#ITS ACTUALLY SO ANNOYING SOMETIMES

[peteytheparrot]

This only happens to my bisexual characters, what

[mamawasatesttube]

kon sweetie im so fucking sorry that someone would even say something stupid like that oh my god.

[sonknuxadow]

^ epic sonknux win btw

[yellowocaballero]

i know u n ur thing w roleswaps, but have u ever done something like role rotations? i did it to my trio ocs n its been rlly fun haha, n i got 2 thank u for the rabbit hole ive gone that is swapping changing n or flipping about roles

Always happy to spread the roleswap gospel. I think I always enjoy it because it lets me separate who a character truly is from their place in the story, and it gives you a lot of flexibility in creating a new character who is still grounded in their setting. A lot of AUs change the setting without actually changing the character - and oftentimes it's honestly just taking a character and chopping off parts of them until they fit in a specific handful of roles - but a roleswap demands that you look at how different circumstances change a character. I find that when I'm not doing AUs like that, I'm doing AUs where I'm basically doing that and offering no justification or explanation for it. Which confuses people. Look, guys, you welcomed yourself to my twisted mind when you clicked on the link, just go along with the ride.

I think also The Magnus Archives was uniquely suited for really good roleswaps, because that mostly entails changing which Entity a character is affiliated with. And that's just taking the same character and magnifying a specific aspect of who they are, looking at them from a different perspective. I'm glad you're giving it a shot, 'cause it is also just a good writing exercise in general for figuring out the innate vs situational characteristics of a character.

Re: role rotations - yes, that's definitely what I'm doing with the Naruto roleswap thing! Naruto works in groups of 3, so by nature you're shuffling character traits to the left. This actually becomes difficult when one of these characters has nothing going on, so it's actually difficult as fuck to figure out, but it lets me get pretty creative.

[tsukasalover]

I can think of a lot of reasons why I like and have gotten attached to tsukasa more than any other fictional character and i think if i had to keep it simple (or else id be rambling for hours) id say

1. He’s so interesting. I usually pick up the extremely mischaracterized blonde characters anyways but he gets my brain working real hard. its almost 2am and i cant think straight but theres something about his duality that keeps me glued to him and the amount of Layers he has and how removing even one layer or completely ignoring how both his huge ego and kindness + selflessness coexist can really mess up your perception of him. There was something quite short i wrote about how both sides make him. Well. Him. back when his colofes dropped since i was so annoyed at the people Not getting it (while most never even read the STORIES 😁) anf ive been screaming this for a year now Please. Also the way his dream and being a good big brother go hand in hand have captured me. I really like fictional siblings and they fill something personal i miss and Looove looking at the roots of characters. Discovering where this and that and connecting events to what started their behaviors or helped their personality bloom. So seeing saki and toya play such an important role in his life keeps me HOOOKEDDD. I took the bait like tiny fish. Dont regret it. Never will. I like my fictional characters like layered cake. Thats basically how i see them. I had a yummy chocolate cake with so mant layers the other day 🤤 but anyways. I also really like when characters have to learn and grow as people after making really bad mistakes or being straight up assholes so it really took a while even after mainstory but once i got to see more of him with saki and read dazzling i was like. This is the guyyy. Youre mine now lets go. I dont like perfect characters but.. you see.. when characters who have (sometimes way too much) confidence and are dramatic yet are shown to truly be good people who enjoy making others happy… alright.. now im listening… Sign me up…

But really he has almost everything I’ve ever looked for in a character. Starting with the fact that he’s a theatre kid. And blonde. Of course emu nene and rui + more fictional characters have made their way into my heart and ive gotten attached to them on very Very personal levels but when it comes to this Idiot who wants to be a star and reminds me of a dog its something that i dont even know how to explain sometimes. Why is he here? What are you doing inside of my head. Ill never have one solid answer because he takes up too much space in my mind and i become incoherent too often when talking about him.

