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sins0fthefather · 11 months ago

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Wrath.

Jeff the Killer HCs:

General HCs:

Full Name: Jeffrey Alexander Woods (Only responds to Jeff though. Best case scenario if you call him his full name is he’ll ignore you, worst case scenario is him flipping his shit on you)

Age: 22-25 (Based on where in the story a character study/fic takes place)

Birthday: September 22 (Older than Liu by 2 years)

Wasian— Father is Chinese, mother is a born n’ raised Texan

Biromantic, Demisexual

Has autism, C-PTSD, BPD (contributor to his auditory hallucinations), NPD, ASPD, and BDD

Right Handed

6’1 (185~ cm)

Covered in burn scars, most noticeably on his chest, forearms, and back

He uses white facepaint, it makes his face’s silhouette look “cleaner” in his eyes

His cuts have healed up for the most part, although he’ll have moments where he relapses and cuts at them again. The ends will also sometimes tear if he does something like laugh too hard.

Very touchy with other people, but he despises being touched first. He prefers to initiate physical contact- both because of the control aspect of it and because of his general distrust of others.

His sense of humor waxes and wanes from extreme condescension to the most morbid sentences you’ve ever heard. Half of the time it doesn’t even sound like a joke.

Reckless driver, cursed with terrible road rage

Smokes cigarettes, his brand of choice is Marlboro

Drinks vodka straight as if it were water

I feel like his favorite band would be Tool or Slipknot. His music taste is just metal and dad rock.

Was brought up in a Catholic school for most of his life, although he obviously doesn’t keep up with the practice anymore. This is a big catalyst for why he develops a god complex however since he “has authority over life and death”— something unique only to gods from what he was taught.

Very observant of the people around him. He memorizes speech patterns, demeanors, even the way people walk. He’s gotten to the point where he can read people and their intentions well before they’re explicitly stated, making it much easier for him to spot a lie. However this also makes it much easier for him to tell when he’s truly pushing somebody’s buttons, and there’s nothing he loves more than pushing people past their limit.

Always stealing glances of himself in any mirror he walks past

He’s an opportunistic killer. Limiting himself to patterns clashes with the creativity and the thrill of the moment to him. However, there are specific elements of a kill he will often repeat if the mood strikes him. An example of this would be often including strangulation (albeit usually not the direct cause of death) to reflect his acquired need for control in all moments of his life. Sometimes he will also pose bodies in a “prayer” position to call back that god complex I mentioned.

He doesn’t always kill people immediately. If someone catches his eye, usually because he finds them beautiful in some aspect, he’ll take it a step further. He has no problem with being patient when the situation arises for it- stalking the person, learning their habits and schedules, the whole shebang. He’ll then slowly start to ruin said person’s life, isolating them through the slaughter of those closest to them and destroying any sense of peace and security they once had. He’s the sound that goes -bump- in the night. He’ll toy with his food until he eventually grows bored, disposing them like all the rest. After all, how dare someone else try to be beautiful in his presence- a punishment of the highest order is necessary.

His anger can be very… explosive. He doesn’t stick around very long for enough people besides victims to see it, but it can be as unpredictable as his own kills. It’s worse when he’s silent in his anger however, since with the former you at least have enough of a warning to brace yourself.

Backstory-Centric HCs:

(TW: csa, murder, mutilation, religious trauma, general stuff)

Takes place in college. Jeff is 22 at the start while Liu is 20.

Instead of being a one-off instance, Jeff and Liu have been subjected to bullying/borderline harassment since middle school. This builds up Jeff’s gradual distrust of others and leads to him shutting himself off from his peers.

Most of said bullying revolved around their mixed race situation. It only got worse as Jeff shut himself off and Liu became a people pleaser.

The two didn’t even have peace at home, since their parents were sexually abusive and excused it through their religion. It was “all apart of god’s love” as they said. This + the bullying leads Liu to develop DID and kickstarts Jeff’s resentment towards their parents. It also led Jeff to develop a twisted belief on what love and beauty is since god apparently “favored” the beauty of his parent’s form of “love.”

On one particular instance of bullying/harassment, a small group of people he grew up with planned on jumping and mugging Jeff behind a bar. Things escalated when Jeff retaliated in self defense, beating his aggressors with a nearby pipe found laying against a dumpster. He didn’t leave unscathed however, since one of the attackers dropped a lighter into the flammable materials (alcohol, trash, etc) that had been scattered in the fight, planning on making everyone go down in that moment. Jeff managed to survive (albeit with severe burns along his body) after being found by an employee who went to go check out the noise/smell of smoke, but the others succumbed to their wounds.

While in a heavy state of shock and psychosis (paired with being drugged up out the wazoo at the hospital) his usual unchecked auditory hallucinations worsened, leading his mind to trick him into believing this situation was a sign from god- that he was supposed to survive while his tormentors burned. Paired with his already twisted concepts of love and beauty, he began to believe that his burns were part of god’s plan to make him more beautiful- because he was favored.

This only gets worse when he’s released from the hospital’s custody due to a neglect in checking his mental state. After being sent home with his family and therefore being thrown back into the abusive environment he hoped to escape when going to college he ends up experiencing a psychotic break, mutilating himself in the process.

When his parents catch him, they attack him. In their eyes he had disgraced them, no longer upholding the “beauty” of heaven that they enforced. He ends up killing them in self defense, but furthers it by mutilating their bodies in an act of defiance induced by his break. He believes he’s outdone god in this moment, deluding himself into thinking he’s on the same level (or even better) than god.

While overcome by his psychotic break, he ends up severely wounding Liu after he wakes up to check out the noise. It becomes a conspiracy on if Liu survived or not since his body was never found by authorities.

The reason why Jeff continues on his spree after these instances is the feel of control he gets. After being forced into submission by those around him for so long, he finally feels a stable sense of power over those he deems as less than him.

He ends up wandering throughout the states after this, hopping from town to town. He never stays in one place for long, although sometimes he’ll revisit his home town to give the urban legend fanatics something to fear again.

#long post woo #questions encouraged teehee #jeff the killer x reader #creepypasta x reader #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta headcanons #creepypasta/you #creepypasta #headcanon #headcanons #jeffrey woods #homicidal liu #rewrite #writers on tumblr #the autism is autisming

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proflaytonbigbang · 1 year ago

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Welcome to the Professor Layton Big Bang 2024! This event will be dedicated to the Professor Layton series in anticipation of the upcoming release of the long-awaited New World of Steam!

