#definitely see how it inspired a whole bunch of other stuff too

[thelongestway]

hey no shade but you know dungeon meshi isn't actually based off dnd right? there are definitely some overlapping concepts and it can be fun to analyze it through a dnd lens but really it's its own homebrew fantasy setting. just checking bc i nearly got in an argument w someone over dungeon meshi lore the other day only to realize it was because they were trying to apply dnd lore to it ahahaa

Oh yeah, absolutely, it's its own thing. You don't even have to go far to show how it's its own thing: for one, the whole set-up with the dungeons being what they are isn't found anywhere else in D&D-inspired material that I know. You could maybe reflavor Halaster's Undermountain to something like the Dungeon Meshi dungeons, but that would be another layer of homebrew. That said, I do have the feeling that Ryoko Kui grew up on the same kind of D&D material that I did - stuff like Elminster's Ecologies, or old school Greyhawk materials. Her story genuinely feels like an AD&D game run by an old-school DM, maybe even earlier in the editions (hi, Chilchuck and "I'm a rogue, I'm not gonna fight"!). I don't mean that she follows D&D canon in any meaningful sense--her stuff isn't set in Greyhawk, nor on Abeir-Toril, nor on Krynn, etc. But I do think she's someone who's inspired by old school stuff, even as she makes her work thoroughly her own.

An acquaintance of mine once wrote that long tabletop games gain a quality that she called "being well-trod". This is when the players and DM are so familiar with the world they live in that it becomes, well, lived-in. They don't need to look up rules anymore to extrapolate: they understand the logic of the setting, and they get the same kind of intuitive feel for the world that we do when living in our own world, in real life. A feeling of where the boundaries lie, and how things work.

This is how I feel about Dungeon Meshi and D&D. It feels like a work written by someone who walked the same paths that I did, and whose work is therefore both new and startlingly familiar. That's it in a nutshell, but then I also wrote a bunch of examples, which got very long, so cut for length and spoilers!

I wrote somewhere in the tags on my Dungeon Meshi posts that it's incredibly surreal reading a story that seems to be informed by the exact materials that you base your own homebrew games on. Kui takes her work in a wholly different direction than I did - but the disparate elements of the story would fit in like a glove, because they're based on similar logic. I could quite literally take any of the ecologies elements of Dungeon Meshi and put them into a given module I'm running, and it would need less adaptation than 5e material. And most of the cultural/racial elements of Dungeon Meshi? That, too. Where it's not a one for one match, it would so easily be explainable by "different continent".

Let's take the example you're probably here from: the Canaries and elves in general, and let's take elves in general first. In D&D, there's been a switch in models of elven aging throughout the years: from "they are literal babies up until 60-ish, and then have 40 years of actual adolescence" to "yeah they grow to full adult size at about the same speed as the other races, and are then just culturally considered too young to make their own decisions". I am decidedly not a fan of the second model - I think it takes away from the cool biologies early D&D thrived on. BG3's treatment of Astarion's age of death, for instance, keeps throwing me. Yeah, I get it: it fits in with the edition they're working off, but I hate it. That's not how things work on our Faerun! But then we get to Marcille's backstory, and we see that she has the problems old school half-elves did, and you're like "oh, well of course someone invested in weird cool biology as an author would interpret elves like that." Her treatment of age makes sense to me. She makes the races as alien as possible, and hits that vibe of "D&D-style fantasy is its own thing, with its own set of rules" that I love. In contrast, and unlike any prototypes I know, Kui takes her half-foots in a different direction! They don't live longer than tall-men, they live shorter lives, closer to goblinoids. And I think it's for the same reason: because it's that much cooler to have different experiences of life in humanoid races. This is decidedly Not D&D, but it would absolutely fit into that vein.

With smaller details, I keep joking around here that the Canaries are grey elves, and of course they're not. But then Kui keeps putting in these tiny little details - which can be either nods to existing material, or the same extrapolations that other authors drawing upon high fantasy tropes have made. The white ships that have travelled all the way from Tolkien's Valinor to Evermeet and now to Shima. The fact that the Canaries have basically the right color scheme for grey elves threw me completely: I was not expecting that! Elves being that specific brand of destructive that they are - jeez, the Canaries would be right at home in Myth Drannor, or during the Crown Wars. So I joke around about these specific dolts a lot, and I am having an inordinate amount of fun seeing if my predictions that come from running a Myth Drannor game for a good long while now come true. And it goes on. Marcille doesn't prepare spells, and the magic here is obviously not Vancian. But Mithrun's teleport shenanigans are literally stuff I've done in games. The differences between races in D&D aren't because of wishes made by mortals; they're built in by gods for their own purposes. But the towns that spring up around anomalous spots and that have to deal with the weirdness have the same vibe. Kui draws on a more extensive tradition than just D&D, of course, but she transforms the tradition in a very similar way to old D&D. Of course the elves' magic in Kui's work does weird and creepy stuff with soulbinding and immortality; that's been their dark side since Tolkien and Celebrimbor's work with Annatar, and then it turned into stuff like elves regularly sacrificing their lives in high magic rituals in Faerun. Of course Senshi's backstory is about the dwarves that have dug too deep - but they are, of course, distinct from gnomes, and the gnomes are a peculiar and interesting breed of arcana specialists. Of course Chilchuck is a Burglar - but he works on dungeon delving unions, of all things! It's a familiar transformation, so the world makes sense to me, and I love it. So yeah. Tl;dr: not D&D ofc, but the vibe is there, and I am having fun with it.

Also - can you tell me about the argument? I am super curious, and I wonder if the person you were arguing with was working from 5e material.

[tinycheesecakedetective]

...I'm baaaack.

I mean, I made one post about Swap!PV and then got distracted for months, so I wouldn't really call this a comeback. The moment I did come back though, apparently a bunch of lore just fell from the sky! Beast Yeast is upon us and all of a sudden I remember making an alt. version of this goober.

Turns out there were a few things I wasn't satisfied with in the first one, so here I am with my Swap!Vanilla 2.0 human edition! Even after all this time I still don't have a name for him. There's more white in his design, he has four horns instead of two and they form a crown on his head(that might be a bit hard to see), he also has a halo, his staff changed drastically, and he lost his soul gem. Instead he has two new smaller gems on his "ribcage".

This time around I tried to invoke more death themes, hence the ribcage, more wrappings, the halo, and the burn marks from, y'know, being re-baked and essentially reborn. The halo also makes for a nice double meaning, showing his somewhat good intentions behind the violence and spreading chaos gig.

Speaking of intentions, I maybe or maybe not have mentioned the only swaps happening in this proposed AU are between PV and WL and [possibly] Black Raisin and Red Velvet. I say maybe because if I checked, all the writing would disappear and I would have to start over again. However, I have wondered if those two swapped, how would PV handled the kingdoms? Would it be the same as DE or would the fates of each kingdom end up being swapped as well? It's something I definitely need to think on and develop.

Anyways, ramble break, here's a few doodles I did for Swap!PV!

Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing this. SO! A few changes not mentioned prior. Eyes! There are more eyes, especially on his coat. I took a bit of inspiration from a certain blue jester and his realm of nightmares. It also plays nicely with the whole "truth revealed" theme. Why not give the holder of the light of truth a bunch of opened eyes to represent his awakening? Also they looked good and his cape-coat was too plain without it.

Fun Head Canons: He's always floating, even when he's relaxing his feet never touch the floor. This PV still has a lily garden, it's just hidden away because while he still misses WL despite everything, he refuses to show weakness in front of others. His coat can take the shape of angel wings when angry and multiple eyes can appear when furious or in distress. Speaking of eyes, the ones on his coat glow. Those gems on him are pieces of moonstone that got corrupted after saving him.

