#I am actually rather new compared to other people my age

[nebmia]

Reviewing every rpg book on my shelf: 5, Flying Circus

Flying Circus is a a game by Erika Chappell where you fly planes, have messy dramatic relationships, and find out who you are. Sometimes all at the same time. More specifically you fly *rickety planes from the dawn of aviation* and have messy, dramatic relationships, and find out who you are *in an essentially queer way*.

The first thing I love about Flying Circus is it's sheer audacity in taking pbta (usually deployed for low crunch storygame-y titles) and twisting it into a highly detailed and technical system for running dogfights. I think its really clever how Erika has taken the idea of a detailed combat system are re-appraised it from the ground up in the context of dogfighting.

There is no grid based movement here, it simply is not useful in the three dimensional world that planes inhabit. Instead your positioning is modelled through altitude and air speed, with each being tradeable for the other and spend able to perform maneuvers.

Honestly the whole system is rather intimidating (a fact the book freely admits). Each plane requires a little personal instrument panel sheet (and a few extra side sheets) that resemble somthing you would expect in a euro-game boardgame more than an rpg. The system goes as far as modelling how your plane performs as you use up your modelling fuel and with varying altitude. There are also a lot of fairly involved moves that it feels would be a little tricky to keep aware of while running a dogfight. However, from what I hear, the system works well and, once you understand it, isn't /that/ tricky to run. I think this isn't actually that crunchy when compared to your standard tactical battlers, it's just completely new (and working in a zone most people have less of an intuitive understanding of [although its worth noting that most peoples intuitive understanding of medieval style combat is dead wrong]) so we are unably to draw upon our preexisting assumptions.

You will notice I have to fall back on reports and intiitions here because I am yet to be able to play the game, which is honestly my biggest problem with it: it carves such a specific niche that I think I will really struggle to ever bring it to the table. Anyone I have talked to about the game has always responded to the effect of 'I don't think I'm into planes enough for this'.

I am also not half as into planes specifically as Erika Chappell is. But what I am into is getting deep into things in general, and this whole system excels at letting you get incredibly technical and nerdy about your plane (as far as things like exactly what radiator fluid it has, if you use the advanced rules) and making those choices actually matter in play.

ok, that's probably enough about planes (a phrase I anticipate has never once been uttered by the author of this book), what are you doing when you get out of the planes?

The game follows a cycle of mission and downtime, which you spend relieving stress (in healthy or unhealthy ways) and running upkeep on your company. This is where you do a lot of the character work and bring into focus the 'coming of age' narrative that the game intends.

Which seems a good lead in to talking about the playbooks. Each playbook is focused around a particular thematic idea or experience, which is helpfully spelled out directly in a 'themes' section for each one. This isn't a game where you play as a fighter because you want to solve problems by hitting them but rather one where you play as a Fisher because you want to engage with "a queer reclamation of the monstous", or a scion because you want to engage with "privilege and power, and what obligations come with it", or a believer because you want to engage with "a mindset that thrives on radicalism", or a survivor because you want to engage with "a metaphor for what it feels like to be a transgender person escaping an unwelcome or abusive situation".

Obviously, alongside themes you do also get a load of cool abilities to use.

Of the many games that claim to be ghibli-esque but I think Flying Circus hews closest on account of two things: understanding miyazaki's perspective on war and also due to being absolutely unhinged about planes.

[eahtheramblings]

A deeper dive into how the destiny system would work in a rewrite

Alright, little housekeeping before I get into it, I have finally created a tag for the hypothetical rewrite fanfic that I keep procrastinating due to college - so people can use the tag to either find the posts related to it or block it depending on if they like/dislike my ideas. You can now find it under #RamblesRevamp. Felt after posting the time loop au idea that I should probably start creating tags for these or else it’ll get confusing very quickly.

Moving on, I have come across the problem that every eah fan and fanfic writer has to face after thinking about the story for a while; just how in the world does the destiny system actually work? 

The books and show give us some threads to make sense of it, we know it’s generational in most cases, and we know that signing the book ensures the story plays out again, but beyond that most things are speculation. It was definitely written as a looser magic system to ensure that no matter who was writing a special or a book for eah they would be able to bend the rules to fit the plot, but for something so central to the story it really feels like it should be fleshed out more. Luckly, this is the world of fanfic, and I am not beholden to make a story that can adopt different writers quickly, so I can world build as much as I want!

Below is a list of changes/rules/expansions upon the original destiny set up we were given that the Revamp AU follows. These rules are what the average character in the revamp AU would know:

Rule 1: Destiny is understood to be a set of two cycles, one for fairy tales that need to be retold every generation (snow white, goldilocks, etc.), and one for the greater myths that covers universal creation to universal destruction and would happen over billions of years (Greek myths like cupid would be here). Here's a very quickly made visual example: 

Behold! the Destiny Cycle, or Narrative Cycle as it’s sometimes called. When we start the story with Apple and Raven, they are on fairytale cycle number 1,017. No one knows how many myths cycle’s the universe has gone through since that encompasses the creation and destruction of the universe, but scholars enjoy debating about it and saying a person “thinks they know how many cycles the universe has gone through” is akin to saying a person thinks they know everything.

Rule 2:

Oftentimes in fairy tales the characters have set ages that are much younger or older than what someone who just graduated high school would be referred to as, such as little red riding hood and Hansel and Gretel being referred to as children, or other characters being referred to as old kings or hags. However, having everyone complete their stories at the age they would be in our version of the fairytales would negate the whole point of a high school to prepare students for redoing those stories. In the revamp au the storybook of legends gets around this by comparing the character’s ages not to each other or to a timeline but rather to itself. 

You see, the book is magic, it somehow holds signatures from every generation with an individual page for each character and yet looks to be the same size as a standard textbook. In essence, it is a non-Euclidian object, not tied to rational laws of time or space. If the book wants, a character can seem like a young child to it, it’s been around since the start of the cycle! And if it needs to write a character as old, then that character can seem old in comparison to it, it’s a magic object that for all anyone knows popped into existence with a new cycle last Thursday! It isn’t bound to time the same way the characters are, so it can get away with fudging the ages a bit when writing each generation's version of the stories down. 

Rule 3:

In ever after, there are 2 kinds of people, the common folk and the destined. 

All destined regardless of birth order have a destiny, but what type is dependent on various factors. For Example, there are two types of destinies in the land of ever after, blood bonded and soul bonded. Blood bonded destinies are the most common, they’re what happens when a character's first child takes on the same exact destiny for the next fairytale cycle. Apple, Raven, and many others fall into this category. Then there are Soul bonded destinies, which are either destinies that have a role in the fairytale cycle but aren’t exactly the same as your parents, or in extremely rare cases destinies bestowed upon a person from a non-destiny family.

 The Charming's are a good example of the former. The original blood bonded destiny of Siegfried passed down to Grandpa Auspicious's eldest son, but he had no other destiny to pass down to the younger children. Because they are a part of the destined, however, all the children needed destinies, so the book bestowed soul destinies of being prince charming's and damsels in distress onto them. Their children in turn also got soul destinies, which is why the Charming’s know what their general role in stories will be but not the exact character (with the exception of daring, which I will explain in a bit). 

The latter, the case of a soul bonded destiny going to someone not already part of a destined bloodline is extremely rare, but does occur occasionally, especially when an old charming line dies out. You see, to keep the destined bloodlines from getting too interconnected, those with familial soul destinies like Charming's will often have fewer children as generations go by because fertility issues set in. Eventually, the blood line will either no longer be able to produce children or will produce merely 1 every 1-2 generations or so. When this happens, a new charming family might rise from the common folk in the form of a rags to riches prince story like the penniless owner of puss in boots. Again, this is really rare, but is also why the Charming's push for Daring, Dexter, and Darling to have prominent destinies. The sooner they marry into blood bonded destined families the less likely their bloodline is to disappear or thin out. 

