#but it's never been about AI. it's always been about having the idea and structure of what you need but the DAMN THING JUST WONT COME OUT

[clenastia]

me, like: "they should invent a thing that allows me to daydream the fic in my head like normal, but some program turns that daydream into a fic, because i can PICTURE the scenes and emotions but always struggle to WRITE them-"

*thinks logically about where any sort of brain-interface technology would lead*

......they should absolutely NOT invent such a thing, but by the GODS i will be mad about it until the day i die.

Having to write a difficult chapter is just me repeatedly going "urghrgh... they should invent a fic that writes itse-- *remembers AI* they should not invent a fic that writes itself"

[aihoshiino]

chapter 161 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 18

Aqua Hoshigan Status: For the future

Never has an OnK chapter gone from It's Hoshinover to We Are Oshi no Back quite as hard and fast as this one. I have issues with this chapter in terms of what it implies about the story's overall structure and the fact that it sort of ruins 153-4 by association but this chapter's back half is so fucking good and the chapter itself works so well in isolation that much like 153-4, I kind of uhhh don't care about the structural issues because the story's heart is, for the most part, not just intact but beating harder and more passionately than it has in a long time.

To get what I don't like out of the way, the story seems to have settled on Super Evil Serial Killer Mastermind Kamiki as his final form characterization with some helpful Tsukuyomi exposition to just straightforwardly Tell Us things the manga probably should have spent some of the last 70something chapters Showing Us about Hikaru. The basic idea of Hikaru being some sort of serial killer so dedicated to upholding Ai's legacy that he kills women with the potential to surpass her was more or less always where I expected his character to land and this settling of his character does at least preserve what I think is the most important thing: that he genuinely loved Ai and his bent towards villainy only came after her death.

What I don't love as much is that this chapter seems to continue leaning into Uber God Manipulator Mastermind Kamiki like last chapter. I already talked at length about my issues with this framing in my previous chapter review so all I'll reiterate here is that the story's attempt to frame Hikaru as being equally or even more culpable for the actions of Nino and Ryosuke fall entirely flat to me, especially when the manga itself does such a pisspoor job of actually explaining how or why Kamiki was able to control and/or predict their actions to the extent that he supposedly did. And ESPECIALLY especially given that Nino and Ryosuke seem to have already been dangerously obsessed with Ai by the time they approached him.

In general, Hikaru's character is honestly just so inconsistent at this point that making any sense of his actions feels fruitless. If I really dig into what's going on, I can infer that maybe he fell into the same trap as Aqua by overcompensating for his trauma-induced helplessness by becoming overly controlling and guess that his fucked up trauma response to Ai's death combined with those terrible words Kindaichi gave him at Airi's funeral lead him down he road he's traveling now. I can even extrapolate that Aqua showing him the DVD message in 153-4 pushed Hikaru to this extreme and now that he has nothing to lose, he's lashing out at his children too - though, it should be noted, that the manga still hasn't actually established what Hikaru's culpability is in Nino's attempt on Ruby's life, outside of Aqua saying "well you didn't use your psychic powers to perfectly predict nino's actions so it's on you".

But like - this is all stuff I'm having to infer and extrapolate and guess, reverse engineering logic from our end point in an attempt to create a stable foundation for this characterization. The manga has done such a poor job of properly establishing Hikaru both as an antagonistic force and as a consistent character that I feel like I'm trying to assemble a coherent image from two different puzzle sets with all the fucking corner pieces missing and that's with Crow Girl looking into the camera and Explaining Him to me.

And listen, I am a bitch who LOVES to infer things. One of my absolute favourite pieces of fiction of all time ever is Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, a mystery story that literally does not contain any straightforwardly explicit, textual confirmation of the culprit's identity or motives because it believes so strongly that you, the reader, are smart enough and empathetic enough to put in the time and effort necessary to understand it regardless and it deeply, deeply values being able to give you that experience. But OnK feels less like it's intentionally encouraging me to think hard and enjoy the process of putting my head and my heart to work - it feels like it's leaving its homework unfinished and letting the reader do the actual hard work of sewing up the internal logic.

I probably won't talk much more about Kamiki this chapter cos I'd just be saying all this shit over and over but I really just am struggling to understand from a perspective of authorial intent what the vibe is even supposed to be. Like I mentioned in a previous ask, if this is where Kamiki's arc is reaching its conclusion then it means that the Movie Arc was essentially a whole-ass waste of time in and out of universe. Blech. Hate that.

Also, before I move on, I don't want to leave this just implied - making Kamiki explicitly a CSA victim and then ending his arc on Aqua (and implicitly the narrative) dismissing him as being too broken/corrupted to be saved is a really major misstep that I think represents a huge black mark on OnK's handling of CSA as a topic. The idea of an eternal defilement or an unfixable core wrongness in the self is already something real life CSA victims struggle with in the process of unpacking their trauma and having our likable and supposedly morally superior protagonist espouse this unchallenged in a work as prominent and relevant as Oshi no Ko is irresponsible bordering on dangerous. It's incredibly disappointing that after all the care Aka and Mengo seemingly took in handling this topic that it was whiffed so badly at the last second.

ANYWAY!!! Now all the beef's been dealt with, we can cleanse our palettes and move onto everything else I liked which was… basically everything else in this chapter!

Admittedly, Aqua's overall arc is still suffering from us being kicked out of his head from like 123 onwards for no real apparent reason and while 150 was a welcome refresher on where he's at in this part of the story, it still feels a bit like the story is prioritizing preserving the surprise factor of its twists over making these surprises feel earned. Compare it to volume 1 - you are basically told exactly what is going to happen to Ai, especially in the manga when Saitou and Gotanda outright say as much - but her death is still incredibly impactful and upsetting. I think this chapter is very effective, but could've been a lot moreso if we'd spent more time in Aqua's head leading up to it.

THAT SAID… If the intention of keeping us out of his head was to recontextualize Aqua's behaviour across the past ten or so chapters in this new light, I don't hate it as much as I might have. I initially took issue with what felt like the story off-screening and not addressing the resolution to Aqua's suicidal ideation so whipping back around to prove that it was still very much present puts some particular Aqua moments over this past volume into a very different light. As some people pointed out, Aqua missing Kana's pitch - literally dropping the ball in responding to her feelings - and his wide-eyed look of alarm in 151 seemed very ominous omens for the success of her confession and that beat of him covering his face when Kana approves of his dream… very incheresting knowing Aqua was still struggling with 'love or revenge' at this point.

Most interesting of all to reconsider is Aqua breaking down in tears in Miyako's arms in 155 when she addresses him as her son for the first time. At the time it read like catharsis but now I can't help but wonder if this was Aqua grieving for something he desperately wants but thinks is out of his reach.

i do have to say though. i get the general vibe of this plan and think it works fine as the apex of aqua's self-sacrificial protectiveness for the people he loves but how is being the daughter of a serial killer somehow any less scandalous for her career than being the sister of someone who killed one dude. does aqua think they just won't notice that kamiki happens to be their biodad or something. wasn't that the whole point of the movie. goofy ass plan.

What really saves this whole scenario is the emotions at play, though. This really does feel like Aqua at his most Aqua in a really long while and this chapter has so much love and respect for his life as Aqua and the bonds he has formed as a result. The dreams Aqua lays out are so agonizingly simple, too - he wants to pursue the career he finds rewarding. He wants to date the girl he likes. He wants to accept Miyako as his mom and Himekawa as his brother and to make things right with Akane after hurting and using her. He wants to see Ruby achieve her dream and be there to support her when she does.

But Aqua's always considered his dreams impossible, hasn't he?

I fully admit; I got spoiled with the full page spread of Aqua stabbing himself way in advance of the chapter and initially hated it as a twist. But with the full chapter as context and the sheer weight of Aqua's longing to just fucking live and find joy, it's not just effective but absolutely gutwrenching. It is the synthesis of Aqua's series-long battle to choose love or revenge and it resonates perfectly because it has never been one or the other for him - Aqua's revenge has always been rooted in the fact that he loves others so wholly and completely and hates himself so utterly that he thinks sacrificing himself to preserve their futures is the only path for him to take. It's the culmination and final release of the suicidal ideation Aqua has been dealing with since he was four years old and like Ai's tragedy before him, there's a horrible sense that maybe there really was no other way this could've gone.

Aqua being the character who actually takes the knife also firmly cements him as Ai's narrative echo in the text which has me barkin and howlin because it's what I've been saying all this time. Not just that, but so many of Aqua's expressions in this chapter pointedly and deliberately echo Ai's after she was stabbed. Not just that, but Aqua's achingly simple dreams echo Ai's own heartrendingly simple regrets - all the two of them ever wanted was to be happy with the people they love.

