style really lends itself well to dramatic weight rather than pulse-pounding action. As we saw, the latter is still possible, but I think the thing that killed the pacing for the season as a whole was the insistence on pregnant pauses and atmospheric shots over a consistent flow of events and ideas. The dark lighting and zoomed-out shots are both pretty indicative of this, and were definitely my least favorite elements of the season. Those moments that reduced visual clarity to presumably focus on what was being said were, ironically, very distracting for me, as I always found myself trying to figure out where the cast was (though I think they were usually hiding behind Hulu's garishly huge subtitles) instead of focusing on what was being said

As near as I remember, though, this episode didn't really have moments like that, and if it did, they went by quick enough that I didn't really notice them. I remember this episode being very bright with the exception of the brief moment of sepia with Akira sitting next to his grieving mother, which was extremely poignant without the directorial style I was complaining about. If I had to guess, aside from the amazing moments of sakuga, this was the biggest reason this episode left such a good impression

I'm not really good at understanding this sort of thing, but I hope to learn at some point who was in charge of what in each episode; Yuki Yase is the director of the series as a whole, not individual episodes, so it's possible that he's not responsible for most of my gripes this past half year, but it's also possible that his overall style overshadowed everyone else's decisions, so he may well be responsible either way. I hope that someone like Totally Not Mark will cover UU down the road so I can get insight on this from someone who's good at hunting down that kind of information and comparing one bit of an artist's works to the rest. I may not like researching that kind of thing, but I do love hearing about it!

With that, we have one final episode to go. Will it be up to snuff with the last two episodes, will it miss the landing, or will it go above and beyond and convince a million people to sit through 20 episodes of recaps just to see how it gets to this point? We'll find out next week, and I can't wait!

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[wumblr]

Hey for some reason I associate you with cool fragrances. Do you know of a perfume that smells of moldy oranges?

the reason is probably because i got into cologne samples for like 6mos last year until my fucking PERDRISAT GOT STOLEN OUT OF MY MAILBOX and i stopped ordering them lol

fragrantica is good enough for research, with the caveat that whoever's running the site is fucking bonkers and probably antivax, i don't remember exactly but i can't blame people who never touch it for that reason. you can browse by notes and search by combinations of notes, they don't have mold so you may need to expand out to things like mildew, musty, moss, loam, dirt, "earthy notes" etc. many people find patchouli to be in this realm, i think that's why it's so divisive. they've got a forum thread about mildew here with several recommendations. i would recommend rusak AEOOJ if it wasn't discontinued, but if you can get any, do NOT miss the opportunity, it will not be there in 5mins. no citrus notes but it's unparalleled for mossy scents

keep in mind that every other hygiene product you use is going to affect the overall end result, so you could try citrus shampoo or bodywash with something that has the moldy elements you're looking for. decant sites like scentsplit are great for testing before you commit to a full bottle (i would NEVER recommend blind-buying unless it's very cheap or you know you'll never find it again)

for exactly two notes and nothing else it would be easy to combine, say, demeter mildew with like, a citrus roll-on from whole foods or something. demeter seems well regarded for weird one-note scents but some may be better than others, you probably won't find one-note decants but demeter is like $20 each. don't be afraid of cheap, my best one-note is a $10 vetiver from marshalls. blending your own scents may not do exactly what you expect or it may become sublime with the addition of a third note. welcome to perfume lol

EDIT: acqua di gio

[system-of-a-feather]

this probably isn't what you meant when you said people could ask you about late stage recovery stuff, but i really have no idea where/who else to ask, so i hope this is okay

so i relate a lot to how people describe their own experiences with functional multiplicity (and to some degree final fusion as well, but to a lesser degree), but i've never been in any kind of actual treatment for anything. i'm not sure if i could have DID or another dissociative disorder at all (they aren't really seen as real by psych professionals in my country, so can't be assessed), but i know i experience myselves as more than one and people i've discussed it with irl don't really understand it at all.

so i was wondering if maybe you had any thoughts to what that could be..? i doubt it could be DID since no treatment and if i even have ptsd it's very mild, but i also know my experiences aren't normal and i haven't seen anyone but late stage recovery DID systems describe anything similar

i hope it is ok to ask, you seem knowledgeable and i have no idea where else to ask. thank you for reading

I might be saying a bit of an unpopular opinion to the online community here and might get shot in the foot for it (unfortunately, but I don't care really) but I don't think you have to pathologize it if you don't find benefit to it.

