#but this is definitely a huge pet peeve of mine

[girlpetrarca]

girl why are you using "left" and "right" while talking about 44 BC, whyyy

[smallhatlogan]

Malenia is almost as flat chested as Ranni and much like Ranni people give her these pretty sizable boobs in fanart except when it’s Malenia it is often not even horny art it’s just regular fanart of her Goddess of Rot phase

and I honestly think the problem is when people do fanart of Malenia they’re not using reference properly (they also tend to give her a tiny little waist and narrow shoulders) they’re just going “well this is how a naked woman is shaped” and they do the generic skinny lady body. 

[milfclaren]

….

[capicola323427]

THE LEGENDARY BATTLESHIP HALBERD IS SO SO SO FUCKING COOL!!!

Had this in the drafts for a bit....

Can we talk about the Battleship Halberd? I want to talk about the Legendary Battleship Halberd. To me, it's one of the best parts of Kirby Super Star and Super Star! You won't find a person who doesn't like RoMK. If you do, you're lying.

Here's a huuuuuge chart to help outline what I adore so much!

The Battleship Halberd has an entire hangar filled with several Meta Knight themed jets with bombs on palettes. I really wish we got to see them in action, I want to see those little jets fly. I don't think I've either seen fanart of it either. I should probably give it a shot and draw something using it.

I also love that the Battleship Halberd has a shitton of missiles, bombs, and nuclear bombs! I don't know why, but it's funny to imagine this warship in this cotton candy dreamy-weamy land having enough artillery and power to create a nuclear holocaust causing the Waddle Dee population's collective chromosomes to be rendered into a fine mush for decades to come. I want to see an AU where Meta Knight fucking does this. I want a fucked-up Fall Out esque AU where Meta Knight has launched Dream Land into a hyper authoritarian militarist state after bombing a good chunk of Dream Land. I'll have to think on this more. Anyways, it brings up a lot of questions. Mostly how and why the fuck does Meta Knight have so many different bombs, missiles, canon ammunition and possible nuclear weapons. How did he get any of this. You could say he had a lot of time to make it all but... I call bullshit. Did he buy it? With what money? How? Secondly, why would he need so much to take over Dream Land? Like, if Meta Knight wanted to he could have always just assassinated King Dedede and take the thrown during the resulting power vacuum. Slit the bloated greedy fuck's throat while he sleeps. Maybe he thought there'd be more of a collective fight from King Dedede's army? I mean, he does have a living airship but like... considering how much Meta Knight had and the sheer volume what he had did he expect King Dedede to have his own army with similar technological warfare? Given enough time I'm sure King Dedede could have something similar but definitely not during the RoMK era. It's just really funny, really confusing, and really interesting. I love the idea that Meta Knight is Dream Land and Pop Stars's sole military offense and defense force.

Something I noticed that wasn't used either, those weird looking robot machines with angler fish lights, drills, and a wrench. What the fuck are those? Why are those there?

I love that the Battleship has those satellites/sensor dishes, it really exemplifies the type of tech it has! It's probably meant to detect things coming at it in the sky but I do love the idea it can do limited interplanetary communications and full ground-based communication even more so when you see the land-line styled phones

Another thing I really love is that, even though it's mostly artillery and war stuff, there's little living space things! If you look closely you can see a large pantry with sacks of possibly flour or meal, large barrels filled with liquids that could be water or alcohol! We got brown beer bottles, large salt containers, two fridges and pots and plates. It's very nice, and if you scroll down you'll even see a barrack area. I'm not a huuuge fan of the whole "Meta Knight, Vul, Sailor Dee, Sword & Blade, and the Meta-Knights all live on the Halberd 24/7" because it invalidates the majesty that is Meta Knight's fuck huge military base! I want to pivot for a moment...

Images belong to RetroArchive

Look at this. Look at this.

This is a little pet peeve of mine, but I kind of hate that Meta Knight's military base doesn't get a lot of spotlight! I see a lot of derivative fan-content focused on The Battleship Halberd and its crew that seems to fall into this common trope that everyone sleeps, eat, pisses, and more on the Halberd! I see little focused on anything or even references to the fact that there's a huuuge base with large buildings and even a port! I just wish that got a little more spotlight y'know? I want to see more of that in fanworks! Also! I don't like Kirby OCs but I do want to see more implications that there are more people who inhabit the ship than just the main crew. It's weird that I have to say this and it isn't more common.

Anyways, back to the original topic. There's even a laundry room with a possibly Official Legendary Battleship Halberd uniform. There's a toilet too. Neat!

Anyways, to finish this post off I just want to list some headcanons I have regarding the Battleship Halberd and its inhabitants

Sailor Waddle Dee and Captain Vul are best friends till the end. They're surprisingly similar in a lot of ways and tend to work closely together when it comes to the battleship's upkeep and innovation.

Captain Vul is a heavy chain smoker of cigars and drinker of rum.

The Meta Knights are all regular enemies but are just wearing armor and taking up different weapons to look scarier and befitting of serving Meta Knight.

The Battleship Halberd doubles as Pop Star and Dream Land's form of defense both planetary and interplanetary. It makes most of its money as freights for hire, mercs for hire, or other misc. tasks at a high price. Despite this, they have a very strong moral code!

Meta Knight has a nice room on the Halberd and a personal apartment on his base.

