#(which was also slightly written. mostly in dialogue)

[aroaceweirdos101]

Honestly, if Titan and Titania's relationship was ACTUALLY written well(in a sense where they go through a slow burn like Trillisto and it's like the "He fell first but she fell harder" trope):

This song would've TOTALLY fit Titania(ESPECIALLY with the idea of the other uranian moons as the muses).

[triangulum-theory]

Wistfully thinks of Spellwind, I should make a headcanons up to ep 31 list its just my equivalent of like Skyrim or lotr where theres so much going on and so dense but god damn one of my favorite episodes was when two of my favorite characters became trees and the entire experience was like...they were tripping on shrooms but also one with the shrooms? Its like episode 8

and I love the dms orc captain that hates going on land and is there for the in between transportation from sea to sea land to land ferryman (not really I feel like its mostly hard to narrate and have a character at the same time) I just love captain buttocks' (yeah I'm pretty sure thats his name) humor and how him and djett ('jet') were closer in the beginning

I love ty and varsha together but I also ship smith with them as time went on, I can't tell who I want to joke as the third smith and varsha are friends to lovers, ty and varsha are irritated assholes to lovers, smith is just a jaded old fuck that loves his morons (he respects varsha a lot and thinks ty is an entertaining idiot)

Varsha and Djett are siblings they love each other like family and share different spells and potions and knowledge of interest notes

I feel like the only person really thinking too deeply about this tabletop story and wanted to drop a few lines of appreciation, I like listening to it to go to sleep since its so slow paced and gently spoken and the music and sound efx is so sweet

[villa-dellamorte]

Who Said What in the Cut Romance Post Fade-Prison Dialogues

So I couldn't stop thinking about the cut dialogues from what I assume is a data dive that @merrinla posted. I wanted to take a swing at figuring out who each line belongs to.

First: Why it was cut

My best guess as to why this was cut is maybe there was supposed to be another quest between the fade prison and the final battle against Elgar'nan. Maybe the possible cut rescue quest that people have speculated about? Anyway, I think that having this dialogue, then the quest, then the bow-chika-wow romance scene, then the final quest would have made for good pacing, but who knows 🤷‍♀️

Opening Dialogue

Rook: Solas? (?): We're not sure. Probably searching for some way to defeat Elgar'nan. (?): We don't know. Not really. We were so busy looking for you we… lost track.

I think that these two (?) lines have to be between Emmrich and Lucanis for logistical reasons (i.e., the only three that are definitely going to be in the party/Lighthouse after Tearstone Island are Emmrich, Lucanis and Taash, but these dialogues just... aren't written in Taash's voice lol).

[Paraphrase] option: It's been two weeks. Rook: I was… what? Two weeks? option: A two-week long day. Rook: Apparently my hard day lasted two weeks.

My thoughts about this: the first option is probably the crying/empathetic option or thumbs up/agreeable option, and the second one is obviously the purple option. I wonder if a stoic/stern or otherwise third option would have been added or is buried in the data somewhere?

LI Worries About Rook

(?): Yes, you were gone two weeks. Which means you need rest, food, and water.

My assumption is that this is the dialogue that the player gets if the player hasn't romanced anyone. This has got to be Lucanis. Here's my reasoning: one, again, for logistics, the best choice for this line is between Emmrich, Taash, and Lucanis. This is not written in Taash's voice, and while I could see this as something Emmrich might say, it fits Lucanis so well. He is the mom of the group, and already is coded as Rook's BFF even in a non-romance playthrough, and the quick-to-the-chase attitude works for him, I think.

(Emmrich?): Yes, my love. Which is why you shouldn't rush out just yet.

I agree that this is mostly likely Emmrich's line. It seems like the logistic-safe companion dialogue options are placed first in this list, which makes sense, and Emmrich is notorious for his terms of endearment for Rook.

(?): Enough of this. You need food and rest. We'll talk business later.

I think this is Lucanis. This is Lucanis's way of caring for a romanced Rook-- making sure they are fed and taken care of. Plus, it leads into the follow-up line well (see below).

(Taash?): Yeah. So you need rest. We can talk about the other crap later. Davrin: We'll talk about this later. You need some rest and Assan needs feeding.

Yeah, this is definitely Taash and Davrin.

(?): Everyone please stop. Rook needs rest, and… food, probably…

So, with Davrin we're getting into the list of characters who are not logistically safe. That means this one is likely Bellara: the tone fits a shaken Bellara who has just lost Rook AND Neve, and also fits the clear followup well (see below).

(?): Yeah. A lot happened. But it can wait. Until you've had some rest. (?): Yeah. There's a lot to catch up on. After you rest, anyway.

If my guesses are right so far, that means this is either Neve or Harding. These last two lines could really fit either of them. I think that the slightly more hesitant tone of the latter one makes it fit Harding better.

LI Follow Up

Rook: Thanks, Bellara. Bellara: Of course. I'm here for you. Whenever you're ready.

This one is why the "everyone stop" line seems like Bellara's to me. Rook has got to be overwhelmed and hungry and exhausted after everything, and is thanking Bellara for noticing that.

Rook: Lucanis… Lucanis: Go get some sleep before you collapse. If anybody knows how bad that is, it's me.

This Lucanis follow up is why I think his line is the "enough of this" one. Again, he is putting Rook's wellbeing first-- which, is also SO sweet for "crow-always-puts-the-contract-first" Lucanis. Ugh!

Rook: Taash… Taash: You need rest. I'll make you tea. Do you want ginger or lavender? Rook: Emmrich, I can't… Emmrich: Please. For the sake of one who's missed your company.

These are quite obvious and fit the preceding lines well, and are both equally sweet and caring. I love them!!

Rook: Rest? There's so much… (?): There always is. Don't worry. I won't start without you.

Rook: I can't rest, there's too much— (?): Who knows you best?

I'm tossing these back and forth between Neve and Davrin. I'm assuming the first one is Davrin: because what would anyone else be starting? So I'm thinking it's Davrin talking about feeding Assan? LOL. And the second one feels like Neve, best detective in Minrathous.

Rook: But there's so much to— (?): Please, Rook. For me.

This leaves the last one to be Harding. But it could easily fit any of the companions, really.

Player Dialogue Choice

option: Then let's all take a break. Rook: Everything you've done, you all deserve a rest as much as I do. option: Not too long Rook: The gods can wait a little while longer. Rook: Not for too long. But fine, I'll go rest. And hey, it's nice of you to care.

I would guess the paraphrases here are for the thumbs up/agreeable choice and the second is the stoic/stern one. The "hey, it's nice of you to care" is probably coded to happen no matter which choice, because of the next lines:

Close

These all seem to be written to occur no matter who is romanced, because of Taash's:

(?): You're quite welcome.

Polite, well-mannered speech? Yup, it's Emmrich.

Davrin (?): Assan will be happy to see you.

Definitely Davrin.

(?): It didn't feel right with you gone.

This feels like something Bellara would say, especially with how emotional she already is in this scene.

(?): Yep. What they said.

I'm stuck on this one between Taash and Harding. One on hand, the clippy, aloof attitude seems like Taash. But the little "Yep" could be Harding, too.

(?): It's good to have you back. (?): I'm so glad we got you back. (?): Rest well, Rook.

That leaves these three a toss-up between Neve, Lucanis, and Harding/Taash. If the "yep" is Harding, I think the "it's good to have you back" would fit Taash, and since the theme of Lucanis's lines here seem to be focused on sleeping, the "rest well" may work for him.

(?): I'll see you in a bit.

This is probably a catch-all line for all companions to say depending on who's romanced.

[imjustanasshole]

Would You Fall in Love with Me Again? (Albus' Curse)

I've been working on a project for the HP, Marauders and Next Gen fandoms that I'm planning to post on ao3. Before I do so, I wanted to explain it a bit and post the prologue here, mostly to get some unbiased constructive feedback, but also to find other people who are interested on this subject as much as I am (and maybe become mutuals)!!

This project of sorts is a fanfic based on the 'a Potter falls for a Black in every generation' trope, with a touch of Slytherin-Gryffindor relationship angst and a slight 'In every other universe Gwen Stacy falls for Spider-Man and in every other universe, it doesn't end well' inspiration to it (because I love ITSV and ATSV), but in the HP universe, of course. The title is based on Would You Fall in Love with Me Again written by Jorge Rivera-Herrans for the Epic Musical, all the chapter titles are different lines from the song, and some scenes/dialogues will have similitudes with some lyrics as well.

As it is implied in the prologue (posted under the cut), Albus Severus Potter was born with the ability to gaze into people's past through their eyes, this way he finds the hard truths that surround his family and friends, and, most importantly, their ancestors, thus discovering that they've been doomed for decades (or even centuries). He carries this weight that threatens to either kill him or eventually make him go mad, mix that with an unimaginable power and a threat to the person he loves the most, and things are bound to blow up sooner or later.

