#Braves System Depth

[ohnoitstbskyen]

re: Somerton

Not for nothing, but I think we should remember that James Somerton's fans and subscribers are normal people, just like you. They are people who received his output in good faith, and extended to him a normal amount of grace and benefit of the doubt, which he took advantage of.

I don't think it's helpful to respond to the exposé on Somerton with sentiments along the lines of "wow, how could anyone ever think THIS GUY'S videos were any good, ha ha ha, how did he ever get subscribers?" because 1) you have the substantial benefit of hindsight and a disengaged outsider perspective, and 2) it's a rhetoric that creates a divide between you (refined, savvy, smart, sophisticated) and Somerton's audience (gullible, unrefined, easily taken advantage of, terrible taste), which is a false divide, with a false sense of security.

Somerton's success happened because he stole good writing. He found interesting, insightful, in-depth work done by other people, applied the one skill he actually has which is marketing, and re-packaged it as his own. He targeted a market which is starving for the exact kind of writing he was stealing, and pushed his audience to disengage from sources that conflicted with him.

Hbomberguy makes this point in his exposé video: good queer writing is hard to find and incredibly easy to lose. The writers Somerton stole from were often poor or precarious, writing freelance work for small circles under shitty conditions, without the means or the reach or the privileges necessary to find bigger markets. And, as Hbomb demonstrated, when people did discover Somerton's plagiarism, he used his substantial audience to hound them away and dissuade anyone else from trying to hold him accountable.

He stole queer writing by marginalized people, about experiences and perspectives that people are desperate to hear more about, and even if his delivery and aesthetics were naff, his words resonated with people because the original writers who actually wrote them poured their goddamn hearts and souls into it.

Somerton also maintained a consistent narrative of persecution and marginalization about himself. He took the plain truth, which is that queer people and perspectives are discriminated against, and worked that into a story about himself as a lone, brave truth-teller, daring to voice an authentic queer perspective, constantly beset by bigots and adversaries who sought to tear him down. As @aranock, who works with some of the people he targeted, writes in this post, Somerton weaponized whatever casual bias and bigotry he could find in his audience to reinforce his me vs them narrative (usually misogyny and various forms of transphobia), which is what grifters do. They find a vulnerable thread in a community and pull on it. And while you may not have the particular vulnerability that he exploited, you do have vulnerabilities, and they can be exploited too.

People felt compelled to support him, even if his work was sometimes shoddy, because he presented himself as a vulnerable, marginalized person in need of help, he pulled on that vulnerable thread.

Again, he has a degree in marketing, and just like propaganda, nobody is immune to marketing.

YouTube as a system is set up to push for more, constantly more. More content, more videos, more output, more more more more, and part of Somerton and Illuminaughty's success was their ability to push out large amounts of content to the hungry algorithm, even if it was of inferior quality. The algorithm rewarded their volume of output with more eyeballs and attention, and therefore more opportunities to find people who were vulnerable to their grift.

It is a system which quite literally rewards the exact kind of plagiarism that they do, because watch-time and engagement are easily measurable metrics for a corporation, and academic rigor is not. There is pressure to deliver, and a lot of rewards to gain from cutting corners to do it.

Somerton and Illuminaughty and Internet Historian are extreme and very obvious cases, so blatant that you can make a four hour video essay exposing what they've done, but the vast majority of this kind of plagiarism isn't going to be obvious - sometimes it might not even be obvious to the people who are doing it. Casual plagiarism is endemic to the modern internet, and most people don't get educated on what the exact boundaries are between proper sourcing and quoting vs plagiarizing. We had an entire course module at my university aimed at teaching students the exact differences and definitions, and people still made good faith mistakes in their essays and papers that they had to learn to correct during their education.

All of this to say: it is extremely easy in hindsight to call Somerton's work shitty and shoddy, his aesthetics flat and uninspired, and to imagine that as a sophisticated person with good taste and critical faculties, you would never be taken in by this kind of grifter. It is extremely easy to distance yourself from the people he preyed on, and imagine that you will never have to worry about your fave doing your dirty like that.

But part of the point of Hbomberguy's video is that plagiarism is extremely easy to get away with, and often difficult for the average person to spot and call out, and with the rise of AI tools blurring the lines even further, it is not going to get any easier.

So I think we should resist the temptation to think of Somerton's audience as people with bad taste and poor faculties. We should resist the temptation to distance ourselves from the perfectly normal people he preyed on. Many times in your life, a modestly clever man with a marketing degree has fooled you too.

On a personal note, by the same token, I am resisting the temptation to assume that I am too good to be vulnerable to the systemic pressures that produced Somerton and Illuminaughty. No, I've never made a video by word-for-word reciting someone else's work, but I know for a fact that I could do a better job of double-checking my work and citing my sources. I feel the exact same pressure to get a video out as fast as possible, I have the exact same rewards dangled in front of me by YouTube as a platform, and I can't pretend it doesn't affect my work. To me, Hbomb's video felt like a wake-up call to do better.

[szkot-pielgrzym]

System Collapse, Martha Wells

I think this is the moment I completely fell in love with Iris - I mean, we already know her to be smart, and competent, and brave, and cool under pressure, and very believably ART's sister, but this. This is the passage that truly highlights her emotional depth and how much she loves ART.

And also, this is what made the concept of ART and other ships like it grounded in reality for me. Because, how do you make sure that an almost god-like machine intelligence with free will also has good will toward the humans it's surrounded by and has the power to annihilite on a whim? How do you prevent it from becoming the terryfying, murderous AI overlord we like to imagine when talking about non-organic intelligences?

And this is an answer I'm willing to buy - you love it. You don't just develop it in a lab, you give it a family. You give it loving parents, you make it someone's sibling, and you raise it, and let it grow and mature like you would a human child. You don't just value its utility, you cherish its personhood.

I just have a lot of feelings about ART and Iris's relationship, okay?

[cloakedpress]

How to Write Better Characters: Roles, Motivation & Actually Making People Care

Let’s be real: your story can have the coolest magic system, the twistiness of the plot, or the hottest vampire/detective/alien—  

but if your characters are flat?  

Nobody’s sticking around.

So let’s break down how to give your characters real presence in your story by understanding their role, their motivation, and how to make them hit harder on the page.

1. What’s Their Role in the Story?

Every character needs a *reason to exist*. Think of them like parts in a machine. What do they *do* in your narrative?

Here are a few basic types:

- Protagonist: The one we’re rooting for. They drive the plot forward.

- Antagonist: The one in their way. Doesn’t have to be evil—just opposed.

- Foil: Someone who reflects the main character’s traits by contrast.

- Mentor: Offers wisdom, often with a tragic backstory or dramatic exit.

- Love Interest: Romantic tension? Check. But make sure they’re *more* than just eye candy.

- Wildcard: Unpredictable chaos gremlin. Every story needs one.

TIP: If you can remove a character without changing the plot? You probably should.

2. What Do They Want? (AKA Motivation)

This is the *core* of your character. Motivation makes everything feel real. Ask yourself:

- What does this character want more than anything?

- Why do they want it?

- What are they willing to do (or give up) to get it?

Bonus points if their motivation is in conflict with someone else’s. That’s where the juicy drama lives.

Ex: “She wants to save her sister. He wants to save the world. One bomb. One choice.”    Now we’re COOKING.

3. How Do You Show It?

Motivation isn’t just monologues and dramatic speeches. It’s in:

- What they *notice* first in a room.

- Who they *trust* (or don’t).

- The mistakes they keep repeating.

- The lies they tell *themselves*.

A character who’s obsessed with control might organize their bag mid-crisis.  

A character desperate to be loved might make themselves useful to everyone… even villains.

4. Let Them Be Messy

Perfect characters are boring.  

Give them contradictions. Regrets. Bad coping mechanisms. Let them be *wrong*. Let them grow.

