#Also getting a headache from it but i'm actually impressed myself

[rosepetals-v]

Never mind, I'm reading rn.

[writers-potion]

Hi I really love all the writing tips you give! I'm a fanfic writer myself and your tips have helped me out so much with writing <3 I was wondering if you had any tips on how to write any kind of flashback scenes? Like ways to lead up to it or where a character is like having a headache and then BOOM they get a glimpse of a flashback or something. I struggle so much with this ;-;

Ideas for Flashback Scenes

Hey there! Thanks for the question! Since flashbacks are about reminding a character of a memory they haven't been thinking about, here are some ideas for triggering a memory!

Hinge on an Object/Person

Coming across an object or person from the past can call a dusty memory to the forefront. 

Maybe your character is going through the attic or clearing out an unused shelf. It can be a friend returning an item that they’d lost. 

Dreaming/Semi-Dreaming

A dream is a product of taking snippets from our actual life and putting them together in weird ways. A character may dream about something in the past, wake up, then recall the memory more clearly, using the dream snippet as the starting point.

Similarly, they may dream briefly as they doze off, then wake up to have a “fuller” flashback. 

Deja-Vu

A deja-vu would be most natural if the memory being recalled is set somewhere the character goes to on a day-to-day basis (like the supermarket or the cobbled walkway in front of their house, etc.)

A repeated action (cashier checking out items), a familiar scenery, or a familiar sound will trigger a similar memory, maybe even set in the same location. 

Mid-Conversation/Trigger Words 

Certain words or voices can be triggers of memory. You can have a moment where the character pauses for a moment to think, “wait, I think I’ve heard that phrase somewhere…” 

The other character asking them a question can also trigger a memory in the process of trying to come up with an answer. 

Trigger words can appear on road signs or on book covers, etc. You can try describing the font/color of the word and link it to a snapshot of the memory being recalled. 

The "Aha!" Moment 

This is where the character is doing essentially nothing (like standing in the shower, staring off into the ceiling, etc). It can even be when they’ve lied down trying to sleep, when something suddenly just jumps into mind. 

Provide some context through internal dialogue, where the character is either thinking about something that they’re worried about or an event that left an impression on them that day, etc. 

Being in Danger/Near-Death Moments

This is similar to how a character’s life plays out before their eyes right before they die. 

When a character is in danger, their brains will start firing in ways that it usually wouldn’t, triggering a flashback. 

A flashback can be induced by shock, a loud bang, explosion, etc. when the character goes momentarily numb. 

Flashback Under Intoxication

If your character is drunk, on drugs, or taking medication that impacts their cognitive abilities, they may start triggering memories that have long been buried. 

However, the flashback scene in this case will have some unusual aspects, and will be prone to being warped or even fabricated in some parts.

[leonawriter]

Now, with what little I do know of M27's plot and what happens in it, there's this idea that came to me, and just in case there are spoilers (which will be vague, because I have not been able to watch it myself so I'm missing, like, 90% of what happens), I'll put it under a cut.

Just- Hakuba getting a call from Hattori, who opens with "So, you know Kid, right?"

Which is weird and alarming enough in the first place because yeah Hakuba knows Kid but he also isn't supposed to, so he just... gives a vague "well yes I've attended a fair number of heists myself" answer.

Hattori, carrying on, "That means you've seen his face, right? The real one, I mean."

Hakuba starting to get properly paranoid now that Hattori, whose methods he wasn't able to appreciate the one time they'd met, seems to be trying to insinuate things about him that from anyone else would be a threat. He's still not sure what to make of it from Hattori.

Except then the conversation veers into weird territory when instead of using the fact that Hakuba might know who Kid is against him, he instead starts going-

"He looks like Kudo, right?" and when Hakuba admits he's never actually met Kudo Shinichi, he gets told to imagine a grown-up Edogawa Conan, which... certainly adds more evidence for a theory he is definitely not touching right now, and isn't relevant, and gets covered up with a quick "they're like, related or somethin', y'know?"

Hakuba looks Kudo's face up on the internet rather than use a far too intelligent child as a point of comparison.

Which has it come back around to Hattori insistently saying "He does, though, right? Kid. He looks like Kudo. It's not just me. I did try askin' him about it but he just looked at me like I was crazy."

This has to be the strangest thing Hakuba's gone through since last dealing with Kuroba in either of his faces.

"Are you," he says, feeling a headache building, "trying to suggest that Kudo Shinichi is the Kaitou Kid?"

He doesn't expect the brief pause and the muffled "What the hell?" that matches his own state of bafflement.

"Well, that is what it sounded like you were suggesting."

"Hell no. I know Kudo ain't Kid- hey, does that mean you agree with me? They look like they could be twins, right-"

And then there's a muffled curse, and the line drops. Presumably Hattori had hung up, for one reason or another.

It could easily have been that he'd called during a stolen moment and he'd been called away, but that didn't explain the distinct impression that he must have thought he'd said more than he should.

Which only left one thing: Hattori thought that Kudo and Kid were related.

Which meant that Kudo and Kuroba were related.

Hakuba thinks about Kuroba. Thinks about his personality, and the way he interacts with Aoko, and the way he talked about his father.

He thinks about the way something like this would affect his already chaotic personality if it were true - and that was a big if - and he really can't be blamed for feeling that headache start to take hold.

[frogofalltime]

08.02.2024

today i missed my morning lecture because it was supposed to be 10-11am but my 8am alarm didn't go off and i woke up at almost 11 lol

i got up and looked out of my window and it was snowing !!!!! and it just continued to get heavier as i ate breakfast and got ready for class !!!!!!

i realised i was running slightly behind, normally i would've been fine but it takes a lot longer to walk in the snow, and i kept slipping and falling all the way to class, so i ended up being a bit late.

after the lecture me and @etherealspacejelly slid our way up the road, robin had to go to another class (sad times) and i went to the park to enjoy the snow.

i saw our pigeons shivering in the cold and the ducks were fighting with them to get some food. i ran around in the deep snow and got my shoes and trousers all wet.

then i slid down the hill to my friends' house. we played in the snow for a while but our hands got too cold and we went inside. i ate snacks and drank some hot water to warm up.

one of our friends chased us around the house with a horrible monkey stress toy that their siblings gave them for christmas and i genuinely thought it was going to explode and cover the house with flour but somehow it remained intact despite all the abuse it was being put through.

then we went to our last class of the day. it was a very boring lecture about bioinformatics that didn't seem to be very useful. i sat next to robin and we messed around drawing silly things on his notepad and laughing too much. luckily we were at the back of an enormous lecture hall so the professor did not notice our behaviour.

when that was finally over, my friend who was also in the same lecture met me to go to a place where you can build lego sets, and we walked through the snow to get there. i hadn't seen this friend since before christmas so it was fun to catch up and hear about how T gel is going for him (he said it's going well, and i noticed his voice is a lot lower, which is really awesome) !!

i was completely drenched with cold water by the time we arrived but it was nice and cosy indoors and i built a lego shark. i also made a small hammerhead shark using leftover pieces, i didn't use instructions for it so i'm actually pretty impressed with how it turned out :D

i took my antidepressant meds and immediately started feeling weird. i've been getting a lot of tension headaches in the evenings since i started the adhd meds, even though i stopped taking them, idk why my antidepressants are affecting me like this, but my hypothesis is that they stopped working properly because of the interaction with the stimulants and now they are starting to work again which is causing my body to have to readjust ??

then we walked home and got soaked again. it was raining now so the snow was all melting and my feet were so so so cold. when i got back to my student accommodation i built a tiny snowman which made my fingers numb, collected my laundry that i had forgotten about in the dryer for 24 hours, and took a hot shower to warm myself up.

finally i ate dinner. my appetite is immense lately; i had twice as much as i normally eat and i didn't even feel uncomfortably full. i guess it's because i didn't eat properly last week so my body is making up for it.

i finished my reread of percy jackson and the lightning thief and wasted time on my phone for a while. then robin encouraged me to wash my dishes and i finally went to bed just before midnight.

it took me a while to get to sleep because of the tension headache which was making my eyes hurt. i hope this goes away soon. also it was very cold and the dripping noises from the snow melting outside were driving me insane. but other than that i had a really good day and i'm very happy !!!

[thegeminisage]

star trek update time. earlier tonight, my eyes were cursed with star trek generations, a very very bad movie. if you don't know the big spoiler for this movie (the character death), please stop reading here. or keep reading actually i'm not your mom. fuck this movie anyway.

with the tos movies, i tried to keep notes on notepad as i watched so as to better type up a "liveblog" later. i was a bit spotty at remembering to do that this time, but i have enough to put together a reasonable write-up. here's kind of how it went

cried multiple times during this movie. first time was when kirk showed up because i knew it was the last time we were ever gonna see him. got bonus aftershock tears when i saw scotty and chekov - i was under the impression it was JUST kirk. second time, i THINK, was when he showed up again, though i just misted up a little. big boo-hooing when he mentioned spock, naturally. MORE crying when he finally bit it, though it was mostly because i was angry!!! and finally, even though i promised myself i wouldn't cry over data, i did start sobbing when he was reunited with his cat. gave myself a crying headache.

it was difficult watching kirk be on the bridge and want to be captain and he's not captain. and then crisis strikes and oh yeah he is. and really, the captainly thing to do WAS to go down to the lower decks and do whatever the fuck. needs of the many. he saved that guy's life. that would have been a fine death.

it was a little ruined by chekov going "was there somebody in there?" like to me it struck me more as funny than anything

oh, spotting guinan in the tos era made me absolutely thrilled btw. i missed her so much in s7 it was UNREAL.

