#Anthology Blast | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

felassan · 6 months ago

Text

Some things in BioWare's transcript of the August 30th dev Discord Q&A are a lil different to what was actually said in the Q&A. not only editing to tidy up and be concise etc; some of it seems to actually be new/additional (or updated?) information. this post is just a quick summary of the new or different things I noticed when comparing the BioWare transcript to a word-for-word transcript (or at least the ones that stood out to me anyways). DA:TV spoilers under cut.

This post is a mix of new snippets and rephrased answers to things that were rephrased in a way that stuck out to me or interested me. nb, it doesn't highlight changes if the change was something not being included in the BioWare transcript (there was some of that too).

John Epler: "I don't know if any of [the Evanuris] consider [tea] a favorite beverage"

[re: hugging Assan] Assan "always appreciates the attention. He's got a sharp beak and he'd let you know if he didn't."

Variation of the WEWH question answer:

"There's always going to be politics to some degree - there are a number of different groups with different priorities, and not all of them are going to be immediately disposed towards trusting you. But while the Inquisitor had an organization and an army (and even Hawke and the Hero of Ferelden spent more time moving in political circles), Rook's situation is a little more desperate and immediate. Their approach is therefore a little more direct, and so while they may occasionally find themselves in the political sphere, they're not trying to assemble an army or build consensus amongst nation states."

[on companions' ages] The part of this where they described the companions' age range has been changed from where it said "early-mid twenties" to just say "mid twenties". Also, Taash was said to be "early twenties"; she is now simply "the youngest".

New sentence on the ages: "We don't usually nail down a specific age, unless it's something that comes up in their content, but we want to have an idea as to their general age range as we're writing them."

If no side characters stand out as a good candidate for a 'light' romance, this is never something they want to force

Griffons as half-bird half-lion - it now reads half-eagle half-lion

"Thedas has always been filled with extraordinary people, and in DATV you're trying to save the world. It stands to reason that the people you're bringing on board are going to be people with extraordinary circumstances of their own."

On the Veil not being in great shape and having been deteriorating in recent times/the intervening period between games, a more specific figure is given: "things in general have been slowly getting worse over the past decade and a half"

Lucanis and Bellara find out they have a lot in common and develop a "really fun" friendship, even though "it's hard to think of two companions who feel more different on the surface"

Neve and Bellara's friendship "kind of evolved organically as we were writing them, and finding out all the opportunities we could to throw little tastes of it into dialogue was a blast"

when enemies are slowed due to Slow Time, Rook stays moving at full speed

Rook's weapons and companions' gear can also be transmogged in addition to Rook's armor gear and casualwear

New sentence: "I've built Harding as a Support Character one run, and a DPS the next run. If you want to use Davrin as a DPS, you can do that."

"But each Companion has a gift that you can purchase from vendors in the world, and then give it to them." - it sounds like there is only one unique gift that you can give to the companions each?

"In general, something like a short story anthology is a volunteer thing - we ask people what they want to write and, generally, people tend to gravitate towards character ideas and concepts they already had in mind for a companion."

"So it's rare that we write a character that isn't intended to be a companion and then think 'oh wow this character would be a great fit', but it's not unheard of either."

"Ultimately we wanted to be sure that The Veilguard could be a good entry point to Dragon Age for new players and people who know almost nothing about the universe. But if you're the kind of player who wants to catch the most references, I'd suggest reading The Missing (most recent comic series) and Tevinter Nights. The former is a direct narrative setup for the beginning of the game" while Tevinter Nights is "less of a direct narrative tie", though it introduces "characters, concepts and story elements" that show up in the game

New sentence and info: [John Epler] "The Archon's Palace floating was something we came up with midway through writing Tevinter Nights and I had to furiously rewrite a few things." - the Floating Building is the Archon's Palace?

"Mae is a character that means a lot to so many DA fans" (<3)

Crow politics are now described as "complex" as well as deadly

"Some romances allow you to express interest without 'committing'" - so it sounds like not all of them allow this? - "but all romances eventually end up being exclusive"

"With each specialization we wanted to explore, both visually and through gameplay, what a specific class member of that faction might look like. Spellblade, for example, is our answer to the question 'what does a mage assassin look like'."

Our ability to save PCs so we don't have to start from scratch in CC each time was very important to the devs

"the feeling we want to evoke over the course of the game is one of growth, both in yourself as Rook and in your companions as they overcome their own problems with your help. These problems are often external in nature, but they are always tied, at their core, to the conflict that the character carries within them. And they are, also, always uniquely Dragon Age problems on the surface, but still relatable."

The difference in the answer to the is Lucanis possessed question interested me.

Original for the sake of comparison:

"So, again, spoilers, everyone has been warned, fairly warned. So Lucanis Dellamorte is also known as The Demon of Vyrantium. And, he has spent a lot of time killing Venatori, who are mages, and who do know a lot about demons, so. Yeah, somebody decided that it might be a good idea to make that nickname stick."

New:

"There's definitely something going on with Lucanis - and before you hired him, he was known as the Demon of Vyrantium. Might be that someone took offense to that nickname, especially since he earned it by killing Venatori."

New sentence in the answer to the is Thedas a southern continent question:

"Of course, nothing says that distance to the sun is the only factor impacting weather."

.. [probably reading too much into this don't look at me ik many factors influence weather irl hhh] magic? the Veil? the deteriorating Veil? the risen Gods? the Blight? Thedas is experiencing global warming? :D

"As part of our attempt to make the companions feel like they have their own lives outside of just Rook, we asked ourselves what pairings made the most narrative sense and then talked about how they might actually unfold in the game. And even before companions get together, you can see that interest starts to develop. Which is, I think, one of my favorite things about the companions. They don't just fall in love with each other, they become friends, confidents, and even rivals at times"

It takes Davrin a while to trust others. He can be a little standoffish, but eventually he warms up to anyone who shows that they have his back

As a monster hunter a lot of Davrin's hobbies revolve around that

"a lot of elves go around shoeless, and that's in part because they believe it brings them closer to nature. What better way to understand what the world and ground are saying than to walk directly on it? but not every Dalish follows this custom" [...] "The Veil Jumpers, in general, are a little more likely to wear boots and shoes, as they're far more likely to end up in dangerous places and fighting unsettling creatures than the average Dalish"

On Bellara's boots: "you never know when you're going to find a broken artifact with a lot of sharp edges."

