#there were actually a couple different versions of this game with different questions between all the posts I was tagged in

[lizardlicks]

Nine People You'd Like To Get To Know Better

I was tagged by @blu3berrydraws, @erisenyo, and @paramouradrift lol thanks guys!

Relation Status: Married to my best friend and high school sweetheart

Favorite Color: green. any green. give me a green I will show you how beautiful it is

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Sweet tooth is currently satisfied. Spicy is just kind of a bonus. I think savory is looking good rn.

Three ships: Zukka is the obvious current answer, but I am a habitual multishipper by nature, so here are three ships that I very much enjoy which might not be on your radars!

First is @ablueeyedarcher's fault: How/Piandao. The SS CapyPanda. Are they minor characters who only show up for two or three episodes a piece? Yes. Do I care? No. Let them smooch.

Number two is Jee/Bato. Look. Jee is a tired gay man, He has served his time. Let him get out there and get the good dick. He's not a home wrecker though, he's not gonna get between whatever Bato has going on with Hakoda... unless maybe they invited him to get between them more literally.

Third is Zuko/Kuei. I know the the post canon comics pitted these two sad bitches against each other but listen, here me out. They're both young, inexperienced leaders dropped head first into navigating attempting to deescalate their countries post a century of hostilities with minimal helpful guidance, and they were also both used and betrayed by the father figures they we supposed to trust and rely on. What if when left alone, face to face, they bonded over venting their similar frustrations? What if that bonding turned into an unlikely friendship? What if that friendship tripped and rolled down a rocky hill of something more and they ended up in a secret affair between the heads of two of the world's most powerful states? What if it all came crashing in on them, but they couldn't untangle their very real feelings from their duty as leaders? What then?

First ever ship: Oh snap this is reaching back into Ye Old memory banks here. If I'm being totally honest I think it was the pink and green (later white, much later all the rest of the damn colors) rangers from the original run of the American version of Power Rangers. The internet didn't exist as we know it today so it was just a group of a half-dozen 7-9 year olds G O S S I P I N G on the playground between rounds of pretending to be actual velociraptors.

Last Song:

(Two Steps From Hell is my go-to writing times tune everything out music)

Last Film: Technically it was me and the rest of the adults post Thanksgiving diner keeping a running background commentary going on the worldbuilding choices in the Paw Patrol Movie that the little kids insisted on watching. Real answer, the last movie I sat down to watch with intention was Across the Spiderverse.

Last thing I Googled: solar chistmas lights. My coworker was complaining that her only outdoor outlet shares a load with an indoor one (which?? rude!) and her partner wouldn't let her put up more Christmas lights. I had to show her. The way her face lit up as she IMMEDIATELY zoomed to Amazon and started filling her cart. Apologies to her poor family and neighbors, but I definitely made her week and possibly her entire New Year.

Currently Reading: Hey did you know that @erisenyo is already releasing stuff for zukki week because she is. you should definitely go read that.

Currently Watching: Rewatching Blue Eye Samurai while spouse watches it for the first time. He's been big into old samurai and wuxia films since I can remember so I'm just sitting here anticipating his reactions to every easter egg and trope call back they've stuffed into this show and also spotting things I missed on the first round.

Currently Consuming: Peppermint mocha and a cheese, egg and sausage tornado. Don't question me.

Currently Craving: My cozy bed. Also a nice big bowl of curry.

Currently Working On: The next chapter of Learn to Carry Love. I'm so so so close to the finish aaargh!

Current Obsession(s): *Gestures at my blog*

And with that I'm gonna taaaaaaag @ablueeyedarcher @rainbowbarnacle @paintsplattere @allgremlinart @saccharineomens @thepioden @siggymcpissyface @curlicuecal and @yandereleorio! No obligation of course, just for a fun time if you wanna :D

#tag game #there were actually a couple different versions of this game with different questions between all the posts I was tagged in #so I combined them #anyway I have so many more odd ball ships where those came from you should ask me about them #gonna file this under #lizard is starting to ramble #Youtube

[neowinestainedress]

between us — jn.s (preview n visuals)

pairing: husband!johnny suh x wife!oc x fem!reader | professor!johnny x lawyer!oc summary: you find yourself tangled in the life of the Suhs after Mr. Suh starts working as an English professor at your father’s university. You don’t understand why they float around you so much, but soon enough, you can’t get enough of that secret, dirty game anymore. genre: smut, fluff, plot, mxfxf, married couple, established relationship, age gap, bisexual characters, aged up johnny (to his early 30) warnings: in the full fic | READ HERE

THE CHARACTERS

the suhs

the reader

PREVIEW

“He was in the swimming team in high school,” Aaliyah explains, covering her eyes from the sun with a hand and squeezing them so she can watch Johnny. You mimic her, humming at her words. “He was so good, I think I fell in love on the bleachers watching him swim.”

You chuckle tenderly and try to imagine a younger version of them, and you can almost see them. You wonder if their personalities were the same more than ten years ago, you wonder how they looked, you wonder if they would’ve ever imagined to still be here after so many years. But in any version you come up with, you still don’t fit. Actually, it makes you look like a stain even more.

“Your love is… strong,” you whisper when Johnny finally dives in and she cheers before bringing her attention to you.

“It is,” she agrees, a sweet smile showing her straight, white teeth, “even though weird things happen sometimes.”

You giggle, frowning. “Weird things?” Your voice is shaking, and you don’t want to connect the two dots that are so vivid in your head.

“What are you talking about? Praising me?” Mr. Suh asks, grinning while running a hand in his wet hair before hugging his wife from the back and kissing her cheek.

“Not about you, nothing impressive about that jump,” she jokes. “About us.”

“Us?”

She hums. “I was telling her how I fell in love with you, and she said our love is strong.”

You want to ask about the weird things, you want to ask so much more, but you don’t. And you simply stand there, watching Mr. Suh’s hands wrap around her body, feeling jealousy in the pit of your stomach.

And that’s the first time you cry at night about it. You don’t want to listen to him, but you can’t help but question why they would choose you. Even if it’s just a game, even if it means nothing, you can’t find a reason why. You don’t know who started this first, but it’s not like it would be any different, they’re both hot, smart, talented and successful, and your father is right, you’re not half of her, or his, worth.

Yet, you can’t let it go.

if you want to be added to the taglist comment under this post! general taglist: @froggyforyoongi ; @wingsss45 ; @tddyhyck ; @technologyculturedneo

© neowinestaindress; all rights reserved. do NOT repost, modify, or translate any work from this blog on any other platform and claim it as yours. you can find my works on ao3 (neowinestaindress) and wattpad (winestaintedress_; currently inactive).

#nct fanfiction #johnny smut #johnny suh smut #johnny hard hours #johnny hard thoughts #mxfxf #bisexual reader #black reader #bi reader #nct 127 smut #nct smut #johnny scenarios #nct x black!reader #nct x black reader #fic: between us #between us visuals

[kayzee4real]

Gender-Neutral Reader x Bottom Dan Heng

Helloooo welcome welcome to my second-ever fanfic. Here I have some stoic Dan Heng that becomes a completely different vulnerable version of himself in bed. Honestly, I’m still learning about his personality since so far in the game they don’t really show his true colors yet, but I tried my best to make it as close to the real Dan Heng as possible. Also trying a new dialogue style since I hate typing the blah said blah responded stuff. If you liked this fanfic and also play genshin impact plzzz check out my previous fanfic if you haven’t already; Gender-Neutral Reader x Tartaglia. If not that’s also okay *sulk* /j. Anyways that’s all, enjoy the fanfic!

KEYWORDS

Italic = thoughts

d/s = dick or strap

y/n = your name

You are a trailblazer who has traveled with the Astral Express for some time now. One thing you can never get used to on your expeditions, however, is your fellow trailblazer Dan Heng. His charm is unignorable. From his silky black hair to his piercing blue eyes, down to his mysterious personality, everything about him is something you admire.

You two are okay friends, you’ve even tried flirting with him a couple of times, it even got to the point where March tried to be your wing-woman, but he never seemed interested so you just decided to leave him alone and keep your feelings to him bottled up. 

