#it was pretty short lived and like exclusively for this character & a few others

[dumpster-dive-reading]

A weird overview of the "Human Domestication Guide" shared universe

I was browsing AO3 the other day looking for fics centered around hypnosis, I kept finding stories with cool looking prompts and a shared fandom: Human Domestication Guide/ Original Work

The premise for a lot of them was really promising: a bunch of aliens using mind control on humans to make them their pets? So, I checked it out.

In two days, I've spent probably 14 hours reading HDG fics. I have work to do, I can't be doing this! If only those plant aliens could give me some ADHD medication, amiright?

I think that the premise and where authors choose to write with it is kind of an interesting dynamic. What sounds like a great concept for a psychological horror/ thriller is a community that writes a lot of fluff. I love it.

I think a lot of the concepts for HDG are used for wish fulfillment. The main character is trans, and is suddenly given access to gender affirming healthcare and compassion. The main character is sick, and is suddenly cared for without compromising themselves (more on this later). The main character is lonely, and suddenly their thrust into a very loving and compassionate environment.

That's where I think a lot of the appeal is for HDG. Above everything else, the hot plant people just want to love you, and care for you, and help you become your best self. It touches a craving within all of us- the desire to be loved.

But after reading a fair amount of HDG fics, there's one question that keeps nagging at me: Would you really want to be a floret to an Affini?

The thing about the affini is that they don't see sophants as their equals. They keep other species as pets. They use drugs to bend a person's mind to their will, sometimes without the person's consent. Are you okay with that? Are you okay with the consequences associated with it?

Becoming a floret to an Affini means that you're bound to them. It ties you to their presence, to the extent that it is incredibly difficult to live without them. In "A Danger to Oneself and Others" we get a really good look at what a floret is without their Affini. It's not a pretty picture. After being forcibly taken from the plant people, the florets are shattered. They huddle together in a group and cry, incredibly depressed, in a state of confusion and chaos. Even the ex-military Clara ends up breaking down a few times, and is only able to save them out of a desire to protect the other florets and get them home. "Stages of Succession" describes a stubborn general being domesticated almost exclusively through their implant. The human finds that they need to spend a certain amount of time with their Affini every single day- going from one hour to two in the early parts of the fic. They end up looking into the Affini's eyes, and end up in a hypnotic trance. After that, they end up craving looking into the Affini's eyes again. Despite their hatred for the Affini, the human ends up craving her touch, to the point that it becomes painful to be away for too long.

On top of that, the person will often end up very dependent on their Affini. As in "they take care of every one of my needs" levels of dependent.

That's a powerful general, and an Affini that isn't using their xenodrugs.

Plus, there's the mental manipulation that Affini can do. They can block out certain thoughts, and put ones into a person's brain. It's used in Wellness Check to prevent the main character from self depricating. They can create, edit, remove, and restore memories. In Wellness Check, the main character loses their memory of becoming a floret.

That's one of the most terrifying concepts in HDG: the idea of being controlled without being aware that you're being controlled.

There's another short called "sleepy bitch" where the character has narcolepsy and just really wants to sleep all the time. They end up turning into a cat, much to the shock of their friend. It's clear that they like being a cat, but still. Their friend also becomes a cat, and the Affini ends up tying their minds together, making the narcolepsy spread to her friend.

...but at the same time...

It's clear that the humans in HDG are better off after the Affini invade. The terran world is objectively kind of terrible: it's like super-ultra-mega-death-capitalism. Fighting for the Terran defense sounds objectively terrible. "Lost in Eden" describes the conditions on a good terran warship: it's falling apart, cramped, bad food, full of transphobes and toxic masculinity, oh yeah and the entire ship explodes because it's in disrepair.

It isn't the only mind control we see either. "Black Start" describes Terran war conditions, where the solider has little to no memories and has been hypnotised. They then end up being influenced by another alien tech, which takes over their mind and conditions them into becoming a robot. Even after the human is rescued by the Affini, the robot is still there. They say they don't mind, that life is better this way.

It's still kind of terrifying.

To lose all of your indiduality and be sworn into a obedience and subservience to your master. To have someone control your thoughts, to the extent that if you ever have a thought they don't agree with they make you unaware you'd ever thought it. To be formed into a pet, sometimes striped of your ability to do anything at all.

But you're loved. Isn't that worth it?

#human domestication guide #hdg #I've read so much #so much book

[adamworu]

I would like to hear your thought about what this brand new Kaworu analysis video said on YT: He does get interested in Shinji, but merely in agape love way, especially when the early draft that showed Kawoshin as not at all subtle, but it got rejected in the end. Therefore we should view Kaworu as he is in the final product: way less blatantly homoerotic, but his entire character history and biography also had to change. He is now pretty much Adam himself in the final product, very different what he was originally planned to be. Which is why his homoerotic traits need to be reevaluted within the context of the final product. He is a deity representative of an idealized version of Shinji's psyche, inability to contact with people outside of universal speech and with selfless righteousness regarding morality. The way he connects with Shinji may appear as romantic, but to suggest a god-like character of his bg and role could conceptualize having a romantic relationship with a human he had planned to kill indrectily makes no sense within the story. It was clear to the audience that he was not human and did not see thing from a human POV, but he also calls all humans Lilin, suggesting he sees Shinji as an other. Apparently Kaworu was even directly modeled after Jesus Christ. If Kaworu was romantically attracted to Shinji, it would mean he is an emotional sadist who finds broken people attractive, would be capable of falling in love with with a complete stranger within 24 hours of meeting them, and that he's capable of full human emotions. None of these add up given Kaworu's history and behaviour, which is why Kaworu's love feels more like an agape kind, as he likely doesn't understand love like a human would. His screentime is also so short that it's hard to fully understand him as a character.

He does get interested in Shinji, but merely in agape love way, especially when the early draft that showed Kawoshin as not at all subtle, but it got rejected in the end. Therefore we should view Kaworu as he is in the final product: way less blatantly homoerotic, but his entire character history and biography also had to change. He is now pretty much Adam himself in the final product, very different what he was originally planned to be.

I'm not really fond of the 'agape love' angle for a few reasons. Sure, Kaworu is altruistic, but that doesn't undermine his romantic feeling toward Shinji. Kaworu's status as an angel is used as a counterpoint to say that he doesn't quite love like people can. That the love he can/does process is that of God to His children. I express this exact same grievance to the 'worthy of my grace' angle from the retranslation of Netflix's Evangelion.

Also more discussion under the cut.

(Warning for mentions of self-harm)

The point of angels and humans, or hell, any thing that seems vastly different is that we're more alike than meets the eye. Angels are treated as these eldritch beings, and make no mistake they still are in some ways...but they understand emotions too. Emotions aren't a human-exclusive complexity. Since we're here, Evangelion isn't about the human condition. The similarity culminates in End of Evangelion, where Misato states to Shinji that humans and angels are basically the same. The greatest difference is our progenitor.

Kaworu's characterization didn't take an absolute overhaul. He's not a transfer student or owning a cat, sure. Certain things are more subtle than others, such as Kaworu's deep fears. The draft manifests Kaworu's vulnerabilities via self-harm scars on the wrist. Or even the dark implications extracted from the words 'because living is so difficult.' Kaworu's issue in the final cut is a subtle anxiety not easily gleaned by action alone and that's a topic I'll cover further down this thread.

Kaworu is Adam on virtue of housing their soul. Given that Adam is the mother of angels, Kaworu is by proxy, his own mother.

He is a deity representative of an idealized version of Shinji's psyche, inability to contact with people outside of universal speech and with selfless righteousness regarding morality.

Kaworu is not a deity and neither is Adam. Adam's status as a progenitor doesn't equate to actual godhood. In order to become a god in Eva's universe, one must possess both Fruits of Life and Wisdom. The angels born from Adam possess Life. Mankind possesses Wisdom.

He is however, an idealized version of Shinji. Someone who, to Shinji, is so awe-inspiring that he can't help but gain a complex from him.

I'd also like to argue that Kaworu's somewhat detached way of speaking doesn't come from the idea that he isn't human (there's a lot of debunking from the show's narrative) but due to his upbringing. On that end, Rei speaks in a similar pattern to Kaworu. Detached but not unsettling. Rei was heavily surveilled by Gendo and Kaworu was under the eyes of SEELE. Also, what about Kaworu was self-righteous? Kaworu never showed an inkling of conceit in the show's canon.

The way he connects with Shinji may appear as romantic, but to suggest a god-like character of his bg and role could conceptualize having a romantic relationship with a human he had planned to kill indrectily makes no sense within the story.

To reiterate: not a god. Also, 'planned to kill.' The angels merging with Adam weren't meant as a show of conceit at humanity/lilin. It's biological drive. There's nothing moral or immoral of it whatsoever. Kaworu actively questions the desire of returning to mother Adam, knowing this would annihilate humanity. I'd also like to add that there were several factors, and that Shinji wasn't the sole reason for Kaworu's qualms during his descent to Heaven's Door. Kaworu's comment about music has always stood out to me for years because he states it to be the 'highest' form of lilin culture. Implying there's other interests of his from people. Considering how he's so interested in Shinji's issues, it's very possible he has marked interest in the living condition.

Furthermore, if Kaworu did plan to kill Shinji from the jump, then why not use Unit-02 to easily dispose of Unit-01 rather than using the Evangelion as a distraction? Kaworu can fenagle with sync rates of an Evangelion, provided it has a non-dominant/shut off soul.

