#and i'm so excited for this game because of that

[bonus-links]

rereading with the latest update to get caught up, and now I know its an option I am desperate for director's commentary on Ruins pt7, if you're willing, please

(Also I first started reading this before taking sign langauge classes, and while I am learning a different SL to ASL/whatever Slate is using, some things translate well. Which is to say I was very excited seeing Loft use thank you and other small signs, or recognising Slate's signs. Its very cool!)

OH AN OLDIE yeah sure!! i will do my best to remember wtf i was on about lol

first of all. this was posted in 2023. what do u mean it's 2025 and im only on ch2. explodes. ANYWAY.

I'm still proud of myself this this panel thing w the arrow lol where it's both coming towards the octorok and has already gone through it. this is something that didn't rlly end up making it into the final product but I don't think Slate actually makes a habit of just killing monsters willy nilly. I don't see him hunting down every monster in Hyrule after the calamity ends. He kills this octorok bc they antagonize the horses but also because. I needed an excuse for his bow to already be out HAHA

I have complicated feelings about the yiga and what their lore implies lol but for Slate's part, he has personal beef with them on account of how many times they're tried and nearly succeeded in killing him. I like to imagine the Yiga as both deeply goofy and also a serious threat at the same time lol, which i think sums up how Slate feels about them.

I did however want to take this opportunity to show his capacity to be a brutal fighter, the same way Loft is in the opening of ch1. Actually the idea for this scene even came about because in my own late-stage game I kept getting attacked by a blademaster literally every 2 feet in certain regions, and I was getting so frustrated by it I just started obliterating them with ancient arrows 💀 Slate using way more arrows than necessary was a nod to that. idk maybe this guy lived lol

this scene was also to spur comparisons between Slate and Loft's experiences. Loft is brutal with monsters, but he's never killed a human being. Realizing that the Yiga aren't monsters shocks him.

this is a failure of my own paneling bc I didn't have enough room on the page and refused to add another, but Loft is hallucinating this guardian being active. all the guardians are inactive since defeating the calamity. actually what I should have done was add a red targeting line that then disappeared in the next panel. MAN.

alright and probably what you actually wanted commentary on, first Champion sighting! The first time Slate actually sees Champion is at the end of ch1, so if you're wondering if Slate knows he's there in this scene, the answer is no. I think rather than following Slate around all along, Champion has spent most of his time just sort of. barely existing here at Fort Hateno, or sitting with the master sword. He's not exactly like the ghosts of the other champions, or King Rhoam. sorry buddy :-(

i do have a bonus comic the works re: ghost lore that I will hopefully finish. someday so I think that might answer some questions ppl have. and possibly introduce a few more. but on the whole I like to keep whatever's going on here a little ambiguous. like I said in this update's commentary, one part literal and one part metaphorical. maybe two parts metaphorical lol

I think that's all I got for this one!

[brawberryz]

you look so pathetic...i want you

Batboys × Loser nerd! Reader

Note: English is not my first language, sorry if there is any translation error

Jason Todd

Richard had convinced him to go on a blind date, at first he refused

But apparently Richard didn't understand the meaning of the word 'No' and he kept insisting on it all fucking week

He decided to accept just because he had nothing to do (plus he could get rid of that idiot brother)

He thought he would meet the usual girls, most likely he would just talk to her for a while and then leave

He was very surprised when he saw you entering the restaurant agitated 20 minutes late

God, you are the human representation of the fucking nerd emoji, you looked like you came out of an 80s movie

You are literally the representation of the word loser and nerd

"Hi..."

You said embarrassed as you sat at the table in front of him, you adjusted your glasses nervously

Your clothes and hair were a mess as if you had run a marathon to

"Hi"

He waved back, god he didn't think it was going to be this awkward

You and him didn't say anything for the next 20 minutes

"So... you like fnaf?"

"What?"

Jason was surprised by your question, it wasn't the best way to break the ice but it did the trick

At some point he felt like laughing, it was the first date and all you did was talk about a game.

"Although if you don't like it I can also talk about undertale or minecraft"

It was almost funny how you spent the whole date talking about indie games, comics and movies.

He just looked at you with a small smile nodding briefly, you were too focused talking about whatever you were talking about.

But he liked the sparkle and excitement in your eyes every time you talked about one of your weird tastes.

you were a complete loser

You were clearly he type

Richard Grayson

He had met you a few weeks ago, you were the kind librarian who helped him every day when he went to get a book

If he was honest he didn't read any of the books he brought from the library he only went there to see your cute face

After several failed flirtations and denied dates you decided to give him a chance

You couldn't say no to those little puppy eyes he gave you

The date had gone wonderfully and you timidly invited him to your apartment

And it was an offer that Richard couldn't refuse

The night was great, they watched some movies and spent too much time with you since when he saw the time it was too late

He told you it was time to leave but you insisted that he stay arguing that it was too late and your neighborhood was very dangerous

So just to please you he decided to stay, he was Nightwing some small time criminals weren't going to even scratch him but he still stayed with you

When you went to get blankets and pillows so he could sleep more comfortably in the guest room he decided to follow you

His surprise was great when he saw your room full of posters, manga and anime figures and other series and games

You are a big fan of many things

You saw his surprised face when he saw your room and you thought he was about to make fun of you, it was not going to be the first time someone made fun of you

You were a complete nerd and loser you were the easy target for someone to make fun of

"Sorry for the mess and everything else..."

You said embarrassed as you handed him some blankets and pillows

He just nodded with a small smile on his face

"It doesn't matter, the truth is if I'm honest I think it's pretty cool"

Those words caused a small blush on your cheeks, it was the first time someone said something good about you

He said good night to you before leaving for the guest room

That night you could barely sleep since you spent it thinking In Richard's words

he thought your tastes were cool?

Those simple words triggered something in you that you couldn't even explain

Tim Drake

Tim was a nerd, it was quite obvious and it bothered him to admit it

But his new teammate surpassed what the word nerd and loser was

The first time Bruce introduced you to him so that Tim could team up with you he could see how you became a nervous wreck

He could swear that under your gloves your hands were completely sweaty

You were a little strange, you hardly spoke but it's not like it bothered him, besides you were pretty good at fighting and solving cases

But every time he spoke to you it seemed like your brain went into automatic mode and you responded in a robotic way

But he simply didn't pay much attention to it because it wasn't even his problem

Although he wouldn't lie, sometimes you could be quite strange

He was writing another case that you were working on, this one was much more difficult than all the others and he felt that you and him would stay up all night

There was a long silence between you two, not It was awkward but you could tell you wanted to talk but your words wouldn't come out of your mouth

"Sooooo, do you like Star Wars?"

You said suddenly looking at him, he could feel your nervous gaze piercing the back of his neck

"I saw it once with my brothers"

Tim really wasn't very interested in the conversation, although he was a little surprised since it was the first time you started a conversation with him yourself

"Oh, and you liked it?"

"I kind of didn't understand much of the plot"

That was the sign you apparently needed

During the entire time you were with him in the batcave you spent time explaining the story and interesting facts about the movie

He just nodded at your words, it was the first time he saw you so focused talking about a topic, most of the time you were quiet

Although he didn't complain, your voice was quite comforting to listen to

You were quite cute when you talked about something you liked, he could see the way your voice changed to a more enthusiastic one every time you mentioned something you liked

You were a complete nerd and loser and he liked that about you

It's my first time writing romance but I think it came out pretty well, I think

Well, I just wanted to let you know that my requests are open in case anyone has any requests 🗣

[evertidings]

— JANUARY 2025.

