#I had such a fun time picking all these screencaps and there’s still so many shenanigans I couldn’t include

[illustrationsbychristina]

POWER RANGERS PINES #2 - RECAP

and THAT’S what you missed on Power Rangers Dino Charge :)

[serenityfails]

i finish da game

spoilers of course. also really long and rambly.

i finished the game a couple nights ago. i processed it for a little bit, then replayed the last couple hours to change ONE dialogue option to see if it played out different (it did not change anything but it did change how i felt about it, a little)

i think the strongest adjective i can find for the game is UNEVEN. the game is bad. the game is also good. it took ten years to make, and it was rushed.

a good point: the game is BEAUTIFUL. they put more pussy in these environments than can be imagined. every level has its own little WOW LOOK AT HOW PRETTY THIS IS section where you can take a dramatic screencap of your beautiful hero, cape blowing in the wind, and i did that, every time, of course i did. i actually feel like origins doesn't get enough credit for being pretty-- it's, yeah, pretty dingy and chunky potato, but it's got a lot of good looking settings too. but this one is like. immaculate. the textures and the lighting and everything are really, really well done. it might be TOO perfect, because the ~artstation concept artist~ of it all can maybe get a little much, but what the fuck ever, who cares. is it not enough to see a fantasy moon, huge?

another good point: there were some occasional minor bugs, and i understand other people ran into some bigger ones, but for me, it was the smoothest play experience i have ever had with a bioware game. i hit NOTHING that impeded my play experience outside one at the start that reset my CC options, and one minor visual glitch. every one of the other games i've had game breaking shit happen. whatever they did to get this one running, they did a great job.

a third good point: the combat is fun as hell. i always play on easy to start with but easy is like.... way too easy. i will go up a level or two next time i play. but even though it was on way too easy mode i was still really enjoying the pace and action of combat. it was fun! the gameplay is fun. yay for a game that is fun to play.

a fourth good point: i love rook! my plucky little hero! i think it's really hard to make a busted rook, they CC is really good (a couple things warrant a tweak, but it's so much better than the prev games CCs it's not even funny) and i love their stupid little personality. i picked briony corrigan's voice and the accent they gave the brit VAs... is so charming and good to me. i feel a lot more attached to rook than i did to hawke. i know this will not be true of many people. i do wonder how pre-determined their personality is, because it seems hard to deviate from "plucky young hero" in general, so i'll have to reserve that opinion for after i've played through it another time or two.

okay, some bad stuff.

the loss of the people who have left the studio, both before this game and during it, of their own will and against it-- it's plainly obvious, to me. the voice direction isn't what it used to be. the tone isn't what it used to be. the writing isn't what it used to be. the art isn't what it used to be. there are good and bad aspects to this. the game is more polished than any of the games before it. it's also as unfinished as DA2 was, just in different ways.

i feel like i'm not making any clear points here! time to consider some specifics.

the relationships (and romances) feel very shallow. i've been complaining about the game being too Nice. often, everyone does talk more like an HR seminar than people. there are some rare moments where humanity shines through, and that's not to say i didn't really like a lot of the characters and some specific really good moments, but overall i don't feel the weight of the revelations the characters are receiving, and i don't feel the characters have the same depth as the companions in previous games.

the final act of the game tweaked my opinion on that a little bit, but not entirely. the last act having such potentially disastrous losses does make it feel like they wrote everything preceding to be super nice and fluffy so you would feel the emotional weight of those losses when they happen. i don't think they succeeded in that, though. it just leaves the characters feeling incomplete. (i maxxed my factions and did everyone's loyalty missions, so i only lost Harding.) after that, i felt like this is a backstory for these characters rather than a final act. (specifically taash. taash feels VERY teenage. and since they lost their mom and then their girlfriend the last convo I had with them was just like "everyone i love dies" OKAY GOOD I GAVE THE TEAM TEEN UNRESOLVED TRAUMA)

the lead up to romancing davrin i was like okay this is dorky but it's got some juice... take me to juice town. and then there was this.... utterly lifeless love confession scene hours after rook and davrin had done one quick peck and some real "witch in the alps finding a lost cat" level toothless fluff. there was a tea party. all it needed was hair-braiding.

and then we had a "what if you die :(" talk that was very.... light and pleasant. and then davrin mentioned that talk later as if it was a fight. did we fight??? i thought we were just talking about being in love with each other like coworkers discussing what to bring to a potluck but okay i guess that was a fight. it got a little better from there-- i got a couple scenes that made it feel a little more natural and genuine-- but overall i was underwhelmed. i will have to replay and check out some of the romances i missed out on to see if they have any more meat on the bones. like i can boil the bones i got and make a juicy broth out of them, no doubt, but i was hoping for a bouquet garni at least.

(i'm the guy who found positive things to say about mass effect andromeda, mind. i thought vetra's romance kicked ass. i'm particular but ultimately not that hard to please!!!)

i think in general... i wanted a little more from davrin regarding willingness to die, because It Is My Duty As A Warden. this dovetails into my major compliment for the game: the Act One finale kicked insane levels of ass. I think that was the most fun the game got for me. everyone felt involved, the cinematics were great, i was feeling the scale of the fight and the emotional impact on the world. and davrin and lucanis burying their beef because they're both putting their asses out there, and the connection to the grey wardens and the act of slaying an archdemon.... it was all sick as fuck!!!

and then it kind of felt like.... especially romancing davrin, it didn't feel like it was addressing the hard question there of his inevitable gory death. we were too busy saying "i like-like you, let's raise our adopted son" and standing three feet apart.

(also for the record: he didn't have a gory death in my game. maybe more of that comes up if he does, i haven't watched the alt version.)

i am rambling so much. CONCLUSION: thin writing. some of it is very lovely, and some of it is very first draft. i can only imagine that a lot of single player game writing had to happen in not a lot of time given that the game got repurposed from the version that was live service online game bullshit and then after that bioware laid half the staff off.

i hated the varric-narration framing. aping the DA2 thing doesn't make sense. Varric isn't telling the story here: Varric is haunting the narrative, not crafting it. and the art is a severe downgrade imo. i saw some people like it-- and for me, it's not that it's Bad Art, it's that they're trying to reproduce nick thornborrow's iconic art and missing the mark by a mile. and also, as marie already said but it's so true, spoiling all the narrative suspense by putting a giant glowing pin in it every five fucking minutes.

it's actually completely appropriate that varric's presence in the game is this shallow because it's literally solas puppeting his corpse around as a shiny distraction for you, the player, and for his own gain MUCH LIKE BIOWARE AS A COMPANY HAS BEEN DOING HEYOOOOOOOOOOOOO

i said when mary kirby was laid off that i hope they WOULD kill varric off, so they can't keep doing that. and i got my wish!

my feelings on that: once again mixed. i got spoiled for that early on in my game by some jackass on twitter, which i was genuinely mad about. but then of course it became insanely obvious after i knew, a real snape kills dumbledore situation. i was getting increasingly mad about it as the game went on because i didn't know the specifics and was trying to puzzle them out and it wasn't making ANY sense. then of course i got the reveal in the game, and it made.... more sense than i expected it to, which made me less mad about it. (having it literally be a blood magic mindbending thing handwaved most of my questions. what it didn't explain is WHY DIDN'T MORE OF VARRIC'S FRIENDS SHOW UP AND ASK WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED. why didn't we hear ANYTHING from anyone who loved varric. he has too many people in his life to go completely unmourned by any of them!!!!!!!!!! (and of course they can't really do this, because they clean-slated the worldstate and all the schrodinger's characters can't appear without spoiling the illusion. i can only imagine this was also a choice built from constraints and not by choice, but it sucks.)

i am complaining so much and i could probably complain for another year. but in the end, i had fun playing it, and i hurt my own feelings. and it is simply not dragon age unless i hurt my own feelings. so it's got that going for it.

this post is way too fucking long and i'm going to spare you guys and write a different post about solavellan when i'm done. fuck. fuck!!

[elfwreck]

can i ask your personal thoughts on whatever is going on with OTW? you've always had fandom thoughts that i respected. as an ao3 volunteer of five+ years, i know for a fact that at least some of what's being spread around in the big info posts is false. and given that, and that fact that it comes from FFA, it's hard for me to trust the motives behind any of it.

it feels like we've always said, the code is publically available and if you don't like AO3 you can make your own site. and this time, the response is "for 10 bucks a vote? nah, we'll just take yours"

it just feels like the bad actors who have always been around have figured out the language that gets some very reactionary people on board, and everyone else goes along with it because if you don't agree 100% then you must be racist.

The membership support is NOT vote-buying. There’s no way to verify how someone votes. (There’s no way to verify that someone votes; getting the membership doesn’t guarantee they’ll use it to vote.) (Although it’d be silly not to, if you’re not getting a tax break from the donation - membership doesn’t get you anything else.)

The people behind the “we’ll buy you a membership” push - I think Petra was first but several more people have jumped in with money - are mostly long-time supporters of the OTW. Many of them are people who were around at the start, and this is their way of saying “we want to fix the OTW, not burn it down.”

Part of the problem is that fandom-at-large is oblivious to the OTW as “a pack of fannish volunteers who are working on their fun fannish project together.” Getting more people memberships, getting them invested in who’s running for the board and what changes happen over time, is a way to help with that.

Also. There is absolutely no way to buy a hostile takeover of the OTW. None. Someone can buy all the memberships they want - make fake accounts and buy them memberships, buy ten thousand of them - and they’re still stuck with “these are the 6 people running for the Board; pick 4 of them. The Board will be a total of 7 people, and they will shape-but-not-control the future actions of the OTW.”

The OTW was built with “hostile takeover by fanatic evangelicals” in mind. That’s why Board candidates have to be active volunteers who’ve been involved for at least a year. You can’t buy your way onto a volunteer committee.

I think the EOR campaign has some good intentions, and calls out some real problems, and is also tangled up with fandom drama that isn’t going anywhere. And that a lot of the racism problems at AO3 would be best dealt with by fixing the administrative and communication problems, and/or better curation tools for the archive - and that none of those is going to look like “fixes for racism.”

Regarding “what’s really going on” -  as a volunteer, there are limits to what I am willing to talk about in public, but I’ve liked some of the discussions on the inside. People are asking, “Hey Board, wtf?” and “Hey Legal, wtf?” And they’re able to shape their questions with an understanding of the internal processes. A lot of the public questions, the answer winds up being “um, no, it just doesn’t work that way. At all.”

(Insert cracked laughter at the idea of the Legal team stepping down and the OTW hiring lawyers to replace them.)

Of course, both the Board and Legal know damn well every answer they give is going to immediately be screencapped and leaked, so they are, sigh, just as careful talking on the inside as in their public announcements.

[stillpreoccupiedwith1985]

BTTF Year-End Tag Game!

I was tagged by @cheriboms! Thanks for the tag!

How many times would you guess you watched the first back to the future movie?

Ummm let’s see, I may say about 4 or 5, I forgot. However, I did go and watch it in theaters this year!

Did you get any sweet bttf merch? If so, what!

Okay so I hyperfixated this year and when that happens I start collecting. I got my Loungefly bag from 707 Street (still available!), the Lego DeLorean, a Marty Pop to go with my Doc that I had forever, and a Back to the Future cookbook.

How many cans of Pepsi Free did you chug this year?

None, the only Pepsi I like is Wild Cherry (and better than Cherry Coke). I am more of a Dr. Pepper girl.

What was a favorite bttf fanfic you read this year?

Again hyperfixated, so I devour fan works! One that I go back to is I Jump Off And Into Your Arms (But I Don’t Trust the Fall) by Goddess of Confusion

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49698481/chapters/125443009#workskin

Also It's a beautiful thing (two out of three ain't bad) by @penny-anna https://archiveofourown.org/works/50192956

I am a sucker for wing fics, but I also really love all of Penny’s works!

A favorite bttf fanart you saw this year? (please give us a link, not a screencap/repost!)

All of @future-boi’s work! Also the Animations that @cheriboms makes (especially the one with the audio from Bluey, Cheri you need to do one with the audio of Bandit saying ‘It was the 80’s!’ 😉)

Did you create any bttf fanart or fanfic? If you did, what one(s) are you proudest of?

I am currently working on a multi chapter fic that is a crossover with the podcast called The Bright Sessions, where Marty is getting therapy.

But I have made a one shot called Maybe We Should Get Married in the Chapel O’Love https://archiveofourown.org/works/51528580

It isn’t the greatest fic, mostly I wanted to get my thoughts down and I wanted tooth rotting fluff of Marty and Jennifer.

How many times were you late for school this year?

Okay so I am a teacher! Now we are contracted to be at the school at a certain time and pick/meet the students at a certain time. Have I been late for the contracted time this year? Yes, many times. Was I ever late getting the students? Never.

Did you watch any other movies/tv shows with BTTF actors in them?

SO MUCH CHRISTOPHER LLOYD! He is like everywhere! I was rewatching King of the Hill and at one point I was like ‘that grounds keeper sounds familiar.’ And it is Christopher Lloyd!

Michael J Fox is in my top favorite Disney movie! Atlantis The Lost Empire, I watch that movie at least once a year. I also played a bit of Homeward Bound this year for my students of Chance (the dog Michael J Fox voices) yelling ‘It’s Birdzilla!’

Also Elisabeth Shue in Adventures in Babysitting. Funny is one point I was thinking of a Jennifer adventure where she is watching Jules and Verne and it turns into Adventures in Babysitting and then I realized, ‘Wait that is the same actress!’

Pat Buttram who was Jeb also voices Napoleon in the Aristocats.

Was there a memorable moment you heard a Huey Lewis song this year?

I heard Back in Time in the car when I was on a weekend trip with other teachers this year and I had so much fun that weekend with them.

How many times did you fall down this year?

At least three, and that was playing kickball with my students at recess.

Did you get to see BTTF: The Musical? What was your experience like!

No.

Though I am working on a trip to New York to watch and go fabric shopping. Legit doing a two day trip. Fly in, see the musical, spend the night, day out, spend the night, and go home.