Captain Vul views Meta Knight like a son. Despite Meta Knight being a eternal void-born being it's not weird because Meta Knight does act youthful in his ways underneath his persona of a cool suave knight this is not me fighting against 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖑𝖞 𝕺𝖑𝖉 𝕻𝖔𝖘𝖙-𝖂𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝕸𝖊𝖙𝖆 𝕶𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖔𝖌𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖆 i'm not owned i'm not owned I am NOT owned

Meta Knight has ran and will continue to run very intense emergency drills for almost any and all situations. Him fighting his own ship would be considered a drill to make sure the Battleship Halberd is fortified enough to survive himself being possessed and deciding to attack his own ship and crew. (It failed...).

Meta Knight does play favorites.

The Battleship Halberd uses three different fuel sources. Oil, Kinetic, and Alchemic Anomalous Energy.

I like to imagine Sailor Waddle Dee and Captain Vul hosting a Battleship Halberd only radio show. It's very problematic in nature.

Thank you for listening to my ted talk about the funnie ship from kirby

[eevylynn]

🔥 for Teen Wolf, please :)

From this

Sorry that it's been a while

I've literally been thinking about this since I got this ask. I haven't been in the fandom long enough to really feel confident on what my unpopular opinions would be.

I guess that I like Sterek AND Stydia AND Stalia. I don't think Derek would have been comfortable if he had been the only one Stiles had been with considering Derek's teenaged years. He'd want Stiles to have some experience before being with him, so I think it's ridiculous to put down Stiles' previous relationships.

Also, Stiles being "mom" or the "pack mom" - why can't he be "pack dad"? You can have two dads... Seriously, enough with saying "Stiles is Eli's mom".

Overall, it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine when people insist on Stiles being "the girl" of the relationship. As many say, he's a "feral bastard boy". He's a mean, if socially awkward, jock with nerdy interests who doesn't respect personal boundaries, like AT ALL. He's extremely parentified and so he will make sure everyone he cares about stays alive, but that doesn't automatically mean he's nurturing. Just look at his canon relationships with Liam and Isaac. He cares for their wellbeing, yes, but he is NOT nice about it.

I think that while Sterek are both versatile once together, Stiles would be the more dominant in bed and Derek would be more submissive. Derek was born a middle child beta wolf in a huge pack, and is thrust into a leadership position and is all alone. He wants/needs to be taken care of. After the Nogitsune, I think Stiles has even more control issues than he previously had and is a lot more aware of his dark side. Not to mention, Stiles is like the definition of Power Bottom.

I think people infantilize Malia. Just because she was a wolf for 8 years, it doesn't mean she's still, mentally, a child. She just doesn't understand human society. Considering the amount of autistic people that are the same way, it really annoys me to see.

I also think that Allison is overrated. <-probably my most unpopular opinion...

I can't think of any others right now. I think

[anamoon63]

--- OC Deep Dive Questionnaire Tag ---

Thank you dear @wannabecatwriter for the tag! 🤗💗 Also a huge apology for taking so long to reply.

For this I chose Roderick Kingston, a very old sim of mine. (The Sims 3 of course). Roderick is, like Patrick Orbison, one of my oldest sims, the first one I made when the Night Life expansion came out.

Roderick was as important to me as many other sims in my generational games, and, even when I created him before the Generations EP, he had a very large family of four generations.

Why did I choose him, having so many relatively new and more popular sims? Well, because during the time I was caring for my family in their illness I only had a little window of time at night to play The Sims, if I wasn't too tired. So I wanted it to be a free gameplay, mostly to distract myself, some where I didn't have to write, or pose, or take pictures. So I picked this old 2011 save (named The Kingstons), and well, I did take pictures while I played, lol, but nothing to use in any particular story. I played it exclusively for fun.

Currently, Roderick is an elder, and a grandpa, though he refuses to admit that he's old because, like almost every famous musician, he's vain and does not accept that time has gone by. So, takes exaggerated care of his physique, especially his face, and, though he clearly isn't young anymore, he always looks quite good for his age. (This is in part because I create my own elders using the sim adult stage and a lot of costume makeup, since I've always thought that EA elders don't look exactly like real life elders, especially not like elder celebrities like Roderick).

Anyway, without further ado, here is my most ancient sim, and one of my very favorites. (I know I say this about almost every sim of mine I post, hahaha).

RODERICK KINGSTON

What uncommon/common fear do they have?

A fear that is common among vain people like Roderick: fear of the passage of time, that is, of getting old.

Do they have any pet peeves?

Photographers and paparazzi, because he is afraid of having his picture taken from a bad angle. He likes to control which photos of him are published and which are not. (Like the ones in this post, lol).

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

Cologne, newspapers and his double bass.

What do they notice first in a person?

Their manners and their clothes, if they are women, he checks to see if they are pretty.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

Quite high, maybe 7 or 8, but he has his limits.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Definitely flight mode. He doesn't like arguments, and he doesn't like to look bad in public.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

Roderick was an only child but is the patriarch of an extended dynasty of celebrities.

What animal represents them best?

A fox (because the fox is associated with creativity, passion, wisdom, and charm, (among other things) and these are some of Roderick's characteristics.

What is a smell that they dislike?

Hates the smell of cheap cologne or perfume.

Have they broken any bones?

Never, fortunately. And I don't think he'd like how he'd look with casts on his limbs.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

Attractive, charismatic, somewhat conceited but friendly in general.

Are they a night owl or a morning bird?

Night owl, of course.

What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

He hates the taste of cheap fridge in his food. Loves the taste of well-prepared grilled salmon.

Do they have any hobbies?

Writing and blogging.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises?

Roderick loved surprise parties when he was young, nowadays they are no longer his favorite, mainly because birthdays make him feel older, but he appreciates a good party.

