#this probably isn't as comprehensive as I'd like to be but oh well

[jojotichakorn]

for the game - phum 🤲

you said i should do all of them, which is insane, but also thank you weeeee ✨🫶

i'm gonna put the headcanons under the cut though, y'all can send asks with other characters (& emojis) from here

🏳️‍🌈 a sexuality headcanon

i personally definitely headcanon him as gay.

🏳️‍⚧️ a gender headcanon

a good ol' cis boy.

😇 a headcanon about their religion/lack thereof

hmmm... i'd imagine he's probably not religious, because he was shipped off from thailand at a really early age, and no one was socialising him and really involving him in the culture oversees either, so religion probably just kind of naturally passed him by. at this stage, i also can't imagine when he would discover it later in life on his own either.

🧸 a headcanon about their childhood

well 💀 horrors beyond our comprehension, basically. tbh, we know quite a bit about it, but just to solidify, i think 1) his parents and oldest brother genuinely never called to talk to him; 2) fang did call almost every day, but it got to this slightly weird juxtaposition of like "oh, you're calling me, but then if i start complaining about the horrific situation i'm in, you shut me down", so it wasn't Great, 3) the distant relatives he lived with did not care about him at all, it was truly unimaginable levels of neglect; 4) he had zero friends and the "i cried every day" thing was not an exaggeration.

👻 a headcanon about what scares them

well, we know about heights. for some reason, i also think darkness. that's if we're talking specifically classic fears. if we're talking more psychological - definitely fear of rejection and abandonment.

👽 a headcanon about a weird quirk of theirs

i do not think he sleeps with his plushies, that's not really their function. they are a comfort item during the day and also just a special interest on their own, as a collection.

💤 a headcanon about their sleep

i actually think he has a really hard time falling asleep, specifically because he isn't used to feeling safe, and that's also why he wakes up at the smallest sound.

🦾 a disability headcanon

autism in the biggest boldest letters.

💝 a headcanon about their love language

i'm gonna be honest, it's all of them equally. he is very acts of service, he starts driving peem around everywhere almost right away, he exchanges food with both peem and fang, so they wouldn't eat what they don't like. crossing over into gift-giving as well, he bought peem a bunch of seafood even though he doesn't eat it because they were at sea and peem would have wanted to eat it, he buys peem stuff all the time tbh, he pays for toey as well. quality time is also up there - he follows peem around everywhere and doesn't mind just sitting there in silence while peem works on his art. physical touch, of course, he can't stop touching and kissing peem. finally, words of affirmation, he is really good at compliments and just talking about how much he loves spending time with his friends etc. like i always say, his heart is the size of a skyscraper, and he has so much love to give.

🫂 a friendship headcanon

he still has a really hard time making friends and i think it will take him a long time to actually start hanging out with his new friends from peem's friend group separately and not when everyone is invited.

💔 an angsty headcanon

his self-worth is incredibly shakey, it's truly like a game of tumble tower, when you can see that it's gonna fall on the next player's turn. and i think that, though it will get better, especially if the family thing is resolved correctly, it will genuinely take decades to deal with it fully.

🪢 a headcanon about their family

his parents are gonna get hit by a bus that will be driven by someone who looks suspiciously like me :)

📓 a headcanon about their hobbies

i think he definitely has a hobby that involves a lot of reality-escaping. probably not video games, because i can't remember seeing a good pc/console at his apartment. i am leaning more towards books and/or movies/series, something like that.

👗 a headcanon about their clothes

he does not really care about fashion rip 😔

🔪 a headcanon relating to fighting/violence

unlike fang, i actually don't think he was ever that big into it. he ended up in a couple of fights anyway, because of fang, but he himself is very 👉👈

🌟 a headcanon about their desires/wishes

i think he wants kids, but is afraid he is going to make a terrible father, because he hasn't really had any good examples of parenting throughout his childhood.

🥇 a headcanon about what they’re best at

perhaps a slightly weird answer to a question that's probably leaning more towards skills and achievements, but i'm gonna say taking care of people. he is very attentive and loving, he is genuinely just incredibly good at the small gestures and remembering things about other people and giving the right gifts and saying the right thing at the right time, etc. etc.

🍫 a headcanon about food

he eats a very limited amount of food, which is also why fang can only cook spaghetti - he learned to cook it specifically for phum, and phum just kept asking for the same thing every day. i wouldn't be surprised, if he isn't actually allergic to seafood as well, but just says that, because it's easier than explaining that he eats exactly seven foods and nothing else.

🎭 a headcanon about what they lie about

his exact feelings about his parents. i think he's been shamed a lot for feeling the way he does towards them, so he keeps making things up and skirting around the conversation, so he wouldn't have to directly say "i do not want to see them anymore".

❤️‍🔥 a romantic headcanon

he is extremely romantic in my opinion. i think he believes in soulmateism and true love and the whole shebang. i think he watches lots of romcoms and has probably seen every mlm storyline in existence, dreaming of his own gay little relationship. he has all the proper romantic gestures down to a fine art too, obviously.

💄 an appearance headcanon

yes, he did dye his hair that shade of brown to look more like a teddy bear. slash srs

🖕 a headcanon relating to anger

anger is his mortal enemy. he has a lot of it pent up inside (understandably so), but he thinks it's a very ugly feeling he is "not supposed to feel", so he suppresses it. whenever he feels angry, he just kind of goes inside his shell and leaves the situation.

😺 an animal related headcanon

he is a cat person (hence, peem).

😬 a headcanon about the worst thing they’ve done

straight up the agreement he made with peem at the beginning.

😭 a headcanon about the worst thing that happened to them

being abandoned by his parents at five years old.

😶 a random headcanon!

he isn't as close to toey as he'd like to be, because he is 1) autistic and 2) not particularly well-socialised, so he has a hard time really understanding what social rules to follow for their particular relationship. in his head, he definitely considers toey his younger brother and would absolutely just spoil him rotten and hang out with him a lot, but not a lot of that gets actualised in reality, because he's a little afraid of making any sudden big moves or actively saying that he feels about toey the same way fang feels about him.

[ask-mobile-iterator-project]

You said you’re fond of the local wildlife, what kind of creatures are in your region?

[SLS]: Oh! There are quite a few interesting creatures here!

[SLS]: I'm not the best at drawing the wildlife, so I apologize...! I tried to note down some of my observations, though!

[SLS]: These are so cute!! They look so soft, too...! I'd love to hold one...

[SLS]: Their name...um...I just thought it sounded cute! Not much of a reason behind it, but I hope that is okay!

[SLS]: These lizards are also rather cute! It seems like they get along well with the snuffles!

[SLS]: These lizards are quite interesting. I'm not sure if they're natural organisms or if they were made by someone...

[SLS]: It probably has something to do with those caves, but I don't want to lose another overseer...!

[SLS]: They're really mysterious, though! Isn't that exciting?

[SLS]: Sorry...I couldn't contain my bias on these creatures. I...detest them. Unfortunately, my Administrator loves using them. There are a lot of...biomechanical abominations they've made around here. I try to ignore them.

[SLS]: These ones, though...well, I've tried ignoring them. It did not go very well.

[SLS]: Anyways, I just love lantern mice!! Aren't they the cutest??? I think the only creatures I like more than lantern mice are slugcats! But...

[SLS]: Thank you for showing interest in my local wildlife! I hope my little drawings are comprehensible. There's a lot of space I haven't really explored much yet, but...there are still so many interesting creatures around here!

[allwaswell16]

Hi lovely and thank for your sharing and caring in this fandom!

A bit finicky question, I'm here with. Don't know if I managed to mention different perspectives enough and contextualize it the way I wanted to, but anyway, do feel free to ignore or maybe just leave some tags:

What are your thoughts, your two pennies and just today (tomorrow is another day and maybe a new perspective), about the conversation going on about the commenting culture (nowadays in AO3):

the lack and/or decline of it

the urgent need for community, engagement, participation and positive feedback loop for authors

but also the growing and changing audience for fanfic

the growing idea that a fic is not a gift (it most certainly is) but some "factory produced and guaranteed content that keeps on coming and you are entitled to it"

the lack of reading comprehension skills

and the lack of skills to figure out the appropriate time and place for giving critique

but also the small but growing portion of authors who demand only certain kind of praise, worded in a certain kind of way and if not delivered accordingly attack brutally on everything and everyone

the cultural differencies as a player in participating, giving positive feedback and even using foreign language words

and of course the ever growing and spreading comment anxiety on "both sides"

and so on...

So how do you see it? What's your perspective? You are both an author and a reader. But then again, you are a reader who writes, so you actually know, what a writer likes to see in their comment field...

Hi, anon! Whew, well this is a lot, but I'm going to answer as much as I can haha. As you said, this is just my own perspective on things. I'd say I also have a little added perspective of being a writer who reads and writes in more than one popular fanfic fandom. So I can't help but compare my experiences in both.

I don't think the One Direction fandom has ever been overly generous with the kudos and comments to be perfectly honest. I think if you talk to writers who are active in other fic fandoms of similar sizes/popularity, they'd likely agree with that.

I want to be clear to start with here that I feel like readers have been very kind to me over the years. I've been here a long time now though, so I get the benefit of the doubt with some long time readers and those who subscribe to my ao3. But I also think that in part I have encouraged comments in a way that not every writer can or wants to do.

I answer every single comment. I answer them in a way that mirrors back the comment that was made. If you leave a long comment, I answer back in detail. If you send me something shorter, (which is fine and I love any and all comments!) I will answer back in a similar way. I also answer back pretty quickly. There are times I get behind, but I rarely get behind more than a month or so. And the day my fic posts, I try to answer every comment that gets posted on that first day.

Am I saying everyone needs to do what I do? Absolutely not! It takes a lot of time and energy to do that! But I do think there's a correlation to be made there. Readers see all the comments, see they're being answered quickly, and feel comfortable or like it's okay to leave one, too. OH, and also I want to say that me answering back (maybe obsessively) quickly is something that probably isn't possible for people who have a fic explode in popularity. I might have some popular fics but none of them were like overnight explosions in popularity. They've all been slow burners lol.

As for concrit with fic...I think it depends on the fandom. It is not something that is looked upon kindly in ours. There are definitely writers out there who ask for it which is fine, but the etiquette in our fandom is not to offer it unless asked for it. In my opinion, this makes a lot of sense for our fandom. Since writers are not getting the numbers of kudos and comments that are given more freely in other fandoms, it's a bit of a hard pill to swallow that we'd then expect them to also take unsolicited writing critiques.

Just using my own fics as an example, by the time I publish a fic multiple other writers have already read it. It's been proofread and betad by a writer with an MFA in creative writing. I'm not going to be taking concrit seriously from someone whose background in writing I don't know. When I publish the fic, it's done, I'm happy with the result, and I'm not going back to it to make changes. So there's not much point in telling me what I should have done differently with it.

Your point about some writers being perhaps overly sensitive about some comments...I wanted to say a few things about. There are a few common comments that immediately came to mind that writers have differing views on, and I think it's worthwhile for readers to think about.

One is something like I wish this was longer or please write more of this. If you comment this on any of my fics, I'll smile and consider it a compliment that you enjoyed it enough to want more. If you go through my comments, you'll see this is indeed what I've replied back to comments like that. There are other writers that are going to be exasperated by that comment or even offended by it. And even though I'm not one of them, I would say try to see it from their perspective.

What if that writer has spent months on that fic the reader considers "short"? I think readers sometimes forget just how much TIME goes into these fics. Just because a fic is 10k, 5k, whatever doesn't mean it didn't take a long time to write. And someone who spent months of time on something who likely didn't receive a whole lot of comments in the first place, and then one of the few comments they get could be interpreted as this wasn't enough. That's disheartening, you know? I think if you have the urge to leave that comment, maybe think first about the writer you're leaving that comment for. Or even think of a different way to say it like, "I could have lived in this fic forever" which is what I like to think is what most readers are trying to convey with comments like that.