After one expedition, you were able to get your hands on some liquor as a souvenir. While Dan Heng and March were locked away in their rooms, you, Welt, and Himeko drank a few and talked about the expedition. Suddenly, the conversation shifted

Himeko: “Y/n, so what’s the situation between you and Dan Heng?”

You: “Hm? What do you mean?”

Welt: “I was wondering that too, you two always seem so close together. It sometimes seems like you two are in a relationship.”

You: “Haha, I wish. I don’t think he feels the same way back though…”

Himeko: “Actually, I’ve known Dan Heng for a while longer than you have, and from my observations, it looks like he really enjoys your company and likes you but he’s just too shy to show it back.”

You: “I’m not sure…”

Welt: “I agree with Himeko. Dan Heng has a tough exterior for everyone, which is hard to break, but he seems to want to show his soft spot for you. He just probably doesn’t know how to do it.”

By this time you feel yourself getting drunk and don’t know if you can handle such a personal conversation any longer.

You: “Well, thanks for the talk but I’m a little tired now and I think I’m going to bed.”

Both Himeko and Welt wish you goodnight. By now it’s time to mention that you and Dan Heng’s rooms are right next to each other (I don’t care if it’s lore accurate). So as you were walking to your room, you thought to yourself:

Could they be right? Could Dan Heng really like me back? After all this time??? Not possible… it was probably some dumb drunk old people talk trying to boost my self-esteem or something. Who knows… I’ll just go to bed and forget about it.

Except as you turn the door knob, you’re shocked to see that your room looks just like Dan Heng’s room, and Dan Heng is in here too.

Dan Heng: “Umm, you walked into the wrong room. I would tell you to knock next time but seeing as you’re pretty drunk I’ll let it slide as a mistake.”

You: “Ah… my bad.”

How embarrassing. However, this gave you an opportunity to finally ask Dan Heng if he liked you back, to be able to come to the final conclusion. Are you going to do it? Of course you are, because you are big and brave. So you close the door behind you for privacy as Dan Heng looks at you confused.

Dan Heng: “Do you… need something?”

You: “I need you to answer a question for me, please.”

Dan Heng: “Okay, what is it?”

You pause for a moment, hesitant to ask. However, considering there’s no turning back, might as well just go for it.

You: “Do you like me back?... Like romantically?”

It feels like an eternity waiting for his response, you feel your heart racing. Finally, you notice Dan Heng’s expression change from serious to more of a flustered one.

Dan Heng: “...I guess I do.”

You: “Wait really?”

Is this really happening? Or is it a dream? Perhaps a drunk hallucination?

Dan Heng: “Yeah, sorry for not showing it sooner.”

You inch closer to him and can’t help but hug him. He accepts the hug and even returns it. You can tell he is flustered and blushing, but you decide not to say anything. Though, you feel yourself begin to become aroused. Maybe it is the drinks making you hornier? Who knows. What will you do next? Pull away and run away to go take care of it? Or…

You: “Dan Heng… would you maybe… help me?”

Dan Heng: “Hm? With what?”

You only look down at your crotch and he immediately understands. You see his face turn red but didn’t necessarily want to refuse. 

Dan Heng: “Okay… but just this once.”

Without hesitating, you take off your pants revealing your d/s, Dan Heng does the same. As you’re leaning over him at the end of his bed, you ask him if he really wants this and he silently nods. 

You: “Then turn around”

He obediently bends over on the bed, clearly still flustered by what is happening, but he’s not complaining. You line your d/s to him and slowly push in. You want to be patient as it is probably his first time. However, when you reach his prostate, you see him squirm. Then out of nowhere, there’s a cloud, and poof, he turned into his dragon form?! At this point you both pause in utter shock, it seems like neither of you expected this, even though you knew about his form.

You: “Ah… should I continue?”

Only silence can be heard from Dan Heng. You take that as a yes and keep moving your hips. You hear him moaning and whimpering from the pleasure which fuels you to move faster. His arms are weak, about to collapse from the overwhelming pleasure. You grab him by the waist firmly to steady him and that's when he finally collapses. He buries his face into the pillows which muffles his cute noises, so you’re given an idea. You lift your hands off his waist and gently grab onto his horns, then pull his head off the pillow. While one of his hands is squeezing your wrist and the other is gripping the sheets, he is now shamelessly vocalizing his cries and whimpers. You can’t help but smile at how helpless and cute he seems right now.

Dan Heng: “Y/n.. please… ah!~”

You: “Hm? What was that?”

Dan Heng: “I’m.. gonna come…”

He says through gasps. This makes you grin even more. The room is filled with lust, his tail is twitching and swishing, and everything feels perfect. You let go one of his horns and grab his long tail that has been moving back and forth uncontrollably. Pulling it, you thrust into Dan Heng deep and fast and watch him shiver while he climaxes and yells your name. You pull out and watch his body go limp as he tries to catch his breath, and returns to his normal form. 

You: “Dan Heng…”

Dan Heng: “Hm..?”

You: “I love you.”

You curl up next to him, placing his head on your chest. 

Dan Heng: “I love you too, y/n…”

BONUS MARCH POV

What the heck is going on in Dan Heng’s room?! I can’t sleep at all because it’s so loud! What could they possibly be doing? It sounds like… hm… oh. OH…

Thank u so much for readingggg! Also, I was halfway through the fanfic watching a leaked Dan Heng dragon scene and this may not be all that accurate on the transforming part but yk who cares because it’s a good headcanon :( Also, I don’t know if it is noticeable yet, but I am deeply inspired by dilucpegger on ao3 (u should check them out their fanfics are amazing!!!) Anyways hope u enjoyed! I MIGHT be doing a dom female one next so 😏 stay tuned or wtv lollll BYEE!

#dan heng #top reader #sub character #gender neutral reader #honkai dan heng #honkai star rail #nsft concept

[makaias-trashheap]

The Long Haul

(Not sure if this is the best way to start this blog off but I adore this toxic walking red flag and give him love whenever I can. So this is more for my own self indulgence. Of course the art and the character absolutly do not belong to me)

Haizaki glances up from scrolling through his phone when he notices that you’re hovering in the doorway between his bedroom and the bathroom instead of just coming straight back to the bed, “What?”

After another couple seconds you push off the doorframe and come to sit in front of him on the bed, “Something is different here.”

Haizaki looks at you confused and then looks around his room before turning his gaze back to you, “Pretty sure my room has always looked this way.”

You roll your eyes at him, “I didn’t mean with your room dumbass, I meant with us.”

He stares at you for a second before fully putting his phone down. You two had been hooking up for the last six months. There was never anything there, just sex. Well, until recently. You’ve started to develop feelings for the dark haired thug. He was rough, with everyone all the time, and you were no exception. But you did sometimes see a less rough version of him. Never soft, Haizaki was not a soft person. Just not as rough. When he was at home and had his guard down his smiles were more genuine and less sadistic. The two of you could talk for hours on end about nothing while he kept his arm wrapped around you or playing with your hair. And he would almost completely melt under your touch when he let you help take out his braids to wash his hair and let you redo them. You started to notice him acting a little off as well. Over the last few months rather than sending you on your way when he was done with you, he would find ways to keep you there a little longer talking. Sometimes, rarely but sometimes, instead of immediately getting you into bed you two would play a couple rounds of one of his video games or eat something and talk. More recently he started letting you stay the night and sleep with him. He was a horrible bedmate and either rolled on top of you or practically kicked you out of the bed, but it was still nice. When it came to sex now, he was still rough with you but started to focus more on you. Getting off with him was never a problem, but it usually came with a lot of teasing and degradation. The teasing was still there, not nearly as much and he spent more time actually pleasuring you than teasing you. And the degradation started turning into praises. Part of you wondered if it was all in your head and wishful thinking. But a small part of you couldn't help but hope that just maybe you were right, that maybe there was something there.

Haizaki again raised an eyebrow at you, “Wanna clue me in then on what’s different?”