What I mean is largely just that it doesn't have to inherently be DID or a dissociative disorder to experience yourself as more than one and if you aren't experiencing distress from it, there is no real need to put a medical label on it. There is a lot of rhetoric about complex dissociative disorders being the only real way to experience one's self as more than one because DID is almost exclusively seen as a result of trauma - but that's just not true if SOLELY on the fact that the experience of being one or many in a largely subjective experience and a way of how one likes to look at themselves.

There is no real valid way to accurately measure "perception of multiple selves" because biological approaches ignore the actual and practical reports of individuals and self reports ignore the real biological underpinnings of things like DID and all. And thats a lot of jargon to say "No real study can properly examine the whole breath of human experiences across cultures and biological backgrounds through all research perspectives" and just that you really shouldn't sweat people saying XYZ is unscientific cause BOTH sides will say that and BOTH sides are equally right and wrong depending on your research perspective.

That said, if it is causing you distress or posing you problems, I do strongly recommend talking about it with a therapist. Yeah some can be a bit rough around the edges and the overall mental health system still kinda sucks, but really any therapist you can develop a good rapport with should be able to help you navigate it all from the place you currently are.

Either way, (and I apologize if this is a bit disorganized, I'm in the car and my fiance is sometimes talking to me as I type so it breaks my train of thought) my personal opinion and thought on the matter is that unless its causing you distress, I don't think you really need to stress about what exactly the "not normal" experience is cause "not normal"...

1) Doesn't exist cause "normal" doesn't really exist and the concept of normality, in my opinion, does little other than promote conformity and shame. (Plus in America its used to push white colonizer perspective and ideas on more subjective things like gender, experiences of self etc; experiencing yourself as more than one is actually not entirely abnormal in some cultures and I'd argue that as a Buddhist, experiencing yourself as more than one is an uncommon but absolutely normal experience)

2) Your experiences aren't defined by the labels and research of other people. Your experiences are defined inherently by how you experience them and labels are there to serve to describe you experiences, not the other way around. Same thing goes for research. Research exists to explain odd phenomenon, not to tell people that their experiences are wrong. Research should adapt to include things that don't fit in, not demands that said outliers change to fit the model / theory.

3) As long as there is held respect that your experiences of being more than one might not be the same as someone whose experiences of being more than one comes from complex trauma and/or a complex dissociative disorder, then I see little harm in just, ya know, existing as you naturally do.

I am hesitant to say "endogenic / plurality community might help you find similar people and navigate finding a label if that is important to you" cause I don't actually interact too much with the community myself and I have heard about some toxicity from there (don't touch sophie or cambrian), but I think it could be helpful with some caution.

Anyways, I am having trouble organizing my thoughts cause Im in the car and all so I'll leave it here. Feel free to ask away if you want to add anything or need clarification on my thoughts on this or whatever.

[athenaowl585]

"REFLECTIONS"

A/N: I dedicate this Tech x fem reader to @nahoney22 and those who love our glorious genius, whose sacrifice affected everyone. After the last episodes, I wanted to take my mind off everything that happened with the Bad Batch... To be honest, I'm writing this for the first time, so please don't be too strict if you are not satisfied with my writing.

Despite the fact that your work as a mechanic is extremely important, you are always the first to go exploring and explore the area. Tech decided to keep you company and you were very happy about it. After all, you two were rarely given the opportunity to be alone together.

In Clone Force 99, you were an expert in understanding mechanics and science to the core, of course, after Tech. However, your successes have always been much more modest than his, referring to the fact that everyone tries to the best of their abilities. But Tech assured you that your knowledge can be useful.

Of all the members of the squad, you were the closest to the Tech, since you both like to talk about everything that comes to mind. Both share a love of research and get excited about things like science.

There was no doubt that Tech found you attractive, like all his brothers, and you were also a kind-hearted, playful and witty person. But brutally straightforward when it was necessary, and above all you listened to the Tech.

Engineering skill alone wasn't enough to get his attention. The mind was also worth a lot. It was precisely because of this that everything began with you in the form of friendly rivalry in technical matters. Tech recognized that you are good at what you do best, and you know more - and if you know anything, you know better - than anyone else. But over time, you have become very close, working on some projects, conducting research and repairing the Marauder.

You wondered if there is more between you and Tech than just friendly feelings. Unfortunately, this guy was hard to understand. His behavior towards you was not always different from how he behaved with the rest of the team. However, you firmly decided that romance was the last thing Tech could think about, so you decided to leave everything as it is.

"What are you thinking about, Y/N?" the person with whom you went to explore asked you.

