#who was also a random story i was developing ages ago

[tiktaaliker]

was suddenly reminded of an old storyline i abandoned and forgot about ages ago about an entity who's entire gimmick was that they would body-hop into the nearest (and freshest) dead body, and then have like maybe a day or so until they died again and forced to body-hop into a new corpse. i dont remember much of it other than the concept, but i think it was meant to be like. a mystery/thriller? like there was a serial killer or murderer or whatever and this guy was trying to figure out why they kept waking up in the same town. and i think there was some shenanigans involved of the murderer freaking the fuck out because the people they killed kept showing up the day after before dying of something like being hit by a car or a heart attack instead of. you know. being murdered

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

10 Jikook Fanfictions Part 1

I said I'd make a list before the end of the year and I kept my promise. Now, it's difficult to choose, especially when I have more than 300 bookmarks and unfortunately I also started doing that some year and a half ago. Safe to say, there's probably plenty of good fics I read that are now lost. Anyway, enough with the boring chit chat, here's 10 random jikook fics in no particular order and most likely, several other parts will follow, probably next year 😉

1. Dead in the Water

It's been a couple of years since I read this and honestly, I barely remember much, but what I do know it's that it had an impact on me. Usually fics that have death as a central theme end up resonating with me, but perhaps it's because I've always been attracted to more darker fiction. This one is gritty and there's a lot of pain and I must have cried a lot (those tend to stick in my head)

2. we're holding hands beneath the silver screen

I think this story is taking place in the 90s (you'll see that a lot of the fics I recommend are taking place in the past). I think I ended up reading everything ChimneyCricket wrote, but this one remained a favorite. Coming of age during a summer in Jeju in the 90s. Apart from the theme, it's the writing that made me stick with it.

I'm not the biggest fan of young adult stories. Or better yet, it's not something that I'd go to as a preference. When I do, it's more of an indulgence and thankfully, I found some writers (like this one) who can do a really good job with the genre.

3. Stockwell

Another writer that I've become a big fan of after reading one fic of theirs. And I think it might have been Stockwell that did it for me. I like that it's fanfiction with adult themes for an adult audience. And I also resonate with a lot of the cultural references and themes. I will also admit that this fic leaning into the enemies to lovers trope was a selling point because I'm a sucker for it. I can't help myself.

4. Burn for You

This is a complete self indulgence for me and I embrace it. Just like watching Bridgerton is a guilty pleasure for which I don't actually feel guilty (and the inspo for this fic). This story has everything and I must say the combination of lust, fear of revealing feelings, rumors, proper behavior and hidden romance is a lethal combination!

5. Light of a century

I might have recommended this story before, but it being inspired by Up on Poppy Hill is not just due to the plot, but the writing is able to evoke that studio Ghibli mood. This fic is to be read on a hot weekend afternoon.

6. Map of the Soul

This might be one of the most complex fanfictions I read due to the amount of research needed, but also in the depiction of political contexts and identity politics. Most of all, I like it because as much as relationships are a vital part of the story, there is an entire world surrounding the main characters. Events and other people that have also room to develop and not just remain props that advance the story.

7. Proceed with Caution

I don't know what snatchim did with this fic, but it's the only one I ever reread multiple times and I'll probably do it again in the future. I don't even reread books from my library, let alone fanfics. But Proceed with Caution did it for me. Perhaps it's because of the process of Jungkook inevitably falling for Jimin and even though it's a bad thing considering the context, it's so good. Maybe it's the image of Jimin with a bellybutton ring or maybe because the picture of hot Californian days in the 70s is so vivid, it feels like a nostalgic Paul Thomas Anderson movie.

8. Dishwater World They Said Was Lemonade

The description does not do this story justice because it's so much more than that. It's a canon compliant thriller with really complicated and complex characters and once again, a story meant for adults who understand that it's fiction. Unfortunately, judging by the comment section, a lot of people cannot distinguish betweem real people and characters. For those of you who might be fans of Korean thrillers, this story might be the one for you. It's also one of my favorite jikook fics as well.

9. souvlaki

Need I say more, considering the description? This is a self indulgence as well, but of a different kind. If I happily read tropey fics, I also like the ones that can sound like a uni course. Set during the 1997 FMI crisis in SK, any reader will get familiar with a socioeconomic and political perspective of that time through the eyes of the main characters. If you're only looking for romance, this one is not for you.

10. you wouldn't remember

I think littleflumes might be currently my favorite writer of canon compliant jikook. I think the author really captured their dynamic in its essence and the room left for fiction perfectly fills in the holes left in the last 2 years and up until the present. But what did it for me, not only with this story, but the others in the series as well, is that it's concentrated almost entirely on the two main characters, almost living in a bubble of their own in which their relationship can be explored.

[felassan]

Random question. I read that 'Pelledia' was originally considered as a name for Thedas before it was finalised. Is there any mention of why they considered it, like is it supposed to mean anything? I'm writing some fanfiction and considering using it as a call back but I am assuming they just thought it sounded nice? Any help is appreciated :) Also apologies if you aren't accepting Asks atm, I'm new to tumblr so admittedly I don't know the etiquette!

hello! ◕‿◕ welcome to tumblr and no worries at all, we have a toggle where we can set 'let people ask questions' to on/off and mine as u can see is currently on ^^ [here] is a post which contains a summary of some interesting factoids and insights pertaining to the development of Dragon Age from the book Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development, it briefly mentions the Pelledia factoid. the full mention of this factoid from the book itself (in case the context/quote helps) reads:

"The name for the Dragon Age setting came about another way. “Thedas” was shorthand for “the Dragon Age setting” on the forums and internally, and the design team fully intended to name the continent something else in the final release. James [Ohlen] initially floated the name “Pelledia”. But the team figured there was no rush. “Thedas” would work well enough temporarily. Enter David Gaider’s first rule of naming: if a temp name has been around long enough and is not actively terrible or offensive, after six months, people won’t be able to think of it by any other name. That’s what happened with Thedas. The team had a big meeting to try and come up with a better name for the continent. But in the end, nothing sounded right except Thedas."

And yes!! there is a bit more info on this!! David Gaider did some dev commentary over a playthrough of Dragon Age on a Twitch stream a few years ago and in that commentary was a lot of different bits of insights and information. I think the original videos aren't available to watch anymore unfortunately, but at that time I took notes on them all and what was said (the following quote isn't a direct quote/word-to-word transcript, but it is notes on what was said):

"One of the original names for the setting, Peldia, was pronounced Pel-DEE-ah. This name came from a homebrewed world James Ohlen had made. He was keen to call it this, but David Gaider wasn’t keen on it and so in every document after that first one, he just referred to the setting as “TDAS” (The Dragon Age Setting) instead. When they spoke about the lore on the BioWare forums after the game was announced, they would often refer to it as “The Dragon Age Setting”. Someone on there abbreviated this to “Thedas” and the devs started using it. About three quarters of the way in they were like “Can we please just give this realm a name”, and at this point James was gone. They had a list of other names but nobody really liked any of them, and they’d been calling it Thedas for so long. Eventually, Sheryl Chee suggested “Can we just call it Thedas?” and it stuck."

as you can see in this I mis-spelled "Pelledia", and that "Pelledia" was the name of a homebrewed world that James had created himself at some point. :) that quote is from [this post here], and [here] is the link to the first post in that series, which itself contains the links to all of them.

