#and also makes me think they did not actually read the books

[kpop-reactions-povs]

Ateez- When their S/O is shy around them

Hongjoong

He’d absolutely notice it right away. The way you tucked your hair behind your ear, avoided eye contact, bit your lip when he complimented you.

And instead of calling it out bluntly, he’d lean in closer with that little smirk.

“You always do that when I look at you too long,” he’d whisper.

His voice? Low. Just for you.

When you stammer something back, flustered, he’d grin and brush his thumb along your jaw.

“Don’t get quiet now… I love it when you get shy around me. Makes me feel like I’ve still got that effect on you.”

Seonghwa

This man would melt. Instantly.

The moment you shyly reached for his hand, or blushed when he called you jagiya, Seonghwa’s entire face would light up.

He’d gently cradle your cheek, voice soft.

“You don’t have to be shy with me. I’m yours, remember?”

But deep down? He adores it. Every little giggle, every diverted gaze—it makes his heart pound.

He’d also go out of his way to help you feel safe and adored. A quiet kiss to your knuckles. A warm smile when you nervously fuss with your clothes. “You’re beautiful. Always.”

Yunho

The teasing would never stop.

You shyly look down after he compliments you?

“Oh no, don’t look away now—look at me, jagi,” he’d say with a grin, poking your side.

You mumble a flustered “thank you”?

“Is it my fault you’re this cute?”

Yunho lives for your shy moments. He makes it his mission to make you laugh or hide behind your hands.

But when he notices you getting too overwhelmed, he’d lean in, kiss your temple, and whisper, “Hey. You’re safe with me, always. And you don’t ever have to hide how you feel.”

Yeosang

He wouldn’t say much—but you’d catch the tiny upward twitch of his lips every time you got shy.

When you got flustered trying to explain something, he’d just smirk and gently say, “Take your time. I like listening to you.”

He’d tilt his head and quietly observe you like you’re the most interesting book he’s ever read.

Later, he might tease you softly—nothing loud, just a murmur while holding your hand:

“Are you always this cute, or is it just around me?”

You’d be beet red. He’d act like he didn’t notice. But trust—he noticed everything.

San

You being shy? Dangerous. San sees it as the ultimate weakness—and he will lovingly exploit it.

He’d lean in close when you’re mid-sentence, just to watch your face heat up.

He’d purposefully call you pet names like baby, angel, sweetheart—in public—just to see your ears turn red.

“You like it when I call you that, don’t you?”

But behind the playful flirtation is so much affection. San adores the way you get nervous. He sees it as proof that your feelings are real, and that makes him feel lucky.

And when you shyly bury your face in his shoulder? He hugs you tighter and says, “Don’t hide. I wanna see every part of you—even the flustered bits.”

Mingi

He would instantly become shy with you.

You blush? He blushes.

You stutter? He stumbles over his own words.

It’s like watching two puppies trying to flirt for the first time.

“W-wait, did you just… call me handsome?” he’d ask, face burning.

And when you nod shyly? He’d let out the softest little squeak and bury his face in his hands.

Eventually, though, he’d gather enough courage to lean in and say, “You’re so cute when you get like this. Can I… kiss you?”

Cue mutual heart explosions.

Wooyoung

He lives for it. Like, actually gets high off your shyness.

You say something shyly? He gasps, clutches his chest like you just confessed something scandalous.

“Oh my God, are you trying to kill me with that voice?”

He teases, absolutely, but he also secretly melts every time you duck your head or whisper a compliment.

“Come on, jagi, don’t go all shy now—I like it when you tell me how good I look.”

But when he sees you genuinely flustered or insecure, he drops the playfulness and pulls you into his arms. “I’m not teasing you because I think you’re awkward. I tease you because you’re the best part of my day.”

Jongho

He’d act like he’s unaffected—but you’d see the slight twitch in his lip when you shyly reached for his hand or looked away during a compliment.

You’d say something soft like, “You look really handsome today,” and immediately hide behind your cup.

He’d chuckle, then lean closer.

“Say it again. But this time, look at me.”

He wouldn’t make you repeat it if you really couldn’t—but he would softly thread his fingers through yours and say, “You don’t have to be nervous around me. I like you exactly the way you are.”

And every time you’re shy? He stores it away like a little treasure to replay later in his head.

[anonymusbosch]

on wanting to do a million things

prompted by @bloodshack 's

i wanna learn SQL but i wanna learn haskell but i wanna learn statistics but i wanna start a degree in macroeconomics also sociology also library science but i wanna learn norwegian but i wanna learn mandarin but i wanna paint but i wanna do pottery but i wanna get better at woodworking but i wanna get better at cooking but i wanna bake one of those cakes that's just 11 crepes stacked on top of each other but i wanna watch more movies but i wanna listen to more podcast episodes but i need to rest but i need to exercise but i wanna play with my dog but i wanna go shopping but i need to go grocery shopping but i need to do the dishes but i need to do laundry but i need to buy a new x y and z but i need to save money but i wanna give all my money away to people who need it more but i wanna pivot my career to book editing but to do that i have to read more and i wanna read more nonfiction but i wanna read more novels but i wanna get better at meditating but i wanna volunteer but i wanna plan a party but i wanna go to law school. but what im gonna do is watch a dumbass youtube video and go to bed

I think I've been doing slightly better this year about Actually Doing Things. not great! but I do a lot and I've been "prototyping" ways to get closer to doing as much as is possible. and if I actually talk about it it's a bunch of very obvious statements but I'll try to make them a little more concrete

rule number one: experiment on yourself

there's no one approach that's right for everyone and there's not even one approach for me that works at all times. try things out. see what works. pay attention to what doesn't. try something else.

rule number two: ask what's stopping you and then take it seriously

example: I often want to do Everything in the evening at like 2 PM, but then get home and am tempted sorely by the couch, and then get stuck inertia'd and not doing much but being tired and kind of bored. why?

if I don't have plans, it's easy to leave work later than planned and hard to make myself do something by a specific time

i'm generally tiredish after work. 4 out of 5 times, that'll go away if I actually start Doing Something, but 1 out of 5 it's real and I will go hardcore sleepmode at 8 PM and just be Done

i use up a ton of my program management/executive function/Deciding Things brain at work and usually find it noticeably harder to string together "want to do Thing > make list of Things > decide on a Thing > do Thing" after I'm home. Even if I have a list of Things to Do, how does one decide! how does one start! and god forbid there's a Necessary thing. then it's all downhill

therefore, mitigations: have concrete time-specific plans in advance.

if I have an art class at 6:00 PM I need to leave work by 5:15 and NO LATER and I can't get sucked into "oh 10 more minutes to finish this" *one hour later*

that also means I have to have a fridge or freezer dinner ready and can't spend 45 minutes cooking "fuck it, what the hell did I put in the fridge, why don't we have soy sauce" evil meal that is not good

plans with friends: dinner! art night! music night! repair-your-clothes night! seeing a show! occasionally, Accountability Time where a friend comes over for We Are Doing Tasks with tea and snacks etc.

for some reason I'm way better about Actually Doing Things when the plan exists already. magically I overcome couch inertia even though I am the same amount of tired! and while I never learn the ability to decouch without plans I at least learn to make them

still working on:

a "prototype" for maybe next month is a weeklyish Study Session for a thing I want to learn about. I want to somehow make it employer-proof (I am accountable to some entity to being at place X at time Y) and haven't figured out a good way. Maybe I can leverage that the local library is open til 8 on wednesdays and somehow make it a Thing? maybe I'll try it!

oh god oh fuck the thing about plans is that if you want to have them you need to make them. christ. a lot of the time I can cover this with some combo of weekend planning + recurring events (things like weekly friend dinner/weekly class) + having cool friends who reach out proactively but it still requires active planning and it can fall thru the cracks

rule three: cool friends

they can take you to things

they can remind you that you can do whatever the fuck you please

i have a friend who is somehow Always doing cool classes and learning shit. and this reminds me that I can ... do that. and sometimes I do

you can take them to things!!