The three main pairings are Jegulus, Drarry and Scorbus, but the 'main character', so to speak, is Albus Severus. In case there is any doubt, the two former couples don't have a happy ending (their outcome is canon-ish), therefore there is no inc*st of any kind (I've gotten this question asked when explaining this concept before, and... yeah, no). I plan to tell the story of these three couples from the P.O.V. of their respective Potter member, with a third-person omniscient narrator (but there might be some Black-Malfoy POVs, or even externals on certain occasions). There are background pairings such as Wolfstar, Dorlene, Rosekiller, Marylily (and perhaps some Pandalily as well), past casual Rosestarkiller, and others that I'd like to keep a surprise; in the Golden Trio Era I would include Romione, Linny, Deamus, past Dreo, and most probably other past/casual relationships; finally, I must say, I dislike a lot of the Next Gen ships that I've seen, and, honestly, Scorpius and Albus are going to be very much in their own bubble during their chapter, since is much heavier emotionally (and also more family-centered) than the two prior ones, which start in a slightly more light-hearted and innocent tone (even though their ending is quite dramatic), so, even though some background relationships will be present, they won't be as relevant as in the other parts of the story and, therefore, is not worth it for me to mention at the moment (they most probably will be tagged if this gets officially posted, though). I'd like to clarify that, even if the outcome for most of the couples is canon-compliant, the plot is not and the characters are more leaning toward their fandom characterizations as well (not completely OOC, though), most of them are queer and some of them are trans and/or gender non-conforming (including three out of six of the protagonists if I don't decide to make it even more of them). With this, I would like to take a stand against some attitudes that this fandom has had towards trans and queer people as of late, don't forget that we are the backbone of this community. Trans and queer people, along with POC, have created some of the most important and iconic parts of this fandom (and many others), don't erase us, don't dismiss us, don't forget us, and don't support new or old projects that JKR directly benefits from, please. Therefore, I'll be including some of my favorite headcanons/fanon interpretations in this fanfic, for example: Latino/Hispanic James, trans Regulus, ambulatory cane-user Remus, plus-size Lily, black Rosier twins, black and trans Hermione, queer Ron, mixed and trans Harry, gay Draco, trans Albus Severus, and many, many more (trust me, many more). All of this will be treated casually but it will be there because people who are not able-bodied, cisgender, white, straight, etc. also have a right to be present in stories without this being the only important part of their character. So fuck JKR, I don't owe her anything, we created this fandom, we made it what it is and it's ours, if you are not comfortable with any of this, I'm not interested in your feedback and I don't need you to keep reading any further, kindly go fuck yourself and get out of my blog.

And now, the prologue (I hope you enjoy it!):

Prologue: “Penelope”

(Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, Part I)

Albus is pretty sure it was written somewhere in the stars: every time, a Potter will fall for a Black and, every time, it will end disturbingly wrong. At first, he had thought that it was all in his head, it was not possible that they were bound to make the same error generation after generation, the forces of the universe wouldn't be so cruel. He surely had to be mistaken.

However, once he met his Scorpius, he understood. He knew he was doomed to tragedy, just like his father, his grandfather before him, and even his great-grandfather before them. He could see it in his father's eyes, so clear it pained him to foresee he would meet the same destiny, and so he had tried to avoid it. But what has been written can’t be averted, thus he fell for the Malfoy boy, and he was now paying the price.

Years ago, when they had discovered that Albus had this gift, he had anticipated nothing good could come of it. Seeing people’s pasts and even their ancestors' past was a disaster waiting to happen. Having such a connection with them that he felt as if he had been in the room for those memories haunted him, and made him troubled and closed off. Yet, his parents told him it was a gift, his healers said it was superior magic, his teachers called it an advantage. And, when Albus had confessed it to him in their third year, Scorpius assured him he would help him to be able to live with it. Then he had held him as he cried, after yet another horrifying vision of a life that wasn’t his own permeated his nightmares.

He deemed it a curse. It didn’t matter how many nights he spent in Scorpius’ arms, sobbing himself to sleep while the other boy whispered sweet nothings in his ear, Albus knew he was cursed. Cursed and powerful. He had to run away from Scorpius as soon as possible to not drag him down with him. Nevertheless, when Scorpius refused to give up on him, paying no mind to how many times he pushed him away, Albus accepted they were… Well, utterly fucked, simply put.

Regardless, Albus had never imagined they would end up like this.

He is barely standing, Dumbledor’s White Tomb behind him, the land around him destroyed, barely avoiding the Hogwarts castle itself but surely reaching most of its grounds. Scorpius stands about ten meters from him, his back to the castle doors from which terrified students have started to spill out. Harry won’t take too long to be there as well, he’s sure of it.

Albus doesn’t need the judgment in their eyes, he is aware of what he looks like, what this reminds them all of. His gaze focuses solely on Scorpius, though has it ever not done so?

“Albus,” He mutters, loud enough for only him to hear. He has scratches all over his face, but, for the way he feels hot liquid dripping down his head, Albus is certain his own condition is even worse. Scorpius drops his wand and tries to take a step forward. “Please…” He starts to beg but is swiftly interrupted. 

“Don’t!” Albus stops him immediately, taking a step back himself. “Stay back, Scorp!” He weeps, pleading. “Don’t make me do this…”

That's it for the prologue!! It's the shortest part out of the five of them, I'm currently writing chapter one (Jegulus' chapter), and after I finish I have to write chapter two (Drarry) and chapter three (Scorbus) that narrates the events before the prologue, there'll be an epilogue as well, but I'd like to keep its contents a secret... I can, however, reveal the chapter titles, which won't be shorter than 5k words but also won't be longer than 10k words (I'm anticipating):

How had they gotten here?

(first chapter post)

-Chapter One: “Is it really you, my love?” (James Fleamont Potter and Regulus Arcturus Black)

-Chapter Two: “I am not the man you knew” (Harry James Potter and Draco Lucius Malfoy)

-Chapter Three: “Don’t tell me you’re not the same person” (Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, Part II)

-[epilogue name: not revealed (but it exists)]

If even one person reads this and enjoys it, I'd be satisfied. Any constructive criticism is appreciated (and excuse me if there are any linguistic errors, english is not my first language), as well as some tips for posting on ao3 (it'd be my first time using the platform as a writer) and any other comments on the subjects that I spoke about in this post.

(also! playlist about the potter-black/gryffindor-slytherin love theory, still in progress)

[modmad]

Hullo, this will probably be a slightly odd question, but you’re sorta my main authority on Great God Grove!

I want to play it with a friend and be able to do appropriate voices for the characters when reading dialogue out loud. If you’ve got specific headcanons, or if there’s official voice claims or something, that would be a big help! The accents mostly seem to be written out phonetically, but for some reason I’m struggling to place what accent Thespius in particular has, if any? I’m hesitant to dig around for this kind of thing because I don’t want too many more spoilers than I already have…

(also please know that you’re the reason I’m finally gonna play the game. Was being slowly worn down by all of your hype & happiness, and then some SOS fan art made me go “okay I have to read this actually” so I read The Ascension Of Thespius Green first and went kinda bonkers and now I have to play this game)

I mean 1) I am not an official source so I'm not someone who would know the 'correct' answer to this but 2) I think you end up giving characters the right voice for you, sometimes it changes a little over time til you click with it but honestly I'd just go in and feel it out.

If you really do want my two cents I always imagine Thespius with the classic chilled out Californian; all that 'dude' and 'dog' hippy talk immediately put him in that space for me. Like, whoa! Groovy man. Likewise Clickclack immediately sounded like Jeremy from Yellow Submarine to me, very posh english accent but also a lil goofy and toony, but like this a game which is so personal and your experience of it should be your own! don't cater to expectations!

[viv-hollande]

The Internet Historian plagiarism debacle is kind of uniquely funny to me. I'm "a fan" of Internet Historian, by which I mean specifically The Cost of Concordia, which is an excellently paced recounting of a personal interest of mine and is thus video crack for me, especially in the first half. While I did register some of his more 4chan opinions, I mostly ignored them because those videos generally weren't as tightly scripted and didn't hold my interest. ADHD brain y'all.

Even before Man in Cave I had mostly drifted away from his channel. The Area 51 video was the start of this. I only watched it once when it came out, but I vaguely remember it being sluggishly paced and packed with internet reference humor, especially that of the 4chan variety. I don't remember if I saw Man in Cave when it first came out or only saw the worse, rewritten version. Given that the original plagiarized article is excellently written, and that I don't really remember Man in Cave having that much of an impression on me, I probably never saw it, or only saw it one.