Bellara is a big fan of pan-frying anything she can (re: food)

Lucanis has the refined palate of an Antivan Crow

Getting the beards to work with all the armor variations that they have was especially challenging with dwarves because they "tend to be" shorter

Those beards that were designed with dwarves in mind can alsobe used for humans and qunari (I wonder then if elves cannot have beards in CC? Like I know they usually don't have them or have it in CC and that lore says they don't but there are a also a few lorebreaking instances of it and I wasn't sure which way this one would go given how 'free choice/options for all' the CC in this game has sounded like it has been designed to be)

"You'll see more on this as we showcase character creator in our runup to launch"

For this question "Since you can choose to be a part of the same faction for most of the companions, will that give you an advantage when trying to befriend them?", the answer now reads that in addition to the unique dialogue same-background Rooks have with the companion of that background, it can also "change the timbre of your relationship a little bit"

John Epler: "one of my favorite things about this group of companions is how much time they spend with each other"

[on the companions] "They're a family, and like a family, they don't always get along"

"A lot of Solas' relationship with the player is personal. He sees a lot of himself in Rook - both the good and the bad - and largely talks only to you, as you're the one he has a connection with."

"Not to mention at least a couple of followers who would likely love to ask an ancient Elven god some questions."

"a common complaint we've heard in past games is that many players disliked always feeling like they needed a Rogue to be able to lockpick, so fortunately Rook finds a method to use these exploration abilities even when the associated Companion is not in your party"

An example of a companion's unique exploration ability is that Emmrich has an ability to briefly reanimate skeletons to open gates

Qunari not wearing helmets and only vitaar allows more flexibility when it comes to horns customization in CC

"yes - there will be some pretty obvious Act breaks. Not all content fits neatly into these buckets, as it's more a way of breaking up the critical path (companion and other side content follows a different cadence), but there are some pretty obvious Acts built into our game. A lot of the missions, though, we want to make sure players have the freedom to decide what they do and when they do it, so while they may have internal acts (follower missions form their own arcs), they don't conform to the overall main quest arcs"

The difference in the answer to the is Assan the only griffon question confirms that Assan was specifically one of the baby griffons that hatched at the end of Last Flight. (as opposed to another clutch that was laid in the last decade)

Old:

"So, again, just to be clear, spoilers, but yeah, Assan has brothers and sisters, so Assan is not the only griffon that shows up in Dragon Age The Veilguard."

New:

"If you read Last Flight, you'll know that Assan isn't the only griffon from that clutch of eggs, so he's got brothers and sisters. And if one griffon is good, a whole family of them is better, right?"

"We briefly experimented with other options for last names but it became unwieldy as we do refer to your Rook by their last name on several occasions, and accounting for 6 potential last names is already a lot of complexity."

Variation of the 'what goes into bringing back old characters' question answer:

"We always - both for Morrigan and any other characters we bring back - think about what they would've been up to since the last time anyone saw them. These characters should feel like real people, and the last thing we want to imply is that their stories stalled out while they weren't directly in the player's adventuring party. So we look at their arc before the time skip, and then think about where that arc would've taken them. In the case of Morrigan, she's coming to terms with a lot of truths about herself and about her mother. There are elements of her past that she's come to terms with, which is why she wears a version of Flemeth's crown. Ultimately you want the world to feel like it's real. And no one's the same person today that they were 10 years ago. That's stagnation, and it's bad in fictional characters as it is in real people."

The orb part of orb and dagger is called an Elemental Orb

Variation on the Dalish Elf vs City Elf question answer:

"While I think 'city elf' vs 'Dalish elf' is a useful distinction in the South, there's a lot more nuance in the North. Rivain, for example, has Dalish settlements intertwined with other cities. There's just not the same separation, so each of the factions has a unique approach to your lineage. You can define some of that further with choices you make in conversations - we really wanted to leave a lot of that open to players to RP."

[localization question answer variation] "Games are so complex and have so many moving pieces that you need to be in regular communication or things get missed. And a lot of that is because ultimately localization is more than just a straightforward translation. Jokes, metaphors, sayings - even specific lore terms - aren't just a matter of finding the equivalent word in another language. Every writer has a story about a time they had to explain the specifics of an off-color joke they wrote so that localization could properly capture the intent."

So mostly variations (as in rephrasing) and things, but some of the new info that particularly stood out to me was things like the description of Emmrich's exploration ability, the mention that the Floating Building is the Archon's Palace (iirc this was speculated before but not confirmed?), the new lil details or insights on Assan and Davrin, the bit about Assan being from the Last Flight eggs, etc.

#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age the veilguard spoilers #<- this is my spoiler tag #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #dragon age: tevinter nights #dragon age: the missing #solas #morrigan #queen of my heart #this post is scrappy sry i wrote it on the other side of the world at 4am

187 notes · View notes

tatangadragon · 1 month ago

Text

watching holly hollowtones play anthology of the killer.... having a blast

#tatan arts #fanart #anthology of the killer #aotk #of the killer #bb #bb aotk #clarice aotk #the killer #the killer aotk

109 notes · View notes

ink-flavored · 28 days ago

Text

Anthology Blast Prompt 9: Curiosity & The Copycat

for the Tales from Athendrolyn Anthology Full prompt list for the Anthology Blast Tips are appreciated! Contains: mentioned animal neglect, mentioned poor husbandry

Every year, Clemmeck signed up to vend a booth at the Athendrolyn Exotic Pet Breeder’s Convention, and every year he loved it to bits. It was the biggest convention in the country for exotic animal breeders of all kinds— snakes, lizards, frogs, invertebrates, mimics, phoenixes, jackalopes, wolpertingers, and more. Having attended the convention as a guest for nearly a decade, and as a mimic breeder for even longer, he wouldn’t trade his attendance for the world.

Clemmeck had a routine after all these years. It set up its display at the earliest available time, brought snacks to its booth neighbors, and even picked up another animal or two over the course of the weekend. After so many conventions, the other regulars recognized him from his decorations alone.

That wasn’t necessarily difficult, though. The logo for his business, Music Box Exotics, was meant to be attention grabbing, the sign shifting through the spectrum of colors. He made sure to give all his available mimics nametag stickers on the fronts of their temporary enclosures, along with their weight and hatch date. And if any passing guest happened to miss all that, the sparkly tablecloth enchanted to shift around like the night sky was sure to catch someone’s interest.

Clemmeck might go overboard every year, but the trouble was worth it. Since it started breeding mimics as a hobby, it spiraled into a career, its love of animals taken to one of many logical conclusions: creating more animals, and ensuring they all had loving homes to live out their days in. He wanted to be able to sit behind his booth on his stool and be proud of his display—and this year, like every year, he definitely was.

“Morning, Clemmeck,” greeted his booth neighbor this year. Ze was a goblin named Klazzia, another regular hosting zir own kingsnake breeding business, Klazzia Kings.

