#and I end up with a bunch of crap I don't want or need instead of one or two things I actually like

[theminecraftbox]

to be honest, I think fandom exaggerating dream's analytical and intelligent abilities dream's plan is literally so stupid, like, many refer to it as "ignoring feelings for the sake of strict calculation, the end justifies the means blah blah blah a smart, logical plan that will nevertheless lead to psychological dissatisfaction", but the plan is literally the most ill-conceived thing I ever heard, like, that's not even a plan?? they're testing the revival book in hopes that one day it will somehow help them achieve immortality and restart the server - that's just ridiculous and I also have no idea how dream expects that restarting the server will solve his/their/servers problems, like how is that supposed to work? and this “if we are immortal, no one will have to suffer and we can live forever and know and blah blah blah” such naive crap, honestly I could ask a thousand probing questions or give a thousand reasons why this plan wouldn't work in any reality, and I doubt dream wouldn't have asked these questions in the months they've been running their tests; the plan is literally just his feelings: afraid to die → need immortality, lost everything and it's killing me → need a restart and so on - there's no analysis behind this shit

I literally find it strange not the fact that punz allows this, although the plan harms dream, but the fact that he really believes in this plan and follows it, like, come on, punz is +- fine, there is no trauma that can overshadow his ability to think, why is he indulging in this stupid idea?

strongly agree / agree / ambivalent / disagree / strongly disagree / don’t care whatsoever

I think you're conflating a bunch of things. Dream's plan is not the same as his methodology. His methodology is not the same as his motivations. Having emotional reasons for a plan is not the same thing as that plan being stupid. "lost everything and it's killing me → need a restart" isn't a description of a stupid plan, that's a description of an over-emotional motivation for a plan. Just because you disagree with what his goal was trying to achieve doesn't mean that the strategies he took to achieve that goal were stupid.

Like, take staged finale as an example. I can argue that it's overkill or a poorly considered goal to imprison himself in dangerous circumstances chiefly to achieve a) protecting his close ally b) getting the server off his back and c) getting a sick base. But I won't claim that the steps he took to set up and execute staged finale aren't evidence of someone successfully using strategic thinking to accomplish his goals, which is generally what people are talking about when invoking strategist!Dream.

Dream expecting that his plan will fix his emotional problems isn't stupid in that it's a failure of logic. It's stupid in that it's a failure in identifying that his problems are actually emotional. Which gets covered pretty handily in the genuine finale! Tommy didn't say "your plan is stupid because you neglected to consider these reasons that curing death won't actually work." Instead, Tommy said, "your plan is stupid because you're failing to see that you're hurting people here and now and you could have the friends you want here and now if you just put down your damn book and make peace." which, I'm gonna be honest, also sounds a bit like naive crap to me.

Also, you're acting as if his plan is based simply on an unspecified fear of death when all signs point to it literally being a reaction to the existence of the revival book! Like, sure, when you phrase it like "hur dur maybe this magic book will fix my problems" it sounds pretty stupid. But what actually happened was more along the lines of "permadeath didn't exist on this server as a concept, now it does. revival didn't exist on this server as a concept, now it does. maybe one of these can be used to fix the other." Which is pretty damn straightforward to my eyes!

I really, truly don't see what the problem is with "plan fix death" when you literally have a necromancy book. (Like, logistically, not ethically or whatever.) It seems like the supernatural complications with the balance of life and death, whatever XD's deal is, the server reset, Foolish and the experiments upsetting the balance, all of that, came later (and lacks its conclusion for doylist reasons). but WHY the complaint that fixing death doesn't make sense????? that's like. thing numero uno when you have a damn revival book. sorry if I'm getting carried away but I've seen this argument before and it genuinely makes no sense to me. Reads the same to me as "if you have a hammer and some wood and nails why are you trying to build a table." maybe because I have the tools for the job?

Not to mention that even if we pretended that Dream's only motivation was trying to stop conflict, the plan "learn how to revive people" is still a really obvious solution! Make conflict not have permanent consequences? that's like. an easy mitigating solution.

Also, there's a more general conflation happening here between Dream's unwellness and a more general notion of stupidity. Which I also disagree with. His paranoid spiral led to him locking himself in a prison, but that doesn't mean it was stupid for him to conclude he needed protection, and that his allies needed protection.

The thing with Punz is a separate question, but it's one that I think Punz has answered handily himself: Punz wants knowledge and power, he says so outright, in simple language. He's not indulging a stupid idea: he's in cahoots with a guy who's brought him a ton of knowledge and power. The revive book is real, it's got real results, and it's shown Punz a glimpse of a world he clearly thinks is achievable: a world in which the supernatural shit has indeed been solved. And I don't see why you think he's silly to believe so, given the evidence he's seen with his own eyes.

[copperbadge]

Have we found a tumblr replacement yet? Apparently the latest “live” shenanigans were the thing that it took to break me. I’m not trying to stir shit, I’m just mostly here for you and a couple other blogs, so I’m going wherever you go.

I wish, but unfortunately not so far. I mean, I've talked a little about how I'd like to find one but there aren't really any viable ones right now, and there may not be a fandom mass-migration for years still. I'm more likely to follow the crowd than blaze a trail in this case, so it may be some time. For now my only real tactic is to simply not engage with staff or support at Tumblr in any way, and accept the changes as gradual steps towards the site's demise with as much serenity as I can muster.

I've already accidentally opened Tumblr Live twice while trying to navigate the app, which I'm sure is intentional, given I've now suddenly opened Tumblr Live twice since its inception instead of Zero. Relatedly, I would love to see them redirect that passion into making the "Mute Notifications" button actually work, but mine is not to reason why.

Anyway. There are options available, like obviously there are other social media platforms, but none have quite the combination of "easy to use" and "has a lot of people on it" and "Offers the same functionality" (photo and video hosting, an app, etc) even with an "ease of use" and "functionality" that are as crap as Tumblr's.

For example, Dreamwidth is great, but it's a Livejournal code fork so it's a very different format from Tumblr, more labor-intensive to make and share posts (no reblog function, image embedding can get a bit complicated, etc). CoHost is new and very promising but a bit of a ghost town right now -- I'm there and I've had a bunch of people find me there but still exponentially less than are on Tumblr. Pillowfort I still need to re-investigate; I'm there as well but it's been a while since I looked in, and I was struggling with the functionality previously. I had a look at Mastodon, but as positive as decentralized servers could be for the future of social media, I actively dislike the idea, and it also seems difficult to set up and complex to maintain. Discord is....there, and a lot of fandom stuff has shifted there, but its structure is very different and it's also decentralized, and also I hate it passionately and refuse to use it, so that's a no-go for me, though I suspect it's where fandom might end up.

If you're struggling with accessing tumblr directly, you might consider feeding the blogs you follow to an RSS reader -- I know people who do that and find it pretty functional, because then if they want to comment they can just pop open the specific post and deal with it directly. I don't know how much you know about RSS and I don't have the energy to fully explain it right now, but NetVibes is a pretty decent free RSS reader and it's what I use for certain blogs outside of Tumblr.

In any case, if I do find a place, or if I see the migration beginning, I'll sound the alarm :) In the meantime I'm still reading through my tumblr, stashing away posts to save off when I leave, even if that'll be a while.

[readyforthegarden]

Eternal - Part One

A vampire!gvf multi-part dark romance AU (Josh Kiszka x reader, GVF x reader)

Warnings: 18+ Only Minors DNI. Mentions of blood, death, vampirism. This chapter itself contains mentions of sex, possessive behavior, and strange dreams.

AN: A huge shoutout to @lunaindigoraven for being the best and workshopping this with me for MONTHS and encouraging me to keep going on it! I couldn't do it without you bestie!!! Thank you guys so much for being patient as I worked through a bunch of crap in my life and finally got this little story together for yall! I'm so excited to share this work with you! I don't have a schedule for this fic like I've had before, but hopefully it will be weekly!

WC: 2303

“We’re just moving in opposite directions.” the words echoed in your head. “It’s nothing you’ve done, but I just don’t think we’re a good fit any more.” those are the words your fiancé had said to you a month ago, when you came home to find him in the process of moving his things from your apartment. What had started as a trip home in the middle of the day to surprise your work-from-home fiancé with some ‘afternoon delight’ turned into a night of heartbreak. 

You let yourself wallow longer than you cared to admit. You had moved to a new city, and met Drew shortly after, and the whirlwind romance blossomed. Dinners and drinks and dancing turned into moving in with one another, settling down and starting a domestic life, cooking meals and folding laundry together. You were building a life with him after the past three years, and suddenly, everything you had built was pulled out from under you. It wasn’t until your work friend, Willa, took pity on you and invited you out with a small group of her girlfriends for a night out.

That’s how you ended up here. You’d been coming almost nightly to this club, to drink, dance and maybe go home with a stranger. It felt good to forget for a little while, how your life had crashed down around you. The other dancers around you didn’t care what you were going through, the drinks were okay, and the occasional partner you went home with satisfied your need for touch.

As you moved to the music, you began to feel like you were being watched. Shaking your hair from your face you glanced around the club, trying to spy anyone looking in your direction. As you scanned, you locked eyes with a man in a vintage looking tailored suit, lounging back in a chair in one of the V.I.P. areas off to the side of the dance floor, up a level and separated by thick velvet ropes. He seemed at ease as he watched you dance, like he was watching a performance meant for him. He ran a hand through his curls as he watched, giving you a small smirk. You gave him a quick up and down as you turned away. 

He’d been there every night this week as well, sitting in that damn chair while his friends partied around him. You’d met eyes with him a few times since you’d started coming to the night club, the two of you always sending seemingly flirty looks to one another, but nothing ever coming from it.

You moved yourself into the crowd further, trying to shake the feeling of his eyes on you and lose yourself in the loud music again. If he wasn’t going to make a move, you weren’t going to be bothered by his attentions. Swaying your hips and rolling your shoulders back you let the music and alcohol take over again. Making eye contact with Willa, you both started dancing together. Her hand laced with yours and the two of you moved your bodies together for a while before a hand rested on your waist. 

Letting go of Willa and turning, you came eye to eye with the man from the VIP section, looking down at you. His hand moved to the small of your back but the pressure was light, like he wanted you to make the move closer instead of him pulling you in. Instead, you turned back around as a new, slightly slower song started playing. His hands rested on your hips now as you continued your dancing, drawing out the figure-eights you were doing with your hips and subtly pushing back against him. The man matched your movements and you felt the grip on your hips become more firm, yet he still let you lead and let you be the one to choose to move your body closer. 

It wasn’t so bad, dancing with this stranger. In fact, the way his one hand now wound around your front, resting on your stomach to hold you in place against him felt nice. You felt his breath on your neck and reached behind you, resting your hand on the back of his neck. The two of you danced through the next few songs, not caring about the tempo or if you were off beat, it felt like you were in your own world, being jostled around by other dancers around you. After a while, the man turned you around, asking if you wanted a drink. You nodded, suddenly realizing how parched you were. He took your hand, leading you through the crowd and to the bar. 

You settled at the bar, on the stool next to this man that you'd been dancing with. As you waited for the bartenders attention, you caught the eye of a tall blonde man down to your left. If this guy didn’t work out, maybe a tall blonde could meet your needs tonight. You bit your bottom lip and gave him a smile as he looked you over. You straightened your posture, making sure your chest was pushed forward as you shoulders rolled back and you watched the man's eyes dart down to the low neckline of your dress.

You didn’t notice how the jaw of the man next to you clenched at the exchange of looks you were currently in with this stranger, and his arm crossed your lap, hand grabbing your left thigh, letting his fingertips dig into the flesh of your exposed thigh and dragged your seat next to his until you’re flush against him.

“There’ll be none of that tonight, love.” you turned towards him, scoffing at his nonchalant yet demanding tone. You didn’t want to let on that the small spark of jealously and the pet name from him made your stomach flip with excitement.

“And why not? I’m a free woman.” the man's golden brown eyes stared down at you, glinting in the neon lights at the clubs bar. You felt your heart start to pound in your chest. The way he looked at you, there was a hunger in his eyes, yet he was reserved, like he was going to wait for you to offer yourself on a platter to him, like he knew you would. It made you feel like you were on fire, and you were sure your cheeks were tinged with red.

