#alt alpha timeline

[conceptofjoy]

#alt alpha timeline #hs.dirk #hs.roxy #hs.alpha bro #quit scaring your cousin

[muggycuphead]

weird flex but ok i guess pt.35

34

War…Hold up, do we really need a warning for this one? Dunno, but however, watch out for slightly disturbing and kinda…disgusting imagery, trypophobic patterns, as well as ‘necrotic’ (and dark themed) designs I made while having funky fever bc o h m y g o d do I get a little crazier every new quarantine day (and at this point it’s coming to be an usual thing for me, big sad). However, most are made no other than for the sole sake of satire, so y’know, no need to get your underwear in a twist

Friday Night Funkin’ BoyFriend’s Hood – AU fanconcept sketches [XXX]

A break from the main lore, have some secondary characters made for side stories woo

1. Addel Duchahut

Remember Lezor, the guy I made inspired on the Dadaist movement aesthetic-sorta? Well, have a character based off an ACTUAL artist from the movement, one of my favorites of such if that

The sir this fellow is made after is Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential Dadaist since 1914, way before the movement was even a thing (talk about advanced to ur time ayo).  Nonetheless, the outfit I drew Addel in here not only implicitly references the pieces Marcel had made and the styles he had involved himself into, but also the “alter ego” he had made for himself and was also known for back then: Rrose Selavy (1920) who he also used as an “author name” for some of his dada art pieces. The outfit is mostly based on a photography he got taken by Man Ray, one of the first ones if I’m not wrong.

But hey, don’t get the wrong idea –Addel does have his own independent set of self on the setting he’s on (the current century, lol); he’s more of a “successor” kind of guy, but he’s mostly an eccentric folk that’s just as fascinated of experimental and cinetic composition. Just saying so you guys don’t take him as a historical replica of Duchamp, because he’s not and I don’t pretend to have him as such.

As for why he’s a rodent...I honestly have no clue exactly. I’d say because of going after a not-so-aesthetic kind of animal for the sake of taking the contrary, of maybe I was slightly influenced by Ratatouille. Either way, it was for a metaphoric regarding rebelliousness... and maybe also out of satire.

Also case you wonder, his surname means “of the shouting” by a rough translation from French (and yes he’s French btw)

His appearance is on a really further part of the story, though it isn’t much deep important…but still

Truth be told, he was a ride to draw, I luv him <3

2. Pipsqueak

A random idea I had, probably based off the sport that’s most popular on this side of the land –baseball ye

TL;DR, it’s a vegetal golem that’s a baseball player aspirant, no specifics if it’s a she or a he though

I enjoyed doing the directions of the leaves, they look funny

3. Kleevin BredPitz

ANDREW TATE CANON IN BF’SH????? Q0Q

JK, he’s one of the references for this silly ass though

If you guessed this dude is a “alpha male” ideology advicant, you’re right on the money. For short, in one of the events of BF’sH Hollow Present, BF has to take down this mofo, and well…you can guess this bulky ass got quite the derrogatives for BF in more than one sense...his sexuality included (but we’ll talk about it later dw :) //hhhhh)

He’s a overdeveloped leech by the way…which is ironic in a lot of ways, you’ll see way once we get there C: (and if u know enough of biology, well….hehehehehehehe-)

4. Gus Schmillers

Another Dadaist artist based character? Sure why not

This time it’s Kurt Schwitters I took for this, who was a German Dadaist, his most known pieces being his “Merz”, which consisted on collages of things he found meddling around in the trash, from paper-based things to little trinkets and just anything that could fit in a canvas, this under the philosophy of “building a new world from the shards of the one he was living in” (keep in mind, Dada happened during the World War as an anti-belicism/anti-war protest, hence the metaphor), and also his “Merzbau” –basically the same thing but instead of stuff in a small canvas it was ROOMS filled with stuff, they looked really surreal and neat despite how chaotic they were…most of those got destroyed in the war by orders of the Nazi regime sadly :(

Anyway, just like with Addel, Gus is a character on his own, and basically does similar things as Kurt, though he’s a little more into mechanics when building his interpretations of Merzbaus… I’ll leave that to y’all’s imaginations :) (?)

As for why he’s a ferret, probably because of how I interpreted him as an energetic kind of guy (I refer to Gus, not Kurt himself, but maybe a bit on that too).

He’s Addel’s “roommate” and mildly personal friend. He’s also German jic you wonder so.

5. Gus’ icon

Gus’ icon, idk why I numbered it but there you have it

6. Lynx Adamont’s icon

A character I created out of spite, TL;DR she’s a walking art person stereotype. Once I post her design I’ll explain further on what she’s like, but for now we’ll stick with her icon thingy

7. them

someone

I can’t say who they are yet, this was to have an idea of their design

but still

8. Casual Addel miniature

Him on his casual attire

It’s kinda rough but it was for the sake of the essential idea

9. Kleevin lose icon

>cobra potato when his shit takes actually backfire on his ass

10-15. Funky calligraphy practice

Subtitle says it

10.- Addel

11.- Gus

12.- Kleevin

13.- Pip

14.- Lynx

15.- S’UP?!

#friday night funkin' #fnfau #bfsh #fnf au #au #alternative timeline #alternate universe #alt universe #vanguards #dadaism #marcel duchamp #kurt schwitters #alpha male funny #hehehee

[kleinewahines]

Imagine, if you will, B'Elanna getting with the conn officer.

But it's not Tom. It's Lt. Stadi.

Imagine.

#IMAGINE IT #my life would be like 20x better lmao #anti tom paris #out of leis; #technically there is an alt timeline where she doesn't die but voyager still gets flung across the galaxy #but there's another reality where she's a conn officer but the voyager never leaves the alpha quadrant lol

[cringefail-clown]

hear me out, but i dont think alt!calliope is that much concerned about canonicity of the story all that much. theres some deeper motive going on here

when john defeats lord english (and gets promptly unsubscribed from life, since his narrative purpose is completed) and davepeta hurls him into the black hole, on the other side in candyverse alt!calliope waits for him to appear and, when he does, devours him to gain the power-up needed to escape the timeline and goes on a hunt for ult dirk to stop him from starting another sburb session

and this is where lord english storyline should be put to rest, but its not as simple as that. this dudes like a cockroach, you just cant get rid of him, he just doesnt disappear, hes always there no matter what, looming over the narrative. and, now thats he was absorbed into alt!calliope, whats left of him? his masterpiece self now residing inside ult dirk

and dirk always had a close connection to caliborn - cal liked dirk the most from all the alpha kids, chatting with him regularly, hal - dirks splinter - became a part of cal and also doc scratch, who was also the host that brough lord english into the universe after beta kids created the green sun (which he also manipulated them into)

basically what im trying to say, dirk wanting to start another sburb session isnt really about maintaining their connection to canon, but it also is about it. caliborn lords over the alpha timeline, and is intrinsically tied to the canon. hes always there, hes already there, and he will always come back. and dirk is narratively tied to the one guy that was responsible with brining him into the story. excellent host, you might say

the point of starting another session is ultimately to bring caliborn back to life, and this is the goal of ult dirk, as the one whos carrying the last splinter of his soul. and thats why alt!calliope is so focused on stopping him. its all about the powerstruggle between the two cherubs, once again

(would also like to point out that rose got fooled twice into bringing lord english into the narrative - once through doc scratch manipulating her into believing deploying the tumor would destroy the green sun, and now through dirk manipulating her into believing starting another session will stop the timeline from deteriorating. girl cannot catch a break jesus)

tldr ult dirk is acting as another doc scratch, and the goal is to revive lord english

but tHATS JUST A THEORY-

#homestuck beyond canon #homestuck meta #dirk strider #ult dirk #lord english #caliborn #calliope #alt calliope #long post #considering what happens to doc in canon... this doesnt bode well for dirk huh #will his head explode again #the hemoanarchist post about lord english being a splinter of dirk only further solidified this to me #maybe ill be proven wrong but i mean. the evidence is there isnt it

[meraki-sunset]

There's still one thing I don't understand about the concept of an absolved timeline: as alt!Calliope explained, this is a timeline whose relevance is fed from the canon, or in other words, us readers who came from the original homestuck in search of a new story. But in a completely technical standpoint the alpha timeline exist because there is no other timeline that end up creating LE, whose influence reaches far before time ever existed, and thus needs to be created to complete the biggest time loop ever existed in the history of paradox space. This timeline however, fail this exact condition on account of Gamzee regain his autonomy from LE, thus giving him no reason to remain in the battle against Caliborn, if he even raised the cherubs in the first place. So without this event, and subsequently possessed lil cal->doc scratch ->Lord English, how is this timeline not doomed 100 times and back?

