#u said it divides into columns ?!?/?:??

[stunie]

MINO. MINO? THIS IS A GIFT. YOU SPENT MONEY ON THIS ? ON ME ? ??/??:!:$&!!!!!! IM SHAKING UR SHOULDERS SOOOOO HARD SUISHSJDJDNDNKDK

[fuckthisshitimin]

THAT DAMNED SPREADSHEET

DOES ANYONE TO HEAR ABOUT MY ADVENTURE IN THE SPREADSHEET?

Cause I'm pretty damned sure I know what getting "High" on Milgram means.

Talking about his being rejected by the Magnus Institute, Samama said:

[That definitely feels like when it all started. […] Well, after that it all just went downhill. Didn’t get into Oxford, so I went to Nottingham.]

And that does not sound like what one would say about something that happened when they were, like, eight. So I went to take another look at the spreadsheet. Of course I was wrong, because The Magnus Institute burned in 1999, so he couldn’t have been more than nine, but I found out other stuff.

A thing that bugs me in how I’ve read some discussing the spreadsheet is that Sam has the highest empathy score, and that it made him “too nice/good” for the Institute’s purposes (not necessarily this directly but it has been implied, including in the “recruiting future avatar theories, and… well, implying that low empathy makes you more likely to become a literal monster is quite disgusting, actually).

First, I think we got one thing wrong on the Kohlberg column. Since they are kids, it doesn’t seem shocking that they’d be around stages 1 to 3 of his “Six stages of moral development”; but it doesn’t say Stage 1, 2 or 3 it says Level 1, 2 or 3, and I don’t think it’s a mistake.

His six stages are divided into three levels: Pre-Conventional (1,2), Conventional (3,4) and Post-Conventional (5,6).

People in stages 1 and 2 (Level 1) have a sense of morality that is linked to the direct consequences of their actions on themself — stage 1 is “don’t hit the dog because you’ll be punished” and stage 2 “give her half your banana and you’ll get half her chocolate bar” (very simplified).

People on stages 3 and 4 (Level 2) have internalized their surrounding’s sense of morality and act accordingly — stage 3 being “I’ll get a good grade in being a person by following the rules” and stage 4 “the rules I learnt are true and real, failing to follow them is Wrong and upholding them is Right” (idem).

People on stages 5 and 6 (Level 3) have a personal sense of morality that is critical of societal norms — stage 5 being “there are rules, and those rules can and should be changed through compromise to be fair to the greatest number”, and stage 6 “unfair rules should not be followed, direct consequences like punishment are irrelevant when it comes to deciding to do what it right” (very, very, very simplified).

If I’m right, the spreadsheet is so much more understandable.

First thing I wanted to do was put numbers on how singular Sam’s results are:

He gets “High” on both Milgram and Asch when the overwhelming tendency is that the higher your other scores are, the more likely you are to get “Low”, and the numbers were, indeed, that among the 49 children who scored “High” on both, 33 were in Piaget’s stage 1, 15 were in stage 2 and only Sam was in stage 3.

The 33 kids who were in stage 1 are the opposite of Sam:

(Abbreviating so it’s easier to compare values but P=Piaget, K=Kohlberg, Ps=Prosocial, S-A=Sally-Anne, U=Ultimatum, EI=Empathy Index)

33K: (P) Stage 1 :: (K) Level 1 :: (Ps) Low :: (S-A) Fail :: (U) Unfair :: (EI) ≥62%

Sam: (P) Stage 3 :: (K) Level 3 :: (Ps) High :: (S-A) Pass :: (U) Fair :: (EI) 98%

So that’s weird. And when I went to filter by Kohlberg levels… absolutely no kid that was on “Level 2” scored High on Milgram and Asche.

In fact, among the 99 kids on Kohlberg Level 2, none got “Low” for prosocial, none got “High” on Milgram, only 2 got “High” on Asch.

And when we read “Level 2 (Conventional Morality) instead of “Stage 2 (Pre-Conventional Morality, what benefits me directly)” we can make sense of this: 

“To reason in a conventional way is to judge the morality of actions by comparing them to society's views and expectations. […] Conventional morality is characterized by an acceptance of society's conventions concerning right and wrong. At this level an individual obeys rules and follows society's norms even when there are no consequences for obedience or disobedience. Adherence to rules and conventions is somewhat rigid, however, and a rule's appropriateness or fairness is seldom questioned.” (by Kohlberg himself, from Wikipedia)

Adults can be Level 2, by the way. Adults can even be Level 1. Subjects of the Milgram experiment are displaying peak Level 2 behavior.

“High” on Milgram is “Did not electrocute/Disobeyed”

“High” on Asch is “Did not conform”

GOSH THAT IS SATISFYING

Bonus: the average empathy index is 79,1%, the median is 82% with 116 kids below 82%, 13 kids at 82% and 120 kids above. Of the 116 kids below the median, 11 got “Low” on Milgram. Of the 13 median kids, 3 got “Low” on Milgram. Of the 120 kids above, 91 got “Low”.

If we take the average instead, of the 163 kids more empathetic than the average, 100 got “Low” on Milgram, and 2 got “High”, of the 86 less empathetic than the average, 5 got “Low” and 59 for “High” on Milgram.

So actually here, low empathy is inversely correlated to willingness to hurt if ordered to.

And it makes sense. Low empathy is often associated with anti-social personality disorder, autism, depression — and you know what’s very associated with anti-social personality disorder? Disobedience.

Now I have to make another post about the weird kids in red's names.

[nerves-nebula]

I fucking adore your comic panelling, any advice on how to do it? Like specific ratios or ways to divide the page?

god there's so much advice i COULD give but i really dont wanna end up writing a book here. so I guess I'll say this: however you divide the page you should be CONSISTENT with it, i literally just learned/internalized this but it's made comic paneling soo much easier. when you break that consistency it will be more impactful. hold up lemme grab some pages.

so i recently started making loose stitches a 4 tier comic. it's not the exact same for each page cuz i'm lazy but i think it's made legibility way better. before i think it was kinda uhhhhh a little all over the place. not BAD but a little difficult to tell where your eyes supposed to go sometimes. which isnt great for a commic.

the page on the left in particular has always bothered me cuz i always read the top panels incorrectly and it's like. fuck man what is the paneling here why is it in two columns ????? that's so hard to understand. but the page on the right can be more or less easily understood (by someone who knows how to read comics) even without panel borders because it's just a simple 4 panel square.

one thing my comic professor really stressed was that he didn't like weird paneling or weird borders. for the most part, a square is fine. AND HE'S RIGHT. weird paneling is fun and cool but should be used sparingly or with intention, cuz if you do it too much then like. how tf are ppl gonna read your comic.

that being said there are a lot of cool ways to cut up panels even if they're just squares hold on lemme grab some examples

so the panels here are all square but the image in the one at the bottom is almost like a mural. one thing i really like to using is a lot of heavy BLACK, what can i say silhouette's have my entire heart.

in my fable comic, I used a 3 tier system. it wasn't the same exact size across all pages but all pages had 3 tiers of paneling. that way i can be a little more flexible with the SIZE of the panels to emphasize the more important things, without it feeling like it's all over the place

meanwhile in my comic final i used a 4 tier system where each tier was nearly the same across every page, but you can collapse tiers together for establishing shots and big reveals so that they're more impactful. it's still fully within the grid system I set up so it doesn't feel like it's messing with shit either.

ok i just spent a lot of time rambling about this one particular concept and it's probably not even what you wanted to hear about :') i didnt even go into ratios or anythinggg guhhhh sowwy

other than all that i'd just say you gotta keep looking at what comic artists have written and take note of how they use space and cut things up. there's this book called How To Read Nancy and it has all these exercises for understanding the building blocks of nancy. for real the author is OBSESSIVE and goes through everything of a 3 panel nancy strip from body language to spot blacks to the minutia of the background. we used this book in my class and did some of the exercises in the back and i think it's really good at getting you to THINK about what you're drawing. and you can easily pirate it if you're broke.

also try to make sure things dont get stagnant on a page. zoom out if you're only doing close ups (i try to make sure every page of loose stitches has at least one full body shot even tho I'm lazy and wanna just do talking heads- talking heads arent interesting!!)

also, take advantage of the fact you're drawing a COMIC. you can do shit in comics that you can't do in other mediums, try to implement them when u can! ALSO PRACTICE. you're not gonna get better just by reading and watching. you gotta do it lol. ok ok that's enough and you didn't even ask for that stuff you asked about PANELING sfdasfsd byeee

[gachawolfiebloom]

Two Hearts In The City of Love

Chapter 12: Mr Puzzles' Amazing Couples Game Show Fanatic

Cover made by me and Puzzlevision selection is from Smg4. Please do not repost artwork.

Drumroll please...

3...

2..

1.

"Hello and welcome ladies and gentlemen! As always, it's your favorite TV host Mr Puzzles here! Now I know our last gameshow didn't quite go according to plan now did it?"

One of the members in the audience asks "Yeah, didn't you flip out and complete destroy the show because you were jealous of that red, fat, Italian guy?"

"NO! *Ahem* No...we just had a little programming malfunction with our games. But fear not! For this new show will feature all new kinds of games that couldn't possibly be ruined. And you wanna know why? MARIO WON'T BE PLAYING! That's right everyone. We've got all your favorite contestants, invited back for a new show I'm calling: Mr Puzzles' Amazing Couples Game Show Fanatic!"

Mr Puzzles clapped his hands and everyone he had trapped, except Mario appeared. Bob got all territorial and asked "UM EXCUSE ME? WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!?" Mr Puzzles took out a sheet of paper and said "Now let's layout the rules. Each couple will compete in a activity that I have set to test their intelligence (if they even have it ), their physical abilities, and how well they are willing to go for each other."

"What do you mean? We aren't couples." Tari quizzically asked when Mr Puzzles butted in and yelled "YOU ARE NOW!" He clapped his hand and divided 2 partners at each station. Smg3 looked confused as hell until he turned and saw who he was partnered with. "Oi! We're not a couple!" Smg4 did the same as he blushed up a storm and awkwardly avoided looking at Three.

Meggy and Tari also felt awkward when they saw that they were paired up with each other, but neither one was a blushing mess like Four was. Bob stomped his foot down and yelled "I REFUSE TO WORK WITH THIS GREEN BOOGER! I WOULDN'T DATE BOOPKINS IF HE WAS THE LAST FISH ON EARTH! PAIR ME UP WITH BIRDO INSTEAD!"

(Sidenote: I DO NOT SHIP BOB AND BOOPKINS. I JUST SEE THEM AS BEST FRIENDS. NOTHING ELSE.)

Mr Puzzles started to get irritated and nervously laughed. "Don't pay any attention to him folks. I think he's too shy to admit his feelings." The audience let out a couple Awwwww's. Bob was getting really angry and began complaining "HE'S LYING! I'M NOT GAY! I'M STRAIGHT! NOT GAY NOT GAY NOT GAY NOT GAY!" Mr Puzzles put a hand over his mouth and said "One moment please." He whispered "I know you're not gay Bob, but I ran out of contestants and I need a third team. Can't you just roll with it."

As he went back to addressing the audience, Bob kept chanting "NOT GAY NOT GAY NOT GAY-" Mr Puzzles facepalmed and announced "I almost forgot! Whoever scores the most points gets a sPeCiAl pRiZe!" Everyone immediately stopped their belly aching and became incredibly interested. Bob finally shut up and said "ANYTHING FOR MONEY!"

Three swung an arm over Four as he became even more flustered. "Forget what I said. We're the best couple and we're going to crush you all!"

"U-Um...Three can you not?"

Meggy got a serious look on her face and yelled "No way! Me and Tari are the best duo!" Tari thought it was a sweet compliment and didn't even pick up on how Meggy didn't mind letting the audience see them as a couple.

The crowd erupted into excited cheers as Mr Puzzles went back to his happy self. "Alright everyone! First up we have-" He felt a tug on his sleeve as Luigi nervously asked "Uhh...what do I do? I...I don't have a partner." Mr Puzzles noticed that since he didn't cast Mario in this episode so now Luigi didn't have anyone else. "Oh Luigi, you have the most important job of all!" He brought him over to a discount whiteboard and handed him a marker. "You will keep track of scores. Making sure that each team gets the amount of points I say they earn."

"Oh that sounds like fun! I can do that!" Luigi began humming to himself as he made a column for each team. "Wonderful! Now that that's all figured out, we can finally beg-"

"Um can I take a bathroom break! My face feels hot!" Four raised his hand. Mr Puzzles was getting really irritated with all the interruptions, just like his last game show. He turned around with his scary, realistic face and yelled "NO! SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Four immediately slumped down in his seat as the audience went silent and Mr Puzzles felt all eyes glued onto him.

"I-I mean...Sorry Smg4, but the show has started already. But don't worry, you'll be an excellent team player. Maybe you'll even win the prize..."

"Now about we start with-"

The sounds of Italian gibberish echoed on stage as Mr Puzzles raised an eyebrow. "Huh...that's strange. But let's cont-"

More gibberish noises that sounded closer as Mr Puzzles angrily said "Whoever that is, please stop so everyone can enjoy the show." The person that was making the annoying sounds didn't stopped. It almost sounded like it came from the audience. Mr Puzzles then froze when he realized something. "Oh crap...I made sure Mario wasn't a contestant, but I never checked to see if he was an audience member!" Sure enough, Mario rushed down from his seat onto stage and said "Oh boy! Oh boy! Mario wants to play games!"

