#also I don't really oppose to anything with a passion so anything I pointed out would end up on neutral category

[nakathemoth]

general conclusion: I think Aiura should be friends with a lot of people also in a debate between Akechi and Kusuke no one wins cause the earth explodes. The end

I've made a Saiki shipping chart!

Template below >:) Feel free to tag me if you use it! I've noticed there weren't any good templates available. A lot of them were missing characters... So I've made my own :) Enjoy!

outdated?? kinda

[pearlzier]

────⠀ RICH.ᐟREADER struggles with showing love.

NOTES ,, might do a tag list specifically for skater!matt and rich!reader if anyone.... is interested... this is just fluff but i think theyre so cute <3.

you don't really know how to show affection towards those you like or love without spending money. you're so used to others doing it for them—your parents throwing a couple of expensive clothes or jewellery at you for your birthday, your friends taking you out to lavish restaurants as a gift as opposed to something homemade or actually thought out. of course, you like all of those things, who wouldn't? but.. they don't know how to not spend money on those you love.

you don't understand the saying, 'money doesn't buy happiness'. it's managed to make you happy your entire life, so how's that supposed to work? like.. it doesn't make sense. so when matt's birthday's coming up, well, you immediately knew you were gonna buy him something nice and take him somewhere expensive.

but you can't help but think that maybe that's not the best course of action, that matt wouldn't exactly want the generic rich kid birthday starter pack. he's got three siblings, damn it, maybe he'd want something a little more.. meaningful? he's probably seen a few birthday dinners at expensive resturaunts in his time, you doesn't want it to be boring for him. you wanted to make an impact, even if you didn't know how.

it gets to a point where you're stumped, completely. you know matt so well, but are so stuck in your old ways and so used to just shelling out some cash for one day only to do it again and again annually, that coming up with anything that he wanted seemed impossible.

a new skateboard? surely he had enough. protective gear? now that was just comical. you hated the feeling of not being able to come up with a meaningful gift to give him. sure, you two aren't dating, but you're close enough to constitute a gift, right? it pisses you off to no end, to the point of upset. you practically storm into matt's room, having been let in by chris when he saw how distraught you were. "you're so fucking hard to please! how am i supposed to get you a gift for your birthday when, when—"

matt's taken off guard. first of all, how'd you get in? he's assuming it was one of his brothers who'd let you in, but.. second of all, you're so upset. he'd thought he'd done something wrong but you're yelling at him about a gift? his birthday? he blinks for a minute, sitting up, "hey, hey, hey," he starts, frowning. the sight of you so upset makes his heart ache in the worst way possible. getting up from his bed, his gaze rakes over you.

it's appreciative, of course, but also concerned. "you're scarin' me, sweetheart, what's goin' on?" he mumbles, taking a little step closer as he reaches out for you. gently, he places his hands on your arms and draws you a little closer. you look up at him with glassy eyes, a little wet with tears that you try to blink away as to not seem weak or make your mascara run. "stop bein' all.." you don't know what you're protesting against, you really don't.

"all what?" his brows furrow a minute, a small, faint smile ghosting his lips. it only serves to make you a little more upset with how caring he is to you, even when you're a bit of a bitch to him sometimes. hey, he's a bitch in return too.

"all nice. we're supposed to fuck 'n' be all passionate, that kinda thing," you mumble under your breath, lashes fluttering as your eyes lift to his. matt feels a warmth flood his chest and he shakes his head, "don't even want you thinkin' 'bout that whilst you're feelin' like this," he murmurs quietly, tone firm but soft. "you gonna tell me what's up, or—'cause we can just watch a movie or somethin'." as much as he was passionate with your body, he was passionate with your heart too.

"wanted to get you something nice for your birthday, yeah? like.. something you'd enjoy, not some shit you'd say you like and then never use ever again," you start to explain, relaxing a little at the touch on your arms finally and melting your way against him. he hums for a moment, slowly nodding his head at your words. "but nothin's coming to mind at all. blank slate—i can't think of anything you like, i've tried every store, every website." you'd spent hours with your laptop and your soft blankets wrapped around you, just trying to find a single gift for him.

"babe," he sighs at the sight of you, the corners of his lips flitting upwards at the realisation that settles upon him. all this over him? over his birthday? god, you're adorable. "really?"

"what do you mean, really—what type of shitty response is tha—"

"hear me out," matt murmurs, interrupting you gently. he rubs his hands over your arms easily, sighing for a second as his eyes meet yours. "what if i don't want all that? what if i just wanna spend some time with you? y'ever think about that?" his hands slide up over your arms to your neck, fingers curling around the back gently. "that ever cross your mind?"

you scoff instantly at that—"well, who'd want that?" he doesn't admit it, but the sound of you saying that about yourself makes his heart ache in his chest once more. shaking off the pang of hurt, he continues after being quiet for a moment. "me, i'd want that. jus' bein' with you makes me happy. that'd make it a real good birthday." you can't deny there's a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart when he says that. no one's ever said that your company is all they need to be happy.

you bite your tongue momentarily, considering your words. a bashful little look dawns on your face and you look away with a quiet huff. "yeah?" you mumble, looking up at him through your lashes after. damn it, he makes your heart feel all fluttery and warm like no one else has before. you're not sure whether you like it all that much—since it's so vulnerable, but you can't say you hate it, since you don't. "really?"

he draws you into him, his hand sliding up to the back of your head to cradle it before he holds you against his chest. "i mean it, pretty girl," he murmurs, his words completely genuine and true. he really does mean it, he loves you and your company so damn much—even if he can't say it. he doesn't need your alone time with him to end with having sex, or for you to buy him expensive little gifts, he just needs you. "really do mean it. i like hangin' out with you, ain't it obvious?"

"you're so—like," you don't know how to explain it. your head tilts a little, chin bumping against his chest a little as his fingers brush over your jaw. "so.." you're a little lost for words, admittedly. a smile plays over matt's lips once more, his eyes fluttering over your pretty face.

"so what, babe?"

you're quiet again, considering what to say before you make the decision that words can't describe how you feel enough. so you lean in, grasping at the fabric of his shirt to draw him closer and press your lips against his. it's slow, gentle, he blinks a minute to adjust to the fact you're kissing him, but he melts into it almost immediately. his plush lips against yours feels like heaven, parting a little instinctively. resting his hands on the sides of your face, he holds you against him.

after a little bit, he pulls back. "i get it," he murmurs quietly, "no need to explain. i know." he gets you more than anyone else.

ִ ֹ ★ @mattybsgroupie, @dayzeandhaze, @mattslolita, @stellasturns, @stevelacylovebot, @55sturn, @jetaimevous, @phone4pills, @aesthetixhoe, @venusiers, @chrissdollie, @stvrnmc, @sarosfilms, @beetlejenna, @funkycoloured, @v3nusasagrl, @imwetforyourmom, @deansbite, @beridollie, @https--roman, @sincerebabydoll, @pillwebb, @cayleeuhithinknot, @j2ss7 ִ ꒱

[myusuchaa]

ikemen villains: my recs and route/suitor rankings ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

disclaimer: these are my opinions based on the current released routes in both ENG and JP. i tend to love dark psych thrillers, lots of angst and pining, great banter between characters/lively convos, and a captivating plot, so that's what influences my ranks~ will update with future releases

figured I’d post my thoughts here!! in case anyone is a bit newer to ikevil and is curious OR if anyone has similar interests as me I’d love to squeal about them with you!! ♡

₊˚ପ⊹ROUTE RANKINGS

rank is based on: written flow, plot, descriptive language and emotional pull, uniqueness

1. Elbert

2. Alfons

3. Roger

4. Ellis

5. William

6. Liam

7. Harrison

₊˚ପ⊹SUITOR RANKINGS

rank is based on: how much I fell for them, their likability, personality traits, inner monologues from his side stories, overall character story, their interactions with others

1. Elbert

2. Alfons

3. Ellis

4. Liam

5. Roger

6. Harrison

7. William

₊˚ପ⊹ROUTE RELEASE TIMELINE

Beginning trio (JP/ENG): William, Liam, Harrison

Aug. 1st (JP/ENG): Elbert

Nov. 14th (JP): Alfons

Mar. 19th (JP): Ellis

Jul. 23rd (JP): Roger

my thoughts & recs on each suitor's route (no spoilers)

William: such an interesting take on love. maybe because of his curse but his route is up there with feeling the most historical, period-piece fantasy like (along with elbie and roger imo). he's a very unique LI i honestly felt like his route would do well as a 3 episode anime OVA ヾ( ˃ᴗ˂ )◞ i recommend him if you like a more undefined approach to love, contractual partnership, mature and refined guys and not-so-innocent MC's

Liam: a precious bb ahh, and his VA is so amazing at emotional inflections! liam really shines in being attentive to kate and to the other crown members, i loved how he treated her in his route. i recommend if you don't mind self-deprecating guys, if you like drama and whirlwind romance, and if you enjoy a relationship built on assurance.

