#technically an edit but whatever xD
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roz-ani · 3 months ago
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Okay, so if I got thing right: It is the Solver, not Cyn, that is now a part of Uzi's body. It just has the stammer for whatever reason. However, at the same time, Uzi is now a hologram? Like Cyn back in the mansion?
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I think people in general are confused about who is who in this scenario, because we've only seen Cyn under the Solver's control. She was an improperly disposed Worker Drone, so technically Tessa never brought her home. It was the Solver in a body of a Worker Tessa later named Cyn. It just had some unusual mannerisms and developed a special bond with N, calling him "big brother" and even saving his, V, and J's personalities after transforming them into Disassembly Drones.
But was the original Worker Cyn there in the first place? Were they merged, or was it just the Solver disguising itself all along? The only characters capable of controlling the Solver virus were Yeva, Nori, Uzi and Doll, which allowed them to keep their own personalities and consciousness. I think that for most of the audience, Cyn and the Solver are the exact same thing, while the idea is a bit more nuanced. I've seen some theories on twt thank point out that Doll is also a part of Uzi now based on some data from a few screenshots, and because Solver Cyn ate her core. That is something I haven't figured out yet (and don't really have time to tbh XD).
MD is a series that relies a lot on info hidden in the animation and backgrounds. I think most people will agree that it's quite difficult to fully understand the story without rewatching the episodes and pausing from time to time. Honestly, I just want to dismiss the idea that N is now dating his "younger sister". Especially since Cyn, or the Solver in reality, views him more as a plaything.
But the fact that Uzi no longer has her original body is quite intriguing, AND SOMETHING I HOPE WILL GET EXPLAINED IN THE FUTURE
Edit: I saw someone explaining that since Uzi burned Cyn's heart, she is the Solver's host now. Cyn is dead, no matter how much of her would be left after the mutation took over. But wouldn't that make her the primary carrier? The other characters can control the AI, but we also had Eldritch J. It's normal for the Solver to control a few hosts, but Cyn is the antagonist of the story. And since her heart was destroyed, why was she reaching for the core (the black orb)? I'm guessing that's where the Solver was located, like with Eldritch J? Does every heart have one? Wouldn't that also mean we have a bunch of other hosts out there in SPAAAAACEE?
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Mini hc request bc I've been watching a hella ton of ghost hunting videos lately and this brainworm won't leave
How would the M6 do on a ghost hunt? (I guess technically they'd all be believers bc I think they've all witnessed ghost-goat Lucio at least once) who's skeptical, who's scared out of their mind, who's getting groovy with the equipment, etc.
The Arcana Mini-HCs: M6 go ghost hunting
~ I think I remember @nabesima making some hilarious edits on youtube about this XD ~
Julian: the most skeptical. keeps trying to come up with alternate explanations for the phenomena (it's the gravity. gravity is weird here) and starts hiding behind you when he can't deny it any more
Asra: just vibing. completely unbothered. their skin is moisturized, the full moon is doing glorious things for their hair, they found some blood on the wall and now he's finger painting with a specter
Nadia: takes it almost too seriously. she's fully aware of all the activity and she isn't here to play. she is going to question these ghosts, find out what she needs to find out, and solve whatever needs solving
Muriel: more scared than he is going to admit. the only way you can tell is because he keeps checking on whether or not you're scared and letting you know that if you want to leave it's totally okay
Portia: having way too much fun with all the equipment. keeps trying to use each instrument the wrong way, somehow ends up catching the most ghost activity of everyone else involved because of it
Lucio: he would be scared if he wasn't so excited to get in on some supernatural action. and if he wasn't convinced that every strange thing that happens is actually his own magical powers awakening
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randaccidents · 8 months ago
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Is the heartless au just cccc without heart /silly
Anyway explanation for the au because.
hehehe oh you gave me permission to RAMBLE you don't know what youve done (also hiii youre somehow my first ask ever on this blog XD)
SO the most basic thing that my dream laid out is one concept: What if Heart, after getting sent into Apathy, just... doesnt wake up? That whatever happened in there, he is no longer the Emotional Side, but the heart the muscle that beats the pump that pushes blood through the body. And it is entirely self-inflicted, because Mind can win alright? He'll be efficient and functional and emotionless, except emotions are what gave him life and without it hes just a pump.
(This AU also comes with a lot of guilt from Mind and Soul who made decisions and actions that pushed Heart to devolve into function, as well as eventual healing for Heart and permanent consequences)
I've written a lot of like. The Details down somewhere haha but thats the main gist idea that came from my dream. The developed version is like;
Heart gets an extended stay in the Apathy Hole, and that betrayal combined with Mind insulting him leads him to invite in apathy and essentially kill half of himself so that all he is is the muscle known as the heart. Mind and Soul eventually discover this and try to wake him up and get him back. When they do they have to deal with the consequences of what they pushed him to do, because until they do Heart will fight them to return to emptiness, where he didnt have to feel hurt and betrayed and cold. (Heart's physical condition is directly tied to his function, so until hes willing to accept being the Emotional Side again he backslides rapidly at all times, and Mind and Soul are selfish)
As a little treat, in this AU they also change their names to reflect their new roles:
Heart: Heart (changes the least, essentially frozen in time until he wakes again) 
Mind: Perseverance
Soul: Guilt (EDIT BUT I CHANGED HIS NAME TO PENITENCE)
I will say that I really enjoy making it so that, in scenarios where HMS change drastically from their established roles, its considered a loop ender. So the consequences of Heart devolving into function ends the loops permanently, and Perseverance and Guilt have to deal with the consequences forever instead of having them be erased.
It's called Heartless because Heart technically isnt there anymore, but emotions always finds a host. :)
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goron-king-darunia · 1 year ago
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Eggtober 11th 2023
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"Wiggly": Flan with Berries
(Clip Studio Paint, Gouache Brush, Dry Gouache Brush, some Pencil brush for detail, and the Circle tool and perspective tool for the plate. 30 colors. Around 1 hour and 30 minutes.)
Speedpaint at the end of the post.
I really should do some one to one studies one of these days. The shine on top was insanely fun to draw and fiddle with as was the shine on the berries, but the shine on the plate syrup is a little funky to me. Need more practice for sure but still happy with how it turned out. There's more here that I like and had fun with than I struggled with.
Hopefully the syrup isn't too sticky for @lady-quen's Breadbugs.
Technically an eggy pudding more than an overt egg, but I think it counts for @quezify's Eggtober. Am I playing a little loose with the rules? Absolutely. But it's either studies of various eggy foods or I'm gonna become bootleg quezify and only draw fried eggs every day. Like, yes, I'm basically the egg understudy because for two years I have drawn an egg a day for an entire month because of Ruben, but, like. I'm not here to stand in a fabulous shadow or step on any fabulous toes. I am here to draw edible egg. That has been my shtick since the first Eggtober. I am of course TRYING to stick to dishes that are well known for eggs being a major ingredient or dishes where the egg element is overtly visible, obviously. So you're probably not going to see a cheesecake here for example. Not for Eggtober, anyway. Cheesecake is much more well known for the cream cheese and the crushed cookie crust.
But, as with last year, you will be getting more than just "Here's a fried Egg." @quezify has that covered for sure. But you will definitely see loads of fried eggs. I still have 2 very nice fried egg ideas in my queue of things to draw, after all. But sometimes you just gotta play around. "Yes, flan is not egg. But it's known for including lots of eggies to get that custard nice and smooth and spongy and bouncy. Cheating every once in a while with a souffle or a flan is allowed because I say so. There's egg in there as a main ingredient. Fight me. XD
In all seriousness, what counts and what doesn't is wibbly anyway. Because, like, mayo is very much an eggy thing. The eggs stabilize the emulsion. Without them the mayo would just be separated oil and acid like vinegar or lemon juice. Hollandaise is also egg for the same reason. But if you add the mayo to a bunch of tuna, well, that gets wibbly right? It's the basis of tuna salad and definitely has egg in it, but the tuna ratio makes it much more tuna than mayo and therefore much more tuna than egg.
Unless you're a purist that think egg must be overt and independent in the dish, in which case fried egg, boiled egg, poached egg, and scrambled egg are about all you can get away with here, with various sauces. Which would be a fun challenge, I guess. But I am much more a form and constitution neutral participant. If it looks like an egg or if it contains significant egg, I am counting that. That's how we do it here on my blog. Categories are just wibbly boxes and I am playing fast and loose with them. Because it's fun. (This isn't really directed at anyone by the way. I'm just an anxious bean and I like to preempt arguments rather than have them.) But yeah, Egg King Ruben said I can draw whatever I want forever, so there. 😝
(Edit, forgot the gosh darn speedpaint again!)
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far-from-fran · 4 months ago
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What are the examples of your "cringefail x [gender]failure" ships? xD
I'm so glad you asked!!!!!!😁
@kpchrs
Ok! So! I'd probably have to start with Hijack!
Hijack
Hiccup (httyd) x Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians (great movie btw😊)) If we're going by htty1 Hiccup would be the boyfailure, and Jack would be the cringefail. But, if we're talking about httyd2, then Hiccup would be the cringefail and Jack would be the boyfailure. The shit they go through and the way I write them really fits that dynamic.
Ashnifico!
Asha x King Magnifico (Disney's Wish) King Magnifico is kind of like a cringey and underappreciated dad, it's so funny. Like, he's supposed to be this intimidating and evil-as-fuck villain, but he's just so cute. Like, look at him twirl:
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"I'm glowing! :D"
This is after he's turned evil too, so. Lol
And, Asha is the girlfailure, because... she's just a mess of a character. 😂 Like, I love her, but she's a mess. All the characters kind of are, but, that's kind of why I love them.❤️
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Roceit!!!!! :D
Yeeeeeeeeeesssssss! Ok!
Roman "Creativity" Sanders x Janus "Deceit" Sanders from Sanders Sides:
There's a (too) big section of the fandom that (only) sees Janus as this suave and debonair mystery man, which is definitely what Janus wants to be seen as. But, in reality, he's just a big dork! (affectionate)
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Picks him up and hold him under a flashlight Look at him! LOOK AT HIM!
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So, Janus is the cringefail.😂
Roman! :D Roman is the boyfailure. My mans is... Not Winning. (Which is partially his own fault) (Who said that!?👀)
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He's so good, though! I love him! Like, more Roman being happy, please! Enough with the ANGST! (lighthearted... also kinda serious.😂)
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I have a fic for them planned. (When don't I? Lol) Well, it's for all the Sanders sides, but it's going to feature roceit heavily. Which I said I wasn't going to do, because I wanted to feature all the sides equally, but here we are.😂 I hope I can get the first chapter out soon!😁
Hmm. I had another one I wanted to talk about, but I don't remember what it was right now.🤷
Well, anyway, here's some honorable mentions:
Hiccabela
Hiccup (httyd2) x Isabela Madrigal (Encanto)
I think calling Isabela a girlfailure is a bit of a stretch, since her whole thing is being perfect. But, she's a bit of a girlfailure in my eyes, so that's all the counts.😌💅🏾
Quick Hiccabela edit I did:
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Bunnydoll
Jax x Ragatha (The Amazing Digital Circus)
I hesitate to call Ragatha a girlfailure, but, eh... she's not exactly Winning. Which isn't entirely her fault. It's, like, 90% Jax's fault.