Do they like to wear jewelry?

Not really, just his watch, (not an ostentatious one) and his wedding ring. Even though he has remarried, he still wears the one he wore when he was wed to his late wife Tiara Angelista.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

His handwriting is super neat, just like him.

What are two emotions they feel the most?

Love (for music, and his family); and embarrasment. He hates to make a fool of himself, he also suffers when his reputation is threatened.

Do they have a favorite fabric?

Anything that is comfortable and not cheap.

What kind of accent do they have?

He's from Bridgeport, so, Bridgeport accent, kind of like a New Yorker, I guess.

BONUS PICS:

Roderick back in 2011 vs. Roderick in 2024.

You can tell I didn't have much CC then, nor a proper skin, but I had a blast playing with him back when. Today Roderick isn't young anymore, but he still walks around dressed in a tuxedo and he absolutely hates discovering new wrinkles in the mirror. He's kind of obsessed with looking young. He was once married to Tiara Angelista, long and happy marriage, they had three children, but then she died of old age. Later their son resurrected her (long story), though a bit late cause Roderick was already married to Suzy Strummer, who is much younger than him. They continue to be married to this day, but they haven't had any children (yet).

*Note: The Bridgeport save where Roderick lives is different from Patrick Orbison's save, which is more modern, although Pat also dates from quite some time ago, as he was also one of the first sims I made. Also, I know Late Night was released in 2010 but this save is from 2011.

Okay, that's all, we'll probably see more of Roderick and his family in the near future. (If I have the time). Thanks for reading this far. ❤️

I'm tagging: @matchalovertrait @camisulsul @kimmiessimmies @nocturnalazure @sparkilina @edyavtostopom @mysimsloveaffair @akitasimblr @expirisims @plaidisrad @silwermoon-sims @jennisimsand @happy-lemon and everybody else who wants to do this questionnaire. 😊

[secretsnowclub]

TTRPG Class: How to Write

Previous Post: Quasi-Text

First Post: Reading List

This was originally posted in my huge post-mortem on the .dungeon//remastered kickstarter and its success. I’m separating it from that and making it its own thing. I’ll be elaborating some of the smaller points and expanding definitions. Things like that. 

Firstly, I will say that if you are trying to be a writer for a company or get hired by someone else? These might not help you. Those companies are looking for you to write like them, which depends upon the project and countless variables I can’t quantify. It’s also an entire skill of its own. Freelance or ghost writing can often be about how well you understand different voices, different systems, and things of that nature. I’m honestly not *the best* at that kind of thing. These tips are specifically to help with the writer’s broader craft; specifically, the craft of TTRPG writing which I have found myself a professional in.

Don’t be boring. If you’re bored, skip it. Delete it. Forget about it. 

I picked this up from a screenwriting book way back before I decided to go back to college and while I was deep in the weeds of writing scripts for the movies I had in my head. The original tip-giver said to write “don’t be boring” on a post-it note and slap it on your monitor. I did that for a very long time until the post-it lost its stickiness and fell off in a move. 

This is important to TTRPGs because you don’t have to write everything. Even if you think a game needs a thing, if you aren’t excited about it, skip it. Chances are that what you’re excited about will be what you want others to be excited about as well.

2. Have a routine.

I fail at this quite often. Life changes shift my routine and knock it out of whack. But I do know that when I was in college? I had a routine and my writing output was ridiculous. And when I work on a project I tend to settle into a routine that involves waking up, exercise of some kind (usually a walk), shower, ride bike or walk to Library or coffee shop, write as much as I can, and come home to decompress/work on layout. 

Each project has had its own routine essentially and it’s important to let those routines form. I think fluidity is important even within the rigidity of the idea of Routine. Each project will have its own life and its own functions within your life. Let yourself discover new ways and new paths to reach the end goal. 

3. When writing fiction, aim for 2k words daily.

This is Stephen King’s thing. I used to do this and whenever I am writing *fiction* I still have it as my goal. But it is unattainable a lot of the time. Especially with games writing, where even just 10 words can be the focus of an entire day of work. Don’t beat yourself up over this. 

4. Write in paragraphs. Each should be an idea, preferably separated by headers. Otherwise you’re probably saying too much.

Sometimes I write in bullet points, but that’s an outline at best. A paragraph is one of the best tools you have as a writer. But it also allows you to set limits on your ideas so you’re not writing walls of text to describe your magic system or anything else. It helps you figure out your more complex systems and point out the individual ideas that make it up. If you’re writing several paragraphs about one thing? It’s probably several things that you’re trying to wedge into one.

5. Instead of writing a random generator for something, just write the good version of that thing.

6. Make a map. Put your ideas on the map. No more lists or procedural generation.

Personal pet peeve of mine. I’m not huge on random generators. I will always say that, instead of writing 100 random ideas for islands, just write one good island. And if you’ve got more in you after that? Perfect. My goal with Game Writing is to present something that’s worth paying for and worth exploring. Whether it’s a rule book or otherwise. I try to avoid random tables as often as I can.

7. Theme comes later. First, the writing.

This may be contentious. I view the act of writing as an act of discovery. I greatly enjoy Automatic Writing. I tend to follow a very train-of-thought style of writing. It feels similar to a valve that I turn on to clear out and let clean water flow. If I get caught up in the Big Picture, I’ll never get the faucet running. Get everything out of yourself before you begin self-editing. Let it all be laid out so you can look at it and then discover what It is.

8. When writing rules, remember “if…then.”

If a player chooses this option, then this happens. If a player rolls low, then this happens. And so on. This is helpful when simply stating a rule. You don’t want to get burdened by word choice. You want it to be clear and easily understood. If-then statements are easy to understand. 

