#I'm super early game forgive me

[wearethewitches]

Uuuuugh this is brutal. I love it. I abhor it. 2000 runes GONE because I forgot to level up and then I died again before getting to my lost grace.

[marshes-of-bones]

I wasn't going to write a message here but I wanted just to be sure to warn people about my tags because it seems rude not to warn for Real Talk in public but like I want it to be at the top since I hadn't anticipated writing the notes.

UH I accidentally kinda wound up venting in the notes here about a real bummer of an event in my life because this comic brings it to my mind, because of both solidarity and disagreement with Saint's view here (But not in a bad way!)

Also yeah this is all inappropriate stuff to be dumping on someone's post and I'll delete it if OP asks me too absolutely no problem at all, but I dunno, I kinda had an exceedingly rare (I don't give details on this because that's super duper extra bummer stuff) thing happen that is applicable to sentiment in the comic, so I kinda hope my ramble has some degree of... Usefulness? Maybe? In some way? Probably not though, and sorry for making a big deal about it by commenting here and stuff but uuuhhhhhhhh yeah

One last thing to be sure because I usually word things awkwardly, I have been loving this series including this particular one, this one jut has Extra Feelings attached for me. And op I hope it's nice to know that your work has helped me a lot lately.

Hey Saint what do think about those who would rather stay in this world rather then leave it

scratch scratch

[4ngelx-x]

Early Morning Call.

⇾ This chapter mentions sex, drug use, fights and alcohol. If you are sensitive to this type of content, please skip.

Guys, forgive my level of English, it's not my first language.

Late at night.

I don't usually wake up in the middle of the night. I'm always too tired since I broke up with her, I never have time to rest, I try to keep busy all the time.

I spend the day photographing, if not rehearsing, and when I'm not doing any of that, I go traveling. There was no time for thoughts like that. But tonight was different.

Lisa's call💗

I woke up late at night to my cell phone vibrating under my pillow. I checked the name again and saw that it was hers. The same name as when she gave me her number. I don't have the heart to change it.

I scratch my eyes to make sure it was that name, and I'm sure when it shows up as a missed call and the call comes through again.

— Please Y/N — I had just accepted the call and she didn't give me time to answer it, speaking in a tearful voice — Don't hang up.

— I'm not going, is everything all right, Lisa?

— Please Y/N - I hear her agonized voice — I need you so much, I can't do it without you.

— Elisa, are you drunk? — I ask worriedly.

— I miss your hugs, I miss the way you boss me around, I miss the way we used to be together, I miss your kisses, your mouth - she whispers into the phone — I miss you.

Her voice comes out slurred, as if she's speaking without thinking.

I remember what it was like when she drank, she let loose, danced the way she wanted, acted the way she wanted and also said what she wanted. I remember when we'd go out and she'd pull me up to dance in front of everyone, even when there was no one there, when she'd spin me around until we were dizzy.

— I need you, Y/N. I need you as much as I need water to survive — I hear her sigh on the other end of the line — I swear I've tried to move on, I've tried meeting other people, having sex, kissing, but I can't stop thinking about you.

You had sex with other people?

— I did everything you asked me to do, but I failed. I'm sorry, please forgive me — I'm startled when I hear her cry — I need you, Y/N.

I used to love stroking her hair, I remember when we sat on the bed on our day off and did nothing all day, we'd just sit there on our cell phones, watching a movie, chatting away, having sex all the time, drinking wine. But that all went down the drain.

— Remember when you told me you didn't want to see my face anymore? You told me that I should get on with my life, meet other people and forget about you — he says in a slurred voice — I couldn't, the girls tried to cheer me up, Sakina took me to parties, Jean-François introduced me to friends and no one could get you out of my head.

They were all my friends, we went out together, we went out as a couple. They said we were the most beautiful couple of all. It seems that now they no longer have that opinion.

— I miss how you made me feel, when you touched me, how you caressed me, how you sucked me — she whispers the last part.

We'd have sex anywhere, we'd already tried out every room and piece of furniture in her new house. We had sex whenever we could. We had sex all the time.

— I can't bear to be without you, I can't bear to be without your affection, I can't bear to be without your hugs? — She says with a slurred voice - Remember that time I went a few games without winning and I was frustrated and we had sex 10 minutes before I went on the pitch and we won with a goal of my own?

I laugh mentally at the memory.

— We called it the lucky fuck, because the team went the rest of the season without losing — I hear a muffled laugh — That day I dedicated my goal to you, but you don't know that when I scored that goal I was remembering you cumming in my mouth.

I get up from the bed, trying to get rid of the sensation she had made between my legs. She always did that to me, talking dirty to me everywhere, teasing me and making me horny. When that time we were at a super-acclaimed awards ceremony and she was in the middle of the red carpet, in front of all the cameras and photographers, telling me she wanted to suck me off in front of all those people, so everyone could see how beautiful I am moaning, that had finished me off, me always standing cross-legged trying to relieve the tension she was causing me. Just like now, crossing my legs trying to get rid of that feeling.

— I wanted to taste you again, how good you make me feel and how good it is to hear you moaning in my ear, begging me not to stop — I hear a moan from her.

Was she realizing how long she'd been on the phone?

— Tell me you don't miss it too — The voice comes out like a breath — Tell me you don't miss how I made you feel, how I could make you come in two minutes anywhere…

I drink the glass of water on the bedside table, wetting my throat, which has gone dry.

— Talk to me Y/N - That voice again - I need to hear your voice…

— You're just drunk Elisa, go take a cold shower and go to sleep — I mean it.

— I love it when you take care of me, even though I don't deserve it. — She speaks with a tearful voice again.

When you saw Y/N, you saw Elisa. Because where one went somewhere, the other followed. There's no Elisa without Y/N and there's no Y/N without Elisa. Until that day, that damn day.

— Please Elisa, don't call me again, not like that…

— What way - she replies quickly.

— Drunk - I say worried - Why are you drunk? Again. You're out drinking almost every day, this isn't good for you, if you want to destroy your life, do it away from me, take me away from your close friends, I don't want to see you like this.

Drinking, lots of drinking and drugs. Almost every night. I avoided looking, but Instagram always reminded me.

— I want to smell you again, I want to feel you. Please, let's talk properly?

We never talked, it was never just talk, because it always ended in sex, that's how we always got back together. But I promised myself I wouldn't fall for it again.

I hear the sound of a bottle in the background, as if it had fallen from somewhere.

— Did you know that every night I read that verse from that book you gave me two months ago that's next to our photo? The girls hate that photo, but I like it, we'd just woken up after having sex all night, I like it because I like the way your hair looks when you wake up, and how sincere your smile is in the morning.

That night we'd had a fight, but the fight was no longer about hot kisses and silly hands, we had sex everywhere, even I accidentally broke a glass when she threw me over the sink. We were so drunk that we spent more than 10 minutes laughing. It was the night I had the most fun in my entire life

— We're so good together, why do you want to leave? You're the love of my life, I can't let you go like this without fighting for you - I say between sobs.

— I love you, Lisa, but it's best if we stay apart. Until you get better - I said, wanting to cry

I had never stopped loving her. I'd broken up with her for the best, but she seemed to have got worse.

I remember it like it was yesterday, I'd just come back from a work trip, I hadn't told Elisa I'd be home early. When I opened the living room door, I saw her with one of her friends, sniffing powder on the table. That image of her sniffing was stuck in my head. She was doing drugs on the living room table, as if that was a good thing to do.

We fought all night.

Fame had gone to her head after the World Cup, when everyone saw that she was really good. It must have been that night that started it, when all the girls asked her out and I decided to stay in the apartment and let her have fun on her own. When she came back, she came back strange, but I didn't notice, because she fucked me in every way she could. After that day, the fights started to be almost constant, but we always ended the same way, she spent her days apart and it all made sense when I saw her doing it.

— WHAT THE FUCK! - I laugh, denying what I'd just seen.

She gets up startled and her friend gets up too.

— Ma chatter, let me explain - She tries to get close to me.

— Don't touch me, Elisa! - I shout in disgust at what she's just done.