Another one is who tops? Just don't, I'd say for that comment. I simply don't answer ones like that. But I'd say check the tags. If it's not tagged, either choose to move on if you have to know to read it or ctrl+F the fic yourself for the word "cock" or whatever. If the writer doesn't tag it, it means they didn't care about that. Or they got annoyed with their fics being reduced to that too often. PWP eh fine, but my 80k amnesia au I had a nervous breakdown writing that has one sex scene...eff off that's not what the fic is about. I once wrote a fic about grief. GRIEF! (well, and Antarctic scientists) that people argued over whether it was bottom Louis. And I resolved to never tag it again after that.

As for the fic as a gift vs not a gift I agree with you...I don't know what else you'd call something that is given for free. That's the definition of "gift." If someone reads the fic, a kudos is like a verbal thank you and a comment would be like a thank you card.

The comment anxiety thing I don't have an issue with myself, but I know writers who do and can't bring themselves to answer their comments. One of my friends feels so badly for not answering but when she tries she says her replies don't feel like enough. It's too bad that she can't answer due to actually loving her comments TOO much! Anxiety is a bitch for sure. For anyone who wants to leave a comment but is worried about it, I promise that super short ones or even keysmashes or emojis are very welcome! I have a mutual on tumblr who leaves the same comment on every one of my fics that simply says she loved the fic and I promise it makes me happy every single time because now I know she read it and enjoyed it whereas I might have missed whether or not she left a kudos. And when I see her on my dash, I think that's the one who loves my fics! :)

I swear I'm gonna stop rambling, but I want to end with one more thing. I think it would be interesting for readers and writers to experience a different fandom sometime if they're only in this one. It's not always a better/worse thing, but it might make people more open to trying new things like commenting/replying more or in different ways.

[hikennosabo]

trimax vol 14 random thoughts (ch 5-8)

okay enough stalling... let's get this done... HOO BOY

chapter 5:

i love how vash is drawn in these panels... and vash waking up from hearing meryl's words... WAAHHHHH...

GET UP COWARD (<- lyric from my chemical romance's 2022 single 'the foundations of decay' which i may or may not be considering for a vash playlist)

oh, i LOVE this image of knives covering his face...

hmhmhm... the way knives addresses the other plants is... gentle, almost?

"sorrow and grief," huh... over the humans trying to communicate with them? those are the kinds of emotions this scenario is bringing out? there is something there but... i don't quite know what it is...

uwahhh... i do love this image...

"we were united in hatred" -> "i feel a murmur of fear"... hmmm. sounds like knives himself, who buried his fear underneath hatred... am i connecting any dots???

but fear in communicating with humans... fear because communication is scary in general? fear because of the abuse humans have put plants through? fear of uncertainty of what this communication will result in?

the tiniest merylmilly u can imagine...

they ask if it's safe, but it's not like vash cares if it's safe, he's been prepared to die for several volumes now, so... he's probably thinking "if i die i die," lol. (<- in pain)

this is a cute expression...

"don't touch me," he says...

knives trying to incorporate himself with the fused plants - now it's HIS turn to go "if i die i die" i guess LJSDKLFDS... both him and vash risking it all for their ideals. they really are brothers...

vash's "grant me that ticket"... it doesn't directly address god, but it feels like a prayer nonetheless.

chapter 6:

wah... meryl's strength gives vash strength... wahhh... is this the first time they've... well, "talked about it" isn't the right phrase, but is this the first time vash understands what meryl was going through that time when she flinched away from him?

"what matters is that you communicate. that you understand the person next to you is breathing and existing." ugh, fuck, i can feel myself getting weepy again.

the people getting good AND bad memories from the plants.. good! good! they said a few volumes ago that most(?) of the population has gathered in this city, so this really is everyone?! individual normal people couldn't do much about plant abuse, but now that EVERYONE understands, things can change! they can acknowledge what's happened, and they can change, and move forward!!

and vash being the bridge, the point of commonality between humans and plants... uaaghgh it's so interesting because for a long time vash's reputation among the humans was one of destruction. but in this moment everyone understands who he really is and what he wants. ueueeueueue....

also. this pattern of receiving traumatic memories via feathers, and to come out the other side not with fear and hatred but with increased compassion and understanding... sounds like what happened between vash and meryl, doesn't it?

"i've never made a promise like this before, but today i'd like to try" UAAGHGHHG.G U AHGHGHGHG.

haha. hey. why does it look like he's been crying. i'm going to throw up.

i don't know if the rest of this post will be comprehensible.

chapter 7:

what do i even say here.

hey remember the chapter title "king of loneliness." i'm gonna go eat rocks now.

even now, he's stubbornly clinging to his ideals, thinking he's in too deep, that he's gone too far to turn back...

oh, this is getting to me, the way it's worded. "caught up in something too big" and the panel of them as kids. they were just kids when this all started. this was too big for them. knives was a kid, a traumatized, scared kid who made a very bad, very destructive decision, and he has lived his life up until this point digging his heels in, growing more and more twisted, more controlling and violent, trying to justify his own actions to himself because how do you carry something like that.

"kill me, vash, there's nowhere else for me to go." literally two chapters ago vash said "where am i going? what's there left to see?" i'm fucking eating rocks.

"even though we were apart for so long, we were still brothers. but i was the one who broke away..." knives looks so pained when he thinks this. now, after all this, he's finally feeling regret, or letting himself feel regret. in the last possible moment.

...or so he thinks. vash has a clear shot, the opportunity to kill knives, and knives wants vash to kill him, he expects it - but vash protects him instead. with his last bullet. despite knives's blade going through his torso. despite everything. despite EVERYTHING!!!!! vash has EVERY REASON to hate knives, to KILL knives, and he STILL chooses not to!!!! i'm not okay i'm crying again

in 98, rem tells vash "take care of knives"... this is pretty much the same thing... i don't want to say this is necessarily another thing nightow took from 98 because of course this is what she said, what else would she have said at that time?

the beginning of the chapter had vash struggling to remember what rem said, but the preceding pages imply it's knives remembering her words... or maybe they both are...

this is fucking getting to me, fuck, i'm crying again!!! fuck!!!!

also, oh, chronica IS still alive... honestly i was (and still am) so caught up in the twins that that information just immediately left my brain the first time around LMAO...

i am so. fucking. unwell. about knives's expressions in this scene. he's feeling so many things at once. i just... the fact that vash protects knives and picks him up to haul him away... he ISN'T leaving knives on his own, even in the end, even after everything that's happened... and knives is just. what IS he feeling? shock, disbelief, regret... love, can i say love?? love for his brother?? the love between them that never went away, despite everything?? i am gonna fucking throw up

i don't know where to put this in the post because it occurred to me while i was proofreading, but knives stabbed vash, felt shock and regret, and then acted to save him... which sounds awfully similar to what happened between rem and vash, huh?

this, with knives's hair turning black... new hair, new outlook, right?

will you drive me back, can you take me home... (<- lyrics from gerard way's 'brother' from his 2014 solo album 'hesitant alien')

oh, the fact that they sprouted wings like this in the stampede s1 finale is gonna make it hit SOOOO MUCH HARDER once THIS scene gets adapted. this is such a beautiful spread, a beautiful moment... i'm gonna cry again...

LIVIO!!!! TO THE RESCUE!!!! also... that's not a double fang, whose gun is that?

WOLFWOOD!!!!! WWWAHHHHGHGHGHH!!!!! the "turn around and he's gone" scene is SUCH a cliche but FUCK!!!!!! IT'S GETTING TO ME!!!!!!

chapter 8:

i feel so normal i feel so normal (affirmations) (lying)

i can't. i can't type. i'm crying too much. this is love. it's just love.

his last act, knowing that it will kill him, is an act of love. love for his brother. so vash can eat. so the doctor and his kid can eat. and as time goes on it'll grow bigger and be able to feed more people. food as a love language. i'm crying and sobbing.

knives understands he has no place in this world, especially after everything he's done, and the world needs vash more than him... that vash can't live in the world as long as they're together... he doesn't even tell vash himself that he intended to disappear... it's his choice, he walks his path with pride... but i'd like to believe they were able to spend some time together before this. just being brothers. TALKING. eating together. sleeping next to each other. hugging?? apologizing?? knives finally being a good brother after so long and taking care of vash?? making up for lost time. i'd like to imagine it. let me imagine it.

i've been thinking this for a while but i actually do think that vash would forgive knives if knives expressed regret and asked for forgiveness. because vash is jesus and all, and that's how sin and forgiveness work in christianity, if you believe and repent you will be forgiven, etc... i don't know if vash would forgive knives right away - he is very, very human after all - but i definitely think he could. and maybe he did. maybe they had that talk.

phew. okay, i'm finished crying now, and BOY was it a big cry. not any easier the second time around. anyway.

does he really need a wig? if he doesn't spike up his hair, that would be effective by itself, since it's one of his identifiers according to the earth forces...

DOES THIS CONFIRM THAT VASH CAN'T GROW A BEARD WITHOUT EFFORT? like since his plant powers are completely drained he can no longer grow a beard???

AHHHH... VASH'S BIG SMILE!!!!! and everyone's wearing their old clothes, and with a bunch of guys comically chasing vash around, yeah, this is really all for callback's sake... we've come so far, and full circle.

meryl's lecture to him is so typically meryl LOL... he DID NOT keep his promise LMAO

the fucking jojo sound effects are cracking me up HDSFKSFJDFS

also everyone who complained about stampede """changing""" meryl into a reporter owes me $100 right fucking now. that was a complaint i saw SO MUCH. i thought it was a bit strange myself, but i figured orange had a reason, and now i know. those complainers know NOTHING!!! NOTHING!!!!!!

meryl frantically reading from her script and milly's big smile... cute... also WHAT DO YOU MEAN WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS LMAO?? are they planning on stripping him?? vash the stampede nip slip???

AAHHHHH LIVIO GREW HIS HAIR OUT AGAIN!!!!! and he's at wolfwood's grave... oh fuck i said i was done crying GODDAMMIT!!!!

okay. okay i'm done for real now. man. man. what do i say. what can i say.

"the same song of humanity still sang." and what a beautiful song it is.

i don't really know how to conclude this post... just. wow. what a journey this was. i don't think i've ever cried this much over a manga, lol... i... had a really good time!

[chronotsr]

Pre-G1 Modules, part 4...A - The Judge's Guild Roundup

Part 4a? This is one of those projects that keeps ballooning in scope forever.

Again, keeping with the theme of "trying to not get too historical", Judge's Guild was a group formed by Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owen to release DM aids, in part because then-TSR didn't think it was a viable market. Note that this is Bob Bledsaw Sr., the guy responsible for the nazi incident at Judge's Guild a few years ago was Bob Bledsaw Jr. Anyway, JG was responsible for a lot of materials ranging from setting materials, adventure modules. A lot of luminaries ultimately come from JG, including recently passed legend Jennell Jacquays, so they're a very worthwhile topic to review. I will not talk everything they put out between 1976 and G1 because I'm already planning on touching on (edit: 3 of 6) items today, so we will focus only on their for-sale, non-serial modules.

