#promise theyre all relevant

[xxstarl1ghtxx]

i might write a crossover fic exploring this sometime but if i had a nickel for every time optimus prime had an awful friendship breakup involving one party plummeting to what the other thought was certain doom only to find out the one who fell was actually alive and also had a new name and appearance, i'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

[moonpaw]

Fighting DEMONS rn trying not to get invested in one piece to figure out wtf you're posting about!!!!

come here cyber.... we have this thang

‎

[puhpandas]

I have so much hope right now that at the very least the release after hw2 dlc will include 3 star fam everybody take my hand we need to have hope

[muirneach]

sorry to the oilersheads that followed me sometime since after june but my roots are in edmonton haterism

[maaaxx]

I just wanted to let you know that between the anxiety of your fic (the wounds bleed blue) and that i happen to be playing a scary game (outer wilds echoes of the eye, 10/10 recommend lmao), i lost my appetite. I just. Can't really eat right now, I'm not hungry, my mind is just circling those two things, and so, you're half responsible for it. Hooe your happy

In all seriousness, i really like your fic and GOD zuko. Baby. And Tomkin and Nanook? If they don't go with zuko on search of toph I'm rioting. Or crying, I'm not sure yet

thank you anon im glad you enjoy my stuff <3

but you've gotta eat bestie. even just smell some lettuce or something. im sure thatll give you some nutrients.

why choose between rioting and crying when you can do both?

Nanook and Tomkin might go with him. They might not. I guess we'll just have to see in 4-ish chapters. :)

[calamarispiderart]

hello hello!!! random question before i get started on work haha

how do you come up with dialogue for ur hms comics? the back n forth of them feels so heavy and realistic. especially the casualness paired with the bleeding-brooding (alliteration for fun) violence makes everything just. hit. in a tragic and hopeless way imo. it’s so neat :0

i’ve been trying that kind of writing out a bit lately too. this is what i’ve managed with my iambic pentameter gang (hms but rain world iterator). MiND is being threatened by the rage pent up inside himself. and, strangely enough, it has the voice of HeART.

constructive feedback is welcome ^_^!

once again, hello hello! sending good wishes and all :]. i love ur work ^_^ 💛

oooo hmm... this isnt something ive ever really thought about trying to explain, thank you for the question! big fan of the posing in the piece youve added here btw, i like the alliteration in 'heliocentric heathen' B:•∆

honestly the way i go about writing them isnt something i feel i can put into words with a clear structure of process... often with my comics it starts with me simply having a vague idea of 'i want to make a comic today', and drawing what feels right to lead into it. the words typically link in with the actions as well - i usually draw something, draw the next thing, write a bit of dialogue, draw the next thing, write more dialogue.... not in that exact order but the words always feel to be a reaction to the actions and the actions are a reaction to the words (and/or, words and actions work in tandem). people rarely talk in a vacuum, especially when theyre having the conversation in person, so i find it helpful to see the actions as part of the dialogue and vice versa.

occasionally ive scripted out dialogue beforehand (always with actions included within the script.) but even with a script what actually is said needs to adjust with whats been drawn. when i dont write with a script (which is the norm), its often while im drawing the next frame that im thinking over whats being said. typically i just go over and over a sentence mentally, adjusting bits until it feels right, looking at it once its written on the page and adjusting it more if necessary.

perhaps a bit vague? apologies! i do have certain mental rules i try keep in mind for each of the threes characters while writing. 'how would heart respond, how would he word this? mind? i cant word it this way because i know he doesnt do this...' <subconscious questions and thoughts but they are important to keep in mind. i find it the most helpful to keep the core traits i personally see in them in mind, and let those traits kind of... guide what is said. if i think of how that collection of traits and facets would respond to something, the vague concept that creates can then go through the filters of dialogue traits i have in mind for them. ...ehhh, put more simply... 'what is the general response this character would have to this situation' and then 'how would they structure that response through words and/or actions?'.

i, being who i am, cccc being what it is, am somewhat naturally inclined to writing grim and bleeding-brooding (nice word) things. i also consider myself to be quite a grounded person, which i hope comes through in my work! however, natural inclinations aside, cccc itself is quite a bleeding-brooding album (at least it is to me). its one about depression and self hatred and it really doesnt pull many punches in that respect. or at least, thats my read on it! as a result, that becomes reflected in my interpretation of hms. however, id also note that cccc is silly at times, theres humor in it. all good grim things need a bit of levity to really make it feel Real... people joke in the worst of times, not just the best, and it really helps in writing serious things to have just a little bit of joke to it, even if its not immediately noticable... this is hard to really give examples of honestly but it is relevant i promise. im unsure if youve read much of my writing aside from my comics, but theres just a bit of absurdity and humor in both my cccc pieces that would make the writing feel sorely lacking without in my opinion. notable with how violent and tense both those pieces are.

lots of words now! hopefully helpful ones B:•] or at least interesting! ill try write out some of the core traits and details i keep in mind when writing hms so as to give better reference points to all my prior words:

heart: reactive, not instigative. he doesnt start fights, he finishes them. he also doesnt need an insane amount of prompting to get going... but he does need prompting. apathetic, a bit fanciful. hes depressed, and not in a cute way. he talks casually but he uses serious words. no point in simplifying his language - he wants to be taken seriously, and while he makes himself look small and weak at times he is Not weak and he is Not small. hes just as much of a wordsmith as the other two. he covers his mouth when he speaks sometimes, and he puts his hand over his chest... a bit defensive? muffling his own input, but notably he still speaks. lies by omission or by twisting facts - if full honesty helps his case, thats what he uses. if a white lie works better... i personally see him as a bit of a planner too. sometimes his reaction to things is built up to; it never comes out of nowhere, even if it may seem like it.

