#and thank god there are webcomics so you too can tell the stories you would have wanted to read when you were younger!!!!

[pepurika]

I'm so physically unwell over Remy, and over all of Tiger Tiger in general. I read the entire thing on thursday and bought the book yesterday at my local bookstore because I physically could not wait for it to be near me. In the first chapters I was thinking oh this will be a funny story about the main girl, haha I wonder if we'll ever hear from him again, and then i wept over Remy's diary entries and fell in love with him and the entire cast. I've never felt so Seen by a story before. May i have the discord link so i can gush about it with others?

YES JOIN US...

also thank you so much for the kind comments!! I'm always happy to hear that the story resonates with people!! especially with remy's storyline, since I myself grew up in a rural, eastern european town so queer loneliness was very present throughout my youth. putting some of that experience in there HEHHEH

[undersprite]

2024 Comic Contest Results

Before we get started, I would like to extend a personal thank you to everyone who created an entry for the contest this year. Although we only got four entries this year, those four entries' dedication to telling stories that are novel and interesting for this community to enjoy is worthy of commendation in itself. For a while, I was scared we wouldn't even get enough entries to fill the podium; thanks to your efforts, this has not come to pass.

Since we have very few entries this time around, I'll be providing a link to each comic, with accompanying scores and excerpts from reviews. Now, catch the results under the cut:

Runner-Up: "The Undertale Game Comic" by FutureGamer25

(Average score: 15.5/50)

"As the submitter says, this was made in a day. I can’t be too hard on this out of principle..." - Soufon

"[...it] succeeded at making me laugh multiple times, thanks in no small part to how it deliberately wields nothing looking like it fits together." - CHAOS_FANTAZY

"You know, honestly for being made in less than a day and being posted 5 minutes before the deadline, I gotta give you a lot of credit for that. I don’t even think I could have made that in a day [...]" - Mufeet

"The freaking car and the ending got me a good chuckle. I'll give you that. I congratulate you for tossing your coin." - Subna

3rd: "Frisk Visits the Store and Nothing Happens" by Trooper3

(Average score: 34/50)

"I thought Sans and ESPECIALLY Papyrus were super funny [...] I think we’ve finally reached a point where the skele-bros are just consistently characterized properly now, and I love to see it." - Mufeet

"The FunMart[TM] makes an earnest effort to capture the feeling of exploring an area in an actual Toby Fox game, and [...] captures at least a bit of that shine." - CHAOS_FANTAZY

"I honestly like your idea, is funny and it works perfectly to show these OCs of yours in this format. I wish there was more content to see about them, I wish to know them [...]" - Subna

"As light as it is, I like having this kind of slice of life look into UT’s world, the comedy focus helping to make the comic feel more breezy than insubstantial." - Soufon

2nd: "Undertale: Pushing On" by Mouse

(Average score: 34.75/50)

"Of all the entries we got, this is the only one that really felt like it captured the essence of telling a story as if it were still part of a game—something I have sorely missed." - CHAOS_FANTAZY

"Great story and great teaching from it. Can add up greatly to UNDERTALE’s world and...tbh I’d LOVE to play a full game with Alvia." - Subna

"[...] I like having who [Gerson] is in UT be because of Alvia’s actions, like how the orange soul kid is framed as responsible for the bunny family in Snowdin’s success - having all the soul humans impact the underground like that helps all of them feel real to UT’s world[...]" -Soufon

"I was captivated from beginning to end, and god, the ending [...] it actually made me a bit teary-eyed." - Mufeet

1st: "Knock Knock" by StarlightShores and ToMoChao

(Average score: 47/50)

"I was not expecting something like this out of this contest. Knock Knock is a substantial storyline, not a peek into an adventure, or a silly reprieve." - Soufon

"Even if it’s pretty lengthy, it keeps you engaged, to know where this is all going, all the way to the end." - Subna

"Flowey and Sans pair-ups are so rare, but when done it is ALWAYS such a fun time. They both play off each other so well, and it is no exception in this comic, especially towards the end where they start to bond over dealing with the loss of someone important to them." - Mufeet

"You created a story going on a thousand panels where, while reading it, my attention never flagged [...] You created a webcomic the Undertale fanbase will, if there’s any justice left around here, be obsessed with for years to come. It’s art, I’m afraid." - CHAOS_FANTAZY

Our full score card for the event can be seen here. The full reviews will be available in the Discord server on request.

With regards to prizes: the judge whom was contributing to our prize pool has begun college for the year, and unfortunately they were unable to set aside the money they had originally promised for the cash prize. The illustration prize is still available; winners, please reach out to fmsdraws on Discord to claim your prize.

And that leaves me...with this blog.

I'd like to write up a proper postmortem for this experience, but that can come in another week or two. For now, please enjoy the comics and celebrate the victors!

[27thfirefly]

hi. i just read the last chapter of your fic went blind last year and HOLY FUCK it is so good. i get it if you don’t want to like spoil things about your fic but i have many many questions and thoughts so im just gonna write a bunch of them.

the whole thing with like. dirk tapping into ultimate dirk and part of canon and then being shoved out? and then kind of realizing that he is a small part of something very big and wanting to be a bigger part of it, and then getting orange eyes representing a stronger connection to dirk-ness? fascinating. and is daves eyes turning red then symbolic of him becoming closer to dave-ness? and speaking of that- dante??? great character, very interesting. is he like somehow a version of dave? and what was he talking about on the swings? is he also in some sort of a loop? and what was it that dirk did at the end of chapter four? he did something with the sword, right, did he make dante decapitate him and then somehow come back to life?

and hal. and cal! holy shit, i can’t believe it but you kind of made me LIKE cal somehow? in the sense that he can be violent and outrageous and insane and vengeful when dirk can’t and its kind of cathartic.

its interesting to see where things stay the same as in canon and where they dont. like dave has chat logs with rose in 2014 and 2015? but hes only fourteen. so he’s technically both older and younger than he is at the beginning of homestuck. and dirk was like 13 in 1997, which is about when daves meteor should have dropped? but did they come with the meteors at all, in this world? dirk came with lil cal on his meteor in canon, but here he got him when he was 12. but dave still seems to be somewhat in touch with his time powers, and dirk with his heart powers, so some things carried over from the game?

god. this is all so fascinating and good. i will be probably rereading the fic and eating drywall until a new chapter comes out. you are an amazing writer.

wahhh thank you very much! for what it's worth i too have been thinking a lot about went blind last year. glances at the +50k word txt document of story notes and wip chapters. so i do love getting to talk about it even if working on it is very slow at the moment! i will put this under a readmore cos i got carried away but

there's a lot of things i don't want to spoil yet yes... but i think i've laid enough of the groundwork that these things won't feel terribly out of place within the story.

one thing i do feel comfortable in divulging is that any connections to canon are deliberately tenuous... how far can a character diverge from canon while still being understood as fitting the mold for that character? when a character is deliberately obscured, how much does fanon interpretation impact what feels in-character?

when you read fanfiction or fancomics or whatever kind of work about a specific character, your mind creates a superposition of the character as they exist in the original work and the character as they exist in the fanwork. as long as the "shape" of the character in the fanwork doesn't stick out too much from your perception of the canon "shape", you can accept that character--as written by someone else--as the same as in canon. some of the choices i have made are deliberately contradictory to the text of homestuck the webcomic. i have made these choices in order to tell the story i want to tell. even so, the basis for the characters in wbly are understood to be the same as in homestuck, creating an expectation for what these characters will act like, what their baseline is, and how you as a reader approach them. your feelings about cal changing within the context of wbly is an interesting case of this in my mind--the cal within wbly is presumably still close enough to canon that you can call it the same character, but the role of cal is changed enough that your impression of him is changed. that kind of thing is FASCINATING to me.

the reason wbly would not work as an independent work is the same as why the homestuck epilogues do not work without the pre-existing fandom of homestuck: there need to be expectations for these characters and relationships in order for me to challenge those expectations.

another thing i will divulge is that went blind last year is not the full title of the story in my mind--i won't tell the full one, but it does tie into just about every conflict in the story.

thank you again for reading my overly complicated fanfic! hopefully you'll stick around even if it'll take me a lot longer than expected to complete. if not, that's fine too.

also every time i send updates to my friend i get lamentations so you know stuffs going great

[hiveworks]

Vampires, Witches, and Magic

Interview with Eric Lide and Angélica María

October 2023

Solstoria by Angélica María (aka: @charmwitch) and Ozzie the Vampire by Eric Lide (aka: @ericlide) are celebrating their 10th year anniversaries! We're diving into these absolute webcomic legends to learn more about their creative process in a joint interview with María and Lide.

Ozzie the Vampire is a webcomic about a vampire gal named Ozzie and her best friend Kimmy who find themselves protecting the town of Gloomburg, New Jersey, which seems to always find itself under the constant assault of demonic forces from the underworld. Sometimes they even learn something!

Solstoria is follows a girl named Samantha and her brother, Lawrence, who carries the weight of protecting his family on his shoulders. When he goes missing, Samantha embarks on an adventure to become a knight.

For a look behind the scenes at these two webcomic series, read on!

It's spooky season, and both of your comics have themes of the supernatural. What kinds of creepy or magical energy do you bring into your comic?

Eric Lide:

I think the demons in Ozzie the Vampire bring the creepy energy for sure. A lot of them have bizarre and impractical anatomy, and they’re pretty enthusiastic about eating people.  Magic is a constant presence in the story as well, mostly through the spells Kimmy and Grimsley use to help Ozzie fight the bad guys.

Angélica María:

To start off, let's talk about the environments! There are certain areas and themes in Solstoria based around my love of Halloween! I'm not from the continental United States, so I've always loved the idea of a spooky air, or of pumpkins and ghosts. The Wayward Lands and Farmlands, two prominent areas spoken about in the story, are themed after the fall season in the United States. Besides that, witches carry a great importance in the story. They are magically gifted individuals of any gender, who purify the air and specialize in magics that are of help to the greater good of society. A witch is someone who can tame ghosts, calm uneven levels of magic in the city, and provide useful trinkets and charms for the everyday chore. They're just neat! Pointy hats are all the rage, too.

Which character in your comic would survive a horror movie?

EL:

Well Ozzie is more or less immortal, so she could probably sleepwalk her way through any horror movie scenario…

AM:

Oddly enough, I feel like Samantha and Oksana (eventually) have the calmest head on their shoulders. Most of the adults would probably be fine, Huxley would serve as a great merchant in between sanctuaries, but as for the rest… Actually, who's to say Solstoria isn't secretly horror…

A decade is a long time to be telling a story! Congratulations! How has your comic changed over the course of its publication?

EL:

When I first started out, I was just kind of drawing whatever and not thinking too much about the future. At that time, I was just trying to cram in as many fight scenes or gags as possible. Over the years though, I’ve come to love these characters and I think about them nonstop, so I’ve been writing more scenarios that challenge them on a personal level. There’s even a bit of romance coming up, which would’ve been unthinkable to me ten years ago.

AM:

Thank you so much! I burnt out for a few years, so you can definitely see my art style and narrative changing. I hope it's not... toooooooooo drastic of a change, but I always told myself to experiment on my pages and change things as I saw fit. If you re-read Solstoria, you will simply see my art evolve with no care of consistency. I apologize if this is glaring, but honestly- it's fun! One of the biggest changes now that I'm working on the story again is that we've swapped protagonists! Currently, we're seeing the story through Lawrence's eyes. Samantha's elder brother is possessed by a crow god, but he still thinks of his family first. Hopefully, they can figure something out together though!

What motivates you to keep going?

EL:

I’ve always been drawing comics since I was very young, so it’s hard to say. I think once a story is in me, it has to come out in some form, even if it takes forever or no one is interested in reading it. That said, comments– audience response of any kind, really– is always a huge boost for me.

Solstoria has an electric 2010s anime flavor. What kind of series inspire you? Do you have any manga or comic recs?

AM:

Oh, I appreciate the comparison, but I wish to counter it- Solstoria is heavily inspired by Japanese RolePlaying Games! Specifically, games created by Capcom, GameArts, Square-Enix, and a few others on top of that! I do have a few anime I quite enjoy, like Princess Tutu formulated my brain intensely. I highly recommend watching this show if you want to experience a masterpiece! If you just want a good time, I also quite like Slayers! As for video games, I have so many to recommend! I love Fire Emblem, Breath of Fire, Star Ocean, LUNAR, Lufia... and so much more! All of these games are close to my heart, but stylistically, I think the Disgaea series has a lot of visual influence on Solstoria.