9. Get a good editor and listen to them.

A good editor will tell you you’re wrong. A good editor will ask you to rewrite things because they don’t make sense. A good editor is critical but not malicious. This relationship is mutual and about respect for the work. It’s not about egos or hype. It’s simply about making the best book you can. Also, if you can’t defend a choice you’ve made, then listen to your editor when they tell you to cut it.

10. A great game is made of “catch-all” or “default” rules. Such as, “when in doubt, roll d20. Higher numbers are better.” They’re easily grasped and fill the gaps that all TTRPG texts have.

Yeah. I think all of the games people hold up as “great” have these. PbtA is built entirely on one catch-all rule that has changed the landscape of indie design since it was put on the page. It makes things easier for folks at the table when things are moving away from the text.

11. Your goal is to write one thing that’s True. This is the Work.

This is my goal when writing and sometimes it doesn’t happen. Sometimes I write thousands of words and they’re all useless. And it will always be useless until I find that One True Thing. Sometimes an entire book is just for that One Thing.

12. Refill the tank. Life is important and creates art.

This is what a screenwriting teacher said to me. “Refill the tank.” You have to participate in life to be able to write. That doesn’t mean you have to be extroverted and shit like that. It means that you gotta do things that recharge you. You gotta have experiences. You have to live your life. Have a life. 

13. The writer’s job is asking “what if?”

Stephen King might have said this too? I don’t remember. But yeah, I spend a lot of time asking “what if–” and seeing which weird scenarios spark my interest enough to write. For games or for fiction.

14. Read. A lot.

I count audiobooks. But, yeah. You gotta read stuff. Other games, novels, short stories, blogs, comics even. Take in art. It’s actually your number one job as a human. Enjoy art.

15. Go for a walk without music or a book-on-tape or a podcast. Walk and talk to yourself. Ask yourself questions about what you’re working on. Talk to yourself. Be in conversation with yourself. You are complicated and deserve attention.

I mean it :I They say the best ideas come to you in the shower. Well, that’s also true for any quiet, introspective time.

16. Have peers. Not just collaborators or colleagues, people whose work you respect. They should make you want to be better.

I get jealous of other people’s work and that’s how I know. When I’m like, “FUCK! I wish I thought of that!!” Those are the people I wanna talk to haha

17. If things just aren’t coming? Take a break. If you’re feeling aggravated, eat some food, drink some water, and get some rest.

You can’t force it. I know we can’t all take a break whenever we want, but please try.

18. Know yourself. Most people can’t sit alone with themselves. But knowing yourself is paramount. Therapy can help too. Knowing yourself means knowing why you like something, developing taste and not hiding it, knowing where to waste your time and where not to. This takes time. This is the Work.

I learn something new about myself nearly every day. I’m very curious about myself. I’m a studier of Myself. I want to know how it all works up there in my brain. I want to make it make sense. 

19. A hex/encounter/dungeon room/story can just be a weird, little guy.

Yeah. You can do Dungeon23 right now by just browsing pinterest and saving a bunch of images of cools NPCs. Your whole dungeon can just be pictures of NPCs that you make up personalities for at the table.

20. Write the game you want to play, not the one you think others will.

I think I wrote this in response to another project I saw at the time. But it’s true at all times. We’re indie designers. Why else are we doing this if not to tell our stories? 

21. Make sure your needs are taken care of by the budget before hiring collaborators.

It’s common in the indie TTRPG space to rely on collaborator clout to draw people to your project during crowdfunding. And it’s common for those sorts of things to ruin a project financially. The process will always take longer than you expect, so please make sure YOUR needs are met before you start paying other people. There’s nothing worse than promising a paycheck to someone and having to rescind the offer because something happened and you had to use their money on rent. Like, just please? Care for yourself. 

22. No stretch goals.

This is a Me thing. But I say it to everyone who comes to me asking for advice on their first crowdfunded project. Keep it simple. You want to deliver. You don’t want to overpromise. You simply want to be able to do the thing so that you can do another one later. Take it slow.

23. When writing Hurt, the most important thing is that you are human. What you feel is human. What happened to you is also human.

This is about empathy. For your characters and situations they find themselves in. It’s also about honesty. The most biting and beautiful passages of my favorite books have been honest. Because the truth is, when experiencing Hurt, things aren’t so cut and dry in your head. And your reactions might seem weird in hindsight. You might feel ashamed or guilty for not reacting a certain way. Just please have empathy for yourself. The readers will relate to the honesty.

24. End all dialog with “said.” It’s all you need.

This is a good rule because it means you have to choose to break it. Which means you have to think about why you’re breaking it. Which means you can defend breaking it. Which means your editor has to listen to you for once. :P

25. Writing is a skill as much as it is an art. Give it respect. Good writers don’t simply fall out of the womb. They mastered a craft. Not unlike any other skill or discipline. You won’t build a good chair on your first try.

It took me a long time to learn this. Writing is actually very hard and every good paragraph you read is a masterpiece of patience and skill. 

26. Find time to write. How else can you be a writer?

I hate including things because I see a silly take on twitter. But yeah, obviously. Writers write. 

27. Writing can be lonely, but shouldn't be solitary. No book is made by one set of hands.

This is true of every project I’ve done. Even my most recent effort, Melancholy Island, had my friend Char’s photography in it. Beyond that, I talked to my best friend Coleen frequently about it just to keep my head straight and focused. I also have my discord where I would lament and talk and such. Each of these things are helpful in the process of writing. Don’t isolate yourself.