Harrison: the best soft opening to ikevil imo. quite a tame route with very real world problems as opposed to dark fantasy. if anyone stays true to his self, it's harry! he has some funny one liners too lol. i recommend him if you like intelligent sarcastic LIs, you like noir crime vibes, and if you don't want a heavy read.

Elbert: i mean he is my oshi for a reason! every time i read his route i fall more in deep love.. the localization team did an amazing job w the translation. i think his POV stories are the best. they add so much to his qualities and i feel really boosts his story. i recommend his route if you love yearning, emotional understanding, tragedy, dark psych thrillers, and slow (but dramatic) burn stories

Alfons: i used to hate him with a passion... until i loved him. his route truly is the definition of "fuck around and find out" keeping you on your toes. i loved the depth he has and how dubious they made him. i recommend his route if you like word/roleplay, morally grey characters, if you like having to guess at things without ever being told the answer, and a "we shouldn't be doing this but.." kinda feeling

Ellis: this man had me doing mental gymnastics to understand his true motives and i looooved that. visuals are also top tier. what i noticed is his route really focuses on his time with kate and has a bit more of a mundane (as mundane can be in ikevil) plot compared to other routes. this let his interactions with kate shine. i recommend ellis if you like hidden duality in a suitor, puppy boys that will do anything for you, a love that feels like a warm blanket, and you're ok with no real character growth (conditional love)

Roger: honestly i put off his route cus i wasn't interested at first but by the third chapter i was like WOW this is a breath of fresh air. the writers showed UP for part 2, i love the new plot points introduced, and his interactions with kate are sooo good. i loved his letters too! i ended up finding him extremely supporting and with a slight gap moe which kept me interested. i recommend this route if you like stories that are plot AND character driven, back and forth banter between MC and LI, and a shojou traditional charismatic love!

[smoochhyuka]

Tyun's NSFW alphabet

He is the full package.

-> Yeonjun Soobin Beomgyu Hueningkai

○o。content warning! NSFW obvie, gn!reader, public sex, bondage, orgasm controll, VERY BRIEF mentions of anal (m!receiving), switch!Tyun, unedited

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Taehyun has a burst of energy! A total chatterbox afterwards, but the very first thing he does is to clean up any bodily fluids that might have spilled at any point during ✨the do✨, since he doesn't like to be sticky. If the sex was (semi)planned, he would have prepared wet wipes to be in close proximity, if it was completely spontaneous (or maybe at an unfamiliar place), he'd try to get a towel or tissue paper. You can just stay put and he cleans you, it's his way for showing you his pure adoration, especially if the sex was on the rough side. Afterwards he will definitely cuddle you very hard and talk your ear off, maybe he'll do some push ups.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He loves your face, just your whole face. His favorite way to kiss you is to cup your face with both of his hands, doesn't matter if the kiss is passionate or docile. Your smile is so precious to him, he'll always look out for you and your micro expressions. Obviously he also loves to watch your face contort in pleasure, it's such a turn-on.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

If he cums, he cums hard. Lots of sperm, slight twitching. It'll take a while to get there (is it weird I hc him to be circumcised?) but it's the sexiest thing to witness. The consistency, taste and opacy wary a lot, since his diet and routines change with his schedule.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He has a fantasy where he's blindfolded and tied to a chair, at your total mercy. The dirty part would be were you let him sit there for hours, maybe even turn on the TV for a while and just occasionally increase the vibrations of the vibrator in his ass or stroke his cock a few times. There is NO WAY he would even mention that unless you show interest in such a thing by yourself. It kind of goes against everything he expects from intercourse with you, therefore it is not something he'd need to happen anyways.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

I think Taehyun mentioned once he never had a partner? Don't quote me on that. But I honestly don't think he has a lot of experience, and the first few times can be a little bit clumsy, depending on your experience as well. But he is a fast learner.

F = Favorite position

Every position that allows him to look at your face. Usually it's missionary (convenience and he loves to spoil you) but he also likes lotus position, doggy style in front of a mirror and especially cowgirl, it's usually reserved for special occasions though.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

It highly depends on you, he can do either. He tends to be on the more serious side naturally, but if you like to laugh and giggle he is definitely not opposed to it and might even crack a few jokes after a while.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He does groom his pubic hair, keeping it clean and short shaven, but he doesn't like to be bare. He feels more masculine with a hair downstairs and wouldn't like it if you asked him to shave.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Maybe it's because I am very vanilla and I am projecting but I think Tyuns going to be sweet and take good care of you. :( Again, if the sex is (semi) planned he will not only prepare wet wipes but also light a candle or two and spray his most used perfume on the pillows and blanket. He really likes to get you in the mood by massaging you and playing a sensual playlist he created for fucking you specifically.

J = Jack off

When he's single I don't think he jerks off a whole lot, maybe once a week, since weightlifting often time takes off the edge a young man might feel in the evenings lol. The amount per week does increase with stress though, especially if he is too busy to go to the gym.

Ever since you started to date he stopped complitely, if he's horny he's just going over to meet you. He tends to get a bad case of post nut clarity after jerking off so he keeps it minimal even on tour and usually only does it on facetime with you.

K = Kink

I see a lot of size kink with Tyun but maybe he'll also like a strong s/o? A gym buddy, someone who is at least capable of pushing him down, doesn't need to be a full head lock of course. Speaking of being held down, he is so into handcuffs and restraints, on both ends. It's the level of trust that is shared between you two that does it for him, he is sappy about that. He is giving everything of himself in that moment to you (or vise versa), there is nothing more romantic and intimate as that?

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

He is definitely not an exhibionist, and prefers a controlled environment, but he still likes to be a little unconventional to spice things up. The balcony, the back of a car, someones bedroom at a party, an empty beach, the park bench during a midnight stroll... They're all valid choices for him. But his favorite place will stay a big king sized bed with lots of pillows.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Seeing you dress up for any event really, doesn't matter if someones wedding, a job interview, a night out with your friends or a date with him, he always imagines how he will fuck you in that outfit you are currently wearing.

Domesticity is also a huge turn on, in one moment you do the dishes the next he has you panting for air. Don't fold the laundry in front of him you will have sex on it and you will have to wash them again.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Might be projecting but he wouldn't do anything that demeans or humilates either one of you. No spitting or slapping the face, no demeaning insults (Maybe something along the lines of "You are being slutty today." is okay since it implies that you are indeed not a slut, but he wouldn't look at you with a straight face and call you a bitch or a slut.) and not acting like one of you is superior to the other. Sex is intimate and romantic, anything demeaning would take him straight out of the moment and make him feel unsafe and unloved.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

He does tend to give since he just loves to take good care of you, but he doesn't have a preference in actuality, as long as you both get to cum anything is fine with him.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

It's obvious from the previous answers but he is definitely a more sensual guy, taking his sweet sweet time. He can definitely be more rough if the mood calls for it though.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

You'll have a lot of oral sex with Tyun, often times you won't even have penetrative sex especially if it's supposed to be a quickie, since he tends to take a little longer to cum and just likes to be thorough with you, sex is a way to convey his love to you after all. But generally he doesn't mind them, they would just be... medium quick.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

He doesn't mind taking a little bit of a risk when doing it outside (they're still semi-controlled spaces tho), but in general he likes to play it safe. He wouldn't be able to enjoy it if he needed to think of your safety.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Taehyun lasts a while. He can pull it out, cooldown a little bit and then continue on as if he wasn't almost there. He can definitely prolong his orgasm for a good few hours. Even after he already came, if you give him a moment he can get hard again, he might not cum a second time but it's definitely enough to fuck you for a while longer if that's what you wanted. Thanks to that boost of energy he is also still in to pleasure you with his mouth.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

He doesn't have any and isn't all too adament on using them but he is definitely willing to if you show interest in them, especially if it is something both of you can use.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He loves to tease you, especially when massaging you (yes Tyun and massaging is a fantasy of mine, how could you tell). He brushes against your sweet spots, takes a little longer massaging your ass. When you are out partying he will kiss your neck and hands in a way he knows you like, keeping a hand on your thighs everytime you sit down with your friends.