You look at him for a second, “You for starters, us, how we interact. We said no strings attached but things are clearly different. This isn’t just about sex anymore.”

He stares at you for a second, “That so? So what do you think this is then? Last I checked we weren’t dating or anything.”

You look at him for a second before sighing, “Do you like me?”

He’s taken back by the sudden question. Where the fuck was this coming from? He’d been feeling something with you around but he couldn’t figure out what it was. You didn’t annoy the shit out of him or cling to him after you guys would hook up. He let you hang around after once to wait out a storm. You weren’t all over him and just laid either on the couch or in the bed playing on your phone or watching him play a video game. He noticed you watching and offered to let you play a round if you wanted. He watched you play after you took him up on his offer and left once the storm cleared up. You never pushed to try to stay. He started offering to let you hang out more and surprisingly, he didn’t mind having you around. Talking to you came pretty easily after a while, and you’d laugh at his crude attitude rather than just look at him disgusted. Mostly you weren’t scared of him. He’s an aggressive guy and had been aggressive with you however he wanted. You didn’t pull away from him when he grabbed your hair or your throat or pin your arms over your head, just looked up at him with those big innocent eyes and he could see the trust there. Hell you didn’t even flinch when he would grab your jaw with a bit more force then needed when he kissed you or when he’d playfully punch you in the arm for saying something stupid. He started to find himself more comfortable with you staying with him and found it harder to sleep when you’d leave. He didn’t know what to tell you or if he was even ready to admit any of this. Everyone always left. Finally coming out of his thought he scoffs and looks away from you, “I don’t fucking know. Why does it matter, this not enough for you?”

You look at him refusing to make eye contact with you carefully thinking about how you want to answer him, “Honestly…I don’t think so. Because I know I like you.”

He quickly snaps his head back in your direction, so this was it you were going to leave, “Then what the hell do you want.”

You look at him, your resolve clearly there, “I’m not looking for some huge confession or a huge gesture, that wouldn’t be you. But I like you, which means no strings went out the window a while ago and I can’t do this with no feelings involved. I don’t want to walk out so give me a reason to stay. At this point Shou you’re either in for the long haul or you’re out.”

He looks her over silent at first. She said she didn’t want to leave, she’s giving him the chance to keep her, “I’m going to fuck this up, I’m shit at this.”

Snorting you crack a small smile, “Believe me I know, I’m expecting you to fuck up at first. But…as far as I know you’ve pretty much exclusively been sleeping with me. So clearly that shouldn’t be a problem if you can keep that up. I won’t let you walk all over me, you know that. But I believe that mistakes can happen and you can either learn from them or shoot yourself in the foot. So if you fuck up we work on it and see if you sink or swim. I’m willing to put in the work if you are. So what is it? Are you in or out?”

He looks away from you to gather his thoughts, “This is going to probably start out as a shit storm and could end very badly.”

“I know.”

“I’m not easy to deal with and I’m not going to change if you end up deciding you don’t like me.”

“You wouldn’t be you if you did.”

“And you still want to do this?”

“I want to at least try.”

He turns his attention back to you seeing you sitting there calmly, waiting for his answer to make up his mind. After a second he sighs and reaches out grabbing your hand and pulling you into his lap straddling him, your hands instinctively wrapping around his neck as his find your hips. He leans up and kisses you briefly before pressing his forehead to yours, “Then I guess I’m in this for the long haul huh?”

You smile and lean forwards and kiss him again, “For the long haul.”

#kuroko no basket #knb #knb scenarios #knb fluff #haizaki #haizaki shougo #shougo haizaki #haizaki x reader #haizaki scenarios #knb x reader

[darthpastry]

There's no way all the mini games in HW2 take place at the same time, right? By the time the game is played by BonnieBro, it's obviously in-between SB and Ruin, but not all the mini games take place in that same timeframe. Which, I suppose is a bit obvious given the Pizzaplex isn't absolutely destroyed in all of them, but I do want to talk about all the wonky timeline stuff going on. Well, not all. Just a couple mini games, really.

The Foxy ride is an interesting one, might not actually be a ride that ever physically existed. The idea of it is well established, since we know that Cassie knows of it, but I think the one she 'rode' was a VR version. If a version of it did exist, I would wager that it was during Fall Fest, or at the very least originated. It might sound crazy, but here me out.

Fall Fest has been pretty heavily emphasized in both VR games, despite (as far as I know) not mentioned outside of them. This poster in particular is interesting, as Foxy is at the forefront. So, why emphasize Foxy when Foxy isn't even in the Pizzaplex? More importantly, why does Captain Foxy look more like his Fall Fest version than classic version?

The long coat is something seen only in these two versions. Normally he just has the pants. I'm not saying just having the coat is evidence, I'm saying it's strange to have a depiction of Fall Fest with Foxy in the long coat at the forefront whenever you win a mini game.

More importantly, let's talk about Jack-O-Moon.

As someone who doesn't care much for the DCA, this guy is so important to the lore, I promise. One could call it something of a secret boss, bonus boss, really, on the log ride. The areas of the log ride it appears in are vastly different than the rest of the log ride. Even Jack-O-Moons design has more of a Fall vibe. Maybe... a Fall Fest vibe? That also has purple glitches and if done correctly gets you the Foxy plush?

This vital area to getting the better ending of the game hammers home the idea of Fall Fest. Also supports the idea that the DCA has been around for quite a while.

I remember someone posting some close-up pictures of it and it just had a horrible paint job, so this would have to be fairly early on, given how clean and expensive everything is in SB. Heck, even the merchandise they sell is pretty sick when you remember the FazWatch is just a novelty toy. Also, that Mr. Hippo magnet. Which is one of the small details I want to talk about eventually. Yes, they're established to be very cheap, but appearance is important, and they make sure it doesn't look cheap.

Why are these areas hidden, different? Perhaps Glitchtrap made these secret areas to show what the original log ride looked like. What the Fall Fest version looked like.

The other wonky one I wanted to talk about rq is the endo warehouse.

Basic game, right? Memory game. Try not to get killed by endoskeletons. But there's one line that HandUnit says that stuck out to me as odd.

"or TBD Pizzaplex star". What do you mean, "TBD"? It's well established that the stars are Freddy, Chica, Roxy, and Monty. Before Monty was Bonnie. That's that, no questions asked.

The only logical solution was that this recorded (in-universe) before Roxy and Monty. So why no mention of Bonnie? Maybe he was cut out because when he was destroyed but they just never added in Roxy and Monty? It still feels weird. Maybe an accident had always been planned by Glitchtrap, before the Pizzaplex was even built. Which does feel weird, and I will die on the hill that Monty destroyed Bonnie, but there has to be a reason for Bonnie to be excluded.

Still, the fact that only Freddy and Chica were always set in stone as the stars is an interesting little detail to me. If they were too cheap to put in Monty and Roxy, then they would've been too cheap to cut out Bonnie. Foxy is another post of their own.

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #foxy #foxy the pirate #fnaf foxy #captain foxy #endoskeleton #fnaf endo #jack o moon #fnaf glitchtrap #glitchtrap #fnaf pizzaplex #mega pizzaplex #freddy fazbear's mega pizzaplex #glamrock bonnie #moon fnaf #fnaf dca #dca fandom #daycare attendant #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf handunit #fnaf theory #five nights at freddys #theory #speculation #theories #fan theory #help wanted 2 #help wanted spoilers #fnaf vr

[four-loose-screws]

So glad to see you're enjoying engage! I love the game myself! I'm curious to see if there's any differences in Alear's character depending on their gender? Like, in English I get very different vibes from them due to the voice direction of their VAs despite them both having the same exact dialogue (I am biased to male Alear). Their model expressions also read differently, but I was wondering if there was actual text differences in the original script for Alear's different forms.

Fair warning: a basic understanding of Japanese pronouns and speaking styles will help this post make the most sense. But the general point should get across to anyone.

So a bit of context first, for those who may not be familiar with the Japanese text of the FE games since Awakening: For Robin in Awakening and Corrin in Fates, each gender has a couple of different I-pronoun options to choose from, to allow players to further customize their My Unit. Each I-pronoun variation genders Robin and Corrin's speaking style in slightly different ways. It's all very Japanese, so the options couldn't translate over in localization.