The really funny thing for me, though, concerns The Cost of Concordia. You see, because nautical stuff is of interest to me, I can attest that The Cost of Concordia is an exquisitely researched, extremely accurate retelling of the Costa Concordia disaster. Internet Historian was so committed to accuracy that he intentionally made the dialogue worse by using direct translations of the transcripts of the Costa Concordia's data recorder. A lot of it sounds slightly stilted and repetitive because of that direct translation, and because Captain Schettino kept asking the same questions over and over again.

In the Q&A for The Cost of Concordia, Internet Historian also goes into some of the creative process behind making the video. He talks about some of the ideas they had for the project, many of which actually had a lot of work put into them and later had to be scrapped. He talked about scrapping title cards, specifically because they broke up the flow of the video. Thank fuck he did, because again. Video crack.

It's just so funny to me that unlike iilluminaugtii and Somerton, who were all plagiarism, no substance, with just a tiny little heaping bucket of shitty personality, Internet Historian and his team are clearly capable of doing actual research and making well animated, well written, accurate videos. Even more strangely, he readily admitted to a few factual errors and misrepresentations in the Q&A, so he clearly doesn't mind admitting minor goofs for the sake of accuracy. What happened here? Did he get bored or something? Was he just assuming he could get away with it?

[amateurmasksmith]

Spades

<so call me a pessimist, but I don’t believe in it> A/N: this was written before watching part 2 of the hear me out cake video (and mostly before I even knew there *was* a part 2 lol)

Summary: they’re all aspec. most of them do not know this. this idea would not leave my brain until I wrote it down. enjoy!

“Nope,” Virgil said, voice tense and dripping black.

“Nuh-uh, nooo way,” he reiterated, fighting back the tempest tongue, “you guys have fun.”

Roman looked at Virgil, expression a mix of indignation at having been interrupted, and surprise at the anxious side’s reaction.

“Oh come on, it’ll be great!” Roman enthused.

“I’d really rather not.”

“Virgillll, please…. Don’t be a sour-puss-in-boots!”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “…Really?”

“Ok fine, it may not be my best work, but I’ve got an ace up my sleeve!”

Roman reached his hand up his sleeve, failing to notice Virgil’s breath catch, and pulled out a card.

“It’s the jack of diamonds!” Roman grinned.

Virgil remembered to breathe. “Great, yeah.”

“Still no, though.”

“Ughhh, fiiine,” Roman said, drooping his shoulders dramatically. “I guess I’ll just go ask everyone else.”

He began sinking out, but stopped part-way down to pop back up and wave. “Bye, Virgil!”

“Later, Princey.”

As silence fell over his room once more, Virgil let out a sigh.

It wasn’t Roman’s fault, he thought.

But god did that make him uncomfortable.

A “hear me out cake.” Not… the worst thing the internet had ever come up with, objectively speaking.

But being objective wasn’t Virgil’s department. And, subjectively, Virgil felt…

Gross.

He knew! He knew that it was fine! He was glad, even, that everyone else was having their fun.

That didn’t make the assumption sting any less…

But it was better than the alternative.

What, tell them how he felt?

How he… didn’t feel.

gonna have to at some point, he thought.

Virgil slung his headphones back on and frustratedly sighed.

not yet.

<><><><><><><>

“He… yeah, no - he would.”

Virgil lounged upside-down on a couch in the Mind Palace common area, while Logan sat properly in a chair next to it, Rubik’s cube in hand.

Logan passed the cube from one hand to the other and back again, deep in thought despite the cube being mostly solved.

“This whole exercise was…”

“Dumb?”

Logan definitely didn’t smirk at that. “Confusing.”

“Yeah…”

Logan clicked the last section into place, and wordlessly passed the cube to Virgil for him to scramble.

A comfortable silence settled over them, save for the quiet rattling of the Rubik’s cube as Virgil fidgeted with it.

He passed it back, and Logan started solving anew.

“But the Michelin Man?! Really??” Logan exclaimed incredulously.

Virgil laughed. “Agreed - I’m too ace for this shit.

Logan paused, cube askance.

…shit.

Logan’s eyes were piercing into Virgil’s soul.

He was caught.

Trapped.

There was no escape.

Time seemed to slow as Virgil realized what the fuck he just let slip.

All he could do was watch and wait as his friend processed the revelation.

He could only hope Logan would be kind.

“You too?”

…what.

“…what?”

“Ace,” Logan replied. “Unless I’ve misunderstood - In which case, apologies, please carry on.”

“I- yeah,” - breathe, Virgil, c’mon - “Yeah.”

“Fantastic,” responded Logan. “Anyway, I-”

“No, no, wait - We’re not just brushing past this,” Virgil interrupted, rotating himself.

This was a right-side-up conversation. “What do you mean, you’re Ace too?! I thought I was the only one!”

Logan turned his head to one side slightly, intrigued. “Really? I was under the impression we all were.”

“But Thomas-?”

Logan shrugged. “Is full of contradictions.”

“Honestly, the entire concept of metaphysical facets of an individual personality who don’t interact with the physical plane, except when they do, and also take part in scripted-yet-also-improvised modern-day, multi-faceted Platonic dialogues including a strenuous relationship with the fourth wall, is already quite the feat of suspension of disbelief.”

“…Yeah, but you didn’t have to say it.”

“Oh.” Logan’s face dropped apologetically. “Was that distressing?”

Virgil waved him off. “Nah, Tumblrism, you’re good.”

“Ah, good.”

The quiet was shredded by piercing yells, from the two most likely suspects of such a thing.

“REMUS!!! Filming was bad enough, but I DEMAND you return my conditioner!!!!”

“CATCH ME FIRST BROMATO!!!”

The green gremlin sprinted past, with - presumably - Roman’s conditioner bottle in his teeth - followed shortly by a katana-wielding, full-speed Roman.

“Get back here, you- AGH, just give it!!”

Logan and Virgil watched them run past, Virgil’s eyes locked on their last visible point, listening to the sounds of fading chaos.

Logan hummed in realization. “Ah, that explains it.”

“Hmm?”

“Roman had several uncharacteristically… suggestive - attempts at humor during filming today.”

“Twinfluence, gotcha. Bet that was fun.”

Logan nodded in chagrined agreement. “Indeed.”

A calmer quiet eased over them as the chaos faded into the distance.

“He could conjure more,” Logan commented.

“Ehh, it’s the principle of the thing.”

Virgil rubbed the fabric of the end of his hoodie sleeve between his fingers, fidgeting nervously.

“Dumb question.”

“No such thing, but continue.”

“I-” Virge took a second to reset. “How’d you figure it out? Being Ace?”

“If it’s not, you know, invasive or anything,” he said, waving a sleeve-covered hand in Logan’s vague direction.

“Perfectly fine,” Logan replied. “It was actually quite recent - While compiling my contestants, I struggled to find any that fit the initial criteria.”

“Eugh, yeah. Wait, what do you mean, ‘initial?’”

“I discussed with Roman, and we arrived at the conclusion that ‘an unusual connection to’ or ‘metaphorical resonance with’ would also count towards the exercise.”

Virgil turned his head slightly and looked down for a moment. “Oh, like a gender thing? Yeah, I could see that working.”

“I- Hmm. I suppose? Regardless, that was what pushed me to research the asexual spectrum - As well as aromantic - and determine that I am, in fact… both of those things.”

“Huh.” Vigil mused. “I just figured it out when tumblr gave me an existential crisis.”

Logan passed the again-solved cube back for him to scramble.

“It was quite the puzzling experience,” Logan said.

The gears turned in Virgil’s head as the Rubik’s cube turned in his hand.

“Speaking of which-”

He couldn’t help but laugh and roll his eyes as he threw the cube back at Logan.

god, he’d created a monster.

<><><><><><><>

Janus was enjoying a relaxing moment, sitting in his room, reading some book or another - which one wasn’t terribly important - and was reveling in the small, precious moment of peace he’d been afforded.

“BOO! bs!”

Five minutes. Nearly a record.

“Hello, Remus.”

The green-clad side strode over to him, and pushed a bottle into his hands.

“Got ya shit!”

Janus eyed Remus suspiciously. That is to say, with his normal face.

“The good shit!”

He then turned his attention towards the plastic bottle. Other than the bite marks, it appeared unmodified.

Turning it over, he read the label-

“Conditioner?”

“Yuh-huh!” Remus grinned.

“Unmodified?” A nod.

“Safe for my use? No side effects?”

Remus plopped down on the floor, criss-cross, and considered. “Well, you’ll probably smell good after.”

“Good?”

“Boring. Like strawberries or something, I dunno.”