Info + Rules - Twitter / X - Instagram

What's a Big Bang? 🎩 ▸ A Big Bang is a collaborative event between artists and writers: Writers will write a new fic, and artists will be paired up with a writer based on their summary to create an artwork accompanying the fic. All creators will work for several months, to release everything on the same day, creating an "explosion" of content (hence the name)! What kind of content will you have? 🎩 ▸ We're looking for artists and writers! Plus, in homage to the amazing work of Puzzle Master Akira Tago on the series, we would also love to have puzzle makers onboard, to include a little puzzle to solve in each project! What would be the requirements for the Big Bang? 🎩 ▸ The Big Bang will be "divided" into two tiers to join:

Tier 001 (Future British Gentleman): In this tier are welcome writers who aim for a smaller wordcount, from 1,000 to 5,000 words (with lower exceptions possible for non-traditional writing, poetry for example)! The art pieces for this tier won't need necessarily to be fully colored or to have a background.

Tier 002 (Puzzle Master): In this tier are welcome writers who want to go after every picarat, starting at 5,000 words! The art pieces for this tier will need to be fully-colored and to have a background. If there's interest, each collaboration would include an original puzzle to solve as well!

We're currently in our Creation Period, which means we won't be welcoming any new writers or artists. Our release period will start on September 27. Please stay tuned for updates!

A true gentleman always helps get the word out! Thank you! @faneventshub @layton-heritage-posts @layton-npc-appreciation-week @littlelaytonproblems @nocontextprofessorlayton @weekly-layton-puzzle

#professor layton #layton #layton series #fandom event #big bang #layton big bang #professor layton big bang

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superman86to99 · 2 months ago

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Superman: The Man of Steel #37 (September 1994)

Zero Hour is here, and so is Batman! And Batman, and Batman, and Batman, and, yes, even Batman! Clark Kent and Lois Lane are strolling down beautiful, half-destroyed Metropolis when Clark sees a Morse code message coming from a rooftop. It turns out to be Batman, who's looking rather... Neal Adams-ish. Superman should have realized something was off when Batman called him "old friend," even though these two have only been able to stand each other for (in DCU time) about a year at most.

Not only does Batman not recognize Superman's post-resurrection mullet hippie hair, but he seems confused when Superman mentions that little incident where he had his back broken by a 'roided-out wrestler, which suggests that he hasn't experienced the '90s at all. If Superman was truly Batman's friend, he'd rush him to the nearest arcade to play Super Street Fighter II Turbo right away.

Anyway, Batman dropped by Metropolis to warn Superman that there's some sort of "time anomaly" going on that's making "people from the past" show up in the present. You don't say.

Meanwhile, the big "concert to rebuild Metropolis" that's been teased in recent issues is about to get started. The organizer, Lois Lane's douchey ponytail-wearing ex-boyfriend Jeb Friedman, is jumped by some guys who look a whole lot like the Mutant gang from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, who hate Jeb because they don't want Metropolis to be rebuilt (as opposed to any of the other 99,999 valid reasons for hating Jeb). Tragically, Jeb's life is saved by the grittiest, most violent Batman of all: yes, Ben Affleck.

(Just kidding. I know that's actually Adam West.)

After saving Jeb, this Batman runs into Superman and says he came to warn him about the time anomalies, but it's pretty obvious he already knew about them, considering he's hanging out with two separate Batmen and all. The Batmen barely have any time to get acquainted before a third Batman drops by, this one looking like he came straight from 1939's Detective Comics #27. Oh, and then the Neal Adams Batman suddenly turns into a different, much more pointy-eared Batman in the middle of a sentence.

(The DC wiki claims it's Kelley Jones Batman, but our resident art expert Don Sparrow says it could be Marshall Rogers Batman.)

Since Superman's all-purpose science guy isn't in his lab right now, he decides to bring the Batmen to the benefit concert in case the Mutants cause any more trouble -- especially since the music is so loud, it's "interfering with [Superman's] super-hearing." We just discovered another Superman vulnerability aside from Kryptonite and magic: '90s death metal.

As predicted, the Mutants do strike during the concert, and somehow even bring a whole tank into it (today, you can't even bring in a water bottle). Luckily, the music was so loud that most of the crowd didn't even notice it took one Superman, three Batmen, and some anti-tank explosives courtesy of DKR Batman to save them.

Superman finally finds Professor Hamilton, who was at the concert with some girlfriends, and asks him look into the mystery of the many Batmen. Hamilton employs his usual approach to scientific investigation: just put people inside a big glass ball (the isolation chamber first seen in Adventures #458).

Hamilton's instruments determine that "something very odd is happening to time," which Superman probably could have figured out without the need of a big glass ball -- especially since the Batmen are now rapidly turning into other Batmen and fading out of existence. Hamilton's conclusion is that Superman should probably look up the real Batman from this timeline. Just then, Superman hears a high-pitched noise: it's that precise Batman, who just arrived in Metropolis and used a gizmo to call his attention.

'90s Batman says the same thing as the others: weird time-related things are happening in Gotham... and Metropolis too, as is pretty clear by now. Just then, Metron of the New Gods shows up in his funky time-and-space-traveling chair to say that this isn't a mere "time anomaly" -- it's a CRISIS™!

TO BE CONTINUED IN ZERO HOUR!

Plotline-Watch:

That last scene is also seen in Batman #511 (in part) and Zero Hour #4 (in full). By the way, I'm pretty sure this is the first time Superman and Batman have met since the former came back to life and the latter got his back fixed. It's too bad they didn't update Batman's looks in some way when he returned, like maybe with a mullet showing through his cowl, Batgirl-style. In fact, they should give all DC heroes mullets when they come back from death/paralysis.

All through the issue, we see a Kryptonian ship (like Superman's birth matrix, but bigger) traveling through space, arriving on Earth, landing on Smallville, and, finally, its occupants getting off and going up to the Kent farm. They turn out to be Jor-El and Lara... and they think Pa Kent is their son. Maybe Superman's human parents aren't the only ones who need glasses.

The most dramatic part of the concert is when one of the Mutants shoots at the headlining artist, Jimmy Olsen's old friend Babe, and we see the bullet go through her chest. Then she dramatically turns into a giant bat and spooks her assailant while the audience cheers, convinced that these are just really good stage tricks. Later, Jimmy visits Babe backstage and congratulates her on the effects. She's like "yes... effects." (As a reminder, the last time we saw her, two years ago, she was bitten by a vampire.)

It's obscured by the big glass ball in the panel up there, but Professor Hamilton debuts his hydraulic robot arm in this issue, having lost his flesh and blood one in Adventures #514. Incidentally, the "girlfriends" of Hamilton's I mentioned before are Case, the white-haired girl he met in that Adventures issue, and her Riot Grrrl bandmates, who invite Ham to sit with them near the stage. I'm surprised he didn't lose his other arm in the mosh pits.

Keith the Unlucky Orphan attends the concert with his new friend Alice White and her husband, Perry, but Keith wanders off when he thinks he sees his long-gone mom in the crowd. That's the last we see of Keith in this issue, so it's easy to get the impression that he got ran over by the tank or something. (At least we learn that Lucan, that other kid from last issue, did find his mom.)

