#QV writes

[you-never-disappoint]

I dropped a lil' G-rated Kelvin/Keefe fic on this fine Thursday morning. It started as something I was whipping up because I felt bad for fixating on other, more popular fandoms while my TRG WIPs languish, and turned into something I rather like. :)

[wantonlywindswept]

so i won’t write it because...well, because why would i write about jedi when clone troopers and mandalorians are right there

but i often see quinlan vos (shoutout to QV, who i only know through fic but you seem like a delightful character) assigned to the Guard in a ‘the guard FINALLY gets their own jedi’ story, and those (or with other jedi) stories are Extremely Rad but i don’t think i’ve seen one yet

where anakin is the one assigned to the Guard?

like it makes so much sense, palpatine would be able to keep his future apprentice close in his creepy way, and nobody can bitch about the Guard not having jedi oversight (including the Guard themselves) bc look, there is one! nevermind that he’s off with his super-secret wife most of the time or anything

and that could go a couple interesting ways, including veering straight into the deep end of despair and the guard knowing there’s no way out and no one to save them

or maybe anakin notices and tries to stop it because he knows what slavery looks like

or maybe the guard notice how creepy palpatine is toward anakin and try to stop that

maybe obi-wan comes to visit his padawan in the guard offices and goes ‘wow the vibes in here are RANCID’ and does shit about that

idk i just think it’s an interesting dynamic that could be explored, particularly in the aspect of anakin and fox both having palpatine’s attention but for very different reasons and for very different purposes with very, very different consequences.

...someone else should explore that, ftr. i’ma be over here playing with space marines

[zhongwans]

Since QV is talking about the groom from the Nogi shrine wedding again, here's a summary of relevant info:

Aside from the Yasukuni shrine related smears, ZZH was also accused of attending a wedding held in a "politically sensitive" shrine with "far right-wing Japanese nationalists" in attendance as wedding guests.

Is the Nogi shrine really politically-sensitive?

Not nearly as much as the slimeballs behind 813 want people to think. The shrine was dedicated to a Japanese commander called Nogi Maresuke who was involved in the Battle of Lushunkou in the First Sino-Japanese war. According to his Baidu page, he was the head commander of the battle and was the mastermind behind the Lushunkou massacre which took place right after. But all of that is actually incorrect. The real head commander was an entirely different person, a man called Oyama Iwao. Nogi was only the leader of the 1st Infantry Brigade and was under the command of Lieutenant General Yamaji Motogaru, who was in turn under the command of Oyama Iwao. And furthermore, before the battle of Lushunkou ended, Nogi was commanded to head up north to reinforce Jinzhou, so he wasn't even present when the the massacre happened.

So what happened here was that all that false information was edited into Nogi Maresuke's Baidu page on the evening of August 12. And the Nogi shrine's Baidu page did not exist at all before all of this and was only created at the same time Nogi Maresuke's page was edited. So when all the smears dropped and people went to Baidu to do some research, this is what they all saw. Before this, the Nogi shrine was only really known in China for one thing: it was a popular wedding venue.

Were there really far right-wing nationalists in the wedding?

One of these so-called right wing nationalists was an older male wedding guest who people claimed was Motoya Toshio, the president of APA group. APA group ('Always Pleasant Amenities') operates in the Hospitality industry and runs Japan's APA hotels. Now this Motoya Toshio dude actually is a piece of shit. Aside from being the president of APA group, he's also an essayist who writes and distributes political propaganda touting Imperial Japan's WW2 atrocities as "fabricated stories made to dishonor Japan". He distributes his essays and other material containing historical revisionism through his very influential APA group, so you can see why so many people hate this rotten piece of horseshit.

But that old man in the wedding was not him. As far as we know, the only thing they have in common is that they're both old asian men and that's apparently enough for people to claim they're the same person.

The other supposed "right-wing nationalist" was Madame Dewi, the wife of former Indonesian president Sukarno. According to the smears, her husband was anti-China and perpetuated the genocide against Indonesian-Chinese people, so she in turn must be guilty as well. But the reality is that the one responsible for the genocide was a man named Suharto. Their names may sound similar but these two men were very different. Sukarno, Madame Dewi's husband, was a friend to China and the founder of the Bandung Conference. In fact, a major reason why he was overturned was because of his pro-Communist position. And the very man responsible for it (and eventually replaced him as president) was Suharto, who then launched a bloody genocide targetting Indonesian-Chinese people and anyone he deemed "communist friendly". Suharto's rule was considered to be one of the most violent and corrupt dictatorships of the 20th century.

So what happened here was that Madame Dewi's Baidu page was edited, and her husband's name was changed from Sukarno to Suharto. And this falsified information was what people saw when they went to Baidu to research the validity of the smears. Plus, people were claiming that Madam Dewi was a high-ranking right-wing politician in Japan, when she's actually a celebrity and socialite who is largely uninvolved in politics.

People were also pushing the story that ZZH and Madame Dewi were close because they took a photo together, but it seems they did not know each other at all and she only took a photo with him for her blog (where she then criticized his oufit as being unsuitable for a wedding).

Back to the groom:

So at the height of the controversy, the groom posted an apology letter on his instagram account:

I grabbed this from a reddit post because the groom's IG account is now private and I can't be bothered to install the app again to verify. I don't even remember his username or even the password to my own account, so uh...

Also note that the post contains the misinformation on Nogi Maresuke and the Nogi shrine from the maliciously edited Baidu pages.

This seemingly well-meaning apology ended up indirectly "confirming" the false information surrounding the Nogi shrine and Madame Dewi. "Sorry I didn't research the history of the shrine, sorry I did not know Madame Dewi's political background,"

Apologizing like this seemed to suggest that the falsified info was legitimate. It essentially had the same problem as ZZH's apology letter, which frustrated the fandom at the time as it was such a dumb move and only ended up making it look like he was admitting that the smears were correct. There's speculation that the apology letter was not actually from ZZH (or if it was, he was deliberately counseled in bad faith). The statement he gave months later in the presence of other government officials and Li Xuezheng, where he asserted his innocence, was a much better one.

At the time, it was believed by the fandom that the groom had panicked, and in his haste to defend ZZH, did not have time to fact-check the claims or reach out to a lawyer or PR firm. So while his apology only added to the flames, nobody really held it against him. But recently QV pointed out that the groom is friends with an influencer who had a hand in spreading the smears. The groom follows the influencer on social media and QV says (I have no idea how she knows of this, just keep that in mind) that they are also friends in real life. If true, then it's something to consider. Because the groom's "apology" absolutely did add fuel to the flames, and if he had only clarified—truly clarified—instead of apologizing for things that weren't true and making them look true, it really would have helped ZZH in that moment. And if there is a chance his terrible apology was made terrible on purpose....well.

[princesscolumbia]

So a small sidebar to all the everything I'm doing, I'm kinda using "Code of Ethics" to function as a bit of a warm-up for producing original fiction that will sell under the 'self-publishing' model. I'd eventually like to be able to get a full publishing deal for something, but that won't happen until I can show off my writing chops in a non-fanfic level of writing.

