#their might be more of these coming as I work through TGS this time

[homestuckreplay]

Pesterlog Timestamps

I’ve wondered before about pesterlogs not having timestamps the way real instant messages generally do. Some pesterlogs begin with a timestamp - ‘-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 16:13 --’ (p.26) – but that doesn’t show the time between messages. It might be harder to read and would probably make the screen more cluttered, which is my guess as to why they’re not there, and for the most part it’s extraneous information.

But there’s one pesterlog that I think would really benefit from timestamps for each message, and it’s the late night unanswered messages Dave leaves for Jade on page 829. This page is such a great insight into Dave’s head, and there’s this clear ebb and flow to his thoughts that feels like bursts of frantic typing interspersed with pauses to wait or do other things. We know the messages start at 05:14 Dave’s time (CDT), so here’s what it might look like with timestamps.

05:14 TG: hey

A classic greeting; testing the waters and giving nothing away.

05:17 TG: oh 05:17 TG: youre asleep again arent you 05:17 TG: or do you even know if you are 05:17 TG: i still dont know how that works 05:17 TG: its like nothing means anything 05:17 TG: its so cool getting hella chumped by your coquettish damn riddles all the time 05:18 TG: i dont know why i believe anything you say im like the grand marshal of gross chumpage 05:18 TG: waving around my faggoty chumpductor baton 05:18 TG: assitant director of chumpography 05:18 TG: celebrated author ernest chumpingway 05:18 TG: wait weak 05:19 TG: chumpelstiltskin 05:19 TG: uh 05:20 TG: chumpeldipshit 05:20 TG: yeah

Dave’s first ‘hey’ must come from seeing Jade online, and these kids are very responsive to each other, so it probably only takes a few minutes of no reply before Dave realizes that Jade has fallen asleep while logged in. Instead of a quick ‘talk to you tomorrow’, he quickly descends into rambling about how ‘nothing means anything’ due to Jade’s ‘coquettish damn riddles’. Dave’s emotions don’t show on his face but they do show in his hands (p.464) and it’s not surprising that he lets some things slip in the middle of the night, maybe even hinting at some feelings for Jade.

In Dave’s earlier/later conversation with Jade (p.382) he’s a little thrown off by her powers, but overall staying calm. Here, late at night and without someone to bounce off of, he’s getting frustrated and talking himself into a corner, workshopping his own jokes, maybe coming up with a word he’ll reuse in a comic someday. These messages are very stream of consciousness, and only pause when the chump puns stop flowing through his fingers and need due consideration.

05:22 TG: youre asleep y/n? 05:23 TG: a/s/l? 05:23 TG: s = species 05:23 TG: baboon? 05:23 TG: kangaroo rat? 05:23 TG: if kangaroo rat yiff twice plz

By this point in the story we know about Jade’s interest in furries, and that Dave is (ironically?) supportive of this. I’m sure this is an excellent source of humor for Dave and something he jokes about all the time. I could read lots into the ‘s’ being species here, where it’s typically sex (biological sex, used synonymously with gender) only the traditional ‘s’ isn’t something that’s relevant to Dave. I know that he does not intend that meaning and is just making a furry joke. Maybe these are jokes Jade gets annoyed at, and Dave is poking at this in case she’s ignoring his messages and this gets her to respond.

05:27 TG: ok well youre not saying anything so i guess whether youre nonawake or unasleep or whatever youre just not around and im wasting good material 05:27 TG: even worse im wasting a killer fursona here 05:27 TG: like 05:28 TG: i dont know like a wide open v shaped leotard and a fuck ton of body paint 05:28 TG: some like sinewy back arching cirque du soleil looking motherfucker 05:28 TG: always low to the ground gettin a good prowl on 05:28 TG: like i dropped my keys in the dark 05:28 TG: nimblest son of a bitch who had the gumption to glue a nasty pair of latex cat lips to his face 05:28 TG: for a reason that wasnt a joke

Dave goes into his second set of rambling messages, forgetting that he’s annoyed at Jade as he enters full fursona creation mode. He’s ‘wasting a killer fursona’ but he literally can’t stop himself from doing it – he either doesn’t think of saving his ideas until Jade’s around, or he wants to give her something silly to wake up to. The ‘i dont know like’ gives the sense that Dave started typing not knowing how the sentence would end, and also downplays his ideas before he even gets to them. But as he keeps typing he forgets to be so self conscious for a few messages. He has an artistic vision and a great vocabulary and is using all these evocative words – ‘sinewy’, ‘arching’, ‘prowl’, ‘nimblest’ and ‘gumption’ paint a picture of this proud and athletic creature. One that doesn’t resemble a kangaroo rat at all, which is even better. Dave’s imagination is all over the place.

05:32 TG: jade hey 05:32 TG: where are you 05:32 TG: seriously im sitting here tonight with a fucking bag of kibble jacked open on my lap and primed for goddamn bear 05:32 TG: and youre gone

After running out of steam on his fursona, Dave might try turning his attention elsewhere for a few minutes, and then remember that he’s tired, lonely, and didn’t get any validation on his recent jokes. These are the most heartfelt and open his messages get. I don’t think Pesterchum has a ‘delete’ option, otherwise Jade wouldn’t have seen these ones. Dave’s still got furries on the brain here as he goes straight for an animal metaphor, and once again he’s thinking of himself like the victim of Jade’s attacks, and the bear attack is a lot more visceral than just getting chumped by her riddles. There’s a desperation behind Dave trying to restart the conversation with another ‘hey’ followed by a ‘where are you’ that he knows by now won’t be answered. It’s so lonely, but it doesn’t feel selfish; the ‘bag of kibble’ metaphor reads like Dave knows Jade would enjoy this conversation and he wants her to share in this with him.

05:34 TG: btw my name is Akwete Purrmusk 05:34 TG: hardest buttock in the jungle 05:34 TG: tempered steel

Dave has a disease called ‘commitment to the bit’ and it’s terminal. He also needs to make a quick recovery from those actual feelings he expressed above. By this point in the conversation I have a visual in my mind – it’s a big black cloud in Dave’s mind of all the problems he wants to avoidthinking about, and two shining bats at either side marked ‘talk to Jade?’ and ‘kangaroo rat fursona’ and his thoughts are rapidly ping-ponging back and forth between those to avoid all the bad in the middle. So with Jade not responding to his pleas, of course he returns to his two standards of imagination and wordplay, adding to the slightly cursed but incredibly well drawn mental image of Akwete.

05:38 TG: hey yeah just wanted to give you this remix i finished 05:38 TG: here turntechGodhead [TG] sent gardenGnostic [GG] file "explore remix.mp3" at 05:38

It is at this point in the conversation that we learn Dave had a reason for messaging Jade. He probably wanted to drop this into conversation casually like it was no big deal, and might have distracted himself into forgetting about it until now. It’s also possible he wasn’t intending to send it, but was embarrassed by all his ramblings above, so came up with a quick excuse. ‘Explore’ was originally written by Jade (in-universe) and we learn on the next page that it’s not the first time these two have collaborated. Dave is outwardly confident in his musical abilities (p.339) and has the ready-made excuse of irony that makes it easier for him to share his art, protecting him from negative responses. Jade is also reluctant to criticize others, so all those factors combined means Dave is probably comfortable with sending Jade his remix.

05:41 TG: so yeah 05:42 TG: you dont have to respond to any of that btw 05:42 TG: ill probably forget half the shit i said anyway 05:42 TG: talk to you tomorrow

Maybe Dave’s finally heading to bed, or maybe he doesn’t like to leave things hanging (p.445), but he rounds out the conversation and officially signs off. By both taking the pressure off Jade to respond, and claiming that he’ll forget what he said, Dave denies any importance to his own thoughts. Maybe he hopes Jade will scroll to the bottom and see these messages first, and ignore everything from above. He definitely feels ashamed of some or all of what he’s said – whether it’s the general practice of sending a large volume of messages to someone who’s offline, the hints towards his own loneliness, the possibility that his new fursona could be serious and unironic, the remix as the whole basis for conversation, or all of the above. Dave has a tendency for speaking without thinking and then regretting what he’s said, struggling to meet the high standards of self control that his bro has set for him, and since he can’t go back and fix his slips, this is his only way of correcting them.

Dave’s hope to talk to Jade tomorrow wins out over his embarrassment, and softens the couple of messages before it – Dave is dismissing his own thoughts, not the overall idea of talking to Jade. He’s not the type to send a ‘<3’, but it feels implied.

[markantonys]

the good thing about the slog is that because such little of true import happens over such a long chunk of the series, the show is quite well-positioned to be able to tell the whole story cohesively in any number of seasons after 4. only 4 seasons would be tricky, but 5 or 6 would be just as doable as 7 or 8. (disclaimer that there has not been any news or speculation about potentially getting less than 8 seasons so don't panic haha it's just a topic i was randomly thinking about today! that being said, i do think 8 seasons is pretty ambitious in today's television landscape, especially if it continues to take 2 years to make each season, so while we're all hoping for the full 8, it's worth imagining how they could do it in fewer.)

i expect s4 to roughly coincide with the end of LOC, so, dumai's wells for rand and being raised amyrlin for egwene. perrin, mat, nynaeve, and elayne have more wiggle room in what they might be getting up to during s4 (it seems possible the ebou dar trip might be absorbed into tanchico in s3, and perrin may have to get an invented plotline or have a later plotline brought forward for s4 since he has so little in TFOH-LOC), so i won't guess at the endpoint for them beyond that it will likely leave them ready to kick into a fresh new storyline for s5. and nynaeve frankly doesn't have a book storyline after ebou dar (she's just supporting rand's & lan's storylines), so i'll ignore her in this post and just focus on the other 5 mains. fingers crossed the show will come up with more for nynaeve to do during this part of the story, but that's a separate topic.

after LOC, as far as i can recall, each of them only has 1-2 main things they strictly Must do before the last battle (obviously i've left out a bunch of stuff, but i'm thinking of just the absolute bare minimum essentials here):

rand: cleanse saidin (only requires 1 episode); reach his lowest point, then pull himself back up again, all the while simultaneously working to get as many nations under his banner as possible

egwene: unite the tower as uncontested amyrlin

perrin: finish wolf training; fold the whitecloaks into his army

mat: rescue moiraine (only requires 1 episode); get himself in charge of the seanchan forces

elayne: become uncontested queen of andor

so if s4 ends where i speculate, they'd all be perfectly positioned to spend 4-6 episodes of s5 doing these things, then the last battle for the remaining 2-4 episodes, and boom, we've fit all the most crucial things into only 5 seasons.

