#also on a different note i adore nona so. SO much

[benzedrine-calmstheitch]

guys how did any of you get through Nona the Ninth and ever be normal again

I am not done btw pls don’t spoil me

but! “i died and you carried me” “you were the instrument of both my vengeance and my grace” “I will always know you” I AM GOING TO CRY WHILE FIERCELY SHOVELING GRAVELING INTO MY MOUTH I AM IRREVOCABLY CHANGED

[moldymeat]

Some thoughts I had while playing Psychonauts 2 for the first time that I wanted to write down somewhere because I cant just keep info dumping to my dad. :]

Spoilers, duh

TL;DR this is my new favorite video game :D

I cringed so much through the whole process of turning Hollis into a gambling addict, I know Raz is just a kid and that they make up afterwards, but its so hard for me to play a video game and the character you play as does something I'd never do.

the music that plays in Hollis' Hotstreak reminds me of something from The Incredibles for some reason. Side note, I ADORE both PN1 and PN2's soundtracks and I do listen to them just as background noise. my favorites are all the circus tracks, Meat Circus, Flea Circus, Aquato Family Caravan

Me first hearing the main bad guys name was Maligula at the beginning of the game: "haha, Maligula kinda sounds like Amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions, especially fear! I sure love all the punny names in this game! I'm sure this will have nothing to do with this characters lore!"

In my head video games and film are kind of in separate categories, so hearing Jack Black and Elijah Wood, very prolific film actors voicing characters in this seemingly random video game was kinda jarring. I know now that Jack Black is friends with the creators of PN and has acted in other double fine games, buts its still kinda weird to me. (I still liked them tho)

In the Psi-Kings Sensorium, Helmut says "My Bobby" about Bob and my immediate thought was "something a little fruitys going on here" and then later on they show Bob and Helmuts marriage and stuff and I was like "oh something a LOT fruitys going on here". I think I was just so prepared for any kind of relationship for Bob and Helmut to have to be only subtext that I forgot this game came out in 2021 and they could show gay if they wanted to.

Psi pops are definitely sour grape and green apple flavored and dream fluffs are little condensed balls of cotton candy.

In hindsight, Gristol was totally trying to mail his own body to himself for safe keeping, but also he was the only mail worker so how did he think the package was going to get him? he didn't know he was going to get an intern and its not like he could walk down to the mail room as Truman without blowing his cover. My mans did NOT think this through.

The conversation Raz has with Dion is really sad and stuff, but when you're idling around Dion one of the things he says is "look at me and my psychic goggles!" and I literally laughed out loud when I heard that.

"Hey why do all these lice have little signs lol" "Lucy those were peaceful protesters!" "OH, UH OH."

I really loved Comptons Cookoff! it was way different from all the other regular old platformer levels, and I'm a sucker for timed cooking games. I only wish that you could replay the actual game show part in the collective unconscious.

In Cassie's Collection there are all the little paper fairy tale characters right? Well two of them, Shakespeare and a dragon, are played by the same actors who played Snorpy and Chandlo in bugsnax, so hearing the paper characters talk I was like "hey, I know those guys!"

Its a little pet peeve of mine when a character in any media is supposed to come from a specific country and they don't have that country's accent. Obviously Grulovia isn't a real place, but Nona has a nondescript eastern European accent, so why wouldn't the other Grulovian characters? I guess Augustus could have trained it out of himself or something, but Gristol? As much as I like Elijah Wood as Gristol, he's the gzesarevich and loves his country! there's no way he would train himself out of the grulovian accent. I've heard some other people say Gruman has an accent when Maligula was released but eh, I don't hear it all that much.

While finishing the game I (only!) shed a tear three times, once when Maligula was holding Marona's dead body, once when Raz got his junior Psychonaut badge, and once when the credits starting rolling.

i think Cosmic I and Welcome to my Mind are going to be stuck in my head for weeks.

[searchforthescars]

If this is out of line, please feel free to delete this ask :) I follow your Twitter and I read your Cam/Pal ☕️ post here, but now that Nona's been out for a whopping 48 hours, I was wondering how you're feeling about the fandom and the story about Cam and Pal and Paul [screams]

(First of all, I'm very sorry for this delayed reply - it started off as "Well, I want to make sure my self-imposed spoiler period is over" and then continued into "well I don't want to Step In It, fandom-wise." But I have thoughts and you asked, and I appreciate that :3).

The following content was written in mid-September and has been edited slightly for length and clarity. It's still long. Sorry lmao.

Nona the Ninth was, to (probably) the shock of no one who knows me, a gift to me specifically. I joke that this book was written for me because it has so many things I love: apocalyptic settings, examinations of all the hazards and casualties of love, and some EXPLANATIONS OF WHAT THE HELL JOHN DID.

There was also Cam/Pal. So much Cam/Pal. "I hope you know that I adore you, Scholar." SHUT THE FUCK UP?????? HELLO??????????? "LIFE IS TOO SHORT AND LOVE IS TOO LONG" OKAY GOODBYE

Now, I should also say that I've had a Nona ARC since the summer, so I've been sitting on this for a hot minute. My experience reading the book was equal parts "WOW I AM WINNING" and "wow the fandom is going to go nuclear." And while I haven't seen as much hate as I was expecting, I suspect some of that is because I got over my fear of blocking people and have blocked often and liberally if the situation calls for it.

To be clear, I never have an issue with people shipping things that I don't ship. I never have a problem with people actively disliking my ships. What I do have a problem with is people coming into my DMs, notes, askbox, etc., and calling me names, attacking me, and generally being vile in mine own house when they could just as easily scroll away.

That's what happened around Cam/Pal between HtN and NtN. I'm not going to dredge up the details for the sanity of myself and my friends, but it was real and it was bad. Real people were deeply hurt. I've been in fandom - including some really nuclear ones - for more than half my life, and it has never been this bad.

At this point, my stance is this: Nona the Ninth made a near-ironclad case for Cam/Pal being canonically romantically entwined. Nona the Ninth also established that the two of them have been in love for a long time. The scene where they became Paul is, in my opinion, akin to a marriage proposal - especially when you weave in the fact that the "three strands" verse Dulcie quotes about them in Harrow the Ninth is often quoted in weddings and also talks about two people being better than one, etc etc.

My stance is also: if you read them as platonic but vibe just fine with people who don't read it that way, and you filter your internet experience through tagging, blocking, and scrolling past what you don't vibe with - more power to you. You're doing great, and I have no quarrel with you at all.

If you, however, choose to make sweeping faux-pearl-clutching statements about the creeps who ship cousins, you can get the fuck out of my house. Block me, unfollow me, whatever, but this is not the place for you.

Because also, nine times of ten, it's not about the fact that they're SECOND cousins (which is vastly different from cousins). It's about people disliking that a female character is with a male character. The Venn diagram of people I've seen being loudly angry and faux-pearl-clutching about Cam/Pal as a romantic ship and the people who insist Camilla is something that isn't bi and say that anyone headcannoning her as bi is something-phobic is almost a circle.

Again. You don't have to think Cam is bi or ship Cam/Pal. But there is no reason you need to rain on the parade of those who do.

But, because so many people do, I chose to open my umbrella and shout over the noise with my properly-tagged fic and all my online shenanigans. Because that's what fandom is about, for me. And I - like I ask others to do - mitigate my own online experience.

I'm always going to be a little angry and bitter over what happened with the Cam/Pal discourse. I'm always going to grit my teeth when I recall the person who told me they felt sorry for my sister because I "shipped incest." (Ironically, this person ships the Tridentarii.) I'm always going to be twitchy about being a Cam/Pal gremlin on main (despite that fact that I am apparently now something of a Sixth House Expert on TikTok??? weird).

But overall, Nona's release day was one of the most entertaining, unhinged 24 hours I've ever had in fandom. It reminded me of why I love fandom so deeply and fiercely; it's supposed to be about community and celebration, both of the source material and about all the diversity that accompanies a myriad of reads of that same material. I truly hope (edit: as of the time this was posted, the following statement is true) that this is a sign of what is to come for the corners of the TLT fandom I'm in; I hope that we will continue to celebrate what Tamsyn gifted us while also going unhinged over the possibilities left for us in AtN.

[lesbrarians]

Nona the Ninth: A Spoiler-Free Review

Disclaimer: I'm a librarian who received an Uncorrected Advance Reader Copy of Nona the Ninth. Thank you to TOR for providing me with this ARC.This review is my own and is not influenced in any way by the privilege of receiving this ARC. I swore on the Tomb not speak its secrets, and as promised, this review will contain no spoilers.

---

The only negative thing I have to say about my experience of reading this book was simply that I could not sit down and read it all in one sitting. Unfortunately, I needed to do such stupid human things as go to work, eat, and sleep. Which was most unfortunate, because Nona was the most engrossing book I've read in a long time, and I would've rather read it than do, you know, any of those things.

I've been waffling about where Nona ranks in my personal ranking of the Locked Tomb books. Because like, I didn't think it was possible to like a book more than GtN, but tbfh? NtN is a strong contender to replace it.

This is not to say that NtN is similar in tone to GtN, though! One of the things I admire most about this series is how uniquely different each of the Locked Tomb books has been in terms of its narrative voice. And look, I'll be the first to say that I struggled when I read HtN at first. My brain had a really difficult time getting over the mental roadblock with the switch to second-person tense. Of course, the emotional payoff was worth it in the end! But it was a challenge for me to get into at first.

I didn't have that kind of mental roadblock with NtN. Nona immediately sucked me in. Her narrative voice is so different than the narrative voices found in Gideon or Harrow, and it is truly such a delight to read. It wasn't as meme-y as the first one or even the second one. I think I only caught like two legit memes? The humor was still on-point (when I tell you that there was one moment towards the end where I went from quiet blubbering to actual hooting with laughter, the emotional whiplash killed me and I loved every second of it), but it took the side seat next to the worldbuilding. God, the lore encased in NtN... I need a reread to really digest it all.

And Nona herself? Being inside her head is just... it's charming. Nona as a character absolutely charmed me. The little cover blurb of "You will love Nona, and Nona loves you"? Accurate in every respect. I would die for Nona. I was so sad to finish the novel and honestly wanted to flip back to the start to go on Nona's whole journey all over again. (Because goddamn, what a journey it was.)

Also, every other character in this, not just Nona, was amazing. I loved reading about every character on the Dramatis Personae, especially the "you three." Well, except for the dogs listed. There sadly wasn't enough of the dogs. Asides from Noodle. There was a satisfactory amount of Noodle, whomst I adored.

Let's talk (not really, because No Spoilers) about twists. I went into Nona with a starting theory, and as I read, my theories changed as we learned new pieces of information. There were a few twists where I picked up on the breadcrumbs that Tamsyn was laying and called it before it actually happened, which I must say is tremendously satisfying. And then there were a few twists that absolutely sucker-punched me right in the gut because I was not expecting them at all. And then I had one theory that I was convinced was gonna be true and... I mean, it wasn't confirmed. I suppose it wasn't also denied, though? I'll sit on it.

And now that I've finished writing this review... there's some research I need to do. A few things I've written down that I must look up. A few comparisons to make between my notes and the text.

And so much thinking I must do.

And after I do all that.... then I need to decide: do I immediately reread Nona, or do I go back and reread Harrow and Gideon first? Decisions, decisions.

---

TL;DR Absolutely incredible. Thought-provoking, insane, amazing. As with Gideon and Harrow before them, I am so, so excited for the world at large to read Nona. It is worth the wait.

[fyrapartnersearch]

on the search for fandumbs

 INTRO

Hi, there!! My name, or online alias, is Sei. I am not publicly sharing my real name simply because I dislike it, but if you absolutely must know, you may ask upon contacting me. 

I’m nineteen years old, a virgo, and have a plethora of interests including (but not limited to) writing, drawing, comic books, horror movies, science, reading, and spicy food. I’m an optimistic and laid back person and to me, roleplaying is nothing more than a hobby so I try to be in the middle between completely care-free and serious. I am open minded and non-judgemental so no matter who you are, I’ll probably accept you unless your request goes against my limits.

I am looking for anime/manga-centric fandoms. I am okay with both OCxOC and OCxCanon pairings but CanonxCanon doesn’t hold my interest. 

GUIDELINES

I would prefer for my partner to be at least fifteen years of age, considering the fact that I am a legal adult. While I am fine with writing with minors, I don’t write out smut with those under eighteen as I can legally get in trouble. I’m also quite uncomfortable with writing smut out with males, but I will accept general roleplay partners of the opposite gender. Really, other than these guidelines, I’m fairly laid back and I could care less if you were a swamp monster behind a monitor or something. (Okay, maybe not to that extent).

I can either do OCxCanon pairings or OCxOC pairings depending on your preference. If we decide to do OCxCanon pairings, I double and only double as that seems like the fair way to do things. What that means is I play your love interest and my OC, and you play my love interest and your OC. I also expect both sides to be fair; if you write a million paragraphs for your side and only a sentence for mine, I won’t accept it. Obviously, a slight difference is fine, but nothing extreme. Another important thing to mention is that I am absolutely in no way picky over love interests! If we happen to share the same one, I’ll gladly settle for another. I am alright with love triangles, f//, mxf, and m//. If you contact me, you have to be alright with at least f// and mxf because a handful of my personal pairings consist of these.

I, unfortunately, do not have the time to construct 1500+ word per side replies. I am a full time student and it would take me ages to even finish one half of the roleplay. Even if I weren’t, roleplaying is just a hobby for me and I would prefer for it to not feel like a chore. With that being said, my comfort zone is generally 300-650 words per side. I can write more or less, depending on the scene taking place. As far as grammar goes, I’m no grammar nazi; everyone makes mistakes, and I am especially understanding of those who did not grow up with English as their native language. 

While I prefer third person, I can be persuaded to write in first if that is something that you absolutely want. I hold no preference between present & past tense, so that is your poison to pick! I really don’t like AU’s all too much, but if you have an awesome idea that you’re itching to try out I’ll happily listen. If anything, my side can be canon while yours can consist of an AU.

I am in the middle between picky and lenient with OC’s; of course, I’m not going to tear them up. It’s your character, and you can do what you please with them. However, I don’t want a bio that you spent five minutes on sent to me. Back stories, personalities, and everything in between are extremely important to a character. I don’t accept Mary Sue’s, either; no overpowered OC’s and no Japanese characters with English names. I spend a lot of time on my OC’s and I’d appreciate the same for you - I obviously don’t expect you to send me a novel, but I like to know about what kind of character I’m writing against. When it comes to the spotlight, there’s not much to say other than to keep it balanced between our characters; it can’t be on yours the entire time.

I can normally promise at least one response a day, and if I’m on break, multiple. It is highly unlikely that I won’t be able to promise that, but in the event that I can’t, please be patient with me. Life comes first. Now, if you don’t hear anything from me in four-seven days, then you may pester me. Chances are, if I haven’t replied in that long, I merely opened your email and forgot to reply! I don’t expect much from you, other than the fact that I would appreciate at least one reply every three days. That’s not too bad, no?

I absolutely adore plotting and OOC chatting. It makes me a lot more comfortable with my partner, and encourages me to reply to the roleplay quicker! Plotting is one of my favorite parts of a roleplay, and I like to do it even after we get things started; even merely speaking about our OC’s is fun! Bottom line is, I prefer these things and would like if you did so, too.

Tell me your limits within your initial email, or I will consider it an open book between the both of us! Mine would consist of: porn without plot (pwp), bestiality, necrophilia, bathroom play, pedophilic relationships, extreme age gaps, incest, and strange foot fetish type things. I will not budge on any of these, and I will be sure to respect your limits as well!

My weapon of choice (I’m kidding) when it comes to roleplaying is email/gdocs. When you contact me, make sure to state your name, age, love interest, and any limits you may or may not have.

Email: decayinq@gmail.com (with the q)

 FANDOMS

Love interests are listed below the fandom. Of course, if you’re looking for OCxOC you can ignore them. They are listed in order of preference, but I’ve mentioned before that I’m not picky. c:

— Attack on Titan

Eren Jaeger | Mikasa Ackerman

— Bleach

Ichigo Kurosaki | Rukia Kuchiki

— Blue Exorcist

Rin Okumura | Shiemi Moriyama

— Death Note

L Lawliet | Touta Matsuda | Light Yagami | Misa Amane

— Death Parade

Decim | Nona

— Diabolik Lovers

Ayato Sakamaki | Ruki Mukami

— Durarara

Izaya Orihara | Shizuo Heiwajima

— Fairy Tail

Natsu Dragneel | Gray Fullbuster

— Future Diary

Yuno Gasai | Aru Akise

— Naruto

Naruto Uzumaki | Sasuke Uchiha

— Ouran High School Host Club

Haruhi Fujioka | Hikaru Hitachiin

— Pokemon

I prefer to use OC’s for this!

— Soul Eater

Soul Evans |  Death the Kid

— Sword Art Online

Kazuto Kirigaya | Asuna Yuuki

— Tokyo Ghoul

Ken Kaneki | Ayato Kirishima | Touka Kirishima