#three more large elements to outline

[angelsonthesideline]

[nasa]

Observations from both NASA’s James Webb and Hubble space telescopes created this colorful image of galaxy cluster MACS0416. The colors of different galaxies indicate distances, with bluer galaxies being closer and redder galaxies being more distant or dusty. Some galaxies appear as streaks due to gravitational lensing — a warping effect caused by large masses gravitationally bending the space that light travels through.

Like Taylor Swift, Our Universe Has Gone Through Many Different Eras

While Taylor's Eras Tour explores decades of music, our universe’s eras set the stage for life to exist today. By unraveling cosmic history, scientists can investigate how it happened, from the universe’s origin and evolution to its possible fate.

This infographic outlines the history of the universe.

0 SECONDS | In the beginning, the universe debuted extremely small, hot, and dense

Scientists aren’t sure what exactly existed at the very beginning of the universe, but they think there wasn’t any normal matter or physics. Things probably didn’t behave like we expect them to today.

Artist's interpretation of the beginning of the universe, with representations of the early cosmos and its expansion.

10^-32 SECONDS | The universe rapidly, fearless-ly inflated

When the universe debuted, it almost immediately became unstable. Space expanded faster than the speed of light during a very brief period known as inflation. Scientists are still exploring what drove this exponential expansion.

1 MICROSECOND | Inflation’s end started the story of us: we wouldn’t be here if inflation continued

When inflation ended, the universe continued to expand, but much slower. All the energy that previously drove the rapid expansion went into light and matter — normal stuff! Small subatomic particles — protons, neutrons, and electrons — now floated around, though the universe was too hot for them to combine and form atoms.

The particles gravitated together, especially in clumpy spots. The push and pull between gravity and the particles’ inability to stick together created oscillations, or sound waves.

Artist's interpretation of protons and neutrons colliding to form ionized deuterium — a hydrogen isotope with one proton and one neutron — and ionized helium — two protons and two neutrons.

THREE MINUTES | Protons and neutrons combined all too well

After about three minutes, the universe had expanded and cooled enough for protons and neutrons to stick together. This created the very first elements: hydrogen, helium, and very small amounts of lithium and beryllium.

But it was still too hot for electrons to combine with the protons and neutrons. These free electrons floated around in a hot foggy soup that scattered light and made the universe appear dark.

This animated artist’s concept begins by showing ionized atoms (red blobs), free electrons (green blobs), and photons of light (blue flashes). The ionized atoms scattered light until neutral atoms (shown as brown blobs) formed, clearing the way for light to travel farther through space.

380 THOUSAND YEARS | Neutral atoms formed and left a blank space for light

As the universe expanded and cooled further, electrons joined atoms and made them neutral. With the electron plasma out of the way, some light could travel much farther.

An image of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) across the entire sky, taken by ESA's (European Space Agency) Planck space telescope. The CMB is the oldest light we can observe in the universe. Frozen sound waves are visible as miniscule fluctuations in temperature, shown through blue (colder) and red (warmer) coloring.

As neutral atoms formed, the sound waves created by the push and pull between subatomic particles stopped. The waves froze, leaving ripples that were slightly denser than their surroundings. The excess matter attracted even more matter, both normal and “dark.” Dark matter has gravitational influence on its surroundings but is invisible and does not interact with light.

This animation illustrates the absorption of photons — light particles — by neutral hydrogen atoms.

ALSO 380 THOUSAND YEARS | The universe became dark — call it what you want, but scientists call this time period the Dark Ages 

Other than the cosmic microwave background, there wasn't much light during this era since stars hadn’t formed yet. And what light there was usually didn't make it very far since neutral hydrogen atoms are really good at absorbing light. This kicked off an era known as the cosmic dark ages.

This animation illustrates the beginning of star formation as gas begins to clump due to gravity. These protostars heat up as material compresses inside them and throw off material at high speeds, creating shockwaves shown here as expanding rings of light.

200 MILLION YEARS | Stars created daylight (that was still blocked by hydrogen atoms)

Over time, denser areas pulled in more and more matter, in some places becoming so heavy it triggered a collapse. When the matter fell inward, it became hot enough for nuclear fusion to start, marking the birth of the first stars!

A simulation of dark matter forming structure due to gravity.

400 MILLION YEARS | Dark matter acted like an invisible string tying galaxies together

As the universe expanded, the frozen sound waves created earlier — which now included stars, gas, dust, and more elements produced by stars — stretched and continued attracting more mass. Pulling material together eventually formed the first galaxies, galaxy clusters, and wide-scale, web-like structure. 

In this animation, ultraviolet light from stars ionizes hydrogen atoms by breaking off their electrons. Regions already ionized are blue and translucent, areas undergoing ionization are red and white, and regions of neutral gas are dark and opaque.

1 BILLION YEARS | Ultraviolet light from stars made the universe transparent for evermore

The first stars were massive and hot, meaning they burned their fuel supplies quickly and lived short lives. However, they gave off energetic ultraviolet light that helped break apart the neutral hydrogen around the stars and allowed light to travel farther.

Animation showing a graph of the universe’s expansion over time. While cosmic expansion slowed following the end of inflation, it began picking up the pace around 5 billion years ago. Scientists still aren't sure why.

SOMETIME AFTER 10 BILLION YEARS | Dark energy became dominant, accelerating cosmic expansion and creating a big question…?

By studying the universe’s expansion rate over time, scientists made the shocking discovery that it’s speeding up. They had thought eventually gravity should cause the matter to attract itself and slow down expansion. Some mysterious pressure, dubbed dark energy, seems to be accelerating cosmic expansion. About 10 billion years into the universe’s story, dark energy – whatever it may be – became dominant over matter.

An image of Earth rising in the Moon’s sky. Nicknamed “Earthrise,” Apollo 8 astronauts saw this sight during the first crewed mission to the Moon.

13.8 BILLION YEARS | The universe as we know it today: 359,785,714,285.7 fortnights from the beginning

We owe our universe today to each of its unique stages. However, scientists still have many questions about these eras.

Our upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will look back in time to explore cosmic mysteries like dark energy and dark matter – two poorly understood aspects of the universe that govern its evolution and ultimate fate.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[superblysubpar]

<- part six | part eight -> | series masterlist

chapter summary: No more bets.

the song: Read Your Mind by Sabrina Carpenter

also for your listening pleasure: Girl Can't Help It by Journey, Open Your Heart by Madonna, U Got The Look by Prince, and The Lady in Red by Chris de Burgh

5,328 words | please see masterlist for gen warnings / brief descriptions of scars-previous head injury / SPICE/SMUT - really just some dirty talk and a teensiet tiniest start to oral (reader receiving) | my blog is 18+

Hawkins, Indiana - the past

  His hand was in yours, and then it wasn’t. 

  “Well, well, well,” a voice sneered in front of you as you blinked at the boy who just dropped your hand at the sound of it. “What do we have here, Stevie?”

  A group of boys around your age leaned against a falling apart fence just outside of the ride, eyes surveying you up and down, then looking at Steve Harrington standing next to you. The leader of the pack a face full of freckles and a grin that made your stomach unsettled when he pointed it at you and took a step forward.

  “I’m Tommy, and you,” he grinned wider, like if he showed off more teeth, he’d placate you into thinking you enjoyed his company, “Well, you must be new to Hawkins. Think I’d remember a face like yours.”

  “Knock it off Hagan,” Steve grit out of his teeth, a fist clenched at his side. 

  “I’m…I’ll…” you stuttered out at the boy named Tommy, backing away and looking at Steve as you did. “It was…I’ll see you around?”

  You scrambled away from the boys as Steve took a step towards you, but Tommy’s voice rang out, making his head turn. 

  “Does Harrington have a little girlfriend? Gonna share all the juicy details with us, Stevie?” 

  “What? No!” He answered too quickly, cheeks pink, no longer looking at you. “She’s just some stupid girl, I got stuck with her on the ferris wheel…”

  You didn’t stick around to hear more, swiping at your wet cheeks with the back of your hand. 

  Glittery green and gold smeared across it, freshly smudgable after Steve Harrington held your hand until it was over. 

A house on Cornwallis Street - Sunday

  Your hands shifted on the steering wheel, even though the car was in park. Clammy and shaking as you rubbed them on your denim shorts and took a deep breath. With your window rolled down you couldn’t help but smile at the sound of Journey coming from the backyard, the large splash that followed the shout of ‘Don’t you dare Henderson!’. Peals of laughter and the distinct smell of something grilling only added to elements encouraging you to join them. 

  But you were still sitting in your car. 

  You didn’t question it, when after the party last night, Eddie didn’t drive you home, but to the shop, dangling your keys in front of a shocked face as he proclaimed it was finally fixed.

  “But…I didn’t pay you, I thought you couldn’t…” 

  Eddie had waved you off and smiled, “I’ve been working a lot.” He dropped the keys in your lap and grinned wider, “Besides, Harringon’ll be paying me three hundred bucks tomorrow.”

  You looked down at your thighs, thinking about who’s hands had just been pushing them apart a few minutes ago as Eddie quietly probed, “Right?”

“Of course.” You nodded, telling yourself that technically you and Eddie had won the bet.

  Nobody had slept with anyone. 

  Which is what you tell yourself again as you take another deep, bravery seeking breath and step out of your car. 

  Each step on the sidewalk then up the driveway is a little easier, your chest feeling a little lighter as the laughter and music only gets louder.

  But then you see the sign. 

  The same color of the suit you have in your bag.

  The same color he told you he can’t concentrate when you wear it. 

  Bright, bold, outlining four white letters.

  SOLD. 

  You’re still looking at it when the door swings open, Robin greeting you, dripping wet from the pool and a slice of watermelon in her hand.

“Finally! I’m outnumbered, and Max is too busy canoodling with Lucas and I need more girl power!”

  She grabs your arm and pulls you into the Harrington’s foyer as a louder call of, “I told you, as soon as Lucas apologizes for what he did-“

  “And I told you, that I cannot apologize for something if I don’t know what I’m apologizing for!”

  The pair walk out of a room on one side of the foyer as they argue, Max mumbling under her breath as they exit your sights and into the den.

  “You know exactly what you did.”

  Robin rolls her eyes and points up the stairs, “This downstairs bathroom is all packed up and,” she makes quotes with her fingers around the watermelon as she recites, “ ‘It’s cleaned and if any of you idiots fuck it up, you’re dead’ , but there’s one by Steve’s room, change and come help me seek vengeance on the boys!”

  She’s gone as fast as she arrived, the silence of the house now overpowering, but at least it gives you space to take a moment to breathe and collect your thoughts.

  Steve’s moving. 

  Why didn’t he tell you?

  Your fingers glide on the wood banister as you climb the stairs, something sitting heavy in your gut from the more important question that’s gnawing at you.

  Why does it matter that he didn’t? 

  Once you find the bathroom, your fingers tug on red nylon and strings. The suit you rummaged around for in your drawer this morning pointing out the glaringly obvious answer. It matters he didn’t tell you because-

  It was a good suit, that was the only reason why it was picked for today.

  Not because of where you were wearing it.

  Not because of the boy who lived there. 

  Because he definitely still does live there, at least for the time being.

  It’s easy to spot his room when you exit the bathroom, bare feet padding across hard woods as you tug the hem of your white tshirt over your hips a little lower. Worried you shouldn’t be walking around the house so uncovered despite the fact that you’re about to be even more so outside in the pool, when you catch your reflection in the mirror above his dresser. 

  The room is in shambles, half packed you assume. Boxes open, and only half filled, litter the floor, the white plaid wallpapered walls bare, whatever hung on the nails left behind now packed away. Your fingers linger on the top of the dresser, thumb catching on his watch, a Polaroid of him and Robin, the worn brown leather of his wallet. A tight squeeze pulls at something in your chest when the slip of paper with the name ‘Brit’ and a heart shifts beneath it. 

  You can’t help but wonder if he called that number that night like he said he would. 

  Wonder if he took her out to a movie, held her hand, let everyone know that Steve Harrington was on a date with her.

  Your bag drops on his bed that’s unmade with sheets that match the walls as you wonder if she was here too. As you wonder how many other girls have been in this room, this bed. 

  A loud shout outside, just below his window makes you jump, pulling you out of the spiral of doubt you’ve fallen into and down the stairs. 

  The cream carpet is plush beneath your bare feet, the framed photos are gone, the desk as well, so nothing stands between you and the sliding glass doors out to the pool.

  It’s a different view than the last time you were here. The bright turquoise littered with even brighter inflatables and swimsuits. It’s warm, it’s light, it’s loud, as bodies splash in it and compete with the radio playing top hits for the loudest thing. Eddie’s shaking his curls out back and forth all over Robin who’s shrieking and running past him. 

