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vermillioncourt-if · 9 months ago

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FAQ

(will be updated as time goes on)

What is this being written on?

ChoiceScript. I would try Twine, but my other game has a nice steady base on ChoiceScript, and I'd rather not move it over.

Can I make fanfic/art/etc? Can I show you my MC/fanfic/art/etc?

Yes! Please do! I welcome it wholeheartedly!

Do you have a patreon or ko-fi?

No, not as of right now. This will change later.

Is the rating 18+?

Yes. I'd say I believe the minimum age would be 17+, due to sexual content that can be fade to black.

Note: All sex scenes will be fade to black on the public demo. A private demo will be available for patreon or ko-fi donators when we get there which will include the explicit scene option (think ao3) and the "lite" version (think published smut).

How is the story formatted?

It will play out similarly to a dating sim/otome game. There will be 1-2 common starting chapters and then it will branch out into 6 routes for the ROs. All routes will have the same 6 key plot events, but will be different in how they're approached.

How many endings are there?

At least 6?

The endings will scale off of how many main events you succeeded in and the selected RO's relationship towards you. That means if you have a high relationship with your RO but have done poorly with the main events, you can still achieve a good ending.

Are there any poly routes?

Not as of right now. The coding for poly relationships is a bit too complicated for me to do right now. This may change as I get more comfortable with it.

Does MC have to romance someone?

Yes, that's the point of the whole game/story.

What are the characters ethnicities? Are they Chinese?

The world of Nian is heavily inspired by China and the Tang Dynasty, so the characters would be Chinese, but I don't assign real ethnicities onto them.

This isn't historically accurate!

I know. That's why I said it's inspired by China, fantasy period C-Dramas, fantasy period pieces, and romance manhwa/manhua.

How does magic work in this world?

As of right now, I don't have a lore post about magic, so here's a quick breakdown.

Everyone can use magic. Some people have Magic Aptitude, which means they have more ability than most people. Magic is classified into Elemental Type and Class.

Will XYZ be in the story?

Maybe. This is a WIP so it's possible.

How are WLW/MLM/Queer relationships viewed/treated in the story?

They're fine. No one is homophobic.

How are women viewed/treated in the story?

Everything is mostly viewed about the same, as in it's pretty much equal for a majority of people. But a few things have lingered on from tradition (i.e boys inherit over girls, etc).

Help! I can't pronounce the names!

I provide helpful pronunciations for the characters' names on the Side Characters page. There will also be pronunciations listed in the stat page of the game.

How are the names written?

All names are written in the LastName FirstName format.

If I write something like "Consort Huo", it's the equivalent of "Mr Smith". For those who understand, the last names are monosyllabic while the first names are disyllabic.

Does MC have a set name?

MC has a set last name (Nan), but not a first name. You can name your MC whatever you'd like.

I encourage using a disyllabic name, for immersion and the fact that it would be the most "accurate". I provide 3 examples of disyllabic names in the game, but you can ultimately name your MC whatever you want!

Can you help me pick a name?

I certainly can! Just send me a private message (not an ask) with the name of your MC, and I'll find a name similar in meaning or pronunciation. Please be sure to tell me which you want, similar meaning or similar pronunciation.

Does MC have a set personality?

A bit, although it's more traits, as of right now. They will never want the throne, they are a good sibling to their siblings, they enjoy social events, and they are well-educated and a little bit naive from their position.

Does MC have a set appearance?

No. MC's appearance is up to you.

Can MC be trans?

I'm planning on it. There won't be any references made to a transition, though, and it won't affect anything besides the sex scenes. You'll have an option at the first sex scene to set what your MC has.

Will MC become the ruler? Can MC overthrow their father/brother? Can MC hurt *insert person here*?

No. Male MC is 4th in the line of succession and Female MC is 14th in the line of succession. MC loves their family and would do nothing to hurt them. MC will not perpetrate any kind of excessive violence against anyone.

Does MC have magic? Can MC do magic?

As mentioned before, everyone has magic. MC does not have Magic Aptitude, however, so their magic is on a normal level.

#the vermillion court #faq

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forabeatofadrum · 1 year ago

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randomised trope/tag grading game

@captain-aralias tagged me in this fun challenge. I did a trope rating one a while ago, but this one is randomised!!

Rules: Generate your own personal list of 10 AO3 tags to rate. How much do these tags affect your decision to click on a fic? -10 -> very dissuaded 0 - don’t care either way +10 -> very enticed nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

Drag Queens - 5

5 feels like a good mid-point, because I've never actually read a fic where a character doing drag has a central role, but I do love drag queens in real life, so I wouldn't mind. I just never thought to seek it out. Maybe I should.

Virtual Reality - 0

Define "Virtual Reality". Do you mean the blorbos playing some sort of VR game of the blorbos actually being in a VR-generated world? The first one sounds, uh, kind of boring. The second one sounds more interesting. (Not a fic, but the Hank Green duology really does this well). But also... not really interested in the first place.

Retirement - 0

Look, I just turned 25. I don't have any idea what to think of retirement yet. Ask me again in 40 years.

Feel-Good - 1000

FUCK YEAH. I don't believe that fic necessarily has to be a form of escapism, but it can be and feel-good and pure fluff is my JAM.

Loneliness - idk

This is a tough one, hence the idk. I think it is a great topic to explore, but as someone who's felt incredibly lonely, it's also a tough cookie. So it can be cathartic to see my (past) feelings reflected, but it can also be daunting, so I guess it depends on the mood.

Cardinal Virtues - ????

I had to Google what this means and I am still not entirely sure. I feel like I should, cause I literally study philosophy these days.

But, like, what does this mean for fic tropes? Does this mean a fic is all about a character being just or what not?

Post-Canon - 10

YEAH. I mean, it does depend on how much I love the canon (looking at you, Glee, fuck off!), but if I do love how the show/series/whatever ended, I do like the idea of checking up on these characters, so to speak.

Animal Traits - -10

Meh. I also don't really know what this means. I assume it has something to do with hybrid fics and that is not my thing and it never has been. This assumption is because traits like "loyalty" aren't inheritely for animals, for example dogs. Wait, is THIS what's meant with Cardinal Virtues? (jk)

Unhealthy Relationships - 2

Oof, okay. I was literally just thinking today on how fiction allows you to explore things you don't want to occur in real life and this is one of them. I mean, guys, I love Snowbaz. That isn't particulary healthy, especially in Wayward Son. I suppose it depends on how unhealthy (there's a difference between miscommunication and personal problems getting in the way and straight up physical violence) and how it's explored. If it's romanticised in any way, it's a big no, but to come back to the Wayward Son example, I do like the exploration.

Cannibalism - -100000

LOOK I ALWAYS JOKE I AM GLAD I JUST MISSED OUT ON THE CANNIBLAINE CRAZE OF EARLY 2011 FOR A REASON.

Tagging @quizasvivamos @spookyklaine @urban-sith @thnxforknowingme @captain-aralias @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @justgleekout @cerriddwenluna @tea-brigade @bookish-bogwitch @confused-bi-queer @cutestkilla @wellbelesbian @artsyunderstudy @martsonmars @facewithoutheart @rockitmans @bitbybitwrites @blackberrysummerblog @whatevertheweather

#tag game

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asha-mage · 2 years ago

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My Top Ten Lists, and GOTY awards for 2022!

As typical I paid no attention to release date or year, only using the condition of 'did I finish this game this year', and judgeing games both as best I could both on how much I liked them, and how successful they where at being the game they where trying to be. I also didn't count any of my 'forever games' i.e games that I play more or less regularly year-to-year, such as FFXIV, and the Sims.

Also, blanket spoiler warning. (I don't get to deep into anything, but their are some references that might spoiler elements of some the plot heavier games).

10) Monster Prom

I played fewer games on average this year then I did in years past (only 12), which maybe explains the place of Monster Prom in the tenth spot. Not that it's a bad game: it's incredibly fun, queer, and wild ride, with a surprising amount to say about growing up, and that time in your life when your wild and unafraid and free.

That said though, it is a multiplayer game that I only ever played in single player, and it only hooked me long enough to get the Oz/Damon ending before I put it down and left it down for the remainder of the year. If I had managed to get one more in under the wire, before year's end, it would probably would have gone in this spot (unless said hyopthethical game was a real stinker, but I very rarely finish real stinkers).

9) Crusader Kings 3: Royal Court/Fate of Iberia

Man does this expansion rule. Crusader Kings in general still rules, and I've played a truly sickening amount CK3 just in general. Normally I would count CK3 as one of my 'forever' games, that I play non stop, but I actually have found myself playing CK3 in fits and starts recently: huge bursts when new DLC drops, and when I get a history hankering, but otherwise not very often.