There are also conversations that are completely different in subject matter between male and female Robin/Corrin, mostly because romance was being limited to opposite-gender pairs. That's a totally different level, so generally those different conversations were translated over in localization, with the occasional exception - the only example I can immediately think of is Corrin / Rhajat being commonized to the m!Corrin version.

For Byleth, there's not much to say about how they talk. No surprise there as we all know they are mostly mute.

So considering everything I know about Robin and Corrin, I was VERY surprised to learn the answer to anon's question!

There are zero dialogue options to choose from for Alear, and not only that - both m!Alear and f!Alear speak exactly the same. The writers achieved this by choosing the most gender neutral style possible for Alear.

Alear ends all their verbs with desu/masu conjugations. Different sentence endings can have different gendered connotations in Japanese, with desu/masu being essentially the default, and formal option. Japanese people use desu/masu in pretty much all situations when they are not with family and friends. (Though laidback people will speak as little desu/masu as possible. Higher-ups can also be casual with those in a position below them. Etc. etc.)

Alear's I-pronoun is "watashi.' Like with desu/masu, you can consider this I-pronoun to be the "default" in Japanese.

And their you-pronoun for everyone else is 'anata,' again the "default."

This is not to say this is the only way the JP writers could have achieved f!Alear and m!Alear having the exact same dialogue, but it is the most straightforward route. Other pronouns like 'boku,' 'atashi,' 'ore,' etc. would have implied different connotations when one Alear used them over the other. And there are further options, but the deeper you go into the list of JP I-pronouns, the more specific in usage they get - like 'atai' or 'ora' implies characters are "country bumpkins" like Jean, Donnel, or Mozu. (This is because those pronouns are from different regional dialects in Japan.)

Of course, there are not zero differences in the text of m!Alear vs. f!Alear's conversations. But the differences are just limited to he/she, Veyle calling them Big Brother vs. Big Sister, and anything in that vein. That's it.

P.S. - For a fun fact on the voice direction between m!Alear and f!Alear's voices in JP: f!Alear speaks a little bit faster than m!Alear! This video of f!Alear's Ring Supports is 1 h 37 mins long, but this video of m!Alear's Ring Supports is 1 h 40 mins long.

[torra-and-the-toons]

What's your opinion on the flanderization of the Eds during the later seasons? More specifically the school episodes.

I remember being so upset about it as a kid.

Double D and Ed are relatively reserved people with Eddy being pretty much the most extroverted of them. Especially in the start of the show. Ed is that weird kid that makes obscure references to TV shows and movies he's watched, he's so absorbed into science fiction comics and horror flicks he believes it's real. Double D is too weak for the other kid's games and too much of a know-it-all that'd it be a put off to most of the Cul-de-sac kids and Eddy was well.. small and a loud-mouth bossy but, he meant well. They all meant well.

He just wanted to fit in, they all did. (felt deep in my soul)

With Eddy, Ed and Double D had a sense of belonging, they had each-other and that's what mattered to them. They're social outcasts but they are outcasts that weren't alone. Them growing apart with the school episodes just made so hurt especially as I watched the re-runs while in Junior High/Middle School myself.

Am I going too deep into this? Probably. Thoughts?

Ooohhh I love talking about season 5/6!!

Opinions under the cut bc this will probably get long. (You're afraid you went too deep but I've already dug to china, my friend lmao)

My opinion of it used to be the same as you way back in the day. I remember seeing the first new episode and literally turning off the television because I was so irritated. Everything was so different, I could tell the animation was different, they were going to SCHOOL... something I hated thinking about when I was a 14-15 year old teenager myself. I used to watch this show to get away from reality, not relive the experience. I didn't like change as a kid. Change is scary, but I've come to discover as I got older that change is inevitable, and the sooner we embrace it, the happier we'll be.

However, my opinion of the later seasons as an adult has changed drastically.

I actually really love the later seasons now. The characters are so much more expressive and silly. Sure, some of the episodes are a little cringy, but don't we all have memories from our childhood that make us cringe? Looking back at my own childhood, school was just a part of the experience. It sucked in the moment, but I have so many fond memories of my friends and I going through school that I will never get to relive again.

The one thing I've always admired about this cartoon is how much it reminds me of my childhood. And part of the reason I still love it today is because I get to relive the experience of being young through the Eds over and over again. It's not about magic, or spies, or superheroes... it's just three kids being kids. It's so simple, but so powerful.

I'm sorry, but I have to hard disagree with you on them drifting apart in the school seasons though. They're growing up, showing their differences, but what mattered at the end of the day was that they were still friends. I had a couple of friends since the first grade, we all grew into different people, but despite EVERYTHING we are still best friends to this day. That's how I see the Eds. That's how I want the Eds to be if there ever exists a canon version with them as adults. No matter who they've become. No matter where they are. No matter how much time has passed, they'll always be friends.

So, to answer your question: Seasons 5/6 are one of my favorites, actually. They're different for sure, but school is just another part of being a kid. And friendships are definitely tested in school, especially for such different personalities such as Ed, Edd and Eddy. But the bond they share is even stronger at the end of the day. That's how I view it.

Idk, maybe I've spend way too much time reading in between all the lines.

I hope I was able to articulate my thoughts well enough <3 Sorry if it wasn't the answer you were looking for. But thanks for asking!

#Torra answers #ed edd n eddy #season 5/6 discourse #imagination-confusion

[literaticat]

Hi, Jenn! Do ALL books do ARCs/galleys? I mean, are there, somewhere out there, galleys for books by Sarah Dessen or Jodi Picoult or other huge-name authors? Or if there are, do they only go to big reviewers?

OK first, the terminology for newbies who don't know:

ARCS are "advance review copies" -- those are the things that basically look like paperback copies of the book, except they say "NOT FOR SALE" and "NOT FINAL" all over them and have marketing material on the back, etc. These are made from the fully edited and typeset version of the book -- BUT, it's before the proofreading stage, so there may still be mistakes etc. This is why if you are quoting the book in a review or anything like that, you should check it against the final book, because things can change somewhat between ARC and final. ARCS go to reviewers, bigmouths, bookstagrammers, booksellers, librarians, etc, in order to get the word out about the book well before publication.

Galleys are what booksellers and lots of publishing folks call ARCs -- but actually in truth "galleys" are what ARCs *used* to be back in the day. A galley has a plain/placeholder cover, and is much more basic, no design flourishes or anything like that. You couldn't mistake a galley for a paperback of a real book, you know? This link compares the two. So while often book people use these terms interchangeably, they are slightly different, and you're more likely to see ARCs nowadays, if you see physical ARCs at all -- some publishers have moved to a mostly or entirely e-ARC model.

So to answer your question: All books don't get physical ARCs because they are extremely expensive to produce (more expensive than a finished book) and not all publishers even do them anymore -- most books do get at least e-ARCs. But, let's say back in the day when e-ARCs weren't a thing:

Yes, MOST books, even by "big name" authors, got ARCs. There are definitely Sarah Dessen ARCs -- I have read many of them! I'm certain there are Jodi Picoult ARCs. I have ARCs of the first couple Harry Potter books, and I have an ARC of Twilight. I don't think they just went to "big reviewers" -- I think they went as many places as possible because they are an effective marketing tool. Like, I will never forget going to ALA and seeing the absolute MOUNTAIN of Hunger Games ARCs, and being told like "THIS IS THE ONE everyone is dying to read" -- and they were gone, basically, instantaneously. (I got one! I read it in the hotel! It was good!)

That being said: Very very popular and hotly anticipated books/authors may get "numbered ARCs" -- limited edition where the publisher knows where each one was sent, so if a copy ends up on eBay or whatever, they'll know who to blame.

Later books in a series may not have ARCs at all (because the buzz already exists or it doesn't, few people are starting with book 5, you know?)