i know the instinct is to gasp and insist that they all have so much else to do, but.........do they really? everybody agrees that egwene & elayne & perrin only have 1 plotline during books 7-11 which is dragged out for more books than is needed to tell it, so mat and rand are really the sticking points. but if you think about it, mat spends this time repeatedly starting one plotline but then getting yanked out of it partway through to start a new one, so he doesn't actually accomplish that much story-wise. rand, meanwhile, is on a bunch of little 1-book quests (taking illian, seanchan campaign, hunting traitor asha'man, trying to meet with DOTNM) that could be cut for time or merged into his Darth Rand emotional arc from TGS. honestly, he's so emotionally stagnant for most of books 7-11 (he's either not present, dicking around doing nothing, or repeating emotional beats he already did in TSR-LOC) that i don't think going from dumai's wells straight to Darth Rand would be a bad idea at all, if the show had to; in fact, dumai's wells is kind of a perfect launchpoint for that arc, emotions-wise, and plot-wise, if they wanted to replace some of the arad doman events with some slog events, but just put the Darth Rand emotional spin on those slog events, they could easily do so (for example, him being reckless/arrogant with callandor against the seanchan and getting his own people killed could sub in for natrin's barrow in showing how ruthlessly Ends Justify Means he's becoming).

but anyway, these are imo the absolute most crucial pre-TLB plot points of the second half of the series (at least for these main characters, i'm not taking ALL characters into account in this post) and they could be fit into only 5 seasons without much trouble. now if you've got 6, 7, or 8 seasons, that gives extra room to expand these plot points and also add in some additional, not-strictly-required-but-nice-to-have plot points like more Little Rand Quests, elayne taking the throne of cairhien, egwene & gawyn hunting assassins in the tower, and the faile kidnapping plotline. (while making this post i actually had a wild thought of the faile kidnapping being perrin's s4 plotline followed by wolves & whitecloak stuff in s5 then into TLB, or alternately the whitecloaks being part of the kidnapping plotline as perrin's unlikely allies rather than the seanchan; could be a great structure for a 5-6 season scenario, but for 7-8 it would cause perrin to run out of content too quickly haha)

[skylermadness]

Snack Shenanigans [B Side] (Gunzo Tamamura TF/TG/MC)

(Original Date of Upload: October 27, 2023)

Original Description:

I wrote an alt for a story for once! I've actually tried handling story alts before but they never really went well because I lost all motivation to complete the second iteration, so I just uploaded the first one and called it a day. Really proud of myself for finishing an alt though! Especially since I think I might like this one a bit more than the original! But they both are good stories either way. Also yes there's a little bit of copying and pasting in terms of descriptions and stuff, but I think despite that this story being a whole 1k words longer than the other must testify to something that should make the few moments of copying and pasting a non-issue.

   One of the more prominent constants when it came to Madison's daily trips to her college campus were her visits to the cafeteria's drink vending machines after lunch. And more often than not she'd buy the exact same thing from the machine's array of beverages. For the most part she tended to orient herself more towards the carbonated side of things when it came to drinks. Well that and the moment she learned about fruit punch-flavored soda all other flavors were thrown out the window in preference for that one. So with all things considered her trips to the vending machine were short, simplistic, and unchanging.

   That was until today anyway. The one time Madison forgot to order from the machine prior to lunch she ends up having to experience the disappointment of realizing that what you want is no longer in stock. Not the worst experience of course, but definitely a bit of a let down. Despite all of that however, a part of her still insisted on ordering something from the vending machine. But between the rather disinteresting menagerie of soda flavors and the rather bland selection of Gatorade flavors it was evident that this might not occur. At least until her eyes landed on a small selection of beverages in the furthest corner of the machine.

   The selection in question was a set of four drinks all under the same labeling: Yoyogi Protein. Evidently a quartet of protein drinks that all came in fruity flavors. Passionfruit, coconut, chokecherry, and pineapple. A rather interesting selection of drinks, but she's never really been all that into protein drinks. Then again it did come in passionfruit which was another fruit flavor she was particularly fond of. And considering she still has the taste for something fruity…

   Shrugging, she made up her mind and set up her order with the vending machine. A satisfying thunk could be heard as the bottle was pushed forward off the conveyor and into the machine’s pick-up box. She then retrieved her drink from the pick-up box before making her way out of the cafeteria. 

   As Madison continued her trek down the hallway she internally makes plans to find a nice seat on one of the hallway benches and kill this last half-hour before her next class. She would've preferred to head up to the campus' library to try and get some work done prior to that but considering the place's strict anti-consumable rules that was out of the question for the time being. Then again she didn't really mind sitting in the hallway for a bit. It just meant she could cycle through the social media sites she uses in silence (save for the people who use the elevator next to where she usually sits). 

   A few more steps and a turn would lead her to her favorite bench to sit on. Placing her backpack beside her she took a seat and leaned onto the wall before unscrewing the bottle. However before she fully removed it she brought the beverage up to eye level with her to inspect it. The liquid within it looked to be particularly thick as it sloshed around in its plastic confines. It did have a pleasant deep purple coloration to it though. She wasn't really sure what she was expecting from it though. She ended her inspection there and unscrewed the cap fully before promptly bringing the bottle to her mouth and starting her consumption of the protein drink.

   …yup, the fluid definitely feels very thick in the mouth. Seemed to taste rather tart and floral as well. Definitely like how she was used to passionfruit tasting. Still not her most favorite type of drink though, but she didn't particularly dislike it. It could always work as a good back-up if she ever were to forget to order her soda again.

   With those thoughts in her mind Madison continued drinking, the woman blissfully unaware of the changes starting to form on her body as she did. It was rather isolated at first. The fingers on both hands slowly got thicker, ends and nails getting more blunt with each passing second. This evidently continued as her fingers continued to grow in thickness with a similar shift in size quickly jumping to the hands themselves. A firm meatiness steadily accumulating within each hand; larger, bulkier, seemingly more powerful in appearance. At some point they just looked blocky in appearance, almost seemingly more masculine.

   A low heat started to arise as the changes steadily moved upwards, going beyond her wrists and beneath the sleeves of her sweater. Her musculature was getting heavily affected by this, strength building up in both limbs as the thickness continued to increase in prominence. The slender appearance her arms usually possessed we getting replaced easily, muscle mass constantly being accrued and granting them a look and size that just emanated strength and power. It wasn't long until the sleeves of her sweater began filling out, the outlines of her muscles etching into the fabric.

   This wasn't the only change in her physicality however. Despite the warmth that had budded within her, Madison was also experiencing slight chills in the region that was being changed. They were only minor temperature shifts at first but with each one she experienced a sliver of her skin darkened, hardened into scar tissue. One scar on the back of her left hand, one on the back of her right, another set on her forearms, one long one on her left elbow. It was just scars of varying sizes just constantly forming on the already changed portions of her arm, and this would only continue as the shifts in her body progressed. Although for now it would all be hidden beneath the sleeves of her sweater.

   Despite the small chills, her muscles and arms continued to remain warm. Every so often she'd get a feeling of a freezing slash across one of her biceps or shoulders, but it would instantly be displaced by the heat of her muscles growing. Especially since by this point some of the more major muscle groups had gotten their almost instant workout with her biceps and triceps bulking up in unity. The broadness of Madison's shoulders increased drastically as the deltoid muscles developed and rounded out even more. By this point the almost fragile seaming of her sweater began to break, tears splitting open around her much thicker upper arms and revealing the  newly rigid and strength-filled muscles of her limbs.

   The sudden sounds of tearing finally alerted her to the changes. Madison stopped drinking the protein drink (which at this point still was around 65% full) and looked over to inspect the sound's source. Her eyes widened. "Wh-huh…? What happened to my arm?? Why is it so… muscular…?"

   Her gaze trailed downwards, the woman inspecting one arm up until she laid eyes on her hands and finally took note of the scars as well. "Scars too?? How long have they been like that!? W-wait-"

   Her gaze then drifted over to the protein drink bottle in her hand. No, there's no way something like that could have magically given her this kind of muscle mass, right? Right??

   All of this made a part of her want to panic, and yet something else about this still intrigued her. She placed the bottle of the suspicious beverage beside her, then outstretched her hand. Staring at the way the muscles were outlined in the fabric of her sweater, straining against the sleeve of it. Out of curiosity she gave her arm a good flex and watched as some more tears formed in the sleeve. It was a little uncanny, yet the raw strength that coursed through her felt oddly appealing!

   Madison's train of thought then broke as she felt another bout of cold enter her body, the woman momentarily shivering at the sudden temperature shift. "Urgh- can't tell if that's the temperature or-" she coughed at the sudden feeling of her voice crack in her through, "-or my bodily changes…"

   Leaning forward a bit, Madison could feel the transformation to move beyond her shoulders. Her chest just beginning to heat up, core almost burning as she felt the changes rush to her torso.

   The overall width of Madison's frame was probably the next thing to start changing, her form broadening out and shifting to dispel her usually skinny figure more. This type of change got more prominent as her chest became the next part of her body to get altered. A feeling of a cold squeeze entered her chest, breasts feeling like they were getting flattened by this strange pressure. The fatty tissue within them was steadily melting away causing her chest to flatten more and more by the second. As it did so the muscles beneath them began to grow, swelling out rapidly to the point it would almost appear that her breasts hardened into thick slabs of pectorals. These newly developed muscles would quickly grow a little bit more, but not large enough that they were the size of someone more oriented towards constant workouts. If anything they looked more like those of a strong athlete granting her some great upper body strength. This then came with another cold slash on the upper corner of her right pectoral which granted her a small X-shaped scar.

   She then felt a sudden cold-feeling punch into her gut followed by an intense cramping in her abdominal region. "A-argh! That… that-" she grunted as she felt her throat crack again, voice seeming to deepen for a moment. "What the heck was in that protein drink, man…"

   Madison tried to disregard the sound of her voice… or the fact that her thought pattern translated that comment less as 'that drink is the catalyst of my transformation' and more 'did that drink shoot straight through my body?' That very thought seemed to cause a light haze to enter her mind with thoughts steadily becoming a little bit harder. Curiosity faded to confusion as she started to wonder just what these changes were entailing now. And in truth she was starting to feel like she was forgetting a few things…

   Nonetheless she didn't enjoy the feeling of her gut churning around, nor did she like the increasingly heightened prospect of someone walking by and seeing her. With those worries in mind she stood up, used an arm to support her cramping abdomen, and started to make her way to the bathroom nearby. 