As for the story behind him, I had to make a few adjustments. For one, DE and WL are two halves of the same whole, and the only reason either of them exists is thanks to precautions taken by Elder Faerie. Which means Pure Vanilla somehow has to get the stuff from Lily, who came to Beast Yeast without saying much of anything to anyone beforehand. Secondly, it means the Pure Vanilla Kingdom can't be the last kingdom explored. Pre Beast Yeast, the order in which the kingdoms would be explored would change, where White Lily's area would be explored first instead and the Vanilla Kingdom would be last. I'll address the second issue on a different post related to White Lily, but first things first. Fair warning, I wrote quite a bit.

~~~

After forming the seal, White Lily falls ill due to the immense amount of power used. She's not used to using so much of her soul gem, much less creating a seal to lock away ancient evils. Seeing her faltering state, Elder Faerie takes her away to his palace to help her recover. During her time in the palace, White Lily becomes distressed because not only does she feel like she's being a burden, but she won't be able to continue her research on how cookies were made. That was the whole point of coming here, after all. She left her friends and home behind to find the truth and ended up sick and bed ridden instead. The least she could do to redeem herself was to find the truth.

Racked with guilt and regret, she asks Elder Faerie for two favors; she wishes to know the secret behind cookies' creation, and she requests a pen and paper to write with. Before long, White Lily gains a messenger(Silverbell) who gives her books from the library to read, and a way to reach the one other person she understands. Someone who should've known where she was most of all. Pure Vanilla Cookie.

From there the two keep exchanging letters as White Lily brushes up on fae and beast lore. But eventually White Lily would learn about the Night of the Witches in a similar enough way to canon, i.e. finding the book about it. While she's recovered enough, she's still not well enough to go, and Elder Faerie isn't risking her well being and safety for a banquet. She's devastated that her questions may never be answered. If only she could go, if only there was some way to witness it while being in the Fairy Kingdom. And then... she realizes something. Perhaps there is a way for her to know after all...

White Lily, in the discomfort of her hospital bed, writes a letter to Pure Vanilla and asks him to go to the Witch's Banquet in her place. She knows that this is a huge ask, and he has every reason to refuse the favor, but it would mean the world to her if he did. Elder Faerie hears about this and is rightfully worried, telling her about the dangers, and any cookie that goes doesn't come back the same, if at all. He sends his own letter to Pure Vanilla to warn him of the dangers that lie ahead. A few more letters come in from WL apologizing for her request, saying it was out of line and inappropriate. "What a selfish request," she thinks, "after leaving him in the dark for so long, I have the nerve to ask him for anything at all?"

However, despite everything, he eventually decides to go. He knows that this means everything to her, and a part of Pure Vanilla secretly wondered about it as well. White Lily searched heaven and earth to find the truth so she could help others. Why would he keep avoiding it for so long? If he knew the truth as well, perhaps he could use these secrets to help the people of Earthbread alongside her. Maybe now he would finally understand White Lily more.

He wrote a letter addressed to both WL and EF about his final decision. White Lily is surprised at his decision, and is eternally grateful, while Elder Faerie is more resigned and concerned, knowing that he won't be able to change his mind but still wanting to help. He asks her to help write her next letter, and the two send a package to Pure Vanilla. Inside was another letter with the faint smell of lilies, as well as a map to the location of the banquet and a moonstone from Elder Faerie as a show of goodwill and for protection. He in turn sends what would become his final letter to her, unbeknownst to the two reading. He expresses his gratefulness to both WL and EF and declares his determination to find answers both for her and for the sake of everyone, stating, "Let me be your hope when you have none, and you my guiding light in shadows..."

Pure Vanilla proceeds to head to the Witch's Banquet, discovers the bitter truth, and in his attempts to save the other cookies falls into the ultimate dough. The fleeting scent of lilies is the last thing he grasps in his final moments, and the faint glow of a moonstone ensures his survival. His soul gem shatters under the weight of the truth and is scattered across the world, longing to be made whole once again.

~~~

Well! I think I have said everything I can say about him for now. I'm sure I can come up with more things later, but if you read this far, thanks for reading! I did not know I was going to say this much, so yeah. Next post is for White Lily specifically, I hope. I'm also taking suggestions for ideas about the other kingdoms and ways this could go, so if you have anything to suggest, let me know. Y'all have a good evening!

[thisnameisnotspokenfor]

This is for the ask game: B, E, K, and X please!

Hehe! Thank you! *cracks knuckles*

B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?

This is a tough question. But I think I’d have to say no. Personally I’ve never thankfully pulled a star out of the sky, nor do I serve/work for someone like magnifico.

But I mean as someone currently getting destroyed academically I’m feeling Asha’s frustration on a whole new level 😭😭😭

E: E: If you wrote a sequel to [kingdom of the stars], what would it be about?

I’ve punted this idea around a few times, I really have because I do think I have enough lore/material for a sequel and maybe a hazy ending in mind, but it would all depend on how well I think it could come together. KOTS sorta fell into place the more I thought about it, even though one huge thing did change in between planning and writing that I’ll tell you guys at the end of the story.

But for now I’ve always liked the one idea that the ideal sequel to KOTS would be like a treasure planet/the Odyssey esque crossover with Asha in space teaming up with Jim to retrieve an ancient star artifact while coming across all sorts of enemies. I honestly don’t even if Cepheus would be there- I know he should but uuuhhh (it’s hard to explain without spoiling stuff) this honestly feels more like a spin off than a sequel

Another sequels idea is honestly too spoiler heavy but just know that it involves Asha meeting Ceph’s family who are just as curious about her as she is about them. (That’s all I’m gonna say for now! The drama would be insane and there would definitely be a quest.

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Blame @yurikalonesome for this but the story would end with Ceph being stuck in the sky always there for Asha to see but never to speak too as she eventually grows old and passes away. That’s only one idea I’ve had- I’ve played with Rosas being destroyed, some curses being permanent, a bunch of stuff. the other ones are more spoiler heavy, but I honestly think I’ve got a weird definition of angst lol.

X: A character you enjoy making suffer.

Honestly? All of them😂😂😂 like my pain is rated E for EVERYONE IN MY CHARACTER CAST. They’ve all had pain trust me. But it honestly depends on the mood- it usually alternates between Ceph and Asha but it’s ok. I’ll make it up to them- I promise…. 😉😈

[sawyer-is-eepy]

i like you, here are my favorite awesome and underrated outer wilds fic + comic recommendations in no particular order

interpolation by @tippertot . its got base game spoilers, possibly dlc spoilers? unfinished but it's currently being updated wooooo!!! it's very interesting and i dont exactly understand whats going on but i really like it and am SO excited to see where it goes. keep in mind i've only read up to chapter 9 so idk what comes in the other chapters. but its so so so good, i need to make fanart for it sometime wahh. (and of course. also finish catching lol.)

hearth's shadow by @spitzyyyy . got dlc and base game spoilers - only 2 chapters out but they're decently long(and very angsty) and it was last updated in january and im pretty sure spitzle is still writing other fics so even if they drop this one, im sure they've got plenty of other, very good ones too. this is just the only one that i've read from him (YET) it's very sad though so like. brace yourself. BUT CHAPTER 2 IS ALSO CUTE THOUGH SO ITS FINE

and uh also anything by @crimsonquill-086 is very good ::) i havent finished all their stuff yet but i think(so far) on my own terms is my fave.

also i read like one chapter of the rule of quantum certainty by TimeturnerJay(i don't *think* they have a tumblr? not sure) and i've been meaning to return to it so im gonna read it after i finish this post so there's also that!! chapter one was gut wrenching i needed a break lol /pos

then i cannot recommend elwensa's comics enough. she makes so many and they're all very good, some are sad and some are cute, and some have headcanons that i basically accept as canon now for literally no reason.

here's a whole timeline i found of a bunch of her comics that i *believe* is up to date -https://www.reddit.com/r/outerwilds/comments/18uuy7z/elwensa_ow_comics_grand_timeline/

she's also got an entire au called the legend of outer wilds that's basically just outer wilds but its zelda inspired and it's got a ton of cool concepts so like. its very good it has its own carrd check it out - https://tloow.carrd.co/

and if we're talking comics i of course can't just like, not mention @cobaltbluesu 's "thrill chasing." pretty sure he only recently posted chapter one so im not sure how much there will be in the future but definitely go check that out, their art is so so cool(and a big inspiration for me.)

feel free to reblog with any other recommendations there are so many but if you find something good please tell me

[nomatterwhatnomatterwhere]

(Not) A Whole New World

A.N : the following was inspired by the House of Mouse Au from @rose-tea-and-strawberries and the Papa Crewel from @adrianasunderworld ( I mean, I knew the existence of these Au thanks to them so, yeah, that's it).

No beta reader ( 'cause I'm socially ankward to ask anybody to read the stuff I write)

Part 2 Part 3

The first time it happened you were 8 years old.

You were 8 years old and you were definitely, permanently and hopelessly lost.

You didn't even know how you got lost: one moment you were playing with the other children and the next you were lost in the maze of a forest that had jumped out of who knows where.

It didn't bother you too much that you were in a forest that appeared out of nowhere.

Pft…

You were used to the sudden spawning of never seen places or already existing places changing their appearance - not that you had experienced it first hand, you were 8 years old, you weren't allowed to leave house alone, but news traveled fast - and the Forests weren't even such big news either.

