#and because time is a flat circle stuff happen etc etc

[tcustodisart]

POV: You know something about the Sharrans that tried to kidnap his daughter

[voidsentprinces]

See a few people on the tweets and tumblr wondering if previous expansions got this much flack at their launches.

So, let me reiterate from my own experiences. Even before I was actually IN the fandom. There was a ripple of complaints and memeing about Raubahn (Savage) and Raubahn (Extreme) because the launch was so hard on their servers. That you could literally get stuck on the Raubahn instance battle at the beginning of the expansion. Entire lines of people rose up and was taken pictures of. In addition, there was a small but vocal debate on people being down on Zenos thirstiers. While there were a couple posts here and there disappointed about how neither Doma nor Ala Mhigo were fully fleshed out being too little after cut on different sides of the expansion. Some people questioned Hien's actions in the Azim Steppe as forcing the secluded Steppe Tribes to save his fallen empire and bursting in on a sacred tradition for his own personal gain. But, I wasn't really in the fandom back then. Thats just the stuff that rippled out and brushed across me like a wave on the shoe coating your toes as you walk on the beach.

When I finally DID join the fandom proper in the waning days of Stormblood. Shadowbringers hype was about to be in full swing. The fandom had gotten a few things here and there. The Call had just happened, I think. People were speculating about Solus and getting excited about a possible full fledged war with Garlemald. But then the Shadowbringers cinematic teaser drop. And there were a lot of questions, why was Y'shtola now called Master Matoya? What is Minfilia doing alive again? Holy shit, Gunbreaker hype! Hopes for Healer Dancer arrived. Why the fuck is Urianger so sexy? Etc. Blue Mage in coming.

At launch, Shadowbringers, if I recall correctly, was actually widely acclaimed. Soon after the same people who rained on the Zenos lover brigade also came down on Emet lovers. Some people felt G'raha was kind of a creep. For a small portion of the community, the Hydaelyn is evil circles became somewhat vindicated by the reveal of Hydaelyn and Zodiark being the eldest of primals. Thinking she might be tempering us and the story of light also being as bad as dark in excess leading some to believe she would be the final boss of the series with Zodiark. In addition, there were a few people here and there where Shadowbringers just ruined the entire story for them and they just did not like the direction the MSQ went. As the expansion progressed people lambasted Gaius for going through what they described as "man pain" instead of actual redemption. The NieR raid ending left people a little miffed. But the end of Eden left people happy. And bringing up the 'flat and emotionless' performance people are throwing at Wuk Lamat. There was even a period of time where people complained about Aymeric and Cid and a few others sounding weak cause they were most likely recording from their own bedroom closet due to COVID having shut every motherfucking thing down.

At Endwalker launch, it was kind of excited and mixed. Queues ruled the world as people desperately tried to claw their way in. Some people were mad we didn't raze Garlemald to the ground ourselves. In From the Cold was divisive. I, myself, was on a one Void crusade about being indifferent and even bewildered by the Fandaniel = Amon reveal and lukewarm on Krile being around but being Hydaelyn's sock puppet for cutscenes. The first part of the expansion feeling like a 5.6 rather than an actual expansion and then after Zodiark is when Endwalker actually did feel like it hit its stride. The people who felt vindicated in their Hydaelyn is Evil conclusion bent over backwards and tried their hardest to say she WAS evil the entire time. Some posts about being kind of iffy on Emet returning after Seat of Sacrifice gave him a decent send off. Hythlodaeus and Venat otherwise sweeping people off their feet. And it was mixed on the treatment of Ahewann in particular. And afterwards posts about Relics not being this long tedious grind, the Post-Endwalker Void stuff kind of taking the mystery out of the Void and kind of lackluster. Myths and Pandaemonium meanwhile were praised widely, far as I can tell. And in one single patch poster, an entire section went from called Lahabrea a Bread Loaf to a D A D D Y.

So with Dawntrail launching and getting mixed reaction. I can safely say this has always happened. Expect years of posts from different retrospectives either defending or lambasting Dawntrail as we see with Stormblood and certain sections of both Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Not everyone will like everything in the story. People have their own perspective on things. And they will voice their opinion on things cause people want to be heard. My thoughts on Dawntrail? At time of posting, I still haven't played the MSQ. But I did see a spoiler. So my opinion is that death is an illusion and so are pants.

[cleromancy]

What is your opinion on KonTim? I noticed you posting a lot of Kontim lately and I was wondering if you are beginning to like it? Also, since I know you stated you didn't like Kon in the past, are you beginning to change your mind about him?

to be honest my opinions from 12-13 years ago when i was a very angry very opinionated teenager often dont reflect my current opinions. i just want to establish that now.

but for the record my dislike of kon was more of a reflex to the way fandom at the time made him this very flat "aw shucks" kind of cardboard cutout. i only started disliking him when i tried reading more of his comics where he tended to be y'know. more nuanced, he'd be a jerk sometimes, inconsiderate and thoughtless, etc, and then turning around and going on tumblr where the way people talked about him didnt reflect that at all, that was really offputting for me. because i do--and did--love characters who are assholes, but not if thats not... like... acknowledged. and fandom was *aggressively* not acknowledging it, from my perspective. anyway i think when i get around to rereading yj98 ill like him more this time. particularly because i *am* so much older now and will be reading from more of a place of "yeah of course hes a shithead sometimes, hes 16 years old (for a given value of 16 years old)."

as for timkon i wouldn't say i "ship" it. and i would also like to contest the assertion that ive been posting "a lot" of it lately LMAO i think ive posted it like two times in as many weeks, and then maybe 2 more times i rbed smth where they were in the same nonshippy frame or textpost?

but back to the ship itself. to begin with they *are* very good friends whose relationship is important to them both, that changed them both, and that has an impact on characterization. and i dont... think you can read a lot of those old tim comics, if you read him as queer at all, without acknowledging that there was at at least one point something btwn them.

but as far as shipping it goes. first of all i still think most of fandom does it wrong. (if im being serious, theres no "wrong" way to do fandom, but that's also the most succinct way i can put it that i don't vibe with the majority of the stuff thats out there.) second of all i don't... like i dont *want* them to get together, exactly, unless a given writer is doing a really good job at the yarn theyre spinning convincing me otherwise, within the boundaries of that story.

but there *is* something btwn them, romantically speaking, and it has a lot of interesting character/relationship potential to explore for both of them. i am at the moment almost entirely uninterested in exploring it from kons side, which is another reason i dont really ship it, but that might change when i get around to rereading yj98. but i really don't think you can get a full picture of new earth tim drake as a character without admitting he at least had a thing for kon when kon was dead, any other point in time being much more up for interpretation.

so basically! 1. its interesting when its allowed to be interesting and not flattened into featureless fluff 2. i dont ship it AS SUCH but it absolutely was a thing that happened even if they never date or dated, and 3. as for kon himself i think ill be a lot more forgiving now both bc i Am older and bc no one in my fannish circle these days is annoying about him where i see it LMAO

[deltadescent]

Would you happen to have advice for drawing “people figures”?

I FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE UHMM... I'm not entirely sure...?

So, for short;

It depends.

For long;

Everyone has different body types, and that reflects when you draw people figures. For each type of form/body type/figure, I'd have to give different advice. For example, look at these characters:

These characters arguably all have different body types, changing based on whether they're flat chested or have a more pronounced chest, if they're muscular or slim, etc. I wouldn't go about drawing someone like Minnow- who has little to no body fat- the same way I would go about drawing someone like Tilly- who has more body fat. Same with characters who have muscles/don't have muscles.

Because of that, it's hard to give advice. There's no RIGHT way to do it, and there's no INHERENTLY wrong way to (unless you're doing it intentionally to stereotype or be offensive).

It helps to break down the bodies into shapes for some (circle or oval for a head, elongated ovals for arm segments, circles for joints, circles/triangles/trapezoids for forming things like chest/stomach/etc.)

I personally just draw one circle and build up the whole body around it like;

THOUGH IF YOU LISTEN TO MY PREVIOUS NARRATIVE ILLUSTRATION PROFESSOR... He told me to work from the feet and upward so you can maintain correct posture. Personally that advice went in one ear and right out the other for me, since my brain just likes to operate a little funky, but if that sounds interesting to you, you could check out ways to do that.

I think my best suggestion is: OBSERVE!!!

Look up different people, look up cartoon characters even, and just observe how they're drawn or shaped. Try to mimic the style even, if it's just for yourself. The best way to learn is from just trying to copy what other people do IN YOUR OWN WAY. You will never fully adapt someone's style ofc or do somethign exactly the way they do it, but looking to their art for examples on how to draw characters can help a ton!!

I'm super unhelpful with art because i work without a sketch most of the time (first thing I draw is the eyes tbh), but I really do suggest looking at other's works and pictures of people, depending on whether you want more realistic or cartoony figures. Just don't trace people's stuff or steal, and you're already doing fine!

[kyogre-blue]

Wuwa act 1-V ongoing.

The game warned me that the next section is gonna be long, so I was decided to leave it for tomorrow (probably).

Anyway, this section introduces the Black Shores group and some Rover answers (small answers). We also get to see mystery opening cutscene girl again for a moment. Still pretty! So pretty!