“Happy Friday,” he greeted, swinging his feet off his stool.

“Not quite yet.” Ze stretched out with a skinny arm and handed over a paper cup of coffee, one of the two in zir hands. “It will be after you drink this, trust me.”

“Thank you kindly!” Clemmeck hopped down from his stool to take it, gnomish hands easily swallowing zirs up. He turned it around to admire the label, a red-orange bird with its wings spread. “Oh, from Phoenix Caffeine?”

“Yep, they set up a booth at the front of the hall again this year.” Klazzia took a sip from zir own cup. “I thought I’d grab us something with a little juice before the real crowd arrives.”

“Thank you again for thinking of me, I very much appreciate it.” He sipped from the cup and hummed in approval. “And I’ll have to thank the folks at Phoenix Caffeine too.”

“They’re very good at what they do. It’s the only reason I’m on my feet this early.”

“You’re not energized by the experience?” Clemmeck set its coffee down and gestured widely at the convention hall. “The excitement of a whole weekend all about your animals?”

Klazzia’s long green ears twitched. “Sure, I’m excited. Doesn’t mean I feel any more awake.”

He chuckled and picked up his coffee again. “I’ll let you get back to waking up, then. Enjoy the convention!”

“You too! Hope we both leave with empty enclosures on Sunday.”

Klazzia returned to zir booth and Clemmeck climbed back up on its stool. It took the opportunity to observe the small trickle of the morning crowd—the VIP ticket holders and other vendors perusing the booths. Not very many people stopped by its table for more than a glance, but it always made sure to greet any potential customers and tell them good morning. It was the least he could do!

The coffee made him a little jittery, but it was for the best. By the time his cup was empty, the convention had opened to the general crowd, and the hall was flooded with creatures of all kinds. Every table of every kind was swamped—and Clemmeck was no exception. He ran back and forth between the ends of his booth, talking about his animals, his business, and even selling a couple mimics to happy customers. The clock hadn’t even hit noon, but his day was already a success!

Things did slow down, eventually. The floor cleared slightly in the early afternoon, the lunch calm before the storm of the show’s final hours. Clemmeck relaxed on its stool again, happy to watch the people go by. Then, someone approached his booth, a calico catfolk with a sleek body of fur. They bent over the mimic displays, peering through the transparent plastic lids.

“Hello there!” Clemmeck greeted.

“Hi,” they said, ears flicking. “These are all mimics, right?”

“They sure are. Are you looking for a friend to take home this weekend?”

“I am! My first one, actually.”

He clapped in excitement, sliding off the stool. “Oh, how wonderful! Feel free to ask me anything about the mimics on display, I can tell you anything you like.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m Clemmeck, by the way, I hope you’re having a fantastic time so far.”

The catfolk glanced between him and his animals. “I’m Pirra. And yeah, everyone’s been super nice.”

It nodded, smiling ear to ear. “That’s my favorite part about coming to these shows. It’s such a vibrant, friendly community.”

Pirra purred in agreement. Their whiskers twitched as they perused the mimics in their enclosures, inspecting them all closely. All the way from the four-month-old hatchlings copying dice, pebbles, and pencil erasers, the yearlings copying ring boxes and keychains, and the adults copying calculators and children’s letter blocks.

“This one’s so pretty,” Pirra said, pointing a claw at one of the displays.

Clemmeck leaned over the table to see. They’d pointed to Navi, one of his healthiest adults. She had taken to mimicking a beautifully detailed music box, down to the pattern of the polished wood engravings. Only a few things were out of place, like the lid having a blank spot for a keyhole, and no visible way to wind it up, but on a first glance, Navi was nothing but an inanimate object. He beamed with pride.

“You can hold her if you like,” he offered.

Pirra’s tail perked up. “Really?”

“Of course! Just sanitize your paws first and I’ll pull her out for you.”

They did as he asked, and Clemmeck unlocked the back of Navi’s display. She sat perfectly still as he slid his hand into her space. He cupped her cool body with one hand and slowly pushed her into his other. While she didn’t react on the outside, dozens of little pointy legs crawled over his hand, trying to find a flat spot to settle down. Pirra watched in awe.

“Do you know how to hold a mimic?” Clemmeck asked.

They shook their head. “No, I never have. I actually don’t know a tonlot about them, I saw some people online who keep huge mimic collections, and I thought they were cool.”

He clenched every muscle to keep a straight face. As much as he loved his job, there were always those people. The ones who never bothered to research the animals they were buying before they took one home. Clemmeck wasn’t an irritable person, not by any stretch of the imagination… but those sorts of people got on his nerves.

“I see,” he said, keeping a bright smile. “It isn’t too hard! Hold your paws out, and try to keep them as flat as you can.”

“Like this?” They reached out with both paws at a ninety-degree angle.

“Perfect. Hold still, now, you’ll feel her legs.”

Clemmeck let Navi crawl across his hands to their paws. They gasped at the sensation, frozen in place as she settled down on their soft pads, folding her legs back into her shell. Pirra kept their hands still as stone, but it was clear they were excited, ears tilted forward eagerly and tail swishing across the floor. Clemmeck relaxed a bit—even if they didn’t know anything about mimics, maybe they’d be willing to learn. And there was no better place to do it.

“Navi just turned two years old,” he said, introducing her like his own child. “She’s been one of my best eaters ever since she hatched, and her mimicking instincts are needle sharp, as you can see.”

“Hatched? Do mimics come out of eggs?” Pirra asked. “Was she born a really tiny music box and grew up into a big one?”

“Mimics lay eggs, correct. They can have dozens of eggs in a single clutch, but they’re so tiny when they finally get to the world, most of them get eaten in the wild. Especially since they’re completely featureless at that age, just lumps of shell and muscle.” Clemmeck tapped Navi’s music box lid. “This girl here is mimicking a music box I put in her enclosure last month, but she’s also been a marble, a pencil sharpener, and a small jam jar.”

Pirra alternated between gawking at Navi and at his explanation. “Wow. Somehow I never thought about that, I thought a mimic stayed the same shape its whole life.”

“Don’t feel too bad, a lot of people do. They only encounter mimics taking the shape of one thing, after all, and it’s understandable. In the wild, a mimic will pick a territory and copy the most convenient thing in it, staking its claim on the food and shelter in that area. If another mimic moves in, they fight for dominance, and the loser has to move on and copy something else.” He gestured at the displays. “You always want to keep mimics separate—if they feel their safe territory is threatened, things can get pretty nasty.”