“Woman, yes. Free? Not any longer.” His fingers flexed and dug into your thigh. "You're mine." you narrowed your eyes at him, trying to fight the smirk that wanted cross your face. All the nights of looks across the dance floor and he was finally breaking.

"And what if I don't want to be yours? Tonight or ever." you shot back with a raise of your eyebrows, challenging him and leaning in. He smirked confidently down at you, and let his fingers trace up to the hemline of your skirt, creeping under and grazing the skin of your inner thigh. He leaned in close, his lips grazing your cheek before moving to your ear, his voice low and slow.

"Your body language tonight seems to say otherwise." he murmured. “Tell me, have any of the men you’ve left with recently even satisfied you?” you took a quiet, deep breath in as you tried to keep your composure. The way this man looked at you, especially so closely, was making you feel like melting into the stool beneath you, and his hand on your leg wasn’t helping.

“And why would that be your business?” you squinted at him, trying to remain coy. The man licked his lower lip slowly as he smirked down at you.

“It’s not, but I don’t think you’d be coming here every night for a week if they were.”

“And you think you can do the job?” 

“Oh, I know I can.” you pursed your lips, looking away from him and ran your tongue over your teeth to give yourself a few moments to think of a good comeback. “But you’ll have to wait a little longer for that.” you eyed him, sizing him up. His lips were curled into a smarmy smile that somehow charmed you, and you found yourself disappointed he was getting up from the barstool next to you. He finished off his drink and nodded to the bartender. “Your tab is taken care of, thank you for the dance, love.” he took your hand before you knew it, pressing his soft lips to the back of it, a small tingle being left in it’s wake when he pulled away, giving you a small smoldering look as he left you. 

It was like you blinked and he was gone, disappearing into the crowd, presumably to make his way back to the VIP section. You turned back towards the bar, tossing back the fruity drink special and moving to get up. The blonde man from across the bar was making his way over now, and you raised a hand up in his direction, shaking your head and walking away, moving to the front of the club to get your coat from the coat check. 

While you waited for coat check, you sent a quick text to Willa, letting her know you were leaving and you’d see her at work the next day, before shoving the phone back into your bag, and slipping on your coat. You were able to get a cab outside fairly quickly and tucked yourself into the backseat after giving the driver your address, watching out the window as the lights of the city passed. You hadn’t realized you’d been running your fingers over the spot on the back of your hand where the man had kissed until you had to stop, and open the cab door. Your thoughts had only been of the man; his confidence in your attraction to him, his entire aura was dizzying and consuming. 

Crawling into your bed, a sigh left your lips while the blankets settled around you. A momentary break in the quiet peace when your cat, Jameson, jumped up onto your bed, curling up near your pillow. The Siamese cat purred loudly as he fell asleep, contented that you were home. Closing your eyes, you focused on the soft noise from the animal, letting it lull you to your own sleep, thinking only of the dark, sparkling brown eyes that had made your heart feel like it was on fire.

Wind swirled around you, whipping your hair across your face as you tried to take in your surroundings. Once you were able to clear your vision, your eyes only saw darkness. Putting out a hand to feel your way around, your palm came into contact with something rough after only a few steps. Running your fingers over the object, it felt wooden, scratchy, and jagged, and you soon realized it was a tree trunk. 

As if a switched were flicked, a bright, shining light burst from the leaves above, showcasing the vibrant green of them, the rich browns of the branches and trunk itself. Under your hand, you felt a beat, and placing your other palm flat against the large trunk, you let out an astonished gasp as the tree pulsed, as if it were a beating heart. Your mind was racing, thinking about how amazing of a discovery this could be, and how beautiful the tree was, gazing up through the leaves. The joy in your heart was immeasurable, and you wanted to wrap your arms around the trunk as far as you could and cling to it.

Basking in the glow, you almost didn’t notice the shadows at the edge of the light. Flickering and moving like smoke, twisting in angry swirls as they tried to enter into the light, only to be forced out. A pit formed in your stomach as you watched them, whatever they were, try to fight their way against whatever invisible force was keeping them out. You backed yourself against the tree trunk, knowing your body was too small to really protect it if they should break through. The wind picked up again, the branches creaking and swaying , and your eyes widened as you noticed them moving, coming down around you, as if the tree was instead protecting you. As you felt yourself become cocooned in the limbs, you saw one of the shadows strike against the edge of the light, over and over again until a crack sounded, and suddenly darkness flooded through. A silent scream ripped from your throat, your eyes squeezing shut as the black mass shot towards you, sounding like a train barreling down the tracks.

Then suddenly, you were sitting up in your bed, your eyes focusing in the darkness of your bedroom, cold shivers running through your body. Your shirt was stuck to your skin from sweat, and you tossed the blankets off, pulling the material off your body and going to the closet for a new, dry shirt. After getting yourself some water in the kitchen, you went back to your bedroom, rubbing your face tiredly and setting the glass down on the nightstand. A glimmer in the moonlight caught your eye as you lifted your hand away from the glass, and you furrowed your brow, picking up the delicate gold chain. A sheer, white stone pendant hung from it in the shape of teardrop. It was small, and you couldn’t remember where you’d gotten it. You didn’t even remember seeing it before. And yet you unclasped the hook and eye, putting it around your neck and letting the pendant rest just above your chest as you climbed back into bed, turning over and grabbing Jameson from his perch by your head and pulling him into your body, falling back asleep.

Taglist:

@lunaindigoraven @lvnterninthenight @allieisacrybaby @xserenax-13 @sarakay-gvf @shutupdevvie @myownparadise96 @watchingovergvf2 @gretavanfleetposts @gretavanfran @josiee-gvf @highdefkiszka @ascendingtostardust @joshkiszkatoothgap @andeejoness @gardensgatedaisy @kkdarling @demonrat444 @teddiie @writingcold @dannyandthekiszkas @gretavanbestie @lightmylove-gvf @tearsofbri @paleshadow-ofadragon @gretavanslut @tearsofbri @like-a-woman-in-a-dream @hippievanfleet @starshine-wagner @objectsinspvce @josh-iamyour-mama @mountain-in-springtime @cal-a-bungaa @capturethechaos @sunfl0wer-power @jankandjonch @writingcold

[until-another-one-comes]

Okay one last rant cuz thats enough unhingedness from me for one day:

I made a Francis-Nate breakup arc rewrite AGES ago. This was way back when I still cared for their friendship. Now I couldn't give a crap even if you pay me.

Anyways, rewrite:

Arc starts off as normal, with Francis taking a break from Nate. Instead of the Evan nonsense, we see Francis trying to find people to hang out with. Eventually he meets a bunch of kids like him: studious, quiet, rule-abiding. The exact opposites of Nate and exactly what he needs right now.

The arc continues with us seeing Francis hanging out with these kids. At first, things go well! He meets people who he can get along with and don't drive him up the wall! But after a while he gets bored with them. All they do is study, read, and not much else. We can have strips where Francis wants to have a snowball fight or play ice hockey (since it was winter in the original arc) but his new friends don't want to which makes him frustrated. He gets bored cuz theres no bantering. He even catches himself trying to see if his new friends are doodling or something.

Finally, Francis realises that while Nate drives him up the wall sometimes, there are many things about him that he DOES like. Francis likes Nate's sense of humor most of the time. He likes playing sports and rough housing with him and Teddy and joking around and just relaxing and having fun with them. His new friends are nice, but ultimately they're NOT Nate, who he actually get along with best.

So the arc conclude with Francis going back to Nate because he genuinely misses Nate, not because he had no other choice. He DOES have other choice, but its not the one he chose in the end.

Meanwhile Nate has a subplot where he actually learns to be less egotistical or whatever, which makes the reunion better because both boys learned SOMETHING from this whole thing

There. Boom. Done. Why is it so hard for LP to portray them positively??

Also honestly am I the only one who thought it should've been TEDDY who snapped since it was him that Nate ragged on because of the Valentines Card?? But that would require LP to actually care about Teddy so whatever lmao

[crassetophe]

It was a frustrating purgatory day for everyone I think. But as everytiiiime viewers should just write swearwords in a paper and throw it away instead of exposing their frustration to streamers. Like, they already have to manage their own?? I think they are the ones allowed to at least be a bit pissed bc they are streaming for days, investing so much time for their teams. And having a competition is always leading in a way to those kind of situations.

Also you cannot take player words seriously for some of them and say it's lore for others? I mean at some point they are not professional actors it may at some point be a bit of RP and sometimes not even if it seems like it. We should remember that sometimes, we don't know we're not omniscient and we need to chill out.

I was pissed for Etoiles yesterday, bc from my perspective BadBoyHalo gameplay is frustrating. But am I going to write an offensive comment about it?? And I really appreciated how Etoiles explained the situation during his stream, bc in addition to the gaming frustration which is normal to feel at some point, you just keep adding other layers of frustration and you end up with more complains about things you wouldn't be this annoyed.

The main issue is that, they cannot express their feelings freely without having a bunch of people either say:

" don't blame that guy! it's his RP this is how he plays don't blame him for it!"

"ok so as you're expressing a bit of frustration let me tell the other player he didn't have to do it and how unfair we all think the situation is"

SO

He's allowed to blame him and be pissed (as long as he's not being offensive). Your favorite streamer certainly had good reasons but you can't ask someone to just say "OOoooh it's too bad I'm dead :D ! I'm not frustrated at all, positive vibes only :D"

Seeing your favorite streamer being pissed doesn't allow to harass the other guy ?? Keep your shit together

(I wanted to delete the post bc who am i??? But fuck it I spent too much time writing xd just ignore me if it's full of crap)

[bohemian-nights]

When either team black and team Green stans talk about Nettles, no matter the sides they always ALWAYS dim down her character to the relationship she has with Daemon and Rhaenyra especially Daemon and it's just pathetic on both sides. Green stans see her character as a child that has been groomed and use it as a "Ah ha!" Moment against Daemon's character, Team black stans see her as the reason why their stupid ship falls apart and both sides are just completely blind to her character. She's so much more than that, this girl who grew up ALONE on the streets and KEPT HERSELF ALIVE for 17 years was OUTSMARTED a bunch of highly trained and skilled soilders and was able to claim a wild dragon, Sheepstealer is the ONLY wild dragon that someone was able to claim and Nettles, someone who wouldn't know anything about dragons, didn't grow up around the culture of dragons etc was able to do that SHE DID THE IMPOSSIBLE. And yet, they want to use her character for their petty arguments when she is so much more than that. Also, I find it hilarious when people think of her character as some naive little girl who gets easily manipulated. You know who was a naive little girl that got easily manipulated? Rhaenyra! Do you know what makes Rhaenyra and Nettles different? Rhaenyra is a sheltered, spoiled princess who grew up in the comfort of castle walls, whereas Nettles has seen the real world. She's apart. If it is, she's not living some sheltered life she's seen and been through a lot in her youth. I'm sorry for the rant, but I'm just tired of seeing her character get dumbed down and used by both sides. Nettles is smart and cunning BEFORE the dance and AFTER the dance. When she gets sent away and ends up on her own again (with the addition of Sheepstealer), she kept herself and her dragon alive and became an actual deity among men, she was smart enough to do that. She's a fighter, she's a survivor, she's brave, she's compassionate, she's smart, she's cunning, she's caring, she's so much more than just some groomed child/mistress.

Pretty much. Which is why I’m just #team Nettles over here. It’s very clear that the vast majority of both teams don’t view her as an actual character in her own right and instead view her either as a nuisance(cue she’s only Daemon’s daughter and if you say otherwise, especially if you say Daemon loved her in a romantic capacity, I’ll say your a total liar and bury my head in the sand when you bring in facts) or a tool(cue poor Rhaenyra and Nettles, it’s so sad how Daemon groomed them both😔 Protect Nettles and the racist white woman who tried to kill her while she was possibly pregnant✊).

They do always try to dim her light and make her seem unimportant. Yeah, she’s a secondary character, but that’s never stopped the praise before. There are plenty of secondary players who have people who they actually care about and make up a ton of crap for.

However, with Nettles, even her accomplishments are picked over, stolen, and put on other characters with little backlash.

