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rongzhi · 7 months

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Hi! Love your TikTok translations, they help me learn so much. Sorry if you've answered this before already, but as a language student myself, I was just curious about how you got so good at Chinese - is it a native language for you, or what's your background in using/studying it? Thank you!

I think I answered this a long time ago (like 2021 maybe) so I will just tell it again. It's kind of a longwinded boring post that's very self-centric (😬) and also probably not going to have any helpful advice to the average language learner, so I'm going to put it under a read more!

Background

My family is Chinese so it's my heritage language. I did learn it before English as a baby but then forgot a lot of it. My parents speak Chinese at home but I always replied in English growing up. Part of this is because I have a twin sibling and because we spoke English at school, we also started speaking English to each other at home.

We went to Chinese school on Sundays growing up (this is like a community/cultural school; it included other courses like math, Chinese dance, art, pre-SATs (lol), etc, depending on who in the community was available to teach), but I didn't really pay attention so my Chinese was pretty shit for a long time—like broken conversational level shitty, although I have always had a strong comprehension ability. My dad's side is from Sichuan so I grew up understanding a bit of Sichuanese.

The beginning of my "studying"

I don't actually have much of a background studying Chinese in a formal setting. I took Chinese 101-103 in college as part of a language requirement (specifically chose to start with 101 so I could relearn basics, even though my teachers kept offering to place me in higher levels). I really credit my Chinese 101 prof who was also the college's calligraphy teacher for making us focus on brush stroke order and recognising characters and understanding semantic components, which is something other profs did not emphasise (they were more focused on building conversational skills).

Anyway, that was only my freshman year of college because I ended up changing majors and not having a language requirement anymore (boo). I continued studying a bit of Chinese in the intervening years, but I am not a very disciplined person when it comes to self-study, so much of it was just translating song lyrics for my own amusement. During this time, I also started watching some cdramas, but mostly just Chinese web shows, which maybe helped? (I don't think I was watching enough for it to really make a difference).

Fast forward a couple years to 2020 and I started watching more cdramas during lockdowns, including watching 成化十四年 (The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty), which I was super invested in for about two years (this used to be a fandom blog lol). Basically, hyperfixation led me to rapidly improve my Chinese; I started translating a few behind-the-scenes videos for fandom friends. In order to keep up with Chinese fans and gain access to more material about the show, I started venturing onto Chinese sites such as weibo, bilibili, and eventually, douyin, which I downloaded around October of 2020 (so this was 6 months into my increased interest into Chinese things). At first, I translated a couple of douyins to share with fandom friends as I had done with behind-the-scenes materials, but for whatever reason I felt like some of the videos I wanted to translate would just be annoying to spam into the chat... I couldn't figure out a way to connect them to the blorbos, but I still wanted to translate them, so I started posting them here on tumblr. That's how my douyin translations started out. This was the height of covid-19 related sinophobia, too, so at some point I started realising how important it was to continue translating douyins, and that motivated me to continue even beyond it just being a fun thing to do. On that topic, it was through this blog that I realised how poorly understood China and Chinese people are, specifically on this site. I feel like that has changed a lot, or maybe that's just a comment on insular online spaces, but I have to think not; since I started translating douyins, I've seen a noticeable decrease in sinophobic comments and messages (not that I don't still get them, but it's lessened), and I think that's also thanks in great part to other blogs on here that were posting/have started to post more content from China to help increase exposure to tumblr users.

Improving

In any case, in the beginning, I did a lot of translations mostly by ear rather than reading captions because my Chinese reading wasn't that good.

It's kind of slowly improved with time and repetitive reading, and over the last three years now, I've also gone through periods of taking notes and actively seeking out some vocab lists or grammar explanations... but it usually comes in the process of trying to translate something. My motivations in "studying" (it's more like "figuring out") Chinese is largely based on the simple desire to know what people are talking about... what they're joking about... what they're ranting about and roasting. Related: I also started reading fanfics in Chinese about a year ago. Some fics have been easier to read than others, but some of the best ones I've read were also the ones that challenged me the most, and which I had to take a lot of notes on while reading. I'll admit! There have been times where I just took a fic and dumped that sucker in google translate and have it read the Chinese to me, so I could just listen to it like a podfic. But even so, I would take notes, because I think my improvements in Chinese are heavily connected to my Chinese literacy.

Reading douyin comments and forums on douban or comment sections on bilibili has been one of the main ways that I've picked up on common phrases and characters. I often write things down but I do so more as a muscle memory practice, because I have never really been the sort of person who reads back notes (this was also how I studied in school, iirc). Branching out and translating things that are written in formal or non-colloquial styles is also a way I challenge myself from time to time, and I do like to look up the etymology of Chinese characters from time to time because it helps me pick up patterns of semantics and phonetic hints when I'm reading (this makes it easier to guess what a character might mean or sound like, even if you've never seen it before). Overall, translation has been the great learning tool for me. I think maybe it comes down to learning styles? I have always learned better from trying to teach others, and I feel like translation works a similar muscle in the mind; translation is about figuring out ways to efficiently communicate a message, and in order to do so, you must be able to grasp the essence of what it is you're relaying.

All this said... And to try and return to your original ask after all my usual Wawa rambling... I actually don't think my Chinese is that good, lol. In fact, there's probably people who follow this blog who are studying Chinese in a more conventional and methodical manner whose Chinese is objectively much better than mine 🤷🏻‍♂️ I mean, if you crunch the numbers, I have really only be self-"studying" for three years. Three years of what is really just vibe-based learning. There's a lot of vocab I still don't know (I mean my English vocab is pretty limited too, sooo.... 😭), a lot of areas that I can still improve on, and am improving on, and try to improve on... when the mood strikes. Again, I am not a very disciplined self-study type.

Maybe this will give any other Chinese diaspora hope, though. I feel like it's never too late for us to start learning. There is probably a seed or language foundation within you already which will make it easier for you to start, and then after that, I think it sort of comes down to finding what interests you and will keep you motivated.

Most of the stuff I talk about on here when it comes to culture or folk art or what have you, I did not know even five years ago! I learned about it because I was interested to find out more. (That's another reason I have to laugh when I get some of the asks I do in my inbox... The stuff I don't answer is dumbfounding at times. You translate a couple of funny videos and people think you're some kind of Tripadvisor cultural ambassador guy! I swear...)

The "study" resources I use regularly are the following:

Pleco

Zh-En browser extension

Yellowbridge (usually to check brush stroke order, since I have Pleco)

Baidu etymology pages / Chinese etymology dictionaries such as hanziyuan

#text #answered ask #about me

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97keanu · 6 months

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figure skating for the first time x keanuverse ? ⛸️🤍🎄❄️

*˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ohohoho this is perfect !!!! Thank you for asking, I've had this on my mind for a bit now! (And I may also be writing a fuller fic for such a thing with reader x young!JW :3c) John Constantine, Kevin Lomax, and Neo undercut! Pure fluff!

❄️.*ㅤ Since he's on my mind, older John would love going ice skating with you! He's probably done it at least once himself, and if not, with as skilled as he is as working his body through the movies, I think he would manage just fine! I also have a head canon that when he grew up with The Director, they didn't seperate teaching ballet by gender of who was there (no "just girls learn ballet, boys learn how to kill" deal.) So, I like to think of John Wick as someone who can do all he does because he also has a rigorous background in learning ballet, having those precise body movements, knowing how to work every muscle in his body to his advantage.

Therefore, I would like to imagine that John takes you to the nearest rink (or perhaps a lake he knows that's more private?) And actually helps to teach you how to skate better (or how to at all if you don't know how!). He would be patient, watching you and only stepping in when you need it, his arms wrapping around your waist or steadying your elbow.

Eventually, you're doing it on your own, and John is there watching you, a smile creeping on his face from being able to teach you something so intimate to him. He actually has to be the one to stop you once the night starts setting in, the temperature getting way too cold to stay out in much longer.

He takes you back to his mustang and already has a fuzzy blanket there to wrap you in. You in the night back at his apartment, drinking a late night coffee and John listening to you giggle about how much fun you had with a warm heart.

❄️.*ㅤTed Logan however, lives in sunny California, so they don't see snow or ice often enough for ice skating to be a regular ordeal. He is your skater boyfriend however, so when you do end up finding a indoor rink to take him too, he thinks he will be pretty good at it from the get go. And he isn't horrible, he knows how to balance well and tries to stay up right, but it's actually so different from riding his skateboard or even rollerskates that it takes him a moment or two to get really good at it. Once he has it down though, he's skating around, pulling you by your hands until you two are laughing and doing goofy circles around the rink. Eventually, his himbo-ness gets the best of him, and as he's admiring how pretty your hair looks under the ice rink lights, he slips, bringing you down with him. He takes the harder of the fall, you fall on top of him with rosy cheeks and a smile already forming from how silly your boyfriend can be. You two end up laying there and laughing in the middle of the rink for way too long, maybe even annoying a few other skaters, but you two couldn't care if you tried. The night ends with the two of you warming up at a nearby cafe with hot cocoa and plans to try it again sometime.

❄️.*ㅤJohn Constantine would flat out refuse to go ice skating with you. Your big doe eyes would plead with him, but that's not going to change his mind. You tell him how much you enjoyed going as a child, how you love to ice skate, but you're not going to find a Los Angeles city boy like him on an ice rink anytime soon. Or, are you?

Maybe after his refusal, he takes on a demon hunting case that just so happens to lead him to a hockey rink. When the chase leads you two there, you don't see John stop to think about what he's doing as he tries to run out onto the ice. You go after him, your sneakers sliding and skidding on the slippery surface, but your years of practice skating have you able to keep your balance. To your dismay, ahead of you, Constantine is not someone who's trained in such things, and for the first time ever(and probably the last), you see Constantine fall flat on his ass. You easily skid by, reaching out a hand to help him up, and he can't deny grumbling a 'thank you". By the time you're ready to resume chase, the demon is gone.

"See? If we had just gone skating last Saturday, maybe you would have been prepared for this type of thing!" You know you shouldn't rub it in, but you can't help pointing out the truth.

"Yeah, yeah," Constantine carefully finds his way to the rinks edge, and gets out onto non-slippery flooring. "Okay, Maybe I'll take you next time..."

You squeal with joy and the two of you end the night with you having a hot tea in his apartment and Constantine taking a whiskey and nursing his bruised backside.

❄️.*ㅤKevin Lomax is not one for ice skating. Our good southern boy hasn't even roller skated a day in his life, and he's not about to trade his cowboy boots for a pair of blades.

"Please, Kevin! I really want to go skating!" You pester him, and eventually he caves, lucky that New York gets more snow than Florida.

He wraps you, and himself, up tight in winter clothes, and bites back complaints about how cold it is. He takes you to a local spot that he's heard of, and only a few other couples are out at the rink. Good, less people to have to see him fall on his ass when this goes awry.

He still has to maintain the confidence of a business man, so he keeps his lawyer smile on and helps you into your skates. At first, he let's you go ahead and skate without him, watching you perform moves he is actually pretty entranced with. When you pull your leg up over your head, he actually gives a holler out of support("Yeah that's my wife/girlfriend!").

Eventually, when everyone else has left, you persuade him into trying on a pair of skates, and to your surprise, he does. You gently take him out onto the ice, and for a few moments he's actually doing it! You let go gently, and he glides by himself, able to get down the simple movements, but nothing too crazy. In the end, you two do slow circles in the middle of the rink, face to face with each other. Kevin looks deeply in your eyes, and you're happy he's obliged your silly request. He leans in for a kiss, and you feel your legs shake on your skates. To your surprise, you're the one who's lost your balance first, and Kevin catches you with a laugh.

"Too much for you, darlin'?" He whispers with that husky southern voice, and the redness in your cheeks isn't just from the cold anymore.

The two of you end the night at a fancy dinner spot, something expensive, decorated in holiday spirit and the sound of a live pianist and violinist playing soft Christmas tunes.

❄️.*ㅤNeo lives in Chicago, so he's no stranger to the cold or navigating ice. I believe he likely has gone ice skating before, probably as a child, but hasn't done that in many years. When you ask him, he's apprehensive, but it doesn't take much begging for him to agree.

He takes you to a spot that's supposed to be the best experience, and only after you two have bought your tickets do you realize it's PACKED. There's way too many people here for Neo's comfort, or yours for that matter, and after about an hour of trying to find your way onto the ice where you two can have some alone time, you see it's not going to happen tonight and give up.

Neo makes it up to you by taking you to your favorite dinner spot. It's an enjoyable date night still, but he can tell how badly you wanted to go and can see the disappointment that you couldn't.

So, after about a week, he tells you that he's taking you out for a surprise.

When you arrive to this mystery destination, you realize it's the same ice rink. You ask him why, knowing it's another Saturday and it will be packed just like before, but Neo motions to the lack of people in the parking lot.

"What...?" You say as you begin to piece things together. "How did you...?"

"We have the whole place to ourselves. I took out every ticket just for us." He says slyly, obviously proud of this feat.

"What do you mean? That has to be crazy expensive!" You know Neo is well enough off, but that sorta price is excessive even for him.

"Well, their website for buying tickets was particually hard to hack..." He looks over at you with a smirk and smiles big when you throw your hands around his neck, gleeful for his talent tonight.

"No! You didn't! Neo..." You say into his neck giving him a big squeeze. "Thank you..."

The two of you head inside and are treated like unknown celebrities, putting on an air of being such, and trying to remain lowkey. You both have fun pretending to be people you're not, and Neo skates alongside you easily, even taking the risk of dipping you back and twirling you a few times. You're surprised your typical home dwelling boyfriend could be so suave and savvy, but you enjoy it nonetheless. You get hot drinks at a concession stand, and eat pretzels and Chicago style hotdogs to your content.