OH YEAH AND. sulu's daughter. wah. ik aos sulu is gay do we think tos sulu is gay too. either way i;m very happy for him

apparently one of the guys in this is from succession. i'm choosing to blame this whole debacle on him.

switching directly to a fucking holodeck scene KILLED me. i HATE the holodeck. at first i thought they were giving worf a retirement party to send him to ds9 but they were just doing all of that for fun. deanna's outfit was hot though. also, data shoving beverly WAS FUNNY tng writers just hate autistic people

i have mixed feelings about data and the emotions chip. i was surprised they never covered it in tng proper and i think it would have been handled better there...data having the chip WAS the reason soren got away, which makes it plot-important, but it felt like a b-plot to a normal tng episode and this is supposed to be a feature film. instead it was a tng two-parter with a budget and william shatner. it was fun watching data experience emotions (happiness, terror) and struggle to control them, but there ironically wasn't enough time to really get into it, except when picard gave him the tough love speech, which i think was uncalled for. why is he so against suicide when it's data when he was out here telling worf to kill himself over an empty barrel??

titty klingon sisters. i never remember their names or their faces but i ALWAYS recognize those boob windows. at first it was really annoying because it is pretty sexist but honestly i've become very endeared. it's absolutely devastating that this movie killed them too. they were everything to me 💔

hey, sorry, side bar, were they watching geordi bathe through his visor? freaks.

also, geordi in the bondage gear while he was kidnapped. ALSO, wasn't he growing new eyes in the tng s7 finale? whatever happened with that???

stellar cartography looks better than it did in tng but it brought back memories of picard running around on poor beverly. idk what he's so worried about continuing his family line for wesley crusher IS his affair baby

hey, also, the lighting??? the "distant sunlight" atmosphere when the lights are off vs the brightly lit interior of the show? truly, the upgraded lighting was probably my favorite part of the movie. it looked SO fucking good. i really felt like we were on a spaceship.

no, wait, ACTUALLY my favorite part was data getting to say "oh, shit!" that was really good. they got one bad word for this whole movie and used it in the perfect place

no, my favorite part was the spock mention.

did not like kirk referring to picard repeatedly as the captain of the enterprise. kirk's the real captain here, bitch. picard doesn't have what it takes to die for his ship. he doesn't love his ship the way kirk loved his.

i did like the nexus reference to the tmp wife. in the novel she was named lori but she didn't show up in tmp proper much less get a name so i'm ok with them calling her the wrong name, but i just know it's the same woman. less okay with kirk's nexus dream being all about some random woman we've never met. he's in love with the IDEA of a woman to come home to, sure, but it's just lazy writing. we don't have any reason to care about this girl. at least if it had been carol ruth marcus or something we'd have SOME basis to give a shit on. the nexus was the perfect place for spock and bones! i wish they and uhura and sulu had had cameos...

i also liked him warning picard to NEVER retire/accept promotion, bc retiring wound up being so traumatizing for him. this is not really consistent but i'm making it that way in my mind palace.

also, kirk being a horse girl is FAKE. they just made him be into horses bc picard is into horses. gross. he was really good at chopping wood though lol

the scene with the kids evacuating the spaceship...WHY WOULD YOU HAVE CHILDREN ON THIS SHIP. i also worried about the pets the entire time, which is part of why i lost it when data found spot :(

it's sad that a piece of guinan was left behind in the nexus...does that happen to everyone? is a piece of kirk in there too? i really wanted to write a fix-it for this someday but they have given me so little to work with that it's hard to imagine a fixit that isn't just 80% "yeah we're ignoring that" which isn't very satisfying.

the crash was SO long. also, why was data holding troi? she's got 2 different boyfriends who could be doing that for her

since i was going into this knowing kirk died, i expected that he was gonna die because the nexus swallowed him or something. i was expecting something grand. instead it was like, tos scene, an hour and a half of very mid tng content, and then half an hour of rushed and poorly paced kirk and picard scenes. typical tng episode that it didn't get to the point until it was almost over, but jesus. i can't believe they got shatner for their movie and then barely had him in it. like, kirk at the end was a total surprise narratively (obviously everyone watching it knows bc of the opening at LEAST that he'll be back, but imagine if this guy had been some rando - it would have been so unsatisfying and weird).

see, this is the thing. the nexus actually has the potential to be incredibly compelling. the way picard's scenes were shot were very very good, if one could ignore the clothes from 1790 and the horrific portrait of himself looking like he stepped out of les mis and also how creepy his kids were and WHY WASN'T HIS WIFE BEVERLY I HATE HIM. kirk's were rushed and messy (he likes horses? his dog? none of this connects us to the character we knew in tos...), and picard's involved, well, picard. but the CONCEPT absolutely fucks, and i did love the creep factor in spite of it all. this whole movie had huge potential and instead it's a steaming pile of shit. i could have learned to live with a good kirk death but living with a bad one is gonna kill me. at least he had good last words. "oh, my" right before he dies kinda fucks tbh.

my final note is that i think sir patrick stewart got sunburnt filming some of those scenes near the end. there were a few shots where he looked quite pink. give the man some sunscreen. oh yeah also why did some people randomly wear the ds9 uniforms...what on earth

anyway, terrible movie, 0/10 stars, i'm never gonna recover. tng never disappoints in disappointing me.

NEXT TIME: back to ds9, thank god. we're doing "meridan" and "defiant."

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

So, I was originally supposed to go to the grocery store only yesterday, but Stiles and Derek wanted to tag along. And they wanted to look around at other stores, which led to some interesting discoveries! >>> Stiles was really intrigued by the Cheetos and Doritos bath bombs (FYI, they are actually orange and blue raspberry scented, and are are also Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms bath bombs in the bottom of the stack). Derek was not impressed, and I'm glad he also agreed with me that these sound horrifying and also WHY?! 😭 >>> Derek somehow found himself in a pool of Rubix Cubes (aka mints). >>> Meanwhile, Stiles wanted to pose with the Dundies (candies). Which Dundie would he get if he was part of The Office? Snarkiest Little Shit in the Office Award? 😂🏆 >>> Okay, so these dummies told me if I was going to spend some time looking around, I might as well treat myself. So, I did with face masks and sweets. YAY! >>> Look what Stiles found?!!! Lisa Frank sticker sheets! He definitely begged for me to snag these for nostalgia's sake, so yeah, I caved. Derek thinks they're tacky with all the rainbows vomiting everywhere. Also, I think he developed a headache from looking at all the stickers. >>> Sterek enjoying a sweet treat (aka an ice cream Chococat)! (I'm also LOLing about this adventure as many shots were undocumented since a. having them pose in a store was weird enough, b. I must have looked sketchy AF, and c. I got a couple of skeptical looks from people so I had to chose deserted areas selectively for the shots I did manage to get. I'm still sad I missed out on getting Derek and Stiles near the dog section...what a lost opportunity to make dog jokes. 😝🐶) Grocery shopping was uneventful, but Stiles did convince me to get a box of chicken nuggets, because heyyy, no one can say no to a damn good deal for a big box of homemade ones! 🍗 (Also, I am still a child, apparently) If you’d like to follow Sterek on more mini adventures, stay updated with the #stereksmolshots tag!

[thegreymoon]

The Story of Minglan

I had a shitty week, a stressful problem that was (thankfully) successfully taken care of and a three-day headache. I have today off so I'm going to try to do some fun things and drama-watching because it will be work again tomorrow 😭

I want to finish these in-between episodes before we finally get to the Minglan and Gu Tingye relationship part and then I think I'll take a break to watch Judge Di before I continue this.

***

NOOOOO, CONSORT RONG KILLED THEM OFF-SCREEN!

But I wanted to watch them die 😢

***

Yes!! At least let me see her death!

It is so richly deserved!

***

NOOOOO, KILL HER!!

CONSORT RONG, I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU!! MUST YOU BETRAY ME SO?? 😭😭

***

Yay, for Gu Tingye!

He accidentally allied himself with the right people, lol.

***

NOOOO, DON'T KILL HER!!

She's a baby and the only one who stepped up!

***

By this point, I am actually quite bored of him conveniently showing up whenever she is in need of rescuing from pirates/bandits/usurpers etc.

This drama is really strong when it comes to family relationships and in-house scheming, but I'm just not impressed with everything else.

***

At least she realistically broke down and bawled like a baby when he rescued her.

The rest of this just obliterated my suspension of disbelief.

***

This is nice 💚

***

LMAO, he's so unhappy 🤣🤣

Poor guy just wanted to live his life out in peace, but no, the one possible Imperial heir who wanted nothing to do with this whole mess was chosen as the Crown Prince 🤣🤣

And I love how nobody else is even registering his complaints, he's the dianxia now whether he likes it or not!

***

Oh, shut up.

The most irritating aspect of this drama so far.

***

You and him are one and the same, so it's a moot question.

Also, it's about time you started getting busy with that. Please pacify the rebellion quickly and let's get things moving!

***

LMAO

I'm so glad you know! Finally! Let's do it! I'm so tired of all these losers and their opportunistic mothers and grandmothers sniffing around her.

***

LMAO, Gu Tingye has no time for his bullshit 🤣🤣

I love that he resolved this with one arrow to his chest. I'm not particularly enjoying this whole sequence and would prefer to move on to other things.

And hopefully, Gu Tingye will now also get an apology for that exam fiasco. Why, yes, as an eternal student, I'm still mad about it. If I passed my final exam with flying colours and some petty Emperor decided to bar me from getting my diploma because he was butthurt? I would assassinate him myself!