Ozzie the Vampire has a cool punk flair that reminds me of webcomics I liked from the 2000s. Where do you draw inspiration from? Do you have any zine or webcomic recommendations?

EL:

Music was a big influence on Ozzie! There’s a lot of references to my favorite punk and metal records throughout the series, some obvious, others not so much. I always wanted the comic to look something like a scrappy punk zine. I don’t get to read many webcomics these days, but Boxcar City Rush has been a recent favorite.

What can fans of your series look forward to in the coming year?

EL:

More updates, hopefully. This year was a bit sparse due to working on my debut graphic novel, The Champion of Draeland, but I’ve been wrapping that up and eager to dive back into Ozzie. I have many other graphic novels on the way though, so balancing both worlds is going to be an interesting challenge.

AM:

I'm very ahead of schedule, so I hope I can keep the momentum going. We're learning quite a bit about Samantha's brother, Lawrence, but we will also learn soon about another character who is pivotal to both siblings. He's a quiet, gentle person who tries to take on things on his own, and it doesn't go his way. Also murder. There may be murder.

What is the best way for fans of your series to support you?

EL:

Leaving comments, reblogging and sharing updates, all that stuff really helps for sure! Fan art always brightens my day. I have a Patreon as well where I post early updates and behind-the-scenes material for only $2 a month. And of course, supporting my graphic novels once they release!

AM:

Honestly I really just love comments and tags on tumblr and twitter! If you wish to support me, you can always see early updates on Patreon! Thank you so much! But honestly, I just want to hear feedback from people and hear their thoughts and feelings about my work. It makes me so very happy.

Read Solstoria and Ozzie the Vampire for free and follow @charmwitch and @ericlide for updates!

[chiconisroc]

Was Not The Hero/the Way We Ended Up Questions and Answers Batch

1. Question: Would Anyone draw fanart for “The Way we ended up”?

Answer: I have no idea : o. It would be cool if someone did

More questions and responses:

2. Question: Here's another song I think it fits well with Belos:

Unsteady by X Ambassadors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0lw3qylVfY

Answer: yes, that would fit Belos well : 3

3. Question: How would Philip react to being French Kissed?

Answer: it depends, like Philip has never been kissed before so a French kiss right now would be too overwhelming for him : o. He probably would cringe, hahaha

4. Question: What would Philip think of among us?

Answer: he has no opinions since he wouldn’t enjoy playing video games : o. It’s not his thing o.o

5. Question: Would “I won’t say I’m in Love” fit Silas or Philip more.

Answer: I say it would fit Silas : o

6. Question: Would the Hexsquad hug Philip in the future?

Answer: maybe : 3. Got to wait and see ~

7. Question: In “Not What you Expected” would Philip confront the minister that abused him during childhood?

Answer: oh that is a spoiler and for sure will be revealed later if he does or not : )

8. Question: i think the lyrics from First Love/Late Spring fit Philip.

“ but i find that lately, I’ve been crying like a tall child “ ugsgas and “ please don’t say you love me “ because of the guilt and oh my god I LOVE ANGST. Philip Wittebane

Answer: yesss, I love angst toooo : )

9. Question: Did Silas Parents ever suspected he was gay?

Answer: nope, because peeps back in the day wouldn’t really think about that or not dare to : o

10. Question: Did Philip liked Silas because he reminded him of his brother?

Answer: nope : o. You will see why Philip liked Silas later in the story : 3

11. Question: Would Belos wear a dress?

Answer: it depends : o, on the style. He probably would like it more like what one of the robes he wore but not really a super feminine one

12. Question: If Philip had a nightmare about hurting Silas what would he do?

Answer: Philip would for sure feel guilty and would further add on to his belief that he is nothing but a monster and shouldn’t get close to anyone v.v

13. Question: another song that would fit Philip and Silas relationship is “Sim Under the Tree”

Answer: yesssss, ahhh, I think every bit of it fits them :3

14. Question: Has Hunter Seen Hunter x Hunter?

Answer: not yet : )

15. Question: Would Philip or Silas like “Everytime We touch”? also Would it fit their relationship?

Answer: I say Silas would for sure would love the song and fits both of them when it comes to their relationships : )

16. Question: I can't help but imagine Masha feeling bad about summing up the Wittebane backstory with "Sounds like big bro got a hot witch girlfriend, and little bro got upset." in an alternate scenario of the events of "Was Not The Hero" taking place after the Halloween Festival from Thanks To Them.

Answer: oh yah, Masha would feel bad if they said that cause that for sure is mocking him and throwing his traumas out the window

17. Question: have you seen a “Pip in time” webcomic?

Answer: i have now and it’s interesting : )

18. Question: Another song I think fits well with WNTH is Orange Blue's "Can Somebody Tell Me Who I Am":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mHthKfbnNE

Answer: that sound hits in the feels honestly and I agree that sound would fit the story

19. Question: Once hunter and Philip like eachother I think they'd go through a gacha life phase together and Philip would cry over glmv's and they would watch them together

Answer: I have no idea what glmv’s are : o

20. Question: Can Philip sing? Since his voice actor Mathew Rhys did musicals.

Answer: I say he can but it’s a skill he hasn’t realized he has himself : 3

21. Question: Was it the palisman or glyph tattoos that caused Philip Curse?

Answer: that you will have to wait for the story to reveal it : )

[chaotictempleknight]

And that's all folks. We are done with ULTRAMagic Chaos. This has been an interesting book to work on. I had a lot of interruptions and ruckus along the way, with one issue persisting as we speak... but we made it. This was actually an insanely fun book to write.

Up next is ULTRAMagic Interval and it will be ready to go next week. I've had all the planning done for almost a month at this point. Again, I have down time during chapter uploads, so it is imperative for me to work on the next book during those periods.

Let's get into the final chapter discussion.

- - DO NOT CONTINUE UNLESS YOU HAVE READ BOOKS 1 - 5 OF ULTRAMagic Alternate. THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE SERIES AHEAD.

Spoilers in 3...2...1... - -

The earliest iteration of this book can be seen in the lore entry for Maxima that I need to go and fix as of writing this. Originally Maxima was supposed to be the main character and she subdued the four Discordant Gods with help from Mayhem and Dragutin. Adelheid and Ulrich did not show up until later. Before I changed them, you could see this concept in two chapters of Interlude: Shadowland. And then during Interlude BC, I changed my mind and made Tusk the main character and introduced the Arbiters of Droom.

Why did I make this change? I realized before I started finalizing the plans for Chaos that Maxima was too new to the story. She wasn't someone people were familiar with, but Tusk was. I even got the original personality document written out before I made the change. Tusk made more sense as he had played a major role in Prelude and needed something to wrap up his arc. Obviously Maxima didn't get completely sidelined. She followed in the footsteps of Gabriela in Interlude: Shadowland.

An idea I had for the Tusk iteration of Chaos was occasional breaks for Tusk to break things down to Blood-Wraith. I nixed this to keep things coherent, with the epilogue revealing that Tusk was telling Blood-Wraith about the whole adventure, like what was indicated at the end of Interlude BC. That epilogue was really fun to write.

Like I said previously, Karnage being so brazen and the attack launched by the Eternal Church was not planned out. It just felt right... plus it put Gratiana's lethargy in Shadowland into context. She had her honors taken away and the cult's army had its arses handed to them by Droomopolis and the arbiters. It's also why the cult was in shambles by book 3, aside from everything that had happened previously. Plus all of it made Delphine's actions in Shadowland make sense.

Also Rahela and Leonard were last minute additions, as usual. Leonard was supposed to be a cameo character, but then I remembered that lightning is an Arlotti family motif and fleshed them out some more. Plus you have to admit that his appearance in the battle was epic. As for Rahela, she was actually a concept for the longest time that was inspired by HawkrRawr's work... yes, It all comes back to Ask Drunk Chara, ha. Okay, technically it was her original webcomic, but still.

Speaking of last minute additions, Wynstan being Wulfric's son and Wulfric and Ealdhelm was literally written during chapter 16... I SUCK at planning ahead. A little lore trivia for Maxima: Vita was the first Spiritus Magni for Universe-23, hence why she said "Thank Vita." She originally worshiped Vita before becoming a Spiritus Magni. And a lore tidbit for the whole story: If you witnessed this without knowledge of higher dimensions (be it being 4D+, omnidimensional, or 0D/1D), you would just see a bunch of multi-dimensional fractal polygons of pure energy ramming into each other.

So what could I have done better this time around?

Planning... as always.

Mizuki and Razor kind of got snubbed of their character interactions. I had more planned for them, but this ended up being a novela, so I had to keep things focused and on point. Also shout-out to Mayhem and Dragutin, but at least Mayhem will get time to shine in a future book.

This book being a novela. I am starting to think this should have been a full novel.

The quote tags and scene setting paragraphs. I feel these could have been better. In some places I was kind of struggling to describe things.

Pacing. Some parts aren't paced the best and may be a little awkward to read.

So what's next? Interval, which will be a bit of a departure as we're going to Earth and going to stay there for the whole book. It's also a remake of Glitchtale Alternate, finally putting that saga of mine to a rest. After that will go back to the Unlight with Eon 1, count on it.

I'd like to thank you for coming this far and sticking with me. We are moving onto book 6, holy crap. I hope to see you all again for ULTRAMagic Interval!

ULTRAMagic Chaos Chapter 20

Previous | First | Interval

Master Post - Patreon

“...and you know the rest, Blood,” Tusk concluded. “You attended my wedding and Donia and I went off exploring with Randalph and Mayhem.”

Blood-Wraith stood up, stretched a little, and went to look out the window. It was late evening and he was a bit hungry. “Why didn’t you tell me all of this sooner?”

Tusk let his head drop to the table. “I know, my bad…”

Auda lightly bopped him on the head. “Bad, Uncle Tusk.”

“Hey, wait a second!” Why didn’t you tell him anything?” Tusk received a subtle growl from Auda.

“Ahem, don’t pawn your duties off on others, Mr. Willfort,” Alexia chided.

Tusk gave her an incredulous look. “Jeez, what are you, my mother?” he quipped back.

This made Blood-Wraith chuckle. “I’m glad Driskoll was able to restore your arm, Tusk. Also should I not mention all of this around Gratiana? You know, because of my knightly duties and whatnot…”

“I’m not sure how to call that one,” Tusk replied. “Come to think of it, I’m not sure how she’d react to seeing me now.”

“Quite the conundrum, wouldn’t you say, Rich?” Drusa observed.

Vexation gave a subtle laugh and leaned back in his chair. “Indeed. Honestly, Tusk? I say go say hi to her, see how she’s doing. We’re all on the same side now after all.”

Blood-Wraith nodded. “Fair enough, Vex… but didn’t you sucker punch Uncle Deimos?” he pointed out.

“Yes, but that was just a bit of banter between old friends. Personally I say Gratiana at least owes Tusk a candy bar for the jolt she gave him.”

Tusk looked down as his stomach growled. “Speaking of that, what’s for dinner?”

“Oh yeah…” Blood-Wraith remembered as he went over to the phone. “I’ll order some pizza. Are you all interested?” There were no objections.

As he placed the order, Drusa realized something. “Oh, Blood, make it three pizzas. I’ll cover the cost.”

“Three? Why?” he asked after covering the microphone.

“Agreed,” Alexia added. “What in the Cosmos would prompt a third pizza?”

“You’ll see, trust me,” Drusa assured as she began counting out some money.

Blood-Wraith shrugged. “Two pepperoni and one supreme… alright, got it… thanks, bye.”

Vexation got up and made his way towards the cupboards for some plates. “I was considering making something meatball-related, but pizza will do.”

“Here you go, Blood,” Drusa said as she handed him the money. “Sorry for springing this on you.”

“Hum, I wonder…” Tusk noted as he went to the door. “I’ll go with you, Blood. It’s the least I can do.”

“Don’t drop the food, Uncle Tusk,” Auda teased.

He did not appreciate that. “Auda, I’m not that clumsy.”

There was a slight chill in the air as Blood-Wraith and Tusk stepped outside. The sun had nearly set and the street lamps were turning on. The Iron City was quite beautiful at night, with the stars twinkling above them. Leif’s constellation watched over the city as the buildings lit up, illuminating the sidewalks and roads. The Singing Storm Tower was certainly a sight to behold during the night, floating tall and proud.