   With major changes ensuing in her abdomen it wasn't too long until it too underwent noticeable physical changes. As it churned the skin began to bubble almost as abdominal muscles steadily rose from her skin. They slotted out almost sequentially with row after row extending out until she had been granted a six-pack set of abs. However much like her pectorals, her abdominal muscles were not bodybuilder peak in size and appeared much more modest and oriented towards athletics. Alongside this it would seem a little bit of fat accumulated around the region as well to slightly fill out the area, just barely giving some smoothness to her abdomen. There was also some burning to her sides as her oblique muscles developed a little more, the intense heat being subsided by more scar-forming cold slashes. By the time her abdomen was finished changing she reached the bathroom that was luckily unoccupied. Rushing in there she locked the door before heading to the mirror. It would seem she didn't notice that she had subconsciously rushed into the men's room though…

   Staring at herself in the mirror she came to the slow realization of just how large she had become. Evidently she had gotten quite wider and she was definitely a bit taller. Both of these facts were why her sweater felt so ill-fitting horizontal and why the hem of it was rising up her belly. And there still seemed to be a prominent feel of decompression in the woman's spine as that seemed to still be growing a bit. 

   But all of her analysation of herself was broken in an instant as she felt something freezing pierce through the haze of her brain and straight into it. She stepped back with a grunt, holding her head in her massive hands while squeezing her eyes shut. Thankfully though the surge of pain subsided almost as quickly as it arrived, but it resulted in something weirder than the transformation itself.

   Her right eye's iris had been shocked into a bright crimson, and through that eye she could see what looked to be a quartet of weird see-through ghost-like figures clinging onto her back. They had a strange shape to them, looking to be almost spherical in shape with their body predominately being composed of a single large eye, all while their limbs had been wrapped around her arms and torso for who knows how long.

   A single term ran through her head once she saw them: Legion. And something about hearing that term echo through her fogged up mind had prevented her from panicking. She knew these creatures. They were… some of familiar, maybe? She wasn't quite sure. She just knew they weren't a harm to her…

   "Eheh, you guys look pretty cute!" she said with a smile. The compliment seemed to elicit a positive reaction from a few of the Legion, their eyelids closing in such a way that they looked happy. In a way it made her happy too, so much so that she decided not to dwell on the fact her voice had changed even more. Getting deeper with a tone that carried a level of youthful awkwardness to it.

   Curious again Madison decided to look down to better see where Legion had wrapped itself around her, and she found two of the four had begun spiraling their arms around her legs. As they did so the transformation continued to progress to the lower half of her body. This section of changes mirrored that of her arms, muscle mass easily packing into both sections of her legs with a quick pacing. Thighs grew thicker with bulkier hamstrings and quadriceps, and she could feel a surge of heat flare up in her calves as they bloated up with muscle mass as well. Her height continued to increase as well, Madison wincing a bit as she heard her knees pop and decompress a bit before increasing in size and strength.

   Madison also got to see the source of the occasional freeze slashes she was experiencing, that being from when some of Legion traced their fingers over her skin. The scars were still not extremely visible to her, but her legs were evidently less scarred as the rest of her body seemed to be with only a few of them scattered around the crus of her legs and her calves. However all of this combined contributed to her jeans feeling severely more constricted, a few tears forming in the sides as a result.

   What followed were the changes in her feet. While very few scars were traced into the bridge of her feet the overall size of them steadily increased in all directions. They got wider, pushing up against the sides of her shoes easily. And they got longer, heels digging into the back of her footwear while her toes pressed up against the front. The overall thickness of her feet became rather impressive as well, toes having become chunkier while the foot itself was dense and blocky looking like her hands. It wouldn't take very long for them to grow to a fitting proportion for her new body, their appearance having quickly altered to fit the more masculine look that Madison now was possessing. It resulted in her shoes having immense trouble containing her larger feet with a couple rips already forming across the sides and even the front splitting open and some toes poking out.

   Madison smiled, although laughing nervously at hearing her shoes burst. "Y-you dudes seem to be doing great! Something about this just feels so good…"

   She shivered a bit as she felt one of the Legions place a hand in front of her neck and begin rubbing it. Her voice had already mostly changed but at this point it seemed to be forcing the changes to finish and settle. Just lowering it more to be just like that of an awkward young adult male.

   "A-ah! You're really doing a lot of work on me, bros! I think you just have the head!" he then turned his head and flexed an arm again, casually inspecting his body for a few seconds. "Might as well start considering myself a guy as well with what you dudes did to me!"

      The very thought of that was appealing to him. A more correct assumption especially based on the way his body looked. So much more masculine and athletic. It felt like she had the body of one of those jocks she'd see walk around campus! 

   While her thoughts trailed one of the four Legions had given him a thumbs up before placing its hands onto the sides of her head. It then began squeezing her head, her skull structure and face just becoming practically malleable under the palms of the ghost-like entity. Skull being stretched out wider, his jawline broadening and chiseling out into a more angular and almost square shape. In general it would seem the very structure of his skull was being widened and lengthened into a more square-like appearance. 

   Madison watched in the mirror as the Legion continued its work, this time shifting his facial structure even more. Pulling and broadening his nose, its bridge of it was evidently wider while the structure of it was reshaped away from a short one and into one a bit larger. His eyes were made a little larger and rounder, and as it trailed its fingers across his eyebrows he could see the hairs of them get thicker (especially towards the ends). He also felt it tug on his ears to make them a bit larger and rounder in shape alongside sticking out more. Furthermore, it brushed a finger across his chin and sides of his head to cause light amounts of hair to grow out from his skin and form slight stubble. Lastly came a slash on his left cheek to form yet another scar.

   All while one Legion did work on his face, another one was concurrently doing work on his hair. Slowly rubbing its hands up and down his scalp and causing his hair to shorten with its touch, and it only continued to do so as his face was being morphed. Slowly it went up from being shoulder length to trailing up the nape of his neck to being of equal length with his chin, and it still got shorter as time continued. All the while the waviness of it was straightened, and the dark blonde coloration was deepened to an almost reddish-brown. Alongside this the Legion also gave Madison some thicker sideburns. By the time his hair was what could only be defined as 6/8 of an inch the Legion deemed that length acceptable and ran its hand through his hair to style it. It resulted in his hair being given a slightly messy and short spiky style. The spikes were typically raised upwards and forwards, and in the end the appearance just looked somewhat disheveled and disorganized. By the end it was styled in a way that he just couldn't resist running a hand through to just feel what his hair.

   "This is so cool, dude…" he said, watching the spikes of his hair poke in between his fingers. Everything about this body felt so new, but at the same time the cloud in his mind was making it seem so familiar as well. The more he stared into the mirror and the more he looked at his own face the more it seemed like this wasn't something he had just been transformed into.

   "W-woah, what are you dudes doing to me…?" he asked, taking a step back and placing a single hand on the side of his head. So many blanks were being drawn in quick succession. He was someone else just a few minutes ago, right? Then why can't he seem to remember that. The last thing he can recall was just drinking some new protein drink from that vending machine. Then why was he in the bathroom? Wasn't something… happening to his body? "Nnngh, hard to think…"

   He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt some of Legion begin to massage his temples. Right, Legion, always there when he needed it… just should contrate… or perhaps he should just forget it all and go back to what he was doing. This was all just so confusing, dude…

   As the man was placed in a state of mental discombobulation, the two Legion not tending to his migraine started to futz around with his clothing and alter it. Wrapping arms around his sweater and palming it up and down, restitching the tears and loosening it up to fit more snug around his form. They pulled the sleeves up his arm until they were slightly above his bicep, the action just shortening them completely instead of rolling them upwards. The constant pawing of Legion caused the soft material of the sweater to harden, shifting into some kind of durable nylon. The change in material also forced a change in color, bright red overtaking the sweater with ease as white stripes ran vertically from his sleeves to his neck: a bold horizontal one across his chest with a second smaller one a bit beneath it, and another two vertical ones down the side. The neck even deepened a little, a small placket forming with associated buttons and eyelets. The neckline itself lengthened up into a short collar that propped itself upwards around his own neck. Lastly, a Legion traced a small symbol on the uniform's right side to create what seemed to be a symbol composed of three arrows all pointing in different directions.

   Seemingly continuing the changes of his attire to something more sport-oriented, the ghostly entities enlarging his legwear a little bit while shortening the legs of his pants until they reached halfway down his thighs. The material remained a hard denim, but their touch also shifted its color from deep blue to bright white. His socks soon followed when it came to size changes and shifts as Legion pulled them both up until they mostly encapsulated his lower legs. His footwear was the next part to get changed, becoming larger while the material hardened again as the white shifted to a deep blue. The soles of his shoes brightened to yellow as rounded nubs poked out from them. Straps became string as more additional designs were added to the footwear to make them appear more visually intriguing. If anything they appeared to be rugby cleats now. 

   The final additions to his attire came with the addition of something that ran beneath his uniform and shorts. The Legion materializing black leather beneath them and over his body, the strange new piece of clothing continuing to stretch over his form for a few seconds. The neck of it was just barely visible, and sleeves lengthened until they were nestled around his biceps, and the portion of it around his legs were barely visible. In the end it would seem to be a compression shirt and shorts combo that had been manifested, which ended the granting of sports gear to the newly transformed human.

   As Legion continued to rub the man's head, their actions were steadily draining away his concerns. The ghosts (well, demons more accurately) removing his thoughts of a former identity, a former life, anything that could be traced back to those things. Nothing for this man to worry about, his only concern being those that his current life would give him. But there was nothing to worry about at all… That's what they were telling him after all, and after one last bit of inner turmoil he believed it.

   The headache subsided and Gunzo blinked his eyes, the left one now the same red as the right. "U-urgh, that was… weird. Don't think I've ever gotten a headache like that before…"

   He felt one of Legion's ghostly hands rub his back in reassurance, the rugby player smiling in response. "Thanks, dudes! Glad you guys got my back!"

   A separate Legion gave him a thumbs up. Nodding in acknowledgement of it, Gunzo remains focused on the spectral entity as he makes his way to the entrance and opened it. Unfortunately his lack of focus on what's in front of him causes him to collide with someone as he leaves.

   "Oof- a-ah, sorry!" Gunzo apologized, a little panicked at the sudden collision between him and this other guy.