(Just to reassure my fans of my Ranmafics and Horsefics, no, I have not abandoned writing any of those)

With that in mind, I've had a few projects that aren't fanfic based sitting in my "to write" pile that I haven't gotten to because I was operating under the notion that nobody would read my stuff if I wasn't writing fanfics. Well, CoE is damn near the closest to fully original fanfic I've ever written. Sure, I use QuietVallerie's framework and foundation for it, but I've got completely original characters (I've MENTIONED some names in the other Troubleverse books, but if I were to swap those out this would be a fully 'ties-cut' original fic from the character standpoint), a VRMMO setting that I'm stitching together from whole cloth and a lot of inspiration from a game QuietVallerie doesn't even play, and the ending isn't dependent on anything QuietValerie's doing whatsoever. She's even acknowledged that most of her work is blatantly 'inspired' by other sci-fi works, so even if all I did was change a few names it'd be a wholly original fic that simply drew from the same inspirational sources for Troubleverse.

That said, I want to keep CoE a firmly Troubleverse fic. Not only would I like to someday (hopefully, wishful thinking, please-please-please-please-please!!!) be granted 'canon' status by QV, I dislike the notion that I should divorce MY stuff from its origin just to make a little cash. The people that are reading CoE are doing so because I set it up as a Troubleverse fic, attempting to divorce my work from that franchise after I've gained a following would be disingenuous at best.

So all that brings me to my first (public) foray into original fiction. I've decided I'll be posting to the following with a 1-week gap when I publish a chapter, and I'll be aiming for 1 chapter per week:

Patreon

Scribblehub

Archive of Our Own

And what, you may ask, will be my first project? I put the choice to my most important audience in all the multiverse; my daughter. From the available options I gave her, she picked...

Goldrush, CO

Over a century after its establishment as a 'company town' for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, the town of Goldrush, Colorado was finally sold off "at cost" to the town citizens, fully separating them from the agency that jumped the shark during the union busting of the 1900s. The town has secrets, starting with the biggest one of all; Goldrush was founded as a 'dumping grounds' for the weird and unwelcome. From dumb artifacts that can control the weather (and corrupt the user) to steampunk androids to a pod of selkies, if the Pinkertons were hired to investigate and dispose of it and it was in some way 'supernatural,' then it went to Goldrush. Now that the town's independent, they still have an entire warehouse district of artifacts and paraphernalia that doesn't officially exist that needs to be stored and managed, so the town hires a logistics specialist. Lois is a woman who's just looking to start over after a nasty divorce that was followed by the tragic death of her ex-wife. So she packed her bags and moved to Goldrush from San Diego in hopes of immersing herself in the history of the unusual town to forget her own tragic history. If only she could do her job without bumping heads with the (unreasonably attractive, built like a Valkyrie from myth and legend, frustratingly stubborn) town sheriff the new job would be perfect.

If you're picking up shades of "Warehouse 13" and (more subtly) "Mystic Bayou," I've done my job in selling this right.

June will be all about finishing CoE as quickly as possible (while still maintaining the quality I demand of myself) so I can clear the decks and focus on doing as much with Goldrush, CO during July as I can before I start releasing on Patreon in August.

I'm excited about this, I hope you are, too!

[moistvonlipwig]

also speaking of AUs and since you were curious about it earlier when i didn't have my computadora @all-seeing-ifer here's a basic outline of how my ats s4 cordelia-is-the-beast idea would go. there's more stuff with the other characters but this writeup is focused on the main beats of the cordelia & jasmine plot. amazingly enough this is indeed the short version!

a key aspect of this concept, and imo of any good ats s4 rewrite, is giving cordelia a voice. in this rewrite we are alerted to cordelia's possession at the end of "apocalypse nowish" (more on that in next bullet point). from then on we get to see scenes inside cordelia's head where she is interacting with jasmine (who isn't named jasmine yet obviously but for efficiency's sake let us call her that) and commenting on the goings-on around her.

one element that isn't strictly necessary for this idea to work is that connor is not romantically in love with either real cordelia or jasmine-possessed "cordelia"; instead, jasmine positions herself as a mother figure to connor & tells him how cordelia took care of him as a baby. i admit to finding the pseudo-incest aspect of s4 kind of utterly fascinating but while it's interesting to explore in fanfic i ultimately don't really think ats had anything especially interesting to say on the subject & frankly i think the story kind of coheres better if jasmine is a maternal figure instead. you can still have angel be jealous of their bond -- they were supposed to be a family together & now they're excluding him?? :[ < angel's sad face (w/ fangs because he is a vampire) -- and you can also deal more directly with connor's parental issues. plus it makes the jasmine/darla scene in "inside out" even more poignant.

so with this in mind, the cliffhanger at the end of "apocalypse nowish" is that "cordelia" is watching the rain of fire while connor sleeps and we see her slowly smile and then we zoom into her mind and see jasmine, still wearing cordelia's face, gloating to the real cordelia (who is like. tied up or something. in her mind. idk.) that none of her friends suspect a thing.

so basically: we know cordelia learned how to do basic astral projection in "birthday". we also are never shown what her demon half looks like. the idea is that, while cordelia herself is trapped in her own mind, she is able to astral-project her demon half to carry out various attempted interventions in jasmine's plans.

due to reasons [i can explain the reasons but it requires a lot of context lol], the beast cannot communicate using language, speech, writing, anything like that. it can gesture and give Significant Looks and that's it. so cordelia cannot convey to angel investigations anything that's going on, even though she sometimes tries.

prior to "calvary", it would seem to both the audience and the fang gang that the beast is evil and working for jasmine, as it always shows up at scenes of massacres (the eye of fire, wolfram & hart, the svear house). at these massacres, it often kneels by the dying people and appears to drain some kind of energy from them; in actuality this is cordelia taking the pain of the dying person which we know she can do qv "benediction". the beast also performs the ritual to blot out the sun which we later learn is because jasmine needs the sun to be shining in order to be born.

neither jasmine nor the beast manipulate the fang gang into removing angel's soul, they misinterpret things and do that all on their own. in this version though angel does not remember the beast at all. however, jasmine needs angel souled for her plan to work [again, due to reasons lol], so after the svear massacre, which cordelia begged jasmine not to go through with, cordelia in her beast form steals angel's soul. jasmine does not know it is cordelia controlling the beast but she knows the beast is trying to stop her, so she lets angel out of his cage so as to try to force the beast's hand to return angel's soul. she still kills lilah and this is how the audience learns the beast does not work for her -- the beast arrives at the hotel just a little too late to save lilah and the cliffhanger of "calvary" is jasmine taunting it that at this rate it'll never stop her.

jasmine maybe also absorbs lilah into the mindspace with her and cordelia as well? so as to prevent her from showing up as a wolfram & hart ghost and spilling the beans.

jasmine's pregnancy is just a virgin birth situation which impresses connor and he plans to be the best big brother ever. maybe it's even a metaphorical pregnancy?

previous 2 bullet points i still need to work on. anyway, wesley gets faith etc., they're not able to defeat angel or find his soul though.

angel lures cordelia's parents to her old apartment and kills them. then he calls up spike and inquires after xander. at this point, feeling both grief and guilt as well as hopelessness from jasmine insisting that her plan will be able to move forward with a soulless angel, just at a delayed pace, cordelia gives in and the beast shows up and returns angel's soul to him.

