#hi i'm back so i will probably start posting with no rhyme or reason again

[hungerpunch]

synthesizing travel

pros of the last five days:

getting to see/hug/hold/comfort autumn (my elder queer mentor) period point blank, but especially since it was the first time since our chosen family member, gabe, died, and since autumn gave birth. those “first touch after life altering events” hugs hit different.

obviously meeting my godchild. observing their entire hand fitting around my pinky finger. successfully soothing them to sleep many times. a bit confidence-building in the face of my innate fear that i am bad with children despite having helped raise many in my big ass family.

meeting @thermocrying IN MEAT SPACE. hugging @thermocrying in meat space. sharing a joint with @thermocrying in meat space. we also giggled extensively over glow in the dark condoms and spent a questionable dollar amount on weed ✪ ω ✪

being less on the internet ultimately good for mennal health.

so much good food SO MUCH GOOD FOOD. last time i was in LA, autumn was pregnant and eating sparingly bc the first trimester was full bore nausea. this time no delicious treat escaped our consumption.

getting to support and help my chosen family in tangible, physical ways good for instant gratification gremlin and also fulfilling spiritually. very good “this is my family, i will take care of it, it makes me happy to take care of it” brain chemicals.

getting to see anita ramone in all her fluffy glory. she is really spicy and slow to warm up to people but at one point she padded up onto my belly and made biscuits on me 😭 #blessed

cons of the last five days:

mentally and physically exhausted.

like fr tending an infant, especially an infant in the 99th percentile for height, is so physically demanding. my traps, delts, and biceps are all so sore from the constant holding/bouncing/rocking. that’s a 13 lb baby. that i would be holding for like 10 hours a day. plus i was also cleaning/deep cleaning and doing chores so autumn and her primary partner could shower/sleep/have sex etc lol. i need to weight lift more before i go back lol it is clear this body was not prepared.

the heatwave p much killed all our plans. we were gonna do a beach day, a park day, and go see a women’s soccer game against the mexican national team, and we had to cancel all of that and stay inside all day every day because the heat was dangerous for adults, yes, but especially for baby.

time change + traveling just means i’m generally exhausted. our flight didn’t land til midnight last night and now we are up early straight away to work. i would kill for a buffer day between traveling and work but we just don’t have the time to take off.

i am so out of the loop in terms of the internet/fandom lol. WHAT’S HAPPENED? i feel like i missed 100 years of f1 drama. i think i have to kill people on behalf of lewis and yuki but i’m not sure. idek where to begin catching up. do i even need to. i don’t know!

#my lyfe #journal blogging /// #hi i'm back so i will probably start posting with no rhyme or reason again #sorry to the people who followed me during the last week and change and have only experienced my silence thusfar lol

[lostrandoblog]

Okay so after watching the pilot episode of The Amazing Digital Circus, I have a lot to say.

I'll start with Jax, who is quite popular. He may not be as much of a shithead as he may appear. He leaves the two most mentally fragile characters behind (he likely had the sense that something was wrong), snapped Pomni out of her dissociative panic, shoved Kinger and Gangle into the hole to hide before jumping in himself even though he could have easily just left them behind. He's still a jerk, obviously, but there are subtle tells that he isn't as mean as he plays himself out to be.

Also, I know his stepping on Gangle's mask seemed mean, but I swear it feels like more to me. Masking and hiding emotions is an unhealthy coping mechanism, which Jax can probably recognize. So he did it in his passive-aggressive way of being helpful.

Which Segways into what I want to say about Gangle. I saw a short on YouTube that discussed the hints about the characters via their designs. In which it was stated Gangles mask could symbolize she's dramatic and being made of ribbon because she's fragile. Both of them make sense but I think also alternatively, Gangle has a habit of Masking. Whether in autistic sense or emotional sense, it's too soon to truly tell. (Probably both) and being made of ribbon symbolizes that she bends to others whims. So basically she's a doormat. Maybe? Idk maybe I'm projecting a bit too much with this one.

Now for Zooble. What I find interesting about Zooble is their ability to be taken apart and put back together, which isn't a trait we see in the other characters. Pomni tries and gets as far as pulling her eye out of her socket, but it goes right back into place when she lets go. Bubble is able to pop, but they're an ai, and it's not quite the same. This unique trait could be symbolism for how much of a mess they are? Also, the chaotic design feels like it could be a sign of struggling with decisions or a sense of self since there's very little rhyme or reason to their appearance. Once again, we'll have to wait and see.

Next is Pomni. An absolutely delightful, anxious mess. I've seen some hate for her and that's she's being overdramatic and I just?? Don't see whatever these people are seeing. Pomni is rightfully freaked out, in such a strange place surrounded by strange people, not even able to remember her own name. Not to mention, her first day was chaotic. She still hadn't come to terms with the situation when she met her first Abstraction. Of course, she would panic. Any even semi sane person would panic. And she didn't immediately flee like Jax did either, she wanted to help Ragatha but there was too much going on and it seems entirely possible she wasn't even capable of helping given what happened when Pomni tried to grab Ragatha's hand. She went back for her too, so it's clear that Pomni does care to an extent even if she's unable to fully comprehend her situation.

Wow this post is already very long. I think I'll leave it off here for now but I have plenty more thoughts on this whacky series. It's my new hyperfixation so I'll probably ramble again about them in the near future. Pardon me if this was terrible I don't make posts like this often.

#long post #thoughts #the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc jax #tadc pomni #tadc gangle #tadc zooble #media analysis #does this count as an analysis?? #I'll tag it anyway #writing #not art #this show is in my head like a worm

[toxinfrog]

Some thoughts on the secret bosses

I have some thoughts and theories/incoherent ramblings about Deltarune that have been rattling around in my head all day, and I've decided to share them, if only because I have to talk to somebody about them. Also, I've come up to this section because WOW this post is getting long, and I haven't even gotten to my main point yet, so, uh, fair warning: It's a long one.

So, first of all, Spamton and Kris are quite similar characters, and sort of "rhyme." I want to use the word "Foil", but I don't think that's quite right, so for now, I'm going to go with saying that the characters Rhyme. Spamton is a puppet under the control of another being, and so is Kris. This is quite well-trodden ground, so I don't want to linger here much longer than I have to, but I'm starting with this because it's where my train of thought began.

I then remembered how I leaned towards the idea that the thrown-away flowers could be the secret boss for Deltarune Chapter 3, as they would have some severe narrative importance for Kris as a discarded relic of their divorced father. Then, the thought occurred to me that I have no reason to assume that all of the secret bosses are going to be narratively significant to Kris, aside from the motif of seeking or having freedom: They may be the main character, but there's already counter evidence to this idea, and that evidence is Jevil.

As far as I can tell, Jevil does not have a lot to do with Kris. He has quite a few things in common with Spamton (Nihilism, thrown-away thing, ect.), but Jevil does not rhyme with Kris. That being said, you know who Jevil kind of does rhyme with? The Player. For starters, both Jevil and The Player see the world as a game and make the people of the world its participants. Sure, Jevil may have decided to go around killing people and we as players didn't (Or rather, couldn't in chapter 1, with the most one could do being frightening enemies away), but we both played a game with the people of this world, whether that was reducing their HP to zero or ACTing until they were unwilling to fight back. There's also something to be said about the perspective of imprisonment: Much like how Jevil saw those outside his cell as imprisoned despite the protests of the fun gang, we see the characters as trapped inside a computer screen, or a television, or a Nintendo Switch, or whatever else you're playing on that I'm not thinking of right now. Their world is very much limited to just the confines of hometown in our eyes: They probably believe that there's a whole world out there, but to us, it sure looks like a prison. Another thing, and one that I only just now thought of, is that Kris is known to imprison the player's soul, much like Jevil was imprisoned by the other darkners. One final note, and this one's a bit of a reach, but I did warn you about the incoherent rambling: Both Jevil and the player live in a spinning world.

One more angle that I just now thought of is the angle of Spamton embodying Kris's fears and the idea of Jevil embodying the player's fears. Kris is, of course, afraid that they can't live without being under the control of their puppetmaster, and Spamton embodies this fear by dropping to the ground the moment their strings are cut, and only coming to life again after being strung back up, implying that Kris is screwed if they manage to get what they want. That being said, what does the player fear that Jevil represents? Well, if you ask me, my greatest fear when trying to get into an RPG is that I'm not going to be able to get invested in the story and characters, and Jevil definitely seems uninvested in the well-being of the darkners: He's more interested in playing the game than he is in the people within it. In fact, his treatment of characters in the story as obstacles to be overcome and little else is what got him locked up in the first place. Jevil may very well be the living embodiment of becoming so disinterested in a story that you just start mashing A until you get to the fun gameplay, and for an RPG player, there's not a whole lot worse.

Something that comes to mind is the fact that the player is treated like a character in the story: Most main characters in video games don't interact with the player playing them, but Kris frequently puts the character in Time-Out to go do their own thing without the player's intervention. With that in mind, as well as the fact that both Kris and the Player rhyme with secret bosses, it may very well be possible that there could be a pattern of secret bosses rhyming with different major characters in the story. This could mean that instead of every secret boss connecting back to Kris, there's a secret boss meant to connect to Kris, the player, Susie, Ralsei, Noelle and whatever other major players come up in later chapters.

The main reason I think I assumed secret bosses were always Kris adjacent was because of the freedom motif throughout them, but who's to say that freedom isn't just a motif for the whole cast? For example, Noelle certainly seems pretty constrained on freedom between not being able to do anything about her ill father or missing sister and having a very strict mother. Continuing down the list, Susie is probably either homeless or neglected, and probably feels pretty powerless to change that, not to mention her pushing the whole "Your Choices don't Matter" Idea onto Kris when half of her bullying seems to be projection. Ralsei seems to be least in need of freedom at first, but considering how closely he holds the prophecy, it seems that a certain level of predetermination is core to his worldview. As for the player, well, you may get all sorts of choices, but the steam page DID say there was only one ending, and yeah, there was a question mark at the end, but it is definitely put into your head early that this game is not as free as Undertale.

So anyways, if the secret bosses are all related to characters, then maybe we can use the relations between characters and compare them to the relations between secret bosses and see if there's anything interesting there. Well, Kris is probably not very fond of the player: I mean, we ARE the ones controlling them, and I definitely feel some malice in the way they chuck our soul around. So, what are Spamton's opinions on Jevil? Well, he certainly doesn't seem fond of "THAT DAMN [Clown around town]" at all, honestly. One thing in particular he cites that stands out to me is his need to bust his ass working while Jevil only cares about games: This sounds a lot to me like how Kris has to do all of the physical labor that would be expected of such a grand adventure while we simply get to experience it as a game. I'll admit that that part is a reach, but I do think that the mirrored disdain is worth something, at least. I would love to examine the other side of this relationship in detail, but Jevil barely talks about the people he's interacted with, and never even mentions Spamton (which all certainly fits with my interpretation of Jevil, but I digress), so that's going to be difficult.

I wonder if Spamton mentions any other secret bosses? Well, the only two characters he mentions that we haven't met yet are Tenna and Mike, and by all accounts, Tenna is almost certainly the TV that is going to be the main antagonist of chapter 3, so that just leaves Mike. I don't know if Mike is going to be a secret boss or have some other significance. That being said, let's suppose that he is to be a secret boss, and try and extrapolate from there. What does Spamton think of Mike, and what do we know about the guy? Well, Spamton is fairly fond of Mike, and based on the warning he gives us regarding not believing "[Anything you see on TV]", it seems that Tenna is spreading negative rumors about Mike, and, considering this Tenna character is the ruler of a dark world in the same league as Queen or the King of Spades, it wouldn't be surprising if these rumors stuck. You know who Kris is quite fond of and finds themselves swarming with negative rumors? Susie. It seems like you can't talk about Susie with anyone without the rumors about her behavior coming up: Even Noelle seems shocked by the idea that Susie is a nice person, and Noelle is probably the most Pro-Susie biased person in existence. I guess what I'm trying to say is I think there's a possibility that Susie and Mike are going to rhyme in the same way that Kris and Spamton do.