They nodded seriously, and Clemmeck heartened to see them taking in the information. Too often, he’d seen new owners discard the years-cultivated advice from professionals, and it never ended well. But Pirra was curious and polite and handled Navi excellently—if she was calm enough to sit still without trying to escape, that was always a good sign.

“What happens if they don’t have their territory challenged?” Pirra asked. “Do they just stay the same way forever?”

“Nope, not even then. During their breeding season, mimics shuffle around their territory to find mates, so if they end up in a different place, they usually find something else to copy. Truthfully, a mimic that hasn’t changed its mimicry in several months is sign of illness or old age slowing it down.”

“Wow! So do they—”

Pirra shifted their arms and Navi skittered across their paws in alarm. They chirped in alarm, ears going back against their skull. Clemmeck scooped her back into his hands, holding her by her lid so she wouldn’t run off and hurt herself. Her dozens of tiny legs flailed in the air, panicked.

“I’m sorry, did I scare her?” Pirra said, paws folded to their chest.

“She’s just startled, is all.” He tapped his hand under her legs until she recognized it as a safe landing spot, and plopped down into his palm. “Easy, girl, everything’s alright.”

“She’s okay, right?”

“She’ll be fine, don’t worry another second.” Clemmeck ducked down under his booth, where he kept his stash of Calm Down Boxes—it was just one of the display enclosures covered in a blanket—and placed Navi inside one. He popped back up and smiled to assuage their fears. “I’ll leave her downstairs for a little bit, but I’m happy to answer any more questions you have.”

Pirra seemed nervous to respond, tail curled around their ankles. “Well, uh… I guess I was wondering how they know what’s best to turn into. How do they decide what to mimic in the first place?”

“It all depends on the environment and their size.” He pointed to the hatchlings mimicking dice. “These little fellas needed something really tiny to mimic for their first try, and something easy to copy. Dice are a great for a mimic’s first exercise in mimicry, but in the wild, they can be leaves, rocks, or flowers.”

“Wait, so you gave them dice to copy on purpose?”

“Sure did! I give all my animals a different object to mimic every couple months or so, it’s great enrichment and helps them flex their mimicking instincts. Watching them transition from one mimic to the other is fascinating, and I love when I can hardly tell which one’s the real object and which one’s fake.” It chuckled, remembering how many times it had tried to switch out the wrong eraser. “It’s a bit like keeping a cross between a hermit crab and a flytrap plant.”

“That sounds awesome,” Pirra remarked, and it could tell they were serious. Their earlier embarrassment melted away in the face of curiosity. “Do they eat bugs like a flytrap?”

“The little ones eat mealworms and crickets, but Navi down here is eating roaches and hopper mice. When she’s a little older, she’ll be eating full-sized rats. At her full size, she’ll be eating rabbits and chickens.”

Pirra’s eyes wet big. “A whole chicken? How big do they get?”

Clemmeck braced itself—this tended to be the hard part. “Mimics don’t really stop growing. They get too old to support their bodies, and slow down until they pass away. In captivity, with good husbandry and a proper diet, a mimic can live anywhere from fifteen to twenty years, and can get to be the size of a large footstool.”

“Oh.” They glanced to the side, lost in thought.

It was the hard part of raising mimics, Clemmeck would never deny that. His largest mimics had to copy furniture to stay enriched, were expensive to keep healthy, and he still had another five years to go with most of them. Not everyone was willing to make a commitment that large—physically and financially. No matter how much he preached that it was worth it, and he wouldn’t trade a dime of that money for the health of his animals, others simply didn’t feel the same. He accepted that outcome years ago. Besides, potential customers balking at the challenge was always better than an uninformed owner biting off more than they ever planned to chew and abandoning their pets.

“I think I have to think about this a lot more,” Pirra finally said.

“And that makes you smarter than most people at this convention,” Clemmeck praised. They laughed, and he took the opportunity to hand over a pamphlet care guide. “I give this to all first-time mimic owners. If it helps you make up your mind, feel free to take one.”

They took it, a determined fire sparking in their eyes. “Thank you for everything, I’ll definitely come back once I’ve made up my mind.”

“I’ll be here all weekend if you need any questions answered.”

Pirra left with a wave, tail swishing as they left. Clemmeck ducked under the booth to check on Navi. She sat peacefully still, no sign of her earlier stress. He carefully picked her up and placed her back in the display case. He thought again about how calm she’d sat in Pirra’s paws. How much they adored her. Their enraptured questions about mimic behaviors.

He looked off in the direction they’d gone. He really, truly, hoped they’d be back.

Saturday came and went, and he didn’t see a single hair of calico fur. Clemmeck wasn’t embarrassed to admit he’d been keeping an eye out, even asking Klazzia to let him know if a calico catfolk wandered past his booth while he went to lunch. Ze reported back nothing.

Outside of Pirra, though, the day was successful. Breeders and pet owners alike stopped by his booth to pick up a mimic or two. All of his hatchlings were gone before the end of the day. Most of the yearlings remained in their displays, but only one adult was left by Saturday afternoon: Navi.

On Sunday, Clemmeck hoped they’d at least arrive in the morning. It was the last day of the convention, after all. The day when prices dropped to all time lows as breeders became ever more willing to haggle to have as little to carry back home with them as possible. Clemmeck included.

Navi was a beautiful mimic, if it could say so itself. She was handleable, a fantastic eater, and a joy to observe. She would also be a fantastic breeder, if another discerning eye happened across its booth. Her instincts were sharp and allowed her to copy extremely small details—she was its highest priced adult for that reason, and her offspring would be just as expensive, if not more so. Clemmeck really hoped Pirra came back to claim her, but business was business. If another breeder, or even someone else looking for a pet, made it an offer, it couldn’t rightfully say it was holding her back just in case someone else made up their mind later.

The hours crawled by. Clemmeck haggled with the savvier customers, working out deals for the yearlings he had left. Someone tried to make an offer for Navi, but he dismissed the number. Even if Pirra never showed, he wasn’t selling off such a beautiful animal for crumbs. And if Pirra did come back, he hoped they planned to spend a bit more money.

Because buying a mimic wasn’t just about the mimic itself. Like the pamphlet he gave them explained, they needed enclosures stocked with enrichment, appropriately sized feeders, lighting, heat. They required specialized vet care, space, time. Commitment. Care.

No one truly knew how mimics thought. Their brains were so different, and the magic that allowed them to take so many different shapes no doubt influenced their thinking patterns in ways most creatures would never understand. But Clemmeck was of the firm belief that they had feelings. They felt pain, they felt fear, but they also felt safety. They knew when they were being cared for, and when they were being harmed. A mimic wasn’t a blank slate—it was an animal, deserving of proper respect.

