#wonderful work xed!

[iviarellereads]

A Wind in the Door, Chapter 5 - The First Test

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index for the Time Quintet, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which one was bad enough.

Meg and Progo make it to the elementary school, and Mr. Jenkins sees and approaches Meg in the yard to ask what she's doing here again. He says they're reviewing Charles's situation, only a second Mr. Jenkins appears next to the first, saying that's nonsense, Charles just has to learn to manage.

Progo guesses that he and Meg have to determine which Mr. Jenkins is real and which is an Echthros. As he explains it to Meg, a third one appears. Shortly, though, all three walk like marionettes into the school building.

Meg's thoughts are too loud, and Progo asks her to kythe properly. After some more explanation that's vague enough to feel meaningful, Meg tries. They discuss how Earth is shadowed, then Progo tries to explain Naming to her again, and Echthroi, which he this time likens to fallen angels.(1) The universe needs Namers to help firm up everyone and everything's Names, and then the Echthroi will be unable to exist.

In another repeat beat, Meg is frustrated again at what this has to do with Mr. Jenkins, and asks if she's Naming him when she hates him. Progo says firmly that to do that is to X, like the Echthroi. He adds that Mr. Jenkins doesn't know himself, so he's open to being either Xed or Named, and if they Name him, he can't be Xed. Meg wonders how this could help Charles, and Progo says he doesn't know, but it must be part of it.(2)

Meg asks how she can Name Mr. Jenkins when she hates him so. Progo dances around the point for a minute but finally gets to it: Meg has to learn to love Mr. Jenkins. Love is what defines us, it's fundamental to the process of Naming, and Meg doesn't know how to do it when it's not easy.(3) Meg gets angry and says she can't, but Progo leads her through her assumptions and back to the point: if she fails, so does he, and the Echthroi win. Progo would either have to throw in with the Echthroi or X himself out of love of the universe. All that, if she doesn't learn to Name Mr. Jenkins.

The Jenkins trio come back, and all try to get Meg to choose them as the real one. Progo asks Meg when she felt the most like herself, and she thinks about the first afternoon Calvin came to her home, when she helped him with his math homework. Progo says she didn't know him well then, but she loved Calvin, in some way.

Progo tries to get her to focus on knowing and loving and Naming Mr. Jenkins, though she has no luck at it. Finally she asks them what happens if she Names the wrong one.

For a moment all the atoms of air in the schoolyard seemed to shiver; it was as though a lightning bolt of nothingness had flashed across the schoolyard, ripping the fabric of the atmosphere, then closed together again. Although nothing had been visible, Meg thought of a dark and terrible vulture slashing across the sky. Mr. Jenkins One said, “I do not believe in the supernatural. But this entire situation is abnormal.” His rabbity nose wriggled in pink distaste. Then all three men swung around as the side door to the school opened, and Charles Wallace, Louise the Larger twined around his arm and shoulders, walked down the steps and across the schoolyard.(4)

=====

(1) I'm skimming over all of this intentionally, because it's getting repetitive. That's genuinely a little frustrating to me on this reread, that Meg needs everything explained two or three times to stop asking what it means. I hope you'll understand that I'm working only to include new facets and aspects of the explanations, which are few and far between in the repeats. (2) As a child, I related hard to Meg. Now, I see too much of myself in her to love her the same way. I still want to understand before I act, and get frustrated when that's just not possible. (3) I think a lot of us have trouble with compassion for those we don't agree with. It's a real problem, and one that I feel we are obligated to try to work through if we have it. (I'm not saying we have to agree with them, I do think we have to remember their personhood and humanity at all costs. Dehumanizing the enemy isn't a healthy way to manage a conflict.) (4) How did he take her on the bus like that? What are they doing here? What was that vibe just before? Stay tuned!

[anamoli]

Blender Tutorial: Extracting Meshes

Before I continue with this tutorial, I want to preface this by saying that I am by no means an expert with Blender. I've learned just enough to do the things I need to do, but I'm not experienced enough to do troubleshooting, especially across different versions of Blender. You'd be better off asking Google.

This tutorial was done in Blender 3.4.1.

With the disclaimer out of the way, let's get onto the tutorial! The models I'll be using in this tutorial are for my Horizon Zero Dawn / Horizon Forbidden West cosplay, but you can perform these steps with any model you have your hands on.

I will be going over the following topics:

Importing your mesh

Scaling your mesh

Splitting your mesh into separate objects

Fixing missing faces in your object

Exporting your object

Read on after the cut for the rest of the tutorial!

Tips:

Save your Blender file as soon as you open it and save often

I am mostly using Blender's default key-binding. If you are not getting the same tools as I am, check your key-binding list under Edit > Preferences > Keymap. You can quickly search for a particular tool with the search bar on the right-hand side

Blender can only import meshes or object files. Make sure the format of the model you're working with is in this list

Collada (.dae)

Alembic (.abc)

Universal Scene Description (.usd, .usdc, .usda)

Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg)

Stanford (.ply)

STL (.stl)

FBX (.fbx)

gITF 2.0 (.glb/.gltf)

X3D Extensible 3D (.xed/.wrl)

Section One: Importing Your Mesh

When you open up a fresh Blender file, a cube will always be present. Take the time to get familiar with Blender and know how to pan (Shift+LMB), rotate (MMB), and zoom (scroll MMB) your view. You can also move, rotate, and scale the cube using the tools on the left side of the Viewport Window. Once you're comfortable,

Select the cube in the Viewport Window or its name in the Scene Collection window, and then delete it

You'll know when you've selected the cube when an orange outline appears around it.

Now that you have a blank working space, go ahead and import your mesh(es).

Select File > Import and choose the file type your model is formatted in

I am using FBX so I will import those meshes into my scene.

And just like that, your model is in Blender! Congratulations! I highly recommend renaming the hierarchies/objects in the Scene Collection window to keep things organized.

Double-click on the object in the Scene Collection window and type away

If your model has an armature (a 'skeleton' that moves your model) like mine, you'll need to click on the 'eye' icon next to each armature object to hide the bones

Take the time to save your work!

Section Two: Scaling Your Mesh

Unless you're the exact same height and proportions as your model, you will need to scale it up or down so that when you print your objects, they'll have a higher likelihood of fitting you.

Select a viewpoint on the coordinate frame so that your model is facing you

Switch to the Measure Tool

Measure out your height by: clicking and holding at a point on the 'ground plane' where the feet are standing on and releasing at your desired height

You can edit the location of the points by hovering over a point until a circle of arrows appears. Click and drag to their desired location.

Blender's default unit system is metric. If you don't work in metric, feel free to change the unit system by going to Scene Properties tab, then the Units section, and then select the system you wish to use.

If your model is not all in one mesh, I recommend starting with the head first so you can easily see when the model is at the desired height. Otherwise, continue onto the remaining steps.

Now that you have a reference measurement set up,

Select the object you wish to scale and go to the Object Properties tab

Type in a value in the Scale X, Y, & Z fields until the model reaches the reference measurement

Note the scaling values and input the same values into the remaining meshes

Wonderful! You've scaled your mesh to your proportions and you're ready for the next step. You can delete your reference measurement now by hovering over a point until the circle of arrows appear and hit 'Delete' on your keyboard.

Remember to save your work!

Section Three: Splitting your Mesh into Separate Objects

You're doing great! I recommend a pat on the back and some snacks because this section is the longest one. Give your eyes a break and look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds or give your body a stretch with a stroll around the neighborhood; whatever you need to do to take care of yourself.

Prep your work area by expanding all of the hierarchies/objects to reveal the hierarchies/objects nested inside it. Do this by clicking on the small arrow on the left side of the name of the hierarchy/object. The arrow will turn downwards when it is expanded.

Grouping meshes into subgroups is a common practice to keep things a manageable size, if your mesh is all in one piece then you don't need to do this.

Hide/unhide objects to see which meshes have the items you want to extract. Hide meshes that don't have what you want, so that you can stay focused on what you need to work on.

Once you're ready, select the first mesh you want to extract objects from. I'm choosing Aloy's bracers because I want to separate the left from the right side.

Hit 'Tab' on your keyboard

Your selected object will now show a constellation of dots (vertices) and lines (edges). The areas within each border of vertices and edges are called faces.

You'll also notice that you've been switched to Edit Mode (highlighted in image 14). Additionally, there are three small squares next to the object dropdown bar. Those are filters for which objects you'd like to select (vertex, edge, face from left to right). This means if you want to only select edges, activate the edge selection.

Position the part of the mesh you wish to isolate in your Viewport Window so that it's easier to make selections

Switch to the Face Select mode

Select any face

Hit 'L' on your keyboard

This opens the 'Select Linked' tool which will automatically select any adjacent/linked faces that are touching the face you selected. Keep the delimiter type as Seam for now.

The Select Linked tool isn't perfect. There will be faces that aren't automatically recognized. Unselected faces appear as grey while selected faces are orange.

To add additional faces to your selection,

Use 'Shift + LMB' on a face

Hit 'L' to select more linked faces

If you can tell which faces will need to be selected, you can select all those faces first and then use the linked tool.

Select all desired faces with 'Shift + LMB'

Hit 'Ctrl + L' to perform the link operation on all selected faces

Once you're confident with your selection,

Hit 'P' (Separate Tool) and then 'S' (separate by selection)

You should see your selection split off into its own object to which you can manipulate separately from the rest of the mesh. Rename your new object to keep track of it and perform these steps for the rest of the items you need.

When you're done with this mesh, hit Tab to go back to Object Mode, select a different mesh, and repeat the process.

Save! Save! Save!

Section Four: Fixing Missing Faces in Your Objects

You've done it, you've separated out all the objects you need. It's late now and time doesn't feel real, but you're happy that you're finally done. Wait - what's that?

Sometimes meshes are too close together to split into objects neatly. Or sometimes we make mistakes and missed that group of faces hidden behind another object. It happens. Here's how to fix those issues without having to hit 'Ctrl + Z' and undoing all of your great work.

Scenario 1: Missed Faces During Extraction

You've noticed some floaters left behind! However, you can tell which object they're supposed to belong to because you've been doing really well renaming and organizing your objects (right?).

To make your object whole again,

Separate the floating faces as their own object

Exit Edit Mode and return to Object Mode

Select the floating faces object and the object you wish to join it to with 'Ctrl + LMB' ('Shift + LMB' will select everything between the two objects listed in the Scene Collection as well, so be careful!)

Hit 'Ctrl + J' (Join Tool) on your keyboard Special Note: this only works when your cursor is within the Viewpoint window, not the Scene Collection window Second Note: objects will merge into the last object you select. So if you wanted to merge PartA and PartB but wanted to preserve the naming of PartA, select in this order PartB > PartA

And voila! Your object doesn't have any missing faces and your floating faces have been reunited with their greater being.

Scenario 2: Open Gaps from Overlapping / Shared Faces

Sometimes you can do everything right and your objects will still have open faces. That's okay! We can still fix that. Take one of the light details in Aloy's skirt as an example. This component of the model just didn't come with the back side filled in.

