#while making sure it doesn't sound hokey

[starberry-cupcake]

we're back!!!! and oh boy did things happen in this one

previously, in nona del 9:

this happened

this is the general recap tag

CHAPTER 16 (a building?? a tower?? I mean, considering how things go to hell, the tower is correct from a tarot standpoint...)

nona is unceremoniously woken up from her nap time by honesty coming in like a thunderbolt, announcing necromancers are putting on a show

everyone has opinions, except for kevin, who only says "ugh" and wants to be left alone

we love kevin

I think kevin could kill the emperor in like 5 minutes

born in the morning...I'm sorry, born in the morning

(still not over whatever that was)

says that necromancers are lying because they can't do anything to them due to varun

there are mixed opinions on this

angel teacher tells the kids not to go to the necromancer movie screening because it's dangerous and doesn't want them to end up hurt or taken in by authorities

she says "that's going to add to the fracas"

idk what "fracas" means and I couldn't find it either

everyone promised not to, except nona (who wasn't asked)

but sriracha girlie crossed her fingers, so clearly she's up to no good

and nona is onto her

angel teacher is very responsible and looking out for the kids, making sure they're protected and that they're properly picked up by family or staying somewhere safe

nice to see some responsible adults

I think abby the fifth would have done the same

abby and magnus adopting all these lost boys

in an au in which they weren't part of the people who are enemies to these kids

and they were alive

but things aren't nice and cozy for long, because camilla is late to pick up nona

I'm worried af about that, where is my wife

palmolive istg if you made her bleed again...

angel teacher notices that nona is distressed about that, so she tells her to take out noodle

sriracha girlie offers to go with her and so does honesty, but honesty has to sit tf down

honesty wants to do business and quit school but also wants to draw and open windows and go take noodle outside, there's a lot going on with honesty today

my guy is overstimulated over here

sriracha girlie tells nona, as they take noodle out, that the person in the car that dropped angel teacher checked all the doorways and entrances of the opposite building in a professional fashion

which sriracha girlie considers sus

very in character with her nature of jumping into the worst possible situations, sriracha girlie wants to escape to watch the necro movie with nona

nona disagrees and says that, if they do that, angel teacher is never going to trust them again

to which sriracha girlie replies "the asset doesn't have to trust you"

*sriracha girlie shoots me in the head*

the masterplan is to put a note in noodle's collar and make him go upstairs while they go watch the necro movie show

nona feels uncomfy with the plan but, once she decides to go, she thinks she'd better be in it 100%

and she remembers someone telling her "Once you've stepped in, you're in. This isn't the Hokey Pokey"

LET ME BRING BACK MY THEORIES

I mentioned in my last recap that a third option was that this could be ice cube barbie aka annabell lee aka alleged alecto in harrow's body

this additional data would fit that theory, because the hokey pokey being dropped there sounds like something either dr reverend emperor john asshat or a lyctor would say

it sounds like such a dr reverend emperor john thing to say, actually

I'm gonna add the hokey pokey as a point for ice cube barbie

that sentence out of context would get me checked for a concussion

the girls get into the place where the screen is being set and there's a sea of people in there, which sounds like a full on nightmare to me

it reminds me of the overcrowded planet from star trek

the overcrowded planet called 'gideon'

necromancer music festival vibes over here

so, at first there's no image and only a disembodied voice who is talking about terms of surrender or, how they're framing it, "negotiation"

one part I'd like to point out from the whole initial speech is that they state that if one fraction of the population goes against the terms, everyone will be considered accountable for it

textbook oppressor move to put the oppressed groups against each other, especially in times of internal turmoil

so, the screen turns on finally and immediately, by nona's description, before any additional information, I know this is yandere twin

"their huge screen-magnified eyes were quite pretty, Nona decided: blue, with brown bits"

yeah, absolutely yandere twin

yandere twin continues listing demands and the last point of them is that those who belong to the houses and didn't make themselves known

(aka our gang, coronabeer and judith)

have 24 hours to turn themselves in

she introduces herself as "Prince Ianthe Naberius the First, the Lyctor Prince, the Saint of Awe"

but, we've got bigger problems

because next to yandere twin is gideon's body in a very peeta-mellark-taken-by-the-capitol situation

"the only alive thing about this second person was their hair, neatly arrayed with a wreath of fingerbones and white, springlike blossoms: wildly red hair, red enough to make the electric hexagons struggle with it. It was the face of the girl in her dream"

so, let me just say one thing

HOW DID WE LOSE GIDEON'S BODY, PEOPLE????

THIS IS THE TRUE "OVERSIGHT BODY"

WE HAD HER, SHE WAS WITH CORONABEER AND JUDITH AND CAMILLA

HOW TF IS SHE THERE NOW

WHO'S FAULT IS THIS

"Her Most Serene Highness, Crown Prince Kiriona Gaia, heir to the First House, the Emperor's only daughter"

(Most is written with emphasis)

I want to gut this secondhand god alive

if we can't kill his ass, we can surely pull a prometheus on him

chain him to a rock and have a mythological creature eat his guts every day

let him regenerate, do it all over again

maybe we can try that

let kevin loose on him

not only because they have gideon's very clearly not responsive body, also because they're forcing her to present femme

how dare they

"gaia" I get, because goddess of earth, the personification of earth, the mother of all things

I don't know who "kiriona" is and I'm not gonna search because I can get spoilers