2. Ignoring my first answer, He is ugly. My favorite punching bag. Cartoon character. Begins floating when he smells pie. I dont know anymore

3. he just like me fr (Which is terrible i dont like that)

[thegreatyin]

How did you manage to handle not one, but FOUR separate accounts in fl? I recently made the account for my HD little guy but having to do the tutorial again just seems miserable

there's... weirdly several answers to that question, actually??

a HUGE part of it is due to the way FL is structured. the 10-minute action timer is a core part of the game on a fundamental level, and the fact that i can very easily run out of stuff to do on one character and thus have an excuse to quickly and easily swap to another is just... convenient? satisfying? i'm not entirely sure how to explain it. the fact that i can make progress even while i am fundamentally simultaneously Not Making Progress is like pure dopamine for my freak insane awful little brain. there's just something really pleasing about spending all of my actions pursuing The Goal Of The Day™ on one account before casually swapping to another and doing the same without feeling like i'm wasting time or acting to the first account's explicit detriment. the downtime helps! the recharge time helps! the structure really really works!!

i'm technically only actively playing three, maybe two accounts minimum. the only reason the fourth (the one that'll be my future BaL playthrough) currently exists at all is so i can get his earlygame completely out of the way now and not have to waste time running through it all later, when what i actually want to do is play the ambition i've made myself wait a full year to play. and also getting free goodies as seasonal stuff happens,, something something surprise tools to help us later. the only two accounts i'd say i'm really "actively playing" at the moment are caeru and lark- and of the two, lark takes the most priority, since his ambition is the one i'm currently pursuing in earnest. for a couple months now- despite being My Main FL Character- the scoundrel has actually been pretty inactive on a gameplay front outside of the occasional progression in TLC and discordance content. purely by virtue of having Very little left to do outside of Very long-term grinds and vanities. they're in their "now what?" "now you can start playing the game" era. they've graduated to previous protagonist background cameo in a sequel anime series. they're like the yin FLPC equivalent of red at the top of mount silver. they're Literally just vibing rn. i only keep posting about them regardless because i'm insane and i will never ever ever ever ever let that bat go. but yeah, big TLDR, outside of doing the bare minimum to keep making waves/notability up every week, i'm not actually spending that much time on accounts i'm not currently actively interested in playing. and that accounts for way more gaming spoons than you might think.

i have a virtually lifelong history of playing MMOs, especially and specifically world of warcraft. i was born in the endless grind for useless video game pixel vanities and/or bragging rights. molded by it. you all have merely adapted to doing the same piece of content a pointlessly excessive amount of times for literally no reason besides whimsy and folly. me? i've done my time. i've served my sentence. i've spent weeks doing the original burning crusade netherwing dailies. i've devoted days to running praetorium over and over and over again, back-to-back, nonstop, long before square enix cut it in half and made it NOT take at minimum an hour and a half per run. i've perfected my silverwastes + auric basin goldfarming strategies. i've (almost) crafted dragonwrath tarecgosa's rest. i've killed the sha of anger so many times its dying scream of agony is embedded into the very fabric of my being. ""only"" doing making your name content four times over? that is nothing to me. it means nothing to me. it is so infinitesimal i can do the persuasive seduction quests in my sleep. it's not a matter of handling misery, or having the capacity, or even sighing as i remember the brass embassy raid segment of the watchful questline seriously i don't know why i keep forgetting that exists or what even is my problem with it i just am so consistently mildly inconvenienced by it and its highly specific resource requirements and it is the worst thing ever. maybe i'm just so used to the scoundrel's near-infinite money and troves of disposable items that i've completely forgotten what being poor is like. despite having done that step 3 fucking times now. ahem. anyway. i have transcended the feeble mortal bindings of my resistant-to-grinding flesh and ascended to a higher plane of enlightenment, they may call me insane but they will be the ones left laughing when they see what that "insanity" has wrought, i've usurped them, i've usurped them all-

hacks and coughs and awkwardly clears my throat. i mean. uh. um. Ahem.

the empress' court artistry + tales of the university nerfs helped too.