the beast takes angel on a little excursion to various places in their history which angel does not understand and at first he thinks the purpose is to make him feel bad because well it's angel what do you expect him to think. then the beast takes him to point dume and leads him into the water and has a little splash fight with him and angel relaxes and realizes the beast wanted to communicate that he was being forgiven for something. But What? he wonders.

at this point harmony shows up to talk to cordelia [she's also in the earlier part of the season but that's a story for the long version...] and she notices something is amiss. also around this time the fang gang have uncovered information that leads jasmine to realize that cordelia is the beast although she does not vocalize this. harmony realizes cordelia is possessed because her outfit is ugly, and when jasmine tries to stake her, the beast bursts in and spirits harmony away. jasmine gives a dramatic speech to the air where she reveals she knows the beast is cordelia. this is the cliffhanger ending of "orpheus" and also the point where the audience is let in on the truth about the beast as well.

jasmine leads the fang gang through a ritual to force the beast permanently back to its source body which would trap cordelia entirely under her control. the ritual works and jasmine leaves only for harmony to show up [after a battle with jasmine's servants] and be like hey guys cordelia is possessed.

after this s4 plays out more or less like the show does except that the demon species that the beast is part of is the same species that jasmine once ruled over and can pronounce her true name. so in order to defeat jasmine cordelia has to wake up and say her name out loud. darla comes to visit her in her sleep and tells her this. but if she does so then it would drain the rest of her energy and leave her in a coma potentially forever. she's like so wake me up already. she shows up at the hotel and says jasmine's name and falls back into a coma but this time it was on her own terms.

again this is the short version ._. if you can believe it...

[manonamora-if]

And another week down!

Earlier this month I wrote my monthly check-in with what's been done and the plan for the whole month. Busy bee ahead. Distraction needed.

The Trials and Tribulations of Edward Harcourt

It's going on well, really well. MelS is drafting the last bit of the last path of Chapter 6 and I'm just a couple of rooms away from clearing the base code of Chapter 5! I kept the most annoying for last... A bunch of rounds of edits will be required for Chapter 6, as always, and heavy testing for Chapter 5, because it's a huge maze and there's so much variation... I also have a puzzle to make (dunno how to visualise it just yet, so the code is just sitting there doing nothing) and a map to make pretty too.

[Tentative Queer Vampire + Smoochie Jam entry]

I started a few days ago... and I'm already over 4k words. It's going to be a bit depressing (huh, is it becoming a theme?), a bit strange, a maybe a bit horror-y surreal? I have a tentative title :P

Other

Made some little edits on DOL-OS, essentially making it possible to mute the sound at the start, fix a little issue, and block the game if the screen is not wide/large enough.

~ ~

In the IF world we have:

the IFDB Awards that just started. Come vote for games published in 2023! There are dozens of categories, from coding program to genre, to overall amazingness! You will need to be logged-in on the IFDB to vote. The IFDB Awards is a yearly event...

The Smoochie Jam also just started! Come spread the love (or kisses)! Check @neointeractives for more information

The Queer Vampire Game Jam is ending in about 2 weeks!

And there's also the @seedcomp-if and the French IF Comp ending at the end of the month~

~ ~

The plan next week is to finish the last rooms of the maze, finish writing my QV/SJ entry, and potentially start the editing process for Chapter 6 of Harcourt.

OH ALSO: I'll be doing the AMA on the 17th of February (Saturday). Over the whole day.

[emperornero]

axel... what is/are your favorite artistic depiction(s) of nero

FINALLY GOT AROUND TO ANSWERING THIS SORREY.

by artistic depiction i think you mean like. a version of him used for something. like a book character or whatever. thats what i understand this as. or if its about paintings or just art i will talk about that too in a different post

all under the cut because this might be long. also ignore any weird wording and spelling mistakes i wanna talk about this now but im bad at speaking rn

nero's different depictions in media is a very specific subject to me. since the real nero lived almost 2000 years ago like many other ancient romans his person has been used in media as a character [/ character type???]. like some fictional dude based on a real guy. this happened to many historical figures you know.

and the different 'versions' of nero are usually similar to each other [especially if hes the evil guy in the story since thats the version of nero most people imagine when you just make them think about him]. and then theres the media where nero isnt the bad guy but still shares many characteristic traits with the other ones.

i dont really have a favourite version since i understand they were all made for different purposes but for sure an important one for me is the nero from 'quo vadis' [the book. the movies are a different thing.] hes one of the evil ones. and he sucks but he gets a pass because hes special to me♡

ok he doesnt really suck hes not a bad character but hes one of those oooouh hes the most evil emperor ouuuh nero is so bad he did nothing right and ouuh. but while also having moments where hes a very entertaining and fascinating character.

oh also the way henryk sienkiewicz [book author] made up his own reason for agrippina's death instead of the historical one is. fascinating. its basically 'nero is sooo evil he thought by killing his mother he would achieve maximum power and be like a god' or something. i know he did that to make his nero the ultimate bad guy ever but holy shit. qv nero do you want to talk about like. your problems dude. like if you really think like that please what the fuck man. and also lets talk aboutbwhatever the fuck your relationship with qv petronius is. because thats also fascinating. i could write like 8 pages about that.

[agox]

Last night I got high and wrote a program to find all of the unused elemental symbols. It turns out there’s 585 of them and it’s much less interesting the next day.

One interesting finding: I couldn’t be bothered to generate all possible one and two letter strings, so I asked ChatGPT to write me code that would do all that for me. It worked surprisingly well!