You've been doing a perimeter sweep for several hours and haven't found any signs of the enemy, so you decided to take a little break before heading back to the ship.

"I am thinking about the connection of all things on this planet and their relationship. They are all intertwined, as it were, and therefore in communion with each other, following each other in a certain order"

"And what is the reason for this?" Tech asked curiously. During the landing, he scanned the planet and found that the plants have a kind of consciousness. But they were completely harmless.

"This is explained by the continuity of movement, overall consistency and unity of essence" you patted the ground next to you. He joined you on the grass to look at the horizon. "You know, Tech, the world and nature sometimes coincide with each other"

"In what sense?"

"Well, the first of them denotes the mathematical whole of all phenomena, but the same world is called nature as the unity of all living things. I always think about how it creates everything with a single aspiration, how everything contributes to the emergence of everything, what is the connection and correspondence in everything"

"I don't think I can understand what you're talking about"

You laughed a little, because sometimes you are so absorbed in your own thoughts that you express them in such a way that even your favorite smart guy can't understand them.

"I want to say that the sky, the earth, the natural elements, our soul and body all take part in this, we just need to be able to find a way to use them. They themselves instruct us when we are able to understand them. After all, all the worlds in the galaxy are nothing but a sacred temple, whose doors are open to man so that he can contemplate amazing objects in it, not created by the hand of a skilled craftsman, but such as the sun, stars, water and earth, which were created from cosmic dust in order to give us the idea of things accessible only to our mind and...heart"

Tech noticed that you emphasized the last word, and probably understood why. When you were alone with him, you always allowed yourself to express your thoughts not related to the war. He knew how you take everything to heart and therefore your salvation has always been this kind of reflection.

Of course, it is impossible not to deny that there are people who believe that only empty reflections without solid real foundations, which are given by science, are recognized not only useless, but even dangerous. And in wartime, even more so a waste of time. But not you. Someone else's opinion was alien to you. For you, philosophy and philosophizing have always been the art of practical life and a guide to it.

"I am glad that you can think in this direction"

"What are you talking about, Tech?" you asked again.

"You see, you Y/N are an unusual person. You are so immersed in exploring and understanding things that, to be honest, it can be difficult for me to understand myself. I can be the best in data collection, in their processing and analysis, in summarizing the theoretical basis for factual material. And it's like you're trying to feel it"

"And you think it is...bad?" you looked at him a little with disbelief.

"What? No... I mean... Me and my brothers, we were created with a purpose, so I didn't have to worry about anything other than the war or my squad. And thinking about something other than her did not provide an opportunity, so doing philosophy for me seems, well...something new"

"It's all right, Tech. I probably say this so often because sometimes we all forget, but just don't think about such things surrounding us in life"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends on what question you ask, genius"

"What does philosophy give a person?"

You were caught off guard by his question.

"Why are you asking me? Don't get me wrong, of course I'm pleased that you're asking me but... but...I thought you'd find out for yourself, as always"

"Because you know that better than anyone. I've often seen you go deep into yourself, thinking about something"

You've been thinking for a while. Your eyebrows were furrowed, and your gaze was directed at the horizon, the setting sun. The silence dragged on, and Tech wanted to apologize for his question, how suddenly you started talking: "Philosophy gives a person the opportunity to comprehend his place in the world and fulfill his duties. The matter of philosophy is simple and modest. For me personally, philosophy remains the law of life, but a philosopher must understand all the imperfections of human nature, all the extreme slowness of people's assimilation of higher moral and intellectual truths"

"You know, you sometimes act like a philosopher yourself, given the fact that you've been in a state of reflection long enough to find the length of your stay on the team amazing"

"Really? It's so obvious," you told him with a smile, looking into each other's eyes.

"Absolutely"

"But hardly anyone in their right mind would want to connect their life with a woman like me"

"Why do you say that?" Tech asked in surprise.

"Everyone thinks I'm a pretty boring woman: what's fun if in my free time I spend so much time reading books or performing my duties as a mechanic, repairing a ship or dealing with all kinds of mechanisms. By achieving success in something that can be of great benefit to us"

"You don't have to worry about what others think of you. I know what you're like," he said, smiling.

"What am I, Tech? Only honestly"

"You are a very versatile intellectual woman whose mind is the key to everything with a philosophical view of the world and incredible willpower, often thinking about the meaning of life and able to "gnaw the granite of science". And besides, you are Y/N kind, honest and caring. You worry about my health more than your own, although you shouldn't. I never expected to meet a woman like you in my life"

The Tech's words touched your heart, making it beat faster. His words and proximity to you at that moment were enough to take your breath away a little.