What you're saying is true. According to canon, no timeline exept the alpha can exist. only homestuck canon can exist and every other timeline with even the slight variation will get doomed and everyone in it die without fail. Period. No point in arguing.

I say that's stupid and i don't like it.

SO i'm making use of what i call "the pesterquest dinamic"

Spoiler alert

In pesterquest MSPAReader, after meeting the homestuck cast and learning about their horrible fate to come, basically says "fuck you this is my timeline now" and dives into the Green sun and absorves it's powers, becoming a guardian, like Beckerel and Doc Scratch

With this power they sever the timeline they've intervined into from canon logic.

They create a "Locked timeline". a Timeline that doesn't have to create Lord English. It needs to, it should, the things that happen in the homestuck timeline are part of a big infinite loop that must create him and can't be tampered with or it will result in doom. But that's the thing with loops, they don't have a begining or end. any part of it that you sever can be the begining, the middle or the end

What i'm trying to say is, time in homestuck isn't linear, it doesn't follow the logic that changing something in the past should change the future. it doesn't it just marks the timeline as doomed when something is changed and that's the end. just a cross in the clipboard and fate moves to the next timeline leaving that one to rot

So grabing a timeline, severing a chunk of it (like the period where the kids and trolls haven't played the game), changing it for the better and letting it survive by external means is posible acording to Pesterquest.

Just imagine this. if a homestuck timeline is a book, and you rip a page, does the book change? did you changed the past? do the future events of the book change because tecnically the events of the page you ripped are no longer part of the book? No, the book follows it course. it just became a useless book. A broken book. It's now a doomed timeline. It can't no longer fullfill it's purpose. it'll be disposed of. That's how homestuck timelines it works.

That's why i always refer to CSAU as "infested with paradoxes" and "leaching from the canon timeline" because i know it shouldn't exist acording to canon. acording to canon it should be doomed.

But it's not. Because every little thing that CSAU lacks, every page that has been riped, that should doom it, CSAU steals it from canon homestuck

That's what i tryed to explain with "the river and the puddle" analogy. The puddle doesn't dry because it feeds from the river. CSAU doesn't get doomed because it leaches from homestuck.

How did The Felt get to the game in CSAU? The Felt are LE's minions and acording to canon before they got to the game they were at hussies mansion, where LE killed Hussie, and then Jack escaped with them and Ms. Paint inside of an oven and into the Alpha kid's game. That never happened in CSAU, that event of LE breaking into Hussies mansion with his minions and killing him never happened in this AU, yet the characters from it are here, with memories of it happening. they remember it happening tho it didn't. That's because they're copies, they're stolen from canon.

CSAU steals it's missing pieces from canon to stay alive, like a parasite, a harmless one in a comensalistic relationship. Canon doesn't even know we're here.

And the guardian who keeps the timeline safe, the force that gives it relevance for it to keep doing what it does and keep feeding from the river, who keeps the puddle's tiny stream of water that conects it to the river from being severed, It's us. It's you and It's me. CSAU is relevant to us for diferent reasons for every person, but that's why it exists. Because it's important to me and maybe to you and that's all tha matters. Canon it's it's sourse of missing pieces with which patches it's paradoxes and we are it's sourse of relevance. That's what makes an absolved timeline, that's all it takes.

A will to survive and people to care.

I hope there's more timelines like this one out there

#csau extra

[thewertsearch]

TG: i just want to know whats really going on here TG: before i decide to start choppin off the heads of outrageously good looking snoozing dudes [...] TG: something about this doesnt add up

Dave knows Terezi well enough to know he's being fucked with. What's her game?

TG: i dont remember sleeping on this bed TG: or reaching the god tier im pretty sure thats something id remember TG: so is he from the future [...] GC: NOP3!

I think I know what Terezi is trying to do.

This is an offshoot Dave. He's from a doomed timeline, and fate decrees he must die. Even if Dave Prime spares him here, it won't matter in the long run - the game simply can't abide his existence.

Now, when I first heard about this concept, I wondered if there was a way to rules-lawyer your way out of this predicament. Davesprite seems fine, and it's possible that his doom was suppressed or nullified by the Kernelsprite's resurrective properties. It can bring back the dead, so why can't it save a dead man walking?

The Quest Bed is an incredibly powerful device, and its capabilities aren't quite clear yet. This one is designed to resurrect Dave Strider - but can it only resurrect Dave Strider? Will it work for any Player, or any Knight of Time? Is it picky about which Dave Strider it resurrects? Can it undo an alt-Dave's death, or overrule it before it takes effect?

These things are worth looking into. Terezi seems to agree, and she's perfectly willing to sacrifice a few kids in the name of scientific enquiry - lest we forget the last doomed timeline she made.

GC: 1T 1SNT 34SY FOR 4NYON3 TO F4C3 TH31R OWN D34TH GC: 3V3N 1F TH3 CONS3QU3NC3 1S TO TH31R B3N3F1T GC: NOT 3V3N 4NY OF US M4N4G3D TO DO 1T GC: W3LL, 3XC3PT FOR ON3 TG: who GC: T4K3 4 WILD GU3SS!

Vriska, I assume. It's been strongly hinted that she tried to convince Tavros to kill her, and I've been wanting to talk about that for a while.

I think her motivation was pretty clear.

Vriska desperately wants her victims to hate her, but Tavros just wants her to fuck off. He's too passive to make any grand gesture of revenge - so Vriska decides to manufacture one. She needs him to kill her, because then they'll be even, and she can put it all behind her for good.

GC: YOU WOULDNT STOP BUGG1NG M3 [...] GC: 1 TOLD YOU YOU WOULDNT B3 4BL3 TO F4C3 YOUR D34TH GC: 4ND TH4T W4SNT GOOD 3NOUGH FOR YOU! SO H3R3 W3 4R3 TG: what exactly did you do

She cloned you, Dave. She cloned you, dropped the clone on a sacrificial slab, and told you to murder him.

Don't piss off a Scourge Sister.

GC: OK, R3M3MB3R WH3N YOU W3R3 4SK1NG M3 4BOUT TH1S GOD T13R STUFF GC: [...] SO 1 G4V3 YOU 4 CHO1C3 GC: TO F1ND OUT NOW, OR F1ND OUT L4T3R [...] TG: ok but you didnt actually give me a choice TG: you just flipped a coin GC: Y34H GC: 4ND 1 L3FT TH3 D3C1S1ON OV3R TH3 OUTCOM3 OF TH3 FL1P 1N YOUR H4NDS! >:]

Terezi's coin flip happened in the Veil, so it can't split Dave's timeline. Come to think of it, we've never heard about any offshoot timelines in Sgrub's postgame.

Plus, I'm not actually sure if flipping a coin would split the timeline. Each branch we've seen so far has been the result of a conscious decision, rather than an uncertain event.

The current Alpha Timeline was split off from Davesprite's when he made the decision to go back and save John.

The red-suited Dave's timeline was born from his decision to stop DD from stealing the Sburb Beta.

Quest Bed Dave, as we're seeing now, was born from a decision made by Dave during his conversation with Terezi.

#homestuck liveblog #full liveblog #act 5.2 #s99 #3091

[isagrimorie]

If there's one thing Voyager is really good at -- is making TV movies aka their two-three parters (I consider Scorpion 1 and 2, and The Gift a trilogy).

But also, aside from Year of Hell, I think Dark Frontier is also a great TV movie-style event.

It might be the first time Seven actively denied she was Borg.

I know I've screencapped this scene before but I want to do it again because the scene is so good, so crunchy.

In the scene after the Borg Queen orders Seven to assist with the assimilation effort-- Seven kind of follows along in a daze, almost automatically goes along with things like a good drone:

It's only when Seven registers that people are yelling around her that she stops:

People yelling for mercy in a Borg Cube must have been background noise for Drone!Seven.

The moment that Seven post-severance realizes what the yelling actually means, Seven is perturbed. Especially when she can see people being ushered to their assimilation. Blank-faced and resigned to their fate:

She looks haunted, but the explosions and sparks jostle Seven back to the efficient Drone mindset and she walks toward the malfunctioning area to try and fix it until she's thrown onto the floor. And healed in a very brusque manner by fellow drones, and you can see Seven's confused state. She doesn't know whether to be afraid or take it as given.

You can see Seven think: Oh. If I'm not critically injured, they heal me. But the experience clearly shook Seven and she stumbles back, and tries to go somewhere.

And runs right into another group of people forced to march to assimilation chambers.

