something something screwtio something something the woes and wonders of a human-robot relationship something something learning from each other as equals something something affection displayed by mental connection sometjing something time passing and the memory of one living on in the other eternally idk idk

2.1 was so good holy shit (spoilers, obviously)

GOD THEY ATE AND IM SPECIFICALLY GONNA TALK ABOUT HOW WELL THEY WROTE RATIO IN THIS BECAUSE IM FOAMING AT THE GODDAMN MOUTH IT CHANGES HOW YOU VIEW EVERYTHING BUT IN A GOOD WAY.

so, let’s start from the beginning in 2.0 I want to walk you through my experience of it

ratio mean to aventurine, everyone gets mad. I feel weird about it, pre-2.1 I come to the conclusion that he got used as a plot device in that scene, since being racist contradicts his core motivations and the dialogue is awkward and has no real reason behind it, I chalk it up to bad writing but ultimately forgive it because 2.1 seems centered around Aventurine so they need setup for that

2.1 drops, my bsf plays the update throughout the night and we are losing our shit. He gets to the part where Ratio “betrays” Aventurine. I fucking lose it, I try to reconcile this with my preconceived notions of ratio, they don’t match up at all, his behavior that whole time doesn’t in the slightest. I am confused, I wonder if I have been wrong about him this whole time, if his whole speech on the Space Station and his character quests were some kind of fluke. I mean it could be in character? Knowledge of how a stellaron works could save millions if not billions of lives, invaluable information which Ratio would have trouble turning down because of its value. It still feels deeply wrong, Ratio isnt a backstabber, and he wouldn’t so easily bargain with Sunday over information he has no confirmation of (and could likely obtain in some other way).

The story continues, me and Haseeb (aforementioned best friend) are still pissed, I’m losing it because my favorite character just did something so unforgivable and out of character and I feel like a complete and utter idiot for interpreting a character to be a good person when they so clearly weren’t. Well, I (luckily) was so so so so so so so wrong about that, as it was all a setup, a plan devised by Aventurine to distract Sunday and forward their goals. I’ve never been happier, and suddenly every weird behavior, every “this doesn’t make sense” goes from “bad writing” to perhaps one of my favorite retroactive twists in fiction.

Ratio belittling Aventurine for his background doesn’t make any sense, I mean we literally saw the guy give a whole ass speech about how he believes all people deserve access to knowledge and that everyone is capable of being creative and having intellect, but that they just have to try for it, and if they are incapable of it, he DOCTOR Ratio is there to lend a helping hand. To cure the galaxy of stupidity, something which he views as not the lack of knowledge but rather the misuse and misinterpretation of it, how he depises the Genius Society because they mostly do not try and use their intellect from the betterment of other, and actively guide/encourage other scientists (and in Hertas case the researchers at the space station) to view knowledge as some sort of prize or commodity rather than tool. This notion is what causes Screwellum to acknowledge that Ratio is more like a medical doctor than a scholar. And this notion is something Sunday Isn’t Aware Of.

Sunday doesn’t know who Ratio really is, he may have heard of his various exploits, but Ratio has a reputation for arrogance, bluntness and insensitivity, something which Ratio plays up to the nines. The 2.0 scene with Aventurine goes from seemingly massively OOC for Ratio to him actively playing up his negative reputation to play into Sundays perceptions of the pair for their plan. Ratio->

a) makes it seem like Aventurine fucked up and he’s mad at him for losing the cornerstones, something which Sunday would see and go “hmm they don’t like each other

b) this “oh I can drive a wedge between them” notion gets worse (although in their case better) when Ratio brings up Aventurine’s (not entirely accurate) background. Sunday now thinks he has leverage over Aventurine and even more of a chance of getting Ratio to betray him. Ratio also makes it seem like he just learned this information by stating he “did his homework” and this supposed unfamiliarity with one another would give Sunday more confidence to try and drive a wedge between them

c) this makes it seem like the IPC are unaware of the Families constant surveillance, as it looks like they are having an important conversation in a private room, which would make Sunday think they are unaware of his eyes and ears everywhere

Now let me qualify this notion with more evidence because you could still try and argue that the deal Ratio and Aventurine struck was post 2.0 argument

Topaz (my glorious Queen). At the end of the 1.4 (or was it 1.5?) Belabog quest she has a conversation with Aventurine in which he requests for her help in Penacony, and we do not get a confirmation on if she said yes or not. Until 2.1, in which the the Topaz (and Jade) stone in in Aventurines possession, meaning she took him up on that offer prior to 2.0 because how else would he bring multiple cornerstones there, which we know there are many because Ratio says he lost the cornerstones, not just his own. Topaz would not give this item up easily or on a whim in between 2.0 and 2.1, meaning she would have to be let in on his plan prior, meaning the plan was formed prior. Since Ratio was also assigned to this mission keeping him in the dark would make negative sense and actively undermine their collaboration, something which he brings up in their fake argument

2. The Final Victory Lightcone. I originally thought this scene to be after their argument for complicated reasons, the most important of which being the minor snippet of conversation we see between Ratio and Aventurine during the first time we meet Acheron. Aventurine mentions 3 chips, Ratio doubts him, and the lightcone description starts with Aventurine questioning his doubt and firing three shots, a perfect correlation that made me place the order of events in that way. However, we get to see the snippet of conversation between Aventurine and Ratio in game, right before they meet Sunday, not prior to the lightcone events. However, they are still clearly connected for aforementioned reasons, just in a different manner, let me explain. Now we know the three chips reference not bullets but the three cornerstones, and Ratio openly expresses his doubt because the family is always watching (something which I will get into) and because a part of him does doubt this plan will go well. However, Aventurine prior reminds him of the events of the lightcone with the three chips. My interpretation is that Aventurine took that gamble in the lightcone to convince Ratio to go along with his crazy plan since if he can win a game of Russian Roulette with an unwavering smile on his face he an insane gamble means nothing to him (ratio doesn’t buy it because it’s ratio but the sheer audacity or you could say the “charming audacity” makes him go along with it). In my opinion this scene only makes sense pre-penacony, due to the timeline of events, which is why I believe it the reason for the events in it has to be Aventurine trying to convince Ratio to join in.

3) The family is always watching. During the 2.1 story quest it gets brought up several times in many different ways that it seems like the family has eyes on everything and everyone. Sunday’s fuckass bird is everywhere, and the man himself (minus being a goddamn biblically accurate angel) is covered in eye shaped shit and possesses close ties with the Harmony, which lends itself well to a character that knows things considering the Aeon itself is a conglomeration of many different perspectives. He fucking perception checks Aventurine, when the crew goes to look for info on firefly they learn the dream pools monitor people’s vitals and everything, even producing a dialogue option where the trailblazer states they feel like their every move is being watched. Topaz gets stalked by bloodhound members upon arrival, I could go on. TLDR Sunday knows almost everything that’s going on in Penacony, this is what leads him to believe the traitor is within the family, and his access to knowledge is something the IPC 100% knows about. I mean they have been presumably attempting to try and get it back for a while, and they would reasonably extensively try and learn everything about it. The Family notoriously hates negotiating with them so the IPC either learning and/or coming to the conclusion that the Family is watching their every move isn’t a ridiculous notion. If this conversation was genuine, if Ratio truly wanted to discuss this matter with Aventurine, why would he do it in a likely wiretapped, not very soundproof room where any passerby could hear Ratio loudly exclaim that Aventurine lost the very important cornerstones and that he is also one of the most despised groups in the galaxy because that would really do numbers for both their reputations. If you think about it, this not being staged is an incredibly stupid blunder on Ratio’s end (minus the deliberate OOCness) because of all the places Ratio could set up a very important meeting he does it in one of the worst places ever.

4) The dialogue in the scene. It’s awkward, it’s so awkward and the whole “also my family died I didn’t get an education” seemed so tacked on the first time I watched it. Knowing now, it seemed so tacked on because it was, Aventurine had to shove the info in there somewhere and their incredible conversational skills decided that was the best part in there. Ratio fucking leaving before Aventurine is even done talking goes from a “huh weird” to a “wow he is really playing up this arrogant scholar role”. And if Ratio is playing the arrogant scholar, Aventurine is playing the dumb, helpless, blonde to a T. Losing the cornerstones and acting nonchalant about it, letting Ratio insult him so callously and letting the insults slide, talking absolute nonsense at the end about random things that don’t matter, sadly lamenting into the distance that he’s alone again. Bro is playing it up and I live for it. They also and play up these personas in their little adventure prior to meeting Sunday, Aventurine asks stupid questions like wondering about the species of the bird that make up the statues and talking about how he wants to play in the sandpit and even insulting Sunday a bit, behavior that would make Sunday think him unprepared and unserious rather than cold and calculating. If Aventurine does that well, Ratio plays up his arrogant, uncaring scholar persona to the nines. He insults any and every decision or thing Aventurine does, loudly sighing of how happy he is to finally have some peace and quiet when Aventurine leaves his sight for 0.00008 milleseconds, pointing out his sarcasm, beefing with a random Pepeshi bodyguard no reason, pointing out his sarcasm, just the exaggerated way he talks in general, and suggesting he admit Aventurine into the Genius Society (even Ratio wouldn’t stoop so low as to suggest Aventurine was worthy of that).

Moreover, this is really, really tragic because I do think there are several moments of genuine banter and fun the two share “Ratio, you’re huge!” was not added to the script to enhance the plot guys. And obviously Aventurine knows most of Ratios behavior is acting, however he has such severe trust issues, and Ratio is so damn straightforward and blunt that he worries the man was serious about some of it which just breaks my heart. Soft Ratio please add it give me one conversation, the note at the end of 2.1 doesn’t count it’s too short.