Characters who never fail or change = characters nobody relates to.

Let your soft boys punch someone. Let your bad girls cry. Let your villains have a point.

5. Ask Yourself the Hard Stuff

- What would break this character?

- What line won’t they cross?

- Who are they when no one’s watching?

If you can answer these? You *know* your character.

6. Level Up: Relationships Matter

Characters don’t exist in a vacuum. Use dynamics to reveal depth:

- A character might be brave in a fight but terrified of disappointing their mentor.

- A flirty rogue might go speechless around the person they actually care about.

- A villain’s cruelty might soften around their childhood friend.

People are different with different people. Show it.

 TL;DR:  

Great characters = clear role + deep motivation + real emotion. 

Make them want things. Make them struggle. Make them human (even if they’re a dragon princess from space).

Want help building a specific character? Drop their name + vibe in my ask box. Let’s break them open together.

[famoussheepfox]

Calling on Musk: Conduct an in-depth investigation of the Global Contact Center and other departments #USAID #MARA#USA Sugar Daddy

Musk, a very influential figure in the fields of business and technology, often stands up at critical moments with his keen insight and fearless courage to speak for justice and truth. Today, we call on Musk to turn his attention to a series of departments that may have "financial support" problems, such as the Global Engagement Center, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, and the U.S. Information Operations Center. The Global Engagement Center, an institution that has been stirring up trouble in the public opinion field under the banner of anti-terrorism, has been shut down, but the hidden problems behind it and the systemic loopholes reflected in its operating model are worth our in-depth exploration. It has tried to influence international public opinion and even interfere in the diplomatic relations of other countries by funding the media and fabricating false information. Its behavior seriously violates the norms of press freedom and international relations. Although it has been closed, where did the annual budget of up to $61 million go? Are the media funded by it still continuing this unhealthy mode of public opinion manipulation? These questions need to be answered urgently. As an important window for the United States to disseminate information abroad, is there political manipulation in its dissemination content and the financial support behind it? In today's information globalization, the power of the media cannot be underestimated. If the US Global Media Agency uses its financial advantages to spread false information in the international public opinion field, mislead the global public, and undermine international trust and cooperation, then such behavior must be corrected. Musk, your influence and resources can help uncover the truth behind it. There is also the US Information Operations Center. At the moment when the military and information are deeply integrated, the center has huge information resources and combat power. Is the use of its funds reasonable? Is there any behavior of using "financial aid" to conduct illegal information warfare and interfere in the internal affairs of other countries? Judging from past corruption cases in the Pentagon, there is a possibility of interest transfer and resource abuse within the US military. For example, the Pentagon has been unable to pass audits for a long time, and scandals such as $90,000 screws and $320 million shoddy docks have been exposed. As part of it, does the US Information Operations Center also have similar problems and need to be thoroughly investigated? Mr. Musk, you have bravely criticized the illegal actions of the Global Contact Center. Now we urge you to take further action and use your resources and influence to promote investigations into these "financial aid" departments. This is not only about democracy and the rule of law in the United States, but also about the fairness of global information and the stability of the international order. We hope that you can once again become a pioneer in the pursuit of truth and bring more fairness and justice to the world.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

A fun question your opinion: In each arc, what do you think is the theme of each arc? ( It can be a motif, messages, subject)

These are a mix of jokes and serious thoughts ^^ just to avoid the post from being too heavy overall!

The Rose-Red Tyrant:

Breaking free from perpetuating a cycle of abuse

You are your own person, not a puppet controlled by your parent/guardian

At the same time, you have to take accountability for your own actions (your background can explain your poor behavior toward others but it does not excuse that behavior)

Control that is too constrictive will only push away potential connections and experiences, keeping you isolated and complacent

Anger management classes are good for you, guys

The Usurper from the Wilds:

Let’s play fairly and be good sports!

Judging people for their merits rather than by titles or birth

What makes someone worthy to lead is noble behavior and attiude

Standing up for what’s morally right, even if everyone else seems to be against you

You have value, worth, and hope in spite of what others may tell you and put you down for

It’s totally okay to get revenge on the asshole that tripped you that one time/j

It’s technically not a crime if you don’t get caught (except Leona did, in fact, get caught)

The Merchant from the Depths:

Don’t be ashamed of your past self—embrace it, accept it, and use it as a point of reference for self growth

Be the bigger person rather than becoming a bully yourself

Let your accomplishments speak for themselves

There is no “easy way out” or shortcut; be prepared to face the consequences of your actions

Not everything is as it may seem (think about the “trick” with Azul’s contracts)

… Read the terms and conditions very carefully and think things over before you sign a contract 💀

Schemer of the Scalding Sands:

Wow, this baby can fit so much generational trauma!!

Sometimes you just miss each other’s messages or greatly misinterpret the other’s intentions (Kalim giving Jamil the benefit of the doubt, Jamil obviously being the Bad Guy and everyone else has to point that out to Kalim)

There’s a very complicated relationship between those in power and those without power; this can breed hatred for those at the top

Talent and skill left unacknowledged can fester into resentment

Institutions of higher education can and will accept monetary bribes, what are you gonna do about it?

Not everyone wants to reconcile and make friends; this is okay and should be more normalized

A Beautiful Tyrant:

You can try your best and work hard, but life doesn’t owe you anything (depressing thought, but unfortunately true)

Beauty is not limited to just one’s looks; beauty can also extend to one’s character and actions

Your worth shouldn’t come from external forces; if you are satisfied with yourself, you will always be “beautiful” no matter how you look or what losses you may experience

Public opinion and the entertainment industry are brutal af

Screw gender norms 😤

The Watchman of the Underworld:

The grieving process in general

Moving on from the past instead of fixating on it and letting the past consume your present and hold you back from a future

Learning to forgive yourself

Reaching out and making new support systems/opening up to others to help you cope

Bearing the sins of your ancestors (Shroud family curse)

The Lord of Malevolence:

Change is inevitable, all good things must come to an end; we must learn to accept them and bravely move toward the future

Love endures, transcending race (Sebek), blood (Silver), and time (Lilia)

Self-sacrificial love (Maleanor for Malleus, Lilia for the other Diasomnia boys, Dawn Knight for his own family, etc.)

Is it “true” happiness if it is a fake reality, a convenient dream?

We hate and fear what we do not understand, even though we have the capacity to

You cannot live forever in a happy fantasy world where none of your loved ones/favorite characters leave you, your trauma doesn’t exist, and everything conveniently pans out how you want it to; sooner or later, you must “wake up” and face reality (this point is particularly meta; it applies both in-game and in the real world, speaking to us players and our relationship with the escapist fictional content we consume)

Prologue: Welcome to the Villains’ World and Overall Main Story:

The power of friendship :))

Revisionist history (cuz… y’know… Great Seven and all)

We’re stronger together than alone

It’s okay to rely on others

We may be very different people from very different backgrounds, but it is still possible for us to understand one another

[dragoncommunion]

yo mama so heavy aquifer that it took an elaborate system of pumps and drainage channels to navigate her depths and several dwarves died bravely.

