#I'll include text versions too ofc but

[thelonelyshore-if]

Today I decided to make an image to pop into next chapter because I didn't like how it looked in plain text and it's got me tempted to do more. I didn't think I'd end up utilizing images all that much but now my mind is flying.....

[revalition]

OCT 4 - DRAMA

Play the actor. Lie and detect lies.

the composition of this one is gross but that's what this is all about - making something not great really fast every day and posting it anyway haha.

also if anyone recognizes what the middle one is from I'll give you a hundred bucks (Lie)

as usual, nerding out under the cut

drama drama drama drama

starting with this one because I literally just slap these in here in whatever order I come across them in. There's no rhyme or reason to it. I probably searched on "I" because I like seeing skills talk about themselves haha

at least he's trying to stop you...

Drama nicknames!!

the council!! I refer to my personal skills as the council sometimes haha, drama my love.

drama will break you out of the loop if all the others fail you!

ty drama, you poor thing. who is 'us'? Harry's the only one there, so is he referring to them and the other skills? harry and the multitudes that are drama? you go ahead and protect all of you from the fear honey

ily drama, they react sooo dramatically to being rejected

drama! nooo. what is there to say? these are different highly expensive ceramic boots???

drama! no!

I'm not certain what chain of events leads to Kim inspecting the boots later, but this is too funny

drama. please. honey.

he's so bad. an excellent lie detector, a fantastic liar, but also a compulsive liar!

At least sometimes he urges you to lie for good too.

drama ily. even if a wall of text is my idea of entertainment. i peruse fayde for fun, drama would die

dramaaa

I just love the wording of this one, it's so funny.

this one's right after limbic system tells you it's time to wake up. it's a bit melancholy...

you tell her drama, tell her about your and harry's many heads.

Sometimes he uses I, sometimes we. The other skills always refer to drama singularly (he, this one, etc.). I'm never quite sure if I should use him or them...

dddrama

denial, denial, denial...! but ty for trying

random but this is the maximum number of ssss... used by drama. 10 in a row!

I was highly offended in my first playthrough when I got this. I got it fast too (though not as fast as the sorry cop...) And I had 1 INT so I had barely heard from Drama! I was like, what's with this guy? I'm not boring >:(

drama's comments on kim are very important to me. I also have a rather dry sense of humour and cast off things I don't understand as joke. at least drama gets it.

also the things I would give to have someone whisper 'that's sarcasm, sire' to me. im not sure i invested my irl skill points in the right stats :,(

Like, I've got skills in my head and they can't even decode social interactions for me? cmon guys

Also! had some fun running the different language versions of Drama's name through google translate. It's hard to know how accurate the translations are but they are diverse! Acting, drama (ofc), art of drama, dramaturgy, mysterious (???), dramatic arts, acting arts, theatre, showmanship. I like it... gives a little more insight into what Drama's skill represents. Because he is so much more than *just* drama, and at the same time, drama is an umbrella that includes everything he's good at. hmm.

Another random fact: Drama calls you sire 91 times! (and my liege 16 times). And Harry only once, when you fail karaoke...

Other things I keep track of: he says sorry only twice! never says fuck. and only damages your morale on one occasion. These things are oddly important to me and I want to place them in a spreadsheet. Maybe I want to sort by most apologetic skill okay? Skill that swears most. Skill that calls you by your name most. I'm so normal about these guys.

[baxterbella24]

My Favorite Daemyra Fanfics

Here's an updated* and better curated list of my (very personal) favorite Daemyra fics, WIPs and finished, in no particular order. I offer a few words on each on them, mostly my own opinions and impressions, please click on them if you want a proper synopsis. Other than 100% finished stories, I tried to stick to fics that either stand on their own despite having room to continue, or are frequently or regularly updated, so there's less chances you get invested in something that might never get a proper ending.

I'll welcome and thank any recs too, ofc, I'm always eager to read new material and depictions of them, especially (almost exclusively, in fact) modern AUs. I'm open to different family dynamics as well, especially siblings, biological or otherwise (I include two great ones here, btw). Currently, I'm leaning toward more mature stories, with a Rhaenyra facing adult conflicts rather than just age gap PWP with feelings. I'm still a smut enjoyer though, don't get me wrong, lmao.