How many times did your mom retell the story of how she and your father met?

Because I live two hours away, most of the time when we call or see each other. We are catching up with each other. If she tells stories about the past, it is more of my late grandfather. More accurate is how many times my mom tells me about the pineapple story.

If you could describe your year in a BTTF quote, which one would it be?

I think it is a tie with “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” And “I finally invented something that works!” Mostly I was trying new thinks with my teaching and with cosplay.

⚡️LIGHTNING ROUND⚡️ Did you get to: go on any trains, skate on a skateboard, ride a horse, drive a Delorean, run in the rain, go to a dance, hang up a clock, play the guitar, pull an all-nighter, read science fiction, or drive thru Burger King this year?

No, no, no, no, yes, yes, yes, kind of, no, yes, and yes.

Your future is whatever you make it! So what are you going to make of this coming year?

Just pull myself out of my funk this year and go out more!

Cause I was late with this if you wish to do this you can!

[jasmariswonderland]

“How will I change from this year to next? I’m excited to find out so please look forward to it!”

And now, to finally conclude Danica’s birthday celebrations, here is her birthday interview for 2023! Fake screencap made with assets from the wonderful @ alchemivich! 💙

~~~

Danica: The one selected by the Magical Birthday Dice is supposed to bring a gift of good luck. It’s almost time for them to arrive, I wonder who it will be. *giggling* I’m so excited, I can barely stay still! 

???: I’m heeeeerreee! 

Danica: Oh! I know that voice! That can only mean...

Danica: Cater-san! So you’re the one the Magical Birthday Dice selected? Wonderful! I’m really looking forward to this!

Cater: Me too! It’ll be fun interviewing a fellow club member! Speaking of which, here’s a gift from all of us at the light music club! We put a lot of thought into it so I hope you like!

Danica: I’m sure I’ll like anything you guys get me! Hmmm, let’s see, this box is kind of heavy. *opens the present, her eyes widen when she sees what’s inside* This...this is...?!

Cater: SUPRISE! Lilia remembered when you said you wanted to learn to play violin one day! So we all chipped in and got you one! It’s a beginner model too! 

Danica: Gosh, I hope it wasn’t too pricy! Nevertheless I love it! I’ve always had a passing interest in learning how to play an instrument. 

Cater: I’m glad you like it! Have you always had particular interest in violin? 

Danica: I have, out of all the classical instruments, violins resonate with me the most. Depending on how it’s played, the sound it makes can have so many different kind of melodies that invoke all kinds of emotions from cheerful to sorrowful. And since you, Kalim, and Lilia all have your specialties and many of my Pomefiore friends are very skilled with piano, I can’t wait to start playing this!

Cater: You can sing, dance, and soon you’ll be a triple threat with this violin! *takes out his phone* Here, let me get a pic of you holding it for the first time!

Danica: Sure thing! Be sure to send it to me so I can put it on Magicam! *holding the violin and laughing* Uh...since this is the first time I’ve ever held one, I’m not sure if my hand placement is correct. 

Cater: Looks good to me, now smile for the camera! *he takes the pic* Awesome, flawless as always! And Lilia said he’ll help you learn to play it at our next meeting.

Danica: I’m looking forward to it! So, shall we begin our interview?

~~~

Cater: Alrighty then! The first interview question is: if you could bring one person with you to a deserted island, who would it be? Here’s the catch though: it can’t be anyone from your dorm.

Danica: No one from Pomefiore? Aww, well that rules out Rook-san then! He’d be my first pick. 

Cater: Really? Why is that?

Danica: He might be in Pomefiore, but he’s pretty strong and very resourceful. He has very keen senses too, the way he can see things from very far distances is quite a feat. And I remember after beanfest, he told me he was able to find me because of the scented lotion I was using. It’s a very light scent so I have no idea how he was able to do that! 

Cater: Rook’s senses are crazy powerful, he seems almost inhuman sometimes! 

Danica: *giggles* But I digress, let me answer the question properly. Hmmm, well, if not Rook, I’d say my classmate Jack. Jack Howl from Savannaclaw. 

Cater: Jack-kun, huh? Why would you pick him?

Danica: I’d pick Jack for a lot of the same reasons I’d pick Rook, he’s resourceful, has keen senses, but he’s also very levelheaded, thoughtful and quick to find solutions to problems. Jack is also from a region of Shaftlands further north of Pyroxene, it gets very cold and snowy in those parts. So he has to has to have pretty strong stamina to be able to tolerate such a harsh climate. In short, the perfect combination of brains and brawns! 

Cater: You two seem to get along well, and he’s definitely got that big brother vibe to him so he’d make sure you stay safe. 

Danica: That’s another reason why I’d pick Jack. You see, he has a lot of the same qualities of my own older brother. 

Cater: Your own big brother? What’s he like?

Danica: He’s not a muscular as Jack, but he’s very kind and levelheaded. Because he works a lot with our parents, he can be a little distant but if I ever need help, he’ll be the first to come to my aid. I remember, right before coming to NRC for my orientation, our parents were gone on some business venture but he chose to stay behind to see me off. He ended up missing some big meeting and our dad lectured him for it, but he didn’t want me to be alone before leaving for school. That...meant a lot to me. 

Cater: Ah I get it now! He sure sounds nice, I’d sure like to meet him one day. 

~~~

Cater: Onto the next question!

Danica: Ask away!

Cater: If you were to transfer to another dorm, which would it be?

Danica: Transfer out of Pomefiore?! I...wow...I can hardly imagine such a thing anymore! 

Cater: Anymore?

Danica: Before coming to NRC, Taima and I went to the same school and we were as much besties as we are now. I really wanted to be in the same dorm as her but fate had other plans. 

Cater: She’s in Scarabia right? I’m guessing that’s where you’d wanna transfer to right?

Danica: You’d think so, but I’ve come to realize that Pomefiore is the most ideal dorm for me. And there’s a few downsides to being in Scarabia that would rule it out for me. Mostly the hot and arid climate, extreme heat is as bad for my skin as extreme cold. I can’t imagine being anywhere else but Pomefiore but if I HAD to choose another dorm, it would be Diasomnia. 

Cater: Diasomnia?! I’ll be real, I wasn’t expecting that! 

Danica: Well after Pomefiore, I really like the aesthetic of Diasomnia’s dorm. It’s similarly noble but has a darker, more mysterious feel that I can’t help but be drawn to. Their dorm uniform is very regal too so I think I’d like wearing one.

Cater: I can definitely see you rocking a Diasomnia uniform! You’d look super cute in any of the other dorm uniforms but Diasomia’s would bring out your natural elegance! And you’d be in the same dorm as Lilia and Vidaria!

Danica: That’s another plus to Diasomnia since I like both of them. But the biggest reason, I really admire the Thorn Fairy’s noble spirit and fierce regality! I remember we were going over the Great Seven in my magic history class and Professor Trein showed us a portrait of her. The first thing that struck me was how gorgeous she was! Not as beautiful as the Fairest Queen but very compelling in her own right. I could almost feel her power seeping through the portrait. She was certain to be very powerful I’d hate to get on her bad side! I would love to learn more about her and what made her such a powerful sorceress. 

Cater: *laughs* I get that, all the stories I’ve heard about her make her sound like a force to be reckoned with! Diasomnia students are all super crazy skilled with their magic, especially Malleus! 

~~~

Cater: OK! That wraps up our interview! *smirks evilly* You know what that means, right?

Danica: It’s time for you to give me my gift of good luck, right? *grins* I’m ready!

Cater: Heh heh, you sound pretty excited about this, Dani-chan! 

Danica: Of course! It’s a Night Raven College tradition and as a freshman, I’m happy to finally experience this!

Cater: Awwe, I’m happy to be initiating you, freshie! But before we start, let me set up my camera. This is a special moment for you as an NRC student so we gotta make a memory of it! 

(...)

Cater: There! All set up! Are ya ready?

Danica: Don’t hold back, Cater-san! Give me all ya got! 

Cater: Don’t worry, I don’t plan to! Here we go! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANICA!!!

Danica: <3

🥧🥧🥧

[spindash]

well i dont use twitter anymore but i have some screencaps of my nsb save so umm under the cut i guess just cuz i like having them somewhere :-) not as many as my mt komorebi save cuz im having fun and keep forgetting to take pics L

ok took the tots to sulani and took 0 pics of them however mazarine did get to chat up a milf for awhile but she never called me back </3 And she is a milf because she has three children i remember giving her makeover for my save file

GOT A KITTEN!!! did you know toddlers can pick up kittens because i did NOT and oh my god. its really cute

bess sterling would not leave mazarine the fuck alone so i invited her over to start a fight but all max wanted to do was play with her and it was kindof sweet so instead mazarine asked her on a date LMAO

umm twins aged up just in time to watch a horror movie for halloween and ignacio wouldnt put down his favorite toy (corn with googly eyes) and then max got so scared she cried. but she still said horror is her favorite genre of movie. they actually had a whole birthday party in the park and it was fun and cute but i didnt take any pictures because oh my god parties are a nightmare to handle

went out to eat to celebrate mazarine reaching the top level in the scientist career yipppeeee except it took one million years for them to figure out how booths work and then bess didnt get her meal and they went home at 4am awesome game pack no notes. also the lighting inside was so ugly so sorry

went to mt komorebi where max met nanami and they built a snowman together yaaaay already plannign ahead her and max might date but who knows i think gen 2 is super noncommittal LOL oh also while they were there ignacio went snowboarding and fell off and knocked out his first tooth so congrats ignacio

and finally :-) ignacio was feeling embarrassed about his school prank to release hundreds of gerbils in the hallways going wrong. SAD.. ok thats it thankyou for coming on this journey with me

[samsaraandbeyond]

OC Introduction: Avero

Art by Zeus_Susie

"My, I recall reading stories about you."

Design

Art by me, drawn whoever the fuck knows when at this point

ok so fun fact about the particular drawing above

I drew this character and then lost the file completely. I had shown a friend a screencap of the drawing in-progress so I went into those DMs and downloaded that but it was blurry because it was a screencap AND it was outdated so I had to draw certain parts over again at a lower resolution.

I didn't feel like bothering with the hands and feet at any point, you can see I didn't bother lining it at all I was so done.

also there's a resemblance to a certain other character

Abilities / Traits

Future Vision / Precognition

Avero has the ability to see into probable futures!

And oh boy does it have some drawbacks!

The visions he receives don't take Avero's own actions into account. He can rehearse good pick-up lines before a date but he'll never be able to know if they would land.

He can only see so far into the future before it becomes physically and mentally straining.

He can only see so many visions of possibilities before it becomes physically and mentally straining

This ability may fail to trigger if he tries to force it.

This ability can randomly activate without his consent.

PROBABLE futures.

Still, this is better than guessing as Avero sees possibilities that he would never think of and the visions he receives are what would exactly happen. If you had Avero's ability and received a vision of a meteorite crashing through your wall and crushing you, the fact that its even in your pool of possibilities should be enough of a hint that you should probably move away from it.

"I see you stubbing your toe and crying, stubbing your toe and falling, and stubbing your toe as you knock the chair over and break it into several pieces. I suggest moving it out of the way." - Avero

Expert Magic Mastery

Robin (Fire Emblem)

From black magic, white magic, illusions, geomancy, time magic, shapeshifting, teleportation, to summoning, Avero has knowledge of them all.

Despite knowing many combat orientated spells, Avero is inexperienced with combat overall.

"Brains over brawn, as they say." - Avero

Personality

(maybe the backstory should be read first as it explains the personality idk)

Avero was powerful and man he knows it and will brag about it.

As someone who hasn't experienced any real struggles, he carries a condescending tone about him when exposed to people dealing with problems. He considers hardships as something that makes life interesting yet wouldn't want to experience it for himself, rather spectate it happening to others.

When put into situations he doesn't have as much control over, he quickly reveals how low is patience truly is.

"I see all of you as characters in a play. What's with the sour face? Don't get me confused; it's a very entertaining play!" - Avero

Backstory

Avero was born in all the right circumstances.

Created in The Grand Library, a magnificent structure housing untold levels of magic, Avero spends his days occupying himself with its innumerable amount of content. The library houses books that tell the stories of the other characters and the many routes they could have taken, televisions that broadcasts the adventures of other worlds, and even video games that allows them to influence the flow of time in other dimensions.

Simply put, The Grand Library is the greatest entertainment center currently known in Samsara. With a limitless supply of foods and luxuries most could only dream of, Avero is living the life spectating the adventures of others. He desires nothing more.

"I know you! You betrayed your lover in the hopes that your father would accept you! Shame that didn't turn out as planned." - Avero

[ghoste-catte]

I was curious what advice would you give to someone new to writing fics? I've been wanting to get back into it but haven't seriously written something since high school. I hope this isn't an annoying question or anything!

Not an annoying question at all! I'm just a little worried that I won't have terribly good or useful advice. To be honest, I also sort of stopped writing in earnest right as I finished high school, and didn't pick it back up until my late 20s. It's certainly an adjustment! But I think the few things that really helped me get back into writing fic as a hobby and something I spend quite a bit of time on would be:

Write for yourself first, then find your other motivations. My original inspiration in getting back into fic writing was that there just were not that many fics I liked for my favorite pairing, and I wanted more of them, and I especially wanted more with the tropes and characterizations I wanted to see. I think at the very core of anything you need that internal spark that drives you. At the same time, for me at least, if I just relied on my own drive, I would not get much done; I need some external guardrails. So having people send prompts, or writing for particular events, or writing stuff for friends really helps me to get my ass in gear and finish stuff. That may not be the perfect motivator for you, and that's fine! You just gotta figure out what is.

Be open to inspiration. Anything and everything can be spun out into a story with the right tweaking. Obviously stuff like music is a classic inspiration source, but I've also pulled ideas from poetry, from memes, from Reddit threads, from YouTube videos, from rambling conversations on Discord and from real life to make fics out of. So many times, someone will post a silly Twitter screencap, and I'll think, There's a fic in this. And a lot of the time, there is! Research is a wonderful thing, but so is serendipity. If you're out there actively looking for ideas, eventually one that you like will stumble past you.