Like the anti-Blackness is permeating throughout their posts on her. Because if you want Nettles to be a Magical Negro to Rhaenyra’s overprivileged dumba** behind, her Mammy, view her as a little girl when she’s a grown woman, or else you’ll call her a Jezebel, let’s make no mistake, it’s misogynoir:

The reason why I bring up her relationship with Daemon so much is because her romance with him is a part of her story. Taking that away(and trying to pawn her off to second-tier boys) only serves to limit her characterization and reinforce stereotypes. They don't think she's desirable. We don’t need more she’s a strong independent Black woman who doesn't need a man stories. Especially not ones where she’s dedicating her life to a psychotic white woman. That’s regressive asf.

Nettles’ character is worth way better analysis and actual praise than what she’s being given. While she may be a secondary character she’s actually important to the narrative.

She grew up a homeless orphan(which is why it’s so insulting when people try to act like she’s a freaking idiot who doesn’t know how to bathe herself yet she can tame a dragon🤦🏽‍♀️ Put most of the highborn women in her position and they wouldn’t survive a day in her shoes).

She’s the only known non-Valyrian dragonrider who claims a wild dragon. A prince who believes in Valyrian supremacy falls in love with her to the point where he’s willing to sacrifice his life for her.

Nettles is self-made. She’s self-taught. She’s loved for herself. She survives a freaking war and becomes a fire goddess/witch. Who wouldn’t want her? Who wouldn't want to be her? She’s the sh*t 😎

At this point, I’m over it. I’m waiting for her to get more than a handful of fans and to see her get a somewhat happy ending (unless the show wants to face major backlash by killing her off when she survives in the books, she’ll get her happy ending). The Dumbnyra and Fettles stans can go cry and voice their concerns about that🤷🏽‍♀️

[yolowritter]

Volpibug Au Part 4: Mom help, there's a fox girl on my floor!

Hello there everyone, and welcome back to Lilanette Hell! Finally, after three rants longer than my entire attention span, I've returned with the good shit! Also yes, I cackled at the title. You'll see, it makes sense later. Part 3 of the Au is right here for anyone who needs a reminder, and today's rant focuses on the Glaciator episode and the immediate aftermath! This is where the Lilanette really begins! Also, this post is going to be really long, because I've got two whole snippets for you guys!

To give a bit more context, the Au currently has a pretty linear timeline. Begins with Volpina because obviously that's when Lila shows up for the first time, continues into Collector where Lila decides that Adrien is the least annoying person in class and she will get him back, hence teaming up with Marinette to go confront Gabriel about it. Yes, she gleefully reminds Monsieur Mothballs that CPS exists and is only one phone call away. Then the show moves on as normal, with Lila happily staying out of everyone's business and just kinda figuring out how friendships are supposed to work.

Add a few flashbacks to her altered backstory, maybe some nice Trixx pov to sweeten the deal, and suddenly we're at the Sapotis episode! As I mentioned in Part 2, Lila doesn't like Chloe, so she and Marinette kinda put their differences aside for the sake of Adrien having more friends and keeping the Queen B in check. Still, Lila does not like Marinette at this point. She thinks that while having moments of brilliance, the bluenette is erratic, overly emotional and also kinda creepy with her stalking of Adrien. This isn't bashing, just Lila being a bit too blunt. Anyway, they aren't clawing each other's eyes out and that's what matters. Cue Alya inviting them both to sleepover, the Sapotis incident, and then the rest of Part 2 where Volpina (with her fake civilian name starting with "Cer-" as a nod to Cerise) joins the hero team. If you need a reminder, don't worry I'll rant about it again sometime soon. Lila comes and goes during Akuma fights, occasionally showing up to laugh at Chat Noir when he gets yeeted halfway across the cityscape, and usually just sniding at that day's Akuma. She needs to get it out of her system to be able to hold her tongue in school, so it's a good outlet!

But anyway, one day the Glaciator Incident happens, mostly like normal. Lila gets invited to go out with the rest of the group, and actually does her whole innocent act to basically force Marinette to show up...but Adrien doesn't. Lila is less than pleased with this decision, because if you remember she told Marinette off for memorizing Adrien's wiki page and kinda stalking him instead of...oh, talking to the guy! It annoys her a bit too much, so she endeavors to put an end to this crap by making it so Marinette has to interact with Adrien in the context of friendship, and hopefully figures out that stealing phones is Lila's thing, and no, she doesn't allow copycats! Evidently...Marinette ends up having the same interaction with Andre, causing him to be upset, but Lila steps in to save the day by exclaiming that his ice cream is awesome and she really wants to try! Akuma averted...or not, because once she thinks she's out of earshot, Lila mutters about how a grown adult shouldn't get so hung up on teenagers' love lives + a whole bunch of "doesn't he have anything better to do?" Again, not bashing anyone, just Lila being Lila. Cue Glaciator, canon edition!

Volpina does show up for the fight and distracts him while Ladybug and Chat have their little "faking feelings is wrong!" argument, but Lila quickly gets tired of their shit and urges Adrien to just get it over with! Then, she hides behind a chimney to keep watch and they defeat the villain. As Volpina makes her way back down, Ladybug and Chat have a little conversation where he asks her to at least let him talk to her, and then they leave Lila behind to have the rooftop scene with the rose. As Ladybug leaves, Volpina jumps over (yes, she obviously spied on them, she does this a lot) to talk with Chat Noir.

Now...Lila does not do feelings of any kind. Empathy isn't in her dictonary, even if she is slowly learning how to practice it despite that. And here...she actually does have one of those mature moments. Lila's been forced to grow up too quick after her grandma's death with only Trixx for company (see part 1 here for the backstory), so that sobered her up a bit. Half the reason she treats everyone like an idiot is because they're all incredibly immature in her eyes. Anyway, she sits on the railing and Chat exclaims he's not in the mood for jokes tonight. Alarm bells start ringing in Lila's head, because she actually really vibes with their team's other pun enthusiast. She wouldn't call him a friend, but who else can help her drive Ladybug insane if not for the mangy stay? So she decides to talk to him about it, and we get the following snippet! Bet you weren't expecting that!

[...]

Volpina raises her hands in a surrender, giving Chat a toothy grin that shows her fangs. Her tail swishes around the metal railing, but after his frown doesn't go away, she clears her throat and scoots over to him. "Listen...I really don't do feelings. And I'm going to regret this...but do you want to talk about it?" she asks, trying to smooth her voice into something soft instead of the usual teasing tone.

The blonde's surprise is only betrayed by the sudden twitch of his ears, and Lila lazily stretches her arm to at least keep up the pretense of not caring. Give the boy an out if he doesn't want to share, and hope it all works out. Instead, Chat levels her with a suspicious stare. "Why do you even care? Sure, you're on our side..." he makes a wild gesture with his arms, as if physically grasping for the right words.

Lila cuts him off by snapping her claws together, meeting his eyes. "Because if you and the watermelon don't get your shit together, that's more work for me. And I've already fought enough of his kids' cartoon rejects as it is." she tells him in a rare moment of honesty. Not that Volpina doesn't care, it's just that the list of people she's willing to fight over currently extends to maybe five or six, and begrudgingly at that.

Chat's face falls, as if he'd half expected it. For a moment he almost looks like he's going to try and scold her...but he only gives a deep sigh. "It's complicated. I don't expect you to understand." the blonde mutters, ears drooping like someone's doused him with ice-cold water.

"It's either me or your Kwami. Take your pick, I won't sit here all night." Volpina argues in a dismissive tone. When Chat looks away from her, Lila thinks she maybe should have picked her words more carefully. Resisting the urge to leave him be, Volpina reaches out to gently grasp his shoulder with her claws. She levels him a serious look, to say she means it. "Just...start talking, would you?" Lila prods him, and Chat's eyes glint with poorly-disguised surprise. What an idiot...it's not like she'd actually grown attached. That would just be ridiculous.

Nevertheless, he tells her everything. How he'd invited Ladybug on a date and carefully prepared everything in advance, even if she told him it was a maybe. Well, that was much more headway than he'd ever made, so Chat Noir still went on with trying to make the perfect spot. But...she hadn't shown up. Dissapointed, he'd headed over to Marinette, having seen the bluentte on her balcony. Lila carefully files away their prior friendship, as well as the fact that she might have judged the girl a bit too quickly. If one of Paris' heroes has taken such an interest to her...could there be a side to her beyond the exasparating annoyance she's been friends with for so long? Chat goes on to describe the impromtu date between them, and then the conversation with Ladybug that Volpina definately hadn't listened in on. Spying on her teammates during a momet of emotional vulnerability? Her? Never!

Still, a certain detail does stick out to her, but she politely waits until the blonde is done moping. "You...do know she told you there were other plans for tonight, right?" Volpina asks, leaning her face towards him to look into Chat Noir's eyes. Her catty green peers through a dissapointed emerald, and he gives a nod. "Okay...I can't believe I'm going to ask this, but you know that Ladybug wasn't obligated to show up just because you expected her to, right? Everyone is allowed to say no." Lila tells him, trying to keep her tone from turning to an accusation. She'd never gotten the impression that Chat believed himself entitled to the other girl's affections, but it didn't hurt to make sure.

Silence slowly envelops them as he mulls her words over, as if struggling to understand the concept. She straightens up, arching her back across the railing for a stretch as Chat falls deep in thought. "We...we can say no?" he asks dumbly, almost as if he hadn't heard her. Oh. Oh...shit. She knew that innocent gaze from a mile away, having spent so much time glued to Adrien's side. Lila's heart sings with pity, and she takes a deep breath.

"Yes, of course we can." Volpina insists, grabbing onto his shoulder for emphasis. She clicks her claws together, hopping off the railing and standing next to Chat Noir. "Listen to me. Other people's desires only matter if you decide they do. And it goes both ways. Ladybug wasn't obligated to show up today, and you aren't forced to go on patrol if you don't feel like it." Lila tells him seriously, looking the blonde in the eye.

Then, as abruptly as the advice came, she steps back and promptly twirls herself around, playfully hitting his arm with her tail. Chat doesn't say a word, and Volpina takes a cursory glance at the sky. "I gotta run. Try not to get caught out in the rain, would you?" she snips at him before climbing on the railing. Before he's even gathered his bearings, she's disappeared over the skyline, with only the familiar high-pitched titter grazing his ears. Chat Noir unhooks his baton, and quickly jumps away into the night.

[...]

And scene! I figured this specific conversation was important, because Lila's advice really resonates with Adrien here. Also, I'll take any excuse to have Volpina on screen, but it's mostly for the plot. I'm trying to prevent Ladynoir without any fights, so Lila has her work cut out for her if she wants to accidentally rizz up Marinette. Believe me, if you thought the Agrestes were oblivious, they've got nothing on the fox girl who subconsiously doesn't think there's anything about her to love. Never to a point of self-hate, Lila is fairly comfortable with who she is as a person, but just...hasn't ever recieved affection aside from her grandmother. Sure, she's dated a few boys before, but that was only because she was using them for one reason or the other, and the "relationships" lasted only barely a month each, being more uninteresting than the one before. So...you can guess why Lila has never considered it after coming to Paris.

Also, just to be perfectly clear, despite Volpina and Chat Noir having their moments together and even a psuedo-date later on, things are strictly platonic here. Lila doesn't like him that way, and Adrien sees her as the cool friend who's teaching him what freedom actually looks like. His eyes are squarely on Ladybug, and later on Kagami. And after that, Luka. But that's for way later in the timeline. Feel free to ask about it though, I'm happy to yap some more about this Au's Lukadrien! Anyway! Lila is very much gay for Marinette, and Volpina does end up as Ladybug's bi awakening...so there's that! Alright, back to the plot!

The next morning passes by quickly, and Lila decides to join the nightly patrol with Ladybug and Chat, which she almost never does aside from when Volpina is in a mood to jumpspace their brave leader. She does it constantly, and Ladybug can never manage to find her before Lila suddenly appears behind her to say hello. This time however, she decides to spy on them again as they have a conversation, and Chat apologizes to Ladybug, explaining that he got his hopes up and it wasn't her fault. She then says it's okay, they hug, happy ending! But that's not what Lila is here for at all! See, Chat's words about Marinette have been stuck in her head all day now. In fact, Lila even tried being nice to the bluenette at school today (severely weirding her out) just to see if there's a difference to how she acts with her actual friends.