You can have a family with both blood bonded and soul bonded destinies. Holly as the presumed oldest got the blood bonded destiny of Rapunzel, but Poppy as the younger one has an unknown soul bonded destiny, assumed to be a damsel due to her royal blood but no one’s really sure.

 And furthermore, while we're on the topic of pairs of siblings, a story that includes a set of siblings will have those siblings born to the oldest child of the last generation, not the weird cousin thing that happened with Helga and Gus. This means that if you're a part of the twelve dancing princesses for example, only the oldest princess’s twelve children would have the blood bonded destiny of being a dancing princess. The daughters of the other eleven princesses would get random soul destinies like the charming's. 

Finally, the first line of this rule is a little false. While unofficially there are two types of people, the destined and the common folk, Headmaster Grimm, and those who truly believe in the destiny system from both camps of people, would say that everyone is destined, as it is the destiny of the common folk to continue on their family trades and support their kingdoms. They even have symbolic legacy signings in some villages where a single page is signed by every child of age and then sent to Grimm to bind into the storybook of legends, and the one held in Book End village each year is attended by nearly every child of age within reasonable travel distance as they get to see Grimm bind the page into the book at the end of the ceremony. 

Rule 4: this brings me to the next point, Grimm isn’t just the headmaster of the school in the revamp au, he is also the Oracle of the Storybook. Grimm is thought to be immortal, here since the beginning of the cycles themselves, and he interprets the Storybooks will through visions and the like. This is why Daring knows what his destiny would be, Grimm saw a vision of a blonde prince in armor that had the Charming crest on it leaning over a glass coffin and told his family. He doesn’t control when these visions come, but despite this his position as Oracle makes him almost the head of all the leaders in ever after.

Rule 5:

And finally, number five, the storybook will make little changes each cycle to continue its and the universe's ensured existence. When the original tales happened, they were quite violent, with villains always dying at the end and even some hero’s dying as well. This however started to become a problem for the cycle, as destined who died without having a child first didn’t pass on the story by blood and thus their destiny got spat out randomly to a soul bonded destined. To keep this from happening, two things started to emerge. 

One, for stories where the deaths happened right before the end, the book started to look the other way so long as the character was dead until the last words were written. This is how Ginger's mother and previous ancestors survived. Yes, she was pushed into the oven and died, but one, fire resistance potions exist, and two, her oven had a door on the other side that could be opened, so after the storybook wrote “the end” the second door was opened by Grimm/someone else he trusts, and she was given a powerful healing potion. This is the equivalent to your heart stopping for a minute and then being revived by a doctor. You were dead, but like, it was temporary. 

Two, for other characters whose deaths happen too early on to be reversible (or that kept the story from being retold entirely), they slowly morphed into other fates. Cinderella’s mother doesn’t so much as die now as she becomes a tree. Somewhere in the middle of the cycle Odette stopped dying and just became stuck as a swan. The little mermaid is an extreme example of this, as Meeshell's ancestors went from dying, to turning to seafoam, to living happily ever after through a very long line of generations. Some say these softer endings have to be repeated a number of times before the book considers them the new versions, but no one's sure what that number is. Some also believe that you can convince the book to give you a softer ending, but this has no proof and is vehemently denied by Grimm who insist the book decides of its own merit what to keep or change each generation when it comes to large plot points based on what's needed to ensure the safety and continuation of ever after. 

That’s it for now folks, tune back in whenever I get free time next for some light Snow White and Apple angst. 

[bee-ina-boat]

hello gay people. i mentioned awhile back about a possible concept for a tma au but its mixed with mythology/religion based stuff. i have since finished this chunk of concept/reference art of the Ceaseless Watcher for this au!!!

im dubbing it: The Magnus Mythos!! please talk to me about it i am insane

putting my rambling au nonsense under the readmore!!!!!

edit!!!: new mythos post just dropped :3

alright- bare with me because my thoughts are everywhere lol

random various au information:

the fear entites are instead more general gods, much like those from various mythologies (greek, norse, egyption, etc.) like the eye, rather than an entity that feeds on the fear of being watched, is rather the god of knowledge and sight!

all of the gods have influence over the world, some mortals will devote themselves to one specific god entirely, others will become devout to multiple, and some will simply be neutral among all 14 and live life out as they please.

avatars are mortals who have been blessed with power by the gods while creatures (like mr spider, the not them, etc) are simply beings who have been born into the world by the gods power seeping into it. artifacts are items that have either been blessed/cursed by the gods or avatars, or have been affected by the gods power seeping into the world also.

theres multiple sects, cults, and churches for each god much like how many real life religions have different sects with their own rules and standards. some have beef, others do not.

the gods themselves are entirely morally neutral, they have their own interconnected relationships with eachother, and kind of view mortals as pets in a way, picking favorites and seeing them as of lesser importance in comparison to themselves.

since the gods here arent necessarily evil and theyre actually sentient beings, their titles are changed to be more fitting (the mother of puppets -> the mother of fate as an example)

the story is set in an era resembling the early 1900s because idk. vibes are neat i guess

thats all the basic world building crumbs for now, ill go deeper into it when i have more art and story stuff ready!

for now- heres some actual lore :3c

Jonah magnus is basically eye jesus. thousands of years prior to the start of the story, the eye favored him and he became a messiah of sorts.

the House of Magnus is a church sect of the eye founded in what is now london. but it doesnt operate JUST as a simple church. many sects of the eye devote themselves to gaining knowledge of the world around them and the House of Magnus is no different there. operating with a library, research centre and all. the research not just on history and knowledge, but also the holy and divine. documenting stories that deal with the divine powers and researching cursed/blessed artifacts aswell.

its a common legend that if one tells their story under the eyes watch (either in a church of the eye or directly to an avatar of the eye) that theyll receive good fortune and foresight, and since the House of Magnus has become a well known sect of the eye, many will come far and wide to detail their accounts under its roof

all of this documentation leads down to the Magnus Mythos, a large archive under the church where the written documents are filed, curated and cared for by the head Archivist. as such, the position of Archivist has become a most sacred role among worshippers of the eye comparable to the head of the church itself.

they arent just revered for their care of the mythos (though the devotees of the eye view the care of documented knowledge to be a sacred and ever important responsibility) Theres a prophecy, hand woven by the Mother of Fate herself, one that states an ordinary archivist will one day be gifted by all 14 of the gods and awaken the great change, bringing about a new and blessed age.

but is this newest archivist even ready for such pressure and commitment? and what if the prophecy is more devious than one might think?

oooOOOOoooOO mysterious lore- i know this is heavily self indulgent but i refuse to apologize for that because im havin FUN. if you read all of that just know i love you so much and i hope you liked it ;w; im very excited and ive been working on archivist +archival assistant lore for the past few days and im excited to do art for them ;_;

[beevean]

Honestly, as unfamiliar as i am with the broader sonic lore, seeing people say Eggman Nega is the actual evil guy compared to Eggman sounds silly. Iirc, in the Rush games both were cooperating to wreck the dimensions for their megalomaniac dream, and even both chafed w eachother occasionally over their massive egos. There's no particular moment where Nega does something that Eggman wouldn't/hasn't done, nor a moment where Eggman disagrees for non selfish purposes. Tbh it feels like they just saw the designs and decided Nega's outfit was more evil lmao

It's all based on this one scene from Rush Adventure:

Dr. Eggman: Nooo! Curse you, Sonic! Eggman Nega: Haa ha ha ha ha! It's time to die, fools! Dr. Eggman: Nega?! Wait... what are you doing...?! Eggman Nega: HAAA ha ha ha! Dr. Eggman: What? No! You're mad! Don't push that button...! Eggman Nega: Planet-Buster Laser, FIRE!

An earlier line:

Eggman Nega: Now, the world shall be my plaything! I shall bring about an age of fear and chaos! And it shall be glorious!

