#( idk if they were gonna go this route for testing or what have you

[deciessomnia]

holy shit, this really does look like twitter.

[fluffykitty149]

Raining Storm part 1

What’s that? AO3 shut down so no bedtime fics? (For those of us on/close to EST at least) Well fear not! Have a small groppy part one fic in the meantime! (Full disclaimer my writing is rusty 😅)

@tamagoneko gonna send the link on twitter but idk where you are online rn so this is a double check!

————————————

Branch knew he was a paranoid troll. He'd had more than enough public panic attacks to acknowledge it was a problem. But knowing you have a problem doesn't equate to fixing it, which was his current predicament. He already knew that a strong storm was going to blow in. The weather announcer called it, and he and the other trolls could sense it in the air even when there wasn't a cloud in sight. He checked to see if his Bunker openings were secure, checked his walls and floors for maintenance so the place wouldn't flood, checked his piping, his rations, and finally went on one final patrol to also remove or secure the traps he kept around the forest. Poppy had spotted him and tried to invite him to some party he couldn't remember and after a back and forth argument he finally convinced her to leave him alone. He also made sure to remind her to keep the party short because of the approaching storm but he wasn't sure if she paid attention. 'She could still be out there' a jolt of fear went down Branch's spine as he almost spilled the tea in his cup. A splash of it made it to his fingers holding the cup and he hissed in pain and put it promptly onto its coaster. 

There was no way Poppy was still out there. While singing during a storm was something he could definitely see her doing she wasn't so reckless as to do it during a particularly bad one at night, right? He imagined what it would be like to see her as she sang during the thunderstorm. Something loud and fun maybe in time with the thunder. Even though the notion of her out there with a musical number was bizarre enough it made him crack a smile he still couldn't shake the fear to go up and check on things. Something. Maybe it was nothing?

Branch groaned in frustration and got off the couch. Clearly he wasn't going to be able to relax until he checked on things on the surface. He went over to the supplies room to grab a few items and weapons but on his way to one of his other entrance routes he saw his goggles on the table. He had recently made a new pair that could make things visible at night and yesterday a final touch of water proof sealant around the rims so as to not have them be damaged in water. 'No time like the present' Branch thought to himself as he grabbed the goggles and put them above his head. He pulled on a leaf poncho, double checked his supplies, then went through the hatch that led to another part of the forest. This was one of the ones he used when he just wanted to patrol the perimeter and it took less of a risk of getting found by other trolls. Thankfully Poppy seemed to only know his default entrance. 

The wind howled and rain beat down mercilessly. Branch immediately put the goggles over his eyes and turned them on. He debated whether he should forgo the poncho to truly test the waterproof upgrade but ultimately decided to keep it on. At the end of the day he was out in the storm on a hunch. No need to go the extra mile. He checked a couple of traps that he already confirmed were secure with his list when he heard shouts in the distance. He swiveled his head around and his ears flickered to try and catch it. It sounded like a group of trolls. He went down on all fours to run across the forest and kept his ears open for the shouts. As he got closer to where they were he noticed it was on a cliffside. And it was Poppy's friend group. With no Poppy. He got up and ran to where they were and could hear their cries more distinctly. 

"POPPY DON'T MOVE OKAY!"

"STAY PUT!" 

"WE'RE GONNA RESCUE YOU OKAY?"

It sent a jolt of panic in Branch's body and he ran even faster towards them. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Branch shouted over the raging winds. 

The snack pack jolted at the sight of him in his poncho and illuminated goggles. "Oh Branch it's horrible!" Biggie exclaimed "We were trying to pack up when the storm hit and just as we were nearly done a gust took Mr. Dinkel's hat! We went after it and just as Poppy managed to grab it the cliff crumbled under her! There were supplies there too and now we think she's tangled in them because she's barely moved!"

Dread pooled in Branch's gut and he moved the snack pack out of the way to get a better view of the situation. With some moving of the goggle's lenses he managed to spot Poppy. She seemed to have her leg caught wrapped around some sort of rope with random misalliances that made it impossible to move. 

"What's with the fashion faux pas?" Satin asked her sister as she gestured at Branch. Unfortunately for her Branch had very good hearing. 

"Night vision goggles!" Branch responded indignantly. Seriously, did everything have to be a fashion statement?

"Lemme see!" Smidge made a grab for the goggles but Branch managed to keep her away from his face. 

"Hold on!" He shouted as she continued to struggle, "I need to find a route to get down there!"

Smidge stood still for a second then nodded and let Branch back towards the cliff side.

He nodded in thanks and readjusted so he could see the edge and its surroundings. The water was obviously higher with the storm and it would probably only get higher and more dangerous. He ran against the cliff side and searched for a root that he could secure himself onto to get down there. The more he looked the more he realized that the fallen party supplies alongside the storm debris had created a dam that made the water rise higher. "Dammit," Branch whispered to himself as he tried to search for anything to help him get down there. If Poppy didn't die from this experience he was going to give her the lecture of a lifetime when this was all over. Who the hell risked their life over a worm's hat!?

He finally managed to spot a root a bit higher to where he needed to go but it was a gamble. And he unfortunately needed help. He gave a sharp whistle "SMIDGE!" she rushed over.

"FOUND SOMETHING?" She shouted over the wind. It had begun to pick up. They didn't have much time. 

Branch took his goggles off and handed them to her. "THERE'S A ROOT DOWN THERE THAT I NEED YOU TO TAKE ME TO! ONCE I GET DOWN THERE I'LL MAKE MY WAY TO POPPY. THEN I'M GOING TO TRY AND CLIMB EITHER BACK TO THE ROOT OR SCALE THE WALL. I NEED YOU TO BE READY TO GRAB BOTH OF US. THE WATER'S RISING FAST!" 

"GOT IT!" Smidge responded as she handed his goggles back to him. "TELL POPPY TO LIGHT HER HAIR WHEN YOU'RE READY OKAY?"

Branch nodded and turned to face her and the snack pack. "WHAT'S HE DOING!?" Creek shrieked as he watched Branch back up towards the cliff. 

"WE NEED TO SAVE POPPY! WE'VE GOT THIS!" Smidge responded. She grabbed Branch by the waist with her hair and lowered him down as the rest of her friends held her to be careful of the edge. He made it close to the root and after he grabbed it he tugged on Smidge's hair to signal to her to let go. Once she let go he adjusted to support himself on the root before he wrapped his hair around and lowered himself down. He had to jump to make it down to the bottom but while the debris sank briefly it supported him well enough that he had yet to be swept away. As he tried to inch closer to where Poppy was he slipped in the water. It wasn't as fast as it was before as the debris began to collect more at the end of the clog but it still managed to sweep him and he threw off the poncho so he wouldn't struggle as much.

It was closer to summer than spring but the water was still shockingly cold for Branch. He swam through the water as his body adjusted to the surprise dip. He fought against the current but his arm smacked against some wood which would definitely bruise later. The pain stunned him but he made a grab for another piece of tree and he grabbed onto it as it thankfully held and pulled himself up out of the water. Yeah, lecture of a lifetime for Poppy for sure. And her friends. He balanced much more carefully this time "Poppy!" He called out and she turned to him in surprise.

He pulled the goggles off from over his eyes "Branch!? What are you doing here!?" She asked in surprise. 

"Saving you apparently!" He chastised as he made his way over. The debris around him began to sink but there was enough surrounded around them that kept him from getting washed away again so he begrudgingly fell back into the water this time thigh deep. "Who the hell risks their life over a stupid hat anyways!?"

"It's not stupid!" Poppy squawked indignantly as Branch got closer. "Mr. Dinkels adores his hat! And how was I supposed to know the cliff was gonna collapse like that!? I wasn't even that close to the edge!" Technically she was very close to the cliff's edge, but the rest of the stuff that fell caught her off guard. She managed to grab at a root to stop her descent but when the supplies crashed onto her as well her hold on the root was ripped away from her as she fell.

"Why the hell were you even throwing a party by the cliff to begin with! Didn't I tell you there was going to be a storm later!?"

"Can we please save the lecture when we aren't in immediate danger!" Poppy yelled back exasperated. She was already done with this entire day. 

As much as Branch would love to release all the stress she's given him onto her she was unfortunately right. "I'm going to go see what your leg is caught on okay? Just try not to fall in." He slipped his goggles back on and after he double checked the night vision was still on he took a deep breath and went back into the water.

At this point he had gotten more tolerant of the pre-summer river and carefully made his way down as he pulled out a hunting knife. He saw where the banner was tied to Poppy's foot and swam towards it. She thrashed for a second when he touched her but saw the goggles and tried to relax. Branch still dove back up "I can see where you and the banner are stuck." he announced as he gasped for air. "It's gonna take me a bit to cut though alright?" 

"Right! Sorry Branch," Poppy responded with guilt for how she thrashed when he tried to help her.

"It's okay," Branch replied and even held her shoulder. "I'm gonna try to get you out of here. But don't move until I give you the all clear, I don't want you getting even more okay?"

The sincerity in his tone made Poppy choke up. As annoying as Branch could be sometimes he still risked his own life to rescue here. Since she didn't have any non soaked scrapbook material available she settled for a hug. Branch tensed for a moment but hesitantly wrapped his arms around her until he melted and firmly hugged her back. She wasn't sure if he hugged her back because she was scared or something but she didn't complain. Not when his hug felt so warm and secure. He pulled away and Poppy wrapped her arms around herself so she wouldn't chase his. "I'll be back okay?" Poppy nodded and Branched dived back in. Despite the fact she knew that Branch was next to her underwater and could literally feel him nudge her leg the fear and loneliness she felt before hand came back and she clung onto the thought of when Branch hugged her and wrapped her arms around herself even tighter to try and recreate the memory. 