The results were...inconclusive, so she's come up another brilliant plan! After making sure this whole feelings crap was done with, she would just...show up at Marinette's house. As Volpina. Without any prior warning. And then promptly proclaim their friendship! That seems like a great idea! With only the best of intentions! What could possibly go wrong? ...as it turns out, absolutely everything.

Unfortunately this post is getting a bit too long, so I'll save the snippet for next time. I am writing these on the spot you know, it ain't easy. Hopefully a good way to get rid of Writer's Block, but still a challenge. Anyway, I do hope you all enjoed today's rant! Wasn't as unhinged as when I talk about canon, but then again my Aus have a lot less to complain about and a lot more to enjoy! If any of you want to talk about Volpibug feel free to shoot me an ask, I'm more than happy to tell you everything you want to know!

Anyway, I'll see you all next time, but until then, Stay Miraculous everyone!

[doctorstrangereview]

0084: Marvel Feature #1 (Main Story)

Cover Date: December 1971 On-Sale Date: July 20, 1971

Here we have it. The origin of the most fabulous fighting team of all! This is the first appearance of The Defenders so them becoming fabulous so quickly must be like the dubious "instant classic" tag. Roy Thomas, who wrote all the individual installments leading up to this point gives us a returning villain for them to face. He spends more than half the story gathering the team with a scenario that's actually difficult for them to counter. Ross Andru joins the feature for the three issues the Defenders appear in. The art isn't the clean lines we're used to from most previous artists. There's more definition, but it looks shakier overall.

We start by looking at the Sanctum Santorum from the street. Ross is better at it than previous artists but chooses to make the entrance street level with no stoop. It's an unusual feature for a New York City residential building.

The kitty-cat only figures in this panel only. Cats have a habit of not boding well for Doc stories. Moving inside, the Sanctum is very dark and Doc is enjoying a seat in front of his fireplace. Ross doesn't give Doc a cool Ditko chair with lots of gargoyles and other creatures hanging on. Instead it's this uncomfortable looking art-deco thing. On the plus side, Doc has gone back to his classic look and the mask, along with the skin tight body suit are gone. Doc hears his name called out, but Wong doesn't. The call is mystical!

Doc goes ghost to investigate. Ross honors the Ditko tradition of no cloak while in astral form. He traces the call to a particular hospital room. A team of medical personnel surround a beat up, bandaged guy.

That's our buddy Yandroth, last seen falling eternally through another cosmos. Eternity must have ended and Yandroth fell hard because he looks like crap.

Ouchies! Yandroth can see Doc's astral form so things have happened since their last meeting to increase his abilities. He explains that he fell through a bunch of other realms and picked up some magic too. He used both skills to build something called the Omegatron that will blow up the Earth when he dies. He gives one of my favorite lines in all of comic history!

Yandroth lapses back into a coma. Doc then compels a bunch of Doctors to try and save his life and keep the Omegatron from going boom before he can figure out what to do. (There's that consent thing again.) There efforts don't last long and Yandroth goes to his reward in the great beyond a few minutes later.

I doubt that the doctors would actually discuss this in an operating room where the patient just died. Or maybe things were different a half-century ago. The comment moves the plot along and Doc has a starting point to find the Omegatron. Doc doesn't immediately head to Maine. He's got to gather up his posse first. Namor is first.

Namor isn't thrilled about being asked this, but when Doc says, in flowery purple prose, that the Earth may blow up and that includes the oceans he relents. He suggests a couple of others to lend a hand. They being the Hulk and the Silver Surfer. Doc looks in of Surf-y who is attempting to escape the Earth. As in every prior attempt to escape, Surf-y go boom against Galactus's big barrier and knocks himself out. Oops!

Doc goes ghost again to recruit the Hulk. Doc finds the jolly green giant and has a bit of fun getting him on his side.

And where else would we get a sound effect like FLAMM! Doc lures Hulkie to Namor and they manage to subdue him long enough to explain the situation. Hulkie just wants friends so Doc agrees that they will be friends. Hulk goes along with his new friends. Now the trio needs to find where Yandroth has stashed his doomsday machine. Doc gives himself a spiffy, if outdated, outfit to confab with some locals.

The old couple are happy to help and tell Doc about a new lighthouse that went up which went up recently. Doc and company head out.

Yandroth has, of course, left defenses which the trio must overcome before they can get inside and try to talk the Skynet reject out of making everything go boom. Hulkie tries to go through the front door.

Namor tries going through the sea and from below.

Doc tries to force his way, astrally.

Doc makes it through and confronts Omegatron, who has Yandroth's face. Yup, our dead villain is a bit of a narcissist. Doc is surprised by the machine's ability to think and speak and explain the whole plot to Doc. Yandroth tricked Doc. He lured him, along with his very muscle-y allies there. When they attack the machine, it'll have enough energy to trigger the big boom.

Uh-oh! Doc's got a problem. Namor and Hulkie have barged into the control room and are moments away from being very violent with it. Doc attempts to reason with them, but they think he's an illusion trying to trick them into not attacking. The pair decides to attack the "Doc illusion" instead. Doc casts illusions on the pair so they attack each other. This is only a temporary fix as the battle will still charge the machine, just a bit more slowly. Doc thinks fast and casts a spell to slow down time around the Omegatron.

Doc says the Earth now has countless years to live. Don't believe it. The Omegatron will menace the us again. So will Yandroth for that matter, but that's a story for another day. The trio depart, not on the greatest of terms. Despite their misgivings, the Defenders will reunite.

Doc the hides the Omegatron portion of the lighthouse. What could go wrong?

Despite this being the first story in the issue, Doc is already back on the active roster. A backup story covers his return and has already been reviewed. I'll skip the 1950s Sub-Mariner reprint between the two.

The story itself is a bit pedestrian and functions more to gather the team and introduce friction between the members. A forgotten villain shows up and promptly dies. Doc chooses a pair of powerful, but unstable personalities. It'll make for a lot of drama over the coming years. The Defenders fluid concept and unofficial nature makes it a different beast than a formal team like The Avengers. In fact the two teams will clash in the near future. The story is functional and performs its task efficiently. Fortunately, the Defenders will evolve into a much more interesting animal and allow Doc to stick around.

[chaosk1ng]

Courier ending up in any of the Red Dead games would go crazy bro. BREAKING NEWS: MAN USED TO THE MOJAVE SOMEHOW ENDS UP IN VALENTINE. I got rdr2 but haven’t played yet so this won’t be accurate but I have a crap ton of hours on fnv so imma just roll with it, will do another part when I finally play rdr2.

The transportalponder gets messed up when sending courier back home, don’t know how but it does for plot reasons. So Courier doesn’t really notice at first, maybe he was just in the middle of the Mojave so it doesn’t really hit him at first until he realizes that either a) he’s not where he was when he used the transportalponder to go to Big MT or b) the map to the Mojave was no longer there and instead get the DLC treatment maybe the map just no longer work along with the radio, I’d personally keep the radio cause I would listen to that nonstop or c) both options

Anyway, the man just lost and starts walking, trying to find any info he can get. I don’t know which game it should be but the only one I got info for is rdr2 so man is gonna cause problems and solve some on the way. Like I said, I haven’t played the game so this is gonna be crap until I come back when I’m done so it’s gonna be vague for now.

So Courier is wandering around and finds a town, man tries to get info but kinda sticks out (I like to imagine him as NCR or just wearing the riot gear from the Divide and have him be neutral, maybe independent Vegas, don't know yet I just love the armor) people are weary of him. Maybe someone called the police on him or a crime or something happens while he’s there so he helps out and gains some reputation like with goodsprings. Anyway, regardless of how it’s done the man gains a rep in the town and manages to get info. Man needs money now, caps mean nothing here, maybe the pre war money works if he has any but I don’t really see that happening so man needs work.

Maybe he picks up a bounty or two since it’s familiar for him, wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something like this, he tracked Benny across the Wasteland he can find whoever it is for the job. Maybe he tries out farm work and is just fascinated by the unmutated animals which would be so bizarre for him. Maybe he just leaves the town entirely and survives in the wild or on scrapes, again, the man has survived the Wasteland for his entire life he can survive pretty much anything there is in this world. Man gets his own horse, I want him to get a horse as a gift or by accident cause there ain’t no way he knows what it is, people use Brahmin to transport things. Man is fumbling his way around a horse and is learning the hard way.

Anyway, I think that he would try the options before just going back to what he did in the Mojave and doing quests for people he meets and doing a bunch of bounties while he’s at it cause multitasking is a thing (would be funny as hell to see him become a courier again and just saying his name is courier). So Courier starts to get more familiar with the new world he’s in and should have a map of all the towns at this point, maybe he’s run into some of the gangs, don’t know.

I like to imagine that Courier is just confused about something like racism in this world cause it’s more color based in those times which would be unusual for Courier, he’s definitely experienced racism cause it’s the wastes but not based on another person's color. Man is just like “but he’s not even a mutant or ghoul” since that’s the only kind of racism he’s likely faced.

Anyway, at some point he’d meet the van der linde gang, maybe one or two of the members and later get introduced to the gang but can’t really see that happening unless he gets involved with them. I imagined Courier meeting Kieran before he was forced or the beginning of his time with the o'driscoll and just saving the boy just to give him a companion that ain’t with the gang through the story. I am only saying this cause from the beginning of the game he gives off kicked puppy vibes and I feel the need to baby him. Anyway he probably doesn’t really need a companion in the story. But like I was saying before, he could probably run into the gang a few times, maybe Arthur runs into the Courier while he’s on a job or something, maybe they have similar goals or have objectives that cause them to run into each other but regardless they meet. Maybe Arthur mentions him to Dutch or Horsea or one of the other members, maybe he’s curious about him or finds him interesting but doesn’t really care in the end, they’ll probably not gonna see each other again, right?

Anyway they meet a few more times, maybe they both accidentally cause the other to get paranoid because the other just appears at random times. Omg they are each other's Mysterious Stranger. Anyway this would get Dutch’s attention, he’d get even more paranoid than he already is or thinks that Courier would be a good edition but I think the former is more likely. This would probably lead to Courier meeting more of the gang or the entirety of it depending on the route Dutch takes. All I’m saying is that both Arthur and Courier would make them rich. Anyway this leads to either an attempt to get rid of him or have him join but again I think the former is more likely. Idk maybe Courier and Arthur have become friends or something and use that to get him out of the confrontation or he uses a stealth boy but either way he manages to get out alright.

I know that Arthur has Dead Eye and all but he ain’t no match for Courier, man has dealt with deadlier and has VATS which do pretty much the same as Dead Eye (Note: I still have not finished the game so apologies if this ain’t true). Personally I’d rather fight Arthur and the gang than deal with the Mother Deathclaw or Ghost of She again, fuck that.

Anyway I don’t know much of rdr2 but I think it would be fun to force Courier in there and to gamble his money again in another world. And yes, this is just another excuse to have him get him kicked out of places for being too good at gambling, that’s why I’ve only envisioned him him rdr2 and Mass Effect, there the first two games I think of beside fnv with gambling mechanics besides Pokémon and Luigi in that damn suit.

Imma leave the kitchen now since I hardly know rdr2 so it's probably not that good but I just wanted to shove courier familiar but different.

[zealouscanonindeer]

Not meant to be

Synopsis: Being inevitable is not enough.

Category: Angst.

Part 2 of What could have been. Works as a stand alone too.

*********

For @choicesseptemberchallenge2023 and @midnightmelodiz .

DAY 20 : " Are you saying that there's hope? Maybe in the future-" "No."

*********

Ethan groaned, turning once again to his side, pushing the blanket off him as his bare chest heaved. Today she had been downright sinful and worst of all she was neither trying nor realising what she was doing.

Her black skirt, with the thigh high slit, the translucent cream work shirt, which gave a peek of the bralette underneath, half her hair pulled up while the rest cascaded down her slender shoulders like water fall.

Although he was not the only one who thought so, he eyed Dr Emerson check her out from the back as she stood in front of them in the elevator.