Figuring they would need some extra drinks, the two quickly stopped at a grocery store. It was fairly calm, so they were able to get in and out. Continuing on their trip, Blood-Wraith spotted Gratiana of all people. She appeared to be heading in the direction of Iron Fire Station.

“Hey, Gratiana!” Blood-Wraith called out.

“Sir Raynot, how wonderful to see you. What are you doing out this late at night?”

“Oh we’re just going to get some pizza for us and the others as things ran a little late. What are you up to?”

“I’m going to fetch Adriana Hawthorne. She is due to arrive here at any minute. Back when we were in Shadowland under that bumbling idiot Milosh, Adriana was supposed to be the actual replacement for Torunn. Fortunately Andelin kept her away from the nasty cult business, so Dunja and Torunn want her as one of the new Blades.” Gratiana then noticed who Blood-Wraith was with and went pale. “Tu-Tusk Willfort?”

He smiled. “Hey, Gratiana. How have you been doing?” She was petrified.

Blood-Wraith checked his watch. “Let’s walk and talk, since Dilan’s Pizzeria is in the same direction” he instructed as they began to follow him.

“Well I’d dare say I was successful in giving Dunja and Barna a leg up then” Tusk pointed out with a laugh.

“Yes, very much so…” Gratiana admitted, unsure how to feel. “Tusk, I… I didn’t hurt you too badly, did I?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s water under the bridge. I’m just glad you were able to turn things around.”

“I hope you’re able to get your lightning powers back, Gratiana,” Blood-Wraith added. “It would help keep everyone safe.”

Hearing that caused her heart to skip a beat. “True, Sir Raynot. That would certainly be a boon for The Iron City…” She could have sworn she felt a sense of renewed vigor.

“You should swing by the forest some time, Gratiana,” said Tusk. “Bring Barna and the others along and have dinner with us.”

She gave a guilty chuckle. “Even after our encounter in the Realm of Chaos?”

“Yup. We’re trees, and trees don’t hold grudges… Milosh is a bit of an exception, but you’re not Milosh, obviously.”

“Then I graciously accept your invitation. Just tell me what time is convenient for you.”

“Will do… hey, pizza time!” Tusk stated as they neared the pizzeria.

“See you later, Gratiana,” said Blood-Wraith. “Best of luck to you.”

“Farewell, Sir Raynot, Tusk. Have a splendid meal,” she replied.

The smell of pizza bombarded Blood-Wraith and Tusk as they entered the restaurant. Things were lively as people dined with upbeat music playing over the speakers. Recognizing Blood-Wraith, one of the cashiers called out for one of the employees to bring his order over. Some of the diners were watching as Tusk took the boxes and the two left. It was fascinating to see such a young knight roll up in uniform for some pizza.

As the two made their way back, Tusk sensed something. “Donia…”

“Donia?” Blood-Wraith inquired.

“She knows I’m out late…”

“Excuse me, sleepy bark, but you better not be having pizza without me” Donia declared as she came strolling up to the two.

Tusk laughed. “Sorry, honey. It’s just that the explanation took longer than expected.”

“So that’s what Drusa foresaw,” Blood-Wraith noted. “Well hey, Donia. Want to have dinner with us?”

“Absolutely! Also good to see you again, kiddo,” she said as she shook his hand.

Auda, Drusa, Vexation, and Alexia were all waiting patiently, talking about this and that when the three returned to the house. Happy to see her aunt, Auda went and hugged Donia. As everything was getting set up, Drusa could be seen doing a head count. Blood-Wraith walked over to her, his curiosity peaked.

“What’s the matter, Drusa? Is everyone here?” he asked.

“Close, we’re off by one head… you don’t mind one more guest, do you?”

Blood-Wraith looked around. “I guess not. Is that why you had me get the third pizza?”

She nodded. “Don’t worry, she’s one of my former students and a good friend of Tusk’s.”

Tusk caught that and walked over to the living room, pizza slice in hand. “Hold up, you don’t mean…?”

She nodded again. “If my calculations are correct, there’ll be a knock in 3…2…1…”

There was a knock at the door, with Tusk going to answer it. Standing there was a frantic and disheveled Maxima. “Tusk!?”

“Maxima! There you are. Come on in.”

“Where and when am I?!”

“Well it’s a month later and this is Blood-Wraith’s house.”

She looked like she was about to panic. “This isn’t right, I’m not supposed to be here yet!”

Blood-Wraith was not sure what to make of this, but held out his hand regardless. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Maxima. Want to come have dinner with us?”

“Not yet! Not yet…” she said as she backed into the door.

Drusa calmly approached and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Maxima?”

This startled the goddess. “Drusa?”

“Don’t fret, your favorite 5th dimensional goddess is here.”

Maxima breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank Vita, it’s you…”

“Now come and have some pizza with us,” Drusa said as she led Maxima to the dining room.

“But the timeline!”

Tusk laughed. “I don’t think you’re going to damage anything by eating with us.” He then cleared his throat. “Everyone, this is Maxima.”

“A pleasure to meet you, honorable Spiritus Magni,” Alexia welcomed.

“Hello, Maxima!” said Auda.

“Wow, didn’t expect this turn of events, your divinity” Donia remarked. “Jeez, Tusk, just how crazy did things get?”

Drusa sat Maxima down and handed her a plate with a slice of pizza. “Now eat. And I found Rich by the way.”

That surprised her. “Really?”

“Nice to meet you, Maxima,” Vexation said as he stretched his arm out for a hand shake. Maxima was a bit surprised by how… normal he was.

“So, Maxima, where’d you come from just now?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “Tusk says you disappeared after things were settled in the Realm of Chaos.”

“Well I wanted to check out the Trench Unlight real quickly, but I think I went too far back…”

“Just how far back did you go?” Vexation wondered.

“Back before The Mage of Old built The Magician’s Labyrinth.”

Vexation banged the table in shock. “Wait, really!? That was back during the epoch, when me, Eustorgio, Tiberius, Leif, and Mal were running around!”

“Ooh, the plot thickens…” Drusa remarked.

Maxima continued. “I even helped build the great structure as apparently my modern, 2nd era knowledge helped Eustorgio out a great deal.”

It took a second, but Vexation finally had the realization he needed. “Oh… OH! I remember you now! Blood, you remember all of the goddess statues you saw, right?”

“Yeah?” It then occurred to him. “Oh, cool! Maxima, some of those puzzle rooms were really fun” Blood-Wraith complimented.

She giggled, a little embarrassed. “Thank you, Blood-Wraith.”

Alexia took a second to wipe her face. “Maxima, if I may, how did you end up so far back in the past?”

“I used the Time Labyrinth…”

“Dear?” Drusa interrupted.

“Yes, teacher?”

“Are you in the mood for a little constructive criticism?”

“Sure?” Maxima cautiously answered.

“That was your first mistake,” Drusa said with a clap.

“Time Labyrinth?” Auda questioned. “Sounds weird. What is it?”

“4th dimensionals, like Maxima, use it to get around since they don’t fully understand time yet” Drusa elaborated. “It’s an anomaly that just popped up one day, under similar principles to how Reality Errors manifest.”

Maxima felt a little embarrassed again. “I thought I had figured it out…”

Drusa refilled her cup with soda, then filled up Maxima’s. “Don’t worry, I'll get you back to where you’re supposed to be.”

“Are you sure you can?”

She nodded affirmatively. “Yes, but you should stay the night first.”

“Are you sure about that?” Maxima was a bit concerned.

“You need the rest and Blood has some really cool movies.”

Blood-Wraith chuckled and got up. “I’ll go pick one now. I’m personally in the mood for Hyperstar V: The Quest for Challenger’s Gulf…”

“Do you have the director’s cut?” Tusk interjected.

“Yup!”

“Awesome! Donia brought it to my attention, Maxima. You’re going to love it.”

“I’ll take your word for it” she replied. Despite being in the wrong time, Maxima felt pretty good at the moment. If going back in time to the epoch was her biggest blunder, then some pizza and a good movie was no big deal, truth be told.

To be continued…

Next: Interval

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)

[gofancyninjaworld]

What the OPM public expects of its heroes is pain relief

The story of One-Punch Man, being as it is about a man who became too strong in his pursuit of being a hero, has a lot to say about heroes. Whichever you read, you’ll see heroes and see them contrasted with hero-like people, something the manga takes further than the webcomic.

But how are heroes perceived and what really matters to people?  Why is someone like Mumen Rider feted and stronger heroes disparaged?  What is it with people wanting accessibility and aloofness at the same time?  How is it that they praise heroes one moment and spit at them the very next? What do people actually *want*?

With the manga chapter 146, I think it’s finally gelled.  Pain relief.

More below the cut.

Power is not necessarily a blessing

Lots of people fight. Some people fight for prizes in competitions.  Some people fight out of boredom.  Some people fight professionally as part of the military. Heroes fight against bad things. So do the police (sometimes).  What sets heroes aside from someone like the police is that heroes are expected to be pro-social in their actions: they’re expected to make things better.  They’re expected to take pain away.

What I mean by pain relief isn’t just physical pain, but all things that add inconvenience, menace and threat to peoples’ lives.   Whatever a hero does, they must not add pain. People do not forgive that.

People love powerful heroes. Power means bigger monsters can be slain. However, nobody thanks you if your power means that not just the monster, but their house too, get destroyed. And unfortunately, heroes work where they’re *needed*, which is in populated areas.  Hero work is not like prize fighting or military action: it almost never happens in a sterile environment.  Heroes are here for people, so where they happen, so do people. [1]

Spring Mustachio’s problem, that of being hampered in how much he can use his sword in populated areas as its reach is lethally long, is the cleanest example of what has been shown to be a problem since nearly the start of the series.

When we first met Genos, he had Stormtrooper aim, but the ability to casually firebomb large areas. That might have been fine for killing monsters and destroying evildoers’ hideouts way out in the sticks but in populated areas it’s a huge liability.  Being a hero, he’s had to get the tools and skill to be much more accurate and precise in his action.  To his credit, he and Dr Kuseno have worked hard to resolve that problem.  Metal Knight has a similar problem (still!); his weapons are great at blowing monsters away, but they also have a bad habit of doing the same for the surroundings.  It’s little wonder there’s rarely call for him.

Conversely, one of the first things we see Tatsumaki praised for is not just her work ethic and power, but her ability to wield that power precisely enough to avoid collateral damage.   This really is a big deal.

“Tell that to the meteor!”

Saitama might have said that, but the reality is people don’t forgive heroes for adding pain to their lives. The fear of death will pass, but the pain of a lost house or a workplace that no longer exists will linger.  And when that happens, people get angry at the hero, especially if the hero’s actions caused that additional destruction.

Really angry.  People were already blaming Saitama before the Tank Top bros stuck their oar in.  They just provided the crowd with a focal point for that anger.

It gets worse than that: people also get angry for pain they might have avoided if the heroes had been to hand earlier.  Reasonable?  No!  Very human? Alas, yes! Pig God is going to be far from the only hero to be asked why he couldn’t have been there sooner.  It’s just to be hoped that actual assaults on heroes are rare.

One thing that's been made clear is that even people who have never contributed a penny to the Hero Association nevertheless have expectations of heroes and get really upset when they're not met.

Pain isn’t just physical -- emotional pain matters as much

It’s easy to talk about physical pain, but emotional pain is every inch as important.  IRL, terrorists and the responses of people to terrorism is all about emotional pain: a terrorist organisation can’t do anywhere near as much material damage as even a small army division can.  But they can make people feel unsafe and that feeling is a powerful driver of what happens as a result, for good and for ill.

Mumen Rider may not have the raw physical strength of a lot of other heroes in Class C, let alone in the higher classes.  What Mumen does have going for him is his ability to relieve pain. He is attentive to even the small but intense pain that is the frustration of losing everyday things, as well as the bigger things like monsters or muggers.  You would think that people would disparage Mumen Rider for wasting his time with trifling things, but that’s part of who we are too. Knowing that someone has big important things to do, but doesn’t consider your small problems too small for them is an incredibly big deal for us.  That’s why he has inspired so many people to also become heroes.

We get to see the converse too, when Genos destroyed the monsters attacking T-City.   No lives were lost and the property damage was by far the least of any of the five cities attacked by dragon-level monsters that day: only the immediate surroundings took any damage.  And yet, that’s the very situation that caused the most public consternation.  The reason came to Genos’s terrible state afterwards.  Physically, the inhabitants were safe,  but their emotional anxieties were not addressed. What if there was another monster attack?  Who’d keep them safe then?