To fix that,

Switch to Edit Mode and switch to the Edge select mode

Hold 'Alt' and select an edge along the opening with 'LMB'

Hit 'F' (Fill Tool and to pay respects) and the opening should disappear

Some troubleshooting tips:

If you're having trouble selecting your loops, try these methods: Select Loops — Blender Manual

Otherwise, you may have to manually select the edges/vertices

If a face is being filled in unexpected ways, fill in the faces piecewise to help smooth out any strange assumptions Blender is making

Save like your life depends on it!

Section Five: Exporting Your Object

You're at the home stretch! This part is a breeze!

To export your object as its own file, simply

Select the object

Go to File > Export and then select your preferred format

Enable the "Selection Only" checkbox in the 'Include' section of the Options

Name your file and hit Save

Finished!

Congratulations! You've made it to the end and you now have a host of parts to print or use in different projects. Additionally, you're now able to hide and view parts of your model that you wouldn't have otherwise seen.

If this tutorial helped you out, please like or reblog to spread the word! Blender is a beast of a program, so spread the knowledge and help the next person create big things.

[bluboothalassophile]

Do you have any Raven fics you are interested in? I've read through a lot of works from Xaphrin, Meg Writes Fanfiction, r4v3n_r07h, and so on. But I have a feeling there are some hidden gems out there or that there are new fics that I am overlooking.

Hello,

I don't have a lot of suggestions for you really, I haven't gone rooting around the DC fandom in a while. There is Xed by Home By Another Way on fanfiction.net; it's a crossover between Young Justice and Teen Titans, it's not finished but it's worth the read. There's also Burning Daylight by pasadisu on fanfiction.net; again it's not finished but worth the read again. There's also EmaniaHilel on fanfiction.net, which I haven't read in a while, but I remember she had good characterizations.

I don't read on Wattpad so I have no suggestions there.

I'm going to recommend @shewhowillnotbenamed1 because she writes really well, and is just wonderful to read. There is also @demonqueenbeee, who's wonderful. Naturally there's also @opheliawillowbrook, truly amazing writer there, she's got a great characterization of Raven. @theplacewherebeautylies is pretty solid, always writes a good Raven. I'm really not the best person who is actively reading DC in any form right now, I'm sorry.

Pretty much everything I read is on my bookshelves for Ao3 and Fanfiction.net; or everything I think is worth rereading, I usually have been only bookmarking everything I read more than twice. If you haven't checked out the other zine writers from DamiRae 2021 they have a good selection of writers, and you can always check out the 2022 DamiRae writers at @damiraezine, so I would always start there. But other than that, I don't have any awesome Raven stories on hand or out of pocket to recommend off the bat.

[sassyfrassboss]

Hi Sassy, Like some others here in UK, I had half an ear on the AnL case live while working. How can any company worth their salt in reputation ignore the result of today/s hearing re her prevarication? I mean the woman LIED. barefaced Lies. It's not easily brushed under the carpet as these are witness statements read in a british civil court of law.Whatever the outcome, Markle is TOAST, and fingers xed NEVER setting foot here in UK again.

Is it any wonder why she hasn't been invited to any events since March 2020?

She didn't just lie...she lied about lying. I mean that is what crazy. She got caught in her lies and then she lied about why she was caught lying.

I doubt this woman knows the truth even if she was beat over head with it...

[baconsoupforthesoul]

The Ink Demonth- Day 3- Stuck

Stuck Here Without You

A/N: I’m not exactly satisified with this one but I was a little stuck (heh) on what to write about for this day. So have some Henry contemplating I guess. Regardless, I still hope you enjoy~

“If anyone finds this, my name’s Henry. And I’ve been trapped far below Joey Drew Studios, a man I used to work for. There are crazy things after me down here. Monsters. Demons. Angels. And right now two of them are holding me prisoner. I don’t know how to get out of here, but there’s more. There’s a hidden secret hiding in the shadows. I just felt like I’m being watched. There’s something more in here. If anyone finds this, you must not-Hold on…They’re coming back.”

Henry quickly slide the tape recorder under his cot as his captors came in. Luckily they didn’t pay him any attention, both the angel and the Boris with the mechanical arm looking exhausted as they dragged themselves into their safehouse. Henry laid back down and closed his eyes, feigning sleep but keeping his ears open.

“It just… it just all leads in circles Tom.” The Angel sighed as Henry heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. “All we got for our troubles were a couple cans of soup. I’m really starting to think that there really is no way-” The Angel stopped mid sentence and Henry risked opening one eye to see what was going on. Through the metal grate he could see the Angel sitting in a chair with the one she called Tom resting a hand on her shoulder. The cartoon wolf gave her a reassuring squeeze and she smiled up at him.

“Oh Tom,” The Angel got up and pulled him into a hug. The wolf wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Suddenly, his ears perked up and he turned his head to look over at Henry. Seeing the animator watching them, he glared at him and Henry quickly shut his eyes although he knew it was pointless to fake sleeping at this point. He still couldn’t quite figure his captors out. He was wary to trust them, considering both his past experiences with “angels” and with Tom’s less than friendly demeanor. However, they both seemed like good people from the way they interacted with one another. They both seemed just as lost and stuck as he was. There was nothing he could do right now though, as he tried to will himself to sleep.

“It’s me, it’s Henry. It’s been a while since I last recorded. Mostly I’ve been spending my days doodling, passing the times the best I can. I heard my captors arguing today. It seems that they still don’t know what to make me. I guess that makes sense. Because I do not know what to make of them either. Times like this I wish Boris was still with me… He doesn’t say much Boris but, he was a good friend to have. I miss him. I just couldn’t save him… But I promise… I will get out of the studio… if it’s the last thing I do…”

The pencil that Alice had managed to find for him was a godsend. After being stuck with nothing to do in his cell for days the angel finally took pity on him and found him some drawing supplies. Having something to do made his time here less boring but Henry was still fed up with this place. He sighed as he twirled his pencil in his hand, unsure what he wanted to draw next. He looked over to see Tom tinkering with something on his workbench, the cartoon wolf occasionally lifting his head to glare at Henry. The animator turned back to his page as he remembered Tom’s friendlier look alike. He idly started sketching out Boris, the one he had befriended not that long ago. Henry smiled softly as he remembered his time in Boris’s safe house. While that had been pretty boring too, Boris had been much better company and he really enjoyed playing cards with him.

The more he sketched though, the more he thought of what became of his friend. Henry frowned as he remembered what that deranged “Alice” had done to his poor friend. He wonders if there had even been a chance that he could have saved him, or if by the time he had woken up in that wrecked elevator that it was already too late. “Alice” had probably just been toying with him from the start, probably having already taken what she wanted from the wolf toon and turning him into what Henry was forced to put down. Henry blinked and looked down at his drawing. He realized as he had been spacing out that he had Xed out Boris’s eyes. Hand shaking, Henry put down his pencil and held his head in his hands. His only friend in this damn place, and he had been forced to kill him. Henry took a deep breath as he tried to keep his emotions in check. That fight with Boris had kept him up most nights while he had been stuck here in this safehouse. He’d wake up in a sweat, images of Boris’s prone body melting away still on the back of his eyelids. He’s sure if he ever escapes this place that it will continue to haunt him for a long time. Boris had done nothing but help him since they met. He gave him a safe place to rest, offered him food, stuck by him as they tried to navigate out of this studio. And Henry… he hadn’t even been able to keep his friend safe from that damn angel. Some friend he had been. Henry’s breath shuddered in his chest as a few stray tears coursed down his checks. As Henry wiped the moisture from his face, he noticed that he was being watched.

Henry turned to see Tom was looking at him again, and for once the cartoon wolf wasn’t glaring at him. His expression seemed curious, like this small display of emotion from Henry had him deep in thought, as if he didn’t know what to make of it. When he noticed Henry staring back though, the wolf let out a huff and turned back to whatever he was tinkering with. While the look he had given Henry wasn’t exactly sympathetic, it wasn’t hostile either. Not sure if it was too optimistic if him to consider that progress, Henry picked up his pencil and kept drawing.

“This may be my last chance to record a message, I’m pretty sure he saw me talking into this thing, He probably won’t let me keep it. Not much left to say except… Linda, I miss you and I love you so much. Coming back to this old place well… it kind of reminds me of how much I’ve gained. I feel like there are so many questions that need answering, so many things that don’t make any sense. If anyone hears this, if you make it out, don’t ever return, because the Ink Demon will find you.”

“Seriously? What danger is a damn tape recorder?” Henry complained as Tom walked off with said tape recorder. “What did ya think I was gonna do with it? Plan my daring escape on it?” The wolf just huffed as he placed it in one of the drawers in his work bench. Alice turned her head away from the drawing she was doing on the wall and bite her lip. From the look on her face it seemed she thought that what Tom was doing was a bit much but she didn’t want to fight him on it.  Henry sighed as he flopped back onto his cot, rubbing a hand over his tired face. He was getting real sick of this place. He had been stuck in this damn cell for weeks now and the homesickness was worse than ever. He wanted to yell, hit something, break something, anything to relieve him of all this pent up energy and aggression that was building up from being trapped here. Not just in this cramped cell but this whole demented studio. He knew that his captors would never let him out if he did something like that though, so he was stuck biding his time until they felt comfortable enough to trust him, whenever that would be.

Oh god, what did Linda think even happened to him? He’s been gone for several weeks now, has she called the cops maybe? He really hopes the authorities don’t end up at this place, he can’t even begin to imagine what would happen. Linda must be worried sick though. Henry hated to think of what she was feeling right now. He wanted nothing more than to get out of this godforsaken place and just hold his wife in his arms. He physically ached from missing her so much, like someone had reached into his chest and was squeezing his heart. He missed her smile, her laugh, her hair, her voice, her everything. Henry didn’t try to fight the silent tears that ran down his face. He was too tired to care about showing weakness at this point.

“Who is Linda?” Henry startled when he suddenly heard Alice next to him.“Huh?” Henry rubbed the tears off his checks as he gave Alice a confused look. “How do you know about-”

“I overheard you, when you were recording that last tape.” Alice pulled up a chair that had been sitting in the corner. She sat in the chair backwards with her arms and head resting on the back of it as she looked at Henry. “You said you loved her, and that you missed her. She’s someone from outside of this place, right?”

“Yeah. Linda is… she’s my wife.” Henry’s voice quivered, overcome with his memories as he twisted the ring on his finger.

“I see.” Alice replied softly. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, punctured only by Henry’s hitched breaths as he tried to cry as quietly as possible. “What was she like?” Henry looked over at Alice again. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Alice assured him. “I know it hurts to be away from her but… I thought maybe you might want to talk about her. She means so much to you and your memories of her… that’s all you have of her with you right now, isn’t it?”

“I suppose… you have a point.” Henry conceded. “Well, if you’re interested…” Alice scooted her chair up and Henry finally cracked a small smile. “How do I even begin to start describing Linda? She’s a wonderful woman and I am a very lucky man to be married to her. I remember when we first met she-”

And Henry went on for hours as Alice happily listened to him ramble on about his wife. At one point they took a break for her to make them some food and Henry kept on talking between mouthfuls of soup. Alice even burst out laughing when, in his haste to tell her about the time Linda threatened to come into the studio and beat Joey with her frying pan, he dribbled soup down his chin. Eventually, Tom returned and his conversation with Alice ended, but Henry felt the best he’d ever felt since he had been stuck here in this cell. Talking about Linda reignited his motivation to escape from this awful place. He would see her again, he refused to accept anything less.

