#a solid B- isn't exciting I know

[nerianasims]

"While there is ample ground to criticize the US military’s policies towards civilians since 1900, on the whole the United States tends, compared to other major states involved in the same or similar wars, to be on the low end of causing civilian death and suffering, though with some pretty important ‘black marks’ on that record. Americans focus – rightly so – on the morality of strategic bombing in Europe and Japan, but the fact is the vast majority of civilians killed in Europe and Asia in WWII were not killed by bombs from the sky but by soldiers on the ground with guns intentionally murdering civilians. Strategic bombing over Germany killed an estimated 400,000 civilians, a terrible figure – but the German government today estimates that Soviet expulsions alone may have killed as many as two million civilians. Both the Nazis and the Red Army engaged in mass-atrocities on the Eastern Front at staggering scale (an estimated twenty million Soviet civilians were killed during the war). American strategic bombing over Japan killed approximately 400,000 civilians as well, but in contrast to an estimate that Japan caused between six and twenty million civilian deaths due to atrocities in the territory it controlled. I am no fan of strategic bombing, but while it did kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, it was not the primary driver of civilian casualties in WWII; intentional mass-murder on the ground was."

The amount of atrocities -- as in, intentional murder of civilians en masse, rape camps, etc. -- that the Soviet army perpetrated during World War II is staggering. Things which, guess what. America did not do.

We have got to put this "America the Great Satan" Russian propaganda to death. War is hell. But there are different levels of hell, and America is not at the bottom. We adore self-flagellation in this country; it makes us feel special. Sorry, but we are not that powerful, and we are not that evil. We're just somewhat better than average most of the time, middling along.

[goqmir]

bloomburrow might have the title for the strongest complete set of face commanders on average for any commander product. all four of these guys just have absurd lines of text on them.

Bello working off of both enchantments and artifacts is incredibly open-ended, and making each of them 4/4s with indestructable is by far the silliest part. the card gives you a lot of leeway. you can use both artifacts and enchantments for the best of both; they all are given haste, so you don't have to set up before you pop off; they all are given indestructible, so you're never punished for swinging board; they are each given an individual card draw instance, so you have plenty of cards to work with. bello is in my opinion the strongest of the bunch because he's so much more honest than the other three and still does all that!

Hazel is one of my favorite magic characters ever. god i love her. she's the face of my new golgari storm deck i'm excited to showcase at my table tonight :) in my opinion Hazel is so strong because she just does so much! mana? big check. she'll make all the mana you need as long as her and her army stick on the field. plus, she makes the army herself with the populate effect every end step! Hazel is technically the most restrictive of the four, requiring a tap to make mana and an end step to make tokens. however, Hazel's effects are so strong she doesnt care. Hazel is, in my opinion, the most versatile commander of the four. want a simple tokens deck packed with overrun effects? check, hazel makes two squirrels for each of your end steps and black and green are packed with solid big-board effects! want a value-pile populate deck? check, hazel can make a copy of any token every end step, and support the deck with her mana ability! want an aristocrats pile built around strong sacrificers? check, that's golgari's whole deal, and hazel turns the sac fodder thralls into mana and then makes more of them! want a combo-heavy spellslinger storm deck? check, Hazel has you covered in the mana department even if you run only 11 or so token making effects, allowing you to stack your deck with card draw to storm off! she can do a lot of things if you just build her in the right way, and she's definitely my favorite golgari commander of all time :3

Ms. Bumbleflower has. i mean. cmon. "Whenever you cast a spell, target opponent draws a card, then put a +1/+1 counter on target creature"? she is one of the best combo deck face commanders ever. any storm count spell loop can be implemented and if she's out she has the potential to make infinite value with the vast array of scurry oak effects, and even without them she will deck out your opponents unless they draw into a counterspell or removal piece. in this way i almost think ms. bumbleflower is too weak for cedh tables (who are running so many free counterspells and removal spells) but too strong at any other table; she's in a bit of a weird spot. still, ms. B could easily be a contender at a cedh table with how light of a touch she needs to pop off. i havent really explored ms. bumbleflower combo routes at all, but MH3's Evolution Witness comes to mind immediately: "Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on Evolution Witness, return target permanent card from your graveyard to your hand." i'm almost sure theres a relevant permanent card that can be inserted in between those two girlies to deck out every opponent :P

finally, Zinnia. did you know that Hazel of the Rootbloom isn't even the strongest token-based face general in bloomburrow commander? this is because while hazel can make copies of any token, you have to first create the tokens yourself. furthermore, the vast majority of the tokens you copy in hazel are smaller, less useful simple tokens. Zinnia makes good tokens. any card in your hand with zinnia on the field can be copied for 2 mana, with the copy being a 1/1. we don't care about power and toughness though (least of all because Zinnia themselves becomes bigger with every new token, making it an effective threat without even trying), we want token copies of strong creatures with good abilities. a token copy of a creature can often be much stronger than a nontoken creature. this is because the tokens can be doubled, populated, and copied very easily! Hazel might make a big board of dorks that can be tapped for mana, but Zinnia makes a big board of threats that have strong and valuable abilities, especially in tandem with each other. if i was building the deck, i'd think Sakashima of a Thousand Faces would be a relevant include, copying creatures and offspringing himself for even more, while enabling legends that go infinite with a copy of themselves (my lovely Omarthis, Ghostfire Initiate jumps to mind!) to be offspringed as well for a GG.

the bloomburrow face commanders are probably my favorite set of them we've ever had. id love to know your opinions: do you think this is the strongest overall set of face commanders? furthermore, what's your favorite set of face commanders? id love to hear! thanks for reading :D

[possessable]

Hey if you guys have suggestions for Possession-Themed Songs i can add to my Possession-Themed Playlist feel free to send them to me, because the most notable songs in there at the moment are Mesmerizer and There's A Platypus Controlling me

Possession Stuff:

Possession Shorthand Code (if you see me say some weird string of letters/numbers like “p-s-n-phy-n-5-n-p-b-s-int-n” or “Y-S-N-EXT-N-5-N-P-MB-S/T-INT-N/P” this is what that is)

Kind of more detailed Possession Infographic™ Post (I would recommend you look at both this and the Possession Shorthand for full understanding because it goes over some stuff that isn't in the infographic)

tag for me Being Abnormal about possession is "#thepossessionhyperfixationisneverending"

i use "Possession" as a catch-all term meaning "Storytelling trope where a character is controlled or influenced by something" for brevity but I think all of the different tropes have different names and different criteria for what qualifies them to fall under a certain name but if you ask me to get into that i will not stop talking for 5 hours so let's just go with "Possession"

look at this stupid fucking outfit i have. this is an actual real life thing i can wear. how did this happen. how did i get here?