The Hero Association feels pain too

Which brings us, quite naturally, to the Hero Association. The place where the buck stops and from where the bills get paid.  The public pain is very important for them to understand and manage: if people don’t feel the heroes are making their lives better two things happen.  First, they bring more compensation claims for uninsured damage.  If City B and Beefcake was a disaster as King got ‘credited’ with knocking the monster down, then City Z is going to be one of those catastrophes that would break any organisation. Second, the Hero Association depends 100% on voluntary donations to run. If people don’t feel good, they don’t donate. It’s a terrible way to run an essential organisation, but the non-profit, non-governmental model the Hero Association was founded on never anticipated a world in which things would get so much worse so quickly and it is little wonder that it’s not coping well.

Summary: Heroes are not just assessed by their strength but by the benefit they’re thought to be contributing

And if a hero isn’t felt to be making peoples’ lives better, what’s the good of them? That expectation is not always fair.  It’s not always feasible, but it’s always there. And it’s a real challenge to meet.  A hero always has to fight with one eye on the world around them.  To the extent that they largely manage to do just that, one really needs to give them that bit more respect.

Asides

[1] This is one of my ongoing frustrations reading who would win threads: sterile pits are so far removed from anything heroes have to deal with that they’re rather counterproductive to understanding heroes.

[alixanonymous]

Things That Got Me Through 2020: A Long List Of Random Recommendations

Hi! 2020 was awful but throughout it I found a lot of amazing things to get me through it. So just in case things get tough some times in 2021, here’s some wonderful distractions, amazing stories, and things that I just loved in general. Hope you enjoy any that you give a try! Also, I always love new suggestions if anyone has any!

BOOKS (Or actually just one book because I did not read nearly as much as I though I did)

- The Martian By Andy Weir (Sounds like it would be really depressing, actually one of the funniest books I’ve ever read! Can’t recommend more.)

WEBCOMICS (What a great year to discover WebToons I tell you)

- Lore Olympus By Rachel Smythe (Worth the hype in my opinion!)

- Let’s Play By Mongie (I enjoyed this much more than I could’ve imagined, my romance loving self squealed when reading certain parts.)

- SubZero By JunePurr (Amazing balance between romance and plot.)

- The Remarried Empress By Alphatart/Sumpul (Reads like a soap-opera, main character is my favorite type of female protagonist, smart, confident, and not ashamed of it, love interest is adorably infatuated and I live for it.)

- In the Bleak Midwinter; By Kat/Ali (I got sucked into this one. The world building is great, the world itself is so interest and I loved the premise.)

ANIMATED SHOWS (20 minute episodes came in clutch this year with my short attention span due to anxiety)

- The Dragon Prince (If you like animated series at all, you’ll like this I think.)

- RWBY (Season 1 is good, Seasons 2-3 are pretty great, 4-5 were not my favorites by any means, 6 is pretty good, Season 7 was sooo good!)

- Ever After High (Thanks @raesofmoonlight for the recommendation! Possibly the best character design I’ve ever seen. Watch it if you can!)

- Avatar: The Last Airbender (Zuko alone is worth watching the show, add in all the others, the world building, the humor, the writing, just watch it already if you haven’t yet.)

- DC Superhero Girls (Sometimes I think about this show’s version of Bruce Wayne and start cracking up.)

LIVE ACTION SHOWS (I’ve been so caught up in animated shows since March I forgot I watched some really good live action ones till right now)

- Galavant (A medieval musical. Pretty short episodes, hilariously silly, my favorite way to lose twenty minutes of my life at a time. If you’re not sold yet, how about this: They started the second season by singing a song about how they didn’t think they’d get a second season.)

- Anne With An E (Gilbert Blythe owns my heart and soul and wow the show is so much better than the typical teen dramas. Love the historical aspect too!)

- Jane The Virgin (I got so attach to this show’s character my goodness. Top tier writing I think.)

- The Umbrella Academy (This show is so freaking addicting. It’s never what I expect it to be and I love that. I love the music, I love the action scenes, I love the characters. Watching the second season now, wow the characters make you feel for them. )

MOVIES (I’ve never watched so many movies as I did this year so here are my favorites, although half are DC animated ones so sorry if that’s not your thing)

- The Martian (One of the best book to movie adaptations I’ve ever seen, Matt Damon was the perfect person to play Mark Watney. )

- The Entire DC Animated Movie Universe (My favorites are Justice League: War, Son of Batman, Batman v.s. Robin, Justice Leagus v.s. Teen Titans, Reign Of The Supermen, Justice League: Dark Apokolips War but I think it’s worth just watching them all in order. The characters are all so great. Most of them have amazing team dynamics.)

- Batman: Under The Red Hood (If you like Batman, you’ll probably like this movie or maybe you’ll hate how emotional it makes you either way.)

- Miss Americana (This is the Taylor Swift documentary. I actually just discovered how much I love her music and I found this to be super fascinating in showcasing how the media portrays female entertainers.)

MUSIC (I have this horrible feat or people judging my musical taste so if you do please do it silently)

- Taylor Swift (This year has really just been non-stop Taylor Swift for me. Her albums Folklore and Evermore in particular helped me come to terms and cope with 2020 as a whole.)

- Hamilton: An American Musical (I’m not even going to bother to sell this one, there’s no need to.)

- The Little Mermaid: The Musical (I like fairy tales okay and Alan Menken is a musical genius and I will fight anyone who’s says otherwise.)

YOUTUBE (This definitely needed it’s own category)

- Philip DeFranco (I got really overwhelmed with all the news this year so most days I decided to just watch his twenty minute show everyday and it really helped. Just a good way to keep up to date without getting overwhelmed.)

- Technoblade (Okay, real talk: MCYT took over my life since I discovered it in August. I could make a whole separate list of all my favorite minecraft youtubers but I decided to just put my favorite, the Blood God himself. You might consider it a sign of the times that my family and I watched The Potato War saga on the television on Thanksgiving. Highly recommend his whole Hypixel Skyblock series or just his Skywars Solos or everything he does actually.)

- BuzzFeed Unsolved (Great way to get a good laugh in and also learn about creepy cold cases and also aliens. The two host, Shane and Ryan are the best. Ghost in general are fun.)

- Tingting ASMR (Shoot! I almost forgot! A large portion of my sleep last year was due to this woman. I’m not really one for ASMR myself, I don’t really love whispering in general but I really love her approach and I find it super calming!)

Okay! I think that’s it. I hope some of these things bring some of you joy or peace. Please give me any suggestions you have. I am always open to recommendations. Happy New Year everyone!

[gracereadstoomanybooks]

answering questions I’ve been asked on TikTok✨

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QUESTION: how did you get into reading?

So, when I was in middle school (many moons ago) we had this thing called AR Testing. Basically, you read a book and take a test on it—the questions were things that happened in the book, it was really simple. If you got a good grade, you got points. The more points you earned, the more eligible you were for the reading party at the end of each semester. Me, being the nerd I am, got top of my class because I went through 8th grade level books like it was nothing. The librarian at my school brought me books from the high school to read since everything was easy for me, and alas, my addiction began. And now that I have adult money, it’s a true addiction. Also, telling my father “I’m bored” and his response being, “go read a book or something” so thanks dad.

QUESTION: what’s one book you ALWAYS recommend to people?

This one is tough because I’ve read THOUSANDS of books, but if I had to choose one, it would probably be Confess by Colleen Hoover. I fell in love with her work in high school when I first read Ugly Love, but Confess is the type of book that pulls at your heart strings, y’all. It has everything people love: humor, sexual tension, drama, love. GO BUY THE DAMN BOOK. Or honestly any book by Colleen Hoover—she’s a fucking amazing author.

QUESTION: outside of making TikToks, what do you do for a living?

I currently work at a restaurant and hate every second of it. If anyone tells you to become a server, DONT. It’s not worth the hassle, I promise you. Sure, you can make decent money but the amount of rude customers and shitty tips you receive each shift is very disheartening. If you really need a job, do anything BUT work in the food industry.

QUESTION: what’s your wattpad story about?

First question: which one? I have about 30 drafts sitting there waiting to be posted. But, I’m going to assume you’re talking about the Harry Styles fan fiction I’ve been working on for the past 4 years and haven’t had the courage to post. I’ll tell you a little about it: Elaine Aldridge is forced into a betrothal to a man she’s never met & loathes. She goes to his court and realizes things aren’t what they truly seem. And the guard her future husband sticks on her??? None other than Mr. Harry Styles. Add in some magic & deaths and you’ve got my story— The First Prince. (Honestly, that’s an extremely shitty description so if you wanna check it out go to my wattpad account)

QUESTION: how old are you?

Ahem. . . twenty-one.

QUESTION: what is your dream career?

Being a published author and having people rave about my books. That’s all. Or, an editor for a publishing company. Imagine reading all day and being paid for it🤩

QUESTION: what was your least favorite read of 2020?

I already KNOW I’m gonna get shit for this but....... the wicked king. YALL I LITERALLY COULDNT GET THROUGH IT IM SO SORRY, I STILL HAVENT FINISHED IT

QUESTION: current favorite author?

Sarah. J. Maas. I don’t know what it is about her writing style, but it’s addicting. Throne of Glass is hands down the best series I’ve ever read. A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book I’ve EVER reread. Her stories truly suck you in and hold onto you—you get lost so easily in her writing and it’s like once you’re done with a series, nothing will compare. Or, at least that’s how I felt after finishing Kingdom of Ash. Honorable mentions: Jennifer L. Armentrout, Penelope Douglas, L.J Shen, Elle Kennedy and Kennedy Fox.

QUESTION: any recommendations/tips to give to a new reader?

I’ve always given this advice to people who want to get into reading: find what you like and start with that. If you like romance, I’ve got a list for you to choose from. Mystery? Another list. Sci-fi? I GOT YOU. Fantasy? Yes! Sports fiction? It might take me a second but I’ll find you a book. Nonfiction? I’m zero help in that category, honestly. The point of the matter is that you’re never going to enjoy a book if you aren’t interested in the underlying topics.

QUESTION: do you ever find yourself comparing your life to fictional life?

Yes. All the time. I daydream about being apart of the Inner Circle and living in Terrasen with Aelin and Rowan. I think about what it would be like to have real powers and a mate. It drives my boyfriend crazy—but he loves me anyway.

QUESTION: what are your most anticipated books of 2021?

Here’s a list:

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

Crescent City 2 (Untitled) by Sarah J. Maas

A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer (I just ordered this one & it arrives tomorrow)

Blessed Monsters by Emily A. Duncan

QUESTION: why did you start a Tumblr?

Honestly, I used to love tumblr when I was in grade school (way too young to be on here then but what else is new). I like having an extra space to get my questions and comments out without having to compress it into a 60 second video for TikTok to see. Tumblr is a good place to blog & post things like this.

QUESTION: what’s your favorite song right now?

I’ve listened to Carry You by Novo Amor every day for the past two months and I cry each time.

QUESTION: why write Harry Styles fan fiction?

Simple: I love Harry Styles. I’ve been a fan of him and One Direction since they were on X FACTOR. Read that again. X. Factor. I used to watch their performances on YouTube before WMYB even came out. Of course, I love all of the 1D boys but I was always a Harry gal. And I look up to him in a way—I’ve read things about people wishing they knew him personally and honestly? I would never want to meet him. I like the version of him I’ve cooked up in my brain over the past 10 years. I like the symbiotic relationship I have with his music. Fine Line is a ✨masterpiece✨. HS1 is a ✨work of art✨.

now, some topics I’ve been asked way too many times and want to finally get to:

QUESTION: political views?

the saying “anyone but trump” has been in my brain for the past four years. No, I’m not a republican. No, I’m not a democrat. I like to think of myself as a progressive (ahem, liberal) Did I vote for a democratic candidate? Yes, and I’d do it again and again until the US isn’t one of the worst countries—I’m sorry, businesses— to be apart of. I wanted Bernie but got Biden, and I’m alright with that. And my girl Kamala🥳

QUESTION: how did you feel about the BLM protests?

I went to multiple BLM protests and donated a lot of funds to BLM & other organizations. It’s 2021, people... stop being fucking RACIST. And don’t be afraid to call racist people out! Black Lives Matter, even if no one is posting about it anymore.