I walk from the living room to the bedroom as quickly as possible, carrying my suitcase so that I could put more clothes in it. I was going to leave this house.

— Please, mon amour, don't do this. I can explain, I swear.” She speaks with a strong accent, due to her nervousness

She tried to stop me putting the clothes in the suitcase, but I intervened.

— I don't want an explanation Elisa, I saw what I saw, it doesn't need an explanation - I say, trying to get her hands off my clothes.

I closed the suitcase with difficulty and pulled it out, as it had become very heavy.

— Please, mon amour, let me show you that I can do better, but don't leave me, please - she tries to stop me.

I slap her with all my strength.

— Don't ever try to do that again, don't touch me and don't try to stop me from leaving — I say, looking her in the face — You're destroying your life and now you've destroyed our relationship… You, more than anyone, know everything that happened to me, and you want this nightmare to come back?

Her eyes fill with tears, but she keeps trying to get in front of me.

— Please don't leave — she tries again to get in front of me.

— It's over Elisa, I don't want to look you in the face anymore — She's startled by the word “over” — Don't call me anymore, don't text me, don't do anything related to me, until you get better and regret it.

— Ma chatter, please don't do this to me — She was red, trying to hold back the tears.

I couldn't look at her like that, but after what I saw, I can't look at her anymore. I wouldn't go through that again. I'd seen my family destroyed by it once and it seems to have destroyed it again.

— Get on with your life Elisa, try to get on with your life, find other people, meet new people and forget about me — I try not to cry in front of her.

I pull my suitcase out of the apartment and don't look back, lest I regret it.

We spent the night arguing over phone calls, her asking me to come back to talk and me wandering aimlessly around the city with a huge suitcase in my hands. She was on drugs, saying nonsensical things…

— Are you still there? — I hear her voice on the other end of the line — I can hear you breathing, is everything all right?

She knew me so well. I feel angry about that.

— Let's talk, please, I've gotten better, I swear to you — She says — Do you know what day it is?

I spend every day very busy, working from Sunday to Sunday, I don't have time to look at the calendar, let alone the clock.

— Today was supposed to be our two-year anniversary — she laughs disappointedly — That's why I couldn't bear it. I can't do without you. You're my life, Y/N, give me a chance to show that I've improved.

I look at the clock on my dressing table. 3am. She's drunk, she has a match tomorrow and she hasn't even rested.

— Elisa, please, go take a shower and go to sleep — I say, trying not to cry — Just do it, please.

— I swear I post that, but I don't do anything. I've gotten better. I don't do any more of that — She sighs and gives up — I love you Y/N, bye. I hope you'll watch the match, I swear I'm fine, I just called to remind you that you're the love of my life.

I love you, Elisa. I love you so much that it hurts and I can't heal it…

[j-jared]

hello!!! i just stumbled across your resurgence au (i think that's the name lol) and it looks super cool!!!! :OOO may i ask what is maki's whole deal,,,i love her a lot :3

It's Maki time!

So in Resurgence, like the rest of the V3 cast, Maki is saved from the simulation by Future Foundation. I've touched on this in a few older posts, but their recovery took place in a hastily thrown together field base/hospital in a city that's still pretty deep in despair. It was a matter of not being able to get transport in for everyone right away - they had a set date for the helicopters to come for them all.

By unfortunate coincidence (coincidence, huh) - the day the helicopters come, the hospital is bombed by a Despair mob. They weren't so happy with their show being cancelled by stupid teenagers (THH was streamed to the world, then despair audiences kinda gutted and reverse engineered the Neo World Program after the Remnants were restored to their og personalities, I'd say it's probably because of the brainwashed Future Foundation members that it got out to the world - so yeah "Danganronpa" is a "TV" show in that regard, but its not how the V3 ending explains it)

Maki was in a separate wing from most of the others when the bombs went off, and her escape route ended up on the side where the mob was gathered (a lot of the others got around the mob by going out other exits) - So Maki has to fight her way to safety, and unfortunately, she misses out on the helicopter evacuation.

Now, Maki can take care of herself. She might not be Ultimate Apocalypse Survivor, but she has the training to patch wounds, adapt to harsh conditions, and defend herself. So she's doing about as fine as one can in a city that's basically an active war zone.

Then Kaede shows up.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I chose Kaede, I really wanna explore that dynamic but haven't gotten around to it yet - I think their personalities would blend and butt against each other in a situation like this, it's like a hardcore setting for the killing game with no rules. Kaede was with Future Foundation as a field agent, but her squad got separated during an attack (they were probably looking for the missing V3 cast) - Funnily enough Kaito, Tenko, and Shuichi were on that squad so - yikes on missing them.

So now it's Maki and Kaede vs the world!

Until Kaede's radio starts unscrambling itself and picking up Future Foundation communications again - but they can't reply it seems. The signal seems to fade in and out each time they leave this district, maybe they should investigate, right?

... Oh hi Kokichi and Kiibo!

---

That's about as far as I've gotten in the general aspect of Maki's arc! I could go into detail about points up until now, but this post is already getting long on me. There will be bonding, there will be old scores to settle, there will be... forgiveness? Well, it's too early to say. I think the four of them are an interesting squad to shove into the apocalypse together, especially knowing the later game dynamics of Kokichi, Kiibo, and Maki, and me basically having to figure out Kaede and if the blank slate of her not being around for most of V3 is something that helps them all get along or complete ruins the dynamic at moments.

[starfall-dream]

First off, I absolutely love this au I'm just shy as hell so please forgive me lmao...

I had a silly thought where reader gets captured (by what? Beats me I haven't beat Act 1 yet lol) and thinks their companions wouldn't come rescue them. I imagine it may still be early on in their adventure. I know my dumbass would wander off in the wrong direction when no one's paying attention (I've been told I'm very quiet lol). The look on their face when their companions roll up would be killer lmaoo

I wonder how their companions react if they find out reader thought they wouldn't come for them.

I actually like this idea, maybe while reader is trying to protect the Grove and save the tieflings, they end up being captured by Goblins. I feel like they would be super disheartened, and after their companions not saving them, it’s ultimately confirmed that they don’t really care for them. I think the companions reactions really depend on what point of the game their at, since early on they’re more weary about reader, but later they acre very much.

[curioussubjects]

I just finished Veilguard, and...I'm really not sure how I feel about it?

All in all: good game, had fun, but still didn't quite hit some of the highs it wanted to hit and it's still not as good as DA2

(Spoilers galore below for everything)

The Good:

Pretty game is pretty;

Love the codexes, especially the ones written by companions or with their commentary;

Speaking of, the Mementos had so excellent tid bits of lore flavor to them, as well;

Regrets of the Dread Wolf was a damn good quest;

Some truly funny party banter;

I actually thought it was really easy to figure out who my Rook is as I played the game, which was much harder for me to do for my Lavellan in DAI;

And speaking of Lavellan, she was in character she WOULD say that she WOULD do that. Bless;

Everything about Nevarra and the Mourn Watch, I wish there was more content there because I was so into it;

Orb and dagger mage is really fun to play, which was VERY surprising considering I don't play close range ever;

I also really enjoyed destroying blight boils for some reason lmao;

Petting cats (they PURR WHEN YOU DO);

Assan <3;

Taash being so autistic;

Teia and Viago my beloveds;

✨Friendship✨

The Solavellan of it all;

And Solas, too. Love that sadsack disaster man;

Maybe this is super basic of me but I liked Varric's narration...idk it's comforting;

Honestly, just Varric in general was a bit safety blanket in a nice way for me because the game feels overwhelming at first;

There's no party like an all Dalish party!

Exploring -- loved finding all the fun details in each location, and I know I didn't even do enough in my playthrough;

I'm weak for stories about guilt, fear and regret. And I'm even weaker when those stories are so obviously about forgiveness and moving forward. Also love. Always love.