[zip-toonz]

Viva Pinata Sona in 2024? More likely than you think

bonus doodle

[quietwingsinthesky]

see my brain just doesn’t register the idea of anyone having a ‘one true love’ which is why the common fandom tropes of making canonical love interests terrible in order to justify why your ship is better always bugs the shit out of me. it feels like the only reason you would do that is if the idea of the characters in your ship having any other sort of romantic relationship that was important to them, even in the past, is a threat to their current one, therefore all their past relationships need to be demonized in order to make them ‘not real love’ so that they remain pure and chaste and ready for the True Love of the endgame ship.

[flovoid]

idk man the moment i switched to reshade last fall my game keeps kicking me out while using srwe on high quality- a bummer indeed

[offorestsongs]

OC INTRODUCTION ❣ ELIOTT EMBERS

BASIC INFORMATION

full name ✒️ Eliott Embers nicknames ✒️ ― species ✒️ human height ✒️ 182 cm age ✒️ 17 y/o birthday ✒️ 30.06 gender ✒️ cis male (he/him) sexuality ✒️ gay hometown ✒️ Queendom of Roses dorm ✒️ Cendrea (my Cinderella fandorm) class ✒️ N/A club ✒️ Home Economics favorite subject ✒️ animal linguistics dominant hand ✒️ left talent ✒️ doing house chores quickly hobby ✒️ watching tv shows, writing, collecting rocks favorite food ✒️ pumpkin soup least favorite food ✒️ anything made out of eggs pet peeve ✒️ people making a mess after he cleaned twisted from ✒️ Cinderella

PERSONALITY

Eliott is, first and foremost, good at finding the good side in almost every situation. His family treating him like a servant? Well, at least he's gaining a lot of skills that may be useful to him in adult life! His step-brother is fighting with him again? Maybe he can use their fights as an inspiration for dialogue in his next fanfic! Hope is the only thing he has, and he holds onto it as tightly as he can.

At home, where making himself be too noticed would probably do him more harm than good, Eliott is quiet and obedient ― he knows when to put his head down and bite his tongue, keeping the complaining to himself, and when to exit the scene. Away from home, though, he transforms completely. He's cheerful and full of energy. Even if he can sometimes be a bit awkward when talking to others, he's still very friendly (sometimes to the point of not knowing when to stop talking) and loves meeting new people. To make up for having to be quiet and calm at home, he often indulges in a bit of harmless chaos. He jokes around a lot, tends to pull little harmless pranks on people, and is not above a little rule breaking if he knows he won't get into too much trouble for it.

Amongst other Royal Sword Academy he has a reputation of being always willing to help others, though Eliott himself is not exactly proud of it ― he's not sure how much of it is the natural goodness of his heart, and how much is just a habit of agreeing to other people's demands without even thinking.

A dreamer at heart; he spends most of his time fantasising about the life he will lead once he moves out of his house or, better yet, completely strange worlds. Often times, he gets lost in his own fantasies, making him seem a little airheaded.

Signature Spell -> A Dream, A Wish ; It allows him to bring to life things he had written about, within certain limitations. For the thing to came out looking good and actually function as intended, he needs to describe it in as much detail as possible, and the bigger, more complicated the thing, the more magic it requires. Most of the things disappear after a some amount of time.

BACKSTORY

A leftover child ― that's what Eliott calls himself, usually when trying to make a joke about his situation. He never knew his mother; she died in childbirth. His father, trying to give his son a good life, remarried quickly, not noticing that his new wife seemed to be more concerned with his money than his son.

After Eliott's father died too while Eliott was still a young boy, his step-mother sold their house and their family moved into a more prestigious part of the town. His step-mother didn't hold too much affection for the son of her late husband, either leaving Eliott to take care of himself, or pushing him around to do whatever needed to be done at the house, and clearly favouring her biological child.

Growing up, Eliott quickly found ways to escape his situation. Sometimes ― quite literary, as he would start to spend more and more time at his friends' houses, his absence often unnoticed by his step-mother. Other times, he would escape into the world of fiction, devouring one tv show after another or, even better yet, discussing his favorite shows with people online.