QUESTION: thoughts on abortion?

your body your choice, queen! not my uterus, not my problem.

QUESTION: there was a comment on an old video of yours talking about r*pe, why did you delete the comment?

I made a video when I first started my account on TikTok about reading in public and feeling “turned on” by it. Go watch it if you don’t know what I’m talking about. BUT, some ignorant male decided to comment and say “this is how girls get r*ped”. Whew. So. I deleted the comment because ....

I am a victim of sexual assault. Along with a lot of other women. 1 in 5 women have been victims of sexual assault. Talking about being r*ped isn’t funny.

No one else needed to see his comment. I reported it immediately and his account was shut down.

I never got justice for what happened to me, and the fact that some random male—who had never even met me or seen me before my video showed up on his FYP—had the nerve to comment that? Unacceptable.

this question isn’t as controversial but

QUESTION: what’s the best way to get out of a toxic relationship?

okay, let me just start off by saying that the people around you who love and support you are going to be your backbone. Leaving a toxic situation is hard, and every situation is different, but my best piece of advice to offer you is don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your loved ones are going to be there for you when you need them, even if you don’t believe they will. If you explain what’s happening, someone you know and love will drop whatever it is their doing to make sure you get out safely. good luck my babes.

now, back to our regularly scheduled program:

QUESTION: any tips on making tiktoks?

Literally none. I post what I think is funny and relatable and if anyone agrees, I’m satisfied. Even if it’s one view, it’s good enough for me. So I guess my one tip is to not base your life off of an app and followers.

QUESTION: favorite Harry Styles fanfic?

DONT MAKE ME CHOOSE. Duplicity is up there, along with Stall 1&2, and Kiwi. After? Absolutely not.

QUESTION: favorite WEBTOON?

y’all already KNOW. LORE OLYMPUS BY USEDBANDAID. Rachel is a genius and I have reread the series a million times. Hades is my soulmate and Apollo can rot in the fiery pits of the Underworld. also, if we’re talking about other webcomics, reading Walk on Water on mangadex...🤫

QUESTION: favorite movie?

Howls Moving Castle. I will be getting my “a heart is a heavy burden” tattoo very very soon.

QUESTION: I read your Elain theory on tumblr, can you explain a little more?

I thought I was pretty straightforward but I’ll say it again: she is always the “good” one and it’s too suspicious. SJM has already given one Archeron sister a happy ending, Nesta’s is obviously inevitable, but Elain? She has too many options for a happy ending. Lucien, who is her “mate”. Azriel, who is intrigued by her slightly. Her human guy—I don’t remember his name—who is disgusted that she’s not human anymore. Or, alone, planting flowers all day. BUT! My point is that she’s not truly happy. She was forced into the Cauldron just like Nesta. She was ripped away from the life she loved so dearly and didn’t want to give up. The man she was going to marry now hates her guts because she’s a High Fae. She has the perfect set up for a villain plot line and I’m all here for it.

well, that’s all I feel like doing tonight. hope you enjoyed my little q&a! be kind, and talk to you later! byeeee!

[holidehg]

do u have a post w like the story of the slime girl and her friends or any of your ocs :? i'm curious about them

Thank you for asking!! :O Hope you don’t mind if I ramble.

Their story was a webcomic i was planning on making, but it got really out of hand, so now I don’t have any plans to make that anytime soon.

The plot is very slice-of-life, it takes place in a small city called Hellwich, during the student council elections at an all-girl’s private school, and two groups of characters are vying for the various positions. Most of the plot is just silly shenanigans. (but there’s also some more dramatic shit that’s supposed to happen later.)

The setting is a bit more interesting, cause I love getting carried away with worldbuilding. It takes place in a universe where there is a god, heaven, and hell. Only the god of this universe suddenly decided that heaven and hell weren’t necessary anymore and turned them into regular planets. The story takes place in hell, about 500 years after this happened. So in hell, there’s a bunch of demons (and some angels who got stuck there) who are very pissy about being turned into mortals, and a bunch of mortals who are glad they’re not being tortured anymore. Overall, it’s just a terrible place to live. (also unrelated to the heaven/hell thing there’s also aliens and fantasy creatures because I just can’t help myself.)

As you can probably tell, this worldbuilding isn’t super relevant to the plot. It’s more of an excuse to have a bunch of different species live together in a weird world. >_>

If you want to know more about specific characters, I would love to talk about them! Unfortunately, I don’t tag specific ocs, so it’s probably not easy to tell what their names are. If you want to just know their names you can ask me that too lol.

[detectivedamian]

J, R, i for the questions thing?

J:  What’s your favorite fanfic trope?  Have you written it?

Ohhh boy. I think my favorite fanfiction trope, stuff that isn’t like, main source material trope stuff... I think it’s probably Hanahaki Disease. I love the idea of unrequited love that isn’t actually unrequited, and Hanahaki Disease fics really just encapsulate what I love about that idea.

Hiding how much pain you’re in to put on a smile for the person you love most, for the person who figuratively (now literally) is killing you. Most of the time choosing to die instead of choosing to forget the person you love with the surgery to save your life. Something dramatic happening-- you faint, you cough up blood and petals in front of people-- and the person you love finding out and getting smacked with guilt because they’re hurting you they’ve been hurting you, and you smiled and told them you were okay, and they didn’t even notice.

I haven’t written a fic like this yet, and I want so horribly to. It’s so in character for Damian, for example, to hide this from everyone, hide it from his family-- most of all, hide it from Jon. Damian would hold it in until an attack gets him during battle, until he falls over coughing up blood and petals the same color as Jon’s eyes, and that’s how his family would find out that he’s dying. Jon finding out? It would kill him. His best friend is dying, he loves him so much.

But when he finds out that what’s killing him is unrequited love? His unrequited love? You couldn’t get Jon to confess any faster than that.

R: Which writers (fanfic or otherwise) do you consider the biggest influence on you and your writing?

I couldn’t tell you the name of the writer, but I can say that the short stories I read for school, in Springboard and in college, those really helped me pull together my style, let me break out of my own mental cages and write with what I think is my truest, honest style.

I: How many fandoms have you written in?  Do you have a favorite?

....oh god. Let’s go down the rabbit hole. Inuyasha, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go, Sonic X, Monster Buster Club, Kick Buttowski, Ouran High School Host Club, Star vs The Forces of Evil, Haruhi Suzumiya, Static Shock, X-Men Evolution,  Detective Conan, Teen Titans, Phineas & Ferb, Pucca, Batman, Miraculous Ladybug, Wayside, Codename: Kids Next Door, Dead or Alive, BBC’s Sherlock, Jackie Chan Adventures, Tokyo Mew Mew, Paranatural, Overwatch, aaaaand Batfam!!!!

That’s a lot. Over a decade’s worth of fandoms. Some of these only have one fic, a select few have over 20. My favorite, up until a few years ago, that would have been the Paranatural fandom. I had a place there, made a name for myself, got asks and requests and reviews, and I made a lot of friends, made some enemies.... worst of all turned out to be the author himself Zack Morrison lol Not that he’s aware of my existence :P Basically the webcomic lost total direction, started focusing on characters literally nobody cared about, spent a whole fucking year making fun of sports animes with Hitball, so much so that it became the very thing it was making fun of, and oh yeah-- threw in a shoehorned lesbian romance between two women who just fucking met instead of focusing on the ship literally everybody wanted to happen Maxaac.

So I left, and most of the fandom did, too, tag is fuckin’ dead lmao

This fandom, though? This fandom is my new answer.

You guys send me asks. You review my stuff. You understand character depth, don’t call every little thing problematic, can feel empathy for characters you don’t project onto, I’ve made so many friends after being here for? A few months? You guys like??? My OCs??? You guys support me, and you seem to like me, and I love all of you. I love this fandom, love even the comics, love the characters, love the ships. I’m so, so happy here. Hell, I could even score really big and get hired at DC someday, make a real living off of my fanfiction, and that has never been the case before. So thanks, Noni ❤️❤️

Ask me some questions? ❤️❤️❤️

[metalandmagi]

Summer 2020 Anime Worth Watching!

Apparently it’s time for the summer anime season, even though it feels like time is meaningless at this point. But somehow, there are still new shows coming out, so if you’re looking for something to watch when you’re stuck at home, here’s a list of the first impressions I got from this season. I don’t really know if it’s going to be worth it, considering how the spring season delayed so much, but here we are. 

As always, not all of these are available on Crunchyroll, but I’ll put a * next to the ones that are.

And if you’re looking for a bit more variety, I have lists for 2019 and the rest of this year’s seasons too...because remember when there was good anime being released instead of just everything being an ecchi or a second season?

2019 master list

My master list for every season of 2020 anime

New Shows!

*The God of High School: An over the top action anime consisting of one big tournament arc! It follows a group of teenagers competing in the epic “god of high school” martial arts tournament to determine the best fighter in the country. Following in the footsteps of Tower of God, this is the newest “crunchyroll original” that is being adapted from a South Korean webcomic. You can tell from the first episode that this will be a spectacle with crazy characters and lots of wild action and humor!

Great Pretender: When a Japanese con man pickpockets the wrong person, he ends up hopping on a plane to Los Angeles and getting wrapped up in a scheme with a sassy Frenchman named Laurent...who basically runs the mafia. There’s humor, there’s plot, there’s great characters, and it’s kinda gay. It’s an exciting original anime from studio Wit, so the animation is bursting with character, and both the music and the general vibe remind me a lot of Baccano or even Lupin III. And since it takes place in America with several foreign characters, there's hilarious English and accent shenanigans abound! The bad news is it’s still in Netflix jail, so if you want to watch it legally you’re kinda stuck for now. 

Japan Sinks 2020: A giant earthquake hits Japan, and a family must cope with the mayhem together. Because what the hell else could possibly go wrong this year? This is a new series (based on a novel) made by Masaaki Yuasa, the guy behind Ride Your Wave and Walk On Girl, if that tells you anything about the style of this anime. I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far, but I heard it goes from being a gripping realistic disaster series to a balls to the wall adventure. To be honest, disaster shows/movies freak me out, and this one is pretty devastating so far, which is a testament to how well it's made. But I appreciate that they include glimmers of hope when they’re needed. The best moments are the quiet ones that focus on the actual people and the narration that juxtaposes the time periods. There’s so much atmosphere, and the music really enhances the experience. And it’s all out on Netflix now, with a dub and a sub!

Deca-Dence: When humanity has been pushed to the edge of extinction by monsters called the Gadoll, the rest of civilization is forced to live in enormous mobile fortresses and send groups out to battle the unknown monsters. So basically like Mortal Engines but the fortresses can turn themselves into giant fists and punch the monsters. We follow a girl named Natsume who wants to be one of the soldiers who fight the Gadoll, but she is constantly rejected because of her prosthetic arm. So she ends up with five years of cleaning duty supervised by a stern but mysterious badass named Kaburagi. I honestly don’t care at all about the plot of the anime, because for me the characters are what drives everything, and these character dynamics are great. I’m not going to say it’s the most original story, but I think it’s fun so far. 

*Rent-a-Girlfriend: A typical harem/romance anime that follows the world’s most annoying protagonist named Kazuya. After Kazuya is dumped by his first girlfriend, he seeks out a rental girlfriend out of self pity….BECAUSE APPARENTLY THAT’S A REAL SERVICE THAT EXISTS IN JAPAN?! Like you can actually rent moms/dads/girlfriends/boyfriends and so on. Anyway, his fake girlfriend is the picture of anime waifu perfection...until Kazuya starts being his typical asshole self and she reveals her true nature of being an absolute sass master who don’t take no shit from no boring ass main character. Shenanigans happen and the two of them end up having to pretend they are in a real relationship. And I’m just calling it now...Kazuya’s grandma is the real best girl of the series. If you want a harem that’s actually funny and doesn’t mind roasting the protagonist, give this one a shot. Although I wish this were just a straight up romance instead of a harem because there is no way in hell that any girl, let alone more than one would want actually to date this guy. 

Next Seasons and Continuations!

*Fruits Basket 2019 (Season 2): Thank goodness Fruits Basket wasn’t delayed or cancelled last season because sometimes I feel like it was the only thing getting me through the spring. I’ve ranted about how good it is enough by now. If it can’t brighten your year, then nothing will. Just watch it if you haven’t already. 