You were told that the first manifestation of this peculiar phenomenon had occurred a long, long time ago - and despite this the heroine of the story still looked like a little girl today - when Snow White ran away from the Evil Queen: instead of the usual clearing where Snow used to collect bunches of flowers there was a dark and obscure forest in which the branches of the trees did not let even a ray of light pass.

You, from the height of your 8 years, were quite convinced the story was exaggerated; Sure, the clearing had given way to the forest, but it didn't look nearly as scary as Snow had described it, (not that you'd ever set foot in that forest, but the pictures couldn't lie) but it had also been many years and it seemed that the only version of the story was that of the princess alone - it was unknown what happened to the Evil Queen, and Snow refused to talk about it.

Compared to the forest in which Alice found herself, however, Snow White's was a common forest: according to what Alice herself had said in that forest every direction led everywhere and nowhere and the tenants of that forest were so bizarre that one could say they lost their minds , it was not uncommon for news to arrive of the "ridiculous actions" these beings were undertaking - you did not know what bad things these people were doing, but your guardian told you that they were so crazy that it was not worth caring about them and you listened to him, it pleased you to be a good kid.

The forest you were in, however, didn't seem so bizarre or scary… maybe you had ended up in the Hundred Acre Wood? Or perhaps the Wood from the Sleeping Beauty ? Well, all you had to do was wait and see what would happen, in the end if you went too far the other children would notice that you were gone and you would come looking for you.

With this certainty you began to explore, you were still a curious child, and wandered around this forest; in your eyes as a child there was nothing too strange, it was a forest like many others: full of trees, bushes and plants whose names you didn't know - some children learned the art of potions from an early age, but you weren't so lucky.

You didn't know how long it had been, but your feet hurt, you'd never walked so much and your stomach had been rumbling for a while already.

Was it already time for a snack and no one had come looking for you?

You were starting to worry a little bit, and without realizing it you started sniffling, trying not to cry. You didn't like being alone, but when you cried too loud they scolded you, and you liked that even less.

Luckily you didn't have to wait any longer than you already had, because someone had found you.

“Are you lost? How did you get here?” In front of you there was a little girl with slightly wavy red hair looking at you with some concern

“What does it look to you, Stacy?” next to her was another little girl with dark curls, who couldn't have been much older than 'Stacy' who looked at you very suspiciously.

You nodded and in a very thin voice you explained how you didn't know how you got there and above all how it worried you that no one had come looking for you.

'Stacy' seemed even more worried than before, and was probably ready to cry with you, the other little girl looked at you less suspicious than before and sighing introduced herself.

“I'm Drizella and she's my sister…our dad should knows how to help you” and tit held out her hand, helping you to stand up.

All the way the two sisters had held your hand, and told you a lot of interesting things; mostly it was Anastasia – apparently Stacy was her nickname – talking to you. She had told you the things she liked, about this boy who was the son of a baker she really liked – and here Drizella rolled her eyes – about her school for nobles and princesses. Every now and then Drizella added something to the speech, mainly corrected Anastasia.

When you came out of the forest you were a little worried, this place shouldn't be close to home.

It was Drizella who noticed your confusion and her curious look turned into concern the more you told her how you were sure you were really far from home, because from where you lived you couldn't see that village at all, nor did you remember anyone river nearby, otherwise you and the other kids would have gone to play there.

“I think you are nowhere near home. Everyone in Shaftland knows that river,” and she increased her pace towards the large mansion you hadn't noticed yet.

You had no idea what Shaftlands were

You walk into the house Stacy walked you into their living room and asked if you would like some tea, she giggled slightly when you asked for two lumps of sugar looking down

"You are really adorable"

After a while Drizella had entered the room, followed by a man elegantly dressed, but with a very cold look.

As soon as you saw him, you got up from the chair you were sitting in – it was too big for you and sitting up there you looked even smaller – and bowed your head introducing yourself.

Mozus Trein – as he introduced himself – wasn't as bad as his looks suggested, he told you that he understood part of the situation from what Drizzy had told him but he still asked you to tell him the story from the beginning, and he also made a rather funny face when you told him that it was normal for you that a forest had sprung up out of nowhere.

"I think, little one, it's not the same thing…I think you went through some kind of portal instead"

Your first reaction was much calmer than Mozus would have expected, the kids usually saw him and burst into tears and he didn't have a clue how to calm them down, for being so young in a completely new place you were quiet, maybe even too quiet

“So just find another portal to go through…right?”

Trein nodded, still a little amazed at how calm you were, not even his own daughters had ever been so calm in dangerous situations, and his daughters were definitely the standard of ideal daughter.

They offered you to stay with them until you could get home, but all three could see that there was something wrong with you.

During dinner you ate very little, and very slowly, and when Anastasia jokingly pointed out that you could have another portion of food, your eyes lit up.

"At home we're a lot so it is difficult to have more than one portion”

Whenever you were asked something then you kept your eyes down, as if you were scared, but Mozus wasn't sure about what was frighting you

Time passed quite quickly in your opinion, even if Mr. Trein hadn't been able to find a portal that would take you back you didn't mind.

It was the first time you had so much space for yourself, without having to share it with anyone, and the two sisters also seemed to have definitely taken a liking to you:

Anastasia adored you, she always gave you her share of dessert when she thought Mozus wasn't watching her, she always dressed you up and played with you, she taught you some typical Shaftlands games, her favorite was to teach you what they taught her at school.

Drizzy initially controlled you when you played alone or with Lucius – she was shocked when her father's familiar didn't scratch you when you picked him up – but then when you started asking her for help when reading difficult words she completely melted away, feeling you singing her praises with that bright gaze was really dangerous.

"Listen, do you like being here?" Anastasia had asked you several times during your three months of stay and your answer didn't change

"Certain!" and smiled "it's fun being with you, you and Drizzy taught me so many things and then it's nice to have my own place"

You had had a mini trauma when the two sisters had to leave for school, you didn't want to cry and throw a tantrum, but you also didn't want them to leave you alone.

They promised to write you a letter every week.

During Stacy and Drizzy's school term you got a little bored, played with Lucius when the cat wasn't with Trein and read.

At one point you noticed how Trein seemed to understand the cat and curious you started to do some research, but none of the books that Drizzy had recommended had much information about it: you knew that it was possible to study the language of animals, but you didn't have idea where to start and then you did the logical thing

You watched Mr. Trein hoping to catch some clues, at one point you even started following him around the house, until he himself asked you what the problem was.

Having listened to your new interest, the man weighed a few minutes, until he signaled you to follow him to his study.

(that book had been bought for the daughters, but the two hadn't had much success at the time and although they had grown up and had actually learned, they still had some difficulties)

Every time you learned something new you would go to him to show him how much you had improved.

Mozus was really impressed by how quickly you learned, so he started offering you more and more complex books, not only about animal language, and you seemed more and more pleased every time.

You weren't infallible but you only went to him when after so many attempts you couldn't figure out where you were wrong.

You were hungry for knowledge, there was no denying it, but Mozus occasionally worried about how much you wanted to learn new things, so he asked you

“When I get home I won't be allowed to continue” you had a very sad look “Only some children can. According to my tutor, I don't have the slightest ability and therefore it would be useless for me to learn, so I want to take advantage of all the time I'll be here"

"Little one, excuse me, but how are you at home?" Mozus was definitely more concerned now, sure, he wasn't the most loving of parents but he'd always managed to encourage his daughters and he certainly wouldn't be so tactless as to tell an 8 year old that she didn't have the slightest ability, also because to him you seemed quite capable.

He also discussed your situation with his daughters, both through letters and when they came home from school and at that point he understood the problem

“Y/N lives in an orphanage” Anastasia had begun “and I think that in her world there is a sort of “magical favoritism” or something like that”

"I don't think she's aware that even the language of animals requires a minimum of magic" Drizella had continued before taking his father by surprise "Does she really need to go back there? Can't we keep her?"

“You are not talking about an animal my dear”

“I know but I like being the big sister and Stacy spoils her whenever she can, don't think I didn't see you sent her all those sweets, Lucius seems to like her too and he never likes anyone, and then you like… if where is she from they treat her so bad why can't she stay with us?”

Mozus had asked the two if they had asked for your opinion and the girls had turned towards him with a satisfied look, until Anastasia had shown her father several letters in which you addressed them as "older sisters".

When the three – four if we count Lucius rubbing against your leg – asked you if you would like to stay with them, your answer once again left them dumbfounded

“Can I really? Won't I cause you some trouble?" you looked at everything but them.

So, after about 6/7 months in which Mr. Trein and his daughters had welcomed you you had completely forgotten the idea of ​​going home and you had never been happier.