mind: instigative, less reactive. he still reacts to things but hes generally the one starting shit and hes honestly very bad at Not talking shit. uses contractions. <this is a small one but mind says 'dont' and 'cant' and i dont think ive ever heard him Not use contractions to any notable degree. kind of weak! hes proud of himself, very proud of himself, and even in the moments of the album where theyre getting along he cant drop his superiority complex. hes bad at making compromises that put him as the lesser one. hes also quick to point blame and to lie (even if hes a bit roundabout abt it). hes also not That smart - or at least, hes not any smarter than the other two. he Thinks hes smart and hes quite confident about that but that doesnt actually mean hes right lol. aggressive verbally, passive physically. hypocritical.

both of them tend to see soul as an afterthought, or as something to benefit from. note the 'something', not 'someone'. imo, they dont really see him as a valid living entity in the same way they see themselves. speaking of soul...

soul: hes difficult. hes a difficult and complicated guy. vague, fanciful, depressed, suicidal, tired... i personally see him as quite passive. both passive and active... hes violent, towards himself and towards the others. just as they dont see him as an individual, i believe hes too apathetic and burnt out to see them as individuals either. when he threatens to hang himself, thats a direct threat to the two if them as well - and it functions as one, seeing as they are all linked in that way! his suicidality isnt purely self destructive in the way it would be in other story contexts which i find important to remember. i see him as someone who sleeps a lot... and as someone who is treated more like a tool than anything else. but he is, simultaneously, idealistic. he hopes for the best and would do anything (Anything.) to try and achieve it. he wants things to Get Better or to Stop. most of the time when i write or draw him its within the 'Stopping is the only option to Get Better' stage of things. hes tired and he doesnt want to deal with things but he has to and he doesnt want to and hes at the end of his rope. honestly within the album he feels a bit like a ghost. hes granted a similar level of personhood as the shadow of what could be, which is both more and less than mind and heart get.... hes confusing! hea a difficult guy. honestly you can take a lot of my notes and thoughts on his character with a grain of salt because hes always been such a puzzle to me haha. i find him easiest to convey in art... OH yes one last thought/trait is hes a bit... arrogant? hes tired and hes careless. listen to me or fuck off and die. arrogant. what a guy.

ahaaha this kinda became me just rambling about my reads on the three but.. hopefully helpful!! this is all stuff i try keep in mind when im writing and drawing them. theres certainly nuances ive missed and things i havent worded as well as i could, but you get the idea i hope! all of that informs how i write them and... in a way they almost lead me through the piece.

also! this isnt something i often think about because its just a natural part of the process, but sometimes i end up scrapping stuff! entire paragraphs, panels and poses, because it hits a stasis where i cant find any way for one or the other to continue the interaction - theres a distinct difference between this and the interaction hitting its ending point. if ive written one person saying or doing something and none of the parties involved are able to respond in any way at all, thats a sign that ive conveyed their characters wrong and i need to go back. people *always* have a response to something, whether thats continuing the conversation or leaving or anything. if none of them can come up with a response that feels like them, ive messed up somewhere. dont be afraid to go back and rewrite things.

ummm yeah thats all i can think of to say now! thank you for the question, and thank you for the nice words!! B:•∆ im very happy my comics come off the way youve described, and very happy youve enjoyed my work enough to want to ask me about it!! means a lot to me B:•] your rainworld iterator hms concept sounds swag as hell, id just say to keep at it!! from what youve shown here youve already got a great start B:•∆ thank you again! hope you and anyone else reading this has a good week!

[narwhalandchill]

how are we feeling about this project amber update

assuming this is in relation to childe bc who the fuck else JWDJWJKDJKW anon im so sorry if not. also so so sorry for how out of hand this got. i am simply unwell about him.

But! Well. there certainly are thoughts

(obviously 4.6 datamine of arle SQ and her voicelines; This Will Not Spoil Anything Abt The Main SQ Plot, i only discuss the relevant parts. also some p Heavy negativity towards fanon ooc at the start youve been warned dont @ me)

(i mean i didnt even read anything of the SQ but The scene w childe so idek the main plot of the quest rly either lmao. tho go at ur own risk if u wanna check the dialogue out; its the 2nd quest log but it does hint at the greater story)

TLDR: how i feel abt his appearance in a vaccuum? quite solid despite the briefness, actually. accounting for the way fanon is 100% likely going to be reading into this and turning it into the Lets Infantilize Ajax Even More 2024 championship? conflicted.

in other words; a certified labyrinth warriors moment - theyve expanded on childes character in a very interesting and quite a compelling way and while i Do like the potential in what im seeing from hoyos end theyve also done it so that its going to be misinterpreted to hell and back by fanon so i kinda have an immediate jaded love-hate moment going on JJWJDKJDKJWJDWKJ

its literally just labyrinth warriors flashbacks - that event has some of my ALL TIME favorite insights into who ajax is and how he views the world and himself but when the event came out all everyone cared abt was to warp it into baby boy stuck in scawwy paper boy dungeon dehumanizes himself by calling himself a weapon and doesnt love himself he is such a sad trauma meowkitten 🥺🥺so yeah

bc like lets look at this properly for a bit; okay he went back to fontaine to look for skirk still somewhat injured and waa waa my 286 month infant baby cannot Make decisions like that!!!!!11! which is to say. i am tired of him getting this shit every time.

is it smart of him to get on the move immediately with just the bare minimum of rest? no. do i like that hes straining himself before proper recovery? not particularly no. do i feel the particular need to psychoanalyze this grown man and feared warrior whos 100% survived Way Worse in Way More Extreme Situations for it? hell fucking no.

