#clarifying now that this is abt the games

[razberrypuck]

rotating henry emily in my mind

[mikibwrites]

🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰

oh my god ballet carlos are you kidding!

a;dljafj ok tbf this is ROUGH bc 1) it's a continuation of what I did for the sprint earlier and I'm trying to make myself just WRITE without stopping to edit/reword so uhhh be gentle and 2) this is frogged from a wip I had in another fandom but it worked so WELL for tarlos that I just had to steal it from myself. It's in the roughest shape rn but it'll get there :)

“They help people out sometimes, if you ask. Folks go to them for tips sometimes because, well, look at them.”

TK looked. Now the woman was rolling her body into Carlos’s, their faces nearly touching, staring into each other’s eyes, expressions overflowing with the sensuality of the dance.

“I actually…already take lessons from Carlos. Well, my fiance and I do,” TK went on. “He teaches at the studio over on Houston. But…I’ve never seen anyone in class do that.” He laughs nervously. He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off Carlos’s body since his gaze had slid back across the floor to the dancing couple. 

The bartender seems to take pity on him, chuckling. “I should probably also mention, since you don’t seem to know, that they’re both part of ABT.” When TK looks at him with a confused expression, he elaborates. “They’re professional ballet dancers.”

[piningpercussionist]

I suppose you could say that.

Also apologies I don't usually introduce my name and first, either way I'm 💠

I can do an in person introduction if that's more proper.

Besides that your technically correct I don't have any ill intent right now, and I don't need anything from you either. Though I will gladly ask if I need anything. Thank you.

- 💠

*Kim feels an uncomfortable, cold chill go down her spine.*

(I... am not sure I'm enjoying this energy, here...)

*She looks back over her shoulder, but she's uncertain if she should bring Blaze's attention to this- they had other matters to attend to, after all. She turns back to the monitor, hands hovering over the keys.*

(I feel like I should tell someone about this... but I'm not sure who, yet. Or if that would be an overreaction...)

*Uneasy, she shakes her head and sets about typing her reply.*

Your welcome. I'll keep an eye out for your asks then, 💠. I think talking like this suits me just fine, personally. At least for now.

[radiotorn]

i need to draw o/ff characters again and post hcs abt them to my blog. oogoog

[4giorno]

underappreciated thing from the stuffpack reveal: they only said they were incorporating "nordic" design. they didnt say scandinavian 💖

[argisthebulwark]

Do I Have Your Attention?

summary: calling your partner by their real name instead of a pet name. gn reader, no pronouns or y/n used feat: Vilkas, Farkas, Brynjolf, Miraak, Erandur, Cicero, Teldryn warnings: joke abt murder in Miraak's lol. masterlist

Vilkas knows you're trying to get under his skin and hates how effective it is. Despite all his grumbling he's grown to enjoy the sweet little names only you're allowed to call him. There's nothing wrong with his name, of course - but it doesn't summon that fuzzy feeling all your terms of endearment do. "Vilkas?" You call again, clearly trying to get his attention. He grits his teeth and pointedly ignores you. Tidying his desk has suddenly become very interesting. "Sweetheart?" "Hm?" He finally grunts, feigning nonchalance despite the color in his cheeks. "Oh, now you can hear me." He ignores how smug you sound, continuing to shuffle through paperwork. "How interesting."

Farkas doesn't like that. "What? No baby? No honey? Did I do something wrong?" He drops the rag, half polished armor entirely forgotten as he turns toward you. "No, I'm not upset with you." You clarify, quelling his nerves. "Why so formal?" Farkas adores the sweet things you say to him - calling him your honey, your dearest, any reminder that he is yours. "Sorry, my love." You crack a smile when he reaches for you, grabbing your hand. "Didn't mean to worry you." "I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me." He sighs, doing a terrible job at hiding how much he enjoys all of your attention.

Brynjolf knows you're trying to bother him. He's seen that mischievous look in your eye before and weighs his options - what will be more fun? He could play into your little game and pretend to be upset by the lack of affection, or he could turn it around. The way he says your name is aloof, almost cold. He watches your eye twitch and your grin falter. It's terribly hard to stifle a laugh when you clear your throat and struggle to continue the conversation. Oh, he knows he's gotten under your skin. Brynjolf listens to your request for proper recruit assignments and agrees, biding his time before taking it one step further. When your annoyance begins to wane he begins calling you by your last name, thrilled at the color your face turns. "Bryn, what are you doing?" "Not so funny now, is it? Guild Master?"

Miraak swears that he will kill you both if you don't knock it off. He threatens to burn your entire village to the ground if you don't cease whatever prank you've decided to play on him. In front of others, he will stomach your cold detachment - calling him by his name or title in front of those damned Greybeards. He knows a thing or two about manners, after all. But in the privacy of your bedroom, he is your love. He is the one who relishes in all those silly terms of endearment only you are permitted to use. He stews over your laughter, refusing to give in even when your lips press to his skin. "You are not funny." He grumbles, though he does lean closer for more of your touch. "Perhaps this is what was prophesized - you will be the death of me after all."