It was clear to the audience that he was not human and did not see thing from a human POV, but he also calls all humans Lilin, suggesting he sees Shinji as an other. Apparently Kaworu was even directly modeled after Jesus Christ.

Othering isn't about differentiation, it's about the contempt you have for those who aren't you. Kaworu calls Shinji Lilin...because he himself isn't human. That's all. He didn't see anything from a human POV...despite questioning the desire of merging with Adam.

The smoking gun for Kaworu's morality is here.

If Kaworu was romantically attracted to Shinji, it would mean he is an emotional sadist who finds broken people attractive, would be capable of falling in love with with a complete stranger within 24 hours of meeting them, and that he's capable of full human emotions. None of these add up given Kaworu's history and behaviour, which is why Kaworu's love feels more like an agape kind, as he likely doesn't understand love like a human would. His screentime is also so short that it's hard to fully understand him as a character.

I see this notion quite often and I notice a pattern each time: Kaworu's supposed lack of attraction is used to say that he 'manipulated' Shinji's mental state at the time. Or that he feigned emotion because emotions are a foreign concept because he's not human. But if Kaworu did love Shinji, it's because he's secretly selfish and gets his jollies off from Shinji's trauma. It's chiefly fueled by bad faith in either direction.

Emotions are a complex thing. You can't necessarily make a few behaviors The Standard and shun anything but. People process their feelings differently. Also, to tackle the emotions thing, I wrote a few observations of certain subtleties that debunks the long-held 'human' emotion notion.

#neon genesis evangelion #kaworu #kawoshin #nge #correct me if i'm wrong #self harm

[yellowocaballero]

Character Work

Got an ask the other day that asked me how I developed a character, and there was no room to go into it on that ask at all, but I did want to note something. As a fic writer I feel pretty unqualified to write on how to create a character, but I do have something specific I want to say that I've been thinking for a while. I'll keep it just to that. I'll also say that I'm talking exclusively about writing, and not how you engage with fandom. It is, in fact, extremely fun to make an endless series of meaningless headcanons for random dudes. I'm just talking about in terms of how you approach the character from a writing perspective. Which is...

Your OC makes a bad character.

I mean your Dungeons and Dragons character. I mean the character you have a character sheet for, the character you've thought about for years, the one that you are extremely fond of and who feels like a real person to you. The character that is the character, and to change them would feel like changing a person.

Characters should feel like real people to the reader, but as the writer you cannot think of them as people. They are plot devices and a function of the story. They don't need to be fleshed out before you start writing. The actual creation of the character should take place in the outlining and drafting process.

I'm not saying you aren't allowed to stop and think about their favorite grilled cheeses or their sign. There's a few lists of good questions to ask yourself about your characters before you start writing them, such as their desires and their home lives, but the list of actual questions you need to answer are short. And you should try to stop there, because otherwise you're going to over-develop your character and it's going to get in the way of the story.

Assuming you're writing a character focused story, the character's journey is the plot's journey. But the character and the plot exist in relationship to each other. I think of them as two interlocking gears - some things in the plot just can't happen because Character A wouldn't do that, but some things need to happen for the plot to work, so Character A needs to be the kind of person who would do that. Both the character and the plot are in service of what the story is about (Theme, moral, message, etc). These three things have to line up, and they can't overpower each other. You shouldn't try and make round pegs fit in square holes. If a character doesn't fit in with what you want the story to be about (if the story's about vanity and your character doesn't care about vanity) then you need to change one of those things. You can bend the entire plot and meaning of the story around the character, but damn you better have a character who makes a really fantastic story.

You need a character that makes a good story. Some characters don't make good stories, and you need to work super hard to create a story that fits them. That's fine - that can create a unique and great story. Your character has to be consistent and work along their own internal logic. That is shit you absolutely have to stop and work out in the outlining process. Your character needs to make decisions that feel right to the reader - really good stories have the character making the worst possible decision, but in a way that makes the reader understand that they couldn't have done anything else and still been that character. And, like, obviously, give your characters faults and have them make mistakes. A character who does not do that cannot carry a plot.

Fic writers struggle with this. Of course you...shouldn't...be me and completely disregard every characterization, but I do think you can run into the same problem with your blorbo as your D&D character.

Your blorbos aren't actual guys.

This feels kind of obvious, but sometimes I think people don't feel that way. We write fanfic because we like the characters, and we'd rather use these characters and this setting than use our own. I see people projecting on these characters a lot. Like, a lot a lot. It gets to the point where an attack on the character feels like a personal attack - where people defend the character as if they're a real person because they ID so much w/the character. We all know this is dumb, but it also makes for some really shitty fic. The writer becomes completely unwilling to bend the character at all. And they don't try to make the character good for a story, because that kind of involves a lot of faults and mistakes that they don't like seeing their blorbos make. I sound dismissive but it's pervasive. The character becomes a character who makes them feel good instead of a well-written function of the story. The story suffers. Which is alright for some stories, but if you're writing a heavily character focused story like a lot of fic, then nothing is really propping up this story or making it engaging.

None of that is how I develop a character but that is what I wanted to say about characters lol (fwiw, how an OC is created for me is: "I need a character in this spot or representing this thing. Yoink!"). Of course I spoke hyperbolically and took a hard stance on all of that, haha, and of course all of this is rule of thumb. I'm sure your OC is wonderful. Just don't get caught up in them, okay? Go write. The best possible OC is an OC who is born from a good story. That's how you get rich and real characters.

#this is also true for worldbuilding. #my writing #my asks #writing #writing advice #kinda obvious if u follow me that I can go ON and ON and ON about what the fuck is up with some of my characters #and I can kinda promise that for every single one none of that was decided ahead of time #long time readers can see my understanding of the character grow and develop and change the more i write them #so you end up with someone super fleshed out and rich #and sometimes you keep on making so many swerves fifteen degrees to the left that you end up with f101 jon #that being said keep the silly HC coming i fucking love that shit #if no chip sw was an Actual Thing at this point i would go back and rewrite all of it #with what i now know of cody #and thats how the story would be decent lol #but I had to write ALLA THAT to actually get cody you know? #and I could NOT have figured that out just by thinking about him #i promise the advice was solicited this time jalksdf

[wtowingedtragicobsidian]

BDS Gender & Orientation HCs pt2 PM

~if a character/commentary is not included I’m just assuming they’re cis/straight~

Akutagawa:

Orientation:|Gay, Demiromantic| Doesn’t get romantically attached to people, with a few notable exceptions. He has never looked upon a woman with lust in his life and genuinely doesn’t understand the appeal (lol). He does understands the appeal of men but his fear of physical vulnerability tends to negate him acting on it.

Higuchi:

Orientation: |Bi| The Akutagawa’s were her bi awakening.

Chuuya:

Orientation: |Gay| Exclusively likes men. He was self-conscious about it (possibly with some self-loathing) when he was younger but then he met Albatross and the Flags, and they assured him it was cool (half of them were queer anyway). Since then, he’s been secure in his identity, but keeps pretty quiet about it as he’s a very internally guarded person who likes to keep his personal life private. Still, he won’t compromise for others’ comfort and can be quite outspoken if somebody’s making unsavory remarks—regardless of if they’re directed at him or not.

*Chuuya has a soft spot for the younger queer kids in the mafia and tries to subtly wingman for them. He’s like a brother figure to a lot of them and is more than willing to talk with them about their identity or offer comfort, regardless of how close they might be. (yes, in his own way he’s trying to pay forward what the Flags did for him.)

Tachihara:

Orientation: |Queer(pan)| Had never really given sexuality much thought and just assumed he was straight—and then he met Gin and was like ‘oh, guess not’. Since then, he has been more in touch with his sense of attraction.

Gin:

Gender: |Genderfluid, Demigirl| Mostly use neutral forms of expression/address, however, for as much gender euphoria that causes, they do get a bit antsy if they haven’t been able to express either of the binaries for a while. Conveniently their work/life balance lets them express their gender with relative ease, presenting femininely (and using feminine or neutral pronouns, though feminine is more common) while off work—and conversely presenting masculinely/androgynously while a work (and using neutral and masculine pronouns, though neutral ones are generally preferred). She doesn’t tell many people about her gender and often lets them assume —usually enjoying the mixed results and ambiguity—unless they are very close with her (so the Black Lizards and her brother know).

Mori: (When I was writing this, I told myself I wasn’t going to touch this one, but then I stared at his hairline too long and realized he would be wilding more interesting—to me specifically—if he was ace, so-)

Orientation: |Asexual, Demiromantic| Fascinated with sex and human sexuality to an almost fetishistic degree and is more than willing to exploit/abuse those attachments in others—he likes to watch the fallout and sadistically enjoys the exertion of his power. BUT, he doesn’t feel that kind of attraction himself, which may be a contributing factor to why he’s so interested in it.

He does, however rarely, feel romantic attraction. He’s had one(1) notable crush and its fucked with him ever since.

Kouyou:

Orientation: |Bisexual-sapphic| Despite (in the strictest sense of the term) being bi, she only entertains advances from women and will identify as lesbian if asked. She did have a notable romance with a man in her youth and while it was genuine attraction, it burned her forever—since then she has shunned the romantic advances of men. After that formative heartbreak all her entanglements have been sapphic in nature, but she’s still very wary of romance and ‘love’, so they have been few and far between; mostly consisting of short lived situationships.

Q:

Gender:|Nonbinary| Uses neutral pronouns. They get a right kick watching people fumble to trying to figure out how to categorize them.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd headcanons #bsd hcs #bungou stray dogs hcs #akutagawa ryuunosuke #higuchi ichiyou #chuuya nakahara #tachihara michizou #mori ougai #ozaki kouyou #bsd q #yumeno kyuusaku

[cinnamonest]

Spooky Season Game Recs 🎃

Since it is That Day, I put together a quick recommendation list for games that I thought might be appreciated for fun and for anyone who might want to use it.