  The thought of stepping outside and arriving late has you turning into the kitchen, searching for something your hands can fiddle with before joining the party. 

  Which is how Steve Harrington’s lungs finally give out, and he dies. 

  He knows he’s not actually dying, but he’s sure that the process has to feel eerily similar to this.

  He rounded the corner to find his fridge door opened, the glow of the interior light silhouetting around your curves hidden under a white shirt making his breath stutter in his chest. And as you bend at the waist, red fabric cut high and only climbing higher, reveals the perfect swell of your ass and his lungs fail to function, like one’s collapsing because he’s been shot, or he’s taking on water and they don’t know to expel the air anymore. 

  “Jesus Christ.”

  It slips out of him much like the yelp the words startle out of you, the shoot up of your body involuntary, causing your head to smack into the top of the fridge and a litany of curses to tumble out of your lips. 

  Steve rushes over as you hold your head and spin, blinking and looking dizzy.

  “Shit, shit, sorry.” He’s across the room in seconds, hands cupping your cheeks and tilting you gently while his eyes focus on your forehead, inspecting. He frowns and moves to the left slightly, towards the sink,  though he leaves one of his hands in contact with your skin. 

  The furrow of his brow deepens as he dampens a towel and you try to breathe out of your nose and in with your mouth so you don’t focus on how his normal smell is stronger with his shirt off and mixed with sunscreen and chlorine that clings to his skin. Skin that shines with a sheen from each, that’s somehow not gross, but tantalizing. So much of that skin on display revealing more freckles than you can fathom counting. Skin that looks more tan from the dark chest hair curled against it or the swim trunks that sit low on his hips. 

  Steve looks at you with raised eyebrows and you realize he’s asked a question and you absolutely didn’t hear it. 

  “Um,” you swallow, your tongue taking up too much room in your mouth, “Wh-what?”

  Steve’s lips twitch as he stands fully in front of you again, damp cloth raised as he whispers, “Something distracting you, honey?”

  Your throat has something stuck in it, and no amount of clearing it seems to fix the problem. You focus on the freckle just to the left of his lips instead of his smug eyes as you admit, “Can’t concentrate when you wear that color.”

  The reward of his low laugh and smile has you wondering if someone hand sculpted his lips and cupid’s bow. 

  “I’ll be sure to wear it every chance I get just to torture you then,” he murmurs while fingers adjust your chin into the light. Your back rests against the center island, legs sandwiched between his spread ones so he can raise the cloth to your skin, apologizing with his eyes as he tacks on, “Only fair, since you woke up and decided evil today.”

  The damp material of his swim trunks sends a shiver up your spine when it hits your thighs, and your hands grab his waist in a wince when the cloth makes contact with your still fairly fresh head wound. You’re in a staring contest with a gold chain around his neck as you fib, “This is the only swimsuit I own. Just happens to be red.”

  Steve finishes with your forehead, but two fingers curl under your chin and lift so you have to look at him as he speaks through a smirk.

  “You’re pretty cute when you lie.”

  “Come on Steve,” you whisper, fingers curling into his hips without thought, “You’re better than cheesy lines and rookie moves like this. Besides, the bet’s over. We can go back to hating each other now.”

  He shakes his head, nose bumping yours as he does and he exhales, “Never hated you.”

  Your swallow is loud as he leans closer, one hand on your hip and fingers playing with the so to speak fire of the strings holding your suit together as you offer, “Despised?”

  Another shake of his head, another step closer so your lower halves are pressed together and your eyelashes are fluttering. Your head falls back with a gasp as his mouth trails along your jaw, hot breath and wet lips against it as you stutter out, “De-detest?”

  He responds into your skin, just below your ear, something that sounds like the word, “Never.”

  His name leaves you breathlessly as his tongue lightly licks down the side of your neck, lips following in a delicate brush. 

  “Steve-”

  He hums into your collar, nose dragging around the curve of it while your hands grip his sides. “Stop saying my name like that honey, or I’m gonna get down on my knees and make you say it much,” he nips at your earlobe, “Much, louder.”

  The space between your legs throbs, thighs push even tighter together at the thought of Steve’s mouth there. 

  “Steve,” you scold, cheeks warm, body even more so in all the places it touches his. 

  “Baby,” he groans, nose knocking your cheek, “What did I just say?”

  He starts to lower himself, hands drifting so too, on the outside of your thighs. Brushing bare skin and aching to push it further, cup your ass and roll your hips against his. Especially when your fingers hold his jaw in place so he has to look at you. Only slightly distracted by how kissable your lips are as they say, “You’re moving.”

  Steve shakes his head no and you laugh again and he wonders how many more times he can make that sound come out of you. 

  “Harrington, there’s literally a sold sign in your front yard.”

  He leans in closer, unable to resist the chance to taste your lips again, to feel their lingering sting against them all day. He’s got this insane thought that he wishes you were wearing lipstick, so it could be smeared against him, marking up his mouth and neck, shit, even his dick, so everyone knows he’s yours, it’s yours.  

  “You worried I’m gonna be too far away?” He somehow manages to ask through the fog of images of your lips surrounding his cock, big eyes blinking at him as you-

  “I’m actually worried it isn’t far enough,” you swallow around the tight feeling in your chest.

  His forehead knocks yours, hands squeeze your waist and then climb higher on your curves as he tsks, “Even cuter. You gotta quit lying baby.” But he relents some of the upperhand, the thought of you being worried about him leaving making him admit, “I’m crashing at Robin’s for a bit. And we’re trying to save up for a place together.”

  “Oh,” you nod, distracted by the way his nose traces the bridge of yours, how his eyelashes flutter and the freckles on his cheeks stand out more from a morning in the sun as he does. “Th-that’s good.”

  “Yeah?” The corner of his lips rising in a smile making them brush yours. 

  “Mhm,” you hum, “So you can take Brit on that date still.”

  “Who?” He blinks, cheeks turning pink as your fingers scrape up his stomach and through his chest hair. 

  “Brit,” your eyebrows raise, “Smells like peaches, and giggles and dots her eyes with hearts? The picture perfect girl to take out around town and proudly hold hands with?”

  “Again,” Steve leans the few centimeters closer, whispering against your lips, “Who?”

  You push at his chest, as much as it pains you to do so, needing the distance from the intoxicating mouth that smells like mint and lemonade. But

Steve remains strong in his position, fingers curl around your ear and hold your neck in place gently as he speaks like each word might spook you into running.

  “I’m staying in Hawkins. I have no idea who you’re talking about. The bet is over. Can you stop being so stubborn and let me kiss you like I’ve been wanting to since we were twelve?”

  Your heart rumbles low and slow, like thunder rolling in, it cracks in your chest like lightening hit it. Every ounce of your body is buzzing, like the strike tore your body in two. One part that can’t believe you’re hearing him say it and another that wants to run even though you know it doesn’t strike the same place twice. The fear of being caught in the storm with no way out has you stalling. 

  “Ask me nicely.”

  Steve laughs, and you wonder how you never noticed how much you like making that sound bubble out of him. 

  Or how much you like the way he licks his lips before he says something important. 

  “Please,” he murmurs against your mouth, “Can I kiss you?”

  Your lips part the same time a shriek calls from the den, “Steve! The food is burning!”

  He curses under his breath, hand grabbing yours as he pulls you through the kitchen and into the den. 

  His frown only grows as the smell of burning food does when the two of you exit the sliding door. He tugs you with him across the warm pavement of the patio, the cool summer breeze has goosebumps arriving on your legs as he shouts at the curly haired boy fanning a smoking grill.

“Henderson! You had one fucking job, man! These aren’t just burning they’re-“

  “Scorched,” Lucas supplies around a cough, smacking the air with his hat. 

  “Torched,” Mike pipes up, squinting and pinching his nose closed.

  “Dead,” El delivers morosely.

  Will snorts and covers his mouth and Max mutters under her breath, “Imbeciles.” 

  But then she’s smiling at you.

  Then they’re all smiling at you, even Eddie and Robin who stand just beyond them, staring at Steve and yours intertwined hands. 

  The attention on it makes your hand feel too heavy in his and you go to slip it out, but Steve only squeezes it tighter, waving his other at them, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer. Now get lost, or I’m not making more and you can eat these disgusting things.”

  The “kids” take off and Steve turns to you, thumb swiping over the back of your hand, cheeks pink and swallowing loudly. “Um, about my really nicely asked question that was rudely-“

  “Yes.”

  The just as interrupted response stuns him as much as it does you. But when he smiles, and takes your cheeks in both of his hands, and leans in slowly, you’re sure the answer was the right one, the storm clouds dissipate, the threat of another crack gone. 

  This kiss, is like rain. 

  The good kind of rain. Slow. Steady. Steve’s lips capture yours sure, calmly, breathing out just as the pair of his mold around your top one. He holds them through an exhale against your cheek as your hands fall to his chest naturally. You can feel the thud of his heart beneath your palm as his mouth parts to do it again, deeper, stronger. Each beat against your skin the rain hitting a window until it’s so natural, so steady, it’s a simple background noise. 

  It’s only when loud whoops and whistles break the calm that you hear yours in your ears and feel his heart again, the calm disrupted. Your cheeks warm beneath his palms as he kisses you again, a chaste and over too quick peck around a smile. 

  That pesky thing is still stuck in your throat, suddenly unsure how limbs and words and human things work anymore. You stumble a step back and trip on a pool noodle when your stomach flutters with a swarm of butterflies intent on trying to escape. He catches your waist before you fall as you gesture to the water, “Alright, well, that pool’s not gonna swim in itself.”

  Steve smiles, but he narrows his eyes, squeezing at the outside of your thighs, “Honey, I thought we were done being mean to each other.”

  Your eyes blink at him, confused, butterflies constructing a roller-coaster in your stomach now as well, as you ask, “How is me swimming being mean?”

  “Kissing me like that then parading around in a little red bikini?” He swallows as his fingers play with the strings of said suit, whispering, “Mean. Incorrigible, baby.”

  This feels surreal, his hands on you, calling you baby while your friends are only a few feet away and absolutely watching. Even more so when you whisper, “Big brain word.”

  Steve taps your chin, lifting it as he asks, “What’s my prize?”

  Looking into Steve’s, Buttercup’s description of Westley’s eyes being like the sea after a storm can’t help but float through your mind. But Steve’s are a lot more like the forest after one. Wet and darkened earth soaking up all it was just given, richer in color and waiting to be explored. 

  “What do you want?” 

  Steve grins, his mouth parts, but then you’re both being drenched with water, two buckets dumped over your heads as you shout in protest against the cold. 

  Robin and Max yell something about the fire in the kitchen being too hot and they needed to put it out as they run away from you both with laughter. 

  You peel off the white shirt that clings to your body now as you mumble something about payback. Steve groans at the reveal of your body in only the suit. It’s easy to look over your shoulder as you walk away from him and ask, “Tell me later?”

  Even easier to shove a grinning Eddie towards the pool as you walk past and mumble, “Shut up.”

  He grips at your shoulder as he flails, pulling you in with him, your double splash drowning out your shriek and the beginning of Madonna’s Open Your Heart booming out of the stereo. 

  When you resurface, swiping water from your eyes and laughing, you turn to find Steve again and aren’t surprised when he’s already looking at you. Your arms rest on the ledge when you swim up to the side and mock his voice, calling up to him.

  “Take a picture, it’ll last longer!”

  He sticks his tongue out at you as you laugh and swim away, but he can’t help but wonder where he packed his Polaroid, and if he can get you alone long enough to snap several his eyes only photos. 

  He’s still thinking it, later, as the sun inches closer to the other side of the sky, and you’re relaxed on a lounger next to Robin. 

Eyes hidden from him behind sunglasses, hands resting on your stomach, brushing back and forth over your skin as you roll your neck. 

  Prince’s U Got The Look fills the now much quieter backyard, the kids all having disappeared under the excuse of getting movie snacks and a video rental from Keith an hour ago. Robin’s voice interrupts the lyrics with, “How much you wanna bet they’re at the arcade and they aren’t coming back with the snacks?”

  You groan and sit up, “No more bets. But,” a sigh leaves you, “Yeah. I’ll go order a pizza? Steve’s got a billion contraband rental’s downstairs too. I’m sure there’s something halfway decent in there.”

  “Ha-ha,” he says dryly, watching you stretch has him sinking lower in the pool so only his eyes show. He squeezes them shut when your top slips just a smidge higher as your arms raise, the curve of each breast peeking out from the bottom and giving him a heart attack. 

  He’s certain that’s exactly what’s happening when he opens them to find you slipping your white shirt on. Only it’s not your white shirt.

  It’s his.

  Steve watches the collar linger on your nose, then slip over your chin as you smile at him and hook your thumb over your shoulder, “I’m - phone…pizza.” Stumbling over your words and shuffling towards the house quickly. 