Going around the city was fun, generally Drizzy or Stacy accompanied you, sometimes even Lucius, but on some occasions Trein also came with you and in those cases it happened that you stopped to eat "family" ice cream together.

Once you figured out how to get around the city, Trein gave you permission to walk around alone, but you had to be back by a specific curfew.

During these explorations you also managed to make friends with some children.

Well, you weren't quite sure actually, but at least you knew that at least they did not dislike you

One was a beastman kid, a wolf, even if in your eyes he was just a giant dog looking for cuddles, especially behind the ears – even if he always denied it. He was really friendly, although he hated it when you called him cute – his wagging tail said otherwise. When your curfew approached he would always drive you home – once Stacy had called him a "real knight" and he'd blushed suddenly, running away. You were a little surprised when he told you that he was the same age as you, you thought he was a little older, also considering how he behaved (only later did you discover that this was Jack's "big brother" side, since he had older brothers little ones).

You enjoyed spending time with him, even if you weren't sure his other friend would agree with it; his name was Vil, and according to Jack, he was quite famous on TV. He was even older than you.

He had a string of female admirers, and you couldn't deny that Vil really was the prettiest boy you'd ever seen up to that point. It was actually the first thing you said to him when you first saw him; you didn't even realize it, in fact after that you got so embarrassed that you started apologizing. On the other hand, however, he didn't seem to like you, every time you found yourself without Jack you perceived his judgmental gaze on you, you didn't know exactly what you had done wrong to him, but you knew that everything you did was not right ("if you don't stand up straight you'll get a hunchback” “You should look the people you talk to in the eye” “Stop whispering, I don't understand anything”). According to Jack this was his way of being friendly and you appreciated it, really, but every time you were blown up by his every comment and therefore you kept your distance from him. Despite everything, however, he let you style his hair once, and he had also complimented you. You were smiling all day.

But the person you were most comfortable with was Cater. He had a completely different character from yours, but being with him didn't make you feel uncomfortable at all, in fact sometimes you were embarrassed by how affectionate he was towards you, and unlike Jack and Vil he didn't seem to bother him when you complimented him, in fact, he lit up for every single thing you did for him. He had told you broadly about his sisters and repeatedly dragged you away from those two dictatorships who wanted to meet you. You doremember how upset you were when he told you he had to move to another city; Cater was the only one who knew about your situation, he was the one you confided in – and he did the same – so he was the one who was most shocked when the day before he left Drizzy told him you were completely gone and would probably never came back there.

You felt the same way too when you opened your eyes again and found yourself in your room in the orphanage, and it seemed that everything that had happened to you was just a dream.

Getting used to life before the Shaftlands was confusing, you were there, but you weren't. Not that the other children and your guardian noticed, there were other, more important people and things to take care of.

You were firmly convinced that you had imagined everything until you found yourself making eye contact with a cat that was all too similar to Lucius; it was strange that the animal was inside the orphanage, the director hated having animals around - and the sentiment seemed quite reciprocated - so, almost as a joke, you advised him to move before getting hurt, in that language that Mr. Trein, but to your astonishment, the cat answered you

“If he hurt me I think my mistress would shut this place down”

Lucifer ,the cat , explained to you that its owner was a rather important lady who had lost her daughters and moved to your city.

You had no idea who his mistress was, but Lucifer liked you quite a bit – rather it was that you could communicate with him – so when Lady Tremeine came to, have tea with the manager, maybe? the cat followed you and you conversed.

You didn't understand why the other children avoided the cat - you had never seen how pestiferous it was - but you didn't mind having such a peculiar playmate.

A similar thought occurred to you when you first met Lady Tremeine: she reminded you of Trein, only much, much colder. She didn't seem to like children but, perhaps because her cat liked you or perhaps because the way you behaved around her reminded her of her daughters, she occasionally invited you to tea in her house and when she began to notice a certain … magical affinity advised you to go and find some people she knew to improve this predisposition of yours.

She didn't know much about magic, but she knew who surely could use your full potential.

[shmistarkiller]

So since it's been a few weeks since I first watched The Acolyte, I feel like I've managed to gather my thoughts about what I think some bits from s1 were hinting at wrt Qimir's backstory. This is just what I think, I really never expect anyone to agree with anything I say lol.

Obviously we know Vernestra was his master, and that she somehow ended up betraying him, using her saber-whip to carve that gnarly scar up his back.

I think where I probably differ from most if not all other viewers is, I'm of the opinion Qimir was actually fairly young when it happened. Like, younger than a teenager even.

The whole thing with him building the cortosis helmet based on the sensory deprivation ones younglings use. I guess that might not necessarily mean anything, but it would make sense to me that he'd more likely be inspired by it if he'd been abandoned closer to the age when they would be using it. He uses cortosis specifically to keep other force users out of his head, his former master by far who he most wants to keep from reading his thoughts. The fact that he reacts like a little kid being caught by their parent when Vernestra senses him again on Brendok could be a trauma response, him reverting to the last time she was in his mind. He keeps the magic helmet of protection on for the rest of the time until they leave Brendok and he's safely far away from the cause of his fear.

Osha saying she never heard of him? What if it's because Vernestra dispatched of her little youngling padawan not long after the beginning of his training? The loss of a youngling who hadn't been with the Order for very long would be a lot easier to cover up than one of the older padawans. Create some story of a tragic accident to be documented in the official records, Jedi are supposed to be all too-bad-so-sad-but-no-attachments anyway, so it goes completely unquestioned.

So then, what the hell did Vernestra see a small child do that led her to think leaving him for dead at her own hands was a reasonable reaction? She gets echoes from the force of the combat & slaughter that happened on Khofar and it's very clear she senses something familiar. It could just be that she's sensing the presence of her long lost padawan by itself, but it would be real gnarly if this is something she's seen quite literally before. I'm not saying fetus!Qimir managed to kill a bunch of people in the same way that adult!Mr. Stranger did .. but I'm not *not* saying that either.

I think it builds a stronger case for the kinship he feels toward Osha (and maybe initially with Mae as well). The twins were 8 years old when their personal life tragedy struck, so I can see him connecting more strongly with Mae's story if he too had been of a similar age when his own personal life tragedy occurred. Extra reason why he'd feel so much more in common with Osha, how much he recognizes himself in her.

Idk how deep I wanna dip my toes in on the Plagueis stuff, but if I can get back on my Ben Solo bullshit for a second, it wouldn't surprise me if old Muun-man Plagueis was whispering in little boy Qimir's ear. And Vernestra, rather than actually try to save an innocent child, would instead cut her losses, viewing him as a liability/lost cause already practically fallen to the dark side. We know The Acolyte doesn't shy away from citing the inspiration it took from TLJ, so I can easily see "You failed him by thinking his choice was made. It wasn't." applying here as well.

(And maybe the irony there is that Luke having attachment to his nephew is what kept him from attempting to murder Ben until he was at least a grownass adult. Whereas Vernestra who lives in the height of the Jedi Order's power would definitely be less inclined to preserve the life of a literal child if she thought they could prove to be an eventual threat to the status quo she prefers. Either way, a foregone conclusion. You treat a child like they're a monster, guess what they grow up to be.)

EDIT (09/07/24): Can't believe I forgot this one. The way Qimir is so callous about killing Jecki. Sol says she was a child, and his response just comes off very "yeah, so what, so was I (when I was left for dead)". Qimir seems convinced Jedi masters leading their padawans to their potential/inevitable death is definitely just A Thing™ that happens.

Some extra quibbling with ideas I just rather disagree with ..

I've seen others theorize that Qimir could actually be older than he looks and that it's Plagueis feeding him whatever that ability is to stay young/immortal, but I personally can't really think of any actual reason why that would be the case. His line about having been a Jedi a long time ago is pretty vague, so while it could apply, I'm not particularly swayed by it being proof of this theory.

I guess the other thing is people think he and Sol grew up together and were padawans at the same time? Which ties back into the idea of him being older than he looks, but again, there's nothing particularly convincing me of that idea either. When Qimir shows up masked and goes, "You don't remember me?" And Sol replies, "I do sense something familiar." To me that came off as taunting that none of them caught on when he was pretending to be the apothecary. (If anything, I initially for whatever reason thought the "You?" "Surprise!" exchange between Yord & Qimir was hinting to the idea that they'd known each other, until I remembered the aforementioned bit about Qimir's messy girl apothecary charade.)

Vernestra mentioning that she remembered Sol as a shy little padawan, and having been Qimir's master seems to be another reason for the prior two theories. But to me that ignores the possibility that Vernestra herself could also have been a child when she first met Sol. It's less clear to me since she's a humanoid non-human SW species, for all we know she could be the one who's way older than she looks because of that. And if she was already an adult and knew both Sol & Qimir as children, that still doesn't mean that was at the same time.