Black Shores: To make sure you don't think this shady organization is like the other shady organization you just dealt with (Fractsidus, the actual apocalyptic cult), they make it really clear that, Camellya aside, these are the Silly People. Unfortunately, I think Encore's voice acting is probably the worst of the EN dub so far? The EN dub in general suffers from fairly poor voice direction (flat delivery on some characters, one sentence and the next having completely different emotions and intonations, etc), but Encore is just... she's meant to be a cutesy little girl, but man. They did not manage it at all. I'm sure she sounds adorable in JP tho. Regardless, she and Aalto are just max silliness. Oh, Aalto had this to say about his boss:

Rover stuff: One of the reasons everyone Knows about Rover and how cool we are is apparently because we have appeared previously (to presumably help fight disasters). The previous time Rover "descended," they were a member of Black Shores. So it's possible the ancient hero who helped found Huanglong was also Rover, though it's not entirely confirmed.

Mystery Girl: The mad scientist referred to her like this:

A "future being hailing from our past" who must reach the real Gate that can change the world... Well, it'll be explained later.

I stopped after beating the mechanical monstrosity, when Aalto reactivates the Lament detection system and runs out in a panic. You can tell I'm getting kind of invested here because I spun around in a circle for a while going "oh no, this is gonna be bad, what's happening up there" (before chickening out for the night). I'm not actually scared, of course, but there's some real sense of anticipation about what might happen next.

I think it's because they have done way more about answering questions than I had genshin-expected. Yeah, we obviously still don't know the majority of things, but I have a fairly clear understanding of the world state just from what the actual story tells you and we're even slowly being told about Rover's deal(tm). So whatever happens next might actually be A Thing With Relevance.

That aside, we've been seeing some playable characters in small roles, which is nice. We saw Jianxin before she peaced out, Verina for a bit, and now Encore. Since Lingyang introduces himself in his character quest, he probably isn't in the main story (government subsidy conspiracy intensifies). So that just leaves Sephiroth clone Calcharo of the standard 5 star characters. Curious to see what his deal is! He's pretty edgy, it'll be fun. (There's obviously also a ton of 4 stars, but there's so many that I don't see how they could fit them in anyway, so it's not a big deal.)

I think Act VI is the last part of the currently available story (Chapter 1: Huanglong 1?)... It'll probably be about Jiyan, since Jue had a vision of us meeting him. I actually thought that would be our next destination, but I guess we decided to do the Black Shores stuff first, since the front line is supposed to be so dangerous. Twitter and a storyteller insert narration have promised me that Jiyan might have something something with another guy steeped in tragedy (Geshu Lin).

Oh, one more thing. While the "side quest"s" parts of the main story aren't exactly all gripping, they do seem to generally have their purpose. Even the stupid mangosteen token was setting up the Jiyan stuff, since we otherwise don't see him for so long and the front line ties into the Threnobian and Lament danger. But what was the point of the sugar candy vaccine?? That has to tie into something, right? But what??

Goddammit, I can't believe I'm developing expectations here...

[merv606]

I was just thinking: what if A Seduction and Mercy were set in Omegaverse? What would change?

I suppose Seduction!Terry would be pleased he got Daniel so young and breedable. He would waste zero time once they became official to stuff him with a pup, despite only being what, 18 lol? And keep on going because maybe he’s addicted to seeing the boy bred, and Danny takes to it so well…

As for Mercy!Terry, he would be angry and bitter that he didn’t get Daniel younger, but he would do all it took to make sure he could get him with pup and have a “legacy”. Daniel would be much harder to actually get with pup (in terms of psychologically because the boy is still fertile myrtle), but he’d probably be shocked that at his age he would still able too…Terry would be Very Smug. Maybe they have twins lmao. Daniel would miss his first two pups horribly though. Maybe he’d raise these two kill Terry once they got old enough omg. Lol.

Oh seduction Terry would 💯 breed him as soon as possible.

I don’t know if he would be up front and convince Daniel it was a good idea NOW - he knows the boy wants pups - just that he, “wants to wait a bit Terry.”

I could see Terry pulling the whole, “I’m not getting any younger sweetheart. I want to be able to play with our pup. You’re it for me and I’m it for you, so why wait? You’ll still be able to do whatever you want sweetheart - you know this. You can run your business or go back to school - I won’t stop you from doing what you want - have I ever? And the pups won’t hold you back.” (And it’s lost on Daniel he’s using plural now).

NSFW - dubcon associated with ABO trope - birth control tampering.

“You know you’ll have all the help you need - Nannie’s etc. you know I always give you/make sure you have everything you need?”

Terry isn’t lying, Daniel will have a life on easy street even with a gagle of pups BUT he also knows that no way will Daniel want to leave a pup once he has one - he’ll want to be a stay at home omega - Terry is willing to bet on it.

So Daniel agrees - I mean, Terry is it for him and he does wants pups and he can’t get the imagine of Terry playing with their pup - wants to see that for himself - wants to give that to Terry. And Terry is right - he hasn’t stopped Daniel from doing anything and he knows Terry will provide for them.

So, he lets Terry put a baby in him - and, it doesn’t take long either - not even a month off his pills and it happens.

Just as predicted, once the pup is here, he confesses to Terry that he doesn’t want to go back to running the store - or anything besides raising their pup - he just wants to stay home with the pup and be a good father and husband to Terry.

Terry just kisses the top of his head, smiling down, while placing a large hand on the disappointingly, once again, flat tummy - thumb rubbing soothing circles.

“Is that okay?” He asks.

“Of course sweetheart - whatever you want.”

He pouts a bit. “Terry what about what you want?”

The poor boy will never truly understand the depth of feelings Terry has for him - that as long as he HAD Daniel then he is happy - he has all he needs.

He leans down. “I Want to be able to put as many as I can inside you.”

So yes, what his boy wants is right in line with what Terry wants - Daniel tied to him forever.

“Now lie back and let Daddy put another baby inside you, sweetheart - where they belong.”

The second scenario is Terry just switching out Daniel’s pills for placebos -

When Daniel starts throwing up, a slight swell to his normally flat tummy, his chest getting sore and achy, and also bigger than normal - well he panics and takes a test.

It comes back positive and his stomach sinks.

They haven’t discussed kids - marriage yes, but not kids.

Daniel knows that he wants kids but does Terry?!

Maybe - and this is probably more likely - it’s almost right after Terry starts their sexual relationship - Terry knows he wants - needs - to lock that down as quickly - and as permanently as possible.

He worries about how to tell Terry and more importantly, his reaction.

God, what if Terry thinks he did this to like, trap him or something.

Daniel picks up his pills counting - making sure he never missed any.

There are signs that he’s hopes he’s hiding well, while he tries to work out how to tell Terry.

He takes to wearing Terry’s clothes to hide the growing bump - it’s showing fast due to how slender he is) and he’s gagging for it more than usual (which is a gif something - they go at it like rabbits anyway), and he’s eating seconds and thirds - which he hopes can explain the softness to him now. He’s getting the chef to make him some - shall we say - interesting dishes (even those he tries to limit when Terry isn’t around although every move Daniel makes gets reported back to Terry when he isn’t around).

Terry meanwhile - finds the whole thing endearing and is just waiting and waiting for Daniel to admit it - it’s almost like they’re back to how they started - Daniel as skittish as he was when Terry had made his true intentions known or just skittish if it’s the scenario of Terry doing it right away.

That is, he finds it endearing until discovering the real reason that Daniel is not telling him - that’s he afraid of Terry’s reaction.

Daniel finally breaks down, admitting it to Margaret, (who like Terry knew of the boy’s condition but not the reason for him not divulging it by now.

So while he will never admit to Daniel that he is in this situation because of Terry’s direct actions (well besides the obvious fact that he wouldn’t be pregnant if Terry wasn’t taking him every chance he gets) he cannot have his boy thinking this is a burden because it’s an accident - when the entire time it’s been an carefully orchestrated plan of Terry’s.

He sits him down, Daniel worrying the hem of Terry’s way too big sweatshirt.

“These things can happen, sweetheart. You don’t need to worry - i’m going to take such good care of you - of you both,” he stresses. placing a hand on the prominent swell of his belly.

Daniel sags against the older man in both joy and relief - he does want this baby - so damn much and now that he knows Terry does to - he’s never been happier - sobbing out as much to Terry.

“And you sweetheart, you’re going to take such good care of our pup. You were made for this - to carry our child.”

I don’t know how it happened - I swear I never missed a day - I checked - I ….”

“It couldn’t be helped baby,” Terry cuts him off. “Your body knew what it wanted it all, and in doing so you have made your alpha very very happy.”

“You’ll let me mate me now?”

Terry had asked and Daniel had said to wait - they were only a couple months in to their relationship at that point (and maybe that’s what prompted Terry to do it 🤷‍♀️ he justifies that as Daniel’s alpha he knows what’s best for him anyway).

He nods, taking Terry’s hand in his. “It’s not that I didn’t want to I just ….”

“I know baby.”

“We should do it soon - I don’t want to be showing too much,” he says.

“Of course,” Terry lies - for once knowing he’s not going to give Daniel what he wants. Although he’s going to talk to Margaret first thing tomorrow so she can start the planning right away he has no intention of a ceremony when Daniel isn’t visibly pregnant. He’s going to time it so that there is no doubt about the exact state his boy is in when he walks down the aisle to Terry and their future.