Jax is definitely a cringefail, though. To me, at least. I guess he would technically need to fail more, but whatever. There's only two episodes out, as of writing this, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be failing a LOT more in the future.😂
Hmm. Maybe, I'll switch the roles? Jax is the boyfailure and Ragatha is the cringefail? Eh, whatever.🤷 It works either way.😂
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I JUST REMEMBERED!!! I almost sent it without talking about the Cringfail x Girlfailure ship of all time.😂
GuitarSpear
Adam x Lute (Hazbin Hotel)
Adam is just... the worst, and Lute is a girlfailure, because, like, girl Raise your standardsssssssssss!!!!😭 (affectionate) I can't wait to see more of them in season two.😊
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But, yeah.😂 Those are my "cringefail x [gender]failure" ships. Feel free to ask more about these or any of my other ships. I ship a lot of stuff. Oh! There's a crossover ship tournament going on, if you want to vote. No pressure. It's just for fun anyway. I put in a link to the hashtag if you're interested: Crossover ship poll tournament. It's hosted by Rapunzel Crossover Queen. They're great!😊
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case-of-traxits · 11 months ago
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50 Random Character Asks:
Tseng, 1 - 50
You know you had this coming.
50 Random Character Asks: Tseng Edition
I can't even pretend to be surprised here, can I? Well, I got your second ask with your choices as well, so they're in here. 💖
50 questions. Whew. I'll give you guys a sampler on the first one, but the rest are going to be under a cut. This took me SO LONG to do. I've literally been working on it since the 17th! All together, there's 4934 words in this bad boy, excluding the questions.
So uh. Enjoy nearly 5k of meta about Tseng. XD
That said, please keep in mind that all of my answers are specific to how I personally write Tseng. I'm not going to necessarily distinguish every piece of canon from headcanon.
[For this ask game!] || [Still accepting]
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1. Canon I outright reject
That Tseng knew Zack was being kept in Nibelheim. For me, it just doesn't work with the rest of Tseng's arc regarding Zack and Aerith and him keeping all of those letters. So. No. Technically, in BC, Tseng is aware that Zack and Cloud are both alive and badly injured, and Hojo orders for him to "prepare the mansion," but never actually says what he's going to be doing there. Tseng sends the Player Turk to clear it out, and then Veld shows up and sends all of the Turks to work on handling the townspeople and everything instead of the mansion. So it's entirely possible that Tseng never knew, according to BC, that Zack and Cloud were placed in those tubes in the basement.
2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on
Tseng is absolutely capable of slapping Aerith.  I realize that they took that out of the Remake, but I just feel like it's critical for his character for you to know that he is absolutely capable of that level of violence, even against someone he cares about.
3. Obscure headcanon
Tseng is the third (and youngest) son of Kisaragi Godo's older brother, who was emperor during the Wutaian War.  He was brought up in one of the Leviathan Temples to keep him as an effective (and safe) spare to the throne before he defected to Shinra. His forehead marking is a holdover from his time in the Temple, and he'll never admit to a single soul that sometimes, he feels the guiding hand of destiny (or fate or whatever you want to call it) in his life.
4. Favorite line
"It must have been a real thrill for you… Did you enjoy it?" I think this is everyone's favorite canon line.  With the possible exception of the "Mr. President," line from the Remake. That one's pretty damn good, but it requires actual explanation, doesn't it? XD I will say, he also has the canon line of, "I put everyone else at risk because I feared feeling guilty," in BC.  Which is... telling.
5. Best personality trait
Tseng's loyalty is easily his best personality trait, in my opinion.  We see a lot of it in BC, with his dedication to trying to help and save both Veld and the department, as well as in CC, with his devotion to getting those letters to Zack.
6. Worst personality trait
Tseng's devotion to doing things "correctly" is definitely his worst personality trait.  I am firmly of the opinion that this is the thing that's held him back on just killing the President and installing Rufus early. I mean, I have no doubt that there is technically more to it, including the fact that we have no idea what kind of succession clause might have been put in place for Rufus to inherit.
7. Age/height/weight headcanon
Age // Born in 1975, so he is 8 years older than Rufus and Reno, 2 years older than Sephiroth, and 3 years younger than Reeve. Height // I usually go with 5'8", but I'm a little flexible on this. I'll go up to 5'10".  He cannot, however, be taller than Rufus for me. Weight // Eh, I don't really do weight HCs.
8. Unpopular opinion about them
Hm... Do I have an unpopular opinion about Tseng..?  I don't know that I interact with enough Tseng fans to know.  Maybe my insistence on him being fairly easy-going when he isn't at work?  I see Tseng as the sort who can go with the flow to some extent, mostly because I don't think he'd work as well with Reno if he wasn't.
9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character
Oh man, honestly?  This might be my unpopular opinion, but his "death" scene in the OG.  With Sephiroth.  And no, not just because of my ship goggles. But there's just so much implied trust there, at a point where Tseng probably shouldn't trust Sephiroth.  He just... He talks to Sephiroth like he's still sane, and Sephiroth cuts him down during it, and then he still drags himself back through the entire Temple of the Ancients to get to the entrance so that he can let AVALANCHE in.
10. Best moment on screen (or in the book)
 See above.  I just... I love that scene.  It's easily his best scene.
11. Faceclaim for the role
Satoh Takeru.
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12. Crack headcanon
So, I don't think I have a straight "crack" headcanon for Tseng.  I do have some crack-treated-seriously headcanons, including that he doesn't heal well magically (explaining why he spends so much more time in bandages and recovery than basically everyone else), and that if he's not friends with Reeve or in a romantic relationship with a partner who insists otherwise, he would live entirely on takeout. Tseng does not cook, in my opinion.  He's perfectly capable, but why?  He's spent years curating an extensive collection of takeout menus he considers acceptable food, and he eats exclusively from restaurants that have passed his very exacting standards. Ooh! And this: Tseng drives a small black sportscar at possibly dangerous speeds in Midgar.  It also has no plates, but there's not a cop in Midgar stupid enough to try to ticket it.
13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done
Possibly trusting Sephiroth when he ran into him at the Temple of the Ancients, but honestly, there was probably no way he was walking out of that anyway, right?  So excluding that... Probably, the actual 'dumbest' thing he canonically does is in BC, when he chooses to rescue a single lone reactor guard instead of destroying a ship full of weapons that Shinra can't afford to let get out.  That's definitely treated as his dumbest choice by the canon.
14. Most heroic moment
When he literally, while dying, drags himself through the Temple to make sure Aerith gets the keystone.
15. Worst thing they’ve ever done
I mean. He canonically murders people for his paycheck.  So probably that? Unless you're more offended by the 'abandoning his country' backstory, of course.
16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves
He will always wonder if he could have made a difference for Wutai if he'd fought for them instead of going to Midgar. Not that he regrets leaving.  He is fairly sure that he was always meant to be at Rufus' side.  But there's always that small, lingering thought.
17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them
I actually have an old fanmix that more or less I still use. That said, you can also add "Secret (Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists Theme)," covered by Denmark + Winter.
18. What they’d go to see a therapist about
I am going to read this is what he should see a therapist about because I'm pretty sure if he had to go see one, he would spend the entire session silent, watching the therapist and making them horribly uncomfortable. (Unless it's Angel, but she's one of @ladykf-writes' OCs that I gleefully borrow whenever I can.  She's a counselor specifically for Turks, and Tseng knows better than to try to argue with her.) Honestly though.  If Tseng were up to date on mental health, I think he'd need to see a therapist about his inability to be settled with anything less than perfection from himself.  And, you know, probably talk to them about the killing people thing.
19. Vices/bad habits
Tseng smokes.  It wasn't a habit he was in before Midgar, but while he was being 'debriefed,' he discovered that asking for a cigarette meant he got to go outside and see the sky and breathe the (admittedly not great) air.  However, due to him not healing super well magically and needing to actually recover naturally, he did eventually notice a cough and slight shortness of breath that he couldn't shake. So he tries not to smoke as much anymore.  Still, he does keep a pack of his clove cigarettes on him at all times.
20. Scars
Oh plenty. All the Turks have them, and Tseng has a few more than most given his difficulties in healing.
21. Drink of choice (not just alcoholic)
Alcoholic // Junami sake, served warm.  He has a few brands that he likes, most of which need to be imported from Wutai. Non-alcoholic // Caramel Macchiato with extra caramel and extra whip.  Not that he'd let anyone catch him ordering it.  He has a single barista that he goes to in the coffee shop in the Tower (her name is Peony), and she knows better than to call his order out.  Tseng's sweet tooth is something he keeps very much under wraps.
22. Best physical feature
I mean. How do you pick? He's gorgeous. Maybe his hair, but I have a weakness for beautiful hair.
23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?
Vetiver. But that's probably just because I HC his cologne as having notes of vetiver in it.
24. Most annoying habit
According to Reeve, it's Tseng's uncanny way of reading you.  There's nothing more frustrating to him than Tseng's little, "And is that all?" sort of question because he knows that Tseng means, 'I know there's something else and here's your opportunity to tell me what it is before I go digging.'
25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere
Assuming he is not allowed to bring his phone, and assuming that a backpack full of his usual supplies (he has one in his apartment, one in his car, and one in his office; he finds it unlikely he'd be caught somewhere without it) doesn't count as a single item, and assuming that he's not stripped of his usual clothes/gear when he's dropped off... 1 // A survival radio with a rechargeable battery. 2 // A waterproof map. 3 // A first aid kit. Really, he'd probably be fine even if dropped off with absolutely nothing, but trust me, he would not be happy about it.
26. What they would do if stuck in an elevator with [Lazard]
At first, there would be a long stretch of silence as they both studied the number display and then the elevator panel itself.  Lazard would be the first one to move, leaning forward to punch a few of the buttons, but once it was clear that the elevator was not moving, Tseng would sigh and tip his head back and study the ceiling. He's cataloging everything he needs to do, wondering briefly what he can hand off, what he could text some of the others about to ensure it's done in time.  Then he looks over at Lazard, who is sighing and pushing his hand through his hair. There's another few moments of silence before Lazard pushes the emergency call button, and after they're both reassured by the voice on the other end that maintenance is aware of the issue and working to restore functionality, Tseng slides down to sit.  Lazard looks over at him, then sighs and takes that as an invitation to do the same. "Do you think it's inappropriate to text Reeve?" And Tseng looks up at Lazard, a small, knowing smile on his lips.  "That depends," he murmurs.  "Do you actually want to get to that meeting?" Lazard chuckles, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose slightly, and he looks back down at his phone.  After a moment, he lays it face down on his leg and tips his head back against the glass wall of the elevator, and he looks out over the city on display behind Tseng. Tseng notices he doesn't start texting. The silence is comfortable.  Companionable.  Neither of them have any stake in impressing one another, and there's no need to fill the silence with talking only for the sake of talking. Tseng supposes that they're lucky that it isn't winter.  Else they would have to sit much, much closer. A glance over at Lazard, who has taken off his glasses briefly to rub one of his eyes, and a little smile touches Tseng's lips. Not, he decides after a minute, that it would be a bad thing, necessarily.
27. Their guilty pleasure
Tseng loves sweets.  Basically all kinds, but he does have a particular weakness for good chocolate and good caramel.  His secret indulgence that he'll never admit to anyone who knows him is that sometimes, during the winter, he'll order a large hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and get a caramel drizzle on it from the coffee shop in the Tower. But only if his usual barista (Peony) is working.  Since she already knows his coffee order is something equally ridiculously sweet, he finds that to be less humiliating than adding someone else in on the loop.