Erandur worries that he's done something wrong. He thinks over your day, struggling to pinpoint what social blunder he could have made. He knows that he isn't completely up to date on modern social courtesies but you do not physically appear upset. "I'm sorry, my beloved." He offers, praying that you will educate him. "For what?" "For whatever I've done to upset you. Please tell me so that it can be made right." When you explain that it's a prank, a joke intended to gauge his reaction, Erandur smiles sheepishly and tucks away that information for later. He kisses your forehead, grateful that you are not upset with him.

Cicero is not a fan of that. His brows furrow, trying to figure you out. You only use his name when you call him your silly Cicero, your pretty Cicero... never just his name. His head tilts when he notes the pink in your cheeks and the attentive way you're watching him. "Listener." He ventures, eyes narrowing. "Are you pranking your Keeper?" "I am." "Oh!" Cicero's hands clap when he revels in your laugh. "Silly Listener, you are quite funny." "Not as funny as you, my love." He grins at the kiss you press to his cheek, absolutely giddy at your approval.

Teldryn is a bit taken aback - you've called him Tel for years. And now you're dropping his full name out of the blue? You've never been one for overly sweet terms of endearment but he likes the shortened version of his name you use. He removes his helmet and peers over, trying to figure you out. "What did I do to deserve this treatment?" "What treatment?" "The full government name." He's relieved when a laugh bursts out of you, pausing your trek to slap a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, Tel. You're too funny." He wants to chastise you, but the little pet name and the way you draw near to him is fairly distracting. "It was just a little prank." "A prank?" He snorts, indulging in a short kiss to your forehead. "You have too much time on your hands."

[thatdeadaquarius]

Topic: Genshin impact.

au: Sagau.

idea: So what if you had the powers of every character you played as in every game you played and then get isekaid into genshin impact with imposter au. I imagine it goes smth like

Zhongli: “I will have order!”

reader, Who played Roblox as someone who lagged the game (explanation: I’m pretty sure ping is also how time works in games. If you can control the flow of ping you can control the flow of time in games.): “ZA WARUDO!”

Heyyy!! Thanks for waiting for the reply/response from my slow ass :0

So they did clarify what they meant/expand so imma just copy paste that here!

“k now I remember. So basically imma write it here since it’s easier: Basically you don’t have to (but you can) transform into the character that has those set of powers but if you do those powers are enhanced.”

Sun: Reader (”you”/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish, Light Imposter AU (as in, NOT Yandere/Dark), mild crossover elements bc Shapeshifter Shenanigans™️

Stars: bro idek

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: mild cussing, genshin typical mild violence, & Trigger Warnings: none known.

Please comment if I missed any. /gen

☆

so fair warning,, ive never seen jojo bizarre, but i appreciate i come off well-read/watched? LMAO

so im just gonna kinda,, guess? like just cycle thru diff. random media, and im hoping both me and you reading this will have a fun time (as this is a little challenge, but i like it so ill give it a shot, dont kno if its a good one but- 😅)

so to set the scene, of how u got to this point, ykno of running like ur life (maybe?) depends on u running around different teyvat countries,

u thought it was weird everyone knew a little too much about you?? (ofc theyve heard u during gaming, they know u the same way we all know Markiplier, get it?)

then a bunch of NPCs/Vision users/Archons?? were REALLY invested in talking to you, which freaked u out even more

and by the time you saw Zhongli, yknow, just the oldest god in game, making a fast-walk towards you, ykno the retired god who didnt move an inch when an old water god attacked Liyue for a test, is now hurrying to you???

ur logically get so fucking scared sm shits abt to go down, u just start running

it isnt until ur reaching for a ledge and some webbing shoots out of ur arm (from a glitchy little spot on ur arm, where it could be coming out of ur skin, but sometimes its a blue and red bracelet)

it latched onto the nearest building, and thats how u find out u can grapple ur way, literally Spiderman style, out of the harbor

and bro, idk if it would be fun, or confusing and stressful, or maybe both?? to just find out u can use any video game power from any game youve played before as you go running from countries bc for some freaky reason they know too much abt you/are pursuing you-

dUDE- they had small statues of you in like every little section of their cities

u head to Mondstadt and as Venti comes screaming and flying at you (in excitement, but ur freaked), u go to hold a hand up and suddenly ur holding a heavy stone tablet that unleashes some holographic yellow chains that freeze him in place-?? why is this familiar-

oh my god u have the sheikah slate from Breath of the Wild,

and as ur booking it out of there, u manage to get ahold of a sword, and u know exactly how to use it to knock back favonius knights trying to stop you (they are concerned for their god who is just unleashing random powers on ppl, pls let Grandmaster Jean just talk to you Your Majesty-!!)

by the time you teleport ur way to Inazuma, (bc u still have this worlds access to ur player/traveler’s powers), ur trying to find a nice place to stay for a little bit

at least in that sweet spot of the Raiden not noticing/finding you, while things cool down on the main continent, before moving on,

and u get some tools to help fashion just a little shelter, bc u dont have any money/mora rn, and ur able to literally build a house???

a mailbox pops up and thanks you for renting with Tom Nook???? As in Animal Crossing-

and rlly if the BOTW/slate thing didnt clue u into video game powers, then this definitely would tbh lmao

right as u see Yae Miko circling ur house, with an armful of books? ..is she planning to thru them at you??, u get the hell out of dodge before her favorite god can follow along