Accomplishments.

Since February started I’ve been in a bit of a brain fog so forgive me if I don’t remember everything that happened in January. But! I hope you’ve all been well and that the New Year was good to everyone!! I don’t think i’m alone in thinking that January felt like the longest month of my life. It usually goes by slow but my God, did it feel bad this time around.

In terms of Chapter 12, I got a fair bit of work done considering December was spent writing the Holiday Special. That said, I've recently entered what feels like one of the worst writer's blocks I've had in a while, so maybe this is my karma. But, to speak on better things, the last time I posted an update, I said I was working on Eliana's initial meeting with the Hunter. Funnily enough, I'm only just getting around to that now. I ended up taking a brief detour and creating another branch with your chosen RO, this one prompted by the choice of who to sit next to when Eliana invites you to the meeting table. I thought it would be fun, but considering this is what caused my slump, it's kinda become the opposite. I should be laughing but I'm not.

Honestly, I didn't think writing about the ROs would give me such a hard time, but here I am. I suppose when you're writing the same content in five different ways it does get very draining—I'm simply at the end of the line. I got about halfway before I started feeling sluggish, but I am pleased with the half that I wrote. Rylan's branch especially, since theirs was the first I finished and the only that I wrote with motivation.

If you follow me on Patreon, you'll have already read my very pessimistic updates (rambles, really) about my current situation, so I'll spare you the details. This isn't to say that Chapter 12 will be cancelled. If anything, it might be slightly delayed as my writing speed has reduced significantly, but I don't have any plans to abandon the project. It's simply a phase I am in.

Overall, though, despite progress being a bit stagnated right now, January was very good to me. Eliana is one of my most interesting characters and I'm really trying to emphasize that through my writing. She's been a challenge that I've been happy to take on. I really hope that I get my motivation back soon and I can continue to write her scenes because, man, she's wonderful. Such an enigma and mystery. I'm really excited for everyone to meet her. Mirai and Ciel are quite similar, with tactics in intimidation, but Eliana has completely different motives, so she presents herself very differently. It's fun. She's fun.

Finally, ICYMI, my 4 Year Anniversary event is going on right now, with prizes to be won. The official end date will be February 24th, the day I posted my intro post. With that said, I'll talk to you all soon and let's all hope my writer's block is only a temporary obstacle in the journey to Chapter 12. Thank you for reading!! <3

Stats.

Chapter Total: 34,523 words (+12,673)

Game Total: ~545,955 words

[bohemian-rhapsody-in-blue]

Thanks for the tag, @pieniebootekent! Welcome to Tumblr!! 💖

Last song: No Plan by Hozier

Favorite color: Anything in the pink-purple-red range

Last book: Storm Front by Jim Butcher (almost done with it!)

Last show: The Middle

Sweet, savory, or spicy: Sweet, with savory in 2nd place. I've talked before about how my complete lack of spice tolerance makes me a failed (half-)Indian 😭

Relationship status: SingIe as a Pringle, a description made all the more apt because I just ate some Pringles (yes, in bed at 5 AM, which is probably one reason I'm single)

Last thing I googled: I don't remember exactly, but likely "nyt strands". My mom and I do Wordle, Connections, and Strands every day and send each other our scores, and she uses the account we share on the app, so l use my browser. I just realized that bookmarking the pages for the games would make my life at least a tiny bit easier.…

Current obsession: I feel like l've said "Cowboy Bebop and Six of Crows with a side of American Girl" enough in previous tag games, so instead I'll plug the podcast @dashboarddiaries, which I discovered yesterday, and I am now avidly listening to every single episode. The fact that I recognize so much of what's discussed is making me realize I spend too much fucking time on this website 😭 Also, it doesn't hurt that one of the hosts is @thelaurenshippen, who created The Bright Sessions, a podcast l've loved since age 13—which is also the age I was when I joined Tumblr in 2017! So listening to Dashboard Diaries is like a journey through time in so many ways!

Looking forward to: my friend, who had to unexpectedly come home from college for a few weeks due to a family emergency, returning to school! Her plane lands tomorrow night (well, tonight, since it's so far past midnight) and I'm so excited to hug her again.

Tagging: @allica @holdencommodorecumrag @jaysbraindump @smithasandwich @wewringmagicfromtheordinary @world-wright

thank you @slashsleuth for the tag 😁 i havent done a little game in a long time

last song: fruit roll ups by waterparks

fav color: purple 💜😈💟🪻

last book: the absinthe underground by jamie pacton (it was ok)

last movie: wicked

last tv show: abbott elementary

sweet/savory/spicy: sweet usually

relationship status: single 😊

last thing i googled: the absinthe underground (needed the author lmao) before that it was turbulent waterparks chords

current obsession: ive been watching a lottt of jet lag lately!!! super fun travel show!!

looking forward to: signed parx print coming in the mail today 🫶🏼

tagging: @bergoozter @trashworldblog @outer-space-face @22psyduck :-)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

think I’m out of the loop or something but would you happen to know why there’s been a lot of TWST period tracker jokes? I see them mostly on twitter if that helps.

Okay, so I believe the jokes started because a popular Chinese mobile romance sim game, Love and Deepspace, added a period tracker as a function in the 3.0 update. You'd be able to input your menstruation date and the characters themselves will comment on your period + "text" you/send notifs about it. They also predict your next cycle based on the data you input about when you typically get your period and how long it lasts. This was first announced on an update livestream on Jan 10th, and the period tracker was officially integrated on the 22nd.

I think other gacha gaming communities thought this was wild and so they started to meme on it by going, "what if our gacha game also added a period tracking function?" Aaand the result for the Twst fandom was people editing screenshots of the login and homescreen pages to show the characters making comments on your period, along with jokes like, "wow this new update is weird" or wondering what each character would say. (I have some examples here with Deuce, Floyd, Azul, and Rook, although I'm sure there are many more out there with the other Twst characters.) I know there’s also been some tier lists on how the characters would react too.

Hdhdschbsdcucsdkuhcdskhuc It’s kind of funny because I feel like a lot of the Twst characters would realistically not react with any grace or tact 😭 Like, they’d be the complete opposite of being comforting or reassuring… Azul trying to make $ off of you or being nice now in hopes of getting a favor from you later, Ace asking what p*ssy size you wear, the nonhumans outright saying they can smell the blood on you, some characters not knowing wtf a period is or how it works, Ortho very indifferently advising you increase your iron intake to make up for what you’re losing, etc.

P.S. In case I get any follow-up asks about this!! 😅 No, I do not play LaDS/LDS (not sure how it is abbreviated) myself, I just vaguely know what it is because many of my friends play and they keep trying to convince me to give it a shot; apparently some guy named Caleb is my type???. Sorry if you were excited to chitchat about it 💦

[ravenstargames]

✦ LOST IN LIMBO DEVLOG #15 | 02.06.2025

It's February y'all! Actually it has been for a couple of days—yes, I've noticed! The team and I are buried in work and I only found time to start writing our newest devlog right now, with my cat on my lap and a bellyache!

First of all—this is the first devlog where the "Kickstarter vs Public" updates will be noticeable. Our Kickstarter and future Patreon devlogs will include more info (they already did, but now we'll tune down the spoilers we show publicly), which doesn't mean our public updates will be a flop. At least I hope so!

