#still have 5 comprehensive finals though:(

[bortalis]

My concepts for the development progress of an Iterators Puppet

-my ideas below

-Feasibility Study  

[1]: First autonomous control module, any instruction to be given must be done manually through physical means (the keys), outputs were shown through the screen. A very primitive system, however, did its job proving the greater machine concept was achievable. While it does look like a lens above the monitor, this was a simple status gauge for benchmarking.

-Prototyping and Development  

[2]: Now with the capability to wirelessly and audibly communicate to receive instructions and inputs. The system was no longer directly integrated into the facility, and resided on the first instance of an iterator's arm. This was considered a feat due to the complications with isolating the control module from the rest of the iterators components, while keeping processing power. A permanent connection/umbilical was needed to sustain life and function though. 

To “talk” back, they were crafted with multidimensional projectors, the mobile arm allowing the angles and variance for this projection. Only later into development were advanced speakers installed for optimized understanding, however the extra computing power required to synthesize proper speech was found to strain the contained module, so this function had rare use in the end.

[3]: At this point there was a change in perspective in the project. What once were machines to simply compute and simulate, were now planned to be the home, caregiver, and providers. The further the project came to fruition the more religious importance was placed upon these “random gods”. From this stance not only did the puppets have to manage and control their facilities, they had to communicate with the people and priests. To represent benevolent beings who will bring their end and salvation. In this process iterators began to take a more humanoid shape, to better reflect their parents. Development was focused on compacting the puppet closer to the size of an ancient for this purpose. This stage was the first to incorporate a cloak/clothing into their design considerations, to further akin themselves in looks. The cloak would hide the iterators' engineered bodies and give a body to their silhouette. 

[4]: As bioengineering and mechanics were rapidly progressing due to the void fluid revolution, this allowed plenty of margin for developing the outer design of the iterator puppets. This prototype was the first to incorporate limbs for the purpose of body language. This was another step in the drive to give a body to their random gods.

-Final Iterations

[5]: First generation iterators had the final redesign of puppet bodies. Far different from their first designs, they are fully humanoid. Their bodies are shaped to be organic and as full of life as they could at the time. Their center of sapience has fully settled within their body, as can be seen as their unconscious use of limbs without the direct intention for communication. This can also see how they manage their work, where many of the functions (which can be done with just an internal request) are operated through physical gestures of their limbs. Their puppet chambers also allow for full comprehensive projection, where many of their working monitors are displayed. It is seen how iterators prefer to utilize their traversal arm to transfer between the current working projection window.

These designs were hardy and nearly self-sufficient, only requiring minimal power from their umbilical to charge. (However was still limited in the terms of internal power production, for this first generation extensive batteries sufficed)

[6]: Later generation not only incorporated advanced bioengineering internally, but externally. While still a hardened shell, their body plates have been incorporated into the organics of the puppet, maintaining the protective requirements while barely leaving a trace of hinges or plates. This “soft” skin had drawbacks, such as reduced durability to the first generations, this was offset by the greatly enhanced repair speeds and capability this type of skin allowed.

Internal power generation was implemented into these late generation models. If the case arose, the Puppet could be disconnected from their umbilical and still be conscious from an undefined period of time. (However this would limit the operating capacity of the puppet when running self sufficiently) This greatly eased maintenance works, as the Puppet could still run the greater facility wirelessly while work was done on the chamber, arm or whatever as needed.

[sugarlywhispers]

b.katsuki x reader (fem) | prohero!reader x prohero!Dynamight; fluff, confessing, swearing (cuz it's bakugou lol)

a.n; I didn't want to let this day finish without writing something for him, even if it isn't birthday related. hope you enjoy it the same!🧡

Happy Bakugou Day💥

A grunt leaves your mouth when the incessant banging on your front door finally wakes you up, “I’m coming!” you yell, yet the banging doesn’t stop.

With a deep breath, you pull the covers away and get up. You give a peek towards the clock on your bedside table before sleepily running towards the annoying knocks. It’s fucking 5 a.m.… Who the hell could be this awake to make such a noise at this hour?

You pull open the door a bit forcefully, clearly annoyed.

Bakugou Katsuki stands there, a hoodie concealing his person and a black mask over half of his face that also helps the disguise. All big and bulky, almost the size of your door, looking delicious, as always. Fuck, you’re still in the slumber of sleep if you’re allowing this thoughts of him in your mind, in front of him.

He rips the mask down so he can say, well, bark in annoyance, “It’s fucking ridiculus!”

It’s a yell. At five in the morning.

He stomps inside your apartment like he owns it, and you snort a bit while closing the door, “Well, good and aggressive morning to you too, buddy.”

“No, you don’t fuckin’ get it…” He sounds desperate and annoyed beyond his own comprehension, pulling off the hood that’s over his head and walking from side to side in your small living room.

You frown, arms crossing over your chest, and keep silent. He doesn’t look at you as he walks back and forth, his hands opening and closing in fists at his sides.

“It’s fucking ridiculus! You are fucking ridiculus!”

You sigh, a hand sliding through your face. You’re still too sleepy for this right now. “How it’s my fault—”

“No, shut up! I’m fucking trying— It’s just annoying and ridiculus and, and… agh!,” the growl he lets out would have been considered drop-panties if it wasn’t for the annoyance you actually feel at the moment.

However, you decide to take another deep breath. It’s Bakugou Katsuki; this is not the first time you have witnessed a scene like this one, where he doesn’t know how to put into words what he’s feeling.

Being friends with this grumpy mountain for years already has taught you how to deal with him 90% of the time. The other 10%... well, that’s when Midoriya becomes your fairy godmother and saves the day. But even though you don’t know what's going on right now with Bakugou, you decide to wait a bit before calling Izuku-Godmother.

He keeps walking, fuming with stress and nerves. And you wait. That has always been Izuku’s advice. “Wait until he feels completely ready to say whatever he needs to say”.

There has been a moment in life —you honestly don’t know when that moment has been— in which Bakugou decided that you were worthy of trust, of him feeling completely okay in talking his mind out in your presence. Not that the bastard hasn't done that before, he has always been blunt and direct in his words since the very first day you met. But now, he also spoke about his feelings and troubles, and whatever went on his mind to you. He trusted you. He trusts you with his life, and you know that. Being partners in the same Pro Hero agency for years has given both of you that kind of relationship. One where you could also trust in him and tell him anything, and he’ll try and help you with whatever you need, after speaking his opinion out, even the bad ones.

Right now, you can’t quite sense whether whatever he needs to tell you is good or bad. So again, you simply wait.

As you watch him come and go like a lion trapped in a cage, he suddenly walks directly at you. You aren’t afraid of him; you have never been, and that wasn’t going to start today. You trust him with your life, too. However, his sudden moves do surprise you. So as he walks forward at you, you walk backwards until you feel the wall on your back. Bakugou stands centimeters from you, body surprisingly close to yours. The only times he has been this close to you willingly have been during training times and fights with villains. He has always kept his distance. Yet, now, there’s barely space between you. He invades even your breath. Your senses. His towering form envelops everything.

And when your eyes travel up, directly at his, you feel your knees almost give up and succumb at the intensity in those ruby orbs. You feel trapped in them, completely at his mercy. Whatever he might ask of you, you would have complied, said yes. However, you weren’t expecting what he said next.

“It’s fuckin’ ridiculous how much I feel for you.”

You pull up an eyebrow, a bit confused. He groans, shaking his head.

“You are in my fuckin’ head all the time. I can’t— Fuck! I can’t go to sleep without knowing you’re home and okay. I can’t even fuckin’ start my day without knowing you have already had your stupid breakfast!” Now, your eyebrows are pulled up in surprise, but you stay quiet and listen to him. “I can’t concentrate on my missions if I know you’re somewhere else on yours, because I need… Damn it! I need you by my side. Need to know you’re safe.” 

He takes a moment to breathe in deeply, before saying, “It’s fuckin’ ridiculous how much I need you.”

“Katsuki—”

He growls, exhaling the breath he just took in, as if he has just been punched in the guts, legs giving in a bit, and forehead pressing against yours as his eyes close. “No. Don’t say my name like that… I’m— I feel… ridiculously weak.”

His left forearm rests over the wall as his body presses closer, if that’s even possible. But it is. His breath collides against your face and mixes with your own. His smell surrounds all your senses, invading your head quite profoundly. And you can’t think of anything else that isn’t him.

How many times have you dreamt about this moment? How many fantasies in your head had him as the protagonist? You have definitely lost count already.

You still can’t believe that this is happening. That Bakugou Katsuki is actually confessing to you like this. Never in a million years could you have expected that this day would come.

That’s why the first thing you do after another moment of silence filled with loud breathing is touch him. You need to feel that this is real, that he is actually there and not a product of your imagination. Both your hands softly grab Katsuki’s face, fingers caressing the smooth, freshly shaved skin of his cheeks. Your left thumb finds his scar, and you trace its path delicately, caringly, lovingly. Yes, he is here. He is real. This is happening.

His breath trembles, just as his other hand travels to the back of your head to hold you. And it’s like that, how you have your first kiss with your long-time friend.

It’s not heated or passionate. Quite the contrary. It’s a feather-light touch of lips that made you feel warm and safe.

He pulls back just a bit to look at you, and the fire his eyes hold melts you completely. Because even though it is the first time your lips are meeting, you both immediately know that it won't be the last.

a.n.; aparently, i love making Bakugou appear at our doors in the midde of the night or early in the mornings LMAO i'm not stopping tho😌🌟🧡

[xxtha-blog]

Why Horrortale Sans is Definitely Evil

Horrortale Sans is evil. This is the opposite of a defence post, I am calling out this character and his many misdeeds! I do not know how people legitimately defend his actions or claim he’s just a normal guy who tries really hard not to eat people. I do not think we read the same comic. This is a comprehensive deep dive into why Horror is evil.