That said the time I do spend with it rocks. I have made so many attempts at unifying the Iberian Peninsula at this point, some successful, some far less so. And I love seeing my monarch in his court, projecting power and presiding over the realm. Both Royal Court and Fate of Iberia fit perfectly into my gameplay, and their exact kinda of DLC I love from Paradox: the kinda that once experienced I can't imagine the game without.

I also really want to give a huge shout out for the amount of customization regarding gender, sexuality, and historical accuracy the game added this year. It's a small thing, but it made my brain so incredibly happy to see my character with his husband seated beside him, together presiding over the realm. (Until said husband unexpectedly inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine and had to tragically leave my court, causing my king to succumb to whore mongering and lechery to soothe his broken heart, which was Very Sad and also exactly the kind of shit I live for in this game).

8) Marvel Snap (Best Multiplayer)

This one was a real surprise. I don't play card games, I don't play mobile card games, and I've been fairly sour on Marvel for a while now.

And yet.

Man is Marvel Snap good. Addiction good. Possibly going to be a forever game next year good. Barely spend money on it and yet still enjoy it a mind numbing amount good. Time will tell on this one, but given the sheer number of hours I've put into it, the sheer joy I get from it despite normally hating games like this and how excellently designed it is, it's very much earned this spot.

7) Cult of the Lamb

This one was also a surprise for me, but less so in that it was out of genre, and more that I didn't know this game existed until after it had dropped and everyone on various podcasts I follow was listening to it. Their is something so delightful about both it's creepy cute aesthetic, and it's game play which is a mix of rouge like action and Animal Crossing villager management which makes it unique, memorable, and fun.

My biggest problem is really the combat. The lack of ability to pick weapons ahead of crusades, the way action can get very finicky and jumpy even in boss fights attacks hitting that shouldn't, and not hitting that should, is what kept this from beating out Elden Ring. On the Cult management side, while I really enjoyed all the effort and thought put into what it would take to actually run and keep a cult following, and the way you could pick doctrines of faith....I ultimately don't know that their was enough 'flavor' to make each cult feel really unique and customizable, and that held it back, if only a little. I'll probably dip back in to the update next year, when I have more time.

6) Elden Ring

Put down those pitchforks this instant.

Look. I really liked Elden Ring. It's a great game! Well constructed from start to finish, with a killer aesthetic, and a story that's even for Fromsoftwear, marginally understandable. It's open world is good enough that I, who generally hate open world games, can appreciate both it's beauty, and it's scope. It's also one of the few games that really, truly made me feel like I was an adventuring mage, wandering about in search of ancient secrets of magic.

But.

It's still not a very good Soulslike. It's combat is arbitrary and unfair in a way Demon's Souls and Bloodborne's where not (hell that Fallen Order and SoP's where not!), only the legacy dungeons really have the murderous puzzle box feel, and many of the bosses break the mold of Souls bosses up to this point, and not in a good way.

Their is a version of this game on another timeline that is NOT an Open World and so is much higher on this list. But alas, we live in the Open World Timeline, where giant empty games lacking in structure and narrative are the dominant force in games, and where good games will be diminished by having open world forced into them when they don't need it. So in the back half of my list, Elden Ring will remain.

5) Potion Permit

Oh MAN was this game good.

Every loving detail in this game was delightful: from the way the entire town starts out hating your guts, to the actual effort that goes into collecting ingredients and mixing potions, to the way you slowly build up trust and affection not just by handing out gifts, but by showing you can do your job in all it's aspects: making your patients feel heard, their care feel personal, and the actual healing timely.

Also the carpenter man was cute, and dating him was amazing.

I hope this trend of Stardew Valley like games that explore non-farming elements continues. And I hope it is full of many kissable men.

4) Omori (Best Art Direction)

Omori is a game I've been meaning to play for basically forever, but that I kept waiting for the Switch version to enjoy. And I am very happy with that choice.

This game is SO incredibly good. The sad narrative of a boy who flees into a dreamworld called Headspace in order to escape his loneliness and trauma, it's full of poignant messages about repression, self hatred, isolation, and ultimately forgiveness.

The truly crazy part is that their are two games here. The wacky charming Headspace adventurers which have all the classic trappings of JRPG: leveling up, turn based combat, exploration around madcap world full of bizarre colorful characters and off beat humor. And then you have the softer more realistic adventure game, drenched in Americana, from the same-y suburbs to the quirky pizza place, to the sprawling mega mart, where most of your time is spent not fighting but solving puzzles, and talking to characters to learn their weird stuff.

And when the two intersect, real world crashing into fantasy? That's where you get the game's tripy, mind fuck psychological horror. Omori shines brightest in Dark Space, when it delves into the twisted flip side of escapism, and digs under the skin of it's protagonist to show off his messy fears and his hidden darkness.

This game hit home, and it hit home hard.

3) Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes (Best Soundtrack)

As we get into my top three, we are entering the set of games that came out this year that seemed made for Me Specifically.

Of those Three Hopes was the biggest surprise. I never really imagine a....well whatever Three Hopes is to Three Houses (sequel? alternate universe story? retelling? spinoff? let's go with spinoff). Especially not a Musou style army shredder. And yet now I can't imagine playing either the fandom or the story itself without the added layer of context and story provided by Three Hopes.

Three Hopes adds so much content is the thing, you can actually feel the cuts from Three Houses that where re-worked here (Ferdinand and Ashe's extra scenes and supports in particular), and it adds so much depth too, to Byleth, to the world, to the dynamics between characters and factions. Their is an element of shinny wish fulfillment to it, and yet I can't fault the game for that. Afterall, they paid their dues to tragedy, and the costs and downsides of war in the first game. Here, things work out, and the headsman is escaped. The Lord of your choosing reshapes the world to their ideal, and everything works out, and the writing is so good that I don't really mind.

Also the OST slaps SO FUCKING HARD. They could have just repackaged the 3 Houses ost and I am SO GLAD that they did not. Still humming songs from this even months later.

2) Stranger of Paradise (Best Gameplay)

Stranger of Paradise was announced to loud mockery by basically everyone, and intense anticipation by me. I stood by the game's potential then, and I stand by it now.

This is such a smart game, and also such an earnest one. It knows exactly what it is and refuses to be ashamed of that. Instead it leans full body into it's buck wild story, it's over the top combat, and it's dark aesthetic. And the result is a weird alchemy that is incredibly fun to play, moment to moment.

If, like me, you have what amounts to a Master's Degree in obscure Final Fantasy lore, you will be delighted by both the subtle references peppered throughout the levels, and the deeper story, about the clash between the Lufenian's, god-like beings of near total power that they are, and the Strangers, defectors who have learned to love and see value in the world they where sent to control.

If you don't....then I recommend just sitting back and enjoying watching the monsters explode into bloody crystal. You will still have a rocking good time. Unless you think cringe in a real thing, then you might have less of a fun time.

1) Triangle Strategy (GOTY/Best Narrative)

Back near the beginning of the year, when I got Triangle Strategy's Golden Ending, after getting the other three, and clocking in more then a hundred and thirty hours in the game, I cried. The game's ending felt pitch perfect, the smooth flawless landing after seamless ride. I came out of the experience with a clear front runner for my personal GOTY, something that held up for most of the year even I played other really good games.

But as we closed on the tale end of the year I started to doubt my own impression, wondering if Triangle Strategy really had left that large of a mark on me, or if I had just been caught up in the hype cycle and recency bias.

And the trailer for the steam version came out and I started crying just from that so no. Not recency bias or hype.

Triangle Strategy is so incredibly good. Everything it attempts it scores a perfect ten on: it's characters are engaging and fun while still having depth and nuance, complexity and foibles. It's visual design is stunning and eye catching. It's combat and tatical elements are challenging puzzles, requiring careful planning and mastery of the game's systems.

But most of all it's story is flawless.

This game has so much to say about how our beliefs define us, and shape our world views. About the struggle for a future, and the difference been compromise and concession. About oppression, and faith, justice and law, the burden of leadership, and the power of conviction. It's exactly the story of high fantasy I love: mixing politics and magic, war and mythology, but keeping itself always centered on the human element of it's characters and their stories.

It is very, very close to a perfect game, and it makes me incredibly excited to see Octopath Traveler 2 next year.

#Triangle Strategy #Stranger of Paradise #final fantasy origin #fire emblem warriors 3 hopes #few3h #fe3h #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Omori #Potion Permit #Elden Ring #Cult of the Lamb #Marvel Snap #Crusader Kings 3 #CK3 #Monster Prom #that's all for this year folks!#next year is shapeing up to be Just As Wild #I hope I can play more games next year maybe burn through my backlog a bit #Until then!

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ouatnextgen · 4 months ago

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Get to Know: Alex

I stole the character template used in this fic, because I thought it was really thorough, and a good exercise for character building. So thanks ao3 user StarkPark!