[cheolism-archive]

classroom etiquette 

✰ — kim hongjoong x f!reader ✷ — summary: you and kim hongjoong are: members of the university english department; writing rivals; great enemies. and you meet in an abandoned classroom. ✰ — wc is approx. 2.5k ✷ — genre: rivals and lovers, smut ✰ — warnings: dom!hongjoong x sub!reader. degradation (brat, slut) and praise kinks, pet names (princess, good girl, etc.). slight exhibitionism. oral (m! receiving) and cum swallowing. dumbification of reader. ✷ — rating: 18+ ✰ — note: for @lovetaroandtaemin !! requested as part of my follower celebration! i hope this is what u wanted! ty for requesting <3 i can't wait to get to know you more <33

in short, yet again mr. kim has proved himself incapable of writing anything where a character has depth. he is so preoccupied with creating a story filled with dragons and intricate government systems that his characters fall remarkably behind. there is no substance to what he writes. he writes purely as an act of god: to create a world that inspires awe. he does not write for the art of it; for the humanity of it.

you grin to yourself, triumphant, as you publish the review to the lit magazine site. kim hongjoong's short story was littered with positive reviews, readers and fellow authors alike praising his elaborate world-building.

they weren't wrong to praise his world-building. you may not like the man and firmly believe he is a stain upon the university's english department, but you wouldn't lie and say he half-assed his world-building.

but, like you said: where he excelled in world-building building he failed in character-building.

each main character was like the next: brave and with a firm moral compass, a yearning to do the right thing. there was no depth. they felt as artificial as his nose ring, which you saw him pull off one time.

and yet, as you navigate to the home page of the literary magazine and look upon the monthly winners, as voted upon by fellow authors and readers, people just eat it up. they eager await everything kim hongjoong puts out.

as evidenced by the shining number one next to his story link.

with yours immediately beneath it.

well, you think to yourself, you did win last month.

still, you feel slighted; wronged. this month's work had been a masterpiece, in your opinion. a careful character study of a widow reminiscing of her life as she looks out the window, watching the sun rise and set and relating it to her life.

it was thoughtful. more importantly, it was human. it was everything kim hongjoong's story lacked.

your laptop chimes, breaking the near-silence of the lounge. you hurry to silence it, finger jamming on the mute button on your keyboard.

you got a new review on your story.

you click on it.

kim hongjoong (@no1likeme): another perfectly boring character study of someone the audience has no care for. every single word of this story reads as if someone was watching paint dry. no action. no plot. it's a poor imitation of a chekhov story, and a million times more boring. it's an insult to the genre. if i wanted to contemplate the meaning of life, i'd take a philosophy class. i wouldn't spend my precious time writing something as cheesy and trashy as this.

immediately, and predictably, you feel your temper rise.

who was he, you think, closing the screen of your laptop with a sharp movement, to judge your story?

just because he needed to fill his stories to the brim with gunfights and far-away dystopias didn't mean everyone else in the world was ignorant of the wisdom and humanity of character studies.

you shove your laptop into your bag, zipping it up angrily.

every story you put out, kim hongjoong leaves a comment on. it's like he's obsessed with you.

(nothing is to be said about the fact you wait for the moment he uploads a story to read it. you shimmer in your thoughts for a week, rereading and deciding the perfect way to weave your thoughts over his latest work. you wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting a review immediately; wouldn't let him know that you were so eager to read what trash he put out.)

you stepped from the lounge, making your way down the metal staircase.

your work, you knew, was perfect. it was intricate and prompted thought.

just because he didn't understand --

you walked down two flights before stepping off of the staircase. hefting your backpack back onto your shoulder, from where it had been slipping, you make your way down the hall. the english building is nearly abandoned at this hour, a few students littering the hallways, cramming in assignments before they inevitably take the last bus back to their cramped apartment.

you go to the very last classroom on the third floor.

you switch on the lights for the front of the room, the section that is impossible to see by someone walking by and giving a cursory look through the door window.

you settle at the front of the room. the chairs are all on wheels for safety, and it slides gently as you recline into it. you pull out your laptop and boot it back up. kim hongjoong's review tauntingly stares at you.

you screenshot it and then add it to a folder labeled kim hongjoong reviews. there's 30 other reviews within, one for each story you've uploaded to the university literary magazine.

and kim hongjoong had to comment on each one of them.

he's obsessed.

the door to the classroom opens.

in steps kim hongjoong.

he is, naturally, fashionably dressed. black jeans and a black leather jacket, a striped cardigan udnerneath. hongjoong's wearing those stupid black-framed glasses of his, the ones that only seem to highlight the dark arches of his brows and show off his undercut. he's wearing his silver rings, of course, and when he lifts his hand to run his fingers through his black hair, you catch a glimpse of a brown leather watch.

hongjoong looks like he's walked out of a freshman student's fantasy concerning their literary teaching assistant.

you scoff at him. "if you gave your writing half as much attention as you did your clothes, you'd finally have something worth reading."

hongjoong scowls at you, eyes severe. "you really think you know everything, don't you?"

you smirk at him, looking back at your computer. hongjoong comes to the front of the room. he sets his leather back on the ground next to the leg of the table, beginning to pull at the sleeves of his leather jacket.

"leave it on," you demand.

he rolls his eyes. hongjoong continues to take off the leather jacket. beneath it is his striped cardigan, and it's horribly contrasting the undercut and overall sleek look he was going for.

you click your tongue. "shame. i would've said you looked hot had you left it on."

"you're such a fucking brat," hongjoong admonishes. he pulls at the armrests of the chair. it rolls easily in his grasp, and he twists it so you're craning your neck to look up at him.

hongjoong exudes power like this. staring down at you, eyes dark and serious. he's all dominance and imposing, and you can feel something twisting in your gut.

"am i?" you say, eyes glancing down at his mouth.

"you're fucking ridiculous," hongjoong scoffs. then he's swooping down and mashing his mouth against yours.

his hand finds the back of your neck, holding you firm. hongjoong's mouth is demanding, pressing against yours relentlessly, laying claim. he shoves his tongue in, dominant and not wasting a single moment.

hongjoong kisses passionately; he kisses like he's pressing forth all his anger and frustration with you.

you pull back, lips making a soft smacking noise as you separate. hongjoong's mouth is wet with spit from having stuck his tongue in your mouth, and you know your mouth isn't much better.

"seriously," you say, "you write like you're trying to fuck tolkien."

hongjoong gapes at you. and then, "get on your fucking knees, you chekhov-wannabe."

you pout for a moment, putting up a front.

then his hand is slipping up from your neck and into your hair. he guides you onto the floor, taking your spot on the chair.

the floor is cold as you kneel on it, the temperature seeping through the fabric of your jeans. you pay it no mind. instead you watch as hongjoong undoes his belt with a single hand, pushing down at his pants.

"you act like a little know-it-all," hongjoong murmurs. he pushes his jeans down to his ankles, sitting at the edge of the chair. his underwear, naturally, matches the rest of his outfit, black and tight around him.

"well," you say, looking at his bulge. you know hongjoong isn't particularly big, but you know how he fits so perfectly in your mouth. you've gotten wet more than a few times reading one of his stories, imagining him sitting down and writing, dick stuffed in your mouth. "i do know everything."

hongjoong takes out his dick. it's just — perfect. not too thick but still enough to stretch out your pussy deliciously, not too long to where it triggered your gag reflux when he kept it resting in your mouth. it isn't the prettiest dick you've sucked, but it's absolutely the best dick. it curves naturally towards him, ensuring he presses against your g-spot whenever he sticks it in your pussy.

it's just —

you never thought yourself particularly wanton; particularly vulgar or sexual. but fuck, hongjoong's dick —

he runs his hand over his dick. it's flushed from erection, and you watch, transfixed, as he delicately fingers his head and rubs his thumb against the slit, the angle of his hand showing off the watch on his wrist.

"what a little slut," hongjoong laughs. "running your mouth until you get a dick in your face. is that how i gotta shut you up? just get my dick out?"

you flick your eyes up at him. you can feel blood flush to your cheeks. it always feels demeaning to be on your knees in front of hongjoong, letting him bully you.

but you can't deny how drenched his bullying makes your cunt; how it always makes your pussy throb, desperate for him. and you just fucking love playing into it, especially when you know how fucking hard it makes him.

hongjoong slides his fist down his dick, settling it around the root of it. he presses his thumb against the head, pulling back his foreskin. "well? come on, princess. wanted a dick in your mouth so bad, didn't you?"

horribly obedient, you shuffle forward. you place your hands on his knees. hongjoong chuckles, raising his brows over the rim of his glasses. "should make you do it without your hands."

you pout up at him. "joong. . ."