"curiously, Nona noticed she didn't even seem to be breathing"

yeah, we've got a classic case of soulless body

the video ends and sriracha girlie is shook

she says "they're not people" and "they're not real"

a real pain in the ass is what they are, these lyctors

lyctor, singular, sorry, Lyctor Prince Im-The-Only-One-Left-So-I-Can-Get-A-Title-For-It

remember when there was a competition thing to become one of these assholes? we were young and didn't know better

thank god camolive dodged that bullet

ANYWAY

nona uses the techniques to help others calm down that she learned with camilla to assist sriracha girle through her panic attack

she does really well, I'm proud of her

pat in the head for nona

she deserves a treat for this

(which reminds me, I found my puppy chewing a pencil yesterday and nona came to my mind like that scene in ratatouille)

nona maneuvers sriracha girlie through the dense crowd of arguing people, but then someone fires a gun

all hell breaks loose, sriracha girlie activates and they escape through very unsanitary passageways

nona cuts her hand

thankfully, in comes angel teacher in her sus car and picks them up

angel teacher says kevin was in hysterics

why are we putting kevin through bad situations, he should be our priority

now that our top priority of preserving gideon's body HAS BEEN RUINED

WHO FUCKED THAT UP

sriracha girle and angel teacher try to check out nona's cut and nona is very insistent that they don't, so that they don't find out that she has regenerative powers

which is another point in the thing I was saying before, that this wasn't the Secret she shared with sriracha girlie

otherwise, she'd be crucified in the square right about now

but this provides further confirmation that this wasn't it

so many freakin' lose ends and clues for later and breadcrumbs I have to pick up

unknown baby driver apparently has a good handle of House

and is freakin' pissed with angel teacher for having to drive around, collecting kids

they ask where they can drop nona off and when she says she lives in "the building" "really truly" baby driver almost dislocates their head trying to turn to stare at her, exorcist style

baby driver and angel teacher proceed to have a sus conversation

"Pretending you can bandage bipeds? Teaching snot-nosed kids about particles?" "If people knew this was how you spent your time, Aim—" "Now I see. Chance to be her, huh? A little independent living for once?" "It is my enormous privilege to be they."

is angel teacher some kind of politically or militarily important figure? a very important vet? why the change of pronouns? who's her? who's they?

DON'T TELL ME

when they get into the gate for the building everyone kind of minds their business and looks away from them

nona thinks maybe it's because of the grille

idk though, everything about these two is strange

angel teacher asks nona to promise to go to school the next day, because it will be a safe place for them

bless angel teacher, someone doing something to protect the kids in these trying times

baby driver should respect that

nona tells angel teacher she loves her before going into the building, though she didn't mean to say it out loud

when she comes in, camilla is there, waiting anxiously

THANK GOD, I CAN'T TAKE MORE PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW

THANK GOD YOU'RE ALRIGHT CAMILLA, MY BELOVED

but not everything is good because pyrrha was supposed to pick up nona from school and never showed

gosh darn it, pyrrha

so much chaos and I still have a lot of book left to read

how is there so much happening at all times

JOHN 19:18

"There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle."

well, alright then

starting out strong over here

dr reverend emperor john is scared of water, apparently

I don't know if this is the River or otherwise

there was a part of the River that almost gets his ass, so it could be that

he's talking directly again to alleged!harrow, who might not be harrow and might be ice cube barbie, but idk yet

"every time you breathed funny, we wet ourselves"

he says some people flaked from the whole thing but he didn't care as long as he had his diehard soon-to-be-lyctors with him

and his two toy corpses

on that note, he says that he was frustrated that they were unable to respond, even if he could make their hearts and brains work

because they don't have a soul

like gideon right now, who's kinda like these two, sitting there but looking dead

he can revive the body but not the soul

they didn't know about the river yet

they keep arguing with the authorities about their project and its limitations, including maternity, which seems to be a problem

mercygirl was against a plan that "incorporates reproductive injustice"

the authorities wanted to evacuate the whole population and had managed to find a way, but it wasn't really tested and they argued that it might not work

the plan was to send one ship first and then use it as a tugboat to get the rest

dr john god says he should have killed the conspiracy theorists instead of the cows, because they are using the cows as a way to protest that he's unhinged

(at this point in the recap process there was a massive power outage and I almost lose everything, so thank you hellsite and thank you tab)

augustine and mercygirl say that this is all lies and the billionares are probably gonna bolt in the ship and leave everyone behind

which checks out not only with disaster films but also with reality

augustine said that they were going to use things they came up with to leave everything behind

and then, dr reverend emperor john butt says

"They left you, they left you. They saw you suffering on dollar-shop life-support, and they didn't look back. They didn't give a fuck about trying to save you. They left." "I don't remember" " I can't forget"

is he talking about the Earth? like the planet? is this like some sort of personalization of the planet or...????

it feels like he's talking about the whole planet and not just one person but what do I know

gonna have to put a pin on that thing I said about gaia and the personification of earth that I mentioned before, I guess

don't make fun of me, my theories and my process please

thank you

and that is all for now!!! starting day four next time!!!! things are happening!!!

[halforresterluvsford]

This was supposed to be posted on Valentine's Day but life happens and I fall asleep in the middle of writing, Oops. I honestly don't know how good this is, and if you see grammar mistakes no you didn't! Enjoy these sappy brosbands!

Stan breathes out into the cool night air, shivering and shoving his hands in his coat pockets. It was freezing in the Arctic. He was glad when he and Ford decided to head for warmer waters a week ago, winter in the Arctic circle is hellishly cold, and while it created many opportune moments for cuddling, he was getting real tired of being cold all the time. He wants to go to Tuscany, try the wines, the tomatoes, and the cheeses. Go to Rome and make fun of the hokey tourist attractions with Ford. Is it probably miserably hot down there and will Stan complain about it? Yes 100%, but as long as he's not freezing his balls off, he'll take anything. Subconsciously, he brings a hand out to adjust himself in his pants, thinking about Ford finally busting out those green shorts-

"Stanley?" He whirls around, hands shooting up out of instinct to protect his face before he relaxes. It's just Ford, good Ol' Poindexter scaring the piss out of him.