At any rate, seeing some secret bosses get into other character's heads the same way that Spamton did with Kris in that way that only said character truly understands is a narratively fascinating topic, and I hope the idea gets explored.

Okay, I think that's everything.

#deltarune

[honeybeewhereartthee]

ORACLE

PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 || PART 4 || PART 5

IMAGINE HOW IT FELT IF YOU BEEN SEEN WITH A BODY PILLOW OF A CERTAIN IDOL--BY THAT SAID IDOL?

Your trying to reason why your holding a body pillow, not just the pillow case to the narcissist bastard who's head probably afloat from this scene he saw:" what if I say I got this from a giveaway?"

Rinne who stared at you with shit eating grin that slowly widen as second pass. "of course that's totally believable -- NOPE. AHAHA I DONT KNOW YOU LIKE ME THIS WAY. you could always ask the real deal for a hug if you want eheh... Or more. 👀"

In that moment, you have a flashback of what happen while you went and try to get the embarrassment out of your system by slapping the said body pillow to that mofo face--who just laugh as he got hit.

༻﹡FLASH BACK

IT ALL START, when your email buddy (who you meet by posting in your live journal about odd or pretty stuff you see by being lost: they were interested on the crystal to stone you post on your blog which lead to chitchat about those rocks trivia at first they are correcting you about the names and turn to an argument because you care less about stone at that time but turn to a mutual chitchat about other stuff and become buddies yet not knowing much about each other. other than they work in the showbiz and sheez.) who you never really meet in person send you a package after hearing your interested in idols.

"eh... What's up with a large box if it's just a game ?" You stared at the very secure game memory card in the 100x the size box. You pick the game card and stared at the game name. "En... Ensemble stars...?" Your eyes hurt looking at the small text before you put the box in the side. You went to get your phone to try the game. While the game load, you emailed your buddy.

┌──❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚─┐

MC: thanks for the package. Should i know if there's a virus I should be worried about?

[email protected]: it's a beta testing game card. There's bound to be virus in some way.

[email protected]: dude. I don't see this being related to the fact I'm somewhat knowledgeable that idol exist in this society than I am oblivious to them before.

[email protected]: please do not call me "dude". Beside that point, the game is related to idols as it's base on Idols in En squire.

[email protected]: MK. Just you know. Your going to find a way for my phone to be fix if I have virus after testing you game.

[email protected]: that's a small thing. I can give you a gift card to a shop to help you get a new one.

[email protected]: rich mofo.

[email protected]:that's not rich. My coworker just said that's the easy way of fixing things.

[email protected]: fking rich mofo.

[email protected]: refrain from using unappreciated words.

[email protected]: MK.

└───❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚┘

You end the chat when the game loaded and in that moment you don't realize how much that game takes troll on you to the point you would slap someone disturbing you while playing the "rhyme" part and how you almost or have surrender your wallet to get more meta cards to get ahead of the ranking when it come out a month later. It went so bad that you never went out of your house again (not that it's abnormal thing to do, since you lock yourself up for years) and went to find some giveaway to get more currency in game.

That being said you did find one. You won the first prize. But the prize you want is the third prize. The package arrive and now you remember the things you forget those recent days. You were to engage to the rhyme side of game that you forget you do know some of the folks that have that game base too--you think of that as you stared at the seggsy whole body pic of a red haired unit leader of Crazy:b.

┌──❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚─┐

└───❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚┘

[A/N body pillow reference| I almost went and brought one. Ihatehimsomuch I'm being overpowered to hand over my wallet for his merchandise]

"HOLY CRAP. WHAT HAVE I DONE!" you screamed as you start swing the pillow, you cannot believe your deep into the game to the point you have a buddy pillow of that seggsy asshole.

"NOT ONLY YOU HAUNT ME IN GAME, BUT HAUNT ME IN THAT ODD CHANCE OF A THIS DESIGN OF GETTING! WHAT ABOUT OTHER CHANCES OF CHARA!? WHY IS IT YOU AGAIN. IHATEYOU. YOU MIGHT BR SEGGSY BUT WHYYYYYYYY!!?!??" You don't notice that someone have arrive at your place and not heard the knock of the intruder.

"so I got ask to visit you--..." You were hugging the pillow in a choke hold but it look like your hugging it passionately for others when the pillow is large as the real deal, your height is kinda smoll. You stared at the intruder who you remember not giving your extra key to. You did remember you give Shiina the idea where your extra key is in case his near your place and need of food (when your out for a very long walk) he was chatting in the chatroom that he probably gonna commit cannibalism if he don't eat soon but his in (location) and there's no store around, only delicious looking walking meat (human) you PM him when you know his near your place.

END OF FLASHBACK ﹡﹡༺

┌──❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚─┐

└───❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚┘

You stared at the last chat from yesterday from Shiina. You sigh as you return back to playing your rhyme game. You ignored the intruder in your house who's staring at you across the room, beside the body pillow with his face on it.

"is that the game they base on me?" The narcissist says.

"... When are you leaving?" You ignored the statement of the intruder. "If you don't leave, I shall call police." You were about to load another live after getting the mission done which lead gou to menu screen. You can feel the person behind you staring at your phone.

"why did you put saburo as favorite idol? You should put crazy:b cast instead."

"I don't have Shiina Niki, HiMERU or kohaku cards unlock yet. And I don't see point when I'm playing for rhyme." You mumble. You differ the real people from game characters since you don't want to think complicated things if you talk to them after reading, playing a game base on them. It's like reading fanfic. Those xreader books. You don't imagine yourself as the said person... Or at least not always.

"what about my cards ? "He smirk as he says this. He went to reach for your phone which is unfortunately taken by him. "RUDE. GIVE IT BACK!!" You tried to get it but he abuse the fact his tall. "Wow... You have almost all my card." He look at you with a huge grin. "Ye, so what? I felt curse by your presence even in games. I want other character cards!!" You snatch your phone back.

"it's fate, I guess ahahahahaha." He just laugh which made you stare at him oddly. You realize some stuff. Since when are you two close to stay in your house with just the two of you? Such question is soon thrown to the window when someone knock on the door

"HEY! I come for peace. And brought some folks with me." You heard Niki says which alarm you. You quickly run to get the body pillow to shove in the nearest closet and Rinne laugh at your action yet don't comment about it

the visitor is the rest of the crazy:b who saw Niki going out to a location they don't know bringing some offering (food) and nicely ask him where his going in the crazy:b way. Niki of course totally not force says and brought them along since the two are curious where you live and want to see how Rinne-so-called-destiny show mercy to Niki to showing your place location to rinne and to them (they have nothing interesting to do those day, upper up won't give them jobs might as well watch some live comedy show) too bad for them Niki end up fine after giving some homemade (favorite desert).

The whole visiting did turn up well since they are (low-key) worried about your absent too. Your grown to them with the memes and chat you all have in Group chat anyway. The day ends up will until--

"WOAH. MC IDK YOU HAVE RINNE LIMITED EDITION BODY PILLOW?." You heard Shiina yelled out, the whole house heard it. You felt being stared by gaze of people

"BWHAHAHAHA."

"STOPPPPPSHZKWUZWNOZABZO WHY WOULD YOU YELL THAT AUZBAOZ 😭😭😭." You want to burry yourself to a hole when you heard Rinne start laughing his ass off and others chuckle along with him commenting about how "tsundere" you are by Kohaku since you always want nothing to do with rinne but have a body pillow of him, a limited edition to boot. and HiMERU think your really unfortunate to be entangle with rinne, he knows that body pillow is a prize in a giveaway since his the one who accepted the job of photoshoot for their unit fonds, (rinne just went to a photoshoot and forget about it.) He heard the chances to get each character is low yet here you are.

Maybe fates work in an odd way...

#crazy b #crazy:b #ensemble stars x reader #himeru #rinne amagi #rinne amagi x reader #kohaku oukawa #shiina niki #crazy:b himeru #crazy:b rinne Amagi #crazy:b x reader #crazy:b niki shiina #rinne x reader #enstar x reader #enstar x you #ensemble stars x you

[kuphulwho]

Psyphulu. Or, if somebody's already jumped on that one, give us some Arvin.

Yesss! You're the first one to jump on it, so psyphulu it is! Referring to this post here.

Who hogs the duvet? Psyphon, being a cold-blooded species, gets cold easily. Kuphulu, being a species that is accustomed to a hot climate, also gets cold easily. If one hogs the blanket on a particular night, it's gonna be drowsily stolen back by the other eventually.

Who texts/rings to check how their day is going? Given their situation, with Anur Transyl not exactly being the most welcoming toward Psyphon, it's hard for Kuphulu to ever truly stop being protective over him.

Who's the most creative when it comes to gifts? Psyphon's gifts are thoughtful, but standard. Kuphulu, meanwhile, has a tendency to think of things that Psyphon would've never thought about asking for until actually receiving it.

Who gets up first in the morning? Psyphon, definitely. Kuphulu is a perpetual night owl. It's rare for him to wake up too much earlier than the Anur Transyl equivalent of 10 AM.

Who suggests new things in bed? Before any feelings were finally admitted, the sexual tension between them was astronomical. Once they finally get past the fluster hurdle, Kuphulu tends to be slightly more cool and collected when it comes to bringing it up than Psyphon.

Who cries at movies? It's so funny. They both try to play it cool for the other, but this usually ends with both of them crying.

Who gives unprompted massages? Kuphulu learns that Psyphon loves how soft he is and is quick to spoil him with this fact.

Who fusses over the other when they're sick? If either of them ever got sick, one would absolutely fuss over the other. It doesn't matter which one is sick.

Who gets jealous the easiest? Definitely Psyphon, although he would never admit it. This amuses Kuphulu.

Who has the most embarrassing taste in music? Psyphon, probably, although Kuphulu certainly has his own guilty pleasures as well.

Who collects something unusual? Kuphulu has a stash of various artistic pieces, artifacts, and gems, with it being highly unlikely that all of these things were acquired legally. He also has many books on varying topics, many magical in nature.

Who takes the longest to get ready? Oh boy, both of them take a while, but Psyphon slightly beats Kuphulu in that regard.

Who is the most tidy and organized? Psyphon, actually. There's no rhyme or reason to where Kuphulu puts his knickknacks, and any books, while still alphabetized, are kind of haphazardly placed. He still makes sure that everything stays in the same place so he doesn't lose anything, though.

Who gets more excited about the holidays? Kuphulu lovingly introduces Psyphon to the holidays of Anur Transyl while making sure that he has a good time learning. Once said holidays roll around again after his first introduction to them, Psyphon becomes just as enthusiastic.

Who is the big spoon/little spoon? Kuphulu has tried to be the little spoon, but after he and Psyphon got tangled in his tendrils too many times, he became a forever big spoon.

Who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports? At first, both of them try the whole "I like him so I'm gonna let him win" shtick, but they both realize what's going on pretty quickly, and that they also hate it. They both prefer a challenge. Since then, they've become quite the sight too see when competing against each other. They get really into it, but it's totally friendly.

Who starts the most arguments? Psyphon is a bit more outspoken than Kuphulu in this regard, but not by much.

Who suggests that they buy a pet? They probably can't keep a pet, but if they had to pick one, it'd be something cat-like.

What couple traditions do they have? They're not much for tradition, and have pretty much been winging it since they became an item. This is unlikely to change anytime soon.

What TV shows to they watch together? It's a tossup between reality TV (mostly house hunting, wedding, and pawn shows), where they talk to the TV like the people can hear them, and game shows, where they play along to see if they know the answers.

What other couple do they hang with? As unfortunate as it is, that level of confidence when it comes to going public with their relationship is likely going to take a while to happen. Not to mention, they prefer to keep to themselves anyways.

How do they spend time together as a couple? When they're at home, they do whatever it is they need to do in close proximity to each other, chatting all the while. Whoever finishes first then moves to the other to work with him. If there's nothing to do, they'll usually do chill things like cuddle and watch something. Whenever they decide to venture out for an actual date, they don't let each other out of their sights for a second, what with how unfriendly the Anur Transyl locals usually are to Psyphon. Kuphulu will glare at others in a fashion that says: "Go ahead, try something. I promise I won't curse you..."