Ultimately, knowing what I know now I can’t help but view the 2.0 conversation with Aventurine as being anything but staged, it simply makes no sense otherwise, and it happily obsolescent Ratio of his sins. This was a bit incoherent I honestly just wanted to rant (if you couldn’t tell haha) but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. I need sincere Ratio more then I need oxygen and I’m not afraid to say it.

So your post about Ratio's handwriting got the brainworms going for some reason (idk why, don't ask)

Anyways, here's some random hcs about various characters somewhat related to "doctor's handwriting" :

(Note: none of these are based off cannon, purely vibes)

- Aventurine can read Ratio's writing no problem, but with any other doctor's handwriting he always gets Ratio to translate... even if it not even that hard to read

- both Sunday and Trailblazer can't read Ratio's handwriting, but were Sunday interpret's it in the best/nicest way (he's very wrong) TB interprets it in the most chaotic way

- Natasha, Luocha and Bailu also have "doctor's handwriting"

-Herta thinks she can read it, but often misinterprets parts and doesn't to reread it

-Sparkle misinterprets it on purpose

love these!!

I feel like in the Mysme universe Jumin would have just enough fans to warrant there being at least some Jumin x reader RPF. There's a lot of secret readers since it's kind of taboo so the hits:kudos ratio is always super off. In general Jumin fan circles are small but unapologetic. They also know practically nothing about him and tend to misinterpret his personality wildly based on his occasional interviews. Several of his fan accounts have been cancelled for not holding C&R accountable for their negative impact on the environment. Once someone got bullied into deleting their social media after they uploaded Jumin x Jaehee RPF. Twitter user 1005hjm goes semi-viral every time Jumin does a new solo photoshoot because locals are always shocked by how hot he is. She deactivates after he announces his marriage. Jaehee has one random fan who crops the two pixels of her in the back of Jumin's paparazzi photographs like this

Zen fan circles are bigger but also more normal because they aren't just stanning a random rich man they really don't know much about, and people mostly actually talk about his acting. He is very lovely about meeting people after his shows and gets praised for it in wider musical circles. People do occasionally ship him with his coworkers though. There's also Zen x reader RPF but (surprisingly?) less of it. A couple silly, less romantic ones were written by Seven. Zen reads it and is shocked by how in character the author writes him. He does not know that's because it was written by Seven. Jaehee does not read it (she did once out of curiosity and felt guilty afterwards) but she respects the writers for their craftsmanship and dedication. Unlike Zen she does know Seven wrote some of it because he's sporadically active in the Zen forums and she recognises the way he types in the posts he makes

every1 that voted rinne as worst husband is so wrong... its literally canon that he cares SO much and fakes his insane persona hes just awkward and embarassed when he gets noticed

i have so many things i can say about this but im really bad at words but theyre stewing around in my brain explodes

what were your thoughts?

i do agree with the ones that mention niki haha those are true rinne is absolutely smitten but the ones that say its like. because hes rinne amagi. and others thay were probably filtered out by the OP... people that either didnt read the main story or just dont want to look further lmao

(cracking my fingers) okay. this may or may not be long. i fear you have struck a bit of a nerve with this (NOT YOU but just as like. a general statement. i feel like u dont know what ur asking. but that is ok)

this whole thing might seem really aggressive at times bc this situation did get me a little heated... plz keep that in mind going in! AGAIN IM NOT ANGRY AT YOU ANON ILY AND THANK YOU FOR ASKING you just happened to ask abt smth i feel very sourly about – not the poll itself but the answers to it – but i tried to be as. tactful as i possibly can while talking abt this

overall im very disappointed in a lot of the answers given for the voting so ive stayed off twitter almost all day today and yesterday. i fear like with stuff like this a very silent population of eng side shines through, the one that specifically Doesnt actually engage with the story and goes off fanon interpretation. look, im not saying its necessarily a bad thing. but when it comes to stuff like this, where people grossly mischaracterize a grand majority of charas or narrow them down to be the butt of a joke, or use it as an excuse to be plain racist/ableist, i feel like people really need to reassess where all of this is coming from. like. not rinne, but KANAME couldnt even be included because the answers used for his votes were, in their majority, apparently ableist, and op (definitely in the right, i think this was the right choice to make) chose not to post at all because they feared the qrts would be just as bad. because for some reason people seem to think that because they're fictional characters that being ableist is somehow ok, that saying they would "pull the plug" on charas like him and eichi is fine because theyre not real people – as if there werent disabled or chronically ill people in this fandom, in every fandom, or hell, around you?

and lets not mention tatsumi and people blatantly misinterpreting his christianity as something he would force upon others – first of all, western christianity does not apply to tatsumi. at all. i understand that people might find it easy to just associate him with that and make "haha, he would make me convert" or "haha he would be a homophobe" quips, and obviously its not necessary to have extensive knowledge on kirishitan history in japan and how they are, to this day, a minority that was persecuted for a lot of japan's modern history. LIKE, EVEN FROM HIS DIALOGUE IN ANY STORY.. when has he given off that impression? cite your sources, he's literally one of the most inclusive and accepting charas in the whole cast! not a prejudiced white christian middle aged mom...

i think that if you absolutely must reduce a character to tasteless jokes, stereotypes that arent even funny to begin with, and you refuse to even read the source content at all to correct yourself, you really need to think about how you engage with any media, not just enstars. if you want to look at the pretty characters just say that! but dont be like this, and don’t speak on things you don’t fully understand as if you did just to make a point or be funny! 

OKAY RINNE SORRY LOL i hate it. i hated all of it and judging by the ratio many people seemed to dislike it as well (god bless!). if you havent seen it i wont link it bc tbf i dont feel like looking at it again (peace and love) but the answers summed up are like "oh he would steal my money" "hes selfish and would take stuff from me and not gaf about my wellbeing" "hes married to niki already" the last one being the only one i agree with. and it makes me think about a lot of issues with how a good portion of the fandom sees rinne. ive seen a lot of people read rinne in bad faith, regardless of whether theyve read main story, hot limit or any story rinne is in. and i dont get it, genuinely. YES he can be upsetting! he can be an asshole, he can be rude, he DOES steal money from niki! but these people neglect to see or mention that he gives it back and then some. they fail to talk about how he spends a lot of his time trying to make niki see his self worth!! since hiiro was BORN he's been trying to get him to understand that he's deserving of love!! that YES he can be a dick but ultimately treats crazy:b and his friends with love and wants what's best for them! these are the same ppl that think he's abusive or something idk i can only assume. like yeah rinne has a carefully crafted persona where hes a complete dickhead and ig some players cant really bother to see past that act

unfortunately rinne himself is built on a few harmful stereotypes of ainu culture irt the drinking, being portrayed or viewed as more 'uncouth' by other characters, etc which is why the initial more explicit ties to ainu culture were removed altogether from his and hiiros design and background. it is understandable, which is for example why it's not really my place to say whether he can be interpreted as ainu or not, and even so, i try not to rely on those aspects of him because it still veers into sensitive territory. and its an unfortunate part of his character, but undeniably, rinne amagi DOES drink, (he's one of the only characters in main cast of drinking age anyway) does partake in harmful behaviors, but fsr suddenly that means hes nothing but a drunkard, to a lot of people. when reading rinne you really have to take these things and ofc, consider that theyre relevant to his character, but it's not all there is...? in the slightest..? there used to be a tweet thread explaining this link further but it's either been taken down or the account has been locked. either way, just a bit of googling goes a long way. i'd rather not go into too much detail here because i don't feel informed enough beyond pointing these issues out, and i personally feel like it's not really my place. if anybody wants to add onto this post to cite more specific sources please feel free

he's such a fun loving, cunning, caring guy who helps people get jobs (dance of the white tiger), who volunteers to play with kids at a daycare (asobi), and wishes so badly to become an idol and grant everyone the same opportunities if theyd like to be, as well (main story, sudden death SUDDEN DEATH IS MY FAV STORY AFTER HL BUT THE TL IS DOWN....SORRY. but i really really think it's one of the most important ones when it comes to rinne's character and motivations. also if u can read it in app it's even better bc it's voiced and theres a line where he's like "oh this guy's [niki] is engaged to me" when talking to kohaku's sister AND HE SOUNDS FULLY SERIOUS TOO....)

don't get me started on people who dumb him down as if he wasn't one of the most clever characters in the game. and unknowingly, people that continue to make rinne's character out to simply be a gambling flirty drunkard who doesn't know how to control himself, as if there weren't other facets of him – they lean into stereotypes, bordering on racism, even if its not malicious or theyre not aware. and it makes me so sad. a lot of the time these interpretations are spread around and then liking characters like him becomes some sort of moral debate, esp in current fandom (which is one of the reasons i think this stereotyping? happens? b/c ive found that fandom sometimes has the tendency of grabbing characters and mischaracterizing them so BADLY that liking them makes you a bad person..? not necessarily villains either! i promise it's okay to just dislike characters without making stuff up!)

that aside also suggesting he'd be an awful, neglectful spouse is simply incorrect. i very firmly believe that if rinne is devoted, he will drop every vice, every pretense, to make the other person happy. he's Like That in the story and towards niki because they keep tiptoeing around the subject but the second he gets an inner monologue, or is truly being genuine, you can tell he would do anything for him, if niki would just let him. to say that rinne isn't capable of being a good partner because he'll treat you badly or not care about you just proves to me that you're not reading any scene he is actually in. if rinne loves you, romantic or not, he will go big or go home. read hot limit btw

im not about to pull the story caps out no wait yes i am lol rinniki4ever ✌️

these arent in order bc i had to scroll up like 2k pictures because i take caps of this game every time i blink. i was considering adding hiiro caps, to show his dedication to him as well, but given that this is for like a marriage poll id rather not. either way he cares about his family and loved ones a lot. read chapter 155 if you want to know the exact scene i was thinking about/referring to while typing this

um ok (breathes out) im fine now. theres things i didnt address because it's 1 am and i want to go to sleep. congrats kuro on getting #1 most marriageable tho u deserve it KURO NUMERO 1 CAMPEAO DO MUNDO 💯💯💯🔥

i genuinely think the sasi fandom on tumblr is one of the worst in terms of rbing/supporting content creators. the ratio/general support i get for sasi content is EONS behind the other fandoms i've been in. maybe it's because the fandom is decressing but it irks me how people can complain about how the fandom is "dying" yet barely reblogs content creators.

disappointed people misinterpret your favorite character? reblog an essay. do you want to show your followers a glimpse into sanders sides? reblog a gifset. do you want to inspire content creators to make more? reblog with compliments in your tags.

i don't also vibe with the "i don't have followers" rhetoric because a.) rbing shows how much you as a person value the post, and the intent to share it already means a lot and b.) liking without rbing also inspires others to do the same and it lessens the chance to build communities/rapport with other people. believe it or not, i don't always follow people for original content. when i see they reblog stuff and have funny tags or comments, i just follow for that! and tumblr is literally BUILT this way. we HAVE to interact and share shit because we don't have an algorithm.

tldr the sasi fandom aint dying tiffany, you just need to reblog posts

L + ratio + stop infantilizing autistic-coded ADULT characters to fit them into a family dynamic + quackcicle kiss was canon

As someone who hasn't really said much about c!Quackcicle (I've only agreed that their dynamic is similar to father-son dynamics), I'm not sure where this is coming from? But I'll explain my view on it.

