#can't be avoided haha

[sysig]

Something old and borrowed (Patreon)

[uber-dawn]

hey have you guys heard of this game, it's really cool, called "In Stars and Time", you should play it sometime

[lagunapoint]

I'll just leave this here, just in case. Today there will be tons of spoilers for Dragon Age The Veilguard all over the internet (bloggers from the test showcase are supposed to upload hours of gameplay) Don’t forget to block the tags so you don’t accidentally see anything important!

[pynkhues]

I don't think anyone is tired yet of great reunion fics and after reading your fics, I would be ECSTATIC to read your version of their first time together post-reunion. Or the first time with Lestat bottoming. Just anything you want to write. Your writing is just the best. I'll be even more ecstatic, ecstatic to infinity, if you make this a series and write different moments for them. After that fic, I am so eager to hear your versions of these characters talk about Magnus, and the thing with Louis not knowing that Gabrielle is alive and Lestat avoiding the question was HILARIOUS.

Ah! Thank you so much for your lovely words and for the encouragement! The reunion really does feel like it's inspired such a wave of fic, which is so great, and I definitely have a shape to how I'd write the rest of that night, so I might bump it back up my list for when I finish the one that I'm working on currently.

And I actually almost wrote a fic when s1 was airing about Lestat's first time bottoming with Louis, because I 10000% think they did it here:

I mean, Louis gulped, but even putting that aside, there's something to gliding on the intimacy of post-turning and Louis' first wave of supernatural strength and him being half burnt and probably stinking of souring milk and Lestat wanting him like that that just speaks to me, haha.

[licorishh]

Yknow what honestly I'm kinda tired of only liking songs with deep meaning. Yes they are superior in my eyes. However. I would like to have FUN and not be SERIOUS so much so I am now throwing off my chains of only listening to deep, moving, emotionally-stirring music and I am crossing over to the dark side of Chill Vibes and Fun Music y'all seem like y'all are having fun over there

[kozuki-hiyori]

The One About Roronoa Zoro

Okay, wow. So this was originally meant to be a post about ZoLaw, but it just kept getting longer and longer... so I decided to split it up into multiple parts. One for Zoro, one for Law, and one that will take about the two of them

(Because the reason it kept getting so long was that I started going on a rants about each character and what defines them, and it was really just getting out of hand) (And damn, this is LONG, I'm sorry, I was avoiding homework (this is your warning))

So let's first start with the Straw Hat's swordsman, someone lovingly referred to by most fans as the crew's First Mate (although it's not canon per say, it may as well be), Zoro!

First, I'd like to look at his background, because that (very obviously) informs the characters in One Piece to a great extent. Now Zoro's isn't the most fleshed out of the group. Honestly speaking, that is the case for most of the East Blue crew. The reason Luffy and Sanji actually have so much to their pasts is because we went back and fleshed them out more (see later introductions of Ace and Sabo, heck even Garp, and the fact that Sanji wasn't anything more than a kid shipwrecked on an island until WCI happened). Before these reveals, questions such as "How the hell did Sanji end up parentless on a transoceanic tourist boat?" or "Why the heck is Luffy just hanging around with pirates and seemingly no guardians??" were unanswered. The same sort of questions exist for Nami "Why did she end up abandoned and in Bellemere's care in the first place?" or Zoro (I will be bringing those up as we progress). Usopp is generally pretty fleshed out, actually, as in I can't personally think of any questions I have in specific about his background, maybe "When did his dad leave??"

On that point, with Usopp, I know generally Sanji is the poster child for character development in the Straw Hats what with his whole Germa background, but Usopp has an absolutely wonderful character arc (at least in my opinion, which, my blog, but also feel free to disagree, I'd love to here other's thoughts) and one that is still going!! Like his goal is one that literally requires his growth as a character. He can't be a great warrior of the sea if he doesn't believe in himself and-- I'm sorry, I'm getting carried away, I just really like Usopp, sorry.