  He waits exactly sixty seconds before he’s swimming towards the ladder and climbing out. Eddie’s voice taunts from the tube he’s floating in, with his arms behind his head, even with closed eyes he looks smug, “And where are you going?”

  “To…help. With the calling for pizza.” He towels off quickly, Robin snorts and Eddie makes a booing sound. 

  Robin calls from her lounger, “Don’t say we never did anything for you, Dingus!”

  Steve slides the glass door on their snickering, the house quiet and much cooler than the Summer outside. He glances in the kitchen, the hallway, searching for you, when he hears a creak upstairs. 

  He finds you in his room, in his shirt still, sunglasses pushed onto the top of your head as you sift through a bag and pull out a pair of denim shorts.

  “Hi,” he whispers, when you look up at him.

  “Hey,” you smile, voice quiet too, “Why are we whispering?”

  “I-“ he starts quiet and clears his throat, returning to a normal volume, “I don’t know. Guess I thought if I spoke too loud I might wake up from this great dream.”

  The grin spreads on your lips and you shake your head, “Wow. That’s bad, even for you, Steve.”

  He takes a few steps towards you as you continue to shake your head with a smile, only stopping when he asks, “Say my name again? Please?”

  Steve takes the shorts from your hands, dropping them on the ground as you murmur, gently, “Steve.”

  His tongue darts over his bottom lip before he says, “Can I tell you what I want for a prize now?”

  You’re only able to manage a small, “Mhm,” between pressed together lips as your hands sweat and your stomach burns, and your chest constricts while his fingers toy with the strings of your swimsuit bottoms. 

  He kisses you, slowly, licking out over the seam of your lips until you open for him. His hands guide you backwards gently until he’s climbing over your body on his bed and Prince’s voice fades into Chris de Burgh’s. 

  His body presses against yours, weight heavy and making your eyelids flutter as his hand cups your cheek, then traces your shoulder, the curve of your breast down to your hip. Your stomach burns with want, fingers dig into his hair as he releases your lips and kisses your chin, your chest through his shirt. He only travels lower, pushing it up and kissing your stomach, along the seam of your suit. Your legs rise on either side of his head, fingers leaving his hair to curl into his sheets that surround you and fill the space with a cedar and mint haze. 

  “St-steve,” you hiccup as he nips at the inside of your thigh. 

  He moans, palms pressing you open wider, mouth leaving a wet and hot trail of kisses and breaths up each leg. This wasn’t the plan, he wanted to take it slow, but he can’t help it anymore. He speaks into your stomach, kissing your skin between every few words. 

  “Baby, please, can I taste you?” His fingers tug on the strings of your suit and his vision blurs when you make a sound that sounds like a whine and roll your hips, searching. He’s gone fully blind as you tug on his hair again, drunk off of you without a single taste. 

  “Yeah? Gonna let me put my mouth on you?” He noses at your cunt through the suit, dragging it up against the fabric, babbling anything that comes to his mind without a filter. “That what you want, honey? To come all over my tongue?”

  Your palms press to the bed as you sit up, fingers tugging at the mess of brown waves between your thighs when his tongue licks over your suit.

  Your mouth parts in a gasp, eyes fluttering from the barely there friction, the minimal release of the tension you’ve felt since the kitchen downstairs hours ago. 

  Steve looks up at the sound and nearly comes in his shorts, the image of your dazed eyes and pouting lips, the heave of your chest under his shirt having him really thinking about where his camera is again. 

  “Oh,” his voice falls into a teasing lilt, playing with his food before he eats it, ���Look at you. You’re already fucked dumb and I haven’t done a thing.”

  Your body is engulfed in flames at the taunting words, somehow turned on and irritated in the same sentence.

  A Steve Harrington special skill, you think. 

  He curses the words almost immediately after they leave him, thinking he’s pushed it too far too fast but then you’re saying his name like that again, saying the word please so softly, so sincerely, his vision goes white and scratchy like the tape of all of his abilities to think clearly was just ejected from his brain. 

  Steve sits up with a groan, backing away from the bed with the shake of his head. 

  “You’re trouble,” he rasps, breathing heavily from across the room, back against his dresser.

  “What’s wrong?” The mood shift jarring and making your legs close, your arms cross over your chest in a hug, wondering what you did.

  “This,” he says then immediately waves his hands, “No, not like that! I-“ he cuts himself off with another groan, a hand swipes through his hair only making it messier. You clench around nothing at the wild hair, the pink cheeks, the dark chest hair and tan skin as he paces.

  “I wanna-“ he starts.

  “Harrington! Quit making out up there and bring down some of what I gave you! I’m tapped and the pizza guy’s here.”

  Steve curses and he spins on his dresser, grabbing his wallet.

  His wallet. 

  Bring down some of what I gave you.

  His shoulders hunch as he swears again, “Those…brats. I swear to god I’m gonna kill them.”

  He spins to find you yanking your shorts on, muttering, “I cannot believe I fucking fell for this.”

  “Fell for…what are you talking about?” Steve steps closer and you back up quickly, waving your hand at him.

  “Save it.” 

  He watches you storm out of the room, confused, and then looks down at the wallet and quickly rushes out after you, “No, no, no, honey it’s not-“

  “Don’t,” you spin on the stairs, voice icy, “Call me honey.”

  Steve takes another step down, pleading with his eyes as Eddie, Robin, and a stranger stand in the foyer, blinking up at the two of you. “Eddie didn’t give me money for that. He…” his hand swipes through his hair again, tongue over his lip as he lowers his voice, “Can we please go somewhere else to talk about this?”

  Your arms cross and Steve sighs.

  “He gave me money…for a different bet. Sort of bet. Bet is a bad word for it.”

  Something rumbles in your chest once more, though no storm was forecasted, you should have known there was bound to be more. 

  Steve’s lips pout as he waves his hand while explaining in a ramble, “After the bet started, I told them how much I actually liked you. And they agreed to help me. And if I got you to actually give me a chance, with their help of course, Eddie’d pay for a real date and Robin would cover our shifts when we went.”

  The explanation should be sweet, but all you can focus on is that Steve didn’t just have the guts to tell you right away. That your friends all helped manipulate you and lied. You start to wonder if the power even went out, if Eddie knew Steve would be at that party, if Robin put In Your Eyes on on purpose, the diner, your car being busted - all of it. 

  What was real between you and Steve, and what was made with movie magic? 

  The storm cracks in your chest, letting the first drops fall down your cheeks. 

  “I have to get out of here.”

  The calls of your name and his steps behind you on the stairs ignored as your vision blurs. 

  Leaving a boy standing in a yard on Cornwallis street while you disappear without your shoes again. 

BICFTF TAGLIST: don'thatemedon'thatemedon'thateme there's still two chapters left! As always, thank you for your support!

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[blakbonnet]

AUTHOR OF THE WEEK: @clairegregoryau 💕

Everytime the topic of fandom kindness and community comes up, of helping each other out and fostering a quiet corner where people can be themselves, most people in our little fandom think of Claire. She's written over a million words of OFMD fic and read even more, and you can always see so so many recs over on her twitter. Incredible good vibes, and an author who truly lives to lift other authors up. She also does SO SO much for fic authors over on the OFMD Fic Club server <3 And she was incredibly kind and shared her entire writing process with me:

What's your writing process like? Do you start with the beginning or the end? Do you write in order or as the scenes come to you?

I’m a huge advance planner, which is a process that has developed for me over more than 25 years of writing original fiction. I’ll get whacked with a story idea, then I’ll sit down and set out the central kernel of that idea, and where it needs to start, where it needs to end, and what the turning points need to be to get there.

A lot of the time I use a three-act structure, largely because Jenkins has talked about OFMD using that structure (one example here). So that makes it easy for me to hold to the canon beats when I’m writing AU stories, or to mirror them in canon-era stories, which is also something I try to do most of the time. With long experience (and now 1.7 million words of OFMD fic written (!)), I find this part of the process really easy. I’ll usually do that plotting by hand-writing out my notes, because it really fires up a different part of your brain.

Because I am such an advance planner, I do tend to write in a completely linear way from start to finish (I also pretty commonly post my long-fics as I write- each chapter goes up as soon as it’s finished and has a final editing pass). Punching through it in a linear way, knowing the ending that I’m working towards and being enthusiastic to get there, really keeps me motivated.

I do all of my writing in 30-minute sprints at the OFMD Fic Club Discord, where we’ve built a lovely and LOUDLY enthusiastic writing community that anyone is welcome to hop into 24/7. For those who find the constant chat a bit overwhelming, we also have a Quiet Focus Sprints channel. Again via long practice, I’m a very fast writer, but that’s accelerated a lot more over the last couple of years, paradoxically because I couldn’t write the way I used to anymore.

I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that includes some fun brain impacts at times, and it’s really hit my working memory especially. I used to be able to hold all the strands of a complicated story together in my head as I wrote, but now I can’t do that as easily. So that’s why the outline is important for me, so I never lose track of the idea- I’ll also do a quick outline at the start of each chapter I’m writing that notes what needs to happen, and then I’ll write in what I call layers, getting down whatever I can first, and then doing sweeps back through it to add internals, narrative detail, sensory details and so on. I make a LOT of notes and square brackets as I go to remind myself of things to look at later.

I also use a plot matrix [Twitter thread, Example Matrix] that you may have seen floating around- I mostly use it to keep track of plot details that have already happened within a story, so that I can check it out at a glance, but I will sometimes plan certain elements in advance (as in the case of Tree Change, which covered 87 of the 93 Kinktober prompts last year across 12 carefully planned chapters). There’s always space when I’m writing for the characters to surprise me within that plot framework- as a final plotting thing, once I’m at the halfway mark I’ll often plot backwards from the planned end to make sure that I’m on course, and to see what I need to adjust.

Favourite trope or headcanon you like to explore while writing?

I really like to dig into the friends-to-lovers trope that sits at the heart of the show. The Ed and Stede relationship reminds me immensely of my own- like Rhys and Taika as friends, we’ve been yes-anding each other for over 25 years (all of my least hinged fic ideas come from bouncing thoughts back and forth with my husband), and it’s been a steady mix of constant silliness, curiosity, and care. We’re best friends first and that’s one of my favourite things about Ed and Stede, that they are, too.

What I really love about it is the vulnerability of these two people who’ve been hurt so much by others in the past, who’ve never been fully appreciated for all the things that they are, and in each other they find the one absolutely perfect person who just gets them, and it makes all the difference. It’s always fun to play with that and variations on it in fics, and it’s usually the beating heart of my stories.

Whose voice is easier to write - Ed or Stede? Why?

I want to say that I find them both equally easy depending on the story. Ed as a character speaks very much the way I think- he has that ADHD buzz, the high swear level, and a very AoNZ turn of phrase that’s also very familiar to Australians (like me). Writing Ed is like turning the inside of my head out and it always flows easily.

But I have always said that I see myself in both characters in equal parts, so I find Stede pretty easy to write as well. I feel like I pretty solidly understand him as a person, with his history of rejection and his commitment to trying anyway, and trying to be kind, and letting himself be fascinated by things, from piracy to books to moths to Ed (that one’s not hard).

Your personal favourite thing you've written that you'd like more people to read

This is a near-impossible question with 69 OFMD fics up on AO3 😅 I really do love them all, and I have a lot of smaller one-shots that haven’t been read as much, but overall I’m incredibly lucky with readership and so so grateful for everyone who enjoys my work.

But my recent Reverse Bang fic The Broken Lines is hugely important to me and I think it’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever written anywhere. It’s set in the aftermath of the First World War (my professional zone of expertise), and features a Stede who’s lost his voice, his memory, and as far as he knows, his Ed. He gradually remembers what happened with the help of the crew and another Ed, who appears in his mirror from 1719, searching for his own Stede. It was a beautiful collaboration with artist Gerlinde to begin with, but I also got to work with one of my longest-term writing friends Jill @followedmystar as my beta, and then with Boy, who made a truly transcendent podfic that I can’t yell about enough.

What is the one word that you think you use a lot?

I think the word I have to zap more than any other is “actually”, and there are still a million of them in there when I’m done. The main reason is that to stick close to canon voice, I try to incorporate a lot of the less iconic/ more ordinary turns of phrase that the characters use a lot in their speech (I’ve watched every episode of the show… way too many times), and both Ed and Stede actually use “actually” a surprising amount. I just use it an even more surprising amount 😂

(This just sent me on a QUEST to find a specific number because I am that kind of nerd- Stede says it 15 times in S1 and 12 in S2, and Ed says it 8 times in each, for totals of 27 and 16, many of them in distinctive moments; it just gives that little buzz of recognition for me. I started out screenwriting before I moved to prose, so my writing tends to lean pretty strongly on having a recognisable, almost audible voice to the dialogue, as well as a cinematic visual style for the big adventures especially).