I'm not trying to fit anyone into a family dynamic specifically, and in fact, I feel like they're more bffs or mentor-student than father-son, but I was reblogging something quickly so I wasn't really making a point to declare what exactly my thoughts on it were. Also, you clearly just saw my tags on lacystar's post and don't follow me/read any of my posts, because I've never infantilized c!Charlie. I actually take his character very seriously, and he's my favorite character on the dsmp (as Charlie is my favorite streamer/YouTuber). :)

The c!Quackcicle kiss was technically canon, but it was unrequited by c!Quackity. I'm pretty sure it was a case of "c!Charlie doesn't get that kissing people is usually reserved for romantic pairings instead of just people all around" and just did it. That's... not infantilizing? He is literal slime and very impressionable. He literally has to learn about human society from c!Quackity (mentor-student), and yeah, he's gonna misinterpret some things along the way. He's still learning.

Also... why does everyone have to be fucking? Like obviously that sounds incredibly weird, but at the same time, it's almost like everyone in this fandom wants everyone to be in a romantic relationship. It's erasure of platonic relationships, which are just as valid and real as romantic ones. My favorite duos in the dsmp are Beeduo, Skephalo, and Quackcicle, all of which I regard as either qpr (first two) or just platonic (last one). Other than that, Karlnapity is my big main ship, and nothing else. (Don't even start the argument that "you just don't like r!quackcicle because you're a karlnapity shipper" that's not at all what's it about.)

In any case, c!Quackity would've been in the wrong to initiate romantic relations with c!Charlie. "Infantilization!!!!" you may say, but again - that's not what this is about. I'm not regarding c!Charlie as an autistic individual - which is just a reading of his character and how he happens to have similar tendencies to people in the real world -, I'm thinking about the fact that c!Quackity had to literally teach him about human society because he's not a human. I'm thinking about the fact that c!Quackity was unwittingly manipulating and gaslighting c!Charlie constantly, I'm thinking about c!Charlie's speech from the last stream. They were best friends, but it was still toxic because it was an unfair power difference.

When c!Charlie realized what c!Quackity had done to him, he killed c!Quackity, he stood up for himself. He said, "No, this is unhealthy, and you ruined both our lives because you are manipulative and you want power."

Maybe you should stop shipping a guy who unwittingly used his best friend/student for power and the best friend/student who was being manipulated and only got his information about society from his best friend/mentor.

It doesn't have to be gay for it to be meaningful.

If you want to watch a meaningful romance that is actually healthy blossom between an autistic-coded character played by Charlie and a badass genderfluid shapeshifter with identity issues played by GrizzlyPlays, you should check out the Just Roll With It $5 Tier on Patreon and watch their 15-episode campaign, Apotheosis! :)

Helloooo for the fruit asks: 🍓 What’s a fic you’ve written you feel is underrated? and 🍍 What kind of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with? If those don't spark joy or you've done them, feel free to swap 'em out for anything you want, pls and thank youuuuu!!

Oooh, thank you @phdmama! These are such good ones!

🍓 What's a fic you've written you feel is underrated?

I've been struggling to think which of my fics is underrated - when I post a fic, it's usually as if it entirely ceases to exist in my brain. That's great on the one hand, because if any of my fics have flopped then I have no clue and I'm just as happy as I would have been otherwise, but it also means that I forget what I've written and my irl bestie (who doesn't read fanfic) knows my fics better than I do 😆 By virtue of lowest hits/kudos ratio, I think my most underrated fic is Pieces Falling Into Place. It was the first fic I wrote for the Drarry fandom, and I didn't do much to promote it or share it or anything, so I think it went somewhat under the radar. It's also pretty unconventional, in that it's from Dean's perspective and is just him jumping to conclusions about the nature of Harry and Draco's relationship, based on what he's hearing when they're faced with the Snatchers in book 7. I think it's pretty funny though, and I had fun coming up with the ways that Dean could misinterpret canon compliant things to come up with Drarry!

🍍 What kinds of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with?

The question of my favorite AU is incredibly easy - soulmates, all day every day! Red string of fate, sharing pain, identical scars, hearing the others thoughts, lost things finding the other one, any soulmate trope at all is amazing and I will read it!!! However, there is one exception to that rule: I don't like reincarnation fics, or ones where it's the same characters in a bunch of different time periods finding each other again and again. I have no clue why my brain is so against that trope, but I just do not like it. Tbh I'm really sad that I don't like it, because there are some fics that follow that trope written by authors I love, but I know I wouldn't enjoy them properly if I read them. I'm not sure if it's just my historian-brain being skeptical of someone being able to write multiple time periods accurately (I don't watch most period movies for that reason too, I can't turn off that part of my brain no matter how much I try), or if it's the implication of death that fics like that require (I don't do well with death usually), but I can't get myself to enjoy those fics so I just avoid them.

Thank you so much for your ask!! 💜 I think I need to go get to work on one of my Drarry Soulmate WIPs now.....

I like drawing. I like giving gifts.

I've spent hundreds of hours making gift art. Over a hundred pieces. I get species currency for it. I'm rewarded somehow. But I still wish I could receive a gift, sometimes.

One hour, three hours, ten hours, sixteen hours, on and on.

I usually receive nothing more than thank-you's and compliments. And because of gratitude for those compliments, I feel moved to make gift art for those who thank me. And so I sink more hours for nothing more than words. And practice, I guess. These are gifts, not trades, but I still wish. Some say they'll draw my characters back. They still haven't. I try not to keep my hopes up. These are gifts, not trades. I think they're happy to receive gifts. I'd be happy, certainly.

I don't know why I want praise so much. Why I'd value a little thank-you or compliment to the degree I'd keep this cycle going. I don't know why I expect so much. Maybe it's my environment. Maybe it's the culture I'm used to, being in a collectivist country. Maybe it's because I believe in the golden rule. As if that's a binding thing on anyone, really.

I have horrible luck in chains. A drawing chain stopped after I did my piece, so I'm not getting anything out of that, anymore, other than the currency I get from the piece I made for the person above me. Before that, the piece I did get in the chain was the bare minimum requirement. It's hard to not be a little bitter.

I still like drawing. That's why I can sink so much time into it so easily. If nothing else, it's practice. Practice is good.

I still like giving gifts. I'd like to receive gifts, even if that likely won't happen.

It happened a few times though. A few mass drawings with my characters in it. Other art fight things. Someone practicing a simple comm. Someone trying to get through all the characters in the group at least once. So gifts, not really for me specifically though, just for the sake of drawing my characters, to tick off a number on the list, or an obligation for the team.

All my actual gifts are from one person. A cute pencil sketch. A ticket. Interaction doodles. They make me want to cry a little, because they're so unexpected.

Everyone wants free art. Post open request and people flock to it. Reply to a request, and receive nothing ever.

It makes me tired and frustrated. Then I feel bad for feeling that way.

Look on the bright side. More practice for me. More currency to make characters that only I will ever draw.

Maybe I should only do trades from now on, but that won't feel the same. It's not really about the art. It's about people caring about my things and characters. I'd like a gift. Something with effort and care to balance out this give/receive ratio.

That's too much to ask though. It would be rude. It would be naggy.

"Hey, could you care please? A little? I don't need a surprise party, like those cartoon episodes where everyone hides from the mc and the mc gets sad until it's revealed at the end. It would be nice, but I know that's unrealistic. Could you just, do more than say thank you? Something more substantial than words, after it's been months? A little sketch? A dumb meme? Please?"

"Hey, I don't think you guys care enough. I think you're all horrible, greedy people who want to milk me for free mediocre art! I think I deserve to be a valued member, be special, because I do stuff that no one asked me too! Because my words and intentions don't match and I want you to be able to read my mind! So show you actually care! Feed my ego! You can do that at least, you lazy freeloaders!"

I don't want to be misinterpreted. I don't want to sound anything like the latter. Think I will, if I say something. Maybe I'm overthinking.

I'm grateful to that one person. I'm very grateful. But some other people would be nice. Anyone would think so, I think. I hope.

It's my fault too. My instinctual response is to tell people, "It's fine! You don't have to give me anything back!"

I mean it. I really really mean it. Because these are gifts, not trades. Because I keep gambling with hope even if I try not to. Because if they give me something anyway, it means they care to surprise me back.

I'd see a piece despite me saying it's unneccessary as a gift. Maybe they just see it as pushing an unwanted thing onto me? I'm not insulting their styles when I say, "you don't have to." Do they think I am? Because context variances? Culture clashes? I don't know.