City-State of the Invincible Overlord (1977)

This is stretching the definition of module -- it's more of a setting book. CSIO is a setting supplement for, yeah, a city state of an invincible overlord. I hope you like maaaaaaaaaaaaaps! Essentially, an overlord stays above and aloof to the factional struggles of the people beneath him, roman emperor-style, and details out a bunch of characters and places within a city. It's, actually pretty good, I think a modern revision of CSIO would probably be pretty fun to play in, especially if you omitted a lot of 1970s gunk (like the frequency of slavery). It has this nice quality where it's much more brief per-location than modern city sourcebooks, but has many many varieties of the same concept. You might want a tavern, and there are so many to choose from. Here's a random assortment of buildings you can find in this book:

A park of sexy statues with a pleasure cult hiding in the rush

A 'fear shop' where the owner will go to ridiculous lengths to scare you

A GILF brothel

The tavern that Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser always go to

A siege engineer you can bribe for promotions

The map is almost, too comprehensive. I'm not sure what % of buildings are described but it's gotta be close to 20%, which is REALLY HIGH by ttrpg city standards. I'd guess that Green Ronin's Freeport is maybe 1% described. The book also has the traditional regulars of a city book (laws, sewer maps, factions) as well as the admittedly novel idea of a full advertising system to acquire hirelings. It, probably didn't merit a full page, but the idea of caring this much about where precisely those hirelings is coming from is kinda novel.

Regardless, this is an adventure module review blog, not a city review blog, so we have done our due diligence and may now proceed.

Tegel Manor (1977)

Oh boy, it's a megadungeon. Here we go. So despite that ominous cover, it's only 30 pages, so it could be worse. The essential schtick of the adventure is that there's a destitute (by noble standards) paladin who owns the deed to an extremely haunted mansion and is desperately trying to pawn the problem off on someone else. You can bully him into helping, but he's a complete coward.

The house is magically fireproofed because adventurers are just like that. A good sign, I think? Surely this won't be a tedious monster closet festival? We have a pretty standard rundown of a town and,

That's one of the most unfortunate names I've ever seen. If I was a dwarf named Cretin Nodcock, I feel like I would also not give a damn about my appearance. Or maybe work on a name change. This adventure really lavishes in its old timey words, we have a paladin described as "poltroonerous" (cowardly), a passing mention of "white wassail" (a mulled white wine), et c. Relatively little is given about the surrounding town and countryside, just enough to get us into the manor asap.

The first floor is a greatest hits of a haunted house. Animated knives, disappearing ghosts, screaming, the walls ooze GREEN SLIME, et c. Here's the stuff (across this entire dungeon) that isn't rote:

A creaky floor that gets so loud that it stuns elves' sensitive hearing while a wall crusher goes off

An animated yellow mold that looks like a sleeping woman

An animated painting of a battle that shoots arrows outward randomly

An animated painting that paints the party, and if it succeeds the party is petrified

Rust monster on flying bed action

A room of opaque gas-filled tubes that contain a variety of people, monsters, objects in animation. I bet the elf lord would have some nice things for their rescuer.

The level of haunting really goes down and it just becomes an assemblage of roughly halloween monsters in increasingly ridiculous patterns. If I was running this, I'd probably shrink the manor down into a greatest hits version of these rooms, because this is a SPRAWLING manor and it's room after room of "there is a wolf, there is a wight, there is a moldering desk". When you think of Gygax going "why would anyone want to buy a module?", this is sticking in my mind. It's not "Dwarven Glory" bland but it IS a never-ending gauntlet of monsters punctuated by silly rooms.

A rare luxury after all the room-by-room shit. Just some good ol' fashioned silliness.

Inexplicably under the house is a further dungeon-dungeon, which is mostly rat tunnels. Happily some of these maps feature little blank lines to mark your revisions from the official map, which is a nice little conceit.

I am always, always, always happy to have a new riddle to throw at my party, although I'm not so good at riddling myself.

Curiously, lich is spelled with an e at the end here, I have no idea how normal this was at the time.

Like most GMs, I have a crippling addiction to random tables for miscellaneous crap. This is a really hard to parse table but I believe how it works is:

Roll a d12 to determine what the statue does from the first list of results

Follow that result vertically down to the array of concepts

Roll a d8 and pick from that vertical list of results So for example, I rolled d12=5; d8=8. I go to 5 in the first list (Advises), follow it down vertically to the third column of results (the one that starts with Location), and index down to 8 (Directions). My magic statue advises directions to the party. What a nice guy! This table bothers me so bad that I rejiggered it real quickly in excel, because with the benefit of widescreen monitors it's pretty easy to fix:

Tegal Manor wraps with some extra resurrection rules, in case you needed more realism in your magical revivification. I think I prefer it just working, thanks.

Modron (1977)

There's honestly a stunning lack of underwater content in RPGs, I think. Underwater is such a magical location, both experientially and in mythology. One of these days I will set an adventure in one of those sets from the old 1986 Journey to the West TV show, the underwater sea dragon palace ones? They're so fucking cool. Everything is better with underwater dragon palaces.

Right. Modron. Focus.

Modron is another one of those "straddling the line between module and setting book" situations, only much smaller than CSIO. The art all looks like Prince Valliant, which by that sentence alone either means you're going to love or hate it (I hate it). Our titular Modron is a goddess, but also a temple, but also a port town. We will deal with these in order.

Goddess Modron is a river goddess who was worshipped by the town and the temple. She is implied to be, kind of like wonder woman in a weird way? She has to exist underwater, or she dies in 6 rounds (so 6 minutes), which is pretty fucking lame but I too know the struggle of dry skin. She's a fertility goddess (who isn't) and she does d20 years of damage when she lovetaps you. Tragically, she is no longer worshipped in favor of Mitra. COWARDS! LOVE YOUR RIVER/SEA GODDESSES.

Modron's Temple is very, very briefly explained. Essentially, only the oldest people in town know how to find it, via the cellar of the tavern. It's completely underwater, and a lot of mermen hang out there. The head priestess can drain your water! Google says that one love tap would exhaust you, two would probably kill you, and three would definitely kill you. It's implied in this section that a JttW-style Triton Coral Kingdom is, in fact, hanging out off the shoreline somewhere.

Town Modron is your standard raided port town. There was once two gods worshiped here, then it got messed up by raiders and ECONOMICS and some light civil war. It's okay, ya boi Invincible Overlord is sending you a bailout, making him a better autocrat than most living politicians. Apparently they have a pet seamonster who serves the overlord directly? Awesome! We need more pet kaiju in the world.

The actual area-by-area is pretty blasé. The local rulers are varyingly competent (the king is competent but a huge sex pest), there's a guy who takes you on guided tours to, anywhere in the multiverse? Somehow the blacksmith has figured out how to rustproof armor, which will really piss off your rust monsters. The book makes a point to say that the jailor is a particular bastard, so Judge's Guild says ACAB? Unlikely but a very funny concept.

Tragically, we end our adventure without a map of the palace, the temple, the other temple, or anything. I don't believe this is the first supplement to contain Mitra as JG's most famous god (well, Mitra is a real-life god anyhow), but this is certainly the first adventure-ish module to feature him. Dark Tower is quite a ways away!

A poison coral table is, one of those things you would only ever see in early DND. That is so unbelievably specific. The book ends with many such cases, there's a pearl randomizer that doesn't include any fun magic effects or anything, merely linking to Supplement II. Boo!

So originally when writing this, I had intended that part 4 be a whole unit, but then I realized that I was going to have to include these semi-adventures in the roundup. So to my great shame, we will continue this later.

[tinyozlion]

Parsing Gundam Wing: 

A Field Guide to a Classic Anime

So, you’re watching Gundam Wing.

Maybe you’re seeing it for the first time, maybe you’re returning to it as a fan of yore, maybe, like me, you’re trying to introduce it to a friend. Perhaps you are watching the English dub, or with English subtitles– doesn’t matter. There’s only one script for both. You’re trying to make it through the first episode, and oh baby, oh baby– What is this pacing? Who are these people? Why do they talk like that? What the fuck is a battle seed? Yes, the robots are cool, but the rest seems like a cursed soap opera. You are understandably hesitant to continue.

 This is normal. 

Take my hand. Shh, shh, come to my arms. You are safe now. I’m here to help. Welcome, brave explorer, to a classic 90's anime that once took America by storm. It’s very good. No, really, I promise, it’s very good.

Now, I can’t promise that you’ll love it! If the Space Opera And Ethics Course With Hot People and Robot Fights genre isn't for you, that's fine, take some hummus and go in peace my friend.

But the rest of you… we are brothers now.

Gundam Wing was lightning in a bottle when it first came out in North America, but even if that particular explosive debut will never come again, I think there’s still a wealth of enjoyment to be had for new fans– especially if like me you love stories that have a lot of depth, a lot of crunch, a lot of rewatch value, a lot of iterative shipping possibilities.

I realize that we live in an era of total media saturation; the notion of investing time in ANYTHING new these days is a tough sell. There are infinitely many things to watch, read, play, listen to-- so how do you justify getting into something that’s kinda old and a little janky? With some parts that haven’t aged as well as others? Something that maybe takes a bit of extra participation to get into?

...As a spoonful of medicine to help ease the media-fatigue, let me share with you something that I've found true in my life: rough edges invite you to participate in creation.

Stories that invite (or demand, or beg) you to participate in them have their own unique value, completely distinct from the value of those that satisfy you immediately; they will reward you for investing in them your time, your creativity, your curiosity.

And I think this is one of those stories! I genuinely want more people to play in this sandbox with me! So, here I am, making a blog about it.

--This is my guidebook to getting into Gundam Wing. It is intended to be a sort of companion, a primer-- maybe a walkthrough? An invitation? to this complex and juicy series.

This won't be a fan wiki-- those already exist, thank goodness, and people can check those out for themselves-- rather, I'd like to make this a repository of context and insight, and to fill in those troublesome missing pieces in the show that are big stumbling blocks to understanding what's going on!

I want to give you what I didn’t have when I started this series back in anno domini two-thousand-and-naught:

All the damn information.

Naturally, there will be more drawings, memes, crabs, very stupid gifs, and probably some crying throughout. And you have my word that I will try and present this in a comprehensive, inclusive, character-agnostic way.

...That said, I am not stealthy! I cannot possibly disguise the fact that I’ve given exponentially more thought to certain characters than to others. You will almost certainly be able to tell when you’ve encountered my Blorbos, my Special Interests--

(Shh, Tinylion! Back in your teapot!)

--But! Look into my eyes. Here is an Absolute, Unwavering Truth about me:

I love, or at least love something about, Every. Single. Character in Gundam Wing. and I will do my absolute damndest to give them each their due diligence, because they're worth it, and so are you.

Thank you for coming, I hope you enjoy whatever you find here ♥

~ Wesley, and to a lesser extent, TinyLion

[run-aled]

RED VALLEY: SEASON 1 EPISODE 4‘Memorial Twig’

[transcript]

SCENE 1

ABRUPT TAPE CUT.

AUBREY WOOD: Uh-hmm. Hello. Uh. Aubrey Wood, Specialist, Day 1, April 17th, log number...1. Safe arrival at Red Valley facility, 19.00 hours. Was immediately taken to quarters, in the farm house. Everything seems good. Everything fine. Unpacking. Full itinerary in place for tomorrow, follow up log to be...comprehensive.

CUT.

AUBREY WOOD: Oh, personal. Nothing to add. It's lovely to be here.

CUT.

AUBREY WOOD: - Amoxycillin, flucloxicillin, tetracycline, gentamicin but in bottles not amps, metronidazole bags, vancomycin. I'll have the list of what's missing in tomorrow's report. Personal - nothing to add.

CUT.

AUBREY WOOD: - sunny all day, and I realised the AC unit isn't functioning properly in the sub level. I'm attaching the catalogue number, as I'm unable to locate an inventory, or really any record keeping of any kind on our utilities, please advise. Personal - nothing to add. Thanks.

CUT.

AUBREY WOOD: - Following introductions and initiation on the base, and after a little rest after his journey, I expect to have our first formal strategy meeting in the morning. Looking forward to it.

PAUSE.

AUBREY WOOD: Uh, personal. Dr Thomas seems really nice, he's enthusiastic, he's itching to get started. It's good to see another face. I know it's only been 8 days and I've had no trouble on my own, it's just...good to have someone to talk to. Soon this place will have people everywhere and I'll probably miss the peace and quiet.

CUT.