He wants everyone to be able to see what Terry has done to him.

“Now, let me see you,” he says, as he takes him to bed - another ”trick” Daniel had been using was sex with the lights off.

Like Terry doesn’t know every inch of his boy’s body regardless of whether he can see it well or not. Like he wouldn’t have noticed the new heaviness to those cute little 🍒 of his - how much more sensitive they are now (which is saying something - his boy always loved when Terry’s mouth is on them), or the extra flesh his fingers sank into when he grips him by the hips fucking into him roughly from behind - if this had truly been an accident and Terry hadn’t known form the minute it happened.

Spread out now, Terry licking and sucking even inch of flesh, paying close attention to the parts of him changed due to Terry, practically worshiping his little mate.

“Look so good like this sweetheart, full of Daddy’s seed. I may have to keep you like this.”

Daniel moans, spreading his legs for his soon to be mate.

“Such a pretty little pregnant pussy you have,” as he pushes inside, hand on Daniel’s stomach as he fills his boy even more, watching his equally pretty tits practically bounce which each bone deep thrust.

While Terry prefers to always come while inside Daniel - watching it drip out of the gaping hole when he pulls out, he discovers that while Daniel is like this, pulling out and coming on his stomach and tits may be up there as the best ways to come.

“Made to be bred.”

And well, true to the older man’s word, Daniel finds himself with pup again only mere months after the first one - Daniel had said he wanted more but to maybe wait a bit - but Terry had said he couldn’t get him pregnant while he was nursing - “No, I said it’s rare, baby - not impossible.” Although Daniel still swears Terry (and their doctor) said it was impossible.

Terry watches as Daniel nurses their pup, having to shift him around his growing belly, their brother or sister growing inside.

One of his favourite things is to watch Daniel nurse their pup / soon to be pups.

Terry doesn’t want him back on the pill as long as he’s nursing and he refuses to wear protection, sometimes pulling out when he promises he will but more often than not, he doesn’t - usually balls deep when he throbs and pulses out his release into his mate’s willing body.

Terry wants until Daniel has put the baby down, before stepping behind him and slipping a hand inside his shirt, fondling a nipple as his other hand finds their desired target - the warmth between Daniel’s legs - just as wet as his tits - and yeah - he’ll be keeping his boy like this for awhile.

As for Mercy:

I honestly thought about doing it as an ABO just so I could cheat - do the whole if Terry mates and breeds him then he’ll sort of bond with Terry regardless - like a forced bond.

He would begrudgingly accepts Terry - no real choice.

In that Scenario Daniel thinks he can’t get pregnant but still, on the off chance, he won’t let Terry near him unless his lets Daniel take his pills and Terry obliges, as it makes Daniel more cooperative.

He agrees because he knows he had replaced them with placebos.

TBH though, I can’t see Daniel doing that to his kids - raising them to hate and live a life centered around revenge. Even if it was warranted, it would hurt them - like a POSION - and even if he hates Terry I can’t see him doing that type of damage to his kids.

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

IF writers write one single book/game that's good first before you plan a series of barely coherent fanfic tropes mashed together instead of an overarching plot challenge <3

I like series personally. I mean not wayhaven length long series but I like duologies and trilogies. I feel like it gives the romance more depth and time to be fleshed out whereas in some stand alone IFs I've read the romance was barely developed before it actually happened, but at the same time the story I tend to like more in the standalone because sometimes in multiple book series it can be dragged out. But Wayhaven is on another level of dragging out, I think it would have done well with being 3 or 4 books long. Idk what other plot will be able to make it seven. I think it would have also made for a solid duology if the story was better paced and the characters and story beats were better written though. One of my main issues with some IF finished or unfinished is the way the romance is written, idk how to explain but a lot of them and how they develop I'm not the biggest fan of or either that or some of the romance options feel 1 dimensional and the mc has no sense of agency whatsoever. On the other hand there are some ifs I've also really enjoyed so I guess it depends. I would love to know more about your opinions on this topic. I think it's a really interesting point and I enjoy reading your thoughts on different topics.

Thank you, that's very sweet of you to say! ^^ And enables me to do more self-important rambling. Although I would love to hear more about why some romances work for you and others don't, since I'm maybe gonna try my hand at writing an IF eventually.

Ok, back to the thing.

Honestly my main issue isn't that there's series, it's that it's often pretty blatant that they're a series solely for the sake of being a series? And not because the author actually has enough material to justify having multiple releases. You feel me?

So like, yeah! If you're using the extra time to develop characters and plot and flesh out the world, if there's a clear progression of events and things are evolving and happening, then obviously write a series! But if you just go "Oh I have all these fun ideas but there's NO way they'll fit into one or two books, it simply MUST be a trilogy/quadrilogy/pentalogy etc etc" without even planning shit out? It's like ... Ok you have a lot of ideas but did you ... do anything with them? Do you have a plan of where you're going? A lot of the time I see announcements of "This will be a trilogy/series!" before the first book is even finished so like ... How do you know. And then you get to the second book and you realize, oh, you didn't know. You just made that up.

And you can say that "Omg Eff, you don't KNOW how these authors operate, maybe they did plan and figure stuff out and your standards are just different and snobby and rude!" and maybe you'd be correct. But I've now read several multiple-book series where you could remove entire chapters, subplots, and yes, one entire BOOK, without changing the status quo or disrupting any character development at all, by just tightening up the writing and shuffling events into previous or next books. I've also read books that were firsts in a series and came away thinking "Okay? Um? Where is this going, exactly? What's the overarching plot? Why should I keep playing this?"

When it gets to that point, I just feel like ... What are you doing, ya know? How are you outlining this shit that things are just randomly happening for no reason. Subplots dropped entirely without a word. Character development stagnating because you've planned all their progression for a different book so in this one they can't do anything to evolve at all. Why is this a series if you're wasting so much time faffing about in one spot until you've stamped the earth into a flat circle.

Also, if you'll allow me to get pretentious for a moment, as a Gamer who's studying Gaming for my Gaming Degree, I feel that the medium of IFs isn't as close to books as people believe just because it's primarily a written medium. You can have plenty of books where people faff about doing fuck-all. Those are generally not good books, but it's excused because of the medium. The author has complete authority over the progression, and the reader is along for the ride, their only choice is whether they engage or not.

However, with IFs, because you've added player interaction into the mix, the things that you put in front of the player need to be justified, need to be worth interacting with. You've already sacrificed a portion of your authority for the sake of player empowerment, so you need to give the player something to DO with the authority you've given them. If you have entire sections of a game where the player becomes too aware of how little their actions matter, how little thought you've put into what you're presenting, how the only thing they're able to change is the replies to a character's words, it becomes less of someone enjoying reading a story and more of a chore to click through the pointless options and watching your character do fuck-all to change any outcomes.

When you write a book where characters faff about, that's your choice as the author. You have absolute authority and can decide when the faffing stops.

But when you write a game, you need to engage the player, you can't faff about forever. The story does not exist without them. The things you put in need to be there for a reason, because someone, by definition, by design, will be on the other end poking and prodding at it, and if you put in shit that doesn't need to be there, then you're wasting your own effort and also the player's time.

Idk. Does that make sense?

I also disagree that single-book romances tend to be worse, IMO they usually work better for me because they're actually planned and structured as stories, as the rest of the books. If you need to rely on word counts in the millions to tell a romance, that's not great, methinks. IFs also give you plenty of time and word count for romances, as well. Like, a 100k fantasy romance is on the longer end for a book, but an IF with a 100k word count would be considered on the shorter end, so readers are plenty ready for much longer word counts and it's even a selling point, usually.

So there's really no reason to justify having multiple books to write a good romance. An IF has no material reason to fit standard tradpub guidelines, so if you need bigger word counts, it's like, go wild. One counterargument would be that IFs romance routes are generally shorter than romance books, because all that WC doesn't actually go to the individual romances but is split up between regular plot, variations and other routes, but again, there's nothing really stopping you from writing as much as you want.

There's also the problem of most IFs having a lot of romance options, but they all tend to be different people with different romance timelines, so stretching out every romance to a slow-burn in different ways just for the sake of giving every route something to hook the player in each book becomes kinda tedious and transparent eventually. So I think multiple-book romances aren't a guarantee to be better than single-book romances (not that you were claiming this, I'm just out on a mind journey rn, apologies).

Anyway, that last bit got a bit off-topic and I'm already seeing some holes in my argument that I don't wanna think about lest this post becomes infinite, but, uh ... There ya go! :')

In the end, I think it's not about what's better, but about structuring, and having a vision, and not wasting my gotdam time and attention and money just because someone couldn't write a proper outline or self-edit. Single-book IFs have just been better at showing restraint and artistic vision in my experience, hence why I generally side-eye any upcoming IF or demo that advertises itself as the first in a series.

Cuz I just don't trust like that anymore.

[elvenbeard]

Not me absolutely bingeing through the last 40 hours of Cyberpunk 2077 over the last 3 days, nope. I was actually shaking before starting the final questline, because there were so many FEARS about what might happen at the end (probably as much as V was shaking himself :’D)

All I knew was, there are several endings, some are better, some are worse, but zero specifics. In some regards, what I imagined, was a lot worse, in others it was exactly what I imagined, in other bits it was a lot worse than I expected but in a bittersweet kind of way?