['a', 'd', 'e', 'g', 'h', 'j', 'l', 'm', 'q', 'r', 't', 'x', 'z', 'aa', 'ab', 'ad', 'ae', 'af', 'ah', 'ai', 'aj', 'ak', 'an', 'ao', 'ap', 'aq', 'av', 'aw', 'ax', 'ay', 'az', 'bb', 'bc', 'bd', 'bf', 'bg', 'bj', 'bl', 'bm', 'bn', 'bo', 'bp', 'bq', 'bs', 'bt', 'bu', 'bv', 'bw', 'bx', 'by', 'bz', 'cb', 'cc', 'cg', 'ch', 'ci', 'cj', 'ck', 'cp', 'cq', 'ct', 'cv', 'cw', 'cx', 'cy', 'cz', 'da', 'dc', 'dd', 'de', 'df', 'dg', 'dh', 'di', 'dj', 'dk', 'dl', 'dm', 'dn', 'do', 'dp', 'dq', 'dr', 'dt', 'du', 'dv', 'dw', 'dx', 'dz', 'ea', 'eb', 'ec', 'ed', 'ee', 'ef', 'eg', 'eh', 'ei', 'ej', 'ek', 'el', 'em', 'en', 'eo', 'ep', 'eq', 'et', 'ev', 'ew', 'ex', 'ey', 'ez', 'fa', 'fb', 'fc', 'fd', 'ff', 'fg', 'fh', 'fi', 'fj', 'fk', 'fn', 'fo', 'fp', 'fq', 'fs', 'ft', 'fu', 'fv', 'fw', 'fx', 'fy', 'fz', 'gb', 'gc', 'gf', 'gg', 'gh', 'gi', 'gj', 'gk', 'gl', 'gm', 'gn', 'go', 'gp', 'gq', 'gr', 'gs', 'gt', 'gu', 'gv', 'gw', 'gx', 'gy', 'gz', 'ha', 'hb', 'hc', 'hd', 'hh', 'hi', 'hj', 'hk', 'hl', 'hm', 'hn', 'hp', 'hq', 'hr', 'ht', 'hu', 'hv', 'hw', 'hx', 'hy', 'hz', 'ia', 'ib', 'ic', 'id', 'ie', 'if', 'ig', 'ih', 'ii', 'ij', 'ik', 'il', 'im', 'io', 'ip', 'iq', 'is', 'it', 'iu', 'iv', 'iw', 'ix', 'iy', 'iz', 'ja', 'jb', 'jc', 'jd', 'je', 'jf', 'jg', 'jh', 'ji', 'jj', 'jk', 'jl', 'jm', 'jn', 'jo', 'jp', 'jq', 'jr', 'js', 'jt', 'ju', 'jv', 'jw', 'jx', 'jy', 'jz', 'ka', 'kb', 'kc', 'kd', 'ke', 'kf', 'kg', 'kh', 'ki', 'kj', 'kk', 'kl', 'km', 'kn', 'ko', 'kp', 'kq', 'ks', 'kt', 'ku', 'kv', 'kw', 'kx', 'ky', 'kz', 'lb', 'lc', 'ld', 'le', 'lf', 'lg', 'lh', 'lj', 'lk', 'll', 'lm', 'ln', 'lo', 'lp', 'lq', 'ls', 'lt', 'lw', 'lx', 'ly', 'lz', 'ma', 'mb', 'me', 'mf', 'mh', 'mi', 'mj', 'mk', 'ml', 'mm', 'mp', 'mq', 'mr', 'ms', 'mu', 'mv', 'mw', 'mx', 'my', 'mz', 'nc', 'nf', 'ng', 'nj', 'nk', 'nl', 'nm', 'nn', 'nq', 'nr', 'ns', 'nt', 'nu', 'nv', 'nw', 'nx', 'ny', 'nz', 'oa', 'ob', 'oc', 'od', 'oe', 'of', 'oh', 'oi', 'oj', 'ok', 'ol', 'om', 'on', 'oo', 'op', 'oq', 'or', 'ot', 'ou', 'ov', 'ow', 'ox', 'oy', 'oz', 'pc', 'pe', 'pf', 'pg', 'ph', 'pi', 'pj', 'pk', 'pl', 'pn', 'pp', 'pq', 'ps', 'pv', 'pw', 'px', 'py', 'pz', 'qa', 'qb', 'qc', 'qd', 'qe', 'qf', 'qg', 'qh', 'qi', 'qj', 'qk', 'ql', 'qm', 'qn', 'qo', 'qp', 'qq', 'qr', 'qs', 'qt', 'qu', 'qv', 'qw', 'qx', 'qy', 'qz', 'rc', 'rd', 'ri', 'rj', 'rk', 'rl', 'rm', 'ro', 'rp', 'rq', 'rr', 'rs', 'rt', 'rv', 'rw', 'rx', 'ry', 'rz', 'sa', 'sd', 'sf', 'sh', 'sj', 'sk', 'sl', 'so', 'sp', 'sq', 'ss', 'st', 'su', 'sv', 'sw', 'sx', 'sy', 'sz', 'td', 'tf', 'tg', 'tj', 'tk', 'tn', 'to', 'tp', 'tq', 'tr', 'tt', 'tu', 'tv', 'tw', 'tx', 'ty', 'tz', 'ua', 'ub', 'uc', 'ud', 'ue', 'uf', 'ug', 'uh', 'ui', 'uj', 'uk', 'ul', 'um', 'un', 'uo', 'up', 'uq', 'ur', 'us', 'ut', 'uu', 'uv', 'uw', 'ux', 'uy', 'uz', 'va', 'vb', 'vc', 'vd', 've', 'vf', 'vg', 'vh', 'vi', 'vj', 'vk', 'vl', 'vm', 'vn', 'vo', 'vp', 'vq', 'vr', 'vs', 'vt', 'vu', 'vv', 'vw', 'vx', 'vy', 'vz', 'wa', 'wb', 'wc', 'wd', 'we', 'wf', 'wg', 'wh', 'wi', 'wj', 'wk', 'wl', 'wm', 'wn', 'wo', 'wp', 'wq', 'wr', 'ws', 'wt', 'wu', 'wv', 'ww', 'wx', 'wy', 'wz', 'xa', 'xb', 'xc', 'xd', 'xf', 'xg', 'xh', 'xi', 'xj', 'xk', 'xl', 'xm', 'xn', 'xo', 'xp', 'xq', 'xr', 'xs', 'xt', 'xu', 'xv', 'xw', 'xx', 'xy', 'xz', 'ya', 'yc', 'yd', 'ye', 'yf', 'yg', 'yh', 'yi', 'yj', 'yk', 'yl', 'ym', 'yn', 'yo', 'yp', 'yq', 'yr', 'ys', 'yt', 'yu', 'yv', 'yw', 'yx', 'yy', 'yz', 'za', 'zb', 'zc', 'zd', 'ze', 'zf', 'zg', 'zh', 'zi', 'zj', 'zk', 'zl', 'zm', 'zo', 'zp', 'zq', 'zs', 'zt', 'zu', 'zv', 'zw', 'zx', 'zy', 'zz']

[imspardagus]

Universe

I am probably about to write a load of bollocks. My friends, and even those who know me, will confirm that it will not be the first time. Or, for that matter, the last. But what fun would be left if I let that stop me?

I want to talk about the Universe, in the particular respect of the imagined existence of “multiverses”. I’ll give you the dictionary definitions as I go.

When we are first born we see everything as an extension of ourselves (that is not a matter of what I think. It is what the people who claim to know about what babies think and feel insist is the case; and they are able to insist because all of us, or so great a proportion of us, devotees of “freedom of speech”, as to be able to shut down any contrary view, have forgotten what we thought, or indeed experienced, as babies, so we take their assertion on trust).

Those who seek power over us require us to continue in this vein. That’s why the best leaders among us (by which I mean the most effective) act like babies or toddlers who react to every hint of opposition with a more or less lethal tantrum: qv Hitler, Putin, Trump and Johnson. It has been going on for a very long time. Ask Galileo. For centuries, not to say millennia, we were taught to see our world as the centre of the universe. The Sun rode across our sky in its chariot once a day without fail (an interesting early experiment in reducing a god to a slave), the stars were pinpricks in the mantle of Heaven. 

It is on one level absurdly easy for the human mind to accept this hypothesis because its experience is limited to what it has absorbed into itself. The mind has no independent existence. It is trapped inside what we are. So, until you are free to think about it it makes sense.

But gradually, and painfully (especially to those who dared to propose it), most of us came to the understanding that we are insignificant organisms on an insignificant planet circling an insignificant star in an insignificant wing of an insignificant galaxy within the Universe. And, at the instigation of the scientists, we entertained the idea that the Universe was infinite.

Time for that dictionary definition of the Universe. Here it is:

“All existing matter and space considered as a whole; the cosmos.”