rest of the original pinned post under the read more i guess:

Hi guys it's me John Possession 👋👋👋

That was supposed to be a joke but Call me whatever you want i'll probably respond

If you ever want to draw me gift art 1. Thank You 2. Espial characters are always a solid bet I love all of them eternally

Mutuals ask for my Discord Username if you want :-D 👍

Other Places Where I Am Also:

@washesdishes - reblog blog for the one who gets excited about buying new sponges (????????) (💙 <- uses dis as a signoff on this blog but only if it's relevant to the post so not very often)

if you wanna find me on other sites my username is usually "possessable" or "possessble_" most places

check out my uhhh Neocities which doesn't have a lot on it but the writing pages are the ones i put the most effort into so go check out my writing if you want(?????????) , also my Carrd I guess

Things I Enjoy™:

Possession (No way)

Convenience stores

Slide puzzles (I am collecting them)

Sly Hollow Knight (hi to the 4 other sly fans)

Espial Stuff:

List of characters and extremely simple summary

Slightly more detailed story summary (5-ish pages)

Unnecessarily detailed summary (around 8 pages of world-building explanation, 25 pages of Espial summary, and then 9 pages of other-stories-set-in-the-same-universe summary)

General Espial tag is "#espialposting", specific characters are "#characterName" with no space like "#characterOlen"

Other OCs and Tags and Also More Stuff Under the Cut:

"#JunoAndAldoposting", my stupid ass Mario Spoofs But If They Were Sentient And Having An Existential Crisis At All Times characters ALSO CHECK OUT The Introduction Videos for them [1], [2], which is all of the basic info that you need to know

okay you know what I have too many to list but the general format is "StoryNameposting" i'm sure you can tell, you'll see it when i post about them

[abigailnussbaum]

Lower Decks, "Fissure Quest": Scattered Thoughts

As someone who has had a complicated relationship with Lower Decks precisely because of how rooted it is in references, fanservice, and callbacks, you'd think this episode would be my Kryptonite. But you know what, I'm going to let them have it. One episode from the (thoroughly unjustified; this show could have run another five years, easy) end, I don't think it's fair to complain about Lower Decks being Lower Decks. And while I didn't unreservedly love this story (more on that below) I actually found the complete immersion in references (while leaving "our" main characters offscreen) more tolerable than a lot of episodes that center around how these new Star Trek characters just happen to be Star Trek fans.

(Also, I'm holding out hope that, having gotten the fanservice component of the show out of their system in the first half of the two-parter, the Lower Decks writers will end their show by telling a Lower Decks story, about the Lower Decks characters being heroes in their own right. We shall see.)

Obviously the fandom focus is going to be on canon(-ish) Garak/Bashir (and it is rather clever how the episode manages to have its cake and eat it on this front, distancing these versions of the characters enough from the originals that if this ship isn't your cup of tea it doesn't have to color the baseline story). But to me the most important choice in the episode is T'Pol. I was talking just recently about how screwed-over this character was - not just by the Enterprise writers' sexism, but by a backlash against Vulcans that spread through DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise in the late 90s/early 00s, and which Lower Decks has been at the forefront of addressing (Discovery and SNW have, in comparison, been rather wobbly on this front). T'Pol, and Jolene Blalock, have for a long time deserved the kind of redemption Seven of Nine has gotten, and hopefully "Fissure Quest" isn't the full extent of it.

(One complicating factor is that Blalock has left acting - she apparently goes by her married name these days, and is credited only as "Jolene" in the episode credits. This might complicate a potential guest appearance on SNW, for example.)

Another thing I liked is that this episode functions as a redemption for William Boimler without going too hard on this point. He's still fundamentally different from our Boimler in not-terribly-likable ways, but he gets to save the day and to behave like a real officer and captain, without becoming just another copy of OG Boimler. I also appreciated that all this is achieved while keeping the Section 31 of it all to a minimum. Boimler is still working for them, as evidenced by his badge (can we pause for a moment to contemplate how nonsensical the idea that Section 31 have their own uniforms and badge design is?), but their name isn't even mentioned, which I am taking as an indication that the Lower Decks writers agree with me about the misguidedness of this whole concept.

(Also good: a sciency, risk-averse Mariner who nevertheless rises to the occasion and saves the day.)

And having said all that, here comes the complaint: I am largely on W. Boimler's side on the whole matter of the multiverse, and when he went into his rant about how it's all just eye-catching variations on familiar things without any substance to back them up, I wanted to stand up and cheer. Until, that is, I remembered that this opinion was being voiced by a character who is a) a villain, and b) in the grips of depression. The fact that the opposing view is expressed by Lily motherfucking Sloane is, I think, a pretty solid indication of what side the episode wants us to come down on, but I remain unconvinced. It would be nice if multiverse stories were about exploring endless possibility and, through that exploration, learning more about where you started from. But most of them are just about putting a new hat on a familiar character and getting excited over the hat.

Which I think the episode itself mostly bears out. Boimler's crew are all fun and cute, but none of them go very deep into the characters or stories they're riffing off. Garak and Bashir are together simply so fans can have the visual or them as a cute married couple, not as a result of any attempt to grapple with how these two complicated, flawed characters might actually end up in a romantic relationship (or, for that matter, with the fact that Garak ends DS9 in a quasi-suicidal state). T'Pol deserves her more generous, more serious story, but it's telling that this story (she's best friends with Curzon Dax!) feels almost random, a reminder that what Enterprise did with her - stripping her naked, insulting her Vulcanness, and killing her loved ones - doesn't lend itself to a continuation that is worth following. And the Harry Kim gag does nothing to address, and in fact tries to make a virtue out of, the stasis that character was held in for seven seasons of Voyager. I don't want to ding the episode too hard, because I did end up enjoying it. But the conclusion I take away from it is that if you want to really explore a character, especially one who has been overlooked, you're much better off doing what Picard did with Seven of Nine, moving forward from where they left off while giving them more serious consideration, rather than just cycling through a bunch of different variations on them.

Finally, does anyone else think that Curzon Dax was originally meant to be Jadzia Dax, and things just didn't work out with Terry Farrell? Given how every other crewmember is someone who was screwed over by the narrative or the writers, or just something the fans have long wanted to see, the choice of Curzon seems to stick out. A Jadzia Dax who wasn't killed by Dukat (and an opportunity for Farrell to come back to Star Trek after the bad blood of her departure from DS9) feels much closer to the "fan wish fulfillment" ethos that seems to have been this episode's brief.

