#The Luning Formation

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 32: Pre-history. I forget what number....3? 4?

In honor of @kraetac.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration. All cultures and time periods welcome.

#Nanotyrannus #Time Travel #Tyrannosaurus Rex #Dinosaurs #Paleontology #Lystrosaurus #Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum #Hateg Island #Arthropluera #Tetrapods #Argentinosaurus #Prototaxites #Fungi #Spinosaurus #Icthyosaurs #The Luning Formation #Snakes #Evolution

[bleu-lune]

By @bleu-lune

Pentax 6x7, Fujicolor pro 400H

#analog #filmisnotdead #argentique #film photography #120mm #120mm film #120mmphotography #120 film #6x7 #pentax67 #medium format #pro400h #bleu lune

[lunearobservatory]

BABYGIRLS.

#THEY ARE THE SWEETEST ANGELS #BABIES #THEY HAVE SCARY OWNER PRIVILEGE #DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME???? #ARE YOU LISTENING???? #THEY'RE HIS FUCKING PRINCESSES #HIS DELIGHTFUL LADIES #HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IS ANYONE LISTENING #thanks moth for inspiring and encouraging this #this is all i'm going to talk about for the next forever everyone shut the fuck up do you UNDERSTANDDDDDD MEEEEEE #wttt #wttsh #wttt headcanons #welcome to the statehouse #welcome to the table #ben brainard #i'm losing it #lune talks #more like lune rants #now in picture format #holy fuck me #IT'S MY CANON NOW BEN

[light-imperfected]

@blankticket -- continuing from here!

What an unsatisfying answer. He pities the angel for being hurt to the degree where he’d over-value power like this; to covet an ultimate position of authority, lacking the bravery and support to deny it.

“Dumb point,” Vash counters. “That’d only make you very, very lonely.”

Honestly, Gabriel doesn’t like to talk philosophy. He finds it bizarrely difficult to separate his own thoughts from all he’s known his whole life, then untangle those from his inexplicable urge to cleave to the other party’s opinions. He’s slow, and uncertain, and can’t quite get his thoughts straight, which annoys him to no end.

“The moment something’s forbidden, want is created in its wake. You can’t stop that,” the angel says, slowly. “Mankind will always want, and lack. They’ll never be satisfied—it’s their nature.” Why, ever since woman was tempted and Eden was ruined, what else had mankind done but cause harm, out of jealousy, out of desire? Gabriel’s seen the worst of the dead, the depths of mankind’s sins when left to their own devices. He knows they’ll gravitate toward violence and depravity given any opportunity. But there’s still a nagging feeling that the mortal’s right. He tries to piece it together, grabbing at the confusion at the heart of this. He knows—he knows—oh, fuck this—

“What do you know about loneliness?”

The words snap out before he can stop them, but he doesn’t find himself regretting them. The mortal’s sociable. He knows how to interact with humanity. Gabriel’s spent the last thousand years striking down human souls in the name of God. There’s nothing left for him—this is what he was made to be. It’s not like he has an alternative. it’s not like he can’t bear dreaming of something else.

If the question’s meant to sting, well, he wouldn’t admit it, but anger and frustration start to hum in the back of his skull. He tamps down the reaction: not now, not here; he likes this guy. Still, the angel hates feeling out of his depth so badly it hurts.

#blankticket #blankticket 2 #'lune this sounds like a very specific reaction you are describing' NO COMMENT!!!! #sry for the repost; the timeline of these posts is so weird already #ask trimming fucks with theme formatting and i cannot stand looking at it OTL #<- guy who needs to learn how npf post rendering works and continues to refuse to do so

[ouchiis]

₊ ⠀ ✧ ⠀ ❛    ⠀𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 ( accepting ! )    ⠀❜

@moonhund spoke ;     ❝  i  found  a  really  weird-looking  lizard !  want  me  to  show  it  to  you ?  ❞

· · ·   beneath the gentle sylvan umbrage offered by the humble oak tree , ouye rested against its stump , carving whatever shape came to mind using his silver dagger and a branch that fell not too long ago atop his head. despite the recent harshness of his environment , he considered this temporary moment of solace a breath of fresh air; while the hood over the top of his head , fashioned from an empty flour bag , made his ears overheat underneath , the gentle whisper of the wind cooled him down just enough to keep his condition bearable. the eye in the midst of a hurricane . . . he didn't mind finding such peace in simplicity. he closed his eyes with a gentle sigh , allowing himself , if but a moment , a chance to relax alone in solitude , far from any worries tainting his mind . . .

· · ·   . . . yet , such a privilege was short lived when he was oh - so - abruptly interrupted by a stranger offering to show him a lizard.

· · ·   ❛ AH― ! ❜

· · ·   venti's unprompted presence made the familiar jump and immediately open his eyes in borderline fear , staring up at them in alert. he dropped the stick in his hand and balled it up in a fist , pressing it against his chest as his heartbeat steadily came down. with now dry lips , he hesitantly looked at the partially concealed lizard in the stranger's hands , partially relieved to see he hadn't scared it off completely. after a few seconds of silence , ouye let out a relieved sigh , yet curiously kept his gaze on the lizard.

· · ·   ❛ . . . as long as it wouldn't be a bother , ❜ he muttered , adjusting himself expectantly on his knees like a curious child.

#❛���₊˚ ☾ ?⠀ tempérance ( starters ) ⠀❜ ⠀ꜜ ⠀. #❛⠀₊˚ ☾ ?⠀ la mort ( ic ) ⠀❜ ⠀ꜜ ⠀. #❛⠀₊˚ ☾ ?⠀ la lune ( ouye ) ⠀❜ ⠀ꜜ ⠀. #❛⠀₊˚ ☾ ?⠀ verse : genshin impact ⠀❜ ⠀ꜜ ⠀. #( moonhund. ) #ouye voice STRANGER DANGER STRANGER DAoohhh a lizard #here's to hoping mobile doesn't fuck up my formatting bc my wifi kicked the bucket #it's 3am and i can't be bothered to reset it so :.)

[astrxealis]

mobile tumblr's new format what the fuck!

#⋯ ꒰ა starry thoughts ໒꒱ *·˚ #as said by lune now: 'tumblr think it's funny' LMFAO <//3 #yk i finally resubbed in ffxiv hehe ^___^ i say finally but i just haven't subbed for like... a week... #and the last time i played was just like 20 days ago..... not even a month.......... #uhmmm. focusing on homework yes <3 stressed for tuesday but i'll do my best :(( #and uhmmm. i did a few lil exercises/stretches in the morning bcs i shld really do that more often ^___^ #and i'll dedicate enough time to gaming/music today! and leave some leeway bcs no doubt i'll get distracted sometime today #and hopefully as i improve my schedule more i can also put in time for reading hehe ^^ and just. dedicating my energy & time well <3 #+ i can still do with more studying >___< but also social life shall not be neglected! #anyways sorry if you don't see me often on social media lol i am trying to get myself more together and i am getting there i think hehe #sooo. i'll play xiv for a bit and then do my homework! i suck w just giving myself time limits so i'll make an alarm #i suck w following alarms unless it's required tho. i'll get up immediately for class but if it's just from normal sleep for a normal day #i will extend it until i feel restless and want to get up and actually do shit LMFAO <3 #okay anyways have a good day everyone !! please don't forget to take care of yourself alright? #btw the format isn't really that bad but i'll need to get used to it and it's a lil weird to me

[atzfilm]

half hour! 

#EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE #okok let me format and do another quick look through!! #fic: clair de lune

[esoterique-fr]

Lithothérapeute et énergéticienne - Interview Sarah Toussaint-Piquard - Maât Vitae

Nous avons eu le grand plaisir d’échanger avec Vinciane Pélé, lors d’un atelier dédié à la Communication animale, ainsi qu’à la télépathie, l’intuition et la connexion universelle, lors des Ateliers pleine lune à Lannion dans les Côtes d’Armor en Bretagne. Vinciane Pélé, thérapeute holistique animalier chez Animavy, Communication et Bien-être Animal, a développé depuis toute petite une passion…

View On WordPress

#Atelier Lannion #Ateliers Pleine Lune #Boutique lithothérapie #Chakras lithothérapie #Décoration pierre naturelle #Formation lithothérapie #Lannion #Lithothérapeute #Lithothérapeute près de chez moi #Lithothérapie #Lithothérapie apprendre #Lithothérapie bienfaits #Maât vitae #Magasin pierre naturelle #Métier lithothérapeute #Pierre naturelle #Pierre naturelle bijoux #Pierres et lithothérapie #Pierres lithothérapie #Pierres naturelles #Plérin #Pouvoir des pierres lithothérapie #Saint-brieuc #Séance lithothérapie #Signification des pierres lithothérapie

[louixie]

My parts for the Under A Violet Moon project! Gif 3 was a shot collabed on together with my dear friend Lune ft a bunch of our OCs together Sad the gif format crunched the quality so badly

#animation #animated #2d animation #character animation #oc: magpiewing #oc art #oc animation #louixieocs #louixie #refused to relearn blender and thus built a room out of pngs in after effects instead #2d animator #2d animated video #anthro art #fursona #warriorsona

[ekman]

Voici le visage du commissaire du peuple délégué à la censure pour la France, visa d’exploitation UE n°8563447. Cette sympathique tête d’abruti porte de nombreuses casquettes, toutes déformées par sa macrocéphalie gênante et sa réthorique de jésuite marxiste. 

Il s’appelle Christophe Deloire et il est à la tête (haha) de Reporters Sans Frontières, la fameuse assoce qui contribua, en des temps reculés, à la défense de quelques correspondants, photographes et autres reporters menacés, engeôlés, torturés... parfois butés. On se souvient d’ailleurs que son co-fondateur, l’affreuse girouette Ménard, y agit pendant de longues et néanmoins utiles années. ONG de terrain à sa création, “RSF” est progressivement devenue une sorte de chapelle morale à la con pour gauchiste en phase de recyclage, profil 45/55 ans, directeur des rédactions, déjà un divorce, une bicoque à Ré et les gosses HP en garde partagée. Aujourd’hui, “RSF” est une petite usine à gaz armée d’un budget annuel de huit millions d’euros (subventions publiques, mécénat et “fondations” sorosiennes à hauteur de 80 %), finançant la bagatelle de trois millions de “ressources humaines”. C’est vous dire si on est contents pour eux, leurs émoluments et leurs notes de frais. 

Cependant, notre carriériste ne se contente pas de ce job, car il est aussi directeur et vice-président du Centre de Formation des Journalistes, sorte de Saint Cyr pour futurs encartés du mainstream, escabeau vers la dynamique cooptatrice si chère à nos élites. Last but not least – comme écrivent encore les rescapés de la presse des années 2000, il a récemment été désigné pour occuper la tête des États Généraux de l’Information, énième pustule macroniste sensée réfléchir à la meilleure façon de bâillonner tout ce qui ne récite pas correctement la doxa informationnelle.

Ce tout petit Monsieur, cette authentique pompe à merde pour paraphraser Magritte dans son adresse à un critique acerbe, a conduit de main assurée une opération contre l’Arcom, via le Conseil d’État, au motif que la chaîne CNnews dérogerait de manière éhontée à la nécessaire représentation, sur son antenne, de sensibilités politiques diversifiées. Oui, CNews ne proposerait qu’une longue succession d’éditos et de pseudo-débats ultra fachos, indignes de la rayonnante démocratie française. Ne serait-il pas temps de sucrer leur fréquence à ces fumiers réacs, pense en substance ce petit Béria de bac à sable ? Cependant, es-tu certain de ne pas t’être trompé de cible ? Ne pensais-tu pas plutôt à la totalité des médias du service dit public ? Franchement, on se demande quel genre de promesse on a bien pu te faire pour que tu t’abaisses à ce point. Au pouvoir qui nous accable, tu sers le plat le plus dégueulasse qui soit, celui de la censure d’épuration, celle qui traduit un désir de vengeance amère. Ce qui te fait chier, Christophe Deloire, c’est qu’un média que tu ne pourras jamais contrôlé – et qui dit le contraire de ta Pravda publique en exposant les faits de la réalité de ce pays, puisse encore seulement respirer et laisse respirer des millions de Français. Ces Français-là – qui représentent quand même plus de la moitié des suffrages exprimés – te conchient, toi et ta clique de plumitifs vendus à un projet extra-territorial dont tu sers les desseins absurdes en pensant honorer tes vieilles lunes socialistes. 

Tu voudrais vivre comme Robespierre mais tu as peur de l’échafaud, tu voudrais mourir comme Marat mais tu ne te feras qu’enculer sous la douche. Pauvre toi, petit homoncule au crâne rempli de sérum égalitaire. Tu te crois pur et vertueux alors qu’il suffit d’observer ton regard vide pour comprendre que tu agis sur le seul fil de ton ambition démesurée. Ton envie de nuire est inversement proportionnelle à la taille de ta bite. Comment je le sais ? Sur le plateau de CNews où tu pensais pouvoir faire le bravache, tu t’es retrouvé le slip sur les chevilles, bizuté par d’ignobles nazis en colère. J’ai bien ri à observer ton désarroi. Tout compte fait, je te remercie pour ce moment passé chez ton vieux pote Bolloré.

J.-M. M.

#CNews #Deloire #censure #reporter sans frontière #bolloré #arcom

[miyababes]

gojo satoru.

long fics. (5k+)

danse de la lune by nezuscribe [ cinderella au ] [ sfw ]

his kiss, the riot by nezuscribe [ royal au ] [ nsfw ]

homecoming by aanobrain [ sfw ; angst with happy ending ]

nocturne by suget [ nsfw ]

out of reach by sukirichi [ childhood friend!gojo ] [ roommate!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

power trip by prettyboykatsuki [ nsfw ]

psycholog-spot by kazushawty [ ex boyfriend!gojo ] [ college au ]

teacher's pet by fushigowo [ professor!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

the white rabbit by shibaraki [ no curses au ] [ nsfw ]

www.pixelated.starboy by kazushawty [ camboy!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

fics. (2.5k+)

don't wanna pull out by dimepdf [ football player!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

inevitably, undeniably by saerins [ modern au ] [ suggestive ]

just the two of us by sukirichi [ sfw ; fluff ]

limerence by shibaraki [ nsfw ]

more by garoujo [ nsfw ]

must be like the genesis of rhythm by ghostbeam [ nsfw ]

office princess by saetoru [ ceo!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

short fics. (1k+)

'cause he's a fuck boy by thunderfaerie [ college au ] [ virgin killer!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

; [ part two ]

difficult by saetoru [ sfw ; fluff ]

dream of me by garoujo [ nsfw ]

empty sheets by saetoru [ nsfw ]

finger warming in bora bora by dejwrites [ sugar daddy!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

formation b by earthtooz [ sfw ; fluff ]

fright night by saintodo [ nsfw ]

front row seat by satorhime [ nsfw ]

girl, you're such a backstabber by saetoru [ nsfw ]

; [ part two ]

golden by munsonsins [ nsfw ]

groupie by ilyluffy [ rockstar!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

handful by saetoru [ sfw ; fluff ]

hands by prettyboykatsuki [ nsfw ]

just one more by saetoru [ nsfw ]

little by little by saetoru [ nsfw ]

loving me, loving you by shibaraki [ nsfw ]

needy, baby by nezuscribe [ nsfw ]

not part of the deal by driftingrory [ college au ] [ nsfw ]