And, at a certain level of fame / anticipation there are no ARCs -- but that would have to be EXTREMELY high fame/anticipation. (Much higher than any Sarah D or Jodi P book! Sorry, ladies!) -- Again, I'm not talking about "popular", I'm talking about "book is strictly embargoed, bookstores have to sign NDAs and agree to draconian rules before they are allowed to bring boxes of the book in, copies may not be sold before X date or you'll get sued" level of fame, like later Harry Potter / Prince Harry's memoir kinda thing, there are no ARCs, because they don't want ANY possibility of it leaking to the press ahead of publication.

[anger-ey]

NSR AMA File 2 (part 2)

If B2J and the bosses have shadow animals like DK West what would they be? DISCLAIMER NONE OF THIS IS CANON. Sayu is a cat (Ellie's answer shocked Daim). Zuke is a zucchini. Mayday is a lemur (like King Julien). Eve is platypus(Ellie)/octopus(Daim)/peacock(Haz)???

Tatiana's broadcast after the DJSS fight was 3D projected instead of 2D animated, any particular reason why? Just a production choice, it was easier and more effective. It was inspired a bit by Space Channel 5's first boss, which also had the final boss show up on a monitor.

Any plans to do spin-off medias light LNs etc.? No plans so far. NSR is something they hold dearly so it'll be hard for them to find creators to partner with. They'll be very strict on who can nail the spirit of NSR.

Were there any NPCs that didn't make it into the game? There were a couple, like a beggar and a witch doctor who can predict the future (but none of them happens in the game).

Ellie's least favorite character to design? 1010 but only because she thinks she's not good at drawing guys and she hates drawing robots. The reason NJ and 1010 have butt plates is thanks to Ellie referencing Ben's gundam models. Also Ellie's favorite 1010 is Blue because she likes the hairstyle, the sunglasses, and the color blue.

Ben's most/least favorite character to animate? Least favorite is Eve, he thinks he didn't do a good enough job with her. Most favorite is 1010, the shuffle is fun to animate.

Will there be a Malay dub for NSR? They want to but time and money do be like that, also they want it to be great and local talents aren't enough.

What is the studio thinking of doing next? SURPRISE FREE CHRISTMAS DLC! New character designs, christmas-themed boss arenas, and christmas remixes for the soundtracks. Also MERCH TIME!!! DJ Sub hoodie is in the works.

Why are all of Tatiana's clocks set to 8:21? It's a sad clock face (like how 10:10 is a happy face). It's a total coincidence that August 21st is the death of the American soprano, Tatiana Troyanos.

Inspiration for Vinyl City's design? The districts are tied to the charter's personalities. DJSS's area looks the least maintained because he doesn't pay too much attention to its development. As you progress the more it gets flashier and fancier because the bosses progressively give their districts more funding. Yinu looks like a rose and her mother is very protective of her, which is why there are domes with plants inside everywhere in the district. The Plaza area is influenced by Malaysian urban architecture.

Does Neon J see 1010 as his children? It wasn't planned, but they love the fanon concept. If a sequel happens they can adopt the idea. (Daim says it's adorable, and 1010 would also see him as a father figure.)

Were character animations lipsynced for every language? They recorded English first, but there are some parts of the game they couldn't record in time. So it was like midway English but then the JP schedule came barreling in so they had to record Japanese first. The timing ended up being weird. Unfortunately, they had to cut French and Japanese voices to match the English version because the English version is the most accurate one.

Where is Vinyl City on the globe? Does it get monsoons? They'd like to keep the area fictional for now. It's definitely on Earth since the solar system is the same.

Why does Eve have two skintones? She was born with it. The progression of Eve from childhood to adulthood is a journey from self-hatred to self-love.

Why does Zuke collect toilet seats? It's an inside joke. They had a friend in high school who likes to put toilet seats on their friend's chairs. Whenever Ellie gets the opportunity she will slip a toilet seat into the game. Toilets became a recurring joke between them.

Does 1010 boys have different positions? (Daim: that's a cool question, but we have no actual answers.) Ellie and Haz think Green is the rapper.

Did you have any scrapped ideas for music genres? Probably no because the genre was not the main focus when they first designed the bosses. They started with themes and trends in the music industry instead of the genre. Fun fact for DJSS, at every phase he had a whole paragraph of lectures.

How old is Kliff and what does he do? He's around Tatiana's age or even older, past 50. What he does is undecided, they won't lock that in yet.

What is DJ Zam's neck tattoo? Love Mom tattoo (Ellie's answer). DJ Zam loves his mom!

Does Yinu's mom turn into a giant tree monster out of anger towards B2J or is it an effect of her husband's death? The tree design is part of her, not just because of anger. Their family has a strong connection to flowers and plant motifs.

Neon J's skill upgrade is specified to be napalm? It just sounded cool.

Thought process behind designing Eve and timeline between the Rupturika festival and Eve joining NSR? Daim started the two-tone design for Eve. In her initial design she's wearing a simple collar shirt and pants, like office wear. Ellie made it a bit more weird, so she added the jacket (Ariana Grande), leotard (Beyonce), and pasties. Eve had multiple limbs (Bjork) from the beginning of conception. No lore locked in for Rupturika.

What first sparked the creation of NSR? Haz had the idea first. He wanted to make a game based on music that isn't a rhythm game. Music is a universal language, so there must be something they can do with it. They always play with rhythm and beats but never with other aspects of music, like its rules. They're also inspired by underdog stories like Gurren Lagann. From there Daim fleshed out the characters. The idea was birthed around 2014 while in Japan.

How did Zuke know how to do mechanics stuff like workshop upgrades? Zuke learns and reads a lot, not just about music but also his side interests. He's a naturally inquisitive character. Zuke was the one who implemented Mayday's guitar canister.

Since Neon J's head is a monitor, does he have a brain? He still has a brain, his internal organs are still inside. (Daim: his brain is squished in the monitor? Haz: they took his brain and squished it into his butt plate- NOT CANON)

Qwasa converting music into energy? There was an argument between Daim and Aidi. Aidi wanted the lore to be more grounded, like the Qwasa being a crystal. Daim didn't think it was necessary to explain the "science". In the end it worked out for the game's storytelling.

Which NSR bosses are introverts and extroverts? Introverts: Eve, DJSS (could be ambi), Zuke, Sayu (4 introverts in one). Extroverts: Neon J, DK West, Mayday.

Can Neon J see? How does he see with his sonar head? Daim doesn't want to answer that now, but Haz says it would be cool if he's blind. Neon J is a bit self-conscious, so he only got the courage to take the spotlight in the battle with B2J.

[magic-is-something-we-create]

15, 17, and 18 for the icebreaker ask game!! - @alesseia

ohmygod tumblr didnt show me that i had asks for almost two entire weeks i hate it here

Thanks for sending this in, @alesseia!!! (I really hope I'm referencing the correct ask game post,,,,)

15. Why does the story follow the protagonist, as opposed to another character in the story? I.e., what makes them so special?

Oh man, this one is a fun question that is,,,, a Lot more complicated for Millennium Saga than for Whispers.

For Whispers: The story follows Marika and Lorelei as narrators specifically because of their unique and drastically different interactions with and opinions of the Shadow (the antagonist). Marika, specifically, is way more similar to the Shadow than she wants to admit at the start, and honestly, I would not be surprised if she and the Shadow ever got romantic (or at the very least sexual, because dear god I gave them lots of tension there). Lorelei, on the other hand, is like the antithesis of the Shadow's whole deal, and that pisses them both off to no end. And I just thought their lenses were particularly fun to play with for the "henchman vs superhero POV" premise!!

For The Millennium Saga...

Well. There's actually two sets of multiple main characters in the series. And I chose Ember's crew (Gab, Annie, Andy, Isa, and Nimbus) because they've got a rather unique mix of people of all societal classes (pickpocket/manual laborer, whore/seasonal tourist attraction actor, seamstress, mechanic, literal grandchild of an immortal, and an apprentice under an outcast, respectively) that allowed me to explore a LOT of the world they're in and how it functions without forcing the narrative out of the way (ideal for the worldbuilding-heavy story the series focuses on).