RELATIONSHIPS

Grace Celestique [OC] ― Eliott's vice-housewarden and his senior, they basically adopted Eliott the moment they saw him. Eliot can see that despite Grace's usual silliness, they can often be pretty mature and he trusts them with helping him run the dorm well. He often comes to Grace for advice, and even without that, the two of them hang out a lot ― they simply compliment each other's chaotic energy quite well. Duncan Lawerence [OC] ― Eliott's freshman year roommate. At first Eliott was afraid that the two of them wouldn't get along, considering how cold and aloof Duncan was acting. Luckily, the two of them quickly bonded over their favorite tv show and now not only is Duncan a part of Eliott's closest friend group, the two of them have also co-authored a few fanfiction together. Allan Embers [OC] ― Eliott's younger step-brother. To say that the two of them never got along would be an understatement. Eliott was always jealous of Allan getting all the attention and support, while Allan, being the spoiled child, would often treat Eliott horribly just for the sake of it. Growing up, the two of them would either constantly fight or ignore each other for days. Now, with Eliott going to RSA and Allan going to NRC, their relationship seems more strained than ever. They simply don't talk to eachother at all, and during every interschool event, Allan seems to be avoiding his brother like the plague. Eliott isn't sure why Allan suddenly stopped picking on him and started to just ignore him the whole time, but he chooses to think of it as a blessing. That way, he can have some peace. Trey Clover ― Growing up in the same neighbourgood, the two of them quickly became friends. Not only did they spend hours playing together, Eliott would spend most of his free time at the Clover's house, adoring the atmosphere there. He very much sees Trey as an older brother figure, and even if they can't spend as much time together now, they still keep in contact and meet up as often, as they can. Che'nya ― The two of them are childhood friends as well, and they grew even closer after they both got into RSA and if Eliott is not spending time with the friends from his dorm, he's usually always with Che'nya. Separately, Eliott is almost a model student, but together with Che'nya, they're the staff's biggest headache, as Che'nya often happily enables Eliott's mischief seeking behaviours. ♡ Riddle Rosehearts ― They're both childhood friends and neighbours, as the new house Eliott's family moved into was next to the Rosehearts' house, with the windows to the boys' bedrooms being opposite eachother. Eliott would often see Riddle through the window and grew curious about the boy, readily taking the first chance to befriend him. Despite how different their temperaments were, they quickly grew close ― when they couldn't see each other anymore, they would exchange letters through their windows. Eliott didn't understand why after some time their friendship suddenly stopped altogether, with Riddle ignoring his letters, but he assumed he must have done something to make the boy upset. He missed his friend, but there was nothing he could've done about it, and with enough of his own problems, he didn't have the time to dwell on it. They only rekindled their friendship after Riddle's overblot; they slowly learn how to be friends again, often meeting up on the weekends or after school, if Riddle has the time.

TRIVIA

he's the housewarden of Cendrea. he took the position at the beginning of his sophomore year, after being chosen by a popular vote by his dorm mates at the end of the previous school year

Eliott is a passionate ― and a quite prolific ― fanfiction writer. he specialises in writing long-winded modern AUs for fantasy shows that may be bittersweet, but still always have a happy ending. he's not particularly shy about this interest of his and will happily show his works to whoever asks about it

his dream career is becoming a children's books author

while he is good at doing all the various house chores, he doesn't especially enjoy them

not only does he feed the mice living in his house, he also gives them names and talks to them as if they are his friends ― he's been doing it since he was a child

he has an old shoebox that he keeps under his desk, full of the rocks he collected on his walks

most of the time he stays at RSA during the winter and summer breaks

he doesn't like eggs because when he was younger, he often had to cook for himself and eggs were the easiest thing he could cook in different ways, so now he says after eating them so often, he got bored of them

he likes to wear baggy/oversized clothes

dividers. intro template by @/ai-kan1. coffin icon template by @/moonyasnow. taglist (ask to be added <3): @thehollowwriter @tixdixl @scint1llat3 @s-t-y-x