(you might also be interested in this article and the maps and early worldbuilding of Thedas info that it contains. for example, who were/or were going to be the "Shaelan" race and the "Olvenene" race?? what was the apparent forest city of "FaeFran" etc?? :D there's also "far-away Noathen", some place where the first iteration of the DA themepark ride's story blurb mentions. hh, just in case that's of interest or you need more names to make callbacks with or something)

I hope this helps and best of luck with ur fanfic. ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

[fipindustries]

does F.I.P stand for anything in particular or is it a secret

ah, my favourite question to answer, fuck it, this time im going to give the long answer:

a primer on FIP

you know.

i dont have the best memory of my past, i truly dont. i claim that certain things happen at certain ages but there is no way for me to know for sure.

long long ago i decided, a bit at random, that the age at which i came up with the concept of FIP industries might have been when i was eleven. that was a guess, an educated guess but a guess all the same.

i know the very first idea of something akin to fip industries came to me on a family trip after watching the now forgotten cartoon show called the project zeta. and this all happened roughly in 2003 - 2004. so that is why i use that date.

which would mean that its been 20 years since i came up with this project. i do remember distinctly that i promised my self at that age that i would not allow maturity or growing up to take this thing away from me. that i would not forget this story or these characters. indeed that i would make it grow and dedicate the surely considerable resources i would have as an adult to make it come true.

and i didnt.

ten years after that, when i was 21, i wrote a novel called F.I.P. industries. it's... fine, for a first draft of a first work of someone who had never written a novel before at 21 years of age. it develop the story, it crystalized it. it gave it a coherent shape and a strong foundation. what's more, it cemented the arcs of many of its key characters, characters that had started as broken, improvised toys made out of key chains and legos and pieces of toy cars. the lore also went through an EXTENSIVE overhaul, i incorporated elements from other stories, fused characters together into a single character, changed the race and gender of many other characters, changed dates, names and arcs around and streamlined the whole thing.

then in 2020 i decided to overhaul the entire lore a second time. dramatically changing the timeline and the importance of certain characters, cannibalizing a bunch of other stories, retooling a lot of things and, once again, pushing everything into a new direction.

and of course i should add that during those 20 years i kept adding characters, side stories, spin offs, lore, backstories and actually continued the story along. twenty years have passed both in the real world and in-universe.

and given that this is the story's 20th aniversary (i think), it is time for me to share this story with all of you, from beggining to end, explaining every character along the way. this is going to be a long and arduous excercise and i genuenly dont know if i am going to get through it all, but i will try all the same.

ill be making a series of posts under the tag #FIPindustries the story can be divided in three eras, it will be one masterpost per era, where i will go over the main chronology of the story and the main characters in each era.

Era 1, also known as the golden years covers the founding and original expansion of fip industries as a research lab covering multiple different disciplines and fields of studies, trying to find synergies between the different investigations. this was all financed and directed by its founder, Filander Ignatius Patrick. this era ends with the collapse of the company during a terrible incident that ended up killing, vanishing or transmutating most of its employees. what few survivors there were left scattered to the winds. key characters in this era are Montogmery J. Black, also known as the shadow, Craig Sterling, legally assigned as grim reaper, and Franchesca Turimov, cyborg, rabble rouser, bad news.

Era 2, also known as the dormant era, covers the fallout of fip industries collapse and the different stories of the multiple scavengers that managed to salvage the lost technology from the ruins of the company. this era is mainly dominated by Maximillian Sicamore, a sinister man with many secrets and even more plans, who used to be an employee at the company and one of the few survivors of the collapse. key characters in this era are Maximillian Sicamore, criminal mastermind, proud father, The four crazy kids, Marten, Ralph, Sarah and jessica, freelance heroes, The harpsichord crew, sky pirates.

Era 3, is the return of FIP industries to its former glory under the helm of maximillian's son, Erik Sicamore, who takes over his father's empire, re hires many of the old scientists that survived (and many of those who didnt as well), and includes a fresh batch of new blood, amongst which you can find many of fip industries old enemies. Under the control of Erik the company is redirected to more "charitable" goals, such as finding a source of infinite renewable energy for the world (which is all a front for his real plans, killing god). key characters for this era are Erik Sicamore, leader of FIP industries, broken man, trans, Peter, tamed serial killer, Leenard and Sasha, scientists, lost in time, lost in space

with this quick introduction you should be ready to parse whatever the more indepth dives i might make some day on each era in the oncoming posts.

welcome to F.I.P. Industries

[ciciciron]

When the when the autism kicks in and suddenly it's 1 am and I have a completed Lear design despite the fact he doesn't show up in my au until the sequel fic

Naturally the best course of action to take with Hoopa!Lear was to make him more emo, and also pink, and also tan because I felt like it. Severe infodump under the cut cuz I am so. about him

Brief overview of the au- it just involves a lot of multiverse bullshit, as well as pokemon-human hybrids known as either gods (for mythical or legendary pokemon, created by being blessed either by an Arceus or fusing with the pre existing legendary) or demons (people who sell their soul when they die and tangentially become part Pokemon because fun character design). The story follows this guy named Akagi as he works to defeat his father once and for all...to put it simply.

Lear, or actually Lyer because he's from the first universe in context of all of this and therefore I have to use the Japanese name, was originally human just like most of the gods. This relates to the bigger picture but like 10,000 years before the story takes place there was this big event that left half the world destroyed and time all fucked up, bro almost died lmao loser but Hoopa fused with him to save his life

He then spent the next 10k years doing fuck all but being silly and visiting random universes until it was decided he was to be plot relevant where all he did was make travel easier which some how proved him more useful than any other traveling companion the mc had before

He only agrees to it because he's searching for the prison bottle so he can actually unlock his full power instead of just being 5'2" and able to teleport. And it's convenient enough that their destinations line up pretty well and he's more protected this way

Also not to get too angsty because it'll be at least a year before I can write any part of this story because I physically cannot work so out of order but given the fact he never had his character development in masters and has also genuinely lost everyone he's ever cared about because that long ass stretch of time (where bro didn't age, I'll add, he's still 17 here smh couldn't even drown the pain with alcohol or smth) he's even more difficult and it takes a lot more for him to accept that he doesn't have to suffer alone

(Also lowkey oc x canon but you cannot come into my house and insult my gay furniture when I have good lore reasons)

Also unrelated but when I was autistically scrolling the tags for him on Tumblr I learned that other people have made Hoopa!Lear design's and I was so like...that was so fun to see hehe it inspired me to finally draw mine. I've been obsessed with him recently which came out of no where- he wasn't in the story at all until a month ago

[imreallyloveleee]