(she knows ur prefrences in books and got authors/trends to start so youd have plenty to read, and she was making sure it was ur house before politely dropping them off! how was she to know thatd spook their favorite God, Ei?!)

u get to Sumeru and think ur safe, hiding in an abandoned forest watcher outpost (1 person treehouse rlly) when Nahida shows up in ur dreams,

and u just,

walk out of the dream, into reality, and possess a nearby ruin guard so u can sleep in peace, bc she cant access a robot,

that one baffled u as you re-possessed ur own body before realizing-

Five Nights at Freddy’s. 💀

U cant do that forever, so u try Fontaine, hoping Neuvillette/Furina wont rlly give af abt you, plus theyre the latest region, so maybe they have the least exposure to whatever the other archons didnt like abt you??

u get there and are immediately summoned to court, and right as the mekas show up to escort you, jfc they have a mecha army

(meanwhile, theyre thinking, yknow. high profile guest/our god of gods. ofc we need state of the art mekas to escort them, its only polite-)

meanwhile ur cape has now become wings, and a mask covers ur face as you glide and fly ur way over the city in an attempt to get to where u assume Snezhnaya is

it doesnt occur to you the game until ur running out of stamnia and catch ur reflection in the waters of fontaine, Sky: Children of the Light

u hope the Tsaritsa’s dislike for other gods/Celestia doesnt extend to ur otherworldly presence so ur just hoping for the best atp tbh

tbh youd forget what all powers you have, and the absolute chaos ur causing urself as u try to desperately rememeber what games youve played thru ur entire life is NOT helping to reduce confusion when u randomly wake up with elf ears (legend of zelda/botw) or get dragged into another ruin machine when u fall asleep/faint/do smth u guess mimics death lmao- (fnaf) 💀

…

(meanwhile the Tsaritsa does get wind ur coming this way, and just, makes the people have a parade/festival to celebrate you coming,

she did also have to get Pierro/Captaino to physically restrain some of them from going ahead to meet/escort you to the palace, she’d heard how the others scared u off, and was, ironically, hoping the warm welcome would clear things up)

☆

well that was, something. 😃🫠

sorry lil car, that was such a fun idea idk if i did it justice!! i thought itd be too op to include every media youve consumed ever, so i kept it to video games, (which, could u cheat the system if youve played smash bros??)

i hope it was at least a decent read, and sorry im half asleep so i was not v funny this time around, but, again, hope u got smth out of it 😭

</3

on another note, im having my wisdom teeth surgery this friday, send whatever u got my way, prayers, blessings, good vibes, ill take anything im nervous 🙃

have a good week guys!

Safe Travels Lil Car,

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily / @justinsomniachild / @nanithefuck / @questionotmystopit / @chinuneko / @silvers-tongue

If ur tag doesnt work, pls check ur settings to see if ur a "searchable blog"!! Its not the same as the Ai selling data thing.

[take-care-of-it]

Not that partial to the “post-crash curly as Anya’s baby” analysis. For several reasons. For one thing, Jimmy isn’t being “forced to look after the equivalent of a child” or whatever. He is very much not doing the leg work here, and the few actions he takes with “taking care of” curly serve to make himself feel better. The actual responsibility that gets forced upon him, that he forces upon himself intentionally, is that of being the captain.

Now it turns out he kinda sucks shit at that, but it doesn’t stop the fact that it’s what he wanted initially. Also, not huge on equating post-crash Curly with a literal baby unless it’s specifically ALSO under the lense of disability and autonomy. Saw someone say that ‘all curly can do is cry’ and even if that were true, even if we ignored the possibility he might’ve been able to communicate in other ways and the crew (or just Jimmy specifically) simply had no interest in giving him a voice, that still wouldn’t make him a baby? That’s an adult. A disabled adult.

Thirdly, Curly and Anya work better as parallels to each other. (I go into more detail abt that here.) We already have a symbolic stand in for the baby, and it’s Polle. (Now, Anya and Polle are also conflated, mainly bc we see through Jimmy’s eyes and he doesn’t feel guilt about Anya outside of the unborn baby. Ultimately, the Anya association wins out in the final speech, explicitly drawing attention to and condemning this conflation Jimmy makes. But that doesn’t stop the conflation from clarifying that Jimmy *himself* doesn’t associate post-crash curly with the responsibility of parenting, specifically.)

Lastly, and this is big, Anya chooses to keep Curly around. She’s arguably the one most vested in his wellbeing, even outside of her duties as a nurse. Jimmy complains about her sentimentality, in fact. They all agree to keep him alive. It isn’t a job being forced on her. She’s choosing to do it. (And I’m getting a little tired of people getting rid of every single instance of Anya’s agency in this game while claiming to do it for her sake.) This difference is crucial. She did not choose the baby. It was forced upon her. She actively chooses to die in part so that she doesn’t have it. She doesn’t want it. She does want curly around.

TLDR while I kind of get where this analysis came from I think it falls apart upon closer inspection. And while of course things can mean and stand in for more than one thing, I’m not a fan of the interpretation due to how it necessarily twists the emotions of the characters involved to fit itself. Also the ableism. That’s crucial here too.