[supercantaloupe]

saw a post last night complaining that the sound of music film and its popularity contribute to the "universalization of the holocaust" and that by depicting an austrian catholic gentile family's opposition to the nazi regime instead of being about jews, it paints some kind of false picture of who the nazis' real targets were. and i'm sorry but that is such a narrow minded, externally motivated reading of the film/musical. and i say this as a jew who broadly agrees that holocaust universalization and the sidelining of "the jewish problem" (as it was known in that era) in film and media is a genuine and pervasive problem. the sound of music...that is really not the right target for your ire, my friend

[serpentface]

FAMILY TITLES AMONG THE HILL TRIBES

(ft. various linguistic notes and tangents)

In-universe Brakul’s self-given title of ‘Red-Dog’ is Brakul 'ne-Dainh' in his native language (Bict-Urbinnas dialect of the Highland language group) and Brakul 'Chin-Reyla' in Wardi. Ne-Dainh/Chin-Reyla is not something he treats as or considers an actual surname or identity, just a self-styled nickname. He already has a title.

Family names/surnames are not a native practice among the Hill Tribes (though some clans or individual families have adopted this practice), and all traditionally use titles that designate immediate ancestry, clan and tribe. These full titles are officially given when one comes of age and are spoken aloud in ceremony (with the entire direct male and female lines listed by name, with most traditions expecting 12 generations of each being named).

The function is to cement one’s sense of place in the world, and their place in a direct ancestral line, which puts the person under the full watch and guidance of their ancestors. It's also a critical method of recording lineage- the long held practice of each person memorizing at least 24 total direct ancestors allows for very long, largely accurate records of family history to be kept, with some people able to trace their ancestry all the way back to initial settlement of the Highlands (or even beyond).

Brakul’s full title is:

“Brakul virsum Kuligan et Borunil an Briyonis ne-Taig an Bict-Urbinnas”

Which dead literally translates to “Brakul son of Kuligan and Borunil of the Foothills (of) Red-Cattle, of the North (Urbin/Erubin) River Valley” but has a much richer meaning in the original language.

"BRAKUL VIRSUM KULIGAN ET BORUNIL"

The actual meaning here is closer to ‘Brakul, son of Kuligan and his father’s fathers, and Borunil and her mother’s mothers’.

“Virsum” means ‘child (son/daughter) of’ (the gender is contextual), but implies the person’s status as a descendant of a full male and female line of ancestors. A different word is used if you’re just saying ‘I’m so and so’s son”. The title describes him as a son of his father Kuligan and of Kuligan’s male line, and of his mother Borunil and Borunil's female line.

All ancestors (within this particular system of kinship, divided into one direct male line from the father and one direct female line from the mother, and not including husbands from the female line or wives from the male line) are invoked and credited with the word ‘virsum’. Speaking it as part of the personal title is part of the routine and necessary honoring of one’s ancestors, who watch over their descendants from the afterlife and can temporarily return to the land to guide and protect (and sometimes punish, or teach sharp lessons to) the living.

"AN BRIYONIS NE-TAIG"

The actual meaning here would be understood as ‘clan/people of the foothills where cattle are lit red by the setting sun'.

‘Briyonis’ is the word for ‘foothill’, citing his clan’s specific location being the foothills that form the slopes of the north Urbin river valley. He is of a lesser clan within the powerful North Urbin River tribe. His clan benefits from close affiliation to their more powerful ruling clans located directly in the river valley, which grants them access to a greater variety of cultivated foods, but their actual position in the foothills still renders them predominantly reliant on cattle for subsistence. Clan names referencing cattle or horses are very common, given their frequent centrality to life.