rule four: try to kill the anon hate in your head

obv this depends on your circumstance but sometimes it's worth it to me to look at constraints that "feel real" and check whether they're an active choice I made thoughtfully or, like, the specters of people I don't know judging my choices

time and money are obvious ones. recently was gently nudged towards looking at whether i could give myself more time to Do Things by cooking less. imaginary specters of judgmental twitterites: "it's illegal to spend money. if you get takeout you're the first up against the wall when the revoution comes. make all your lunches and dinners and hoard the money for Later. for Something. how dare you get lunch at the store. you bourgeois hoe. taking charity donations from the mouths of the poor cause you don't have your life together enough to cook artisanal bespoke dinners every night. fuck you." and obviously eating takeout 24/7 is not the answer, but realizing I was not making an active choice helped me try making the active choice instead. "how much do I actually want to balance cost, time, tastiness, and wastefulness of my food, given my amount of free time and my salary and the tradeoff against doing something else? can I approach it differently to do more quick cheap food + some takeout?" -> current prototype: substitute in 1 takeout dinner or restaurant-with-friends a week, 1 frozen type dinner, and then batch cook or sandwiches lunches w/ "permission" to get fast lunch at the store. we'll see how it goes!

i am really really bad at this and find it helpful to talk to other people who can help point out when I'm being haunted by ghosts about it.

rule five: what would it take? what's the next step?

this one i give a lot of credit to @adiantum-sporophyte in particular for, especially for prompting me with questions when I muse about the million-ideal-lives on car rides. what would it look like to do xyz? what's something I could do right now to move in that direction? what's the obstacle? like, actually ask the question and think through it. with a person talking to you! damn! maybe the obstacle to x is that I don't know if I'll like it or if I just like the idea of it. and I don't want to commit to x without knowing. Okay, so maybe an approach would be to find someone who does x and talk to them about how their life is, or maybe it's "spend 15 minutes looking up intro-to-x near me", or "actively schedule 1 instance of x", or something like that. Or maybe it's that I don't know what it takes to do x. Okay, how about on Tues after dinner Adiantum fixes a sweater at my apartment while I spend 20 min looking at prereqs for x. like, it's so basic to say "to do a thing, you could try figuring out how to do it" but I think the important thing here is the feedback/prompting to even recognize "hey, step back, if you don't know the next step then figuring out the next step is the next step"

rule six: habits

prototyping: exercise

I do a lot better when I exercise in the mornings. I do a lot better when I do PT exercises regularly. For a while I was doing PT with friend in the morning every morning before work (accountability! a friendly face to make it more pleasant!) but that didn't really solve - it's not the kind of exercise that makes me feel awake/active, it's like dumb little foot botherings. but: having the habit of morning exercise made it easier to swap out 2 of the 5 days for more intense exercise, and then to swap those 2 for a different more intense exercise when I needed a break. it's easier to build a low-effort version of the habit and then work in the higher-effort one than to just Decide to be the kind of person who gets up at ass o clock to do cardio or whatever

rule seven: set up the structure of your life to make it easy

this is also a "duh" thing but like. on so many levels it comes down to structure your life to make the choice more doable. this can be something like "i structure my life to make vegetarian cooking baseline and vegan cooking the majority by stocking the pantry with staples and spices from cuisines that work well that way" or "i chose an apartment that lets me commute by bike" or "i have my camping gear put away in a fashion that makes it easier to gather frequently and lowers the barrier to trips" or "i keep physical books around to prompt myself to read xyz" to "i don't use instagram or twitter or snapchat or facebook" to . idk.

and in terms of charitable giving: similar deal. I have an explicit budget at the beginning of the year (~10% of my before-tax income), I know in advance what charities I give to, and I know what timing I will use (basically, alerts for donation matching around specific fundraising times). Anything outside the Plan comes from my discretionary budget/fun money. That makes it less of a mental load (the choice is already made; I don't grapple with every donation request or every bleeding-heart trap because I have a very solid anchor on "I give to xyz, the money's set aside") and it's armor against impulsive-but-not-useful scrupulosity. I structure the rest of my spending/life to prioritize a set amount and it makes it easier to follow through

rule eight: if you can do it at work a tiny bit that counts for real life

(infrequently used)

"hi mr. manager I think it would be great if I could use enough SQL to make basic queries in the database so we don't have to go through the software team for common/basic questions. I'd like to take 1 hr on Friday to go through some basic tutorials and then 1 hr with Pat on Monday so he can walk me through an intro for our specific use case. I estimate this will help save the team a couple hours a week of waiting for answers from the other team." and then you have enough of a handle with baby's first SQL that you can add little bits and bobs as you exercise it. this is responsible for a medium amount of my knowledge of python and all 3 brain cells worth of SQL.

rule nine: life is an optimization problem

not in, like, "you need to optimize your skincare and career and exercise and social life and have everything all at once" that's not what optimization means. optimization is like, maximize something with respect to a set of constraints. i explicitly Do Not do skincare beyond "wash face" and "sunscreen" bc I want to optimize my life for like looking at weird plants in the mountains. explicitly choosing to put time and money elsewhere! can't have it all all at once. so fuck them pores. who give a shit. yeah i ate a lot of protein shakes instead of home cooked breakfasts this week bc i was prioritizing morning exercise. im looking at this beautiful bug and it doesn't know what fashion is or what my resume looks like. im holding a lizard. im not spending time on picking cool clothes or whatever bc i spent that time looking up lizard hotspots on purpose.

that's really long and probably mostly, like, not surprising? but i keep benefiting from ppl being like "hey have you considered Obvious Thing" framed very gently

[carlyraejepsans]

until recently i was a "havent even touched the game in 8 years, i barely remember the characters" type of ut fan, but i just finished it again and my brain is active again, but im really rusty. i could only think of you to ask, please feel free to ignore if youve answered before or for any reason at all. ill send them by separating, first one is this: since flowey says he "could never get past Asgore if it werent for you" does that tie to the quality of his determination, stats, or gameplay? like is he simply stuck on the "playing" part, no matter what he has equiped or his LV, is he simply unable to manage the turns? im a shitty gamer myself, i can bet sans fight would succeed to stop me from finishing a NoMercy, so is the asgore fight equivalent of that for flowey? so he never got Any "ending" at all, just went around doing what he could, until only thing left was asgore, and reseted? if so, wouldnt that make it basically canon he'd tried a NoMercy and got stumped worse with sans? please tell me your thoughts on floweys time with the power to save and reset

Hi, and welcome back to the game! I was in your exact same position a couple of years ago, so I'm super flattered you're looking at me for information.

Flowey's final kill count before the events of the game is... debatable. More under the cut because this got long.

Of course, like you said, you have lines like the ones after you deal with Asgore for him:

Howdy! It's me, FLOWEY. FLOWEY the FLOWER! I owe you a HUGE thanks. You really did a number on that old fool. Without you, I NEVER could have gotten past him. But now, with YOUR help… He's DEAD. And I'VE got the human SOULS!

There's a pretty straightforward interpretation of this line, and it's the one you brought up: Flowey tried to defeat Asgore but couldn't, and he needed us to weaken him first to achieve his goal. The phrasing doesn't leave much to be contested. However! There's another Flowey line--this time in the geno route, I don't know if you've already gotten to it in your replay--that i feel can offer a slightly different perspective.

You understand, I've done everything this world has to offer. I've read every book. I've burned every book. I've won every game. I've lost every game. I've appeased everyone. I've killed everyone. Sets of numbers… Lines of dialogue… I've seen them all.