Do you have a beta reader? Have they made you a better writer?

I quite deliberately don’t use a beta reader for most of my OFMD fics, because being in this space is an exercise in recovering from lifelong paralysing perfectionism around writing especially. I’ve spent so many years not finishing original work because it never feels like it passes the invisible bar for perfection that exists in my own head. So when I started writing OFMD fic, I set out to accept good enough as good enough, and to get back to enjoying writing as fully as I can.

Obviously this means that my work could be better, but I’m actively working on letting that thought go and loving everything I’ve made just as it is. When I have worked with beta readers on projects that require them, like the Reverse Bang, it’s been with friends who I trust and adore, who I know will listen to what I need (cheerleading, mostly), and will do their best to work with me on improving the story without letting me spiral into hating it all because it wakes the perfectionist beast back up.

That doesn’t mean I’m without regular support, or that I’m not trying to improve my writing! I read an absolutely insane amount of fic, and I’m always in awe of the talent we have on this ship, and always learning from what other people do well. In lieu of beta readers, we share snippets of work all the time in our sprints team, so I get feedback there; I also get it from readers in progress, who often give me a sense of what’s hitting the way I hoped and what needs a bit of tweaking. I also have lovely group chats and individual friends like Kerry @communionnimrod and Lis @ghostalservice and Jill who I can run to if I need an opinion on whether an idea feels right or not, which I will often ask.

I’m very very careful with my writing, but in a couple of rare instances readers have also DMd me to note spots where I’ve inadvertently included something that doesn’t reach the sensitivity standard I’m aiming for. I’m always grateful for that gentleness and bravery in reaching out and I’m always happy to change something or to add tags or notes as needed.

Why OFMD 🥹

I watched the whole show in one hit a week after the final episode aired, and I loved it immediately, but I thought I was going to be normal about it. The unravelling into complete, unrelenting obsession happened gradually as I rewatched it with my husband and teen, then again, and again, then started to read fics and hunt up art, then started joining fan spaces, and then dived into writing my first fic in two and a half decades (all original writing between The X-Files and here), thinking it would also be my last.

I’m still here, still writing constantly, and a major portion of it is the show and how distinctly it reflected all the many parts of me, some of which I’d never seen so clearly before. I had a tough childhood in a few different family respects. I didn’t understand that I was neurodivergent until I turned 40 and my own kids were heading for diagnosis, and I’d been rejected constantly throughout my life for being too much. I was a high achiever who was in the process of crumpling under pressure right when I watched it, and while I’d been figuring out my sense of my own queerness for a few years, I’d never had a community that helped me feel at home with that.

And in the end it’s the community that’s been the reason I’ve been fully sucked into fandom for the first time since my teens- the writing in this space is top-tier wonderful, and the community is such a found family, just like the Revenge. Being able to write and have people actually want to read that writing, being able to cheer others on and hype their work, being able to help set up the OFMD Fic Club Discord and make it a safe spaceship for so many people, has been incredibly fulfilling and lovely. 

Please head over to @ofmdlovelyletters (who also made the header) and send your love to all your favourite authors (and authors of the week 😈 watch that blog for some special letters coming your way)

[thegoldensanctuary]

Part VI: The 1702 Summer Set(N⁰ 1379) :

Tradition required the bedchamber decor to be changed twice a year, alternating between a winter set and a summer one. Although set 1881 is not explicitly referred to as the winter set in the Garde-Meuble until 1740 [125], André Félibien informs us that the practice of using red velvet for winter in the King’s bedchamber predated 1701 [126]. If set 1881 was already used for winter by 1701, then which set was used as a summer replacement in 1702? The answer can be found in the 1708 inventory [127], where a set of silver-background brocade is listed under number 1379. Set 1379 was initially delivered in May 1689 as an augmentation of set 867, delivered nine years earlier for the bath apartments [128].

6.1 The Tapestry Itself

Described in 1680 as alternating narrow pieces of two different brocades—one “silver background with figures of a shepherd and shepherdess” and the other “gold and silver with rinceau, outlined at the edge with ponceau” [129]—the 1689 Garde-Meuble entry, while consistent in describing the shepherd silver brocade, specifies that the other had a green background but omits the rinceau ornaments. The most complete description appears in the 1708 inventory: “Rich furniture of two brocades, one with silver background with figures of shepherd and shepherdess in gold and silver, and the other with green background chiseled with gold and with flowers of silver and gold” [130].

The 1689 delivery was intended to fill an alcove with eight pieces of silver shepherd brocade and seven pieces of the green brocade [131]; this layout remained the same in the 1701 bedchamber [132].

6.2 The Bed

The main element of set 1379 was its state bed, impressive in its dimensions. Its components were as follows:

No Headboard: None of the descriptions indicate the presence of a headboard.

The Headcloth: Described in 1689 as being like the curtains, “of ponceau brocade” [133]. As seen in Part 6.1, no ponceau brocade is mentioned in the set; instead, the color ponceau only appears as a border for the green-background brocade. This discrepancy is later clarified in 1708 when the curtains and headcloth are accurately described as “green background brocade with flowers of gold and silver outlined at the edge with ponceau” [134].

The Valences: Unlike previous descriptions, a more precise one does not come from the 1708 inventory, where they are mentioned along with the cantonières, bonne grace, and bases as simply being of “shepherd brocade” [135], but from the May 1689 Garde-Meuble entry, which states: “Three outer valences, with additional buttonholes, shells, tassels, and other embroidery taken from the campane left from the frieze of the tapestry; four inner valences. The seven valences [three outer + four inner] are entirely of the shepherd brocade, garnished at the bottom by large campane embroidery and at the top and sides by smaller campanes, with ponceau gros de tours lining” [136].

The Curtains: The fabric for the curtains matched the set: some were of shepherd brocade, while others were of the green brocade.The 1689 description specifies that the two bonne graces, two cantonières, and three bases were of the shepherd brocade, while the four outer-layer curtains were of the “ponceau brocade” [137]. As with the headcloth, the term "ponceau brocade" actually refers to the “green background brocade with flowers of gold and silver outlined at the edge with ponceau,” as inferred from the 1708 inventory [138].

The Quilt: Described in both 1689 and 1708 as being of “ponceau brocade” [139], the same caution regarding interpretation should be applied as above.

The Case Curtain: Made of 24 pieces of green taffeta sewn together, with large and medium gold and silver fringes at the bottom and sides [140].

The Columns: The two front columns were covered in sheaths: one in a brocade featuring Solomonic columns embroidered in gold and silver on a crimson satin background, and the other in a brocade with silver stripes and satin stripes adorned with gold and silver floral embroidery [141].

The Vases/Finials: Four in total (one at each corner), filled with feathers. No further information about the materials used is provided.

6.3 The Armchairs and Stools

The original 1680 description briefly mentions the presence of two armchairs [142].

In 1689, the armchairs and stools received new frames, which were “gilded and silver-plated.” The 12 stools from 1680 were replaced with eight folding stools at that time [143].

The armchairs were entirely covered with shepherd brocade on the backrest, seat, and armrests, with silver and gold braid and campane ornaments. The folding stools, on the other hand, had cushions made from a square of shepherd brocade surrounded by “ponceau brocade.” This term appears in both the 1689 Garde-Meuble entry [144] and the 1708 inventory [145]. We learn from the 1689 entry that there was not enough campane to decorate all eight folding stools; there was barely enough for six, and the remaining two had to rely on gold fringes instead [146]. This issue seems never to have been addressed, as the 1708 description notes this disparity as well [147].

These stools and armchairs were later encountered long after being removed from the bedchamber and returned to the Garde-Meuble, specifically in the 1775 general inventory of the Garde-Meuble, where they appear under number 106 among the brocade furnishings [148]. In this final description, we learn that, just as in 1708, the disparity in campane ornaments remained unaddressed and that the “ponceau brocade” mentioned in the 1689 and 1708 descriptions surrounding the shepherd brocade was, as expected, actually “of chiseled green background brocade, with silver and gold flowers” [149].

An additional armchair belonging to set 1870 is also listed in the 1708 inventory.

6.4 The Fire Screen

The fire screen was a new addition for the 1701 central bedchamber, as it was not part of the original delivery of set 1379 from May 1689. The 1708 inventory offers a lengthy description worth quoting in full:

“Fire screen with slide [écran à coulisse], covered on each side with a square of silver background brocade with vine, from which a grape hangs, with a shepherdess at the center enclosed by strips of green background brocade chiseled with gold, with gold and silver floral ornaments outlined at the edge with ponceau, garnished by a thin gold braid hiding the seam, with sculpted and gilded wood” [150].

6.6 The Table and Tablecloth

In 1689, at the initial delivery of the set, there were three different carpets (tapis), one of which was referred to as a table carpet (tapis de table) [151]. Although no table was provided with the initial delivery, the 1708 inventory mentions a fir wood table [152] with no inventory number listed directly after two of the aforementioned rugs, indicating that these other rugs were also likely table rugs, as was the first.

The first proper tablecloth was “made of the two brocades, garnished with fringes and gold and silver braids, lined with green taffeta” [153].

The second rug was made of green leather, with green taffeta lining and gold fringes.

The third rug, made of green taffeta with gold and silver fringes, is referred to in 1708 as the slipcover for the first.

6.7 The Portieres

The description of the four portieres is consistent between the 1689 Garde-Meuble entry and the 1708 description, comprising a total of five pieces of brocade sewn together: three of shepherd brocade and two of the green brocade, with campane ornaments at the bottom of two and fringes for the other two.

[125] AN O1/3453

[126] “The King’s bed is covered in red velvet in winter,” can be read in Félibien des Avaux, Description sommaire de Versailles ancienne et nouvelle, 1703 edition, p. 60. Despite the date of the edition, the rooms are described in their pre-1701 layout.

[127] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 2-4

[128] Guiffrey, Inventaire général du mobilier de la couronne sous Louis XIV, 1886 edition, vol. 2, p. 318

[129] Ibid

[130] AN O1/3445

[131] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 123 r⁰

[132] AN O1/3445

[133] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 122 r⁰

[134] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 2 • [135] Ibid

[136] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 122 r⁰

[137] Ibid

[138] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 3

[139] See previous footnotes

[140] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 2

[141] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 123 v⁰

[142] Guiffrey, 1886, vol 2, p.318

[143] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 122 r⁰

[144] Ibid v⁰

[145] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 3

[146] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 122 v⁰

[147] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 4

[148] AN O1/3345, f⁰ 272 v⁰

[149] AN O1/3445 f⁰ 3

[150] Ibid

[151] AN O1/3306 f⁰ 123 r⁰

[152] AN O1/3445 f⁰

[153] Ibid, AN O1/3306 f⁰ 123 r⁰

[skykidsam]

Symbology in Statues

Isle Elder - Dawn - Daleth

Statue sits in the middle of a spacious room; once revived, the room opens up and birds fly freely through the space

Has one singular white candle to light

Face has a diamond element; in the elder's memory, this element seems to attract the boat-shaped mask (which also has a similar diamond-shaped element in the middle) to the elder's forehead like a magnet

Paint includes a standard line down the middle, below the diamond cutout, and two more lines on either side. The outline around the diamond is incomplete, missing only the top

Prairie Elder - Day - Ayin

The statue sits atop an uneven grass-covered mound, littered with large jars

There are three white candles in front of the statue, which are replaced by (or encompassed in) a large jar once the spirit is revived; there are also a few clusters of red candles leading up to the statue

Face has a diamond element

Paint includes the same standard line down the middle, along with the two lines on either side - but this time the diamond outline is complete

There are two engraved lines spreading diagonally upward on either side, emanating from the center diamond cutout

Forest Elder - Rain - Teth

The only statue that, within their temple, is hidden before being revealed via an unlocking mechanism that opens the floor and triggers the platform with the statue on it to rise

Platform is painted with a diamond symbol that resembles the one on map shrines

Has three white candles

Diamond emblem on the doors behind the statue resemble the mask this elder wears, but could also have other symbolic meaning

No diamond element on face

Same standard paint, but the top half of the diamond outline is missing

I didn't get to photograph it in the other statues but we can also note how the eyes are a shade of blue/cyan/aquamarine after lighting the candles but before meditating to revive the elder

Valley Elders - Sunset - Samekh

Statue is elevated on its own platform in the middle of the room

Three white candles in front, as well as many red candles surrounding the statues themselves

No diamond element

Just like the elders, everything is split in half - each side has one eye, and the paint is also split down the middle.