“You don’t know?”

Remus shrugged. “Didn't read it.”

Janus pulled on the thread. This sounded promising.

“…Why not?”

“Running from Roman,” Remus grinned.

There it was.

“Well, I certainly hope you two had fun,” Janus said with a smirk.

“Meh,” Remus shrugged, picking at… something on the floor Janus didn’t look too closely at.

“Not as fun the video would’ve been, but someone,” Remus said as he flopped down, limbs spread like a starfish, “said there wouldn’t be room on the cake.”

“Which is bullshit!” Remus chirped. “So I made my own!”

“I thought Thomas wasn’t filming today?”

“Ehh, Roman got a bee up his ass about it and did it himself. Roped in Patty Cake and Teach, too!”

And didn’t invite us…

Janus hummed nonchalantly. “I’m surprised the Prince didn’t invite his new bestie.”

“HA!” Remus barked, “He tried, but Virgey got all tied up in knots about it. Not in the fun way either.”

Janus mentally sidestepped Remus’ colorfulness with the ease and agility that came from years of balancing the train-mounted tightrope that is a conversation with the Duke.

“Hmm.”

“Makes sense tho.” Remus shrugged. “He’s probably not ready to come out yet.”

Janus’ thoughts came screeching to a halt as he was mentally flung off the tightrope, face-planting into dumbfoundedness.

Remus, evidently noticing this, looked up at him. “What?”

Janus blinked at him.

“Oh. I thought it was obvious. I mean, have you seen his jacket?”

“I thought-” I was the only one “-he just ‘liked the purple.’ ”

Remus rolled onto his side, propping his head up with his hand. “Ehh. Maybe?”

“But he always hated my spicy ideas - even more than the gruesome ones. Or the scary ones! I should add fingernails…”

Janus re-opened his book, looking at the pages but not seeing a word. “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything…”

Remus stuck out his tongue and spat. “Pbthbth, nothing means anything ‘til you connect the dots!”

“You didn’t connect shit,” Janus quipped.

Remus grinned, finishing, “I’ve connected ‘em!”

“Any-gay,” Remus continued, popping up like one of those inflatable attention-grabbers one might see on the edge of a parking lot, “I'm gonna go hunt down a mammal!”

He summoned a set of small knives, their handles the inference of a shape that Janus was unwillingly skilled at spotting, and began to sink out.

Before completely sinking out, however, Remus popped back up to wave at Janus. “Later, Dee!”

“See you at dinner, Remus.”

Remus began whistling as he sank out, absent-mindedly juggling his knives as he left.

Leaving Janus alone, for the moment, with his thoughts.

Thoughts that, admittedly, he found himself needing to gather.

He sat with his book, staring at the black-and-white and thinking about the grey.

While Janus and the anxious side had had their… differences, he knew their similarities ran far deeper than either cared to acknowledge.

But this, to use exactly the right analogy, took the cake.

He had an inkling, of course - but it was the sort of thing he pushed to one side, kept out of the way - saving brainspace for more pressing matters. But Remus dredging it up forced it to the forefront - of Janus’ mind, anyway.

In another life, he could imagine approaching him. He could talk with him, discuss what this shared discovery could mean.

But if such a world existed, it was far away from here.

Janus knew, all too well, what vitriol such a discussion could create if it were to be brought up - Now that certain lines had been drawn, and sides chosen.

He snapped his book shut.

Janus would keep this revelation close to the chest - Much like he had kept his own.

For him, it had been a quiet, creeping, subtle thing - not a shocking discovery, or a sudden realization. It simply… appeared. Slowly creeping through his subconscious, until the idea had taken root so firmly as to be impossible to ignore.

Of course, he had ignored it anyway.

Janus stood up and glided over to his bookshelf.

What did it matter? He had no involvement (or interest) in Roman and Virgil’s matchmaker antics - Save, of course, for any little white lies Thomas needed to smooth things over.

And Remus’ not-so-family-friendly jokes weren’t much of a bother anymore… Sometimes, if the mood struck him, he might even join in - Riffing off of whatever fresh nonsense the Duke dragged in.

Those were good times.

But as far as his own interests were concerned…

Well, let’s just say they weren’t anyone else’s business. Even - or perhaps especially - in their debatable absence.

Although, he did find all the various theories and headcanons rather amusing - Janus would even, on occasion, ‘shed’ some light on a choice few…

All the better to play in the shadows, he thought.

But not this - These shadows he would keep for himself.

Janus put his book back onto the shelf, and took a breath, squaring his shoulders.

He would keep the assumptions, bend them, weave them to his purpose.

And as much as he might think about it…

He couldn’t tell them.

Not yet.

[fishuus]

i guess this is a rec list of stuff i liked in 2024?? no particular order, i just wanted to yak about some things i had a good time with.

bang brave bang bravern: maybe this isn't a legit comparison but i keep thinking of it as "what if samurai flamenco had a significantly tighter story (tomokazu sugita is also there)". if you like giant robots, you might like this. if you like a completely straight-faced commitment to the extremely funny bit of contrasting hard military scifi with the absurdity of classic giant robots, you might like this. if you're interested in sugita playing a robot who's a bottom, and also there's a lot of gay shit and the earnest power of true love, you might like this!

digimon story cyber sleuth & hacker's memory: a really fun set of turn-based jrpgs. cyber sleuth took me a while to warm up to (the localization could be better, to put it generously), but i came to enjoy its slightly offbeat sense of humor. hacker's memory, otoh, i loved from the start. it does a great job showing how cyber sleuth's story beats happened in parallel while still keeping the focus on a fantastic new cast and their own plotlines. the first game is a more standard digimon story about saving the world, while hacker's memory widens the perspective and shows a bit of the systems at play in the background. just a super satisfying game on every level for me.

shin godzilla: personally i love logging off work and my many meetings and watching a movie about a guy who has to go to even more meetings. i'm kidding, this was really fun (on account of all the meetings). i'll get to his kamen rider and ultraman movies too at some point.

gilgamesh (gardner & maier, also the david ferry version): paying my respects to the original yaoi 🫡

judgment: i wanted to try a rgg game without committing to playing 8 of them in order. turns out this is a perfect standalone game. it's such a tightly written story and character study, and it's really fun to play. kimutaku is so good at playing yagami so low-key, so tamped down, that when he explodes you really feel how angry he's been all along. the english cast is also great -- i enjoyed greg chun's take on yagami as well. (i played lost judgment too but wasn't quite so high on it. alas)

siren: watched sgf's excellent lp and loved this horror stealth game. the motion-capture work for the faces is a pretty cool workaround for the rendering limitations at the time while adding to the off-kilter vibe. i'm also a huge sucker for when studios lean into mixed media and use photos of real props (magazines, IDs in wallets, letters, etc) in their games. the story is kinda obtuse – and literally requires you to read extra official content to get some of the answers – but for something with such vague, stilted cutscenes with equally vague and stilted dialogue, especially with the added layer of a classic ps2-era english dub, i became attached to the entire cast stuck in this extremely bleak and scary scenario. i guess the best way i can sum it up is that it's a game that knows exactly how to play you.

digital devil saga 2: finished right before the world is actually set to end in 2025 in the game lol. it's so good!! i'm grateful that even after all this time, i managed to go into this mostly blind, because the way the plot reveal recontexualizes so much about the first game and the absolute rank relationship dynamics between some of the characters just blew me away. probably has some of my favorite character designs of all time, and i also think it's sooo fun to play thanks to my having turn-based long jrpg brain sickness. such an all-timer of a duology.

nine sols: i'm still not done with it on account of it being a parry-focused metroidvania and me sucking shit at both platforming and parrying, but it's great! it feels so confidently produced, kinda wild considering how different it is from their previous two games, devotion and detention (both of which i also highly recommend). the art and design work are beautiful, and i'm really enjoying how bleak the plot is. you can tell they made two horror games before this lol. i also love story mode. thank you, story mode.

風林火山韻雷 -bring it back-: lmao. anyway, it's a super fun song and mv that packs in everything i like about akyr (mixing traditional with modern both in the song and the imagery, high energy, everyone's great ofc but takayuki kondo especially killing it with that bridge, akyr making aggro songs about murdering their enemies).

[chdarling]

Its a curse. No matter what story I read I always have to compare it to yours. Your writing and characterization is just perfect especially your Lily and James. I loved how you made James re-think his actions and when he questioned himself about being a bad person. Lily is often either a goody-goody or the biggest bitch alive. It really got me thinking when you said that shes kind but not nice. I am so excited for Lilys reaction when she finds out that the dog she revealed her secrets to is actually Sirius omg 🫶🫶🫶

I know its not a common question but when and where do you write? Do you have like your writing place or do you just begin if you have an idea. And another: Have you written many later scenes without writing the earlier ones?