And his plans in Sonic Rivals:

Eggman Nega: [Takes out camera] All I have to do is transfer the energy to the camera on my rocket, and I'll turn this whole planet into a card! Silver: What!? That means my future would be destroyed as well! Eggman Nega: [Takes out a card] If I can't change the future, I'll simply destroy it! There's nobody who can stop me now! Farewell.

In short, Eggman Nega is seen as more insane than Eggman because he, like other villains, want to destroy the world and is not above trying a murder-suicide stunt. It's a classic argument, that Eggman is "softer" because he merely wants to conquer the world :^)

Have a TvTropes as a treat:

Foil: To our own Dr. Eggman. While both scientists are incredibly arrogant utter jerkasses, the good doctor we all know and love is frequently shown to have a degree of rationale below his surface of hamminess and immaturity most of the time, aiming to rule the world rather than destroy it. Nega, by contrast, comes off as soft-spoken and relaxed on the surface but thrives on destruction and lacks any sort of restraint. Also, whereas Eggman tends to walk off his various defeats and try again after a brief fit or two, Nega is a Sore Loser unable to handle the humiliation given by failure, and would be willing to blow up the planet if it meant he could get a win.

The Sociopath: Unlike the goofy Eggman, who despite being evil, has shown to have some form of self-restraint, Nega is completely devoid of empathy and his dream is to turn the world into a playground of destruction.

Viler New Villain: Intended to be what Eggman would be like without his more sensible or endearing traits. While Eggman'll pull an Enemy Mineso the world doesn't get destroyed, Eggman Nega is Ax-Crazy and wants mass-destruction in his plots (if destruction isn't his flat-out goal). And in contrast to how Eggman's goofier traits hide a somewhat pragmatic schemer, Nega's seemingly collected persona hides a stark raving lunatic.

"some sort of restraint" which is why he attempted to nuke Station Square in a fit of rage and even went to detonate the missile itself when it failed. or why he fired a warning shot at the moon. or why he split the entire planet into pieces to awaken a world-destroying deity. or why he attempted to tame a time manipulating abomination with the purpose of eliminating Sonic from the timeline. much restraint, very morals.

Look what they focus on. Eggman is goofy, while Nega is more "suave". That alone makes Eggman look less threatening. Once again, it's all about the Vibes. Who cares if Eggman is not above murder and enslavement, if he's funny about it?

[zoomertheweimarwolf]

My opinion on Lloyd’s mental vs physical age argument.

Okay hello, I’m here to share my opinion on the Lloyd age situation, this is my opinion so if you aren’t happy with it then fine but atleast hear me out. For years now I have seen people argue that Lloyd’s mental age is younger than his physical age, so using my own experiences and maturity, knowledge from my biology class, and evidence from the series, I will show why I think his mental age was never a problem and why people see it as such.

In season 2 Lloyd uses the tea and turns into an teen, now his physical age is the same as the other ninjas, however everyone argues that he stayed a child mentally, so let’s break this down.

Physical:

To start I wanted to get into some more biology stuff (my bio class actually is being useful out of school lol), as you grow your brain must mature as well, and will continue to mature until you are in your twenties. So when Lloyd is turned into a teen, instantly that maturity in his brain is going to be more apparent, his body at this point is already going through puberty, we can already see that from his voice getting lower and his overall change in appearance, and as a reminder puberty is caused by hormones from the brain.

The way people have described this makes it seem like he still has a small child brain while his body is an adult, speaking of child brains.

Child behaviour/maturity:

In this section I will be showing how he acted as a child.

As a kid he was very immature and never thought things through. Surely after releasing two tribes and having them be friends rather than enemies you would know releasing another would be bad right? Well wrong, he is a kid and doesn’t know any better, his brain isn’t mature enough to understand that this is a bad idea. He never really took his responsibilities seriously and always tried doing other things to get his mind going in a way that entertained him, let’s be honest here it’s like going to school, you don’t wanna be there most of the time and can’t wait for recess. He was a child, his attention span was probably not great, and he was not mature enough to fully realize his destiny, yes he gets close but he never seemed like he had the full motivation to.

Teen behaviour/maturity:

Now let’s compare that to after he used the potion.

I noticed a change in his behaviour and maturity right away. We instantly see how mature he is when he calmly rejects the comics, how seriously he is taking his training, and overall how he is so responsible. He starts to behave more like the others and if someone who never watched the show came in around the time they all made it to the dark island they would have believed Lloyd was always the same age as the other ninja. By season 8 he is very mature and it’s no question if his age is younger or not.

Personal connection:

I’ve seen people argue he is still mentally young because he acts childish sometimes, or doesn’t know what some things are. Now I am a sheltered person, and that’s my own fault, I didn’t know what a kilt is even through my ancestors are Scottish. I am typically someone who hyper focuses on things so much that I don’t pay attention to much else, and I hate that about myself sometimes, so not knowing what some things are is not a reason to call someone a child. Also with acting childish I would like to once again refer to myself, since I didn’t have the best childhood with a lot of bullies so I notice I tend to act more childish now, I litterally was giggling like a little child when I was able to get two new Ninjago sets today (including DR Lloyd), I am a girl who is going to be an adult in a few years and I am here obsessing over a show about Lego Ninjas, so does that make me a child? No. And that probably shouldn’t make him a child either.

What could have prevented the age argument:

The main problem, his voice, if they changed his voice back when he aged up or season 3 then we would have had less of a problem. I think the fact that they kept a slightly deeper kid voice for him for so long hurt the character.

Wrap up + final thoughts:

Now I am not saying this as a way of justifying any weird ships like GreenFlame or any other ship involving Lloyd and the ninja, I still say that we should stick to whoever the creators give us an okay to ship him with or make ocs to because my boy deserves better. It’s still weird to ship people who are teenagers who knew him as a young kid so just stick to what is legal pls.

Personally I don’t think the age thing matters too much, especially in dragons rising, he is at least 22 by now, chill guys. And remember this is all my opinion, you do not have to agree nor will I force you to, but please keep it in the back of your mind, and remember this is just a LEGO show.

Anyways thanks for reading my rambles, I’m very tired and I’m gonna go to bed now, goodnight everyone :)

Bonus: here is the new Lloyd minifig I got today!

(+ the lovers got reunited 💙🩵)

[apostaterevolutionary]

The genuine stress I am experiencing waiting for final verdicts on veilguard is actually embarassing lmfao like pls why am I having very real anxiety over whether a video game will live up to my dreams about it or not. Why couldn't I have the math autism, what the fuck is this madness sdklsd

(This is a long personal rant about my own personal anxieties from a person who has not played the game yet and is waiting until people start finishing it cause I need to go in with the correct expectations or else I risk ruining the entire franchise for myself forever and I cannot do that)

Like okay I'm not doubting that it's commercially successful and a lot of people like it. That's great. I'm happy about that. But also. There's a lot of very successful games I personally don't like? I really disliked Hades for example. It's boring and repetitive and the combat is all just button mashing and I don't get the appeal at all. But it's a very successful game - obviously I am the outlier and that's fine. I have no problem with that. But any game that's ever compared in any way to Hades is one I won't buy cause I really, really didn't like it

I don't like soulsbournes either - unless they have difficulty settings and a strong narrative (respawn's star wars games are about the only ones I like tbh, and even then I do find the combat gets too repetitive at a certain point after completing the main story. Not too much that it's bad, but just by that point I'm avoiding enemies a lot cause I just want to get that last collectible gdi, stop spawning fucking stormtroopers all over the place lmao). But that's another genre of game that I just don't personally like even thought other people do. Elden Ring was massive and it's not that the people who like it are wrong, it's just that tastes vary and I don't enjoy that kind of experience

So when people compare veilguard to god of war (never played) or mass effect (games I like, but are a very different play experience than dragon age and I've always preferred DA by a lot for a reason) I'm like. Well okay you keep saying it's a good game, but is it a good dragon age game? Does it feel like dragon age? Am I going to open it up and go ah, yes, I'm home, or is it going to be like coming to a place I always used to go and finding everything's different and it's just a barely recognizable shadow of what I remember? Will it feel the way I want it to feel? Will it feel like the thing that defined several years of my life and fundamentally changed me as a person or will it feel like a stranger?