The diamond outline is also missing its top

Once the spirits are revived and the doors open, Eden sits menacingly behind the statues and seems to hint at... something

Wasteland Elder - Dusk - Tsadi

Statue sits just before the halls of the Vault, carrying a spear (engraved with a diamond) and a shield (engraved with a sun)

Three white candles in front, with several red candles bordering a map shrine behind

Diamond element on face

Same exact paint and engravings as Day/Ayin

Huge crack that severs the statue in half (but the statue is still standing)

From the front, depending on where you stand, two things line up perfectly with the diamond cutout - the map shrine, and the diamond in the gate leading to Vault

Vault Elder - Night - Lamed

The only elder whose statue only appears with all the other elders' statues

Five white candles, with some red ones leading up to it and a candle cake directly behind the statue

Diamond element on face

Standard paint with no engravings, except the top right quarter of the diamond outline is missing

Diamond cutout lines up perfectly with Rain's/Teth's directly behind

No way to see statue once revived because you're automatically transported to the top room of Vault, just before Eden

Theories

Statues are built to represent the elders, their temples, and potentially things that are very important to them

White candles may signify a level of power or influence. Dawn, having not received any elemental light from Alef/The Prince after he completed the Trials (and also being the only elder dedicated to the old ways of light worship and shepherding light creatures) likely had the least influence, and so they only have one candle. Night, being the closest in proximity to the king and also being shown in TTE communicating directly with the king would likely have had the most influence. All the others may have shared similar or equal influence

Diamond elements on faces may or may not mean anything at all. The only theory I have is that those represent our "third eye" and our connection to our intuition/higher selves/the Light. They may also serve the function of attaching masks to faces. I truly don't know

The paint, to me, just looks like it further highlights the diamond cutouts - the bottom center stripe looks like a candlestick and the lines on either side look like the light around a candle flame (or even hands cupping the flame)

Unsure of what the diagonal indentations mean

The central diamond cutouts may represent their inner light, hearts, or even souls. I also think whatever we see through that cutout matters. I think it shows us what was most important to them.

Dawn would likely have cared most about shepherding creatures toward the light

Day cared about storing light (even to the point of it blocking their inner light/heart)

Rain cared for their forest - specifically, they hold a special place in their heart for the sunny forest clearing that hasn't been tainted by polluted rain. Notably, this is also where Rain is featured next to the Nesting Guide in the painting from that season

Sunset, the twins, cared for Valley and competition - but they also care for the kingdom and the King himself, perhaps to their detriment

Dusk cared so much about conflicting interests that they were practically split in two; on one hand, they wanted to protect the vault and the kingdom from attack, but on the other, they cared for everyone across all of the realms and desperately wanted to protect them too

Night cared for all of the elders, but especially Rain, who is said to be related to Night in some way

And that's all I got for now!

[gatheredfates]

Hi all and happy weekend! 🦇 We're keeping to the spooky theme still with the Compendium updates and, once again, I am gently boosting plugging the SEAFLOOR Saints Wake Gpose Challenge for anyone who might be interested! All works are reblogged to SEAFLOOR as well as queued on my blog.

There's not a big update this week so, if you know of anything I have missed, please reach out to me via my Discord or the Google Form.

As of today 10/20, the following communities have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives. 👻

FREE COMPANY, FRIEND / CASUAL SERVERS

Skystone Co—An airship with a crew dedicated to shipping, travel and trade. Medium-rp FC on Mateus that focuses on bringing a wide variety of characters and rp styles together in one sky! Mist - W 26 - P4. Open for public rp but scheduled collabs and rp events are accepted as well.

COMPENDIUM

Some of the wording in the initial paragraphs and outline of the document has changed for the encompassing of purpose. While the Compendium has always functioned with writing/roleplay in mind, it's not the only thing that it's used for, and I wanted that to be more readily known.

Some changes have been made to the disclaimer, predominately clarity around irrefutable evidence. While it's common sense, I still wanted to include transphobia/racism as some of the criteria for Compendium removal. Basically: be a nice community and you won't be removed.

Have you thought about joining our Tumblr Community? You can find it here!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. This is all publicly available on the document. 🍬

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads. (Though these get posted to the SEAFLOOR Tumblr Community when I find them!)

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs or other ventures used to generate roleplay.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

I want to put my community on the Compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my Community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community/resource on the Compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it. The same goes for resources; if it's relevant to the game, it'll be useful to someone.

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, contact me asap!

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[desultory-novice]

Nintendo Dream May 2023

Return to Dream Land DX Interview w/ the Staff

[Note: This was 8 pages long. I bought it the moment I could and wrote down/quickly summarized everything I could find that was of interest while reading through it. I didn’t even edit it or spellcheck it ^^ It’s not a full translation, there could be some bits I misinterpreted, and there’s some technical stuff about the development and staff that I left untouched, but this should be all the good stuff!]

---

They spent a long time debating whether the game (in Japanese) should still be called "Kirby Wii" but decided that since it WAS "Kirby Wii" it should keep the name.

They originally thought of giving RtDL a title like the novel version had.

Giving the characters the outlines took a hefty amount of processing power.

Even among the staff, RtDL is considered the origin point of modern Kirby.

Kumazaki's keyword to the staff was "nostalgia filter" - to not just remake the game as is, but to add enough features that it was even better than how people remembered the original.

They didn't force themselves to release all three games (Forgotten Land, Dream Buffet, DX) for the 30th anniversary, but they considered being able to do so ideal. As such, they began working on it while FL was still in development.

As to the borders, they knew it was difficult to introduce a new visual element to a series midway through, but they regretted how easy it was to loose sight of the characters in Star Allies, which is why they added them in. That and the fact that it make the characters look more like they were artwork, as well as fitting in with RtDL's naturally more fantastic and cartoony look, which also helped visually distinguish it from SA that used a lot of similar looking locales to RtDL

As for Dedede's redesign, they mention that he's partly redesigned to best represent what he's used for in each game. In TDX, he was an enemy and an ally, so he was meant to look cool. In Star Allies, he was friendly and a bit goofy. In FL, he was designed to fit with the look of the Beast Pack. DX's Dedede is meant to kind of mix FL and Star Allies, partly because FL Dedede became so popular and had such recognition. (They also note that, regrettably, RtDL's original Dedede had to have his body made smaller because of bounding box issues.) They weren't able to make him the "large and in charge" powerful type they wanted before now.

All the voices were rerecorded for this game, including the masks.

In regards to the opening animation, they talk about how there was no specific situation in mind, but note that Waddle Dee looks like he was sent flying. The reason is because Waddle Dees were still considered generic enemies at that point, and so it made sense that something had sent this random Waddle Dee flying off, which is why it happened. (They also note that because of the timing, it looks like Meta Knight was the one responsible, but it's just a random enemy thing.)

"Helper Magolor" started out from the idea that Watanabe and Tanifuji both had young kids and they wanted a game that their children could play, without sacrificing the depth that veteran gamers enjoy. Kirby is made as an entry game for gamers of all levels, and they feel they opened it up to even more players with this. Really young kids, and people who aren't good at action games but want to enjoy the story. (They were a little surprised at how much the little kids struggled with FL's 3D action elements. While it's natural for us to use inhale and then swallow for a copy ability, little kids and gaming newcomers would forget about that, thus, the auto-copy feature.)

It made sense to make Magolor the helper because he was the key character in the story, and that it would seem he was giving you assistance for you helping him fix his ship.

They debated between some 60 different ideas for new copy abilities before settling on the two that they did. The deciding factor was abilities that seemed like they would belong in Kirby but also be fresh and new.

"Festival" is back not just because it's an anniversary game, but because it fit the feeling of a 4-player adventure. (And also, with Helper Magolor on, it gives a way to increase Magolor's presence in the game.)

They mention that Kumazaki rewrote all the ability descriptions and added all the pause screen lore. That they did like the figure-based methods of lore in FL but wanted to stick with the classic style for RtDL DX. (Also, Watanabe mentions that Kumazaki is a very fast writer. What Watanabe would've taken a day, Kumazaki finished in only an hour. Maybe even faster than than that, Watanabe adds!)

Originally, they only planned for about 40 dress-up masks. Then Kumazaki decided to ask for 86, mostly to please the fans. They choose things that would be easiest, such as characters who already had a 3D model, characters that would make fans the happiest to see, or characters who were simple to make. They chose masks instead of just making them playable because they didn't want to disrupt the setting of RtDL. (And also, because souvenirs like that are a staple of theme parks.)

One question is "Why did Magolor build Magoland in Dream Land?" (For those wondering if it was really in Dream Land or not. Kumazaki answers that you  have to understand Magolor's character. He's someone that loves making things and also loves surprising people. When the idea of turning the sub-games to attractions came up, and which Kirby universe character would be responsible, it just had to be Magolor who made them. Magolor has become a character that's really easy to involve in the series. "If something is making something particularly entertaining in the Kirby series, it's Magolor's turn," says Kumazaki. "Magolor has both magic and technological abilities, which he uses to make things with."

As for the "when" and "where" of Magoland, Kumazaki notes you can kind of get the real picture if you play the game till the very end, but if you're not too concerned with the details, it's okay to just think "So, he made an amusement park at some point!" That said, he implies it supposed to be a bit of a mystery/a bit up in the air. Did he want to make something Kirby and the others would enjoy after all his experiences with them? It's up to the player's interpretation.

The possibility of putting Magolor on the original box art existed, but since he was "just a one game character in a series of games" they left him off to focus on the four person appeal of the original game. But Magolor appeared in more and more things and became popular enough that he finally earned his place on the box art.

Kumazaki mentions that every character starts out as an unknown. Even mega popular characters like Meta Knight were once just a lone boss in a "new" game. His becoming a major player thanks to "Revenge of Meta Knight" and being a character who fulfills an important role helped him to become more recognizable. Magolor has stopped being one of these "newcomer" characters and evolved into his own fully-fledged character with this game.

Kumazaki confirms that in general there's not a straight, forward-flowing timeline in Kirby as much as there is a series of loose connections. And that in-between events, the characters are generally imagined to be living peaceful, ordinary lives - just like in the opening movie. "There, Kirby has a cake and is being chased by Dedede. There were all sorts of fights before then. And maybe King Dedede was causing trouble again and Kirby had to stop him and that led to them running off with the cake...The details are left up to the imagination."

The interviewer mentions that competing over cake makes it seem like it's continuing off of Squeak Squad. Kumazaki notes that though Kirby and Dedede fight with each other, generally speaking, they get along well. As far as the relationships with the characters and how they interact, Kumazaki says, "there are times where, if the Halberd becomes necessary for a game, it's more natural to just make it the Halberd than to have a brand new unknown battleship appear out of nowhere."

"We don't have a story/timeline" he quotes himself, while noting that the truths that have spread among the players as well as the relationships between the characters and their quirks have to be preserved to a certain degree or it's like you're meeting a new cast each time. So they DO keep certain truths and relationships in mind as they make the series. Sometimes this means putting the role of the "bad guy" on King Dedede, but that doesn't change the fact that he and Kirby are "rivals." (But that he will occasionally be unfair too...) That's a fairly recent, "unchanging fact" of the Kirby world. They mention that even Bandanna Waddle Dee goes from being Dedede's vassal to a friend of the group. though recently he's been recognized more and more as "one of the group."

Meta Knight is the same as Dedede. He's someone who will fight Kirby if circumstances call for it. Like how here, in the opening, he's calmly reading a book in between his sword-training, but he pauses to see if Dedede is causing trouble, or if something threatens the peace of Dream Land.

Kumazaki says, noting the inclusion of Magolor's theme park in this game technically makes RtDL DX an alternate universe to the original RtDL. But the information you learn after 100%ing the game challenges the idea of a single flow of time. With the existence of "Another Dimension" that can cross over both space and time, players are free to see that the passage of time does not lead to one single result. That should also help explain why Kirby and the others are able to warp between Magoland, which exists in its own faraway universe, to the main game.

He adds that this is mostly for people who are concerned about the fact that main mode Magolor is depressed about his ship but Magoland Magolor is happily running his theme park.

There's also a note at the end that Landia was named "Landia" instead of something like "Dark Dragon" to make it seem more natural that they could become an ally. They were also designed to look like they could be friendly. (There's also a comment - not from the dev staff - in the "Games Magolor has been in" page that "Magolor uses the same sword as Kirby! Proof that they're friends?!)

Finally....

THE INTERVIEW WILL CONTINUE NEXT MONTH! (Where they'll discuss more about Merry Magoland and the Magolor Epilogue!! Also, Kumazaki will be looking back over the 30 years of Kirby!)

[tanaudel]

(Cross-posted from https://tanaudel.wordpress.com/2024/11/25/30-possible-questions-to-ask-an-idea-to-tease-out-a-story/)

This observation journal entry is a list of ways to start turning an idea a story. I made it because I was trying to get started on an idea. The list is not exhaustive, and this is not the last such entry.

As usual, I highly recommend picking a target number (20 is rarely a bad idea) and making your own list, first — things you’ve learned and things you know theoretically and things you wildly invent.