28. How they feel about [Reeve]
Complicated.  On the one hand, Tseng and Reeve are always, always good friends when I write.  One of Tseng's first long, solo missions with the Turks (and I really should rewrite that fic with my current Tseng's backstory and clean up the prose a little) was to function as Reeve's escort on a reactor tour.  That's a minimum of two weeks if they're taking advantage of helicopters periodically, more often three full weeks of travel when Reeve drives the whole thing.  And of course, the driving is definitely Reeve's preference.  Reactor tours are practically the only vacation he takes. But there's no way you don't spend three weeks on a cross-planet roadtrip and don't end up very close to the person you spent all that time with in the car (unless, of course, it's terrible and you just want to murder them).  But at the same time, there are secrets between them that they both know they can't know about one another.  Reeve can't know all the gory details about Tseng's life as a Turk, and Tseng can't know about Reeve's... let's call it his uncanny knack with the reactors. Now, do I ship them? Honestly, yes, sometimes.  I mean, I usually pair off Tseng with Sephiroth and Reeve with either Lazard (if I want canon to happen for something later) or Genesis (if I'm wanting a fix-it), but I can absolutely ship Tseng with Reeve.  Honestly though, that's kind of an unfair question.  I can ship Tseng and Reeve with nearly anyone.
29. Eating habits
 If it weren't for Reeve's insistence on a weekly meal with him and Reeve's occasional order of groceries simply arriving at Tseng's apartment unannounced (he only really sends dry goods these days; produce and dairy get delivered by Reeve himself when Tseng invites him over), Tseng would live exclusively on takeout. Expensive takeout. But takeout nonetheless.
30. Sleeping habits
Tseng slept in a Midgardian style bed for about a week while he was in debriefing after he defected, but eventually, he took all of his blankets and everything and just started sleeping on the floor instead. Now, in his apartment in Upper Eight in the middle of Little Wutai, he's found someone who can make him a gloriously oversized futon, and his one "concession" to the Midgardian way of doing things is that he no longer puts his futon up every morning.  He has four futons to rotate between, with a veritable army of sheets and blankets for them that he's gotten as what he suspects is something akin to 'tribute' from some of the Little Wutai locals. He's done his best to make it clear that he's to be treated as anyone else in the community, but he's hardly going to refuse these things. Tseng sleeps lightly, waking up at basically any sort of unexpected sound, but he has the enviable ability to drift right back off.
31. If the had a tumblr what would it look like?
Honestly? It would be all precisely curated images/gifs of nature. Probably of waterfalls and rivers and creeks. But it would be immaculate. Perfectly tagged and maintained.
32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh
I don't know that it is guaranteed, but Reno's antics often get a smile or a chuckle out of Tseng; particularly so when someone is underestimating Reno in some way.  He has a tendency to find amusement in watching someone walk right into something they should have seen coming. That said, both Reeve and Rufus are also able to routinely get a smile out of him; Reeve because he's just so warm that Tseng can't help but to smile back and Rufus because, well, to be perfectly frank, he's a sassy little shit sometimes and Tseng loves that about him. (For the record, Aerith also often fits in that "sassy little shit" box, but Tseng does his best not to let her see him smile, or else she'll take it as encouragement.) If we're talking about something other than people though, the sort of thing that will routinely get a smile out of Tseng is people watching.  He likes sitting on a bench in the Tower or in Midgar in general and just... watching people go by. It helps him feel grounded in the world.
33. Something guaranteed to make them cry
I don't know that anything specific is guaranteed to make him cry.  He's very much a 'buckle down and take care of things,' sort of guy instead of the emotional reaction sort of guy. That said, he doesn't handle it well after Nibelheim.  Even if he's not in a relationship with Sephiroth, the whole mess of 'handling' the survivors and realizing just how far the President will go to keep himself in power and the uncertainty of what's going on with Veld and with AVALANCHE and just... It's isn't pretty.
34. How they react when they are feeling [excited]
Tseng has, as a general rule, muted outward emotional tells for anything he's feeling.  It was trained into him when he was at the Temple, both as a potential heir to the throne as well as because he was being trained to be a priest.  That said, when he's genuinely excited about something and not just 'looking forward' to it, someone who knows him can tell. He's distracted from other things.  And sometimes, if you're talking to him and he's excited about something, he might ask you to repeat yourself. Not like, "Oh, I didn't hear you, what?" But you'll get a lot more of those little noncommittal "Mm?" sounds out of him. Unless you're talking about the thing he's excited about.  In that case, you'll have his complete attention, and his usually small, amused smiles (the smug ones; you know the ones) are a bit bigger, more genuine and, dare I say it, softer.
35. Their idea of a perfect day
Tseng's idea of a perfect day... well, to some extent, that varies based on where we are in the timeline and if he's in a romantic relationship, but in general, his idea of the perfect day is as follows: Nothing disastrous happens. Barring that, he'll settle for: Anything disastrous that did happen was handled.  Appropriately. In all seriousness, Tseng is very much the sort who focuses on living each day as though he won't have another, and he doesn't let himself indulge much in idle fantasies. He's much more interested in perfect moments.  A good morning run with someone he likes.  An effective training session with one of the other Turks.  Watching someone grasp something that he's been teaching them.  An evening walk with someone he loves.  Sharing a ridiculously rich chocolate cake with them afterwards.  That sort of thing.
36. Their favorite season
Tseng's favorite season in Midgar is fall, when there's a near constant wind coming off the mountains.  It can be difficult to track the seasons in Midgar, since there's not much by way of greenery, but fall means a cool wind that helps disperse some of the excess heat that comes off the Plate under his feet. Back in Wutai, his favorite season was summer.  He liked watching the fireflies in the dusk at the Temple, and no small part of him misses that.
37. What they really think about themselves
Deep down, no matter what else, Tseng knows that he is an oathbreaker.  He can justify it to himself or dress it up all he wants, but he knows that his father, that his brothers, that his country counted on him, and he walked away.  He abandoned everything he'd ever known and walked into the camp of the enemy and swore to help them instead. It's part of why his loyalty is so fiercely held now, and part of why he's so careful to be as pristine and perfect at what he does as is possible. He knows what his family— had they survived the war— would have said.  Once an oathbreaker, always an oathbreaker, and now, he's tied to the oaths he has made in a way that he wouldn't be if he hadn't defected, because he's terrified that they would be right. That puts him in the position of conflicting loyalties, and why he is so careful not to make promises once he's in Midgar.  His first loyalty is to Rufus now, his second to the rest of the Turks, and if there's anything that keeps him awake at night, it's how he's supposed to juggle the additional loyalties that he's found himself collecting (Aerith, Reeve, Zack, Sephiroth, Veld, Reno, etc.).
38. Favorite holiday
Valentine's Day.  Or, to be more exact, the day after.  When Tseng can get a box of very nice chocolates for extremely cheap. XD No, in all seriousness, Tseng quite likes the Midgar celebration of the dead, All Hallow's Eve, with the fixation on costumes and frightening people.  He finds it fascinating for a culture that spends so much of its time not talking about the dead.
39. Favorite game
Tseng likes card games.  He's good at them for the most part, and in fact, when he first defected and arrived in the SOLDIER camp, he realized very quickly that his traditional Wutaian garb was only going to keep him Othered.  So he learned to play poker from watching several hands, and he won himself gil and spare clothing alike off those SOLDIERs who heard his— at the time— thick accent and thought he'd be an easy mark. He still has a soft spot for poker.
40. Favorite book
Have two of Tseng's favorites.  Both titles have been translated from the original Wutaian for your convenience, but Tseng only has the Wutaian copies in his home. "When the Sun Rises in the West," by Yurieva Aiko.  This is a collection of poetry made from the letters recovered from the belongings of Wutaian soldiers after the war. "The Sleeve Cost Me Nothing Compared to You," by Sato Ivan.  This is a collection of short stories and poetry about love and the fleeting nature of romance.
41. If they could have lunch with anyone in the world (living or dead, from any fictional universe or the real world), who would it be?
Before he defects // Tseng would like to have lunch with one of the previous emperors at this point, just to try to get some perspective on what's happening with his country.  Particularly, he desperately wishes he had someone to ask for advice from.  He's torn on what he sees going on, and he wonders what's wrong with him that he seems to be the only one who sees that there's no possible way for them to win this engagement with Shinra. After he defects // During his time in Shinra, given the option to have lunch with literally anyone, Tseng would like one more lunch with someone he loves.  He's very much of the opinion that the best thing to do is to savor every moment you get with someone, no matter how mundane or fleeting. Post-canon // He would like one more lunch with Aerith and Zack.  Just to see them again, and to convince himself to let their ghosts go.
42. 3 comfort items
1 // Tseng has kept, over the years, exactly one kimono from his time in Wutai, and while he never wears it anymore, sometimes, when he's feeling nostalgic, he'll go and run his hands over the silk. 2 // After he completed his training to be accepted into the Turks, before he left the Academy in Junon to go back to Midgar full time, the Acting Director of Operations in The Junon Branch of the Administrative Research, Anya (also one of @ladykf-writes' OCs), gave him an inlaid bone and black alloy knife with a blade cleaning kit.  This is the knife that Tseng wears strapped to his left thigh (the left pocket is cut open in every pair of his pants so that he can reach it). 3 // When Rufus was fifteen, he gifted Tseng a solid black watch with no markers on it besides a pair of mythril white hands and a single mythril accent on the face that marked the twelve.  Rufus never intended for Tseng to keep it as a staple, but while Rufus has gifted him other watches since then, this is the one that Tseng wears as his every day watch.
43. 3 favorite foods and 3 they despise
Favorite Food 1 // Sushi from a tiny hole-in-the-wall place in Little Wutai.  And when he says hole-in-the-wall, he means this woman literally just sells bentos out of her kitchen. Favorite Food 2 // Fiola's in Upper Six is one of his favorites.  They have excellent Mideelan pasta and even better bread.  The bread is, in fact, good enough that while Tseng usually doesn't eat bread with his meals, he'll make an exception for Fiola's. Favorite Food 3 // There is a tiny bakery in Upper Three that sells the absolute best chocolate cake that Tseng has ever had.   Despised Food 1 // The "sushi" for sale in the Midgar cafeteria.  One of them had mayonnaise in it. Despised Food 2 // Pork rinds, a surprisingly popular snack in Midgar.  Tseng suspects it's a holdover from when the area was much more farming-oriented.  As it stands, every sector, Above and Below, has their own 'special' flavoring for them, and Tseng has yet to find anything redeeming about them. Despised Food 3 // Tseng doesn't despise bread exactly, but he fails to find it enjoyable to eat most of the time.  He'd prefer his carbs come in sugar, pasta, or rice, given the choice.
44. Their happiest memory
Tseng has a couple. The first one is of one of the last times he saw his mother. He was about eleven, and he was brought to her rooms so that she could see him.  They spent the evening reading poetry and him showing off his sword forms and her telling him how proud of him she was.  He helped her brush out her hair and braid it for bed, and then she returned the favor and kissed his forehead and sent him on back to his own rooms.  He has a small jade comb that he found in a secondhand shop in Little Wutai that makes him think of her. His second happiest memory is nearly always with Reeve, of their drive around the planet on that first reactor tour.  It was the first time Tseng traveled that he could just enjoy the process, and he has fond memories of the times they rolled the windows down and Tseng could let his hand hang out of the car and just... feel the breeze.  Reeve had been content to talk about nothing or put on an audiobook— and those had been something delightful to learn about, something that Tseng had immediately invested in because that was a great way to listen to the language— and let them just ride.