"Tech..."

"I want to say that you have always attracted me, and I appreciate every moment spent with you. I want this to continue, but I don't want to put pressure on you in anything, so I assumed that keeping you company in intelligence turned out to be the perfect solution to this predicament. But I'll understand if you don't reciprocate me and..."

You silence him by grabbing his face with your hands, pulling him to you and imprinting a gentle kiss on his lips, to which he reciprocates by hugging you tightly around the waist.

You pull away from each other due to lack of air, playfully grinning at him, and Tech grinned back at you, his cheeks uncharacteristically pink.

Now he was the one who starts the kiss, and you reciprocate.

[bcbdrums]

🍓🕯️🔪

"🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?"

well. one day in 2004 when visiting my cousin in the hospital after her car accident. i missed an episode of Bonanza, due to...you know, being at the hospital. this was back in ye olden days of TV guides, recording things on VCR's, and....no....wikis.... not like we have now. no sites to tell you everything, no screencaps, no youtube... and ye olde dial-up internet days. and anyway.... the TV guide descrip made that episode sound thrilling. and...and i just had to know!

and i knew... i remember, knowing in my heart. that if i went online and tried to find out what happened. i'd never get off the computer again. well, i was right. the short conclusion to this tale is i found specific Bonanza fansites loaded with fanfiction!!! and i devoured it. i wanna say within the same month? i was hand-writing fanfic in spiral notebooks for Bonanza. still have that spiral notebook and that unfinished fic, literally locked in a treasure chest. and i still remember the entire plot, what i planned to do with it... yeah.

no, i never did find out what was in that episode i missed/didn't get to record... like i said, no wikis or anything of that nature... (we had to leave from school that day so i didn't get to go home and program the VCR; i'd not known that morning we'd be going to the hospital later.) and they didn't re-run the episode again... so i've still not seen it... but, i started writing fanfic that summer. a defining moment in my life. and yes, my cousin is well!

"🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?"

ohhh, hmmm... idk if i could scale it. maybe right in the middle, a 5 or 6? this will make more sense if i describe my process perhaps.

so if i'm really in the writing zone, i just...plow ahead until i'm finished. and then i go back and edit. when i'm "in the zone" oftentimes i don't see things that could genuinely be improved by better phrasing, better language choices... they just elude me cuz i'm so hyperfixated on the story and it's so clear in my head, so, of course it's great on the page! (example: Forfeit was written this way.) usually i then just quickly fix obvious typos/grammar things and toss the fic into the void. then i'll return a few months later when it's no longer fresh, and then see soooo many things that could be better, and depending on my mood i'll go back and heavily edit, or, i won't.

the other process... if i'm not "in the zone" usually i write a few lines, get stuck, and to get myself unstuck i go back and edit what i've done. fixing things, adding things... and usually once those few lines are edited i have the next ones ready to be written in my head. it's a slower process overall.

editing for other people is a whole different ball game. i love doing that (as long as i'm in the mood/have the energy/time) because it helps me refine my writing craft too, in trying to assist someone with a totally different style than mine. it's great. and i've edited/beta-read for so many diff people now with such a variety of styles it's really making me more aware of my own, and how it's changed over the years. and i also just enjoy helping people.

the idea of something getting better just appeals to me i guess. it's a good feeling, it's productive. so in that sense, i enjoy editing. if i feel really stuck on a project, then it can become just another slow-down however. that would be the only negative i suppose.

"🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?"

haha, already answered this in a prior ask but i'll choose a different one.

i spent days learning how to waltz properly. all the techniques, and the process by which one learns... to write one character teaching another character, very, very methodically. and apparently i did it well, i received a comment about it from someone who actually waltzes professionally if i remember correctly who was very pleased with my writing of it! can i waltz? or dance at all? no, no i cannot. but i could probably talk someone else through how to learn!

thank you SO much for the ask!!! ^_^

[bluebudgie]

So... what's up with these two?

(I love recycling old pictures.png)

You may or may not have seen me draw these rats repeatedly and you may or may not care what's up with them.

Well, in case you do... buckle up, we'll be here for a while.

Just in case: very vague ableism mention. I'm cutting down on pretty much all details, but just so you know the general topic comes up at some point. Don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

Unrelated disclaimer: words are difficult.

It's probably smart to start with a general character introduction so you get an idea of who you're dealing with.