But this was my list:

Yes, but what do they do with it?

Yes, but what if they go after what they want?

Yes, but what if they actively avoid it?

What’s the story behind the story? (See also: Observation Journal: The Story Behind The Story; Observation Journal — Story Behind the Shapes; Reversing out, and the story-behind-the-story)

What if I graft it into/onto [x story]?

What secrets does everyone have? (Observation Journal: Structuring Secrets; Observation journal: Secrets and preoccupations)

What preoccupations does everyone have?

What emotions does it make everyone have? What happens if I amp that up?

What if I swap the [genders, ages, jobs, expectations]? (various posts)

When is it set? Shift eras.

Where is it set? Shift geography.

Pick a colour cue.

Pick/flip an aesthetic. (various posts)

What if everyone is really [angry/mood]?

What unnoticed elements could be important in the end?

Mix and match ideas. (various posts)

Pair with a strong (random?) visual (Observation Journal: In-world surface patterns; Observation Journal: Mixing and matching stories and imagery)

What emotional note do you want the story (reader) to end on?

What are the set-piece scenes?

What are the expected scenes (and what can you do with them)? (Observation Journal: adjusting tropes to taste; Observation journal: learning from art cliches)

Who benefits from this?

Who is harmed?

How large a circle is affected by this? (why?) (Picnic at Hanging Rock is all about this)

Give it parameters (word count, other rules)

Make it fanfiction of an incongruous character (Viewpoints;  By whom, to whom; Some less-common points of view)

What if I just start telling and don’t stop? (and/or draw it) (Continuous-line outlines; The Five Lazy Sisters: Drawn Draft)

Pick an existing structure/emotional arc.

What if there’s an explosion?

What is exciting (to me) / thrilling about this.

Act now. (Making Things Manifest: Mock-ups and outlines)

And here are just a few other related posts:

42+ ways to fix a story

50 formats for a tiny illustrated story

Observation Journal: 62 ways to tell a very short story

Some ways to keep a story short — a very long blog post

Writing/illustration exercises

Make your own list of 20 ways that you do or could or might unspool an idea into a story or image.

Pick an idea (or an image, or choose two nouns you can see and mash them up into an idea, or pick two random movies and say it’s, e.g., “Jurassic Park meets Lisa Frankenstein“). Then pick one technique from the list (mine or yours). Quickly make at least three dot points (or a rough thumbnail sketch) of what that could look like. Repeat with at least two other techniques. Make a note of which ideas sparked and why (or why not).

Some ways to acquire and/or support writing, art, and more posts about it:

Buy a copy of Kindling!

Get original art at Book Moon, if you are visiting Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Regular support/tip jar at patreon.com/tanaudel (starts at US$1/month) or one-off tip jar through Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/tanaudel.

PDF colouring books of calendar illustrations, from $3: 2022 Fairy-tale colouring book; 2023 Fairy-tale colouring book.

Prints etc etc on Redbubble and Spoonflower. 

Also, I have a very infrequent mailing list for occasional updates/major announcements: Mailing List Sign-Up

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

The greater the problem, the faster he could solve it.  He’d taken the time one afternoon to solve world hunger.  Six hours and twenty-six minutes with the internet and a phone on hand, and he’d been able to wrap his head around the key elements of the problem.  He’d drafted a document in the nine hours that followed, doing little more than typing and tracking down exact numbers.  A hundred and fifty pages, formatted and clear, detailing who would need to do what, and the costs therein. It had been bare bones, with room for further documents detailing the specifics, but the basic ideas were there.  Simple, measured, undeniable.  Every major country and ruler had been accounted for, in terms of the approaches necessary to get them on board, given their particular natures and the political climate of their area.  Production, distribution, finance and logistics, all sketched out and outlined in clear, simple language.  Eighteen years, three point one trillion dollars.  Not so much money that it was impossible.  A great many moderate sacrifices from a number of people. Even when he’d handed over the binder with the sum total of his work, his employer had been more concerned with the fact that he’d shown up late to work for his job.  His boss had barely looked at the binder before calling it impossible, then demanded Accord return to work.  A mind like his, in an office handling economic oversight within the PRT, looking for the precogs and thinkers who were trying to manipulate the markets to their own ends.

I mean, it was impossible thought? There's no way you get literally everyone you need to get onboard for that. and keep them onboard for 18 years.

Accord's power gives him plans to solve massive problems, sure, but in the stupidest possible way.

Better thing would be to plan 'How do I solve World Hunger?' or 'How do I get the resources to solve World Hunger'?

Like, I don't know if Wildbow intended this read or not, but Accord makes me think of those people on the internet who think they know the perfect solution to solving a given problem, and it is a good solution, sure, and would even work... if you could actually get everyone to agree.

But you can't. And a plan should never require that.

Accord is one of those many people who make nice, lovely theoretical models that will never work in the real world. He can make plans to be a fine criminal in Boston, sure, but that's it. Somehow, he can't even manage to be a criminal mastermind over a large swath of territory.

[cygnus-arts]

PLEASE RELEASE THE NOTES ABOUT THE LOTR AU (please 🥲 ?). I am still in renkaza hell/denial

okay this is going to be long and very messy. this is literally pulled directly from my notes app with no editing, so it’s largely incomprehensible, but i hope you enjoy the smattering of quotes and plot elements

lotr au outline

CHAPTER ONE- RIVENDELL ARC

- [x] kaname delivers news of nezuko badly wounded by ringwraiths on the way to rivendell, kyojuro runs to leave

- [x] kyojuro assures senjuro he is coming back and for senjuro to prepare healing stuff “you remember what mother taught us to fend off the darkness”, senjuro watches him ride, windchime blowing with him, “brother, should you know watching you leave has grown harder each time, would you still do so”, “don’t tell father”

- [ ] kyojuro rides out, finds the pair, does the arwen thing and brings nezuko back,

- [ ] ruka flashback #1, showing boys how do elvish healing, kyojuro fails miserably, senjuro excels, shows him healing nezuko, she wakes up

- [ ] senjuro notices how they are the same age and the horror that a child is carrying a ring “they expect you to carry a burden with no knowledge of its weight and no connection to its crimes” “they killed my family to get it, i can’t stop now… besides, where else am i meant to go, how can i live on normally knowing they’ll never get the chance” “you carry a heavy burden, don’t carry the weight of the dead”

- [ ] kyojuro hears people talking and throws open the door, properly introduces himself to nezuko, gifts her senjuro’s unused mithril armor, senjuro looks away, and tells her of the meeting to determine what do to with the ring

- [ ] council of elrond scene, uzui as dwarf tries to flamboyantly destroy the ring, infighting, nezuko declares she will take it, tanjiro declares he’ll go with her, and senjuro is shocked and saddened kyo offers his sword to protect the siblings

- [ ] kyo visits his father, boromir dialogue, shinjuro insists on having the ring with the idea that it will bring strength back to the rengoku’s, and maybe even bring ruka back, our family is a ruined imitation of what it once was

- [ ] kyo and nezuko say their goodbyes to senjuro, all three head out

- [ ] senjuro flashback, cooking with kyo, elven waybread, kyo’s is burnt, he drops flour all over himself, senjuro make extra for his journey knowing this would happen, ruffle hair moment

- [ ] a few shots of traveling through different terrain, cut to them eating the waybread on the road with the pair, kyojuro picks flowers that senjuro uses for healing stuff, “how many did you eat” “4”

- [ ] more on the road shit, nezuko: i wish the ring had never come to me, i wish none of this had happened”, kyojuro: so do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide, all we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us. there are other forces at work in this world nezuko, besides the will of evil”

- [ ] kyojuro boromir moment after accidentally touching the ring catching nezuko tripping in the woods, momentarily corrupted (hears the voice of the ring, visibly stops and basically sees the muzan dream scene of a normal life with his family), hand reaches towards the ring, sees nezuko’s expression look just like senjuro’s after hearing his father, and retracts his hand , sees akaza in the distance, steps in front of nezuko, sword raised akaza silhouette

- [ ] ruka flashback #2, promise scene, kyojuro walks in after elven healers can’t do anything to help (she’s human)

- [ ] kyo and akaza fight scene, uses horn to try to call for aid, it’s broken by akaza, (boromir vibes, kyo is gravely injured and buys the pair a chance to run), giyu sees kyojuro fallen, akaza reluctantly leaves dying kyo behind to chase after them

- [ ] kyojuro flashback #1, telling senjuro his plan to live as mortal, encouraging him to do what he thinks he right, “you have a brother who believes in his little brother”

- [ ] rides horse bloodied aragorn style back to nearest settlement, akaza reminisces about the fight and wonders if kyo is still alive

- [ ] shinjuro hears of his sons presumed death, (crow delivers news) senjuro in corner overhears and packs, trans of gender scene, “would you still believe in me if I was someone else”, puts on something of ruka’s design

CHAPTER TWO- ROHAN ARC

- [ ] shinobu treats kyo, with injuries flashing back to kanae’s as narration describes them, mitsuri announces the knights arrival

- [ ] kyojuro wakes up, wild hair! shinobu grills him about why the fuck he is here, kyo reveals the ringwraith, shinobu’s hand curls around her quill

- [ ] iguro, sanemi and other rohirrim return, shinobu and mitsuri conflict “go see their return mitsuri, it’s what you wanted right?” “what i wanted” “men with strength, who knows, maybe they found a wedding band among the corpses”, “i only mentioned their return to get you out of these dungeons. when was the last time you saw the sun shinobu?” “i have a patient, and will promptly have more”

- [ ] kayaga as theoden, corrupted and with his illness, shinobu and his kids try to talk to him of the incoming threat

- [ ] kyojuro while walking as part of his healing overhears the movements of muzan’s forces, vows to aid them

- [ ] akaza visits when curiosity gets the better of him after hearing that a man looking like kyo was seen riding to rohan, displays knowledge of medicine that piques kyo’s interest, rest of the soldiers are out patrolling, so there are no viable people to call

- [ ] kyo challenges akaza’s humanity after offering him to join Muzan, and kyo snaps “what would you know of honor? how many have been left dead in your wake” flashback to the backstory bodies TM but faceless, sounds of rohirrim returning force akaza to flee

- [ ] kyojuro tells shinobu of akaza’s visit, shinobu tells him that as long as he is not able to kill akaza, it’s best to use him for information, “the lands of mordor and their weapons have been unknown except for their capacity for slaughter”

- [ ] senjuro rides out of rivendell, flashback of training and her remarking on her lack of dexterity, orc attack that she narrowly survives when rohhirim arrive and see the very obvious family resemblance

- [ ] sanemi and senjuro talk about what she’s doing out here, telling her kyo’s alive, sanemi vulnerable moment thinking about genya

- [ ] butterfly triplets/kanao doing laundry sees rohhirim return, run to find shinobu who is pouring over tomes about the kingdom of the dead and the ringwraiths

- [ ] sanemi enters the hall and yells to kyojuro very bluntly sen is here, reunion scene, sanemi and kocho stand and watch to the side

- [ ] akaza returns as kyojuro is outside building stamina, he stops and puts sword against his neck, akaza’s calls him out when his ribs start straining him, asks why an elf would be so insistent on battle, “do you often visit those you’ve injured” “you’re the first to have survived”, “then why not kill me now?” “kyojuro you should see your potential, the things you could achieve if you just abandoned these foolish tethers, don’t you want to be strong?” “and are you? strong, in any way but physical?” “why would i need anything else” “a pitiful existence you live” “save your pity for those who want it kyojuro”

- [ ] senjuro notices kayaga and offers to try and heal him, the corruption fades, but the illness remains

- [ ] kyojuro asks why akaza wants to get stronger, patented no memory distant stare, akaza asks kyojuro why he would give up immortality, tells of his promise to ruka, “to love is to loose”, “it is true that love is mingled with grief, but i would choose it all the same”

- [ ] akaza warns kyojuro of an attack on rohan, “you would tell your enemy of muzan’s attack” “there is no honor in slaughter against civilians, it’s underhanded” “when” “a days time” “will you be apart of it” “i am ordered to” “then i suppose you shall get the fight you have been seeking”

- [ ] retreat to helms deep, but gets ambushed on the way

- [ ] fight scene, mitsuri protects kocho who is frustrated at her lack of strength, akaza, basic orcs plus some extra demon moons, akaza sees kyojuro fighting alongside kanao, protecting her and sen, akaza sees a sneak attack towards them and blocks the arrow, kyojuro looks stunned, akaza calls for a retreat

- [ ] they arrive at helms deep, kyojuro contemplates why akaza would stop a fight

- [ ] akaza punishment scene

- [ ] shinobu telling mitsuri how she hates being weak, and how she wishes she was like kanae. mitsuri talks about how ostracized she felt for being strong, “i never felt like a proper girl, like i was just a boy in a dress who wanted to escape war, it seems that our actual abilities aren’t the problem shinobu, we’d feel defeated either way.” “your strength was never a fault” “neither was yours”