while not at all the course of action a medical professional would approve of. from childes POV its perfectly logical hes priorizing going back for skirk when its literally the FIRST TIME shes showed up in like. a Decade. when hes been looking for her all this time are you kidding me 😭😭😭 but fanon must keep fanoning for their widdle baby girl so what does a hater like me know

anyway. seething and venting over im gonna try to avoid bringing up how much i hate this kinda infantilization of ajax now im sorry for bringing it up so much on ur innocent ask anon KJWDJKWKJDJDKWJKD. neutral discussion moment. i Promise

so it seems that theyre going for the pulcinella-is-shady-about-ajax (and prolly his family) angle for good and like. personally for me as long as the only real source of that claim was scara (a cynical edgelord who doesnt believe in non-exploitative human relationships, mind you) i was rather skeptical towards just instantly drawing that conclusion, but well. with the scene in arles AQ it appears to be sth theyre building towards

i actually really fucking loved that scene bc while theres outsider perspectives (scara obvi; and even arles line for him has that vibe. and ppl still take that shit face value 💀💀) and a lot of fandom assuming childes like. completely clueless and naive and ignorant towards the potential risks involved with trusting pulcinella. this is actually a very clever demonstration of quite the opposite? and showcasing how despite his aversion towards schemes and lies hes still intelligent and knows the kind of people hes dealing with when it comes to his fellow harbingers

like. childe has a negative opinion of arle based on what pulcinella has told him about her because at face value many of her deeds are in heavy conflict with his values of loyalty and family. and because he does not have the further context behind her actions and what the HotH under her is really like. Obviously hed hold a very hostile and wary view towards arlecchino

(ESPECIALLY when with all this biased intel hes still going to run into kids from the house!!! and then hes going wtf? these are good kids. what the hell is that knave doing with them??? blink twice if you need help i will start a civil war for yall like thats how he is with kids!!!!)

so YES. pulcinella has given him if not false then at least misleading intel based on the political tension between himself and arlecchino and the wider HotH. and childes taken that at face value! sure! he is close with pulcinella of course he would!

BUT. THEN. he returns to fontaine and seeks arlecchinos help looking for skirk. and observes her behavior and modus operandi for himself as well as the kids. does he go "nah she must be just hiding the crazy evil shit i would never distrust pulcinella" and leave it at that when reality doesnt completely match his expectations?

NO. because when offered the opportunity through the traveler asking about the HotH childe immediately capitalizes on the opportunity to prod for answers and see if pulcinella is lying to him!!!!

and hes so fucking smart with the way he does it too???? i LOVE his intelligence. the entire thing is so simple yet elegant; it Completely relies on his reputation as the kinda gullible harbinger whod Never scheme or hide Anything to indirectly affirm or deny his suspicions. he doesnt Need to Pretend to care about the possibility of arle betraying the kids bc he genuinely does!! and when she pushes back against the accusation he doesnt Need to fake admitting to her that well, actually, its all just rumors so he could be completely wrong. and so on. like he navigates the entire thing so effortlessly. and whats the end result?

childe has Confirmation of pulcinellas possible ulterior motives in action AND that arlecchino is a much more reliable ally than he initially assumed. all the while appearing as just The Straightforward 11th. like obviously id need to hear it voiced first to be sure but in text it v much gives the impression hes almost kinda just. playing up the threats towards arle and being "dumb" on Purpose?? to get the answers he wanted out of arle without appearing like hes fishing for anything particular. and i just hhhhhhhhhhh

i love when he does this so muchhhh!!!!!! 😭😭 he doesnt need to become some machiavellian schemer to be able to strategize !!!!!! he avoids scheming bc he Dislikes it not bc hes incapable of it like this has Always been the case Since Liyue AQ and i love whenever they show that side of himm . my Beloved

so anyway. while i do still think the like "pulcinella is bad and has his family hostage" is still kind of a generic plotline and i hope the writing regarding the whole thing wont ultimately turn out to be sth That simplified and black and white. its p clear theyre doing Something with pulcinellas motivations and as they are. im Really glad theyre letting it show that childes not just some completely passive party being manipulated in this all. he Is thinking abt this stuff and his position among the harbingers. ig we shall see where it goes - not the greatest fan of the concept still, but canon text supports it becoming a thing way more than when it was just scaras word we had for it. hope theyll surprise me positively w how they go about it!

then briefly for the rest uhh

also loved arle and childe just shittalking the rest of the harbingers it was amazing. i wasnt expecting this kinda dynamic between them at all but its great lmao. also i wanna see childe hang out w the HotH kids

as for project stuzha; so we dont really get anything solid on it other than being summoned back to snezhnaya for it is apparently a Big Deal. but still very interested. let my man have his endgame significance Trust

childes appearance was obviously v brief ultimately but that was clear from his leaked linecount to begin with - i am pretty satisfied with what they seem to have done w him. like its not The Best but also i wasnt expecting his lore to get some massive expansion in another harbingers SQ . the worst i feared was that it was just going to be a flashback of arle returning his vision which did Not happen so massive W. i am super hyped to hear this scene voice acted proper and happy to see him again, i really hope he gets to appear at least once more in an interlude or dains quest or something before going on hiatus again but idk if thats too much to ask LKKWJDJWDJWD

also: i am never changing my namecard after this patch drops. oh my godddddddd its So Fucking Beautiful 😭😭😭😭

But. Yeah. lots of good stuff. unfortunately lots of it will get misinterpreted and fanon will get obnoxious about it. but i still love getting to see him again and i am speedrunning that namecard day fucking one mutuals and/or followers in EU please add me (UID 711090267) ill need coop buddies for the world bosses

thank youuuuuuu for the ask i hope this monstrosity of a monologue doesnt scare u off 💀💀💀

[spidermanifested]

as someone who likes to think hes thought a decent amount about the story of fullmetal alchemist. aka every single day for the past however many years. the thing about the bafflingly prevalent contingent of people who insist that fmas politics are actually very nuanced and leftist is. that i honestly cant figure out what parts of it they even mean?