[i-used-to-wear-the-fedora]

Be More Chill Senior Year AU, Noh Omo

Christine hummed as she walked down the hallways, making her way to the auditorium. Her face brightened when she saw the play sign up sheet for the fall show. As she signed the paper she noticed a few names already there.

'Brooke~'

'Chloe'

'Jenna'

'Jake'

'Rich'

'Jeremy'

There was one more name that had been xed out but the teen recognized it as Michael.

'He'll come if Jeremy's there,' Christine thought, rolling her eyes. Every since her and Jeremy break up last year she knew he had a crush on Jeremy. It was so obvious that fact Jeremy did have a clue was just a testament to his obliviousness. But when play rehearsal started she had a plan to get them together. 'I wonder what the show'll be this year.'

~~

Jeremy stumbled off the bus behind Jeremy as they made their way to class.

"Got Ms. Iconis for first period, you?"

"Ugh, M-Mr. Vizzini." Both Jeremy and Michael pulled out their schedules to find that they had no classes together.

"At least we have lunch together."

"Senior year, you know what that means, right?"

"OFF CAMPUS LUNCH!" The two said in unison.

"I say we head straight to Burger King after fourth hour."

"Seconded, an ICEE sounds awesome right now," Michael said as he finished his slushie and dumped it in a nearby trash can.

"I w-wonder what Christine's doing right now."

"Didn't you guys break up?"

"Yeah but we're still friends."

"Cause that always works out great." Jeremy nudged Michael who shrugged it off when a loud voice called out from across the hall.

"Hey, losers!" They looked up to see Rich wheeling Jake down the hallway with a grin as the chair stopped just before Jeremy and Michael.

"Hey Rich, glad to see puberty skipped over you for another year," Michael smirked at the angry face Rich made.

"Shut up tall ass."

"Jake, how's the physical therapy going?" Jeremy asked in an attempt to defuse the possible fight between Rich and Michael.

"As good as it could be I guess. The nurse said I might be able to use crutches again soon!" Jeremy internally winced when he saw the chair. Jake's legs had already been broken the night of the play but when his SQUIP made him stand on the already pre-broken appendages it almost crippled Jake.

'Wouldn't have this problem if he kept his SQUIP.'

Jeremy waved the Keanu Reeves voice in his head away as he came back to reality to realize that Rich was writing something on his and Michael's bags.

"What are you doing?"

"Finishing what I started last year." Taking his bag of Jeremy saw his read Noh and Michael revealed his said Omo.

"No homo?"

"Real original Rich."

"Whatever tall ass, me and Jake have places to be."

"See you later dudes!" Jake waved as Rich got on the back of his chair before propelling the two down the hall.

"Some people never change I guess."

[dorigvbcorvis]

I have no idea when this list was made but I can appreciate the hard work and patients a labour of love such as this takes. I have recently been working on my own lime line when I stumbled on this one

Because I have found there are some hard sets that narrowed dates down further... I like to share these hard sets dates to add to the above work

WONDERFUL

(Episode S4E21)

(Hard Set April 2013 Kurt's calendar shows days being Xed off the week 15-19th has the last X off date. The calendar has a Saturday The 20. In 2013 only April and July had a Saturday The 20th only we know it cant be July The calendar used is The Men of McKinley)

With this in mind. I set

ALL OR NOTHING

(Episode S4E22)

This seems to be a partial overlap with week 15-19 but Regionals were April 20th)

LOVE LOVE LOVE

(Episode S5E1)

(Monday 22nd of April 2013

Kurt says "Fashion Week is coming up" Vogue had its Fashion Week for Fall 2013 in The May issue )

TINA IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS

(Episode S5E2)

(April 28 - May 3 2013. The Season 2 Jr Prom and Season 3 Sr Prom were in May)

QUARTEEBACK

(Episode S5E3)

(May 6 2013. Although by no means intentional this date can explain why Quinn wasn't in this episode. As May 6 would be right in the middle of Spring Finals at Yale)

S5E4 - S5E14 no issues

BASH

(Episode S5E15)

(Hard Set "midwinter" 2014

Tibideaux's Sondheim MidWinter Critique is set "MidWinter" making it likely last week of January but true mid winter is February 2nd)

TESTED

(Episode S5E16)

>>I Included here because I am liking your Valentine's Day for Tested. It is making me laugh

OPENING NIGHT

(Episode S5E17)

(Hard set April 2014 callendar has the date Aoril 24 circled. Noting that Wilmma's baby that was born in this episode was a whole month past due date)

Seasons 4, 5, and 6 Timeline

Glee is screwy with time starting around I Do.  This is my interpretation of the timeline, and one I’ll be using when I do my meta.  The reason I’m even attempting it (cause, yeah, there are contradictions everywhere) is to show that there’s a lot that happens in a small amount of space.  And I think that’s interesting. 

//

Chunk 1: Feb-June 2013

Season 4��s I Do was the last episode we see in real time.  It’s stated within the episode that the Wemma wedding is on Feb. 14th.  And the time line is stretched all the way to Season 5′s New Directions which takes place around graduation.  Now, American graduations (at least in the midwest) usually take place in early June everything between 4x14 and 5x13 takes place between Feb and June.  Crazy, huh? This is kind of how I have it broken down, please remember that these are all approximations.  

February

I Do (4x14)

Girls and Boys on Film (4x15)

Feud (4x16)

I Do is firmly set on the 14th.  And GaBoF is definitely right after it.  I threw in Feud because you could fit another episode in if you worked it out enough.  

March

Guilty Pleasures (4x17)

Shooting Star (4x18)

Sweet Dreams (4x19)

Lights Out (4x20)

This part of the timeline is really screwy and there’s nothing really here to anchor us in time.  By default, I’ve placed these episodes in March.  

End of March

Wonderful (4x21)

All or Nothing (4x22)

Love, Love, Love (5x01)

So All or Nothing is regionals – and in season two and three regionals have been in March.  Also – I’m assuming Kurt’s on Spring Break, and while colleges usually have their spring breaks in early march, high schools have it in late March, and NYADA isn’t normal anyway.  I know that Kurt’s calendar in Wonderful is the month of April, but the month is crossed out, and who knows what they were going to do had Cory not died.  

Meanwhile, if All or Nothing is a specific week in late March, Wonderful, which is its set up must come directly before it, and Love, Love, Love, which is still regionals week must come after it (basing it around Kurt still being in Lima).  Also - I think it’s somewhat poetic for Klaine to get engaged not long after (what would have been) their second anniversary.  

April

Tina in the Sky with Diamonds (5x02)

The Quarterback (5x03)

A Katy or a Gaga (5x04)

TitSwD is Prom, and that’s usually April or May.  I pushed it back to April (I could make an argument for March since it’s connected to L, L, L, idk.)  In the Quarterback they state it’s been three weeks.  Gah, Glee, why did you do that?  Well – but if you move Tina into March then the Quarterback to mid-April,  AKoaG works fine for the next week.  That just means that grouping of Season 4 episodes are even more squished than they already are.   Look, there’s just too many episodes to fit into the time space that they’ve given us.  So, 

May

The End of Twerk (5x05)

Movin’ Out (5x06)

Puppet Master (5x07)

Frenemies (5x09)

Trio (5x10)

By default, these episodes work here.  There are five weeks in May in 2013, so I can make these five episodes work here.  

**Note - Previously Unaired Christmas (5x08) is an episode that never took place at any point.  It’s an alternate universe what-if episode, and doesn’t actually fit in anywhere.  

June

City of Angels (5x11)

100 (5x12)

New Directions (5x13)

City of Angels is Nationals (and while normally these things would be in May - the Glee verse does things weirdly.)  Plus, in seasons 2 and 3 they were clearly at the end of th year.  And 100 and ND are the same week, and graduation.  

//

Chunk 2: Jan-Mar 2014

New New York (5x14)

Bash (5x15)

Tested (5x16)

Opening Night (5x17)

The Back Up Plan (5x18)

Old Dogs, New Tricks (5x19)

The Untitled Rachel Berry Project (5x20)

The last third of season 5 takes place in the spring of 2014.  All of this is based off Sue’s Calendar in Season 6′s The Hurt Locker.  Just count back the weeks, and then six months – because Kurt comes back to Lima after going to that spot to meet everyone six months after they had made that promise in TURBP.  Go back six months and you get March.  

Doesn’t really matter where the other episodes lie since there’s enough space to accommodate everything.  In NNY Mercedes has a newspaper that says January.  And I’ve always joked that Tested was the Valentine’s Day episode.  

//

Chunk 3: Sept-Dec 2014

September

Loser Like Me (6x01)

October

Homecoming (6x02)

Jagged Little Tapestry (6x03)

The Hurt Locker pts 1-2 (They take place in the same week according to the episodes.) (6x04-5)

What the World Needs Now (6x06)

Transitioning (6x07)

November

A Wedding (6x08)

Child Star (6x09)

The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester (6x10)

We Built This Glee Club (6x11)

Despite airing in the spring, season 6 takes place in the fall - and the time line is pretty straight forward. Thank you Sue’s Calendar at the end of HL2 (which is definitely a 2014 calendar - I checked.)  It makes sense, also, because Homecoming usually takes place at the beginning of the school year and Sectionals (WBTGC) usually takes place before Christmas.  Plus - I believe it was intentional that they set the double gay wedding around the anniversary of when Klaine first met.  

//

2009 (6x12)

Dreams Come True (6x13)

Not really part of the time line - as 2009 takes place in the past, and DCT takes place in the future.  

[byutak]

What/Who is "evil byu"?

-INHALES- OKAY

You should probably get the whole context on how did evil byu appear in the first place... and it’s a train wreck if I just show you the first time she appeared so take a seat. Also I’m not tagging any user related to this because they already went through this whole mess AHEM.

It all started on Jakei’s stream once. She was working on some concept drawings of the beginnings of XTale. (You can find them here).

Our good friend @/firereddragon suddenly started to say funny quotes that the characters would say, and I was like “You know what? I’m gonna make a dub out of this”, and I made the video (which you can find here)

As you can see, one of the quotes says “I killed the contractor”, so someone asked Jakei this:

(Link to the ask)

So ever since then, Jakei answered asks from her tomb... by literally drawing her tomb answering the asks. I had practically killed Jakei.

Meanwhile, @/xedramon made a gift for @/superyoumna, which resulted in youmna’s death.

Why do I mention this? because at some point, Boss Jakei revealed that in fact, one of her many Jakeis had been killed. WHAT A TWIST HUH?

So it all went down from there. Someone blamed Xed for that, and she responded to that... by defending herself.

(Here’s a link to the whole post. You should give it a read because it’s a lot more than just this, and it’s amazingly fun to read xD there’s even more things below my response too!)