The whole day had him riled up and the moment he got into bed, he had wanked to the memory of their first time together.

Now he tried to push out the rest, mainly his stupidity at leaving, thinking it would work. Instead everyday in the Amazon all he could think was her. Then he had insisted on the reset. He had been breaking her heart every step of the way and yet she never stopped caring. Maybe she had had enough this time around. The mere thought made his blood run cold.

The next day he walked in at the usual time, opening the door to the diagnostics office, he saw the vixen herself, fidgeting with the papers on his desk, bunching them up in neat stacks over and over again. She usually did this when she was nervous or restless.

"Rookie? What happened? Are you okay? "

"Why wouldn't I be. No scratch that, I'm not okay, Ethan. " She looked up at him, the emotions swirling inside her.

"Let me help. " She chuckled sarcastically, her eyes turning sadder.

"No, Ethan. You've done enough. You've been an grade A asshole, first you sleep with me, tell me you care, that you want this, you save my career at the hearing last year. And the moment it feels like this, us it's getting real, you run away, you run away like a coward. This whole time I've been trying,for the both of us,but the problem is you can't even face your own feelings head on so you decide to just throw me out of your life as if it's just your decision, not even bothering to talk to me. I deserved an explanation, Ethan. Couldn't you atleast be man enough to end things the right way. "

She pauses, her breathing ragged, her eyes turning glossy but she refuses to let the tears fall in front of him. She continues.

"If that wasn't enough, you come back with this reset crap, which we both know is never going to work, but again you're too coward to accept it. And now, everytime you see me with someone else, you act like I owe you something. You make me feel so bad about myself that I should be apologizing when I'm doing what you want. When all you've made me out to be is some booty call to use when you're in need of a fuck and cast away when you're done. "

"Penny.. I didn't realize how you felt. " Ethan's voice quivered, unable to look at the hurt in her eyes that he had caused, he averted his eyes, slowly exhaling.

"Penny.. I'm so sorry, darling.. "

"Don't call me that" He winced, she was right, he had no right to call her that.

"I care, I do, so much, I want to only do right by you, and I know I messed up but this time around it's going to be different, I promise. You mean so much to me, you mean everything."

" Are you saying that there's hope? Maybe in the future-"

"No." Her eyes fluttered, tears now flowing down her face freely at the single word.

"I'm saying that I'm doing what I should have done long ago. "

She looked absolutely heartbroken, he felt the tears build up at his words, their implications hitting him slowly, but this was the last time he would hurt her. She seemed to agree, her eyes snapped up, this time with anger. She didn't say anything, moving past him to the door.

He chose to let go when he could hold on, fight for her, make it work because it meant something to him. She meant something, anything to him.

"Penny.. I. "

"Save it, Dr Ramsey. I know where we stand, thank you for clearing that up. "

With that, she walked out, she wasn't coming back this time... For the first time in years, he let the tears fall.

*********

@liaromancewriter @potionsprefect @jerzwriter @cariantha @peonierose @kyra75 @rookiemartin @queencarb @genevievemd @tveitertotwrites @coffeeheartaddict2 @choicesficwriterscreations

If anyone wants to join my tag list let me know☺

**********

[ssaalexblake]

I mean this in the nicest way as it's possible to mean something objectively kind of dickish, but at some point, the absolute cynical Need to assume that the people in charge of the media you consume are just bumbling fools never knowing what they're doing only makes the people assuming that look, uh, not super smart, and has absolutely zero bearing on the creators. That this happens on meta posts that Literally Explain what's going on and people still fail to comprehend that the work of a few different people all pitching in and agreeing on it would have been necessary for it to happen, doesn't help. And yes, it's a thing that's happened a whole bunch of times on my posts alone, let alone on random ones.

Me: hey look how theyre showing that 13's messed up!

Person: lol I doubt the showrunner knows that!

Sure, Jan. The 89 times he wrote 13 being as messed up as all the other doctors were just flukes for his blonde fairy-princess of good mental health and goodness regeneration 🤷

Well buddy, that's Your problem. It's one thing to see a messy as hell narrative with no clear ending or moral to it (think of the new star wars trilogy) and clock it was totally on the fly and that anything profound was likely to be an accident (I use this example cuz they admit this is what happened). It's another to look at a complete narrative that includes foreshadowing from the very beginning that tracks all the way to the end, written by a guy who is open about having planned it for a while, who has said that he has A story to tell and then he was done and left, and then go 'yeah he has no idea what he was doing'.

I have no idea when cynicism became the suave fandom thing in Any situation even if none is warranted, but it doesn't actually make people look cool and unaffected if that's what you're all going for, it just makes it look like you're incapable of making separate judgements on a case by case basis. I am cynical as hell over certain things because I actually thought about them and decided I was. I am not like this for everything bc not everything deserves cynicism. Sometimes, it doesn't actually matter what was or what was not intentional to start with. Anybody who has created anything, ever, has unintentionally started something and it turned out to be something they pursued. It just works like that sometimes! It's not a problem!

But if you can Honestly look at 13 doing all that messed up crap she did with no introspection over it and think it was the writer not realising she was being messed up because they didn't hold your hand and point it out every single time like they do in peppa pig, despite the fact that the character is Always to some degree messed up and this tracks with the show outside the era, and Fail entirely to consider that her lack of repentance in 13 was an actual consistent character trait and that you should use your brain to actually analyze what that means for the story and for the person... You should have paid more attention in English classes. You are supposed to think about what that means. I know it's a kids show, but it's not preschool.

The problem is not the material not having the depth to analyse, it is the audience's inability to objectively parse it. It does not matter if you love it or hate it! but people are merely displaying they lack the skills to even decide if they do or not by refusing to look for narrative reasons for things and instead just looking behind the scenes to say Obviously it was all just an accidental written by the clueless to justify not bothering. And then going on to make that fact very public.

And you know what, I don't care if you bother or not, you don't have to justify not wanting to think about it! but when people make it my problem I get sick of the crap.

Like why? Really? If you dislike it why are you blogging about it? And if you like it but feel like you're honour bound to act like chibnall is a moron every time his work is brought to your attention just to Make Sure Nobody Will Think You Like It, I mostly think you need to take a step back and smell some grass (or your own regional equivalent of an outside smellable thing).

[angelofthepage]

24 Bendy Questions/Opinions!

So user BeninjaLIVE over on Twitter has this Bendy thread happening that asks a bunch of opinion questions, and you know what? I'm feeling a little playful tonight, so we're gonna answer them here. If you didn't have a baseline of where I stand as a Bendy fan before, well here you go!

1. Which is your favorite game? feel free to say any of the unreleased ones too!

See this is already hard. XD I really love the original BATIM for its story and characters, definitely my favorite story, but I've enjoyed the experience of Dark Revival a ton too. I've probably been exposed to it more times as a result of friends casually booting it up to play in calls, and the fan service for the original was great, Chapter 4 still breaks my heart. But I am a lot harder on its storytelling since, I don't think it did as good of a job as Ink Machine, especially in terms of how fleshed out its characters were. So I guess, Dark Revival for overall experience.

2. out of all the games, Which Character is your favorite?

I think my answer is still a tie between Sammy and Malice. XD They are my beloveds.

3. Which character installs the most fear / is the most horrific?

That depends on the context! From a gameplay perspective? Carley scares the crap out of me (I love you ghost girl, I want to give you a cookie, even though you're mean to us). From a writing perspective? The ink demon is pretty horrifying both in that he's this terrifying monster and was horribly mistreated within his backstory. A victim turned predator.

4. If you were in charge of directing the new Bendy game, what would change? (new features, new characters, changed gameplay, etc)

This is a dangerous question to ask me. X'''D I would put more focus on story and have more time spent with characters so that we get to know them and care about them a bit more. If we're specifically talking about The Cage, I want more of Sammy and Joey (and Boris, I would kill for a Boris reunion). I want to get to know them (if we're continuing the "Joey Drew learning to be a better person arc" I want him to try and be kinder to Henry and mess it up in his own Joey way). I want to know Henry's feelings about what he's going through. But most importantly, I would be putting Archie Carter, Evan, Buddy Lewek, Constance Gray, and/or Abby Lambert in this game. It doesn't have to be big, but for the love of all that is good and Bendy, PLEASE give us a book character cameo in this game, I beg of thee Meatly! We literally just had a book release involving a ton of Gent stuff, please give us an audiolog from one of these guys while going through the horrors of it, I would be SO HYPED for that!

5. What is your LEAST Favorite Character

This is the silliest thing, but there's only one Bendy character I actively dislike, and it's that puppet in the mop bucket from the prologue of BATDR. That thing creeps me out. I'm so sorry. ^^''''

6. smash or pass the ink demon

Neither, I'm extremely ace and not here for smashing, but I'm not passing up on interacting with him. I'm instead inviting him over for some cookies and hot cocoa.

7. Opinions on Bendy and the Dark Revival? this goes for gameplay, lore, characters, everything.

Already covered this one earlier, but to reiterate, I like it! I just wish we spent more time with the characters. I do have some issues with the way the story was handled. As much as I loved Chapter 4, I do kind of wish we got the reveal that Audrey was the daughter of Drew sooner, or at the very least, gave her more time/scenes to grapple with it. Because love the ending as I might, Joey's speech about her being born of darkness just, doesn't hit for me when she doesn't seem to feel that way about herself at any point? Like we see her struggle with it once and then never again, it needed some more build up and punch. But overall? I loved it. I loved this cast, I love the atmosphere and locations, I loved the expansion of the ink demon's character, Memory Joey was a hit despite doing some things that kind of lessen the horror of the previous game, and Twisted Alice, as nonsensical as her plan was, was such a treat, I was so glad to have her back and have her be such a menace. XD

8. Do you have high hopes for any new bendy games? (mainly Bendy - The Cage)

I have a reasonable level of optimism and curiosity! I'm sure it'll be an interesting entry. Curious how they'll handle more disturbing horror after how disturbing the last game was. I'm trying not to expect too much, going in with fewer expectations makes for a better experience for me personally.

9. How did you feel about BATIM's ending when it first came out?

Mostly confused, but really excited that Henry didn't die. X'''D No joke, when Chapter 5 first came out, I was so freaking anxious about what was gonna happen. A friend got on call and watched a playthrough with me so I didn't like lose my entire cool. X'''D Still one of my fondest memories in this fandom. The ending wasn't everything I hoped for, but I still appreciate it and the rest of Chapter 5 as a result of the experiences I had with friends during it.

10. looking back on it now, how do you feel about Chapter 3 of BATIM?

When the original came out, it needed some balance and bug testing badly. But in its current state? It's not as bad as people make it out to be, but it is tedious. I get so lost in it as someone who's directionally challenged, but like, -gestures at Malice- my GIRL! How can I not enjoy it at least a little when my queen is right there giving some of the best and most informative dialogue of any character in the game?

11. if you could change / improve ONE THING about Bendy and the ink machine (the singular game) , What would it be?

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I would want it to have some gyroscopic control on the Switch port. I'm sorry gamers, I don't know how you play games where you have to aim with the analog sticks, I can't do it, I'm so bad at it. X'''D I use motion controls for stuff like aiming my view in Splatoon, give me that as Henry and I will be unstoppable.

12. Opinions of MAlice Angel / Corrupted Susie Campbell?

She is everything, she is the moment, she is my beloved, and I want to bake for her and tell her she's beautiful, because she IS! She was such a fun antagonist and I want more of her backstory! Like she has been an enjoyable part of every game she's been in. Boris and the Dark Survival with the Milla Tapes? Underrated Alice moment, she was GREAT there.

13. Do you think Sammy dying, and THEN coming back was good or bad?

I don't think I can classify it as good or bad, but I did enjoy it! Like hey, ink creatures don't necessarily stay permanently dead, and they can have some really interesting mental things happening when reforming, that was cool world building! And then when we got to see under the mask, and he's ready to kill us? Oh MAN, oh that was a thrill. Would not trade that brief Sammy boss fight for anything, that's my GUY right there!