If you go with the previous interpretation, you can read this line as Flowey being hyperbolic, or taking some poetic liberty for the sake of rhetorical parallelism. But considering his larger metanarrative role as a mirror and reflection of the completionist player experience, I think it is also completely fair to assume that Flowey HAS, in fact, killed Asgore before. Just like he's killed Sans. Just like he's killed literally everyone who can be killed in the game, either directly or indirectly (see, in our case, Alphys).

This does require a re-framing of the post Asgore fight dialogue, however. Which is... actually not as much of a stretch as you'd expect!

"but now, with your help... he's dead. and i've got the human SOULs." -> i needed your help to kill him.

"but now with your help... he's dead. and i've got the human SOULs." -> i needed your help to get the SOULs, specifically.

It's a subtle difference, but one that gets corroborated, once again, in Flowey's NEW HOME monologue in the geno route.

We don't even need to leave to get them this time. The king has six of them locked away. I've tried hundreds of ways to get him to show me them… But he just won't. I know he'll do it for YOU.

Remember how the SOUL containers are hidden under the floor in front of the Barrier until the moment you and Asgore initiate the battle? There would be no way for Flowey to know where they were stored unless Asgore chose to show them to him.

If you want my personal favorite interpretation, I think it's pretty clear that I lean towards the second option. All while not discarding the idea that Flowey is just a bit of a shit gamer as unrealistic (for all he may trap us in unavoidable attacks over and over, he does get thwarted every single time). He certainly seems more apt in plotting schemes and manipulation than sheer fighting prowess. My preference also remains because, while Flowey IS softlocked out of the ability to "finish the game" until we (the true protagonist) start playing, that is because Undertale doesn't end when we kill Asgore: it ends when we get to the Surface. THAT'S the final objective Flowey wants, and can never achieve on his own in the state of the game before it begins. Whether Asgore is alive or dead is irrelevant.

My preference also comes from Asgore and Flowey's characterizations. We know that Flowey has spent a significant amount of time stalking and resenting and mocking and enjoying Toriel's suffering in the RUINs. He is extremely good at pushing buttons and digging wounds back open. And well, Asgore himself is actively suicidal by the time we get to him, and has been for a while. Think only of the ending where Flowey doesn't kill him, so he kills himself instead. Furthermore, if you look at Undyne's reminiscing during our date in pacifist...

Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight ASGORE. Emphasis on TRIED. I couldn't land a single blow on him!

...it's clear Asgore is not only a very strong opponent, but also capable of blocking/dodging attacks. Something he doesn't do during our battle with him, in order to give us a fair fighting chance. Which is also clear suicidal ideation. Now, once again you could use this dialogue to support the opposite thesis that Flowey never managed to kill him. Asgore clearly has past experience in fending off rabid 13yos who want to beat his ass. But he is also in a very fraught mental state as is. Flowey's... well, everything--his mere existence as a concept would be enough to make him want to die. You can't tell me Flowey never drove his father to suicide during his resets (think of Asgore and Alphys' parallels), OR his mother--though I don't think he would be successful in her case (which only makes him hate Toriel more.)

But I would say both options are very good and can both be used to explore their characterization, on their own and in relation to one another.

So while I don't disagree with your comment about the Asgore fight being Flowey's personal Sans fight, I do think Flowey's Sans fight WAS also just... the sans fight lmao. Possibly with easier requirements to face it than us, if you only consider this dialogue of his after several neutral endings in a row

You know. Smiley Trashbag. Say. If I have ONE piece of advice for you... DON'T. Let his brother. Find out ANYTHING about you. He'll... well… Let's just say. He's caused me more than my fair share of resets. Stay away from that guy.

Though it's true that that could both refer to his fight and other shenanigans Sans could have pulled to cause problems on purpose for a time traveler, if he really saw them as a threat that needed dealing with.

does that tie to the quality of his determination, stats, or gameplay? like is he simply stuck on the "playing" part, no matter what he has equiped or his LV, is he simply unable to manage the turns?

I'll leave that to your discretion, actually! Like I already mentioned, it does seem to me that Flowey's specific strengths lie in his ability to manipulate and plot from the shadows, but whether he's naturally good at battles or not, I think the core of what makes him dangerous is the same thing that made us dangerous too. The fact that his mistakes, at the end of the day, do not matter. Flowey can fail and die and try again every single time he wants.

Every other character only needs to mess up once.

When the bored time bending kid with a violent complex has the wheel, it's not a matter of "if" he beats you. It's a matter of when.

Hope that made some kind of sense!

[maxdibert]

So I only read it as an adult but I HATE Snape. Don't get me wrong, I feel for his childhood self and his trauma but the way he bullies kids is INSANEEEE. Many of my friends, who read it as kids when it was coming out, have said "but he LOOOOVED Lily", and "he saved Harry" And I'm like, that's not love, that's possession and fantasy and all sorts of other unhealthy crap. But it's not love... And yes, he did save Harry, but only because someone else manipulated his unhealthy obsession in order to keep Harry alive.

Well, isn’t it obvious he’s not obsessed? Where are you even getting that nonsense from? Feeling guilty about the death of someone you cared about and wanting to make up for your mistakes has absolutely nothing to do with being controlling or obsessive. Honestly — if you’ve actually read the books as an ADULT and came to that conclusion, what can I say… no offense, but your reading comprehension and text analysis skills need some serious work.

On another note, I honestly don’t think he bullies the kids. I’ve had teachers who were truly abusive and cruel, and next to them, Snape is a literal saint. Severus is definitely not someone I’d choose to have around children, mostly because he doesn’t like them and it shows. He’s also someone with a horrible temper and who lets himself be a bit of an asshole when he feels like it. But just because he occasionally makes nasty remarks doesn’t mean he’s an abuser. Seriously, you’re villainizing a character for being a grumpy professor and it feels ridiculously childish to me. That’s a critique I’d expect from a kid, not an adult.

[heroesrest64]

Farming For Heroes

Find the whole project here

(Note: There are so many little things I wanted to introduce during these Tutorial chapters, but I didn’t want it to feel overwhelming or make any one interaction too long. I like how these chapter turned out- it felt like it put a lot of cogs in motion and opened up a lot of doors for the future.)

Chapter 3: Tutorials (Pt. 2)

You spent the rest of the previous night fishing before going home and putting most of the fish you caught in your shopping bin. When you woke up the next morning, you had a tidy sum of money waiting for you, which you tucked away before starting on your farm chores.

Once they’re done, you decide to start heading up to the tech lab, intending to find out more about the sprinklers and auto feeders you saw the day before, only to stop short when a new colorfully decorated building catches your eye. It’s nestled amongst a grove of apple trees, and there are wind chimes and sun catchers glittering and sounding off in front of every window.

To put it simply, the place is enchanting, and you find yourself opening the front door before you even realize what’s happening.

“Welcome~ Ooh, a new visitor!” A feminine voice cheers, and you look around until you spot a woman in a light blue dress, covered in a few simple pieces of jewelry. She has golden blonde hair that bounces as she walks up to you, and glittering blue eyes like sapphires.

“Welcome to Hateno Village Museum and Library. Who might you be?”

You give the girl your name before continuing, “I’m the new farmer.”

“Ah, I’ve heard about you. Apparently you got my brother to shut up for once. Quite the impressive feat.” The girl giggles, and you wonder who you’ve managed to shut up lately before you realize exactly who she looks like.

If you cut her hair a little shorter, put a pink streak in it, then gave her amethyst eyes, she’d be a dead ringer for Legend.

“You’re Legend’s sister?” You ask, disbelieving. Their personalities are like night and day!

“The one and only. My name is Fable, I run the library here, although…” Fable looks to the side, a slight blush overtaking her cheeks.

“Admittedly, the library is quite small, as it stands. But! That’s nothing you should be concerned with. You can still come in and read what’s available whenever you’d like. I am also willing to buy or trade for any books you bring in, so if you find something interesting bring them here and we’ll get you sorted out.” Fable claps her hands excitedly, like even the thought of a new book is enough to make her happy. You can appreciate her enthusiasm, and agree to bring any books you find.