(Yes, I know it's "just a video game", but we don't always get to choose what matters to us and annihilation comes for us all, so let little shit matter to people okay)

And then I see people saying how bioware hasn't been an rpg studio since inquisition and anyone expecting an rpg was an idiot and like. Wait, wtf do you mean you all weren't expecting the newest released in a very well-known rpg series to be a fucking rpg??? Like yeah. Mass effect isn't but it never has been - it's always been a shooter with some rpg elements. Anthem wasn't either but anthem was a weird one off that flopped really bad. So yeah. I expected veilguard to be an rpg. If anything, my fear was they'd lean into inquisition's style a bit too much, as it was a very successful game at the time (won game of the year!) and even if a lot of us bitch about its flaws now, no one can deny it was successful. So yeah. I guess I was one of the "idiots" who can't let go of bioware's era of making amazing rpgs because that's what I started playing their games for. To wait 10 years for what sounds like is a massive genre pivot (and yes, I know it was originally an online game but I figured they'd pivot back to what they know they do well rather than entirely new territory) is... idk man, it feels bad

And like. I guess it's fine if veilguard cannot be called a dragon age game in terms of mood and feel. It's allowed to be that. But 1) ngl that is a disappointment to me and 2) like, that changes the way I approach playing it. If some of the rumours/vague hints/possible spoilers I've read are true, then I won't be able to play it like a dragon age game, I'll have to play it as a mass effect game. And like. Again, I like mass effect, but there's a reason I've played the trilogy only a few times and the DA games like over a dozen for origins and DA2. ME is just an inherently more stressful experience and that's all fine and good, but again, if it was an ME game, that would make more sense, the expectations are different for the two series'. Is it really so wrong to want a DA game to feel like DA? Or to be upset if it doesn't? Like yes, if I buy an apple I want an apple, and even if I like oranges, I don't think it's wrong to be upset if I bite into my apple and boom, it's just an orange inside, you know. It's not that oranges are bad, it's that I wanted an apple and expected an apple considering the sign said "apples"

And of course all of this might be alleviated by playing it but 1) again, these games matter to me and if I'm too disappointed, it can ruin everything for me and I don't want that - I've literally been thinking about a DA2 tattoo for the last couple years and this game suddenly coming out is the only reason I didn't get it this fall (and like, if I go in knowing it's not gonna be xyz, then I can deal with it, but I need to know first), and 2) it costs $80 of canada's own dollars lmao like. Yeah, you can get a refund on steam games if you don't like them, but you gotta play less than 2 hours and I don't think that's going to be enough to say for sure

Anyway, idk, this is a thought dump cause idk how to feel and I am just desperately waiting for some unbiased (or, rather, biased in the particular way I am biased lmao) final game opinions and in conclusion:

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[zibiscusloon]

This Gregory & Cassie Twins Propaganda🗣️🗣️🗣️

😈 tell me your hc’s about them

(This ask is so long overdo I am so damn sorry- my Headcanons on them are constantly shifting so I kept editing this-)

Can’t wait for Ruin to absolutely demolish all these! 💕💕💕

Cassie & Gregory

-Cassie is the older between the two of them, her and Gregory are Irish twins (siblings born in the same year)

-The two of them are actually Emily’s! They’re Sammy’s kids, their full names are Gregory Emily & Cassiopeia Emily.

-Their mother is Samantha Franz (Susie’s sister), (her and Sammy ending up together started as a joke for my AU cause Sam & Sam- and then I ended up getting attached to it—), making them niece and nephew to both the Puppet and Chica.

-Gregory is the far more troubled between the two of them, he frequently is at odds with their father, skips school, and runs away from home. He’s just always struggled to connect to people his age leading to issues at school.

-Cassie is rather dry and blunt in her mannerisms, think a Wednesday Addams type of demeanor.

-They both remind Sammy of himself and Charlie in every way, which considering he never completely healed from his siblings passing- kinda hurt both ways- and he may or may not have accidentally referred to both of them as Charlie on multiple occasions.

-Gregory had a rather distant relationship with Sammy, which is why he found comfort and a father figure in Glamrock Freddy

-Cassie is a golden child honor student. She has the highest GPA in her year and Gregory is often compared to his sister by his teachers, emphasizing that he could be better. There’s definitely no resentment whatsoever ever hahaha-

-Both of them are equally rude and condescending. Especially to each other. It’s a sibling thing.

-Samantha is Mexican-American and she put work into making sure both of her children connected with their heritage. Cassie can speak fluent Spanish as she’s a quick learner. Gregory only paid attention when he could learn swears and insults.

-Both would rat each other out to their teachers in school for nothing. They’re both lil snitches who want to see each other rot in the confines of detention and/or grounding.

-Only adult both of them show complete respect for us Samantha, she’s the only one who can rain the two of them back into check. She’s strict on both them and their dad why the hell would they try to upset her-

-They always find ways to tick each other off, Cassie by throwing Gregory’s stuff out a window when he’s annoying her, and Gregory by getting onto her Switch and deleting her Animal Crossing’s save file. He almost died that night.

-Gregory is a trans boy! Cassie is the first person he came out to and she helped him decide on his new name and how to come out to their parents.

-Even though they’re a thorn in each other’s side they’re really the only people the other has really been able to fully trust..

-When Gregory had ran away during the time of Security Breach, he’d been gone for nearly 2 months, sending his family into a panic as that had been the longest he’d ran away. Cassie received a message on a walkie talkie she and Gregory owned a few months after the time of SB instructing her on how to find him..

-Both of them will bully a couple of furries with no hesitation-

[mjblue]

Dorcas Meadowes headcanons developed (mostly) in the void

Hey Marauders Tumblr! I'm pretty new here, but I've seen people making lists like this of their headcanons, and as somebody who has never really interacted with fanon, I thought it would be interesting to share some of mine to see how they compare to what other people have come up with. I’ve had these for years, and my inspiration for them was literally just a few pieces of art on Pinterest (so, interestingly, the ways in which my headcanons are most similar to popular fanon tend to be in the characters’ appearances), the canon books, and my own overactive imagination. I'm starting with Dorcas, because from what little I've gathered she, Marlene, and Mary seem to be the characters for whom my interpretations are the most different from what's already out there (although it's fascinating how close they actually are sometimes).

Please do lmk what you think!!! I've put the list below the cut so as not to annoy people who just want to scroll ↓↓↓

First things first: like I said, I developed these before interacting with fanon much, so I am a Gryffindor Dorcas truther (I know a lot of people have her in Slytherin now, sorry 🙃)

“The weird and offputting one” (said with love)

One sibling. A brother, two years older, in Ravenclaw

Intelligent and creative. Would have been in Ravenclaw with her brother, but adamantly refused, as at the age of 11 she found him deeply irritating and could not stand to be in his presence

Very emotionally level. Difficult to excite, difficult to anger, difficult to deeply wound

Fatal flaw: stubbornness

Patronus: tiger 🐯

Acquired something of a reputation for casual meanness throughout her school years (though, importantly, not for cruelty). It wasn’t that she didn’t always think before she spoke; rather, it was that she cared more about what she thought than the feelings of those around her

Fashion-adventurous. As a child, enjoyed bright colours, patterns, and loose cuts; as an adult, enjoyed black, jewel tones, and artfully distressed items (would likely have enjoyed the goth subculture, but alas, ‘twas after her time)

Mastered colour-changing spells in third year so she could match the beads in her braids with her outfit, nail polish, and mood

Along with James and Lily, one of the few amongst her friends to have a happy upbringing

Would have done well in art school (mixed-media sculpture)

Did not dream of labour. Worked occasionally as a professional duellist, and won nearly all of her matches when she did, but devoted most of her time to the Order and her portraiture (which she hoped to one day make a living from, though she was unwilling to sacrifice her abstract, vivid style to satisfy her more traditional customers)

Genuinely confident in herself from an early age, including in her sexuality (asexual biromantic) (because gosh darn it this fandom needs some ace rep)

Figured the ace part out when she kissed her first boyfriend and hated it, but still wanted to know his mind and hold his hand; figured the biromantic part out when Marlene went on a date with her first boyfriend (which, in Marlene’s case, was comphet) and Dorcas also hated it

Confessed her feelings to Marlene straight away when she realised, but only to get it off her chest; never expected her feelings to be returned. Proceeded to date around a bit, and was pleasantly surprised a short while later :)

Had one Muggle grandmother, with whom she was very close. Passed away the summer between Dorcas’s fifth and sixth years (just after Dorcas received an ‘O’ on her Muggle Studies O.W.L.)