Okay. I think that's everything. (And if it's not I'll quietly come back and slip in whatever relevant edits I'll want to add in.)

[spaceorphan18]

Umbrella Academy Thoughts

So. I did end up finishing Season 4 last night.

I need to preface this with -- I actually really do love this show. The first season of it is still one of my favorite TV stories. I love the characters. I love the sibling dynamics. I love superhero element - where the powers feel fresh or interesting spins on old things. Five and Klaus are just everything.

I didn't love love Seasons 2 or 3, but they were solidly good.

But they could have left things be after Season 3. They could have left well enough alone. Because Season 4, man. What???

Okay, onto spoilery things.

I will say, I really love the concepts and ideas the season had. The strange alien goo stuff wiping everything out while enhancing powers? Sure, fine. The train station that went to different time lines -- inspired, loved that. Even the idea behind the ending -- I could get behind if done correctly.

They had six episodes to tell a really compelling story and just... didn't. Most of it was a waste of time, a bunch of it didn't make sense, and some of it was just plain stupid, and it really breaks my heart that a show that was so, so, so brilliant when it started descended into this mess.

One thing I did like was Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally as the two cult leaders. They were fantastically cast, and did a great job even when the scripts descended into nonsense. I wish they had a stronger ending, but great choice in the casting department.

I have to wonder - the first episode is pretty solid, and I actually like the idea of their lives kind of sucking in their happily ever after era, which thematically makes sense when they wrap around to being erased. Another great idea. But I wonder -- did they get the note that it'd be six episodes after they started writing? But there's a definite shift after the first couple episodes that started to feel like both they were trying to cram in too much to the episodes and that there wasn't enough plot to really make an interesting story. The pacing was incredibly weird.

So... let's talk about the rest of the characters, shall we?

Luther -- I honestly loved his characterization in this season. He was great! He also had really nothing to do, and the whole thing at the CIA's office was a waste of time. Why did we need that sequence, especially when it took up an entire episode?

Diego -- I feel like they made him a little too much of a loser? I also kind of missed his banter with the other siblings. He just felt like a shell, which was intentional, but never got any redemption? Which -- like, if you're going to erase the characters, and this goes for everyone, give them some kind of satisfying growth or ending before they're gone.

Allison -- I'm amused that everyone just kinda let it go (honestly, I don't even remember what she did do, I only watched Season 3 once, but I remember it was bad) but I am glad she got to not be the bad guy this season. Finally. She had some nice moments. Again, didn't really do much ultimately.

Klaus -- my god, the biggest waste of time during the whole season. I love where they started him. But why did he get the stupid subplot of him being a medium? Why did we go there? It's like they needed him out of the way, and buried in a box. You can see the -- how do we get there of it all. But none of it was needed. And it's clear they had no actual idea of how to get him into the main plot. Because he does nothing. And it just... breaks my heart because I love his character so much.

Five -- *sigh* Five is my /favorite/ character, and just... what?? The biggest BIGGEST wasted opportunity was not having more shenanigans related to the train station. Could you imagine if he brought everyone and they all had to timeline jump? It would have been so cool! The concept was brilliant and amazing and just... what?? I did love the diner of Fives. That was inspired and a taste of what i really wanted. But instead they waste all that opportunity on a love triangle. And I get that maybe they were going for Five having character growth of thinking about more than himself? Kind of? But then they missed idea of their whole character who spent three seasons trying to save EVERYONE and not himself, I just... I can't with it. I can't.

Ben -- I'm fine with the Ben stuff, mostly. He was the main plot, it worked until the end when it dissolved into stupidity and shit monsters.

Victor -- At least he got to be part of the main plot in a meaningful way. I did like he and Hargreeves teaming up. It was one aspect that did work for me. I've always felt they never gave Elliot Page enough to do, when he's one of the stronger actors, but at least he didn't get the worst things to do.

Lila -- Oh my god. back to the love triangle stuff. I don't mind her, or the fact that she and Diego had a shitty life. It's fine. But the love triangle was so uninspired. So felt like I've seen this kind of thing a hundred times before. It was so terrible that they needed to waste their time on it. Why? What did any of these characters do to deserve it? It's like, the show, every time it diverged from interesting sci-fi concepts and attempted human drama just kind of failed. And it's sad.

Jennifer -- I... still have so many questions. How did the anti-marigold stuff get into her in the first place? Why was she in a squid? Just... what??

Regi and his Wife -- They've always been so vague about them. I wish they had explained just a little bit more. Just have a little more context and I think it would have gone a long way. The characters just didn't ask enough questions of them, and the story felt thin and unrealized as a result.

Okay... The ending...

When you get to the point in your story where you're CGI'ing a giant shit monster, don't you think it's time you're probably done, done? Like if you are doing this creatively? You've run out of ideas and you're just scrapping the bottom of the barrel. It's just... kind of sad. Everything about it is sad.

As for being erased, I don't actually hate the concept, but man do I hate the execution.

There was a way that could have been incredibly narratively satisfying. You erase them, and then go back to the beginning, and the kids get to live and grow up on their own. Then for the last sequence (loved that they brought I think I'm alone now) you have seven strangers pass each other in the park not knowing each other. And that would have been fantastic, you know? A way for the characters to live on and still uphold the ending.

But what we got? It just felt... so muddled? Like -- how is Claire's kid alive when she never existed? Same with Diego and Lila's kids? I don't understand it!! And the cameos were cute -- but why not bring back everyone? I just don't think it makes a whole lot of sense the way it plays out.

The entire season needed a rewrite, better editing, stronger character focus, and it would have been brilliant. Because the ideas are there. The concepts of this season are great. But maybe they ran out of time? Maybe Netflix switched things on them last second? Or maybe the powers that be aren't that great at their jobs?

Idk, idk. I don't blame the actors (or the crew) they did what they could to salvage the messy, messy script choices.

But I think what makes me the saddest is that it's such a botched ending, this show, that really was so good in the beginning, will end up being forgotten by time because of its ending. In ten years, people will probably forget this show ever existed because we've all moved on not wanting to go back to it.

What a disappointment.

[feralcorpses]

Féachann Siad AU.

(Master-post)

(I very much did ditch this au btw I just never said anything since I kinda just don’t care enough abt it to)

Féachann Siad meaningTheyWatch in Irish, is a interactive Hermitcraft, Esmp, and Life Series (some other creators as well) au.

Little warning that this au is almost definitely gonna get ditched lol (not like there was much story anyway 💀)

Originally I was making chapter like things but I wasn’t enjoying doing that, so I swapped gears and now it’s just like a small kinda thing for me to practice story telling every now and again and mess around with different aspects of storytelling. (sorry to the people who followed me for that sorta stuff. I will be leaving the already made stuff up as of now, really depends on how I’m feeling and stuff tho.)

Explanation. - Goes into better detail abt why I stopped doing the whole chapters shenanigans.

It’s set in a timeframe where there’s just a bunch of wars both civil and global, the wars aren’t exactly intense as of now. (FORESHADOWING!?!) The wars are mainly bickering for now but will escalate if I feel like it.

You can also interact with characters via my ask box, some you can directly interact with and others you can partially interact with.(I won’t tell you who you can partially and directly interact with just for funsies.) You can give them gifts or just ask some questions. Also feel free to ask about characters, dynamics, certain aspects of characters, really anything you want to know about the au. (You can ask me questions ofc, if you need more context on smt abt the au or anything your curious abt in general)

If you have any character you want too see aswell feel free too ask (again via my ask box) and i’ll make a little doodle or smt!

I will try to include as many people from Hermitcraft and empires. (Life series has most people from these severs so that’s why I didn’t mention the life series here. Also I will not be including people I don’t know too much about I will look into their characters eventually but I don’t want too butcher anyone’s story/plot because of a lack of info.)

The interacting with characters is inspired by this absolutely amazing blog. (I don’t have the guts to @ them sorry-)

(Normal tag -> just for looking at everything to do with the au.)

Designs:

(NOT ALL DESIGNS ARE FINAL!!)

Jimmy, Tango, Scott. (Their all on the same post.)

Xisuma

Grian and Scar. (On the same post and also outdated designs!)

Cleo!

Lizzie!!

More designs coming soon. (aka whenever I feel like it.)

Hints:

(If your gonna read the Whoops comic than the hints might be a fun interactive thing before you read it!)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Smaller Comics:

Whoops. - Lizzie and Cleo.

Parts: (no longer being made.)

Pt.1.

Pt.2.