Mr Puzzles virtually tore his eyes out and politely tried getting him to go back to his seat. "Oh sorry Mario, but we have no available contestants for you to partner up with." Mario shook his head and pointed at him. "Mario can play with you TV guy!" Mr Puzzles quickly shot back "No way Mario! The host doesn't play the games and I would never be in a romantic relationship with you!"

"WELL I WOULD NEVER BE IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH BOOPKINS, BUT YOU'RE MAKING ME PLAY!"

"Shut up Bob! And Mario...GO BACK TO YOUR SEAT!" He then asked "Can Mario at least stay up here and watch?"

"NO!"

"Pretty please..."

"No!"

"Pretty please with spaghetti and meatballs on top..."

"Ugh. Fine. But only because we need to get the show started. However, you will not make a sound and you will not move from that spot over there!" He pointed to a far off corner that was almost off stage, but Mario didn't mind. "Yippee!" He hopped over to his spot and hummed to himself, head in hands, excitedly awaiting the first game. "Sorry for the delay folks. Let's get started with our first game."

Trivia Time!

"For this game, you must answer questions of different categories that are randomly selected each turn. The team with the most points wins!" Three moved his hand close to the buzzer, ready for the moment he got the answer. Bob also did the same and Tari looked nervously between their tension. Four had managed to calm down and his competitive spirit was ready to knock his components into the ground.

Mr Puzzles picks up a card from the Entertainment category (no surprise that was the first one) and stars reading "Question 1: In-"

"Oooo can Mario play! Mario is great at guessing games!" Mr Puzzles gave him a cold stare and said "AS I WAS SAYING, In the show F.R.I.E.N.D.S, what was the name of Rachel's colleague that worked at Bloomingdale's in Season 3." Bob and Three buzzed in at the same time when both answered at the same time.

"THE UGLY DUDE."

"Mark Robinson!"

Mr Puzzles made a wincing sound and said "Ohhhh sorry Bob. These answers must be clear and specific so Smg3 gets the point."

"CRAP!" Bob pouted while Three and Four pointed and laughed at him. "You can't beat the true F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan!" He made a flirty look at Four when saying that. Mr Puzzles took out a another card from a different category and said "Question 2: What is-" but was interuppted again when that annoying Italian voice whined "Cooommmeee onnnnn! Let Mario answer this question! He'll be quiettt ifff youuu doooo!"

Mr Puzzles was already ready to kick him out when he looked down at the question and said "Ohhh sureeee." Mario cheered and scooted in with Meggy and Tari. "Hello girls! You don't mind if Mario joins your team do you?" Tari gladly replied "Sure!" Meggy quickly stopped her and informed her teammate "Tari, he doesn't know any answers to these questions." Mario gave her an offended look. "Sure Mario does! Just watch!"

"Question 2: What is the square root of 9?"

Mario buzzed in with his nose and yelled "21!" A bzzt sound played as Mr Puzzles made a fake gasp and said "I'm sorry, but that is incorrect. -1 points for team Megari!" Luigi put a negative point on their score and made a gesture over to the girls that he was sorry. Mario stood up and said "WAT! That's bullcrap! Mario totally got the answer right! He has 1000000 IQ!" Meggy hissed "Mario...get down and go back to your seat."

"NO! The mean TV man is being unfair!" He launched towards Mr Puzzles and yelled "This game is rigged! Mario demands vengeance!" He took the rest of the cards and burned them down with a blowtorch. "HAH! Mario wins now! Hehehehehehehe!" He smugly went back to sitting at the corner and was contempt on seeing how Mr Puzzles would hold up the show now. Mr Puzzles got up and saw the cards were now burnt to ash and he started nervously sweating. "N-Not t-to worry audience. I-I always have some spare cards." He took out a piece of paper and scribbly wrote down a question.

"Now this last one should be easy. What is the weather like today?" Tari instantly knew the answer and buzzed in. "I know! It's-" Mr Puzzles quickly turned to the boys and declared "That's right Smg4! It's sunny! Smg4 wins the game!"

"B-But I didn't-"

"NEXT GAME!"

Outstanding Obstacles

Mr Puzzles teleported them all to an insane obstacle course with hoops, pits, and beams. "In order to beat this game, both opponents must safely cross to the other side that is marked with the handy flag." He pointed way across where a tiny checkered flag was waiting in the safe zone. "We have to cross that!?" Tari cried out in fear. A little thing Mr Puzzles forgot to mention was that there was fire, swinging weapons, and many other deadly traps sprinkled along the way. Bob didn't care. He ran towards it, singing "GIVE ME THE MONEY!" and flung himself straight into the middle, where he was pierced by arrows and got a sword stuck in his head. He evaporated as an X appeared on screen and the announcer yelled "DEAD."

Mr Puzzles laughed and said "Oopsie! Looks like Bob is eliminated from the rest of the show! Sorry Boopkins, but you can't play without a teammate so you're disqualified too." He snapped his fingers when Boopkins was right in the middle of a sentence. "Wait...what-" He began evaporating as well as he screamed himself out of existence. "Now for our two remaining teams, good luck!" Meggy and Three lined up against each other, both wanting to prove their athletic skills. Four and Tari were nervous from all the deadly contraptions. When the horn went off, Three and Meggy ran lighting fast through the course while Four and Tari barely ducked out of the way of swinging maces.

"Ooooo can Mario join in!" Mr Puzzles angrily turned around and yelled "NO! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Mario grumpily crossed his arms, but then got an idea. When Mr Puzzles wasn't looking, he tiptoed past him into the obstacle course.

Tari carefully jumped over a pit when she saw a bazooka firing straight at Four. "Look out!" Four turned and saw the missile hurdling towards him as he shut his eyes and prepared for the worst. Instead the missile just stopped, crying "Ohhhhh nooooo!" and poofed. That was strange. He saw Three and Meggy leaving without them and cried "Oi! You guys know that if we die, you lose right?" Both of them stopped, realizing he had a point.

Tari was dangling over a pit of fire. "I'm coming Tari!" Meggy yelled as she ran over to help her up. "Are you okay?" Tari breathed heavily as Meggy pulled her in for a hug of comfort. "Don't worry. You're safe now." Three saw his chance to go, but saw Four trembling as the weapons were coming by the bucket full. He groaned and went back to grab him. The slight hand touch made him flinch as he stuttered "S-Sorry...did you get hurt?"

"No. I'm okay. Thanks for coming back for me."

Mr Puzzles was sitting back in a chair, munching on popcorn and watching through binoculars. It seemed like the show was going really well with emotion, drama, and suspense, except one contestant didn't belong. "MARIO!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE!" He was running past the two teams, flashing the loser sign at Mr Puzzles when he saw the flag in sight. "YIPPEE! Mario is gonna win!" Mr Puzzles quickly snapped his fingers when he saw Mario was only a few feet from the finish.

He reached his hand out to grab the flag when the floor fell out from over him and he evaporated back to his seat in the corner. The rest of the contestants fell through the floor, but luckily Smg4 was the closest to the finish line. "Wonderful! Smg4 has done it again! Add some more points on the board Luigi!" Four hazily holds his head as he says "I think my brain just committed SUICIDE." The green Italian happily nodded as he added more points to their score, but Mario stole the marker for him and gave himself infinite points.

"HAHA! Mario wins the game now!" Mr Puzzles stole the marker back and yelled "MARIO DOES NOT WIN THE GAME! SMG4 IS SUPPOSED TO WIN! YOU WEREN'T EVEN A CONTESTANT IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Mario points a finger in his face and says "So you admit it! These games are rigged! Bad TV man is a stinky cheater!" Mr Puzzles looks over and sees that the crowd was starting to boo him. "No no no no! I'm not cheating!" He clenches his fists and storms over to Mario. "I am finishing this show and nobody is going to stop me! Not you! Not anyone!" He takes some chains and locks and tied them around Mario, kicking him into the corner.

"FINAL GAME!"

Truth or Dare

"To play this game, all you have to do is give an honest answer to any question that an audience member asks or whatever they dare you to do. IS THAT ALRIGHT WITH EVERYBODY!" He creaks his head over to Mario and narrows his eyes at him. The Italian looked at him with a glazed look in his eyes. "Okay great! Who would like to ask the first question?" One guy in the back immediately raises his hand. "Yes. What is your question?"

"I dare Smg3 and Smg4 to recreate the 6:50 minute of snow trapped!"

Both boys immediately tense up and their faces become red and hot. "Uhhh...." Mr Puzzles doesn't pay attention to their awkwardness as he claps his hands and a igloo drops down. "Well you heard the audience. Climb in and do your thing!" Four and Three don't say a word, but they slowly begin backing up. Mr Puzzles stops them and throws them in, blocking the entrance with snow. "See you later~"

"Now then, do we have any questions for the girls!" Another audience member raises his hand and asks "What is Meggy and Tari's favorite bonding activity?" Before the girls can answer, them and Mr Puzzles hear a suspicious thud. It starts to speed up as Mr Puzzles swivels his head around to find Mario humping the igloo. "Come on! Come on! Mario wants to see the gays making out! Commmeee onnnnnn!" Mr Puzzles anger goes through the roof as his body turns a bright red and his TV box begins to fume.

"THAT'S IT! MARIO IS DISQUALIFIED!" He slaps Mario so hard that the igloo and Three come with him, the three of them crashing into Meggy and Tari. Mr Puzzles stands in shock for a few seconds and says "Well it took some time, but we finally have a winner! Smg4 wins the sPeCiAl pRiZe!" He grabs Four and tells him "Now let's go see what it is!" He used a remote to open a hole in the wall and begins pushing Four towards it.

The rest of them just sat there flabbergasted. "He didn't really win did he Luigi?" Three asked. Luigi stood there, staring at a broken board and shrugged. "I guess...he did?" Mario instantly recovered and saw the two heading into the prize room. "Oh boy! Oh boy! Mario wants to go see the prize!" He sneaks into the secret compartment, unknown to Mr Puzzles.

He excitedly awaited the grand prize, expecting it to be a never-ending spaghetti maker or something. Instead he was met with a dark room that was completely empty. Well...not exactly. Mr Puzzles led Four up to a scary looking machine. "Is...is this the prize?" Four nervously asked. "It sure is! And it's all yours!" He flipped a switch and two giant claws grabbed onto Smg4's arms. "Hey! What the-" They dragged him up as Mr Puzzles snickered.

This wasn't at all what Mario expected. He tried to run back out the door, but it closed on him. Mr Puzzles said in a cold tone "You see, I had to make you win somehow. I needed you."

"W-Why do you n-need me?"

"Oh, for something far important. From now on, you will serve me as my partner."

"WHAT!?"

"Thank you Smg4 for everything."

That was the last thing he said before he pressed a button and a wave of electricity shocked through his body. "AHHHHHHH!!! STOP IT!" Mario couldn't do anything, but watch as his best friend was tortured by Mr Puzzles. His relentless screaming. The increasingly inflicted amounts of pain. What...What exactly did Mr Puzzles want with Smg4? Why was he trying to capture him all this time?

"STOP IT PLEASE! Ş̶̨̤̫̞͖̃̔͒̃̎̓̍̅͛͆͠T̴̳̞̭̘̥́Ò̸̠͔̮̹̯͇̻͈̯̼̲̈̃́͋͛͗̄̎̕͜P̵̮̰̫͎̱̈́́͊ ̸̭̻̼͕͍��̳̝͌͋͗̔̔́̈́̇̃̓̓̑͜͝I̶͈̹͚̫̭̞̙͕̞͑̇͐̇̌̀̓͗̆T̴̡̢̜̣̞̩̼̞͎̲̬͖̖͛̈́̓̾ͅ ̸̨̬͈͓̞̝̳̼͚̓̇͝S̷̨̰̰̮̝̯̺͔̭͕͉̐́͒̒̉̓̿͜͝Ť̷̳̞̰̇̎̆̀͋͐̏́͛̎̽̈̓͝Ȍ̴̧͓̭͑̐͜P̵͙̳̔̃̌ ̸̧̱̦͙̬̗̝̗̞̲̗̳̮̘̋́͂̈́̋̐͊͐̈́̆̈́͂͑͘͝Ḯ̴̧̧͈̮͓̫͎̙̼͔̖̪̇̑͘͜T̴̮̟̜͍͎̮̜̗͉̽̐̎̔̌͂̂̃̚ ̴̳͈̻̤͖̲̫̝̘̗̫̘̜̫͌̒͐̈́̓͗́̀̋͊̌͝S̷̢̬̜̤̝͈͔̪͙͔̫͈͗̈́͂͒̎ͅT̶̛͉̯̾̓̀͜Ǫ̶̜̔̿̃̍͝P̸̨̫̭̱̲̮̞͍̳̺̑͜ ̷̢̃̑̄͐̓͊̎̊I̶̧͍̲̍͋͘T̷͕̭͚͇͖̲̝͖̬̪̩̦̿͐̀̇͋̎̀ ̸̨̳͙̥͚̝̼͓͕̘̻̰̗͛̈́̓͛͗̀͝͝S̷̡̛͙͙̻͚͖̞̮͎͉̓͆̉͂̉͂̅͜T̴͚̮̝͉̲̿̑̾͋͒̇̆͘͠Ơ̴̢͔̩̜͖̫̲̬̬̪̼͂̍̈́͂̅̈́̐̔̕P̴̺̰̪̣̩͉̘͎͈̬͍̭̯̤͐̇̏̈́̋̓̈́̈́͗̄̀̓͝ ̸̢̢̜̳̟̫̥̖̱̭̜͇̩̐̒͐̄̉̿̍͆̊͗̏̉̈́̚ͅͅI̷̛̥͉̤̰͎̩̔́̅̅͋́́̍ͅT̸̥̮̯̫̙̪̝̯̟̭̻͚͇̈́̅̉̓̓̃͌̂̄͊̈́̑̑̇!̶̭̣͇̤̮̘͉͙͌̊̇͊̽̾̈́̍̀͐͋͑͝͝"

E̵n̸d̶ ̷o̶f̸ ̴S̴i̴m̶u̶l̵a̸t̴i̶o̸n̸.̸

W̵h̶a̷t̵ ̷d̸i̶d̸ ̶y̶o̶u̷ ̶t̶h̵i̶n̴k̶ ̷o̶f̸ ̷T̸o̸d̸a̴y̶'̴s̸ ̷E̸p̷i̵s̵o̴d̴e̶?̷

Chapter 13: PuzzleVision's Grand Finale

[layla4567]

Can I request D-90 x TVA office worker reader? Mutual pining for each other and stolen glances but they never say anything!! Loki notices the way D-90 stares at reader and makes a little mischief to get them together?? Can u make it fluffy too? Thank you!!! 🥹💕✨

of course! by the way sorry for the delay in replying lol

A little bit of mischief

Pairing: GN!reader x Hunter D90

Summary: Office life could be boring but there was one person who always brightened your days in the best way. The bad thing is that you didn't know if he felt the same way about you.