45. Their favorite celebrity
Tseng is embarrassed to admit it, but when he first arrived in Midgar and Junon, his Standard was not nearly as good as he'd thought it was.  The tutors he'd had in Wutai hadn't been native speakers, after all, and while he'd learned very well from them, there was no way he'd be mistaken for a natural speaker.  So he'd immediately immersed himself, watching the news and reading everything he could get his hands on, and eventually, he'd discovered what were called 'soaps.' He never really followed a lot of the plot lines— he felt sometimes like they had put several novels in a blender and poured the resulting concoction on the screen— but he did eventually decide there was one actress, Gabrielle Cooper, that he enjoyed watching. She had one of the most neutral accents he'd ever heard, and he followed her from show to show faithfully. Even long after he'd stopped watching soaps to help with his Standard, long after he'd more or less shed his own accent completely, he would catch himself picking up a magazine or a tabloid if she was featured on the cover.
46. The person they most admire
For a long, long time, it was Veld.  And then everything with Felicia happened.  And it isn't that he no longer admires Veld, but he certainly seems more human now.  What Tseng admires most about Veld now isn't the seemingly perfect Turk persona that he presents, but his dedication to what he thinks is right. Post-canon, the person he probably actually admires most is Rufus.  Rufus Shinra, who was brought up to rule the world and has been barred from the throne.  Rufus Shinra, who should have had everything and instead has had to cobble something together from the ruins left behind. In that vein, Reeve is an extremely close second. Reeve was never intended to be the one in charge, and Tseng knows that Reeve would like nothing more than to hand it all off to someone else and go back to designing houses and buildings and parks. But there's literally no one else to hand it off to. So he trudges on, running the now-largest military force in the world, making decisions that shape the entire world with almost no oversight.
47. Their dream job
If Tseng wasn't a Turk and hadn't been brought up in the Temple and was just an average Midgar citizen?  He'd be a restaurant critic.  He'd write the most detailed and possibly scathing reviews possible, and restaurants would fear him.
48. Scariest moment of their life
A few months before he defected, during a ritual for Leviathan at the Temple, Tseng nearly drowned.  This was one of his big catalyst moments for abandoning Wutai, as he realized in that moment that no matter what anyone told him about how important he was, they all saw him as expendable. After Advent Children, the scariest moment in Tseng's life was watching Rufus jump from that building.
49. Favorite toy as a child
Tseng was given a wooden training sword very young that he absolutely used to menace every Temple Guardian he ran across until he was big enough for proper training, and he cherished it right up until he left the temple.  He didn't take it with him, but he made sure to polish it and leave it in a respectful place when he left. He is sure that it was broken and/or burned upon discovery that he had chosen to side with Shinra.
50. A memory they’ve blocked out
I don't know that Tseng has very many memories that he's blocked out.  Tseng is very unflinching when it comes to facing who he is and what he's done and what's been done to him.  He believes in facing things head-on and in dealing with the consequences that brings.
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Congratulations on making it all the way down here, omg. IT WAS SO LONG!!
All of the love. 💖
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nighttimeebony · 2 years ago
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My reactions, thoughts, and predictions that I had while reading Percy Jackson: The Titan's Curse. At least the ones I bothered to write down. Spoilers below the cut. Also, fair warning, this one is way longer than either of my previous reaction posts. I had a lot of thoughts.
EDIT: part 1, part 2, part 4, part 5
I feel I should mention that the Percy Jackson books have objectively the best chapter titles
The mental image of Sally driving Percy and his friends to get their ass beat like it's just an after-school sports club is hilarious to me
Ooh, Thalia has hypnosis wind
So Thalia didn't age while she was in that tree? Because I remember she was much older than Annabeth at the time of her death, but now she, Annabeth and Percy are all the same age. Huh. Okay then.
NICO DI ANGELO!!! I've heard about you! You're gay! And he has a sister! Oh I am delighted and ready to love them!
Thalia insulting Grover's music taste.
ANNABETH IS TALLER THAN PERCY
Aww, Nico defending his sister.
OH SHIT, IS THORN A MANTICORE??!???!!
"They're not dolls! They're figurines!" Sure, sweetie.
CALLED IT
Bianca is great.
Oh my God, Nico, you beautiful nerd! XD
HUNTING HORN?!!?!!! SILVERY ARROWS?!!?!??? IS IT ARTEMIS?!!!! PLEASE TELL ME ITS ARTEMIS!!!!!
HOLY FUCK, ARTEMIS'S HUNTERS!!!!!!!
Zoë Nightshade is easily the most badass name I've ever heard in my life.
ARTEMIS!!!!!!!
Please tell me Annabeth is okay. I will not be okay until I know that she is
Oh my God, Nico! XD Also, chill, Percy, he's just a baby.
"Besides, I hear they rebuilt the cabins you burned down." Excuse me, what?!
Percy, leave Bianca be! Besides, you don't even know her! She can be a badass warrior hunter lady if she wants. What even are your hang-ups about Artemis's hunters? They saved your life.
Oh, wait, that's right. Camp Half-Blood needs more people to keep it protected. That's right.
Good for you, Bianca, but I can't say that I would ever leave my little brother to become an immortal virgin. No offense to them, but girl, your brother needs you. You may have a new family, but you're all he's got.
Oh, I love Artemis calling Apollo her annoying brother. Do we get to see them interact? I pray that we do.
Grover simping for Artemis is so valid.
Thalia thinking Apollo’s hot is so valid.
Apollo being an obnoxious kind-of hippy going through an anime phase is the greatest idea anyone has ever had. He's so stupid, I love him.
Apollo's comment about pretty girls turning into plants reminded me of the myth about the time where one of his boyfriends turned into a flower after he died. Hyacinthus. Because we cannot forget that Apollo is canonically bisexual. If Rick Riordan doesn't (at some point) acknowledge how gay ancient Greek mythology is, I'm going to riot.
Dating must be really weird at Camp Half-Blood. And between demi-gods in general, right? Because, technically speaking, they're all kind of related to each other. I guess it just works differently since the gods aren't human, so there's not the same case to be made about genetics and the potential for incest. Or maybe that only applies to kids who have the same god parent. Like how Percy sees Tyson as his brother. I’m wondering if the kids from other cabins feel the same way. Like, do kids from different cabins consider themselves siblings? Does Annabeth see the other kids from Athena’s cabin as her siblings? What does the dating scene even look like at Camp Half-Blood? Is it considered scandalous to date other members of your own cabin? Or do some people think it’s taboo or whatever to date other demigods in general? I don’t need sleep, I need answers!
Ohhh. Okay. So apparently Thalia has aged while she was in the tree, just very slowly. So if Percy is 14 and Thalia can pass as an 8th grader like him, and she should be somewhere between 12 and 19, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say she's about 15 or 16.
Oh, hey, I was right. Thanks, Apollo.
Aww, poor Thalia. Lol. I was the exact same way when I drove for the first time. Literally had a panic attack on the spot, and I wasn't even controlling the Earth's temperature.
Yay, Tyson! I was worried we wouldn’t see him again until, like, the last book or something.
Aww, it’s so sweet that Tyson wants to see Annabeth. And it’s adorable how cool he thinks she is.
Wow, Luke really is an unbelievable bastard. Annabeth is smart, she was smart to question him, but when the rocks started to fall, her instincts drove her to protect Luke, because even though he’s an unbelievable bastard, Annabeth still can’t help but harbor positive feelings for her. For the longest time, he was family to her and she loved him, so of course those feelings are still there, even if she knows it’s illogical.
Wait. Annabeth is holding up the ceiling of a cave, which Percy acknowledges that she shouldn’t be able to do. So… is the cave ceiling actually the sky? Like how, in Greek mythology, the sky is held up by the titan Atlas? In the mythology, Heracles trades places with Atlas holding up the sky while Atlas helps Heracles complete one of his twelve labors, and when Atlas is about to leave, Heracles tricks Atlas into taking back the sky before bolting. Like how Luke tricked Annabeth into holding up the cave ceiling before leaving her alone to hold it by herself.
Okay, Grover, chill out with the stalking, bud.
I guess Grover and Annabeth take turns getting damsel-ed. Last book was Grover’s turn and this book is Annabeth’s turn.
Don’t worry, Percy, I forgot about that scarf too.
Okay, not liking how the Hunters are portrayed. Because when Artemis says to give up love, she only means romantic love, which is clearly not the only kind of love. Greek mythology practically invented the concept of differentiating and identifying different kinds of love. The Hunters should know that, but the way they act towards the other campers is really… I dunno, gross? They act like their way of life is the only way that matters, which is super fucked up coming from the people that follow Artemis.
“I wondered if there was any way I’d looked that ridiculous when I’d first arrived.” Percy, that was literally only two years ago, get off your high fucking horse. XD
Thalia static-shocking people when she’s annoyed is golden and I love her.
Oh, fuck.
OH, FUCK!
Oh, we love the prophecies… Yayyyy.
Okay, guessing time. Artemis is chained to a rock, which immediately made me think of Prometheus, the titan that gifted fire to humanity and was punished by Zeus to be chained to a rock and have an eagle eat his liver every day for eternity. But then the Oracle mentioned that one must withstand “The Titan’s Curse,” which could be another reference to Prometheus, but I don’t think so. Because in the myth, Heracles killed the eagle and freed Prometheus from his punishment, so I’m pretty sure it’s not that, but you never know. Then I remembered Annabeth and my prediction that she’s currently holding up the sky like the titan Atlas, and the Oracle said that “one must withstand.” Admittedly, my knowledge of Atlas and his mythos is shaky at best, and I don't remember him ever having a "curse", but I guess holding up the entire sky is about as "cursed" as it's possible to be. And the Oracle saying that “one must withstand” makes me think that something happened to Atlas, so now someone needs to hold the sky in his place or else the sky will collapse to the earth and the world will end, or something like that. So that’s my prediction, that someone will need to hold up the sky in Atlas’s place for the rest of, well, forever. I don’t have a guess as to who it could be, though.
Also, someone is apparently going to die. And be killed by their god parent. Awesome… Super looking forward to that inevitable heartbreak… I hope it’s not either of the di Angelo kids, but they’re both new characters, and I know Nico becomes more important later (purely by accident and through pop culture osmosis), and since I had no idea that Biance even existed until I started reading this book, I am terrified that that means Bianca is going to die. I pray that I am wrong.
Wow, Thalia is petty and I’m kind of living for it.
I love that the Stoll brothers are basically Greek Fred and George Weasley.
Wow, Zoë’s kind of a bitch. She won’t travel with Percy because he’s a boy, and apparently Grover doesn’t count as a boy because he’s a satyr. Super fucked up.
You know, Artemis did have male Hunters. It didn’t happen often in the mythology, but there was a pretty famous male Hunter of Artemis named Hippolytus. The thing about Artemis’s Hunters isn’t that men weren’t allowed to be Hunters, it’s just that men typically didn’t choose to be Hunters, because one of the reasons why Artemis’s Hunters joined her in the first place is because Artemis protected the women in her care from the sexist constraints placed on them by Greek society at the time. The reason why men didn’t typically become Hunters is because they didn’t need the same kind of protection and escape from Greek society that women did. And Artemis didn’t hate men on principal, she hated the fact that men were the ones who used their positions of power to discriminate against and abuse the women in their society.
Aww. Grover’s such a sweetheart.
I love Sally.
Percy has so many damn Dreams™ and nightmares I have to wonder if this kid ever sleeps.
Apparently Percy knows the names of the pegasi, which is adorable to me. And this one is apparently Blackjack, which is a great name for a horse.
Aww, I want a baby serpent cow.