AAaaaand that’s how Evil Byu came into existence, all because of jokes and stuff xD

So suddenly, people started to follow Evil Byu for gods know why.

And even MORE people.

Some others were questioning why did I have red eyes, but I still don’t get what they meant by that.

Evil Byu was also called the overlord of all existence.

At one point, @/Shinydiamondblog started to recruit people to defeat Evil Byu’s reign. And at some point, he declared war to Evil Byu, though little did he know that many people was following her.

Both sides started to attack. But hold on, Evil Byu didn’t take any action, did she? Everyone else is attacking except for her. I wonder... will it be a game changer if she gets involved in that war that she is suppossed to be on?

Evil Byu’s objective is still unknown even nowadays. Nobody has any clue yet about her plans... or does anyone?

That’s the last we’ve ever saw of Evil Byu x’DD god this post is long. But anyway, maybe it might be followed some day or not. It will all depend on whatever happens in the future (like new asks and stuff).

[hmhteen]

HMH Teen Teaser: TIME BOMB by Joelle Charbonneau!

Tick…tick…tick…time is almost up before you new fave psychological thriller hits bookstores! If you loved ONE OF US IS LYING or THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS (and even THE BREAKFAST CLUB!) you will love this twisty turny thriller about a group of teens caught in their school when a bomb goes off. The problem? One of them is responsible. (Cue dramatic music here.)

Scroll down for an exclusive excerpt!

1:51 p. m .

“Don’t fight,” Cas said from the doorway that Frankie and Z had just disappeared through. Tears glistened in her eyes. “Can we turn the radio back on? Maybe they’ll tell us help is finally coming.”

Rashid clicked on the radio before heading over to help Tad. There was the buzz of static, then the announcer telling ev- eryone that the firefighters were making progress. The fire was contained to the west side, and they hoped to have it out soon.

“With one person of interest being questioned, authorities are now working to find another individual they have con- firmed is involved in this terrible bombing. A source confirms that the individual is one of the students trapped on the second floor of the school. With four bombs having already gone off, there appears to be one explosive device still inside the school that could detonate at any time.”

Another bomb was ready to go off, and the bomber was one of them.

Earlier   Tha t  Da y  .  . .

8:35  a.m. 

 D i a n a

 —  C h a p t e r  1  —

All you had to do was smile and wear the right clothes, and everyone would think you were special. If you appeared successful, people would automatically assume you were suc- cessful. Her parents believed that. Her father had built a career on it. They wanted her to believe it.

Diana hated that she did.

“Perception is everything, Diana,” her stepmother said so often that Diana wanted to scream. But screaming wasn’t pre- sentable. And, boy, did it make the wrong impression. This made screaming at the top of her lungs very tempting.

“Always take care to make the correct choice, Diana,” her stepmother said over and over again. “Everything you do is im- portant and reflects on your father and the positions he takes. And think about what your father’s opponents would claim if you don’t do well in school or become a leader in the activities you’re in. They’ll wonder how serious your father is about edu- cation if his own daughter doesn’t do well in school. The other side is always looking for a reason to point fingers and show that your father isn’t worthy of his position. That we aren’t worthy. So you can’t allow your grades or your attention to detail to slide, or you’ll hurt your father and, worse, you’ll hurt the work he’s trying to do.”

Diana looked down at the clothes she’d chosen for the day. After sixteen years, she knew exactly what details would be no- ticed and what people would think when they saw her.

Stylish white jeans. A tasteful pink top. But nothing too expensive, because that made people jealous. Nothing too tight, because that gave people the wrong idea. And no wrinkles. Wrinkles made people think you were lazy. No one trusts a per- son who is lazy. To get what you wanted in life, you must in- spire trust — even if you intended to break it.

Her father inspired trust with his perfectly tailored suits that were made less stuffy because he never wore a tie and al- ways left the collar open.

Folksy. Friendly. Everyone’s idea of the perfect dad and for- mer army-communications specialist who always puts his family and country first. At least that’s what people must have thought, because he got elected. He was working hard to make sure he got to keep his job for another term, and it was their family’s job — Diana’s job — to make sure she didn’t do anything wrong that could make voters question whether they wanted him back in office.

No pressure there.

“Katherine?” she yelled, knowing how much her stepmother hated raised voices. No response. She must have already gone downstairs. Dad would be in meetings already. Diana bit her lip as she reached for the gold studs Katherine gave her for her sixteenth birthday, then added the gold-cross necklace that had technically been from her father. She’d pretended not to notice when one of his aides handed him the box that he’d clearly been unaware of up until that moment.

“Little touches make all the difference,” Katherine insisted. “People notice the details.”

Yes, they did, Diana thought as she reached into her jewelry box and pulled out the ratty friendship bracelet she’d made for herself years ago, wishing she’d had someone to give it to and to get one in return from. No one ever assumed the popular girl needed to be given a gift. No one thought about whether the popular girl was lonely when she went home. Everyone as- sumed the popular girl had a million friends and a family who supported her.

Diana walked to her mirror and checked her makeup. Just enough to make her blue eyes look bigger. Nothing more, or people might question whether she was a good girl. And she was supposed to be a good girl. She ticked off her stepmother’s checklist one by one.

Good shoes. A nice home. Top grades.

Smart, respectable family tree. Perfect manners.

All signs of a strong, well-brought-up girl. A girl everyone claimed to know from school. One parents and teachers pointed to as an example to others. One who had been taught to calcu- late her appearance and demeanor down to the plain red color of her cell-phone case. One who was determined to use it all to show everyone that it was foolish to trust what someone wanted you to see.

Perfect.

And if she didn’t want to ruin her perfect image, Diana would have to get moving. Tardiness was not acceptable for a girl who was supposed to be without flaws. Tardiness implied a lack of respect for other people’s time.

Glancing at her watch, she shook her head and hurried downstairs to find her stepmother so she could get a ride to school for the yearbook meeting.

“Katherine?” she called.

No answer. Huh. Well, Katherine was probably in the back- yard making sure the staff had polished the patio furniture to a shine so that guests could be invited back to the house after the event tonight.

“Katherine?”

“Your mother went out.”

“What?” She turned and spotted her father standing next to the porch swing with his cell phone pressed to his ear. Since there was no point in correcting him about Katherine’s relation- ship to her, she simply asked, “Where?”

He put up a hand to quiet her. “Yes, I’m here, and yes, I understand there’s been some pushback, but I can’t step back from the bill, or I’ll get hammered. The press will smell blood and it’ll be over, and we all know I’m right on this. I just need one thing to tip in my favor. You have to trust me on this.”

Diana started to speak again, but before she could get a word out, her father turned his back and nodded. She would have to get in line for his attention.

“Yes. I’ll make that distinction tonight, and don’t worry. The event will be the perfect place to highlight the positive points in the bill and to take charge of the conversation. If you have other things you want to talk about, I’ll be at the office in a half-hour. Good speaking with you, too, Tim. I appreciate your dedication. We’re going to turn things around.” Finally he hung up and turned toward her.

He was wearing perfectly pressed khakis and a red polo shirt under a deep blue sports coat — relaxed authority was what her stepmother called the look. But despite the clothes, Diana didn’t think her father appeared relaxed.

“That was Tim?”

Her father nodded. “He’s worried about the negative press my Safety Through Education bill is getting.”

Tim hadn’t been on her father’s staff as long as the oth- ers, but he was smart and perceptive, which is why her father’s chief of staff hired him right out of graduate school. And even though he was younger than the rest of the staff, Diana knew Tim was right to be worried about her father’s bill. The press was calling it an invasion of privacy. The law would require that students and teachers inform the administration if they thought someone in the school might be interested in doing harm to students, teachers, or school property. Any students reported would then have to hand over their passwords to social media and email accounts or face suspension and a potential inves- tigation by federal authorities. Those who didn’t report suspi- cions before a harmful event could be charged with aiding and abetting.

Her father believed the law would turn everything in the country around and would finally do what no other laws had been able to do — make things safer. Any students interested in causing trouble would think twice about it if they knew their friends and teachers were watching them and ready to act on any suspicious activity. And by catching and circumventing threatening behavior early, there was a good chance of diverting those students toward a more positive path. Her father was cer- tain that taking action in the schools and the education system was the best way of changing the escalating pattern of violence in the country.

“Was there another bad story in the press?” Diana asked. Not everyone agreed with her father’s thoughts on how to keep the country safe. Since the unveiling of the bill, there had been phone calls and mail and huge editorials about invasion of pri- vacy and people’s differing definitions of what a “threat” to society actually was. Diana had even gotten hate mail for her father’s idea. When she had tried to talk to her father about it, he had just told her to give the mail to Tim and ignore it. That everything would work out. But when Tim had sat with her and listened to her talk about the threats she’d gotten and how people made a point of telling her they were going to vote her father out of office, Tim had admitted the backlash was concerning. If the tide of bad press and angry editorials about the potential law continued, they both agreed that it would be sunk before it ever had a chance to be tested. And her father’s career — one she had been told was necessary to make the world better — would be sunk along with it.

Was it any wonder Tim wanted to pull out all the stops to make sure her father’s event tonight got the press’s attention, or that she was willing to do whatever it took to help? It was nice to have someone finally realize that she was capable of helping, and to finally listen to her when she had an idea. And Tim had said he was glad he could run ideas by someone without having to worry about her telling the senator that his ideas were too radical or that he wasn’t up to the job.

Her father shrugged and gave her his own practiced smile. “Some of my co-sponsors are wondering if we should shelve the idea for more study, but Tim has some polling that says retreat- ing might do more harm than good. I’m not worried. Tim and the others have a plan to make this all come together.”

“If you need me —”

Her father held up his hand as the phone rang. The phone was always ringing. “I’ll catch this on my way to the office.” He looked at Diana and gave her a tense smile. “Your mother left a note for you on the counter. You can help by making sure you’re ready when she comes to pick you up. I need everything to be perfect if we’re going to turn this around.” Then, before she could say anything, her father put the phone to his ear and said, “Larry, I’m glad you called …” as he disappeared into the house.

Diana hurried after him, but he didn’t bother to look back. A minute later, Diana heard the front door slam behind him as he left before she could remind him that she needed a ride. And when she read her stepmother’s note, she knew she wasn’t going to get one from her, either.

Diana dear,

I’ll be home to pick you up at four. Wear the

blue satin dress hanging in your closet and leave

your hair down. Please be on time. Tonight is very

important to all of us.

Katherine

She stared at the letter.

Be on time.

Leave your hair down. Tonight is important.

But, clearly, driving Diana to school today was not.

She turned the bracelet on her arm again, looked at her stepmother’s words one more time, hearing each of them ring- ing in her head along with all the other things she’d said over the years.

“Keep your opinions to yourself, Diana.” Because they might differ from what she was supposed to think. And that wasn’t allowed.

“Remember that we’re counting on you.” Yes. They were.

Diana headed back upstairs to the antique toy chest in the corner of her room. Quickly, she dumped the decorative pillows and extra blanket stacked on top onto the floor, then lifted the lid. She pulled out two bags. In the side pocket of one of the bags, she found the list she’d made for herself a few weeks ago and put it in her pocket.