This also reframes the story's prior establishment of Ruby as paralleling Ai and seems to place the twins in the position of echoing not Ai in her entirety but Ruby as 'Ai of B-Komachi' and Aqua as 'Ai Hoshino'. This was actually something I outlined in one of my very first meta posts on the series, but I think making it more specific to 'Ruby as Ai the idol' and 'Aqua as Ai the human', this actually gives Ruby's arc in relation to Ai a bit of breathing room. Don't get me wrong, everything I've said about her post-BH writing being underbaked and inconsistent is still the case, especially when it comes to how confused the story is on whether Ruby is her own idol or New And Improved Ai 2.0 but giving it less ground to cover helps in terms of her writing no longer being spread quite as thin.

Speaking of Ruby, that beat of her seeming to react or sense something is up the moment Aqua takes the stab. 'Something happened to my loved one far away and I just Feel It' is a trope I'm always a sucker for and I really dig it here.

"The public don't care about the truth, so let's tell them a lie" is such a crazy hard sentiment to go out on too. Holy fuck.

There go our boys…!!! Quite a few people predicted they might go over the edge when Aqua showed up in his Mephisto fit (Mefitsto) and I'm interested to see if we get any parallels to the ED's imagery in the next few chapters. Overall, though, I'm really excited for where things are going - I don't think Aqua will die, but I do have some theories about what might happen. I can't think of a more traditional misogi purification experience than the middle of the ocean in late December, after all…

No break next week! Woohoo! While the delay of episode 12 means we won't be getting them on the same day, that is the same week S2 of the anime will be concluding and Aka does like lining up his bombshells with the anime. So who knows what we'll see.

seriously tho aqua. everyone already knows kamiki is you and ruby's biodad. HOW IS THIS ANY BETTER THAN HER BEING THE DAUGHTER OF A SERIAL KILLER AS IT ALREADY STANDS

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Atkins at Washington Monthly:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show and said the quiet part out loud: “The president is reordering trade… we are shedding excess labor in the federal government… that will give us the labor we need for the new manufacturing.”  At any other time, that kind of language would set off alarm bells across the political spectrum. Are laid-off NIH cancer researchers really going to find jobs in the iPhone factories that are being relocated to America? But today, it barely registers on the MAGA meter.   To be clear, Trump himself remains motivated by the same half-baked economic ideas he’s always had: a fixation on trade deficits, rooted in the zero-sum notion that if we buy more from a country than we sell to them, we’re being “ripped off.” He’s been told repeatedly that trade deficits aren’t inherently bad. He doesn’t care. The misunderstanding is the point. And he’ll drag the global economy into a ditch rather than learn how it works. 

But those around him—the far-right think tanks and political operatives shaping this agenda—are playing a longer, darker game. Trump’s tariffs aren’t just bad economics. They’re a declaration of economic war on the half of America that didn’t vote for him. This is deliberate and strategic. It’s a cultural counter-revolution disguised as industrial policy. And we know it’s not about economic leverage because Trump isn’t even pretending these tariffs are a negotiating tactic—he intends to make them permanent.  As I said last month, the project is about deskilling America: reducing white-collar work through AI and remote job cuts, destroying universities, starving higher education, using tariffs to wall off the country as a manufacturing-and-extraction island, gutting the cities, and pushing men into manual labor while nudging women into domestic roles. It’s not incoherent—it’s a plan being implemented methodically. 

This isn’t about economic efficiency. It’s about political control. Education has always been a democratizing force. It creates citizens who are harder to intimidate, likely to demand fair treatment, and  less willing to obey autocrats. It delays childbirth, disrupts patriarchal family structures, and builds civic coalitions that threaten right-wing hegemony. That’s why it’s under attack. The goal isn’t to elevate the dignity of manual work—it’s to eliminate choice, to collapse the pathways that allow people to escape precarity and assert autonomy. 

A key pillar of this reactionary movement is masculinity politics—an obsession with control over women and the restoration of a pre-modern vision of gender roles. Right-wing pundits are now proudly declaring that Trump’s tariffs will “end the masculinity crisis.” Fox News chyrons bluster that his “manly” economic policies will “make you more of a man.” The idea is that factory jobs and closed borders will somehow restore a lost sense of masculine authority that was never actually economic but cultural and social.  

Much of the MAGA worldview is built on the grievances of conservative men: angry that women increasingly don’t want to date them, that younger generations are abandoning the religion that once gave them automatic status, that they are no longer guaranteed a high-paying job out of high school without having to compete with the “nerds” in their class—or with immigrants, or with workers of color overseas. Trump’s tariffs are imagined as a cure-all: destroy the livelihoods of the educated men they resent, displace women from the professional fields where they thrive, and reassert dominance over a labor force they believe was rightfully theirs.  That’s what’s behind the economic shock therapy now underway. It’s similar to the disaster economics that the U.S. used in Chile and post-Soviet Russia, and Javier Milei is inflicting on Argentina today. But it’s inflected with the fervor of a Cultural Revolution—ironically more reminiscent of Mao than Pinochet with its war on intellectuals and its bestowing glory on farms and factories. The goal is to destroy the professions that make resistance possible—this is why you start with law firms instead of HMOs—then tighten the screws once people are desperate enough to submit. When the unrest comes—and it always does—so do crackdowns. 

The Trump Tariff Tax Hike policy also has a cultural component: drive women out of the workforce and reassert male dominance.

[kalinara]

So I've been contemplating Charles Xavier a fair bit since X-Manhunt ended, and I think maybe I've hit on what I think the ultimate problem is when it comes to the character, for me.

So Charles Xavier is one of those X-Men characters that has a really strong pop-culture resonance. Even people who have never picked up a comic book have at least some idea who he is. He's not as popular and famous as Wolverine, by any means. But if you know who the X-Men are, then you have an idea who Charles Xavier is.

Charles Xavier is bald, older middle aged/early elderly man in a wheelchair. He is the kind, wise patriarch of the X-Men.

Now, between you and me, I'm not sure this portrayal was EVER particularly accurate to the flawed and complicated man we see in the comics, but that's beside the point. This is the image that most people think of when you mention Charles Xavier.

(I bring up the wheelchair because it's an interesting fact that Professor X hasn't used a mobility aid in comics since the early 00s. But despite that, it's still very much a part of our pop culture idea of the man. And I suspect there are ableist tropes at work in multiple directions, but I'm not really equipped to analyze on those grounds.)

On one hand, Professor Xavier has mostly overcome the pitfall of the Wolverine. With Wolverine, the creative folks at Marvel always seem to be a little too afraid to rock the boat. Logan is Logan, and any deviation from the theme is going to be incredibly short lived, and very little opportunity for true character growth or deconstruction.

But on the other hand, I think writers are maybe a bit too happy to engage in full scale deconstruction of the character. This isn't always a bad thing. There's a lot that Xavier has pulled, canonically, over the years that's worth looking at with fresh eyes. It's fun to look at the kind of things that we once accepted as staples of the genre and go "wait a second, what effect WOULD that have on those kids?" and "what kind of person would train children in the first place? And why?"

But then, I think, sometimes the writers would go too far, and we get things like Deadly Genesis. Or the reveal that the Danger Room is a sentient enslaved AI.

I don't think it's a coincidence that those stories came out during the early 00s, when the movies were in full swing. Brubaker and Whedon were not, I think, really deconstructing the COMIC BOOK Xavier. They were having fun with the idea of "well, what if Xavier isn't really Patrick Stewart after all?"

But that means the conversation about Xavier veers away from the genre deconstruction elements of "what kind of man trains children for battle, and what are the effects of that?" to "Xavier mindwiped his foster kid to forget his brother's existence/covered up the deaths of an entire team/enslaved a sentient being."

There's no question there, because those are the actions of a villain, full stop. There's no deconstruction there because, until this point, Xavier wasn't actually a man who would do that.

But continuity and canon being what they are, Xavier is now a man who would do that. And it took a good decade, a redemption quest, two actual deaths, and off screen sanctification to get him back to a functional character again.

I think they did a good job, for the most part, in Krakoa, of showing Xavier at his best and worst. He is the visionary who made it happen (albeit with Magneto and Moira's help, but Magneto wasn't going to unite everyone the way Xavier could.) He was the face of the nation and the dream. And his fuck ups, born of ego and blind idealism, made sense. Of course, the man who wants to be King Arthur put his enemies on his round table. Of course, he wants a universal, simple ethical structure that applies to everyone even if that means a misunderstanding could lead a teenaged girl to be condemned to the pit. He can't overrule the Council to save his foster son's child. He can't just let his brother onto Krakoa when his brother isn't a mutant, no matter how hard Cain's tried to redeem himself....

And so on and so forth.

But then, we get Fall of X/Fall of the House of X. Even there, a lot of Xavier's actions make sense. Overruling everyone to send them into a gate to save their lives? Yes. I see that. Being lost in despair when he thinks he's killed them? Makes sense.

Disrupting Scott's rescue mission in order to go back in time to kill a fourteen year old girl? EH. Murdering people to get into ORCHIS? EHHHH.

I'd imagine that was always meant to be a fake out. At least I hope it was. But it gets into the same pattern with Xavier. In deconstructing the ideal of the man, the writers go to far. Then they end up backtracking. Then they go so far backtracking that we lose any opportunity to get into what he's actually done.