***

LOL, he never told them his real name?

***

YES, CALL HIM OUT!!

***

At least he has the self-awareness to look embarrassed, smh.

***

Oh, so it took you a whole five minutes to turn on him.

After he saved your miserable life how many times now? And practically handed you the throne! 🤬🤬

***

HE WAS TWELVE!!

AND YOU ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG EVEN IN THE CASE OF YANG WUDUAN!!

RAGE. 🤬🤬

***

OMG, the injustice of this!!

Fuck the reputation.

LET. HER. GET. CREDIT.

Also, Gu Tingye would marry her with or without a reputation.

***

Aww, so he died.

Also, what happened to Consort Rong? We never saw her die, but I imagine she must have either killed herself or been executed.

***

Oh, so he was an actual historical figure?

I thought all of these characters were fictional. Interesting.

***

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT!

GU TINGYE IS A MINISTER, AFTER ALL!

[jazlynriddle]

Welcome to your life - Pt 2:

Acting On Your Best Behaviour Ch 10:

Summary:

They'd seen it in their fellow orphans often enough to recognise the pattern and were now forced to admit, despite their hopes to the contrary, that Isidora had likely suffered similar side effects.

No… they'd always known she had. The Keeper had just wanted the power that Ranrok had, enough to convince themselves that they would be able to handle it better than that naive woman.

With the start of the Keeper’s sixth-year in Hogwarts, comes a whole slew of headache-inducing challenges from the most unexpected of places. Between insignificant pests throwing wrenches into their plans and tedious teenage drama, that the Keeper is entirely unprepared for, they wonder if they'll make it to their NEWTs without losing their sanity.

Or worse, Ominis or Sebastian.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

Warning: Descriptions of faecal matter!

Now that the drug addiction arc and its accompanying character and relationship growths are mostly settled. I'm going to start laying more groundwork and preparations, and throw in some time skipping to get to the next arc I've got planned xD

Also, I actually started rereading from the start of the series to refresh my memory and wow, it's gotten long enough that it's taking me, myself, days to read up to the latest chapter! By the time I'm done with this series, I'm probably going to be able to read the entire thing as though someone else wrote it. HUZZAH! =D

"So, what'd you get from those diaries?" The Keeper asked as the group settled down around their usual table at the Three Broomsticks.

Garreth shrugged. "Not that much, still making my way through them. So far, it just seems like they're some truly sad souls. I almost feel bad for them.

The Keeper raised their eyebrows, the madman actually read them!? Honestly, they were impressed by the Gryffindor's dedication to what seemed like his life’s purpose of pranking. "Is that so? Now I'm curious."

"Well, first off, this is apparently their second time taking seventh year, explains why they can even afford to stalk you so much." Garreth rolled his eyes.

"They failed their NEWTs? Considering their penmanship, I bet the professors simply couldn’t read their test papers." Amit snorted, before taking a drink from his mug.

"Probably would've been the case if they hadn't simply bailed on the week of the exams." Garreth sniggered as Amit sprayed his butterbeer across the table.

"They didn't show up!?" Natty exclaimed and it was unclear if the disgust on her face was from the now lubricated table or the idea of the bullies cowardly running away from their exams.

"Yup, apparently they weren't happy with the girls their parents had signed them marriage contracts with and did so as some form of protest." Garreth shook his head. "Honestly, I think it's kinda messed up that these purebloods don't get to pick who they marry. And somehow they're the superior ones."

"Can't say I have any sympathy for them, but it's rather understandable to not want to marry someone you don't love." Poppy glanced at the Keeper. "Especially if you already love someone else."

"I suppose their families don't approve of a pair of no name hillbilly twin girls." The Keeper hummed thoughtfully to themselves. "They aren't firstborn sons, right?"

"Yeah, they've both got older brothers, that's probably why they could get away with bargaining their Hogwarts career with their parents." Garreth rolled his eyes. "Pureblood politics are so weird."

"Politics…" Amit coughed to clear his throat and vanished away the butterbeer on the table before continuing. "I wonder if we can use any of this as blackmail."

The Keeper shook their head. "Probably not anything they'd dare to write."

"Oh!" Poppy's eyes lit up. "In that case, how about we make them share something they wouldn't write down?"

"What, like with a truth serum?" The Keeper raised an eyebrow sceptically. There was no way something like that existed, even in the-

"Veritaserum is a NEWT level potion though…" Amit frowned.

Seriously?

"Are you telling me that there's a potion that makes people tell the truth?" The Keeper asked incredulously.

"Ah, right, I suppose you wouldn't know since it's not very commonly spoken or written about." Poppy smiled wryly.

"If such a thing exists, why doesn't the ministry just use that on people like Rookwood and Harlow?" The Keeper's face scrunched up in bewilderment.

The table went silent.

"Well… there is an antidote and it's said that those with Occlumency can resist it…" Amit trailed off hesitantly.

The Keeper rolled their eyes. "It's the bloody Government, surely they can use a mixture of confounding spells, torture, and force feeding to convict anyone suspected of criminal activity and obviously not allow them to take an antidote. With enough evidence and compulsion, the truth would always surface. If the serum isn't enough, you could even forcibly extract their memories to back it up."

The group went silent again at the Keeper’s casual advocation of torture. Most of them weren't particularly surprised at the Keeper’s stance, considering the way they fought in battle. Garreth's eyes were the only ones wide with surprise, having never fought alongside the Keeper and seen their violent tendencies.

"I'm not sure that's very ethical…" Natty frowned in concern and disapproval.

The Keeper snorted. "I'd say it's more unethical to allow people to harm others over some vague concept of human rights. If the authorities had used Veritaserum on Harlow after we gave them that incriminating letter, Archie's father would still be alive."

Natty flinched and averted her eyes with a frown. The Keeper ignored it, this was a ridiculous point to be stuck on.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind trying to brew it." Garreth broke the awkward silence with a nervous smile and a shrug, clearly trying to move the conversation along. "But I don’t know the recipe and it's supposed to take a month to brew. Even if by some miracle, we get the ingredients, I can't be sure it'll work."

"I think it's worth a try." Poppy nodded. "I don’t think those boys deserve the right to keep secrets."

"We can help with gathering the needed materials and I'll help with the brewing." The Keeper nodded as well. A chance to learn how to brew a truth serum was certainly something they wouldn't pass up. Even if it failed, it was definitely worth the attempt.

"I'll see what books I can find on the subject." Amit offered. "Though with it being a controlled substance, chances are slim that we'll even find the recipe, so I'd keep my hopes low."

"I'll check the Restricted Section if you can't find anything." The Keeper waved a hand dismissively.

"You-" Amit's eyes widened, and he paused. "Why am I even surprised that you have a way to sneak into the Restricted Section."

The Keeper flashed him a small smirk, before turning to Natty, waiting for her response, prompting the rest to do the same.

Glancing around the table, Natty sighed. "Very well, but I have one condition, we'll plan the questions together and I'll do the interrogation. I don't want to violate them more than we need to. We mustn't sink to their level."

"Reasonable enough." The Keeper nodded amicably, it wasn’t like they intended to allow the bullies to be interrogated under Veritaserum anyway. Not while those idiots remained abreast of the Keeper’s own secrets.

"Wait, surely you can't be suggesting that we waste this opportunity!? We could have them tell us anything!" Garreth protested. "Think of the blackmail material or at the very least the pranks we could pull on them!"

Natty glared at her housemate while the Keeper snorted, they were amazed that that one hadn't ended up in Slytherin. Still, ethical conflicts aside, it was admittedly nice to have such a naïve group of friends.

"Hey, are you alright, Natty?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, Poppy."

"If what they said is still bothering you, don't worry too much about it. They mean well, they've just been through a lot. Can't have been easy having three villains after them the moment they entered the wizarding world."

"I know… that's the problem. I don’t agree with them, but I can’t say they were wrong…"

"Honestly, I've been thinking about it too."

"You have?"

"Yeah, and I think it's fine to disagree with them. It's having people like you, that prevents justice from becoming cruelty, and people like them judging evil, that protects everyone. That’s what I think at least."

"...I suppose."

"Chin up, we're definitely doing the right thing. They've been looking so much better since we started helping them last month!"

"...yeah, you're right. Hopefully we'll be able to finish this before the Yule holidays at the end of next month."

"Do you think they'll manage to make Veritaserum with Garreth?"

"They and Garreth are the two best potioneers in our year, and Amit is great at potion theory, so I'd say there's a good chance."

"I wonder how they managed to find the recipe in the Restricted Section…"

"Probably with Sallow's help. He's been caught in the Restricted Section so many times, I'm sure he literally just gave them the title and shelf."

"I'm still surprised he and Ominis didn't agree to work with us."

"..."

"When it turns yellow, stir nine times clockwise at medium heat." Amit read from the open tome laid out on the table, before adjusting the temperature of the fire.

The Keeper nodded, eyes narrowed in focus as they carefully moved the ladle at an even pace.

"Is the unicorn horn powder ready? I need at least a spoonful to add after the potion turns red." Amit asked as he returned to reading the next set of instructions on the tome carefully.

"Almost." Garreth replied as he carefully ground the last fragment of horn into a powder. "Bit surprised you knew where to get unicorn horn."

The Keeper shrugged as the potion began turning pink. "I explored the surrounding region a fair bit last year."