Warnings: No Y/n use, slight description of the reader: use of glasses, swearing (a bit)

Wc: 1,758

divider credit: @cafekitsune

Away from the other common offices, you were sheltered behind your desk with your fingers typing rapidly on the typewriter while rows and rows of filing cabinets protected you behind and to the sides. The closer you got to see what you were writing, the more your glasses slid down the bridge of your nose. Frustrated with your index finger you put the glasses back into place.

Your task was to write reports and then put them on the shelves. You liked to walk through them, they were imposing and seemed to have no end. A perfectionist, detail-oriented and a neat freak, you liked everything to be in its place. You hated losing things or when someone else moved the files that you had already meticulously organized perfectly, even so, you wouldn't have complained if someone gave you a hand.

"I always have to do everything alone, I could use some company. Is that too much to ask?"-You grumbled under your breath.

What you didn't expect was that a familiar face was standing near you, watching you. But, of course, how could you even notice it? He was standing there like a statue always keeping guard, you would have easily mistaken him for a plant or a column if you didn't have your glasses. You were so focused on your typewriter that you hadn't seen him.

D90 looked at you smiling slightly. Strange for him since he was almost always serious. But with you he allowed himself to bring out his soft side that he had hidden very much. The man approached slowly and when he was close enough he cleared his throat to get your attention. You jumped in your seat, startled, you didn't expect to see him so soon.

"Sorry for scaring you, I didn't mean to…"

You smiled more relaxed when you saw him. "It doesn't matter, I was just concentrating on writing"

Hunter D90 smiled shyly, suddenly not knowing what to say. You two stayed silent for a few seconds just looking at each other. You raised your eyebrow while still smiling, waiting for him to let you know why he had come closer. But D90 could only see your pretty eyes that seemed to stand out and look bigger with the frame of your glasses. He realized that he would surely look like a fool standing there without saying anything so he turned serious and said

"I uh heard you, it seems like you needed help…or company"

You blushed slightly looking down, you never thought that that company would be precisely him. You scratched the tip of your nose a little awkwardly.

"Well I… I wouldn't want to take up your time, I'm sure you have more important things to do"

He shook his head, closing his eyes and making a face. "I insist. I wouldn't have come closer if I had other things to do. Standing alone waiting to have to prune a variant is something…boring"

You let out a nervous giggle with your eyebrows raised. So he was bored too, great, you could tell you had something in common with him

"Alright mmh in that case, would you help me by putting these reports on the shelves, please?"

He nodded and followed you behind. You quickly and nervously picked up the files and hugged them to your chest for protection. As you walked through the hallways you felt the presence of D90 behind you, like a thick cloud that followed your every step. You prayed internally that you wouldn't do anything stupid like stumble or stutter. Thank God you were soon on the right shelf.

"Ok, have these reports and put them on that shelf that says Number 172"

You handed him the papers and accidentally brushed his fingers. Your immediate reaction was to turn your head so he couldn't see your face as you bit your bottom lip and squeezed your eyes shut. It seems that he had also looked away because when you turned around again he was already looking at the shelves and not at you.

From time to time you sneakily looked at him out of the corner of your eye, you wanted to record his movements. His gestures were slow and careful but you realized that he did not organize things better than you, some files were slightly protruding while yours were perfectly placed in the same imaginary line. To a crazy perfectionist like you, that was unforgivable and it pissed you off, but since it was him you forgave him, just a small exception for a special person like him.

You smiled tenderly with those thoughts in your head as you absently dropped a report from your arms. You cursed under your breath and quickly reached down to grab it when you noticed another hand also reach out to yours to help you pick up the things. Your heart almost stopped when you realized that he had also crouched down in front of you.

Shit.Shit.Shit. You were trying to think clearly, trying not to sweat your palms. The last straw was when his hand collided with yours, you felt electricity through your veins, like a spark. You immediately looked up in surprise only to meet his eyes that also looked big into yours. The tension was felt in the air. Maybe in the end you weren't so wrong and he felt the same way about you. Embarrassed and red as a fresh apple you shook your head and abruptly grabbed the file, you stood with it imitating you like a mime and quickly put the file in its place. You placed it crooked, damn it. But you were too distraught to accommodate it, and cursing inwardly, you straightened your immaculate clothes.

"T-thank you for the help. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go back to my office. Excuse me"-You murmured without looking at him.

Without waiting for his response, you quickly walked away, leaving him alone and frozen in place.

- - - - - - -

Days later and you're still scolding yourself for your foolish reaction. You tormented yourself with the idea that he no longer wants to know about you. But you couldn't stop looking at him and sighing every time he passed by your workplace.

Loki, who happened to be passing by, saw you with the most dazed and dreamy face that anyone could have imagined. With your chin resting on your hand you looked at a fixed point. The god of mischief turned his head to know what you were looking at and he understood everything. D90 was standing looking at his shoes and rocking back and forth or adjusting his uniform and gloves.

"How pathetic mortals are sometimes…"

As if you had woken up from a dream you looked at Loki with a frown.

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh please, you know what I'm talking about. When are you two going to stop giving each other looks like slaughtered lambs? Talk once and for all"

You rolled your eyes and began to organize papers on your desk. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Loki sighed and approached your table with his hands on his hips. "If you don't plan to tell him, I'll tell him."

You laughed sarcastically. "Tell him what? That I think you're unbearable?"

"Ha, ha, ha very funny, let's see if you keep laughing when he finds out that you have a crush on him"

And immediately Loki walked away to approach D90. You opened your eyes in horror and ran up to him.

"Wait, wait ok ok. And what would happen if I really have a crush on him? Is that so serious?"-You said standing in front of him.

"Oh yes, it's very serious. Because if you keep making eyes at each other I'm going to get sick from disgust and I'm going to vomit. You two are so corny"

You huffed in annoyance. "I'm warning you, Loki, don't do anything stupid."

He smiled mischievously "We'll see about that"

After that the Norse god walked away whistling casually while you stood there and accidentally locked eyes with D90. You smiled at him and he smiled back. You sighed and returned to your seat.

- - - - - - -

Minutes later you had lazily gotten up from your chair to go get a snack. You had left your glasses on the table massaging the bridge of your nose. Sometimes they bothered you and you took them off, fortunately your myopia was not so great that you tripped or fell there. You were walking through the hallways when you remembered that you had forgotten the money on your table so you ran to look for it. When you arrived you noticed that your glasses were missing.

"Oh, oh"

You frantically looked for them everywhere, ugh, you hated losing things. You asked each person if they had seen them but no one knew anything. Loki happened to be there nearby and was smiling mischievously. No one knew that he had momentarily made your glasses disappear with his magic, a little prank or plot that he hoped would work.

"Fuck! Where are they?!"

On the other side of the TVA, D90 was at his guard post, bored. Suddenly he noticed that something was hanging from his pocket, it was hard like plastic. He reached down to his pants and touched some glasses. Your glasses. Suddenly he noticed you running with your hair messy, agitated.

Where are they? Where are my glasses? You thought desperately. As your vision was somewhat blurry, you collided with D90 and fell to the ground with him. You held your head a little sore.

"I'm sorry I didn't see you standing there, I just can't find my glasses-"

"You mean these?"

The man still on the ground showed you his clear-framed glasses. You squinted your eyes to see better, but yes, they were yours. D90 smiling, gently placed your glasses on you, you could swear that the skin on your face was getting hot under his hands.

"You look better with them"

You didn't believe your luck. You smiled flattered and he took your hand to pull you up. Again the endless stares, but this time you decided to listen to Loki and said

"I was just about to buy a snack, would you like one too?"

He nodded, delighted, and followed you hand in hand down the hallway. Nearby was a certain god of mischief standing with his arms crossed and a big smile, watching you.

"It wasn't so difficult after all."

[saintmeghanmarkle]

The fact that this comment piece comes from The Daily Telegraph is worrying by u/media_lush

The fact that this comment piece comes from The Daily Telegraph is worrying https://ift.tt/BXvU2MG friend of Queen Camilla has claimed that Prince William is obstructing a reconciliation between Prince Harry and his father King Charles III.Urging the royal family to “bring Harry home,” the society journalist Petronella Wyatt said in a column in the Daily Telegraph that William was “equally liable” to Harry for the breakdown in royal relations.Wyatt has known Camilla since she was 18. She is the daughter of the late life peer and friend of Queen Elizabeth II, Baron Woodrow Wyatt, who attended Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. She is a friend of Camilla’s and has previously described her as the “nicest person I have ever met.”In a column in the Daily Telegraph she cited a “former palace official” who used to work for both Harry and William “before the good times stopped rolling” as saying: “There is a public misconception about William and Harry. It is William who was often the difficult one, and it is William who is preventing his father from having a proper reconciliation with Harry. This isn’t helpful at a point in time when the country would be buoyed up by seeing them together again, as would the King.”A friend of William and Kate Middleton’s told The Daily Beast: “There is a grain of truth in what she is saying, although William wouldn’t dream of telling his father what he can or can’t do in relation to his other son. But what is true is that Charles’ absolute priority is the unity of the monarchy, and given the extent of William’s animosity to Harry, Charles can hardly roll out the red carpet and invite Harry and the kids to stay at Balmoral for the summer holidays—however much he would like to.”Friends of Charles and Camilla have told The Daily Beast that the king was deeply hurt by Harry’s aggressive attacks on Camilla in his memoir, Spare, and that this is another barrier to reconciliation and father and son spending a significant amount of time together.Harry last saw Charles when he made a frantic dash across the Atlantic in February after Charles revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer. Harry spent under an hour with his father and was not invited to stay the night at his country home, Sandringham.The issue was brought into sharp focus again last week when Harry visited London and issued a statement suggesting his father had declined to meet with him. Harry was in London for a church service celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, the Paralympic-style event for wounded veterans which he founded. Royal sources subsequently briefed the Sunday Times that Charles had not received a request to meet Harry and had offered him a royal residence in which to stay, but that Harry had opted to stay in a hotel.Harry’s team said in response that they did not believe that Harry’s request to meet his father would have been missed.Wyatt said that William and Charles’ treatment of Harry was “beginning to look inhuman,” and said Harry should be brought back into the royal family because “the royal family is a microcosm for every family in Britain, and that a divided family, like a divided political party, has an intrinsic weakness.”Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for comment on Wyatt’s comments. post link: https://ift.tt/9zMXAFd author: media_lush submitted: May 16, 2024 at 12:47AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[gojuo]

Reading BNHA has been completely against my will

[todaysdocument]

Treaty Between the the United States and the Iowa Indians and the Sauk and Fox Indians of the Missouri (Residing West of the State of Missouri) Signed at Fort Leavenworth, 9/17/1836

File Unit: Ratified Indian Treaty 211: Iowa and Sauk and Fox of the Missouri (West of Missouri) - Fort Leavenworth, September 17, 1836, 1789 - 1869

Series: Indian Treaties, 1789 - 1869

Record Group 11: General Records of the United States Government, 1778 - 2006

Transcription:

Articles of a Treaty made and concluded at Fort Leavenworth,

on the Missouri River, between William Clark, superintendent of

Indian Affairs, on the part of the United States, of the one part,

and the undersigned Chiefs, Warriors, and Councillors of the

Ioway Tribe and the Band of Sacks and Foxes of the Missouri,

(residing west of the State of Missouri) in behalf of their respective

tribes, of the other part:

Article 1. By the first article of the Treaty of Prairie Du Chien

held the fifteenth day of July eighteen hundred and thirty, with

the confederated tribes of Sacs, Foxes, Ioways, Omahaws, Missorias,

Ottoes, and Sioux, the country ceded to the United States by that

Treaty, is to be assigned and allotted under the direction of the Pres-

ident of the United States to the tribes living thereon, or to such

other tribes as the President may locate thereon for hunting and

other purposes.- and where as it is further represented to us the

Chiefs, Warriors, and Counsellors of the Ioways and Sack and Fox

Band aforesaid, to be desirable that the Lands lying between the

State of Missouri and the Missouri River, should be attached

to, and become a part of said State, and the Indian title thereto be

entirely extinguished; but that, notwithstanding, as these lands compose

a part of the Country embraced by the provisions of said first Article

of the Treaty aforesaid. The stipulations thereof will be strictly obs-

erved until the assent of the Indians interested is given to the

proposed measure.