Took the maximum four out of five supplemental subjects after second year, mostly because a Ravenclaw bet she wouldn’t

Proposed to Marlene the night of James and Lily’s wedding, privately, in a dark corner of the dance floor after the newlyweds had left

Siouxsie and the Banshees #1 fan. Tragically too busy avenging her recently-murdered fiancée to listen to Juju, although she did hear “Spellbound” once or twice on the radio

Also an enjoyer of the B-52s

Anyway...I think about my version of Dorcas a lot (could you tell lol), and I'm pretty invested in these headcanons because they form the basis of her characterisation in the fanfiction I write, so I probably won't be changing my mind anytime soon, but it's always fun to hear what other people think! Seriously, please let me know :)

[whitters23]

Umbrella Academy S4 Spoilers

Well, I finally finished the new season and I have to say, unpopular opinion, I didn't hate it guys! I had heard so many people catastrophizing about it that I was really scared, but I think the biggest thing it had going against it was that it was so condensed compared to past seasons that they really didn't have the time to delve into plot lines like I wish they could have. Definitely it was my least favourite of all the seasons, it's impossible to beat S2 for me, but it was also not the flaming pile of garbage I was worried it was going to be. I do think they could have filled in some gaps in relation to Sloane and Ray, who were both briefly mentioned with little context. Klaus's kidnapping storyline felt out of place. And of course I wish we could have had a happier ending but TUA really is a tragicomedy at the end of the day so I was not surprised at all. In fact I thought it was a rather fitting ending, that, in the end, they were able to come together, forgive each other and save the world one final time. I found it really beautiful. The forgiveness between Viktor and Alison was especially touching. Now, let's talk Five/Lila. Was I the only one not surprised by this? Honestly, I have not been a shipper of theirs but I remember at the end of S3 wondering if something more was going to come from their obvious chemistry. I even had a suspicion, due to Lila's habit of fabricating stories and Five's habit of discovering things his future selves have done later on, that a shoe was going to drop that the baby was actually Five's. I am so glad that didn't actually happen but I'm just saying those thoughts were in the back of my head because the chemistry was there from the beginning. I think it kind of makes sense because out of the whole group Lila and Five have a shared history of being assassins for the Commission and have a familiarity with time travel. Truly, I think Lila is probably the only one that actually gets Five. I also... didn't hate it. (*hides*) I liked it for what it was. It brought a softness to Five that we hadn't previously seen before. It's not something I would want as "endgame", I still adore Lila and Diego. I still think Lila loves Diego and her children and their life they built together. She didn't want to give that up. However she was stranded with Five for 7 years, alone, fighting for survival, unsure if they would ever find their way back home or what would greet them when they did. I can empathize with them leaning on each other in that situation. I don't blame them for seeking a shred of happiness in such a bleak time in their lives. The last time Five was stranded in time he fell in love with a mannequin! There is so much grey area here. They didn't mean to fall in love or hurt Diego. Bonus, the angst when they came back to reality was delicious. While we are on the subject, can we stop freaking out about the age difference please? Remember technically they were all born on the same day. It's only because of their time-traveling selves that Five is like 70 in a 26/27 year old body, and Lila is likely in her early 40s by the end of their train adventure. We have to suspend disbelief a little here. Even though mentally and physically they have quite big age gaps, they are still, in a way, each other's peers. In the end I don't think it destroyed their characters and it is kind of par for the course in this messed up family of trauma and dysfunction. (For my mutuals and followers, I will be reblogging some Five x Lila content soon. Sorry if that is a no for you. You've been warned!)

[talesfromthesnogbox]

People Magazine, Page 31

Summary: Henry's decided to totally ghost Alex after their New Years kiss because there's no way Alex could ever like him back... right? He avoids all his texts and calls, and even goes on a date with a pretty actress named Emily for publicity, but how will he ever be able to face Alex after their kiss?

Rating: G

Word Count: 1,409

AO3 Link

Part 2 | Part 3

After New Years, literally everyone at Kensington Palace could tell Henry was in a mood. He needed a distraction, and quickly. 

So when his grandmother suggested (more like declared) he go out with Emily, a pretty blonde actress from a strong noble family who’d just starred in a period drama, he couldn’t say no. Emily was sweet, a year younger than him (the same age as Alex, he thought wistfully), very well spoken, incredibly well read, just the type of person he should be dating. He actually really enjoyed her company, and she seemed to enjoy his as well.

They were at a little coffee shop on their second outing together, Shaan sat across the street watching from the Range Rover that had driven them there, when he felt his phone vibrate on the table. 

Alex Claremont Diaz [12:45 p.m.]

come on Henry, you can’t ignore me forever

Henry sighed and flipped the phone over, turning his attention back to Emily.

“Is everything okay?” 

He nods. “Yes, yes sorry to be so rude, I’m fine, thank you.”

Emily smiles and looks pointedly at his phone. “Are you sure? I’m sorry if this is too forward, but you seem to be rather distracted today.”

He drops his head, nodding slightly. “I’m not the best company right now, am I?”

Henry wasn’t sure what Emily was hoping to get out of this ‘relationship’. She was different than the other women he’d gone on dates with, a lot more reserved, less enthusiastic about flaunting the fact that she was with him, and more interested in actually speaking to him. She was also a lot more forthcoming than anyone else was, and wasn’t afraid to hurt his feelings. “Not really if we’re being honest, but I have a hunch it’s because you have something on your mind.” She leaned forward across the table, and took his hand in both of hers, prompting him to look up at her. “Cameras, remember? If you’re going to fake date me, might as well make it look somewhat convincing.”

“…Fake…?”

Emily giggled very girlishly, out of character for her as far as he could tell, but she was right, the whole point of their outing was for the cameras. “Henry I signed an NDA, my mother was the one who told me I’d be going to dinner with a man I’d only met at state balls, and your head has been in the clouds the whole time. I know what this is, tell me about her.” 

“You signed an NDA?” Henry asked, looking more for a confirmation from her than as a genuine question.

“I did.”

He looked around and stood up from the chair, taking her hand and guiding her out onto the street. “Before I tell you anything, would you mind helping me make this look convincing?”

Emily giggled, dragging him around the corner of the cafe, barely concealed by the alley. A perfect spot for a sordid love affair. “Of course, plant one on me, Prince Charming.”

Henry knew realistically the cameras were completely trained on the two of them, so with a big smile, he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. Immediately, he was comparing this to his kiss with Alex. He missed the smell of Santal 33 and sweat, the feeling of stubble beneath his lips, he craved the feeling of Alex’s hands on his hips, dragging him closer. But those were all things he could not have, so for the moment, he had Emily. 

Shaan drove them back to KP, and they decided to take a stroll around the gardens where Henry resolutely decided Emily was trustworthy.

“I don’t mind doing this for you Henry, but why can’t you just be with her if that’s where your heart lies?”

Henry took a deep breath and twisted the signet ring around his pinky finger. “Him, actually.”