Where do you think it all went wrong with Riverdale?

honestly, part of me is like, the show's over and nothing but fandom matters. so who cares?

the other part of me loves to complain about Riverdale and will continue to do so until the day I die in the parking lot of Michael's Diner in Montgomeryville, PA at the age of 86. so, long-winded answer under the cut

I'm tempted to say it's the s4 b*rchie kiss. It was so wildly out of character for both Betty and Archie that it's laughable. You know how you can tell when something is just blatantly OOC with no justification? They...don't justify it. They find ways to dance around any interaction that might offer clarification. They mute the reactions of the characters who should be devastated by it. And then they jump ahead 7 years so it's easier to just handwave it away as something that happened a long time ago.

but the thing is, I did keep watching after that. I thought: okay, at least we should get an exes-to-lovers arc out of this, which is one of my favorite tropes. there is no way they would spend 4 seasons developing Bughead as this loving, supportive, communicative, sexy, and almost-unbelievably-compatible couple just to tear them apart and never do anything with that dynamic again. maybe it'll be even sweeter seeing them come back together after so much hurt and longing.

boy was i wrong!!!!!!!!!

so, the episode that actually made me stop watching for good, with the exception of some standalones like The Jughead Paradox and the finale, was the s5 musical. that was when i realized that this team of writers was 100% willing, maybe even eager, to completely drop storylines they themselves had been building over the course of a season - do a 180 with all of the characterization and relationships - and then act as though the buildup they wrote never even happened.

in this case, i'm specifically talking about the Bughead reunion storyline they dropped in s5. i'm not going to pretend like it was a GREAT buildup - and it was mostly on Jughead's side, Betty's character in s5 was basically an emotionless misery bot that had sex sometimes - but it was there. Jughead told Tabitha he had unresolved feelings around Betty. that's followed by an entire episode that lays out Betty & Jug's time jump relationship, and how Jughead still believes she's the one who saves him from himself. they work on a case together, they start opening up to one another. Jughead's so worried about her he can't eat.

and then...you know what happens.

(i'll also note here that there was random bts stuff that strongly indicated the musical ep storyline had a drastic last-minute rewrite: lili tweeted a blue dress, suggesting the song with that line was meant for her character; RAS said cole had to do last-minute recording sessions; supposedly crew members have confirmed this was the case, too. since none of it's 100% confirmed you can take it all with a grain of salt, but i believe it.)

it was so fucking insulting as a viewer to give my time and attention to a show made by people who would not only randomly drop the threads they set up, but torpedo them altogether, and then behave like the fans are the ones somehow at fault for expecting a story that actually follows through on its own emotional and plot beats. we're just shippers, so our opinions are dumb and biased! it's just a tv show, so who cares! get over it!

so, i stopped watching, because i knew they would continue to write without any thought or respect for their characters or their audience, and therefore inevitably write themselves into another corner. and, shocker, i was right. they did it again, whisking everyone away to the 1950s because actually resolving any of the scenarios they set up was ToO hArD. why bother when you could just make every single character Righteously Angry and Incurably Horny all the time, lecture the audience about social issues that have already been mainstream progressive for the last several decades, and call it a "love letter" to your fans?

[kimmiessimmies]

📩 Simblr question of the day: Choose as many sims/ocs as you'd like for this question, What's something INCREDIBLY obscure and/or out-of-pocket about your sim/oc? Something that nobody (fellow sims and/or your followers and mutuals) knows 👀 (This could be things about their social skills, physicality and/or birth defects, or it could be something they vaguely remember, a dream they had that actually predicted the future, etc etc... whatever you come up with)

( p.p.s freely share this SQOTD around, anon or not, and use the # SQOTD ~ 💛 )

Thank you, Anon (who I sneakily suspect to be @eljeebee forwarding the SQOTD Anon 😉) and @nocturnalazure for the same ask (on the same day 😊). ❤️

Here's a list of very random facts about my student bunch and two bonus characters. Some things may be known to some already, but I think most can be considered obscure. It is, of course, an essay. Because I'm simply never a woman of few words, especially when it comes to blabbing about my characters. 😊

James wrote his first original song at age 8. It was titled "Parent-Free World", and sometimes he still hums it absentmindedly. He bites his nails when he's nervous and the only place he "self-services" is in the shower because that's the least messy.

Sarah has been considering breast reduction surgery because she has back pain often. She and James developed "twin language" as toddlers and still remember and use some words.

Daniel secretly hoped he would have siblings, but it wasn't on the cards. This made him closer to James and Sarah, though. He's on the verge of failing university. Not because he's not smart enough but because the lectures bore him. His learning style is more visual and kinesthetic, and the University caters more towards auditory learners.

Jill sometimes remembers smidges of a past she can't really place and is convinced these are memories from a previous life. She knows all the songs from High School Musical by heart, but she doesn't tell a soul about this because she's embarrassed.

Seth is extremely intelligent and is a member of Mensa. He doesn't want to be cocky, so he hardly mentions it. He avidly plays D&D online, and his character, a sorcerer, is named Zeno Morningsteam.

Sadie is a wonderful singer and has a great musical ear, but it bothers her that she doesn't know how to play an instrument. She has a tiny birthmark somewhere on her body shaped like a heart (when seen up close). Her parents' marriage is going through stormy weather, but they hide this from their children (for now).

Rachel does yoga every day. She secretly liked it when Sadie spent every night with James because, as much as she loves Sadie, sharing her personal space with someone every night is very demanding for her. She's written seven chapters to a fantasy story, but this is a well-kept secret. If she tells someone about it, they may want to read it! 😱

Finn has a nut allergy. This was discovered when he was three years old and had to be rushed to hospital after sneaking a taste of Nutella. After his hospitalisation, "know what you eat" became a huge topic in the Richardson household, and this is actually what inspired Jill to want to become a chef. Since lots of food contains traces of nuts, Finn is very careful what he eats and always checks the packaging.

***Bonus characters (since they're fresh on everyone's mind)***

Joshua actually hasn't sworn off religion like his sister Martha has. He still has faith but is finding his own way. His crush on Joel is slowly fading, but he's happy about this. He hopes to find love soon but knows this is difficult in a small town. He ordered a free information booklet from The Rainbow Alliance entitled "Boys." which very openly and very detailed (in drawings) explains anything and everything boys who like boys need to know. It left him extremely flustered, but it's also his favourite thing to read now. 🤫

Morgan named Jonah after the love of her life, Jonas, who died in a car crash many years ago. Morgan has a subscription to OMGYES. Aside from writing, she has another creative passion: playing the violin. She's very good at it too. She's not looking for a relationship right now, life is too busy as it is.

[ltwharfy]

Long Post of Random Thoughts on Finishing "Gravity Falls"

Are you interested in reading a really long post where a middle-aged guy talks about a children’s cartoon that ended seven years ago? If so, you are in luck! I just finished watching “Gravity Falls” y’all! And here are a bunch of totally random thoughts about it:

-“I’ll have you know Duck-tective has a big mystery element! And a lot of humor that goes over kids’ heads!”- it was nice that the kids show that I became obsessed with over the past two months or so acknowledged the reasons adults might get obsessed with it. Also, Duck-tective has to be one of my favorite show-within-a-show premises. I’d definitely check it out!