I know this will probably keep going on though. Because I love the species, and that friend, and my characters, and the people who show interest, or thank me. So I'll keep making gifts with a vain hope of receiving them, and be elated whenever I receive anything from that friend or in a mass attack, and I just have to work on the gambling problem, I guess.

Do I mind if I ask how you approach writing longer fic? I've always struggled to write anything more than maybe two chapters long and I'm curious if you have a particular method to how you approach such stories.

Thank you so much for this ask! I absolutely love it when people ask me for writing advice because it makes me feel like a Smart Person Who Knows Things.

Before we start, here is one grain of salt to take all of this with: I have a naturally long-form brain. It is very hard for me to write something less than 1k. Short fiction is great, and there is nothing wrong with sticking to short things if that's what your brain likes to do.

So. You have decided to write a story. This is going to focus on "stories". Some people write fic that's more freeform or whatever, I am not going to cover that. What I mean by a story is this:

It starts

Some stuff happens

It ends

It is highly probable that your story contains a change of state, which could be that a villain is defeated, or a goal is reached, but it could also be that character falls in love with another, or someone learns to like broccoli.

I like to start out by completing the sentence, "This is a story where _______". This is basically like coming up with a summary for an ao3 post, except that it doesn't need to be catchy. Lots of different kinds of things could go in that blank! It could literally be what happens: This is a story where Ichigo goes back in time and punches young Aizen in the nose. It could be about what you want to explore: This is a story where Hitsugaya gets a better understanding of his zanpakutou. It could be about the vibe you want to achieve: This is an AU where everyone is in a punk rock band and has cool hair and outfits. The idea of this is to clearly define what you, the author, is interested in writing. Make sure it feels right! Maybe you pick the first one, but when you say it out loud, you say, "You know, I really just want Ichigo to go back in time so he can horse around with young Renji and Rukia and punching Aizen in the nose is just an excuse for that." That may sound dumb, but it's fine, actually! Most people don't read stories strictly for the plot, they read stories for the implications of those plots! Will my favorite two characters kiss? Will there be funny interactions between these two groups of characters? Will there be sick fights? Stories are excuses to have scenes. Sometimes, you will have a story where the interesting sequence of events is the draw, but the point is to know what you're about.

Once you feel happy with your "mission statement", you need to decide the bounds of your story: where it starts and where it ends. It may be easier to start with the end. In some cases, it may be obvious from your mission statement: everyone gets home, a villain is defeated, Kenpachi realizes the meaning of friendship. On the other hand, let's look at that punk rock AU. You've picked a vibe, but you don't really have a natural story arc. It has to have a destination, though, otherwise, it's not really a story, it's a recipe for 3 chapters of an abandoned fanfic. So brainstorm a little: Maybe they get a record deal? Maybe they win a Battle of the Bands? Maybe Byakuya accepts that the band is actually good and tells Rukia he is proud of her. Do not settle for a plot just because it works. Pick something that makes you excited! You're the one who is gonna have to write it!

I said that we needed to pick a beginning point, too, but I'm actually going to skip that for now. The next thing I do is think of all the Big Scenes I want to write, the ones you are hype to write, the ones that pop in your head as you think about the premise. Make a bullet list. They don't need to be in order. The descriptions don't need to be super detailed, but write down anything about it that is important to you. If there's a mood or a snippet of dialogue or a joke you want to make, go ahead and jot that down so you don't forget it later. What you're doing now is putting broad blotches of color on a canvas, filling in space and leaving the detail for later.

Once you are pretty happy with what you have down, try to arrange it in chronological order. Put your end at the end (if it wasn't one of your big scenes, add it now). The next task is figuring out how to traverse your scenes. You've already picked out where you want to spend the majority of your energy. The rest, I regret to tell you, is your slog writing. Now, it often happens that you will find joy in some of these scenes and your best writing may occur there, but that's serendipity. These are the scenes that you are gonna have to make yourself sit down and write, so you honestly want to limit them to just the ones you need.

So how do we do this? Look at the first thing on the list. Can you start there? If so, congrats, that's your beginning. If you can't, what needs to happen to get to there? Where can you start so that you can get to your first fun scene as soon as possible? There. That’s it. You’ve picked your beginning, good job! Now, go through the rest of your list, and add in things that must happen, even if you don’t particularly look forward to writing them. The characters need to travel from geographic point A to point B. Shuuhei needs to say something that Izuru hears and misinterprets. The Central 46 makes a new law. If you have a good idea of how these things happen, go ahead and write them down, but it’s okay if you don’t know yet. Fill in all the blanks so that if you think of each bullet list as a scene, you could read it as a story, start to end. Once you get writing, you might add more scenes, or move things around or whatever, but you should have a thing that functions as a story.

If you struggle with this, an alternative is a story with a very strong structure that is going to guide you though what you have to write.Here are two examples from my own stories Hold On, Hold On (which is only one chapter, but the principle is the same) is structured around the 5 stages of grief. Not Broken, Just Bent takes place over roughly a week, and I just decided what happened every day of the week. See You on the Other Side takes place in the middle of a bunch of canon events, which worked at mile markers.

Congratulations. You’ve just made a rough outline!

Special note for avoiding burnout!: I am a slogger. I will drag myself through the broken glass of an interminable plot to get to a single thirsty scene. That's why, at this stage, I try to look at the ratio of what I want to write to what I must write. It's gonna vary for everyone, but this is a hobby, and if looking at this proto-outline makes you feel deeply tired, maybe this isn't a good story to be devoting your time to! Can you carve it down? Can you chuck two scenes you really want to write and get rid of 80% of the slog? Or maybe you can't! In that case, just write that thirsty scene as a standalone drabble! Or just go work on something else! Maybe in the future, this one will come back to you and you’ll have a fresh idea or a renewed enthusiasm for it.

Another thing I sometimes like to do at this point is to write out some notes about my characters and their motivations and moods. Character A is homesick. Character B is so determined to defeat the enemy that they are having a hard time being sympathetic to Character A. Character C cares for both A and B and is trying to support them both. This is sort of background info that you want to keep in your head as you are writing. Depending on the type of story you are writing, this might actually be the main plot, or it might be happening subtly, but adding to the emotional impact of the story. It’s very easy for me to write these sorts of emotional arcs, but if you struggle with that, you may wish to go ahead and made a more detailed outline for that, too.

Now, it’s time to start writing! I am great at beginnings-- it is very often the case for me that the opening scene was one of my Big Tentpole Scenes. (Before you hate me too much, I make up for this by being double horrible at endings; just let me have this) Usually, I will start at the beginning and write linearly for as long as I can until I get stuck. Then, I will look forward on my outline and do the next chronological scene that I feel like writing. In general, if I sit down to write and there is something I have an urge to write, that trumps everything else. Inspiration is a precious commodity, and you should embrace it when it hits! You can slog any day. I will occasionally hold off writing a scene that I really want to, because I am saving it, like a prize for myself for getting that far. This is a very personal process of figuring out what motivates your brain and then giving your brain what it needs to be its most productive.

Eventually, you will run out of things you are excited to write, but the good news is, you’ve got a bunch of story now! Odds are that what’s left is going to be a lot of those connective tissue scenes, and you’re just going to have to do them, except that now, because you’re connecting two concrete points instead of two abstract points, it will be a lot easier. You can continue running jokes you’ve started. Maybe you invented a cafe in an earlier scene where your characters hang out and you can have them return there. Try to think of ways to make these scenes more fun, both for yourself to write and for your reader to read. 

Around this time, I like to start refining that rough strokes outline into what I will call an “as-built” outline. (This is an engineering term where you update your plans or models for something to reflect any changes that had to be made along the way). This is a great activity to do at times when you feel like you have writers block. I write down every scene I have written as a 2-3 word blurb, in order. I break the scenes into what I think makes logical chapters, and I will do a word count on those prospective chapters and write it down. As you do this, you will realize that maybe you can move a scene from here to there, which will make it 1000% easier to write. Things may be happening too much, or you’ve got the characters eating three times in the same chapter. If you have subplots and dangling threads, this is where you make sure they get closure. I know this sounds very headache-y, but you are so far along in the story at this point that it’s really not-- it’s a way to look at the problems you have left. Use some sort of formatting (I like to bold things I haven’t done and sometimes I put them in red) and it gives you a very visual to-do list.

You specifically mentioned multi-chapter fanfics and I admit that I don’t tend to think in chapters, I tend to think of the story as a whole and just break it up where it feels natural. The as-built outlining I described is very helpful in making sure that my chapters feel balanced. They don’t necessarily need to be the same length, but I like them to have the same amount of stuff in them. One chapter may basically contain one long scene, and other may contain many short ones. I don’t tend to, but you can certainly have a fanfic that varies between short and long chapters, that can actually be an interesting effect. But like I said, I always like to know what I am doing, and so having it mapped out, you can say “welp, this is what I’ve done, how do I feel about that?”

Polynya, you may be saying at this point, do you write the whole fanfic before you post any of it? and I regret to inform you, the answer is yes. A lot of people write as they go, and I have made one attempt at this and I didn’t like it. I don’t like locking myself in, I just need to be able write out of order and go back and change things. Here is the story of a little in love: someone gave me an AU prompt and I got mildly obsessed with it, and wrote 5 snapshots drabbles in that universe, ending with a slight cliffhanger ending. I probably should have stopped there, but I decided to keep going. I wrote out an outline of 5 acts where the first act was detailed to the degree of each chapter being specified. The chapters here were much smaller than I usually make chapters: 1-2k. I wrote act i and ii and it was actually great, and then I hit act iii which required a lot of set up for misunderstandings and a mini romance arc. I couldn’t wing it, but nor could I figure it all out with outlining. I write dialogue in almost sort of an improv “Yes, and...?” style, so until I do it, I don’t know what’s going to happen. So, what I did was treat the second half of act iii as a complete story in the process I describe above, wrote the entire rest of it, and then posted it. One might notice that the chapter lengths grew to 3-5k each. I have two more acts to go, and I haven’t decided how I am going to do them yet, but I suspect I will treat each of them as their own mini-stories.

