#whatever happens it'll probably be a setup for that

[master-thief-gray-shadow]

The fact that tomorrow is the last Suletta Sunday...shit's making me anxious

[nobodyfamousposts]

Do you think people cling on too much to Adrien's high road advice as a reason to salt on him?

Yes, especially when there are plenty of other reasons to salt him that have previously been ignored. But to that end, it DOES serve as the final straw for people after a SERIES of problems that had previously gone unaddressed.

Much like many aspects of the show, Adrien has displayed problematic behaviors that have been overlooked and waved off in the earlier seasons. This is likely or especially due to the way how in each and every incident, Adrien was narratively shown to be correct. In his stance. In his choices. In his behaviors. He was always right. It doesn't matter if he shouldn't be, because he is.

Now unless you're a hater or anti or salter or whatever negative name people tend to get for not liking a story as it's presented, readers and watchers tend to follow along with the narrative as it presents things and how it presents things. It's a common setup in any story. Protagonist Centered Morality, I feel framed best by Susan in the Discord series:

Susan: ...and then Jack chopped down the beanstalk, adding murder and ecological vandalism to the theft, enticement and trespass charges already mentioned, but he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done. Which proves that you can be excused anything if you're a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.

Pretty much this. Most people will follow what the narrative says because it's the narrative. If the narrative wants you to focus on Marinette being embarrassed, you're going to focus on how much she's cringe. And if the narrative wants you to view Adrien as a perfect sunshine boy who never does anything wrong, anything he does is going to be framed through that lens and it's difficult to break from that view and call out the times when he is wrong. Not unless he does something particularly severe.

It should be noted that outside of Chameleon, Adrien had, among other things: lied to his partner, caused someone to get akumatized and had his partner take the blame, was messing around during life-threatening and city-threatening situations, did nothing as Chloe tormented people right in front of him, DEFENDED Chloe after she tormented people right in front of him, bailed on an event with friends to set up a date with someone who said she had other plans and then got mad at HER for it, tried to flirt or confess in the middle of an active crisis which took necessary attention away from said crisis, caused himself AND his partner to get hit by akuma powers and needlessly be taken out of commission.

And yet people could mostly overlook these instances. They weren't his fault. Chloe is his friend. Marinette is worse. He's just a kid. He has a tragic backstory. So on and so forth. Easy to overlook. Easy to ignore in favor of the Sunshine Boy setup people were given and want to believe in.

But there were three major instances that really grabbed people's attention and stayed:

His attitude in Frozer. It probably wouldn't have been so bad except this rejection already happened in Glaciator, where he was supposed to have learned a lesson and accepted just being Ladybug's friend and now apparently didn't, despite it happening earlier that very season. Then in response, he decides to date Kagami as a rebound, drags Marinette with him on his date (without realizing how he's asking his friend to be a third wheel on a DATE) and focuses on her when he's supposed to be with Kagami, throws another tantrum in the middle of an akuma fight and refuses to work with his partner when the city is literally frozen, and requires Ladybug to apologize to him for hurting his feelings before he finally working with her. Again. But okay, he's a teenage boy in love. Not used to rejection and got his feelings hurt. Lovesquare is endgame so of course it'll work out anyway, so it's not like this bump in the road is really going to matter long term so we shouldn't hold it against him. Fine. Dumb, but fine. We've forgiven it in other shows and other poorly done teen romances, we can forgive it here.

His behavior in Syren in which he demanded to know secrets from people when the secrets were not theirs to tell him, and went so far as to attempt to blackmail his kwami (which was funny) and threaten to quit and abandon the Ring that the big bad is after while the city is flooded and people were trying to not drown (which was decidedly less humorous). But it was played for wholesome when Plagg reassured him and he got what he wanted by Fu revealed himself even if Adrien did nothing to actually show he earned it, so all's well that ends well, I guess? And people could justify it because "they're partners" and "part of a team" and "she should trust him" and "it's not fair he's the only one left out of the loop" and "he has a right to know" and just general "Fu is an idiot" (which is admittedly hard to argue). So people were disgruntled, but most were willing to overlook it.

His holier than thou lecture to Marinette in Maledictator over everyone being happy Chloe was leaving. When all Marinette was doing at the time was watching everyone else have fun. When Adrien specifically guilted Marinette and not any of the other actual partiers involved who were literally throwing a party over his friend leaving and probably should have warranted a lecture more than the girl just standing there. When the girl in question was also Chloe's main target and out of everyone had valid reasons to be happy that her bully won't be around to bully her anymore. When Adrien himself has historically been present to witness Marinette being targeted including twice he witnessed Chloe attempt to steal from Marinette, once he witnessed her try to blackmail Marinette, and numerous other times when she actively caused harm to Marinette and others. When Adrien then proceeded to sit in a corner and pout rather than do anything else or just leave if the party really bothered him. When Adrien, if he really cared so damn much, could have gone after Chloe himself! Or y'know...have stood up for Chloe earlier when she got upset in the first place. But fine, okay, Chloe is his childhood friend. So maybe he's just being biased and oblivious to the fact that his "friend" is a horrible person. But people can excuse and justify it in that they are friends and friends support each other, and the longer someone is friends with someone else, the harder it is to break from them. And that Marinette was probably just the target of his lecture because she was the one there in the moment (and the only one who would listen without arguing). And her calling Chloe useless was "mean" despite it being quite frankly the least of what she could have said about her in the moment (coughcough theft cough blackmail cough punished the entire school cough TRIED TO CRASH A TRAIN AND NEARLY KILLED HER AND HER PARENTS COUGH-FREAKINGCOUGH). Fine. Childhood friend means Adrien supports her in all her horrible and even deadly actions. Frustrating, but again, able to be explained and you can see where he's coming from.

These are all things that definitely got Adrien some side eye at best and some detractors at worst.

BUT if you really think about it, all of these examples are objectively worse than his lecture to Marinette in Chameleon. Not accepting being told "no" and continuing to chase a girl who isn't that in to him (while leading on another). Putting lives at risk over personal wants that could quite honestly wait until AFTER the crisis is over. Defending someone who is harmful and guilt tripping the victims. Compared to those, telling someone to leave a liar to their lying seems relatively minor.

So why this? Why here? Why is it Chameleon that has people saying enough is enough? Why is it this episode that is causing the sunshine boy to be so tarnished and the subject of salt in fan fiction?