Thank you so much 🥺❤️

I write in a lot of places!

I have my insane power user desktop set up (I have 4 monitors inherited from different jobs that thought it was less expensive to just give them to me when I quit rather than have me ship them back lol), but tragically this space has been spiritually tainted by remote work so I mostly only use it for plotting purposes when I need multiple screens. (I look like a serious business hacker gal with all my screens until you zoom in and see they’re all about my blorbos).

I’m not at Terry Pratchett levels yet but this is the vibe:

I also have a little secretary desk in my living room and this is where I tend to write the most actual prose. Unplug the Internet, close everything except my scrivener doc, sit in the slightly uncomfortable dining chair my kitten has chewed to bits, and disappear from the world for hours. This is why I have back pain. :)

I also write on my phone a lot, usually when walking. I will 100% stop in the middle of the sidewalk (or politely step aside if it’s crowded, I’m not a monster) and hash out a full scene of dialogue if it arrives while I’m commuting, which it often does. Yes I have been late to work this way on more than one occasion haha.

As far as the when, that varies. During a good, fruitful writing season, it’s any moment I can get. During periods of burnout and block (which tragically I am weathering right now), I have to make a concerted effort. I have made it a habit to write every day first thing in the morning (well, after feeding the cats, I’m not a monster). These days it’s mostly just a free write/brain dump of everything in my head, but hey, it’s words. During better writing times, I have been known to crank out an entire chapter before work 😭

And to your final question, oh yes, I write totally out of order. I have more of TLE4 written than I do TLE3 haha. But I find this fun because then I get to sneak in all sorts of foreshadowing nonsense. 😈

Thanks for the kind words and fun questions!

[victor-blog55]

Broken down DMC anime review below.

Spoiler warning.

Things I didn't like:

-Very political? Like in a weird way? I was getting DmC flashbacks during the news section, which is not a good thing.

-Did she just cock the rocket launcher?

-The vice president is VERY punchable like cartoonishly evil. It made it kinda hard to watch it, just because he made me cringe.

-War crimes? Why?

-This series, as brought up by some or another Tumblr users, paint Sparta as actively evil. Sparta should be portrayed, for the most part, as a hero. He actively was fighting against the oppressors of hell. The only questionable bit of him should be him up and leaving his wife and kids. It makes a unique dynamic of "well, were the stories of him misconstrued, or did something actively keep him from his family? Or is he dead?"

-Why do Agni and Rudra both have 2 heads?

-Why is Cavalier Angelo Here?

-I don't like the new Nelo Angelo design.

-If this wasn't strictly a alternative continuity, I would take a lot more issue with some of the ways they construe the games. Examples:

-Lady really skirts the line from "Badass" to "Bitch". In DMC3, she was just Badass.

-Actively using the word "Devil Trigger" I'm 90% sure is not said a single time in the games (Except the song)

-Calling it "going demon" is even fucking stupider

-Why the fuck is Rebellion already awakened? They had him unlock DT in the anime! They literally never even refer to it as the rebellion!

-Do not like the more DmC style amulets. The original amulets are much better.

-Actually, let me go on a fucking rant real quick. The dialogue in this is shit. You're not marvel levels of bad, but you're real fucking close. The games had amazing dialogue because of how little they actually said, there was short banter, some explanation, and most of the exposition was kept to the files which were written in interesting ways. But even if they needed a way to have exposition, they could've done it way better. Do you know who already perfected the explanation of Sparta's story? Lady, In DMC 3. So why the fuck do I hear it 3 separate times, each more shittily explained than the last? Literally just fucking. Roll the DMC 3 monologue! "Oh but lady has a different va?" Rerecord the same fucking lines then, it was perfect. Why the fuck do I need shitty ass explanation from everyone. I was willing to take it from the rabbit (mostly because he's the only one who can make "devil trigger" sound cool, like he's trying to explain it to an idiot.) versus Vergil in 3 who mostly describes it vaguely, like "so a demon has awakened in you as well." THAT WAS COOL! that was the shit! It explained a.) Vergil already had this. B.) It's something Vergil already expected and C.) Vergil doesn't think of it as a threat to him, but more just to make it an even fight. It gets so much across in so little, and the anime's best episode was the one with zero fucking words.

-Still mad they didn't bring Daniel Southworth back.

-They gave Lady a character arc and then it nosedived into the ground.

Things I like:

-Dante's character design, especially after he gets the new clothes.

-The DT design. Good mix of his 3 + 4/5 DT.

-I think lady's darkcom design is pretty cool. Also, Gawd motherfucking Damn, Dat ass!

-When I see Dante use his pistols, it just makes me think "oh, Dante". But when lady uses hers, it kind of reminds me of ARC troopers from Star Wars, specifically Rex, which I find badass as fuck.

-Magna pistols were dope.

-Enzo having a bigger part was cool.

-I actually quite liked the white rabbit. I hated how they twisted the entire story of devil may cry to make him sympathetic, but as a standalone element, I quite liked his story.

-I like lady's slightly altered backstory. It isn't as good as the original, but it's adequate.

-I love Dante keeps breaking his pistols. In episode 1, my brain clocked them as "those look more like berreta's than ebony and Ivory..." And lo and behold, I was right. I can't wait for the Nell Goldstein appearance.

-The rabbit calling it the force edge was a nice touch, since everyone else calls it the sword of Sparta.

-I liked the nerdy girl because I think she was literally the only one that actually knew what was going on.

-Johnny Young Bosch actually was really good as Dante.

Other:

-Why is Vergil's color scheme so dark? They're going for more of a DMC 3 aesthetic for him, so why not use his DMC 3 colors. His jacket just looks washed out and dirty.

-Why does lady wear her DMC 5 outfit? I would get her not wearing her 3 outfit since she's not really a schoolgirl, but you could've put her in her 4 outfit.

- I 100% called it was gonna be another continuity before release, just from all the weird shit in the trailers.

[avoskorm]

[Character as Companion Meme]

**********

1. Character name Jovus Hassildor.

2. Age At the start of Veilguard, he's 254 years old. How long do the events of the game actually take? Who knows?

3. Faction Technically none, but he does occasionally work with the Shadow Dragons. Unofficially.

Back home he was a Dark Brotherhood assassin, with ties to the Thieves Guild.

4. Religion None. His approach to religion is Complicated.

He was a True Believer of Sithis and the Night Mother for a long time, but was disillusioned by the cult when they lost their way.

He doesn't believe in the Nine, but he knows they exist. They just don't do much of anything, so why bother worshiping them?

He doesn't believe in Thedosian gods at all. He's met a couple, and they're assholes.

5. Pronouns/ gender identity Male, he/him.

6. Romantic/ sexual preference(s) He's pansexual as hell, but tends to prefer men. I thought for a long time he was aromantic but I guess not lmao. Demi, maybe?

7. Country of origin Cyrodiil, specifically the city of Skingrad.

8. Where they call home That's also complicated lmao.

He's Colovian born and bred, and wishes he were back home, but also doesn't. At this point it's probably safe to say "wherever Emmrich is" pretty much lmao.

9. Voice/ accent He has a medium/ low voice with a Standard Imperial Accent. Basically Wes Johnson but like a tone lower.

10. Faceclaim Richard Armitage. He just needs a more hooked nose, and I guess slightly darker skin? (Jovus has olive skin now I guess, it seems to change with every cutscene lmao.)

11. Weapon(s) of choice Crossbows, short swords, and daggers were his tools of the trade back home. Also his wolf form -- those claws and fangs aren't just for show.

Now he relies mostly on magic -- generally runes, and summoned weapons. And, again, his wolf form.

12. Armour/ clothing of choice I've written up clothing descriptions, eight whole-ass armour sets lmao

Usually leathers, if he wears armour at all. He prefers loose fitting, light armour/ clothing for mobility, and less to rip when he turns.

He likes low cut shirts, or button-downs with the top few buttons left undone. My boy needs a tit window.

13. Casual/ camp wear Again, loose fitting clothing. With tit windows.

14. Jewellery, piercings, tattoos, scars He doesn't wear much jewellery since he's afraid to break it when he turns, but he does eventually accept (and wear) jewellery gifts.

Silver earrings (he thinks it's funny). After he and Emmrich get together, he wears a gold ring on a leather cord as a pendant -- but only around the Lighthouse. The ring was a gift, and that was a compromise. He doesn't want to break or lose it, and of course he over-complicates the whole thing lmao

No tattoos, since he was an assassin and figured having tattoos would be too conspicuous. He's considered getting runes tattooed on his arms rather than having to painstakingly paint them on every time he needs them. Whether or not I decide to do this depends on how much I hate commission artists, I guess lmao.