Name

Alexandra Jaqueline Boyd. Sean named Alexandra, and it means “defender of men.” Their middle name is the feminine version of Jaq, one of her mother’s friends.

Nicknames

Alex (primary nickname)

Princess Alex (by her friends, to annoy them)

Pumpkin (by their parents)

Appearance

Thin, straight blond hair

Pale skin

Gray eyes

Smiley face tattoo on their shoulder, no scars. They have a tongue piercing.

They wear grunge aesthetic clothing, mainly black crop tops, ripped jeans, doc martens, and a lot of fishneting just…everywhere.

Face claims

London Fuller (young)

Virginia Gardner (older)

Personality

Sarcastic and kind of rough around the edges, but is actually sweet underneath. The one her friends go to when they need to rant, and/or do something mildly illegal.

They are industrious, loyal, and determined, but also very compulsive and over emotional at times. This can lead to fights and blow-ups with friends, but she will be the first to apologize, as she’s not stubborn, and will fold like a playing card.

She believes firmly in working hard to get what you want, one of the only traits she inherited from her mother. She despises when people have privilege and don’t help those in need.

They tend to think that rules are guidelines, rather than things to be followed. Especially if breaking the rules helps someone out.

Likes

Playing the bass

Just being in the same vicinity of her friends

Listening to very loud music in the car

Dying her hair

Spray painting and doing other non-traditional forms of art

Knitting, crocheting, and sewing (don’t tell anybody!)

Dislikes

Rules

Gender roles

Shrimp

Magic

No magic, but boy do they want it!

Health

Has a shellfish allergy

Used to have asthma, but doesn’t any more

Sexuality

Aromantic asexual. No romance, no sex. They love it!

Fears

Not being able to handle living on their own

Dying alone

Has a weird fear of breaking her ankles?

Habits

Chews on the ends of their hair

Bites her nails

Messy as all fuck

Favorites

Movies: Fluxuates between 80’s classics and obscure indie stuff, there is no in between

TV Shows: Historical Dramas…she hates history, but is fine with historical based media

Music: 80’s and 90’s grunge, with some indie/folk thrown in there

Books: Loves Narnia. Did not understand that Aslan was Jesus until they were an adult

Parent: She isn’t super close to either of them, but prefers Sean

Family member: Vibes well with their step-cousin, Conrad

Sport: Did lacrosse in high school, and follows a few teams

School subject: Art! Duh!

Food: Burgers and fries, but specifically Granny’s

Sweet treat: Chocolate lover

Colors: Pink, red, purple

Animal: Penguins <3

Toy: Fashion dolls like Barbies that they can cut and style the hair on

Game: Sim games like Harvest Moon, Stardew, and Animal Crossing

Least favorites

Movies: Rom Coms

TV Shows: Modern fantasy-based TV shows (lol)

Music: Music without lyrics

Books: Romance and YA fiction

Parent: They clash with Ashley a lot

Family member: Lady Tremaine…for obvious reasons

Sport: Track. She can only run in short bursts

School subject: History. Snooze fest

Food: Anything too spicy

Sweet treat: Hates carrot cake on principle

Colors: Blue, green, yellow

Animal: Any and all fish. They hate the scales

Toy: Bratz. Barbie or bust!

Game: Hates any video games that require skilled combat like Halo and all that

Career aspiration

Either an artist or hair dresser. Or both.

Social life

If they don’t hang with their friends once a day, they will die

She has a high social battery, and is up for anything

They’re the go-to queer informant for the youth of Storybrooke

Pets

No pets. She can barely take care of herself, let alone an animal

#ouat next generation #ouat next gen #the season 7 rewrite #alexandra herman #alexandra boyd #alex boyd #alex herman #the next gen verse

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mercy-mercie-mercymorn · 1 year ago

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agro's oc master list (1/?)

☆ star people ☆

i'll be adding links when/if i remember, as well as finishing this list.....eventually. just ask if u want some reference images for characters i don't have on artfight or need additional info! anyways, the whole character vomit is under the cut :)

angel

human?: nope, asteriai (star nymph)

bday: sep 15

deal: after being born without magic, she became the asteriai vessel of her long-dead titan ancestor, Astraea (Virgo). works as a TA for her friend, an anthropology professor. has more plushies than space on her bed. a pacifist at heart.

powers: can summon a spear and a pair of golden light wings. can also heal, which she does considerably more.

likes: animals, sweets, and sleeping. dislikes: bugs, the heat, and christmas music.

songs: Sleep (Conrad Hillis Remix) - Soul Push, Colder Parts - HUNNY, All Will Be Well - Gabe Dixon

rose

name: rose (that’s it) (formerly, demon—not like 😈 but Δήμων, meaning “the people”. it’s important to me that you know that.)

human?: nope, kimmerian (void spirit) (she’s just here because i couldn’t think of a better place to put her. it makes sense with the lore)

bday: dec 23

deal: angel’s girlfriend. the last descendant of a long-dead race who spurned fate. an emo shit and a mean lesbian (affectionate). takes no shit. unless it’s from angel. has a dry sense of humor. doesn’t like authority.

powers: hydromancy! can do a bunch of fuck you magic with water. has weird dream-controlling magic. it’s a long story.

likes: video games, music, and bodies of water. dislikes: her past, angel’s sister, and rules.

songs: Ocean’s Deep - Born Ruffians, Talk To Myself - Avicii, Heaven Is Under The Sun - Beta Play

spica

human?: nope, asteriai

bday: sep 23

deal: angel’s older sister/her guardian for the most of her life. impulsive and hot-tempered. loves the people she cares about by being a lil angry about their life choices. a part of the amica ignis—a guild of female pyromancers. would fight you. eltanin’s fiancee!

powers: pyromancy!!! yeah!!! can also summon a special spear.

likes: shoes, autumn, and hitting the snooze button. dislikes: paperwork, her alarms, and rose.

songs: I Don’t Need A Hero - Concrete Blonde, Fake Out - Fall Out Boy, Color Green - New Politics

caph

human?: asteriai.

bday: feb 12

deal: one of apollo’s priestesses. the only surviving cassiopeia clan member. she was a terrible person and now she’s trying to be better. a manic pixie dream girl except she’s just Like That. voted most likely to eat a plant by me. vega and apollo are her best friends. cole’s mom, married to tore.

powers: has magic henna on her hand (the hand changes because i keep forgetting) that can do some doc ock-esque shit and some other assorted magic. was granted the power of foresight by apollo.

likes: houseplants, singing, and chai lattes. dislikes: black coffee, snow, and talking about her deep-seated issues.

songs: She’s A Rainbow - The Rolling Stones, Monsters of the North - The National Parks, Riptide - Vance Joy

cole

human?: half-human, half-asteriai. descended from a kimmerian on his father’s side.

bday: march 3

deal: cole and tore’s son. genuinely the nicest guy ever. his biggest fault is he thinks swords are cool and owns multiple. a surfer guy majoring in engineering at UCLA. he goes to the beach as much as he can. was taught to swordfight by tore and rose. also rents a room in cynthia’s house.

powers: inherited his mom’s henna powers and his dad’s dream powers.

likes: surfing, tea, and being bullied by annoying queers (affectionate). dislikes: having to draw, people who forget sunscreen, and close-toed shoes.

songs: West Coast - Yam Haus, Safe In L.A. - Gold Motel, Verge - Owl City

vega

human?: you guessed it, asteriai.

bday: nov 29

deal: one of apollo’s priestesses. her favorite composer is shostakovich. she’s very mean but i think it’s funny. dating apollo, which is definitely a choice. generally has an “overworked and underpaid public servant who has run out of fucks to give” vibe.

powers: musical magic! the songs she plays/sings can basically do whatever as long as she has the energy and/or an okay instrument. can also pick up instruments in little to no time.

likes: playing violin, card games, and spicy foods. dislikes: sweets, hot weather, and dogs (nothing personal).

songs: Nascence - Austin Wintory, Waiting For Love - Avicii, Tender Strength - Yu-Peng Chen

eltanin

human?: asteriai

bday: june 30

deal: i’ll be real…spica’s everything. he’s just ken. he’s very nice, loves his family, and just wants to grill. he has a soft spot for angel because they’re both relatively chill people with intense s/os…who just so happen to hate each other.

powers: can turn into a (relatively small) dragon.

likes: DIY projects, weighted blankets, and trying new foods. dislikes: drama, action movies, and wearing shoes in the house.

songs: 3’s - Nodaway, Dance With Me - Ra Ra Riot, Crystal Clear - Opus Orange

sirius

human?: asteriai

bday: april 1 (yes he makes jokes about this)

deal: a former member of the asteriai island guard who left for earth to find bigger and better things. formed a group of vigilante magic-adjacent people

powers: can turn into a dog. he has some heightened senses (dog-compliant).

likes: fast food (the trashier the better), lame puns, and haircare. dislikes: chocolate, reading maps, and rain.

songs: Wolfdance - The Ceremonies, Don’t Send The Searchlights - Gold Motel, Everyone’s A Guru Now - Saint Motel

virgo

human?: a Titan/goddess

bday: she just piggybacks off angel’s

deal: the currently semi-dead deity sharing angel’s body. she’s sleeping rn (always). was kind of seeing apollo. is like 9 ft tall. the former leader of the Zodiac, but everyone else is dead. sees warfare as a necessary evil.

powers: healing! spears! light constructs! fuck you.

likes: sleeping, sweets, and sightseeing. dislikes: fighting, humanity, and doorways.

songs: i don’t feel like thinking of any for her rn

#long post #tw i'm posting cringe #oc content lol #agro's oc master list!