   The other guy just stepped back a bit, also noticeably startled. "No, it's alright! Was a little worried someone else was going to be occupying this for a while…"

   "Ahh, sorry if the wait was a bit… can't even remember why I was in there…"

   The other guy tilted his head. "Riiiight…"

   The two then part. Gunzo makes his way down the hall as the guy he bumped into walks into the bathroom. Unaware to both of them, this interaction had given the second party a weird feeling of bloating being caused by his stomach seeming to get fatter. His shirt also was getting a few splotches of blue as well… but that was a problem for him to deal with.

   On the other hand, Gunzo made his way down the hall before his peripherals caught the sight of something on a nearby bench. Turning his head out of curiosity he found a protein drink bottle beside a backpack. For some reason his brain registered both as his own.

   "Oh, can't believe I almost forgot these!" He walked over to the bench and hauled up the backpack to his back before picking up the bottle. He eyed the bottle in suspicion however, but that only lasted a few seconds before he shrugged it off. "Should be enough to hold me over during practice," he commented before going about his day…

[lukas-broken-bow]

So brainstorming specifically the event of Pretty Jekyll being back at the society. We need to know how he got back, how used to being Pretty brained he is, how he finds the lodgers, how they react to him. How exactly do they discover what's wrong with him, is it drawn out before they realize? What do they do about it, try to snap him out of it? Test what the state of his cognitive abilities are? Does he still care about the society in this state? How has it been holding up without him to defend the lodgers? Did any of them give up on him coming back? Surely they tried to get him back before now, why didn't it work? Were they the one's who tried to get him back? What did they assume happened to Hyde when he never showed up again after Jekyll left? Where do they even think Jekyll went? What ARE Jekyll's current cognitive abilities while he's in this state? We can't decide what they do with him after the initial shock without knowing that and I feel like all the next things to ask are about what they do with him after that. We know he would be slower and duller then before. And very open to suggestion. He's also not used to living in 1986, or whenever exactly TGS takes place (I'm not sure), with 1986 technology. I assume he got stuck in the future for months, and it's very easy to get used to all the advantages and access to everything and fail safes that come with the future. Especially for someone suffering from Pretty brain damage who can't clearly understand what's important about doing hard things. At least in the beginning, he would need to be taken care of and retaught how to live in this era. And after that, Rachel would probably have a hard time letting him do anything without supervision. The surgery is designed to make you as helpless as possible. Probably there would be moments of lucidity and his friends would spend months trying to piece together what causes them and recreate it. Those same months would probably feature a very sick, shaky Hyde who is actually capable of falling into a fitful, fragile sleep in headspace, honing his ability to persuade the nightmares to do what he wants. Because it would be persuasion, I think. You saw the scene where Hyde asks Moreau to up Jekyll's hallucinations. That's the mechanic. And anyway, I would assume these things cannot be ordered around as precisely as the Gentleman's chains, like limbs. They are made of the same kind of stuff Hyde is. These two plots will come together in the climax when it takes whatever the meat crew and Hyde's monsters going on at once to fix Jekyll. On that note. How the fuck are we Hyde to spend all that time and attention doing that? He would probably be willing to do anything to fix himself, but how would he know that the nightmares would help with that.

Can you think of any more questions?

okay so honestly I think Jekyll being Pretty-brained might not be SUUUPER obvious but after like. a full conversation with him, it probably becomes rather clear that something is wrong. regarding their reaction: they're the Lodgers. they're going to try to figure out what's wrong, such a testing his cognitive abilities, and they're likely going to come up with plans to snap him out of it (some of which are probably rather hair-brained).

I think he probably has some devotion to the Society left, if only superficially. but I think what's horrifying is that he's probably now become what Frankenstein accused him of being: a squeaky-clean gentleman with nothing real inside, so he's probably not viewing his previous endeavours through the same lens as he once was. presumably, his cognitive abilities technically aren't super impaired, but his priorities and thought processes have certainly changed, plus. y'know. proable brain lesion. but yeah, I think the outward change would reflect further in interactions and through substance rather than full-on cognitive impairment. I'd actually love to ponder a Pretty!Jekyll and Frankie interaction; what do you think would happen?

I think Lanyon and Rachel have probably been holding the Society up in his absence, but the exhibition was probably postponed and they're struggling. some of the lodgers probably gave up *looks at Helsby and Griffin* but I'd like to imagine most of them held out hope.

regarding trying to get him back, I'm having a hard time recalling how he got there in the first place. was it because of a machine that the lodgers built? also, I don't think it would have taken the lodgers months to get him back, so maybe some hypothetical time dilation is in order - perhaps he's only been gone for a few days in their time, maybe not even that long. idk, what do you think? I'm having a hard time conceptualising.

the lodgers: hey Jekyll do you know where Hyde is, we're kind of worried about him. Jekyll, smiling serenely: it's alright. they fixed him. the lodgers: wtf do you mean, fixed him?! who's they?!?!

Jekyll gets culture shock from his own culture and terrorises the lodgers with mentions of what's in the future. no one is okay. I'm really into your thoughts about re-orienting Jekyll to his own timeline - I'd love to hear more about that. and YES, Hyde honing his nightmare powers!!! I agree, charisma/persuasion is definitely the way to go. regarding why he'd spend all that time and attention doing that, I'd wager a guess that the other members of the headspace had a hand in it. most likely, Hyde gives up on ever fixing the problem, because he feels trapped and useless, and then the Gentleman smacks him and explains that he's not helpless in the mindscape, they all have abilities, and it's time for him to use his for the greater good. Mind!Frankie probably also smacks him at one point, and they probably help him hone his skills.

[collinrobinsonsglasses]

anon since this is my first time doing this but i’m fucking devastated after the news. i have a weirdly specific scenario in mind with izzy x gn reader where reader panics/overloads sometimes if the crew get too loud tg or unexpected canon fire etc but is usually able to hide it from the crew. maybe they’ve been stressed or on edge lately and they kinda shutdown infront of the crew. and izzy comes over annoyed at first but when he sees reader not responding he takes charge and emotional hurt/comfort essentially. idk if this is too formulaic so take creative liberty!

Izzy Hands x Reader (GN)

Masterlist

I loved this suggestion, and I hope it was what you're looking for. This is a shorter one. Lots of fluff and Izzy comfort.

Silence is Golden

This week on The Revenge felt like the longest and most exhausting since you first set sail with Stede Bonnet. The crew battled through multiple storms, tirelessly navigating the turbulent seas, constantly soaked to the bone. You had always been more sensitive than your crewmates. The sound of cannon fire made you want to seek refuge below deck, the sensation of your soaked clothes clinging to your skin felt unbearable, and it was impossible to ever get a moment alone on such a small ship. While you imagined that everyone experienced these feelings to some extent, for you, it often felt overwhelming. You had never shared this with anyone, striving to fit in and appear as a capable pirate. However, after this demanding week, everything began to weigh heavily on you. 

For that reason, relief washed over you when Captain Bonnet proposed that everyone take a vacation, emphasizing the importance of leisure. You yearned for some solitude, a chance to gaze at the waves and unwind for the first time in a week. Your hopes were swiftly dashed when Frenchie and Wee John enthusiastically began playing with the explosives. Realizing it was their vacation too, you silently moved further down the beach, not wanting to complain and spoil their fun. The explosions reverberated, rattling your head, and your body urged you to flee from the deafening sound. However, you found yourself sitting on a rock further down the beach, attempting to coax yourself into calming down. Perched on the rock, your right leg shook, fingers gently tracing the contours of a shell you discovered on the beach, all the while yearning for the explosions to cease. 

To add to everything, Buttons joined you on your rock, enthusiastically listing off every sea animal imaginable. At this point, you experienced a mental shutdown, unable to escape the sensory overload – it felt as if your brain had flicked a switch off. The following hours slipped away rapidly, leaving you in a dazed state that was far from relaxing. As everyone returned to the ship, preparing to set sail once more, exhaustion weighed heavily on you. Descending to sit on the stairs, you rested your head on your knees, not having the energy to help your crewmates on deck. 

Realization hit you suddenly, as Izzy’s raised voice echoed in front of you, though the words remained indecipherable. Lifting your gaze towards him, you observed the frustration etched across his face before his words finally sharpened into focus. 

“You’ve had an entire fucking day to do nothing,” Izzy sneered. “Get your ass to work. You’re acting like the rest of these lazy twats today.” 

You fixed your gaze on Izzy as he addressed you, your heart quickening its pace. Bowing your head back onto your knees, you attempted to curl into a tighter ball, wishing in that moment to vanish. Izzy’s words resonated, and you couldn’t help but acknowledge the truth in them. The realization of your own laziness brought a pang of guilt washing over you. The entire day spent doing nothing hadn’t brought you peace, but instead left you feeling worse than before. In the past weeks, you had grown closer to Izzy, sensing he tolerated you more than others. Now, you feared this display might change the dynamic between you. 

You felt the tender warmth of his hand as it gently scratched your head, his fingers moving through your hair in a soothing and affectionate manner. Then your arm was gently grasped, coaxing you to rise from your seated position. Placing both hands on the back of your shoulders, he guided you below deck and eventually to his cabin. Izzy’s unexpectedly gentle demeanor toward you caught you off guard; it wasn’t what you had expected. 

“Sit there,” he instructed, gesturing to the small bed in the corner of his room. “I’ll be back once we’re sailing away from this stupid fucking island.” 

The door closed, leaving you in solitude amid the quiet of Izzy’s cabin, comfortably seated on his bed. As you breathed in, the hush within Izzy’s quarters contrasted with the bustling activity above deck. Reclining on Izzy’s bed, you focused on your breath, and after a few minutes, a sense of relief gradually washed over you. It seemed like you hadn’t been alone for weeks, and you savorted the silence within the cabin. After a while, Izzy returned, his presence prompting you to sit back up on the edge of his bed as he stood before you. Contrary to Izzy’s typical expression of anger, you noticed concern on his face instead. 

“What’s wrong?” Izzy inquired softly, kneeling down to meet your gaze. 

“Just overwhelmed,” you whispered back, avoiding eye contact and feeling a twinge of embarrassment admitting this to one of the most renowned pirates in history. “Haven’t had decent sleep all week and the explosions were too loud. I sort of shut down. It’s stupid.” 

Izzy joined you on his bed, and for a moment, he seemed to contemplate. Then, you felt his arm wrap around your shoulder. “It’s not stupid. Everyone needs peace and quiet sometimes. Especially being around these fucking idiots all of the time.” 