Find your community. I can genuinely say I never would have finished more than one fic if I didn't have fandom friends to talk to about even stupid headcanons, to bounce ideas off of, and to encourage me (and to encourage them in turn!). Discord has been a godsend, and some of my closest online friends are people I met in the GaaLee discord server. As I've gotten more comfortable as a writer, I've also joined general writing servers and Reddit communities and have found them immensely helpful on both a motivational level (bingos, sprints, owe-me challenges) and on a craft level (plot workshopping and writing ethics and live grammar help). It's a lot easier to think about fic ideas and hash through problem moments when I have a constant stream of fandom-related chatter coming from the little people who live in my phone! Ao3 is an amazing website, and it's great as, well, an archive, but it isn't social media by design. If you want conversation and human connection and cheerleading, you've gotta forge out and find it.

Make it a habit ... If you want to produce anything longer than a couple hundred words, you really have to set aside time for it. And writing is just like knitting or dirt biking or painting little model figurines: the more you do it, the more easily it comes. When I was first getting back into the proper swing of things, I committed myself to 30 minutes of writing per week. Just 30 minutes. I didn't even hit that goal every week, but there were tons of weeks I got on a roll and went over that amount, and by the end of the year I'd written over 200,000 words. I used to spend an hour laboriously tip-tapping out 200 words, but now I can easily blow through 1k in a 50 minute sprint. It's all about training that muscle.

... But don't make it a chore. With fanfic, you aren't doing this as a job, and you aren't ultimately doing it for anyone other than you. That means you can take breaks when you need them, you can set deadlines and then fail to meet them, you can write stuff and then decide to never post it. When you start getting burnt out, when the practice loses the joy and energy, stop. There's no 'hustle' here. In our capitalist society we're so trained to push past our limits and keep going even when it hurts us, but the hobby you do for connection and relaxation and whatever else shouldn't be like that.

Ignore metrics. Sometimes stuff isn't gonna get hits, or kudos, or comments. There are some basic 'rules' as to the stuff that does and doesn't get traction, but every time you post something it's a roll of the dice. If you're focused on watching that kudos counter tick up, you will get bummed out fast. And any writer will tell you that the stuff you think is your best work will never be the stuff that gets the most accolades. So you have to find something else to give you a sense of success. For me, it's watching my wordcount go up in my stats and those occasional comments where someone has a lot to say and that one person who always leaves me a <3 emoji (and, shout out to @egregiousderp, having someone to have long one-on-one conversations with about the stuff that never made it to page).

Don't strive for perfection. It's really easy to want your first ever fic to be a complete showstopper, the best fic fandom has ever seen, hitting all the tropes and the ideas and the characterization that you just know fandom is missing and would be everyone's top favorite if only it was written. This is a trap. No one fic can be all things. Most people who want to write an epic as their very first venture will not see the end of that epic, because they haven't put in the practice hours to make something on that scale work. That's not to say you can't start out with a big, sprawling multichap, just don't expect it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread if you're just starting out, and be okay with abandoning it for greener pastures if you get to that point. Think of the first time someone makes a vase out of clay or bakes a loaf of bread. That's never their best vase or their best bread. If they keep up with it, they'll make more and better vases and loaves. Likewise, your first fic is probably not gonna be your best fic. See it for what it is: your launchpad.

You can't edit an empty page, but you can over-edit a full one. This kind of spins off of #7, but if the words aren't there, you can't fix them. Daydreams and headcanons are fantastic (and god, how many times have I wished for a speech-to-text engine that projected my falling asleep thoughts onto a Google doc for later perusal), but they aren't fic. If you want to write fic, you've gotta get comfortable with the idea of sloppy outlines and rough first drafts. You can't build a house without a frame and you can't build a man without a skeleton (I mean, you can, I guess, but he'd be one floppy man). The nice thing about fic is that it doesn't matter if that frame is structurally unsound or the skeleton has 18 too many bones, you can clean that up in the editing process. But you can't start hanging curtains and arranging furniture in something that doesn't even have walls. That's the process. But! Also know when to set down the editor's pen and say, "Okay, this is good enough for government work", and call it done. ("Done" doesn't have to mean "posted", but it does mean, "I'm done picking at this for now, and I'm gonna go write some more stuff".) Over-editing can make stuff seem laborious and forced, and it prevents you from actually improving. To continue belaboring the house metaphor, you can spend your whole life rearranging furniture in just one room, but the end result of that is a pretty narrow existence and a room with a lot of footprints and tracks in the carpet.

Write shit down. When you have ideas, jot them down--in a notebook, in a Google Doc, in the Notes app of your phone, in pen on the back of your hand. You think you will remember that brilliant line of dialogue or sparkling snippet of narration or genius plot that came to you in a dream, but you Will Not. Write it down. Write it down. Write it down! There have been so many times when a fic was completely saved by past!me having written down my shower thoughts about what happens next in the fic, that present!me had completely forgotten about and was floundering over.

Have fun with it! Try different stuff. Try stupid stuff. Try experimental stuff. Do stuff you've never done before that you aren't sure will work. It's important to get comfortable with your niche (for example, I know I'm never going to be the sort of person who writes intricate plots of intrigue or super long 100k epics or detailed battles), but you can't find that niche unless you explore lots of different niches! Figure out what you love and what you absolutely hate, and then keep doing the stuff you love.

Okay, so that was actually TEN things, but ... I hope you still found this helpful. Feel free to send another ask if any of this was confusing or unclear. Good luck with your fic writing and, if you want, send me a link to what you've written once you've written it! I'd love to read it.

[serasvictoria]

Stupid Games - Chapter 3 (Part 1)

Pairing: Ubbe x Reader, Hvitserk x Reader, Hvitserk x Reader x Ubbe

Rating: Explicit (I am not joking, there is a lot of sex in this one)

Word Count: 12.846 (yep, still going strong there)

Summary: You used to live next to the Lothbroks when you were younger, but you moved away and haven't seen them since. A wedding brings you back to town after many years and during a bachelorette party you run into the brothers again.

Notes: Is there even anything that I can say about this that’s not incoherent nonsense? Just sit back and enjoy the ride. That’s all I can say really.

And since this chapter is very very long, I had to split it up into two parts so I’m posting part one now and the second one tomorrow. And no, that is not cheating (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE).

Part One Part Two

Screencap provided by @underragingwaves. Other two images from Pinterest and Google.

Tagging @deans-ch-ch-cherrypie @ritual-unions-gotme @vikingstrash @pomegranates-and-blood @quantumlocked310 @adrille88 @actual-queen-of-hell @youbloodymadgenius @punkrocknpearls @zuxiezendler

When you finally set foot in the apartment that Ubbe shared with Hvitserk, you were suddenly reduced to nothing but a bundle of nerves.

It had a lot to do with Ubbe’s promise of “no more interruptions” the night before and the possible implications of those words had sent your heart racing every time you had thought about it. But now that you were actually here, where everything would end up happening, it made it a lot more real all of a sudden.

Ubbe for his part had barely mentioned anything about his promise during the ride over here. Conversation had been light and casual. Instead he had talked about how much fun last night had been and how great it had been to see you again. It wasn’t until he practically had you in tears when he started apologising about how you and your friends had been subjected to Hvitserk’s awful dancing, that you realised that he must have picked up on your nerves and was doing his best to make you think of other things entirely.

It had worked a charm actually, but it disappeared like snow in the sun now that you had actually stepped over the threshold.

After you kicked your shoes off, his hand moved to your lower back and he gave you a gentle push to make you move forward since you had come to a complete stop in the middle of the hallway that led into the huge living room. The space was open-plan with a ridiculously large television on the right wall with seating around it, a dining table which you suspected they normally used to dump various things on and a kitchen with an island to the left.

You were surprised to see Hvitserk standing in the kitchen, back turned to you, stirring the contents of one of the pots that he was hanging over. You briefly looked back at Ubbe, a frown creasing your brow, but he merely shrugged. The thing was that while you knew that Hvitserk loved to eat, you had no idea that he could even cook. This was the same guy that had burned onions and set off the fire alarm when he had tried to make an omelette once. Whenever he offered to make toast, it was usually burnt to a crisp. He had been a complete disaster in the kitchen.

But watching him now was like watching his mother. Despite the fact that the Lothbroks had enough money to hire a small army of people who would be able to perform every menial little task for them, Aslaug had always insisted on cooking dinner whenever she had the time to do so and she was such a good cook that people would sometimes ask her why she had even chosen to go into finances to begin with. Despite only seeing him from the back, Hvitserk was displaying the same kind of confidence that his mother had and while you had never noticed any similarities between them whilst growing up, they were so incredibly obvious to you now.

“Company!” You were snapped out of your daze when Ubbe suddenly called out to his brother and when Hvitserk turned around, a huge smile graced his features and then he bounded over to where you were standing like some overexcited puppy. Ubbe leaned in and whispered in your ear quickly, “He’s been very excited about this.”

When Hvitserk reached you, you had only just managed to offer him a smile and before you even got a chance to say anything, he put his hands on your cheeks and pressed such a passionate kiss on your lips that your knees actually buckled beneath you.

Things happened pretty quickly after that.

You were pressed back against Ubbe’s chest who wrapped an arm around your waist to ensure that you didn’t sag down onto the floor. You could feel the vibrations of his low chuckle against your back. Hvitserk hardly seemed to notice or care about any of this and instead kept up his intense kiss until he was forced to come up for air.

“Hey,” he said as he finally greeted you with an almost embarrassed laugh. “Ubbe’s turn.”

Again, you wished that you had been able to get a word in somewhere, but very much like the night before, the full force of the Lothbrok brothers was so powerful that it was useless to even attempt to resist. Not that you were going to do that anyway. Only an idiot would turn down an opportunity like this.

Hvitserk’s hands went down to your hips and he spun you around so fast that your hands connected with Ubbe’s chest. He flashed you a quick grin before dipping his head down and kissing you with a similar intensity. You moaned when he slipped his tongue between your lips and claimed your mouth. Hvitserk kept himself busy by running his hands up and down your sides while his teeth nipped at your neck.

A disappointed whine escaped from your lips when Ubbe pulled away suddenly and looked at Hvitserk over the top of your head. “Don’t burn the food, Serk.”

“Oh shit.” Hvitserk squeezed your ass once before he sped back into the kitchen again. “Got distracted!”

“It’s okay.” Ubbe ran a few fingers down your jaw to make you focus on him again. “How are those nerves?”

“Fine!” The word came out as an unnecessarily loud squeak. Oh yes, no more nerves. They were definitely gone. You were feeling something else entirely at the moment. “I-I never knew that…”

“Both of us?” Ubbe was enjoying watching you squirm under his gaze a little bit too much and you could feel your cheeks turn red because of it. “Are you blushing?” He leaned forward and his beard tickled against your jaw as he continued talking. “You keep doing that and I’ll drag you to the bedroom right now. Fuck dinner. I’ll skip straight to dessert.”

“Ubbe!” You pushed at his chest, but it was like your hand connected with a brick wall. There was no give whatsoever and you were fairly certain that he hadn’t even noticed it. “I just never knew it was an option, okay?”

“If you want it to be.” He grabbed your hand, brought it up to his lips and brushed them over your knuckles. “Do you want it to be?” The ability to make even one coherent word come out of your throat appeared to have left you entirely and all you could do was nod in answer to his question. He started laughing and when he stepped to the side, you thought that he’d stop teasing you, but he wasn’t going to let you off the hook just yet. “Oh, one more question.” He plucked at your shoulder, making it seem like he’d just noticed a stray hair on your black button down shirt. “Are you on birth control?”

“Euh.” Unsurprisingly, the question caught you off guard entirely and you looked up at him curiously. “Yes. But why is that…”

The way that his mouth suddenly spread into a wide grin didn’t mean anything good now, did it? You had a feeling that you’d walked straight into a trap.

“No reason.” His remark sounded almost casual, like he had merely been curious, but then his voice turned even lower. “I was asking for Serk.” He jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen and your eyes darted over to his brother who was entirely oblivious to the conversation that you and Ubbe were having. Though why Hvitserk wanted to know if you were on the pill was completely beyond you at the moment. “See, he can’t get enough of creampies. Loves them...”

Ubbe trailed off and your eyes widened when his words sank in. Hvitserk loves… oh my god. You were still looking at his back when Ubbe suddenly started laughing loudly and when his younger brother turned around to see what was so funny, your blush suddenly returned and you quickly focused on the ground like you had just noticed a rather offensive stain in the carpet.

“What’s so funny?” Hvitserk called out. “Let me in on the joke as well.”

“Nothing,” Ubbe replied. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Don’t you dare!” You hissed the words at him and attempted to fix him with a glare that only made him laugh harder. “Ubbe, please don’t tell him.”

“Alright, alright.” He held his hands up in defeat and kissed your forehead. “Only teasing.” He put an arm around your shoulder and pulled you along into the kitchen. “Come on. I haven’t even offered you a drink yet and you look thirsty as hell...”

Your elbow sharply connected with his side. You weren’t entirely sure how much more of his teasing you would be able to take. Truth be told, you would just be glad if you could make it through dinner without blushing furiously every five seconds. Though knowing Ubbe, he wasn’t going to make it easy for you.

Not in a million years.

*****

Dinner was nothing short of excellent. And despite many sneaky remarks that Ubbe kept throwing into the conversation, particularly in regards to dessert, you hadn’t accidentally choked on anything once nor had your cheeks been as red as tomatoes the entire time. Hvitserk had been none the wiser about anything, but he kept looking at you out of the corner of his eye whenever Ubbe made another one of his remarks just to gauge your reaction.

“Serk, that was amazing.” Your plate was so clean that they’d be able to put it back in between the clean plates. No one would even notice. “Now if only you’d clean as well, you’d make someone the perfect little housewife.”