To take on board infinity was, in itself, no mean feat. We finite beings cannot handle the true nature of infinity, something without end. (We have the same problem with “eternity”, translating it in our heads to a fixed period, albeit a long one.) And to be honest, our concept, generally, of infinity is an expedient. By calling endlessness “infinity” we permit ourselves to handle it as a thing with boundaries. And that fallacy, I suggest, opens the door to the next contrivance: that of the multiverse. 

We were told that since the “Big Bang” the Universe had been “expanding” (forgive all these quotation marks. They represent begged questions). (And forgive, too, all these parentheses. I have lately been reading Milan Kundera and his style has rubbed off.)

Travel with me, if you would, For a universe to be “expanding” carries the implication in ordinary language that it is expanding into somewhere, somewhere outside itself, somewhere that it does not already occupy. That inference, I suggest, is a failure of logic. If the Universe is the sum of all matter and space then logically nothing exists outside of it. It already occupies infinite space. (I know that when Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia he claimed that he was simply occupying somewhere that was already Germany, but he was a politician so we shouldn’t take our idea of reality from him.) I suggest that the better approximation of meaning for that notion of “expanding” is that the matter within the Universe has yet to reach the non-existent edge of the space that it inhabits (and which is a part of it). That would be unsurprising. If the Universe is infinite, by definition it has no spacial limits.

My waistband, by way of contrast, is expanding but ultimately there are limits on that expansion because it can only do so by stretching the skin in which it is contained and that skin is not infinitely elastic. But even if it were, it could only do so in surroundings that permitted that expansion. Somewhat morbidly, If I were confined in a coffin, even though my skin were capable of stretching to accommodate my inflating midriff, the walls and lid of the coffin would constrain its inflation as long as their strength held.

So, let us now consider the concept of the “multiverse”. I start again with the accepted, dictionary, definition: 

“a hypothetical space or realm consisting of a number of universes, of which our own universe is only one”.

Now, leaving aside the paradox of an infinite universe being able to expand within something that, if it is indeed infinite it already entirely inhabits, the definition of “Universe” has, as we have seen, one vital component,  – one essential implication. If a thing is infinite it must contain everything. Nothing, literally, is left out. If a thing exists, it exists within the Universe. If it does not exist within the Universe, it does not exist.

(It is by the same logic that I refuse to accept the term “supernatural” – a thing is either “natural” – that is, within the compass of the Universe – or else it just isn’t, at all. And by the same token, the only way I can accept the much abused word “paranormal” is if it is used to convey a natural (that is, normal) phenomenon that we just don’t have an explanation for yet.)

So multiverses cannot exist, or, to be more precise, multiverses can only exist within the Universe. Think of it like going to the cinema. Nobody says “I am going tonight to screen 1 at the Odeon”. They say “I am going to the cinema”. The cinema is the universe in which the showing of the film will take place. Screen 1 is just a component of that cinema, an integral but smaller part.

But if we take this logic on board then any “multiverse” must also be a lesser thing than a Universe, a crumb in comparison to the slice of toast. You cannot propose that a multiverse is a number of Universes because a Universe is by definition all there is. You would have to compromise, to radically diminish, the meaning and nature of the Universe to accommodate the idea of multiverses As a number of Universes. You would have to impose limits on it. And by imposing limits on it, it would cease to be infinite. 

And that is not all. If there are an infinite number of multiverses, as some propose, they must therefore take up an infinite amount of space. Now that is okay in itself because infinity has no limits. But if each multiverse is itself a Universe and each Universe is, by definition, infinite in size and content, then, without failing into the human trap of imposing imaginary limits on infinity, logically there can only be one multiverse in infinite space. No matter how big you make infinity, that is how big one multiverse is.

No matter how you dice this onion, it seems there is only room for one Universe, and we are a part of it.

As Fagin sings in Lionel Bart’s “Oliver”, “I think I’d better think it out again”.  

[wilquavious]

Out of Reach

Every day I try to write, Early morning Or late at night, About any kind of Random thought, A day at work Or what I almost bought.

A best friend, past Bought stuff on tv, QV Network and TNT, Computers and cookers Dog collars and more, She seemed content And didn't keep score.

Expert salespersons Hawking those wares, Non-stick frying pans And embroidered chairs, High powered vacuums That can also be blowers, If you have a large room And you need to shut doors.

I’m an expert at yard sales And forever astounded, Regarding all the weird stuff Collected and bounded, Pristine Barbie dolls The package still intact, Her clothes are so clean Her suitcase unpacked; While boyfriend Ken Sits in his ‘Vette, His eye still on Barbie Waiting to win a bet.

Forever frozen In a perfect package, Ken might be thinking, Bro, just look at Her rackage, While yard sale momma Thinks these toys are sure winners, She has visions of dollars And hot sirloin dinners.

But a doll is a doll If it’s only made of plastic, She may need to sell a thousand And that seems kind of drastic, Because she paid full price Then hoarded them for years. Now, no one wants Barbie Or Ken, those poor dears.

They never were cuddled Nor ever allowed to play, And the real little girl Never had her own way, Where she could open the package To play dolls with her friend, They were high on a shelf Kind of like a book-end, Unreachable, unplayable She knew mommy was a freak, But what can you do? When you’re a little pipsqueak.

Now mommy is poor She never saved a single dime, Her unwrapped toy collection Never hit the big time, On the Antique Roadshow Or American Pickers, So she’s selling all her junk Wishing the money would come quicker.

She hoarded those collectibles When she simply could have saved, But now her road to heaven Is full of ruts, never paved, And she constantly complains My rotten kids don’t care, They don’t recall all I did for them; No, they just remember toys out of reach Way up there.

[quantumvaudeville]

Okay hi so I couldn’t resist playing a round of Olaf Hits The Dragon With His Sword by myself after seeing the post about it and the results are under this cut

I am Olaf, son of the Moon Queen – may her memory be a blessing. Long have I journeyed, from one end of the world to the other, seeking the Dragon that laid waste to my mother’s kingdom when I was but a boy. The harsh sunlight glints off time-tarnished armor as I approach its palace on bare feet, the soles of my boots long worn away by the journey. I have the countenance of a beggar-knight, but in my heart I remember the glory from whence I came.

I am Olaf, and I seek revenge. (+1 Sorrow)

I am the Dragon, ancient and unknowable. Since before your ancestors crawled out of the mud, I have sat vigil over this world and all the stars above it. You are nothing to me, son of the Moon Queen, and your mother’s empire was nothing but a buzzing insect, a mere annoyance to one such as myself. They dared seek to rival my greatness with their gilded towers and war machines, and when they encroached on my territory I crushed them into dust.