So in From the Ashes, we get the reveal that Xavier did not kill the people of the Agnew. Good. That had been a bit too far. In X-Manhunt, then, this reveal is now public. Yay. Now there's no need for Xavier to be imprisoned. All is forgiven. He can skip off into space with his wife, while everyone is sad.

Except, there were a whole lot of IN CHARACTER shit he'd pulled before that. There's a reason that Storm was barely talking to him by the end of Krakoa. Emma was incredibly livid at the games he played. Magneto had fucked off to Mars in frustration. But only Scott's allowed to actually stay angry at him, and it's portrayed as completely irrational. (Which I liked as a beat FOR SCOTT, but I feel like the others should have had some similar sentiment.)

I'm not saying I think Xavier deserves prison. But what about a hug and an "I'm sorry I've put you through this?" Hell, he could even sidestep some actual accountability and go with "I'm sorry I left you to carry this alone."

Admittedly, I'm a biased single character fan, but ONE apology, to ONE character, it didn't even have to be Scott! That could have gone a long way.

But nope, he didn't do that thing that would have been completely out of character, so everything's copacetic now.

I'm cautiously optimistic for Imperial. I think Hickman's done a good job with a realistically flawed Xavier in the past. But man, I'm going to enjoy the break from this roller coaster. At least there are no eulogies this time.

[oxymorayuri]

𝐶𝘩𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝟷𝟿

𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟

𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑔𝑎𝑟 𝐷. 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

𝐿𝑎𝑤 ✘ ♀ 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓: nisir0

Story: The princess of Tanata

[Long Fic]

➽ masterlist

Spoiler: nope

Warnings: nope

slowburn with plot

Wordcount: 3535

Text in italics emphasizes the reader’s thoughts

Bold and italic text emphasizes Law's thoughts *~*

Tagging: @slytherinambitious - @norasincubi - @cottoncandyloverrrr - @one-piece-frvr7 - @hopelesslover06 - @chillerkiller - @sassyyassi

After waking up this morning, you decided against going back to the palace and made the decision to rather conquer the old ruins with Law, which you had talked about the night before.

Strangely enough, you are sure that you will uncover the secrets of this extremely well protected ruin... together with Law.

“Here, take my hand.” With a smile, you accept Law's help and let him pull you onto the stone wall. With the new view in front of you, you both see what kind of complicated structure was hiding behind this wall...

[A/N: Hello my little sweethearts, it's been a long time since I showed any examples of the surroundings. Of course I firmly believe in your imagination, but here is a small example of how I imagine the ruin and the labyrinth. The pictures are made with AI and AI didn't get the labyrinth quite right, but it's better than nothing :D]

“Apparently the labyrinth changes every five minutes.” Analyzes Law. Given the size of the labyrinth, it will be difficult to keep your orientation. Although you can see the end of the labyrinth from where you stand right now, this huge maze separates you from your actual destination...

"Well then, let's go into the maze!" And with that sentence, you jump down to the start, with Law close behind you.

Even if you have no problems solving the puzzles together, you will always find yourself back at the beginning of the labyrinth. No matter how the massive walls move, you can't make any real progress.

Law had the idea that every time your way leads to a dead end, you should place a sign on the wall before you continue, to monitor how far you have come.

Since the maze is constantly moving, the order of the puzzles you have to solve also changes, always sending you through unknown corridors that you have not yet discovered, until you come to an wall blocking your way completely.

To your dismay, you come to the conclusion that you never really get any further… Because the new paths, after a dead end, will always lead you back to the beginning...

On the wall you were standing on before, you look breathlessly at the constantly moving maze. You have tried to speed through the maze, but whenever you faced a new puzzle before you could move further, a new dead end was already waiting around the corner.

Law keeps watching the maze as you recover from the constant running.

"Judging from the layout, we don't seem to have enough time to get to the end. Maybe we need to wait for the right moment to enter the maze?"

At that very moment, the walls are aligned in a way where the signs you placed form a line.

"Do you mean a moment like this?" You look at him excitedly as if you've discovered a clue, hopefully one that will take you further.

Once again, between the massive walls of stone, you make your way past the puzzles until you reach the place where you were expecting a new puzzle, but instead there is just a dead end in front of you...

Exhausted, you sink to the floor. Despite your confidence at the beginning, you now fear that even with the help of Law you won't get to your destination.

You run your hands through your face in distress... none of this makes any sense!

"I don't understand…" you mutter to yourself as you lose all hope.

“WHY CAN'T WE GET THROUGH THIS DAMNED MAZE???!” you scream and your voice echoes into the distance.. Law, visibly confused too, looks at the wall blocking the way in front of you.

“…We're not supposed to get through the maze…” Law speaks as if he has finally understood the mazes concept. He looks around, examining the walls for clues, but apart from the traces of time, there is nothing to be seen.

“What do you mean?” You are exhausted and unable to go any further. All you want is for the puzzles to come to an end. Law turns to you, his hand on his chin and thinking hard.

"I bet that no matter how fast we go, no matter when we enter the maze, we'll never get through it…" - “Huh?! But that's the only way to the ancient ruin…" His words don't seem logical to you and with some struggle you get on to your feet.

Once again, Law places a sign on the wall and after it was time for the maze to move, you both were no longer surprised that the way lead you back to the beginning...

So you go back onto the stone wall, which gives you a perfect overview of the maze and check where your latest sign is.

"Look at the signs Princess-ya…" Your eyes follow the direction Law is pointing at. Right before your eyes, you see the same line created by your signs. But after a closer look, you notice something new.

"The signs we have drawn are now a complete row, that runs horizontally through the entire labyrinth…" You are surprised…

“Not only that... These were the dead ends we were facing, but that row never opens, instead another wall opened which only led us back to the start…" Your eyes watch skeptically as all the walls move except the ones you have marked.

"So you're telling me that we've only been moving in this half of the maze the whole time?" Your finger points to the area in front of the marked row and Law nods at you in agreement. You look at him as if you were going crazy and laugh slightly hysterically.

“If you look closely you will see that the second half isn't even moving…” With this new insight, however, only more questions arise…

“Maybe there's some mechanism that makes the second half of the maze move?” - "Maybe…" He replies. Together you rack your brains, as this appears to be another puzzle you have to solve.

"But looking at the signs, we've been already in front of every dead end and most likely walked every path, but I haven't noticed anything that could be a mechanism…" In fact, Law has a completely different idea and is strongly convinced that you both have to find a hidden path outside of the maze.

“I guess you're right, I didn't notice anything either…” Your eyes roam around. If the labyrinth isn't the path to take, which way should you go? Or maybe you need to create a new path?

"You know Law, all those puzzles had one thing in common... I always had to use my powers…” - “The flowers!” Law blurts out.

He freezes briefly and seems surprised by his own volume. Clearing his throat with reddened cheeks, he tries to distract you from how childishly he has been behaving, but instead of finding it childish, you find yourself liking the otherwise observant Law more and more.

Back at the puzzles, you try to figure out how you can use your powers. Even though the puzzles were quite different, in the end you always had to bring a flower, which was planted on the altar, to blossom.

“… Mhmmhm, okay…! The ruins usually block all devil fruit powers…” You talk to yourself and circle around.

For many years, an unknown force has surrounded the ruins, making it impossible for Devil Fruit users to use their abilities. The knowledge behind these walls is not to be gained through destruction or power. The only way to obtain the island's legacy is through knowledge itself.

Since most of the information is related to the Taimu taimu fruit, you can only use your abilities under certain circumstances, but you cannot use them freely.

“What a hassle. If I could use my powers freely, thousands of ideas would come to my mind, but no, of coooourse I can't use them...” You tousle your hair and have to stop yourself from wanting to pull your hair out in frustration.

Law is watching you, while you're going crazy during your monologue, trying to keep the corners of his mouth down but while you are at your wit's end, swearing at your ancestors, he can't suppress his grin. (You're both such dorks.)

Luckily for him, you're too busy to see that he's having a great time watching you.

“Wait a minute princess-ya… maybe there's some kind of device like the altars in the maze?” You stop in mid stride and look at him with wide eyes.

"Well of course!!!" you literally shout in his face and shake his shoulders. Law, who is obviously surprised by your sudden attack, doesn't flinch. He lets you have your moment and once again catches himself unable to take his eyes off your laughter.

“That's it! Clearly!” You jump around like a bouncy ball, looking for a mechanism that will allow you to create a path into the ruins. Law shakes his head at your behavior and joins the search.

And who would have thought it but the mechanism you were looking for the whole time, was on the same stone wall you were standing on. Together you remove the plants which are hiding a panel, picturing two hands with flowers and without hesitation you place your hands on top of it. Excited you look around to see what happens.

High above the maze, twining vines and blooming flowers grow into a beautiful bridge that starts at your feet and leads all the way to the ruins.

You leap into the air with joy... you have never managed to get through this damn maze and thanks to Law, you now know that this was never the right way anyway... After your little dance, you jump without thinking into Law's arms, who almost falls off the stone wall with you and hug him tightly.