Here is a generalized list of games you should play! I'm including some horror-themed, some that just have gratuitous violence, some just have creepy vibes, some that are mild but have Halloween themes, etc. A lot of these are very popular, and likely some of you will have already played/heard of them all, but this is just for anyone who hasn't. Feel free to add to this!

Quick note: unfortunately, I am in the small percentage of people who get severe migraines and nausea from playing first-person perspective games (but not third-person perspective ones). As such, there's a lot of horror games that I can't really play, and there's only one first person game I've played here. I'll include a section for some renowned games that I haven't played, but are well-received.

I’m giving one link, but for some of these it’s available on multiple platforms, I’m just linking steam if available since it’s what most people might have. I played most of these on PS4.

Also warnings for all of these. Some have heavy violence, a few have references to sexual assault, in one you murder a toddler. Etc. Be warned.

Happy Halloween 😊

Console/Professional/3D Games:

Until Dawn

This is one of my favorites, it is a choices-matter game with multiple endings, the endings being determined based on who lives and who dies. It's very suspenseful, they did a great job at crafting the right atmosphere for the game. Although in my opinion (and apparently the popular opinion) several characters were not very likeable. I did really like Josh, though. Best boy.

It's really neat in that your choices don't just effect the ending, but your choices can branch you off into a different path entirely, changing future events themselves, working more like a flowchart than a "Choice one gets ending A, choice two gets ending B" sort of thing.

It is a PS4 exclusive. 

(Link)

Inside

An eerie game with no dialogue and a really creepy atmosphere. I finished it in one Saturday. It's one of those games that's more of an "experience" than a game (kind of like Journey). This was one of those games where I kept seeing it for years and thinking like "huh, I should play that one day," then one day it was on sale on the PS Store so I finally did and I'm very very glad I did.

(Link)

Friday the 13th

Basically you play in locations across the movie franchise. You can play as a victim and try to hide, or as Jason Voorhees and try to hunt down victims. There’s multiplayer and single player. It’s basically a hide and seek with someone trying to kill you.

(Link)

Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan/Little Hope

These are made by the same developers as Until Dawn. They're not sequels, as they have different stories and a new cast of characters (save for the overarching narrator-esque figure, think Igor from the Persona series).

Personally (and according to most reviews/professional critics), I think these fell a bit short of Until Dawn's legacy, but they're still pretty neat. They utilize the same mechanics, just with a new story. Also that intro rendition of O Death is a banger.

There’s also 2 more after these but I haven’t played them.

Unlike it’s predecessor, this one is available on multiple platforms. (Link)

Resident Evil Series

This is a horror game staple and I'm sure most people are familiar with it, but I'd like to note that it's extra appreciated for other people who have motion sickness/migraines, as several games are in third person (7 isn’t I think?)! There's a pretty expansive list to choose from, but (here is a comprehensive ranking list).

Silent Hill Series

Another staple for the horror genre and the origin of the iconic Pyramid Head, unfortunately if you don't have a gaming PC or a PS2 to dust off or pay for PS Now, right now it is unavailable -- however, that is set to change, as just recently a PS5 remake was announced, although unfortunately it looks like it might be PS5 only and not PS4. The first three games are generally regarded as the best, but I would not recommend Downpour, it feels very slow and kind of dull by comparison in my experience. 

(Announcement)

Zero Escape Series

This is iffy to include here, but it has a lot of very dark themes and atmosphere so I think it fits. It's basically "escape rooms: the game," wherein you have to solve a lot of puzzles to progress. This series was an inspiration for Danganronpa, but the critical difference is that while DR has a brightly-colored punkish aesthetic and over-the-top quirky, eccentric, often lighthearted elements/characters to offset the dark depressing nature of a game about murder, Zero Escape doesn't have that, so it's a lot more bleak and heavy.

 (Steam page for ZTD)

The Wolf Among Us

A Telltale game with a really nice art style and memorable characters. It's a murder mystery and a "choices matter" type of game. I'm including it here because it's very gritty and violent at times, and kind of has like film noir vibes. Also if you like older men you'll probably like the main character.

(Link)

Bendy and the Ink Machine

I have no doubt you're all probably already aware of this one, but I tolerated feeling like someone was hammering my head with a marble chisel for this game (I played it in 10-minute intervals and took breaks between but nonetheless) so I'm mentioning it so my suffering is not in vain.

The stylized nature of the graphics gives it a very quirky, unique vibe. It's somewhat exploration-ish with a plot. The main monster is also a really unique choice.

(Link)

RPG Maker Games 

Unless otherwise noted, you can find these (here on VGPerson). The ones on VGPerson and most of the ones on this list in general are free.

Ib

A classic of the genre. You are a little girl at an art museum who falls into one of the paintings and enters another realm. You meet two friends (one is a "friend") who try to help you get back home (or not). 

The Witch's House

Also a classic of the genre. You are a girl looking to reach the top of the witch's mansion for... reasons. There's a really well-executed plot twist. A cat is there. What more can you want.

Yume Nikki

The final entry here of the iconic genre-defining trio. There is no real plot, I don't think there's even any dialogue if I recall correctly. It's largely just a matter of exploring the world around you. It's very trippy and relies on aesthetic, it's not everyone's thing, but I found it pretty calming actually. If you collect all the effects, you reach an ending. 

(Free on steam)

Pocket Mirror

This is one of those games where you play it and then are really surprised to learn it's not more popular than it is. I highly recommend it. It's somewhat Alice in Wonderland-esque, in the sense that you are a young girl traveling through an odd land trying to go home, and meet interesting (and sometimes dangerous) characters along the way. One of the biggest selling points for this is the music, which is (except for a few) original and not borrowed from free use websites. The art and game as a whole is GORGEOUS visually. Developer is Astral Shift.

(Link)

End Roll

You are a 14-year-old boy who also happens to be a murderer. You are being put through a rehabilitation project that will cause you to have vivid dreams, which are very pleasant and welcoming... at first. The dreams are intended to eventually induce remorse in the subject, which, in this boy's case, means he has to relive some of the things he has done.

Corpse Party

Technically, the original was 1996, but pretty much any version you can get now is a remake with improved graphics. That being said, there are several different versions with different graphics.

Synopsis is a group of students become trapped in their school by supernatural means and have to find a way out. Gratuitous death and vengeful ghost hijinks ensues. This one is paid. You can purchase an old PSP copy as well. There's an anime based on the game that is significantly more graphic. There's also a lot of games after the original, but I've only played the original (or at least the remake of the original) so I can only speak for that.

I played (this version) a few years back, but to my knowledge (this version) is the most recent remake.

OFF

This is a personal favorite. You are a man on a mission to purify your (very bizarre) world, and defeat an evil queen. This is one of the best RPGMaker games in my opinion. The music is great, the characters are memorable, and the plot twist is very well-executed. It does a really good job of slowly becoming more and more unnerving to the point that by the time you reach the end, you know something isn't right regarding your understanding of things, but need to progress to find out exactly what. The way it utilizes unreliable narrator/limited perspective is very well-done. Also obligatory Zacharie my beloved.

(Free official download)

Hello Charlotte

This is a series of several games about a girl named Charlotte. Some are paid and some are free. The art style is really neat, and it has that constantly mildly unnerving vibe that I really like. I believe the first one is free and the rest are paid.

(Link)

Omori

Also really well-known already but I wanted to include it, this is more of a tear-jerker than a horror game, but there are some unsettling moments/imagery. The art style is really cute, and the characters are very lovable. It does a great job of setting up an atmosphere/story that leaves you just perfectly in the middle of your understanding, where you sort of know what's going on but makes you desperate to know more and fully understand what's happening.

(Link)

Pre-2000 

Don't expect much from these in terms of graphics/mechanics, but they're fun nonetheless. 

Monster Party

This is a 1989 game. It's Halloween themed (ish?) and really cute. Unless you have an NES on hand, you'll need an NES emulator and ROM to play it. Retroarch is a well-known emulator for all sorts of vintage games.

(Retroarch)

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

This is a point-and-click from 1994. Personally I have to include this as it's one of my absolute favorite games/stories of all time. It is based on a renowned short story. Personally its selling point for me is that it has one of my favorite fictional antagonists of all time. The author of the original story voices AM in the game, too! I could ramble on about how much I love this work for literal hours but I'll spare you all that. I recommend reading the original story as well.

Synopsis: A supercomputer hellbent on satisfying his hatred for humanity has destroyed the world, leaving behind five humans who he spends eternity torturing. The five humans, each desperate to die and finally be rid of their tormentor, must go through stages designed to be personal hells for each of them to hope to achieve that.

(Steam page) 

Short Indie Games 

These are basically short interactives meant to be unnerving and unsettling, which they do well. Time consumption ranges from anywhere from two minutes to maybe half an hour.  A lot of them are made by independent creators so it's good to support them! All of these can be found on itch.io’s  horror tag. In general, this whole page is full of good ones, so I’m just listing a few I found particularly neat.

Next Door

A short browser game based on a Junji Ito story. 

(Link)

(Don't) Open Your Eyes

A short Renpy game. It has voice acting, which is like 99% of what makes it so unnerving. Basically, the title is the summary.