[noirvette]

poly tweek and craig! + reader who gets panic attacks regularly headcanons!!

YESSS A TWEEK AND CRAIG REQUEST, I was so excited to see this one in my inbox. again for all requests i'd like to apologize for it taking so long to release these. they've been in my drafts but i got excited about the smau.

i did do poly!! however it's stylized to show them both individually

cws: none! Aged up characters!

♡ TWEEK TWEAK

He gets it and he's learned some tricks from Craig to help himself calm down so he applies what he's learned to you.

He's always willing to help you too, a fun lil tidbit is by helping you calm down, he helps himself calm down as well

Does a lot of soothing back rubs/rubbing circles into your back.

Is an advocate for the 3-3-3 method, where you list 3 things you see, hear, and can move.

He holds onto your hand so you can squeeze his hands. He's gotten use to tight grips so don't worry if you think you've squeezed too hard, he's fine.

Contact with another person helps ground him a lot so he does it for you on instinct, however if that makes you more stressed or does the opposite effect, he'll back off a bit and stay more so on the side lines unless Craig specifies on what he can do.

He might not be able to help you bring back your focus in on something too much, so he's kind of more like moral support and is very good at letting you know he's just there and how he isn't going anywhere.

Craig once read that the smell of lavender can help with panic attacks and so now Tweek carries those small scent jar necklaces and it smells like lavender and he puts it on you to help you. (Craig will get you your own tbh)

Will also rub circles into the palms of your hands. Does a lot of hand touching, like connecting his fingertips to yours and sounds. I feel like Tweek would make quiet soothing sounds that you can sort've try focusing on instead of the loud busy background noises.

When you have a panic attack in public he gets a bit nervous on dealing with it but that's solely because of his own anxiety making him nervous about people staring.

So Craig helps you more when it comes to public panic attacks (more about this coming right up)

♡ CRAIG TUCKER

Craig is used to seeing Tweek's panic attacks occur in public, so he's great at deescalating and helping you through public panic attacks.

He counts out loud or has you focus in on breathing (Tweek will sometimes join in to help coax you into repeating things)

"Okay hun, breathe in.." "..1 ...2 ...3..." "Good..now breathe out"

If your panic attacks spike in public spaces because of people's stares, Craig and Tweek both shield you from view using their bodies.

Craig also straight up glares at them and flips them off. He'll watch them as they walk away too, hates that people will just stare at those having panic attacks and not help.

Because of Tweek and you, Craig tends to carry a backpack with him full of stress reliever toys that he'll give you if you start showing signs of a panic attack starting. He'll give you a stress ball or other stress relievers to help with calming you out of a panic attack

For some reason I feel as though Craig is on his phone a lot, especially if he's in a class without you or Tweek. In his mind, it's not worth paying attention without either of you two there with him (bro manages to get solid B through A-'s so he's doing fine tbh)

I'm mentioning this because if you believe you're about to have a panic attack, texting Craig about it will result in him at your side within seconds.

He doesn't even care if he's getting detention again, helping you out is worth more than some stupid class.

Willing to do whatever it is once you're feeling better. Wanna ditch class and the rest of school? He's with you and you guys are grabbing Tweek. Want to head to the nurses office and fake some sickness so you don't have to return to class right away? Works with him. If you even want to head back to class he'll walk you, kiss you on your forehead and make sure you make it to your seat.

All in all both of them are absolute sweethearts and will help you and support you whenever you have a panic attack.

They love you so much

[itsclydebitches]

Was thinking about the JNOR vs Neo fight and I gotta wonder, aside from fulfilling the cool fight quota for the volume. What was the point of the fight itself? Why engage directly with Neo when they had already recovered the Relic? Especially when they were now on the run from the Atlas Military. They should be bolting for the nearest exit and getting the hell out of there instead of engaging in a time consuming fight. Sure, Neo would most definitely follow and likely still get the Relic but chase scenes can be just as exciting as a regular fight and anything beats Oscar rushing towards his assailant to fight instead of fleeing to safety.

100% this. As you say, chase scenes can be fantastic (with RWBY potentially needing a re-do after that Oscar kidnapping scene...) and one would make more sense for this moment than a head-to-head fight. Engaging with Neo on her terms just a) provides more time for the military to find them, b) provides more opportunities for Neo to snatch the Relic, and c) raises the likelihood that someone will be hurt/killed. As a fighting show we do expect RWBY to have lots of cool, epic fights. However, that expectation doesn't release the writers from having to come up with reasons for why this fight exists. Looking back, I think there's a host of battles and violent interactions in Volumes 6-8 that feel like they exist solely because of those genre expectations, not because that's the smartest/safest move for the group to make. And yes, those two motivations are notable because LOTS of fights in these Volumes are not scenarios where the heroes have been forced to defend themselves; more and more they have the power to choose when they draw their weapons and against who.

Of course, humans being humans you don't have to (and really shouldn't) have your characters making The Right Choice all the time, but then we need solid characterization reasons for why this is happening. For example, let's clean up Oscar's entire merge storyline. How much of him is now Ozpin (who is a crazy powerful fighter) and how does that intersect with the fact that he was a civilian farmer who, frankly, still has had very little training and combat experience, especially compared to the rest of his team? Answer that and, I believe, you'll have an Oscar who isn't ready to be facing off against these villains, but is desperate to prove himself to his teammates and the guy inhabiting his head. Now you've got a halfway decent setup for Oscar rushing Neo, but the rest of the group should have wanted to flee from the start. Let Oscar make a mistake in trying to 1v1 a woman he has no hope of beating and the fight comes about as a result of the others attempting to help him.

But, you know, this is still the show where the group carried the supposedly grimm-attracting, definitely hunted by villains Relic around on their belts instead of locking it in the vault made explicitly to keep Relics safe... so no, often the writers aren't thinking through good motivations for these fights.

[ladytabletop]

Game Roundup 2023 - Part 1

So I made it a mission to read through the games I've gotten in various bundles in the past. And it's uh... an undertaking.

But! I've read a lot of cool games and encountered a lot of new concepts.

For reasons (namely that I have a few thousand games) I am not going to mention every game in these posts, just ones that caught my attention for one reason or another. And in keeping with my reflection on ratings earlier this year, I'm going to refrain from critiquing the stuff I mention here - I may say "this one isn't one I'd personally play" or "there was some unpolished stuff in here", but I'm going to focus mainly on the positives and why the game grabbed me.

So, here we go!