28. Having an opinion is easy. Having a good one worth defending is the Work. If you have nothing to say, do anything other than write.

This may be more true of non-fiction writing, but it’s true of TTRPGs as well, otherwise you’d just play one of the thousands upon thousands of games that are already out. Figure out why it is you *don’t* want to play them and focus in on that. Your opinion lies somewhere in there.

29. Never submit a first draft.

Like, please? Have more respect for your craft. I think third draft at the earliest. That’s when I usually get an editor.

30. Don’t follow trends.

31. Writing is about making choices. Half measures are worthless. Make a choice. If it’s the wrong choice: that’s fine.

32. When writing games, you’re composing an incomplete text. Otherwise it’s a script. Choosing to write a game over a novel is an important decision.

These are all related. 

33. The two ideas circling your head are actually one idea.

I combine ideas that seem disparate all the time. It unlocks the Good Stuff.

34. Take yourself seriously. Listen to yourself. This is how you gain confidence.

35. You need to learn to say, “That’s a bad idea.”

These two both boil down to “have confidence in, and know, your taste.”

36. When writing, ignore the first thing that pops into your head. Ignore the second thing too. The third idea is where the work starts.

I’ve found when running games, the first idea I think of is often the most obvious. The second one ends up being a gimmick or a twist. But the third idea is where the humanity tends to come in. Thinking beyond tropes and cliches to find the Truth you’re trying to say.

37. Western writing traditions are not the world.

I wish I had been taught this in school. Cause the hero’s journey ruined me for a long time.

38. If you aren’t sure if you can or should write something: experience more art. You don’t need permission. You need to broaden your horizons. You’re not the first to tread this path.

We’re hardly ever doing something truly original. Find the blueprints and figure out how to make them yours. Use them to tell your story.

39. If you can’t say why you chose to do something, shut up and listen to your editor.

Yeah! :I

40. The most beautiful critique isn’t worth as much as the most mediocre art.

Keep making art.

41. Copy writing you enjoy. Assimilate it.

I steal ideas, concepts, and techniques from every single thing I read/experience. This is how you become more skilled at your craft.

42. Your job, as a writer, is to make a claim. Any claim. Your art can’t be for everyone. You can’t write for the lowest common denominator. You can’t write for the widest possible audience. Be you. That’s how you find your audience.

You’ve got things to say! Even if you don’t know it yet. That is part of the Work.

If you like my work, support me on patreon!

And check out my latest book over on itch!

[tablefourtyone]

Taking a trip down colorism's memory lane after the Natlan teaser, and why I'm not as bothered as I used to be.

I know everyone's got complaints about Natlan's "sunlight challenged" cast rn, but I remembered getting annoyed that Kaeya and Xinyan were the only dark skinned playables ingame before Sumeru dropped, because they were the only dark skinned characters we ever saw in the game, like they were an endangered species whose descendants are constantly under the threat of being whitewashed.

I could've had a similar issue to having (so far) four dark skinned Sumeru natives as playables, but I just loved the lore in Sumeru sm that I didn't care about the number, especially when Sumeru's end goal/epilogue was to facilitate opportunities for education and improved livelihoods for the desert people. Ntm that all four are lovely personalities I adore with all my heart.

And as I write all this...

I suddenly realize that it wasn't the lack of skin color variety or even the climate-related skin pigmentation inaccuracy that was bothering me back then. These were nitpicks and pet peeves I had in light of not finding anything genuinely interesting or charming about the game.

In general, I was just...so gd bored of the filler-y vibe of the first 3 nations before Sumeru - because I knew what to expect of Liyue (China), Mondstadt stopped being so interesting once Dvalin came to his senses, and Inazuma was such a huge timewaster I hated with a seething fury that I even disdainfully called it Weeaboo Land.

My Genshin gaming experience before Sumeru was a toxic meringue of mediocrity and lazy writing that I would force myself to sit through, because there were plenty of other characters and lore that kept me riveted, but the creative direction of the game's main story itself was threatening to put me to sleep because things would get dramatic, only to be resolved either by a deus ex machina or by nothing of lasting consequence sticking around long enough to be a genuine cause for concern with the main cast. It was just so...meaningless.

IOW, the colorism in Genshin was the tip of the iceberg for every other thing I found offensive, unreasonable, and unjustifiable about the game.

Sumeru was my first breath of fresh air since we left Mondstadt and Venti.

All I'm trying to say is, to me, the quality of the writing and the atmosphere of the game improved vastly...only when Hoyo was able to broaden its cultural horizons while working on Sumeru.

I can't speak for Fontaine because it was a thoroughly mixed bag of good and bland toast, but it definitely ended strong with Canticles of Harmony.

If Natlan can pull off the same quality of writing skill and world building (and this completely depends on their lead writer for this region), the colorism is no issue for me at all.

It's a hot take, but after what I've been through as someone who wants consistent and comprehensible writing to appear more frequently in future updates, I'm just happy for the writing to make sense and have just a little bit more fun and non-tonedeaf whimsy once in a while.

I simply don't want to be unhappy as a longtime Genshin player.

I want to enjoy this game and explore it and have fun without getting hung up on something.

Ergo I don't want to be exhausted seeing every contradiction and plothole in Genshin jump out at me.

I can't turn my brain off to those, the same way people can't ignore the colorism and misrepresentation on display.

We all have our priorities, and the written content is mine.