First a chronological look at Horror’s dubious actions. Not all of theses are evil and some have good justification as standalone events, but provide wider context for things:

1. He has to be convinced into helping repair the Core which he knows is broken, and has inside info he knows could help get it fixed, only when Grillby begs him to because as revealed on another page, the loss of the Core means “the fire eats at [Grillby’s] very soul like acid, perpetually burning him alive”

2. He spends a total of 12 months trying to figure out how to repair the Core but based on Undyne’s statements about how he rarely works, either means he’s a. Not actually putting enough effort into it (if we believe her and not Sans) or b. Not telling Undyne and Alphys how his work is going which is probably pertinent information for them to have (If we believe Sans, but want a reason as to why Undyne has that impression)

3. He finally brings her a solution to the Core after knowing he’s going to die (but if you want to be generous, maybe it was just really bad timing and he really did only needed a few more days to bring her a solution) and claims it’s a “long shot” meaning he doesn’t even know if it will work.

4. Undyne, thinking that is an insane plan, tells him she has a different plan. Sacrificing him to save everyone. Sans makes it clear he would never let himself die to save everyone.

5. When a guard begs him to sacrifice himself to save his wife and children, Sans launches him into the stratosphere saying: “fuck off.”

6. Even though Undyne attacks him first, it’s actually Sans that takes out her head and eye first.

7. Sans brutally murders the guards who helped Undyne.

8. When Alphys, showing Sans that her plan has objectively work and he is not dead (bonus!!), Sans destroys the Core.

He destroys the thing that will keep him, his brother, and literally every person in the underground alive. Grillby now suffers eternally, and everyone will die a slow and painful death. This does not help him in any way, does not change the fact his head is broken, he does it purely out of malice. The equivalent of getting shot, surviving, and then nuking the town you were shot in. He does not take his eye back if you thought it was to take his eye back. It’s still in the broken Core.

9. He lobotomizes Alphys

10. He gets Aliza to become a cannibal

11. He tortures and maims Aliza (let’s her get cut in half by a bear trap, pulls her hair so hard it bleeds, let’s her freeze to death in a puzzle, sends her to Grillbys where she gets partially cooked alive, cuts her arm off)

Really great guy here.

Secondly let’s get some of the common defences out of the way:

1. Sans had a plan that would save everyone! Undyne was therefore making a bad decision by trying to killing him

a. Sans says his plan IS A LONG SHOT

b. Alphys explains Sans’s plan would have taken a lot of time and magic ie. time that would get a lot of other people killed

c. Undyne’s plan actually goes better that expected! What was assumed would kill Sans doesn’t end up killing him at all. Literally a win-win for everyone involved.

d. Undyne/Alphys’s plan works, and therefore objectively saved more people. 0 net casualties if Sans had a single ounce of humanity.

2. Sans worked really hard and Undyne betrayed him. Undyne should have told him first

Undyne doesn’t tell him because she doesn’t want to consider hurting Sans despite monsters dying. Moments before Sans shows up, a child dies in a mother’s arm. Then Sans explains his plan is to dismantle the Core, which ‘might’ work, and will take a lot of effort and magic to do so, which is time they do not have (it’s been 12 months. He has had 12 months.). He also blames Undyne for getting them into this mess and mocks her for letting people die. She then attacks him. They end up both losing half their head and eye in the fight, making them perfectly even. The core’s power is restored.

But, whether or not Sans feels betrayed or not is irrelevant to the fact that Undyne makes the most reasonable and moral decision in this moment and also Sans has kind of done everything in his power to not sell his idea and piss off the person he knows is considering killing him so big L on his part for that one.

It also does not in any way shape or form justify destroying the Core, which is probably the most evil thing you could possibly do in that scenario.

3. They both are at fault for the Core/Both Evil then

There is literally a world of difference between:

“Sacrifices 1 person who ends up not dying, to save everyone. Which succeeds.”

And

“Destroys the thing that will successfully keep everyone alive, thus dooming everyone including yourself to die a slow and agonizing death, because you are angry your friend tried to kill you in an effort to save everyone”

That’s not even including the 10 other things on my list that are definitely also evil, but I cannot take people seriously if they put these two things on some sort of a moral equivalence. Undyne is in the right. 1 person for everyone is a worthy sacrifice. If anything Undyne’s only flaw is waiting so long to do it.

4. (Unrelated to the Core incident) Sans is actually morally grey, he doesn’t eat humans like everyone else which is a complex character motivation

You’re right, Sans doesn’t eat humans. Instead he finds enjoyment in torturing them brutally, a much worse thing than eating to stay alive.

His fight with hunger is also entirely self-made. Both because it’s not morally wrong to eat another living being to survive (and it’s not cannibalism to eat a human as a monster) and because he is the reason this is still happening 7 years later. It is literally his fault he is hungry. There is no interesting moral conundrum here, he does not care about hurting people. He is just out of his mind.

In conclusion, Horrortale Sans is a deeply selfish and uncaring person. Whatever minor good deeds he does throughout the comic are so immensely overshadowed by his absolute depravity that they might as well not exist. He is the reason every single monster in that underground continues to suffer, including himself, and while in his mind maybe there’s some weird justification, no outsider observer should look at these actions and think, yeah, that was reasonable. Much less think Undyne or Alphys are somehow WORSE. He destroys the Core because he didn’t die after everyone is saved, solely to be vindictive. He does not gain anything by doing this. He doesn't even take back the eye he lost which is still in the broken core! He lobotomizes Alphys because he’s mad he looks like a freak. He murders people who wants him to help everyone stay alive. He maims and tortures children and no amount of not eating them afterwards makes that any less morally apprehensible.

None of this is meant to say you can’t like him as a character. It is just to explain why characterizing him as a poor lil guy who did nothing wrong, is a little… wrong.

i believe this is an extensive look into why Horrortale Sans is evil.

Thank you for reading :)

[iianx-0]

KAE' THE POSSESSED Final Kae' ref hopefully. More info + The home screen image of Kae's burner

Kae’ is 18 years old and only a few months younger than Robin.

He is 5’8, average height.

Bailey’s and Kae’s relationship is complicated, but Kae’ does see Bailey as a father-figure like many other orphans.

Bailey did find one Kae’s (old) burner phone and did punish them for it.

Kae’ does have the lustful trait, though because of there own personality and such, it affects there stress and trauma immensely. He is ashamed of it.

His cut lip was from Avery. It was there first physical fight, and Avery backhanded Kae’, cutting there lip because of Avery’s ring. But because it was there first physical fight Avery was still at high-love did half-heartedly apologize, and gave Annie money and clothes to keep quiet that Avery broke one of Bailey’s agreement.

Pc Kae’ has done no transitions yet, from many things such like money, and not trusting Harper.

More often than not, Kae’ is usually floating between barely floating by money-wise. They appreciate the extra money by the temple and by being Avery’s sugarbaby, but they have a splurging problem.

Their parents are deceased, freak accident, or what it was filed as. They became an orphan at the age of 5, his comprehension of english was limited at the time.

Kae’ loves to fish, he is pretty okay at it.

His physicality and Athleticism may be good but they’re really, really bad at fighting.

They’re a sadist and a masochist! But he is only aware that he is a masochist, thinking about if he is a sadist or not makes him question his own ethics!

Mocking his ethics !!! That’s their weakness!! Their belief on the orphanage, the town, the ivory wraith, they do have contradictions, double stands and hypocrisy!

They are defiant and a delinquent, but at Kae’s core, they’re still a quiet person. Often daydreaming in class.

Kae’ doesn’t trust or feel safe in the current situation to really date anyone. They maybe be aroace but they are too busy to think about it.

Kae’s star motif is more like a charm for them.

They love bothering the older folks in town, people like Landry, Mickey, Darryl and Niki.

He is scared of Jordan.

They have mixed feelings about the temple itself, they’re only in it for the money and keeping their vow seems easy enough.

Kae’s white hair is caused by being possessed by the Ivory Wraith over and over again, to the point that Kae’ was able to describe how it feels to be possessed. They said it feels like they were drowning in an ocean of souls. As for the hair, it’s like the reminiscence of the Ivory Wraith, it’ll go away in a month.

The ivory wraith opinion on Kae’ is complicated.

[kinnoth]

People being upset that Trish and Lady are just yukking it up in the DMC office after the end of 5, not at all worried about Dante and whether or not he's ok

Look I'm not saying Dante's habitually a very talkative individual or whatever, but I think of anybody currently alive, Lady and Trish are going to know the most about Dante's Complicated Deal with his brother.

I'm just.... Look, I won't say for 100% that I believe this is what happened, but V tells Dante that "your reason" for fighting is back, and Dante starts Making Preparations. That includes mundane stuff like giving Morrison the deed to his shop. That probably also includes at least a very brief discussion with Lady and Trish about where his state of mind is at.

I do think Lady and Trish have been concerned about him through the years, and as the years have worn on, he's only gotten worse. More morose, more despondent, more likely to lapse into those scary quiet spells he's been going into where he'll stop talking, stop answering the phone, stop doing anything except for waiting for his life to pass. It's been bad. He's been getting further and further away.

But this new client V seems to have lit something up inside of him again, even though it's clear Dante doesn't trust him, doesn't even like him.

He doesn't even want the job.

"He says it's about my brother" -- a look of pure loathing thrown out into the space between the three of them, and neither Trish nor Lady want to touch it

"Is that possible?" Lady finally broaches; she's better at handling this, most of the time. Talking to Trish about it just makes him shut down.