Who made the first move? After much internal deliberation, Kuphulu did. Psyphon was absolutely floored and really didn't think that his feelings were reciprocated.

Who brings flowers home? Psyphon does, and when they dry out, Kuphulu adds them to his collection of knickknacks.

Who is the best cook? Both of them have at least some cooking experience, and both are at least semi-decent, but Psyphon has more experience than Kuphulu.

#psyphulu

[fountainpenguin]

It's probably way too late to ask this since the fic is about four years old, but are you going to be updating 28 Cities? I recently discovered Word Girl via YouTube and, my god, I LOVE RHYME AND REASON SO MUCH and I was absolutely devastated to find out how little content there is of them on the internet. I found your fic whilst browsing AO3 and I got super invested in it. I need more Best PB&J buddies committing rhyming crimes in my life. :')

Hi, thanks for reaching out! ^^

It's not impossible that I'll go back to "28 Cities," but it's unlikely at this time. I shelved it since I didn't feel that anyone was interested in it at the time and honestly it isn't easy to get a feel for their quirky back-and-forth dialogue when you only have one episode to watch for examples (especially since Rhyme requires set-up for her rhyming).

I'm behind on a lot of other projects that are more important to me, and when I do go back to writing WordGirl content, I'd love to start posting a Kid Math multi-chapter story I've been picking at for a while. I have a lot of worldbuilding in my head for the WG world (like the charm schools, genetics, and power legalities) but it probably makes more sense to get the lore finalized in a longer 'fic rather than some quick one-shots.

I really like Rhyme and Reason and I'm glad you do too, because it's sad that there's not more content of them out there! Like I said I'll probably not be dipping my toes in that story again for a while since I spend most of my time writing original works on dA and I'd really like to finish my larger Fairly OddParents 'fics, but I'm still happy to know you liked it! <3

#Rhyme and Reason #28 Cities #Grammar queen #asks #Sarcastic alien vocab child show #ridwriting #Factor It In

[crisp-sweet-pink-lady]

Summer of Strawberry Shortcake: The World of Strawberry Shortcake

Ever since Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City season one was fully released on Netflix, I've been wanting to go back and rewatch all the various SSC cartoons in order, starting with the specials from the 80s, and share my thoughts on them as I go. Some of these I've watched relatively recently, some I haven't seen in a while, and some I only ever watched the one time, so it'll be interesting to see what stuck with me over the years, and what I completely forgot about.

I decided to start in June, mostly because my hometown always had a strawberry festival in June, so I've come to associate that month with strawberries. And I didn't plan this at all, but apparently today is National Strawberry Shortcake Day, so it's the perfect day to get started.

Without further ado, here are some thoughts on The World of Strawberry Shortcake, the very first Strawberry Shortcake special from back in 1980.

Growing up, I had all the SSC specials taped off of TV (except for the last one), but not in order (Housewarming Surprise was actually the first one on the tape), so I didn't even realize it was the first one until many years later. Not that it truly makes a difference which special is first or last when you get right down to it. This plot (The Peculiar Purple Pieman taking advantage of Strawberry Shortcake's birthday to get his hands on all the berries in Strawberyland) could have happened at any point in the 80s specials timeline, really, though if it happened later Sour Grapes would have had to be added to the mix.

That said, it's interesting to see how many things were introduced here that never came back again (as far as I recall, and I may be proved wrong): the Peculiar Purple Pieman just straight up having magic powers, Lucky Bug, Apple Dumpling's writing only being understood by Blueberry Muffin, and of course, all the rhyming! I was originally going to wait until after I rewatched the first special to make a post connecting the fact that The Peculiar Purple Pieman in BitBC is voiced by the same VA as Johnnycake Cobbler, who speaks exclusively in rhyme, just like The Peculiar Purple Pieman did in his first appearance in the 80s, and I'm glad I waited because it turns out almost everyone speaks in rhyme in this special. Definitely did not remember that.

Storywise, the plot has always felt a little disjointed to me, even as a kid, and I never understand surprise party plots that hinge on the other characters straight up abandoning the person the party is for while they set up the party. It's not even particularly relevant to this plot, as even the narrator gets tired of seeing Strawberry so distraught for no real reason and just tells her what to do. Ah well, at least it's only a very short portion of the special.

The songs are catchier than they have any right to be, probably because most of them are by actual pop musicians, Flo & Eddie (originally from The Turtles), who did the music for the next two specials, too.

Being so short, we don't learn too much about any of the characters, but the interactions we do get to see are fun. I'll comment more on the characters after the third special, since I have something I want to say, but want to wait to make sure I'm not misremembering (like with the rhyming).

Overall, an enjoyable special, especially as a first outing for Strawberry Shortcake and her friends.

#also june's full moon is called a strawberry moon #but I'm getting mixed messages on whether the full moon is tonight or was yesterday #so I didn't include that in the main post #strawberry shortcake #vintage #the world of strawberry shortcake #summer of ssc

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

what's this i see?

could this be true?

a miraculous ladybug episode i enjoy from season 2?

s2ep9 frightningale

lol.

anyway, her akumatization outfit was atrocious. who the fuck greenlit that.

other than some like realism nitpicks (the way auditions were held, the fact that they had to start filming immediately without any like training or practice) i actually did enjoy this episode.

tho one more thing i want to complain about before i talk about why i enjoyed it: the fact that a music video in paris about ladybug and chat noir by an italian musician is supposed to be promotional material for gabriel's fashion line in china and korea is so strange to me. how is that supposed to appeal to the market in china and korea??? wouldn't it make more sense to do a collaboration with like a kpop and/or cpop band that wear his designs instead??? like it even keeps the music video aspect.

oh wait, last thing: chloe in a marinette/ladybug wig. that was. a lot.

but yeah, i don't really have much else to say negatively. the pacing was good. clara's always rhyming was a little cheesy but as you can see from the beginning of this post, i got into the groove of it. there's nothing wrong with a little cheese. esp when it's done so sincerely. i'm willing to put up with a lot of cheesy and/or cringey stuff when it's sincere. it was actually really funny that even though hawkmoth wasn't hit by her whip, he still rhymed to like encourage her further.

the dancing of ladybug and chat noir was a little weird but that's more personal than anything.

but what i liked most about it was the solution bc it actually felt like they were a team for once. the concept of them dancing as one was fun bc dance partners are in conversation and idk the symbolism i am probably looking too much into bc i don't think the writers thought about it as much as i am right now. and it's always nice to see chat noir's power actually put to good use, tho rhyming something with "cataclysm" is rough and i don't really think they managed it. more so because he says "optimism" and then "cataclysm" and i think that's cheating. they should've found a way to make that complete sentence/rhyme. but anyway. i also did like that they both got hit instead of just chat noir this time around.

okay, so i will say, swinging back to more criticism territory, i do think this episode would've been stronger elsewhere, and honestly in a better show. i think that if this was more serialized and they had sown a little discourse between them, like they're having a bit of trouble communicating with each other and there'd been some misunderstandings and hurt feelings, this would've been a really good episode to resolve all of that, and would've been really cathartic. or even if they had just put this episode after syren or something, yknow? like i don't like that adrien throws a hissy-fit, but it would've fit better narratively, if i can only work with what they already put out.

i'll end on a positive, though. i really liked the ending music video. i think it was a great idea to have all of marinette's friends dress in the masks and dance to the music video. it was really cute, really sweet, and i like that marinette danced with adrien and luka, who were both wearing ladybug masks. that was cute. (uh but again, how is that supposed to be promotion material for gabriel's fashion line in korea and china? like that's even further from what they had originally planned. he allowed that??)

edit: i enjoyed the rest of the episode so much i forgot that i also wanted to comment on the fact that the creator broke the law of the magical girl genre and didn't explain their disguises as magic. the reason that magical girls don't generally wear masks is bc the magic of the transformation makes them unrecognizable! but they completely ignored that and instead had some weird false-tense moment of them almost putting on the masks, and thinking that would reveal their identities. lame! like, look, any other show, i wouldn't have commented. but don't say you were inspired by magical girl anime and then break the genre rules like that.

ah, alas, woe is me

i could not end without more critique

it was just not meant to be

#chirp.txt #chirp.ml

[fandoms-in-law]

Queen Alice

@maritimecorpse suggested I rewrite Alice in Wonderland for the 400th fic I'm posting to AO3. This isn't a rewrite so much as playing in the world after remembering that the book does describe a chess game that ends with Alice able to become a queen.

Summary: Alice made it to the other side of the board and became a queen, now people are wondering how she'll get her army made.

/\/\

Now I'm no genius at chess and rarely ever play. I couldn't immediately recall where the pieces all begin or precisely how they interact.

But that's of no consequence here, for though our darling Alice played the game, she never realised what game it was. Of course she thought her day in wonderland was fragmented but a lot of days feel like that, especially when you're young and lessons make up your days.

Since her adventures following the white rabbit, Alice has carried on dreaming. She's been forever curious, wanting to know everything or figure out the answers to everything whether they're right or wrong.

We've mentioned chess already, and perhaps the average reader doesn't know why, or the average person who has seen the movies but not the books and probably assumed the story rotated around a card game instead of a mix of chess and nursery rhymes. After all, the Queen of Hearts is always there, and that's a playing card, not usually seen as a mixing of the queens in chess and the nursery rhyme about tarts being made.

It is however the reason that Alice finds more and more unusual reactions the next time she encounters Wonderland and the areas related to it. Because Alice made it across the board and changed from being a pawn into a queen, only she never gained the team beyond that; No king to defend as he hides behind walls, no rooks or bishops to work beside, nor knights and pawns to command in defence, just Queen Alice a victor with friends made along the way.

“You definitely don't know what's going on, dear. I assume you figured out the way you want to go at least?” The Cheshire cat is back, just his head, hanging in the air beside her as Alice is off again wondering why it's so important to know the locations of countries.

Glancing over she nodded confidently. “It's the way my feet are going.”

“A solid plan for deciding where to go.” He agreed. “You've cause chaos as nobody knows how you're going to form your army, let alone who you've claimed as your king.”

“Kings are rather stationary. Perhaps the Hatter would like that role. He has said he's stuck waiting for teatime forever more so he can't get much more stationary than that.” Alice mused, thinking back over her adventures. “But for the kingdom and army, I'd much prefer to just let people decide if they'd want to join me. Why not just make a group of friends instead of an army?”

The Cheshire cat laughed and she had to check he remained with her and didn't vanish with the noise. It seemed like he'd actually gained the rest of his body. “You've been managing that already. The Duchess has already been making comments over joining your lands and I believe the faux turtle and the gryphon would like to as well.”

“Then they can. Have you heard how Humpty Dumpty is doing? Have the kings men been able to put him together?” She enquired, not doubting for an instant that the cat would know these things even if he hadn't been around them at the same time as her.

“Not yet, but they're still trying. The horses have however given up and started making noise about the endeavour being pointless.” He sighed.

Alice nodded, going to say something more when she was suddenly getting yelled at by someone storming across what she now recognised as a garden, arms waving quite wildly. The recognition also made her realise that while walking with the Cheshire cat she had been walking over flower beds and apparently bent or broken a good many flowers.

It was unquestioned that the cat had dissolved into the air just as soon as the yelling began.

“What do you think you're doing? Damaging all my plants. Those pretty maids were almost in full bloom before you destroyed them.” The gardener yelled, gesturing back to the broken plants which did indeed look more and more like small fainted ladies the longer Alice stared at them.

“I do apologise. I was simply distracted discussing things with the Cheshire cat.” Alice offered, smiling in the hopes it would calm the gardener down some.

The gardener was not calmed and instead turned, glaring across the garden at a fence opposite. “Bad enough I can't get Miss Not a Peep over there to stop her sheep tramping the cockle shells, now I've got someone talking to invisible cats. Carry on with you. Stick to the grass on your way out!”