In bed he also likes to not only prolong his own orgasm but also yours, sometimes stopping everytime your crys get louder or your thighs start to shake.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Not very loud, more of a heavy breather. Sometimes he will whine, especially if you are in charge. Close to his orgasm he will moan cutely, he can get quite loud if you edged him for a while.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

It's 2am, my creativity has wourn off. He wears boxer briefs, he has both brands and no name. He gets turned on by clothes and although likes to be fully naked for the sensuality of things, sometimes he prefers you to keep on your underwear.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

13-15cm, a satisfactory length, neither overwhelming nor underwhelming. Again I kinda hc him to be circumsized? If not, he doesn't have a lot of foreskin. He has a slight curve and his cock tends to sit stiffly upwards against his tummy rather than forward, if that makes sense. It's the same color of his skin only the head is pink. His balls are on the smaller side.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Generally not as high, he kind of adapts to you since he gets easily turned on. It's not that he always wants it though, if you want him, he gets excited. He is a simple man.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Not quickly at all! He can stay up for a while, he might even get up and do some chores around the house the moment you fell asleep. He tends to stay away from doing it when it's too late for that exact reason, it's also not easy for him to get it up if he is already very tired.

[voidheartkisses]

Okay hello hi hello,

First off you're amazing and a gift to the world, I wish I had even half your talent. Your last piece blew my mind and I just HAD to ask,

How long have you been drawing/painting for? I imagine forever but I'm always curious how long it takes before artists reach these sorts of levels where it evolves into full-scale projects as opposed to smaller hobbyist crafts. There are so many beautiful art pieces on this platform as a whole and I'm constantly baffled by it all

Sorry if my excitement is off-putting that piece is heavenly and my mind is blown. Hope you're doing well!

Hi and thank you! That's a good question

So I've been drawing since I was born, but I've been drawing digitally for 8 years. I think in the very beginning most artists should just focus on having fun, you'll basically improve by default

after a while you will want to improve. It will be slow, but this is the stage where you'll recognize what you need work on

I'd say the turning point is when you've finally gotten far enough into your art journey without any sort of formal training (ie, a lot of artists dont learn the basics/fundamentals first, which is fine since most of us start as hobbyists) But I think learning them really did help me a lot. You start to think more about how light and shadow lays, depth, 3D objects, and more.

I highly recommend watching this video about levels of art, it's been really helpful and motivating to me throughout the years

This part is going to be long so you don't have to read it but I just wanna give my personal journey and how I got to now if anyone thinks it'll be helpful:

(2017) With digital art, I started off on ms paint and occasionally ibis paint x. Mostly using anime deviantart bases (EMBARRASSING), but after a while I developed my own style based on the people I was inspired by at the time, I was just happy to draw and didn't care much about improving at this time

(2019) The people you look up to artistically will naturally change over time (and thats okay), after a while I decided to switch to firealpaca, where I guess I got more invested on how light and shadows work, as well as making my characters look a bit more natural and develop my own style, your preference in aesthetic may also change over time which is noticeable here

(2021) Eventually, I began to lean more into semirealism (which isn't everyones preference and thats okay! realism shouldn't be the ultimate end goal of art) but I really enjoyed making stylized characters look 3D and in natural looking environments, since I felt it spoke to my own experiences, a lot of artists draw from real life experiences. I focused more on anatomy at this time as well as textures and environments, composition also became a big deal for me at this time, as well as wanting to use different colors

(2024) The change from LINEART to DIGITAL PAINTING in 2022 was the hardest for me once I switched to clip studio paint, it was basically like starting all over and I was so lost. I had a lot to figure out on my own but I knew it was a transition I had to make to draw the kind of art I wanted. But I began to study and take more things into consideration, I didn't like my art so I simply kept going "I can do better", learning from my previous mistakes and slowly making something I would be more satisfied with. At this point art felt more like "projects" then anything, because I wanted to make pieces that were of quality and had time and care put into each of them, sure it meant there was no longer much quantity. but hey that's what my smaller Cult of the Lamb lineart drawings are for!! 💙

I'm still growing and I definitely have a long way to go, but I am very proud of my progress this year, and I'll continue to grow until I'm satisfied (haha im stubborn) I also want to develop my secondary lineart style that I do when I'm not painting, since I feel that is important too

in short; time, practice, dedication, and passion are the most important, draw what you love above all else because it will be your drive to keep going, staying motivated was the most important for me

Sorry for the long post 😭

[leviackermanscleaningbuddy]

Chan takes about getting a full sleeve of tattoos at a fansign and I know our head alpha isn’t the biggest fan of needles, but what does he think about this? Also might I suggest a group tattoo to tie you all more together rather than just mating marks

"It's funny you bring this up." Chan grimaces, reaching up to tug the collar of his shirt away from his throat as he swallows nervously. "Because the topic has come up recently."

"We're currently in a divided stalemate, is what he means." Hyunjin harumphs, crossing his arms over his chest, lips pulled into a pout.

"This whole thing is tearing the pack apart!" Jisung wails dramatically, clinging to Seungmin as the other beta makes an annoyed half effort to shake him off.

"Okay, first off-" You hold out your hands to quiet everyone, biting back a laugh at Jisung's antics. "-it's not that serious. We're all just discussing and debating some things. And second-" You glance to Minho with an arch of a brow. "I definitely think neutral parties can be won to our side."

"Hyung!" Felix gasps with wide eyes, looking at Minho with utter betrayal. "You Benedict Arnold!"

Minho shrugs. "I'm still neutral. I have given no one my word."

"Please, hyung." Hyunjin whines, giving Minho his best begging eyes and pouty lips. "It would be so cool."

"Basically-" Chan sighs, face full of instant regret. "-some of the members of the pack are gung ho about getting pack tattoos and some of us are a little more-hesitant."

"Meaning, he's a wuss who's deathly terrified of the idea of letting a needle so close to his skin." Changbin teases back, sticking his tongue out at the head alpha.

"Hey, I'm not opposed to the general idea, okay?" Chan protests, throwing out his hands. "Hyunjin has come up with some really beautiful, sentimental artwork and sketches, it's just the thought of having to go through with the actual process and all that entails that freaks me out."

He visibly shudders, wincing, at the thought.

"I love the idea." Hyunjin declares passionately. "And I think, given a few more reworks, that I could come up with the perfect set of mate tattoos-all intertwined, but different and personal for each member-making a whole picture, like our relationship as a metaphor."

"And I absolutely don't doubt that." Chan reassures soothingly, reaching out a hand toward the luna.

"Me neither." Felix agrees with a solemn nod. "But I'm with hyung, the thought of the actual process-" He grimaces cutely, giving Hyunjin an apologetic sort of look. "-gives me the heebie jeebies."

You laugh, winking at Felix. "Nothing has been decided, baby. And no one is gonna force anyone into anything they're uncomfortable with."

"But it'd be a hell of a lot cooler if you did." Hyunjin grumbles beneath his breath.

"And think of how hot it would make the hyungs." Jisung points out, eyeing the beefiness of Changbin's unmarked arm beside him.

"That's true." Felix suddenly looks a whole lot more accepting of the idea, his brow creeping upward at the thought, his gaze moving to Minho, and then Chan.

"Either way-" Seungmin shrugs off handedly. "Bodywork is a huge decision-lifelong and permanent-and everyone should think about it seriously before they make their personal decision."

"God, you're such a buzz kill, Minnie." Jisung groans, flopping back beside the other beta with open exasperation.

"Either way-" Chan soothes over the arguement like the head alpha he is, moving on. "-whatever we all decide in the end, we're still gonna show you some concept sketches just for fun. Cause you all deserve to see Hyunjin's beautiful work either way."

"Agreed. Our Jinnie did a great job." Changbin says warmly, already pulling out his phone, shooting Hyunjin an openly affection, proud look. "This shit is perfect."