- [ ] kanao discovers shinobu’s plan, shinobu recounts how she figured out she was ilsidurs heir, “it’s funny isn’t it, that the fate of men lies in the hands of a girl who can’t even wield a sword”

- [ ] “what’s this, a soldier outside a keeps walls? we’re you waiting for me?” “i’m simply not used to being trapped in stone” kyojuro waits outside the walls of helms deep for akaza, akaza asks where kyojuro is from, “rivendell”kyojuro confessing to akaza that he doesn’t know how to fix his home and that it feels like cowardice to leave, “you’ve done all you can, the minds and hearts of others are not so easily changed” and asks akaza why he is so insistent on leaving mordor and the other orcs, “i won’t be leaving them for long, muzan will strike here soon” “will you fight for him?” “i was built to” “you were built as fodder, too many of our men may die at the hands of war, but at least we are given funerals when there are bodies left and thrown flowers before we face battle. orcs have no tombs” “you sound like you’re asking me to stay” “would you say yes” “it’s not that easy, in making me, i am bound to him” “you were human once, weren’t you? you were not always bound” “i can’t go back. i don’t want to be weak again” “i see” “let’s fight kyojuro (peace offering)

- [ ] they fight, akaza knocks kyo’s sword out of his hand, kyo does his best to fight back. akaza remakes on his skill and offers critique, “show me” “you’re asking an orc to teach you?” “you are the best bare fisted combatant i have faced! it’s a tactical choice” “okay tactician, arms up”

- [ ] they finish sparring, akaza leaves by telling kyojuro men have 2 days to prepare, kyojuro sees akaza leave and runs to tell the peeps

RANDOM MOMENTS:

kyojuro teaching akaza elvish 😭😭😭

kyo gives akaza the light of the valor necklace and it allows akaza to survive muzans pinishment

arwen scene of seeing her child, but it’s kyo seeing akaza as human

KYOJURO ABLE TO DO THR ARWEN DREAM TBINH TO AKAZA

“do orcs sleep?”

“we have no need to”

“you should try!”

“why kyojuro, so i’m easier to slay?”

“because it is enjoyable and a reprieve”

sanemi and iguro like legolas and gimli compare kill counts

shinobu as isildors heir?? her not fully understanding, but kanae telling her stories of family with great quests and full of rangers and knowing about natural poisons through that

shinobu screaming into the city for her sister, asking her to come back because she promised to always be there and thus broke her oath, she sees kanae and starts to walk towards her, but hears kanao grabbed by the ghost soldiers, turns after a moments hesitation to save her living sister rather than chasing ghosts

douma targets kanae because muzan knows that living heir, but not shinobu

pieces it together with her frantic research, develops poison because even with the blood of a king she is not strong enough to wield his sword

having to journey to the kingdom of the dead, whispers and fleeting glimpses of kanae,

kyokui, keizo, akaza’s father also there, renkaza separated from the kocho siblings, parallel scene of both kocho and akaza reaching out towards dead loved ones

climax of story: fight to distract muzan from tanjiro and nezuko, shinobu leading army of dead men, her and mitsuri defeating douma, renkaza fighting together and getting separated, akaza having to confront kokushibo or muzan,

getting kyo into mordor??

maybe using akaza as a way into mordor to sabotage muzan/gain intel/protect nezuko and tanjiro

- [ ] walking through pompeii’d town- keizo couldn’t move himself and kyoki fast enough given her health/ money

- [ ] DOUMA AS HEAD RINGWRAITH “no man can kill me”, kocho “i am no man”

- [ ] akaza showing kyo how to fight hand to hand >>>>

- [ ] hakuji flashback of running back to keizo and kyoki only to be buffeted by ash and see muzan in the middle of the cloud

“Akaza doesn’t understand how he can still love someone who has so clearly hurt him. It feels like self inflicted punishment, like kyojuro is resigning himself to a task he didn’t even want in the first place”- IS THIS HOW AKAZA THINKS HIS FATHER KYOKI AND KEIZO VIEWED HIM

keeping iguro and mitsuri friendship, they eat meals together

giyuu brings nezuko and tanjiro to rivendell

uzui as gimli type character, dwarf

zenitsu and inosuke as merry and pip

muichiro as legolas (spacey and a bit strange)

kyo as aragorn type

tamayo as gandalf/galladriel type, uses her blood dripped into the bowl for her prophetic magic

mitsuri fights with kyo

shinobu as eowyn type character, also fights with kyo “you’d inject yourself with poison to see him dead” “war will make corpses of us all”

shinomitsu!!! shinobu encourages her to not hide her strength

“there are people who already value your strength”

iguro and sanemi as rohhirim riders

shinobu and kanao scene of kanao discovering shinobus whole poison plot, kanao uses sign language

other ringwraiths are made of ice like doumas blood demon art

TRANS GIRL SENJURO, “i do not wish for an eternity of falsehoods”, putting on clothes very similar to ruka (maybe same headdress) before leaving after hearing of kyojuros death, her dying her hair black to match ruka, also she has chronic fatigue

“you are fodder, too many of our men may die at the hands of war, but at least we are given funerals when there are bodies left and thrown flowers before we face battle. orcs have no tombs”- kyo to akaza

nakime’s eye and infinity castle archecture as eye of sauron

rui as shelob

[oodlyenough]

aa6-1 foreign turnabout

finished off DD last week and we're straight into soj.

i know the least about soj of any of the games probably, which is kind of nice because these later games really need the element of surprise they don't have a lot else lmao.

some thoughts on the tutorial case:

the good

this is a big visual upgrade from dual destinies (although i'm still unconvinced the games needed to move to 3d assets). phoenix's model looks better in ways i found hard to articulate until someone on twt pointed out SOJ gets rid of the bulky black outlines. it's so much smoother!

aside from the models, the sprite animations for the new characters are very detailed (almost too detailed... i mean do we need ninety animations per NPC? can we get some extra ones for phoenix lmao), i like how the UI has been refreshed to match khurain, overall it just looks more polished/complete than DD.

insight is new, and subject to suck more later lmao, but so far it's the best minigame since the magatama. both perceive and mood matrix suffer from being kind of nonsensical; it never stopped being goofy to me in DD that you just had interactions like "well i found the body and i was shocked" "UM ACTUALLY my robot says you were RED EMOJI FACE, so you're lying!" insight, on the other hand, is more based on logic/reason -- spot the contradiction, think through a couple different layers of info (rayfa's words vs what's on screen and what makes sense), etc. i also like the idea that the ghost witness isn't lying, you just have to interpret the memory -- it's a bit of a refreshing change from everyone just committing perjury 30000000 times.

the defense culpability act is very funny. i can't be mad at it because it is too funny. i think i should get to kill the prosecutor if i win.

also, maya having lived here for unspecified time period, surely being aware of the lawyer stuff and still inviting her best friend, ace attorney phoenix wright, is very hilarious. i hope edgeworth, academic of foreign legal systems, had a heart attack as soon as he heard where nick's vacation was

it is also funny to see supervillain payne. winston payne was just kind of an asshole and largely incompetent. gaspen is a supervillain who longs for murder. well, okay. why not i guess

the questionable

khura'in is but the latest in a long line of exciting AA countries that will have you asking "what are the geopolitics of this world?" and "...is this racist?"

it's really funny to me that the first culprit was a white guy on an eat pray love journey but that his eat pray love journey is totally incidental to the crime, apparently. khurain is apparently very welcoming to immigrants if one can become head monk guarding their sacred treasures after a mere six months, and payne is chief prosecutor after three.

it's also very funny that with his life potentially on the line, the only person phoenix is worried about is maya. i think there is an understandable in-game explanation, which is that you have to assume every game might have a new audience and that new audience has only been told of maya so far. but returning players who know he has a teenage daughter might uh. wonder.

the bad

i can sense that the more lore i learn about khurain the more racially uncomfortable i am going to become

the names are BRUTAL i wish they'd stop. i get that ace attorney always has silly goofy pun names. but i feel they're veering further and further from the... slightly more believable names into stuff that just sounds stupid, and man, trying to apply ace attorney pun name goofiness to names that are also supposed to be in a fake fictional language .... i mean it sounds like i'm reading racist jokes from the 90s. it's uncomfortable.

i also think khura'in lore is bound to upend or retcon the superior kurain village lore, which ruled in the trilogy and did not need expanding into a kingdom. isolated little village matriarchy of witch family that are constantly committing sorocide >>> whatever's about to happen here. it's great for rayfa that she does her lil dance for enrichment 2x a day to have temporary hallucinations in a pool of water, but maya crosses her fingers and shapeshifts. checkmate.

lastly, one thing i found myself thinking as i moderately enjoyed the tutorial case was that it was honestly kind of nice having a case scaled back. i can't shake the sense that three playables is just too much for these games; apollo was dead weight narratively in DD and i think athena is about to suffer that fate in SOJ. the character writing in these new games is just not strong enough to manage this many major characters and their whole entourages. the mistake of the original trilogy was accidentally setting a precedent for "new prosecutor every game, who is also our friend by the end :)". the main cast is so huge that most of them just end up stagnating or disappearing into the void or whatever; apollo and athena cannibalized each other's screentime in DD, athena usurped trucy, SOJ is introducing a whole whack of new characters to replace THOSE newbies... it's a lot. we don't need to reinvent the wheel every new game.

anyway... i know a little about 6-2 and i expect it to exacerbate a lot of these issues lmao.

[captivemuses]

Comfort food(s): If I'm going purely sweets then I'm going to say Thin Mints. I did Girl Scouts for a large portion of my childhood and those were and still are my absolute top tier favorite Girl Scout cookie and I'm not even kidding saying I could polish off an entire box in one sitting and regret nothing.

Comfort drink(s): Hot cup of coffee. Granted I normally drink iced coffee during the summertime for obvious reasons but hot coffee is still my favorite.

Comfort movie(s): Pirates of the Caribbean. More specifically the first three because I heavily prefer those to the fourth and fifth installments. I don't mind the fourth one and I'll willingly watch it if I'm in a mood to binge the series again but I wasn't in love with the fifth one and I just wish certain elements of the movie had happened in earlier installments instead. But I just love the cast as a whole and the soundtrack and I can have it on as the best background noise while I'm doing other things and just be happy. I also have the first three soundtracks at work to use as naptime music and my daycare kids genuinely love the music.

Comfort show(s): Yuri on Ice. I always do an annual rewatch of the show and have done so every year since the show came out in 2016. I'll probably keep doing so just because I'll always love the series even if MAPPA clearly doesn't because the suck-- /gets yanked off stage to not go on an anti MAPPA tangent again

Comfort clothing: Pajama pants. I wear those as much as I humanly can because they're stretchy and comfy, and ngl I'm extremely guilty of wearing them to work a lot only because I'm allowed to wear what I want as long as nothing's stained or ripped or having anything offensive or inappropriate for kids on it. I'm here for comfort not fashion when I clock in to take care of threenagers all day rofl.

Comfort song(s): Anything Lady Gaga. I'm not super familiar with her newest album Chromatica as I am with the previous ones but I'm still a huge fan of hers and I'd 100% go see her in concert again if the opportunity arose, she's worth every penny imo.

Comfort book(s): I don’t really have a set of comfort books to share right now. I might update this in the future with some, but the only memorable story is “You”. I prefer it over the show for sure. The exploration of a man so psychologically twisted that when he finally “settled” and had a kid, he would abandon a son, purely out of disgust, knowing that he would turn out just like him. Also, Guinevere Beck is my favourite. I just perceive her as a human character, somebody with flaws that are outlined clearly, and it was an aspect I really enjoyed. I might even reread the first book, just for her. Side note: the cage is such a cool concept, and I will be taking notes. kidding. not really.

Comfort game(s): Either anything Harvest Moon or old school Pokemon (think Johto region, that's always been my favorite). Those are old school nostalgia for me growing up and you'd have me be happy having to go restart the original Gold/Silver for the 15th time or go start a new save file on Harvest Moon (which speaking of I want to pick up the remake again once I'm out of icon hell and don't have to drag my laptop to work all the time). They're just relaxing turn my brain off games that I love.

tagged by: @iceiclehorned ty for the tag!!

tagging: @gildedsplendors @protectivemuses @reflective-muses @weltenwxndler @ofhope @galactia @crimsononiarataki and anyone else who's been good and hydrated today (and if you haven't you should so you can do this and say I tagged you!)

[aristobun]

" I used to dream of you, long before we met— " Vega speaks softly, her green eyes lifting to meet his orange ones as he stands across his chambers, the low mechanical hum of his ship being the only sound beyond their combined breathing right now due to the hour.