Blades in the Dark by John Harper

Yeah, yeah, I know, this game is talked about a lot! But consider me a recent student of TTRPG history outside of d20 systems. I got the chance to play this game for several sessions and read the rulebook cover to cover. The stuff that works, really works. The stuff that doesn't? Bogs the whole thing down. But I find clocks to be such an intuitive mechanic, and downtimes is really a delight to me. There's a whole ton of Forged in the Dark stuff that toggles a bunch of the game's switches on and off to make things more streamlined. Was very glad to read this one.

Lumen by Spencer Campbell (GilaRPGs)

I made it a mission to read SRDs this year. I want to understand the how and why of the games I've been reading: why are they built the way they are, what is accomplished in building them this way, and can I build games this way myself? Spencer has a really solid handle on what he wants his games to do. They're power fantasies with little if any chance for failure. It's not about whether you do the thing, it's about how. I ended up having the chance to meet Spencer at GenCon, and I'm really excited to see Lumen 2.0, which is going to be completely diceless. Power fantasy games aren't my thing typically, but I really appreciate the intentionality of this system's design.

Are My Wings Even? by Sadia Bies

What a lovely, simple game that lets you play dress-up! This one isn't necessarily as polished as some of the others but you can tell it was designed with so much care and personal meaning. I love a tactile game. I love dressing up. This one has so much potential to be really tender. It won't be for everyone and that's okay, but I really adore it.

Sprouts by Julie-Anne "Jam" Munoz

This game came to me in a bundle for Trans Rights in FL, but I actually dug into it when I was looking for RPGs to play with kids. You draw your character on a post-it, and it's just a silly little guy! It has a pretty simple roll mechanic and advises a "get from point A to point B" adventure style, which takes place in actual 3D space in your home, because didn't you know? Sprouts live in your home, like dust bunnies! It's got really great language for children and emphasizes cooperation, and that you can't mess up your drawing - sprouts are sprouts.

The Wildsea by Felix Isaacs

I know, I know, I talk about this game too much! But really, it's been the gateway into other games for me. I think technically I probably read this last year, but I had to brush up for GenCon this year, so I'm counting it. Lots of folks have compared the tracks in this game to Blades' clocks, but they sprang up parallel, funnily enough! It has some definitely shared DNA in its design, and it rewards you for things out of combat more than things in combat, if that's how you want to play. The setting is lovely, the community is lovely, and really it was a joy to read, even as long as it is.

I'll do another of these soon, I imagine.

[artisgonnabeok]

Look Into Your Future, Do You Really Want This?

Indigo Blue-Beard, Daughter of Blue-Beard.

More details below:

Ok so this drawing is based off of this backgrounder:

There is few speculation on what her destiny is, the two main ones are Blue-Beard and Two-Eyes.

In my opinion her being the next Blue-Beard makes more sense because:

1: her spiked necklace.

2: her blue hair which, the only time we've seen such a vibrant blue color is from Maddie (and her father if you read the books) and those two are from Wonderland also it isn't solid blue it's blue and purple. To add onto this, this character is a backgrounder so it doesn't make sense for her hair to stand out so much unless it was apart of her story.

3:the only reason people seem to think she's the next Two-Eyes is her bracelet.

4: her Legacy-Day outfit....like just look at it. It has a widow's hat.

Now, here's the important thing, she's a royal.

If you didn't know the key-points in Blue-Beard's story is that

A: He has a total of 7 wives but only one survived.

B: He gets killed at the end. In most depictions the weapon is a dagger.

C: There is a magically key involved.

Now that that's out of the way on to the drawing:

for this drawing I wanted to include several key-points of the story into the drawing, I also wanted it to tell a narrative.

The narrative that this teenager is so excited to follow her story she is willing to look at what will kill her and smile.

I picked the dagger because that is what is typically shown to end Blue-Beard. Also I added 6 blus circles into it to show the 6 wives Blue-Beard has before the final one.

There is also one in the center showing the wife that barely made it.

Also by having the dagger being just a outline it shows that it's her future destiny but it hasn't happened...yet.

The pool of blood that goes from her to the key and then to the floor is to represent several things,

1:her own death.

2:the blood that doesn't wash off of the key.

3:in the scene where the 7th wife finds the bodies the floor is oftentimes described as "being covered in a pool of blood."

I also included her hair having a chain pattern as well as her earrings having a key pattern for more detail.

For the background it's actually parts of the Blue-Beard story with a glitch added to it.

To summarize it:

I wanted to include this idea of a Royal who has this twisted love for a story that will be the end of her. She is excited for this, excited to see the dagger at the end of her story and she is smiling. She knows what she has to do and she loves it.

Side Note: this wasn't my first attempt...this is. I don't like this one at all but as a artist I feel it's important to show mistakes...like this one.

[zeldaelmo]

For the WIP game: I'm curious about TP trust issues and also the AoC matchmaker Rhoam fic

Thank you for asking because the TP one is my big project for 2025 and I desperately wanted an excuse to talk about it. 😆

I'll answer the Rhoam one in a different post.

The story will be post TP and canon compliant, set after Link left Ordon as shown in the credits of the game.

Link has become part of the Resistance post TP. The political climate post war is rough and they spend most of the time gathering information from various groups about what is going on and who's pursuing which goal. Link knows a lot of people, so he's their main negotiator in Castle Town and beyond.

After a councilman disappeared under mysterious circumstances, they're hearing rumors that Zelda has something to do with it. Nobody really can believe she's behind it, but Link has seen the horrors the royal family has been responsible for in Arbiter's Ground, so they can't rule it out either. They don't want to support a queen who's cruel and doesn't hesitate to eliminate political foes.

The plan they come up with is that one of them has to get closer to her to find out what's going on. And...guess whose job is that going to be? Yeah. Link isn't too happy about being involved in all this and repeatedly turns to Ilia in writing because she's his moral compass in all the political entanglement he's gotten himself into. Needless to say, Ilia doesn't like the plan one bit because it's not what they are and what they stand for.

Zelda, however, longs for company and is sad she doesn't have the connection other princesses seemed to have to their heroes. So when she asks Rauru for a list of potential suitors to end her loneliness and Link, of all people, is on it, she jumps at the opportunity and invites him.

They develop a somewhat unusual relationship with Link insisting on helping with her paperwork and a remarkable interest in history and Zelda bathing in the fact that she finally has her Hero around. She even opens up to him but it's a gift he can't appreciate because he's occupied with the card house he's been building up.

And that's when Zelda receives a letter that makes all his cards crash down.

I'll stop here and won't spoil the second half and all the rest that's going on with the missing people etc. But be assured it's a big fic and I'm super excited to start it!

B will beta read this for me and is the devil in my ear when I come asking, "Is this too dark?" 🤣

I promise, you'll still recognize it as a Zelmo fic but it will be a more serious story overall. Nothing too crazy, a solid M-rating I'd say, and of course, with a happy ending because I can't sleep at night if not, lol...