; [ part two ]

one 'n only by garoujo [ college au ] [ quarterback!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

only him by garoujo [ nsfw ]

pay for my love by ilyluffy [ ex!gojo ] [ nsfw ]

perfect little toy by aiiwa [ nsfw ]

pictures on the wall by saetoru [ sfw ; fluff ]

pink by shibaraki [ sfw ; fluff ]

prey by thunderfaerie [ succubus!reader ] [ nsfw ]

; [ part two ]

pretty between his thighs by garoujo [ nsfw ]

recess by satorhime [ dad!gojo ] [ sfw ; fluff ]

routine by saetoru [ sfw ; fluff ]

soft spot by mrs-kurooo [ nsfw ]

stars in your eyes by elysianslove [ nsfw ]

stay with me, for breakfast by garoujo [ college au ] [ sfw ; hurt/comfort ]

sweet thing by garoujo [ nsfw ]

the same by saetoru [ sfw ; fluff ]

this time is different by satorini [ nsfw ]

warm bodies by shibaraki [ sfw ; fluff ]

drabbles.

[ nsfw ]: 1 - 100.

a wedding is a good place for love by garoujo [ sfw ; fluff ]

avoiding your crush by luvbub-archive (+ yuta, megumi) [ sfw ; fluff ]

fairness by prettyboykatsuki [ sfw ; fluff ]

first love, first kiss by torustars [ sfw ; fluff ]

how they apologise after an argument by garoujo (+ toji, megumi, itadori, geto ) [ sfw ]

letting go of their hand while they're driving by garoujo (+ nanami, megumi, itadori, geto) [ sfw ; fluff ]

like half-peeled tangerines by myelocin [ sfw ; fluff ]

loving you by earthtooz [ sfw ; fluff ]

married by utahimeow [ sfw ; fluff ]

not saying 'i love you' back by saetoru (+ geto, nanami, megumi, itadori) [ sfw ; fluff ]

rain by hajimio [ sfw ; fluff ]

reacting to you apologising for being clingy by ilyluffy (+ itadori, megumi, yuta) [ sfw ; fluff / hurt/comfort ]

saving his s/o mere moments from death by earthtooz [ sfw ; hurt/comfort ]

setting your wallpaper as an ugly photo of them by saetoru (+ geto, toji, itadori, megumi) [ sfw ; fluff ]

stronger with you by garoujo [ sfw ; fluff ]

the first grade's lover by earthtooz [ sfw ; fluff ]

the moments where they call you pretty by garoujo (+ geto, itadori, megumi, nanami ) [ sfw ; fluff ]

they notice you're cold in the middle of the night by garoujo (+ geto, itadori, megumi, nanami) [ sfw ; fluff ]

they suddenly get baby fever by garoujo (+ geto, nanami, itadori, megumi) [ sfw ]

waking them up for kisses by garoujo (+ geto, itadori, nanami, megumi) [ sfw ; fluff ]

when they realise they're in love with you by saetoru (+ toji, itadori, nanami) [ sfw ; fluff ]

you avoid their kiss by torustars (+ geto, nanami) [ sfw ; fluff ]

you call them by their full name by garoujo (+ geto, itadori, megumi, nanami) [ sfw ; fluff ]

you dodge their kiss by garoujo (+ geto, itadori, megumi, nanami) [ sfw ; fluff ]

you pretend you're going to sleep on the couch by garoujo (+ geto, nanami, itadori, megumi) [ sfw ; fluff ]

you randomly crawl onto their lap by garoujo (+ geto, itadori, megumi, nanami) [ sfw ; fluff ]

you sleep in the guest bedroom after an argument by garoujo (+ itadori, megumi, geto, nanami ) [ sfw ; fluff ]

you sleep on the couch after an argument by earthtooz (+ geto, choso, itadori, megumi) [ sfw ; hurt/comfort ]

headcanons.

if you can see it from the front by dimepdf (+ toji, nanami) [ nsfw ]

"so, should we bang or..." by thunderfaerie (+ itadori, megumi, toji, sukuna, nanami ) [ nsfw ]

timestamps.

4.51am by saetoru [ sfw ; fluff ]

6.13am by garoujo [ sfw ]

1.33pm by garoujo [ sfw ; fluff ]

5.45pm by garoujo [ sfw ; fluff ]

7.13pm by garoujo [ sfw ; fluff ]

8.31pm by garoujo [ sfw ; fluff ]

10.45pm by garoujo [ sfw ; fluff ]

series.

rich boy college au by saetoru

smau.

smau series.

#masterlist

[gwydpolls]

So I'm a big fan of your time travel polls and as a huge paleontology nut, wanted to contribute as much as I can. Here's a bunch of mysteries/events you could incorporate. My apologies if any of these are repeats, and please keep the time travel polls coming! They are super fun.

-Was Nanotyrannus a juvenile T-rex or its own species?

-Witness the first Lystrosaurus emerge after the Permian Extinction.

-What caused the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum?

-See the miniature dinosaurs of Hateg Island.

-See the island culture of the homo floresiensis

-Was Arthropluera a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore?

-See the source of the Cerutti Mastodon kill site. Accident, humans, or another hominid?

-Watch the first tetrapod emerge from the water.

-Scuba dive under snow/slush-ball earth.

-Find out if Argentinosaurus truly was the biggest dinosaur or if something did surpass it.

-See the transitional forms of the very first bats.

-See the giant 40-foot tall fungi Prototaxites.

-What was Spinosaurus's final form?

-What caused the mass strandings of forty, 50+ foot Icthyosaurs at the Luning Formation?

-Why did snakes lose their legs? Fossorial or Marine reasons? (or some secret third thing)

-Did Neanderthals make art?

This is all I could come up with off the top of my head, if you'd like I can send more later.

These are great! Looks like I need to do a special poll just for you. :)

I put the ones that didn't fit in Ancient and earlier XV.

I've done other neanderthal things, but i don't think we did art. I don't know how we missed florensis. Thank you so much for these suggestions.

#Time Travel Polls

[bleu-lune]

By @bleu-lune

Seagull 4BI, Ilford HP5

#argentique #analog #filmisnotdead #film photography #medium format #120mm film #120mmphotography #120mm #ilford #seagull4bI #seagull camera #tlrcamera #twin lens reflex #black and white #bleu lune

[squish36-writes-and-draws]

Carry a Torch

Word count: 4401 <- untrustworthy number

TW: alcohol

Taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed!): @stellar-lune @faggot-friday @kamikothe1and0nly @nyxpixels @florida-preposterously @poppinspop @uni-seahorse-572 @solreefs @did-i-say-you-could-get-up @rusted-phone-calls @when-wax-wings-melt @good-old-fashioned-lover-boy7 @dexter-dizzknees @abubble125 @hi-imgrapes @callum-hunt-is-bisexual @xanadaus @callas-pancake-tree @hi-my-name-is-awesome @katniss-elizabeth-chase @arson-anarchy-death @dizzeners @thefoxysnake @olivedumdum

On Ao3 or below the cut!

I would thoroughly recommend reading this on Ao3 if possible. I originally wrote this as a screenplay for my creative writing class and, as such, tumblr nuked the formatting. Ao3 did as well, but less so.

That being said, it's kind of important to understand my larger concept. This is a script for a pilot episode of a TV show. Each episode is going to be featured around a song (and I was forced to write this one which is why it's bad) so at the end, it's a concept album. You will not be allowed to have the rest of the show. I refuse to write it.) This also takes place in 1925 so I've thrown some less than successful slang in there.