“What’s with all the shouting? Are you talking to yourself again, Fable?” A familiar, snarky voice chuckles, and out of a side room comes a familiar head of strawberry lemonade hair. He seems to assess the room for only a second before his teasing smirk drops to something distinctly unamused.

“Oh. It’s you. If you’re here to view the museum, the exhibits are closed.” Legend huffs, crossing his arms and leaning on the doorframe like some kind of thug.

“Closed? Why?” You ask, deciding to ignore his rude way of talking in hopes of having a civil conversation. Unfortunately, your question only seems to upset the man more. There’s just no winning with this guy.

“They were stolen.”

Stolen? An entire museum’s exhibits were stolen? How? Why??

“How did that happen?” You decide to press for more information, too curious to let it go now.

“If I knew, don’t you think I would’ve done something to fix it by now?” Legend hisses, and you lift your hands placatingly.

“Fair enough. If there’s anything I can do to help, though, let me know.” You offer, mostly just to get him to calm down. You don’t expect him to actually give you a considering look, humming a long tone before seeming to light up with an idea.

“Actually, there is something you can do. Here-“ Legend comes closer, gesturing for you to hold out your hand before dropping a key in it.

“This is the key to the mines. Seeing as you’ve been to the smithy, I’m sure you could guess what’s down there. Ores, raw gemstones, and of course, treasure. I could care less about the ores, but gems and treasure are more than welcome in my museum. Of course, this isn’t a charity. I’ll pay you for anything you bring in, the better the quality, the more money you make.” Legend hums, words flat like it’s a business transaction. To a certain extent, you suppose it is, but his attitude isn’t making you rally for an adventure in the mines.

“Why can’t you just ask like a normal person? ‘Hey farmer, I’d appreciate any treasures you bring back from the mines! Thank you so much for offering to help!’ It’s that simple.” Fable flicks Legend in his forehead, and the man reels back, rubbing the sore spot dramatically.

“I’ll thank them when they show results. Anyway, there are monsters down there who can and will hurt you, so if you do go, be careful. I don’t need Hyrule coming to fret over the new farmer just ‘cause you couldn’t handle a couple keese.” Legend crosses his arms over his chest, and while you initially think he’s being a little crass, when you take a moment to consider his words, you realize there’s some genuine concern in his voice.

You may not be sure about the guy, even now, but at least he seems to care. That’s enough, for now.

~~

You’re so distracted thinking about your interaction with Fable and Legend that you don’t even realize you’ve walked down the hill until Linkle bounces up beside you, startling you out of your thoughts.

“Whatcha thinking about?” She asks, crowding close to you, and you yelp, not expecting the woman to get so close.

“Uhm! I was just thinking about the mines. Legend said there were monsters in there, and I was wondering if I could fight them.” You admit. Linkle hums, interested, before lighting up with an idea.

“How about you go to the fields with Wars and I today? We can see how good you are, maybe give you a couple tips. You’ll be confident enough to enter the mines in no time.” Linkle grabs your arm, dragging you off before you have a chance to respond.

“Looks like my sister managed to drag you into this excursion. Luckily, it’s just a patrol through Ginner woods. Apparently some bokoblins have been making their way closer to the village than usual.” Warriors barely dips his head in greeting when he spots you, like your presence was to be expected. You trot after him as he begins walking to the entrance of the town, nervously gripping your sword’s handle as the forest just beyond comes into view.

“Looks like you got a sword, at least. Do you know how to use it?”

“In theory? Sure. In practice? Ehh…” You make a so-so motion with your hand, and Linkle giggles, bumping into you playfully.

“That’s okay. We’ll start you on something easy. There are chuchus in the forest that shouldn’t be too hard to beat.” Linkle assures, guiding you deeper into the forest. It turns out fighting monsters isn’t as hard as you thought it’d be, especially with Linkle and Warriors there to help you out. They let you go at your own pace for the most part, only stepping in when it looks like you might be struggling.

You defeat three chuchus and two bokoblins before they decide to give you a break, gathering up the monster drops and handing them over to you.

“Monster parts can be used in potions or to make certain devices. I know chuchu jelly is usually needed to make sprinklers, for example. Of course you could always buy these supplies or trade for them if you don’t want to engage in combat. It’s up to you.” Warriors shrugs while you stuff the materials in your bag. It’s starting to become overfull with all of the items you’ve been getting lately, and you resolve to sort some of the objects away later.

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I want to actually join the monster hunting team. I could get my own materials, like you said, and maybe even find cool stuff while on the field.” You grin, and Warriors seems pleased.

“That’s the spirit! Speaking of cool stuff, look at THIS!!” Linkle cheers, interrupting her brother who was about to speak to you, pushing something white and covered with feathers in your face. Warriors gasps, affronted and even a little scared at the chubby cucco Linkle presses in your arms.

“A cucco?” You ask, wondering where the woman got the plump animal from.

“You can find animals all over Hyrules wilds. They’re pretty skittish, but if you give them the right snacks, they’ll warm up to you in no time.” Linkle holds out her palm, which is filled to the brim with sweet corn that the cucco happily gobbles up.

“Wars won’t let me keep any in the house, so I have to come out here to play with them. Although… If you adopt a couple of these sweetlings, I can just visit them on your farm…” Linkle wonders aloud, a somewhat evil smile taking over her face as she plots. Warriors seems to be growing nervous, throwing you an alarmed look.

“Do not let her make your farm a depth-spawn breeding ground. One or two are fine, but if Linkle had it her way, every square foot would contain a cucco.” He warns, and you giggle at the affronted ‘hey!’ His sister shrieks at him.

After that, the two of them guide you back to town, still bickering about the ethics of keeping livestock in the house up until they reach the village gates and wave you good-bye.

Something about their dynamic leaves you amused and refreshed, and you skip back into Hateno, wondering what else you should get up to today.

~~

Your day has been more or less derailed twice today, and while you don’t entirely mind talking to your neighbors and getting to know a bit more about them, you do still intend on making your way up the hill to the Hateno Tech Lab.

You barely make it three steps into town before stopping yourself once again, curiously eyeing what must be Sky’s carpentry shop. You may not have the money for it, but your farm is in desperate need of repairs, and it wouldn’t hurt to get a quote, at least.

Stepping into the shop, you catch a whiff of sawdust and something herbal. Maybe chamomile? It’s around lunch time, so you’re not surprised when Sky isn’t sat behind the counter in the shop, nor toiling away at one of the workbenches littering the space. There are a couple tables filled with smaller wooden objects, and an open catalogue on the counter showing off different furniture sets that you practically drool over. Your current bed is… abysmal, to say the least.

“Looking for a bed?” Sky’s voice hums, and you startle, slamming the catalogue shut in your panic.

“Sky! Uhm, kind of. I’m actually in need of a whole house upgrade, if I’m being honest. Not sure if you’ve been up to the farm, but there’s a whole tree growing out of my house.” You wave vaguely, miming the size of the tree, and Sky laughs.

“Funny you should mention it, but I was actually arranging to come up and check out your farm, see if I couldn’t at least make it livable sometime soon.” Sky admits, and you feel your heart flutter. He was really going to do that for you? Unprompted? The people here really are too generous- you’re starting to feel like you’re taking advantage of their kindness.

“That’s really sweet, but, uh, I don’t quite have the funds yet, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting something as big as that…” You admit.

“Hey, we help eachother out here in Hateno. Speaking of…” Sky ducks behind his counter, rummaging around for a second before coming back up with a rolled up piece of leather.

“Here’s a wood carving kit for ya. I figure you’ll be getting a ton of wood from the wild trees on your farm, so it might be fun to make something with that. I’ve been trying to teach the others how to carve, too, so you might be able to catch them in the act.” Sky snickers, like it’s some fun game. Maybe it will be? You’ve carved a couple figures before, but it was always more fun when you were working alongside someone else.