"This is all thanks to you Law!" He awkwardly strokes your back while you thank him over and over again.

After a heartfelt embrace, you rest your forehead against his and close your eyes. Law, on the other hand, is completely unaware of what's going on and a soft pink blush appears on his cheeks.

What the hell is she doing?! Is all he can think of.

While he struggles with himself, trying not to touch you in inappropriate places, goosebumps spread across his back because your delicate hand rests on his neck.

For you, it's just a gesture between loved ones and a demonstration of the respect you have for Law, nothing unusual in your culture... but for him, It's beyond confusion...

“How can I thank you, Law?”

Thank him? He laughs a little nervously. For now, he would be very grateful if you would let go of him so his heart can calm down, but he cannot bring himself to say those words. Rejecting you doesn't feel right and as long as no one sees the two of you, it doesn't really bother him. He thinks.

“Ahhh, it's no big deal. Now let's finally go into this ruin.” He skillfully changes the subject and it works. You are very excited and quickly break away from him and sprint along the long bridge. With Law close behind you, you run along the long flower bridge while it continues to form and flourish in front of you.

You pause before stepping onto the last few stone steps leading to the ruin, your heart pounding with excitement. You carefully enter the sacred site of your ancestors, your heart beating faster, but not out of fear.

You are amazed and overwhelmed by the huge walls that neither time nor the weather has been able to tear down.

You carefully enter a kind of long corridor, your breathing is shallow, and the only sound to be heard is your footsteps echoing along the high stone walls. You can't see a thing in this dark place and you don't know where the path is leading, it's as if the darkness is drawing you in.

Without being able to avoid it, you step on a stone that sinks in a bit and you hear a strange mechanism moving in the walls. You cling to Law's arm in the darkness, feeling scared and insecure. You look around in the dark, but your eyes can't make out anything, nothing at all.

To your surprise, no trap is triggered, instead the long hallway is being lit up, bit by bit.

“Look, Princess-ya.” Law's gaze is fixed ahead and in the distance you can see the end of this hallway. You can make out some kind of hall. You look up at Law, who smiles at you reassuringly, which gives you courage and you nod at him. Together you stride down the hallway.

On the sides are numerous paintings describing stories and legends. With careful fingers, you brush along the wall, trying to understand the stories. Few inscriptions explain in bits and pieces, with each step further, what is protected in this ruin. There are stories you've never heard of, and one thing is repeated over and over again.

“The Eye of Chronos…” your voice barely a whisper. Law, who was just looking at another wall painting, turns to you because of your voice and steps to your side. Curiously, he looks at the mural over your shoulder. He can't read the symbols but he understands the painting.

In the middle is a person portrayed, left and right are doors with different worlds behind them. Both of you look at the picture in confusion. Even after all your guesses about the wall paintings, you are uncertain what to expect. While you memorize every picture on the walls in your mind, you slowly make your way to the end of the hallway.

With every step you take towards the bright room, your heartbeat quickens. You have to narrow your eyes as the oncoming light grows brighter. While you shield your eyes from the harsh light, Law puts his hand on your back and points forward.

“Princess-ya, look over there!” You cautiously peek through your fingers and when you finally see what lies before you behind all the light, your hand drops to your side.

So what could it be? A Poneglyph…

Without further hesitation, you run to the massive cube and decipher the symbols. You translate every single sentence while Law examines the stone with the same curiosity.

“Now I understand, Law…“ Your voice is a bit hesitant at first, but then it fills with clarity. You hastily go to another place where you read a certain line and put your finger on it.

“The Eyes of Chronos is not an object or some kind of device, as I first thought, it is an ability.” You catch sight of Law's face, somewhat taken aback. You are overwhelmed by what this stone wants to teach you here.

“An ability?“ He raises his eyebrow. That makes sense to him, but what exactly does it mean?

“What can the Eyes of Chronos do?” He whispers as if guarding a secret. You go around to the other side of the poneglyph and repeat its words:

“The eyes of Chronos see every place, at every time, and wherever they are…” Your voice echoes through the hall with intensity. Law doesn't understand everything yet, but he senses something. Then you turn to him, which takes his breath away for a brief moment. With a smile on your lips, you look at him full of knowledge.

“The writing says that those who are worthy can gain a special ability, and this huge block behind me is practically a description and instruction of that ability.” You point behind you with your thumb. You take a seat on the floor and lean against the cube.

Law raises his eyebrows, he knows by now that it is a special ability, but what it can do, remains unclear. He waits quietly for you to continue with your speech.

You hold your hand in front of your eyes and tilt your head back. You are actually getting a little emotional from what you have read. You take a deep breath before your lips can even start to tremble…

“With the eyes of Chronos, it is possible for me to see different places and to enter them as well. It is like opening a door in space and time and then… then you are just… there… at the place I visualize.” You are quite stunned.

“Does that mean you can travel anywhere, no matter how far?” He is noticeably shocked. That's an amazing ability. You nod at him while continuing to hide your face.

Law crouches down next to you and puts a hand on your knee. You were so brave and eager to learn just a short time ago, and now you seem so quiet?

“That's it, Law…” You can't avoid the tremor in your voice anymore, but there's a smile on your lips. Because you're happy.

“This is what I was looking for. I knew it wasn't just a stupid fairy tale!” You lower your hand and look into Law's eyes.

“My mother used to read me a fairy tale in which the hero could travel to different places… Stories about him being on an island, high in the clouds with real angels… Or a city under water with creatures that resemble humans but can live underwater like fish… There were countless places he went and as a child I always wished I could visit those places too.” While you dwell in your memories, Law's eyes widen. The places you are talking about are more than familiar to him…

“y/n-ya…“ He addresses you by name. Unused to hearing your name from someone who isn't a member of your family, you look up at him.

“These places, they really exist.” Your eyes widen in wonder. If places like this await you outside, even if they're only remotely as described in your books, then you have to see them!

“Law, with this ability, I'm one step closer to leaving this island!“ Your grin makes him feel a sudden tug in his chest. In his opinion, it would be better if you stayed protected. But why?... Surely because your abilities would be dangerous in the wrong hands.

“What do you mean, you're one step closer? What else?” He studies your sad face, isn't it enough just to keep coming back here for the ritual?

“I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to my people. I have to protect them, you know?” Your eyes gaze deeply into his. He knows exactly what it feels like, to make it your duty to protect your loved ones, remembering his crew and how often he left them behind to avoid getting them into trouble.

“I see. So you still have to find a way to keep your island safe...” He leans back and gets up. Perhaps he will be lucky and you won't find a way to leave the island, but who is he to entertain such thoughts?

“I'll definitely come up with something!” You jump up and clench your fist in victory.

“However, I first have to learn this ability…“ You walk around the cube and try to figure out how to control the Eyes of Chronos.

“Didn't it say that you have to prove yourself worthy?” Law asks, still standing in the same place and thinking. That's right, but you thought you were already worthy of the knowledge… after all, you made it into this ruin…

“Hey Law, come and lend me a hand.” With his help, you climb onto the cube and, as you had expected, there is a small altar here too. Once again, there are these moulds in which you can place your hands.

You move your hands carefully. What will happen if I am not worthy of such power?

As your hands touch the stone, you are overcome with an oppressive feeling. It's as if all your strength is being sucked out of you. Your entire life passes before your eyes, with both beautiful and memorable moments, as well as tragic ones.

Long forgotten and suppressed memories emerge before your eyes. For the first time, you see the moment when your parents died.. with your very own eyes.

All of a sudden, your eyes can see everything.

Exhausted, you break away from the stone as it seemed that it was over. Your ears are ringing and your vision is blurred, the only thing you can hear is your heartbeat. Suddenly, Law comes into your view. He grabs you by the shoulders, worried, but you can only see him as a blur...

After this state subsides and your breathing normalizes, Law quickly examines your body for signs of impending unconsciousness, but you seem to be fine again.

“Law, I think I passed the test...” You ignore how he examines your eyes, checks your pulse and body temperature. He puts his hands on his thighs and looks at your face with a concerned expression.

“You think so?” You nod weakly at him and get up. You're a bit shaky on your feet, so Law supports you and you raise a hand.

“Yes, I do… and now we'll find out.”

You swing your hand and a kind of shiny crack forms in the air. Bits and pieces of fragments come off, showing you more of what is behind it and what you can see resembles your room in the castle. Full of amazement, Law looks at this unusual phenomenon.

He walks behind the crack and looks around to see what is there, but even behind it, all he can see is your room. A little tired, you reach your hand out to him.

“Let's go home, Law…” He hurries back to you before you collapse into his arms. Exhausted, and together you walk through the crack and end up in your room…

Ohoho, it's getting exciting and I'm looking forward to write the next chapters. Get ready for innocent romance and upcoming danger...

Kiss kiss, your yuri

➽ Next chapter

[mahercbeaucoup]

TTRPG Design Lessons from Wildermyth

I've recently been spending a good deal of time thinking about solo RPGs and playing Rangers of Shadow Deep, a solo miniature game. My brain has been buzzing with ideas for solo game design, but I wanted to extend my research into video games, and so I found myself playing Wildermyth. This game has been on my radar for years, but I finally took the time to sit down with it. I enjoyed the game's first campaign, and I came away with some lessons for solo TTRPG design.