“Not gonna happen,” he replied with a laugh as he started clearing the empty plates away. He lingered behind your chair for a bit longer than was necessary, his hands brushing against you in a way that he probably thought would come across as accidental. “If you’d be willing to clean though…”

“I’m on holiday,” you said firmly. “And your guest. So no way.” You took a sip of your drink and swirled the liquid around in your glass while Hvitserk put the plates in the sink and Ubbe remained seated, trying to make it look like he was focused on his mobile but he wasn’t fooling you for one second. “I’m not here to fulfill your domestic fantasies, Lothbrok.”

“Ooooh. Someone called you out, brother.”

“Apparently.” Hvitserk came up behind your chair again and started running his hands up and down your arms. “Now how did you know about that?”

“Did you think you were hiding it?” You turned your head so that you could look at him and he could see your smirk. “I spent a lot of time over at your house when I was a kid, remember?” The Lothbroks used to have a housekeeper who’d make them lunch in the afternoons while Aslaug was at work and Hvitserk had always been quite enamoured with her. “What was the name of your housekeeper?”

“Louise,” Ubbe replied without missing a beat.

“What about her?” Hvitserk tried to act like he had no idea what you were talking about, but it was painfully obvious that you’d just hit the nail on the head.

“You were so upset when she left. Was she your first crush?” Ubbe covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing and Hvitserk’s cheeks coloured until they were a light dusty pink. “She was, wasn’t she? Aw. So adorable. Little Hvitserk and his first cru-ah!”

Your words turned into a shriek when Hvitserk pulled your chair back, lifted you up and sat you down on the table. He pushed your thighs open and stood between them. All he did was look at you for a short while, a curious expression on his face that you weren’t able to read. Self-control wasn’t exactly one of the things that Hvitserk excelled at so how he even managed to simply look you in the eye without doing anything was anybody’s guess. The anticipation was already killing you. It wasn’t until you saw the corners of his mouth quirk up, that you knew that he wasn’t going to make you wait any longer.

The first kiss he gave you was bordering on chaste. It was a stark contrast to the usual hungry, sloppy and needy kisses that Hvitserk always gave. When he moved in again, you thought that he’d give you a proper kiss now, but instead he moved his mouth to your ear and started whispering, obviously not wanting Ubbe to overhear him.

“She was not my first crush.” Why he had to ensure that that little piece of information was for your ears only was not exactly clear at that very moment, but his voice went even softer when he spoke his next words. “You were.”

An involuntary gasp may have escaped from your lips. You couldn’t remember. You could remember how your heart skipped a beat however. It was just two words. That’s all it was. But in a way it felt as if he was renewing his interest, staking a claim on your heart that he had all through your teenage years and something that, you supposed, had never really left at all.

“That was hard,” he said with an exhale as he dropped his head on your shoulder. His fingers were dancing up and down your thighs, his touch feathery light. A low, almost nervous chuckle rumbled in his chest and he turned his head so his lips were brushing against your neck. He nuzzled you then and took in a deep breath through his nostrils. “How do you always smell so sweet?”

Just like that the moment had passed. You wanted so badly to comment on it, but you could tell from the way that Hvitserk held himself, his back a bit more straight than before and his touch more insistent, that he had recollected himself. So even if you decided to bring his attention back to his earlier confession, he would simply brush you off.

“Do I?”

“Hmmm.” He breathed in again and you could tell that he was smiling. “You do. Very sweet.”

“And how do I taste?”

“Even sweeter.” You turned your head to catch his eye since it felt like he was somehow unwilling to look at you. His hazel eyes met yours, corners of his eyes crinkling with mirth. He reached a hand up so he could brush his thumb over your lips. “Like the sweetest nectar of the Gods.”

Putting your hand on his chest, you pushed him away from you and his eyebrows were raised when you did this, wondering why you had made him break contact with you. You cupped his face and before he could distract you any further with his sweet words, you closed the distance and captured his lips with yours. His hips started jerking up against your core and you moaned into his mouth. The kiss turned practically feral, a clash of lips, tongue and teeth.

Hvitserk broke away first, to take in a deep breath of air since neither of you was willing to let the other come up for air. His hand was on your collarbone and he pushed until you were laying on the wooden surface of the table. His hand moved over your sternum and down over your stomach until his fingers curled underneath the top of your jeans. He pulled you against him, his hips rutting into you so you could feel exactly how hard he was already.

“Not on the table, kids.”

Ubbe’s deadpan voice came from right next to you. You’d almost entirely forgotten that he was there, but when you looked at him you could see the amusement in his eyes. Hvitserk grabbed your hands, pulled you against him and lifted you up. You wrapped your legs around his waist and he carried you over to the couch. He dropped you down onto it with a laugh and got on top of you, so he could resume grinding his hips against yours.

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, you pulled him closer so you could murmur against his lips, “I want you. Now.”

“You sure?” He looked ecstatic when you nodded, his hands already making swift work at opening the buttons of your shirt. “You have no idea how long I wanted this,” he said with a low voice.

“Really now,” you replied with a grin. He opened his mouth to speak, but you cut him off. “Shut up and kiss me.”

“Whatever you want.” His lips crashed against yours and you could tell that he was smiling again. His movements were hurried and his hands didn’t seem to know what part of your body to focus on so they were all over the place. When he finally decided to settle them at the top of your jeans so he could yank them open, his mobile chirped to life and vibrated in his pocket. “Fuck.” He ignored it at first, but when it went off again he pulled away with an apologetic look on his face and dug his mobile out of his pocket. “Goddammit.”

“What is it?”

“Fucking Ivar.” The annoyance was immediately apparent in his voice. He pressed his lips against yours one final time before he got to his feet. “Hold that thought, hot stuff.”

“The fuck. Can’t it wait?” It was a stupid remark to make, you knew that. Ivar waits for no man. He had exclaimed that loudly multiple times when he was still a young boy and knowing him, he probably still lived by those words now. Ivar would just keep texting Hvitserk until he would reply.

“He needs me. Now apparently.” You reached for your own phone with the intention to tell Ivar that his brother was in the middle of something and that he could fuck the hell off, but Hvitserk’s hand covered your screen. “Fifteen minutes. Tops.” He pressed your head back against the cushions and kissed you again. “I’m so sorry about this,” he whispered. “I’ll fucking kill him before I leave so he won’t interupt anything again.”

“I’ll kill him myself if he does that,” you replied with a wry grin. “Now go and make it snappy.”

His hazel eyes went up and down your body. Your head was thrown back and your hair was a mess. Your shirt was opened all the way to give him an unobstructed view of your heaving breasts which were practically begging to be released from their lacey prison. Your legs were open wide and your jeans unbuttoned so he could just see part of the matching black lace panties that you wore underneath. He was conflicted, you could see that plainly on his face. He readjusted himself in his black trousers, hand lingering over the front a little bit longer than was necessary.

For a few seconds, you played with the thought to just lean forward and free his erection from his trousers yourself so you could wrap your lips around him. That would make him forget all about Ivar and his stupid texts. To tease him a little bit more, you sucked a finger into your mouth. Hvitserk swore under his breath, his eyes wide as dinner plates by now. He moved swiftly, looming over you and tightened his fingers in your hair so he could yank on the strands.

“Tease.” He hissed the word in your ear and then licked a stripe over your jaw. “I’ll get back at you for that.”

“You make me wait any longer and I might not let you.”

“Fighting words,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You’d better.” When he didn’t move, you pushed at his chest roughly to make him go. “You might as well start praying that I don’t leave in the meantime.”

“You wouldn’t.” He gasped and clutched at his chest dramatically. The enjoyment was clearly visible in his eyes which never seemed to lose its sparkle. His mobile vibrated again and he swore loudly. “Fuck. Yes! On my way!”

You got one last look and then he disappeared down the hallway as fast as he could. You heard the front door bang shut in its frame not too long after. When you moved your hands up to the buttons of your shirt with the intention of closing them, you suddenly heard Ubbe’s low voice which made a trail of bumps appear on your arms.

“Leave it.” You dropped your hands to your side and he made his way over to where you were sitting, like he was a predator that was stalking his prey. When he was right in front of you, he suddenly slammed a sleek black mobile down on the coffee table in front of you. “Alone at last.”

“Wait a minute.” Your eyes went from the mobile up to his face. You knew that mobile and you were pretty sure it wasn’t his. “You took Ivar’s phone?”

“Yep.” Ubbe grinned triumphantly. “Swiped it this afternoon.”

“How did you even unlock it?”

“Ivar’s always the smartest person in the room, but he shouldn’t use his birthday as a code.” You could do little else but laugh. It was just such an Ivar thing to do. “So. Seeing as we’re alone right now and my brother warmed you up for me, how about we pick up where he left off?”

“Thanks to you.”

“Details.” Ubbe waved his hand in front of his face and leaned down to grab your hand so he could hoist you up from the couch. Your body connected with his chest roughly and his large hands settled on your ass. “Told you yesterday no one was going to interrupt us.”

“I just didn’t think you’d get rid of poor Serk.”

“Fuck him.” He dipped his head down so he could sink his teeth into your neck. “He can have what’s left of you.”

“You’re so generous.”

“He’s lucky I’m even willing to share at all.” He tugged on the back of your shirt, pulled it down your arms roughly and then tossed it on the floor. “I’m the oldest so I’m pulling rank here.”

“Always the alpha.”

He shrugged in reply to your statement and then his hands unhooked your bra deftly. You pushed at his chest, earning you a low chuckle when he made it clear that he wasn’t going to let you go that easily, but you persisted until he released you. Stepping away from him, you held your bra up with one hand so it still covered your chest and slid the straps down your arms in a move that you hoped was seductive. It seemed to be working for him and he licked his lips in anticipation.

Turning your back to him, you removed the bra while looking over your shoulder and tossed it in the general direction of the front door so that Hvitserk would find it as soon as he came back in. You had intended to turn around slowly, covering your breasts with your hands to make Ubbe wait just that little bit longer, but he had other ideas apparently. He whirled you around and before you knew what hit you, he had lifted you up off the floor and carried you in the direction of another hallway where you assumed their bedrooms were.

“He told you, didn’t he?”

“What do you think he told me?”

“About his crush,” he scoffed, even if there was no maliciousness behind his voice. “Took him long enough to actually tell you.” Ubbe practically kicked one of the doors open and you barely had a chance to take in your new surroundings before he unceremoniously dropped you on the bed. “He thinks I don’t know.”

“Serk has never been particularly subtle.” Even if you never had any idea that he had even thought of you in that particular way at the time. Ubbe’s hands were at the top of your jeans and pulled them down your legs roughly until you were wearing nothing but your panties and a pair of socks. “Careful now.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything.” He whipped his own shirt off and tossed it into the hallway. Your throat went dry when you took his bare chest, but he was moving so fast that there was hardly an opportunity to take it in. “You have no idea how many times I would wake up in the middle of the night only to be treated to the view of him jerking off while he was moaning your name.”

“I did not need to know that.”

“Too late.” He grinned at you and got out of his jeans at lightning speed. Your eyes were drawn down to his boxer shorts or to be more precise, to what was inside them. His grin grew, turning more wild, and he bared his teeth at you in a way that was making your pussy throb. “Come here.” He beckoned at you with his index finger and you moved until you were sitting on the edge of the bed. “Take ‘em off.”

“Mine or yours?”

“Hmmm.” Ubbe took a step closer and while you desperately tried to maintain eye contact, that was kind of hard to do when he was practically shoving his crotch in your face. “Mine.”

“Like how you made it seem like you were weighing your options.”

“I thought that it was a nice touch.” He put his hand on the back of your head and made you look straight ahead. It made you wonder how forceful he would end up being if you tried to stretch it out a little bit longer. Even if the urge to get him out of his boxers as fast as you could so he could bury his cock inside you was the only thing that was on your mind right now, teasing him just a little bit might be fun too. “You gonna move or what?”

“Still thinking about it.” He pulled on your hair hard enough to make you gasp which only made him do it again before releasing you. “I thought that Serk was the one with control issues.”

“I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“I was going to treat it like some grand unveiling.” Hooking your fingers in the elastic band of his boxers, you pulled the fabric down low enough so his cock could spring free. “You ruined it now.”

“Another time, princess.” It was hard to keep your mind straight when his massive erection was right in your line of vision. The fact that this was the third Lothbrok dick that you’d seen in a little under 24 hours time did not escape you. Ubbe planted his hands on his hips as he looked down at you. “Well?” Even if it was obvious what he wanted you to do, you still tried to feign ignorance by attempting to look surprised. “It’s not gonna suck itself.”

Leaning forward far enough so your lips were almost touching the tip, you paused for a few seconds to amp up the tension just a tiny bit more, before pressing a gentle kiss on it. You licked the drops of pre-cum from your lips and then finally took him in your mouth, humming as you sucked him down deeper. There was no way that you could take him all the way in without choking on his impressive length, but you’d damn well try to take him as far down as your throat would allow.

He gave the back of your head an almost gentle stroke, but as soon as his cock hit the back of your throat he held you there. It took everything you had not to gag, but you managed to fight the urge for long enough until he loosened his grip on you. When you looked up at him, the wide grin that was playing on his lips told you enough. He loved seeing you struggle just now. He didn’t have to force you into doing it again, you did it willingly the second time. You even managed to make a little gagging noise which he answered with a groan as you kept your lips wrapped around his shaft until it got uncomfortable and you were forced to release him.

“Good girl.” The way that he patted your head should have been demeaning, but hearing him praise you like that made a flash of heat rush straight to your core and you rubbed your thighs together just to ease a little bit of the pressure. His eyes practically swelled with pride when you did it again. Saliva was starting to dribble down your chin, but you hardly cared. You were fully expecting to be completely wrecked before this evening was over anyway. His hand shifted down to your jaw, his thumb caressing you gently before pushing you away. “Your turn.”