Branch for his part dove back in with a new found determination. He analyzed what parts of the banner were stuck on her leg, along side some sort of string party decoration. He pulled out his hunting knife and began to tear at the banner. Not like she'd be able to use it anymore anyways. The string ended up being vine which was a bit trickier but he sawed away at it until it cut. He shot up for air then went back in to cut the other side of things. After some detangling and more cutting he managed to completely free Poppy's leg and urged her to move as he broke for the surface. 

"Okay, let's go." Branch pulled himself out of the water and turned to pull Poppy up as well. He grabbed her by her two arms and pulled her out. They fell on top of each other and the debris sank a bit but they managed not to get swept away. After he got up again Branch offered his hand to her and as she took it to get up, she hissed in pain and collapsed back down to rub at the ankle that was caught.

Branch immediately got down to check on it. Even after a feather-like touch Poppy hissed again in pain and shoved his hand away. When she realized what she did she looked extremely apologetic. "I'm sorry" she apologized, she was thankful the rain hid the fact she had tears that pooled and streamed down her eyes. This day just sucked. 

"It's okay," Branch responded as he took a step back. "You might have sprained it during the fall but I'm not sure. Let's just focus on getting out of here. Is it okay if I carry you?"

Poppy blinked in surprise before she nodded and with her consent Branch picked her up and swung her on his back piggy back ride style. The motion made Poppy giggle and she snuggled into him for body heat. "Uh... Smidge said to light your hair up when you're secure." Branch said unsure of how to react to how tightly she clung to him, or how she seemed to nuzzle into his collar. It made his face hot and while a little extra heat could do them both good it was beyond embarrassing.

"Right!" Poppy cheered as she seemed to recover her positive attitude. It was good she let go of the root otherwise she'd be in way too much pain to light her hair up, let alone help Branch. Her leg seriously hurt though. The debris shifted which made Poppy yelp and grip tighter onto Branch who tried to steady himself.

"Okay, we don't have time to look for another root so I'm going to climb up."

"With what?" Poppy asked in a panicked voice.

Branch took two weapons out that unhooked into, well, hooks. They were both about the size of Branch's arm. Both the blade, and the handle they flipped out of. 

"Woah," Poppy said with a small gasp as she watched Branch stick one into the side of the wall and use it to pull his way up. After a few hits they began to go upward and Poppy clung tighter. She remembered what Branch said about her hair and instantly lit it up so Smidge could see and extend it. If Branch would climb them out Poppy would help to pull. She could feel Branch's muscles flex in his shoulders and arms as he hoisted them up in the climb. The urge to talk to take her mind off the fear was strong but she shoved it down and focused on a hum instead. The sound and the vibrations she made in her skull helped sooth the stress that had built up since her fall. 

Branch grit his teeth in irritation as he tried to focus so the duo wouldn't fall to their doom but music tended to stress him out. Despite this he didn't tell her to stop. For one thing, he again, was a bit preoccupied, for another, he could tell by the melody and the tempo that Poppy used it to keep panic at bay. If it helped he'd endure so they could get out. 

Below, the debris shifted again and gave way to the flood waters. Poppy's melody stopped with a small gasp but she gripped him tighter and continued to hum. They definitely made it out in time. Branch could see the caked wall with his goggles but Poppy had to squint to try and make out her friends by the cliff side. A few minutes into the climb she could see a tuft of Smidge's hair stretched out. Poppy pulsated the glow of her light and with a deep breath, reached as far as she could. Smidge grabbed her and Poppy lightly tugged at Branch's arm "Smidge's got us! Get ready to be pulled!" 

[izicodes]

woah! just saw your bio change to software engineer. how did you transition? is it any different than web dev?

i also went on a TikTok rabbit hole and people are saying it’s useless to learn html/css and it’s not an actual language. honestly idk why I thought it would be easy to learn html > css > javascript > angular > react and somehow land a good paying job…

it’s gonna take YEARS for me to have a career, i feel old… especially with no degree

Hiya! 🩶

This is a long reply so I answered your question in sections below! But in the end, I hope this helps you! 🙆🏾‍♀️

🔮 "How did you transition?"

So, yeah my old job title was "Junior Web Developer" at a finance firm, and now my new title is "Frontend Software Engineer"! In terms of transition, I didn't make too much of a change.

After I quit my old job, I focused more on Frontend technologies that were relevant, so I focused on React.js and Node.js. I used YouTube, books, and Codeacademy. My first React project was >> this Froggie project <<~! Working on real-life projects such as the volunteering job I did (only for a month) where they used the technologies I was learning. So basically I did this:

decides to learn react and node 🤷🏾‍♀️

"oh wait let me find some volunteering job for developers where they use the tech I am learning so I can gain some real-life experience 🤔"

experienced developers in the team helped me with other technologies such as UI tools, and some testing experience 🙆🏾‍♀️

I did the volunteering work for both fun and learning with experienced developers and... I was bored and wanted to feel productive again... 😅

So for transitioning, I focused on learning the new technologies I wanted to work in and got some work experience (though it was volunteering) to back up if I can work in an environment with the tech. I still live with my family so I could do the volunteering job and have time to self-study whilst being okay financially (though I was tight with money haha) 😅👍🏾

🔮 "Is it any different than web dev?"

The old job was focused on using C# and SQL (including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript but fairly small) to make the websites, they were fairly basic websites for clients to use just to navigate their information needed. They weren't fancy cool web design because they didn't need to be, which was what made me bored of the job and wanted a change.

I am only a week into the job and have been working on small tickets (features for the site), but I think after a month or two into the job I will make a proper judgment on the difference~! So far, it's kind of the same thing I did in my old job but with new workflow tools, React-based projects, and funny people to work with 😅🙌🏾

🔮 "People are saying it’s useless to learn HTML/CSS and it’s not an actual language."

Yes HTML is a markup language and CSS is a stylesheet but they are the foundation of like 90% of the websites on the internet, I wouldn't ever call them "useless". Frameworks such as React, Django, Flask, etc still require HTML and CSS code to make the website's structure and styling. CSS frameworks like Tailwind and Bootstrap 5 still use CSS as their base/foundation. Not useless at all.

Don't focus on what other people are doing and focus on your own learning. I repeat this all the time on my blog. Just because one or a couple people online said one technology is useless doesn't mean it is (this is applied to most things in tech). Someone told me jQuery was entirely useless and no bother learning it - I did it anyway and it helped me better understand JavaScript. Anyhoo, try things YOURSELF before listening to what people say - make your own judgment. Not going to let a random Tech bro online whine about how annoying Python or C or whatever is to ruin my want to learn something. (This is all coming from a girl who loves web development very much's point of view :D)

🔮 "I thought it would be easy to learn html > css > javascript > angular > react and somehow land a good paying job"

Web Dev route, I love it! That's literally the same steps I would have taken if I had to start again~! For each new tech you learn, make a bunch of projects to 1) prove to yourself that you can apply what you've learned 2) experience 3) fill that portfolio~! 😎🙌🏾

With Angular and React, I would pick one or the other and focus on being really good at it before learning another framework!

I also recommend volunteering jobs, freelancing, helping a small business out with free/paid m

Lastly, you do not need a degree to get a job in Web Development. I mean look at me? My apprenticeship certificate is the same value as finishing school at 18, so in the UK it would be A-Levels, and I completed it at the ripe age of 21! I have no degree, I applied for university and got a place but I will give that space up for someone else, I'm not ready for university just yet! haha... (plus erm it's expensive at the end, what? even for the UK...). Sure, I used to avoid the job postings that were like "You need a computer science degree" but now if I were job searching I would apply regardless.

People switching careers in their 40s going into tech instead are making it, you can switch anytime in your lifetime if you have the means to! (everyone's situation is different I understand).

I'm not too good at giving advice but I hope in the rambling I made some sense? But yeah that's all! 😎

[alitgblog]

volume ix thoughts wooooo we're out of casa

first off, return of a legend: the beach hut

i was fully expecting the compatibility test to be more like the season 1 compatibility test with the zodiacs because that's fun but i guess that's less of a pot stirrer than a fun game to have. though the narrator poking fun at it i guess is making fun of the fandom for thinking it was gonna be horoscopes 🤣

so very obvious ass test though especially with the two answers only about the two guys you're pursuing, which I think is a missed opportunity to throw more lore about the guys in there. or at least make it not as obvious? really goes to show how surface level the characters are compared to, say, the Mr. and Mrs. Challenge towards the end of S2

I'm going for Jin and Max rn so I thought it was funny their personalities were boiled down to "funny" vs "extroverted" and my MC had to pick between the two as if they were mutually exclusive

anyway just nearly got Jin lmao

I'd like them to stop with the Claudia/Theo storyline because it feels like they've already decided they're done with each other and are ready to move on? However, Claudia being compatible with Theo on paper but like not really feeling it is an interesting idea. Like she feels she's got no other option to stay safe except for him and they like each other enough. Meanwhile Bea's settling for Liam because he's shown any interest in her at all. (Let them date each other if MC can't! They deserve better!!)

also I know that I joked about Theo being just some mildly attractive white guy to fawn over and settle for but the way that Claudia is just settling for him? actually upsetting like I'm so sorry, Theo 😟 I didn't mean it I thought he was fine after the first dates 😖