INT. EVERGLEN RECORDING STUDIO - MIDDAY - 1925

KEEFE leans over the antique Vernon family heirloom piano where FITZROY (FITZ) is playing. The intro credit music stops as FITZ looks up at him. 

FITZ sighs. 

FITZ

Let me guess. You’ve been thinking.

KEEFE gasps overdramatically.

KEEFE 

(feigned surprise)

Why ever would I do such a thing? You 

know thinking can only lead to dangerous

outcomes. That being said, I did have a

thought. 

FITZ

Stars, why do I even bother anymore? 

KEEFE smiles annoyingly. 

KEEFE

Because I’m very difficult to get rid of.

(beat) 

I trust you know we’ve been looking for 

a new venue since Tam dusted out on us. 

FITZ 

And whose fault was that? 

KEEFE

Legally? Not mine. 

FITZ pinches the bridge of his nose. KEEFE is unbothered by this. 

KEEFE (CONT’D)

Anyway I was talking to Sophie—

FITZ

Anything that starts like that is certain 

to end badly. 

KEEFE

Fitzroy Avery Vacker, listen to me for a 

second for once in your life. Foster has a 

cousin whose family has a place we could 

use. It’s not the most ideal—

FITZ 

(interrupting)

Then why are we even going to bother with

considering it? 

KEEFE

The back corner of a coffee shop is 

better than nothing. Not all of us are 

lucky enough to leech off your parents.

FITZ pauses for a moment, considering making KEEFE verbalize why, exactly, he cut off his relationship with his parents. 

FITZ

I take it that means you’ve already booked

it.

KEEFE

It’s one gig. Do your best to tolerate it. 

KEEFE turns toward the back door. No one knows where he is going, probably including himself. 

FITZ

You know I won’t.

KEEFE

And you know I don’t care. 

The door closes behind him and FITZ cracks his knuckles before going back to playing the piano. 

INT. SLURPS AND BURPS - LATE EVENING/NIGHT

Slurps and Burps is a coffee shop during the day and a Speakeasy at night. People mill about, the space filled with chatter. 

BIANA is sitting at the counter, swinging her feet as she talks to SOPHIE, drinking what is likely spiked coffee. 

DEXTER (DEX) and FITZ are getting everything set up for the performance this evening. FITZ is trying to be helpful. DEX is left moving the piano mostly by himself. 

DEX

(breathing heavy, teasing)

My guy, did you fill this thing with rocks? 

FITZ

(indignant) 

No. It’s just built to last. 

DEX

(proud of his pun)

Well, it could certainly last through me 

driving a car into it. 

FITZ

Why would you ever find yourself in that 

situation? 

DEX shrugs. 

DEX

I don’t know. 

FITZ looks over at KEEFE, who is flirting with some random extra. 

DEX adjusts the piano into its final resting place. 

DEX

Can I get you anything? Java, tea, what 

have you. We’ve got everything.

DEX lowers his voice. 

DEX (CONT’D) 

A little bit of moonshine? It’s a family

recipe. 

FITZ

(low, dangerous)

You know, it’s probably not very good 

business practice to disclose that 

information to just anyone who walks in 

off the street. Somebody’s going to call

copper. 

DEX

(unconcerned, irritated)

You rat me out, you’re out of a job. 

FITZ snorts. 

FITZ 

I didn’t want this gig in the first place. 

FITZ raises his voice. 

FITZ (CONT’D)

Isn’t that right, Keefe? 

KEEFE

I got no context, so whatever makes him 

look the most like a sap is the one I 

want. 

KEEFE spends the rest of the conversation watching them. 

DEX

(voice low) 

Then why are you here? Why did you even 

bother?

FITZ leans against the piano, almost protectively, trying to make himself look relaxed. He is not. FITZ shrugs stiffly. 

FITZ

I had nothing better to do. Trust me. I 

tried. I really did. 

DEX

(maximum sarcasm) 

Wow, that must have been so difficult

for you. 

FITZ

Lay off it, alright? I’m here for Keefe, 

regardless of what you might want to think.

DEX

I want to believe you’re a sap, and you’re

not exactly giving me much evidence to the

contrary. 

DEX takes a sip out of some unspecified alcoholic beverage. This is a speakeasy, after all. 

FITZ

Oh, so you’ve talked to me for what? Five

minutes? And now you think you’re an 

expert in my every waking thought? Every 

detail of my inner psyche? 

DEX puts his hands up, defensive. 

DEX

I didn’t say that, Socrates. Watch your 

tongue the text time you try to blow 

things out of proportion.

FITZ

Like that isn’t blowing things even 

further out of proportion? 

DEX

If I remember correctly—and please 

correct me if I am wrong here—you were

the first to threaten me and my family, 

so I think that’s more than a fair 

trade from your perspective.

The lights flicker, signaling the start of the show. It is operated by DEX’S BROTHER #1.

DEX

Well. 

DEX presses his lips together. 

DEX (CONT’D)

(bitter)

I should tell you to have fun up there, 

but I don’t think you’re capable of

that. Break a leg and all that 

superstitious nonsense. 

DEX shifts to his customer service voice, laced with passive aggression. 

DEX (CONT’D)

Let me know if I can get you anything 

to make your time here slightly less 

inconvenient. 

FITZ turns away without a reply or a second thought. 

EXT. - HAVENFIELD - MIDDAY, FALL

SOPHIE and DEX are sitting under a Jacaranda tree, leaves beginning to fall but not completely bare. They are complaining about many things. FITZ is a large topic of discussion on this fine day, and also KEEFE and BIANA to a lesser extent. 

DEX

How do you put up with all of them on 

a daily basis? 

SOPHIE

Determination, resilience, a lack of 

other valid career paths, and a dash 

of—

SOPHIE wiggles her eyebrows. It is unclear which one she is wiggling her eyebrows about, but that ambiguity will be important. 

DEX sighs. 

DEX

Okay, like, on the one hand, I get what

you’re saying and, yeah, you’re 

absolutely right.

SOPHIE laughs. 

SOPHIE

That’s because I’m objectively correct.

DEX is too far in his own head to react to SOPHIE’s comment. 

DEX

But, like, how can you reconcile that 

with that personality? I don’t get it.

SOPHIE 

There’s nothing to get. Admire from a 

distance and your problems solve 

themselves. Easy. 

DEX pauses to consider this answer.

DEX

No. I don’t like that solution. Give me 

a better one. Replace the personality

itself. You went to college. You have a 

fancy degree in marketing or something. 

Figure it out. 

SOPHIE

Okay, first of all, that was several 

years ago and I haven’t used it since. 

DEX 

You have a photographic memory. Don’t 

try to pull that on me. 

SOPHIE doesn’t know how to reply to this for a beat. 

SOPHIE

(feigned anger)

Damn. How dare you know all my tricks? 

Anyway, I don’t think personality 

replacement was covered in my curriculum. 

Sorry. But do let me know if the store 

needs new customers. 

DEX

Some might argue there’s already too many

people. That doesn’t excuse the fact that

you’re supposed to know the answers to 

life, the universe, and everything. This

has been thoroughly established. 

SOPHIE

Well, I don’t. Sorry. 

DEX pauses for a long time, somewhere in the realm of several whole seconds. 

DEX

I just wish…things would be easier. 

SOPHIE smiles softly, encouragingly.

SOPHIE

On which front? 

DEX laughs bitterly. 

DEX

Yes. 

DEX pauses, debating with himself if he should elaborate.

DEX (CONT’D)

(frequent pauses, struggling with sentences)

It’s just that…Fitz is…tangling 

everything together. I used to be able

to go to work without getting trapped 

in my own mind. And, well, to be 

completely honest, I don’t much 

appreciate it. 

SOPHIE

You should go tell him that. 

DEX physically flinches away from this idea. 

DEX

I have an even better idea. How about 

you go tell your boyfriend Keefe? 