       Now we the Chiefs, Warriors, and Counsellors of the Ioways,

and Missouri Band of Sacks and Foxes, fully understanding

the subject, and well satisfied from the local position of the

lands in question, that they never can be made available for

Indian purposes, and that an attempt to place and Indian pop-

ulation on them, must inevitably lead to Collisions with the

Citizens of the United States, and further believing that the

extension of the State line in the directions indicated; would

have a happy effect by presenting a natural Boundary between

the Whites and Indians; and willing, more over, to give the

United States a renewed evidence of our attachment and friend-

ship, do hereby for ourselves, and on behalf of our respective tribes,

(having full power and authority to this effect) forever cede, relinquish,

and quit Claim, to the United States, all our right, title and interest

of whatsoever nature in, and to, the lands lying between the State

of Missouri and the Missouri River; and do freely and fully

exonerate the United States from any guarantee; Condition or

?Limitation, expressed or implied, under the Treaty of Prairie

Du Chien aforesaid, or otherwise, as to the entire and absolute

disposition of the said lands, fully authorizing the United States

to do with the same whatever shall seen expedient or nec-

essary.

       As a proof of the continued friendship and liberality

of the United States towards the Ioway and Band of Sacks

and Foxes of the Missouri, and as an evidence of the sense

entertained for the good will manifested by said tribes to the

Citizens and Government of the United States, as coined in the

[page 2] 

[two page layout]

[left page]

Preceding cession or relinquishment, the undersigned, William

Clark, agrees on behalf of the United States, to pay as a present to

the said Ioways and Band of Sacks and Foxes, seven thousand

five hundred dollars in Money, the receipt of which they hereby ac=

knowledge.

        Article 2. As the said tribes of Ioways and Sacks and

Foxes, have applied for a small piece of land, south of the Missouri,

for a permanent home, on which they can settle, and request the

assistance of the Government of the United States to place them on this

land in a situation at least equal to that they now enjoy on

the land ceded by them: Therefore I, William Clark, superinten-

dent of Indian Affairs, do further agree on behalf of the United

States. As assign to the Ioway tribe, and Missouri Band of Sacks

and Foxes, the small strip of land on the south side of the Miss-

ouri River, lying between the Kickapoo northern boundary line and

the Grand Nemahar River, and extending from the Missouri

Sack and westwardly with the said Kickapoo line and the

Grand Nemahar, making four hundred sections; to the divided

between the said Ioways and Missouri Band of Sacks and Foxes,

the lower half to the Sacks and Foxes, the upper half to

the Ioways.

       Article 3. The Ioways and Missouri Band of Sacks and

Foxes further agree, that they will move and settle in the lands

assigned them in the above article, as soon as arrangements can

be made by them; and the undersigned William Clark, in behalf

of the United States, agrees, that as soon as the above tribes have

selected a site for their villages, and places for their fields, and

moved to them, to erect for the Ioways five comfortable houses,

to enclose and break up for them two hundred acres of Ground;

to furnish them with a Farmer, a Blacksmith, school master,

and interpreter, as long as, the President of the United States

may deem proper; to furnish them with such agricultural

Implements as may be necessary, for five years; to furnish them

with Rations for one year, commencing at the time of their arriv-

al at their new homes; To furnish them with one Ferry Boat;

to furnish them with one hundred Cows and Calves and five

Bulls, and one hundred stock hogs when they require them;

To furnish them with a Mill, and assist in removing them,

to the extent of five hundred Dollars. And to erect for the

Sacks and Foxes three comfortable Houses; to enclose and break

up for them two hundred acres of Ground; to furnish them with

a Farmer, Blacksmith, School Master, and Interpreter, as long as

the President of the United States may deem proper: to furnish them

with such Agricultural Implements as many be necessary, for five

years; to furnish them with Rations for one year, commencing

at the time of their arrival at their new home: to furnish them

with one Ferry Boat; to furnish them with one hundred Cows and

Calves and five Bulls, one hundred stock Hogs when they require

them; to furnish them with a mill; and to assist in removing

them, to the extent of four hundred Dollars.        [blue circular stamp] THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES [/blue circular stamp]

[right page]

       Article 4. This Treaty shall be obligatory on the Tribes, Parties

hereto, from and after the date hereof, and on the United States from and

after its ratification by the Government there of.

      Done and signed and sealed at Fort Leavenworth, on the

Missouri, this seventeenth day of September, one thousand eight

hundred and thirty six, and of the Independence of the United States

the sixty first.              

[left column]

Witness

[signed]  S. W. Kearny

      Col. 1st Reg. Drags.

[signed]  Jno Daugherty Ind. Agt.

[signed]  Andrew S. Hughes  Sub Agent

[signed]  George R. H. Clark

[signed]  William Duncan Indian farmer

[signed]  Jos V Hamilton Sutler Dragoons

[signed]  H Robedou Jr

[signed]  Wm Bowman Sargt. Maj 1. Drgs.

[signed]  Jeffery Dorion his x mark, Sworn interpreter

[signed]  Peter Cadue his x mark, Sworn interpreter

[signed]  Jacques White Interpreter U. S.

[signed]  Louis M. Darrion

[right column]

[signed]  Wm. Clark Su In Afr         Seal

Ioways

Mo-hos-ca  (or white Cloud)      his mark x    seal

Nau-che-ning  (or No heart)      his mark x    seal

Wa-che-mo-ne  (or the Orator)       his mark x    seal

Ne-o-mo-ne  (or Raining Cloud)      his mark x    seal

Mau-o-mo-ne  (or Pumpkin)      his mark x    seal

Congu   (or Plumb)      his mark x    seal

Wau-thaw-ca-be-chu  (one that eats raw)      his mark x    seal

Ne-wau-thaw-chu  (Hair Shedder)      his mark x    seal

Mau-hau-ka (Bunch of Arrows)      his mark x    seal

Cha-tau-the-nu  (Big Bull)      his mark x    seal

Cha-tea-thau (Buffalo Bull)      his mark x    seal

Cha-ta-ha-ra-wa-re (foreign Buffalo)      his mark x    seal

Sacs & Foxes

Cau-a-car-mack  (Rock Bass)      his mark x    seal

Sea-sa-ho  (Sturgeon)      his mark x    seal

Pe-a-chin-car-mack (Bald head Eagle)      his mark x    seal

Pe-a-chin-car-mack Jr. (Bald head Eagle)      his mark x    seal

Ca-ha-qua  (Red Fox)      his mark x    seal

Pe-shaw-ca  (Bear)      his mark x    seal

Po-cau-ma  (Deer)      his mark x    seal

Ne-bosh-ca-wa  (Wolf)      his mark x    seal

Ne-squi-in-a  (Deer)      his mark x    seal

Ne-sa-au-qua  (Bear)      his mark x    seal

Qua-co-ou-si  (Wolf)      his mark x    seal

Se-quil-la  (Deer)      his mark x    seal

As-ke-pa-ke-ka-as-a  (Green Lake)      his mark x    seal

Wa-pa-se     (Swan)      his mark x    seal

No-cha-taw-wa-ta-sa   (Star)      his mark x    seal

[becomewings]

Kindred : Loss

pt.3

“I smoothed down the piano keys with my fingers, dust covering my fingertips. I pressed the keys more strongly, but I couldn’t make them sound like YoonGi did. It’d been two weeks since YoonGi stopped coming to school. … I pressed the keys and tried to mimic the tune he’d played that day. Will he really be expelled? Will he ever come back? He said he was used to being hit and kicked by teachers. If I weren’t there, would he still have turned against the teacher? If I weren’t there, would he still be playing the piano here?”

— JungKook, 25 June Year 20. The Notes 1.

꩜

“‘If you’re going to run away again, don’t ever come back.’ HoSeok’s voice rang in my ears. … ‘Why didn’t you go see JungKook? Don’t you know what you mean to him?’ Of course I knew. Maybe that was why I couldn’t go into his room. I was distorted and thorny. Anyone who tried to come near me was bound to get hurt. … I’d inflicted pain on others as I suffered greater pain. I looked away from their wounds. I didn’t want to take any responsibility. I didn’t want to get involved. That was who I was.”

— YoonGi, 25 July Year 22. The Notes 1.

pt.1 : JM/JH ꩜ pt.2 : TH/NJ

→ Kindred : Comfort

Commentary under the cut.

This concludes the Kindred series’ Loss subset, a companion and inversion of the Comfort subset. I’ve actually had the general idea for these two contrasting sets since the very beginning of the blog, and I even made a first pass at the Comfort posts with still images. But I held off on Loss until I had the tools to make gifs because I knew there were many moments that could not be captured as effectively with screenshots alone. I felt this way about Rift, too, a set that serves as a kind of bridge between Comfort and Loss.

Comfort focused on the companionship between the “main pairs” of BU characters and was straightforward to depict: I highlighted shots that featured both members of each pair. My initial plan for Loss was less clear cut. After gathering some preliminary images, I realized that the best way to capture the feeling of absence was to use only solo shots, in direct contrast to Comfort. While experimenting with different arrangements, it also occurred to me that their separation could be further emphasized by assigning each character to their own column, rather than allowing them to intermingle.

For a moment, this posed a dilemma to me: when organizing sets, I try to pay attention to the overall composition, not just in terms of narrative progression and color but also direction. You may be familiar with the idea that even still art contains a sense of motion—the natural path our eyes follow when observing a piece. Very generally speaking, strong compositions draw the gaze inward. On the other hand, they may be weakened if certain lines or gestures pull the gaze too far outward, essentially “falling off” the artwork. When planning, I treat the whole gifset as a kind of canvas. I try not to arrange gifs with very directional motion in places that would draw the viewer’s attention away from the rest. But this was a problem I immediately faced when I decided to divide the characters into strict columns. For example, I would not normally choose to place that second gif of YoonGi reaching across the bed on the right side of the set because the motion is also toward the right. If it helps, think of an arrow pointing: →

Ultimately, I decided to stick with the columns and accept the consequences. I was reassured by the thought that, in the context of these Loss sets, the motion of the characters directed away from each other (← → : such as in gifs 3 and 4 here  or the last 2 gifs of the TaeHyung/NamJoon set) was just as meaningful as one character “reaching” inward toward the other (for a quite literal example, see JiMin reaching toward the empty hospital bed in the JiMin/HoSeok set). In their times of separation, the characters turn away from each other just as often as they look back, finding a void in their external lives as well as within their hearts. My exception for the “solo shot” goal was also, very deliberately, the inclusion of at least one girl from each pair (or the girl, in the case of JiMin/HoSeok) because the presence of each girl reinforces the absence of each boy’s closest friend. But more on that in a future post!

This was kind of an untraditional commentary compared to the rest, but I wanted to do a little retrospective on my process for the Comfort and Loss miniseries. I put a lot of thought into arranging the sets, just as I do with choosing which clips and quotes to bring together, so I hope that this may help you find a little more meaning in my posts. :)

This is not the end yet for the Kindred series. There are some other key relationships that I would like to look at under this “kindred” umbrella in the future. Thank you for joining me on the journey so far through the main BU pairings! ♡

꩜

Wings Short Film #1 Begin I Need U (Original Ver.) Run Run (Japanese Ver.) I Need U (Japanese Ver.) Wings Short Film #4 First Love Love Yourself Highlight Reel '起承轉結' Fake Love (Extended Ver.)

[pi-cat000]

MSA: Take Back The Future (part 3)

Summary: Vivi and Arthur travel back in time to the beginning of Hellbent. Neither of them are okay. 

(Part 1) (Part 2)

.

Mystery, instead of answering Vivi’s questions, leaps over the seat dividing the front and back areas of the van, exiting out the back doors.

“Wait, ” Vivi yells after Mystery, “get to back here and explain what happened to my memories.”

/It is not a tale that can be simply told. Not right now when we may be in danger/

Arthur thinks kitsune turned dog sounds slightly strained but it’s hard to really tell with Mystery’s weird telepathy. When the meaning of words are projected right into your brain some of the nuance is lost.

“Who is Shiromori? Why is she attacking us?” Vivi tries, following to glare at Mystery who circles the van, barely paying attention to the two of them. “Just answer one question!”

His mechanical arm twitches of its own accord and he eyes it nervously.  To hell with it. Arthur frees his hand and begins to feel about for the quick release lever hidden under a panel on his upper arm. After the van crash and almost getting thrown to his death, the arm had been too banged up to safely remove, jamming in place.  Best to be rid of it now, before everything when to shit all over again.

The sound of his heavy metal arm hitting the ashfelt draws Vivi’s attention and she turns to give him a quizzical expression.

“Better off then on,” He explains, “Wasn’t really working that well anyway. Hopefully, that’ll get rid of the curse as well.” Honestly, this cruse is the least of his worries.

Vivi exhales and Arthur can see the stress pinching her mouth, pulling it down into an uncharacteristic frown, “If the curse is specifically attached to your arm then removing it might work. On the other hand, if it’s anything like the one that got my memories then who the hell knows what will work. I certainly don’t. Apparently, I don’t know a lot of things.”