Aww, Nico. He's precious and I love him. Protect this child at all costs
Oh, I know about Ariadne. Theseus ditched her on an island after she helped him navigate the labyrinth and kill the minotaur. That's how she met Dionysus. I'm pretty sure they got married not too long after.
Aww, Dionysus and Ariadne are still married. That'd be kind of sweet if Dionysus wasn't such an asshole.
Yup, I know about Medea too.
Did they really just give Dionysus the Snape treatment? He hates all heroes on principle because one of them was cruel to his wife? He thinks he’s justified in harassing children because they’re training to be heroes, and he thinks that all heroes suck? Wow, dude. Get a life.
Oh, cool, Bianca’s forgetting things now. Nothing sketchy or sinister about that, I’m sure.
Is the General the titan Atlas? If my earlier theory was right, then he's gotta be.
Excuse me, teeth?! Plant them?!
Oh, wait! I think I know what that’s talking about. In Jason’s myth, he had to yoke a field with the teeth of (if memory serves) fire-breathing oxen. I don’t remember what planting the teeth did, but I’m guessing it wasn’t anything good.
HAH! Saber-toothed tiger kitties popped out
The General talks about mortals the same way I talk about fanfiction and anime
OH FUCK THE NEMEAN LION
“Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters.” Truth.
Wait… what’s going on with Bianca? There’s something fucky going on with her memory.
“‘Bianca,’ Zoë said. ‘How long ago…’ Her voice faltered.” FOR FUCK’S SAKE, RICK!
Ain’t no way this friendly homeless guy isn’t some kind of hell monster.
Oh. I stand corrected. Not a hell monster. Probably a god. The gods love disguising themselves as old people to test mortals
The Mountain of Despair. Sounds fun. I wonder if this is the mountain Prometheus was chained to, since it’s powered by titan magic and all that.
Ladon… I know that name. I recognize that, but I can’t for the life of me remember his myth or anything about him.
*in reference to one of Percy's dreams* Oh, wait. Is this Jason and Medea?
Oh, nope. It was Zoë. I figured she had some kind of bad break with a boyfriend or something, but I dismissed it at first because I figured she was too young. But I guess if she was around during ancient Greek times, that sort of thing doesn’t matter.
Oh, hey! I once visited Cloudcroft, New Mexico! It was a nice little place.
“I was never very comfortable talking one-on-one with girls anyway…” Okay, Percy, you and I both know that is a lie. Annabeth is, like, your best friend.
"'Bianca,' I said. 'That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?'" Oh no.
Seventy years?!
Oh, fuck.
99% sure Aphrodite is the one in the car.
WAIT, HOLD UP! IF BIANCA AND NICO WERE BORN MORE THAN 70 YEARS AGO, THAT MEANS THEY WERE BORN BEFORE THE BIG 3'S OATH, RIGHT?! SO DOES THAT MEAN MY THEORY ABOUT HADES BEING THEIR GOD PARENT IS RIGHT?!?!??!! OHHHHHHH, SHIIIIIITTTTT
"When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Annabeth." AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Aphrodite is the patron goddess of shippers.
What the hell, Aphrodite, chill, lady.
"You act like it was real." Percy, this is Greek mythology. Every single star/constellation was either a person or an animal before this whole mess.
"It... it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have." OH MY GOD!! ToT
"If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry." WHY??!!?!?? LITERALLY DON'T!!!!!
"Here we were in the desert. And Bianca di Angelo was gone." WHAT THE FUCK?!!??!!! WHY DO YOU HATE ME!???!!??
No, but please tell me she's not dead. The prophecy just said "lost", not dead. And there's no body, so she could still be alive. Rick hasn't killed anybody yet, Bianca cannot be the first. I refuse.
The Hesperides! That's why Ladon sounded so familiar! He was the dragon!
"'But--' Gurgle, gurgle, the naiad spoke in my mind." RICK!!!!!! FINISH YOUR GODDAMN SCENES FOR ONCE!!!!! THIS IS THE KIND OF STRESS AND ANTICIPATION THAT MAKES PEOPLE LOSE HAIR!!!!
I like that Grover, Percy and Thalia actually listened to Annabeth ramble about her special interest enough that they can just recall random facts like that. It's an adorable little friendship detail, but also fucking sad. I miss Annabeth.
Hah. "Dam". Let these kids swear. They deserve it.
"'Nah,' I said. 'Not that high.'" Aww, Percy's a good friend.
Hah. Statue fucking.
Oh no! Is Bessie the monster! No! But she's so cute!
PLEASE DON'T KILL THE BABY COW SNAKE
"'This is Atlas's mountain,' Zoë said." LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOO
"'Yes,' Zoë said bleakly. 'Atlas is my father.'" THE GAME JUST FUCKING CHANGED
*after finishing chapter 18* ......... Fuck, man.
Wait, why isn't Hades a part of the Twelve Olympians? And why haven't we heard any mention of Demeter's demigod children? I can't remember the last time the Demeter Cabin was even mentioned, if it ever was.
Well, I guess Thalia joining the Hunters is a pretty roundabout way to have the prophecy be about Percy.
"But I will be watching, Percy Jackson. I do not approve of your friendship with my daughter." Well, then you're gonna hate what happens later.
Aww. Percy and Annabeth have matching battle scars. Sort of. Still sweet.
Oh, no, Nico.... Baby.....
"It was a statue of Hades, Lord of the Dead." OH FUCKING SHIT
"A son of Hades." OH FUCKING SHIT
HOLY SHIT, PAN HAS ENTERED THE CHAT
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blackstarchanx3new · 1 year ago
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Are you aware that for your Four Swords Return au pages 41-44 are missing? I love that section and keep trying to go back to it, but I can't find the pages ... for a question: Do all of Dark Links shirts just have giant holes in them to account for the chest eyeball?
Fixed it. I dunno how that happened, must have been one of those times I didn't edit the master post for an extended period of time like a goof.
If there's any more mistakes in the master post I'll try my best to fix them. I'm not used to this style of comic uploading.
To answer your question
"Do all of Dark Links shirts just have giant holes in them to account for the chest eyeball?"
Yes and no? X'D
So Dark is a demon, a curse that gained sentience so technically all his clothes are just a manifestation of his magic.
Bro would never be naked unwillingly is the vibe, he'd ALWAYS have clothes that suit his bodily needs at his disposal because, they're made of his magic.
Sketch on the right here is what I'd consider his most "Default" outfit lacking Link's influence. Smth he'd summon if he didn't feel like trying too hard and was naked for whatever reason lmfao.
In these sketches you can REALLY tell how much Dark has changed his hair to mimic Vio X'D
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Sketch #1 is where things get INTERESTING.
Dark were to wear a shirt from someone else, it'd have to be either a button up he could leave open around his eye, OR
I've considered a gag where he just rips open a hole in a shirt because it makes his chest eye uncomfortable. XD
So yeah. All shirts that aren't created by his magic would have to be modified to make him comfortable.
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Design wise: Dark's outfit/beta design was supposed to look like THE MOST GENERIC LINK TUNIC DESIGN (because he's a blank slate of a person rn mimicking Link)
+ Vaati's eye on his chest. (Vaati created him)
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Dark's design being subject to change is a huge point with him.
Already designed a new Tunic idea I had but I won't share that quite yet I think. XD
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Long walk to say: Dark likes having his eyeball out so yes he'd rip open shirts if they blocked his eye.
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hoardlikegoldenirises · 1 year ago
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blurple time.
finally finished this~ months after he appeared 😅
you can tell there's a bit of a punk/industrial vibe infusing the whole design. i also drew from various details in the comics, and other random things like bulletproof leather jackets.
closeups, ramblings, (and a version with a cape) under the cut:
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i was originally not planning to add a cape cause i wasn't sure if i could make it work and tbh. still not sure. i like the way the purple cape looks from behind but the inside is like. idk. if it's purple then it looks weird, but the black feels off to me too... I don't think any of the other colors would work.
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oh also i decided this glows in the dark (predictable as always)
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Helmet's been through some sketches and stuff, spent a while figuring out the mechanisms and so on and settled on this design in the end.
Obviously you can see here the top is leather, it's based on a combo of a motorcycle cowl (with an angled zip you can just see there, and then the shoulders from an armored motorcycle jacket i was looking at. then the blue is meant to be a (heavily) modified like, boilersuit or whatever those are. mechanic's jumpsuit.
Plus all the spikes. Obviously there's no spider-punk in this setting but I like the aesthetics, and I like giving Hobie like a little thing of his own in terms of hobbies/interests so I thought adding that punk aspect would be fun, esp as it ties into his whole thing with being unsure of himself and being a little different and so on.
the lenses are one piece each, just with different colors of film on them, like you see on a variety of custom motorcycle visors. used chrome silver for the white "eyes," which i think would look cool and matches the metal hardware. very reflective. hobie prob won't be the only design with chrome/mirrored lenses for reflective purposes (thinking about the hobgoblin) (well. technically peter will also have aluminized lenses at one point but that's a spare mask for fires, not a main look)
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earlier concept which i drew on my phone actually lol. some of this i obv jus copy-pasted cause it was fine as is, other stuff got tweaked, like i ended up changing the lens shape to look a little more like the comics and i did end up scrapping that shape for the faceplate/chin.
and you can see there i edited a pic from the comics playing with what colors i wanted to use. i liked the steel blue that showed up in some of the older painted art from the Prowler's earliest appearances, and I felt like I wanted to give him a color other than purple and green, though I didn't wanna ditch the purple either, so I ended up with this kind of neon blurple + navy combo that I liked a lot. And the silver too.
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back of the jacket and helmet. Didn't originally plan on adding all those spikes but then I was sketching this out and I was like, oh... that would look cool... so i committed!! i like how it looks.
Originally I also had no logo/symbol on the front of the chest so I decided to put one on the back. Then I ended up adding that flat panel to the chest and added the symbol there too, and decided to keep the back one as well. i can def see a 19 year old being like, hell yeah... sick... people will definitely take me seriously now. and you know what. he's right.
i will admit i ended up a little dissatisfied with the story i told involving the Prowler in the linked fic, but... I also probably shouldn't have tried to wedge it between like five warring subplots. But it was like, the spot that made the most sense. If this was a cartoon I think it would be a like... 1-2 issue special focused more on him. And also peter would jump out the window. (The real tragedy that I didn't include cause it's hilarious, poor Hobie XD)
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Anywho. Is this mechanism needlessly complex? Perhaps. I tried to simplify it at one point but then the more I thought about it the less the simplified version worked so I stuck with the OG idea here. I mean, i guess I could have ditched the locking mechanism entirely but i thought it would be fun if the helmet was self-locking! I also wanted a way for it to rotate/go visor up even with the spikes, thus it being a pretty large rotating faceplate with the spikes on it instead of elsewhere. not that he ever puts it up in the fic. peter just takes hobie's helmet off there 😂
He's also wearing a balaclava under there which I didn't bother really drawing, mostly to protect his hair (which I put in twists for related reasons of helmet-wearing) (I briefly had been considering braids but then, well, ATSV and Miles G. happened and I said, well now I cannot do that XD) (I mean I COULD have but I wanted to do something else here lol) Anyway. The idea here is that it's a kind of slide lock with a spring-loaded peg that slots into the holes, and the square hole with the square peg locks the faceplate in place and prevents it from rotating, but when the square peg is in the round hole, the faceplate can rotate freely. The only wrinkle here would be that Hobie has to pull on both locks simultaneously or as close to it as possible or he'd risk cracking the helmet (i assume? stress and pressure etc.)