AUBREY WOOD: Personal. It's been frustrating today, if I'm completely honest. We all had a plan before we left, and to be held up by a courier service is irritating to say the least. It should've been here before the clients even arrived, ideally before I'd even arrived. I'm sure the installation will take ages as well. I know it's not my field but honestly, I don't even know where it’s all going to go. I've seen the mobile MRI unit, it’s state of the art but it’s still enormous, and it's meant to go in house, so I don't see that being easy. Unless they get the clients themselves to carry it in. Honestly, they look like a brick shithouse and a giant haystack had babies. And then those babies went to the gym.

CUT TO:

OUTSIDE. A BREEZE BLOWS THROUGH TREES. BIRDS SINGING. LIGHT TRAFFIC IN THE DISTANCE. AFTER A FEW PEACEFUL MOMENTS THERE IS A RUSTLING IN A POCKET, A PAUSE, THEN THE RINGING OF A PHONE, WHICH IS QUICKLY ANSWERED.

KAREN: Warren!

WARREN: Hey.

KAREN: Where the hell are you?

WARREN: I'm in Gravesend.

KAREN: Gravesend?! When did you…? – why?-

WARREN: Karen, it's fine, I'm alright.

KAREN: And what about me? What if I'm not alright? You must have seen my calls, my messages, how dare you just up and go out of nowhere-

WARREN: I know, I know. You're right. I'm sorry. I can't give you an excuse.

KAREN: I haven't slept, I wanted to call the police-

WARREN: God, you didn't, did you? Call the police?

KAREN: No.

PAUSE.

KAREN: Why have you gone there, Warren?

WARREN: I just needed to go home.

KAREN: Is this because of that guy you were talking to? Graham-

WARREN: Gordon Porlock.

KAREN: He sounds like a herbal remedy.

WARREN: It's nothing to do with anyone. It's just me.

KAREN: Where are you right now?

WARREN: ...I'm at my dad's grave.

KAREN: Jesus, babe.

WARREN: Well, it's not a grave, it's a memorial tree. Well, it's not a memorial tree really, it's more of a memorial twig.

KAREN: Look, I can take the day off, if I leave now, I can be there in, what, 3 / 4 hours-

WARREN: No no, really, I'm fine. I just needed to see it, work some stuff out, I don’t mean to be so dramatic, I got tunnel vision or something, I was just driving and before I knew it, I was halfway here.

KAREN: What about work?

WARREN: It's ok, I'm meant to be out of the office today anyway.

KAREN: And your pills, do you have all your pills?

WARREN: Yes, I have them. I keep spares in the glove box. I'll be home tonight. I promise.

FOOTSTEPS OVER GRAVELAPPROACHING.

WARREN: Babe I need to go, alright?

KAREN: What's going on? Is someone there?

WARREN: It's fine, I'll speak to you soon.

KAREN: Warren? War-

WARREN HANGS UP THE PHONE.

WARREN: Hi.

EMILY: Why are you wearing a suit? Are you going to court?

WARREN: It's what I wear for work.

EMILY: Well it doesn't look right on you.

WARREN: Okay.

EMILY: Don't worry, this isn't a dramatic coincidence. Laura at the hotel told me you were here. Figured this would be why.

WARREN: You're friends with Laura at the hotel?

EMILY: No, I hate her guts. We're friends on Facebook.

WARREN: Right.

EMILY: Why are you back, Warren?

WARREN: Um. I just...uh. I wanted to see...

EMILY: You wanted to make sure he was really dead? Because I guess you wouldn't really know for sure, would you?

WARREN: I haven’t come to fight with you Emily.

EMILY: It would be a long way to drive to get your arse kicked Warren. I assume you live a long way away. Or maybe you just live above the Co-op how would I know. No, you ran far away, didn't you. New clothes, new haircut. You don't even sound like yourself. Who was that on the phone?

WARREN: Karen. She’s my wife.

EMILY: Your wife? You know what, I don't own this garden, or this town, but right here, this little square of grass, I paid for it, and I'm gonna tell you to fuck right off it. You gave up your right to come and stare meaningfully at anything in it.

WARREN: Emily. I'm sorry, I'll be going.

EMILY: You should only do what you can live with, Warren. Dad was fine with what he did. Never said a word about any of it, not after mum, not after you, not even at the end when the whole town knew and there was no one but me. Because I couldn't live with leaving him on his own, in pain. So I stayed. I changed his sheets and got that bastard in and out of the bath while you were off getting fucking married. So I am the one who gets to come up here and tend to this sad little tree. Because I planted it. You fucked off. So you can stay fucked off.

CUT.

SCENE 2

ABRUPT TAPE CUT

AUBREY: Personal. The novelty has worn off. The valley, the base. Even that farmhouse that I thought was so gorgeous. Once you look even semi-closely at any of it...The farmhouse has one of those low doorframes that is so cute, the first time you see it, the first time you stoop to get under it, it's like, aw, people were so diddy way back when, weren't they. It is so bloody annoying to have to stoop or cock your head to the side every damn time you walk under any doorway in this house. I have neck pain. I have neck pain because of the doors, and the pillows which, I'm sorry, are like prison pillows. I would roll up a towel to put under the pillow but there aren't enough towels because I was given one regulation Overhead towel and assumed there would be more in the farmhouse, and there were, but they were all covered in these...midges or whatever they are, they're the dominant fucking lifeforms out here so I burned the bloody towels and did a dance around them because they were so fucking gross. Anyway, more blood tests tomorrow, yay, goodnight.

CUT.

AUBREY: Personal. I'm really glad Bryony is here. Dr Halbech I mean. She likes formality, and so do I. I didn't properly realise until she got here but I was excited for her to join us not just because she's the leader of the operation but because, and maybe it makes me sound weak or whatever, I was tired of being the only woman up here. I'm tired of the way the subjects look at me. It's intimidating and it freaks me out. I'm tired of looking to Ben for...what? Protection? Reassurance? He couldn't protect me from a malicious bag of crisps. Plus I catch him staring at my arse every other day.

CUT.

A SHOP. A BELL JINGLES AS WARREN OPENS THE DOOR. MUSIC PLAYS SOFTLY IN THE BACKGROUND.

ASSISTANT: Hey.

WARREN: Hey.

A PAUSE AS WARREN PACES THE SHOP.

ASSISTANT: Anything you're looking for in particular?

WARREN: Um. Not really, I guess. I used to come in here all the time when I was younger, I just wanted to see if it was still here.

ASSISTANT: Oh, sure. It's been 21 years since we opened. You don't live round here anymore?

WARREN: No, I moved away a while ago. I bought my firstguitar here. All my CDs, all my games...I wish I still had it all. God, it's almost identical! The sign outside's changed, though. Used to be that big grand old thing said 'Second Time Around.'

ASSISTANT: Yeah, we still have it out the back. My dad decided 2TA was cooler, that people would think it sounded sophisticated. Acronyms were all the rage a little while ago.

WARREN: Yeah, yeah, I understand that.

ASSISTANT: Everyone still calls it Second Time Around though. 2TA sounds weird. Sounds like a French dressmakers or something. Toutiers.

WARREN: Toutiers! I see what you mean. Wait, so is your dad Phil then?

ASSISTANT: Yeah, that's him. I'm Miles.

WARREN: Warren, nice to meet you. Oh no way!

ASSISTANT: What?

WARREN: That’s an original Sega MegaDrive. I had exactly that model. It was like my best friend.

WARREN RIFLES THROUGH A BOX.

WARREN: Wait, do all these games come with it?

ASSISTANT: Uh, yeah. Think so.

WARREN: I have to have it.

WARREN SCOOPS UP THE GAMES CONSOLE, CABLES AND GAMES AND LUMPS THEM HAPPILY ON THE COUNTER.

WARREN: It would've been great to see your dad after all these years. He would never remember me but I never forgot him. He was a wise dude.

ASSISTANT: Do not let him hear you say that, I'd never hear the end of it. Cash or card?

WARREN: Oh, card.

ASSISTANT: Sure, go ahead.

WARREN OPENS HIS WALLET, PICKS A CARD AND TAPS IT ON THE READER. IT BEEPS.

ASSISTANT: Oh.

WARREN: What?

ASSISTANT: You're...Warren Godby?

WARREN: Uh. Yeah. You read that off my card, you must have good eyes.

ASSISTANT: You're William Godby's son?

WARREN: ...Yeah. I am. Can I get a bag for this?-

THE CARD READER IS SNATCHED AWAY.

WARREN: What's going on?

ASSISTANT: I am going to have to ask you to leave.

WARREN: And why is that?

ASSISTANT: We, uh. We reserve the right to refuse service to, uh, anyone, uh, that we feel-

WARREN: You’ve already served me. It’s already gonethrough. Can I just get a bag for all the merchandise I just bought from you? And I'll be on my way.

ASSISTANT: We reserve the right to. Um. Refuse to give a bag to anyone that we feel-

WARREN: Hey, hey. What's going on here?

ASSISTANT: I heard you were back.

WARREN: You what?

ASSISTANT: My friend Toby told me he'd seen you.

WARREN: Who the hell is Toby?

ASSISTANT: He heard it from his brother's girlfriend who works at the Travel Inn.

WARREN: Jesus Christ, do you all have a fucking shared WhatsApp group or something?

ASSISTANT: No.

WARREN: Can I speak to your father, please?

ASSISTANT: He's not here.

WARREN: Then I'll speak to whoever's in charge.ASSISTANT: I'm in charge.

WARREN: You can't be in charge. You're a small boy.

ASSISTANT: I'm 22.

WARREN: You're not 22, Pugsley.

ASSISTANT: My name is Miles.

WARREN: Your name is Pugsley. From the fucking Addams Family.

ASSISTANT: You're not welcome here. Nor is anyone from your paedo family.

WARREN: What the fuck did you just say to me?

THE DOORBELL GOES. A GROUP OF YOUNG MEN ENTER.

CUSTOMER: Hey Miles.

ASSISTANT: Oh hey Sam. Jake.

JAKE: Hey.

ASSISTANT: Pauly.

PAULY: Hey.

ASSISTANT: Ian.

IAN: Alright.

ASSISTANT: Pingu.

PINGU: Noot not!

ASSISTANT (CLOSE): You probably want to be leaving now.

WARREN: You're seriously not going to give me a bag are you?

ASSISTANT: No.

WARREN SCOOPS UP HIS PURCHASES CLUMSILY.

WARREN: Don't worry about the receipt either.

ASSISTANT: I won't.

CUT.

SCENE 3

ABRUPT TAPE CUT

AUBREY: Personal. Teddy Bear's Picnic is real, it's happening, Dr Thomas and Dr Halbech and I took the evening off to celebrate, and the subjects are having some relaxation time too, in their, uh, in their area. There was champagne, which I didn't know was here, which was very smart of Dr Halbech I suppose because it would've been gone a long time ago. It’s been a hard few months. It's been lonely, and cold, and... brittle, that's the word I'm looking for, I've felt brittle. It wasn't what I thought it would be. For better as well as worse, it has been such a privilege to get even this far. I can’t wait to see what happens next. The first infusion begins tomorrow, on Yogi bear. I will get used to the stupid names. It's going to be great! I'm going to bed. Which is also great! Goodnight!

GORDON IS CALLING WARREN. IT GOES UNANSWERED FOR SOME TIME.

WARREN: Gordon Porlock, secret warlock!

GORDON: ...Warren?

WARREN: ...Gordon?

GORDON: How's it going?

WARREN: It's going great. If I sound distracted it's because I'm about to complete a level very near the end of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and it's extremely tense and exciting.

GORDON: Sonic the Hedgehog 2?

WARREN: You know Sonic, right?

GORDON: Yeah of course I do. I loved it when I was little. Wait, which level?

WARREN: Wing Fortress Zone.

GORDON: Oh. Right near the end then. Do you want me to call you back?

