#therefore this post is pointless lol

[pizzaqueen]

Keep thinking about Steve and anger and how Joe does such a great job of showing different ways it manifests for Steve depending on where it comes from (like when he’s hurt, he gets cold, as one example) but I’m so bad at articulating my thoughts if I ever tried to write something longer it would be a mess

[cockjoke69]

latest troll oc/sona

[mykingdomforapen]

spinning silk | writer's commentary

Hello! It has been a long journey but my Link Click fic, spinning silk, has come to a finish. It has been a joy to write and to share with you, and I really hope that you enjoyed the journey. I am so excited for you to read it now in its completion!

I thought it would be fun/interesting to include a writer's commentary about the story, as I've included elements that I'm excited about and would love to talk about the thoughts behind them, the history, foreshadowing, et cetera.

I will try to shy away from explaining too much in case we wanna preserve some level of the Author is Dead skskks . Happy to answer questions on a separate post or DMs though if there is interest! If you are interested in this commentary, please join me! If not, no worries and merrily we roll along.

Spoilers ahead!

The Epigraph

It's easy to miss the epigraph in this story, which is at the beginning of chapter 1 and is very brief. I don't know if anyone here is Chinese-literate, or if you popped it into a Translation app. If you have, you would have realised that the epigraph actually spoils the ending of the story!

A reminder of the epigraph:

君埋泉下泥销骨 我寄人间雪满头。 -Bai Juyi For his friend, Yuan Zhen

Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen were famous Chinese poets from the Tang Dynasty, and good friends. Bai Juyi would have written this after Yuan Zhen died. The poem's translation is thus:

Your bones are buried under the spring mud; I remain in the mortal world with my hair white as snow.

In the context of this poem, white as snow can indicate someone growing old as they sit at the grave of their friend, therefore their hair turning all white. It can, depending on the translation, indicate someone who sat through the winter until snow layered upon their head , by the time spring comes. Or, in the context of Link Click, Lu Guang's white white hair. Which interpretation should it be? 🙂

Also fun fact I accidentally miscredited the poem for the longest time to Li Bai, another famous Tang Dynasty poet. Oops!

Silk

Ah, this story is built on silk. I think it is fairly famous, the 'red thread of fate' from East Asian/Chinese culture, the concept that you are somehow tied to your soulmate by a long, connecting red thread. I wanted to use the concept of thread as fate, but expand it beyond just about soulmates and relationships. That was the motivation behind depending on silk imagery for Liu Xiao's plan, to play on a well-established concept in Chinese mythology and add my own twist to it. Especially since Liu Xiao was the one in S2 to make the comparison, of people having a thousand parallel fates/threads.

As I was musing on an idea for this fic, that was when I happened to visit an exhibit that included the life cycle of a silk worm. My mother then told me how when she was little, she used to raise silk worms as pets. That got me to muse on the process of making silk--how you have to boil the cocoon and then unravel it slowly until it is a single, long thread. You have to be so careful with it because if it breaks it's kind of pointless, and how magnificent it is that such a cocoon could be so uninterrupted, singular, continuous.

Which brings me to the climax with Lu Guang, when he is trapped in a literal and figurative cocoon of silk. So as Liu Xiao had said (or at least, I think he said it...I forget lol)--when you make silk by boiling the cocoons, you kill the silkworm inside. Silkworms leave the cocoons by chewing a hole through it, which essentially renders the silk unusable because it's all chewed and broken, but now the silkworm is a moth and flies free. The thread of silk, the cocoon, must be ripped and ruined, only then can a silkworm emerge with wings, transformed. Only then can it live.

(Fun fact: one of the first things I knew I wanted from this story was the scene of Cheng Xiaoshi using his threads of fate to sew up all the ripped seams of time. That was, in many ways, the impetus of this story's idea--the image of him so selflessly giving up his own future and life to the act of something as gentle as mending)

Wen Xi

I loved writing chapter 2, honestly. Not only because I get to write about a dive, which is the charm and heart of Link Click, and not only because I get to write about my culture and province (Cantonese represent!) but also because in my eyes, the Wen Xi dive functions similarly to how I interpret the earthquake arc functions for canon.

There was a moment where I almost had a scene where CXS actually interacted with Wen Xi in person. He would have run into her at one point, and of course he can't act like he knows her because she doesn't realize he was the one who did the job for him, but he would have had a moment with her. She was sitting on the curb, struggling with some of the mangosteens she bought. He remembers how she doesn't like getting her hands sticky and wet and how Song Liming used to open them for her when they were kids, so he would have asked her if she needed help and gave her that little bit of kindness. This was ultimately scarpered so that he and Qiao Ling could have that more plot-driven moment of worrying over Lu Guang.

Other Deleted Scenes/changed scenes

Not so much a scene as it is a theme that I wish I could have expounded on more but ultimately couldn't figure it out. Which is to say, I wish I could have played around with Liu Xiao more. Liu Xiao, Lu Guang, and Li Tianchen are the trio who are manipulating fate and the future. They are also three characters who are, in their own way and for their own reasons, trying to use the control of time to answer for a painful trauma that they cannot bear to face full-on. For Liu Xiao, that flashback scene of Liu Min would have played a bigger role in the story. I wish I could have completed this, but at the same time, in my head in order for him to confront it is to own up to it, and find healing from it. He did not want to do that in the playground of my imagination. So I left him be.

Actually, Liu Xiao was supposed to be a little more villainous in this story! He would have been a bit more purposeful about Cheng Xiaoshi, knowing that CXS' abilities are causing the 'knot' in the silk and then intending for CXS to die alone/far from Lu Guang so that Lu Guang would not repeat the cycle. Ultimately I preferred Liu Xiao to be a bit more morally gray. He struck me as someone who didn't have a personal grudge against CXS at the end of the day. All he wants is his own peace of mind.