"No, it's not," Dante spits. He crosses his arms. "But he says it is."

Lady, nodding slowly. "Ok." And just lets it hang there.

"If it is, not saying it is, but if it is..." Trish fishes for the right turn of phrase, the right term of delicacy, settles on, "him." Clears her throat. "Again, not saying that it is, but what will you do?"

"Gonna kick his ass, of course," Dante says immediately, in such a rush that Lady and Trish exchange a surreptitious glance.

"Right."

"Ok."

Dante narrows his eyes at the. "It's not though. This is just," he gestures, "some asshole's idea of a joke. If you guys wanna take it, that's fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. It's not going to be anything. You'll be wasting your time."

"Dante," says Lady as kindly as she's able. "But what if it is?"

Dante looks hard at her, face like thunder, but Lady doesn't shrink. His expression drops and so does his chin, letting his hair fall into his face, hiding his eyes.

A cracked voice, choked back into a mumble: "If it's him, if it's really him, not a clone or a fucked up illusion, then I'm finished here."

"What does that mean?" Trish demands, but Lady waves her back.

Lady says steadily, "I know you've missed him."

Dante goes somehow more still, like he's stopped breathing, like he's trying bodily to drag this conversation to a halt.

Trish is on her feet. "You'd leave the human world for Gehenna? For him? You idiot, spoiled child, you don't know how good you have it here. You don't know hell!"

He doesn't look at them. "Yes I do."

Trish's face burns with spots of rage but Lady reaches for her hand and she sits down.

"So that's what you want?" Lady peers into the shadow of his face, challenging.

Dante emerges slowly, a hard glitter in his eyes. "I've done enough, haven't I? When will I have done enough? When is it going to be my turn?"

"Then it's what you want."

Comprehension dawns. He scrubs his face. "Cripes' sake, Lady, what do you want me to say?"

"Say nothing, I want you to go into this knowing."

Softly: "It's not going to be him. It can't be."

"Maybe not," Lady admits. "But you gotta know what you're fighting for."

Dante makes a face. "My reason for fighting?"

"Your reason for having hope."

[elainsgirl]

Saw a tiktok that said “I’m highly convinced book 6 is going to be about the spring court. It’s Elaine’s turn for a book (and we all know she’s a Spring). The “night court” editions are signifying the end of that part of the series. We are moving into spring. Tam tam might get a redemption. We might find out a certain someone is LUCIENS DAUGHTER.” … This had 24K likes😐

With comments like “I need an Elucien Calanmai scene so his last memory is not of Ianthe” (seriously? so it’s Elain’s job to replace Lucien’s trauma?), “I lowkey hope tamlin and Elain end up together and we never hear about the spring court again 😂” (fuck you actually lmao) and “the last crescent city book set up the next acotar as being another Nesta book! I dont think we've seen it all from Nesta yet”. Not to be dramatic but I would legit swear off SJM forever if I have to read ANOTHER Nesta book before getting Elain’s. I can’t deal with another Nesta story. After Elain’s book, if there’s still another ACOTAR book happening, I want it to be Feyre’s pov again. Or a multi pov. But please not another 600-800 pages of Nesta’s pov. I find her bitterness genuinely exhausting.

But anyway like… how did I end up in enemy territory??😭 Everyday I’m genuinely shocked by people’s reading comprehension. If SJM really goes in these directions, focusing on spring court of all places, after all the foreshadowing of Elain and the prison and her being a seer (which how on earth would that work in spring? who would train her? seriously people🙄), as well as the heavy elriel foreshadowing, then she’s a bad writer. Sorry lmao.

And how are those the main comments? I only saw one rational person telling OP it makes no sense to connect Elain to the spring court just because she likes flowers and gardening and that Feyre herself said Elain likes the night court. The rest of the comments though… YIKES. And I’m filled with such exasperation and the intense need to take each person by their shoulders and shake them. But I don’t wanna get involved in unnecessary fights on tiktok so I just scrolled passed. But I needed to show you how bad it is out there💀

”But I needed to show you how bad it is out there💀” … listen yeah, I haven’t been on tiktok for over a month. My last video was on March the 31st, but idk why today I decided that I wanted to become active again and start posting with the same schedule as last time only problem is the fact that, since I was so inactive for a long period of time - I cant just post videos as they enter review and shadowban, annoying but fine I get it. So basically, I have to start interacting with my fyp again to show the algorithm that im now once again active - so Im here scrolling on the fyp and 5 minutes in, I get a “the NC is so toxic Nesta needs to leave” video, then I get a “Rhys is a manipulator amd terrible partner to Feyre” and finally - I get this pro elucien video where the first slide is Azriels quote, “Lucien doesn’t deserve her” “i can defeat him with little effort” and the next slide was a fanart of Lucien in full on day court battle gear and it said “unleash” something. It had 5k likes and scared asf for my bp, I open the comments. My first stupid mistake. And my god. I had this epiphany as to why I quit tiktok for a while in the first place - the comments were jst filled with hateful arrogance. “Az being afriad of fire and expecting to go against someone w fire” - like, maybe I forgot but when is it confirmed Az doesnt like fire? At the HL’s meeting, didnt he do something with berons flames? Idk. But moving on, they where just makimg fun of Az saying he couldn’t defeat Lucien and want to know what they were using to prove their statement? The fact he calmed Cassian down…they’re rlly out here comparing Cass who doesnt have magic to Azriel whose quite literally compared to Rhys, THE most powerful HL AND the same shadowsinger who went up against Eris and had to be pulled back by Feyre. And whats rlly hilarious is that…he calmed Cass down w a flame in his eyes, it was his autumn power coming to the front - not day yet Lucien mom boys have convinced themselves Lucien will be this powerful day court icon and warrior when he was called Lord of FIRE - a nod to Autumn. Not Day. And after that I considered myself irritated enought that I just went through my mutuals videos which were obviously pro elriel 🙂‍↔️ and that made me feel better.

So I fully understand how terrible it is on tiktok, I literally understand the feeling of irritation and exasperation when reading those comments and seeing those videos. The urge to reply back to them all and shake some good ol canon into their heads but deciding to be peaceful instead because you dont have time or even the energy going back and forth with people that have such a twisted view of canon. I cannot even begin to explain the amount of times I received or even read comments that made me want to bang my head against a wall. I genuinely think that would be less painful. Bright side tho - that video inspired some new content for me to make 😌

Back to the spring video- atp its just insulting Sjm. Like. Come on. She is going to write a better story for Elain then her going to live in Spring with her sisters ex…a character Mass doesn’t even like and why on earth would Lucien be there after what Tamlin did to him? You know that HC of elucien doing it on calanmai gives the same energy as elucien’s romantacising Lucien saying he is a mated male now line…as if the poor guy wasn’t using it as a way to not get SA…I know eluciens dont hve enough pro elucien content but that always makes me cringe.

I highly doubt Mass wants to write about Spring, that woman is fully obsessed with the NC as she should be especially considering HOFAS further leans into the NC so A5 will obviously take place there. For the love of God, I cannot torture myself with another Nesta book. I loved liked tolerated reading acosf because the knowledge of elains book being next made it easier…if I had to wait 4 years for another Nesta book I think I’ll actually cry and just give up with Mass all together. It is bad writing because all the signs in acosf and even both bonuses hint to elains book being next + Mass literally said its one couple per book and I dont see why she’d lie or change her mind about it. It does make her a fickle, untrustworthy author + a bad writer for leaving all those elain/elriel foreshadowings and scenes when she could have focused on Gwynriel/Elucien instead.

Tiktok rlly does shock you with peoples reading comprehensions, but some people do it just for the shock factor so they can gain more views and interaction. You’re telling me, im in enemy territory too 😭 I cant even click disinterested because it ruins the feed I spent 2 years crafting. I went on tiktok this morning about 9 am and it’s currently 2am as im writing this and I have not been on TikTok since. I just cannot deal with seeing anti bs and the worst part is I liked every elriel post I came across from my mutuals so now im just waiting for them to make new elriel content as motivation to enter that pool of hell again. This is why I cannot take antis seriously when they claim to be the minority. You open up any shiprelated video and its 90% just antis stating the wrong opinions and yes in aware, opinions cant be wrong. Yet somehow they manage to do it.

Hopefully we leave enemy territory together soon anon 🫂

[spotaus]

New Age AU (Age Line-up)

Hello guys, I decided that I would put the guys into a (loose) comprehensive list of ages. This is all relative to whenever Nightmare first became 13 again. This is set 7 years after the coronation and Dream's banishment. (More Explanations below the cut)

So I'll start in the order of when these goobers met Night.

Ccino! He met Nightmare when he was born, and is 7 years older than him when they were children. Now, thanks to the gap in time (in which Nightmare appeared somewhere between 20-30) they have 14 years apart in age. Ccino is 27 at the start of the main plot.

Killer! He met Nightmare one year into his rule, almost on the dot. He is 25 when the main plot begins. (They met when Killer was 19. Killer was the correct age to be put up for death, a legal adult, while his partner in crime was too young and therefore was still imprisoned.)

Dust! He met Nightmare during his second year of rule. He is 30 when the main plot begins. (Dust was about 25 when Nightmare released him from imprisonment to help him learn about the black market.) Dust is the oldest of the Knights. Yes he gets teased ruthlessly about it by the others.

Horror! He also met Nightmare during the second year of his rule (though later in the year than Dust). He is 28 when the main plot begins. (He met Night when he was about 23, almost old enough to take over his family's farm, but his brother could handle it, so he chose to accept Night's offer and teach him to improve farms across the kingdom.)