(Link)

Please Answer Carefully

I LOVED this one, it's stalker-themed. Basically a short survey from someone who misses you and wants you to forgive them :)

(Link)

Discover My Body + Water Womb World

Body horror based, point and click narrative. Both are made by the same person. The graphics style is really unique. I like this creator's portrayal of the characters, there's a common theme of a sort of religious fervor that blinds them to reason and drives them to insanity. 

(Discover my Body)

(Water Womb World)

Assessment Examination

Very short, the images can be unnerving/uncanny if that bothers you.

(Link)

Honorable mentions: 

First-person gamesI haven't played these; they're pretty well-renowned, though, and while unfortunately I am not able to enjoy them, you very well may, so they are worth checking out if you can! 

Outlast

Layers of Fear

SOMA

Alien: Isolation

Amnesia: the Dark Descent

Blair Witch

#so fun story #emetophobia tw just in case #so when I purchased skyrim as a sweet innocent child #i did not know third person pov was an option #bc it automatically starts in first person #but I LOVED skyrim #so i would literally just #get home from school #grab a heating pad for my head and turn it on #get an empty trash bag and keep it with me the whole time #and just... played the game anyway #I was just that devoted to playing skyrim #i only found out bc of yt videos on a certain quest #but ya i distinctly remember obtaining a new thuum #and it plays that nordic chant audio when you absorb it #so it's like 'AH AH AH HYRAHHH AH AH AH HYRAHH' #but it was immediately after fighting a dragon so #im in the background like 'BLLLEEUEUUEUEUGH' #very unfortunate #it was on that day I swore vengeance on Todd Howard #Todd if you're reading this #🤜🤛

[insomniacwriter17]

What are some of the favorite kinds of outfits that the characters wear? In and out of little space

// b i l l y //

when he's big, billy is a firm believer in jeans and a button-down shirt.

only on his more casual days does he wear t-shirts, usually band ones and the occasional hawkins high t-shirt.

he's a boots guy mostly, unless he's doing a lot of walking, then he'll wear converse hi-tops.

big billy won't be caught with his hair up unless he's at the garage. he works too damn hard on his hair for it to be trapped in an elastic!

on the other hand, little billy loves athletic shorts and tennis shoes.

he wears nothing but soft t-shirts, and during the warmer months, stevie's lucky if he can get a t-shirt on billy at all!

a lot of the time he wanders around the house shirtless

on that note, stevie can tell when billy's having a bad self-esteem day though, because billy will try to cover the scars on his torso with shirts when he's little

some days it doesn't bother billy, so when billy wanders down the stairs with a t-shirt on but complaining about being hot, stevie simply offers to turn the fan on and put billy's hair up because he knows why billy's wearing a shirt

// r o b i n //

robin loves piecing together outfits based on items she picks up thrifting with her mom

big robin often will wear button downs and vests, cool pants, and a funky pair of shoes

steve can count on one hand the amount of times he's seen robin wear the same pair of shoes -- she seems to have a few select favorites, but otherwise its a new pair every day just about

on her more casual days, she's notorious for showing up to family video in a shirt that gives steve pause, only for him to eventually ask, "is that mine?"

more often than not, robin gives him a shit eating grin and shrugs, saying, "i don't know! found it in my closet this morning."

little robin loves graphic t-shirts, mostly my little pony, carebears, and disney.

the only time robin wears shorts is when she's little, because its a lot easier to run and crawl around without fabric all around her legs!

they're usually denim pull-on shorts, without buttons or zippers because that's just too much work.

socks and sneakers are her shoes of choice as a little. the pair nancy got her for christmas was once bright white, but is now covered in grass stains and mud from her running around the yard

when she's dropped, nancy will either pin robin's hair back with barrettes or slide a headband into robin's hair to keep her hair out of her eyes.

robin refuses pony tails whether she's big or little -- they give her headaches.

// e d d i e //

big eddie wears ripped dark jeans almost exclusively. he has a few select pairs of jeans he saves for important days -- like job interviews and graduation. these jeans are still dark but lack holes, because that's more socially acceptable or whatever

band t-shirts and hellfire shirts are all he ever wears. he has like ten shirts that are his top favorites that he rotates in and out, but every now and again he pulls out a new one, much to everyone's surprise.

for a guy that doesn't do a whole lot of "sports things" he lives in tennis shoes. swears they're more comfortable than anything else he owns

though he is very well known for not actually tying his shoes, but instead shoving the laces into the shoe and pretending its not a problem.

little eddie often wears sweatpants or his ripped jeans (when he's feeling a bit bigger)

he trades his band t-shirts for just plain colored t-shirts, usually white or red. he has a handful of the same color shirts so that he doesn't have to think about what he wears, it's just kind of there.

wayne constantly battles with little eddie to let him tie the boys shoes. "you run around too much to have loose shoes, rascal" wayne insists.

usually there's some kind of bribery to get eddie to let wayne tie his shoes, and wayne's gotten pretty good at it

usually when eddie's little, his hair is pushed out of his face with a bandana or on the rare occasion he wants to match billy, he lets steve pull it back with an elastic. those days are very rare though, and usually only when billy requests it.

#stranger things #the little buddy universe #tlb universe #classification au #caregiver! nancy wheeler #caregiver! steve harrington #caregiver! wayne munson #little! billy hargrove #little! robin buckley #little! eddie munson #nsap #age regression #fandom #this be a queue

[jade-of-mourning]

Since you mentioned you actually like masami, have you considered lesbian!masami? What do you imagine their dynamic like? For some reason I see them like this: Asami is a big fan of fire ferrets, especially Mako. She says that Mako is very skilled, turning the tides of matches in her favor, that she's very inspiring - maybe she means even more than that to her... Basically Asami is trying to keep her flirting vague, but it turns out even more obvious somehow. And Mako's kind of confused, she doesn't really get what Asami sees in her, but she doesn't really mind, because Asami had been nothing but supportive, and she's very beautiful too. (hold on, now I'm thinking about lesbian!makorrasami)

hi anon! indeed i'm one of those very few batshit insane people out there who do like masami :P in short — i think that the two of them could be such an interesting pairing, in that they represent total opposite ends of the equalist ideology and could have been such a fascinating point to hinge on in s1.* they're both so extremely lonely in their own entirely opposite ways; they're just two kids who don't know anything about being normal in this society because of the inherent weight of their living. they were really sweet to one another when their desperately needing hearts were in it and i feel like they had a fundamental shared understanding of feeling sort of detached from who they should be and who they are. i love them for the tragedy of what they could've been, and i genuinely believe that if korra hadn't careened headfirst into their lives, they might've worked out with time.

anyway lesbian masami! i actually never Really thought about it in my head but they would be so enjoyable. i already love asami's dorky probending fangirlisms and i think she would be even more over in her head about this really attractive girl who's straight-up carrying her underdog team. she would be mako's biggest fan. asami sato is the only person in the world with the social ineptitude (affectionate) boldness to immediately ask out someone she ran over with a moped and that would definitely translate over to her flirtations. which is to say — it is not very subtle despite her futile attempts to be normal around this very hot very talented very flustered girl who she is definitely not a massive fan of. i can definitely see asami's interest going over girl!mako's head a little bit at the start; i think while she has an immediate recognition of asami's beauty, it takes a while more to actually register how lovely of a person asami herself is and begin to fall for her, whereas korra is more like an unshakeable storm.

also. girl for girl for girl makorrasami. you get it,

*tangent i accidentally began in response to your ask that wasn't what you asked for:

i'm pretty sure people have talked about it, but the fact that asami is an extremely wealthy nonbender and mako is a bender in utter poverty being at such opposition is just such good setup for a nuanced discussion — what does it actually means for nonbenders to be "oppressed" when the show repeatedly displays benders to be rejected from society and nearly all characters from wealth are nonbenders; what exists in the system that has made it so the criminal doings we see portrayed are exclusively from benders; the mildly implied but consistent stigmatization of outward firebenders in specific, while nonbenders from the fire nation get a pass; is the imbalance rooted in a more classist society rather than revolving around this arbitrary "oppressing" magic system, whose cultural role is rapidly diminishing and functionality is being replaced by industrialization. this isn't to say that nonbender oppression can't exist, and i don't think that it's exactly the other way around (nonbenders oppressing benders, that is) — the police force still seems to be composed solely of benders, though that's debatable considering that evidently it's not a metalbending job exclusively, and the council of the city is also solely benders. but asami and mako by principle pose a lot of interesting challenges to the ideology that amon pushes and i really wish that they could've dropped the love triangle in exchange for perhaps this subject. yeah, i still want more mako&bolin&asami backstories respectively as well as greater expansion of republic city, korra's cultural clash into the city and her adaptation to it, and allowing room for krew relationships to develop; but also ultimately i think that actually exploring the validity of the villain's perspective would be a better use of screen time. i wish that masami could've had the full season to themselves (maybe with korra accidentally pining for them both on the side haha) so korra would have a real life example demonstrating the opposite of amon's viewpoint, rather than the show consistently framing her to exemplify what's wrong with the system and refusing to actually acknowledge the various points they've casually incorporated that oppose it.

i struggle to enunciate my thoughts precisely as i spontaneously shit these words out on the screen — i'm not really qualified for this discussion — but i just really wish that s1 had expanded further on the fantastic premise it had. it's still my favorite season for reasons i'm not sure i could express, but it could've been so much more than what it was. and masami deserved better. whether they could've ever been endgame or not, they did mean something to each other and it makes me sad to see how brushed aside it is in general :P

#lychee acquires and answers asks #sorry this took like a week to get to lol i've been hella busy #masami #tagged for those who would rather not see this ship floating around

[wlwcorhajat]

Okay, this has thankfully never come up in the two years I've had this blog, but I wanna nip something in the bud. I want to explain why in my opinion, Corhajat is not a problematic ship. Just in case someone stumbles across this blog and thinks I'm promoting something I'm not, and so I can reference this post if anyone in general confronts me on it.