There was also going to be a moment, although I ended up scrapping it early on, where the photograph of Cheng Xiaoshi and his mother would have played a bit more of a role in the story. There would have been a moment where, upon discovering what Lu Guang was doing with the silks and realizing how much damage it was causing not only to him but to the world, Cheng Xiaoshi would have felt like he was the cause of all of Lu Guang's misery and now also the misery of the concept of time and space, since Lu Guang was essentially destroying the world because of him. In a moment of being in a pretty terrible head space, Cheng Xiaoshi would have half considered diving back into that photo as his mom and straight up Terminator his childhood self to save everyone the trouble. Qiao Ling would have strongly talked him out of it. Ultimately I felt that was, well, a bit dark, and not really fitting to the rest of the story.

Speaking of the photograph's purpose, the opening scene used to be a wee bit different, where Cheng Xiaoshi would actually give Qiao Ling the photo of his mother and ask her to hide it from him. He would never explain why, but Qiao Ling would have a guess as to what the reason was. I changed it because I wanted the story to have a bookend. It begins with Qiao Ling holding Cheng Xiaoshi as he slept to keep him warm. As does it ends.

Culture(???)

I'll be honest, I'm borne of expats, so I'm not the one to break down the traditions and culture of the characters. At the same time, I definitely was raised in Chinese culture and spent formative periods of my life in China, so there are a lot of things I take for granted and not think to explain when in fact it is not actually a universal experience.

But anyway! This is a section to explain my caveat. I am Cantonese. Link Click very likely takes place in a northern city. China's food culture is EXTREMELY diverse, so the food that I have eaten in China, because I spend all my time in a specific province, is probably food that Cheng Xiaoshi, Lu Guang, and Qiao Ling seldomly eat! But I couldn't help myself, so I wrote about my favorite foods. Because I write fic for ME.

That also goes for the daily living aspect as well. For all I know, Cantonese doctor visits, city walking, food delivery, groceries, etc. are the same as Northerners. For all I know, it could be wildly different! I have no idea. I do reckon though that our trio live in a quieter, smaller city than what I'm used to. I mean, look at their neighborhood.

Not regarding shanghuo, though. Shanghuo is everywhere in China.

Anyway, a quick rundown of things:

black sesame porridge: A very Cantonese sweet porridge. Technically considered dessert, but also lauded to be full of nutrition. Technically considered 'soup' but I write fic for me.

Also, black sesame soymilk. Soymilk is great.

Sun Wukong- LG compares himself, or wished to compare himself, to Sun Wukong escorting Tang Sanzang to the west. This is in reference to our beloved Monkey King in The Journey to the West! He is an iconic literary figure dating back to idk I think the 1400s or something and his story is quite long and mythical but long story short his mission was to escort a monk westward, towards South Asia, to collect some important scripts. He had to protect Tan Sanzang from all sorts of demons and devils along the way.

Pixiu- Lu Guang makes a passing comment in his point of view about putting a Pixiu at his doorstep and hoping it pays off Cheng Xiaoshi's debt. Pixiu is a little guy (arguably dragon, probably not) that likes to gobble up gold. If you put a little Pixiu statue in your area, the idea is that he will bring wealth to you. He's got a whole story about him where he ate up all the gold of the heavenly palace and the Jade Empress was so mad she sewed up his butthole so he would have eternal constipation, or something like that. Don't correct me if that's wrong because that's how the story was told to me and I delight in it LOL. I love him. He's my favorite idiot.

Clay pot rice -Also a very Cantonese dish. Frankly, the rest of China is missing out if it is only contained in the Canton province. Rice that is cooked with meats in a clay pot which makes the rice v ery aromatic and deliciously crispy around the sides. Qiao Ling was NOT going to take that out for takeout, that girl was 100% just gonna treat herself in a restaurant and CXS was gonna have to deal with scraps and leftovers.

Zhinü- I'm realizing that Lu Guang makes a lot of references in his internal monologue LOL. This is in reference to the Weaver Girl and Cowherd folktale, one of China's Four Great Folktales (which include Lady Meng Jiang, Legend of White Snake which is my personal favorite, and the Butterfly Lovers). It's a very classic Chinese story about a celestial weaver girl, Zhinü, who is the daughter of I think the Jade Emperor who is like the heavenly king of gods, and her lover the mortal cowherd. Long story short, her father was unhappy that she fell in love with a mortal and so separated her from her husband and children with the Milky Way. One day a year, the birds take pity on the lovers and form a bridge across the galaxy so that they can reunite. Between her and Lu Guang's weaving--or rather, spinning silk--I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a reference.

yangmei wine - Liu Xiao is drinking some Yangmei wine. Yangmei is a type of fruit in China and I am pretty sure I actually made him drink a different wine than what I'm imagining. What I intended for him to drink is a wine that is made of a particular fruit that isn't strictly speaking edible, or at least not eaten for enjoyment. It's usually always only used for making wine, and you let the little plums (so t ospeak) soak in the alcohol until it is a bright red. Very sweet. Very strong.

Sanmao- At one point Lu Guang compares Cheng Xiaoshi to Sanmao because Cheng Xiaoshi had a small sliver of hope for his parents snatched right from underneath his nose. Sanmao is an iconic Chinese character from a long-running comic that began in the 1930s. He is a poor orphan boy during the era before and during WWII, who is just trying to survive extreme poverty. He is often mistreated by passerbys and is very lonely, often looking longingly at other kids who have food to eat and have parents. Every time someone treats him with kindness and he has just a little bit of hope that he can have a family or some good fortune, some awful circumstance happens, usually tied to tense socioeconomic injustice or war.

One of the less traumatic panels of the comic lol:

Jiuzhaigou- Cheng Xiaoshi mentions wishing that he could go there one day, and then at the end Qiao Ling and Lu Guang say that they will go together. Jiuzhaigou is in the Sichuan province, it is a nature realm that is very beautiful. There are natural deposits that make the lakes ultramarine blue and crystal clear. It's so beautiful! A photographer's dream.

Tangyuan- sweet and sticky rice dumplings that can be filled with sweet filling such as peanuts, black sesame paste, sweet egg, or more! They are often eaten during holidays, both during Winter Solstice and the 15th day after Lunar New Year. Indeed they are symbolizing family togetherness, although less because of stickiness and more because of a pun in their name. But maybe stickiness has something to do with it? Winter Solstice foods in different regions of China are also somewhat sticky, even if they don't typically eat tangyuan. I just know what I'm told lol.