Cross! Cross met Nightmare 5 years into his rule, and is 20 when the main plot begins. (His home kingdom collapsed when he was 16, he spent 2 years wandering with Ink, then met Dream. Dream asked him to spy on Night, and he was caught, so he met Night when he was just 18 and spent 2 years with him.) He's young, and he always kinda felt out of place, but the others adopted him in really easily, and the bond between a family is something Cross won't risk losing, so he's ultra loyal.

Error! Error met Nightmare 6 years into his rule, and is 15 when the main plot begins. (He ran away when he was 14 when Geno left, and was almost immediately scooped up by Nightmare within the same year. Hence why Fresh couldn't find him.) Error has very little time to acclimate to Nightmare's adult habits before he's slammed with the Young Night information (therefore he didn't have as many weird apprehensions)

The others and their connections to the others start... here!

Dream! Dream has been aging normally, so he is now 20! (He left the kingdom harboring him at age 15 with Blue, and when he returns to finally face Nightmare he's about 21.)

Blue! Met Dream during his second year in exile, and is now 21. (He left with Dream when he was 16.)

Ink! He has a crazy backstory, but he met Dream when he was 17, and brought Cross w/ him and stayed when Dream was 18. Start of the plot? He's 24! (Ink my beloved, he's crazy, and might be lying about his age, but for the sake of this, he's generally 24.)

Fresh! Age 22 at the start of the story. (He's only 7 when Error is born, and 21 when Error runs away.)

Geno! Age 32 when the plot begins! He leaves when he's about 30 to move and work with Reaper. (I'm retconning some things here, to say that the news of Error disappearing took over a year or two to finally reach Geno's ears. There are a few years worth of conflict between Dream and Night that need to pad out before Geno enters the narrative, so we're gonna say Fresh took a LONG time searching for Error before he finally told Reno the truth.)

Reaper! He's actually so so old. Like. Dusty musty old guy who acts/looks young <3. No canon age for him because he's so outside the range :)

[adhdblues]

I went many years not realising that something was wrong with me.

Many years of thinking that how I feel and how I process things was normal. Everyone experiences similar things, is what I thought.

School was okay. I ended up with good grades in the end - A, A, B for A-levels.

But I didn’t realise that I was struggling to understand textbook language. I didn’t know that comprehension of that type of text could be a learning disability. I just thought I wasn’t good enough.

I never really did any work in class. I was actively involved in discussions. Always had an idea to share, and my teachers seemed to really enjoy those discussions. But putting them on paper was fucking hard.

And the research never really got any deeper than the ‘contents’ page and half of the ‘introduction’ of a book. I had piles and piles of books to look through, they all intrigued me. But they just sat there, in a pile, looking cute.

They sat there as the guilt (of not reading through them) weighed on me more as deadlines got closer.

If we had to take notes in class, I wasn’t able to focus. Notes were mandatory, as per my teachers’ expectations - that’s the only way they’d know whether we are concentrating or not. But, I would leave the classroom feeling like I didn’t learn anything that day, because it was all too fast.

Now I know why.

I knew I was smart (sometimes I truly believed that), and I knew I could understand everything that was communicated to me verbally. But the classroom setting just wasn’t right.

I never thought that I’d be one to have ADHD, or that disability they called dyslexia. It felt so foreign, so out of reach - I shouldn’t even consider it because I don’t need the help, is what I thought.

I needed that help.

I never thought I deserved extra time during exams - even though I never fucking finished my papers. No matter how fast I tried to get through the questions, I always had 3 or 4 or 5 pages left once the time was up.

I was actually never told about such things existing, I didn’t know what ‘accommodations’ were. Not until I saw a handful of classmates sitting in a separate room, taking the exams at a different time to us. But still, no one really talked about it.

I just wish that my school, one of the ‘best British schools in the country’, would take learning disabilities more seriously.

I wish they had taken the time to educate us about such things, instead of telling us off for the eyeliner or nail polish we wore.

Instead of giving us detention for wearing pants tighter than their liking.

Or the assemblies they forced us to sit through, where they would bring in alumni to talk about all the amazing things they had achieved since they left school.

If only I had been told about what learning disabilities were:

- I would have struggled less in GCSE.

- I wouldn’t have had those multiple breakdowns because I thought I was stupid.

- I wouldn’t have thought that I wasn’t good enough.

I was always so intrigued by learning new things. But the classroom setting just wasn’t right. The teachers never came to me to ask why I’m struggling, they came to me to tell me I wasn’t good enough.

My biology teacher said she’d be surprised if I get a C. Out loud. In front of the whole class. As she gave out our mock exam results.

I got an A in biology when the real exam came around. Because I studied my ass off. At home. In my own space.

She did nothing to help me.

My math teacher told the whole class that I got the lowest score in my mock exam. I wasn’t there, but my classmates told me. It was embarrassing. I fucking cried. But now that I look back, it’s because I couldn’t understand textbook language at the speed they wanted me to.

I got an A in that too, when the exam actually mattered.

I never really cared much for mock exams. They didn’t mean anything towards my final grades, or my future. I couldn’t care less and they didn’t deserve the stress I’d have to go through.

I just knew I would study for the real exams. I knew I could pull all-nighters and study better under pressure.

Now I know why.

I would wonder why it was so hard for me to keep up with deadlines. I would think that maybe I just don’t care enough. But I kind of did, because I enjoyed learning. I enjoyed discussing and sharing ideas.

But the school system just wasn’t right.

I look back and wonder what it would have been like if I got the extra help that I needed. If I knew I was dyslexic, maybe my English teacher wouldn’t always make me read out loud to the class “to help with my reading skills”.

That was torture for me and everyone else involved - (I think she enjoyed seeing students struggle though).

I remember I specifically went and asked her to stop making me read out loud. Because I felt ashamed of all the long pauses, when I couldn’t find the line I was on. Or for saying the wrong thing, or pronouncing the words wrong. I was ashamed that everyone had to listen to me struggle, because I thought I was wasting their time.

She asked me to read to the class, that same day.

[meanbossart]

Some art-advice asks I've been meaning to reply to!

I use Clip Studio Paint Pro, though I'm not sure what tips I could give just in general. Just experiment with new things often, draw as much as your lifestyle allows, watch how other people do their work but try to avoid "Dont do THIS thing ever" type lessons and tutorials. Use as much reference as you'd like and take your time! To this day a simple sketch can still take me several hours to do depending on what it is.

Thank you so much!!! I didn't do any kind of formal art schooling but I've always been inclined towards arts and crafts, and started taking drawing semi seriously when I was about 17 (I'm 27 now). I draw a lot of inspiration from western comics and my favorite artists are jason shawn alexander and sean murphy.

Oh I'm so flattered to hear my stuff's inspired you to take up drawing again, I have a bunch of little crafty hobbies but art is by far the most fulfilling one to me - largely because you're constantly learning and improving.

You're definitely onto something already, I am constantly looking at other people's art (even If it isn't a style I would want to emulate) and analyzing how the pieces come together to create the final product. In my opinion this is pretty much the best way you can go about learning besides real-life reference drawing. You can even take something into your software of choice/print it out and trace it (just to yourself, of course) to get a sense of hand-motion and line use.

As a beginner I think there's no shame at all in taking heavy inspiration from your favorite artists, as long as you aren't straight up copying things and calling them your own. Your personal style Is likely to come out naturally, with time. That's very much how I started myself!

Also, just be patient with yourself, try to have realistic goals for your skill level while simultaneously being proud of everything you do. Even if you absolutely despise a drawing, you still drew something! And even if it doesn't feel that way you most definitely learned from it. Use learning tools and tutorials to whatever point you feel comfortable with but don't get stuck on people's arbitrary rules - unless we're talking about something tangible like real-life application of traditional art tools, things like anatomy, perspective and light are to be referenced from - but It's not the goal to emulate them 100% unless you ARE going for hyperrealism. As someone who uses a ton of reference these days, I can tell you first-hand that I often find myself straying from it on purpose to make a piece look more interesting.

Lastly, draw things you enjoy! Don't let anyone else dictate what you SHOULD be doing and don't fall into the trappings of wanting to stick to one specific style, process, or subject matter.

Good luck!!!

LOL thank you so much for your very evocative compliments! I haven't ever done a timelapse, not that I remember at least. I'm not sure how they work but I do so much of "I'm gonna try this thing 5 different ways and then decide what I like" that I'm not sure how comprehensive that would be LOL

I could put together a process showcase or something though, I feel like that might be better even, since I get to explain a little of what I'm doing through text and display how I use reference. Something to consider!

[cute-girls-from-vns-anime-manga]

watcha been reading/watching lately?

My reading list is and always will be much more comprehensively detailed since Im able to do a lot of it on break or when ive got down time at work!

Manga Im currently working my way through and actively keeping up to date on:

Chainsaw man

my dress up darling

Sakamoto days

Mato Seihei no slave

Anything by Zyugoya that is still being updated

Im sorry Im not yuri

Anemone is in heat

Ruri Dragon

Hitomi-chan wa Hitomishiri

Watamote

Spy x Family

Murcielago

More than a Married couple but not lovers

Handsome girl and Sheltered Girl

Dagashi Kashi

2.5 Dimensional Seduction

Majikoi's Manga Adaptation

(only listed the ones that update semi regularly 80% sure Im missing a few but I read so much even I can barely keep track of it all the ones in blue are the four im currently capping and posting about regularly)

Have had a few major lucky finds when it comes to Visual novels within the last month as well so my plan for this year is:

Finishing Majikoi A-5 (I INTEND TO SPEND THIS WEEKEND MAKING AS MUCH PROGRESS ON THIS AS I CAN)

Starting and playing through Himegari dungeon Meister!