#i hope you enjoy these takes! all your boyfriends are willing to do a winter time activity with you due to feeling the holiday spirit!#except constantine...but you know how he is lol #john wick x reader #john constantine x reader #constantine x reader #neo x reader #ted logan x reader #kevin lomax x reader #lila speaks #ask lila #my writing #••• ◛ ʸᵒᵘ’ᵛᵉ ᵍᵒᵗ ᵐᵃⁱˡ!#keanuverse

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batfam-rewrites · 1 year

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Damian: Cassandra!!! *runs around the mansion and into the second floor living room* Has anyone seen Cassandra?

Jason: Cass left a while ago to train.

Stephanie: You know, I think I saw Dick leave with her. You don’t think...?

Duke: Oh no, you don’t think they are training together, do you?

Stephanie: I think they might be!

Jason: Oh my god, poor Cass!

Damian: That is truly unfortunate!

Harper: Why is training with Dick so horrible?

Jason: Because Dick doesn’t train, normal.

Harper: How so?

Damian: Grayson trains exactly like a circus freak. So when he goes to train, it’s not just sparing and working out but he also fits in a number of his gymnastics events into his training.

Harper: Oh! Well...that can’t be too bad. I mean a lot of us do acrobatic stuff anyway so how much worse can it get.

Jason: That’s exactly what I said. I went in thinking, “Oh, gee wiz. I can’t wait to train with golden boy Dick!”

Stephanie: *laughs* You said gee wiz?

Jason: Shut up, this was before I died! Anyway, I go in and he had very simple skills set out for me. Should’ve been easy, right? I fell doing just about every skill that he had me do! And if doing all six events wasn’t already bad enough, he decided to through me on the trapeze as well! And after that we did an hour of conditioning and flexibility! I came back to the Batcave more sore and with more bruises than I had ever received out in the field at that point!

Damian: *snickers* Wow, how pathetic that must have been!

Jason: Oh, yeah, and how did your training session with Dick go?

Damian: Pfft.... I excelled at everything he had set out for me! I was a natural!

Everyone: *stares at Damian*

Damian: *crosses his arms* Fine! I fell a lot and I had to tap out after vault because Dick was scared I was going to “make my injury worse.” It was only a bit of leg pain!

Stephanie: Your couldn’t move your leg!!!

Damian: It was just a bone fracture, I could have kept going though!

Harper: Holy shit!

Duke: Personally I wouldn’t mind just training floor or high bar with him again, I would just try and skip the rest though.

Stephanie: Yeah, but you got off much easier than the rest of us! I remember Dick finding out I did gymnastics until I was 15 and he dragged me with him.

Tim: *walks in*

Stephanie: The training part wasn’t too bad but I’d much rather do Bruce’s conditioning than Dick’s!

Tim: Are we talking about training with Dick?

Stephanie: Yeah.

Tim: It’s not too bad!

Jason: Shut up, you don’t count because you’re a junior elite gymnast!

Duke: I don’t think either you or Steph count as both of you actually had a gymnastics background!

Stephanie: Hey, Dick’s training is on a whole different level!

Jason: Gymnastics in itself is a whole different level of training! I’d rather hear another lecture from Bruce than ever do that shit again!

Damian: Don’t lie to yourself, Todd! We all know that you secretly use the rings and tumble track when you think no one is watching!

Jason: Oh, like you don’t go in there training as well every once in a while!

Damian: I don’t!

Duke: You most definitely do!

Damian: Why would I want to, I’m the one who was injured!

Stephanie: Please, you said it was nothing!

Duke: I couldn’t walk for a whole day after mine!

Stephanie: You think that’s bad, I couldn’t walk for three days!

Jason: You still had previous experience!

Stephanie: I hadn’t done shit for a year though!

Harper: I haven’t trained with Dick yet, and I don’t want to!

Jason: I don’t want to do that shit again!

Cassandra: *walks in*

Everyone: *stops fighting*

Harper: Hey Cassie, how are you feeling?

Cassandra: I’m feeling pretty good, core is killing me though!

Stephanie: You poor thing! How did training with Dick go?

Cassandra: It was really fun! Dick was talking about how we finally have enough people to do a competition again!

Jason: You’re not bruised, super sore, anything?

Damian: No broken or fractured bones?

Cassandra: *examines and lifts her arms and legs* Nope!

Dick: *walks in super sore and grunting* Hey Tim, do you mind subbing in for me during patrol tonight?

Everyone: *looks at Dick in surprise*

Tim: Suuure!

Duke: Did Cass train you!

Dick: *moves to a chair* She said my conditioning was too light so we did hers. *sits down* Oh fuck! I’m not moving.

Cassandra: Damian, are you ready to play?

Damian: You’ve kept me waiting.

Damian and Cassandra: *walk out*

Jason: Hey, Dick! Out of curiosity, who had the worst training session with you?

Dick: Ummm...... Definitely Bruce!

Everyone: What?!

Dick: Yeah, he fell on top of the pommel, had a hard time moving on floor, kept running into the vault table. By the end of it Bruce took a shower and passed out for 15 hours. Pretty sure it’s the most he’s ever slept in his life.

Harper: Don’t ever invite me to train with you! I am terrified!

Dick: Cool! *gives a thumbs up and starts to zone out*

Duke: Wait, if you’re as acrobatic as Dick, then why don’t you do many flips and stuff out in the field then?

Tim: Are you kidding? I don’t want anyone to know my identity, especially when I was able to find out Dick’s identity by only watching his high bar routine back when I was in level 6!

Dick: *zones back in* I remember that! You called me stupid for that!

Tim: It is so obvious, just stop showing off!

#batfam #batman #bruce wayne #nightwing #dick grayson #red hood #Jason Todd #Red Robin #Tim Drake #spoiler #Stephanie Brown #blue bird #harper row #orphan dc #cassandra cain #signal dc #duke thomas #robin #Damian Wayne

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colourstreakgryffin · 7 months

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can you do Kenma x high school first year female reader who wants to join the girl’s volleyball team but is struggling to learn how to play so she can’t join yet and Kenma helps her?:3 ty!:p

Yessssiieeee~! My love! My Haikyuu baeee~! I love Kenma so much! That like… I can’t even express how much I love Kenma! Let’s goooo~! This is rather cute and I can already see it!

Kozume Kenma; Level 0; Training

“It’s fine, okay…?” Kenma speaks gently as he slowly walks over to the bouncing volleyball rolling on the grassy floor to pick it up and return to his designated spot in front of the portable net he and his childhood best friend, Kuroo had set up for him to assist his longtime crush in honing her overall sport skills

You, a second year girl much like him. In the background, not that noticeable but yet with a unique yet unexplainable spark that drew him to you

You really became determined to follow your passion and join the female Nekoma Volleyball team after you overheard one of your closest friends, Kenma himself joined the male Volleyball team as their main Setter. You have always wanted to play volleyball and regularly practiced with Kuroo, sparking up Kenma’s mad jealousy over you and his dorky childhood best friend bonding over matching desires

You’ll like him more than Kuroo, if he works harder to join the Volleyball Team right? You’ll like him, more than Kuroo, if he helps you with your own practice sessions. It may be true that Kenma thinks about you a lot… besides Kuroo, you’re one of his only actual friends and you’re so sweet to him…

So angelic and pure, like you are made directly from cotton candy and clouds. Kenma finds himself falling deeper and deeper in love with you everyday, his crush on you overtakes his thought process a lot

You were quite distressed as you widen your stance and stretch your pressed-together forearms outwards, so professionally as you waited for Kenma to fire a practice shot at you. Nowhere, it’d be painful but judging him, you know to always be on your toes for how unpredictable he truly is. You still liked that unpredictability well, such a little genius he is

Despite how tense you are over your rejection in trying to apply for the girls’ team. You were still smiling and determined to get what you wanted, and Kenma thrived off that. You were such a wonderful piece of motivation to keep doing all he can in the boys’ Volleyball Team, Kuroo’s encouragement did play a part but so did you

You two were simply passing shots to each other. It was simple, it was fun, it was quiet as Kenma occasionally intervened to show you specific strategies he used during practice with his team. You couldn’t help but feel a warmth rise in your stomach everytime Kenma’s cute, smooth yet reserved voice rung out and his surprisingly calloused hands moved your arms or hips in a precise style

He was just helping you, both of you thought that… but that didn’t mean both of you weren’t blushing intensely at every decision Kenma makes over helping you physically

Kenma did help you in all ways he can. He was straining himself, just a bit, to practice with you for hours, not necessarily above his usual hours but he wanted to try harder than he did with the team; all to try impress you whilst assisting you with your own volleyball skills by applying his own experience. He was no volleyball protege like Kuroo but he didn’t want Kuroo possibly stealing up your heart

Kenma will help get you into the girls’ team, on his own and at the best of his abilities. Kuroo and his many requests to assist him with training you, would always be rejected as he pushes on. It’s not just for a random girl… it’s for the girl he really likes, the girl who understands him well, the girl who has his heart. If you want to be a member of the Girls’ Volleyball Team but got rejected for your unsuitable skillset;

He’ll just train you to be even better, better than any of those girls ever could be

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entomolog-t · 3 months

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is there any reason u think small knights are kind of a common theme used in the g/t community? i’ve seen it used a few times and am a bit mystified by the coincidence

- 80

OOH Thats a good question!

I think theres lots of factors at play there- The main one I can think of off the top of my head goes as follows.

Subverted expectation

Charismatic Archetype

Easily "accessible" g/t premise

Symbolism

First off, its a great role reversal/subversion of expectations. Knights are seen as protectors, a beacon of strength and what have you, so making the knight small is an easy way to make something enticing to an audience since it defies expectation. This can be for comedic reasons, or angst ( or both). I think the biggest factor is going against the grain creates new avenues/perspectives to explore/thus high intrigue.

The second point is that knight are a fairly fun and charismatic archetype- their role is already exciting, and you don't necessarily need a lot of background knowledge to use the archetype to make a compelling story. So while prevalent in g/t media quite often, I think they are also quite prevalent in media as a whole (especially fandom), and would fall in the same "Charismatic Archetype Bin" as other such characters like witches, vampires, mafia bosses, pirates etc. Though I do think knights stand out particularly in g/t, which leads me to my next point-

Its an easily accessible g/t genre. Adding a g/t element can at times be difficult- Giants in a modern world usually mean a lot of question about world building pop up, as well as logistics. A knight setting is normally much more primitive, and often times has a fantastical or magical element, thus taking a lot of the "How can we make this work" leg work off the creator's shoulders.

Lastly I think Knights as a whole offer a lot of interesting symbolism. Certain aspects could be a combination of things such as strength, duty, loyalty, obedience, bravery, dedication etc... And those make for a very interesting character, especially when making that character small.

How do they handle losing/not being able to use their strength?

Does their sense of duty crumble in the face of someone so much larger than them? Does their bravery crumble ?

How do those traits look on someone so much smaller? Is it inspiring? Sad? Comical? Infuriating (A good ol combination is my favorite)

Whatever the case, knights act as a very clear symbol in both the cultural zeitgiest and within the unique perceptions of an individual. Its easy for one's mind to project particular feelings onto a symbol.

For example, someone who may highly value duty/responsibility could easily (both consciously or not) project those feelings onto a knight character. Making that character small could be a way to vent/explore the idea of ones responsibilities being overwhelmingly large, or as if you feel like you've lost the capacity to deal with them.

Another may write about others not viewing them as capable because of their size, despite having the skills and abilities of a knight- they just aren't seen seriously.

Knights offer a really loaded character archetype, especially in the G/t sphere, since the symbolism of both themselves as a knight and then the concept of being small can create such a variety of metaphors for the audience.

#I am such a sucker for tiny knights #jksdfglskdh #Love em to bits #My brain spat this out so fast #g/t community #g/t prompts #AskEnto

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strunmah-mah · 3 months

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Touchstarved Characters as DnD Classes

Ais

Given the existence of Ocudeus and Ais's relationship with it, Ais is an easy choice for a warlock, a person who gets their powers from a patron entity. My choice would either be The Great Old One, or The Fathomless. The both have those eldritch vibes but with slightly different emphasis. The Fathomless buts a strong emphasis on the oceanic tentacle monster, while The Great Old One has some tentacle imagery but focuses far more on the effects Eldritch beings have on the mind. Which one you think suits him more comes down to personal preference I think.

Leander

Given that magic for humans seems to largely be a learned skill, and stuff devs have said about Leander coming from a more more formal background giving him access to a proper education, Leander would 100% be a wizard. With as little information as we have about him exactly which school might be harder to pin down, but for the purpose of this I'm going School of Illusion. I think it works both as a fun reference to the first spell we ever see him cast (the illucitory lily) and a sort of foreshadowing of him duplicitous nature.

Kuras

As an angel, Kuras's divine power is innate to him in a way that I think the Divine Soul Sorcerer would be best at replicating. Not really sure what else to add, this might be an even easier pick than Ais as a Warlock.

Vere

Vere is interesting. Given our first impression is that of a snarling shadow beast in the corner of out vision, part of me is inclined towards Shadow Magic Sorcerer. His power seems to be innate to him and I think the Hound of Ill Omen ability synergizes well with Vere's status as the Senobium's hunting dog. HOWEVER, the devs recently dropped the extra bit of lore implying that Vere used to be worshiped as a god, which does make an interesting argument for casting him as a cleric. I don't think most cleric abilities mesh as well with Vere's in game abilities, but thematically the Ambition Domain meshes well with his personality.

Mhin

Mhin is the one I'm least confident on. Their attempt to sneak into the Senobium speaks to them being a Rogue, The revelation that they're regular collecting bounties from soulless hunting points them to being a Ranger, and the Alchemist's observation that their a scientist suggests that when the full games drops they might be something of an Artificer, or depending on your tolerance for psuedo canon, maybe a Blood Hunter? IDK, I'm a little bit at a loss of what to do with this guy.