The last sentence is louder, directed at Mystery. There is no response from the dog who is staring off into the middle distance, head to one side like he is listening intently for something.  Arthur offers Vivj an uneasy shrug. He has his own questions for Mystery regarding Vivi’s memories, his arm, and the night they both went missing. However, his most recent run-in with dead-Lewis has him quickly reordering his priorities. None of the answers are going to mean much if he’s dead. Again…

Speaking of which… On the horizon, a purple light flares, glowing brightly against the dark backdrop. Arthur’s mouth goes suddenly dry and limbs feel very cold. Yeah, that seamed about right…

/You called this spirit Lewis?/ Mystery turns his head to examine him, expression troubled. /Are you sure?/  

He gives a short nod, eyes darting from Mystery then back to the road. It looks like Mystery is planning something based on how his fur is glowing red. He’d seen a similar red glow on the night of Lewis’s disappearance and during the confrontation outside his Uncle’s workshop. How much did Mystery know about Lewis? The question sticks in his mind, painfully heavy.

“Lewis? You mean the purple fire ghost? The one that caused the van crash?” Vivi steps up next to him, eyes locked onto the truck which grows quickly larger, “How are we going to stop it from running us all over?”

It’s too late to try a drive or run away now. Even if he decides to run there is a steep rocky slope on one side and a sharp climb on the other. If he did make it down by some miracle there was just flat desert and no cover for miles. Arthur doesn’t voice this observation instead commenting in a voice several octaves higher than normal, “I don’t think you need to worry about the ghost running you over. I’m pretty sure he’s only after me. So…ah…maybe don’t stand near me?”

Why? Why was Lewis trying to hurt him? In his mind’s eye, Lewis and Mystery meld together into a nightmare inferno of fire, teeth and death.

“I don’t want you to get run over either.” Vivi’s voice sounds faint, coming to him like it has travelled a great distance. Too much fear packed into too short a timeframe is making it harder and harder to concentrate. The ice at her feet thickens into long sheets, which creep out over the road, freezing it solid. He is probably lucky his remaining arm hasn’t frozen off with how tight Vivi had been holding it. Maybe if he turns into a giant Arthur icicle and he can sit this whole thing out. The hysterical thought momentarily breaks through his mounting panic.  

/Wait./

Arthur can almost hear the crackle of fire and the hum of the truck's engine.

/ You should not be drawing on so much of this power at once! You’ll damage the seal further!/

“I’m not letting Arthur die again. Anything comes near us and I’ll make whoever it is, regret it… that includes you.”

Vivi steps out so she is positioned in the centre of the road.

/I can handle this confrontation. There are still many aspects to the situation that you remain unaware of./

“And how am I supposed to fix that if you won’t tell me anything.”

/ I swear I will explain when there is more time. I only ever wanted to protect you./

“I don’t believe you.”

Vivi snaps the final sentence and punctuates it with a sharp hand gesture aimed at the oncoming truck. Several lines of ice stretch out and down the road, racing away from Vivi to meet the oncoming vehicle. Shining an ethereal blue, the frost coats the road’s surface, smoothing it over. Arthur catches the briefest glimpse of skeletal Lewis before the truck hits the ice sheets and the wheels suddenly lose traction.  The sound of metal crunching is deafening, accompanied by the hiss of water abruptly vaporising. Heat and cold collide in a cacophony cracking ice and explosion of steam.

A flash of bright purple fire. Mystery disappears, obscured by the thick columns of steam. He finds himself being yanked to the side by Vivi just in time to watch the purple truck careen past in a shower of sparks and groaning metal. At such high speeds, it rams straight into and through the guardrails separating the road from the rocky slope. Stunned, Arthur watches it disappear over the edge. If Lewis hadn’t already been dead then Arthur might have been worried. The sound of banging and crashing, as the truck presumably roles several times, has him physically wincing. Scratch that, he was worried. Very worried. Worried enough that it overtakes his mental panic and replaces it with deep concern. How durable were ghosts? He doesn’t know and that scares him. 

“Vivi! What the hell,” He finally manages to spit out, breaking his panic-induced stupor. He tries to rush past her, intent on checking for any signs of Lewis. He promptly slips. The combination of ice and his lack of a second arm throws off his balance and he ends up falling backward. He is saved from a collision with the ground by Vivi who seemed to now have supernatural levels of balance and was unaffected by the slippery surface.

“I …wow. That was… something.” Vivi breaths, examining the road still covered in planes of ice as if not quite believing it.

“Help me to the edge,” He interrupts, trying and failing to stand straight collapsing back on her, “I need to see if he’s okay,”

“Who’s okay? The ghost?"

“Yes.”

"You want to see if the ghost is okay? You said it was trying to hurt you?”

Arthur can practically see the concern and confusion now hanging over Vivi as she looks down from where she's holding him up by his one good arm.

“It’s just…a misunderstanding or something. I…we…might know this ghost.”

“What?”

“Just help me check.�� He motions with his remaining arm. Visible through the plums of steam are thicker lines of darkened smoke coming from the space where the truck had disappeared.

....

Note: I’m Sorry to everyone who’s showed interest in this AU but i’m not sure if i’ll continue this since i’ve lost motivation.  Here are some of the more coherent plot notes if people are interested in this AU. Feel free to ask questions if u have any :) . 

...

-   Shiromori shows up directly after Lewis’s crash, distracting Mystery. With all the steam obscuring their vision Arthur and Vivi don’t realise that Shiromori has arrived immediately, and there is enough time to briefly look for Lewis. 

- Lewis makes it out of the truck crash only slightly worse for wear and tries to attack Arthur. Vivi moves to defend Arthur, then Arthur has to defend Lewis and it’s all very awkward for everyone. 

- Lewis sees how scared Arthur is a reconsiders his revenge plot, hesitating long enough to get some dialogue in. 

 - Arthur finally gives Vivi a brief Lewis overview (sans the whole ‘he almost threw me off a fake cliff thing’). Vivi is suspicious and somewhat unconvinced. Lewis is slightly confused when Vivi starts referring to the alternate time line. 

- Not time for further discussion because Mystery is fighting Shiromori and, since he had warning this time, he’s winning. 

(fight scene stuff. Vivi rushes in to do something idk this part is not planned.) 

Vivi overused ice abilities. 

Lewis and Arthur have a moment alone. 

Vivi, slightly untrusting of Mystery, ends up stepping to stop the two from fighting. (Vivi ends up saving  Shiromori maybe??? a parallel  to the original timeline). A dramatic moment where Vivi rushes in ( maybe takes a blow for Shiromori idk would depend on Shiromori’s backstory) and ends up injured. 

- ??? makes an appearance, takes over Vivi instead of Mystery. 

Some background world building stuff

- Vivi’s ice powers might become unsealed and she is vulnerable to ??? (spiritual energy is damaging to humans if too much is used at once or if is not used correctly)

- Yukino family are spiritual channels making them both more powerful and more vulnerable. Mystery holds a seal to the ability and it eats up a tails worth of power to maintain. Same deal with Shiromori, Mystery holds a seal to keep her fully realised abilities in check which also eats up a lot of power.

- The seal is damaged when Mystery is hurt

- Arthur is unaffected by the ice because he’s got some odd time based supernatural power which has bonded to vivi spiritual signtaure as well. This is the reason ??? want to possess Arthur. One possible resolution was for Arthur to figure out how to rewind time to the seconds before Vivi gets possessed, giving her a chance to defeat ???. It takes a lot of power which Lewis ends up giving to him. 

[guynamedultimax]

You totally gotta hear this one... (A Smash Bros. small project that might make me a drawing god)

So, we doin’ Art in my class. The teacher said to make a 3D papercraft of a particular church-like building.

You’re asking: “What’s the special part of this?”

He said we can customize it in WHATEVER way we want. Literally any way.

Guess who’s drawing a Smash Bros. themed church?

(I’m drawing the front right now, I’ll do the other faces during the week since it’s for next Friday)

This is the plan:

FRONT: A Subspace Door with two columns, one wrapped in Galeem’s wings and the other in Darkhon’s wings. The columns raise a stone with the words “Super Smash Bros.”. To the upper face of the stone there’s a rose window with the Smash logo in it (the idea would be of being illuminated by the logo when u enter the church). Surrounded by the rose window are drawings of Master and Crazy Hand. The columns also divide in two sides the entrance, a bright one, and a dark one. For the front side of the roof I’m doing one side with Darkhon’s battle’s background and the other with Galeem’s background.

RIGHT SIDE: A drawing of the final battle of WoL with Kirby fighting Galeem and Darkhon. In one corner I’m drawing WoL’s symbol. On the roof half of the various symbols from the different universes that have a playable fighter will be drawn. In order of introduction from the Mario series to the Pikmin series.

LEFT SIDE: A montage of former Smash villains and enemies featuring Tabuu, Master Core and Giga Bowser. The upper side will feature different Team mooks (Polygon Team, Wireframe Team, Alloys and a few Primids, maybe also the Fighting Mii Team). The roof will have symbols from R.O.B. onwards.

BACK SIDE: Since it will be covered by a bell tower  I will only draw a Subspace biome on the visible roof.

BELL TOWER: I will divide the bell tower in different pieces like a mosaic and on each of them I will draw the playable characters’ design from the mural. The tower’s roof will feature on different sides Battlefield, Final Destination, Tabuu’s Residence and the Mysterious Dimension. The door for the bell tower will be a smaller version of the Subspace one and the clock will show the clock time of 1:21 a.m. (Kudos for who gets the reference).

If I can do it I might probably upload it here. See ya!

P.S.: Nevermind about the Everyone is Here banner, SmashWiki has a HQ version with Pirahna Plant and without the loop. Let’s just hope they can always update it.

[ryouverua]

Chapter 5 Investigation (2)

Are you telling me Shuichi is not the picture of silence and grace?

LEAVE ME ALONE YOU CREEPY BEAR

1 is here

 I.... I spent so much time moving slowly, with my heart just beating strongly against my chest - AND I’M NOT EVEN THE ONE THAT WAS IN DIRECT DANGER I DID THAT ALL FOR NOTHING

Is it bad that I’m enjoying Shuichi getting progressively more flustered and angry as we go on?

it’s a guilty conscience - all those forbidden trysts are weighing on him -

I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW IT!!! KOKICHI WAS GUARDING YOU WASN’T HE!!!

Yeah, so he makes an interesting comment about making things a level playing field. Why? And it seems... a bit vague... like, is the other person that knows this information the culprit, or the mastermind?

“You’re just attacking all of my flaws today, aren’t you.”

shuichi torrents old books and crime dramas pass it on

Now onto Maki’s lab, where to no one’s surprise we find the black bags with the crossbows one short. Could it possibly be the one from the bathroom? MAN I’m glad it’s Shuichi here so we’re not stuck wondering where the other could possibly be like we have video game-convenient amnesia

And we’ve confirmed Himiko was seen bringing a black bag...

Ah, man, I’m beginning to wonder if both Himiko and Maki were roped into Kaito’s plan. Had Kaito really not fully gotten over his personal issues with Shuichi? Was he still a bit uncomfortable, or did he not want Shuichi to feel responsible if something went wrong?

Are you putting together the same pieces I am, Shuichi? We had an awfully convenient scene with Kaito and Maki here a few nights ago!

How many trips do you think it took Kaito to carry all those weapons to the gym. 8′D That’s what, two flights of stairs between the lab and the gym? Damn boy, guess your muscles haven’t atrophied after all!

Shuichi how in the world did you notice that discrepancy in liquid! It’s minuscule!

This... sounds like the perfect poison to tip a certain weapon’s arrows with. 8/

With that said, what was the poison bottle in the bathroom for, then? A red herring? But it was empty, right?

Wait... wait wait wait - are those puns? For like, arsenic, hemlock and nightshade? 

*one google later*

OH STRIKE-9 IS STRYCHNINE! omg that’s actually really good 8′D Bless you translators, you’ve done good work here.

So basically there’s one, maybe two poisons in play, and possibly antidotes in case something went awry? So... where’s the Strike-9 antidote? Or is there one?

I do like Shuichi making some of the connections for us, like him making the (most likely correct) assumption that for every poison we have, there should be an antidote. I feel like I haven’t shown my appreciation for his evidence and mystery-solving side recently - I will say this again, once, twice, twenty times, but when it comes to the technical bits of the mystery, he is fantastic. Motive and emotionally? Not so great at it - but I think that’s because that involves a lot more abstract thinking. This is where he really shines.

So this is where we differ - he’s talking about how all the evidence points to Kaito being dead, and Kokichi being alive. I think that’s true on a surface level, but there’s a few key places that I may be ahead of him on that lead to a split in our thinking.

Which brings me to this - I’m surprised he hasn’t made the connection about Kokichi not being the mastermind like I have - but I think that’s because I have an outsider’s perspective. Once that basic premise flips, things are going to get a whole lot more ambiguous!

MY BOY!!! MY DEAR!!! MY SWEETCHEEKS!!!

.... D... Did I miss something???

You mean like EVERYTHING that was on the floor??

I mean, unless he can activate the hatch of the red exisal with the remote? Maybe? He’s proven really good at hiding around the campus though, so who knows. 8′D maybe he’s in the exisal wash clinging to one of those giant brushes lmao

But if he was... then we’d have to account for Kaito.

Unless they were both dead under there.

....

don’t you fucking do it DR.

I... sort of... understand Shuichi’s feelings, only because he clearly cared for Kaito so much...

but on the other hand, what a cruel way for Tsumugi to put it. Not, “do you think Kaito is still alive,” but “do you think Kokichi died,” do you prefer it that way - the connotations are completely different.

T.... Tsumugi... it may be best to stop talking now....

I’m starting to wonder if she can act so calmly because he isn’t dead, and she knows it - but I’ll save those thoughts for the end.

Kaito’s body is (probably) still warm Himiko, are you about to jump ship to Saiibo already??? 

OH HOLY SHIT

(BUTT NAKED?!)

What a brave, brave soul.

Y-Yes but, um, er, what would you have done if it... hadn’t... been a clue...???