Procedural Stories

As your party of heroes wanders the world of Wildermyth, the player is treated to vignettes of the characters' encounters with their environment. These little stories build much of the player's connection to their band of heroes, especially the ones who join later and appear less often in the main plot.

Coming from the OSR world, a natural comparison arises to random encounters, especially during overland exploration. But whereas OSR encounters can follow any structure (and it is not uncommon for them to merely provide a moment of flavor), the Wildermyth vignettes always result in a meaningful change to the game state (as far as I can tell). A character may gain a new item, or change in some unexpected way, and the player will have a choice to make. Because a vignette always results in some sort of change, the game has a continuous feel of forward momentum.

In solo games, I struggle with developing side characters (or characterization at all, if the game is primarily skirmish-based). Looking at Wildermyth's approach, I can see the potential for a spark table to take one or two characters and create a little side-adventure for them, giving them a little color and differentiating them from the others.

Overworld Map

Wildermyth's map is broken down into regions, and each type of region contributes a different gameplay option. Some areas may have ruins you can reclaim, giving you increased resources or "Legacy Points" (a type of special currency), that you can use to grow and enhance your party. Some areas might allow you to build a bridge across a river, or tunnel through a mountain pass, into an adjacent territory. Villages provide recruitment opportunities, and new areas need to be scouted.

Crucially, every action requires time to complete, and the world is always moving on. Timers count down to the next bad event, armies march across the map and destroy settlements, and the deck of potential enemies is always growing stronger. Even when you acquire enough party members to split them up over multiple locations, it always feels like there is never enough time to get to everything you want to.

This system is simple, but it adds rich, opportunities for gameplay. I would love to experiment with this kind of campaign layer in an otherwise more traditional skirmish game. By adding simple concrete benefits to the control of a region, a huge amount of gameplay naturally emerges, even before diving deep into other sorts of quest hooks that will develop.

Enemy Behavior

When it comes to the tactical battles, the enemy AI seems to be very simplistic (as it is in most games of this type, and video games in general). But this isn't a knock against the battles, because the game's designers clearly understand that you can compensate for AI with varied enemies and scenario design.

I could very much picture running these enemies manually, each one operating by a different tactic that is simple enough to execute manually, while also appearing in enough unique combinations and situations to the player on their toes. One enemy might always charge to the farthest character it can reach, while another might draw characters toward it. These are just a few examples from Wildermyth, but they demonstrate how a few simple enemies can drastically change the tactical situation.

Interfusion

The mage class in Wildermyth has "Interfusion" as its primary ability. This lets the character manipulate the scatter terrain in the environment, with different types of terrain offering different tactical benefits.

I haven't seen this kind of approach to magic before, and I think it has good potential on the tabletop.

Putting it all together

After playing Wildermyth, I have a clearer picture of the game that is brewing in my mind: a cross between a skirmish game and an RPG (hardly a new idea), focused on a war band securing an area, and reacting to dynamic threats with varied enemies and approaches to AI. It's the smallest of seeds, but I have a vision for what it can grow into.

[sufferdotcom]

I hate hate hate people like this. I understand how hard burnout can be, I understand how nice it is to see the engagement and the people who have positive feedback to give. But to beg, nay, demand that everyone who read and liked the work write practically an essay outline is abhorrent behaviour from an artist. Keep in mind that this was a commission fic, so someone was paying her anyway. The sad thing is that she is a really talented writer, she’s just writing for a sort of dead fandom and expecting everyone to cater to her ego.

There was a story of hers that I was reading a few years ago and on like the fourth chapter she left an end note that essentially said “I haven’t been getting enough praise so I’m not going to update for a while, maybe I will if I get more comments, kudos aren’t enough.” As a freelance writer, or someone who writes in a fandom without compensation, it’s absolutely elating to hear that there are people reading and enjoying what you write. But in no way are you entitled to praise just for writing something. It’s hard to put your heart and soul into something you love without anything in return, but that’s why you should be writing. You should be writing because *you* love what you write, not because you want praise. If you write only for the praise of other people then your writing will always be unfulfilled, and your ego will never be stroked enough. You are owed nothing by strangers on the internet, and you owe them nothing in return. Something as personal as writing should only be done to service yourself, and any people who praise you and like your work along the way are extra. And if you feel so entitled to praise for your writing then you have made your writing as soulless as ai

-Sincerely, a writer

EDIT: Apparently I lied. She’s not a great writer. Reading this fic of hers is nearly impossible. She has no idea how to use punctuation, especially the comma, way too many em-dashes to insert a side note, and she uses the word “and” way too many times.

In addition: -She misused the word “rune” when she really meant “character”.

-This shit is so boring and the expositional tangents that she goes on distract from the actual story

-Many typos that impede ease of reading

-Sentence structure that needs re-reading many times to understand

-Changing tenses, sometimes in the same sentence

-Run on sentences that sometimes last a paragraph

-Adds DeadDove elements such as rape, torture, gore, and violence and then acts as if she’s above stuff like that in her notes

-Overuse of the word “as” to replace “because” or “since”

-She held the epilogue hostage in exchange for praise about the entire work and then after posting it, in the end notes, admits that she heavily debated *not* posting the *already written* chapter because of the lack of comments

Keep in mind that this is not the same fic as the one she took a break from posting because of the low amount of comments. And in the end notes of every chapter she begged, borderline demanded, compliments and comments for the chapter and work in whole.

[oceannicmuse]

---

Sing, poet, the echo of my will.

Hello, my odesingers! I’m Oceanic Muse, an amateur writer passionate about Greek myths and fanfiction.

I often struggle with continuity and rarely finish what I start, but if someone finds inspiration in my ideas, feel free to use them! I only ask for credit. It excites me to see how others interpret or expand my work.

---

Disclaimer: I’m not fluent in English, so everything you read here, including this post, has been translated using tools such as Google Translate and AI assistance. I don’t mean to offend anyone whose native language is English or those who have studied it; I simply don’t yet have the tools to learn other languages beyond the basics.

---

꣑୧゛content→ ❝notes❞

1. Personal interpretations: All the fanfics, AUs, and ideas I share here are based on my interpretations and personal analysis. While the original concepts are not always mine (and I will give credit when possible), their development and application are. Please don’t apply other authors’ logic to my work—every writer has a unique perspective, and mine may be very different.

2. Respect for other authors’ work: I have no intention of taking credit for anyone else’s work. My goal is to share my own views and explore ideas I believe other authors haven’t developed or that I’d love to see more often, purely for entertainment and personal enjoyment. I deeply admire the authors in this community and love their works, whether they’ve been abandoned or take literary liberties. My intention is not to compete or discredit anyone, but to add my voice to this creative universe.

3. Creative liberties: I don’t aim for everything I write to be strictly tied to mythological or literary canon. While I enjoy details, timelines, and structures, I also value creative freedom. Different people follow different versions of myths, and that’s what makes each story unique and interesting.

4. Respect for religions: With all due respect to any religion referenced in my content, please understand that some things may come across as offensive or ignorant from certain characters’ perspectives or narratives. The words and actions of my characters do not align with my personal beliefs. This is purely literary.

5. On Hellenic religion: I am writing fanfiction based on Hellenic religion. If you are a Hellenic polytheist, I hope you understand that this is purely an interpretation of these figures as mythological characters, not as religious entities. That is, preexisting characters within a specific context. If they act in certain ways, it’s not personal against anyone but a narrative choice that serves the plot while staying true to their multifaceted and interpretative nature in mythology. I love Greek mythology and culture, and my engagement with them is purely literary.

6. Sensitive content: My approach is to maintain a balance between authenticity in storytelling and respect for readers. For that reason, I avoid explicit NSFW content. However, you may find references to sensitive topics such as SA or physical and sexual attraction, always from a narrative, non-graphic standpoint. These elements serve the plot and character development, not as a reflection of my personal views or intentions. My goal is to tell immersive, realistic stories with as much care and consideration as possible.

7. I am a minor: I appreciate your discretion and understanding.

꣑୧゛content→ ❝My works❞

---

I’m currently working on a fanfic inspired by the ATHENIDE!AU. I draw inspiration from other fanfics, as the authors are brilliant and have incredible ideas. I hope to share my progress soon! Even if the fic never gets published, I hope my content inspires others.

----

If something sparks your curiosity or you have a suggestion, don’t hesitate to leave it—I’d love to read it!

I'm not a player, I’m the puppeteer.

[astronaris]

[F4GM] A Palace Harem Drama RP - An EXTREMELY niche, specific RP request

As the title indicates, this is a very niche request, so niche in fact It's probably first of its kind on this sub. Now, ads aren't my strong suit so I'll keep it fairly short and simple.