This January, we finished Amon and Ara's reworks completely, and Raquel also managed to pull off Envy and Raeya's. Pride's is ready to see the world, but we'll post it on Discord tomorrow most likely, and then you know how it goes! Poor Raquel has been working her ass off, as per usual.

For the next couple of weeks, Raquel will work on updating the expression charts of every LI! Our plan is to have our first demo update around February 17th, aligned with the start of the Storyteller Steam Festival; that update will include the sprites overhaul, a few fixes, as well as a sneak-peek of the patch notes you'll be able to check in game every time we update not only the demo, but the full game in the future.

A strange building suddenly appears in your quiet town...

Being able to hire Airyn for the Extended Demo is giving us a boost we so desperately needed. Airyn and Astro are incredible background artists and they work together so so well, which I hope you can appreciate in this small sneak peek of the outside of Master Lysander's shop. On January Astro finished the concept and 3D modelling of this background, and Airyn now has it in her very expert hands. Right now, Astro is working on our third and last Extended Demo background, and let me tell you it's looking delicious!

So far, we have 10k+ extra words in the script. I say so far because it's still a long way from being finished. I can say that every LI, as we promised, we'll be getting a new, one on one scene with the MC, but I'm aiming for two—one short, one long. The story will be paced better and you'll get a bit more time with Raeya, who was the most affected by our initial demo being shortened.

Choices were also something y'all wanted to see more of, so right now those are sitting at 75~. Not 75 choice menus; 25 choices so far with 3-4 options each. The current demo version has...like 15~ if I remember correctly.

In my most recent programming adventure, I fixed some stuff thanks to the help of dear Feniks and got ready a pop-up screen that will appear every time the demo / game updates, so y'all can see what's new. The game will remember you've already seen it once and won't make it appear again unless you want it to via a button :^)

A lot of things going behind the scenes this past month! Organizing our taxes, fighting minor inconveniences, talking to our voice actors, checking files, getting the Kickstarter Backer discord role ready, sorting out documents, dealing with our daily lives...

Also, Kayden has been working on more mini cgs, as well as some stuff for our artbook! :^)

Work is going really well! I'm excited for this new month, and I hope everyone is too! I'm a bit tired from work so if you all don't mind, I'm going to keep this short 💜!

As always, thank you so much for supporting us and our game! Please take care, be kind to yourself, and see you in the next one! 🫂

[zoeylectric]

of the devil is one of the best and most exciting mystery VNs i've ever played

with some of the most nuanced, cutting, and consistently charming characterization i've read in !!! anything! sometimes you realize a scene is a character thesis and then it clicks and you realize that *every scene before that* has been that same fucking thesis in disguise and it does it a hundred times, just building building building on itself until you learn the secret language to analyze every line a hundred times over

(and then pushes you into the deep end where you realize your assumptions are so much messier than you realized and you have to start all over, which is also exactly what all of the characters are doing to each other constantly. a game about people reading people, trying to get you to struggle and focus to do the same, and rewards you when you get it right.)

incredibly fascinating cyberpunk worldbuilding that draws you in, with really fucking pointed themes of dehumanization, learning how to be a person (and the alienation that comes from "needing" to), societal trends and politics in the digital age, surveillance states, commercialization of bodies, commercialization of *androids*, corporate vs state power... and casual queerness that doesn't brush under the rug how that queerness intersects with this setting's politics

it's insightful and energizing and funny!!! i laughed out loud multiple times and it kind of got hazy sometimes whether it was out of amusement or excitement or nervousness or the elation of an epiphany

and it made me cry, and made my skin crawl, and made me pace around the room thinking about how this murder could have happened while also rotating the politics of bodies, how all of these characters view power in a world of individual powerlessness, and the intersecting ways they try so hard to connect with people/defend themselves from the responsibility of needing to.

(also there's slowburn cat-and-mouse toxic lesbians who are technically coworkers. the defense attorney and the prosecutor. i could write an entire fucking post on them alone holy shit)

the fact that it's being released episodically is absolutely a good idea as far as funding it and releasing it and works really well as an *episodic* mystery game and also is making me fucking insane there's only two cases, only one of which is a full chapter.

legitimately my only wish point is i *wish* chapter 1 was longer, not because it was too short (good length for what it is imo! especially with how concentratedly *good* it is), but because it's so compelling i could've been locked in for an entire day more and i seriously doubt it could've overstayed its welcome

love love love love it. i'm. i knew it would kind of consume me and i was right. absolutely cannot wait for chapter 2, but since chapter 1 just came out, i guess i'll have to manage, hehehe

[favorvn]

Alright Gamers, Here's another little update:

I'm still writing, there was some lull over the holidays because of well (gestures) life stuff. but I'm still making steady progress.

Currently: game contains 15,259 dialogue blocks, containing 133,928 words

It's crazy to think that, not only is BSH is 1/3 the size of Favor currently. Favor is also currently longer than 1 Twilight and about the same amount of words of Pride and Prejudice......... and I'm not even done writing it yet.

I don't even want to say I'm necessarily close to finishing the writing either, I'm just hoping that when I get to the end it will all be a cohesive thing lol......but I think all authors struggle with the thought of "will this make sense to anyone but me".

But honestly I'm really excited with how it's turning out. There are a few things from the first two episodes I may have to retcon LOL but mostly I'm really proud of how my writing has improved and the overall feel of the story.

I'm sure a lot of people may be disappointed, but honestly I think a lot of this stuff is the best shit I've written thus far, so I'm really excited.

Just a little update:

The writing for Favor is still coming along!

I try to write like 500 lines a day (generally 300 is more accurate though.)

The areas with green checks are what I've written so far (barring the multiple editing passes I do.)

To give an idea, the red box in the image is Episodes 1&2. I'm currently writing Episode 5 which will easily be the largest so far as there will be a lot of options to chose from.

So anyways, as y'all can see, I still have a fair amount to go lol but I'm pushing tf through and having fun with it 💪 Currently:

The game contains 9,396 dialogue blocks, containing 77,214 words

(for reference ALL of Binary Star hero side stories included is 4,496 dialogue blocks, containing 44,311 words.... so uh yea)

[hells-okayest-dad]

I've been thinking a lot about "Jean Moreau came back to himself in pieces" not only being the first line of a scene or a chapter or even of The Sunshine Court, but the first line of the whole trilogy. I feel like it's really setting the tone for what this is going to be and what Jean's life is going to look like. Evermore has stripped him of everything he was and now he is learning to build himself back up, he's discovering who he is again and I'm very excited to see what that looks like for him.

Some things that I, personally, would love to see him (re)develop

Jean is funny. He makes a few jokes in TSC. They're all very sarcastic and rude, but I think he could also not be a dick about it if he tried. I want him to tell a joke and make someone (Jeremy) laugh and realize that that feels really good. (Similarly, I like to think that he was very good at Doing The Voices when he read to Elodie, but I have no idea how this would come up.)

Jean likes being outside. The cool breeze and open roads are on his list. I think he would like hiking and someone could show him a cool rock and he would pretend not to be into it but he would keep it.

I want him to have a solo hobby so he can learn to be okay on his own. I think he'd like reading because it's very distracting but something he could do with his hands would also be good. (He already knows/once knew how to sew at least a little. Let him recreationally stab fabric.)