-While I do love the humor of the show so much, it is really the mystery element- the ongoing story arc- that took me by surprise and eventually led to me bingeing the last eight episodes or so in one day. I just don’t remember animated kids comedies- or really, many kids shows of any type-when I was growing up that had ongoing story arcs like that. Kids shows where the episodes could be watched in any order and everything was always “back to normal” at the beginning of the next episode was the norm.

-I’ve been a fan of Kristen Schaal since she was on The Daily Show and eventually end up watching everything she’s in. So, the main thing I knew about Gravity Falls going into it was “Kristen Schaal does the voice of that girl”. As Louise Belcher is one of my favorite TV characters, I was worried- would I be able to forget about Louise while hearing Mabel? Yes, quite easily. Their personalities are so different! It was basically never an issue. I actually tried to listen for Mabel lines that sounded like Louise might say them and really only ended up with two that stuck out to me (“I high-five hard.” and “I AM THE GOD OF DESTRUCTION!”)

-Oh, but Louise would also want a grappling hook. And, honestly, she’d get as much or more use of it than Mabel did. Like I can think of a few episodes (and the movie…) where it could’ve been helpful. But I digress.

-One final Bob’s Burgers related point, there were a few things in season two that I just couldn’t help but wonder if they were references to Bob’s Burgers. First, the Jersey Shore hometown of Stan and Ford definitely made me think of Seymour’s Bay. And the Pines briefly have a burger phone in “The Stan-Churian Candidate”! On the other hand, both Jersey Shore towns and burger phones are real things that existed well before Bob’s Burgers and not every appearance of them is a reference to it. (But when you’ve also got Kristen Schaal involved…)

-And speaking of cast members who I remembered from other things, both Dipper and Wendy were voiced by actors from short-lived early 00s shows that I loved: Joan of Arcadia’s Jason Ritter and Freaks and Geeks’s Linda Cardellini. The fact that I will associate them with those shows is another indication that I am not in the target demographic of Gravity Falls! But, honestly, if I had known Linda Cardellini was also in this show, I might have checked it out sooner.

-And speaking of Dipper and Wendy, I really loved how they handled Dipper’s crush on her in season two. Their scene together at the end of “Into the Bunker” is so sweet, it just made me feel so much affection for both the characters and the folks who make the show. It would’ve been so easy to never really make any effort to resolve that plotline and instead just always have Dipper pathetically crushing on her for the whole show. Or make it a nerdy boy wish-fulfillment thing and have her actually return his feelings (which just wouldn’t’ve been realistic given their ages). Instead, I feel like they addressed it in a realistic and sensitive way, which was nice.

-Another thing I really appreciated was how they developed some of the supporting characters in season 2, particularly Old Man McGucket and Pacifica Northwest. I enjoyed those characters in season one, but pretty much assumed they would always stay in their stock character roles- crazy old man and mean rich girl, respectively. Instead, McGucket gets what I found to be some of the most moving scenes in the show- when he gets his memories back and when he reunites with Ford.

-And Pacifica! She’s honestly the character I find myself wondering the most about what happens to them after the show. She’s realized her family has been pretty horrible for generations. She stood up to her parents. Her family lost some of their money and had to sell their mansion (her dad pledging allegiance to Bill and investing in weirdness bonds is probably one of my favorite details from the finale). She’s becoming a teenager. And she lives in Gravity Falls full time. I just think her post-series finale life is gonna be pretty fascinating!

-And maybe that life will involve her getting romantically involved with Dipper? Yeah, I started shipping that after “Northwest Mansion Mystery”, and even though the show really didn’t give them any scenes together (which is understandable, there was a lot of other stuff going on) I still like it. I checked to see if there was fic about it on AO3 and immediately got freaked out because there is so dang much of it! Seriously, the number of Dipper/Pacifica fics on there is literally ten times the number of fics for my favorite Bob’s Burgers ship! What am I supposed to do with that?!

-So if the statement, “I’m looking for the ‘Be My Thrill’/’heaven help the fool who falls in love’ of Dipper/Pacifica fics” means something to you, and you have a recommendation, let me know.

-One supporting character I wish had been introduced earlier: Tad Strange, the most normal person in town. The name, the character design, the voice, all just amused me. It would’ve been fun if there was more of him.

-Speaking of supporting character designs that I loved: Toby Determined and his hat, with the press card that says “hat” instead of “press”. That literally always made me smile. I love it so much. It is one of my favorite cartoon character design details ever.

-Possibly the most random of observations: I can now think of four fictional characters named Mabel off the top of my head, but don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with that name in real life.

-I don’t have any kids of my own, but I do have a nephew, and now I am pretty excited about the possibility that I could be a Grunkle a few decades down the road. Hopefully, I’ll have my own Mystery Shack by then.

-Even though I know how the storyline ends now, I feel like this show has a high level of rewatchability for some point in the future. I’m sure there will be tons of details that I didn’t notice the first time around, and there are definitely more layers of it to peel back (I never paid attention to the codes/puzzles in the credits. Although, had I been watching this show when I was 10 I probably would’ve obsessed about them.)

-I can probably think of more things to say about this show and probably will, but this seems like enough for now. Thanks to Alex Hirsch and everyone involved in making the show for creating such wonderfully weird, hilarious, entertaining world! And thanks to you, person who actually read to the end of this post!

[sam-glade]

Writeblr Intro

Hi! My name is Sam (they/them), and I write SFF.

About me:

I'm queer, in my late 20s, and I live in Europe.

Pets? Two cats + 1 orange braincell

Favourite food? Please don't make me choose.

What I write? Hard fantasy with excessive worldbuilding

Favourite books? The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. The Traitor by Seth Dickinson. Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

Fiction I probably won't enjoy? Romance. Middle grade. Most High School YA. It's just not my cup of tea.

Outside of writing? I'm a mathematician-turned-programmer who wishes they've gone into a more creative career

Silmarillion blog: @ward-of-irmo

Personal blog: @careening-mind

Read all the snippets I've posted under this tag.

DMs/Asks/Tag games? Yes, please

This blog is a mix of things related to my writing, from snippets, through info dumps, to historical trivia and inspirations for the setting. Also, cats.

I'm happy to do beta swaps.

About my writing:

Expect themes of found family, battling inner demons, finding one's identity and strength. But also, superpowered sword fights and epic locations. Don't expect romance front and centre, and don't expect characters who are minors. Most of my characters are openly queer; I enjoy seeing people I can identify with partake in fantasy adventures, without their identities being a burden.

I write multi-POV stories, 3rd person only. I'm not that keen on seemingly unrelated POVs coming together, but I love seeing group interactions through the eyes of a different person each time.