(I will admit that in Heart is a Muscle, I tend toward chapters that are about 10k long, and this is honestly too long, someone should smack me. If you like punchy chapters, 1-2k is good. I think 3-6k is probably an ideal chapter length. Is this how long the chapters are in my latest fanfic? Absolutely not.)

Okay, so there’s one more step, which is quality control. I am habitual re-reader-- I read my fanfics-in-progress over and over and over while I am working on them. I understand that not everyone does this, but I am usually the primary audience for my own writing, and this is the actual fun part for me. Nevertheless, you should re-read your work at least once, to make sure it hangs together.

This is purely optional, but I recommend it: get a writing friend (if you don’t like re-reading your work, I recommend this even more strongly). If you can get a full-service beta reader, that’s great, but if you can’t find someone, or if receiving that level of critique stresses you out, it’s perfectly valid to just find a friend who will read your stuff and a) shower you with compliments, b) reassure you about parts you aren’t sure about (or suggest ways to help) and c) point out any huge problems you missed. When I am writing a long fanfic, it is a huge motivational factor for me to be able to send my beta chapters as I finish them. If you are already an established writer, and you have people who consistently comment on your fic, they might be overjoyed to get a sneak peak at your work.

And that’s it! That’s the way I do it, anyway! Some people are able to sit down and write a very detailed outline and the write it start-to-finish. Good for them, I say! I have tried this and it doesn’t work great for me. I will admit that some of my fics (especially my early ones) I just sat down and banged out whole-cloth like an insane person and they are generally better than the ones I actually plan out, but that’s not a reproducible process.

As one final mechanical note, I usually write in Google Docs, which I can access on multiple devices (I used to write a lot on my phone), has convenient sharing functionality, and I use the ao3 html formatting script add-in. I generally have two documents for a single story-- one is the outline, and any other notes I want to have handy. I’ll usually put a trashcan space at the bottom for scenes that got cut but I don’t want to lose. The other is the fanfic itself.

I hope this is helpful! Please feel free to follow up with other questions and good luck with your writing!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I can tell "salt" on ao3 gets sorted as "bashing" no matter what, so not all of those fics may have even been that extreme. But overall, I feel like people use ao3 as the ultimate metric for the fandom. I see a lot more people defending Adrien on pretty much every other website, personally.

yeah that's true i'd forgotten that a lot of individual tags on ao3 kinda get lumped in together as a big monolith even if people use a specific tag to indicate a different level of vitriol.

just double checked my numbers and on ao3 there are 468 adrien salt fics and 38,738 fics tagged with adrien as a character. i did look for fics tagged as 'adrien/chat noir centric' and there's only 137 of those but considering how many fics i've had to sift through looking for other character centric fics that have adrien as a main focus that were not tagged as adrien centric i'm not counting those. filing those away under "correct tagging but not in enough numbers to make a difference". so anyway.

just to do a quick check of numbers the number of adrien salt fics on ao3 is a....whopping total of 1.2%. comparing to alya who's only tagged in 17,929 fics but has 631 salt fics, has a salt:fic ratio of 3.5%, which is almost 3 times higher than adrien's! and lila's is even higher (though she is an antagonist so the point is kinda moot but i'll say the numbers anyway) lila has 1,564 salt tags and only 5,078 fics she's tagged in *as a character*. that is a huge proportion of her fics, 30.8% of her fics, in fact.

sorry, statistics yknow? anyway.

i think a lot of people use ao3 as a metric because it has such a thorough tagging system? and it's got so much content on it? obviously it's not a perfect metric because we've got sites like tumblr and fandom wikis and instagram and probably twitter or something too? i hear people do fandom stuff there? it sounds fake to me but apparently.

anyway, back to the whole numbers thing. the percentages aren't perfect, especially when comparing lila and adrien, because lila's a rightfully infuriating character and the audience is encouraged to tear lila to ribbons but adrien is our ~hero~ and ~uwu baby boy~ so it's kinda expected that we have...a big difference.

but comparing alya and adrien? they're both heroes, they're both people the audience is supposed to love and believe in etc etc, they both are used as mouthpieces to shill the writers' opinions and they both fuck up. sometimes hugely! *cough* adrien killing aeon *cough* alya spilling the beans about rena furtive *cough cough* but i wonder who has the most salt? hmm.

anyway, i didn't mean to imply adrien was seeing a significant portion of hate (if i did i'm sorry), or that ao3 is the best metric to use (it's pretty much just easiest lol) but yeah. i think? i may be misinterpreting your ask, anon.

Nap Time

Shawn gets back from a day of press and wants a nap

Warning(s): Fluff and the tiniest bit of smut ever. Literally 1 sentence and it’s not really smut. If ya get me

A/N: The weather is actually really nice and i was sitting outside writing this so if it’s bad I blame sunstroke. Feedback is appreciated, have a nice day!

Words: 2k

Over the sound of the episode of Greys you were watching, you could vaguely hear the scuffling noise that came from down the hallway. You chuckled to yourself when you heard a thud followed by a string of curses. That man was the personification of the word clumsy.  

 “Don’t worry I’m fine” You heard his sarcastic response to your amusement. You laughed louder at the antics of your boyfriend and pulled the soft comforter that lay across your stomach further up so it brushed against your chin. When no more possibly injury related noises came from outside the slightly ajar bedroom door, you snuggled back into the plush pillows that were heaped against the headboard, turning your full attention back to the small screen that hung on the wall in front of the bed. Immersing yourself once again in the characters and plot. 

But of course, the peace was shattered as your man-child of a boyfriend burst through the door, bounding towards you and leaping onto the bed where you had been lying peacefully undisturbed.

You were completely squished under his gigantic form and your attempts to push him off definitely didn’t work out. The ratio of his muscle in proportion to yours certainly wasn’t working in your favour – not that it ever had.

“Shawn,” you wheezed “you’re so heavy” He raised himself up on his elbows, enough so he was no longer crushing you but still close enough that he was able to lean down and blow a sloppy raspberry onto your neck, which you responded to with a surprised squeal. Your hands doing their best to push his face away from you as you felt the drool that was now coating the particular spot on your neck that his lips were currently occupying.

“How romantic” You teased, scrunching your face up as you reached up to wipe the wet patch that was left.

“You know it babe, after all, romantic is my middle name” He quipped, giving you his best smouldering gaze. You stifled a giggle by biting your lip, which he quickly observed – then misinterpreted. “Wait, did it work?” He asked, disbelief apparent in his tone. You threw your head back, the giggle that you had initially tried to conceal, escaping easily.

“Of course it didn’t” You reached up to where his face hovered a few inches away from yours and pinched his cheek. You chuckled at his dissatisfied expression that was now plastered on his face. You trailed the hand that was resting on his cheek to around the back of his neck, prompting him to lean down to kiss you. But no. He stiffened so you were unable to draw him - and his lips – any closer to where you were waiting. After noticing the hint of stubbornness in his body language, you decided to take matters into your own hands, this time leaning up yourself to kiss him. When he hadn’t moved you took it as a green light. So you closed your eyes and inched closer and closer until your pouted lips hit his- cheek? You pulled away to see he had turned his head at the last second. The little shit.

“You are unbelievable” you muttered, flopping back into the pillows that had previously been supporting your head.  He turned back to you with his infamous smug expression.

“Why thank you ma’am, I couldn’t agree more” He said, twisting your words with ease.

It was fair to say that after all the years of knowing each other he had definitely had enough practice. It only took a few weeks into your relationship for him to start turning your not-thought-out but well-meaning and innocent words and phrases into sexual innuendos. He relished in the feeling of accomplishment he got when your cheeks turned a shade of red that’s bordering on purple. He loved how you would often try to swat him away to try and distract him from your burning cheeks. But always one step ahead, your wrists would end up clasped in one of his hands, giving him the opportunity to pull you into his chest and to slot you in between his arms and his torso.

“Did you have a good day?” You asked, knowing how this morning he had been complaining about how tiring doing constant press can be. You cringed even at the thought of having to spend hours on end being happy, polite and sociable. Instead of arranging to meet people on your day off you had instead opted to stay at home in the comfort of your own bed. Did you regret it? Not at all.

He dropped his head so it was tucked into where your neck and shoulder met. He groaned against your skin.

“Babe it was so boring, I swear they ask me the same five questions every interview” His body tensed against yours as he spoke. You let your fingers roam to the base of his neck to tug gently on the smaller hairs which he would happily let you play with for hours. He hummed, the tension that had previously been building was diffused almost instantly as your hands worked their magic on his scalp.

“Will you have a nap with me?” He murmured into your shoulder. Your eyes found the small digital clock on your bedside table and you frowned.

“Shawn, it’s only five o’clock” Confusion laced your words at your boyfriend’s peculiar request.

“Is that a yes?” When you didn’t reply straight away his head raised up from your shoulder, his drooping eyes scanning your facial expressions. You let out a large sigh, which he took as an affirmative answer and started pulling the covers back from the space next to you, your eyes admiring the way his arms tensed and relaxed as he did so, you may or may not have drooled a tiny bit. When he was content that there was now enough free space for him to occupy he began to shift his weight off you and onto the mattress. You shook yourself out of your Shawn-induced coma.

“What do you think you’re doing?” You said, pulling at his belt loops to stop him from lying on the bed in the clothes he had been wearing all day.

“Lying on the bed so I can nap?” He said, unsure of why you had stopped him from doing so.