[forcedtogrow]

Hi thanks so much for the contents they're very inspiring. Can I ask what you eat daily, nutrition-wise, while bulking? Do you minimize fats? How does your physique goal look like?

I’ve talked about this before on the tag #bulking and eating related, but in short I eat basically the exact same things every day. There is some variety, but I always eat fried eggs with either 4 pieces of toast (bakery bread, not processed grocery store stuff) or hash browns cooked in a bunch of olive oil. I eat plain full fat Greek yogurt every night and add fake sweetener, dark chocolate chips, and whatever flavor or fruit I want. For lunch I eat whatever is available at my job for free (could be anything at all) or 2 sandwiches. I was eating a lot of protein bars but not so much right now. I eat a lot of nuts and seeds as snacks, with fruit and cheese. At least 2 vegetables every day. I eat a ton of pasta and fix it up between regular and chickpea pasta, and either use vegan beef or ground turkey with it and also a ton of Parmesan and olive oil.

For other snacks I’ll eat plain ground turkey sometimes and just choke it down (literally) or handfuls of lunch meat. In short I absolutely do not limit fats, but do try to stick with healthy-ish omega 3 unsaturated fats. Limit added sugar if anything, but I don’t as much right now because I’m eating whatever I can basically. I drink whole milk at least once a day bc calcium is extra important for guys on T since there’s (maybe) heightened risk of osteoporosis (we aren’t sure). I make homemade protein balls too. Oh, and lots of peanut butter plain out the jar cus idc.

I don’t count calories or macros at all right now and just eat balanced snacks or small meals every 2 hours when possible. I’m not going for a super lean look because it’s not my taste, I want some body fat for a “bulkier” look but maybe lean enough to sort of see my ab definition just not crazy defined. I want to look BIG big so super lean doesn’t lend itself to that unless I literally take steroids, but I won’t do that because I need to be calm and level-headed for my job and partner lol.

[tactician]

back in october 2022, i made a post about finishing the first draft of book 1 of stormqueller - my original writing project. since then, i've edited that first draft a bunch, and... i've also written books 2 and 3. DKFDLGJDKLFJH

SO UM FUNNY STORY: like i mentioned in the tags of that book 1 post, my original goal was that this would be a trilogy of novels. i started book 2 and... um... well. let's just say it's very much not a trilogy anymore :) LMFAO. it ended up being so long that it split off into two different books... and the storyline is still ongoing, so... YOU KNOW. IT HAPPENS. i didn't make a post back then about being done with draft one of book 2 because that ending kinda snuck up on me... and i'm prob gonna add more to that book, since i can give more meat to a lot of the stuff i originally kinda skimmed over because i was forcing myself into the three-book format for some weird reason. but i digress...

i am so, so happy to have stuck to this story for as long as i have!!! words rly cannot begin to describe how much the universe and its characters mean to me. ik i mostly just post inspiration stuff for it here (along with a couple of AMAZING commissions of its two protagonists ;o;) but it really has continued to be my creative anchor through the years. i'm beyond devoted to it and i'm so happy that i can keep on seeing this adventure through ;v; and i'm definitely trying to come up with ways of sharing more about it with people who are interested!!! original writing is a whole new realm for me in terms of sharing with others lmfao but i'm really just so thrilled that i've managed to make it this far. it's been a lot of work but so deeply fulfilling too.

The Editing Pit awaits me and i'm READY for it!!! 😈

[ephemeral42]

I’ve been thinking about how both the DSMP and the QSMP have affected my life.

I found the DSMP in 2021, so while I wasn’t an early early watcher, it was a big part of my life through Covid, moving, school and a bunch of other stuff. I found these creators who were just online having fun, and I lived through them.

Phil was the first person I started watching, and then it spiralled off to Techno, Tommy, then Tubbo, then Ranboo, then a bunch of others. I caught up on the lore, I watched streams, videos, joined Reddit communities, and it was a big part of my life. It definitely impacted my journey on the internet and in the real world. I would say I partly grew up on the internet.

I stopped watching for a bit. Life got in the way. I was still an avid YouTube watcher, but missed a lot of streams because of my timezone. I caught a few now and again. From what I could tell, DSMP was coming to a close. ‘That’s fine!’ I thought. ´They’ll be back soon. It’s not like everything else will stop as well.´ I had found Hermitcraft and Empires and a bunch of other stuff to watch, so I had mainly moved onto YouTube.

Then Techno died. And I launched right back into his community. I read every MrTechnodad Reddit post, watched every video of streamers talking about it, watched the whole of Phil’s silent memorial making stream. Watched his videos over and over again. It still hurts.

They announced the ending. I was fine with it. I mainly watched Phil and he said he wasn’t going to be in it so I wasn’t really bothered. I was prepared to watch Phil play hardcore and do the Sorry Boys with everyone and other stuff for at least a little bit.

Then, they announced QSMP. I honestly wasn’t really interested at first. I tried to watch some and couldn’t see the point. I thought, Quackity should add some more well know streamers if he wants people to watch, but that’s not the point of QSMP. I understand now.

QSMP is entirely different from anything we’ve had before. It has inspired the English creators to learn a language, or continue learning if they already were. It’s inspired me to learn a language, and a few seconds of watching it will give me new motivation to do so!

QSMP introduced me to Cellbit, Baghera, all the amazing, funny, great to watch and listen to creators I never would have known existed if not for QSMP.

And of course the eggs. I love all of them. I know the tricks and I know that they’re just admins but the admins are people! And I choose to believe their real personalities are shining through the eggs.

I love that Phil does his Cucurucho/Chayanne fourth wall breaking and that Tallulah has come out of her shell (get it) enough to join in on that. I love Leo’s sass and how Fit cares for Ramon. I love Dapper and BBH’s joking infighting and how people ask Dapper a lot of things because he knows stuff. I love Richas’s dad collecting and what an amazing painter he is. I love Pommes sweetness and how she and Tallulah hit it off. I miss Bobby’s tendencies to get himself into trouble. I miss how in sync Juana and Slime were. I joined after Trump and Tilin died, but I miss them too.

Thank you, everyone on the DSMP (which should really be BBHSMP because apparently he was paying for it the whole time), for being such a big part of my life. I’ll never really be able to thank most of you enough.

Thank you, everyone on QSMP for joining, because I have a feeling this will continue to be amazing, and Quackity, himself, for organising all of this and finding amazing admins and being so open with sharing your culture and language and experience.

I love all of you. (Except y’know… the ones that turned out to be terrible)

[randomvarious]

Today's mix:

Nite:Life 04 by Terry Farley 2001 House / Deep House / Tribal House

Well, this probably isn't the greatest commercial mix that legendary house producer-remixer-and-DJ-extraordinaire Terry Farley ever made, but it's still a decent one. Farley was an integral cog in developing Britain's acid house scene into a total fervor during the mid-to-late 80s. He co-launched a fanzine called Boy's Own with the late, great Andrew Weatherall and others, co-hosted and DJ'd at events by that same name, and also co-founded the Boy's Own record label too. And then in 1992, he co-founded the Junior Boy's Own label as well, which ended up with both Underworld and the Chemical Brothers on its roster. And then when you think about how important *those* groups are in particular to the growth and popularity of electronic music writ large, and know that they wouldn't have sprouted up if not for acid house catching fire in the UK in the first place, you realize just how indispensable someone like Terry Farley is when it comes to literally all of this.

But ultimately, I think the thing that mars this mix more than anything else is that Terry really seemed to be partial at the time to these super deep and moody tunes that featured hushed-tone spoken-word monologues from rugged-voiced dudes and I just think a lot of that stuff, especially in retrospect, is pretty damn corny. All you have to do is press play on this mix to get an immediate taste of what I'm talking about here. And then that same voice returns on the "Tom Middleton Cosmos Vocal" mix of The Path's "Praying" too, with sets of lines like the following:

I'm prayin' I'm prayin' for the black I'm prayin' I'm prayin' for the white I'm prayin' I'm prayin' for the straight I'm prayin' I'm prayin' for the gay I'm prayin' I'm prayin' for everybody I'm prayin' I'm prayin' for all the freaks, in the big, dark rooms I'm prayin' I'm prayin' for the children of house

Now, had these super generic lyrics been sung in some sort of way, rather than just delivered in a deep monotone, we may have been able to just overlook their Derek Zoolanderish simplicity and keyed in on the melody instead. But we can't, and as a result, this song and others like it just feel very lame almost a quarter-century later 😒.