Bonus the Origins

Now given that all Origins more or less have the same skill set with some flavor difference All of them could easily be Aberrant Mind Sorcerers and be done with it. Their power is innate to them, and that power is power over the minds of others. It's a good solid choice, but if you wanted to give the Origins more influence over their skills sets below would be my choices

The Unnamed

Raised at a temple as an oracle? The Unnnamed is a Cleric. Given that it was thought their ability could create a groupmind the Solidarity or Zeal Domains could be an interesting choice, That the people under their influence are so violent could be an argument for the War Domain, or that everyone was so mislead as to what your ability is could be an argument for Trickery Domain. Ultimately as a self insert the Unnamed's background is fluid and any choice is valid, but thematically I think I think those four could all work really well. TBH I really wish there was a Madness Domain or something so you could channel that Dionysus Maenadic energy, I think that'd work really well, but homebrew is not my area.

The Alchemist

This Origin knows magic, magic is a learned skill for humans, The Alchemist is a Wizard, maybe an Artificer. Again, self insert, either choice is valid. If you go Wizard I think School of Enchantment could be a good choice, would tie into their powers a bit better then some of the other options. If you go Artificier there is an Alchemist subclass, it's a match made in heaven

The Hound

The Hound has a very specific archetype built into it and that is the Rogue: Thief. They're a street kid who survived by stealing. I don't know if there's another choice that could work for this Origin even half as well. works for this

#touchstarved game #touchstarved ais #touchstarved kuras #touchstarved mhin #touchstarved vere #touchstarved leander #touchstarved mc #long post #i've spent way too long thinking about this #especially since i don't even really play dnd #i did briefly #but my dm moved and online play doesn't really work for me #any way have some thoughts #i need to go to bed #mhin is the li i'm least interested in and it shows

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pahtoosh · 1 year

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soup saturday

[image ID: a photo collage with images of Sebastian Stan, soup, and heart-shaped carrots on a lime green background. /.end ID]

masterlist

18+

wc: ~1060 words

warnings: fluff. reader is in kidspace. very cheesy ending. disregard the types of soup present in the moodboard, Buckles is making whatever soup you like!

a/n: this may be the strangest moodboard I've ever made. y'all would not BELIEVE how many images there are of heart-shaped carrots on pinterest. it is very late and I do not have my glasses on so I hope it's cool😎

pairing: chef!daddy!bucky x gn!little!reader

summary: you and your favorite chef make a delicious pot of soup

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

Go real slow, alright, Munchkin? One slice at a time and don’t forget to curl your fingers in.”

“Yes! I can do it, Daddy.” You nodded your head vigorously, then cut the moment short, remembering that you had to be calm and in control of your body to do the task.

Bucky was teaching you how to properly cut vegetables. He noticed your big self struggling a bit with cooking and wanted to share some of his knowledge from culinary school with you. He intended on teaching you these knife skills while you were still big, but you’d been having a rough week and regressing more often than not at home.

Today you were in kid space and wanted nothing more than to help your Daddy in the kitchen. It was Soup Saturday which meant Bucky would start a pot of soup in the morning, letting it cook all day for the most delicious dinner.

Bucky tried keeping you occupied with measuring spices; however, you wanted to be just like him and do the harder tasks too. He was hesitant to let you use a knife, but you promised to be extra careful and let Bucky finish chopping the vegetables when they got too small for you to hold.

Luckily, Bucky had a few kid-safe knives tucked away in a cabinet. After a few minutes of showing you the proper technique and some hand-over-hand assistance, you were ready to cut up the vegetables on your own. Within a few minutes, you had cut up two whole carrots by yourself.

“You did so good, Bubba! These carrots are going to be delicious in our soup.”

You set your little knife down and shyly looked at the ground with a small, proud smile on your face. “Thank you, Daddy. Do I put them in the bowl now?”

“Not yet, little chef. Daddy’s got a surprise for you.” Bucky went back into the tall cupboard where he kept the kid-safe knives and pulled out a box that made a clinking sound when he moved it. He handed it to you. “Think you can open this?”

You nodded and pulled off the lid, revealing an assortment of metal shapes. “What is it, Daddy?”

“They’re like very small cookie cutters, so you can cut your vegetables into all sorts of shapes.” Bucky gently took the box from your hands and emptied it onto the table so you could see the new tools.

“Wow!” you giggled.

“Do you wanna make the carrots into fun shapes while I cut the rest of the vegetables?”

“Yes, yes, yes!”

Bucky chuckled at your enthusiasm and pressed a kiss to your head before resuming his task. The two of you worked in a comfortable silence until all the ingredients were ready for the soup. While you washed your hands, Bucky came from behind and started washing your hands for you. He knew you were fully capable of doing it yourself, but he couldn’t resist your adorable laugh.

“Daddy!” you squealed. “Can do it myself, I’m big today!”

“I don’t know, my little munch. You still look like a baby to me.” Bucky teased. He rinsed off the suds and dried your hands, then he made a silly act of pretending that your hands had disappeared under the towel. You could not stop laughing and held onto Bucky, much to his delight.

Once you had both calmed down, Bucky moved all the soup ingredients next to the stove and got out his soup pot. Bucky’s soup pot was the largest cooking vessel you had ever seen. It showed signs of being well-loved after being passed down in his family for generations. Every time he made soup, it had to be in this pot. Bucky went so far as to claim that he only knew how to make soup for a crowd of people. It would take weeks for the two of you to finish such a large portion, so the leftovers were distributed to your friends(Sam could never say no to home-cooked food) or frozen for when one of you had a sick day.

The only downside to this pot was that it was too tall for you to see what Bucky was doing. The sautéed onions and bloomed spices were doing wonders for your nose, but your brain wanted so badly to see what your Daddy was doing. It was mesmerizing to see Bucky in the kitchen. He was in his element, moving with confident strokes as if he’d spent every second of his life cooking.

You needed to see it.

“Dadaaa,” you pouted.

“Yes, Honeybun?” Bucky asked, not looking away from the pot.

“Hmph.” You stomped your foot, hoping to get his attention.

“Use your words, Munchkin. Daddy can’t read minds.”

“Can’t see soup, Dada.”

“Oh, well the soup’s not done yet. It’ll be ready at dinnertime, baby.”

“No! Wanna see Dada make soup.”

Bucky stopped his stirring as he finally understood what you were saying. “You wanna see inside the pot while Daddy’s cooking?”

“Yes! Please, Daddy?” You clasped your hands in front of you and bounced on your toes.

“Okay,” Bucky turned off the stove. “Only because my baby has such good manners.” He kissed your forehead and quickly grabbed a stepping stool from the closet.

He placed the stool a comfortable distance from the stove so that you could see into the pot without being too close to the heat. “Alright, Pumpkin. Now you just stand on this stool and hold onto the counter if you need to. Don’t touch the stove and don’t start leaning forward. Daddy’s gonna be keeping an eye on ya, so don’t do anything naughty or I’ll take the stool away and you won’t be able to see the soup.”

He made you repeat the rules back to him before lifting you onto the stool.

You let out a small gasp. “I can see the pot, Dada!”

Bucky grinned. “Good, Baby. Can you name the ingredients in the pot?”

Time flew by as Bucky cooked and occasionally quizzed you on cooking terms. When he was done, the two of you cleaned up the kitchen and worked on chores around the house while the soup simmered away. Finally, it was dinner time and you got to enjoy your hard work. Every day with Bucky as your caregiver was amazing, but Soup Saturdays were something special.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated!

#toosh writes #bucky x little!reader #daddy!bucky x little!reader #chef!daddy!bucky #chef!daddy!bucky x little!reader #chef!daddy!bucky x gn!little!reader #cg!bucky #chef!bucky x little!reader #gn!little!reader #sfw #fluff #oneshot #sfw littlespace #sfw regression #soup saturday #soup-saturday

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kaiowut99 · 4 months

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 106-107 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episode 105 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-106: Judai and Johan of the Gem Beast Deck

A new school term has started at the Duel Academia. Invited to the Academia as transfer students and becoming new friends are the Academy Champions known as Amon, O'Brien, Crocodile, and a mysterious boy--along with one Professor Cobra. Meanwhile, atop the school building rooftop, Judai meets a boy who can see Spirits--who turns out to be the "mysterious boy," Johan. Cobra proposes an Exhibition Match, pitting Judai against Johan. Johan turns out to be a duelist in control of the rare Monsters known as the Gem Beasts.

TURN-107: The Neo-Spacians VS the Gem Beasts

Johan summons one Gem Beast after another, from his Amethyst Cat to his Topaz Tiger. Judai also has Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab and Neos perform a Contact Fusion to take them on with his Flare Neos. Then, Johan destroys Judai's Field Magic and activates a new Field Magic, Ancient City of Rainbows -- Rainbow Ruins, sending his Neo-Spacian back to his deck. Seeing these skillful attacks, Ed begins to speak of the unknown relationship between Johan and his Gem Beasts.

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...so, didn't mean to let these take about a month and a half since 105 was all finalized, but heremst we be *sips indie coffee*

Season 3 gets into full swing with these two episodes as it starts us off with a hint of our upcoming big bad right off the jump (RIP Hiromi Tsuru, your Yubel is still fantastic), then introduces us to the big foreign players we'll be seeing quite a bit of going forward. Judai has a nightmare taking place in an area similar to his vision with Saiou--which I'm sure is unrelated to anything--and then opening ceremonies ensue before we're introduced properly to our new transfer students, and the Ancient Roman lore around Johan's Gem Beasts which was pretty cool to include; Judai and Johan then have a fun duel together as we see the Gem Beasts in action facing Judai's Neo-Spacians. These episodes also see the debut of some of my favorite OST tracks from Season 3, like Fervent Duel (used really well in 107) and A Pinch here. Ed coming in for 107 and giving us the background on Johan from Pegasus, featuring cameos of Dark Yugi, Kaiba, and Jounouchi (from the Warriors and Unstopping Overflowing Feelings OP/EN in DM--these nods were kept in the dub, so it was the first time those particular shots of Kaiba and Jou were used in the West), as we learn that he gifted the Gem Beasts to Johan during a tournament in Europe was good, and I still love Johan's little fakeout at the end with the Rainbow Dragon he doesn't actually have yet. A fun duo of episodes with a fun, low-stakes duel that we should enjoy while we can.

Quick side-notes for the dub, but want to take a sec to shout out Jim's dub VA who perfectly nailed his Australian voice for the guy, and who I hope comes back if we're ever lucky enough to get a more accurate GX redub (though I think he was recast in DL? But still sounded pretty good). Dub!Yubel, though... I'm still baffled by the decision made with that voice, and I'm glad they eventually went with a better voice in BBT. 107 also saw them make a bunch of--I assume--time cuts, including most of the cold open which featured our first in-series look at Martin, and other shots as Cobra set up his evil lair in the old SAL lab (continuity!), but also the ending shot as Cobra looks at the duel energy he collected and comments on their impressive duel--most of those are fair as far as time cuts go, though I think the ending scene should've been kept. It's also interesting that, with Johan's southern accent being a thing in the dub (which has grown on me, though I like his later no-accent voice more), that they had Pegasus say the tournament he went to with him happened "down south;" according to a comment on the Crunchyroll upload, the venue's the "All-England Lawn Tennis Club where the Grand Slam Wimbledon" happens in the UK? lol

Animation error-wise, there were just over a handful that I picked up on in each episode that I went ahead and fixed up--mostly quality-of-watching ones along with a couple of card errors, and I also translated the bio on Amon that O'Brien hands to Cobra early in episode 106. As always, details below the cut if interested, along with Translation Notes for the bio.

Anywho, enjoy! The next two-parter features our fiery boy O'Brien, and with some really nice art/animation in 109 that I always love to revisit; I'll begin work on that once I finalize some special side work that I should hopefully get to post about soon, too, though I'll also be going back to episode 1 to fix up a card error I forgot to tackle, lol. Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (106)

Early in the episode, Professor Cobra enters O'Brien's room on the ship and asks who else would be visiting him; he hands him a bio pointing to one Amon Garam. As detailed here, I translated Amon's bio in this shot, first compiling a full image to edit from its later appearances in 111 and 121, then keyframing it into the rotating zooming-out shot that happens here with AfterEffects and Sony Vegas. (The full text of the bio is in that detailed post)

In the next shot, Cobra asks if Amon came to see O'Brien, noting that he seems to be a meddler but suggests that he doesn't pay him any mind, turning to pass the bio back to him--as he does so, a few quick animation errors happen: 1) Cobra's face/mouth glitch for a few quick frames as he shifts his face into a smile (likely his current face being left over his moving face behind it); 2) the bio page in his hand jitters a bit in the frames leading up to his turning towards O'Brien; and 3) once O'Brien's holding the paper and moves it down, there are a quick few frames where a small part of his hair (the one bang on his left) is missing before it comes back. As detailed here, I edited in my translation to the bio while Cobra's holding it and as he passes it back, masking in Cobra and the rest of the frame over it for blending, while also fixing those errors for the Japanese scene by holding Cobra's face pre-glitch over the glitched frames, editing the Amon bio so it's steady throughout, and masking in O'Brien's full hair bang over the frames where it's cut short.

Later, as the Judai/Johan duel gets underway, Judai and Johan give their "Duel!" shouts and draw their hands, but a few things happen as they jump into a split-screen for it: 1) Judai moves a frame before Johan starts to slide in on his split; 2) once the screen pans down to their decks as they draw, the split-screen border seems to have been drawn in oddly, as part of Judai's side ends up just on top of the border (also seems to be slightly cut off in width halfway down); and 3) as they split apart, more of Judai seems to have made it to the left of his split's border. I fixed each one in Vegas by first sliding in Johan a frame earlier as Judai moves, then enhancing the split-screen border a bit to cover up what ends up on top of it and to its left as they split out (I generally try to avoid making redone borders that much bigger, but thought it was the only way to cleanly/consistently fix that).