Also, I want him to find the love he once had for Exy. It means something different to him than it once did, but I want him to remember why he once loved it. I want him to have fun playing a game with his friends.

[saturnzskyzz]

May I please request some Min-su content,,,preferably with one of his main lers being Thanos and/or Nam-gyu? I just love that silly little guy and think he should be wrecked!! Of course there’s no pressure tho if that’s not ur thing! :]

Why so anxious, boy?

Warning: | anxious descriptions | fear | tickling | intense |

Summary: Min-su is an anxious wreck, so? Why not have his two best bros to help him? Right?

A/N: Of course!!! I'm actually so excited to try and see what I come up with with this trio!! Thank you for the request!!! I made sure to practice on my intensity since you prefer those types of fics!! Let me know how I did :]]

----

Another game, finished. Finally! the screams and horror of the entire mingle game threw Min-su off a loop. Replaying each scene-thinking of ways where he could've possibly not have made it out of there. The only reason he was able to win was because of.. Oh, right..

During the games, his "friends" forced him to be a part of rock-paper-sciccors with Se-mi to see who would go with Thanos and Nam-gyu in a room. Due to the overwhelming situation, Min-su regrettably made himself win, and caused the two to drag him to the room, leaving Se-mi to look at him in disappointment and distrust. Fuck, why did I do that?

As he sat himself at his usual spot, he began to ponder. Really take in the possibilities his mind had ran without his permission. 'What if I did this differently?' "why did I make Se-mi lose? She hates me now' 'now I'm really left with those two lunatics.' it was a never-ending thought process for Min-su.

As he sat there to himself, he noticed two figures approaching. Oh boy. Here they come. What could they possibly be wanting after pulling that cruel stunt?

"What's up, my man!" Thanos said, his voice practically booming with pride. He approached him with an arm to go around his shoulder as he leaned comfortably close to Min-su.

"You were crazy out there! Making stupid Se-mi lose in rock-paper-sciccors was hella cool!" Nam-gyu said, using his hands to immitate what Min-su did earlier.

Min-su felt like he was suffocating within their presence. He wanted to be left alone. He had too many sentences and not so friendly words passing through his brain. It was like it was working a nine-to-five job with how much he thought without really thinking too hard on it. He was starting to zone out, with the presence of those who could've left him for dead without putting much thought to his name.

Thanos noticed this first, reluctantly swaying the both of them to try and see if it would get the shorter to come back to reality. The cruel, cruel reality.

"Hey, man! You good? You stared off into space there." Thanos said, looking at him with what Min-su had thought was a face with fake concern.

He didn't know what to say, he just kept looking in Thanos' direction, seemingly getting more tense by the second. It was like he was going to explode with how fact his mind was pacing, he didn't even care that Nam-gyu was getting closer by now. He just kept thinking.

Thanos grew concerned for the man, now. He brought up his hand infront of Nam-gyu to motion him to stop before coming any closer to the anxious player.

He stopped, eyeing the two confusingly as he saw Thanos unwrap his arm that was on the smaller's shoulder.

"Hey man, just take a deep breath." Thanos said, laying a soft pat to the shoulder. Well this is new? his fast pacing mind let him jot down his new thought of the current situation. Why was Thanos being helpful for once?

Maybe the pill was running out in Thanos' system? Thanos was already such a questionable person, doing this and that whenever and wherever, it's hard to tell what he would do or say next. And that was not what Min-su had thought he would say.

But, he decided to listen, as to not make him mad, and took deep breathes to calm him down. As he did so, Thanos wore his signature smile.

"There you go! Why so anxious, boy?" Thanos suddenly asked, and went to jab an offending finger right on Min-su's side, causing the poor dude to jolt with a surprised "ha!"

That seemed to stop his anxious thoughts quickly. It's like the world had stopped when that action had happened, and he didn't like the faces that Thanos and Nam-gyu wore when the deed was done.

"Hey, Thanos? you heard what I just heard, right?" Nam-gyu broke the silence, eyeing him with a Michivious smile of his own.

Thanos turned his head to look at him. "That was definitely heard, my brother. Hey, maybe you need a good laugh to break free of your anxious self!" Thanos said, jabbing a few more times into Min-su's side to get him to muffle a few giggles that were already betraying him to keep in.

"IhI.. D-don't think that's Necessary." Min-su quietly said, eyeing the both of them with nervous fear. Of course of all times they could find this silly weakness out is right now of all times?

Thanos placed his arm back onto Min-su's shoulder, making him tense up even more as if he already tensed up enough.

"It's time to let loose, my boy!" Thanos said, digging right into Min-su's side, enlightening the shocked giggles to come out of the poor soul.

The most sweet, and gentle sounding giggles was like music to both of the pill popper's ears.

"Wahahait, stohohohop!"Min-su begged, grabbing at the offending hands as Thanos went to town on his sides.

Surprisingly enough, Thanos was light with his touch. He could feel him digging, mainly because of the thick jackets they have been forced in, but nonetheless, his touch was thankfully light and not rough. He silently thanked the Gods for that.

"Awe, look at him! He's smiling~" Nam-gyu cooed, causing the man to blush.

"Look at that, man! Let us tickle your anxieties away, yeah?" Thanos said, even though he's already tickling him to pieces. The fact that this guy was able to notice that he was having an anxiety attack was.. An odd thought, considering with how insensitive the dude can get. But alas, these conversations were normal to Min-su, so he didn't expect any less. Fake empathy from these guys was like a walk to the park, unfortunately.

Assumingly getting bored with his sides, Thanos decided to go for his neck. Totally not because Nam-gyu tickled his tattoo right before going up to Min-su he discovered that Min-su's neck wasn't that affective, but it still caused him to make funny movements, observed from the both of them, along with a few squeaks and huffs.

"C'mon, you gotta do better than that to get him going! Watch. And. Learn!" Nam-gyu said suddenly, walking up to them as he cracked his fingers. Min-su was fucked..

He didn't know whether or not this guys would show him mercy if he started, but he never wanted to find out. He was relieved that it was just Thanos tickling him, but Nam-gyu?? He's digging his own grave now.

"W-wahahait, no! Nohot you toho.. Plehease!" Min-su pleaded, looking at Thanos for help with begging eyes. Thanos looked at him with a smirk.

"Don't worry! He's way more skilled, trust me!" Thanos said, beating his fist in his chest to emphasize the word "trust."

But.. That's exactly why he didn't want Nam-gyu to touch him, because he was skilled. He's seen how he literally dominated Thanos earlier-Thanos was BOOMING with laughter. He grew more nervous by the second as Nam-gyu approached them.

"I'll make your anxieties go away with a single puff of air!" Nam-gyu said as he blew air into his fist to extend his fingers, lastly giving him a wicked smile that told him he had no mercy.

"You see, you gotta really get them laughing-to really make sure that you're releasing all that tension loose, you get me?" Nam-gyu looked at Thanos as he placed his hands on Min-su's shoulders, squeezing them every now and then as a "gifted" massage before all hell broke loose.

Thanos gave him an "aah" sound to let him know that he was following. As he eyed him carefully, Nam-gyu suddenly darted his hands onto Min-su's ribs, using intricate fingers to experiment each crevice and bone like he was some test subject.

Oh, the scream he had released.

Min-su would have told you that you were hearing things if you said he screamed. It was definitely a feeling he has not felt before, or at least in forever. He forgot how badly his ribs were, it was like Nam-gyu was some kind of expert on tickling someone like Min-su. That thought alone sent shivers down his spine as if the tingly sensations weren't already spine crawling enough.