Because this is the time when it couldn't be rationalized. There wasn't even a valid sensible canon-based reason for his stance. The arguments that Adrien "knew confronting her wouldn't work" or that he "handled her like paparazzi" or that he "knew Marinette previously failed when she tried" (even though he wasn't there and didn't know) or that he "didn't think anyone would believe him" don't come from canon. Those were fan arguments made after the fact to justify him after the base was broken and the outcry became too much to ignore.

This case didn't have any of the ties or rationales of the previous incidents. Adrien wasn't defending himself or his place in a partnership. He wasn't fighting for his love or his dream or an outcome he wanted and that we all knew was coming—if anything, he was fighting against her. He wasn't defending a friend like he did with Chloe—I mean, it's pretty evident he doesn't even really know or like Lila at this point, and for all intents and purposes, this is apparently only the second day he actually had any interaction with her. There was no notable reason Adrien really had for why he essentially chose to protect Lila over literally anyone else as she wasn't a friend and it wasn't in his interests to protect her from a consequence that wouldn't hurt her short term as much as it would likely harm everyone else long term.

And yet, he still defended her and her freedom to lie. Over Marinette. Over Ladybug. Over his friends. Over any sense of right and wrong he seems to have no problem throwing around when it comes to Marinette/Ladybug. Which seems like he targets her 9 times out of 10 compared to pretty much anyone else by this point. So it's little wonder then that people who didn't already hate the lovesquare because of the cringe factor from Marinette started to hate it for being incredibly unhealthy given that their relatively limited interactions tend to involve him lecturing her for failing to live up to his double standards that only seem to apply to her in any given situation.

This incident by itself doesn't seem like much, but when looked at as part of the series as a whole, it's when people couldn't keep overlooking this trend. Where he seems to admonish the wrong person. Where he acts like a mouthpiece rather than a person. Talks like he’s wise in a situation he seems to have a childish and one-sided view of. Acts like a brat but is treated as though he has no accountability in the situation he causes. Where he is wrong but no one and certainly not the narrative acknowledges it (not until season five and two seasons too late when it doesn't matter and he's still not the one facing consequences for it).

And it's not like he actually follows the stances he himself promotes. In Chameleon, canon presents him with this idealistic stance that Lila could change if given a chance, except he doesn't give her a chance. He doesn't push her to be a better person. He doesn't support or in any way help her to be the better person he insisted to Marinette she could be. He also doesn't do anything or warn anyone when she keeps lying and actively harms the people he says he cares about. He doesn't do anything one way or the other other than some lackluster encouragement to stop lying and a warning that goes nowhere. It just further gives credit to the argument that Adrien either simply doesn't care about other people, or that he doesn't care for Marinette specifically. Neither is conducive to the lovesquare or the increasingly tarnished view of the "sunshine boy".

And it could have worked. Canonically and intrinsically to his character. His idealism and trust in the wrong person comes back to bite him. He learns and grows from it. Except that, much like with nearly everything he does in canon, Chameleon set it up that Adrien was the writers' mouthpiece and thus was not "wrong". I'll grant that they did have him admit it and apologize to Marinette for it two seasons later, but it is pretty evident that during Chameleon, they intended his lecture to be right, with no foreshadowing and no implication otherwise. And I'm fairly certain they only backtracked and had him do that much because of the amount of fan outrage over the episode.

So yes, I think his lecture in Chameleon was really a final straw since unlike Chloe, Adrien has NO relationship with Lila to justify his defense of her. Especially when the argument is in favor of letting her lie to the people he's supposed to care about. That combined with how jarring it was how most of the class just sided with Lila over the seat issue in the first place, and I think people were less inclined to just ignore the problems in the episode specifically and with the series as a whole as they were compared to the first and second seasons. Not just with Adrien, as we see that Alya also started getting more callout and salt since then as well as more retrospective scrutiny over her behavior in earlier seasons.

But yeah...Chameleon was where things seemed to take a 180, so it's bound to be the deciding episode and deciding incident that sticks out in people's minds with these characters. That's probably why it ends up the go-to for salt and complaints on the characters involved instead of any of the other incidents that would arguably warrant it more.

[rad-roche]

Pulp Covers And How To Paint Them

With the rise of cheap printing in the early twentieth century, mass-marked paperbacks swept the world, each offering lurid thrills for obscenely low prices. Sex, sadism, and incredible violence for as little as ten cents. An easy purchase to slot in between fifty cigarettes a day and enough bourbon slugs to kill a small garden.

Pulp fiction is where some of the greats of American literature cut their teeth, including the big three, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald and Dashiell Hammett. The contents of these stories, both the dizzyingly good and astoundingly terrible, have been absorbed and digested and remixed and regurgitated in nearly every permutation imaginable, fuelling pop culture some one hundred years on. This isn't an essay on that. Nobody likes to open a tutorial and be greeted with a wall of text. The history is for another time.

But it is about how to paint it.

Don't let the pre-amble intimidate you, it's not as hard as it sounds. You will need:

Painting software with some image editing capabilities. You don't need all the bells and whistles of Photoshop, but I wouldn't recommend something like MSPaint, at least not to start with. I'm using Clip Studio Paint.

A really beat-up paper texture. The grungier, the better.

A lightly-textured brush. Here are the specific brushes I use, 99% of which is the well-named rough brush. Try and avoid anything with any impasto elements.

Go to your colour-picking tool and use the 'select from layer' option. Doing all the painting on a single layer is going to make your life easier.

A complete willingness to make mistakes and, instead of erasing, painting over them. It generates much more colour variation and interest! Keep your finger off the E key.

Good reference! That painting is a master copy of Mitchel Hooks' art for Day of the Ram. Find a style you really love and want to learn? Have no clue where to begin? Do direct studies!

Let's not worry about whatever is happening in the background. It's probably fine. Let's get started! Pulp magazine art is a lot more varied than you might first think, so don't agonize over having a style that 'fits' or not. I'm also specifically aiming for something you'd see on the cover after printing, not the initial painting they would use for printing. The stuff I'll show here is a pretty narrow band of it, but here are some general commonalities. This is a painting by Tom Lovell.

Let's dig into this.

The colours are very bright and saturated, but the actual values, the relative lightness and darkness of them, are actually grouped very simply! You can check this by filling a layer full of black, putting it on top and setting its mode to colour. If the value of a painting looks good, you actually get a lot of leeway with colour. But here's what I think is the most important thing to keep in mind.