Anyway, the point of all that was meant to be to demonstrate the fact that we don't know everything about these characters, and if we do, it's because it has been brought up again. And that doesn't even mean we know everything about them (Luffy's primary goal, for example). So that, and the fact that these aspects are still being developed in some cases!!

Anyway, back to Zoro!! And his backstory.

Here we reach the first thing that drive me absolutely up the wall: why in the ever-loving heck does he want to be the World's Greatest Swordsman?? He comes to Kuina with that goal, and their promise strengthens it, but, why, oh why, is that a goal of his in the first place??

(And sorry, another side note, but the differences between the representations of Zoro's backstory drive me up the goddamned wall, the vibe is completely different between the manga, anime, and live action. I originally had only read the manga, and was so, so confused why people would think that Kuina's father hated her and maybe killed her. Then I watched the anime and like, I get now it a lot more, but the fact that they are so variant is still insane to me)

Anyway, what do we know? Zoro's mom died from sickness; Zoro's father died at the hands of pirates. Presumably before he left for sea, and probably before joining the dojo and meeting Kuina.

(Even before Kuina, he wanted to become the World's Greatest Swordsman. And why is that? What is it that makes this man tick? It drives me insane! (Just, we can answer so many questions about so many motivations across so many characters, and the fact that I can be so completely lost when it comes to two of the main characters (Zoro and Luffy) drives me up the wall))

Right, so did he get his need to be strong from one of his parents or their deaths? Someone else he knew? Did he hear stories from Kozaburo or something and that inspired him? Or does he feel like he needs to protect himself? Like, he is obsessed with strength, and although his promise to Kuina strengthened (haha) that need, it just can't be the sole factor, because his need for strength is behind his entire character.

Now that's a fairly large claim, but, what drives Zoro as a character? What sticks out most about him?

Generally, it wouldn't seem like it's strength. Like yeah the weights he lifts are ridiculous and a recurring joke (semi-joke?) when it comes to him, but I'd bet it's not the thing that you'd think first about Zoro.

Another idea could be competition? Maybe? His goal is inherently competitive, and he'll stop at nothing to achieve it. And some people are just driven to be the best. That's it, and that's fair. That being said, he also doesn't need to be the strongest, just the strongest swordsman. He's fine with following Luffy, not leading.

Honestly, I'm one person basing all this off of my own thoughts (not the best sort of evidence for an experiment), but if you think of Zoro, I'm willing to bet that there's one specific character trait that comes to mind.

And that is his loyalty.

It is loyalty that drives most of his action (his loyalty to Kuina and their promise in large part driving him forward to complete his goal, and his loyalty to Luffy and the crew determining many of his other actions, ie. Thriller Bark, bowing to Mihawk), but what drives him outside of that? If we stripped away that goal, what would be left of him as a character??

Let's look at some patterns in the major point of his character in order to break this issue of loyalty.

First, let's look at those tied in some aspect to his dream, or more accurately the risk of it. Those are: fighting Mihawk, Thriller Bark, bowing to Mihawk. All of these are instances in which his loyalty to Luffy and dedication to not breaking a promise has caused him to act in ways that go directly against the completion of his dream. So his dream can't be the only driving for being the strongest (if speaking in terms of parameters, we can say that it is dominated by something else). Looking at these, are they tied to strength? Yes, in a sense, these are moments in which Zoro wasn't strong enough. And these are major character moments for him. They had insane impact on him. And they all have to do with him being confronted with the fact, full on and unavoidably, that he isn't strong enough.

We also have instances of him being much more serious than the others, such as: Whiskey Peak, not immediately trusting Robin, the "stop goofing around" on Punk Hazard, how hard he is on himself after every fight. For as goofy as Zoro is, he is exceedingly cautious. If there's a danger, he is wary of it and is prepared/will prepare to ensure he can fight it. He is careful of the strangeness of Whiskey Peak and Robin. And he is aware of the treat of the world, takes it seriously, and acknowledges that he needs to be strong enough to overcome it. If he struggled, he pushes himself even harder, even if he's still recovering.