Hari mention! I was pretty sure the game forgot about him lmao

anyway the compatibility thing still doesn't make the most sense because like,,, why did all the guys get the Villa girls and none of the casa girls? I just think we should stir up some shit. I know it's annoying but it is the perfect opportunity to try to make Emel angry at Oakley again by saying he's most compatible with some casa girl. And she can show growth by not getting upset this time.

idk why but Kyle's poem to Emel is giving wannabe rap crew vibes (i.e. I'm missing S1 I'll take what I can get). Also, Claudia said he's giving game player vibes?? I'm actually so upset with how the LI's are all interchangeable because simply this cannot be the same Kyle y'all are fawning over (it's not 😭)

I'm kind of curious what it's like replaying on a straight route bc personally my heart hurts every time they show Claudia's little sad face but like I have to talk to Max it just makes more sense because MC can't couple with Claudia in stick or twist

Close your eyes and pick at random is actually hilarious as an option for stick or twist and I almost did it

i've already said my piece about Sienna, I love her design. I will admit though, her open mouth smile is a little stilted but people get botox so... not out of the ordinary lol. The bigger problem is how her hand on her hip is a little fucked up (color in between the lines, fusebox!)

as someone not on a Theo route, I really don't understand why he's sticking with Claudia unless he's got some personal turmoil he's working through and trying to actually reform his player ways. And I wish MC could talk to him as a friend and we'd see that. like in the way S2, you get to know Rocco's insecurity about never finishing university and Gary's anxiety even if you aren't on their routes

Anyway I'm still upset at the forcing MC to couple because she's single thing. They could've still had her coupled with Jin (or even with Hari it would work) and then she can either walk in single or with a casa boy. And then she's the main character: just say that the single islanders don't get dumped post casa (like it's SUPPOSED to be) because in that situation, she's the only one! Or if you need the numbers to be right, literally Emel is right there. She can come back to Oakley later if anything

still not the best stick or twist could've gone in terms of drama (or maybe that's just bc I've been looking at spoilers), but compared to S5-6, not too bad (I assume also s7 but tbh I did stop right at stick or twist for that season)

So fyi when I played Casa, I had my MC go for Shawn most of it, and then last minute switched to Max because I remembered she's a musician and I thought that would be cute. That being said, I wish it was like in the too hot to handle game where you unlock certain dialogue if you happen to have something in common with a character. Because why is Max explaining music stuff to my musician MC?

is Hari not an LI? Because they made him seem like one and then just all of a sudden we're not talking about him, it's only about Jin and Casa Boy. And I'm fine with not all the boys being LIs, but it is odd the way he's just shoved to the side in the story

Okay so I'm writing this as I'm playing and it seems like maybe he is. They just forget to mention him most of the time.

Hari and Hazel are a hot couple though. like I don't love Hari's design but like if he was drawn better?? I see it.

the swimming game is a fun idea but imagining everyone splashing around to get to MC is so funny. like I can hear it in my head and it's not the best game, but for the fictional game in the app it's fine.

although why tf is Theo suddenly interested in MC? I haven't been romancing him at all but for the chat at the pool I couldn't decide between any of the characters I'm actually kind of interested in so I had MC go talk to Theo and then he was also flirting? then the pool game he also thinks MC has the best chat?? sir I barely know you

omg not emel deflecting the drama to Claudia (and it's about her hookup with MC???) oof this is the drama I crave I think we're gonna need a movie night soon

so not too bad yet I just hope these storylines can come through!!

[the-bite-of-87-lol]

Had a dream ; Rant below cut ; boombox ow mentioned

Tw ; for guns mention and death

I don't remember the start too well, sometimes this happens or this part is reoccurring where we're in like Tumblr headquarters and there's this bunker area so we enter there but that's after a certain part!!

Part 1 ; Testing the eaters of the dream ( I call it ) I'm Echo, and there's talon, I don't remember this segment much, but we die in the end.

Part 2 ; Frogs and Rats

Lucio and Junkrat, they're running away from talon.

I like the idea that talon is after junkrat, and this dream expands on it to an unnecessary degree.

Talon is after junkrat, they need him and will not give him up, I'm not entirely sure about the setting, but it's Tumblr headquarters bunker at first, we go down the stairs (I'm myself then rat, I switch povs), when we go upstairs Talon appears, I don't remember in-between scenes very well, there was a lot of running with lucio, also Tumblr bunker had a corner between two couches with as bunch of stuffies there was a lot of going there for safety or something.

Part 3 ; Invasion

We run from talon, they're fucking adamant. There's in-between stuff I don't remember, but the place is all hallways, there's a lot of fighting, and null sector invasion, lots of heavy artillery deployed though, and another? Not entirely sure but another type of null sector was deployed, it had teeth, it was huge, ravenous, and it was dangerous. (For some reason rat didn't have any weapons on him in the dream btw) it chased us down, there were a lot of stealth segments !! I was also Tracer for these bits (idk why or how or where), she pretty much left after this bit, more heavy artillery deployed later.

Part 4 ; Hallways.

We run and end up in a dead end, there was a fight between reaper or Sombra (don't remember), Junkrat got knocked out at some point. (I'm myself for this section, I think), and Lucio is shot between the eyes. In this, there isn't exactly respawn. Anyways, Lucio gets a bullet between the eyes, and reaper leaves or something.

Junkrat wakes up from being knocked out, Lucio hasn't died yet, he sings a little too calm himself before the inevitable, he asks to be with Junkrat for his last moments, for some reason rat wakes up pissed off at him, and then music starts playing through the hallway, Lucio comments on it, rat doesn't move at first, hes kinda pissed (for some reason), lucio comments on the hallway again.

Part 5 ; Safety

I pull junkrat to the tumblr bunker thing via a shortcut

We went to the corner between the couches to hide, also my friend appeared for this last bit, and none of us really had a ride home or a way home?? I offer my friend to stay the night but they decline, understandably. Junk feels like shit, and Lucio is dead.

And that's pretty much how it ended

I'm not sure what the hallway thing was for or about, it ended when we hid in that corner again

Also I'm gonna talk about the first part

I was echo and talon (opposing team??) was after us, me and another talon group but was just mirrored to the opposing team (yknow like team v team in normal overwatch, except echo was added to my group), it ended with us dying because that null sector with the sharp teeth (metal pieces that'd rip you to shreds), I want to mention echo temporarily teleported to another dimension like in a video game before the actual shit started happening, we started in Hollywood set-esque and made our way to route 66 because echo (me) hid in one of the train cars, obv she was caught and ended up dying, but thats that part

Anyways that's all

[rubys-domain]

great news! (well for me at least but anyway)

i was able to get chong to deal 77k today. BY FAR his highest crit on record. how i did it? by going double anemo with sucrose and giving her ttds. and also shuffling chong's artifacts around so he has 160% crit dmg again. although in doing so his crit rate goes to shit cuz hoyo doesn't want me to have crit rate apparently. like way back when, i had to do a whole bunch of trials to get him to crit. but this time when he did, his highest crit was 77k, and 66k on average. he also did like 40k crits on his skill, which is pretty cool.

i also did some more testing of this reshuffled build using tenacity dehya instead of ttds sucrose. his highest crit in this team was 76k, so not too far off. i don't know how the damage is actually calculated in this game, but i assume it's because the combination of pyro resonance + tenacity gives 45% atk, while r5 ttds gives 48% atk. but considering my sucrose isn't built (i gave her 2pc gilded 2pc wanderer's and some of them weren't leveled), i think this double anemo team might make chong's burst get higher crits if i got sucrose sorted with full em. in theory, dehya could work the same if she held wgs and chong held a crit weapon like redhorn. but wgs is like if ttds only worked 30% of the time because of the way the effect procs, so it's not the most consistent buff.

bit of an aside, but i wonder if sucrose can actually use the gilded dreams set in this team? since kazuha is using 4pc vv anyway (sucrose can't cuz she'd be giving the ttds buff to someone else and not chong if she were the one to double swirl). where after bennet burst + kazuha burst, you swap to sucrose and do one normal attack to proc the 4pc effect, then her burst to proc her a4 passive, THEN swap to chong and pop his burst. bit of a tighter rotation considering kazuha's a4 passive buff only lasts 8 seconds, but might be doable idk. i don't have em main stat on all pieces of gilded yet, so it's gonna be a while before i can test this out for real. but in theory, this would allow chong to get away with much less em. maybe even zero em. so i can put him back on an atk sands and basically only focus on getting more crit on the substats.

(okay i did some testing, and the 4pc gilded effect does count towards her em share. and it's also much easier to just use her skill and swap out, since that apparently still counts the gilded buff.)

or alternatively, sucrose on 4pc vv and kazuha on 4pc gilded. and the rotation would be: chong skill - sucrose skill - swap to chong for ttds buff - bennett burst - kazuha burst - chong burst. it's just better to give chong kazuha's cryo swirl buff tho, and attempting to get both kazuha and sucrose to swirl cryo would make the rotation even tighter, to the point where it's almost impossible to get chong to burst before buffs start to expire. also the unfortunate thing about ttds is that the effect has a 20 second cooldown. so no matter which rotation i use, it's effectively only active every other rotation since the rotation is so short. unless i take my time recharging bursts but that's not ideal either. so i'm probably better off going the more comfortable route.