The darks aren't that dark, and the lights aren't all that light! Covers are paintings reproduced on cheap paper. Anything you wouldn't want to happen in the printing process, you lean into. Value wash-outs, lower contrast, colours getting a weird wash to them, really gritty texturing. So let's get painting! Here's my typical setup.

That bottom folder is the painting itself. The screen layer is the grungy paper texture. To get the effect you want, put it down, invert its colour, then set it to screen. That washes out your painting far, far too much, so to compensate, I put a contrast layer up on top. Fiddle around with the settings, but this is where mine ended up sitting.

Note I'm saying this before even starting the painting: you want to do this as early as possible. This is where the 'select from layer' colour picker comes in handy. You can paint without worrying about the screen or contrast layer. Something not looking right? Enable your value check layer and keep painting. When you turn it off, it'll still be in colour. Here's a timelapse so you can see what that looks like.

And when you check the values...

They're pretty simple! This isn't a be all and end all, but I hope it serves as a decent primer. I want thirty dames on my desk by Monday!

[spiderh0rse]

Thinkin about Khonsu time bubble civilization stuff again,,,, it'd have to be a very precise setup. Little to no waste, ever. Specific types of capes. A shaker with weather control or someone who can force the growth of plants. Very few that break conservation of mass, to help with space conservation. Maybe some regenerating Brutes or Changers. No matter what, unless a cape is functionally or literally immortal, (or fringe cases where they are or can become inorganic) they aren't coming out the other end of that bubble.

It's sped up time within a very small space. To have a population of humans reproduce with enough genetic variance to not result in severe inbreeding, you need at least thirty. Which the bubbles can probably collect! It's just a matter of a few people thinking ahead and some very good luck.

Even then the people inside would probably have to end up very comfortable with corpses, or dispose of them in some other way. Not enough space or resources to justify just burying them, imo. And whatever the time of day it was when that bubble forms, it'll be the same time of day the entire time they're in there. So sunburn or a vitamin d deficiency are going to be issues the entire time people are in there.

Also, given how shards bud, basically all offspring in there is going to get a power. And second gen triggers happen much faster. Same is theorized for third gen, and I'd imagine onward. So towards the end of the bubble's existence (assuming it holds for long enough), a kid could get a horrible for the first time. Exaggerating a bit but I hope you catch my drift

[overlord-of-chaos]

Thoughts on the end of Good Omens 2, as an aroace

So, I'm going to preface this with a few things, since I would very much like anyone who does choose to read this to do in good faith, and I would like to establish my own. Firstly, this is absolutely not a criticism of anybody's headcanons. Crowley and Aziraphale, of all characters, have incredible potential for headcanoning, and I love seeing the fandom's wide and varying interpretations. Secondly, what you see here is not a complete and entire reflection of my opinions of the characters mentioned or the show. It is very specifically me airing my grievances and concerns and venting because I cannot cope with not saying anything at all. I love Good Omens, but I am not going to add caveats to my every sentence to make sure that you, the reader, are certain I'm not just bashing one of the most fantastically queer shows I know. Thirdly, if you vehemently disagree with everything I'm saying here, you're free to ignore it. This is not for you. You're also free to ignore it if you do agree, but at this point I'm going on the assumption that that'll be a smaller portion of whatever audience this reaches anyway. Fourthly, if you are in a similar position to me and sort of spiralling at the prospect of your comfort QPR not being a QPR anymore, then maybe you should read the bullet points at the end. I've sort of got my shit together by then.

So, that said, I would like to take this post as an opportunity to say that I worry about where Good Omens is going. Not in a plot-related sort of way as such, we all know it'll all be alright in the end, more in terms of representation - specifically, whether, by the end of the show, I'll be able to see myself in the characters anymore.

Now, why is this? Well, as you may have guessed from the title, I'm aroace. And when I first saw the Good Omens show, I hadn't really been involved in the fandom at all. This is due to a variety of reasons, including that I wasn't on any of the platforms that enable me to engage in fandom now, and because I'd only read the book a couple of months prior. I didn't know, as I do more now, that one of the main interpretations of the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale before the show came out was romantic, and I wasn't expecting to see that in the show. I don't tend to expect romance in most circumstances. I more end up picking up on the common tropes used to develop romantic relationships in fiction and observe with little enthusiasm as a character dynamic 'blossoms' into something I cannot comprehend. (This is not to say I dislike romance in everything. I simply dislike it being the one and only significant dynamic in pretty much everything all the time.)

I was well aware that the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale in the show had been expanded and developed along the lines of a romantic relationship, and I really liked the way it was handled. But at no point did I think this meant that their relationship had to be read as romantic. I thought I could see something of myself in them, and see a relationship that was something other than romantic. At the risk of sounding insulting, I did not feel like their relationship could be anything as simple as a romance. I saw two beings who very deeply loved each other in a nonromantic way, and thought hey, maybe this is a dynamic I could see myself in at last. Maybe this isn't the same old kind of love story.

I thought, perhaps naively, that no matter the hinting from the cast and the way that season 1 was set up, there would always be the room to interpret Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship as platonic (or queerplatonic, specifically, as I read it). And then...well, I imagine you all know what happened then.

From a more objective (probably not quite the right word, but can't think of a better one) analytical perspective, the kiss was one of the hardest-hitting moments in any story I've ever watched, or read. The setup was amazing, the acting was impeccable, and I could not imagine anything else having the same impact. As Neil Gaiman himself has said, no one could deny that it happened. I think it was categorically the right narrative choice. That's not what I'm debating here.

What hurts, what really fucking hurts, is that a lot of the time, I don't feel like there's space for my aroace/queerplatonic reading of their relationship anymore. Some of that's on me, because headcanon is headcanon and there's no reason why I should assume my reading of the relationship is wrong, or canonically impossible. (I mean, Ineffable Bureaucracy is canon. Anything is possible in this fandom.) However, it does mean that I do not quite have the same ability to bury my head in the sand and say that Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship is not set up to be read specifically as a romance.

What worries me is that I am very well aware that I am in a disappointed minority when thinking that their relationship will continue to unfold by hitting key romantic plot points until the door for an aroace interpretation isn't even left ajar. I am in a minority that the writers of Good Omens will likely never hear, and even if they do, I certainly wouldn't expect them to change the coming plot for me.