At the end of the issue, Jeb confirms his scumbag status by bragging to Lois that Clark has never done anything as "awesome" as organizing a concert with extremely lax security, and then trying to get Lois to come to Paris with him. Lois is surprisingly patient with him and even gives him a kiss on the cheek. He urges her to get married quick because "that's the only thing that will keep me from coming back," which is the best argument for the Clark/Lois marriage I've seen.

Regarding the scene above, notorious Jeb-hater Don Sparrow says: "Lois' dodge on what’s so great about Kent might read to us like she’s talking about him being Superman, but--forgive me--from Jeb’s point of view, it just sounds like she’s talking about his dick." Okay, so it wasn't just me.

Shout Outs-Watch:

Bat-shout outs to our Bat- I mean Super-supporters, Aaron, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, Bheki Latha, Mark Syp, Ryan Bush, Raphael Fischer, Kit, Sam, Dave Shevlin, and Dave Blosser! We're currently giving away some original Maxima art to one supporter and have another cool art poll/giveaway coming up! Join them (and get extra non-continuity articles, plus the giveaways) via Patreon or our newsletter’s “pay what you want” mode!

The great Don Sparrow had a LOT to say about the art in this issue this issue, starting with trying to identify all the Batmen on the cover, so buckle up and keep reading:

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow):

We start with the cover, and it’s an instant classic, with Jon Bogdanove showing off by emulating the art styles of over a dozen Batman artists from comics history, while still maintaining his own personal style in the middle of all of it. While I’m sure I’m wrong about a few, here’s as many as I could identify, starting counter-clockwise from top left:

1. Moebius? It kind of looks like the helmeted version of Batman from the final fight with Superman, but they already have a Frank Miller here. There’s definitely something European about this rendering, though, so I’m going with Moebius. [Max: This one looks elderly to me... is there an Elseworlds or something about a geriatric Batman?]

2. Frank Miller

3. Neal Adams

4. Bruce Timm

5. Dick Sprang

6. Gil Kane (with the rendering looking like Murphy Anderson's gentle feathered inks)

7. Kelley Jones

8. Michael Kaluta? These backwards facing ones are tricky, because I’m not totally sure they’re supposed to be representative of any artist, but those distinct cape folds look like Kaluta to me.

9. Michael Golden? Again, not sure it’s supposed to be anyone in particular, but Golden was a giant for Batman covers at a certain point, and favoured the long eared look.

10. Irv Novick

11. Lewis Wilson (not an artist, but the actor from the low-rent serials of the 40s)

12. Carmine Infantino—the lips are unmistakable, and again, the feathering looks like Murphy Anderson.

13. Jim Aparo

14. Bernie Wrightson—either that or Kelley Jones again, but the face looks a little more natural, which makes me think Wrightson.

15. Jerry Robinson

16. Walt Simonson? Wasn’t sure about this one, but the cape folds looked like his geometric linework

17. Bob Kane

What do you think? Any mistakes I have here? Please let me know!

Inside the story, we’re greeted almost immediately by the off-putting sight of Jeb Friedman, one of my least liked characters in all of Superman-dom. Then again—we’re supposed to not like him, so the creative team is doing a bang-up job. I will say, Jeb’s noxiousness is cut in half when Clark also has a ponytail, which at one time I think was a design element intended to hint at a Steven Seagal-like irritating personality, before they had to add one to Clark to differentiate between he and Superman. One odd detail—I haven’t seen many tour jackets where the band’s name is hyphenated.

On page three’s almost double page spread, we get our first Batman era, the Neal Adams version of the character, exemplified by the exaggerated hand gestures and warm rim lighting. As the Riot Grrrls try to meet Babe Tanaka, they’re stopped by a very Chris Farley looking roadie/security guard, but the timeline doesn’t work.

Though “Big Dan” bears a striking resemblance to Farley’s security guard character from Black Sheep that movie wouldn’t come out for another two years or so, and the character design doesn’t look enough like Farley’s security character from Wayne’s World 2, so maybe it’s just a generic roadie character. I do love Professor Hamilton’s awkward, hands-off reaction to Case laying a big old, 20-years-his-junior hug on him.

A few pages later we get our first glimpse of both the timeline-lost Dark Knight Returns version of Batman, as well as his Mutant street gang. I love how these pages employ Frank Miller’s caption boxes and tiny square panels. It’s interesting to me that so many artists since DKR have depicted this version of Batman’s costume as brownish gray and black, when, to my eye, it’s a muted navy and gray in the original pages. One of the animated adaptations of this story also went with the black and warm gray motif, which has always confused me—Lynn Varley is certainly a gifted enough painter to represent blacks and grays without the comic book trick of shading them with blue (like Superman’s hair, for instance) so that interpretations since have deviated from navy and gray perplexes me a little. When you read DKR, what colour did you think his uniform was? [Max: I'm gonna go with grey. The brown-ish always baffled me.] At any rate, we lose Bogdanove’s style almost completely as the figures and even the scratchy finishes perfectly recall Miller and Klaus Janson.

Only a page or two later we get another Batman, this the slight, purple gloved version from 1939, and then on the next page, the Neal Adams Batman appears to give way to the Marshall Rogers version (or at least a different long-eared interpretation of the character). On page 11, we have a stunning image of Superman overlooking three different Batmen on their personal gargoyles, and the one in the middle seems soooo familiar to me, but I can’t place it, perfectly. It could just be the Rogers Batman again, but the cape folds and body gesture looks like it could be referencing a pin-up from Michael Kaluta, Sandy Plunkett, or Michael Golden. Any insights? Certainly, as the story progresses, this version of Batman has the flowing geometric cape Rogers’ drew. Babe Tanaka playing right through the assassination attempt is a great visual, though it’s jarring to see her Vampirella-meets-Cher stage costume in a code book.

Throughout the whole issue there’s some really cool zip-a-tone effects, like when Superman descends to the first two Batmen, in a DKR cover callback.

Later as those same Batmen jump into action, the ben day dots lend a sense of depth, and finally the effect in the background during Babe’s supernatural transformation are very well used.

Once the Batmen hit Professor Hamilton’s lab, the transformations come and go quickly, as the Bob Kane Batman gives way to what appears to be the Adam West version, then only a panel later the Marshall Rogers Batman switches to the “new look” Batman as imagined by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. Just as quickly, the grim n’ gritty DKR Batman is subbed out for the grinning n’ gleeful Dick Sprang version of the character. Finally, as the alternate timeline Batmen disappear, Superman makes his way to Gotham, and it’s very cool that even with Bogdanove’s distinct style, we know this is the modern Batman. I love that during this era they went back to the Cord Batmobile in Batman comics, but it’s extra appropriate here, where there’s already a bunch of anachronisms running around.