OR. use the first rotation, but put sucrose on 4pc tenacity instead. since she does her thing right before chong does his burst, he can pop his burst right before the 3 second tenacity buff expires. and then just stack literally all the em on her on every single piece so she still shares a lot of em with him.

you know what would be really amazing tho? a pyro catalyst who has good uptime on the tenacity set. in this team, they would give chong a total of 93% additional atk (not even counting bennett's burst+noblesse buff). which is WILD.

but putting that pipe dream aside, what i can realistically do to improve this chong build is level my other wanderer's pieces so he can keep his really good blizzard strayer atk sands and crit dmg goblet. honestly tho it'd be better to just switch to emblem. and then go 4pc shim for mono cryo so i'll at least have some use for all the shim pieces i'll be getting. i would go 4pc lavawalker, but i don't really have anyone i want to put on the crimson witch set so i can't be bothered to farm that domain. it's gonna be unfortunate to not have a use for my extremely good blizzard strayer pieces anymore, but it's worth it if it'll make chong stronger. plus if i ever feel like building cryo freminet, he can use chong's old cracked pieces.

[shslpunkartist99]

So are we gonna be seeing that Otis/Pachinko thingy today like you said or will you get side-tracked by something and forget~? /LH /JJJJJJ

I'mma just copy paste what I sent Kim. It's a loooong wall of text, just a heads up lmao

So after Pico and Otis fought and Pico explained that "he didn't know he had a choice in becoming a Trump Card", Otis went to confront Pachinko about it. At first, Pachinko tried to scare Otis away cuz he couldn't care less about Keno's Cards, but when intimidation didn't work (maybe a small shutter), he got intrigued.

"Alright, let's play a game. You win, you get your big cousin back. You lose, you get penalized. You can keep going until you either win.. or die~"

Idk if I make this a hunt or an actual game, but essentially Otis accepts.. and fails. (I was thinking about how Main lost his fingers, so) first he lost his fingers.

Then his hand.

Then his arm..

Then his leg...

And he was about to lose half his body, until Keno came in and put an end to the game. Pachinko whined that Otis was still playing, but Keno wasn't having it. Using magic to seal the wounds, Keno teleported them back to his base.

Needless to say, Keno was PISSED. "You were going to lose to PACHINKO, of all people!!" Otis, still very desperate (and a lil delirious), insisted he go back to play. Surely he'd win! Surely he could get Pico reunited with the family!

That didn't help matters. Sure, Keno would never live it down if he lost to Pachinko, but he was also angry at the fact that Otis "lied" about wanting to be a Card. Otis said "I'm going to change the Diamond society when I become a Card", yet here he was, throwing his life away before he actually did anything. To Keno, Otis lied to him, so he seemed no different from previous Cards.

Otis felt shame after realizing this. He meant what he said about changing Society, but he lost focus after learning about Pico. It was shameful and stupid, not just as a Card, but as a person in general. Because of that, he promised Keno that he'll focus on his original plans, and he won't lose sight of it again

"... I don't trust your word. Prove it with your actions."

The magic seals disappeared, and blood from the open wounds spurt out like crazy, leaving Otis a bloody mess. The blood loss made him dizzy, and it wasn't long before he lost consciousness..

He woke up to see a stranger standing above him. A pretty girl in white, smiling gently, in an area unfamilar to him. She helped him up (his body seemed whole again), and she guided him around. Flashes of old memories passed by him as they talked, until they stopped in front of a happy scene.

Pico, Morgana, and Rae were preparing lunch together. Pico and Morgana were teasing each other, then Rae lightly bonked them both so they could focus. When Pico noticed Otis, he smiled and held his hand out. "Cmon Otis! If we get the food ready, we can go on our drive to the beach!" Otis smiled back and was tempted to take the extended hand, until he remembered Keno's words:

"You said you were going to change the Diamond society. Did you lie just to get your cousin back?"

Otis froze, face dropped, guilt filling up. ".. this is the reality I want. I want the family together again, just like this.. but.. it was the Diamond Society that caused Pico to flee in the first place. Even if I were to bring him back, who's to say another incident won't happen again? Possibly worse.. no, I have to keep my word. I wanted to become a Card because of my family. I need to work hard to ensure it's safe for them. I can't take this route yet. Not until my work's done."

The girl smiled and nodded in agreement. She opened a bright door and held it open for Otis, waving goodbye as he left to the real world. When he woke up, he was laying in bed, bandages around his body. Kurai was there, and he smirked once he saw the other wake up.

"Nice. You haven't given up yet."

Yes, Otis went into the world of death, just like we had with Xeno before. This was Keno's way of testing to see if Otis meant his apology. Unfortunately, he didn't come back unscathed. His lost limbs were replaced with mechanical limbs..

Serving as a reminder to not react on rash judgement. Think clearly on plans. Don't let anger blind you. And don't face a Leader unless you're 1000% to handle them. Cuz as much as Keno would hate to admit it, Pachinko isn't someone to fuck with. He has the largest body count because people kept underestimating him

It's bitter, but Otis accepts this penalty. He'll work into making life better for the others, and he'll find a better way to bring Pico back

(Yes Pico can visit the family whenever he can, but Otis wanted him back as a permenant member of the Diamonds again, not as a visitor)

[anotherghoul666]

Papyrus and aloe Vera!!

I already answered those two previously, but I'll do new answers for you dear! ❤️

papyrus ⇢ if you put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle, what’s the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with? Pang by Caroline Polachek

I absolutely adore her, and while her new album from this year blew her debut out of the water, 2019's Pang is still an incredible record that I go back to. It has a special place in my memories as being part of the soundtrack of my first relationship when me and my life partner went the non-monogamy route. This was the type of dreamy pop with lovesick lyrics I craved at the time because I felt like an absolute teenager with a crush again. What a youthful experience that was, and Caroline Polachek's breathy, airy, flight-like shimmering sound was exactly the vibe. There was lots of nervous energy in that first attempt at enm, a healthy dose of not having words anymore so I'd let song lyrics do the talking. Lines like "There's a look in your eyes when you're hungry for me. It's a beautiful knife cutting right where the fear should be." resonnated, what with being very afraid of putting myself out there and maybe not getting love back the way I wanted to. That partnership ended badly (spoiler: we were too eager and we didn't see the red flagsssssss and it came back to bite us in the asssssssss) so it's difficult to look back entirely positively at it. But it taught us a lot, and songs / albums like this remind me of how good the early months felt, how giddy and truly happy I was, and that's always gonna be worth something.

aloe vera ⇢ what’s something (mundane) you really want to experience in life? A wedding. I've never been to a wedding, and it's not like I think I'd like it, in fact I'm pretty sure it would be an awful experience socially and in terms of sensory management (and if it's christian in any way and/or in a church I am not fucking going under any circumstance so that limits my options). But my 'tism brain asks for me to do test runs of things and see how other people do things before I can do them myself. So I'd need to attend someone's wedding before I can confidently start planning my own to see what's "allowed" and "normal" (likely things I will then refuse to repeat in my own ceremony - sometimes it's better to lead with that you know you don't want hahaha). And me and my life partner do wanna get on that in the coming years ideally so my brain's a bit stuck. Idk how mundane that is, but I feel like most people have attended at least one wedding in their lives, from family members or aunts and uncles or cousins when they were young, etc? I did not have that experience.

[tonyglowheart]

reverse batfam AUs that have Robin or Nightwing predating when Dick hits the scene... smh maybe think on this a bit

[comfyswitcherblanketfort]

Weighted Blanket

I blame the Bog for enabling me here. This got out of hand. It was just gonna be a cute little drabble I swear yall. But the feels took over? I want a Geralt for myself? Preferably the fanon himbo variety? Idk fam, ya get what ya get today.

Warnings: anxiety/anxiety attack (not panic attack), new established relationship, Jask feels like he has to hide his anxiety from people, Geralt being a soft ass himbo, someone plz find me one? plz?

_______________

Jaskier had spent the night at Geralt’s a few times and he was always incredibly nervous until Geralt opened the door. He adjusted his backpack strap and tapped his foot on the concrete porch and felt a little bit like a child at a playdate. He was a grown ass man. This wasn’t that big of a deal. At least that's what he told himself while he waited for Geralt to scramble out of whatever pretzel yoga pose he was undoubtedly in. Jaskier was all for taking care of himself, he just preferred the ‘extra whip and a pedicure’ style rather than ‘whole foods and regular exercise’ route. He was worried Geralt would try to get him to go to the gym and drink kale but he seemed perfectly content to let Jaskier do what works for him. 

When Geralt opened the door he had a goofy grin and his hair in a sweaty floppy bun, “You’re early,” he said it like it was a treat every time, regardless of how early Jaskier really was. Be it fifteen minutes or an hour and a half, he always looked like an excited puppy and it set Jaskier at ease. 

But today he didn’t feel the tightness in his chest melt away when Geralt smiled at him. Not when he pulled him into a hug before he could utter his greeting. Not even when Geralt kissed the top of his head and rubbed his arms vigorously to warm him up because, “I know you have a sweatshirt in your backpack.”

Jaskier shrugged and leaned into his chest, “I kinda forgot.”

“You weren’t cold?”

“Well now that you mention it....” Jaskier forced a playful tone and got two handfuls of Geralt’s ass, that wonderful, perky ass. And it did absolutely nothing to him. 

Geralt frowned and tilted his head, brushing the damp hair out of jaskier’s eyes, “I was gonna invite you to shower. But you don’t sound excited.”

Jaskier sighed and gave him a weak smile, “I want to be excited.”