"F-FUHUHUCK.. WAIT! WAHAHAIT!" Min-su used the strength he had to try and pry Nam-gyu's blood thirsty fingers off of him, but with how weak he was quickly becoming from the onslaught had him struggle to get the upper hand.

The two drug addicts laughed at his squeaky retorts. How he could muster up the courage to even speak to them like that was dumfoundingly shocking to the both of them.

"Wow, Min-su! I never thought you had the gut to curse like that! We should do this more often." Nam-gyu teased, bringing the blush to flush all over Min-su's features adorably to the two. He didn't want to use such language in front of them, he didn't know why, but with this sort of thing, he might as well sell his soul for how humiliating this was for him.

"Hey Nam-su!" Thanos said suddenly, wearing an offended look from his new-found friend.

"It's Nam-gyu, Bro." He said, easily irritated at the mispronunciation of his name, never once leaving Min-su's poor ribs alone.

"Why not go for the pits?" ignoring the correction, he stared at Nam-gyu as he asked this.

"You're so right, bro! We gotta try." He said, looking at Min-su now, noticing that he looked at him with widened eyes.

"PLEHEHEASE- NOHOohohot the PIHIHI- WAHAHAIT- AHAHAHA!" With a sharp jolt, almost getting out of Thanos' hold by the reaction, but Nam-gyu kept him in place as he shot his hands into his armpits with determination. He drilled his thumbs into the both of them, causing Min-su to squeal.

He couldn't form words now, realising that the feeling was too much to even speak. He reluctantly squirmed and pulled as he tried desperately to get out of the hold from the agonizing feeling. All together to save his sanity, he looked away from the both of them as he laughed his heart out. He even forgot why they even tickled him in the first place.

"Let it loose, my boy!" Thanos yelled with an amused smile.

"Yeah!" Nam-gyu had suddenly bent down to get close to his ear, "We know you needed this~" he sung with a whisper, causing Min-su to shift his head from the breathy feeling in general, causing his ears to become a bit red now. God, this was awful.

He was alright with Thanos tickling him cause he visibly showed mercy to not go rough, but Nam-gyu? He was ruthless! He wished it was Thanos instead.

"PLEHEAHA- PLEA- PLEEHEASE! W-WAIT!" Min-su used all his strength to muster those words, hoping, praying that the ruthless monster would stop. Thankfully, he relented, but he kept his hands in his armpits to continue his adorable giggles.

"What is it, huh?" Nam-gyu said teasingly, slightly shaking his hands to make him tense. God, what a pain?

"Ihihi.. IhI need ahaha brehehake!" Min-su breathlessly begged, never once looking at the both of them from embarrassment.

Nam-gyu and Thanos looked at each other, and then back at Min-su.

"Hmm... Let me think on that!" Nam-gyu hummed, slowly wiggling his fingers now to surprise the poor man.

"Gohohod dahahamit.. Ehehahaha." Min-su couldn't help his flustered giggles. He shook his head as if that would help his predicament, but it only amused Nam-gyu and Thanos.

"Aren't you have fun, Min-su~?" Nam-gyu asked teasingly in his ear yet again, causing his ears to go redder than before. He didn't know what to say in that moment.

He wanted to say no. He wanted Nam-gyu to lay off. But this was genuinely helping him with his anxiety attack, and it did feel kind of nice when Thanos started the ticklish ambush.. But he wasn't going to ask him to switch with Thanos. Surely not.

"Well? What's it gonna be?" Nam-gyu guickly drilled his thumbs in his armpits again to get him to squeal once more, regrettably deciding to keep quiet.

"WAITWAHAHAIT WAHAHIT! NOHOHOT AHAHAGAIN!"

"Do you want us to continue or not? Not like we'd stop anytime soon, though, HA!" Nam-gyu said, drilling more into him armpits as if the earlier assault wasn't enough.

"THAHAHANOS! LEHEHET THAHANOHOS- AAAH, EHAHAAHAHA!" and he said it... He didn't want to, but if it got Nam-gyu to stop, then so be it, right?

Both of them were shocked, staring at each other with amusement, Nam-gyu finally laid off, holding his hands up as to surrender. "He's all yours, man!" He said.

Heavily breathing in well deserved gulps of air, Min-su was thankful that Nam-gyu actually relented in his attacks. Surely Thanos would go easy on him. He did earlier!

"You're about to experience the new Thanos world, my brother!" Thanos said in a booming voice. Wait what? What did he mean by that?

"Thank Nam-su over there for demonstrating how to get your beers turning!" Thanos said. Again with the nickname, Nam-gyu was ticked off by that.

Oh.

Oh no.

This can't be happening.

Min-su's heart sunk to the floor, as he nervously looked up to Thanos. "W-wahait.. Plehease don't.." he begged.

Thanos only looked at him with a smug look on his face. "Let's give these armpits some more attention." he said, darting his hand into his pits, relishing in new bounts of laughter from the shorter.

"AHAHA- F-FUHUHUCK YOHOHOU!" Min-su regretted his choic of words by the second, noticing how Thanos stopped his attack for a brief moment before going back to really drill his thumps into his Armpits.

"Oh, you're fucked now, Min-su." Nam-gyu said darkly, crossing his arms to watch the scene unfold.

Min-su was going to be humiliated for the rest of that very day. But of course, you never want to mess with Thanos and Nam-gyu if you want your ego untouched that is!

---

oh my goodness, I hope this was good 🫣🫣

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!

[twst-hottest-takes]

Does wishing for Yuu (the mc) to actually go home, a hot take? I saw several people want Yuu to stay, or at least hesitate to go home because of their friends.

But i can't see them staying at all. There's barely any solid attachment in twisted wonderland, with the exception of Grim (and maybe Ace and Deuce), and all of their experiences so far (in the main story) are...horrible and most of them are near-death experiences. i would be surprised if they're not traumatized. Hell, they are so excited when they finally find a way home! (as they should)

I just want them to finally go home, away from these messes that are caused by emotional and angsty teenagers with lackluster authority figures.

(And then we will finally become Grim /j)

It's a dumb joke, but we are Grim. Grim is practically an extension of us. That cat talk for us already, hell he attached to us 24/7. He see what we see, his experience is ours experience. If yuu leave, i can see grim becoming the sole mc. He already has his own sprite and stuff, might as well make him the mc right?

It would be funny if experiencing school life as Grim is the end game. I wouldn't mind being a furry thing

It might be a less popular take actually.

I know lots of people want Yuu/MC to stay in Twisted Wonderland because of the whole self-insert, "I would want to stay in Twisted Wonderland," and other such sentiments, but I'm with you, Anon.

It's not that I don't understand. It would be super dramatic and emotionally appealing to have the MC finally get a chance to go back to their world and have it treated as an immensely difficult choice because of all the experiences they've had at NRC and all the new friends they've made with all the impact they've had. But that's not how the game is written. I know we're supposed to think along those lines, but is that really accurate? I can go on a tangent about how little impact the MC actually has on the story overall (less and less so as time goes on), but I'll leave it shortly as this: The writing is not convincing for what the story is (most likely) going to try and get across by the end of it. There just really isn't much for the MC to be attached to here other than Ace and Deuce (Grim is a menace), and even they are kinda, "Meh, I could take or leave them." There's still time before the story finale to really bring everything together for that emtional punch at the end but until that happens all I've been saying is, "SEND ME HOOOOMMMEE!"