As an art fan, this issue was a real treat, but in terms of plot, there wasn’t much—just a series of different Batman costumes running in and saying “something weird is happening!”. It reminded me of the monologue when my fellow 5’4” heartthrob Michael J. Fox hosted SNL, and the different Michael J. Foxes kept running in to warn him that his monologue was about to bomb. But, it does mean we’re in the era of Zero Hour, at last, which is one of my favourite crossovers of all time, in no small part because of the story’s deep connection to the Superman books, from the writer/art team, to the Linear Men’s important role.

SPEEDING BULLETS:

There’s perhaps something funny about the Neal Adams Batman accusing Superman of “going hippie” when the Neal Adams version of the character was most famously written by self-proclaimed hippie, Dennis O’Neil.

It does my heart good to see that Jimmy indeed also doesn’t care for Jeb Friedman. But between my hatred for Jeb, and Max’s dislike of Jimmy, does the disdain cancel itself out? I can’t figure the math on this. [Max: I also hate Jeb, so I think the hate is multiplied and becomes uber-hate.]

Jimmy also seems unafraid to “be that guy” wearing the shirt of the band to the concert of the band. I actually think this is kind of a dumb rule, myself, so you go Jimmy.

Speaking of resentment, my main issue with Ron Troupe, apart from his fashion sense, is that he seems to be a replacement Jimmy, sidelining him in the cub reporter role (and eventually in the romance department as well, though we’re not there yet). But it’s nice seeing them team-up. Maybe they’re only competitors in my mind.

I like that the Dark Knight version of Batman also includes his wry commentary, about the sounds of violence drawing Superman, and the slight diss that the mullet has impaired Superman’s perfection.

Little Keith having a nice picnic day with the Whites does my heart good, and I do like the foreshadowing with Keith feeling like spending time with them is “almost like having a family” again.

I do like that pretty much all the Batmen who show up are too square to enjoy Shredding Metal’s music. It does make me curious what it sounds like. I imagine her vocals sounding like Cassandra Wong from Wayne’s World, but the sound might be heavier and screechier than Crucial Taunt. [Max: For some reason, I imagine it as Yoko Ono singing System of Down.]

(Controversial opinion coming up!) I kinda like that Superman stops the DKR Batman from taking out the tank, a nice echo of the Dark Knight Returns storyline, where Superman was the real hero of the story (had he not stopped that nuke, it wouldn’t matter how many Mutant Leaders Batman beat at mud-wrestling).

So who did Babe feed on that Mutant quickly after she got off stage? I’ll admit, I wouldn’t have minded if it was Rob, Don or one of the other mutants out to kill her.

I get that Jeb is supposed to be an Henri-from-Cheers “I’m going to steal your girlfriend” like foil for Clark, but his line-crossing pursuit of Lois isn’t cute—or a relationship that Lois should indulge, even as friends.

The Vampirella connection is made even more clear with the zoom-in on Babe’s eyes, with pupils bearing a bat that looks a whole heckuva lot like the logo on Vampirella’s costume (which you can google yourself, as I’m struggling to find even a single worksafe image of the lone daughter of Drakulon). The idea that she’s bummed about being a vampire, as exemplified her her teary eyes, is a novel twist.

It’s amusing that Jor-El and Lara are so unfamiliar with their son that they mistake him for Kal-El’s septuagenarian adoptive father on that last page.

It’s fun to see all these different interpretations of Batman, but if this story were released today, there would be even MORE iconic incarnations that didn’t yet exist in 1994! Batman as drawn by Jim Lee, Tim Sale, Frank Quitely, Alex Ross, Gary Frank, Francesco Francavilla, etc. were all still ahead of us! I was glad to see Jim Aparo referenced on the cover, but my other personal favourite Batman artist, Norm Breyfogle, was left off this issue, perhaps because he was too recent to be considered “classic” in 1994.

With all the Batman artists referenced in this issue, we ask you: which Batman artist era costume would you like to see me sketch? Sound off in the comments, or vote in our poll… [Max: Poll coming soon, but Bat-suggestions are welcome!]

Missed an issue? Looking for an old storyline? Check out our new chronological issue index!

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cassiesdevblog · 1 year ago

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~Rumble~ in Grey Area

Hey rumblebees! I've got a gnarly headache today so I'm not working on Grey Area (it's painful to take a break but I gotta remind myself if I'm dying to do something I can still do it post-launch..!), but I at least wanted to write a quick, simple blog post about it!

SEPTEMBER 15TH BTW. 5 DAYS. WISHLIST NOW OR YOUR BODY WILL BECOME GREY

Early on in my involvement with Grey Area, I wrote a short, simple script to make controller rumble super extremely easy to implement:

setrumble(left,right)

All I have to do is write this line of code somewhere and input the desired value for the left and right sides of the controller, and the rest is handled invisibly. The possible strengths range from 0 to 1, but higher values can be used to easily keep the rumble at max strength for longer. These values drain back to zero at a rate of .1 per frame, so I don't have to worry about turning the rumble off at any point, and it has a nice, subtle gradient as it tapers off. Further, if you try to set the rumble to something lower than it already is, nothing will happen. This prevents small rumbles like footsteps from cutting off bigger ones like explosions

Thanks in part to this script's massive versatility and ease of use, I was able to litter this game with rumble for basically everything in no time flat

Hailey's footsteps make tiny, subtle rumbles that alternate sides of the controller. When Hailey climbs onto a bench, you can subtly feel her hands and feet making contact. Walking into a wall makes a small rumble on the appropriate side of the controller, and bonking off a wall does the same but much bigger. Whenever a boss does a big attack, you'll feel it

I mainly use rumble to create a more tactile connection between the player and Hailey. My rule of thumb is that you should feel what she feels! This is why abstract actions like using menus don't have rumble

There are still, however, a few places where rumble is used in slightly abstract ways, like the lingering rumble from getting hit that lasts almost as long as the invincibility frames. You're really supposed to ~feel~ that you got hit! Proximity to some powerful forces will also create rumble, as if the energy it gives off resonates throughout your corporeal form

So I think it goes without saying that I strongly recommend playing with a controller and keeping rumble turned on. It really really elevates the whole experience in my opinion!

#grey area #gamedev #indiedev #indie games

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xanasaurusrex · 1 year ago

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I absolutely Stan your headcanons hun! I love the accuracy and perfectly logical reasonings (also very well written and explained), Could you pleaßw do Thanatos as well? No pressure, of course!