After Johan plays Gem Beast Emerald Turtle, we cut to the Overseas Champions watching on, with Jim whistling before Amon expresses his surprise at the Gem Beasts--but a coloring error happens in the rapid pan from Jim to Amon, with both having odd coloring spots. A quick fix in Vegas by redoing the panning using a frame of Jim post-whistle and a frame of Amon before his mouth moves.

After Judai summons Neos, Johan laments that he can't ask for his autograph while they're dueling, but notes that he was waiting for him to summon a new Monster--Judai slides in on a split-screen to question that, but a few things happen: 1) Johan starts moving to make room for his split a frame before he does so; 2) a coloring error happens as Judai and Johan then split apart before Johan activates Triggered Summon (more noticeable on Johan), and 3) Judai's uneven slide-out leads to it taking a frame longer than Johan's to get offscreen. Fixed each one in Vegas by sliding Judai in a frame earlier as Johan moves, masking in Judai and Johan's pre-slide-out splits over the frames as they slide out to fix the coloring error, and making Judai's slide-out match Johan's by masking one frame in earlier.

[continued below, just split thanks to stupid text-block character limits]

(6) A bit later, after Johan talks about not having any destruction cards in his deck so he can see his opponents going all-out, Judai notes how neat he finds him; as they split apart and Johan tells him to bring out his new Monster (due to Triggered Summon's effect), there's a quick frame where the border is missing on Judai's split. Quick fix in Vegas as I just added it back on by duplicating the one on Johan's and touching it up as needed.

(7) As Judai then summons Neo-Spacian Gran Mole, we see it pop up in front of him, but Judai has black rectangles on his Disk where Gran Mole, Neos, and Aqua Dolphin should be. Fixed using AfterEffects to slap on proxies for each in one frame, which I then took into Sony Vegas and shook around position-wise frame by frame to add it to the full shot (thankfully, this was just shaking around and not zooming in or out lol).

(8) During the preview for 107, we see Judai on a split-screen jumping as Johan declares an attack with his Amethyst Cat, but as they slide apart, two quick things happen: 1) there's a quick frame where there's just black behind them (and Johan's split's border isn't as glowy as Judai's), and 2) some of Johan's split's border hangs on for two frames after he and Judai slide offscreen. Fixed each in Vegas for 107 proper first, then applied the fixes here, masking in Amethyst Cat behind Judai and Johan as they split apart, then masking in some of the whooshing background behind Amethyst Cat to cover up the remaining bit of Johan's split border for those two frames.

Fixes/Edits! (107)

After Judai summons Flare Scarab, he has it do a Contact Fusion with Neos for Flare Neos, but as he declares Flare Scarab's name for it, we see that the cards on his Disk--for Gran Mole, Neos, and Flare Scarab--are flipped upside-down. Fixed in AfterEffects first by applying proxies as Judai swings his Disk around, then on one frame during the zoom-out on Flare Scarab after he moves--I then took the latter frame into Sony Vegas, where I redid the zoomout on it for the whole shot, masking in Flare Scarab on top of it.

After Johan plays Rainbow Ruins and Judai's Battle Phase ends, we see his Disk as Flare Neos returns to his field, but not only are his cards upside-down again--he also has regular ol' Neos where Flare Neos should be. Fixed both in AfterEffects by applying the Mole and Flare Neos proxies correctly, masking in the orb part of Judai's Disk over the Gran Mole one.

A bit after the eyecatch, as Judai realizes that Johan hasn't played his ace yet, he starts to ask about it, startling Johan as he slides into a split-screen with him to ask as much, but Johan starts to move for it a frame early. Fixed in Sony Vegas by sliding Judai in a frame earlier there.

Later, after Johan explains that Ruby Special-Summons itself and the other Gems in his Magic/Trap Zone when placed there (rude of the OCG to remove that part of its effect), we split out of the split-screen there as Ruby's summoned, but the border on Johan's split hangs on for an extra frame. Fixed in Vegas by just masking in part of the whooshing background over it.

A bit later, Johan declares a direct attack with Amethyst Cat, and Judai jumps as their split-screen splits apart to show Amethyst Cat pouncing at him, but as they slide apart, 1) there's a quick frame where there's just black behind them (and Johan's split's border isn't as glowy as Judai's), and 2) some of Johan's split's border hangs on for two frames after he and Judai slide offscreen. As noted for the preview version of this shot in 106's list, I fixed these here first before applying the fix there, masking in Amethyst Cat behind Judai and Johan as they split apart, then masking in some of the whooshing background behind Amethyst Cat to cover up the remaining bit of Johan's split border for those two frames.

Later, after summoning Air Neos (who), Judai slides into a split-screen to explain his ATK-gain-per-LP-difference effect; as they slide apart, Judai's uneven slide-out causes his side to take a frame longer than Johan's to slide offscreen. Fixed in Vegas by just masking part of Judai's slide-out a frame earlier to even up the slide-out.

A bit later, after Johan hypes up Rainbow Dragon only to end in a "just kiddin'," Judai clicks in for a split-screen in confusion before they split apart to show Air Neos's attack connecting with Amber Mammoth--as they split apart, parts of the border on Johan and Judai's splits hang on for an extra frame. I fixed this by just using the touched-up version of this shot from the recap in 108, which had Judai and Johan's splits slide out more naturally.

After the duel, Cobra walks out to congratulate the two on a duel well fought; he beckons them towards him, but as he walks up to the center of the arena to do so, his still feet jitter as Judai and Johan start to walk over. Fixed in Vegas by masking in his feet from the frame as Judai and Johan start to walk over over the 2-3 earlier frames as he gets to the center of the arena to keep it consistent.

#GX #yugioh #ygo #ygo gx #yugioh gx #yu-gi-oh gx #yu-gi-oh! gx #Judai Yuki #Johan Andersen #my subs #give it up for best directionless boy Johan #god i remember the old April Fools joke on Janime where fake dub names were announced for the Overseas Champions #including one changing O'Brien to Marz Kelvinheit or something--it was amazing lmao #these first few S3 episodes really are the calm before the impending storm; good times

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payattentiontothescreen · 24 days

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Bridgerton Rewatch S1E3 - Art of the Swoon

Hey y'all. Sorry for the delay on this one, grad school is taking over my life. Here we go!

This episode starts with Daphne’s dream sequence and I’m gonna take a second to give some love to the camera department. Beyond the cinematography (which is amazing and shouldn’t be devalued), getting those shots must have been a pain in the ass. POV shots are not easy to get, especially when they’re close-ups on a person’s face. Those close-up POVs of Simon and Daphne dancing must have taken some EFFORT and I salute the cam ops for getting it so smoothly.

We have made it to my biggest problem with this season. George Crane was on the front lines fighting in Spain. How did it not occur to ANYONE that he might be dead? Like, they immediately jumped to “actually he hates you and wants nothing to do with your child.” I’m sorry WHAT??? He’s at war and that’s the ONLY conclusion you jump to???? It bugs me a lot, in case you couldn’t tell.

Portia wants Marina to dress in the family colors. What are those colors? There is very little consistency in the Featheringtons’ wardrobes, which says a lot about their lack of cohesion as a family. But there’s pinks, greens, yellows, all kinds of colors that almost never match.

I love the parlor scenes at the Bridgerton house. They all have such good chemistry as a family. That’s a major strength of this season that the second season doesn’t have as much.

I remember watching this the first time and thinking Prince Friedrich looked vaguely familiar but I didn’t know why. Imagine how shocked I was when I realized that I was watching Adrian Chase be a Regency-era Prussian prince. Freddie Stroma is so talented, my god.

Couples that mock together, stay together. You can see that with the way Daphne and Simon are making fun of Cressida and Friedrich.

Jumping ahead a bit to the stove scene. It is so funny that titled members of society have no practical skills. This is a theme of how the class system works, even to this day. Not having basic life skills is basically a status symbol when you have a certain amount of money. They are out of touch, obviously, but Anthony and Daphne being fictional characters in a historical setting makes it easier to laugh at.

Madame Delacroix is not dumb. She definitely knows that Marina is pregnant. I think her acting in this scene with the knowing glances and everything kind of bolsters the idea that she could be Lady Whistledown. I know she isn’t but if I didn’t, I could see how she would be the main suspect further down the line.

So I’m one of those weirdos who likes knowing why shitty people are that way. I really hope we learn more about Cressida and her background in the next season. Like, beyond just entitlement, how does someone turn into…that?

We’re at the gallery now. I think it’s nice when the Bridgertons get to participate in things as a unit. Most of the plot happens during events that are exclusive to people who are out in society, which leaves Eloise (in this season), Gregory, and Hyacinth out. It’s great to see them interact with the larger world because they add so much texture to it. That being said, Gregory and Hyacinth showed up to that gallery to cause problems on PURPOSE!

I love it when Marina is bitchy to shitty old men. They deserve it.

I know that Benedict has very little regard for society but I love watching him participate in it. This is a bigger thing in the scene with him, Lady Danbury, and Henry Granville. Benedict has so much charisma but it doesn’t align with society’s rules and expectations. I can’t wait to see him take center stage.

I had a note to talk about the blocking in the scene where Daphne and Simon are alone in the gallery together but I don’t remember what my thoughts were on that. If I think of it, I’ll add it somewhere but lmk if y’all have thoughts.

Benedict getting frustrated with drawing hands is hilarious to me. I’m not an artist, I can’t draw for shit. However, from what I’ve heard from my friends who are artists, hands are notoriously difficult to draw. So Benedict beating himself up over drawing hands is the most realistic thing in this episode and it kills me.

The fight between Daphne and Eloise reveals a lot about Eloise’s main flaw. During the fight, Daphne has this line, “You never see things from my perspective,” and that’s true. Eloise never sees things from other people’s perspectives. She’s constantly on some crusade that doesn’t take into account how other people around her might be affected. I’m really looking forward to her chilling out a bit.

Simon laughing at how little mothers tell their daughters has a bit of a sinister tinge once he and Daphne get married. He exploits that, to a certain extent.

Phoebe Dynevor (I learned how to spell, wow) is such a trooper for staying in character during that sex education lesson. If Regé-Jean Page was explaining masturbation that close to my face, I’d waste the whole shoot day just cracking up.

Another queer-coded sibling smoke break. Them talking about Lady Whistledown is interesting. Eloise says that LWD has to hide her identity because she’s a woman. While this is true, it’s not the reason. Benedict responds by saying that if people knew who she was, she’d be strung up for what she said, which is the real reason. And Eloise does prove this right. I don’t know what other people think, but I’m of the opinion that, no matter when she found out, Eloise would react the same way to Penelope being LWD. The rage and hurt compounds over the two seasons, but I think it would have been there regardless.

This show really emphasizes the importance of fem pleasure, but I have so many thoughts about it that it needs to be a separate post.

Simon breaking it off with Daphne is some of the most textbook fear-of-commitment dialogue in the world. I have heard basically the same monologue from so many people in my actual life, it drives me crazy.

The entire cast is insanely talented but one thing stands out. The absolute best acting in this show is Jonathan Bailey acting straight. If you didn’t know that he’s gay, you’d never be able to guess.

So we’ve made it to the forged letter scene. I have 2 things to say about this one. First of all, Ruby Barker absolutely slays. I’ve watched this show so many times and I will always feel her pain. It’s so powerful. The other thing, Lady Featherington has a bit of a projection problem. She has such a miserable marriage that she can’t fathom that George might truly love Marina. Also, again, jumping straight to dismissal instead of being killed in action. I can’t believe I’m defending men right now but, especially in this universe, jumping straight to abandonment seems like projecting more than an actual conclusion.

I’m gonna condense my last few notes into one bullet because they’re all about the ball at the end of the episode. Daphne comes into the ballroom with a face card that never declines, everybody’s staring at her, classic. The way I interpret Friedrich’s behavior in this scene boils down to he was never actually interested in Cressida. I don’t know, something about this whole thing just makes me feel like Cressida was a pretty convenience. The other thing is Simon. Obviously, Simon gets crazy jealous and dips, but there’s something about the shot of the dance floor as he leaves that I never noticed. Penelope watches Simon leave. Not only that, Penelope is the ONLY ONE who watches him leave while everyone else watches the dancing. If that’s not a hint that she’s LWD, I don’t know what is.

Managed to get everything into one part this time. There might be a gap in posting again but I will do my best to get through the whole series before season 3 comes out.

Hope you're having a good day <3

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hayatheauthor · 1 year

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Ten Dos And Don’ts Of World Building (From a YA Fantasy Author)

World building is a skill every writer has to master at one point. Many authors perceive world building as a skill SFF (sci-fi and fantasy) authors need to master, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. World building is necessary for every book or story, and helps set the scene for your tale.

Unsure where to start with your story’s world building? Here are ten worldbuilding dos and don’ts every author needs to know!

#1 DO Develop A Concrete Backstory

If writing was like construction, then world building would be when you set the foundation. It’s when you place the building blocks of your story and establish a proper setting for you to work with. This might look like a complex world with several different realms for a SFF writer, or the layout of a haunted hotel for a horror writer.

The magnitude of your world building isn’t important. It’s the quality that matters. This is where you answer all those unnecessary questions you need to know in order to write your story.

What does the layout of the building your story centres in look like? What do your characters look like? Why do your characters act the way they act? Why does that one character have a burn mark behind their ear? Where do the mythical creatures in your story come from? Where do humans come from?

These details might feel redundant and annoying for an author ready to jump into their WIP, but they will help you create a consistent story in the long run.

Need help figuring out how to get started with your world building? One good technique is writing down everything you know and then moving forward.

For example, my YA fantasy WIP The Traitor’s Throne takes place in a realm of mages, so my first step for world building was establishing the different countries/areas in the realm, what the realm looks like, what special thing makes it the realm of mages, what are the other realms (this can be anything between a simple name to detailed worlds) and any lore.