“Thanks, Sky. That sounds like fun.” You grin, tucking away the carving kit for future use. Sky seems to consider you for a second before coming to some sort of conclusion.

“As for your house… I’m willing to do the repairs and some basic upgrades for free, but I have a favor to ask you in return.” You stall, not expecting the sudden offer. What sort of favor could possibly make up for all of the repairs your house will need?

“I want to leave something in your care once your house is secured. It’s something I can’t take care of myself, unfortunately, but it shouldn’t give a farmer like you too much trouble.” Sky grins, somewhat mischievous. You feel some nervous sweat bead your brow. What could he possibly want to leave in your care? Some sort of houseplant he’s struggling to keep alive? … a monster plant? Do monster plants exist?

Whatever it is, it’s not like you’re in a position to refuse. “I’ll handle it with the utmost care.” You assure, and Sky bursts out laughing, even gripping his stomach and curling over himself with his laughter. Despite feeling embarrassed, you can’t help but think his laugh is kind of cute.

“Haha! Relax, you don’t have to be so serious! I’ll swing by your place later this week to start up construction.” Sky waves you off, still chuckling under his breath, but his lack of elaboration on exactly what you’ll be taking care of disturbs you. Regardless, you leave the cabin-like workshop and begin heading back to your original destination.

…Only to be immediately stopped by an excited voice singing out a cheery greeting.

“Yoo-hoo! Young farmer!! You seem to be ever-so busy running around today, but you have yet to even step foot into my shop! And just how do you think that makes Miss Cece feel?” The voice coos, and you squint, trying to find its owner only for your eyes to land upon what one could only describe as a mushroom covered aristocrat. Oh no.

“Oh yes! I’m talking to you, dear farmer! You, with your trashy overalls and stained tunics! With your worn out boots and dirt speckled aprons!! You may be covered in soot and dirt now, but with a little dusting off from yours truly, I just know you’ll prove to be a prized Matsutake in disguise!!!” The woman with bright pink hair and cat-like glasses trills, and you feel a shiver crawl up your spine.

There’s no way the fashion fad followed you here all the way from castle town. Those horrid mushrooms were supposed to be left behind along with all the other baggage that piled up during your time spent in the big city. And did she say her name was Cece, as in, the creator of the mushroom fashion empire??

You pinch yourself, hoping against all hope that you’ve somehow entered a dream. No- not a dream. A nightmare! That’s what this has to be!

“Come along, dearie, I have mush to show you.” Cece cackles at her own mushroom pun, and you nearly weep as you realize this is no dream. This is stone cold reality, and Hylia is probably watching you and laughing.

You’re brought into the store and none-too-gently wrangled onto a stool where you’re made to stand while a ghost takes your measurements. No, not a ghost. You know this woman.

“Sophie? What happened to you? What happened to Ventest Clothing??” You whisper, sending a cautious look over your shoulder at Cece, who is currently wringing a mushroom themed fan like you fear she may wring your neck if she catches you talking to the poor shaky girl currently measuring your waist.

“I-I don’t know. One day I was selling travelers gear, the next I was being proclaimed Cece’s a-apprentice, a-and suddenly the walls were covered in m-m-mushroom wallpaper and Mr. sayge was bringing in a g-giant vat of d-dye?? Papa was out a-and I couldn’t fend them off alone…” The poor girl sounds close to tears, and you place a delicate hand on her shoulder, only to flinch when the sound of a fan snapping shut rings out. You instantly straighten up, and Sophie gets back to taking your measurements.

“Now I know it can be intimidating, all of this greatness crammed into one inky-dinky little itty-bitty shop,” Cece starts, and you watch Sophie draw in on herself with each adjective the intimidating woman uses.

“However! Rest assured that you are in the best of hands here at the Ventest Fashion Parlor. My associates and I have been reviving fashion here in Hyrule for years, and with my new business partners knowledge of dyes, I guarantee you will leave here feeling prettier than a latticed stinkhorn.” Cece begins to pace, and you send your old friend an alarmed look.

“We’ll keep your measurements noted for the time being. I’m sure you’re still settling down, getting transacted with the root system here in Hateno, but just know that once you’re ready, Tempest will be here to cater to all of your fashion needs.” Cece hums contentedly as Sophie finally pulls away, tucking away a piece of parchment with what you assume are your measurements on it, and Cece steps up, extending a white gloved hand to help you down from the stool you were standing upon.

You shakily step off, and Cece pats you on the head somewhat patronizingly before slapping something leathery and soft on your head. You just barely catch a look at the bright red mushroom cap now wobbling on your head in a nearby mirror before finding yourself shooed off to a seperate room. You don’t even have a moment to catch your breath before a man wearing nothing but an apron and shorts accosts you, dragging you further into the room.

“Little farmer! How good to see you again. I remember when you were just a little pigment. Barely a squirt.” Sayge crows, and you instantly calm down. For a second you thought you were about to be hounded by, like, Cece’s half naked brother. You actually don’t know if the woman has family, and you’d rather not find out.

“Hello, Mr. Sayge. I guess I was sent here to check out the dye shop?” You propose, and the man cheers delightedly, dragging you further into his workshop.

“I’ve been dye-ing to tell you about my new research! I’ve been working on animal-safe pigments, so now you can have animals of all colors of the rainbow- for a small fee, of course. I can also dye your hair, clothes, and armor if you’re thinking about joining the monster crew. You’ll also want to dye your furniture, of course. That Sky fellow is good at what he does, but he’s no dye master like I am-“ Sayge continues to ramble for a while, and you let him, rocking back in your heels while the man continues to go on about the services he can offer you. You get the gist- he can dye pretty much anything you could think of. Not a bad deal, but you aren’t in a place financially to care about aesthetics. For now, you’ll just take what you can get.

After a while, Sayge’s wife Senna comes stomping into the room, shouting the poor man’s ear off about bothering potential customers with his ramblings, before turning to you and apologizing profusely. When she realizes who you are, she just about squeals, wrapping you up in a bone crushing hug before apologizing once more for her husband's ramblings, then sending you on your way.

You finally leave the strange little world that is Ventest Clothing Parlor, and let out a long sigh of relief. You escaped with your life, but not with your dignity as the mushroom hat on your head sags weirdly into your eyes, blinding you for a second.

~~

Finally. Finally, you make the long trek up the hill to the Hateno Tech Lab. The building is just as odd as you remember, although now that you’re an adult, it’s not nearly as intimidating. There’s some strange clanking and buzzing sounds coming from inside that you elect to ignore, instead knocking once before entering the lab.

Immediately, you’re greeted by panicked shouting, and something buzzing and shiny coming right for your head. You barely have time to swat it out of the air before your mind catches up with your hands and you realize it was probably some sort of device and that maybe you should’ve been more delicate with it.

“Oh thank goodness you caught it! This stupid thing is just refusing to behave lately!” A woman with shiekah white hair huffs, blowing a streak of red out of her crimson eyes. She stoops down, and you try not to stare at her curves as she does so, glancing off to the side nervously. Why is everyone in this town so freaking hot?

“What, uh, what is it?” You manage to stutter out as the woman pops back up, cradling what looks like a robotic bug in her hands.

“It’s a scouting drone the monster hunters use to find new places to hunt in. It’s been a little ‘buggy’ for a while now, so I’m taking a look at it. The technology is kind of old so I’m having a hard time, though…” The woman trails off, tapping a pipe to her cherry red lips, muttering a bit more to herself before you clear your throat and she snaps back to attention.

“Sorry. You’re the new farmer, aren’t you? I’m sure you’ve heard about the devices the research lab can offer you, but they don’t come cheap! Except this first sprinkler. It’s on the house.” You’re a little startled when the lady shoves a sprinkler into your hands, and you shuffle it into the crook of your arm, knowing that your bag is officially too full to fit anything else.

“R-right, thank you, uh…” You trail off, and the woman seems to realize she never introduced herself.