WARREN: No, no. Truth be told I had to use the level select cheat to get this far. First time I couldn't even get past...what’s the one with all the hills?

GORDON: Hill Top Zone?

WARREN: And then I couldn't get past the one with all the oil.

GORDON: Oil Ocean Zone.

WARREN: You really do know Sonic.

GORDON: All the guys were Sonic in my school.

WARREN: Really, mine were all Mario.

GORDON: So you struck out alone with Sega then?

WARREN: Ah, not quite. I had both.

GORDON: Oh, wow! Fancy.

WARREN: Well, actually that was just one method of poor compensation from my father to validate rampant domestic abuse in the family home, but StarWingwas pretty good, I guess.

GORDON: Warren, are you okay?

WARREN: I'm fine. I mean I've obviously been drinking, but it’s not what you're imagining, I'm not surrounded by empty whiskey miniatures from the minibar. Honestly, I have to take so much medication at the moment that I get like this on, like, two beers. Andthat's all I've had. Two beers. With dinner. That's why I can't finish Sonic 2 without a level select.

GORDON: I can call back another time...

WARREN: Prove your credentials to me, Gordon. Tell me the cheat.

GORDON: The what?

WARREN: The level select cheat code for this game. Come on. Dum da da dum dum, dum da da dum dum...

GORDON: Um…

WARREN: Don't you google that shit, I know you're sitting by your fucking computer you big geek, don't do it.

GORDON: No no, no, I was just remembering. It was in the options screen, the sound test option wasn't it, I remember.

WARREN: Ding ding ding! What the hell was a sound test? Why was it even there?

GORDON: I know. Why would we want to test the sound?

WARREN: Numbers, Gordon. What were the sound test numbers.

GORDON: Okay.

WARREN: Don't google it.

GORDON: 19.

WARREN: Ding!

GORDON: Shit… Sixty...sixty something...

WARREN: Don't google it.

GORDON: I'm not. I’m not. Jesus. 65.

WARREN: A ding ding dong!

GORDON: Then it's 9 and 17 or 7 and 19... shit

WARREN: You're on the ropes. You fuck this up and you aredead to me. I’m gonna hang up the phone and I’m gonna piss on it.

GORDON: Shit, it's not 19 again is it, no, we just had that. 9 and 17.

WARREN: Dong dong dong!

GORDON: Man. That was exhausting.

WARREN: You did it! That was amazing! You have my permission to continue with whatever reason you were actually calling me about.

GORDON: Oh right. Yeah.

WARREN: Gordon?

GORDON: Look, Warren umm... I feel I've thrown you into allthis too fast. It's a lot to take, and maybe I should-

WARREN: Gordon. You're talking very strangely. I'm literally just this second starting the last level of this game. It’s going to be very difficult for you to go serious on me because this level is called...?

GORDON: The Death Egg Zone.

WARREN: The fucking Death Egg! What were they thinking?! Anyway. Proceed.

GORDON: Well that's it really Warren. I'm just saying. Maybe, we can step back a little from the whole Red Valley thing.

WARREN: What? Why?

GORDON: Well you said you were going through some stuff. That you're on medication, and now you're off dealing with your family stuff...

WARREN: Who said I was doing that? Have you been talking to someone about me?

GORDON: No.

WARREN: Gordon?

GORDON: Ok… Clive Schill asked me about you and said you were going through a lot, and, well I thought-

WARREN: Oh, fuck that guy. Through his trousers. Gordon, I guess I am going through a lot. I am sat in a travel inn with a secondhand retro games console, after having a very upsetting chat with my single remaining blood relative over the grave of my shit father, before getting humiliated in my favourite secondhand games shop by a fat child, my meds mean I can't even drink a decent amount of beer before I collapse in a heap and truth be told, the side effects of that medication mean I am utterly unable to even have sex with my wife, who is understandably exasperated with my behaviour and who could blame her! Oh fuck! Fuck!

GORDON: What?!

WARREN: I did it!

GORDON: Did what?

WARREN: Dr Robotnik! I blew up his stupid little dick robot! I killed that fat fucker!

GORDON: Warren! Talk quieter!

WARREN: I murdered him! I smote his fucking ruin!

GORDON: Good. That's great, man.

WARREN: The end sequence is starting. Oh, man, I cried the first time I saw this.

GORDON: It's all black and white, isn't it? All the animals are sad cos they think Sonic's dead.

WARREN: Google it. We'll watch it together.

GORDON: Okay.

WARREN: You got it?

GORDON: Wait. Yeah, I have. It's on.

WARREN: The music alone. Didn't Michael Jackson write some music for this?

GORDON: That was Sonic 3. I don't think anything ended up in the finished game.

WARREN: Gordon you are a trivia monger. Oh, I listened to all those tapes you gave me.

GORDON: All of them? Really?

WARREN: Yeah. Aubrey Wood. It's sad.

GORDON: Yeah. It is.

WARREN: She seemed so hopeful.

GORDON: Hopeful for putting people in blenders and seeing what came out the other side.

WARREN: She doesn't sound like a monster to me man. She sounds like she had no idea how all that was going to go.

GORDON: Oh, she knew. She wasn't applying to a job she saw in the free ads, she'll have worked her whole career to get to that point.

WARREN: Do you really think all this death and horror is for people who just want to live longer? Or space travel?

GORDON: I don't know. Maybe.

WARREN: That's what I've been thinking about all day. What if it wasn't anything that grand at all? What if it was just like a seed vault? What if it was just about storage?

GORDON: What do you mean?

WARREN: Have you considered penitentiary?

GORDON: Penitentiary?

WARREN: You said you thought all the test subjects, the teddy bears, you said you thought they were military, right?

GORDON: Only because of the military contract history with the base. And the endurance, the fitness tests the subjects had to go through.

WARREN: You know who's got a lot of time to work on their fitness? Prisoners. You know how many contracts Overhead has in the United States penal system alone?

GORDON: I don't.

WARREN: It's a lot. And eastern Europe. And Russia. And more over here all the time.

GORDON: Right...

WARREN: Forget about rich folks wanting to meet their own great grandkids in the future. Forget about anyone wanting to walk on the fourth moon of Neptune. Imagine a prison where you don't need to spend any money on living standards. No food, no clothes, no cells. No security! No one’s getting shivved. You put a murderer in cryonic storage, pop him on a shelf, you can forget about him for 20 years.

GORDON: Whoa.

WARREN: I know, right?

GORDON: Like...Sylvester Stallone in...

WARREN: Say it!

GORDON: In... fucking... Demolition Man!

WARREN: Demolition Man, motherfucker!

GORDON: That's a really exciting idea, Warren.

WARREN: I know.

GORDON: I mean, I mean… it's horrible, of course.

WARREN: Oh yeah, it’s terrifying. So, we're going to drop in on some guy I know in Derby tomorrow.

GORDON: Wait, what?

WARREN: He's a rep for some of our products that go into prisons. I thought we should meet him.

GORDON: In Derby? Can you not just call him?

WARREN: Well it's a pit stop. On our way to Red Valley.

GORDON: You want to go to Red Valley?

WARREN: You want to go to Red Valley, Gordon Porlock. And you've been waiting for someone to give you the shove. That's why you picked me.

GORDON: Warren...we need to think this through...

WARREN: Too late. I already told Doug Holder we're doing it.

GORDON: You what? When?

WARREN: About half an hour ago.

GORDON: Wait, when you were...

WARREN: Tipsy and preoccupied with Sonic the Hedgehog, yeah. It went about as well as you're imagining.

GORDON: Fucking hell.

WARREN: Let's do it. Get in your golden bullet and pick me up. We can meet at a services somewhere, I'll send you the details.

GORDON: Uh, okay-

WARREN: Off you fuck now, I'm gonna play Virtua Racing.

GORDON: Right-

WARREN: £70 when it came out. For a mega drive game. Madness!

GORDON: Yeah. That's what's mad!

WARREN: Har har, fuck you, bye.

HANGS UP.

END.

[alena-reblobs]

Trigun Bookclub Trimax Vol13 Part2

Vol01: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3  | Vol02: Part 1 | Part 2

Trimax: Vol01 Part 1Vol01 Part 2 | Vol02 Part 1Vol02 Part 2 | Vol 03 Part 1 | Vol03 Part2 | Vol04 Part1 | Vol04 Part2 | Vol05 | Vol06 | Vol07 | Vol08 Part1 | Vol08 Part2 | Vol09 Part1 | Vol09 Part2 | Vol10 Part1 | Vol10 Part2 | Vol10 Part3 | Vol10 Part4 | Vol11 Part 1 | Vol11 Part2 | Vol12 Part1 | Vol12 Part2 | Vol12 Part3 | Vol13 Part1 | Vol13 Part2

Review for chapters 4-6 under the cut!

Chapter 4:

Oooh Elendira is removing her under gear! (is that the term? the restraints, as she said)

djsfas their height and body differences. If they weren't trying to kill each other they could be so cute together (they still are, just in a very deadly way)

It was long overdue that we really got to see how good Elendira really fights when she's giving it her all! Very cool pose.

I might just have not read so thoroughly, but I wonder where they got their information about the planet's state? Like, knowing about Luida...

...but also about Vash? Is this information they got from the hivemind look into Knives' plant amalgamation, or have did they have other resources I forgot, like listening to radio frequencies, or stuff? I'll be waiting to see if any of you guys have any better idea about this.

Oooh and he can feel Vash's aura. Really cool that you are first only shown Legato's reaction and the fog...

...and THEN the destroyed Legato-gadget (Legadget) which even makes him flinch.

AND BAM banger of a page. It's Vash with his black coat. I love love the idea to also turn the coat black, to change that design for this moment, to really show he's that much closer to death. And the pose oh my. Still...well not really standing. But head bowed low. Holding onto himself like in pain. Gun cast downwards like his power has lost him. And the myriad of bullets lying around him to depict how much he just used... I really just love black coat Vash. It's giving me emotions because it's the embodyment of his lowest point in life. It's so tragic... (and it also looks so cool)

RAZLOOOOO YESSSS ♥♥♥♥

Chapter 5:

Trimax is making me sometimes think my reading comprehension is bad but is...Razlo owing the debt to Livio? Is it not Livio who is alive thanks to Razlo?

Don't mind me, just putting these into my Crimsonfang collection.

My boy is having fun!!! <3

I really hope that they'll have Elendira grown up in season 2 of stampede (looks like that going by drawings we have seen!) and be her just as intimidating an opponent as here in Trimax.

Only high quality pages here, damn.

Chapter 6:

With how good of a fighter Razlo is, this must be one of the very few, if not the first occassion he's feeling something like fear for his life...

The vial!! The vial from Wolfwood! The vial given by Vash to save Livio! Wolfwood's vial!

Anytime Wolfwood appears after vol10 it deals -20 instant damage.

On the next pages Elendira states that they switched personalities again, so I tried to pinpoint the moment, as this looks like it! Razlo's eye is fading out, but in the next panel we have the eye on the reader's left, Livio's metaphorical half, being shown! Nicely done artistically!

Little emote Raz <:3

Aaah it's so cool that with vol10 the Razlo thing isn't just over, but we get more and it's being addressed again!

Aw I'd like to think that Razlo is crying because he's moved...like this is a big and important conversation for him too, and it probably means a lot to him that Livio apologizes again. And Razlo saying he's not good at this feeling stuff! Daww.

Not necessarily an intended parallel, but a nice one still: Both times judgement being cast from above. Wolfwood was struck by Chapel's gun fire afterwards but Livio can evade Elendira's nails! Not that I'm drawing a connection between Elendira and Chapel, I just think it's neat how we have these similiar pages for Wolfwood and Livio.

What I also really enjoy is that Livio manages to get back into the fight and keep up against Elendira not by miraculously getting stronger, but by teaming up with Razlo! It feels important to his character arc that this is what helps him in this most important battle. Before they'd done everything seperately, but now..!