This can look a lot simpler for a non-SFF author. A high school rom-com would like just need a bit of background information about the school, a concrete map of the school’s layout that you can follow during the story, and maybe fun facts about different teachers, students, or classrooms.

The art classroom could be allegedly haunted by the ghost of a local painter who went to the school, or the principal could be a funny looking fellow who wears bright socks.

Keep in mind your world-building doesn’t have to ‘be relevant’. It doesn’t matter if your readers are never going to know about that ghost or the principal’s bright socks, the only thing that matters is that you establish a concrete image of your world in your head.

This might seem like an overwhelming process, but it can actually be a fun way to get the ball rolling for a WIP you want to work on, and allows you to let your imagination run free without worrying about ‘what will my reader/editor think’.

#2 DON’T Tell Your Reader Everything

Is world building important in order to establish a proper setting for your world? Yes! Do your readers need to know everything about your world? No!

When introducing your world building to your WIP, it’s important to follow the iceberg rule. Just like an iceberg, a fraction of what you know about your world should make it into your story. Did I take the time to create names for every different country in the realm of mages? Yes! But do my readers need to know about those countries, even if the story is set in the capital? No.

One easy way to understand whether or not an aspect of your world building needs to be introduced to your readers is by following the three onlys mentioned in this blog.

Your world is only a backdrop to your story—if a detail doesn’t help further your story or benefit your character, you don’t need to mention it.

Give details on a need-to-know basis—don’t info dump about unnecessary aspects of your world! This is the easiest way to ruin your reader’s immersion.

Deliver your information only in scenes—show, don’t tell. Nobody wants to read long passages about a certain aspect of your world. Instead, show them those details. A small example of this from my WIP, The Traitor’s Throne:

Tell—“The children of the twelve families were the most powerful mages in Redina. They were trained in both magic and war strategies ever since the ripe age of five and spent their entire lives slaughtering the evil Yokai tormenting Redina’s people, yet her grandmother thought it was a good idea to send Amaya off to contend against them for the throne.”

Show—”She was to compete against the children of the twelve families for the throne. Mizuki excitedly hugged Amaya at the declaration, but her grandmother’s warm embrace wasn’t enough to thaw the cold fear Amaya felt. The children of the queen’s court were the most powerful mages in Redina, and Amaya was just a traitor’s daughter with a Puppeteer’s gift. So how in Amida’s name could she contend against them for the throne?”

#3 DO Create Laws And Boundaries

Whether you’re writing a cute romance or scary science-fiction, it’s important to establish some laws and boundaries in your world. This can be anything from ‘he can’t meet her from 10 to 12 on Fridays because they have different classes’ to ‘the cyborgs can function and reattach severed parts of their body so long as that part’s chips aren’t damaged’.

Your readers don’t necessarily have to know about these rules, they just exist to establish boundaries for you as a writer. If you do ever mention these rules, try to casually drop them in conversations or connect your rule with your protagonist’s short term goals.

Remember not to overdo your laws or rules. Establishing boundaries is important, but you also need to consider whether or not this law/rule is relevant to your story and whether it really needs to be there.

Using the previous examples, you really need to consider why it’s relevant that he can’t meet her during that time on Fridays. Maybe she sits beside someone he doesn’t like during that class, maybe there’s an urgent thing he needs to tell her but he can’t because she’s in class.

And remember, knowing your limitations are important, to know what your characters can or can’t do, but it also helps you establish realistic loopholes that work for your story.

He pretended that their homeroom teacher wanted to speak to both of them to get her out of class.

#4 DON’T Info-Dump Unrealistically

This sort of ties into the first don’t, but outside of flooding your readers with information about your world they don’t really need to know, it’s also important to consider whether the information you do tell them is relevant.

For example, the previous experts from my novel both established a certain piece of information—Amaya’s going to compete against mages who are stronger and more skilled than her, and this terrifies her but excites her grandmother. However, the first expert also established information my readers could do without, like the mention of evil Yokai, the age the others started training, and their accomplishments.

Including relevant information is important, but you also need to consider whether or not your character would actually have access to this information, and how would they know about it. For example, how on Earth could Amaya know that her competitors started training at the age of five?

There’s always more than one side to a story, and it's important to keep this in mind while worldbuilding. Establish what your character does or doesn’t know about a certain scene before you write it, and then think about how this information would impact the scene you’re working on.

If you want to make things interesting, you could also mention another character’s take on the situation in another chapter.

#5 DO Paint A Detailed Image Of Your Character

It’s important to establish a clear image of what your character looks like throughout the book, but try to make your descriptions realistic. A vivid description of how your character’s eyes looked like the ocean will definitely get your point across to your readers, but would your protagonist really notice their eyes from across the room?

When writing about your character’s physical features, always try to be subtle. Your readers are more likely to recall a simple feature of theirs that is mentioned casually throughout the book than that one long passage you wrote about their eyes.

Keep in mind that it’s important to avoid info-dumping your character’s features while writing. If your focus is on their eyes during one scene, don’t describe their entire face right after that. The goal is to paint an image in your reader’s head, not create a list.

#6 DON’T Be Afraid Of The Cliches

Writers will often shy away from certain elements of world building because they consider them ‘cliche’. While I understand the need to make your story and world stick out amongst the sea of books your readers might read, it’s also important to consider whether or not your readers will really care about the cliches.

For genres like romance and horror, readers often love a good cliche trope that’s done right. Sure, there might be a hundred different books with a nerdy protagonist and popular love interest or a masked killer who is targeting a group of friends. But it’s important to consider what makes your book stand out in these cliches.

Maybe the protagonist works as a part-time model at the lover interest’s father’s company, or maybe the masked killer used to be part of the friend group and threatens to expose them for a crime they committed.

Cliches can be boring, but they can also be very exciting when you use them the right way.

Don’t be afraid to employ a few cliches in your book, especially if you know how to use that trope to draw your readers in.

#7 DO Have Familiar Aspects

It’s important to establish a unique world for your book, but it's also just as important to create familiar aspects of your world. For example, SFF readers are more likely to get excited by your world when you casually mention that regular humans exist in your book.

A great example of this would be Harry Potter, and how J.K Rowling created a world of magic that regular humans could have access to.

Draw inspiration from the world around you. I saw a post by @thewritersgarden on Instagram recently that mentioned something about caterpillars not knowing that they’re going to be reborn into butterflies when they’re in the cacoon, and my mind immediately went to why people didn’t think to use this as pixie lore yet.

A few writers on bookstagram agreed with my thoughts and mentioned how peculiar it was that we didn’t think to draw inspiration from things that actually occur in real life.

Readers get excited at the prospect of being able to experience your story in real life, even if they know it’s not possible. Most children are clever enough to know they’re never going to get a Hogwarts letter, but that didn’t stop us from waiting for a letter on our eleventh birthday.

#8 DON’T Restrict Your Imagination

It’s good to have familiar aspects in your story, but it’s also important to let your imagination run free. Especially if you’re writing SFF.

Create the most bizarre creatures, give your characters unique powers people have never seen before, and make your cliche tropes have a spin so unique it inspires other writers. Let your imagination run free because that is the essence of world building.

In order to create laws, prevent info-dumping, and establish familiar aspects you first need to create a unique landscape to work with. An easy way to do this is by jotting down any random ideas you get for your story, and then surfing through them to see what fits your WIP and what doesn’t.

#9 DO Save Things For Later

Pacing is one of the most important aspects of world building. Once you have established what your reader needs to know for them to have a clear image of your world and its backstory (or at least the backstory that is relevant to the plot) it’s then important to establish when you’re going to reveal what information.

An example of this from my WIP, The Traitor’s Throne, would be: as mentioned above, Amaya finds out that she needs to compete against the children of the queen’s court for the throne, but I refrained from mentioning what the competition will look like, how many stages it will have, etc.

This is because it helps build tension and suspense, but also allows me to fledge out my worldbuilding and pace it in a way that draws the reader in.

Once you’ve established your world building, consider making a quick layout of when you reveal what aspect of your world.

#10 DON’T Forget The Basics

When world building it is important to take the basics into consideration. Writers often don’t realise that things they consider obvious can actually be confusing to their readers. This can be something as simple as the weather or scenery or as complex as why your character has a certain power/skill.

Your readers don’t know your world as well as you do, so it’s your job to teach them everything they need to know to have a clear image of your world, its scenery, and the characters.

One easy way to establish the basics without sounding redundant is by taking your names into consideration. When people think of Leigh Bardugo’s Ice Court or Elfhaem in A Cruel Prince, the first thing that comes to mind is a cold court, or a place full of elves or mythical creatures.

The same can be said for your character names. While a character named Layla could be represented as Arab, a name like Nazeera would easily paint an image of an Arab or Middle Eastern woman in your reader’s heads.

When establishing the complex aspects of your world building, remember to take some time to flesh out the basics as well.

#11 DO Have Fun With Your World Building!

One thing to always remember when world building is to let your imagination run free! Create the most bizarre worlds, shape your characters into unique cliches, use weird place names that get stuck in your reader’s heads. Remember, your first goal as a writer is to create a story that you enjoy. So have fun with your world building!

Want to learn more about me and my writing journey? Visit my social media pages under the handle @hayatheauthor where I post content about my WIP and life as a teenage author.

#haya blogs #haya's book blog #writing community #writing tools #writing blog #writing tips #writer things #author advice #author community #author tips #writersofinstagram #author blog #writer tips #writer community #writer tools #book blog #book tips #hayatheauthor #haya sameer

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spirker · 3 months

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hi i'm too overwhelmed to watch rhys's murray cameo and i was wondering if you know of anyone who's posted a transcript somewhere? or if there's any chance maybe you would be open to telling us the best bits/highlights of the cameo? (thank you for your post about it with the fotc bloops video btw!!)

Oh hey! No problem, I’ll do my best.

So, Rhys is wearing a very cute Murray style ensemble for this one - beige shirt, Aotearoa themed tie, brown blazer.

He opens by calling ‘band meeting!’

First question is ‘where is Murray now?’

Answer - he’s been working hard, managing a band called Great Big Cow and getting them in to perform at the Troubadour in LA. The room sold out and the band played very well - a big achievement for Murray!

After that, he’s returned to New Zealand. He goes between NZ, LA and NY. FOTC was his heyday.

(I’ve written this next bit in full because I think it is excellent advice)

Life advice to note down: when you find yourself in a scenario you didn’t expect - don’t fret! Could be awkward, could be weird, you might be upset for some reason. Could be job you don’t want to do or could be some place you don’t want to be. But just think in the back of your mind - something good can come of this. The old silver lining.

Murray’s silver lining was that a couple of ‘cool-looking idiots’ turned up on his doorstep. They had a band that needed managing and Murray flourished in this new role!

They brought amazing comedy and music to the world, and there was a sense of sadness when it ended and they had to go back to NZ.

(Rhys gets briefly distracted by a plant in the background)

People related to Murray because he showed ‘fake it til you make it’, make use of any skills you have to level up - life is a ‘big theatrical escapade’, we have to put on a character everyday and pull something out of nothing to achieve in this world and Murray was the embodiment of that.

Murray is awkward, doesn’t quite fit in, but being like that you can still make it. Having a sense of humour is a big one, but you always have something unique about you.

Everyone has a sense of humour, some have a natural gift for it, but everyone has a certain set of skills to utilise.

(Then he talks himself out of giving advice - personally I love his advice and I always want to hear more but I think he started doubting himself here!)

Then he talks for a bit about improvisation in FOTC - a lot of it was improvised! They had so much fun.

Murray’s office particularly was always improvised - they had a goal to get to, a reason for the scene, but you could work anything into the scene. It was hard to stop each other from laughing!

Some highlights: arguing in front of the map, ‘I get ridiculed all the time’, ‘on your way to a dick meeting’, the dad guitar bit, ‘you’d have to be deaf to hear that’, ‘you could have a little bit of hay coming out of your mouth’ (🤣)

Rhys really enjoyed watching it back and he’s really proud of it.

Then he talks for a bit about band meetings and how Jemaine was always corpsing - he would be first to laugh and set Bret off. B&J would often have to leave the room and Murray would do the band meeting to two empty chairs because they were laughing too much.

Rhys would still hear them laughing down the corridor by the monitors so he’d call out ‘I can hear you! You’re gonna have to go back to your trailers!’

FOTC worked so well because of the connections they all had together as a cast and wanting each scene to be as funny as it could be.

You don’t want to rely too much on stuff you’ve written in a script, if you can do it (not everyone can) then improvising can be when you’re funniest. When Rhys gets a script he likes to do a run through where he adds his own stuff and people can see if they want to add in something different that he comes up with.

He then sings ‘Leggy Blonde’ as a thank you. He misses FOTC dearly and hopes they can get together again one day and do something.

(He includes all the parts of Leggy Blonde, including Jemaine’s rap, which had me in fits of laughter)

Wow that was long, I hope that my recap isn’t too overwhelming either! It was such a fun video and brought back so many memories of watching FOTC when I was a teen.

#rhys darby #fotc #flight of the conchords #murray hewitt

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cts-games · 3 months

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Game Rundown: Anima Prime

Not to be confused with Anima: Beyond Fantasy.

Anima: Prime is an indie game by Christian Griffen, released in 2011. It also has a free Creative Commons version.

Upfront, one of the things I really like about it is that it includes a section on player discomfort and how to deal with it, which is pretty considerable when this game predates the X-card by about 2 years, well before safety tools were considered the norm.

Overall Camlaign Structure

The game makes use of what it calls 'Seeds' which are short prompts designed to keep the gameplay focused. This is similar to "Story/Dungeon Starters" that have caught on in the PbtA scene, and are mostly a way to keep the campaign focused and interesting. Session Zero (not explicitly called that by the game, but clearly what it is) involves creating both a Setting Story Seed and a Group Story Seed.