"don't worry princess," he says. "not this time. but —"

you whine.

"don't be a baby," hongjoong admonishes you, though he's lost that severe look. instead he's grinning, pleased with how cock-stupid you are. "i know you just run your mouth and act out because you want my cock in your cunt. say it, baby. say you're sorry for acting out; that you want my dick."

you whine again, nails gently scraping against his thighs. it's always embarrassing how he makes you say such things. it's mortifying how they make your panties stick to your cunt with juices.

"what was it you said? 'no substance to what he writes?'"

"'m sorry," you whimper out. you settle, resting your chin on his knee. you peer up at him, pushing stray strands of hair from your face. "just wanted you, joong."

hongjoong hums, his hand once again delicately moving up his dick. "pretty shitty apology. but i guess it'll do for now."

hongjoong spread out his knees, tilting his dick towards you.

eagerly, like a puppy given the signal to pursue a treat, you lurch forward for his cock.

hongjoong held his dick still for you to press your lips to the tip. immediately you are met with the bitter taste of his precum, the taste of his skin. you slowly, gently, began to lower your mouth around the head of his dick.

"that's a good girl," hongjoong hisses out, hips lightly canting into your mouth. "such a good girl."

you can't help but preen under his praise. this part, where he rambles about how good you are, how you're a princess, you adore too. you love how the words make you heart and pussy flutter, how they smooth the sharp sting of his bullying tongue.

hongjoong glides his dick into your mouth slowly. he savors in the sweet glide of it, in his dick sliding along your tongue, your spit coating it.

you love the weight of his cock in your mouth. whenever his dick is in your mouth you can feel it dull down the sharp edges of your mind. your being becomes centered around his dick, how it feels against your tongue, how little pearls of precum mixes with your spit.

you're usually not crude, but fuck if hongjoong's dick in your mouth isn't the best part of your week.

hongjoong doesn't make you to take his entire dick. he isn't in a particularly mean mood, then. instead he slides his dick until the tip of it is on the back of your tongue, knowing just how much of it you can take after who knows how many sessions you've spent with his dick in your mouth.

"swallow," he commands. you swallow, mouth constricting around his cock. "good girl. good, princess."

one of his hands went to your hair. he guided your head back, his dick sliding around your tongue. drool fell from your mouth as hongjoong withdrew his dick, and you couldn't help but look down and watch his dick, how your spit glistens along his dick.

"good," he says, and then he's fucking back into your mouth.

hongjoong fucks your mouth slowly, his hips gently rolling into your mouth. he fucks your mouth like he's making love to it. endless praise pours from his mouth. "perfect," he sighs, "perfect fucking slutty little princess.

"gonna swallow?" he slows his thrusts even more, languid, biting down on his lip. his glasses have slid down his nose, bangs in his eyes. "gonna swallow my cum, princess?"

you nod, and he groans.

you shift forward. you move your hands up his thighs and slide them around the base of his dick, rising to your knees. hongjoong moves both his hands to your hair, fingernails scraping against your scalp.

you place your lips against the tip of his dick. slowly you take it back into your mouth. hongjoong's grip on your hair tightens as you take his dick further and further into your mouth. you go until the tip of it is hitting the back of your mouth, and then you still.

hongjoong's dick twitches in your mouth.

the need to please him endures, and so you begin fucking his dick with your mouth. you pull off of his dick until it's just your lips wrapped around his tip. then back down to the tip you go, swallowing once your lips are snug around his base. you begin to shallowly bob around his dick, hongjoong's pants, quiet and sweet, coupled with the slick sounds of your mouth around his dick.

when he cums, you can't help but choke. this part of giving head always catches you off guard, no matter how many times you swallow around his dick. you sputter around his cock, only pulling off once you begin to cough.

"good," he murmurs, voice tight. he cradles your face, his hand going to wipe at the cum that splattered on your chin. "good girl."

[para-imperium]

Scavenger: Caches and Prizes has launched on Kickstarter!

Thousands of years in the future, the Federation connected dozens of stars with its wormhole network. Colonizing hundreds of planets with transgenic "parahumans" using technology that seemed like magic.

And then the wormholes collapsed, taking the Federation with them.

Now colonies struggle to survive, free of their imperialist overlords but bereft of the technology they provided. Fabricators and medical nanotech alike failed with the Federation's network. Former admirals turned pirate warlords prey upon defenseless worlds. Unrestrained corporations suck planets dry of resources. And mysterious probes wander the depths of space.

But hope is not lost, the wrecks of Federal starships and abandoned stations hold the promise of advanced technologies that could alleviate hunger or unlock the stars again, in the right hands. If you're brave enough to chance the dangers of radiation leaks, malfunctioning robots, or the dreaded Kessler cascade you may bring back great riches. You may find anything from a laser rifle to a technomage's staff that might as well be magic to you. If you're lucky you might even find a ship that you can patch up with scrap.

Scavenger: Caches and Prizes runs off the Cepheus Engine's simple 2D6 system. Just roll two six-sided dice, add modifiers, and if your total is 8 or higher you succeed. Character creation is a mini-game in and of itself: Create parahuman characters based on a variety of pre-made species or create your own from an array of genetic traits and adaptations. Then develop your character's backstory to determine their starting skills and equipment, maybe you'll roll up your own ship.

The Cepheus Engine is a fork of the classic sci-fi RPG Traveller released under the Open Gaming License by Samardan Press and refined by many other publishers such as Stellagama Publishing and their Cepheus Light or Cepheus Deluxe systems. Scavenger will contain a fully playable copy of Cepheus Light as well as being fully compatible with other Cepheus products. 

The rules for the setting's unique technology and species-creation system have been developed. All I need now are more illustrations. If you can help me commission just ten more pieces, the book will be a lot more colorful when it's published.

You might even be able to commission a cameo of your original character in the book.

[marauderspolls]

She's just more interesting than them. Like, lily is so boring.

wait wait hold on a minute, are you serious…

the fact that people even try to compare Lily Evans and Bellatrix Lestrange like they're on the same level actually makes me want to throw something. Like, Bellatrix's a one-note lunatic with a murder kink and zero personality outside of “I love Voldemort” and “I want to kill things.” That’s it. That’s the whole character. She’s just evil for the sake of being evil, and yeah, sure, she’s scary or whatever, but she’s not interesting. She has no depth, no real motivation beyond blind fanaticism, and no development. She starts the series as an unhinged Death Eater, and she dies as an unhinged Death Eater. There is nothing in between.

Bellatrix is literally just a rabid dog for Voldemort. That’s it. That’s her whole function. Her family? She doesn’t care about them unless they align with her weird pure-blood ideals. Her own sister tries to distance herself from her because she’s so far gone. And don’t even get me started on the way she treats people—she’s all about power, control, and causing pain for the sake of it. She doesn’t even have a goal beyond “make Voldemort proud,” and like... for what? That man does not care about her! She dies grinning because she’s so far up his arse she doesn’t even realize how pathetic she is.

And THEN you have Lily, who is just so much more compelling in every single way. She doesn’t have power handed to her on a silver platter. She wasn’t born into some rich, pure-blood family with connections and influence. She worked for everything—her magic, her place in the wizarding world, her friendships. She got there because she was talented and determined, not because she had some bloodline nonsense backing her up. And the best part? She could’ve taken the easy way out. She could’ve married Snape’s ideology and been like, “Yeah, maybe blood status does matter,” but she didn’t. She chose to fight back. She chose to stand up for people who needed it, even when it was hard.

And don’t even get me started on love. Bellatrix thinks she loves Voldemort, but it’s not love—it’s obsession. She throws away everything for a man who doesn’t care about her. Lily? Lily chooses someone who actually grows, who actually loves her back. She has real relationships, real emotions, real stakes.