“Not in your clothes you’re not” He raised an eyebrow at your comment. You reviewed your sentence in your head and groaned when you heard the suggestiveness of your words. You leant over the edge of the bed, smiling lightly to yourself when you felt his large hand tighten securely around your waist as you leant down. “Just put your pyjamas on and be quiet”

“But I’m tired” He whined. You sighed again, refraining from shaking your head or scoffing at his childlike behaviour.

“Well what do you want me to do about it?” You asked, however Shawn misinterpreted the rhetorical part of your question – or he knew but decided to ignore it anyway.

“Can you put my pyjamas on?” You raised your eyebrows, not sure if he was joking or being serious – you weren’t quite sure which one you hoped it was. “Please” He half whined half wailed, giving his award winning puppy dog eyes, a small pout forming on his very lips.

You snatched the soft, cotton material from his hands. “Fine” you huffed slightly, begrudgingly pushing the comforter off your body and crawling on top of it. You hissed at the drastic change in temperature, the hairs on your body raising at the sudden contrast.

“You okay honey?” Shawn whispered, one of his hands moved up your leg and squeezed your thigh. The unintentional shiver that travelled up your spine certainly wasn’t from the cold.

“Yeh m’good” You murmured, your hands reaching to undo his belt, which, thanks to a lot of practice, didn’t take long. You slid his jeans down his long legs, fumbling to get them off his ankles, much to Shawn’s amusement. After climbing off the bed to tug the tight jeans over his ankles, you grabbed the sweats and positioned yourself, once again, at his ankles. However Shawn had dug his heels into the mattress so you were unable to pull them up his legs.

You glared at him, growing colder and colder every single second you weren’t in your bed. He chuckled.

“You know I don’t sleep in my underwear honey” He smirked whilst facing the ceiling, he had you exactly where he wanted you, he had expected from the start that you would’ve left him in his boxers. But what he didn’t expect was to feel your nimble fingers tug at the elastic band at the top of his underwear before slowly pulling them down his thick thighs, just like you had done with his jeans. His breath hitched in his throat as his eyes flickered down to watch you as your digits ran down from his hips, narrowly missing his length. His Adams apple jumped as he swallowed thickly, willing himself to calm down, after all, he asked for it in the first place.

However your eyes never left his, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing you blatantly staring at him. Instead you enjoyed watching the pained expression on his face morph into one of embarrassment as he noticed you observing his obvious signs of frustration at your movements. The flush on his cheeks spreading down his neck and underneath the collar of his shirt.

You smirked at him as you flung is boxers across the room and slid the sweats up his toned legs. Which you managed to do with ease considering his mind was occupied on thoughts that he was desperately trying to get rid of, instead of him being focused on not letting you put his clothes on.

“You alright there?” You teased, a soft giggle leaving your lips when he sent you a half-assed glare.

“Hmm, no thanks to you” He replied whilst sitting up. You watched him in anticipation as he reached down, your eyes following his hands avidly as they settled at the bottom of his polo shirt, his fingers danced across the hem of his shirt before pulling it up and over his head. You marvelled at his physique, not caring whether or not he caught you.

You squealed as his hands wrapped under your armpits and he dragged you up the bed and laid you down beside him. You peppered kisses across his face - kisses which he enthusiastically returned. To him, your laughter was contagious, and within mere minutes you were both giggling messes.

His bursts of laughter calmed down, however the beaming smile still remained in his eyes. “C’mon, let’s go to sleep” You nodded, wrapping your arm around him as he moved to lay on him back, snuggling your head into his chest. The rhythm that Shawn’s chest rose and fell to became slower, signalling that he would be drifting off to sleep anytime soon.

“You do realize this means I won’t be able to get to sleep tonight?” You murmured, you smiled into his skin as you felt his arm pull you thigh up over his legs.

“I guess you can say I have a habit for keeping you up all night” You didn’t need to look at him to see the smirk that would be adorning his face, you could hear it in his voice from the sheer smugness of his tone. You glanced up anyways, and sure enough your prediction was right.

“You’re such a dick” You whispered. Shawn lowered his head to look at you. You saw the cheeky glint in his eyes, hinting that there was still more where that came from.

“Is that a compliment honey because you seem to like mine” That was all it took for your cheeks to heat up. His hand swiftly moved up to your cheek, capturing your face in his hand before you could bury it away from his view.

“You’re never gonna stop are you?” You asked, already knowing the answer.

He brushed the pad of his thumb against your bright red cheek, his eyes following the path it took, analysing every feature of your face.

“Nope”

Master and Apprentice | by Claudia Gray I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO START TALKING ABOUT THIS, largely because there’s so, so much context that’s going into the bigger picture of the book, like starting with Qui-Gon’s whole spiel about how the Jedi Council doesn’t like anyone who disagrees with them, they only want people who lick their boots, then smash cut to two seconds later, they’re asking him to join precisely BECAUSE they value his different view on things, that they want more diversity. Then he starts becoming obsessed with these prophecies, he’s having visions that he can’t explain, and he literally snaps at Obi-Wan asking the mildest of questions, because it’s very clear that he’s defensive about not being able to explain all of this, but people should just trust him anyway, despite that he has no faith in them in return, when they don’t automatically agree with him. So then there’s this conversation and it’s so incredibly hypocritical that, even knowing what a huge fan the author is of the character, I cannot believe is not meant to be taken with the bigger picture being painted about how Qui-Gon Jinn is not a reliable narrator and also is very much on purpose being written as a huge hypocrite, because here’s the situation: Qui-Gon believes that the Jedi should go be back country farmers to work with small villages and connect with the Force, that this will ~somehow~ lead to them being able to do more to help people.  In other words:  Completely and utterly ignoring that politics aren’t just an annoying thing that the Council cares too much about but that they exist for a reason. Because, let’s say the Jedi did pull back from what small political influence they had?  How exactly are they supposed to have the authority to help people then?  Should they just go rogue instead?  Because that’s a spectacularly bad idea, not even just that the galaxy already doesn’t trust them because they fear their inherent abilities, but also because then they would band together and take down the Jedi real fast. But also it’s illustrated with EVERYTHING THAT RAEL AVERROSS IS DOING, he’s given a position where he actually can affect change on Pijal--though, he’s failing it in another spectacular illustration of just why attachment is bad, because he’s throwing away millions of lives for the sake of how much he cares ONLY about Princess Fanry--precisely because he’s a Jedi and they have worked within the political arena to some degree.  They work with the system and can actually do some good. Qui-Gon wants to ignore the law and just do what HE wants?  Because there’s an ENTIRE SUB-PLOT about him becoming obsessed with the prophecies and he’s no longer seeing things clearly, that he does ~what the Force wills him to do~, except because he’s stopped listening to anyone who disagrees with him (he literally snaps at Obi-Wan for the mildest of questions about how, well, are you sure about this, because your vision seems to very conveniently support what you want it to support?) and so he has no oversight and we’re whipping right back to Rael Averross being an example of how a Jedi needs to keep their shit together, needs to keep themselves in check, needs to listen not just to what they think the Force is telling them (because Qui-Gon may be right about a Chosen One, but boy does that sure fuck up the galaxy when Anakin fucks it up during ROTS, as George Lucas says, he defies his Fate, so the wheels Qui-Gon is putting into motion here are literally going to burn the galaxy down, MAYBE HE SHOULD BE TAKING A LITTLE MORE CARE??) because ALSO, there’s this whole bit about how, “Look, I know I misinterpreted my vision, but I was MEANT to misinterpret it, now I’m very sure of the new conclusion I’ve reached, HOW DARE YOU NOT BELIEVE ME.” in addition to, look, if something’s meant to come to pass, why do you have to be obsessed with making it happen? So, when Yoda says it’s not just about the people of Pijal, but it’s also about the other worlds that are starving in isolation, we have to work within the system to change the treaty, to create as much good as we can, Qui-Gon’s mad because it doesn’t just let him go rogue and do whatever he wants.  He has to answer to laws and rules, but he doesn’t want to actually do any work to change those laws and rules, he just wants to ignore them. But the absolute real kicker is:  Qui-Gon argues that the Jedi should be unchaining themselves from the corrupt Republic and just doing whatever they think is right.  He believes the Jedi are corrupt in the same way, that they’re not helping people by just doing what they think is right, instead working within the system. And then, when presented with a scenario where he could just go do EXACTLY AS HE BELIEVES IS RIGHT, he... doesn’t.  He doesn’t go rogue and free all the slaves on Pijal.  He doesn’t leave the Jedi, even though it’s explicitly clear that he knows he can.  He could go do all the things he’s so mad that they’re not doing, BUT HE DOESN’T.  HE DOESN’T DO SHIT ABOUT IT. Why?  Because, I think, deep inside, Qui-Gon knows that going rogue isn’t actually going to help a lot of people.  The ratio of Jedi to people in the galaxy is something like one in 20 BILLION.  One Jedi for 20 billion people.  And if they went rogue, if they just took over everything, then that’s a bad, bad road to go down, they even say so right there in the book, that would be WAY more than they should EVER do, that much controlling over other people.  That the only way to effect significant change is to do so from within the system and that sometimes it means you have to make some less than perfect choices.  Especially when there’s a bigger picture and twenty other things to consider rather than just this ONE specific thing you’re focused on.   (And this is why, despite that I don’t think it was intentional, Queen’s Shadow is an amazing complement to this book, in showing how the Republic made that incredibly difficult to achieve.) Qui-Gon offers no alternatives to what they should be doing, offers no reasonable solutions about how to not just go rogue or just take over and force themselves on the Republic as their rulers, and doesn’t even follow his own beliefs when he has the chance.  He shows no trust in his fellow Jedi, not even Obi-Wan, he keeps things from him multiple times, he doesn’t explain much to him, he gets mad when Obi-Wan doesn’t see things his way, then turns around and believes the worst of them even when they specifically value his different mindset, he still believes that they don’t have any faith in him. I know I’m being hard on Qui-Gon in this post, but I genuinely appreciate his character here, that this is the first time in a long time I’ve found myself interested in Qui-Gon Jinn and while, yes, he’s being an incredible hypocrite and kind of a real dickbag here, that doesn’t mean I think he’s a bad person.  I think he’s very much a good, kind, caring, compassionate person, someone who is coming from a good place, but that he’s angry that the galaxy doesn’t work the way he wants it to and refuses to compromise.  That he wants the Jedi to work the way he wants them to work, and when presented with reasons why that’s actually a really bad idea, he doesn’t like hearing it and falls back on a tunnel-visioned point that ignores bigger context, because it’s what he wants to do. Like, yes, absolutely, SLAVERY IS SUPER BAD, but the solution is not to charge in there with lightsabers blazing and ignore the political fallout that’s going to make millions of innocent people suffer.  Like, what’s the entire point of "helping” if it’s just going to make people suffer?  The point is to actually help people, as many as you can, to alleviate as much suffering as possible, and Qui-Gon’s not actually focused on that at all here. And, like, if you ignore context, it seems like Yoda doesn’t care about slaves, but that’s twisting what he’s saying.  What he’s saying is that there’s an even bigger picture going on here, millions more lives are on the line here, and if you ignore that, then a whole lot more people are going to suffer.  That these things DO NOT EXIST IN ISOLATION, no matter how much you want to ignore that inconvenient fact.  But, well:

And, as cute as that line is, as much as you can find clever solutions to things that weren’t technically in your mandate, no, the bigger picture facts didn’t change and Qui-Gon did nothing to attempt that.

Ok but the real question is how would Kaveh and Ratio interact, because while Ratio is very similar to Alhaitham, they do have some notible differences.

Like he does seem to be more altruistic than Ahaitham in a sense (like his main goal is to help people learn, while haitham's is to just lead a simple life), also Ratio seems to have more appreciation for arts (at least I think) and I can see Kaveh getting alone with with him in that sense.

On the other hand I can also see Kaveh just not vibing with his personality or his methods. Either way i feel like a conversation between the two would be interesting to watch... even if theres a good chance I wouldn't understand half of what they're saying

(Aslo there's a good chance i got some of Dr. Ratio's characterization wrong, haven't exactly had the same amount of time to dissecte his character as we have with Kaveh & Alhaitham, so I could have missed something or misinterpreted it)

dr ratio shares some similarities to haitham regarding some traits (extremely intelligent, self centered, confident, a buff scholar etc) but is different. he gets angry or aggressive often when faced with ignorance or smth he regards as stupid; the most emotion (not counting azar scene) i heard of haitham being slightly pissy is the one time in aaru village when he told dehya to stop yelling AHHAHA (i just love how he says it, hes so cute ugh)

ratio detests ignorance and stupidity but not bc he thinks of himself as smth better but bc he sees those as illnesses dulling ppls minds and he wants to cure it by sharing his knowledge with the universe.

haitham and ratio both want ppl to use their brains yes, but haitham doesnt rlly care about educating ppl (in fact he doesnt rlly care about anything unless it directly affects him, seeing that he doesnt even bother correcting ppls mistakes or false claims unless it will trouble him. this is just connected to his philosophy tho, prioritizing/taking care of himself first, not meddling and believing that it would cause much less problems in general and lead to simpler lives if everyone else would do the same. its not that he doesnt care bc he hates ppl. hes asocial, not antisocial)

so yes, while haitham doesnt care about ppl and their intellectual level (yall remember how he picked books that are easy and interesting for paimon to read in his last birthday mail? my heart still gets warm aaa) ratio detests "stupidity" (not ppl or "stupid ppl") as he regards it as a disease; so much so that he wears that mask so he doesnt have to look at it. hes a professor wanting to educate ppl like a doctor wanting to cure an illness. he believes that intellect and creativity isnt smth only geniuses have but for everyone and everyone can reach higher intellectual levels if they educate themselves enough and learn how to use their brains, if they lose their ignorance.

this is the impression i got tho with the bits we have!! ofc i can be wrong with what i think.

anw ratios philosophy/goals are grander than haithams; it certainly isnt bc ratios such a good man who wants to educate the universe tho (i just know hes a mean prof u dont wanna disappoint), its just bc he wants to get rid of that which he regards as illness. i think its more egoistical reasons there, bro doesnt want to taint his eyes any more or smth

anw i think esp with the line about him believing that "intellect and creativity isnt confined to geniuses", and the appreciation for good arts, him and kaveh meeting would be very interesting. also they get angered so fast its funny

August’s Featured Game: Shroom Soup

DEVELOPER(S): Shroomy ENGINE: RPGMaker 2000 GENRE: Adventure, RPG, Psychological Horror WARNINGS: listed here (may contain spoilers) SUMMARY: You play as Arnika, a gloomy teenage girl. Perpetually tired, you live off excessive sleep, lime juice, and instant soup. You look into the vortex forming in your cup of said soup, this time mushroom flavour. Next thing you know, you are in an entirely different world where everything, from buildings to people, is being devoured by fungi. It seems like you have no choice but to walk on... Your journey involves exploration, puzzle-solving and battles.

Download the demo here!

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! Hello! I am Shroomy, and I still haven't figured out which one of my nicknames I should go by, but I use "uboaappears" for art and "toxic shroom swamp" for games. I have a bachelor's degree in biology since two weeks ago and like everything surreal, gory and gay. Nice to meet you. I have been in the community since about 2012, and that might be also when I first wanted to make a game - a Yume Nikki fangame, because YN brought me here. I messed around with the engine for a long time, and certain characters and ideas gradually mutated to whatever this is now.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Shroomy: It's about making a cup of instant soup and accidentally going on a very weird adventure. ...Okay, actually, it's a coming-of-age story with an emphasis on mental health, relationships, and toxic flesh-eating mushrooms. The idea came to me when I made myself an instant soup once. For some reason, I thought it would be cool if there was a portal into another world in the cup. That's how it started. (I was also into drawing mushrooms growing on people at the time, so that naturally made its way into my Awesome Game Idea.)

How long have you been working on your project? *Shroomy: ...A while. It's enough to say that I graduated from both high school and university with it. But to be honest, I didn't really do much with it until about two years ago. Right now I tend to think of the time before that as trial and error, playing around with ideas and learning to use the engine. I feel a little self-conscious about how long it took me to come up with a coherent story, but that might be a good thing. Since this is quite a personal game, it helped to grow as a person. I think it made for a more interesting and mature work than it would be otherwise.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Shroomy: I feel like I take little bits of inspirations from everything. But I'd say Yume Nikki and Re:Kinder were the biggest game influences. Maybe Hello Charlotte, too - the minimalistic world gave me some food for thought :> Design-wise, I think my current (character) style is a lovechild of Danganronpa, Killing Stalking and something else I am not sure about. Maybe just me.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Shroomy: I think the biggest challenges for me have always been centered around the lack of free time, the lack of energy or the lack of motivation. Some people manage to juggle life and gamedev, but I get exhausted really easily, so it's hard. This is an ongoing issue. I tend to try and free up a day just for relaxing and creative stuff. I've also started using the Forest app for focusing on things, and sometimes use it for gamedev as well. At the beginning I found it frustrating that my skills (in pixel art, for example) didn't match what I wanted to create. That one was improved by - you guessed it - making a lot of pixel art. Making and scrapping a bunch of tilesets for the game. It's as simple as practice and learning how to get the most out of your art program. (It also helps me to make a detailed sketch of a map before I start working, or at least brainstorm the main elements of it.) Another challenge was the incoherence of the story. Originally I wanted to make something really vague and open to interpretation, but... that actually didn't give me enough material to work with. In the end, I played around with the characters, tried to write them some backstories that no one was going to see, and somehow ended up with an actual plot..? Shocking, I know! And the final thing is putting gameplay into the game. To be honest, the puzzles in the demo were pretty random on my side, I just thought them up on the spot. In subsequent locations I tried to make them relevant to the game's themes and/or hint towards the story.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Shroomy: For one thing, the current project has a story and a plan, even if the story is presented in quite an obfuscated way. The original concept was not much more than an idea of a shroomy world. The characters also have a lot more depth and pain to them than they used to. The locations have changed a lot as well, to the point where most of the original ones don't exist anymore.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Shroomy: My team is mostly just me. At the beginning it was a young and naive me, and now we have a slightly older and better-at-art me. After I started my dev blog, I was contacted by Tommuel, who now helps me with sound design and music. And my old friend Robin has made a few NPC sprites for me, and might give a hand with more pixel art in the future. They're not really involved with other aspects of development, but I really appreciate their help anyway! I prefer to keep most of this game to myself - it feels too personal to share, plus I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

What is the best part of developing the game? *Shroomy: I would say it's putting my work out there and sharing it with the world. I'm also really proud of how much I've grown as an artist and writer through developing this. I got attached to this story and this world, with all of its fun, weird and sad details. It's also been really fun, amazing even, to get to know other devs and make friends through being part of this interesting and creative community. I owe some wonderful friendships to it.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Shroomy: I definitely play other games for inspiration, it helps me a lot. Though I try not to make things "just like" other games, but make it a transformative learning experience instead.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Shroomy: I feel like I have been through stages. At first I was Arnika, then Lina, now I feel like I'm turning into Arthur. I guess I put my traits into all of them. (Does that mean that Bernard is the next stage? I'm /so/ ready to transcend humanity, finally learn how to do maths and become everyone's favourite character.)

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Shroomy: I think the biggest mistake I made was jumping straight into making a game without thinking it through or considering the scope. In the end, the lack of planning set me back a lot. Admittedly, I was young and excitable, so I guess it was a learning experience? I didn't really know how to write stories or plan long-term projects, but over time, I somehow built up those skills. I think it's good to have a clear-ish idea of what you want to make before you start, and maybe start with something small. (So basically, do the opposite of what I did.)