The Setting Story Seed is essentially the major current event that is happening in the world, affecting everyone. Basically, "What has changed in the world recently?" The examples given are an invading force, water from the local river has started tasting metallic, or a massive skyscraper has appeared overnight in the middle of the city. The important thing is that this is something that doesn't ONLY affect the PCs.

The Group Story Seed is entirely player chosen, without the GM, and I'd basically a way for the PCs to say 'this is what we want out of the campaign'. It's the reason their group has come together, their motivation as a group. It helps ensure all the PCs have teamwork in mind to at least SOME degree, and are on the same page, as well as giving the GM a carrot to dangle in front of the players when needed.

Character Creation

After going through the usual parts of character creation, like name and core concept, the first mechanical step of character creation is selecting a Passion. There are 9 Passions, each of which has a different mechanical trigger that allows you to Charge your dice (see below), and your Passion can be changed once per session.

Players also create 3 Traits that describe their character, which can be marked off during character scenes where that trait came into play, and then unmarked in order to reroll dice in combat.

From there, players pick 3 Skills from a list of 20 (the list presented in the game is geared for the default setting, Ghostfield, but groups are encouraged to collaborate during session 0 to create their own, more flavorful list of skills to use). These three skills are given a value of 4, 3, and 2. While a higher number is better, having low skills is also quite valuable in the system, as they can combo with other players better.

Next, players select 9 powers they meet the prerequisites for, which is, quite frankly, far too large a number of powers to start with IMO. On my experience this is the part of character creation that overwhelms people the fastest. The game does its best to alleviate this by offering sets of 'Packages' that can be mixed and matched together. 9 'Basic' packages that cover 3 powers needed to be a vague archetype, and 12 'Specialized' packages that each have 6 thematically linked powers. Personally I think the game would have had a stronger presentation by leading with the packages, and introducing classless character building as an advanced option.

After that, players create Backgrounds and Links, which is a subsystem I find quite delightful. These are pretty standard fare, and are just a list of important things from your characters backstory. The only difference between the two, are who that piece of backstory is for. By declaring something a part of their background, it becomes something players can draw on for roleplay inspiration. Things like "Oh, my long-lost brother taught me this trick, before he vanished without a trace." These are just things to flesh out your character, but not concepts you want to fully explore. Links on the other hand are fun bits of backstory for the GM to make use of to make stakes personal for your character. If that long lost brother was a Link instead of a Background, the GM might dangle a clue about his wereabouts in front of you to keep you pushing forward.

Finally, there are Character Story Seeds. These are your characters personal goal, the thing they are trying to achieve outside of the Group Story Seed, that the GM can use to draw you forward through the campaign.

Core Gameplay

The actual gameplay of Anima: Prime is split into two types of scenes: Character Scenes, and Conflict.

Character Scenes are fairly straightforward, with the game mostly disengaged. Players roleplay out their interactions with each other and the world, and once the scene ends, players gain a single benefit from a list of options. This can be healing for yourself or a summon, refilling your Action Pool, or marking one of your traits to give you rerolls next combat.

Some powers can give additional options in character scenes, but for the most part that's as much as the game engages with out of combat scenes.

Conflict

'Tacticle Gameplay' is a bit of a buzzword in the TTRPG industry. In general, its usage is just to indicate 'This game handles combat by using minis on a map'. Anima: Prime does not handle combat by using minis on a map. I would have a very VERY hard time keeping a straight face while telling someone that conflicts in Anima: Prime are not tactical.

Enemies come in 3 flavors, Individuals, Squads, and Swarms. Some powers affect them differently (AoE abilities will typically get a bonus against Swarms, for example), but this distinction mostly matters for Manuevers.

Each player gets one action per turn, typically one of the following: a manuever, a strike, an achievement, or activating an action power.

Manuevers are how you build up resources. They allow you to roll dice in your Action Pool, turning them into Charge and Strike dice, but they don't deal lasting damage. Narratively they can be used to hit members of a Squad, or take our multiple members of a Swarm, but not enough to cause lasting damage to the whole unit.

Stikes are the main way you spend those resources. These are attacks that can leave lasting Wounds on enemies, spending the dice in your Strike pool to do so. These strikes can be further modified by spending dice from the Charge pool as well, activating additional effects based on the powers you have selected.

Achievements also use Strike dice. Each conflict will typically have multiple Goals to go alongside it, which can have lasting effects on the battle. These can be things like "Damage the mechs armor plating to lower its Defense" or "Remove the soldiers gas mask to remove their Immunity from Poison"

And activating powers is just that. You typically use Charge Dice to activate your powers, and they can have a variety effects based on how you build your character.

Manuevers

Manuevers are performed by rolling your skills. You start with a number of free dice equal to your Skill level, and then 1-3 dice from your Action Pool based on the effort your character is putting in.

Dice that come up 3, 4, or 5 are added to your Strike Pool, dice that come up 6 are added to your Charge Pool, and dice that come up 1 or 2 are lost. A trait that was marked during a character scene can be unmarked to reroll all the 1's and 2's for a chance to keep them. If ALL of your dice roll 1's and 2's, you keep them in your Action Pool, unspent.

Each time you make a Manuever, you also check off the skill being used for it. If all of your skills are checked, you gain 2 bonus dice, which are sent to your Charge or Strike pools, encouraging players to make use of all of their skills instead of just whichever has the highest value.

Players can also spend their action to do a Combined Manuever, allowing them to give 1 die to another players Manuever but still checking off a skill for it, which can be a quick way to mark off a characters lower rated skills.

Strikes

Strikes are preformed by spending dice from a characters Strike pool, up to a maximum of 6. Any dice with a result of 3 or over counts as a success, and if they player rolls more successes than their target has Defense, that target takes a wound. This is multiplicative, so if an opponent has 2 Defense and you roll 4 successes, that deals 2 wounds. If you fail, the strike dice are refunded back to you. Otherwise, they all get discarded after the attack. Players can strike together, but ONLY if they have a power that let's them do so.

Achievements

Achievements and Goals are, in my opinion, the aspects of this game that really make it shine, and the entire reason I'm making this post. Mechanically, they work like a mix of a Strike and a Manuever. Players target a Goal, and grab up to 6 Strike dice, and pick a skill and get a number of bonus dice equal to its rating. Other people spend an action and mark off their skills to assist, just like with a combined manuever.

Once you roll, everything 3 or over is a success, and you compare it to the goals difficulty. If you didn't get enough successes to beat the difficulty, you refund the dice. If you did beat the difficulty, the dice are spent and the goal is completed, triggering additional effects. These can be anything from buffing or debuffing allies or opponents, to inflicting status conditions the players don't normally don't have, to entirely alternate win conditions for the Conflict.

Both players and enemies can attempt Achievements. Some Goals may be considered Player Only, some may be Enemey Only, and some may be contested between the two. In this way, Goals can VASTLY expand the utility of Conflict to be much more than just combat. A Race could be resolved by having two parallel 'chains' of Goals, one for players and one for their opponents, each trying to get to the end before the other. A tense conversation with weapons drawn, but has not escalated into full blown combat can be resolved with players trying to hit Goals to keep the other side from attacking and/or sway them over. At any time, either side can escalate the situation to combat by simply spending their dice on a Strike instead of an Achievement.

In this way, Achievments/Goals feel so much better than any other system I have seen when it comes to this type of mechanic. I've seen many games ATTEMPT to do the 'social interactions work just like combat!' thing, but Anima: Prime is the first time I've seen a game succeed at it this well, or something akin to what the Skill Challenges in DnD4e were attempting.

All of this circles back around to Manuevers. In the vast majority of games out there, the most basic action your character can take is some form of attack, with most of the game branching off of and expanding the uses for that action or how it can be applied in different ways.

Anima: Prime does not follow that standard. In Anima: Prime, your most basic fundamental action is the Manuever. The 'I do some cool anime shit while building up resources to meaningfully impact the narrative' action. From there, it branches off in two separate directions, Attacks and Achievements.

By using Manuevers as it's basic mechanic to generate resources, and having Achievements and Strikes be things you can spend those resources on, the game accomplishes a significant amount with relatively little compared to other games, and gives a lot of tactical depth to your choices for relatively low complexity.

This is why, even without miniatures and a map, I struggle to call Anima: Prime anything other than one of the most tactical games I've ever run.

#ttrpg #game rundown #devlog #Anima: Prime #im counting this as this weeks devlog #for reasons that will become obvious next week

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eddie-sweetheart · 2 years

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🏕 Camp Lovers Lake - Chapter Five 🏕

An Eddie Munson x Female Reader summer camp story. Set just before the beginning of season 3 of Stranger Things, with a few diversions from the original plot of the series.

🏕 Chapters List

Pairing and tropes • Eddie Munson x Henderson Female Reader - fluff, forced proximity, slightly slow burn, summer camp clichés ♥︎

Summary • June, 1985. Close to the city of Hawkins, Indiana, the placid waters of Lovers Lake stand as the perfect background for the homonymous summer camp, where you’re about to be a counselor for the last time before senior year and then, hopefully, college. Your brother Dustin Henderson won’t be with you this year, as he’s chosen to attend Camp Know Where until July - but with your best friend Robin Buckley at your side and the unexpected addition of Steve Harrington to your duo, the upcoming months seem to promise endless fun and exciting adventures nonetheless. However, as you get closer to Eddie Munson, resident metalhead and drug dealer who’s been forced by his uncle to work at Camp Lovers Lake after another missed graduation, your plans for the summer might have to go in an unexpected direction.

Warnings • Cursing, possible mentions and/or depictions of violence, sexually suggestive language. Having no idea where this is going myself, you’ll need to be 18+ to read this fic just in case!

Chapter notes • Driven by desperation, I managed to finish this chapter exactly before leaving for my summer holidays ✨ Be patient with the slow burn, it will be worth it I promise! Also, if you can spot the little movie-related Easter egg I put in this chapter, let me know ;)

Chapter word count: 6.7k

🌹 Masterlist 🌹

After the bonfire, you, Steve and Robin start hanging out with Gareth, Jeff and Eddie more and more every day - and time starts running just a little bit faster.

In the following days, even if you’re often paired with other counselors on your different tasks, you always find a way to spend some time together. You have now reclaimed your own spot at the counselors' table in the Headquarters, where you all sit together both at lunch and dinner - during which you’ve discovered Gareth’s pure disdain for vegetables and Eddie’s preference for chocolate cake over apple pie.

Sometimes, you even find each other hanging out together outside one of your cabins before bedtime, sitting on the creaky, wooden steps of the tiny porch in the late evening warmth, with crickets chirping in the background as Robin snickers at Jeff’s jokes or Eddie comes up with a witty remark at Steve’s attitude. In those moments, you look at them in the dim light of the sunset and your heart warms a little as you realize that becoming friends with a couple of nerdy metalheads and an ex-popular heartthrob who just graduated high school is not what you expected for the summer - but it’s way better than you thought.

And thank god you’ve made friends with a group of musicians, you think as you now stride towards dinner with a couple of scribbled paper sheets and a pen under your arm, because you desperately need all their songwriting skills right now.

As the main door opens under the push of your hands and you start scanning the room once you get in, it doesn’t take much for you to find your friends. They’re sitting at the usual table (your table, you think with a smile) and as you make your way past the other campers to reach them, you feel your cheeks blush lightly and a soft smile bloom on your lips as you notice that Eddie’s there, too.

Well, of course he is - why wouldn’t he? But, even if you've all started hanging out together whenever you can, every time you catch a glimpse of his messy hair and bright grin, you still can’t help but be pleasantly surprised at how he wiped the idea you had of him completely clear now that you’ve gotten to know him better. After the grim (and probably prejudiced) description Steve made of him during the first camp dinner, you pictured him as a dark, dangerous guy with a troubled life - but you would have never imagined that he is, instead, a funny, witty, passionate and overall nice person to be around. And you like to have him around - a lot. As a friend, of course. A friend that also happens to look extremely handsome every time he bursts out in a laugh that can light up a whole room-

You shake these thoughts away as you finally approach the table, slamming the papers on the wooden surface and startling the whole group with your arrival.

“Jesus, y/n” Steve exclaims, clutching his chest with one hand, “you really need to stop doing this”.

“At least this time it’s not a tray full of perilously balanced food” Robin observes, scooting to the side to let you sit down between her and Steve. “What took you so long? There’s not much food left, and I was not ready to fight some prepubescent kid to save an extra serving of spaghetti for you - And also, what is that?” She asks you as you plop down on the bench that runs along the table, pointing a finger at the files you’ve brought with you.

“This” you reply with a sigh, your eyes shooting up across the table to Eddie, Jeff and Gareth as you tap lightly on the sheets, “is something I need your help with”.

The three of them stop eating and exchange some surprised looks, eyebrows furrowed and mouths agape in confusion as their forks hang in mid-air.

“Our help? With writing?” Gareth asks, trying to get a closer look at the scribbled and scratched words on the paper, “I don’t know how we could-“

He suddenly stops with a hiss of pain, one hand darting under the table to massage his leg as he swiftly turns towards Eddie. “Dude, what the hell?”

Eddie, however, ignores him and focuses on you, his deep brown eyes casually wandering over your face as he props his head on one ringed hand. “Shoot it” he chimes with a nod, “we’ll do our best”.

You thank him with a smile. “As you all know” you explain, “the big treasure hunt is tomorrow”

“Treasure hunt?” Eddie and Steve exclaim in unison, exchanging a puzzled look as Robin rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, dinguses” she says, her eyes darting between the two. “Haven’t you checked the schedule? You’ll be both on patrolling duty”.

The two guys lift their eyebrows in confusion, but you dismiss their perplexity and bring the focus back to your papers by hitting them with the palm of your hand. “For the hunt, we need to set up and hide hints all over camp” you continue. “You know, like, little pieces of burned paper that resemble pirate parchment or something of that kind”.