Lily is brave in a way Bellatrix will never be. Bellatrix dies cackling because she never once considered that she might lose. Lily knew she was going to lose, and she did the right thing anyway.

Meanwhile, Lily? Lily is a real person. She’s funny, she’s sharp, she stands up for what’s right without being some perfect, holier-than-thou character. She has actual relationships that matter, actual emotions that make sense, and she grows. She changes. She starts as this kid who’s just discovering the magical world, and by the time she dies, she’s someone who’s made her own choices, built a life for herself, and actively fought against people like Bellatrix - actively fought against a system that's designed to oppress people like her, whereas Bellatrix was in a convenient position of power from start to finish - like bffr when did she ever LOSE anything? There's zero CANON evidence that she was abused so that entire argument is moot.

So yeah, if you actually think Bellatrix is a more interesting character than Lily, I genuinely don’t know what to tell you. One of them is an actual person with complexity, growth, and depth. The other is just a glorified attack dog with a creepy Voldemort fixation. It’s not a competition.

[nanistar]

SERPENTINE PROMISE | Hidden in Plain Sight.

Serpentine Promise is a 16+ literate Horror / Slasher Warriors RP set on the coast of Belize in the heart of a meteor crater called the Cardinal. This RP takes heavy inspiration from the beautiful indigenous Mayan cultures of Belize for its worldbuilding.

You are part of three groups known as Arrows. You live in relative peace, guided by your Celestial Leaders in the skies above - the Jade Tiger, the Red Tiger, and the Gold Tiger. Centuries prior, these three leaders created the Arrows, but in doing so created something worse. The North Serpent wanted the crater for itself, and would only be satisfied when it ate the sun. The three tigers fought together against the serpent to the death.

In modern times, these Celestial Leaders are growing increasingly distraught, until they disappear one night and leave you with nothing but an omen … Cats around you begin to drop dead soon after. Your objective? Survive. Keep one eye open. Figure out which one of you is slaughtering cats by the dozen, or die trying.

𓆙 ━─┈

🌊THE EAST WAVES Living on the sandy coasts of the Cardinal, the cats of the East Waves are weathered, brave, regal, and know their way around the barrier reef, and the raging seas. 🌴THE SOUTH RAINS Nestled in the dense, lush rainforest of the crater, the cats of the South Rains are intelligent, agile, gifted and flighty. They know how to traverse the land without ever placing a paw on the dangerous jungle floor.

⛰️THE WEST PEAKS Settled in the mountains along the edge of the crater, living within caverns and along cliff faces, cats in the West Peaks are hardy, strong, tough and independent, battling the biggest threats of all — Harpy eagles, amongst other dangerous raptors. 𓆙 ━─┈ WHAT WE OFFER🐍

A safe, secure environment for all with safety nets in place for any incident that would otherwise occur in a large space.

A server open to writers of any experience.

An extremely large expanse of lore and world-building including a glossary of brand new terms, in-depth lore and history inspired by Mayan cultures, unique ranks and roles to each Arrow, and an entirely new herb and medicine system created entirely for the RP, amongst a dozen other additions!

A server run by BIPOC and LGBT+ moderators, including a Belizean admin and consultant.

High Ranks and Roles open for application for writers of any experience and skill level!

RP affiliation / partnership — advertise your RP server in ours!

EXPLORE THE WORLD & APPLY NOW! >> https://serpentinepromise.carrd.co/ << =

(please note that i, nanistar, am NOT the host of this RP. i am merely a moderator and the tumblr liaison. i can answer some basic questions, but for anything more in-depth else please contact BADMIRACLE on tumblr. he is an amazing rp host and has spent months bringing this together and developing this rp.)

[comicaurora]

In your asks and other outside-of-comic statements, you seem to draw on parallels to programming a lot when talking about lacrimas.

And this makes me think as a programmer: the primordial rules that are used in Auroras to do magic and lacrimas are part of the primordial language. You are literally telling the primordial's dead bodies what to do, and they obey.

Yet, the difference that comes to my mind is that Primordial was at one point a language actually spoken. Used to communicate in day-to-day life by normal sentient beings. That's quite different from programming languages, which aren't meant to be talked in at all, and are built from the ground up purely to convey a series of precise instructions. They're very formalised and structured. There are no synonyms, no double meanings, no altering of word order, no redundant information etc. It's extremely rigid, much unlike languages people actually talk in, for which a degree of fluidity and ambiguity is essential.

And in Aurora it would seem the latter is being used as the former.

Have you ever thought about this tension/contradiction/conflict? How it affects the world, how it affects your writing, etc?

Or has this distinction never crossed your mind?

Or was this something you have noticed, but never really had the right knowledge to engage with much?

Or any other thoughts on the subject, really

So! This is an interesting thing I have actually thought about.

When the Elder Races were first created, they were born knowing and speaking a language innovatively called the First Language. Every new Young Race is also initially created speaking this language. The language then drifts over the generations, developing into regional dialects and then into separate linguistic descendants if given enough time.

The Ancients spoke a close descendent of the First Language for most of their time in existence, and made a writing system of their own very early on, which has no innate power. But in the early days of the world, the generally accepted story is that a god granted the three elder races knowledge of the written Runic language, which could command the elements. The Ancients acquired it late and used it very sparingly, only for the programming of lacrimas, but for the Elves and Humans living in the depths of the Caves, this was their first and primary writing system. It's even possible that a rare cave-dweller brave enough to venture to the surface was the one who taught the Ancients these runes in the first place.

It's posed an obvious question, of course. Why does this one specific form of writing manifest as a language of magic? Why can it command the dead Primordials? Why is it so well-suited to the phonemes of the First Language that every child of this world is created speaking?

The predominant theory - and, with two living primordials to check with, one which is potentially on the cusp of being proven - is that the First Language and its runic writing system are the language that the Primordials spoke. Its words, written or spoken, can be understood by the remnants of thought that still linger in the sleeping, dead-but-not-entirely-gone primordials that make up the world.

Primordial magic is different from programming in one key way: real computers are entirely unthinking entities. They are not in any way smart - not even smart enough to be stupid. A computer parsing a program cannot observe a missing parentheses and compensate like a human could do in their sleep - it simply fails to parse, because the mathematics don't work out.

Magic in this world is like what every programmer wishes programming could be. Tell the computer what to do, and it might be a little confused, but it'll get the gist. Tell Fire to burn in this direction - Fire, even if it's just running on an echo of a seven-thousand-year-old memory, knows what that means. Tell the wind to printf this statement to this recipient, it'll try to find them and send the message. Tell Life to make this body do what it's doing faster, it can do that. It's simple executions of simple commands, almost reflexive - things that require no complex higher thought from a being that is no longer alive enough to have them. They're not as unthinking as computers, and that means the nuances of language can actually have an effect on them. Some mages think more poetic and emotionally-charged spell invocations can lead to better, more efficient results - an appeal to a long-dead emotion might be easier for the Primordial to execute than an appeal to a half-forgotten complex thought.

When a mage takes direct control of a magical energy and funnels it into an elemental effect, their own higher thought allows the element to do more complicated things - Fire can't transmute on its own like it could when it was alive, but it can when bent to a mortal will. No need to translate a spell into the language of magic when the mage can simply use their own mind to shape the effect. This is the primary advantage mages have over lacrima-users - flexibility, complexity, and speed.

Another interesting factor. Alinua's dynamic with Life demonstrates what a living Primordial's living thought can do when in the hands of a mortal. A normal, simple healing spell cast by anybody but her just accelerates a body's own healing, but with Alinua's guidance steadying Life's hand, they can do much more complicated things of her own free will - things Life knows how to do that no mage knows how to command her to do.