Most people take the kiss as explicit confirmation that the love between Crowley and Aziraphale is romantic. There's the occasional 'it's okay, they can still be ace!' post dotted around, but no one seems to be talking about the possibility of them being aromantic anymore. They weren't doing that much previously, admittedly, but all I seem to see, from other aro people included, is discussion around how they're feeling about the romance between them being made canon, while I'm sitting here thinking is that the only thing that kiss is allowed to mean? It means that I find myself wondering whether I should give up on seeing the relationship as nonromantic, if only so that I am not as disappointed when season 3 rolls around. (There had better fucking be a season 3. Amazon better fucking pay the writers, pay the actors and renew shit instead of just cancelling it.)

I think one of the main things that makes me uncomfortable is the assumption that the next logical step in Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship is sexual. Because that's how these things normally go, right? You have an ostensibly platonic relationship with romantic undertones, then it becomes explicitly romantic, and then the next 'natural' progression is sexual. It's the same thing every single time. I think it's been vaguely mentioned that they're asexual by virtue of not being human (almost all ace rep being in nonhuman characters is a whole other essay and not something I'm going to get into here), by Neil a few times and in the book, but since I wasn't expecting there to be so little space to read their relationship as nonromantic, I don't know that I can continue to expect it to seem nonsexual too.

And even if that's not the route they take, I don't know that I can trust them not to play up a romantic dynamic, particularly when I think a lot of people would be disappointed if the relationship is 'just' platonic, or platonic-leaning. And I get that, I do. We've been queerbaited enough, but that doesn't mean that something not being romantically queer means it isn't queer at all. I have no idea how one would manage to frame a relationship as explicitly and specifically queerplatonic; there isn't really a template for it (though my god would I love for Good Omens to be the show that makes one). I imagine it would be much more realistic to perhaps hope for something that isn't exclusively and explicitly romantic.

One of my concerns, of course, with a queerplatonic route is that it would be upsetting to people who do see them as a romantic couple to have that door be closed to them (I really don't wish an experience like that on anyone), and that it would leave more space for queerphobic assholes to claim that they're 'just friends'. But I've spent my life hoping for a story that doesn't push platonic love to the wayside when there's the potential for romance, especially when the relationship starts out as something brilliantly compelling and nonromantic. I've spent my life trying not to internalise the idea that the way I love, the only way I can love, isn't enough, even when it seems to be the message that's being shouted with almost every story I ever encounter. A lot of the time, it doesn't bother me anymore. I'm used to it by now. But most of the stories I know haven't meant as much to me as Good Omens. I didn't see the same space to read a relationship in a nonromantic way as I did in Good Omens.

Anyway. I figure either I post this, two people read it and then it disappears into the aether, or I wake up tomorrow morning and find I have made enemies of over half the GO fandom. It doesn't really matter. I think I have accomplished what I wanted to do when I started writing, which was to lay everything out logically for myself so that the mounting evidence not in my favour did not seem quite so insurmountable. And honestly? It doesn't anymore. My brain is very often my own worst enemy, and articulating my emotions somewhere means that I can look at all of this and conclude the following:

Most of the reason why I do not think I can view Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship as nonromantic anymore is because everyone else thinks the ending confirms their hopes of it definitely being romantic. If nothing else, I'm genuinely delighted that it's bringing so many people that joy. We all deserve that kind of joy, and all the canonically queer relationships media has to offer. If nothing else, there is so much joy to take in other people's wholehearted adoration of what season 2 meant to them.

Most of my concerns about how season 3 will go are largely unfounded and entirely hypothetical. Most of it hasn't even been written yet, and can't be until the WGA strike is over anyway, so no one can even hint at how it'll go because it is not, in fact, going.

People will read what they will into Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship dynamic, and so can I! Such are the joys of varying interpretation and headcanon and all that jazz.

One kiss does not close any queerplatonic (or aroace) doors. Nor would a hundred. One of the many joys of queerplatonic relationships is that they can be whatever the fuck you want them to be, including a dynamic that would typically be read as romantic, but isn't.

A romantic relationship is not inherently superior to a platonic one. A romantic relationship is not inherently superior to a platonic one. A romantic relationship is not inherently superior to a platonic one, and nothing in the canon of Good Omens has ever stated this not to be true.

No one who is involved in Good Omens has ever at any point, to my knowledge, said that Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship has to be romantic, or even implied that one must see it that way, or that seeing it otherwise means seeing it as lesser. I am reading this into things because I expect it of the world. I should probably stop.

Short of some truly spectacular feats that may or may not be illegal, there is absolutely nothing I can do to influence the people creating the show, so what I get is what I get. If I can't change it, I might as well enjoy it. There's so much to enjoy, after all. No point stressing over maybes.

If you got this far, I am impressed, I'm not sure I'd have read this much. I hope that this post perhaps gives you a little to think about, preferably a positive something. I also hope that you bear in mind that this is a rather venty braindump and should not be taken as a damning indictment of anything or anyone. I'll probably delete this sometime soon, but I was seized by an urge to say something, and so say something I have, even if I probably forgot at least half my original points.

[dollsonmain]

I got up at 4:30 am to have some peace and quiet to work on boring administrative tasks that I need peace and quiet to work on because these tasks confuse me, and Son was up as soon as I was.

Noisy.

Still trying to think how to handle tagging receipts for things like when I buy big lots of dolls and then split them up into other lots, etc.

This is doll line, name, date photographed (not date arrived...) and receipt number.

I guess this works for things I know the ID of and intend to fix and either keep or sell individually, though these folder names are getting goofy. I just need to figure out how to shorthand the digital receipts. AliExpress can easily be AE, Goodwill physical store could be GW, and online auction GWA.... eBay EB, etc.

Doing it this way makes sure I don't have multiple duplicates of receipts stored on my already too full hard drive.

Can you see a problem I always have with sorting and organizing, though? Sub-sub-sub-sub compartmentalizing and trying to put too much info in weird places? This happens every time.

As for giant piles of dolls I don't want to ID, though...

I don't know. These probably are going to be fixed up and tossed in a lot box, though I know I'm going to behead "Barbie 003" and toss her body in my already overflowing stash of articulated bodies and then putting this head on whatever body I swap that head to this body and... Which I also don't know how to keep paperwork for. It's probably not even that difficult I'm just having the BRAIN GO NYOOM through all options and possible outcomes and being overwhelmed thing happening.

I guess in those cases I can just be like "Nope, I don't have a receipt for that. Oh well."