“That’s Mr. Smithson’s idea” Robin chips in, addressing Steve and Eddie, “the kids love that stuff”.

Across the table, Gareth nods absentmindedly with a smirk, probably thinking about last year’s hunt and how he managed to redirect everyone to the bathrooms by misplacing all the hints and creating utter chaos.

“The thing is” you go on, rotating the papers upside down so that they face the three guys in front of you, “the hints need to rhyme. And I have to write them, which I’ve been trying to do for the past three hours, but I can’t find the right words or make them sound good for the life of me. So, I thought-“ your words falter as you realize that probably this is stupid, or it might even offend them - but you’ve gone so far now, so you have to shoot your shot. “I thought that maybe you could help me with that”.

Three pairs of eyes move up from the papers and land on you, puzzlement still permeating their look.

“You know” you hesitantly add, mentally crossing your fingers, “you’re in a band, and you write music… and lyrics… I thought you’d be way better at this than me”.

Indeed, you remembered how Eddie talked about Corroded Coffin during the hike, and how it impressed you finding out that they even write and perform a couple of original songs - that’s why, in the heat and stress of the moment, you thought about asking them for a little help. And right now you really, really hope that wasn’t presumptuous of you - as Max Mayfield, another of Dustin’s friends, would definitely say.

Once you finish speaking, Eddie is the first to smile, and you realize that most of your nervousness actually depended on his reaction. You smile back, and remember to breathe again - not noticing Robin’s narrowed gaze and slight smirk as she stares at the two of you.

“Let me see” Eddie says, grabbing the paper sheets and the pen you’re handing him as Jeff and Gareth huddle closer, the food left on their trays now forgotten. They start to read what you’ve written so far, occasionally exchanging a few words that Eddie diligently reports on the paper with messy, slightly crooked handwriting.

While they work under the intrigued stare of Robin and Steve, you stand up to go get whatever food’s left - and when you walk back to your table, you’re too distracted by Gareth and Jeff’s sudden arguing about which word rhymes better with “pinecone” to catch the mean glare Jason Carver throws towards your group.

— 🏕 —

The following day, the atmosphere pervading every inch of camp is filled with electricity - and not just the one coming from the excitement and expectation of the young campers, who are ready to dart in every direction to find the trail of clues you and a few other counselors hid around the area and in the surrounding grove before breakfast.

The buzzing on the ground is indeed matched by a similar tension in the sky, as dark heavy clouds hiding sudden flashes of light are looming beyond the line of the trees across Lovers Lake, a stark contrast to the bright blue above the cabins.

And it’s exactly the thunderstorm that seems to be approaching camp with relentless slowness the main topic of the last-minute meeting you’re holding in the staff room behind the Headquarters, where Mr. Smithson is showing you today’s weather bulletin.

“The storm shouldn’t be here until later tonight” the camp director is saying, slightly rising his tone to overcome the nervous chatter of all the counselors crammed in the room. “So, the treasure hunt will still be held, but with a few extra precautions” he adds as he nods towards one of the older girls, who starts rummaging through some drawers in the back of the room. After a few seconds of loud poking around, she ends up taking out a box of walkie-talkies.

“You will do your patrolling rounds in couples” Mr. Smithson continues, while the background talking finally lowers at the sight of the devices, curiosity taking over everyone - you and your friends included. “I’ll read you the list before you head out. Each of the couples will be equipped with a walkie-talkie - you can use it to communicate with everyone else and to facilitate an eventual regrouping of the kids in case the weather conditions worsen faster than we predict. Those who are not on patrol duty will be helping Mrs. Janet with the food. Snacks have already been made for lunch, so you will make sure that everything’s ready for dinner”.

“For once I’m glad I’m on kitchen duty” Robin states, happily drumming her fingers on the table beside you. “I’ll be free the whole morning while you guys will have to deal with crazy kids running around the woods with a storm incoming. You should really start worrying” she chimes as she turns around to look up with a slightly mocking smile at Steve, Eddie, Gareth and Jeff - who are standing on their feet behind your chairs due to the lack of seats in the full room.

“Thanks for rubbing that in, Buckley” Eddie observes with his trademark lilt, arms crossed on his chest as he flashes her an ironic upside-down smile. “Don’t get offended if I’ll never come to you for friendly advice in the future, ‘kay?”

The idea of Eddie confiding in Robin for whatever reason makes you let out a low chuckle, but Robin is quick to notice it.

“Laugh all you want, y/n” she jokingly says, nudging you lightly, “but you’ll be out there in the rain, too”.

You attempt to reply, but you’re interrupted by Mr. Smithson’s declaration of the patrolling pairings for the day. Once a couple is called, they get up and head towards the door, grabbing a walkie-talkie on the way out.

Thankfully, you’re paired with Steve this time, so you’re glad that you’ll be able to spend the day in good company. You’ll be monitoring the kids along the banks of the lake, very close to the Headquarters (and, consequently, to eventual shelter from the rain); the same goes for Jeff and Gareth, who’ve ended up together after switching partners on Gareth’s idea. Eddie, instead, is the one who has it worse: he’s been positioned in the closer edges of the woods with none other than Tammy Thompson, who looks more scared to be with him than of the low rumblings in the sky that can be heard in the distance.

As he walks away with the girl, the almost funny contrast between his unimpressed expression and her almost terrified and pleading one making you unexpectedly sorry for him, an idea pops into your mind.

“Steve” you exclaim, suddenly turning towards him, “why don’t you and Eddie switch places?”

Steve looks at you with a bewildered expression in his eyes, and you immediately realize that blurting that out like that could lead to a number of misunderstandings.

“I mean, you’re very, uhm… close with Tammy” you explain, “and you could spend more time together this way. Also, she doesn’t look very comfortable around Eddie… I don’t think it’s the best feeling for him, as well, being judged like that”. You hope he understands that you’re asking this for Eddie, with a possible advantage for Steve himself; sure, you really wouldn’t mind spending the day with Eddie - on the contrary, a very deep part of you hidden beneath your chest is already exulting at the idea, but that’s not really the point right now.

“Yeah, I think we can do that” Steve hesitantly replies, confusion still hinting through his tone - but as you both look back towards the trees you realize that you’ve lost sight of the two other counselors.

“Too late, I guess” he adds with a small sigh, patting your shoulder with one hand as he catches the disappointment on your face. “He’ll be alright, though, don’t worry. She’s harmless, and I believe he doesn’t care that much about what she thinks” he tells you with a small smile.

“Yeah, yeah, of course” you quickly reply, not very convinced about that last part. “You’re the one who’s dating her, so I will take your word on that”.

“Actually” Steve speaks again as the two of you start walking towards the dark waters of the lake, “I don’t think we’ll date any longer. We’ve actually never properly dated, to be honest”.

You look at him in surprise. “And why would that be, heartbreaker?” You jokingly ask him, causing him to smile.

“I don’t think she’s the right one for me” Steve shrugs, “she kept going on and on about my hair and how I look even better up close and stuff like that” he continues while you listen, your smile softly matching his as he reveals a new side to you. “I mean, of course I like receiving compliments - I don’t spend an hour in the morning to get this bad boy to look this good for nothing” he adds, passing one hand through his actually perfect hair, “but I’m not just that. I’d love to talk about other things, too, you know?”

As you finally reach the edge of the water, it’s your turn to pat his shoulder. “I have to agree with you on this one, Steve” you tell him, “you’re actually a very nice guy with a lot to say, under all that Farrah Fawcett hairspray”.

Steve’s cheeks blush slightly as his eyes widen in surprise. “How do you even know I use that?”

“Someone I know might have mentioned that” you reply with a laugh.

“Dustin” Steve exclaims, clapping one hand to his forehand as he realizes. “I swear to god, next time I see him-“

“Harrington, Henderson, are you in position?” Mr. Smithson’s voice croaks through the walkie-talkie, cutting Steve’s words off.

“Yes sir” he replies, his tone still slightly annoyed from your conversation.

“Good” the director states, before making the final announcement. “Attention everyone: we’ve just given the go-ahead to the campers. The hunt starts now!”

As soon as those words are uttered, you can hear the excited cries of the younger campers as they start scattering all over - some running along the lake and passing next to you and Steve, others darting beyond the cabins and towards the woods.

The following hours go by without anything exciting or noteworthy really happening - except a little kid tripping on a misplaced stone on the shore and needing to be escorted back to the Headquarters for a little fixing up.

You and Steve spend most of the time chatting, playing silly word games and riddles and walking up and down the edge of the lake with the walkie-talkie in your hand.

The dark clouds seem to have slowed down their approach, so you forget about them for a while - until, after you’ve had your packed lunch on the pier, your eyes always fixed on the shore, a low rumble makes your gaze shoot up. Right above you, the sky has turned completely gray, with flashes of light peaking through the now thicker and messier clouds.

Steve throws a glance at his wristwatch, his brows furrowing in concern.

“It’s 2 pm” he states, answering the silent question in your eyes. “And it doesn’t look like it’s going to hold for much longer”.

“Do you think we should start calling the kids in?” You ask, clutching your own naked arms as a sudden gush of wind makes shivers run on your skin.

Steve thinks on it for a second, but just as he is about to reply his word are cut off by the sudden buzzing of the walkie-talkie, followed by Mr. Smithson’s voice.

“To all counselors, please regroup the campers and head back to the Headquarters” the director announces with a hurried tone, “seems like the storm is about to break sooner than we expected. See you in 15 minutes. Over and out”.

You and Steve almost jump to your feet as you swiftly walk back, calling and sending every kid you meet along the lake’s shores back towards the main building. After a few minutes, when no one else is in sight, you follow them to the Headquarters’ porch, where the staff and the other counselors are doing a headcount of the campers as they walk inside the main room.

Robin’s there too, leaning against the wooden railing as she worriedly scans the sky. You and Steve walk up to her, earning a grin as you reach her.

“You’re lucky this thing was called off” she exclaims, winking at you as she nods towards the kitchen. “I managed to steal a couple of chocolate chip cookies, we can have them with the hot choc we’ve made for the kids”.

“Sounds like a plan” Steve replies, shivering at the chilly breeze that’s getting more and more intense by the minute.

“An amazing plan, I’d say” you add as your stomach growls in agreement, causing Robin to chuckle.

“Then let’s get you inside, dinguses” she jokingly says, turning around and making her way past the other counselors crowding the porch to head towards the door with Steve right behind her, running his own hands up and down his arms to warm them up.

As you throw a last glance at the trees and pines beyond the cabins, billowing and bending under the growing strength of the wind, you suddenly stop in your tracks.

“Guys, wait” you exclaim, grabbing Steve and Robin by the back of their camp t-shirts just as they’re about to set foot inside. When their gaze follows yours, they see Jeff and Gareth rushing towards the Headquarters from the woods. When they reach you, panting and sweating from the effort of avoiding the upcoming rain, Gareth leans against the wooden wall of the building while Jeff greets you between a deep breath and the other.

“Jesus, that was one hell of a run” he states with both hands on his hips as he continues to breathe, “have you guys seen Eddie? He wasn’t here when we came back from our spot, so we went looking for him” he continues, rubbing one hand on his forehead, “but he’s nowhere to be found”.

“Yeah, no shit” Gareth adds, finally catching his breath, “we even tried to contact him on the radio, but he never replied”.

An abrupt weight drops on your stomach at Jeff’s words, the thought of Eddie being out there with a storm coming worrying you more than you expected.

“No, man, we haven’t seen him” Steve replies, while you and Robin start scanning the porch to check for him. As much as you’d be relieved to see his tall figure towering over the few counselors that are still outside, Jeff’s statement still holds true: he’s not there. However, a blonde ponytail catches your gaze - and that’s when you know that something’s not right.

“Hey, Tammy” you call out, waving at Tammy Thompson once she turns around. She sees you and starts walking towards you, flashing glimpses of turquoise eyeshadow as she bats her eyes at Steve.

“Hi Y/n, Robin” she briefly greets you and Robin, whose slight blush disappears as soon as Tammy turns to look up a Steve with a wink. “Hello, handsome” she flirtatiously says, her southern accent noticeable in her voice as she curves her lips in a big smile - which turns into a less genuine one as she becomes aware of Jeff and Gareth’s presence behind you.

Steve hesitantly smiles back, but you’re quick to take him out of his embarrassment by addressing her again.

“So, Tammy” you begin, hoping to get some answers out of her. “Where’s Eddie? He was with you during patrol, right?”

Tammy looks at you with big, clueless eyes. “You mean Munson?” She asks, permed curls falling on her shoulder as she tilts her head. “Sorry, haven’t seen him”.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen him?” Robin interjects, any leftover trace of her previous crush on the girl now completely gone. “You didn’t walk back here with him when Mr. Smithson canceled the treasure hunt?”

“Oh, God no” Tammy replies, the ghost of her smile now turning into a slightly annoyed grimace. “I left him in the woods”.

“You did what?” Gareth exclaims, taking a few steps closer with raging eyes just to find himself blocked by Steve’s arm.

“You left him in the woods? Alone? Does he at least have the-” Steve calmly asks Tammy, but he cuts the question off once his gaze falls on the walkie-talkie that she is fidgeting with. “Jesus, you took the walkie-talkie with you?” He blurts out, one hand nervously rushing through his hair.

“God, Steve, calm down” Tammy exclaims, taking a step back. “He was being all creepy, trying to make some conversation and then being completely silent - also, after what Jason told us, I really didn’t want to spend more time alone with him than it was necessary, so I left as soon as I heard Mr. Smithson on here” she explains, waving the walkie-talkie in front of you. “Munson said he saw a kid walking off the trail and he wanted to go get him, so I didn’t think it was necessary to wait for him. He basically left me alone in the woods” she concludes with a snort, her words causing you all to look at each other with worry.