Scars on his face from werewolf claws, which was the point of entry for the lycanthropy infection.

15. Character select animation [Closes fist across his chest in salute, head bowed]

[One fist on hip, the other hand waved dramatically; short bow; grin]

16. Posture/ idle animation Straight-backed walk, head held high, light footsteps.

Stands with legs slightly apart and hands clasped behind his back, at ease. Could be mistaken for military if not for practically everything else about him.

Cracks knuckles, rolls shoulders, flicks claws, summons a dagger and picks his nails.

17. Combat dialogue - winning 18. Combat dialogue - losing 19. Combat dialogue - MC at low health I've made a whole-ass post of his combat barks lmao

20. Environmental dialogue And a post with location dialogue lmao

21. Romance dialogue I'm going to cheat and post some Fake Party Banter \o/

(Yes, I'm "cheating" at the meme I wrote myself, deliberately vaguely at points. I'm diabolical, I know.)

22. Interaction with other companion - liked Fake Party Banter ahoy.

23. Interaction with other companion - disliked Woe, Fake Party Banter be upon ye.

24. Quest-specific dialogue I wrote his recruitment quest. It's relatively short, and less a quest than a "cutscene."

25. Sense of humour Dry and sarcastic. And how. Sometimes self-deprecating -- he knows he will get dog jokes thrown at him lmao.

Especially by me.

26. What does their laugh sound like? He generally has a low, full-body belly laugh, and it's really not difficult to make him do that lmao.

27. Items they will never be without He will never be without a pair of bracers. It's more a form over function thing, since they're probably not that protective, but still.

Things you will find in his pockets/ hip satchel:

A notebook (and pens)

At least one (1) set of lockpicks

Clean bandages

Rosin

A clay jar of olive oil

Soap

28. [Character] Approves

Careful planning

Sarcasm

Punch That Warden

Petting animals (first instance)

Freeing slaves

Killing Venatori

29. [Character] Disapproves

Not considering the fine details

Repeated use of dog jokes (after one or two it can get tiresome)

Slavery

Letting the the Mayor of D'Meta's Crossing go free

Deviating from a plan

30. Fears Losing people. Spiders.

31. Animal you associate them with It would probably be a cop-out to say "wolf," wouldn't it?

32. Element you associate them with Water. Never still. Very pretty. Monsters dwell within.

33. How do they react to stressful situations? Depends on the stressful situation. Life or death struggle? Game face. Spider in bedroom? Shrill screaming.

34. Can they think on their feet? Yes, though he much prefers not to have to do that. He prefers a well-laid out plan that he can follow to the letter. Admittedly, this never, ever happens.

35. Can they cook? Yep. He's quite good at rich foods, and sweets (he has a sweet tooth). You'd better like garlic and olive oil if you eat his food. (Greek, Roman, and Italian Imperial influence hell yeah.)

36. Do they romance anyone else if not romanced by MC? ~Emmrich~

37. Can they play an instrument? Yep! That's almost his primary skillset lmao.

Violin, piano, lute. Generally "just" strings, since there's a lot of overlap between them.

38. Do they have a day job outside of Saving the World? He's a performer, and works the Dock Town circuit whenever he can.

39. How do they sleep? Badly. His beast blood keeps him from restful sleep, for the most part, so he's up at random hours of the day and night. He sleeps better with Emmrich.

40. Free space - 2 random facts

He's a (un)living radiator; he can't feel the cold, and is constantly radiating heat.

I'm like 90% sure he's autistic with ADHD lmao.

[animentality]

Maybe a hot take, but I think Durge is the real protagonist of BG3. Like... I'm sorry, everyone love their Tavs, but from a narrative point of view, it doesn't have fucking sense. It's just another guy (gender neutral) in a The Choosen One situation. I've read this story before, hundreds of times. But Durge's recepción (or disgrace)... now that has juice! That makes sense on a narrative level. You started it, you end it, one way or another.

Anyway, I'm never (with my +500 hours) going to play a Tav run. Ever. Origins only, mostly Durge. Durge and Durgetash are waaaaay better, sorry not sorry.

You are spitting nothing but facts, anon.

You wanna know what the HONEST to GOD fundamental problem is with the writing of Baldur's Gate 3?

It's that it spreads itself so thin, desperately attempting to write an open sandbox sort of world in which ANY kind of character can fit in...that it ends up being this hollow nothing.

IMAGINE if the Dark Urge WAS the default protagonist. It WOULD'VE BEEN an amazing story, if it had been given the focus it deserved, instead of just blankly repeating the SAME dialogue you'd get as a Tav and as an origin.

The idea of a former villain turned amnesiac, and going on an adventure, learning about themselves from the perspective of an outsider and seeing firsthand the horror they've wrought? It's like a fucking Zuko arc, except finding out you were the Big Bad all along could've been written even better than that...

We could've had that blank, nothing slate that Tavs start out as...and then find out, that it has thematic significance, because WE CHOOSE who we become, after a childhood/adulthood of being unable to make our own choices, and being forced into the role of the villain before the game even starts.

It's a MUCH BETTER WAY to give people a blank slate to work with, for the fun of roleplaying, but ALSO asserting a particular theme. Which is, the gravity of your choices, big and small. To do good or to embrace evil.

YOU KNOW. How Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 did being a Bhaalspawn.

IT'S ALSO A REALLY GREAT WAY to DO an RPG because yes, you slightly infringe upon the freedom of the customizable characters a person can make, but in exchange, you actually tell a fucking story where choices are the main theme.

INSTEAD. Because they were so dedicated to Tavs and the variety of ways you could play as a Tav...they completely undersell and underutilize what could've been a really amazing character.

You can literally choose to DIE for your friends in the end...and then what?

Withers brings you back in five seconds, no one has any real reaction to you doing that, except saying good job buddy :)

And then you're basically a Tav.

And ALSO. I want to say this, because it's been bothering me.

The Dark Urge has Tav syndrome too.

They have TWO notes in the entire game that we have to read into to try and glean a greater depth to their character other than murder hobo.

And that's it. They're a blank slate too.

If the Dark Urge was the protagonist, we might've been able to look into who they were before, outside of just laughably evil flesh eating monster.

They might've had real fucking depth, instead of just tidbits.

I and my fellow Dark Urge/ Durgetash enjoyers have to do the fucking work for them and write in stuff that isn't actually there. The Dark Urge as a protagonist could've been really meaningful. We could've seen inklings that they had misgivings about being Bhaal's Chosen. We could've seen scars of resistance, where they tried to defy Bhaal, but were punished with death, disintegration by the loving hands of your own father and flesh. We could've had betrayal, redemption, loyalty to one's blood family vs one's found family.

But we don't get that, because it's taking too much time away from Tavs.

Sometimes I really wish the Dark Urge wasn't even an option. They gave me this thing, and I thought wow this is the only way to play the game...and then I look and see, ah. But the potential for greatness could drive me absolutely insane.

And it has.

Durgetash is the product of my frustration with the game's characterization of the Dark Urge.

And I know I'm pissing off the salty BG3 fans who love their Tavs and all, and think the Dark Urge is lame, and god FORBID a protagonist have a character, can't have that in an RPG, but I can't find it in myself to care.

I'm built different than the rest of y'all. I don't just feed on content, I analyze its nutrients. I calculate how good for me it actually is.

And BG3 has wonderful mechanics.

But the story has so many problems, from beginning to rotten end.

And it is what it is. I still enjoyed myself playing it.

But the story isn't good for anything except allowing you to create a far more compelling story on your own, in fanfic or in original work inspired by it.

And I guess if that's all they wanted, then fine.

But goddamnit, I'm gonna complain anyway! Divinity 2 did it fucking better.

[lovelizards]

Lizard Book Report 📚🦎

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

The story follows Adelina Amouteru, a malfetto - cursed as a child with magic powers after a sickness in the kingdom - and her dark, violent journey as she desperately tries to find a place where she belongs in a world that only seems to want to use her.

[ I'm just a lizard and these are just my opinions ] ⤵

Writing Style: 9/10

The author's writing style is colourful, fluid, and descriptive, which makes it very easy to picture exactly the image she is trying to convey. It shifts between short sharp sentences and lingering long sentences where it needs to. It's the main reason I enjoyed the book.

I take one point off because it is written in first person present tense, which for me is a slightly jarring style of narration. Included in the removed point is the slight let down of most of the character voices blending together in dialogue.

Plot: 5/10

The general concept of the plot is very good and also very familiar - a group of young rebels with unique abilities fight against a greater power (in this case, called the Inquisition Axis) trying to destroy them and maintain the status quo.