“Pirates shouldn’t panic at the sound of cannon fire, Iz,” you replied, not convinced by his words. 

“Pirates shouldn’t be afraid of spiders, yet Blackbeard is terrified of them. Anyone questioning your status as a pirate can fuck off. You’re one of the hardest working people on this crew,” Izzy retorted, his tone resolute. “That's why I like you.” 

“Thanks, Izzy,” you replied quietly, a smile gracing your lips. You had always enjoyed Izzy’s company and sensed he had a stronger connection with you than with the others, so hearing him express that he liked you was nice. It didn’t appear to be an easy thing for him to admit. You reached down toward his hand, squeezing it for a moment. “I’m feeling better than before. Your room feels very safe.” 

“You’re always welcome in here,” Izzy said, a hint of bashfulness in his tone. “If you're feeling overwhelmed or need a break, just tell me, and I’ll fuck off.”

“No, I don’t mind if you stay,” you whispered, a warm feeling spreading in your chest. “You feel very safe too.” Letting your head rest on Izzy’s shoulder, you noticed a smile stretching across his face from the corner of your eye. Both of you sat there for a while, absorbing the silence, enjoying each other’s close company.

[borzoilover69]

Is there anywhere i can read :oot?

I loove ur drjk art btw

Thankyou for the compliment! If youre looking for HS2:OOT time shenanigans. Please read tipsygnostalgys l'appel du vide if you want an idea of the sort of tone the story will take because there is genuinely such funny dialogue, i am completely enamoured by it.

Speaking of HS2:OOT.. have some karkats from hs2:oot.. and tootally dont open the read more option.

Ok so you opened this so you're interested. We have an outline, plot points and event layouts as well as general dialogue bits and pieces, and ive been working on coming up with panels and set layout, if you've been following me for long enough you've seen me run through the mill of character design and panel tests. We are running into roadblocks however.

Right now we just have two people on the team, me and my cowriter tipsygnostalgy. TG writes, I draw and occasionally drabble. We are also both college students so barely any time to write or draw.

Tbh ive considered the idea of assembling a writing team of some sort BUT IDK HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD B INTERESTED.. also i wouldnt be able to compensate them financially.

Genuinely daunted by the idea of making a continuation of hs2 when hs2 has stirred up so much of a shitstorm as is. I think theres a very big fear of "oh gosh what if i portray the character wrong" Maybe i will try doing writer applications, who knows? I dont know how many people would be interested in working on such a passion project. Maybe you will have to let me know. :o) If enough people show interest i might do that.

[deathofnessus]

Reposting my tg channel posts here so i dont lose them, a lot of words so its under cut:

1. All characters i have for the space setting so far and short descriptions of each(similar to the ones in my pinned, but a bit more detailed for my followers there ^_^):

-Rodion Melnikov, he/him

Definition of a burn out kid except hes like 40 now. A very ambitious academically man in the past, he grew more secluded with each year, as he began to worry that its too late for him to succeed now (although his definition of success is very twisted). Joins the expedition in hopes to finally find some new amazing discovery and get the recognition he believes he deserves. Dated David Ross for 5+ years when they were in their late 20s-early 30s, met through the academic field. An only child btw

-David Ross, he/him

David is an engineer, working in the field of rocket science. He is very passionate about his craft but overall a very laid back person, not prone to conflict. Knows everything about the Nessus, treats it like his child of sorts 😭 Kind of became the captain due to all of this knowledge. And people trust him a lot. Dated Rodion Melnikov in the past.

-Carwyn Morgan, she/her (he/him for most 💔)

The oldest member of the crew. Joined the expedition out of deep academic intrest, although was unsure about it at first. Technically has a role of an assistant to Mariana Renea. Passionate about her work, which is one of tthe biggest reason her and rodya got along so well. Had a long wild life before this expedition. Also shes an egg ... girl your gender.!!!!...

-Mariana Renea, she/her

Technically the captain, more so the leader of the expedition, the one that got everyone together. Shes been best friends with Morgan for years, their families were close for years. Shes obviously a very responsible person, also extremely passionate about her work. Has done a lot of things for her field of science (dont know which one yet. Sorry), shes well known and respected. This expedition is another big step in her career. Also had a family.

2. Answering moots questions, both rus and eng:

more thoughts on the expedition itself 🔽

3. Big answer to a big set of questions about the free timeon the ship, the character dynamics and fun facts about morgan:

I was gonna answer this with doodles but im impatient so i might come back to that later... First of all thanks for such detailed message i rlly appreciate it! I think the dynamics in the crew are definitely a little tense, especially bcuz of rodya and davey, but they usually try to stay chill. I dont think they would have big arguments or anything, at least not before the accident™ They definitely have a lot of respect for one another, but i think at least for rodya especially theres a bit of academic rivalry in this all, although the rest i think are kind of the opposite in thay way, feeling more unitied due to their goals and passions and stuff. So yeah rodya is definitely the one most likely to get "infatuated with the unknown", but i do think Morgan is similar in that way, maybe not as intense though. Mariana would be cautious but definitely intrested and i think Davey is the least likely, he'd definitely say nope and go the other way.

As for passing the free time on the ship, thats definitely something they do yeah! I never thought about it that much, and now thats definitely something id like to draw once i have the time so thanks for the suggegstion :D i think theyd have some pretentious ass board games along with some silly ones, but considering how long theyre on this ship i think at some point they'd get bored of all of them, which would lead to them hanging out all together less fkr sure. Maybe someone would suggest their own made up games and i think that person would be the fifth character™ that i dont have any story for, but their general function in the story in my mind rn is the younger guy that breaks the tension between all of these old serious people >< So work is important, yes, and they do spend a lot of time on it, but i think theyre all smart enough to understand that rest and hanging out together is important. Except maybe rodya. I think theyd have to drag him to these games by force most of the time. And every time they definitely regret it bcuz he always wins, which pisses everyone off. And he probably havent played any of these games before, hes just naturally good at them. I do think mariana at some point learned his stragidies and was able to sometimes win over him lol. Morgan and Davey love to team up together to try to beat "the try-hards". AS FOR MORGAN PRE EXPEDITION!! I thought a lot during the summer about how i imagine her when she was younger participating a lot in her local queer spaces(which is how she meets mariana), helping organise events and stuff, which is especially funny bcuz i imagine a lot of people clocked her as transfem but she just didn't have a clue 😭😭 she thought she was just a quirky gay man her entire life... I also imagine she tried many hobbies in her life, especially the ones that require handy work like drawing, pottery, knitting ect ect, i think she ended up enjoying these the most. I think shes the type of gal that loves the cycle actually now that i think of it. I dont think she's super sporty or anything but cycling sounds like something she'd enjoy. Anyways, thank you also for the recs!!! I've been planning to watching scavenger's reign for sooooo looong but never got to it, despite watching the first ep and really enjoying it. This is a sign to finally do it.... Never heard of harold halibut though, ill make sure to check it out, thank you!! Sending lots of love to you anon you're very sweet

[ballet-symphonie]

Vaganova Ballet Academy Asks

So there is official information of Koshkareva signing a solo contract with Bolshoi and Nikolay Tsiskaridze's close friend (devilonpointshoes on Telegram) and ballet enthusiasts on ballet forums stating that Koshkareva, Valiullina, and Kuprina going to Bolshoi. How do you feel about all the star students going to Bolshoi instead of Mariinsky like many expected? It isn't unexpected that Valiullina is going to Bolshoi given that she suits that company but with Koshkareva and Kuprina being Mariinsky's trainees for a year, and their dance style suiting Mariinsky more, I really do not understand why they chose Bolshoi (perhaps they were given soloist role straight away)? Anyways I'm also confused if Koshkareva is going to Bolshoi like Kuprina, why is her name not taken down from the trainee name list on the Mariinsky website... Honestly idk how to feel about this and ngl Im pretty disappointed that Koshkareva and Kuprina are not going to Mariinsky :(

The Bolshoi is the fast track. These girls have been promoted as stars and BT has likely made them big promises to keep treating them that way. With how the Bolshoi gives out roles at the speed of light to young prominent grads, plus the benefits that generally come with dancing in Moscow (read: money), the offers are likely very tempting. The corps life is tough, no one wants to do it if they don't have to lmao.

I thought with this reinvented MT and more publicized MT trainee situation that MT management would have managed to keep at least one of Koshkareva and Kuprina but I guess not. I am actually more surprised Valiullina is tagging along as I thought her body type might hold her back. While I agree with many that her dancing fits the broad movement and expressive style of the Bolshoi, that’s unfortunately not exactly what goes on stage all the time nowadays at BT, maybe its about 50/50 now depending which principals are cast.

Hi Ale! Any news on Daria Kulikova? How is she doing at the Academy? I think the 2023 class is a powerful one, and my opinion isn't based on who is better. But there's something about Kulikova??? I don't know... but I like her dancing and I'm rooting for her, there's just something special, artistic I see in her.

The 2023 class has just been everywhere and she hasn’t been one of the most hyped ones for obvious reasons. I don’t think I’ve seen where she’s going but I also haven’t been crawling through the TG channels looking for information about her you know? 

With the ‘big 3’ of this class heading to BT, there’s likely some MT spots available, which is theoretically what she would want after changing schools so late in the games.  

Do you think there will ever be a Kovaleva graduate to top Vishneva off? I honestly don't and it's not because there weren't other talented girls to graduate, but it's just that none of the ones who came after, could even compare to Vishneva, let alone surpass her. Koshkareva for example, is really talented, but it's already being called the 'next Vishneva', so... I will say though, after Vishneva, only Smirnova and Khoreva came a little close and probably Koshkareva will too.

I don’t think she will ever top Vishneva, she’s a once in a 100 years type of a dancer. I also don’t know how much longer she will continue to work. Her talent as a pedagogue is immense, she’s proven that she can train exceptional dancers with different body types, backgrounds and ambitions. Her training and her graduates, quite literally is defining the past, present and future of Russian ballet.  

how do the “classes” at vaganova work?? like if it’s class of kovaleva, does that mean that she’s taught them all 8 years at vaganova orrr 

No, if a ballerina is listed as ‘class of Kovaleva’ that means that she taught their graduate year. Generally, the teachers will change every 1-3 years as some teachers are especially skilled at working with different age groups. 