But despite all of that, Farley still brought some pretty sweet bangers to this set. "Musica De La Celva," by Hipp-E & Tony (Hipp-E is from the duo of H-Foundation, who mixed the prior installment in this Nite:Life series that I posted about yesterday), has this beeping stab in it that you may not realize is actually a sax at first, until that little note proceeds to expand further into phrases, and then has another bit of sax introduced afterwards to complement it all too. Quite nifty track construction there 👍.

And then for the closer, we get some of that good ol' 90s garage house-disco flavor from longtime diva Linda Clifford, with the Ralphi Rosario mix of her "Changin," which I'm sure particularly lit up a whole bunch of gay dancefloors when it was out and thriving all the way back in 2000. Feels like a really lovely, blissful dance anthem, but it's very different from the much darker mood that coats the entirety of the rest of this mix 🤷‍♂️.

So, given his legacy, I think I was expecting a bit more from Terry Farley here, but even the best don't always end up delivering all the goods that you necessarily seek (see: Paul Oakenfold). Still, though, this thing is definitely solid regardless.

Listen to the full mix here.

And for more on Boy's Own and Junior Boy's Own, check out this dope retrospective that looks back on some of their output from 1988 to 1998, as well as a few tracks that inspired Terry Farley and his pals to start all their ventures in the first place.

Highlights:

Bernard Leon Howard III feat. 80 - "Mars Carter" Hipp-E & Tony - "Musica De La Celva" Datar - "B (Danny's Space Terrace Mix)" Linda Clifford - "Changin (Ralphie Rosario Mix)"

[kindlingkeen]

4, 11, 12, 44 for the ask game

Hi anon, thanks so much for the ask! 💙

From this list of fic writer asks

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

The shower, so consistently that I’m pretty sure it’s witchcraft.

More seriously, I’m definitely inspired by other fics I’ve read, the comics, and the movies (UtRH ofc, and the lego batfam movie in particular). I’ve been watching the original 1990s Batman the Animated Series cartoon recently and been drawing a lot of inspiration from there.

Comments on ao3 and asks here are a huge source of inspiration.

I also have a brainstorming buddy that I talk out loud with to generate ideas.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

I’ve really tried, and I just can’t do it. There’s too much good stuff out there. If you look at my blog under the tags ‘keen converses’ and ‘fic rec’ you’ll see a bunch of posts of fic recs. I’ll add two more here, inspired by my beloved mutual @bonerot19’s recent post. These are two of my favorite alt format fics:

Batstream by RandomReader13 @theawkwardvirgin, the bats livestream their patrol

IRIS Log #1548 by deadchannelradio @deadchannelradio, a transcript of the bats comm channel

12. how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

I could write a whole blog post on this topic. I’m going to distill it down to a general statement and an anecdotal story.

Feedback and support create a positive feedback loop that makes me more likely to choose to write than to do something else with my precious free time. There’s a special kind of joy I get from ao3 comments and tumblr asks; they’re tangible proof other people are enjoying what I create (isn’t that what every artist wants to some degree?). When I get insightful comments or curious questions, it makes me think more deeply about the story I’m telling, and my writing gets better for it. Wanting to know what my repeat long commenters think about a chapter helps keep me on a schedule. Even just a <3 makes me smile and reopen my google doc that much faster.

My anecdotal story / PSA to leave a comment … I work a hugely stressful, emotionally demanding job. I was legit crying in the bathroom one night when I got an email notification for a comment on Asymmetrical Warfare. It was short, sweet and to the point—the equivalent of ‘this is fun, Jason is so badass,’ but it was more than enough to make me smile, square my shoulders, and get back to it.

Feedback doesn’t have to be profound or earth shattering. Just a few simple words, emojis, keyboard smashes — they matter more than you may think.

44. What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta corrects you?

Way too many commas.

Thanks so much for the ask, anon!! 💙

[allyallyorange]

The amount of inspiration and motivation you give me is CRAZY. I always gotta manifest that you posted something before opening this site because I wanna see your stuff so bad.. can you tell I'm a BIG lover of your art and plot............

Literally HOW do you make your AU's SO GOOD?!?!?! (I'm trying to make my own ateez AU and I rlly don't know where to start.....)

HI OMG! This is so adorable 😭😭😭 I really appreciate messages like this!!

As for how I make my AUs/how I approach AUs,,, honestly I think I’ve just consumed so much content in my youth plus my aspirations to work in the animation industry have made me kind of understand storytelling to a degree, so I think it’s fun to take some ideas from content I like and change it to make a whole new story

Like for AT AU obviously there is no Adventure Time character that will perfectly align personality wise with a member of Ateez, so instead of wildly changing someone to force them into the exact role of Princess Bubblegum for example, or make someone Jake, I just take ideas from the series that I really enjoyed (post apocalypse, magic, cursed character, platonic familial relationships complicated backstories and potentially morally grey characters) and then let that inspire me to relate it to in this case, Ateez.

For Mafia au I had a lot of help brainstorming that but I think the root of ideas comes from maybe like. I see a picture and I do a doodle. Then my brain thinks of other things I kind of know/want to see within that world. I drew Jongho and Mingi in mafia au before anyone else and before it was a big au with fics to go with it. After the drawing I kept having more ideas and then @nnnnnnnothingtoseehere had ideas and suddenly it grew. I watched a lot of mafia/crime movies/series during the pandemic tbh so I had lots of inspiration. AUs like this are fun cus while AT AU directly is inspired by a pre-existing series, this AU is just based on an idea and there are a bunch of sources of inspiration!

Then for my Cowboy au that’s kind of like. My own little project. I’m kind of thinking I may eventually change designs around to make it not an au but an original “project��� just for something to put in my portfolio. Of if people really liked it maybe I’d do something with it. But sometimes the beauty of an AU over an original project is people already know and love the characters which takes a lot of the work presenting new characters and hoping people enjoy them. Anyways, yea for this AU as it is rn, it’s just born out of my love for the western aesthetic. Also during the pandemic I watched a ton of spaghetti westerns as well as newer westerns and I found I just really love the vibe. Even when I don’t love the movie it’s really the vibe that I enjoy, couldn’t really explain why haha 🥲. I then realized I strongly dislike drawing horses and in fact (controversial opinion but it is my own) I’m not really a big fan of horses so I thought I’d lose interest quickly if I had to force myself to draw horses for certain drawings. I decided to do motorcycles instead just cus I thought it’d be more enjoyable for me to learn how to draw that than horses lol. So then the AU became lik the. Futuristic Cowboys and then that’s how it got the way it currently is

As for making the story it definitely helps to have someone to riff off sometimes. I thought of most the ideas for AT AU story wise by myself but when I was first coming up with it I was sharing all of my ideas with my younger sister, and occasionally she’d get an idea too, or expand on something a little bit. I don’t really know how to explain the way I come up with the overall story I think I just decide on a bunch of bullet points that I want to happen just ideas in the void. Then I think of major plot points I want to happen. Then I think of dynamics of characters. Then I just start organizing those ideas. Not necessarily in that order but those are the kind of starting points I guess!!

That was a long explanation haha I’m sorry! Hopefully it helps a little! Good luck making some fun AUs!!

[writing-plurals]

for a bit of background, i have a lot of ocs who all exist together in the same universe, and im planning to turn them into animations as soon as i develop the skills for it. most of them, if not all, have some sort of childhood trauma, or at least have gone through crap as kids. this is because i love showing characters healing, and also i want to portray how different sorts of trauma can affect people and their futures.

in this universe, there are two plural characters. one of them im not struggling too much which - he isnt as developed as most of the others, but thats just because i havent had enough time for that, he does have a good story though and i feel like he'll be good rep :)

the other one, however.

they're a (paro/tulpa/trauma)genic system, depending on the watcher's interpretation. they come from an abusive family, their parents being Awful to them for as long as they can remember. they have around 5-6 headmates, though ive only focused a lot on 3, of them: their first host, a girl who formed Really early in their childhood, and Vlad. he used to act as their protector, and is also an anger holder, who can get quite aggressive sometimes. (fun fact, his name is inspired by Calma Vladimir by CDN :3 )

in the system's teens (13? or so), CPS take them out of their abusive home, and put them into a nicer one. yet, that's when Vlad's role starts becoming less useful than before, because he's still in survival mode - and out of fight or flight, he's definitely the Fight type. which will get him to act out, get into fights, break stuff... etc etc etc. the others are partially aware of this, and they let him do, because that's what they're used to ("there'll be consequences no matter what we do, why not let him have fun?", or something like that, they're all too used to their previous living situation for this ;w;)

now, in the universe, there is a pretty big... gang? mafia? criminal organization? something like that. it's directed by a man called Judas (it's not a religious reference on my side, he picked his own name and it makes sense he chose that one), who, ignoring the whole crimes thing, is a pretty great guy. he has a habit of taking in ppl going through hardships, mostly ones who are violent, and getting them to join him.