"Yeah, whatzit?" Stan asks, ducking his chin in his collar to shield his face from the cold. To also hide his blush. Ford looks good. Well, he always does, but for some reason, he looks really good right now. His hair is combed, for once, he's wearing a spiffy jacket and a pair of slacks that cut really nicely around his upper thighs. Stan has a hard time not staring. Hot damn is he lucky to have a one Stanford Pines as his lover. His Lover, capital "L". Sure it took some used to, getting over the whole incest thing, but honestly? They're too old to worry about that, and they've spent too many years apart to get hung up some trivial matter such as being related. At least, that's how Ford put it, and Stan couldn't help but agree, who were they hurting by being together?

"It's a rather nice night, isn't it? Do the stars seem brighter than normal to you?" Ford smiles so softly at Stan that he feels breathless for a moment, his heart aching at how much he loves his twin.

"Yeah, they-um, they're really pretty, the moon, too." Damn, he sounds like a babbling idiot. Just because Stanford looks extra good tonight and smiled at him so sweetly. You're a weak man, Stanley Pines. Weak.

Meh, he can live with that, being weak for the person he loves most in the entire galaxy. No, the entire multiverse. Stan would risk destroying the world a thousand more times for Ford, and he will if he has to, that's how much he loves him.

"Yes, the moon does seem rather bright tonight, does it not? I'm glad the sky seems so clear tonight, we were fortunate enough to catch it as it reaches fullness. You know, there are stories about..." Stan doesn't mean to tune Ford out, really, but he can't help but get lost in thought as he stares at him. The moon really is extra bright out tonight, gleaming off Ford's hair and reflecting off his face. Ford looks, well good is the only word coming to Stan's brain at this moment, but "good" doesn't really describe how he looks. He looks like he belongs in an old film as the smooth debonair protagonist. Like Hampterfuppinshire from "The Duchess Approves". Moses, he loves looking at Ford, looking at how he looks so much like when Stan saw him for the last time in Glass Shard but at the same time so different. He's taller, broader, stronger, and way hairier-Stan can attest for that. But he still smiles the same, still styles his hair-sideburns aside-the same. His brown eyes still sparkle the same when he talks, full of excitement and life and yearning. That's always been Stan's favorite part about Ford, his eyes. How they look like amber when the sun hits them at just the right angle, a shade lighter than Stan's. How Ford can never hide his emotions, not when Stan can look into his eyes and see how tormented, how pained, or how happy he is just with a glance. He loves most of all when they light up when Ford looks at his family, all together, when he looks at him-

Stan is jolted out of his thoughts when Ford drops down onto one knee. He scrambles, scared that he missed something serious or important when he was lost in the thought of Ford's eyes. He stops abruptly when his twin brings his hands up, cupped. He stares intently at Stan, who's getting steadily more confused and worried as Ford just stares at him. Finally, after what seems like forever, Ford opens his hands and reveals a ring glinting under the moonlight. It's black, dark enough that Stan wouldn't have been able to make out what it was if it was for the glinting of the moon off purple and blue hues in the ring. His brother is still staring, eyes looking at him, he knows that stare, he's staring so he can gather his words to speak in a way so that he wouldn't make as ass of himself. Stan's breath catches in his throat, and he fights to swallow the lump that formed as soon as Ford dropped down. He stares, he doesn't know what to think, his mind moving at half a mile per second. What is Ford doing? Why does he look so determined? And the ring? Stan opens his mouth to-to say something to get Ford to stop staring at him like that, to speak. He doesn't have to, Ford finds his words very soon.

"I love you, Stanley Caryn Pines. I have loved you for as long as I can remember. For me, it's always been you. Through our fights and being apart for 40 years, it's always been you. No one can make my heart sing the way you do," here, Ford's voice breaks a little, and Stan can see tears in his eyes before they're blinked away, "I need you by my side, I have always needed you by my side, even when I was a stupid fool who scorned you for mistake, even when I was raging against you, I have always needed you. I love you more than words can tell, more than I can say, really. And-and I know a wedding, especially at our age and with our relationship, probably seems ridiculous-heh-but I still want that. With you, proving our love to the world. I-if you'll have me, of course. So, will you-will you marry me?" Ford concludes his speech with an important question and a shaky smile, eyes tearing up and hands shaking-from nerves or the cold, Stan can't tell-but looking all the world in love. With Stan. He feels his heart clench so tightly he worries he's having a hear attack for a quick moment before shaking that thought away. He doesn't know what to say or how long he's been standing there silent, but he thinks its been too long because Ford is starting to look upset, his hand lowering from where he kept it up. "Stanley, I-I-"

Speechless, Stan reaches into his pocket and pulls out the box he's kept in there for 2 months straight now, too cowardly to offer it up to Ford. He holds the velvet box in his hands for a moment before he reaches out and hands it to Ford, waiting for him to open the case. He does so, slowly, eyes widening as he sees the old and tarnished ring sitting snugly in the case. It was their grandfather's, Stan inherited it-as Ford-when their father died. It's gold with a ring of silver in the middle. Ford's always like the story behind it, how their grandpa so desperately wanted to marry their granny, but couldn't afford a ring for her, so he gave a-Stan can't remember if it was a Jewelry maker or a metal smith, that part always changed-he gave a someone one of his mother's silver hoops and the gold caps from his teeth to make a ring with. Ford found the story sweet and romantic, Stan never truly understood that sacrifice until he spent 30 years living someone else's life just to bring back the only person he's ever loved.

"Well shit, guess you beat me to the punch, huh?" Stan laughs awkwardly at Ford's silent staring, his eyes going from the ring to Stan himself. "I-um. I got that after pa', y'know. And I-I've been carrying that old thing around for months now, just waiting for the right time," Stan waves his hands as he looks to the side, too cowardly to look at the man who just proposed to him holding the ring he was going to propose with. He pulls at his coat collar, feeling warm and a tiny bit suffocated. "Heh, it's probably not as nice as the ring you got-" yeah, it's probably made from a fucking Meteor or some shit- "but I remember you liked the ring and the story when we was kids s-so." Stan swallows, or tries to, his throat is too damn dry. "Well jeez, Poindexter, say something at least, I'm dying here." But Ford doesn't say anything. He laughs, hard, belly bouncing, head thrown back laughs. Stan joins with some chuckles after a moment, hoping he's not being mocked, that Ford suddenly changed his mind because Stan got him an old and shitty ring compared to his cool sci-fi one.