[stupidlittlespirit]

Do you think Ford would be really quick to propose to his s/o? Or would he mull it over for a long time? Personally, I like the idea that he'd be so quick to decide he wants to marry them maybe after 2 years because a) he's spent 30 years without family, or any other human connection that he doesn't want to waste any time thinking too long about it and b) he's just so excited to have them in his life.

However, I also think it would take him a while since he would overthink it to death. Or the secret third option, his s/o proposes to him. Or a secret FOURTH option, they decide they don't need to get married to stay together. Idk, what do you think? I love hearing your opinions

Good question. I actually am not sure about this..... I have no idea what the 'normal' length of time one would wait to get engaged is because I don't care for marriage myself so I never really paid much attention to it.

I think it's possible that Ford could go one of two ways: he jumps in with both feet because he has a tendency to get over excited and completely lose his head when he's experiencing heightened emotional states, or it just doesn't come as being relevant for him at all. Not in a negative sense, just a neutral one.

I imagine him to be fairly old fashioned in the sense that when he thinks about it, he assumes that's something he should do but his diverse experiences from travelling kind of subvert his expectations of partnerships and he decides that there are more important things for him than getting a piece of paper to legally recognise his devotion to another person.

We know canonically that in the Journal, he scoffs when Fidds says he should meet someone and settle down because especially at that time, Ford simply isn't interested in that kind of thing. He's working too much, and tbh I think in canon he's aroace anyways so it's irrelevant for him.

For my Ford in fanon, though, I think he's the type to scoff at the concept of romance but then accidentally become interested in someone and not even realise it/know why. So having a personal, solid opinion on a step as serious as marriage is just not super important to him. It probably wouldn't even occur to him. Doesn't mean he doesn't like the idea if it's brought up to him and it doesn't mean he'd refuse should he be asked, he just.... Doesn't think about it all that much.

[sunskate]

Warsaw Cup 2024 RD

why are some events higher scoring season after season? Denis Ten kind of broke their tendency to be sky high this year, but here, 8 of the top 10 scored season or personal bests. the two who didn't had twizzle mistakes

Lauriault/Le Gac came out strong at Lake Placid and won against teams like the Browns, P/B, F/A and N/M but have had big errors and strange mistimings at every competition since. idk if it's gotten to them mentally. here, besides a big twizzle mistake, they couldn't complete a move where she goes through his legs and swings up because they didn't connect

Bashynska/Beaumont: they're having a rough go this season. the programs aren't doing them any favors, the taste level in the packaging, oof. this is a team who won junior GPF over Lim/Quan and the Mrazeks - they have more potential than they're showing right now. they skated ok here, but like L/LeG they've had some very bumpy competitions, and it's maybe affecting how they carry themselves. they still haven't gotten to do the ballet program of their dreams, and more elegant packaging could do a lot for them. hate to say it, but maybe the costco of ice dance would be better for them

i like Dupayage/Nabais, but thanks to Jean-Luc i can't stop noticing how much they accordion in the spacing between them as they go through their program

Lopareva/Brissaud looking solid besides a twizzle level. all the judges had them first except the German judge who had Pate/Bye 1st with a 81.17 and 4 points higher than L/B how 👀

Z/K looking crisp, and he's calibrating his energy level so it's less frenetic. she had a balance check in a twizzle and pirouetted part of her 3rd set for a level 2 - judges though gave them GOE from -1 to +3 😐 the Ukrainian judge didn't see either of her twizzle mistakes?

watching Hannah and Ye's RDs at their 2 GPs and then here, they've been pretty consistent. live in Quebec in August, this program was already good but even more for the potential to be really exciting - at Skate Canada it looks like they had a lot of glide. GP Finlandia it was a little bit more noticeable that their pattern maybe isn't as big as some other teams and that they're not as deep into their knees or the ice? the choreo on their ChRS lets them down a bit in the middle - too much pointing on the beat, the kicks don't match - it doesn't add a lot of interest, and you know they have the potential to eat up a choreo sequence

i never understand J v R/S's costumes lol

but a personal best for them and tied for 2nd in BV. German judge can’t be accused of national bias - had them in 4th

[falciesystemessays]

so there's this indie game developer who's been a quiet favorite of mine for the past year. Artless Games. they're a chinese developer who specializes in puzzle games. they have a programming game called A=B about working with an esolang, pretty solid takes on The Witness and Sokoban formulas, and the absolutely ridiculous 14 Minesweeper Variants, which is my comfort game and also getting a sequel soon. this developer is really good at making rock-solid puzzle games with good ideas and great execution. if you are interested in puzzle game design at all, and especially if any of these concepts interest you, i highly recommend you check out their work.

The hitch is, of course, the lack of an artstyle. You could call it minimalist, but the name "Artless Games" shows a full awareness that there's a presentational lack in these games. I kind of admire it, honestly, because these games do stand up without the need for visual flair. And as an indie designer who tends to be pretty limited on assets, I deeply respect a game that shows how you don't need those to make an amazing game.

...But it's not that simple, is it?

A few months ago I went to the yearly Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. I learned a lot there, met a good few people, and started to really rethink how I approach gamedev. The thing to understand about GDC talks is that they are incidentally about making good games. The real focus is on how to be successful in the game industry. This often does mean making better games, but it's just as much about confronting how making a good game isn't always enough.

Enter Lenophie, an aggressively French game designer who gave my most anticipated talk, 'Bunburrows': How to Break Out of the Puzzle Niche. She speaks to the fact that, despite puzzle games being very popular among indie developers, it's a pretty small niche in terms of players. To make a profitable indie puzzle game, you have to appeal outside of that niche to players looking for other things. In Lenophie's words, "We treated being a puzzle game like something we had to compensate for." It means not relying on mechanics alone as a selling point. It means giving your game a unique style, or even a story. And it means swallowing your pride as a puzzle game designer and giving players hints, or even letting them skip puzzles. It's not enough to make a good puzzle game, she says. You have to make a good game with puzzles in it.

I came out of that talk feeling like the future of puzzle games was just laid out before me. And I was excited. I'm still excited! The idea of puzzle games extending past their current niche status is a really cool one, to me. But it puts me in a weird spot thinking about Artless again. On some level, I have a deep respect for a game like 14 Minesweeper Variants, a game with even less interesting visuals than normal Minesweeper, for standing on its own as a puzzle game. It was a game built just for me. I think it's really important that games like this exist, that game developers can make a game with a sharp focus that knows its audience and appeals to it fully. But the reality of gamedev as a business complicates matters. I hope every developer working in the puzzle space finds their answer. I hope I find mine. And I hope you, whatever rising star developer is reading this, find your balance.