I am the Dragon, and I am proud master of all I survey. (+1 Ambition)

Dragon, I have walked the world from end to end to be here. I have slain titans, battled leviathans, outwitted sphinxes all to see myself to the doors of your grand hall. Do not believe I will be deterred so easily. I carry in my hand a sword touched once by each of the gods of the North, and a shield blessed by the gods of the South, and I have trained with heroes of myth. For fifty years I have prepared myself for this moment. For fifty years I have endeavored to become the greatest warrior that ever was. (+1 Ambition)

Be that as it may, little moon-princeling, you face a far greater foe than you ever could have imagined. My grand hall is built on the bones of your forefathers, many of whom came just as prepared as you are. I’m sure you will find my hide as impenetrable, my claws as sharp, my breath as hot as they all did before you. Your mother once sent armies against me, armed with machines that spit metal and fire and stone across battlefields, and I destroyed them all with one sweep of my great wings. I am stronger than you think, princeling, and I do not intend to hold back. (+1 Blood)

It was not just armies you destroyed, dragon, but families and children as well. You spared nothing your wrath. When you came you razed farms, tore down cities, burned everything in your sights. I will never forget the day I saw my home reduced to ash, when your great wings blotted out the sky and the rivers ran red with blood. I am the last of my people, Dragon, and I will not allow you to forget your crimes against us. (+1 Iron)

Oh, princeling. What do you think you are here to accomplish? Steel and siege engines could not defeat me, and what are you? Just one old man with a sword? You are nothing, and you have devoted your fifty years to nothing. Run home, little prince of the moon, and live as the last of your people. Would it not be foolish to allow that legacy to die here? If you run now, I will let you go. I have a soft spot for the brave and foolish. (+1 Iron)

I am no fool, Dragon. I know that for all my years of preparation, I still may fail here, at the end of my journey. But it is my duty to try, that I be remembered a hero to my people, and not a coward who ran from his troubles. They will not sing songs of me, I think. There are so few people left to sing. But someone will remember that I tried. They have to. I will be remembered. (+1 Death)

Princeling. Olaf. I promise you, upon the earth on which we tread, upon the stars that I watched wink into being, I have seen both our deaths writ plain in the tapestry of fate. Kill me today, and you will never find the satisfaction and peace that you seek. You are doomed, Olaf. (+1 Death)

I do not seek peace, Dragon.

Olaf hits the Dragon with his sword.

Sorrow: 9 Ambition: 25 Blood: 5 Iron: 32 Death: 29

Behold, say I. The Dragon is defeated. I can, at last, return to the place of my birth and take up the work of rebuilding. I will gather the wanderers and landless of the world and from them I will build a new empire of the Moon, twice as grand as that which my mother ruled over. It will be glorious. It has to be.

Oh, but princeling. Empires aren’t built in a day, or a year, or a lifetime. And even when they are built, yours will never match that golden city that only ever existed in your memory. How well did you really know that place, coddled in the palace as you were. How well do you remember it now, with decades between you and it? Your recollection grows hazy and rose-tinted, and nothing you build will ever satisfy your conviction that it could be, should be better. Rest well for now, moon-prince, for you shall never be the king you wish to be.

[cosmoglaut]

Li Xuecheng said on Dec 5 that “I can predict that there will be big news/decisions breaking within 20 days.” And boy he delivered 😭

Beijing Police accepted Zhang Zhehan’s case today!!

That’s his signature in the bottom 😭

LXZ also posted:

“This "good news" can only be used on Zhang Zhehan, only he can feel this joy because even though he has felt pain and suffering in the past few months, and he has been to other places to submit police report. But because of the tremendously extreme cyberbullying and smearing campaign, they didn't accept his case. He lost the ability of every ordinary citizen to seek salvation through the law. Recently, through legal professionals' examination and the encouragement of legal experts, using objectivity to discuss rumors, this sort of rumor spreading is an example of classic bad behavior. This has caused great harm to people and has met the criteria of a criminal case. The government should and do intervene. Relevant parties encouraged him to submit a police report in Beijing. This afternoon, Beijing Municipal Police Department in Chaoyang District has officially accepted Zhang Zhehan's report. Sincerely grateful to Beijing Police!!!! This is hopefully the start of a criminal investigation, civil cases will also start soon. Our lawful society under the guidance and leadership of the CCP, will protect the innocent whilst punishing the bad guys! We will not let a single bad guy get away and we will not falsely convict an innocent. We will ensure and foster a sense of security and content amongst every law abiding citizen! We must unite around the Party, and do our jobs properly in order to repay this glorious era! We must firmly believe that the power of justice will prevail and solve other problems as well!”

Me at CAPA right now:

[gravitydefyingtears]

Danmei Roundup

I suddenly realized that ever since MDZS opened the doors, I’ve steadily gone through a good amount of danmei. 👀 Since I’m apparently doing anything except write my final paper, I compiled a list of stories I’ve come to know either through their novels or audio drama adaptations (or both). Any of them look familiar? lol

Adding/updating the list as I go + highlighting some of my favs.

Period Fantasy: Wuxia, Xianxia

人渣反派自救系统 — 墨香铜臭 (Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu) *system/transmigration*

魔道祖师 — 墨香铜臭 (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu)

天官赐福 — 墨香铜臭 (Heaven Official’s Blessing — Mo Xiang Tong Xiu)

铜钱龛世 — 木苏里 (Copper Coins — Mu Su Li)

二哈和他的白猫师尊 — 肉包不吃肉 (Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun — Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat)

Sci-Fi/Survival (? idk what 无限流 is called)

全球高考 — 木苏里 (Global Examination — Mu Su Li)

地球上线 — 莫晨欢 (The Earth is Online — Mo Chen Huan)

Modern Setting

Crime/Mystery

犯罪心理 — 长洱 (Criminal Psychology — Chang Er) 

默读 — Priest (Silent Reading — Priest)

破云 — 淮上 (Breaking Through the Clouds — Huai Shang)

皮囊 — 潭石 (Skin — Tan Shi) 

Gaming

你师父我人傻钱多 — 莫晨欢 (Your Shifu is Stupid Rich — Mo Chen Huan)

网恋翻车指南 — 酱子贝 (How to Fail at Online Dating — Jiang Zi Bei)

你亲我一下 — 引路星 (Give Me a Kiss — Yin Lu Xing) *celebrity* 

Schoolyard Romance

我喜欢你的信息素 — 引路星 (I Like Your Pheromones — Yin Lu Xing) *abo*

伪装学渣 — 木瓜黄 (Fake Slackers — Mu Gua Huang)

信息素说我们不可能 — 毛球球 (The Pheromones Say We've Got No Chance — Mao Qiu Qiu) *abo* 

Celebrity/Entertainment Business

我嗑了对家X我的CP — PEPA (I Ship My Adversary x Me — PEPA)

情敌每天都在变美 — 公子于歌 (My Love Rival is Getting Prettier Every Day — Gongzi Yu Ge) *system/transmigration*

我只喜欢你的人设 — 稚楚 (I Only Like Your Persona — Zhi Chu)

营业悖论 — 稚楚 (Fanservice Paradox — Zhi Chu) *boy group*

小行星 — 微风几许 (Little Asteroid — Wei Feng Ji Xu) *abo*

落池 — 余酲 (Falling Into the Pond — Yu Cheng)

迪奥先生 — 绿野千鹤 (Mr. Dior — Lv Ye Qian He) *crack/amnesia*

职业替身 — 水千丞 (Professional Body Double — Shui Qian Cheng) *rebirth*

没钱 — 吕天逸 (Broke — Lv Tian Yi) *system/supernatural*

营销号说你喜欢我 — 螽斯 (Clickbait Media Accounts Say You Like Me — Zhong Si)

Supernatural/Fantasy

论以貌取人的下场 — 月下蝶影 (The Consequences of Judging a Book by Its Cover — Yue Xia Die Ying)

我开动物园那些年 — 拉棉花糖的兔子 (Those Years I Opened a Zoo — La Mian Hua Tang de Tu Zi) *system*