Also, this photo setup isn't going to work for dolls without moving a lot of stuff in the setup and I don't want to do that. They're too tall on the cake stand and if I put them on the floor, their legs are cut off. It'll probably be fine for smaller dolls, if at a weird angle. Which doesn't matter except for individual sales photos because the feet should be shown. I guess I could put them on the stand upside down to photograph their feet. That's kind of weird.

This hobby sure is a lot of work.

[jeffgerstmann]

I knew Nick Khan and Triple H weren't talking to Meltzer or any of the other bottomfeeders. Now some of them are trying to attribute Seth Rollins being mad at Punk in front of the crowd as evidence of "real life heat" and a portent of drama to come. Stay classy, fuckers.

I think the amount of stupidity on everyone's part here is really sad in a "media literacy" or "how the real world works" or "are people really this dumb?" kind of way.

Like, as one example, people are out there saying OH SHIT THIS GUY SAID PUNK WASN'T SIGNED A COUPLE WEEKS AGO AND HE WAS WRONG FUCK HIM WHY DO PEOPLE TRUST THIS PERSON GRRRRR. But back when that reporter reported that... that was true. By WWE's own admission this thing came together super last-minute. It's like people don't understand that the whole "plans change, pal" thing is actually real. Plans change. Things come together late. Things that weren't even close to happening sometimes happen all at once. That's true of video games, wrestling, business. And the number of people who never seem to grasp that is something I find... I don't know, a little distressing at times.

I assume the reactions on the roster to CM Punk returning are all over the place, much like is being reported, because it's a big roster. Lots of people, lots of relationships, wrestlers talk, whatever you want to attribute it to. But the people who are trying to say WOW THAT SETH ROLLINS SURE WAS MAD AFTER THAT SHOW THAT'S REAL are extra fucking tragic. Even if he didn't know, he knows he's on camera, he knows he's in front of a crowd, and he's a professional. Even if he isn't working he's working, you know what I mean?

Anyway, I find the whole setup intriguing but I can't immediately think of must-see matches involving Punk and the existing WWE roster. And it's hard to envision who Punk is, as a character, if he isn't just shitting all over the situation he just got out of, which I don't think WWE will want to dwell on very much, if at all. I assume they'll have him work Rollins and maybe try to play off of that interview where Rollins shat all over Punk. I don't know.

Even that feels too inside, so it'll probably end up being "back in the SHIELD days you treated us like shit" or whatever, just to ground it in something a little less "inside" or "real" or whatever. Even in modern interviews you have to imagine a person talking direct shit about another wrestler is still thinking "I'll probably wrestle this guy again someday." So even taking that interview at face value feels a little tough. Whatever.

It's left me curious to see what they'll do, but not in a "I can't wait to see what CM Punk does next" sort of way. More of a "The thrill is gone and CM Punk kinda feels a little used up these days, I hope they'll find something entertaining for him to do" thing.

[duckapus]

So while I was at work today I finally figured out how to transition from the setup phase of the Haltmann Meme Guardians AU to the second, more action-packed and properly story focused half of the arc.

Basically, Lag notices that there's some extra, unaccounted-for activity with the SMG commands, and when he asks the System why it didn't report this latest case of the False Positive glitch it insists that it isn't the glitch this time, just the new kids seeing what they can do. Now, that immediately sets off alarm bells in his head, since there isn't a new SMG universe, or even a plan to activate one anytime soon, and considering exactly which universe Lag used to be in charge of he's really not liking where this seems to be going.

He informs the rest of the main Admin group, they investigate, hoping beyond hope that it's not happening in the universe they all know it's going to be, and YEP, there's the newly rebuilt Access Arc sitting right on the edge of the SM64 universe's Solar System, practically marinating in Anti-Meme energy.

Unfortunately, as beings of pure code they can't go down and deal with this themselves. Well, technically they could, but that much Anti-Meme energy in that high a concentration would tear all but the strongest of them to shreds, and even those who could survive that would both be weakened enough to be completely at the mercy of whoever or whatever is in that station, and would need a month-long intensive detox treatment if they managed to get back out alive.

Meanwhile, all the mad scientists in the Mushroom Kingdom have disappeared, which includes Iggy Koopa and Eggman so BJ and Sage are freaking out, and given how the science fair all the way back at the start of the arc went down, not to mention the few times HWC has caused problems for them lately, the Crew does have one suspect in mind. So when the USBs tell them about the extra guardian/Anti-Meme space station thing, there's no doubt in their minds that the two situations are connected. And while the Admins can't directly investigate for the reasons stated above, and the Crew can't either since none of them are any good at subtlety, Mario, 4, Meggy and Saiko happen to know a certain semi-aquatic secret agent who can. And considering who one of the names on the list of missing scientists is, he's probably investigating already and would appreciate the lead.

So Perry infiltrates the new Access Arc while in contact with the Crew, and while he doesn't find everything he does find out some pretty important stuff. Obviously Susie's plan and the fact that her replacement Avatar/Guardian set are in fact children, and the fact that she's been very very exposed to the God Box fragment she ended up with and is absolutely not in her right mind (according to SMG1 it's a miracle that she hasn't turned into an Anti-Meme herself by now, let alone that she's as coherent as she is). But also the presence of Movie Mario, A.S.Swipe and the Salmonids, The Goomba, and a bunch of weird, fully purple Octoling Troopers with rough tentacles that Meggy finds oddly familiar.

There's also the fact that she kidnapped the mad scientists so she could give them front-row seats of her plan in action, partly to make up for how badly her last presentation in front of her peers went but mostly to rub it in E. Gadd's face.

Unfortunately for everyone, she's still missing one last thing to make the plan work; Elanore may be an Avatar, but she's not Super Mario 64's Avatar, and since neither the God Box nor The Goomba know how to fix that, she'll just have to reverse-engineer Mario's code and figure it out herself. To that end, she sends Yoshi to capture him, which manages to work.

With that new problem on top of all the other ones, it's actually Peach who comes up with a plan. Basically, if Haltmann wants a war, they've got one, but it'll be on the good guys' terms. The assorted militaries and superpowered beings of the world all band together, setting up to protect various key places around the globe, mainly the Mushroom Kingdom since that's where all the SMGs live but also various places that either have strategic value or one of the Crew and their extended friend group has some sort of connection to. After those preparations are complete, an armada of all sorts of weaponized space-faring vehicles will launch an assault on the Access Arc, both to force them into conflict before they're ready and provide a distraction for the Crew(plus Kirby since he's taken down an Access Arc before and is reasonably confident he can get through to his currently corrupted friend) to sneak aboard, extract Perry, and rescue Mario and the scientists(and whoever of the bad guys they can manage to get through to).