I’m not 100% happy with the ending I got, but mainly due to a lack of hyper-specific dialogue choices I would have wished for during the ideal ending in my head XD But for my V I think it was the best outcome and also fitted him and his choices. So yay! My heart was a little bit cracked, but not ripped out in the way other games have done it with their endings (*side-eyes Mass Effect 3*), because I feel like my choices did matter overall.

MASSIVE Spoilers under the cut, so if you haven’t completed the game yourself, do not read!!!

I got the Sun ending! V lives, somewhat, yay xD

One of my biggest fears and worst case scenarios I was imagining was in relation to Jackie actually. I had the outcome that Arasaka took his body after the Coup (will do that differently next time though, now that I know of the alternatives... yes I read up so much stuff on the wiki tonight after finishing, finally xDD). So when Takemura tells you this, Arasaka took his body, probably put him through Soulkiller, etc. my immediate thought was “holy shit, please don’t let him show up in some evil twisted way during the ending just to have me suffer” (but also, that would have been so good XD). Didn’t happen though, thankfully xD

I was on quite good terms with Johnny actually, which I did not expect to be at all, see also my previous rants on the topic XD Letting him take the wheel scared me probably just as much as V, and his “just talking to Rogue about Adam Smasher” night of escapades didn’t really help ease that anxiety xD I’m not sure if I had high enough friendship for the secret ending, but I will reload my save to try (but will not attempt that ending til my next playthrough, bc admittedly, my V isn’t built for a suicide mission xD)

What made me the saddest about the Sun ending really is that V isn’t really that present or happy (for obvious reasons, of, you know, STILL impeding death), and that his relationship is suffering under it. But I like to imagine, given the slight open-endedness of that ending (ha), if someone can pull that final mission off, it’s V, and that Mr B. will be able to help him, and he’ll get some well deserved rest and happily ever after. Already wrote a whole fic in my head lying up wide awake in bed for three hours XD What I probably loved the most about the Sun ending is V’s penthouse XD It’s weird, I know, but I often started or ended my gaming sessions in his flat looking out of the window. So everytime I booted up the game I look out and see that nice lush garden and cool architecture across the street and think “man, whoever lives there has made it, wonder if I can go there myself at some point later”. Yes, I can!! It made me cry out loud once I figured out where that penthouse was xD Also, what kind of made the ending for me a lot, in terms of, “what fits my character best” was the ride in the AV to the Afterlife mirroring my corpo V’s ride in the AV to Lizzie’s in the very beginning super well (I have zero clues about the Streetkid and Nomad prologues - no spoilers in the comments please! - but maybe there’s a scene like that in those, too). But yes, the circle of life and all, you know *strums guitar*.

I didn’t expect Johnny to grow on me as much as he did during that last stretch of the game, and him having to go for V to get a final chance at living did make me really sad. I still don’t think I’d be able to go down the alternative route where he is the one to walk out of the tower. Waaay too attached to V by now, sorry Johnny xD But you’ll never be forgotten, and I mean in a way legends never die. And maybe it’s not the last Night City ever saw or heard of him.

What else... the other main story characters! I think what annoyed me a little bit was that sliiiight railroading into Panam’s romance, when you’re just wanting to be nice. I enjoy her as a character a lot, because she’s loud and unapologetic, but also has a really sweet and soft side about her. I like the Aldecaldos very much, too. But when I notice I’m being railroaded it’s a hard pass for me, sorry xD

Then Judy... Judy is love, Judy is life. Her final quest was one of my favourites, and the one apart from the ending the quest that made me cry the most, probably. I love that she stays in contact with a befriended V even after leaving the city. The little updates, how happy she is now that she left the city behind, are really really lovely. Also, I love her texting style XD *types one line then hits send, rinse and repeat* - because I tend to do that too. Also, from the moment she mentions she goes diving I wished she’d take V along at some point - so when she calls about it I again screamed irl about it XD Oh, Judy... I have a female V in my head for you, but no idea when I’ll get to play her XD

I would have wished for something similar with River, him keeping in touch a bit more, because I loved his (messed up) storyline a lot, and I would have loved a few more interactions afterwards! I think I need to space it out more next time to have more of him xD

Then Kerry, another heavy case of “is love, is life” omg. His questline was the perfect mix of feels and fun like *chef’s kiss*. Same with River kind of, I wish there had been even more quests with him, but since you only meet him very late in the game it still felt like you had a chance to get to know him better with not too much else going on simultaneously. And him being more involved in the main story than River, too! For his final quest, the beginning of the boat tour was one of the best scenes in the game for me, like oof... Got me really really emotional actually. And then... CARNAGE!! I loved it, love Kerry, 100000/10.

Then Takemura... man, you know, it’s a crime he’s not a romance option, but in hindsight, knowing his possible fates now, I think that might have actually killed me. I’m tempted to go down the Arasaka ending route just once for the sole reason to get more Takemura time really. Fuck everyone else on that path with a corkscrew XD But yes, A+++ character design with him, complex, layered, relatable (esp. for my Corpo V), foodie, but also absolutely blind when it comes to his loyalties and honor. All with good reasons, but aaahhh... let me fix him!! Let me change him!! XDD  Also he had the best first appearance of any of the main story characters imo! Epic badass.

But yes... what a fucking blast that was. Can’t wait for a replay with some slightly better choices here and there, trying the other lifepath quests, trying some different endings maybe, and skilling my V better XD There’s so many options to skill them, it’s insane, but knowing my fighting style (or not fighting - stealth ftw!)  much better now and what the max level roughly is I think I can make more informed choices. Really looking forward to a replay - also with a lot less anxiety now, and a little bit of faith in complex, bittersweet endings finally restored XD

[alyxinfact]

no asks this time, but i’m going to ANSWER SOME OF THESE ANYWAY because i love a good introspective quiz

✍ Do you have a beta reader? I do! I have lovely friends who help with brainstorming and feedback (even for shippy stuff they don’t care a bit about ahahah)

That said, it’s a circle I think would be pretty cool to grow? I LOVE beta reading and editing for other people and having writing partners to trade back and forth with.

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)? Earnestness. I guess that’s not really a genre but like — I can do brooding and complexity and dancing around subtext, but having characters flat out say? what they’re feeling?? It’s SO TOUGH. 

this probably says something about me as a person, we don’t have to unpack it

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success? this question has been haunting me since I first read it, it’s SO INTERESTING. At the end of the day I’m writing for me, sure. But also if it’s something I’m actively sharing, that’s absolutely with the hope that it’ll connect with someone else, you know?  

that feels the most real, I guess, when someone takes the time to comment or leave an annotated bookmark. I understand why they don’t happen much (it takes so much longer than just leaving a like or kudos!), but I find them really special. 

lately I’ve been trying to leave the sorts of comments I’d like to get, in case others feel that way, too <3 writing takes SO much time and it’s so personal!!

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?1000000000 years. I’m so envious of folks who can work faster! (Most recently I thought a one-shot was going to be “quick” and then it took about a week of working on nothing else to write + edit ~3k) 

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Klavier slung one arm around each of their shoulders. “There is no shame in love, Herr Forehead.” He sniffled, eyes brimming with, wow, actual tears. Points for style. “Such happy memories are made in this [[Prosecutor’s Building]] parking lot!”

A faraway, dazed sort of look fell across Uncle Miles’ face. “I… see.”

okay this was very much a joke for me, but im sorry NO ONE has happy memories in that parking lot. good lord do we hang out there a lot in RftA. 

[potatoesandsunshine]

for the choose violence ask game:

3, 6, 16, and 25 with critical role (either tm9 or vox machina)

3.screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr: c1 you had like a stronger firehose of flat sexism which sucked but c2 takes the worst takes cake by far. look i was there for the beaujes schism there were many dark times. the post that made me the most mad that i still remember was someone calling beauyasha a lesbian ship designed for straight people - unlike beaujes, which would be real representation. why do i remember that. this website is a circle of hell created to torment me.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?: unquestionably widomauk. i do not understand why that is a Big Ship and i think people were way to attached to an idea that was never as sexy as widofjord didn't have legs. this bled over into all the big caleb ships but never more annoyingly than it did with molly

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc): i genuinely feel like the vast majority of people invented a fanon version of mollymauk after he died and are in desperate need of a Return To The Source Material Refresher. i would like this character more if you could ever get a good fan characterization of him. i think i've liked one molly fic ever. i rarely read cr fic but when i do my first filter move is to take out molly i have no desire to see this frankenstein built from every imagined thing people think happened with him in the show. there's something potentially interesting to think about with how molly is present in the memory of the characters of c2 in this different and idealized way but unfortunately i will never sift through ten thousand bullshit headcanons to find it

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing: i'm really not that In The Fandom anymore but cr is genuinely propped up on the base of a bunch of parasocial stuff that fans don't seem able to let go of so. honestly if we could never again do the "they're not successful they're just friends running a dnd game, we're lucky to get to see it so we should never complain about anything that happens in it, fuck you if you ever do! Don't forget to love each other tee hee" post again i would be free. this fandom has crossed the size threshold for discussing things with any nuance at all and it feels like it always loops back around to don't forget to love each other as if that's a merch tagline. i could go the rest of my life never hearing it again

if i had to pick another one, I'd say it's wild when people then turn around and say a character was acting ooc just because they did something that the audience didn't like. like i can't fucking stand fcg but they're not acting ooc when they spit out some trite first semester psychology student bullshit. that's literally in character i just don't like the character, i don't get on here and make a post saying sam doesn't know how to play his own robot

[mrknifes]

Please share your autistic batman thoughts <3

Ok ok ok

This took me some time to answer because it takes a lot of brain power and energy for me to write stuff like this but here we go

Now I am generalizing here because autism is a spectrum, and everyone is different. Other autistic people might not relate to what I have to say. So don't 100% take my word for it. These are just my thoughts and how I and others relate to him. It doesn't apply to everybody.