The ‘ne-Taig’ literally means ‘red cattle’, but the ‘ne’ color word for red specifically invokes shades of red seen in and cast by a rising/setting sun. This red cast is culturally regarded as a unique beauty and evocative (and part of the name) of the solar god Hraighne. The foothills his clan is physically located on are a vantage point from which the western horizon is not fully obscured by mountains, and they experience very striking sunsets and are directly touched by the light. This is fairly unique to this location, and is invoked in the clan name and identity. ‘Ne-Taig’ here suggests a visual of grazing cattle illuminated red by the sun as it crosses the horizon.

‘Ne-Dainh’ carries the same implication, a dog illuminated red by setting sunlight. The Wardi language does not have a comparable word for a sunlit red and ‘Chin-Reyla’ really does just mean ‘(orangeish) red dog’ (‘reyla’ is specific to orangey-red colors, which is the closest match he could get. There’s no way to impart the meaning of ‘sunlit-red dog’ in Wardi that is non-clunky enough to be appropriate for a name).

"AN BICT-URBINNAS"

‘an Bict-Urbinnas’ is fairly simple, Bict means ‘north’, and 'Urbin' is the name of the specific river that stems from a northern and eastern tributary. This river has a very ancient name (or a derivative of one) that predates settlement by the Hill Tribes, and its exact meaning is lost.

The root -(n)nas designates a river valley, but has strong implications of being an esteemed and bountiful place, rather than solely a literal geographical descriptor (as the river valleys are centers of power and trade in the highlands). It may be a loanword from the Wardi language family, as its usage is VERY similar in form and function to the Wardi -(n)nos, which also suggests a place of esteem and bounty (more specifically having connotations of a kingdom).

’An’ literally means ‘of’, but in the specific sense of describing the place and identity of a collection of people. ‘an Bict Urbinnas’ would be understood in speech as ‘of the north Urbin River Valley (people)’. The clans historically settled in and around the valley of the North Urbin River form the totality of the Bict-Urbinnas tribe.

The ‘Urbin’ word predates the contemporary Wardi name ‘Erubin’ for the river, the latter of which invokes the semi-mythological founding figure Erub, who himself was of a Wardi tribe located downriver to the south of the Highlands. The real historically extant ‘Erub’ was most likely named Urub after the river, with his cited name shifting over the centuries in folklore, and the Wardi name for the river shifting with it.

‘Erubin’ as a corruption of ‘Urbin’ functions very well in Wardi language due to ‘-bi/bin’ denoting something as a ‘gift’, usually in a more metaphorical sense. ‘Erubin’ is understood as meaning ‘(The river that is) Erub’s gift’, and the Erubin/Urbin river is a key tributary to the much larger Black river, one of the key rivers that feeds the region's wetter and more fertile west. This 'gift' meaning also occurs in the name of the southeastern Imperial Wardi city-state Erubinnos, which is understood as meaning ’((The kingdom that is) Erub’s gift’. He is considered to have conquered and taken the land (from the core city's actual founders, the Wogan people) and established a kingdom there in the early days of warring Wardi tribal monarchies.

[goobygnarp]

.

[guinevereslancelot]

being the youngest person at work is being the honorary IT specialist despite knowing basically nothing abt technology except how to use google

[wulvert]

[puhpandas]

as someone who isnt super excited for sotm for certain reasons I am really glad that like. it's clear that since ruin theyve been setting up for carnival and sotm IS carnival. so now that carnival is finally coming out, afterwards theyll be moving on to other plotlines since the main villain stuff is sorted out

I'm just rlly happy to finally see a clear direction for how the story is gonna be playing out with like "okay these games were leading up to this so after this will be open possibilites" instead of like. absolutely no info about each upcoming game and being left guessing before it releases and just having to wait and see what's in it and if anything you're looking forward to will be in it

it feels like they have a plan and a solid direction for what they're trying to do and after carnival releases thatll be all that buildup coming to fruition. & we already know from the Scott interview that theres another release 'beyond sotm' that's 'super exciting' so maybe thatll be focusing on another big currently untouched (which is basically all of them) plotline, or even the big campaign game that dawko has been calling security breach 2