“Purah. Now that we have introductions out of the way, I have a bit of a favor to ask of you.” Purah grins, and you motion for her to continue.

“My associate over there is a big scaredy cat, but he needs to do some field work. Some project or another. You should speak with him- there might be a reward in it for you.”

Looking at where the woman is pointing, you find a shiekah man muttering to himself, poring over a table filled with pictures. Curious, you excuse yourself from Purah’s company and walk up to the man.

“Ahem. Excuse me,” You start, and the man startles, hands flying up defensively and sending the pictures he was observing scattering.

“Hylia! Forgive me, I didn’t notice you approaching.” The man gasps, gripping at his chest. You mutter your own apology while leaning down to gather some of the dropped papers. Most of the pictures show stone tablets, but the angle is too high for you to see what’s written on them.

“Curious? These stone tablets are spread all across the Necluda and Faron regions. There’s one pretty close to the village, actually, which started me on this research project.” The man hands over a picture, clearer than the others, and taken as if the photographer was standing right in front of the monument rather than from above it. The stone is smooth and carved with unfamiliar runes.

“This one is apparently the first in a series, and gives directions to the others. I’ve only been able to visit one other, but my camera was broken at the time. Regardless, translating the runes I recorded from that second monument leads me to believe it was some sort of riddle that would have led to a treasure needed to unlock this mystery.”

“Interesting… Where was this first picture taken?” You ask, tapping the paper for emphasis.

“Next to Camphor Pond, past Ginner Woods.”

“I’ll have to check it out sometime, then. This mystery sounds like a lot of fun!” You smile, setting the picture down and smiling at the shiekah researcher in front of you. He seems to light up, excited that you’re even considering going.

“Truly? If you do go, I would ask you to record your findings. Here- I’ll entrust you with my spare camera. It’s an older model, but I’m sure you could inspire Purah to upgrade it if you ever have a need. With you as my field researcher, I just know we’ll uncover the secrets of these monuments in no time!” The man cheers, and the two of you talk for a bit longer before you notice the sun beginning to set. You excuse yourself, leaving the Research Lab to return to your farm for the night.

You finish up a couple more chores before putting some extra items in your shipping bin and finally heading inside your farm house. Ivee should have the seeds you ordered tomorrow, which means you’ll have plenty of stuff to work on. Maybe after you finish your farm work, you can start working on gifts to offer to all of the nice people in Hateno.

[wundrousarts]

PLSSS DID YOU LIKE SILVERBORN??? THOUGHTS?? (minus spoilers if u can 🥺)

I literally just finished it so I’m very !!!!! right now but it was so interesting and returning to the world of Nevermoor was so wonderful!!!

The book felt very different than the other ones because it’s set mostly in the Silver District, primarily focused on the murder mystery, and takes place over the shortest timeframe so far. There’s an interview Somewhere that I have not transcribed where Jess talks about Neverfour being a “specific type of book” as in a murder mystery and that other books in the series will also be like that/other types of books. So I’m curious to experience that as the series continues.

There are so many things answered and also THE CRAZIEST REVEALS such as one in particular that I haha silly theorized about and actually ended up lowkey mostly right??!?!?!! Was not expecting that in a million years and excited to see where it goes next!!

At the same time that tons of long standing questions are answered, so so SO many new questions popped up!! It felt like this book was getting a lot of things out of the way in order to set up for other things. If Jess has the books sort of like three “acts” in a way, this makes total sense (and makes me excited for Neverfive, because Wundersmith is my favorite book lol).

I feel like I don’t have as many theories right now compared to when I read Hollowpox, but I think again just because the two books are very different. But lots and lots of things I am going crazy over!!

I can’t WAIT!!! for June 26th to see the chapter illustrations. There’s one thing in particular that I can’t wait to see depicted because I could not for the life of me understand how it looked lol

[tansyuduri]

I was tagged by

@toomanyfanficsbruh I think the idea was to list all your moots and threaton them as a form of thak you, but everyone I saw in the post did it diferantly so I'm gonna do it my way! Their post was here

Oh gosh I have so many people that I love and apreiciate. SOme are freinds I talk to everyt day. Some I talk to ocasionaly and some I just see reblogging stuff and am like HEYYYY I usually save my thank you callout posts for thanksgiving or when I;m having a hard time but lets GOOOOO (Also Sorry If I could not list you here I love you toooo! I went mostly for people I've talked to and who have talked to me so this would be a reasonable amount of people.) ALSO THIS is just me flailing at the keyboard so expect a LOT OF SPELLIGN ERRORS @toomanyfanficsbruh Hello will you belive it took me until now to realise I DONT ACTUALLY FOLLOW YOU? that has been corrected. I love you tagging me and seeing you on my dash. Our convo about bollywood was really fun @places-across-time GAH how can I thank you enough!? Between our colab progects and you doing wonders for me by reading my fanfics aloud and asking me why I hurt you while I giggle we have so much fun! Thank you for coming into my life! PS I love your art

@argentasterdisaster I love talking to you on the discord! @miyriu You gave me a prompt once!! I was much abiged! I like seeing you in my activity! @mysticsoldiersailorhylia My first mega commenter! ILU SO MUCH also laughing about "THE WEASAL" with you was fun

@bradleysass You tag me in All the writing tag games! Its fun! @samwinjester I love talking to you and having you on the discord. Your vids are amazing and your suporrt is loved! @calamity-talvi Hello my very fast beta and penguin enthusist! I love all your help and talking to you and everything! @nattymctatty You are a writer of a fic I have read SO MANY TIMES. GAH @sugar-coated-prat-dragon WHile I don't always find the books the most trustworthy Its amazing you have them and your encycepediat knowlage of them! @orliththedragon You gave me a prompt once and I see you in my activity a lot! Love you!

@aeonthedimensionalgirl We're not mutuals but your fanfic is amazing and makes me happy

@schweet-arts HEY your rough concept gave rise to my first reverse bang fic. I had so much fun working with you and you offered to work with me more? Like Hello! I'm so happy AGAIN YOUR ART @alex-the-bringer-of-chaos You support me and gave me a prompt once!!! YAY @akelafang You are in my activity a LOT

@larluce We've worked togetehr twice! so much fun! @achillesuwu Certified Fic commenter and person I see a lot on my dash! @oakfiddle Thank you for your prompt and your support @linotheghost HEYYYY another person who has vlunteered to beta my logner fics ILU @kadenemrys Another beta of mine! Also the person who tought be about gay sex beyond what I could find on wikipedia "You know that would hurt right?" "NO teach me your ways Senpai!" @catsconflictscopicsandchamomile HELLO FREIND love our talks and your help with spellwork! Certified old english expert @kairenn-n AMAzing artists to work with! I love comissioning you! Also you are so sweet @multifandom-aroace Tagging freind! @mudtwist You gave me a prompt AGES AGO the result of it will be posted this year. Thank you for helping spawn a fic I am very proud of @imagine-dragonlords YES MERTHER VIDEOS FUN PERSON @tiny-and-witchy I have not seen you in ages hope youa re alright. You have been a beta, A sounding board, A prompter, a freind, an encourager, AND THE reason my new upcoming longfic series is my new longfic series AKA I read you this thing I started once you told me to continue it and somehow continueing it had lead to not only my longest rough write fic ever but a entire vauge series in my mind! @witchmd13 THANK YOU for all the support your overviews of merlin are a gift to the word @saurix5 One of the Discord OGS and for a long time the only one on tumbr. I will treat morded well in my fics so you do not kill me. @pendragonsclotpole THANK you for your support! @shana-rosee Thank you for your support and freindship ILU @pyjamacryptid A lot of your posts give me life youa re hillarius @16th-of-a-twigg

Out there tagging and doing the lords work. @247merthur one of the very first peopel I rambled to merlin about! ALSO YOU DONATED 50$ TO CHARITY FOR ONE OF MY FICS? 50!!!!! That made me feel wonderful @gyrhs My first after camlan big bang parter. The person I comissioned for the two other covers in my Arthur returns series! AMAZING artists you @thenerdyalien I love our talks! @sword-wielding-sapphic Hello you were one of the first people I talked merlin too a lot! I find many of your takes facinating especially the Morgwen ones!