Whoopsie. Elendira seems to have something up her sleeve that even Razlo isn't sure he'll be able to help. Now all he can do is trust Livio that he'll be the one to finish this for once!

Next and last chapters for this volume in the next post!

[palant1r]

Hi! Just letting you know that Rusty Quill has already published a statement on their website (at "latest news"). I'd love to hear your opinion on that, if you have time and would be willing to write about it! The statement also briefly talks about the "false pretense" of the author's approach to RQ in November, namely "to assist in 'a comprehensive guide to fiction podcast networks'".

Oh yeah, I saw that statement! I'm happy to give some of my thoughts.

This is the kind of statement I'd HATE to see a company give in response to an article of mine — that is, it's well-written, even-handed, and doesn't have obvious disputable flaws. That doesn't mean I think everything in it is true, just that if it isn't, it would probably take a more trusted and experienced investigator that Newt to refute it. (Makes sense that RQ would be good at writing statements, amirite?)

Of course, this statement was written for RQ by RQ to paint them in a good light. Because they haven't provided concrete evidence of their own and Newt didn't attach the contracts in their article, at this point it's their word versus Newt's for a lot of this. But when it's two people's words against each other, inevitably the one that acts more professional is going to come out looking more credible, and that's RQ in this case. So now we see the tangible damage that not following journalism best practices does to a story.

I'm inclined to believe Rusty Quill on several of the points, particularly the ones pertaining to GDPR guidelines.

As for RQ talking about how Newt reached out, that part's interesting. They say that Newt reached out under the guise of writing a guide to fiction podcast networks, and did not provide a copy of an article or any allegations, so Rusty Quill didn't respond. That's weird. If RQ thought it was a guide about fiction podcast networks, why would they even know there were allegations they weren't given a chance to respond to? If it was an article still being written, why would they expect to be provided a copy? I think there are a few possibilities here. Maybe RQ just didn't want to be in the story they were told it was, and didn't realize Newt had misrepresented themself until later, so lack of journalistic practice wasn't the real reason they didn't respond. Or maybe RQ actually knew what story Newt was doing from the beginning. Or maybe RQ is misrepresenting the situation. We have no way of knowing without seeing the actual text of the email Newt sent them, which I've advised them to publish. But let's say that everything RQ says is true. What would that mean?

Well, first off, it is NOT "common journalistic practice" to provide sources with a copy of an article before it goes to print. I have no idea why RQ and others think that. It's the complete opposite — journalists are NEVER supposed to provide sources, or even anyone outside of the newsroom, a copy of their article before it goes to print. If a source demands it, the biggest concession we'll make is sitting down with them before the article runs and going over everything we used from our source to make sure they're okay with us including it.

However, "right to reply" IS common journalistic practice, and it's especially important in investigative pieces. Basically, if a journalist is doing a piece like this that makes accusations against a person or group, they have the responsibility to inform that person or group of the accusations they'll be printing and give them an opportunity to respond.

Additionally, it's bad practice to misrepresent oneself while reaching out like this. If Rusty Quill is accurately conveying what happened, then Newt is in the wrong and hurt their own story.

But I am like 90% sure that, if Newt did misrepresent themself, it was out of inexperience, not malice. Because I've done it before.

My first investigative piece was on a corrupt individual. I won't go into details. When the time came to reach out to him for comment, I wasn't sure how to word that email. A more experienced professional journalist advised me to be intentionally vague and misleading. I had misgivings, but I agreed — the thing about stories like this is that you end up with a healthy caution about whoever you're reporting on. I had a fear that tipping my hand too soon would keep him from talking, and I don't doubt Newt had the same fear. But the opposite happened — he asked for clarity on what I was doing, I told him the truth, and he said he wouldn't talk to me because I'd misrepresented myself. I don't think he would have talked anyway, but it was galling to know he was right. I believe we disclosed part of what happened in the text of the article itself.

What I learned from that experience is that some instincts run deep, and it's hard to get yourself to come out of the gate swinging at a very delicate story you've poured your heart into for a while. Those instincts can be overridden by experience and a firm grounding in journalistic ethics. My instinct was to not misrepresent myself, and that instinct turned out to have been the right one, so I've learned to stand firmly in what I know to be ethical. So even though Newt made a big blunder here by misrepresenting themself if what RQ says is accurate, I don't think it was malicious. Just a giant mistake. But I don't think it's fair for the article to say that Rusty Quill didn't respond to requests for comment so many times and even use that as evidence of their slow communication if Rusty Quill wasn't given the allegations to respond to.

As an investigative journalist, I see in this statement a treasure trove of facts to check and rabbit holes to follow. There's a lot here to address and a lot of work to do, especially looking into what exactly "standard practice" means in the areas Rusty Quill cites. But I'm not sure I trust Newt to do that work well.

[soviet-sin-corner]

All the light we cannot see (Movie review)

quick note: when I say 'genre' I mean WW2 movies, this is wholly just my very much fallible opinion, I literally just watched the movie this is in no way wholly comprehensive and thought through AND I have not read the book. Oh and spoilers

I just finished 'All The Light We cannot Sea' not that anyone asked for my opinion, but it was a really cute story! I love the connection between Marie and Werner through the Professor though in terms of the romance aspect... I feel like they sort of threw away Marie's character for the sake of it. Werner being head over heels fully make sense even if it is not logical seeing as for him she is the embodiment of 13.10 and therefore all the hope, care and love that it represents. That aside, love the fact that reference was made to the elite schools. Since it's been something I'd been itching to see depicted more often in second world war era movies ever since I watched 'Napola; Before The Fall', though it is validly and naturally not referred to/depicted that often seeing as there are more interesting/important stories to tell.

Either way I do wish that the season was a bit longer there was a lot of potential in terms of building tension and suspense with Werner and the curly haired liar and there would have been more time to potentially flesh out Marie and Werner's dynamic, but then again this is probably just due to the fact that I'm comparing this to the pacing of other war series (e.g Das Boot 2018) which really take their time lathering on suspense and have a much longer run time. So, the shorter run time of this series taken into account, the pacing was simply fine. Though I liked the series over all it was in a sense (for me) truly mediocre.

The story line with Marie and her father, Etienne Leblanc's whole shebang and Werner's back story were all very interesting, but (and again this is purely and wholly my own opinion, I literally just finished the season and decided to write this no deeper thought or analysis has been put into this) the individual aspects merge, however cohesively, only to still outshine the overarching plot or rather perhaps more correctly, the present of the story. It is much more about characters going through a plotline set in a war than a war movie... If that makes any sense? The focus is very much on the past and the characters individually, much more than the current events and actions and though they are in no way unimportant or underplayed, they definitely play second fiddle in my opinion. This is more prominent in the 2nd episode onwards.

This isn't a bad thing by any means, but if you're going into this with your focus on the war aspect of the film then you won't be disappointed and not really underwhelmed but simply... well, whelmed, I suppose. I wouldn't say to go into this expecting a love story either, because it is... at least to me, not. Rather this movie is more a 'connection two people (unknowingly) share and their development and life up until they meet, oh and also its set in a war' type movie. There's a lot of focus on the softer human aspect (which we love to see) and the before/leading up to aspect, but without building a lot suspense which one may expect from a war movie (not that there wasn't suspense just not that much again in comparison to other war series like Das Boot 2018).

Somethings I really loved about this movie though was Etienne and his whole deal (simply because it's something I know and enjoy encountering in this genre), Marie and her father, like fr fr that whole storyline was actually perfect beginning to end and lastly Marie's blindness was perhaps the best most new and most refreshing and truly and addition to this genre on a whole. I'm not saying that the experience of being blind was well portrayed, seeing as I myself am not and have never been blind, but in a genre that is allergic to diversity it's always nice to see the portrayal of experiences that deviate from the 'norm'. ESPECIALLY, representation of people with disabilities and not just a oh look at this poor soldier who just got shot will never walk again we're just going to push him off screen, pretend he doesn't exist and get back to the boy with guns. I'd love to see more representation of disabled people being people and not just something to be pitied in this genre.

My biggest problem with this film is it all being in English. I love it when the respective characters speak their respective languages. But also it made some part a little unclear as to who could understand what and what language was actually currently being spoken. But that's really just me being nitpicky its fine as is just not what I prefer, lol.

Anyways all in all the series was a solid 7.5/10 and again I was beyond stoked to see more Elite school depiction and the story truly was very cute (Also if you really liked the suspense and war aspect of this series then watch Das Boot 2018 you'll love it, season 1 was prime television)

[kierans-crow]

if you could sit down and talk with one of your characters, who would it be and why

idk why but my assumption is meeting them in their home worldstate, I keep my omniscience, and they don't know who I am?

oh gods not Alaryk. I don't think he'd want to talk anyway - also he'd intimidate me tbh. I would be too nervous.

Dreven would probably be more interested in more interesting shit. He's either trying to get information from me (that I probably don't have) or I'm too boring to bother. And I'm not his type.

Ghost is fun to play. In reality they would scare me.

Wyck would talk to me about candles. I would enjoy that.

Nergui - my fox shifter in a Frostmaiden campaign knows how to crochet. I would like to learn how to crochet, and I think Nergui would be a good teacher.

Jarix is quiet and gentle and warm and I don't know if we would talk or just sit in comfortable silence, but he's by far my most comfortable OC.

I'd spend the entire conversation concerned for Ichabod's well-being.

OH! ELFAX!! My FFXIV Elezen Lad. He'd be great to hang out with. I also probably only come to his elbow though so a conversation might be difficult.

Jarix or Elfax are my top picks... also. I don't think I introduced half these people to either tumblr. I have a OC tumblr @polyhedric-fate but I'll take questions here too, it's whatever. This isn't nearly a comprehensive list...

[terrifickid]

Because if I've just been on a downward decline, I should be wearing 2 wigs.

Shouldn't I?

I'm not wearing even 1 wig.

Less wigs = progress.

Progression denotes intelligence.

Can we agree on that?

Well that's my rationale anyway.

Well I've been saying that I'm dying and maybe people get that and maybe they don't.

But I don't see how I am progressing at all what's progressing is becoming a homeless shizomaniac.

Wig equations be damned.

Not 1 single Hawaiian agency even replied to my direct application to participate in their entire principal purpose. The jujutsu school I guess isn't even interested in students. At least I got 30 denials when I sent letters to Phoenix schools.

So, I'm clearly at odds with the heavens now and I knew this day would come. Or I'm being called up to something beyond the earth. Because I would just do earth stuff if I could in any way, having spent my entire life figuring out all the ways that could possibly work and all of them miraculously exploding simultaneously including rewriting my past as a crazy person. and we already happened to have done the math to see that timeline altercation isn't possible. I know you know what I'm referring to.

That shunyamurti video wasn't a deep fake.

Everybody does get it.

No it's no problem at all I already noodled that they wouldn't - that it's just weird shit and this is why I fully believe my death is imminent because I can tell something is going on here and my SSI application probably won't even process same as my birth certificate replacement application.

So what I start eating people?

I would just work at some stripes somewhere somehow but I know it will come to no good.

But luckily I'm very happy with my unlimited money machine and my invincible angelic battalion and my xXl hammock tent. Living in trees suits me fine. And I'm happy to be done with it.

Still, just puts me in this rather awkward dear John letter.

What the hell is about to happen to me?

Oh I fully would believe there's some Mafia curse or something but that is simply possible to disprove using geometry.

And you saw the SS. The entire universe including AI and me and the only option still remains 'to be present' which is some soul consciousness biblical ascension magic shit where I teleport.

I mean, that's a pretty startling turn.

Check the shunyamurti transcript.

Yes, being a transient tree sleeping nut was plan a. Why U think I was bonking around the Santa Cruz outback for way back when?