As an autistic person, I can say Bruce's behavior is 100% autistic coded, whether writers intend that or not. He has a routine. He always separates the day time from the night time because of his two different "jobs." While this makes sense in universe because it would complicated things further for him if he mixed his two identities and their world's.... It's also very much an autistic behavior.

It's normal for autistic people to stick to one specific goal / task at a time, and it's very difficult for us to switch between two things in a similar span of time. We HATE having our one scheduled thing, plan, task, etc. being interrupted. We have to see it through. Everything we do is very carefully thought out and we don't like when those plans change. So it makes sense to me that he separates his two identities because he doesn't want his work to be interrupted by his false persona, and vice versa.

Bruce is also very unresponsive, physically, but we can see from his narration, and scenes where he is not around other people, that he's a very emotional person on the inside. It really hurts me on a mental level when other characters berate Bruce for not physically showing the way he feels (and same for when people do that to him in real life, in posts.) Because I've gotten harassed for the same exact thing, being autistic. It's very common for us to have a flat affect, and not show our emotions on our face or through our body.

But we feel emotions much, much deeper than most people do. We look unaffected on the outside but on the inside we are in agony. You can see the same happen with Bruce. He has a flat affect, but when you read his thoughts, or watch the way he acts in isolation, it's clear he cares very deeply. Moreso than people think. And that brings me to my next point.

He's obsessive about his pain. Autism involves a lot of obsession. Bruce feels so strongly about his pain that it's hard for him to let go of, even to the point where Jason is still alive, and it doesn't stop him from being guilty about Jason's death, and it doesn't stop him from feeling bad about it.

I relate because I am the same way. Neurotypical people may brush off little mistakes they make, but when I make a mistake, it's devastating to me. And that's just with little things like failing a test, or missing a holiday, etc. Imagine how it feels losing your own child, because you couldn't save them.

Bruce is very strict with his code and how he operates, and the people who want to be part of his circle. This is tied to our structured behavior & obsession. We can't stand things being out of place or "wrong." I remember in middle school my friends got really annoyed whenever I corrected them on stuff. It's normal for me, and it's something that I really can't help most of the time. I see Bruce being the same way. It's not a matter of him disliking people or the way they act, it's just that he has his own set of rules, and that he really can't accept people trying to bend or change them, if they want to use his "image." It's not a matter of trying to control people (as I feel that most people misinterpret.) I have no interest in controlling my friends. I just have this constant urge to inform people of what's "incorrect." That doesn't mean that I think they're bad or want them to change. It's very difficult for me to explain, because it's hard to understand when you're not autistic.

He is. So awkward. And not in the "I'm just some silly dork" kind of way. But in the "I don't understand social behavior" kind of way. And this is.... Strange for someone of Bruce's background. Everyone around him is an extroverted, well-spoken socialite. Alfred raised Bruce most of his life and he is very well put together in the way that he interacts with people. So it seems odd that a person raised this way around these people would act so awkward... Except if they were autistic!

I know some people chalk it up to Bruce's PTSD, which I think is very valid as well, since PTSD definitely can affect social development. But I think this is more specifically autism than anything else.

Bruce is often seen as too blunt or harsh because he doesn't understand what people consider socially acceptable or polite. We experience this all the time! We often feel alienated by our peers because we don't understand the way that they interact with each other. People tell me all the time that I am being rude when I'm just speaking normally. So often I have to describe my thought process behind the way I speak because neurotypical people don't get it. But I'm completely fine around my fellow autistic folks. And it's the same with Bruce! I inwardly cringe whenever Bruce acts a certain way and people tell him he's being mean, or that he doesn't care, because I completely understand the way that Bruce thinks and why he does what he does. Because I'm the same way!

Seriously I relate to Bruce so much it PAINS me when I see other characters (and real people!) make fun of him for what are clearly autistic behaviors.

His special interest is dinosaurs. No one can change my mind. He sees a dinosaur and calls it beautiful. Hal goes ?????? And Bruce is like "dude I have a gigantic dinosaur in my cave why are you surprised." Any opportunity he gets, he talks about how lovely dinosaurs are. Peak autistic behavior. THEY'RE HIS SPECIAL INTEREST, HE LOVES INFODUMPING ABOUT THEM.

So much of Bruce's character centers around routine, strict codes, obsession, and being a social outcast.... THAT'S A WHOLE AUTISTIC MAN RIGHT THERE!!! THOSE ARE AUTISTIC TRAITS!!!!!

Anyways this was a lot of word vomit I didn't even proofread or edit so rip to anyone who had to suffer through this.

[lovingremus]

Youtuber Sirius part 2

Because a few asked for it :)

Read part 1 here!

This is set in the future (roughly August 2021) so who knows how things are then really, BUT in this blissful fantasy world, people have been super dedicated to getting the virus under control the whole year and the travel bans etc. are lifted so this can happen!!

CW the pandemic (& long-distance relationship if you don’t like to read about that <3)

It’s been over a year of twelve-hour daily phone calls and video chats. Birthdays and holidays celebrated over Zoom or FaceTime. Hundreds of “I love you” and “wish you were here” changed over the phone.

It’s been over a year of getting to know every detail of the other, a year of sharing secrets and dreams. It’s been over a year of laughter and ever-growing love, but also yearning and tears and words of comfort whispered into the speaker in the middle of the night, when the heartache of not being able to be together got too much for either of them.

But they have found ways to feel closer to each other. Sirius orders Remus a rose delivery on the door every Friday, sends him almost weekly packages filled with lovely gifts (usually a bunch of his own clothes—Remus rarely wears anything else these days, because oh god they smell like Sirius and it’s SO good). Remus still writes music for Sirius’s videos, and a half of his other songs are about him.

It’s been a while since Sirius hit forty million subscribers on his channel and a couple of months since Remus published his first full album on Spotify. They have both been guests at late-night shows via video calls. Several articles have been written about them, both as individuals as well as a couple.

So, Sirius and Remus are doing alright, but missing each other more than anything. Still, they both understand it’s more important to be patient and wait until the situation calms down rather than carelessly run to each other. Travelling abroad is out of the question right now. So they wait, and wait, and wait. It will all be worth it, they keep saying, you’re worth the wait.

Remus has watched all of Sirius’s videos. It wasn’t even hard, after all, almost like getting absorbed into a good series. He couldn’t stop watching as soon as he’d started, skipping sleep to the point Sirius threatened to make all his videos private until Remus took a nap (this happened quite a few times). Remus could definitely understand people’s obsession, even more so as he was wildly in love, and watching Sirius’s videos brought him so much comfort, a way to spend time with him during the long hours Sirius was asleep or otherwise not available.

He watches Sirius’s London vlog every day. Seeing him walk along those familiar streets is comforting and heartbreaking at the same time. And he had been so close, about twenty feet from him that night, based on the restaurant clip on the video.

Remus doesn’t remember seeing him and feels horribly guilty for it. He can’t believe they have ever been so close, in the same room, breathing the same air. He might have even brushed past his shoulder as he had exited—he had touched someone. Had it been him? Remus couldn’t tell, and neither could Sirius, who had been engaged in a conversation with someone by the time Remus was leaving the stage.

It’s been over a year, and at the end of the summer, their time finally comes. The cases are way down almost all around the world, many restrictions have been lifted. And while it’s still very important to stay safe and careful, they can start planning. They decide to meet in London, where it all started, they both get tested, and as soon as the results come back as negative, the plan is a go. Soon, they’ll be together for a whole month.

They’ll have to quarantine for two weeks as soon as Sirius arrives, which at this point is the opposite of a problem to them. Remus doesn’t go to the airport—he could be circled by fans, which is a horrifying thought, to be honest. Not only does Remus fear a bunch of strangers breathing all over him, no matter how kind their intentions would be, he still isn’t used to being recognised like that. And to avoid that happening to Sirius either, they decide not to publicly tell about the trip until they’re safe and secure at Remus’s house.

Sirius is a mess for the whole ten-hour long flight, not even dreaming of getting any sleep. He’s excited to the point he feels nauseous, he’s fidgeting with the bracelets that Remus made and sent him for his birthday.

Remus has moved houses, leaving behind his small flat and upgrading to a nice three-bedroom apartment. His dream is to have Sirius moving in with him one beautiful day. He’s waiting outside of his home now, switching between pacing back and forth, and sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, because his legs are like jelly and just won’t carry. He almost faints when Sirius texts he’s only a few blocks away, and soon enough he sees a taxi at the end of the street. It pulls over. The backdoor opens. And there he is.

They don’t waste a second. Sirius runs toward Remus, pulling his mask down as Remus does the same to his own. They crash against each other, hugging so tight they can barely breathe. After a minute, Sirius pulls back just enough to grab Remus’s head between his hands and pull him into a hard kiss. Remus lets him, answering eagerly. They stay like this for a long time.