About Me

Hello! My name is Astronaris, you may call me Astro. I am 21+ years old, female, live in Southeast Asia (just note the timezone there as well). I have been a roleplayer for 11 years now and I am ESL, so my writing can have some grammatical mistakes here and there. I am a pretty reserved person, so while I love OOC talk that isn't related to RP, it takes a little while for me to open up to new people, so please be patient!

Writing Style:

I write in 3rd Person Past or Present Tense and only that. I am not familiar with writing in 1st person or 2nd person. My post length usually averages around 3-5 paragraphs, can be longer or shorter as needed with the current scene, but will not be shorter than 4 sentences minimum or exceed 7 paragraphs. I very much have the "quality over quantity" principle with writing and I try to avoid having unnecessary filler or exposition inflating the length. Please don't mistake my short posts as inexperience or bad writing. [h3][/h3]

Time/Availability:

GMT +8 timezone. But, you'd find I'm available OOC almost all the time and I'll always find time to reply on Discord or otherwise, unless I am busy with something or just lacking energy that day. I try to write roleplay posts whenever available and I reply at least once per day, often more depending on my partner's length.

What To Expect From Me:

For this premise specifically, I'd prefer to play only a female primary character.

While I am seeking a GM who'd primarily control the world, plot, etc. It does not mean I will be just dead weight who just leaves allll the work to the GM. I will still be proactive and pull my weight in planning, worldbuilding, initiating or executing in-character plots, and the like. I will not write my character being passive all the time and just wasting any plot hooks given by the GM or need to be forcibly whisked away to participate in the plot.

I do not write using AI and never, EVER will.

I am not afraid to tackle darker, more grim topics in an RP, making it feel more realistic and grounded. So long it doesn't involve breaking the forum rules or making my partner uncomfortable.

I LOVE writing court intrigue, medieval politics, and drama.

Story over smut always. I prefer not to have any smut at all, but if it happens, I'll be something that happens naturally in the story and not the focus.

Overall, I am very flexible, open to adapting, and new ideas. I will always respect your preferences, limits, etc so long you respect mine.

What I Expect From My Partners:

I will try to keep this short since I don't want to come off as excessively demanding or have impossibly high standards.

Be willing to be a GM. As GM you'll be free to control the world as you wish/need to.

NOT write with AI. If you try to pass off AI-written posts as your own writing, I will know. If I wanted to write against AI, I'd go to a chatbot, not make a roleplay ad, sorry.

The RP Premise:

The final stretch of the ad! I'll keep this part short as well. Any specific details we discuss together in the planning stages of the RP.

The general idea is a roleplay set around a historically accurate harem. Not the kind of harem you'd see in animes, etc, but one structured similarly to one that existed historically. Think the Chinese Imperial Harem or the Ottoman Empire Harem as an example. Doesn't have to take place in a real life location, era, or follow the events of real-life history, there will be creative liberties taken to make the RP more fun.

My character is a concubine at one of these harems. Their story will be how they'd fight to survive within the harem, climb the ranks of power, and garner the favor the Emperor (or whatever equivalent). If you've watched CDramas like "Ruyi's Royal Love", "Empress of China", the Kdrama "Empress Ki", or the Turkish drama "Magnificent Century" that's precisely the kind of story I want to RP.

If you're the rare shiny Pokemon who's interested. Please throw me a DM or reply to the thread, and then we can discuss specifics such setting, era, etc. Roleplay can either be facilitated on Discord, Tumblr, any site my partner prefers really.

[duhragonball]

November Plannin'

All right, I've been thinking it over, and I think I'm gonna have to pull the plug on my NaNoWriMo account. The AI thing irks me, because to me the organization seems to think that it doesn't matter if you use Chat GPT or some other damn thing to reach the goal. And I do think it matters, because to me the whole point of the exercise is that those 50,000 words come from me, and me alone. The only software I need is Notepad.exe. I only downloaded iA Writer because it was like a Notepad.exe for my phone, and I got FocusWriter because it's like Notepad.exe with a wordcounter.

I've heard about the Nano community, and the writing groups, and the public meet-ups, and I'm not knocking any of that stuff, but I never had any interest in that. I just used the website to keep score, and I guess that's what bugs me, because by refusing to condemn AI, they're basically insinuating that the score doesn't matter. "It doesn't matter what you wrote." Someone told me that once and it still gets me kinda hot.

NaNoWriMo doesn't care if I write the words or not. All the org seems to care about is having participants who'll buy the merch and click on their sponsors, or whatever. They're gonna do this shady crap and they take the participants for granted. "What are you gonna do? Leave? You need us to reach your writing goals!"

That's the message I get from them. That's what made me reluctant to decide, because it is handy, and there's a certain anxiety that if I give up the structure the site offers, I might not reach my goal.

And that's the "creative monster" I need to slay this year. When I was in college, I took a semester of creative writing, and there was an assignment called "Killing the Creative Monster", and I interpreted it as a sense of not having enough time to write. Things kept happening, and the stuff I wanted to do seemed like it would take too long with no certainty that it would be worthwhile. That was in 1998. In 2024, the Creative Monster is the idea that I'm dependent on NanoWriMo to get me where I'm want to be.

So I'm gonna close down my account on the site. But I'm not doing it right away, because first I'm gonna save all the stats and stuff that belong to me. We'll start with the banner image I put up on my profile.

This is Zack Sabre Junior. This year, he won the G1 Climax tournament. He made a big deal about how his career wouldn't be complete until he won the G1. Not just any G1, but this year's tournament. I just put this picture in my profile because I was digging his tag team stuff with Taichi a few years ago, but suddenly I'm reminded of him winning the G1 this year. It was a big deal. He's the first guy to win that I actually wanted to win.

I've won NanoWriMo seven times from 2017 to 2023. But that doesn't matter. Unless I win Unaffiliated Autumnal Writing Challenge (UAWC) in 2024, I'll always feel a bit unsatisfied. That's what this one is about. No pep talks from some author I never heard of because I'm too busy watching anime to read. No funky word-count widget that always malfunctions around midnight. Just me and this computer, and a bunch of tekkers. That's how we're gonna do this one.

Good. I finally feel fired up about this one. I was beginning to get nervous. Let's figure out what I need to work on.

Luffa Annual 6. Ironically, this one actually takes priority over the main fic, becuase it's the Christmas Special, so it has a hard deadline. I was gonna work on it last week, but I kind of blew it off.

I don't know that the annuals are all that popular, but I enjoy making them, even if they are a huge pain in the butt to figure out. I'm glad this is the last one in the set, but I won't just slap it together and call it good.

Tellurium. This is a weird side-bet I'm making here. On my main blog, I used to do a series on the discovery of the chemical elements, and this was the next one on my list back in, uh... 2016. The tricky thing here is that the writing is just part of the job. There's research that goes into this stuff, and I don't want to get lose a days' worth of wordcount trying to wrap my head around molecular orbitals. Call me a glutton for punishment. It'd be relatively easy to just do 10-12 Luffa chapters and call it a month, because I've done that before. I feel like this year needs to be trickier. Also, I really, really want to get Te in the books. I don't think I like the chemical elements more than Luffa, but it is telling that I'm even having that conversation with myself right now.

Luffa 225-234. Of course I still plan to stick with what brung me to the dance. Kakarot is behind me but this fic isn't finished. The problem is that I only have a nebulous plan on where to go from here, and it's coming together a lot more gradually than I thought it would. I plotted a cool scene on my commute this afternoon, so that's a good sign, but I need to be realistic here. Last year went really well because I was writing the Luffa vs. Goku fight that I had been dreaming of for years. Motivation-wise, I've got nowhere to go but down. But I had similar problems in 2018-2020, and I prevailed then.

That Bulma project I was horsing around with. Last year, there was some crank on Twitter getting pissy at anyone who shipped Bulma with any non-canon partners, like there's a rule or something. That kind of inspired me to try to do some shorter works featuring Bulma hooking up with different characters. I didn't get very far last year, but I liked having a side-thing that I could jump into whenever I got stuck with the main work.

You know, thinking about it, I really need to use 2025 to work on some non-Luffa fanfic. In the early years, I worried that working on a longfic would eat up time that I could use for one-shots, and I slowly acclimated to just focusing one thing. But now that the Goku fight is done, the pressure is off to finish Luffa before I die. I mean, it's still not finished, but the Goku fight was a major milestone, and I didn't like the idea of never getting that done.

I mean, I still get kudos on that Caulikale fic I wrote in 2018, and the Gochi thing I did. People like that stuff, and I'm pretty good at making it. Maybe I should run a poll.

I dunno, that's probably enough for now. I should go back to bed. But I feel a lot better about November than I did a few days ago, that's for sure.

[brooklyndadshow]

Please answer as a Black woman

I always tell people when they prompt that they should always set a point of view for the chat. Make AI an expert - whatever you do you should never just use the default chat. If you do that, I tell people they should they imagine the answers they are getting are from the people who actually programmed ChatGPT - which probably looks like one of the DOGE employees, twenty-something white kid know it all - hat to the side, giving you an answer without fully researching, cocky, know it all. He'll give you that confident answer, possibly with some hallucinations because well he can. You don't want that guys answer!!