And the SECOND set of main characters, for arc two, were chosen because they're the more extreme versions of the above, with bonus extra trauma and outsized impact than anyone should reasonably have. Which they acknowledge, and still abuse. Also it means I get to write a lot of darker things into what is an overall hopeful story without dragging the previous rein-holders through the mud <3

17. What’s the best character dynamic between two or more characters in your wip?

Whispers: Lorelei and the Shadow. I will not elaborate, but if you know, you know.

The Millennium Saga: This is entirely out of left field to people who only know the excerpts and nothing else, but Annie and Xavi are the DREAM TEAM gossip buddies who constantly get into Mega Trouble. If anyone other than me was writing this they'd be a couple but because its me Annie is aroace as hell and Xavi is so gay his dad invented homophobia in a queernormative setting

18. How do you want readers to feel while reading your story? after they finish reading it?

Whispers: constant (hopefully cathartic) pain with an added sobbing session afterwards.

Millennium Saga: awe and wonder with occasional moments of utter existential terror mixed in, with an ultimate hopeful and heartwarming conclusion. But lots of stops for pain between books because this series is monstrous

Thank you again for sending this in!!! If you'd like, I'll happily send you a few numbers as well (and the ask game if it has gone missing/been buried since then) <3

#a&a #talking with: ashe #i only ask at the very end there bc i do not know the etiquette when i am. literally two weeks late in replying or even SEEING #dumblr........

[airlock]

SO, for the first and fastest bit of CYL nerdery for me to do this year, there’s something new!

this year’s poll came with a fucking hilarious novelty, y’see. we had our midterm results as usual, except... they were unranked, in alphabetical order, betraying not a trace of who was actually winning

at that time, just for the love of guesswork, I made predictions as to what was most likely going to be shape our top 20s would actually be taking. so... how close to the mark was I?

let’s find out.

first things first, I estimated that Soren, m!Byleth and Felix were the top contenders on the male side. I probably meant to count m!Robin among the top contenders as well but I seem to have forgotten to jot his name down anywhere in my predictions, whops. anyway, that blunder aside, the remainder of those predictions all composed the actual top 4 on the male side, so! we can scratch that as a win.

(that aside, though, I was not expecting that, if only one of Soren or Felix would get a foot in the door, it’d be Soren. I sure wasn’t expecting him to be just 500-odd votes shy of even putting a dude between himself and Felix, at that. color me impressed, ye stans of old)

Sigurd, Leif and m!Shez were the ones I admitted I couldn’t really predict on the male side. in the end, they’ve landed, respectively, #5, #9 and #12. moderate results all around. pity that Thracia 776 remains nowhere near breaking out of its rut, although at least this isn’t one of those years when fucking Reinhardt is the game’s top contender--

but speaking of my unknown quantities, hey, guess, what? one of them won the female side. by almost 3000 votes over the runner-up. which is to say -- either the last couple months in FEH have been real interesting, or some of yall need a date--

my other non-predictions on the female side were Sharena, who finised at #7, and f!Shez, who finished at #14. seems like, most of the time, those unknown quantities landed themselves firmly in the middle of the pack.

(speaking of which -- f!Shez was more popular than m!Shez, but by a margin of only 39 votes, probably the smallest differential we’ve EVER seen between two differently gendered versions of the same character. certainly the smallest to happen to a character who gets thousands and votes and not, y’know, Kana)

speaking of Kana, their mum is our other winner this year, so -- Gullveig aside, how well did I do at anticipating the female top placements? well, I guessed that our top contenders were f!Robin, Anna, f!Corrin, Azura, Bernadetta and Hilda. these guesses were mostly correct; these characters occupy the rankings spanning #2 to #6... except for Anna, who only earned herself a #9 ranking. we’ve fallen far off the year when she almost won, that’s for sure. but who knows what Lady Anna might pull off next year?

top contention and unknown quantities aside, I also had guesses as to which of our remaining characters were unlikely to win, but likely to make it to the top 10. these were Dorothea and Tharja (#12, #9), then Lyon, Black Knight, Takumi, Leo and Yuri (#13, #7, #16, #18, #8). close enough on the female side (much as I hate that Tharja being top 10 is such a safe guess), but whoops, that wasn’t a very good guesswork all in all on the male side. I suppose the leokumis of the world were too busy this year either stanning Corrin, stanning Azura, or arguing over Soren and Felix--

anyway, here’s to Elincia, Alfonse and Sylvain blindsiding me and making it to the top 10. one of these is a very happy surprise, another a just kinda mid one, and the final of them I’m going to guess is the reason why Felix couldn’t stay competitive with the other winners-- (look, I’m just saying, both Soren’s and m!Robin’s most popular dates were inelligible this year.)

lastly, an interesting question: did anyone outright fall off from the midterm top 20s? it doesn’t seem to be the case, unless the two characters on each side that I didn’t put in a guess for were not just the ones I forgot about in the midterm, but instead, the ones who unseated whoever else was there. so... it’s just a matter of whether Petra and Ferdinand have been on this list this whole time or not, I guess

anyway, the TMS#FE gang has put on a stronger showing than ever this year, but it doesn’t look like Fódlan’s vise grip on the overall rankings has lessened at all, so... I guess the most interesting things that will remain to be observed are how well the new characters from Three Hopes fared, and how much shit is imminently going to be eaten by each of the characters who finally made it to FEH last year. in any case, it’s time for me to start chewing the top 100, without gender divisions!

#Fire Emblem is tagged in this post #Fire Emblem Heroes is tagged in this post #CYL nerding

[ratralsis]

That's all there is of that story

And that was the end of that.

A couple of years ago, as part of my short story writing classes, before I started working on my novel in earnest, I actually did write a pair of extremely short (I think 400 or 500 words?) stories that were a sort of prequel and sequel. I might post those later, just to prove that there's no sense in writing any longer prequel or sequel story. The story's told. Kevin and Marigold met, spent a year together, fell in love, and probably got married way too young.

It was an exercise. A way to keep writing between drafts of the novel without working on the novel itself. I enjoyed writing it, for all its flaws.

Here's something I said to a friend of mine who read the previous version of this story and really didn't like it:

-----

The story is still what it was three years ago. Kevin barely has a character arc: he starts off with a lot of the autistic awkwardness that I have, and he ends with it, too. I don't know if he's actually autistic or even all that awkward. It could be that he comes off as insensitive or mean. The intent was to show that he doesn't know how to react when Marigold becomes emotional or distraught about discussing her past, so he just kind of freezes up and starts thinking hard about what the "right" thing is for him to do. That's me. That's what I do. His growth is that he learns to trust Marigold more and accept her for who she is, and make more compromises in his life to suit her needs. But I don't know if that's really much of an arc.

Marigold's arc is meant to be about how she starts off as a stereotypical beautiful manic pixie dream girl, and Kevin gradually comes to realize that it's a facade and a defense mechanism and that she's very emotionally fragile when she has to lower those defenses and be herself and let others get close to her.

There are parts I'm proud of and parts I'm not. But I still don't think it's good. I'm at that point in my creative development where I can read something like Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn and see a sentence like "With a flap of her hand she summed herself up: barren face, desert eyes, and yellowing heart" and think, god DAMN but that is some incredible description, but there's a world of difference between being able to appreciate someone else's art and being able to make my own at that same level.

So I write a lot about facial expressions. People smile at each other a lot. They grin. They beam. They light up. They nod. They lean one way or another way. They bend down. Sit. Walk over. Move toward. At one point, Kevin pads his way up a flight of stairs. It's a limited vocabulary, because it's how I think. It's how my head works. Blame it on years of video games with limited verbs. "Walk" is a solid verb to describe a character moving from one area to another. But nobody "ambles" or "strolls" or "leisurely makes their way" anywhere. Maybe they should.

This story was an exercise. A bit of practice between rewrites of my novel, which I find myself hating more and more with each draft and each pair of eyes that reads it.