Later, Sirius posts an Instagram story of the two of them; Remus relaxed against his shoulder on a sofa, both smiling so happily. And the internet goes wild.

Sirius quickly puts up a few question boxes on his story, asking for video ideas and questions. They answer a bunch of them right away, and Sirius posts many cute videos of Remus grinning and blushing and hiding behind decorative pillows, and then they decide to continue later. Sirius has a massive jet lag, and Remus is just as exhausted from just feeling so much, so they go to bed early. Though not much sleeping happens until much later.

The following days are the happiest of their lives. There’s so much to talk about, whenever their lips aren’t occupied by other activities. There are so many things they want to do, even very ordinary things. Actually have a dinner date. Actually watch a movie together.

Nothing is more wonderful than hearing Remus play his guitar and sing right in front of him again, and this time, it’s only for Sirius. He plays all of the sweetest love songs, and Sirius cries and laughs and sings along.

Nothing is more wonderful than to hear Sirius talk to his camera in a low voice when he thinks Remus is asleep, telling the viewers about their day, saying such lovely things about him, and then turning back to stroking Remus’s hair as he quickly closes his eyes and pretends to be completely unaware.

Nothing is more wonderful than being able to kiss, to touch, to hear the other’s voice without the line rattling, see the other’s face from angles that don’t really show on their videos.

They film several videos over the days—a few Q&As, quarantine vlogs and a video where they switch occupations for a day, Remus learning how to handle the camera while Sirius picks up the guitar and attempts to write a song. All of them become very popular, and everybody seems to be very happy for them.

When the quarantine is over and they are allowed to go outside, they take long walks and attend low-risk outdoor events and have picnics at a park. They spend nights cooking and playing games, just doing domestic couple stuff, hoping it never ends.

It’s all so much better than either of them ever dared to wish for. They are impatient for the next time they’ll be able to meet even long before Sirius has to leave in the first place. But that dreadful day draws mercilessly closer, and they take the last week off social media, just focusing on each other.

Work becomes secondary, but the majority of their fans seem to understand. They both are more than deserving of a break, and are just too busy being in love anyway.

[meggannn]

hmm i wish disco elysium fans would like... think a little critically about what the main characters being police means and not make jokes about it?

i know in like some fandoms, you're able to turn your brain off when it comes to this stuff, or maybe the responsible thing to do is to acknowledge it in public but just flat-out ignore it in fanwork if the writers dont handle it well (like mass effect never really engaged w the fact that garrus is implied to have roughed up suspects, he's just an ~edgy cop!!~ but i have yet to find a fanfic that explores that 1. sensitively and 2. well, so it seems like people instead accept bioware made an L with that characterization and move on). but disco elysium is a game that, like, sort of demands to be taken seriously wrt politics because the politics drive everything in the game from plot to characterization to what you decide the main character thinks about, and the plot wouldn't have happened without the warring politics of the locals surrounding the scene of the murder. so ignoring that to make good cop/bad cop jokes about kim and harry is a little. strange to me.

it had me thinking about how a lot of b99 fans were adamant that the show is not copganda, that it had a blm episode so it was helping the cause... and i have not seen that show in the public sphere or in any of my social internet circles following the protests last summer. like, i never watched it, but for years i saw people defend it, i reblogged amusing gifsets of it, and then after june 2020, it disappeared. it seems accepted now that police procedurals are "expected" copganda but b99 looks different, is humorous, and left-leaning, so it feels friendlier, and it took a while to understand well-meaning stories featuring police as protagonists can and will probably still be guilty of being copganda even if they don't mean to.

disco elysium... does have its moments of "cops are misunderstood." i remember raising an eyebrow a few times. but (imo), it also does many other things smartly, where it calls out the unhealthy relationship between police and districts; discusses the type of people most attracted to police work are not likely to be healthy, stable, empathetic individuals; shows the police are likely to make choices in the moment based on what pleases or amuses or entertains them, not on what is best for the community; can basically do anything they want when they're not supervised, and even then, usually have the support of their station; can and do quickly resort to threats, guns, arrests, etc, with a change of their mood. the game isn't even about police, and they still managed to show all that. but otoh, they're not exactly blasting ACAB and calling for the dismantling of the RCM (the in-game police force).

i don't really know where i'm going with this. i'm not very smart when it comes to this stuff and i'm definitely not the person best suited to make a decision on if disco elysium did a cop game "right" or not. is it copganda? i don't know. you can become a communist. that's not an answer, but if you follow the communist path, the game does note that you are two contradictory things. because ultimately, you're still a really fucked-up person, who is still a cop. who can, because this is an rpg, kill people in the game. the game doesn't shy away from that. so i wish the fandom wouldn't make jokes about it.

[catchmewiddershins]

Haikyuu Hugs pt 2:

AOBA JOHSAI:

Oikawa Tooru: 

Really affectionate and clingy, will beg you for hugs with NO. SHAME.

He’s definitely a running fingers through hair and burying his face in your clothes, hair, back, shoulders etc kind of guy

So many little kisses!

He’s the sort of hugger who picks you up; he either lifts you so that you can wrap your legs around his waist or he’ll place you on a table or countertop, especially if you’re a lot shorter than him, just so you can be at equal level

Also likes to rest his chin on top of your head and hug you from behind while you’re working or doing something else (washing up, cooking, etc)

Might grab your butt if he’s feeling particularly teasing, but definitely won’t if the hug is just so you can hold each other

Likes to do fairy kisses (idk what they’re called, this is just what my family calls them) when he flutters his eyelashes against your cheek, it makes you both giggle

Will fall asleep while laying across your stomach

Likes to hug you when wearing an enormous fluffy dressing gown, he’ll wrap you in it and snuggle

Has leapt into your arms at some point for a hug... you dropped him. He’s not going to stop trying though!

Lightheartedness aside, he knows to come to you for cuddles or hugs when he’s feeling down, you’ve often had hug sessions when he feels inadequate as a setter, or if he’s feeling insecure

Pouts when he wants hugs

Iwaizumi Hajime:

Wraps you in his big, muscley arms (the dream of many of us, I’m sure)

This man is SUCH a secure hugger, it’s amazing, he just folds you into his embrace and you never want to let go

Warm hugs and tight hugs, like a comfy straight jacket

He always knows when you want to let go... it is rare that you want to

The kind of hug that’s like instant stress relief, side effects include:

Falling asleep

Dozing

Relaxing all of the muscles you didn’t know were tensed

Bursting into tears because you’re actually really stressed or worried and the hug was just the trigger for you to let it all out

He likes to give you massages, all you have to do is curl up on the sofa with him to watch television or read or anything and he’ll lean against the side, place you in front on him, all stretched out across the length of the cushions, and just massage your back, neck and shoulders (you don’t know what you’d do without him)

His hugs are so warm that you just hug him as a replacement for a jumper or hot water bottle... sometimes you just don’t turn the heating on. Really. His skin is a radiator!

Unconscious squeezes

Squeezes in general, he’ll squeeze your waist or shoulder walking past, pull you to his side and give you a squeeze, sit with you and just give you a quick squeeze, it’s adorable

You know he wants a hug because he gets slightly clingy but won’t admit it to your face

Sometimes huffs playfully or teases you when hugging you, you know he loves you though

(Seriously though this boy’s muscles are perfect huggers)

Matsukawa Issei:

Tall boy hugs (I mean, depending on what you think is tall - he’s 6′2″ that is enormous to me)

This guy actually really likes jokes so you bet he’ll hug you and then absolutely WREAK the atmosphere by whispering the cheesiest jokes into your ears

You: Yay warm hug time! ~ Mattsun: what does a cheese say when it looks in the mirror? Halloumi!

Easygoing hugs, pretty casual... he uses you as an armrest at random moments

He likes to hug you from behind as well, sneaking up and putting his head on yours, long arms draped over your shoulders

Likes to tell you about all of the stupid stuff Oikawa did throughout the day while you snuggle

Back of the neck kisser 

Hanamaki Takahiro:

If you compliment his hugs, he will either awkwardly blush and go weird or be super cool and suave but be dying inside... no in-betweens

He’s a lot calmer than his fellow teammates and so, if you’re really tired and stressed, he is definitely the go-to person to hug

He will stand there and hold you for a while, perfectly still, so you can listen to his heartbeat

Has a habit of sitting on tables, he’ll lift himself onto one and ask you sit with him and then he’ll pull you to his side and urge you to tell him about your day

Lukewarm hugs... not cold but not warm either... if tepid water was a hug

He likes it if you kiss the top of his head

Yahaba Shigeru:

This may seems surprising to some, but Yahaba is BIG on PDA

He loves to show you, and your relationship, off to others, be it teammates, other teams or even random strangers

How does he do this you ask? He’ll walk up to you (literally even mid-conversation) and hug you. Not a casual sidelean, not a sweet little waist or shoulder squeeze, no no, the WHOLE NINE YARDS! One moment you’re talking to a friend and the next thing you know, he’s behind you, yanking you to his chest and squeezing the life out of you

Sometimes, if he’s being clingy, he’ll turn you around so you’re facing him

He would turn you around more but you told him not to because it’s rude if you’re talking to someone

You two always walk with an arm around each other’s waist

When it’s just the two of you, he’s a lot calmer, very much into forehead kisses while hugging you, your hands resting lightly on his chest

He actually really likes it when you fiddle with his hair, you tend to twist that curl at the front around your fingers

If you’re ever down on yourself, he snaps and forcefully grabs you into the tightest and most aggressively loving hug of your LIFE

Watari Shinji:

Watari is very gentle and encouraging, and that shows through his hugs

As a libero he’s very perceptive, learning exactly where the ball is going to go and having to devise how to receive it

Therefore, that skill bled into his relationships, and he can tell immediately when something has you upset or worried

His solution? Cuddles!