A quick glance at the clock told her she’d better get going or she’d be late for the yearbook meeting. Yesterday she’d moved the meeting to two hours earlier than originally scheduled. She doubted anyone would be thrilled that she’d asked them to change their plans simply to make them wait.

Diana turned, took one last look in the mirror and saw what her family wanted her to be. What she had tried so hard to pretend to be.

Perfect. Someone everyone expected to do the right thing and no one would ever suspect of doing something wrong.

Good.

Booting up her computer, she sent a quick message to Tim, telling him that she was going to school now. Then Diana care- fully picked up her bags and headed downstairs and out the door. Her father thought the only contribution he needed from her was for her to nod and smile and look flawless — like their family was supposed to be. She was determined to prove him wrong.

   9:52  a.m.

R a s h i d

—  C h a p t e r  2  —

“Why do you have to go to the school today?” his father asked, coming into the kitchen. Rashid had hoped to get out of the house before his father had gotten home from the hospital. So much for that idea. “Your classes do not start for another week.”

Rashid hefted the bag he had slung over his shoulder and explained, “I need a new school ID, Father.”

“What happened to your old one?” His father looked at him with a frown.

“I lost it when  we were visiting with  Sitto last month.” Technically, that was true. Although Rashid knew his words implied that he accidentally left his ID behind at his grand- mother’s in Palestine. “The office is open for new students to get IDs. I thought I should do it now instead of waiting until school starts.”

His father nodded, then glanced at the kitchen clock. “Will you be back by the start of Dhuhr?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I can call and see if the office will be open during the af- ternoon. If you wait, we can pray together, and then maybe you can take your sister. It would be good for her to see the school without so many people. It’ll help her get used to the idea of going there next year. You could introduce her to some of your friends.”

His sister already knew most of his friends, since they either lived nearby or went to mosque together. The others …

His father thought he understood what it was like for Rashid at school, but he had no idea. He didn’t listen. Or maybe Rashid’s cousins in Palestine were right, and it was Rashid’s fault he didn’t completely fit in, because he did not know who he was or what he wanted.

A few years ago, he would have brought his sister with him to school. But that was then. Now … so much had changed. He was different. His sister certainly was, and his friends … They all still enjoyed the comics and building robots, which held their friendships together. But Rashid could tell there were other things — like the facial hair that he had started growing earlier than anyone else in his class, and the adherence to his faith that prevented him from shaving it — that were creating an invisible wall between them.

He bit back the anger that seemed harder and harder to keep hidden and respectfully said, “Next time. I don’t know who will be there, and I don’t want her to have a bad experience.”

It was hard enough for Rashid to fit in, especially now. He didn’t want to bring Arissa. The hijab made her stand out even more than his untrimmed beard did. But Arissa didn’t seem to mind wearing it. More than once, she said that she liked the attention the hijab brought, and it helped her know exactly who her friends were. The hijab signaled who she was and that she was proud of her heritage. She said if people didn’t like it, they could just get out of her way.

Rashid wondered if it wasn’t easier for her because the hi- jab was so obvious and its meaning so clear. Since some of the other students chose to grow beards and mustaches, his own beard was sometimes interpreted as a personal choice instead of a mandate of faith. But it often raised questions he could see in people’s eyes that never got spoken aloud — not even by his friends. If he had been braver, he might just have sat down and talked to his friends about it and helped them understand. Instead, he let the silences get longer.

Now he felt he had only one option open to him.

“I should probably go now so I don’t have to stand in line all day,” Rashid said, feeling the weight of the bag pulling on his shoulder. “I will pray at school.” There were plenty of empty classrooms. Since it wasn’t a school day, he wouldn’t have to worry about people making fun of him washing in the bathroom first. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

His father smiled. “No need to rush. If you see people you know, you should spend time with them. You haven’t had the chance to see any of your friends this summer. The best life has balance. Maybe while you’re at school, you can see if there are any new clubs you’d like to join, although I still think you should take photos for the yearbook. The pictures you took this summer are very good.”

“I’ll look into it,” Rashid said, knowing he wouldn’t. He had other things to do. He just hoped his father would be able to understand.

“Good.” His father patted him on the arm and frowned. “Why are you taking your school bag?”

Rashid smiled to hide his nerves. “I’m bringing some note- books and comic books and a couple of other things to put in my locker so I don’t have to bring everything on the first day. I like having stuff to read in study hall.”

He also read when his friends were late for lunch, to avoid drawing the attention of some of the football players, who liked to harass him.

“Using extra time for study is always good.” His father pat- ted him on the arm again. “Do you have your Koran?”

“No,” Rashid said, shifting toward the door. “I’m leaving it here. I’ve got to go.”

“Wait a second.” His father disappeared out of the kitchen and returned holding a thick paperback that Rashid had no choice but to take. “You might be glad to have it at school with you.”

Rashid forced himself to thank his father, but he couldn’t meet his eyes as he walked out the door. He put the book in the bag and headed to school, still trying to decide if he was going to go through with his plan.

Was this really the time to draw the line in the sand?

He thought about the names he’d  been called last year and how uncomfortable his non-Muslim friends looked when they pretended that they were all the same. That nothing had changed.

He wished nothing had changed. More than anything, he wanted to turn back the clock to before the beard and the sus- picion it brought into focus. Things had already been hard then, but they had been better.

Hitching the bag so that the weight was better distributed, Rashid frowned and started walking faster. If he was going to change things, he had to do it today. He only hoped that he had the courage to do what needed to be done.

9:58  a.m.

Z

— C h a p t e r 3 —

“You’re Kicking me out?” Sweat pricked Z’s back and forehead. He should have had two more months. His mother had said they’d agreed. And now he was getting screwed.

Z turned his back on the landlord’s son. He couldn’t look at the satisfied smile on the jerk’s pimply face without wanting to deck the guy. Z felt like hitting something — everything.

“Not exactly,” Nick said. “I mean, I know my dad and your mom talked about trying to lower the rent over the sum- mer to help you out, but my dad realized that if he changed the terms of the lease for you, he’d have to do it for everyone, and you know how that goes. It’s not like my father wants to do this.”

Sure he does, Z thought. He just doesn’t want to say he wants to boot the guy who’s just lost his mother to cancer. That would make him have to admit he’s a crappy person. But that’s what he was. All Nick’s father knew was that a guaranteed rent check was dead and buried. It was time to find a new one, and to hell with anything else. Yeah — Z knew exactly how that went. 

“I’m sure this is breaking your father’s heart.” Z clenched his fists and looked out the narrow window over the sink. If he closed his eyes, he could still see his mother standing there, washing dishes … when she had been well enough to do some- thing that normal.

“Hey, don’t be like that.”

“Like what?” Z turned and stared at the guy. Nick straight- ened his shoulders but took a step back, tugging at the hem of his dirty T-shirt. “Your father made a promise to my dying mom, and two weeks after she’s gone, he sends you to tell me he was just kidding.”

Nick took another step back and swallowed hard. “He’s re- ally sorry about this.”

“Sure he is.” Everyone was sorry. Z was so tired of hearing everyone tell him how damn sorry they were. Only they weren’t. But they would be. Soon. Very soon. Z unclenched his fists and turned back toward the off-white fridge that his mother had plastered with photographs. “Tell your dad not to beat himself up about it. It’s no problem, Nicky,” he added, yanking open the fridge. The cool air washed over him, helping to tamp down the anger he wanted to let break free. Despite the open windows, the apartment was sweltering.

“Hey, kid, if it was up to me, I would let you stay. I know things are tough. After everything that happened, this really sucks, but —”

“It’s fine,” Z said, grabbing a bottle of tap water out of the fridge. It wasn’t fine. There was nothing fine about being told by a twenty-seven-year-old guy who lived in his parents’ basement and had Cheetos stains on his T-shirt that you had to clear out in three weeks. Adios, boy. Don’t let the door hit your long-haired, tattooed self on the way out.

“Look, my father would like to be able to let you stay. He really liked your mom. She was a nice lady.”

“Yeah.” Z closed the fridge and looked at the photo of his mother’s happy, healthy face pressed next to his five-year-old chocolate-coated one. “She was great.”

Was.

He swallowed hard while, behind him, Nick Mansanelli said, “I could talk to my dad about having you do some work on our cars in exchange for staying in their attic. It’s not the best place, but it would give you some time to sort out whatever it is you’re going to do next. I’m sure you could use the —”

“No need.” Z would rather sleep in a ditch than become slave labor for anyone. He uncapped the cold water and took a drink. “Tell your dad pretty soon he won’t have to worry about dealing with me ever again.”

Nick took another step back and rubbed his hand against the back of his neck as he looked around.  “Can I …  you know … help you do anything? Do you need some boxes or tape?” Nick turned toward the living room and nodded. “You got a lot of stuff to pack up around here. Why don’t I —”

“No.” Before Nick could step into the hallway that led to the bedrooms, Z stalked forward and blocked him. “I don’t need your help.” Z didn’t need anyone.

Nick frowned. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s no prob —”

“I’m sure,” Z said as the phone in his back pocket chimed. He pulled it out and looked down at the display.

YOU OK? DID YOU HEAR FROM YOUR UNCLE IN CALIFORNIA? I’M WORRIED ABOUT YOU. PLEASE TALK TO ME.

Kaitlin.

Of all the people who said they wanted to help, she actually did. But there wasn’t much more she could do or say. She kept telling him it was okay to be angry. That it would get better if he just gave it time. They all warned him about making deci- sions too fast. Urged him to give the relatives he barely remem- bered a chance to reach out. He had to give things time.

But time wasn’t going to change the fact that his mother was dead and that everything sucked.

Kaitlin had been there for him when everyone else had bailed. Extended family. Neighbors. Teachers. He’d tried to tell her to get lost when she followed him out of the school after he’d been in detention. But she dogged him all the way to the parking lot and insisted he give her a ride home. Her mother was a nurse at the hospital where his mother got treatments. It wasn’t as if he was going to say no, but that didn’t mean he was going to talk to her. Which was probably what Kaitlin wanted, since she had plenty to say. Kaitlin had been determined to be his friend, even when he didn’t want her to be. Even when he  cut school more than he bothered to go. If it hadn’t been for her, he wasn’t sure he would have made it this far.

And now he was going to cut her loose before he dragged her down. She deserved better.

Z shoved the phone into his pocket and looked back at Nick. “Look,” Z said with a deliberate sigh. “If that’s all you came here for, I’ve got to get going. There’s a teacher I have to talk to

at school, and I don’t want to miss him.”

Nick slapped Z on the shoulder. The universal sign for I want you to think I’ve got your back, even though I plan on screw- ing you the first chance I get. “Hey, no problem. I just came by to see how you were doing and make sure you didn’t need any- thing before —”

Before you chucked me to the curb. Z again clenched his hands into fists at his side, and Nick backed up a step.

Finally, the guy turned toward the front door and said, “Hey, make sure to take care of yourself. And give them hell at that school. I never liked it much anyway.”

At last, one thing they could agree on.

Z chugged the water, then headed down the hall toward his room to grab his father’s old army duffle and the letter that had arrived last week. His cell phone chimed as he was slinging the bag onto his shoulders, but he ignored it. He had things to do.