Well, nothing more to add for now, so... here we go!

Back, Baby by velvetwoman: Modern AU. Heart-wrenching, but beautiful one-shot. It's kinda finished, the ending is really bittersweet, but author promised a follow-up that hasn't come out, though I refuse to lose hope just yet (I just need to believe, please let me be). It features underage sex, so be warned.

entropy by firecollide: Modern AU. WIP. Musical references, especially Arctic Monkeys. Starts as a texting fic, and turns into a Daemon/Rhaenyra POV multichapter piece. They get together/fall in love quite fast, although it gets quite angsty at a point and remains like that. I only recommend if you're patient and want more than just fluff and smut, character growth specifically. Best Daemon depiction for me, complicated and heartbreaking, because I do relate to Rhaenyra a lot as well.

Ānogar Hūra by sweetestsorrows (katschako): Modern Mafia AU. Finished. Succession, violence, murder, betrayal, lots and lots and lots of smut. I particularly love how their relationship develops from them getting off on fighting and exasperating one another to them falling in love but keeping that feisty and explosive dynamic in bed. Daemon is a very strong dom in this, though deep down he's a very caring and considerate partner.

Our Violent Ends by grandlovescheme: Vampire AU. Finished. Also modern. Or kind of. The starting point is in canon timeline, but the story stretches across space and time because, of course, our two favs are not exactly mortal anymore. Enemies to lovers trope, and as we all know, those are the type of stories in which the smut is the hottest and most satisfying you could ever hope for. I also strongly recommend all of this author's works, she's very talented and will be appearing again in this list.

Passion driven by ginvael: Modern AU. Finished. This is a really fun fic that involves cheating, a "has his cake and eats it too" version of Daemon that's infuriating and sort of endearing at the same time. Mysaria is a really cool character in this, I personally missed an insight on how her character ended, but the lack of it doesn't really take anything away from the story as a whole, so no biggie.

High Hopes by grandlovescheme: Modern AU. Finished. I'm not quite sure, but I think this is the fic that started a sort of subgenre of Daemyra fics with the "Rhaenyra runs away from home for x reason and finds shelter in her estranged uncle's home" trope. Both characters have their issues and are both beautifully written from beginning to end. It's a very slow burn, but it sure pays off, so your patience will be rewarded.

a safe space / a warm hug by themilkteeth: Modern AU. Finished. Sugar daddy story, but with a different daddy (Daemyra endgame tho, don't get confused). I love how things are described in this, the colors, atmosphere, smells, tastes. Just a one-shot, but it honestly feels like more than that in the end.

If I Could, I'd Get You the Moon by grandlovescheme: Modern AU. Finished. Daemyra are siblings and I've never imagined I'd be into this the way I am, but here we are. The push and pull between these two is "deliriously" fabulous, the smut is hot af, and the way the characters act feels so frustratingly real it hurts me and gives me life at the same time. I'm in love with Rhaenyra in this one, she's not only the gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss we all know and love, she's also unapologetically kinky in such a pure and wholesome way, it's truly fascinating. She's everything, really. Also, Baelon and Alyssa couple goals.

Bad Vibes by sweetestsorrows (katschako): Modern AU. Finished. Twins at college. From the amazing author of Ānogar Hūra, filled with angst, guilt, passion, jealousy and all those equally beautiful and nasty feelings. Another one-shot that feels much more than that and could totally have a follow-up, in my humble opinion.

Violet-Eyed Jealousy by ginvael: Canon Divergence AU. Finished. A pretty interesting premise, with low honor Daemyra going for it despite knowingly hurting Daemon's OC son's feelings. Very twisted and with a bittersweet, partly tragic ending, but definitely worth the time.

Dream a Little Dream of Me by sweetestsorrows (katschako): Incubus AU. Finished. Similar to Vampire AU in that both fics start in canon timeline (this one follows book canon to a T). Daemon is doomed to live for all eternity, never able to find peace until he finds Rhaenyra again to try to make things up to her after all that went down in the war and their tragic canon endings. It's a fascinating story, haunting, emotional and beautiful.