I feel some people interpret the deeprealms as "This character is only a few months old, but they have the bodies of adults." This is not true at all. The 2nd generation lived their lives at normal rates from their perspective. It's just that deeprealms and fateslandia move at different rates. Which is why Rhajat is now older than Hayato.

Rhajat mentions that her deeprealms moves at an even faster rate. She says "It was only after I left my Deeprealm to voyage here… that I discovered how time flowed at an accelerated rate.A rate far faster than the other Deeprealms… If I had remained there, I'd be a white-haired old lady by now. That's how I know I'm older than you. I may actually be older than Mother, too."

This implies Rhajat is one of, if not the oldest 2nd gen. For all we know, she could be older than Shigure. That support never says who the older one is between them. She even mentions she might be older than Hayato's wife. Of course, Hayato can marry Nyx and Orochi, it's very unlikely that she's older than them. However, it does state that she's not a child. In my opinion, I can't see her being younger than 17. And even that might be lowballing it. The canon status of feh is VERY debatable, but it also refers to Rhajat as an adult.

Let's say Rhajat isn't an adult though. Corrin doesn't have a canon age. Corrin could be somewhere between 17 and 19 for all we know. All we know is that she's older than Takumi and Leo (who lack canon ages as well but are teens at youngest) and Sakura and Elise (who are both young, "short for my age/adult you technically are" be damned.) Hell, Rhajat could be the older of the two. So they're both adults, or at least around the same age is a pretty safe assumption.

Now when they met, Rhajat was a child. This is a canon fact. BUT. According to the Japanese support "You don't remember your childhood, but a long time ago, I visited the secluded village where you lived, just once. And, you bet (met?) us." Corrin did not raise or even really interact with Rhajat as a child. He played with her once, saved her and they didn't meet again until she was an adult.

To play devil's advocate, there is a HORRIBLE line exclusive to male corrin's version. Corrin says "I love you too... I'm sure... back then, I fell in love with you too." I will not defend this. I have NO idea who thought this line was cute. However, the wlw version, the version most people ship, is completely different in Japan and says nothing about that in either version.

Hell you could argue all of this is moot because only male corrin has this, but I'm addressing it just in case.

Lastly, I wanna talk about Rhajat being a "predatory lesbian." Stalking is wrong, let me throw that out there. But I feel calling Rhajat predatory is pushing it. Rhajat describes her stalking as "watching over (corrin)." The phrasing sounds like she's watching their back to protect them. Still wrong, and arguably a reach, but not predatory. Not to mention that Selkie's support with Rhajat makes it clear Rhajat is VERY socially awkward. She's not being malicious here. Predatory implies malice in my opinion, and Rhajat is a girl with a crush who expresses it, admittedly in a problematic way.

This post isn't an attempt to convince you to ship it if you don't. It's cool if it makes you uncomfortable. However, it is not abusive, it is not an age gap, it is not a pedo ship.

Tl;Dr rhajat and corrin are around the same age, corrin only interacted with child rhajat once, and Rhajat isn't predatory.

#tw pedophila mention #rhajat #rhajat fire emblem #corhajat #corrin fire emblem #corrin #fire emblem fates revelation #fire emblem fates birthright

[ttteanimalau]

So, I've been thinking...

..about some of the AU exclusive back-stories of these characters!! I kinda already went over Thomas so I wanna talk about some of the other mains!

Edward - As an older gentleman, he's worked at multiple railways over the years, having been born on one of the smaller ones. He's met and lost many friends along the way before settling on Sodor, where he's confident he'll retire and spend the rest of his life. He's one of Topham's most reliable and a mentor figure to many, though he swears James and Thomas are only making his fur grey more.

Henry - Like Thomas, Henry was born small and frail. On top of that, he was also sickly to the point where he needed special care and a specific diet in order to even give him a shot at being "useful". Even then, he still had days where he couldn't even leave his shed due to illness. His mother died due to illness and his controller was ready to abandon him. Topham decided to give him a chance and go through the extra effort and expenses to keep Henry in top form. He isn't the most reliable but thanks to Topham, he can live a fulfilling life on Sodor.

Gordon - Gordon was actually bought specifically to fight against others for entertainment. It was an abandoned railway. His brother was born in a different litter so Scottsman wasn't apart of this. Gordon spent most of his life fighting so it wasn't long before it nearly shut down and he was taken in by Topham, who let him get his well deserved rest and heal his wounds. In return, Gordon used his strength to pull some of the heaviest trains. Like Edward, he can act as a mentor to the younger ones on Sodor, though he's definitely more pompus about it.

James - James was born to breeders, and as a result, his mother didn't pay much attention to him because she knew he would have to leave her eventually. So she decided not to get attached and as a result, James grew up starved for love and attention. He was taken by Topham when he came of age, and for the first time, someone paid attention to him. He's been desperate for more and more, and he grew to like showing off, whether it be his appearance or his work. He may appear vain but it's quite the opposite.

Percy - Percy was born on a pretty well known railway, and he was a healthy and lively pup. The thing was..he was a scaredy cat, enough so that his siblings and other pups would bully him relentlessly. He was deemed "untrainable" by his controller and after a particularly cruel prank on Percy, he ran away from home and spent a few months alone in the wild before finding Sodor where he met a friendly blue wolf who offered him a place to call home.

I'll go into more detail with each of these as I go but these are the short versions.

#Ttte animal au #thomas and friends #thomas the tank engine #thomas the tank engine au #ttte #ttte au #ttte thomas #ttte edward #ttte james #ttte henry #ttte gordon #ttte percy

[scramble-crossing]

Thoughts on fret and coco

...Individually or?

I like Fret! I like how you can never tell how much of his behavior is a ruse, you feel settled in thinking that you know exactly who he is (the Twister's manic pixie dream girl of course) until those few key moments when the mask begins to slip and you realize just how near-indistinguishable his "real" self is from his persona. I especially like the conflict he has with Rindo throughout Week 2. Rindo's an anxious kid who's been thrust unwillingly into a leadership position, so you feel for him when he hesitates to make decisions that very well might be the difference between life and death. But Fret's also just a kid who wants to make it out alive and is stuck watching his leader hum and haw over what he's sure can give them a leg up in the competition. Their passive-aggressiveness that stops just short of a full blow-out feels realistic for a couple of teenagers (who didn't even start off particularly close) stuck in a death game. Fret has some really nice dynamics and I like how he gets his own little Hanekoma-esk arc trying to live up the the person an important role model in his life believed he could be. And I like that he stays silly!! He is God's goofiest little soldier and I love him for it.

Coco on the other hand is a character that I've never been particularly fond of, but for almost exclusively petty reasons lmao. I hate A New Day and everything it alludes to that neo ends up dropping (the fact that Neku and Minamimoto could have been partners is a fact that still GNAWS at my SOUL to this very day) and because she's introduced there (excluding her secret shop in Solo Remix) she kind of ends up becoming symbolic of that for me. I do not like a single writing decision that has been made with her. I hate that in A New Day you're supposed to just accept that "she's always been there" as if the MICROTRANSACTIONS STORE is canon. I hate that apparently she "needs to be connected to Joshua in some way" for anything about A New Day to make sense, I have no idea what that means. I hate that in neo she's pretty much left to wander aimlessly for 85% of the game waiting for her nearly abandoned plot thread to be tied up right before the finale. I think there's a lot to like about her if you look, but personal preference wise I just don't really care enough to bother.

As a duo? Hilarious. Coco's sick to death of Minamimoto refusing to pay back her favour of illegally resurrecting him (technically he didn't ask, just saying) so she kidnaps his favourite zeptogram and holds him for ransom. The stakes have never been higher for Mina. Not because he's particularly worried about Fret (what's Coco gonna do, huh? kill him? he wasn't even dead in the UG) but because he either has to ignore this and possibly get in shit for it later or commit to his half-baked domestication arc and have a custody battle with Coco in the middle of Center Street. Fret is absolutely elated. Mr. Minami is fighting over him? AND Neku's funny Reaper friend bought him ice cream?? This is the highlight of his week. Rindo has already called the cops.