He leaned down to grab your last remaining piece of clothing and as soon as you lifted your ass from the bed, he yanked them down your legs and tossed it over his shoulder. When he didn’t make another move, you scooted back on the bed and spread your legs wide open for him. Feeling the slightly cooler air hit your private parts brought some of that relief that you desperately sought, but it didn’t last long sadly enough. The heat was reignited when you noticed Ubbe’s stern gaze. It was so intense that you were practically burning up. He also didn’t appear in any hurry to move.

“If you’re not coming to help me out…” Your right hand slithered down your chest and stomach, running your fingers over your mound and dipping them down lower still until you felt the juices that were already coating your pussy. You started rubbing yourself lazily, your legs splayed so wide open that he got a very clear view of what you were doing to yourself. “Ubbe…” You moaned his name and tilted your hips up against your hand. “You just going to watch me?”

“Looks like you’re doing pretty well there, sweetheart.”

“It would feel even better if you did it.”

“Oh yeah?” You flexed your fingers and slowly worked one into yourself. “Keep doing that.” His voice was a low growl, making you add another finger and pushing them deeper inside yourself. He finally got on the bed, crawled over to you and settled down on his stomach. His lips were at the top of your thigh, eyes fixed on what you were doing to yourself, his pupils so blown out that they were almost black as he edged ever closer to the top of your legs. “Just like that, princess.”

His beard tickled your sensitive skin with every kiss and every nip of his teeth. When he was close enough, he closed the gap and dipped his head down as he started licking around your fingers. He didn’t move your hand away so he barely had enough room to work with, but feeling his hot breath down there in combination with his tongue which kept flicking out was enough for now. You cried out, your digits halting their movement completely when his tongue started hitting you in all the right places.

After last night, you were convinced that Hvitserk was some veritable pussy god, but holy shit, Ubbe knew his way around a woman’s private parts as well. You had no idea who had been giving who pointers when it came down to this, but you were suddenly very jealous of every woman that had preceded you.

And you were going to have them both, weren’t you? That’s what this entire evening had been leading up to. How could you ever want anything else when this night was over? They’d ruin you for all other men. You just knew it.

“Oh god! Ubbe!” When you cried out his name, he pulled your static hand away and covered your slit with his mouth, shoving his tongue as deep down your channel as it could go. “Don’t stop! Don’t-” He started moaning against you, his thumb finding your clit just as you reached down to thread your fingers tightly through his hair. “F-f-feels s-so…”

The words died in your throat and you pushed your shoulders into the mattress, arching your back as your orgasm tore through you. Your body shuddered, muscles twitching, and you emitted one final helpless cry before you collapsed back onto the bed. There was little time to come down from your high, because Ubbe pushed himself up and covered your body with his a split second later.

His lips crashed into yours, his face still wet with your arousal. He started pushing his hips against yours insistently and for a few seconds, you thought that he’d push himself into you so he could feel your walls fluttering around his cock. Your legs started moving on their own, wrapping around his hips to pull him in closer, to let him know that you were ready for him even if you had orgasmed only moments before.

You could hear a laugh rumbling in his chest and he pulled his lips away from yours, kissing his way up your jaw as he talked. “Not like that.” Despite his words, you only wrapped your legs tighter around him, thinking that he was only playing with you. “I want you on your hands and knees.” His lips moved up to your temple and then headed back down again. “That pretty face of yours pointing at the door.” He pressed his forehead against yours, his voice turning huskier as he spoke his next words. “So Hvitserk can come in to see me buried into you balls deep as I take you from behind on his bed.”

His hips started pressing against yours with some more urgency, cock sliding over your wet lips, serving as a little teaser. You both groaned in disappointment when he pulled away. Your movements were sluggish, the lovely tingly feeling that your climax had brought you was still slowly ebbing away. Ubbe pulled you against his chest when you were finally sitting up and pressed a lingering kiss on your lips, his tongue darting over your lips so fast it felt like you had imagined it.

“Hands and knees, princess.” He repeated his words, even if you had not forgotten them. You didn’t think you’d ever forget about this. You moved down the bed, placing your hands a short distance away from the edge and then pushed your hips up until you were on your knees. “You look beautiful like this.”

You looked at him over your shoulder, feeling incredibly exposed in this position, but also incredibly sexy. His eyes remained on your hind quarters when you wiggled your hips from side to side. You caught a flash of movement from the corner of your eye and then his hand connected with your ass. You took in a sharp inhale of air through your teeth. The spot where he had hit you instantly stung and felt hot. Your skin was burning already. His hand connected with the other cheek, smacking you harder this time. The aim of this was probably to have the red imprint of his hand on the skin of your behind to give him something to look at when he was fucking you.

After a few more blows, you were half expecting that he would just keep doing this. And fuck, maybe if would be even hotter to have Hvitserk coming in while his brother was slapping your ass like this. You could probably come up with some reasons as to why you needed to be reprimanded to explain why Ubbe was even doing this to you to begin with. If Hvitserk even asked for a reason that was. Ubbe’s next touch was more gentle though, his hands touching your no doubt reddening skin lovingly. When he pressed his finger into your pliant flesh, you hissed and pulled away.

“Didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No.” You pushed back until your behind connected with his palm again. “Just a bit sore.”

“Got a bit carried away.” He ran his other hand down your spine and then he joined the other that was still gently rubbing the marks that he had created. He grabbed your cheeks roughly in his palms, spreading them for a few seconds. “We can pick this up at another time if you like it that much.”

“God yes.” You moaned the words at him. “I’d like that.”

“Good girl.”

One of his hands moved to the part where your waist met your hips, his fingers digging into your flesh. You could feel the mattress dip as he got into position behind you. The knuckles of his free hand briefly brushed up against your entrance and you tried to brace yourself. Ubbe was a big guy, so you were definitely going to feel this. When you felt him ease the tip in, you were fooled into thinking that he was going to take it slow, but he slipped inside you entirely with one quick thrust of his hips.

“Fuck, Ubbe.”

There was a grunt in reply and he held still for a few seconds which you were very thankful for. Then he grabbed your hips and started pumping in and out of you. Every time that he pushed back in, you squealed, completely unable to control your voice. He wasn’t giving you much time to prepare yourself for his next thrust either, because his pace was unrelenting. The only noises that were reverberating through the room was the sound of skin connecting with skin mixed in with the occasional groan from him and the noises that you couldn’t stop making.

Somewhere in between all this, you failed to notice the sound of the front door opening and banging shut. Since your discarded bra had landed somewhere in front of the small hallway that led into the living room, it had been pretty hard to miss. In fact, it had been one of the first things that Hvitserk’s eyes had landed on. After that, all he had to do was follow the trail of clothes and the noises that were coming from his bedroom.

When Hvitserk finally appeared, he leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded in front of his chest, looking very calm and relaxed despite what he had just walked in on. A flood of heat went straight to your pussy from being objectified like this. Hvitserk’s eyes betrayed that he was clearly liking what he saw, but he stayed in his position by the door and didn’t move. Not being able to stand his gaze, you tilted your head downward momentarily, just to stop yourself from coming too soon. That was clearly not allowed however for Ubbe suddenly grabbed a handful of your hair and yanked your head back up.

“Don’t.” His voice was a low growl and he slowed his brutal pace when your walls suddenly clenched down on him. “Keep looking at my brother. Let him see what an impatient girl you’ve been.” Hvitserk tilted his head to the side, a wide and wild grin suddenly appearing on his lips. “Couldn’t wait, could you? Just couldn’t wait until he got back.”

“N-no.” Your reply was nothing more than a whimper. Ubbe let go of your hair and his hand connected with your ass again. “No!”

When you cried out the word, there was a satisfied grunt behind you and Ubbe picked up the pace again. You gathered that this was probably all part of some game that they liked to play. Again with the games. Just what was it with these boys?

“You’ve been a very bad girl.” Hvitserk’s voice drew you back in and he walked up to the bed very casually. “Thought I told you to wait for me.”

“I-I’m s-sorry...”

“Are you though?” He dropped down on his knees in front of the bed and sat up straight so his face was level with yours. “Or do we need to teach you a lesson for being such an impatient girl?” Ubbe slid his hand down and you gasped when his index finger started rubbing circles around your clit. “She’s close, brother.” Hvitserk tried to make his words sound as laid-back as possible, but his excitement was bursting at the seams. “You should see her face.”

“I can tell,” Ubbe grunted back. “God, this fucking pussy…”

Right at the moment that your walls clamped down on Ubbe’s cock, at the exact moment where you were about to scream your release, Hvitserk suddenly grabbed your face, pressed his lips down on yours and smothered every cry that you emitted. Ubbe’s rhythm became more erratic, your walls were gripping him tightly as they tried to milk him. He managed a few more thrusts before he was pushed over the edge as well and unloaded himself deep inside of you.

Ubbe’s strong arms wrapped around your waist to stop you from collapsing completely, his forehead pressed against the top of your spine as his hot breath hit your skin. Hvitserk had never stopped kissing you, but when he finally broke the greedy kiss, you were left gasping for breath. Ubbe let you go and lay you down on the bed gently. He pulled out of you and you could feel him lay down next to you, but you were too exhausted to lift your head up to look at him.

When there was a sound of a slap somewhere above your head, you started laughing breathlessly before saying, “Did you just… high five… each other?” You swallowed in between some of the words since your throat was dry as parchment.

“Fuck yeah.” Hvitserk sounded thrilled and when you felt a few fingers scratch your scalp affectionately, you assumed they were his. “That was so fucking hot.”

“You are such kids.”

“Maybe, but you were so fucking into it.” The hand settled at the top of your spine and the fingers started drawing circles there. “I could see it in your face.”

“Not telling.” When a hand connected with your ass, you were positive that it belonged to Ubbe at least. “Hey. Sore.”

“Yeah, yeah.” His touch got more gentle and he started running it up to your lower back and then down again. You let out a contented sigh and settled into their comforting touches. “Don’t get too comfortable,” Ubbe said suddenly. “It’s Serk’s turn now and I’m willing to bet he’s been hard ever since he left.”

“I nutted in the car.” You and Ubbe both started laughing. “What! I can’t show up at Ivar’s place when I’m pitching a tent in my pants.”

“Fair point.” You rolled over so you were on your back and could look both of them in the face. “Just give me a minute, alright? You wore me out.” You poked a finger in Ubbe’s chest. Then you moved your hand to Hvitserk so you could run a few fingers down his cheek. “After that, I’m all yours, okay?” Hvitserk nodded when you caught his eye and his smile quite possibly got even bigger.

“Oh and brother,” Ubbe looked up at his younger brother with a quizzical expression on his face. “Ivar wants his phone back…”

[valkyrieblogs]

i haven't posted here in a bit, but like a lot of people, i've picked up the latest pokemon! i'm playing pokemon violet. i'll be tagging my posts with valkyrie plays pokemon violet so feel free to filter that tag if you're not interested! i'm doing more in-depth posts about it here, while posting more immediate reactions on my discord server (feel free to request that if we've ever talked!) and/or twitter/mastodon.

so, i haven't really paid much attention to anything surrounding this latest gen. like everyone else, i'm seeing all the glitches going around (most of which i think are hilarious, but i also understand that things shouldn't have been so rushed that the game launched with all them). otherwise, i haven't been too into how this particular game looks. (i really enjoyed the visuals in swsh, for comparison.) that said, hoping i'll still have fun?

immediately noticing issues even in character creation, where my character keeps having their blinking animation freeze. full disclosure: i'm playing on a launch switch, and i am currently playing handheld. i'll probably switch to docked to see if that's any better. i've also heard reports that the game runs into memory leaks, so it's best to save and restart every few hours, ideally.

here's hoping we get a patch soon to help with some of this.

anyway! character. when i'm playing games that tend to gender you, i usually default to using the name "ezra", since that isn't me. i'll be using that here, too. i used that in swsh, and i'm sort of modeling this character off of that one, replete with obnoxious colours. i really have to see if i still have screencaps anywhere of my old character.

okay, there. i had a lot of fun with customization in pokemon swsh.

okay, i also just ran into an issue where i almost got stuck in the living room of my character's house?? walked to one end of the room and couldn't walk out of it for a bit, and at one point, the screen went totally black. very stable and good.

i mentioned this to some friends and some of them have reported the same thing happening to them.

chose sprigatito for my starter... i'm not really big on any of the evos that i've seen, but sprigatito is cute and i'll just pretend i do not see the evos.

one thing that i think is cute so far is running around with the starters and how they gravitate to different things depending on what i assume is their type?

i briefly lived in a world where we actually had our pokemon actually follow us, like in HGSS. i miss it :(

no real thoughts on nemona yet... mostly i'm just perplexed at the fact that we're classmates and yet. she looks so much more adult than the player character does, and it's a little jarring to me.

in going through my screencaps on my SD card, i also just realized that taking an in-game picture does not save it to the SD card!! lesson learned... next time i'll hide the guide and take one in addition to using that.

okay, i've actually enjoyed this sequence getting out of the cave with miraidon... even feeding it on the beach reminded me just a little of how to train your dragon.

OKAY WAIT THIS "LET'S GO" FEATURE WITH THE POKEMON IS GREAT. i can have my pokemon running around on its own picking things up and fighting?? yes please. i've played every gen of pokemon but i do get really bored of turn-based battles (so i'm one of the people that's grateful for exp share as long as i'm not messing around with EVs) so this is great. i know i was just saying earlier how i wished i was back in HGSS, but maybe i partially am with this... good.

stopped at the first pokemon centre after catching as many pokemon as possible and running around... i'm starting to see how people have been commenting on getting lost. i'm really glad we have the map and how it even includes GPS-like functions, though.

[these-are-the-first-steps]

F, J, O,

Hello! My answer for just the first one got STUPID LONG so I think I'll just answer that one! If anyone has any burning desire for the others, please re-send! Otherwise sit back, buckle in, because your big sis is here to tell you an exciting tale of Early Fandom Lore.