*Jan 3rd, 2024.

[creation-help]

Still doing OC Reviews?

Here's one of my OCs!!

Her name is Alex and she's a Self Insert OC(in a "I wish that were me" type of way). I think she's also one of my oldest OCs as well(that I can remember). She ages up with me as well.

Here's some Picrews of her and a couple of screenshots from Fallout 4 and Skyrim:

Her Refsheet.net: https://refsheet.net/DarlingLeech/SelfInsertOC

I'm gonna try picking these up and being a little gentler with the work standards I've set for myself so I can get back into the gist of everything!

I hope you're fine having a self insert reviewed? I obviously don't know you personally so I can't comment on any of that, I'll just look at the design on it's own so I hope that's alright with you. There's also the unfortunate limitations of picrews and such. Onto the actual text!

My first impression here is that she seems to have two versions and I'm assuming this is bc she's in two different storyverses, since you included video game screenshots. I wish you'd have included more explanation on that, since it's relevant to the review if a character has different versions! From what I'm seeing in details, I'm getting the impression she has differing personalities in these different universes (ofc to my knowledge the Skyrim and Fallout games take place in DRASTICALLY different settings).

The distinctions in hair styles and even colors between the two versions is a great aspect! I like that the hair, though staying blonde and long, is a more desaturated platinum in one version, while being braided and more warm blonde in the other. It's a good balance of consistency and difference.

(Disclaimer: This will have me doing alot of guesswork since there is no actual drawings of the character, please keep that in mind)

This might just be me but I'm having trouble figuring out what kind of person she's meant to be in the Skyrim(?) version. Some of the jewelry indicates higher status but she's clad in chainlink armor and such, so coupled with the other version having a leather jacket (and knives in the picrew), I'd guess she's meant to be a mercenary/ass kicking type? Assassin? Femme Fatale? Across both versions she clearly has some amount of "fancy" in one way or another, just not in the upper class style (I'd call her modern looking outfit fancy in the fashionable sense - leather jackets are stylish). However there's also some aspect of having an active lifestyle so she's not all focused on fashionability and I think you could probably play this up in the design - as far as I'm seeing, I'm really not getting a sense of who this character is in their story.

The design is nicely put together, however I think you could go for more storytelling details - like personal items (the Pride pins are a nice touch! However most picrews these days offer that as an option so I can't know if it's meant to be a full time part of her design), facial marks or perhaps makeup? Unfortunately I can't comment too much on this since these are limited to their mediums so I'm only getting a sense of the very core of her character; through what traits you've consistently added throughout all pictures.

If the picrews are anything to go by, I love that she has brown eyes! Not enough brown eyes (blonde or otherwise) in human designs imo :]

[rk-ish]

Nathalie Chapter 1 - Extended Author's Notes

This one will understandably be a bit different from the other extended authors notes I will do so lets just get into it!

[link to fic]

So the first question (if you didn't read the wiki page) is 'who is Nathalie?' or 'Is that an OC?' and those are all fair questions-

About a year ago I stumbled upon the wiki page of a scrapped protagonist for DBH and I remember finding it interesting and also thinking that I could find her and North cute together, though I don't remember the exact reason for thinking that anymore-

Regardless, when i then a few months later started to think about this AU i immidiately decided to bring the fourth protagonist back. Not only did I think that there was an interesting potential in her, but I also prefer stories that have something like a 50/50 split between male and female characters.

(later into the story you'll find that Nathalie isn't the only character I found on the wiki that I decided to bring back)

I did many versions of this first chapter, and it was the first one that i showed my friends and my sister because I really really wanted feedback on it.

First, my version of Nathalie was supposed to be as similar to Maddison Page from Heavy Rain as possible, since having played both HR and DBH and having seen the similarities in characters, it did make sense to think that would've been what Nathalie would've been in DBH. And I was initially really interested in speculating and trying to make her as close to what she would've been in DBH. I replayed HR to look at Maddisons chapters again.

Then, the last person who I showed one of the earlier drafts of the chapter to asked 'will we ever find out why she chose the name Nathalie?'

My initial plan was to google 'famous Nathalies', maybe find a journalist and mention that person offhandedly as some sort of inspiration.