That’s what bothered him most about the willingly unprepared keepers, or the hagglers trying to buy his animals for almost nothing. They didn’t respect his work to raise them, first of all, but they also didn’t respect the mimics themselves. It was a commodity to them, a product or a decoration. Doing no work, or only the barest minimum, to learn about the animal they intended to become responsible for made him sick.

Pirra wasn’t like that. Clemmeck could admit when it had made a mistake in judgement—it was a bit jaded after so many years. Pirra had the curiosity needed to care for an exotic animal. They had the caution necessary to understand when an animal was too much work for them. They already held the respect for living creatures that any breeder or pet owner needed at a baseline. It was selfish, maybe, but Clemmeck didn’t want to see that curiosity and care go to waste from anxiety.

It watched the crowd like always, but with a special focus on the catfolk wandering the convention floor. There were a few calicos, it turned out, but none of them were Pirra. The tail was too feathery, fur too long, the wrong colored patches. After lunch came and went, Clemmeck stopped looking, resigned.

And it gave up too soon.

Pirra arrived as the late afternoon crowd thinned, but they didn’t come alone. They hefted the box for a large glass terrarium in their arms and canvas bag full to bursting. Clemmeck leapt off his stool in delight.

“You made up your mind, I see!” he laughed.

“Yep!” Pirra set the terrarium on the ground. “I read your pamphlet and spent most of Saturday asking around at the other mimic booths to get a few more opinions. Even if a mimic gets really big, I have years to plan for it. I think I can do it.” They stood up taller. “I want to do it.”

Clemmeck almost teared up, strangely proud. “I think the Gods wanted you to give it a shot too. Navi’s still here.”

Their tail shot straight up. “She is?” they asked, purring through the words.

He gestured to her enclosure, one of the few mimics he had left. “As beautiful as ever. And since it’s the last day, she’s available at a discount.”

“I’ll take her!”

It was the happiest transaction Clemmeck had ever facilitated. Money exchanged hands and he boxed up their new pet into a travel container. Pirra never stopped purring for a second.

“Thank you,” they said, clutching Navi like a precious and fragile thing. “For this, and for all your advice and information and encouragement and stuff. I don’t think I would have been brave enough to give it a shot without that.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he replied, the truest sentence he’d ever spoken. “I wish you two nothing but the best together.” Pirra waved goodbye again, disappearing with Navi and their load of mimic husbandry supplies. Clemmeck waved back, until he couldn’t see them anymore. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been so happy to sell one of his animals.

Events Taglist: @foxys-fantasy-tales @thelaughingstag @ceph-the-ghost-writer @auntdarth @damageinkorporated @srjacksin @wyked-ao3 @alesseia @monstrify

Tales from Athendrolyn Taglist: @foxys-fantasy-tales @auroblaze @thelaughingstag @auntdarth @damageinkorporated @monstrify

Want to get on any of my tag lists? Check out my Google form!

#writeblr #writeblr community #tumblr writers #writers on tumblr #spilled ink #original prose #original fiction #fantasy #fantasy writing #original writing #urban fantasy #original character #original characters #queer writers #trans writers #annika talks #Anthology Blast #Tales from Athendrolyn

20 notes · View notes

lesbiangiratina · 10 months ago

Text

TESTAMENT DOUJINSHI BIRTHDAY BLAST

HI!!!! Im celebrating testament’s birthday by sharing scans of 3 testament-centric doujinshi anthologies: totentanz (2007), gentle grim reaper (2014), and potatoment (2015), as well as a collection of short stories by 1 of the writers as a bonus. Generally sfw, untranslated. Dizzy sol and johnny are also in there sometimes, some others too.

Google drive might not be the neatest way to share this, but its the best ive got right now. Hopefully anyone else out there finds these as extremely charming as i do. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TESTAMENT YAY

#and remember . women want me for my huge files.#totentanz is probably my favorite. its so awesomely 2007. and idk like its more focused on testament than shippy stuff which is cool 4 me #potatoment is short and sweet. well. there is a dead body in the written chapter but um other than that. quite sweet #ggr is also preddy awesome and THANK U TILLMAN FOR GIVING IT TO ME!!!! YAY #OKAY. yay #the kat goes meow #guilty gear #testament guilty gear #<- im so scared of main tags but this is so serious.#my scans

298 notes · View notes

radicalreliablerandomness · 1 year ago

Text

Podcast Rec Masterpost

I've been asked a couple times for podcast recommendations so I thought I'd post a compilation of some shows and a bit of info about them. Most shows I talk about are tagged below (I ran out of tags) so you can look through fan content as well if you're not one to care about spoilers. My asks are still open for personalized recs if you send me some others that you've listened to just because I love you, yes that's right! You. The person reading this right now!

Here goes!

Dungeons And Daddies *not a BDSM podcast

This show is a dnd actual play podcast. The first season is about four dads from our world lost in the Forgotten Realms in search of their lost sons. It’s a comedy but as with all comedies, you will cry by the end of it. It's super easy to get into with great chemistry between all the cast players and the dm, no prior knowledge of dnd is necessary. They do invoke slight horror sometimes so do keep an eye out for content warnings. Season 1 has 68.5 episodes along with bonus content and a mini campaign in between seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 is currently ongoing. Transcripts available.

The Bright Sessions

This is a science fiction podcast. The premise is a collection of clinical recordings of superpowered people's therapy sessions. The plot gets more interesting and convoluted as you get further in. Incredible voice acting filled with emotion. Does have some heavier discussions so be on the lookout for content warnings. It has 7 seasons (the last two are technically not part of the first five seasons' plot) and is completed. Transcripts available.

Hello From the Hallowoods

A post-apocalyptic fiction podcast. A beautifully written and preformed podcast that explores identity, religion, and other themes in vignettes throughout this haunted world narrated by an omniscient being. Some heavier topics are included so check the content warning before each episode. Seasons 1 and 2 are completed and season 3 will be done soon. Transcripts available.

The Magnus Archives

A horror fiction podcast. A well written chronological story told through anthology which seem to be tape recordings from a paranormal investigation institute. Incredible writing and actors that really bring it to life. This is horror so make sure to check the content warnings. The show is completed at 5 seasons. Transcripts available.

Neighbourly

Another horror fiction podcast! An interesting look into all the houses on Little Street and their peculiarities. Some more peculiar than others. The podcast is absolutely delightful with a horribly fun narrator. I would suggest checking the content warnings as some episodes are more intense than others. The show has 2 completed seasons. Transcripts available.