"Great Minds think alike, Stanley! Hah! I should have known, you've acting odd for weeks now. Well, more than usual, heh." Ford was smiling so wide that Stan's cheeks hurt just looking at it. So, he's not being rejected, that's good. It's great. It's more than great. "And you remembered the ring, oh Stanley you have no idea how much this means to me." If he looks closely enough, Stan can see tears in his brothers eyes, soft and sweet, happy tears.

"S-so 's that a yes to marrying me?" What? He's still afraid of being rejected. Looking at Stan's history, can you blame him?

"Only if you agree to marry me, as well, Stanley." Ford looks nervous, too, but Stan has no doubt in his mind that he'd say yes to his brother's proposal.

"Stanford, I've loved you my entire life, before that, I think. I loved you before I knew you," Stan snatches the cool probably-a-space ring from Ford's hands and crams it on his finger. A perfect fit. He probably took measurements when Stan was asleep. Such a little creep, his little creep. "Yes I'll marry you. Think I'd also propose-no wait, Bropose-"

"Stanley don't call it that-"

"If I didn't?" Stan finishes, ignoring Ford's interruption.

"Well in that case, Stanley, yes I'll marry you, too. You big sap." Ford fits the other ring on his fourth finger.

"Creep, I bet you spent weeks measuring my fingers to get a ring that fits this well." Stan shoots back, he's got to hold on to his pride. He's no sap.

"Says the man who admitted to carrying around this ring for months. What was it you said? You "loved me before you knew me"? Sounds sappy-ow!" Ford rubs his arm where Stan punched him, throwing a pout his way. They break out into boisterous laughter again at the situation, sibling fights after proposing to each other. Can't beat this type of relationship.

"Hey, should I get you a second ring, for your extra ring finger? Symmetry an' all that Jazz?" Stan asks, shoving Ford out of the way to beat him to the door. It really is cold outside.

"Stanley, stop it! I-ugh fine, go ahead." Ford shoves Stan through the door, "I don't feel like it's wholly necessary to do that, but far be it from me to stop you. Should we tell the kids about this?"

"Nah, not right away, at least. We gotta get married on international waters, anyways, no laws against incest marriages here." Stan rubs his hands together to warm them, grinning as he feels the ring rub against his other fingers.

"We could get married far out enough from the Californian Coast to be in International Waters but have the twins there, assuming they'd want to come. Should we have a summer wedding? Hmmm, maybe spring, I want it to be warm enough that no one's shivering, but I do like our summers back in Gravity Falls, and I'd hate to miss out on it, even for our Honey Moon...." Ford talks on as they warm themselves up inside their cabin, pulling out the ingredients for Hot Cocoa.

Stan smiles at his-his fiance's ramblings. Moses, he really does love his brother.

[no-shxme]

Question if you could rework Talon how would you do it? Like, if you have complete and total control of the character, can change things as far as the beginning or just progress his story. You can do whatever.

What would you do?

OKAY so i actually typed out a long ass response but then it got deleted so this makes me very sad faklsdjkljsfd but im gonna try and repeat myself. Disclaimer ofc this is going to be very long and its also just my personal opinion. No hate if anyone’s ideal talon is different.

So i can divide the changes i would make into like, 3 categories.

Core design

In game

Lore

I’ll go ahead and put it below the cut bc i know its gonna be so long (sob)

CORE DESIGN:

Okay im pretty sure i’ve said smth similar before but i cant remember. Basically i think talon’s core design fantasy conflicts with his design to an egregious degree. Riot’s goal is supposed to be to make the champ design fit the fantasy, but we’re supposed to believe he’s this cutthroat, efficient, STEALTHY assassin, who can kill with no mercy and climb all over the map and yet he’s got this jingle-jangle cape and also a hokey, non-retractable armblade. (this pisses me off bc zed has a retractable blade. So they DO exist.) also wild rift pissed me off bc when they redid their design of him they didn’t fix any of the issues and in fact made the armblade worse. How is he supposed to climb? It fundamentally conflicts with what he’s supposed to be. Get rid of both of them both. banished.

Granted, both of these things make his design more unique, but i dont think talon needs them. In fact their existence makes his own thematic design worse, as someone who’s supposed to blend in, supposed to hide in a crowd and be a nobody. He’s supposed to have a generic design. Maybe they can fuck with his cape a lil bit, but he doesn’t need to have this super notable look to him. Look at akshan. He’s just a shirtless dude (in a repurposed sol uniform) but he wears it well fr. 

As a side note: talon’s design in ‘the name of the blade’ is pretty good as a starting off point but it still has the stupid cape.

To be clear they will never change this i think. Talon’s armblade and cape are too ingrained in his old design so they’ll never be fixed, and this problem with it not matching his fantasy will only get worse over time.

Also i think base leblanc also looks ridiculous and is in the same boat.

IN GAME:

A new model + animations ofc! Hood toggle, + extra animation variants when vaulting over stuff. (over thin walls, thick walls, and side hops.) an idle knife flip. (oh and new splasharts ofc.) a new voice!! My current problem with the voice is that imo he sounds too old and deep, and also he suffers from being old (i hc him as between 23-25) and having few lines. Tbh i think talon would rock a raspy transmasc voice, or at least a raspy voice, prone to cracking bc he’s not super talkative.

random voice line ideas

New interactions with katarina, swain prolly, sett (as a treat) and ezreal. etc.

New joke response: “i dont get it” or “you talk too much.”

New taunt response: “be quiet.”