“Ah.” Emily’s reply was soft, she nodded along with the realization. “Is he your boyfriend?”

He chuckled. “No, he… er, it was kind of a mistake. I don’t even think he’s interested in men, but some alcohol was involved, and I got jealous and… well…”

“You kissed him?”

Henry nodded. “I kissed him.”

“He didn’t react badly, did he?”

His eyes met Emily’s, and the fierce expression of protectiveness on her face made him instantly fond. 

“No, quite the opposite actually, he kissed me back.” This is normally something Henry would talk about with Bea, but she’d been spending some extra time in Sandringham after Christmas, and he’d not gotten the chance to fill her in. She knew about his raging crush on Alex, she’d figured it out quickly after he left the palace from their press weekend, so he knew she’d be ecstatic to hear he’d finally made a move. It was freeing though, being able to talk about it with someone else, not having to disclose names or places, and it being someone totally outside the situation.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Henry felt relieved, talking over his anxieties with Emily. She was a great listener, and gave him real advice, and for the first time since Pez, he felt safe showing his true self to someone, sexuality and all. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel safe with Alex, he definitely formed a quick bond with him, but it was different, a deeper bond he could only attribute to his big gay crush on him. 

“Henry, you can’t avoid him forever.”

He lets out a bitter laugh. “That’s exactly what he texted me at the cafe.”

“See!” She stands as she exclaims it. “It kind of sounds like he wants you too. You should text him.”

“But… even if I do text him, the pictures of us together are going to come out. What if he suddenly thinks I’m cheating on you?”

“All the better time for you to clear the air. Henry, I don’t want to date. I’m young, I want to focus on my acting, I want to win an Oscar, I don’t want a man right now even if that’s what my parents think is right. If you want to keep pretending this is happening between us, I don’t mind that.”

Henry’s chest aches as he gives Emily a sad smile. It’s more than he’d ever expect anyone to do for him, and he’d eternally be grateful for her, even though they’d only known each other a short time. 

“You’re a good person, Emily, I don’t deserve your kindness.”

“Shut up, stop being so sappy and let’s get you your man. When is the next time you’ll see him?”

The sudden realization of his next scheduled appearance dawns on him. “At the end of the month. I’m supposed to go to a state dinner at his residence.”

Emily whips around to face Henry on the bench they’d occupied. “Wait… is he a nobleman?”

He chuckles. “Well… not exactly, but he’s in the public eye, so—”

“Hang on… this man doesn’t happen to be the gorgeous son of the American president you’ve recently become besties with, does he?” 

Henry tries to keep a poker face about it, but winces once he realizes Emily would push on. “Em, you have to promise—”

“Oh Henry, of course. So what are you going to do?”

He shrugs, and takes sudden interest in his shoes. “I have to go, it was part of an agreement, but I just have no idea what to say to him.”

“If he kissed you back, then I don’t think he’ll be upset with you, he’ll probably be more upset that his friend hasn’t spoken to him since new years.”

“I know. But… I just don’t know what to do, or say. I like him so much, I’m not sure I can just be his friend just yet but I know I can’t be with him.”

She nods. “That’s tough Henry. But you need to talk to him. He’s probably got questions for you too, and he obviously wants to talk if he’s texting you.”

“You’re right.” The two of them sit in comfortable silence for a moment, then Henry reaches over to take her hand in his. “Thank you, truly. This has been more helpful than I can even say.”

“Of course, and thank you for being honest with me. Now come on, it’s nearly tea time, I’m sure your grandmother would be happy if I joined.”

[your-queer-dad]

Hey dad. So. I hevn't felt the need to come here to vent for a while lol. But here we are

So. I dom't like the way my irl dad is raising us (me and my bros). I understand that I'm lucky and all, but I just feel really bothered by his behavior lately. For first he's an ableist, which really bothers me cause at this point I'd be surprised if I WASN'T neurodivergent, my lil bro probably is too and my lilest bro might too, and he (my irl dad) is neurodivergent himself (it always baffles me to see him talk badly of people with different disorders than him, mostly developmental disorders). Second, he's that "I don't care as long as I don't have to see it" type of queerphobe. He literally looked me in the eyes and said he thinks me being trans is just a phase and internet influence, and he (and my mom too, but she tends to just agree with him, and I tend to take time to get mad if the offense isn't direct) compared it to playing guitar and not liking it (spoiler alert: I did like it. The youtube classes just suck and I'd rather learn by myself. So even there he didn't get it right.). Third, he just can be an asshole sometimes. My lil bro cries often for lil things that run out of his control and decision making, and what does my dad do? Try to actually talk to him and find out what's wrong instead of repeatdly asking "what's fthe problem [lil bro's name]?"? No. He tells him "to man up, cause [he's] a man and will have to provide someday for his wife" amd shit like that. He also days thing I can't remember to my lilest bro that I know, although I don't remember, he told me too ("swallow the tears" is om example) and made me how I am (bad thing. I'm emotionally constipated, phisically unable of crying, feeling emotions significantly less intese than I used to, distrustful of literally everyone in my life except lil bro (kinda. There's some bagage there involving my mom amd him trying to come as queer and my mom accusing me of influencing him although I literally just told him about a lot of identities cause I was excited and reducing queerness to sex and more shit that I won't talk about right now), unable to tell people how I'm feeling and mostly emotionally unavaible for others and myself.) and I dom't want that. He deserves to be able to talk about his feelings. The worst part? He's dragging my bros down the ableist path (I'd talk to my lil bro but I'm afraid now cause of the aforementioned events with my mom, and my lilest bro is on the age where he asks everything to parents (another emotional bagage over my mom being explicitly intersexist after I mentioned it to him) so I dom't for my own sake) and my lilest bro down the transphobe path (he (bro) literally came up to be twice to say I'm "a girl who wants to be treated like a boy" (though that's how my mom told him (she's also an asshole)) and I promised to myself that I won't stay if it makes me feel bad, but it's hard. I'm really attached to my bros, specially to my lil bro (we really vibe to the point where I can imagine a future with only my besties (alterous) and him, having cutted out my whole family, but it's hard if he isn't there.), more than I am to my parents and I really don't wanna lose them, but I also don't wanna talk to them cause it makes me anxious of my parents making the same thing again, talk to me like their age means they inheritly know more about everything in the world than me, including my own sense of self and struggles (ex: I often have a hard keeping up with goals I set up cause I get "stuck" doing other things I was already doing, even tho I wanna do that. I wanna go learn a new chord on my guitar right now, but I couldn't make my body move, but my dad attributes it to lack of willpower.). I have more to say but weirdly I can't pinpoint it. I know there's something wrong, but don't really know what.

This was very long. Feel free to delete this if you'd rather.

-Cain

Hey kiddo! I'm so sorry your parents are like that and you're having to deal with all of that, that's awful. If you ever need support or someone to talk to, I'm here 🫂🫂

- dad x

[ala-baguette]

Ask few people to know their opinion Do you have any headcanons about lily Evans unnamed friends during hogwarts? It’s so frustrating that they’re mentioned but not even given names

I do, in fact, have some thoughts on this! Thanks for asking, Anon. I find the fact that Lily's friends remain unnamed quite telling, actually. I headcanon that Lily was quite popular among her peers-- we have enough evidence to show that she was pretty, smart, talented, brave, kind, and did not seem shy in the snatches we see of her-- those people tend to do well socially. And, of course, we see her with a collection of girl friends during Snape's Worst Memory. But I suspect that coming into Hogwarts with a pre-established relationship to Snape rather stunted her ability to make super close connections in the way the Marauders did. We might even compare her to Ginny with Tom Riddle's diary in that way.