The Fall of the House of Sunshine

A musical mystery fiction podcast. The first season is about an investigation on the murder of a beloved host of a children's tooth-themed show. That's all I can say without spoilers. There are 3 incredible seasons along with short stories in between each season. Transcripts available until halfway through season 2.

Welcome to Nightvale

Possibly the most well known science fiction podcast, it really speaks for itself but I'll do my spiel anyways. Recorded as snippets of a daily radio broadcast, the show details the weird goings on in this strange desert town of Nightvale. Narrated almost completely by the radio host's smooth voice. It's ongoing and is currently sitting at 233 episodes. Transcripts available.

The Two Princes

A fictional queer romance podcast. It takes place in that special part of fiction that always starts with "once upon a time," it feels like a story book almost. The show is based around two boys meeting in the woods. Spoiler alert: they fall in love. It's just a cute feel good show. The podcast is complete at 3 seasons. Spotify auto-generated transcripts available.

What's the Frequency?

A self described psychedelic noir podcast. It's an absolute blast even if it is a bit hard to follow. Takes place in the 1940s in LA when all radio broadcasts were turned to static. You kind of just have to go with it until you get to the end. Completed at 12 episodes. Transcripts available.

Story Break

A writer's room podcast. The basic concept behind Story Break is 3 Hollywood writers in a room together take a prompt and try to make a story for it in an hour. There are many laughs in this podcast and just all around good humor and vibes. The show is complete at 169 episodes plus two full movie scripts. No transcript.

Who Killed Avril Lavigne

A science fiction podcast. It's about a time traveling pop punk loser and that's all you need to know. It's a podmusical so you'll be getting great nostalgic pop punk type songs along with crying from laughing so hard. Completed at 8 episodes. No transcript.

The Behemoth

A fiction podcast. Based around an unexplainable creature emerging from the ocean and how the world, and one girl in particular, deal with this phenomenon. It is pretty short with the longest episode being about 12 minutes. Completed at 20 episodes. No transcript.

Rude Tales of Magic

A dnd actual play podcast. It is mainly focused on the actual roleplay and story telling as opposed to the actual play. A handful of college students from Polaris University fuck the world up by completing a hazing ritual which in this case is a supposedly demon summoning. Obviously now they need to fix the world. Currently 64 episodes and ongoing. No transcript.

Midnight Burger

A very well written fiction podcast. It’s about a time/space traveling diner where the employees try to help solve a problem every place they land. Think Doctor Who adjacent vibes but with more drama. There is an overarching plot that comes together so look out for that. It has incredible characters that are really nicely fleshed out. You’ll somehow like and hate all of them as much as possible in the best way. Currently has 29 episodes of the main feed and a 9 episode mini-series. Transcript available.

Monstrous Agonies

A fiction podcast. It’s an radio advice segment on a station for “liminal Britain” aka the monstrous world to put it plainly. It’s really chill and comforting. There’s very good advice there and the intermittent ad reads will have you giggling to yourself. Episodes are on the shorter side, averaging about 15 minutes each. It does have some heavier discussions so make sure to check the content warnings. The show is completed at 111 episodes through 3 seasons. Transcripts available.

Desert Skies

A fiction podcast. The voice acting in this one is incredible, it’s the same person the whole time. The show as a whole is also just super well done. The premise is that when you die you show up on a highway and get to this astral pit stop. I’m not going to spoil it anymore you just have to experience it. There is an additional show, Desert Skies FM that's a buddy to this one. I recommend listening to both. Season 1 was completed at 12 episodes. Transcripts available.

Wooden Overcoats

A sitcom dramedy podcast. The show is about two siblings that run a funeral home on an island. It used to be the only one, it isn’t anymore. It has a wacky cast of characters and even wackier plot points. The dialogue can be a little hard to get used to at the beginning but once you get into it it flows easily. The show is completed at 4 seasons. Transcripts available.

Greater Boston

An audio drama podcast. It's set in Boston if you couldn't tell from the title and starts with the death of a man on a rollercoaster. It blends real life with some subtle (and at times not-so-subtle) fantasy elements. It's currently at 4 completed seasons. Transcript available.

Gay Future

A science fiction podcast. In a world where everyone is gay in the future we focus on this one straight kid. Following his journey to destroy the government who are making everyone gay. This is a satire by the way. 1 season completed at 6 episodes. No transcripts.

Death by Dying

A dark comedy podcast. The show follows an obituary writer while he does things that are totally under the jurisdiction of his job. A well written and preformed show. There are a lot of laughs and obviously some heartbreaks as well. Currently 1 completed season with season 2 sitting at 2 episodes for a bit now. Transcript available.

Not Another D&D Podcast

An actual play dnd podcast. This one's more mainstream than my other podcasts so I don't talk about it as much but that doesn't mean it's not incredible. The first campaign is about 3 adventurers off to save the world. Obviously. It can be a bit slow in the beginning but anything past the second half of the first season is incredible. There's humor, drama, love, and much more. The DM is also just incredible. 1 completed season, a couple mini campaigns, and the second season is currently at 43 episodes. No transcripts.

Forgive Me!

A fiction podcast. It starts based around vignettes of confessionals in this small town taken by a new father in the local church. An overarching plot is present but it's generally a feel good, sweet and simple show. They have 2 complete seasons with season 3 currently at 9 episodes. Transcripts available.

Real Housewives of D&D

An actual play dnd podcast. This show is based around the concept of a "Real Housewives..." type show but you don't need to know anything about those to listen to this. It's about 4 reality TV stars thrown into a magical fantasy world with no knowledge of how to get home. There's drama, excitement, danger, and lots more. The first season was just completed at 16 episodes. Transcripts available.

The Silt Verses

A horror fiction podcast. Two people who worship a banned god travel together up a river in a pilgrimage. There is incredible worldbuilding in this show along with acting and sound design. This is horror and a very good one at that so make sure you check content warnings. Season 1 and 2 are completed and season 3 is at 2 episodes so far. Transcripts available.

The Land Whale Murders

A comedy fiction podcast. It takes place in the year 1899 and is about a pair of friends? maybe not, that metaphorically explore the world they're living in. It is a commentary on the world we live in and the problems in it through a hilarious and wacky cast. There are currently 17 episodes between both seasons 1 and 2. Transcripts available.

Elaine's Cooking for the Soul

A post-apocalyptic cooking podcast. The show is about a dentist who makes her way through the fallout of an apocalypse while also making a cooking podcast. It does have depictions of violence, war, and dentistry so check out the content warnings. There are 2 completed seasons. No transcripts.

Fawx and Stallion

A mystery podcast. If you hate Sherlock Holmes you'll love this podcast. Also if you love Sherlock Holmes you'll love this podcast. It's based around the detectives who live across the street from Holmes at 224B Baker street. It's pretty goofy. Season 1 is completed. Transcripts available.