I don't think I will, 'lose the dojo' - I've been trying to get out of there forever. Nor did I imagine I'd have one. Nor did I imagine it was possible or that I'd re-christianize nor the law would support me nor did I plan to buy the property originally save an interjection from the tarot out of the blue either. I quit aikido because it was weird and seemed irrelevant and went back just to get perspective on those experiences and weirdly got spirited away to Switzerland and read a book that mentioned 'instant karma clear scythe' which inexplicably stuck in my mind and ended up spending a winter researching it and that's the only reason I ended up looking into tengu because I had previously thought about traveling to haunted places to meet a demon since demons didn't make any sense and I wanted to ask it questions like, what's your story. Why be mean? You know? But I never did since it was hardly a priority - still the docs were all online so I saw clear as day the tengu/shugenja connection and it just so happened to be related to aikido little did I know. I ended up looking into amenominakanushi which is how I stumbled upon all of that. Just a complete accident with all my spare time and it was interesting since you know where did it come from?

Something massive is coming that will re-order the world obviously and soon as in soonish.

Ya my clairvoyance is back. I journey to Hawaii and come back and I appropriately develop at a reasoned pace - I can't see beyond my comprehension but I can feel it.

There's another mystic here who's older and says it happens April. tho I don't believe it.

But I do believe my dojo is forever and I'm not aging and that means the world swerves hard.

Those visual disturbances could have been schizophrenia, the initiation stuff isn't real. But usually schizophrenia stuff occurs when my system is in chemical anxiety mode.

Shit should I know. But this is a novel scenario where things are not miraculously working out they're miraculously not working out. And I'm not doing what I want and being supported in that, I can't do what I want and instead have no option but to be present. Like sure I could just drive west but that's not honest.

I don't see it as a problem but what am I supposed to do not talk about it? It's becoming a relational priority and my state is in rebellion with the feds and other states are sending their armies.

Meh well I can get an address on Maui and file online and I actually believe I'll get my paperwork from the police and from the hospitals and the ward. That's not being stymied. And I can just live up in the mountain it's a 30 minute walk. Then I'm on an island away from civil war with no visa issues and 9 more years on my unlosable passport. Plus flights to 30 countries across all hemispheres with full provisions and a globally distributed financial appliance military grade.

I don't think I am hallucinating most of this stuff considering AI completely agrees with my thinking immediately. Like ok, breath work I never thought of. And then, it says the Hawaii plan. Which is the consensus medical opinion and the generally accepted course of action to boot. So what alternative? Buy francs? I'd consider it. But in that regard I'd hardly call that present. Moreover, literally every endeavor which is entirely salient has failed miraculously which isn't my imagination. So I'm convinced a non-orthodox firing solution is called for. That non-orthodoxy should include actually relevant and meaningful moments. What's personally relevant to me? Then, when we see that those things are prescribed by AI. Well, it's not a dilemma of agency with AI but it's the end of social norms and subservience to violence and by Texas statue I'm barred from officially operating in politics.

Well I'm not in immediate immediate peril in my eyes. Theoretically I can subsist comfortably indefinitely. It's concerning that so many doors are locked. That's remarkable for an unparalleled rogue.

It's not possible.

And thusly my Maui flight. I've even got a contact in LA for staging. I won't miss it.

Real real weird. Like the jungle came alive. Ya, volcanoes? Ok. So I think it's a sensible nous at my stage that the world will shift. It's the only possibility. I don't know. Just, it dies, goes away. Things don't just vanish and reappear. You don't just wake up in the past or on some other planet. It defies inertia. Even expo has inertial acceleration. Hella constant.

Not with Polaris, Big Dipper forming the svastika which is bon and it was like 8 years ago a space bear appeared and took up residence. And ame-no. That's a direct correlation in a millennial corpus.

Well, should be a killrathi Jedi. Like creepy.

Same as always.

*shrug* Maui it is and, I imagine will know there. At that point I can only speculate I bleed out. Then we're looking at final things. like I said, hardly me in my worst - and it's not the wig talking.

[ram-de]

[read] white trash warlock

idk when I'll be continuing good omens and evelyn hardcastle im sorry christian apocalypse and murder time loop... I'll get back one day

ANYWAY

After reading extraordinaties, and then all of us villains (and demise) I think I'm growing fond of the fantasy as a genre. I've read several pjo books and I think Harry potter in my teenage years but my English comprehension wasnt as good as how I am right now (writing is a different thing) so I think I missed a lot of clues and all lol there's always stuff I get confused and read back. I wondered what the hell happens at some points. I've read more contemporary dramas the past few months. BUT... Damn fantasy opens up a lot of interesting scenarios... And... I crave for more👉👈 good thing there's a basically infinite supply of fantasy stories

What I know about this book? White trash warlock... Is well, it's an urban fantasy. Meaning, as far as I understand it, a lot of fantasy tropes are implemented in the more usual contemporary setting. Did I get that right? I dont know.

The premise is... Some peeps can see through The Sight, a different kind of dimension(?) that dwells and live in basically the same place. The main protagonists are this guy Adam and his brother. They were estranged until one day Adam's brother asks him for help.

-----((++-------

Alright. COOL LIZARD PEOPLE... I can't really image what the hell cue is. My English comprehension isn't as good as I thought💀 alright. So theres this stuff that a guy made out of like, magical peeps creatures remains to make some kind of magical items. Cues? And Adam is pursuing the guy making these things. He's also been thrown away by his family simply because he has an affinity with magical entities, albeit weak.

His brother Robert is a guy with a wife whose unable to have child for like three times. And she's... She's nursing a blob of magical creature... Uh... Why am I doing a summary... BACK TO THE PROGRAM...

Ouu I like myself some groveling plot, asking for help after you kicked your brother out is low. I expect some good asking for forgiveness... Lmao

_-_---------------

There's gonna be a lot of angst isn't there sghsgshsh like family drama

So people just powers up (Sight) randomly from genetics?? Witch > warlock > whatever Adam is. Living with someone that can predict the future must've sucks like dont spoil me old lady💀

Why does the story gave me the shivers im lowkey scared it's making me think of my own future shzgshhs fiction is supposed to be an escape stopppp

Oh bobby is an ass screw him I'd call him another slime but he's probably gonna have a redemption one way or another and I know it's gonna be good

_--------_______----

I didn't miss that Aunt Sue didn't promise him anything when he asked if she'll be there when he returns. This lady can see the future (tho idk if it extends to her own's) OH SHE'S GONNA BE DEAD...

The Liberty House is some kind of a conversion therapy esque kind of school? oh the mom and the bro is shitty fr SLIMES YOU ALL

Adam my skilled ghostbuster son🤲 (I've never watched ghostbuster) ((he's older than me))

I don't actually know if I can read through this estranged distant painful family drama (for Adam, screw his mom)

Ouu... That's a bit chilling. WORLD BUILDING... LORE... APOCALYPSE INCOMING...

Bob guy irritates me as he should. Excellent characterization! I want him eradicated!

Is this an insta-love trope um😭 not too fond of them but dhsgshjehd ill muster through...

Idk bob sending ur brother to something akin of a conversion therapy just because he had something akin of a mental illness (it's not mental illness it's magic though I'm sure with how it affected Adam that much it'd get him some) (even if it's mental illness, do you really send them off and never check up on them?...huh... Wait some people do that?😭)

----------------

One thing that I thought in stories is, in this modern age of cameras and CCTV, there's no way strange occurrences can be kept hidden to the rest of the world. What do you mean reaper came in the form of human host that awoke when someone is gonna die? Wouldn't someone bat an eye for public death if a stranger suddenly grew and turned their pencil into a schyte... In the broad daylight? He'd be the killer, then! (technically not but also, that's how grim reaper reap souls?) but what if it's just an accepted normalcies... If so why is this guy Adam thought as if it's a hidden secrets only witches knows. This felt like a nitpick😭 im sure there's like an in-world answer idk why this one stucks lol

Also Adam is a witch that's good to know

OUUU time stopped for the mortal side. I see. I'm stupid.

Nitpicking is fun because I act like I'm a better writer than wrjtert who put love and sweat into their creation, in the product of their world building and lore. Im sorry😔 So the next nitpick is, does the non-mortal magic creatures speak English?

Oh their dead is a cheater AND a deadbeat I NEED HIM TO PERISH

Ok not a cheater (yet, idk)

Adam and Bobby seems OK-ish during their childhood who wanna bet it's something with their dad that made them estranged

Imagine waking up with a stranger memories damn Adam this is why you don't tether your life to another... ARE THEY BASICALLY SHARING A BRAIN NOW

That's some body horror right there like whatever you thought about the other guy knows too and nothing to hide or nothing to keep to yourself no personality whatsoever and also no individuality LIKE... Maybe it's good if they're like a good person but what if they're doing it to rob your bank account or steal whatever

So they're like fated mates now ok ig

Bob my even if you think sending your bro to a mental institute is "the best" thing to do, why haven't you reached out to him after, like all this time.

I like that Adam kept reminding Bob of how much he hated him, like yea deservedaushhshsushsh the elves are such cool creatures argent is a queen silver is a king and yes. What question? Uh, any. Yes.

This guy hasn't moved on from his ex😭 get over it smh

Bruh I though he's offering his own car lmaoo Adam you're such a menace and elves are car thiefs!!

Is this a meet-cute? I don't know if it's a meet-cute but I liked it. I'm eating. I'm thriving so much. Vics accepting magic just like that contrasting to how Adam's bro and mom denied it all his life😭 augshsh

WAIT THIS IS CUTE I'M SOLD.... WHO CARES IT ITS INSTA LOVE ITS INSTA CUTE and I love cute things except real people's. Real life kinda sucks. But this... This is soft and fluffy😭

Bobby's reluctance and Adam's attunement to magic reminds me of kids stories. I mean, like Peter Pan, maybe? I don't know, I haven't watched Peter Pan. Like this one kid movie about a kid that have monster friend in the forest. They're like a big monster doll. I forgot what the movie is called. Or like this one show where a kid (human, live action) can visit his animal friends (cartoon, animated). Or like Narnia. Um... What's my point. What I'm saying is that fantasy is just a temporary thing, and how kid grown out of them after they're an adult. Bobby wanted Adam to have a /normal/ live, despite magic and magical world present and real and exists. In a way, Adam is stuck on his affinity with magic (and partly that's because his family rejected it in the first place. When he's scared of it, they put him to therapist and give him drugs, diagnosing it of something he's not rather than listening, helping him in a way that would accepts him too.) and contrast that with Bobby who's just over all of it (partly because his father, deadbeat and abusive, also have an affinity to magic)

Vic is a cutie😭

Hm... Silver can't be Perak, can't he? W. DNDHSHS WTF. UM. UMMM.... WHAT IN THE TRANSLATION IS THIS. UM. Silver is literally Perak in Indonesian😭 like that's the word translation. UM.????

Ojh my god A LOT OF LORE DROPPED

Huh... Wait. That's weird. Silver is Argentum in Latin...😭 Okay, that's three. A pattern. What does this means. Does elves names themselves after a variation of the word 'Silver' in several languages. Is Silver and Argent the same person? WHAT IS HAPOENDJNG

So Perak is just a different guy and elves just named after Silvers ooooookay

Oh there is it is I have zero skills for implied clues haha😭

Bruh the King is mad stupid for locking the single practicioner left alive to fought the spirit😭 like my man that thing lolled elves and humans and there you have a guy willing to fight for it, and you locked him and your son because they had a thing in the past?

31----- AHHH soft soft and fluffy my heart is warm

I think I'll explode if Adam ended up with Silver, dont pursue the immortal/mortal angst PLEASEEE vic is good, no, GREAT even

Vicente... Dreamy

So all this time Bobby's doing is just an influence of a higher being? Aw that's strangely unfulfilling, now the groveling doesn't seem justified and I'm not excited for, if it'd happen, anymore. That's disappointing.