The Bad:

The pacing. I've said this before but DAtV could've used a more explicit arc structure or have quests note which level they're meant for or SOMETHING because some times it seemed I was doing quests too early or too late for when I was in the main story. I also thought events kept oscillating from happening too fast or too slowly, and it very much did get in the way of immersion;

The romance. Literally what are you doing Dragon Age that you fumble the romance. Granted, I only romanced Davrin so far, but I'm getting the sense from looking through the tag that maybe Lucanis' romance also feels a bit off? Honestly I have so many issues with the romance progression for Davrin that it's its own section;

I hope this is only a Veil Jumpers issue, but I thought Rook was so separate from the faction. I felt very little connection to them;

I've seen some people point out NPCs talk to Rook like they're a child, and while I don't really agree with that I do think Rook doesn't have enough opportunities to be knowledgeable in their own right. Especially annoying with a mage Veil Jumper Rook! I miss the Inquisition perk dialogue options that let my Lavellan be a smarty pants;

Holy overdesigned armors! Yikes!

Not all areas are as well developed as the others: Rivain is the most egregiously empty and underdeveloped, but I actually thought Arlathan Forest was super lifeless too. So was the Lighthouse! You get the early game discovery bit and then nothing ever again and it's like oh that was really it huh (and the stuff we did get was so good please more?);

I hate to say this but BioWare missed the mark with Rook's place in the group. The companions seemed connected to each other, yeah, but Rook was like some cross between group therapist and not-so-undercover boss. There was none of the warmth Hawke got from their companions (or the Inquisitor, for that matter!). The game really needed 1. a lighthearted party hangout cutscene and 2. companions coming together to take care of Rook (the fact this isn't even a thing in the romance is bonkers to me);

Taash's personal quest being about choosing between being Rivain and Qunari as if that's how culture works is Bad Actually;

The worst minimap I've ever seen in a game wow;

Also: give me back my beacon marker;

The gods were in a regret prison but what were their regrets exactly we just don't know.

The Bad (Romance Edition):

Again, the pacing! Incredibly slow to start (and not in a slow burn way, mind!) and then super fast in the last third of the game;

In fact, the romance seemed to be running on a completely different level than the rest of the story. The last romance scene was incredibly out of place tonally, especially.

The first two romance titles for Davrin are "Thrill of the Chase" and "Hot and Bothered"...and like WHERE????

Davrin never writes about Rook as a romantic partner or as if he has any concerns with the relationship...which we later find out he has, but was news to me;

Tbh, the romance felt like an afterthought. There were cutscenes that in any other DA game there would've been flirting options, for instance, but this time there was nothing (what do you mean Rook can't make a flirty comment when Davrin is shirtless working out with Taash? It's low hanging fruit!);

Not nearly enough flirty banter between Rook and Davrin, which is nuts considering their personalities;

I'm really super disappointed with Davrin's romance, which sucks because he's actually perfect for my Rook and I really like his character. There was so much potential for a really fun romance that was both tense and sexy, but also sweet. But no. Secret good Davrin romance that exists in my head save me.

The ???:

Southern Thedas got scorched when the North didn't how?

Please tell me who was catfishing Andraste;

Making enemies super aggro on Rook unless you specifically have companions taunting was very weird.

[jojo-schmo]

Beauty and the Beast, but it's Metadede?

Ohohoho-!! This one really got me thinking!! :D If I had unlimited emotional bandwidth and time this could be a fun concept to explore a BUNCH! I'm a sucker for fairy tales! I'm not capable of fully developing this idea right now, but I did brainstorm a little bit!

There's some aspects of that story that I just can't think of good parallels for (Like Gaston, Belle's dad, Belle's character motivations and such). So this is more Beauty and the Beast inspired than being a perfect retelling.

Anyways, ENOUGH TALK. LET'S GO.

So when I read this ask, I immediately got slammed with a very passionate and explosive Brain Blast: Dedede as Beast!! BUT he's got an appearance inspired by King D-Mind (And Dark Mind by extension) and a beastly demeanor like his Primal form in Forgotten Land. So this is not Shadow Dedede!! Important distinction!

Like Dedede's personality in early Kirby games, he would be selfish and arrogant enough to be cursed by an Enchantress to find true love and compassion. (So the rose and its petals are still connected to this curse's time limit.) But at his core there is a being capable of love, compassion, and self-sacrifice! It just takes a bit of character development to get there!

Meta stumps me a bit more. He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy singing about how "there must be more than this provincial life..." And who would Gaston even be?? Beats me.

So instead of being a damsel from a small town with big dreams, maybe he's some kind of traveling knight or mercenary who has always worked alone. He's got a stoic demeanor that can even come off as cold since he doesn't make many meaningful connections with others. But those walls he's put up over his life are indeed capable of coming down with a little care!

You'll also have to forgive me for how little I changed Meta's design... I did this during my lunch break and all I could think of was adding some gold flourishes to his outfit- but there is definitely more potential there than I came up with!!

Why would he get stuck being Dedede's prisoner? Perhaps he bartered someone else's imprisonment for his own. Or he found himself in debt by chance to the King, or accidentally disturbed/destroyed/or damaged something important to him and has to pay with a prison sentence.

Whatever the reason, he's truly stuck living there. And they super do not get along at first. Dedede's fiery temper and Meta's colder exterior would be at odds a lot of the time.

Jumping ahead a bit, here's that scene from the original where Beast defends Belle from a bunch of wild wolves (but here they're Primal Awoofies!)

And from there, the character development continues.... Meta warms up a little and shows more emotion and vulnerability than he ever has before. Dedede cools down in turn and learns that he is worthy of affection and genuine connection... And so on and so on~

As for the supporting character roles filled by "Beast's servants," I figure most of Kirby's allies could be in this role! I just only explored Bandee and Kirby to start with.

I had trouble coming up with household object forms for them (granted I didn't invest that much time into it). So I thought about another time-sensitive form they could take that is high-stakes enough that they'd want to turn back to normal and break the curse. So I came up with the ghostly angel form that happens when you get knocked out in Kirby Fighters. :)

So there you have it! A few days worth of daydreaming for a metadede Beauty and the Beast-type story! Hehe. If anyone happens to find themselves inspired and wants to develop this further as an exercise in AU writing or just plain having fun with it, DO IT! This is my donation to the internet, lol.

...Just please share it with me. I love reading people's stories. <3

[iamnmbr3]

For your ask game: Luna Lovegood

How I feel about this character

I have a huge soft spot for Luna and I really like her friendship with Harry.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I don't really have any ships for her. I know Luna/Ginny is super popular but personally it doesn't resonate with me and I much prefer Ginny paired with other people. Given that Luna is one of the few people Harry feels comfortable sharing his feelings with a ship between them could be interesting postwar during the period of canon when Luna (according to the supplementary material) started to question some of her father's most outlandish beliefs. Moments like her knowing him well enough to recognize him when he has taken polyjuice could be super sweet in a romantic context too. But honestly I like them more as friends.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

LUNA AND HARRY FRIENDSHIP FTW!!! I love them so much. I love how Luna is one of the only people Harry opens up to - how she's able to comfort him post book 5 and how at the end of book 7 he chooses to sit next to her and she immediately understands how he feels and creates a distraction. I also love that she knows him so well she is able to recognize him even when he is using polyjuice potion in book 7. Iconic. I love the bond they share over the losses they experienced early in life and the experience of having been seen as outsiders. And I love how Luna's temperament and affect balance out Harry's.

I really enjoyed them going to Slughorn's party as friends too and Harry being so entertained by Luna unintentionally trolling everyone. Give me a postwar AU where everyone's after 'The Boy Who Lived Twice' and Harry's sick of it so he takes Luna as his date to everything - just as friends despite what the tabloids say. They undoubtedly run into Draco eventually and Luna probably just blurts out what all their respective close friends were thinking about them seeming to kind of have a thing for each other. Ron & Hermione are horrified but also desperately want to know the answer (and are afraid to know).

My unpopular opinion about this character

I'm not a huge fan of Draco and Luna just instantly being besties in the postwar period without any reference to any of the events in book 7. I mean, I do think Luna would be more likely to forgive him than some people and he was probably the nicest of her captors. But he still did participate - however miserably and unwillingly - in holding her and others captive. So it's not that I don't think they could be friends, just that it's weird when what happened gets forgotten.

Draco at least would probably feel really guilty about it and not just instantly be chatting with her and acting like nothing happened. And it would be understandable if she had trauma from that too. Though I would see her as being pretty sanguine about it and having some very Luna things to say that Draco probably doesn't know what to do with.