[horizon-verizon]

On this here day, GRRM wrote an entry clarifying several things about the dragon lore in his novels, and it vindicates so many Dany stans/Daenerys as the Azor Ahai:

Saying dragon "mysteries", in-world, will be revealed in the last two books AND Septon Barth got a lot right. I'm taking that to mean that dragons change sex (Viserion, here you come, baby!), like two particular Twitter mutes I have (danylanzhou and Branwynwitch). It also seems like he's confirming that dragons and the first 40 Valyrian families (which include the Targs, then and now) mixed dragon blood with their own in some long past ancient event AND that only these families, therefore, can bond with dragons to rides them safely or befriend them.

Which means Nettles is definitely of Valyrian/Targ-descent, which really should have been obvious. One of my mutuals also asserted that this makes the idea of Nettles-Sheepstealer/Rhaena-Morning being interchangeable for their supposed HotD merging GRRM-disapproved bc he makes a point to say that dragons don't tend to move far from their lairs that are usually very high up in mountains and volcanos. Sheepstealer can't be going to the Vale while having a lair in Dragonstone:

As for the thought of Sunfyre flying miles to get to Dragonstone...this is where he/they were born and where the real magic that sustains dragons is coalesced from hundred of years. It makes sense for him/them to fly to this castle even if Aegon weren't there after he had been bodied by Meleys/Meleys & Vhagar, looking for recovery. This is where the Targs get most of their eggs/dragons and it is near where most dragons in Westeros make their lairs.

Note that he says, in the very last paragraph, how:

Fantasy needs to be grounded.  It is not simply a license to do anything you like. Smaug and Toothless may both be dragons, but they should never be confused. Ignore canon, and the world you’ve created comes apart like tissue paper.

It appears he is VERY not happy about something to do with dragons in the show's second season, how they bond in the show, how a certain dragon is "explained" to have traveled a too-long distance for a certain pale-locked young girl who has been trying to hatch her own dragon for years...I see you GRRM, fighting for Nettles AND Rhaena I see.

Oh, and just bc he said he liked epi 2, doesn't mean that he cannot critique anything about HotD ever again...he is the writer and creator of this universe that they are capitalizing on. As long as a writer of any genre stays logically consistent and relatively undiscriminatory in their original writing, they definitely can tell any of us readers what is real and not real or possible in their own creations! That this is even up for debate is a travesty to logic.

Mind you, this is the same man who said the show and the book are two separate canons AND that adaptations "nowadays" tend to fail bc the adapters think they can make the story "better" and ignore critical lore details. And in his latest commentary on HotD's S2 first two episodes, he says, and I quote:

“Rhaenyra the Cruel” has been getting great reviews, for the most part.   A lot of the fans are proclaiming it the best episode of HotD, and some are even ranking it higher than the best episodes of GAME OF THRONES.   I can hardly be objective about these things, but I would certainly say it deserves to be in contention.   The only part of the show that is drawing criticism is the conclusion of the Blood and Cheese storyline.   Which ending was powerful, I thought… a gut punch, especially for viewers who had never read FIRE & BLOOD.   For those who had read the book, however… Well, there’s  a lot of be said about that, but this is not the place for me to say it.   The issues are too complicated.   Somewhere down the line, I will do a separate post about all the issues raised by Blood and Cheese… and Maelor the Missing.  There’s a lot to say.

Note that the latest post was about epi4 and this one I just linked is only abt epi 1 &2....so where are his thoughts for the hated/comedic epi3?! (we see each other, George). (BTW, I gave my thoughts on his thoughts about 1 & 2, HERE.)

I'll say it once again: though GRRM praised the portrayal of grief, defended Cheese being lost, and loved the dog (the last I don't fault anyone for, I also loved them) in the Blood & Cheese episode, he also expressly talks AROUND how Blood & Cheese and Helaena actually interacted and comments on the Maelor-lessness (therefore the lack of Sophie's Choice) that many people--inclu myself--have been saying was a huge problem.

Now we have two different sources that seem to support the ideas of:

GRRM both not being as "involved" with the actual writing of this show for a bit AND not approving of a lot of critical changes

HotD's writers cannot create anything truly "canon" or "real/true" for this universe, it only can make any sort of "sense" if it also retrieves information from the original tale, which is not really just F&B but THE ENTIRE SET OF AVAILABLE BOOKS!

[pinkaditty]

HAKU KUSANAGI IN FIFTH PLACE OF THE YUME RANKING HELLO???

STOP WHY DID I OPEN TWITTER 2 FIND THE 2024 YUME RANKING AND FUCKING HAKU KUSANAGI IS IN 5TH PLACE!?!?!?!?

IM NOT EVEN JOKING PLEASE LINK HERE!!!!!!!!!!

im going 2 be thinking abt this 4 fucking MONTHS

nobody tkdb here on this last page but i appreciate easily recognizable classics. azul, silver, megumi, xavier, sanemi... seen many a yume of these characters.

shohei haizono casually sitting in fucking 56TH PLACE and ABOVE OIKAWA TOORU AT THAT???? like oh okay 4give me i was unaware of your game!!!!!!!!!!!

rengoku and akaashi is so real. trafalgar law is an honorable mention i have friends that cannot stop talking abt him. my only genuine question is why is chihiro rokuhira up here lmao????? i was TRULY unfamiliar with his game.

congrats 2 the guy with the fucking slave/master fetish i guess he's sitting happy in 38th place!! nothing 2 sniff at but ik why he's there...........

why is bakugo still so high can we talk abt that. have we not collectively moved on. jade leech, ace trappola, malleus draconia, rafayel, and zayne i am not surprised 2 see. congrats.