@katherynefromphilly One of two peoples whose fanfics made me ship merthur and GO wait this makes sence, then rewatch the show and be like OMG HOW DID I MISS THIS!!! Also helped inspire me to start writing again! I love that we're mutuals now. @groundbreakingdot872 THANK YOU for creating the merlin discord server that I have kinda claimed as my merlin home base. THANK YOU for making so much of my merlin fandom life possible ILU @aaand-read-all-over HIYA another discord OG and my fellow OG discord merthur enthusist!

@godmerlin one of the first people I talked to in the fandom! Thank you for your dedicated efforts to the "ARTHUR DESERVES ALL THE LOVE" cause

[pearlynia]

I didn't read all that but on the first post, I thought lily actually rejected Snape, yes I did read the books buttt it was a long time ago so I've forgotten and by the way people were saying? I actually thought she rejected him and if she did slay bahahah

And yeah you're right of the trauma thing I was in a car when I replied so I didn't have much detail butt I still stand by how he should not have did the things he did but it happened.

Now now let me explain my view on Snape properly, so he's a very complicated character but he is NOT a good person. In my original post I forgot to add that or I just didn't add it for idk reason, that I hate it when people defend Snape as if he's all innocent, that's basically part of what pissed me off In the first place but obviously I didn't show that well (or at all) and I did not think it was THAT serious.

(Also I'm trying to keep up with what I'm trying to say cuz I'm ADHD so don't mind if the topics are repeated)

And, unrelated maybe but I'm not saying the marauders were completely nice was well, they're all a bitch and have flaws which the later I believe fixed? and that's what I like about them. Snape is also a bitch and I find him cool even tho I'm not necessarily his fan, mostly bc the fandom is kinda toxic from what I've seen and they just kept giving excuses and ik you said it's an explanation but I mostly see it as an excuse since he had plenty of time to heal and just do better yk? But he didn't make an effort.

And when I mean nicer I meant as in better to tolerate, not literal nice like but I still stand by that statement tho, book Snape pissed me off so bad when I was reading it to the point where I do not care of what happened in the past to him but only what he's doing to the kids. I don't find that part cool but I do find his character cool if that makes sense.

Usually I stay with fan fics and stay away from canon bc that's less pain and I've read fics where Snape is nice and shit and I live for those buttt on the original post I was talking about canon BECAUSE the comments were all about canon, ik you can't see those comments but you can imagine (if this topic is also unrelated then don't mind it I'm just explaining)

And again my original post was a crash out it is immature and basically just childish which is nothing serious for me. If you disagree or whatever just pls scroll for the life of us but I do thank you for fixing some of my mistakes I actually forgot those. Anyway have a nice day I will not be replying any longer (or I will when I'm free again) bye bye

Saw the marauders fandom getting hates again by non other than Snape supporters on TikTok sigh

Tbh I feel like people mix up movie and book Snape a lot, while the movie Snape was nicer and not a total bitch, the book one is a man whore, a bully, a bitch and a dick.

And I hateeee that people can't see it just bc they find the actor of Snape "hot" or feel bad for him cuz he got rejected by Lily and died like sybau people get rejected everyday and you don't bully the child of the women you love nor any other children as their TEACHER.

I'm glad lily rejected him, my girl saw a red flag that cannot be fixed and ran.

Anyway ty for reading my pep talk I'm PISSED

[taffy-glitch]

ababababa murderbot

murderbot of the murderbot diaries fame.... holds a dear place in my heart. it has some shit to work out and that's fun to see 😌

[javierduffy]

different.

[johnslittlespoon]

i just finished the prologue of the mota book and i don't know how i haven't seen a single post talking about how after john and gale's stalag reunion, they were then separated for another four months.

my heart is aching so bad. imagine being reunited (after almost three weeks, oct 8–26th) and having that tiny feeling of 'everything is going to be okay' and then being ripped apart again for four fucking months. 120 more days of not being able to be at each other's sides.

[citrusilly]

*taps mic* ok this one's for u evil two tem uhh i was sleeping before this but now i will yap hehe

so first off, although two time isnt technically my #1 fav, i still really really like their reincarnation motif cause i think characters with that sort of motif is so damn fascinating and because reincarnation in itself have a special place in my heart due to my own personal feelings that slowly build up from my childhood

i tried to play around with that part of two time's character and here's what i got;

METAMORPHOSIS

(ive yet to read the book by kafka btw but i dont have any money to impulsively spend aughhhh)

so from what i understand from metamorphosis in general is that you basically evolved into something new and better to combat your previous form's flaws (correct me if im wrong here), for ex. like caterpillars and butterflies, those two are very different creatures but also the same thing if you get what i mean

and that's what i did for two time too. their first and second form are VERY different people (with different personalities, mannerisms, the way they talk, etc) but are generally the same person

okay to make things easier for myself, im gonna call the first life for two time, one time and the second life as obviously two time

ONE TIME

this is gonna be hard for me to explain but one time is NOT two time. uhh what i mean by that is before two time get indoctrinated by the cult, you know, THE CULT, that's two time, the original two time.

but after they sacrificed Azure and finally got indoctrinated basically, they gained like a second skin. a new person that started to take over their head and become the skin they wore for their first life. THAT'S one time (idk if im making sense here... PLS ANYONE UNDERSTAND WHAT IM TRYIN TO SAYY)

one time's basically the ideal persona of two time, the one the cult would've prefer rather than the original two time themself. one time is more uncanny than two time, smiling all the damn time and never blinking, they have those big bug like eyes that stares at anyone creepily yknow. their speech is eloquent and always speak about the spawn but the way they talk is very unnatural and not human basically (or robloxian, whatever you guys call it)

TWO TIME

and if one time were to die to any killers or whatever that kills them, they will basically shed their skin and out comes the original two time from their body, like how a butterfly come out of a cocoon (is that what you call it??)

OBVIOUSLY it's gonna be painful because two time is ripping their skin out of their previous shell and basically reborn anew.

another way to see it is that two time is peeling away their fake persona (one time) and revealing how they truly were. two time (during forsaken) is also kinda hard for me to explain but theyre just as, if not, even more insane than one time.

not like in a killer deranged way but more like a fight or flight type of way, a constantly paranoid kind of way. Now that everyone knows who they truly are, they can't help but feel anxious under everyone's stare. but they're at least just less uncanny than one time and could actually talk normally when theyre not in a bad headspace

ANATOMY

this gonna be short since there's not a lot to talk about but in the first life, one time doesn't have any tail, or halo or those spawn like wings around them, making them look like a normal looking person. one prominent thing though is that one time have some sort body stitch, the one that's like from your collarbone to your stomach??? think of sniper from tf2 in the comics if you get what i meant

and that's all!!! if i have any other ideas, i might expand on this. also feel free to give your thoughts on my interpretation or maybe give your own!!! i wanna know what you guys think,,, ok yeah that's all lel *skips away*

chucks a handful of two times at you,,, did you catch them

i draw them so goddamn differently everytime,,, also does anyone wanna hear me yap about my interpretation of two time....? no....? aw shucks... walk aways with my hands in my pockets....