So understand that, for me, Himeko's Mavuika's fair complexion and the slight shade of dark tanning that doesn't go all the way up in saturation for the new cast, is only second to the writing for Natlan's situation and its background lore. And I truly wish that when we reach 5.0, the writing captivates us all.

I'm not asking for much. Just sense. And less cynicism and malice from our two spotlight characters. Because it honest to God drains my energy to hate on something that Hoyo treasures and milks a lot.

[makipedia]

Wait, what if Reader acts dumb, but is actually smart just to mess with Maki instead? Reader definitely uses this to their advantage against opponents because people would underestimate them for ‘being dumb’ when they’re the one being played with by Reader.

And the idea that reader is a transfer student is perfect because Reader can pretend they don’t know nothing about curses when, in fact, they do know about them.

YES YES YES!!

OMG THAT SOUNDS GOOD ILY ANON,,,,, but i only have ONE PROBLEM with that and it's that i cannot. CAN. NOT. write a dumb reader😧dumb people are a HUGE pet peeve of mine so that if i wrote the reader to be acting dumb, it would piss me off sm and i'd just replace it with them being smart anyways (cuz yk the reader likes to mess with maki by using their HUGE vocabulary and saying stuff that maki hadn't even thought of, making her feel dumb. idk im just bad at explaining things💀)

[ohtobemare]

Hi 👋

✈️ & 🦕

Hi nonny! 👋 Thanks for playing! If you’re new here, welcome, welcome in! If you’re an oldie but a goodie and just want some privacy, 💛.

To answer—

🦕- what’s a pet peeve of yours?

Oh gosh. Me? Have faults? 😅 Honestly? A huge peeve of mine is people watching me while I’m writing. My boss used to do this all the time and it irritated me a lot. Something about having someone watch as you carve a piece of yourself into a document is just…hard pass.

✈️- what’s a place you’d love to visit?

Abroad? Australia. Don’t ask me why, I’m terrified of snakes, but Australia has been a land after my own heart since I was a kid. I get it from my grandfather, who almost moved there with my grandmother had he not gotten a job in Oregon window washing skyscrapers, which jettisoned him into eventually building his life in Minnesota, 91 years later.

Domestically? I’d be down to see Florida, or maybe Maine. Scratch that—Alaska. Definitely Alaska.

[oregano-gremlin]

ok time to complain. two huge pet peeves of mine in death note fanfic that i've been seeing a lot of:

'light and kira are two separate entities'. idk this just feels like a copout to me? instead of actually dealing with the consequences of his actions the author just goes 'oh it's fine because he was possessed by an evil notebook, he has never done anything wrong in his life'. it's fine if it's specifically a 'light and kira are not the same person' au but when it's just thrown into a normal fic that's frustrating

'light is a good person deep down inside but misa is evil'. this one is frustrating for pretty obvious reasons i'd say? light is the one pulling the strings, he's the megalomaniac with a god complex. misa is like,,,,, basically just normal??? she's definitely murdered more people than your average person but she isn't as weird about it as light is lol. it's fine if either of them are written as good people, but I find it really weird when the author makes a point of having light be a good person and misa be a bad person. tell me you hate women without telling me you hate women or something

[thatwouldbee-enough]

😅🎢🎶🛠⛔🌞❌💲🧐🎃🦅👀🤗💞🤲😬⌛ anyfandom!

Ahhhh thank you so much for this! Sorry it took a while there were so many to answer <3

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

Anything from the very very early days of my AO3 account lol. They weren't bad but there's definitely so many things when I go back and read them where I would write things a lot differently now

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Oh man. Interpreting wildest ride in two different ways here.

1 (craziest/most disturbing): Let Me Crawl Up Into Your Mind

2 (wild ride plot-wise): Fate and the Fall

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

Yes!!! Some songs from recent writing playlists:

this is me trying by Taylor Swift

The Cause by Tommy Lefroy

Paul Revere by Noah Kahan

reckless driving by Lizzy McAlpine

Letter to an Old Poet by boygenius

Partners in Crime by FINNEAS

tolerate it by Taylor Swift

Colorado by Renee Rapp

You Could Start a Cult by Niall Horan w/Lizzy McAlpine

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

So many 😬

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

Honestly either early in the morning right after I wake up or middle of the night lmao. Middle of the night has given me some of my best writing for real but at what cost

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

I don't like to say never on any tropes because I think with the right idea any trope can be done well. Some things that I tend to stay away from are heavy mental health fix it style stories because 1) I don't feel qualified enough to write that well and 2) I don't find them super interesting usually. Exploring darker storylines is always more fun for me, or mayyyybe the occasional fluffy romance lol

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

For fanfiction based on someone else's intellectual property, no, because there are legal issues there. For writing in general maybe, but I don't see a huge market for that

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

Way too much time

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

Occasionally! Maybe Sleigh Bells Ring for a favorite. Most of the holiday pieces I've written have been very fluffy lol

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

It's a mix. Usually seat of my pants, but if I have a lot of details worked out in my brain already then I'll outline

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

I have a TBOSAS piece that I'm working on where Coriolanus's punishment after cheating in the Games is to be sold as a sex worker (similar to how Finnick was in THG series) rather than being forced to enlist with the peacekeepers and he ends up with Strabo Plinth as a client.......

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

I cannot recommend enough just... doing it. Everyone worries so much about it not being good enough, but just like every other skill, you'll never get better without practice and just doing the damn thing over and over again.

Also read a lot. Read fanfic and actual books. You pick up a lot of things as a writer when you're reading other people's work. Sometimes you'll see certain ways of writing dialogue or inner monologues that you love and want to incorporate into your own writing. Sometimes you'll see things that pull you out of the story or don't flow well, and you'll learn that it's something you don't want to include in your writing. All of it is useful.