He’s the one that concocted this whole 

booking-Slurps-and-Burps-for-a-gig

disaster. He should be the one to unravel

this Gordian knot of a situation. 

SOPHIE

I’m not dealing with your problems. 

You can talk to Fitz yourself or you 

can deal with it. 

DEX

(Making himself sound useless on purpose)

But, alas, I’m incapable of speaking 

with people in rational terms. Whatever

am I to do? 

SOPHIE

(not buying into DEX’s act)

Don’t make me show you what irrational

terms sound like. 

DEX sighs, defeated. This is going to be unpleasant, but he’s already concocting the bribery he is going to offer KEEFE to make him want to relocate. Preferably without destroying his and SOPHIE’s relationship. 

DEX is also fairly easily convinced to do things he doesn’t want to do while also being immensely stubborn. 

DEX

Fine. 

EXT. RECORDING STUDIO - THE NEXT DAY, DAYLIGHT HOURS 

DEX walks up to the door and argues with himself in his mind before knocking. 

Inside, FITZ sighs and stops playing piano. As he stands, his joints sing the song of their people. Unlocking the door, he finds DEX studying the ground and fidgeting with his sleeve. 

FITZ 

Hello! What can I—

FITZ realizes who is standing in the doorway and drops the polite act. 

FITZ (CONT’D)

(flatly)

—What do you want?

DEX is irritated by this in an effort to not be thinking about how he is engaging in a conversation. 

DEX

Believe it or not, not everything is 

about you. I’m here to speak with 

Keefe.  

FITZ considers this, leaning against the doorframe. 

FITZ

Nah, I don’t believe that one. Besides, 

Keefe isn’t here. I don’t know where 

he is or when he’ll be back. Sorry. 

DEX feels a rush of relief, taking a deep breath. 

DEX

It’s probably futile to ask you to tell

him that I was looking for him, but I’m 

going to hope anyway. 

DEX turns around to leave. 

FITZ 

You’re exactly right. 

DEX

You don’t have to sound so disappointed. 

BIANA (O.S.)

(yelling to be heard from across the studio)

Fitzroy! Stop being so obnoxious! 

BIANA’s voice comes down from a yell to a normal speaking voice as the sentence goes on and she gets close enough to push FITZ out of the doorway and take his place. 

BIANA (CONT’D)

I’m sure Keefe will return sometime 

soon. 

FITZ

(muttering)

Lies. Filth and lies. 

BIANA 

(to FITZ)

He’s going to get hungry sooner or 

later. 

FITZ seems to accept this, rolling his eyes and wandering back to his precious piano.

BIANA

(to DEX)

Can I get you anything? Fitz has an

obsession with baking and we’re

always trying to get rid of the 

aftermath. 

DEX smiles awkwardly as he shakes his head. BIANA turns to not be outdoors anymore and DEX follows her inside. 

DEX

I mean, if you want to sell them at 

Slurps and Burps, I could always

ask my parents. 

DEX shrugs. 

DEX (CONT’D)

I’m sure they’d agree, but I’d rather 

present a possibility than a guarantee, 

you know. 

BIANA

You sound like him.

DEX and FITZ look equally offended by this and avoid eye contact at all costs. 

BIANA takes this opportunity to leave DEX and FITZ together for a length of time while she investigates this route. 

BIANA 

Well, I’ve got some extra time today, 

so I can go ask your parents myself. 

Don’t knock each other off while I’m 

gone, got it? 

FITZ and DEX watch her leave. This is the same door that KEEFE used in the first scene, not the front door. 

FITZ

(yelling after her)

How many times do I have to tell you to

stop meddling in my life?

FITZ huffs. 

DEX gets up to leave out of the front door that is still open. 

FITZ

(irritated and tired)

Where are you going now? 

DEX

…Leaving? 

FITZ

Well, don’t. Biana is going to think 

I’ve planted you in the backyard or

under the floorboards. 

DEX releases an exasperated sigh and sits down on a conveniently placed stool. 

FITZ (CONT’D)

Believe me, I wouldn’t say that unless 

it was absolutely necessary. 

DEX

(his temper finally snaps)

What is your problem, dude? You’ve been 

nothing but rude during the ten minutes

we’ve interacted. I understand if you

don’t like me. That’s understandable. 

But you’re like this toward everyone. I 

can also understand you didn’t want to 

do the gig for whatever reason, but 

instead of being like that about it, you

could’ve figured out a way to sit in 

time out until the last minute. It’s not 

that hard. There’s a very nice storage

closet where I’ve spent more hours than 

I’d like to admit hiding from people.

FITZ’s hands drop forcefully into his lap. 

FITZ

(equally angry)

Why should I explain myself to you? I 

couldn’t care less about what you 

think. I don’t know why you think I 

would. 

DEX

Oh, I don’t know, basic human decency?

I really don’t care if you disagree,

but I tried my best to be pleasant, 

and you made that very, very difficult. 

FITZ

That seems like a you problem. 

DEX

Well, I’m sorry you couldn’t tolerate

a single evening that wasn’t precisely 

what you wanted to do. That must have 

been so hard for you. It’s almost like 

I’m not trapped in that coffee shop 

every single day. 

FITZ

Again, that seems like a you problem. 

I don’t see why I should be concerned 

with a you problem. 

DEX

And I don’t see why I have to put up 

with your—

DEX gestures vaguely at FITZ, unable or unwilling to say what he’s thinking. 

FITZ

(challenging)

My what?

DEX

Your general existence. I don’t want to 

be here as much as you don’t want me to

be here. I would adore being able to 

leave you alone, but it looks like 

neither of us are going to get what we

want. 

FITZ

So you’ve made it your personal mission

to make yourself as infuriating as 

possible in the meantime? 

DEX

I guess so. You didn’t exactly make it

difficult for me. 

The sound of the back door opening stops FITZ from responding. KEEFE enters, mild surprise at seeing DEX but he also doesn’t care that much. 

KEEFE

Did you miss me? 

FITZ and DEX

(in approximate unison) 

No. 

FITZ and DEX look at each other—this is a pretty significant milestone in them agreeing on something. They laugh. 

INT. SLURPS AND BURPS - MIDMORNING

FITZ enters, the doorbell announcing his presence. He makes eye contact with DEX’S SISTER at the counter. 

DEX’S SISTER

Dex! Your friend is here!

DEX appears from the back, expecting SOPHIE or maybe even KEEFE. He has severe dark circles and is immediately irritated by FITZ’s presence. 

DEX’S SISTER trades places with him, though she will be listening to their whole conversation. 

DEX

What do you want this time? 

FITZ

I do believe you’re a tea shop when 

you’re not running from the police, and, 

as such, I’d like a small Earl Grey.

DEX gives him a look. The kind of staredown that requires invocation of the if-looks-could-kill meter. 

DEX takes some of the hot water from the coffee and unwraps a teabag, allowing it to start steeping. 

DEX

And you had to come here for that? 

FITZ

You’ve got the best tea in the shortest

distance from my apartment. 

DEX

You can make tea yourself, you know. 

FITZ

Yes, but, you see, then I have to 

Interact with Keefe. In that case, 

the amount I would spend in bribery is 

significantly greater than venturing 

out into the world. 

DEX

I can almost see that.

DEX hands FITZ the scalding mug of tea. FITZ touches it and flinches away. 

DEX (CONT’D)

Can I get anything else for you today?

FITZ

If you have a least favorite muffin, 

I’ll take one of those. 

DEX studies the muffins for a long second before choosing a victim. It is placed into a white paper bag that is slightly too small for both his hand and a muffin. 

DEX

That’ll be $1.05

FITZ takes out his wallet and slides over a $20. For reference, this is roughly $350 when adjusted for inflation. That is also why the price of a tea and muffin is scaled the way it is. 