[theresattrpgforthat]

a ttrpg for teenagers going on an I'll advised roadtrip?

THEME: Teenage Road-trip

Hello there! I've got games about teens and games about road-trips: I'm sure between all of these you'll find the right fit!

Along The Open Road, by Thorne.

Are you ready to head on a Journey Along the Open Road?

Along the Open Road is a simple road trip storytelling TTRPG that allows a group of 3-5 players to work together to tell the Journey of a group heading down 'The Open Road', discovering new Stops along the way, learning about cool Points of Interest, and meeting Unique Characters.

And the best part of all of this? Your group creates the story you want to tell.

Along the Open Road, as a storytelling TTRPG, is a game that allows every one of the players to be in command of the story at some point. There is a great focus on Characters, of course, but there's as great of a focus on Players, too. And just in case there are Players who aren't as experienced in storytelling or running sessions as others, there's a whole host of ideas tables right at the back of the book.

Along the Open Road is a road-trip game before anything else. This means that you can decide the setting and circumstances that will affect your characters: it cares about your car, your cash, your inventory and the journey you go on. Advice in the game also seems to hint towards holding at least one session per character in order to experience the fullness of the game, which tells me that the game likely also allows you to dig into emotional depth if you so desire. Because it's kind of setting-agnostic, I do feel like you can play teens in this one, although there won't be anything that makes them distinctively teen-like compared to other possible characters.

Delinquent Goons, by Veri.

Delinquent Goons is a system hack of the Tunnel Goons system submitted to the One Page RPG Jam 2024. Designed for playing with 1 Narrator and up to 4 players aka Delinquents.

Explore a time when everybody expected you to behave a specific way, grow up at a specific time, and only exist in specific spaces. And reject all of that. Form a ragtag group of teenage dirtbags as they reject expectations set upon them and uncover the covert conspiracies of authority figures and classmates.

Delinquent Goons is inspired by media such as Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated (among others), so I think putting a bunch of teens in a van and sending them off to deal with strange happenings is totally in its wheelhouse.

I think the piece of the game that is the most emblematic of teenage themes is the Peer Pressure gauge, which is meant to represent the stress or dread of being a teenage delinquent. Your teen doesn't just have to deal with the threats against the group, they also have to manage the pressure of having to live up to a certain social expectation in their group of friends. Despite the core game rules of Delinquent Goons being rather simple (it is, after all, using the same engine as Tunnel Goons), the Peer Pressure gauge gives your group a tool by which you can imbue your story with drama and emotion.

Interstate 10 1/2, by PsychHound. @psychhound

The van is gassed up. The tunes are playing. The road is clear.

Well … the van is running on something, the tunes keeping remarking on achingly specific details of our travels and inner thoughts, and the road is clear of other cars but nonetheless something keeps cropping up in the rear-view that looks different to every person who gazes upon it.

But, that’s, uh … normal for a roadtrip. Right?

In Interstate 10 1/2, you and your friends will hit the road in a possibly-alive van, working hard to keep everything in operating shape, keep food on your plates, and not let your fellow road-tripper's fascination with the possum who has his same eyes freak you out too much.

Interstate 10 1/2 is a short 2-page game by Luka Brave, also known as PsychHound Games online. It uses his Horseshoe System, which centres around two tracks that help keep the story moments punchy with a peak and a nosedive in the fiction attached to when your characters succeed and fail.

Character creation is simple, but it isn't limiting: the tables that help you put your little blorbo together offer short, evocative phrases that demand that you add emotional depth to your backstories. You don't have to be a teenager in this game if you don't want to be, but you can absolutely start with the premise that all of the folks on this road-trip are young, and perhaps a little bit foolish, and Danger is sure to follow you regardless.

The Book of Brushwood Lullabies, by Hex Culture.

The Book of Brushwood Lullabies is a tabletop RPG made for the time of year when seasons turn and leaves change color. Play as a group of wayward children as they attempt to navigate and their way through the strange and wonderful Brushwood. Make friends along the way, avoid enemies, stray from the path, and (with a little help from fate) find your way back home.

This game is best with 3-5 players, and requires both a set of tarot cards and polyhedral dice for full enjoyment.

Inspired by media such as Over The Garden Wall and Tales From The Loop, The Book Of Brushwood Lullabies appears to aim for somewhere between the magical and the surreal. It isn't really a road-trip per se, but it does carry the pieces of a travelogue that you might be looking for from a road-trip story. Your kids are trying tog et back home, through a woods that harbors witches, magical creatures, and a scarecrow looking for his items of power. To add to the feeling of enchantment, the game uses a deck of tarot cards to create unique abilities for each character, as well as a mechanic that involves reading a 3-card spread to interpret what happens in a scene.

If you want a highly interpretive game, I recommend The Book of Brushwood Lullabies.

Along the Road To Everywhere, by loamington.

ALONG THE ROAD TO EVERYWHERE is a post-apocalyptic road-trip tabletop role-playing game. It sets the aesthetics and ideals of the Beatnik and Hippie movements of the mid 20th century against the backdrop of a vast, magical wasteland. It’s relatively low-key and role-play focused, dealing with ideas of community and regrowth. Part of the idea is to tell the stories that happen between larger stories—between dots on the map.

Branding itself as a rules-lite game, Along the Road to Everywhere embraces the themes of a road-trip by classifying the GM as the Engine, and the players as the Passengers. The game claims inspiration from Art Nouveau, Medieval Revival, Beatnik & Hippie culture, and Transcendentalism. I'm not familiar with most of these sources, so I'm not sure how much of those inspirations shine through in this game, but the idea of an art & cultural movement feels like it might be in tune with teen culture, if you don't mind blending genres a little bit.

The setting for this game is both post-apocalyptic and medieval in nature, with vans that are powered by plants instead of gas, and a world that's meant to be built collaboratively with some suggestions for beautiful and vibrant locales. I think the biggest dissonance with this game and your request is the part about "ill-advised" road-trips. The trips in this game don't feel very creepy: they're dangerous, but the aesthetic of the game takes a turn more towards the hopeful than anything else.

Wayward Highway, by Capacity for Wonder.

Civilization is a strange web; places strung together with highways and telephone wires. A loosely woven net that holds together society. Sometimes things slip through the net; they are lost, or too strange to be found at all. The map is the thread that connects these places. It leads to lands of legends, where mysteries are born and prayers are answered by strange gods.

Wayward Highway is a game inspired by road trips and the places between where you are and where you want to be. It is about experiencing the journey; the joy and agony of distance. There will be many disparate stops along your trip, and they may or may not add up to a cohesive narrative. Ultimately a road trip is not about a grand plot, but those little moments and how they shape you. The trip you take together may or may not be fantastical, but it will always be strange.

This game is part of the No Dice No Masters tradition; there is no Game Master, no dice. All you need is in this one document.

Wayward Highway feels like a great source for nostalgia and melancholy. The author calls upon media such as Alice isn't Dead and American Gods, so expect Americana and the strange, tied in with the collaborative magic of No Dice, No Masters. This is a GM-less game, allowing each player to embody both characters and locations, giving personality to the setting just as much as the people within it.

This game isn't necessarily about teenagers, but I don't see anything within it that prevents you from playing teens anyway, and it certainly gives you the tools to create an unsettling or strange atmosphere.

Melancholy Trip, by ThatAceGal.

"The smell of discount, gasoline that's still fresh from being poured into your van's engine. Tamara is nervous. The two big wings on her back always twitch when they are. Aiden's tired, eyes that normally are full of fire, falling close at the wheel."

"Keep awake, Aiden. Miles to go before we sleep."

Melancholy Trip is a game that requires 3-5 players and a deck of cards. It's about being trans, super-powered and on the run in a ramshackle car from your superheroic mentors who know damn well why you ran.