“Leave me alone” or “you’re annoying” after killing someone.

“I can climb that” when seeing sett or other eligible champs, both masc and fem. bisexual energy.

Lots of vocalizations. “Hah,” hrmphs, occasional “hm.”

A focus on shorter, more straightforward sentences as opposed to long wordy ones.

he will trigger more voicelines when by himself (for eg: in the jg) as opposed to around other champions. (yes im dreaming big.)

as an 'away from people or in the jg' voiceline: whistling. not like a tune or anything, just a few notes.

LORE:

Okay this is the really big one. I’m just gonna go all over the place.

Step 1: make him aro. MAKE HIM ARO. it doesn't need to be a big reveal or anything. Actually it’d be better if all of talon’s lore was lowkey. It can just be smth mentioned or implied on the side, but canon nonetheless. I hc him as bi too but the aro is way more important to me. WHILE WE'RE AT IT. riot please release an aromantic pride icon pls. every year i foolishly hope.

Step 2: i’d also make him trans. This isn’t a hard need for me but it makes his story/character stronger. Also i think its great to have open lgbt rep but i would like rep for people who are stealth too. Talon would be that. He likes to blend in, he likes to be unknown and invisible, he doesn’t want too much attention and he wants to be perfect. It’s pretty on the nose. I know people would be mad bc like, noo he wasn’t trans before, but i just dont care. My ideal talon is trans or at least gnc/nb-coded if amab. Also while we’re at it i’d also either give him autism with my autism ray-gun, or i’d just make him autism-coded. It just fits him. I think he realistically has anxiety and prolly some other personality disorder, if not a touch of tism.

Step 3: make the timeline of events around when he was adopted all the way to the kat comic more definite. Like how old was he when he was ‘adopted?’ (imo at least 13 but i can explain in a not already super long post pfpfpf). Retcon some of the kat comic. I think the most annoying part of it is how much he talks. I think riot thinks he’s like, a boring character, but he’s not. He’s just a NUANCED character. There are many different assassins in league that fit specific niches. (zed is evil shadow ninja assassin, akali is rogue wildcard assassin, pyke is the crazed executioner, yone is righteous, fizz is silly, katarina is proud and showy.) talon is already supposed to fit the most typical ‘assassin niche.’ like assassins creeds. Just let him be that. You don’t have to make him talk a ton, just amplify what’s already there. He’s a perfectionist, he does things in the most efficient way, he’s got layers and abandonment issues, and i think something that’s overlooked by riot is how he’s prolly a victim of manipulation and abuse. In fact i’d make that very clear, even by revealing that talon can’t read. That would already mean smth is up.

In terms of the kat comic: Cut out the whole part where talon monologues like an idiot at the end. While we’re at it, have kat kill the king, not that other guy. I think its a more interesting tie in and adds more character conflict. I actually hate how ‘good’ katarina was in the comic like she can afford to have more awfulness and then visibly grow out of it. Idc. continuing, i’d make it so that talon really thought marcus left, and then marcus returns just before the kat comic events and manipulates talon into trying to kill her. Idk this makes so much more sense to me i dont know why they had talon know about it the whole time, as if it didn’t kill his entire story that we’d been following for years. Like it was such an easy change to still respect what story he already had??? IT MAKES ME MAD. It also allows talon to have more obvious conflict with killing kat, bc their sibling connection improves in marcus' absence.

ALSO i like his scar in the kat comic but i’d like it differently instead of straight down. I feel like eye scars are pretty like, they all look the same yk. Can we vary it up or maybe give him a few more. He’s so pretty in the kat comic but he deserves more scars.

Also, in his high noon story i would not have fucking talon dish out the expository dialogue again. I love that story but it makes me mad how he just word vomits this whole story. Just put that shit at the beginning and leave him out of it. Or maybe find some way to explain that doesn’t involve clumsy paragraphs of expository dialogue. Sorry, no hate to the author but i think a character reciting a whole fable to someone is amateurish, lazy, and a disservice to his character. I would also make him and Yone the protagonists of high noon gothic as an au. Ive been meaning to make a post about it but they parallel each other very nicely. A demon going holy and a good man going hellish.

If i could i would legit canon-ship him with sett or with akshan. But thats ofc very indulgent and relies on setup.

uhhh extra bits that im thinking of:

retcon the going to shurima after failing to kill kat bit. i want him to fester. i would rather him be totally lost for a second and observe the wreckage of his lost family.

imo he never meets cass or soreana, because he enters the family in his teens when they're both already in shurima.

i think a really cool way to deliver talon's lore would be via other champ lore that happens to have him in it. with a consistent voice you'd be able to piece him together while still maintaining the theme of him being on the outside, lowkey.

OH I'D CHANGE HIS ICON BTW. his character icon doesn't look like him. dear god. dark brown hair pls, amber eyes. let it be so.

if i could i would strengthen the anarchistic themes he has going on in his skin lines. yeah let him go apeshit why not. let him be a thorn. let him break apart.

im pretty sure he's canonically short (looked the same size as kat in the comic) but if not. he is now. sorry bud.

oh as a final note. right now his parents are just Gone. but i would make sure that they abandoned him. its the strongest way to cause him to attach to marcus.

there's probably more but i really can't remember rn and its already so long. my god. thanks for this ask tho it was very fun to answer omg. if i ever become a famous author id beg riot to let me write smth for him. a novella or smth like garen first strike.

and ofc to reiterate, these are just my opinions. people can have their own versions of talon for sure, its all ok!

[randomvarious]

Today's mix:

Ministry of Sound: Trance Nation: America Two by ATB / George Acosta 2001 Trance / Progressive Trance

Really wasn't fully captivated by either of these trance and progressive trance mixes from ATB and George Acosta that were issued as a double-disc exclusively in the US in '01 by the gargantuan superclub-label Ministry of Sound. Both have some pretty decent moments on them, but there are undoubtedly other mixes from around this same time period that're consistently better.

