#I primarily use it to keep up with the update accounts and see what the CCs are up to | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cnovelartreblogs · 2 years

Text

How to Read Manhua on Bilibili: Legal, Free, and in English

In my posts on this blog, I keep sharing screen caps from manhua I've read on Bilibili, along with the link to read it yourself, but I know:

This blog doesn't have all that many followers.

It's one thing for me to post the link and quite another for people to realize just how easy this is to do.

Considering how often I see English-speaking MXTX/c-novel/c-drama/donghua fandom peeps screaming and begging for more content, I'm now begging you in return:

STOP SLEEPING ON THE BILIBILI APP!

If you want more danmei content, fully legal, entirely free, already translated, you literally c.a.n.n.o.t. do better than using the Bilibili app to read manhua. That's not to say this is a perfect method - their translations are...um...wanting sometimes? (Shout out to the four pages in a row I recently read where someone broke in to a residence and every time the breaker-inner was mentioned they were called "the intrud") But it's still ALL THERE, FOR US, ANYTIME, and the more eyes the manhua in the apps gets, the more content we'll get, so please, PLEASE, if you're out there thirsting for danmei content, DO THIS.

Wondering how?

Well, I've got you covered.

WAY 1: The Bilibili Manhua Website

I know I said "get the app" but honestly you don't even need an app to do this! You can read on Bilibili using any web browser.

The website is Bilibilicomics.com.

It looks like this:

Yes, you're reading that right: there's an entire section of BL.

There's also an entire section of GL!

There are 38 titles in GL and 121 titles, yes ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE titles, in BL.

AND there's het stuff, and non-romance stuff too!

New episodes general come out weekly or biweekly, though a few things are daily. The website is often a few chapters ahead of the app (which I actually didn't realize until just now - Chapter 55 of Legend of Exorcism, for example, came out today on the app, but it lists 60 episodes as available on the website. Which, considering the cliffhanger I just read... *eyes emoji*...though apparently in other cases there are more chapters on the app than on the website, so ymmv.)

The best-known title available (again: FOR FREE. OFFICIALLY. LEGALLY. IN ENGLISH) is Tian Guan Ci Fu. When you go to a specific title's page, you get this...

...and reading it is as simple as selecting the chapter you want, clicking it, and et voila! Just scroll down and read to your heart's content!!

NOTE: SOME CHAPTERS WILL HAVE WAIT TIMES. More on this shortly.

WAY 2: The Bilibili App for Android

I personally have been reading primarily from the Android app, since I have a Samsung Galaxy phone and a lot of time sprawled on my couch while my kids watch cartoons.

You can download the app from the Play store - here's a link, for what that's worth.

It looks, essentially, like this (I'm logged in so mine looks a little different than non-logged-in, I made an account even tho you don't actually need one):

If you don't want to make an account, you don't have to. If you choose to, as you see it'll try to guess what other titles you might like. tbh I have no idea how good these recommendations may be; I'm still reading/catching up on the specific titles I wanted to read so I haven't had to try their recommendations yet. But, there's definitely some stuff that looks interesting (that top middle one definitely looks up my alley...)

You can also "favorite" things (again: EVEN WITHOUT AN ACCOUNT) and it'll store them in your library and make a red dot (like you can see on the above screen cap) when something has an update you haven't read yet. For example, here's my Favorite list, which helps me keep track of what I'm reading and enjoying (or, well, in one case I'm more "wtfing" than "enjoying" but hey that still counts).

There's even a weird, like, "dress up" side game??? So like, every chapter you read there's a chance the app will drop a "card" and you can use the cards to dress your avatar up, and there's a whole crafting system built in? It's. A little odd. But, considering I recently quit my Love Nikki addiction after 3+ years, it's nice to get a small hit of pointless dress up.

Yes, my avatar is currently wearing San Lang's shirt.

The point is, again: this app is free to download, and incredibly easy to use, and even has a fun pointless side game.

BUT. There is one "but" here. See the Coins: 0 Top Up right below my randomly assigned username?

There is an optional pay system. What does it do? It reduces wait times.

Some titles, but not ALL, have a "built in delay" that kicks in at some point. On some, it seems to start when you're "within 5 chapters of the most recent" (that's what's happened with Global Examination and TGCF, for example). For others, it seems to be arbitrary - for A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost, it kicked in at chapter 40 even tho there are, like, 80 something chapters up. Regardless, it always works the same.

The system functions using wait times, and it has 5 tiers that are always the same.

Tier 1: You must wait one minute before you can read the next chapter. This tier is rarely an issue; the count down sometimes (but not always??? it's weird) starts when you start a new chapter, and it almost always takes more than one minute to read a full chapter, so this tier is often "satisfied" before you even get to the next chapter.

Tier 2: You must wait six minutes before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 3: You must wait one hour before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 4: You must wait six hours before you can read the next chapter.

Tier 5: You must wait twenty-four hours before you can read the next chapter.

I initially thought this system functioned as "once you reach Tier 5, you're just stuck there and can only read a chapter a day" but it's turned out that's not the case - A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost having 40+ semi-locked chapters has given me the chance to actually test this a bit. In fact, what happens is:

The first time you hit a "wait delay" chapter, it puts you at Tier 1 and you have to wait a minute. The next chapter, you up to Tier 2, the next to Tier 3, then Tier 4, then Tier 5...and then it cycles back to Tier 1. So, with a little care and planning (which I almost always fail at) I can time reading something with many wait-delayed chapters such that I can read 5 chapters in one day, then I have to wait a full day, then I can read 5 more chapters.

Here's how it looks when you've done your waiting in purgatory and can now read on...

...and here's how it looks when the sad trombones play...

Now, I mentioned I'd circle back to the coins? THE TIME HAS COME! Because, look - for 17 coins, you can read on instantly!! Alternatively, if you're willing to share on social media, you can also skip (I have no if that's something you can do over and over, or just once, cause I haven't tried - you can skip the wait time once for free). This begs the question, then...is 17 coins a lot?

And the answer is...

...eh not really, no. Ten bucks will get you the ability to pay 17 coins many, many times (58, to be precise), but honestly? I haven't spent a penny yet and I've caught up on 7 different titles and am steadily reading through two more (one of which hasn't had wait times kick in yet, I just can only read so fast).

All of which is to say: yes, there's a pay system, and tbh, I'm probably going to throw them a few bucks not because I care about the wait times but because I'm getting so much enjoyment out of reading these titles and I want to support them a little (I also bought the print version of the TGCF vol. 1 and will likely buy the other volumes, and I once-upon-a-time paid to watch TGCF s. 1 streaming as they came out). With a little patience there is absolutely zero call for spending even one penny to read as much of this cornucopia as you want.

WAY 3: Download the Bilibili App on Apple

I don't have access to an iPhone and don't feel like grabbing my tablet rn and I've hit the Tumblr image limit anyway, but the Apple app looks about the same as the Android app, and you can download it HERE.

Basically: use the website, or download the app for whichever platform you're using, and READ, READ, READ!

So, what is there to read?

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!

(okay, cutting to a read more)

I've been reading on the app pretty regularly for like two months (prior to that I was only reading TGCF, and only when I remembered, which was rarely), but I'm juggling a lot AND reading other stuff too so I am far from having explored the wide range of options. I can, however, highlight a few I think are likely to be of interest to a danmei-reading audience. Note that of these, I've only read the novels for TGCF, TYQHM, and Daomu Biji, which means that I only know as far as the manhuas have covered for the rest - I haven't read farther than that yet.

A. Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. The one, the only - this is the official manhua with art by Starember. It tells the story of newly ascended god Xie Lian trying to navigate the intricacies of the heavenly bureaucracy, figure out his place in the world, and understand why a sexy guy in red keeps showing up in his life. (Worst synopsis ever award goes to: ME!). The English translation is currently on episode 77, which has Xie Lian and Hua Cheng in the gambler's den. A volume just ended, which means it's on hiatus temporarily - there's usually a month or two break between volumes - so it'll be back soon!