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soulbornincoldandrain · 2 years ago

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tag game shenanigans huh [rubs hands] thanks @catmanbowser its been a while since ive thought about my blorbos of days past

10 character/ 10 fandoms (this is actually very interesting because ive never rlly though abt them? i kinda just frantically slide them into their slots in my brain so)

1. sebastian debeste/ ace attorney : who would i be without my emotional support lawyer of choice. while i have my favourites from the games i think seb deb remains on top for like. one his relationship with his dad (hngh) two his relationship with himself as a person, his sense of self esteem and how it is affected by his entitlement, his lack of awareness etcertera and three god his Design rlly gets to me for some reason i love the owlish eyes the hair the baton that's really only there because he's icky abt touching gruesome evidence like. girl he's my best friend he's Me

2. danny rand/ ultimate spider-man : transed my gender when i was thirteen. saw him on d*sney xd and i was never the same. iron fist animated ver did so much for me as a person he was my coolguy surfer-vibe snarky but kind prettyboy crush

3. peppermint patty/ peanuts : honestly its not like peanuts is like a revolutionary piece of work but it gets me every single motherfucking time man. peppermint patty is kind of an asshole but i love her character and also gay gay holy shit i was a small queer kid once and so is peppermint patty (also marcy schrodinger charlie ily beloveds)

4. murtagh morgansson (and nasuada!!)/ eragon (the inheritance cycle) : the tragedy of murtagh morgansson effectively changed me as a pre teen i enjoyed the entire series so much (don't talk to me about eragon and arya hngh) but murtaghs arc as a person filled me with so much love like he loved his brother!! he was chained to his blood father!! he loves his dragon!! he made difficult choices for them both despite everything!! even his romantic interest was so well done i genuinely loved him as a character and i still do (and yet i like nasuada more i just think murtaghs character had more weight in the story)

5. frederick the great knight/ fire emblem awakening : cannot explain how much i would've played the entire game all over just to romance frederick instead of my girlboss crown prince chrom i had such a Massive Raging crush on him it's not even funny

6. jung heewon/ orv : yeah okay ideally it would be dokja because he's the sort of parasite that's latched onto my brain but god. god. i never recovered from jung heewon as a character i never will recover. she loves her friends so deeply (as does the entirety of kim dokja company if we're being honest) but god she is so powerful in her love and i think it's ridiculous how much i love her favourite ever jihye x hyunsung x me are so right in having a massive crush on her hngghghh

7. michelangelo/ teenage mutant ninja turtles : ive only ever watched the cartoon series and that was like a solid six years ago but i wanted to be him so bad it was fucking hilarious. i thought he was coolest shit since sliced cheese. mikey my belovedsest hngh i loved donny too but mikey just has a special place in my heart

8. boss/ underworld office : THIS GAME OH GOD. think the only time i ever spoke about it was with shiro but oh God oh god this game got me so good and im still rusty on the names and such but boss as a character was so incredible and im a sucker for a good powerful character who is the looker after of their friend group but also Every Single One of those characters were so good and i literally cannot recommend that game enough the art animatics and story is so good hngh (ticket system kinda frustrating but i can forgive them for it dammit)

9. hannibal/ nbc hannibal : ideally the title should go to freddie lounds and frederick chilton for being my favourite characters of the show but because i have a deep intimate relationship with hamball i guess he takes first spot. i talk abt him way too much anyways so i refuse to elaborate. the elaboration is that i also sniff people. that is all.

10. jiro horikoshi/ wind rises : idk if he counts as a fictional character but miyazakis version of him was- and i cannot stress this enough- so incredibly gender. also i was fascinated by aeronautical design and engineering and also the vintage male fashion rlly got to me man. one of my favourite ghibli movies till date

and that's ten!! that's not all of them but boy i really fucking love to talk huh (also a lot of these were difficult because all my favourite characters are my favourites in context of other characters so many of these should've involved more than one character but whatever) anyways thanks so much for the tag cymber i hope i didn't ramble too much :]

#frog words

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gallows-into-oblivion · 11 months ago

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hi, hello, hi

i'm not sure which of these you already know about:

BOOKS:

Tamora Pierce. i recommend starting with her Tortall universe: the Song of the Lioness quartet, followed by the Immortals quartet and the Protector of the Small quartet. after that there's the Tricksters duology and the Beka Cooper trilogy (which takes place much earlier in the timeline but i recommend reading it after the first 3 quartets because it references stuff). then, if you like, you can sidestep to her other fantasy world, beginning with the Circle of Magic series, then the Circle Opens, and concluding with the Circle Reforged. features: nuanced women protagonists, lady knights, romance, varying levels of political intrigue and war, slightly complicated magic system.

Naomi Novik, Scholomance series. this one is more urban fantasy, but stay with me. teenagers at a magic school with no teachers, where the school itself is a living entity that the students have to learn how to survive in order to graduate. mixed-race queer female protagonist. the third book blows the sociopolitical scale wide open and reveals the inner workings of why and how the school operates.

Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology. there is also a Netflix show (2 seasons) based on these books. a little bit trope-y, but great if you want that high fantasy vibe. i personally like the duology more, but ymmv. canon disabled character who uses a mobility aid (cane).

Kristin Cashore, Graceling Realms series. the first two books follow different protagonists; the third and fourth follow the same, Queen Bitterblue of Monsea. unique magic system, TONS of high stakes sociopolitical intrigue, romance, canon disabled character (who is able to use his unique magical gift to work with his disability).

Suzanne Collins, The Underland Chronicles. you're probably at least familiar with The Hunger Games, considering the recent release of the new movie, but i want to highlight her urban-ish fantasy series set in/under NYC and featuring a pre-teenage boy from a working class family. there's war. there's prophecies that people struggle to interpret. there's massive talking animals (bats, cockroaches, rats, and more) and social customs regarding interacting with said animals. there's even a little romance.

Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle. if you're coming to this from the movie, be warned: the book is VERY different. like, Sophie actually has a personality. (sorry to movie enjoyers lol)

Christopher Paolini, Inheritance Cycle. i honestly am meh on these books, but they do have a lot of what people are looking for when they ask for high fantasy recs: dragons, elves, magic and consequences thereof. these books are LONG, so be prepared.

GAMES:

i mean, obviously Baldur's Gate 3. it did just come out, so it'll likely be a bit buggy for a while, but the devs are regularly releasing patches. the fandom is VERY active and there's a lot of disc horse which i personally am avoiding like the plague. however, the game itself has a lot of good things and is, at least in my opinion, a really fun time.

you could also try the original Baldur's Gate, and Baldur's Gate II: they are old (initially released in 1998 and 2000, respectively) but the first Baldur's Gate is often considered to be one of the best video games ever made. BG1 and 2 follow the same protagonist, so it's advisable to play them in release order.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 use modified AD&D (2nd edition) rules, while BG3 uses modified D&D 5e rules.

Dragon Age. there are currently three games in the series, as well as a bunch of comics, a movie (Dawn of the Seeker), and a short animated show (Absolution). i do recommend starting with Dragon Age: Origins. it is old (though not as old as the original Baldur's Gate) and the graphics and gameplay are a little clunky, but it's just a delightful experience. then you have Dragon Age II, which was made under ridiculous time crunch and as a result has been criticized a lot; it's still one of my top 5 games of all time. finally, and most well known, is Dragon Age: Inquisition. for a game that is nearly a decade old, it's held up really well.

WHEW, that was a long post. i hope this helps!! /gen

Anyone have any movie/game/book/series recommendations for old timey fantasy sorta stuff? Like lord of the rings or Skyrim? If you have any please let me know I'm like desperate

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thecottageinthedark · 4 years ago

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Sorting Persona 4

Here again with another Sorting Hat Chats post! This one’s for Persona 4. Full disclaimer; this is based just on the game, not the anime. Also it’s behind a cut cause it is LONG. And has spoilers.

The system I’m using is explained here by @wisteria-lodge.

The Persona 4 MC, whose name is either Souji Seta or Yu Narukami depending on which supplemental materials you go by, is a really REALLY loud Badger secondary. His power is based on making Social Links with NPCs and shifting to become whatever they need-and also on patiently grinding to level up his attributes. And because he lives so much in this secondary-plus the fact that on a meta level he’s kind of a stand-in for the player-his Primary is hard to see.

But where it gets revealed in the end is the decisive moment when the ending you’re going to get is decided. The Investigation Team have discovered that Namatame’s been putting people into the TV, and thus are assuming he’s the murderer-and it’s become horribly personal, because one of the people he did that to was Nanako, and even though she’s been rescued, she’s deathly ill thanks to the TV World’s poison.

And now you-and the MC-have a choice. The IT are baying for Namatame’s blood, ready to kill. One Badger Primary method would be to appeal to the fact that he’s a person, you can’t just kill people….but nobody’s listening. Another would be to dehumanise him and say, he’s a murderer, he needs to die for the sake of everyone-going along with all the fury of the group. A Lion would lash out too-less because everyone’s doing it and more from their own gut feeling, but that would still lead to dead Namatame. A Snake might kill Namatame because he hurt Nanako...or, in the Golden remake, if they’ve done Adachi’s social link, they might cover for him. Either way, they’d be prioritising an inner circle member.

And all of those get you bad endings. Especially the Snake choice to cover for Adachi.

What gets the good ending, the happy ending where the MC is fulfilled and at peace, is to ignore all the emotion that’s running so high, and order everyone to step back and take time to think about whether the theory of Namatame being the killer makes sense. Pounce on the niggling little detail that doesn’t fit, and realise that the assumption everyone is labouring under isn’t true. And then prioritise the actual truth over personal loyalties or emotional reactions.

Bird Primary.

Because of course. This is a detective story. Your party are called both the Investigation Team and the Seekers of Truth. Even the title song hints at it; find the truth (Bird) by getting together with others (Badger).

Yosuke Hanamura’s a young, immature Snake Primary at game start, with the selfishness typical to that. His Shadow throws that back in his face, and he realises he doesn’t like being an asshole whose secret gut reaction to murders happening is ‘well at least I’m not bored anymore now something is happening in this dead-end town’.

So he does two things pretty much at the same time; he widens his inner circle to let in first Souji and then the rest of the IT, and he adds a model on top to let him care about things outside that circle. I think it’s a Lion model-a young Lion, just like his Snake, that edges into Glory Hound, but keeps hold of the idea that you should do certain things because they’re just right.

(It’s not based on the MC, though the MC is undoubtedly his most important person, who he even calls his partner. But then, as I said, the MC’s Bird is very quiet, so it’d be hard for Yosuke to perceive it well enough to mimic it. I think it’s actually based on Chie, who is after all the inner circle member he has known longest!)

And his secondary? Yosuke’s a support guy. He lifts his friends up. His family run Junes, and he leverages that connection to create a base location for the IT and secure a portal into the TV world that’s big enough to be usable. When Teddie comes to the human world, it’s Yosuke who gives him a place to stay. He’s a Badger secondary, and again, this makes perfect sense. The Lover sorting. No wonder so much of the fandom ships him with the MC.

Chie Satonaka is LOUD and BRASH and if you are a jerk she will KICK YOU IN THE FACE. She is so goddamn Lion Secondary, and utterly unapologetic about it.

Her primary, I think, is Lion again. The reason she has gotten possessive of Yukiko (as her Shadow calls her out on) isn’t that she wants Yukiko to be just hers-it’s that she wants to be Yukiko’s knight. Saving the princess is actually a textbook Lion cause. It lets her feel heroic and brave.

But that’s not good for either of them. Damsel in distress is a shitty role, one that doesn’t allow Yukiko to be strong and capable herself, and Chie pushing Yukiko into that role is really straining their relationship. It’s also something that Chie herself knows is wrong-that’s why her Shadow accuses her of it. (“I am a Shadow, the true self...”)

So instead Chie changes gears, because oh look a new Cause just popped up! Find the killer and bring them to justice! And on top of that, there’s always sexist prats to kick.

Yukiko Amagi models Badger Primary, because it’s expected of her. Running an inn is a really Badger kind of job. She also models Badger Secondary, for the same reasons. She feels this is who she’s meant to be; sweet, gentle, socially adept, community-focused and hard-working. The traditional Japanese ideal of womanhood.

But it chafes. The weight of societal expectations feels crushing. She doesn’t want to do stuff just because she’s meant to, because people think she should. She’s an Internal Primary, and needs to follow the voice of her own heart.

And where that heart leads her...is back to the Amagi Inn, except now she’s decided that she’s doing this for herself. She needed to feel that she could actually choose to not inherit the inn, before she could realise that she wanted to run it. She’s a Snake Primary, and the inn is important to her because it’s hers.

Her secondary...actually I get the feeling she’s like Toph Beifong of Avatar, a Snake who likes to spend most of her time in neutral. She is delightfully quirky and weird, and owns that, but she doesn’t charge like a Lion and she’s comfy with wearing masks when the situation calls for it.

Kanji Tatsumi panics at the idea that he might be gay, and caretakes like a boss, and that might look at first sight like a Double Badger who’s scared that he might be one of the people he’s used to dehumanising. His Shadow screams that it wants to be accepted...but what calms it is when Kanji himself accepts it, and says that this resolution is about being true to himself. Kanji’s a Double Lion who burnt his primary because being given shit for the feminine, queer-coded parts of himself made him lose faith in his internal compass, worrying that it was leading him somewhere that he viewed as bad. Internalised homophobia’s a bitch of a thing.

Accepting his Shadow is the start of Kanji healing his primary-letting go of shame for being an oddball and telling the world to go fuck itself if it thinks it can make him conform. He does model Badger Secondary-as I said, he caretakes like a boss-but that’s more a thing he does as a gift to others. When it comes to solving problems, he charges in swinging, ready to beat up anyone from biker gangs to otherworldly monsters.

Rise Kujikawa is a cheerful, shameless Snake Primary, loving and ambitious. She became an idol to make friends, and enjoys the fame it gets her. And when she needs to take a break for the sake of her mental health, she has no compunctions about doing so.

But she needed that break because the idol life was stressing her out-unsurprisingly, it’s a really intense life. And the particular problem she had was to do with the conflicting expectations the public has of celebrities. Perfection is demanded...but so is authenticity.

Rise realised that she was face-shifting as an integral part of her career, and this knowledge sent her into a tailspin. The fans don’t like the real Rise Kujikawa-they like Risette. But who is the real Rise Kujikawa? She doesn’t know! It’s frightening! What if she’s just made of smoke and mirrors? How does she find out what’s underneath?

And the answer she comes to is that there is no real Rise Kujikawa...which is the same as saying that there is no false one. Rise is Risette is Rise, it’s all just her, adapting to the context as she needs to. She’s a Badger Secondary, and the act of performance is the true self.

And for her, that’s a good answer-it brings her peace. But now we need to talk about Teddie.

Because just hearing Rise say ‘there’s no real me’ sends Teddie into a Shadow crisis right there.

He completely fucking loses it. He’s a denizen of the TV world-he’s been immune to it all this time, never manifesting a Shadow, but this is what breaks him. And that just screams Bird Lion. It’s his Buzz Lightyear moment-or rather his first Buzz Lightyear moment, because there are two. This is the first, and he survives it by retreating into his Secondary. It allows him to bring Shadow Teddie under control...but this isn’t sustainable. He’s realised something terrible and can’t avoid that knowledge indefinitely.

And soon enough he admits it to himself (and to the MC). He is a Shadow, that somehow became self-aware. His Truth was never true. He can’t handle it, he has no idea how to even exist, and he outright tells the MC that he intends to commit suicide.

He recovers, though-and he does so because the MC tells him Nanako survived. That’s the first thing that gives him a glimmer of hope, because his Truth already had some Snakey elements in there about chosen people and ambitions. He comes back from the brink, reshapes his system to centre those Snake principles, and returns to the side of his friends.

Lastly, Naoto Shirogane, our other queer-coded character. (I’m using she pronouns for the sake of canon here-but I’m a firm believer in nonbinary Naoto, for the record.) I think she’s a Bird secondary-the only one of those here, jeez. She’s just so analytical. She’s a rapid-fire Bird too, Detective Prince working on a case, squarely in the middle of her comfort zone. But push her out of it-into a normal teenager social situation, say-and watch her squirm!

She has a Bird Primary performance, too. But performance is the operative word here. She’s trying to look adult and smart and collected, in order to be taken seriously by the police officers she works with. And she is smart, mind you, but that’s not the why of her though it is the how. It’s not Naoto who goes ‘wait, let’s think about this, we need more information’ at the crucial point, but the MC, who really is a Bird Primary. Naoto was the one to suggest doing a little vigilante justice vis-a-vis murdering Namatame.

Her real Primary is Lion. Being a detective is a Cause for her, not a Truth, and she is blazingly certain of her own sense of what’s right-so much so that she doesn’t stop and check it against other people’s. And she inspires people! She doesn’t even mean to, and certainly doesn’t know why, but she is just so cool that people flock to her and admire her. ‘The Detective Prince’ is, when you think about it, a really Lion Bird kind of title!

Her Shadow has two issues with her. First, it harps on the gender angle. Hey, self, there’s that thing about your identity that you’ve been refusing to think about! You need to go poke at it! And then it breaks down into a scared child. Self, your performance is eating you alive. You need to do it, yes, the Cause demands it, but you also need to be able to stop sometimes and let yourself have emotions!

In short:

MC/Souji/Yu: Bird primary, Badger secondary

Yosuke: Snake primary, Badger secondary, models Lion primary

Chie: Lion primary, Lion secondary

Yukiko: Snake primary, Snake secondary, with Badger primary and secondary models that start out pretty unhealthy for her.

Kanji: Lion primary that starts out burnt and begins to unburn after his Shadow fight, Lion secondary. Models Badger secondary.

Rise: Snake primary, Badger secondary

Teddie: Bird primary, Lion secondary. Falls dramatically and recovers by shaping his system to be more Snakelike.

Naoto: Lion primary, Bird secondary, performs Bird primary

#persona 4 #sorting hat chats #harry potter

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thebooksaidthat · 4 years ago

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5 Contemporary Book Recommendations with WLW relationships!

As promised, this is my list of 5 book recs with FF centered relationships! They’re in no particular order and I hope it’ll motivate you to read some good queer works of art!

1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32620332-the-seven-husbands-of-evelyn-hugo

Synopsis: Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. When she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways. --> I read this a few months ago and I remembered myself just putting my Kindle down onto the bed and looked into my imaginary camera man’s face thinking about the ending. I loved everything about this book, the friendship, the romance and the style of writing tied them up nicely. Also, apparently there’s going to be a TV series coming soon in the future so yes I’m 110% confident I’ll be crying with a bag of chips at the end too ;’) Seriously though, do yourself a favor and read this! 2. The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53066661-the-falling-in-love-montage

Synopsis: Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out. But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms. Unbothered by Saoirse’s no-relationships rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real. --> The Falling in Love Montage is one of favorite FF books because I couldn’t not relate myself with the main character, Saoirse. I loved her humor throughout the book. She came off a little strong at first and it did seem like she was annoying but there’s a reason why she’s so sarcastic and cynical and I loved that the book wasn’t all 100% about the romance (although that is one of the best parts of it). I binged this within two days and I was fairly satisfied at the end and I can’t not recommend this enough for those who want to read a happy queer romance book! ALSO I LOVE THE COVER SO MUCH 3. The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36952571-the-weight-of-the-stars

Synopsis: Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends. One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the two misfits are brought together despite themselves—and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria’s mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system. Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And its up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more . . . In K. Ancrum’s signature poetic style, this slow-burn romance will have you savoring every page. --> The Weight of The Stars is mostly a quiet read, and when they say slow-burn, they really mean it. I loved this one a lot even thought it’s mostly a character-driven type of book. This is sort of an enemies-to-lovers type of book, though it went fairly quickly from enemies to friends. This book feels like something you should read slowly, just to savor it all and process everything on the pages. 4. Her Name in The Sky by Kelly Quindlen Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20886492-her-name-in-the-sky

Synopsis: Hannah wants to spend her senior year of high school going to football games and Mardi Gras parties with her tight-knit group of friends. The last thing she wants is to fall in love with a girl--especially when that girl is her best friend, Baker. Hannah knows she should like Wally, the kind, earnest boy who asks her to prom. She should cheer on her friend Clay when he asks Baker to be his girlfriend. She should follow the rules of her conservative Louisiana community--the rules that have been ingrained in her since she was a child. But Hannah longs to be with Baker, who cooks macaroni and cheese with Hannah late at night, who believes in the magic of books as much as Hannah does, and who challenges Hannah to be the best version of herself. And Baker might want to be with Hannah, too--if both girls can embrace that world-shaking, yet wondrous, possibility. --> Her Name in The Sky is a beautiful coming age story between two girls in a conservative town. I did find this one slightly harder to read because I usually stray away from books like these but I think it’s good to pick something up like this from time to time. Don’t be scared away though because this has a good and happy ending to it. 5. Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52915426-something-to-talk-about

Synopsis: A showrunner and her assistant give the world something to talk about when they accidentally fuel a ridiculous rumor in this debut romance. Hollywood powerhouse Jo is photographed making her assistant Emma laugh on the red carpet, and just like that, the tabloids declare them a couple. The so-called scandal couldn't come at a worse time--threatening Emma's promotion and Jo's new movie. As the gossip spreads, it starts to affect all areas of their lives. Paparazzi are following them outside the office, coworkers are treating them differently, and a "source" is feeding information to the media. But their only comment is "no comment". With the launch of Jo's film project fast approaching, the two women begin to spend even more time together, getting along famously. Emma seems to have a sixth sense for knowing what Jo needs. And Jo, known for being aloof and outwardly cold, opens up to Emma in a way neither of them expects. They begin to realize the rumor might not be so off base after all...but is acting on the spark between them worth fanning the gossip flames? --> Another queer rom-com heading your way with this final rec! This was a fun and cute read about the romance between Jo, who is a Chinese Hollywood star and her assistant, Emma. I read this in a book slump and I loved it, its sort of a fake-dating trope like book and I’ve never read something like this outside of fanfiction so it was an enjoyable experience all the way! Also, when the author described Jo at one of the red carpets with her dress with pockets, my mind automatically imagined Gemma Chan from Crazy Rich Asians as her.

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latter-day-saint-nick · 5 years ago

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I heard that the BBC Dracula adaptation written by Stephen Moffat was really bad, and it made me curious to see just how bad it was, so I decided to watch it for myself. It was not one of my smarter decisions.

But in order that my suffering won’t have been completely in vain, I’ll recap it here for those who are curious as well, to spare you the pain of actually having to watch it. You’re welcome!

Let me describe the viewing experience as best I can.

I have a BBC iPlayer account, so I could watch the show legally. My wife tells me to pirate it instead to avoid giving Moffat the views. She is right. I click on the first episode.

Episode 1

We start with a framing device of a severely ill Jonathan Harker in a Hungarian monastery, telling his story to two nuns. I do not hate this framing device. The original novel was told through diary entries, newspaper articles and letters, so having different characters tell the story of what happened to them to others is a neat way to adapt this type of literary device. The dialogue quickly takes a turn for the ridiculous, though, when one of the nuns, Sister Agatha, asks Jonathan in a silly accent if he had sexual intercourse with Count Dracula. Because queerbaiting? Is vampirism an STD now?

Still, the show tricks us into thinking that it’s going to be a fairly straightforward adaptation of the story as Jonathan recounts how he arrived at the castle, met the Count and became his prisoner. Later, this will turn out to be a sweet, sweet lie, but I don’t know that yet. At first, Dracula looks about a hundred years old and has a bad Romanian accent, but the more he feeds on Jonathan, the younger he gets, and the more refined and posh his British accent. Because this Dracula does not just absorb his victims’ lifeforce but also their knowledge. I find that stupid.

Dracula says the famous “I do not drink... wine” line. Badly. Still, the reference is mildly cute the first time. He repeats the line several times throughout the show, and it gets progressively less funny each time.

Jonathan reads a letter from his fiancee, Mina. In it, she jokes about how she’s going to sleep with all the cute men in the neighbourhood while he’s gone, as well as the adorable bar maiden, if she needs some variety. I sigh as I realize that this is probably what Moffat considers good queer representation.

At one point Jonathan talks about falling asleep, and Sister Agatha proceeds to ask him if he had dirty dreams about his fiancee. She persists with the question, even after Jonathan tells her that that’s private. It doesn’t seem like a pertinent question, but I guess Sister Agatha is just a pervert. Or maybe Moffat is.

Jonathan finishes his story about how he escaped from the castle. He bemoans that he can’t go home to England, because he is such a changed man and he can’t even remember his fiancee’s face. Sister Agatha reveals that the other nun with her is actually Mina. What a tweest! Apparently even before Jonathan told his story, Sister Agatha managed to figure out that he is English, tracked him down, found his fiancee and had her brought over to Budapest. The show is clearly hoping that the unexpectedness of this twist is going to distract us from the fact that it makes no damn sense at all.

It also turns out that Jonathan has become a vampire, and the sight of blood nearly makes him attack Mina. Of course, being one of the main heroes, he was never turned in the novel, not that that matters.

At this point Dracula shows up at the gates of the monastery in the form of a wolf. And I don’t mean that he shapeshifts like an Animorph. He is literally inside the wolf’s body, and he claws his way out of it, emerging at the gates naked and covered in wolf blood. I really don’t know why.

He and Sister Agatha proceed to have a sass-off. My wife makes fun of the dialogue by saying that it’s basically this:

“I’m a badass sister!” “Yeah, but I’m Dracula!” “Yeah, but I’m a badass sister!” “Yeah, but I’m Dracula!” “Yeah, but I’m a badass sister!” “Yeah, but I’m Dracula!” “Yeah, but I’m a badass sister!” “Yeah, but I’m Dracula!”

By the time my wife has finished the joke, the banter is still going on. It feels like it’s never going to end.

The Mother Superior tells the nuns to arm themselves. My wife starts wondering if we’re actually watching a Mel Brooks movie. Also, Sister Agatha is revealed to be Van Helsing. This is not as meaningful as the show seems to think it is, as she and Dracula haven’t had any past encounters. So it’s really just, “Oh, she’s actually a gender-swapped character from the book. That’s cool, I guess.

Finally, Dracula slinks off because he can’t get inside the monastery without being invited. He manages to find Jonathan, now fully a vampire, at a window and gets him to invite him in. You’d think this would be the end of the stupidity, but clearly I haven’t suffered enough yet.

Jonathan finds Mina and Sister Agatha. Sister Agatha tries to fend him off, since he’s, you know, a vampire and tried to feed off of Mina earlier. Mina, however, believes that the power of love can save him, so she approaches him. I point out that in the book, Mina was characterized as being very intelligent, not that that matters. As it turns out, it wasn’t Jonathan at all, but Dracula, wearing Jonathan’s skin, which he rips off, like something out of Hellraiser. He never uses this power again in the rest of the series.

The episode ends with him attacking the two women. Against my better judgement, I decide to watch the next episode, because while this was bad, it was bad in a fascinating way. Almost like something Tommy Wiseau would make. Okay, maybe not. Tommy Wiseau as Dracula would have been a lot more entertaining.

I click on the next episode.

Episode 2

We start with another framing device. This time Dracula is telling the story of his voyage to London to Sister Agatha while they’re playing chess. See, it’s symbolic, because they’re having a game of wits where they’re trying to outsmart each other! Okay, to be honest, I have no idea what Sister Agatha is trying to do. I guess Moffat is too clever for me.

Sister Agatha asks Dracula how he got to England. He tells her that he went on a ship. Inexplicably, this is not the end of that, but he proceeds to tell her about everything that happened on the ship, including conversations between characters that he wasn’t there for. Maybe he was listening at their doors.

I sense impending doom when I realize that this boat journey is going to take up the entire episode. In the book, it only took up a few pages, not that that matters.

Rather than staying in his coffin in the hold during the day, as he does in the book (not that that matters), Dracula mingles with the passengers. When Sister Agatha expresses surprises at that, he comments on how stupid it would be to stay in his coffin in the hold. You know, more adaptations should have lines about how stupid the source material is. It makes you look so smart.

How does Dracula avoid the sunlight during the day, though? Never fear, he simply spits out a pall of fog that surrounds the ship at all times and blocks out the sunlight, because I guess that’s a power he has. Like his wearing of other creatures’ skin, it’s not one he ever uses again, though. He tells Sister Agatha, “Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you.” Because referencing songs from a hundred years in the future is apparently also a power that he has.

We are introduced to the other passengers, who are a surprisingly diverse bunch. I can’t get too excited about this, however, as I know that they are all going to die. One of the passengers is an Indian doctor who has encountered the undead in the past. That would probably make for a more interesting story than this one, but then again, I don’t really want Moffat to tell it, so I don’t know why I’m complaining.

Dracula starts killing off crew and passengers one by one. I keep expecting the show to cut back to the chess game, with him telling Sister Agatha, “To make a long story short, I killed them all.”

The passengers begin to fear a killer on board, but never seem to suspect Dracula, who plays them against each other. They also discover that they’re all travelling to England at the behest of the same mysterious benefactor, who of course is Dracula, using a pseudonym. Because he hand-picked all of them for the special qualities he would gain from drinking their blood or something. It is way more convoluted than it needs to be. Is Moffat capable of writing a protagonist who is not an arrogant white man too clever for everyone around him? We may never know...

Throughout the episode there’s references to an unseen invalid staying in cabin 9. It turns out to be Sister Agatha, whom Dracula has been steadily draining. The chess game is just a hallucination that he induces in her while he drinks her blood. What a tweest!

Just like in the previous episode, the framing device is dropped about two-thirds through and we are now seeing the story in present tense. Dracula frames Sister Agatha as being the mystery killer, but she manages to reveal that he is a vampire just as she is about to get hanged by the crew. They manage to fend him off, but not before a few more characters die by being incredibly stupid.

One of the characters is a young English lord who just got married to a rich heiress, but is secretly having an affair with an African man pretending to be his servant. I can never remember his name, so I call him Gaylord (I’m allowed to make jokes like this). Gaylord is Dracula’s new business partner and he betrays the rest of the humans, because he thinks Dracula is his BFF and values his skills as a businessman. As it turns out, Dracula only chose Gaylord because of his wife’s wealth. Now that he has killed her, her money goes to Gaylord, and by draining Gaylord, it goes to Dracula. I was unaware that being someone’s business partner entitles you to inherit all their money after their death, so I assume that Dracula acquires people’s money by drinking their blood, just like he acquires their skills and attributes.

Sister Agatha assumes command over the ship, using her divine nun powers, I guess, and she prepares for Dracula to return and finish off the rest of the humans. I get bored and finish a chapter in a book I was reading earlier.

Eventually Sister Agatha blows up the ship to prevent Dracula from ever reaching England, which they keep referring to as “the New World”. That’s not what that term means, but who cares at this point? Dracula, encased in one of his boxes, sinks to the bottom of the ocean, only to break out and walk the rest of the way to England along the ocean floor. There he is greeted by cars and helicopters and someone who looks like Sister Agatha, but wearing modern clothes. What a tweest! Did it take him a hundred years to break out of his casket, or is this like The Village, where we were in modern times all along? The episode ends here, so I guess I’ll have to watch the next one to find out.

I am curious to see this stupidity unfold, but not sure I can take any more right now. But my wife applies some peer pressure, and I put on the final episode. Pray for me!

Episode 3

The previous two episodes were pretty bad, yes, but mostly in a way I can handle and even laugh at. They have not at all prepared me for what I am about to witness.

This episode doesn’t have a framing device, which makes me wonder why we bothered with those in the other two.

The Sister Agatha clone turns out to be her great-grandniece, Zoe. So it’s like Back to the Future where people keep having relatives who look exactly like them. Except Back to the Future is a comedy, and this is meant to be taken seriously.

Dracula escapes from the Anti-Dracula Brigade on the beach and breaks into some poor woman’s home after killing her husband and stuffing him in the fridge. I’m not sure if this is meant to be funny or scary. It ends up being neither. Dracula kills the woman as well, after lecturing her for taking all her modern-day luxuries for granted. Social commentary, I guess?

We are introduced to Seward, a young medical student who makes up for his lack of personality with a creepy obsession with his friend, a vapid, selfish party girl. Yes, this is Lucy Westenra. I found her a likable character in the novel. Not that that matters. I call this Lucy a slut, only for Lucy to make a comment on slut-shaming, which makes me feel bad. The irony is that I’m pretty sure we’re meant to see Lucy as slutty and shallow.

We’re also introduced to Quincey. He’s a douchebag. In the novel he was kind, brave and heroic. Not that that... whatever.

Seward is contacted by the Anti-Dracula Brigade, which is actually called the Jonathan Harker Foundation, but I prefer Anti-Dracula Brigade. It was formed by Sister Agatha’s relatives and Mina Murray with the goal to find Dracula and then to keep him alive to study him. I honestly would have thought that Mina would want Dracula dead, after he terrorized her and murdered her fiance, rather than sticking him in a cage for science, but it’s not like character motivations have to make sense. After all, this is Moffat, bitch!

Van Helsing explains to her students that Dracula was in suspended animation for over a hundred years at the bottom of the ocean until she accidentally woke him by sticking her fingers in his mouth, which allowed him to draw blood and be renewed. She doesn’t explain why her Anti-Dracula Brigade consists of medical students, rather than experts in their fields. She also doesn’t explain why he didn’t grow old again, like he was at the start of episode 1, after not having had anything to eat for over 120 years.

Dracula has been caught and is contained in a cell at the Brigade’s headquarters. I honestly don’t remember how that happened. Did they forget to show us that or did I just black out? Both seem like likely options. The cell contains what I assume is a Kindle, to keep Dracula occupied. Van Helsing comes to talk to him, and he scoffs at the idea of a woman being in charge. She tells him that he slept through the women’s rights movement. I am paralyzed with fear that Moffat is going to attempt to explain women’s rights to me. Why would God test me like this? My relief knows no bounds when the characters change the subject immediately. God is good after all.

This reprieve doesn’t last long. My faith is once again tested when I am forced to witness one of the most idiotic scenes I have ever had the misfortune to watch on screen. It begins when Renfield is brought in. I know that a Dracula adaptation turning silly when Renfield is introduced is not unusual, but Moffat always strives to exceed expectations of ridiculousness. In this version Renfield is Dracula’s lawyer, working for the same firm that he hired 120 years ago when Jonathan was their representative. They have been Skyping, using what I thought was a Kindle, but turns out to be a proper tablet. It wasn’t supposed to be connected to the internet, but all Dracula had to do was guess the WiFi password. Which was his own name.

I cannot deal with this. This scene has broken me. I am a broken man. I cry out in anguish and despair, for what else can I do? My wife, who has gone to the kitchen to get herself a drink, comes to see if I am okay. I am not. I may never be okay again. Moffat has marred my soul forever.

Renfield argues that the Anti-Dracula Brigade is keeping Dracula against his will and that he hasn’t actually done anything illegal, so they are forced to set him free. On the way out, Dracula finds Seward’s phone and uses it to meet up with Lucy. There’s also something about Van Helsing having cancer and drinking some of Dracula’s blood in the hopes that it will cure her. I don’t really care about this, but it’s important to the plot.

There’s a time-skip of a few months. Lucy is engaged to Quincey, but still sneaks off regularly for dates with Dracula where she lets him feed off her. I suspect that this is Moffat’s attempt at making the character more feminist. You see, instead of just passively being attacked by Dracula in her sleep at night, she actively goes out to find him and chooses to be drained by him! This does not make her a better character. Really, it just makes her seem stupid as well as callous, since she doesn’t give a damn about any of Dracula’s other victims who don’t give him consent to drink their blood.

There is a very annoying reference to the novel when a vampire child calls Lucy “Bloofer Lady”. Like the wine line, it sounds more stupid every time the show repeats it. Also, the vampire kid shows up in one more scene before Dracula kills him. Glad he served a point.

Dracula finally drains Lucy. Her family holds a funeral, thinking that she’s dead. But as she’s been infected with vampirism, she is fully conscious while she is being cremated. So we get to watch her burn alive, screaming in pain all the while. Hey, did I mention that Lucy is played by a black actress? Remember in season 10 of Doctor Who when something terrible would happen to Bill Potts every other episode, like having a hole shot through her chest or being turned into a Cyberman? Now, I’m not saying that Moffat enjoys having horrifying things happen to his black female characters... but I’m not not saying it either.

Lucy escapes from her coffin and takes revenge on the crematorium workers. During this scene we only see her reflection, in which she looks normal, which makes it painfully obvious that this is only how she sees herself, and in reality she’s going to be revealed to be horribly burned. The show plays coy with this for an annoyingly long time.

Van Helsing, still dying of cancer, breaks out of the hospital with help from Seward and they go visit Dracula in his flat. Yes, Dracula has a flat. It’s not hidden or anything. It’s even listed in the phone book. Look, it’s almost over, so who cares?

Lucy shows up as well and after more pointless build-up, we finally get to see her real appearance, which, surprise, surprise, is horribly burned. She is oblivious to this, because vampires’ reflections are weird in a way that is never really explained. Dracula sees himself in the mirror as old and decaying, whereas Lucy sees herself as being still pretty. I don’t know what it means, apart from that Moffat doesn’t understand vampire mythology and feels that it needs to be made more interesting.

Seward encourages Lucy to take a selfie, which reveals her true face. Why the rules for cameras are different from the rules for mirrors is not explained either. Lucy breaks down crying because being ugly is a fate worse than death. Seward tells her that he still wants to kiss her, because I guess this was meant to be the message? Something about true love? She begs him for death. They kiss and he mercy-kills her. In the book the people who loved Lucy had to kill her to save her immortal soul and to protect the world from the monster she had become, which has a bit more emotional resonance than saving her from having to be ugly for eternity. But, you know. NOT THAT THAT MATTERS.

Van Helsing sends Seward away for her final confrontation with Dracula, because she has him figured out. Having the memories of her great-aunt Agatha within her, which she gained from drinking Dracula’s blood, which he gained from drinking Agatha’s blood, she exposits that Dracula isn’t actually harmed by sunlight or crosses. He just fears death more than anything and so he doesn’t like the sight of the cross which represents someone being willing to die. Okay, but that doesn’t explain his aversion to sunlight! What does that have to do with death? She also spouts off some nonsense about how his fear of death originated from being the weakest in a family of noblemen and soldiers. Um, Moffat? You do realize that Dracula is based on Vlad the Impaler, right? Someone who was known for, well, impaling his enemies? But, again, it’s almost over, so let’s just get on with it!

Van Helsing tells Dracula that because she is dying of cancer, she is accomplishing the one thing he is afraid of doing, which somehow convinces him to kill himself by drinking her cancerous blood, which is poison to him. To make this experience painless for her, he creates an illusion for her where they’re, um, tenderly making love? What the hell? Is that what all their previous scenes were leading up to? Okay, if you say so.

Wait, is that the real reason why Moffat made Van Helsing a woman? Screw you, Moffat! Screw you so much!

Credits roll. This ends one of the worst television viewing experiences I’ve ever had. I go on YouTube to rewatch Sherlock Is Garbage, and Here’s Why. It is deeply cathartic.

#bbc dracula #flipping moffat

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biteofwinter-archived · 3 years ago

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what ARE alice's views on monogamy, marriage, and relationships??

okay finneeee I GUESS i'll answer that (thank u for asking 💙)

first of all, alice doesn’t tend to comply with social expectations for monogamy. for one, she’s not big on committed relationships unless she’s really committed to the person or people. she’s demiromantic meaning she only feels romantic attraction to people once she’s already built a strong connection with them. so because of that alice isn’t getting into many romantic relationships in the first place simply because she doesn’t allow herself to open up like that to all that many people. that being said, she’s quite chill when it comes to being with people, it’s not a big deal for her until it becomes one (aka when the actual romantic feelings develop). she’s not big on monogamy and is fine with being in open relationships, she’ll be the third if a couple wants to experiment, things along those lines.

on the isle, alice has sort of an interesting kind of omnipresent vibe i feel, she doesn’t make a lot of drama or ever really bring attention to herself if she doesn’t have to and she can go pretty much anywhere for the most part. this means she has a lot more access than the people who stick within their factions.

in general when it comes to alice being in romantic relationships, alice tends to be in either an open relationship (not being sexually exclusive) or a polyamorous relationship (where in some way or another there are feelings involved for more than one person). she rarely does complete exclusivity with one person, simply because that’s just not her vibe. that being said if her partner felt strongly about being committed to each other exclusively then alice would take it into consideration.

alice is kind of iffy on marriage, obviously her parents weren’t married and they probably hate each other so she has no idea what a healthy marriage looks like cause she doesn’t actually see one until she’s in her twenties. but i think if alice really loved someone and they wanted to get married she’d be okay to get married. alice is more of a life partner(s) type person, just cause of her ethical non-monogamy vibes. the concept of marriage is also kind of weird for alice once she comes over from the isle because she’s a princess and will likely inherit the throne of arendelle one day. so to alice the concept of being married in a traditional sense scares her because she’s not a traditionalist, but there’s something obviously very traditional about becoming queen that she feels like she’d mess up. ya know?

now, onto how other people probably view alice’s non-monogamy. first of all, alice doesn’t care what people think unless there’s an outstanding reason for her to care. (like she kind of cares about what arendelle’s populous thinks of her.) alice probably has a bit of a reputation on the isle for her non-monogamy. if it’s in character for your muse to slut shame her/make a comment about her flings/relationships ect, go ahead. i won’t stop you. all is fair game. alice doesn’t always make an effort to hide what she gets up to so people probably, definetly know.

because this has become an essay i will now pepper in some wishlist items relating to these topics that i would find extra fun to rp should anyone want to:

- polyam relationship please, let alice love on two people at once, she has many love to give

- let alice be the other woman, i am SO down for cheating plots if my rp partner is down for cheating plots (bonus points if theres a third person involved like the other half of the relationship alice messed with)

- gimme a queer platonic partnership

note : when it comes to the actual action of shipping, some ooc discussion is obviously needed just to figure out where our muses are and what the other mun and their muse is up for or not. unless discussed, all ships live in their own little universe but because alice isn’t always exclusive sexually or even romantically there might occasionally be brief mentions of that in rp, so it’s just something my shipping partners and i need to talk about.

edit : part two can be found here

#ask me about my recent crimes . . . [ META & COMMENTARY ]*

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