Some of the best parts of ATB's mix are, somewhat ironically I guess, two of the biggest commercial trance smashes of the turn-of-the-millennium era, in Safri Duo's "Played Alive (The Bongo Song)" and Ian van Dahl's worn-out vocal classic, "Castles in the Sky." But not too long after that, ATB loses me with his own cornily acidic remix of Nino Lopez Project's "Experience," and then fails to regain my interest thereafter.

George Acosta, on the other hand, gets his bangers out of the way pretty early on, with a sublime and euphoric five-song run that consists of Lexos' "The Key," a remix of Steve Morley's "Sacred City" by Shane aka Ronald van den Beuken, "Exhale" by System F aka Ferry Corsten, "Sun" by Slusnik Luna, and "Surreal" by Free Radical. And while "Exhale" and "Sun" were both huge especially, it doesn't appear that the other three made it onto too many other mixes during this time period, so in addition to sequencing the songs well, Acosta deserves some points for the originality in his selection on that whole leg too.

My main problem with his mix, overall, though, is that it feels a bit too inorganically forced after that. Being that we're dealing with an entity like Ministry of Sound here, we have to keep in mind that their DJs on these releases have to select the immense and shiny tunes that play at MoS' own clubs too; their main impetus for putting out DJ mixes like these, after all, is to get your ass into their clubs or to get your ass to their events. And that doesn't necessarily mean that the music's then bad, but it does seem to naturally open up an ample opportunity for commerce to take precedence over art, because while true music fans of pretty much any stripe are not too keen on their favorite genre(s) being commercially exploited, you gotta think that in order for MoS to make their money hand over fist like they do, they have to lean into that commercial aspect of the music in order to make it easier to draw more people to their sets. And it's fine if you like the music that results from that strategy (like I said before, I dig stuff like "Castles in the Sky" too), but a monumentally tall melody alone is not something that's ever going to wow me, personally—I'll always find it a bit hokey if you think you can just get away with a honking blare, and a lot of trance tracks, like the "Arome remix" of DJ Scot Project's "O (Overdrive)" that Acosta closes his set out with here, makes for a prime example. But that's the sound that ultimately sells and fills out the big, cavernous rooms that those songs were made for in the first place, so, I mean, what can you do? 🤷

In the end, Ministry of Sound only ever put out two releases in this Trance Nation: America subseries of theirs, and I'm not sure exactly why they stopped, but it seems they couldn't really figure out how to market trance to enough Americans via DJ mixes in order to make the venture worthwhile. Seems like in other music arenas, such as pop, execs have decent ideas of what Americans typically like and what different sectors of Europe like, but when it came to trance more specifically, Ministry of Sound couldn't figure out a way to really crack the code Stateside. But maybe they didn't even really try too hard in the first place and tried to sell these two discs to Americans just because. Either way, I wouldn't really recommend either of them, despite both of them having some merits.

Listen to CD1 here. Listen to CD2 here.

Highlights:

CD1:

Push - "Strange World" Delerium - "Innocente (Mr. Sam's The Space Between Us mix)" Coast 2 Coast - "Home" Smike van Art & A.J. Sonic - "Medusa (Fridge remix)" Safri Duo - "Played Alive (The Bongo Song) (original mix)" Ian van Dahl feat. Marsha - "Castles in the Sky (extended mix)" Barthezz - "On the Move (DuMonde mix)"

CD2:

Lexos - "The Key" Steve Morley - "Sacred City (Shane remix)" System F - "Exhale" Slusnik Luna - "Sun" Free Radical - "Surreal"

[dumbass-tumbler-cryptid]

Maybe Faith would be a match for Quaritch I Paz's daughter? Or something similar to the mother's name like Topaz. Although I think Ada also fits. The name Gunner didn't really suit me, but maybe that's because it sounds weird in my native language haha

Could you ever write more headcanons about the twins or the life of the Quaritch-Socorro family in general?

Personal I headcanon that Quaritch is an atheist so I don’t think he’d name his daughter Faith even though that does seem like a southern name to me. Maybe if he was religious he’d go with that. I also considered the name Hope thinking about how she would have been saved after her mother was killed but then I thought that was too hokey.

I considered the name Aiden instead of Gunner and others have suggested that name to me as well. Gunner isn’t really to my taste either. I do prefer the name Aiden actually. But I’m not naming my son. I’m naming this hypothetical son of Quaritch and I still think he’d go with something like Gunner. That name just sounds harsher to me. I can feel the weight of it when I say it if that makes sense. Aiden just seems too nice to me.

I wrote a bunch ideas for a cabin in the woods sibling au here so I'll do a part 2 of that now.

 

So fast forward. Spider has been living with his dad in his childhood home for the past three years. He's fifteen and while he would love to have a normal life he's made peace with the fact that this is the best he's going to get until he turns 18

I'm going to say Quaritch isn't as controlling of Spider in this au. Because in Cabin and Blood Brother's Quaritch needs to break Spider's world view and will to get him to fall in line. Spider is willingly staying with him in this au and so thing are much easier between them

In this au Spider got his nickname from his mom calling him "her little spider monkey." So Quaritch doesn't have as much of an issue calling him Spider as a pet name, only using Miles or Junior when he's being serious.

Quaritch is so happy to at least have one of his kids that he's less of a military dad with Spider, letting him wear ripped jeans and band t-shirts, and letting Spider keep his hair on the longer side. Quaritch thinks his eldest looks likes a punk and would prefer it if he "took more pride in his appearance" but at the end of the day who cared. His son is happy and healthy and that's all that mattered.

When not doing school work, Spider skateboards around their property (they live in the middle of nowhere 20 minutes from town so there's little danger of someone seeing him) draws, or plays video games.

His old friends don't realize it but Spider is actually playing his games with Lo'ak and Kiri and talks to them over chat. Quaritch doesn't know who Spider is talking to but does approve of his son getting some form of social interaction.