⇢ ˗ˏˋ thanatos cabin headcanons ࿐ྂ

a/n: thanatos is literally the personification of death i'm so hyped for this! also these headcanons are a little bit short because for some reason i was totally blanking on thanatos kids, but i think that i got some pretty good headcanons in there (:

thanatos kids are the definition of badass

they're naturally very intimidating

i mean, their father is literally the personification of death, so there's like... something unsettling about them

spirits kinda follow them around

it's very common for thanatos kids to have been bullied when they were younger, but also the bullying doesn't last long, because they can get a spirit to knock something over near them or something

thanatos kids are very untrusting, because the world has been pretty cruel to them

on the wikipedia page, it says that thanatos is the personification of peaceful death, but i'm not sure how true that is since it's wikipedia, but basically what i was thinking is that like thanatos kids can always tell when someone is going to die of natural causes, just like in their mind, if that makes sense

like a canon event for a thanatos kid is having a grandparent or older family member start acting differently, and the kid immediately knowing that they're gonna die

their mortal parent definitely could never look at them the same after the sick individual died

i kind of headcanon that there are lots of thanatos kids that have weird relationships with their mortal parent because of this reason

like there's lots of trouble with people seeing thanatos kids as "spawns of satan" if that makes sense, and so they're kinda shunned

and yes, thanatos kids are definitely badass, but they also have a sort of general unsettling sort of vibe

exactly like how hades kids can be kind of unsettling at times

same thing with thanatos kids, although it's a lot more subtle because thanatos is a minor god

but there's just something about thanatos kids that put mortals on edge

(it's the gentle reminder that death is always possible at any given moment, and being near a thanatos child, the child of literally the personification of death, makes this reminder a lot more fresh in people's minds whenever they're around)

other demigods generally aren't as affected by this, because just existing as a demigod means you can die anywhere and anyway, so being around that reminder is just sort of more of a friendly reminder like, "hey! i'm a child of thanatos, remember to look out for monsters! (:"

for some reason i feel like thanatos kids would get along really well with hecate kids

they both give off kind of spooky vibes, i feel like they would totally be friends

they would go allllllll out during spooky season, i guarantee it

like halfway through september they start announcing to camp that it's officially spooky season

thanatos kids are very intense

but a quiet kind of intense, where they have like unintentionally intense stares

thanatos kids also have very big feelings

when they get sad, they get sad

when they get happy, they get so elated it looks almost as if they're about to take flight

that's just kind of the pattern with thanatos kids

they definitely had explosive tantrums as a kid

thanatos kids also tend to be sort of closed off, and kinda hangout with each other more than anything

also for some reason i kinda headcanon thanatos as a bit of a slut so i feel like there are a lot of thanatos kids for like no reason

okay honestly that's all i have for thanatos kids

i'm so sorry this was so short, but i for some reason had no ideas for thanatos kids (althought in my defense the only thing about thanatos is that he's the personification of death so yknow) but i also have a bunch of requests to write! thank you so much for reading, and have an amazing day!

#percy jackson #thanatos #thanatos cabin #cabin headcanons #cabin hcs #cabin 29 #thanatos kids #thanatos kiddos #headcanons #pjo #hoo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson imagine #camp half blood #camp half-blood #camp half blood headcanons

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annabelle--cane · 1 year ago

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do we have any information on the approximate dates or year that TMA takes place in? I’m obsessed with timelines and I’m so curious about if those dates are Known or not or can only be guessed about

yes we do! some parts of the timeline are a little vague, but every live and "in situ" statement (with a few exceptions) has a date attached to it. I won't go through every known date, and I'm also not scrupulously checking to make sure I've copied all these numbers down correctly so there's probably an error or two in here, but some significant ones include:

mag 13 - alone: the first live statement and the first hard date for the show, 13 january 2016

mag 22 - colony: martin's statement after being trapped by jane prentiss, 12 march 2016

mag 26 - a distortion: sasha's statement about meeting michael, 2 april 2016 (<- that was my fourteenth birthday :3)

mag 38 / mag 39 / mag 40: jane prentiss's attack on the institute, sasha's death, and all the debrief statements afterwards, 29 july 2016

mag 41 - too deep: jon's statement about exploring the tunnels and his first supplemental tape about gertrude's murder, 2 september 2016

mag 43 - section 31: basira's statement about diego molina + the start of her giving gertrude's old tapes to jon, 19 september 2016

mag 47 - the new door: helen's statement about the hallways, we meet michael in person for the first time, 2 october 2016

mag 61 - hard shoulder: daisy's statement about seeing the coffin for the first time, 1 december 2016

mag 73 - police lights: basira's statement about rescuing callum brodie from maxwell rayner, 11 february 2017

mag 76 - the smell of blood: melanie's statement about her investigations into war ghosts, at the end she and jon have a bit of a fight about how That Is Not Sasha, 13 february 2017

mag 78 / mag 79 / mag 80: jon releases not-sasha from the table, martin and tim get trapped in the corridors, jon meets leiter, elias smashes leitner with a metal pipe, all on 16 february 2017

mag 81 / mag 82: jon makes a statement at georgie's place about a guest for mr spider at the same time as daisy interviews the remaining archives staff to try and ascertain his whereabouts, 18 february 2017

mag 89 - twice as bright: statement of jude perry, ft. jon hand crispification, 24 april 2017

mag 91 / mag 92 (/ maybe mag 93?): statement of mike crew, death of mike crew, jon daisy and basira's encounter in the woods, the big elias conversation at the institute, 28 april 2017. mag 93 might also be recorded on this day, I'm not quite sure, because georgie's statement (mag 94) is 29 april, but I don't know if that's fully the next day or if jon got back really late on the 28th, recorded mag 93, and then georgie gave her statement in the wee hours of the 29th. up to interpretation and how little sleep you envision jon as having.

mag 100 - I guess you had to be there: lynne hammond's is 2 may 2017, robin lennox's is 20 may 2017, brian finlinson's is 26 may 2017, and "john smith's" statement doesn't have a date.

mag 111 - family business: gerry's posthumous statement about smirke's 14, 30 june 2017. again, trevor and julia's statement about how they met in mag 109 is dated 29 june, and I don't know if it's an either-side-of-midnight thing or a full day elapsed between them.

mag 118 - the masquerade: martin and melanie pull a fast one on elias while the rest of the gang sets up explosives in the unknowing, 6 august 2017.

mag 120 - eye contact: elias's statement about jon's coma dreams + elias's arrest, 9 august 2017.