14. On a Scale of One to Ten, how convoluted do you thing Bendy's lore as of Present Day?

Eh, gonna roll with the devil's number and say a 6.6. It's not that bad. BATDR convoluted it more than BATIM did, and there are some book moments that puzzle me, but it overall? It's workable, and I only drive myself a tiny bit nuts over it (I say as I've been going "NOTHING IS TRUE THE CANON IS A LIE" for like two weeks trying to assemble a series timeline and classify ink creatures).

15. Opinions / on a scale of 1-10 on the Bendy Books?

Dreams Come to Life - 7/10, needed more clarity in parts, had some good moments with returning characters, Dot we love you, JACOB WE LOVE YOU

The Lost Ones - 7/10, was a little weird not seeing most of our studio cast and being so far removed from the studio itself, but it's an enjoyable read, really liked our new characters and swapping perspective, living for that Wally intro, and I have a lot of questions about what ink can do to your brain and Tom's mental state in 1946

Fade to Black - 9/10, by far my favorite, great balance of old and new, Joey Drew was DELIGHTFULLY UNHINGED (something something that's the Joey I knew), Rose was fun, Evan was fun, DOT HI I MISSED YOU, Archie Carter was THE BIGGEST SURPRISE and I ADORE HIM, never thought we'd get a YouTuber cameo audiolog character as a MAJOR PART of a book, Wilson was a treat, and the studio sections of this one destroy me, I love it love it love it

The Illusion of Living - 7/10, the greatest Joey Drew character study to ever exist, which is great but difficult to read when he jumps all over the place and rambles about who knows what for pages at a time, offered some really great moments that I can't imagine the series without, and it solidified my love of Abby, please give Abby a spot in the games, this book made it very clear she is important to the Joey and Henry backstory, and I am so frustrated that we have not referenced her ONCE in these games when she's one, the head of the art department, and two, the one with the braincell of this trio, also Detective Sinclair's murder mystery was fun, I didn't know I would enjoy that genre so much, also Sammy and Jack were GREAT in this book

Employee Handbook (the original) 6/10 - It's a game guide mostly, but I go back to this thing often since it's one of the few things in the series that ACTUALLY GIVES US DATES for when things happened.

16. Opinions / on a scale of 1-10 on the Crack up Comics?

Crack Up Comics is a solid 9/10 for me, it was genuinely fun to read. Sucks that so many comics got spoiled for me on Twitter (much like the ending of DCTL, still sore about that), but the art is really cute, there's a small bit of lore, and the characters are written in such a fun way. Bendy you little scamp, I love you. Hindsight being what it is, I'm still a bit sore there was no cameo appearance for Carley in this book, and I feel the same way about all the toons from this book not appearing anywhere in Dark Revival. What is the point of having fun cartoon characters if they're not at least making a small appearance on a wall poster or something? That is such a missed opportunity.

17. Best Toon Character? (Out of Bendy, Boris, and Alice)

Alice, by far. Don't get me wrong, I love Bendy and Boris too, but Alice has such a fun character, especially in the comics, I LOVED her.

17 (2). Best Butcher Gang Member? (toon)

Edgar. I've warmed up to Charley a lot over the years, but Edgar is my baby boy, I want to hold him and squeeze him and love him, he's so SWEET.

18. Not a question; but SHOW US YOUR / AN OC!! FEEL FREE TO LORE DUMP !!

So hiiii, this is my girl Bella Ewe, a young woman who got roped into Joey's shenanigans as an apprentice animator (after he accidentally broke her leg), and accidentally ends up in the cycle. She gets sacrificed by Sammy, ends up as a searcher that steadily evolves, he has regrets about it, and now with Jack, they're working as a trio called The Shepherds to try and help break the narrative that everyone's been forced to play a part in. Her dive ability allows her to plunge into the depths of the ink, where she talks to people to try and help them regain their humanity. She goes from timid and hopeless to fiery and surrounded by found family, and she is my beloved sheepy daughter.

19. Best Human Character? (Out of Henry, Joey, Audrey, Wilson)

Oooh, that's hard. I'm gonna have to say Joey. I love Henry and Audrey, but the two of them don't get a lot of characterization. Joey however, we get to know him throughout multiple stages of his life AND an inky memory of him, and all of them are such a fun time to explore.

19 (2). Best Human Character? (Out of Wally, Nathan, Sammy, and Bertrum)

Okay that's not fair. X'''D Sammy is my favorite, I love his human iteration just as much as I love his inky one, but Wally is also high up there. He's a fun comedic relief.

20. Best Inked Creature? (Out of the ink demon, Malice, Sammy, and Buddy Boris)

This also isn't fair, how dare you make me pick between my wife and my husband. X'''D But I'm gonna have to say Alice. She's got the more compelling story, but Sammy is also really good as our first introduction to what can happen to a human tainted by ink, he's the one that pulled me into liking Bendy in the first place.

20 (2). Best Inked Creature? (Out of Shipahoy Dudley, Lost Ones/Searchers, Allison, and Tom Boris)

This is hard, but I think I'm gonna say Searchers and Lost Ones. Back when BATIM Chapter 4 dropped, you know that part where that one Lost One goes "when can we go home" and then you open the door to see a room FULL OF THEM? Shivering and miserable? That broke me, I just kept whispering "I'm sorry" as we went through there. (Also Porter and Heidi are great, I hope we see them again someday.)

21. Whats the best ink demon variant?

BATDR, hands down. He is a much more intimidating monster, the voice gives me chills (thank you Sean), I can't get over his silly little hooves, he's great. Still love all the others though, they're good in their own ways.

22. The Better gloves? three lines or two dots?

I prefer the two dots for Bendy, but it doesn't really matter. Alice got infinitely cooler gloves, I'm sorry. X'''D

23. Did you prefer Wally being Boris, or Buddy being Boris?

I'm a Buddy Boris kind of gal. Buddy stole my heart in the books, and I love him a lot. That said, I think they both have merit, and I can appreciate fan content that explores both of these options. When the original game was in development, and Wally and Boris were the characters that were left, all the others we could make pretty reliable guesses about the fates on, so him being Boris was a process of elimination theory that people tried to justify with details like him knowing his way around the vent system. And it would have been so sad as a twist since his whole thing was "I'm outta here," him not getting out would be the unfortunate punchline. I get why it was popular, and like I said, I enjoy a number of fan works that use it. But I won't lie, it didn't ever feel like that was the canon for me, not enough information to back it up. I mean Buddy has a similar problem, but at least we know he's a Boris. Whether or not he's Henry's Boris friend is the inconclusive part. Regardless of canon, that's how I write him at least.

24. Did you like Joey being inky or the newer lore?

I'm not sure what this is asking, but I get the sense this has to do with the old theories about Joey being the Ink Demon vs. what we have now with Memory Joey and the human Joey being dead? I'm okay with it to be honest. Would I have liked Joey to be the big bad that also suffers as a monster for his crimes against his co-workers? Yes, that would be very satisfying. But I think in a lot of ways, his current lore can still be satisfying too. It's no secret that I have some mixed feelings about his slideshow presentation, but let's reiterate for anyone who doesn't know me, because I think it ties into this in an important way.

I struggle with the decision to change the lore for Henry and Allison, and it affects my feelings about Joey. Memory Joey is a great character, he's a Joey Drew that's trying to be a better person, and that's what I like about him. He's imperfect, because he's a Joey and Joey is far from perfect, he's going to make mistakes and botch things up, but he's trying. He cares about Audrey, he's trying to help her through the studio without overstepping the boundaries, because again, he's still figuring out this whole "being a better person" thing. And ultimately, that was what endeared me to him. You don't need to change the lore of the previous games to give Joey Drew a redemption arc. All we needed was Joey choosing to try and be better. It doesn't erase his sins and all the bad stuff he did along the way, it doesn't change how he treated people, it doesn't change the literal murder and chaos he caused, the lives he ruined. And it shouldn't. Redemption arcs aren't about a character being forgiven or given a pass, they're about a character choosing to be better regardless of how the world sees them, and that's what's SO POWERFUL about Memory Joey! Joey Drew in life was so concerned with how the world saw him at several stages, so much time is spent being stuck in the past, despite his insistence that he doesn't want to think about the past. And finally we have an iteration of him that has tried to move past what he was before, and I am SO PROUD OF HIM!

That was all we needed, we did not need Henry and Allison being clones to soften his crimes. That does not help with Joey's redemption arc, in some ways it kind of cheapens it for me. Instead it has caused more confusion on whether or not ink creatures require a soul, lessens the horror of the original BATIM for Henry's characterization, brings about SEVERAL questions about who is and isn't a clone now (looking at you Tom), and just like, it's been really weird when it comes to Joey's murder and victim count. Like, the guy has been responsible for multiple deaths in BATIM and the books, why are we deciding now that these two aren't part of that? Also the one note about the ink children that came before Audrey, that is also a can of worms and I'm very exhausted thinking about it.

Overall, I like Joey as he is now. As stated before, I think Fade to Black has some of the best Joey writing in the entire series (as does TIOL, even if it was a bit of a slog to get through). I like Memory Joey a lot, I mean I wouldn't have made a doll of him if I didn't. X'''D He's alright.

Thank you for these wonderful questions! You guys, if you made it to the end and wanna go engage with the original, here's the link one more time, just so you don't have to scroll to the top. XD Have fun.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 51

The ep title is The Apogee Solstice ... it's here, it's official, no more build up ...

Eight years of this shit and NOW Matt is starting to break down from sheer wear ... TBH we know how he feels.

Another truly awful and thoroughly annoying advert from Sam ... "Are these testimonials completely fabricated? YES!!!" Oof ... and Sam starts to break down too before the end, just like always. And Matt does a necessary disclaimer ... as he should after ANYTHING Sam says.

Oh my GODS Laura you sound SOOOO bad, sweety! Get you some hot lemon and honey pronto! Good thing Liam's here with a suspect Jester impression.

"So, last we left off ... Sam found a bunch oh hands ..." XD

Yes! Beau and Caleb are here! Zoinks!

Oh, so we're on the ship first ... okay ... and Sam is NOT ready ... Travis: "You've had a whole week to think zbout it." Meanwhile Fearne is busy just POLISHING ...

Ira is just getting strange on us and I don't like it at all ... FCG is being really smart trying to get s read on him right now ...WOW he's got seriously flowery in his dreams of vengeance ... FCG: "What's your five year plan?" Oh boy ...

Ira: "Friends complicated things." The Nightmare King's solution to worry ... hmmm ...

Laura doesn't want to get any messages right now. Laura: "Don't wear me out!" Yeah ... so Letters contacts Orym instead. Oh yeah, the aeormaton? Good point.

Fearne (to FCG): "I trust YOU. I don't trust the coin."

Yup. 2 free rerolls with the Potion of Possibility. Handy but only so much ... wait, is this like Harry drinking the Liquid Luck?

COME ON guys, Ira is TOTALLY gonna leave Xandis on the ship to die. This is so dumb ... oh yeah, I am TOTALLY with Xandis here, he CANNOT trust this creature ... 23 on an insight check and SAM gets a whisper? Marisha has to scramble for a plug ... no, it's just a really SHORT whisper then. Almost like a yes or no, you might say ...

Fearne: "What I need you to do is DESTROY." Ira: "Oh I will." Yeah ...

Xandis drinks the other Potion ... yup ...

A missing lens? Ooooooh ... now THAT is interesting ...

Ira: "That way! And don't get lost!" Fearne: "Oh, I wasn't aware that was a possibility."

Oh yeah, they are DEFINITELY gonna get lost in this shit ... 27? Oh that is a FUCKING NICE ROLL there Ashley! Yes!

Crap ... Chetney's not got another wolf-out available after this? Shit ... TAKE A LONG REST MAN!!! LONG REST!!!

Nuts ... trouble? Not good, not good ...

Ashton: "Chickpeas means punch someone? Okay."

Laudna's creepy mind hissing doesn't give her away? That's interesting.

Oh yeah, these two look both fancy and potentially messy ... hmmm ...

MORE new arrivals? Oh, it's FCG and Fearne ... phew! Letters, just chill! XD Fearne: "Who do we know that has a twang?" Oh my gods this is a hilarious mess ...

Orym: "Ira's a Fey sociopath!" FCG: "Well that's a bit judgy." Orym: "I'm not being judgy, he's a Fey sociopath!"

Oh, the other lens they fixed? Smart!