It is not at all uncommon for a kid thrust into a new environment to take the easy route and hang out with the person she already knew rather than to expend energy into making new friends. This could actually put her a step behind compared to those who arrived at Hogwarts without knowing anybody when it comes to making deeper friendships. Of course, with Lily and Snape in separate houses, both would naturally make new friends in their respective dormitories. But it seems her two social circles didn't mix. We know from Snape's memories in DH that Lily's other friends "can't understand why I even talk to you." So if Lily was budgeting time for Snape, that was at the expense of her time with her girl friends. Hagrid says he writes to the Potter's friends (pleural, so not just Remus) to ask for photographs to give to Harry, so it would seem that there were people who loved her enough to keep photos of her. But they were not so close that they felt a need to ever introduce themselves to Harry. So I headcanon Lily to have had a lot of friends, but few truly close *best* friends. I see a lot of names from canon taken and assigned to be Lily's close friends in fic. Anyone who knows my writing, knows that I am allll about giving life to random character names provided in canon. But I actually disagree with a lot of the ones people tend to pick. Not to disparage anyone else's headcanons; mostly these are just vibes and my stubborn refusal to expel my own previously established thoughts on these characters. So rather than tell you who I think Lily's friends were, here's who I am inclined to think they were not:

Alice Longbottom-- I highly doubt the Longbottoms were in the same year at school as Lily and James. I see them as at least a few years older. They were already well known and respected Aurors by the time they died, but if they went to school with Lily and James, that would have been just a few short years out of Hogwarts-- I just don't see that they would have had the time to establish that reputation. Especially for Alice as part of that time would have been while she was pregnant with Neville and likely on maternity leave. Lily and James were also very young when they had Harry, and I don't know that I care to think of this as the norm. So I don't love thinking that all their classmates were also popping out babies right out of Hogwarts.

Marlene McKinnon-- I headcanon the McKinnons to be older and Marlene to be more of a OotP mentor figure to Lily rather than a school friend. Yes, Lily was cut up over her death in the letter to Sirius. But Moody states "They got her whole family." The verbiage implies a sizable number of people were killed. So if she was the same age as Lily, are we really saying she already had a husband and multiple children? In which case, again, why is everyone having kids so young? Plus McKinnon would likely be a married name in that case. Or could we be talking parents and siblings? Bit old be to still be living at home.

Dorcas Meadows-- Honestly, this one is mostly vibes, but I imagine her to be older as well. It's just such an old-fashioned name, and if Voldemort killed her personally, i would presume she had spent ample time pissing him off enough to compel him to do so. I don't see Voldemort wasting his time with a twenty-year-old without a very good reason (such as a prophesy about his downfall).

Mary Macdonald-- Yes. I know, it's super odd for me to include Mary on this list, given that her friendship to Lily is one of the major plot points in Knowing Where to Look. I'll say I support Mary more than any of the above because we know for sure from canon that she was a Gryffindor at the time Lily was in school. This is why I chose her for KWTL. But my one reservation in her being a close friend to Lily is that Lily refers to her by her full name when talking to Snape. This isn't 100% to say they weren't friends, but it just seems to me that if they were super close, Lily wouldn't have had to clarify which Mary she was talking about when talking to Snape.

So in conclusion, I tend to just let her friends stay unnamed as they just never proved relevant to Harry's story. I'm not one to try to force every person from the Marauders era into the Order of the Phoenix or into the war with Voldemort. My inclination is to say that Lily likely had many friends in school, but very few with whom she was close enough to keep up with after leaving Hogwarts. This is not an uncommon story. Dunno about you, but I, for one, didn't maintain a great many friends from childhood after going off to uni.

[musingmelsuinesmelancholy]

This is gunna be a personal and ramble-y blog, fair warning! Really just using this as a means to organize my thoughts.

I started practicing traditional witchcraft at a weird time; right before it got popular (not that I’m special, I am Just Some Bitch) and everyone jumped on the “I hate Wiccans my witchcraft is so edgy and traditional ™️” bandwagon. I had been extremely new age prior; that summer I had stopped “practicing”. (I don’t consider what I was doing then Wicca or witchcraft) I was in a fragile state due to my (ex now) boyfriend raping me. (how’s that erectile dysfunction treating you Matthew?) I don’t know why, but l was Called via some rather visceral dream-vision experiences. I had no real knowledge, skills or abilities to allow me to understand what I was seeing nor why. I bought some books over tradcraft, I think treading the mill, a Cornish book of ways and a grimoire for modern cunning folk were my firsts, and they did help- but they also left me confused. I didn’t understand the ~current~ behind these various authors traditions. I didn’t understand how one could practice traditional witchcraft outside of Europe. The skills I was lacking, that I wanted to cultivate weren’t within the pages of those books. (GMDF DID go over technique/methodology more than the other two books I had but it wasn’t exactly what I needed)

I turned to tumblr for answers. (horrible fucking idea!) I did get some, some folks were able to answer some of my questions and i’ll always be grateful for their help. Overall it fucked me over, I kept comparing myself to popular bloggers with decades more experience than me. I didn’t participate in discourse but I definitely got swept up in it. “Ok so THIS is what trad witches do” “Oh no wait THIS is what they do” 🤦🏼‍♂️ I got so frustrated, so confused I allowed myself to halt my progression. I definitely bothered some bloggers, asked and said some S T U P I D things.

I think my being PDA autistic also contributed. My thinking is literal and dualistic, I struggle with executive dysfunction and I’m bad at talking to people/explaining myself. So I went from a very wishy washy paradigm to a very strict astringent one. Only I had no knowledge so I felt like I couldn’t and shouldn’t do anything until I’m researched enough. The problem with that is witchcraft is an action, it is the doing. It’s not the research. Results are nice but that’s not the witchcraft, the witchcraft is the performing of the spell. I went from believing that as long as I say sorry everything is fine; the gods/spirits won’t care to understanding that my mistakes and inconsistency do matter. So I thought that I had fucked up too badly and ruined any chance I had. The craft became a demand which triggered my ED and my flight/fight responses ( thank you PDA autism ). There was discourse at the time about disabled witches, you had more new age types saying the same shit about how anything goes/everything/anything is fine, you had more serious occultists saying no, it’s ableist to treat disabled occultists like babies. I agree with the latter, of course, but at the time rather than understanding that I had to work with/around my ED I just tried to power through it which just made me burnout. I thought this was laziness and again, that I had ruined my relationships with the spirits. I worried too much about mucking things up further or being “punished”.

Despite all that I was still experiencing very real, very tangible, very intense things. Seeing spirits- awake or dreaming, actual results from my spells, signs/omens/dreams. He continued to come to me- even answering questions, relieving anxieties/doubts. Yet still I returned again and again and again to tumblr. I should’ve continued on with what I was doing and deleted the app. Nobody but me and the spirits has answers for me, nobody could tell me what I was experiencing meant or what direction I was to go in. That’s for the spirits to tell me, that’s for me to figure out.

I’m in a better place now, I understand things better now. I’ve learned to work with my ED. I’m learning to be nuanced in my approach to things. I’m analyzing, digesting everything I’ve experienced- listening to Them now. I know where I’m headed…kinda- I am heeding Their direction.

My experiences may not be as consistently crazy or mind-blowing as they where those first few years but they don’t need to be. I was shown, I was told where to go. I’m finally listening, the signs are more subtle now but they’re there. They are there, still. I don’t know if I’ll “make it” (what even does that mean) as a witch. I’ll definitely never succeed if I continue on as I was prior, I need to push myself. To actually to The Thing.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

One day, perhaps, I won't live in a country where everyone with power is content to peacefully hand authority to a fascist dictator wanna be rather than actually consider generations old organizing tactics, and if that day ever comes I may once again respect the electoral system.

But I genuinely don't know how to watch authoritarianism deliberately steer our so-called democracy into knowing and explicit crimes against humanity and still call that system a legitimate governing body.

I get that maybe some folks see states as inhuman entities, static and enduring. But states live and die every day, and lord knows that ours is an INFANT compared to governmental entities that have endured throughout history and modernity. We're not even 300 years old and people think we have it all figured out????? The arrogance of humanity is measuring history in the course of our own lifetimes, pitiful and brief as they are against the age of the topsoil beneath our feet and the history of our species.