*Re:ZERO-Starting Life in Another World (Season 2): Subaru is still trapped in another world, and he’s still as angsty as ever, but that’s not going to stop him from constantly putting himself through hell when he keeps dying horribly every time he needs to reset the timeline! There are mysterious new villains, nobody knows who Rem is (again) and I think there’s a plot somewhere under all the suffer porn. Seriously though, this show is pretty cool (even if I was two years late to the party). It’s one of the most interesting isekai anime I’ve ever seen, and it feels like it’s acting as a deconstruction of the genre, kinda like how Madoka Magica is for magical girl anime...both shows certainly have enough crying. The story is weird but interesting, the world building is cool, the villains (and sometimes the heroes) are batshit crazy to watch, and I like its moments of humor. 

No Guns Life (season 2): The story of Juzo, the hard boiled detective who plays by his own rules continues in the second season of No Guns Life. In case you missed the first season, this is a mystery/action anime that feels like an old noir film had a cyberpunk baby. There’s underground conspiracies, there’s interesting side characters, and...oh yeah the main character has a gun for a head. That’s right. we came to see a bara detective with a literal gun for a face, but we stayed for the world building and mysterious plots!

*Fire Force (Season 2): I’m going to be honest here, I really didn’t know if I should include this one or not. I have a major love hate relationship with Fire Force, but I figured there may be other people out there who would like it more than I do. So in case you missed the first season, this show follows a group of firefighters who puts out fires caused by spontaneous combustion using a mixture of guns and super powers. It was created by Atsushi Ōkubo, aka the guy who made Soul Eater. So it’s bound to be amazing right?

Not necessarily. Strap in for this one lads. 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with this show overall. Its main characters just aren’t that interesting most of the time, it can’t decide on what kind of show it wants to be, and so much of it just dragged for a good part of the series. I don’t know if it was a problem of pacing or if the plot was just that uninteresting for a while. The first couple episodes set up a very unique plot, filled with intriguing moral dilemmas. And then it proceeded to abandon everything interesting in favor of badly timed fan-service. It just couldn’t strike the balance that Soul Eater had between its humor and its sincerity. If they wanted to make an ecchi show, they should have just made one instead of inserting the same overplayed scenarios into every episode. I don’t care if a show has fan-service as long as it fits the tone, or if it only has certain episodes dedicated to playing up the humor. But Fire Force has a habit of just inserting it wherever it wants regardless of what’s actually happening in the episode. Also, some of the humor revolves around one of the main female characters who has a really messed up self image because she’s slightly more muscular, and not a tiny delicate flower like some of the other girls. Not going to pretend that doesn’t bug me. 

But that doesn’t mean there is nothing good about it! If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t have finished the first season, and I wouldn’t be including this one. So far, the second season has actually been funny because it made the first episode more like filler, instead of cramming in too much plot all at once. And to the surprise of no one, the animation is absolutely god tier. I wish it was being used for something other than clumsy fan-service, but it’s still really something to see. The world building is super creative and 100% my aesthetic, and there were a couple side characters I really loved later in the series (Benimaru). And I did like the twists and turns the series took later in the season when it actually focused on the conspiracy behind the fire force and the cult. When it follows the mysteries it sets up, it’s more fun to watch. Who would have thought? 

TLDR: There’s good stuff and there’s bad stuff. This show is really something you have to watch for yourself to decide if it’s going to be worth it. I’m going to at least try the second season, because I want to see where this goes, but it’s on thin ice. 

Honorable Mentions

Isekai edition! Both of these came out last season, but I hadn’t mentioned them when I made my spring list. But they’re both getting dubs now so I’m still counting them.

*My Next Life as a Villainess- All Routes Lead to Doom!: A twist on the isekai genre where our main protagonist wakes up as a character in her favorite otome game...only to find that she’s actually the bitchy rival side character who ends up either dead or exiled in every route of the game. So naturally she does everything she can to prevent this by becoming a sweet and caring supporting character...who inadvertently makes every single other character in the game fall in love with her. I ignored this show for the first few episodes because I need another isekai in the world like I need a hole in the head, but after hearing everyone rave about it, I caught up with it in no time. It’s a fun take on the otome game tropes, and it manages to be funny and sweet while not committing to any particular pairing.

*Ascendance of a Bookworm (Season 2): That’s right, it’s another isekai where an adult is reincarnated into the body of a child in a fantasy world. But this time, it’s a nerdy girl whose entire purpose in life revolves around reading books (can relate). However, when our main character Mine is thrust into this fantasy world, she quickly realizes that this particular fantasy setting is a little too...medieval  for her tastes...meaning a family of commoners like hers would have no clue how to read and books are only meant for rich people or the church. So of course Mine has to figure out how to either get her hands on some books or make them herself. This is a super cute show that I waited a long time to finally watch, and since the second season is finally being dubbed I wanted to shout it out. It’s just a wholesome isekai version of Dr. Stone. There’s no real action, but it’s a relaxing watch if nothing else. 

Well, there you have it. Hopefully nothing else gets delayed or cancelled because it’s pretty slim pickings as it is. And before anyone asks, I didn’t include GIBIATE because I thought it was a massive disappointment that somehow made a time travel horror anime plot boring. There’s also My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu, but it’s been 5 years since I watched the other seasons and don’t remember anything about it. But there’s that too in case anyone is a fan of the series and didn’t know it got another season. 

See you next season…if the world is still here by then?

[therianomalocaris]

Hey I don’t know if you remember me but a long time ago or maybe not so long ago it’s hard to remember.

But I was mildly freaking out because I felt like I was kin but didn’t know who, kin from homestuck yet I haven’t finished homestuck due to my availability to read being cut off during a trauma in my childhood. I was unsure of these kin/troll type therian feelings, so I dismissed them.

Well today I bought pesterquest on steam after having an irl type homestuck internet to irl friend experience. And man the feelings they just come back.. I’m not sure but I think I’m sollux or gamzee or someone else? But it’s weird because I’m trans feminine in this lifetime. Also because like kin type and therian is a spiritual thing for me (past life belief) but it conflicts with some of my Christian upbringing and I still believe in God, but my mentality with the man upstairs is kinda fucked and confused

So I am here once again, asking for your help.

How do you figure out your kin type/therian type, especially when you’re like unsure as to who you may have been in a past life. It’s hard to tell between like a “me feeling” and “oh this person was a friend and or enemy feeling.”

How does one gain memories or seen into ones past life? And would you recommend I take out the tomes that are the homestuck books so that I can see if it sparks anything (I don’t spend much time online anymore to read online)

Also what was your experience when first figuring this stuff out?

Sorry, for talking your ear off. Also I saw you have a webcomic and just wanted to say your art is amazing.

Thanks if you answer this if you don’t well thanks you seem like really cool and your blog gets a thumbs up emoji x2

hello! i do remember you, yes! thank you for your kind words about my art, and don't apologize because i love receiving long messages ::::)

i dont have any advice for getting past life memories, apart from directly interacting with your source. im actually really bad with memories which is why it takes me a really long time to "confirm" anything. it took me a very long time to figure out my kintypes, and most of that was spent basically trying kintypes on? saying "im this" for a while, then dropping it when i realized it didnt fit. theres kind of a stigma against this in 'kin communities, it's kind of the brute force way of doing things, but it worked well enough for me.

for homestuck trolls though, a solid piece of advice i can give to figure things out is to try writing with quirks! after i had eliminated most possible candidates i didnt know if i was vriska or terezi, but writing with terezis quirk felt wrong whereas writing with vriskas quirk felt like me. this may not work for everyone, but it's the best ive got.

i would NOT recommend reading the homestuck books to someone who hasnt read the webcomic. they are heavily edited and annotated, and pretty much only exist to be a collectors item for fans of the comic looking for author commentary and a sweet series to have on their shelf.

maybe you should try let's read homestuck from voxus instead! it's basically a homestuck audiobook with visuals, but honestly most of homestuck visuals dont really matter that much so you can just let it run in the background until you hit a flash. still ongoing and currently goes up to act 6 intermission 4, i havent listened to it myself but ive heard good things so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i hate to tell this to people, because i legit think it's Bad Advice™ for reading homestuck and obviously i have Opinions™ about that, but if you SPECIFICALLY want to know about the beta trolls, you might have an easier time skipping to act 5. thats the part of the story that focuses on them!

also quick thing about the gender thing: im transmasc and was transfem as vriska. gender is weird like that, dont focus too much on it if you wish to retain your sanity lol.

i wish you the best of luck in figuring yourself out, you got this!!!!!!!!

[theropoda]

3, 4, 6-8, 11, 13-17, 19-22, 26-30 uwu

WOO LAD THAT’S A LOT THANK U!!! this got long and i wrote an essay or two LOL so im putting it under a readmore!

3: Best game you’ve ever played? WEEEELLLL.......let me preface this with two things: one, i am a FAKE GAMER as in my laptop is not at all made for gaming, it’s piss poor, so a big chunk of games i’m interested in is because i watched a playthrough of them lol. i have a 3ds but only 3 games on it (animal crossing new leaf, tomodachi life, nintedogs & cats). second, i’m very bad at choosing favorites of things.....BUUUUT .....i choooooose, in no particular order, OFF, pigeonetics, elder scrolls oblivion, pathologic classic HD!! i’m more than likely forgetting a few though, so sorry about that

4: Worst game you’ve ever played? as i said above, cannot choose favorites, neither can i choose whatever the opposite of favorites is but...uhh, does lif even count as a game? like lif, the stupid little furry flash game i remember playing on some shady website. it was surprisingly very active with a BUNCH of people there but i kept dying like every 5 seconds....AWFUL

6: A game that’s changed you the most? WELL define Changed.....ummm aha first thing that comes to mind is OFF. it’s one of those things where you never knew you wanted something so fucking bad until you saw it--and it’s like that for me. i NEVER knew i loved that odd, surreal, colorful, “looks playful and simple in some parts but incredibly violent and unnerving in other parts” aesthetic til i played it. like aesthetically i love that game to BITS and something about it just stuck with me til the end of time.

later in life (meaning, past year or so) it changed me because it taught me a lesson about storytelling and creative endeavors. a very useful lesson. which is: things don’t really need to have a meaning. stories, art, music, writing, whatnot, while it CAN be deep and meaningful, while you CAN use it as a way to communicate with the world about all kinds of heartfelt things, it can also be...nothing, really.

once i, as usual, got ridiculously overwhelmingly sad about small things. specifically seeing other people around me come up with all kinds of deep and meaningful characters and stories, sometimes putting them into webcomics or writings of theirs, and they were all so well-thought out and detailed and what i envied most was people put a lot of themselves and their experiences into them, venting and coping through them, whilst also making these larger-than-life grandiose complex stories and worlds and so on and so forth.

it made me look at my own ideas and get mad/frustrated at how shallow they were. but then i remembered OFF and i felt better because Fun Fact, mortis ghost has a now-abandoned dA account and if you go through the comment section on his profile, he answers a lot of fan questions and he mentions several times that the game didn’t really have a “meaning”, it didn’t really have a “deeper story” or moral or anything, really. i’m paraphrasing this but i vividly remember him saying “i wanted to make a game, so i did”.

that made me feel a lot better because it made me realise that sometimes art--especially stories, in my case-- doesn’t NEED to be DEEP or have MEANING...sometimes it can just BE!!!! sometimes it really can just be all about AESTHETICS like who GIVES a shit if there’s a hidden meaning if you take the first letter of all of your characters’ names and put them backwards, sometimes all that matters is if they just VIBE with you y’know....

yume nikki is similar in this regard bc that game doesn’t have any story other than “collect egg” and yet it’s so impactful. that game doesn’t have a story or meaning it just IS........ :) GOD THATS SO LONG IM SORRY ABOUT THAT but yeah. funny violent ghostbusting baseball man is a game that changed me :)

7: A game you’ll never forget? OFF AGAIN LOL,,, it’s just so memorable because of how unique it is. visuals, soundtrack, story, everything is so memorable. unforgettable. oh god you can tell how much i love this damn game can’t you

8: Best soundtrack? yakuza 0, OFF, there is a picture (another game by mortis ghost, again composed by alias conrad coldwood who also composed OFF), pigeonetics (the entire soundtrack of which is here), jojo’s bizarre adventure all star battle and eyes of heaven, silent hill 2 & 3, undertale....probably forgetting more but all of these...earcandy

11: Hardest game you’ve played? i am a shitty gamer so this is Most games i’ve played lol!! but uhh..well you see. hardest game i remember playing as of recent is pathologic classic hd in which it’s...not only hard to understand what any character is saying at any given time lol but also, i don’t think it’s HARD it’s just...you need to focus. you REALLY need to fucking focus and pay attention in this game. so i wouldn’t say its HARD, but i’m only putting this here bc it’s in recent memory.

i say recent memory because the true answer is susceptible to “yeah, but now you’re older, it must not be so hard.” as in if i played it now i think i’d have a way easier time. but when i was around....10-12 years old i had several ps3 video game adaptations of animated movies and i had SUCH a fucking hard time with them. g-force, bolt and up in particular were fucking HARD. like genuinely, the hardest time i had EVER had in my live playing video games is tied to these three fucking games. g-force and bolt ESPECIALLY. one particular level in bolt took both me AND my sister around a year to fucking finish.

again, i was baby, so i bet i’d have a much easier time with them now that i’m 17. but for now, in my experience, bolt and g-force for the ps3 were harder than pathologic classic. i think icepick lodge should take a few notes for them for pathologic 2.