During 8th year someone's probably all 'you two know each other?!' and Luna's probably all 'oh yes. I lived in his cellar for several months during the war. He was definitely my favorite Death Eater. He used to sneak us extra food and water sometimes which was very nice of him. Though of course letting us all go would have been a lot nicer' and Draco's probably just standing there not sure if he's being insulted or not while Harry tries not to lose it in the background.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

We hear in the supplemental material that she eventually started to question some of her dad's beliefs. It would have been interesting if we saw a bit of that in canon. Also I'm curious what her reaction was when she found out her father tried to betray that Golden Trio to Death Eaters. I think this would be super interesting especially since, in a very different way, it would echo Draco's arc of coming to question some of the things he was taught by his parents. Could be something interesting to explore in a sideplot to a drarry fic or as a main plot to a short fic.

[helido24]

Well... i finished both snootgame and volcano high, i needed to talk a bit about them

First of all: I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SOO MUCH, FANG I LOVE YOU I HOPE TO YOUR HAPINNESS

2:. . .jeez, it's so difficult talk about both games without making parallels or comparing them

SG is a very simpler visual novel with a... very questionable reason to exist to begin with, but even with that it surprises you with a very beutiful story of self development and young love in the modern times. The multiples endings all of them are EMOTIONAL DESTROYERS, even the obvious joke-shouting-super edgy ending 1, but just 'cause all the care and love you have for the characters, you feel it in a more deeply way and you suffer watching them like this, giving you strenght to do the best ending possible and. . .oof, that destroys you too, but in a different way

I love Fang an Anon soo much, i wish them nothing but hapinnes

And talking about the elephant in the room? Well... i don't think snoot game is anti-LGBT propaganda

"B-but it's about fang doing destransicion"

That's the take talking about SG in GVH wiki and i'm not with that

Yes, anon is openly an ashole about lgbt themes and always talked shit about it

And the game treat the whole fang(they/them) with humor. . .both of those things happens between the first hour and the bad ending

As the game progress and anon makes the RIGHT choises you can see him at least try to comprenhend the pronouns thing, and perhaps he makes mistakes about it,but he get that is something important to fang

And yes, there's an ending where fang simply leaves behind all that identity and becomes a generic femenine wife? That's not the true ending

The true ending actually respect that side of fang, with her still liking that style,style being like that, still being fang, the only thing she doesn't keep is the pronouns

To me at least, fang's story isn't just about being no-binary. But being a young person trying multipples sides of their persona and life to try and found itself, with the help of the ones who cares about them to grow as a person

Fang could be a She,a he or them, and i would be perfectly fine with any of those

But if at the end she found herself more happy in this new version. What's the problem? If precisely that's the goal with this theme right?

BUT.... snootgame have a very heavy sin to carry and is. . .it's a 4chan game, and is a parody made to make fun about an openly pro-LGBT+ game

Even with how good the story is, with how NG never attacks directly the community and the movement, it's very hard to believe there's no bit of bath fait in the people behind

We still have all this early shit-talking about this theme after all

But having all in mind. . .i just can't hate snootgame, with it short experience it turned those characters in a very big part of my life (at least for this month lol), and the story touched me in various levels 'cause personal reasons (let's just say i had a "trish" in my life)

And well. . .thank you cavemanon for this very beutiful experience, i'm hoping your next project can shine your talent even more without so much controversy around it

And talking about conteoversy....

*sigh*

Goodbye volcano high. . .with you i have less things to say but still they're important i think

First of all: its FUCKING UNFAIR what happened to this game. An openly pro-LGBT+ visual novel with "tumblr aesthetic" being the first fucking thing they show about the fucking ps5??

What the fuck

It was throwed to one of the most savage and closed-minded fandoms in all the internet: """hardcore gamers"""

And just when they're waiting to some assasins creed, GOW or any other super big HD IP with muscles in the muscles of the characters

I can't think about this choise as nothing but an homicide, forgive for the comparation but. . .this shit was taking your 8yo cousin of color to a place you KNOW is full of neo-nazis with guns and criminal precedents. You know what you're doing or you are extremely stupid

And then internet folks started all this controversy and harassement and hate to the game and the studio by a lot of sides and themes and. . .i feel so sorry for the studio and the people working in volcano high, as a snootgame fan i'm truly sorry for what you passed trought, im hope with all my heart this doesn't make you to give up this style of game, and i'll be waiting to see your next project with heart ^^

And now talking about the game. . .fuck

Fuck fuck fuck

I'm sorry,i know what i said but. . .volcano high is broken by so much sides

I really wanted to enjoy it, i really wanted to love this version of the characters and the story but. . .fuck, i can't

Almost all the characters are soo flat (personality i mean)

All and everyone of them talk about ona (1) thing that they like and never shut up about it, you can be talking about anything else and- OH here's comes trish to talk about her worm. . .again, or sage and their cooking, or fang and their band. . .i get it, they're character traits and you need to use them but... i don't know these people, i don't know at all these characters at all.

In the first hald of the game you need to at least try to tell me something about them, their relationships, their past and problems, give me a reason to give 2 and a half shit about them... and they try, but everytime they talk and seems to be about to give some context they start to just talk about that one and only thing they like, leaving me with nothing to work with

And that's the problem of volcano high in general to me. Is obvious there's a story, there's a background to these characters and there's real context to almost every conversation they have. . .but we don't know it, we can't see it, we don't KNOW these people and is frustrating. After the 2 hours i just shuted down my brain and every time this happend i just go "oh yeah,some cute experience we don't know about them)

The two musical montages (there's 2 right?) With photos of the group living their lives and interacting with each other. . .they're very cute and seems to be fun, but we don't live any of this. Fuck sake i WANTED TO BE SAD in the ending, i wanted to feel the characters and their lives sliping away at the end

See al these beutiful and impactful moments? Well. . .i'd love to see them, to live them with them

But we don't. They're just a bunch of PNGs passing by at the end as the music continues. And that upset me a lot...

And what upset's me the most. . .you know why i care so much about the characters? Why i need to know their lives and feel something in this story?

BECAUSE OF FUCKING SNOOT GAME

They made me to care about fang and the gang, abour nazer, about naomi, about stella and rosa, i cared about this characters soo much that. . .i feel attatched to the GVH ones too. Even if volcano high do close to nothing to make me care for them at this level

It's to sad and so unfair, volcano high obviously was made with a lot of heart and they OBVIOUSLY cares about the characters a lot more than almost anyone in both fandoms, just the "memories" from above show it. But with the game story and characters as they are right now. . .i don't want to compare them so much, but honestly without NG being so important i wouldn't finished volcano high

And about the story itself? Well... is very rushed to say at least

As i said earlier they spent too much time trying to made us meet the characters (but without letting us know them)

To sudenly introduce the meteorite plot and. . .it feels zero important. Yeah it drives the characters to the harsh decisions they're making and how they interact with each other, but for half the game the meteorite is just there in the background and just mentioned over here and there as a reminder. Just to sudenly be the most important thing in the world at the last hour and half of the game.

Before that all the plot is about fang,the band and the battle of the bands (wich i hardly care about at this point)

But. . .fang and the band? Here they made it a very good work

Yeah, fang talk almost exclusively about the band as is their (1) personality trait, but still they manage to make me feel and understand how important is this to them, and. . .wow, i really felt how fang was feeling reed and specially trish leaving them behind and not taking the band seriously (and still having fang at the edge with promises of being a team but without helping them AT ALL)

I mean, there's no problem with reed and trish don't seeing the band as something more than some fun friends time after school and wanting to make something else for their life. The problem is they seeing fang talking 24/7 aboud the band their future together and openly taking life decisions about it and never saying "hey pal, i think you should focus more in a solos career, we don't want to live with the music but we're still friends" or something like that. . .and they do

Trish says this to fang. . .in the battle night, just in the most important night in fang's life, just to say that she's leaving the band in this very important moment and taking choises she never discussed with fang (as fang did talk with trish about theirs)

And the story insist on pointing out fang as the bad person here, who makes all the bad choises and burn all the bridges with everyone. . .but they doesn't

Even at the end with everyone crying and yelling each other, is fang who talk to everyone and says they're a horrible person and you can blame everything on fang because. . .reasons? Idk because with all the choises and talking options we taked at this point, we clearly made fang a very patient and caring person, but still there's one and only way the story was made and was with fang being constantly a bitch with everyone, so it doesn't matter if you take the bad or good options to talk about 6 hours, the dialogues are all about the bad ones almost constantly. And that's fucked and unfair for my dude fang the pterodolphin, i love them so much

But. . .not everything is bad with volcano high

The background arts are beautiful and very colorful, a lot of cute dettails and i love them

The characters? Well. . .it's weird, i love them a lot and they're very unique, in the special images and animations they look soo good

But in the normal gameplay...