“Can I know your name please?” Alice asked, but did make her way towards the gate that she could see a sheep unlatching from the other side of it. The scene was reminding her of a rhyme but she wasn't quite certain which one.

“It's Mary.” Came the curt response.

Alice nodded slowly. “Well then Mary, I hope you won't find this impolite but perhaps a different type of fastening on your gate would help keep the sheep away?” She suggested, pointing to the one that was just trotting over to the flower beds.

Before anything could be done towards removing the sheep or finding a more secure gate fastening, it was opening again to a shepherdess Alice could only assume was the one Mary had been complaining about. “Has anyone seen my sheep? I've lost a number of them, you see.”

“There's one over here.” Mary stated, hefting said sheep over her shoulder only to dump it in front of the woman a moment later. “I keep telling you to look after them better and stop them destroying my garden.”

The shepherdess nodded, all too willing to agree. “I'm trying my best, Mary, but it's difficult when they escape in ways I can never figure out.”

“I'll come and look for the rest with you.” Alice decided. “I'm Alice. What's your name?”

“Little Bo Peep. Are you the new queen establishing herself?” She got a curious look from Mary at Bo Peep's question.

She nodded, “Yes. I'm rather just letting the establishing happen around me however. It's far less stressful that way and I've seen how frustrated the other queens are on the daily.”

“Then I'd be grateful for your help.”

As I began, Alice has been dreaming a lot, if you ask her family, ever since she first mentioned a white rabbit in a waistcoat, but there's good reason that a queen would need to be present in the places she gained her title.

#alices adventures in wonderland #alice in wonderland #little bo peep #mary quite contrary #cheshire cat #queen alice

[witnessourescape]

On Omega's origins

I'm trying to make some posts on Omega so I don't lose track of what I think about the funny robot. :) What we know about Omega's planet:

It was in a war against the Dragonstar;

It considered Midgardsormr a threat;

It completely destroyed the Dragonstar;

It's presumably gone, having seen a Calamity.

I'll talk about each point. I believe there are already clues to what Omega's original planet is in the game.

1. It was in a war against the Dragonstar

Contrary to common belief, what happened in the Dragonstar was not that Omega alone randomly attacked it for no reason (or to get stronger) -- Omega and its planet were locked in an interplanetary war. We don't know why -- yet.

Midgardsormr: Foolish machine. What hast thou to show for all the years that have passed since the culmination of our war? Naught save thy continued existence. Hast thou no thought for what befalleth thy home star…?

2. It considered Midgardsormr a threat

Omega's objective was to kill Midgardsormr. Not to enslave, not to colonize the planet: to kill the Father of Dragons, paragon of wyrms, because it was a threat.

Omega: Prepare to face Midgardsormr--red-maned wyrm of the Dragonstar, and nemesis of my world.

3. It completely destroyed the Dragonstar.

"By thee and thine was my home laid waste". The Dragonstar as we see in Alphascape 2.0 seems devoid of life, aetherically unbalanced. If those are aether geysers, then something must have gone really wrong. Omega's planet didn't enslave the dragons or something like that -- they killed the Dragonstar itself.

4. It's presumably gone, having seen a Calamity.

Let's get back to this piece of dialogue.

Midgardsormr: Foolish machine. What hast thou to show for all the years that have passed since the culmination of our war? Naught save thy continued existence. Hast thou no thought for what befalleth thy home star…?

What did befell Omega's home star, after all? Why does Midgardsormr knows of it and why does he uses it to try to provoke Omega? Could it be related to their war? Could Midgardsormr have been responsible for Omega's planet's destruction?

The answer probably lies in From the Heavens, Final Omega's theme.

Our shadows lost in light, this life A fleeting kiss Hark! Temptation rings! Virtue slips through hands a-clenching wicked fruit Passion festers, black’ning sinless souls to root Sink’neath dark waters Drink deep, we suffer Drowning, drowning, drowning, drowning Irons sundered Paradise plundered Come welcome this Come welcome this Destiny Virtue slips through hands a-clenching wicked fruit Passion festers, black’ning sinless souls to root Sickles grate on heaven’s gate their fields ignored Seeking sinners deathlessly they reap discord As two become one Here ends this, our journey Never-ending, onward march! Witness our escape This our escape, this our escape This our escape, this our escape This our escape, this our ascension

From the Heavens tells the story of a society falling to hubris, temptation and sin, their paradise destroyed. Isn't that familiar?

Still on From the Heavens, it's strange that the first sentence is "our shadows lost in light": ascian means literally shadowless -- this is why the Heroes' Gauntlet set is called the Shadowless set. Then, "[sink] 'neath dark waters" is literally Amaurot's theme.

So, is there any other evidence Omega could be an Ancient machine?

Lots of them.

1. Omega and the Ascians got similar designs: both heavily use black and silver, and gold and purple as accents (Omega has a purple undertone and Final Omega has gold accents).

2. Omega and the Ascians share abilities: creation magicks and interdimensional travelling. It's not because they're both unsundered beings: I can't remember dragons having creation magicks or travelling interdimensionally. Midgardsormr enters Omega's rift in his Big form at the cost of his life energy. It isn't something that he does naturally and with ease.

3. Omega and the Ascians share a neighborhood at the Aetherial Rift, which is where ascians hide when they need to.

4. The Passionate Amaurotine NPC has weird dialogue about death-defying autonomous figures.

Passionate Amaurotine: Oh, did you want to ask me about my latest concept again? The autonomous figures I told you about before? They are utterly without feeling or fear, and will without hesitation or objection carry out their master's orders regardless of any injury or death they may suffer as a result. Truly magnificent, wouldn't you agree?

5. Both Amaurot the Dungeon and Omega quote the biblical Book of Revelation. This one may be the most important yet: the Final Days are akin to the christian Apocalypse as seen in the Book of Revelation. In the end of the Book of Revelation, Christ makes His Second Coming, saying:

12 Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Meanwhile, Final Omega's dialogue in O12SP2 is:

Final Omega: Experiment concluded. I am the Alpha. I am the Omega. Final Omega: <blip> <bleeeeeep> Witness...my coming... I bring...reward...and retribution...for all!

The dialogue in Japanese makes it even clearer that Omega is quoting Revelation 22:12 and Revelation 22:13. I'll make a post on it later. Why would the Ancients develop a war machine like Omega? Weren't them pacifists? Everybody is a pacifist until eldtrich abominations start banging at your door!

Research Report on the Akadaemia Anyder: High-ranking phantomologists have since been dispatched to afflicted areas, where they conducted the capture and transport of a single entity. This specimen, characterized by a disproportionately large maw, was dubbed “Archaeotania,” and investigations into its aetheric composition are ongoing. A theory posited by the esteemed Lahabrea suggests that the shape these fiendish beings assume is not random, but rather an amalgamation of the fears which lurk beneath our rational minds. As of this writing, researchers have begun pursuing methods by which potent guardians of deliberate design might be engendered to stand against this mounting threat.

Emet-Selch says Zodiark was summoned to rewrite the laws of the star because they went haywire with the creation magicks going wild, not to halt the monsters themselves. The Ancients also took time to develop the concept of Zodiark. Something must have been keeping the monsters at bay while the Convocation worked, and as we see in the Passionate Amaurotine NPC, there is some precedent that the Amaurotines could develop a death-defying autonomous figure ready to sacrifice itself for its masters if needed. How does the Dragonstar War enters the scenario, then? First, let's go back to Archaeotania. Archaeotania is a dragon.

It looks like a dragon-dinosaur mix, it attacks with Megaflare and Gigaflare, it has lots of Shinryu's -- who is a Midgardsormr-based primal -- attacks like Tidal Wave and Ice Boulder. Archaeotania, being one of the original fears that were birthed by creation magicks going haywire, must have been influenced by a dragon. Meanwhile, Omega ignores other primals on Hydaelyn but only bleeps and bloops when Primal Bahamut appears:

Magitek Terminal: Even with its stasis systems activated, Omega retained a measure of autonomy. Deprived of mobility, the weapon continued to scan the world around it, searching for a threat to engage. It was at the time of Bahamut's resurrection when Omega emitted a unique signal -- a signal which appeared to indicate the acquisition of a target -- and we first discovered that the machine had retained some degree of awareness.

So, for some reason, when Sophia, Zurvan and Sephirot appear, Omega ignores them: it only bleeps and bloops when Primal Bahamut is born. It could be that its aetherical signature is so similar to Midgardsormr's Omega thinks it got its original target. But it could be that Omega was built to hunt beings similar to Archaeotania: artificial, dragonlike and presumably drawing aether from the ambient like even Midgardsormr does. Now let's take a look at this dialogue in the lvl 50 The Rising Chorus quest:

Lucia: Last night, the dragon star burned with an intensity not seen in fifteen summers. Not since the Dravanians engaged the Empire in the Battle of Silvertear Skies. Urianger: "The northern sky doth burn full bright upon the wyrm lord's call. The red behemoth beckoneth, and flame consumeth all." Lucia: The old Coerthan rhyme, aye. The brighthening of the dragon star is said to accompany the roar of a great wyrm. The astrologians believe that it was Midgardsormr himself who cried out in this occasion.

So we know that the telepathic roar of a great wyrm can, from Hydaelyn, activate and make the Dragonstar shine bright in the sky. As the Dragonstar is a dead rock floating in space now, we can only imagine the roar messed with its aether enough to physically make it shine. Could the Sound be an echo of Midgardsormr's roar? Why would Midgardsormr roar? We still don't know. But Midgardsormr is in some kind a harbinger of doom. I'll make a post on it later. What could be the timeline? The [?]s are because I don't know when or the exact order it must have happened.

Midgardsormr, for some reason, roars.

The Ancient's planet gets destabilized, the Sound starts.

The Ancients get scared, leading to their creation magicks going haywire.

The Amaurotines capture Archaeotania and develop Omega to halt the monsters and to give the Convocation time to act.

Zodiark is summoned, rewriting the laws of the star.

Omega leaves for the Dragonstar.

Hydaelyn is summoned.

Midgardsormr flees from the Dragonstar.

[?] Hydaelyn sunders the planet.

[?] Hydaelyn calls upon Midgardsormr.

Omega, while hunting for Midgardsormr, loses both its homing coordinates and contact with its home star.

Omega crashes onto Hydaelyn and doesn't realize it's back home because it is lost and the planet is way different than it was when it left.

I don't like that even Omega and the Dragonstar would be "Ancients/Ascians again". That's okay. I get it. But it would explain a lot of things, such as: 1. Why would Hydaelyn accept Midgardsormr but ignore Omega? Because Hydaelyn saw an opportunity to neutralize the greatest threat to Herself, Midgardsormr, but recognizes Omega as native from the pre-sundering Planet so doesn't see anything wrong with letting a wayward child come back. Omega was wrong in trying to go back home: it was always home, but it doesn't realize it. 2. How would the Allagans have found Omega? It's very interesting, even Deus ex machina (hehe) like that the Allagans coincidentally found a super-advanced, ready-to-be-reverse-engineered, easily-turned-off machine that was the basis for their technological revolution that led to at least two calamities. But we know Emet-Selch was responsible for influencing the Allagan Empire. What if Emet-Selch, or even Lahabrea, or both, were working together on this? They would know Omega was back, how to activate it, how to work with its technology and, most important, how to turn it off so that Allag would never be threathened by it. Why wouldn't Emet-Selch talk about Omega, then? Because Omega is a symbol that his people weren't as perfect and pacifist as he wants to believe. The fact that his people could only be saved by a violent war machine, and not by their peaceful, elegant creation magicks and debate, must be abhorrent to Emet-Selch. This is why he must have chosen, like Mitron, to leave Omega to suffer at Allag's. In the end, Allag triumphed both against the Dragons -- the Ancient's planets nemeses in this scenario -- and against Omega -- the stain in the Ancient's peaceful history. Anyway, isn't Final Omega non-canon? Not exactly, not as I see it. For some reason, Alphascape Savage is the only Savage tier that isn't the Menestrel making things up: it's Omega itself that gives you the data it messed with. Final Omega is a form of Omega made by Omega. Is there anything else about this crazy theory? Both Omega's and the Ancient's planet's name have been mysteriously omitted. Omega physically cannot speak the name of its planet in any of Hydaelyn's languages, and Emet-Selch never gives us the original name of the planet. I think this is it. I'll keep updating this post and doing more posts as I think about more things about the robot. Thanks for reading.