AND FINALLY. THE FINAL PAGE...

nanami real! trey clover im honestly surprised at. like he's higher than jade leech! leona kingscholar of course. im never free of him.

sylus from lads!! i actually need him off this list rn 😭

kuroo tetsuroo is... SURPRISINGLY high. i didn't know we weren't over him yet lol!

geto and gojo of fucking course. who's surprised. /pos

side note that it is absolutely fucking FRYING ME that there are pokemon gym coaches up here i was unaware we were that out bad 4 rika and kabu LMFAOOOOOO

HAKU IN FIFTH HAKU IN FIFTH HAKU IN FIFTH OH MY GODDDD!!!!!!!!!!

im so geeked this is living in my head now. i knew he was popular but not THIS popular??!?!? IM GLAD THOUGH HE DESERVES ALL THE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyways. i didn't meant to go all in depth this was just meant 2 be a silly post amen. haku in fifth place oh my god. i love him!!!!!! my man!!!!!!!!!!!!! im so proud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

clarifying that im relatively new 2 the whole yume scene so like. i didn't know abt a lot of this my bad y'all

[txttletale]

youve mentioned offhand ur issues with thirsty sword lesbians, have u talked at length abt this somewhere before and if not do u want to? i want to hear ur thoughts hehe

now before i get into this i want to clarify: i like thirsty sword lesbians, overall! i think it takes some of the best stuff from monster hearts and refines it -- i think it does great and exciting things with pbta playbooks -- i think anyone making a pbta game should check it out because it's full of valuable ideas -- and i've had a lot of fun playing it!

however, i think it's just as flawed as it is brilliant. there's a few different flaws but the biggest one for me is a catastrophic clash between two things the game is trying to be. one on hand, it wants to be a catradora rpg. there's no shame in that, i love games that wear their influences on their sleeves--TSL¹ wants to be a game about kissing your rival after you've both been disarmed, about having a fraught and complicated relationship with your girl best friend who abandoned you to serve the dark lord, about having homoerotic sword duels where your blades lock and you stare into each other's eyes for just one second too long before one of you kicks the other in the chest. i think that's an admirable goal for an RPG and one that TSL hits a lot of the notes of--the fact that the move to "Figure Someone Out" has special questions you can only ask someone when you're duelling them is incredible design. the Strings system, adapted from Monsterhearts, the ability to fluster your enemies when you use the Entice move, the constant focus on what characters desire and how their actions conflict with those desires--so much of the game is working towards that!

unfortunately, the game also wants to be about queer resistance to homophobia and capitalist/imperialist hegemony. this is clear in its sample settings, with their eyerollingly on-the-nose conflicts like defending 'queertopia' and fighting the evil sorceress 'repressia'. but much more importantly, it's clear in the game. several of the playbooks are defined by their relationship to sexual hegemony--the beast is about someone who is othered and monsterised for expressing their existence and the seeker is about someone sheltered and prejudiced moving past that and discovering themselvs and others. like, it's not subtle--

and to be clear, there's nothing wrong with that, either. just as i like a lot of TSL's swashbuckling girl-romancing flirting-at-swordpoint mechanics, i really appreciated how (although the game's outlook on what these forces are is predicably liberal and its tonal approach to these things is one that i personally find teeth-grindingly insufferable) these things are actually integrated into its mechanics. playbooks like the beast and the seeker (and the rest!) imply something about the world the game is set in and its sexual politics. this game is meaningfully queer in the way something like dream askew is, in that its mechanics ask you to actually explore your character's queerness specifically. this is good, and it's something that elevates it above about 90% of ttrpg stuff that sells itself as queer.

so if both these things are good, what's the problem? well, it's that they're two great (or at least--interesting) tastes that go fucking horribly together. the fundamental problem that i have with TSL and one that i think takes a lot of work to get around in your own campaigns is that it simultaneously wants you to be fighting (on the individual level) a lot of antiheroic ultimately sympathetic hot girls you can flirt with and kiss--a lot of 'i can fix her's or 'she can make me worse's--and on the broader narrative wants you to be fighting institutional queerphobia (and often, although this is nowhere near as actually supported by mechanics, a more generalized 'imperialism' or 'capitalism' or 'bigotry'). so you end up fighting 'those stupid sexy homophobes'--people who are according to the text (not just 'lore', but the rules text, the mechanics you're playing with!) simultaneously the violent enforcers of cisheteropatriarchy and a bunch of fuckable lesbians with sympathetic backstories.