So, Petthri.

(Shared most of this stuff about him before, now it's gathered in one place at least.)

The outgoing guy, grew up in a supportive family, always been the popular kid among peers, and later a pretty popular professor with his students (less so with some other colleagues, but hey). Very passionate about animal bioacoustics. Very hands-on when it comes to research and teaching. Infodumps a lot.

He's got his heart in the right place, but he's obviously not flawless. Has his thoughts constantly drifting in twelve different directions at once, can definitely not read the room, and has absolutely said and done things that hurt others just because he didn't think (and probably never realized). Likely to nervously laugh his way through most dangerous situations, but does manage to pull himself together and get things done if things turn really bad.

He got – at some point (precise date TBA, sometime around PoF events) – kidnapped by the Inquest because they wanted some of his research but didn't manage to sort through his mess. So they just took the entire man to the CoE and decided to keep him. Niche knowledge could always be useful after all. They were even kind enough to gift him an additional facial scar during the welcome interrogation! (The other one was a field trip accident). True hospitality.

Not sure if it's incredible optimism or naivety, but he's generally been doing alright during this whole prisoner situation. He's not locked up, they let him work on things he actually cares about (albeit not for the right cause), and overall he's had enough hope to believe he'll get out of there one day. Make the best out of the present, it'll be fine somehow.

I'm sure if you were to dig deep enough he'd find out he's actually less alright than he thinks he is. Oh well.

Let's talk about the other guy. Lahpp.

Me. I created you. (I've said barely anything about this man on here so far bc while I could fill the 20k essay with him alone, writing about him intimidates me lol. Also in case you're ever asking yourself this, no I did not realize his name sounds like 'lab' until weeks after I created him. Unfortunate coincidence. So, anyway...)

Obedient Inquest scientist, questions but doesn't oppose orders, has been doing the same work for the better part of the last two decades. Day in, day out, getting up early and staying up late. Somewhere in the middle of the pyramid scheme, he's definitely got a bunch of heads above him but he's nowhere near the bottom end of the chain. Got his own little lab space. Enjoys music theory in the little free time he allocates. Assertive, lets people know when not to bother him, but very polite nonetheless. Has mastered the art of superficial small talk. The guy who holds open doors and pulls your chair back for you with an acted but convincing smile. Truly employee of the month material.

He's never known anything but this perfectly ordered working drone life so he's fairly content with his current position.

....

Yeeaah you guessed there's more below the surface.

So this man's life started with being the subject of a failed genetic dragon magic experiment, first one in a handful of infants that actually lived, but ultimately he got nothing out of it but a fair share of various health conditions and disabilities. The initial project was dropped after a few years of surveillance with no results, and instead he got handed over to one of the medical departments so they could "at least make use of him" and test some cutting-edge medical tech. No wasting ressources, am I right? (:

Fastforward some years, a miserable childhood full of abuse and ableism (and by extension just as much of it internalized) essentially left him with the obsession of wanting to fit in with everyone else, wanting to be like everyone else, never having anyone find out anything about his conditions and his past. Worked his ass off in college so it wouldn't be apparent he struggled when others didn't. Created a work environment for himself that he knew would be accommodating to him while not raising any possible questions.

He's been doing fine for some time now; while he definitely hasn't gotten rid of his insecurities he has somewhat accepted that he just... is who he is. Some days are worse and some days are better. His brain has done a very thorough job suppressing pretty much all his early childhood memories. He has also convinced himself that being a perfectly exploitable asset to the corporation that abused him for years is definitely the right way to stick it to the system. They said he'd never be useful for anything and die an early death? Ha, showed 'em! (I am saying this with a lot of sarcasm. He is genuine.)

He's definitely a product of the environment he grew up in, which is a shame because if he hadn't been indoctrinated by the Inquest since birth he would have probably turned out a pretty decent person. He doesn't have the absolute worst inner moral compass. Alas, as it is he has contributed to [some fucked up things] and has [some fucked up views]. And he's not about to change that.

So... at what point do the stories of these two actually connect?

Petthri and Lahpp first met within a larger group of mostly scientists from mixed divisions that were sent on a trip to Rata Primus.

I won't go into the full details of The Rata Primus Odyssey now because that is a whole different story arc involving a total of six of my characters, but the relevant information is that they arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time (A Bug In The System says hello!), and got trapped in the main complex together (alongside Phlish and my charr engineer Leto) when Awakened shit hit the fan.