[xoxoemynn]

Hi friend! I appreciate your fighting spirit and hope for S3. As much as I'd like for it to be renewed, I think it deserves more than max would give. I'd prefer someone else to pick it up who would give them their 10 episodes and the amount of time they need.

Would it be more beneficial to campaign at potential buyers for a rescue rather than pleading with someone who's already made their decision? I feel like the BBC at least already had enough interest that they brought the broadcasting rights, and they have no problem with short running (3-5 season), 10-episode series. They also have an MO to run programming that is representative of the license fee payers.

Idk, as a UK resident this is the best scenario I can think of. I'm not as familiar with other companies, and I know viewer opinions do carry weight as pretty much everyone in the UK is taxed to fund the BBC. They have a televised show, Points Of View, which is entirely for people to contact with their feelings about currently airing programs.

I don't expect you to have the answer, just thinking out loud! (I did contact renewasacrew about this but haven't heard anything back yet). Regardless, I did contact the BBC myself saying why it'd be beneficial for them to rescue it the day after we got the news.

(They also have a good track record for releasing stuff on DVD)

Yeah, I agree that OFMD is too good for Max. To have a show do THAT well, and then receive a 40% budget cut for its second season, and then get canceled before it can complete its story? Insulting.

I have no industry knowledge, so this is me just wondering out loud, I keep going back and forth on what would be more likely, Max reversing its decision or another streamer picking it up. On the one hand, reversing the decision would be a blow to Zaslav's ego. Men like that don't like admitting they made a mistake. On the other, I imagine there would be more red tape to go through selling the show elsewhere? I don't know! I just wonder. And I just really want that final season!

I don't know a ton about BBC, but from what you say here, it seems like a solid option! And from what I've been hearing, reaching out to specific services (as opposed just tagging all of them in every post) is the way to go. Make it more personalized, make them see the benefits, etc.

Now that @asneakyfox has won me over, my preferred choice at the moment is AppleTV. There's an international audience, they don't seem as IP hungry as Max (Ted Lasso was also anticipated to be three seasons from the beginning, and that's what they got), they appreciate unique, quality shows that value storytelling that may not be picked up elsewhere, such as Severance. They don't seem as strict on run times, so it means we may be able to get longer episodes with Taika and Rhys doing bits! And there are a good amount of parallels between OFMD and Ted Lasso (feel-good comedies that go surprisingly deep, found family, discussions of mental health) that OFMD could very much fill that void Ted Lasso left behind.

But we'll see what happens! The important thing for now is to just continue making it clear how beloved OFMD is and how any platform would be smart to pick up a show with such a passionate, loyal fan base.

[bleue-flora]

As an inniter, but also a big c!Dream fan, you would not believe the people who get so upset over me just trying to be chill and talk about them both fairly. I don't get why people want to get so mad over block game. Personally, I love listening to other people’s thoughts, that's what community is about!

It is definitely wild to say the least. Though that’s not unique to discduo or even the dsmp, though certainly more prevalent in this fandom opposed to others. (I mean Supernatural fans are out here shipping brothers and Sam Winchester and his torturer, the literal Devil and I never came across them at each other’s throats. I mean talk about being an “abuse apologist” lol XD… ) but that over passion turned aggression does seem to be all across the internet and even into real life. It’s quite toxic really, used to be only politics were a dangerous topic but now it seems anything can garner pitchforks.

To be completely honest, I used to be a very passionate arguer, mind you about dealing with people and not young Minecraft boys. But I realized at some point that yelling at eachother was quite the waste of energy. If the other side is not even willing to listen or see your side then you might as well by talking to a brick wall, at least they might be more polite. So, I stopped arguing with people, who just wanted to scream nonsense without trying to see the other side, and started listening and discussing with people who mutually wanted to just talk about it. And I found it far more productive and interesting. Turns out people aren’t just terrible if they disagree with you, they just might have their own priorities or experiences or reasons that you don’t have. The world would be a simpler place if there was only one right answer and opinion and one wrong, but the truth is there is typically a little of both in either side, and a lot of times it’s just choosing which things are the most reasonable or important to you.

And we can always learn from each other even if at the end of the day your opinion remains the same. Most importantly, there’s really just no reason to hate someone just because they disagree with you, and their opinion doesn’t necessarily reflect their morals or whether they are or are not a good person. Sometimes you just gotta love and respect them anyways, maybe listen and respectively challenge their thinking when you can and give eachother space and room to grow as people…

[gamebunny-advance]

Sus.

I just need to get this story off my chest because it's been bothering me since it happened. It's nothing really relevant to what I usually post or anything that's happened here, so feel free to skip this "story" if the subject matter offends you.

Content Warning for minors in implied sexual situations.

So, Youtube likes to recommend cartoon review/analysis videos to me, even of shows I've never watched. Sometimes I watch them because I like watching people be passionate about any given subject.

But other times they can be a little cringe because it's still grown adults yelling about cartoons, ya know? I'm happy that they've got something they're passionate enough about to sink so much time and effort into a video, but that doesn't automatically make me share their enthusiasm, especially if it's coming from a place of a bad faith criticism.

For the most part, I just move on from videos that give that vibe, but I recently came across one that disturbed me in a way that no one in the comments was really pointing out because they were too busy agreeing with the sentiment that the cartoon in question was bad.

The video was about some reboot for Tiny Toon Adventures (I literally know nothing about it other than what the video told me, and at this point I'd rather not learn anything more about it).

The video had pretty high production values all things considered, with a lot of original animation and art, like actual lip-synching on the avatar and detailed backgrounds as opposed to the static sprites on single colored/patterned backgrounds I usually see among cartoon critics.

I didn't stay long enough for the credits or check the description, but presumably all the art was done by the speaker/creator. Due to this, I was impressed enough to stick around to see what he had to say. Generally speaking, you just don't put that amount of effort into something that you're not passionate about, and I'm here for the passion first and opinions second.

The first talking point was about how the show apparently changed the relationship between the lead characters, Babs and Buster Bunny, from friends/lovers to siblings. This was gotten across in the usual way of the speaker overacting how angry/shocked they are about what is honestly a mundane change in the grand scheme of things. This was turn-off number 1 because I don't find the "caustic critic" to be that funny, especially when it's in service to bad faith criticisms. But, that wasn't what really disturbed me.

What set off a red flag to me, was the "skit" that followed.

The speaker detailed a situation where children, illustrated as a young girl and young boy, who were fans of the new reboot would eventually go back and watch the original show and be corrupted due to them misunderstanding the characters' relationship as being incestuous. I thought that this point was heavily exaggerated (as bits of this nature tend to be), but it's still not what disturbed me.

What disturbed me was how one of the sight gags to illustrate this point was to show the children wearing character themed underwear.

I'm not saying the underwear was drawn as a separate prop that they were implied to be wearing. I mean that as a part of the gag, I was forced to briefly look at two children standing in their underwear for no good reason. And to get to that gag, the characters were first fully dressed in merch before revealing their underwear underneath.

So not only was I forced to look at two children standing in their underwear, but they were literally undressed in front of me to make that "joke".

And immediately following that, I'm also forced to look at the girl child wrapped up in a spiderweb about to be eaten by a giant spider to illustrate the point that the kids are now trapped in some sort of "mindweb" from the confusion.

So me, knowing that tying people in spiderwebs is an uncommon but real fetish, felt deeply uncomfortable by this scene occurring right after the children were shown half naked.

Like, I'm not accusing that creator of anything because none of this is proof of any wrongdoing or bad intention outside of the bad faith criticism of the show. But I will say that I was so disturbed by this that I literally couldn't watch the rest of the video, so I don't know if it got worse from there.

But to try and prove that I'm not trying to say this in bad faith, I'll grant a couple of "outs":

The children weren't drawn particularly realistically: they were stick figure-esque in comparison to the more detailed art in the rest of the video that I saw. If the artist really wanted to detail these children, they probably would have, so I don't believe the drawings were meant to be especially gratifying.

I also know that cartoon print underwear is a shorthand for the character wearing them to be obsessed with the cartoon on the underwear. It's literally a joke from the Spongebob Movie, so if this guy was old enough to have been a fan of the original Tiny Toons, then he probably would have been in the age range to watch that movie and internalize that joke (or seen it elsewhere in a different cartoon). So it's possible that he might not have considered the implications of showing a child in a similar situation.