DEX’s eyebrows react appropriately to the amount of money this is. 

DEX

(projecting calmness and irritation)

Singlehandedly paying for a week’s rent

isn’t going to make me like you. 

FITZ

Okay. That’s not going to stop me. Just

think of it like a starting point. A 

deposit in exchange for dealing with me

and my—

FITZ gestures vaguely at himself. 

DEX

I’m never going to live that one down, 

am I? 

FITZ

(almost, but not quite, playful)

Not if I have anything to do with it. 

DEX

Lovely. 

FITZ

Careful, I’m willing and able to have 

Keefe perpetuate it even further. 

DEX

I hope you know that my siblings have 

already added it to their very limited

vocabulary, so there’s really no need. 

DEX realizes this may result in additional perpetuity because it sounded like he was trying to make FITZ stop and that means he could take it as a challenge. 

DEX (CONT’D)

Although, I guess there is a constant

need to make me suffer as much as 

possible, so it’s really up to your

discretion. 

FITZ takes the tea, no longer giving him fourth degree burns, and his muffin. 

FITZ

Would you care to dine with me on 

this fine morning? 

DEX makes sure there aren’t too many customers, in case he would be needed to work. There are not. Most of their income comes in after sunset. 

DEX

(loud so his siblings can hear)

Yes, I would like to get paid to not

work. 

FITZ flashes a small smile that DEX does not see.

FITZ and DEX sit at a booth in the corner for minimum visibility. There aren’t many other people and if they get into another argument, they don’t want to be public entertainment. 

DEX

It really is remarkable how determined 

you are to both piss me off and remain

a patron here. 

FITZ

Well, I’m sure you could solve the 

latter fairly quickly. 

DEX gestures widely to the doorway to the kitchen, where his siblings are trying to not be caught eavesdropping. 

DEX

Behold. The reasons I am physically 

incapable of kicking you out. I do that, 

I’m never going to hear the end of it,

and that’ll get out to the rest of our

customers—because of course it will—and

then suddenly they start going down the

street for their mediocre morning coffee. 

FITZ

Well, I’m not a coffee person, so I can’t

review yours, but your Earl Grey is quite

nice. 

DEX lowers his voice conspiratorially. 

DEX

It’s even nicer with a little splash of 

something. If you get what I mean. 

FITZ

(voice low to match)

It’s not even noon yet. 

DEX

Then come back later. Time usually 

travels linearly in the forward 

direction, and then it’ll be after noon

and you’ll have to come up with a new

excuse. If that new excuse just so 

happens to be that it’s not five 

o’clock yet, wait until I tell you about 

what else time can do. It can travel

linearly. In the forward direction. 

DEX’S BROTHER #2 (O.S.)

And we don’t have a band tonight so then

maybe you’ll perform and Dex will be—

DEX turns and points at him. 

DEX

Don’t finish that sentence if you don’t 

want lead poisoning. 

FITZ smiles. 

FITZ

Allegedly. 

DEX

Allegedly. 

DEX turns back to FITZ. 

DEX (CONT’D)

You don’t have to if you don’t want to. 

FITZ

And that sounds like you’re trying to get

rid of me. I’ll see you tonight then. 

FITZ brightens his smile and leaves. DEX doesn’t take any opportunity to argue with him, despite the fact that he has more than enough time to react. 

When the door shuts, DEX releases a big sigh, deflating. 

INT. SLURPS AND BURPS - AROUND SUNDOWN

Slurps and Burps is once again filled with many patrons, and they are once again filling the room with chatter. The piano is already in place, as are BIANA’s saxophone and KEEFE’s drum kit.  

FITZ

(at KEEFE)

Stop looking at me like that. 

KEEFE

(feigned oblivious innocence)

Like what? 

FITZ

You know what you’re doing. Being all 

self-righteous. 

KEEFE

I don’t know what you’re talking about. 

FITZ cycles through a few arguments before deciding it isn’t worth it. 

FITZ

Forget it. We don’t have time to argue 

about this. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I 

do have a small change to the setlist. 

KEEFE

Shouldn’t that have been discussed 

previously? 

FITZ

It’s not like you would care either way.

What’s it you tell me? Fitzroy, it’s 

jazz, nobody cares about the setlist. 

Half of it is already improv. 

KEEFE

That might be accurate, but that doesn’t

mean I like it. 

FITZ turns away, grumbling to himself and searching the crowd for DEX. 

When he does eventually find him, FITZ smiles hesitantly. 

FITZ

So this might be an odd request, but 

please hear me out before you say no. 

DEX

(already irritated)

Go ahead. 

FITZ

(quickly, in a single breath)

I may or may not have a tendency to 

process things by writing songs, which 

I’m sure is a massive surprise 

considering why I’m here. I don’t 

remember exactly why I was talking to 

Sophie a couple of days ago, but that’s 

beside the point. Anyway, I happened to 

be blessed with the songwriting curse 

immediately after she left, and when I 

emerged from the cave, the song’s point

of view was a little wonky. And by that 

I mean, of course, that I tried to 

project into your head, which is really 

weird now that I’m saying it out loud. 

DEX

Calm down. I don’t need you passing out

on me. I don’t want to call Elwin. He’s

already mad at Sophie. I don’t need that. 

FITZ takes a deep, slightly shaky breath. 

FITZ

On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would

it be that I could ask you really, 

really nicely to do the verse that’s 

attempting, probably very badly, to 

be in your point of view so that I 

don’t have to ask Keefe to do it? 

DEX

About a -7, presuming it’s a logarithmic

scale, but I’ll do it anyway. 

A pause. 

FITZ

Why? 

DEX

Don’t question my motives. Just be 

aware that I don’t know what I’m doing

and if I think about it too long, I’m 

going to go cry in the bathroom, so 

don’t let me think. 

FITZ

Got it. 

A longer pause, FITZ contemplates telling DEX something to help with the fact that his blood pressure is visibly rising. 

BIANA (O.S.)

Fitz! It’s nine. Get going. 

FITZ

(yelling over to BIANA)

Who is this punctual person and what 

have you done to my sister?

FITZ turns back to DEX and pulls a crunched piece of paper out of his pocket. 

FITZ (CONT’D) 

Here’s the lyrics. I didn’t have time to 

formalize any sheet music, but just kind 

of…vibe with the music. That’s kind of 

this whole genre’s mission statement, 

isn’t it? 

DEX

I am regretting my life choices. 

FITZ

I’m sorry to hear that. You’ll be fine, 

though. If not, I’ll bribe everyone with

muffins until the complaints stop. 

DEX

(physically shaking)

Okay. 

FITZ takes his place at the piano, making eye contact with KEEFE. 

FITZ

Trust me, okay?

KEEFE smirks. 

KEEFE

Yeah, of course. I’d let you lead us off

a cliff. 

FITZ

A wouldn’t expect anything less. 

FITZ begins playing an introduction, underscored by low rumblings from KEEFE’s floor tom after the first bar. FITZ’s focus remains squarely on KEEFE.  

FITZ (CONT’D)

(singing) 

HE LEANED OVER THE PIANO

WITH THAT MISCHIEVOUS GLINT IN HIS EYE. 

HE’S BEEN THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING

AND NOW THERE’S NO GOING BACK. 

The tempo ticks upward as KEEFE’s drums develop into a polyrhythm. FITZ leans back, his gaze landing on the ceiling. 

FITZ (CONT’D)

THE WORLD IS ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD

I’M HANGING ON TO WHAT I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN

WHAT I’VE KNOWN HAS GOTTEN ME THIS FAR

WHY BOTHER CHANGING THAT?

FITZ finally looks at DEX, his irritation over the past few days on full display in his tone. The instrumentation drops out for a beat. 