is it the part where fascism is defeated by war criminal "heroes" who insist that the best way to enact large scale change is to never directly challenge systems, but to infiltrate them and work your way up to the top until you can become the dictator yourself and then tell everyone that actually voting is cool. unless the whole world is about to end, in which case youre allowed to do One coup but then you have to lie to the whole country about what happened and go back to doing incrementalism

is it the part where fascism isnt interrogated realistically as a cultivated product of social unrest, stratification and bigotry, but instead was instituted by a Cosmically Evil Badguy, and all the imperialism and genocide was just kind of a byproduct of that, and if we beat that one guy then everything will eventually be fine

the part where the difference between a Good King and a Bad King is that a good king CARES about his subjects and a bad king DOESNT care >:( but even within the "we need to turn amestris into a democracy!!!" lukewarmly liberal moral framework theres zero discussion of the fact that maybe monarchies are also pretty bad. and the good ending is when the Good King promises to protect the oppressed ethnic minorities in his country but god forbid those minorities actually have any political power themselves

is it the part where the most oppressed ethnic minority in *amestris* is represented by "Religious Terrorist (But Sad)", "Terrorist's Dead Brother", "System-Loving Cop", "Old Lady Who Shows Up Once To Say Not All White People", and "Literally Gandhi. Look At Him Hes Saying A Gandhi Quote"

is it the part where killing people is the worst thing you can do, but if you do mass murder to civilians on behalf of a government but feel really bad the whole time you can still be a good guy, but if you do any amount of killing for any other reason or while feeling an emotion other than sadness youre a borderline-irredeemable monster, unless youre barry the chopper in which case it was funny so its okay (< the only part here thats true)

is it the part where the main character gains the respect of a member of the aforementioned ethnic minority by being racist to him. the part where a black girl has to get scolded by a white girl to realize that stealing is wrong. the part where the only major character to refuse to take part in a genocide is constantly called a coward for doing so by his epic girlboss hypernationalist sister and this is never really challenged. the part where the Sad Religious Terrorist gets guilt tripped so hard about killing 2 people while he was having the worlds most understandable panic attack that he decides hes fine working together with the guys who killed his family, because the System Loving Cop is so heroic, for wanting to do incrementalism, which again, is inherently moral

like the more i think about it the less i get it. this is the most milquetoast "bad things are bad and good things are good" status quo loving political narrative for 15 year olds on earth. where is the super relevant social commentary. because it feels like its just incredibly surface level "the bad guy is like hitler so the author is antifascist and based!!!" 2014 harry potter fandom type nonsense and its REALLY weird that it always comes from people insisting that theyre just that much better at media analysis than all the haters?? and that any criticism must be missing the point. what point. what is the point

[emiensr]

IF YOU’RE STILL DOING THE ASKS THEN COPICS & ERASER? :00

HI ngl i forgot i'd posted anything lol . ok sooo ^^ Copics: what is this character's most expensive habit or hobby? Do they ever feel guilty about the money they spend on it?

hmmmmm . the characters with the most expensive hobby would definitely be Noel and Madi. Musical instruments are expensive. good thing their parents are rich! only one of them benefits from that though. guess who . ok tbh he doesnt actually own most of the instruments he uses in his shows. When Noel plays multiple instruments at once , he summons them similar to deuce summoning cauldrons .except Noel sends them back to where they came from once hes done. however ! he DOES own his trumpet and violin . theyre his favourites . even though hes kind of a dick Noel does feel super guilty every time he has to spend his parent's money, which is why he chooses to "borrow" the instruments he uses in his shows (he's not as evil as i make him out to be i promise 😭). oh my god how long ago did i start writing this . i thought i'd posted this months ago. anyway im gonna finish it now.

Eraser: what's one way this character has changed over time? Either over the course of their story, or over the course of designing them as an author.

theyve all changed sooo much . originally everyone was a seperate character with no links . i almost scrapped madi once, made him transfem for about 2 months and then forgot he existed. then i made noel seperatelyy andddd decided to make them related :3

Asken was a brainworm that attacked me while i was at work once (i've had 3 jobs since then. huh) , designed , was told that his anatomy was wouldnt work and then left alone for ages (UNRELATED TO THE ANATOMY THING i just had no interest in him)

Lyn was also an abandoned character who i gave story relevance when i made Stian. Stian and Noel drove everything for the rest of these guys they would have no relevance otherwise oops .

tldr they were all irrelevant / undeveloped until Noel came along <3

IMSORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG WITH THIS ONEEE ahh?? u sent this in probably may or june and i just . forgor. ermmm m. here u go <3

[bezzygom]

DUDE im so curious about your white day au, could you tell us more about it ? :D

IM SORRY I FORGOT TO ANSWER

some contex for anyone reading:

part 1

part 2

mizurui

tbh there's not much to my white day au it was mainly supposed to be funny over anything else

the main plot is essentially rui being one of the mages at a castle but getting threatened with being fired which causes him to panic and claim that he has found a way to find the lost prince of the kingdom. he kinda comes up with semi working spell for that in a rush but the spell essentially leads him to a lost prince in general not specifically of their kingdom. after that rui with mizuki and akito in tow (as knights protecting/accompaning him) gets to toya who got adopted by tenmas as a kid and is running a family inn together with tsukasa and saki. theyre kinda hesitant to belive rui at first cause he seems like a scammer but in the end rui promises that he will help find out whats toyas past in exchange and they agree and go with them. but since like ive said all they know is that toya is "a lost prince" theyre not 100% sure its of their kingdom so while theyre on their way back they do like a cheklist of going to diffrent kingdoms for a quick stop and proving that yep toya is not that kingdoms prince

some other stuff that are not the main plot but might be entertaining:

- mizuki knows rui made everything up and is trying to cover for him and akito is the only one in the castle thats like "this guys bullshitting" and volunteered to join him to prove that the guy he found is not the prince. cut to a looney toons like compilation of rui and mizuki covering the truth in front of akito

- theres a slight tenma family side plot with saki wanting to leave to travel the world with l/n but not knowing how to tell tsukasa. In my head she claims that its because she doesnt want him to be alone and its harder now that she knows toya will probalby leave too but its also in a bigger part her being scared of leaving not in a "world is a scary and dangerous place" sense but in a "moving away can be a stressful experience" way and her feeling like telling tsukasa would make it final. toya learns by accident before the story starts and Ive imagined toya and saki bonding in scenes where they talk about how theyre actually kinda anxious to leave their home especially since its always been just the 3 of them. anyways it ends with a happy ending lol