In the kitchen, he grabbed the picture of him and Mom and slid it next to his phone. He then walked out of the apartment. No need to lock the door. If someone wanted to clear the rest out, let them. He was going to school, and he wasn’t coming back.

***

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[bloo-the-dragon]

Kid!Fatal Fanfic - Bubble Bath

Got this idea during one of Xed’s streams and decided to write it. :3

Fatal_Error belongs to @xedramon / @fatal-error-blog ~

MommaCQ verse belongs to @alainaprana ~

Hope you like it! ^^

It had been four weeks since Xed had first adopted Fatal. He was settling in slowly but surely and they had gotten into a routine - wake up, usually with morning cuddles, have breakfast do the days activities which usually included shopping trips, chores, work or just sitting and watching some movies. As of right now, they were just sitting in the living room, with Fatal sitting on the floor hugging Fuzzington and watching the cartoons. However Xed wasn't really paying attention as she had something else on her mind.

It hadn't occurred to Xed if such a thing was required for skeletons, but she had recently begun wondering if Fatal would ever need a bath. Skeletons very rarely sweated, and when they did it was usually small amounts of magic that dissipates from the body to help them cool down but doesn't leave any trace behind. However, his bone tone was looking a little less white than normal. She didn't know how Fatal felt about baths or if he had ever had to experience one so she wasn't sure how' he'd react to being asked about it. It could be hard to determine what he was thinking most of the time.

Well... she guessed it wouldn't hurt to try.

Seeing how engrossed he was in his cartoon, Xed waited until the cartoon had ended and the adverts came on before asking.

"Fatal... have you ever had a bath before?" Xed asked.

Fatal looked up at her at the sound of his name. There was a small moment of silence before he frowned slightly and tilted his head at the question. 

"What is a bath?" He asked.

Xed blinked. He didn't know what a bath was? Surely the other non-skeletal kids at the adoption centre must have had baths before. Had he never noticed? Then again, he always seemed to be off in his own little world, and from what she knew never really interacted with the other kids or adults much.

"Oh.. well umm.. a bath is where you fill up a tub with lots of warm water and fill it with lots of bubbly soap to wash yourself with" she explained gently to the child.

Fatal went quiet for a moment, seemingly processing this new information before replying quite blankly, "Like when you clean the dishes? I don't think i would fit in the tub Aunt Xed"

Xed couldn't help a small laugh, "oh goodness no! Well, its a little similar i guess but no. There’s a big tub we have upstairs in the bathroom. That’s where you have a bath"

"Oh..." Fatal replied plainly. He tucked his head down and fidgeted with Fuzzington.

"Would you like to have a bath Fatal?" Xed asked.

The child looked up at Xed slightly surprised. "Uh..umm.. i guess so... if you think its a good idea" He mumbled. He seemed a little unsure.

"Well, if you prefer you can keep watching your cartoons if you like. Its not something we have to do right now" she told him gently.

Fatal went quiet for a moment, thinking. "Mmmm I'd like to have a bath please Aunt Xed" Fatal replied quietly. 

"Well alright then! Lets head upstairs" Xed said cheerfully and switched off the TV. She headed upstairs to the bathroom, with Fatal following close behind. She turned on the lights, plugged in the hole in the bath and began to run it with warm water. Fatal watched her actions with much interest and curiosity. 

"Just need to fill the tub with water and then you can get in" Xed told him.

Fatal stood next to her watching in fascination as she poured in the bubble bath soap and ran her hand through the water, making bubbles appear.

"What are those?" Fatal asked in slight awe as he stared at the bubbles.

"Those are bubbles Fatal" Xed smiled at him, keeping one hand in the water to check the temperature while the other adjusted the hot and cold taps accordingly.

"They're pretty!" Fatal giggled and reached out to touch the bubbles. He withdrew his hand quickly though when they popped upon contact.

"Oh... Aunt Xed they disappear when i touch them!" He whined slightly. 

"Don't worry, they always do that when you touch them. I can always make some more though, see?" Xed ran her hand through the bath, causing more bubbles to appear.

Fatal giggled softly and reached out to scoop a few in his hand, "its so fluffy!"

"Haha they are indeed" Xed laughed as she switched off the taps. The tub was half full, so Fatal could sit in there quite comfortably without the water surrounding his small body too much.

"Ok, the bath is filled. Now Fatal i need you too -oh dear Fatal wait!"

Xed quickly got a hold of Fatal just as he tried leaning over to get into the bath. He looked up at her confused.

"I thought i had to get in the bath?" 

"Well, yes you do but first you need to get undressed" Xed explained as she set him down again, "you can't have a bath with your clothes on"

"Oh. Ok" Fatal replied plainly and began to undress himself. Once undressed, he approached the tub again, but this time Xed intervened. 

"Here, Fatal let me help you get in" she said and carefully lifted him up and into the tub. Fatal sat in the warm water and blinked. This was... a very new experience for him. It was weird but... it felt nice. The water was comfortably warm, and came up to his midsection and he was surrounded by lots and lots of bubbles. After his initial blank state, a small smile appeared on his face as he scooped some bubbles in his hands.

"Theres so many bubbles!" He laughed happily. The sound of his soft laughter warmed Xed to the core. It was rare enough the child cracked even a small smile let alone a laugh! It was like golden music and it filled her heart with joy.

"Haha yes there is! Now hold still, so i can clean you, ok?" Xed told him as she rolled up her sleeves and reached for the sponge. Fatal barely reacted as she soaked the sponge in the bath and began to very gently wash his small body, starting with his head and shoulders, before moving on to his arms. Fatal continued to play with the bubbles, giggling and commenting on them every now and then, and every time sent another warm burst of happiness though Xed's chest. He stayed still when she requested him to do so, while she cleaned him.  

Xed allowed Fatal to soak for a little bit in the bath after cleaning so he could enjoy staring and playing with the bubbles some more. He whined a little when she told him it was time to come out, but complied without any fuss. Xed carefully lifted him out of the tub, wrapped a big fluffy towel around him, and began to dry him off. Once Fatal was dried, she drained the tub, and picked up Fatal's clothes and the towel covered Fatal.

"Now you've had a bath, we're going to get you dressed into some fresh clothes, ok?" Xed told him as they left the bathroom.

"Ok Aunt Xed" Fatal replied, and snuggled a little more into the towel that was wrapped around him.

"Did you enjoy your bath?" Xed asked.

"Mmhmm" Fatal hummed before yawning. Xed smiled as she entered his room.

"Haha, a little tired are we?" she said cheerfully as she set him down on the bed and went to get some clothes from the cupboard.

"Mmm the bath was nice. Warm and bubbly. I liked the bubbles" Fatal mumbled happily, a small content smile on his face.

"Hehe, well nothing like a nice warm bubbly bath to help you feel nice and clean" Xed laughed as she walked back over to Fatal and helped him get dressed into a plain light blue shirt and black shorts. Once dressed, Fatal yawned again and rubbed his eyes.

"Would you like to take a nap?" Xed asked him. "Or would you perhaps like to watch a movie? We still have that new one we picked out at the store the other day we've yet to watch"

"Mmmm... movie sounds good Aunt Xed" Fatal mumbled as he yawned again. Xed smiled softly and gathered up the sleepy child in her arms.

"Movie it is then!" She said as they headed back downstairs. Fatal sighed and snuggled into her warm embrace, thinking about all the pretty bubbles.

They both fell asleep halfway through the movie, content and happy.

[iviarellereads]

A Wind in the Door, Chapter 4 - Proginoskes

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index for the Time Quintet, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which we get a new-old word to use!

Meg wakes before dawn, suddenly. Still wondering if the previous night was a dream, she rushes to get dressed and go out to the rock where they left Progo. She promised to go to him before breakfast anyway. She doesn't encounter any fake Mr. Jenkins this time, nor Louise the snake, just Progo. He thanks her for not taking too long to come out, and when she says she has an hour before breakfast, he says they can do a lot with just an hour.

Progo guesses that if they're to work together, then Meg must be a Namer, too.(1) At Meg's puzzlement, he says last time he was with a Teacher he had to memorize the names of every star in the universe, just because. Some aren't known to many people, so the stars get lonely.

Meg asks if that's all a Namer does, and Progo thinks it's about making sure each name is distinct and unique to its owner in some way, and perhaps Meg's job is to make humans feel more human. Meg asks what that means.

Progo asks how he makes her feel, and Meg answers honestly with "Confused." Progo asks who makes Meg feel least confused, and she says Calvin, without hesitation. So, Progo says, Calvin makes Meg feel more like herself, that's the feeling he means. He asks who makes her feel the least like herself, and that answer is Mr. Jenkins, so Meg has to explain who he is to explain why she's so upset at the thought of him. Only, Progo says there's more to it than that.

Meg admits that something happened to scare her, and at his prompting that it might be important, she tells him about the fake Mr. Jenkins. He names it an Echthros,(2) and after confirming details, he's almost as sure of it as he is terrified of them. More, he's sure they have to talk to the real Mr. Jenkins as part of their trials. Meg says that's impossible, she doesn't go to that school and she can't exactly fit a cherubim with a ten foot wingspan in her backpack.

Progo maintains that having seen an Echthros makes everything different, and he can be invisible to go with her, no problem. He demonstrates this, and while he's out, she can feel him. He asks if she feels brave, and she says no. He says being brave should be easier together, then wonders if Blajeny knows there's an Echthros involved.

Meg finally asks what Echthros means, Progo mentally draws her into yesterday,(3) where they watch the cosmic scream and the rip in the galaxy. He explain that this is what happens when the Echthroi have Xed things from existence.(4) Meg finds it even more terrifying than the Mr. Jenkins Echthros.

She closes her eyes and tries to think of a happy memory, which she feels Progo help with, except she hears her father and mother talking about the phenomenon she just saw, and the way that even their own country, their own town feels less safe than it did ten years ago. Mr. Murry even posits, in the memory, that the wee farandolae might be related to the cosmic disruptions.

Mrs. Murry makes the connection: the same cry that the new instrument detected in distant galaxies is the one she heard in the ailing mitochondria with her micro-sonarscope.(5) She gets upset, and Mr. Murry says it's not like her, and reminds her of the good and the order in the universe. Progo says he's a wise man.(6)

Meg is a little surprised that Progo heard the memory with her, but he says she's learning to kythe, to communicate mind-to-mind directly. She asks if Progo would mind helping her to try and see the calculation Mr. Murry was doodling on the tablecloth, it feels important. They go back into the memory, together, and find he was writing the Greek characters for "Echthroi". She's astonished that he'd know that, but Progo points out that her parents know well enough the evil in the world.

Progo asks her to look at the rip in the sky again. She does so, reluctantly, and asks how the Echthroi could have done that. He says the Echthroi are like un-Namers, annihilating things from existence instead of firming them up. When Meg wonders what that has to do with Mr. Jenkins, Progo says he thinks that's part of their first task together. So, time to get going. He draws her back to the present in the real world again and asks what they do now. Meg hasn't the foggiest, and feels this is too much responsibility for a child.(7)

In fact, Meg is so resistant that Progo has to ask her if she's refusing the ordeal. She says she'll do it, she has to help Charles, but it's so much. He asks her again, what they should do now. She decides to go have breakfast, and get on the schoolbus, and asks Progo to meet her at the bus stop at the right time to leave.