If you laugh at short sighted billionaires for prioritizing profits over the next few years to lifelong success, you need to be able to laugh at yourself for the moments when. - in our infinite, beautiful humanity - we consider our life anything more than the faintest of flickers in a universe that (while unending to us) will surely die and give way to something else in time as everything does.

In other news, my plan to retreat into the woods persists and frankly I am accepting applications

[iseullgc]

profile. background.

okay now that my prewritten things are out of the way — hello friendos i am here with my third muse cho iseul, future it boy, wannabe idol, etc etc etc. thank you for the welcomes (will be getting to those in a bit) but i wanted to post a short about (him) if you didn't to read the monster i put in his bg post hahaha

as always, like to plot!! i also have twitter and d*scord (young_story) if that's easier for you ^^

also, i'm looking for LGCU plots specifically for people in the house of younggong.

he was born on 010101 so when he was growing up, his nanny used to call him an angel all the time bc angel numbers

he doesn't really enjoy that his bday is on new years, but what can you do lmao

he was born in vancouver canada but he was back and forth between van and seoul a lot as a kid

he did some of his younger years in an international school in seoul (gr 8-10 age 13-15) before he moved back to canada for a while

his parents are rich business people (they both work in international trade) so he didn't see them very much when he was growing up (and sees them even less now)

was always lonely when he was younger and that has manifested as him being rather clingy with the friends that he has now

he came to seoul (permanently) last year (july 2022) when he auditioned for fun in an international legacy audition and passed

he actually feels a bit more at home in seoul bc he has a few friends here compared to being back in canada (though he does miss his nanny. she didn't really take care of him much now that he was older but they kept in touch, and he has fond memories of her being one of the only people who cared for him in comparison to his parents)

he currently is still kinda figuring out what he wants to do because while he loves to dance, he's not too sure if being an idol is cut out for him

he's a decent singer though, and he likes to think that he's unique bc of his higher tone

he works part-time at a pc room because the hours worked well for him to fit in with training and he likes to cook (even though pc bang food is usually just putting stuff into the microwave or air fryer or just adding water to noodles) he also enjoys that he doesn't really have to talk with anyone, though he's more than happy to talk to people about games or whatever (he knows games but mun doesn't hahaha)

some plot ideas

friends from canada!!

other people he might've known in the circle of Rich Business People's Kids aka they literally sat at the same table while their parents mingled at Fancy Business Dinners and Events

dorm/roommates shenanigans pls (look at you dorm a!)

he actually needs more friends in general

as always i would much rather brainstorm bc i hate coming up w plots hahahajgkkfd help

[apostaterevolutionary]

I am not the anon who contacted you about Veilguard impressions but I would like to put some here of that is ok, I recognize your username from back in the day. I played the tutorial & tbh it's a mixed bag. It is technically well done, the action is finally snappy again (DAI was such a slog after DA2 combatwise and Veilguard is a huge improvement). The UI is good, they implemented a dodge roll that gives you a nice signal to pay attention to which is good bc I have played some action games that do not have that and they are not fun.

I actually like Rook, they get a strong introduction that tells you exactly who they are and how they do things. Unfortunately I fear they whiffed with Varric and Harding. They have a lot of "as you know" dialogue where BW frantically re-explains DAI to you. I think they were justifiably scared that players forgot hell I forgot my Inquisitor's name so yeah I get it. Unfortch BW really runs it into the ground and its only the first hour. Varric and Harding's characterizations basically don't exist, Varric is a "you did good kid!" guy now instead of the cynical romantic we fell in love with. Harding has more potential but they go too hard too fast in her first dialogue scene with Rook. Neve is handled much better and I think it's because she is a new character so BW might have less anxiety around introducing her to the audience.

Rook gives a weird impression, I was set to dislike him (I made mine a bloke) because the game does tons of "tell don't show" with him at the start with Varric going "hey remember when you did this cool thing??" But otoh you have the ability to select options where Rook is unsure and frightened and it feels like a really nice set up to a potential character arc where Rook grows into his potential which is perfect for a protagonist.

The game controls very weirdly compared to the first 3 games, I immediately spotted the GaaS backbone in it, they really had to salvage this thing from a heap. It is not an RPG as I know them. The art style I also feel mixed on like I do with Rook, it objectively is very well done and beautiful, even in the tutorial there's a lot of beautiful atmospheric shots. otoh the character models are so Pixar, Solas's character model makes the others look like little kids because they kept Solas accurate to DAI instead of remixing him. It doesn't look anything like Dragon Age or high fantasy. When you get to a stretch of forest the area looked incredibly weird and uncanny in the game's engine even though we've been to forests love forests my best friend is a forest etc.

There's a lot of parallels to be drawn with DA2 but I fear the characters won't have the same panache and rough edges that made DA2 compelling.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I’m very curious to what the impressions are from like. The kind of DA fan I am lmao. Especially in terms of details of what’s good, what’s bad, etc. rather than just ‘I like it’ or ‘I don’t like it’. And the stupid ass culture war over it has made finding the correct kinds of opinions more annoying than it needs to be

(I'll put the rest behind a cut just to save people's dash space)

I’ve heard a lot of mixed opinions on the combat (some liking it after finding inquisition’s a drag, some disliking it for going too far in the action rpg direction rather than a crpg direction). I’m glad to hear the UI is good and they have prompts for combat actions cause it really isn’t fun when there’s too much unprompted dodge/parry/block imo. There’s very few games in that kind of genre I like (largely just respawn’s star wars games tbh, those are so good I don’t mind that sometimes the combat can get repetitive lmao). I wonder how this game compares to greedfall in terms of combat, idk if you or anyone reading this might know

I did hear some critiques about the dialogue but that’s unfortunate to hear :/ I feel like they would’ve been better off with doing a lore dump intro cinematic, kinda like the between act ones in DA2. Feels like a weird choice to put the entire lore dump in dialogue (I know it was necessary, given they’re hoping for new players with this plus those of us that did forget inquisition and didn’t replay it right before lmao, but there are better and worse ways to go about it imo). I’m hoping something like that would get better as you get deeper in? Like I hope they’re not still doing those dumps by hour 20 lmao – feel free to let me know. Ngl I was worried about Varric, also in terms of the almost no choices carrying over thing, but that’s a concerning first impression :/ It does seem people are most excited about the new companions though so that’s promising

Ngl I’m not surprised by telling and not showing with Rook, as really the only way to avoid that when the character can have multiple backgrounds is with playable origins. I get why they abandoned those, but it still makes me sad. Options for emotional depth are great to hear though cause I recall the inquisitor feeling very flat all the time imo

As soon as they mentioned loot pots scattered around I was like. Oh. The bones are still there huh lmao. I’m not surprised that there’s a lot of that still visible. I’ve also seen a couple other people classify it as ‘not really an rpg’, which makes me nervous. The art style is a bit eh to me, I don’t hate it as much as some lmao but it’s not my fave (also minor point but wtf did they do to the qunari hairlines, like damn). Sdklsd old man Solas among the rest is a hilarious mental image though. The vibes sound… interesting to say the least

Tbf the DA2 characters really were lightning in a bottle lmao. I fear no game will ever hit that magic sauce ever again ngl. DA2 parallels definitely raises my interest level though. I’ve seen a lot of people compare it to ME2 as well, which I’m not sure which is more accurate, but perhaps time will tell in that regard

Anyway, thank you again for sharing your thoughts! I’m really curious to see how opinions shake out as the game progresses and people start finishing it in the coming days and weeks. Idk how long it is, but I’m assuming the 50-100 hour range, so we’ve got some time before even the quickest completionists start hitting the end. But yeah, feel free to send me more thoughts and impressions if you like! And anyone else reading this, please feel free as well. I’m still deciding if I’m ready to risk getting hurt again and playing it lmfao