mag 121 / mag 122: oliver banks gives his statement about point nemo and jon wakes up, 15 february 2018

mag 128 - heavy goods: breekon deliver's the coffin and jon slurps a statement right out of his head, 3 march 2018

mag 132 - entombed: jon buries himself alive to rescue daisy, 24-26 march 2018

mag 141 - doomed voyage: on the boat to norway jon slurps a statement about mikaele salesa out of a shiphand's head, 11 june 2018

mag 142 - scrutiny: jess tyrell comes in to complain about jon slurping a statement out of her head and haunting her nightmares, 12 june 2018

mag 146 / mag 147: jon gets intervened on about all the brain slurping, they go to hilltop road and find annabelle's statement, 20 july 2018

mag 157 / mag 158 / mag 159: peter releases not-sasha and brings martin to the panopticon for a showdown with "elias," julia and trevor attack the institute, daisy goes monster mode, and jon follows martin into the lonely and saves him with the power of gay love and also slurping peter lukas's brain so hard he explodes badly, 25 september 2018

mag 160 - the eye opens: jon reads a normal statement and nothing bad happens, 18 october 2018.

fuck if I know

#tma #answered #anons

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3rdeyeblaque · 1 year ago

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On Sept 20th we venerate Ancestor & Hoodoo Saint John Henry on the 153rd anniversary of his passing 🕊

An icon of Hoodoo Folklore & History, John Henry - aka the Steel-Driving Man - embodied the otherworldly strength & will that defied physics, expectation, & the harsh conditions of his time. He is a symbol of Black Power as an unbreakable spirit of resistance and protest.

John Henry was indeed a real man behind the lore of his legend. Though there is still much debate as to who was THE John Henry among many possibilities. As it stands, most scholars believe he was born enslaved in VA in 1840’s, later emancipated after the Civil War. He stood at 6ft tall, 200lbs - a true giant of his time. He carried a beautiful baritone voice & played the banjo. That would make him the 19yr old who was convicted of theft in a VA court in 1866. For his alleged crime, he was sentenced to 10 years in the penitentiary & put to work building the C&O Railroad during the Reconstruction Era.

In the February 1870, the legend of John Henry was born along the C&O Railway at Big Bend Mountain near Talcott, WV - when over 1,000 railroad workers began drilling the Great Bend Tunnel where the Greenbrier River makes a seven-mile meander around the mountain. John Henry was a "free Negro" hired as a Steel-Driver on the C&O Railway. He & his counterparts were saddled with the gruesome task of hammering steel drills into rock to holes for explosives to cut a 6,450 ft-long tunnel through the mountain. Railroad work was hard; long hours of grueling labor, dangerous at times, for little money.

Holes were drilled into the layers of rock using a hand drill & hammer, then filled with powder & blasted in order to make the rock small enough to remove from the tunnel. The drill was held by a “Shaker” - tasked with turning it slightly after each blow & shake it to flip the rock dust out of the hole. The “Steel Driver” swung the hammer as hard & as often as he could, pounding the drill into the rock. John Henry was prolificly known as the strongest, fastest, & most powerful man working on the railroad.

One day, the C&O railroad company bought a steam drill. It was said that the steam drill could drill faster than any man on earth. This sparked the age-old debate & challenge of Man-versus-Machine. John Henry immediately volunteered to go up against the machine to prove that the Black worker could drill a hole through the rock farther & faster than any drill could.

John Henry wielded two 10-14lb hammers, one in each hand. He pounded the steel drill so hard & fast that he drilled a 14ft hole into the rock. The steam drill only reached 9ft. John Henry held up his hammers in triumphant victory. Nearly a thousand railroad workers shouted & cheered his name. So much so that it took them a while before realizing that John Henry was tottering. Exhausted, he crashed to the ground with his hammer at his sides. It is said that the crowd went dead silent as the foreman rushed to his side. John Henry had passed away from exhaustion due to bursted blood vessels in his brain.

The Great Bend Tunnel was eventually completed on September 12th 1872, & remained in service until 1974. A life-sized, 750lb bronze statue of his likeness was erected on Dec 28th 1972 - on the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Great Bend Tunnel. Barbed wire was placed around the statue for many years to combat vandalism of white paint being thrown on it, gun shots to the face and torso, etc.

Sadly, no one knows where John Henry was buried. Some say his likeness can be found carved into the rock inside the Big Bend Tunnel. Others say if you walk to the darkest edge of the tunnel, you can still hear the sound of two 10-14lb hammers drilling their way to victory.

"If I can't beat this steam drill down, I'll die with this hammer in my hand!"- John Henry, as told from The Ballad of John Henry.

John Henry's choosing to go up against the steam drill was not about the challenge in and of itself. It was about proving that the body & spirit of the Black man could NOT be broken. Especially while living in such hard, grueling times. Our livelihoods were at stake & our future was even more uncertain.

Thus, he is forever immortalized in the hearts & minds of our people as symbol of the blood, sweat, & tears that drench the C&O railway by Black railroad workers of the past/present. A beacon for those who lost their lives laboring under such dangerous occupation conditions. The lore of his legend (and the lives of Black workers lost) lives on in oral tradition through story, ballads, Blue's, & work songs from coast to coast. These songs and tales did more than transform John Henry into a folk hero, they reminded us to "slow down or die", which became a tool of resistance & protest among railroad workers.

John Henry was a legend turned symbol among the Black populace of the time. And an Ancestor turned Saint for us those of Hoodoo Culture.

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his unbreakable spirit, unparalleled strength, & defiance against a system that see us all perish beneath its heel.

Offering suggestions: tobacco smoke, libations of dark liquor, railroad dirt (especially from the C&O railway tunnel/line), & sing/play ole rwork songs and ballads to his name.

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

#hoodoo #hoodoos #atr #atrs #the hoodoo calendar #Hoodoo Folklore #Hoodoo History #Hoodoo Saints #hudu #john henry #steel driving man

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gunsandspaceships · 1 month ago

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Review of Fury's Big Week tie-in. Part 2

This is a list of all the significant mistakes made in these 8 comics that Marvel Studios considers canon.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2:

The main problem

The main idea behind Fury's Big Week is that the three Phase 1 movies (The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Thor) took place at the same time (within a week). According to the movies themselves, this is not true at all. Here's what month and year they took place (with links to timelines based on the movies): The Incredible Hulk - August-October 2009 IM2 - May-June 2010 Thor - November 2011

I will not be solving the problem here of how all this can be explained so that it all works together (I will do this in a separate post) and will simply describe what is wrong.

According to the latest canon (the official MCU timeline), Big Week takes place in the spring of 2010. And Iron Man 2 does take place in the spring (mostly) of 2010. Since we know when Tony's birthday is (May 29th) - around this date. So Big Week bases its dates on that movie.

Day 1 (May 29th):

Tony - "72 hours until death". His Birthday.

Bruce - crossed the US border.

According to the movie it happened in September/October 2009, not in May 2010.

Thor - Coulson informs Fury of "atmospheric disturbance above New Mexico".

According to the movie it was November 2011.