And MOST importantly, please please please learn how to properly format your dialogue 😭 (this is just a pet peeve of mine, but SO MANY fics don't have proper dialogue formatting)

ex: "This is the correct way to format a spoken sentence," she said sternly. "When you write a spoken sentence followed by a dialogue tag, the dialogue tag is PART of the sentence, so you should end the 'spoken sentence' with a comma, and then add the dialogue tag (starting with a lower case letter if it's not a proper noun), and then the sentence ends."

"This is correct too!" she exclaimed.

"This is also correct," she explained, "because the dialogue sentence hasn't ended, it was just interrupted. When dialogue is interrupted, but the sentence hasn't ended, the dialogue tag is surrounded by commas, indicating a whole, ongoing sentence."

INCORRECT EXAMPLES:

"This is not the correct way to format a spoken sentence." She said, crying a little bit on the inside.

"Neither is this!" She exclaimed.

"And neither is this." she sighed, rubbing at her temples as intentionally writing dialogue incorrectly began to trigger a headache.

💞 Who's your comfort character?

For Hamilton/Amrev, it's probably Hamilton. Sorry, basic bitch answer.

For TBOSAS it's Sejanus <3

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

A snippet from the TBOSAS AU with Coriolanus and Strabo Plinth that I mentioned above 🙈

But fighting? Fleeing? He thought back to the arena. The way his heart had pounded as he smashed at Bobbin until he laid unmoving on the ground.  He refused to let that sort of response control him again. He was better than base instincts. Especially here. This wasn’t life or death. All he had to do was play things smart, and he would come out on top again eventually.  And then everyone who ever tried to make him feel small would pay. 

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

Literally any of the smut lmfao.

But specifically the Henry Laurens/Alexander Hamilton fucked up intern AU, Let Me Crawl Up Into Your Mind, and A Royal Affair are probably all up there for top contenders

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

Highly dependent on a lot of different variables (what I'm writing/whether it requires research/what else is going on in my life/level of motivation and focus/etc). Anywhere from a couple of hours to a month lmao

[janeromeroshow]

𝘒𝘕𝘖𝘞𝘐𝘕𝘎  𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙  𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘕𝘌𝘙  𝘞𝘌𝘓𝘓  𝘊𝘈𝘕  𝘗𝘖𝘛𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘠  𝘔𝘈𝘒𝘌  𝘞𝘙𝘐𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎  𝘛𝘖𝘎𝘌𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙  𝘈  𝘓𝘖𝘛  𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘐𝘌𝘙.

NAME :  rev!

PRONOUNS :  they / he / she.

PREFERENCE  OF  COMMUNICATION : if we don't know each other well, then tumblr ims, but i kind of despise them so feel free to ask for my discord!

NAME  OF  MUSE(S) : jane romero - on other blogs, a multitude of dbd muses, monika (doki doki literature club), and vanny / vanessa and toy bonnie (fnaf).

EXPERIENCE  /  HOW  LONG  (  MONTHS  /  YEARS? ) : my first foray into roleplaying was as a kid circa 2012-13, but on tumblr i've been doing this for just over a year :)

BEST  EXPERIENCE : honestly just being able to connect with people who are as passionate about these characters and stories as i am! i've always been the type to love writing my own stories (yes, including fanfiction) and really focus on character-driven stuff, so to be able to write with people who feel the same is a blessing.

RP  PET  PEEVES  /  DEALBREAKERS :  i try to be very chill, but there a couple of things that i really can't get past. for one - i'm extremely passionate about fandom-specific misogyny and the unfair way female / feminine characters are treated, and sadly this includes in the roleplaying sphere. generally i see people who go out of their way to be negative about female characters while singing the praises of their similarly characterized male counterparts as a HUGE red flag.

i'm also just very sporadic in activity due to real life commitments and also adhd, so a pet peeve of mine is people being pushy about responses or interaction! if i don't respond to a thread but you see me online, that doesn't mean i'm ignoring you specifically!! it just means i don't have the spoons to respond to that specific post at that moment, or maybe i'm editing it or responding to other people.

MUSE  PREFERENCES  FLUFF,   ANGST  OR  SMUT : all of the above!! okay, maybe smut a little less because i'm less experienced with writing it, but i love any sort of interaction! i do have a soft spot for angst or high-tension interactions, though.

PLOTS  OR  MEMES :  memes are my main form of starter, mostly because i'm not great at coming up with starters on the fly! however i do love plotting and i'm always open to it, especially for longer threads :)

LONG  OR  SHORT  REPLIES :  i'd consider myself a mimic of my partner's length - i don't exactly know what my "default" length would count as, but it's always at least a couple of paragraphs.

BEST TIME TO WRITE :  wildly, my best time for motivation is either the morning or dead in the middle of the night. my activity is sporadic, so i don't expect people to respond immediately - think of writing with me more like a letter, rather than a text - the response can come anywhere from minutes to weeks, but i'm still sending it with all the love in the world, and i don't expect immediate responses either.

ARE  YOU  LIKE  YOUR  MUSE(S) : i definitely put a lot of myself in jane - i'm not exactly as much of a big personality as she is, but i relate a lot to her in some ways and wish i did in others. :)

stolen from: @mxlevolence

tagging: anyone!!