#ask #coco should NOT be responsible for children #mina only TRIED to kill a 15 year old. coco actually succeeded. he's the lesser of two evils here I think #meanwhile fret is just. SO happy #mr.minami cares about him :']] hey why are there so many police sirens all of a sudden #fret #coco

[chronicxwanderlust]

get to know the author!

name: tabitha

pronouns: she/her

preference of communication: used to be a die-hard tumblr im's girlie but finally caught onto the discord train a few years ago! still stick to im's for like initial contact/plotting but definitely am reached better and interact more consistently on discord.

most active muse: that would be my bb marley! she's my longest active muse of about...four years now? i feel like it might be longer but that's as old as any of her blogs that i can find! but without fail she's always the muse i have the most inspiration for, and a foolproof way to get myself out of any writing slumps. will say though after really only exclusively playing her for like three years, this last year or so i've tried my hand at so many new characters/fcs and now have so many new muses that i adore!

experience/how many years: when i tell you that i have absolutely zero recollection of how i discovered rping on this hellsite!!! my middle school bestie introduced me to tumblr for sure but how i ever discovered rp will probably forever be a mystery to me, but i think i've been here since i 2011? do not remember if rping on omegle (PLEASE who let me be unsupervised on the computer!!!!) came before or after, but once i was here i started with glee rp (cannot interfere, it's a canon event) and somehow crawled my way to today and into my home amongst simple town rps asdfghgfghj.

best experience: this last year or so has probably given me the biggest giggles that i can remember ever having!!! i had the fortune of meeting some really great writers to brave this madness together and just getting to laugh and bounce ideas and plots off of them and also to have a front row seat to their work outside of what we've come up with has just been so cool and inspiring? like the fact that this is done as a silly little hobby but i genuinely am constantly left just in awe of their talent is just so beyond me!

rp pet peeves: lazy plotters or people who so clearly don't read your intro before just throwing connects out there (usually in order to face chase and it's like babe, if you read my intro i wouldn't have to tell you why x, y, and z does not fit for this muse like?)! i don't mind shipping certain faces together but wanting a ship solely for the faces and not caring about the muse themself is usually so blatant and obnoxious.

fluff, angst, or smut: big fan of both fluff and angst! i generally like more plot driven threads, which i feel usually lends itself to angst, but love balancing out the heavy stuff with something light and fun when it calls for it and def think those can help move a plot along as well! think it's kinda funny that before i was allowed to write smut, i wanted to do so more than i do now that i actually can? it's not that i won't, but it'd probably have to be a ship i really cared about and thought it'd add something to see what that connection is like when they're intimate?

plots or memes: i am the worstttttt when it comes to memes! i start off with such good intentions but usually they just build up in my inbox and i tell myself i should answer them...and then let them sit in my inbox for longer until it's really been too long since i should've answered them and tell myself i'll be better next time. but plots, i live for that shit! don't even need big elaborate ones, like one of my longest rp besties and i usually just send each other little blurbs of an idea and literally could spend forever going back and forth with musings and headcanons for it. 

long or short replies: i look back on like my 2016 rp days and literally do not know how i went from little one line responses to writing novels. like the #pls don't feel like you have to match length tag is v me coded bc i absolutely am not getting out of a response without at least a paragraph. love love love exploring my muses thought processes and reasonings and their inner monologue, which can lead to some pretty lengthy responses, depending on the thread!

time to write: tell myself all day at work that when i get home, it's time to write...and then i get home and i tell myself that it's time to nap instead! i have the most time to write in the evening/night time or during the weekends, and that's when i can get random little bursts of motivation to not wait until the suns gone down to start writing.

are you like your muses: i do like to give my muses tiny little parts of myself, like if they reference a tiktok that's ended up on my fyp, or some weird quirks or opinions, but as a whole, i don't think i'd consider myself too similar to any of them!

tagged by: @waveofstars thank you bb!

tagging: @sinsoakedsaints, @tinytriceratop, @kiplingwriter, + anyone who wants to!

#ooc #ask memes

[e-lisard]

Tree of Knowledge

Characters: Paimon, Shimura Kyomi, Scaramouche, some Nahida

Warnings: spoilers for Sumeru Archon Quests, for the very start, and for the quest Inversion of Genesis. So if you haven't reached that yet, and don't want spoilers, I suggest you don't read.

Story: Kyomi in Genshin AU

WC: 922

"Oh? Mmm! What a lovely smell!" Kyomi raises an eyebrow at Paimon, not smelling anything. "It's coming from that censer over there. This is definitely not your typical place to call home, but at least it smells nice! Hmm, maybe living here wouldn't be too bad after all..."

Then, all at once, the smell hits Kyomi, her vision fizzling out as her head starts pounding.

"Huh, what's the matter? You don't look too good." Paimon's voice just makes the ache worse as Kyomi stumbles a few steps back.

"Something... Isn't... Right..." she manages to get out through everything.

"What? Is the smell making you feel sick? Strange, Paimon doesn't feel anything..."

Kyomi turns, trying to get out and get away, but before she can, everything goes black, Paimon's panicked voice fading away.

Suddenly everything comes back into focus again, and Kyomi is left staring at a gigantic tree. It's almost iridescent, the red sky behind it only adding to the effect, and she can't help but whistle, starting to walk onto one of the roots.

When she gets to the highest point of the root however, the world starts shaking, rocks falling down.

One of the rocks hits the root right in front of her, breaking it in two. She starts to glide down her half, pushing herself off to land on another root a bit beneath her.

That can't be good.

Kyomi can hear a voice in front of her, now, not yet clear enough to be understood, but definitely there. So, she does what she does best. She gets curious and starts to follow.

The closer she gets to the tree, the harder the wind seems to blow. When she thinks she can't get much further, the voice is suddenly clear.

"World... Forget me..."

Something starts shining brightly, and then everything is black again, Paimon's voice the first sign that Kyomi's back where she's supposed to be.

"Prepare yourselves. I'm going to transport you into Irminsul." Nahida gives them a nod, and Kyomi nods back. This should go better than the first time, at least.

His vision fades, and then he's staring at Irminsul again, this time healthy. "Wow... It looks pretty different here compared to last time. The colors are gentler... Guess that must be because Sumeru's at peace now." Paimon comments, and Kyomi smiles. It's good.

He starts walking, seeing Scaramouche stick out like a sore thumb. "Look at that, hot on my heels. You know, you didn't have to cut your catch-up short just to keep me company. Oh, but I guess you panicked when you realized that I might enter Irminsul ahead of you." Scaramouche only turns his head a little, not even looking at them.

"Oh, I don't care if you do, Nahida just sent me to babysit you." Kyomi jogs the last few steps so he's standing next to Scaramouche.

"Shut your beak, jailbird! No way a prisoner gets to be so smug!" Paimon crosses her arms, seeming hesitant to get closer to Scaramouche.

"I understand that prisoners have to put up with harassment from the guards, but right now, I'm on temporary release, so maybe you should think about backing off a little."

Ah, Kyomi can tell what this is going to be like.

"Sounds like a successful rendezvous," Nahida comments from wherever, and Kyomi snorts. That's one way to look at it. "I need to be quite clear about something. In a few moments, you'll be entering into the innermost region of Irminsul. It is an environment like no other, and the most important place in all of Sumeru.

"Unlike anywhere else, Irminsul's inner region consists exclusively of torrents of information. You must out aside your differences and be extremely careful as you navigate your way through. I know there are many grievances between you on both sides, but it is essential that you calm after entry. This is as much for your own safety as anything else."

"... Fine, let's call a truce, but only until this mission's over..." Paimon reluctantly agrees with Nahida.

"Let's cut each other a little slack, shall we? We are gonna be traveling together, after all."

"I'm looking forward to it!" Kyomi grins at the annoyed look Scaramouche shoots him for interrupting.

"Per my agreement with Lesser Lord Kusanali, I'll be at the front. It's my job to lead the way and get rid of any obstacles in our path. All you have to do is keep your pretty eyes open and try not to fall behind."

"Aww, you think my eyes are pretty?" Kyomi flutters his lashes at Scaramouche, easily taking the light shove he gets as reward. Yeah that's deserved. Luckily Paimon doesn't notice.

"You sure are confident, Paimon'll give you that. You make it sound like you're even more experienced at adventuring than us!"

"If there are no further objections, I suggest we get going. Or did you need some time to mentally prepare yourselves?" Although he says it with his usual snark, Kyomi can sense that he's genuine here. "You...!" Paimon starts working herself up, and Kyomi tugs on her cape to distract her.

"No, we're fine. Thank you for the consideration."

"... Hmph." He glances at Kyomi before looking up at the sky. "We can start now."

"Irminsul access granted. Initiating connection procedure..." Nahida's voice echoes through the space, and they enter Irminsul through the small red sapling before them.

Kyomi can't shake the feeling as they enter that something bad is going to happen, but he'll see where this goes.

-----

Flash Fiction Friday taglist: @flashfictionfridayofficial

Kyomi in Genshin AU taglist: @cr34tur33 @thatoneyanfeifan

General taglist: @simkarta333 @asher-orion-writes

If you want to be added to one of my taglists, you can comment, send me a DM/ask, or you can add yourself through this link.

#my writing #Shimura Kyomi #Paimon #Scaramouche #Wanderer #Genshin AU #flash fiction friday #flashfictionfriday #isaiah posts

[virgosthoughts]

Barbie: Princess Charm School Review 👑🧚‍♀️✨

I'll start with the things I liked about this movie.

My favorite thing was definitely Delancey's character development. She went from a spoiled future princess to a humble and kind young woman. We're introduced to her character pretty early on, during the lottery in which Blair (Barbie) is chosen as the one commoner who will attend Princess Charm School. At first, Delancey has a permanent snarky expression, and clearly says to Blair that the lottery is a joke and she has no place among royalty. However, about halfway through the movie she begins to realize there are others who are less fortunate than her, and begins to care for them. She starts to defy her mother and helps Blair and her friends get access to the magical crown, knowing that would put her own future at risk. In short, we stan Delancey!!

My second favorite part of this movie was the soundtrack. On Top of the World is a banger. I love the motivational message as well as the growth Blair goes through during that montage. The Headmistress is an icon for believing in Blair and tutoring her so she can reach her "princess potential". She could've easily been a secondary villain and made it more difficult for Blair to attend classes. So I liked the decision to make her a positive role model and mentor for Blair.

On to the things I didn't like so much.

The opening song, You Can Tell She's a Princess, establishes that you don't need a crown to be a princess, and that it's something that shines from inside, and shows from your actions and character. Blair is shown working in a coffee shop, and soon after we are introduced to her family, which lives in a run-down, poorer part of town. She is kind, caring, gentle, patient and everything a real princess should be. As her younger sister said, "every girl is a princess, some of them just have fancier crowns".