Judas has been seeing the system, mainly Vlad, for a long time. he picked up on how good at fighting they are, and how with a little bit of self-control, Vlad could make a good addition to his Whatever That Is. so one day, when they're 15, he approaches them and suggests they join him. Vlad accepts, and though it wasn't their original plan, everyone else ends up happy with it. so they move in with them, meet a bunch of people, get a found family with Judas and this one girl, yadda yadda happy ending.

besides.

the gang's main thing is killing people. they do it mostly to abusers, assholes, the ones who traumatized its members. it's like...their whole thing. which, yeah, makes sense i guess. but putting a system there feels like im pulling the whole "serial killer with multiple personality disorder" trope, which sucks ass.

they are a serial killer, they are a system, but both things just happen to be, no correlation between them. all the alters are aware of and ok with their current living situation, they'd probably pick it over any they've been in, and only bad people are dying anyways. it's not like Vlad is the only one doing that stuff, either - at the beginning he was, but not anymore.

i'll probably leave them this way, the whole storyline is already planned too, but is there any way to make it so it doesn't follow that one trope?

(pd, the other system does not join the gang, he actually escapes his shithole of a town and lives a pretty chill life with his friends. does this help separate being plural from being a criminal? since its 1/2 instead of both of them-)

I'm not sure you can actually have one not be the serial killer trope if they're literally in a murdering gang? But you are making an important balance by not having the second system be in that position. It at least makes an easier distinction between those two facts about the first system. Because theoretically, yeah! Those two things can coincide in a person, and it is possible to make an interesting story about it.

Something that that trope benefits(?) from here, is made less bad by, is that most of the times we see it in shows and movies, it's a one off, or we don't see how they got there, or it's been paired with another offensive trope (see also Split, with the body changing shape).

In the way you're framing it, it's softened by the other system being Not That, and the context as to how they got there. If it fits the characters, some remorse that it's part of their otherwise better life helps? But that's up to if you think that's something that would fit them.

I hope that was helpful

-Mod Tick Tock

[crossleft]

**VEILGUARD SPOILERS**

Finished the game last night and had some thoughts. Overall I really enjoyed it! Would definitely recommend playing it but it's also fun to nitpick lol.

Did my standard first run where I go in as blind as possible playing a dwarven warrior. Went with the Warden background because duh and it was really solid, seems like they referenced it a lot throughout so interested to see how other origins will go. Don't think I missed too too much but I know for sure I accidentally missed at least one mission when I saved Treviso too early...anyways:

As usual dwarves got the short end of the stick (hah punny). 18 codex entries to the 43 elven ones and roughly half were just letters and stuff from Lace to her mom, hell one of them was just about the basics of the fucking chantry! Seriously?? I romanced Lace so I don't mind the letters much but damn yall couldn't do more with the deep roads or with Kal-Sharok? Entire chunks of lore breezed over like nothing, and having the thaig and the titan only being one off missions where you can't even go back to the area was the cherry on top. Disappointed but unsurprised.

Liked the companions, overall no big complaints. Up until the end where you find out he's dead the whole Varric always being in bed and not super upset about Bianca being destroyed thing definitely threw me off so that was a big surprise.

Taash was fun think I'll romance them next play through but acting like Qunari are weird about gender after very specifically having Bull say it's no big deal was a bizarre writing choice.

I liked it but Laces romance felt a little underwhelming, curious to how it'll stack up to the others.

Davrin/Assan and Lucanis/Spite were perfect no notes on them, keep up the good work lol.

Bellara felt kinda like they were trying to redo Merrill, which like...ok...then why not just bring back Merrill at that point? And the stuff with her brother felt very paint by numbers. She felt underwritten I guess idk.

Emmerich was a fun surprise since I went in blind I was expecting a standard evil/gloomy necromancer but he ended up being one of my favorite characters. Went the Lich route out of curiosity but haaaate that Fred got killed, for sure keeping him around next time.

Neve grew on me a little by the end but she was overall my least favorite. Felt like someone's OC getting shoehorned in with a bunch of cannon characters. Like the entire first half of the game she and other companions will allude to cases and interesting sounding stories but never expound on them. Every time Rook talks to her she's like "oh it's a long story, maybe I'll tell you some day 😏" then proceeds to never tell it lmao. Maybe it's alluding to comics or something I haven't seen but again, coming in blind it just made her a very boring 2D character outside of the eventual romance with Lucanis which I liked a lot.

Gameplay reminded me a lot of ME3 but with swords. Pretty low bar but as far as a dragon age game goes I'd argue it was easily the best combat in the series.

Leveling system was fine, nothing inspiring. Not the biggest fan of the companion leveling but being able to respec easily with no cost balanced it out.

Inventory was great, massive improvement over all the prior games. I really liked how stuff levels itself up and being able to change appearances easily and early was awesome. Wish you could do a little more with companion armor but that's not really a big deal and they all had decently broad options.

Was worried about only having 2 party members but it worked pretty well I thought. Between that and the bond system it does a good job encouraging swapping them out more. Felt like a lot more ambient dialog too which was a good touch.

Crows retconning into basically a mob family was...a choice. I kind of get it though and imo you can headcannon them being so different as chalked up to Zev having come in and made big changes over the years. Is what it is.

Was initially kinda pissed about the loss of prior choices but having played it now I think they did ok. Bringing the inquisitor in and getting their letters still made it feel like those choices mattered. And like in game it's been years and it all happened in other countries, it makes sense for a lot of that to be old news that most people don't discuss especially given the drama of their own current events. Would have still been nice to get a few codex entries at least.

Bringing Morrigan back felt like a bad choice to me. She's my cannon origins romance and they changed her up a bit too much post inquisition. Like where is Kieren? Where is the HoF? She doesn't mention them and nobody asks?? Just weird. Hot take but her taking Mythal's knowledge made perfect sense for her character, she always sought knowledge like that and her main objection with Flemmeth was that she would be taken over. So now she gets the knowledge and also keeps her mind, classic Morrigan work around imo.

Didn't like the direction they went with the Antaam. Had potential but making them all faceless with super deep voices felt overly dehumanizing. And them going in with elven gods made zero sense at all, like their leadership doing it secretly sure but there at the end why the hell would those footsoldiers follow them like that when they are so distrustful of magic?

Loooooved the Wardens but what's with the changes to the blight? My headcannon is the gods have made it more directed so that's why it's not infecting people so indiscriminately. But based on prior knowledge literally every non Warden character and most npc should be dead or darkspawn waaay before the end of the game. Doesn't feel like they explained it very well. Digging the new darkspawn look though, best appearance change since Origins.

Dorian, Isabella, and Solas felt very in character, no big notes on them.

Hawke not being mentioned unfortunately makes sense to me. They were pretty important 20 years ago in one city on the other side of the continent. Think of it like this, without looking it up who was the mayor of the next city over from you in 2004? They were important but why would you bring them up now decades later to people who have no way of knowing them, even if you were buds with them back then. Varric is the only one who might but he's kinda dead the entire game so again makes sense you don't hear about Hawke

Gifts are back! :) wish there was more than 1 per companion I'm trying to redecorate yalls rooms lol.

Why are there random Wardens telling everyone about the joining????? Just casually too like what the hell yall this is supposed to be secret and you're saying "wow this shitty ale reminds me of the joining where I drank darkspawn blood magically enhanced with archdemon blood" BRO??? SHUT UP this shit is top secret what the fuck???

Liked the redesign on spirits with the sole caviat that I liked rage demons as sentient lava...them having legs feels weird

Super minor gripe but why is the special dwarf armor just like form fitting stone abs now??? The bad ass blocky tank look was so cool! The elven armor having form fitting feet and stuff fits the culture why would dwarves do that? Wouldn't know since there's barely any lore on Kal-Sharok 🙃

Kal-Sharok being set up as this mysterious, secluded, hyper competent thaig where they likely formed their own society of impromptu Wardens cut off from Thedas for hundreds of years was fascinating. They expounded on this precisely not at all....bro why. EVERY thaig gone but them and traditional Orzammar and they only survived because they changed! Seemingly still in touch with Titans, was this only since Valta connected or sooner?? Such a cool story and they didn't do shit with it? After 10 years!? Losing my mind dude they just refuse to do anything with this lore and it's so fucking frustrating.

Aaaaanywho starting a second playthrough. Going with a rouge elf shadow dragon, gonna romance Taash. Probably do a qunari mage next playthrough but we'll see. Curious to see anyone else's thoughts but mostly this is to vent mine.