#omega #ffxiv #Youtube

[theonewhoimagined]

SO I FINALLY FINISHED TOWER OF DAWN

BUCKLE UP, BESTIES, THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG RIDEEE.

Warning: This is not a Chaol Westfall stan account. These are my thoughts alone!

Edit: This is a late post! Already halfway through "Kingdom of Ash" <3

Okay tbh, I still hate Chaol even after reading this lol my great dislike for him actually grew even more after TOD despite this book being his redemption arc. This is the first time I’ve ever hated a fictional character with so much passion lol I hate myself because of how much I shipped Chaol x Celaena back then.

Lesson learned: If a book is longer than a trilogy, then don't ship anyone until book 3 or 4.

Yrene is pretty cool because she doesn’t tolerate Chaol’s never-ending bullshit of an attitude. Loved seeing him get the kickback he deserves for projecting his anger towards people who have been nothing, but nice to him. But meh for her, she still fell for Chaol when Kashin was there. 😶 also, ngl I'd probably be happier if Chaol and Dorian ended up together hahaha

I absolutely cannot stand Chaol. If he’s not brooding and lashing out at everyone trying to help him then he’s either daydreaming about his old, comfortable life with Dorian or lusting after other girls AFTER LEADING NESRYN ON or being bitter and blaming Aelin for every shit that had happened. He couldn’t even end things with Nesryn before going after Yrene. I mean Nesryn is a smart woman so she knows, but Chaol was so preoccupied with his head is in his pants that he couldn’t be bothered. I swear he is even more notorious than Dorian. 🙄 He keeps saying Dorian is infamous with women, but Chaol, honey, you’re worse. While Nesryn is out there risking her life, Chaol is getting some. What an asshole. Lol I’m running out of colorful words to describe Chaol.

The reason why I despise him so much is because of the narrow and close-minded mindset that he has which blinds him from facts, and how easily he tosses aside, hurts and blames his friends once they don’t fit in with his rigid notions. I mean I’m glad he finally made peace with himself after, but his character is beyond saving for me. 😬

I just hate how he treated Aelin and I'm never gonna let it go. And don't get me started on when Chaol kept on painting Aelin in a bad light even all the way South. I would never forget how he kept on undermining Aelin and calling her a "monster" straight to her face. He just can't accept it when his (or ex) lover is more powerful than him because it hurts his male pride. Chaol hated Aelin because he gave up so “many” things for her. Okay, first of all, that was your fault, not hers because she never asked you to do anything. He hated her, but at the same time, he knows she's the only one who can win the war and keep Dorian safe. 🙄 WHAT A USER.

No way am I gonna let y'all forget Asshole! Chaol (oh hey it rhymes)

This is not even his worst, but ya know the effect is still the same. YEAH, BLAME AELIN AGAIN, CHAOL. THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GOOD AT.

I mean he’s not even an outright villain unlike say The Darkling, but he is the worst. Irdk why, but Chaol Westfall really reminds me of Nate from The Devil Wears Prada, the fragile, soft boy who resents his partner's success:

Putting everything aside, this book was pretty meh saved for Nesryn, and Sartaq’s adventures. I hope their backs are still okay after carrying this book so hard. Nesryn and Sartaq’s story was far better and exciting. Not to mention, Borte and Yeran omg the palpable tension every time they appear!! WE NEEDED MOREEEE!!

Meanwhile, Yrene and Chaol’s story was bland and already a tried formula – a snarky healer fixes the broken patient, both fell in love, and emerge together in the light. A recycled trope used in just 2 books prior. I can’t believe it was used again 2 books later when the execution of the trope in "Heir of Fire" is already top tier. TOD also gave me Crown of Midnight vibes zzzz 🤐. Not to mention that Yrene's sassiness is patterned after Celaena/Aelin though it's a bit understandable given their connection. Wait, there's a word for this. That's right, it's✨ PREDICTABLE.✨

Honestly, the need to pair people up is getting a bit tiring with a new couple springing up every chapter/book. I mean it is equally powerful to see the characters find healing on their own.

But all in all the best part for me is how everything and everyone is connected! From Falkan to Yrene's connection to Aelin. It's just so heartwarming to read how Aelin's momentarily kindness goes a long way and finds its way back to her. She gives without expecting anything and yet people and the ancient ones still shit on her. As expected, TOG's worldbuilding is still top-notch. Congrats to myself for finishing this cheesy and cringy book. I can't believe I actually dedicated a whole ass post for Chaol 🥴

That mf ending though. While Chaol was having a grand time, Aelin was definitely NOT.

#throne of glass series #throne of glass #tower of dawn #queen of shadows #crown of midnight #heir of fire #empire of storms #chaol westfall #yrene towers #nesryn faliq #sartaq #nesryn x sartaq #aelin galythinius #celaena sardothien #dorian hallivard

[athena-is-a-chaotic-lil-shit]

Of Ice and Blood

Part 2

Hello there! I present to you, part 2 of my orc x fem!human series!

I still don't know what to name this fic of mine

I should've thought about the title in the first place lmao

Anyways! I'll try updating constantly if I can. Enjoy reading!

Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Pairing: Tai'chi Kashharzol (Orc) x Pearl Blackbell (Human OC/Reader)

Warnings: Cursing, lots of cursing. Mild violence and mentions of injury.

UD 01/10/21 : CLEANED AND PROOFREAD PROPERLY (hey I did my best)

(reference to the mask she's currently wearing //her hair is still braided// )

*

Even with the tedious introduction the professor was on about, I couldn’t help but pick up the whispers of my human classmates, and the unmistakable nasty odor they were giving off.

“Hey. Look at that orc over there.”

“Tsk. Beast. Why is it even here—”

“I bet it’s gonna get suspended from breaking someone’s arm.”

“It looks like he’s gonna kill somebody soon.”

Snickers and clicks of disgust went around the group.

The professor shushed them, not quite knowing what they were talking about before he moved on.

I cursed, feeling my blood boil from their words. The orc wasn’t even doing anything! And they slander him like that? I would love to break their fucking ne—

No, damn it! No violence! Mama will go crazy if she finds out I broke someone’s spine. Behave and endure. Remember your training.

...but seriously though, I'm going to fucking snap their legs. Nah, perhaps use pepper spray on their eyes until they go blind, even though the mixture inside my spray bottle wasn’t made to have permanent effects on someone, but it would still cause great discomfort.

I hugged my backpack, the thought of my dusters inside somehow comforting.

I didn’t notice Tai'chi was taking glances at me out of concern while I was imagining how I’d smash those jerks’ faces.

************************************

My mind wandered around the interaction by the gates earlier, and how... contradicting... it was when I entered the building.

Everything passed like a blur as I continued daydreaming about other things, hardly paying attention to what everyone else was saying. Plus it takes a lot of concentration to survive their pungent scents.

A bell rang, bringing me back down to Earth. It was lunchtime already.

Everyone seemed relieved as they started filing out of the area and headed towards the cafeteria. [a/n: Ooh that rhymed] I failed to see the lingering glances of barely masked distaste in our direction.

I glanced at the or— Tai'chi, whom I found out was looking at me already, stunning me at how he stared for a moment before I broke eye contact and stood up, which he also did. I almost fell back down my chair when I scented him.

Wha—

How the fuck did I not smell him before?!

I must’ve focused too much on the awful odor surrounding me that it didn’t register this—

This, oh my God.

To describe it, it was simply so— manly (or is it Orcish?). Like the scent of fresh earth and the warmth of a fireplace in the midst of a cold night. Embers crackling and sending sparks up into the sky.

He doesn’t smell one trace of a beast at all! In fact, I’ve never smelled someone so clean, so pleasant, all the while exuding masculinity, and was that a tad hint of vanilla?

For the first time in a while, I couldn’t place what the feeling was exactly. He simply smells so— good. Which is a positive sign?

I looked up to his eyes once more before I blurted out, probably a little too high-pitched;

“Lunch?”

Seriously? That’s what comes out of your damn mouth?

“I mean, do you want to go grab some lunch? At the cafeteria?” I clarified to sound normal and unaffected, (even when I clearly am).

Was the last part necessary? You’ve broken noses, dealt painful blows like a skilled warrior, but you’re embarrassing yourself.

I was busy reprimanding myself that I nearly missed what he said.

"Sure.”

He straightened up, and I was then faced with the reality of how damn tall he is. Or is it because I’m short? I barely reached over 5 feet, and he is standing there, almost three heads taller than me. Was he hunching for my sake earlier?

Wowie…

I scented a hint of pride, and was that a small quirk of his lips for a second there?

Huh. My mask is a lifesaver, or else he would've seen my jaw dropping.

I followed him out and headed straight for the campus’ cafeteria, all the while trying to converse here and there.

****************************

'Trying’ was not the right word.

Definitely not.

It was surprising, how easy and nice it was to talk to him. I could scent his apprehensiveness when I talked to him at first, but he relaxed not long after I introduced myself properly.

It felt... natural.

I learned that he came from the Northside of the country and moved to the city last year to pursue his dreams and to find a better future for his clan. I also told him about my family and home, along with my reasons for being here, leaving out the… violent part.

“My family and my entire clan wanted the best for me and my brothers. Up in the North, education is… very limited. Although ever since we were young, we were taught everything from our clan’s history, how to hunt for food, what herbs and plants were poisonous, what were medicinal and edible, how to stay alive, survive and so on.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“But we were cut off from the modern world. Times are changing, fast. Global warming being a major problem, leaving a huge impact on our living. So, when my clan heard about a school in the city, open to all races, they turned to us, the youth, and we took this chance.”

I looked down and thought about how disconnected the others were, only given the freedom to modern society eight years ago. Eight years is a long time, but I guess it’ll take more than that for everyone to get used to the change. That doesn’t mean they should treat them poorly!

As I realized I’ve been quiet for a while, I shot up and apologized for not replying.

“No, it’s okay. You looked like you were in deep thought. I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Y-yeah… I was—”

“Thinking about how the majority of the human race still see us as beasts?”

There was a bit of spite in his voice, although barely noticeable. Or was it because I caught a whiff of it? No one was paying much attention to us while we were walking. But I noticed many of them hastily stepping aside and felt their glares at my back.

“How did you know?” I asked, curious.

“I could tell from your- I could tell, from the way you frowned earlier when one of those humans said something.���

Oh. He was looking at me that time?

“Frowned? But my mask—”

“It’s easy to tell if you are frowning when your eyebrows scrunch up like that. Believe me, my father does that a lot.”

“Ah. Well. It was just very rude of them. To talk shit about you and your kind like that, as if they were any better. You weren’t even doing anything, and they judge you based on your race. Orcs are civilized and intelligent just like any other, and I don’t understand why there’s still so much prejudice after eight damn years—”

I stopped and restrained the urge to go wild and curse every single human who smelled so foul every time we pass by.

“Sorry. I was...rambling.”

Was I this talkative? Maybe it's because I never had anyone to talk to.

He didn’t reply, which I found strange, so I glanced over at him and saw his eyes wide open and brows shooting up in surprise. It was almost comical.

“Uh, Tai'chi?”

Before he could even utter a word, we arrived at a huge hall where students were chatting and enjoying their lunch. Still, I noticed some humans were giving unkind looks to a gathering of goblins eating at the far left side corner of the cafeteria.

And of course, I didn’t fail to smell that wretched odor coming from a group of girls on my right when we walked in. I also recognized the one who pushed me, (No doubt it was intentional). I had to pinch my nose over my mask just but I could only block out half of it.

Ah shit, this mask doesn’t have proper air filtration.

I groaned as I tried to cut off the noise and thickened scents. For real, I wasn’t expecting it to be this harsh! I could literally smell discrimination and hate in the air!