One man, who has a little fight left in him tries to escape and runs right into Seven, who automatically, with her Borg-enhanced arm catches the man.

Even Seven seemed shocked at what she did.

Seven releases the man:

Too late.

He's immediately injected with nanoprobes.

(Side note: I just realized this effect is very similar to the effect in Picard s3-- which makes sense because the Borg Queen's plans there were actually hatched partially in this two-parter!)

Seven is so horrified with what she's done, she staggers back. Again, a beautiful call forward to the moment Seven staggers back when alt!timeline!Borg Queen calls for her in Picard s2.

This is Seven's impetus in trying to help, if not all but at least someone.

And the first time when Seven vehemently denied she was Borg:

Thus starts Seven lifelong struggle between her two identities- Borg and Human.

The questions about who she is is something that will plague Seven from the Delta Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant. Picard s2 implied she was at peace with who she is but progress is not linear and I hope it's a question she's still struggling with (if we get her show).

#thinky thoughts #meta: voyager #star trek voyager #dark frontier #star trek picard #picard s3 #seven of nine #the borg collective

[kingofdersecest-2]

A proposal of fixing Homestuck 2.

I have often long thought of what I would do if I could control the future of the Homestuck Franchise.

The quickest answer would be to de-canonize and delete the entirety of Homestuck 2 and The Epilogues. Some might say that in interest of art preservation those things should remain as they are, a monument to the failures of the sequel. I personally do not believe that even in the interest of preservation of art that there is anything worth preserving in either of these works.

But that is the easy way out. Say I had to keep everything, but I wanted to get rid of it. How would I walk it back? Well.

Before Homestuck 2 went on Hiatus, a plot point was created, called….well, The Plot Point, yes it is that stupid.

As of this writing, what The Plot Point is, is unclear. Its a location that corresponds to the black hole's singularity and is also supposedly a super weapon that Calliope, Roxy and John want to use for some unknown purpose and they want to prevent Jane from getting it and using it again, for an unknown, yet likely, nefarious one.

Meanwhile, in the Meat timeline, Aradia and Dave are working with Alt Calliope. Dave is a robot, and Aradia is her usual self. As they hang out Aradia flickers through time, she teases Dave about it, she tells him he could come along and find out what shes doing, and he brushes her off, stating he doesnt need to know as he knows everything.

In this proposed re-write, Aradia is also looking for The Plot Point as what it is, is the connecting points between Meat and Candy. Aradia is vaguely aware of the other timeline, a simultaneous Alpha timeline, that does not disentrigate like so many others, a timeline that Ultimate Dave, cannot see into. Because Ultimate Dave is every Dave, isnt he? Shouldnt he be Candy Dave as well?

Both parties work their way into finding their respective Plot Points. John is the one to find his, and Dave, surprisingly is the one to find his, as Aradia realized she would need his help in finding it, and cajoled him into it, as what could tempt an omniscient being more then something he does not know?

As both of them reach into The Plot Point, they each come away with something. John is holding Lil Cal's head and Dave, his body. As they hold these objects they become aware of the other timeline's existence and guided by instinct they push their pieces back into the hole and the two pieces of Lil Cal unite.

Suddenly, we're back on The End platform, John standing there shaking, sweaty, his palm burned. In front of him was The End house, but instead of four panels, the entire house is covered in a green grinning skull.

It was a trap. Lord English had orchestrated a false timeline to be created when John entered The End. A timeline where they thought they had won, but the victory was a hollow one as their world fell apart around them. There was only supposed to be one timeline, but Alt Calliope interfered, creating a split in Lord English's fabrication and Meat and Candy became a tug of war between the two all powerful siblings.

Ultimate Dirk was revealed to be Lord English taking over Dirk's body. The shard of dirk that became Lord English during Calliborn's Masterpiece was pulled into the Ultimate Ascension and slowly took over his body. In a last act, Dirk using his Prince of Hope powers, created The Plot Point, a Juju, that would break the timeline, destroying Lord English's hope of a final revenge. This is why everyone seemed to out of character, as they were twisted perversions of what Lord English, Calliborn all thought of them.

Realizing that Lord English needed to be dealt with, John and the others depart The End platform to go assist Vriska and the Ghosts, with one last confrontation. Their time in the Fake Timeline had shaken them, they still retained their memories of it, no one can meet each other's eyes, disgusted with what they had done. But John and Roxy's optimism lift everyone's spirits, and surprisingly, Karkat steps up to act like the Friendleader he was always meant to be. He says all that shit doesnt matter now and it was just an illusion and goddamn it they have to go kick that sick bastards ass harder then ever. The blood symbol glows in his eyes as he says this.

Inspired, the battle begins. Its going badly for Vriska and the Ghosts, most of them are gone, only Vriska, Meenah and Aradia remain and several dozen ghosts. The appearance of the others make a huge difference and the battle begins anew.

cue fancy Collide animation here

The battle ends with Dave stepping up to be the hero he always was. His sword, Caldewash. Is made of a material forged by Hepestus himself, on Dave's planet, a weapon designed to kill that cannot be killed. A weapon to shatter parodoxes.

Dave kills him, which also undoes everything he had a hand in, past, future or present. Calliborn's masterpiece does not happen. Yet despite being erased, everyone is still where they were even without it. The parodox of Lord English being erased is ignored. Its finally over, or is it?

Calliope, with the Life Ring is well aware of what had happened. She knows that shes a walking vessel for her Alternate Self. Who is just as cruel and callous as Lord English, perhaps even more so. After a heartfelt hug from Roxy, Calliope removes the life ring and allows Dave to slay her as well. Ending the Cherubs forever.

Homestuck was only ever just a sibling rivalry with reality and causality as the battleground. Fitting it ends this way.

With the survivors, they head back to The End platform, wanting to start a new world for real this time. However, something calls. The Horrorterrors call out to Rose, and The Veil is lifted. With Lord English gone, her powers go into overdrive, granting her a Vision such as shes never had before. She tells Roxy to use her void powers to Create godtier slabs for those that arent godtier, and Terezi, Kanaya and Karkat are ascended.

Once done, she has Roxy create a very special violin and a thread and a needle. She has Kanaya imbue the thread with her Sylph of Space powers and she strings the violin with it, along with the Bow. She begins to Play the Rain, causing rain to fall all across the universe, as the raindrops hit the rifts in spacetime, they begin to sew themselves close. The Horrorterrors release a collective sigh of relief as reality begins to mend. The Dreambubbles, maintained by their power and Feferi's request, begin to fade, as their purpose is served and the dead can finally have a True Rest.

Except Meenah, as, unknown to Roxy, she had pickpocketed it from her. When all the ghosts faded away, she stands there grinning.

So they walk through The End door, establishing not only Earth 2, but Alternia 2 and a planet for the consorts and the carapacians. They learned from their experiences in the False Timeline.

The planets are easy to travel between with Skia Warp Panels and the Window Frames, plus Alternian Space travel.

John and Roxy have Harry

Dave and Jade have Yiffany, now named Ruby

Rose and Kanaya adopt Vrissy

Jane and Jake have Tavros.

All is well.

Except…..as we all know, when a civilization reaches a certain threshold, a seed is planted in that reality, the chance to create a new one.

It is April 13th, Harry Anderson Egbert's 13th birthday, and he hears about a new game coming out…….

#homestuck #homestuck 2 #rewrite

[thewebcomicsreview]

Homestuck 2 updated today! Even I'm not enough of a dork to leave a Christmas Party to go read Hamsteak, but it got late and I'm back now, so let's do it. Months ago, but not many, before Alt!Calliope collapsed. Has it really been months, in-universe, since Dave/Aradia left Candy? Time is confusing, especially in Homestuck.

Oh wait, this is after Jade broke free of Calliope's control back in Chapter 6. That was months ago? Man, it's so weird how we've cut back to the Meat Rocket several times since then and Jade just....hasn't done anything or said anything about being possessed? At least onscreen? Totally glossed over.

Probably the biggest mystery in HSBC right now is who the Candyland narrator is. The "Lady" giving commands is clearly Alt Calliope, so who's the narrator pushing back on her here?

Oh. We have another Alt Calliope. An Alt-er Calliope. This seems to literally be the same person as Alt Calliope, though, since they re-fuse. Maybe this is something to do with Ultimate Selves, which might be why non-Alt Calliope is so afraid of her.

Cutting from Alt Calliope talking about decorum to Davebot and Aradia taking selfies with her corpse is a cute gag. I'd forgotten Aradia had a new Calliope-themed outfit. That's kind of weird.