13: A game you were the most excited for when it wasn’t released yet? STREETS OF KAMUROCHO...i spent the entire day of its release anticipating its launch lol

14: A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting? hmm..most games i like and know about do have voice acting so i dunno....i guess it would’ve been kind of cool if morrowind had like, full proper voice acting. but i can understand why it only voice acted things like greetings and battle insults because GOD that game is SO...complicated...and as a result, the conversations are so lengthy and text-full. playing morrowind is really like a goddamn book! if it was voice acted i’m sure all that information would have to be shortened bc i know no one is going to fucking voice act two whole paragraphs

15: Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover? pigeonetics and yakuza in which instead of being about the criminal underworld it’s about shady and unethical pigeon clubs, breeding, racing, etc etc...a lot of illegal shit does happen in the world of pigeons especially when it comes to racing; prized racers have been kidnapped and held for ransom before. and then there’s Avian Cucking: The Sport, where people breed the sexiest pigeons (horseman thief pouters), release them outside to seduce other people’s sexy pigeons, and bring them back and keep ‘em, drama ensues. will kiryu ever escape his past as a professional pigeon-napper, and find solace in his new life as a pigeon hobbyist? find out now by playing YACOOZA......

JOKES ASIDES i don’t know i really don’t....umm, pigeonetics and animal crossing somehow?? :O... like, instead of managing your own town it’s managing your own loft!...orrrr, the jojo games (all star battle & eyes of heaven) with yakuza, because i think they’re somewhat similar because they’re both haha Wacky Silly AND serious over the top fighty-fighting.....or maybe a crossover with OFF and discover my body, which, despite being an incredibly short and obscure indie game i still love to bits for what it’s worth. WAIT ANIMAL CROSSING AND MINECRAFT THAT WOULD FUCK SO HARD OH MY GOD

16: Character you’ve hated most? From what game? i can’t think of any character i like, HATE...with a burning passion.. there are a few i dislike or have a complicated relationship with though.. i’m not interested in the series anymore but ouma from drv3...i’ll admit that he is a bit fun sometimes, especially in the very early beginning he’s a likeable brat but as the game progresses he becomes more irritating than anything and i have an issue with him in regards to writing, despite the fact that i have never been awake in any english class ever lol. it’s too long to put in this already long post but i’ll keep it at that. if you like him, well, good for you for finding joy in something i couldn’t! but he just doesn’t do it for me.

AH I JUST REMEMBERED....MINE......FROM YAKUZA 3....maybe i’d change my mind if i watched a playthrough of y3 again, because i think you always absorb something better on your second watch (tho i honestly Dont have the energy to do that all over again, the yakuza games are too fucking long), but i really hate his writing. spoilers for y3 but, i think mine’s writing, alongside other things in the game, were super messy...and a big part of why i hate him is that not only is he one of those “could’ve had great potential but fell flat” sorta guys but also his love for daigo is seen as some fans as good gay rep and i?????/.............um....WELL let’s just say that, i think people nowadays will see any gay character ever in any circumstance and say it’s good gay rep just based off the fact that A Gay Character exists....he was Not, good gay rep imo....he was not, let alone, Good. .........

17: What game do you never tell people you play? can’t think of any games i wouldn’t tell people i play.. idk exactly what this question’s asking. does it mean what game you don’t tell ppl you play bc you’re embarrassed about it...? i’m not very embarrassed by any of them. the only thing that comes close, i guess, is uhh lioden and wolvden. i’ve only interacted with those communities a LITTLE TINY WEE BIT, yet of what i’ve seen it’s a goddamn dumpster fire and i’d never want to be associated with them lol

19: Which game do you think deserves a revival? i’m well aware it’ll never happen and that it’s more a wet dream than anything but...PT/silent hills..... on a more realistic/”could happen” note, PIGEONETICS!!!! SERIOUSLY, it’s an amazing game about amazing animals and it teaches genetics in a very simplified and efficient way!! genetics is SO hard for me to understand, i fucking hated studying it but this game really helped me understand how it works AND its super engaging and interesting!! HOWEVER, of all the pigeon genes we know of, only a handful were seen in pigeonetics and i’d LOVE a sequel that employs new game mechanics AND new genes!! i wanna learn about bronze and stencil genes! i wanna learn about phenotypes like grizzled and pied!!! genes like sooty and dirty!!! @ UNIVERSITY OF UTAH GENETICS DEPARTMENT PLEASE IM BEGIGNG YOU

20: What was the first video game you ever played? earliest memories of Gaming involves me at my aunt’s house playing two games: super mario brothers and some kind of trapeze game. i don’t remember anything else though

21: How old were you when you first played a video game? i can’t remember but i must’ve been REAL tiny.... 6-9 years, maybe??

22: If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do? immerse myself meaning go into their world...? huh....on one hand i’d like to go in the world of yakuza 0 to play in the arcades and do whore related activities but i’d also love to go into the world of animal crossing (and i’m pretty sure i’d be some sort of generic dromaeosaurid in that game!!) and shop, chat with villagers, do chores for them, go fishing, bug hunting, eat delicious fucking food like the apples mangos peaches cherries etc etc.....OH AND FOSSIL HUNTING THAT’S THE BEST PART!! though it would definetly be a little weird, to be a little dinosaur and finding a fossil of a...little dinosaur....i guess the non-sentient species went extinct and the dinosaur i am is some kind of, descendant of a sapient non-avian dinosaur that survived the k-pg extinction event...oh but who cares all i want is a cool little ambulocetus fossil or something. and some cherry pie :)

26: Handheld or console? my old ps3 just went kaput one day years ago so i haven’t used it in years so i can’t compare well... but i’d say handheld, because it lets me like DO stuff more...would love to get a console one day, a ps4 maybe but i’m kinda worried it’ll make me stay in one room all day wasting away my time when there’s other stuff i can do, y’know? but something handheld like my 3ds, on the other hand...i can do stuff with it. i can take it to my room and play it between breaks i take as i clean the room and fold my clothes, i can watch something on the tv and play the game during ad breaks, i can take it outside too if it has charge to last me a while! so....handheld i guess

27: Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry? yakuza 0 and undertale in particular have ALMOST made me fucking bawl with many of its moments....yakuza 0 especially, after that Fucking Ending i had trouble sleeping because oh my fucking god. video game people SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

28: Which character’s clothes do you wish you owned the most?

29:  Which is more important, gameplay or story? HMMM....well, if i were to play a game with a shitty story but really good and fun gameplay i’d probably continue playing it for the gameplay. but if i played a game with shitty gameplay but an interesting story, there is a chance i’d play it more for the sake of the story but also i might just quite and see the rest of the story on youtube or something. i’m more likely to go through a boring story for fun gameplay than go through boring gameplay for an interesting story, so i guess gameplay is more important to me....that is, WHEN i actually own and play a game as opposed to when i just watch someone play a game because i don’t own the game but wanna know abt the story lol

30: A game that hasn’t been localized in your country that you think should be localized? i have no idea how video game localization really works....but i assume localizing a game in india would mean something like, removing content according to cultural norm and also somehow translating it into the 22 official languages..? or just two or three language if it’s tied to a particular state, which seems way more doable. i honestly have no idea? i’ve never interacted w the indian gaming community that much to be honest, all i know of it is of the video games i’ve seen sold in some game stores and a few whispers about like solid snake or whoever from my school’s cafeteria....the most popular games here, to my knowledge, are those very streamable games like fortnite and PUBG and your call of duties and whatnot. those generic shooters. and even then, that honestly isn’t the “indian” gaming community bc this country is so FUCKHUGE, it’s just tamil nadu. one state.

soooo, according to what little i know of gaming interests in where i live, i don’t think any of the games i like should be localized here bc i don’t really think there’s an audience for it as far as i can tell :( maybe animal crossing? it’s a fun little games for all ages and i think it has a chance of becoming popular here, so maybe that is worth a shot! but i can’t think of any other game that i like that really has an audience here (other than Me lol)

[basscannonjack]

1-100 SPEED RUN

Ama. How could you do this to me

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

Lactose intolerant, only eat cereal dry

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

yes, but not for too long

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

i just try to remember lmao

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?

don’t like coffee, drink tea plain or with some sugar

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

not as much as I used to be!

6: do you keep plants?

I have one (1) cactus that I haven’t killed in the 9 years I’ve had it

7: do you name your plants?

sometimes!

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

music or writing

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

ALWAYS

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

I generally fall asleep on my stomach and wake up on my back

11: what's an inner joke you have with your friends?

I HAVE YOU NOW

12: what's your favorite planet?

Neptune, probably!

13: what's something that made you smile today?

my SON asking me ALL THE QUESTIONS

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

oh god, probably a bit of a mess

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!

the ISS was launched on the day of my birth, so it’s been in space *literally* my entire life

16: what's your favorite pasta dish?

just plain ol’ chicken alfredo

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

keeping it silver baybeee

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

oh man, there are so many, but i’ll go with the time that Roman got coke to fizz through my nose by making me laugh too hard

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?

no journal, only very similar looking notebooks to doodle and write in

20: what's your favorite eye color?

hazel!

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that's been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.

my Bag of Holding! snapped the clasp on it a few years back though

22: are you a morning person?

not at all!

23: what's your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

SLEEP

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

Ashe, of course

25: what's the weirdest place you've ever broken into?

I had to break into my own safe at my old job, does that count?

26: what are the shoes you've had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

I’d say my boots, but I just got a new set, so the older ones

27: what's your favorite bubblegum flavor?

Spearmint or wintergreen

28: sunrise or sunset?

Sunrise

29: what's something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

I just love seeing my friends blush

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

yes, I won’t go into detail

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.

SOCKS SOCKS SOCKS I used to collect weird socks, now I just have a bunch of fun dress socks lmao

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

driving everyone home at 4 am and seeing other people on the road and going “you should be in bed!” at them

33: what's your fave pastry?

lemon meringue pie

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

Teddy a winnie the pooh bear that I still have!

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

I adore new pens

36: which band's sound would fit your mood right now?

uhhhh I’ve been listening to a lot of Rise Against and ABBA lmao

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

messy

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

nearly anything my brother does 

39: what color do you wear the most?

black or blue

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what's it's story? does it have any meaning to you?

my claddagh ring from my grandmother, i don’t have much else from her

41: what's the last book you remember really, really loving?

not the last book but there was one about a girl having a single dragon finger that I remember reading so many times that I unfortunately don’t know the name of, or the Tamora Pierce Lioness series

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

Don’t like coffee!

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

James <3

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

I do not :’)

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?

not as much as I probably should

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of.

I’ve been changing my username to a different halloween themed pun for all of October, I’m all burnt out

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

Balut, it icks me out

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

heights, and yes :’)

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

I got a record player fairly recently, I have some P!atD ones, Foo Fighters, and Imagine Dragons

50: what's an odd thing you collect?

rocks

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

Bitch by Meredith Brooks for my eldest sister

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

the ones we’ve made in our server

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them?

all of the above except Pulp Fiction, I’m not really a movie person but I *am* a musical person

54: who's the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

my dad

55: what's the most dramatic thing you've ever done to prove a point?

Cotton Eyed Joe in six inch heels

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

honesty and passion in an interest

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

I just vibe and belt, y’know

58: who's the wine mom and who's the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?

can they both be me

59: what's your favorite myth?

the soup with a rock in it!