临时保镖 — 绿野千鹤 (Last-Minute Bodyguard — Lv Ye Qian He)

Slice-of-Life/Other

飞鸥不下 — 回南雀 (Flying Gulls Never Land — Hui Nan Que) *adopted brothers*

安知我意 — 北南 (Know My Heart — Bei Nan)

刺青 — 不问三九 (Tattoo — Bu Wen San Jiu)

燎原 — 不问三九 (Wildfire — Bu Wen San Jiu) 

烧不尽 — 回南雀 (Eternal Burning — Hui Nan Que)

腹黑和腹黑的终极对决 — 羲和清零 (Behind the Scenes Hunter — Xi He Qing Ling) *corporate battle*

… … …

And then there are some more I started to various extents:

这题超纲了 — 木瓜黄 (Beyond the Outline — Mu Gua Huang) *schoolyard*

不要在垃圾桶里捡男朋友 — 骑鲸南去 (Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash — Qi Jing Nan Qv) *transmigration/system*

魔尊也想知道 — 青色羽翼 (Mo-Zun Also Wants to Know — Qing Se Yu Yi) *period fantasy/system*

可爱过敏原 — 稚楚 (Adorable Allergen — Zhi Chu) *schoolyard/adopted brothers*

欢迎来到噩梦游戏 — 薄暮冰轮 (Welcome to the Nightmare Game — Bo Mu Bing Lun) *sci-fi/transmigration/survival?*

恶性依赖 — 金刚圈 (Unhealthy Attachment — Jin Gang Quan) *modern*

营养过良 — 芥菜糊糊 (Nutrition Overload — Jie Cai Hu Hu) *cats*

S.C.I. 谜案集 — 耳雅 (S.C.I. Mystery — Er Ya) *crime/mystery*

嚣张 — 巫哲 (Audacious — Wu Zhe) *schoolyard* 

穿成反派总裁小情人 — 林盎司 (Transmigrated as the Villain CEO’s Little Lover — Lin Ounce) *transmigration/entertainment business*

一不小心和醋精结婚了 — 一枚纽扣 (My Accidental Husband is Full of Vinegar — Yi Mei Niu Kou) *modern*

碎玉投珠 — 北南 (Sui Yu Tou Zhu — Bei Nan) *80s/90s setting*

兼职无常后我红了 — 拉棉花糖的兔子 (After I Started Working as a Wu Chang, I Became Popular — La Mian Hua Tang de Tu Zi) *modern/supernatural*

新时代，新地府 — 林知落 (New Times, New Hell — Lin Zhiluo) *supernatural/modern/crack*

两A相逢必有一O — 厉冬忍 (When Two As Meet, There Must Be One O — Li Dong Ren) *abo/schoolyard*

破云2：吞海 — 淮上 (Swallow the Sea — Huai Shang) *crime/mystery* 

[jeriafterdark]

813 - The Reprise - Part 8 - Uncle Li's account deleted days before Unmute - April 8, 2022

Sigh, I just wish one time when I wake up and check social media, it'll be good news?

Masterpost here

Summary so far:

The context of what's happening may help us better understand this decision.

I reference blue here - she's gone and compiled a lot of important tweets on the case of Xie Yihua / the BDY Teashop / ZSJ.

1. Gong Jun and cyberviolence

Currently, GJ is being heavily slandered, had his private information hacked, and is pursuing legal action against all the perpetrators. Toxic ZZH solo fans are also a part of the problem here, as well as usage of "water armies" etc to spread rumors. We don't know who exactly paid for this to happen, but it's happened before during the heyday of ZZH/GJ promotion in 2021. There may also be evidence linking Xie Yihua, ZZH's ex-music manager in this.

2. Xie Yihua, ZZH's ex-music manager, takes advantage

ZZH's name is being misused and taken advantage of by his ex-music Manager, Xie Yihua ("hua-jie"). She and her relatives are in charge of a company that is producing ZZH-related merchandise, under the guise of it benefitting him (it's public information, he receives no profit from it). She actually registered trademarks for merch in March 2022, right after LXZ got muted. Curious, isn't it? (Sources in QV's tweet history, I forget which one it was, THERE'S SO MANY THINGS ABOUT XIE)

She is actively collaborating with many "fandom" personalities to promote this new brand, actively stealing ZZH's identity for her own benefit. These collaborators include but are not limited to: other solo fans, Hu Laoshi (that older writer lady who really liked ZZH during WOH), and unfortunately, Zhang Su (Susu) - ZZH's childhood friend. Susu said himself that he hasn't had much recent interaction with ZZH himself, and he thinks he's supporting his "bro" by wearing the merchandise - this is as far as anyone knows, no one knows anything about their true relationship. Perhaps it's just misguided loyalty, perhaps he has other things to gain.

Even solo fans are angry at her. A prominent solo fan (and toxic GJ anti) even came out and said that she knew Xie Yihua was going to do this months before bc Xie consulted with her and other fans about it, and felt that she was taking advantage of traumatized fans.

There's been a lot of evidence dug up by QV/Flora/Blue/etc on the bird app disproving any connection between ZZH and these impersonations. For example, this analysis on ZZH's writing style: ZSJ, the prominent ZZH impersonator, likes to write essays about random shit. But he uses érhuà, a specific way to add the r-sound to spoken Mandarin. However, ZZH is from Beijing, and his native accent - he actually doesn't know how to use this or chooses not to.

Anyway, have a look at the sources cited above for more info on that matter.

3. The muting and deletion of Uncle Li, Li Xuezhang (LXZ).

Uncle Li stood up for ZZH when no one else would, in November, he took a stand against CAPA and rallied public perception in ZZH's favor. His hashtags trended up to billions, public opinion shifted. (Refer to my masterpost for the history of this).

He then got "muted" by weibo - Weibo likes to silence people all the time. I suspect it's because Uncle Li was actually causing a huge stir behind the scenes, in the darkest parts of c-ent - that he was a threat. So they muted him on the pretense that he shouldn't be bringing up these battles during the Beijing Olympics 2022. That was February.

He was due to be unmuted by Weibo (120 day mute) this Sunday, April 10. But. Today, people have found that his account was deleted.

And this his Drama's studio account (Roving Inspection Team) posts an important message from LXZ himself:

"During this critical moment, our Director Li has something to say, "no matter what I believe in justice and the leadership of the Party towards a more just society. I'm well. Thank you for your concerns. I hope everyone focus on their real jobs, abide the law, and use our powers to repay our country, love our Party and our government! Social media will not have LXZ going forward. Thank you everyone!" - QV translation

So Uncle Li has decided to exit social media.

4. What does all of this mean?

All right all right everyone, let's stay calm and give this news time to settle. The very fact that Weibo decided to delete his account rather than let him continue SPEAKING by UNMUTING HIM, must mean that he's a very large threat to whoever is behind all of this. The curious coincidence of Xie Yihua making and promoting merch right after LXZ gets muted is interesting too. My hypothesis is this:

ZZH was banned by malicious forces working together to take him down due to some perceived threat that they believed he possessed. He was, and still is, a very strong force in c-ent. Seeing this moneymaking opportunity leave, his ex-music manager, Xie Yihua, combined talents with some of these very forces to manipulate him out of the usage of his own name, and thus milking his name for money, and giving him none of it. (Despicable). QV has already shown that Xie Yihua may have ties to CAPA itself and that she has quite the debt to repay.