Geralt just tilted his head the other direction and tightened his grip on Jaskier’s shoulders and oh wasn’t that nice. That eased the ache a little bit. 

“I’m just a little anxious from work,” Jaskier assured him, patting his hands over Geralt’s perky asscheeks, “Go shower. I’ll be good by the time you’re done.” 

“Are you sure?” Geralt slouched just a bit to draw Jaskier’s eyes to his, “Come with? I’ll wash your hair?” 

Jaskier shook his head with a little smile, “Tempting. But I’ll drink some tea under my blanket then we can enjoy our evening.” 

Geralt kissed his forehead and gave him a quick but firm hug before darting down the hallway to rush through his shower. Jaskier measured his breathing as he made tea, now fairly familiar with Geralt’s kitchen, and settled down on the couch to dig through his backpack for his weighted blanket. 

Only it wasn’t there. His backpack had felt light when he left but it was just such a hectic day and he’d just wanted to see Geralt so bad. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, seeing his hands start to shake as he rezipped his pack, “It’s just a little anxiety Jask. It’s fine. You are fine. It isn’t the end of the world. It will pass. It’s just because that asshole yelled at you, not anything to do with Geralt. You two are fine, good even…” 

He sat back on the couch and pulled his knees into his chest, clutching at the mug of too-hot tea to keep his hands from shaking. Every few seconds he remembered he had to breathe, and do so slowly, if he wanted to get through this feeling and he would gasp a little bit with the realization he hadn’t been. He whispered his logical thoughts he’d prepared for this. The spiral would get a little momentum and he’d count his breaths and repeat his prepared sentences and he’d feel it receding but that was as much momentum as he could get. 

As soon as he started to calm down, he’d think about Geralt coming out of his shower to see him like this and it would start up again. He’d managed to keep his anxiety under control in front of Geralt so well. Geralt was so calm and steady and gentle that Jaskier hadn’t had to try so hard to begin with. But now his crazy was all out on the table and he wasn’t quite mentally prepared to be thrown out of Geralt’s house. 

In the middle of repeating one of his calming thoughts, he heard Geralt pad around the couch and felt more than saw him sit down.

“Jask?” Geralt’s voice didn’t quite sound real, but it was still soft and gentle enough not to spike his anxiety any worse, “You okay?”

He just shook his head and forced himself to exhale slowly. 

“What’s wrong?”

Jaskier swallowed hard and whispered with more effort than he’d like to admit, “Just an anxiety attack. I… I forgot my weighted blanket.” 

Gods did that feel horrible. Admitting to your hot new boyfriend that you have a security blanket at 30 and it sends you into an anxiety attack when you leave it at home wasn’t really on his to do list, but here he fucking was. 

Geralt gripped the tea mug by the rim and took the now lukewarm tea before his shaking hands spilled it all over his knees, “What do you need?”

Jaskier felt tears brimming behind his eyes and squeezed them shut, “Wh- what?”

“What do you need? To help you.”

“Oh,” Jaskier opened his eyes and tears fell down his cheeks, “No one’s ever asked me that before...”

Geralt took a deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling and offering his hand to Jask, palm up, “Can we try something that helps my brother?”

Jaskier nodded, he didn’t even care what it was, he was too shocked by the realization that Geralt wasn’t scared off or disgusted with him. 

“Your weighted blanket helps, right?”

Jaskier nodded and set a trembling hand in Geralt’s palm, swiping at his face with the other. 

“Can I hold you? See if that helps?” 

Jaskier nodded again and uncurled from his ball a little bit so Geralt could pull his legs over his lap and wrap his arms around Jaskier’s body. He squeezed a little tighter than his usual hugs but the pressure was just barely registered with the way Jaskier’s body was in overdrive. Regardless, he burrowed into Geralt’s shoulder, partly to hide his tears and partly because it felt safe. 

“How’s this? Are you okay?”

Jaskier nodded, “Can you squeeze tighter?”

“How about we lay down?” 

“Lay down?” Jaskier’s voice cracked on his words but he barely even noticed. 

Geralt rested one large hand over his soft brown hair, “I could be your weighted blanket? It works for Skel sometimes.”

“Yeah- yeah, okay,” Jaskier muttered as he forced his creaking knees to straighten as Geralt laid him back onto the couch. Geralt positioned them so he was laying on his side against the back of the couch and Jaskier was on his back in front of them. He laid his head on Jaskier’s shoulder and half draped his body over him, just testing the waters. 

That alone was nice, but the little bit of relief only made Jaskier crave more. He tugged at Geralt’s elbow, not really pulling but guiding him to completely cover him. That was perfect. Jaskier could think a little clearer after a few seconds, then he could feel his limbs again and hummed happily. 

“Good?” Geralt’s hopeful smile beaming up at him from where he was resting his chin on Jaskier’s sternum was bright enough to end wars. 

“Very.”

Geralt closed his eyes and sighed, that soft little smile still on his face. Jaskier took a deep breath and basked in the way Geralt’s torso pinned him to the cushions. His thighs were pressed over his legs and pleasantly heavy and the way he’d cushioned his chin with his hands meant Geralt’s lovely, squishy, heavy arms were keeping his shoulders down. 

After a few minutes Jaskier felt the post-anxiety exhaustion hit that let him know it was really over, but he didn’t want to move. Instead he wrapped his arms around Geralt’s ribs and laced his fingers together over his spine. 

“Thank you,” he whispered, eyes closed with a tired smile, “You’re the best weighted blanket I’ve ever used.” 

“Anytime,” Geralt’s voice reverberated through Jaskier’s body in the most soothing way, deep and strong but gentle as well, “I mean it. You don’t need to hide this from me. I want to help.”

Jaskier giggled, “Oh don’t tell me that.”

One of Geralt’s hands floated up to trace Jaskier’s jaw and the high points of his cheekbones, “Why not?” 

“Well, I might believe you. It's a little overwhelming- believing you. -And my anxiety,” Jaskier clarified, brushing his thumb over Geralt’s back as he spoke.

“That’s okay.”

Jaskier frowned and looked down at his boyfriend. He was staring up at him with ridiculously round eyes and his eyebrows drawn in and together with a not-so-subtle pout to his lips. Regardless of the cute face, his eyes held sincerity. And Jaskier didn’t really know what to do with it. 

“I-” Jask took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling as he spoke, “I’m used to hiding it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

Geralt tapped Jaskier’s chin to get him to look at him, “Yeah, that’s okay. If it’s hard for you to tell someone, that’s okay. We’ll work with it.” 

If he weren’t pinned underneath Geralt at an uncooperative angle, Jaskier would have kissed him, but he settled for resting his palm on his jaw, “You’re too sweet to me.”

“You deserve it,” Geralt hummed, turning his head to kiss his wrist. 

For once, Jaskier didn’t fight him on it. 

[sukirichi]

help me choose what to write next 😳

so i mentioned last week over some ideas i had for each fandom that i write for and the naoya brainrot is real sooo lmk what you wanna see next from me 👀 i’m not sure if i’ll really end up writing the story that wins but i wanna know what you think about each one !!

for jujutsu kaisen | naoya zen’in only 💕

「 broken records 」

→ heartbroken after breaking up with his ex, naoya zen’in hits up an old flame to ease the pain. or at least using you to get someone off his mind was what he intended, until naoya realizes that maybe, you were the real one he truly wanted to forget.

→ i know what you mean, you don’t fuck with randoms. i got everything, everything but real love...

× exes to friends, angst, romance, mostly smut, slight comedy, slice of life (?), friends to lovers, 10 chapters. gonna be easy yet painful to write. basically naoya uses y/n as a distraction that his current gf dumped him but he reminisces his memories with y/n when they used to date back in college and realizes he never stopped loving her.

× why i wanna write this : bcos to me, the dynamics between fwb’s being true friends that trust each other completely is so fun to write. their duo is cute yet iconic and all characters are so wholesome to me. also, its perfect for heavy angst?

× highly inspired by doja cat’s “love to dream”

「 re: route 」

→ one nuclear explosion of a scientific lab was all it took for humanity to reach its downfall. with deadly viruses going airborne, countries going at war with one another, people becoming infected to a point for them to lose their sanity, the brink of earth is teetering at the edge with humanity’s only hope lying inside the abandoned debris of a broken laboratory. they called you The Cure. you called yourself 008. but a certain soldier with entrusted with the task of retrieving you to save the world called you by your name.

× apocalypse au, supernatural au, semi sci-fi, action, romance, heavy inspirations from canon jjk, 10 chapters. this is gonna be so difficult to write but me and my friends are nerding over this au. Also hello SOLDIER NAOYA ?! and a lot of characters here are superhuman and cool as hellll

× most characters are called test subjects 001-008; 001 being the strongest (Gojo) to Naoya (007.)

× idk how i can pull this off but we’ll see. song inspo is “safe and sound” by taylor swift

「 tempted 」

→ in which your plan to give your crush a drink with a few drops of love potion backfires when its downed by a certain red-eyed demon who’s been craving entertainment for the last thousand years. you say that he’s lucifer himself, but he prefers to go by naoya.

× comedy, smut, fluff, romance, have i mentioned smut ?? sugar daddy demon naoya he’s the whole ass package and he owns our soul in this fic. literally. also, with or without the love potion, demon! naoya is a romantic simp that even he is disgusted for the fact he would unleash hell if anyone laid a hand on his precious human. 10 chapters ???