B. Global Examination by Mu Su Li. Based on the book Global University Entrance Examination, featuring art by E Zi. Global Examination is a story set in a dystopian near-future about a world where groups of people are randomly selected (read: kidnapped and forced) to participate in an "exam" where they have to answer extremely complex puzzles. If they succeed, they get to live and become one of the people who administer the exam. If they fail, they die. Despite the premise sounding dark, it's really not been so bad and I've been reassured it won't become so. The story itself focuses on You Huo, a recently selected examinee with amnesia, the other people in his examinee group, and Examiner 001, who clearly has some kind of history with You Huo. If only he didn't also have amnesia, we might even know what that history is...

C. Dinghai Fusheng Records and Legend of Exorcism, both based on the books of the same names written by Fei Tian Ye Xiang. The art for Dinghai Fusheng Records is by Qianerbai (who has also done a lot of work for the Mo Dao Zu Shi audio drama) and for Legend of Exorcism, it's by Warp. These stories are set in the same 'verse, at least several hundred years apart; it's a xianxia high-fantasy setting, and the main enemies are resentment monsters and demons (...or are they? dun dun duuuun). Dinghai Fusheng Records takes place, chronologically, first, and occurs a couple hundred years after a calamity caused all qi to fade from the world - there are only mortals, and no one can cultivate. It follows Chen Xing, a young man born with a gift, as he seeks his protector - Xiang Shu - and others, and they encounter (surprise!) unspeakable evil. Legend of Exorcism takes place in the "future" of Dinghai Fusheng Records, and focuses on Kong Hongjun, a half-demon boy who has received a summons to join the Exorcism Department, as he explores the mortal world for the first time and gets to know the others who have summoned to join the Department, especially the mortal leader Li Jinglong.

D. Daomu Biji titles, originally by Nanpai Sanshu. There are two DMBJ titles on Bilibili right now, though both only have a few chapters, and the website lists them as "on hiatus." I've read them both, and am not entirely sure what's up with one especially, but... Grave Robbers' Chronicles starts where Book 1 starts, with changes of course but it's quite recognizable as the initial "Wu Xie is brought a silk scroll and gets curious and then Wu Sanxing gets involved" plot line. The Grave Robbers' Chronicles Seven Dreams is...odder...and as far as I can tell is an alternate canon/AU which starts with a "what if" of "what if the Zhang's were incredibly abusive, raised child!Zhang Qiling themselves, and Wu Xie and he met as kids." It's. Um. Extremely weird. And not for those sensitive to kids getting beaten bloody. But I'm still hoping they'll release more than 9 chapters, if only because I'm curious.

E. A Single Strike of Shimmering Frost, based on the novel A Sword of Frost by Yu Xiao Lanshan. This one opens with the Prince Ji Yanran approaching Sect Master Yun Yifeng, who runs a sect of spies and information collectors, to ask for help finding an item that has been stolen from the palace. In exchange, he promises to give Yun Yifeng the cure to an ailment that plagues him. Problem 1: he doesn't actually have this cure. Problem 2: everywhere they go people start dying. Problem 3: catching feels for the pretty Sect Master. Despite having the trappings of xianxia, this story has actually thus far been a sequence of murder mysteries with politics-related causes.

F. Saved the Public Enemy By Mistake by Liu Muqiao. If this is based on a novel, I haven't been able to track it down. It's xianxia; demon immortal cultivator Liu Jianghe shows up, nearly dead, on the doorstep of famed doctor Lu Jiu who is just trying to live a quiet life in seclusion. Not knowing who Liu Jianghe is, Lu Jiu saves him, and thus stumbles into a mess of politics and history he doesn't understand...but nothing is actually how it seems, there's amnesia and hidden back stories galore, there's a heavy side plot of sword lesbians, and honestly I've read like 50 chapters and I'm still a little lost but the art is pretty and I really need to read the reveal on the two MCs history together so I'm sticking with it. Warning that it's got a fair amount of blood and gore.

G. Those Years in Quest of Honor Mine by Man Man He Qi Duo. A historical (non-cultivation) setting focused on politics, machinations, and the long history and deep love between Zhong Wan - former top-scorer on the national exam who lost his position when his adopted father was accused of treason - and Yu She, of dubious parentage and believed by most people to be the bastard son of the Emperor. I loved the book for this, and finding out that the manhua was on Bilibili is a lot of what drove me to download the app.

So - that's everything I'm currently reading: 6 titles inspired by explicitly BL danmei titles, 2 based on other books I like that aren't BL, and 1 BL that just looked interesting and my taste.

There's SO MUCH MORE, seriously. I'm going to be reading on this app for months and still finding more, I'm positive of it.

But unforth, I hear you say, there's some other manhua I want to read! What about Mo Dao Zu Shi? What about Erha? Are those on Bilibili? Can I read them? And the answer, sadly, is no. Those two are published by Kuaikan, which does not offer free legal English translations at this time. But! I am holding out hope that if the audience for Bilibili grows, other manhua publishers will see the profitability in emulating them. I cannot guarantee that anything we do will result in this happening, but I do feel pretty confident that if we don't read with the options currently available, we sure ain't likely to get more options.

SO. GO FORTH. READ THE THINGS I'VE MENTIONED. READ OTHER THINGS. COME BACK AND TELL ME WHAT YOU LOVED SO I HAVE SOME IDEA WHAT TO READ NEXT.

PLEASE.

I'm begging. GO READ MANHUA!!!

RIGHT NOW.

ON BILIBILI.

(and signal boost this post to get other people to do the same!! help the small fandoms grooooow! I really just wrote all of this so I'd have someone to scream with about the current awful that is the recent chapters of Legend of Exorcism PLEASE WE ALL NEED SQUEEMATES COME READ!!! THE THINGS! THEY'RE GOOD! WITH PRETTY ART!)

#mod post #resources #tutorial #tyqhm #man man he qi duo #daomu biji #nanpai sanshu #tian guan ci fu #mo xiang tong xiu #legend of exorcism #dinghai fusheng records #fei tian ye xiang #global examination #mu su li #a single strike of shimmering frost #saved the public enemy by mistake #liu muqiao #yi xiao lanshan

873 notes · View notes

accio-victuuri · 1 year

Text

WAYS ON HOW I STAY SANE AS A BXG 🤍

inspired by a convo i had with @rainbowsky and i thought to make a post. it’s been a while since i made a write-up like this and i think it’s timely to make one cause even now — i’m seeing new turtles. or those who are experiencing fandom burnout. no matter what group you belong to i hope this helps a bit. as someone who have been here for quiet some time, i’ll just share things i do to make my fandom life as peaceful as possible.

we really get the best of both worlds as bxgs who love two amazing guys : xz & wyb. but sometimes that also means twice the stress and everything else. whether from content they put out or the cpn side of things. i’m not saying to live in a bubble where nothing bad ever happens, however, fandom should primarily bring happiness and relief. it is not one that makes you dread everyday if things don’t go “your way”. so here’s how i manage to do that.

▸ ┈┈┈┈ • ┈┈┈┈ ◂

1. The Truth is they Don’t Owe me Anything

They don’t owe us candy/ cpn. They don’t need to make us secure of their relationship. If you are a BXG that believes in szd, then you must accept that it’s their relationship and not ours. It is between them. Whatever clues we manage to dig up and see is because we are so attuned to them. Tho sometimes I do believe they turn gremlin and leave us stuff to see— but again, we should not feel like we are entitled to be given any of that regularly. At one point, it will be the best for them to live their life and enjoy their relationship quietly. I know candy can be addicting and is one of the pillars of the fandom but it’s not everything. It should not be a make or break for you as a fan, if it is, then you may want reconsider why you’re here.