Man, Shuichi’s first solo investigation since Chapter 1 when he discovered the mastermind’s door...

Actually, that might not be true. K1-b0 and Tsumugi have both been helping in small ways - well, K1-b0 much more than Tsumugi - so perhaps I can at least designate K1-b0 as his minor assistant in this chapter?

OW -

OW?!?!

Those are definitely the marks of a kid attacked by a crossbow!

So if they were both hit, then... was there a struggle? Kaito shot him, Kokichi managed to shoot him back? But if he was shot with two, and there was poison involved... would that be enough for Kaito to overcome him, illness and all?

Dear lord Shuichi I know you want Kaito to be alive but don’t act so happy about Kokichi being dead!

“MY NEW PARTNER!! AIBOU!!!”

LMAO K1-B0 WEREN’T YOU THE ONE THAT PULLED IT OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE

Yeah, now that’s the point I’m stuck on - though I do have a few ideas, one of them involving him being too weak to show himself at this point. 8(

Oh Shuichi, you’ll get there soon. I feel like that’s going to be one of the first illusions we need to dispel going in.

K1-b0 what in the world do you think Shuichi’s going to do in here?

In painful, awkward silence.

AND OH SHIT, THAT’S IT! IT’S GO TIME, BABY!

And whoever it is.... is going to have a lot of explaining to do. I mean seriously, that’s the thing I’ve been wondering - a lot of the issues have been dependent on not knowing who is dead. How can they maintain that mystery during the trial? Monokuma isn’t going to break his own rule for this - attendance is mandatory!

WHELP -

If.... If this is going where I think this is going... 

Man, I know you and Shuichi weren’t as close as you and Kaito, but would you be willing to throw him away so easily? I guess it’s easier when you know there’s nothing left outside of this place, but...

With a murderous aura rolling off of her in waves, glowing blood-red eyes glittering under thick, dark bangs and venom lacing every word out of her mouth: “Don’t you see Shuichi? I am hope, personified.”

“U-Uh, um -”

“H O P E , P E R S O N I F I E D !”

YIKES...

“Collateral damage falls under the same big ‘hope’ umbrella tbh.”

Who knew that Kaito would be the one acting as a sober second thought. Kaitoooooo we need yooooou D:

SERIOUSLY WHY ARE YOU SO NERVOUS??? HOW MUCH DID YOU KNOW ABOUT KAITO’S PLANS WITH THE CROSSBOW???

Oh Tsumugi, you always know just what to say. 8′/

You are literally the only one with a peppy attitude right now, K1-b0! I guess robots really can’t read the mood

“Well, I mean, they may have, but the word ‘hope’ kept cropping up so I blocked it all out.”

Which means what, exactly? The world will still be reduced to ashes. There’s just a handful of you left. What is the point of victory now? 

Now that’s an interesting thought. Hope as a burden...

.... Aaaaw. Fair, but aaaw. :(

SMASHES that fourth wall like it’s no big thing

OMG they’re.... really not here?!?! Kokichi.... or Kaito???

YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SAID EVERYONE HAD TO SHOW UP!!!

“Look, only I’m allowed to make grandiose speeches about despair and hope, okay? ONLY ME!!”

To think that after the last chapter’s events, Shuichi would be relying so strongly on his gut feeling, despite the evidence he collected pointing him in the opposite direction...

THEY’RE PURPLE? W... We’re really going in without knowing then?!

Alright, notes time!

Oh man, which section do I begin with. Important facts of the case? The basics? We don’t even have an established victim, so...

Alright, location. Top left of the sheet, just to start things off, I wrote down the three important areas: the exisal bay, the bathroom (and window), and the open area in the hallway. There were supplies taken from the two different labs, but the majority of the action happened in those places.

Suspects... well, ruling out Shuichi, there’s Himiko, Maki, Tsumugi, and K1-b0 - but there’s also Kokichi and Kaito, depending on who died! Man! That does throw things off quite a bit, doesn’t it?

Now for the victim... well. Okay. I divided them into two sections, each with a yes or no column.

Kaito Momota - Victim?

Yes

Shirt sleeve was visible from the press

He was sick/unwell - an easy target to kill, and on top of that -

If he died, he wouldn’t be considered a person by the press and would be crushed without a problem (aka a callback to the K1-b0 scene)

No

Shirt sleeve was conspicuous

He got confirmed help from the outside via crossbow, if not more

His illness he has nothing to lose - that could give him strength, and it could also push him to kill someone and become the blackened for the ‘greater good’. If he’s going to die anyway, why not?

Kokichi Ouma - Victim?

Yes

Can’t be found

Monokuma is back and the killing game with it

His clothes were hidden, a stark contrast to Kaito’s visible clothing in the press, and had bloodstains

The power cord was cut to hid the body’s identity, which is strange considering the shirt sleeve situation

No

He was in control of everything. How did he get overthrown?

Just like with Gonta, I’ve circled my decision... I think Kokichi may be dead after all. Shit.

Before I go on though, some more important evidence outside of the hangar include the exisals being powered down and Maki’s hammer being at the scene of where they were circling Monokuma and Himiko being spotted bringing a crossbow to Kaito. I really think this is all pointing to a rescue attempt being staged last night, without everyone’s knowledge!

Right, so to add onto the ‘Kokichi is probably the victim’ hypothesis, I need to establish that he isn’t the mastermind because a lot of the evidence hinges on that (aka Monokuma’s return and the killing game being back). Honestly, seeing the exisal formation around Monokuma really made me confident in that - it really just seemed like they were guarding him, not protecting. Actually, with that in mind, the real mastermind has a very strong reason to want him dead! They would definitely help with the escape/coup effort with that in mind!

So... if it went something like this...

Kaito hears about the escape plan from Shuichi. Fully convinced that Kokichi is the mastermind along with the others and suddenly with his own motivation to move as fast as he can because he doesn’t want the others to risk themselves against Kokichi and the exisals, he formulates his own plan. Maki visits him - he asks her to bring him a crossbow from her lab. Or... Himiko, maybe. Either way, a decision is made by either Kaito alone or Maki, if it’s through her, to have Himiko bring him the bag because Maki skulking around would immediately raise Kokichi’s suspicions.

I think the crossbow bolts were tinged with poison, though? Would that be with or without Kaito’s knowledge? I can see Maki maybe doing that without Kaito knowing - I don’t know if he would aim to kill, even if the crossbow to Kokichi’s back suggests otherwise. I’m sure his aim is pretty poor either way. Maki does seem very intent on ‘killing the mastermind’ and the fact that it’s Kokichi is almost convenient for her, honestly. Kaito certainly wouldn’t want her to kill again, but if she can do it through him she’d be able to kill Kokichi without giving Kaito a chance to stop her, as well as take on the responsibility for his death... I don’t know. I might need to workshop that. 8′D

Anyway, there was definitely a scuffle of some sort - that’s the only way they would both have wounds. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more tragic it’s all becoming - it’s really starting to seem like Kokichi was trying to stop the game in his own strange way, but couldn’t find a way to do it without building up this huge target on his back - and now, just when he’d managed to steal control of the whole thing, Kaito may have killed him while making the exact same mistake as Kaede...

Ah, right - so I think I’ve been waiting for this moment where Kaito gets pushed off the pedestal of hero, but I shouldn’t be surprised he would do it in a way where he would think he was doing the right thing before getting the rug pulled out underneath him - he would take on the role of the culprit, the embodiment of the ‘self-sacrificing hero’, and die thinking he saved everyone, or even worse, die knowing he fucked up in his attempts to be a hero for Maximum Despair. ffffff

Any last things... oh, no matter the situation with the poison, Maki was definitely involved in that. I’m sure she was the one who brought the antidote just in case Kaito got himself poisoned. I also think she was the most involved third party - I don’t think Kaito would have the strength to bring Kokichi to the press by himself, and I can see Maki tampering with all the evidence after the fact like the cord for the press and the marks on the panel outside. Maybe she did a lot of the work with one of the exisals? But in order for her to enter in the first place, she would have to have someone on the inside to open the shutter for her, and if Kaito had fought Kokichi by that point he’d be able to do it. It would explain why she’s acting so cagey right now - she’s covering for him! Though... if Monokuma is back, would she risk everyone dying to save him? Does she think he doesn’t have the power to enact the punishment if his controller is dead (even if they really aren’t?).

With that said... I still... think... Kaito is the culprit, despite Maki’s involvement. Maki seems desperate to help him survive this (pushing that Kaito’s the culprit, continuously bringing up Kokichi despite Monokuma being a functional AI), but Kaito knows there’s no time left for him, and the whole reason he took the role on of culprit in the first place was because he knew that. Is the reason he hasn’t shown up because he’s too weak to appear at this point? ooooh boy oh boy oh boy, this is... bad.... W-What are they going to do when they figure out Kokichi wasn’t the mastermind......

Anyway, man we’ll see how much is right and how much is wrong - will this be right on like my conclusion with Gonta, or tragically, hilariously wrong like my attempt at guessing Korekiyo’s motive? still better than the game’s

oh right but if Kaito is still alive this is still relevant

STOP DEATHFLAGGING KAITO 2018!!!!!

ps

that theme of every character taking at least one second distinct role/alias/persona continues - I had said Kaito was wearing both his actual role of ‘Ultimate Astronaut’ and as well as his proclaimed role as ‘Hero’, but I think ‘Culprit’ will work just fine here.... 8′(

[mariewyarbrough-blog]

How to choose an excellent U disk?

Have you ever bought a U-disk by the roadside and used it twice before? Have you ever tried to be a character loser for one year and finally vomited in anger after you selected a company's customized U-disk in activities such as the annual meeting? Well, if you have the above unfortunate experience, you should know that the U disk is divided into good and bad, and the key point is the U disk chip there... If you don't want to lose data, it's important to choose a good flash drive. You don't need to know how to recover deleted files from flash drive.

There are two main types of U-disk chips, one is the middle-end MLC chip, which can be completely brushed more than 3000 times; the other is the low-end TLC chip, which can be brushed only 300-500 times. As long as it is a normal retail U disk, we can generally use ChipEasy chip carefree to detect whether the chip used by U disk is TLC or reliable MLC.

How to detect whether the U-disk chip is a pitfalls TLC?

After turning on the ChipEasy chip, we can see that TLC is the type of flash memory that drives the customized U disk for life, but the flash particles do come from the famous Andisk, and the U disk score also reaches a relatively reliable 38 points.

It can be seen that the U disk chip often determines the U disk score. Well, let's talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the U disk of TLC chip.

Advantages and disadvantages of U disk of TLC chip

TLC chip U disk has only one advantage, that is, cheap, so that U disk production costs are reduced.

In fact, there is only one disadvantage of the U disk of TLC chip, that is, the number of erasable writes is relatively small, in other words, relatively short-lived.

The U disk of TLC chip is really short-lived?

Maybe many friends will ask, is the U disk of TLC chip really short-lived?

The answer is relative. Compared with those expansion disks and black U disks with quality chips, the U disks of TLC chips actually have a long life. At least a TCL of more than 4,000 will not have any quality problems in normal use.

Compared with those U-disks using MLC chips, the U-disks of TLC chips are much shorter. If other faults are eliminated, the life of a U-disk of MLC chips is 5 to 10 times longer than that of the U-disks of TLC chips.

Let's use another analogy.

For those who often write data repeatedly every day, "TLC" U disk is really short-lived, assuming two times a day, it will be scrapped in less than a year... Write here, suddenly know why some U disk only one year warranty time.

But for users who don't have more than a few U disks a week, assuming that a broken "TLC" U disk can last 250 weeks or about five years, twice a week. Write here, and suddenly understand why the U disk can be up to five years of warranty.

What does it mean that "TLC" U disk can only be written 500 times?

"TLC U disk" can only be written 500 times, which does not mean that the U disk will be destroyed 500 times. For a simple example, suppose an 8G U disk is written in 8G, even once; the second time is written in 3G, and the second time is written in 5G; the third time is written in 1G.

To put it another way, assuming that an 8G U disk can only be erased 500 times in its lifetime, the disk can theoretically load 4000G files over and over again in its lifetime. The U disk of MLC chip can load 24,000 to 80,000 G at least in its lifetime. This is why the U disk of TLC chip is relatively short-lived.

The U disk of TLC chip is in a huge pit.

The U disk of TLC chip has a problem that we all ignore. That is, if we delete and write data repeatedly to the same area of the U disk chip (U disk does not write balancing algorithm), once the number of times reaches 300-500, the U disk will die almost (it may be able to read normally, but it may not be able to continue to write data)...

Of course, we can use "mass production" U disk to make U disk come back to life (automatically shielding those bad areas in the chip).

Although SSDs and U disks use the same chips in a sense, SSDs will automatically balance the writing blocks, U disks will not, so that's why TLC is said to be shorter.

Will reading and not writing affect the life of TLC U disk?

The life of U disk is only related to erase and write, but not to read. So, in theory, no matter how many times you read the U disk, as long as the quality of the U disk hardware is acceptable, then the U disk chip will be okay, and the U disk will be okay. (Remember, this is theoretical)

How to prolong the life of U disk of TLC chip?

If there is a way to extend the life of TLC chip U disk, there is only one way, that is, after writing data, do not delete, until full, then delete all or format directly (equivalent to a complete erase). This avoids the possibility of duplicating data writing at a particular location.

How to choose a non-TLC chip U disk?

Finally, let's talk about the experience of purchasing U-disk.

For men and women who like good-looking things, there is only one point of experience that can be said. Buy it when you see it.