"I'm amazed you managed to pass your OWLs while adventuring and fighting Ranrok, Rookwood and Harlow." Amit shook his head as he carefully collected a spoonful of powder and began to add it to the red liquid. "Now, seven times anticlockwise. Garreth, you can start shredding the Dugbog tongue and I'll prepare the Stench of the Dead."

"Got it." Garreth nodded as he readied the chopping board. "Honestly, after your assistance acquiring Billywig Stings for my last endeavour, I was sure you'd join Sebastian and I, as a frequent guest of the illustrious Detention Chamber."

"Only if I were as sloppy as you two." The Keeper snorted, inwardly apologising to Sebastian as Garreth gasped in mock offence. After all, the last time Sebastian had gotten a detention, it had been to protect them.

The Keeper felt the corners of their lips attempt to curl upwards at the fond memory and quickly shook it off. This wasn't the time to be distracted by their feelings for Sebastian-

"Alright, we've got to add these at the same time when it turns blue." Amit moved to stand beside the cauldron with the disgusting smelling bottle and Garreth joined him with his own shredded tongue strips. "You'll need to wave your wand over the pot after they're in to finish the potion."

"Got it." The Keeper nodded, making the effort to keep their stirring constant as they monitored the potion.

"Aaaand…" Amit held his breath as the potion's bright purple gradually bled into a beautiful sky blue. "Now!"

The potion splashed slightly as the handfuls of ingredients plopped into the bubbling liquid. The moment they sank under the surface, the Keeper quickly waved their wand over the cauldron and the surface of the liquid glowed brightly before a cloud of steam burst from it.

The three jumped back in surprise and the Keeper irritably fanned the smoke away with a hand. When the air finally cleared, the contents of the cauldron were now a surprisingly clear and transparent fluid.

"...did we…" Amit murmured, staring at the pot. The disgusting odour of the Stench of the Dead was completely gone.

"We did it!" Garreth cheered, jumping with a fist in the air.

"Don't celebrate so soon, just because it looks correct doesn't mean its potency is desirable or that it actually performs the intended results." The Keeper chuckled at the Gryffindor's excitement.

"Heh heh, that just means we've got to test it!" Garreth grinned and Amit sighed.

"Indeed. The Yule break starts next week, so this weekend is our last chance." The Keeper took a set of vials out of their satchel. "How about you guys start putting the ingredients back while I pour the potion into these vials?"

"Sure, I remember where to put the remaining ingredients we lifted from Professor Sharp's store." Garreth grinned as he scooped the remaining items and dumped them into Amit's arms. "You can help keep a lookout."

"Why me-" Amit complained as Garreth dragged him out of the room by the sleeve.

The Keeper smirked as the two boys left, quickly ladling out the cauldron's contents into six vials which they placed into a blue box and shoved into their satchel. They then removed a brown box containing six identical vials of clear and odourless liquid, placing it on the counter.

With that settled, the Keeper went about cleaning the potion station until the two boys returned.

"Alright, so we're all in agreement on this list of questions?" Natty asked, holding up a parchment.

The Keeper nodded, not that it mattered. If everything went well, she wouldn't even get the chance to ask them.

"Then, let's get started." Garreth grinned widely as he held up the brown box for Natty and Poppy to take one vial each. "Good luck!"

The two girls quickly left the Three Broomsticks through the front door and the Keeper's eyes slid upwards towards the upper floors. Now, it was up to the girls and all they could do was wait for their signal.

Once outside, Natty and Poppy hurried up the snow covered stone steps and around to the other side of the Three Broomsticks. Reaching the side door that led back into the building, Natty lightly pushed the door open and stepped through it, finding themselves on the second floor.

Looking over the banister, Natty noted that the two bullies were on the first floor, leaning against the railings. The bullies' mugs sat on said railings beside their arms as they looked out over the table on the ground floor, where the group always sat with the Keeper, and all in all, doing a terrible job of appearing as though they weren't blatantly spying.

Quietly, she and Poppy made their way down the stairs, and around the bullies, to stand within view of the Keeper’s table behind the bullies. Once in position, Natty lifted her wand and whispered. "Lumos."

Spotting the light from the corner of their eye, the Keeper stood and began walking under the first-floor platform towards the fireplace. The bullies, predictably, left the front facing banister immediately to scamper to the other side of the first floor and looked downwards over those railings to keep the Keeper within their sight.

At the same time, Poppy and Natty quickly, and quietly, brisk walked over to the two abandoned mugs of butterbeer and dripped three drops of the contents of their vials into each, before quickly returning to their original spot. With their task done, Natty raised her lit wand again.

Spotting the second signal, the Keeper collected a handful of nuts from a bowl on the fireside counter and returned to their table casually.

The bullies again followed them, returning to their original spot, leaning on the railings overlooking the Keeper's table. Natty took a deep breath as she and Poppy watched the bullies pick up their mugs and take several gulps from them.

"Alright. Time to see if it worked." Natty breathed and Poppy gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder.

Mustering that Gryffindor courage that she was so proud of, Natty began to approach the bullies when one of them let out a loud groan of pain.

She stopped in surprise, when the other bully broke wind at an embarrassingly high volume, the sound lasting long enough to draw everyone’s attention to its uneven stutter.

One that sounded alarmingly wet, no less.

The nearby customers began to snigger as the two bullies faces paled and then began turning red.

Without a word, the two boys abruptly broke into a sprint, shuffling down the stairs as fast as their feet could carry them, with another loud and wet fart echoing in their wake. The sound came accompanied by the appearances of brown splotches and footprints left behind by the bullies’ shoes.

Garreth immediately burst into uproarious laughter, alongside several other customers, while Sirona shouted angrily at the two bullies as they rushed out of the establishment.

Giggling, Poppy began descending the stairs as well, taking care to avoid the reeking brown spatter on the wooden steps. Natty shook her head with a sigh before following, slipping around Sirona as the bar owner began to clean away the disgusting stains.

"Well, that went well." Poppy laughed lightly as she and Natty reseated themselves at the table.

"Well? I think that was fantastic! A perfect prank if I do say so myself, so worth the month-long brew!" Garreth shook with laughter.

The Keeper smirked. "I believe a wise man once said, he who hath smelt it hath dealt it."

"And if it was more than just gas, he will have felt it. In. His. Pants!" Garreth continued with an enormous grin, as he punctuated each of those last few words by jabbing a finger in the air.

Honestly, the Keeper was wondering if that grin stretching from ear to ear was hurting his face. It certainly looked like it should.

Natty sighed. "I won't deny that it ended up being a funny and unexpectedly suitable revenge, but I would have rathered it gone according to plan."

The Keeper shrugged. "At least it didn't kill them. In all honesty, if we had messed it up worse, it probably wouldn't have been funny."

Natty's face paled at the suggestion and Poppy shook her head. "Well, it would probably have been obvious if it had failed that badly, let's just be glad we got a good laugh for our troubles."

"Indeed, it was certainly worth the effort, and I am nonetheless glad to have learnt and attempted such a complex potion." Amit agreed with a smile.

Natty sighed but her eyes were less downtrodden this time, even managing a small smile. "You're right, we won't be defeated."

"Just because this plan didn't work out, doesn't mean we won't keep trying till we have a solution!" Garreth nodded, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

The Keeper snorted, they certainly were an optimistic bunch, but that wasn't a bad thing. Pessimistic mentalities were more deadly than most of their wizarding peers realised. If you'd already given up in your mind, no plan you concocted would succeed, and you would have lost the battle before it even began.

That was something they respected in Sebastian, his optimism, dedication, and determination to do the impossible regardless of how many people tried to stop him. Even Ominis, though withheld often by caution and anxiety, was not afraid to use whatever he had at his disposal to protect what he saw as his. A trait they too shared.

The Keeper was proud to have gathered so many people with the right life attitudes, not just as friends but in their partners too. They wouldn't let any of this effort be for naught. Neither this group's nor their partners'.

While they knew that not everyone would agree, the Keeper believed that the way to make up for deceiving their friends, was to make sure that they'd done it for a worthwhile reason.

That's why they sought Sebastian and Ominis' aid in preparing a very specific brew for the replica vials, with the express purpose of letting the Keeper steal the actual Veritaserum while still creating an effect that their friends would appreciate. The liquid in these fake vials was incredibly potent, causing a sudden and urgent need to use the bathroom, with only two drops.

Perhaps it was a bit overkill, it had been almost as difficult to create such a fake, as it was to brew the actual Veritaserum. They were beyond grateful to have had Ominis' skill in potion theory, and Sebastian’s resourceful creativity, for this craft.

Fortunately, it had gone surprisingly well, and the Keeper felt that their efforts had been worthwhile. Allowing them to look forward to testing the actual Veritaserum without too much guilt. A full dose was three drops, so if it worked, they'd have at least ten doses per vial for a grand total of sixty uses. A coil of glee and excitement roiled in their chest.

Excellent.

This wouldn't go to waste. Their friends and partners' efforts would become a firm foundation for what the Keeper would soon build.

“Now. What do we do with the rest of these then?” Garreth grinned as he held up the brown box full of diarrhoea-inducing transparent and odourless liquid.

The rest of the group paled.

Notes:

While I do understand that Veritaserum is not 100% reliable and that memories can be doctored, that doesn't change how incompetent the Ministry is in the Wizarding World.

At the end of Natty's questline, Nurse Blainey says "What sort of world are we in where children solve our problems?" And this is indeed an entirely horrifying realisation to come to when it involves your local law enforcement.

The letter we submitted to Officer Singer should have been more than enough to at least begin an investigation, the fact that it was not, is ludicrous.