× LISTEN THIS IS JUST SO FUN TO WRITE LMAO its just kind of crackhead ish, good times lmaooo but who knows, i might add angst once naoya gets serious about his feelings and considers that humans and demons don’t work that way

for haikyuu

「 regal / blue blood 」

→ generous and kind are the kings like kita who provide for their kingdom, shielding his people from danger and lifting the clouds for the sun to shine on them. shameful and barbaric are the warriors like suna who who fight tooth and bone, taking lives and destroying homes to expand their territories for power under the royal command.

and as for you, the queen?

sinners are those who find warmth in the strong arms of another who was not her betrothed; sinners are those who caused wars between your own kingdom in the pretense of lies, empty marriage vows, and the romance that bloomed between a broken boy from war and a queen who never wanted the throne.

× ew thats a long ass summary im not good at it but ANYWAYS king! kita x queen! reader x general! suna

× period drama, historical au, forbidden relationship, angst, infidelity, high quality poetic smut (lmao), basically the most passionate romance i probably will ever write? i just love the dynamic between queen! reader and general! suna. difficult to write bcos of language formality but its worth it. 10 chapters.

× highly inspired by the ares x aphrodite x hephaestus dynamic

[weirdfishy]

My Name kdrama thoughts all in one go bc if not i’ll lose them.

damn you can fit a lot in almost 8 hours

fr i thought taejun was boytoy. right when he wasn’t wearing a suit in the first ep, standing next to mujin looking out on the water, i was like, ‘yeah, they fuck’. and honestly they could have.

also the way that love is stored in the chamomile tea— right after pildo gave some to her i abt had it bc jiwoo cared to give mujin tea and then so did pildo for jiwoo, and he didn’t even want her as a partner in the first place 😭

(oh this goes on and on)

very briefly i thought that gangjae was gonna be like bestie as she went through the organization, but then…yeah i couldn’t watch that scene but i liked how those two assholes were used later. plus his route made sense. they both had conviction but for different reasons.

she got the bisexual haircut…or is it just the ‘asian female becomes deadly so she must have an above shoulder bob with fashionable bangs’ ? is that just an american thing?

like the clear ups and downs with mujin and his trust in people and his care for them and his hurt and emotions and— his character was so good

ohgod when mujin called jiwoo to come to the temple after the monk asked him if he trusted anybody— don’t talk to me bc i cried when he was talking to her at the shrine; one bc his speech was like good good, really hitting the feels and two bc i realized that even though he totally thought of her as some sort of daughter/penance at the core of it was him deceiving her and using her

once he excused no telling her with ‘conviction is needed’ and ‘i wanted you to find out for yourself’ i called bullshit bc it fucking is, he just wanted a pawn and she was so ready to become one…if it were someone else, say, a random kid pushed into him and suddenly on their knees, pledging allegiance, what then— she was penance, sure, but she was a deeper revenge bc donghoon’s betrayal was so close- bc they were so close

i wish there was a single english word for seonbae, but istg i heard it before she said thank you to pildo and pulled a fast one on mujin

pildo and jiwoo’s romantic subplot was pretty good i think, but lemme think for a bit

oh them when jiwoo was tirelessly trying to get gangjae, pildo suspicious and she wasn’t really too subtle before pildo knew, that man was a lil whipped i think. then getting out of the car crusher- oof. bc of mujin, driving a car into the machine, all bloody also from gangjae’s interference? ouch. (oh don’t make me think about how mujin sent the owner away on some odd task to get her out of there before he started fighting)

idk if it’s just me thinking abt this but mujin owed donghoon a life debt for that time and then - ignoring the whole he killed donghoon thing other than donghoon now wasn’t around to claim that debt - said life debt is paid thru saving jiwoo from being crushed (tho it could be argued that he saved her life just accepting the plea for revenge and freeing her bc she was on her way to get trafficked with being so desperate and naive). but then she saves him, killing gangjae- he owes her or she’s free of debt. although i admit it is a concept that could’ve been utilized, it would have had no point, with the way the story was written. it’s just me lol

the stuff w her dad— game changer ohmygod the world came down and people were tested and istg i wish it was within mujin’s characterization for him to just deadpan ‘oh fuck’ when he realized that jiwoo only let him go to kill him herself alsjaksk

idk if yk but i live for the things that humanize the bad guy, like the phantom troupe arc is my gd mf favorite bc of the bond all of them are shown to have; that stuff hits hard, and the emotion mujin is shown to have in the whole series? good soup

idk abt anatomy but idk, when she slashed both of taejun’s calves shouldn’t that have reduced his mobility like significantly? same thing with when the top of her thighs got sliced? idk. love the fiction part of fiction

i was delighted to see the butterfly tattoo lady again, that jiwoo helping her would help later

pildo opening jiwoo’s blinds,,, talking to her and trying to open her up,,,, him leaving and her closing the blinds,,,,, sad

then him getting so gd mad at her for betraying them (and *not* stabbing the captain) when he caught her after she- *sobs* she put her father’s ashes in the family grave, even though she’d been holding onto them this whole time- and then pildo being mad at her at the station and in the hospital parking lot. then him giving her the baton *sob* while handcuffed to her (mm the way they dealt with them so well together) after yelling at her, only trying to change her gd mind bc holy shit he understands now. (his voice over at his trust in her and eval of her past actions in relation to the new info,,, *sob* it’s like the only va we get) after masterfully losing their tail taking jiwoo to the fucking beach,,,, gdi pildo you’re whipped, you latched onto the one thing she shared that was hella personal and you followed through when she was a gd fugitive XD

literally he was talking her through being there for her as she made the decision to go the police way, going outside of mujin’s expectations, and then- and then,,, god the slow motion was emotionally brutal, and so was the way her hand shook and moved out from under his cooling hands, immediately leaving 😭 her anger and grief when she confronted mujin bc he took the ppl she loved from her, the one who understood her and the one she had to learn to understand after he passed. don’t talk to me jiwoo and her father and their relationship is so much

i love how i didn’t get it until it was explicitly shown that mujin was the killer 🙄

jiwoo’s nightmares were so visually and audibly well thought out and *chef’s kiss* — sometimes i mourn the effectiveness of some tools in media bc i would love those kinds of freaking out and flipping through images- the things the masterful transitions convey but in writing. but one,i’m not experienced enough to do it enough justice and two, it really just works so much better when it’s heavily visually based.

WHY THE FUCK ARE PPL SHIPPING MUJIN AND JIWOO WHATTHEFUCK ARE YALL BLIND GO FIND A KDRAMA W THAT ACTUALLY HAS THAT BOSS AND DESPERATE NAIVE TURN BADASS ROMANCE DYNAMIC IF YOU WANT IT BC ITS NOT IN MY NAME

hate to see the lack of females in this :)

[idrellegames]

Played the update and it was fucking brilliant. There were so many different ways to do things and so many different outcome, it's honestly mind boggling (and it's not even the full chapter!!!). It's so good.

Also considering that this game is gonna be massive, will gonna get the chance to flirt with or maybe have flings with side characters? Literally everyone you've introduced seems gorgeous(maybe it's just the way you describe them idk). Is that something that you are gonna add in game?

Ahh thank you so much!! 💕 I’m so happy you’re enjoying the game and the new content (I’m assuming by update you mean the alpha build update ahaha). Chapter 1 is a Big One (probably the largest chapter in the entire game, tbh, since I’m testing all of my mechanics; not all chapters will be as choice-driven, some will be more linear, it depends on what’s going on in the main story). 

Flirting/romances with side characters is a planned element of the game. It’s one of the reasons I’m veering away from using the term RO to describe characters. There are main characters who are romanceable, there are side characters who have romance scenes, there are characters of many kinds who have flirt/romance tags, some characters have romances that are locked behind certain major choices are won’t be available on every route, and some characters can be side flings. 

Alexia, Ren, Calla and Mel remain the “core” romances. “Core” basically means that their romances are accessible on every route, they aren’t gender-locked, and their romance content ties directly into the larger plot and their specific character arc. But there are plenty of characters who are romanceable outside the core. There’s already a character in Chapter 1 who can be a side fling later on down the line.    

Secondary romances also allow me to have more specific representation outside the core four. Some secondary romances are with gay and lesbian characters, so that content will be gender-locked. Some of this content can be missed, as it may depend on your choices. 

There are shades of this in the game already - if you go down a certain path in the A Route, Rhodarth has a comment with certain subtext that only shows up if the MC is male or nonbinary; in the Viridian Lady sequence, there is some flirtatious subtext that only shows up if the MC is female or nonbinary. 