All his fellow warriors out in the open terrain of Yautja Prime were within their own dwellings, the atmosphere quiet and allowing for every single noise to become amplified in the interim. There was a very palpable awe in the large space now, in the wake of her uttered words, as Me'yta walks the few paces remaining between where he stands at the doorway and where she lays on the furs of his bed.

There is curiosity in his intense gaze as he comes to a halt right in front of her, a clawed hand reaching out to brush a fiery red lock away from the side of her face as he looks down at her. He's enamored with this human woman and he has been for the last three years, but somehow she always manages to pull even more surprise from him so randomly that he can barely even keep up sometimes.

His silence is a sign for her to continue, so that's exactly what she does while a sweet little smile rests on pink lips that now part once more to expand upon what she had just told him, her memories of each one of those dreams filtering into her mind as though they had happened only moments ago.

" I used to think that the creature was wild, untamable, perhaps a dark spirit that had come to claim my life and take me away from the ruins of the world, with their overbearing height and build. I could never see their face, but I could see their outline and that was always enough to frighten me.. and yet I always felt at peace within those dreams, as though a part of my own soul had come to reunite with me, " she explains, her emerald eyes beginning to twinkle with unshed tears.

Vega hadn't had the happiest of beginnings, her childhood wracked with loss and uncertainty, never knowing what each new day would bring her. She had never known her father and thus had always been her mothers daughter, following in her shadow every single day and learning so much from her as she grew, but that had all changed so drastically that she had barely been able to adjust properly. Her mother had been burnt alive right in front of her—the cabin on the edge of the forest becoming her own and yet, others kept their distance after that incident.

Her mother had been someone who practiced spells, but they were never wicked or unkind in nature and she had grown up learning how to use the earth and all its elements to her advantage, if she needed to, her mothers teachings still crystal clear in every waking moment she has now, but she seems to focus a lot more on herbal medicine. She isn't, however, opposed to turning Me'yta's fellow warriors into croaking little toads for short bursts of time whenever they disrespect her or him, though usually only if they disrespect him—she doesn't much care for defending herself against their words very often.

" I used to think that the being who visited me in my dreams was Death, as well, several times actually, but I suppose something so ominous that did not speak beyond loud grumbling is enough to make anyone believe such a thing. Little did I know.. that it was quite the opposite, " she adds, her voice carrying a teasing lilt to it now as she speaks. " That creature.. I'm sure it was you, Me'yta—now that I have belonged to you these last few years, I know enough about you to compare the two.. but instead of being something that gave the impression of doom and gloom, you gave me something else entirely. "

Me'yta is on the bed with her now, having crawled upon it about halfway through her little speech until his body is now looming over her own, pinning her to the furs with his arms resting on either side of her, bent at the elbow so his chest is pressed flush against her own while his orange eyes meet her green ones even more intensely now. A soft hue of pink dusts her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose with the gaze he has fixed upon her, the same response she always has to his staring.

" What have I given you, little vixen? " the deep rumble of his voice sounds throughout the quietness of his chambers now as he speaks, following a few moments of silence, as he lowers his face enough to frame either side of her own with his mandibles as they flare, framing her cheeks and jawline.

" Home— " she simply answers, the tears that were pooling before in her hazy eyes now being blinked away as they trail slowly down her face, a feeling of both love and pain engulfing her.

Pain for the loss she has experienced in her life, along with the loneliness that her loss had inflicted upon her, but also love now, that she had found in him, a Yautja. Nothing in her life up until three years ago could have ever prepared her for the inevitable fact that he had chosen her, that he was even intrigued enough to begin with, to claim her as his mate. She would never think about it too much, though, because there was no sadness attached to the choice he had made and the choice she had followed it with, to willingly accept it and to go with him.

Vega might not have understood a lot of things that led to the deep bond they now shared after the few years they have been together and she was still learning things every single day, as was he, their relationship very unusual to everyone but themselves, but she loved him just the same. She was very much aware that he shared that depth of emotion himself, as he told her so whenever he opened his mouth and it often took her breath away, the sincerity and conviction in his voice.

" I know you are a King among your kind, that you are expected to meet certain standards.. " she tries to add more to what she had said, but he cuts her off immediately before she can finish her sentence with a very deep growl, mandibles clicking in frustration so she does not continue.

" No, you know how much I abhor that title.. my lineage. I do not care for the traits I am to follow, the duty I am supposed to abide by—my fellow warriors insist on using my titles and revering me because of my A'da, but you know.. you know, I do not like any of it, " he explains, his voice a little rough. " And it would not matter either way, little vixen. I chose you as my mate three years ago and I intend to never let you go, that, you also know by now, " he adds, chittering and grazing tusks against her cheeks.

Vega is moved to silence for a few moments, though she was well aware of his feelings regarding his royal heritage and she knew better than to think for a moment that it mattered at all in the grand scheme of things, because she knew well enough by now how frustrated he became whenever she or his fellow warriors dwelled on it too much, or used his titles, because there was always a displeased growl.

" Yes, I know that you dislike all of those things, I apologise. I just.. sometimes think still that I am unworthy of you, Me'yta. I am just a little human woman who you found in a cabin on the edge of a forest during one of your hunts—who you decided you liked, " she laughs softly as she says that, knowing there was far more to his decision than that, but it's still funny to tease him sometimes.

Me'yta growls again as her words wash over him, his irritation spiking a little bit more in the wake of such nonsense, as he deems it so, his mandibles clicking in displeasure while his orange eyes darken before he opens his mouth to speak, to retaliate in some way, pressing her further into the furs.

" You know better than to tease me like that, little vixen, " he implores, mandibles still scraping lightly over her cheeks and her jaw before moving down slightly to graze over her throat as well. She knows he is dangerous but she also knows he would never harm her, but whenever he does that, it is a warning for her to cease her ridiculous notions and generally, she will fall silent in response. " You are everything to me and I will not listen to you believing that you are less than. You are my mate.. and by my standards, my equal in every single way. I do not care what others think.. do not care that you are human. You are mine. "

Vega opens her mouth to speak again, to reply to his possessive nature with a sweet little giggle and a compliment about how he always renders her practically speechless when he talks to her like that, but the only sound that escapes is a little squeak as he presses his forehead down against her own, nuzzling her gently in that familiar way he always does—keeping her quiet now, before he kisses her, his mandibles still framing either side of her face to be sure he does not accidentally nick her soft, fragile skin, his dreadlocks dropping down to shield them both like a little curtain, the beading within them clinking together.

[dragondice42]

The Funny bone🦴 Hot Dog🔥 Connection

remember that "funny bone was a fire dog before he became undead" theory i mentioned in the Funny bone headcanons post? this is that theory. click read more if you feel like reading my intense brainrot

ok, if you clicked read more, you understand what you're getting into, so strap in folks this is gonna be a long one.

first and foremost, their physical similarities, aka, what spawned this in the first place.

put the two side by side and you can probably already see what i'm talking about.

first one i'm going to talk about is head shape, especially the shape of the face

as i've outlined in the above image, both funny bone and hot dog have similarly pronounced brow lines, and both have a pug-like smushed in snout style, as well as very similarly proportioned eyes compared to the rest of the face. they even have similar arrangements of teeth, the only difference is funny bone having an extra two on the bottom jaw.

next up, the legs/torso.

as i have once again circled, the way their legs are shaped/situated are eerily similar. same paw shape, same number of toes, same claw style, same overall leg shape, the only reason hot dog looks any different is only one of the two has any meat on their bones, pun definitely intended. another of many similarities that cannot be ignored.

i used a different hot dog image for this one since the poses are more similar, to more easily outline their once again almost identical body shapes. of course funny bone being a skeleton does effect things a bit, but it's still clear that their bodies are extremely similar.

now onto the things that could poke holes in this theory, and my answers to them.

first up, funny bone's horns.

while yes, funny bone has rather large horns, and hot dog does not, hot dog is explicitly stated to be a fire dog pup in his biography, and many more times referred to as a puppy. since, at least to my knowledge, hot dog is the only fire dog we see, who's to say two of those spikes on his head don't grow into horns on older individuals?

there's even a set of spikes on his head in almost the same spot as funny bone's horns, even more evidence to my theory.

another major point, their tails.

funny bone's is a fair bit longer, and has a rather large crystal at the tip, while hot dog's is very much not.

as we can see, hot dog's tail is short and fluffy, a bit like a tail one would find on a young husky or pomeranian. who's to say under that fluff, there isn't a little crystal similar to that on funny bone's? and like that of a husky, the tail would likely grow longer and fluffier later in life, accommodating a larger crystal.

next up, psychological similarities. yes i am going this deep. it is 1:44 AM as of typing this and i have 0 remorse.

while Funny bone gets very little in the way of characterization, we can draw quite a bit from what little there is.

first up, they both have a explicitly mentioned tendency to bury things.

"Hot Dog was brought back to Eon's Citadel where he became a Skylander - and then he proceeded to bury Eon's staff."

"and true to his nature, he likes to bury things, especially imps."

" Funny Bone was in the middle of burying his neighbors’ birthday cake on a breezeless day when the invaders arrived."

the three above quotes come from official statements in Skylanders Universe: The Complete Collection and Skylanders Universe: Book of Elements - Fire and Water

their in-game lines also show several parallels.

Funny bone:

"Beware of dog!"

Hot dog:

"Fear of dog!"

Funny bone:

"All bark and all bite!"

Hot dog:

"My burn is worse than my bite!"

Funny bone:

"Fantastic hat! Ha ha, can i get a collar to match?"

Hot dog:

"Ooh hey, this matches my collar!"

Funny bone:

"Top dog!"

Hot dog:

"Ooh! Top dog!"

in conclusion, funny bone and hot dog share enough parallels, both in biology and behavior, that i have come to believe that before Funny bone became undead, he was a fire dog like hot dog, probably either adult or late adolescent at the time of death.

either that or i am reading way too far into this, which is also a distinct possibility, though in my personal opinion, there are far too many similarities for this to be mere coincidence, especially considering funny bone debuted in Trap team, which was released two years after hot dog's first debut in skylanders giants. ample time to plan these sorts of details into funny bone's design and mannerisms.

[centrally-unplanned]

I felt strong kinship to Mekkah for his latest video criticizing Fire Emblem's support system; he did a good job verbalizing my thoughts. To outline the Ash-version of this take, Fire Emblem in the Game Boy era (when modern supports were born), had simple plots, from a sheer "quantity of text" standpoint. A lot of that was convention; a lot of it was limitations of technology. The supports were simple to match, and so they worked fine as a way to bolster the characters and connect narrative choices (who you like) to gameplay (on-field bonus for affection). The downside here is that those supports are about the two characters; they aren't connected to the plot of the game nor the actions on the field. This is fine when, as in FE7, the number of supports a unit has is capped at 2-3 people and unlocking them is hard. The downside is not observed.

Fast forward to Three Houses and the same system is breaking under the weight of modern, 40+ hour, long-form plot concepts and modern player demands of flexibility and customization. Every character can unlock every rank with every other character (mostly), unlock happens trivially, but this 20x quantity of text is still divorced from the actual plot. They are, by design, required to be repetitive fluff in some way. In Three Houses this was taken to the extreme as supports were over twice as long on average as the ones in Awakening/Fates, with even *less* ability to connect to the plot given the branching, timeskip nature of it. It was extremely common in that game to complete a level and have unlocked 5-6 new supports (aka reading text with no gameplay) that would on net take 20+ minutes to complete, none of which has connected consequences with anything else. Engage at least cut the support length back down, but its a band-aid solution.

Support ballooning also reduced its gameplay incentive - in Awakening at least, where pair-up is absurdly broken, you did have some support specialization. But in Fates/Three Houses/Engage (to a lesser extent) support bonus are largely aura-based, provide flat bonuses, and are more-or-less equal between characters. Given how many you develop it quickly becomes the case that each unit in your squad has a B~ rank with every other unit; meaning you can just send them wherever on the map, and they will probably get a similar-ish bonus no matter what. So you stop paying attention to them.

Now some of this is certainly inherent to how games have evolved, but I don't want to give the games a full pass here; there are a lot of changes they could make to mitigate this problem (branching supports, more story-progression-locks, integration of sidequests, etc) and they just aren't doing that. I definitely don't want the games to ditch their "dating sim" elements, the building of bonds alongside teams is a core differentiator of Fire Emblem. But overall I think fixes are a stopgap to just ditching the idea of support convos altogether, which the games should pursue. With the much-larger stories integrating the characters into that story directly is much easier, and Fire Emblem has a lot more non-combat gameplay mechanics these days it could use as a base for a new relationship system (As opposed to those simply being ways to grind relationship points for the - otherwise completely separate - support system). But I would take change in either direction for sure - its all about execution anyway.