Sliding the lock forward also slides the whole plate forward, which lets me (in theory) have a flush, smooth silhouette while still allowing it to come forward enough to push up. It's not vacuum sealed or anything though. But it does have like... air filters and a voice modulator and some other things. MOST of the suit is super low tech and doesn't require electricity but the helmet probably has batteries or something. (peter's new webshooters at this point are also battery powered lol)
Helmet is pretty typical fiberglass construction with foam pads inside. Idea there is that Hobie made a lot of this stuff using campus workshop resources like autobody or machining shop on campus, for stuff like getting fiberglass, having a space to work in, making polycarbonate lenses etc. Though it's totally possible to do fiberglass work at home too. (peter also uses campus resources for his lenses specifically btw)
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Gauntlets!!! Uhhhh ngl very difficult. Trying to design armored gauntlets that don't look like knightly armor is very hard for me cause I always just google reference pics of knightly armor. LOL. I think these came out alright. There's a hint of motocross influence there too (though really even in modern days armor is armor so there end up being shared traits) The gloves ended up being mostly leather with some armored parts, though there is probably some inner armor which is not visible. The claws I left bare since you would not be able to sharpen claws coated in plasti dip—
oh yeah the purple color on all the hard parts is plasti dip, which is basically rubber paint.
The wrist gauntlets are very very very loosely based on a guy's grappling rope web-shooter thing which you can see in this youtube video: link. though i didn't wanna just rip him off so i mostly just said, alright, tubes and a harness—which the prowler already has in the comics anyway, albeit smaller. so really it's pretty much like the comics anyway.
Right wrist has the green laser dazzler, both have grapples, left wrist has EMP (not pictured) which Hobie uses in the scene I have him and Peter fight except then I realized recently I didn't actually explain what that was or how it was working 😂 I probably should have done that scene from Hobie's POV in retrospect. It's an EMP though and it scrambles Peter's spidey sense via interference/signal noise.
(electromagnetic signals being responsible for several cases of irl "hauntings" —> spider-man's haunted)
waist utility belt... I like the way the silver belt on the old art looks! So I decided to make these hard silver hinged cases instead of soft pouches (originally were soft but I changed my mind while coloring) — IDK if these really are metal or if they're just fiberglass with chrome paint lol but either way, shiny chromey, hinged to open, the insides are probably padded... buckle is actually metal though.
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Boots—modified snow boots. These are loosely based off of a real thing btw: link to blog post
The silver things are the magnets. Gauntlets are probably also magnetic but those are not visible like the boot ones. I also read some comments saying certain kinds of electromagnets would be preferable for something like boots but ultimately, IDK how to draw that, so I just drew it like they look in jen foxbot's prototype.
There was some other stuff I initially planned on including that didn't make the cut, aside from the cape. I was toying with stuff like a jetpack (or really, a jump jet), gliding/wingsuit, etc. but... I didn't use any of those. Kept it simple and streamlined for the most part. so no gliding for this Prowler, but hey, he's got magnet boots.
maybe in the future if Hobie ends up with an Iron Man-esque collapsible suit, perhaps he'll be able to fly, but for now, he's a college student making a supervillain persona so he can keep himself from getting evicted...
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And his face!!! cutie :3 loosely inspired by Greg Eagles' face (the voice actor for grimm from billy and mandy) Not that ATSV had no impact on this design but that was the main thing. Twists to keep his hair protected in the helmet under the balaclava etc. and something he can do himself, and then a twist out afterward.
plus you can see the nose rings I mention in Creep here.
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abby118 · 12 days ago
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for the ask game Do you have any tumblr pet peeves?
Oh yeah. I block a lot of people from my main blog out of sheer lazyness to go to the settings for each individual blog (unless you're an idiot, then you get blocked everywhere) and that's all fine and well but it inevitably leads to ghost notifications for those side blogs as I can't see the people I blocked. And I'm a petty person so then I'm like >:( who are you, why can't I execute you lmao I've tried solving this with my alt but I never know which post to look at. Another one is when I post something I need to edit for whatever reason and then someone reblogs it right away when they obviously see it needs to be edited and was posted just seconds ago (like fixing the formatting, a shit screenshot, a link or adding a part two because it's a multiple part post etc.) Or when I block someone and then see them being able to reblog my shit because I'm not the op. How dare you XD Then there are technical pet peeves but those are boring and I've written a similar post in regards to those already.
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murfeelee · 1 year ago
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Get to know you - Sims Style
Thanks @descendantdragfi here and @obscurus-noctem here for tagging me! ❤️
What’s your favorite Sims death? Every death is hilarious--fire and drowning are iconic, ofc. My fave sims GHOST, however, is the Haunted one from SN, and the Hologram one from ITF.
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Alpha CC or Maxis Match? Alpha CC. I don't mind Maxis Match in TS3, but EFF NO in TS4--get that clayfied crap out of my face, alpha all the waaaaaay~!
Do you cheat your sims weight? YES, I use a weight gain mod.
Do you move objects? MOOOOOOOO! 🐄🐮
Favorite Mod? I juuuuust made a whole post drooling over my faves.
First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack? TS1 Makin Magic. Iconic.
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Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing? aLIVE.
Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? My avatar sim, Sakura Rain, the time-traveling Japanese cherry-tree faery of the Unseelie Court. (She's inspired by all my fave pink-haired anime characters.)
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Have you made a simself? Yes, but only when I play The Sims with my family members, and we take turns making each other and our home. It's so much fun.
Which is your favorite EA hair color? White. Especially after TS4 came out with no CASt or color wheel and I couldn't even recreate my main sims like wtf. I have a type, EA!
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Favorite EA hair? PFFT! 🙄 I can't stand most of the hairs EA makes in general, especially not the ones for male sims, as most of mine have very long hair.
Favorite life stage? Young adult, by default. But as more mods have been made for kids (No Stretch, Child Magic, Toddler Interactions) I have been enjoying child sims FAR more than I used to.
Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I'm a builder--that's how I got into TS1 way back in the day. I like decorating interiors--my exteriors are usually sad, I suck at using CFE--and just cluttering up my lots. As a fandom-inspired storyteller, I rely on in-game interactions to give my sims the poses/scenes I need, so having deep and immersive gameplay that allows me to recreate whatever fandoms I want is key.
Are you a CC creator? Unfortunately.
Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad? A "sim squad"???
Do you have any sims merch? No, but I want one of those plumbbob headbands so I can dress up as a sim on Halloween. XD
Do you have a  Youtube for sims? Technically no. I got into making TS3 machinimas inspired by my favorite music a few years ago, and would upload them to Youtube cuz that's what everyone did, but omfg all the recent changes in copyright and music policies has made it SUCH a headache uploading ANYWHERE--including Tumblr!
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Like, my most recent IWTV insp. machinima on Tumblr has that stupid Copyright Guidelines thumbnail on it, even though Tumblr ACCEPTED the video and let it go through--it plays! It's not removed, so wtf??? No matter how many times I tried reuploading it I got the same problem--this BS is more trouble than it's worth, tbh.
How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing? My gameplay will always look a bit pudding, but I think/hope I'm getting better at recreating different fandoms, and getting the level of detail down just right.
Who’s your favorite CC creator? It takes a village. There is no ONE creator--especially since all my OG faves retired a long time ago: Luna, @qingshuangtongzi, Hekate999, etc. And new simmers pop up everyday that blow my mind, so yeah, it's just the community at large, really. 💚💚💚
How long have you had Simblr? 2013--this July will make it a full decade. Tumblr's trash but it's also the absolute best, LOL.
How do you edit your pictures? I suck at editing--in GIMP I just tweak the "Curves" brightness & saturation when the in-game lighting is hot garbage, then call it a win.
What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite? (TS1) Makin Magic, (TS2) Apartment Life & Night Life are tied for witches & vampires, (TS3) Supernatural, (TS4) Vampires. Like, Supernatural changed my life, I seriously doubt I'd've kept playing TS3 as long as I have without SN. I also love World Adventures and Into the Future of course, but Supernatural gave us Witches, Faeries, Werewolves, (I'm not even gonna talk about TS3's busted Vampires like how the EFF were they "updated" or "fixed" when we STILL didn't get a functional coffin, like what frikkin vampire would sleep on a frikkin altar exposed to the sunlight like a effing BUFFOON, EA?!) and all kinds of fanciful content that I just can't live without. Hands down. 🧙🪄🧙‍♀️✨
________________________________________
Y'all know me--if y'all want to do this, too, just say I tagged you! <3
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general-illyrin · 1 year ago
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Tag game: Tour my bookshelf!
@totally-not-one-of-the-fae, thank you for tagging me!
An estimate of how many physical books I own: I just counted, and I have 772 plus two boxes about 2' x 3' x 18" stuffed full that I didn't bother to drag out and count XD (And I'm pretty sure I have other books scattered throughout other boxes that I missed counting.) So I have over 800 books!
Favorite author: I definitely don't have one favorite author, but some of my favorites are J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Murray N. Rothbard, Socrates, Richard J. Maybury, and Chuck Black
A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: Mine is likely also the Harry Potter series, though I may re-read it at some point (if I have nothing else to read or do, which will likely be...never XD)
A popular book I thought was just meh: I don't really pay attention to the popularity of books, so I'm not sure what books I've read are popular, and I also don't remember the names of books that I think are neither good nor bad, so I can't really answer this question.
Longest book I own: Based purely on page number, which varies depending upon the size of the books and page thickness, the longest book I own is The MacArthur Study Bible at 2,247 pages. After comes another Bible and then The Complete Works of Shakespeare.
Longest series I own all the books to: Probably The Chronicles of Narnia
Prettiest book I own: The Barnes and Noble edition of The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli; it is black, gold, and silver with gilded edges and I find it both beautiful and stately. Actually, here's photos of it:
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A book or series I wish more people knew about: Oh, there are so many good ones! If we're sticking to fiction, I would probably say Ranger's Apprentice, The Knights of Arrethtrae, or The Silmarillion (though I'm not sure how well-known those are). They are really good books and series that I enjoy and are on my re-read list, which is carefully curated to only my absolute favorites. If we're discussing non-fiction, I would say Whatever Happened to Justice? by Richard J. Maybury (this is an interesting look at justice and the legal system in non-technical terms), The Amazing Dr. Ransom's Bestiary of Adorable Fallacies by Douglas Wilson & N. D. Wilson (a hilarious and informative book on the different kinds of informal logical fallacies), and Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt (an informative introduction to economics in non-technical terms).
Book I'm reading now: Most recently, The Silmarillion, though I am currently reading several books.
Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it:
Again, there are so many on this list! However, the one I'm planning to read next is The Lord of the Rings.
Do you have any books in a language other than English: Yes, even though I can't read them...yet! From what I can remember, I own two books in German, two in Spanish, and one in Korean.
And lastly, paperback, hardcover or ebook? I generally prefer hardback because they are sturdier and from what I've seen are usually prettier; however they are also more expensive and heavier, so I only buy hardback books when the book is a favorite of mine and I'm planning on re-reading it.
No-pressure tagging @solarcola, @hirazuki, @dreamingthroughthenoise, @nutmegs-tired, @actual-bill-potts, @eilinelsghost, @erdariel, @backgroundelf, @mersilisk, @none-ofthisnonsense, @thelordofgifs, @invisiblewashboard, @sweetmaggie, @violecov, @quixoticanarchy, @milesasinmorales, @dicksoutformtl, @aureentuluva70, @curiouselleth, @warthoong, and anyone else who wants to join!