Progo dematerializes with an acknowledgement, and Meg heads back to the house. She encounters Louise the snake on her way, but thinks the snake mostly wanted to wish her well, which is comforting. She eats her breakfast less enthusiastically than usual, and heads to the bus stop with the strangest feeling she won't see it again for a while. The twins, walking with her, wonder what will happen today, and decide it will be the usual: nothing.(8)

=====

(1) A very childlike assumption, that someone you're made to work with must be like you in some way, and not because your strengths are different and complementary to each other. (2) Ancient Greek, meaning stuff like, something hateful or hostile, or an enemy. Not easy for my fingers to keep spelling over and over, I'm using find-and-replace on this sucker to fix what my brain wants it to be. (3) Just a mental-power exercise, or are they Tessering somehow? Could Progo have some control over that ability? The vision of the rip seems distinct from the memory dive shortly after to me. (4) Wow that's such a readable term for this. [unamused face] (5) Gotta love a good goofy scientific instrument name or two in the same sentence. That's surely half of why Star Trek is so popular. (6) I feel a need to point out that chaos is not inherently evil and order not inherently good, those associations are things humans assigned to them to justify our preconceptions and biases. But, it does make children's storytelling easier to stand with the assumptions. (7) I'd tend to agree and apply that to MOST situations kids get into in children's literature, but that is half the point: learning how to have the big feelings so they don't feel so overwhelming. (8) Subtle setup, ma'am. Real sneaky.

[smigssig-blog]

Some of Kip Kinkel’s writing

have just killed my parents! I don't know what is happening. I love my mom and dad so much. I just got two felonies on my record. My parents can't take that! It would destroy them. The embarrassment would be too much for them. They couldn't live with themselves. I'm so sorry. I am a horrible son. I wish I had been aborted. I destroy everything I touch. I can't eat. I can't sleep. I didn't deserve them. They were wonderful people. It's not their fault or the fault of any person, organization, or television show. My head just doesn't work right. God damn these VOICES inside my head. I want to die. I want to be gone. But I have to kill people. I don't know why. I am so sorry! Why did God do this to me. I have never been happy. I wish I was happy. I wish I made my mother proud. I am nothing! I tried so hard to find happiness. But you know me I hate everything. I have no other choice. What have I become? I am so sorry

I sit here all alone. I am always alone. I don't know who I am. I want to be something I can never be. I try so hard every day. But in the end, I hate myself for what I've become.

Every single person I know means nothing to me. I hate every person on this earth. I wish they could all go away. You all make me sick. I wish I was dead.

The only reason I stay alive is because of hope. Even though I am repulsive and few people know who I am, I still feel that things might, maybe, just a little bit, get better.

I don't understand any fucking person on this earth. Some of you are so weak, mainly, that a four year old could push you down. I am strong, but my head just doesn't work right. I know I should be happy with what I have, but I hate living.

Every time I talk to her, I have a small amount of hope. But then she will tear it right down. It feels like my heart is breaking. But is that possible. I am so consumed with hate all of the time. Could I ever love anyone? I have feelings, but do I have a heart that's not black and full of animosity?

I know everyone thinks this way sometimes, but I am so full of rage that I feel I could snap at any moment. I think about it everyday. Blowing the school up or just taking the easy way out, and walk into a pep assembly with guns. In either case, people that are breathing will stop breathing. That is how I will repay all you mother fuckers for all you put me through.

I feel like everyone is against me, but no one ever makes fun of me, mainly because they think I am a psycho. There is one kid above all others that I want to kill. I want nothing more than to put a hole in his head. The one reason I don't: Hope. That tomorrow will be better. As soon as my hope is gone, people die.

I ask myself why I hate more than anyone else. I don't know. But my head and heart want him dead. He only knows who I am through reputation, and I know he is scared of me. He should be. One bad day, and there will be a sawed off shotgun in his face or five pounds of Semtex under his bed.

I need help. There is one person that could help, but she won't. I need to find someone else. I think I love her, but she could never love me. I don't know why I try.

Oh fuck. I sound so pitiful. People would laugh at this if they read it. I hate being laughed at. But they won't laugh after they're scraping parts of their parents, sisters, brothers, and friends from the wall of my hate.

Please. Someone, help me. All I want is something small. Nothing big. I just want to be happy.

End. New day. Today of all days, I ask her to help me. I was shot down. I feel like my heart has been ripped open and ripped apart. Right now, I'm drunk, so I don't know what the hell is happening to me.

It is clear that no one will help me. Oh God, I am so close to killing people. So close.

I gave her all I have, and she just threw it away. Why? Why did God just want me to be in complete misery? I need to find more weapons. My parents are trying to take away some of my guns! My guns are the only things that haven't stabbed me in the back.

My eyes hurt. They hurt so bad. They feel like they are trying to crawl out of my head. Why aren't I normal? Help me. No one will. I will kill every last mother fucking one of you. The thought of you is still racing in my head. I am too drunk to make sense.

Every time I see your face, my heart is shot with an arrow. I think she will say yes, but she doesn't, does she? She says, "I don't know". The three most fucked up words in the English language.

I want you to feel this, be this, taste this, kill this. Kill me. Oh God, I don't want to live. Will I see it to the end? What kind of dad would I make? All humans are evil. I just want to end the world of evil.

I don't want to see, hear, speak or feel evil, but I can't help it. I am evil. I want to kill and give pain without a cost. And there is no such thing. We kill him - we killed him a long time ago. Anyone that believes in God is a fucking sheep.

If there was a God, he wouldn't let me feel the way I do. ....Love isn't real, only hate remains. Only hate.

Love Sucks

No, I don't believe in love at first sight because love is an evil plot to make people buy alcohol and firearms. When you love someone something it is always taken away from you. I also would like to add that I hate each and every one of you. Because everything I touch turns to shit. I think if you think you fall in love with someone at first sight it might just be lust. Love at first sight is only in movies. Where the people in the movies are better than you. That is why you go to a pone [pawn] shop and buy an AK-15 (Probably meant Ar-15) because you are going to execute every last mother fucking one of you. If I had a heart it would be gray.

It is easier to hate than love. Because there is much more hate and misery in the world than there is love and peace. Some people say that you should love everyone. But that is impossible. Look at our history it is full of death, depression, rape, wars and diseases. I also do not believe in love at first sight. But I do believe in hate at first sight. Therefore love is a much harder feeling to experience.

I really wouldn't know how to answer this question because my cold black heart has never and never will experience true love. I can tell you one about love. It does more harm than good. I plan to live in a big black hole. My firearms and [illegible] will be the only things to fight my isolation. I would also like to point out Love is a horrible thing. It makes things kill and hate.

I will hunt you down and put a hole in your head. With explosives. You hear me. Power to the shampoo. RIP [sad face with Xed out eyes]. You must DIE.

[Teacher's response: "I'm concerned??"]

I have spent days trying to figure out what I want to say. I have crumpled up dozens of pieces of paper and disregarded even more ideas. I have thought about what I could say that might make people feel just a little bit better. But I have come to the realization that it really doesn't matter what I say. Because there is nothing I can do to take away any of the pain and destruction I have caused. I absolutely loved my parents and had no reason to kill them. I had no reason to dislike, kill or try to kill anyone at Thurston. I am truly sorry that this has happened. I have gone back in my mind hundreds of times and changed one detail, one small event so this never would have happened. I wish I could. I take full responsibility for my actions. These events have pulled me down into a state of deterioration and self-loathing that I didn't know existed. I am very sorry for everything I have done, and for what I have become.

[emeraldsorcerer]

Screw it, I went on a long rant under a read more but I’m just gonna put the TL;DR up here for those who don’t even wanna.

TL;DR summary:

I was somehow seemingly the single last holdout of the 2012 Tumblr Umineko fandom era, and I’ve lived long enough to see it boomerang back around again, something I never thought I’d see. It’s so exciting. I want to be a part of it, quite badly, just like I was before.

<insert long winded rant about the state of Tumblr RP, pre-plotting and how it isn’t necessarily bad, but how it doesn’t really jive with me in particular because I find it boring, plus I don’t communicate effectively in 2017 Tumblr RP land and Discord/Skype/other chat client RPs are just too isolated and lonely for my tastes>

I guess...I have no idea if anyone will accept this blog anymore, though, half a decade later, the way it was back in 2012. It’s a little scary, I’m not sure I can make Sakana relevant or interesting, or even develop him anymore. By god, I’ll try, because I don’t have it in me to quit this blog, but I’m left here wondering how futile it is.

...

You know, I started this blog back in October of 2012. Back then, the Umineko fandom had pretty much recently crested from what I gather, and was on the decline, and the Ib fandom was also on about the same boat. I’d made my askbernkastel account in the summer of that year even earlier, and between the two blogs, there’s been a lot of firsts. First Tumblr blog, and through askbernkastel, first exposure to the RP community. First askblog, first RP blog, which honestly, this all started out as a shameless OC self-insert thinly veiled under an Umineko disguise because I had no idea what I was doing and how cringy that was even for 5 years ago.

And yeah, now I’ve retrofitted this blog so that Sakana is his own character now, with his own personality and ways he goes about things, developed through half a decade of playing him from when he was painfully obviously just me in disguise, to now, where he’s his own thing, to the point where at one time I was being told by a couple of people who regularly RPed with me that they forgot Sakana wasn’t actually a part of the Umineko canon on occasion.

Honestly that was probably the best compliment I’ve ever received ever on Tumblr.

And now I’m witnessing the slight uptick of a fandom with whole new people all of a sudden. I’m not really sure why people decided to resurrect their blogs or make new ones at around the same time. Maybe it’s that in the past year or so Umineko came out on Steam, and Ougon Musoukyoku (the Umineko fighting game) had also been announced for a Steam release and localization, and because of its ease of access, now it’s gaining a bit more traction then when it was almost entirely dead and gone earlier last year.

It’s just kind of making me wonder if this blog’s concept is done and tired.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get away from this blog, but I have to wonder if it’s holding me back a little, if I’m still trying to push a concept that only barely worked in 2012 onto 2017 when it really doesn’t want it. I’m still constantly paranoid that people think all Sakana boils down to is a mun in an Umineko skin, and while I’ve taken pains to make him his own character and have him go on his own journeys and have him be long-term affected by them, I’ve also been at a loss for what to do next.

People nowadays largely want either predetermined plots or chat RP. Not everyone, but it’s a trend I’ve been noticing.

 I really love the fact that I can just pop into the Tumblr chat system nowadays and be assured my ask won’t just get eaten as it so often seemed to do, but it’s also made a much higher demand for communication and pre-plotting and agreeing upon the outcome before it’s even written, and that’s just straight up boring to me. At the risk of sounding like someone who needs his cane handed to him to yell at the kids to get off his lawn, I seem to recall being able to spin massive permanently-character-altering plots with other people that were extremely gratifying and didn’t require a roadmap of what exactly will happen beforehand, and that just doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Maybe it’s that people have gotten burned by too many godmodding jackoffs and aren’t willing to take that chance anymore, and that’s fine.