Additionally, while I don't recall much of Tiny Toons, I know that it's one of those shows that while it's made for children/general audiences, has a lot of mature humor, so maybe he thought he was doing the same thing without considering the implications of what he'd done.

Which is basically the same justification as the last point, but really the only way I can imagine someone thinking any of that was okay is ignorance.

But your dear ol'Sammy has been around the block a few times. Even though I can easily make up reasons why all this could be completely innocent/accidental, I feel like I can tell the difference between someone who made an honest mistake, and someone that is incapable of hiding what they really are. And this is sadly falling under the latter.

I always hope that I'm wrong in situations like this. I hope that I'm just paranoid and there's no malice at play here because my goal is not to punish wrongdoing, it's to make sure that other people are safe. But I can't ignore a red flag once I see it, and it was driving me crazy that no one seemed to be acknowledging it.

I won't link the video here because I don't want it to spread around, but if you really want to seek it out, then I've probably given enough information for you to find it on your own and make your own judgement about it.

[exilethegame]

What would be some odd little quirks of the cast/characters in terms of body language?? Like if they're nervous, maybe running a hand through their hair, or twirling a dagger, etc.?

The answer to a lot of these can be found in-game, but to compile them all in one place...

(Jost isn't here because I haven't gotten the chance to write her as much as the others and I don't like dictating habits before I get to write them!)

Vethna: Fiddle with their rings when they're nervous-- if they don't have their jewelry they play with their hands (if you lock into Vethna's route they opt to play with The Commander's hands instead). They like to run circles on tables with their nails whenever they're bored. They purse their lips a lot when they're thinking. They also stutter a lot and will talk really slow and deliberately if they're nervous about asking or saying something-- mainly because they're used to speaking Mavikras, which is a much more intentional language than Common. When they're scared or uncomfortable they tend to hug themself and draw patterns on their skin.

Nikke: Balances a very specific dagger of his on his pointer finger when he's bored or impatient-- otherwise he just runs his fingers over the hilt when he's nervous. If he clicks his tongue at you, there's a solid chance it's because you made a good point and he doesn't want to admit it. If he he's super into what he's saying (hostile, passionate, excited, etc.) he'll invade the space of the person he's speaking to. It's not something he always does with the intention of being rude. You also might notice him readjusting his jaw sometimes and massaging it when he's zoned out or thinking hard about something.

Amilia: She plays with her hair whenever she's nervous, whether that be twirling it around her finger or picking at dead ends. Otherwise she's very fidgety in general, so she'll usually be tapping her foot or fingers a lot when she's sitting still. She also will just tap on the ocarina that she wears around her neck absentmindedly or "play" songs on it without actually playing it. Her ears also (usually) only flick when she's really focused on what someone is saying or if she's deep in thought.

Sabir: The pocket watch... (checks it and watches the hands for exactly ten seconds before putting back and anxiously pulling it back out again when he's nervous). He drums his fingers a lot whenever he's thinking, and he looks off to the side when he's being thoughtful about what he's saying. He also pouts a lot and is a bit melodramatic, but it's usually because he's mulling something over as opposed to trying to make someone feel bad.

Syfyn: Her wings expose her emotions a lot... they fluff up when she gets scared, angry, flustered, etc. She also blushes really easily when she's annoyed, so even though she can keep a super straight face you'll just be able to progressively watch her ears get all red. Also, her eyes... she has slit pupils and when she gets excited about something they get all blown and wide (yet again-- even if her expression is super stoic). Honestly, anything she can control, she controls. It's all the little things she can't that expose the person she is beneath the stoic facade she wears all the time.

Freedom: They also drum their fingers and draw circles on things like Vethna and Sabir but it's a lot more deliberate-- like they're really taking in the sound of their nails or the feeling of the table as opposed to zoning out. I think they just like touching things in general. They also don't need to breathe, so the only time they ever do is when they're speaking, and they blink a lot less than a normal person would. If they hesitate or take a while to respond to something it's because they're actually thinking and being deliberate about what they want to say-- not because they're just trying to be ~*mysterious*~.

[officialaemondtargaryen]

Twenty Questions For Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @st-eve-barnes (ily)

1. how many works do you have on AO3 tumblr?

i am fairly new to a03, so my only fic on there currently is 'a fine line'. all of the rest of my works are here, on tumblr. so i'm going to just going to change a03 to tumblr for the sake of this little quiz.

2. what's your total AO3 tumblr word count?

approximately 115.2k, there are more because i have removed things from my masterlist that you can still find out there but i'm re-writing those currently for other characters.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

currently only writing for HOTD. previously, i have written for marvel, stranger things, the walking dead, and my very first fics were about members of bands that i loved.

4. top five fics by kudos:

age of consent (eddie munson) || a fine line (hotd) || casual (eddie munson) || i wanna hold your hand (bucky barnes) || dinner & diatribes (hotd)

5. do you respond to comments?

i try my absolute best to! comments fuel me in a way that i don't think anyone understands.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

it isn't anything that i have published but after 'a fine line' (which is also pretty angsty) i'm going to roll out a new series called 'leave it untold' which will have the angstiest ending i've ever written.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

most of my fics have a happy ending.

8. do you get hate on fics?

i have only ever received two hate comments. one was warranted. the other called my oc a 'fat cow'.

9. do you write smut?

it's hard for me to NOT write smut.

10. craziest crossover?

i'm not a huge fan of crossovers.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of and hope it never happens. i work really fucking hard on these fics, like my world revolves around these stories. it's all i ever think about.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

i have not!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, but i'd be happy to collaborate. or at least try!

14. all time favorite ship?

me and aegon ii targaryen.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i'm terrified of not finishing 'a fine line'. i'm going to, but it's not complete and i'm just scared that i'm going to let everyone down. fun fact about that story is that it started as a steve x reader x bucky (marvel) fic. someone liked the first chapter so much that they messaged me and asked me how i envisioned it ending. i told them the entire plot. so someone out there knows how it ends.

16. what are your writing strengths?

scene building (in my personal opinion)

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

transitioning between scenes

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

i am bad enough at english, i don't think i personally could pull it off. but if there was a fic out there that i liked and it happened to have dialogue in another language, i wouldn't be opposed to reading it.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

emo bands of 2006.

20. favorite fic you've written?

at this point in time i'm going to say 'age of consent' because it's a finished series. it gained me a lot of new friends and followers. but as far as how passionate i am about a fic... it's 'a fine line' hands down. the way that fic has taken hold in my brain. it's so personal to me, too. i started writing it in a time where i was so uncertain of myself and what i wanted. and what i have planned for it is really good, i think.

no pressure tags: @madame-fear, @lovelykhaleesiii, @inthedayswhenlandswerefew, @sapphire-writes <3

[bluebudgie]

So... what's up with these two?

(I love recycling old pictures.png)

You may or may not have seen me draw these rats repeatedly and you may or may not care what's up with them.

Well, in case you do... buckle up, we'll be here for a while.

Just in case: very vague ableism mention. I'm cutting down on pretty much all details, but just so you know the general topic comes up at some point. Don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

Unrelated disclaimer: words are difficult.

It's probably smart to start with a general character introduction so you get an idea of who you're dealing with.

So, Petthri.

(Shared most of this stuff about him before, now it's gathered in one place at least.)

The outgoing guy, grew up in a supportive family, always been the popular kid among peers, and later a pretty popular professor with his students (less so with some other colleagues, but hey). Very passionate about animal bioacoustics. Very hands-on when it comes to research and teaching. Infodumps a lot.

He's got his heart in the right place, but he's obviously not flawless. Has his thoughts constantly drifting in twelve different directions at once, can definitely not read the room, and has absolutely said and done things that hurt others just because he didn't think (and probably never realized). Likely to nervously laugh his way through most dangerous situations, but does manage to pull himself together and get things done if things turn really bad.

He got – at some point (precise date TBA, sometime around PoF events) – kidnapped by the Inquest because they wanted some of his research but didn't manage to sort through his mess. So they just took the entire man to the CoE and decided to keep him. Niche knowledge could always be useful after all. They were even kind enough to gift him an additional facial scar during the welcome interrogation! (The other one was a field trip accident). True hospitality.

Not sure if it's incredible optimism or naivety, but he's generally been doing alright during this whole prisoner situation. He's not locked up, they let him work on things he actually cares about (albeit not for the right cause), and overall he's had enough hope to believe he'll get out of there one day. Make the best out of the present, it'll be fine somehow.