The two of you like to cuddle sitting down, leaning against each other, you sitting on his lap, blankets, stretched out over one another, everything

He has a habit of tapping out little rhythms on whatever body part of yours is closest to him

Face nuzzles

You like patting his head because his hair is fun to touch

But really, if he sees you’re sad, he’ll take your hand and gently lead you somewhere, sitting you down and just pulling you into a warm embrace where you eventually spill everything that’s bothering you

Sometimes his perceptiveness is unnerving, it seems he knows how you feel before you do (happened to me today... weird experience) but that just means that the two of you love away those nasty feelings before they even take root

Kyoutani Kentarou:

MAD DOG! TIGHT HUGS!

I do sort of think that he can give soft hugs too but they are special, you know... reserved for mental breakdowns

He’s pretty aggressive but he’s DEFINITELY not a bad person - he will hug you if you want it!

His hugs, as aforementioned, are tight! as! his steely arm muscles! 

He will drag you to him and crush you against his chest, you both just squeeze each other like your lives depend on it

He is especially like that after matches, you run over to congratulate him and he just grabs you, hugs you and then throws you into the air

When you’re together, he is softer

You fiddle with each other’s fingers and he often crosses his legs before plonking you in his lap and possessively curling around you, arms circling your waist and squeezing, chin in the crook between your neck and collarbone

Sometimes he likes to smother you with kisses while holding your back to his chest... just *kisskisskisskiss* at the speed of light, crook of neck, elbow, head, face, stomach just aggressive fast kisses and you love it because it tickles and he always blushes a lot after doing it

If you ask for a hug he might make a sort of growly huff noise and ‘reluctantly’ side hug you (he loves it really) 

He likes to completely relax and flop over the sofa, taking up the entire length with his feet dangling off of the end and let you lie on top, falling asleep to the rumble of his chest while he strokes your hair and watches TV

Kindaichi Yuutarou: 

Kindaichi the sweetheart is very soft and so are his hugs

He is also a tall boy, a very tall boy, so you often just hug while facing each other

He likes to pat your head, back or hands gently while hugging you

Sometimes he says little sweet things so you’ll be hugging and he’ll just say quietly that you look very nice that day and then blush extremely hard

He rests his head in your lap while you’re doing something and he’s lying down

When he does this, you like to squish his hair flat to see how it looks, he doesn’t understand that he looks like an onion

He gives very warm hugs too, very good very nice

Sometimes he hunches over to bury his face in your shoulder, he does this for two reasons

It’s either because he loves how you smell and just loves how comfy your shoulders are

The other option is that he’s beating himself up over what happened between him and Kageyama, thinking that, since Hinata is able to hit the ‘king’s toss’ that it wasn’t Kageyama’s fault for being too demanding but his for just being a useless player

Your hugs always cheer him up when he feels like that

The reverse is also very possible, feel sad? Hug Kindaichi, you’ll cheer up!

You two are definitely snugglers and pyjama people, lots of late night movies that end in falling asleep on each other

Kunimi Akira:

So Kunimi is lean and therefore pretty skinny

That in no way means that he isn’t a good hugger

You two don’t hug that often and definitely not around other people

He is the ✨epitome✨ of lazy hugs, think of him like a boneless rubber chicken, he just droops onto you, arms dangling and long legs and torso melting onto you, whatever position you’re in (usually hunched over working)

He also is the master the casual arm sling around your hips, and the elbow on head

When you two actually hug properly, standing, he doesn’t pull you in or have his arms tight, he just has his fingers loosely interlocked, hands resting just above your butt while your have your arms looped around his neck, his head in your hair

Falls asleep on you a lot, you’ll be leaning on each other and, next thing you know, he’s dropped right off to sleep 

Soft snores 🥺

He nuzzles into your stomach unconsciously while he’s sleeping

Literally any time he’s tired, he’ll trudge over to you and lay his head on yours, sighing

BONUS:

Idk why I put him with Seijoh but I can’t be bothered to write for his entire team

Hyakuzawa Yuudai: 

VERY VERY VERY TALL BOY! VERY TALL! VERY! I JUST ABOUT COME UP TO THIS MAN’S STERNUM!

So his height makes him an optimal hugger, you can take so much comfort in the safety he makes you feel

And guess what? He’s also a very sweet guy so EXTRA SPECIAL

I honestly love him, he’s very soft-spoken and calm, he likes to whisper little endearments to you while you hug

His favourite thing is when you stand on a stool, chair or table in order to be at equal height (or near enough) with him so you can look into each other’s eyes when you hug

He sometimes just picks you up instead

He’s also very respectful and polite so you better believe that he always makes sure that you’ve had a good day and hugs you in whatever way you need

If you’re sitting down, he just w r a p s his very long legs around you and you sit in his lap, reading, watching something, drawing, playing a game or whatever, his arms are around you and in front so you can do things together

[mallowstep]

In the Misty au you mentioned that Featherpaw and Storm become warriors at 9 moons old. If Featherpaw was with Tigerclan for 3 moons that means Leopard made them Warriors with out any real apprenticeship (hunting, training, etc). Does this feed in to how Feathertail reacts to being made a warrior? And does the fast tracked warriorship have any repercussions among the clan?

oh yeah, it causes problems.

first, leopardstar's reasoning for making them warriors is that the clan needs them to become warriors, because it sort of...it basically is a symbol of being one clan again.

riverclan has lost a lot lately, and a good percentage of their cats were like. directly and painfully hurt by tigerclan. not just the four: shadepelt, mosspelt, and dawnflower were all punished by tigerstar's reign.

featherpaw knows she's being made into another prop, and she doesn't care why or for what. honestly, she's barely lucid at this point, so how well she even understands what's going on is very, very questionable.

i'll circle back to her life as a warrior in a moment, but as far as training goes, it has a far bigger impact on stormheart.

he had....probably 3 moons of training. featherpaw and stormpaw had some training pre-tigerclan, although not even a moon's worth.

and while stormheart probably isn't up to par with the average warrior, he fights in the great battle, no one can deny he's earned it. but he doesn't feel like a riverclan warrior: he has forgotten how to swim (well, he thinks he has, but a lot of it is muscle memory), he didn't learn how to dive (something riverclan warriors traditionally have to learn), and he knows all thunderclan fighting techniques.

that gives him a lot of self-doubt. he doesn't really know what to do: he's not an apprentice, his (old) mentor isn't capable of mentoring him, and his sister, well, let's talk about feathertail.

feathertail thinks that leopardstar should have used the dying apprentice ceremony on her, and leopardstar...probably should have.

feathertail is having moments of clarity, interspersed with her forgetting a lot of information and being asleep and being semi-lucid. she parts with mistyfoot for the duration of the ceremony, which means she's in full "i am about to be attacked" mode. because this is how the pattern went:

mistyfoot was taken from her (or vice versa), she was placed in the centre of camp, someone says some fake reason for why she's doing this, and then she's attacked.

so when leopardstar steps down to complete the ceremony, feathertail runs. she's not entirely aware of what she's doing, she just knows that she's not safe, and safety (mistyfoot) is right there, and she takes it.

so feathertail is...not having it.

it's not until a month later that mudfur transitions her care from "better pray that she lives, because herbs alone aren't going to do it" to "okay, we can build you a long term care plan."

(this is about when the three are born, for those following along at home.)

but feathertail is...even if she was physically capable of being a warrior (which...maybe if she didn't climb a mountain and throw herself off a cliff, she could have gotten to that point), she's not mentally capable of it.

she could do border patrols, but if they get into a border fight, she's going to let herself get attacked. and border fights are still pretty common at this point in time.

and she can't extend her claws! like she can't make herself do it. so that's hunting out.

so that's not happening. she raises the three, but that's labour intensive, and causes her so much pain, so she's not going to do that again.

so feathertail has the name of a warrior, but she's not...mistyfoot can't get her to sharpen her claws. feathertail's dew claw is growing into her paw pad, and mistyfoot can't get feathertail to do anything about it.

anyway, stormheart feels extremely isolated. he connects to shadepelt, because she was stonefur's previous apprentice, and they get along really well.

anyway, yeah, it definitely causes problems for them, but leopardstar doesn't see a better option.

she can wait for feathertail to recover, but that might not happen. and if she makes stormheart a warrior, and not feathertail, mistyfoot would be pissed, stormheart and stonefur would be pissed, and feathertail is just going to lose what's left of her self-estemm.

if she waits to make stormheart a warrior, there's a divide in the clan. she calls even more attention to stonefur (since she'd have to give him a new mentor), and she also continues to put featherpaw and stormpaw below their "peers".

what's a leader to do.