I’m not going to be stating any names, but here’s a quick look at some (not all) planned secondary romances. This is also very WIP and may change in the future:

An elven bard (they/them, bisexual, linked to Mel’s theatre troupe)

A dwarf whose magic allows her to manipulate other people’s emotions (she/her, bisexual, linked to Ren’s arc)

A half-Melusine Brightblade (he/him, gay, linked to Aeran if you played the A Route you probably know who this is)

A Melusine Brightblade (they/them, lesbian, former colleague of Rhodarth’s)  

A possibly corrupt aristocrat/patron of the arts (she/her, bisexual, linked to Mel)

[clonesandmoans]

Wrecker test Jedi like Mr Incredible yeet Elastigirl

i wanna thank both of y’all for sending these in bc they gave me the first piece of clone inspo i’ve had in weeks and i really needed that. hopefully y’all won’t mind that this is more soft than comedic, maybe the 1k word count on this bad boy will make up for it. if it’s well-received, i might extend it on my personal? idk tho. but anywho, enjoy this fluff pile -jj

neither of you really intended for your relationship to go beyond what it was, what it always had been since you were folded into the ranks of the bad batch. the first instinct was to keep the clones at arm’s length, maintaining just enough friendliness to warrant trust on the battlefield but nothing more. growing attached wasn’t going to do anyone any good if you went and died on each other, but the longer you were both alive and around the other the harder it became to stomach it.

crosshair was far easier to be around than most would usually think. his low standards for others leave plenty of room for him to be pleasantly surprised when things go alright, so the occasional happier lilt in his voice is genuine and you know it is.

wrecker, though? despite the fact he let himself be read like a holonovel, it was like attempting to read a language you didn’t know. you had no idea how to talk to someone that was so open and honest, utterly devoid of any motives other than what he tells you. it was always “this means that” and “up means down” because not many people would trust a jedi so openly with their true feelings so brazenly.

but wrecker did. the more time spent with the enthusiastic animal loving pyro had him pouring his soul out to you right on the floor of the marauder. it was getting hard to not give him something back because you feared that he gave too much that he’d soon have nothing left.

so you tried to push away everything you’d been taught since the crèche about emotions and vulnerability and started to give pieces of yourself to wrecker and the guys. it worked wonders on missions, made you even more efficient because there was never a doubt whether someone would do what they said they would, be where they said they would be.

this newfound trust — along with what had turned out to be a trap — prompted the first throwing. the five of you were surrounded and almost everyone wounded in some form or another & escaping to higher ground meant life or death. you figured the plan would be for you to use the force and move them before bringing yourself to safety, but wrecker had other ideas.

once hunter’s mapped out an escape route, wrecker snatches tech by his back plates and throws as hard as he can. you’d never seen this display of strength and are absolutely gobsmacked, but you have the sense to use the force to push him a little farther and soften the landing. he does the same for hunter and crosshair and soon it’s just you and him left.

soon he’s right beside you and starting to grab you by the modified armor you wore painted in the same slate grey as the boys, but you moved from his reach the moment you felt him come towards you.

“let me throw you! you need to get with the others!”

“no! you won’t have a way to get to us!”

“i’ve got you for that, don’t i?”

there was something in his force signature, the trust and adoration, and something you didn’t have the experience to identify rolling into you like the waves of kamino against tipoca city. it told you that he knew with every fiber of himself that you were gonna get him out of there once you were safely on the ridge.

when he goes to grab you again you shake your head, pointing to a small area of respite from the droid’s blaster fire. you’re there in seconds and you can tell he’s wondering what you’re about to do but isn’t questioning whatever you’re thinking of. your lightsaber is quickly put away as your hands reach for his, giving them a soft squeeze before moving them together. he gets the hint to lock his fingers and he realizes how exactly he’s going to launch you.

the blaster fire was now centered on your little respite and it would only be minutes before they had you on the ground before them if you didn’t get out now. “on the count of three!” he nods quickly. “one, two, THREE!”

he put most of his strength behind that launch and you felt like you were flying. you turned your body towards him, back to your destination, and wrapped the force around wrecker, bringing him into the air with you.

he didn’t struggle against the hold you had on him, seeming to take comfort in the presence instead of being worried like you imagined he’d be with his discomfort for high places. oddly enough, he seemed to enjoy it, especially after you brought him even to you with a wide grin.

later, when asked about this moment, soaring through the air with his jedi while escaping from a seppie ambush, he’ll say that the only reason he wasn’t afraid of falling was because he knew you would catch him. he could feel your presence around him the entire time and nothing in him doubted that he was safe with you.

your recounting of the events that took place on that backwater planet have you reminiscent of the way he threw you, how you felt so free when soaring towards the rendezvous. it was nothing you’d felt before, nothing you thought you’d feel again until the next inevitable launching.

but then you’re back to the marauder and he collects you into his arms, holding you there as if you would be snatched away if he didn’t barricade you between them. he sinks to his knees with you and lets everything he’s feeling right then be known — the fear of losing you to the swarm in those final moments, the elation of feeling your force presence cocooning him like a soft blanket because that meant he had succeeded in protecting you, what he now told you was love with no words to be found.

and for the first time, you open yourself up the same as he did for you. showing yourself to someone else didn’t hurt the way your master had insisted it would. to you, it felt as if you were making a home in the arms of this clone, this man, this hero. if given the choice, you swear that you’d choose those arms over any temple.

[staggeringsmite]

HELLO! just finished properly listening to your (amazing!) corruption arc playlist! I have many thoughts, and so I wanted to ask you about specific moments and/or characters that you associate with songs (as mentioned in your tags), as I am simply SO intrigued. (did you have certain songs that were added for certain character(s)? were any songs for specific what if's? etc.) also, please consider this a free pass to ramble about anything related to the playlist that you wish. it is SO excellent!!

AHHHH!! thank you jade (both for the compliment and the free space to yell about my thoughts here because when i get playlist brainrot i get it Bad <3) // the playlist in question

i think i'm genuinely going to do a song-by-song thoughts below the cut, but here are some overview thoughts/associations if you don't wanna read all of that or don't have the time!

overall this started with athena by nova twins! i thought the sp*der imagery and overall vibe was great for a more sinister look at the wacky (mostly) chaotic neutral party as they are, just going full lolth. i wanted the pacing to be semi-slow and then drop into the more rock-heavy reckless villain-y section before moving into a (?) bittersweet? i guess? end that feels a bit more like a question mark of if it was worth it.

i think this party is full of extremely interesting motivations to side with an evil power for their own gain/the benefit of the people they care about, and each one of them has a very complex relationship with that so things spun wildly out of control as a thought about this.

for songs i associate with specific characters here's an overview, but you'll notice there aren't a lot for fy'ra rai or orym which i get into a bit more in the song-by-song:

all: i come with knives, into the spin, steady/steady, control, bad dreams / lolth: million years, athena, diggers / dariax: diggers, plenty, hollow / dorian: athena, grenadine, dangerous / fearne: plenty, you should see me in a crown, black wave / fy'ra rai: home / opal: home, grenadine, black wave, you should see me in a crown / orym: i'm not calling you a liar, dangerous

song-by-song >:)

1. i come with knives (acoustic) - this song, zoowee, so i went with the acoustic version because i think it's a nice slow but sinister start and it very much gave me the feeling of whenever you begin as a character to question taking this kind of power, that is a Source yes that you can do whatever with but is rooted in temptation and associated with evil, is there any real justification for that which is not in some part selfish. "i come with knives and agony to love you" if that isn't the chosen ones to a T in their overall reasoning for even considering a deal with lolth. and as much as that may be rooted in care, and wanting to be strong and powerful enough to protect the people they care about, it is a painful way to love when you really choose that path once and for all.

2. into the spin - this one is based on "slow climb but quick to descend" and i love the instrumentation as a part of the overall vibe, but it's about sowing the seed here. planting even a hint of consideration in accepting the power of the circlet and lolth's words is going to need time for the person to mull it over, but once it's on it is On baby.

3. million years - this is what i mean by All In Baby, and while it isn't the playlists narrative point of anyone actually accepting the power for good, it is a glimpse intended to shake things up after an 8 minute slow start with the first two songs, and this is all about lolth who is a Chaotic Evil entity, who is a reckless and hauntingly destructive force <3

4. home - "everything you made will end up broken" i think this song to fy'ra rai is more of an omen, of everything that she cannot fix but wants to, knowing that she cannot make choices for the group and seeing the potential path they could wind up on and knowing that fundamentally if they go that way it is their decision no matter how much it will hurt her - for opal there is SOMETHING about the tone of this song that feels very much like her, and the complete lack of care it seems to have to rattle off mundane things to the intimate drama of the place, to omens, to demands/declarations i think it shows her personality well and how that pairs with a chaotic neutral entity being offered something like the power of the circlet

5. steady, steady - idk if this is necessarily everyone but the mix of you know when you're ready and i am ready to be the one, this is the song about taking the leap and grabbing for power and/or fy'ra rai and orym's feelings of diving in with them or resisting/leaving them

6. diggers - for lolth this is just the consistent "i've been waiting for you" in the bg which i found fun and disconcering but also i think this is the perfect party and perfect storm for her to convince someone to use the circlets power >:) - for dariax! it seems with what we know he doesn't really know that he is a divine soul sorcerer? unless that is a show he is putting up. still, i feel like him carrying the circlet is Very interesting as someone with a divine bloodline who is in a way being given/chosen for that type of power holding onto this artifact born from evil and perhaps being tempted by it & i think this song works as an interesting back and forth for him with the strange double-entity grab for him in a way

7. athena - truly just a banger that fit the vibes wayyyy too well and started this whole thing, it's loud and reckless and out for blood babey <3 - i think i associate it with dorian mostly because i also associate it with lolth and he is the closest to really taking that leap in canon (and also probably the first one the go if we're following this playlist like a story with everyone/most everyone going corrupt, though it can be read truly infinite ways these are just compiled songs) i think it has a certain flair and appeal that just makes me Feel like it's the song that would play the second dorian puts the circlet on (which! fun fact! decreases your charisma by 2! have fun beloved bard!) - i think it's a very intense conversation

8. i’m not calling you a liar - okayokayokay it's orym thought time bc there are sooo many worlds and routes for orym here and i truly have no idea where he would even end up in this hypothetical. do i think that orym loves these guys and wants to protect them? yes. do i think that he may genuinely take the pain of loving them and keep his morals by walking away and/or turning on them if they all go evil? maybe. do i think he also might love them enough to throw that away? maybe. in a party of all chaotic neutrals besides him without fy'ra rai he is surprisingly the wild card here. while they have each other and no one else, he has the teachings and wisdom of the voice of the tempest and a moral compass that does not align with theirs at all. so, something has to give! dorian's slide into chaotic neutral was natural, but i think orym would be giving up Much More of himself to let himself slide from neutral good to chaotic neutral. i have no answers only sad, sad hypotehtical questions and scenarios so i will just, leave you with "and i love you so much, i'm gonna let you kill me." - this song also comes here before the storm of the 3-5 because whatever way he goes i think orym sees it all happen before anyone else does.