Now, a post MC TWST game where Grim becomes the MC insert isn't a bad idea. For all the nonsense that is his character and for all that I can't stand him, the little brat might be more tollerable when he's not dragging MC down or acting as the annoying player speaker piece. So I could see that as being a decent prediction/theory actually.

Thank you for your take.

(Just say the word and the "wimpy MC" essay will be spawned into existence, but for now it stays in the back pocket.)

[j3lly-fish]

I'll probably lose followers for this, but fuck it.

"Why are people so negative about this pack?", "If you don't want it just don't buy it.", "If you hate this game so much why do you still play it?"

I love this game. I have been playing sims 4 since 2017. I know for a fact a lot of you have played for FAR longer than I have and share these same feelings. I have spent over 1000 dollars on this game in terms of DLC. I cannot name you a single other fucking game with DLC that adds up to 4 digits like that, and that has somehow been normalized over the years because people keep indicating to EA that they want to keep spending like this. I stopped buying dlcs when they seemingly forgot Game Packs existed almost 3 years ago and just started going down the god forsaken Expansion/Kit route they're still going with to this day. Around that time I saw the quality of these packs go down, funnily enough. That being said, I look forward to these features! I love the tattoo shop, the candy shop, the at home businesses, we've been BEGGING for some of these features. Yes I'm excited!

But look me in the eyes and tell me this surface level amount of features is worth 60 canadian dollars. THAT is what I'm negative about. That is why I'm 'hating'. Some of you need to understand the difference between hating for the sake of hating something, and hating something based on the way EA has treated our love for this game in the last few years by delivering these dlcs for the price of a full game. Y'all say 'fuck EA' until a pack drops and you give them exactly what they want. I am convinced we haven't had a game pack in years now because they've noticed people just buy these game pack-sized expansions regardless.

If I genuinely hated this game so bad, I wouldn't be playing it at all and I'd have moved on by now. I am being 'hateful' because I love this game. I WANT to see it thrive, I want to see it have the charm it used to have, and for an accessible price for all. Critiquing something we enjoy is completely normal and I'm not sure where the opposite mindset stemmed from, how else are corporates and game devs supposed to learn about their audience's likes and dislikes??? Do you wanna hear critique from a guy who's not opened your game once, or from a guy who's now got 4000+ hours on it??? I was talking with my friend about this cause he joked about the fact that if you now want a cat café in the game, that's essentially 120 Canadian dollars, $180 if you consider Get Together's coffee mechanics. That, to me, as funny as it is, is also beyond ridiculous when put into that perspective, but its technically true. With that money I could go buy 5-6 indie games and have the trajectory of my life changed forever instead, which im debating now after writing all this LMAO.

Anyways, stop giving EA your money, you're feeding the machine.

Once again asking people to not buy this shitty get to work reskin pack but I know you're all gonna ignore me because some other person will share a creator's code or something

[saitoakirachan-fangirls]

Roleswap AU except Akechi and Joker are childhood friend soulmates and doing their own thing with Futaba.

Meanwhile, Haru, with her natural proficiency with psychic abilities, is forcibly pushed to awaken her persona Wu Zetian, and becomes Noir, Shido's personal assassin and her father's bargaining chip. Haru's psychic power revolves around hypnosis and brainwashing. It basically opens the target's mind to suggestion, and when needed, she can break them as well. Unlike Call of Chaos, which awakens the target's ugliest hidden impulses, Haru's power directly suppresses their ability to think for themselves. If used repeatedly, it will slowly turn the target unresponsive to outside stimuli, their mind completely atrophied. She had to work with Dr. Maruki who was selected to nurture Haru's powers. The first choice would've been Isshiki Wakaba, but her lab mysteriously caught fire after a failed experiment exploded...

Deluding herself into thinking that she was serving justice, she aided Shido and her father in taking down corrupt and abusive men. If these men turned out to also be competition, then it must simply be a coincidence. Unlike in-game Akechi, who seems to not really use his powers outside of orders, Haru is a prolific power abuser in an almost Phantom Thief fashion. She does this out of genuine wish to help, but a tiny part of her is also using this as a way to maintain her illusion of justice. Like, look, I'm helping! All of this is for justice! Would a horrible assassin desperate for her father's approval do this? Only, the problem is that her power is not permanent, so she either has to make the decision of using her power again and again, or let the power fade and the target will revert to their original ways.

When she first learns about the Phantom Thieves, she's intrigued. She always felt alone in her justice, but now, there are more people using the Metaverse and persona powers for justice. This is so exciting! Except she meets them and immediately hates their guts because all she sees are nicer, less unhinged versions of herself. They're untainted and naive and sincere in all the ways she isn't (or so she thinks). They make it so so clear that Haru is delusional in her view of justice, that it's all nonsense she's making up to cope. They never murdered anyone (Goro says lol), never felt their victim target's mind break in their hands. Shido had ordered her to destroy them. She was hesitant at first, but now she inexplicably wants to do exactly that.

(Dirty their purity and break their innocence, like Haru had to break herself)

[mylovesstuffs]

100 Reasons Why I Love Joshua Hong ! (aka The Ultimate Gentleman Menace, Sunday Morning Enthusiast, The Heartbreaker, Joshua "I Know Exactly What I'm Doing" Hong.)

1. His voice is as smooth as melted chocolate.

2. The way he naturally carries himself like a prince.

3. His “gentleman” image isn’t an act, he’s genuinely kind to everyone woozi disagrees

4. When he smiles, it feels like the world just got 10% brighter.

5. The way he treats Carats with so much respect, like we’re royalty.

6. His ability to look effortlessly elegant in any situation mama 2024.

7. His bunny teeth.

8. His soft-spoken way of giving advice.

9. When he looks out for others, making sure they’re comfortable.

10. He makes you feel like he’d remember your name if he met you once. I'm sorry but this reminds me of this fancall

11. When he roasts the members so smoothly, they don’t even realize it at first.

12. The way he plays innocent after completely wrecking someone in Going Seventeen along with Jeonghan

13. His ability to drop sarcastic one-liners that leave everyone speechless. This and also this.

14. How he knows he’s handsome.

15. That smirk. You know the one. (Don’t pretend you don’t.)

16. The “Joshua is an angel” myth he carefully crafted and then destroyed. Woozi cheered

17. His eye smile.

18. Aegyo.

19. How he sometimes forgets he’s supposed to be the quiet and composed one.

20. When he winks and knows exactly what he’s doing to us.

21. His voice is versatile—he can go from soft ballads to rock vibes in seconds.

22. The way he harmonizes so effortlessly, like it’s second nature.

23. How he plays the guitar like he was born with it in his hands.

24. His songs that prove he’s more than just a pretty face.

25. sunday morning rain is falling.

26. His stage presence.

27. The passion he puts into singing.

28. His little head tilts when he sings high notes (it’s adorable).

29. His nose scrunch.

30. When he effortlessly switches between English and Korean.

31. The way he listens patiently when the members rant.

32. When he comforts just by being next to them.

33. How he always hypes up his members during their parts.

34. That time he hugged Jeonghan because he was cold.

35. This

36. His friendship with each SEVENTEEN member.

37. How he just lets the younger members tease him because he loves them. though I think it's sometimes the other way around.