Trying to fix the aeormaton ... seriously, is this even gonna work? Does FCG have the first clue what to do here?

"Fucking pigeons in a sandstorm ... desert pigeons."

Whoa ... Holy FUCK is he actually gonna be zble to make this work? Crazy ... FCG: "I'll have to do surgery on myself!" Um ... what? Hooooo ... wow, nice ... FCG IS NOW A SUPERBOT!!! THAT IS AWESOME!!!

Orym: "This us what all that time with the wooden feet was for, Letters!" FCG: "I know, but this is different!"

Nice! Short rest achieved!

Somebody don't fit ... hmmm ... Fearne is willing to go outside? Might not be that smart ...

Ooof ... Travis ripping the piss about Beau and Caleb ... meanwhile Orym calling Caleb a "magic daddy"? This is getting SOOO meta right now ... XD

Sam: "Matthew, how do I see?" Travis: "You the the glasses off." LOL

Orym trying to hide in plain sight in this thing's hand is a really bad idea ...

Matt: "It's a bit of a clown car circumstance." No shit!

Imogen is a little girl leading round a big robot ... "Full Bioshock." Cute.

Ashton(to Imogen): "Ticking clock, one hour, and if you hear from us sooner, call in the Ashari."

FCG really likes being BIG all of a sudden. Fearne: "Do you feel like a big old daddy?" XD

Ooof ... heads on spikes? Yeah, that's not good at all ... oh, this is what's left of the Vasselheim crew? Yeah ... that's just charming. Laudna:imo "We're smarter than all of Vasselheim!"

Wow ... this thing sounds INTIMIDATING ... are they sure the skyship is even gonna make a DENT on this structure? I mean REALLY?

Sam's getting all kinds of esoteric with the latest piece of flask humour, clearly ...

Imogen messages Keyleth and fills her in on the plan ... okay, it's ramping up ...

Oh, this magic dispelling wave is gonna be a problem, ain't it? Fuuuuuck ... according to Pate it's like getting kicked in the nuts ... DOES he have nuts? According to former hamster owner Laura rodents have BIG nuts and I can't believe the direction this conversation has taken ...

Oh shit ... have they just been rumbled? RATANISH?!!! Shit ... oh, fake it that Orym's a prisoner? Risky ... okay, looks like that's worked. Phew ...

No. Do not piss in the robot, Chetney!

Lots of corpses ... yeah, do they still have their heads?

Ashley tries to give Guidance. Travis: "NO. MAGIC." Ah. Yeah ...

Gah! Stealth and deception checks! Eep! Is this about to go horribly wrong? Oh shit ... is Imogen about to gey found out? NATURAL 20?!!! WOOHOO!!! Imogen just bounces this fucker RIGHT out of her head. Oh that was SO COOL!!! Liam (clearly impressed): "I'm Batman!"

Shit shit shit shit shit ... it's Otohan! FUCK!!!

Oh, there's Ryn ... :(

Yeah, they are just SURROUNDED by enemies now, aren't they? Go SERIOUSLY careful here, guys!

Imogen's mum! There she is! Okay then ... whoa, she's like super Telekinetic ... hmmm ...

Yeah, Imogen is just trying to brazen her way right through here, ain't she? Maybe this could work ...

Planning, planning ...

Going down, then ... NOT the Otohan cavern then ... "the Notohan" even ... oof ...

Oh, nice! Imogen intimidation for the win! Cute.

Is this about to fall apart because of a squeaky hinge? Oh, NICE ROLL!!! Phew ...

Sending Pate on a scout ... QUIETLY!!!

Well now THAT could be a useful target at the right moment ... if in doubt, blow up anything that looks volatile.

So, bluff them out or just fight? Oof ... splitting the party again ... which of course makes me uneasy ...

Bluff? Really? Oh yeah, no, this is TOTALLY funny business.

Ah! ROLL INITIATIVE!!! Here we go then ... suppose it had to kick off SOMETIME ...

Must admit, that is a VERY sexy battle map.

Sneaky Orym grappling! Nice! Dragonborn is DOWN!!! Bait and Switch! Sweet moves as always, Wee Man!

Hypnotic Pattern? Oof ... shit, so Imogen and Chetney are good but Orym and Ashton are now FROZEN!!! Shit!

Aha! Turmoil! Go Chet! Angry little geriatric is DANGEROUS!!!

Oh that is some UNFAIR ganging up on the tiny werewolf!

HELP!!! Imogen calls for aid ... Psychic Whip? Sweet! Nice moves ... AND penalties? Always fun. Ho! And now the boys are BACK in the game again! Yes!

Pate and Laudna's turn! Pate: "Gonna Grasping Shock you!" XD Nice! ZAP!!!

Nuts, one round before reinforcements ...

NEIN!!! Nine damage ... and Orym HDYWTDTs the Dragonborn! Perfect.

Laura: "Don't jinx this shit!" So Ashton rages ... rainbow streaky madness ensues! POW!!! Fuck ... Full blown decapitation on the half-giant! Nice!

Oh yeah, Chetney just ends the fight through pure intimidation. Good job, people!

The Duskmaven? Interesting ...

Chetney: "Anything you can remember right now keeps your lower jaw attached to your head." Oof ...

Oh man ... SO CLOSE to stepping on a magical landmine!

"Basic bitch shit"? Yeah, I know Chetney hates metalwork, but still ...

I love how Ashley's just DETERMINED to offer up Guidance to EVERYBODY at the slightest opportunity. XD

Oh fuck ... Otohan is now coming STRAIGHT FOR THEIR CAVERN!!! Mayday! Mayday!

Shit, and NOW they're on their break? Damn your cliffhangers, Mercer!

Welcome back ... and a change in atmospherics? Oooh ...

Laudna's Spiderclimb is always fun. :) And everybody's hiding ... random D20 rolls? Oh, for Beau and Caleb? Eep ...

BOOM!!! Bye bye magical blockers! Nice one!

Psychic Lance! Sweet move, Imogen! But Otohan shrugs off the worst of it ... crap ... still hurts, but not SERIOUSLY. Damn it!

Whoa ... she's just RUNNING?!!! Now FCG plays dumb and just AMBUSHES her with a rock! Nice! Oh, a miss? BALLS!!!

Call in the ship! Cut the cords! DO STUFF!!!

FCG (to Ira): "It's time!" Travis (chuckling): "Project Chicken Little."

Okay ... just HALF the damage from a BIG explosion, then ... phew, I guess?

So ... this is SORT OF working, right?

Oh, okay ... so this is the big showdown then, right? Okay then ...

Yup, clearly Caleb done gone fucked THAT shit up ...

FCG is right in the middle of this shit now ... what to do? Oh ... REALLY? He's just gonna go and PICK RYN UP?!!!

Oh gods ... FUCK!!! FUCK!!! Did FCG just DESTROY Ryn? Shit ... AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! Oh fuck this is so bad ...

Uh-oh ... it's never good when Matt does a lot of rolling ... Matt: "Ooh ... you're so fucking lucky." Oh ... wait ... the aeormaton is now DEAD!!! FCG is still good but he is now BLIND AND TRAPPED!!!

Ooh, sucker punch? Ashton, that was just MEAN!!!

Oops, company's coming ... Laudna: "Act frantic, it's fucked!"

BLUFF!!! "It's ... been compromised!" I can't believe that actually WORKS!!!

Otohan: "Gather at the Key!" Okay ... that's ominous ...

Another D20 double roll? Oof ...

Fuck ... Caleb! What? Do something! Help him!

Oh shit ... and now here comes Beau ... and they're EXPECTED?!!! Shit ... oh man, this is getting SO BAD!!!

Ryn's okay ... oh shit ... SHE'S MISSING HER FUCKING ARM!!! Aaaaahhh!

DODECAHEDRON?!!! Seriously? GAH!!! And now hoursxflash by in SECONDS!!!

Fuck! Ruidus is on the rise! Shit!

Another battle map! Sam: "Oh ... Matthew, this is BRUTAL!!!"

Oh man, that is EPIC SHIT!!! Incredible work! At the worst possible time, though!

Sam: "Can I try to jump-start myself?" Oh! Yes! Try that! It fails ... BALLS!!!

BOOM!!! The Silver Sun hits! And does ZERO DAMAGE?!!! FUCK!!! That's a total damp squib!

Well, at least Ira kept his word regarding saving Xandis ...

Fearne trying to melt Beau's chain bonds ... hmmm ... this could go SO spectacularly wrong ...

Ah yes, the classic mad bastard supervillain justification monologue from Ludinus ...

Hooooo ... Imogen that was SWEET!!! Caleb is now free ...

Yeah, Big Bad really is just YAPPING AWAY right now ... meanwhile Orym continues to be a stealthy badass. Help Letters, man!

Whoa ... Bull's Strength? That's pretty cool ... and yet Sam rolls SHITE ... balls. FCG remains stuck.

MAXIMUM TEAM EFFORT!!! Yes! It worked! FCG is finally free!

Imogen tries to appeal to her mother's conscience ... oh shit, this could backfire SO BADLY!!! Come on ... PLEASE let this go like ROTJ! Give Liliana her Vader redemption!

Wow ... Chetney's just off here being the world's tiniest King Kong ... and the worst, apparently. Yeah, that didn't do SHIT.

No! Leave FCG alone, you evil prick!

Oh shit! Here come the Ashari! Here we go!

Shit ... this is all about to go full fucking SOUTH, ain't it?

Come on Imogen, snap your mum out of this funk! You can do it!

Liliana ... wait ... dud she just BANISH the Nightmare King? Seriously?

Whoa ... Holy shit ... Imogen and Fearne ... what the hell is going on? The Ruidusborn connection ... oh, this can't be good!

Light that fuse and RUN!!!

BOOM!!! Perfect timing, mid speech and everything!

Holy fuck ... everybody's getting healed? Nice!

Fucking Otohan ... AND her bloody doubles! I hate her!

ROLL INITIATIVE!!! AGAIN!!!

Matt! Stop rolling PLEASE!!! You cannot murder Keyleth! NOOOOOO!!!

Oh my fucking gods this is BRUTAL!!! And all we can do is just SIT HERE and watch! This is PAINFUL!!! Stop with the fucking Action Surges!

WHAT?!!! Vax to the rescue? REALLY?!!! OH FUCK THAT IS AWESOME!!! RIGHTEOUS!!! RIGHTEOUS!!!

The whole table is going insane and I am totally with them all!

FCG tries to come to the rescue! And he can do SHIT right now! And yeah ... shit, he doesn't know who Caleb actually IS!!! Do it anyway, Sam! FUCK!!! Shit roll, BALLS!!!

Orym goes straight for Otohan's backpack ... and rolls BEAUTIFULLY!!! AND an Action Surge! Tanked that one ... but still, that was SO GOOD all the same!

All down go the roll on the Goading attack ... 1? SHIT!!! At least she has disadvantage now ...

Fearne tries to trash the pack too ... come on girl ... FUCK!!! All right, Mister, it's your turn ... come on monkey man! 17? BALLS!!!

Come on Liliana, just SNAP OUT OF IT!!! Vader redemption!

Chetney wolf attack on Ludinus? DO IT, Chet! Come on Travis, roll good! SHIELD? Oh you evil fucker! Fuck! AND a natural 1? FUCK!!! And now Chetney is IMPALED ON THE KEY!!!

Imogen has a perfect shot on the backpack ... FUCK!!! Witchbolt misses! And now she's given away her position! Crap! Get through to you mother, Imogen! You can do it!

Liliana: "This is for the best." FUCK!!!

What? Keyleth was just BAIT?!!! Vax is now just a compressed sphere of black energy and it's all going to shit!

ALL the Ruidusborn are now being activated at once! Shit! Whoa ... the lighting on the studio's gone full on red! Crazy! That's it! Ludinus has won! NOOOOOOOO!!!

Seriously, what just happened?

Wait ... Laudna? On her own? I don't get it ... oh, Ashton! He's there too ... what the hell ... Orym? Okay ...

No Pate? That can't be a good sign ...

So it's just the three of them? Ruidus in the sky, and a red beam ... ummmm ...