Fuck. I should’ve worn my other mask. I swear I’m gonna burst if I stay and inhale more of that any longer—

“Pearl, are you okay?”

I groaned again and didn’t reply, busy controlling my sense of smell to even open my mouth. We were standing there like a pair of street posts, blocking a small part of the main entrance. That is if there was a 5ft- tall post. I’m more like that foldable caution sign.

“Pearl—”

“Hey, you there! Freaks! Move out of the way.”

Great. Another awful fucking odor. And what a coincidence! It was the one I smelled this morning!

“Are you deaf? I said—”

He shouldn’t have grabbed my shoulder, shouldn’t have tried to shove me aside, for the second I felt his hand reaching for me, and before Tai'chi could pull me away, my reflexes kicked in.

What did I do exactly? Oh, I simply grabbed that damned arm of his, threw him over my shoulder, and slammed him down on the tiled floor in front of me, finishing a one-arm shoulder throw.

The people in the area halted what they were doing and a short-lived silence came over, broken by whispers.

So much for keeping a low profile.

The guy I just performed basic self-defense on was spitting curse words at me. He was still on the floor, trying not to voice the pain in his back.

“Freak! You’re a monster, aren’t you?! How dare you do this to me. Don't you know who I am?!" he yelled.

Did he mean me or? Either way, what he said was not true.

I tried to calm my anger down and gave him a forced smile, under my mask, and mustered up the voice and tone I always used when I’m annoyed.

But right now, I am pissed.

“Now, dear, fellow, human, what you said was clearly untrue. I am entirely human and this person beside me is an orc. Or were you blinded by your overgrown ego and disgusting attitude to see the obvious in front of you? Surely that must be it. The entrance to the cafeteria is wide enough for two people to not serve as a hindrance to the ones coming in, but still, you chose to try and shove me aside yourself. Well, I won’t apologize but I’ve had enough pushing for one day. And lastly, no, I do not know you and I don’t care.”

I gritted my teeth, my face hurting from smiling forcefully. The cafeteria was quite silent enough all the while and no doubt they heard every word I said.

Fuck.

I twisted around and bolted out of the building.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! I blew it! Fucking blew my chance to have a normal college life! Now everyone will think I’m some crazy person and would, without a doubt, avoid me forever.

I was too busy cursing and walking away, planning to hide in a hole for all eternity that I didn’t feel the presence of someone following me.

Without thinking much of where I was heading, my feet led me to a secluded part of the uni. Tall trees lining up before and around me looking like an entrance to a forest, and so I tried hiding behind one. Hoping that the guards wouldn’t notice and detain me or something.

I sat down between the great roots of an oak tree and rested my head on top of my knees as I took deep breaths and listened.

Nature always had a place in my heart. How could it not? When you can hear the chirps of little birds, the soothing sound of leaves rustled by the wind. And the peace that comes with it all.

Not to mention it smells so relaxing.

“Hello there.”

************************************

Haha! What will Pearl do next I wonder, and who is this person who followed her??

Had to cut it off at that part because my dearest self just loves cliff hangers—

And because I wanted to post something as soon as possible.

Hope you enjoyed! I will be working on the third part asap.

Tags: @kokokatsworld @crackinanutshell

#orc x human #orc #orc lover #orc x oc #orc/human #monster lover #monster x human #exophilia #fiction writing #my writing #still trying to think of a decent title for this #hopefully I'll come up of something before I finish the third part. #Happy New Year #! #orc boyfriend #monster boyfriend #fem!lead #terato #original work #terato writing #orc x reader

[lovelivingmydreams]

Family and identity

And so we have arived at a new chapter in the Paper Flowers au. This one complete from the start. I promise. For those who missed it, previous instalment can be found here.

All the chapters can be found in the pinned post t the top of my page.

In this chapter Patton takes Roman's unintentionally given advice and it goes as well as you could expect. Enjoy!

Virgil was lying on his bed listening to music. He was feeling pretty okay. Not great, but all things considered he was having a good day. Usually that thought would make him panic and try to remember what he was doing wrong. But right now, he wasn't going to question it. He had a list, he checked it twice, today was just going to be nice.

Roman was really getting to him. Here he was once again being optimistic. And rhyming on top of that.

A sudden knock on his door had him confused. Hardly anyone knocked on his door.

Princey wouldn't knock on that one. The field had become their hang out spot. They watched movies, talked, listened to music or brainstormed together. It was nice.

So it wasn't Princey.

Janus and Remus were out too. Both tended to invite themselves inside if they wanted to bother him. One more reason to be happy with the field. He'd spent some alone time in there truly at peace knowing nothing could harm him there. If he didn't have to look after Thomas he'd probably move there permanently. And he supposed he couldn't leave Princey to deal with the specs on his own...

Speaking off those two. At least one of them was at his door.

The knocking was back. “Kiddo? You in there?”

Virgil frowned confused as he got up and walked to the door.

"Patton?" He said in surprise as he opened it. Sure he'd figured it had to be him or Logan. But between the two he would've put his money on Logan. Patton usually just announced that dinner was ready and left before Virgil could even respond. Then Virgil would go down to collect a plate and leave for his room right away. He'd been tempted to stay and listen to Roman's stories once or twice since they became friends. To gang up on him with Logan, pointing out holes in the grand tales and laugh along as Patton made a joke, making them all forget what they'd been talking about. But he figured he better not intrude on family time and risk messing up. They tolerated him when they were working. If he forced his company on them in their free time they'd probably send him back down. And as much as he cared about his fellow outcasts, he couldn't go back there….

Would his key work if he did? He should test it out, just in case…

He was getting of track. “What's wrong?” he asked. Trying to sound like he couldn't care less. He leaned against the doorframe to sell it better. Inside he was terrified.

Patton smiled at him nervously, leaning back and forth on his heels, wringing his hands. Why was he here? He clearly didn't want to be.

“Nothing wrong kiddo… just… dinner will be ready soon. Why don't you join us?”

What? “Better not,” he huffed looking at his fidgeting hands with a raised brow. He planned to turn around and close the door to freak out in peace, but then…

Patton balled his hand in fists at his side and stopped wiggling. “Sorry, but that wasn't really a request Anxiety. You live with us, so you join in for family dinners. I make Roman come out of the imagination, I drag Logan away from his work, up until now I’ve given you time to adjust and join us on your own time. But I’m done waiting. Pizza night is family dinner night. I expect you at the dinner table in 15 minutes.” And before Virgil could respond he turned and went downstairs.

Virgil went back in and shut the door. What was going on? Should he go ask Roman if Patton said something? Should he go to the others? Maybe this is a weird joke from J?

Or maybe this is a test? Or maybe Patton is looking for a good reason to send him back down? Proof that he doesn’t fit in with them? No, that doesn’t sound like Patton at all… what should he do?

“Dinner is ready!” Patton’s voice pulled him out of his panic. He’d been worrying for a full 15 minutes and now it was too late…

He took in a deep breath. He would not mess up. He just had to get trough dinner. And Roman would be there to distract Patton right? Right. He could do this.

When he arrived downstairs Roman and Logan were already seated and served.

Roman saw him enter and paused his recollection of his latest adventure to look at him.

“Evening Seymore Krelbore,” he greeted with an elaborate gesture.

“Likewise Bummertime,” he replied as he loaded his own plate and, to the surprise of both Roman and Logan went to sit at the never before used chair. Patton looked pleased at least.

He didn’t think he could handle a conversation though. Luckily he didn’t have to. Roman continued his story as if nothing had interrupted it and Virgil got away with just eating his pizza, thanking Patton for dinner when he was done, putting his plate in the dishwasher and leaving for his room.

Roman watched Virgil going up the stairs. He wasn’t surprised that shortly after he disappeared from sight he could feel a swift, but urgent pulsing from the key in his pocket.

He wanted to join Virgil at once, but then Logan said something that drew his attention.

“Patton? What’s the problem?” Roman looked at the paternal side and saw that he was looking up at the stairs with a frown.

Patton sighed and slumped in his chair, letting his head fall into his hands.

“It worked, but I don't know if I can keep doing this,” Patton explained.

“What worked Padre?” Roman wondered.

“Tough love… patience didn't get him to open up to us, but you seem to get him to at least talk to you for more than a minute nowadays. So I thought… maybe if I pushed just a little? I'm sure there is a wonderful kiddo hiding under that eyeshadow. I thought that making him join family dinner would help?” Patton explained. Roman felt a little guilty. One, he had given Patton this idea that had put both Virge and the moral side through a tense dinner for their troubles. Two he had all the answers to make Pat feel better… no. It was not his place to tell. Patton would understand.

He laid a reassuring hand on the eldest side’s shoulder. “If you wish I shall retrieve the pumpkin king in the future,” he promised.

Patton thought about it for a bit. “Are you sure Roman? Will he even come if you ask?” he wondered.

Roman chuckled and bowed. “No worries Padre I will ensure his company won't be lacking on pizza night ever again,” he vowed though he wondered if he'd have to break that promise.

He'd cross that bridge when he got there. He used his key to get to the field. The others never questioned his doors. He was the prince of imagination after all. Things like this were expected.

Once he closed his door, he looked around. Where… he spotted an empty spot in the otherwise smooth sea of origami flowers. He smiled as he walked over and sat down next to it. One leg straight in front of him, his other bent at the knee. He leaned back to look up at the clouds passing by. Supporting his weight with his hands.

“They do look lovely today,” he started casually.

“Still not doing it Princey,” Virgil replied to a question Roman had yet to start building up to.

“He meant well, he just wants…”

“Me to be part of the family, I know!” Virgil groaned as he sat up hugging his knees to his chest. “But I’m not and I’ll never be. You didn't see him when he told me to join dinner. He thinks that I’ll turn into one of you. All soft and optimistic. And he wont have to be scared of me anymore. That can't happen, for everyone's sake. I have to make you guys cautious. So we can't tell him.”

Roman could tell the subject was over. He'd tried to encourage Virgil to let the others in as well a few times. Normally he'd probably push harder, perhaps even until he crossed a line that wasn’t meant to be crossed. Ruining their friendship in the process. But the field was so relaxing, and their friendship was comfortable and safe enough that he felt he could fake his time considering his words. He'd found himself realizing that he kept parts of himself hidden from the others as well. Parts that he feared would make them loose respect for him. Virgil knew about some by now. He had very quickly picked up on how stressed the spotlight made him sometimes. He knew talking about Remus made him feel guilty and terrified though they hadn't talked about the why yet. Anyway, Roman would be a hypocrite if he made Virgil tell the others about his true self if he wasn’t willing to do so himself.

Roman sighed under the heavy atmosphere.

“Hey Virgil?” he asked, a small burst of pride exploding in his chest as he said Virgil's proper name. He was still getting used to it. And he was glad for their battle of the nicknames or he definitely would have slipped in front of the others by now.

Virgil looked up, curious what Roman wanted.. “Yeah?”

“Did you actually listen to my adventure? Cause it gave me a few ideas…”

Virgil chuckled. Roman was probably just looking for an excuse to tell it again. Knowing this Virgil nodded. “Yeah I heard you.” Roman's face fell a little, though he tried to play it off and Virgil grinned teasingly. “But best to make sure I remember all the important details right?”

Roman lit up, not even caring that Virgil just messed with him. He jumped straight into story teller mode.

“So there I was…”

 __________________________________________________________

The Prince found himself once more locked in combat with his arch nemesis.

Theirs was as rivalry written in the stars. An ancient battle between the heavenly lights of goid versus the dark depths of evil.

And he couldn't have asked for a better opponent.

“How long have we been doing this dance? Surrender! You know you cannot win!” he bellowed readying his sword.

“Never! And 5 years today! Don’t pretend you don't know that,” his opponent growled.

The prince gasped, moved. “You remembered!” he exclaimed in awe. He hadn't been sure if the lord of evil cared enough.

“Of course you nitwit,” his foe grumbled a bit flustered before regaining composure. “Now die!”

Both men raised their weapons and charged with a battle cry.

 __________________________________________________________

You are browsing tumblr.