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adozentothedawn · 1 year ago
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Okay so the Atla timeline for the Fire Nation is a bit knotted up huh
We have Fire Lord Sozin starting the 100 year war when he’s this old: (technically even older cause this was when Roku died, but it's close enough for this purpose. He old is the point.)
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The wiki tells me he was 82 at that point,yeah, makes sense. He rules for 20 years longer according to the wiki, which sure, I can deal with that, strong benders live long, whatever. However. We then have Azulon which is where it gets weird, because the show explicitely states he rules for 23 years. That is a direct citation from the funeral flashback in Zuko Alone. 23 years. We definitely know when he died though, namely 5 years before Zuko was banished, so in the year 95 (techincally 94? The wiki says 95 and it doesn’t matter for this discussion so I’ll just roll with it). That means he started his reign in the year 72 a whole 52 years after his father died. I have questions. Now, the wiki completely ignores the 23 years line and I cannot blame them for it cause it doesn’t make sense. It also claims that Azulon was 95 when he died, which. That would make his father 82 when he was born. Guy must have had some real virility, damn. Now we don’t have a birth year for Ozai, but Ursa was born in 63, and they seem to be around the same age so if we roll with that Azulon would have also been old when Ozai was born but it would be at least slightly less insane. Now, having a child at 82 is not technically impossible for a guy, so the only thing that is just plain wrong is the 23 years line, but it is unlikely. I guess that family just has a thing for getting children when they’re old. 
However, to my amusement, that 23 years line isn’t the only thing they kinda tried to retcon. Here we have a young Azulon training as his father watches: (Although I am unable to cite from where that picture originates, the wiki doesn’t source its pictures very well and I don’t recognize the watermark. I am assuming its from one of the lore books but if the wiki is just lying and this isn’t official feel free to correct me)
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So this is probably like year 12 to 15, right? It seems Mr Sozin Fire Lord is Benjamin Button aging up there. xD Either that or in his old age he got vain and started dying his hair.
Yeah so anyway, the only actually impossible thing is the 23 years line, the other stuff I just think is funny. We have two options to fix the inconsistencies: 
Option #1: We add another Fire Lord before Azulon. It’s smoother but quite a bit of work to justify in canon if you’re not already ham for rewriting a bunch of lore. 
Option #2: We just yeet out the 23 years line as the fire sage got high off herbs or something and was talking bullshit. Definitely the easier option and it’s not unreasonable that Azulon ruled for 75 years. Also I think that option opens up a lot of interesting lore debates, because while Sozin started the war, Azulon kept it going for 75 years. That’s almost 4 times the length Sozin ruled in the war. It’s basically just that guy’s war at this point. Sozin is interesting as a character and I liked that episode about him, don’t get me wrong but Azulon ruled for 3/4s of the whole war and we get basically nothing about him, which I find a little disappointing. Although since that was a bit of retcon I suppose it makes sense. 
Alright, rant over, summary: the show had a line that makes no sense and also Zuko better keep using protection if he still has hookups in Legend of Korra. 
Edit: actually this is even wilder cause I calculated wrong. The war started 12 years after Roku died, so Sozin only ruled for 8 years during the war and Azulon for 86.
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emcscared-whumps · 1 year ago
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WiJ 2023 - 15: Buried (3/10)
WiJ 2023 Navigation Post
My eyes are legit falling shut rn ^-^' I have barely even edited this, I just want to sleep lol but I wanna get this segment up so...
Que sera sera lmao have fun XD (this is technically a first draft divided up, it's fine, it's fiiiiinneeeeee 8) )
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CONTENT and WARNINGS: Broken bones, implied/discovering spinal injury causing partial paralysis, multiple whumpees, nonhuman whumpees, building collapse, the start of some tasty tasty trauma panic
wc: ~0.5k
When Cole woke, he wished he didn’t.
There was nothing in this world that could hold even a candle to the fresh, fiery agony that erupted in Cole’s body in the seconds before he roused his ability from its dormancy with every ounce of will he had. The effort Cole poured into maintaining the steady flood of power to wash away his pain but even the slightest slip made him yell out and dig deeper for more.
Confusion surfaced in the back of his mind; no matter how hard he reached he couldn’t pull more to the surface; the effort left him exhausted and breathless.
His lungs burnt. They ached. They quivered and begged for air that he couldn’t give them from under a crushing weight that cut his gasps short.
A thin, drawn out cry sounded at his side.
That sounded like Pete.
Cole opened his eyes and found darkness. Blinking away the tears and dust that blinded him, he tried to turn his head and find him, but the slight movement brought pain too great for his ability to suppress.
Another whine came, punctuated by deep, shaky breaths.
“C—C—Cole,” Pete wheezed, “C—whe—"
Beyond the faint wail of sirens and shouting, Cole could hear shuffling, rocks clicking against metal and stone, and streams of sand falling through crevices and onto his face and neck. It sounded like debris, and from the way the sounds fell around him, Cole could tell the space they were in was tiny and far from fresh air.
They were trapped, but by some miracle, bigger chunks of building had must have fallen around them and created a small pocket. They were alive.  And Pete was moving. That was good.
Cole tried to focus on that between the short, sharp gasps that sent stabbing pains through his chest.
We’re alive.
I can heal. I can always heal.
“C—Cole, -re ye—are y’alrigh—” a loud groan suddenly interrupted Pete, leaving him huffing and once again scraping across the ground, curling in on himself until whatever wave of pain he felt receded. He didn’t speak again, not until his ragged, panting breaths finally slowed. “Please—please b-be alr—alright,” he breathed.
Oh...
He wanted an answer...
He could barely get any sound from his lips. “P—”
The minute movement of his of his chest jabbed knives into his chest.
Not enough.
“Pete...” he rasped, voice slow and low. I’m here. I’m awake.
The need to ensure Pete was alright overtook Cole in a heavy rush, completely overtaking any other thoughts. Was something hurting him? Pinning him? He had to get them out of here, he needed to take Pete back home and keep him away from that wretch who called herself his mother.
His legs didn’t hurt; he could use them to relieve the pressure from his chest. He could get them out. He was more than strong enough to dig their way out and use his body as a shield for the young belunae, but when he experimentally twitched his toes and move his legs, there was no response.
He called on his legs again and again, channeling the strength his ability lent him the strength to even move, but there was no response. Nothing happened, he couldn’t even feel the pain of moving them—he couldn’t feel them!
Cole’s tight breaths grew quicker and adrenaline flooded his veins. “No, no, n—nn—!” he cried, “NO!”
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Taglist:
@a-crumb-of-whump
@dang-i-like-whump
@gem2117
@nowjustanothermain2notjudge
@painful-pooch
@pigeonwhumps
@whump-cravings
@whumplovers-collaborate
@willowtreewhump
If you would like to be added or removed, please let me know <3 More info [here]
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ideas-on-paper · 7 months ago
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Monster Hunter Tri Diary, Part 5: Slaying Jaggi(a) & supplies for Kelbi horn medicine
For previous entries, search for #monster hunter tri diary
I've only realized now that "Moga Woods" is the proper name used in English instead of "Moga Forest". It's technically not that much of a difference, but I went back and edited it in my other entries to avoid confusion.
Also, I've summarized everything interesting from the villager conversations under "Village Talk".
Disclaimer: Text is paraphrased from my localization and might slightly deviate from the English version.
Quest: Farm Aid
Before starting out with the quest, I cleaned up my inventory a little. I threw out the harpoons and the BBQ spit, so now I only have potions, steaks, bugnets, and pickaxes in my bag. As for the whetstones, I know where to find those on the Deserted Island, so I can gather them myself if I need them.
I could already upgrade my Iron Sword+ into a Buster Sword, but since the second path with the Rugged Great Sword gives more damage and sharpness, I'll wait for now. (For the upgrade to the Rugged Great Sword, you need Great Jaggi Claws, so I'll have to hunt a Great Jaggi first.)
Head Farmer in the quest description: "A stubborn herd of Jaggi has infested my farm!" Hilariously, the actual quest is about hunting Jaggia, not Jaggi (if you don't take the subquest into account). I guess technically, Jaggia are just female Jaggi, but it's still a bit odd since the Head Farmer insisted they're having trouble with Jaggi.
"The vermin eats whatever it can find - roots and stuff like that." Whaaat? Now you're just pulling my leg - why should carnivorous bird wyverns eat roots? All of this seems kinda fishy somehow... (Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Jaggi attacking the farm is just an excuse to get rid of them. Like the villagers were annoyed by the Jaggi, submitted some vaguely plausible reason to the Guild why they want them gone, and the Guild approved of it and made it into a quest.)
Man, these Jaggi got skills - one of them just attacked me, spun around in my direction and bit me! They must've been training while I wasn't looking.
When all the Jaggi in area 2 are dead, the Aptonoth return. Sweet - I guess they feel safe now that there aren't any carnivores around.
Jaggia are tough - I need so many hits with the Great Sword until they go down. Good thing I already upgraded it once!
It's cute how some of the small monsters share moves with their big counterparts. For example, the Jaggia have the same hipcheck as the Great Jaggi, in miniature format.
And there we go - kill quests are usually over pretty fast. xD Still, I always like to use the opportunity to snatch some other stuff from gathering spots as well. If you can't carry everything, make sure you at least pick up the stuff from the blue ones.
Return to Moga Village (day)
Head Farmer: "The Guild informed me you've taken care of the Jaggi herd. Nice of them to make it official and all that, but I rather would've liked a visit from the cute receptionist." Wait... Is that? This old geezer just was lovesick for the Guild Sweetheart (whatever you may think of that), so he made up a quest and hoped she’d come over? Jeez...
And then he just hands me some bomb casings as a reward. I mean, I'm grateful, but... How did you get these? Why do you even have them? Couldn't you have used them to make something to scare the Jaggi away yourself? (What are you hiding from me, Head Farmer?!)
And the biggest disappointment: I didn't even get any new Felynes (I would've at least expected that, since the Head Farmer claimed it would make them "feel better".) So basically, I just killed a bunch of Jaggi(a) because the Head Farmer wanted a date with the Guild Sweetheart he didn't get anyway. Great.
Btw, the "rarer" plants also cost more resources to cultivate. Waterblock Seeds cost 20 resource points per cycle, and Might Seeds cost 80 per cycle (in fact, if I were to cultivate Might Seeds for 3 cycles, it would use up all of my current resource points).
Out of curiosity, I carried the Poogie to my house before the last quest to see if it would stay there. Turns out it doesn't - I suppose I'll always have to go to the farm before setting out on quests to cuddle my Poogie, then. (Because even if it's just a rumor, we will religiously cuddle our Poogies to get that bonus chance for rare quest rewards.)
Also, I bought the first Book of Combos from the item shop. The irony is that when I had the book in my box, I actually failed to combine a Bugnet once and an Iron Pickaxe twice. xD (Considering this, it's almost miraculous how I managed to combine an iron pickaxe in the field twice, with just 75% success.)
Quest: Prescription Pick-Up
For the purpose of this quest, I'll bring along my Sword & Shield again so I can stun the Kelbi (even upgraded it once for a little more damage output). Also, I threw out the potions for now, since the first-aid meds should be enough and the Kelbi most likely aren't going to tear me to pieces.
Medicine Man: "Congestion, back aches, performance anxiety - my patients are going to the dogs! Two Kelbi horns would cure all of them." I thought Kelbi horns only helped against stomach problems. Now they're said to work against back aches and psychological stress as well? What kind of wonder drug is this?
Guild Sweetheart: "Come back safe and sound, alright?" Aww, don't worry - I will. :-)
I only realized now that you actually get 5 first-aid meds from the supply box instead of the usual 3. Very generous.