[quilna]

Ooo very interesting! Amazing response as always, very enjoyable read! I do admit at first I wasn't quite big on the idea of playing around with the 3 minds getting swapped around rather than just the bodies swapping, but I think you're starting to drag me into the concept a little bit hah! I can definitely see why you like it. I think a body-swap au with hyde staying in the body of jekyll as the usual shadow would be quite interesting to play with. A possible twist and to speed up the plot overtime could be that overtime jekyll and hyde start decaying both physically and mentally as they are both half a soul or person from the split, at least from my perspective that is, and having one half be removed fully would probably have pretty bad effects overtime. I know others have their different ways of interpreting the jekyll and hyde potion and its effect on things but thats just my personal view on it and I always enjoy hearing others opinions on the matter!

I wasn't originally going to write a response as per usual with my asks but it seems that i've gotten a bit dragged in and invested in this discussion! All credit due to the great responses from you as always.

I'll be wrapping this up now. As always thank you for your input and your response!

Ah, thank you! Yeah, different people will probably have their different tastes when it comes to the different kinds of body swaps but, the good thing about TGS is there are lot of varieties to choose from! Something for everyone!

Damn, the two of them decaying! That makes a lot of sense and is certainly an angsty idea! Certainly multiple ways to go about that too, whether it's a physical decay or a mental decay - though a physical decay might not be good depending on who is in whose body and exactly which body is decaying. RIP that person, being stuck in Jekyll's body as it rots with them in it because it's physically unstable without its other half.

I wonder in terms of a mental decay what would happen if they decayed all the way? Would the body be empty? Can they swap back if there's no longer anyone to swap with? Would the decay stop if they got back to their regular body and would the damage be reversable?

If both happen at the same time, everyone involved is truly in for a bad time. One person physically struggling while another is mentally struggling and they have to work together to try to fix the situation before it's too late

Many many possibilities, all of them with great angst potential >:)

And it's okay to respond! I've had anons in the past who have done back and forth conversations and discussions through asks before! Can always add anything more that you would like :)

Thank you for the asks! It was certainly an interesting discussion! :D

[juuheizou]

omggg now you sparked my curiosity about juuzou as a parent even when i 200% picture him as not the parenting type, how soft would he be with his baby child? omg and he watching it transit through the baby stages to toddler and the kid's childlike wonder? i'm suuuper curious now I dont think he'd have much patience but just think about juuzou being the safe haven of a little child😭

Not exactly what you're asking, but hopefully either my answer or alternate answer gives you at least some of what you're looking for. It's all implied and referenced in little detail, but there is a mention of harm coming to children.

If he were to be a safe haven for a child, it would probably be while on a case. He would probably need to remind himself it's not forever, since I also don't see him liking to hang out with kids, but he might have a useful, professional kind of affinity for children he has something in common with.

The CCG is a helping profession, which requires being able to at least do your job with just about everyone, even people you wouldn't hang out with off the clock. Lacking that skill is where you run into problems IRL, so imaginably it's important in the TG universe as well. And some cases are bound to come with more of a personal obligation that others.

That being said, he does not seem like the type to be deeply bogged down by obligation to a victim, a family, a case. But he might one day encounter a practical obligation. I'm imagining a child victim of some Big Madam-like offense that other investigators, local law enforcement, even other specialist units but not the CCG, can't get through to. Just like I see him as a quickly regretted last resort when it comes to babysitting and more mundane situations involving kids, he would be this trifecta of organizations' last resort. By the time he's a Special Class, enough of these types know him that someone goes “hey, wasn't that one kooky ghoul investigator raised by ghouls?” and he ends up tasked with following the least gory and exciting lead he could be tasked with: some traumatized child.

Like I have mentioned wrt him and children, empathy is an important strength for child-handling that he innately lacks. For this particular child, however, a rescued captive or escaped meal who is too traumatized to help the investigation they didn't ask to be part of, his lack of empathy but knowing what he himself needed and how Shinohara ultimately got him out from under a hospital bed when he was first rescued is still more than the empathy but lack of understanding possessed by the garden variety detectives who have failed. He would be the one who finally makes the smallest, strangest hint of a connection that means this child might eventually be able to talk to him.

It would start with pages right out of Shinohara's book. Hospital food sucks, so he comes in, pretends to try questioning the kid per protocol knowing it won't work, and then leaves something tastier by their bed. He might leave practical things like toiletries, pillows, blankets. Once they start creeping from their hiding place to see what he brought and he can get a good enough look at them to guess their size, he would gift a pair of pyjamas and slippers much like the ones he always wears himself, some warm layers.

But he would also leave toys, coloring books, crafts... kid stuff, but kid stuff with a purpose. Shinohara got through to him by going slow, giving him space, and, from a distance, playing with him. See, the things he picked are nice presents and all, but he picked them out because once he finds which ones his new case-related little friend inspects when their curiosity trumps their hiding from him, which ones get played with when he leaves, they are things he can engage in with them.

Once again, he starts small once he's found his in. Maybe this child likes the playing cards from the hospital gift shop. It starts with building houses or something solitary on faraway ends of their hospital room. We know Suzuya has the sleight of hand to pick pockets, so maybe he knows some magic tricks that pique the child's interest. Soon it becomes teaching them tricks from a distance, then playing games together, then talking while they play. Maybe it's a stuffed animal they gravitate towards, so Suzuya starts bringing one of his own in hope their plushies can be friends, and these imaginary playdates eventually start to unearth some hints for the investigation. Or maybe they are just like Suzuya and it's the arts and crafts that distract them enough that he can get close without them retreating into a corner.

Whatever it is, he visits them often, always bringing his own supplies for their shared activity and a non-hospital snack. Once he can do it without pushing too hard and losing their trust, gently getting to know each other turns to talking about the ghoul who held them. He might even let the child in on his own past if it helps establish trust or seeing him in that light helps them to feel like there is hope for them too.

Eventually they get the answers they need and the case closes. Suzuya would find it in himself to visit the child once the ghoul has been killed or captured, just to let them know Investigator Suzuya and his friends at the CCG won and the ghoul would never come back for them. Suzuya didn't get that much when Big Madam escaped the raid in which he was rescued, and he made it into early adulthood still convinced he needed to be good for her since she was right around every corner, behind every closed door.

He would take the time to hang out and make them feel safe until they are reunited with their family or physically well enough to move to the Academy, because that's his job. But like I said, I don't see him really liking kids, and it is just his job. Not to be cold, but he is relieved and happy to say goodbye to this relationship once the case is closed and the child has someplace to go, more than content to stay “Investigator Suzuya” in the memory, and only the memory, of this kid. Not everyone is a Shinohara. But he is their safe haven, the one adult who really gets them, for as long as he needs to be.

Or, if it's less about the human child-ness of it all and more about seeing Suzuya's soft and nurturing side, the one thing I see genuinely bringing out that side of him, not just a Shinohara-like persona he adapts to hunt a ghoul down, is animals, especially cats, and especially cats he decides are going to be his. If he found a helpless orphaned bottle baby one day? Maximum softness, because you get the TLC he puts into all his furry friends plus even more because really young kittens are needy and require frequent, specialized coddling to like... live.

Plus, you want to talk about watching it grow through different stages? My brain instantly draws a connection to the transformation from a fragile neonate that can't even see or hear to a playful, curious shithead as bad as Suzuya when it comes to getting into everything. Childlike wonder? Anyone who has had to quickly grab and airlift a mischievous kitten out of trouble knows they have childlike wonder on steroids. I do highly recommend Cat Lady!Suzuya to anyone who, like anon and I, might not see him as a parent but needs to think about his soft, sweet side from time to time :)

[nevermindthewanderer]

top five movies?

Thanks for the ask! I got this message right before I fell asleep last night so sorry for just now answering. In working through this list, it became pretty clear what I enjoy most about movies.

Knives Out (2019) Beautiful sets, fun script with biting social commentary, solid twisty mystery, excellent cast that's clearly having an absolute blast, and a great soundtrack? Yeah this is a winner. Really the only thing I would change is Marta's tell. I hated the vomit gag.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) Is the BBC 1995 miniseries more book accurate? Yes. But Joe Wright nails the aesthetic of the era even if he's not quite as "accurate." Gorgeous cinematography, another excellent ensemble cast, a script that distills the story to its best elements, and captivating music? You had me at hello.

The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) I'm counting them as one and I'm referring to the extended editions. The ultimate medieval fantasy genre epic that needs no introduction. The books are great too, but idk for my enjoyment value you can't beat the movies. I really can't think of how to make them better. Yes, there's always additional lore to add and characters that get cut for time and clarity (sorry Tolkien, you know you ramble) but the choices that were made are excellent.

The Princess Bride (1987) I can't tell you how many times I watched this movie growing up because my mom loves it. This film didn't do great in theaters but exploded on VHS. I can practically quote the entire thing. Again, the snarky dialogue is 2/3 the fun. Another great cast. I love turning genre tropes on their head and having fun. More good music and a fun blend of good production choices mixed with intentionally campy elements. The comedy with a heart of gold that sneaks up on you.

Shrek 2 (2004) An oddball choice. Honestly I prefer this one to the original. Great animation for the era (honestly watch it again, it's almost 20 years old and it still looks good. RIP me noticing that it's that old), great original story, the jokes are sharp, the voice acting is fun, and every song is a banger. Seriously, the Holding Out For A Hero cover is unironically fantastic.

You come from my side blog, so you might be surprised by no Top Gun or Top Gun: Maverick. Honestly, TG:M is up there on the list and would make my top 10 because it's a fun watch. OG Top Gun is so very 80s and was my dad's favorite movie in the 90s so I saw it a lot. It gets points for soundtrack, cast, and cinematography but lacked in story and gets a heavy cringe ding imo. Honestly he might have watched Hot Shots just as much so sometimes I forget what was in TG and what was actually HS lol.

[postgamecontent]

Appare! Gateball (TG-16 Mini)

If you're going up against a tough opponent in the console space, one thing you can do is try to make something they don't have. Perhaps that was the thinking behind Hudson and Westone coming together to create Appare! Gateball. The Famicom didn't have any gateball games, as far as I can tell, and the sport was popular enough in Japan that there might have been some demand for a video game version. Well, whatever the case, Appare! Gateball arrived as the fifth sports game for the PC Engine, and the one with the most "casual" appeal yet.