There will be times of no sweets. People must accept that it’s not 2019 anymore. They are not promoting a project together and so we will not see them like we did. Don’t compare the amount and quality of CPNs from before and now.

Just enjoy what we manage to spot and see. 🤍 Also knowing their status as celebrities, the focus of the public must be their work and not their personal life. I think they both understand the risks of them interacting and being seen together & it’s better to be safe.

2. Appreciate their career

Sometimes I feel like i’m a full on career fan lol. Considering how I first started this blog as a CPN only space then evolved into an update account and so on. The thing is I really appreciate their work and whatever content they bring us. I am a fan of them as individuals and i’m happy that I was able to make that switch. I don’t think I would last this long if all i’m here for is their relationship and interactions. I don’t blame those who left, especially back in 2021, when they found a much better CP to support. It’s their decision. But that’s the point, they were here for the “relationship” and not XZ & WYB. that’s why they left.

This is the best way to not get distracted by unnecessary things. There is so much content to get through when it comes to the boys and that should keep you distracted — you’ll have no time for negative news.

3. Stay on your own lane

I am talking about fandoms in particular. Don’t talk about other fandoms unless absolutely necessary. Don’t look for trouble by mentioning other CP fandoms. Stay in the BXG fandom as much as you can. TBH, I am SZD so I don’t see them as a CP like what other fandoms do. That’s why I don’t get really nervous when other CP fandoms have their own candies. But if they do, it’s theirs. We are not the only clowns in the world. Other people can speculate and theorize on their own pairings. Remember that before XZ & WYB, they have other CP pairings too. We are not the first. We are the most popular, strong in numbers and resilient — but we are not the only one. There will be more. Especially with the more dramas and movies they will be making in the foreseeable future. You will never be happy if you keep comparing this fandom to others.

I have personally toned down my bias towards showing off their Double Standards. And what the hell are you even doing going to other CP pairings territory? LOL. Please stop. Again. Stay on your own lane. Don’t go looking for “evidence” in other people’s home.

4. Don’t go to toxic places

Expanding on #3. Do not go to obvious toxic spaces and give yourself a headache reading their bullshit. Don’t waste your time trying to argue with antis ( twitter especially ) who are only there to goad you in the first place. I admit that sometimes I do cross over to those places especially if there is something on the hot search but I don’t do it regularly. Knowing your enemy as a strategy does not necessarily apply here. Do your best instead into making a positive environment for those who like XZ & WYB. 🤍

5. Take a break and live your life

The boys always say this and it is true. Take a break. If you catch yourself going down an unhealthy rabbit hole of fandom then please stop. Go out. Talk to your loved ones. Do some chores. Sleep. Rest. Do other things. Watch Buddy Daddies LOL.

At one point in the fandom it was truly unhealthy for me. I couldn’t sleep because of crippling FOMO. I had to accept that there will always be things I will miss. I can always catch up. There is no pressure for me to always be the first one to update and post. No one cares. I can do fandom in my own pace. It can be really overwhelming sometimes and it’s okay to take a breather. 🤍

6. Don’t crack your head open

This applies to CPN and other fan or anti theories. Don’t think too much about it. It’s not rocket science. CPN is mainly for fun and there is a little amount that goes into serious territory. There is no need to believe everything. Take what makes sense to you and stick to that.

7. Participate in the Fandom

I think one of the ways to have a good fandom experience is to be present. to participate. It doesn’t have to be anything big because I understand that not everyone has the time to do so. Personally, it took me some time to show myself because there is joy in being a lurker. Put something out there that you would want to see but you think isn’t available. Or even if there is already one out there, put your own spin to it. Don’t be overcome by the crippling fear that no one would bother reading it so you just won’t post. Someone will see it. You will. You will accomplish something and contribute to the fandom.

I’m keeping this list short and simple as a guide for those who want to live a ( mostly ) peaceful fandom life. or maybe one of these may be a reminder for you to take it easy.

The road ahead is long, so take care of yourself. 💛

#personal #yizhan #struggles of a bjyx enthusiast #bjyx #bxg #bxg struggle

125 notes · View notes

scummy-writes · 2 months

Text

╰❧ About

Hello, please call me Scum! If that is too direct for you, you can call me Scummy as an alternative.

I am 28, I go by she/her pronouns, and I use this blog to post my fanfiction as well as my general fandom ramblings and such. I am primarily interested in Ikevamp and Ikepri, though I generally like other eng cybird games as well.

I am pretty explicit at times, and primarily write smut, so I do not want minors following me.

My main account is @strawberry-scum. I do not recommend following it, however if you want to properly block me, you need to block that account as well as this one.

─── •✧ Favorites

Isaac, Arthur, Theo, Comte, Gilbert, Clavis, Keith, Shingen, Mitsuhide, Kenshin, etc

─── •✧ Writing Info

✧ I am not a stickler for IC / OOC. I believe that since we're not official writers for these games, everything we write is OOC. I personally will try to stick to my belief of what I think IC for the character based on what I interpret from the game, but otherwise I just scroll by if I don't like how something is written.

✧ I enjoy gentle femdom, and so loose aspects of that (if the fanfic is not centered on that) will sometimes pop up

✧ I usually don't see any of the characters as strictly straight and so will ship suitors together at times, or have the suitors romantically interested in each other when writing polyships. I will also reblog trans hcs and such too if I enjoy them. If that bothers you please just leave me be.

✧ Due to liking Gilbert, I'm now able to have a character I feel like I can explore kinks and themes that I felt like I couldn't with Isaac. Unfortunately, Isaac is the outlier in my normal flavor of faves from before the cybirdie games.

(I will not write noncon)

✧ Always happy to answer qs about my fics or blog

✧ I have a lot of issues IRL and so it's hard for me to write often, and guilt associated with this is why I do not do requests often.

✧ I don't fuck with people who turn writing into a weird fight for popularity with each other, or who just write for notes/attention rather than the joys of creating. I prefer having healthier views on writing and fandom content as a whole!!!

─── •✧ Misc Info

✧ I am unsure of how others view me, but I am rather anxious and shy, so I often do not talk to people. Love to talk to others!! I do not mind (polite) asks and such.

✧ I can't figure out tone often with the use of anon, and in general I don't do well with 'overfamiliar rudeness' with people I do not know. So please no playfully rude messages on anon...

✧ I treat everyone as equally as possible. More specifically I do not believe there are '#1 fans' of charas, I don't think a follower count = fandom respect levels, etc etc.

✧ I've had this blog since 2017, and I've been writing for longer than that. I like being creative, even if I struggle a lot. I am lucky enough to have my writing in a physical zine, and that is gouda enough for me.

✧ I consider this a writing AND fandom blog, and that is why I will make posts about fandom, as well as the games I enjoy, beside my writing. Unfortunately I am more than just my writing, so my blog will reflect that!

✧ A lot of my interests outside of these games deal with horror and heavier themes, so this is primarily why I don't recommend following my main!! I rb horror fanart sometimes and have more personal posts on there.

✧ I used to create for My*me, but I no longer wish to participate with that fandom. If you ever have specific questions regarding my fanfics from that time, feel free to ask, but keep in mind I may not always want to answer.

─── •✧ Last Updated 02202023

#may be updated in future #about

11 notes · View notes

slybluehologhost · 2 months

Text

Admin housekeeping incoming — just wanted to write a few updates on some upcoming projects.

1) I've done some major redesigns to my tumblr, so hopefully it will be nicer to look at & easier to use. I will note, however, that some pages might be better suited to desktop viewing & minor decorative pieces could look a little off when viewing on a mobile browser. I don't use the tumblr app, so I'm now realizing that I have no clue how things will look there at all... whoops. If you happen to find something massively broken, send me an ask & I'll look into figuring out what went wrong. It's worth noting that I've set up redirect pages for the two old static masterlists, but you'll need to click the link on them to redirect to the new navigation page since every auto redirect code I found uses JavaScript.