You only get Warm Pelts if you slay the Kelbi. Makes sense, since you can't skin them without killing them.
However, stunning them also adds to the kill count, apparently? (At least the Kelbi I stunned were counted as "kills" for the subquest.)
There are lots of Kelbi in area 7. Time to farm some Kelbi horns for my own stock, now that I've got the two required for the quest safely in my bag. (As the Guild teaches us: Never help someone without taking something for yourself.)
If you hurt the female Kelbi, they just try to run away. Meanwhile, if you attack the male Kelbi, they actually fight back. I guess that's because male Kelbi are more aggressive when provoked? (They are MH's deer, after all.)
After farming some horns and materials from the Kelbi (and probably almost driving the Moga Woods’ population to extinction), I'm gonna do my usual round to gather some items for extra cash. (The Red Coral Stones you find in the underwater areas are - as their description says - a great way to make quick money. You almost always get some from piles of bones strewn across the ocean floor, so you can easily get a stack of ten which is worth a good sum.)
Funnily enough, touching the tentacles of the jellyfish (like swimming below them) doesn't do any damage.
Contrary to their description as "submissive herbivores" that "panic when danger is present", the Epioth defend the other members of their flock if you attack them! (They'll give you one swipe with the tail, then swim away.)
If you're fighting close to the surface and the camera is positioned outside the water, the fighting sounds are actually muffled. I gotta say, that's a really cool detail!
If you stay around for a bit, you can watch the Epioth grazing on the ocean floor. Their description does say they "subsist on water grasses and moss", so I suppose they're something like the manatees of the MH world.
Another thing that's great about the subquests is that especially during the early game, they're a great way to earn some extra money. I've got 1100 zenny from the total quest reward, as opposed to just 500 from the main quest. (Plus 2450 zenny from all the account items I gathered.)
Village Talk
Guild Sweetheart: "How's the hunt going? I was super busy around here. Taking a walk, yoga... Oh, and I played with the piglet on the farm. Such a cute thing! Yeah, this was really an exhausting day." Yeah, relaxing is really a tough job. (Also, Idk, but it's hilarious to me that she seems to go to the farm pretty regularly. So, you know, it shouldn't be such a rare thing for the Head Farmer to see her?)
I gotta say though, the Head Farmer gives off serious grandpa vibes. He just forgot about what the special fertilizer does and says "I'm getting too old for this..." xD Maybe you should just start drawing your pension, eh?
Village Chief: "Hold on! Don't say anything. I can read it in your face: "She wants me to pluck mushrooms!""  Well, he obviously knows how things work in the Hunter's Guild... xD
"Don't forget that the Lagiacrus out there is still a danger. You never know when it shows up and... HELP, BEHIND YOU! Haha, just kidding, hunter!" Very funny.
"Everything can happen on a hunt, so you've got to be ready for anything." Perfect summary of Monster Hunter, actually. (However, more often than not, "be ready for anything" actually means "be ready for all kinds of exceptionally stupid coincidences".)
The Chief tells us that the farm is situated on a "cliff near the village". That actually makes sense, since you can see a panorama of Moga in the background at the farm's entrance; so, it can't be in the immediate vicinity of the village. Still, since there doesn't seem to be a path directly connecting the village and the farm, I wonder if they also go there by boat?
"The Outfitter only thinks about the ultimate weapon. If there really was something like an ultimate weapon, of course every hunter in the world would use it. Actually, it's only about preferences. Somewhere out there, there's the ideal weapon for YOU, and that one you have to look for!" Nicely said. Everyone has a different playstyle, so the weapon which is ideal for you might be entirely unfitting for someone else. It goes even farther than that, too: The definition of "ideal" is literally different for every person, so although it might sound cheesy, you really have to listen to your heart and do what's fulfilling to you.
Chief's son: "These torches from the fireplace are for the villagers, but... It's too dangerous bringing them into the village. Do you want to burn everything down?" Would you care to tell me, then, why there's a large torch standing right behind you?
"These buzzing Bnahabra are so annoying." Oh, trust me, they're not nearly as bad as the Vespoids from the 1st and 2nd gen. The Vespoids paralyze you, like, with every second sting - until now, the Bnahabra haven't paralyzed me once. (Tbh, I have a feeling the Bnahabra might be the response to MH fans raging over the Vespoids; so, Capcom just decided to make something like a "Vespoid light".)
Item vendor: "You can use barrel bombs underwater, too. A triumph of science!" Now that you mention it: It actually is noteworthy that you can use barrel bombs underwater. Back in Freedom Unite, you literally couldn't use them if it was raining in the jungle at night. Considering that Large Barrel Bombs are made with gunpowder, this actually makes sense, since gunpowder won't ignite if it's wet. I suppose they finally figured out how to put the gunpowder in a waterproof capsule, then.
"A Needleberry works wonders against stress at acupuncture points." So Needleberries are used for acupuncture - nice to know.
Gossip Lady: "Whenever monsters get to close to the village, we scare them with bombs." Since you're all so adamant about not bringing any torches/fire into the village, the same would probably go for bombs. So, if they're blowing up any bombs, they're most likely doing near the entrance to the village in area 1 (where you start out if you go hunting in the Moga Woods).
So, the Gossip Lady tells me about stunning Kelbi to cut off their horns (a little late, but thanks anyway), and there's a little pun at the end where she says "You don't know if the Kelbi are "down" for it? I don't get it." (Funny that she doesn't seem to understand any wordplays aside from her own. xD) I'm not sure if my translation above is accurate, but this line is actually pretty funny in my localization: It uses an idiom that means "up for it", but the literal translation of the word would be "buck", as in roebuck (the closest English adjective I can find to it is "horny", but that has kind of a different implication... xD).
Smith: "All products that leave my artisan shop have a hundred years gurantee!" Well, I hope so - I'll make sure to hold you to it.
"Be careful about storing iron equipment! It rusts in the salty wind!" I believe that - also, it's gonna make the job of my Felyne housekeeper so much easier if I take good care of it myself.
Chamberlyne: "I make your bed every day so you can always take a nap. And then there's the laundry and cleaning everything up... You're lucky that Felynes love cleanliness!" You know, if it was up to me, you'd get a medal for "employee of the month". Housekeeping may not be the most popular job, but without the help of our trusty Felyne, our daily routine would most likely be a mess. (That Felynes love cleanliness is kinda a cute detail, though; it definitely shows they're cats. xD)
"Did you see the large windmill over there? It's my job to repair it if it's broken. Quite a lot of work." What?! Not only is the Felyne charged with doing all the housekeeping for me, they're also obliged to step in as a construction worker if need be? Seriously, give this kitty a break...
Meanwhile, I can't afford to take a break since I still have some quests to do. Next time, there's gonna be some more aquatic action when we tackle the Sunken Treasures and Goldenfish quests. See ya then!
To be continued
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quinloki · 1 year ago
Text
Ramble ramble
Just 1000 words of a possible opener to a self-insert isekai Marco/sona story.
I might change the perspective, but I like the idea of an omnipotent 2nd person that’s just mostly focused on the OC’s point of view. (I also don’t want to start writing first person and screw up mid-work on all my reader inserts, so here we are xD )
Their name will be Quill, and their hair is white, because I like that look and so I’mma use it.
I didn’t edit a damn thing, this is just me distracting myself so read at your own peril. Fully safe for work (for now).
Your head hurts and your body’s sore, and none of it makes sense. You shouldn’t feel anything - you died.
You remember dying, spending the last few moments in a hospital bed, the steady beeping of the monitors slowing. Your body gave way to the march of time and that’s all there was to it.
It was a good life, a long one full of people and laughter and good times. Some of it hurt terribly, and some of it you could’ve done without, but against the odds you had lived.
Right up until you had died.
You had.
You were so sure of it.
Soundlessly you opened your eyes and looked around carefully. The room was bright with sunlight, wooden and smelling of disinfectant and salt. The subtle scent of oak or maple tickled the back of your brain and the design of what you could see looked uncomfortably familiar.
You were too disoriented to really hone in on what it was, but your entire thought process snapped to a halt when you realized that you had shifted.
Not because you moved, but because the room had.
The subtle sway took a long moment to happen again and with a terrible sinking feeling you realized you were on a ship.
The salty smell was ocean air.
The boat was wood, you imagined, since the room was, and you turned your head to get a better look.
Despite the crisp clean scent there was no electricity in this room. Aside from that it looked like a well stocked recovery room. Not a place you’d want to have open heart surgery in, but you’d be sure a broken bone could be set at least.
Wincing against the soreness in your limbs you sit up. Nothing hurt in an alarming way, and you weren’t dizzy. Groggy, maybe, you could probably still nap a little longer, but you’d thought your sleep was to be of the eternal variety and now your curiosity was stoked about your situation.
You were in a simple linen shirt and pants. You looked over your body and came to realize you weren’t in your body.
If this was your body, you didn’t have any memory of it. You were short, muscled, missing scars and other marks you knew you had. Your skin was tan, and your hair was almost shockingly white.
You ran the strands between your fingers, marveling at it a little. You were most certainly not in your body. Eighty plus years of life had left its marks deep in your skin and soul, but this body was new.
New bodies healed a lot faster, and you swung your legs off the side of the bed, or the exam table turned bed, and hopped down onto the floor.
You could feel the slow tilt of the ship more now that you were standing but it wasn’t making you queasy. That was a welcome sign. Whatever body you’d been dumped into you weren’t in some poor schmuck that got seasick.
You looked around the room, looking through drawers and opening cabinets. You didn’t move anything or take anything, it seemed wrong to just wander out of the room too, so you did your best to stay put.
Bandages, medicines, syringes, sutures, tools for doing wellness checks. It was a fairly typical setup. If not for the lack of electricity you’d almost think you were on a cruise ship.
You didn’t know, technically, who you were, or where you were. But your current body was intact and you weren’t restrained, nor were you surrounded by blood and bodies and bars, so you felt pretty relaxed. You were on edge a little, wondering when the door was going to open, but you had been left on your own long enough to sate your curiosity and climb back onto the exam bed table thing.
You decided to look out the window and realized you had a decent view of the deck, or the small bit of it that ran down the side of the ship. You couldn’t be more than a storey up from it.
You noticed someone approaching and felt the blood drain from your face. The man was massive, not just 7’ or something but eye level with your window vantage point. He had to be over twelve feet tall easily. It was an impossible height, and despite the obviously kind smile on his face as he noticed you, you fell back into the room and slammed the shutters closed, nearly falling off the makeshift bed in alarm.
Your mind reeled at the possibilities, but you weren’t left to your thoughts for long before there was a knock at the door. You tried to say “come in”, but no sound left your mouth.
The air passed your lips, but you couldn’t make a peep. Panic rose up in your throat, had you ever been able to talk? Was this body mute? Would you be able to communicate in this world? What if you couldn’t write? What if none of this was real and you were dreaming the last few moments before your brain died?
Were you still actually dead? You felt so full of life you didn’t want to die, not again, not yet! This wasn’t a dream it was too detailed, too coherent, it had to be real! It had to be and -.
The door opened and you collapse to the floor heaving in big gulps of air as the rising panic and fear over takes you entirely.
Someone kneels down near you, a calming tone, a soothing timber. You like the sound, something is familiar in it, but you can’t make out the words. He shouts for someone, turned away from you for a moment before you hear that even tone turned toward you again.
Large firm hands grip your shoulders and pull you up. You can’t believe what your eyes are seeing but the extra information is enough. You can’t take anymore and hurl onto one strappy sandaled foot before passing out.
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