They look kinda derpy all the time, and the few animations they constantly use for everything get repetitive after a short while (take a shot everytime trish does the eyebrow rise grin animation, tell me how you died)

((Btw perrito tacita epic cameo))

The art style in general of the game is very cute and i love it, but for the in-game animations they needed some more time to make them. . .feel alive and les akward

And the music?

Hell yeah this is good shit, i love fang's voice and definitely i'm gonna check more of their music soon

In conclusion...

I can see where all of this came from, if that leaked script is real it just makes soo much sence about how the final product ended,i can see every original plot being planted as seeds in the final game but never having the chance to grow or even blossom, just a little sapling in the dirt, and that make me so sad. . .

Even with all of that,they managed to launch the game,and leaving out all the controversy i think the game got very descent sales and everything was kinda worth, i really hope they don't give up again with this type of story

But Ko_On and cavemanon are full of talented people and they deserve a chance to grow and shine by themselves

Both without being a perhaps-bad-faith parody, or without so massive backlash from the wrong people who's not are even interested in the quality but the politics in the games

I don't make this kinde or post so often,but i had to speak my mind about something so important to me

Thank you very much if you readed it 'til here and sorry for the mess,i was typing things as they apeared in my mind lmao

Check it out my art, i just recently made this piece of fang and i really loved the result ^^

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

Sometimes I feel like I don't belong in the fandom.

I don't like FE4, which is often associated with the "hardcore" fans. I like Fates, which is associated with "casuals", but I dislike Engage which is also associated with "casuals" too. I'm not a huge fan of Three Houses, which... tbh I don't even know if it's even associated with any stereotype in the fandom nowadays lol. Not super big on the GBA games either (barring FE8). Tellius is cool and those are associated with "hardcore" fans, I think.

Sometimes the thought that I'm not a FE fan per se crosses my mind, but Fire Emblem has been with me since my early teens, so not calling myself a FE fan doesn't feel right.

And sometimes I think of interacting with the fandom again, like I used to do years ago, but I no longer have the time or energy I used to have back then and the mix of FE games I like is so odd I feel like I'm not really welcome anywhere.

Forgive me for the long rant, I just wanted to get it out of my mind.

babes the hardcore vs casual divide doesn't even exist outside of discourse and no pair of categories can ever account for everyone. You are an FE fan.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 06/05/2024

Wake Up! It's Friday!

Season 8 Featured on: The Joke-Explainer 7000™'s Highest Quality Rips: Sunrise

Ripped by AdamCrossing

Tentative rip name: Last Freight-train Night

Huge apologies in advance for not posting this on a Friday or even a Saturday. The joke has been completely missed. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me 😔.

Ah man, melody swap rips. They're always fun, right? Even in the channel's earliest days, we had stuff like SNES Mini Circulation, Earth, Wind & Bombs and Akumajō Lololo expertly showing off their inherent, obvious appeal - leveraging the instrumentation of one track to bring out a whole new vibe to another piece of music through rearrangement. But especially early on, and even nowadays, you'll notice that some games get favored above others for melody swaps. Super Mario 64, the Pokémon series, NES and Game Boy games, Plok! - granted, the reasons for a lot of these are very easily explained, but with games like Plok! in particular the recent emphasis has come from a select few rippers' absolute enthusiasm for the game and the unique soundscape it provides. Tons of Plok! rips are absolutely mindblowing as a result of this passion, and I intend to cover some of these in the future no doubt - but Wake Up! It's Friday!gave me many of those same thoughts upon first listen whilst being from a game I never would've thought would be one befit for melody swapping.

Again, to clarify: It's perfectly understandable why those aforementioned select games get so many melody swap rips made of them. Pokémon in particular has at once such a nostalgic, distinct yet versatile set of sounds that has allowed for a ton of creativity in how rips are done, with everything from the piano-driven peacefulness of Blue Mareep to the synth-heavy insanity of Plasmaseeker. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, meanwhile, is a game I only truly associate with two instruments - the pan flute and the violin - and that paired with its relative obscurity compared to other often-ripped games made me understand why all the chips wouldn't be placed on it in particular. Clearly, I was underestimating both the game and AdamCrossing's sheer range as a ripper here - the guy has genuinely impressed me with his arrangements of the New Super Mario Bros. series' music in particular, and yet I mistakenly assumed that to be the only trump card in his deck. Then again, as both those games and Spirit Tracks work with a smaller, more quirky set of playful instruments, I suppose Wake Up! It's Friday! only makes sense for him to have tackled; nevertheless, the rip wound up positively blowing me away in its arrangement, whilst still finding a way to stay absolutely faithful to the sound of the game its taking from. It's pan flutes and strings, yes, but they're leveraged to a far greater degree than I could've ever imagined.

If you presented me with a choice of song to use in a melody swap for Spirit Tracks' Overworld Adventure theme, I wouldn't have been able to give you an answer - yet had I given you one, it would've probably been incredibly far off the mark from what Wake Up! It's Friday! lands at. It's a full arrangement of Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F), the absolute pop sensation released just two years after Spirit Tracks itself - yes, in other words, this is a PAN FLUTE arrangement of hit song Don't Mine At Night. Like, maybe I'm just easily impressed, maybe I'm just far too attached to Spirit Tracks' sound from playing on its stage in Smash Bros. all too much, but I have to commend Wake Up! It's Friday! just off of its concept alone. But, come on now, you've heard Thwâmpröck Desert - you KNOW that Season 8 has been delivering in far more than just concept alone.

See, the rip isn't just pleasant for its novelty, it feels as if it fully realizes itself in so many small little ways. There's of course the persisting banjo-like backing from the original keeping a playful, plucky adventuring tone, but it's in listening in close that you'll hear something truly special. You guessed it: That chuff-chuff-chuffing sound persisting through the entire track is the sound the player's train makes in Spirit Tracks when moving at the highest speed, whereupon it starts to sync up with the Overworld Adventure theme - in other words, the sound effects are a separate element from the actual music piece, yet Wake Up! It's Friday! goes the extra mile in including it just to make it all feel more...right. The cherry on top of even that is, of course, the sounds of crossing signals fading in and out of the song at various points throughout its runtime. This isn't referencing anything in particular from Last Friday Night, it's a completely original touch by AdamCrossing, but it adds SO much to the listening experience: Pair it with the other two things mentioned in this paragraph, and it starts to feel as if this track is truly taking place within Spirit Tracks itself, a sense of immersion far above what was necessary is conveyed through just these small touches alone. It stimulates the brain in ways I never thought I needed - and in terms of sheer listenability, it all just helps give the arrangement a real sense of tempo, befitting of the dance-able pop song it's an arrangement of.

Season 8 is a lot of things, and I'm still trying to ascertain what to truly make it of four months into its run. But if there's one constant I'm sure of, its that the channel's quality has basically never been higher - rips like Wake Up! It's Friday! are dropping left and right without being part of larger events, as if to just casually remind you of how good of a place the channel is in right now. And having those explosions of quality be attached to games which really haven't seen all too much action on SiIva compared to the big boys, to the channel's "hidden gem" games as it were? Be it back with Plok! in Season 6, or all the countless other examples over the years since, that always just fills me with such joy. Every game is someone's favorite, and every someone has the potential to be a SiIvaGunner contributor - it only takes one person's love for a game to get rips as carefully made as the works of AdamCrossing's, among which Wake Up! It's Friday! is easily one of the best.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

I don't know if you're still doing the ask game, but how about 1, 22, and 25? For Jason, and Steph too if you're up for it :D

--Cologona

Because I could still find it: yes! Still doing this ask game :3 Sorry it took so long to answer!