DAVEBOT: to be fair this was typical teen jade behavior DAVEBOT: honestly shoulda done a little more research into that host body

Oh that's an interesting explanation for why Alt-Calliope-In-Pre-Retcon-Jade's-Body passed out (and almost certainly not the original team's reason). But Jade's narcolepsy was Vriska-induced.

DAVEBOT: you just went on another one didnt you ARADIA: yes DAVEBOT: who did you meet this time ARADIA: the necr- DAVEBOT: no dont tell me its simply too much to bear ARADIA: are you doing a bit DAVEBOT: of course im doing a bit

I do like the idea that Aradia uses her time powers to have entire adventures in between sentences. I suppose this also makes Pesterquest's Aradia arc canon, since that involved a bunch of HS2 stuff. I haven't played Pesterquest in forever so I don't know if the "necr-" ("necromancer"?) is a reference to that or foreshadowing.

ARADIA: actually i doomed thousands of timelines DAVEBOT: thats kind of fucked up ARADIA: yeah! ARADIA: to be fair i was doing it on purpose DAVEBOT: thats even more fucked up

Aradia is the best troll.

Dave's pillow wearing sunglasses is a great gag. Also, a cute character moment. Those glasses were a gift from John, and Dave kept them even after becoming a robot.

ARADIA: i could go see him right now DAVEBOT: you wont ARADIA: i wont 0u0

Assuming "him" in Sollux, that seems to imply that Aradia can come and go to Candyland freely, which is...interesting.

ARADIA: youre welcome 0u0 ARADIA: anyway the point im making here is that some of these missteps end up serving a grander purpose ARADIA: things that seem unimportant or even “wrong” can end up being essential components of whats meant to happen ARADIA: and who even decides whats wrong in the first place? DAVEBOT: i dunno megido thats borderline blasphemous

This is pretty obviously about Candyland, especially since Dave just shit on his pre-Ultimate Candy self as being a different person from a "lame" timeline, and "How much does it matter if something is canon or not?" is the question HS2 is allegedly about in the first place. But also I kind of like this nerdy time shit philosophizing even without the thematic subtext. The Homestuck EU has mostly been "Trolls! Aren't they neat!" and Ultimate Selves, but the Classpects haven't really been talked about much for a long Time.

Dave also refers to "Skaia's alpha timeline" in this conversation, but it's never been fully clear to what extent Skaia was pulling the strings. The "alpha" timeline was just the one with no paradoxes, and it was Lord English, not Skaia, who was making it so restrictive.

ARADIA: whats the right way for a butterfly to flap its wings? DAVEBOT: the way that doesnt make me gay

Dave...you are gay. You've been gay since Homestuck proper. It was a big part of why your marriage to Jade fell apart. Ultimate Dave is comprised of all Daves, and since Dave quit time-traveling before figuring out his sexuality, he seems to have regressed somewhat.

Dave was always scared of creating Dead Daves. "Dead Daves are the enemy", and it's why he doesn't time travel any more, and Aradia here seems to be arguing that this is limiting him, that he can't grow and explore without breaking some rules and dooming some timelines. This is, of course, Thematic™. You can't go in an interesting new direction if you're too worried about sticking to what the story's "supposed" to be about.

DAVEBOT: also now feels like a good time to mention that despite my omnitemporal awareness of everything that has and ever will happen to me i actually have no idea where the fuck youre proposing to take me ARADIA: oh word ARADIA: fun huh? DAVEBOT: being real i kind of hate it ARADIA: woohoo! DAVEBOT: youre such a freak DAVEBOT: TONE INDICATOR: AFFECTIONATE

ARADIA: cmon you shithead

This is such a fun pairing.

Hm. Calliope gets back up right as Aradia and Davebot's feeling jam is getting somewhere and makes them stop. Hmmm...

Good update. Aradia is my favorite troll and this was Good Aradia Content. I am increasingly convinced that she is not a Handmaid to Calliope, despite the cult outfit. Also rather interested in what's up with the Double Alt Calliope thing, but I imagine that'll get a follow-up at some point.

#Homestuck #Homestuck 2

[buckybarnesss]

on fire: a teen wolf novel chapters 17-19 and final thoughts previous chapter

it is done. the final installment of on fire is here and i am finally free.

thank you @dear-massacre for listening to me rant about this book and encouraging me to finish it.

and a thank you to @give-emhalekid for inspiring this re-read of on fire to begin with. i can finally answer your asks appropriately!

in addition to my notes and final thoughts on this novel i did make contact with the author nancy holder and have been sitting on that email for over a month now. so i'll be talking about that too.

anyway.

We start this chapter in Kate’s narration in yet another flashback to six years prior. This is when she gets information out of Mr. Harris. 

The bar is called Randy Andy’s by the way. Which, and it may just be me, makes me fully believe this bar is playing Brooks and Dunn's 1991 hit Boot Scootin' Boogie on repeat.

She mentions that Harris hadn’t seen her around the school but she had pinpointed him quickly as someone weak and that she could use. This tracks.

She gets what she wants out of Harris and as she leaves the bar (which is handily across from her apartment) she sees Derek leaving with his school bag. She freaks out worried he’s onto her or found something in her apartment. 

She follows him home just to be sure she’s in the clear. Like a freak.

When she returns she finds a note Derek left her explaining what happened. 

However, feeling as though she could’ve been exposed, Kate decides to up the timetable of setting the fire. 

Because we cannot have nice things.

We then get a small scene where she’s filling the gas cans and apparently Alt Version of Mr. McCall is the gas station attendant but he’s on the phone arguing with Melissa over money and blaming her for things. He's actually worse than canon Mr. McCall which I didn't think was possible.

Kate goes on to have her inner celebration and reminisce over her seduction of Derek. You know, just girlie things.

Once again the timeline is throwing me off. Holder places the Hale fire near Wolf Moon which makes the show starting around the same time a nice call forward but she also has homecoming around the same time. Derek muses about Kate being a chaperone for the dance and Laura is at school that morning to attend a committee meeting for the dance. For me, Homecoming was always during the Football season in September. Not that I ever went but this in January if it’s the Wolf Moon. Football season is over. This doesn't make any sense to me.

We finally return to both the present day and to Derek and Stiles. It’s been 84 years. I've aged lifetimes.

Derek tells Stiles that you can’t trust human women and leaves him once more as Derek has caught the Alpha’s scent. This is Bizzaro Derek.

Holder has given us two different wolf references mere pages from each other. She has Derek listen to Wolfgang Gartner and Stiles apparently playing Wolfenstein on his phone (this may be Wolfenstien RPG which apparently came out on mobile in 2008).

I looked up Wolfgang Gartner -- because this is what I do -- and according to Wikipedia the earliest single he released under this particular name was in 2007 which would be after the fire. He does however have a single called Hot for Teacher. I am going to fight the author.

We’re back in Scott’s narration now. He’s not having a good time. There’s smoke making everything hazy and he senses the werewolf that bit him. He calls it his “waking, walking nightmare.” and the wolf side of him is conflicted by the threat but also by the sense of pack. 

Through the haze Scott does see the Alpha and they make eye contact. Once again Scott refuses to kill like in Pack Mentality. He references the incident by name. 

A burning tree falls down because of course it does. Some of the sparks get on Scott so he has to remove his jacket and shirt. This is Teen Wolf after all.

Scott fights the shift trying to figure out how to save himself and Allison from the blaze.

Allison begins to become overwhelmed by the smoke and goes into a coughing fit.’ Which, heh, kinda fits with Scott having asthma previously before the bite.

Next chapter opens back on Jackson who is still having a very bad time. His vision is doubled and tripled as he passes out.

Scott remembers that Allison once did gymnastics and suggests that she use those skills to get out so he lifts her up and she somersaults out I suppose. Like a goddamned Power Ranger.

I swear Stiles is the author’s least favorite. Stiles hears a howl and begins looking for Scott and or Derek. He’s yelling for them both as he attempts to track Scott’s phone. Derek shows up with a “Yeah.” 

Though I’ll admit this exchange made me laugh:

“Yeah,” Derek said, bursting from the trees. He was wolfed out, and Stiles let fly with a high-pitched, girly scream. “Was that you?” Stiles yelled. “No, that was you,” Derek said in disgust. “I mean the howl.”

Derek tries to assure Stiles the Alpha needs Scott but Stiles reminds him that he doesn’t need Allison. Derek says he also doesn’t need Allison which is a sentiment that Stiles disagrees with. Canon Derek would never. 

They talk about mountain ash because Derek recognizes it from the pictures Scott was able to send. The explanation holds up fairly well to what we’re told in the show.