Yet as the movie reaches its climax, it is revealed that Blair was the lost princess all along. This completely opposes the message of the entire movie and all of Blair's hard work. I know it would be scandalous to have Blair/Barbie be a lady royal instead of a princess, and essentially be "less than" Delancey, a supporting character, but the decision to reveal she had royal blood all along undermines the message that any girl can be a princess, as long as they work hard and stay true to themselves (and are lucky enough to win the lottery).

On a lighter note, I enjoyed the ridiculousness of Barbie magic turning the pink and blue school uniforms into sparkly, turquoise, purple and gold DIY outfits. Another goof is the age of the royal family's golden retriever, who is probably pushing 16 or 17 during the events of the movie.

There's also Dame Devin, who is one of the few Barbie villains to have a confirmed kill count. She (kinda) confesses this at the end of the movie, where she says she had the King and Queen "eliminated" so her daughter could ascend to the throne. Big Yikes. The confession is caught on camera and she is immediately arrested.

All in all, I always enjoyed this movie. I don't consider it part of the classic Barbie lineup, as it was released pretty late (2011), but it's a great bridge from the older classics that were exclusively set in other centuries and the newer movies that are set in the present day.

#barbie #old barbie movies #barbie princess charm school

[angel-is-not-creative]

A Place Further than the Universe (ep 1,2,3,4)

SUB/DUB

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wow, I was not expecting to love this anime as much as I did.

First of all, I'm adding Kimari to my kin list because she is me in every way. It was actually scary having my thoughts thrown back at me through her (I too, would go to Antarctica if a pretty girl asked).

The thing I love most is that each of the girls represents a different challenge of growing up, and different viewpoints on life.

Kimari is yearning for new experiences because she feels she is wasting her life away but is too scared of what may happen to her in the process. When you're 16 it feels like you only have a few more years to accomplish anything before your life becomes worthless (which is exactly what she feels in episode one). She once says that she would rather regret not doing something than regret doing something. Yet, this changes in episode two when she gets to run away with Hinata and Shirase, finally feeling like she's done something dangerous, she has done something without chickening out or second-guessing herself.

Hinata to me represented finding meaning for life beyond academics and work, while those things are important to her, she still wants to push that aside and experience the world before her life becomes solely dedicated to school. She knows that her time to experience life without work is short and that she has to enjoy it while she can.

Shirase has a dream that she is dedicated to accomplishing, she shows that no matter what other people may believe, if you push yourself hard enough and continue to work for what you want, you can accomplish your goals no matter how outlandish they may seem. She is also living without her mother, grieving at a young age and a little lost in the world, but the other girls are helping guide her path as she starts her venture to Antarctica.

Yuzuki just wants to make genuine connections with people. She has a life of lavishness with fame and money, but none of that actually satisfies her (which links back to how consumerism does not satisfy a person). What she really wants is friends, people that see her as more than just a celebrity, someone that sees her as a human. She is willing to go through a difficult trip to the Arctic just because it would give her the chance to make friends.

I think this shows that people (especially teenagers) are willing to do seemingly crazy things in order to fit in or to feel like they have experienced enough things in life. As well as really emphasizing the pressures on teenagers to have everything figured out, be perfectly behaved, and focus exclusively on school/jobs.

Also if you didn't watch episode 5 I recommend watching the last few minutes, because Megumi's speech made me cry.

I got a little carried away there but I love female friendship shows and I really connected to all of these characters, I'm very excited to watch the next few episodes!

#A Place Futher than the Universe #jpt1311

[fayesdiary]

30, 39, and 40 for the Fates ask!

Sure thing!

30) Two characters that should have had a support together?

Charlotte and Sakura, hands down.

Besides the VA jokes of them being voiced by the same person, I think their dynamic would be pretty sweet!

Charlotte initially trying to gain favors with Sakura but eventually going "oh my gods she's so precious if anyone hurts her I'm gonna kill them" since she's pretty much her maidensona but genuine, and Sakura looking up to Charlotte because she's so strong and confident and doesn't care what others say about her (nevermind that she does)

And the two become fast friends but are at the same time baffled that the other would want to be anything like them.

39) Do you have any headcanons about Fates?

I have a few concerning Valla, since I'm a member of the world's most exclusive club of Valla Enjoyers™.

First one is that Faceless are actually Vallite civilians turned into monsters, much like what happened to Anthony. Helps explain why there are Vallite Faceless to begin with, and gives Faceless a bit more reason to be there.

Second is that Valla was founded by Nohrian and Hoshidan refugees from the first war those two kingdoms had with each other, and I really like it because it showed that the two cultures can coexist, and the bitter irony that by the time of Fates it became the reason the two kingdoms are at each other's throats again.

Also, it would make sense given how Arete and Mikoto are sisters but the former is clearly Nohrian-inspired but the other is closer to Hoshido. Sure, you can just attribute it to where they'd eventually go to live, but I like this explanation better.

Anything to give Valla more presence really, I like the idea but for a place you spend half of a route in and is responsible for most of the plot, there's almost nothing to say about it. Place feels less like a ruined forgotten kingdom and more like a wasteland.

40) Freebie! Talk about anything Fates-related that’s on your mind🌊

I mentioned I'm in the middle of a Rev Ironman, and while I had to suffer plenty of losses (Sakura😭😭) I'm having a good time!

And you know, I'm gonna say it. Revelation's map design is actually fine.

None of the maps really frustrated me besides the one with the frozen sea in the first chapters, and that's because it forces you to wait for several turns until a Dragon Vein spawns if you're short on fliers like I was.

But the others are okay, really. Not the best, not the worst. If there is a Fates map that infuriated me, that's BR Ch21.

I just wished they gave you more deployment slots. They give you so many characters but just let you use around eight of them for every map :/

#fire emblem #fire emblem fates #fe14 #ask replies #loregoddess #charlotte #sakura #my rambles #hot take but rev good

[watsonmelon]

OOF. I read Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance. I had read that there were hints of Melville in one of the characters. ........... this entire book... need to infodump.

It is not, I apprehend, a healthy kind of mental occupation to devote ourselves too exclusively to the study of individual men and women. If the person under examination be one's self, the result is pretty certain to be diseased action of the heart, almost before we can snatch a second glance. Or if we take the freedom to put a friend under our microscope, we thereby insulate him from many of his true relations, magnify his peculiarities, inevitably tear him into parts, and of course patch him very clumsily together again. What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his deformity in the real personage,—may be said to have been created mainly by ourselves.

forgive me...

For what it's worth, the book is of course a work of fiction, and I am not drawing any conclusions about real life events. But the ideas considered......

Interesting things to know

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) and Herman Melville (1819-1891) met August 5, 1850 and initially liked one another very much and became good friends. They lived near one another for a time. (blithedale romance written after hawthorne left in 1851? left perhaps abruptly?)

In 1846, Hawthorne had reviewed Melville's Typee (the full review is reprinted in Melville, the Critical Heritage, edited by Watson G. Branch):

This book is lightly but vigorously written; and we are acquainted with no work that gives a freer and more effective picture of barbarian life, in that unadulterated state of which there are now so few specimens remaining. The gentleness of disposition that seems akin to the delicious climate, is shown in contrast with the traits of savage fierceness...He has that freedom of view—it would be too harsh to call it laxity of principle—which renders him tolerant of codes of morals that may be little in accordance with our own, a spirit proper enough to a young and adventurous sailor, and which makes his book the more wholesome to our staid landsmen.

Melville wrote very passionately to and about Hawthorne. The following paragraph is from "Hawthorne and His Mosses," a review which Melville wrote for The Literary World of Hawthorne's short story collection Mosses from an Old Manse. The article was published in two parts August 17th and 24th, 1850, written from the point of view of a "Virginian spending July in Vermont" who had never met Hawthorne and was unlikely to do so. In fact, Hawthorne and Melville had met the month of the publication of the article ("Several Days in Berkshire, Part II, The Mountain Festival" in The Literary World, August 31st, gives an account of the party), and it seems that the editor, Evert Augustus Duyckinck, who had also been part of that gathering, had urged Melville to publish a review. It is unknown whether Melville started writing it before or after the meeting. (See also Hawthorne's letter to Duyckinck regarding the review.)

Twenty-four hours have elapsed since writing the foregoing. I have just returned from the hay mow, charged more and more with love and admiration of Hawthorne. For I have just been gleaning through the "Mosses," picking up many things here and there that had previously escaped me. And I found that but to glean after this man, is better than to be in at the harvest of others. To be frank (though, perhaps, rather foolish), notwithstanding what I wrote yesterday of these Mosses, I had not then culled them all; but had, nevertheless, been sufficiently sensible of the subtle essence, in them, as to write as I did. to what infinite height of loving wonder and admiration I may yet be borne, when by repeatedly banquetting on these Mosses, I shall have thoroughly incorporated their whole stuff into my being,—that, I can not tell. But already I feel that this Hawthorne has dropped germinous seeds into my soul. He expands and deepens down, the more I contemplate him; and further, and further, shoots his strong New-England roots into the hot soil of my Southern soul.

There is this letter from Melville to Hawthorne dated July 17, thought to be from 1852. Hawthorne's book that was just published, within the previous week or so, based on advertisements in The Literary World, was this one, The Blithedale Romance.