1) Why do you like or dislike this character?

I spent like seventy years attempting to find the post with this meme on it so I could give credit lmao, but I could not for the life of me, so uh, just know that I'm remaking this thing from memory I guess???

Jason is the bee in my bonnet, the rock in my shoe, and I am chewing on him forever and ever - meanwhile I will enjoy pretty much any comic about Steph simply because I love watching her do her thing :3

But to go into more detail I really enjoy Steph's narration style and the way she navigates the world. She feels very refreshingly street level and hopeful. Also as someone who grew up as the only "girl" (trans man but egg) in my martial arts class which was taught by a detective with a very drill sargent/tough-love approach to teaching and got an extra helping of PTSD as a result... watching her struggle, get dismissed bc of her gender, and go on to become a great hero despite Batman and his bullshit feels really fucking good. Def love Batgirl 2009

Jason on the other hand is just so deliciously messy. He's hurt a lot of people, but at the same time his anger is super justified! He's intimately familiar with violence in a way that I think makes him unable to conceptualize trust and gauge what an 'appropriate' response is. There's been several times where he's expressed the idea that serious violence by him against others is just normal and forgivable and not a big deal. There's something so compelling to me about that bc I think he really does see it that way, and it comes from a place of him being extremely used to receiving violence and being expected to forgive and not hold it against them. That wall of text in the meme picture is a tiny fraction of one of my essays on him. He's got so many fascinating layers and I love peeling him apart and putting him back together like a robot performing surgery on a grape.

Sometime after I finish Chained, I really want to write Four and Twenty Blackbirds, which is a fic concept I've had for ages now that puts them together in a lesbian/gay man queer relationship. The premise is that somehow or other Steph comes back to Gotham secretly/early and Jason is the first one to find her and they end up building a weird organized crime/community support organization called The Blackbirds.

Not sure on the timeline. Maybe it'll start before Under the Red Hood? Maybe after a modified Hush plotline?? In any case: Jason offers to preform High Vengeance against Black Mask either for or with her. She does not want him killed! She would feel like that went completely against everything she died for. However, she does want that fucker taken down, and is touched that Jason clearly genuinely cares. Also I'm going to have Jason assume without question that she is fully competent and his equal. Unlike every other vigilante in town, she will never have to prove herself to him. So anyways she tells him that yeah, she wants her revenge, but it's gonna happen her way, and the plot moves on from there, as together they destroy and co-opt Black Mask's organization and establish a territory for themselves :3

22) If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

Unless given a reading suggestion by someone else, I exclusively read JayTim fanfiction, which heavily skews what I look for and see in fic. I'm also pretty damned picky lol I write much more fic than I read these days

Even the most basic, stripped down version of Stephanie's core concepts and background ought to be enough to conclude that she would have very complex feelings about both Jason and Tim and them dating each other. She had a supervillain father and a character arc about learning to value the lives of even her worst enemies. Now her ex is dating a guy who had a henchman father and the same character arc in reverse, a guy who specifically targeted her killer in order to get back at the mentor who bears some responsibility for both her death and his own. They are so uniquely poised to understand each other from across this fascinating chasm, both in terms of approaches to vigilantism and dating Tim. You could not ask for a more fertile storytelling ground, regardless of if you want her to be supportive or not.

So yeah, for Stephanie I like it when she has a personality outside of cheerleading Tim while being vaguely sweet and quirky.

The bar is in Hell here folks, and out of the hundreds of fanfics I've read I've only ever seen it cleared twice. And that's only if we include my own goddamned writing. This goes beyond normal fandom simplification, especially when you factor in that Cass, famously against all killing Cass, gets similarly denuded of all internal motives and qualities in favor of being (sometimes literally) wordlessly supportive for no apparent reason, while in those same fics the male characters get to have opinions and internal viewpoints. JayTim nation, I am praying for us to learn how to write women, truly.

Now on to Jason!

I think of Jason as someone who is intense in every facet of himself. He can be cruel and mistrustful or tender and romantic, but no matter what he is I want him to be a little unhinged with it, a little too deep, a little too incapable of not giving a fuck. I want this man lost in the sauce, whatever that sauce may be.

I dislike him being overly apologetic, which practically translates to me disliking most fics in which he is apologetic at all lol I do think he would come to regret some of his actions, but I tend to think those would be different actions than the ones he's usually depicted apologizing for. For instance, I can absolutely see him apologizing to a victim of the Joker for not killing him when he got the chance, but I don't really think he'd have the framework to consider his fights with Tim to have been all that far out of line.

25) What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Ohhhhhhh boy that was fuckin ages ago??? I'm not honestly sure I remember, though I do know that I read JayTim fanfics before anything else that involved these characters, so it had to have been based on that.

...Gah, I don't even remember how I found this ship lol! I mean I started with Boostle?? Maybe JayTim was in the background somewhere of one of those fics? idk

I suppose my first impressions were that Jason was a Big Mood deeply traumatized and lashing out bc of that, and Stephanie was gir waffles XD random rawr means I love you in dinosaur.

Anyhow, thank you very much for the ask @cologona! As per usual with these things I hope it was a fun read and you have a good day and all that jazz :3

[thefringespod]

Finally got smart enough to make my #AudioDramaSunday list ahead of time so I wouldn't forget anything for once! We're gonna start today with the newest Magus Protocol episode which was phenomenal. Cole Weavers wrote this one and I just adore his writing. Also: Augustus is here 👀

Early access for the newest ep of @souloperatorpod was this week and y'all have a TREAT waiting for you tomorrow. Tot continues to astound me with her many talents and we also get to meet a new character who I'm already in love with

@tellnotalespod has brought us back to Julia and Riley who are overworking themselves (especially Riley. Let them sleep.) I love getting to hear from them in these mini eps but they DO make me want to shake Leo even harder Leo please talk to your friends please

@camlannpod episode 2 released this week and my gods it was so much fun. A blend of deep and emotional scenes and comedy (I'm still thinking about "The CW lied to me") I love every character with my whole heart and have been loving all the theories on tumblr about the show

New @innbetween was so sweet I love hearing the Lowlifes become actual friends. Phoebe thinking that everyone wanted her to leave squeezed my heart so hard and everyone insisting she stay because she was the one that they wanted for the quest??? Just so so good

@somewhereohio has once again knocked me flat with this episode. The worldbuilding around Jasmine and what's going on with her memories is incredible! I am an Orange Splice stan 1st and person 2nd. Also the Nadia/Alex scene breaks my heart because I know how they end 😭.

New Technomancy Project was SO GOOD!! And I was FUCKING RIGHT!!! I said this before but I love having all of them play Belial's game this time around and I don't think there's a single EPO agent who didn't make me cry this ep. The Technomancy Project continues to kick ass

Caught up on last weeks @thesiltverses and gods it fucked me up (affectionate) B Narr does such a fantastic job with Faulkner. I love him. I hate him. I want him to get whats coming to him & I want to protect him from it at the same time. B's performance knocks me flat every time

There was another special episode of @wakeofcorrosion this week featuring the Fringes' very own @totcoc0a and @taytayheyhey! I will never forgive them for what they did to my heart <3 Shaun Pellington wrote a killer script and deserves none of the blame even if it did break me

Continuing to make my way through the Storage Papers this week and episodes 13-19 were VERY good. I said "Nope, don't like that" out loud multiple times while listening to 19 which is the exact reaction you want from a horror pod.