- mafuyu is following them for plot relevent reasons i wont reveal in case i ever want to make more of it

- toya saki and tsukasa would get their white day outfits eventually but its not serious and in my head its them trying to disguise themselves to get into a royal event or something

- I wanted to make it a mizuruikasa au in a sense that mizuki and rui are already acting like a couple and then both of them are looking at this pathetic guy who tries to infodump akito whos a knight about knighthood and they think "I want him"

- theres some akitoya but its also mostly comical with akito having an internal conflict between "damn im falling for this guy" vs "I feel like liking the guy who im trying to prove is not a prince and rui is just making shit up is kinda like admitting defeat and I cant give rui the satisfaction"

- theres a song "learn to do it" in anastasia and this au exists 100% because ive imagined a scene where rui mizuki and akito desperately try to teach toya how to be a prince to it

[thisdreamplace]

i get confused when people say you shouldn’t mix loass and non dualism because i feel like loass cannot be operated as a conscious and consistent practice without nd? why are people acting like it’s blasphemy to recognize how nd facilitates loass? is it that people are understanding loass as ego-based? nd ≠ loass, but to me loass IS nd actioned into a creative practice? help 😫

youre so real for this anon <3

i say, this is why we have to be able to think for ourselves and not just listen to everything people say online. lol bc... youre like... not wrong (and i know a lot of people aint gonna like me for saying that lmfao)

but i remember when nd started to gain popularity and how some accs were SWEARRRRINNNG it has nothing to do w loa and how dare anyone confuse the two. and im just sitting there reading like o___O but theyre literally interwined. and i get why people would want to totally seperate the two, bc no one ever says it, but i think loa scarred/traumatized a lot of us.

its like when everyone first switched from loattraction to loassumption and were like ewww theyre not the same thing dont get them confused !! but it was bc 90% of people at the time had been failed by loattraction and felt like loass was the solution they had been looking for lol and yet, they are the same in ending, different in practice. teaching the same point, in different ways. two different paths with the same destination. nd is like this.

nondualism skips to what the point of loass is, which a lot of people dont see bc they associate loass with manifesting ur desires and that is the ~mainstream~ idea of it. but it is a popular misunderstanding. anyone who has mastered loass has simultaneously succeeded in what nd teaches. with an actual understanding of what loass is, it was never about getting ur desires. it was always about reaching "the promise"... however, people tend to focus much more on the manifesting part, which isnt a problem in loass. its a problem in the people who decided to teach loass. but that was kinda the point. if it werent for knowing about being able to get ur desires, a lot of people wouldnt have listened. but it brought us here, and nd gets to focus on the actual point. the promise. the thing is that manifesting desires has been grossly focused on, and skews the point of loass. lol

the thing is, nd focuses on the end "goal" entirely, so they seem to be different to people who have a mainstream understanding of loass. and there's also semantics, which is entirely fair. for some people, the way loass is explained doesnt click but nd does. and thats why it can make sense to group it seperately, bc they are taught differently. however, once again, you have two different routes leading to the same destination. its not that complicated, but for some reason ppl like to complicate it by calling it a whole new thing. theyre all so delicately intertwined though, and i think thats great. bc we're all different people and we will respond and understand things differently.

so many different roads, simply to lead us back to who we truly are, to wake up from this dream and experience the true self.

so yeah, youre right. and this is why you should learn to trust yourself. :)

"this place is a dream, only a sleeper considers it real. then death comes like dawn, and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief." -- rumi

felt like it was relevant to place that here, as that is the exact quote that inspired the name of my blog so many years ago. and rumi is no loass guru, nor nd teacher. and yet, and yet. it just goes to show how interconnected this all is, because of the fact that it all comes from the same source conciousness. <3

xo 🕊🫧

[closetnerd62]

my new roommate (who’s nonbinary, i promise it’s relevant ) has been in the cutest situationship since i moved in and we were all encouraging them to have the “what are we” conversation and wondering why he was taking so long to bring it up…

turns out he was really nervous to ask them because he didn’t know if they wanted to be called his girlfriend or something more gender neutral

THATS SO SWEET THEYRE ACTUALLY SO CUTE

[musubiki]

taffy: my wife is mad at me. i hope i die.

seriously though, that comic really made me sad. i want coffy to have the fluff too. i would also love to hear your coffy hcs too because i'm so in love with them too (please).

THATS LITERALLY HIM AFTER EVERY FIGHT!!!!!!! and coco has to go and be like "I still love you just let me be mad. we're not breaking up"

and dw they will!!!!! eventually!!! but for a long time its a lot of *gestures to coffy* ....this. just by the nature of enemies to friends to lovers....wereas limochi have known each other for so long....good to have different flavors of romance stories...

anyway heres some headcanons (canons??) including some times they run into each other during pre-timeskip before taffy is a guild member (long post about their interactions/history):

every morning, coco goes for a run. its part of that little bucket list her parents made her, to "live a healthy lifestyle." this is also the origins of her magic item quick shoes power!!! much like how limes baseball hobby turned into the thunderbat, cocos running hobby turned into her magic item (she named "the talaria") (this is relevant i promise)

anyway, she runs around the area where she lives which happens to be near the docks. taffy works at the docks (weird that one of the main villians of the pre-timeskip works a normal 9-5 but he gotta feed himself somehow. mochi never knows this because she never goes to this area (too close to the water for her taste. only ever to visit coco occasionally, and even then she doesnt venture down to the docks)

this results in coco just. running into taffy. at the small-business grocery store a block away from where she lives. shes just running one morning like "La di da, taking a jog~ its been a few weeks since that weird guy kidnapped me and tried to kill mochi, at least i never have to see him again-" and then hes there buying fucking apple juice at the checkout counter

when they see each other, taffys whole body is a mixture of panic and ... something??? he thinks. why is my heart beating so fast, he thinks. the old lady behind the counter is like "Oh taffy is this a friend of yours?" (she has no idea) and coco and taffy just looking at each other in tense silence ready to throw down at any second