"72 hours"

The comic shows us that SHIELD scientists know exactly how long Tony has left to live. However, in the movie, JARVIS lets us know that this time also depends on factors that SHIELD scientists couldn't calculate, such as: 1) whether Tony uses the Iron Man suit, for how long, and how much energy he needs; 2) how much chlorophyll he drinks.

The party scene

The problem is that there is no scene like the one on this page in the movie. I mean with Tony holding a barbell in a room with guests, where they also are running away and Natasha is calling Fury.

The barbell scene takes place entirely in the gym, out of sight of others (0:57:15 - 0:57:22). They enter the room depicted in the book at 0:57:46. And no one runs away until Tony roars at them at 0:58:26, when he and Rhodey have already finished fighting hand-to-hand.

This frame is also problematic:

If she was talking about Rhodes in Mark II, it would all make sense. That's how he flew away. But she was talking about Tony, who at that moment should still be half-lying stunned on the floor nearby. Simply because the explosion the guys had caused had just happened and he hadn’t had time to come to his senses and fly away (remember the length of the call and that Fury only called Natasha once after he heard the explosion, and didn’t have time to panic and send all his agents and a coroner there).

#marvel #mcu #tony stark #iron man #iron man 2 #the incrediable hulk #thor #bruce banner #nick fury #natasha romanoff #phil coulson #fury's big week #mcu timeline #marvel tie-ins

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privatecyberstalker · 7 days ago

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Anyway, Anti-Entropy Kindergarten /j

Okay, I was a little little bit busy and now I'm very late at the party, but I still have a need to make an explanation of my brainrot about kids of main AE trio. Surely I can't write everything, so for now here's some thoughts about 2 out 3.

I may say in advance – there isn't used any particular timeline. The most important things timeline-wise is that «Thanksgiving Event» still happened, but with less/other casualties, and Anti-Entropy is independent more than a decade.

Let's started:

🟣 Grace Edison Born: August 31st Height (18 y.o.): 168 cm / 5'6'' Honkai Adaptability: Good / B-level

🔴 Victor Tesla (Edison) Born: September 1st Height (18 y.o.): 178 cm / 5'10'' Honkai Adaptability: Low / D-level

Grace is second oldest in the trio. She's older than Victor only on 10-15 minutes and yet - because of this Grace was born at August 31st and Victor at September 1st. They're considering themselves as lucky ones, because «it'd sucks to have a one bday for two». Were adopted as a babies.

P.S. I don't know how to describe their hair/eyes colors so I'll use the example.

Officially, miss Edison's wish to adopt kid was based on «need to raise an heir for a company for an emergency case», but also... after stabilising her relationship with Tesla (and spending some time with Joyce, Ein and their kid), both she and Nikola started to think about getting a bigger family. And yes, it was Tesla's idea to take both siblings, because «we can't separate them, right?» (Tesla saw their eyes and said «mine», nothing new /j)

Fun Fact: kids names literally came from mothers own names («Nikola» means «victor of the people» and «Nancy» means «favor and grace»). Surnames they initially have got from official adoptive mom (Edison), but Victor personally prefer to use other mama's surname (Tesla).

🟣: Active and warm-hearted, Grace slightly reminds miss Planck in her own manner. In fact, she always looked up on people like Emma or Welt, trying to use her «chaotic energy» for good and get to work under their command. Extrovertive, fan of natural sciences, active recreation and dogs. Favourite Joachim's niece (not because she's the only niece, but because boys in this trio are little devils). In childhood wanted to be a spy, partially cuz of her sport-oriented lifestyle, but now she's choosing between be a paramedic, a spaceship captain («brothers, we're going to steal Hyperion») or some other «risky, but very needed» specialisation, yet scared of parents disapproval. Actually has a quite unstable self-esteem.

Some outfits. She actually loves fancy-girly outfits, but when she has to chose, she'd prefer something comfortable. Is this from Tesla, Edison or Planck? Who knows.

🔴: When Victor was a kid, Tesla thought he will become more like Joachim, but «something went wrong». A cat person in all senses. A little menace that loves tricky mechanisms, big explosions and be everywhere at once, feeding his own curiosity and seeking for an «adventure». Really needs a stop-button. Some people would say that he's «born to be a comic relief, force to use his brain on full volume», but he's in fact a handyman, which dreaming about join the researcher's crew as a lead engineer/researcher. Has low emotional intelligence and hard time understanding that his actions/words/jokes could hurt someone. Doesn't really cares about the other people, but at least tries to properly apologies to his family, if it affected them.

Some outfits. He always wears shirts and coats (or something similar), no matter of season. Trying not to look like person who lives in a laboratory. Usually fails miserably.

And a little bonuses:

Schedules in this family exist only partially. When kids are free from school or other highly organised activities, only Grace and Nancy trying to plan their day ahead. Victor and Nikola never will use to this two waking up at 6-7 AM and starting doing STUFFS.

When twins were a little kids, Grace wanted to have a dog at home, but no one else was ready to take care of it. Once Nikola joked about «well, your aunt and uncle have two dogs and only one kid to take dogs on walk, so you can join him» (Grace said «deal» and started to annoy her cousin)(she succeed)

Also, yeah... We can say Victor is that type of twins who jokes about his sibling being an adopted one all the time. Usually Grace has answer on that, but sometimes she really feels out of touch with family. They love to prove her wrong. Especially Nancy (I swear, Nancy was one who sign up both Nikola and Victor on courses of «how to apologise»)

Under Tesla's supervision twins started to speak fluently on approximately three languages. Moreover, with Nancy's teaching both Victor and Grace on the way to become a smooth talkers... in a sake of the company, surely. Their skills still aren't perfect, but they compensating this by giving a stage to one another, depending on situation.

Sometimes they both are getting in a fights. Thanks God, their fighting skills and stamina (in a case of a «tactical retreat») are slightly better than bargaining ones.

Back to the Fun Facts about the names: they also have a nicknames – Phoenix for Grace and Salamander for Victor, which they've got in a prep school. Olders usually calls them by names, but Welt loves to use «birdie» and «lizard» (and says that last one is just short from «little wizard», we'll believe him)(btw, if Phoenix is kinda obvious, Victor become Salamander because he was «slippery guy, who doesn't burn in fire, neither drown in water» and he's genuinely amused by this reputation)

While we're in names territory, there's how twins address olders: Edison - «mom», Tesla - «mama», Joachim - by name, Planck - «miss» or «professor». With Einstein and Welt Joyce situation slightly more interesting: both twins address Ein as «professor», because she seems to be allergic to word «aunt». Welt on the contrary, prefer «uncle» (so Victor addresses him like this), but Grace mostly uses «sovereign» as – in her words – the most suitable and polite form.

Yeah. Though twins always are having something in common – this two isn't an exception – Victor and Grace even showing their respect in different ways. But this is even longer story.