In a way the Keeper’s argument on Veritaserum is the age-old "guilty until proven innocent" vs "innocent until proven guilty". Their reasons for vouching for "guilty until proven innocent" are (hopefully) obvious enough, considering their childhood, and accordingly, the Keeper very much ascribes to the Machiavellian philosophy "the ends justify the means".

Also, I'll remind everyone that the Keeper is still a 15 year old kid, and maturity does not equal experience and knowledge xD

Plus, they're mostly uninterested in politics, which is where a majority of the Ministry's incompetence stems from, as such, they don't see how the nuances of ethics and responsibility can be utterly suppressed by wealth and privilege.

Like the way Lucius Malfoy weaselled his way out of Azkaban despite being a Death Eater and even manipulated the Minister in Harry Potter.

[serabellyms]

GETTING TO KNOW YOU.

respond to the following prompts out of character. then, tag others that you'd like to get to know a little bit better!

ROLEPLAYER NAME: serabellym (sera is fine!)

ROLEPLAYER PRONOUNS: she/her

MUSE NAME: multi-muse, so too many to list.

PREFERRED COMMUNICATION: discord if you have it, IMs if not. I tend to answer Discord more regularly & IMs I sometimes leave the notification until I have the mental capacity to respond as it's usually about plotting, so I have to be in the right mindset!

EXPERIENCE: on tumblr, about 2 years now? In general, well over 10 years.

PREFERRED ROLEPLAY TYPE: some angst or a dab of hurt/comfort is always a soft spot for me. I don't mind fluff once in a while, but it does become dry and repetitive after a while. Realistically, what I want is plots/threads that are dynamic and have a flow; maybe it starts off hurt-comfort, and as replies go on (and we're talking 10, 20, 30 replies in, so long-standing threads) it turns to fluff. Maybe there's a dabble of smut somewhere in there. Either way, dynamic threads is what I crave.

PET PEEVES & DEALBREAKERS:

If you constantly drop threads/forget about threads/threads never go past 1 or 2 replies & we never plot, I'm less likely to interact, period. Taking your time is a very different thing; having multiple threads that are 2-3 replies that constantly get dropped are a motivation killer for me.

If you remake your blog more than once every 6-8 months, I get exhausted. For context, in 2 years I've moved blogs only 3 times. The first was to move from a side blog to a main blog (so it wasn't like I could clean up my blog and make it a main blog); the second was to move from multiple single-muse blogs to one multi-muse blog (I had a lot of content across 4 blogs, it was easier to combine it into one fresh/new blog).

PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO TAG FOR EYESTRAIN. It aggravates me to no end when asking for a tag is a problem. I often get the impression that people don't take the request for eyestrain to be tagged seriously, not realizing that the things I ask to be tagged trigger chronic headaches when it's missed.

Not filling out my interest tracker. I'm very clear why this is a requirement. It's actually detailed & coded on my end to organize it for my own sake well beyond what's asked for in the tracker. It makes it easier for me as someone with a disability to keep track of things, & it alleviates my anxiety to have those tools at my disposal, tools that I've taken the time to create for myself to make my life easier.

PLOTS OR MEMES: both! Generally, memes are good icebreakers, but I'm of the opinion that memes and plots go hand-in-hand. Memes are a great way to trigger a starter for something you've been plotting with a writing partner; conversely, memes can also serve to open the door for plot ideas to form when you discuss with people. I operate on the basis that memes are a way to start threads, and are generally not treated as one-off interactions on my blog. If you send a meme, it's going to be answered in a way that it can serve as a starter. In this case, anyone is welcome to continue memes that I sent if they'd like. I will not be upset.

LONG REPLIES OR SHORT REPLIES: Long replies. Shorter replies are more difficult for me to write and work with in most cases. I can rip through a long reply faster than I can a short reply, because with long replies there's enough content that it gets the creative juices going, and it's a matter of just letting the flow roll. If you give me a short reply, you'll probably be waiting 2-3 times as long for a response than a long reply. (& for those of you thinking "but a long reply is more words to write"--I type around 100-120 words per minute. It's not about the word count or typing speed. It's about my ability to think of a response. Longer replies come easier from a creative standpoint for me.)

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Late at night for me, usually. I need to get more into daytime writing, but it's hard. I'm the kind of person who throws together half a reply while I'm laying in bed about to crash, lol.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSES: As a whole? No. There are likely reasons I'm drawn to certain characters because I relate to them or empathize with them/what they've been through, but I am not like my muses. Often, my own experience influences how I interpret the muse's experience.

tagged by: stolen lmao

tagging: @inufangs @smokedanced @hopegained @missallanea @stardustedstories @tenebriism @talesofourworlds @sailingtempest @primitiveside @bloodiedbiotic @altosk & anyone who'd like to steal!

[fucking-it-catastrophic-style]

at the moment the plot i have is pretty simple because i'm not sure how the time frame i'm dealing with will work with the constraints i put on myself by pitching an idea too cool to my advisor and getting myself stuck with LOL.

"you" are the protagonist - havent decided if this will be second person and primarily prose with small intersections of live-action environmental video or if it will be a physical experience in real life (dubiously doable) or if it will be a sort of digital environment that mostly consists of finding a bunch of text (also dubious)

you wake up in a strange place - a private train car you don't remember seeing before, maybe under the impression you've got a concussion - and you don't really know how you got there. There is a note in your hand, though, and the note in your hand looks like it was written very hastily and it says something along the lines of "the thing we're running away from is closing in on us and we have to get the fuck out of here before it shows up"

you have some sort of macguffin (i was in fact inspired by Alan Wake, sue me) and you need to get it away from whatever's chasing you, or maybe to the place you're being chased from. You're not clear on the distinction, and the notes aren't super clear either because you clearly thought you'd know that when you wrote them

if you try the doors on the train car they are apparently locked. If you open the shutters and look out the window it appears at first glance to just be very dark, because it's pitch black out there, but if you look more clearly you're actually buried underground. Not moving, if you shine a light at the windows you can see dirt packed against them. Buried, not just underground. Yeah?

You keep finding notes that make it a little more clear what's going on and while you're doing that the player character ("you", the protagonist, etc) seems to start getting their shit together - if this is a digital environment then they're more animated, moving and flexing in ways you (the player/reader/whatever) aren't teling them to do. Maybe the headache is wearing off.

You find out that the thing you're running from, your enemy, cannot be trapped anywhere, cannot be avoided, none of that - they seem to have a supernatural ability for getting in and out of places and the reason is that they can body-hop from person to person, and if there's anyone nearby they can possess their body and take over them. The mcguffin is supposed to keep them in place but it has to be used by the right person and you aren't that person.

If this is digital then your character starts doing more weird shit you didn't tell them to. Taking steps away from where "you" are going or turning when you didn't turn them. Not the headache wearing off, then.

If you're trying to get out of the train car and you push some stuff around you can find blood on the floor.

At some point you find another note - if you fuck it up completely and the thing gets you and the mcguffin, the other solution that you and your buddies are going to take is to blow up the tunnel the train is going through so that you're all trapped together on this fucked up train and the thing can't possess anyone else because no one else is nearby. This is, explicitly, not an ideal solution because it means you will die.

The last thing you find is also your cell phone (awesome!) with no reception (blah) and a text message that's you pointing out that you're the last alive person on the train and you completely fucked it all up and they need to blow up the tunnel. or something like that, i need it to be obvious at the end but not necessarily the middle

obviously there's a lot of moving parts that will have to be nailed down and i am required by my own hand to make it multimedia. So the story can only be as complicated as that. But i think i like what I got so far.

[microwavetoaster-selfships]

🏩 and 🧶 for whichever two you'd like to answer for ! (@dmclr)

Thank you so much for the ask!!! I completely forgot somehow that I reblogged an ask game and so when I came back to this I was like.. woa!!! It was like a free surprise for myself I love it.

I'll do these for Jackson and Lightning cause they have been on my mind this morning🥰

🏩 - how does your f/o act when they're sick?

Depending on how sick he is depends on how long he will last, but Lightning spends the first hour or few of him being sick being "I'm completely fineee! It's just a few minor symptoms.." and then regaurdless of if the symptoms actually progress or not he completely crumbles and caves in and needs to be doted on. This happens regaurdless of how sick he is, even if it's just a runny nose and a headache with some sneezing he will eventually reach a point of pouting and claiming that he can't leave his bed(super effective on me, I will absolutely dote on him without hesitation). Though once he's better he normally ends up trying to bashfully deny ever acting in such a manner, or that anyone that was "that sick" would also have been in that state!

Jackson hardly ever gets sick, so he will completely refuse to believe he is sick until the very last minute or it reaches the point that he can't deny it anymore. He absolutely can not stand being sick though, and he will immediately go and take medicine and go through a cycle of really hot showers, hot foods, swaddling himself with heating things and blankets, and trying to sleep his way through the entire thing so he can just drive any of the sickness out of him as quick as possible. If anything I'm there to keep him from going overboard and roasting himself alive(especially if he's already running a fever) and keeping him from driving himself mad. Being sick already sucks, don't need to be sick and upset on top of it!

🧶 - other than their main hobby/career, what other sorts of things do they like to do?

I think I mentioned this before in like the biggest tangent ever, I can't remember what prompted it, funnily enough I think it mightve been in responce to something you asked as well, haha!! But Lightning actually really loves dinosaurs and going to museums and just getting to infodump a bunch. He will hardly turn down a challenge to things and likes to push himself and can be a bit competitive(some times a little less playfully than others), but he has moments of totally just wanting to kick his feet up and relax, watch some documentaries or to just let himself doze off.