Im still waiting on it to be shipped to me but literately YESTERDAY I snagged an absolutely incredible deal and will soon own, THE ENTIRE MUV LUV SERIES PHYSICALLY @griffmstr IT TOOK YEARS BUT THE BRAIN WORMS YOU BURRED IN MY SKULL FINALLY TOOK ROOT!!!

As for what Ive been watching, Ima put that in a read more since this is getting quite long!

Ive gots two airing shows that im actively watching closely

First is obviously Apothecary Diaries season two which is more of the same absolutely incredible stuff as was in season one poison gremlin and all!

Secondly has been "Secondly has been "Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms" which I read and capped the Manga to and while I do intend to watch through the full season of the anime's release but that is only cause there are some REAL good moments id like to see animated, I could see PLENTY of people dropping it for one reason or another.

I would be watching Sakamoto Days as closely if I had not binged the entire manga in like two days for that one Im going to be waiting until the full season is done airing before binging it.

I also need to get back to catching up on series ive been putting off getting around to like finishing up Iruma-kun and starting 16bit sensation!

As well as re-watching Gabriel Dropout and Engaged to the Unidentified, though those two Im mostly watching for the purpose of making gif's since ive seen them both through multiple times!

[klausinamarink]

One Kid Gone, Another Up and Vanished (part 7)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 next: Part 8

spoilers but a phone call gets through!

“You’re a thousand percent sure?”

Mike groans as he checks down the school halls, “Yes, Lucas. How many times do I gotta tell you that?”

“Well, maybe until I’m positive that we’re not having a collective auditory hallucination or the weirdo isn’t tricking us.” Lucas crosses his arms. Beside Dustin, El mutters “auditory hallucination” to herself with furrowed eyebrows.

“You guys hear that?!” Dustin exclaims too loudly, earning equally loud shushes. “Sorry, but El just said a scientific word without mispronouncing it! She really does have superpowers…”

“Not now, Dustin.” Mike hushes as they finally get to the AV club. He unlocks the door and lets everyone inside after peeking in. He guides El to sit in front of the radio while Lucas and Dustin turn it on.

Dustin won’t lie - he’s super excited to see El use her powers for the radio. He couldn’t believe it when she made Will’s voice come out. Will! Alive and singing!

But he’s still confused over Mike’s news of Will being with someone named Eddie. Eddie who? is their biggest question but El can’t say because she doesn’t know his last name or how to describe him.

“He’s a friend.” She keeps telling them.

Dustin prays it’s not Eddie Tremblay from fifth grade. The little sucker doesn’t deserve to be Will’s new friend after his football landed on their rocket project last month.

“Aaaand we’re in!” He announces, hopping behind El. Mike and Lucas squish against him even though they clearly have much more space.

El closes her eyes and listens to the whining static. Then the static changes through channels, voices quickly overlapping until they get more comprehensive. Then the voices get compressed into six, four, two-

“-Control to Major Tom..”

Dustin shoots his hand forward and grabs one of the speakers. But so does Lucas and Mike and now they’re slapping each other’s hands until Lucas finally takes it and yells, “Will, can you read us? Over!”

“‘Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong..’”

At the sound of the second person, Dustin’s first thought is oh thank God, it’s not Tremblay. Then his second thought is hm, this Eddie guy sounds kinda cool. Then his third thought is oh my god, we gotta talk to Will!

“Will! Do you copy? Over!”

“Will, where are you?”

“You feeling a bit better so far?”

“Tell Eddie we’re saying hi! Who is he? Over!”

“I’m getting cold again..”

“Me too. C’mon here.”

“Will! We’re right here!”

“How the hell are they not hearing us?”

“I wish I could go home…”

“So do I…”

El gives out a painful gasp and the radio explodes into flames. Dustin manages to extinguish it before the rest of the room catches, but the fire alarm goes off.

They all stare at the now-ruined transmitter, their only chance of connecting with Will and his mysterious new friend.

—

Eddie’s definitely missing.

It’s a fact that Jeff grows more sure of every day since Wayne Munson had asked him for Eddie’s secretive hideouts.

He keeps trying to ignore the seed of dread in his stomach, but it’s impossible now with the slightly somber atmosphere in the school after the morning announcement of Will Byers’ death. The fact that Eddie hasn’t shown up for classes or in the cafeteria again today isn’t helping either.

“If Munson’s still gonna be on his bender, he should’ve at least cancelled this week’s session.”

Jeff takes a half-open Skittles bag from Maya’s tray and throws it at Evan, making the two members jump. Maya because those are her Skittles and Evan because the bag hits his chest making more pieces fly out on the table.

“Eddie’s not on a bender.” Jeff hisses at Evan. Across him, Frankie is giving him one of his Don’t-Make-This-Any-Worse looks.

Evan huffs and crosses his arms, “Oh, yeah? Then where the hell is he?”

“Definitely not on a bender of any kind!”

“Gee thanks, that clears things up.”

Jeff’s about to snap back, but Frankie discreetly kicks his leg with a warning glare. It might be a good call because Jeff doesn’t know what to say next. Another defence of Eddie, for sure, but nothing to quench the rest of the club’s antsy-ness.

“Maybe he’s gone to a concert. Like hitchhiked to Indy or Chicago?” Maya asks after picking up her spilled candy.

“But he has a van?” Daniel, the senior member of Hellfire and their current drummer, frowns pointedly.

“What concert could’ve he gone to? Is there even any band playing in this bum state?” Evan raises his eyebrows.

“I dunno, Dio?”

“They’re touring in the UK right now.” Frankie says. Jeff shoots him a bewildered look that’s the equivalent to screaming are you kidding me? Frankie gives him a Play-Along-With-It look.

“Well, that settles it.” Evan raps his knuckles on the table. “Munson’s saved a fucking ticket to the goddamned Iron Lady’s territory and is breeding chicks in Dio’s mosh pit as we speak.”

Jeff stands up, no longer feeling hungry. He throws his half-eaten sandwich at Evan. The other boy gives out a disgusted shriek as the mayonnaise hits and stains his shirt. “Dude! What-”

“Shame on you.” Jeff keeps his voice even, just quiet enough for only Hellfire to hear him. Maybe it would somehow reach Eddie wherever the hell he is right now. “The only good thing about Eddie being absent is that he isn’t ripping the skins off of you and your characters right now. Especially you, Evan.”

He stares Evan down, who visibly gulps. “Eddie took you in the club’s open arms because he saw you were a loner who needed the right people to hang out with or you would’ve been one of the bullies. And this is how you thank him?”

He looks at the rest of the members and points at them accusingly. “When Eddie comes back from whatever he’s doing, I hope that rest of y’all feel guilty for thinking he doesn’t care. Because he absolutely does.” Then he grabs his bag and leaves the cafeteria without a second thought.

Outside is chilly as usual and the breeze helps relax Jeff’s nerves. For a while at least.

He stands at the parking lot, trying to think what he should do when he hears someone running over. He looks up and groans.

“Frankie, leave me alone, man.”

“So you haven’t heard anything from Eddie?” Frankie’s voice isn’t accusing but his look might’ve been.

“No. Not since the band practice days ago.” Jeff walks away but Frankie still follows him. “Then his uncle came and asked if I knew any places Eddie frequents. I told you guys that already.”

“Doesn’t stop Evan’s stupid theories.” Frankie mutters.

“You should’ve shut him up!”

“Are you kidding? You did better than what I could’ve done.”

“Words are stronger than death looks.”

Frankie snorts. He goes quiet as they reach the end of the school parking lot. Then he says, “Are you going to search for Eddie?”

Jeff stops. Turns and stares at him. “Uh, yeah? I mean, from what he said, Wayne’s probably already doing that. So, I dunno, I’m probably gonna do the bare minimum. Like where am I going to look, dude?”

Frankie doesn’t answer. His face is strangely pale and looking at something behind Jeff. He follows his friend’s phase and feels the dread well up in his mouth when he sees a poster on a nearby telephone pole.

He doesn’t need a closer look to recognize the black and white photo of Eddie from two months ago grinning at him or the large word MISSING written in Sharpie above it.

He tries very hard not to notice that it’s stapled right below Will Byers’ already wrinkled poster.

It’s a very strong feeling to see your best friend’s missing poster a few days after you last saw him alive.

Jeff forces to tear his eyes away from Eddie’s captured monochrome cheeriness. “Know what? Fuck it. Let’s find him. Wanna start at the woods?”

—

There’s something about singing quietly in the nightscape hell mirror version of your bedroom that makes Eddie’s fingers twitch to jolt it down somewhere.

After the meltdown at the house, Will had grew more quiet. Eddie had rocked him until Will complained of motion sickness and then Eddie had held him even when they slept.

After piggybacking the kid and singing “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” (at least until Eddie admitted death by earworms and convinced a change to “Space Oddity”) on the way back to Forest Hills, Will seemed to be back in his original spirits. Still quiet but no longer on the verge of tears next to Eddie. Although his coughs started to sound more wet and shook his small frame like a leaf.

Eddie prays to god that he can speak to Wayne this time. He hopes his uncle to come up with a cooler code system than Mrs. Byers and maybe get them out somehow.

But the trailer is quiet, save for Will’s whistled breathing as he sleeps in Eddie’s arms, the old itchy quilt cocooning them both. He has to stay up. Keep a lookout for the demogorgon in this hell land and for Wayne in the real world. But he feels so tired. If he can rest his eyes for just a moment…

The sound of muffled crying wakes him up.

—

The longer Wayne stares at the posters, the bigger the impulse to rip them up grows.

After Hopper left, he had went back inside and started on making the Missing posters for Eddie. The hardest part of it had been trying to find the right photo of his nephew and he had held back tears at how much Eddie had grown. How happier he looks.