Hopefully, you find at least a little enjoyment in it. I'm glad I wrote it, and I had some things in it that I very badly wanted to say (that loving someone is a choice you have to make every day, that loving someone and trusting them are two very different things, that trusting someone is a painful thing, that family means more than who your biological parents were, that anything can be forgiven, and that violins look like ukuleles to the untrained eye), but I'm not so vain as to think "I meant well" and "I did well" are the same thing.

-----

That about sums it up, I think.

But, as I said before I started posting any of it, I'm happy to answer any questions if anybody has any. I can say that with such confidence because I don't expect anybody to ask me anything.

That's not reverse psychology where I'm daring you to ask me something. It's just good old-fashioned self-deprecation.

#ratralsis writing #ratralsis strings

[floralcrematorium]

📺 - Which episode from the show is your favorite? Do you prefer the earlier style or the later one?

🏠 - Quick! You now live in a mansion in the middle of nowhere and you've got your choice of three nations to live with. Who do you choose as your new housemates and why?

🐶 - Thoughts on the Holy Rome/Germany controversy? Is he him, is he not, is it something in between?

I've already answered the first two but I'll give different answers this time >:)

📺 - Which episode from the show is your favorite? Do you prefer the earlier style or the later one?

I don't like the old style and don't like the cutesyness of World Stars. Beautiful World was the peak of the art style for me and World Twinkle was still pretty good. Not a fan of how the hair is shaded like a weird top to bottom gradient, but I can't complain

I really like the Nyotalia episode! I think it's cool that we got to see alternate designs actually used in canon. The script of the episode isn't my kinda thing, but it was literally mind breaking to me when the Nyotalia episode came out

🏠 - Quick! You now live in a mansion in the middle of nowhere and you've got your choice of three nations to live with. Who do you choose as your new housemates and why?

Alfred; We are getting ALL of the food I like from my home region. We are going on a Mid-Atlantic cuisine SPLURGE. Also need to find out how he says the names of different foods. I've never heard anyone call "Reese's Pieces" the candy something different from the way I pronounce it before I moved to New England where suddenly it was Ree-sees Pee-sees. This is the ONE topic I will pick a fight about. Anyway, he's got the money, we're installing a real ass pizza oven in the mansion so we can make NY style pizza

Philippines; You have no idea how badly I wish my grandmother had more recipes to pass down than pancit (a Filipino noodle dish which varies wildly depending on region. my family's version uses bean thread noodles, pork, and... not many vegetables because i have an aversion to cabbage and can only eat most vegetables roasted) and chả giò (vietnamese egg rolls. we put ground pork, bean sprouts, dried wood ear mushrooms, and i think? carrots in ours, as well as the same bean noodles we use for pancit). I LOVE when recipes are passed down through families and wish we had more. I've looked online for Adobo recipes and we've made bibingka before, but I always feel like a fraud exploring my own heritage (if I'm even allowed to say that because I only have one Filipino grandparent. help. i struggle with this DAILY)

India; I've had a couple of Desi friends growing up and their lunches always smelt so good. Very savory and much more colorful than what I had (all beige.). I'd like to learn more about Indian cuisine beyond the few takeout dishes I've had and learned to make at home. My friend living in Kerala was going to get his grandmother's biriyani recipe for me but he keeps forgetting since he's so busy. We actually just talked the other day about Indian dishes and gulab jamun came up, which is something I had once at an event when I was a kid. The conversation started because we were talking about the differences between Indian and American donuts. Also! A game that came out recently called Venba is about an Indian couple who immigrated to Canada in the 1980s and you unlock a new recipe in each stage of the game. I'm not going to spoil much about the game's narrative, but I. Love. Generationally. Inherited. Recipes.

If you couldn't tell based on this response and my last response to this question, food is the way to my heart. I like to learn about other culture's foods (been thinking about making Ukrainian varenyky since it has a large role in the CanUkr one shot I'm working on, but when i made pierogis a couple years back from scratch it didn't go well. i'm not good at dough). We eat a variety of things in my household and I am the de facto chef of my friends. I do have a tendency to go a bit heavy with spice, though. We should take the bottle of cayenne powder and crushed red pepper away from me

🐶 - Thoughts on the Holy Rome/Germany controversy? Is he him, is he not, is it something in between?

I will be honest. I don't care. I've never cared. I've just never been interested in HRE as a character. Maybe he's something inbetween? With how I answered the question about Prussia yesterday, it would make sense for him to be

#floralcrematorium ask box

[xavidotron]

Hi Xavid! You want to know a funny, two-ships-in-the-night, interaction between people we would have never known? You reblogged a post from me a couple of days ago, and I ran The Importance of Being Convergent yesterday! I had such a blast playing that I wanted to say hi, and Tumblr is my social media of choice so I was scrolling to make sure you hadn't abandoned your Tumblr years ago, and saw my post and I just thought that was funny.

ANYWAY, hello! I just wanted to tell you how much I love Convergent. I've run it twice now (in February 2020 at Strategicon in LA, what was supposed to be the first of many, whomp whomp) and then yesterday at my house, and I and my players loved it. It's so well written and fun to play -- all of the characters are so inventive and fun and have amazing connections to each other, and I think the gem mechanic is brilliant as a "thing" for them to be doing.

Also, not for nothing, I appreciate how gender neutral and queer-friendly the game is -- it's hard enough wrangling twelve people to get together, much less twelve people in a specific gender arrangement (and doesn't exclude non-binary folks), and my friends circle is definitely one that appreciates being able to love anyone in a game without issue.

Yesterday they ended up elevating Earth above all others, and then Ceranest chose fka Quan Northwind to replace him as Ruler. By far the best moment in the game was when Ceranest and Cleric Alder had just gotten the entire room together for the Questions and were trying to get everyone to vote on the first one, and Cilac yelled "NO! I CHALLENGE MIM KINDRIL TO A DUEL!" And everyone gasped and Mim, who had literally NO idea she was part of a love triangle, was like "Wait, what? Me? Why?" And Cilac pointed to Essap and said "Because she says you mistreat your employee Burl!" So they rolled dice (Mim won, Cilac very dramatically acted out losing), they voted on the Questions, and as they were breaking back up Mim walked up behind Essap and said "Darrad?" and Essap turned around and said "Burl?" and they ran into each other's arms. Truly couldn't have written a better scene.

I don't know if this is something you would ever tinker with again for a publication or anything -- if you'd like I have a couple of very minor things I slipped into the briefing of my second running that I think made it run a teeny bit smoother, but I don't want to give notes if you don't want them.

Anyway, thanks so much for truly an amazing day of fun. I'll definitely be checking out your other LARPs. I think I'm running Bully Pulpit Games' "The Climb" at Strategicon next month (It's not a huge con, 6 players is about all you can absolutely count on to show up, especially as a newer GM without a reputation) but all of my friends who played yesterday said they'd love to do another one, even the people who didn't have any RPG experience at all, so I think I'm definitely going to get the gang back together again.

Cheers!

Sam

Thanks so much for writing! I'm glad y'all had fun! The Importance of Being Convergent is one of my favorite games I've written; it's actually pretty wild how well it's worked over its various runs given how it was written by two folks in a blizzard in 24 hours. It's definitely fun to see how differently different runs can go, and seeing people ham up their ridiculous drama.

I don't know that I'm likely to revise it substantially at this point, but I'd still be curious for your feedback, and if I'm inspired I might add something to the version on Itch.

Anyways, thanks for letting me know, it makes me happy that Convergent is still generating good times and origami butterflies after all these years!