The Amelia Project

A fiction podcast. Follow the shenanigans of this death-faking organization as they take in new clients and hear their stories. It does develop an actual overarching plot later on but every second is fun. Seasons 1-4 have been completed and season 5 is in progress. Transcripts available.

A Voice From Darkness

A horror podcast. It's centered around a radio show hosted by Dr. Malcolm Ryder, Parapsychologist. He helps people who call into his show with supernatural problems, gives PSAs and warnings about strange happenings, and more. Season 1 is completed and season 2 is at 9 episodes. Transcripts available.

Station Arcadia

A dystopian fiction podcast. Formatted through a radio show, it tells the story of a world that's slowly dying. There are vignettes of different characters through different areas of the world. Season 1 is completed at 25 episodes. Transcripts available.

Margaret's Garden

A science fiction podcast. It has two plots running at the same time which keeps you on your toes but makes for an intriguing story line. In one plot line, two agents are sent to investigate the strange happenings of a weird little long abandoned town. Simultaneously, we hear from the past of that town as it catches up to the agents. Completed at 10 episodes. Transcripts available.

Camp Here & There

A horror comedy podcast. It's recorded as a set of daily announcements over a loudspeaker at a totally normal summer camp. The announcements are made by the camp nurse and he's also totally normal. I promise. Make sure to check in with the content warnings as some topics are a little mature or graphic. There are currently 34 episodes. Transcripts available.

Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye

A companion horror podcast. This is actually a bit meta because it is the result of a youtube series. This show is the one the podcast hosts in the series release, it's definitely worth both the watch and the listen though. It's got werewolves and drama. Completed at 10 episodes of video and 10 of the podcast. No transcripts.

I am in Eskew

A horror podcast. It's about a man who's trapped in a city where the buildings always change and the rain never stops. There's a weird monotonous creeping horror in this show that just draws you in. Check for content warnings definitely. Completed at 30 episodes. Transcripts available.

Traveling Light

A comfy cozy fiction podcast. It follows The Traveller on their exploration through space, visiting alien planets and collecting stories to send back to their community. For supporters of the show, it almost functions as a choose-your-own-adventure with choices to vote on and listener submissions. It's made by the same people as Monstrous Agonies so if you enjoyed that, you'd enjoy this and vice versa. There are currently 16 episodes. Transcripts available.

Not yet described but still recommended:

Eeler’s Choice

The Secret of St Kilda

The Endless Ocean

The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio

The Sword & The Stoner

World Gone Wrong: a fictional chat show about friendship at the end of the world

Travelling Light

Waterlogged

Brimstone Valley Mall

893 notes · View notes

saintvainglorious · 1 year ago

Text

My First Fanbind! A Black Sails Fic Anthology Series

It took me a year (and a lot of anxious research) before I worked up the courage to bookbind fanfiction, and after months of on-again-off-again work, my first fanbind is finally done!

I knew that if I was going to bookbind fic, I had to bind something from the Black Sails fandom, aka the fandom and show that have had the biggest impact on my life. Y'all, I almost went into academia to study slavery in the 17th-18th century Caribbean because of this show - when folks say this show rewires your brain chemistry, they are NOT kidding. THEE show of all time. Happy 10th anniversary to Black Sails! This fandom is small but mighty. May we continue to get our hearts and souls blasted to smithereens by this show for many years to come.

Ao3 abounds with magnificent Black Sails oneshots, so I decided to put together an anthology of my favorite Silverflint fics under 20k, which I split into two volumes. Included are works by @justlikeeddie, @vowel-in-thug, @balloonstand, @annevbonny, @francisthegreat, @nysscientia, and more! Thank you, thank you all, you brilliant wonderful people, for gracing the Internet with such amazing writing. When I read the fics in these anthologies I want to fling myself into the sun.

More on the design and binding process below the cut!

Vol. 1 Page Count: 270 (12 fics) Vol. 2 Page Count: 248 (11 fics) Body Font: Sabon Next LT (10.5 pt) Title Font: Goudy Old Style Other Fonts: IM Fell English, pirates pw

The typeset (which I did in Word) took a while, mainly because I'd never done it before. Manually adjusting the hyphenation line-by-line was especially tedious. After making these books, I abandoned Word in favor of InDesign, in large part because InDesign gives you way finer control over your justification and hyphenation settings.

Regarding my actual design choices, I'm happy with how the ocean motif on the title page turned out (it's not the same pattern as my endpapers, but they're complimentary) and I'm very fond of my divider dingbats, which are little swords! Goudy Old Style was a fun title font to use, since it's the font that Black Sails uses as its logo. The stories in Vol. 1 are divided into parts based on what Silver WAS at that point in the show (cook, quartermaster, or king), and Vol. 2 is split up into comedies, histories (AUs set in the canon universe) and tragedies - befitting Black Sails' Shakespearean ~vibes~.

I stuck to a flatback binding, as I wasn't feeling quite ambitious enough to try rounding and/or backing. I've learned that I ~Anakin Skywalker voice~ hate sanding, enjoy folding/sewing, and don't LIKE edge trimming but enjoy the results enough to make it worth it.

The real adventure was decorating the cover, which remained bare for months. After agonizing over Illustrator and experimenting unsuccessfully with HTV and lokta paper embossing, I ultimately turned to using stencil vinyl to paint on the designs. There was a bit of seepage under some of the stencils, but I was able to scrape off the excess with my Cricut weeding tool without damaging the coated surface of the bookcloth (probably Arrestox Blue Ribbon from Hollander's). Even though it was very time-consuming, I'm so happy with the end result of the stenciled paint job and I intend to stick with stencils for my foreseeable future binds.

Are there things I would change? Sure. It was humid out when I printed, so the pages have got a wave. There’s an extra two pages in Vol 2. that I have no idea how I missed, and I got a line of glue in the middle of one of my Vol. 2 endpapers. I’m pretty sure I didn’t case in quite right, since my endpapers pull away from the case at the spine. I think the inner margins are a bit too big, and despite going line-by-line there’s still some wacky justification spacing in the typeset. But man, am I proud of these books! It is so satisfying to learn a new skill - MANY new skills, if we’re being honest - and to make something both beautiful and practical. If I’m still binding in two years or so, I can see myself redoing the typeset in InDesign, cutting out the existing text block, and reusing the cases. I’m also already planning for Vol. 3, which will be Silverflint Modern AUs.

Thanks for reading!