I'm sure if you were to dig deep enough he'd find out he's actually less alright than he thinks he is. Oh well.

Let's talk about the other guy. Lahpp.

Me. I created you. (I've said barely anything about this man on here so far bc while I could fill the 20k essay with him alone, writing about him intimidates me lol. Also in case you're ever asking yourself this, no I did not realize his name sounds like 'lab' until weeks after I created him. Unfortunate coincidence. So, anyway...)

Obedient Inquest scientist, questions but doesn't oppose orders, has been doing the same work for the better part of the last two decades. Day in, day out, getting up early and staying up late. Somewhere in the middle of the pyramid scheme, he's definitely got a bunch of heads above him but he's nowhere near the bottom end of the chain. Got his own little lab space. Enjoys music theory in the little free time he allocates. Assertive, lets people know when not to bother him, but very polite nonetheless. Has mastered the art of superficial small talk. The guy who holds open doors and pulls your chair back for you with an acted but convincing smile. Truly employee of the month material.

He's never known anything but this perfectly ordered working drone life so he's fairly content with his current position.

....

Yeeaah you guessed there's more below the surface.

So this man's life started with being the subject of a failed genetic dragon magic experiment, first one in a handful of infants that actually lived, but ultimately he got nothing out of it but a fair share of various health conditions and disabilities. The initial project was dropped after a few years of surveillance with no results, and instead he got handed over to one of the medical departments so they could "at least make use of him" and test some cutting-edge medical tech. No wasting ressources, am I right? (:

Fastforward some years, a miserable childhood full of abuse and ableism (and by extension just as much of it internalized) essentially left him with the obsession of wanting to fit in with everyone else, wanting to be like everyone else, never having anyone find out anything about his conditions and his past. Worked his ass off in college so it wouldn't be apparent he struggled when others didn't. Created a work environment for himself that he knew would be accommodating to him while not raising any possible questions.

He's been doing fine for some time now; while he definitely hasn't gotten rid of his insecurities he has somewhat accepted that he just... is who he is. Some days are worse and some days are better. His brain has done a very thorough job suppressing pretty much all his early childhood memories. He has also convinced himself that being a perfectly exploitable asset to the corporation that abused him for years is definitely the right way to stick it to the system. They said he'd never be useful for anything and die an early death? Ha, showed 'em! (I am saying this with a lot of sarcasm. He is genuine.)

He's definitely a product of the environment he grew up in, which is a shame because if he hadn't been indoctrinated by the Inquest since birth he would have probably turned out a pretty decent person. He doesn't have the absolute worst inner moral compass. Alas, as it is he has contributed to [some fucked up things] and has [some fucked up views]. And he's not about to change that.

So... at what point do the stories of these two actually connect?

Petthri and Lahpp first met within a larger group of mostly scientists from mixed divisions that were sent on a trip to Rata Primus.

I won't go into the full details of The Rata Primus Odyssey now because that is a whole different story arc involving a total of six of my characters, but the relevant information is that they arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time (A Bug In The System says hello!), and got trapped in the main complex together (alongside Phlish and my charr engineer Leto) when Awakened shit hit the fan.

In short, the following escape mission lasted way too long, and made for an incredibly exhausting 0/10 experience for everyone involved. Cooperation between our two relevant asura actually went surprisingly smooth for the most part, at least way better than with the rest of the small group.

(Bringing that old edit back. Two criminals actually getting shit done in the back while the others are about to snap each other's head off.)

I did once offhandedly mention that Lahpp held Petthri at gunpoint exactly one time – that was here. He was not going to risk getting onto HQ's watch list for letting a prisoner slip away while he's even remotely involved.

Ultimately exhaustion and having no access to important medication for a prolonged amount of time got the better end of Lahpp, and while the other two would have probably just left the "dead weight" behind, Petthri made sure he made it out with them. Not a great time for the little Inquest criminal, both physically and mentally given his inclination for secrecy regarding certain topics.

A few days after they returned to the CoE Petthri checked up on Lahpp to make sure he's recovering, but afterwards... radio silence from both sides for the next few years.

–

Fastforward, it's now Cantha time!

If Lahpp had a piece of gold for everytime HQ sent him away on a "business trip" that'll end up nearly killing him, and likewise Petthri had one for everytime he'd be witness to that, they'd both have... two pieces of gold, which isn't much, but it's still weird it happened twice.

Once again as part of a larger group, our criminals find themselves in New Kaineng City. And because I am a mere human being that is not above resorting to overused tropes, they do of course end up having to share the same room for the time of their stay. I never claimed to be a mastermind storywriter.

At least this time the trip starts out fairly unspectacular, with mostly guided group tours through the city and its labs. Lahpp is not feeling too great (understatement) during all of this for reasons he can't quite grasp, but he's got a really bad gut feeling. Petthri actually notices he's lingering a lot and falling behind, so he suggests they split off from the rest of the group and go back to their room early. Get some rest, the journey to Cantha was long after all.

The next days are pretty calm, the Inquest is snooping around while our two heroes actually have some time to talk and get to know each other a little more. Petthri finally gets to tell someone his whole 'and this is how I was kidnapped!' story. Petthri's questions are getting a little too personal for Lahpp's taste, but overall they get along alright. It's almost like two people that have been way too lonely for several years are actually finding a bit of comfort for a moment. (Side note: Petthri warms up to people very quickly, and he might be (without realizing it) getting a little too comfortable with the idea of having found someone "redeemable".)

Now wouldn't it be great if a nearby reactor blew up and an elder dragon escaped?

The event itself isn't really affecting them (yet) but I do think Lahpp must be questioning the Eternal Alchemy at this point. Thaumanova. Multiple near-meltdowns in the Crucible. Rata Primus. Now this. Seriously, at some point it's just ridiculous.

With each new information surfacing, the "bad gut feeling" is slowly but surely turning into mild but continuous panic. Something is off and it clearly has something to do with dragons. Now, Lahpp never really cared about the whole elder dragon business. Whatever sort of magic experiment he was used for, it's the outcome that affected his life, not the source of it. Still, the thoughts are starting to occupy his mind more than he'd like to admit. Petthri is entirely unaware of any of this.

Oh wait – what's this? A new unknown form of raw magic rapidly spreading and threatening to destroy Tyria? Obviously this is something to be investigated, so the larger group coordinates an excursion to Dragon's End. And obviously they end up getting into the battle for the jade sea.

I guess at this point you see where my art is coming from.

Petthri and Lahpp never get to fight Soo-Won herself (no canon meta participation alas), but they are busy enough fending off Void creatures on ground level anyway. It's unclear (to me) if or how much the Void actually affects Lahpp on a physical level, but regardless he is not having the best time being confronted with something that is so unknown to him and yet so closely connected to his very being.

Some resurfacing traumatic memories combined with a not-so-pretty panic attack (and the physical stress of fighting) later, it's poor Petthri's task to once again take a blacked out criminal to safety. Meanwhile he's got absolutely no idea what is going on, but he's definitely going to demand some explanations.

For some days after this Petthri's playing bedside vigil in a New Kaineng medical facility. The two have a lot of time to talk. Personal topics. Uncomfortable topics. Lahpp does tell Petthri to go back to Rata Sum, he's beyond caring at this point. Quite frankly he thinks HQ won't care either. Petthri refuses to leave just like that. Asks Lahpp to come with him, he'll be better off away from the Inquest. Obviously Lahpp is not having any of it, he's very well aware the Inquest is as corrupt as it gets, but so is Rata Sum. That's just how the world functions. The Inquest has the meds and tech he needs to survive. He's not leaving. And he certainly doesn't need anyone acting self-sacrificial out of pity. It's degrading.

He tells Petthri to sleep on it and make up his mind the next day.

–

Aaand that is pretty much where the somewhat coherently planned part of my current rat-timeline ends. A glimpse into vague concepts for the future:

Enter a third character to the roster! It's Luqqah, Inquest medic-turned-biochemist. She happened to be in Cantha for a while now, doing her own research. She gets involved treating the injured after the whole Void mess. Naturally she ends up finding Petthri and Lahpp. Lucky for the latter, because she obviously has better knowledge dealing with asura than any of the human medics. And... in fact... she has pretty detailed knowledge about what's up with Lahpp specifically. Dealt with his medical papers in the past. Oh, also... they're exes. Don't worry, parted on good terms. Haven't seen each other since shortly after the Thaumanova meltdown. What a reunion.