He had printed copies at the library, keeping his head down from curious and pitying eyes. Christi Waldon was nice enough not to charge him for the fees.

Then he started putting the posters up and Wayne had felt like he was making a mistake.

Nobody never said anything how difficult it is to go around town again, putting a poster with your child’s face silently begging strangers who may disliked them to find them, and to do all of this without the police helping.

Wayne had printed 100 copies. He only managed to put up 18 of them before it became too much and hurried home.

Now there’s a pile of 82 posters with Eddie’s face staring up at him on the table. Wayne can’t bring himself to rip them up no matter what his mind demands it. He has a new superstition that if he does, Eddie will never be found alive.

He checks the time. Seeing it’s only after six, he sighs heavily and takes out his cigarette. He’s briefly overcome with the memory of catching a fourteen year old Eddie trying to smoke and how his smart cookie of a nephew swallowed the lit cigarette, immediately threw up, and sobbed while Wayne had to sit down so he wouldn’t break his own ass from laughing so far. After they’d both calmed down, Wayne showed him how to smoke properly and said-

He said…

What did he say?

Something erupts from his mouth. He clamps a hand over, suddenly worrying that he just got sick. But there’s no taste of bile. Only wet salt. He takes his hand off and, ah. He’s crying.

Wayne gives a wet laugh. Then it gasps into another sob. He covers his mouth again, unable to hold the tears back.

Above him, the lights flicker.

It feels almost comforting.

Wayne sniffs, watching as the bulbs hang on to its dear life of electricity. Then one of the lamps next to the couch start flickering as well. Slow and rhythmic.

The sadness does go away, but it makes Wayne feel the back of his neck hairs stand up.

—

Eddie drops his hand from the lights, stomping over to the phone. “Fuck this, now’s the chance.”

Will glances at him from where he’s crouching by the lights, still tired from being jostled awake so soon, “Eddie?”

He turns to him and says, “Little Byers the Vanished, how does one make a landline in the Vale of Shadows?”

“You, uh, just pick it up-”

Eddie does exactly that.

“Wait! It won’t even last-!”

—

The phone rings with a shrill.

Wayne snaps his head over to it. He’s breathing slowly, watching the landline like it’s his childhood spider.

The atmosphere in his trailer feels suddenly colder. As if there are ghosts present. Waiting.

The phone rings and rings until it gets to voicemail, his gruff message for the last decade. “You’ve reached the Munsons. Leave a message after the beep.”

There’s nothing after the beep.

Wayne looks at the lights again. The ceiling light has stopped but ones over the kitchen and door are flickering this time.

The phone rings again.

He stands up slowly, walking over to the phone. It rings louder to his ears now. He tries to ignore the sudden sense of a presence behind and beside him as he picks the phone up and holds it to his ear.

He hears static as if the caller has a bad connection.

He clears his throat and speaks, “Wayne Munson speakin’.”

The static crackles with some kind of harsh breathing. It’s loud to make Wayne cringe away and hang up-

“..Wayne..”

He freezes. The anxiety vanishes in an instant. “..Eddie?” He chokes out.

“..Wayne!”

“Oh my lord…” Wayne clutches the phone closer. “You’re alive, right? Eddie! Tell me where are you!”

“..I’m-”

The phone bursts into literal shock. He drops it with a yell and it clatters to the ground, dead.

That was him. That was Eddie’s voice.

Breathing raggedly, Wayne’s gaze snaps up to the lamps flashing maniacally. The air around him feels desperate and sinks down upon him. Anxiety comes back as quick as it comes, squashing on the brief spot of hope he felt.

“Nah, fuck this.” He mutters as he swipes his keys and runs out of the door. He can’t deal with more ghosts at this hour.

—

“Nonono—NO!”

Eddie slams his hands against the lights too hard. The pulsing glass bulbs nearly crack under the pressure.

None of it stops the sound of the truck engine starting.

“Wayne, it’s me! Can’t you hear me?!” Eddie’s throat is already dry from screaming, but he doesn’t care about it. “UNCLE WAYNE! JUST STOP AND LISTEN TO ME!”

He runs outside to the ever barren yard. He tries not to think about Wayne leaving just like how his dad did in his very last visit. How he had tried to chase after his dad’s car until Wayne stopped him. How he had been a crying mess while Wayne told him that both of them will stay together from now on.

“WAYNE, PLEASE! YOU PROMISED TO STAY!”

The truck drives away, farther and farther. If Eddie can catch him-

His lungs constrict themselves again. He stumbles, scraping his knees and palms on the ground. He coughs, gulping in too many shaky breaths that almost tastes like glass shards. He calls out-

���Come back! Come back!”

It comes out as a hoarse whisper.

His throat hurts.

The truck disappears. The sounds of the trailers’ muted everyday life and his own painful wheezing replace it.

Eddie is vaguely aware of Will shuffling up next to him and wrapping his arms around his shaking shoulders.

-

Taglist: @unclewaynemunson @steves-strapcollection @hellion-child @sidekick-hero @mmmmwaffles94 @demolitionjetstar @hbyrde36 @princessstevemunson @sirsnacksalot @tartarusknight @lyriclight @kodaik97 @plsdontdrinkmylavalamp @bookbinderbitch @gutterflower77 @soaringornithopter @angeldreamsoffanfic @panicatthediaz @renaissan-vvitch @manda-panda-monium @newtstabber @little-trash-ghost

[rook-specter]

I had a brain blast of an AU idea so.

introducing...

THE WANDERSONG INFECTION AU

AKA...

EARWORM

Kiwi

Status: Uninfected Infection: 0/100 Health: 74/100 Sanity: 65/100 Fear: 77/100 Hunger: 60/100

Kiwi is still their happy lil self! …Sorta. After the infection started, their happiness started to take a nosedive. Now they're more skittish, anxious, and easily startled. At least Miriam is there to ground them.

Miriam

Status: Uninfected (was infected before) Infection: 0/100 Health: 69/100 Sanity: 67/100 Fear: 57/100 Hunger: 40/100

Miriam has definitely become more irritable, that's for sure, though, she treats Kiwi better than anyone else. It's a bond that's hard to break. Along with that, she used to be infected, but Nina was able to safely remove her arm somehow.

Ash

Status: Uninfected Infection: 0/100 Health: 96/100 Sanity: 70/100 Fear: 82/100 Hunger: 22/100

Ash is definitely scared for their life, but they're also probably the most helpful when it comes to thinking things rationally. Not even Miriam is good at that anymore, so there's gotta be some anchor around here. Other than that, there's not much to talk about with them.

Nina

Status: Uninfected Infection: 0/100 Health: 78/100 Sanity: 48/100 Fear: 31/100 Hunger: 47/100

Nina's holding onto whatever sanity she has left, but she hasn't completely lost it. She often has cut-ins where she says random things, but she's still semi-comprehensible. She also shows quite a bit of frustration whenever she's interrupted by herself, and she emphasizes certain words to get her point across.

Audrey

Status: Infected (Stage 5) Infection: 100/100 Health: 37/100 Sanity: 0/100 Fear: 2/100 Hunger: 6/100

Audrey is patient zero for the Earworm. She takes the form of a goopy, deformed entity, who is always smiling. Kiwi and the others have made sure to steer clear away from Audrey at all times, and whenever they do encounter her, they run away as FAST as possible.

THE STAGES OF THE INFECTION

Stage 0: Nothing!

Stage 0 is for when they JUST got the Earworm. The infection starts out very slow, but ramps up as the days go by. Stage 0 lasts 2 weeks.

Stage 1: Denial

Stage 1 is when the infected individual gets quite a bit jumpy and anxious. The infected part seems to look a bit like a bruise, but with the veins around the bruise looking like strange purple vines. Other than that, there isn't much to talk about with this stage. Stage 1 lasts 5 days.

Stage 2: Anger

Stage 2 is when the infected individual's emotions go nuts, and they start to become more anxious and aggressive. They might even attack on-sight. Their physical form has also started to slightly distort as well. Stage 2 lasts 4 days.

Stage 3: Bargaining

Stage 3 is when the infected individual starts acting like a zombie, only wishing to infect those around them. Their form distorts even more, to the point of looking like some kind of monster. It only gets worse from here. Stage 3 lasts 3 days.

Stage 4: Depression

Stage 4 seems to be a stage where the infected individual is rather inactive and lazy. However, their skin infects on contact, so you should probably watch out when dealing with an individual on Stage 4. Their form as also distorted even more. Stage 4 actually lasts longer than most stages, at 5 weeks.

Stage 5: Acceptance

Stage 5 "ascends" the infected individual. They regain their ability to speak, if only to act like they're a god. They also gain strange eldritch powers that people cannot comprehend, and their form has become way more eldritch as well. This is the final stage.

also, Infected Audrey design.

and a playlist for her!

[wordpress-blaze-189646114]

Upside Down!

Seaton Delaval Hall is a magnificent stately home and estate, situated north of Newcastle upon Tyne, between the towns of Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval.

We have visited here a number of times – it’s just a nice day out filled with unusual things and so unlike any other National Trust property and that’s because the Delaval family who once owned this hall knew how to have a good time.

It was once described as a place for the theatrical, a bit of drama (literally, as in plays!) and some mischief during the Georgian era, so it was THE place to be, if you liked parties and the social scene in the 1700s!

The Delaval family liked to showcase theatrical productions, have masked balls and play tricks on overnight guests.

The house was also filled with oddities (and still is!), which include an upside down room for starters.

Yes, its upside down and so very clever!

Ships in bottles and giant anchors in the basement.