I always start by saying things like, "please answer as an expert in green economy and social media." As I've been thinking about this I'm thinking of how to set up prompts to a point of view that aligns with me - not just an expert. Which led me to the prompt I'm playing with tonight - "Please answer as a Black woman" . Below are the results. I'm going to keep playing with this idea. I have to come up with something to ask in the context I'm creating.... but it was a long day. In the end the idea is that I would share with people a prompt they could always use in the voice of a strong black woman - thus removing potential bias right away.

Prompt:

Please respond as a black woman. I want the point of you of a professional black woman - perhaps a CEO - someone that understands the power dynamics of sexism and racism. Also someone that understands and values community and creativity.

Response:

I'll respond as a professional Black woman—a CEO, a leader who navigates power dynamics with both strategy and heart, and someone deeply committed to community and creativity. What's on your mind?

Prompt:

Can you tell me some 10 black women you might use as a model for this? I also in the future want to use a similar prompt - can you tell me how to best construct an opening prompt to get the intended voice I want for the chat

Response:

10 Black Women Who Embody the Voice You Want

If I were channeling a powerful, professional Black woman with deep insight into sexism, racism, community, and creativity, I’d pull inspiration from these ten:

Ursula Burns – Former CEO of Xerox, first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, deeply aware of corporate power structures.

Bozoma Saint John – Marketing powerhouse, former CMO of Netflix, Uber, and PepsiCo; unapologetic about Blackness and creative leadership.

Stacey Abrams – Political strategist, voting rights advocate, and entrepreneur, balancing activism with business acumen.

Angela Davis – Scholar, activist, and former Black Panther, who has spent a lifetime analyzing power, race, and systemic oppression.

Kimberlé Crenshaw – Legal scholar who coined "intersectionality" and has shaped the way we talk about race, gender, and power.

Ava DuVernay – Filmmaker and creator, using storytelling to shift narratives about Black life and justice.

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum – Psychologist and former Spelman College president, specializing in racial identity development.

Jessica O. Matthews – Entrepreneur and founder of Uncharted Power, bridging innovation, sustainability, and community empowerment.

Tarana Burke – Founder of the #MeToo movement, a grassroots leader who understands power, survival, and collective healing.

Melissa Harris-Perry – Political commentator and professor, who brings an intellectual, analytical voice to race and gender discussions.

Each of these women moves through the world with both power and grace, challenging the status quo while creating space for others.

How to Construct a Strong Prompt for This Voice

If you want to consistently get a response from the voice of a powerful Black woman CEO who understands systemic power, community, and creativity, try structuring your prompt like this:

Define the Identity & Perspective

"I want the response to come from the perspective of a highly accomplished Black woman—someone who has been a CEO or senior leader and understands the power dynamics of race and gender in corporate and community spaces."

Specify the Knowledge Base

"She is deeply familiar with navigating racism, sexism, and systemic barriers while leading with both strategy and cultural pride."

Clarify the Tone & Approach

"Her voice should be confident, insightful, and unafraid to speak the truth, but also grounded in community, creativity, and collective empowerment."

Contextualize the Question

"How would she advise a Black entrepreneur breaking into a predominantly white industry?"

"What insights would she share on balancing corporate leadership with maintaining authenticity?"

"How would she speak about AI, bias, and ethical tech development from a Black woman’s perspective?"

Example Prompt

"Respond as a Black woman who has been a CEO or high-level executive, someone deeply aware of how racism and sexism operate in professional spaces. She values community, creativity, and collective empowerment. Her voice is strategic, confident, and unapologetic. Given this perspective, how would she advise a Black entrepreneur navigating the tech industry?"

That should consistently give you the tone and insight you want! Would you like me to refine it further for specific use cases?

[ocrpsearch]

[F4GM] A Palace Harem Drama RP - An EXTREMELY niche, specific RP request About Me

21+ years old, female, live in Southeast Asia (just note the timezone there as well). I have been a roleplayer for 11 years now. I am a pretty reserved person, so while I love OOC talk that isn't related to RP, it takes a little while for me to open up to new people, so please be patient!

Writing Style:

I write in 3rd Person Past or Present Tense and only that. I am not familiar with writing in 1st person or 2nd person. My post length usually averages around 3-5 paragraphs, can be longer or shorter as needed with the current scene, but will not be shorter than 4 sentences minimum or exceed 7 paragraphs. I very much have the "quality over quantity" principle with writing and I try to avoid having unnecessary filler or exposition inflating the length. Please don't mistake my short posts as inexperience or bad writing.

Time/Availability:

GMT +8 timezone. But, you'd find I'm available OOC almost all the time and I'll always find time to reply on Discord or otherwise, unless I am busy with something or just lacking energy that day. I try to write roleplay posts whenever available and I reply at least once per day, often more depending on my partner's length.

What To Expect From Me:

For this premise specifically, I'd prefer to play only a female primary character.

I do not write using AI and never, EVER will.

I am not afraid to tackle darker, more grim topics in an RP, making it feel more realistic and grounded. So long it doesn't involve breaking the forum rules or making my partner uncomfortable.

I LOVE writing court intrigue, medieval politics, and drama.

Story over smut always. I prefer not to have any smut at all, but if it happens, I'll be something that happens naturally in the story and not the focus.

Overall, I am very flexible, open to adapting, and new ideas. I will always respect your preferences, limits, etc so long you respect mine.

What I Expect From My Partners:

Be 21+

Preferably male or identifies as male. (Not a hard requirement)

I will try to keep this short since I don't want to come off as excessively demanding or have impossibly high standards.

Be willing to be a GM. As GM you'll be free to control the world as you wish/need to.

NOT write with AI. If you try to pass off AI-written posts as your own writing, I will know. If I wanted to write against AI, I'd go to a chatbot, not make a roleplay ad, sorry.

The RP Premise:

The final stretch of the ad! I'll keep this part short as well. Any specific details we discuss together in the planning stages of the RP.

The general idea is a roleplay set around a historically accurate harem. Not the kind of harem you'd see in animes, etc, but one structured similarly to one that existed historically. Think the Chinese Imperial Harem or the Ottoman Empire Harem as an example. Doesn't have to take place in a real life location, era, or follow the events of real-life history, there will be creative liberties taken to make the RP more fun. My character is a concubine at one of these harems. Their story will be how they'd fight to survive within the harem, climb the ranks of power, and garner the favor the Emperor (or whatever equivalent). If you've watched CDramas like "Ruyi's Royal Love", "Empress of China", the Kdrama "Empress Ki", or the Turkish drama "Magnificent Century" that's precisely the kind of story I want to RP. Roleplay can either be facilitated on Discord, Tumblr, any site my partner prefers really.

interact and the user will reach out!

[ofmermaidstories]

I totally agree with you on not liking the current, "you must reblog or don't read it" mentality. While it's great to support fanfic writers if you're comfortable with it, there are a lot of reasons why someone may not feel comfortable reblogging a particular fic (for me personally my social anxiety sometimes gets the best of me and I simply cannot handle the idea of being perceived). I think the problem comes when people don't interact with fics and then start to ask for more content from the author (which I suspect is only a few people but it's enough to give some writers a really bad impression). I used to write for a very small fandom and even I had several experiences of people asking for part 2s or updates when the original fic had very little interaction and I was most definitely not a request blog. I've personally never written fanfiction to get comments but stuff like that made me feel used and I even had one interaction that toed the line of emotional blackmail and put me off writing for that fandom altogether so I can definitely see why some authors end up so jaded that they block anyone who doesn't interact positively (even if it's not something I really agree with). So yeah, I really don't think there's anything wrong with genuine lurkers but I fear sadly they've been given a bad name by the few people who do treat fanfic authors as content machines.

Anyway, I hope I haven't rambled too much and that you're having a good day Merms!

Oh yeah, absolutely!!! Like, true entitlement is such a problem that genuine lurkers are getting murked for; which is unfair because it makes a scapegoat out of them and doesn’t solve the real problem at all. And I say “true entitlement” because there’s a difference between a comment that’s like, “will there be a part 2? 🥺” and “part 2” LOL, which is my personal pet peeve, like—what happened to hi?? hello??? how are you??? 💀 I’m not a chat AI, you don’t get to input demands. 🤖📖���

Idk—I try not to be mean about even that, tho, because I suspect a lot of this behaviour is indicative of younger readers, but then it just circles back to the problem of like, how do we correct it on a community-wide scale? Because sure, entitlement like that might be coming from a younger reader, but it might just as easily be coming from an asshole LMAO. The only “quick” solution that I can see for it is directly addressing it when it happens. 🥺 And again I wanna emphasise that there’s a clear difference between a genuine enquiry and a throwaway demand!! Like, personally, I don’t mind people asking when I might update or whatnot, because I don’t hold myself to a schedule and my updates are haphazard. But if you’re a more structured and dependable writer (like andypants, for example!) then maybe it’s a different story idk idk. It’s literally case-by-case—which is how it should be, because we’re all individual people writing different things.