And finally, another huge part of Zoro's character is his reaction to perceived betrayal (perceived as in what he identifies as a betrayal): Nami, Usopp, Robin, Sanji. The second he feels betrayed, he will but someone out and move on. "Zoro's so loyal!!" Okay, yeah, but what's this?? For most Straw Hats, they are loyal to the end, and it would seem like Zoro is too (Thriller Bark, again), but this is completely antithetical to that. So why?

It's about Zoro and the intersection between his loyalty, his trust, and his strength. Whoever he is loyal to must have absolute trust in him. Literally any time someone on the Straw Hat's leaves. Zoro completely shuts down when they do. He acts as though he doesn't care. Because, to him, they didn't trust him enough to rely on him, and Zoro needs people to rely on him. It's just how he works. He needs to be able to protect people and needs those people to know that he can protect them. And this is all driven by strength. If they don't trust him, if they don't think he can help, that says something about how strong they think he is. It's an insult to his strength that they don't think to ask him for help, implying that he is not enough. (It also protects himself emotionally to move on a fast a possible.) He needs transparency, requires it, because anything else implies he can't be trusted.

The issue of strength runs rampant through this character. He has this unavoidable need to protect himself. And although he will do his best to protect those he cares about, to is not an unending grace. It's as though all he does is work to defend himself from any sort of emotion hurt or rejection. (It's as though he is waiting to be thrown away. Like the parallel I could draw with Usopp... I won't, not now...)

At the same time though, if he doesn't succeed, then he reasons he wasn't strong enough and that's the end of it.

God! Just why??!? What?!! What is going on with him?? I'd really like to know.

(And god, fuck, I want to talk about the death pact now and what that implies, but this is so long already,,, I'm just... I'll dissect that later or something)

Damn, I've talked forever and I feel as though all I've done is determine that this man is a strength obsessed gremlin with issues. I may need to come back to this later, but for now, this is all I'll say...

[sysig]

Don’t tell me what to do! (Do, do it, he likes it) (Patreon)

[adelle-ein]

desire to watch more slay the princess vs fear of horror games. fight

[hypnified]

Modern au Fuze sending his crush a bunch of poems that he just finished writing before dipping, he'll turn off his phone and everything. Avoid you for a few days, because this man genuinely fears your reaction he'd rather die than have someone he cares about judge him. When he turns his phone back on he's begging for the ground to swallow him whole because that's easier than being judged right?

[frostbite-the-bat]

... My parents really for real are leaving the uncleaned, rotten potato juice and other misc unknown juice infested, LITERALLY FRUIT FLY LARVAE INFESTED, cupboards, in the bathroom,

For like the 4th day starting today if I am counting right

Sure just don't let me shower sure just let me get paranoid over the larvae sure make me not trust the bathtub for like a week sure let the place get more infested sure let it stink up the whole place SURE LEAVE THE FUCKING BATHROOM UNUSABLE

[coockie8]

I'm low key stuck on something for Cult of Desire, and I wanna ask you guys for help, but I don't know how to say what I'm looking for without spoiling something pretty major lmao

With that said, keeping this vague, if I could get suggestions of potential nightmares Ed and Roy might have, I would really appreciate it. I have some ideas, but nothing concrete, and I'd do well with some inspiration I think. Like don't hold back either, make them as truly screwed up as you possibly can haha

[pochapal]

I don’t know if you’ve been asked this before, but what was your experience with detective mystery novels before umineko?

i've always gravitated towards stories with mysteries or something obtuse to puzzle over and figure out but i'm not actually that versed in detective fiction at all haha. the genres i'm normally into lean more towards horror and speculative/literary and also everything that homestuck is so while a lot of stuff i read does have central mysteries guiding their plots, the specific construction of detective mystery isn't something i am incredibly familiar with on the whole.