"I thought you were dead!" "Just let me buy my apple juice in peace, I have to clock in soon." "Clock IN- WHAT???!!!"

that little small business grocery store becomes neutral ground. apparently taffy is a regular enough that the owner (the old lady) knows him, and has no idea hes a water magic bad guy, and they both agree starting a magic fight with a bunch of innocent people around who have nothing to do with it benefits no one

"Aren't you like...evil? I thought you'd be into the whole killing innocents thing." "...what?"

this is a good place to actually get taffy to talk. during these encounters this is where coco gets to actually ask him what his deal is and try and talk sense into him, none of which works

cocos social resiliance is insane, eventually gets to the point where theyre there at the same time, and she doesnt have enough money to buy eggs so she turns around and looks at him and says, in all seriousness, "I need five dollars." and taffy, after a long period of silence and a face that says "????????????" just. places a 5 dollar bill in her hand. why am i doing this, he thinks. why is SHE doing this?

coco never tells mochi she runs into taffy like this. the reason is that in the few conversations shes has with mochi about taffy, mochi seems incredibly stubborn on the idea of trying to help him. shes under the mindset of "Hes trying to kill me, and i intend to protect myself from him, and thats it." and to be fair, she has every right to think that

but coco, who has had at least some interaction with him, thinks hes not necessarily 100% evil and some part of her wants to help him. (he did save her after all, even though hes the one that kidnapped her in the first place, and apparently hes not evil enough to just wreak havoc anywhere he goes)

Im not totally sure why coco is so willing to help him. maybe she feels bad for him, or some part of her thinks helping him will make her a better person, like the kind of person her parents wanted her to be. maybe its because when she was all alone and at her worst point, she had people who believed in her and helped her and wouldnt give up on her and she wants to be that kind of person for this man, who has no one.

he isnt reliably at the docks working. sometimes she cant find him, shes not sure where he goes.

the second time they encounter taffy is when coco gets the talaria. in a fight where mochi actually gets downed by the water magic for the first time, and lime almost gets fucking GOT by taffy, mochi uses whatever magic she has left to infuse magic into cocos shoes and leaves it to her. this is the first time coco absolutely kicks his ass, 1) because its his first time fighting her and 2) he has a VERY hard time bringing himself to hurt her.

after this fight, he realizes he has a serious problem

he actually kidnaps coco a second time afterwards (LMFAO)!! shes like "SERIOUSLY?!?!?" and he goes "Maybe next time don't be so easy to kidnap." this attempt at getting mochi also fails

they run into each other occasionally between main confrontations. taffy doesnt attack directly one after the other, theres usually a good amount of time that lapses between encounters for him to regain his strength and strategize.

another time they run into each other is at this little food festival at the docks. coco goes because hey free food!! and taffy goes because "Oh my god...free food." when they run into each other taffy is like "........since we're both here.........do you wanna maybe.....walk around....together...." and she goes "Are you for real" (she does it anyway because he offers to pay for any games she wants to play. when she asks why hes trying to do this, maybe get her to lower her guard so he can kidnap her again?? and he gets really quiet before responding. "I dunno. It's lonely to walk around by myself." and she stares at him for a bit and says "Yeah I guess so.")

anyway this is a really soft night for them. at the end coco asks "So heading home, huh? What does home look like for you?" and he doesnt respond. its only at this point she learns he doesnt actually have a place to stay. he just wanders around to find the nearest warm place to sleep, sometimes breaking into cars or under overpasses or something.

so she offers like "Hey...I have a couch. Wanna sleep there tonight?" and his fucking weak ass says "...yes."

anyway he gets a taste of the warmth of normal life here (he is insanely awkward when he stays with her. she gotta be like "Dude please chill out you are making me anxious"). his heart is racing the whole damn time and gets nervous anytime he looks at her. why is she nice to me? what does she have to gain? he thinks. this must be some kind of weird strategy to get me to lower my guard. why am i falling for it? and then she hands him a bowl of popcorn and turns on a soap opera and hes even more confused.

he wishes would never have to leave but by the next morning, hes gone without a note or anything. she doesnt see him for a while after this.

at one point, coco also gets kidnapped by the coattails. she goes "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?" banging on the rails of her cell, and they go "What? You're easy to kidnap." (cocos running joke is that any kidapping/hostage situation, she is always the one to get stolen lol)

THIS is the time that TAFFY GOES TO GET HER!!!!! at the same time mochi goes to get her. and it turns into "Okay truce until coco is safe then we can kill each other." and taffy begrudgingly goes "....fine."

at the end of this quest mochi actually does get knocked out. either in combat or by using up all her magic, and taffy HAS the opportunity to kill her. right there in front of him. coco doesn't have the talaria, and mochis out cold. but he doesn't because coco is there pleading and crying for him to not hurt her.

after THIS he realizes okay, this problem is more serious than i thought.

amanita also takes note that because of coco, taffy is no longer useful in the fight against the cat witch, and after this point is where she starts getting involved directly.

anyway ill stop there cuz its already a long post but here are the taffy/coco pre-timeskip interactions!!!

[chronotopes]

Time to return the favour. 4, 5, 24!

gonna choose to answer for wryn and mina because they are the latest arrivals in the story and are the central supporting characters in the upcoming chapter that i ... still havent started <3

also thank you!

4. What are 3 of their irrational fears?

i think this is a fun question because perhaps 'irrational' is such an interesting qualifier. in real life and in fiction the world is full of things to fear at least somewhat rationally, which means i cannot promise that all of these fears are 'irrational' even though sometimes the character in question may think of them that way. but let's give it a shot.

mina is afraid that 1) by falling in love with leander (who also grew up in her hometown's upper class), she is simply recreating destiny/her parents' wishes for her in a slightly overcomplicated way, 2) if she is ever too happy or stands too still she will be settling, making herself vulnerable, tying herself down delusionally to something doomed to go wrong, and 3) she is not capable of love at all, not in the right way and not for too long

at the point in the story that is currently written, wryn is afraid that 1) there are key elements of his past and his magic that his guardian knows and is not sharing with him, 2) that by lingering safely in coastal universities he is failing to explore the world and its magic to its full potential in the same reckless and dedicated way his parents did, and 3) that if he DID venture beyond that safe zone what he found there would kill him. (these are all in one way or another extremely reasonable if not straight up true. wryn self-identifies as a Very Rational Person and has at this point in the story not been challenged in this self-conception.)