38. His genuine pride when the members achieve something.

39. The way he brings balance to SEVENTEEN’s chaos. He doesn't

40. Gentle sexy.

41. When he zones out mid-goSe game rules.

42. When he’s munching happily.

43. “Dokyeom popo joseyo”

44. His love for water.

45. Joshua patting others head.

46. Him imitating other members.

47. Ngaf sometimes in GoSe.

48. His love for anime.

49. When he fake laughs but then actually starts laughing for real.

50. His patience.

51. The way his voice changes depending on the language he’s speaking.

52. His habit of gently tilting his head when he listens to someone.

53. The little smirk he does when he knows he’s winning.

54. That time he wore glasses in Nanatour and everyone collectively lost their minds.

55. The way his entire aura changes when he’s performing.

56. MUSCLES.

57. HIS LIPS!!! HIS LIPS!! HIS UPTURNED LIPS!!

58. The way he flips his hair and ruins lives.

59. How he always looks effortlessly good in any outfit.

60. The way he matches his outfits with the members. In one TTT probably, hoshi and dokyeom

61. His undercut.

62. Softie.

63. His headstand.

64. “then die”

65. When he pretends to be serious but breaks character immediately.

66. His dramatic reactions whenever he loses a game.

67. “ypu don't have a sense of humour”

68. His love for his mom.

69. How he gets so excited.

70. WINKS.

71. His deep respect for his mom and her influence on him.

72. Cherishing SEVENTEEN’s journey together.

73. Getting emotional thanking Carats for always supporting them.

74. How he makes sure to appreciate every little thing fans do for them.

75. When he holds back tears but his eyes say everything.

76. His deep speaking voice off cam vs. his angelic speaking voice on cam.

77. Caratdeul.

78. ◠‿◠

79. Reminding Carats to take care of themselves first.

80. He values genuine human connections over everything else.

81. His ability to be both chaotic and elegant.

82. Effortlessly blends into any concept.

83. His patience with everything, even when things go wrong.

84. The fact that he never lets fame change his humble nature.

85. His love for learning and constantly improving himself.

86. Giving his all on stage, every single time.

87. How he manages to keep his world calm despite everything.

88. He can go from mildly chaotic to full gremlin mode depending on who he’s with.

89. His respect for different cultures and how he embraces diversity.

90. When he sings with that soft, breathy tone that makes everyone weak.

91. Because he can make you laugh one second and cry the next.

92. Because his kindness is never performative—it’s just who he is.

93. Because he brings warmth wherever he goes.

94. Because he’s the definition of effortlessly cool.

95. Because he makes the world feel a little softer.

96. Because he inspires people.

97. Because his existence alone is comforting.

98. Because he’s a safe place for Carats.

99. Because SEVENTEEN wouldn’t be the same without him.

100. Because life is simply better with Joshua in it.

[canmom]

as a general maxim, when you make art you wanna create contrasts: detail vs simplicity, saturated colours vs grey, organic shapes vs inorganic, long paragraphs vs short, colloquial language vs formal, loud vs quiet, fullness vs emptiness

and you also want to work that on a meta level as well. contrasting between things being the same and things being different. repeating the same thing over and over feels homogeneous but so does everything constantly changing. a mix of some things coming back around and some things being novel keeps you guessing.

and keeps you guessing is an important thing - a purely regular pattern with no variation doesn't tend to elicit as much interest, except when it's placed in contrast to other artworks.

recently in the last few decades it seems that, probably inspired by the parallel discourses of machine learning, neuroscienctists have cooked up a kind of 'thermodynamics-style' theory of how the brain works with what they call the 'free energy principle', which casts the brain as being in a cycle of constantly generating predictions and testing them against sensory input in order to refine its internal model. here's artem kirsanov, a guy who makes pretty good videos on ML theory, with a neat visual summary:

why do they call it free energy? I guess they're following in the footsteps of Claude Shannon in borrowing names from thermodynamics for similar-looking formulae. (and in fact, Shannon entropy ends up playing a role here.)

I will need to dig more into this to really pierce the mathematical formalism and jargon in this hypothesis; presently I'm reacting to a surface summary and vibes. but musing on the idea, I think this tells quite a cute story about the above maxim for art: things that are hard to predict force us to do more work to develop our internal model, so they provoke us; but there does need to be something to predict, because it's also saisfying to resolve a pattern in the noise.

the interplay of surprise, recognition, and learning, by this theory, somehow drives how we feel about the art, from the feeling of intrigue when you see an intricate visual composition, to the emotional impact that comes from a long-teased resolution in music.

to add a wrinkle to this, apparently individual neurons respond positively to rhythmic stimulation, such that if you're trying to grow a physical neural net, that's how you 'reward' neurons for giving good outputs. (I believe it came up in this video where a youtuber tried to grow some neurons to play Doom.) repeated patterns are in a sense the 'least surprising' input. not 100% sure how that vibes with this theory tbh, I feel like there's a lot of ways you could fit those two concepts together.

music is a very 'pure' form of art in this sense: you establish clearly recognisable patterns and then vary them just before they start to get boring.

games, on the other hand, engage our direct interactive feedback: we can try things and see if the game responds in the way we expect, and in so doing, elaborate an internal model of the game world.

I think this also gives me a lens on my autistic difficulties with social interaction: until I learn enough of the social 'game' in a particular space to understand how the things I say are likely to be received, I tend to feel quite anxious. but once I start to get to know people and get a basic model and feel that I'm not likely to put my foot in it too badly, the feeling flips quite dramatically; it becomes exciting to meet people and learn about all the very specific things they're passionate about.

I don't wanna go too far with this, I distrust 'everything reduces to this simple formula' metaphors, but I formed a connection and now I'm telling you about it!!!

[in-case-of-grace]

My big fear is that no one will pick it up after being faced with names they find difficult to pronounce. I'm afraid of folk not giving the game or short stories a try based on that alone, on that bit of friction being all it takes to sour people on my work.

My work on Qet has been hard to share over the years, and has been contained almost exclusively to one tiny corner of the internet. Qet was one of the biggest worlds on a niche worldbuilding site for a few years, I had some consistent readers who enjoyed it! My first physically published work was a Qet short story that got into an anthology! I won contests with Qet articles! But...that was all in that small space. It has never done well outside that niche community.

Any time I've tried to share bits of Qet on other socials— including Tumblr— it's been dead on arrival. I know number chasing isn't healthy, and I'm not looking for those...I just want like, readers. I want to know my words were seen. To be acknowledged by a handful, that's all. (This may also just speak to the broader difficulty of sharing prose on social media, whenever I pick the TTRPG's development back up, I have a feeling those posts may see more interaction.)

I did start out wanting to challenge readers and players alike— I've even had several readers get excited about seeing something inspired by their culture and history— but the way readers engaged with the writing was different from how players engaged with the game. It was fine reading comments on the articles and stories, as folk could just copy/paste the words directly even if they struggled with them. But when it came time to do playtests? Hearing players struggle in real time, having the game slow to a halt as they tried to pronounce words or gave serious things goofy nicknames after getting too frustrated kinda...hurt.

I want to share the stories of Qet with people but I don't want to make it so inaccessible that it's disruptive and unfun for players.

I do like the above suggestion of shorter names, though I feel there may be some limit to their application given how incredibly large Qet has become over the years. (There's a whole dictionary at this point, and I try to give some thought to the etymology of names.) Qet was named Qet in the first place because of exactly this, though— it's short, sweet, and hopefully accessible enough that the upfront title doesn't scare people off.