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Shroomy: Aha. Actually, yes. I have accidentally started writing two sequels already. They will be small games focusing on other characters' perspectives (as opposed to Arnika). I'm not actually touching them yet though, only making some notes and writing scripts. Perhaps by the time the first game is released I'll have enough material to comfortably work on them.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Shroomy: Fan reaction, I think? To be honest, I'm not really sure. I think I'll just be enjoying the incredible dopamine rush after finally setting this child of mine free to explore the world and infect people's brains with all the shroomy memes it contains. (Also will probably get off the internet for about a week from the anxiety.) Then maybe being free to work on other things, indeed. And posting spoilery concept art >:D

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Shroomy: I am a little worried about the reception of the game's subject matter. If you looked at the list of warnings, you might have an idea what I mean. Sometimes it feels dangerous to explore certain themes in your stories, because people misinterpret depicting something bad as promoting it, for example. But that's why that list exists. I'm just going to let people know straight away that I explore dark themes in this project and I'm not going to hold back on how I do it. Creativity should flow freely, I think. (I am also a little worried about the ratio of my free time vs. gamedev time and /when/ I will finally be able to release it, but... Thankfully, I'm the one in charge of that.)

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Shroomy: Take some time to make a plan for your project, start small, fail faster, and aim for something finished before you aim for perfect. Make a system for organising your files. Back up often, and on a different drive/cloud than your game is on, preferably several. Most of all, make something you would love to play! And don't be too hard on yourself.

Question from last month's featured dev @blackcrystalsrpg: What are your game dev pet peeves?? *Shroomy: I dislike the fact that sometimes I want to have made a game more than I want to make a game, but to have made a game you need to go and make the game. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But there's no escape from fate, so... go, go and make that game happen!

We mods would like to thank Shroomy for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Shroom Soup if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum

Well, I saw some information about experiments conducted showing that the ether was proven to be non-existent. Could be kind enough to explain why you think it the ether does exist? And if so, what do you think about it & its properties as well as its purpose? Thanks (: Any misinterpretation please let me know and pardon me for it.

You’re all good man thanks for being cool. I’ll answer the best I can, and since this page is dedicated to Tesla I like to share quotes from him to argue his points. He can better explain it than I can. But hope you’re ready for a somewhat long one.

Anyways, it is well known that light travels at the same speed (186,300 miles per second) regardless of the source (ex. the sun emits light at the same speed as a light bulb does). The ether was theorized because light travels at a constant, but limited speed, so there must be some substance that light travels through limiting its speed. Even Einstein road the ether train but threw the ether out after the Micheleson-Morley experiment (which you might be referring to) in 1887 was performed by two physicists who tried to prove the existence of the ether by splitting a beam of light into different directions, bouncing the two beams off mirrors, and recombining them back at their split point, then towards a detector. The hope was to look at the pattern interference in the beams recombination to measure any change in speed to determine the “ether’s wind” which the light was supposed to travel through (like when you’re driving on the interstate and there’s wind resistance). The experiment failed because the two beams of light reached the detector at the same time and showed no sign of a substance having any effect on the light. This lead to the conclusion that there is no ether and the speed of light is constant no matter what direction it goes.

But a similar experiment that gets ignored is the Sagnac Experiment performed in 1913. Pretty much the same experiment, but with a added rotation. This experiment showed that there was a delay in the light travel, unlike in the Michealesen-Morley experiment, and that the light returned to the detector at different times. Now I’m not saying this is definite proof against relativity, but the experimenters purpose of the demonstration was to show that there was indeed an ether that Einstein had discarded.

But back to Tesla…

“The fascination of the electro-magnetic theory of light, advanced by Maxwell and subsequently experimentally investigated by Hertz, was so great that even now, although controverted, the scientific minds are under its sway. This theory supposed the existence of a medium which was solid, yet permitted bodies to pass through it without resistance; tenuous beyond conception, and yet, according to some, one thousand times denser than platinum. According to our conceptions of mechanical principles and ages of experience, such a medium was absolutely impossible. Nevertheless, light was considered essentially a phenomenon bound up in that kind of a medium; namely, one capable of transmitting transverse vibrations like a solid.

“It is true that many scientific minds envisaged the theory of a gaseous ether, but it was rejected again and again because in such a medium longitudinal waves would be propagated with infinite velocity. Lord Kelvin conceived the so-called contractile ether, possessing properties which would result in a finite velocity of longitudinal waves. In 1885, however, an academic dissertation was published by Prof. De Volson Wood, an American, at a Hoboken institution, which dealt with a gaseous ether in which the elasticity, density and specific heat were determined with rare academic elegance. But, so far, everything pertaining to the subject was purely theoretical.”

“What, then, can light be if it is not a transverse vibration?

“I consider this extremely important. Light cannot be anything else but a longitudinal disturbance in the ether, involving alternate compressions and rarefactions. In other words, light can be nothing else than a sound wave in the ether.”

“This appears clearly if it is first realized that, there being no Maxwellian ether, there can be no transverse oscillation in the medium.”

The Newtonian theory is in error, because it fails entirely in not being able to explain how a small candle can project particles with the same speed as the blazing sun, which has an immensely higher temperature. We have made sure by experiment that light propagates with the same velocity irrespective of the character of the source. Such constancy of velocity can only be explained by assuming that it is dependent solely on the physical properties of the medium, especially density and elastic force.”

–Nikola Tesla

“Tesla Sees Evidence Radio and Light Are Sound.” New York Times, April 8, 1934.

And here’s Tesla’s proof of the ether…

“When Dr. Heinrich Hertz undertook his experiments from 1887 to 1889 his object was to demonstrate a theory postulating a medium filling all space, called the ether, which was structureless, of inconceivable tenuity and yet solid and possessed of rigidity incomparably greater than that of the hardest steel. He obtained certain results and the whole world acclaimed them as an experimental verification of that cherished theory. But in reality what he observed tended to prove just its fallacy.

“I had maintained for many years before that such a medium as supposed could not exist, and that we must rather accept the view that all space is filled with a gaseous substance. On repeating the Hertz experiments with much improved and very powerful apparatus, I satisfied myself that what he had observed was nothing else but effects of longitudinal waves in a gaseous medium, that is to say, waves, propagated by alternate compression and expansion. He had observed waves in the ether much of the nature of sound waves in the air.

“Up to 1896, however, I did not succeed in obtaining a positive experimental proof of the existence of such a medium. But in that year I brought out a new form of vacuum tube capable of being charged to any desired potential, and operated it with effective pressures of about 4,000,000 volts. I produced cathodic and other rays of transcending intensity. The effects, according to my view, were due to minute particles of matter carrying enormous electrical charges, which, for want of a better name, I designated as matter not further decomposable. Subsequently those particles were called electrons.

“One of the first striking observations made with my tubes was that a purplish glow for several feet around the end of the tube was formed, and I readily ascertained that it was due to the escape of the charges of the particles as soon as they passed out into the air; for it was only in a nearly perfect vacuum that these charges could be confined to them. *The coronal discharge proved that there must be a medium besides air in the space, composed of particles immeasurably smaller than those of air, as otherwise such a discharge would not be possible. On further investigation I found that this gas was so light that a volume equal to that of the earth would weigh only about one-twentieth of a pound.*

“The velocity of any sound wave depends on a certain ratio between elasticity and density, and for this ether or universal gas the ratio is 800,000,000,000 times greater than for air. This means that the velocity of the sound waves propagated through the ether is about 300,000 times greater than that of the sound waves in air, which travel at approximately 1,085 feet a second.  Consequently the speed in ether is 900,000 x 1,085 feet, or 186,000 miles, and that is the speed of light.

“As the waves of this kind are all the more penetrative the shorter they are, I have for years urged the wireless experts to use such waves in order to get good results, but it took a long time before they settled upon this practice.

“Although the world is still skeptical as to the feasibility of my undertaking, I note that some advanced experts, at least, share my views, and I hope that before long wireless power transmission will be as common as transmission by wires.”

–Nikola Tesla

“Nikola Tesla Tells of New Radio Theories.” New York Herald Tribune, September 22, 1929.

That was Tesla’s experimental proof and the math all adds up. The above is how he developed his Ether Wave Theory and based his wireless transmission of energy off this theory. He used shorter electromagnetic waves and urged other radio experts to do the same. This is why our wireless technology today is so advanced.

Now for the ether purpose…

“Long ago he recognized that all perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, of a tenuity beyond conception and filling all space–the Akasha or luminiferous ether–which is acted upon by the life-giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never ending cycles, all things and phenomena.

“The primary substance, thrown into infinitesimal whirls of prodigious velocity, becomes gross matter; the force subsiding, the motion ceases and matter disappears, reverting to the primary substance.

“Can Man control this grandest, most awe-inspiring of all processes in nature? Can he harness her inexhaustible energies to perform all their functions at his bidding, more still–can he so refine his means of control as to put them in operation simply by the force of his will?

“If he could do this he would have powers almost unlimited and supernatural. At his command, with but a slight effort on his part, old worlds would disappear, and new ones of his planning would spring into being.

“He could fix, solidify and preserve the ethereal shapes of his imagining, the fleeting visions of his dreams. He could express all the creations of his mind, on any scale, in forms concrete and imperishable.

“He could alter the size of this planet, control its seasons, guide it along any path he might choose through the depths of the Universe.

“He could make planets collide and produce his suns and starts, his heat and light. He could originate and develop life in all its infinite forms.

“To create and to annihilate material substance, cause it to aggregate​ forms according to his desire, would be the supreme manifestation of the power of Man’s mind, his most complete triumph over the physical world, his crowning achievement which would place him beside his Creator and fulfill his ultimate destiny.”

–Nikola Tesla

“Man’s Greatest Achievement.” San Antonio Sunday Light, San Antonio, Texas, July 20, 1930.