They find Scott and Stiles tries to instruct him but he’s in a state of panic. Derek points out that he cannot make sense of what Stiles is trying to tell him due to the panic. 

E x c u s e M e. What the fuck did I just read?

Stiles wants to call 911 so a fire truck can gain access but Derek warns against it due to Scott being shifted. Derek then takes a swing at Stiles, Stiles shoves him and Derek falls off the cliff. 

I am so tired. 

This is a Stiles accurate line at least: “So many times, Stiles had wished for Derek to up and die. But he hadn’t meant for him to really die. Except that maybe had meant for him to really die. Just maybe not in pain, and not in front of Stiles.”

Scott pounces on Derek and they tussle. Stiles is conflicted on who he’s cheering for. 

Scott doesn’t have a shirt on.

And a moment later --

“A wind washed through the tops of the bushes and showered Derek with fiery debris, setting his jacket on fire.”

Derek rips off his jacket (RIP jacket) and his shirt now leaving him also shirtless. 

I see you Teen Wolf. The Weather Girls It's Raining Men is the unofficial anthem.

Stiles calls 911 because he clearly is the one holding the brain cell.

We’re back to Allison. She’s running through the woods calling for help when she spots what could only be the Alpha as she calls it an evil animal. It stalks closer to her but it moves away and she sees the wolf that she and Scott had seen earlier. 

The “good” wolf’s presence seems to scare off the Alpha. It then guides Allison to safety. This wolf is never explained but it gives me Expecto Patronum vibes.

Except her safety is Kate. 

Allison is now lying her ass off about why she was at the Preserve rather than with Lydia and Kate’s questioning her hard.

I had forgotten about Jackson. The van exploded by the way as the police came into the parking lot. He feels momentarily guilty about Cassie then he promptly passes out, which honestly I don’t blame him for. He’s had a shitty day.

Meanwhile back at Werewolf Rumble Derek is able to bring Scott back to himself and just as they begin to try to escape they accidentally do the memory ritual via Derek’s claws accidentally slicing Scott’s wrist and you know what? I don’t care anymore. 

We get one last flashback to Derek and Laura post fire. They’re at their burned home and insane with grief. In the remains Derek finds that stupid ring he gave Kate because she’s so evil and terrible. Like. Fucking hell. 

We cut to Jackson being taken to the hospital and Lydia ignoring the paramedics to ride with him. He feels guilty about Cassie’s death and tries to convince himself there was nothing he could do. In truth, there probably wasn’t. He ends up wondering if Bailey had really known about his biological father.

Allison at this point does in fact find it sus that Kate just happened to be out driving to the fire but she doesn’t examine anything too closely yet as she finds Scott and Stiles. She’s relieved that Scott's okay. 

The book ends with Derek watching the scene from afar. Kate catches his eye and taunts him one last time because of course Kate does. Derek doesn’t respond. 

The final line is kind of baller though. “There are more of us, bent on payback. And domination. And death. And we are coming.”

Some parting thoughts:

I remember mostly enjoying this book back when I first read it upon it's release in 2012. I think it's because I was so thirsty for more backstory on the characters and more adventures in the world.

There's a post somewhere on my blog about the book somewhere but re-reading ten years later I was definitely more critical of it and found it to be a frustrating endeavor. Maybe it's because I'm older or maybe it's because the show is over.

Largely I think it's because the book itself had no real resolution. It couldn't but I'll explain that later.

Even if there's reason for the open-ended nature of the novel it's still genuinely frustrating especially because this is a stand alone novel with no follow up.

I thought there were too many flashbacks and not enough time spent on the actual plot. Jackson is the entire plot yet we spend very little time with him in the book and he never actually interacts with the main cast except with Lydia through a text. Fucking wild. Some of Jackson's best character stuff is when he's bouncing off the other characters so it was a real shame he didn't interact with them.

The biggest issue I have though is with Derek's characterization. It just doesn't even seem like Derek to me even early season 1 Derek. The whole human slander isn't ever a thing with him.

I loathed how Laura was handled. The information we have on Laura doesn't even fill a thimble but I'd rather not know a damn thing than this version where she said the word "mateable" and isn't all that bothered by her sixteen year old brother being involved with not only an older woman but a teacher that has authority over him. Her reaction shuts Derek down so he no longer expresses his misgivings. I couldn't tell if this was on purpose or not.

I also didn't like how Stiles felt like the unfavorite here. Holder, I think had a decent grasp of his voice, but not how others reacted to him.

I also have mixed feelings about the world building Holder did via the werewolves. There were aspects I did like but overall I found it too heavy handed and too patriarchal. I think the direction the show took it was better. Talia Hale is a much better and more interesting choice.

I still do not understand why this book was commissioned at all. It isn't canon and it doesn't even follow the plot of season 1. Basically this was a promotional tool that fell short in my opinion. A waste of Holder's talent and the reader's interest.

However, there are reasons for some of this though like I said.

Back in November when I was in the middle of the book I did some research because I was insanely curious as to why this book was written the way it was. I found Nancy Holder's website which had a contact form.

I screwed up my courage and sent her a brief message asking about why the novel only referred to the first 5 episodes while largely being it's own plot. It's very unusual for a tie in novel

She answered really quickly and while her explanation didn't surprise me it still sort of did.

Essentially she was given a lot of freedom in developing her own plot as she was instructed to not give away any spoilers for the second half of the season. Which is why there's hardly anything to do with the Alpha plot line and Peter is largely left alone.

According to Holder, she is the one who asked Jeff if she would be able to fill in Derek and Kate's backstory so that whole plot is her own creation and he told to "go for it".

I think a lot of fanon seems to possibly originate with her due to this freedom which is interesting.

She's a huge fan of Teen Wolf and I found it super endearing even if I didn't like all her writing choices.

In conclusion:

#my blog #thoughts on teen wolf #teen wolf #on fire: a teen wolf novel #heather reads #[casts this book into the fire] #look mom i completed it before the end of the year!

[understandableparadox]

?????? Achlys

19 yo Mage of Void hemoanon, Achlys is a air-headed party girl who likes to take it easy, life is definitely too short to be worried about every little thing. She's quite friendly for a troll and always knows what to say to please people. She changes quadrants pretty often.

However when SGRUB begins she seems to know just where to look to learn all the rules and easily makes herself the leader before anyone notices. Not to mention her fake lusus and dreamself that seems to be puppeted by horrorterrors…

penanceLarceny

PL is a Cobaltblood troll who lived on Alternia long before Karkat and his friends. He's a master thief, who mostly breaks into highbloods' hives to steal expensive things, and also hats that he takes a fancy to. Seriously, he really likes hats.

His theming is mostly around hats, and also foxes and the number 5 (his 5 eyes don't give him special powers like Vriska, however). His quirk replaces f with 5, o with ø, and x with ×. His lusus is a 5-tailed Kitsune (Japanese fox-spirit) who can walk on walls, and has partially taught PL to do the same.

Speedruns video games, specifically Super Snario Iliad (Troll Super Mario Odyssey).

Friends with Altair (another troll I submitted to this bracket). Altair is PL's server player.

Strife Specibus: Throwing-knifekind. Fetch Modus: Hat Trick Modus.

His classpect is Rogue of Time, and he gains later in the story the ability to locally reverse time (within a certain radius) and travel back to the alpha timeline in such a way that allows him to absorb the memories of his alt-timeline self, thus un-dooming himself and dooming them instead (stealing time from himself).

8 sweeps old.

PL cannot mind control others like regular Cobaltbloods. He can, however, manipulate them in such a way that they specifically are unable to remember having seen him.

He's cocky, but smart. He is in a rocky kismesistude with another troll, which is being auspistised by a third. He also has a reciprocated flushed crush on his best friend, but both of them are too scared to tell each other.

Has a funky gender, but uses he/him because he hasn't found any other pronouns that fit him yet.

Did I say he likes hats? He really likes hats. And heist movies.

Designed with Xamag's Trollmaker.

#homestuck #polls #tumblr polls

[askvectorprime]

Hi vector prime! I have a question which I’ve been dying to know, how do transformers age? I’m asking this because some transformers look like old men, for example, revenge of the fallen jetfire has a cane and a beard and alpha trion also has a beard and some transformers look like kids too, for example, wheelie and those kids that were shown on the planet that unicron gobbled up. I hope there is an answer to this transformers age thing, thanks vector.

Dear Mature Matcher,

Well, I like to think I've aged gracefully, ha!