& i just think those things are fundamentally at odds. the result is a game that if you try and play it at face value works at cross purposes with itself, attempting to do two perfectly valid things without considering what happens when the streams cross.

it also has a few other flaws--like many other PBTA games, its balance falls apart if you play any long campaign (my group and i had to figure out special alternative level-up rewards!) but it comes with no inbuilt way to neatly conclude a campaign or character. its tone is something that, as i often mention, i absolutely cannot fucking stand--it has a certain sense of humour that feels profoundly dated to me and was never my cup of tea when it was in vogue. this is something i try not to hold against the game bc it is very much a personal taste-level 'cringe' reaction but the game lays it on pretty fucking thick.

more to its detriment, it is profoundly, gratingly liberal in the exact way people who deploy that tone usually are. its understanding of anything outside queerphobia specifically is just a purely aesthetic & thoughtless 'imperialism is bad!'. it manages a more nuanced understanding of homophobia, but it only manages it on the individual level--for a game about queerness and about fighting systems of cisheteronormativity, it has no systemic or material understanding of these systems and no interest in establishing one.

and finally--and this is just one paragraph but it's so fucking awful i feel the need to complain about it here because i think about it often as an example of something i never want to write:

this sucks! real bad! so deeply fucking silly to reassure people in your game that you called Thirsty Sword Lesbians that it's okay if you want to be cishet. like, it would be one thing to make a game where you can neatly extract the lesbianism and have the same game, a surface-level aesthetically queer game with no actual interest in queerness except as a marketing term. it would fucking suck but this paragraph would at least describe such a game. but TSL isn't that!!! . 'thirsty sword cishets' would be a very different and much worse game! awful and self-defeating paragraph. deeply silly concern to address and give airtime to. i didn't buy a game called 'thirsty sword lesbians' to be told 'its okay to be heterosexual i pwommy'

so yea just to reiterate: i like the game overall, i think there's a lot of good valuable stuff in there designwise despite all this. but i'm very ambivalent about it--ironically, i feel a love-hate relationship with this game about love-hate relationships. i admire it and yet i despise it! i long to put it at the tip of my sword and slowly tilt its cover up so that the pages look up at me coquettishly but with burning anger in their page numbers. if this book was a person id hatefuck it, is the joke, thats the joke im making, here, in this post. thanks

¹ i call it TSL whenever i can because the name 'Thirsty Sword Lesbians' makes me cringe out of my fucking skin. genuinely horrible name. i'm sure it's funny the first time you hear it, i got a mild chuckle the first time i heard it to, but it's such an obnoxious thing ot have to say repeatedly when seriously discussing it. should have stayed a placeholder name amiguitas

[okartichoke]

outer WILDS,,,,,,,,,, hrmmm,,, what is it about,,, does it get outer and/or wild

^^ an old doodle of the playable character !!

outer wilds DOES get outer.... outer SPACE, that is !!!!... (GOD BLESS YOU FOR BRINGING UP OUTER WILDS i'm giving my elevator pitch now)

Outer Wilds is a game about exploring a solar system. You essentially play as a space-faring archaeologist trying to unravel the mysteries of a long extinct species !! But it's a super unique experience, because all progression is gated behind what you've learned !! here's the launch trailer if you're at all interested!!

(that's my regular pitch,, now i'm just talking about my own feelings abt it) Outer Wilds touched me in a way nothing else really has. I don't wanna ramble on forever, cuz i don't wanna make this sound like an advertisement yknow lol (EVEN THOUGH IT TOTALLY IS),, but i will say ! i promised myself i would never get a tattoo of something from a video game or movie or the like,, but my one and only tattoo is an outer wilds tattoo :333 (would also like to clarify that i played the game 5 years ago,, and got the tattoo this year)

[ifwebefriends]

TRIGGER WARNING: misogyny and mentions of transphobia and bigotry in the video above

Comic dub of this ace attorney fan comic by @runby2 with permission from the artist

Huge thanks to runby2 for letting me dub their comic! Please go support them, he makes great stuff! This is one of my favorite Ace attorney fan comics. I know the sound quality on my voice is bad and I said the wrong word at one point but I did my best. I hope I did it justice (no pun intended).