Jackson is often understimulated most of the time and has trouble finding things that don't leave him feeling bored or empty/unsatisfied, and it's partly why he sticks to games, or moreso one racing simulator game in part because it was one of the few things that he actually enjoyed as was good at. He keeps himself very reserved, and even something as simple as just finding out what he enjoys is something he keeps close to his chest, but truthfully I think he kinda enjoys and prefers to getting to kinda be more of a tag-along in things, or at least, he does with me. That way if he's bored he can engage as much as he'd like, and if it's too overwhelming for him he can seperate himself or just leave whenever he wants. There's a little bit more to it than that because he can at least be open about it with me(even if he doesn't have the nerve to be very direct about it, believe it or not) and it's not perfect in every situation, but it's easier for him to just be on the sidelines and commentate or be an observer. He definitely has a fondness for techno/digital stuff like video games and LED lights in rooms and RGB keyboards and lights in gaming computers, etc., and he enjoys rediculous(/positive) tehcno/electro dubstep sorts of music. I'd be impressed if you caught him listening to anything else. I don't think he ever really got the chance to explore himself or his interests or what he'd be interested in very much in the first place, so it's really nice to kinda get to explore that with him and find out :)

[acourtofthought]

There are choices and choices.

If Az chooses to choose because he wants and thinks he deserves to be loved, it is not a choice really thought out with heart.

So Mor is the first choice and Elain is a desire for what he wants and it is something rational.

He wants more, there is no romantic and beautiful love like the brothers feel.

Gwyn won't even be the third choice because Sarah must do what she always does, he will like it without wanting to and he won't have reason and brain command.

Rationally, Aelin wouldn't have opened up to Rowan, but she did because she never looked for it.

Maybe it's weak reasoning, but I think Sarah brings together couples who don't want to be together and don't even stay close thinking about Love.

Az thought he liked Mor but he was looking for that.

Az wants and thinks that with Elain he should be happy in love, force this feeling in a certain way.

With Gwyn he will look for nothing and come naturally.

Because all of Sarah's couples are natural and don't start out in love.

I agree. Az wanted Mor for 500 plus years and it was only, very recently on their timeline, that he finally started to come around to the realization that she was probably never going to want him. It's actually a bit weird to think that he was that hard up for Mor (some try to downplay what he felt for her but it's been one of the most major aspects of his character, it's foolish to downplay it) only to believe he's fallen in love with Elain to a greater degree on the exact same timeline.

Because that's what it would be. He gave Elain TT and saved her from Hybern's camp (along with Feyre) which some claim was done out of love but he then went on to stare at Mor with lust in ACOFAS. That's just.....not romantic. Also, it's not really healthy to jump from Mor to Elain in that short a period of time. The more logical explanation for what Az is going through is that he's started to come around to the fact that he'll never end up with Mor but rather than being really ready to admit that to himself, he's latched on to the idea of something else so he can avoid his feelings. And his new fixation is "why did my two brothers get mating bonds while I didn't?" "Why did LUCIEN get a mating bond while I didn't?" It's not about Elain regardless of him staring at the headache powder for a year. If it were about Elain he would be going out of his way to be there for HER, regardless of his sadness over not having a bond with her. He would put aside his own feeling to help her through her first full year of being fae, he would sacrifice his struggles in order to make sure that she's doing alright with Nesta having pushed her away. If Az had any real feelings at all for Elain she would be his focus, not "I'm going to brood by myself because you all got bonds and I didn't". So yeah, he's so messed up about his relationship status and his mating bond status that he's not really showing interest in Elain for the right reasons. I'm still waiting for an E/riel to provide one thing that Az actually likes about Elain, one thing he admires about her, one thing he is impressed with. The fact that Az has been fixated on having a bond with someone for 500 plus years shows that Elain is not going to be enough for him without one. And his almost immediate transference of wanting a bond with Mor to wanting a bond with Elain is pretty much a guarantee that he's not getting a bond with either one because it's like he's just swapping out one single female for another. He's trying so hard to force something that is not happening. And the fact that Gwyn might be his mate yet neither is aware of it at this point means they're set up to come together in a more organic way.

[oleander-nin]

Sorry this ones really long (hohoho you are going to regret giving me permission to ask you things /lh)

Also YES PLEASE Comet's a cool name so I'll gladly take it :D

NOO I CAN'T FORMAT THINGS IN YELLOW </3 Also. What do you mean you hate green. You love some of the greenest mfs on the planet /t

(jk I actually also don't like green lmao)

ALSO "I'm not a fan of inaccuracies, especially when it's something I can fix by spending a couple hours reading articles and watching videos." A COUPLE HOURS? ON PURPOSE?? Wait maybe I can't judge you I feel like I've done that too. (And I'm going to try just listening to the audio like you said!) But may I ask what you could possibly be researching for that long? /genq

AGH I always forget that I don't have to stick to the plan. Sometimes I wanna do something new I thought of but my brain just. Doesn't think it can. And I have to remember that the outline is a vague guideline and not exact parameters lmao

THIRTY NINE WIPS- THIRTY NINE PLUS THE REQUESTS?? OLLIE NO WONDER YOU'RE STRESSED. I think you should definitely just. take it easy. You're not obligated to do anything, y'know? Of course you're burnt out and tired I think anyone would be.

Get in the car we're going to therapy, and then the spa. You are going to chill. This is a threat /j

OF COURSE WE WANNA KNOW ABOUT YOU <3 I might've said this in an older ask before I was Comet, or at least something along these lines I'm sure, but we care about YOU Ollie.

I might be calling you out again, sorry, and I won't do it again if you don't like me doing this but. I think you're under the impression that people only care about what you can give to us. It would explain why you always apologize for taking a while to write (even though you literally never have to /gen). It would explain why you don't talk about yourself a lot or even reblog a lot of things.

(This might sound rude but I PROMISE you I don't intend for it to, I just don't know how else to word it) It would explain why even now when I'm asking questions because I'm curious about you, you phrase your answers as if they're advice. I don't even write actually, I just draw and take daydreaming very seriously lol. So it's not that I won't use the advice actually, what you said was helpful for both of those! I just found it interesting that even when I said I was curious about you, you were under the impression I wanted something from you. Though looking at it now, I might've given the impression I wanted advice? So maybe it's my doing and then in that case ignore this whole paragraph

You're more than what you can do for others, okay? Didn't mean to get super emotional and serious here, but WOW you really are like me.

Wow that was messy, sorry. I have a horrible headache, my eyes burn, but I wanted to respond before I went to bed lmao

- ☄️

It's all good! Long asks just usually mean long answers lol. Sorry for taking so long to answer this, I've been showing it off to all my friends-

Things I spend a long time researching are usually medical things, fighting techniques, stress reactions, and when I was researching vampires for like three hours straight lmao. In my opinion, my time is the least I can give to have at least a small bit of accuracy in a fic.

yeah the guidelines can be hard to break from. Sometimes I find myself having grief over changing smth, then I just remind myself it's better this way until I believe it lol.

And yeah, I know it's a lot of wips/requests. It's kinda why I've taken so long to get back into my usual groove. big things intimidate me, and I did the math, and it'll take me like half a year to get them all done, which kinda sucks. And I did take a break! a like, five months kinda useless one that I regret because if I didn't take it, I could've been done by now.

cries, thank you. I appreciate knowing y'all care.

You're good, I don't mind being called out, and nothing came off as rude. It's actually kinda good because I don't usually get the opportunity to see how I come off as. also you were spot on lmao. down to every letter. tho part of the reason I don't talk much is I'm kinda scared too? and I hate cluttering up everything. I wanna make it easy for y'all to scroll through and actually find what you want.

idek what to say to this next paragraph/dra/pos. Uh. You're right. I kinda always figure everyone just wants help/advice, so I gave it. Looking back at your last ask, i can now see you weren't. I just, I don't know. My bad, I'm sorry/gen

I hope you had a good rest, and pls eat and drink. You're super cool and I appreciate you a lot. don't ever force yourself to respond if you feel bad, okay?

[nyalternatehellkitten]

@madharemuses replied to your post “((I have a headache so I'm watching an FE:Engage...”:

[I want to enjoy Engage. I like the art design, I like the characters, I like the gameplay, but for some reason I just can't really bring myself to enjoy it. Also, it lacks replay value compared to most previous titles, so I feel like I spent too much on it.]

@gensokyogarden replied to your post “((I have a headache so I'm watching an FE:Engage...”:

ENGAGE GOOD

((Ayyyy we have the big two(tm) opinions here! Joking aside, I reply to these responses in the same post because I want to share some general thoughts. I'm not trying to pit you against each other by highlighting your opposing opinions lmao. Even though it's been a few days, Engage has been swirling around in my head for about a week or so now, and I do want to give my thoughts to you two, who responded to me, at least, so that post I made doesn't just become a big jebait or whatever the term is. So, spoilers, Zane's thoughts, and etc. etc. beneath the cut. Oh yeah, and it's long so don't read it unless you want to know what I think of a game I've not played, that a lot of people have been dismissive towards.))

I am writing this across several sittings. At the time of writing this statement, I'm watching the Avalanche map, so basically I'm right near the end. (I've also seen some supports, but the guy whose playthrough I'm watching is doing them offsceen because he doesn't want to waste his audience's time with grinding.)

This isn't going to be a structured review, it's more of a slightly-edited thought-dump.