FITZ (CONT’D)

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT WITH ME?

WHY DO YOU FIND SUCH PLEASURE ANGERING ME?

IF I COULD LEAVE, I PROMISE I WOULD, 

BUT I DON’T HAVE A WAY TO ESCAPE. 

I DON’T HAVE A WAY TO RUN AWAY FROM THIS PLACE

AND SO I’LL KEEP ON OCCUPYING YOUR SPACE. 

DEX’s voice is so soft even the people standing next to him probably cannot hear him. He’s staring firmly at the ground. It’s not exactly symmetrical in the vocals or instrumentation with the first verse, but there’s no need for it to be. 

DEX 

(singing) 

SHE’S ALWAYS MY WORST INFLUENCE

BY PUSHING ME OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE. 

IF ONLY SHE WOULD UNDERSTAND

I WANT TO FIND AN ESCAPE. 

DEX gains a bit more confidence, staring at FITZ’s shoes and singing slightly louder. 

DEX (CONT’D)

THE WORLD IS ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD, 

I’M STILL RUNNING FROM WHAT I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN. 

WHAT I’VE KNOWN HAS GOTTEN ME THIS FAR

WHAT MORE CAN LIE AHEAD? 

DEX fixes a death glare on FITZ. 

DEX (CONT’D)

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT WITH ME? 

WHY DO YOU FIND SUCH PLEASURE ANGERING ME?

IF I COULD LEAVE, I PROMISE I WOULD, 

BUT I DON’T HAVE A WAY TO ESCAPE

I DON’T HAVE A WAY TO RUN AWAY FROM THIS PLACE

AND SO I’LL KEEP ON OCCUPYING YOUR SPACE. 

Two bars of SILENCE echo through the room. 

FITZ and DEX 

(start softly, crescendoing)

IF I STAY HERE AND YOU STAY THERE

I’LL STOP STEPPING ON YOUR TOES 

IF WE PRETEND LIKE NONE OF US CARE

MAYBE IT’LL COME TRUE. 

THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT I’LL EVER LIKE YOU

AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIKE ME. 

PACIFY THE ELDER GODS 

AND THEN WE’LL BOTH BE—FREE. 

There is a long break, filled with instrumentation. BIANA and her saxophone have a whole narrative arc. DEX goes and runs off into the back, trying to never be seen again. 

FITZ

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT WITH ME?

WHY DO YOU FIND SUCH PLEASURE ANGERING ME?

IF I COULD LEAVE, I PROMISE I WOULD, 

BUT I DON’T HAVE A WAY TO ESCAPE. 

I DON’T HAVE A WAY TO RUN AWAY FROM THIS PLACE

AND SO I’LL KEEP ON OCCUPYING YOUR SPACE. 

END SHOW

#kotlc #fedex week 2023 #fedex #detz #kotlc fedex #kotlc detz #dex dizznee #kotlc dex #kotlc fitz #fitz vacker #ship: fedex #series: fedex week 2023 #character: fitz #character: dex #character: keefe #character: sophie #character: biana

[arimiadev]

2023 Year in Review

2023 has come and gone—it feels like it was just a week ago that my grandma was complaining that Thanksgiving and Christmas were too close together, and now it’s January. I spent the last 2 weeks of 2023 sick (I still am), which made it go by like a blur.

2022 was a fresh slate for me, with a new job, a new home, and new projects. 2023 was a year of finding a new rhythm—figuring out how I work best and molding my work time around that rather than trying to make myself go against the flow.

Working from home is truly a blessing and a curse. I do think that it has more positives than negatives (especially right now as I’m able to work while being sick and don’t have to take time off), but navigating around the negatives is tricky. The main problem I’ve faced, aside from lack of interaction with non-family, is that it’s harder for me to focus on work when I end up spending almost all of my awake hours at my desk, either for my fulltime job or for VN development or for relaxing.

I’ve had to mix things up, usually taking my laptop to other parts of the house or even working outside of home some days. Even if it’s only for a few hours, it helps reset the fatigue of being at my desk all day every day. It doesn’t always work, and one problem I ran into for most of the year was being unable to focus on writing. Art and scripting are more “mindless” for me, I can do them with a video or voice call in the background, but writing is something I’ve always struggled to concentrate on.

This year was my first year attempting NaNoWriMo, though a more casual version of it. A few other devs were also entering NaNoWriMo to work on their projects so I hopped on too. I wanted to use the hype of the event to push myself to focus on writing, and it worked! My goal was to hit 30k total words in the month across multiple projects—which is about what I write in half a year—and I hit it.

Projects

Canvas Menagerie continued to be my main project in 2023. I was able to release several new demo builds for the project, mainly redoing and improving artwork for the game. My art has been improving a lot the past couple of years which is a good and a bad thing—it’s good because I’m improving and it’s bad because it means I have to redo or edit older game art!

I was also able to finish writing Act 2, meaning that Canvas Menagerie is 2/3rds written! A lot of good progress was made on it this year and I hope to continue (and maybe finish?) that this year.

I also got a trailer for it by Hatoge, a fellow BL developer! It came out so nice…

My other main project for 2023 was Lost Lune, a project I started in 2022. It was meant to be a small-ish project for Winter VN Jam 2022, but I ran into some issues with the story structure.

Lost Lune is a story I like but have had a hard time figuring out how to put the world and characters into words. I have an understanding on how the plot progresses, but due to a few different reasons it’s been hard to actually write it. One reason has been the unconventional format for the story, with it flipping between the past and present in a linear way. The other reason I’ve had a hard time with it is the character personalities—Weiss, the main character, is much more forward, blunt, and promiscuous than characters I’ve written before. It’s also the darkest setting I’ve ever written in as it’s set in a post apocalypse.

Thanks to NaNoWriMo I was able to get over 9k more written for the story, leading to about half of the story currently being written. I’d like for the project to be finished this year, but it’s hard to say when.

A small project I worked on for Ludum Dare & Otome Jam this year was a short game featuring some of my oldest OCs, where you play as a witch returning home and helping her father’s delivery service. I wanted to make something more experimental than what I usually make and something just for me.

I ended up adding some extra features to it but never released the updated build, so maybe sometime in the future…

My last project for this year was Asphodelium, my Winter VN Jam 2023 entry. I’ve had a hard time describing it, but basically it’s a dark slice of life romance about the members of a disbanded adventurer’s guild after stopping a doomsday cult at the cost of killing their former leader who betrayed them. Hazel, the one who dealt the final blow, has had the hardest time moving on—until one day he’s approached by a man with the same face as their dead leader.

This was a story I got the idea for sometime in September and began writing on a whim in the middle of October and ended up writing a majority of in November for NaNoWriMo. I didn’t expect the script to get far but here I am, 40k words later…

I finished the script and most of the art in December but was unable to completely finish the game because I got sick before Christmas. Just another WIP to finish this year…

Articles

This year I didn’t make as many articles as in years prior, a trend that will probably go forward. I do still want to write articles on marketing and visual novel dev, but I feel like it’s a waste of time to rehash old topics or talk about social media algorithms and such.

One thing I started this year for articles was interviews with fellow developers, starting with my friend ingthing. I don’t want my articles to be just my own opinions, so I want to get more voices out there. In 2024 I want to do more interviews with other devs to share their views on development.

With a record high amount of games we had to judge for Spooktober VN Jam this year, I wrote up a post about my takeaways from the jam with some commentary from my fellow judges. I was blown away by the response the article received, with it being one of my top 3 articles of all time now.