5. How affectionate are they? What are their top love languages?

LOL i selected the two characters with the most distant affection habits out of the whole gang for this question.

mina is extremely not a 'wow i really like you' person in most cases. in early phases of a friendship or relationship, she demonstrates affection largely by Being Down To Hang Out With You and sometimes by quietly remarking to you about something kind of personal. she is a pretty transactionally-minded person who wants things to be fair and to not be embarrassed, which means she will cook for her friends and get them holiday gifts to preempt a sense of Owing. but her truest sign of Really Loving You is when she accepts acts of service or gifts from you without feeling like she has to immediately find something to offer in return.

that and trying her hardest to kill your evil dad and oppose your enemies, that's another classic sign of mina affection.

wryn is a lot freer with compliments than mina. he's pretty blunt and not shy about telling people he thinks theyre Wrong! but at the same time not shy about pointing out someone's skill or knowledge when they've impressed him in some way. he also shares insight and information with people very freely – he is very driven by wanting to Help And Be Helpful – but when he properly likes you then he starts sharing stuff that he's purely interested in because it's interesting rather than because it's contextually relevant. he did not have the same kind of heroically-oriented imagination growing up that mina and mari and lark did, so when he is put in a position to put himself in mortal danger to protect people he loves he is a lot less emotionally prepared for it. still does it though.

tl;dr in terms of the 'lame and fake science' variety languages both mina and wryn are acts of service oriented in many ways but that's cheating because it's a teen oriented fantasy novel and everyone is trying to die and/or kill for everyone else constantly. outside the context of immediate peril, i would say mina's is time and wryn's is words.

24. Where did their name come from? Does it have meaning?

i will be completely real with you everyone in vital light has names that i thought were nice non-cringe alternatives to their names in the original draft (excluding quartz, whose names are the same across both). so alas i did not think about meanings very much.

[literalite]

literally just me talking about edit stuff because im in a mood

these r what i would call like my base level of ingame edits (i dont reallyyyyyy count my cas screenshots as edits unless i spend an actual amount of time actually working on them rather than my usual blur+chromatic aberration+sharpen combo) theres usually very little? or like no actual basis in the characters "canon" or lore like its just done to make them look nice. right. or like its fun lighting practise for me really. theyre usually pretty simple in execution like in the two examples there its just plain yellow background for sunny and the neon cross for vin so i have to put a little extra oomf into it because the backgrounds are like not super detailed so theres less of an "interest" factor from that so the sims themselves have to look REALLY good to make up for it. the ones i end up happy with though usually look really dynamic so it balances out

so these are more sort of abstract edits to me bc they have a basis in the oc lore or themes or whatever and most of my ocs have at least one or two visual markers (in the examples lucari or even just ari specifically gets a fair amount of celestial/sky imagery, i handled the colours here a bit sloppily but its meant to be blue and purple which are ari and luca's text colours, heiya's emphasis being on her muscles and scars and the clouded solar eclipse, redacted gets a lot of water/reflective surfaces/birds/rainbow flares?? and also lightning but that isnt being used in this specific one and sunny gets a fair amount of fire/smoke stuff as well as emphasis on primary colours like his more blue toned edits r usually in his darker stages of his life while warmer yellows means more positive stuff, red usually is just for uhhh violence oriented stuff) and like none of these are Actually happening. right. redacted isnt actually ever in that position with that era of hair in the water with the birds and sunny was set on fire at 13 not as an adult and they certainly never had a portrait of his family like that. but its symbolic, it means Something even if you as the viewer doesnt know it yet 😅 or ever aha

OKAY LOL I PRESSED POST BY ACCIDENT LOL but these are my full lore edits or something likr theyre totally rooted in the background of the ocs. like these are scenes from their lives for real. obviously i fiddle with lighting angle composition a tinyyyy bit to make for a more pleasing or dynamic image at the end but if my ocs all got dedicated like. movies or shows these would be ripped straight from the scene. i take creative liberties with some stuff but in essence these could be story posts (like the 3rd example with idris/redacted is literally in the story itself in one of the posts) the difference is usually amount of images in the post and orientation of said image/s. to me an edit stops being an edit when it has more than likeeeeee 4 images and then i will usually keep that bulk all in landscape or maybe one as portrait for emphasis. edits will be 4 or less and mostly in portrait because i want the less images to take up more room on the dash. the backgrounds for these will usually be way more complex like ill build a mini set or use existing sets for each one. i just think that ingame edits have a lot more capability than you might think (u dont have to go into blender for every little thing promise 🙌🏼) its just like. u can do a lot with this game i swearrrrrr just treat it like an art medium. im serious

ALSO the song almost always is sooo relevant to the edit i swear its not enough to sound good. i have to be unwell about it as well and it has to make sense with what im showing u

ok thats my random unrequested ted talk for the day im going to go home now bye thank u for reading if u did that 😁

[geee-three]

@ace-detectiv3 <3333 thank yewwww,,,

welcome to a crash course on: the vivids. izza edition. consisting of shiraishi an, kiritani haruka, hinomori shiho and akiyama mizuki.

you may be asking. how on earth did these four meet? what the shit is going on? well well well im glad you asked. this is my number one favourite shuffle unit of all time. btw. im not normal about them.

the general gist of it is: an works up the balls to ask haruka to officially be her singing partner before haruka gets scouted. therefore, when haruka gets scouted, she declines. (and is never forced to learn how to smile and therefore always looks bored or pissed. we love autsim in this house /gen). next up is sbibo. with her its more of a branching out in genre after babyneed broke up, and stumbling into vivid street one random day and befriending haruka. i think it probably took a little longer to befriend an (reminded her of saki a liitttle too much) but she starts hanging around there. i dont think shed go at it as a solo performer tho- leoni baby edition had just broken up after all. and ofc she drags miu with her at least once (who does not enjoy the Noises). finally we have mizook. i think this was more a little out of spite that she went to vivid street in the first place. like, yuuki's just left and she ended up too scared to join n25 and maybe she had a fight with rui bc theyre both stressed as fuck and took it out on each other and again, stumbles into vivid street. i think she'd befriend an first. but it doesnt matter bc shes like. "well i GOTTA prove to rui im capable of SOMETHING" and decides. im gonna join these girls and sing.