In short, the following escape mission lasted way too long, and made for an incredibly exhausting 0/10 experience for everyone involved. Cooperation between our two relevant asura actually went surprisingly smooth for the most part, at least way better than with the rest of the small group.

(Bringing that old edit back. Two criminals actually getting shit done in the back while the others are about to snap each other's head off.)

I did once offhandedly mention that Lahpp held Petthri at gunpoint exactly one time – that was here. He was not going to risk getting onto HQ's watch list for letting a prisoner slip away while he's even remotely involved.

Ultimately exhaustion and having no access to important medication for a prolonged amount of time got the better end of Lahpp, and while the other two would have probably just left the "dead weight" behind, Petthri made sure he made it out with them. Not a great time for the little Inquest criminal, both physically and mentally given his inclination for secrecy regarding certain topics.

A few days after they returned to the CoE Petthri checked up on Lahpp to make sure he's recovering, but afterwards... radio silence from both sides for the next few years.

–

Fastforward, it's now Cantha time!

If Lahpp had a piece of gold for everytime HQ sent him away on a "business trip" that'll end up nearly killing him, and likewise Petthri had one for everytime he'd be witness to that, they'd both have... two pieces of gold, which isn't much, but it's still weird it happened twice.

Once again as part of a larger group, our criminals find themselves in New Kaineng City. And because I am a mere human being that is not above resorting to overused tropes, they do of course end up having to share the same room for the time of their stay. I never claimed to be a mastermind storywriter.

At least this time the trip starts out fairly unspectacular, with mostly guided group tours through the city and its labs. Lahpp is not feeling too great (understatement) during all of this for reasons he can't quite grasp, but he's got a really bad gut feeling. Petthri actually notices he's lingering a lot and falling behind, so he suggests they split off from the rest of the group and go back to their room early. Get some rest, the journey to Cantha was long after all.

The next days are pretty calm, the Inquest is snooping around while our two heroes actually have some time to talk and get to know each other a little more. Petthri finally gets to tell someone his whole 'and this is how I was kidnapped!' story. Petthri's questions are getting a little too personal for Lahpp's taste, but overall they get along alright. It's almost like two people that have been way too lonely for several years are actually finding a bit of comfort for a moment. (Side note: Petthri warms up to people very quickly, and he might be (without realizing it) getting a little too comfortable with the idea of having found someone "redeemable".)

Now wouldn't it be great if a nearby reactor blew up and an elder dragon escaped?

The event itself isn't really affecting them (yet) but I do think Lahpp must be questioning the Eternal Alchemy at this point. Thaumanova. Multiple near-meltdowns in the Crucible. Rata Primus. Now this. Seriously, at some point it's just ridiculous.

With each new information surfacing, the "bad gut feeling" is slowly but surely turning into mild but continuous panic. Something is off and it clearly has something to do with dragons. Now, Lahpp never really cared about the whole elder dragon business. Whatever sort of magic experiment he was used for, it's the outcome that affected his life, not the source of it. Still, the thoughts are starting to occupy his mind more than he'd like to admit. Petthri is entirely unaware of any of this.

Oh wait – what's this? A new unknown form of raw magic rapidly spreading and threatening to destroy Tyria? Obviously this is something to be investigated, so the larger group coordinates an excursion to Dragon's End. And obviously they end up getting into the battle for the jade sea.

I guess at this point you see where my art is coming from.

Petthri and Lahpp never get to fight Soo-Won herself (no canon meta participation alas), but they are busy enough fending off Void creatures on ground level anyway. It's unclear (to me) if or how much the Void actually affects Lahpp on a physical level, but regardless he is not having the best time being confronted with something that is so unknown to him and yet so closely connected to his very being.

Some resurfacing traumatic memories combined with a not-so-pretty panic attack (and the physical stress of fighting) later, it's poor Petthri's task to once again take a blacked out criminal to safety. Meanwhile he's got absolutely no idea what is going on, but he's definitely going to demand some explanations.

For some days after this Petthri's playing bedside vigil in a New Kaineng medical facility. The two have a lot of time to talk. Personal topics. Uncomfortable topics. Lahpp does tell Petthri to go back to Rata Sum, he's beyond caring at this point. Quite frankly he thinks HQ won't care either. Petthri refuses to leave just like that. Asks Lahpp to come with him, he'll be better off away from the Inquest. Obviously Lahpp is not having any of it, he's very well aware the Inquest is as corrupt as it gets, but so is Rata Sum. That's just how the world functions. The Inquest has the meds and tech he needs to survive. He's not leaving. And he certainly doesn't need anyone acting self-sacrificial out of pity. It's degrading.