For the netizens who like to listen to small editors and other bricks, experience is to first ask whether the customer service U disk chip is TLC or MLC, and then look at the netizens'U disk writing and reading speed test sheets.

There is also an experience for reference. Udisk writing speed under USB 2.0 is generally only 5M/s, 8M/s is a high-quality Udisk, 10M/s is absolutely excellent! Because many USB 3.0-supported Udisk writing speed under USB 3.0 is also less than 10M/s (small edition also has such a pit father goods).

You can download the tool ChipGenius V4.00 chip wizard for U disk detection:

Software interface:

It is divided into two parts, one is the list box of USB devices, the other is the detailed information of the selected devices.

A: Date of database update. Every time the software is opened, it will be automatically checked. If there is an updated database, it will be updated. If so, use a local database; you can use it safely even on computers that are not connected to the Internet.

B: You can refresh the list of USB devices by clicking on the button next to it; it's rarely used in general.

C: Choosing USB devices that need to be tested (e.g. USB disk/MP3/MP4/camera/mouse/HUB...) is a bit complicated for novices, but it doesn't matter. The chip wizard will automatically locate the latest inserted USB disk device. Are you relieved?_________

D: Click on the next button to get a one-click screenshot, which is a very human function, because when you post for help, you need to upload the ChipGenius screenshot, so that the experts in the digital home can judge the problem or provide suggestions. Of course, if you want to copy and paste text information directly, it is also possible (as if it is more convenient to paste text information on the site). ________

E: This column shows mainly USB device interface information, USB 3.0, USB 2.1, USB 2.0, USB 1.1. It can also detect the power consumption of USB devices, which is now an energy-saving society and is necessary for every digital product (at least for digital players, it must be D!). As an aside, I have seen the member DIY USB power detector before, and I also want one. Now I don't want one.^^

F: The VID, PID and SN of USB devices are familiar to many professionals. Let me popularize science again: [vendor ID (manufacturer ID) and product ID (product ID). VID is to apply to the standard organization (of course you can write freely). PID is defined by the manufacturer itself. PID/VID can only identify a standard USB device. ]

G: There's nothing to say about the information of USB device suppliers; the revised version number of the device, which is a newly added function of V4, is mainly used by some professionals.

H: There seems to be nothing to say about the manufacturer of the product; the revised version number of the product, which is the original version number in V3.

I: The point has finally come! Chip manufacturers and chip models, the majority of U disk boot production enthusiasts / users are most concerned about the information (in fact, it is also our most concerned ^___________

J: For some counterfeit Kingston U-disks, we would like to remind you here that it may be fake black disks and other information. Let us take the chip wizard to buy U disk more confident! Is it very intimate? Do you feel warm ______________

K: The detected USB device or master matching data or tool software can be downloaded. Click on the Earth in front of you to open it directly

[princessamericachavez]

Do you have tips on taking notes during lectures... still cant get that shit right

Hey, there! 

Well... I’ve never been particularly good at note taking (mostly because my mind starts to wander and I end up doodling in all my notebooks) but I did pick up a few techniques that got me through HS and College. So let’s see if I can make sense of them and pass them along. 

First of all: pay attention. Yes, I know this is pretty basic, but hear me out. In my experience, it easy to be so into writing perfect notes that you miss like 60% of what’s actually being said in class, so you’re just transcribing rather than learning. Like I said, my notes were usually a mess, but I could usually ace tests because I’d actually always be listening (even when doodling) and putting attention and doing my best to understand what they were trying to teach us. So that’s like my most basic #1 class survival rule. 

Now, onto actually taking notes there’s two different kinds of notes that work for me. 

ORGANIZED NOTES:  this goes for teachers/lecturers that are clearly mentally organized. You know, the kind that get to the classroom with a plan and a slideshow and follow the syllabus themes order and stuff. 

For well organized teachers, well organized notes. This will make your life a thousand times easier when studying. Here are the basics for this kinds of notes:

Break it down in different levels. When the day starts, the teacher/lecturer will probably tell you what “today’s theme” is. That’s your MAIN TITLE. Then, whatever they start talking about first is your THEME 1. Which then will probably have sub-themes, and then, inside the sub-themes, the info. 

So, what you wanna do is: Number the themes, use letters for the subthemes and then dashes for the info.

If you can, buy a few colorful pens and add different colors to each level (title, theme, subtheme, info).

Example: 

HOW TO TAKE NOTES (title)

1. ORGANIZED NOTES (first theme)

a) when to take them

- when your teacher is organized

- when you are very organized

- if you need to put information in a more organized form to understand it

b) how to take them

- divide per levels (themes, subthemes, info)

- give each a different numbering system

- color code

c) etc.

2. MESSY NOTES (second theme)

a) etc, etc etc.

YA FEEL ME??? As you can see, the trick with this kind of notes is not writing everything as a matter of fact you write very little info but you organize it in a way that will make sense within the bigger theme. 

MESSY NOTES: so okay, some times your teacher/lecturer just talks for like one or two hours nonstop and while you know that they are giving you lots of info you also wouldn’t be able to break it down by themes or anything. 

This usually happens because either your teacher is scattered minded or because the theme is very complex and several concepts relate with each other in different ways. So what do we do? We adapt:

MAPS MAPS MAPS. 

Mental maps rock for this kinds of classes. 

Like, you just write words and phrases and connect them through arrows with each other, that way you can connect one concept to several others. (write in the arrows how they relate so that later on you don’t have to go to your notes and be like “wtf is that supposed to mean anyway???”).

All kinds of maps!!!! 

Like, if your teacher is clearly contrasting two or three topics just divide the page in columns and write info in each accordingly. 

Sketches!!!! I used to love drawing sketches, especially for like sciency stuff. Like, it’s much easier to understand a physics formula if, next to the hard info, you just do a drawing that roughly explains why it works that way. 

Also, when I studied communications, I used to do a lot of sketches for social theories, where you draw like the main people/parts involved and then with arrows or more drawings explain how they relate to each other and the effect they have.

Anything works. Basically:

FIND A WAY YOU CAN VISUALIZE THE INFORMATION. The most important part in this kinds of notes that you find a way to understand correlation of the different moving parts in the theme and find a way to see the full picture and how it all works together.

THE TRICKS:

This go for either kind of notes you wanna take:

If the teacher spends time talking about a topic: YOU WRITE IT DOWN. 

If the teacher repeats a concept: YOU WRITE DOWN AND UNDERLINE IT

If the teacher makes especial emphasis on something: YOU WRITE IT DOWN, UNDERLINE IT AND CIRCLE IT. THAT SHIT’S IMPORTANT Y’ALL

Like, just generally pay attention to what the lecturer says and how they say it, and use it to find out what information will be most important to write down. 

Also

like

I can’t stress this enough but 

IF IT’S ON THE BOARD IT’S IN YOUR NOTEBOOK

Like, if the teacher/lecturer takes the time to write something on the board? You definitively need to write that down.

If the teacher draws something on the board, you copy it on your notebook. 

There’s a reason they use the board!!!

ASK. 

ASK WHAT YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND.

ASK WHAT ISN’T CLEAR.

ASK WHAT YOU DIDN’T QUITE HEAR WELL.

Listen, we all get nervous or anxious about raising our hand in class, but it’s still a million times better than staring at your notes later and not really understanding what the hell they mean. 

ASK AND LISTEN AND /THEN/ WRITE THE ANSWER. 

Like, seriously. If there’s something you don’t understand and then while it’s being explained to you you are simultaneously trying to write it down, you’ll miss the information. 

LISTEN. UNDERSTAND. THEN, WRITE.

Also, a good thing to do, especially when you are trying to make sense of how different concepts or pieces of information correlate is confirm by asking. 

Like, if I have SUBJECT A, B and C. And I think they all relate in X way. I’ll raise my hand and ask the teacher exactly that. That way, if you are right, you are helping the rest of the class and confirming your understanding, but more importantly if you are wrong you can fix it in your notes instead of taking home wrong notes that will later confuse you. 

Also please listen: 

ALWAYS WRITE NAMES AND DATES. Like, there’s no way you’re always gonna magically remember hard facts like that, so you gotta write them down for later. Believe me.

FINALLY: 

Adding a few pictures of my notes form last year’s semester here so you can see for yourselves the weird mixed of organized and messy notes I take and like just a better view at all the stuff I said here. 

Really hoping this helps!!

Organized notes:

Messy Notes:

Sometimes I do both (+ a doodles so u can see I’m easily distracted):

Some color coded stuff:

ANYWAY I HOPE THIS HELPS!!!!!

[cojjyman]

Markdown syntax guide and writing on MWeb

Philosophy

Markdown is intended to be as easy-to-read and easy-to-write as is feasible. Readability, however, is emphasized above all else. A Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions. Markdown's syntax is intended for one purpose: to be used as a format for writing for the web.

Notice

You can use CMD + 4 or CMD + R to preview the result.

Headers

Example:

# This is an `<h1>` tag ## This is an `<h2>` tag ###### This is an `<h6>` tag

Result:

This is an <h1> tag

This is an <h2> tag

This is an <h6> tag

Emphasis

Example:

*This text will be italic* _This will also be italic_ **This text will be bold** __This will also be bold__

Shortcuts: CMD + U、CMD + I、CMD + B Result:

This text will be italic This will also be italic

This text will be bold This will also be bold

Newlines

End a line with two or more spaces + enter. Just typing enter to newline,please set：Preferences - Themes - Translate newlines to <br> tags enable ( default is enable )

Lists

Unordered

Example:

* Item 1 unordered list `* + SPACE` * Item 2 * Item 2a unordered list `TAB + * + SPACE` * Item 2b

Shortcuts: Option + U Result:

Item 1 unordered list * + SPACE

Item 2

Item 2a unordered list TAB + * + SPACE

Item 2b

Ordered

Example:

1. Item 1 ordered list `Number + . + SPACE` 2. Item 2 3. Item 3 1. Item 3a ordered list `TAB + Number + . + SPACE` 2. Item 3b

Result:

Item 1 ordered list Number + . + SPACE

Item 2

Item 3

Item 3a ordered list TAB + Number + . + SPACE

Item 3b

List with code block

1. Item 1 ordered list `Number + . + SPACE` code block must add empty line: ```js function fancyAlert(arg) { if(arg) { $.facebox({div:'#foo'}) } } ``` other text. 2. Item 2

Task lists

Example:

- [ ] task one not finish `- + SPACE + [ ]` - [x] task two finished `- + SPACE + [x]`

Result:

task one not finish - + SPACE + [ ]

task two finished - + SPACE + [x]

Images

Example:

 Format: 

Shortcuts: Control + Shift + I The Library's document support drag & drop or CMD + V paste or CMD + Option + I to insert the pictrue. Result:

In MWeb, you can use -w + Number to control image width, for example, set the image width 140px :

Links

Example:

email <example@example.com> [GitHub](http://github.com) autolink <http://www.github.com/>

Shortcuts: Control + Shift + L The Library's document support drag & drop or CMD + Option + I to insert attachment. Result:

An email example@example.com link. GitHub Automatic linking for URLs Any URL (like http://www.github.com/) will be automatically converted into a clickable link.

Blockquotes

Example:

As Kanye West said: > We're living the future so > the present is our past.

Shortcuts: CMD + Shift + B Result:

As Kanye West said:

We're living the future so the present is our past.

Inline code

Example:

I think you should use an `<addr>` `code` element here instead.

Shortcuts: CMD + K Result:

I think you should use an <addr> code element here instead.

Multi-line code

Example:

```js function fancyAlert(arg) { if(arg) { $.facebox({div:'#foo'}) } } ```

Shortcuts: CMD + Shift + K Result:

function fancyAlert(arg) { if(arg) { $.facebox({div:'#foo'}) } }

Sequence and Flow chart

Example:

```sequence Andrew->China: Says Hello Note right of China: China thinks about it China-->Andrew: How are you? Andrew->>China: I am good thanks! ``` ```flow st=>start: Start:>http://www.google.com[blank] e=>end:>http://www.google.com op1=>operation: My Operation sub1=>subroutine: My Subroutine cond=>condition: Yes or No?:>http://www.google.com io=>inputoutput: catch something... st->op1->cond cond(yes)->io->e cond(no)->sub1(right)->op1 ```

Result: ( Please enable Preferences - Themes - Enable sequence & flow chart, default is enable. )

Andrew->China: Says Hello Note right of China: China thinks about it China-->Andrew: How are you? Andrew->>China: I am good thanks!

st=>start: Start:>http://www.google.com[blank] e=>end:>http://www.google.com op1=>operation: My Operation sub1=>subroutine: My Subroutine cond=>condition: Yes or No?:>http://www.google.com io=>inputoutput: catch something... st->op1->cond cond(yes)->io->e cond(no)->sub1(right)->op1

More info: http://bramp.github.io/js-sequence-diagrams/, http://adrai.github.io/flowchart.js/

Tables

Example:

First Header | Second Header ------------ | ------------- Content from cell 1 | Content from cell 2 Content in the first column | Content in the second column

You can create tables by assembling a list of words and dividing them with hyphens - (for the first row), and then separating each column with a pipe |:

Result:

First Header Second Header Content from cell 1 Content from cell 2 Content in the first column Content in the second column

Strikethrough

Example:

(like ~~this~~)

Result:

Any word wrapped with two tildes (like this) will appear crossed out.

Horizontal Rules

Following lines will produce a horizontal rule:

*** ***** - - -

Result:

MathJax

Use double US dollors sign pair for Block level Math formula, and one US dollor sign pair for Inline Level.