P.S. Second part with einjoyce's kiddo and a little bonuses will be somewhere in a future. That's all for now. Thanks for attention and till I see you next time in my thread talk✨

#anti entropy mentioned #mine #ae kindergarten #anti entropy crew sometimes behave like a big kids too but ANYWAY #feels like I wrote a lot and nothing at the same time huh #my evil side be like «because you've cutted the half of it duuuh»#I need to practice in writing again

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nimonabigbang · 11 months ago

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Nimona Big Bang Writer Signs Ups Closing March 1st!

Are you a writer who loves the Nimona movie and/or graphic novel? Would you like fanart for a fic?

What's a Big Bang?

A Big Bang is a collaborative fandom event that results in an explosion of new fanwork. Writers are paired with artists, who create fanart for the new fanfic written for the Bang.

For the Nimona Big Bang, we're asking for a 5,000 word minimum for fanfics and two art pieces. Participants can take on up to two possible roles: writer, artist, beta reader (to help proofread draft fics), writer pinch hitter (in case a writer needs to drop out), or artist pinch hitter (in case an artist needs to drop out).

What's the schedule?

Sign ups for all roles opened on January 1, 2024. The deadline to sign up is March 1st for writers, April 1st for artists, and July 28th for beta readers.

Writers need to provide fic summaries/200 word excerpts no later than April 20th so that artists can bid on them. Writers and artists will be paired by April 28th.

We will have several scheduled check-ins to make sure everyone's on track. If you feel like you need to drop out, please do so by July 15th so that we can try to find a replacement writer or artist for your partner.

Final fanfics and fanart will be revealed on September 14th.

The detailed schedule is here.

How do I sign up?

Please sign up using this form.

I'm not sure if I have enough time for this.

We understand that people are busy! The schedule was designed to be relatively relaxed and low pressure. You could also sign up as a pinch hitter in case a writer or artist needs to drop out.

What about...

More detailed information is in the Rules and Guidelines. We also have a Discord server.

If you can't find what you're looking for, feel free to send this blog an ask or message us! @random-nerd-posts and @zyrafowe-sny are helping run the event, with assistance from writer mod @knightofburgers, artist mod @toxix-st6, and beta reader mod @cameron7a.

We hope you sign up today and are looking forward to all the wonderful fic and fanart!

#nimona big bang #nimonabb #nimona #nimona fanfic #nimona graphic novel #nimona movie #nimona fanart #nimona fandom #nimona webcomic #signal boosts appreciated

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cal-daisies-and-briars · 2 months ago

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🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟 maybe a zombie apocalypse wouldn’t be so bad

168 or 1k to bring on that apocalypse, whatever I hit first haha:

---

“I know that!” Buck exclaims. “That’s not what I’m getting at!”

“Then what?” Karen asks.

Buck sighs. “Okay, maybe it’s still not a great time to think about it… But, like, what do I do about me?”

“About you?” Maddie asks.

“Yeah!” Buck nods, eyes wide and kind of bugging. “Like, this changes a lot. And I get that we kind of need to be focused on whooping intruder ass. But I’m a little… Shaken?”

“Shaken that you had sex with a hot guy and liked it?” Maddie asks. “And want to do it again?”

“Well… Yeah?”

Maddie and Karen exchange a look. Karen doesn’t know Maddie very well. She likes her. She just doesn’t know her. But they both know Buck. And Karen is fairly certain they both know where Buck is struggling here.

“Well, uh…” Maddie says. “I haven’t been through this, but… I think anytime you learn something big about yourself, it’s a good thing, right? Even if it’s maybe sort of scary at first?”

“And,” Karen adds. “It only has to mean what you want it to mean.”

“What I want it to mean?”” Buck asks.

Karen nods. “It’s up to you, Buck. There’s no right or wrong answer.”

Buck considers this.

“I don’t have to figure it out? Make some sort of announcement about myself?”

“Nope,” Karen shakes her head. “The Department of Gay Registrations was shut down during the zombie apocalypse.”

Buck gapes. “Wait, hold up… Oh. You’re joking.”

Maddie snorts. “Of course she’s joking.”

“You don’t have to do anything at all except be patient with yourself,” Karen says.

Buck smiles softly.

“And,” she adds. “If you’d be so inclined… You can help us build a bomb?”

Buck grins. “Oh, fuck yeah.”

September 10th, 2018

Karen can hardly sleep that night. She tosses and turns and lets restless hours pass her by. Her eyes and brain are begging her for rest, but there’s an underlying buzz in her body, avoiding sleep.

It’s not because she’s scared.

The trap is all set. She, Maddie, and Buck worked well into the night. If the men who assailed them today have friends, and those friends try anything, they’ll be sorry. Karen is sure of that. Proud of that. This is her family. She found a way to protect them. She’s a fucking bad ass, even if she was never a firefighter and, like her wife, not fond of guns.

So it’s not fear that keeps Karen awake. It’s anticipation.

Maybe that sounds sick. Maybe Karen is a total freak for wanting a bomb to go off sooner rather than later. It’s not like she looks forward to the explosion or the carnage. Really, she doesn’t. For no other reason than it will cause a fucking mess. But… Well, Karen just sort of wants to get it over with. See how well it works. Hopefully be rid of a threat. Maybe be able to fucking relax for a week. A lofty aspiration, she knows.

Hen comes back from a security camera shift around four in the morning.

“Babe, you’re awake?” She whispers when she sees Karen.

“Unfortunately,” Karen replies.

“You need to sleep, Karen. You’re going to fry your brain.”

“Thank you. I hadn’t try that,” Karen replies tightly.

“Sorry,” Hen sighs. She walks over and lowers herself down beside Karen on the mattress. “I get it, though. It’s been a hell of a day.”

“No kidding,” Karen replies, sitting up to match her eye-level. “Tomorrow will be weird, too.”

Even if they don’t face retaliation for what happened. There’s still a bunch of extra people in the library and everything is up in the air and… Well, Karen wants things to go back to a sense of normalcy. But she has a sense they won’t. They’ve made contact with so many people, fantastic and… Not. If zombies are less of a threat and people are coming out of the woodworks… Karen has a feeling things are going to be different in a big way. She just wants it to be positive.

“Do you think the girl gang will leave?” Hen asks.

Karen snorts. “You’re only saying it like that because you’re jealous.”

Hen chuckles. “Maybe a little. But I’m not jumping ship."

“Me neither,” Karen says. “I like our family.”

“Me too,” Hen smiles.

“Maybe I’d sleep better with someone to keep the bed a bit warmer,” Karen suggests with a wink.

“Oh? So I’m not a cover hog?”

“Not tonight, you better not be.”

“Well, come on,” Hen says, wriggling under the covers. “The night only has a few hours left.”

#daisies and briars writes #go and kill go and die fic

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