However, I found it a little too...nothing in the middle. I was hoping that the twist introduced in the middle of the book (Adelina is forcibly recruited as a spy, and doesn't choose to share it with her new 'friends') would excite me, but it didn't. I was flipping pages, skipping certain parts to try and get to something good that I didn't find until the very last couple of chapters.

The biggest issue I had was that it all felt a little one note. MC is being used by her father, MC is being used by the group she joins (The Daggers), MC is being used by the Inquisition. It feels like she never really makes any true connections with the people around her which I could feel as the story came to a bittersweet, tragic ending.

The end of the story sets up Adelina's little sister as the only real connection she has, as written in the book: "...kindness with no strings attached, had only ever come from Violetta." But we only ever learn about Violetta through flashes of memory and short moments at the beginning of the book which didn't really paint her as this amazing sister, the connection that Adelina was searching for

Maybe I'm jaded, but it just didn't click for me.

Whump Content: 10/10

This book is absolutely chock full of hardcore whump from the first page. The main character is confined in a jail cell, she is almost executed, she has her chin tilted up by a multitude of characters both good and evil. There is fighting whump, there is magic exhaustion whump, there is permanently disfiguring whump, all that and more is in there and its ripe for the picking.

Enjoyment: 5/10

I enjoyed the book for the style of its writing, so much that I missed my bus stop when I was reading it on the bus. But the characters - mostly the main character - let it down for me pretty badly. Average to maybe slightly above average.

Overall Lizard Score: 6/10

If you can get past the slightly wonky pov tense, and are able to connect with the main character - in a way that I couldn't - I imagine this would be a nice little read given all the whump included. The author is a New York Times Bestselling author of another series, clearly not this one.

[ziskandra]

Hi so I've been flirting with the idea of getting Suzerain for a while and I'd love to hear your thoughts?

God, I will never turn down the chance to wax lyrical about why Suzerain is my favourite new video game, so here goes my attempt at writing something that's actually coherent! Focusing on the main game for now, but a lot of this is also relevant for the DLC, which is mostly an independent story line. Suzerain is one of those rare games which nails both multifaceted character writing and compelling narrative arcs. The characters feel like real people, and the decisions you can make as the country's leader actually impact some of the decisions made by other characters and the overall narrative.

While there's not much in the way of traditional 'gameplay', the decisions you make have a huge impact on the way the story unfolds - a huge chunk of the game is trying to make the right decisions while balancing the economy, addressing political unrest, and... you know, still being re-electable for another term at the end of it all!

As someone who's always been a huge fan of 'choices matters' video games, I've always been obsessed with microreactivity in storytelling (I WILL replay games multiple times for slightly different dialogue I can dissect in fanfiction later), but Suzerain was the game that made me realise that I'd been settling the whole time. That it's possible to have branching storylines that actually branch. And I find it a lot more natural (and more earned) when most of the calculations happen in the background and aren't obviously signposted to the player. That being said, I think this works better in a game the length of Suzerain (I never timed my playthroughs but I'd say roughly six hours?), than it would in a typical 80+ hour RPG! Can you imagine going back that many hours to correct one of your earlier decisions... It's also pretty rare (but not impossible!) for people to get 'good' endings on their first playthroughs because of all the moving parts, but I honestly think the 'bad' endings are equally (if not better!) written. And as a certified bad-end enjoyer™️, that's HARD to find in a video game! The world building is also really fantastic as well and there's a lot of geopolitical goodness to chew on. I don't know if you've played Disco Elysium but it reminds me a lot of that (sans metaphysical elements). I could probably go on for another five paragraphs but I fear that might get repetitive and I've probably set the scene well enough now! Always happy to answer any questions you (or anyone else!) might have about Suzerain 🥰

[technicolorfamiliar]

The Wandering Jew Dir. Maurice Elvey 1933

[Note: This film along with 1934's Jew Süss set Conrad Veidt apart from many of his German film actor peers. While he was not Jewish, many of his close friends and colleagues -- not to mention his wife Lily -- were, and he was committed to portraying these deeply complicated and sympathetic characters with as much care and empathy as humanly possible. You can see it in his performance. These films are what got his work banned in Germany in the '30s and painted a huge target on his back. Later he would double down and donate most of his acting paychecks to the British war effort, and arrange to help friends and family who were in danger of violence in Germany safely get out of the country. Maybe it's not necessary to mention all this, but just in case I want to make it abundantly clear where he stood.]

When I first saw this movie about a year ago, I couldn't get into it. It didn't help that I only watched the shorter version on Youtube. The poor quality of the picture and audio, plus a mostly terrible cast, made it a tough watch. But I wanted to give The Wandering Jew a second chance, if only for the Conrad Veidt of it all, and I'm glad I did. So over the course of the first weekend in November, I watched both versions: the shorter, much-censored version and the digitally restored version with over 20 minutes of additional material.

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After watching the two existing/available copies of the film, I definitely think both are necessary if you want to get the whole picture.

Unfortunately, the shorter version is in semi-rough shape and the audio is pretty garbled, but the edits are smoother which helps individual scenes and lines make more sense. There's more air in this version; the director clearly wanted to give the actors, especially Connie, room to breathe, and it not only helps the pacing but the atmosphere of the film as well. However, the shorter version is missing several important and interesting moments due to some heavy-handed censorship.

The longer version has a cleaner picture and slightly clearer audio, but some of the dialogue gets randomly chopped up and there are abrupt cuts that make the film jumpy and take away from the languid atmospheric feeling that in retrospect I think actually makes the film work. Or at least tries to make it work. And, being the longer version, there are key scenes that made it past the censors: all the scenes related to leprosy; the aggressive anti-semitic stuff at the Renaissance Faire crusaders camp; and a great line Matathias delivers in an added scene in Act IV, "All men are Christians. All men are Jews. The faith is only a mask, it does not make a man what he is." MIC DROP, AIR HORNS. There's also a wild scene where Renaissance Faire crusade era Matathias cackles at Anne Grey's crucifix for well over a minute. But for whatever reason, the longer version is missing random things too, like the forward, which isn't entirely necessary but if you're presenting your film in a kind of storybook style, a written forward makes sense.

And there is an illustrative, storybook quality to the film. The costumes and sets feel like something out of a N.C. Wyeth painting or even vaguely Pre-Raphaelite at times. It's heavily romanticized and I think this threw me the first time I saw the movie. But it makes sense, the story is a parable after all. And yet, while you're going in that direction, why not go bigger, why not compose each shot with even more care? I know they shot this movie in 1933, but all I want is some vision and intentionality in the cinematography and staging, dang it! I do like the two moments when Jesus is speaking and his dialogue is only shown as text. We don't see or hear him, but everyone else in the shot is frozen and the sound drops out. Time seems to stop for a few seconds. But nothing else in the film really manages to match those moments stylistically.

I feel like a broken record saying this, but Connie's performance once again carries the entire film. Pretty much everyone else is just so bad, the women in particular. Seriously, sound was being used in films at this point for over 5 years -- so why is everyone in this movie doing this style of acting that is maybe only acceptable for huge stage productions? Three of the four lead actresses are legitimately the worst. The only exception is Peggy Ashcroft in Act IV who isn't great, but at least she's a better scene partner. That could also have something to do with the first three women being annoyingly pious, and Act IV's Olalla is just a more interesting and better-written character. In Act I, the woman playing Judith barely engages with Connie. Sure, she's dying, but she's dying like she's on stage in some 2000+ seat West End theater. And the wife in Act III is literally giving Connie nothing to work with, nothing! There's so little believable intimacy in these women's performances that it really makes the movie suffer as a whole. Maybe that's harsh, maybe that's what the director wanted, but I think about Connie's other British films from this time and their lead actresses -- Madeleine Carroll, Jill Esmond, etc -- weren't nearly as painfully awful.

Though this is Connie's fifth English language film, it almost seems like he's still getting his sea legs as an actor in the British studio system. Maybe with the exception of I Was A Spy, his previous English films were all roles for a character actor, and so Matathias was the first opportunity he had to really show off his range. I have no idea if they shot in sequence -- unlikely -- but from Act I to Act IV he seems like he's progressively carving out a foundation for his future work in British films. After The Wandering Jew, he was off and running with a great series of meaty and fascinating roles. Josef Süss, The Stranger, even Convict 83 have some roots in the performance he gives in this movie.

Matathias is a role an actor would consider one of their crowning achievements but would probably never want to play again. He's incredibly demanding and challenging, very likely made even more so by Connie's uniquely holistic and intense method of preparing for a role. Even though there are moments when his performance comes across as a little stilted, that could be more due to him trying to match the tone of the film itself, especially early in the narrative when he's a little flat -- he has to start like that so he has somewhere to go with the character. There's zero humor or levity in the script so Connie had to humanize Matathias through his journey across time by incorporating moments of deep compassion and the pain of loss, shame and regret, and ultimately complete surrender.