So... yeah. It's gonna be trio time from now on. I don't know yet for how long the three of them stay in Cantha, or if they're going to get involved with the whole Gyala Delve storyline (or whatever comes out of it). Lahpp's not doing great, he'll need a while recovering. If he ever fully recovers. Petthri has a few of his own inner demons to fight. Time will tell.

As a conclusion... Petthri's saviour complex sets him on a good path towards a corruption arc while Lahpp's as close to a redemption arc as he'll get. They're both questioning their life and views a lot. Spoiler from the Omniscient Narrator: Both of them will be back in the Crucible. But with more thoughts to think than before. And more time to spend together.

And that's what's currently up with the rats.

[chemicalbrew]

tagged

by @radellama :3

Do you make your bed?

I haven't made my bed in like four years. There's no point to it any more 99% of the time these days.

What's your favourite number?

The normie answer is seven, the funny answer is zero. I do like them both!

What is your job?

A job you had that would surprise people?

(celibacy gif, but it says UNEMPLOYMENT)

I'll have to start looking for shit in a few years, though... I guess I should be looking for it now, too, because surely I can freelance and all that... I just don't want to. Sloth has always been my biggest sin 💚

If you could go back to school, would you?

Maybe... I wouldn't mind going back to high school, but also I don't see much reason to. I used to actually despair about not being in school any more a relatively little while ago, but now? I don't know, I think it's more important to try and look forward...

Can you parallel park?

Can you drive a manual car?

Favourite childhood sport?

(celibacy gif, but it says DISABILITIES) I will never be able to drive or do sports :D

Do you think aliens are real?

Ironically, I think my opinion on aliens and god is the same: they're definitely out there, somewhere impossibly far away, and incomprehensible. Probably don't care about us that much, either.

What's your guilty pleasure?

both are incredibly obvious answers, but fuck it

At this point, rerunning KZ counts as one because for fuck's sake, I have so much stuff in my backlog, but instead of getting around to any of it, I just... play the same levels for the 100th time without even getting any better, pfft.

In the sense of 'enjoying something that isn't regarded well', gotta be Brandish or DOD. When I actually get around to researching DOD1, it will be so over for you all...

Tattoos?

None and I'm pretty sure I don't want any. If someone offered, I'd probably do something floral on my arms, but I really don't care... With how often my brain switches gears, it'd be hard to find something I would never regret getting.

Favourite colour?

Usually I say blue and purple, but I think a funnier way to describe my preferences would just be 'the bisexual flag'. I'm not particularly partial to pink, but I like the more purplish shades of it, you know? Especially if it leans into the... bright neon aesthetic, I guess... idk how to explain

Favourite type of music?

everything rads doesn't like

I was actually put on the spot with this question a few days ago, and the best I could do was stammer out 'uhh... dance music', but the real answers are

Electronic music, particularly EDM, house, DnB, vaporwave and synthwave in that order

Music made using vocal synths

Video game music

all of which are incredibly nerdy and pretentious, but really, the overlap of these three types is where I feel most at home.

Do you like puzzles?

Never had the patience for big jigsaws, but enjoyed smaller ones as a kid. I am not opposed to a good puzzle game every once in a while, either, but I'm not particularly passionate about this sort of thing.

Any phobias?

Nothing too extreme, I think... or maybe I haven't had to see anything truly scary in ages, haha.

Do you talk to yourself?

ALL THE TIME. At some point I suspected I have OSDD, but I have no way to actually try and find out (even if I did, I figure there's really no reason to). All you need to know other than that is that the answer is ALL THE TIME in my head, and 'when no one is home' when it comes to talking out loud. It's especially helpful when I'm going through emotional and stressful stuff, obviously.

What movies do you adore?

Tale of Princess Kaguya, Perfect Blue, uhh what else did I enjoy... movies are hard

Coffee or tea?

Both, in copious amounts 🍵☕

I have specific flavor preferences, of course, but as long as it's tasty, I'll be drinking :D

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up?

I don't remember... I feel like I was focusing on trying to survive first, and then others kept telling me what I should be doing...

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 5/2/2023

some stuff i fucking HATED in this one

listening

new K. Flay AND new LUNA AURA singles out last friday but the thing that kept me company through several walks was this (billboard called it "industrial rager" which seems fine close enough) used for the yellowjackets tv show (something i have not watched and never will).

my brain has really craved repetitive lyrics recently. not sure what that's about. not a repeated lyric, but love one that goes "lipstick on the rifle". spotify

ty discover weekly.

reading

pour one out for the real ones, Vice's leftist gaming vertical Waypoint. if you've ever liked anything about the way i go about these posts you have them to thank. i would say they are the primary influence in the way i try to approach things like "is this a clever subversion that still holds a lot of love for the genre or does this not even know the rules it's trying to break". also a big factor in me going "okay this is what it says it is, this is the marketing copy and press releases" and a work says it's trying to do before assessing whether or not they do it well. may all the staff land softly, elsewhere, paid far more.

“There are a ton of destinations within gaming media that do a great job covering whether a game is worth your money. Instead, we want to focus on telling stories about why people play, and investigating how the games we love and spend so much time with come to be. Whether a game was a commercial success or has a small, dedicated community, we want to raise the conversation and take an in-depth look at the passion, people, and politics that underpin these worlds.” -Austin Walker, editor in chief until last year

the very last thing i read was this review of the new starred wars game, whose early review code sent to journalists was EXTREMELY different than what ended up shipping. this is uncommon but not unheard of, but almost nobody publishes a "null result" review like this one and it's a fascinating breakdown

This piece has, admittedly, gone off the rails, but if this had been a straightforward review, and at the end, I put an italicized section that said “based on 10 hours,” what would you say? If I’d finished the game but confessed at the end that the patched version was importantly different from the one I’d spent my time with, what then? Which review is worth more?

i also read Behind the Sun, Above the Moon, a non-binary scifi/fantasy anthology. i was not impressed with this collection in whole or in parts. it could have benefited from a stronger theme and editorial vision (i'm not actually sure this thing had an editor, now i'm looking closer?)

this has billed itself "a Queer anthology inspired by magic and the cosmos". what i was hoping/expecting this would be: a collection exploring what it means to be nonbinary through the lens of scifi and fantasy. it actually is: an almost completely human-centric collection about people who happen to be non-binary and happen to live in scifi or fantasy settings.

the critical problem is that most of them are very slice-of-life in a fantastic setting as opposed to a short story with uhhhhhh a theme and a point it makes. the worldbuilding, while often interesting, is not integral. 3/9 of these are set in a contemporary setting, and all of them could be set in a contemporary setting without losing much. 3/9 (one overlap) feature a protagonist or deuteragonist who is a cop, and all three of those read very gay assimilation-y/feel very concerned with perfect gay rep.

i don't really expect anyone to be the next o henry here, but none of them are self-contained. not the sort of ambiguous ending in the Ha Ha Im Going To Think About This For The Rest Of My Life way, they all feel like “first chapter of a planned new adult trilogy”.

i love anthologies. i am always rooting for anthologies. i am no stranger to imperfectly written speculative fiction. this one is just kind of nothing? none of these are good or particularly enjoyable examples of the form, either as short stories or as speculative fiction.

i don't actually know what tipped me off to this book, it's been on my overdrive for...two years.

watching

two out of three Magnificent Seven sequels are not worth my time, your time, or anyone else's. i have not bothered to watch Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969, dir. Wendkos) bc i have a finite amount of time on this bitch of an earth.

i reluctantly have to hand the original some heterosexual rights. that move had a genuinely cute romance that fit in well with a particular character's growth, even if it was lifted whole cloth from Seven Samurai. this will be relevant when we discuss this franchise's hatred for women later.