Melony specifically isn't part of the rescue team since she, Desmond, Steve, Super Sonic, Waluigi in his ultimate form and Ultra Instinct Shaggy, along with a few others, are going to be outside fighting Movie Mario so they don't have to deal with a crazy demon plumber tearing their entire armada apart or getting impatient and killing their Mario before it's safe to.

The kids also aren't going to be in any of the main battles, instead being kept safe in Primp Town...except Sage because she's Literally The Eggnet and the leader of the Eggman Empire in her dad's absence, and is thus in direct control of about a fifth of their side's collective firepower. Don't worry, just because they're not involved in the main conflicts doesn't mean they won't see some action of their own.

[thatoneguy031]

Okay, some things happened this morning that I'd rather not get into, but everything's alright now, so let's ffffriggin' go!

First things first:

A guide to my favorite Tetris openers, by Guy

Okay, so a thing about Tetris that people will have to understand first.

The Super Rotation System: It's basically the new way that Tetris functions, regarding how piece rotation works.

In all honesty, I have no real way to explain it other than the fact that it's the only reason why T-spins exist. There's a site I know that goes further into it, but these are some of the core concepts:

This is how pieces rotate in modern Tetris(Basically Worlds and after). It probably looks complicated, but here's the basic gist of it:

If there's a wall next to the piece you're rotating, it'll push itself away from the wall on the next rotation, causing a "kick". You'll see it if you rotate the T piece clockwise next to the rightmost wall and then rotate it counterclockwise. By the way, peep how the T piece in particular rotates. It's essential, I assure you.

(The O piece is the exception, since it's basically stationary in its rotations.)

Here's another few paragraphs from the site that explains how that stuff works.

With that sorta settled, I can show you guys how T-spins work... Kind of. It's not hard, really, but it's something that I don't understand perfectly yet.

Okay, so T-spins are really easy to do, at least the simple ones. If you're fast enough, you can even do one in the '89 Tetris for NES and all that(You can only do T-spin Doubles, and they don't give you a point bonus).

First, there's the Mini T-spin. It sounds hard, but you only really need one piece to do it if you have a wall.

You see that hole that the S piece makes? Try to get the T piece to slide into it while it's facing left, and rotate it clockwise once. Simple, right? Fill the space in on the left of the S piece, and it would be a Mini T-spin Single.

(These techniques are universal, and can be flipped on either side of the board. Just make sure to use the opposite pieces for it, for this and the other strategies to come.)

It doesn't do damage unless you have the Back-to-Back bonus, but it's great for setting up Back-to-Backs, since it's technically still a T-spin. On occasion, it can even fix a simple misdrop.

Just make sure the wall is two blocks high, or the T piece'll just rotate itself in place. The wall is there to set up the kick the T piece makes, forcing it to slide into the slot. And... Don't rotate too early. It's painful to witness.

Next, the T-spin Double, the one everyone's used to.

There's a million and five ways to set this one up, but this is the most consistent way if you're just starting a match or just got a PC:

This one's a little different in execution, but the same concept applies. Make sure that the T piece is facing right when it's in the hole, and rotate it clockwise once. Just like that, bam, you understand like 50% of competitive modern Tetris. If you want to make it a Double, make sure that two lines on the left are filled.

Now, here's where things get a little complicated.

The T-spin Triple. It's also not too hard, but you have to practice how to spot them in a wild match, and you'll need to learn heavy risk-and-reward stuff, 'cause it can really mess up your board if you were already stacking for a Tetris or something.

Again, you can do it virtually anywhere, but this is a start-of-game setup if you just want big damage.

I screwed up a little, but the I piece can be one space away from the T and J contraption. It doesn't have to be an I piece. It could be a L piece, for instance. It could be an O with an upside-down J on it.

But, whatever you do, make sure that there's an overhang on the wall right of the T and J pieces, like this:

What pieces you use for the right side of the board aren't specific, but just make sure that the bottom three lines are filled completely.

With those concepts sorta settled, and the wiki on your side, let's talk about my setups.

Fun fact, you've actually seen two of them already: The T-spin Triple, and what's called the TKI(I think).

There's also this one that's called the STSD, or the Super T-spin Double. It's called that, because of the way it's formatted. It's made with the intent to get to consecutive T-spin Doubles, the second one being stronger thanks to the Back-to-Back bonus.

First, do the same rotation that you'd do for the T-spin Triple. It gets the same wall kick I mentioned earlier, so it'd still count. Don't worry about what happens after, it's supposed to only clear two lines this time.

By the time you're done with that, the board should look something like this:

From there, do the same thing you'd do for a normal T-spin Double; Spin the T until the flat part is facing upward. Once again, how you fill in the board on the right doesn't matter.

The STSD can also be extended for more T-spin potential, but I'm gonna pretend that I know how to do that.

Okay, now here's time for my go-to strategy:

The PC, or Perfect Clear.

A bit of a disclaimer first: It's not very consistent, having only around a 70% success rate. But, the payoff is so worth it: If you get it to work, you'll send a whopping 10 lines of damage to your opponent, or half the friggin' board.

To understand how this works, you need a bit of a grasp on the 7-bag randomizer that modern games use.

Piece generation isn't totally random. Instead, the game guarantees that you'll get one of every piece every seven pieces. Basically, if you've gotten an I piece, you'll get another one within the next six pieces, guaranteed.

Anyways, the PC requires an understanding of the 7-bag to work properly. I'm gonna show you how to use the Center PC setup.

First the J, L, O and I pieces have to be set up so that they make a square. Also make sure that the square is on a far edge of the board.

Next, place the T piece on the opposite wall of the square you've made, making sure that the flat side is on the wall.

Assuming that the T is on the right side of the board, place the S piece flat on top of the T, and slide the Z piece under the T.

By the end, it should look like this:

Now, here's the fun part!

You can technically fill the middle section however you want, too many to list off. It's like a puzzle in that sense: There's multiple ways to get a Perfect Clear, but it's all dependent on what pieces you get. Again, it's not a guaranteed strategy, but I'm confident that you guys can turn a failed PC into a T-spin of some kind. I believe in y'all!