Doraemon-A popular Japanese manga/anime from the 50s or 60s that is immensely beloved by the Chinese to this day. He is a robotic cat from the future with a fourth dimensional pocket full of futuristic gadgets that he uses to help Nobita, a fourth grader in the 50s, with his every day problems. He's wonderful. Also, he has a time machine which is tucked in Nobita's homework desk. Fitting....

Yixiu- Another popular Japanese anime, I believe from the 80s, that was also quite popular in China. It's about Ikkyu-san, a little monk/prince whose profound wisdom solved all sorts of grown-up's shenanigans.

Jiejie- A reader had asked the significance of Cheng Xiaoshi calling Qiao Ling this in the penultimate so I figured I'd bring it up here as well. 'Jie' is an indicator of older sister, or a bit of a respectful but also affectionate term for a young woman. Just like how Lu Guang calls Qiao Ling 'Qiao Ling jie' in the show. When he does it, it's friendly but also not actually meaning that he sees her as a sister sister because it's attached to her whole name. Cheng Xiaoshi in this story, not necessarily canon, refers to her as Ling jie every now and then. To me, this is him hearkening to childhood terms, as that is what his parents would refer to her as when he was growing up.

Take this with a grain of salt because I am a diaspora and not originally from the culture. Qiao Ling referring to Cheng Xiaoshi as 'didi' (little brother) in the show, and in the end Cheng Xiaoshi calling Qiao Ling 'jiejie' (big sister) in this fic are not rare, so to speak, or inappropriate, but you don't typically refer to someone who isn't related to you as your 'didi' or 'jiejie' unless they are blood related to you. You can call your sibling this, or your cousins this, but uuuuusually not someone who is like a sibling to you--singularly, yes, like Ling jie, but not typically Jiejie. Them calling each other this means that they truly see each other as their sibling. Also, those terms are a little bit childlike, so to speak. There are more 'grown-up' ways to refer to your little brother or big sister. In Cheng Xiaoshi's case, someone his age will probably refer to a sister as 'a jie' or 'jia jie'--at least, in Cantonese this is the case. 'Jiejie' is a little kid's way of calling their sibling. Like, up until I was about 7 years old I would have referred to my sister this way. To call someone 'jiejie' now, particularly to their face, I feel is a very vulnerable address. It's like if you as an adult who usually calls their mother 'Mom', in a time of deep distress or sadness and in need of comfort, revert to calling her 'mama' or 'mommy'. Like, you're both probably in tears to get to this point. At least, that is my experience with addresses, and therefore Cheng Xiaoshi's lol. Any fellow sinos out there can correct me but that was my intention for that part of the story. Cheng Xiaoshi is vulnerable, and he is seeking comfort from his big sister.

Mama's nursery rhyme- The story of the little rabbits and their Mama Rabbit is a very well known children's story in China. The story wasrecounted as close to memory as I can, so the only other thing I can say about it is that this is how the song goes.

Well, that's all I can think of right now! If there are any questions or you're curious about something, feel free to send me a message! Otherwise, I hope I didn't resuscitate the author too much.

[transmutationisms]

sorry if this is not a question you like to be asked/topic you want to discuss. but how do we bash back against the ‘lgb drop the t’ people and other terfs? genuinely, like, do we just ignore them? is it possible to have a productive conversation?

honestly i'm not a strong debater, esp in a face-to-face context where i don't have the opportunity to revise and rephrase my arguments in writing. i also think it's generally pointless to argue with people who are avowed transmisogynists / general transphobes. there are obviously many different ways people come to embrace actively anti-trans politics (as opposed to the level of passively accepted transphobia that just exists as part of the social background) but ime often this hinges on a flat refusal to take seriously the idea that social positions and entities (like 'cis' genders) are immanently socially and historically contingent, and that defying a birth identification is therefore no less legitimate than performing it. i am always willing to talk to people who have questions about principles of a constructivist argument, but i've found it's a waste of breath to try to convince someone of this type of position if they're simply unwilling to even engage with the notion that their social realities are actively constructed and maintained rather than being immutable and transhistorical truths. in the case of 'drop the t' types specifically, this often takes the form of the 'born this way' narrative deployed to 'defend' cis lgb people---because again, any notion of sexuality involving agency or active choice would also be disturbing to this genre of transphobe. ime these essentialist positions are also why so many transphobic arguments will rapidly expand and reframe into broad attacks on 'postmodernism' and specifically name foucault (this is also a condemnation of the way liberal academics understand and use his work, lol). also worth noting that many many transphobes are openly operating with a politics based on their own personal disgust and discomfort, and though i might simply point out to them that personal feelings don't dictate political or social realities, my experience is that arguing someone out of a disgust-based prejudice or opinion is virtually impossible. like, these are not 'rational' arguments; they're ex post facto justifications for a reaction to trans bodies and lives as aberrant and perverted. i think it's generally more productive to focus on preventing harm (like, is a trans woman being ostracised or denied housing or starving for lack of income? can you do something to rectify that?) and making transphobes' positions as marginal as possible by just shutting them down. but again, i'm not a good debater! so maybe someone else has a better strategy for countering these people.

[deviltriggerdante]

i'm in the middle of doing something else right now + i don't normally make posts like this so this is going to be pretty poorly put together, but..

re:dmc1 novel, is gilver actually supposed to be vergil? i personally always assumed he was (+ and was therefore responsible for the resulting massacres etc.) until i last reread a few days ago:

for those unaware: the DMC1 novel mainly features demons that inhibit the corpses of dead humans. there are some instances of demons that don't possess any corpses which are described as "scythe-swinging shadows", but the main focus are the possessed corpses.