Return of the Seven/Return of the Magnificent Seven (1966, dir. Kennedy), starring exactly one member of the original seven, is so poorly paced that i paused the film during an "exciting" bullfight, got up to get more snacks, got distracted, and ended up cleaning my kitchen.

there is a great deal of untranslated, un-captioned spanish throughout this movie, including the entire opening sequence. i don't know how i feel about this. on one hand, yeah, fuck them americans, and i would not call the english-language dialogue particularly crucial to your understanding of the plot. on the other hand, what.

as opposed to the original seven all being men who are fairly polite and follow some sort of code, the replacement five are all kind of sleazy? one of them only signs on bc there's an entire village full of women on their own. in other relationships, there is the KERNEL of a really fascinating fucked up family dynamic between the villain and his sons, but we don't even get hints of that until well after the halfway point. this is the original movie but less interesting and sloppier. the camerawork and effects simply are not there.

The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972, dir. McCowan) is a really, really awful film to watch, and not just if you're a woman. this whole fucking film uses three separate instances of rape or gang rape as plot momentum. if you are not trying to fill out lee van cleef's filmography (only a thing me and @birdcfparadise are insane enough to do) this is actively skippable.

like okay. let’s just walk through the first fifteen minutes. lvc's young, new, nubile wife convinces him to let a kid who robbed a store get off with a warning instead of what lvc really wants to do, send him to jail. in return, the kid shoots lvc, kidnaps lvc's wife, and rapes and kills her on the trail. the movie, which wasn't good to start out with, does not improve from there. like the other sequel i watched, this is the original movie but less interesting and sloppier.

the one interesting choice this film makes: one of the seven is a failed journalist tailing lvc, hoping to get enough life details out of him to write a book. this is a fun period-appropriate twist and this could have been a fun proto-revisionist western/gracefully put the franchise to bed, but here we FUCKING are.

why'd i do this to myself: liked the original, like lvc.

playing

the steam collections i'm sorting things into areworking, bc i forgot i owned Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (2013, developed/published Techland). i do not remember buying this, i assume it was $1.99 in a sale at some point. this is a silly arcade-y first person shooter.

i suspect it will be the kind of thing i play through once and then completely forget about, but i will have a fun ten hours-ish.

this is a personal problem, but the moment you give me a long-distance rifle, i want to play as stealthily and perfectly as possible. (except in fallout, where it is way more fun to charge up to enemies like a very small freight train with a shotgun). this game is simply not built for stealth. this game wants you to move constantly. i do like how enemies are encountered in little groups or knots, and don't come after you if you've cleared out one group and haven't hustled along to the next. enemy AI was simply not very sophisticated in 2013. this gives me time to meander around looking at everything and going "oh i coulda got up on that water tower" or "totally missed that barrel of dynamite".

i like how over the top but un-self-serious it is so far. competent shooter, fewer of the bells and whistles we expect from a FPS these days, but we don't really need to be fucking around with health packs and more than one kind of ammo for a gun. nothing's really annoying me yet and i haven't fallen deeply in love with it, so i don't have a ton of thoughts other than "huh this is a decade old video game with decade-old design sensibilities, which isn't bad just different". stay tuned!

separate thought: i do think that the game's artstyle is about as detailed as i ever want a game to get. nothing ever really needs to be more realistic than this. i do think we peaked in 2013 and what 2013 CPUs could handle. we have better raytracing and particles and whatnot now, but that's at the cost of eerily hyperrealistic games where there is little to no non-signage visual signposting. nothing is guiding your eye through a level, things (consumables, collectibles, etc) are very easy to miss. if video games are an art form you need to pick a thing your game looks like. make a stylistic choice for christ's sake. not this game though. it's doing okay.

making

made some fake meatballs (shut up) bc the giant bag of bargain store brand meatballs i used to practically live on have risen to $20 a bag. angel hair and meatballs are easy to acquire and easy to eat, even if they do generate many dishes to wash.

making my own is not much cheaper, and raw ground meat texture is one of the worst things in the world. plus i had some carrots and oats and lentils to use up anyway. this required more chopping than my hands cared for, even though i bought pre-juilenned carrots and just sort of roughly diced them. the texture is UNSETTLINGLY like real meatballs. that sort of spongy? bouncy? mouthfeel. the taste is, of course, nothing like real meat. they are a little crumbly in actual pasta, but oversaucing whatever noodles are at the back of the pantry will help.

no pics bc they look awful. eating a lot of various lentil sludges lately partly bc i am trying to clean out my pantry before i move, and when i could still afford grocery delivery they frequently gave me green instead of the far superior red lentils.

[hopetorun]

I'm currently dating (as in, trying to go on dates like off the apps) and saw you mentioned you went on a date last night so first of all, how was it??? (If you wanna share) also do you have any tips or tricks for first dates?

first of all best wishes and also, depending on your opinion of the apps, my condolences! (i personally cannot stand them and have had horrendous luck with them to the point that i paid real cash money to go to an in-person speed dating event last weekend which was in many ways deeply weird but also got me more dates (1) than i've had since 2015 and allowed me to screen people for something that's really important to me and really hard to gauge on an app, which is being a good conversational partner.)

my date was pretty nice! not like instant desperate passion or anything but a few hours of nice conversation and i'm going to try and see him again. we'll see, lmao, and perhaps this will make you think worse of me but i'm not opposed to just getting some practice even if my expectations of it going anywhere aren't high.

anyway ... do i have any tips or tricks for first dates? well given that, as mentioned, i have been on one date since 2015, i don't think anyone should be taking my advice on anything to do with dating 😂 but assuming you're dating with the intent of being in a relationship (if you're dating with the intent of getting laid quickly i simply cannot provide any help) i just always say that it's okay to present the best version of yourself but don't misrepresent yourself! obviously you don't need to show up with a numbered list of all your worst traits but it's kind of an audition for both of you! can we enjoy each other's company? does the conversation flow in a natural way? are our values generally aligned? have you devoted all of your free time to being the drummer in a screamo band and practicing your screamo band drumming?* so there's not anything to be gained by lying except potentially a relationship where you're up to your eyeballs in a lie that you just love spending your weekends playing ultimate frisbee or weeding invasive plants out of the local park or doing flashmobs in times square or whatever seemingly benign thing you said.

other than that: huge fan of first dates that make it easy to bail. coffee, drinks, whatever. you can always extend the date but if you're locked into some three-hour outing and you realize 15 minutes in that you have nothing to talk about ... nightmare.

*this would probably not be a dealbreaker for everyone but it would be for me

**none of these things are bad i just personally would not want to spend my weekends doing them. insert your own personal disliked hobbies.

[spxnglr]

It's been a while since I've used this bad boy, y'all know I'm about to ramble whenever I bring it out.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about Egon and his father and the fact that Egon had essentially left Ohio when he was as young as twelve/thirteen years old. Granted, his Psychology Bachelor's could've potentially been a distance learning course, but I can imagine him doing anything he could to study on-campus.

Given that his son was going to become Columbia University's youngest-ever Bachelor's graduate, I expect that Malachai Spengler would've been supportive - or, he would've expressed his own version of support, at least, because let's face it, Mordecai never really exhibited any real affection towards Egon, only expectations, something that would ultimately continue until his death (and beyond, lbr).

Now I don't think Egon was ever completely driven by wanting to meet these expectations - he really is a genius and it's abundantly clear that he possesses a genuine passion for the work that he does. That being said, he would've absolutely worked hard with his father in mind, wanting to please him, or earn some respect at least.

This cycle of meeting a standard only to be met with a higher one in return reached a breaking point when Egon chose Parapsychology as his third doctorate. Yep. THIRD. He was twenty-two years old, and he'd already earned two doctorates before then. That clearly didn't matter, though, because the branch of science he'd chosen for his third wasn't conventional, even though it was one he REALLY wanted to explore. Malachai essentially wanted nothing to do with him as a result, brandishing his son a failure, and Egon himself responded by cutting him and his mother out of his life completely. Upon Malachai's death (I want to say not all that long before he graduated), Egon didn't return home for the funeral. He still hasn't visited his father's grave.

Has his father remained in his life, though? In a way, however much Egon won't want to admit it. His determination to keep on working, to keep chasing those answers, to research more and more and more, even to the point where he has trained his body to function well on fourteen minutes' sleep a day just so he has more time to utilise - he still doesn't see failure or slipping standards as acceptable, even if they've become his own as opposed to the ones that others have imposed on him. Is he tonnes more comfortable with this? Absolutely - but if he tries to tell someone that his father no-longer has any influence over his life at all? Yeah. It's wishful thinking.

Also, Elijah as his middle name? He hates it because his father chose it. That's why he refuses to be called it.