[nikethestatue]

So we eriels hate elain because azriel would destroy her. I mean I laugh when I read it. They said if eriel happens azriel will always be insecure of their bond…… azriel who said Lucien doesn’t deserve her and that he would win the blood rite with little effort.

She is not perfect for lucien everytime he is near she shows to be uncomfortable but people refuse to see it. There is so much hate towards elain that I wonder if I am the one reading it wrong.

What they all fail to recognise is that Elain is like 10x more powerful than Azriel. She survived the fucking Cauldron. She is going to be destroyed by him?? That's laughable. This is the chick who spent hours in Hybern's camp, sitting NEXT TO THE CAULDRON, where Feyre could barely be next to it for seconds, and Elain was all 'oh, hi, you came for me? that's nice. No, I am not particularly uncomfortable'.

This is what the antis don't get. Elain and Nesta aren't normal. They aren't just Fae. They aren't just powerful. These are the gals who can negotiate with the Cauldron, make It fall in love with them, converse with the Mother, and get shit done. They can find Trove objects, they can predict the future, they can peer over worlds, they aren't scared of Bryaxis, they can slay Death Gods, they can find Death Gods, and they can stop and reverse time.

Azriel is going to destroy Elain? Really? I think not. It's so laughable. This chick gets handed a sharp instrument and she is off killing evil kings.

Azriel is gonna pee his pants with excitement when he gets CHOSEN over any silly bond. Also, I can totally see Elain be like 'Cauldrony, baby, can you do me a solid? I'd like a nice sexy bond with this one--yeah, the one with the scarred hands. Yes? Thank you, sweetie. You are so good to me!"

Nesta and Elain had to save these Illyrian dudes so many times by now, it's like a second job. 'Azriel is going to destroy Elain' -- Elain, who has immense Cauldron-gifted powers and can literally change the future--is actually hilarious.

The antis don't understand the extent of the sisters' powers at all.

Amren, a goddamn angel who is 15K years old is kind of scared of the sisters. Wouldn't eat anything Nesta cooked. Warns everyone that Elain could take care of herself.

Amren.

Think about it.

Lucien isn't even in the same bracket as Elain, power-wise. Elain is doing him a favour by refusing him. A. She probably already knows what's gonna happen with him and her and B. She is gonna eat him for supper, if she wants to.

[styrmwb]

I Beat Games in 2024

At the start of the year, I started to write my thoughts down about games I beat starting with Chrono Trigger; I eventually got A Lot Better with it, and I stuck with it until the end! I'm quite proud of myself. Sure, the posts are usually long and rambly, but I feel like I've improved at putting down Why Exactly I Like And Don't Like Things. Perhaps I'll get better!

But similar to every company (Spotify, Nintendo, Youtube, McDonald's) doing years in review, I Also wanted to do one for myself! Behold: The List

Shoutouts Tiermaker for letting me be a coward and not do a strict numbered list (I wish it wasn't so low quality)

Lemme go up with a short little thought and how I think the game stuck with me to the end

The One I Didn't Beat

Baba is You - Game is Frustrating

I started playing Baba after I beat Persona 5, and before Dawntrail came out. I'd wanted to play this game for a good while. Very funny energy, and super cool concept. Change the rules to solve the puzzle. What I got was less a think about how to change the rules game, and more of a block pushing "how do I get the rule that I want" game. I got mad. Is it possible that I was just dumb? Yes, absolutely. But I couldn't get myself to finish it. Perhaps I will return.

C Tier - Liked, But There's Problems

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail - Falling Prey to Stagnation

I still love FFXIV; and I do think that Dawntrail brought a lot of good things. Soundtrack is stellar, world design is awesome, and once they released the raids? Dude. The combat design this expac is STELLAR. PLUS I GOT TO SEE THE ARK ANGELS AND PRISHE AAAAAA. But alas, the FFXIV formula we've had since ShB still remains. The writing continues to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I'm burnt out. I'm not... Excited to play the game right now. I really hope they fix that, I want the game I love to thrive.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Great Gameplay in a Weird Place

I think I played Lightning Returns at the perfect time. It really felt like XIII-2 Chapter 2. I'm super happy that I got to finish the XIII trilogy. I think the game is good, but I don't know if it's gonna Stick with me as much as some of the higher entries. Again, the soundtrack is phenomenal (FF games Can Not Miss I SWEAR TO GOD), and I stick by the fact that if I were to revisit it, I would get a whole different fun from optimizing time now that I know How Much Time it is.

B Tier - Solid Games All Around

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - Childhood Chapter Comes to a Close

Another game I'm really happy to have finally finished. Reliving the nostalgia of the past, as well as being able to approach it with an adult mindset. The game was addicting, the style of it still lives in my head; I honestly think it's one of the best artstyles in the entire series. Yeah, there were some problems like the laws and the nature of the grind + new units, but overall I really loved how the game stuck together.

Yakuza 3 Remastered - Closer and Closer to Catching Up

A classic Yakuza experience. It's a tried and true formula that fills my completionist wants and needs. It definitely has the best story of all the LaD games so far (0-3), and while I wish the remaining games were happy fun Sunflower times, I know poor Kiryu won't get to relax. I think the only reason this isn't higher is just cause it doesn't have too much special sauce differentiated from previous games (plus the combat stuff late game docks a point). Either way, still excited to continue on.

A Tier - The A is for Amazing

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - 2024 (New) Game of the Year

Congratulations to VII Rebirth for being the only 2024 not-expansion game I played this year. This was pretty much the game I rooted for in the game awards (which don't really matter) but honestly I feel bad cause it feels like default. Regardless! None of that matters! Rebirth was such a good game. It made me love and appreciate VII's world and cast so much more than the original did. I loved the new additions of Queen's Blood and Gilgamesh, and I genuinely think that game is the template of what action FF should be. It just needed to not beef the ending to be S tier.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Best in the Trilogy

An honest to god surprise hit for me. I did not expect to like XIII-2 as much as I did. The organization and gameflow of it stuck with me so much more than XIII or LR, I loved the small cast: Noel was tragic, Serah got screentime and character, I got more Hope content, and Caius is absolutely one of my favorite FF villains now. The soundtrack fucked, the atmosphere was great; it just really stuck with me. Think what I really would have appreciated is a little more respect on the previous cast.

Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer - awsome seekwel to my favorite indy

The thing about Slayers X, is that I Literally don't have any problems with it. The game is EXACTLY what is needed to be. I've never played a boomer shooter, but I had a lot of fun running around, shooting glass sharts, finding secrets, and listening to that 2000s nu metal grungy soundtrack (I'M STILL NOT GOOD WITH GENRES DON'T GET MAD AT ME). It does help that I have some personal bias in the matter, but I love games in this universe and I can't wait for more.

World of Warcraft: The War Within - PLEASE DON'T LET THIS AGE BADLY

This expansion is the direction I NEEDED WoW to go in. The art direction, the story, the characterization, the gameplay. I haven't felt a love this strong for this game since Legion. I haven't been able to check it out beyond the first part of the game due to Money, but I do hope that it's continuing to not suck. I hope that when the Worldsoul Saga completes, I can confidently say to people without feeling bad: "I love World of Warcraft."

Splatoon 3: Side Order - Final Course of Single Player Goodness

Similar to Slayers X; I don't really have any issues with Side Order! It's what I expected, it feels like what I was promised, a Splatoon roguelike. I had a good bit of fun with it, I loved the attention to detail they put in. The gameplay loop was really fun, and it made unlocking bits not a miserable experience. Plus more Off the Hook is always appreciated.

S Tier - Games of the Year, Games of All Time

Persona 5 Royal - Hoo Boy.

The inventor of jazz. The game that crosses over with everything. I understand the hype. I LOVE Persona 5. I think out of every game I played this year, Persona 5 stuck with me the most. It made TIME MANAGEMENT ADDICTING. It gave me a huge cast of charming characters, playable and not. The vibes were immaculate, the story felt cathartic. I loved the gameplay, the interactions of elements, the usage of real world mythology; and though some of the Royal bits could have been added on a little smoother, the quality they gave me clears any complaints I got. The fact that I still have such good memories even after playing plenty of other games tells me this isn't just some kind of recency bias (it might still be), Persona 5 is one of my favorite games ever.

Chrono Trigger - Absolutely Deserved Reputation

Finally. At long last. Chrono Trigger was a game that I NEEDED to play. It's a perfect RPG (well nothing is perfect and I could get some minor nitpicks but). The cast is amazing and well rounded, the battle system is still a classic RPG but takes its own spin, makes it unique feeling. It's not a guys to one side enemies to other random thing, it FEELS like a whole battlefield, the positioning mattering, the interactions between characters, GOD it's so good. For a time travel story, it all makes sense, it does what a time travel story SHOULD. The soundtrack is fucking legendary and I still listen to it to this day. What makes it really special is that I got to play this classic without knowing pretty much anything about it. Chrono Trigger was an absolute treat, and I think it's definitely one of my favorite games of all time.

Bonus

Of course, these weren't the only games I played this year, just the main ones. 2024 saw the return of my Final Fantasy XI phase, where I got to beat Wings of the Goddess and A Shantotto Ascension (as of writing this I'm still playing); and I have to plug it to make sure people realize that Wings of the Goddess is one of the best FF storylines they might never experience. I got the first Mario Party I ever enjoyed playing in Jamboree, which doesn't feel super mean spirited and rage inducing like previous entries, as well as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe somehow also creeping in. Theatrhythm continued to be a main stay as what I go to to fill my rhythm game need; and right at the start of the year, I finished the pokedex in Pokemon Violet.

Finally, my main replay of the year lied in Hypnospace Outlaw; my favorite indie game of all time. Going back to reexperience it, check out all the new content that got released after my first play, that game continues to remain truly special in my heart.

I wanna keep doing this in the future. It was really fun, it gives me a record, a snapshot of my thoughts; something to look back on. Who knows what'll happen in 2025? Maybe I'll branch out more. Maybe not. Maybe I'll only play Yakuza games all year, it's possible.

And the most maybe of all; maybe I'll play more Actual new releases instead of old games. We'll find out!

[thatgirl4815]

Intimacy & Communication (Ep6)

Once again, there’s been a lot of talking, and a lot of talking within said talking, and now all hell has broken loose. Everybody is in shambles. I'm in shambles. We're all in shambles. And it will only get worse from here. 🥲

*Note: Since this meta is slowly becoming a series, you can find the other metas here

SandRay

I suppose we have Boston to thank for Sand and Ray’s communication issues; prior to this episode, I think they’ve maintained a reasonably healthy communication style—even if it was destined to implode at some point with the whole “We say we’re friends but we feel like more than friends.” I think Boston has just sped things along at an uncomfortable rate.

It’s interesting because Sand and Ray’s closeness is solid when they're alone, but the moment their relationship is known, it's immediately thrown into turmoil. It's also upsetting that Sand, someone we know to have a very direct approach to communication (not unlike Ray), is very closed off in Ep6. I'm thinking specifically of the Pool Scene (a label that should not be confused with the KinnPorsche Pool Scene™, whose name shall live in infamy).

It occurred to me while rewatching this scene that this is one of the only, if not the only, time we see Sand and Ray talk about anything but their relationship to each other. They haven't often mentioned the other characters because up to this point, the drama hasn't forced them to.

That fact alone gives this scene a certain chill. There's no sign of their usual flirtiness. And Sand is noticeably resistant to Ray's efforts to straighten things out since the fight with Boston. Sand is lost in his own anger, in feeling used by Ray and unwanted, and that reaction is reflected in every part of this scene. Ray clearly reads between the lines on what Sand says about Mew, and once again wants to speak directly about it. He knows Sand is bothered, even when he says he isn't. Whatever casual "We're just friends" comments Sand used before are clearly not at play anymore. Ray and Sand both know that Sand cares, long before Sand is direct about it--

This scene shows a bit of a flip in terms of how both Ray and Sand respond to each other, specifically when it comes to honesty. Ray is the one who has just blown up in anger, and he's the one lying, calling Sand a whore who only wants his money, who doesn't have honest dreams, etc. But Sand is direct this time. No jokes or flirts. It's an admission that both Sand and Ray have known about, but it's something that Ray needs to hear, because a) he hears it so little in his life and b) because the more lonely he feels, the more reason he has to get in his car and risk himself.

Excited to see where this goes with Sand comparing his relationship with Ray to Ray's relationship with alcohol next ep. In any case, I'm glad Sand is aware of the position that he is in. All of these characters are very cognizant of their situations.

TopMew

Top and Mew pose a stark contrast to SandRay in that they go from seemingly very solid communication and intimacy to very negative. My key takeaway from their plot line this episode is how Mew keeps his anger over Top's infidelity buried until they're in bed together. Which, from an entertainment standpoint, is just glorious. From a communication standpoint, it seems to bring everything full circle.