Thomas's latest vine was hillarious. You are probably way too attached to the villain character though. He's existed about 18 seconds. You take comfort in the fact that you are not the only one. There is art and fics about him and the prince popping up everywhere.

And boy do people ship it. Suddenly you see a thread that catches your eye. You start reading.

"Considering how well liked he is, Prince's nemesis should have a name if Thomas isn't going to at least give him a title. I vote Marcus. It sounds badass and it is. It comes from Mars, God of war. All hail to our future overlord."

You chuckle. But Marcus does sound good. The thread continues with another fander stepping in.

"He should have a name. But knowing Thomas I'd think it's Kevin."

If you'd been drinking you would have choked on it. Kevin?

A reply from yet another user. "Let me guess you are one of that idiot Prince's squires? I'm with OP. The dark lord is called Marcus."

Oh this is getting spicy.

"Well you are clearly a henchman. Just look at how the guy is dressed! He looks like a 2000's emo kid. Defenitely a Kevin. XD"

There were more replies of people proclaiming themselves as either squires or henchmen. It's all in good fun. Plenty of laughing emoji's made that clear. You hit reblog and take a moment to consider who you are going to join.

Thomas has no clue what he's started.

Next chapter: By any other name

#sanders sides #ts sides #virgil sanders #roman sanders #prinxiety #platonic or romantic #paper flowers au #patton sanders

[ellewords]

Hey Elle! I hope you're doing well! And the lines rhymed 😅. Okay I'm gonna write now.

In a school function, your best friend decides to direct a play about Orpheus and Eurydice. And guess who's going to play the part of Eurydice? Yes, you.

You get a bit confused. A tiny little bit of shyness bubbling inside you, but not for that. Are you going to play dead through the entire play? Your best friend assured you that they're going to add a few scenes where Orpheus reminisces about the time he had with Eurydice. And at the end, he's going to get together with his lover, in the underworld. So, no. You won't have to play dead the entire time.

Okay. Then who's going to play as Orpheus?

None other than Azumane Asahi.

Of course they decided to add him... after all, they knew about the little crush you had on him since he helped you pick a book from the top shelf in the library. They shook their head, "Well, that's not the only reason. I heard he can sing really well." (You can't tell me otherwise!)

Anyways, your best friend manages to make him come and rehearse. He seems really nervous. Fumbling with the lines, sweating, stuttering... his friends and teammates are there to cheer him up. But he got more nervous. Then you decide to help a little.

"Just forget for a while that you're Asahi. Just imagine, that you're Orpheus. You are determined to get your Eurydice back from the underworld."

"H-how?" He nervously asks. You gently hold his hand and say, "Close your eyes." He does. You softly say, "Now forget that we are in an auditorium, rehearsing for a play. Imagine that, it's a forest where your wedding is being held. Forget that I'm Y/n. Just think that I'm your Eurydice. All dolled up to be with you forever. I'm Eurydice, for whom you're determined to go to the underworld and bring me back."

He tightly holds your hand. Not too much, just the perfect amount of tight. He slowly opens his eyes. There is a softness, that wasn't there before... that makes your breath hitch a little.

"I think I can do it now." He says, with a smile.

The rehearsal goes well. His teammates are amazed by how well he was acting... and singing. You were doing your best too.

But it was making you feel too real. You truly start to believe that you're Eurydice. Your Orpheus, Asahi, is mourning your death. He's hell bent on bringing you back to the earth. He will do anything to be with you.

Your crush turned into something more, something serious. And you're not sure if you're ever going to break it to him. But can you suppress it? Whenever he's around, your heartbeat go erratic. His touches, his words, his melodies... all seems so real, so true. But deep down you know, those are Orpheus's words, not his. But you can hope, right?

The day of the function arrives. You are in the backstage, getting your makeup and hair done. Asahi was getting ready nearby. You look at his reflection on the mirror in front of you. When this is done, you both will go back to your separate ways. Maybe you won't be able to see him again...

You swallow the lump in your throat. This is not the time. Asahi looks at you and smiles. You smile back.

It's show time!

(I saw the story on Ted Ed's video. And it seemed better than the wikipedia's version... at least to me.)

— from elle ! please oh my gosh not you using one of my fave greek myths of all time !! plus i’ve been really vibing to the hadestown soundtrack for a few days now and i highly recommend you listen to it esp if you’re a fan of the orpheus-eurydice story :)) i really enjoyed reading this so tysm! placing the short scenario i have under the cut.

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

it’s nearly the end of the play, just a few more minutes, asahi thinks to himself. the stage lights are dim, the audience a blurry haze in front of him, trying to keep that determined look on his features as he continued walking forward.

your character was meant to be following him, out of the underworld, away from its darkness. it brings him a certain kind of relief, knowing that you’re right behind him, just a few feet away.

the stage light slowly shines from up above him, a look of desperation slowly makes its way to his face — just like he practiced. and he turns to find you, shocked. tears threatened to spill from your eyes as a gasp escaped your lips.

asahi’s heart beats louder than it ever has, wanting nothing more than to run to you and wipe the tears that stained your cheeks. but he has to stay rooted in his place, just like all the times you’ve practiced this scene. but his heart aches, clenching in his chest, and he’s unsure if it’s him or orpheus feeling it. asahi’s mouth parts, and he almost says your name.

“orpheus!” you cried out, watching as the light above your head slowly dim, implyling your return to the underworld, bringing him back to the play.

the audience holds their breath as asahi falls to his knees, voice quiet as it broke by the final syllable, “eurydice.”

the stage is engulfed in darkness, signaling the play’s end.

and maybe it’s all those weeks he spent in your company, looking into your eyes as he spoke words of affection, hearing you sweetly sing the most romantic love songs for hours on end. it could be the way you squeezed his hand when you took your bows, the look of pride that crossed your features, the way you threw your arms around him the second you stepped backstage. he’s in love with you, he always has been. probably why he accepted the role in the first place.

“i’m in love with you.”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

a question: the haikyuu characters have to put on a play! what’s going on?  |  written on the margins masterlist

taglist : @haikyuutothetop @crystal-lilac @tobioespresso @sushijimawakatoshi @itsmeaudrieee @pantherhappy @jesssobs​ @mysticstrawberryballoon [let me know if you don’t want to get tagged for margins posts, considering that it’s quite different from the stuff i usually post] 

join my hq taglist here. <3

#orpheus!asahi you live in my mind rent free #also in my head suga is playing hades #kiyoko is persephone and daichi is hermes #hinata yams and noya are cerebrus 🤧 #written on the margins 🔖 #asahi scenarios #haikyuu scenarios #cloudedsky29 <3

[qforqazaq]

Ninety One – Men Emes

Okaaaay, people, here comes a long-awaited comeback from Ninety One that screamed, no, shouted so much culturally significant meta at me I could barely handle it. Ironically, when I was watching reactions to this MV, most people were so bloody oblivious to anything that was happening on the screen that I was painfully restraining myself not to slam my head on the table, but then remembered "oh, right, that's why I'm running this blog in the first place."

Okay, let's start with the video, shall we?

The opening scene is obviously with Alem because if 91's song doesn't start with Alem there's something definitely wrong with it.

Anyway, we have Alem looking like a mo-fo mafia boss, a Kazakh Don, if you like, in an office that's practically littered with KZ references. First, your eyes might catch those weird looking symbols on the desk, which are actually Orkhon-Yenisei runes - a script of Old Turkic tribes aka one of the direct ancestors of Kazakhs - that I was going to talk about for ages, but didn't have a good excuse to. So thank you Ninety One for bringing that up, I can unleash my inner linguistics nerd upon people regarding the subject in a separate post. The runes are actually read from right-to-left (because that's how it works) as "l" and "r", although I'm not sure of their implied meaning here. My theory that means just that: "left" and "right", for whatever deep reason.

So, while you're admiring Alem's outfit and hairstyle as he's showing off his results of perfecting The Stare™ (I had a theory his stares are so intent because his contact lenses keep drying up and it's his attempts not to blink much when cameras are on), you notice not only that Samsung is the main sponsor of this production (is it surprising?), but also that there's a picture of random people on the background, and a funny-looking statue next to the window. Except for that is not a picture of random people, that is actually a photo of the leaders of the Kazakh national movement/autonomy against Communists in the 1910s - Alash Orda, which I'm probably going to elaborate on in another post. For now, I'll just say that these were the writers, poets, social and political activists, the Kazakh Intelligentsia™, who were later prosecuted and repressed by the Soviet regime. Very important addition to the set if you ask me, and very deliberately chosen.

As for the funny-looking statue, that is a miniature "Balbal" of Kültegin or Kül Tigin, who was the General of the Second Turkic Khanate of the same Old Turkic people who used to write in the aforementioned Orkhon-Yenisei runic script. We can talk about it later on, for now, I can only say that 10 seconds into the video and my inner history nerd was screaming very much delightedly at these references. Didn't expect that much meta in such a short amount of time, eh? And we didn't even mention how cigars are allowed now, along with the whiskey-looking tea in a tumbler.

Anyway, then we are abruptly cut to AZ and, shortly after, ZAQ with an eagle. And no, it's not just a "lol, look, a bird", that's the Golden Eagle, a species that was trained and used for eagle hunting by the Kazakh nomads for centuries. Which is why we have it on our flag too. Btw, extra kudos to ZAQ for delivering his lines while having an eagle on his arm without its hood. I would have been more than slightly concerned if I were him.

If you don't know much about that aspect of nomadic life in Central Asia, I recommend watching the critically acclaimed documentary film The Eagle Huntress about Aisholpan - a 13 y.o. Kazakh girl from Mongolia being the first female mastering the art. FYI, it is narrated by Daisey Ridley aka Rey from Star Wars. Watch it.

The scene is black and white, and AZ and ZAQ are wearing suits which look very agreeable.

Then, we have the bridge that is delivered by very blond Bala, which isn't the best look on him in my opinion, but he's wearing a suit too, which is always a good idea. Bala, you must know, has perfected his camera acting and now successfully flirting with it without so much as breaking a sweat. Good job Juz, you know what you're doing.

Now, when we're done sharing niceties, can we, please, focus on the background - which is, of course, all lofty and fiery - specifically, on those symbols carved on the wall? And what are they? Yes, you guessed right: the Orkhon-Yenisei runes, yay. FYI, it says "QAZAQ", in its very palindromic fashion - the meaning here, I assume, is quite self-explanatory.

In one of the cuts we see that Bala is actually there with a dog. And, guess what, it's not just a dog, it's actually a Tazy - the Kazakh national hunting breed, of which, quite frankly, I did not know anything before researching for this MV. See, even I'm being educated here, I feel so enlightened.

After that, we have the chorus, and all five of them are first standing and then walking like a bloody band of gangsters, all suited and effortlessly cool, as if towards an important tét-a-tét with a competing band. My immediate association was Crows: Zero (I'm sure, my fellow Japanese weeboos get what I mean) - lots of shonen swag and badassery. I approve.

In the meanwhile, Bala is showing off his moves, again, very at ease, chill and relaxed.

Chorus moves to the second part of the song with another rap verse from ZAQ. Do you remember that set in the previous black-and-white scene with the rappers? This one is that same set i.e. a carcass and insides of a Yurt - a traditional nomadic portable house used by Kazakhs for centuries. We see ZAQ sitting in what looks like a Khan's throne with battle spears and fur skins of wild animals. And no, nobody is trying to offend animal rights activists and humanists, just trying to showcase the culture here, alright? As you've noticed hunting has always had cultural significance for Kazakhs, and, well, it's survival in the bloody Eurasian steppes we're talking about here, with windy -50°C in the winters you've got to wear something to protect from freezing over, you know.

ZAQ delivers his lines in his usual very efficient fashion, and we cut to Ace walking over to the race track, very stylishly so that it might as well be a car commercial, to a parked Ford Mustang (and, yay, we've got a budget for a nice car now!) that's drifting its tires out in the shots in-between. Did I mention Ace's wearing a suit? I'm telling you, a car commercial.