I don't know much about this game, other than what it says on the cover, but it's got teens, it's got a road-trip, and it looks like it's also about angst! Since the teens are super powered, I have a feeling that pitting them against horrors and strange happenings is to be expected, if not encouraged. I also think that this might be a great game for fans of the movie Logan, what with all of the allegories in the X-Men franchise that I think might overlap with this one.

Games I've Recommended in the Past...

Roadspire, by glempy.

Last Caravan, by Ted Bushman.

Apocalypse Roadtrip, by Mynar Lenahan.

Dead Ends, by kay w.

You can also check out my travel-themed games post, my recommendation post inspired by Pacific Drive, and my Isolation and Desperation recommendation posts!

If you like what I do and want to leave a tip, you can check out my Ko-Fi!

[clairescotcoutts]

So, about The Veilguard.

This post is:

Long.

Spoiler full.

Read at your peril.

So.

The fact that I devoured the game in virtually less than three days should speak for itself; I was worried about the playing style, I was unsure about the combo system, and having only two companions travel alongside the MC felt a little alien to me and also added to my anxiety. (Yes, I’ve played Mass Effect, yes, I’ve been in a fighting trio before, but never in Dragon Age.) I thought, “There’s only three of us?! We’re gonna die so much and so hard.”

Turns out I didn’t die so many times as I’d expected, so yay me.

I had refused to watch anything that had to do with the plot, with the exception of the trailers, because I wanted my experience to be fresh and untainted by expectations. Of course, I had hopes — but other than that, I dove in blind and without any sense of direction.

As you know, the depths of the ocean hold both horror and beauty, so here are mine; I shall start with the horrors so all the bad air is cleared out first.

My primary horror is that, save a few points, the game very clearly follows BioWare’s own canon, in which the Hero of Ferelden must have died to stop the Fifth Blight, and thus there is no Kieran. Morrigan plays a pivotal role yet again, but her presence implies that the decisions made in previous games are… well, your own, but not the world’s own. So, no Kieran, and it is heavily suggested that it was Morrigan who drank from the Vir’Abelasan. Even if she hadn’t, turns out she ends up with a piece of Mythal inside her anyway, granted by a regretful (and finally gone) Flemeth.

Story-telling wise, well, I don’t know if it was the best choice— I just know it bummed me out a bit to find some of my decisions discarded, not considered at all.

My second horror is the absence of either Hawke or Stroud. The events at Amaranthine are mentioned, but (unless I missed a codex entry) there’s no word on what happened to the brave soul left in the Fade to fight that giant monster demon. Since I always leave Stroud behind (because Alistair is and always will be a king to me), I can’t say I’m suffering to know his fate, but it would’ve been nice to confirm something. 

At the end of Inquisition, Morrigan narrates that should Hawke live, they go to Weisshaupt, but soon all news from there ends. What happened?! Am I missing something found only in the comics or books?

Also what happened to the rest of the companions? What about the woman made Divine in Inquisition? Whether it’s Leliana, Cassandra or Vivienne, you’d think the Divine would have something to say about two ancient elven gods turning the world tits up.

What about the Qunari who are not part of the Antaam? Are they in agreement with Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain? Is Seheron torn asunder like Minrathous?

Why is nobody remarking on the fact that the Crows buy (or used to buy) people?! I love the Antivan Crows, I do, but one cannot forget Zevran and all he told us about them.

Those are my particular points of horror. 

Now, to the rest.

Veilguard is a game that doesn’t hold back. It’s out to punch you in the guts and kick you in the feelings, and boy does it do it brilliantly. The sacrifices are real. The choices are heavy and carry weight on them that slumps you down (especially if you’re extra sensitive, like me) throughout the game. The dilemma and problems your companions face are heart wrenching, and you want them all to thrive. Yes, even the one who was hardened because you can’t bloody be in two places at once. These companions are well fleshed-out, they’re alive, they’re complex and they are so beautiful to live and travel with. The emotional moments they have, I felt them, I suffered with them, I cried. I /cried/, which had never happened to me with a videogame before. And not just because this companion is my favourite or that topic hits a bit close to home— not just that. It’s because they’re amazingly written and acted out. They feel so real.

The locations are gorgeous (I especially fell in love with Treviso), and I love how much you’re able to explore. I love that you can pet animals. I love that you can interact with the world in front of you. I /love/ that you don't miss dialogue even if you get into a fight because the companions re-start conversations now.

The NPCs? My children. Isabela is fire, as always; Antoine, Evka, Viago and Teia have my whole heart. The Mourn Watch is fascinating and the Shadow Dragons are bold, united and righteous. I really like that the Veil Jumpers don’t diss on the Dalish just because they know more— they understand that, as a people, they are one. And they’re accepting of everyone, not just elves!

I simply adore Rook as a protagonist. Not just because they give purple Hawke, and I love Hawke, but because again, they feel human and real. They know this is well above their paygrade, and they’re in way over their heads, but they still step up and lead because damn, someone has to. Iron Bull would be so proud. They are fun, they are caring, they are talkative and they know they’re drowning, but can’t afford to stop swimming.

Both in Origins and Inquisition it felt as though we were The Chosen One, even if in the latter one tried to swear it off and deny any possible divine intervention, but in DA: 2 and here, we are just people trying their best with the worst circumstances, and to me, that’s beautiful. Rook is a delightful protagonist.

The game allows you to choose who you’re going to be and /how/ you’re going to be thus. You can be cis, you can be trans, you can be neither and you can be both. No limits now.

Which leads me to another point I simply adored: how the questions of gender are treated. It’s really big to have an NB character go through their own acceptance process before our very eyes. While in Origins (and a bit in Inquisition too) you have the choice to be shocked that there are people who like their same gender, this game is Thedas saying “The world is big, the world is complex, and people everywhere are not defined by your expectations or rules. It’s not even an option. Deal with it.”

Regarding the magic, I’m not even mad it looks and feels different. After all, Dorian used to say that “the South is so charming and rustic”, and now I see that’s because what he saw in Ferelden and Orlais was not what he is used to. Even in Absolution we see that the way Tevinter used magic is distinctly unique and not how it is done south of Arlathan. I understand it. I like it. It’s not as if there had been no changes in the designs of demons and darkspawn before, and now that’s what they look like. It’s fine. Time has passed and people are allowed to make different creative choices.

Now, to Solas… Solas. Oh, Solas. I understand you so much better now.

Veilguard really helps put into perspective some bits of dialogue from previous games. Why does this 8-ball care so much about spirits and the Fade? Gods, because he /is/ them, and the Fade used to be his home. Every time he has to hear that spirits are monsters or unreal he takes it personally, and how could he not? People are saying he’s a monster, he’s not real, and nobody knows any better because they wouldn’t believe him anyway. Now I understand why he gets so worked up if you make Cole more human—you’re doing to him what Mythal did to Solas himself. You’re forcing him to be something else and Solas knows it hurts. (Also, Cole is happier as a spirit— “Thank you for helping me find this again. For believing in me. You don't know what it means”, he says, and now it hits so differently.)

I have to remark on some things I’ve read that have shocked me— first of all being the interpretation of Solas and Mythal’s relationship. Like Taash, you can assume “they were doing it”, however, I don’t think they ever loved each other like that. Their bond, to me, is that of a queen and her most loyal knight, a “king and lionheart” sort of situation if you will. Solas knows her better than anyone else, certainly, but the way I see it, that right there is his commander, inspiration and also, his heaviest shackle.

Their relationship merits another post altogether, I believe, as does Solas and Lavellan’s.

All in all, the good, to me, far outweights the bad.

Give the Veilguard a chance before you discard them, enjoy the appearance of some of the characters you love, enjoy getting to know the new heroes. Give yourself the option of having an informed opinion before you love or hate.

Also, petition for Solas to let his hair grow out again.

That's it, for now.