2) The DMMd re:code Materials Book will take a little longer than I originally expected to get up. TL;DR, my day job has been kind of wild this month & the scanner I use was out of commission for a while. I'm hoping to finish it sometime during March, so long as no more wrenches get thrown into my plans.

3) Work on TCN 2009 is progressing relatively smoothly, so I'm still crossing my fingers for things to be finished by White Day. Eagle-eyed folks might've noticed that the new masterlist page for TCN also includes a third event... That DVD will be arriving at some point in the future, but I'll likely work on it during the summer/fall so I can upload some other items first.

4) I have... a lot of things to scan. Like a LOT. We're talking probably close to 1k scans. It's immensely tedious. I will get through everything eventually, but if things get slow around here, it's likely because I'm in scanning hell.

5) Some VK things will eventually be posted on here as well, primarily because I just want someplace to put them. It won't become the focus of this account, & some of it will be of interest to DMMd fans anyway.

6) Lastly... If you're interested in seeing something in particular on here, send me an ask. I can't make any promises — especially if I don't have access to whatever it is — but I will take note if it seems like there's a big interest in something. I'm just one person & I'm paying for everything with my own funds, so please keep that in mind.

If you read all that, then thanks, haha. Hope you're enjoying things here!

#Admin Post #also happy belated cat day & hbd Virus & happy early Leap Day

6 notes · View notes

updates-on-docm77 · 1 year

Text

About the Mod(s)

Elo! Our primary mcyt account is @mcwhytubers but any replies will come from @theentityvoidserver.

Our Doc factive (system alter/introject of an irl person) was the one who had the idea for this blog and will be the one primarily running it, so feel free to address us by the name Doc or if it would be too confusing due to the nature of this blog, we also go by X, Entity, Ren, or Scar. We collectively use he/they/xe/it pronouns. [Edit: we’ll sign off our posts as ‘Mod [name]’ for whoever posts.]

We are (unfortunately) rather human and live in the USA (Eastern Standard Time for us), so if Doc posts before noon his time/5 am our time, we will be late to getting around to posting about it. Along with sleeping through half of his day, we also currently work a morning job throughout the week. And we have ADHD. And while being many in the head, we are one in the body. So, this will not be a strict, minute-by-minute, every single notification update account. We will be late, miss posts, and not always see when he’s on other people’s streams.

That being said, we have notifications on his Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch accounts. We know he’s also fairly active on Reddit and will try to remember to check up for any comments he’s left there. Please let us know if there are any other socials of his that we may have missed!

What we plan on posting:

We plan on posting his tweets and photos and linking any links that he’s posted.

We know he posts about a lot of fan art and while we will not repost a full image of the art here (reposting art is bad!) we will give a link to the artist from wherever they posted it- Reddit, Twitter, etc- and if they’re on Tumblr, we’ll link them here too!

Speaking of fan art, we also plan on posting- if we find him asking before the video comes out- anything about the next video thumbnail!

If we see he’s on someone else’s stream, we’ll post about it. And if you see he’s on someone’s stream- such as Cleo, whom we don’t really watch, feel free to send us an ask about it! We primarily only watch Scar, Ren, Joe, and Cub for streaming, so anyone else is fair game to pop a notification to us about it! The same thing goes if he pops up in someone else’s video! We aren’t going to be hyper specific, such as just noting when he’s online while someone’s streaming, just only when he’s actually around in their stream. The only exception would be if he’s chatting about something important in the server chat.

And if he ever posts on Tumblr (therealdocm77) again, we'll reblog that as well.

Tags we use:

'doc update': any updates about him will be posted with this, most likely with some of the below as further sorting helpers if someone is looking for a specific update.

'doc tweet': any (re)tweets that Doc makes will be posted with this

'doc Reddit': any Reddit messages of his will be posted with this

‘doc photo’: any photo of either Doc himself or photos Doc posts

‘doc art’: any fanart that doc has retweeted and/or commented on- both generally and for the thumbnail requests

‘doc video’: any YouTube videos Doc posts (or if he happens to post a video on twitter)

'doc live': if/when Doc goes live or if Doc is in someone else's live stream.

‘thumbnail spoilers’: If you want to keep the thumbnail a surprise, I would recommend avoiding this tag! (Side note: if Doc has asked for credits but they haven’t responded, we aren’t going to tag it unless someone asks us to)

‘not an update’: rather self-explanatory- posts that aren’t updates about Doc. wouldn’t recommend blocking this one though because we may post updates about ourselves not being able to update and such.

This will be deleted if Doc ever says he's uncomfortable with update accounts.

(userboxes by sweetpeauserboxes)

(userboxes by boxesbybeans)

#not an update #i guess technically?#mod doc #mod entity #mod x

34 notes · View notes

lopunnears · 2 months

Text

new & improved about me

hi. you can call me a (it stands for whatever you want it to, send me your guesses if you want). i like fighting type pokemon, music, and traveling, so you'll see some posts about that. i'm an adult and any pronouns are fine.

warning: i'm wordy. you don't have to read this whole thing, but i'd appreciate it if you at least skimmed the bold parts!

i've been meaning to update this blog with a fancified account for a hot minute since i got a (frankly surprising) amount of followers from this post--originally, when i started pokeblogging, i was mainly just intending to interact with my friends and they more or less know what i'm about. i think that, since i'm planning on kicking this blog back to life with an event, it's fair that everyone have some basic information about me, what i will and won't interact with, and my character.

for me: hi, i'm eve. i'm also an adult (21) who uses any pronouns, like my character, but that's where a lot of our similarities end, lol. as i'll elaborate on a bit later, this blog is sfw and i don't care if minors follow/interact, but i want this info out there so people can set boundaries as they feel they need to. i'm not excessively familiar with pokeblogging but i've been roleplaying on and off in various places for a long time! i'm wordy and i can be a bit blunt but i promise i'm friendly and would love to rp or talk :3

general boundary-setting:

like aforementioned, anything to be posted on this blog is sfw. for clarifying purposes, this refers to sexual content exclusively, and not necessarily violent content. any interactions of explicit natures will be ignored, and i would rather not extensively interact with any predominantly nsfw blogs; i'm happy to write with sfw sideblogs though! i want this blog to be safe for all ages; generally, i aim to maintain a pg-13 rating, so (for other adult muses only, please) mildly suggestive flirting that fits within that rating is fine!

i'm not familiar with all of the pokeblogging terms, but as a general rule of thumb, i'll interact with any kind of rp blog. canon protagonists, oc protagonists, fallers, sapient pokemon, it's all cool with me. however, i'd rather not interact extensively with any non-rp blogs, because...

i do my best to keep ic and ooc interactions purely separate. i am not generally comfortable interacting ic to ooc, ooc to ic, which means i politely ask you not to reblog my posts (with additions) on non-rp blogs because i will ignore them. asks from non-rp blogs are fine on or off anon as long as they aren't intended to be long-form interactions. i just need it abundantly clear that i am not my character and my character is not me.

about the character:

all of this information below is ooc and most muses have no way to know it. there will be hints for attentive muses but please don't pull anything revealing on him without letting me, the mun know beforehand.

a is an oc protagonist for legends arceus. he is alive in a day close to the present, primarily hanging around in paldea. he looks like a particularly haggard thirty-something, and that's the age range he claims, but he has lived for over a century. he has protagonist-level knowledge of the base game canon and will interact with legends arceus characters with that knowledge in mind. also, warning for a canon-typical complicated relationship with arceus/god figures in general.

a is not his real name. i would say she wouldn't give out her real name, except an attentive muse might notice this blog's connection to @snowpointmailguy at some point. the connection is that they're the same person, from two different points on the timeline. snowpointmailguy is drew pre-hisui timejump, lopunnears is drew many years post-hisui timejump.

various heavy content warnings may apply; i will tag to the best of my ability but feel free to ask if something is showing up frequently that i'm not tagging. if i start any major arc that will have frequent sensitive material, i'll make an announcement post warning for it!

if you got to the bottom, wow, i can't believe i actually wrote that much. i'm no good at being succinct, lol. thank you for reading and i look forward to writing with you!