Spider "visits" his siblings with his dad pretty often. They don't have set days, they just go at random times to never attract suspicion

Spider does not like Hunter adoptive parents. He thinks his timid brother would be infinitely happier with him and their dad but at least he gets to live a normal life.

Spider thinks the twin's moms are awesome though. They're very involved in there kids lives, let Ada and Gunner express themselves however they want, and are always loving and accepting. Spider low key envies his youngest siblings but he is genuinely happy for them.

He's gotten to interact with his siblings a couple time. After a particularly large growth spurt (Spider could barely get out of bed his body hurt so bad. His dad called over his uncle Ja to make sure he was okay, and he was, he was just growing really fast. After a couple of months he was significantly taller, his voice had dropped, and his jaw line was more pronounced) his dad agreed that he looked different enough to make a few public appearances as long as they weren't seen together, and Spider made sure no other adults were around.

Spider talked to Hunter a few times outside of his school. Hunter's parents were always late picking him up from book club. Spider would sit and talk with him under the guise that he was waiting for his younger brother to finish up with tutoring so they could walk home together. it took time for Hunter to come out of his shell but once he did he could talk for hours about all his interests. Spider loved every second of it, the way his brother's eyes would light up and he'd get more animated as he talked. And then one of his parents would pull in and that light would die. Spider would have to quickly say goodbye so Hunter's parents wouldn't notice him, but Spider would still watch as Hunter got into the car, his shoulders slumped, all the life drained out of him

Spider played soccer with Gunner a few times while he waited for his coach and teammates to get there for practice. Ada had to be at dance at the same time Gunner had to be at soccer so he'd get dropped off long before everyone else and would just play on the playground. Spider and him would have a great time together, kicking the ball around, chasing each other around the field.

Spider didn't get to interact with Ada as much. She wasn't really left alone like her brothers were. But she liked to draw just like Spider, and had even been in a few kids art shows at her school. Plenty of other older siblings were at the elementary school art show so Spider didn't look out of place walking around admiring his sister's work. Ada caught him looking and had excitedly skipped up to him to talk about it. She was a little motor mouth but Spider didn't mind. He actually found is really endearing.

Every interaction made Spider so incredibly happy. But then he'd have to leave and he'd feel his joy crash and burn. It was unfair that his family couldn't be together. But he had made his peace with it. His dad would never get back custody and besides his siblings were settled in with parents that loved them. It'd be cruel to rip them away from that.

Summer approached. Spider and Quaritch made there usual cross country road trip to their cabin. This time though they made a real road trip out of it stopping at a bunch of tourist attractions instead of driving straight there like they usually did. Spider didn't think much of the change. He just figured since he looked older now, and they where away from their home town his dad felt more comfortable going out in public together.

Really Quaritch was giving Spider a last hurrah before trapping him in the cabin for the foreseeable future.

So they're at the cabin for about a month when Uncle Fike shows up to apparently babysit Spider for a week while his dad "attends to some important business" Spider is confused but doesn't ask to many questions.

a week later he wake up to find his dad is home- with all three of his siblings laying unconscious in his dad's room.

after getting over his initial shock Spider starts screaming at his dad. Because how could he kidnap them! how could he tear them away from their lives.

Quaritch waves him off "you cant kidnap your own kids. This was the only way our family could be together."

Spider tries to physically fight him but gets subdued, Quaritch sedates him and putting him in bed with his siblings

So all the kids wake up together, with ankle monitors locked to them. Quaritch does his little blood brother spiel. All the younger siblings recognize Spider and he mostly tells them the truth. That he ran away from his foster home and took every opportunity he could to see his siblings but he leaves out the part were he's actually been living with his dad for the past three years.

Lyle and Z stay with them for the first few week to help get the kids under control.

Spider raises hell at every opportunity, constantly fighting with his dad. He'd never admit it but this whole situation hurts him deeply. What his dad did was totally unforgivable. He wants to hate him but that's still his dad. Spider tries to convince him to give up his siblings. He'll forgive him if he does the right thing, he'll stay if his dad does the right thing. Quaritch blows him off, "you've got no power here kid. I'm holding all the cards, you've got nothing. Besides you'll come around. You can't pretend like this isn't everything you've ever wanted."

Hunter is jokingly dubbed the "favorite child" because he's the most well behaved. really he's just too terrified to try anything

Ada screams- a lot. and bites. and kicks. She screams every time an adult tries to tell her to do something. she bites when any of them tries to touch her and she'll kick at every opportunity.

Gunner is worse. He doesn't really speak unless spoken to but he's so stressed that if one of the adults so much as breathes around him then he starts throwing things, trashing the place like a bull in a china shop. It's so bad that after a few days Quaritch turned the hallway closet into "Gunner's Quiet room." Gunner bangs his fists against the door and Spider, Ada and Hunter, shout and beg for his release but Quaritch refuses until all the kids are calm.

I have to end it there because i'm about to hit the character limit but I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you want a part 3 💞

[lunarsilkscreen]

The Whims of Fate

I've always been a child of that great will people call "God the Father". Or Fate. The Force. Or the Path.

It sounds hokey and implausible because it's inherently a thing that can't be measured; something beneath random chance, something bigger than the world.

Something; that shows you where to look when you're not quite sure what to look at.

"oh you believe in magic?" Or "Fate", or whatever.

It makes sense, because with the tool we know as logic, we can create measuring tools and objective goals to meet.

Ways to rationalize the world. But every individual measurement must be taken out of the context it exists to be measured, and it doesn't even cover how we obtain knowledge and intellect in the first place.

Non-intellectuals exist in this world. People who, despite living in it, haven't really developed a skill set. But they always seem to know where to look for their next meal.

How does that seem to work? Necessity some say.

Always follow the exact same logical steps. Perfectly overcooking every piece of meat because "if they don't, they could get sick."