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

Where the Sidewalk Ends was always a good one

61: what's the stupidest gift you've ever given? the stupidest one you've ever received?

a coffee cup drinking horn for my dad, and some painted rocks from my brother

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

it would be apple juice if I did

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

not at all

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

greyish, the sun is just about to rise

65: is there anyone you haven't seen in a long time who you'd love to hang out with?

My eldest sister

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like?

ROSES

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

give them to me, I love them

68: what's winter like where you live?

COLD

69: what are your favorite board games?

Monopoly and LIFE

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

no thanks

71: what's your favorite kind of tea?

raspberry or orange for fruit and mint

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you'll forget it?

no, but I do write things down anyways

73: what are some of your worst habits?

I lose things all the time

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

STARDUST SOULMATE

75: tell us about your pets!

I have a Min Pin named Lily

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren't?

Sleeping

77: pink or yellow lemonade?

pink

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

*insert ick emoji*

79: what's one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

decorated my band locker to celebrate my birthday

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

beige, but I hung up a bunch of posters!

81: describe one of your friend's eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

when the sun hits very rich dirt where a tree used to be

82: are/were you good in school?

best in class in math with a 101.8 but I also rarely did homework so uh

83: what's some of your favorite album art?

Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

Dragon on the shoulder blade, roses on the left arm, Exalt on the right

85: do you read comics? what are your faves?

webcomics! Barbarous, currently

86: do you like concept albums? which ones?

:? not sure what that means

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

TREASURE PLANET

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

nope!

89: are you close to your parents?

my dad!

90: talk about your one of your favorite cities.

don’t really have a favorite, in all honesty

91: where do you plan on traveling this year?

I was supposed to go see Ashe for their birthday but maybe next year!

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE

93: what's the hairstyle you wear the most?

uhhh it’s usually short enough to do nothing lmao

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

I have a friend’s bday tomorrow!

95: what are your plans for this weekend?

WORK

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

bit of both

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

INTP, Scorpio, Ravenclaw

98: when's the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

last year? maybe the one before? I did! but my heart didn’t

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

How Far We’ve Come, Matchbox Twenty

The Call, Backstreet Boys

I2I, from the Goofy Movie Soundtrack (lmao)

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

the future! I’ve had my time in the past, no changing it now

[psycho-slytherin]

Bonus chapter: Truth or Dare

Thanks to @minprismpowermakeup for the idea~ <3

Context: This takes place around Strangers ch. 33, after y/n and Yoongi have begun filming Moon Over the Sea. This content is not relevant to the main Strangers plot. 

WC: 1.8k love it when a bonus chapter is longer than some actual content

|mlist|

A/N: Namjoon really wrecked me during the awards stages ok I’m not projecting I’m just projecting

“Okay, y/n, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” you yawn, making yourself comfortable. You’re sleepy, it’s past two in the morning, and you don’t wanna get up.

“Anyone got a good one for the token ARMY?” Hoseok asks, looking around at the other members sprawled on various pieces of furniture and carpet. You stick your tongue out at Hoseok on hearing your title.

“Do you have a crush on anyone?” Seokjin asks from below you, tipping a mostly-empty beer bottle at you.

“I already answered that, and no.” You swat the eldest member, who’s laying on the couch with his head in your lap. “Bitch, I just ended a relationship and webcomics continue to convince me that men are trash. Besides, I barely get to sleep– when am I gonna have time to catch feelings?”

“Blehhh, boring.”

“I can drink if y’all can’t think of anything,” you say, already reaching for the bottle to refill your wine glass. Hey, you were feeling classy tonight.

“No, wait, wait, I have one!” Jungkook leans forward eagerly. “Have you ever written... fanfiction?”

Ah, shit.

You press your lips together to keep a straight face. Lately it seems you’ve been using more of your acting skills when you spend time with the boys than you do for school and work combined. “Have I ever, at any point, written fanfiction for any fandom? Yes.”

“Was it…” Jungkook leans even closer, his long hair almost hitting you in the face. “BTS fanfiction?”

You smile, choosing your words carefully. “Unfortunately, Kookie dearest, I already answered my truth.”

“She’s avoiding the question!” Jungkook hollers, far too loudly for the time of night. “You guys know what that means~”

It’s as though all signs of sleepiness have vanished– every member sits up, and with Jin’s weight off, you realize your legs have fallen asleep. 

“C’mon, guys…” you’re met with seven pairs of eager eyes, focusing on your favorite. “Et tu, Yoongs?”

A corner of Yoongi’s mouth turns upward in that oh-so-familiar smirk. “What can I say– I’ve got a cat’s curiosity.”

“Don’t let Holly hear that,” you reply, tossing a pillow at him. He snatches it out of the air without moving from his curled-up position in his favorite armchair. You’re reminded again of how he’s so adorable when he looks that small.

“So?” Jimin asks eagerly. “Have you ever written fanfiction about us?”

You could lie. God knows it would be easy. But the far more fun option wouldn’t be lying… it would simply be not telling the truth.

“I would love to answer that, but unfortunately it’s not my turn anymore,” you reply airily, delighting in the boys’ groans. “So, Joon, truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Namjoon replies, his eyes confident. He really could bring anyone to their knees with just a glance. As your first bias, Namjoon has always had a special effect on you.

“I dare you to let Kookie and Tae tickle you.”

“Wait, what?”

You check your watch. “For, say, one minute.”

Namjoon backs away nervously from the predatory advance of the maknaes, all signs of bravado gone. “C’mon… ah, y/n, this is too cruel…”

“Who was it that dared me to drink a shot of soy sauce?” You ask smugly. “And who dared me to catcall Jin?” Your plan is to distract the boys, and luckily you have plenty of material to work with. Namjoon especially always seems perfectly sadistic when assigning dares.

“As if you weren’t thinking that stuff anyways,” Seokjin says dismissively.

You roll your eyes, focusing on the leader’s imminent torture. “One minute, starting… now!”

At your signal, Taehyung and Jungkook leap like feral dogs upon Namjoon, who falls to the floor with a thump, laughing uncontrollably: “Ah! Guys! S-sto-ah!”

You sit back in satisfaction as the clock winds down, figuring you’ve suitably distracted your friends from their original prey. 

Your hopes are dashed soon enough. Namjoon gets back up, fire in his eyes. “Y/n.”

Dammit. “Yes, Namjoon?”

“Truth or dare?”

Well, what does he think? “Dare.” Obviously. You’d die before letting them read the stories that you, in your lust-addled fangirl’s mind, wrote so long ago. 

“I dare you to give Yoongi hyung a hickey.”

Wait, what? “Yo, Joon, that’s not cool–” Yoongi is quick to complain, but Namjoon silences him with a raised hand. Meanwhile you’re frozen to your seat, feeling as though all your blood has simultaneously rushed into your face and fled your body entirely. Sure, you guys have toed the line of what’s proper during these late-night games, and as the only woman you’ve tended to get the brunt of it, but to give Yoongi a hickey? To press your lips, your tongue, your teeth to his smooth skin?

Now that you think about it, you’re pretty sure you’ve written that into a fanfic at some point anyways.

“Dude. No.” You say, at last finding your voice. “C’mon, that’s ridiculous.” You spare a glance at Yoongi, who you can tell is trying to keep a straight face. Still his clenched jaw and rapid blinking give away his anxiety, and– no. You couldn’t do something like that to Yoongi, who so clearly would hate it.

Namjoon raises a brow, his expression void of mercy. “You could always choose truth.”

You laugh nervously. You didn’t anticipate this, and now… “Can I take a drink instead?”

The leader shakes his head. When he speaks, it’s as though his voice is made of steel. When did he become so intense? “Nope. Truth or dare. Pick one.”

You inhale deeply. Dammit, Yoongs, you owe me one. “Truth.”

Immediately all tension melts from Namjoon’s gaze, and he breaks into the dorky grin you’re so familiar with. “Yes! Quick, guys, before she changes her mind!”

Your eyes widen. “No, wait–”

Hoseok pounces. “Have you ever written BTS fanfiction, and if so, what was it about?”

Fucking hell. You’ll get Joon back for this. 

“Uh…” Should you lie? Every instinct is telling you to steer the boys as far from the truth as possible. Still, you’re buzzed, and it’s late, and–

“Yes. I have.”

Jungkook bursts out laughing, his nose scrunched as he slaps the couch. “I knew it!” The others celebrate in similar fashions:

“Ten bucks says it’s a ship fic!”

“Reader insert, it has to be.”

“Have you guys even heard Emo Y/n? I bet it’s super sad.”

You snatch Jungkook’s drink out of his hand and take a swig. You’re starting to realize you’re gonna need something stronger than wine if you want to survive the night. “How do you guys even know those terms? Who’s been corrupting you with Tumblish?”

“Twitter,” Taehyung replies, shuffling over and draping himself over the back of the couch, his head resting on your shoulder. “ARMYs kept tagging us, they thought we never saw.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Yoongi staring at the ground, smiling softly, his fingers laced together. Huh.

In the meantime, the remaining members have continued with their buzzword arguments. You begin petting Tae’s soft hair absentmindedly while waiting for the others to calm down and hopefully forget this entire conversation by morning.

“It’s probably crack.”

“No, fluff!”

“Angst, I told you!”

Jimin suddenly pipes up, his voice sleepy and soft. “What if it’s… smut?”

A hush falls over the room, and your breath catches in your throat. You don’t remember writing anything explicit, most romance scenes were mainly innocent, full of vague implications of other goings-on…

Wait. Your eyes widen. You did write that one scene, on a dare from Lisa… fuck. You rack your brain– what was it? You wrote it almost four years ago, you can hardly remember. It was about Namjoon, right? He was your bias around that time. 

“Y/n, would you ever write smut?”

“Ha, maybe if someone paid me!”

“Ooh! Is that a promise?”

It was all a joke, but you did end up posting it on your Tumblr at some point or another, classifying it as dumb and crackheaded. Regardless, that means it’s online. And that means…

They could find it.

“Y/n-ie?” Taehyung waves a hand in front of your eyes and you jump, nearly colliding with him. “You zoned out for a bit~”

“S-Sorry.” You notice the boys are all still looking at you. “What?”

“Your truth. What was your fanfiction about?”

You sieze on the vague question. “Well, funny you should ask, I think I wrote one about Hobi here going to space, which was–”

“The hell? Did I die?” Hoseok whines. “Y/n, you traitor–”

“Wait, so you’ve written more than one?” Yoongi interrupts.

“I mean…” that’s safe to say, right? “Yes.”

Namjoon taps your shoulder. “Have you ever written smut?”

Jeez, what was with his confidence tonight? “I–”

“If you tell us the truth, we’ll make Joon hyung rap Expensive Girl,” Hoseok sings, swinging a shoe in his hand. Wait, is that your-

“Huh? Hold up, hold up, that wasn’t part of the deal!” Namjoon’s facade quickly fades in liu of genuine terror. 

Yoongi slowly rises for the first time that night, his grin nothing short of malicious. “You wanna play sadistic games? If Y/n completes her truth, you have to do that dare.”

“Y/n, I changed my mind, don’t tell us,” Namjoon begs, turning to you.

Oh. Oh, the power coursing through your veins. Either way, you win. You could keep your dark secret, or torture Namjoon just a little bit more. What a glorious choice to have.

“You know what?” You drain your wine glass, the alcohol lending you courage. Namjoon wanted to make you give Yoongi a hickey, he deserves this. And you were younger, a simple fangirl– besides, it’s not like they’re going to ask you to read it. “Yes. I did write a smut fic once. And you know what, Joon? It was about you.”

You giggle and sit back as the members do the “OHHHHH!” thing that boys never seem to grow out of. 

Instead of going red like you expected he would, a shit-eating grin spreads across Namjoon’s face. He seems more… well, pleased than anything. 

“What was it about?” he asks.

“Joon,” Yoongi warns, his voice a note deeper than usual. You shoot Yoongi a grateful smile– how does he know you so well? As for the fic, you genuinely don’t remember, but knowing it was smut, and knowing it was about Namjoon…

“I dunno, dude, probably some daddy kink shit.”

Namjoon cocks his head. “Daddy… kink?”

You jaw drops, and in your bordering-on-drunk state, you can’t help but blurt out: “You don’t know what a daddy kink is? I thought you had one!”

The leader scratches his head. “What?”

You can’t help but laugh, the drinks finally hitting you hard. “Oh my god. C’mon, gather round, my students.” You reach out, clasping Jimin’s and Jin’s shoulders. “let’s teach you guys about fanfiction.”