#pokeblogging #pokemon irl #rotomblr #about post

6 notes · View notes

khttrpg · 1 year

Text

V0.2 Release Schedule

Hey all! Apologies for the long period on hiatus. Amongst other things I am now back on The Good Meds (fingers crossed no allergic reaction this time) and have gotten through the worst of several sudden tragedies in a row. So we're finally back on track to talk really seriously about KHTTRPG V0.2! (Sorry for the long wait!!)

Right now, the plan is to have the entirety of 0.2 released by May 31st, 2023 - about a month and a half from today. Whether I will release these in modular bits and pieces up to that point or if I will wait and release it all in May is currently tossed out to the voting populace, but regardless, this will be the final release date for all involved text!

I've compiled a list of all the updates under the cut so you can see what exactly took me so long! I've also included a few of the things I'm hoping to start working on after V0.2 comes out, life permitting. Examples of some of these will be posted in the next couple days to give a sense of what's coming, but feel free to ask any questions you may have! and keep in mind this isn't everything, just the big things! (:

Core Rules Changes

Major change to how Reducing a CR works, inspired primarily by Caltrop Core.

Addition of Memory mechanics.

Trading out and removal of certain redundant Talents for more useful ones.

Simplification of the Light/Darkness rules.

Less complex and more balanced levelling.

Addition of many, and better integration overall of, Abilities as a core part of the gameplay.

The return of EXP, but in a much simpler, easier to account for format.

Combat Changes

A pretty large, sweeping combat change – trading out of the “Attack Stat” for specific attack abilities that follow a code of Union Cross-inspired Power, Speed, and Magic Attacks; a generally more Ability-oriented combat system.

Complete rehaul of building enemies and how to run combat itself.

General attempts to find a middle ground between “my stats determine I lose this fight no matter what” and “this combat takes 7 full hours and 8 dice.”

A guide for how an MM can “map out” a battlefield to keep track of relative locations without losing the flow.

A specific list of damage types, and minor changes to the list of conditions.

More organized and elaborate options for combat rewards.

Classes

Adding passive abilities to the Keyblade class such as “able to open locks with a visible keyhole.”

Major changes to every class to account for the shift to a more Ability-oriented combat system.

A full recreation of the Witch class based on new Memory mechanics.

Magic

Adding an option to recharge MP through actions on your turn in addition to its passive gain over time.

Changes learning and upgraded spells to AP instead of stat-reliant.

Other

General language changes, typo corrections, addition of flavor text or examples to clarify unclear rules, etc.

Things that Won’t be in V0.2, but are on the docket for the future!

Weapon classes (as of right now, I have over 10 of these on the list to work on! These will likely be first priority after V0.2.)

Expanded shops/items

Gummi Ship rules, Synthesizing rules

NPC Ally rules

Further job classes (currently on list: Engineer, Berserker, Summoner, some sort of class based on Light/Darkness scores and neutrality)

Design updates...making it look pretty......making a functional pretty character sheet...........Art TM (maybe)

A new official name for the system, for "wait a second. this is kind of rude to the KH ttrpgs other people have made" purposes! (The URL will stay. I'm not giving up this prestige.)

#schedule #khttrpg #PHEW finally a real update with a timeline and everything!!#part of this is also dependent on me not having a job right now! it means i have a lot more free time but also that i. um #dont have money obviously. so if i face a sudden financial issue i may need to delay for purposes of Getting A Job #hopefully we'll get through v0.2 before that happens though!

14 notes · View notes

rahleeyah · 1 year

Note

So first time fic writer wanting to know if I should publish to ao3? I wrote it primarily as a way to deal with this past week’s episode but I’m nervous to publish. Do I make the leap? Do you have any advice?

You absolutely should publish. Anything you've written is worth sharing. Whatever the reasons for writing it, however nervous you might be, it's ok!!! It's nerve wracking sharing your stuff for the first time but it's a good step to putting yourself out there, meeting new people, and becoming more comfortable and confident in yourself and your work. Whatever you have to say someone out there wants to read it. I mean you can just keep your work to yourself if you really want to, but when we open ourselves up to people we open ourselves up to a lot of positive experiences and it sounds to me like you want to do this. So do it!

Couple little tips and tricks for posting:

Make sure you rate your fic. You have the option not to rate it, but lots of people sort and filter by rating, and you'll never turn up for those people if you don't have a rating. When in doubt just mark it "T"

Archive warnings. Since it's your first time posting you may not know there is a set of Big Issue Warnings an author can choose to warn for on their stories. It looks like this:

You have to choose an option. There is a difference between "choose not to use" and "no archive warnings apply." "Choose not to use" means those things may be in the story, and indicates readers should tread lightly. Some people will filter out "choose not to" fics. If there's no non-con or major character death or underage or whatever, pick "no archive warnings apply."

If you are writing in Google docs and cutting and pasting into the AO3 text box let me know. It will automatically add an extra line break between each of your paragraphs but there are ways around that. This is a stylistic thing some people don't care about but some people won't read a story that's formatted that way.

Make sure you put your characters and ships in here:

Again that is for people who are searching and filtering. You don't have to - you shouldn't - tag every character who appears in a story but do hit the main ones. You can add whatever additional tags you like to tell people about your story; I almost never use them but I tag for big things, like I put an unplanned pregnancy tag on hov and I put an eo endgame tag on Mia so people would know what they were getting.

If you have a Twitter account, post the link to your story there! Post the link to your story here, too, and be sure to tag it so people can find it. I always do hashtags for show names, character names, and ship names.

You can also crosspost to FFN. believe it or not some people are still exclusively reading there. FFN is a bear to post on tho so if you want to do it and you haven't done it before come back and I'll post a tutorial.

It's your first time out, so answer people's comments. I know how that sounds coming from me, but you aren't posting three concurrent stories that update almost every day. This is your first time, so interact with people. That's a good way to get them to come back for more. And it's a really, really good way to make friends.

Post it and then walk away. Don't sit by your phone and wait to see what the reaction is, you'll get all up in your head - or at least I do. Give yourself something else to do for a little while.

Be excited!!

If anybody else has some tips or encouragement for our friend please leave a note!

#anonymous

15 notes · View notes

power-handmaiden · 1 year

Text

hey friends, with everyone talking about Twitter Alternatives I'd like to bring up an oldie but a goodie, Plurk!

now, idk how far this post will even reach since I, by choice, don't really have an internet presence... but that's the point! This one is for the private-account or small circle tweeters, those of us who just like microblogging as a way of seeing what our friends are up to and chatting it up.

Here's what I love about it:

Absolutely no algorithm. Just chronological. Posts are organized on a literal timeline. Plurk is "old" compared to a lot of social media (only 2 years younger than twitter itself) and it hasn't really changed in that time. Why fix what isn't broken? The interface is no-frills, just a timeline, nothing more.

Conversations are all organized under the original plurk (tweet equivalent) they're a response to. This is why I'm recommending this for those whose primary use of twitter is a social one with personal friends. Often my tl has many conversations going on and half of it is disjointed responses. Plurk's timeline format makes it easy to follow. When there is a response to someone's plurk, it shows up on your timeline as an update to OP instead of its own post.

like so:

^the 1 indicates there is 1 response to my plurk

^replies show up when you click op!

Also, CUSTOM EMOTES as seen above. It's a minor point... but they are fun. Plurk is twitter for those of us who miss livejournal.