I like turning 'what if' questions into stories - what if the Chosen One was chosen by the villain? What if a Bronze Age civilisation experienced a first contact with an alien race? What would crime-scene investigation look like in a setting where people turn to dust upon death? I also love learning, and I learn by researching random areas that are tangentially related to my writing projects.

Are my fantasy settings too realistic? Maybe. Am I having fun writing it? Definitely.

About my WIPS:

The Sunblessed Realm

Hard fantasy, queernorm setting inspired by Slavic folklore and the history of Central-Eastern Europe. The age of heroes has passed. The heroes remain alive.

A list of all stories and longer snippets in this setting that I've posted.

Days of Dusk trilogy [Tag]

Swords used to be the protectors of the world, channelling the power of the Elements to fight against the Primeval Darkness. Now that the threat is contained, they are perceived as a danger themselves. Their powers are feared, while any advantages they can give are made up for with developments in science.

Info dump posts: Map || Magic system || Fashion || Architecture || Cast || Rites of passage

⚔️Gifts of Fate ⚔️

Intro post || [Tag]

The Witcher x Fullmetal Alchemist

Genre: NA hard fantasy

Pitch: The hero was chosen by the villain to become might incarnate. With all due respect, he'd like to decline.

Expect gratuitous superpowered HEMA fight scenes mixed with fridge horror.

Progress: First Draft done at 107k, beta readers' feedback received

⚔️The Prince's Shadow⚔️

Intro post || [Tag]

NA military fantasy.

The hero of the first instalment was deemed to dangerous to live or be killed. The Army's spymaster and the Chief Strategist set him up to die a hero's death.

Note: This was the first story I've written in this setting, with the pitch being 'the hero has just saved the world and needs to figure out what to do with his life'. It has evolved a fair bit since then.

Progress: Needs rewriting, now that the prequel is written.

⚔️Prodigal Children⚔️

[Tag]

Political fantasy.

The last - the only - war fought by Swords took place two millennia ago, and the memory of its horrors kept the princes motivated to stop it from happening ever again. When an uprising in one of the princedoms spills over the borders, it again becomes a real threat.

Now with more intrigue and sapphic romance.

Progress: First Draft done at 128k

To do: I've got feedback to incorporate

The Truth Teller [Tag]

Intro post

Urban fantasy version of the Eastern Bloc.

Three thousand years later, the heroes of the previous stories have passed into legends. There are no more Swords to protect, Crystals to heal, or Elemental Dancers to mend and build. There are only Knacked, shunned by the society.

Progress: Outline done, writing started.

Other

The Fulcrum

First Contact Sci-Fi from the point of view of the alien species. While their civilisation is comparable to early Iron Age ones on Earth, don't worry, they have nukes.

Progress: First Draft - 24k/100k

To do: more research

[alertarchitect]

So, I've been watching a lot of random stuff on YouTube lately, but the two big things are videos about the 3DS (and modding it bc fuck Nintendo's stance on game preservation, i.e. ignoring it entirely) and Adventure Time lore videos. Now, mind you, I've never watched Adventure Time. When it started, I was at the age of being just baaaarely too old to be a part of its target demographic, and too young to look past that and enjoy it anyway because I had that immature mindset of "If it's for kids 1-2 grades behind me in school, I can't like it!"

However, learning about Adventure Time in general, and Prismo in particular, has helped me realize what one of my favorite... tropes, I guess, in fiction is. I don't know the name for it, but when you have a phenomenally powerful being, like a deity or Prismo, that can do anything they want with their power - but they just also have this random mundane hobby, like Prismo and his pickles. Bonus points if they actively refuse to use their powers to participate in said hobby, and insist on doing it how a normal mortal would.

On the surface, it seems like a simple thing - humanize the inhumanly powerful cosmic being by giving them this little mundane quirk that the audience can relate to. But it has the potential to serve your narrative and character development amazingly if done well. Maybe this deity is wise in addition to being powerful, and forcing themselves to do their hobby the normal way is their method for keeping the mortal perspective in mind for when they make big decisions. Maybe your story begins before they have the hobby, and the audience learns they do it to remember and/or honor an old friend or mentor from centuries ago.

It's not just a fun quirk, though admittedly it can be that as well, it's something that can give a glimpse into the complexities of a character who is centuries, millennia, or hell, possibly even millions of years old. And I love it!

[zhouxiangs]

hi sasa! about my stand in novel, since you read the tags before going in, were there anything you were surprised with (either good/bad surprise)? what aspect do you think is the most enjoyable/compelling of the story despite there is still some cliches/cheesy/perhaps even predictable in the writing? i finished it recently as well and i love listening to another reader's thoughts about it

hi anon!

i know i sound like a yan mingxiu apologist at this point but i was honestly expecting him to be way worse, and then he wasn't! i was vaguely aware that he was, maybe, the less scummy of the 188 group because i read a tiny bit about that before starting the novel, but i was still prepared for someone downright evil (or evil for evil's sake, or whose actions would piss me off for most of the story only to have some kind of big reveal later that would make me rethink everything—not that i'm actually opposed to that approach actually, but i'm still glad it wasn't like that in pbd, at least for the readers, because i liked following his emotional journey in real time-ish) and, while he still wasn't great, let's say i don't approve of his ways but i could easily understand how he got there.

going to hide the rest of my answer under a read-more because i want to get into spoilers and sometimes a tag isn't enough:

i told @clairedaring when i started the novel that yan mingxiu was funny to me because it was so clear even then how oblivious he was being (and later on how he was going to be hurt by the consequences of his own actions, boy was shooting himself in the foot the whole time) and i stand by that. i did cry for him, but i also reveled in his pain after seeing him sow the seeds for a year. get karma'd. oh and his age was a nice surprise too! i'd assumed he would be older for some reason (maybe because of up poompat) but he's a babyyy. it just made so much sense that he would be so immature with his background and being that young; not that people his age are immature or i'd expect them to, obviously, but some things are a lot easier to understand and excuse (at least for me) once you know he's only 20. it also makes him way more believable and his actions generally easier to digest than if he was idk, up's actual age. anyway i went into the story with that mindset, so maybe that's why i never really disliked him. or maybe it's because i'm older and a few years ago i wouldn't have thought the same, who knows.

as for the most compelling/enjoyable aspect i'd say it's mostly the way the characters are written, which, bare minimum lol but they were just so believable as people? there was depth, there was consistency in the characterisation (oh the bar is in hell); i could understand why zhou xiang was wavering, and why it took him so long to notice/accept and to believe in yan mingxiu's feelings; i could see yan mingxiu's feelings developing early on and also understand why he was basically gaslighting himself into still believing he loved wang yudong, even though by then he was already starting to notice how he didn't even like him as a person (one of the things i found so amusing about yan mingxiu was the way he'd automatically redirect his thoughts about zhou xiang to circle back to "but the best part about him is definitely how his back looks like dong ge's", he's. so dumb) he was so set in his belief and so used to think about wang yudong as the person he loved that he didn't even bother to stop and think for a second if that was even true anymore. aughhh. i really think the characterisation was really strong; it's not like i don't latch onto random weak characters for no reason constantly but this is usually what's important for me in fiction, and specially in a story that is mostly about feelings i need to really care about the characters, otherwise what's the point.