This was however how I found myself scrolling trough a list of Nathalies/Natalies and noticed a pretty portrait of a blonde woman, and the text underneath it indicated that she was married to an another woman. I was ofc immidiately interested in this person and started doing further research.

That person was none other than Natalie Clifford Barney. Born in the 1800's, she was a lesbian who published the poetry book mentioned in the chapter in 1900. I wish that I could say more about it but I don't know any french.

I became a bit obsessed with Natalie Barney and ended up reading non fiction books about her for fun over the summer-

So the end product ended up being heavily influenced by Barney and the salons she hosted.

Though there is still some influence from Maddison, like the surname she chooses for herself, that one is probably borrowed from a famous journalist-

Also, Echo and Ripple and the Eden Club chapter was a big inspiration for this chapter ofc, even if they have been replaced by North and Nathalie in this

Anyway, I hope some people will enjoy this character or at least don't mind her too much, I was a bit nervous about this since well..people are a particular way about female characters in fandoms..but I do try to not write for an imaginary audience that is judging me and this story, even if I do hope that someone does ends up reading this series

The absolute best thing that could come out of this is that someone else takes an interest in the scrapped fourth protagonist and does something with the character! I think that if we as a fandom can come upp with literally everything about nines, we can start doing similar things for other minor (or straight up not in the game) characters!

Originally I had planned to make a map of the Star Park with GIS but I didn't have time, so maybe I'll include it sometime later!

Lastly, I wanted to include a link to this article that sums upp what I've learned about Natalie Clifford Barney pretty well [link]

[morefuncomics]

The Batman (2022), A "brief" Auditory Analysis

Before I begin, let me preface this post by saying this is not by any means an all-inclusive auditory analysis of The Batman (2022) nor am I an expert on auditory analysis. Also, I'm well aware it's been 4 months since the movie came out, but I'm on my 5th watch-through and am still noticing new details. I figured I might as well share with the class & this seems to be the best place to do so!

The analysis starts under the cut.

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. Bruce's theme ("The Batman") is most likely calling back to Darth Vader's "Imperial March" by John Williams and most definitely Chopin’s “Funeral March”, we know. And the Riddler's theme ("The Riddler") is a twisted version of Schubert's "Ave Maria," a classical piece played unedited 3 times during the movie. There's a pretty interesting article about the use of Classical music within The Batman found here.

But there's one major auditory aspect of The Batman that I would like to analyze, and it specifically involves the score. If you've listened to the OST or seen the movie more than once, you'll definitely recognize a very cohesive nature to the soundtrack. It doesn't get too repetitive, but each song leans into the other. Melodies are recurring and drive desired points home and, like any movie, remind us how to feel and what to focus on. For example, those high-note mostly isolated string sections usually tell us Selina is around (which... by the way... cat... string sections... is that an intentional cat & string pun? If not, I'll take credit for it). But there's one specific instance of this that changed my entire perspective on the movie.

Three songs & scenes you might not expect are totally connected. I will preface this again by saying I have not looked at music sheets yet because it's 1 am and I just want to share some late-night batman thoughts. BUT...

"Funeral and Far Between" , "For All Your Pennyworth" , and "All's Well That Ends Farewell" all feature the same melody, and this melody is theme of Gotham City. I have many many thoughts about this so let me unpack them one at a time.

Let me start with the 1st and 3rd songs.

I first noticed in my most recent watch-through that the song played before Mitchell's funeral ("Funeral and Far Between") has the same melody as the final score of the film ("All's Well That Ends Farewell"). I immediately, of course, texted my friend about this and came to several more conclusions in the course of messaging them (hence prompting a Tumblr post at nearly 2 am).

"Funeral and Far Between" is played as Bruce gets out of his car, walks up the stairs, and spots Carmone, Penguin, and an unnamed woman. The score reacts to this woman's veiled appearance with a strings section (the same as Selina's theme), which prompts us as the audience to believe WITH Bruce that this woman is Selina. (Ofc we know it's not, now). This will be important later.