my closest experience to detective mystery fiction was actually when i was super into danganronpa as a teen and i ended up trying to write my own original killing game fan story. i never finished it and it's kind of cringe looking back at it but i did spend several years of my life trying to construct solid "hard but fair" murder mystery cases (i still have a bunch of files on my hard drive from when i planned it all out lol) that i think taught me a lot about the experience of a murder mystery from both the perspective of the writer and the reader. a lot of that was making up a guy in my head and imagining them trying to catch me out based on where their thinking would likely be at each stage. so then i was also thinking of my mystery but also how to throw this hypothetical guy off the scent while still making something solvable. the writing process was very much like chessboard spinning but if you put the chessboard in a 1 million rpm washing machine and turned into a weird psychological game of cat and mouse between me and a person that didn't necessarily exist.

the mysteries i published were kind of not that great (their conceits were "how can you find *the* culprit when the culprit is actually two people in tandem" and "an incredibly obvious case that becomes complicated by everybody else's assumptions and overthinking") since i wrote and planned them out when i was like 17 but the later cases i never got around to doing when i hit my stride and sketched out the rest of this story would have been way cooler (one murder was going to hinge around a really nasty wordplay trick to do with the time of death that technically wasn't a lie but was incredibly misleading and deceptive and another was an elaborate cause-effect chain involving a publicly witnessed indisputable suicide as the trigger) if i'd gotten around to completing the story. i will forever be haunted by this one particular locked double locked room murder i spent six months of my life sketching out down to the minute by minute positioning of the characters. it would have had the 2018 fanganronpa community trembling in their boots if i had ever realized my vision lmao.

anyway i guess my experience with detective mystery fiction is coming more from the position of a writer than a reader which i think comes through a little when you examine some of my thought processes (my approach at times is very much "if i was writing this story right now what would i do here" and then i search for evidence to try and back that up) even if i'm not super well-read or familiar with the genre outside of like one vn series lol. i know about making fiction and i know about keeping people guessing via revealing and concealing information and past a certain point most fiction operates under similar principles so that's how i got into understanding and approaching mystery. i think it's a fun genre, both to produce and to read now that i'm reading something that is more seriously presenting itself as a piece of detective mystery fiction! umineko is good because it really is scratching a specific kind of itch i never really address in my own writing these days because there's a specific time and occasion to produce these kinds of mysteries. hope this illuminates my understanding of/relationship to this genre a little more!

[hailsatanacab]

guys i’m so bored, help me procrastinate

give me a fandom and a prompt and i'll give you at least five sentences

[phogay]

hrmmm guys im living with the fact that i may have type 2 diabetes and its very hard to not feel like a personal failing (<- grew up w an overweight diabetic mom who drilled it into me to never get fat and never become diabetic due to internalized fatphobia, however i am at risk of diabetes on both sides of my family so despite doing everything moderately "right" i am more likely to develop it than not, knowing this logically i still find myself sitting here going "what did i do wrong, maybe if i had worked harder to be healthy, maybe if i had watched what i ate," etc etc despite these being myths)

[painted-bees]

A quick, sloppy little comic about Magritte

[OC's]

(image description under the cut)

[Image Description: It's a vertical comic strip of 14 panels arranged one under the other. The style is realistic, done with sketchy lines in a dark burgundy. It is not colored or shaded and there is no background. The comic features the interactions of a couple, Magritte (also called Margie) and Rafael (also called Raf). Magritte is a young woman, she is wearing a baggy armhole tank top with a tight fitting black top underneath, shorts and boots. She has a messy bun and a small messenger bag slung over her left shoulder. Rafael is her partner, wearing baggy pants, sneakers, fingerless gloves, V-neck t-shirt and an open button-up jacket with a hoodie and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hair has short side with long top bangs and a short goatee.

 (First panel): There's only Magritte visible from the waist up. Off screen, Raf says to someone else: “Magritte has our tickets.” Magritte is excited, looking straight forward. Her left hand in on her bag's strap, her right hand rummaging inside her bag. Magritte says: "Yeah! Even made sure to put them in my wallet so that I wouldn't- uh..."

 (Second panel): She is beginning to look concerned, now with her face turned to her back, both left hand holding the lip to open the bag wider and her right hand still rummaging inside. Magritte says: "wouldn't forget.... Hang on, it's not on it's usual pocket. Haha." The last is a nervous laughter.