He tells Petthri to sleep on it and make up his mind the next day.

–

Aaand that is pretty much where the somewhat coherently planned part of my current rat-timeline ends. A glimpse into vague concepts for the future:

Enter a third character to the roster! It's Luqqah, Inquest medic-turned-biochemist. She happened to be in Cantha for a while now, doing her own research. She gets involved treating the injured after the whole Void mess. Naturally she ends up finding Petthri and Lahpp. Lucky for the latter, because she obviously has better knowledge dealing with asura than any of the human medics. And... in fact... she has pretty detailed knowledge about what's up with Lahpp specifically. Dealt with his medical papers in the past. Oh, also... they're exes. Don't worry, parted on good terms. Haven't seen each other since shortly after the Thaumanova meltdown. What a reunion.

So... yeah. It's gonna be trio time from now on. I don't know yet for how long the three of them stay in Cantha, or if they're going to get involved with the whole Gyala Delve storyline (or whatever comes out of it). Lahpp's not doing great, he'll need a while recovering. If he ever fully recovers. Petthri has a few of his own inner demons to fight. Time will tell.

As a conclusion... Petthri's saviour complex sets him on a good path towards a corruption arc while Lahpp's as close to a redemption arc as he'll get. They're both questioning their life and views a lot. Spoiler from the Omniscient Narrator: Both of them will be back in the Crucible. But with more thoughts to think than before. And more time to spend together.

And that's what's currently up with the rats.

[kxowledge]

Hi, I have a question on your PhD interviews. I've applied to 2 PhDs in Norway and should hear back this month, so I was wondering how the interviews were structured and how long they were? Also how many people were present for each? Thanks and congrats again on getting the position!!

ooh where did you apply? if you don't mind sharing, feel free to send me a private message - I know some people at a couple of other unis and perhaps I can give you more specific info. thank you so much my dear!! I’ll describe below how it was for me, but it might change uni from uni.

The whole process happens at the department level. The first interview was online with the PhD program coordinator (who does the recruiting for all of the department) and my potential supervisor. My proposal was very much tailored towards this one professor and her expertise, but if there is more than one person who would be interested in supervising you, you’d have both participating in the interviews. Fit with the current professors’ expertise is one of the things they explicitly state as extremely important. I found the interview very relaxed – after a brief introduction from them, I talked about myself (the usual storyline of why you’re applying to a PhD). The rest of the questions were about previous experiences doing research, specifically about my bachelor thesis and my ongoing master thesis (but no questions on previous work experience, even though I have been a RA twice and a TA once; though I had rec letters from the people I worked with in those occasions and they may have spoken to them beforehand). Then, the rest of the questions were related to my research proposal (why is this important, more on the research setting I suggested) and which methodologies I’m familiar with. I was expecting way harder questions - I didn’t even get asked why this university specifically and I wish I had shoehorned that in my first answer tbh. Overall, it felt very chill. However! Getting the interview is the most important step! They only interviewed 15 out of around 300 applicants.

It’s actually possible that they will extend an offer already, without a second interview. The latter is more of a step for those that they need to be more sure about for whatever reason, but usually because they want to see that you understand well your intended methodology. The second interview for me consisted of two parts. For the first part, you’re asked to present a paper that they sent two to three days beforehand. This is (likely) something you haven’t seen before but that is (1) relevant to your proposal and (2) in your intended methodology. These are the two points that they really want to see in the interview, based on the feedback they’ve given me and what I know of my friends’ interviews. You’re given 20 minutes to present i.e. walk through how research was conducted, what the findings are, etc. You’re allowed (and expected) to have a PPT. I put a lot of emphasis on those two points during the presentation and I had two extra slides covering how it was relevant to my proposal, which I pulled up when I got asked about it. After your presentation there are 40 minutes of questions, which are on the paper, the methodology, your research, anything really (I got asked about supervising master students’ thesis). It can, however, last longer than 40 minutes. There are going to be 3 to 4 people in the room: your potential supervisor(s), someone expert in the specific methodology, and someone from admin/HR. They care about making the process fair and having different people involved to avoid favoritism, so there will always be at least 3 people in the room (even if, like in my case, my potential supervisor and the expert in the methodology coincide). The questions are very in-depth, so how difficult the interview will feel depends on how comfortable you are with the paper and the methodology. After this, you’re not done yet! For part two, you have three hours to answer to three questions in written form. These are written by your potential supervisor so they really can be anything, but they will be usually related to the paper and your research. There was some overlap with the questions after the presentation for me.