[hiiperfixate]

midterms

got midterms this week. ew. anyway I'm also cursed with adhd so I'm like 5 or 6 assignments behind as well. guys I swear someday I'll learn how to manage school and everything else. but today is not that day. I will be kinda inactive for a bit and won't have much time to draw either. on top of schoolwork and midterms, I also have visiting family, 3 concerts to attend for family members(on tue and wed), and the plays I'm spotlighting for(on thurs and fri night and all day saturday). and after that I might be out of town, but if not then I can draw

[wemlygust]

To be honest I think most of my memory of that game is vibes. It's atmosphere, and little details, and the feeling of it. I loved the game, but I truly don't know which part of the plot you're referring to. I remember whodunit and how at the end, and I remember the political situation, and the union, and the racism everywhere, and the cryptid hunters, but I think I've forgotten a lot of the details of the "main" mystery plot (especially the middle of it) because that wasn't what I was playing the game for, really. The murder mystery was a motivator, but I was busy reading every book and getting encyclopaedia history dumps from the little encyclopaedia voice in his head (I don't remember what skill it was that gave that, but yeah), do a million side quests, and talking to everyone and their dog. Plus so many times the voices in his head would argue, and I'd be thinking about whatever that topic was. I do remember that the world was sexist but... Compared to the politics and the racism and substance abuse, that never felt like the overall focus, to me. It felt famililar to me, from all the times I've seen that kind of sexism depicted in just that kind of setting, and, apart from one character, I don't remember feeling like the game was dwelling on that or getting into details about it. It was familiar just becauseI'm used to seeing sexism depicted like this, but I'm less used to the other things that game depicted, especially to the extent that it did, so I was far more interested in all those other aspects. And the women in the game felt like real people to me (something I do remember and appreciate); the sexism felt like a part of the world, depicted in all its ugliness alongside all the other ugliness of human society, and not like it was sexism belonging to the narrative or to the creators, so I was steamed at the creators in a way that would make me remember either. I do remember feeling like there weren't enough women vs. the number of men to be realistic/well balanced, but, well. I'm unfortunately just used to putting up with that in games. That's a whole other bucket of worms though. If you had asked me to describe the game and its themes in my own words, I don't think it would have even occurred to me to mention sexism. Even though I am a person who tends to notice and mention sexism first thing, when I'm reviewing a game or a book or a movie. It's certainly ruined many a story for me before. I've loved media that explored it well before, too. This one just... didn't do that for me. It is a game that allows a shocking amount of variability between playthroughs, though. I only have played it once, so it's possible I just happened to miss a lot of the things you encountered and remember from the game? Just, the sheer volume of different dialogue and mental voice arguments you can get depending just on the stats you pick and the choices you make is bonkers. So maybe if you play one way, you can find a lot of mysogyny themes that I just didn't run into because I played a different way? But I felt like I understood the murder mystery plot fully, and I don't remember it as being something that happened because of mysogyny. Major spoilers under the break. For anyone who hasn't played the game, please don't read after this point.

In my playthrough, I remember there was a moment where I could have pinned the murder on a woman (the first one you encounter in the game) who was a red herring, rather than the actual murderer (the sad communist sniper); is it possible to do that, conclude she was the murderer, and have the game end on that note? I guess it must be? If someone ended the game thinking she was the murderer, then I could for sure see why that would be what you would be left thinking about after the credits roll. But I also wouldn't be surprised if the explanation for our different experiences is something else/different choices and dialogue/description seen through the game instead. Granted... If this is a game that genuinely lets you pin the blame for a murder on a woman who didn't do it, and let's you be wrong... Just the fact that the world setup creates that situation that allows that to happen supports your argument re. the importance of mysogyny in the game. To be clear I'm not saying people would be mysogynist for getting that ending, what I mean is that the game in that case could arguably be saying something about how hard it is to extract yourself from your own culture/society that is mysogynist. The characters can have the best of intentions, but still draw the wrong conclusions because their entire society is set up to push blame on the women, or to villainize women, and they can only manage to see outside the box if they happen to have the right combo of skills and choices at a crucial moment. Maybe? This is literally the first time I am having this thought about this game, though, so. Unbaked hot take disclaimer here. I also feel like I'm not explaining what I mean very well. And I'm not even 100% sure if the game even DOES allow the player to end with blaming the wrong person; I never looked up if there were alternative endings.

Anyways... Perhaps I'll try another playthrough soon, and see how different it ends up.

literally what is it about disco elysium that inspires so much genderbend art. there are many women and girls who are important to the narrative. there are canonical gay women. the story falls apart if harry is a cis woman. the entire murder mystery—the objective of the game—happens largely because of misogyny. what is going on

[fellamarsh]

another thing i've been trying to do recently is read more self-published stuff. "but fell," you say, "you're a self-published author. surely you've been reading self-published stuff all along" and then i laugh for so long in response we both become uncomfortable.

see, the fear (which has for a long time been killing my mind) that i'll read other self-published stuff and find out that it's so much better than mine that i might as well stop writing forever kept me from doing that basically ever. i have a hard time not unfavorably comparing my work to others and had convinced myself i was being smart by withholding an avenue of de-motivation (reader: i was not being smart). it also doesn't help that i'm pretty low income and have a hard time spending money on books i haven't already read, and that self-published stuff isn't always available at the library---but really a lot of it was just me being a coward. which i'm working on. i could talk about how this particular cowardice is Very Silly, but i think enough has been said about it on writeblr and in the Writing Space in general that i don't feel the need to (though i will if anyone wants me to).

instead, i wanna talk about the self-published things i have read in the past few months and ask about the self-published things you love!

so: what happened was i got real sick, and while i was real sick i (naturally) read over 200,000 words of ace attorney fan fiction in the span of a few days. eventually i got bored of it (and also maybe annoyed at how people were characterizing some of my guys), but i still wanted to read something gay and romantic and nice, something i knew was gonna end happily, which isn't my typical fare.

now you may be saying (having gotten over all the uncomfortable laughter from earlier) "fell, you write gay romance. what do you mean that's not your typical fare?" listen. until a couple months ago i hadn't read a cut and dry romance novel since before i finished college. for context: i graduated in 2015. i know it doesn't make sense. i'm a guy who doesn't make sense.

but in this case it worked to my advantage. not the not making sense thing, but the not having read Published Romance in 1000 years thing. I didn't know where to start. I was very skeptical of everything the library had Available Now in the Gay Fantasy Romance category. what if it was all bad and also not good?

and then i scrolled past the familiar cover of our very own @ashen-crest's A Rival Most Vial.

now this was comfortable territory! this was a novel by a very nice writeblr person whose posts i enjoy! i already loosely knew the plot, i was familiar with the characters, i knew the names of things like rosemond street and the griffin's claw and that ambrose had blue hair and that at the end of it all there would definitely be Boyfriends. i didn't have to worry that this would be bad! i only had to worry that it would be really good!

but i wasn't worried about that, because i was officially Not Writing at the time, and because why the hell hadn't i read this book yet Ash literally emailed me some very kind words last year when my cat died??

Y'all, I devoured ARMV. If you haven't read it yet---especially if cozy fantasy is more your thing than it is mine---you should check it out Immediately. It was fun! It was heartwarming! It was sweet and earnest and confident! I was delighted to find it was occasionally hot! Ambrose and Eli snuggled up into my sick exhausted heart and found a permanent little place there. (Especially Ambrose. I have such a thing for Stiff Guys who Kind of Suck for Tragic Backstory Reasons and are So So Lonely They Don't Even Realize It. gawd)

(And a very small part of my brain spent the whole time wondering why I had been so afraid to really engage with the work my community is doing. The community that I'm in. The one I'm a part of. Why?! Maybe more on that later.)

But from there the curse was broken! I immediately devoured @stjohnstarling's What Manner of Man in a similar sort of frenzy (and hooooly shit guys am I excited for the expanded, finalized version to come out at the end of next month!) and started digging into @lurinatftbn's The Flower that Bloomed Nowhere (which I can already tell is going to be an All Time Favorite).

And now I want to ask you what your favorite self-published books are so that I can read them, too, but I think I will in another post that doesn't dedicate so much space to talking about my various and sundry Issues and isn't Terminally Long

[kamisatoayato]

adolin kholin the man that u are...