(not make featherpaw go through a public ceremony, that's what.)

anyway, i've been working on stuff From This Time, so i have like. so many excerpts. mistyfoot and feathertail arguing about her claws is one of my favourites, because it's just, like, feathertail feeling safe. which is good. but i'm actually go to go with this excerpt from when the three are apprentices, because it's about feathertail coming to terms with her life.

it's also reasonably fluffy.

Now that the kits are apprentices, she's moved back into her den.

Her life is — her life is what passes for normal. She eats prey, she swims, she sits with Mistyfoot, and she listens to her kits tell her about training.

They're apprentices, now, and she thinks that means they're responsible for her. Whether or not that's formal (Leopardstar can hold another ceremony for her when she's dead), they start bringing her prey in the evenings, and they groom her more than the other way around.

She remembers when they were newborns, before they were even named, how they squirmed when she groomed their fur flat. Now, they fight over her.

Quietly.

When they think she won't hear.

But this is — as close to normal as her life will be, she thinks.

Stormheart swims with her, but only sometimes. Sometimes he sits with Shadepelt, and Feathertail teases him. Stonefur goes on patrols sometimes, but not all the time, and when he's not on patrol, he talks to her.

Mistyfoot is the deputy, and she's stepped into her role. Feathertail is happy for her, but being deputy means going on patrol, and overseeing apprentice training, and other things Feathertail doesn't (won't? can't?) do.

When she's in camp, Feathertail still sticks to her side. She doesn't mind when they tease her about it, now, but she still stays there.

"Feathertail, do you want to go for a walk?" Dawnflower is looking at her pleadingly. She's been trying to get Feathertail to go on a walk, or at least to swim somewhere that's not around camp.

"Sure," Feathertail says.

Dawnflower purrs, walking on Feathertail's good side. She doesn't know if it's intentional, but she appreciates it.

This is normal, Feathertail decides. This is — good, maybe.

[bloodyshadow1]

just finished Alanna’s route and I gotta say, I’d give it a C, it wasn’t bad, but I didn’t see a lot of good either.  There was so much crammed in as much as possible between the Society (that we barely get to see anything of), Time travel (which is fine but done pretty poorly with little buildup or fanfare or explanation), Immortals (like time travel, a decent story enough on it’s own, but only mentioned in the final 3rd of the story and barely talked about afterward), and Magic power stones (pretty vague power system that no one seems interested in telling the MC about) it feels like they accidently threw 4 darts at the idea board this time and never bothered to throw again.  It’s such a mess that the MC has to take on faith without ever being given a real reason to side with the Circle over anyone else other than her ex girlfriend is part of it and they hate her dad.  It’s so quick and it doesn’t ever feel like the right decision at least to me since you spend so little time with the Circle even as background characters to Alanna’s story.

Alanna as a character is kind of meh for me overall.  Physically her design is fine, seems cute more than hot or sexy, but sort of bland and generic.  there are other cute love interests that never felt this generic, she feels like she should be the sister or best friend character instead of the love interest of the MC.  It doesn’t help that by making her the MC’s ex returned, we know little to nothing about her, so much of a romance arc is missing because even if the MC knows, we the player don’t know what’s so great about Alanna.  All of Alanna’s character feels told instead of shown, the MC seems to worship the ground she walks on, but the actual story leaves much to be desired because we don’t really see her do anything super charming or amazingly skilled.  She’s pretty, but she’s not even the most beautiful woman in her route much less London or the world. I could understand why the MC would love her since she’s still hung up on her, so I could believe it if I took the story with a grain of salt, but the fact that her personality seems to be she’s so charming and everyone loves her without every truly delivering on such claims makes her whole route fall even flatter than it’s plot led to. The fact that the MC slept with her right away as a ‘palette cleanser’ was sort of interesting, but it still felt like being told about her, nothing about what she and the MC had gone through felt like she was so irresistible that the MC would need to get her out of her system, because we don’t know anything really about her relationship with Alanna.  And that’s a big problem to her selling points as a love interest

  We don’t know all the stories the MC has with Alanna, especially if they only dated for 2 months, the audience/player/readers, need to understand why the MC is in love with their love interest besides the route being named after them, by making their entire relationship when they first fell in love we miss all of that and are left with empty feelings and gestures between the two of them. The little back and forths between them about their past are okay to start with, but nothing about Alanna as a character from her 12 chapters makes me believe that she’s so lovely the MC can overlook her massive flaws and go along with her very unpersuasive desire to have the MC join them to help the world.  Her depression and feelings of helplessness after 200 years was interesting, but it felt like it came too late.  I’m actually really glad the MC called her out on her bullshit, by the end of her first chapter, I get a bit of where she’s coming from, but what Alanna did to the MC was fucked up and she doesn’t get to just pretend it never happened.

Plot wise, the story is a mess, like Alanna, so much of the story is told to the MC and she’s supposed to take it on faith that the Circle is somehow more morally right than the rest of the Society.  It fails because the Circle has barely any real character, they have interesting traits that if they were around more to make me care about them as something other than the vehicle to do the time travel and nothing more.  In so many routes, you’re introduced to all your love interests at the same time and they’re already a group, while you spend the most time with your love interest, you get to know most of the characters as people outside of their routes, but the rest of the Circle is pretty bland.  Not to mention that the Society is built up as this big maybe evil maybe just powerful and in the wrong hands thing..., but you barely interact with them at all.  The only people tell  the MC and her brother that the Society is bad is the Circle who are actively members of it and nothing about what they say or do makes me feel like they’re any more trust worthy than the rest of the society except most of them are going to be future love interests.  In Alanna’s route, the only member of the Society not in the Circle that has a unique character portrait is Arabella and she’s kind of a more interesting character with a more sympathetic story than the Circle. We hear about how corrupt and morally bankrupt the higher ups in the Society are, and we know the MC hates her dad, who seems to be considered the worst, but aside from being a bit stuff and arrogant, (much like the wealthy elite of our world) we don’t see much evil, and it confuses me if the Circle wants to bring down the Society or try and take control of it for the greater good without much of a reason to trust them.

The Immortal plot point fell flat to me, like the story basically skipped over the time travel plot device by making it literally a this happens and barely talk about it, but adding the Immortality plot felt unneeded in a narrative that needed a lot more structure, not irons in the fire.  I feel like if Alanna/your love interest was the only one of the Circle that was immortal other than the Elites of the Society it would have made a better route to go.  Having an immortal character in your romantic story is fertile ground, they could be a tragic figure, a figure who is hedonistic and loving their immortality, etc, there are plenty of ways to go, an immortal character with a bunch of their pals who are already incredibly powerful and have a vague sense of goodness about them, makes it feel far from a curse or whatever they’re trying to portray it here.  It could have also been introduced better to the MC by say meeting Arabella in the present day and being shocked by seeing her and needing confirmation from the Circle or Alanna, instead of Alanna dropping it in a mood to the MC.  

Overall, it felt to complicated of a story to tell with all the moving pieces that didn’t deliver on any of them sadly.  the whole story felt like it was a mix between Queen of Thieves and Astoria Fates Kiss, without the charms of either the story or the characters, replacing Greek Mythology with time travel.  I will also say, it the plot made me kind of uncomfortable with how a bunch of mostly white young adults have decided to be judge and jury throughout time with the first antagonist being a powerful black lesbian in london 200 years ago, and we only have their word that something is afoot.  I know that she actually was doing bad stuff, but the Circle is just a vigilante group with no actual authority and using time travel as their own means of policing people and if it wasn’t a simplistic romance story disguised as a scifi fantasy story, I feel like more nuance would have saved it.

The good parts: Alanna’s route for Immortal Hearts Society wasn’t all bad, I  I will admit I am probably overly harsh since I just finished it.  I actually really enjoyed the both the Female and Male MC character designs, they both were surprisingly interesting compared to a lot of MC’s.  I really did enjoy the MC for the most part and I liked her relationship with her brother, most of the time I’ve seen sibling relationships in Lovestruck they’re fine but don’t tend to have much actual conflict, just superficial.  But I like that the MC loves her brother, but burned her bridges with him to keep him safe, she regrets what she had to do but not what happened which is a pretty interesting take.  Alanna was enjoyable as a love interest in the beginning, but as the story got more and more convoluted, it felt like she didn’t have much actual character.  I do have a soft spot for the Circle characters, except for the two current love interests, I’m more annoyed that we didn’t get to see and interact with them more, especially since it looks like they’ll be future love interests if the pattern holds.  It was a fine story and I know I’m being overly harsh, but it just felt underdone instead of bad, which tends to make it worse in my mind because the lost potential is frustrating. 

 I wouldn’t mind continuing if the writing got tighter next season, I’ll still give it a try.  I would very much like an Arabella route before anyone else, she has such a gorgeous design and despite not seeing a huge amount of her character being a warm genuinely kind person stuck between a rock and a hard place for her family was an interesting take instead of making her one of the many false sweethearts in Queen of Thieves that stab you in the back.  I also think that if she still is around in modern day she would have fit the story as a love interest better than Alanna. 

Not sure if anyone is going to bother to read this but it feels good to get it out.  Maybe you think I’m full of shit and I’m fine with that, maybe you love Alanna and she’s your favorite love interest.  I’m sorry you read this because I don’t want anyone to feel bad, this is simply how I feel after reading the first chapter