In truth, you ask a good question, though I think your lived experience as a human has colored your perspective. We do not age as humans do, but our bodies are still subject to wear and tear. Our fuel lines erode and leak, our gears grind and slip, our belts become brittle, our joints seize. We discolor, our paint scratches off, decals peel free, chrome flakes away. Stress marks line our faces and hinges. We rust. Our minds are prone to different kinds of degeneration, as newer memories overwrite older ones, or as unhealthy feedback loops develop into rampancy. But few of these processes are fatal, and fewer still are irreversible, so long as we take the occasional tune-up to replace parts as they fail.

The physical traits you observe aren't directly tied to the process of aging. With the usual caveat that not all Transformers are the same, even within the a single universe… it tends to be that, once we are protoformed or built, the only time our bodies naturally change is when we take on a new form. Now, you may not realize this, as we still must appear very alien to you—but on Earth, this might involve changing our appearance in robot form, too, mimicking physical traits that we identify with, the better to be understood by your kind; this is sometimes called "humanizer" technology. Don't be too quick to judge based on appearance, though, as sometimes what you perceive as a mustache might simply be a coincidental arrangement of kibble!

Otherwise, our bodies only change in the course of upgrades. After choosing our first alt-form, we may undergo procedures to bring us up to "full size", speaking either culturally or biologically. There are universes where our sparks grow continuously through our lifetimes, demanding periodic upgrades to match, with the bodies of the biggest and oldest Transformers practically being extensions of the planet—but those are extreme cases, and it's usually not a necessity. You mention Wheelie, who had something of an arrested development while marooned on Quintessa, and although there exist divergent timelines where he did get a larger body, he's usually comfortable with his stature; many Transformers take pride in being "Minibots" and may even make the conscious decision to downsize.

In the modern age, there is certainly an association between youth and a diminutive frame, as Micromasters, Mini-Cons and Protoformers join our society. The fact is that Transformers nowadays are smaller than they used to be, because fuel is more scarce. There have been many such paradigm shifts in the construction of Transformers: generations are usually demarcated by broad design trends, major technological advancements, and shared aesthetic sensibilities. When it comes to these fashions, there are some classics that anyone can recognise—facial adornments, oversized chins, and non-visible olfactory sensors are all characteristic of different points in history, and give a clue for how old we might be. You know, the oldest Transformers predate the introduction of the ball-and-socket joints which are so ubiquitous in Earth life; I myself have not one in my body!

The multiverse being as strange and wondrous as it is, there are plenty more esoteric reasons behind these physical changes. Famously, the Matrix of Leadership is known to induce a metamorphosis in its bearers to better accommodate the collective wisdom of Primes past. Exotic kinds of Energon have been known to possess transformative properties. For reasons yet unknown to my Transtech friends, exposure to negative-polarity particles correlates strongly with facial structures resembling human goatees.

Some believe that we once lived mortal lives, aging as most other species throughout the galaxy do, only for that mortality to have been taken from us in our race's infancy—through the interference of Quintessons, or the defeat of Mortilus, spoken of in myth as death incarnate.

#ask vector prime #transformers #maccadam #information creep #protoforms #wheelie #quintessa #minibots #micromasters #mini-cons #protoformers #matrix of leadership #energon #quintessons #mortilus #generation 1 cartoon #transformers animated #aligned continuity #idw transformers

[pokemon-ash-aus]

So I have this for my own sanity...

In the distant future of the False Twins AU, the family tree is something like:

Damian and Delia have one bio kid in Silver, who eventually leads to all the future human family members (Lilith, Myst, Adrien, Dianthus, Ceaser, Nicole, and Richie).

Blue, Spot, and Alpha are the clone Mews that become part of the family later on.

Mewtwos lay eggs asexually in the case of this AU, and one egg can have multiple mon. As the hatched babies age, they will grow into their final forms of their hybrid evolutionary lines, so, for example, if someone was a Bulbasaur fusion, they'd eventually grow into a Venasaur fusion.

Peach is an Ampharos fusion (Psychic/Electric). She adopts an alt shiny Mewtwo Pepper (Psychic), who shares DNA thanks to time-space shenanigans, but also has Raisin the Zorua (Psychic/Dark) fusion a few years later. Peach is in a relationship with Pheonix the Infernape.

Down the line, Pepper has her own twins - a full Mew named Sunshine (Psychic) and a full Mewtwo named Sunset (Psychic).

Indigo is an Absol fusion (Psychic/Dark). Indigo is mates with Hades the Obstegoon and Latios (I tried to find his name but I had no luck please help). Their kids are Punch the Buneary hybrid (Psychic/Normal), Coral the Togepi Hybrid (Psychic/Fairy?), and Rose the Happiny hybrid (Psychic/Normal). At this time, Indigo has no cannon grandkids.

Ash is a Lucario hybrid (Psychic/Fighting). He's Ace and has no romantic partners. His first kid is Red the Tepig hybrid (Psychic/Fire) followed a few years later by the triplets, Ember the Pichu hybrid (Psychic/Electric), Cinder the Cottonee hybrid (Psychic/Grass?), and Coal the Pancham hybrid (Psychic/Fighting?).

From Red, we eventually get Ashy, who is a Hisuian Cyndaquil hybrid (Psychic/Fire?).

Ash also has at least one adoptive baby in Lucario, but he may have others as he's likely to bring home and keep eggs.

*DEEEP BREATHE* And THEN we also have Damian who is brothers with Giovanni, though that isn't revealed yet in the timeline.

In the time of Adult!Triplets but before Delia and Damian have adult grandkids, Peach becomes a Pokémon professor, Ash is a champion/gym leader (if he's a type specialist please let me know), and Indigo is a Coordinator. At least until they reach the first 100 year age mark, they try to maintain balance between human and pokemon sides, but later they sometimes go one way or another.

There's also an Archie in there somewhere, but I'm unsure who that is.

Please let me know if there are any corrections needed. I just really like your AU and want to make sure I have my brain right.

Archie is apart of the Human family tree!

And yeah, you got it almost 100% spot on except for some minor things (its like 2 or smth dont worry).

The first generation Mewtwos are the only ones that lay eggs as they're dna is more closely tied to their pokemon side in this instance. All the other Twos have natural births

Ashy is a Psychic/Ghost type

Giovanni does not ever get included in the family tree because none of them see him as family anymore :)

Other than that you got it!

[t1meslayer]

Trying something a little different today.

Inspired by the incomparable @alchemicallymoon, I'm going to do a postmortem commentary on my latest fanfiction. If you haven't read "Stone-Cold Lovers" Chapter 3 on AO3, now's your chance!

I've done similar things in the past, with my Pre-Preparation of Shiver post for "Splatoon B-Mix," but I'm really testing the waters to make this a more regular occurrence — possibly even going back to older works. If you enjoy, let me know!

Tons of rambling beneath the cut. You've been warned <3

Alright. I can't think of any better place to begin talking about "Stone-Cold Lovers" than to mention it's a classic piece (in the era sense, though also in the literary sense). I started publishing fanfic in 2019, right around the time I was graduating from college. A bunch of pieces I wrote are still exclusively available on FanFiction.net, but I've slowly been transitioning them with a fresh coat of paint.

"Stone-Cold Lovers" was the sixth story I published on FanFiction. As I mentioned in Chapter 1 of the AO3 version, it came back to mind after Pokemon Masters EX introduced a Halloween alt for Roxanne.

Pokemon Crystal was my first "real" video game (not counting educational content like Sesame Street games), but Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire began my infatuation with the series. This was partially due to the fact that I could read the text on my own, which meant I could keep replaying to do little challenge runs.

===

Fun Fact: One of the most prominent challenge runs I can recall involved catching a full team of Wingull. I named the Pelipper of my team "Sergeant," and the rest had other army designations. I would later copy this idea using shiny Ambipom and Aipom in HeartGold and SoulSilver that I obtained through entirely legal means for a rare item Pickup group.

===

More Fun Fact: My favorite challenge run to this day is completing Pokemon FireRed with a single Clefable. I always really liked how many TMs a single Clefable could learn.

===

All of that is to say I seared Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald into my brain by playing it all the time on the schoolyard and at my grandparents' house in Florida. It remains my favorite region to this day. However, I didn't fall in love with Roxanne until the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire character designs came out.

Important note: I have shipping charts for basically every character-heavy... Anything. Something about pairing people up always makes my brain go brr. My body of creative writing speaks to many of the headcanons I've whipped up over the years. Similarly, I have headcanons about which Pokemon protag serves as the "main character" or "rival" in each title.

Yes, you can ask about my opinions. I will undoubtedly answer.