My overall thoughts of this game so far, which is an impression unlikely to change, is this:

Fire Emblem Engage is a game unfairly criticised as worse than it actually is. It's not a super good game, but it does not fall as far below the 'average' standards of the series as much as people say it does.

Before I get into the full swing of things, I need to offer a disclaimer: I am out of touch with the series. I've played FE3-12 and Echoes, which means I'm missing FE1, the game that started it all, and Awakening and Three Houses, two immensely popular games that made big changes to the way Fire Emblem works, brought many new people to the fanbase, and generated a lot of attention. (I also haven't played Fates, but it's a bit less relevant to what I have to say.) I have never been interested in Awakening or Three Houses, but they changed the Fire Emblem 'landscape' so much that I would consider myself out-of-touch simply because I haven't played them.

Addressing some common criticisms

The two main complaints I see first-and-foremost on the internet that dominate over the better-formulated criticisms are: It's too anime and the writing sucks.

Now, the anime thing is stupid. Fire Emblem has always been anime; it's a stale and tasteless counter-argument, but it's objectively true. Most Fire Emblem games at least partially reflect the anime style popular around the time they were made, and all of them draw some influences from anime in general. The designs are too colourful and fancy for my taste, but I still find them enjoyable (Chloe and Etie are probably my favourites? Not super fond of Etie's Archer outfit but the player I'm watching made her a Warrior and she looks fine). In fact, I think this design choice was good; they clearly wanted to deviate from the grimness and seriousness of Three Houses, and can they be blamed for that? Making that sort of story can get heavy at times, so for an anniversary game I feel like going for something lighter was the right choice. Overall, the presentation in this game is excellent; not enough to make me love it like I loved Echoes (which was carried by the presentation alone for me), but good enough that I enjoy seeing it on my screen.

The second criticism is the writing, which is semi-valid. It's almost-good in a lot of places, but there's always one or two tiny details holding it back in my eyes. It's frustrating, because I feel like Engage would actually be quite well-written with a few fairly small edits that remove some of the issues or make the stupid parts (Chapter 10-11 Time Crystal) less stupid. The issue I have with the criticism is not that it's wrong, it's that people act like all of the other games in the series are god-tier writing or something. This is objectively untrue; most Fire Emblem stories are fairly straightforward or cliche plots carried by a cast of one-note, but enjoyable and likeable characters. Liking the characters makes you overlook the flaws in the plot. Just think about how many Fire Emblem games are about awakening or summoning some kind of all-powerful dragon or dark god (or both), and then think about how often that actually bothers you simply because you like some of the characters.

Let's talk about the writing for a moment, since this is an RP blog and therefore revolves around writing

It sounds to me like Engage's writing is actually really average by Fire Emblem standards (it can't be worse than the GBA games at least, if you ask me) but it's issue is that it came after Three Houses, a game which tried to be very different from the rest of Fire Emblem when it comes to writing. I haven't played Three Houses but I have seen people react to it. The amount of time people spend debating and arguing over who's in the right or wrong, beyond just which lord/house they like, shows that the game provoked more thoughts from its players than just "Oh I like this character more than this other character." Engage clearly has not done this, and parts of it that could form a good running theme just don't quite connect. The dots don't quite link up and the stars don't quite align. It falls just short.

In my head, I'm comparing it with other Fire Emblem games and I don't think it's that much worse than some (fairly well regarded) entries in the series. For example, in FE7, everything Ephidel does doesn't really make sense since he's formenting a rebellion in Lycia to gather Quintessence for Nergal to summon dragons... even though Nergal already has enough Quintessence to summon a dragon. In Sacred Stones, Eirika is supposed to be the diplomacy route, and yet everywhere she goes, stuff(tm) happens and she gets dragged into fights because Fire Emblem requires things.exe to happen so that each chapter can be a fight. In Binding Blade, the big exposition was Jahn explaining Idoun's backstory... through the medium of Roy seizing like 20 thrones in one chapter. In Monshou, the big main idea of Hardin being turned evil was great and executed pretty well, but most chapters are "So you're fighting dudes loyal to Medeus or Hardin" and the story is mostly about Marth trying to figure out what's going on in Akaneia. It's not bad, but it's hardly some god-tier story that has the player hanging off the edge of their seat at every chapter.

By comparison, Engage has an issue with build-up and payoff. The payoffs are often good, but the build-ups often don't do them justice. For instance, Morion was a good payoff because while what happened to him was quite predictable, Alchryst and Diamant's boss conversations with him are great. What's lacking is the fact that he gets captured by Hyacinth like... one chapter after he's introduced, after raising a million death flags. If he had been a green unit (or even a playable character with a big "Morion will go back to ruling his kingdom after next chapter" warning, or his stats transferring over to Diamant like with Nils and Ninian in FE7) for a while to let the player get to know him better, then his death would have been more impactful. Let Alear agree or argue with him about certain things; Alear needs to interact with Morion's pretty strong force of personality (that I think is pretty well demonstrated, even if it's quite one-note, in his first appearance).

Likewise, Lumera died too quickly. We needed a few more chapters for her and Alear's relationship to ripen. If the game had opened with Alear sent to Firine (upon Alfred's request, to help deal with Corrupted and bandits), with Lumera accompanying them but not helping them in battles to help him readjust to being awake, then it would have probably worked out better pacing-wise. Little happens character-wise in those chapters, so slotting in some Alear-Lumera interactions would have helped establish Alear's personality and motivations for the rest of the game. After Firine, they could return to Lythos for a little bit of R&R with Lumera promising to teach Alear more about the Emblems. Then the attack happens, she dies before she can, and the game proceeds with Brodia after that. It makes Lumera more impactful because the player gets to see her relationship with Alear more, and it makes their feelings for her stronger too, since they now have time to experience how she's their mother and acts like it.

One last example I will give is Zephia. Her whole death scene is kind of invalidated by the fact that she's been speaking as if the Hounds are her family for the whole game. I think a little tweak could really have fixed it. Take 'family' to be the theme of the story; a lot of Fire Emblem games place emphasis on bloodlines and family. Engage could have taken that both ways: that sometimes, blood family is important (e.g. the royal sibling pairs in the game) but sometimes your found family is just as important (Lumera and Alear) and sometimes your family can be abusive and bad for you (Sombron and Veyle, Zephia and Marni). How does Zephia fit into this? Well, imagine if her dialogue was tweaked ever so slightly. The idea is that she misunderstands how family should be because of Sombron (what he said during the time travel part). She longs for a real family, but because of Sombron she thinks that family should be abusive. Seeing Alear and Veyle helps her appreciate what family should be, and she helps them because of that. She dies thanking Griss, and hoping that Marni will forgive her in the afterlife. There we go, a villain given a better redemption than the weird one she got in the game, and completing a theme/story/lesson for the game as a whole.

Zephia also suffers from the buildup thing. The Hounds have a lot of screentime but they don't really do much with it; Griss and Zephia get their motivations and backstories infodumped as they die, and Mauvier spends the first half of his appearances being all "I am a knight I follow orders" when he should have been dropping hints that his true loyalty was to Veyle, rather than just mechanically following orders. If some of that screentime had been used to develop that Marni wants familial love, while Zephia misunderstands what a family should be, and Griss thinks of Zephia as his mother/older sister but struggles to convey that since his world is dull when he's not feeling pain, then it would have made them more compelling than the four big mooks you knock over 13 times throughout the story. Oh yeah, and of course, they do the "I must retreat" thing way too often. Fighting them feels completely insignificant because they never die until they suddenly do.

Lastly, the characters are all quirky and... oh boy. I've seen people complain that the Engage characters are more one-note crazy than usual. That... doesn't feel true to me. They feel like they're less serious than usual, but that's Engage being light-hearted. I've seen serious stuff (Alfred's illness, Hortensia's feelings about stuff) but mostly it seems to be on the lighter side. I don't mind, but I think it should have perhaps been a bit more of a balance. I will say this thought: of the supports I have seen, character motivations at least seem to make sense and stay decently consistent.

Some of my other criticisms

I would argue that there are a few things holding the game back. The writing, I have already mentioned. While there are plenty of good individual moments, there's often a lack of good build-up or connectedness that makes the whole feel like wasted potential and staleness. The gameplay, I think might actually be the most tactical in any Fire Emblem game so far; you can't just air-drop a god-unit into any situation with 1-2 range as easily because of Weapon Triangle breaking, and chain strikes mean that positioning actually matters, and tanking isn't infinite. This might not be a good thing, however, as I get the feeling that the average casual Fire Emblem player... doesn't care about gameplay much. It can't suck, but a lot of the time they do just want to make their favourite unit into a god and drop them into whatever situation.

One of the biggest problems is the Emblems, however. They're not really written as themselves. They're more like echoes or shadows or ghosts of the character they're meant to be. They often feel like they were written by someone who'd only read a synopsis of what that character was like, instead of seeing and analysing them (which... is probably what happened). The Emblem ring bond supports are bland and soulless most of the time, with often no connection between the character and the Emblem based off their commonalities (though to be fair, writing 12 Emblem supports for each character would have been hell). Regardless, all of the Emblem characters feel way too superficial to actually matter most of the time, they mostly exist to reference their own games a lot or provide the same basic statements about things. The advice they offer in the story is... logical but kind of bland and uninteresting. Sometimes they feel right, but most of the time they feel... not very good, which is not great when they're meant to be a big selling point of the game. It's like the Emblems are supposed to make you so excited about seeing your favourite characters that you don't stop to think if they're acting in-character. I won't comment on them too much gameplay wise, since I think that as much as they are meant to somewhat represent their own games (e.g. Sigurd being mobility and canter, Lucina having dual strike stuff) there's a limit to what you can do since most Fire Emblem games play quite samey.