This isn't a new episode listen but @wpwcpod has announced their existence and cast and im SO FUCKING EXCITED!! Not only do I love CL Hendry's writing but it will also feature the Fringes' very own Ollie Bannerman and @chainofbeing Cai Gwilym Pritchard I'm so hyped

Also not a new episode listen but Athan (creator of The Grotto) has announced that his album is coming out on March 29! If you've listened to The Grotto then you know Athan writes killer music. And if you dont listen to the Grotto: DO IT GO LISTEN RIGHT NOW ITS SO GOOD

Here on the Fringes we're preparing for the second half of the season! Episode 19 is available RIGHT NOW at patreon.com/PineTreePods and will be available to the public this Wednesday! Also gearing up to finish the last 3 episodes of season 3 which I'm super excited for

And over on @forgedbondspod the first half of the show is written! The cast has been thrown into a discord and has access to scripts now which is super exciting, I can't wait for yall to hear what's going to come from the first 24 eps

And that's all for this week! It's a long audiodrama Sunday post but there's just. So much good stuff going on. Every day I'm so grateful to exist in this audiodrama space and to share my work with yall <3

[eeriemothz]

day 7: suffer.

At the end of all things, there is a wedding.

Admittedly, I'm a tad early but forgive me I'm going to be super busy for the rest of the night and tomorrow.

this week has been so, SO much fun, I had a genuine blast, if OP ever hosts something like this again I will def be joining lol.

Thank you everyone who's interacted at all with my work. I'm super shy about my writing so it's meant more than you know.

[totallyboatless]

Pip Gets High and Writes an Essay: Wrestling and Shakespeare Edition

Hello friends, today was stressful and I want to distract myself, so it is time for another writing-while-high game. For those new, here's the breakdown:

I'm about to take an edible. I'll time stamp when I took it and when I've realized it's hit. You will almost certainly realize it's hit before me

I will write this in one go with minimal editing. If I got back to edit or add a note, it will be from "Pip From the Future" who will be significantly more high

This is a topic I've thought about before, but have never sat down to write out

Additional notes:

I was super into wrestling when I was a kid in the 90s/early 2000s, fell off of it, and then was reintroduced this January when my boyfriend got me into AEW (I'm almost entirely going to be talking about AEW btw--I'm not as into WWE). So though it's become a significant hyperfixation this year, I'm still new to modern-day wrestling. Please forgive the inevitable mess ups.

2. I love Shakespeare with a passion and have taken a handful of classes and seen a lot of performances, but I'm by no means a scholar. Please forgive the inevitable mess ups.

OKAY WITH THAT: Devil's candy eaten at 10:22pm Mountain Time.

Now let's get into:

Wrestling is More Shakespearean Than Many Modern Day Shakespeare Performances

Part 1: When the Audience is a Character, Theatre Hits Different

I wrote about this in my previous weed-induced essay, but one of my favorite performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream of all time is the 2019 Bridge Theatre's version with Gwendolyn Christie (it was filmed, highly recommend checking it out on the National Theatre streaming service or...by other means). There's a whole lot to love about the production (it's so gay, guys, like SO gay), but one of the absolute highlights is the way that the stage is set up.

The stage is like theatre-in-the-round on crack. It's made up of multiple moving parts, and as the tech crew attaches and detaches parts of the stage to move throughout the space, the crowd needs to ebb and flow along with them. The actors engage directly with the audience, often as the catalyst to get them to move in order to make way for the stage changing.

Anyone who's ever studied Shakespeare, even in the most casual of ways, knows that in the original productions, especially for the Comedies, the audience was encouraged to interact with the show and actors--it was deeply immersive. The Globe Theatre isn't fully in the round, but it almost is; no matter where someone sat or stood, they could see the face of another audience member. Their shared reactions and interactions were an integral part of the experience.

This wasn't unique to Shakespeare, but this setup works particularly well when dealing with stories whose core (no matter the genre) are about visceral human experiences. Being able to feel something, whether it's joy or pain, and directly see someone else experiencing the same thing in the same way amplifies theatre in a gorgeous way. There's nothing like that feeling of connection with someone you'll never talk to.

Seeing the recorded Bridge Theatre's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream made me realize how much I missed that feeling of being completely immersed in a story, and I still feel so jealous when I watch the audience in the recording. I fucking love being surrounded by people whose bodies thrum along with my energy at a show. Shortly after watching it, I went to see a live performance of A Winter's Tale, and it was a good time--but it was on a normal stage, the barrier between the audience and the story well established. It was a show being performed at the audience, not with them.

And that's how most modern day theatre productions are, Shakespeare or not. And it makes sense from a logistics perspective--a lot of people are assholes when they're given the freedom to interact with a show. They take advantage, especially in the age of social media when the temptation to do something to make you go viral is there. And people pay a lot of money for live theatre now and don't want their experience disrupted. (it's high Pip from the future--I finally realized the thing I wanted to say here that was going to make for a better segue: Shakespeare doesn't just love the idea of an immersed audiences, he also saw the magic of "audience as character." So many of his plays break the fourth wall and are meant to be delivered to the audience not as performance but as someone sharing their deepest secrets to a friend). I get it, but in some ways it feels like an opportunity at magic is lost.

UNTIL I GOT INTO THE BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPIN' MEAT

It wasn't hard to sell me on wrestling since I already loved it as a kid, but there was one video in particular that my boyfriend showed me that flipped the switch so hard my brain lit up like Mark Briscoe got a hold of the pyrotechnics.

The video in question is Invisible Man vs. Invisible Stan, in which two invisible wrestlers fight each other. When my boyfriend first told me about this, I thought two dudes in green suits were going to come out, or that everybody was going to pretend they couldn't see two real-life dudes. But my guys IT IS A FULL FIGHT BETWEEN TWO IMAGINARY WRESTLERS.

I'm not kidding in the least when I say this video is one of my top favorite pieces of art from the modern world. It's a story told entirely by two entities: The referee (Bryce Remsburg) and the audiences. And yeah, I'm considering the audience one entity--just watch the video, the way they all meld together is WILD. The crowd is fully bought in, they all take cues off of Bryce and each other in order to collectively decide where the Invisible Man and Invisible Stan are and they move accordingly. That bit where one of the wrestlers goes up to the balcony and jumps down, and like 10 people all fall in unison as if they've been landed on--are you KIDDING ME?! That shit is some of the best improvisational collaborative storytelling I've ever seen--and it could never have happened if the audience wasn't as much of a character as Bryce or the wrestlers. Seriously go watch it, it's incredible.

"The audience is a character" is a sacred rule in pro wrestling--audience participation is the meat of what moves storylines along, and can (and has) literally change(d) the course of character arcs over the years. They set the tone for matches: for the audience back home, for the actors, and most importantly for each other. They chant together, they hold signs together, they gasp together.

(They chant "he's gay he's gay he's gay" in the kindest way those words have ever been spoken -- high Pip from the future, i went to go grab the link to insert bc i had forgot and i rewatched the video so the rest of this video.........this is not a video, but it's playing in my head as one. Anyway I'm tearing up that is such a good gay moment. Also for non-wrestling people reading this -- why are you reading this? -- that tall blonde man is named Daddy Ass. I need you all to go look up the story of how "Scissor me, Daddy Ass" came to be if you do not know it. Unrelated my keyboard feels like it's tilting)

They give the ability for actors to feel more immersed, themselves. A wild crossover I never expected: Anthony Burch (DM for Dungeons & Daddies) held up a sign for a Kenny Omega match that references a years-long storyline that's HONESTLY HEARTBREAKING LIKE JESUS FUCK THE GAY TEARS IT MAKES ME CRY THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE GOLDEN LOVERS ARE YOU *KIDDING* ME--

(Aside: Is this the first time the edible hits and I realize the same time as you guys? Time 11:17pm, almost an hour after taking it. Or am I going to read this back tomorrow and be like "what the fuck that is gibberish.")

Anyway, I'm not going to go into it (that's Super Eyepatch Wolf's job)--all you need to know is Anthony's sign stopped Kenny Omega in his tracks. His face changes as he sees the sign, and it feels like the energy from that reaction carries him through the rest of the match. It gives a beautiful additional motivation to his character actions--and it never could have happened without an audience that was alive.

TL;DR and main point of part 1: Wrestling understands theatre-in-the-round productions and audience immersion in a way that many theatres don't understand or utilize the vast power of, and I think going to a live wrestling show would finally sate that desire that the Bridge Theatre's A Midsummer Nights Dream makes me feel that I haven't been able to find.