You can see everyone's responses in the conversation! Here's a problem I experience as someone who primarily uses a private twitter, and also has a majority of friends who are private: you're having a chat with a few friends. Then, a friend of a friend, who is also private, joins the conversation. They can't see your responses and you can't see theirs, so you start getting disjointed replies in your @ mentions, and presumably they do too. Plurk's format solves this problem because you can still have a locked account if you prefer to keep your own plurks private, but this doesn't exclude you from fully participating in conversations that include people who don't follow you! You can still mute people if they annoy you in any context, though.

It's an established site that's been going since 2008. If nothing else, it's good to keep in your pocket as an option to be able to contact your friends since newer sites and mastodon instances come with a lot of uncertainty as to how long they'll even stay up, active and viable for use.

#I know 'chatroom with friends' is a niche twitter use but it AT LEASTincludes all my friends on twitter so I hope this may persuade some!!#don't @ me about discord. yes I know discord is good for chatting #but it's too fast for me. I don't want to jump into a convo in progress. I want to respond to the thing my friend said 5 hours ago

16 notes · View notes

qtcatbox · 2 years

Text

Financial Status

Update 8/17 - THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. In just 8 days we've nearly reached the Patreon goal, and purchases of merchandise and cryptocurrency gifts have put us past the required funding for not just this month, but the next 3 months as well! The amount of generosity you guys have shown me has honestly touched my heart, and I am forever thankful. Catbox forever!

Heyoooo. It's been a while again.

tl;dr - Catbox needs additional funding. Keep reading.

This post is going to have a more somber attitude than posts in the past, and it's not one I've ever really wanted to make, but as Catbox has expanded, so has its costs. The operational costs for running Catbox per month for the last year have looked like this:

Datacenter Colocation: $971/month

Offsite Storage: $140/month

Cloud Server Providers: $40/month

Administrative Costs: $60/month

The large datacenter colocation bill is due to the fact that Catbox pushes an extreme amount of traffic. On average, Catbox pushes about 4 gbps, spiking up to 6 gbps.

This means I've had to acquire a 10gig internet uplink, which is not the cheapest thing to get. Additionally, Catbox is now hosting approximately 54 TB of content. As I'm sure many of you have encountered Lain, which is a project to basically offload inactive files to offsite storage, which can then be pulled back when a user requests. Catbox also utilizes various Cloud Server Providers (CSPs) to host external monitoring services and other servers. Finally, there are various administrative costs related to running Catbox, including email, legal paperwork, legal residences, and other small fees.

All of this has totaled into Catbox's monthly expenses to come out to $1,211. As of posting this blog post, Catbox is bringing in $696 per month. This means I am personally footing the remaining $515. Additionally, all server/firewall upgrades and purchases have also come out of my pocket. When I totaled up all expenses for 2021, Catbox was $7,070 in the negative. This means I put $7000+ dollars of my own money to prop Catbox up. This is not tenable for the future of Catbox.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that Catbox needs additional funding to survive long term. Our patrons on Patreon have been wonderful, and without them there is no doubt that Catbox would have been forced to close. However, it is clear that Patreon by itself is not capable of supporting the current or future growth of Catbox. This leaves me with 4 options:

Monetize Catbox using traditional avenues (advertisements and sponsorships). This is not my first choice, and not something I'm entirely keen on. It would destroy the purpose and soul of Catbox.

Scale back on costs (primarily bandwidth). This would directly impact user experience, as cutting back to (for example) 5gbps would create a bottleneck and reduce speeds to a snail's pace.

Open alternative avenues of income (paid accounts). This would involve a monthly plan that would give you additional features (existing features of Catbox would NOT change or be restricted). I am somewhat open to this.

Open alternative avenues of gift giving (cryptocurrencies). As of today, I have begun accepting gifts using Cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, and Ravencoin. I have had quite a few people request this, and I see that now would be the time to offer this as an option.

You will of course notice that "Closing Catbox" is not an option on that list, and that's because it isn't. I would rather exhaust all other avenues of incoming before doing that, including traditional monetization. There are many people who have been using Catbox for the whole 7 years it's been around, and I know what it would mean to them to lose their files.

So this is my public begging post - I know the current economic climate isn't the greatest, and that many people have had to cut back on various things, including Patreon subscriptions, but given the traffic Catbox receives, if just 10% of users gave $5, we would be funded until the end of the year. So please, gift via Patreon, crypto, or if you want something more tangible, buy some stickers! I've created a new "Supporting" page to track Catbox's monthly expenses and income, as well as new ways to contribute. I look forward to another great year, and again, thank you not just to Patrons, but to everyone who has continued using Catbox.

32 notes · View notes

adventureofthedancinggirl · 6 months

Text

This is primarily a fandom blog, currently focused on BNHA, previously active in BBC Sherlock.

Here you'll find fandom things, headcanons, rambling about fics (and writing in general), occasional meta, as well as other miscellaneous things I find interesting.

AdventureOfTheDancingGirl on AO3. Writing updates are tagged: dancing girl writes

Sideblogs:

@seeyouafter a collection of my thoughts and various ephemera related to my ongoing tdbk epistolary fic "See You After"

@ordinaryoffensivemagic various content related to the manga/anime 葬送のフリーレン (Sousou no Frieren)

Notes and helpful tags:

Asks are open if you want to chat. Give me an excuse to talk about my writing notes or headcanons if you want to make my day. Anon is usually on but be kind. There is a real human on the other side of the screen.

Replies are tagged as dancing girl asks. If you want to say hi but don't know what to say, feel free to check out the ask games tag.

🏷️Tag Index:

I have a comprehensive tag index that I finally updated but these are the tags that I'm using most often these days:

💜Personal Tags:

dancing girl rambles - random thoughts, generally not fandom related

dancing girl writes - tag for my fics and general thoughts on writing (previous tags: my writing - this one has mostly Sherlock stuff, writing updates)

also: see you after fic, sya writing log

dancing girl's reblog themes - sometimes I go down a rabbit hole and reblog a bunch of related posts. It's a fun time.

🩵General writing & fandom stuff

on writing, writing reference, fandom life, AO3 tips, tumblr tips

💚BNHA Content

dancing girl’s bnha thoughts - includes my personal reactions, headcanons, misc. thoughts related to bnha

bnha fanfic - includes my fics and others I recommend

I use the tag bnha for all my hero academia related reblogs. spoilers are tagged bnha manga spoilers

Chapter reactions/thoughts are tagged with the chapter number as bnha xxx, see also: bnha meta (not all meta is mine)

images: bnha manga, bnha anime, bnha art (for my favorite bnha fanart)

Multi-ship friendly but TDBK is my OTP. (that being said, a lot of my reblogs with "ship" tags are purely for organization purposes and many can be viewed as platonic.)

I just want a happy todofam au so I made a tag for it (other favorite AUs: fantasy au, winter au, childhood friends au)

The ladies of this series don't get enough love so I like to highlight them with the tag bnha girls

Todoroki Shouto tags: shouto loves cats, sleepy shouto, todofam, shouto art, shoutocat, strawberry shouto-cake, shouto birthday

Bakugou Katsuki tags: dynamy, sleepy katsuki, katsuki comfort, bakugou family

Other commonly used character tags: class 1a, origin trio, remedial squad, dadzawa, eri-chan (If you're searching for someone specific I generally just tag the character’s name as it shows up in AO3’s tagging system)

misc collections: 2023 bnha xmas sketch

💛BBC Sherlock

Main tags: sherlock, johnlock

Sherlock Fic Recs - Mostly BBC Sherlock universe. Most of my own Sherlock fics are under the My Writing tag

BBC Sherlock: sherlock meta, series 4 theories (also: season 4 theories), sherlock parallels, mirrors

Original Canon: acd canon, AStudyInCanonBookClub, acd parallels, sherlock analysis

see tag index for additional tags and other fandoms

🧡Misc. Tags (not fandom)

mental health, reminders, encouragement

otterly adorable, cute animals, beautiful things, reasons to smile

bookish things, reading log, quotes

💭Random Facts:

I share my birthday with Dabi and Burnin'

My username is a play on the Sherlock Holmes story "Adventure of the Dancing Men".