“Humanity was born a race of our slaves.” Gilver pressed harder on his weapon, and a thin stream of red blood rolled down Grue's neck. “Inhabiting the corpses taxes our strength and limits our numbers. But soon we will be able to migrate to this plane in our own prepared bodies.” (pg. 120)

The bandaged man [Gilver] radiated an aura of decay. (pg. 149)

however, dante does mention that gilver "doesn't smell like" the other demons. i left in the rest of the lines in mainly because i found gilver's characterization and dialogue here interesting:

“What are you, man? You don't smell like those other things.” “You don't need to know. In any case, I'm going to crush you.” Dante shrugged. “That's a fitting line for a villain.” “Your absurd labels are meaningless.” Gilver cackled behind his bandages. “The victor will be called the hero by future generations. Arguing about good and evil is pointless.” (pg. 172)

addt. gilver repeatedly separates himself from not only humans, but also dante:

“Do you have any questions, Dante? You have treacherous blood in you.” (pg. 172)

[...] Gilver finally pronounced. “You have our blood coursing through your veins. You're the mongrel half-breed offspring of a human and a demon. And you betrayed our side.” (pg. 173)

“This is your world,” he finally said. “Yes. The demon world is replacing yours. It will spread out from this nexus until finally everything is consumed.” Gilver hefted his sword, seemingly recovered from Dante's last attack. “This place is a cancerous blight to incomplete souls like you. [...] (pg. 180-181)

..... which is interesting, because throughout all of the novel dante has had trouble existing for any amount of time in the demon realm. whatever amount of devil blood in him doesn't help him and he struggles to stay awake and fight, even at the barrier between the two worlds. that said, gilver very obviously has access to some amount of demon power, mainly as shown through their battle in which he dons his.. demon armour lol

there are multiple other things that i didn't feel like touching upon right now, and the biggest issue is that... this is goikeda and kamiya's vision, not itsuno's. so it's possible that this IS actually vergil as the two wanted to write him, but considering this takes place just before DMC1.. it really could be possible that vergil's just been something considered dead, right?

... or maybe it is vergil and he just has blood on his hands and wanted dante to suffer, like i initially assumed. if anyone has any opinions or disagrees with me, please feel free to say as much :P i'd really like to analyze this book more and try to relate it to other DMC lore but it really is pretty difficult with how much has been retconned throughout the franchise. thanks for reading!

[web-novel-polls]

Heyyo! Very small nitpick about the rarepair tournament that you're free to ignore but I thought maybe you might not be familiar with the source material so a correction might not be entirely unwanted.

So you list og AlCale as "original cale henituse x original alver/alberu crossman" and I just wanted to let you know that there is no "original alberu". Original Cale Henituse is totally appropriate because he is a character who's body was transmigrated into but Alberu had no such body-swap. Therefore "original" is informing the reader that you mean the character pre-transmigration. As an example that you might be more familiar with "orginal cale henituse" would equal Mo Xuanyu and "(krs)cale henituse" would equal Wei Wuxian. The TCF fandom can be a bit complicated to understand because unlike in MDZS where WWX strongly maintains his own name, Kim Rok Soo (the person who takes og cale's body) takes on Cale's name and barely refers to himself by his real name. So "original" is strictly so that the fans can understand that you are not referring to KRS when you say the name Cale Henituse.

Since Alberu Crossman is never possessed, it's really weird to see 'original' next to his name like that. It's possible that you're strictly referring to pre-regression Alberu and if so, it would be more appropriate to say "TBOAH Alberu" but I wouldn't recommend that. From what I can tell, the people who ship og AlCale tend to ship OG Cale with Alberu both pre and post regression and it's a bit pointless to define "tboah Alberu" and "tcf Alberu" as a different person because he just isn't, he's just the same person at different stages in his life (think if someone were to define Lan Wangji as a different person pre and post WWX death, it'd be weird right?). Og Cale is 100% a different person than krs!Cale (krs being the person who transmigrated into his body) but Alberu is just Alberu.

Anyway I just thought I'd correct it because it makes it sound to casual viewer as though Alberu was also possessed at one point and someone is wearing his body like a meat-suit like with Cale and that just didn't happen lol.

(also you're free to use alver / alberu interchangeably, it's the same name just translated differently but fair warning that if you're on twt they'll get mad at you for using "alberu" so it's safer to use alver on that site. alver is the official translation and alberu is the fan translation)

*Transmigration is being used as a catch-all term for reincarnation, regression, etc.

I actually read a good portion of the manhwa a few years(?) ago (the novel’s on my to-read list after ORV & SCTIR, so I’ll get to it in 10 years if I’m quick) & they’ll never convince me that man’s name is Alver. This is my jungkook. I accepted Lout of the Count’s Family as the official title because a carrd guilt-tripped me into it, but Twitter will never take Alberu from me. Yu Ryeo Han could come to me & say his name is Alver, and I won’t believe it. Which is all besides the point lol

Anyway, you were right about both wordings being submitted - Og!Cale/Og!Alberu & Original Cale Henituse x Alver Crossman. I’ll change it to be more neutral since I agree the difference between TBOAH Alberu and LCF Alberu isn’t as important for a poll, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen “original” as inherently meaning a character’s been transmigrated*? I’ve only really seen it used to differentiate characters from the “original” world & the characters from the main story. 

For example, in The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, Shen Qingqiu transmigrated into the novel Proud Immortal Demon Way, where Luo Binghe becomes the Emperor of the world. This Luo Binghe (Bingge) is often referred to as “original Luo Binghe” & is narratively a different character from the current Luo Binghe (Bing-mei). The situation might be a bit different in LCF (I’ve heard the transmigration situation is hella fucky), but characters being the same person is not always the same as them being the same character, especially if they’ve dramatically changed in some way (see: ORV). Environment & experiences change ppl and all that. 