(importnat info: theyre all in their last year of junior high, at the start of the school year. this means yuuki just left for france, shizuku just started school again, leoneed pg13 ver had broken up not all too long ago, its been two years since rad weekend and souma is in hospital but hasnt been for that long. bad dogs (theyre relevant) formed about a year before this. (also is we wanna care about akito and toya. harumichi is still harubitchy and this is like maybe 6 months after enas attempt. again these guys Do Not Change from canon but they Are Relevant.))

and an is like. well. me and haruka have been besties and partners for a long time since we were kids... and shiho jumps in bc shes nosy like. well mius ignoring me so i'll partner up with the new girl and we'll have a competition and we're gonna be so good. bad dogs would exists by this point so you have an overcompetetive akito running around stirring the pot, dragging toya with him. like ofc bad dogs are being gay but shiho looks to her left and oh shiit. fuck. i maybe wanna actually be singing partners with this girl for real for real rahter than just for this one competition. basically six 14 y/os sing at each other and (predictably) an and haruka win (having the most training). and arata (the bitter bitch) was watching the whole time and honestly these kids have talent but im gonna be mean about it. bc im not coping with souma being gone. so arata comes over and gives unwarrented criticism for no reason other than to be pissy. akito and shiho are PISSED AS FUCK and are already yelling at each other and their egos are fragile so theyre yelling at arata too. and arata criticises mizuki over something and she starts crying and shiho (very recently protective) fully threatens him ("im going to kick the shit outta you for making akiyama cry"-esque thing) adn then attempts to follow through before an has to restrain her.

after everythings calmed down a little bit shiho goes to find mizuki and is like. im sorry about him hes a cuuunnntttttt. anyway. do u wanna be my singing partner for real for real... we can be beginners together... and mizuki says yes... woo!!! ofc mizuki has to tell rui and yuuki about this development and she does and rui is Yet Another Bitter Bitch but he tries to hide it (badly) (hes sad) but mizuki promises him theyll always be friends...

okay. the next few weeks are mostly like. WE GOTTA GET GOOD AKIYAMA WE GOTTA GET GOOD. LETS GO. WOO. OBNOXIOUS AMOUNTS OF FREE TIME. and shiho vaugely becomes friends with fucking shinonome akito becauase hes ALSO on that grindset 💪💪💥💥🔥🔥‼️‼️💯💯 adn theyre dragging mizuki and toya with them whether they like it or not. (they do). an and haruka watch from the sidelines like. hooolly shit theyre going at it huh. the goal right now is to get onto an and harukas level more so than beat radder. mizuki doesnt even know what a rad weekend is outside of 80s slang for a fun saturday and sunday. another competition happens (these arent like offically organised btw. they just. have a group chat or something and decide to do this. theyre very chaotic i love these guys.) and this time bad dogs win. first time haruka and an have lost!! an does not take this well. an is now on that grindset 💪💪💥💥🔥🔥‼️‼️💯💯 and haruka is an unwilling passenger.

so now there are five people frantically scrambling to Get Good and harukas just sipping tea when ken opens the door, raises an eyebrow and asks her to explain. she does. ken makes them all sit down, drink water, then lectures them on safe practice. they collectively ignore this. haruka sighs. they collectively ignore this. BEAR IN MIND. shiho and mizukis dont know what a rad weekend is. so when akito casually brings it up, gasps in horror and pulls up youtube, there is this sudden burning passion in both mizuki and shiho. and they start Plotting. Planning. Scheming. mizuki looks at is properly and is like well. we're gonna have to team up. bc we'll have to write songs and thats Hard and theyve got loads of people and yeah. doing this together is probably the best route. and shiho swallows her pride and says. okay yeah my partner is right we gotta team up. akito refuses. so shihos like fuck you we're teaming up with haruka shes got the braincells anywya. and akitos like wai tno but its too late. (and toyas happy to technically keep akito all to himself anyway. hes. not been very relevant so far. hes so passive in middle scchool like BESTIE take action!! but he Does Not.)

so the vivids is formed of haruka, an, shiho, and mizuki. akito insists bad dogs is a seperate group in close collaboration. then when kotaro turns up hes just Also in close collaboration.

asdhahshsdakjhfkjhasdfkjhasjdgjhajsdgjasdgjhgfdjkgfalhgjhjhkajhdsfjdghjhjsdghfhguasfghuasugfusadudfguahsldgfulhasdgfuhashhkldfslakjhasfdghjsadfyrtwiueydgrufhhwacggcjv adfb. the them. yeah. friendship is magic. or smth.

kizuna time woo baybee plus kotaro and bad dogs shiho + mizuki: an impropteu pair, sticking together, secret love of all things cute an + shiho: daughters of musicans, staying on top, let me help you already! shiho + haruka: unreadable expressions, fire and ice, protective partners mizuki + an: hit it off!, someone i'll rely on, dont fall behind now mizuki + haruka: an + haruka: childhood partners, expanding our circles, staying true to you shiho + akito: reignited dream, chase our horisons, packed schedules akito + an: bad at studying, strength in numbers, blue-haired partners who look like idols toya + mizuki: held up by their passion, halfway there, quit pretending to be something youre not akito + mizuki: wavering in private, fashion fanatics, when did i become lil bro? (obligitory akito + toya: bad bods, trustworthy partner, i want to sing with only you)