9. grenadine - Do Not Tell Me You Couldn't Hear villainous opal and dorian say the lines "what a big heart i have, i'll be your savior now. what a real catch i am, all the more to pull you down." - i see this song as playful but more genuine for dorian in terms of Truly Really believing any action he does to protect his friends is justified and good to him in his eyes whereas this is a very playful song for a villainous opal - they both give off this vibe strongly though (could see this one for fearne as well but don't have a good a justification)

10. black wave - helloooooo my favorite druid and warlock?? going apeshit with power? more so than they already are on a day-to-day basis (esp given episode 6 combat)? that's what this song is about. "stumbling down the street i swear to god you don't wanna test me" - i also think they both have an interesting question with "what do i believe?" with fearne being of the feywild which is a place of considerably different moral standing to exandria and opal being so young that she doesn't have the world figured out at all <3 terrifying and upsetting when you get into those questions on a corruption arc <3

11. you should see me in a crown - okay i knooooow this one is on the dorian playlist BUT vibes for my brutal babes <333 something about opal’s whole personality and fearne confronting the mirror self But eventually choosing/heading down the path anyway?? impeccable i love it there’s very few other thoughts here

12. control - OKAY not only does this song Fuck but i put it as party wide because i think it transitions nicely into the end of the mix which is more of the “questioning this decision after going all in but not being able to turn back/was it all worth it in the end?” part - i mostly love the “though i like the idea of providence... i’m in love with control” repeated because! i think the circlet is very interesting in that it has been iterated many times over that though it has connections to lolth and she has some claim/twisted abilities with it, it IS just a power source. so, the idea of going all in and accepting this power is an incredibly interesting dilemma of “who’s in charge here? did you really put it on/would you have without these dreams and lolth’s influence? are you really in control?” i think this song really represents that admission/delusion of control in this situation.

13. plenty - okay this song in any context is just my Feywild/Faerie Vibe song so i think this trails back to my feelings about fearne leaning into that different set of fey morals along a corruption arc, and as for dariax i think this is about abundance! following through that mixture of divine power source and chaotic evil god origin over dariax and his chaotic history of vast and varied experiences in emon, i think this very much befits a corrupt version of him.

14. dangerous - this song makes me insane, and the first reason i put it on the mix was the “the dead are true believers. rest assured. we are all believers” really just made me think of a terrible and cinematic moment of them discovering the circlet with the dead aboard the ship ESP in the context of this playlist’s narrative where that was the point they were destined to claim its power and go through their corruption arc - “how does it feel to be your own deceiver?” is the main reason and feeling as for why i made this a dorian song as well in line with “don’t worry i would do anything for my friends.” bc i personally find dorian’s corruption arc to be disillusioned with his own intentions and takes a lot of convincing himself that taking this power for his friends is noble in the scope of this group’s collective morals and self-interest in keeping each other safe and prosperous so <3

15. hollow - woowee dariax corruption, at least in this scope, i think is very frightening to me in that i think he’s going full maximalist, abundant, greedy, impulsive chaotic evil if we’re realllly leaning into a villain arc but still many of those things if we’re just going “this group is the only thing that matters and i’ll do anything for them no matter the cost” - i also think this song has a tone of resentment towards this? apprehension a bit? recognizing that this is how the person singing is but not entirely enjoying or feeling justified in it? as impulsive as dariax is, i think he cares A Lot, and is even a character i could see pulling a reverse dorian and going chaotic good in a different story than we’re in? “so simple when i was younger” and “i’d be a dancer of a different tune” really give me angsty dariax vibes in the height of his corruption arc

16. bad dreams - “don't you worry about your bad dreams cause I'm not in them. don't you worry about what change brings cause you can't stop it.” WOOF i don’t know that this one really needs to be explained but it’s the climax and the descent all in one of the party/corrupted individual being too far gone in their decision to step back or be saved. i think the tone of the song lends itself well to a mixture of uncaring but also giving some question to if they regret it or not based on the narration of the crowd against them.

[greencharisard]

I wasn't planning on shading this one, but The Arcana characters without shading just look wrong. Anyway, here we have Shade and his two dumb himbo boyfriends, finding their old anatomy/work notebook, probably somewhere in the underground dungeons. They apparently also used it to write down and doodle during work breaks and trips.. to Vlastomil's estate most likely. Julian recalls that yes, Shade would indeed spend a lot of time with the courtiers when not working or studying magic/medicine; Lucio on the other hand is not exactly thrilled about this (I tried really hard to make is expression a mix of concerned, miffed and a bit angry, not 100% rage, cuz... he's not really angry, just shocked). For funsies, if it's hard to read the notes on the doodles: - Near the portrait of Valdemar: "Note: they saw me draw". - "Wiggler" near... well, the doodle of Wiggler. - "Vulgora flipped another table..." near the bottom left doodle of Vulgora. - "Wine bitch wasn't around today :)" Near the bad doole of Valerius. Valerius is the only one Shade wasn't close to, and almost never showed up at the tea parties, Shade and Vulgora probably pranked him when he was around too. Now, addressing the obvious; if the courtiers knew Shade before they died... why do they interact with them the way they do in the game? Well, there's a variety of reasons: - All 5 in general not recognizing the MC: this is already canon (especially Valdemar, it's canon that you worked with them alongside Julian so... they just don't aknowledge that). In my case: all 5 aren't quite sure on their first meeting that it was Shade, because they changed so much (and went under a different name may I add, Asra had them change it because just their old name would trigger an headache). - Valerius is kind of a bitch and the wine spilling happens like in the old prologue (full on spill on purpose), because even tho he isn't sure they're the same person, he's a petty bitch that holds a grudge. - Volta takes until after the end of the story to recognize Shade, and is the one they reconnect with the fastest, once they find the notebook they go talk with her and even free her from the Devil's chains; she's the only demon that goes back to being human, purely because she wants to and Shade is happy to help (yes I'm still salty that (for now) she only gets an happy ending in Nadia's route, so in my HC she always gets freed post-ending.) - Vulgora doesn't interact with the MC much so they really only figure it out later on; idk what happens to them, they fall in a frozen lake in my main route and it's unknown what happens afterwards, so for now they're stuck in the arcana realms. - Vlastomil is,,, an interesting case, he's the one that was the closest with them, so he was really put off when he realized (I'd say midway trough the story?) that Shade was his old friend... but with none of the memories. Especially in Lucio's route (my main one) Shade wouldn't be too thrilled about the notion, but since Lucio isn't bound to any of his old contracts anymore (so technically there's no reason for Vlastomil to attack him), they make an attemt at talking to him again and reconnect only after quite a bit of time has passed, to be safe (they also have a new familiar they found during an exploration they went on with Lucio; let's just say it's not Ginger but Lucio is still definetly not fond of him... while Vlasty might be). Due to all of this I have to retcon and say Shade definetly doesn't get Ginger for a long time (I also plan on redesigning her so, there's that). - Valdemar is the one that I probably need to explain the most lol. Obviously they have no moral compass, and what little consideration they had for Shade before was thrown out the window after they were brought back without memory. They actually meet once before Nadia introduces them; this is early and brief enough that Valdemar actually doesn't recognize them, but they're the one that catches up on it the fastest. They have of course no regard for them and absolutely would have no problem vivisecting them (again, Lucio's route problems lmao), Shade gets lucky that they're interrupted. Shade had absolutley zero plans on reconnecting with them, but after talking with Julian, and asking Vlastomil about how they used to hang out, they decide to at least try and talk to Valdemar, if anything because having them as friend is better than being enemies. It takes trial and error, Shade starts out by going to meet them in the old dungeon in secret and talk, Valdemar couldn't care less at first, to them it wasn't even the same person; if anything they could be a good test subject. Then Shade starts bringing dead animals for them to dissect, then follow along with the experiments and studies, then starts to help by using magic to make certain organs or limbs move ecc. Eventually they get Valdemar to talk a bit more and fill in Julian's blanks (He could only recall the interaction he'd seen; Shade would often stay behind to work with them overtime), they start being more comfortable around them, addressing them as "doctor" again and not getting goosebumps every time they got close or touched them. The others find out about this waaaay into the process, all of them range from weirded out, to worried, to extreme concern/fear (Lucio); Julian is the one that comes around an accepts it the fastest, he's seen it before after all, but for the others it takes a bit more time. In the end the group may or may not have reformed, with tea parties and reunions happening every time Shade comes back from an expedition with Lucio, he's invited as well of course, but almost never comes along at first (after the first few times he bonds with Vulgora over fighting/sparring and over who can throw chairs the furthest, they get along well enough). So yeah, more the arcana stuff, I was planning on drawing more courtiers stuff, but honestly I don't have the energy and there's still two books left of Lucio's route that may change stuff again so I'm gonna wait. I have to update my MC's outfit and fams tho.