F. Fanfiction - What got you into fanfiction?

My origin story is as an elementary school kid utterly obsessed with 'Xena: Warrior Princess'. I found myself in one of two very entrenched factions: I was a Shipper- we were team Xena/Ares. The other side? Those were the Subbers- they thought there was subtext going on with Xena/Gabrielle. Any other ships were considered minority ships and they didn't really get a camp name. Back then ships got along pretty well (or at least, better than they do now). There was some ribbing now and again but all in good fun. The rhetoric was much tamer, more reasonable. We were all here to have fun and be silly in each other's company. I digress, though...back then there was no true centralized place for fandom. Yahoo!Clubs was a big RP and casual gathering spot, a few other major hub sites that no longer exist whose names I've forgotten. But really the meat and potatoes of fandom were personal websites. Back then, places like Geocities and Angelfire were handing them out for free like candy. And those folks who had sites that became popular because they uploaded show soundclips, transcripts, screencaps, official photos (listen, that shit was a feat back then- no one had Millions of Colors monitors and scanners were a thousand bucks. and GOOD QUALITY AUDIO??? those are big files, which costs money, and bandwidth, and TIME waiting to upload/download- all fancy shit to offer!), invested actual money into them which became major major sites whose addresses everyone knew by heart. But especially, especially, what they had...were Fanfiction Libraries. Sites would come up with fancy elaborate names for their libraries, like 'Village Depository' or 'Scrolls of the Bard' or whatever you can think of-- this is where the fics were kept!! Most peoples' site libraries had a little bit of everything- gen fic, ship fic, AU ('Xena' started the AU because they actually did it as one-off episodes on the show now and then, which nobody else had ever done because it was too batshit tbh. Back then we called them 'Ubers', so you'd have Uberfics set in like, I don't know, NYC circa 1999 or something. Xenites came up with the name, and the showrunners saw it and ran with it, no pun intended), but the crux of it was that every site's fic library was different. YOU, the writer, had to submit your story to a site to be added. Sure, if an author was tenacious enough (and many were), you could see the same fic across a couple sites. But mostly folks picked one or two and that's where they posted. That's where they updated if it had sequels or parts (no chapters back then- you wrote everything at once like men. The best fic I to this day have ever read is still "The Great Wall" by Jade which is 65 pages long and is one of the funniest fucking things I've ever read in my entire life). So, if you ever wanted to add a sequel to a story or add a new story to the story list under your name, you'd have to keep track of every fan site you were on (they moved addresses a lot, too) and send a copy of your new work to every site owner's email, pray the size didn't make it bounce, and hope to god they were still maintaining their site. This led to the natural evolution of fansites that became famous for their libraries shifting to being fic-focused and cutting out all the other stuff. To continue in the same vein, Shippers knew Illyandria's Forest of Fiction had one of the biggest stashes of shipper fics in the fandom. Authors were fighting to be on her site. Me being a little kid and new at all this still wanted to be a great and wonderful writer like all the other people whose stories I was reading. However, I kept my ambitions modest. If I remember correctly, I got a single story listed on Xena.com which, while not an official site of any kind, sort of filled that gap as a lowkey dependable site for broad news and fandom services like libraries, links/site directories, webring hubs, and later free email accounts. THIS gave me a taste for it all, it got my toes wet, and while I still knew I wasn't really that great (I could see my own flaws a mile away), it gave me

something to work towards- being good enough, one day, to have stories listed on The Big Sites, to have people email me to say they loved this or that, to maybe even end up like Melissa Good: your fic formally published (That's right, kids- Xena fans did it first, again!) and to BE HIRED, BY THE SHOW, to write two episodes (one of which is the heavily shipper 'Coming Home', so we stan). Being in the big fic libraries DID THINGS! And the little stars twinkled and shone in my tiny baby eyes and I wanted to do it! After a long amount of time, and the voracious reading of many many books (especially Anne Rice and Robin McKinley who are major influences on my writing style), I was able to actually finally do it. These days, though, the playing field has changed. Fic libraries got funneled not long after into FF.net, which got funneled again into Ao3 where paranoia reigns supreme with its own legal team, which is an odd taste in the mouth after coming from a fandom like Xena where the show's Production actively engaged with the fanbase and even hired us when they liked what we were doing. My fandom after 'Xena' was 'Farscape' which also, while not hiring fans to my knowledge, also had a Production team that was super super active with the fanbase and that kind of closeness led to all sorts of record-breaking which I don't have time to get into (long story short we broke OG Startrek's record for biggest letter writing campaign and I think we still may hold it). But regardless, all those things, big, small, fun, scary- all of it- started me out on this weird crazy constantly-shifting journey of fandom and fic, and while this post has become....incredibly long, it's been fun to look back on it all here and just see how far down the tunnel goes now. So much has changed! And yet the basics of it will never change-- we're all here to read a good tale. End of Story. <3

[tatyana-dreaming]

Eugene Onegin: Finale Analysis

*apologies in advance for a LONG POST! any TYPOS! and also that the Russian has been latinized (is that what we say?)*

I have often read opinions and observations about the finale of Eugene Onegin along the lines of “there’s no new theme;” it’s “not as intense as the Letter scene;” it’s “anticlimactic...” etc. (those last two comments are found in Eugene Onegin: The Opera Lively Guide by Luiz Gazzola).

Clearly, these are just opinions and I’m not here to disprove anything... but I am here to retaliate with a whole lot of love for this particular 14 minutes of music so buckle up :) I’m going to try to mainly be objective here and just offer my observations/analysis. Maybe you’ll find some newfound appreciation along the way...and please pitch in if you have your own comments or have noticed things I haven’t necessarily picked up on!

Before we start, you may want to pull a recording of the finale (this one is my favorite of course), and potentially your favorite CD/recording of Eugene Onegin, if you want to listen along and compare. If I had more time and skills I would have done this for you in a video or added trimmed audio bits throughout this post but alas. Maybe one day! For now, enjoy these screencaps from the 2007 Carsen production at the Met with Fleming and Hvorostovsky.

1. Gazzola points this out in his book - and thank goodness, because I’m not sure I would have made the connection myself. The final scene opens with a motif that is more or less a repetition of Gremin’s theme (in rhythm, at the very least), “Lyubvi Vsye Rozrasti Pokorni/Love conquers all ages,’” foreshadowing Tatyana���s decision/steadfastness to the mature, stable love or contement, or whatever we want to call this - we can have an analysis of ‘love’ in Eugene Onegin in another post! Already I’m thinking back to the opening of the opera when Larina and Filipyevna sing in unison “Privichka svishe name dana, zamyena shchastiyu ona / Habit is sent us from above in place of happiness.” Tatyana’s mother used to read and dream like Tayana herself and was even in love, but eventually had to marry someone else and “became resigned and settled down.”

And as @lizlensky​ recently reminded me, of course Filipyevna did not get to marry for love either, not that Tatyana was really listening to her story. In fact, maybe I’m looking far into deeply, but it seems to me the strings underneath this “Gremin motif” at the opening of the finale and also when Tatyana eventually sings to that tune “Onegin, ya togda molozhe/Onegin, I was younger then”  are also mimicking the strings underneath Filipyevna when she sings the morning after the Letter Scene, explaining how her mind is getting older and reflecting upon her youth (I’m generalizing a bit - Tatyana certainly isn’t complaining about having an old brain but she is thinking of the past). Make of that what you will! But it gave me chills.

2. Oh no, I’m already getting ahead of myself though. Before Onegin even comes on the scene, we also hear what some call the “Fate motif” but what I prefer to call the “Dream motif” (if it is fate, why does it follow Tatyana all over dreamy Act I but disappears except for this tiny reminiscence? But of course, up for discussion as it’s the prelude/introduction to the opera, and it comes back when Yevgeni does, haunting her like a ghost, which I suppose is fate-y). Here it is again when Tatyana sings “Kak budto snova dyevochkoi ya stala/It’s as if I’m a young girl again” - which is then followed by what I might personally call the fate theme, since it foreshadows the anguish Tatyana will face when she is rejected in Act I, and before she rejects Onegin in Act III.

This is where I wish I had an audio clip but I think you know what I mean; it’s the really dramatic climax that comes right when Tatyana enters the stage in Scene 3 of Act III (before “Zdyez on, zdyes on, Yevgeni!”) and right before Onegin comes onstage in Act III, Scene 2. Or ha, maybe this is just “Onegin’s Arrival Theme” since there’s a similar kind of orchestral panic before he arrives in Act I (though of course, not in Scene 1 of Act III since it is Tatyana who enters rather than Onegin who was in the room already, at least in the productions I’ve seen.)

3. Okay, so now Onegin’s here, what does he have to say for himself? We hear a bit of the Onegin aria theme -  “Mechtam i godom nyet vazvrata, nye obnovlyu dushi moyei/Dreams and years cannot return, I cannot renew my soul!” as he (in some versions) falls to Tatyana’s feet, exclaiming “O, szhaltes, szhaltes nado mnoyu!/ Have mercy on me!”  Clearly has some srs regerts. But also perhaps Tchaikovsky foreshadowing what is to come... not only that we shouldn’t expect Tatyana to act with any less honor (or prudence/reason) towards Onegin as he did towards her in Act I, and that indeed she sings “proshlogo nye vorotit/you cannot bring back the past.”  I know I’m grinding a lot out of this particular moment, but... would you expect anything less from me? Or (thinks of Petya) HIM? :)

4. As Tatyana reminds Onegin how he rejected her and begins to question why he is suddenly in love with her now, we get to revisit some of the music from the Letter Scene - at least in the orchestra. Tatyana’s line differs slightly than her original melody in the Letter Scene when she sings “Togda, nye pravda li pustine, vdali ot suyetnoi molvi/There in that backwater, far from vain society” - and just so, as it is far from its dreamy, romantic parallel in her letter - “Y v eto samoye mgnovyenye ne ti li, miloye vidyenye/And in that very moment, wasn’t it you, beloved vision [...who whispered to me words of hope].” I find this throwback incredibly clever and gutwrenching, as I believe it’s clearly a bitter and ironic jab at the hope that Onegin crushed, even honorably as he did, and now the two of them have changed positions. Whose dreamy hopes (which are... questionable at best at the moment) are getting schooled now? Cmon’ Onegin, “learn to control yourself....”

5. Let me take a moment to admit and agree with many analyses/critics (although Tchaikovsky knows what he is doing, convince me otherwise) that Onegin is pretty fragmented and lacks a coherent theme, and certainly has no original “love theme” of his own to offer Tatyana  - after all, Onegin as a character, especially in the book, is pretty hollow, someone who isn’t so much a “self’ as a person who knows how to go through the motions of life... He’s intelligent but not creative, full of potential but lacking any real direction. (Ohhh I am going to cry because that’s so sad but also so relatable, but crying is coming up next so I’ll hold off). The opposite of Lensky’s “poet spirit” that lives life romantically, and is in love with life itself, seeing the infinite everywhere rather than seeing life so pessmistically (with the mask of pragmatism/”maturity”) as Onegin does, a mask that keeps Onegin from truly engaging with life or his own sense of self.

So as Onegin sings, we hear that lack of originality, though I will pull a Valery Gergiev here and say one “cannot be impartial” to Onegin’s music here (*clutches chest - that’s Tchaikovsky, even though I think it’s clear Onegin is not his fav) - Onegin may not be original, but there is no less truth or heartfelt emotion in what comes through. Luckily, Tatyana knows that it’s still not a good choice... he’s still not very substantial, at best, and at worst truly is only infatuated with her because of her reputation. It would mean ruin for her either way so :( (read: Anna Karenina) (here are some sad Onegin pictures just for fun because it’s all been Tatyana mainly but also: sorry this is Tatyana’s big moment so)

6. Time for tears! Do you hear a familiar theme when Tatyana sings “Ya plachu/I’m weeping?” It’s Lensky’s aria theme making a comeback- what!??! And particularly, the same melody as these two phrases, when Lensky sings: “Shto dyen gradushchi mnye gotovit/What does this day hold for me?” and perhaps more salient to this moment: “Pridyosh li, dveya krasoti, slezu prolit nad rannei urmoi/ Will you come, maiden, to shed a tear over my untimely urn?” Ahhh, I see what you did there, Petya.

But wait, Onegin hates crying! This isn’t explicitly in the opera of course, but Onegin in the novel all but tells Tatyana that her tears (as he rejects her) only vex him - another reason marriage would be a torment for them (not a bad reason and look, we always respected his honesty, right?). But now? I think it’s a crucial moment; it shows there has indeed been some development on Onegin’s part and uh oh, he’s actually in love (ironically in a very Lensky - that is, poetic - way)  even if it’s not for the best of reasons.

7. Fun (pain) pact: “Tak blizhko! [happiness was] so close!” is the only time Onegin and Tatyana sing together or are on the same page, so to say. Nice. (*cries*) The only other times people sing completely lined up together like this in this opera, choruses aside, are when:

Larina and Filipyevna sing “Privichka svishe name dana, zamyena shchastiyu ona /Habit is sent to us from above in place of happiness”  in the opening scene

Onegin and Lensky sing “Nye zasmeyatsa l nam, poka ne obagrilasa ruka, ne razoitis li polyubovno? Nyet... /Shouldn’t we burst out laughing, rather than staining our hands with blood, shouldn’t we part as friends? No...”  before the duel

Moments of truth. And mostly pain. :) Again, please chime in if there are others, I’m sure I’ve missed something.

8. Time for Tatyana to refuse! This is where I completely disagree that there is “no new major theme” in the Finale; Tatyana’s “rejection theme” holds its own in my books. Interestingly, it’s in D-flat major, just like the main themes in her Letter Scene (”Puskai pogibnu ya/Let me perish,” and “Kto ti? Moi angel/ Who are you? my [guardian] angel..” aka the descending/Russian 6th theme). Tatyana is just as earnest/decided/resigned* (yes, all three of those adjectives) in her decision in the finale as in the Letter Scene, so maybe that has something to do with it. (I always remember her words in the Letter scene: “Uvi, nye v silakh ya vladyet svoyei dushoi!/Alas, I am unable to subdue my soul!” but just like Onegin learning to be endeared by tears - she has indeed learned to subdue her soul, or perhaps she has simply matured and her priorities have changed. (And of course, who lectured her to subdue her soul in the first place, even though he meant well? Yours truly!)