And, with that, those are the main openers that I use when I'm playing Tetris with someone else. I'll probably make a part 2, covering more complicated things like the DT Cannon and Imperial Cross. And...

...

Maybe I'll teach you the forbidden Jutsu that is the 4-wide. But, you have to promise to keep it a secret, alright?

[tavina-writes]

oh i just saw your chapter lengths excel and as someone who’s wishing they could write longer chapters, do you have any tips for how you write/outline? like how did you decide the projected word count and stuff?

Hi nonny!

I'm not entirely sure I have good suggestions for this since my chapters have always tended towards being long, and my outlining is uhhh "well, it happens?" but I do have several thoughts that might be helpful!

The thoughts got really long, so they're now under a cut!

I only really think about the projected length as a benchmark, based on how "big" a story idea I think I have. For the fic that you're referring to, I knew that it was a setup I really enjoyed (arranged marriage) and that it would cover a number of years (so stuff has to happen in those years), and I thought it would work better in a four act structure (in the beginning) so I thought like "oh it'll probably be four chapters with 10k per chapter, so that'll be a 40k fic!"

As things progressed this obviously became not the case given the absolutely giant status of the chapters and the fact that three act structure worked a lot better with where I saw the ending going so there's four parts in each "act" as it were hence 12 chapters. (Originally I was going to do a fairly long epilogue type situation focused on Xichen and Ningning's descendants in "act four" but I've since yeet that into the sun bc I didn't like it lol.)

I adjust the projected length based on having finished chapters since my chapters tend to be pretty evenly split length wise (give or take a few thousand words), so since the first act was ~90k it's probably going to be closer to 270k than 250k but I'm currently in denial about that bit lmao, so really! after you have the first couple chapters, and you have a forecast of how many chapters it's going to take, projecting a project length is fairly simple math to do!

Okay that said, how do I actually project/outline/do the writing process? This is complicated because I'm very much a chaos writer who uh, doesn't write in order and doesn't finish scenes and doesn't start scenes at the beginning or finish at the end (I tend to write scenes in thirds or parts and then stitch them together so, that's the state of affairs here lolsob. I don't think that helps anyone very much.)

BUT: I find it really really helps to have goals, sometimes multiple per scene and to check back on those after I think the scene's done. The goals can be:

plot related -> introduce character A, introduce motivations for character A, provide a transition from setting A to setting B, further the conflict between character A and character B, etc

character emotion related -> establishing that Character A has changed since a previous scene, Character B introspection, filling in background on why Character A or B believes x or y or acts in a certain way

details and research related -> this for me is generally related to time period, setting, time of day, time of year, what the characters are physically doing in each scene and how they're oriented in relation to each other, etc which I find really important to like, decreasing white room syndrome and grounding the characters in a real place as they talk or fight or have a sad cry in the bath or whatever, so after the plot and character emotion related goals are through I also check like "hey is his bathtub floating in some undisclosed location or?"

So basically I "outline" by breaking each chapter down into "okay: where do I want all the characters and their various subplots to be by the end of the chapter vs the start of the chapter?" and I go backwards and fill in all the scenes I think would make sense to get characters from A to D or however, and then after I do that (or tbh as I'm writing) I shove in more scenes that explain how characters get from like, A.5 to A.7 which I didn't initially think needed explaining and back and forth until A->D has been achieved. This also means (for me and how I write) normally if all the other chapters have been 21-24k and I "finish" a chapter that's only 19k I've dropped a plot point somewhere and need to go back and spackle it back in.

Another really helpful longfic tackling thing that I have going on is where I keep a "notes" or "character index" document where I periodically update with like: new OCs and their details, new setting details, that one nice source I found about incense burners, the music I was listening to for x or y vibe, my meta thoughts about how or why a certain character might be acting a certain way...etc etc.

For example, my most recently completed novella-length fic (after court, returning to different doors; 39k) had this as its original "outline"

Then, after I got a fair ways into that I made a new set of notes about what I wanted to achieve based on what was going on with the scenes I'd written and what I still needed to fill in:

and then while I was writing the mountain ghost thing I stopped to type this down about WZL:

And then I filled in the situation at the Yunmeng Discussion Conference with Hints Of A Past, etc.

Basically I think your outlining should be whatever you think will help you remember what goes where, and it's really helpful to have goals about what you want to get done every chapter rather than "I need x amount of words per chapter." Some fics want long chapters! some fic want short chapters! some fics are long! some are short!

[bloxy-gateways]

Welcome to the Space Between Worlds!

Or, as we like to call it, The Robloxiasphere ! :]

This is a Generalized Roblox Ask Blog, utilizing original Guys; none of the individuals here are actually from any specific game! Just silly guys who happen to Exist <3

The blog uses a lot of "personal lore" that, to be honest, probably will go unexplained unless folk ask. There are Rules and Methods under which the world functions, but it's generally not important <3

Now, some important notes and ground rules!!

DON'T BE WEIRD ABOUT IT. Please for the love of god don't send nsfw shit. Or like excessuvely gorey/creepy comments. Please be a bit normal I'm begging you. (If your ask falls under this ground, you'll just get deleted and/or blocked.)

Generally, this is an ASK blog, not a ROLEPLAY blog. I'll be less likely to respond to rp asks, or in the least it won't go as you anticipate, and unlikely to respond to rp-style reblogs unless there's a plausible reason. Think of asks like little messages on a computer!

Notsble exceptions to the above are if an individual is existant within the bounds of the "Robloxiasphere" and in the present location. If you want to do a rp Thing, but aren't sure if it'll fit currently, feel free to send an ask about it! I'm happy to create setup to get things to work; it just can't be random and without theme!

(I'm also liable to decline for whatever reason. I mostly want this to be Asks, not Roleplay.)

No "magic anons" or what have you. Again, asks are simply Messages that're passed; they have no staying, physical force! Sorry!

More rules may be added if I find new boundaries, but otherwise this is it!

Otherwise, here's a list of all introduced individuals that will be updated as time goes on! Even if someone ISN'T notably present, you can ask about them anyways!

Richie, he/him; a fairly standard "Human" Robloxian, who also has a deep interest in the intricacies of the Robloxiasphere.

Candy, she/her; a half-draconic Robloxian. Known chaos-causer. Presently unavailable.

Eros, he/him; a "moody" demon Robloxian who is just a little socially incompetent. Presently unavailable.

Wuff, they/them; a Furry Robloxian who works a DJ gig most days. Presently unavailable.