Still knowledge of some kind, but not the kind of chaotic ingenuity it takes to figure out how those steps were developed in the first place.

Yet true masters of craft find and harvest the chaos. Finding greater perfection when they follow what is "common sense" calls "imperfect."

This thing, this underlying drive doesn't just go as far to help develop new processes, but can get you certain intuition.

An anecdote; My grandmother brought me to a casino on my eighteenth birthday.

I don't like gambling, though I've been had by a gatcha or two, and I have a fondness for skill based games like BlackJack.

So I'm just wandering around this casino because Grandma gave me twenty to spend on the virtual slots. And I'm just feeling it out, looking for a machine that pulls my interest.

One machine stands out from the rest. It has a different visual motif than the the twenty or so in the same row.

--That was designed on purpose to catch the eye of people like me.

That wasn't it, the seat was warm. And something else underneath what casino wanted drove me towards it.

And on the first spin, BAM; Won twenty bucks.

Every once in a while; I get a gut feeling like that and it's rarely ever wrong. I try to reproduce it logically, feeling things out, tricking myself into thinking I feel that feeling elsewhere... Nothing.

"So you're saying [God] wanted you to win twenty bucks?"

No. If it was a purposeful action, it was to help me understand that feeling which is separate from logic.

It's happened plenty of times in consignment shops and at the bargain bin for good video games and movies.

Plenty of times I walked into GameStop, saw two games I was *pulled* towards and had to pick up a third game to get the buy 2 get one free deal.

And that last one didn't give me drive to really pick it up.

This was before I knew every game being released at all times; When I didn't really know what I wanted to buy at the store before going--I just wanted to find some good games.

The same way one might browse the "New Releases" section on one of the Gaming Store Platforms online these days.

"nah, not EA garbage, why are there twenty 27 EA releases today? Oh... What's this quaint looking indie title?"

All anecdotal, all illogical anecdotes.

For certainly the good games just always had a good Cover Art development team. /s

The will has driven me to do things I did not want to do, but had to do; like accepting medical discharge to leave the military and returning to my home town to try to catch up with family I had not been able to keep in contact with despite technological innovations these days that keep *EVERYBODY* in contact.

"well how do you know it's a real thing and not some malevolent force, or that the government installed a chip in your teeth?"

I haven't figured that out yet.

The simplest way to explain it would probably just to tell you to go watch or read "Dirk Gently" because that's the most obvious depiction of what I'm talking about that doesn't sound religious.

Maybe it's just the bacteria in my gut controlling my actions.

[project-aphelion]

12.23.2021 - Chapter 3 (again)

Word Count

> Chapter 3: 7180

> Total: 16845 (including a bit of Chapter 4)

WAHOO first update on this blog!

So what’s been going on? Let’s see...I took a massive commission, and that basically took up most of my free time, which meant I barely had time to write. (I don’t mean to sound ungrateful since I Am getting that cashmoney; just explaining what happened.) And THAT is the reason I haven’t updated since........September. Wow.

But added to that, this chapter was also stumping me. Lots of worldbuilding, lots of dialogue, plus it’s just a longggg chapter. Now, I’ve technically already made an update for this chapter, but that was only the first pass revision. I gave it a second revision (which ended up changing a LOT), and then a polish pass. It’s still not perfect, but hey, it’s workable!

So here’s what’s up:

What’s Different?

Chapter Summary: Shelby (Bee) and friend Idan escape from hitting Cay in the head and have issues over the fact they basically left him to die. Bee receives a job offer that seems too good to be true, but she refuses it. Which ALSO leads to issues between her and Idan.

Added:

> A more thorough description of Mortimer, the person attempting to hire Bee.

> Better explanation of the war and the disaster that made Es the sad little planet it is.

Changed:

> In revisions, a lot of my focus is on adding emotions. But in this particular chapter, I actually toned down the emotions. Originally Bee reacts terribly to the job offer, shouting “What?” and freaking out, but after ruminating over why the chapter isn’t really working, I realized she should be a lot more jaded. Her reaction now is more like a “.......wtf.”

> That being said, I also upped Bee’s homesickness to her home planet.

> Speaking of her home planet, I changed its name from Bolerre to Bi-Xing. I just wanted a little Chinese pizazz in there :<

> Okay, this one was kind of a net neutral. Originally, Bee and Idan live on Bee’s ship. In the first pass revision, I realized it wouldn’t make sense for Bee to still have her ship (her ship is dead. What’s she going to do, hire a crane operator to lug it around for her? She’s BROKE. She’s an ILLEGAL CITIZEN. anyway), so I changed it to what’s basically a homeless shelter. But then I realized I needed there to be a ship for climax purposes, so I changed it back to a ship, except now it’s IDAN’s ship. (Or his uncle’s, but whatever.)

And now, an excerpt.

She waggled the picture. “You said you didn’t know why he was chasing you.”

“Does it matter?” Idan said with all the venom of an angsty teen.

Bee guessed it didn’t. She let Idan grab the photo back and give it to Arada.

“Thank you, Idan,” Arada said, and incredulously, Bee thought she detected a hint of warmth in her voice. Then she turned back to Bee and her expression went cold once more. “Well. I would ask you to go back and grab more stuff, but we have a job offer for you.”

“Who’s we?”

“Me. My friend.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the other side of the hatch door. “Offer. Do you want to hear it or not?”

Bee blinked, still caught on that one word—friend. Arada had a friend, and somehow that was harder to swallow than the Alabast bomber hiding in a ghost town with a child. Who in their right mind would choose to be friends with someone so sour?

The disbelief must have shown because Arada was slanting her a needled look. Bee quickly schooled her expression. “Offer. Right. Yes.” She almost added please, but managed to bite it back.

I love writing Arada, btw. She’s so mean and cool.

Anyhoo c’est tout au revoirrrrrr

-Emily