*resigned might seem an interesting way to describe the Letter Scene, but don’t forget “No, tak i bit! Sudbo moyu otnine ya tebye vruchayu/So be it. Henceforth my fate belongs to you....”  I tend to interpret that as Tatyana actually taking her fate into her own hands and deciding to go all in with her decision, despite the words that seem to make her position passive. In the finale, she is ‘resigned’ in a similarly active manner - this is not a passive resignation. But I still would use the term resigned, if only to draw the parallel between Tatyana and her mother....  “I became resigned and settled down.”  And so she has, even if she has to struggle to push Onegin away from the settled life she has, loving him all the same.

And in comes some of my favorite music of all time - Onegin’s desperate, even malicious pleas and a good dose of mansplaining how Tatyana “can’t” abandon him, quoting back her letter. Extra ouch, because do you remember in Tatyana’s letter when she tells Onegin if he has any pity, “vi nye ostavite menya/you won’t abandon me.” And what does she have to beg him to do over and over until she finally runs offstage? “Ostav menya!/Leave me!” heheheheh *laugh-cries*  everything is fine.

9. And we’ve nearly reached the very end. Almost a year into listening to this particular piece of music and I only recently realized what was going on - yeah, I know. When things get really heated at the end and pain reaches a maximum, Tatyana sings “Gluboko v syerdsta pronikayet, yevo otchayanni priziv no, pil prestupni podaviv/His anguished cries penetrate my heart, but the fire of passion has been extinguished” (well, I’m still not quite sure on the ‘correct’ English translation but it doesn’t sound good for Yevgeni regardless...)

That melody in that last line calls us back to its twin sister at the end of Scene 1 in Act I when Onegin is talking about how bored he was with his uncle, waiting for him to die. So a) I hear this as Tatyana “ending things once and for all” (parallels between the death of Onegin’s uncle, and the death of their relationship), as well as possibly (again I read 10,000% too much into things) b) Tatyana realizing that Onegin’s words to her back in the garden were true - habit [routine] would kill their love; they would become bored (or at least he would). The passion would burn out.

Which brings us back to c) heaven sends us habit in place of happiness [=passion?]- which, OH, RIGHT, OF COURSE has the same rhythm of the aforementioned “boredom” theme and “the fire of passion has been extinguished.” But you all probably already realized that because oF COURSE.. that’s how the opera OPENS... and now how it is CLOSING... AHHHH!!!

I know I’m not original or anything for realizing that parallel, but yeah. I’m pretty happy about it.

Tchaikovsky is absolutely genius. Unbelievable. And paired with Pushkin? I’m not surprised I’ve clearly lost my mind over this masterpiece.

Anyways, this was an extremely long post but I hope you enjoyed it immensely, especially if you read this far!! Please chime in with your own comments! I LOVE THIS PIECE OF MUSIC!

[maxwell-grant]

any thoughts on james bond??

Not really a fan and I don’t think that’s gonna change. I don’t have much experience with the character to begin with, I watched the Daniel Craig movies which bored me to death. I watched Goldfinger, which I remembered as being fun the first time I viewed it as a kid, but I find it hard to stand as an adult because Sean Connery was an awful man and oh yeah, that’s also the movie where James Bond rapes someone (I get that it was supposed to be a slap-slap-kiss thing but that is very much not what it’s in the scene). And I read the original Casino Royale novel, which is a must-read largely for it’s importance in pop culture and has some interesting aspects to it but, again, nothing that really got me to seek out the character.

Look, I get why Bond has become this huge cultural institution and the spy of popular fiction ever since his debut, why the 60s was the era of “Bond, Beatles and Batman” and why he’s kinda become the new standard for non-superhero action protagonists. I am extremely fond of that particular style you see in media like The Incredibles and Team Fortress 2, and that style owes a lot of it to the Bond films, hell I just posted above a screencap of Venture Bros, my favorite cartoon series. I’m certainly not gonna knock on popular enjoyment of a morally dubious man of action in a slick suit who charms and shoots his way through problems, after writing my most popular posts on my unabashed worship of Vincenzo. 

The things I like the most about Bond’s character in Casino Royale and the Bond of the original novels are largely the ways in which he almost betrays the impossibly competent image he’s been set up with later. I like that he gets picked specifically just because he’s the Service’s best gambler and not because he's the best everythint, I like that he’s uncomfortable with killing and especially the targeted assassinations, I like that he has vices and struggles because of his job. His job kinda forces him to be by default an unfeeling asshole who exploits people, and I think that’s an interesting perspective to develop, even without the context of it being James Bond before “being James Bond is the coolest thing ever” was the driving thesis of the franchise.

Thing is, I never really found any reason to give a damn about anything in Bond, other than enjoyment of the stylistic trappings and absurdities which just get kinda old after a while. I don’t enjoy the titular character or the hordes of largely one-dimensional "Bond Girls”, I don’t think the villains are interesting despite their supposed reputation in pop culture, I don’t get that much enjoyment out of death traps and car chases and gun fights if I don’t have anything at all to care about in the situations. I don’t think characters inspired by Bond tend to be interesting and even Bond parodies have gotten largely old and stale (I do like Johnny English but that’s solely because Rowan Atkinson is my favorite comedian and I’ll watch him in anything, and even then I didn’t even remember there was a third film).

As a kid, the idea of being a secret agent in service of the government has never really been terribly appealing to me, and as an adult it appeals even less. I don’t entirely dislike government agent characters by default, I really like Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks and An Gi-Seok from Vincenzo and agents of fictional organizations like Hellboy’s BRPD and Carmen Sandiego’s ACME, but I can’t shake off the stink of imperialism off my perception of Bond in particular. Again, I know it’s fiction, I know I talk about morally dubious protagonists I love all the time, but it’s the fact that Bond is so closely tied to his role as a government-sponsored murderer, my disdain for real-life governments and secret services being depicted in fiction as a swell and cool thing and not at all what they actually are, and the fact that I do not find Bond at all convincing or interesting enough for me to overlook that and buy into the fantasy, all blends together to make me dislike him.  

And yeah, Ian Fleming had utterly wretched views on gender and race and that bleeds a lot into the stories. People knock on pulps for racism and sexism a lot, and it's not undeserved, but even then I’ve seldom read anything in them as appallingbas the kind of shit you get on the Bond novels, and it’s harder to separate those from the character when so much of it is framed as the thoughts and opinions and attitudes of the character to the world around him. I would still not like James Bond even if I could put aside all the racism and sexism, and I very much cannot, but the fact that they are there, atop everything else, atop the character being an actual rapist at worst and his most iconic actor being unabashedly proud of being a wife beater and somehow still remembered fondly as a pop culture badass, and you end up with the one time Alan Moore did a comically grotesque exaggeration of a character in LOEG and I thought “you know what, I acknowledge that this is overblown and stupid and immersion-breaking but fuck it, I can’t blame you for your thoughts on this particular character manifesting with such bile”.

I know there’s good stuff in James Bond novels and films, I know why the character is super iconic and popular, please don’t misconstrue anything I’m saying as me thinking James Bond fans are horrible or something, because I don’t want to get that across at all. But I personally do not like Bond, and I don’t think I have to force myself to when there’s so many other types of characters and even spies that I prefer so much more. I don’t think I’m ever really going to be a Bond fan (I do like Timothy Dalton as an actor though, and if Sam Neil ever got to play Bond like he auditioned for, I probably would have at least some affection for the character since I really like him). 

I do like Austin Powers also. A lot of the jokes have aged really poorly and apparently Mike Myers is kind of an ass on set, but I think the concept of the eternally outdated parody spy still works, the films still have pretty funny scenes, and most importantly, he spoofed the concept to death so hard that even Daniel Craig said “Mike Myers fucked us”. Austin sucked out and absorbed all the fun parts of James Bond and then made them so funny and ridiculous that the Bond franchise has never again been able to have too much fun with itself, and if I gave a shit about Bond I would probably dislike that, but I don’t so, you go Austin. 

[myimmortalisimmortal]

Why Chapter 39 of My Immortal was due to an actual hacker

After considering some findings, I’m confident in this theory. And thus, I’m confident anyone who claims to be Tara Gilesbie while claiming the hacked chapter was faked is not being honest. Below I will explain why I believe so and how I came across this information in the first place.

All this was from a long chain of breadcrumbs. Let’s go back... all to the mid 2000s in the LiveJournal days when Tara Gilesbie had a dedicated fan club.

The Tara Gilesbie Fan Club

One thing that particularly stuck out was members mentioning finding Tara through IMDb. Yes, you heard right.

[ID: Two comments on the Tara Gilesbie Fan Club LiveJournal.

The first is from ‘golden_helikaon’ on 2008-01-19 writing, “I found it on the Order of the Phoenix IMDb board. There were several long threads dedicated to ripping her apart with every new chapter.”

The second comment is from ‘heartdreamerz’ on 2008-01-20 writing, “It was almost 2 years ago and I've told this story many times. I knew Tara a month before My Immortal was published. It was on IMDb's board for My Chemical Romance. When the story came out I knew about it but didn't pay attention because I wasn't into HP at the moment. Then, like icarus_malfoy wrote, there were the threads about her and that's when my interest started. There were also another troll on the His Dark Materials...” (Image cuts off.) End ID.]

According to this, Tara Gilesbie was already tyrannizing the internet before she posted My Immortal. This actually is very consistent with the fact “Tara Gliesbie is totlly Gottik” was a petition that existed in November 2005. (My Immortal was posted in March 2006.)

This IMDb profile seemed very intriguing. It hasn’t been mentioned much, and isn’t considered to be official by most people. Was it a legitimate account? If so, was there gothicness we were deprived of all along? I searched to try find out more about it, hoping screen captures or something would turn up. Luckily, one of the same members copied and pasted Tara’s bio in another comment.

[ID: A comment on the Tara Gilesbie Fan Club LiveJournal by ‘heartdreamerz’ on 2007-05-05 writing, “All her posts are deleted now. I can still visit her profile because she's on my friend list. Her bio:

‘hi im tara. im a goth (n prode!). i have died blak hair n blu eyez. i wer eyeliner a lot of da time. i hav a bf. his naym is justin. he rox! i liv in Dubia.

likz: eyliner, goffik makep, beng goffik, GOOD CHRALOTTE, death, sleting my rists, drak colorz, hot topik _

dizliks: beng alive, bo, pop music, brite colors, pink, brabie, hiraly doof da music i lik: linen prak, GOOD CHRELOTE, evinezenz, simpl plan, akon, arvil levine, blink-183, panik! at da disko, foll oot boi, mcr. HIRALY DOOF IS A PSR!

fav moviez: when a stranger kallz, da grudge, da grudge 2, korps bird, da nitemare b4 krismas, da ring 2, da ring, shrak attak, undreworld 2, da texas chonsow massakre da bogenning

ps 2 all da prepz nd pozers tryin 2 diz me u r jus jeloz!!!! so yolsentik nd hartdremer u kan go fok ur momz 4 al i ker ok U SUK!!!111′

I feel so special to be personally insulted by her on her profile.” End ID.]

People like to copy & paste things stupid things to laugh at all the time (no offense Tara), so I thought: why not Google some of the bio? Maybe whoever did that posted additional stuff.

And it worked! (I found more content from Tara’s supposed IMDb, but more on that for a different post.)

When searching the bio, a Reddit thread about Rose Christo popped up.

During Rose Christo’s brief reign, a user said Rose’s claims seemed to check out. This user actually happens to be the same commenter, Heartdreamerz, in the LiveJournal thread. (Which makes sense, considering she’s the one who originally had the bio I was searching.) 

If you don’t feel like clicking the Reddit link, basically she confirmed Rose’s claim that two Filipino users from the forums hacked the account.

Because of Heartdreamerz’ long involvement in My Immortal and the fact she never claimed to be Tara or Raven, I take a lot of trust in her word.

Heartdreamerz linked the FF.net profile of the original hacker: Coruscate Corruption.

Looking up “Coruscate Corruption” had me come across this from the LiveJournal fan club, which implies that there were two hackers.

[ID: post on the Tara Gilesbie Fan Club Livejournal by 'nicespice' on Dec. 28th, 2006, writing, “Just a little thing I drabbled down. Hope it's not too horrible. What do you think?

There is an evil on FF.net and All who encounters it feels their Respiratory system give out And become too scared to scream. Gruesome, it is. The anti-christ fanfiction, My Immortal, written by a total idiot. Does she Leave you to cry tears of blood, because I have before. EarnestInBerlin and Coruscate Corruption, the hackers, Sought to bring My Immortal redemption. Too Bad the real Tara had to come back so soon to ruin the fun. I wish she had at least continued her story, I look at her fic Everytime I go online, wishing she'd just update so I could laugh at... Tara Gilesbie." End ID.]

While searching “Coruscate Corruption”, a few posts popped up from a forum for The Bartimaeus Sequence called Bartiforums.

[ID: Two images showing 3 forum posts by Mwamba.

The first post was a reply to, "Mwamba, how did you crack both passys? Just guessing or what?"

On December 8th 2006, Mwamba replied, "Tara's was just pure luck. It didn't take long to get. The password was tara. *snorts* Post's was just guessing too, but I remembered when his passy was cracked on here, so I tried out the same password. It worked. Oh yeah, and I wrote a fanfic for Post, it's a rip off of Tara's story, but meh.”

The last two posts were made on January 14th, 2007. The second post wrote, "It was me. I had complete control for two days. And then EarnestInBerlin had to hack in too and change the password. But then she told what it was and then the real Tara had to come back and rechange her passy so nobody could get in. But that's old news. That account is most certainly not mine. I could not continue that fic for 39 chapters, I'd get bored after the first fifteen.”

The third post wrote, “*Shrug* It doesn't matter. Call me whatever. Though if I have to pick, I suppose you can call me by my FF.net name, Coruscate Corruption. What book category are you writing this fic in? Just curious.” End ID.]