I have a feeling that a Mustang was chosen deliberately, a subtle shoutout to horses as another culturally significant symbol and animal for Kazakhs. They could've gone for a Ferrari for the sheer visual effect of it, but I suppose Samsung is generous, but not that much.

And then, we have a chorus with a dance break. Interestingly, despite the numerous cuts and camera angles, and even blinding background lights that obscure the view, I did not mind how the dance was shot. The choreography itself is nothing short of cool: very laid-back, effortless, with easy open moves and a masterfully feigned nonchalance. I know I'm using cool and effortless a lot, but what can I do, they are the keywords for this MV. I like those claps btw, remind me of hilarious dances in Kazakh weddings lol. Very ironic. In either case, my compliments to Asiya for her work, bravo.

While you're still getting over the choreography, you're introduced to AZ casually lying among many ladies in night gowns, and yes, we now are allowing this too along with cigars and whiskey-looking teas in tumblers. Don't get me wrong, AZ is wearing a modest pair of black silk shirt with black trousers (can't say the same about his wild tricoloured mess of hair), and evidently still can't take his hands off his nose (he does keep rubbing it), but the whole scene, the wide shot of it, looks so unapologetically hedonistic that it might as well be a Gucci Guilty commercial. Well, Ninety One definitely went all Gucci in this MV, so associations are unsurprising. Scrumptious.

The only cultural reference we've got here is the neon rune "r" on the background when AZ is sitting up.

Then, it goes back to the chorus with the guys standing with more fire in the background. There are other cuts from previous scene including the one with Alem throwing off 10000 Tenge bills with that photo on the back while staring into the camera.

Conclusion? A+ to the production team, especially set designers, Bibotta for the styling, and Yerbolat for knowing what looks good and what doesn't.

All and all, it was a good MV, a good break from artificially colourful secluded studio sets.

Now let's move to the music.

The song starts with, what I thought, those weird sounds from some Japanese instruments, but upon hearing the chorus my immediate reaction was "wait, is it a hip-hop beat from the early 2000s?"

Honestly, it isn't a very pop song. It screams hip-hop, and I dare say, this song was meant to be performed by the rappers only, which was somewhat proven true given that AZ and ZAQ were both writers and composers of Men Emes. Its hip-hop nature shows even in the structure: there are no vocal verses, only a bridge and a chorus performed by the vocalists, and everything else is just rap. And oh my, that's some rap, indeed.

First, can we just address, that once again the rappers of 91 managed to sneak up another controversial line bordering with vulgarity? I am talking about the first two lines of AZ's rap here, those who don't know what I am talking about, ask me about it later. The audacity though, huh. In either case, that got an incredulous chuckle out of me upon realisation. Congratulations, boys, mischief's managed.

AZ was his extravagant self in general, wouldn't say he brought a lot of literary value in this track, to be honest. Well, especially compared to ZAQ (and it is always difficult to compete with ZAQ's lyrics), who's just unleashed the study of "how many words and rhymes with "u" and "ü" sounds I can shove into one rap verse while making it sound intelligible and meaningful." And did so successfully, I must say. Personally was always astonished how masterfully he manages to use the vowel harmony - one of the linguistic traits of the Kazakh language - weaving syllables to the whole other level of wordplay. Lyrically, all cultural references in the MV seem justified, given how ZAQ is lamenting over how "his nation is moving with a snail speed" and such. With this, he is brushing the socio-political problems in the country, it seems. And it is very promising, as in this country high profile artists don't risk doing that.

(Btw, a mention of Surtur was another delightful nod to my inner nerd who loves Norse Mythology, and a reference to Cthulhu was rather amusing. Lovecraft wouldn't've minded.)

I had many problems with voices in this track. For some reason, I couldn't recognise half of them. I only clearly heard Bala, Ace's voice became obvious only when he moved to an octave higher, and I didn't even realise it was Alem singing in the beginning. Was very shocked to know that it was ZAQ, not AZ, rapping with that higher voice in the second part before switching to his usual old school style. We're trying different things, I see, though I wouldn't mind them toning down their tuner game a bit. I know who's singing what now only thanks to the MV.

To sum up, it's a very different 91 song. Not that it's very astounding in its originality with blending different genres in one as you'd expect, but it's probably refreshing to hear something bold, audacious, yet simple, very hip-hopesque circa 2001 from them. It seems they're deliberately trying to diversify their audience throwing a track like that. Which isn't bad at all, I rather enjoyed it. (By the way, those drums in the bridge section sounded almost tribal. Just saying.)

Despite the MV and song screaming "WEALTH", "SWAG", "COOL" and "SUAVE", I do not actually think it was only about showing off. Well, of course, a part of the message was a la "look what I've got in the end, despite all your judgement" with "you're not me" and all that. However, I think it was also targeting and mocking the spoiled kids of corrupt government officials or just corrupt rich "bosses" in general who always act as if rules and law are not made for them. "Yeah, you're cool, but not the coolest, might be rich, but not the richest, and even good-looking but not really. Don't be so full of yourself, you're not the centre of the universe" kind of message. And that imagery of Alem as a mafia boss in his office is juxtaposed with all those cultural artifacts hinting on what is actually more important and valuable, especially with the Kazakh cultural leaders of the 20th century watching from the picture on the wall. And Alem throws those bills as if saying "yes, I'm doing that, but it's just money, so what." Even AZ looks somewhat lost and empty-eyed lying there among girls when he's not trying to convince you how envious you should be right now.

Probably it's me reading too much into this, I don't know, but the MV only amplified the feeling that you've got to read between the lines, it isn't all about bragging.

For now I'll give the MV 9 out of 10, and the song is a solid 7.

Peace out ✌️

#qazaq #qazaqstan #kazakh #kazakhstan #q-pop #qazaq pop #ninety one #mv #kazakh language #ace #alem #bala #kazakh music #zaq #az #juz entertainment #91 ninety one #91 #men emes

[fountainpenguin]

While I'm sad you're not going to continue 28 Cities, could you answer some questions about it for closure sake?

DID RHYME GET AWAY FROM ZEPHYR?????? Because you kinda left off with them being set up to work at a hotel thanks to Rhyme's grand parents. Part of me is wondering that the reason why Rhyme and Reason moved through so many cities is because Zephyr is chasing them… I assume this might end with Rhyme fighting him in a climactic battle or something.

What made them want to become villains? You kinda set it up in earlier chapters with Reason pickpocketing the rude lady on the train and…. Rhyme's entire childhood of being raised by a supervillain and forced to train. What was the thing that made them become villains?

I believe you mentioned a misadventure with stealing a blimp. Do you mind elaborating on that?

What made them choose the names Rhyme and Reason instead of Super Strong Woman With Freeze Breath and Normal Guy?

Hi, thanks for the interest in my story! Although I'm not writing "28 Cities" at this time, I haven't truly abandoned it.

In truth, I went into that story without a plan because "28 Cities" was a "drabble a day" project I was trying to do, posting one chapter per day. I burned out pretty quickly because I genuinely struggle to write short things and I always wanted the one-shots to be longer, and I was getting overwhelmed and disappointed with it. I don't consider that story a great reflection of my writing abilities. I decided to put it on hold until I was ready to look at it again.

I do like the WordGirl universe and I explored it more in my one-shot "AlgoRhythm," but part of the problem was that the strict schedule I was holding myself to with "28 Cities" didn't give me enough space to worldbuild the way I wanted to. I have a lot of ideas about the world, like charm schools and genetics, and I wanted to write a bigger 'fic to explore those ideas instead.

I'm working towards that goal now with my multi-chapter Kid Math 'fic "Factor It In," which I started back in 2018. I made good progress with it back then and even drew a cute cover image I still love, but I never posted it because it felt choppy and inauthentic to my style, and I hated that.

Earlier this year, I did tidy the first few chapters of it and they're officially part of my weekly 2023 'fic schedule now ("Factor It In" Chap 1 goes up on FFN/AO3 on June 16th!) so that makes me happy :) I've got two chapters fully written (but at the end of Chapter 1 I have a note asking readers for advice on chapter length so it might end up being three chapters already done). Hopefully people enjoy that, I'm glad I had the chance to revisit it.

In short, "28 Cities" is not a dead project in my mind. It's just not part of my plans this year because it would take a ton of mental effort to plan and write for, and it won't fit in my 2023 plans.

I didn't really plan anything for "28 Cities" so you're probably not going to like my answers, but hopefully they provide some closure anyway.

---

In response to your questions:

Did Rhyme get away from Zephyr? - Probably, but I never planned it one way or another. Rhyme and Reason ran off a week or two before graduation and I doubt he's still chasing them when they're in their... 30s? He'd be in his 60s.

/It's been a long time since I saw the episode so forgive me if they had a canon age that I forgot. I'm not sure what I headcanon Rhyme and Reason as, but maybe 30s since they've lived in 28 places and it cracks me up to imagine world-weary Reason painstakingly decorating every single apartment until Rhyme blows it for them.

I don't want to commit to that for sure, though my heart will always belong to "Rhyme and Reason are legitimately adults who are platonic best friends and no one even bothers telling them they're "too young and will change their minds about being platonic when they're older" because yes they really are adults and they're happy." As far as I'm concerned, they're zucchinis and I love that for them <3 Gosh I wish that were me.

To me, Rhyme and Reason were always bouncing around because Reason wanted to put down roots and Rhyme didn't, but I never thought about her dad pursuing them. Zephyr's kind of a bitter and broken man who already lost his wife and is on awful terms with his in-laws after taking the villain route. He probably WOULD want to attack Reason for "stealing his daughter" and I can imagine Reason getting beaten up badly while Rhyme stands in shock, but I'm not sure how I'd actually play it if I went that route.

To me, Zephyr was more of the inciting incident that pushed Amy and Tyler out of their hometown, but I didn't really intend for him to be the climax. Since it was a one-shot series I didn't really see a need for a climax, but if I were to revisit it years later, I might try building towards one. Who knows.

What made them become villains? - I didn't plan that either. It's already established in WordGirl canon that "superheroes usually work for free." I built this into the backstory of Rhyme's dad (i.e. a hero who became a villain to feed his daughter after the death of his wife). In addition to Reason pickpocketing that lady who was rude to Rhyme, like you mentioned, I already painted Rhyme with a violent nature (i.e. destroying prom after her dad banned her from going) so they were probably just struggling to survive. I'm not really sure yet.

Rhyme dealt with a lot of turmoil growing up, being born to a superhero who turned to a life of crime, and she looked down on villainy for a long time. In "28 Cities," I wrote about how she ran from home and hid at her grandparents' place, and they helped her and Reason get that hotel job. I like to think these early years were focused on her and Reason building their friendship, but the crime didn't come until later. I'm not sure what sparked it, but it was absolutely after they were already "ride or die" for life.

My guess is they were probably hungry and couldn't pay rent and probably had medical bills or something [i.e. Reason getting beaten up by Zephyr so Rhyme swallows her pride and does everything she can for him even though she hates it at first] and Rhyme's grandparents were already out of their lives for a long time, so things just got tough.

Don't take this as my official canon because I still want the option to change it later if I want to, but that's a possibility for your question.

Stealing a blimp - I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you're referring to. I did a CTRL-F in the full version of the story and I didn't see anything about a blimp. I checked my OG doc and my blog, but didn't see anything in either of those places. It doesn't sound familiar.

What made them choose the names Rhyme and Reason? - I never decided, though I do headcanon that Rhyme was rhyming even when she was young, so her name was inspired by that. The phrase "rhyme and reason" is pretty common, so once Rhyme got her name, Tyler was probably like "Yeah, Reason suits me." He's the kind who couldn't care less at first, but ends up proud of his name. I'm sure he's the one who designed their logo, too.

Thank you for reaching out, and I'm sorry if this reply is less than satisfactory. "Rhyme and Reason" is my favorite episode and I love them dearly, and I'd rather focus on other projects that are more important to me right now, and maybe do "28 Cities" justice at a later time, and not butcher it in a rush <3 It's not dead to me, it just won't fit into my plans for 2023.

#asks #ridwriting #28 Cities #Rhyme and Reason #Satirical vocab alien child show #Long post