My last blog post—I hesitate to call it an article—that I wrote in one frantic day somehow was my favorite of the year. After months of radio silence from Aniplex US about Mahoyo, the first TYPE-MOON (pure) visual novel to be released officially in English on Steam, I did a deep dive into why they had forsaken such easy money by refusing to market it. The end result? Well, we’ll probably never know why, but it’s clear that someone at Aniplex made the decision to not give a budget to their marketing teams for Mahoyo and instead let the fans market it themselves.

Art

This year was a bit sparse for full artworks, with a majority of them being for Canvas Menagerie. I got a lot more comfortable drawing his hair!

I also got more into Holostars EN this year with the introduction of the second half of Holostars Tempus, the Vanguard unit (but mainly Gavis Bettel). I was following Tempus from the beginning and was a big fan of Magni and Vesper, but Bettel won as my kamioshi. He’s also the only one in the snapshot above (for August) that’s fanart, as the rest are OCs.

Goals

2023 Goals:

Fully write Act 2 of Canvas Menagerie: Canvas Menagerie is currently split up into 3 acts, around 50k words long for each act. I was able to finish the first draft for Act 2 in October! It ended up being much shorter than I estimated, but that’s how things go sometimes.

Release demo for Lost Lune: …Well, this kinda happened but not really. I wanted to release a longer demo for Lost Lune as the current playable build is more like a teaser—it’s very short and only features 2 out of an estimated 20~ days. I did however end up reprogramming the playable build, changing the main character from a side sprite to being on screen with several other visual changes. I’m much happier with this direction for the game.

Write more consistent devlogs: This also didn’t really happen as my intention was to write an article a month, but with our physicals Kickstarter earlier this year, other things took higher priority. I also realized pretty early on in the year that I’m tired of writing about social media algorithms and want to write about more interesting game dev and marketing topics, like case studies and such.

Open a merch shop: This was the first goal I accomplished this year! It was also the easiest since it was already mostly set up. You can see the merch shop for my games here—I think it’s pretty cute.

2024 Goals:

Fully write Act 3 of Canvas Menagerie: Self-explanatory. I want to get to a first draft state for all of CM. I doubt I’ll be able to finish the game next year unless I get a whirlwind of inspiration as it still needs around 40-50k words, 25+ CGs, 5+ character sprites and more, but we’ll see how far I get.

Write more of Lost Lune: I was able to write over 10k this year for Lost Lune while working on other stuff and in 2024 I want to get close to finishing the script if not finishing it.

Release the full version & an artbook for Asphodelium: Due to getting sick at the end of December, I wasn’t able to fully release Asphodelium. It’s pretty close to being done so it shouldn’t take long to finish it. I also want to release a (digital) artbook for it, as I have a lot of design notes for the LI. It’s also been quite a while since I released an artbook so I want to try making one again.

Go to an out-of-town convention: All my life, I’ve only ever attended the anime conventions in the Memphis area. Despite Memphis being a big city, the conventions here…aren’t really ran by people who want to expand it or even really change anything, so for the past decade it’s been in stagnation. At Studio Élan we’re boothing at more conventions this year, and I want to help! I’m hoping to go to Offkai Expo this summer.

Share more VNs I like: Thanks to rejoining Tumblr in late 2022, I’ve become more acquainted with visual novel players over there and I want to talk more about visual novels that I play. There’s a lot of great games out there that people just don’t hear about, so I want to talk about VNs more.

I feel like in 2023 I was starting to find my “thing”—I really like talking about VNs and I want to share unheard of and underrepresented developers to others! I’ve become bored of making generic marketing articles but I’ve found joy in making posts in collaboration with other devs or sharing other VNs.

2024 is a bit of a scary year and has me rather nervous, but I hope we’ll all make it through it. I want to finish some of the stuff I’ve began and I want to share more lesser known visual novels.

I hope this year will be better for us all. Until next time!

— Arimia

#visual novel #my games #my art #Youtube

[mmepastel]

Quelle découverte !

Toujours pas remise de ma lecture de Gorge d’Or, roman finlandais de cette dernière rentrée littéraire, je cherchais un livre qui puisse lui ressembler, au moins un peu… ça m’a conduite, par ricochets divers, à la découverte de cet écrivain norvégien, né à la fin du XIXe et mort en 1970. Tarjei Vesaas. Un inconnu total pour moi… quoique.. j’avais lu dans Télérama une critique au sujet de ce qui est considéré comme son chef-d’œuvre : Les oiseaux, nouvellement traduit aux éditions Cambourakis.

Alors. Le palais de glace n’a rien à voir avec Gorge d’Or. Mais c’est une merveille. Une lecture qui ressemble à une expérience entre veille et sommeil. Les commentateurs l’identifient comme un conte symboliste, ça me paraît pertinent. Cela ressemble à un conte énigmatique qui parle d’enfants, mais ne leur serait pas vraiment destiné. Ou peut-être que si, s’ils lisent avec les yeux fermés (façon de parler), avec leurs rêves accessibles, sans attendre d’action tonitruante, en écoutant leurs émotions les plus incompréhensibles.

Vous avez le résumé de la nouvelle traduction de l’édition la plus récente. Ce n’est pas celle que j’ai lue, j’ai lu le livre dans l’édition GF, plus ancienne. Je ne peux juger de l’amélioration apportée ou non par Jean-Baptiste Coursaud, mais je serais curieuse de lire cette autre version.

Ce que je peux dire pour l’instant, c’est que le style de l’auteur est très simple. Il progresse dans son récit par petites touches, petites phrases plutôt courtes, qui ne sont pas complexes mais qui sont bien souvent énigmatiques. Il semble vouloir rendre compte des émotions successives et étranges que les petites filles éprouvent l’une pour l’autre, puis à l’égard de quelque chose qui les dépasse, ou bien qui les submerge.

L’attention à la nature est admirable. On passe de l’automne au printemps, du début de la formation de ce palais de glace (une cascade gelée) à son effondrement. Siss, l’une des deux fillettes, passe de l’innocence à la tristesse puis à la tentation nouvelle d’une vie autre qui coïncide au printemps où un garçon la trouble, mais elle ne veut pas trahir son amie avec laquelle elle a passé un pacte impérieux.

Je ne vais pas enfermer ce récit dans mon interprétation, mais je me contenterai de lancer quelques pistes. Les deux fillettes qui s’adorent évoque pour moi quelque chose de tout à fait concret, la dévotion enfantine que l’on peut avoir en amitié ne me paraît pas du tout saugrenue. Elle peut aussi revêtir une dimension symbolique puisque les deux fillettes sont apparemment opposées. On peut se demander si la perte de lune par l’autre ne correspond pas au passage de l’enfance à l’adolescence, qui va de pair avec l’envie de réconfort en même temps qu’un malaise soudain vis à vis des parents.

Peu importe, ce sont des fils, des chemins, tracés dans la neige, des lueurs qui vibrent à travers les parois du palais de glace, si beau, si mystérieux ; un refuge, un danger, un lieu de rêve, un secret, un tombeau. Au lecteur de se laisser prendre par la main par le narrateur qui pose des questions et des bouts de réponses comme des cailloux scintillants dans son récit, au lecteur de les ramasser en fonction de la résonance qu’ils créent en lui. La dimension onirique est si présente qu’elle fait du récit un texte qui résiste à l’analyse, ce qui permet sûrement de survivre aux années, et font de lui un joyau qui est célèbre en Norvège, et qui se fraie apparemment enfin un chemin jusqu’à nous. Une lecture marquante.

PS : c’est chouette de le lire fin décembre, dans un monde qui manque singulièrement d’enchantement. Une lecture qui m’a rappelé Michel Tournier ou Karen Blixen.

PS 2 : j’ai mis la 1ère de couverture de l’édition anglaise de Pinguin Books parce que je la trouvais belle.

#Tarjei Vesaas #littérature #livres #litterature #roman #livre #littérature norvégienne #conte #palais de glace