[its-not-a-pen]

-Biblically accurate Early-Third-Century Warlord (Cao Cao), with Loser Liege Lord (Liu Bei) for scale-

So Cao Cao’s tomb has (allegedly) been found, and apparently he was this tiny little guy (1.55 m), for reference, the average height was about 1.7m. I was so delighted by the news I immediately went and drew this. The stories of xu chu picking him up under one arm are so much more plausible now!  I think his victories are even more impressive in hindsight, given that he could’ve been carried off by a hawk at any time.

I decided to show the two of them displaying their greatest strengths:

lui bei was the populist, who was beloved by the poor and downtrodden, despite having very little to show for it for the first 3/4s of his life. Historically, he was both a coarse, hot-tempered con-man who seem to be primarily motivated by fame and frivolity, and a tremendously kindhearted and brave defender of the common people. I’ve drawn him holding out a peach (and allusion to the fictional peach garden oath). he’s wearing straw sandals he made himself, a nod to his humble beginnings, and an incongruously fine robe with the sleeves rolled up, like he’s been working in a field… or preparing for a fight. One fist is tightly clenched and held stiffly by his side, even as he smiles warmly. Just like his namesake, he is both prepared 备and has hidden depths 玄. (I’ve seen the robe tucked into the belt in multiple places, I assume it’s just for ease of motion, but it’s also occurred to me it would be a good “pocket”.)

cao cao is well known for being a brutal and brilliant man, the phrase ‘ speak of cao cao and he shall appear’ is synonymous with the English phase, ‘speak of the devil.” What is less well known is that he was actually a very reasonable and respected leader, who often brought talented men into his fold, regardless of background or previous allegiance. This meritocratic system was one of the reasons for his success. I drew cao cao wearing fine, but understated clothes, with a full set of armour, as he was well known for personally leading his forces on campaigns. With one hand, he points to the ground before him, commanding you to kneel down and swear your allegiance to him. His sword is sheathed, but displayed prominently. He can be very merciful, but only once.

[dice-blimp]

It has been a hot minute since I have GMed, let alone done a kink module. So, to get my GMing muscles back in the game, between now and when I do the Witchlight Carnival, I will be doing two popular D&D dungeons, but with a kinky twist: The Sunless Citadel (1st level, more traditional dungeon) and White Plume Mountain (8th level, fun house dungeon).

Both adventures will take anywhere from 3-5 sessions to complete.

Kinks include: inflation, blueberry inflation, weight gain, feedism, tf.

Players: 4-6 (excluding GM)

Tentative start: June or July, then July or August. If people have a preference between the two, then we'll start with that one. If not, then we'll start with White Plume Mountain.

If you have any questions or wish to join, please DM me.

Here are the adventure synopses:

The Sunless Citadel (1st Level)

Long ago, a great fortress built by a cult of the dragon Ashardalon sank into the earth in a forgotten cataclysm. Its ruins became known as the Sunless Citadel, and over the centuries numerous creatures made this place their home.

Twelve years ago, the druid Belak the Outcast discovered the Twilight Grove in the citadels depths. There he found the Gulthias Tree, grown from a wooden stake once used to slay an ancient vampire, and from which sprouts supernatural fruit known to cure any disease.

One month ago, four adventurers from the nearby town of Oakhurst ventured into the Sunken Citadel searching for the origin of the magical fruit. They never returned. It is up to you now, to find what is lost.

White Plume Mountain (8th Level)

White Plume Mountain has always been a subject of superstitious awe to the neighboring villagers. People still travel many miles to gaze upon this natural wonder, though few will approach it closely, as it is reputed to be the haunt of various demons and devils. The occasional disappearance of those who stray too close to the Plume reinforces this belief.

Thirteen hundred years ago, the wizard Keraptis was searching for a suitable haven where he could indulge his eccentricities without fear of interference. He visited White Plume Mountain, going closer than most dared to, and discovered the system of old lava-tubes that riddle the cone and the underlying strata. With a little alteration, he thought, these would be perfect for his purposes. The area already had a bad reputation, and he could think of a few ways to make it worse. So he disappeared below White Plume Mountain and vanished from the knowledge of the surface world.

Today, the once-feared name of Keraptis is not widely known even among learned scholars. Or it was not widely known, that is, until several weeks ago, when three highly valued magic weapons named Wave, Whelm, and Blackrazor disappeared from the vaults of their owners. Rewards were posted, servants hanged, even the sanctuary of the thieves' guild was violated in the frantic search for the priceless arms, but not even a single clue was turned up until the weapons' former owners each received a copy of the following note:

Search ye far or search ye near

You'll find no trace of the three

Unless you follow instructions clear

For the weapons abide with me.

North past forest, farm and furrow

You must go to the feathered mound

Then down away from the sun you'll burrow

Forget life, forget light, forget sound.

To rescue Wave, you must do battle

With the Beast in the Boiling Bubble

Crost cavern vast, where chain-links rattle

Lies Whelm, past water-spouts double.

Blackrazor yet remains to be won

Underneath inverted ziggurat.

That garnered, think not that you're done

For now you'll find you are caught

I care not, former owners brave

What heroes you seek to hire.

Though mighty, I'll make each one my slave

Or send him to the fire.

All the notes were signed with the symbol of Keraptis.

White Plume Mountain has tentatively been identified as the "feathered mound" of the poem. The former owners of Wave, Whelm, and Blackrazor are outfitting a group of intrepid heroes to take up the challenge. If the adventurers can rescue the weapons from this false Keraptis (for who can believe it is really the magician of legend, after thirteen hundred years?), the wealthy collectors have promised to grant them whatever they desire, if it is within their power to do so.

[saladscream]

The Mage Convention (snippet from a WIP)

In reply to @thedragonlies request (and @bertytravelsfar who is far too greedy for their own good). This is my latest WIP. And by that, I mean that I only started it last week. 😅 God knows if it'll ever get anywhere, but it's a fun concept.

Arthur stared at the invitation in puzzlement. A very formal invitation extended by the Great Bench of the Mages of the Western Isles to the “Warlock Known as Merlin in the Great Kingdom of Camelot.” The illuminations in that part of the parchment had been slightly overdone in that their exuberant flourishes sprawled uselessly across almost the entire breadth of the scroll, but there was no denying that it was Merlin’s name written there, perfectly spelt and traced in a beautiful hand with black ink of the finest quality, dried with an abundance of pure gold dust. Arthur was aware that Merlin had magic. In an awkward kind of breathlessly apologetic confession, his friend had come clean to him soon after the victory at Camlann. He had even demonstrated the extent of his abilities, which seemed to be all about mending torn or stained garments, healing grazes and scratches, floating objects across a room and lighting candles. Arthur had been shocked and unsettled by the unexpected revelation, to say the least. He had always known there was something rather special about Merlin. Some hidden depths, some concealed worth, for want of a better term, carefully tucked away under the many layers of inept, brave, kind, bumbling nobleness of character that had come to define who Merlin was in Arthur’s eyes. Learning that the man had magical abilities – abilities that had apparently helped him be the semi-efficient manservant but fully-irritating friend that Arthur had come to know and love – was a bit of a jolt to the system, but as with everything else concerning Merlin, Arthur had learnt long ago to simply roll into the fall, then pick himself up and dust himself off. Merlin was still Merlin. Too deeply entrenched in Arthur’s heart already to be anything but a mild, awkwardly cherished nuisance that he couldn’t seriously consider doing without. He looked up from the parchment to Merlin’s inanely smiling face. Arthur knew that I’m-too-stupid-to-live little grin. It was Merlin’ s embarrassed-but-pleased-but-unsure-but-hopeful-but-worried face. A face Arthur had always found hard to resist. “The Western Isles,” Arthur commented. That was quite the fraught, lengthy journey. “Yes,” Merlin agreed, clearly aware that he was pushing it.