Brendan and Roxanne came into this framework because as much as I also love Brendan and May, I quickly fell into the rabbit hole of Brendan Champion/May Contest Idol, and therefore I'm legally obligated to ship May and Lisia. My original FanFiction Author Note says I'd been thinking about the idea for "a while," but frankly I don't remember where exactly it originated. All I know is that my goal was May scolding Brendan for being an oblivious dope.

This is not autobiographical.

As far as I know.

My truest sense-memory regarding this piece is writing the Rustboro opening in a Barnes & Noble parking lot at night, on the same night that I scored a new freelance gig (it didn't last all too long in the end). However, I helpfully noted that the Brendan and May banter was inspired by a FanFiction story called "Critical Hit" by Alphinia (it's still live!) and Carly Chaikin's Darlene from Mr. Robot. That was ending in 2019. Pokemon Sword and Shield were about to come out. The timeline lines up.

It's also very funny to imagine May as a raunchy, tomboyish smartass who also happens to love the fame that comes with princess-y Pokemon Contest shenanigans. Good headcanon.

The seeds of an idea for a date follow-up existed back then. My first inkling was to do a scene where, essentially, Brendan fucks the whole thing up by using Sandstorm in the middle of a food court because he's trying to impress Roxanne. Most of the set dressing around that, such as using ORAS' Street Thug trainer class (here portrayed by Shio — after ramen to reference the naming scheme of every trainer in Mauville Food Court), came later.

===

Fun Fact (again): This is the first piece I've written using a new program called StimuWrite by Eve Harms, which was suggested by my beta reader. I liked being able to put my brain somewhere other than a blank white page, though all of the extra bells and whistles aren't all that necessary for me. Plus, I wound up jumping back-and-forth between the page and my 20 tabs of research anyway, so...

We'll see where this tool lands.

===

A lot of my decisions regarding the style of "Stone-Cold Lovers" Chapter 3 were based on concurrent reading; I recently joined a book club, and we just finished Babel by R.F. Kuang. My experience with Zine editors such as @kiliofdurinsline (Shrapnel) on Homemade in Hyrule (still available to pre-order!!!) helped me focus on creative writing structure and clarity rather than the more "vibes" based approach I leaned on. But Babel's rich descriptions suggested that I perhaps moved too far in the direction of snippets. So, here I tried to more robust scene-setting.

The bit about Gardevoir reading Brendan's emotions is being back on my bullshit trying to capture "vibes," though. I'm often a proponent for Psychic-types having full telepathy, especially Gardevoir given its canon emotional connections, but I decided the silent implications were more fun to play. I'm also a big proponent of leaning into the medium by using all of AO3's formatting HTML for things like Gardevoir's text. Hence my abundance of italics, or even the House of Leaves-style page falling apart for Arven's nightmare in "Paradiso."

Another note from Shrapnel that I took to heart: Give each character a stable of description types to help them emphasize their personality. That's why Gardevoir's movements use ballet terms (many of which I had to look up, like "bras bas").

One bit that I thought about a lot was Roxanne's response to weather talk. I knew that she should flirt by saying any weather would be great alongside Brendan, and the verbiage "would that it were" stuck. A bit of Googling revealed that the phrase doesn't mean what my brain thought it does — it actually refers to wanting a better reality than you currently have. But it rolls off the tongue... So, I decided to play with that disparity by having know-it-all Roxanne correct her old professor, even when recounting a heartfelt memory.

Also, I'd be lying to you if I said goofy teenager who can't speak French wasn't an integral part of my planning.

The battle scene is pretty straightforward, it was mostly fun to incorporate the idea of Brendan being over-leveled by having him immediately wipe the floor with this tough guy, Shio. This especially goes well with the Mauville Food Court gimmick of finishing your battles within set time limits. Hopefully little descriptors like the space-warping Boomburst help make up for how short it is.

But with all of that said, there's only one place left to go:

Roxanne's outfit

That's right! Brendan wears his contest attire, but Roxanne wears an entirely unique creation. I did something very similar to my experiments with Shiver by digging around Tumblr tags for specific outfit pieces to cobble together as part of Roxanne's preppy and academic wardrobe.

I essentially wanted to put Roxanne in an "elevated" version of her typical uniform. For example, something with a nicer blouse. When I saw this post by stiefel-rock-bluse, I knew it was the one. That ruffled 'V' is perfectly suited for comparisons to a fossilized ribcage.

Had to tuck that blouse into a nice skirt, too. I did toy with the idea of going full suit-style with slacks, but Roxanne feels like a skirt girl to me. So I settled on this pleated skirt shared by zoesrepository, at least in-part because I wanted a brown-and-white motif to reflect... Rock stuff.

Having exposed legs also introduced the opportunity to describe a bit of Roxanne's obsession with fossils. If I get callouses on my hands from doing ceramics, she can have some scuffs on her legs from digging in the dirt.

My inspiration for her off-the-shoulder draped jacket is largely me doing silly cape shenanigans with my jackets, but for the style I went with this cover image from an article by The Girl From Panama:

In brown, of course. That really emphasizes the idea that it looks like strata.

Because rocks.

Unrelated to rocks, I was originally toying with a different idea for her jacket, one based on this image of Kendall Jenner uploaded by disarmluna:

Ultimately I liked the draped idea better, but I kept on the idea of it being corduroy. Also, I took Roxanne's "loafers" from here.

For accessories, I riffed on one of my favorite pieces of lore introduced by Pokemon Masters EX: the idea that Steven Stone is in a club with all of the Rock-type experts who love collecting shiny rocks. Steven knows how to give some specialized gifts, and in this case I gave Roxanne a single earring, as shared by gemville, because 1) red; 2) flowers; and 3) stalactite. I went with one rather than a pair because I think it's a cute asymmetrical thing.

Then, of course, I imagine her nails alternate blue and red ala Nosepass/Probopass. Finally, Roxanne's elevated school uniform look had to retain a tie. What better way to keep that tie in place than with a clip inspired by the one, the only, our boy: Anorith.

If the Yanma inhaler from "Peaks and Caverns" is anything to go by, y'all know I love to invent kitschy merchandise that will unfortunately never be acknowledged by Game Freak/The Pokemon Company.

===

That's about all I've got. I'm not sure whether I'll return to this story again — the five-year pipe dream is already a big accomplishment in my book. But I'm really glad I finally closed the book on a longstanding idea in celebration of Valentine's Day! And I'm sure one day, if I can get through the rest of my insane backlog, I'd be happy to write further shenanigans between these two Hoenn lovebirds.

#Don't read these tags if you haven't opened the Read More #Are the stragglers gone? #Okay #Cool #If you made it this far #Thanks for being the coolest #I know it's a lot of text but I have a lot of thoughts on a lot of things #Presumably anything I write about stories without five-year histories will be shorter #But let me know what you think regardless! #Fanfiction Debrief #fanfiction #fanfic #Companion Piece #Pokemon #pokemon ruby and sapphire #Roxanne #Brendan #My Fics #opinion #Headcanon #Stone-Cold Lovers #Youtube

[meraki-sunset]

What are some other bad endings of the comic? I'm very interested to hear about them!

Through the comic i've come up with a few

Doomed timeline Nº2

At the end of the Game over, while Nanna is looking for John, Jade and Crow (or any other survivors) she can't make it out of the glitches and get's consumed by them like Dirk. Because of this, she can never take Terezi to John, and she can never give him the instructions to retcon the timeline correctly. Without a plan and having hit rock bottom, John and Roxy Just wait for the timeline to end

(like they almost did in canon)

Doomed timeline Nº3

John deviates from Terezi’s plan too much and goes back for his father’s corpse as well as Rose’s mom’s corpse. He doesn’t try to save them because he fears that will change the timeline too much, so he just takes the bodies. John prototypes the bodies on the new session using the Alpha kid’s kernelsprites. This provokes halsprite to never exist and making it way longer for Jade and Crow to find Davepeta and stop them from killing more people, and it also provokes Jasprose to not exist either, which means nobody came up with the idea to ascend the sprites and revive the other trolls. The kids lost to the Condesce.

Doomed timeline Nº4

Dirk regrets his decision and scapes the glitches but is now covered in them, he can’t see or think clearly. He lands on John’s planet, trying to follow him and takes refuge on a cave, when John cleans the glitches of the planet, he can’t get to clean dirk’s (doesn’t even know he’s there). Dirk arrives with the rest to the new session and begins infecting everything. The glitches take over the new session too. (glitchy dirk almost made it to the story, but that meant I would have had to kill retcon Dirk)

Doomed timeline Nº5 (My favorite doomed timeline)

In this timeline, Thypheus succeeds in killing the kid’s doubles plus Nanna, leaving Davesprite completely on his own during the trip.