It’s actually pretty interesting seeing transmigration* described in linear terms (“pre and post regression,” comparing it to WWX’s death, “different stages of his life”) because my experience with almost every transmigration* story is that they’re two or more separate worlds/timelines. I think Alberu grows and changes as a character throughout the story (which admittedly I haven’t read a large percentage of), experiencing things he never did within TBOAH, and the distinction between characters of separate timelines is often used for characterization within fandom, not in the technical sense of a character. Transmigration* often has the main character befriending and changing characters, especially villains, and “original” best describes the difference imo

I guess it could confuse people not familiar with the genre, but honestly, I think it’s just easier to explain in case they do go on to read more isekai/transmigration/reincarnation stories. I think “the Alberu from the timeline where the main character didn’t transmigrate (the Birth of a Hero novel) is sometimes called TBOAH or original Alberu to differentiate from our Alberu” is fairly simple? Idk I got very distracted writing this

[princehoneytea]

i can finally tell the (almost) full team wish AU storyline since it was revealed in my campaign but i have no idea how to present all that info in a single post. im gonna have to make a sub-page on my website or something theres so much Lore and Other Peoples OCs i need a bit to get that somehow-presentable but heres a quick tldr

( cw: violence, death, toxic relationships )

btw i am cringe but i am free

tldr: emmet managed to capture jirachi for the purpose of wishing for ingo’s return, forcibly waking it from its slumber and pissing it off really bad. therefore it took an innocent comment of his while he was rambling to it and interpreted that as his wish, which locked himself and all of his depot agents in forced immortality for the past ~1000-ish years. oops

after this they all remain in their original timeline for approximately a century as they capture exceedingly rare/legendary pokemon (its not that hard when you have Forever and cant die, not to mention are an elite battle facility trainer) and team wish is conceived to fulfill the conditions of their “curse” and that’s when they take on their codenames, and emmet’s is COMET

comet carves Team Wish HQ into existence in a place between time and space using his pokemon. team wish hq is essentially a living organism that is identical to gear station, but it and everything within it is bleached white. from the platforms, the tunnels sprawl out forever and grow out like the roots of a tree - theyre fleshy (yes its gross!) and lead to different timelines they can venture to, which is how they get around

team wish is able to teleport individually (NOT between timelines) because comet caught the agent who is secretly a hoopa, hasan, in a pokeball and instructed him to capture his alternate selves and take their rings to provide to each agent - which he had no choice but to do

> ( art via ronny )

MAJOR EVENTS DURING THIS TIME (thus revealed): - the youngest agent, dit, and her caretaker scout - both ditto, of course - make a major mistake in which scout teaches them intangibility for protection. at the tail end of the century spent in their original timeline, dit loses control over this ability and ceases to exist. scout loses himself and has not been seen by other wish agents since then, presumably staying in hiding since his loss.

> ( art via thog )

- an incident incited by comet occurs in which agent lacerta is fused with her krookodile, creating the beast GEMINI whom is kept locked up in the catacombs - comet becomes close to administrator perihelion, whom is his best friend and only real confidant in the world due to his ability to see comet as a person - comet’s cousin, sagittarius, who had been in charge of keeping the agents in line, snaps around cycle 500 after the loss of his SO lacerta. he (temporarily) kills a large portion of agents and is consequently locked up in chains for a century before being let out and receiving technological implants both to empower him and keep him under administrator control

> ( art via delta )

- comet loses himself in despair around cycle 650, relentless optimism finally giving in, and becomes an uncontrollable force of nihilism and violence. he stops attempting to control his agents’ own violent tendencies and develops the Unfortunate Hobby of hunting cycle emmets for catharsis, projecting onto them A Bit Too Hard and believing them to be useless parasites clinging to ingo

> ( art via me lol )

- on one particular encounter, he was attacked from behind by ingo’s chandelure when he came to protect emmet, and comet was severely injured - enraged and hopelessly betrayed by ingo’s (rightful) behavior, comet ended up killing them both; an action which he still regrets. as he attempted to leave, he was killed by depot agent furze (shai), who witnessed the aftermath

> ( art via ena )

- after this event, horrified by his actions, comet has mellowed out considerably, sinking further into despair and edging away from the pointless violence. he, of course, cannot take back any of his cruel actions in past cycles, and now believes himself incapable of improvement (”i am bad, that is my nature, i cannot take anything back with just apologies” sort of thing) and thus does not truly attempt to improve (this is his major flaw tbqh) (he’s sort of like you know the ‘nothing in life matters’ pic with the sunglasses now? yeah thats about right) - throughout this entire time his relationship with his significant other pardalis (previously known as atticus, NOT the one from team star lol) gets increasingly worse on both of their behalves, with pardalis callously damaging him emotionally & comet refusing to accept pardalis as an individual; instead projecting this vision of “his atticus” onto a man who is no longer that person

> ( left to right: comet, sagittarius, pardalis; art via cloud )

------

to get into actual events of the rp. this cycle is number 1522. to keep it as brief as possible: it is significant because, firstly, they are interacting with this cycle’s depot agents (their other selves) much more often than usual. they keep being stuck together by unexpected events and many have developed emotional attachments. secondly, they have a lead on jirachi, not yet revealed. thirdly, comet is rather fond of them - especially shai - and has been shirking his responsibilities to “play house” with them.

in the most recent event, team wish’s secrets were revealed by dreams projected to both depot agents and team wish agents, caused by scout - the ditto who disappeared 900 years prior. comet is enraged like he hasn’t been in centuries and is terrifying team wish and depot agents alike with his wrath.

> ( my art lol )

pardalis, no longer willing to participate in the endless cycle of failure, defects from team wish - along with cetus and chamaeleon; as well as a few others who have yet to officially defect. the rest of team wish is operating on orders to locate and destroy scout while comet falls to pieces, no longer in control of his own actions, motivated solely by the fear of being left all alone and disregarding all consequences - he is a man who has nothing left to lose.

> ( art via delta )

..............anyway that’s the tldr. this is much longer than i meant it to be. haha team wish :) my rp is closed but im always completely ok with ppl making their own depot agents/wish agents for this au! anyway goodnight.

[haru-dipthong]

鴨川 poll results are in!

Vote counts, minus see results option:

Kamogawa: 6 votes (24%) Kamogawa River: 12 votes (48%) Kamo River: 6 votes (24%) Duck River: 1 vote (who voted for this lol)

Interesting distribution, particularly the one vote for "Duck River" which I'm not sure I should take seriously. I just had that option there for the sake of exhaustiveness.

For the record, I voted for "Kamogawa River". I believe it's the best translation for the following reasons:

It is a proper noun, and proper nouns should be transliterated as is. No one is calling Ohtani (the baseball player) "Bigvalley" because the name as it refers to the person is the important part - the literal etymological meaning is almost completely irrelevant. This eliminates "Duck River" as a viable choice and makes "Kamo River" questionable.