Other rooms filled with sculptures, paintings and other interesting things, like a display of wigs.

And of course, the giant disco ball still hangs in the foyer.

If the interior wasn’t spectacular enough, the exterior consisting of immaculately maintained gardens also doesn’t disappoint.

The current members of the Delaval family wanted to preserve the legacy of the hall and encourage greater public access so in 2009 the National Trust, after doing some extensive renovation work, assumed custody of the property and its gardens.

Have a look at the National Trust website here, for more visitor information on Seaton Delaval Hall.

Truly a unique place!

Opinions expressed are our own based on personal experience

Links provided are for information only and aren’t affiliate links.

All images used are sourced from Unsplash, iStock or are personal photographs. The writing is original, so please don’t copy any of these (photos or writing) without permission!

If you enjoyed reading this, please like and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.

You can also subscribe via the button at the bottom of this page and receive a newly published blog directly to your mailbox.

Source: Upside Down!

[year2000electronics]

do you have any tips or suggestions for someone wanting to make their own oc story? your ocs and their stories are so insanely cool but i have no idea where i’d even begin to make one!

also happy y2kvr-versary ! late i know but it was still the ask blog that caused me to follow you and i’ve just stuck around for your other content after. :)

HMMMM lemme just spill a bunch of my thoughts all at once, this is just some stuff i personally like doing with my own oc stories! by no means is this a comprehensive list and i am not a professional!

1. accept the fact that you’re probably going to need minor/side characters. of course that isn’t always the case, there are story types that only focus on a handful of characters, but let’s use the reckoning as an example: even though i love all the characters there dearly, it’s about sinclair and his donning and subsequent subverting of the “mythological hero” mantle by taking on the vices’ challenge. montez and duncan, the other two archangels, are there to serve as a secondary antagonist in holy orders and bring some more life to the story’s world respectively, and That’s Okay. recognizing that not all your characters are gonna be the most specialest boys is a great place to start with structuring an oc story imo!

2. KEEP AT IT. the reckoning as it exists now didn’t truly come together until 2020, which is when the ask blog was made. cardine (the city the vices reside in) is such a key, important concept that drives the story along and the reckoning wouldn’t be nearly as good without it, and that only got introduced in one of the final drafts pre-ask blog!! reworks, practice with laying out the events, thinking and re-thinking of stuff and spending years with it is really good. it’s healthy. i mean a lot of great films and tv get ‘saved’ at the last minute from being terrible by one terrible concept being scrapped so revising and not being afraid to change things is your best friend

3. learn some rules. i’m of the firm belief that storytelling should be an all-access hobby for everyone, so you don’t have to read all of save the cat and then write out a full script or anything, but like. turn on a movie you like, or read a book you love. think about what they’re doing to convey primary themes to you. pick out the themes, actually, that’s good too. being able to pick up on themes that aren’t just being stated to you as if it’s dialogue from sonic heroes is a great teacher on how to subtly weave those themes into your story

4. don’t be afraid to break those rules! a lot of that stuff is great to pick up but at the same time they’re YOUR characters, and if you find yourself getting bored by playing too “by the book”, nobody said you can’t change how things work. for example, a lot of my oc stories have “villain protagonists” because i just really connect with the way ‘villains’ present themselves in media. if you find yourself fixating on a side character and brushing your main character aside? screw it! you can just make the story about them! what if a 7/11 clerk went on an adventure instead of the main guy!!

5. INSPIRATION IS YOUR FRIEND. WEAR IT ON YOUR SLEEVE. i don’t mean you have to publicly disclose every single thing you were inspired by, but the amazing digital circus is REALLY big right now, and gooseworx has told people IHNMAIMS and the raggedy ann movie were big inspos and she clearly loves those things because they uplift the work higher! (plus it gave people a new appreciation for those things) and, imo, understanding what inspires you and celebrating it is a lot better of a mindset than going into something out of sheer spite (like you’ll see a lot of people online making very inflammatory “i alone could fix a piece of media that had to go through an entire writer’s room as well as corporate mandates, gosh why doesn’t everyone just Make Things Good?” type posts on social media, and i find myself straying more and more away from that). best example i can think of are all those very ill-fated “original alien stories” that su criticals made back in the day that were even more confusing than the gems and everyone had to pretend that “of course it makes more sense for the aliens to be flowers, gosh, why didn’t rebecca sugar think of this? we’re so smart”. my point is hate and shame can fizzle out quickly but creativity is forever

6. and of course, always make sure you’re actually having a good experience with the process. fun, catharsis, importance, etc. if it sucks, you can literally hit the bricks. i say that with experience because before my original superhero story existed (iris of the storm), there was another (problem students). it was dormant as a story for a really long time because i had accidentally made a superhero story without any of the superhero tropes i loved, but i couldn’t just… delete it all! OH WAIT. YES I COULD. i started it all over and got rid of ocs that i was glad i made but don’t need anymore, and i’ve never been happier cos iris of the storm is actually fun for me.

BUT YEAH THATS IT. thumbs up

[odditycollector]

okay, I got around to watching the umbrella academy, 4th & final season

I went in unspoiled and to pass on the favour I'm putting my reaction under the cut.

high level & non-comprehensive thoughts on themes only.

short version: As an ending to the whole of the story, it did not work.

This is not a controversial opinion. It felt unsatisfying! It was Unearned! The moral of the story is now either "broken people have no place in the world and they fuck it up for everyone else just by existing and their attempts to heal are futile and counterproductive" or "please, please let us stop making seasons of this show. please"!

but then i thought about it and actually. the end of season 4 could be a really meaningful part of the story. thematically.

…as long as you didn't stop there.

-

so the umbrella academy tv show is a story about cycles of family abuse and trauma and trying to escape them.

An incomplete list of questions it's explored:

Can the destructive fallout of family trauma simply be suppressed. No. (s1)

If someone had simply done one thing different in the past could the family trauma have been fully avoided and everyone involved would have been happy and functional. No. (s2)

Can we exist as separate from our histories? No. (s3)

Can the cascading effects of complex family trauma be cleanly navigated? No. (s4 - not even with a map)

Can damaged individuals reconnect and despite their individual flaws - if all are truly putting in the effort - form a connection/safety net from which they might draw the strength to forgive and actually find healing? …i feel like we were stumbling towards a yes. (s4, Allison & Klaus, Viktor & alt!Hargreeves)

AND THEN

the ending of season 4 posits:

Since the destructive fallout from family trauma can't be prevented, is it Better(tm) for the world if the traumatized individuals and all their impacts on other people were removed wholesale.

and y'know what? Thematically? this is a powerful question to ask.

but like. the answer has to be "no" though.*** because otherwise what is the point. we've invested years into rooting for these siblings to find recovery!

***["isn't it possible for "no" to have been a satisfying answer?" Of course! tragedies exist! there aren't any rules for what is allowed in stories! but the umbrella academy tv show did not set itself up to be a story where that is a satisfying answer. (Source: I Am Good At Themes.)]

Season 4 as an ending point implies the answer to 'healing from trauma is too hard - let it consume and destroy you y/n?' is 'yes', which as an ending note is. well. let's go with sudden and discordant.

[ALSO IT CHEATED! ON A MECHANICAL LEVEL! ERASING ALL YOUR INFLUENCE FROM HISTORY MEANS ERASING THE GOOD TOO! MEANS ERASING YOUR DESCENDANTS FOR WHOM YOU WERE TRYING TO DO BETTER TOO!]

but if this 'yes' had NOT been the end, but had been set up to be a proof by contradiction..

if there had been a Season 5 showing us that actually the world was NOT better for the absence of the Hargreeves family, that they were needed, that a single clean timeline is not better than an infinity of messy possibilities, that if there can exist no perfect version of you that is untouched from trauma the you that DOES exist is still capable of being loved and of healing and worth the effort involved, that you were not wrong to ever try…

That's an ending that could have been satisfying.

[lulu2992]

hi! i hope you don't mind me asking you this, but i feel like you're the most reliable source for this, haha. i saw that you answered an ask about john, explaining what to keep in mind when writing him, and i was wondering if you could do the same thing with jacob? as in, what characteristics to keep in mind when writing him and all !! i would seriously appreciate it a lot!! i wish you all the best and thank you for everything you're sharing with the fandom <3

Hi! And thank you very much for your kind words :)

As I did in the post about John (here, for anyone who is interested), I’m first going to give you a few links and facts about the Soldier! By the way, “the Soldier”, unlike “the Father” and “the Baptist”, isn’t Jacob’s official title in the cult, it’s just how he was called in promotional material (and by Dutch).

You must have played Far Cry 5 and seen the cutscenes already, but I’m still going to summarize his backstory and beliefs to try to write a comprehensive post. And in case you’ve missed them or want to listen to them again, here are:

His radio calls in chronological order (here, here, here, here, and here)

His sermons (part 1 and part 2)

The comments he makes during the trials

The audio of his two videos (“I own you”, broadcasted inside the Stone Ridge chalet, and the one with Pratt)

The message on the phone in the Stone Ridge Chalet

What he says during the final fight against him (here and here)

His Arcade lines

Finally, even though they were cut, you can find his unreleased lines here.

I wrote a summary of what other characters say about Jacob here (masterpost here), but you can listen to the NPCs’ comments here (cultists) and here (Resistance/civilians).

As for in-game notes, to my knowledge, only one was undoubtedly written by Jacob. It can be found in his bunker, Jacob’s Armory:

Dan Hay (Executive Producer/Creative Director/Writer) and Jean-Sébastien Décant (Narrative Director/Writer) talked extensively about John in a video for IGN, but unfortunately for us, the other members of the family didn’t have that privilege...