He has a really bad three years in which he ponders over whether any of the choices he made up to that point were even worth anything, since now the Friends he became a Sprite to save are dead again. He then dreams with alt!Calliope, she tells him she was looking for Jade, he tells her she is dead, they talk about how she shouldn’t be talking to him, but jade and how he is the same aspect as the brother she killed, Davesprite mentions the sister he lost. Alt calliope tells him that her friend’s death was premeditated and can’t be undone even with god tier Powers, but that he should still try to ascend if he has the possibility, that could help to prevent him from losing anyone else (Alt!Calliope is aware that davesprite is on a doomed timeline, but doesn’t tell him)

Trying to take back any sort of control over his life he ascesnds to god tier

Without Jade’s help, his swings never worked, and tired of them, wanting to be human again, he cut them off. Without John he couldn’t let go of his brother’s sword. Without Nanna’s guidance, he latched onto the memories of Bro, the only guardian he knew.

He rejected the name Davesprite. He was alone, he was just dave. Day by day his hair began to whiten due to the stress of being alone and not knowing what was going to happen to him, if he was even gonna make it.

He was a mess and as months and years went by his mental state began to deteriorate. It wasn’t fair. He had lost everything and all for nothing, all for another versión of him to take his place. He was tired, he was fed up with evetything and after three years he finally snaped

After three years alone in the void having finally arrived to the new sesión he had only two tougths in mind

Get rid of Dave, and take his place

Find Rose, His sister and the only person he had left

Things didn’t go well when he arrived, even after seeing John and Jade alive, he wasn’t in a Good state of mind and still wanted Dave gone, ending at some point controled by the condesce like Davepeta. He caused chaos and a lot of butterly effect that got the timeline doomed

In the end there was only him at the Edge of the blackhole, following the call of the space energy alt!Calliope had set in motion. His oposite aspect, they were meeting again

He had lived through too much, he had seen too much and in the end, no matter how many times he went back in time to fix things, doom would always find him, all he did was in vain

The void was calling him and he let go

(This versión of Davesprite was my original idea for the spaceship crew. I love June Josh and Davepeta, but White!crow will always have a special spot in my heart and i wish i could have been able to redeem him if i had gone on with this idea)

Here is the first bad ending

#homestuck #homestuck au #hs #crow strider au #csau extra

[groenendaelfic]

i love APoT!!! the fandom def needs more abo fics but you've raised the bar so high lol

im so interested in an alt universe where wille presents as an alpha before meeting simon and that timeline i think itd be hilarious as well (wille's pov in APoT has me rolling)

the bar doesn't exist. there is no bar. it's an illusion.

there need to be so many more abo fics in yr*. Just think about all the possibilities! If anyone needs a cheerleader to write one, I am happily offering my services. *\o/*

ngl I have THOUGHT about this. Like capital letters and all, and it would be a very different fic (though tbf the same is true for APoT from any other pov), because Alpha Wille without Simon? In a universe like A Pack of Two? That Wille fucks. A lot.

You’d have pre-Hillerska Wille, probably at a party or in a club, with loud music and people grinding against him and pheromones and all, and well, if Wille presents there, with people actively wanting to get with the prince?

He’ll take what’s on offer, because our boy is horny, touch starved and does not know how to deal with his new instincts and feelings.

Combine that with it suddenly being expected and encouraged that he forms a pack and takes a bunch of mates to see to his needs, well, why wouldn’t he enjoy taking comfort in a pile of willing bodies?

Physical touch and intimacy is both nice and comforting, and it’s not like anyone except Erik ever hugs him, and Erik’s been away so much, first at Hillerska and now with the military and Crown Prince duties, and also orgasms are great, as is feeling wanted (even if it’s only for his cock).

Also for the first time in Wille's life his parents are proud. Of HIM!

Now while Wille presenting is still seen as great for Sweden, him having done so in the middle of Stockholm was also a tiny bit disruptive, and he’s too young to be shipped off to a large rural estate to only be brought out when foreign dignitaries etc need to be intimidated, and so boarding school it is.

Wille does not sleep in the dorms, but gets his own house etc on the grounds and there is a lot of paperwork (and birth control) involved, but becoming the mate of a royal Alpha is a huge honor, so everyone at Hillerska is very excited. (except Simon)

Wille is offered to bring some of his friends from Stockholm and maybe he will because they are familiar and maybe he won’t because for some reason they don’t really feel like real pack, or at least not how he thinks/is told that pack should feel, but anyway, he is sent to Hillerska but this time Erik probably isn’t there to see him off.

(Wille wants Erik to be HIS in a non-sexual way, but things are tricky right now because while they might love each other dearly, Erik likes being Crown Prince and Wille likes not being Crown Prince and while having Erik kneel to him and swear his undying allegiance would be weirdly nice—and Erik would, were they not who they are—it’s also something neither of them can have right now. People are already having thoughts about what his presentation means for the line of succession, openly)

Simon still sings in the choir and calls Wille and his family the biggest welfare receivers, and Wille takes one look at him and WANTS him, because Simon is smart and talented and beautiful, and he speaks his mind and is absolutely perfect, but Simon of course doesn’t.

Sure the Alpha prince is hot and makes him feel weak in the knees, but he also stands for everything Simon hates, and he’s seen the ecstatic news reports about the younger prince presenting and all the documentaries about Alphas which aired after, one more disturbing than the other, and Simon is not going to bow to anyone and he is most certainly not going to become part of some over-privileged, spoilt brat’s harem, no matter how big the doe eyes he makes at him are or how awkward his flirting, because that only makes Simon more furious.

The guy doesn’t even need to be smooth for everyone to want to get on his knot and to join his pack!

(no one officially has yet, but that doesn’t mean having slept with the first Swedish Alpha in 300 years isn’t still something to brag about and elevate one's standing)

And also he will never forgive the Alpha prince for making him drop to his knees along with everyone else that one time he lost his temper with August, because that felt right in the worst way, and just no.

Meanwhile Wille is very confused as to what he’s doing wrong (Erik is being no help, not that he wants Erik to help, but also he's getting desperate), because he really wants to woo Simon, but it seems he can do nothing right and Simon hates him.

There is naturally also that one time when Wille sees Simon being bullied for not making a secret out of his dislike and he snaps, because how dare they, and somehow that only makes Simon angry, and Wille doesn’t understand.

All he wants to do is make Simon happy and to suck his cock (he’s never felt the urge before, but he thinks it might be nice, it certainly feels nice when others suck his).

And then Simon makes one snappy comment too many, maybe ending in something along the lines of I'll never let you fuck me or make me your bitch, fuck you and Wille says yes, yes please and Simon is baffled and thinks that's a joke, but he's also horny and so they fuck and it's the best angry sex ever.

It's also Simon's first time and now he hates himself because he liked it and came so hard, and now the prince is smiling at him and telling him how good he was and that he finally understands why anyone would ever want to bottom, because giving himself to Simon is the best and he's so happy that Simon is finally his.

It takes Simon another 30k to be fully happy as well but once he is he's very happy.

The End.

*I checked. Currently there’re only six fics total, including mine, two of them in Chinese and only one ONE feat. Alpha!Simon (which I need to read asap along with the other four because decrying the lack of abo fic without having read what already exists is shameful).

Also now I’m thinking about my abo verse but with Simon as the Alpha and that … well that would definitely be a most interesting way to explore class differences and power dynamics … Simon would be so appalled with how differently he’s suddenly being treated.

Also also what about a more traditional abo verse where you don’t know your secondary gender until you present during puberty. Everyone expects Wille to be an Alpha and Simon a twinky socialist Omega, but actually Wille turns out to be an Omega (bonus points if he presents while topping) and Wille has ideas (and inclinations?) as to what it means to be a proper Omega (he likes kneeling for Simon and resting his head against his inner thigh) and Simon hates it because he believes in equality (and it's not like following societal norms can be treated like a kink, right?). And in the most fucked up twist everyone now wants Simon to knock up Wille asap because there is no such thing as absolute primogeniture or secondary gender equality in this 'verse and that makes Simon even more furious and then over the next 100k he burns down the entire system or maybe not.

#none of this will become an actual fic #at least not written by me #because I have a plan and a list of long yr fics to write #And it goes APoT -> ALaWHEO -> ghost!Erik -> wilcognito!abroad rom-com -> season 3 #although maybe snippets? #ask me anything #a pack of two #young royals #young royals fic #wilmon