After all of this ordeal, it is not yet done. If they like you, you’ll get “nominated” (i.e. the email I’ve gotten), but this is not yet an offer! There is yet another committee who will decide who will get in and how many positions to fund. Specifically, the candidates are ranked beforehand and you can either have a “secure” spot or more of a “backup” spot. All of this is not transparent I know this from a friend-of-a-friend, but basically it can still happen that even if you got nominated, you don’t get the position. In some cases, the supervisor might help you find other sources of funding (e.g. an “industry” PhD), but that depends on the supervisor’s connections.

I will also say this: as I am not Norwegian, I found several things about the interview process fairly rude. I know the department and the people I’ll be working with and they’re all brilliant & everyone involved in the process has been very friendly when we actually met, but: they were in my opinion rude when it came to “scheduling” the interviews (i.e. you get told: the interview is at this time, hope it suits you); they’ve gotten my name wrong twice (… not my supervisor thankfully); they told me I would hear by the end of the week or at most by Wed the week after and then didn’t write me for a whole other week (whyyyy); they have also ghosted me once again after the email about the nomination when I asked a question. I would be a bit put off by this if I didn’t know the atmosphere that’s there already.

[majaloveschris]

Before I start I would like to add I'm not a big Chris Evans fan, personally I don't find him all that attractive and the only work of his that had me interested was Knives Out and that too because of Daniel Craig, not Chris. Also would like to add I'm not one for PR relationships anymore (just found other interests and life got busy), but I was one for 6 years. Though when I found out about this whole Chris Evans' public girlfriend ordeal, I got a bit interested, and then I found your page and have been following for awhile, and one thing that really confuses me is people asking, "well why would Chris need to do pr? Chris doesn't need pr!" Well, they are so very wrong. Chris absolutely needs pr, and he knows that, that is why he agreed to go on an PR ice cream date with Lily James, i don't know why these people are acting like Chris is some saint who would never ever do PR when it's extremely clear he has done so and he is not ashamed of it or that he didn't want to participate in it, are people forgetting how happy he looked in that park licking his ice cream next to Lily? and that was confirmed PR because of how quickly she was spotted with another man just a few weeks after, but, coming back to my point. Chris absolutely needs PR, I don't like to say this, but I have to be honest here, nobody outside of the Chris Evans fandom had been talking about him lately, his projects hadn't been that big of a success, and overall, nobody outside of the fandom really ever spoke about him, but once he has done all of this PR, he is getting a lot of attention from people who aren't in the fandom and will never be, hell, other fanpages of other celebrities are coming to defend him and his "girlfriend"! This has given him a big boost in being talked about and staying relevant on Social Media. I know that people say "ohhh but this isn't good pr for him! she's racist or she's problematic etc etc" but the thing is, nobody outside of the fandom really cares about him that much to go and research and find out what his new girlfriend is like, Alba's extremely questionable actions have never become popular, so no, this isn't bad pr for him, and as far as I know other than losing a few of his fans, this hasn't affected his career in a bad way, I think people who say this is bad PR don't really understand why celebrities do PR and how it works. Ofcourse all of this isn't that simple but I tried my best to put it into simple words so everybody can understand it, though if people do want me to do a detailed analysis on this PR relationship and also explain how they work I would be more than happy to. I know how social media apps are engineered and what went into creating them and the same with PR relationships, I also know how PR relationships are planned out in different ways and what people expect from different kinds of PR relationships, so if you guys would like to know more, I would be more than happy to provide a detailed analysis on this PR deal and how it was made, why it was made and how it works.

I think the reason why some people say (and I think they also said it) that it is bad PR or that it isn't going the way it is is because we are in the fandom and we see what it causes inside the fandom. People are leaving. People who've been fans for 10+ years, or since the very beginning of his career. Everything he's ever said or stood for is getting questioned when Alba and her friends are the exact opposite of those things.

But I agree that most people outside of the fandom either don't care, care for a minute, or defend. Just the number of TikTok comments I see that defend them is crazy. Most people only talk about the age gap. If I see a person saying something bad about their relationship, it's about their age, which is then excused by a hundred people saying, "She is an adult; it's not like he is dating someone that just turned 18". Most people don't know about her past or behavior, or they just don't care that much about his private life.

I think for us "normal people," it's really hard to understand why celebrities do certain things, but I've always believed and still believe this is PR, so if you'd like to let us know more, feel free to share with us your opinion and theories.