Even though I'm not active in the Sherlock fandom anymore, I decided to keep the same username because dancing is part of my IRL identity and I didn't want to keep track of a separate account. Also, Mina is my dancing (alien) queen so the name still works.

#dancing girl rambles #welcome #navigation

1 note · View note

anonymousbeefriendfanfics · 1 year

Text

Um. Hi. I am actually alive! Ahahaha....

Sorry about the impromptu hiatus, friends. I'm like 85% sure I have some variety of ADHD and basically, if I'm not Very Invested In The Thing, I have significant amounts of difficulty doing The Thing at all. And, well... unsurprisingly, my hyperfixation on the arcana/fictif has faded into the abyss at about the same time as the stories themselves have. I still have both apps on my phone, though I'm not sure why. I suppose I'm afraid I'll lose them somehow, if I delete them, though I know there will be no further updates. Buuuuuut I digress!

So. For once in my life I don't have a main fandom I'm utterly obsessed with! And yet, I have suddenly found myself wanting to write again... so I suppose I have a few options, and I may as well let you all in on the fun, too!

It's poll time, baybee!

Option 1 - Open up my options for requests and take them for any fandom/character I feel confident enough to write for, likely sticking to headcannon list thingies instead of full fics. I'll still do Fictif/Arcana stuff too, don't worry! It'll actually be towards the top of my list, because it's my most recent obsession. Full disclosure: I've been on a little bit of a visual novel kick lately, so you can expect a lot of those in my content list, hehe~

Option 2 - Stick to what you all are here for, reread the routes and fics and such and try to get back to writing almost exclusively for Fictif/Arcana, and try to get out all of those requests I've promised... This will probably be the slowest option tbh, because I think I need to switch something up to get back into writing like I was, but I would be willing to do this if that's what you guys prefer! I'll probably still slip in the occasional thing from other fandoms, because whatever gets me writing, you know? But I'll focus primarily on this fandom.

Option 3 - Shift my focus from fandom content and move into OC content. You'll still get occasional fandom things when I have the inspiration, don't worry! I have one OC/reader insert that I use everywhere, because of various reasons, but the poor thing is horrifically undeveloped, and recently I've been working to fix that and expand on her life and background characters. I've never introduced her to you all, mostly because I just... didn't think you would be interested, and because I was afraid that bringing her into the spotlight would let you all see through the paper-thin veil of her character into the awful void behind it. But she actually feels like a character now, largely thanks to one of my best friends, who has pushed me to develop her further and helped compensate for the areas I'm lacking. You know who you are and you have my eternal gratitude.

Option 4 - Yes. Do all of that. I'll bring in other fandoms to try and spice things up, but try to keep a decent bit of focus on reviving the poor Fictif/Arcana fandoms, while also introducing you to my OC and working on her. You might get the occasional x character fic about her, but I'll try to keep primarily focusing on the x reader/insert ones.

Option 5 - Yes, but make a separate account to do the OC stuff on. I know OCs aren't everyone's cup of tea, and you might not want to deal with that, so I could always do a separate account. I do keep things pretty well organized here, though, so I highly doubt it would be terribly intrusive while you're trying to find my non-oc work.

#am not dead actually #returning from the grave as much as Felix over here #oops #poll time #btw if anyone wants a poll submitted to you because you can't do them yet shoot me a message #hi Moss. I know you're gonna be the first person here. Love ya kiddo

5 notes · View notes

finalmoment · 1 year

Note

Yoo ask writing meme? Hope you don't mind taking more, 13... 17? 18 if you're okay with that, 33, 35, 36? And 38, sorry if that's a lot. Btw seeing you update your layouts is fun, where do you find all the ethereal looking images you use for your icons? I too am a sun hater.

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

i find writing kink really easy, but also really hard. it's always in my head, but there's so much of it that pulling it into a manageable size is really tough. i think most of the things i love writing are at least a little hard, but the stuff that should count as "hardest" is also the most satisfying. i love writing characters having breakdowns. i find it easy to write dialogue and atmosphere and emotion; i find it difficult to write action. i feel like i'm walking around the answer without hitting it.

the rest are under the cut for length!

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

i don't know if i'm good at doing this but let me try. i generally keep all the details in my head so i feel excited about putting them down? but this WIP is set in a world where the land and king are intrinsically connected, and nick was adopted because he was recognized. the mechanism of recognition is irrelevant. there's a scene where vash says he was drowned by a rusalka; what happened was that the rusalka was hurt by a human man, and in retaliation kidnapped and drowned a couple of children. vash jumped in to save the kids, and the river froze over, so he was in there for a time that would have killed a human but he's not human, so... he managed to talk the rusalka down, then climbed out and dispersed a crowd of villagers with pitchforks and torches, made them all really mad at him, and ended up freezing to death between the water and the snow. there's another scene where vash says his cloak is made of phoenix feathers. his brother deals primarily with the supernatural creatures of the land, and does not truck with humans. vash himself brought this phoenix to knives, because she was dying and he was hoping his brother could save her, but his brother couldn't do anything by then. she died in knives's arms after vash left. when he came back, knives had made her feathers into a cloak for his brother. though phoenixes never fully die, they do fade out - their heat does not dissipate, but the consciousness leaves. since vash is a dragon with (story spoilers) no fire, he needs the warmth when he travels... and stuff like the thing with the rusalka happens anyway.

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

i paint and draw, but it's all very abstract and way less emotionally charged for me than writing. i also want to get back into singing. i don't think it ties into my writing, unless i want to talk about the process of Creation, one of my pet themes :)

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

all of them. show me a rule and i'll show you a way to break it. but mostly i think i hate the idea that every scene needs to be relevant in an immediate way. pacing, you guys. let the emotions breathe!!!

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

i know almost nothing... well, i know gender, and trauma, and mental illness. i know loneliness. everything else - well, who can say? i'm curious what people think i know, after reading my stuff.

as for the icons - pinterest >_< my guilty pleasure i never grew out of. i am sort of obsessed w maintaining a very specific aesthetic across my accounts. sun haters UNITE

#uyecaq #asks #thank you for the asks! i hope youre doing well #are you into trigun btw :eyes:

5 notes · View notes

solidandsound · 1 year

Text

Every Supergiant game is brilliant, and each in their own way. Hades is probably the most fun a Supergiant game has ever been; it's the kind of game you never want to put down. It's also likely the studio's weakest narrative, and certainly its weakest ending.

The writing of Hades is to be commended for how it is able to keep story-focused players engaged with a type of game that they would normally otherwise bounce off of. Dying can be frustrating, but at least in Hades death is another chance to talk to a large roster of cool friends, cuties, and spooky parental figures. It also makes even failed runs feel like part of the story because of how reactive dialogue can be. If you die to a sword dude, there's a good chance someone back home's gonna say, "Wow, sorry to hear you died from a sword dude, that must have sucked." There is an astonishing amount of dialogue, reacting to an astonishing amount of possible circumstances.