the flow of the story (the english fan translation in my case, but i think this comes from the story itself) was really good too! that by itself would have made me read the whole thing pretty quickly even though i wanted to make it last, not gonna lie... but yeah, with those two things combined i had no chance. i would intend to read one or two chapters before sleeping and then end up reading anywhere between 20-40, so now i have to microdose the extras or i'll run out of yanzhou content, sobs.

and of course, not to be me, but the best thing about pbd is my sweet angel baby zhou xiang. i was pretty sure i was going to like him a lot just from reading claire's propaganda post (lol) and sure enough, by chapter 6 his doormat ways had bewitched me body and soul. i already adored him as a very social but also very lonely man who had resigned himself to be alone at the tender age of 29 (out of practicality? like granted, he knows better than me how his environment functions but he never had any trouble finding a hook up either? so why that level of cynicism, baby boy. it's not like he can't look for a partner outside of his circle either). a man that so desperately yearned for a loving partner/a family of his own but that settled for scraps, and sometimes not even that. i loved seeing him being domestic and at times even sweet with yan mingxiu in his original life, and how he was a bit like a puppy. i loved how softhearted he was, and how petty he got at times; how he wanted to take that role from wang yudong because he was jealous of him and, since he couldn't get yan mingxiu to love him, at least he could "win" somehow and not be second to wang yudong by taking that role away from him, even if it was only once and not what he really wanted/the only thing he actually cared about (ie yan mingxiu's heart); how he wanted to hurt and maybe embarrass yan mingxiu by telling him about "wang yudong"'s back in his first film being that of a stuntman (and oh how i loved what that caused). but mostly i loved that despite all that he was still, above everything else, softhearted; he stopped caring about wang yudong altogether as soon as he knew the truth about yan mingxiu, even thought he'd spent years suffering because of him by that point; he always took care of chen ying, whatever it took, because even though she was only his new body's mother she was the only mother he had and he'd already hurt her enough by taking the place of her son, doesn't matter that he had no power over that.

i loved watching zhou xiang grow as a person and learning to put himself first sometimes, and having the resolve to fight for what he wanted for once and not just put up with everything life threw at him. i didn't even like the yan family plot (could do without yan mingxiu's father beating his gay son, thank you) but seeing zhou xiang standing up for himself and their relationship made me so emotional and so proud of him. his development was really the best, and i just love him so so much.

also it's so funny to me how i imprinted on poom phuripan like a baby chick the first time i saw him (as guy in bake me please) and then i had pretty much the same experience with a character he's going to play lmao as if i didn't know he's perfect for the role already.

look at him! he's so beautiful, so zhou xiang-shaped. i thought about up from time to time while reading too, but i was picturing poom in my mind constantly without even trying to. 10/10, perfect casting.

also! cheesy is good! cheesy is fantastic, even. same with clichés and predictable stories that follow a certain formula; sometimes that is exactly what i want, and as long as it makes sense and feels natural to the characters and the story (ie they don't just do things/things just don't happen because it's what needs to happen next) i'm down with anything. also i don't know if this counts as predictable or just paying attention because after all that's what the mentions/clues were there for, but things like yan mingxiu's obsession with wang yudong's back and consequently zhou xiang's... the moment we got yan mingxiu remembering how he fell in love at first sight with wang yudong's back at 16 when he saw that now-classic scene of him getting out of the water in his first film i knew what was coming, specially because by that point we knew how long zhou xiang had been working as wang yudong's stuntman (not sure if we knew about him being uncredited yet).

and sure enough, he was never credited in the first place because they wanted the action scenes to help build wang yudong's fame, and yang mingxiu had been in love with zhou xiang's back the entire time. you don't get much more cheesy than that, and it's literally my favourite thing about the novel 😭

and i'm stopping myself here oh my god...

[pluckyredhead]

☕️beast world & absolute power I guess even though it’s not really out? (really any of the recent events dc have done, especially concerning Waller)

Overall I think Beast World was pretty stupid and didn't spend nearly enough time reveling in its core concept (everyone is furries) and was resolved in a very unsatisfying way. I expect to be largely "eh" about Absolute Power in general because I am mostly just unmoved by events these days. Like, years ago it bothered me because they would disrupt ongoing storylines, but DC has so few ongoings now and almost zero character development that there's very little to interrupt. I'm rarely invested in an event, but they also don't really annoy me.

But I think you're more asking about how Waller has been treated lately and: I don't like it. When Waller was originally created, she was tough as nails, sure. She made hard decisions. She crossed ethical lines. But she had lines she wouldn't cross, and she was motivated by what she saw as the greater good.

Now she's just a monologue-ing supervillain, doing all sorts of random evil shit for...basically no reason? And it sucks. Amanda Waller used to be a fascinating, complex, nuanced character, and now she's just pointlessly evil. It's not a good look for DC's most prominent Black woman, and goes hand in hand with how they've made her younger and thinner, too.

All that said, they did just announce an origin story for her as part of Absolute Power written by John Ridley and drawn by Alitha Martinez, and I'm cautiously optimistic about that. Ridley's The Other History of the DC Universe was so good and he knows his Bronze Age DC backwards and forwards so I'm sure he knows perfectly well who Amanda Waller used to be. I hope DC lets him bring her back to us.

[god-of-my-world]

Everything you need to know about Hello Charlotte: Delirium!

I played delirium ages ago and, between the short length and non-canonical status, forgot about it :( It definitely has less to offer than the other main games in the series, but there is absolutely some worthwhile stuff in it.

Firstly: Delirium was released in 2017, right between ep2 and ep3. It does not exist within the main timeline, and is instead an AU, where Seth (and puppeteers as a whole) does not exist. It takes place shortly after the events of ep1, and follows a Charlotte who lacks her usual morality and kindness.

Just like the first game, this one is a little tricky to analyze in the main continuity because of it’s AU status. However, looking at the time it was released, it’s safe to assume ep3 was in development and that this is at least mostly in-line with the world and mechanics of ep3 and all it entails (in regards to Charles, mother, etc etc)

I’ll point out the most important takeaways here, but keep an eye out for future posts where I will comment on some specific lines/screenshots :)

As far as we can tell, all of the same rules of the House apply in this world. While  it’s never specified, I would read this as a random channel, spotlighting one of the many Charlottes made by Mother. She’s likely a defective vessel, like Q84, and for that reason doesn’t have a puppeteer.

She probably also doesn’t have the parasite, as she (again, like q84) shows no inclination to fit the expected proper behavior. (Once again, a lot of speculation. Sadly, that's the brunt of what I’ll have to say on this game.)

What we do know is that:

the tenants exist (unlike in ep2, where Scarlotte made them into delusions) and Charlotte is on good terms with them.

Charlotte has the oracle, and unlike Scarlotte, does not seem to have trouble using its power.