You don’t even want to know what she means with her reference to Jason Carver, not now at least. “Steve, we need to go look for him” you plainly state, your whole body tense and ready to sprint towards the trees. “It’s dangerous to be in the woods with a thunderstorm, and he doesn’t know the area. We need to hurry”.

Tammy raises her eyebrows at you in genuine curiosity. “Why do you even care so much about someone like him?”

Her question is met by five pairs of glaring eyes. “Because he’s our friend” you all reply in unison, startling her as she looks back and forth between all of you to focus back on Steve.

“Geez, Harrington, I thought you shared everyone’s opinion that Munson’s a freak” she blurts out at him, her head shaking in disbelief.

You might want to punch her here and now, but Steve gently places a hand on your arm and speaks.

“Listen, Tammy” he tells the girl, who’s standing between you and the porch steps, “I might have been a dick in the past, but I regret it and I’m trying to be better than that. Yes, I might have thought of Eddie Munson as a freak once, but I know better now - and you should too. He’s a person, just like me and you, except he’s probably nicer. Now, please move, we have to go”.

Flabbergasted, Tammy stares at you in complete silence as you and Steve turn back to Jeff, Gareth and Robin.

“Wait for us here, and keep your walkie on” you state, completely ignoring Tammy, “we’ll update you as soon as we can”.

“Got it” Jeff replies with a nod, his eyes following you as you move past a still astonished Tammy Thompson and head towards the cabins and the grove beyond them.

The low rumbles coming from the sky accompany you along the whole path, often paired with flashes of lightning that create long, yellow veins across the dark clouds. It’s still early afternoon, so you can clearly see the trail you’re walking on, the same one you took when you went on the hike on the second day of camp - but this time, the strong wind that’s running through the forest slows you and Steve down a bit, causing the branches and leaves to shake uncontrollably in your line of vision.

“Uhm, y/n, you know where we’re going, right?” Steve asks you, moving a particularly long branch away from you to let you pass.

You nod firmly, your eyes stuck on the path ahead. “Besides the shortcut to the bonfire spot, this is the only trail leaving from camp. He mustn’t be far - hopefully” you state, stopping every now and then to listen to your surroundings, examining the woods around you to look for any trace of Eddie’s presence.

Steve looks at you as you keep moving forward, his eyes investigating your worried expression. “Don’t you think that maybe we… we should have warned the staff? Set up a search party or something?”

“A… a search party?” You stop in the middle of the trail and turn to Steve, your eyes now filled with dread at the idea that maybe you underestimated the situation: why did you have to rush like that, away from camp without telling anyone? And why did it have to be you looking for Eddie? His friends know him better, they could probably find him faster…

As soon as Steve catches your quickened breath and quivering lips, he rushes to you, reassuringly placing both his hands on your shoulders.

“I’m sure he’s fine, y/n” he tells you, looking straight into your eyes, “I really do. But since this thing up here seems to be moving pretty fast” he adds, motioning with one hand towards the sky, “and we are quite deep into the woods, maybe we should head back and tell Mr. Smithson. Then the staff could come out here and help look for him before the storm hits-“

“Shhh” you suddenly cut him off, placing your index finger on your lips, your eyes wide as you listen to the woods around you. “Do you hear that?”

Steve looks left and right, trying to find any sound that isn’t the rustling of the leaves and bushes or the wind blowing through the trees. Then, he hears it too - a low but not too distant high pitched voice, yelling something that sounds extremely close to “shit”.

As Steve’s eyes widen, you let out a short chuckle filled with relief. “Eddie?” You start crying out, moving fast towards the sound, which is coming from the right side of the path.

“Eddie, where are you?” You and Steve both scream, getting off the trail and into the bushes.

A loud rumble covers whatever response you get, but it doesn’t take much for you to find the source of the voice. With Steve following you close, you keep walking in the same direction, until you turn up in a very small clearing among some pine trees. There, frantically pacing on the soft grass, you finally see Eddie.

“Shit, shit, shit” he’s nervously yelling, his hands tearing at his unmistakable curly hair, “it all looks the fucking same, for Christ’s sake-“

You stop in your tracks at the sight, making Steve almost bump into you at the edge of the clearing - but you don’t care, because sweet relief is filling your chest and reminding you how to breathe.

“Eddie!” You call his name one last time, making him turn around with a startle.

“Y/n?” He exclaims - and as soon as he realizes that it’s actually you, a smile finally breaks on his lips as he rushes towards you. “Thank god, I was starting to think I was fucked for good”.

You sprint to him, too, your lips matching his grin - but both of you stop just before you crash into each other.

“You’re- you’re here” he stutters, his hands wavering in the air as you let out a chuckle, “you found me”.

“Yeah” you reply, your eyes meeting his, “we did”.

“We…?” He asks, but as he utters those words he notices Steve walking up into the clearing as well.

“Oh, hello Harrington” Eddie casually says, his cheeks blushing with… embarrassment?

“‘Sup, man” Steve replies, greeting him with a wave, “you gave me and y/n here quite the scare. How did you even get lost?”

Eddie’s eyes dart between you and Steve, his expression now unreadable. “I, uh… I think I saw one of those little shi- one of those kids running around, so I thought I’d grab him and take him back” he explains, casually walking up to a tree and unexpectedly throwing a few soft punches at its trunk, making you and Steve look at him with confusion. “You know, didn’t want them to be left out here in the fucking apocalypse. But I guess no one was actually there, so… yeah”.

“Well, thank god y/n rushed to your rescue then. Not even the fucking apocalypse could stop her” Steve says as he makes air quotes with a knowing smile, earning a death glare from you.

Eddie’s gaze turns back on you. “You- it was your idea? To come get me?” he asks you, his expression softening again.

You hesitate, not knowing what and how much to let out in the open (wait, is there something to let out about it?). “Uh- yeah, I mean, I know the area so I thought we could find you fast enough” you blabber, not really knowing if your words make any sense.

Eddie seems like he’s about to reply, but anything he wanted to say is abruptly cut off by a loud crackle - signalling the first thunder finally falling closer to the woods.

“Time to get out of here, guys” Steve exclaims, urging you to follow him back to the path.

You walk fast behind Steve, Eddie marching beside you as you make your way back to camp. No one speaks, as you’re all focused on making it through the vegetation in the now darkened light before all hell breaks loose. And you almost make it.

As you reach the final stretch of the path before the woods thin out to reveal the cabins, the first few, thick droplets of rain start pattering on the ground and on you, causing dark splotches to appear on the green sleeves of your camp t-shirts.

You quicken your pace, but it’s too late now: in a matter of seconds, after a few more claps of thunder and rumbles, heavy rain is washing over you, the last trees of the grove offering you little shelter.

“Run!” Steve cries out, sprinting towards the cabins and, further ahead, the safe and dry main room of the Headquarters.

You move to do the same, not completely sure if you’re going to make it before you get soaked to your bones - but your thoughts turn into a completely different direction as the feeling of Eddie’s hand grabbing yours and pulling you into a run with him hits you like lightning.

As your legs rush ahead on their own, rain pouring around you in the most intense summer shower you’ve ever witnessed, time seems to slow down for a moment. All your senses are pulled towards the point where your palm is touching Eddie’s skin, where the hard metal of his rings occupies the space between your fingers, where - if you could focus a bit better right now - you swear you could feel his heartbeat.

The moment breaks suddenly and you realize you’ve made it to the front porch of the Headquarters. Soaked, yes, but safe and sound beside Eddie and Steve

“That was fun - shit” Eddie states with a grin, strands of curly hair plastered to his face as he looks down on you. As soon as he does that, he realizes that he’s still holding your hand, so he lets go - lightly flexing his fingers open as he takes a step away. The grin, however, doesn’t fade.

“Guys! You made it” Robin’s voice echoes from behind you, her face peering from the door with a huge smile as she throws a glance at the three of you, her eyes settling on Eddie. “Glad to know you’re okay, Munson”

Eddie nods his thank-you in her direction, while Steve starts making his way inside.

“Are you guys coming? I don’t want to catch something by staying outside a minute longer” he asks, one of his hands already on the doorframe.

“Sure” you reply, following his lead. “Eddie?” You question him once you notice that he doesn’t move.

“I need to get something from my cabin first” Eddie states, earning a surprised look from you, Robin and Steve.

“Are you sure about that?” Robin asks, clearly referring to the downpour that is still going.

“Yeah, it will take me a minute. I’m soaked already anyways” Eddie replies, a reassuring smile painted on his lips.

And he is, soaked. You’ve obviously noticed the way his wet camp t-shirt is clinging to his torso, hints of dark ink now visible under the almost transparent cotton. You glimpse some vague figure tattooed on his upper chest, but you’ve restrained your eyes from lingering on him for too long.

However, you can’t help but let out a spontaneous question, one you almost regret as soon as you utter the words.

“You’re not going to get lost on me again, are you?” You blurt out to Eddie, hoping he won’t notice your blushing cheeks.

He looks at you with a weird expression, something between amusement and softness. “I won’t, princess. I promise.”

— 🏕 —

The dining room is filled to the brim with campers and counselors, seeking some shelter from the storm that’s raging outside.

The raindrops patter hard and incessantly on the wooden walls and on the thick, old glass of the windows, thunders occasionally cracking and startling the younger kids, grouped tightly around a few reassuring counselors.

Half-empty mugs of hot chocolate are scattered on every table among cookie crumbs, board games are opened and set up and dry camp t-shirts and sweatshirts are handed around for those who got caught in the rain. You’ve got one as well, probably a size or two too big for you, but it doesn’t matter: you’re just glad to be safe inside, sipping on your hot drink at your friend’s table.

It doesn’t take much for Eddie to come back from his cabin, either. After less than five minutes since he bolted under the pouring rain, the doors of the main room open to reveal his tall figure once again. He strides towards your table, holding something under his arm.

“Theeere we go” he exclaims in his signature sing-song tone once he reaches you - and this time, it’s his turn to place a pile of papers on the table, neatly collected in a black ring binder.

“What’s that?” Robin curiously asks, throwing at Eddie an extra camp t-shirt that he can change into. As he peels off the wet one he’s been wearing so far and exchanges it with the dry one, you force yourself not to stare.

Gareth and Jeff’s eyes widen and smile, as they seem to recognize the contents of the binder. “This one” Gareth states, his dreamy stare fixed on the closed folder, “is a gate to a whole other world”.

“Are we really going to play?” Jeff asks Eddie with the biggest grin you’ve ever seen on his face. However, you, Robin and Steve still don’t know what they’re talking about.

“Given that all other activities for the day just went into a literal drain and I was already working on a new quest for Hellfire” Eddie explains, gesturing with his hands in the air as he sits down on the wooden bench, “I thought it might be cool to try out a short campaign and make this forced camp vacation a little more fun. So, fellow counselors” he announces, his eyes going from Steve to Robin and finally setting on you, “what do you say about embarking on a Dungeons and Dragons adventure?”

“Was that what you were writing a few nights ago?” Steve asks him, ignoring the proposal and earning a glare from you and Robin.

Eddie looks a bit sidetracked. “Maybe” he replies, opening up the binder and extracting three sheets of paper. “I was setting up your characters. If you want to play, that is”.

“I’d love to” you quickly say, causing Eddie to smile brightly. He hands your character sheet over to you, his fingers brushing against yours as a few tiny butterflies start fluttering their wings in your stomach. You’ve always secretly wanted to try the game, and knowing that Eddie set everything up for you to play makes this even more special.

“Me too” Robin echoes you with a shrug, reaching out towards Eddie to grab her character sheet. You’re a bit surprised, because that doesn’t really strike you as something she’d like, but you’re happy that she wants to join - happy that Eddie won’t feel disappointed or judged by your best friend.

Now everyone’s gaze is on Steve, who still hasn’t replied - but it doesn’t take long for him to nod hesitantly.

“Alright, let’s see how this works” he says, taking the last character sheet and furrowing his eyebrows as he starts reading it, “maybe I will finally know what Henderson likes so much about it”.

It takes a while to get used to it - especially because Steve and Robin are a bit hesitant in the beginning, while you realize that your knowledge of how the game works is definitely too vague. But after a careful explanation on behalf of Eddie, Gareth and Jeff and Eddie’s incredible DM and storytelling skills, you quickly find yourselves immersed into a new, fantasy world.

Your character is a half-elf bard - just as you told Eddie during the hike, and the fact that he remembered warms your heart a little bit. He also managed to pick the perfect choice for your friends: Steve, of course, is a human paladin, while Robin is a halfling rogue.

You end up playing for the rest of the day, the rain providing the perfect background noise as you explore secret caves, kill evil goblins and raid wooden boxes that reveal hidden treasures and gold. You manage to go on a little longer even after dinner, and what’s most surprising is that Steve’s the one who starts booing, followed suit by Jeff and Gareth, as soon as Mr. Smithson announces the lights out.

“Shit, I almost had that asshole” Robin grunts, referring to a hobgoblin she was about to slay with her longsword, “I just needed one more attack roll”.

“Next time try to use your weapon with two hands” Gareth suggests, “you’ll do more damage”.

“I also wonder what’s hidden behind that locked door” you excitedly say, “I don’t think I can deal with the cliffhanger”

Eddie’s eyes glitter with happiness at the sight of your enthusiasm. “Fear not, brave adventurers” he declares with a satisfied grin as he starts collecting all his papers and files back into the binder, his gaze proudly lingering on you, “the quest will continue”.

— 🏕 —

Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Feedback is always welcome!

Also, thank you to @eddiesbirdie for suggesting the concept of Eddie getting lost in the woods :)

Taglist • @meaganjm @emwhite1 @juggernort @final-girllll @mermemerald @sarcasm-is-my-form-of-attack @stardustworlds @eddiesbirdie @carolineesnell @djarintreble @earthtokace @copycatkillerfics @purpleorbvoid @shinydixon

#eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #stranger things 4 #stranger things x reader #camp lovers lake #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson one shot #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fix it fic #eddie munson au #stranger things x you

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