#bookbinding #fanbinding #ficbinding #my books #black sails #silverflint #fanfiction #bsanniversary #10yearsblacksails #10bsfest

297 notes · View notes

vintagerpg · 8 days ago

Text

Fucking Battlesystem? Goddammit.

This is I14: Swords of the Iron Legion (1988) and I didn’t know until just this moment that it was an anthology of Battlesystem scenarios. Unlike the Bloodstone Pass modules, this doesn’t even have the decency to go way over the top. It’s very much watered down Bloodstone.

Like Bloodstone, this is one of the earliest appearances of the Forgotten Realms logo, this time on the front cover. I think it is the second instance, following N5: Under Illefarn. Like Bloodstone, its pretty heavy on the Battlesystem. It is maybe the most Battlesystem-ish module TSR put out? And, in typical fashion, there is no actual Battlesystem logo (though it does get mentioned on the back copy, so I guess my first seeing it on the title page is a bit of my own problem). That all the scenarios pretty much culminate in a mass combat makes me want to go to sleep.

The scenarios are very loosely linked and involve the efforts of a daemon to create a super weapon, which the players eventually encounter and destroy. The weapon in question is a sort of phantom train full of undead solders that blasts people with necrotic energy as it thunders along its tracks? It is very silly and entirely impossible to take seriously.

Larry Elmore delivers a curiously static looking cover. The only point of real interest for me is the skull-headed guy in the deep background. And, I guess, the fact that main warrior looks like he’s going to try to lop the head off his own horse, and that the horse appears to be giving him the side-eye? No credit for the interiors, which is a shame, because some of them are rather nice.

#roleplaying game #tabletop rpg #dungeons & dragons #rpg #d&d #ttrpg #Dungeons & Dragons #TSR #Swords of the Iron Legion

55 notes · View notes

toniko · 2 days ago

Text

brief words about impersonalization and Kim Soleum (spoilers up to 161

Kim Soleum rides such a hypocritical line between believing this is all a fictional world and the realness of this world. I really don’t blame him actually, the combination of toxic work culture and the base setting of him being transported into the world is like really numbing.

I mean the field exploration team uses masks that depict them as animals and as good of an item it is for exploration, that is one of the elements that dehumanizes them. It’s one thing for the groups to be split into the alphabet but it’s a whole different thing when you identify every employee by their group. You literally can not differentiate the employees in the logs (I mean look at that interview with Baek Saheon, this may be a bit of a bad example because I can see why anonymity would be kept here. Ah but it seems to be like that with every document? Mystery person here, mystery group here, finishing team). It’s awfully impersonal and while an interpretation of it just being useful code names is valid, in a profession with a high death rate, I doubt that’s the only reason. Oh yeah, highly expendable employees. But we can’t say we’re killing people, dare say individuals with their own entire lives and histories, so company employees sound a lot better. Everyone perpetuates it, it’s easy, team members die quickly and often, deal with it. Except not really right? Being human is to inherently care for your fellow human.

But hiring employees with looser personalities does help in that aspect. Capitalism win for the Daydream co. I guess. I have a small comment about how the Supernatural Management Bureau (now what is it called in the fan-translation? I’ll replace it someone let me know, I’m picking off namu wiki rn). It does purposely hire righteous but orderly folks but it seems both Agent Bronze & Choi are affected by past member deaths.

It feels like Kim Soleum keeps trying to draw a line and it doesn’t work. He says that he will have left before [big catastrophic event] but unconsciously forms attachments super quickly. I think his time away from the griptok and wiki is really making him accept the reality of these characters. Agent Choi’s survival gives Soleum a little brain blast acceptance that character’s fates really can change. Of course, didn’t it take a shockingly long time for that? I think it’s implication that he was still using the same excuse of them all being from a fictional world to shield his mentality. Gotta do what you gotta do Soleum.

He does all in his power to keep as many people alive (because he’s an empath 🙂‍↕️, we know) but the hangman game was obviously super personal.

btw I think Soleum has a bias in how he treats “named” characters as well. This is just my personal opinion, but the relationship with Lee Jaheon felt purposely professional up until recently (say 130s or so I think, I’m just rambling out), since Soleum inner monologue tended to emphasize the elements he remembered. The reader would notice that Lee Jaheon really does care a lot but you might have to dig through a couple of lizard and defeating darkness through force comments. It feels this stereotype he has of the named characters stick a lot longer! It makes sense, in the kind of format the original records were in, they were in fact character stereotypes to fill the semi-anthology esque story structure (would it be appropriate just to say SCP foundation?). Again, this divorce from the griptok is what I think a big contributor of his reality check is.

There’s also this uh, Baek Saheon in the room that I haven’t talked about. Probably the meanest thing Soleum does in this novel is bullying this guy lol. But that’s because Kim Soleum’s interpretation of him is so overblown and far in time compared to the current guy we know. At this point, I’d pin down Baek Saheon as a character that would maybe let someone die but wouldn’t kill them himself (yet). But that’s it, Kim Soleum having read so far into his story, operates with the assumption that he’s a comically evil bad guy. But this guy, all he does with his hypnosis pen is hide away like a mouse? Sorry for being a much more horrible person, I would’ve tried stealing his items but he was doing something so pointless even Braun didn’t think to let Soleum know (now is that a whole nother thing? Braun being more suspicious leading up to his darkness arc? Yeah.)

Braun being an all powerful ghost story entity btw without Kim Soleum having to mask his identity almost completely was like the total kryptonite of Soleum’s “I care too much about everyone’s lives but I can’t do that because they are all fictional but also alive”. Soleum isn’t against making relationships but he often calls Braun his only friend. Isn’t that a bit out of touch Soleum, I think there’s a couple of people who would find a friend in you.

J3, for example, who was looking for him after he went missing! Actually, color me a conspiracist but I think it’s much less a self esteem issue but a reaction of realizing the people he’s (trying to) push away actually like and care about him. I mean he’s trying to get out of this fictional world. He doesn’t want the people of this world to care about him, so he’s shocked at the revelation that they do. So I don’t think it’s out of a dislike of himself but in many ways, he’s forced to act unlike himself because of this world. Well anyway that’s just my opinion anyway…

some final personal (personal) thoughts down here…

Kim Soleum’s monologue drives me nuts. I know! That’s the whole novel! But it’s something like Baek Deoksu’s style, where I sit there and shake my head going “Young man, I know you’re playing tricks with me”. I mean seriously, it’s not a bad thing. Just don’t make me work hard every chapter hooo, I’m a lazy kind of guy yk read for fun and leisure. ghost story ooo so scary…

#goedamchulgeun #괴담출근 #gsgw #got dropped into a ghost story still gotta work #Kim Soleum

35 notes · View notes