Charlotte has the best relationship with Anri (they’re dating!) and interestingly, Anri’s design is the most different from her true realm design, even though the other characters look relatively the same.

Charlotte has some level of self-awareness in regards to Scarlett, the endless/repeating nature of the House and the “god of this world”. more on this later.

As mentioned above that Charlotte has the Oracle’s power, she uses this to transport to “another world”. For now, I would picture this as a different channel, like the ones Charlotte goes through in the first episode.

Charlotte is either functionally or completely immortal. She shows no averse reaction to both being experimented on by the workers, nor by losing her hand, which immediately grows back. (It’s interesting that she heals rather than switching to new bodies like Q84, but I don’t know if that actually has any significance.) I assume she can’t die until her story in “finished”.

We have a new character to the series, in Osiris. He doesn’t appear in any other game (due to Charlotte finding him in in the new world) and liek many other characters, has a symbolic name. Osiris is the Egyptian god of the underworld. I currently haven’t found any significance for the choice of name except that at the end of the game he controls and destroys the mechanical network, reminiscent of a reaper-like figure.

This Charlotte cannot rewind- most likely due to the absence of Seth, but it also raises questions as to whether or not she has a soul cube. In it’s place as the save file is “memory”. This probably ties to the earlier point about her immortality!

Like most of ane’s games, it dips into commentary about consumption, technology, and capitalism. This game the most out of the three brings technology into the discussion, especially with Osiris who is an AI and the constant presence of Binary as the main language in the other world. This is definitely a concept that will earn a post of it’s own, but the world constant unsuccessful attempts at creating life that ends up being little more than moving meat is definitely connected to an important theme of HC; creation, godhood, and the meaning of sentience and souls. (Think about Felix, Vincent, basically everything in the house.)

Sadly, I couldn’t find any more books in delirium to add to my list, but it was worth the replay. I recommend giving it a go! It’s pay-what-you-want on itch.io!!

[hauntedhikingsociety]

i finally finished dual destinies. i had fun, but. it's not good. i think most fans agree, the 3d models and colours are ugly, the translation had a lot of basic errors, but the most frustrating part is the story. there's good ideas but they try to juggle too many characters and stories and it ends up being muddled.

so this is my. not how i would 'fix' dual destinies because tbh if i was really trying to fix this game i would simply say it should have been an actual sequel to aa4. but how i would rearrange the pieces to make it a more cohesive game on its own.

should be obvious but BIG SPOILERS FOR DUAL DESTINIES

overall changes:

no more dark age of the law. it's so fucking stupid "the dark age of the law started 8 years ago" does the original trilogy mean nothing to you. you're telling me dl-6 was the glorious age of the law get a grip. this added nothing to the story just say blackquill was wrongly convicted that happens EVERY GAME

no more turnabout academy. i'm sorry turnabout academy fans but it's too mixed up with the dark age of the law and frankly doesn't add anything. i feel juniper should have been playing a similar role to larry in aa1 as the tutorial defendant and a familiar face later

the central problem with dual destinies is that it can't decide if it's an apollo game or athena game or a phoenix game, and that makes the story weaker. so i would make it a game about the relationship between apollo and athena. since that's our central story thread, phoenix doesn't get his badge back until the very end of the game, giving those two more time to shine in court.

let's go case by case:

turnabout countdown

the main change i would make here is that athena is the lawyer the whole time. her having a breakdown because she has to do it alone and phoenix showing up is fine imo, in fact i like that athena has to deal with her ptsd in almost every case. but then it steals athena's moment by having her give up and phoenix take over, and also means that in the tutorial case, phoenix the one who needs to have the law explained to him when there's a rookie lawyer standing right there? honestly bizarre choice from the writers.

i would flip it so phoenix doesn't have his badge and can't take over, but shows up to provide emotional support in a mia-like role, which allows athena to continue defending with his help. the rest can progress as it was.

monstrous turnabout

again i liked this case and i don't think too many changes need to be made. However. trucy was so incredible sidelined in this game she's apollo's weirdgirl but she just dips at the first moment of tension, supposedly to 'look after jinxie' but then we never see her again. i'm fuming. if you want to replace apollo's weirdgirl, at least put some effort into it.

i would have apollo, trucy and athena investigate for this case together. athena and trucy have very different approaches to investigation. i'd like to see apollo and trucy have their dynamic disrupted by how direct and full speed ahead athena is at all times. maybe even argue about it a little. but by the end, they accept athena as the new member of the agency and get the not guilty verdict together, after which, maybe trucy hands the weirdgirl torch to athena and says she'll have more time for magic this way or something. in my vision, this is a game about apollo and athena's friendship, so that friendship has to feel earned, and this was the best place to do that.

turnabout academy

like i said, i would get rid of this one. its purpose in the plot is twofold: develop the character of juniper to how we meet her in turnabout countdown (which i think was unnecessary) and to hammer in the point about the dark age of the law (which i think was actively stupid)

instead. we needed a case where clay was the defendant. the way they introduced clay was so incredibly lazy my mouth dropped open. how is the player meant to feel any emotion about clay's death if he's just a random character? if they created a case where apollo was defending his best friend instead of athena defending hers then cosmic turnabout would have hurt.

i can't be bothered to come up with a whole plot but i would say the case wouldn't be space related, and would have a situation where someone confesses for someone else, as all the major cases do. we finish with a successful not guilty verdict and clay inviting them to his space launch (this would give athena a more concrete reason to be at the space centre and make her a more plausible suspect later)

cosmic turnabout

okay. here's where i start rearranging things. the first change i would make is instead of skipping straight to trial, keep the investigation segment for this one. it wouldn't have to be long, but i think instead of waiting until right at the end to reveal why apollo quit the agency, it would have been way more effective if the player sees athena lie.

think about it. by ace attorney convention, the defendant's always innocent. as players, we know this, and i never doubted athena's innocence for a second during turnabout tomorrow. what an insane metagame would it be if the player also doubts athena's motives. if we have to do the same mental gymnastics that apollo does. it would actually introduce something new in this game that's a fresh and interesting take on the ace attorney concept.

first trial can proceed the same way, but during the next investigation segment i would split it in two- in one half we play as athena and phoenix, and in the other we play as apollo and trucy, while they discover stuff like the footage of athena leaving the space museum for example. again, this makes the player suspicious of athena along with apollo.

but then you might think, okay but when athena gets accused who is going to defend her?

turnabout tomorrow

this is where there would have to be some mixing things around and a good dose of ace attorney bullshit but in turnabout tomorrow i would remove edgeworth entirely (i'm sorry i also thought the wrightworth banter was entertaining but in the interests of sticking to our core theme) and have apollo be the prosecutor. aura likes him and he has a reason to think athena did it.

then athena has no lawyer friend left to defend her (insert line about her being all alone and having no allies) but i would have blackquill act as her defence attorney. yes he's a prosecutor but we've had a prosecutor do the defence before and it's not even a real trial. because athena and blackquill are both suspects in metis' death there would have to be some shuffling while they work on defending each other. i would also have phoenix as the hostage in this situation rather than trucy, so he can offer support to the defence over the phone or through a robot, but this is still athena's case, and her moment to shine.