"All's Well That Ends Farewell" plays AFTER "Something in the Way" by Nirvana (mmmm-mmmm) and the Arkham scene between Joker and Riddler. And while this scene is seemingly primarily focused on Selina and Bruce's relationship, it is really important to note this is also AFTER Bruce's ending monologue about hope. (It's also very important to me to note that I think 'Something in the Way' is Bruce Wayne's theme in this movie because we don't get one for Bruce specifically, only Batman [and yes I think there's a difference, ESPECIALLY in this early years movie] not that I have any insightful connection of the lyrics to Bruce but the way it is cinematically utilized (and, as I said before, recurring: playing after his first and during his final monologue) is just perfect to demonstrate Bruce's personal, under-the-mask growth throughout the film.) And only 1 of the 3 instances of this melody includes an auditory cue about Selina, so this melody isn't only about her, Bruce, OR their relationship. No, this melody is about Gotham.

When Bruce sees the woman before the funeral, the strings section tells us it may be Selina. But, in "All's Well..." we don't get that isolated string section to signify Selina even though this time she's actually present in the scene. No, in the end, it seems like we are about to get it-- but, visually, as she drives off on her motorcycle in the opposite direction, the music suspends and leaves us in mid-air, wondering: will we get the strings? will she turn around? The answer to both is no.

Yet, although we are missing this callback to Catwoman's theme and we are losing one of our leads, the orchestra overall feels fuller and more united than it has throughout the entire film. "Funeral..." starts with a solo piano and sounds hollow when compared to the start of "All's Well"

But Jango, you cry, how does that make this Gotham's theme? and what does the theme about Alfred in the hospital have to do with it?

Well, plot-wise, think about where these songs are situated: at the end of each arc.

After the fallout of the Riddler's first murder ("Funeral and Far Between")

After the fallout of the Riddler's attack on Wayne Tower ("For All Your Pennyworth")

After the fallout of the Riddler's final attack on Gotham. ("All's Well That Ends Farewell")

I hate to make these number points all about the Riddler, but that's just an easy way to designate interconnected plot points within the movie. This melody is demarcating the acts of the film but more importantly, it's telling us to look at the acts as the major developments of Gotham's story. Yes, the movie is called The Batman, but you can't have Batman without Gotham, and that's exactly what this score is telling us. Each line this song marks in the plot-sand is subtly reminding us, hey, look, Gotham is changing.

At Mitchell's funeral, we see the protestors of Mitchell and supporters of the Riddler outside beside the mourners: Gotham is divided. This is (from our perspectives jumping into this story) the start of Carmone's rise to power as Riddler endangers and kills even more people, the police feel unsure of Batman and of us each other, we are about to find out that there are rats (figuratively) and that not everyone is as much of the squeaky-clean-do-gooders we want to believe. Gotham feels betrayed.

During Bruce's hospital visit to Alfred, we learn about Thomas Wayne's true intentions with the Martha & Arkham scandals, not the twisted story that Carmone tried to feed to Bruce (and us!). We start to understand Gotham's history, because it's not even about Bruce at this point, it's about Gotham. And without Alfred, we would have had no one to properly tell it. It's also just, wow, the most heart-wrenching scene. At this point, Gotham is lost. Will we displace this villain? Batman couldn't save Alfred from the explosion, what's next? (The city, literally lol).

And finally, in the ending scene of the movie. Remember how I noted this was after Bruce's speech about hope? It's because this theme isn't about Bruce's personal journey of becoming Batman, although yes this scene is essential to Bruce's story and the fact but think about WHY that is. Why is Bruce choosing to stay integral to his story? Because, as I said earlier, we can't have Bruce without Gotham. And we can't have Gotham without Batman. and Batman CHOOSES Gotham, to become the beacon of hope he was meant to become. His monologue precedes this scene because he NEEDED to learn he was NOT vengeance first, he needed to lead Gotham out of her darkness and confusion and betrayal we have been establishing and exploring during the whole movie, before she could become what is she destined to become in the aftermath of the flood.

This recurring melody is Gotham's theme because it is full and peaceful and bittersweet and there are tinges of grief yet there is a sense of resiliency and triumph and Gotham promises herself to recover and hopefully (though, we know her and this won't last): do better.