FCG? Okay ... phew? White powdery dunes? Hmmm ... no moons? He has NO IDEA where he is ... oh! Fearne's there too! Good! And Chetney can hear them calling out, they're back together at least ...

Okay, so ... two separated groups and NO SIGN OF IMOGEN ...

Uthodurn? What the hell?

Matt: "And that's where we're gonna call it a night." WHAT?!!! WHAAAAATT?!!! SERIOUSLY!!!

The party are split, and HALF of them are ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FUCKING PLANET?!!! AND there's no sign of Imogen? Oh my gods this is so bad! This can't be the cliffhanger! Matt Mercer this is TOO CRUEL!!! We can't wait a whole week yo resolve this mess!

AAAAAAAAAARRRGHHH!!!

[jhoudiey]

The second rotisserie chicken ship I've got is MomoTora! Another TR OC ship (someone get me off this boat I need to hyperfocus on other things too!) Again, questions from here

sketch comm from @/00-v2 of their awkward friendship before she goes to prison. (This is like... end timeline that i call the 'tora goes to therapy instead of prison arc' and doesn't spend 10 years locked up, but she goes in for 7 and they don't start dating until she's almost released. Unrelated, I spent a lot of time researching the Japanese prison system and lemme tell u bois it's fucked up.)

Pre-relationship

How did they first meet? at a Toman run in with another gang. She's the 'side piece' of the leader and ditches when Toman shows up cause she doesn't want anything to do with it.

What was their first impression of each other? Momoka: just some guy. Kazutora: Random hanger-on

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together? LOL

Who felt romantic feelings first? Momoka. She didn't really do feelings for the longest time and ended up falling for him the day they kill her dad. (whoops spoilers heh)

Did either of them try to resist their feelings? Momoka doesn't say anything for a long while cause she's in prison so there's no point at all.

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think? They'd laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh cause soulmates aren't real.

General

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go? Kazu did. When she's in prison he suggests they go to this hot spring in Northern Japan together and she's like ??? until he explains that turns out he's got feelings for her too and wants to pursue them.

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like? Kazu takes her on a virtual tour of a zoo on his phone when iphones become a thing and sneaks it into the visiting room at the jail. The internet craps out and they don't get very far, but the intention was there.

What was their first kiss like? well their first kiss is non-consensual from Momo's part and she tries to force himself on him which he rebuffs, but their first kiss that they're both into is in the parking lot of the prison.

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)? Momoka's first 'real' relationship where feelings are involved but that's about it.

What’s their height difference? Age difference? Kazu has got about 8 inches on her, and is about a month and a half older.

What’s their relationship with each other’s families? Non-existent. Tora stabs her dad in the neck with a pen (and she finishes the job and stabs him a bunch more times hence the 7 years in prison), and she doesn't meet his.

Who takes the lead in social situations? Tora, though he's not altogether stoked about it.

Who gets jealous easier? They're both pretty equal cause insecurity is a hell of a drug.

Love

Who said “I love you” first? Momoka. Her prison therapist tells her she needs to stop holding onto her feelings so writes it in a letter to Kazu and hopes he doesn't ghost her. 🤣

What are their primary love languages? Words of confirmation. They're both really broken people mentally and the reaffirmations about intentions are very helpful to both of them.

How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA? Outside of holding hands, everything else is kept private.

What are their favorite things to do together? Watch movies in bed

Who’s better at comforting the other? They are both kind of shit at it.

Who’s more protective? Kazu, since Momo's 'been around the block a few times' and is still on speaking terms with several old flings.

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection? physical

What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise? uhhhhh

What kind of nicknames do they call each other? Momoka calls him Kazu-tan (flirty, affectionate) cause it drives him fucking batty when they first meet, then it just sort of sticks. When she's being serious she just calls him Kazutora and she's always just been Momoka.

Domestic Life

If they get married, who proposes? Kazu! They finally go to the hot spring up north after a few years of putting it off and he proposes in the bath.

What’s the wedding like? Who attends? Very small, very chill. Just Toman main dudes+dates and that's about it.

How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like? They do not, and choose to not cause YIKES, daddy issues are strong in them.

Do they have any pets? They bring home one unruly cat named Batto from Peke-J land.

Who’s the stricter parent? N/A

Who kills the bugs in the house? Both.

How do they celebrate holidays? With a little liqour and little less clothes.

Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning? Momoka, cause a cold bed is the worst bed.

Who’s the better cook? UHM. 711?

[mythologyfolklore]

Liù'ěr Míhóu joins the jttw gang, or: How to redeem an all-hearing celestial monkey with a superiority complex and a seriously bad attitude

(A/N: Trigger Warning: misgendering)

Chapter six: Liù'ěr Míhóu gets a new name

.

When Wùkōng and Shā returned, their new fellow pilgrim was in a vicious battle of words with Bājiè.

The two were taunting and insulting each other relentlessly, pulling no punches and giving each other tit for tat, while Tripitaka was trying in vain to make them stop fighting.

Shā chuckled: “I see, she's already fitting right in!”

Wùkōng rolled his eyes, strode up to the quarrellers and ended the fight by slamming his staff into the ground between them.

“Behave yourselves!”, barked the Monkey King. “Bājiè, don't try your luck. She's as powerful as me, but worse than I have been in a long time. And you-”, he glowered at Liù'ěr Míhóu, “-will leave Bājiè alone. The only one allowed to fuck with Third Brother is me!”

“Love you too, Eldest Brother”, Bājiè deadpanned. “Whatever. It's getting late, so I'm gonna get some fire wood. Why don't you two get some food and water for all of us? The less I have to see of you two monkey menaces, the better!”

“You get the rest of the group kidnapped by demons at least once a week and I have to save your sorry asses!”, Wùkōng retorted. “So who's the menace here?”

“Still you! Remember when instead of saving us right away, you stole a bunch of treasures and got yourself captured in a calabash?”

“… Touché. But they were so cool! I wish we hadn't had to give them back to mean ol' Laozi!”

“Eh, the Jade Emperor is meaner. He's the meanest, biggest douchebag.”

The Monkey King's vermillion eyes widened. “You are so right!”

.

In the Eastern Heavens, the Jade Emperor had to sneeze twice.

His right eye twitched. “Someone is mocking me again! And several people this time! I'll have their heads!”

.

Incredulously, Tripitaka stared at his two disciples. “Did you just resolve an argument by hating on the Jade Emperor?!”

Zhū Bājiè scowled: “Master, are you complaining that we stopped fighting all on our own and found something to agree on? Listen, I don't know about Six-Ears here, but my fellow brothers and I have one thing in common: that the Jade Emperor treated us like crap. So please forgive us for not adoring him, just because he's the ruler of the Celestial Realm.”

The monk raised his arms in an appeasing gesture: “Easy! I wasn't complaining! I was just … surprised? That you two stopped fighting on your own? Even if that was a weird way to end an argument.”

“Uh, guys?”

Everyone turned to Shā Wùjìng. “Are you all just going to keep ignoring the fact, that Lady Guān Yīn is still here?”

All eyes turned to the Bodhisattva, who was chilling on her Lotus Throne and watching the whole thing with a mild smile.

“Thank you, Shā Wùjìng”, Guān Yīn chuckled. “But it seems like my presence is no longer needed here, so I will make my way home. Tripitaka, don't forget to give your new disciple a Dharma name. Guān Yīn out.”

Then she vanished in a blinding light.

With a groan, Tripitaka sank to his knees. He was just so sick of everything right now. This day had been horrible, his back was still hurting like Diyu and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and just sleep …

“Master?”

A small, bony hand with long fingers tapped his shoulder. The monk turned his head and found two vermillion eyes with golden pupils staring at him in concern.

Oh.

“Don't worry, Pilgrim”, he mumbled. “I'm just tired. Let's … let's just get something to eat and then go to sleep, okay?”

The beige-furred monkey looked doubtful, but relented.

Tripitaka smiled tiredly. “Okay … so … I do still need to give my new disciple here a name.”

The Macaque frowned: “My name is Liù'ěr Míhóu. What other name would I need?”

“Everyone here has one. It signifies that you're starting a new life. Look at Wùkōng, for example. Do you hear anyone call him Líng míng shíhóu¹? No. Himself and others call him Sūn Wùkōng, I call him Pilgrim – which he told me was fine with him, by the way². Is it not fair, that you should get a nickname of your own?”

“… But I want a non-feminine name.”

Tripitaka smiled. “Of course, no problem! Hmm … I want to call you Sūn Wùhuàn³. Wùhuàn; because you were dreaming, but now you're awakening and becoming aware of the fantasy. What do you say?”

The Macaque gave him a blank stare. Then she started to sway her head from side to side. A bit unsettling, but maybe that was just a habit of hers.

Eventually, she muttered: “Well … it's not the worst name.”

.

---

.

1) "Stone Monkey of Luminous Wisdom"; according to Buddha that is Wukong's name as a Spiritual Primate. 2) That actually happens in the novel. Both Master Subhodi and Tripitaka ask Wukong about his opinion on the names suggested, and he accepts them. I found that a rather cool and interesting detail. 3) "Monkey Awakened to Fantasy"; this is a reference to "A Supplement to the Journey To The West", a sequel to JTTW from the 17th century.

[thelemoncoffee]

What did you like the least about Raincode? I really enjoyed it but feel like it's missing something in terms of interest and I can't help but be curious now

i think it's easier to say what parts i did like- but if you want a negitive, i hate how disjointed it feels.

what do i mean by disjoined? WEEEEELLLL-

only one case in the whole game actually affects the plot and characters directly, everything else can be swapped out for literally anything and have the same affect. in ronpa, you change the outcome of any of the murders and everything after it changes. Raincode cases aren't tied to the plot enough, you could skip over all but one labyrinth entirely and know nothing about the cases and still know all you need to about the plot. what is the point of making it a murder mystery if the murders aren't actually tied to the plot!?

The other master detectives only get to really be characters within their own chapters, otherwise they're just background characters and nothing more, rarely did they get to do things on their own. Ronpa characters- while some did have this happen to them, for the most part still did things that made the cast feel alive and active, everyone always had something to say about everything and felt like they were actually doing things outside of the protag's view . Raincode characters seem to forget they're detectives as soon as their chapter is over, their character development is isolated to their chapter and nothing more, the only chapter they got to be real characters in instead of NPCS outside their own chapters was that singular aforementioned chapter that actually was tied to the plot

The FTE are fucking hidden!! or the gumshoe gabs or whatever they were called. in Ronpa FTE was a whole ordeal that the game actively encouraged you to participate in so you could know the characters better, and it was done in a way that flowed with the plot and made it feel like it was a natural part of the world and the cycle of the killing game. Raincode FTE aren't given their own designated point to play them, you have to go find fucking memory shards to unlock one FTE per character per chapter, and you can access them whenever you want. YOU COULD BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MURDER CASE HANGING OVER A DEAD MAN AND GO "MAN, I THINK I WANT TO HAVE A LITTLE CHAT WITH FUCKING DESUHIKO!" AND THEN DO IT. it is so disconnected from everything around it, and the possibility of missing them is pretty decent if you don't know you're suppose to go look for them. the FTE are so important to the character development because the fucking main plot sure as hell ain't doing it

the ending twist- the horror one, not the other 'main' one (i saw the 'main' twist before the game came out, which is another issues in and of it self, but i won't get into it here). it feels like it's from a totally different game, it feels like it's there for shock factor and nothing else. it genuinely looked like they wanted to end the game at chapter four with how final battle it felt, but then went "oh shit! we didn't explain why the city is Like That™, crap uuuh- CHAPTER FIVE HORROR TWIST WOOO!!"

side quests....... just-.... Side. Quests.

it's so aggravating how much this story just feels like a bunch of other, smaller, unrelated stories in a raincoat(ha) instead of a real fully thought out recreational chain of events. all the individual chunks have potential in them, but it's wasted the way this game was handled. it also is in this weird paradoxical state of being where it has alot going on for such a short game (short compared to ronpa i mean)- but it still somehow drags in places and feels empty and like they could have done alot more

normally i wouldn't compare a Kodaka Project to DR like this, but they were hyping it up so much as the successor to DR i feel like i kinda should. and i do have opinions about its ties to DR and how that actually made the game worse, but that's a whole nother can of worms