However, in a now-deleted interview for GameCrate, Drew Holmes (Lead Writer) said the following:

Jacob Seed, who’s the older brother, maybe doesn’t necessarily believe in Joseph’s message that God told him the end of the world was coming, but he believes in his brother, doesn’t matter if he’s right or wrong, he going to march forward with him.

And although Jacob loves his brothers, he reportedly doesn’t care much about Faith, according to the Lead Writer and NPC dialog.

In The Book of Joseph (which you can read here), Jacob is described as a protective big brother and an adventurous child who loved nature and “only felt comfortable in the outdoors”. He would sometimes steal candy for his two brothers so they “could have a bit of sweetness and comfort in [their] lives”. Their childhood was indeed miserable, mostly because their father was very violent. While he was “strong” and could withstand being beaten regularly, he hated seeing his youngest brother John in pain, so he started thinking about getting rid of their abuser. It’s unknown if he would have done it, but he never got to put his plan into action thanks to Joseph, who convinced him not to, and to child protective services.

The boys were sent to an orphanage and adopted by a couple, but they treated them like servants and “livestock”, even making them sleep in a barn. One night, Jacob had enough and, after waking his brothers up and freeing the animals, set fire to the property. When the couple ran outside, he also knocked out the husband with an axe handle. That led him to be sent to a juvenile detention center and separated from his brothers. There, he was “a bit of a troublemaker” and the guards didn’t like him. However, the teachers believed he had potential and was a good leader. At the end of his sentence, Jacob joined the army.

He spent several years (20, according to Dan Hay) in the military (the Marines according to the book, the 82nd Airborne Division according to the game) before being declared unfit for service because he suffered from PTSD. He then spent some time in a military hospital but was kicked out when he couldn’t afford it anymore. After that, he never received his pension (for unknown reasons) and started living on the streets, basically becoming invisible. Joseph found him “completely hollow” in a homeless shelter and only recognized him because he was calling his brothers’ names in his sleep.

Once the three brothers were reunited, Jacob “slowly came back to life” and swore to follow Joseph to the end. In the cult, his goal is to build and train an army so they’re ready for the Collapse, able to survive in the post-apocalyptic wilderness, and protect the rest of the Family.

In the game, he talks about the moment that redefined his life. During the first Gulf War, he and another soldier named Miller got separated from their unit because of an ambush and had to survive in the Iraqi desert. On the eighth day, he realized they were most likely going to die and accepted it, but “in that acceptance came clarity”. He saw Miller, who was barely able to walk anymore, as “an opportunity” for him to live… implying he cannibalized him. He adds it wasn’t something he wanted but something he had to do; his “test” (from God, I assume).

Because of this dehumanizing (and traumatizing) experience, Jacob came to believe that humanity was divided into two categories: the weak and the strong. The weak are not meant to survive, but they have a purpose. He thinks people are “meat”, “tools”, and expendable, so he doesn’t hesitate to “cull the herd” (his mantra) so only the strongest soldiers are in his army. He thinks society and modern technology have made humans weak and that people should return to their natural selves, like ancient men (who were an example of strength, to him). The Collapse will be a new beginning, but his soldiers need to be ready for it, which is why he obsessively selects and trains them, and doesn’t hesitate to experiment on converts.

As demonstrated with the Deputy in the game, Jacob conditions potential recruits using Bliss, violent images, and the song “Only You” (because of this scrapped idea) so they uncontrollably go on a killing spree whenever they hear the song. He starves them, keeps them in cages, and makes them go through trials to test their strength and teach them how to hunt and kill. He also expects them to “sacrifice”, as explained in this note (Grand View Hotel):

To pass through the Gate you must SACRIFICE something of yourself, to let go of the past and fully embrace your future with the Father. It has to have meaning. What is it that is keeping you here? What is it that anchors you, that prevents you from giving yourself freely to the Father? Is it your husband, your wife, your child? Maybe your brother, or mother? Once you have rid yourself of the shackles of your old life then you can open your heart to the Father’s voice.

He experiments on animals as well, mostly wolves, to turn them into mind-controlled “Judges”, more powerful and aggressive, and able to attack on command.

Like his siblings, Jacob has a strong personal philosophy inspired by his past. He basically makes the people he converts relive his trauma because he thinks it will make them better, fitter to serve the Project. He has specific goals but, as brutal as his actions are, isn’t cruel for the sake of cruelty. He tests people the way he believes he was tested, makes them go through starvation and dehumanization so they can revert to their primordial instincts, become warriors and be truly alive; reborn.

Jacob isn’t a very demonstrative man and is rather stoic, but I don’t think that means he doesn’t feel anything; he just doesn’t want/like to show his emotions (except maybe to his brothers). And as the eldest, it seems he doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind to Joseph. That said, while he isn’t sure if the Father can really hear God’s voice, he still has faith in him and is ready to give his life for him and the Project. In my opinion, Jacob possibly even believed that he had to die for Joseph, as his weapon and his sacrifice. He trained the Deputy so they would kill his former ally and main rival Eli for him, but I think it’s likely that he expected them to be strong enough to kill him as well, so the prophecy (and his destiny) would be fulfilled. As much as he told the Deputy they were neither strong nor special, in the end, he probably thought they were...

We don’t know if the traumatic memories of the war that would “surge up at any moment”, according to The Book of Joseph, still torment Jacob in the game because his PTSD is never really shown or mentioned, but we can assume it’s still there to some degree. It’s unknown where exactly his scars come from or what caused them, but he was most likely injured in combat. In my opinion, he also sometimes sounds like he has respiratory problems, but that’s never discussed, either.

To summarize this summary, Jacob is ruthlessly committed to his goals and convictions. He says nature doesn’t have empathy, so he shouldn’t, either. He went through hell several times and believes he only emerged stronger, so he thinks others can and must be hardened the same way to become the best, most primal version of themselves. He doesn’t fear death and possibly even expects it to come for him early, but it doesn’t matter because he would have fulfilled his destiny, and he has a legacy anyway: his army. Because of how strong and well-trained his soldiers are, he’s confident the Family will be safe, even after his death. Despite his incredibly twisted vision of the world and violent methods, deep down under all the hatred and trauma, it seems there’s still a little bit of that big brother who would try his best to protect his siblings and brighten their lives, somewhere, somehow…

[rigelmejo]

11/2/2024 update - chinese:

1. Listening to something "harder" in chinese (poyun audiobook) seems to be helping. I listened to an audio drama today instead, just whatever my recommendation gave me (a crime solving BL which is the genre I'm comfortable in), and since it's an audio drama I definitely know at LEAST 95% of the words. I hear a few unknown words per minute, and when I look them up they're usually what I vaguely guessed when listening (so words I've read but struggle to recognize in listening). Since audio dramas are nearly all dialogue, I understand almost everything (i miss a few details per 5 minutes since theres still a few words I dont know and don't look up). I am not even paying attention, just letting it play as I scroll reddit ToT. I still understand almost all. So I think my quick-understanding speed is improving for more words. Poyun still feels equally hard lol, I catch dialogues mostly and then it's hit or miss if I understand descriptor paragraph's main idea when listening to the audiobook. But just listening to Poyun, while multitasking and just listening-in when I can focus, seems to be helping. So that's awesome! Maybe my test in a month will be if SaYe is clearer to me by then.

2. If you're a beginner learning Chinese, I again recommend dongchinese.com's Pinyin guide and tone pair drills. I'm begging you to spend a couple hours going through it. If you watch cdramas, even if you're watching with english subs, the ability to HEAR a word and type the pinyin into google translate app or Pleco app quickly for the translation is SO USEFUL. Early on, its useful for picking up new words and remembering them. But even now, as I'm listening to audiodramas, the skill of looking stuff up by pinyin as a beginner helps SO much now. I can hear unknown words in audio and instantly hear what pinyin I should type (zhi or zi or si or j or zhe or zha are very clearly different to my ear) and I'm used to expecting most words to be 1,2, or for phrases 4 hanzi long (so 1-4 initial-final pinyin pairs), with most words being 2 hanzi long, so if I hear an unknown word I can quickly identify WHICH 2 sounds are the new ones I just heard and look up the unknown word. These basic recognition skills get developed early on as a beginner, as you look up words and get used to the common patterns, and as you start reading and notice beyond the common 1 hanzi words, just how many are 2 hanzi.

3. If you're learning chinese and don't have the benefit of cognates with a language you know, chinese is still a bit "easier" to guess new words at a certain point. For reading, it's the multi-component hanzi which allow you to start guessimg rough pronunciation and meaning, and the 2 hanzi words which allow you to start guessing meaning is the 2 hanzi combined or perhaps related to the meanomg of the 1 of 2 hanzi you already know. With listening... there is also a benefit. Say you hear xiangfa - xiang think, fa method, you can guess it has something to do with thoughts or ideas or trails of thoughts. Xiang is a common verb so you probably already know it, or can guess it's THAT xiang based on context of a scene, and fa is also a fairly common word so you can guess it might be That Fa. It means idea. So guessing "thought" would be close enough to undersrand meaning. (And of course seeing it written 想法 thought+method xiangfa easy to see hanzi meaning and then guess idea or something close).

4. I'm hoping the comprehensible input/ALG suggestions of a LOT of comprehensible input actually help me with speaking tones. Even though I did tons of explicit study, which ALG thinks "damages pronunciation"... but I didn't actually speak much yet. At a certain point (around a year imto learning?) I stopped studying tones of new hanzi and words and just used audio in pleco or google translate (or TTS, shows, audiobooks etc) to hear how new stuff sounded if I didnt remember. Since I read a lot, so I just felt I needed to add more sound to not learn the wrong pronunciation... so idk how that will go.