However, because it does this, you start to expect it to adapt to you on every level, and it can't, not perfectly. I believe the devs did enough work to prevent the game from directly contradicting itself, but there are nonetheless certain lines of dialogue that feel off. Once you accomplish the story's main goal of bringing Persephone home, Zagreus's motivation became much more casual, but there are still lines that, through writing or delivery, make it sound like he is fighting for something vitally important, or even that he is still in dire conflict with his father. He always has a reason to keep fighting, and there is always tension between him and his father, so you can squint and let these moments pass, but after a while they start to grate on you, or at least they did on me.*

Speaking of Zagreus, he is, of course, the one driving the story forward. His goal can only be achieved by fighting out of the underworld, over and over again. That moment, when Persephone finally comes home, is great, and if that were the ending, I would have been satisfied. Credits do roll, but it isn't the true ending, and even in that moment, Persephone alludes to what must still be done. The remaining conflict is primarily between Persephone and the Olympians. She is the one coming up with the plan this time; Zag is just along for the ride. As players, our task to assist Persephone is simple, nothing we haven't done before. So we complete it, the epilogue happens, and... that's it. After a lot of build-up, all conflict is resolved at an unbelievably peaceful family reunion. There is no god-like wrath, nor even any arguing.

This ending does not feel earned, by the story nor by us. I at minimum would have loved some sort of conversation during the dinner, Demeter at least laying out her grievances, her grief. As a player--and this is a lot to ask, I know--some sort of challenge to wrap this up would have made it all feel more satisfying. Maybe Demeter, or a gauntlet of betrayed Olympians, as a true final boss or boss rush.

This is kind of the problem with roguelikes, though. The game isn't really over. I can, and likely will, continue playing. It ends when I decide it ends, when I am satisfied with it. How do you make a satisfying ending to something like that? I don't know, but I'm excited to see Supergiant take a second shot at it.

*I'm sure the devs know this, and I expect that this aspect will be improved upon in the sequel. Knowing that the game was developed via early access, I am sure they had times where they pushed an update and then realized, Oh shit, I failed to write previous sections anticipating this! With planning and forethought, I am sure they can write in such a way that contradictions are accounted for before they happen.

#hades spoilers after the cut obvs #just had to process my experience #and i hadn't seen anyone discuss this part of the game critically yet

2 notes · View notes

thoughtsofadyingsoftwaredev · 6 months

Text

Hello, Tumblr world! For some reason I am drawn to you in the Fall season. My last post was just over a year ago… sorry about that. Not that you, my lovely reader, care - and that is IF anyone reads this! I won't lie I don't care if people read these or not, this is essentially an online journal for me at this point, ha.

So, what's new with me lately, you might ask? Well, I'll break it down:

Still happy with our house. We've made gradual updates to it since moving in, including redoing some old flooring with some new vinyl faux-wood looking stuff. Super nice. Also replaced an old toilet in the process. Next we're eyeballing a bathtub upgrade for one of the bathrooms and big landscaping changes to our back yard.

Got promoted at work to Senior Software Engineer after 3 years. Not bad turnaround time for that title change, in my opinion. My responsibilities shifted from managing the IAM software to managing our search experience for the many different applications we provide.

This primarily means I'm responsible for drafting search document schemas, working with these other teams to get answers on questions they refuse to provide answers to without me having to ask first, and handling the logic for ingesting hundreds of thousands of items of varying types to different search engines. In my 3.5 years of working here, I have enjoyed the challenges of the job. Of course, it's not without it's awful days or days where my head is screeching, but the good days outweigh the bad for me.

Wife and I are still on speaking terms. That's my way of saying we're both as good and happy with each other as ever lol she's my best friend. We both got super interested in NFL this season and watch every Monday and Thursday game and watch Minnesota (wife's favorite team) on Sundays. RIP Vikings post-Cousins injury.

That's about all I can think of life-wise. My 31st birthday was a few weeks ago, and I feel old as shit sometimes LOL I look in the mirror and I see what seems like new wrinkles in new places, my hair is graying in small parts, and I find it hard to stay up late. It's 1:04AM right now and I find this to be the upper range of my limits lol

I had a dream recently that my wife and I died in a freak accident at some theme park (not a specific one, just some weird abstract dreamy one) - from what I can remember we were on what we thought was part of a ride, but what ended up happening is we both fell to our deaths.

After we died, we both were floating over family and friends as spirits, watching our bodies get carried in open caskets. For some reason, I had two huge pieces of hair that went down both sides of my face (this is nowhere near what my hair looks like so no idea why this was).

At first, when I woke up, I kinda had to laugh at it. The overall sequence of events was a bit silly. But I found myself thinking more and more about it throughout today. Who will care if I die? Not in a "bad thoughts" kinda way, but genuinely - what kind of footprint am I leaving in this world? Will people know or care that I die? Probably not, and I think ultimately I'm fine with that, but the dream gave me pause and kinda fucked with me today haha.

Can I tell you a secret Tumblr? I have a burner Facebook account that I use to see how my old friends are doing. I am very anti-social media, and as part of that, have no real ways of keeping up with people from previous parts of my life aside from those who have my cell or email, so this gives me an outlet to see how friends I've made over the years are doing now.

Some of them never left my hometown, which kinda bums me out, because when I think of my time there, I couldn't imagine having stayed. But I have to consider that they may really love the place and have strong ties to it. I don't want to sound mean when I say that, but it's just a very small, quiet town that seems like a place you'd stay if you decided not to attend university or a trade school. And that's perfectly okay, too.

Some are thriving, too! A very good friend of mine recently got married, and I'm thrilled for him. I remember late nights at college talking with him outside of his dorm in the night air, rocking back and forth in a rocking chair, like the ones you see at Cracker Barrel. We'd talk philosophy, religion, girls, music, and much more. He's an awesome, genuinely kind hearted person and I'm glad to see he's doing well. He's not the only one, there are others who are all out there doing their thing, so to speak. I can't say why, but seeing these people I've known at some points in their lives doing well makes me incredibly happy.

Music is always a wonderful memory and hobby for me. Music is what brought most of my friends I've made and I together. I recently started playing guitar again (thank you Rocksmith 2014) and it has been a blast! I recently acquired a dream guitar of mine for awhile now: a Surf Green Fender MIM Strat. I fucking love it.

Piano is still on hiatus and has been for many, many years. I think it might intimidate me a bit. I eventually will have to bite the bullet and revisit it. I plan on using ABRSM resources to find some appropriate pieces for where I'm currently at. I'm hoping I can ramp back up to SOMEWHERE close to where I was when I went to school for music. I realize it may take years, but I think if I devote myself to it, I can achieve it. Honestly the hardest thing will be getting that dexterity back and remembering scales/fingerings/etc. Hopefully by the time I post next, I can report back with some success on that front!

Hobby coding-wise, I'm starting a new project using a new stack (for me): Java (Spring), Vue, and Postgres. My goal is to create a web application for Veterinarians offices for administrative use. This app will handle invoicing, communications with patients, store pet/owner data, store data regarding prescriptions, surgeries, etc., and probably more I'm forgetting. It's a lot of moving pieces, but it presents a fun challenge on both front-end and back-end, and frankly I've seen the most popular competition (Avimark) and it looks like dogshit. So my plan is to work on this for the foreseeable future, get an MVP up, snoop around my local area and see if anyone is interested in testing it out. This will be a long-term project, though. I have some ramping up to do with Vue as I have not used it since it was still in v1.0, so many things have changed!

Started watching Frieren and that shit kicks ass! The music, the animation, the art style. Only 4 episodes in, but it is easily top 5 anime.

JJK Season 2 has been fucking insane. It started off so crazy, I ended up binge reading the manga up until the end of the Shibuya Incident and holy shit. Seeing the Yuuji vs Choso fight animated was a fucking masterpiece!

Games-wise, I've been deep into WoW classic and FFXIV. FFXIV has always been my go-to, but lately I've been doing WoW and I love the customization that is possible within a class (priests, wars, etc builds can vary wildly and that's awesome!).

And I think that's all I've got! I've been drafting this post for the past 20 minutes-ish. I have to start winding down for today. This may be my longest post so far? Not sure, I'll compare it to my others word count-wise after this and confirm!

0 notes