[staceymcgillicuddy]

for the au meme: homesteader eddie and mail order bride chrissy on the prairie 😈

You are... the devil. And I just think you're neat. And I may already have a chapter of this written. ALL THAT TO SAY...

Chrissy isn't a traditional mail-order bride. Instead, she's been promised to Jason, who heads west a year or so before her to get things set up. Naturally he's not going to be a homesteader or anything, and while I'm not entirely sure what he IS doing, it'll involve being a rich, privileged dick. As one does. Anyway, she's coming out to meet him and ~plot happens and suddenly she is in need of an Eddie.

Eddie and Wayne each have a claim, and they've built two cabins on either side of the property line, so they have their own houses but are in each other's pockets all the damn time.

Hopper is the Sheriff in whatever little town I invent, and he's courting the Widow Byers (Lonnie probably died jumping over a fence using his rifle as a vaulting pole and shooting himself in the hand and getting gangrene, idk, I hate Lonnie), and nobody really knows how he came to adopt his daughter, because neither of them will talk about the circumstances.

Eddie's conflicted about how much he wants to be where he is. Part of him hates being tied down to the claim for so long, but another part of him is scared to leave the familiarity of home. (Which is also why Eddie has been a senior three goddamn times. In this TED talk I will...)

I realize this is all setup and I haven't even gotten to the Hellcheer stuff yet, BUT I do think that Eddie bunks up with Wayne at first so Chrissy can have his cabin to herself at night, and she's the one who puts a stop to it and tells him she's just fine sleeping on the floor. And, you know. Winter Is Coming. I am but a simple smut farmer.

Blizzards are cold!

The gif below is live footage of Eddie and Jason in a fight, jsyk. It's my gift to you for this wonderful ask. 🧡

[arkon-z]

Note to self:

FUCK narrative balance. The first chapter happens over several weeks, while the second is focused on one afternoon. It doesn't need to be compressed to 'fit' with the feeling of the first chapter. Yes, it's setup for the worldbuilding in the second chapter. Yes, even though it'll feel like the emotional resolution is in the second chapter, it's actually going to be in the third. And yes, I could chop out the second chapter and the story would probably still work with a few adjustments, but where's the fun in that?

I'm not trying to impress a publisher or appeal to a broader audience. This is fanfic and i'll write whatever the hell I want.

[fantasticcloudcreation]

Oct 20 (Sunday)

Arrived at the park, set up camp, met some neighbors/coworkers; work starts tomorrow. 3 people have already asked if I've eaten and offered me food, I was like, I've had snacks... One guy was really insistent about his camp cooking setup and was like "if you're hungry, come by, I'll feed you" so that's nice to know, but also like it's day one people I haven't even started working yet 💀

Low-key I am hungry but I don't want to eat anything right now !!! Stopped at Walmart on the way, of course it was a small town Walmart and they didn't have any of the foods I was looking for so I got a bunch of random snacky things and hopefully it'll be enough to sustain me for the next week... They're giving us 2 meals from catering per working day and then there'll also be food vendors during show days which I will probably end up eating at some point.

Also my period is a day late which isn't too unusual but hopefully it starts tomorrow 😳 /unfortunate that it's aligning with work days again but I'd rather it start now than during show days, at the same time it can start whatever day it wants to vs the alternative haha.

Really craving like mac & cheese or something cheesy/carby...

I'm gonna eat a weed gummy and read in my van bc I don't feel like socializing rn 😸 I was sitting outside for a while but the bugs were biting and this one girl showed up, friend of a friend who I've met a couple times but she's not the friendliest and her vibes are kinda off-putting... Her sister is super sweet and friendly and 2 other friends of mine are friends with her so maybe we'll get to know each other better this week?? Or maybe not lol I'm gonna let things unfold and tonight I'm chillin getting settled and we'll see what happens tomorrow :)

[mooncaps]

So, that's disturbing.

Smells like a setup for a tie.

Narrator: It wasn't.

heavy is the head that wears the fez

That got a chuckle out of me.

Ooh, okay. New code. I guess they're just approximately splitting the season into thirds for that.

Let's see...no numbers higher than 26 so I can reasonably assume it's a straight number-to-letter code. If it's anything other than 1=A through to 26=Z then I'll probably end up needing more data points before I can crack it. ... Okay, it starts with "next up" easy peasy.

next up: "footbot two: grunkle's grevenge"

Yeah, okay.

They've been playing with this idea that Stan doesn't know about (or believe in) the supernatural happenings, but this episode definitely strained that idea. Plus that whole thing with him going into a secret basement or whatever from the first episode. And I think Gideon said something before about wanting the property for a secret or something. It'll be interesting to see where they're going with that and how much Stan actually does or doesn't know.

[kitkatt0430]

Road Trip for the ask game?? I am ☕️���️☕️.

So this fic has been on hiatus for a while but I do have two draft chapters ready to go. I've been holding off on posting because I want to complete the entire Salt Lake City arc first.

I've done some updates to how the heist is gonna go. And I say heist in a loose way since I'm handing off what was going to be Hartley's part to Felicity, who will be aiding and abetting from out of state so that Hartley can ogle Cisco in a suit. He deserves it more than Lisa. (Sorry Lisa, but Hartley is Cisco's boyfriend now.)

The boys will get to do a lot of the sneaking around and on premise hacking since all the prep work was done by Lisa and Joss off screen and the whole setup is basically a gift from Lisa to Hartley because she knows how much Hartley hates the guy they're taking down.

I've set the whole thing in the hotel where I once attended ng-conf, which is a yearly programming conference specifically geared towards the Angular. Makes it much easier for me to plot out everyone's movements in my head since I remember the layout of that part of the building. It was a very fancy hotel and I stayed at a much cheaper one that was walking distance away. (This was before I lost a fight with a vacuum cleaner and screwed up my knee.)

This arc won't be the final part of the fic, but it'll probably wind up back on hiatus again once I wrap it up. They're actually going back to Central City - briefly - after the heist ends so that they're well away from where the police, and soon also the FBI, would be investigating the shenanigans. Of course, any evidence of them on cameras will be long gone by then too.

Joss is going to find out that Cisco is Vibe, which will be amusing. I've got such a soft spot for her and it makes me a bit sad that in canon she never learns about what happened to Nora 1.0. She's probably pining even now for the pretty, pretty Excess and wondering whatever happened to her.