The Gong Jun slander is a part of the puzzle, possibly trying to incite fans and distract from the real happenings of this illegal enterprise.

So, many people involved are jumping on this bandwagon to milk ZZH's name for more money. The most important and driving factor of corruption scandals is $$$. Follow the money, right? Well, it all leads back to ZZH's powerful name, CAPA, Xie Yihua.

Because Uncle Li was going to come back and start uniting the fandoms again, and probably start laying into Xie Yihua for acting illegally, and in DOING SO, start DISRUPTING this new money-making scheme. So? His account is deleted.

There is no doubt in my mind, and I am always full of doubts (that's due to my 10+ yrs of training as a research scientist) - that these are all impersonations - NOT the real ZZH. And that they are THREATENED by the truth coming out. AND THAT MUST MEAN THAT-

The police case IRL is still going, and probably going well. Not only that, QV, and the twitter folks are doing an excellent job in disseminating information that is actively threatening this new scam Xie Yihua is running. I'd recommend staying tuned this weekend.

Now, I could be wrong, that's definitely possible. But only time will tell. Uncle Li's legacy inspired us to continue staying strong and fighting against corruption in c-ent lol - what a strange way to live the fandom experience. As I've always seen, whenever there's a void, there will always be those who will step up and fill it.

5. Right now, it feels a bit hopeless and dark

It's always darkest before dawn - I think what we've all been through together is something that will tie us together forever lol. This fandom, through collective trauma, rebuilding self-confidence, will find the light again. I don't doubt it for a second. You are free to take breaks, do something else, come back when you want to. But I will be here, I don't think I can leave - I need to see this to the end, whatever end that may be.

As someone who loves good storytelling - Word of Honor caught my attention forever, and this IRL drama still isn't over!

I'd like to quote from one of the greatest experiences I've ever had, a story led me through darkness and despair -

"Hear - the song at creation's end. Feel - the agony of hope's demise. Think - and find your way in the darkness.

Follow your light... or fly my child, and never look back!"

-EndWalker

We smile together, suffer together, and find a way to the light at the end of the tunnel together - or we can run and leave. I'm staying.

As always, take care of yourself, and thanks for reading~

[emperornero]

My middle school polish teacher was litterally named after a character in Quo Vadis (Ligia) and was a gigantic fan of the book. Gave me her very old copy that she signed and gave a dedication for me. She had us write reviews for the book as an assigment but we could only write positive ones becuse she tought it would be dissrespectful to say anything negative about the story... Just thought you'd like to know. Oh and btw she loved Neron.

she sounds nice, too bad she couldnt stand the criticism. like. yeah qv has a lot of issues with it and more people should talk about how the plot and characters are usually kinda ehhh instead of treating this book like the best thing to ever happen to polish literature. i respect her for liking nero tho

[dmsden]

Norm! - The benefits of a recurring cast

Welcome back, Gentle Readers. It’s time for another Question from a Denizen. This week, we have a question from quins-violins, who has a concern about their cast of characters. They write, “Hello! My campaign is on a brief hiatus because I've been overwhelmed with the amount of characters I introduced. I have a party of three players and about 8 npcs going on a voyage. Do you have any advice as to make each character unique? This is a homebrew campaign so anything can go, really! Thank you for being a great blog <3″

Well, I gave qv a bit of advice. I recommend coming up with 2 things that will make the NPCs visually or audibly stand out...an accent, a physical flaw, a quirk, a catch phrase, an unusual physical feature. I also recommend coming up with 3 bits of backstory for them that could be revealed through RP and/or could be used as story material. You could really do a whole campaign just on that ship, dealing with those NPCs. 

I’ve actually written some articles about ways to make unique NPCs in the past, and I think the article index at https://aethanbear.tumblr.com/post/628793662669783040/dms-den-article-index will help you find those. Instead, I thought I’d look at why this could make for such a great campaign and what the advantages of having a recurring cast of NPCs are.

Players tend to care more about things when they’re emotionally invested in them, and familiarity is one of the things that creates emotional investment. Whether it’s a place like a tavern the PCs frequent, a ship that the PCs travel on, or a group of NPCs that they interact with regularly, the players are going to develop emotional attachment to elements of your campaign that they experience on a regular basis.

Once you’ve established these relationships, you can use them to help motivate your players into action. Any adventurer is likely to be happy to go plunder a dungeon and kill neogi and their umber hulk servants. Imagine the emotional investment, however, if it’s to help Kent, the sailor with one hand who’s an absolute wizard at cards, who wants revenge against the umber hulk in the dungeon named Nibbler who bit his hand off. Maybe Kent was taken by neogi slavers and kept trying to escape, causing them to punish him by having his hand bitten off by Nibbler. Now he asks the PCs to help him by taking the revenge that he can’t. This dungeon is something that your players are likely to take more personally.

One technique to use sparingly is to endanger the NPCs directly. While this will definitely get your PCs super emotionally invested in the adventure to save them, it’s something that carries diminishing returns. If they keep getting attacked, kidnapped, enslaved, tortured, etc, your players are likely to begin thinking of them as a liability, and they’ll tend to find ways to replace or remove them so that they won’t have to deal with them.

A related challenge to this is to have the PCs dealing with threats that are level-appropriate for them while explaining why their crew (most of whom are presumably commoners with appropriate stats) isn’t getting obliterated. In a situation like this, I’ll often treat things similarly to how I handle large-scale battles. I make sure the main enemy has minions, and I let the PCs handle the main enemy while the NPCs handle the minions. Depending on how things go in their battle, I have the battle go similarly for the crew. If the PCs are taking heavy damage, maybe a few of the NPCs go down and start making Death saving throws. If the PCs are doing really well, maybe the minions are getting scattered. And I always try to leave some agency for the PCs to take action to aid the crew if they prefer.

One thing to bear in mind is that NPCs should have a life beyond the PCs. You might consider making multiple ties to the rest of the world for each NPC as well. Does Kent have a wife in Beadle’s Port, a lover in Westhaven, and a mistress in Kangelstown? Or maybe he’s loyal to his late wife in Beadle’s Port, and he visits his daughter there, who lives with his wife’s family? Or maybe he owes a debt to some pirates out of Eveningstar, and he’s reluctant to sail through their usual waters? Doing this gives the NPC some verisimilitude, which we’ve spoken about many times. Your NPCs can never be fully fleshed-out, real people, but you can make it seem like they have real lives that have nothing to do with the PCs.

These connections can be used to generate plot (Kent’s daughter has been kidnapped by pirates who want him to settle his debt!), to lend mystery to your NPCs (where does Kent go everything we get to Beadle’s Port, and why is he always broke afterwards?), to introduce other NPCs (maybe Kent’s adult daughter wants to go sailing with him?), or to give information that the PCs don’t have access to otherwise (Kent says he lived in Beadle’s Port...let’s see if he knows what caused the elves to abandon it).

I hope this helps both flesh out your NPCs and give you more reasons to do so. I think a campaign with a regular cast has the potential to yield a ton of story, and I’d love to hear what you come up with.