Shakespeare would fucking lose his shit over wrestling, man. He would be like "this is real theatre, baby." I'm not joking. I think he'd think that. And not just because of the "audience as character." OH HEY WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT

Part 2: Good Wrestling Stories Are Fueled By a Core Made of Visceral Human Experiences of Joy and Pain and Mortality and Legacy, Shakespeare also did that

Nailed it, what a good title

When we talk about Shakespeare not being as high bro and pretentious as the general public often thinks it is, we're not just talking about the dick jokes (though there's a lot of dick jokes).

(Aside: I'm not sure who the "we" is I'm referring to--who the fuck am i to be using academic talk i literally just spent too long that i want to admit trying to spell academic)

(Aside again: aHIGHed. Is that anything? That's nothing. Don't look at me)

Shakespeare isn't just low-brow, it's also incredibly accessible on a story level. Obviously the language is hard to overcome, but if you boil any Shakespeare story to its bones to explain to someone, they're stories almost everyone can relate to in some way:

In the tragedies:

The experience of deep grief, and the existential crisis of mortality that comes with it

Loving deeply and passionately while the world tells you it's better to hate, and the existential crisis of mortality that comes with it

The desire for legacy, how your story will be written in the minds of those left behind, and the existential crisis of mortality that comes with it

In the comedies:

The hilarity of being part of a friend group when relationship drama is going down, and you know two of your friends have a crush on each other

Having a fantasy about romping around with horny faeries in the forest

Enjoying sex jokes, twins, and weddings

Doing trans shit and then being really bisexual about it

Good wrestling, when it boils down to it, approaches storylines in a similar way of centering visceral human emotions.

So which genre is wrestling? It can be sad and happy and gay, sometimes all at once.

Wait I thought of a funnier way to say this:

Broke: Wrestling can't be put into a Shakespeare genre of Tragedy or Comedy because it's both at times

Woke: Wresting is a History

(Aside: GOD this is like the core of what I wanted to write about but it's almost midnight and I am p r o p e r high now, I keep staring off into space and my beanie is squeezing my head--if you like this next part and want me to talk about it more maybe i'll do it sober)

(Aside: I was about to go into a full aside here about Prince Nana and the ongoing bit from multiple characters that they want his weed...but we don't have time for that)

My favorite Shakespearean monologue is the "Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs" speech from King Richard II. I have those first words tattooed on my upper thigh, like some kind of pretentious slut. Anyway, the monologue is all about how kings only become kings and stop being kings due to one main thing: death. And there's this part that goes:

For within the hollow crown that rounds the mortal temples of a king keeps death his court

In a recording of Ian McKellen receiting these words, he takes a crown and tilts it at the audience until it becomes an O.

A crown is something that's coveted, given so much weight and meaning and power. And yet when you look in the middle, it's ultimately hollow.

Belts are crowns, you got I was going there, right? A wrestling belt is a stand in for a crown, it's a symbol of proven power, it's coveted beyond anything else. But ultimately, it's hollow.

And just like with kings, there's only way one to win a belt and to lost a belt.

Well like metaphorically. It's not death with this one, and it's not like when wrestlers lose their characters die off. But like defeat is a metaphor for death in this. You get me.

There are.....

Fuck my brain is fully breaking friends, lol. This weed friend has sent my mind to space. I gotta wrap it. There's some more thoughts on this, and wanting to tie some parallel stories (Orange Cassidy has big Prince Hal vibes, etc.) Maybe I'll return to this sober, or maybe this is way too niche of a crossover and no one will read this lol. If you read this, I appreciate you.

I'm truly unsure if this is readable but i gotta commit to this bit even tho i just got freaked out by my own fingers for a second (we're good now) so gonna post

/end

[cardiac-agreste]

WIP Game

Yesterday I RBd a thing where you list your WIPs, then people send you asks about specific ones, and you share a little. @bohemianrhapsody711 asked about these:

Into the Bugverse

I am SUPER excited about this idea, but it's in very early stages (no actual snippets to share, just some disjointed points I'll fill in right now). It is, as you might guess, a riff on Into the Spiderverse. A bit of crack taken seriously where the multiverse is all the fics on Ao3.

We begin with a universe in which Marinette is navigating not to disappointing her parents, who want her to learn the family trade.

Chat Noir, who fought alone most of his life before Marinette was recruited (think of this as kind of a plot divergent Hey, Ribbons by childoflightningg aka @peggiecarter aka @annaethchase), has died (he was Felix Agreste). She's all alone as LB now. The whole of Paris mourns him.

She also meets the new kid, Adrien, and a new Chat Noir shows up. Suddenly, pulled through the "bugverse" into her own world is an older Marinette from another fanwork, possibly Semantitheft's L'Oublie Marinette. They bond while fighting the big bad (imagine a vibe kind of like @leviaana's wonderful comic about Minibug, the jaded older LB who still loves her younger self).

At a low moment for them, other Marinettes get pulled into her world, all from other fanfics. Maybe

a paranoid @buggachat BEAU Marinette or mistrustful one from @wackus-bonkus-maximus One Does Not Love Breathing

Maybe a Marinette from a Coffee Shop AU like Allez savoir pourqois by Yilena who has no powers but is still smart

Or possibly a blog AU like Chat Noir's Miraculous Award for Truly Magical Food by @mommadon. Non-magic Marinette will receive a miraculous as a temp hero!

Marinette from a fic where she's pregnant as fuck but still fighting (the one I'm thinking of it's kind of a twist she gets pregnant later on, so I won't mention it).

Definitely Marinette from Ghost in the Machine by @jheqiawrites alongside her AI companion Adrien.

Possibly an akumatized Marinette

lip service to the MariBat fandom with a very well-capitalized MARINETTE (see what I did there?) from Miraculous LadyBat by BoxTops

a princess or knight Marinette like from A Royal Pain by jheqia and @sing-in-me-oh-muse

At some point in the fighting, we find out that Adrien died young in this universe and Papillon and Peahen are the enemies, and they're trying to get the miraculous to wish him back to life.

The Adrien in this universe is actually from a universe where Marinette/Ladybug is dead, and OMG, Marinette, he's Chat Noir!!!! Possibly from Hamburger Ladybug by @raspberrycatapult or from Last Wishes by @kasienda

Blah blah save the world, everyone returns to their universes. Hint at sequel that brings in other fanfics' Ladybug versions! Do we get a transdimentional love story?? Who knows? I DO!! (I don't.)

I think there's something of an ethical issue for me about using other people's Marinettes for my story, but I think if it's crack it's more OK (it's somewhat like parody) than if I were creating spinoffs with the same tone. BC to be honest, I suspect none of the BNFs would ever see a message from me asking permission. Better to beg forgiveness, right?

Miraculous: Bachelorette Edition

Alya, sick of watching Marinette flounder into her 20s, unable to confess to Adrien, submits her friend in secret as a potential Bachelorette for a reality TV show where many men vie for her hand. Through the magic of crack, a bunch of guys from the show end up contestants: Adrien (his father made him), Luka (he's pan so why not?), Nathaniel (STILL IN DENIAL about his feelings for Marc), Theo the sculptor with the bad soul patch, etc. Oh, and much to Ladybug's annoyance, Chat Noir is also a contestant?!

All of Paris is begging for Pajamagirl x Adrien Agreste

This is going through revisions in my head, but the initial kernel that is actually written down in my WIPs is

Ladybug falls in a crowded area and unconscious, de-transforms. Someone takes their camera out. "Don't you fucking take that picture. Hawkmoth can't know who she is!" Some teen girl "Is that Pajama Girl? Annette, I think that's Pajama Girl!" "OMG Charlotte, you're right! "Wait, didn't Adrien say in an interview that his celebrity crush is Ladybug?" "Dude didn't I see that Chat Noir took her on a date to Andre's?" Marinette wakes up surrounded by people, freaks out. "Don't worry girl, we're not gonna tell anyone, and no one took any pictures. Your secret's safe. Later that day, Annette and Charlotte get #adrienshoulddatepajamagirl trending on social media. Gabriel, who turns out to have been full of SHIT when he told Marinette that he determines what the public wants, pressures Adrien to date his Very Good Friend for the brand.