However, it could be argued that "Kamo" is the name of the river and "Gawa" is just saying that it's a river. I don't agree, but I can see how someone could argue for this case. I still don't think this makes "Kamo River" a good translation — if you hear native speakers say the word for that river, or if you ask for directions, you'll hear "kamogawa". If you only knew it as the "Kamo River" you might not be able to understand directions or signs, since the average street sign/Kyoto person on the street will probably not translate it as "Kamo River" themselves when giving directions. "Kamogawa" and "Kamogawa River" are kinda backwards compatible with both languages, with basically no drawbacks, making them the safer translations.

That leaves "Kamogawa" and "Kamogawa River" as viable choices. The advantage "Kamogawa" has is that it is less redundant. The advantage "Kamogawa River" has is that it is much clearer what it is referring to. I believe that being less redundant isn't actually much of an advantage, and I think clarity is huge, therefore Kamogawa River is the best choice imo. It seems like in general, people agree too!

So why do I think less redundancy is not much of an advantage? Well, how does it help the person reading the translation? It doesn't! It's the opposite - more redundancy (to a point) makes meaning clearer. And the purpose of translation is to get meaning across, so eliminating helpful redundancy is pointless at best and gatekeeping/linguistic purism at worst.

I've seen posts (and people irl) lamenting the fact that "chai tea" means "tea tea", and "Sahara Desert" means "desert desert". I don't believe this is a bad thing - it's simply that when a word is borrowed from another language, it's natural to describe it using existing words so people actually know what you're talking about. Also, while it's true that "chai" just means tea in many languages and "tea" also means tea (in english), "chai tea" in english certainly does not mean "tea tea". It means chai tea! It means a specific type of tea, with spices in! The phrase "chai tea" is now an English phrase which means something different to its original Hindi roots.

(btw, Google maps uses Kamo River - which inspired the poll in the first place)

[spicybylerpolls]

I remember recently there was an anon who sent in a message here about the finn snl thing and mentioned how Noah hinted at being gay a while before he was comfortable ever coming out, and how it’s not crazy to think finn could be doing the same by posting the bi snl skit. I just saw a clip on my dash from finn’s hot ones episode coming up where they were talking about how guests can take the sauces home and the host jokes that finn can take anything else with him from the studio that he wants and finn says (in a very interesting voice lol if you watched it you know what I mean ) that “chris is coming home with meeee!” and Chris is the name of the creator/producer of hot ones and I googled him and he’s a very cute older guy(like maybe mid to late 30s?)…. so it made me curious…

his another subtle instance of flagging his identity? plz go watch the clip before participating in the poll!

1) yes, it’s clear he’s feeling more comfortable and therefore willing to make those kinds of jokes openly knowing how it might come across

2) nah he’s just having fun it doesn’t mean anything beyond being silly

3) it could go either way. I am not sure but I am a little suspicious ngl

4) It’s not for me to speculate about so I won’t but should he come out in any way I wouldn’t be surprised

5) It’s not for me to speculate and I won’t because I think he’s straight so this is pointless discussion

6) I don’t think anyone should discuss this period either way

Please note that the purpose of this blog is not to be creepy or to make anyone uncomfortable. That's why I created the #spicy byler tag (I will tag all polls with this). If you don't want to see this blog or anything related to it on your feed, please block that tag. Not everyone is comfortable with this sorta stuff, and that's okay.

[selchwife]

man. this isnt me venting its just a really long ramble about fictosexual stuff lol

i read this scholarly article about fictosexuality (first ever?) and it's really making me think. in particular i'm Thinking bc how i found it was through a new york post article, and i saw in the tag that recently there was also a docuseries that touched on fictosexuality as well. i'm wondering if it won't get more mainstream public exposure as a concept/orientation soon.

it's a topic i've been thinking about for a few years. when i used to be on the reddits it was something that came up a lot, like it seemed like every other day someone would be insisting they were planning to make a documentary or write an article or something and plenty of people on there jumped at the chance to do any sort of interview or participate in anything even the slightest bit "official" in order to make their case about why it's totally okay actually. a lot of people would discuss wanting to be more open about their relationships or for there to be a way to validate their legitimacy in the eyes of other, non-ficto people and so on.

i used to really hate it, honestly. not because i think anything's wrong with being serious about fictional characters (....obviously lol), but because i just felt like it was pointless. i didn't ever feel like it was something that would receive any kind of mainstream exposure like in documentaries or news articles or academic research or what have you to begin with. and like, tbh i infinitely preferred it that way. i always felt like trying to Advocate For Fictosexuality would ruin the sense of privacy that i always found particularly comforting. i always preferred feeling like it's a very closed community that few other people would ever notice or take interest in, and which was therefore relatively safe from masses of spectators, onlookers, gawkers, etc & co. i felt like the worst thing that could happen would be if some major news outlet published some kind of human interest piece about it and Suddenly Everyone Knew and it was a Topic Of Discussion Among The Uninitiated. can you fucking imagine?

anyway, i still hope that's going to continue to be the case, for the most part. i'd like more academic interest in the topic, but The Public is absolutely free to leave me the hell alone. i prefer keeping this kind of thing private. i used to really agonize about whether to say i was single or not, for instance, and now i'm like "just lie. say you're single. it's technically true as far as they're concerned and also your gay marriage with your anime boy is sacrosanct, so don't tell randos all about it." i sort of inhabit a halfway space where i simultaneously am and am not single and only sort of identify as fictosexual and aside from participating in communities and spaces geared toward or sympathetic to this sort of thing i Keep My Damn Trap Shut! and i think it would be a real bummer if one day i woke up and, like, Mothers Of Three On Facebook were posting about fictosexuality bc it was in the huffington post or some shit

it does kind of feel silly to me in retrospect however to assume that it's something that would remain completely obscure and secret forever. the same slow sort of public exposure has happened to plenty of other niche communities so there's no reason to believe people won't eventually just Know about fictosexuality to some extent the way they do about fanfic writers or furries or whatever else. Fucking mortifying but it could happen

[dootznbootz]