For example this is a Block level $$x = {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \over 2a}$$ formula, and this is an inline Level $x = {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \over 2a}$ formula. \\[ \frac{1}{\Bigl(\sqrt{\phi \sqrt{5}}-\phi\Bigr) e^{\frac25 \pi}} = 1+\frac{e^{-2\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-4\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-6\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-8\pi}} {1+\ldots} } } } \\]

Result:

For example this is a Block level \[x = {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \over 2a}\] formula, and this is an inline Level \(x = {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \over 2a}\) formula.

\[ \frac{1}{\Bigl(\sqrt{\phi \sqrt{5}}-\phi\Bigr) e^{\frac25 \pi}} = 1+\frac{e^{-2\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-4\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-6\pi}} {1+\frac{e^{-8\pi}} {1+\ldots} } } } \]

Footnote

Example:

This is a footnote:[^sample_footnote]

Result:

This is a footnote:1

Comment And Read More..

Actions->Insert Read More Comment OR CMD + .

TOC

Example:

[TOC]

Result:

Philosophy

Notice

Headers

This is an <h1> tag

This is an <h2> tag

This is an <h6> tag

Emphasis

Newlines

Lists

Unordered

Ordered

List with code block

Task lists

Images

Links

Blockquotes

Inline code

Multi-line code

Sequence and Flow chart

Tables

Strikethrough

Horizontal Rules

MathJax

Footnote

Comment And Read More..

TOC

footnote text detail... ↩

[tanadrin]

Reordberend

(Part 8 of ?; start; previous; next)

It was two or three days before Katherine felt strong enough to stand. A few people seemed to come and go from the hall as she drifted in and out of sleep, and she would occasionally open her eyes to find others sitting around the fire at the far end of the room. Every time it seemed to be a different set of faces. The faces seemed mostly uninterested in her, though; they did not approach or try to speak to her. There were no windows in the high stone walls, and she had no idea whether it was early or late each time she woke. Whoever had prepared her bed had taken her coat, gloves, and boots, and bandaged her hands and feet. Both still hurt, probably from frostbite. In theory her cybernetics could fix that pretty easily, but there was still no response when she pressed the standby switch. At some point, she woke to find the hall empty. There was one of those densely embroidered overcoats the others wore, draped over the end of the bed, but no boots. Presumably, she wasn’t meant to go wandering about outside.

So she decided to have a look around. She shuffled slowly around the hall. It was twenty meters long, maybe, its metal roof supported occasionally by stone pillars made out of the same rough blocks as the walls. There were side rooms at odd intervals along both walls, their doorways protected from drafts by heavy draped cloth. It was the same material as the coats and the tapestries, some kind of soft, dense synthetic fiber. Some of the rooms looked like they were for sleeping, with beds slightly less improvisational than the one Katherine had slept in. One was a pantry, stocked with dried meats. The last one, to her surprise, contained books. Hundreds of them. They looked immense, and the shelves that lined all four walls were full.

Katherine had seen only a few print books in her life, outside the archives of Trinity College. They had all been small, slim volumes with paper covers, the kind of thing you could slip into a large pocket. These books were enormous. There was a stand in the middle of the room, next to a heavy table, about right to read at if you stood. So presumably they weren’t just for show. She selected a few volumes at random, then carefully slid them off their shelves. She piled them on the table, then opened one on the stand.

She didn’t know the language of the Dry Valleys People, and their script made matters even more difficult. It was a Latin script of some kind, she supposed. The letters were approximately familiar. She could pick out the difference between Russian and Arabic and Chinese and the like on the signs in Port Alexander, and these didn’t look anything like that. But the forms were strange, with curls here and long stems there that made it hard to work out what was supposed to be what. There were two different kinds of r, for one. And accent marks she didn’t understand. But what was stranger than that was the books themselves. They weren’t printed books at all. They were all clearly handwritten, every letter and every word just a little bit different, painstakingly copied out on pages made of animal skin, bound in wooden covers. Mostly the text was dense, without any kind of obvious punctuation, and few line breaks, but occasionally she would turn a page and find spread out across a whole page, or sometimes two facing pages, ornate illustrations of people and animals and abstract forms, stained with dark mineral colors. They were like the tapestries in the hall: here and there was an obvious figure, or something that suggested the head or haunch of a beast, but they were surrounded by sinuous shapes, flourishes that looked like detached pieces of architecture, united together with a strange sense of perspective and a compositional logic she couldn’t follow.

She could make neither heads nor tails of the first two books. One was filled with illustrations of plants and animals and shapes that might have been landforms, or icebergs. The last twenty pages, maybe, were nothing but diagrams of the stars. She noted with interest that the Milky Way and the two Magellanic Clouds were all annotated with the same word. Clearly the Dry Valleys People weren’t entirely ignorant of astronomy. And where the first book looked to have been written all by the same hand, the second seemed to have been compiled by dozens of authors; the shapes of the letters seemed to change every few pages.

The third book surprised her. Its cover was more ornate than the others. It wasn’t just plain wood that had been painted; it was a frame in which carefully carved pieces of ivory had been set, depicting four great winged creatures. What looked like a lion, maybe, and some sort of bird, and a person, and some kind of cow, maybe. She wasn’t sure anybody around here had ever seen a cow or a lion in their lives, but it was a good attempt. She opened the book, and a thrill of surprise ran through her. The text was in two closely-written columns, divided by large initial capitals; but each section was further broken up with little numerals just above the line. It looked for all the world like a Bible.

Part of one, anyway. And in no language she recognized. Katherine hadn’t read much Scripture as a kid, and none at all as an adult. Her mother liked to read her stories out of the Bible before bed sometimes, but they were paraphrases as often as not, and what Katherine could remember of the Bible was mostly a lot of conjunctions, and really awkward syntax. But there were four verses she did know by heart. The book she had in front of her was in four parts; just the gospels, if she had to guess. She went to the beginning of the first one, then counted down six chapters, and from the beginning, nine verses. She began to sound them out to herself as best she could. 

“Fader ure, du? Du de eyart on heyofon… heyofonu, si din nama gehalgod…” She was sure she was getting some of the sounds wrong. There was this d with a stroke through the top, and a little line over the u at the end of heofonu. But even if she was butchering it, she knew what she was saying. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And the words in front of her weren’t so different from that.

“To becume din rikke…”

“Rice,” someone said behind her. Two syllables, sharp and clear. Reach a. Katherine turned around. It was the woman who had shown her the map. She was leaning against the door, staring at Katherine with sharp, dark eyes that made her feel intensely self-conscious. Her face was framed by the hood of her cloak, on which scraps of frost still clung. She looked… puzzled? Amused?

She pointed at the book. “Rice,” she said again. “To becume ðin rice.“ Toe bekoom a theen reach a.

She straightened up and walked over to Katherine. She pointed at the beginning of the prayer.

“Canst ðu hit?” she asked.

“I’m--I’m sorry? I don’t understand,” Katherine said.

The woman took Katherine’s hand, and put her finger under the first word. Then she pointed at Katherine. “Sprec hit. Fram onginnung.”

Katherine looked down at the text, and tried sounding out the words again.

“Fader ure… du de--” 

“Ne.” The woman put a hand over Katherine’s lips, then pointed at her again. “Ne ræd. Ðu. Ðine geðeode.”

“My what? You want me to say it in my language?”

If the woman understood, she didn’t show it. She just stared at Katherine.

“Our father? Who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.” She started nodding as Katherine recited the words. When Katherine finished, she walked out of the room. Katherine stood there for a minute, feeling rather silly, wondering if she’d done something wrong.

When the woman returned, she held up her hand. She was holding Katherine’s cross necklace. She’d been wearing when she went overboard. She thought she’d lost it in the sea.

“Ðu eart Cristne?” the woman asked.

“Christian? Are you asking if I’m a Christian?”

The woman nodded. Katherine shook her head. “No. Not Christian.”

“Ne? Soðlice?” She held out the necklace and dropped it into Katherine’s hand.

“Ðu fricgest, ond ðu birst seo rod. Ac ðu eart ne Cristne?” She seemed to shrug.

She beckoned for Katherine to follow her, and they went back out into the main hall. There was a pair of heavy leather boots beside Katherine’s bed. The woman pointed to them and the coat, and Katherine put them on. She pointed to the fur-lined hood on the back, reminding Katherine to pull it up. Then she led her to the end of the hall, on the opposite side of the fire pit; there was a large doorway draped with layers of cloth and skins, which they pushed through. The woman fumbled with the heavy latch of a door, and they stepped out into dim half-light.

Katherine couldn’t be sure if it was very late at night, or very early in the morning. The sun was low against the ragged ridges that rose on either side of a long, low valley. Dark gray-brown slopes curved gently downward, to a floor littered with stones and debris. A sharp, bitter wind seemed to blow continuously, which Katherine’s coat only partly protected her against.

The hall was a large, long stone building that stood on one side of a little village square. Smaller houses stood around the square on the other sides, their doors facing toward the middle, all made of stone and roofed with metal, all windowless against the freezing wind. Katherine could see smaller outbuildings beyond, and paths leading down the valley, and up into the hills on either side. There couldn’t be more than a few dozen people in a settlement this size; she wondered how many villages like this there were in the Dry Valleys. She had imagined something rather cruder, to be entirely honest; the reports she had read had talked about makeshift shelters, barely adequate against the extremes of Antarctic weather.

Her companion led her across the square, to one of the small houses directly facing the hall. She opened the door, and they pushed their way through another heavy curtain, and Katherine found herself suddenly standing the middle of a small crowd of people.

There was a firepit against one wall of the house, with some small benches beside it, on which a few elderly-looking men and women sat. Their hair was gray to white, and the men all had thick, long beards. There were others sitting, on chairs, or on the floor, which was hard-packed sand and grit, covered with rugs, and maybe a half-dozen more leaning against the walls. The house had only one room, with a high ceiling, and as Katherine glanced up, she could even see, peering down from a wooden loft on one wall, more small faces. It appeared she was an object of some curiosity among the Dry Valleys People.

She felt a hand at her back. Her companion was pushing her forward, to the middle of the room. Every eye in the house suddenly seemed to be on her at once, and she looked around from face to face nervously. Some were old, some were young. All had an intensity of expression she had never seen before. It was like she’d shown up to a party conspicuously underdressed, times a million. Or she was surrounded by everyone she’d ever offended in her entire life. Come to think of it, she probably had offended them, just by being here. There was a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach.

One of the old women sitting near the fire looked at Katherine and said something.

“Come again?” Katherine said lamely.

“Nama. Ðin nama,” her companion said in her ear.

“Nama?” What? “Oh, my name.” She pointed to herself. “Katherine Alice Green,” she said slowly.

There was a little muttering, and the people by the fire seemed to be conversing among themselves. Finally, the old woman who had asked her name stood and took a couple steps toward Katherine. She had something in her hand, and Katherine realized it was Christopher’s letter of introduction. She said something else, rapid-fire, and looked at Katherine expecting an answer.

“I really don’t understand,” Katherine said. “I don’t speak your language. No module.” She pointed to her head. “No modules at all. My cybernetics are dead.”

This didn’t seem to help. The woman seemed to be getting annoyed with Katherine. She looked at her companion, and said something in an acid tone of voice, to which Katherine’s companion responded with a sharp, almost sarcastic-sounding retort. There was general muttering.

Things only seemed to get worse from there. Katherine’s companion and the old woman argued for a bit; then the people by the fire argued, loudly, among themselves. After a little while, some people from the sides of the room chimed in, and just when it seemed tempers were running a little too high, one of the men by the fire, who hadn’t spoken yet, stood slowly, said a single loud word, and everyone fell silent. He pointed at Katherine, and Katherine’s companion, and said something slowly, like he was intoning some ritual, then sat back down. This seemed to end the discussion. People began filing out of the house, the faces in the loft withdrew, and someone put a pot of something on the fire to cook. Katherine’s companion tugged on her sleeve, and led her out.

They went back to the hall. Katherine’s bed in the main room had been cleared away; instead, her companion led her to one of the side rooms, and pointed to a bed.

“Thanks,” Katherine said. She was suddenly very, very tired again; even mild exertion seemed to be draining for her. “What was that all about?”

Her companion left the room, then came back a few moments later carrying the book of Gospels. She handed it to Katherine.

“Ræd, ond leorn. Ðu sceal ure geðeode leornan, ond arolice.”

Katherine sank down onto the bed. It was exhausting, not understanding anything anyone said to you. To try to patch together meaning from the one word in ten that sounded vaguely familiar. Stupid as it was, she wanted to grab the woman and yell at her to just say something she could understand.

“I don’t understand,” she said angrily. “I don’t fucking understand.”

The woman seemed to understand her frustration, anyway. She squatted down next to the bed, and put her hand on Katherine’s knee. She closed her eyes, and seem to think very hard for a moment.

“Learn. Our tongue. Learn. From book. Swiftly.”

“Why?” asked Katherine. “What happens if I don’t?”

“Out.” The woman gestured, in the vague direction of the hills. “You, out.”

Katherine felt her stomach sinking. “If I go out there alone, I will die. Die? Like, to death. You know that, right?”

The woman nodded.

“And if I learn your tongue, I can stay?” Katherine asked.

The woman shrugged.

“They deem. Learn not, go out. You learn, they choose fate. Go or stay. I know not.”

So that was that. She would have to learn their language, and maybe, just maybe, they would let her stay if she did. Otherwise, they would send her out of the valleys, into the Antarctic wastes, where she would die. Alone.

Just fucking great job, Katherine, she thought to herself.