i'm aware this is a wild shuffle, but if i stick to my idea of this game being about the relationship between apollo and athena, the last trial should be apollo vs athena. it's not just about the truth of the case, it's about them breaking and repairing their trust. all those lines about how prosecutors and defence attorneys work together to discover the truth would be so sick if they were about the friends who we've been watching grow apart as they mend their relationship by discovering the truth.

after the fulbright reveal they can still swap out. blackquill becomes the prosecutor and apollo and athena take down the phantom together on the defence, reaffirming their friendship once again.

yes i mostly removed phoenix and completely removed edgeworth. that's because their presence was extraneous to the game's plot and themes and every time either one of them made a comment about the dark age of the law i was seized by the urge to punt my computer into a wall.

i did enjoy some parts of dual destinies and from what i hear the production was a bit rushed and all over the place- if capcom really did want to leave aa4 behind i really wish they'd put more thought and time into making this a good standalone game, instead of. constantly bringing back OT characters to overshadow the ones we already had.

[heliphantie]

Year ago, April 2022, I resumed drawing after almost 15 years of hiatus. Now, looking back, I decided to do “Top 10” of noteworthy for me works of last year, without any ranking. Starting with this one, which I had drawn April 2.

Very first mini-comic (most of the rest of which is still in first draft/script stage). Although it’s one of very early drawings, I still like it the same and generally am content with how it turned.

Cool teenage Bruno, master of foreshadowing.

I just imagined young (15-16) Bruno entertaining kids with the story of his family and the miracle in the same way Mirabel did, and came up with this scenario, but still had to figure context of why Bruno’s gift would be kept secret.

So the headcanon is, Bruno didn’t really start to serve community with his gift until late adolescence, because Alma considered that people may start pester the kid with requests which he wouldn’t be able to reject and become exhausted, so his power was used only in urgent cases, on behalf of Alma and confidentially. Probably, Alma considered the same with two other kids, but in the end abilities of Pepa made it nearly impossible to hide, and Julieta loved cooking and taking care of people since childhood and wasn’t getting overwhelmed with it.

(The secrecy also can explain why his door, originally placed between these of his sisters, moved into more secure place.)

And, while he didn’t had to use the gift *that* often (during 10+ years), these cases were still stressful and proved he had to control himself to not getting too invested in lives of his clients and stay impartial toward their fates, even when he was a witness of, sometimes rough, future for them. But he carried his duty without complaining (like the rest of family), developed stoicism and got used to fighting anxieties and hardships on his own, so he remained genuinely upbeat for long time, until, around mature age, burnout had overtaken him. (Director stated that it started to creep on him in late adolescence, but after all, sudden drops in mental well-being are specific to teenage.)

It also happened that there weren’t other kids of triplets age in the village for long time, so they had mostly just themselves for company growing up. But as new kids started to appear, it’s Bruno who gained admiration of the young ones. For grown-ups and young adults, he was mostly a subject of (often alarming) rumors and, at best, a lonesome weirdo, but in the eyes of children he’s as worthy of idolization as any mysterious and bohemian older person who acts friendly to them, thus a totally cool guy:) And he seemed to like playing along with it.

Useless trivia: the children’s names (from left to right in upper panel) - Pablo, Sofia, Juan and Cristina. They’re not related to any background characters, just random kids. Although it would’ve been funny if some of villagers who were sharing ominous stories about him used to be his followers in their childhood.

[foster-the-world]

Hard

Things have been hard with baby boy. Three weeks ago he had a really bad week at school (3K) - after doing well all year. Amongst other really unregulated behaviors he scratched his friend - twice. One time at pickup and one time at daycare. The kids Dad called and screamed at me. All I could do was apologize over and over while he yelled at me. Baby boy plays rough but is not normally aggressive. Over a year ago (at 2.5) he bit his friend one time. We made a big deal out of it and he never did it again.

We pulled him out of school short term to figure out a plan. Also not sending him to daycare anymore. The boys parent said he could not go if baby boy was there. Daycare said they would not kick him out (we are close with them after many years) but we didn't want the boy to suffer when he was the one who got hurt. We will get after school care for the rest of the year. At this point its only two more months.

No idea why he was out of whack. Maybe daylight savings time but he was still sleeping a lot??? My Mom flew in to help - Thank God. He's an angel for her and she's a baby/kid whisperer. I had a really hard time with it - random crying. Spiraling with future worries in a really unhelpful way. I'm not generally much of a crier but I also went out of whack. I suspect there was some residual bad/helpless feelings left over from foster care mixed in there.

He seemed to understand scratching his friend was bad. He asked if he could write an I'm sorry card for his friend. His friend was over it within minutes. The Dad clearly was not.

Despite fighting all year for services this kicked my butt into further gear. Managed to get the SEIT (masters degree special ed teacher) that we've been pushing for all year. Ten hours a week one on one while in class. She seems good. I'm guessing she's a recent graduate - but that's fine. Right now we've only been sending him for the two hours she is with him. Next week we will add in another two hours. Then a full day. He's very happy at home with my Mom. She's staying for a month.

Keeping him home has all been our choice. His teacher never wanted him out of class. I just didn't want to risk him doing it again when we didn't know why he was acting like that. He's normally wild but not like this. At the time it felt like keeping him home was keeping him safe. Since going back he's been behaving fine at school. So fingers cross it was just a bad week. This all happened to coincide with his second development pediatrician appointment where he got a official ADHD diagnosis. Also coincided with the response to our special ed due process hearing. We won. We can now pay an enhanced rate to find providers and got over 100 hours of back pay hours. With his ADHD diagnosis came a recommendation for parent training. Got lucky and found someone who seems solid. Starting Monday night. Its virtual and after the kids are in bed. I'm excited for that. It gives me hope there is a "right" way to help him. Of course, its not covered by insurance even though its the recommended treatment for kids under six. Put him in a social skills class- also not covered by insurance (=blah). I don't think it will help but figure he may enjoy it. I believe (and research shows) kids this young can't learn how to act when they are upset at a time they are not upset. But also believe it can't hurt. At this point we are trying all of the things. He finally has OT, PT and speech - all outside of school hours but that's okay. As I suspected the speech person said she has not noticed any problems. We will probably stop that soon enough. His dev ped said we can medicate. She says research shows it helps but also higher chance of side effects when it starts at a young age. I'm very pro medication but not interested in starting until he is old enough to properly verbalize how the they make him feel. If he always acted how he was during his bad week that would be a different story. Right now meds aren't worth the risk.

Thinking we will put him in a integrated class next year. I was hesitant but this experience made me change my mind. We are touring two schools in May. One said they'd probably have a summer spot. They will bus him - which I heard is terrible and unreliable but will see how it goes.

I love him so much. I want a crystal ball that tells me how to help him. Anyone have one of those?