No other actor would believe the story and its message enough to pull off the heart-wrenching performance Connie gives in this film.

Act I Matathias is a difficult guy in a fabulous robe (the sleeves!). He's clearly selfish, but not really cruel. After all, he and everyone else know that the woman he loves does not belong to him and were she to go home to her husband, she would most definitely not survive whatever violence awaited her there. And Matathias does not allow harm to come to her, at least not in that way. His selfishness means he'll keep her at any cost, meaning he refuses to see how ill she really is. But he's not a bad guy, he's just a regular person in a very difficult situation which makes his impulse to bitterly lash out at Christ understandable. But there is some part of him that does believe because it doesn’t take much for him to get on board with the whole curse thing. With very little convincing, he appears to be resigned to his fate. But that's fine, we have to move the story along, after all.

The cruelty comes out more in Act II. The Unknown Knight just wants to fight, feast, and get his freak on. Connie gets to be pretty aggressively sexual (good god, the way he grabs that woman) and blasphemous in this section ("Blasphamy, blaspha-you, blaspha-everybody in the room!"), especially for the early 1930s, so no wonder it's one of the shorter acts. His haircut might be hideous, but his veiny forearms are, uh, real nice (as are all the long shots of his exposed throat and sternum throughout the film). Confession time: it took me three viewings to get the whole leprosy thing. Judith has it in Act I, so does the guy who wanders into the camp in Act II, and the sick boy in Act IV as well. The son in Act III is bit by a snake, but it could be something to do with snakes = the devil or something, idk. The appearance of sickness/leprosy always signals a lesson Matathias has to learn, or signals the ending or beginning of something important. So his reaction to Renaissance Faire Babe's rejection isn't really about her at all, which is revealed in the longer edit of the film. He hears the leper's bell and mutters, "Unclean…," before letting Ren Faire Babe discover her murdered husband. Matathias may not have killed the man, but he continues to leave behind a trail of death and destruction as some kind of act of defiance against the curse of wandering the earth until such undetermined time as Jesus will appear to him again. By making his life dangerous, he flaunts how he is able to cheat death, but when he hears the leper's bell and is reminded of the events that set him on this path, he realizes he can't go on like this, that there has to be something else, something more. I like how the shot of Connie at the end of this section echoes the end of Act I, suggesting he still has a long journey ahead before he can hope to reach own end.

So when we next see him, he's a merchant and family man living in Palermo named Matteo. Instead of causing mayhem everywhere he goes, he's trying to build something, maybe even a legacy. This is my least favorite part of the movie, but the way Connie shows Matteo's heartbreak, first at the death of his son and later at losing his wife to the Church, is something else. When Gianella tells him she's leaving, he goes through each of the stages of grief in like two minutes and we can see it happen in his face and in his body language. The way his knees buckle and he slowly crumples to the floor, ugh. Also, shout out to the attention to detail in this film. If you look closely at the beginning of Act III, Connie's fingernails look ink-stained like he's been writing and handling documents all day. Not to mention the fact that he wears the same onyx ring throughout, and the same necklace in Acts I and IV. I also thought it was interesting how the music cut out when Mateo is handed his dying child, it immediately reinforces the gravity of the scene. This movie did not come to play.

Act IV, set in Seville, is by far the best part of the whole film. And I'm not just saying that because Care-giver!Connie is doing things to my brain. How sweet and gentle he is with his patients, the way he keeps looking up to check in with Olalla when he's treating her broken ankle, the way he murmurs and coos little things under his breath like "Come on, let's try a little walk…" and "Ohh, what's the matter, my boy" that sound totally improvised. That's the good stuff, right there. And when Olalla says, "There's magic in your hands." I BET. This whole fourth act is just Connie kicking in the door of 1930s British cinema. The scene in front of the Inquisition alone is the most powerful and important part of the movie. Connie manages to fill Matteo with such humanity and empathy by the end of the film that it's practically radiating out of him. In an otherwise one-dimensional film he brings real, complicated, fascinating, tragic and beautiful life to this legendary figure. It's astonishing.

Is it a good movie? Not really. Is it an important movie made at a critical time in history, as a statement against anti-semitism on behalf of the filmmakers and cast? Of course it is. Despite the mild annoyance of needing to watch two different versions of the same film, and needing some patience with the tone and supporting cast's performances -- it definitely helps to be in the right mood going in -- it really is essential viewing in the Conrad Veidt canon, especially if you're interested in his work as an actor. I mean, just watch this movie and bask in the glow of his radiant, spiritual performance. Bask in it!

In the end, I'm glad I gave 1933's The Wandering Jew a second chance.

P.S. Connie looks unbelievably stunning in this movie. His costumes, wigs and facial hair are all basically perfect. The silhouettes and lines of his robes, the details in his jewelry and accessories. He really knew how to wear the clothes so they wouldn't wear him. He must have been a costume designer's dream. Or nightmare (he can be your angle;;… or yuor devil).

[blixabargelds]

Hiii Frankie 💕 7, 8 and 15 please ( for the writer ask meme)

thank you babieee

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

man this was hard. it’s honestly probably this long ass paragraph from my succession fic this mess we’re in. there’s holes i can poke it in from a writing perspective, i think my syntax is maybe lacking a little in what i now think of as my unique style, but man. it’s the one that came to my head and my gut so. it’s so personal and raw and uncomfortable and honest. i put my entire soul into this fic and i think this part both resonated deeply with a lot of readers which is so important to me, and is one of the reasons when i was in the succ fandom i had a lot of people tell me i was The roman roy understander. i think i’m good at getting into characters heads and this encapsulates that pretty well.

Roman’s never said yes please in his fucking life, but he has wanted it. It just rarely aligns for him like it does for other people. His head wants it, and his dick doesn’t. His dick wants it, and his head wants it to stop. He’s practised in knowing which part to listen to. Normally, the choice which makes whoever is fucking him get it over with. Fight or flight doesn’t work for him, he knows this, so he freezes until one of them comes. It’s not never him. Occasionally his head and his dick want it, like when Grace had worn that pantsuit and choked him still wearing it, or Gerri- he’d wanted it every time with her. She’d got it right, too. That razor’s edge of pain and pleasure, always pressed slightly closer to the former vein for Roman to feel right. Roman’s been thinking about it all, since he’s started staying with Stewy. About the possibility of being normal with sex. The idea of waking up next to someone and not immediately wanting to slink away, pretend it didn’t happen. The idea of getting fucked without being held down or hit. He just can’t picture it for himself. He’s been thinking about how he can’t get into some rooms of his head. He’s started to remember being called beautiful, a long time ago. He still hasn’t been to his barber.

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

again so hard!! i love dialogue and it’s something i think i’m really good at and get the most comments on. honestly there’s probs better ones i’ve done but i really love this exchange when john is trying to distract gale from getting his fucked up arm reset in this must be the place. mostly bc i came up w the meatball story on the spot it just flowed out of me i should write for scooby doo fr. and i also love the desperation of trying to distract someone from inevitable horror without giving away your gay love in a POW camp. idk it’s just fun

“Remember when you thought you saw a ghost in England?”

“Did not,” Gale says. His breathing isn’t quite right. Restrained and sharp, but John can tell he’s trying.

“You did,” John presses on. Buck turns his head a little, the anticipation of going untouched clearly building, but John takes his chin between his thumb and forefinger, brings him back around to look at him. “You woke me up at Christ knows what time. I never seen you so frantic, I thought you were finally drunk. And you shook me awake, oh, Bucky, I saw somethin’. Oh, Bucky, I swear it was movin’ through the north side barracks.” Gale blinks slowly, huffs out a small laugh. “And I thought you’d gone crazy. ’Cos Buck Cleven, he told me he don’t believe in any of that bushwa first day I met him, when I told you my grandma used to post up in Ma’s house when she was already long gone.”

“Didn’t see no ghost, John,” Gale says. John knows he can sense Doc moving beside him, now. He’s gone tense, chest rising and falling with gaining speed.

“Hey, Buck, hey,” John says, trying desperately to pull his attention back to him. Gale meets his eyes, and John is hopeless to combat the panic in them. “I know you didn’t. Remember what it was, huh? Remember?”

“Meatball,” Gale says, barely audible.

“Fuckin’ Meatball. Got into the pantry and brought a whole bag of flour down on him. He looked ghostly, I’ll give ya that-”

John is cut off when Gale screams. He has never heard a sound like it from another human being.

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Superstar. it’s literally me and elo’s prestige show. other than that this must be the place bc i love to see austin in pain