[Video ID. A comic by tumblr user runby2 vocally dubbed by tumblr user Ifwebefriends. It is a fancomic based on the ace attorney games featuring Apollo Justice, Klavier Gavin, and Kristoph Gavin. Apollo looks determined at the floor with his arms crossed as he says “Klavier, I have to tell Kristoph that I am trans. I know you said if he hired me he already knows but,,, I want to be honest with my mentor!” Klavier, standing next to him and looking worried, waves his hands and says “nein,,,, nein forehead,,,” Apollo looks worriedly at Klavier and says “wait is he ,, transphobic??” Klavier responds “nein,, it’s just,, confusing-“ Apollo says back “then I want to tell him, klav! I made up my mind!” Klavier responds “I’ll,, come with you,,,” The scene changes. Apollo looks determined as he says “Mr. Gavin!!! I have… something to tell you!” Klavier, standing next to Apollo, looks dejected with his arms crossed as he says “ah here we go,” Kristoph is sitting behind his desk and looks concentrated and confident with two fingers to his temple as he says “ah, Justice. There is nothing you can tell me that I do not already know.” Apollo points confidently as he says “well, actually sir, how about THIS?” He then grabs his bicep and looks concerned as he says “I’m transgender” with a voice crack. All three of them are silent for a moment. Kristoph says “but, you ARE a man, yes?” Apollo looks worried as he says “well- yes! … technically -“ Kristoph interrupts “no.” Apollo questions “I- ‘no ‘?” Kristoph clarifies “you ARE a man, Apollo.” Apollo smiles and says “I- !! Oh! Thank you, sir!” Kristoph continues “thank god you’re not a woman. I despise women.” Apollo looks shocked and dumbfounded. Klavier silently puts his hand on Apollo’s shoulder while Apollo looks confused. Kristoph continues “that is why I too, became a man.” Apollo, curious and emboldened, exclaims “wow! Wait! Mr. Gavin, you were born ‘a girl’ too?” Kristoph responds “no. I was born a man. Keep up.” Apollo looks even more confused and Klavier looks away disappointed as Kristoph continues “I chose to become a woman to fully understand what it was like to become a woman. i choose my fate, justice. then when i fully understood what it meant to be a woman, i became a man again. that is why i am the best defense attorney, because i have conquered all gender and i fully understand what it means, to be both a misogynist and hate men. NEVER. assume you know more than me,, justice. i chose you for a reason.” Apollo replies “what abt nonbinary ppl,,” Kristoph looks smugly to the side before saying “‘nonbinary’… hahhah… Justice,,, do you SERIOUSLY think that I am a man, RIGHT NOW?” Kristoph turns to flash a smug smile with two fingers by his eyes as he says “i am more than a man and a woman. I identify as a man solely to fool the idiots who do not understand the spectrum of human existence. i chose YOU, justice, because you understand what it means to become more than what you were born as. I, right now, am a god among men. My gender has evolved past that of a simple male, or a simple female. I understand the binary and I use it to my advantage. I have both joined and fought against the bigots that run this government, yet they could not track me as I did so. I have handled what you understand as the gender binary and distorted it like a fine clay. That is what it means to be a lawyer. Do NOT forget that, Justice.” An endcard comes up that says “comic by @runby2 dub and sound editing by @ifwebefriends End ID]

[enden-k]

dunno why i got this gnshn tweet rec but this was quite "fun"

(this is from a reliable leaker who wanted to clarify things very clearly so ppl wont be baited by hyv anymore); i quit playing a while ago so i was never aware how they cut male characters like that but makes sense if u look at natlan cast ig??? also theres apparently no plan in making capitano, varka and pantalone playable so if i didnt quit already id done that now ngl AHAHAH

it was said a bit later too but i didnt capture that and i lost the tweet already but basically, hyv doesnt care abt the "female players" (leakers words, but obv it goes for all players who are interested in the male cast) and completely cater to the (roughly quoting and rephrasing from my head, not my words) incel fanbase that is left now since they willingly throw all their money at hyv to C6 R5 their waifu anw woweee

ppl who are interested in male cast will get some characters just for a tiny taste to keep them there but theres no limited characters and no male character will have an important role in any version anymore; leaker said u shouldnt fall for hyv empty baiting and leave if you feel like leaving bc thats basically it for gnshn

(tbh i dont mind if theres more ladies or not in a game, i rlly dont care abt such matters bc i just rlly like/focus on a characters design and personality and not their gender etc. what i cant stand is when female characters are clearly designed for the male gaze w extremely skimpy/sexy clothing or certain vibes/advances to the protag/player. either make it equal for male and female characters or leave that shit out of ur gameeee ughh)

[pablitogavii]

Gavi x his celeb crush all up to you!

Idea: You and Gavi met through social media :)

y.n.bebe

Barcelona, Spain

In love with this city <3 Might stay forever!

liked by pablogavi and 20K others

comments:

brunaa: obsessed with you! <3. liked by y.n.bebe

cameroon: you have the best photographer ;)

y.n.bebe: yes I do!!

pablogavi: I can show you around :)

y.n.bebe: sure :)

gavigavi: whaaa!??

gavisgirls: she's gorgeous! does pablo have a crush?

DM chat:

pablogavi: hey! what do you want me to show you the city??

y.n.bebe: oh hi :) didn't think you were serious abt that?

pablogavi: why not??

y.n.bebe: idk hehe let's do it this weekend if you are free?

pablogavi: i'm down :)

pablogavi story

showing her around Barcelona today :) @y.n.bebe

y.n.bebe story

touring Barcelona with @pablogavi today :)

y.n.bebe

Spotify Camp Nou, Barcelona

Thank you so much Pablo, it was a great game! <3 tagged: pablogavi fcbarcelona

liked by pablogavi, pedri, ansufati, fcbarcelona and 50K others

comments:

pablogavi: <3 liked by y.n.bebe

gaviragf: who is this girl now!? did they just start talking over ig?

gavifanss: yeah he asked to show her Barcelona and now she is wearing his jersey?? couple??

gavipedrifans: even pedri and ansu liked!?? so they know her too?

gaviragirl: he's mine back off!!!

cameroon: didn't know you were a football fan ;)

y.n.bebe: shut up!! LOL

gavira: maybe this is her bf?? let's not jump to conclusions

pablogavi

Sempre Visça Barça! Back to #6 ;))

liked by pedri, ansufati, y.n.bebe, fcbarcelona and 70K others

comments:

pedri: everything comes back to those who are determined and patient hermano! proud of you! nobody deserves it more!

pablogavi: gracias hermano! let the duo from the past return <3

fcbarcelona: #6 coming back after the big Xavi! Make us proud chico!

pablogavi: big boots to fill but I will do my best like always <333

gaviraa: guys!! if he just got his number back that means he gave it to her since it's not available to be bought yet!!!!

gavifan: joder! you're right!!

pedrigavifanbase: that's so cute! they are both young and beautiful and she seems like a sweet girl :)

gavipablo: she liked!!!!!!!!!! I'm so invested!!

A few days after the game..

y.n.bebe

Paris, France

I missed you Paris, my beautiful home <3 Let the fashion show week begin!

liked by cameroon, pablogavi, aurorapaezg and 50K others

comments:

gavifans: she's just a normal girl and her best friend is one of the designers which is why she is going to the event for those saying she is famous because of Gavi!!

gavipablo: ikr! she went to fashion shows for years back and I think cameroon is her bf??

pablitoogavira: idk if he is her bf but this girl is so freaking beautiful!

pablogavi: miss you btw :/

y.n.bebe: come visit me then so I can show you Paris :)

gavirafamfans: Aurora liked too!!!!!!!

cameroon: stunning like always <3

y.n.bebe: thanks fake bf LOLOLOL

pablitofanss: JAJA she just clarified that! :)

A week later..

y.n.bebe story

so I showed him Paris today...@pablogavi

pablogavi story

Paris with the best tour guide. Thanks princesa <3 @y.n.bebe

And finally..

pablogavi and y.n.bebe

Did we fall in love in the city of love? Yes we did!

liked by 90K others

comment:

aurorapaezg: you have no idea how nervous he was when you invited him hehe!!

gaviragirls: now it's official! our boy is taken :/

gavisfans: but this girl seems really sweet

gavipablo: plus he was the one who reached out to her first so she is not looking for fame like some other did!!

pedri: youngster got heart eyes for you!!

y.n.bebe: hehe I have my eyes only for him too

ansufait: congrats hermano!

pablogavi: gracias hermano!

cameroon: happy for you amiga mia <33 the fact that recorded this bruhhh!! LOLOLOL

y.n.bebe: we love you <333

pablogavi: from real bf to fake bf, we appreciate you hermano :)

gavipabloo: JAJAJ this is priceless!!

Hope you liked it :)

[sparklingdemon]

hey hihi! ive been curious for a bit (and honestly. probably shouldve asked sooner) .. how do you feel abt ppl making their own adaptations/takes on your pokepasta ocs? do you enjoy it? are there certain ones that you prefer arent touched on like that?

its mostly curiosity but also i feel like its best to ask bc im one of the mods on a blog where leaf takes a LOT after fallen leaf but with a fair amount of deviation all the same and. i realized recently that despite u still being active and present online i never thought to inquire about that,, im so sorry njakljndnjk

hey hey it’s all good!! i think what you’re doing with missing numbers is really cool!! it always gets me really excited to see bits of fallen leaf in missing number’s leaf bc i’m just like “look gary there i am! there’s my story!!” i think combining fallen leaf’s story with abandon lonliness is INSPIRED, and it’s so so cool seeing fallen leaf be put in alongside the other more “classic” trainerpastas. it makes me happier than you’ll ever to know to see her get representation alongside all the others who have been there so much longer than her, bc it makes me feel like i wrote a story that fits right at home in the golden age of pokepasta.

that being said, i’m usually pretty chill with fan interpretations and reimaginings, or AUs that have my characters in them! “death of the author” is a real thing, and people are going to do whatever they want with my stories/characters regardless of if they realize i’m still an accessible person that can be asked permission or not - so i think it’s important for me to have a healthy/supportive outlook about it.

but… at the same time, i still don’t like it very much when people use their reimaginings to “fix” a story, to remove the “cliches” that made the story what it is.

for example, if you took BRVR out of pokemon channel and made the game take place in pokemon yellow instead, or removed the death/gore, then that’s not really BRVR anymore to me. by taking the “pokemon channel” out of “pokemon dead channel” or taking the “DEAD” out of pokemon dead channel, then you have essentially made a brand new story/character, but given it my character’s name.

so i think what i don’t like is when a reimagining comes from a place like that, where it doesn’t try to keep the spirit of the original story in mind and instead wants to “fix” it.

BUT, i should clarify how this is only a pet peeve of mine! i’m not going to tell people, “no, you’re not allowed to reimagine my story The Wrong Way™” - because ultimately i care more about people having fun with my stories and art in whatever way they want to, even if it’s something i don’t personally agree/vibe with.

of course that’s not what i think you’re doing w missing numbers at all!! i think it captures the heart of the OG stories very well, even when seen through an “in-universe” lens. i’m really really excited to see more from it!!

as for if there’s certain characters i’d rather not let anyone touch, i feel like the only one i have right now is cody, but only because their story is still ongoing and people still don’t fully know them as a character yet. it’s very easy to misinterpret a character from a story that’s still ongoing, after all!

but other than that, my answer is go wild!! do whatever you want with my pasta characters and i’ll generally be pretty hands-off about it! the only rule is have fun!!