[radfae]

as a female w dysphoria its a huge pet peeve of mine when people are like "you can do x thing as a woman" like the implications and how ppl see you is completely different it kinda weirds me out how radfems are so aware of how differently society sees men and women performing the same actions but when ur extremly dysphoric abt that its irrational and internalized mysogyny

i don’t necessarily mind people pointing it out, but some women are aggressive about it in a way that makes me uncomfortable. calling trans-identifying females cowards or otherwise insulting them for wanting to escape gender roles and how society views women doesn’t sit well with me at all; we should be aware of how hard it is to live with those expectations and how comforting the prospect of opting out of them is. i feel very disconnected from women who have never experienced dysphoria or otherwise identified as trans at some point sometimes, because they’re often very harsh to women they don’t understand. real loss of class solidarity when we put other women down like that. i do think that a lot of dysphoria has to do with internalized misogyny, but it’s definitely not irrational and i totally agree that we should be more understanding

[oathofpromises]

3, 4, 5

3. do you have a pet peeve when it comes to shipping?

I do have a few pet peeves when it comes to shipping. The first, is some people assuming just because I ship a character with someone else muse that it automatically means I will ship that regardless. This goes for just because someone ships their muse with another person who writes same character as me, that doesn’t mean I will ship with them too. While it maybe true that I adore certain ships no matter what. I don’t like having someone force their muse onto mine. I have had this happen before and it really does just drain my motivation to want to write with that person and in general sometimes too.

Another pet peeve of mine is not bothering to read someone rules when it comes to shipping. This is a huge red flag to me because how is someone going expect another to understand their boundaries if they don’t take time know theirs. For example there are ships that make me highly uncomfortable for valid reasons, so when someone still tries to send me asks trying ship that..it just makes me really not want to be here for a bit. I usually end up soft blocking or blocking to curate my space but still it isn't much to read someone else rules for shipping. Both writing partners deserve to feel comfortable.

The last one I can think of is people being hateful towards a ship. For example, my Riku I write as being gay. It's just how I perceive him, there was a time I was writing Soriku on twitter and people would like vague tweet about a thread me and my writing partner were working on. Someone even called him a dog once, which please don't. I get some characters might talk this way but the character who said this to my Riku was another Sora so;;; yeah just be respectful with how someone portrays their character sexuality. As someone that's bisexual and gotten hate in the past, it just is very discouraging when people in character will be hateful towards a character because of their orientational. Just people need be mindful of how they are coming across even in character.

4. do you prefer to plot a ship, or would you rather “wing it”?

I am a slow burn ship writer, unless the person is a close friend and I trust them with my muse. I still ask that they talk to me about it before just randomly sending stuff. Plotting is much more fun to me though, it allows so much development over time. I adore going back through discussions or threads with shipping partner’s and just seeing how the characters fell in love with each. That growth and hardships they maybe faced to get to that point.

Now this isn’t to say that I am against winging it sometimes there are threads you just want to do something really soft but again this is mostly with friends or mutuals that have talked about shipping certain characters with me. I do ask that if someone would like to ship to ask first and we can definitely talk about it. I’m not going out right say no but again it depends on the ship. There are ones I will never do for boundary and comfortably reasons. Communication is important regardless.

5. do you prefer fast plots, pre-established relationships or slow burns?

Slow burns, I want to see the chemistry between two characters form. Did they start out as childhood friends and develop from there or was it one of those they met later in life and it grew over time. I just think it’s important to a ships development to see their emotions. Why did they end up falling for that person, how does the other make them feel.

Again though, that isn’t to say pre-established one’s are bad because they aren’t. There are some characters I write that are canonical in love with another character but they still have some development that lead up to that. I also am not opposed to writing pre-established ones since that does give a lot to work with, but with these type of dynamics I usually am only comfortable with friends.

[jet-bradley]

Top Gun and its sequel are great movies. The fact that so many people just happen to love them might tell you that. Thinking they're crap doesn't make you special or interesting lmao.

gonna level with you - i liked top gun. i go to airplane school and one of our most popular like, student events this year was literally just a double showing of both movies. (the real reason i didnt stay for TGM was because the roads were getting icy, though, because the audience probably would have made TGM fun for me alone.) like i dont hate-write fanfiction, i wouldn't have written TG fanfic if i didnt like it in some capacity.

TGM is a mid-tier sequel that uses the fact that Maverick Is Sad Now to engage the audience in a plot that's bland on the surface and feels like starting a war if you think about it too hard. this is coming from someone who's not at all turned off by how TG is a propaganda film (one of the most foundational silents was soviet propaganda, the industry doesn't change.)

i really feel like "happy-go-lucky character and/or upbeat classic movie is Sad Now" is a cheap, overdone way to draw in an audience. no matter how well you explain it, the sudden tonal shift to This Is Sad Now feels untrue to the characters' motives almost every single time. there's definitely a time and place for sad cinema, sad TV, etc. but it's a huge pet peeve of mine when people try to keep viewership by making a thing sad.

you wanna know why so many beloved tv shows dropped off? they had the exact same tonal shift from upbeat to "please care about our main cast, they're sad now". (hi supernatural!) and tv shows even have the chance to do this in a way that it feels true to the character in a way that "reviving a movie 30 years later" never will! but they Always Mess It Up! and i'm aware that these shows still have a fanbase. but like, if you sell your audience on "this is a fairly upbeat movie/show" and expect to retain that audience when it's suddenly a very sad movie/show, you're inevitably going to lose people!

movies being enjoyable doesn't really depend on if they're happy or sad to me - it's the inevitable change from happy to sad to make a franchise seem more serious and "better" that drives me up the wall. for a movie that was marketed by and for top gun enjoyers it sure as fuck didn't feel like top gun.