I do need to clarify, I don’t think this is really anyone’s fault, or anyone should feel guilty, I’m not blaming anyone for anything in specific. In fact, a lot of this is honestly my problem. Besides being boring for me because I know exactly how the story will end, I have massive direct communication issues honestly. How in the hell do I even plot with someone? What are the correct words or keyphrases to say? How do I communicate what I want to have happen? How much of it should be ‘what I want to have happen’ and ‘what they want to have happen’? Whose character arc should it be? What story do we want to tell? Should I tell them my story idea right off the bat or should I ease them into the concept? That direct tumblr chat has honestly been the bane of my creative existence for a long time now because I just don’t get how people do it.

“Oh, it’s not that bad Fish-mun.” I hear you say, “You just go into their chat and be friendly and introduce yourself and pop them an idea! And if they aren’t into it, that’s fine, just try someone else or come back when you have a different idea that might fit better!”

Yeah, no. Any time I see those rebloggable posts with something like “Reblog this if you’re totally down to just have plots sent to you” or “Reblog if you’re okay with your muse being Xed or Yed or Zed” or “Reblog if you’re okay with having your muse pestered about the relationships that you've seen them have with other muses.” or basically any of those general “Hey I’m a cool and totally open RPer you should come and do the RP thing with me guys because I’m so open!”

And it’s just like.......no. Stop being so disingenuous by overgeneralizing. There’s always going to be multiple exceptions, and too often I’ve been that exception for whatever reason, fooled into thinking otherwise, going in on that beck and call, and being ignored. I don’t mind if you’re not that open, by all means be private and selective and mutuals only, but don’t lie to me about being open when you’re not. I have a really serious problem with that, honestly.

And it’s never as easy as just going in, being friendly, introducing myself, and the RP possibilities will just open themselves up. I’ve had that sentiment told to me so many times, but I’ve also heard people talking about other people behind their backs so many times, I know there’s nuance to language use, and someone’s interpretation of being completely friendly and innocent can very, very easily come off as even downright creepy in the wrong combination of sender and receiver.

I mean, to some people, even just introducing yourself is too much for them and they don’t know how to react. Tone matters. Dialect matters. User friendliness matters. When I’m communicating with someone in specific, I feel like a totally different person depending on what person or group I’m communicating with, because I have to adapt myself to what’s acceptable with that person or in that group. One minute some person in a chat’ll just throw something like ‘i want to eat your ass out’ as a joke and that tells me where that person stands, they can give and take absolute gross absurdist out-of-left-field bullshit and that’s great. 

The next I’ll be talking to another person in a chat and discussing sociopolitical implications and norms, and how they affect those that surround us currently and how they might in the long term as well, speculating on how it all relates to the world we live in and how it’s affected as a result, and what, if any, solutions there could be theoretically to current issues, whether they’re a matter of human nature and can’t really be changed without theoretically changing the fundamental human psyche, or if a crisis large enough threatens everyone things could really be changed for the better, or if there’s no hope at all and we should all grab some popcorn as we drown in our own existentialism hell while the world surrounding us slowly wilts.

And remember, I was getting my ass eaten out one chat over at the same time.

Speaking of chats, the thing I personally have an issue with in RPing through a chat system is that it’s so immediately demanding. The thing I love about roleplaying on Tumblr is that I get to sit down, think about it for a few minutes, not have to worry about replying right away, and eventually knock one out. I don’t feel nearly as much time constraint pressure in a Tumblr RP environment. Not only that, Tumblr RP is the only way I get to make new friends and followers via RP, mostly because they see my RPs being reblogged on someone else’s account and think ‘hey maybe I should follow this guy’ - a tactic I’ve done to follow new people a number of times. Discord is nice and all, but it’s just too isolated. I kinda want some other people to see my RPs too, y’know.

I guess what it comes down to is that I still have a 2012 Tumblr RPer attitude in the 2017 Tumblr world. I’m still stubbornly used to not having text chats readily available, I’m used to being able to improvise major plots with other people where the only time for plotting is if I ask if it’s okay to do something to another person’s muse on the spot. Honestly, I’m used to a more chaotic, less reserved Tumblr. And I’ve been on my other blogs too, mainly my Tomoko blog, and have managed to find myself getting used to a more modern take on Tumblr, but whenever I come back here, it all starts to not make sense to me anymore. I have to wonder if there’s anything more of relevance here on this blog. Even the Umineko fandom has moved on to a 2017 approach.

I should wrap this up. 

TL;DR summary:

I was somehow the single last holdout of the 2012 Tumblr Umineko fandom era, and I’ve lived long enough to see it boomerang back around again, something I never thought I’d see. It’s so exciting. I want to be a part of it, quite badly, just like I was before.

<insert long winded rant about the state of Tumblr RP, pre-plotting and how it isn’t necessarily bad, but how it doesn’t really jive with me in particular>

I guess...have no idea if anyone will accept this blog anymore, though, half a decade later. I’m not sure I can make Sakana relevant or interesting anymore. By god, I’ll try, because I don’t have it in me to quit this blog, but I’m left here wondering how futile it is.

[shadesofmauve]

Have any of y’all played RiME? I’ve been in a puzzle game mood, and it’s well reviewed. 

I’m wondering whether it’d be better to get it on STEAM or on Xed’s PS4, though. Most of my gaming’s on PC, but some games work better with a controller, and PS4 games mean I can lounge in the living room.

[sondertale-comic]

Sondertale, are you usually online when not updating the comic? Like, say, right now? Just wondering xD

Haha, usually, yeah! I’m actually at work right now cough not supposed to be on tumblr but blegh so I just pop in if I have a minute. I’m actually fairly active on my other blogs - I just don’t really like to post non-comic related things on my comic blogs. Kinda messes with the immersion effect I like to go for.

Also you can call me Xed or Xedra :)

[swipestream]

THE AIRY PEAKS – THE TOWN OF FOOT. PART 3 (06)

Let us continue our look at the town of Foot from last article.

7. The Carpenter. This shop smells like sawdust as soon as you enter it. There’s wood, stain, saws, hammers, levels, crank drills, chisels, and all other manner of tool and wood around the shop. Sarah Hanner is a short stocky and well muscled woman in her late 30’s. Healthy and always wearing a wry smile. Sarah specializes in furniture and the wooded parts of a wide variety of farm equipment while also being able to patch up buildings that have seen better days. She loves her work and does a wonderful job, even if she’s sometimes a little late.

8. Fredmon’s Thread and Stitch. Fredmon Tailor comes from a long line of tailors but came to the Airy Peaks to seek adventure. Then he lost his foot to a spikey mawed beastie. After than he decided to get back to his roots and sew for adventurer’s instead of going on adventures. Fredmon can work with cloth and leather while being quite versed in the layering of a variety of materials and cloths. He often works quite close with Kurnig on the undergarments of armor.

The shop is a clean place with a variety of different sets of clothing displayed on wooden mannequins. It’s all functional dress for farmers and adventurer’s which gives the clothing a high contrast. Fredmon also specializes in bags and pouches for every day adventuring, seed carrying, and any other function a bag could serve.

9. The Torn Page. Lillard Copse is a wizened old man who wears glasses, can barely see, and is stooped over with age. That is, until the sun goes down. Once the sun dips out of view this old man straightens up, moves with the vigor of someone half his age, and can see just fine.

The shop is filled with books and mpas which he buys and sells. Some are from adventurers and others are more mysterious in origin. Even though he has tons of maps, those maps are all quite contradictory in their descriptions and depictions. If asked, Lillard is convinced the Peaks might even move and rearrange themselves, or at least the Fire Tube Tunnels do.

10. The Goblin Wares. Jacob Flack is a thin unassuming man with brown hair, who runs one of the most common shops in town in one of the more unique locations. His shop is in a tunnel just inside one of the entrances to the Airy Peaks. The shops entrance is marked by a wooden sign with a goblin painted on it with its eyes xed out.

The shop is just a small cavern lit by oil lanterns and an torch that burns with a magical light that never consumes and never goes out. On the walls are mesh nets and hanging from them are all manner of weapons, larger adventuring gear, and armor. There are crates stacked in rows with potions, rope, pouches, trinkets, small devices, and the other smaller, more portable things one might find useful when traversing the Airy Peaks.

Sometimes special things find their way into the Goblin Wares, sold to Jacob by adventurers who don’t know what they have. This is also the place that gear gets shipped to from the outside world. If you want to show how the gear changes from week to week in the Goblin Wares you can make this move every third time the party makes camp or when you have decided that a week or so has passed.

When time has passed roll 2d6 + nothing. On a hit a delivery occurs and restock according to the refresh. On a 10+ roll a d10 twice. Each roll adds the interesting item listed below to the goblin wares. On a 12+ a magic item finds its way into the Goblin Wares. Create the magic item and place it in the shop. On a miss the refresh doesn’t happen.

Special Item List

Hunters Bow

Dueling Rapier

Elvish Arrows

Elven Bread

Oil of Tagit

Bloodweed

Goldenroot

Serpent’s Tears

Bag of Books

Edged Black Steel Weapon. Add 2 piercing and 100 coins to any edged weapon

Black Steel Weapons come from the Dragon Fire Forges within the Airy Peaks. Edged weapons forged there have 2 piercing.

Jacob’s has the following on hand when an Airy Peaks campaign starts:

Dungeon Gear

Adventuring Gear (x100)

Bandages (x10)

Healing Potion (x4 refreshed 1d4-1 to a max of 4)

Antitoxin (x1 refreshed to a max of 1)

Dungeon Rations (x 50)

Dwarven Hardtack (x3 refreshed by 1 to a max of 3)

Halfling Pipeleaf (x1 refreshed to a max of 1)

Armor

Leather (x3 refreshed by 1 to a max of 3)

Chainmail (x3 refreshed by 1 to a max of 3)

Scale Mail (x2 refreshed by 1 to a max of 2)

Plate (x1 refreshed by 1 to a max of 1)

Shield (x3 refreshed by 1 to a max of 3)

Weapons

Ragged Bow (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Crossbow (x3 refreshed by 3 to a max of 3)

Bundle of Arrows (x20 refreshed by 5 to max of 20)

Club (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Staff (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Dagger (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Throwing Dagger (x3 refreshed by 3 to a max of 3)

Short Sword (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Axe (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Warhammer (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Mace (x5 refreshed by 5 to a max of 5)

Spear (x3 refreshed by 3 to a max of 3)

Long Sword (x3 refreshed by 3 to a max of 3)

Battle Axe (x3 refreshed by 3 to a max of 3)

Halberd (x3 refreshed by 3 to a max of 3)

Rapier (x1 refreshed by 1 to a max of 1)

Ok folks. I’ve reached my word count limit for this installment so next time we’ll be talking more about the town of Foot. Enjoy and we’ll get back to it next month.

THE AIRY PEAKS – THE TOWN OF FOOT. PART 3 (06) published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames