#although i'm also very interested in the world and the lore and loved to add stuff to it

[sack-thing]

This is crazy, but my FFCC script is now going to be available online in english. ⭐

I uploaded the first two chapters on AO3, covering the intro and first dungeon. A peaceful beginning for this little story.

I've got the first year translated already and a bit of the second, so I guess there will be regular updates for a while. We'll see how the rest goes!

[mecachrome]

What is the hype around jendo? I am trying to do research but I feel like they barely had any interactions?? Especially recently? Is there a primer or something cause I totally want to try to get into them!

OMGGGG well i wouldn't call myself a jendo expert or anything but i can briefly tell you why i like them!!! also soz for late reply 😭

tbh the very first thing that converted me was watching this interview forever ago because i remember being deeply intrigued by lando's demeanor + relative shyness + how hard he tried overall to appear Respectable and Mature in front of jense while answering his questions??? like the way jenson smiles at him during "are you happy?" "UMMM... kind of" wtheck T__T

jendo honestly have a lot of lore though! again i am not an expert but @cuthechicane has so many fantastic clips and gifsets if you're looking for interax that will rewire your brain chemistry ☝️ (the sheer giddinesssss of their miami interview 😭 also this is a classic moment). part of their thing is that they're both "somerset boys" (lando grew up in glastonbury / jenson is from frome) so that connection also kind of adds an extra layer to jenson having raced for mclaren / lando looking up to him and the general hero worship or cyclical nature of f1 that is palpable in their dynamic and a lot of other f1 agediff ships. ofc rossi was lando's real hero but... you know jenson is jenson

really though i think what i like most about jendo is how much jenson genuinely ADORES lando lmfao like their dynamic is so ridiculous but in a really absurdly sincere way!!! ofc it's super fun to go all in on the rancid age gap power imbalance vibes etc. and the way they flirt in public and fluster each other but jenson 100% RATES lando and hypes him up constantly to the point that it's almost embarrassing negl. lichr him going all in on lando like 4 hours ago... what's craziest to me is that he sincerely believes everyone else loves lando too like his brain can't comprehend the mere concept of someone not being obsessed with his favorite little british twink 😭 he's those innocent guys on reddit who still post comments like "lando is so nice it's impossible to hate him!!!" as if we're still in 2019 or something...... i want to live in that world

imo there's also an aspect to jendo where it's like...? jenson sees so much of himself in lando to the point of having preconceptions about lando's mentality that he projects onto him a bit which i think adds dimension to jenson's vulnerability but that goes into way more my own Meta and isn't really relevant to this post. but part of jenson's personality is that he is very charismatic and a natural speaker and also Usually Right so he loves to SAY shit and although he's not quite a nico-level professional shit stirrer he does kind of um... always speak like he knows something you don't. as evidenced by his time as lewis's teammate wherein he won the idgaf war by not acknowledging it going on in the first place. this is also why he and oscar should banter more because i feel like the comparisons between oscar and jenson are honestly so apt HLSDFH i have a jenson/oscar/lando post if that is of any interest

ok sorry i'm getting off-track but >>>all of that to me is why jendo is fun... jenson presents as very self-assured but if you do a psyche deep dive you realize he was quite sensitive growing up and Personally Victimized by briatore and has been quite open about his anxiety and the way f1 culture functioned at the time, and he's always been quite emotionally regulated but obviously there was... also a lot of glamour that accompanied that until later in his career LOL. so getting to explore those sides of him with a 20-something lando who very much mirrors him (self-reflective and sometimes overly critical and learning to live the "highly committed and industrious playboy" life) but also makes his façade crack in ways you don't often see is so fun & fascinating...!!! imo you can take them in a lot of different directions as a ship :3c

^ bonus bits i like from his book

[byemambo]

We Are Lead Actors as K-Pop Boy Group Concept Photos: A Deep Dive [1/2]

Because I can't be normal about anything, I took it upon myself for self indulgence (rip We Are Wednesdays) to share my takes on which boy group concepts the We Are lead actors are based on their editorials/professional photographs (with my own ideas for future photoshoots). I had a lot of fun with this and if anyone has other comments to add, please feel free to do so!

Pond Naravit as NCT 127 - 2 Baddies

Pond is such an amazing performer (yeah I see them kpop covers!) and I feel like his vibe definitely suits the more modern take on the hip hop concept. His pictorials from ELLE Thailand suited this perfectly, especially with the accessories (the earrings are my personal favorite). I'd love to see Pond's future editorials showcase more accessories and experiment with pattern and cuts of clothing, but keeping it on the darker side. His hair is also his selling point so styling his hair to show his facial features more is a huge plus.

What I'd Love to See: NCT 127 - Favorite (Vampire)

Pond's features can be emphasized by playing around with lighting since his clothing is rather simple, or even utilizing motion blur like Taeil's image second on the left. It's also the era of vampire content in QL recently (still mourning over no Boss as a vampire but we have Zomvivor so I guess I'll let it go this one time) so playing around with set design and props would be interesting, even something as simple as the location of the photoshoot itself to take advantage of the architecture.

Phuwin Tangsakyuen as ATEEZ - BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)

I feel like from the images that I've seen Phuwin in, from his editorials to the fashion brands that named his ambassador like LOEWE, they seem to keep him in a more dapper and polished style such as the Frank Muller photoshoot for the Vanguard Beach watch collection. The green background instantly reminded me of one of the various concepts for ATEEZ's THE WORLD EP.2: OUTLAW EP featuring BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILI PEPPERS) as its title track, but the clothing for ATEEZ is more cyberpunk influenced to fit their alternate universe in their music video and lore. I'd love to see Phuwin take on more experimental fashion for his future editorials but I'm sure that's a big ask given he's very set on what he wants for himself as a person working in the entertainment world, which I heavily respect.

What I'd Love to See: ATEEZ - 멋(The Real) (흥 : 興 Ver.)

Jongho's hat always sends me but to not take away from Phuwin's dapper style, there can be experimentation with color and pattern with minimal fashion statement accessories. From something as simple as including a turtleneck like San in the second image or adding mismatched pattern like Yeosang's dress shirt in the third image, I think his stylists could include more fun textures into his wardrobe without overwhelming or taking away from his established image.

Winny Thanawin as ONEUS - Baila Conmigo

I was torn knowing that Winny is overdue for a new editorial since L'Officiel and I need someone to get on the ball with that asap. Although I included both images, ONEUS's La Dolce Vita EP had gorgeous photos for their mermaid concept (which I'm still mad at RBW for not even including it anywhere except the story teaser images like bruh not even in the damn MV or physical album), so I can totally see Winny embracing a more oceanic and beach vibe (just from scrolling his Instagram feed with all sorts of photos of the beach or poolside). Blue being his favorite color is also just a no brainer for this type of concept.

What I'd Like to See: ONEUS - 쉽게 쓰여진 노래 (A Song Written Easily)

I need the photographer to take this man outdoors, preferably somewhere along the coast to really utilize the sun and ocean breeze. He also deserves to expand more with his blue tones, given that he seems to wear a lot of it just in every day life. If not a denim set, definitely in some cargo shorts with a Hawaiian inspired shirt.

Satang Kittiphop as P1Harmony - 겁나니 (Scared)

We need to give P1Harmony their flowers because when I saw these Satang photos for KAZZ Magazine, my mind really went to their DISHARMONY: BREAK OUT EP with Scared as the title track. He's also around the members' ages (born between '01 to '05) so if he really wanted to, he could be their secret seventh member (he blends in so well with Keeho in the second image my god). I also think GMMTV should continue marketing Satang's visual image as more tough and badass simply because I find it enjoyable to watch him in series like We Are as the silly goofy little brother archetype while also serving face.

What I'd Love to See: P1Harmony - 때깔 (Killin' It)

Y'all cannot tell me Satang wouldn't suit the best of both worlds with having his edge while also tying in his more silly image from the characters he's played that we know and love. Whether they achieve this look from fun statement pieces like fur coats or bold colors, I'd think seeing Satang push beyond his edgy image and becoming more experimental with his wardrobe would be insane.

If you made it this far, I really appreciate it! Y'all, I don't know anything about fashion like that so please: don't expect too much out of me. I recognize patterns because I'm neurodivergent and have a hyperfixations LOL so I have to split this post up into two due to the image limit (found here) but otherwise, I hope y'all get to check out new music or groups, or even the genre of K-Pop if you're unfamiliar and want to venture into it. All these groups are extremely talented and deserve all the love and support they can get <3

[iciatheguardess]

".... I believe it's finally about time I do this."

Icia sits down by her fireplace and starts writing down the same thing on many, many pieces of paper.

This is what she writes:

"Help Wanted to reclaim Digital World"

"I am forming a party to rescue a digital world from a tyrannical AI that is terrorizing and abusing many. Due note that this will not be a safe or small feat, and there will more than likely be many perils involved that could result in serious harm and death, or possibly abstraction. All help is appreciated, but this is not for the faint of heart. I will be willing to supply more details to any and all who are interested. There will be no 'reward' other than the honor of rescuing those in danger and access to a grand, royal, fantastical kingdom that shall flourish once freed (although hopefully, all will be able to access it once saved). Transportation will be by pirates across the void, and I can introduce all who would like to meet them beforehand."

"A letter will be sent out by wind to all who are interested/ willing to fight once plans are finalized and set in stone. I look forward to working with whoever is willing to join me."

"PS: Weapons and a strong sense/understanding of self are highly advised. You may visit me at my house or find me on a walk to ask questions in person, and I will answer to my best ability."

"With my utmost gratitude and fair wishes to you all,

Icia"

Icia finishes the flyers early in the morning, letting the wind carry some to varying locations and visiting other locations she knows of to post them. She posts the flyers at Candleton, the circus, the inn, Oceansbay, the bar, anywhere she can think of.

Now all she has to do is wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OKAY IM FINALLY FUCKING DOING THIS

GOD

Okay so.

You heard her

KINGDOMQUEST WOOHOOOOO

Here are the basic rules and info:

I do not have definite days for any of this yet. However, I'm aiming to be ready in 2-3 weeks.

Any number of characters are allowed to join, but you will only be able to rp 1 at a time (with exceptions if you have a good reason, like how Raina and Lance used to be one person). There will be checkpoints where people may switch to different characters between sections

Ik I said you can have as many characters as you want, but please ensure you'll actually use them. I'll try and make this long enough for everyone to use their characters at least once, but really there's no guarantee. Don't just add characters because you can.

I may do what Elsie did and split the quest into two parties. In that case, you can have one active character in each party. This is unlikely, but if it happens then that's how this will go.

THERE WILL BE NO CHARACTER DEATHS EXCEPT FOR THOSE THAT ARE DISCUSSED WITH ME BEFORE HAND. Any other "deaths" (losing all HP) will just be knocked out and unable to use for the rest of the quest unless revived. This also goes for permanent injuries.

No abstraction. None. Characters can get close, but there won't be any full abstraction.

No OP moves (that should be a given).

No Kingdom characters will be allowed to participate in the quest. They are part of the objective, not the fights. Even against Hexe, no CURRENT kingdom members will be able/allowed to fight

No being a smartass and finding loopholes or questioning the rules of the dungeon (you know who you are, love you <3)

Just so yall know what to expect. There'll probably be 4 sections, maybe just 3. There'll be a boss for each, and the very final section will just be Hexe. Plan accordingly.

PLS ask me if you're confused abt something. I'm probably forgetting a couple things to add here but shhhh, yall get the idea

If yall wanna do lore drops during this too, you totally can! If they're really big and will kinda be like a side thing, do be sure to let me know first!!!

Ok I think i got everything down....

Once again, ask me if you're confused abt something or have ideas bc god knows I need those. Also, be sure to DM me which characters of yours will be joining (if any).

And I think the only big delays will be for Dusk and Jessy trying to escape the Railroads AND me being lazy but Imma try and not have that second one happy

OH YEAH ONE MORE THING

THERE WILL BE LORE SCATTERED ABOUT FOR A COUPLE OF MY CHARACTERS, ESPECIALLY SOME THAT HAVE GAINED SOME POPULARITY...

KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED.

I'll reblog/edit this with any necessary information

But for now

GOOD LUCK.

(BTW you don't have to participate if you don't want to, it's ok to not be interested! Also if a character IS participating, just do a really quick in-rp post (or have them send a letter to Icia) & tag me in it so I know.)

[findroleplay]

Hi everyone! :) I'm 21+ and looking for someone 21+ for an original vampire-themed MxM roleplay.

I'm very interested in a plot that involves one of the characters being the sire/maker of the other character but I'm also fine with a "normal" vampire x vampire or even vampire x human (maybe as a familiar/servant?) roleplay.

I don't have any concrete plot in mind so I'm hoping we can come up with something together, but I will include a couple of settings I personally "vibe" with (we do not need to use any of them, though! I'm definitely open to hearing whatever setting/plots you might be interested in).

At the moment I do have some interest in world building/creating lore but it doesn't have to be super in depth (although if you have any great ideas I'm definitely here to brainstorm together to add to them!).

I'm fine with smut but it's not a requirement! We can always fade to black if you prefer :)

If you do want to write smut I want to say that I don't enjoy it when characters "behave" a certain way just because they have certain bedroom preferences and I do not want to basically emulate straight gender norms just with two men (that doesn't mean that one of the characters can't be feminine, of course, just that two men in a relationship will relate to each other differently than a man and a woman).

I prefer 3rd person/past tense when writing. I'm not too picky when it comes to length, as long as replies are at least a couple of lines.

I tend to prefer characters that are a little more "mature", most of my human characters tend to be in their late 30s or 40s. (I know vampires don't have to visually look their age but I thought I'd mention here that I don't really enjoy characters that would make good YA novel protagonists or that would fit into a boy band - no offense to people who enjoy characters like that, of course, but I just generally don't find characters like that compelling).

Some "warnings" to consider before engaging with me: 1) I'm not a native speaker and still pretty new to roleplaying but I'll try my best to keep mistakes to a minimum! 2) I'm not always super available due to work and I live in Europe. Depending on the length of our posts I might reply a couple of times per day or once every two days. I will try to at least reply once a week at minimum!

Now, onto the scenarios/"vibes" I had in mind! (Once again, we don't need to use any of them, I just thought I'd try to give you an idea what sort of plots/settings I tend to enjoy):

New Orleans: I just adore how magical and mysterious New Orleans as a city appears to be. I was thinking this could take place in the 1920s or maybe the modern day. I would love to incorporate some other magical/occult things here (maybe our characters have to deal with witchcraft or other supernatural events). Keywords: mardi gras, bayou, French Quarter, night life, religious guilt, attempts to maintain humanity, alienation from society, voodoo, spirits, magical realism, urban fantasy

Mafia: I'm thinking of maybe one character being the boss and the other being his second in command? Keywords: modern day, penthouses, private jets, sleek sportscars, art galleries, casinos, night clubs, opposing powers, rival vampire gangs

18th century aristocracy: Maybe taking place in either Venice or at the French court. Keywords: masquerade balls, opera houses, palace gardens, political intrigues, Paris catacombs, gondolas

Dark Academia: My first idea was for this to take place sometime during the middle/end of the 19th century with our characters as university professors or researchers. Keywords: uncovering of truths, search for knowledge, secret socities, dark cults and the occult, scholars, traditional gothic horror

I prefer to roleplay on Discord but I'm also fine with trying a different method like e-mails or GDocs.

If you're interested please like this post and I will reach out to you :)

_

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm Gonna Play: Love and Deepspace

I came across this video a couple months ago of a really high poly guy and thought it was CGI made by someone talented. Turns out it was an upcoming otome game for mobile?! I replaced my phone recently so this was a good time to look forward to trying something with high-end graphics for this platform.

My experience with Otome games isn't much. I've played those dating sims that a few friends were very into back in school on DeviantArt, notably by Zeiva and Pacthesis. This was my entry to the Visual Novel (VN) genre, but I didn't understand the appeal of of liking 2D guys. Fast forward and I've also played a couple otome VNs on mobile and dabbled slightly on PC and even though I find a few interesting love interests based on appearance and personality, I STILL didn't get the appeal, until I finally played Mystic Messenger two years ago and got my heart shattered and was rejected by my love interest lol. This idea of having a social messaging format with calls for a mobile game is one of the most creative things I've seen for both the VN genre as a whole as well as the mobile platform. I don't know if any other VNs have done something like this before.

What Love and Deepspace does, is basically take that same format and iterate upon it with its worldbuilding. But it doesn't stop there. The real selling points of this game is that it uses very high quality 3D models akin to Final Fantasy CGs and also have real-time action combat. This seemed like a combo I never thought would exist, but I'm sure as hell glad to see it. Apart from chatting and calls using your own created avatar, it includes other features such as micro blogs which are Twitter-esque, so you can like and comment on the other characters' posts, and sometimes make your own. There are interaction features with the love interest, by being able to touch him, ask him things, and even things like listening to heartbeats or blowing on him using your mic?? It's another level of immersiveness! Minigames also exist which add to the story, such as claw machines (which are actually not to rigged compared to real life), playing cards, taking photos, and mini stories or audio that you can obtain from gacha.

The gacha aspect is not related to obtaining your love interest like in other gachas, but rather it's unlocking additional content about them, such as the mini stories. These stories tend to look like casual hangouts or even romantic dates. I'm not sure if there are any intimate scenes or not so far.

The story is not bad, I'm intruiged by the lore and the overall world as I like futuristic settings. There's a lot of info dump in documents and such that you typically see in gachas or RPGs, but this is one of the few times where I actually read through them. And surprisingly, the protagonist (you) is actually a lot more competent than expected!

The only issue I have is that the way the story is presented makes the characters look like they don't know each other yet and are distant, which is fine. But the romance parts you unlock through gacha or other features of the game seem more affectionate so it feels quite disjointed. It makes me feel confused on how I can piece these moments together.

Another nitpick although minor is that the daily stamina that you can obtain through login times don't seem to sync up in local time, so I'm assuming it's based on China's time zone instead. I've mostly been on this game during the evenings which make me miss both of them. It's a bit of a weird decision for international players.

I've also seen comments online about the lack of a male character or other gender options. I also agree that this would be nice to have. But I also acknowledge that this game is primarily aimed towards women (therefore an otome game), and since it's a Chinese game, I'm not sure if they would allow any type of BL in it. This could cause a bit of disinterest for international players. The only option I can see is to provide a larger variety of options for the current female avatar (which is also a complaint even amongst women playing the game), which could also have the avatar look a little more masculine presenting, etc. This could be a slight workaround towards any censorship laws while also allowing for more diversity. Plus technically speaking, the advantage of shorter hair or buzz cuts etc. would also mean less complex hair rigging (like with long hair) so it may be easier to animate and handle.

Overall, this game has huge potential that could transform romance/otome games for mobile like Mystic Messenger if all goes well. This will be another mobile game I'll keep playing!

[findyourrp]

🧛 Hi everyone! :) I'm 21+ and looking for someone 21+ for an original vampire-themed MxM roleplay. I'm very interested in a plot that involves one of the characters being the sire/maker of the other character but I'm also fine with a "normal" vampire x vampire or even vampire x human (maybe as a familiar/servant?) roleplay.

I don't have any concrete plot in mind so I'm hoping we can come up with something together, but I will include a couple of settings I personally "vibe" with (we do not need to use any of them, though! I'm definitely open to hearing whatever setting/plots you might be interested in).

At the moment I do have some interest in world building/creating lore but it doesn't have to be super in depth (although if you have any great ideas I'm definitely here to brainstorm together to add to them!).

I'm fine with smut but it's not a requirement! We can always fade to black if you prefer :)

If you do want to write smut I want to say that I don't enjoy it when characters "behave" a certain way just because they have certain bedroom preferences and I do not want to basically emulate straight gender norms just with two men (that doesn't mean that one of the characters can't be feminine, of course, just that two men in a relationship will relate to each other differently than a man and a woman).

I prefer 3rd person/past tense when writing. I'm not too picky when it comes to length, as long as replies are at least a couple of lines.

I tend to prefer characters that are a little more "mature", most of my human characters tend to be in their late 30s or 40s. (I know vampires don't have to visually look their age but I thought I'd mention here that I don't really enjoy characters that would make good YA novel protagonists or that would fit into a boy band - no offense to people who enjoy characters like that, of course, but I just generally don't find characters like that compelling).

Some "warnings" to consider before engaging with me: 1) I'm not a native speaker and still pretty new to roleplaying but I'll try my best to keep mistakes to a minimum! 2) I'm not always super available due to work and I live in Europe. Depending on the length of our posts I might reply a couple of times per day or once every two days. I will try to at least reply once a week at minimum!

Now, onto the scenarios/"vibes" I had in mind! (Once again, we don't need to use any of them, I just thought I'd try to give you an idea what sort of plots/settings I tend to enjoy):

New Orleans: I just adore how magical and mysterious New Orleans as a city appears to be. I was thinking this could take place in the 1920s or maybe the modern day. I would love to incorporate some other magical/occult things here (maybe our characters have to deal with witchcraft or other supernatural events). Keywords: mardi gras, bayou, French Quarter, night life, religious guilt, attempts to maintain humanity, alienation from society, voodoo, spirits, magical realism, urban fantasy

Mafia: I'm thinking of maybe one character being the boss and the other being his second in command? Key words: modern day, penthouses, private jets, sleek sportscars, art galleries, casinos, night clubs, opposing powers, rival vampire gangs

18th century aristocracy: Maybe taking place in either Venice or at the French court. Keywords: masquerade balls, opera houses, palace gardens, political intrigues, Paris catacombs, gondolas

Dark Academia: My first idea was for this to take place sometime during the middle/end of the 19th century with our characters as university professors or researchers. Keywords: uncovering of truths, search for knowledge, secret socities, dark cults and the occult, scholars, traditional gothic horror

I prefer to roleplay on Discord but I'm also fine with trying a different method like e-mails or GDocs.

If you're interested please like this post and I will reach out to you :)

.

[sailoryooons]

you say I'm being nice, i say I'm being honest (I also say yes to your marriage proposal, no takebacksies)

as an engagement gift to us I thought I'd give you some book recs:

She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker Chan

This book had me floored at certain parts where it navigates gender, sexuality, identity and purpose. I would be sat there feeling so captivated by the exploration of the MC's discovery of self that I knew it would stay high in favourites no matter what I would end up feeling about the plot lol. The good news is I like the plot too ahaha. I think it could be considered a slow burn for excitement levels, I know I recommended it to a friend who didn't read further than the first 1/4 bc it just didn't captivate them. It's the first physical book I bought and read after a long reading lapse, initially pulled in by the beautiful cover, fully intrigued by the author's explainer about where the book came from & very satisfied by my overall experience with it.

Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao

I basically read this book in two sittings and finished it immediately wanting to read the second (gotta wait a couple months yet). This book is interesting. The pose isn't particularly poetic or elaborate, and some things definitely feel over explained to the reader, however I think that tone adds to the attitude/charm of the book. The voice of the protagonist is incredibly refreshing and invigorating to become one with. I don't think many of the reveals/twists will sneak up on you, but I found that I didn't mind that I could see where most things were leading & just wanted to see MC follow their path. However there was one outcome that I was pleasantly surprised by that I've since seen the author openly talk about on their social media, so I wouldn't follow them until you've give it a read if you're interested. I'm excited to read the second book to see the MC find more of their power within themselves and take more power from the world around them.

Although both books very much have Chinese historical fiction as a genre in common, She Who Became the Sun is more historical fantasy whereas Iron Widow is more futuristic/historical sci-fi.

.. Those were all over the place reviews. yeehaw.

Also, I sent asks a couple weeks ago telling you that your words are that of a surprisingly good published author and I stand by it so hard. I find myself reading and thinking that your writing would be perfect on the printed page and honestly better than so much that's already out there and well acclaimed. I would eat dirt to see a fully fledged book of your fantasy worldbuilding.

I'm so excited for every fic you're gonna release this year. So excited.

Also also

on second thoughts it would probably more appropriate to say dark fae jimin will eat me (and I certainly won't be complaining)

OKAY SO I HAVE SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN ON MY BOOKSHELF! It's on my TBR list but I just started Wheel of Time so we will see how long that takes me. It is a solid 900 page per book so I will most likely read other things between each novel. I am so excited to read it, especially now. You have no idea.

I have read Iron Widow and I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL HEAVENLY TYRANT COMES OUT! I absolutely ADORE Xiran and that story made me look more into Chinese history and theology. I love that it is technically a retelling, in a way. I thought the lore of the crysalises and the dynamics between riders and the use of xi is so!!!! She is such a fantastic writer and I also really enjoy her as a person and her straight-forward approach to publishing.

THAT WAS YOU!?!?!!? WELL I am glad that we are now engaged. You get first dibs if I ever figure out how to publish a book bestie. Honestly, I just try to like... absorb all the big fantasy writers and apply it to my writing. I think the first time I ever realized I wanted to do writing was when I read Eragon in middle school. It's just. Such a masterpiece.

Fae Jimin will 100% eat you he is going to be kind of unhinged I am not sorry!

[valentinecult]

I've looked into Ramlethal's moveset Esperanto translation and I realized her Instant Kill is called Soul Extinguisher. If she can destroy souls, you think she will be one of the canditates to kill Happy Chaos if there is a new story mode coming?

Ummm, I wouldn't say this kind of question is something I would answer because I'm not the lore expert and I myself am still learning and grasping how Guilty Gear's world works.

But if you want my input on this, as much as I love Ramlethal, I don't think she has anything in her power to kill Happy Chaos. Like, you would to have 'kill' him a certain way--no not kill...more like erase his existence entirely. The only people I can see most likely ending him is Nagoriyuki and Baiken, at least from what is shown on what they're capable of and their potential. We shouldn't forget about Kum from XRD though and their tuning abilities. Heck, Izuna might have something up his sleeve!

Although, Ramlethal has often managed to surprise me in some aspects of the story. One big example, her Arcade Story. While the Arcades and the endings vary based on your performance, Ramlethal actually managed to hold her own against Nagoriyuki very well and gave him one hell of a fight without giving it her all. I also wanted to add that the Valentines are still a mystery in themselves and there is an interesting theory about Valentines possibly being Guilty Gear's versions of angels or descendants of angels. Based on that, it makes me wonder what Ram can actually do with her magic because she's stronger than she honestly lets on, even I believe that she could've put up a fight against Bedman, but due to the fact that she sees him as a friend than an enemy, it's obvious that she had no intention of fighting back as much.

HOWEVER....this is me speculating and having dumb wishful thinking. :P

As for Happy Chaos, I'd like to believe Ramlethal can give him a run for his money, buuuuuuut....he is one character I would dread of Ramlethal ever facing because that guy is too unpredictable and loves to improvise, so I have a feeling that Ramlethal will lose her composure when dealing him. She better have someone to back her up when dealing this guy. The more I replay his Arcade Mode, the more anxious I get on what he might do in the next story.

[sarasa-cat]

Soooooooooo. mmmmmnonmnomnomnom

Have been thinking about, reading about, and exploring the world building history of Night City in the Cyberpunk series -- the table top RPGs and the video game.

And just chewing on all of it.

It makes me think about other fictional cities and what I got vs what I wish I had gotten:

So, out of all my favorite fictional cities in video games, I think DA2's Kirkwall and Disco Elysium's Revachol come pretty close to giving me a place that feels alive because of all the lore lore lore lore lore lore lore and history with mystery. I'll also add in Fallen London too, which is all text, really, but it has such a massive sense of place.

The notable difference is that Night City in CP2077 is incredibly fleshed out at a physical level thanks to how much effort (time and money and technical skill) was put into making that city FEEL alive and real and millions-of-people HUGE. DA2 couldn't match that visual sense of realness due to budget/time constraints. In Disco Elysium, while the bits of Revachol we are beautifully realized and detail rich using a more low-tech graphics approach, again budget/small staff meant that we only see a smallish bit of that area.

I guess it is just interesting for me to think about how big budget graphics add a very specific dimension -- a very enjoyable dimension -- to creating a sense of PLACE but it isn't necessary. Kirkwall, Revachol, and Fallen London still have strong sense of place and history (with mystery), and do it with scaled down graphics, or more modest graphics, or almost no graphics. So: food for thought.

And then I think about the cities for which I wanted more:

FFXII's many cities, and FFVII's Midgar, for instance.

Both have a lot there -- the graphics suggest so much, as do certain aspects of the characters' stories but ... I think I just hungered for more history. More tidbits. More understanding of why things were as they were.

Which just makes me think more about how much I *love* cities as characters in their own right and how video games can give this to us, but it isn't necessarily the graphics that do this.

Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE THE IMMERSIVE GRAPHICS in Cyberpunk 2077 and also in FFVII Remake (and I love the old FFVII). I love how FFXII pushed PS2 graphics to the bleeding edge and created such a wondrous world. I love LOOKING at these worlds and just wandering around and enjoying the views.

But I'm also thinking about how much more is said via the writing -- which Cyberpunk has oh so very much of. But also DA's lore and how that built up history in Kirkwall. And, of course, my other examples which aren't relying on triple-A game graphics: Disco Elysium (so much world lore!!) and Fallen London (essentially a text based world although there are maps and some images that create atmosphere).

Anyhow. Food for thought.

Cities. My love.

[johaerys-writes]

Fic Writer’s Round Up: 2020

I was tagged by wonderful friendos @in-arlathan, @noire-pandora, @faerieavalon, @pinkfadespirit, @tevivinter, and @serial-chillr! Thank you so much, it was so interesting to see what you've been up to this year <3 

2020 was a ride from start to finish and I considered not doing this at first because frankly, I wasn't particularly happy with my output this year, but I decided to give it a go and I was pleasantly surprised! This year has had a lot of ups and downs for me and there were plenty of times when I had a hard time putting words on the page, while others I couldn't stop. I've written primarily for Dragon Age and The Song of Achilles, and a little bit of Castlevania. In the below breakdown I've included all the fics I’ve written solo, both my published stuff as well as those that I plan on publishing in the near future  (for my lengthier works, I’ve only included the chapters written in 2020):

Aran belongs to @oftachancer!

I don't know if you noticed the ~50k words of deleted stuff, but that was an entire arc that I wrote for A World With You, but decided it wasn't good enough so I scrapped and rewrote it. Those long gaps between updates this year? Yeah. That was it. I normally don't include deleted scenes in my overall wordcount but I decided to add this out of spite because it was a lot of hard work and it may or may not have had me sobbing into my coffee once or twice. Anyway. MOVING ON.

I also co-wrote A LOT with my friendo @oftachancer this year! It all started with a Modern AU one-shot of Aran and Tristan as college roommates, which then derailed into an epic adventure of about 250,000 words (placeholder title: Never Let Me Go) as well as a prequel of about 180,000 words of the boys before they went to college, which is currently being published on AO3 (Playground Love). We also published a smutty one-shot for Kinktober (Tea and Corsets). I love those boys so much, and I’m excited to write more of them. I have also co-written a few scenes for the Band!AU @oftachancer and @midnightprelude have been working on, which has been so much fun and I look forward to writing more! So, total wordcount for co-written stuff is approximately 445,000 words,  not including a couple one-shots that we’ve written and posted on Tumblr and I’m too lazy to track down now, or others that haven’t been published yet but will soon!

New Things I Tried This Year: 

Co-writing two massive, novel length fics was definitely a first, I had a lot of fun world-building with @oftachancer​, and it gave me the opportunity to develop some of my OCs that had been lurking in my mind for a really long time. I also started writing for a new fandom, TSOA, and that has definitely been a highlight in my year. I grew up reading the Iliad and ancient greek myths, and to see them brought to life was very rewarding. It has also been a lot of fun finding ways to integrate ancient greek lore in my works, I really love it!

Fic I spent the most time on: A World With You, although Playground Love and Never Let Me Go are close seconds!   

Fic I spent the least time on: To Build A Home. I wrote it in only a couple sittings after finishing Season 3 of Castlevania because I had so many feels! Chapters 1 and 2 of High-Flying Birds were also written on my phone in less than an hour, because again I was overwhelmed with feels after finishing The Song of Achilles.  

Favourite things I wrote: I am really proud of everything I’ve written this year, especially since it was such a stressful year and writing gave me a much needed escape! But I'm going to choose a few highlights, purely based on the satisfaction they gave me while writing, and how often I've gone back to reread them (does anyone else do that?? Lol): Viper in Tall Grass, because I enjoyed the heck out of writing in the Witcher Universe. Chapter 2: Thorn, from High Flying Birds, which was one of those scenes that practically wrote themselves and I still like the way it turned out. Lastly, Chapter 28: The Prodigal Son and Chapter 29: In Water Waist Deep from AWWY. They were both really challenging to write but in the end they were worth it and I personally feel it’s some of my best writing yet. I always get emotional when I go back to reread them.  

Favourite Things I Read: I’ve read a lot of published fiction this year, but not near as much fanfiction as I would have liked! I mentioned some of the fics I’m currently reading and loving in this post, but I’m going to make a more detailed fic rec post soon, so keep an eye out for that! 

Writing Goals for next year: My primary goals for 2021 are to finish AWWY and High-Flying Birds so I can start working on some projects I’ve been wanting to post forever, but apart from that, I have no goals other than to have fun writing, and perhaps participate in more fic exchanges and challenges! 

This post is terribly long (I’m usually rather quiet unless someone asks me to talk about my fics, and then I can’t shut up lol), but I want to thank every single person that has liked, reblogged and commented on my work, you guys are the best and there’s nothing like a comment or a thoughtful tag to make me want to create more! 

I also want to give a special shoutout to @solas-disapproves, @in-arlathan, @midnightprelude, @tessa1972 and @oftachancer​ for being the lovely, inspiring people that they are, and for gifting me with wonderful fanart or fanfic this year that made me want to melt in a puddle, as well as to @tenmeooo-thefangirltrash​ for translating High Flying Birds to Vietnamese! (Check it out here) Thank you all so much, your friendship and support has meant the world to me ;w;

I’m sure that everyone has done this already, but I’m still going to tag @pikapeppa, @schoute​, @schattengerissen, @zuendwinkel​, @elveny​, @fandomn00blr​, @dafan7711​, @dalish-rogue​, @jeannedarcprice​, @nug-juggler​, @kittimau​ and @lavellanvibes​ for art or writing, because I always love seeing what you’ve been up to! If you’ve made it to the end of this humongous post, please consider yourself tagged, and tag me back so I can see your work too!

CHEERS, AND ON TO 2021!! <3

[lesbiancarat]

Truee!! I hope we do get girl groups. I do think we should at the very least get the new source one so maybe hope? Idk the game confuses me sometimes jfjdjsjs

I saw you posted about going and I'm happy you had fun! I do hear about good things from some mutuals so I feel kinda sad but maybe it will? Thats something I'm hoping since not every movie place was showing the movie in their country, idk If the monsta x movie came out but there is hope!

Full album and uhhh dark svt? I scrolled through and saw the coups video saying I'm not seventeen anymore and I am confused yet intrigued because for the first time seventeen seems to have lore of some kind? Which is fun but also my tiny brain is trying to make sense nfjsjdjsjd. Ngl this concept or at least to me, is giving me exo vibes? Like the x-exo vibes where the exo members have evil clones but instead of clones we have shadows for seventeen? Of course am not saying svt stole this! Please don't think I'm saying this to start drama dnsjjdjs just the vibes? And what my multi fan brain is telling me lol. The exo lore is DEEP so am I going to watch a video detailing that while over analyzing the teasers for svt as they come out? Perhaps lol. Jokes aside i am happy svt are doing stuff from new rings and an apple event which the first(?) Kpop group to do! King behavior tbh

i was actually thinking about that... like can they even add brand new groups to rhythm hive the way things are set up currently? like on superstar games it didn't matter if you had an artist with just one song bc everything was combined, but how would it work on rh when all the artists are separated? it wouldn't make any sense if they only had like a few songs? i'd think theyd have to wait for the group to release a few minis before they could be added

fingers crosses for a digital release of POL movie ><

yeah its really interesting! there are so many theories and they seem to be changing every day as we get more info/trailers. idk anything about exo lore but yeah thats an interesting thought!

a bit of a sidenote, but tbh personally i've never really been into storylines in kpop. like, i'm not inherently against them, it's just that they seem to fall prey to the mcu curse where everything starts out cohesive and interesting, but the more time goes on and they try to rope more and more videos into the story it loses cohesion and starts to feel more like a cheap marketing trick than a cool story. it just becomes a big old mess that loses its meaning, especially when companies try to rope in multiple groups into the same storyline or retroactively include old MVs. in my ideal world, storylines would have a set beginning and end, like just one comeback or like a series of a set few comebacks that have a storyline and a set ending. although i definitely don't begrudge anyone who has fun with ongoing storylines either! i can totally see how its a fun thing to look forward to each cb. it's just that personally i like them in smaller, more cohesive doses 😅 anyway, this is just a sidenote since it's something i've been thinking about a lot since caratland has been talking about lore/storylines a lot lately! but i've actually been having a lot of fun with all the theories this cb ^^

and just in general, its been fun to see all of the activities surrounding the full album comeback like the new rings like you said 🥺 i believe they are the first kpop group to collaborate with apple! we love to see the boys getting their bag lol

[regenderate-fic]

And Still I Will Live Here: Chapter 4

Fandom: Doctor Who Rating: Teen Ship: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Characters: Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler, Pete Tyler, Tony Tyler Series: And We’re Not Out of the Tunnel Word Count (Chapter): 2,378 Other Tags: Pete’s World, Pete’s World Torchwood, Angst, Chronic Illness, Disability, Disabled Character Read on AO3 / Read in order

Summary: Rose has been tired for a couple years now. She thinks it’s from working so hard on the dimension cannon without a break, but then she gets a break and she doesn’t quite recover. Finally, she starts going to doctors, but they’re no help. At least John (the metacrisis Doctor) is with her every step of the way.

(Fic is COMPLETE with chapters posting Tuesdays and Fridays!)

NOTES: valentine's day is asleep post angst fic

uh cw for pregnancy in this one (in the sense that jackie has her baby. it's not detailed, just mentions). relatedly, i need to disclose that the baby is named after my dear friend gabe riptheh (who's lucky i can't remember his url to tag him), who was requesting to be put in people's creative works as himself but two inches taller and instead wound up an infant. this fic was not going to have a baby until he said that but honestly i think it adds a lot. if you want further lore please note that we have taken to calling this baby "the gaby." hopefully this does not prevent you from taking the fic seriously.

this is also sort of where some of rose's experiences/symptoms become more severe than my own (although. i suppose that's debatable) and specifically this is where she starts using a wheelchair, which i do not at this point. so. full disclosure if i've messed anything up horrifically, that's why. i'm still very much writing from experience for most of it, though.

ALSO you'll note that i've added a series tag to this. i've repurposed one of my previous wips into a sequel and i am SO EXCITED for it! it's thirteen/rose/yaz and it takes place on earth in march 2020 so i'm sure absolutely no one will read it but like. just believe me it's going to be so good

When Rose wakes up, she’s in bed, still fully dressed. John’s curled around her, holding her tight around the waist, and as she emerges a little further from sleep, she realizes his body is shaking. He’s crying, she realizes, his face buried in her shoulder, and she shifts to give him a moment to realize she’s awake before she rolls over. He doesn’t stop: he clings to her, and she to him, her head buried in his chest, her leg wrapped around his waist. The love and sadness she feels are too vast to process. She closes her eyes and lets them wash over her, tucked in John’s arms as he cries. Eventually, his breaths even out into sleep, but Rose doesn’t let go.

She wakes up again, sun streaming in, and she’s still clinging to John, his pajama shirt balled up in her hand. He’s snoring softly. She doesn’t dare move: not until he wakes up half an hour later, rubbing his eyes and saying nothing of his midnight tears.

The next few days pass in a sort of fugue state. They go to work, and Rose struggles to push through her grief on top of her exhaustion. Her coworkers gush over her engagement ring, and she tries to pass off her tears as happiness. John runs more tests on her, although they don’t really give them any new information. His most interesting finding is that Rose hasn’t technically aged— her body is frozen at twenty years old. All that time Rose spent wondering whether her body falling apart like this was a normal part of aging, and she hasn’t even gotten any older.

While John runs test after test, Rose fiddles with her old dimension cannon, trying to see past the haze in her mind to find a way to make it work again. It’s hard— the last time, it only worked because the walls between universes were growing thin. She doesn’t have that advantage, this time. Which is a good thing, in the grand, universal scheme of things, and a good thing for the part of her that’s desperate to stay with John, but a bad thing for the part of her that wants to stay alive.

And then the weekend comes, and they have to tell Jackie.

She already knows something is wrong— they’ve asked her, at eight months pregnant, to come over to their place for dinner. She shows up grumbling about the traffic and the weather, but Rose can feel the undercurrent of worry. And there’s not much Rose can do to sway that worry, because, well, it’s entirely warranted, under the circumstances. Rose is barely holding herself together as she ushers Jackie out of the entryway and into their little dining nook. They almost don’t have enough space for three people at their little table, but they manage, John’s chair jutting out at the side.

Jackie notices Rose’s ring right away, when Rose passes her the salad dressing.

“You’re engaged!” she exclaims, loud enough that their neighbors will be complaining.

Rose manages a smile, glancing at John. He’s looking at her with that incredible, unwavering, love in his eyes.

“That’s the first thing we wanted to tell you,” she says to Jackie.

“When did this happen?” Jackie shakes her head. “No, don’t tell me, you’ll just make me feel forgotten. Have you planned anything yet? You have to let me recommend a caterer, I know all the best—”

“Just happened a few days ago, promise.” If Rose didn’t interrupt, Jackie would be going on for hours. “No plans yet.”

“Well, how did he propose?” Jackie asks, her face aglow. Rose looks down at her plate. This is the part she doesn’t want to tell.

“We figured out why I’m sick,” she says, trying to meet her mother’s eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart, you’re not dying, are you?” Jackie glances at John, then back to Rose. “What’s going on? Tell me.”

Rose sighs. “D’you remember how we pulled the TARDIS open that one time?”

“Of course I do,” Jackie says. “How could I forget?”

“Suppose you couldn’t.” Rose forges ahead, forcing herself to say the next bit. “When I looked into the TARDIS, it sort of… changed me. We think it was to protect me. But it made me feed on… time energy, sort of. And now I’m in this universe, it’s different energy. It’s all wrong. That’s why I’ve been sick.”

She watches as what she’s said registers with Jackie, her face going from mildly curious to horrified.

“What are you saying?”

Rose swallows. “If I want to get better,” she says, “I have to leave.” For once, the queasiness in her stomach has nothing to do with her sickness.

Jackie looks from Rose to John. “Both of you?”

John shakes his head. “I can’t,” he says, his voice quiet. “Just her.”

“After all you two have been through,” Jackie says. Her voice is quieter than Rose has ever heard it. “After all we’ve been through.”

“I’d rather stay here,” Rose says. “If I had the option. But this universe is killing me, Mum. It has been ever since we got here.”

Jackie takes it surprisingly well, although given that Rose and John meet the news with near-constant tears, their bar for “surprisingly well” is pretty much on the floor. But Jackie doesn’t break down. She doesn’t start crying at the table. She just says, “Oh, sweetheart. You were never going to stay with me, were you?”

Rose is trying so, so hard not to cry. “I really want to,” she says. “But if I stay, it’ll kill me. We lose each other no matter what.”

“How much time do you have?” Jackie asks.

“We don’t know,” John says.

“We have to get the dimension cannon back online,” Rose adds. “It’s going to take a while, if it’s even possible.”

“We’ll find a way,” John says, a quiet determination in his voice. Under the table, Rose covers his hand with hers.

After dinner, they wind up in the living room, watching telly, Jackie in an armchair, Rose with her head on John’s shoulder on the sofa: Jackie has joined John and Rose in their new hobby of resolutely distracting themselves from what comes next. They limit their conversation to the bad movies they’re watching and the mundanities of their days, as if small talk will make Rose well again.

Rose doesn’t know when she falls asleep— somewhere between the end of the first bad movie and the start of the third— but when she becomes conscious again, it’s with her head in John’s lap, his fingers moving through her hair. Her mum’s voice washes over her.

“It’s not fair,” she’s saying. “How am I supposed to say goodbye again?”

Rose is exhausted, emotionally and physically. It’s not that she doesn’t want to engage in the conversation: it’s just that she can’t, on really any level. So she stays still, her eyes closed.

“I’m sorry,” John says softly. “None of us wanted this.”

“How did you not know?” Jackie asks. “If your ship changed her—”

Rose can hear the pain in John’s voice. “You have to understand,” he says. “If I’d known— if I’d even thought of it— or if the Doctor— we wouldn’t be here right now.”

“And my daughter would be safe,” Jackie murmurs.

Rose is acutely aware of John’s hands in her hair, his body curved around her. She feels safe here, even if her head hurts and her limbs feel too heavy to lift.

“Jackie,” John says, “I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to keep her alive. I’ll do anything. But she can’t stay here. We have to send her away.”

“Either way, I lose my daughter.” The sadness in Jackie’s voice makes Rose’s heart ache.

“And I lose someone I love more than anything,” John says quietly. His touch on Rose’s scalp is so light and tender. She doesn’t know what she’ll do without him.

“And you can’t go through with her?” Jackie asks.

“We’ll be lucky if we can even send one person through. Two is too risky.”

There’s a long moment of silence. Finally, Jackie says, “Well, you’ll always be welcome at mine.”

“You’re a good mum,” John replies. Rose can hear him struggling against his tears.

She drifts off again. When she wakes up, she’s in bed, and it’s light outside. John is next to her, sitting up on his laptop.

“Did my mum leave?” Rose asks, sitting up.

John nods, closing the laptop to focus on her. “After you went to sleep last night.”

“Thanks for bringing me to bed.” Rose smiles, teasing. “I’m lucky to have such a strong fiance.”

John wraps an arm around her, pulling her close against his side. She rests her aching head on his shoulder.

“I’m lucky to have you,” John says, raw emotion seeping through. He kisses the top of her head, and she closes her eyes.

The next day, a Monday, they finally explain their situation to the higher-ups at Torchwood. Rose had Torchwood’s help in building her dimension cannon before, and so it stands to reason that they might get that help again— they do, and the higher-ups direct a lot of sympathy towards them. They tell Rose that if she needs anything to help accommodate or manage her illness at work, they’ll do their best, and she thanks them. She’s been getting weaker, she can feel it, her arms getting heavy, her legs shaking when she stands: she’ll need the help.

And so Rose and John and the good people of Torchwood start trying to build a new and improved dimension cannon. Rose isn’t all that much help, for all the cannon is for her— she tries her hardest to focus, keep track of what’s going on, but realistically speaking she just doesn’t have the mental energy for the high-level calculations and technical assembly that the cannon requires. She feels the loss acutely in her chest: there was a time when she lived for this sort of thing.

Whenever she’s not at work, her mum is pressuring her about wedding plans. Rose doesn’t much care how the wedding goes, as long as she can get herself down the aisle, but she’s Jackie’s only daughter, and the wedding might as well be a goodbye party. She finally lets John convince her to start using a wheelchair, a rickety, secondhand thing, only a week before they’re scheduled to go dress shopping, and the clerk doesn’t seem to know what to do with it. Jackie suggests decorating the chair with tulle, and Rose chooses a dress that’s easy to get into and out of, that doesn’t have fabric that’ll get caught in her chair’s wheels, and tries to feel beautiful. (Jackie insists on getting her a new chair, after that— one that’s made to her measurements and for her needs.)

She’s started to fear death in a way she never has before. She’s only too acutely aware that if she doesn’t get to her old universe, this universe will kill her: she never realized how much she really, really doesn’t want to die. She used to take all sorts of risks, back with the Doctor, but she never thought they’d actually kill her, even when they were stuck on a planet orbiting a black hole with no TARDIS. She was safe with the Doctor. And she feels safe with John, but no safety can keep death away forever. Rose finds herself staying up well past when she should, afraid that if she lets her eyes slip closed, they won’t open again. And the worst part is, there’s nothing anyone can say to make her feel better, because she’s right to be afraid.

Jackie has the baby. It’s a boy, and she names him Gabriel. Rose and John visit her in the hospital, Jackie exhausted but glowing, Gabriel so, so small. Rose holds him in her lap, John close by in case her arms fail her, staring down at his tiny little face. He flails, crying out. There’s something about him that’s so very full of life. There’s so much ahead of him. Rose can’t help but love him immediately— he becomes yet another person she’ll miss when she leaves.

“He’s beautiful,” she tells Jackie, and means it. He’s still wailing, so Rose offers him to John, who hands him back to Jackie, his hand gently supporting Gabe’s head as he makes the transfer.

Rose and John spend two weeks living with the Tylers after Gabe is born. It’s at Jackie’s request— she wants to spend time with all three of her children together while she still can. Rose takes the time off work, and while John goes in every day, still working on the dimension cannon, Rose helps out where she can, distracting Tony, rocking Gabe to sleep, making bottles. Now she’s reliant on her wheelchair, she and John have to stay on the first floor, in a bed Pete’s set up for them in what’s normally the game room. She can still stand and walk around when she has to, but the energy it takes is no longer worth it, especially when the chair allows her to get from place to place without the effort.

She spends every second she can with her mum. Gabe is almost always there, and Pete comes in and out, helping as much as he can— he’s taken the time off work too. And Tony, too, is running around the place, asking Rose questions about her wheelchair, trying to get anyone to play with him, asking to hold the baby. Jackie takes a picture of Rose, Tony, and Gabe all together, Rose leaning back against the headboard of Jackie’s bed, Gabe in her arms, and Tony standing on the mattress, hovering over them both. She prints two copies and gives one to Rose, who tucks it away in her pocket, saving it for the day she has to leave.

The two weeks Rose is with her mum are dreamlike, each moment so laden with significance that Rose can’t quite process it. She knows she’s leaving soon, knows she will never get to see baby Gabe grow up— she’ll never know what becomes of him, or of Tony. She always thought she’d get to see Tony go from a chubby, energetic toddler to a full adult, with his own dreams and goals and sense of self. And now she knows she won’t, and she’s got another little brother who she won’t even see become a chubby, energetic toddler. But she’s with them both now, and her mum and dad, and John, and they all bring her such immense, if bittersweet, joy.

And then the two weeks are up. Rose goes back to Torchwood, where everyone’s in a flurry trying to build the dimension cannon. It hits her that they’re all doing this for her, because they want to see her survive, and she almost starts crying right there in the workshop, surrounded by her coworkers. She helps where she can, sorting pieces, recording readings. Some days are easier than others. John asks, at one point, whether she wants to stop working entirely, but she can’t stand the thought of sitting at home alone all day, thinking about her condition, while other people’s work determines her fate. Even if she can’t help much, even if she’s just sitting in the corner fending off the brain fog, she’d rather be at Torchwood. It’s a distraction, and she desperately needs to be distracted.

As her life returns to normal, though, she remembers that her “normal” is so very different from that of her coworkers. They come to work. They seem to be able to hold focus all day. And they keep talking about doing things in the evenings and on the weekends— all while standing up and walking around and exerting themselves in ways from which Rose would need days to recover.

She’s jealous, she thinks. But there’s nothing she can do about it. Not yet.

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm Gonna Play: Dragon Age: Inquisition

I've always heard good things about the Dragon Age games. It's not my first time trying out Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI) although I was never in the mood to fully go through it. But considering that The Veilguard is coming soon, I thought to give it a shot. I did try Origins and although I don't mind playing old games for the most part, I find it harder to play games with old UI/UX systems (graphics don't really bother me). But I was also intrigued in how I could handle the story blind in my first completed Dragon Age game.

Having been in the fantasy mood lately thanks to Baldur's Gate 3, this was the next game to jump into. I did subconsciously compare the two at first, but I will try to refrain from doing that here, since both games had different visions in different times.

DAI seems to have held up nicely in some regards. Visually, it still looks quite decent to an extent with the other games that have released at that time. It does have a sort of porcelain look to some of the character models in some scenes, but does look better if there's some strong lighting around the area. Environments, especially from afar have aged better than the characters.

The combat is simplified which is quite standard for action RPGs. It has an easy learning curve so that anyone can jump in. Although I've noticed at points that enemies can get very spongy. This can be attributed to poor gear, in which the opposite happens if you have adequate gear. I couldn't find a balance to it and mostly felt like I was spamming my attacks as a warrior, without much tactics involved, which gets a bit dull at some point. Other classes on the other hand, seemed to require you to position yourselves well which adds to some variety in their cases.

However, I do like the variety in the skill trees. I've heard that previous games have a more broader selection and are therefore better. I can see how that applies as I noticed a lot of the skill selections can overlap between multiple party members, and you can only unlock unique paths well after you're halfway through the game. It's also frustrating that you cannot reverse skill point selections so that you can revise your builds more carefully with each member. The gameplay structure in paper is somewhat fun. It's akin to hub based design games like Monster Hunter where you can visit a variety of places in an open world fashion and do quests, loot materials which you can craft,upgrade,sell or use for completion purposes. Although there is a lot happening which can get tedious, so I ended up skipping many side quests at some point. It doesn't help that although some side quests tend to have some interesting lore behind it, you're essentially given MMO-like tasks like fetch quests, killing a number of enemies or collecting items. I'd love to see side quests be given more meaning than just be a checklist in future installments. Baldur's Gate 3 is a great example of how to make sidequests fun and not tedious yet integral to the story.

Although I mentioned that I didn't feel like playing through Origins due to outdated looking UI, DAI has made me realize that a more modern game does not equal to better UI/UX. I don't know if it applies for keyboard and mouse, but there's a huge reliance on radial menus that felt clunky to navigate, but even worse is the actual menus in terms of inventory and skill trees (the former is worse). There is no way to immediately see what's being equipped, or any sense of filters or proper categories apart from weapons. This made rudimentary features like equipping and selling, or even switching characters massively frustrating to deal with. Apart from menus, the minimap is also a poor example of its own feature due to its extremely minimalistic design. This makes navigating terrain a very difficult task when you can't tell which route to take to get to a marker (and there are instances where the marker for a quest isn't placed properly, forcing you to search around) as the game doesn't allow you to jump your way through to climb them like other games would. But I still appreciate the experimentation so that designers could learn from this example when working on future projects, or projects in general.

That isn't to say that the game isn't lacking in plot. I've heard that DAI was rushed during development, but I do appreciate the amount of story you get in a short campaign like this. Along with the potential of having decisions carried over from previous games (if you've played them) makes each playthrough a little unique. The lore hasn't sent me down a rabbit hole like Baldur's Gate 3 has, but has me intrigued enough to be curious about the next installment.

One thing I appreciate about the story is how three dimensional the characters are. For a story about saving the world, you're met with very imperfect people who are trying to make the best of their own situation and the bigger picture that's happening. It's quite refreshing to see that and figure out what kind of path would they be led to. I also found it interesting how the game tackled sexual preferences in the romance aspect. It's not a new concept for older games, but it made me realize the up and down sides of it. It adds personality and realism to the characters, but can also potentially mislead players if they wish to romance someone in particular. I played as a female human inquisitor and found characters like Cassandra and Morrigan interesting, but realized that they're locked for male Inquisitors instead, which forced me to look towards other choices. Perhaps a way to mitigate this is to subtly hint their preferences in dialogue/banter or collectibles early on so that the player can decide early on who they would like to pursue. A feature that I really enjoy that I haven't seen in a game so far is that you can respond to certain banters in the field, it makes it more immersive as you're actually engaging rather than being a passive listener. Although I also have a gripe about the options as I've often had mismatched expectations selecting something which caused an unintended outcome. This is unfortunately a common flaw I've seen in choice based games which really hampers the enjoyability of this aspect. I've often been in situations where my player character says something in a negative tone when I meant positive, and vice versa. Choices should be clear on what the player character intends to communicate so that the player gets the intended outcome that they want. The icons that represent an emotion or direction are an improvement to what I've seen from the Mass Effect series (which I intend to visit in the future).

Overall, this was an interesting title to play from a series that's been on my backlog for a while. I'm not sure if I'll give Origins another shot as that's the most popular (although I hope I do), but I do look forward to seeing if The Veilguard could be an improvement.

[revchainsaw]

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Wow! I can't believe I'm about to review a mainstream Disney release of all things on this blog. Eh! I make the rules and this thing is close enough to a high fantasy/martial arts film and who knows I may give a crack at Disney's Cruella later if the film strikes me the right way.

The Message

Set in the fictional land of Kumandra, Raya exists in a world where dragon lore is at the center of everything. Kumandra is a prosperous land that exists around a dragon shaped sea, and the different Kumandran tribes that live there are named after the part of the dragon they inhabit. Fang, Tail, etc, etc. It's no wonder that the Dragons are so revered in these cultures, as the prosperity that the world is now experiencing is due to the great sacrifice where the dragons gave their lives to create a magic jewel that keeps a horrible race of sprits called the Druun at bay.

The jewel is protected by the Heart tribe, particularly the lineage of the Heart chieftain. Raya is the heir to this immense responsibility. Her father the current guardian of the jewel is an idealistic sort and believes that the Kumandran people can be united, however the other tribes have their own interests and biases, even about the Heart people who they believe are using the power of the jewel to unfairly benefit themselves. Raya is an apt disciple of her fathers ideals but unfortunately this leads to her falling for a ploy by the people of Fang to steal the Jewel, when she 'befreinds' the Fang Princess Namaari.

A battle ensues over the jewel that ends up shattering the macguffin of power, and releasing the Druun back into Kumandra. The Druun now unleashed upon the world begin to create a ruin. Transfroming anyone they come into contact with into stone. Raya's father saves her before being petrified himself.

As we fast forward Raya has become a cynical adult bent on finding the last dragon of legend in hopes that she can defeat the Druun, and return the world to the way it was, abandoning her hopes that the Kumandran tribes can ever be united. It should come as no suprise then that Raya does in fact discover the Last Dragon, Sisu. Sisu is a fun loving, comedic, and hyper energetic creatuer with a love for humanity and trusting nature that is at odds with Raya's trauma and cynicism, it also doesn't help that her special power is "swimming".

As they journey across the Dragon shaped land of Kumandra, they gain friends and face foes. Raya holding onto her hurt and refusing to trust the other peoples they meet enough to think that maybe Sisu is a Sacred being who is important to their cultures as well. It is this lack of trust that eventually leads to tragedy for Raya.

At this point I'm going to uncharacteristically avoid spoilers. Raya is left with the fall out of her distrust and must either turn to her survivor nature and endure this world the way it is, or put her trust in those that have wronged her and bravely and boldly take a leap of faithful expectation that a better world is possible. It's a Disney movie, so I'm sure you know where this goes, but I'm not going to give you the specifics. It's pretty sweet and powerful.

The Benediction

Best Creature Design: Tuk Tuk: Available at Target

I can't lie. I work on the road and I have to use the bathroom all over town if I need to. My secret for finding the cleanest place to go is to generally avoid gas stations and rest areas when I can help it and to hit up grocery stores and book stores etc. as often as possible. My favorite is a local target, the bathrooms are generally less in demand than a gas station, much cleaner, AND at target they usually have a starbucks so I can also grab some joe. All that said, I have seen these absolutely massive Tuk Tuk toys in the toy section and I'm going to buy them for all the kids that I know. I just think he's a fun creature. Im not a big enough fan of Raya to justify having this basketball sized toy in my collection, but I think that kids will love having a giant armadillo bear monster to pal around with.

Best Character: Dragon's Heart

Sisu is an endearing figure and her offbeat but kind nature reminds me exactly of my favorite kind of people to meet in the wild. It's hard to be a lover and not a fighter. It's hard to be so understanding. It is an archetype that we see all over any media with a semi-spiritual message and I don't think we've seen it with quite the comedic edge as Sisu. Aang from Avatar comes close, but his light hearted attitude is certainly on par with Sisu, his comedic sensibilities are decidedly less "on". It also kind of says something that I forget that I'm talking about a dragon here.

Worst Aspect: Rayatar the Last Water Dragon

Alright, this might be a hot take but. Avatar: The Last Air Bender did it better. I can't call it parallel thinking as Raya came out almost a decade after Avatar. The two are playing off of very basic heroes journey style narratives that have existed in human story telling for longer than either show so it's completely unfair to claim that Raya was "ripping off" Avatar, BUT it's also a bit naïve to think that Disney wasn't banking on familiarity to move some product. Disney usually goes after public domain properties and fairy tales we are all vaguely familiar with and that's no accident. There's a clear pattern that people gravitate toward the familiar, it's why franchises won't just die. It's why they can repackage all their animated films into mediocre live action form and sell you the exact same movie over and over again. Even if the plot of Raya didn't have similarities to Avatar, which it does, the marketing certainly was attempting to banking on the beloved animated series.

When Raya was first coming out i saw a lot of people claiming that the fashions and character designs were copying Avatar and guys, that's kind of racist. Both shows are creating fantasy worlds with heavy influences from East and South Asian cultures. There's going to be some things that to a white American eye look pretty homogenous, although I'm sure with a little education are in fact very distinct. So as far as the "look", my only gripe is with the Logo.

Now, all that said. If you do want a show where an American animation company created a lore heavy fantasy world that draws heavy inspiration from Asian history and folklore, where a group of special spiritual individuals were wiped out but one remains and is the only hope of uniting a world populated by nations of people with very basic easy to remember names like "fire, and fang, and heart, and earth", where the chosen one is a goofy pacifist who uses the power of love and spiritual values to pull an impossible victory out of their butt at the last minute, but it still makes you cry and want to be a better person, then I have good news for you. You're spoiled for choice, I'm not gonna say Raya "copied" Avatar, BUT ... Avatar did do that particular story better. It may be a bit unfair, as Avatar had three seasons to do so and Raya had like an hour and a half.

Best Weapon: Shifty Sword

I just like Ranma's sword. I'm gonna use this category when I see an extra cool weapon. Oh man! When I review Flying Guillotine am I really going to have to talk about how bad ass the flying gullotine is?

Rayas weapons is actually not a sword at all but is called the Jade Dragon Keris. A Keris is an asymetrical indonesian dagger, and no it doesn't turn into a whip like in the movie, but it is cool that hers does that. The animators really do some creative things with that.

Summary

Raya is unfortunately shaping up to be one of Disney's forgettable features. I think that's a shame as it's stronger in my opinion than many of the recent films that have come out. But as is the case when Disney does a lot of it's more 'action/adventure' films, audiences seem to largely ignore them. Here's to you Treasure Planet. The good news is those movies do have the most passionate and interesting fans. The appeal is more focused than it is broad, and that's okay. As pointed out above, don't expect Raya to give you anything new, but if this is your kind of story then I'm sure you'll be happy to add it to your collection. There's room enough for lots of these.

Overall Grade: C