I'm using scare quotes there because while I think a gateball game is going to be more recognizable to non-gaming Japanese family members, for example, this game isn't very casual at all. You have to properly understand the rules of gateball, because this game plays it straight. Each player takes their turn trying to whack their ball through a gate using a mallet, after which you try to knock it through two more gates and finally hit a pin. Hitting that pin removes that ball and player from the game. You get points for each of these actions, and whichever team has the most points when the timer runs out wins. There's a bit more to it than that. I'm simplifying a little here.

The other important part is that you can be a complete jerk. Indeed, that is a big part of the strategy. If you hit your ball into an opposing ball, you get another turn. You can then do something called sparking, where you plant your foot on your ball and whack it, using the transferred momentum to send the opposing ball flying. Because of this, it is often advantageous to hang around the pin and block the other player from hitting it rather than finishing up. Keep knocking them away, then when time is getting short, tap that pin.

Apart from the characters themselves, who are somewhat cartoonishly played-up, this is a rather straightforward gateball game. You have lots of options, but in the end you're still just playing a regular ol' game of gateball. The controls work a little like golf games do, with aiming and a meter you have to stop. But it takes a long time to play even the shortest game, since there are a lot of players taking their shots and you have to watch all of them.

I'm sure many people had fun with this back in the day, especially in the early going when the console didn't have many sports games to choose from. But as someone with no particular love of gateball, I find Appare! Gateball a little dull. I get why it's included in this mini-console, but it's not one I'll spend a lot of time with now that I've written something about it. The best gateball game I've ever played, and also the worst gateball game I've ever played. Gateball.

[monstermaster13]

TFs where it's just one character turning someone into a clone of themselves, looking at you tiger dancer tfs and that one time the dragon villain from Ring Fit Adventure got a lot of TF attention. Look I have no problem with these, but these are just arrogant to me. And this is coming from someone who does Dan Aykroyd character tfs. At least my were-aykroyds aren't obvious nazi wannabes unlike the tiger dancer ones.

'Zoinking'. Oh sure, you act like Zoinking is original but it's just a less horrifying way of saying 'brainwashed', it's just MC only it is the x-rated cut. 'you don't like zonking, get zonked idiot', more like get dum dumed because if those one of those people went up to me and tried to do it i'd turn them into a dum dum were-aykroyd to teach them how a happy transformation can be done without brainwashing.

'Balding'. As a general rule unless you are becoming a character who is naturally bald or a species that does not have any hair/fur in general you shouldn't be doing any balding/hair loss in transformations. I am sorry but if you have a kink for hair-loss you might have some serious problems and deserve to be thrown in an institution. I personally never got hair-loss in animal transformations and the same goes for teeth loss.

Hivemind transformations that don't make sense. For pete's sake, stop trying to enforce negative stereotypes of wolves by making them mindless hive-minded biggots who only exist to assimilate others into being their ilk, it is not cool, and as someone with more than one were-OC I am offended by this negative stereotype.

Jingoism based ones. I am sorry but Americans are typically overweight as they are, they don't need a weight gain fetish stapled into the mix, I am not into half-naked overly hairy nationalist anthro beast-men who think that everything great comes from America. Nationalism of any country is not something to be fetishized. I don't go around shoving Canadian stereotypes into my were-aykroyd stuff do I? Of course I don't.

Clothing TF. Imagine you are me and you are looking at a tf caption or photomanip of let's say Phoebe Cates in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, you immediately think 'awesome, somebody did a TG caption of someone into Phoebe Cates's character from that movie and recreated the iconic scene' only to find it's about someone turning into Phoebe Cates's swimsuit from that movie. 'Aaaaw come on, it's a stupid clothing TF? Why the hell did you just bait me using the image of sexy Phoebe Cates in that scene hoping I would think it's about someone becoming her only to pull this on me?'

British 'chav' type transformations. Yes, because all English/British people swear and smoke and act like soccer hooligans and that totally isn't a stereotype at all. Even if the author is from England themselves they should know better not to portray their own country like that.

Weight gain where it's all 'he got aroused by how fat he was growing', yes author or writer we know you have a fat fetish, stop shoving this crap in my face, I am not turned on by this, yes I liked weight gain in stories, but that was a phase I went through and I only like it if it's willing and happy and they can move and aren't a slob. Heck, my dum dum were-aykroyds are PARODIES of this exact type of weight gain, and they are better written than these because at least they are considered a 'joke' species in the main universe of my character.

Clown tfs where it just a just stereotypical clown. How is it that these unoriginal pieces of crap get a lot of attention and praise while my Spirit Halloween and Joker and Pennywise related works get nothing? Come on, I have almost done all of the Killer Klowns in TF form including Klownzilla and Krusty, I think that should be worth something. If you are just going to go to do a plain old stereotypical clown, screw you. Seriously? That's all it is, just a generic clown design? Booooring. Come back to me once you have done a Joker or Spirit Halloween clown tf.

Fat nerd stereotypes. Oh sure, all anime fans are overweight and are bad at sex, all nerds are bad at sex and have bad hygiene, that is totally not an untrue stereotype at all.

[are-you-still-writing-that]

Drink With Me To Days Gone By

Event: Whump - The Musical

Fandom: Homestuck

Characters: Rose Lalonde & Dave Strider

Warnings: Dommed Timeline, Suicidal Ideation, Major Character Death

Prompt Used: Day 4 - The Song referenced + Survivors Guilt + Failure

Have fun! Story under the cut <3

"Drink With Me To Days Gone By"

Dave didn´t need to look at the screen to know who was writing to him, when his computer let out a little ping! There was only one other person, that was stuck in this hell with him.

The gears kept turning below his feet, and sometimes he felt like the heat of the magma was only rising. Sometimes he wondered, why he had to be stuck in a place literally called „The Land of Heat and Clockwork“. It wasn´t even that he wasn´t used to the heat – He was. Houston, especially in the summer, could get hellish – but to be stuck in what felt like an active volcano was a bit much.

He certainly felt like Rose had gotten the better part of the deal. Yes, it was raining constantly, but come on „The Land of Light and Rain“ sounded downright pleasant compared to this.

The constant ticking had gnawed at his nerves. Not even to mention the strain on his patience that his damn kernelsprite was. He couldn´t stand to hear it cackling any more. It would dive him sooner rather than later insane. If it hasn´t done so already.

With a lazy hum, he swiped for his laptop, while reclining on one of the spinning gears, getting slowly rotated with it.

- - tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] - -

TT: I have an idea, that might just work.

TT: It is a bit unconventional, but I genuinely believe that this will be the breakthrough with our problem.

TT: Dave, not that I don´t admire, that you seem to have learned great restraint.

TT: I would appreciate it more, if you could answer me by now!

TT: Dave?

TT: Are you still there?

TG: don´t get it twisted

TG: where else would i be

TG: not like there is anyway for me to leave

TG: you know we re both stuck here

TT: Yes, while I am fully aware that you and I are both stuck, I would still request of you, to not leave me hanging like this again.

TT: You started to worry me.

TG: rose

TG: srs?

TG: dont even start

TG: change of topic

TG: you were saying something of getting us out of here

TT: Indeed. I believe I might have discovered a way to save this failed session of our game.

TG: kay...

TT: Do not doubt me now!

TT: I know I have brought forth many plans to this day, but I can fully envision that this one will bring us to our goal!

TT: Dave, you can jump through time, that is right?

TG: yep

TT: And this is the crux of this debacle!

TT: You will need to jump back into a point in time, where John hasn´t died yet, and convince him to not engage in this behaviour which ultimately caused his demise.

TT: This will be how we can save Jade as well, which will be our ticket to finally have a chance of beating this ludicrous game.

TG: rose

TG: cmon

TG: when was the last time you slept

TT: I am being serious David!

TG: not my name

TT: This is the only chance how we can proceed in the game.

TT: Don´t you want to at least try it before you declare it as a fellow failure.

TT: Do you not want to see our friends again and give them another chance at survival.

TT: I would have never gauged you as being such a cold-hearted person!

TG: calm down

TG: i aint saying i dont want to save them

TG: i just think that it sounds a bit crazy

TG: have you been listening to the whispers again

TT: I have not, and that you imply that this approach is just the product of the influence of the Horrorterrors quite frankly wounds me deeply!

TG: sorry

TG: but whats the goal here

TG: i go back in time and what

TG: just leave you here by yourself

TG: all alone

TT: That is the plan indeed.

TT: It´s a sacrifice I would be willing to make, if it meant that in some other timeline our friends do indeed survive.

TT: And you never know, maybe my consciousness from this timeline will merge with the new Rose.

TT: But even if it didn´t Dave, I do not think I can go on any longer like this anyway.

TG: what do you mean

TT: I feel like I have finally reached the end of all hope and patience I had these last few days.

TT: I genuinely fear, that if you will not at least attempt this plan, you will end up alone soon enough anyway.

TG: are you okay?

TT: No, I am not.

TT: And I probably have not been for quite some time.

TT: Dave, you have to try this, otherwise it will all have been for nothing, and I can not bear that thought.

TG: yo rose, not to sound too worried here, but that sounds not like you

TG: at all

TT: I´m sorry, Dave.

TT: You have to try.

TT: That´s all I ask of you.

TG: hey, hey, hey

TG: now hold your fucking horses and think about it again and im sure you see how fucking bad of an idea that is

TG: like what would i even do without your smart comments all the time

TG: rose?

TG: hey rose!

TG: dont do it!

TG: please

- - tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] - -

That wasn´t good. That wasn´t good at all! That was quite clearly the opposite of good!

Dave started to quickly switch through his tabs, to find his server player window, where he had the chance of getting at least a visual of Rose. He hoped he wouldn´t find her already dead.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, when he simply found her sitting on the floor. Her knees pulled to her chest, as Jaspersprite was swarming around her. It was obvious, that she was crying. Her make-up was running down her face in streaks, as Jaspersprite brought her blanket after blanket. And the odd fish or two.

Seeing, that Rose was at least taken care of at the moment, Dave leaned back, to consider her plan in detail.

There was some truth, to what Rose had proposed, and it might just work after all. But while Dave could jump through time, he wasn´t so sure, of the effects this would have on both him and Rose on the other hand.

He didn´t know, if such a big jump was even possible for him. At this point, he had only ever jumped back for hours, rarely days. Now he would jump back month. But even then, if it worked somewhat like his smaller jumps, there would technically be a paradox. He could also run into the problem of accidentally duplicating himself.

It would be a sure sign that this timeline had been cut off of the one he would create by jumping back, and while his head was filled by all the other timelines, he was pretty sure, that the same wouldn´t become true for Rose.