My Dear Hawthorne: — This name of "Hawthorne" seems to be ubiquitous. I have been on something of a tour lately, and it has saluted me vocally & typographically in all sorts of places & in all sorts of ways. — I was at the solitary Crusoeish island of Naushon (one of the Elisabeth group) and there, on a stately piazza, I saw it gilded on the back of a very new book, and in the hands of a clergyman. — I went to visit a gentleman in Brooklyne, and as we were sitting at our wine, in came the lady of the house, holding a beaming volume in her hand, from the city — "My Dear," to her husband, "I have brought you Hawthorne's new book." I entered the cars at Boston for this place. In came a lively boy "Hawthorne's new book!" — In good time I arrived home. Said my lady-wife "there is Mr Hawthorne's new book, come by mail" And this morning, lo! on my table a little note, subscribed Hawthorne again. — Well, the Hawthorne is a sweet flower; may it flourish in every hedge.

I am sorry, but I can not at present come to see you at Concord as you propose. — I am but just returned from a two weeks' absence; and for the last three months & more I have been an utter idler and a savage — out of doors all the time. So, the hour has come for me to sit down again. Do send me a specimen of your sand-hill, and a sunbeam from the countenance of Mrs: Hawthorne, and a vine from the curly arbor of Master Julian.

As I am only just home, I have not yet got far into the book but enough to see that you have most admirably employed materials which are richer than I had fancied them. Especially at this day, the volume is welcome, as an antidote to the mooniness of some dreamers — who are merely dreamers — Yet who the devel aint a dreamer?

H Melville

My rememberances to Miss Una & Master Julian — & the "compliments" & perfumes of the season to the "Rose-bud."

And I am once again bringing up Melville's poem "Vine and Clarel" (1876)............ Vine who is considered to have been based on Hawthorne.......

Nobody knows exactly why they grew apart. Hawthorne's family apparently always thought very highly of Melville, even after their friendship ended (source: Hawthorne, A Life by Brenda Wineapple).

I will shut up about Melville now, and if you'd like, you might check out my post about "Bartleby the Scrivener."

The Blithedale Romance

I shall be kind of vague so as not to give away too much of the story. I thought the book was very good, and every chapter was full of suggestion and pain. Even though I had guessed many of the plot points, the way it was written blew me away. Every time I thought, "Surely you can't have more to discuss," there was indeed more, to the very end!

I think maybe this is a poor excuse for a summary or analysis, but here it is anyway. Let's begin.

The community aims to build a new system for society, and their system seems very liberal in regard to gender roles. On arriving, the question is asked, "Have we our various parts assigned?" and the answer is that, at the start, women will do the work that traditionally falls to women, and men will do the work that traditionally falls to men, but they may eventually swap according to their individual strengths.

One girl seems to idolize another woman, apparently because of the woman's writing. The narrator says that there is nothing so beautiful in a masculine nature. okay.

The narrator's male friend is a philanthropist, and the cause to which he is dedicated is the reformation of criminals (!!), and the world looks down on his cause, but later he is sometimes defended by other characters. He is popular with the women (and the narrator understands: "If she thought him beautiful, it was no wonder. I often thought him so, with the expression of tender human care and gentlest sympathy which she alone seemed to have power to call out upon his features."), but the friend is devoted to his cause.

The narrator speculates about the sexual past of another friend (a woman), and becomes uncomfortable, but he criticizes himself for speculating, more than he criticizes her (only in his own mind), because he says he had no right or reason to be thinking of her in that way.

The narrator reproaches himself for prying into the secrets of his friends, because he has become suspicious of the male friend, and has come to wonder if the friend had an ulterior motive of getting him to join his cause in caring for him (ow and how passionate and bittersweet was that scene describing his care). He feels guilty for suspecting, and yet he keeps considering... this friend whom he repeatedly says he loves, whom he describes as having something feminine in his nature which gives him his tenderness, and whose tenderness he has said "few men could resist and no woman"...

While inclining us to the soft affections of the golden age, it seemed to authorize any individual, of either sex, to fall in love with any other, regardless of what would ​elsewhere be judged suitable and prudent.

The narrator has a secret hideaway which he considers a fitting place to bring a bride for a honeymoon, and then the person he names as a potential guest, the person with whom he "could think of sharing all," is the male friend.

Unrequited love is a recurring theme. The coldness of the loved one toward the one who loves, and how tragic and cruel it is that someone should love, or need something from, someone who cannot reciprocate... Every major character is in at LEAST one such relationship, but the narrator is never shown to be acting in the position of the lover.

The narrator learns of a woman's apparent tragic love for an abhorrent man—a man whom the narrator has just likened himself to and said he detests for bringing out his own cruelty—and resolves "that to no mortal would I disclose what I had heard. And, though there might be room for casuistry, such, I conceive, is the most equitable rule in all similar conjunctures."

The legend... once again: curious, insincere man, you may find out, but once you know, you are doomed to be unhappy.

The narrator is cruel at times, and even sometimes shows that attitude of "why do girls go for guys who don't respect them, why don't they like nice guys like me," but I don't hate him for it. He is flawed, he knows he is flawed, and he is meant to be flawed. I KNOW I'm projecting now, but the narrator has this self-deprecating mindset, and his judgment of himself seems almost even more harsh than his judgment of others. He puts himself down, and yet he can't bear to be insulted. He seems to want to be good, and yet he says unkind things. He seems to think himself unlikable, and maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. He feels like an outsider. He needs to escape from people. Well. I feel like I understand, or like he understands. It hurts, and I'm trying, too.

THE "CRISIS." THE AFTERMATH. I CANNOT SUMMARIZE OR SELECT A QUOTE FOR THIS ONE. YOU WOULD HAVE TO READ IT. FUCKING HELL. I knew it would happen, and still. These chapters are so dense with the struggle, when the whole book is already dense with the struggle...

GOD. i really can't get started on it or else i won't stop. ALL of it. a summer that can never repeat!! no, i must stop!!

anyway.

Reality and true character are kept hidden away behind the show put on for the world (and after the external coldness and the internal struggle).

The narrator appreciates the sight of a conventional family, after he has just remarked that it hardly seemed worthwhile for them all to exist when they are all so alike. And then he notices this bird all alone in the cold and rain, and wonders why she doesn't go to be warm at home with her family. How like him she seems, then and even now, for our narrator told us at the start that at the time of his writing he is an old bachelor.

And then the narrator dreams of the male friend and the woman friend passionately kissing one another over his bed, and the girl friend sadly watching. He feels the ache of what he misses, and, looking back later, thinks that if he erred in regard to his friends, "it was through too much sympathy, rather than too little."

The narrator talks about how he thought himself a fitting witness for his friends (one loves the other despite the impropriety! despite that one—or in a way, each of them—is perhaps already pledged to someone else!), and if he were their judge, he might have condemned them, and he might have had them punished, and yet it would have been "mournfully, and with undiminished love," and "after all was finished, I would come as if to gather up the white ashes of those who had perished at the stake, and to tell the world—the wrong being now atoned for—how much had perished there which it had never yet known how to praise."

I happen to be reading the Penguin Classics edition, which adds back in a few things deleted from the original manuscript thought to have been removed due to Hawthorne's wife's disapproval of alcohol. The narrator's musing on temperance, omitted in the regular edition... "Human nature, in my opinion, has a naughty instinct that approves of wine, at least, if not of stronger liquor." "The reformers must make their efforts positive, instead of negative; they must do away with evil by substituting good." AGHHHH. The rest of the scene seems to be the same in both editions. The narrator then describes the paintings in the saloon. When I read it, I thought one could describe Moby-Dick in a similar way. and then. well. Homoerotic descriptions of what goes on at a saloon. A suggestive conversation. Whatever that fish thing was.

OOF. THE PAIN OF LETTING GO, THE HOLDS PEOPLE HAVE ON US.

Pessimism and warnings against evil... oof it is suggestive and dark... There is a "Satanic" dance scene, described in an unmistakably sexual way, and the participants beckon him...

The trial... the rejection and accusation... "God be judge between us," the one who judges and the characteristics of that person... the one who is deemed innocent (the one who tempts?)... there is the commentary that woman is more harshly judged than man, but also:

It suits me not to explain what was the analogy that I saw or imagined between [her] situation and mine; nor, I believe, will the reader detect this one secret, hidden beneath many a revelation which perhaps concerned me less. In simple truth, however, as [she] leaned her forehead against the rock, shaken with that tearless agony, it seemed to me that the self-same pang, with hardly mitigated torment, leaped thrilling from her heartstrings to my own.

..............

The ugly spectacle of a heartbreak............ what is all of this if not an ugly spectacle of a heartbreak....

God's forgiveness...

that moral...

that confession. HEAD FULL MANY THOUGHTS.

From the introduction by Annette Kolodny:

By the time he had finished his writing, however, Hawthorne seemed no longer certain that "the Community," by itself, constituted the central interest of his story. The manuscript that he sent on May 2, 1852, to his friend, the literary critic Edwin Percy Whipple, had "Hollingsworth: a Romance" on the title page. In the covering letter to Whipple, Hawthorne suggested other titles, none of which pleased him, and he hoped that "just the thing" would "pop into [Whipple's] mind." Whipple's reply no longer exists, so we cannot know whether his remarks influenced the choice of title. And we cannot know whether Whipple's response to the manuscript prompted Hawthorne's subsequent decision, as he put it in his notebook, to "modif[y] the conclusion," thereby lengthening the text by two handwritten pages. (The modification was probably the addition of the final chapter, "Miles Coverdale's Confession.")

well. much to think about. Melville's Pierre is on my to-read list.

#the blithedale romance #nathaniel hawthorne #herman melville