Sex has caused a lot of tension in Top and Mew's relationship. It's been a power play from Mew when he's withheld it, but last episode we saw that barrier finally break. But Mew takes back control here through the truth, and he effectively turns the tables on Top, calling back to the very thing he had hang ups about in the first place: sex.

We already know how Mew views sex. And we also know that Mew has gradually transformed Top's view of sex as something to build emotional intimacy. So for Top to have hooked up with Boston is like a slap in the face to all of that careful development. When Top had sex with Boston, the act alone seemed to confirm that Mew isn't enough for Top.

It's also worth noting just how quiet Top is in the last scene. He takes the blows, which is a good sign, compared to what we get from Boston. I compare this scene between Top and Mew with the one between Ray and Boston, where Ray admits to knowing about Boston and Top's hookup--Boston gets defensive immediately, rattling off excuses. But Top just takes the hits from Mew.

Top knows he was wrong. Boston knows that others think he's wrong, but I don't think he genuinely thinks there is anything wrong. He knows Mew won't get over it easily because that's just how Mew is--uptight, moralistic. Boston's own morals are incredibly loose, just like his approach to relationships. On the topic of morals, I'd say Boston and Mew's are on opposite sides of the spectrum.

BostonNick

Nick tries time and time again to be someone special to Boston, and time and time again Boston makes it clear that he doesn't care. From Boston telling Nick that he wants to spend time with him before he leaves, to harshly telling his friends that he isn't in a relationship with Nick--right in front of Nick--is just heartbreaking. (Seriously, the scene of Mew kicking Boston into the pool can't come soon enough.)

We get some insights into Boston's upbringing with the introduction of his father, who seems to possess a very similar mindset to Boston's. I could go on a whole other rant about this, but Boston approaches everything loosely because he thinks he won't face pressing consequences. He's going to leave the country, so if he screws some people over and makes some enemies, what's the harm? He'll be gone soon enough anyway.

I could also go on a rant about the glaring hypocrisy of Boston saying he can't be friends with someone who would record him...I go back and forth between thinking he's a cunning manipulator and a stupid college kid. Surely he must see the hypocrisy there...but if he does, he probably doesn't care (as with most things).

I've compared Nick to Sand before, but Nick has been shut down by Boston on countless occasions, and yet he still stays. For Boston, who has proven time and time again that he enjoys manipulating people, ruining relationships, recording his friends, and sleeping around. Nick knows all of this all too well. And yet.

Nick, I'm starting to lose some sympathy for you. Leave. Him.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

wibta if I started a different discord chat for my friend group just to exclude one person

I know it sounds bad and that I'm just starting shit but we've all been friends for 10+ years now so it's not something I'm considering lightly. We currently have a private discord server of just the 4 of us that we switched to as opposed to a traditional gc since we all have different phones and its good for having multiple conversations, quality photos and videos, and keeping a clear record of when and where plans are made

Anyway, this isn't a recent problem but the friend (A) has always had a tardiness problem it started with her not being able to wake up early in the morning but even if we have late night/afternoon plans she still can't get dressed and/or finish her makeup on time and causes us to be consistently at least 1 hour late which I was hoping she'd start growing out of after highschool but this isn't the case (we're now all 22+) and is especially frustrating when going out to eat bc by the time we leave all of us are hangry and expected to eat hours earlier. Recently A has started prioritizing other friends of hers which is nbd she can have other friends we all do except she'll drop plans last min with us to go with them which is also annoying bc it's disrespectful for the rest of us to be blown off like that. We're clearly not her priority anymore but she always expects to be ours, plans have to be on her work schedule, on her timeframe, on if she will be tired etc. plus being an afterthought leaves out a friend in the group (B) who had to move out of state with family and now he can't tell if we're making plans behind *his* back and he feels left in the dark when in truth he knows as much as I and the other local friend (C) do

It's to the point we've stopped doing any plans that start before like 2pm because we can't rely on her to be ready but she'll be upset if we don't wait for her while she's still getting ready, esp cuz we usually carpool, which already limits what we want to do together in the first place

However, it was my birthday recently and I'm currently ~2hr drive (no more than 3 with heavy traffic) from A and C, who doesn't have a car and needs to be picked up by A. I really wanted to go to my fav breakfast place and had some other plans for after and I kept emphasizing what time A needed to get here because the place closes early (they only serve breakfast). And at this point no one should be surprised she didn't arrive until after 1pm, after the place was closed, and at that point no one had eaten all day so we had to rush and find somewhere else that'd be open and nearby bc we were all starving and half my plans for the day were gone bc they were based on places we'd go after breakfast that also close in the afternoon (2-5 depending on the place) and since they are my closest friends and dont know my other friends who live closer and I've only known for less than 2 yrs (who I wasn't comfortable to ask for bday presents from yet still) (still got one from 1 even tho I insisted they didn't have to tho lol) they were the only people I made solid birthday plans with this year so it was really heartbreaking to deal with and have everything I was excited for be cancelled since it's hard for me to go out like this on my own w anxiety and busy work schedule too but I scheduled the day off. I was hoping that she would try even just a little bit because it was my birthday the one day I ask for literally anything and we rarely see each other now bc of conflicting work schedules and I DID plan for her to be semi late in secret but I didn't expect her to arrive for breakfast after 12

Anyway that's the whole backstory plus the recent straw on the camel's back but I just want to make a new chat between me, B, and C, to plan virtual movie and game nights bc she never reads the events chat anyway and all our online call plans grind to a halt for hours or days waiting for an answer bc at least C still wants to try and include A even tho her schedule is so busy or she's tired or will prob be late to the call and make us wait for her or cancel or leave early or we debate what game/movie A wants but she doesn't even NEED to be there it's just like.. Minecraft. Or a pirated 90s movie we're streaming or wtvr

I've tried saying like "hey I'm gonna be playing x on Saturday if anyone's free come and join me" but that usually just ends in me gaming alone bc it's so noncommittal the others will catch up on other work they have but really I'm just trying to hang with any of them even if 1 person can't make it at the time we don't always have to only call in a group yk?

A is nice otherwise like she's still my friend just planning anything with her is starting to be like pulling teeth and I still want to keep in touch with her and hear how she's doing from our discord server but stuff like that I just want to start separating her from weekly calls (which are currently more like monthly) bc she's so flakey but I know it's kinda shitty to purposefully leave her out and she'd be upset if she ever found out I was doing that.

I'm also open to advice on how to deal with this situation in general, thus the detail, without causing a huge fight or make anyone pick sides +her tardiness won't be something we can talk through it's something we've worked on for years and recently have just given up and accepted since she's late even to things that are important to her

What are these acronyms?