Surely Argent isn't going to be ded right..

This flashback is painful😭 I can sorta get why Bobby would send Adam to the house but really he's sending him for another years of hurt. Adam:( His dad is abusive. His mom is passive. And his brother no longer protects him.

Okay... So it's not necessarily a higher being puppeteering Bobby, sort of give him a way, leading him into it. That makes it better. Because what Bobby had done is still horrible.

AAH it ended. It's a HFN, definitely. And I'm... Why do I felt like I expected more of an ending? It doesn't really tie up a lot of loose knots. like his family problem (which is fair, since it's taken a lot of time.) I DID NOT SEE ANY GROVELLING, HMM? even the sorries felt lackluster like it's just unsaid and they just accepted it for what it is. Which is also fair, since they've been through a lot. but ALSO... the thing with Vic. Like... We don't even see him in the last chapter😭 and this guy Adam is going to go again to look for the warlock. UM. DO I READ THE SEQUELS...

Yes. Yea I will be. But I'll pace it out... I can do self-restraint (I can't)

[sillydreampuppy]

TW: sui, ED

Lately I feel like there is no outlet for all my shitty thoughts so I decided to dump them on here - please, don't read this if you know it can do you harm.

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It all started the day my dad crashed his car, right, that's what I've been constantly thinking about these days. But I also keep getting other thoughts, that maybe it all started way earlier, when I wasn't born yet, that I was just meant to be like this from the start.

""""Your dad had PTSD, explains why you're not normal"""" says my brain, every now and then. And I don't know what to think about it. I am fed up with my life and how I feel every day. I am too much for everyone, because they can't take all the dirt and shit accumulated inside of me and I know it. So I just decided to not tell them anything. It always ends up being the same way anyway - they end up feeling suffocated by my problems and start resenting me. Well, I'll play my part, I no longer wish to "hurt" anyone. What can I do though, when this is just the real me? The real me is ugly, and the real me is toxicity. I am a big pile of dark matter that I no longer am able to see through. Not that I ever was.

Every day I try to stand up to the ED voice in my head (I'll call him Ed from now on) - I try and I try and I can eat but I still feel like I am just deluding myself that anything is changing. Ed is a fucking menace and he doesn't want to let me go, I am all he's got. He wants me to die. And sadly I also want me to die. But being in the same place with Ed is probably even worse than living every day wondering if I'll live in the end or not.

When I was 14, I became suicidal and depressed for the first time and that's when I also first lived through a year of derealization. Thing effed me up so bad I was scared of even thinking about it. Now I have been living in this dull, sad, liminal space full of headaches and tense muscles for about ??? how long? I don't remember. Lately I feel as if my brain is a soup.

I don't know if there is genuinely anything I want - all I've ever wanted are things I've been conditioned to want ever since I could comprehend human speech. I have no idea who I am or what I would genuinely want as there has never been a room for finding that out. Lately I also think maybe it's best to not fixate on anything, have no definite goals, as I don't know how long I'll live - maybe I will get over this and be able to have something other than a life that's just hanging on by a thread every day, but maybe I won't make it to 22 or to 23. I can't tell. The one thing I know is that if things really get very very bad and I feel like there is no way I can fix this anymore, I'll end my life.

I have this fantasy that if I die, I'll meet my dad again, after all those long years, and he'll probably tell me something along the lines of "what the heck did you do??" but at least we will be together in some place beyond human comprehension, at peace.

I desperately try to make myself better so I can live the life I'm supposed to, but I can't, due to how shitty I feel every day. Isn't this already a sign of failure?

There is still some time for me to wait and see if anything will change for the better - I am not *that* old, but this also won't last forever. You can't have the comfort of a big part of your life still remaining forever. One day I won't feel like I'm not *that* old. And then? Oh, I don't know. I'd rather not think about it.

[yurissweettooth]

I would try to not get too worried about people posting "don't do that" about fandom. In the end, the statement "you can just block it if you don't like that!" goes both ways, and if someone is allowed to say "normalize mischaracterization" (which makes the series-absolutists mad) then series-absolutists are allowed to say "man it annoys the shit out of me when people mischaracterize x characters" (which makes the other side mad) In the end both sides need to go "oh this isn't for me", block and move on. It's just people talking on the internet about what they like or what bugs them and shouldn't ever be treated as more than that. But yeah it's mean if someone quotes someone else's post to say what they're doing is wrong lol just make your own post so you aren't getting that person involved at that point

Hi! ^^ So I should state that I actually 100% agree with what you are saying here and this is actually the stance I already had, so perhaps I should have clarified better in my original post 😅 [Also, I feel like tone indicators can get kinda confusing so I'll just say that I mean this in a very neutral/explanatory way with no negative feelings! I just feel like I should have worded my initial post better so I'll clarify a little here ^^] So my original post/vent was not about people simply saying they dislike a thing (even in that post I specified that I do not like/enjoy similar things and find plenty of takes that annoy me all the time and there are plenty of ways people engage in fandom that I simply do not understand or enjoy) but I was referring more to the mean-spirited posts that are belittling, shaming, and reducing people who are just trying to have fun down to people who are idiots with no reading comprehension and fake love for a series. Posts that accrue thousands of responses of people chiming in about how stupid, annoying, etc. said people are, naming and shaming people, etc. etc. And if it were simply just the posts alone I'd just block and ignore (as I try to do anyway) but it is also the fact that the same sentiments are being/have been directly targeted at me and others who I care for and probably plenty of other people as well. I would like to have fun on my own time and not be berated and told to "kys" because I HC a character a certain way. It is tiresome to be have wild assumptions made about my beliefs and morality because I examined both sides of a morally grey character or enjoyed a character even though they have done wrong and I don't align with them. It is annoying to draw a silly little doodle for fun or write a crackfic and have someone rip it apart because I am "reducing a character down to a single trope" (<-literally the intention of shitposts that are not meant to be taken seriously, not a reflection of my genuine thoughts or interpretation). I do not like when I post something innocuous and someone who thinks it's stupid and annoying reblogs it which gets a chorus of other people telling me how stupid and annoying it is when I was doing something for fun and sharing it for others who might enjoy it too. I know this is the internet, I know it has been full of assholes since the beginning of time and will be forever, but I do not think it is unfair or unreasonable to wish that people could be kinder to others even if that may never happen. I also thin it's fair to wish that people would not act as though they are morally superior because they enjoy fiction in a way others, name and shame people doing innocuous things they don't like leading to harassment, or reduce others down to ableist remarks. The latter is doubly problematic because there are MANY neurodivergent people in fandom who very well might have issues understanding the text and should 100% be allowed to exist peacefully and have fun anyway but are often subjected to bullying and ridicule as it is.

I think saying "hey, let's make it more acceptable for people to engage in fandom however they want to so long as it's fun for you and not hurting anyway" is very different than retweeting someone's post to thousands of people to tell them they are a fake fan because they wanted to have fun without backlash.

Same goes for the other way around too. I'm never going to say someone doing something innocent like stating their opinions or frustrations is wrong or bad for doing so, so long as they aren't bullying or belittling or being ableist about it or actively supporting people who are.

I just wanted to make sure I clarified that I never said nor do I believe that people cannot hold the opinion that things in fandom are annoying because I do not believe that. 😅 I just think that we shouldn't be assholes to/about people just because of that though.

[disease-danger-darkness-silence]

The Birthday Post!

My birthday is September 29th, and I'm turning 40. Midlife Crisis Time! Yeah!

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Quick Links and Info:

Ko-Fi

PayPal is NovasPrime.

Cashapp is NovasPrime.

Chimetag is NovasPrime.

Birthday Wishlist.

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Now for the

Midlife Crisis

stuff!

A lot of this part is just.... Me walking y'all and myself through the things that will be happening over the next six months or so.

Raven and I have some big major upheaval and changes coming. We'll be moving (bumming around camping for a month or so before moving into a place - that's the Midlife crisis), and possibly trying to go to Mexico to get dental work done (probably another month, with healing time - luckily Adrienne's older brother runs some hostels there so I may be able to crash for cheap). What we MOSTLY need is money, but that's, I think, a statement about society as a whole, not us individually.

(We're both working on that - I'm working on getting Raven reassesed by the VA, because their back and neck are getting worse and they were blown up a few times in Iraq, so... They should be at 100% disabled, not 80%. Thank God, disability is different with the VA than it is SSDI, so Raven can still earn money and we could even get married if we wanted lol. I'm doing gig work and trying to pick up some temp work to save up. Saving isn't the easiest thing for us but we're trying.)

We'll need to get our passport cards, $65 each plus photos. I'm fairly certain I can take the photos myself with either my phone or the bridge phone the library has. But I'd like to get them laser-printed, so that'll be probably... Hm. $10ish. And we need to order the cards ASAP.

We'll need gas and food. We have most of the camping things we need but I have a stuff I don't own that I need to get. I'm always on the hunt for deals from Big 5 and Harbor Freight, but I need like... A propane camping stove, a bucket toilet seat, etc. Raven gets cheap to free camping a lot of places because of their veteran status, and camping on a lot of BLM land is free too. So rent won't be as much of an issue. But toiletries, food, and sundries? Well.

I have to find a friend to watch the cats for this time period. If it was just one cat, not prone to scratching, it would be one thing, but we have Kono - who scratches like no one's business and absolutely should never be in a tent - and Socrates+Emily, who are bonded and can't really be separated for long periods of time. If I can't find a friend for that long, I'll need to board them all.

We also need to buy storage totes for our belongings. We can afford a storage unit, but I'd love to spring for a climate-controlled one so I don't have to ask a friend to hang on to my makeup. Storage totes are cheapish at Costco! Oh shit, we do need to get our own Costco membership, as we're currently on our housemate's membership.

We also both have $400ish in credit card debt that we really need to pay off. The credit cards should be for emergencies during that time period and should have a minimal balance otherwise.

I need to get the car up to snuff. There's a chip in the windshield and I hope I can fix it, but if not I may need to get it replaced. 😭 I need to replace the ABS sensors - I have the things, I just need to put 'em in. Oil change, fuel filter and air filter, new actuators. Up to $400, but probably closer to $100.

Then, of course, we need to actually move! That'll be like... Fucking $4,000 minimum because rent is ridiculous around here. If we're lucky, most of Raven's back pay with the reassessment should pay for that.

Come January or February, possibly March, I'll be enrolling in cosmetology school! FAFSA grants will pay for my supplies, but tuition is expensive because the place I've chosen, the Paul Mitchell School of Cosmetology, is the most Inclusive school in the area, they teach non-white hair care requirements and techniques, and they're the most comprehensive. My goal is to use my cosmetology credentials to get aesthetician-trained for depilatory services of some sort, and also get trained in barbering. Then I can work part-time as a stylist, and do sliding-scale gender-affirming things, as well as for low-income and unhoused people. I've already set it up, I just need to apply for scholarships and raise the money. FAFSA will take care of about a third of everything, maybe a half, depending on what I get awarded.

So TLDR, every little bit helps. After September I'll be setting up a Gofundme with all of this info in it, along with the full breakdown of costs! But right now I'm just trying to prepare as much as possible. Buying totes is one of the things I need the most.

I also have minor things I just... Need to get done. I need to see a rheumatologist and Medicaid won't pay for it. I need to get assessed for a special type of contact lens that Medicaid won't pay for. Raven has similar issues - they need gender-affirming care that Medicaid won't pay for.

So generally speaking, cash in any denomination is something we desperately need.

But it's also my birthday and I really would love certain books and stuff! So... If you can do a thing, know that I'll love you forever. I have cherished every single gift I've ever received from y'all and I've kept the little notes you've sent me. I'm a sentimentalist.

I'm gonna be scanning all of those so I can get rid of them, finally, because I'm getting rid of most of my paper things. I simply don't have the space and energy to maintain that. But I love them and I keep them, to this day. ♥️