(For anyone who's curious The Importance of Being Convergent is available for free here: https://xavid.itch.io/convergent)

#larp #the importance of being convergent

[agentravensong]

who wants to hear a new story idea i just came up with this morning? no one? cool, let's do it.

inspiration-wise, it's a kind of more meta take on the stories of choice-based "interactive drama" horror games like the quarry - not meta in the sense that the characters become aware they're literally in a video game (this story idea isn't meant to be a game; would probably work best as a tv show tbh), but in a more indirect sense. it would also be better written /lh

the premise is we have a group of young adults who were all in high school together, and the youngest of them has now just graduated from college. to celebrate, they organize a meet-up with all their friends at a camp in the woods where they all spent a weekend as high schoolers, as a "let's reconnect and see how far we've come" sort of thing.

now, all the characters have slightly different memories of what happened that weekend those years ago, as they discover when they first arrive for the reunion and start reminiscing. they've even had nightmares - some more frequently and more harrowing than others - of terrible things that happened there. but none of them* believe those nightmare versions with supernatural elements to be true (because otherwise why the hell would they go back?). * except for potentially a character one or a couple who decide to risk going back to see what the truth actually was and/or to settle unfinished business

unfortunately for them, it's not long into their reunion when they start finding hints of a supernatural horror haunting the woods, and those "false" memories start resurfacing. the truth they eventually uncover is that, as teens, they not only lived through a quarry or until dawn -like scenario in these cursed woods, but they were also trapped in a time loop.

you see, the forest is home not only to [insert monster type here, still working that out, will take suggestions], but also some guardian spirits, who used their powers to guide the teens and rewind the events to try and minimize their suffering (they're, essentially, player analogs). the spirits ultimately saved the kids by taking on the curse of the forest in their steads, and were able to lock away their traumatic memories in the process. unfortunately, because of that choice, the spirits have grown weak in the intervening years, and the amount they'll be able to help the characters now is much more limited. this time, the humans are, for the most part, on their own.

with their four-to-eight years of additional life experience (will work out the specifics later), and their sporadic memories of how things went last time (blurring the lines between past and present), can our protagonists succeed in not only re-surviving the horrors of the woods, but also ending the curse for good? will their weathered bonds with each other get them through, or will they unravel from the stress, time apart, and unearthing of secrets both old and new?

and are the forest spirits truly the noble protectors they appear to be, or are they concealing ulterior motives of their own? after all, does every person stop playing these games once they get a good ending... or do some of them go back to see just how badly things can go?

all questions that could or could not be answered, in this story i will probably never write.

some bonus fun stuff:

i figure the characters would all have been fairly trope-y as teens, for the sake of creating a contrasting with their (slightly) more grown-up, developed selves. i would have to do more research for this, cause i'm not typically a consumer of this genre

potentially, one or two of the teens actually got left behind in the past (either having died with the spirits unable to save them and/or having in the intervening years become a grizzled survivor type). the other protags, of course, don't know this, with their memories telling them the lost souls simply stopped being in contact shortly after the trip. lots of angst potential for when they learn just how wrong they were.

as mentioned above, i'm not sure what type of monster would be most fitting for this story. i like the idea of it being a type that can infect humans such that they turn, ala werewolves or vampires, for the purpose of having at least of the protags having gotten infected in the past and not knowing until it resurfaces at the reunion. plus then the monsters hunting the group could be other humans who have gotten trapped like this and suffered a less fortunate fate. could also be the case with the spirits, regardless of the rest of this.

that's all i have for now. very up to hear what anyone else thinks of this concept :)

#do i dare tag this with the things it's inspired by? #...fuck it. #the quarry #until dawn #let me know if i should throw any content warning tags on this #narrative nonsense

[hazbincalifornia]

Word

Summary: Circus au Blitzo muses on how he uses Daddy. Companion piece to this.

Wordcount: 1025

Rating: M, mentions of sex but nothing too explicit.

Ao3 link

____

His father was never really ‘Dad’.

He was Papa when Blitzo was little. Then he was Sir for a year once Blitzo turned thirteen, Sir all the time instead of just during practice. Then he was gone, so he wasn’t anything. Yeah, well, good fucking riddance. Don’t let the door bruise your ass on the way out. He didn’t deserve Barbie and Mom and Fizz. Didn’t even deserve Blitzo, really. If he’d been there, he would have absolutely shit himself at the revelation that his kid had gotten himself knocked up with a prince’s baby in what could have been the milking-for-cash opportunity of the fucking millennium, but he wasn’t, so he didn’t.

Sure, things had gotten rough for a bit without the ringmaster, but they’d managed to pull through and elect another one. (They’d asked both Barbie and Fizz if they wanted to train for it to take over the mantle in a few years, but Barbie said she didn’t want all that extra work for no extra pay and Fizz echoed her sentiment. He didn’t care. Really, he didn’t.) Things went back to a version of normal, and there were plenty of other guys that Blitzo liked more anyway, including some that were the same age he’d been.

At one point, one of them cooed about how Blitzo looked like his dad but ‘cuter’, and he wasn’t really sure how to feel about that as they shoved his face into the pillow. He was pretty big, at least, and washed them both up afterward.

So, yeah. No ‘dad’. Which was fine. Mom had done the parenting Blitzo had liked between the two of them. He’d been more of a boss than a dad most of the time, so the changing of the guard wasn’t the worst, even though he’d been fourteen, even though the note-

Anyway. Barbie had burnt it and then ground it to ashes underneath her boot, and that had been that.

The word popped up now and then- plenty of kids called for Mommy and Daddy as they tugged their way through the games and pointed out the acts onstage as if they couldn’t be seen otherwise. Plenty of guests (and staff) also liked tossing it around with him, playing hot potato with the term as they tried to make the most of stolen moments. Cooed into his lips, then handed back to the next partner. Sometimes he was the one looking up to the green sky, sometimes he was watching white or black hair and tugging on it as the word slid out smooth as butter, reclaiming something that had never graced his tongue properly except as this, It was toyed-with power, pure and simple. It showed which of them was the one leading the way, or it was giggled out because one of them made an awkward squeak and they had to diffuse the tension somehow.

Then Stolas showed up.

Blitzo had purred it out, the word rolling between his teeth and into the air easily, and the way it flustered Stolas was an absolute treat. The height difference coupled with the years between them rattled the bird in a way that rode shudders up his spine when Blitzo pushed at his buttons, and it was so fun to work him up to orgasm, taking him apart with just a word and a hand or a grind down.

Using it against an actual dad made it twice as effective, and the way it could unravel him was absolutely intoxicating.

“Daddy” kept Blitzo in control- even when Stolas was the one using the word, it was always on Blitzo’s terms. Things teetered this way and that sometimes, a routine not quite worked out yet, (when Stolas was too much and not enough, and Blitzo didn’t know how to be everything the way he wanted to, too scooped out to offer anything more than himself, even though that self had never been enough for anyone else) but Daddy offered them both a role, a security, a promise. His stomach swelled as his feelings did, warm as molten gold and fit to burst, flooding everything so there would never have to be any more hard questions between them.

As the months wore on, Blitzo heard little Via warble out the word, tugging at Stolas’s leg with wide eyes and a slightly-open beak each time. That wasn’t the same, obviously, but Stolas, to his credit, could switch roles easily, scooping her up into his lap and gently preening through her feathers or simply cuddling her closer.

Blitzo watched as she relaxed, the gold in his chest curdling sour, until she drifted off and Stolas offered his lap once she was returned to her room.

Somehow, when Stolas murmured “Daddy can take care of all three of you” with a hand over the bump, even though Blitzo ground against the thigh with a little grin, it bubbled up something bloody and raw as he rested against the warm, fluffy chest that was just at the right height for his cheek.

Stolas was beautiful and liked his jokes and loved the kid he already had and also already loved the one on the way, and loved Blitzo somehow in a way that nobody else ever had (he knew Mom and Barbie and Fizz did, but it wasn’t like this, wasn’t like an ocean that he could barely understand as directed at him sometimes), and when he called himself Daddy of his own volition, wrapped Blitzo in his arms with no expectation of opened legs, Blitzo’s veins crackled with the burn of a hearth fire.

The word was his, but Stolas plucked it away sometimes and polished it and returned it shiny and new, cocooned in a layer of gentle affection that made Blitzo want to squirm because it was everything, everything, everything. Paternal and romantic and sexual, swirled into the tone of voice that vibrated his heart out of his chest and set it directly in Stolas’s hands.

“Do you want Daddy to take care of you, darling?”

He braced himself against a thin body that had power simmering below the surface and nodded.

Yeah.

He did.

#circus au #I'll post this on ao3 later I might want to clean it up a bit more #shadow writes stuff #daddy blitzo #helluva mpreg