Maybe I'll have to go over the naming of things again and see if, perhaps— I can salvage the conlang by just making the game critical things shorter and easier?

I'm kinda just rambling at this point, though. I have a lot of Feelings on the matter, Qet's my baby, after all. I've been working on this thing in some form for 6 years now. It's the longest I've worked on anything! I want it to do well, I want to share it, and I'm scared of it going unseen.

Thank you for your replies and the time it took to write em!

TTRPG Devlog: Qet and Inaccessible Names

I've been boiling a thought in the back of my mind lately, in regards to Naming Things in Fiction.

Newer folk may not know this, but my longest running creative endeavour has been Qet; a dark fantasy eldritch horror setting with inspiration from various Mesoamerican cultures and histories. It's a worldbuilding project, narrative setting, and TTRPG-- relegated to the backburner for over a year now. I needed a break.

Herein lies my problem: Qet's "common" equivalent language is a conlang inspired by Nahuatl.

English-first speakers, particularly fellow Americans, struggle a LOT with Nahuatl and anything similar to it. I'm American so my audience would...include a lot of Americans. Naturally a lot of the friends I'd want to run the game for are also American.

People struggle to read a lot of the proper nouns in Qet. An early first draft campaign took place in the deep caverns of Tchaoxlik, and the players were given Zykeutuezyl-- little light-emitting lizards-- as their primary source of light, to care for.

The bottomless lake Chluetichlon is significant in the lore, the Coulqepluex are a major ethnicity, and Qeplueoytz are shape-shifting monsters entire campaigns could center around. I've more examples, but you get the idea by now, I'm sure.

Part of Qet's inception was me noticing that US/UK fantasy overwhelmingly takes inspiration from European cultures, and That Sucks! There's so much more in the world, for one-- and this is fantasy! I want to see UNIQUE worlds that aren't just England But With Magic. Qet was my first worldbuilding project, and at the time I began, I had yet to develop the ability to just...make new stuff off the dome.

So I needed a solid inspiration from the real world as a starting point, and I chose something I thought was severely underrepresented: Mesoamerica. There is no 1:1 "this is the Maya but they're blue" or "here's the Olmec but they're birds" type stuff in Qet, rather, there's bits and bobs spread amongst original cultures and the world they live in. Corn is a staple food. The climate is hot and humid with a lot of shared flora from the real world Mesoamerican region-- but more differentiated fauna. One culture wears Aztec-inspired capes but live in Pueblo-inspired adobe homes. Polished obsidian mirrors play into eldritch magic. Some cultures sit and sleep on reed mats. One regional religion is a blend of the Aztec faith and Catholicism. Alongside these and many other bits of inspiration, the trade language of the world is Qetlec, which is inspired by Nahuatl.

I quite like a lot of the Qetlec names and words I've come up with over the years. I find several to be particularly satisfying to say! But I do have to admit that I, myself, had to train and practice to pronounce my own conlang. It may be second nature after years of working with it, but I often run into the dreaded "sbah...sbshs...uh...however you say it" or blatant word-butchering from new readers. It's an accessibility problem, after a certain point.

When I think of naming in fictional settings I return time and time again to what I believe to be a shining example of strong, accessible naming: Destiny.

Everything players need to know has a simple name that's typically just straight up English, no matter how alien. The Eliksni? Well that's a difficult name for some, so to players they're just...called "The Fallen." Other alien groups are simply titled: The Cabal, The Vex (who are actually made of radiolarian fluid-- another difficult name), and The Hive.

When they do concoct unique names for things, they do so in a way that should be easy to pronounce for their primarily English speaking audience. Fikrul. Mithrax. Oryx. Savathun is probably the most difficult one and that still seems fairly easy for players to pick up on.

Sometimes Destiny takes proper nouns from existing languages on Earth, but does so in the same manner-- sticking either to words English spakers already know or could feasibly pronounce with ease. Rasputin. Osiris. Ahamkara.

Destiny's player-facing setting is one that is crafted to be accessible. They're careful with their names. It's in the weird background lore that things may get complicated from time to time-- where it's not essential for players to be able to pronounce everything.

Qetlec isn't the only conlang in Qet, there are several others, but I'm less worried about them. It's reasonable to expect that English readers can pronounce Lhehd names like Hanviehl, Ahndel Veha, and Linnh; Tolech names like Mochog, Romtol, and Kupuch; or Auroullott names like Beuttep, Tteunor, and Auroboll.

Eldritch names are fine to be a bit difficult, I think, but I ride the line with those too-- Ul'jvot, Gaegoed, Kub-glorrha. Yaesheuhnahl is right at the edge but, it is a god made of 3 separate entities (Yaesh, Euhn, and Ahl) so I think it's not totally unreasonable.

It's Qetlec in specific that I think causes problems, which is a really big shame because I think it adds a lot to the world's flavor. But it includes a lot of sounds that aren't readily apparent, with things like "x" actually being pronounced "sh" or tight consonant/vowel pairings unfamiliar to the English reader like "ytz" "zyk" and "qeu." Hell, even beyond pairings-- the letters q, y, and z aren't super common in English! (Y is common at the *ends* of words but not at the start.)

I've tried some halfway measures here and there. I include pronunciation tooltips on every word I think folk may have difficulty with-- but that's only really doable on a webpage. In recent years, anything I added that I thought might be difficult to pronounce included an English alternative name. Gaiwej: Whispering Mouth. Asdeom: Adaptive Flesh. Zeloutihue: Lunatic of Lliaq. P'qur: The Labyrinth of Gods.

You get the idea.

I think it did work in making things more accessible, but it did bother me a little that this made the titles of each article much, much longer. It did make for names that were easier to remember, and, crucially-- look up. It was a bit of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too solution.

However, while this might work for a setting presented in a wiki format-- it doesn't work for a book or TTRPG. If you find yourself in a canyon and spot something in the distance you wish to warn your comrades of-- are you really going to shout "everyone look out for the Asdeom: Adaptive Flesh?" No. You're going to pick one or the other-- "Asdeom" or "Adaptive Flesh."

If your comrades have internalized only one of the two names, especially the one opposite what you called out-- they might be confused. We solved one problem only to create a new one! The easier solution is to simply have one, memorable-- and pronounceable-- name.

And that's where I'm stuck, I suppose. I'm attached to the many unpronouncible names of Qet and I know I must do away with them. I need to make new rules that limit how many syllables they may have, and cut out sounds that are difficult for English speakers.

Part of me thinks I need to start entirely from scratch on Qetlec instead of just reworking what's there. That I'm going to be too blinded by familiarity to spot all the problem areas, or too attached to change key nouns. Is "Zeloutihue" totally fine and pronounceable for the average English speaker? I can't tell! I'm lost in the sauce here!

If words like zykeutuezyl and olxlikliz are totally easy for me by now, how can I judge everything else fairly?

This is all to say, hey, think about this from the start. Don't make my mistakes and end up in this pit with me-- if you want your project to be accessible to your intended audience, consider the language(s) they might speak. What sounds are they familiar with? Could they feasibly pronounce all the important terminology in your work?

I'd love to hear folks' thoughts on this, what do you think? What would you do in my situation? What good or bad examples of accessible conlang have you come across? How have your own projects approached conlangs and names?