This also meant he was leaving her to die here. There was no one there any more to keep her company, as even the trolls had stopped bothering them. She would be by herself. All alone. Forever.

He wasn´t sure, if he could be cruel enough to do this to her.

After all he could already see the effects of her mental state deteriorating right in front of him. At the beginning of this game, he could have never even imagined, that Rose was even capable of breaking down crying like she was at the moment.

But on the other hand, he had to be honest: He missed his friends.

He missed pretty Jade and his witty John. Both of them gone. John to the trickery of one of the trolls, and Jade because John couldn´t get her off the island any more, before the meteor hit. The game having become unbeatable with the two of them missing.

He only needed to save John, to stop him for taking off the way he had done before. He knew he could do it. The biggest hurdle was getting the jump right, but afterwards everything should be easy for him.

The cackling of his sprite, shook him from his contemplation. He never should have mixed that crow with that creepy puppet. Lil Cal was truly as useful as a pair of two left shoes.

He turned back to Rose, who was staring at her screen as his computer pinged once more.

- - tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] - -

TT: So, what do you say?

TG: you know what

TG: i´ll try

TG: but i might not make it and there is something that has been bothering me

TG: would you mourn me

TG: not too be annoying or conceited or anything

TG: sometimes i just wonder with the state of how things are now

TT: Of course I would, you big oaf!

TT: You are all I have left of the old world.

TT: I would mourn you, if you had to leave.

TT: But I am also sure, that you will survive.

TG: thanks

TG: that really means a lot to me

TG: and

TG: rose you are important to me too never you know

TG: never forget that

TG: dont do anything rash because i will try to get you out of here as well

TG: i try your crazy plan but in turn you have to promise to stay alive for me to save you as well you hear me

TT: Of course, I will endeavour to stay around for as long as possible.

TT: I am very sorry, if I had scared you with my little episode.

TG: dont

TG: just stay you hear me

TT: I promise.

TG: good

TG: everything is just great up here

TG: okay

TG: i have to go now

TG: i try your crazy idea

TG: goodbye rose

TT: Farewell, Dave.

- - tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] - -

With that he slowly got to his feet. He put his laptop away, and made sure that his sword was where it was supposed to be. He knew he couldn´t bear to take on last look at Rose, as it would break his heart. Instead he slowly got ready to leave this timeline behind.

He was still hesitant, and he recognized it, when he started to stretch.

Dave sighed out, annoyed with himself, but continued with this little waste of time. It wasn´t like these few more minutes, would make a jump that would span over a few months any more difficult or not.

When he was ready, he envisioned the date, he was trying to travel to. He spared one last thought for Rose, before he vanished from the clockwork gear.

Darkness surrounded him. He could feel time stretching out around him, as he was pulled through it. It disoriented him for a moment, as he couldn´t place himself in it any more. Dave didn´t know the difference between up and down for the moment, as he felt like he was wildly flung around.

It took a moment, before his natural abilities took hold.

He could feel how his interference was opening up new timelines, while others died. Dave was also aware of what timelines were being locked in place, while others were still open to change. The information settled slowly within him, and before he knew it time spat him out again.

All he needed was a quick look around to see, that it had worked.

A younger version of him was staring at him, eyes wide with surprise behind those damn glasses. From the corner of his eye, he could see how Lil Cal was about to be thrown into the sprite by Jade, and so he just waved at his younger version before throwing himself into the sprite.

Even though everything was filled with light, his head being invaded by the game, it didn´t hurt. He wavered under the weight of what had just happened, before finding his balance once more.

It was quick work to convince this younger version of him, to warn John away from Terezis plan, as he looked over his shoulder to catch the first glimpse of his previously dead friends in months, though the part of him, that came from the game also fed him with new and disorienting information now.

He couldn´t help the giddy smile, that crossed over his face, that surely seemed strange judging by his younger versions put upon glance. He let his lips quirk up into a mischievous grin, as he looked back at his best friend once more.

Dave had missed those blue eyes, those stupid jokes. He had simply missed his friend. Missed how he talked and how that nerd always played around with code. Almost reverently, he adjusted his glasses.

He could see Rose on the screen, who was her snarky and a bit pompous self again. She still looked so happy or well as happy as she could get. It saddened him, to truly see for the first time, how much these last few months had taken their toll on her.

And god what a treat it was to see Jade, who was still around at this time as well. Her grin seemed infectious as she bounded across her island from one point to another. So full of life and joy. Never once silent.

It was so strange that he could actually see them again, but he vowed to not think too much about how this game had changed him. Information still flitted around his brain, never settling. Almost like a run-on code. He hated it, just as much as he adored it, because it allowed him to keep track of his friends.

Though, with all the information he had at hand, it still took him months to realize something else.

While he still didn´t try to think to hard about it, when the realization finally set in, that his friends weren´t really his friends any more. That they saw him as nothing more than a spare. Treated him differently, than they had always treated him before. When he had to acknowledge, that his friends had all died months ago. That he was the last one alive from their little group.

Dave didn´t try to take it to heart, which had broken and shattered long ago, back when there was nothing but desperation and fear, when his name slowly became Davesprite.

[ataraxiasflame]

My final thoughts at the end of HotD S1 rewatch:

• I was conflicted over liking Rhaenyra throughout my rewatch, but the final episode reminded me of why she is so popular in the fandom. The show did a great job of favouring her in their narrative during Ep 10 “The Black Queen” which makes me chuckle at the “All Must Choose” campaign. I think I’m leaning back toward liking show Rhaenyra again after this episode (Emma D’arcy takes all the credit for that.)

• Rhaenys is my favourite in TB though. She is so underrated, showing so often why she would have been a great queen through her knowledge and her actions.

• I found myself liking Jacaerys far more in my rewatch, especially during his willingness to stand up to Daemon.

• Speaking of Daemon, I found him to be an even bigger dick than the first time. I think he might be my least favourite character.

• I’m far more sympathetic of Alicent this time round too, and enjoyed seeing her own challenge in standing up to the small council and her father’s ambitions.

• I still think the TG characters are more exciting in their chaos and character complexities but I did enjoy some of the TB characters more this time round.

• and Ser Erryk can get it.

Hopes for S2:

• I would really enjoy seeing TB get their hands a bit dirtier. Or at least have the show not favour TB as much as it did in S1 through the changes that were made. (I already have doubts in the way B&C will be done.)

• Speaking of changes; I hope they make sense. I don’t mind changes if they make the story more compelling but I doubt this will be the case. Show-runners often say that the show is an ‘adaptation’ and is not meant to be the same as the book, but many times changes conflict with the original story too much. I do not agree with change for the sake of change just to make the show “their own”. I can’t say I have high hopes unfortunately.

• I am eager to see more of Jace in this season and how he will come into his role as Heir.

• I really hope the show avoids going for gratuitous (non-canon) scenes to create shock or disgust. There are already so many canon scenes that will be graphic enough, I really hope they don’t try to make the characters more deviant and depraved than they already are just to enhance a preferred narrative. The characters are already complex enough. (Again, I’m expecting the worst though).

• I genuinely would have loved the campaign of “All Must Choose” if the narrative had been a bit more neutral or sympathetic toward both sides, so if I can hope for something, it’s to have this season be a bit more balanced. GRRM’s works have never been a clear-cut tale of good vs evil. Give us complex stories and characters which make the choice interesting, not obvious. It would have been fun to have the fandom be able to safely choose either side and really have this campaign take off but S1 does not make it easy to claim support for TG unfortunately lol

[pesterloglog]

Davesprite, John Egbert, Dave Strider

Act 4, page 1692

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] --

TG: wow ok

TG: youre a little early

TG: but thats fine i guess

TG: also you suck at rockets

EB: ARGH!

TG: what

EB: she tricked me again.

TG: who

EB: GC.

EB: she told me how to get to the 2nd gate.

EB: so i went through, but it took me to rose's house instead.

EB: another prank!

TG: dude you did go through the second gate

TG: i mean i dont know why you would listen to her again

TG: kind of moronic but thats a whole other issue

TG: she didnt trick you this time

EB: oh...

EB: then, i don't really get this.

TG: what were you expecting

TG: this is how it works

TG: the progression of gates is like this whole round robin thing

TG: cycling through each planet

TG: gate 2 on your planet leads to gate 2 on roses

TG: then you build up to gate 3 above her house which leads somewhere else on her planet

TG: you look for gate 4 somewhere there

TG: which leads to gate 4 above my house

TG: and so on

EB: wow, ok.

TG: ordinarily rose would have already gone through her gate 1

TG: but shes sleeping pretty hard obviously

TG: and ordinarily you wouldnt have gone through gate 2 until her house was built up

TG: so you wouldnt fall to your death

TG: but you got your cheat rocket so thats fine

TG: see we all got to coordinate on this thing

EB: ok...

EB: how do you know all this?

TG: fuck

TG: come on dude

EB: oh yeah...

EB: you're the orange dave.

EB: hey no offense, but do you think i could talk to the real dave for a second?

TG: god dammit

TG: i am the real dave

TG: you know the one who saved your life

TG: im more real actually cause ive been through some heavy shit already hopping around on red hot gears and i-beams for like a year

TG: and grinding shit out for your ungrateful ass

TG: here look check out this code from the future not that you deserve it WIin189Q

TG: youre fucking welcome

EB: wow, calm down!

EB: i'm sorry, that's not really what i meant...

EB: i mean, of course you're a real dave, but what i mean is...

EB: the dave from my time is also my friend, and i guess he's in the same boat i'm in, not knowing stuff and all.

EB: and i'd feel bad keeping him out of the loop!

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] --

TG: yo

EB: oh, hey.

EB: i think i pissed off your future self.

TG: what did you do

EB: i said he wasn't the real dave.

TG: ahahahahaha

EB: i think i might have really hurt his feelings though!

TG: pff

TG: dont worry about it

EB: why not?

TG: cause i wouldnt give a shit

TG: and hes me

EB: ok.

EB: i'm in rose's room by the way.

TG: what

TG: really

EB: yeah, but she's asleep!

TG: ok

TG: dont go anywhere

TG: im coming down to the computer

EB: ok.

TG: dave is here he wants to use the computer

TG: probably to help you scope out roses room and snoop and stuff

TG: i mean thats what i would have done

TG: if you were alive

TG: so im gonna go

TG: use these flappy ghost wings and tear shit up in space or something

EB: sure!

EB: hey dave...

TG: what

EB: in case i forgot to say so before...

EB: thanks for saving my life!

TG: yeah

-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] --