I saw your Helen timeline post and if it helps any a route you could go is just cut the pieces you don't like out of the timeline because the timeline is made retroactively anyways. For example I study Theseus extensively all the way back to Linear B Bronze Age when he's first introduced. The Iliad is carried forward from then. There is no mention of the abduction in the Iliad at all Theseus is literally only named to call him like an immortal because he was just So famous everyone knows everything about him thank you Homer. And it's not until like 450 BC there's this pot of Theseus chasing a woman and people say it's supposed to be Helen but that doesn't hold up with accounts that say Helen was a child. And the most complete versions of this myth are from 1 century BC to the Roman Empire with Plutarch Ovid and Virgil. Also to note in the 5th century Athenians were making plays about how epic and awesome Athens therefore Theseus was so anyone Not from Athens with a dislike for them would in turn naturally make plays and stories about how lame and awful Athens and therefore Theseus was

Sorry for the long ask lmao but hope that helps somewhat with getting an idea of how fucky these timelines are always going to be

Thank you very much! And don't be sorry! This is very helpful! I mostly made the post as a bit of a joke and a vent in a way, as I had around 7 pages in my notebook of the sources and stories of the myths (Bellerophon, Herakles, Theseus, Jason and the Argonauts, Atalanta, etc.) to pull from but realized that me trying to map out a timeline was a bit pointless (especially for just a fic, I got too lost in the sauce of research) as there are SOOO many different sources with so many different stories that contradict each other. Like you mentioned some Non-Athenians disliked Theseus, and a lot of Roman poets did not like Odysseus as they believed they were the descendants of Troy, so ofc they will have a personal take on the story. LOTS of politics eventually got involved with these stories lol.

I got so caught up in research, as I didn't want to possibly spread misinformation (even if it's just a fic, I know that that can change things) with something as small as a character making a joke about how Daedalus could make another Pegasus by making wax wings for a horse when Daedalus couldn't have possibly even known about Bellerophon because Bellerophon was later on but realized that there's not meant to be a timeline in the first place really and that I can technically pick and choose which version of the myth I'd use.

Now I'm mostly focusing on what I can find for the Mycenaean period. There was no sugar (and in some sources, I saw that if they did have it, it was used as medicine) and they used honey as a sweetener instead. There was no steel. They did not use saddles. Stuff like that.

[tomatoluvr69]

I want to work on being less self-censorious. One of the biggest impediments I face to any sort of creative endeavor is fear of how the final product will be perceived; I’ve managed to get over this somewhat by creating a contract with myself that no one will ever look at/read the finished product, which is the sole reason I’m even able to write or make anything at all. But I still have a huge problem with never actually working on anything and I think it’s because there’s no way to remove the fear of whatever I write or produce being beholden my biggest critic, which is myself. So I want to try to stop thinking things like ‘X idea/plot is derivative/stupid/sophomoric/self-indulgent and therefore pointless to even begin’ so that I can do literally anything!! I’m only posting this bc I need to get it out of my own head lol but yeah hopefully I can get in the habit. 2023 hopefully the year that the process over product paradigm shift really gels for me LOL!

[shadoedseptmbr]

Random question for you since I'm curious! After the war, when the dust has settled and names added to memorials and repair efforts under way, is there anything in particular that has Aedan believe it was worth it? All the fighting, the stress, the pain, the loss. Is there anything in her present that brings her a moment of pause to look back and say like "it was a hell of a rough ride, but to get here, it was worth it"?

That's...an interesting question, heh.

Post-war is still pretty nebulous for Aedan. She's so geared to fight that she (and therefore her poor author, lol) doesn't really have a mental frame of "after the war." I'm not sure she knows how to put the guns down.

The window she's looking through, seems to be different. For her, the war is the reason. It's the WHOLE reason (despite the fact that she's not really a believer in fate or mission or anything like that- and it is a contradiction, yes) for how she grew up. It's what she was built for. It's why she was never that good at connections. Why she was hungry. Why she was hurt and learned to patch herself up. Why she found a few pieces of a gun in a closet when she was ten. Why what happened to her never seemed to matter to anyone.

Because she'd be needed, for this- the fighting, the stress, the pain, and loss. If she's honest, the war is almost...a relief. She's needed. She's right.

Most of her inner thoughts, when she dwells on it- which she does not often- is that she's like this so no one else has to be.

Now. What saves her in the end from just giving up after the Crucible fires is that she isn't alone anymore. There will be a post-war and she has something to live for after. And she knows that being like she was didn't stop more kids from the horrors of their own trauma.

But now they get a chance to move on, too. They get to find people, too. It wasn't pointless.

And maybe that's the point.

[papirouge]

Do u think palestinian are somehow related to the philistines mentioned in the bible? In the bible they were also judea's enemies. Ancient philistines / caaninites inhabited modern day Gaza.

First of all, I'd like to say that I like you ask because it's a reminder that Israelites were NOT the natives of these lands and that they actually had to make space (go to war) against nations that were already there (Amorites, Canaanites, etc.). Therefore this whole "IsRaeLitEs weRe tHeRe FiRsT" narrative becomes moot lol I made a post pointing that out but tumblr nuked it

That's how I know Christians who never bothered reading THE WHOLE Old Testament because a good chuck of it is retelling the History of the kindgom(s) of Israel kicking them out these lands, fighting against them and how they were hounded by their remnants around for years and years...

But this whole genealogy thing is wicked, and there's a reason that the Bible took time to call it out in Titus 3:9

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

Paul initially called out the fools who took pride into being descendant of Abraham (which can be linked the racialism/racial suprematism behind Zionism that I tackled a few asks before), but also about how pointless relating the dead/old things. We are new bodies in Christ. We are not our descendants. I mean, following this logic, no one beside descendants of Abraham are enemies of Israel since Israelites were god chosen people and were even forbidden to marry/fornicate with foreigners (so... 99% of the world)

It's important to note that Titus (the person to whom Paul wrote this letter) was not a Jew, so Paul was probably compelling/warning him against any attack that would be held against him for not being legitimate to carry the word of God because of his gentile lineage. This passage had a pretty anti racist undertone that might go unnoticed if you don't grasp the context of this letter.