Another issue I think that Engage has is the lack of post-game. Relying on DLC and Multiplayer to create replayability for a single-player game is just... objectively a bad idea? It's not what people are mostly there for. Watching the playthrough made me think "If I were playing this game, I'd want to run some of the other characters in side battles to see their supports and find out more about them." A post-game would be good for that, maybe with a bonus series of maps like Thabes was in Echoes. As it is, I've seen no evidence of that sort of thing.

I want to say some nice things

So I actually quite like Alear. Not a lot a lot, but a fair lot, if that makes sense. Based on everything shown about past Alear, and the way Alear loses their memories, their character makes sense for most of the game. Past Alear was emotionally stunted because Sombrero is the worst Fire Emblem dad in the series, and present Alear has a serious case of no-thoughts-head-empty at the start of the game. Given that everyone treats them super well (worships even...), it makes sense for them to develop a positive outlook on life, a strong fondness of their friends, a solid sense of duty towards everyone counting on them, and also feel kind of creeped out at being worshipped. Alear also feels a little more complete as a main character to me, oddly enough? I haven't played those games so I can't say for sure, but Robin and Corrin both often gave me a weird vibe like they're meant to be the player's self-insert but didn't commit to it enough. Like they wanted to make a self-insert character but then realised they needed to insert more character for supports, interactions, and story beats. Alear, on the other hand, feels like they wrote a complete character and then had to shove the self-insert in, to their detriment.

I also need to talk about Yunaka. I think Yunaka did something no other Fire Emblem side character (non-main character) has ever done: she immediately made me want to read about her supports to learn more about her backstory. Most Fire Emblem characters show up and I'm like "Okay, so this is this character's vibe. I'll find out more in the supports, I bet." Yunaka though... as soon as I heard her battle/crit quotes and saw how much that differed from the quirky "OwO I am cute thief" personality she was projecting, I was immediately like "There's more here. I need to know what her deal is." The game immediately shows that she's good at acting, and as soon as you put her into combat you see a side of her completely different from the one you saw before, and that sparks curiosity. That's good. Fire Emblem doesn't do that, instead it tries to establish the one note that its one-note characters are based around in a good way so that the player knows what that character's deal is. This time, it did that, and more. I haven't seen all of Yunaka's supports yet, but I will go through all of them when I get the chance to. I must know.

The music and voice acting are pretty good. The presentation and CG art is good. I don't think I need to elaborate on this, I think they're presented in a way that accentuates the atmosphere they're trying to create most of the time.

I'm hesitant about this last bit, but I think the game conveys its characters well. This is something Fire Emblem has never really had trouble doing, so it's not really a thing in Engage's favour, it's just another thing the game is not bad at. The supports (or those that I've seen at least) are good at showing what each character's deal is. That's not hard to do, though it is occasionally not done well (Vaida and Dorcas... a support that shows what their characters are like, but repeats the same joke dragged out three times in a row without really resolving anything).

Edit: Oh, and I can't believe I forgot to say that the really cheesy and campy moments are amusing rather than cringe to me. I think they just barely toe the line at times, but like... given how often the games try to shoehorn the 'Fire Emblem' into it, this really isn't even the worst.

Conclusion

This is the part where I pretend to have a conclusion so it feels structured. I already said what I needed to say at the start, so this is the part I put a bow on it.

I feel like it's hard for me to assess this game. I haven't played it, and I haven't played Awakening and Three Houses, two games that I feel like probably influenced both the fanbase and Engage a lot. But I can't help but feel like it's better than all of the hate it gets. I don't really think it's god tier, but it's definitely not as bad as it's said to be. I think if I did have the opportunity to play it though, I'd enjoy it at least as much as I enjoyed FE6, FE8, and FE11. With the others I played, I think it'd be a bit more up in the air.

If I had to say though, there's enough problems for it to be disappointing, but enough good for it to not warrant the amount of hate I've seen. I feel like the hate it gets is often an instinctual rather than logical thing; rarely do I see people fully explain how they feel, and sometimes some of the people criticising it talk like they're series veterans but it turns out they've played like... 4 games. Still, I can't help but feel like if this game came out after Fates rather than Three Houses, people would have a better view of it.

[allylikethecat]

The Secret History - my official review

OKAY SO: I actually finished it last week (and have low key read half The Plated Prisoner Series since then but that is besides the point) but then my body decided to give up on me and I disappeared from the interwebs for a minute BUT I feel like this book has been a group project since so many of y'all lovely people recommended it and I owe you an official review so here it is!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

I would call The Secret History a three and a half star read for me. I enjoyed it, I didn't feel like I was trudging through it / had to force myself to read it, but it also isn't something that once I finished I was disappointed that it was over / that I wanted to read again. I would probably recommend it to friends if I knew they were into very literary reads. I will admit that it felt like something I would have been assigned to read in school (not that that is a bad thing! I read one of my all the favs The Left Hand of Darkness originally for an English class) and isn't necessarily something I would pick up on my own.

There were times I was on the edge of my seat and very excited, but other times I was very much like "omfg please get to the point" I did for some reason really like Cloke and Judy and I honestly haven't thought enough about the book critically to determine if I was supposed to or if I was just so annoyed with everyone else that I did. I also felt like the main six students were all kind of the same? I'm not sure but I know for a while there Charles / Camilla / Francis all kind of blurred together to me. I also 100% was under the impression that Julian was going to play a bigger role but instead of the "charismatic teacher" I was promised in the blurb he was just kind of ... there sometimes. If anything Henry was more the charismatic one which he achieved by being so NOT charismatic.

However as I said I did still enjoy the book and I am happy I read it. I might even eventually check out Goldfinch by Donna Tartt because I have also heard good things about that one. For now though I will be sticking with some of my romance novels. They might not be considered literary and I know a lot of people think they're silly but they bring me joy which is what reading is all about 😊

HOWEVER I do have one major complaint: The font in the paperback edition of this book was so damn small I had to get a reading magnifying glass to be able to read the words without a headache. I guess if anyone else is looking to read it, keep that in mind 😂

If anyone else has any other book recs though send them my way! I'm always look to expand my horizons with new reads! (Even though my physical TBR is over 100 books currently...)

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

Oh so on the sour thing - there is a separate scale for acidity entirely. They are not actually considered opposites in this context. In fact there are 4 major factors considered by wine tasters: acid, tannin, alcohol and sweetness. And they all impact how each other are tasted but they can all be considered individually.

There's also a thing where one in ten wines that come from a bottle with a cork made of actual cork wood will be "corked" and taste all wrong - mum describes it as "musty". She has promised to let me try (I'm super curious!) if she finds one but my parents very rarely drink wine pretentious enough to have a real cork in the bottle - many wines don't these days - so I've never got to taste it myself. One of the reasons many companies are moving away from real cork even though nothing matches it for letting the wine develop is that they lose customers every time someone tries their wine and it's corked. Because instead of knowing this most people just think (understandably) "oh I don't like this wine, what the fuck was everyone who liked this on about. Must be some wine buff thing I'm not cultured enough to get I suppose" and then never buys it again. The pretentiousness of the wine community is its own downfall.

Fancy restaurants will give customers a taste of the wine before putting it on the table to check for this issue... Except most customers don't know this and many restaurants also just do it now because it's what you do, so they do it even with wines that weren't sealed with cork under the impression that you're testing to see if you like the wine not for this very specific issue. At a certain point I think that tradition has just become testing to see if you like the wine tbh but it was originally meant as a quality check. Also they would ALWAYS offer it to my dad because he's a man and he always gives it to mum because like. She's the person in the family who has an actual wine qualification (framed on our wall at home!). And just. Very funny. Every time. Back when corks were more common she had actually caught corked wine a few times. The whole extended family is suitably impressed by this.

Funny how growing up with someone who works with wine will give you a weirdly comprehensive knowledge of lots of wine-related things even though I DON'T DRINK WINE. I barely drink at all and wines give me a worse headache than other alcoholic drinks because they've got all sorts of weird and wonderful side-effects of the fermentation process in there (called secondary metabolites). I actually kind of like the flavours but it's not worth the suffering. Really looking forward to when someone invents a genuinely wine-like alcohol-free drink so I can drink something other than fruit juice at fancy social events. I have had some excellent mocktails and alcohol free beer is apparently really good but the food tech for wine just isn't there yet - alcohol free wines at the moment taste like very slightly more complicated grape juice at their best.

huh.

my entire experience with wine is whatever wine brand it was that my nan drank. i cannot remember any details except they sold it in morrisons and it was near a wine with yeti in the name on the shelf. so like, this is all new to me.

apart from the cork part which i had a vague idea about, from somewhere. it might be because i know a tiny bit about the fake vintage wine business where you can like test the cork to see if its age matches the supposed age of the wine.

the tasting at the table is so interesting to me. is it one of those tastings where you have to spit it out rather than swallowing? or could you like scam a restaurant and get yourself buzzed from tasting different bottles and then just end up ordering water instead?

...is that a thing people would do? my knowledge of drinking and alcohol culture is tinted through alcoholics georg tinted glasses so i dont know if thats a thing people would do with wine. i know wine can like get you drunk quicker or just have a more immediate effect on you? so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also i have a mental image of a pub doing this with beer but with the tap. so you have to crane your head over the bar and drink a little bit from one of the various taps they have. and its a very funny mental image