I’m sorry your other fandom experience was kinda soured for you though, Anon. 🥺 I would feel used too! I’ve actually come to really dislike writing generic, non-bigger-fic related drabbles because they’re always the pieces that attract the worst of the entitlement. 💀 I say that like it’s a plague of demands lmfao, it’s not, but it happens often enough that it’s noticeable—and I guess it’s just the nature of them being easily digestible without needing like 100k+ of backstory to get into it, but….. idk idk. It’s startling! 😦 And I think the only action we can take that’s even close to a solution is just gently addressing it whenever it pops up. 😔 Or blocking ig if that’s how u roll, LOL.

[superwoman-comics]

SUPERWOMAN: MAIDEN OF STEEL #1 COVER

Welcome to Earth-AC60! Part of the collection of universes called, Multiverse-DC3.

On Earth-AC60, the world will witness the rise of their universe's first superhero, Superwoman!

next

if you like what you see? check out my comic, Datacell #1! But before you buy, read Datacell's Origin at DATACELL HQ 

Name: Clarrie Kent/Kala Lar-El

Date of birth: June 30th,2001(earth time) Age: 22(as of 2023) Height: 6” 4”ft

Powers:

Base strength: She has been shown to be able to lift as much as 100tons. Enhanced human speed: she can run up to mach 5 without exerting herself. Telescopic Vision: The user can zoom their vision in on things, allowing them to see distant objects in magnified scale. They may be able to see vast distances, outside the atmosphere, solar-system or even galactic distances.

Invulnerability: The user is immune to any/all forms of physical damage/harm, unable to feel physical pain, is immune to bleeding or loss of limb. Death due to old age (as opposed to preemptive death) is seemingly the only cause of death to the user. Heat Vision: User is able to generate concentrated, immense amount of heat from their eyes, which can be used to burn, heat, melt, weld, etc., targets. Masters of this power may turn it into/gain Incineration (or vice versa) which is a very similar power.

Flight: User can fly or otherwise move through the air using various methods. Some possibilities include using one or more forms of energy, wings or similar structures, harnessing anti-gravitation, or even mimicking or becoming an animal that can fly. Users are generally able to Levitate, and Glide as well. Enhanced Jump: User can jump incredible distances and land safely, covering frighteningly tall heights and long distances. Usually comes with strong legs.

Ice Breath: The user is able to generate and manipulate ice/cold within them in a way that allows them to shape the exhaling of the effect. These shapes can include bursts, streams, spheres, even a mist of it from the mouth. Semi-Immortality: Users of this ability never age, and as a result, they stay young forever or at least never suffer the ravages of aging. Because of this, the user will always be at their physical prime. The user will also be immune to aging abilities, such as Age Acceleration or Reversal.

Weakness: She is as weak against magic attacks and spells as any human. She is vulnerable to all forms of incapacitating agents and vulnerable to electric/energy/ and mind control attacks. Whether it can kill him remains to be seen. If she encounters a new virus--depending on the the strength of the virus, she could die. Location: Metropolis

Team affiliations: The Daily Planet

Birth location: Smallville. Kansas

First Appearances: Superwoman #1

For years on Deviant Art, I've stumbled on other creators' versions of Superwoman and thought to myself, I want my own version. there's two things i like about this piece; one, the background was made on, Playground AI. I'm thinking of changing up my style--for the sake of experimentation. And two, I gave her my special Superman symbol that I created a few years ago. Once I put them together I looked at it for awhile and thought--Wow! This works. Though i have added some original ideas to Superwoman, she is based off of Superman. The stories are based off of various Superman stories over the years. I do not own superman, or any of the related characters. The Superman series was created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster and is owned by DC Comics. This story is a work of fan-fiction and is for entertainment only. I am not making profit from this story. All rights of Superman belong to DC Comics.

[dataverse-comics]

Welcome to Earth-AC60! Part of the collection of universes called, Multiverse-DC3.

On Earth-AC60, the world will witness the rise of their universe's first superhero, Superwoman!

next

if you like what you see? check out my comic, Datacell #1! But before you buy, read Datacell's Origin at DATACELL HQ!

Name: Clarrie Kent/Kala Lar-El

Date of birth: June 30th,2001(earth time) Age: 22(as of 2023) Height: 6” 4”ft

Powers:

Base strength: She has been shown to be able to lift as much as 100tons. Enhanced human speed: she can run up to mach 5 without exerting herself. Telescopic Vision: The user can zoom their vision in on things, allowing them to see distant objects in magnified scale. They may be able to see vast distances, outside the atmosphere, solar-system or even galactic distances.

Invulnerability: The user is immune to any/all forms of physical damage/harm, unable to feel physical pain, is immune to bleeding or loss of limb. Death due to old age (as opposed to preemptive death) is seemingly the only cause of death to the user. Heat Vision: User is able to generate concentrated, immense amount of heat from their eyes, which can be used to burn, heat, melt, weld, etc., targets. Masters of this power may turn it into/gain Incineration (or vice versa) which is a very similar power.

Flight: User can fly or otherwise move through the air using various methods. Some possibilities include using one or more forms of energy, wings or similar structures, harnessing anti-gravitation, or even mimicking or becoming an animal that can fly. Users are generally able to Levitate, and Glide as well. Enhanced Jump: User can jump incredible distances and land safely, covering frighteningly tall heights and long distances. Usually comes with strong legs.

Ice Breath: The user is able to generate and manipulate ice/cold within them in a way that allows them to shape the exhaling of the effect. These shapes can include bursts, streams, spheres, even a mist of it from the mouth. Semi-Immortality: Users of this ability never age, and as a result, they stay young forever or at least never suffer the ravages of aging. Because of this, the user will always be at their physical prime. The user will also be immune to aging abilities, such as Age Acceleration or Reversal.

Weakness: She is as weak against magic attacks and spells as any human. She is vulnerable to all forms of incapacitating agents and vulnerable to electric/energy/ and mind control attacks. Whether it can kill him remains to be seen. If she encounters a new virus--depending on the the strength of the virus, she could die. Location: Metropolis

Team affiliations: The Daily Planet

Birth location: Smallville. Kansas

First Appearances: Superwoman #1

For years, I've stumbled on other creators' versions of Superwoman and thought to myself, I want my own version. there's two things i like about this piece; one, the background was made on, Playground AI. I'm thinking of changing up my style--for the sake of experimentation. And two, I gave her my special Superman symbol that I created a few years ago. Once I put them together I looked at it for awhile and thought--Wow! This works. Though i have added some original ideas to Superwoman, she is based off of Superman. The stories are based off of various Superman stories over the years. I do not own superman, or any of the related characters. The Superman series was created by Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster and is owned by DC Comics. This story is a work of fan-fiction and is for entertainment only. I am not making profit from this story. All rights of Superman belong to DC Comics.

[likealittleheartbeat]

hey!

this is more of a personal ask so if you do not feel comfortable answering it, feel free to ignore.

what did u mean in your previous post about 'finding your lane finally'? what profession/outlet did u find for writing about your interests if i may ask?:) it just sounds interesting!

So I really have never enjoyed the career I’ve been in, and I’ve been considering grad school for a long time (even did a semester in a professional track counseling program that I did fine in but really did not enjoy). I read academic texts for fun, which no one else I’ve met does, so it seemed like the best path. But I have always struggled to feel confident in figuring out which field would really let me integrate all my interests that I could reasonably break into without having to do a whole bunch of extra work. I’ve considered studying Literature bcuz I love literary fiction, thematic analysis, structuralism, and literary hermeneutics; Film Studies bcuz I love a lot of tv and film but I’m not super into the more masculine parts of the canon nor as many technical aspects of the craft; Gender and Sexuality Studies to get at the focus on queer subjectivity and dynamics that are a core interest for me; History since I was a history major in undergrad and still really enjoy that type of research; Religious Studies so ai can dive into Buddhist and Reformed Christian religious ideas; even American Studies so I can touch on indigeneity, colonialism, and gender in American contexts, which is another special interest of mine.

But none of those fields felt like they’d let me obsess over the contemporary tv and movies that form the hub from which all those other interests spring. American studies felt close, but I really wanted to study media beyond its American context when applicable, and I really don’t care about a lot of political and legal mechanisms tbh unless the stuff I’m watching is engaging with them.

Today while reading a book of essays on the development and impacts of the Boys Love genre in Asia, I was looking at what each of the scholars studied in (I’ve done this a lot as I’ve been trying to figure out what to do) and one of them, whose writing and analysis was inspiring me, had studied Media Studies. A lightbulb turned on.

It’s wild because media studies was my sister’s major in undergrad, and I even edited and helped develop her essays throughout college and her final thesis. It had never occurred to me, though. I realized media studies would let me explore the development, content, conveyance, and reception of all the stuff that makes me feel the most fulfilled 🥰 And I could take it toward working in the tv industry or, probs more likely, a career in academia (which I know has plenty of it’s own issues and criticisms but it also seems like it might possibly be a great fit for me personally).

But yeah, that’s the realization I had today. Just feels good to have some clarity.