I love how the Bible starts off with God being extremely selective as of whom He chooses to convey & perpetuate His will with (a striking example are the 8 passengers of Noah's arc - 8 people over the whole planet population!!), to become more and more accepting and available to ANYONE. This narrative culminates with the Pentecost (the Holy Spirit is shared by people of all races & nations - united, in one single place), the Ethiopian eunuch accepting the Holy Spirit (prophesizing the evangelization of African nations) 🤍🤍

[queenimmadolla]

i think for me one of the main issues that comes with the whitewashing of this space is just that it’s a reminder that this fandom was not created with me / people like me in mind? if that makes sense? like even if it’s just in the header of a fic and it’s a dainty white girl. there’s nothing wrong with those pictures truly but when it’s over and over you can just tell that the writer is inserting themselves? because i understand finding the perfect picture i truly do but when it’s constant it’s like. oh

anyways how are u babe? u genuinely seem like the sweetest i hope ur okay <3

That’s 100% valid. I’ve been in fandoms since I was a preteen so I’m kind of used to it, which is pretty sad.

It’s not something that fundamentally changes my life now when I read a fic, but I do have moments where a description about the reader being pale kinda pulls me out of the moment and makes me self aware it wasn’t written with me in mind, but I also have to remember the writer is usually writing with themselves in mind on the first draft and sometimes they forget descriptors or they don’t think twice. And that’s another thing I have to give them leeway for, this really is something they have to think twice about because as much as they can be aware of their privilege, white people are indeed white. What we face is not something they have to worry about, and therefore not something they actively think twice about unless approached. Sometimes, (like when they get aggressive when approached) it’s obvious that it may be intentional ignorance, sometimes it’s just the regular I didn’t know ignorance. It’s not an excuse because they can do better and I know they have heard and witnessed conversations about this around them plenty of times, it all depends on whether or not they’ve chosen to be a bystander and ignore it or not.

I have come across a couple of writers like the ones you described, though. And even when approached about it, they refused to change anything. I do read other minority reader insert fics to support them, it’s pretty easy to imagine an ‘OC’ of a different race being romanced by some heartthrob, it’s literally just like reading a book, but purposeful exclusion of POCs is not something I support.

There are plenty of ways to go about finding aesthetics and I applaud my fellow writers who include multiple skin colors in the aesthetics of a fic that doesn’t even describe it. As mentioned in a previous post, it’s pretty pointless to go above and beyond to not describe a character’s skin tone only to make sure everyone knows you had a white one in mind by choosing solely a white person as an aesthetic. As a writer, I know it’s not needed or the only way to come up with aesthetics.

BUT HI!!! I’m doing great for the time being, I’ve got a pretty busy job but I’m taking a couple of days off so I’m ready to enjoy peace, writing and interactions on here lol 🩷

[vivid-vices]

I follow you because you've lived a very different and difficult life from mine. It's very interesting and like reading someone's diaries, except that someone is a total stranger, older than you, and has dealt with sm trauma but they still keep going. tbh, sometimes i think you could qualify in a crime documentary (except thankfully, unlike most of those, you're actually alive and im happy and intrigued to see how your life continues even after all those horrible things).

also you've made my mind more open to things and more aware of certain realities.

just recently, for example, i saw your nsfw post about how being complimented by married men for being better than their wives got you off.

the concept of married men and mistresses disgusted me, but seeing someone so close (in that I follow your blog) be involved in that, made me think about it on a deeper level.

it made me realize that, instead of those common tropes where the mistress and wife fight over the husband, what if the mistress doesn't care at all? what if it's all just for the nooky, and so the wife should rather fight with her husband, because fighting w the mistress would be pointless? not saying this is excusable of course, but it just made me think things differently.

also that was the first post that made me think that yes, you are kinda "bad." 😅 well, some of your other posts do hint on it as well, but i digress.

at the end of the day, when i look at your blog, i see a person whose trying, despite their tragic past and destructive coping mechanisms and flaws and everything. and i enjoy reading about their everyday life. i want to see how they're doing everyday, whether it became shittier or better for them.

"studying under a microscope" (<- except said creature is at a safe distance and i can observe them and support them from a far.) ❤️

since i get to see so much of your personal posts and you don't get to see mine, i guess it would be interesting for you to know some things about one of your followers? (<- excuse to yap about myself)

our age difference is enough for you to be my parent (edited this one a few times so that "you're old" or "im young" doesn't come across insulting :'D)

I'm a pampered "good child" so seeing rebellious people or people who act against the norm intrigue me (that one time you shared about being a professional pickpocket as a kid..i thought, "huh..she must have been one of those cool kids/had a wild life. that's pretty interesting.")

i have some trauma with an older mentor in the past and that seeps in which is why im afraid to approach you off anon. (i really like reading abt you though <3). you 🤝 me - people who are better off as concepts /jk

i read your kalluto fic and liked it

also i hope you continue healing :)

my response is going to be all over the place, just a warning.

firstly, and probably most importantly, i'm actually glad you don't approach me off anon (and i mean that in the most positive way possible) because i'm very hesitant in the way i interact with people much younger than me. plus i'm awkward in general. but please feel free to continue sending anon asks, of course :)

i think a crime documentary about me would be interesting but i am happy to be alive and therefore not a contender for one lol. and thank you for the encouragement 🙏

personally i feel like i have no place to judge what a married person chooses to do, i'm just sort of like an object in that situation. their personal life has nothing to do with me so their marriage isn't my concern. i'm probably an asshole for that but i've never cared very much for people that i don't actively choose to care about (and the list of who i do care about has grown dramatically over the last few months, especially in regards to my tumblr mutuals, who i often genuinely care about and want the best for)

but if you're young enough for me to be your parent, should you be on my nsfw? 🧐

and again, thank you for your support even though you're a complete stranger to me. that's such a strange concept to me - i can imagine people following me to watch the disaster in progress, but not because they actually care. so thank you 🙏

i definitely didn't pickpocket because i was a cool/wild kid, it was just a better alternative than getting food out of the trash. i only knew three kids close to my own age and by normal standards would've probably been a total loser.

i'm so glad you enjoyed my kalluto fic!!! it's one of my least popular fics so i'm happy to see it get love 🖤

anyway this was lovely to wake up to and thank you so much for the explanation 🖤🖤🖤