Chapter 39 was posted late November 2006, so that first post was only a few weeks after it happened.

The password was “tara”... does that ring a bell at all?

[ID: A screencap from Rose Christo’s now-deleted blog. It says, “And My Immortal? You can come to your own conclusions. This was really never about the fic; it was the marketing team at SMP that decided to make My Immortal the main part of the story. Our email address was gofikchick@hotmail.com and our password was tara.” End ID.]

-- Rose Christo’s claim before deleting

 You may be asking, “Rose Christo? The woman who lied about her family, being Native American, and writing My Immortal to sell a book?” Yes, that Rose Christo. Yes, she was a fraud and a scammer, but she peppered in some little-known true details to make her claim seem more legit. For instance, she talked about a Voldemort rper in the reviews, and that ended up being true. You can actually find this Voldemort reviewer in the web archives of Raven’s stories. (Apparently, that Voldemort even came out and said “hey, that’s me!” Cannot find it unfortunately.)

Keep in mind the only way I found any of this was because Rose Christo made that claim. Without it, Heartdreamerz wouldn’t have made that post that led to Coruscate Corruption and those posts on Bartiforums. It’s possible Rose somehow came across the same information I did, but it’s more likely she was there. Rose Christo may not be the author of My Immortal, but it was likely she was a spectator as it all went down. (As I was a spectator for Rose’s ordeal when it all went down.)

 Since it was said the hackers posted on the fanfiction forums, I sought to find it by searching “Tara”, “My Immortal”, etc. on FFnet’s search. The posts are unfortunately long gone, but there is a surviving forum called “My Immortal Forum Tara Gilesbie is a genius!”

[ID: A screencap of “My Immortal Forum Tara Gilesbie is a genius!” from Fanfiction net. Someone named Ebony Dark’ness wrote, “I have personally logged on to Tara’s account when her password was revealed after she got hacked.” End ID.]

TL;DR: Multiple, separate people made consistent claims over the span of years. Because of this, I personally believe Tara’s account was legitimately hacked.

(Sources/links will be added in a reblog.)

[confessionsofa-roleplayer]

I seldom interact with people from my muse's fandom anymore, and people who are very invested in certain fandoms and companies in general. This is partially because there's a constant flow of new releases in these fandoms, which tends to create recurring fixations and engrossment in the new releases every time they happen, to the point that it's difficult for me to handle. I've always disliked how, when a new movie came out in my own fandom, virtually the entire fandom would go nuts over the flood of new muses based on characters from that movie, whether they were written by others or themselves, and I was constantly left sitting on the backburner. For a long, long time, if not forever. Both IC and OOC.

Just to make it abundantly clear, this doesn't mean I was going, "this person hasn't spoken with me in a whole week, omg where the heck are they grr?!". I'm genuinely one of the least high-maintenance and laid-back people that I know, and if someone interacted with me, they would know that. I'll wait months for someone; I've actually waited years for someone, if they're on hiatus or something else. I'm here for the long run, and I act accordingly. What I mean is that I wouldn't hear from people for three months, six months, or eight months, or longer, and this was despite them being very active, picking up tons of new threads, partners, and muses that were all based on a new release, and clearly interacting with many other muns on the dashboard, and on discord (based off the interactions I saw on the dash that implied discord stuff was, indeed, happening; ie. discord screencaps). I would be waiting for a single thread from someone while watching them make ten new ones, and pick up fifty new mutuals. And all the new interactions and threads with those new mutuals would become top priority, effectively ensuring my threads and OOC things would never be addressed. I would send these partners a kind, short nudge on discord, but they wouldn't reply for months, even if I only needed a short response. If I nudged them again, the same thing would happen. It was painfully clear what was happening. I would frequently get zero communication, zero replies, and zero interaction overall, almost like I never existed in the first place. People suddenly stopped liking my posts, and would only like posts related to the new release.

It wasn't really a matter of, "hmm, I think this might be happening here". It *was* what was happening. It isn't a matter of interpretation. The number of replies and communication I received in general, within a certain time frame, plummeted. It didn't matter how interesting of a meta post that I made at the time, or how appealing of a photoset I created. Nobody cared. And sometimes; most of the time, in fact, this disinterest (or proportionally low interest in comparison to their other stuff) never picked back up again. It's almost like once a release and the muses from that release become old enough, especially if there is a constant flow of new releases afterwards, a lot of people just can't retain the interest anymore. It kind of makes me and my muse feel like an old smartphone. We were cutting-edge once, but now? Redundant.

And this isn't something that only just started happening with COVID, so it's not a matter of "it's been a stressful year". This had already been happening for years.

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to shit on people who get extremely engrossed in fandom releases. It can be fun and exciting. I still remember how I felt when I watched the midnight release for the first major cinematic release for my fandom (arguably *the* release that birthed the whole fandom), and how it felt to go three more times afterwards. How it felt to talk to everyone in the theatre about it. It was amazing, seriously. I'm not knocking that, and I'm not knocking people who like to experience that regularly, or people who want to continue experiencing it once they leave the theatre, or the sofa in their living room, or whatever.

However... There is a happy medium between being excited for a new movie, and being consumed by the need for continuation of said movie on social media that, inadvertently or not, you neglect and ignore the partners you already have. I'm discouraged that many people use new releases as an excuse to neglect partners who write muses from an older release that isn't currently being hyped. Now, I do believe this happens unintentionally a lot of the time, too. But I wish in that case, people would take a moment to slow down, practice mindfulness, and see if they've attended to their partners who *weren't* involved in the current "thing" in the fandom.

So nowadays, while it makes me sad, I try to avoid the "central" parts of fandoms as much as possible, where people tend to put an extreme amount of emphasis/hype on new releases... Or the parts of fandoms where peoples' attention spans swing so drastically, almost violently in a sense, from one thing to another. I don't want to have to nudge one more person about discord or threads, or question if our threads are even still active, because they seem to have moved on to the next, fresher, better thing. Communication can only help so much if it's one-sided and thankless.

[loopy777]

RE: WIPs game: do I even want to know what Dicebenders is is it another scam how many times are the Gaang gonna get arrested for scamming

No, this time it's me scamming people. XD The dice in question are the RPG Dungeons & Dragons kind.

For a while I was doing a screencap webcomic in the style of "DM of the Rings" and "Darths & Droids" with another creative fan named Captain Boomerang. I was the scriptwriter and selected the screenshots for each panel, and Capt-BA would assemble the comics and improve my scripts (a process that did frustrate me a little, as I felt locked out of the revision process, but I did like the results. I just felt like I wasn't holding up my end of the partnership a bit). I wrote a story bible explaining the characters and storytelling rules, planned out the adaptation of the entire AtLA premiere, and had less detailed plans for the rest of the series, but we only got 6 comics in before Capt-BA went on a trip and never returned to the internet. I did manage to re-establish contact with her long enough to get permission to continue the comic, but the problem is that I have no image-editing skills whatsoever.

If I could find comic-making software that I know would do what I want and be easy to use, I wouldn't mind dropping some money on it, but everything I've looked at is trying to do lots of things I don't need. I only want a way to import existing pictures into comic grids, and then easily add dialogue bubbles. That's it. But the stuff I've found is more about image-editing than comic assembly, and it takes me an hour to put together a dialogue bubble that looks good. So I have 3 scripts that were never produced, which along with the planning docs are what's in that WIP folder, and I don't ever see myself going beyond that.

Besides, someone else already managed to complete something like this, and while I'm not a fan, I don't need to be. At this point, Dicebenders is dead. I'm glad I tried it, and it's a shame it didn't work out, but I'm happy with the other projects I've done instead.

I am squatting on an empty Tumblr for it, though.

Anyway, to share something new, here's the first section of the Story Bible I wrote to make sure Capt-BA and I were on the same page in terms of characterization. The rest of the bible details the plotlines for full series.

AVATAR: THE LAST DICEBENDER

BIBLE

Premise- A small group of players attempt to run a fantasy martial arts RPG that winds up essentially becoming the Avatar saga, or something very close. The main point of the series is comedy, based mostly on ridiculous links between Avatar and RPG's. Sometimes the humor will be in the vast difference between what happens in the comic, and what happens in the cartoon with the same screenshots. Other times, the funny will come from the unexpected ways they converge.

SPIRITUAL PREDECESSORS

DM of the Rings- The original, and my personal favorite. It's a good showcase of how to run a single quest together, while using narrative jumps to skip to the good bits.

Darths & Droids- A similar project, this stands out from its predecessor in two main ways. The players and GM are more friendly with each other, and are more or less having fun with each other. There is also a running, coherent storyline in both the game and in the lives of the players.

Benders & Brawlers- This is actually an existing attempt to do Darths & Droids with Avatar. This is helpful as an example of what we DON'T want to do, retell the Avatar story in a completely straightforward manner, with RPG players behind the characters.

CHARACTERS

None of the characters will be given real names. The players shall always be referred to by their character names, although this can be done in a teasing, ironic manner. When the characters are speaking, their dialogue bubble must always be attached to an image of the character.

The Gamemaster- The GM is a female in her early teens. She is a geek, and a bit of a social outcast for it. Nevertheless, she's trying to make that work for her, although she's not quite mature enough to make it happen yet. She has just discovered RPG's, and in her enthusiasm has gone all out in starting her own campaign. The only problem is that she doesn't know how to recruit players, so she ropes her best friend and little brother into playing with her. This is the GM's first campaign, so she'll a little in over her head. She knows the mechanics of play, and what she's supposed to be doing as GM, but doesn't have the fine skill in crafting an engaging RPG experience. Still, she wants to do her best, is willing to learn, and has a positive attitude about the whole thing. The GM has a strong crush on the Sokka player, but the only way she can express it is by having all the female NPC's flirt with the Sokka character.

Katara- Female in early teens, and the GM's best friend. Katara's player was friends with the GM from when they were both in grammar school, so while they have grown up into wildly different personality types, they are fully loyal to each other. Katara is popular, and outgoing, and doesn't care or know about geek stuff at all. She's only playing the game because the GM begged her to. At first, Katara is clueless about RPG's, and frequently questions or ridicules the mechanics of the game. She never quite gets into the idea of role-playing, but quickly takes to the idea of meta-gaming. She'll have her character act like a righteous do-gooder, because completing missions and fighting bad guys earns XP. She hoards items that will boost her stats. She'll advocate abandoning a mission/plot if it doesn't pay out enough rewards. Katara's player also can tend towards trying to Mary Sue her character, but this is inconsistent and usually shot down by everyone else.

Aang- Male in junior high, and the GM's little brother. He plays simply because his sister has cajoled him into it, and there are hints that he's getting some kind of reward or payment for it. He abuses his position by forcing the GM to give him what he wants in the game, even if it breaks the rules- access to the restricted Airbender class, the ability to bend all four elements, overloaded stats, an Avatar State that protects him from dying, a magic super flying cow ride, etc. However, it's important to note that Aang's player isn't a jerk. He's just immature, and like all kids, just always goes for what he wants via the easiest path, and doesn't realize that he may be causing trouble or hurting feelings. He's enthusiastic about trying out this RPG thing, but he has trouble coming up with any action beyond attacking or retreating. He's also hyper aware that the GM and Katara are girls. He is too old for cootie concerns, but thinks that girls are fundamentally different creatures with their own incomprehensible concerns. Having a big sister, he doesn't find this a big deal, just part of life. Aang's player is too young to be a geek. He likes cartoons and sports and fantasy and school-dramas. He also tends to follow whatever his sister likes.

Sokka- Male in late teens. This guy is your quintessential RPG player. He has is own top-quality dice, he's played campaigns and systems of all kinds, and knows the tropes of the hobby cold. He's a huge geek for all things geeky, but roleplay is easily his favorite. He's a social outcast, but he's made friends among his fellow geeks, and thinks life is just fine. Sokka's player joins when he meets the GM at the comic/games shop they both frequent. The GM was buying some sourcebooks and material to support the fantasy martial arts game she's running, and Sokka noticed, asked about it, liked what he heard, and got permission to join the game. What Sokka doesn't realize, because he is a geek and neither has experience with it or realizes it's even possible, is that the GM is sweet on him. This manifests in the character Sokka's canon luck with the ladies, only kicked up a notch. *Every single* female NPC flirts with him, whether it's appropriate or not. Sometimes player Sokka notices and tries to roleplay it, and sometimes he's just plain confused. Sokka has a few quirks. His best set of dice are his Lucky Red Dice, which always roll high when he needs it, but have been tested and proven to be fair dice. He also mandates that every character he plays use a boomerang; he was turned into a geek by the first video game he ever played, a Legend of Zelda title, and his favorite weapon from those games are the boomerang. Each of his characters has a unique, named boomerang.

Zuko- The GM's favorite NPC. She created him to be a compelling, dramatic character, with a complicated back story, moral struggles, badass loner personality, angst about his existence, a darkly noble quality, and a cool scar. The GM intended Katara to get to know Zuko, for her to try to woo him away from the side of evil, and perhaps to even have a romance with him. The PC's, however, couldn't care less about him. To them, he's just another mini-boss, and the fact that most of his character development is happening "off screen" means they don't realize that he's recruitable. A frequent gag is Zuko delivering a stirring monologue while no one pays attention.

Iroh- Background NPC. The GM tries to use him to give (ignored) hints to the players.

Toph- (tentative) A male munchkin gamer who picked a long list of weaknesses in order to get superbending. Toph's player is a friend of Sokka's player, brought in after an "incident" with his old group, and causes some initial resentment in the group when tries to show the n00bs how its done. Cowing Toph's player is a major victory for the GM.

Momo- NPC, but maybe make him a talking sidekick who gives the players hints when the GM is really exasperated?

Azula- the GM's best favorite villain. Azula is the GM unleashed, letting her take out frustrations on the players in both combat and harsh taunting. Eventually the GM comes to like the character so much, she retcons mental health issues into the character's backstory, and has her pet NPC, Zuko, spare her.