 (Third panel): Magritte is kneeling on the ground. Rafael is standing to the side and behind her, only his feet visible. Magritte looks frantic, searching inside her bag. Her right arm is forearm deep digging in her bag. Magritte says: "It's definitely here-! It's the one thing I never forget 'cus I never take it out of my bag!" Rafael says, firmly: "Margie, when you took it out to put the tickets in, did you put the wallet back in the bag?" The letters are bolded, with the word "back" underlined for emphasis. Magritte says: "Give me some credit, there's no way I'm that stupid." The last three words are underlined for emphasis.

 (Fourth panel):  The scene has changed and now Magritte and Rafael are in a car. We see them from the passenger's side. Rafael is driving, looking straight ahead at the road. Magritte is hunched forward, hugging herself with the left hand. Her right hand is holding her head. She is looking out the passenger window, avoiding Raf.

 (Fifth panel):  Rafael turns slightly to look at Magritte.

 (Sixth panel):  The point of view is now a side profile view from the drivers side. Rafael has his left arm leaning on the open window, his right hand on the wheel. Magritte is hunched over facing the passenger window. Rafael says: "I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're worried about." Magritte says: "I can literally feel your disappointment."

 (Seventh panel): Back to the passengers side, Rafael is looking at the road. Magritte is frustrated, no longer leaning her head against her right hand and instead her hand is palm upwards. Rafael says: "Well, yes. It is a disappointing situation, but-" Magritte interrupts: "You'd think I'd be able to do the one thing I was asked to do-! That I'd at least learn from the last billion times I forgot shit. Rafael says, quieter: “that's not where I was going with this...”

(Eighth panel):  Magritte has her right hand holding her face with the palm on her cheek, left hand placing the tips of her fingers on her left temple and eye brows. She is frustrated and angry. Magritte says: "It's not like I've got anything more important rattling around in my brain.  But, for some reason, if it's not my music, or like.... food or something, then it's just not a priority. I can't make myself care enough to make it a priority!"

(Ninth panel): She now has both hands in front of her, elbows bent, finger extended in a vague hand gesture as if there was something in front of her. Magritte says: "I'm an adult in my 20s and I still manage my responsibilities like a child. I'd be more dependable if I could just stop and think for a second, but I'd probably forget to even breathe if it weren't for the..."

 (Tenth panel): Her frustrated expression turned to confusion. Her hands are still in the air in the same position as before. Magritte says:"... why are we parked?" Her noticing this stopped her rant.

(Eleventh panel): Magritte straightens up and faces the window entirely, left hand crossed over her body to lean on the car door. Rafael, off screen: "Margie." Magritte says: "Oh." Magritte's inner thoughts are written around her. "He stopped the car to scold me. No, not ‘scold’. Don't be a child about this. He's disappointed and just needs to make sure you understand so you can do better next ti-"

 (Twelfth panel): Magritte is still looking out the window, but now with a shocked expression. Rafael reached with his right hand, and its now resting gently on her upper back. Rafael interrupts her inner monologue with "I need you to stop repeating the shit your parents and teachers and such yelled at you growing up. They were wrong, and nothing you just said makes sense."

 (Thirteenth panel):  The perspective switches back to the driver's side profile. Rafael says: "A poor memory isn't synonymous with poor priorities. Nor does it speak to a lack of maturity. The priority was there, we just have to build a better habit of checking things before we leave the apartment. Both of us. It's gonna take time. You afford everyone else a ton of patience, all the time. Can you please afford some for yourself? The situation sucks, we were both looking forward to this. But it's not the end of the world. We didn't forget things on purpose. So let's take it easy and try to end the day on a good note. Alright?" Magritte says: "Okay... c-can we um...."

 (Fourteenth panel): Magritte has turned to face Rafael and her eyes are filled with tears and they're running down her cheeks.  Rafael looks startled, lifting his arm off Magritte's back. Magritte says: "Can we get some ice cream on the way back?" Rafael says: "O-of course!" End of description.]

This description was written and provided by Hiwi.

[eec713]

my protagonist sure does sigh a lot